| The Raggle Taggle Gypsy | |
|---|---|
| English folk song | |
| Catalogue | Child Ballad 200 Roud Folk Song Index 1 |
| Genre | Border ballad |
| Language | English |
| Also known by several other names e.g. "Gypsy Davy", "The Raggle Taggle Gypsies O", "The Gypsy Laddie(s)", "Black Jack David" (or "Davy"), "Seven Yellow Gypsies" | |
"The Raggle Taggle Gypsy" (Roud 1, Child 200), is a 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 gypsies (or one gypsy). Common alternative names are "Gypsy Davy", "The Raggle Taggle Gypsies O", "The Gypsy Laddie(s)", "Black Jack David" (or "Davy") and "Seven Yellow Gypsies".
In the folk tradition the song was extremely popular, spread all over the English-speaking world by broadsheets and oral tradition.[1]
- ^ Roud, Steve & Julia Bishop (2012). The New Penguin Book of Folk Songs. Penguin. ISBN 978-0-14-119461-5. p. 446