This is a list of song titles recorded in the last 50 years from English Gypsies and may be of use in suggesting songs Tradition Bearers may know. When collecting, familiarise yourself with as many of these songs as you can to help suggest song names or refer to known and complete version already in existence.
Brazil Family – Gloucestershire
‘Tis my delight (Lincoln Poacher)
A Group Of Young Squaddies
Barbary Allen
Betsy the Milkmaid
Bold fishing man
Bold Keeper
Brandon On The Moor
Cruel ship’s carpenter
Dear Old Erin’s Shore
Down By The Old Riverside
Down In The Coal Mines
Game Of All Fours
Gold Killed The Devil-O
Green Grows The Laurels
If I Were A Blackbird
Irish Jig
Jack And The Robber
Limpy Jack (Thorneymoor Woods)
Long a-Growing
McCaffery
My Love Willie (sweet William)
My Schoolmaster’s Son
Nobody’s Child
Once I Courted A Damsel
Pretty Ploughboy
Rambling Irishman
Rock All Our Babies To Sleep
Sally Monroe
Shake Hands And Be Brothers Again
Smile Awhile/Little Luck Jig
Son Come Tell It Unto Me
The Bitter Willow
The Bonny black Hare
The Crabfish
The Croppy tailor
The Folkestone Murder
The Golden Glove
The Gown So Green
The Green Bushes
The Mossy Green Banks Of The Lea
The Watercress Girl
Three Brothers in Warwickshire
Underneath Her Apron
We Are Three Charming Black Boys
Young Man Cut Down
Phoebe Smith – Suffolk / Kent
The Yellow Handkerchief
Game Of All Fours
Stepdancing To Martin Byrnes
A Blacksmith Courted Me
The Sheepfold
Young Morgan
Green Bushes
Wings Of A Swallow (Old Rocky Road)
Johhny Abourne
Jolly Herring
Barbara Allan
Old Gypsy’s Wagon
Raking The Hay
Vic Legg – Devon / Cornwall
1. I’ve Come to Sing a Song (3.06)
2. Thorneymore Woods (2.39)
3. Young Man Cut Down (4.15)
4. Garners Gay (2.10)
5. If I do, I do (1.27)
6. The Beggarman (1.40)
7. Just Beginning to Sprout (2.18)
8. The Banks of the Sweet Dundee (3.57)
9. She Crab /Lonely Widow (4.47)
10. Barbara Allen (3.55)
11. The Molecatcher (2.30)
12. Banks of the Sweet Primroses (2.59)
14. Outlandish Knight (3.09)
15. The Hell-bound Train ( 3.35)
16. Me and my Wife (3.04)
Wiggy Wisdom and Denny Smith – Gloucestershire ‘Band of Gold’ MTCD307
1. The Deserter
2. Where the River Shannon Flows
3. I’m a Romani Rai
4. My Ship Lost Her Rigging Biggun
5. You Are the Only Good Thing
6. Rich Farmer of Sheffield
7. Galloway Man Wisdom
8. Diddling/Mandi went to Puv the Grai
9. Strawberry Roan
10. When I was a Young Man and Wisdom
11. Go From My Window Wisdom
12. Dunkirk Bay
13. The High-Low Well
14. Robin Hood and the Pedlar Denny
15. The Cock Flit Up in the Yew Tree
16. Oakham Poachers
17. Lord Bateman
18. Lord Bateman Denny
19. Riding Along in a Free Train
/Mother’s the Queen of my Heart
20. Barb’ry Ellen
21. Hobbling Off to the Workhouse Door
22. The Barley Straw Biggun
23. The Barley Straw Denny
24. I’ll Take My Dog and My Airgun Too
25. Ikey Moses
26. Don’t Laugh at Me, ‘Cos I’m a Fool
