Three Gypsies
Nyango sent this song and wrote: "…the 'Three Gypsies' song, we sang it because the English Primers we used in Primary and Secondary schools in the English-speaking part of Cameroon, had these as poems in them. These were British/Oxford Printing Press primers and poems like 'The Keeper did a-shooting go, and under his cloak he carried a bow...', became songs we sang as children."
Three Gypsies
Ballad
Three gypsies stood at the castle gate,
They sang so high, they sang so low.
The lady sat in her chamber late.
Her heart it melted away as snow.
They sang so sweet, they sang so shrill
That fast her tears began to flow,
And she lay down her silken gown,
Her golden rings and all her show.
She took it off her high-heeled shoes,
Made of Spanish leather-O
She would in the street in her bare, bare feet,
All out in the wind and weather-O.
Saddle to me my milk white steed
And go and fetch me my pony-O
That I may ride and seek for my bride
Who's gone with the wraggle taggle gypsies-O!
He rode high and he rode low,
He rode through woods and copses too
Until he came to an open field
And there he espied his a-lady-O.
What makes you leave your house and land,
Your golden treasures for to go?
What makes you leave your new wedded lord,
To follow the wraggle taggle gypsies-O?
What care I for my house and land?
What care I for my treasures-O?
What care I for my new wedded lord?
I'm off with the wraggle taggle gypsies-O!
Last night you slept on a goose-feathered bed,
With the sheet turned down so bravely-O.
Tonight you sleep in a cold open field
Along with the wraggle taggle gypsies-O!
What care I for the goose-feathered bed
With the sheet turned down so bravely-O?
Tonight I shall sleep in a cold open field
Along with the wraggle taggle gypsies-O!
Notes
This song is a border ballad originating in Britain, possibly written around 1720. It is # 200 in Francis James Child's compilation. There are many versions with different titles.
Many thanks to Nyango M. Nambangi of the Minnesota African Women's Association for contributing this song and for singing it.
