There are various titles for this song, including “The Little Gypsy Girl” and “My Father’s the King of the Gypsies”. It has a slightly music hall ring to it, but nevertheless, broadsides of the song appear from the 1820s onwards. Again, some versions mention seduction and pregnancy and this is hinted at in Danny Brazil’s incomplete version. The song seems to have been particularly popular in Lincolnshire, where Percy Grainger noted it six times. American versions exist but are rare.

Notes by Gwilym Davies 29 March 2015.