27. Ship Carpenter’s Mate
28. The Cruel Ship’s Carpenter Denny
29. That Little Old Band of Gold
30. Auntie Maggie’s Homemade Remedy
31. Three Jolly Butcher Boys Biggun
32. When Schooldays are Over
33. My Boyfriend Gave me an Apple
Southern English Gypsy Compilation: ‘Here is Luck to a Man ‘MTCD320
1. At the Atchin Tan Mary Ann Haynes
2. Georgie Jasper Smith
3. All Through Mi Rakli Mary Ann Haynes
4. The King and the Keeper Joe Jones
5. Hopping Down in Kent /My Lovely Hops
6. The Little Footman Boy Alice Penfold
7. Riding Down to Portsmouth
8. The Broomdasher Levi Smith
9. The Oyster Girl Mary Ann Haynes
10. Thorneymoor Park Jasper Smith
11. Waxford Town Mary Ann Haynes
12. Hartlake Bridge Jasper Smith
13. Stepdance Tune Bill Ellson
14. The Old Miser Mary Ann Haynes
15. Are You Married, or Are You Free;
16. Young Sailor Cut Down in His Prime Bill Ellson
17. The Rakish Young Fellow Mary Ann Haynes
18. If I were a Grinder Jasper Smith
19. Poor Leonard Mary Ann Haynes
20. The Jew’s Garden Minty Smith
21. The Farmer of Cheshire Mary Ann Haynes
22. Ripest Apples Joe Jones
23. Pepper and Salt (story) Jasper Smith
24. Waxy Candles (story) Jasper Smith
25. There’ll Come a Time Someday Bill Ellson
26. Cruel Slavery Days Mary Ann Haynes
27. The Bloke You Don’t Meet Every Day Lena Jones
28. The Sailor Boy Mary Ann Haynes
29. Shooting Spark’s Cocks Up Jasper Smith
30. Erin’s Lovely Home Mary Ann Haynes
31. Swinging Down the Lane Chris Willett
32. Long a-Growing Mary Ann Haynes
33. You Subjects of England (Young Taylor)
34. Lending & Spending; The Little Bee;
35. Lord Bateman Alice Penfold
36. Lovely Johnny Mary Ann Haynes
37. Whistling Rufus /Brighton Camp
38. The Little Ball of Yarn Mary Ann Haynes
39. Will There be any Travellers in Heaven?
40. Cuckoo is a Merry Bird
41. Here’sLuck to a Man; Upright & Down;
42. Bold Reynolds
Queen Caroline Hughes – Dorset
ALICE BENBOW
BOLD ROBERT EMETT Talk before
BUTTERCUP JOE
CAN YOU POOKER ROMANES?
THE DROWSY SLEEPER CUCKOO
COME ALL YOU FEELING MOTHERS
THE LONDON MURDER (CRUEL MILLER)
COME BACK TO ERIN
DONNELLY AND COOPER
DOWN BY THE RIVERSIDE
ERIN-GO-BRAGH
(Poison in a glass of wine-Oxford City
John sings BARBARY ELLEN Talk after
MEET ME TONIGHT BY MOONLIGHT (Prisoner Song)
MEET ME TONIGHT IN DREAMLAND
MOTHER’S LAST LETTER
MY TRUELOVE WAS A SAILOR LAD (Willow tree)
NEVER LEAVE YOUR MOTHER TOM (A MOTHER’S GRAVE)
O LORD I’VE SHOT MY CHILD (Burglar Song)
OLD TIME’S SAKE
ONCE I HAD A COLOUR (False-hearted Lover
POLLY AND THE SAILOR Talk afte
RING DAN DOO Talk before & after
SHE WAS A BEAUTIFUL GOLDEN PICTURE
THE BLUE-EYED LOVER
THE BUTCHER BOY Talk after
THE GAME OF CARDS Talk before
THE LAND WHERE THE SHAMROCK GROWS
THE ROAMING BEGGAR –
THE THREE-LEAF SHAMROCK
THE WAGER SONG (Broomfield Wager) Talk before & after
THE SOLDIER AND THE LADY (NIGHTINGALES SING
WHAT IS THE MEANING OF MOTHER?
