"The Whistling Gypsy", sometimes known simply as "The Gypsy Rover", is a well-known

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

composed and copyrighted by

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

songwriter

Leo Maguire Patrick Leo Maguire (1903 – 17 December 1985) was an Irish singer, songwriter, and radio broadcaster. Born in Dublin's inner city, Maguire trained as a baritone under Vincent O'Brien, John McCormack's voice teacher. For many years he perf ...

in the 1950s. There are a number of similar traditional songs about a well-off woman's encounter with

Gypsies The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sign ...

, dating back at least as far as the early 19th century, known as "

The Raggle Taggle Gypsy "The Raggle Taggle Gypsy" (), is a Folk music, traditional folk song that originated as a Scottish border ballad, and has been popular throughout Britain, Ireland and North America. It concerns a rich lady who runs off to join the Names of the Rom ...

", "The Raggle Taggle Gypsies", "The Gypsy Laddie", "Nine Yellow Gypsies", "Gypsie Davie" and "Black Jack Davie" (

Roud The Roud Folk Song Index is a database of around 250,000 references to nearly 25,000 songs collected from oral tradition in the English language from all over the world. It is compiled by Steve Roud (born 1949), a former librarian in the London ...

#1, Child 200). The story-line usually revolves around a woman leaving her home and her "wedded lord" to run off with one or more Gypsies, to be pursued by her husband.

Dorothy Scarborough Emily Dorothy Scarborough (January 27, 1878 – November 7, 1935) was an American writer who wrote about Texas, folk culture, cotton farming, ghost stories and women's life in the Southwest. Early life Scarborough was born in Mount Carmel, Te ...

's 1937 book ''A Song Catcher In Southern Mountains: American Folk Songs of British Ancestry'' includes a lullaby called "Gypsy Davy", which Scarborough collected from two Virginia women who had learned the song from their respective grandmothers who in turn had learned it in Ireland. Scarborough's "Gypsy Davy" has a similar construction to Maguire's song, both in some of the lyrics in the verses and in the "ah dee do" chorus that does not appear in the other aforementioned Gypsy-themed songs. However, in Maguire's song the lady is pursued by her father, and when he catches the pair the "Gypsy" reveals himself to be the "lord of these lands all over". The song was first recorded by Joe Lynch in Dublin on the Glenside label, which had been set up by Martin Walton in 1952. It was popularised throughout the country by airplay on the Walton's Programme on

Radio Éireann Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitt ...

, also established by Walton in that year. Another early recording was by

Rose Brennan Rose Brennan (born 1 January 1931) is an Irish singer. She is best known for a long spell with the Joe Loss orchestra in the 1950s and 1960s. Early life Rose Brennan was born in Cabra West, a suburb of Dublin, Ireland. At age sixteen she started ...

, for

HMV Sunrise Records and Entertainment, trading as HMV (for His Master's Voice), is a British music and entertainment retailer, currently operating exclusively in the United Kingdom. The first HMV-branded store was opened by the Gramophone Company ...

in London, in October 1953. In 1954 Rose Brennan's cover was awarded third place by the ''

New Musical Express ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' for the best recording of the year. Later that year it was selected as the title tune for the film '' The Black Knight'', starring Alan Ladd and Patricia Medina. For this purpose it was given new lyrics by Maguire and

Elton Hayes Elton Hayes (16 February 1915 – 23 September 2001) was a British actor and guitarist. Life and career Elton Hayes was born in Bletchley, Buckinghamshire, England. Both his parents were actors and he made his first stage appearance aged nine ...

, who sang it in the film. Since then it has been recorded by numerous artists, including

The Corries The Corries were a Scottish folk group that emerged from the Scottish folk revival of the early 1960s. The group was a trio from their formation until 1966 when founder Bill Smith left the band but Roy Williamson and Ronnie Browne continued ...

(who were at that time known as the Corrie Folk Trio),

Carmel Quinn Carmel Quinn (31 July 1925 – 6 March 2021) was an Irish-American entertainer who appeared on Broadway, television and radio after immigrating to the United States in 1954. Biography Quinn was born in July 1925 and educated in Dublin. Her fath ...

The Clancy Brothers The Clancy Brothers were an influential Irish folk music group that developed initially as a part of the American folk music revival. Most popular during the 1960s, they were famed for their Aran jumper sweaters and are widely credited with popu ...

The Kingston Trio The Kingston Trio is an American folk and pop music group that helped launch the folk revival of the late 1950s to the late 1960s. The group started as a San Francisco Bay Area nightclub act with an original lineup of Dave Guard, Bob Shane, and ...

, The Highwaymen (who had a minor hit single with the song),

The Limeliters The Limeliters are an American folk music group, formed in July 1959 by Lou Gottlieb (bass violin/bass), Alex Hassilev (banjo/baritone), and Glenn Yarbrough (guitar/tenor). The group was active from 1959 until 1965, and then after a hiatus of si ...

The Seekers The Seekers were an Australian folk-influenced pop quartet, originally formed in Melbourne in 1962. They were the first Australian pop music group to achieve major chart and sales success in the United Kingdom and the United States. They were ...

Foster & Allen Foster and Allen are a musical duo from Ireland consisting of Mick Foster and Tony Allen. In their 47-year career, they have released over 52 albums, many of which entered the UK Albums Chart. Along with "A Bunch of Thyme" (entering the Irish ch ...

and

The Wiggles The Wiggles are an Australian children's music group formed in Sydney in 1991. The group are currently composed of Anthony Field, Lachlan Gillespie, Simon Pryce and Tsehay Hawkins, as well as supporting members Evie Ferris, John Pearce, Ca ...

References

External links

The Whistling Gypsy

Rose Brennan recordings
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whistling Gypsy, The Irish songs Irish folk songs Performing arts pages with videographic documentation 1950s songs The Highwaymen (folk band) songs The Kingston Trio songs 1950s ballads