The Gypsy Laddie
No: 200; variant: 200F
- THE gypsies came to the Earl o Cassilis' gate,
And O but they sang bonnie!
They sang sae sweet and sae complete
That down cam our fair ladie.
- And she cam tripping down the stair,
Wi her twa maids before her;
As soon as they saw her weel-far'd face,
They coost their glamer oer her.
- 'O come wi me,' says Johnnie Faw,
'O come wi me, my dearie,
For I vow and swear, by the hilt of my sword,
Your lord shall nae mair come near ye.'
- 'Here, tak frae me this gay mantile,
And gie to me a plaidie;
Tho kith and kin and a' had sworn,
I'll follow the gypsie laddie.
- 'Yestreen I lay in a weel-made bed,
And my gude lord beside me;
This night I'll lie in a tenant's barn,
Whatever shall betide me.
- 'Last night I lay in a weel-made bed,
Wi silken hangings round me;
But now I'll lie in a farmer's barn,
Wi the gypsies all around me.
- 'The first ale-house that we come at,
We'll hae a pot o brandie;
The next ale-house that we came at,
We'll drink to gypsie Geordie.'
- Now when our lord cam home at een,
He speir'd for his fair lady;
The ane she cried, [the] tither replied,
'She's awa wi the gypsie laddie.'
- 'Gae saddle me the gude black steed;
The bay was neer sae bonnie;
For I will neither eat nor sleep
Till I be wi my lady.'
- Then he rode east, and he rode west,
And he rode near Strabogie,
And there he found his ain dear wife,
Drinking wi gypsie Geordie.
- 'And what made you leave your houses and land?
Or what made you leave your money?
Or what made you leave your ain wedded lord,
To follow the gypsie laddie?
- 'Then come thee hame, my ain dear wife,
Then come thee hame, my hinnie,
And I do swear, by the hilt of my sword,
The gypsies nae mair shall come near thee.'
- Then we were seven weel-made men,
But lack! we were nae bonnie,
And we were a' put down for ane,
For the Earl o Cassilis' ladie.