CATCH ME IF YOU CAN (Highwayman Outwitted)
IF I WERE A BLACKBIRD Talk before & after
THE LONG LOST CHILD (Little Chimney Sweep)
MANDI WENT TO POOV THE GRAI Talk before & after
THE BRAKE OF BRIARS
YOUNG WILLIE Talk before & after
IF I WERE A BLACKBIRD Talk before & after
BILLY BOY (or MY BOY, BILLY) – 1’05”
BLIND BEETLES (or DIED FOR LOVE)
POISON IN A GLASS OF WINE Oxford city
THE JEW’S GARDEN
TUNING UP mouth-music for Step Dancing – 1’10”
A BLACKSMITH COURTED ME talk aft – 2’34”
BLACKDOG AND SHEEPCROOK
FLASH GIRLS AND AIRY (SEVENTEEN COME SUNDAY)
HENRY, MY SON
I AM A ROMANY (SONG OF THE THRUSH)
THE FLOWER OF SERVANTMEN
THE SPRIG OF THYME
ADIEU TO OLD ENGLAND, ADIEU
AS I WAS A-WALKING (THE SWEET PRIMEROSES)
GEORGIE (Child #209)
LORD THOMAS & FAIR ELLEN (Child #73)
THE BRAKE OF BRIARS (BRIDGWATER or BRUTON TOWN)
cold winters night – forsaken mother and child
THE LITTLE BOY (LADY MAISRY Child #65)
PADDIES LIE DOWN (or PADDY BACKWARDS
THE BIRD IN THE BUSH (or THREE MAIDENS)
THE DRAGGLE-TAILED GIPSIES (Child #200)
Sophie Legg and Betsy Renals – Devon / Cornwall
Oh Where, Oh Where
Seventeen Come Sunday
The Beggar
The Bonny Bunch Of Roses
Catch Me If You Can
Down By The Shannon side
(captain thunderbolt)
The Farmer From Leicester
Jim The Carter Lad
The Lonely Widow
Lord Lovell
More Trouble In Our Native Land
The Old Miser
Sailor Cut Down In His Prime
Standard bread
Stepdance tuning
Van Dieman’s Land********
Ball of yarn
The crabfish********
The dark-eyed sailor
Down by the old riverside
The farmer and the lady (golden glove)
Game of all fours
Good for nothing man
Just beginning to sprout**********
A man from the north Outlandish Knight
Stepdance tuning – Cock a doodle /
Being a chick / Navvie on the line
Thorneymore Woods
Young Billy Tailor******
Gordon and Mabbs Hall – Sussex
1. Come Write me Down
2. Studying Economy – Mabs
3. The Royal George – Gordon
4. Old John Brown – Mabs *
5. A Fair Maid walking in the Garden
6. My Old Wife’s a Good Old Creature
7. Ginny Jones – Mabs
8. Poor Joe the Marine – Mabs *
9. Still I Love him – Mabs *
10. Salonika – Gordon
11. Ripest Apples – Mabs
12. The Dumb Wife – Mabs *
13. We Won’t go Home until the Morning
/Push the Business On – Mabs *
14. Sweet Lavender – Gordon
15. The Outlandish Knight – Gordon *
16. William Taylor – Mabs *
17. Polly Perkins – Mabs *
18. The Horsham Ram – Gordon
19. Cecilia – Mabs
20. Cruel Frederick – Mabs *
21. Coming Home Late – Mabs *
22. The Bitter Whaling Grounds – Gordon
23. Little Mike – Mabs
24. Banks of Inverness – Mabs
25. Blandford in the Mud – Gordon
26. A Sailor from Dover – Mabs & Gordon *
27. Sweet Mother Dear – Mabs *
28. The Molecatcher – Gordon
I . Cecilia (5.38)
2.The Plains of Waterloo (12.33)
3. Where There’s a Will There’s a Way (3.04)
4.The Week before Easter (10.16)
5. Why Cats don’t Wash their Faces before Eating (1.34)
6.The Babes in the Wood (2.34)
7. Lord Randal (9.01)
8. A Dream of Napoleon (3.20)
9. The Constant Lovers (9.12)
10. Oh Dear, What Can The Matter Be? (5.42)
11. The Farmer’s Boy (5.14)
May Bradley – Shropshire: Sweet Swansea MTCD349
1. Sweet Swansea
2. Long a-Growing
3. Eileen O’Grady
4. McCaffery
5. All Jolly Fellows
6. Barrow Boy
7. My Blue Eyed Lover
8. The Gown So Green
9. Bonny Black Bess
10. Cold Blows the Wind
11. The Barley Raking
12. Dublin
13. Down the Green Groves
14. A Girl Thats Done Wrong
15. The Blind Baby
16. You Lads of Learning
17. The Little Ball of Yarn
18. The Leaves of Life
19. My Good for Nothing Man
20. On Christmas Day
21. The Outlandish Knight
22. The Shade of the Old Apple Tree
23. The Old Riverside
24. The Tramp’s Philosophy
25. If I Were a Blackbird
26. The Willow Tree
27. Space
29. Sweet Swansea
30. Long a-Growing
31. The Blue Eyed Lover
32. Cold Blows the Wind
34. You Lads of Learning
35. The Leaves of Life
36. On Christmas Day
37. The Outlandish Knight
38. If I Were a Blackbird
40. The Willow Tree
