Best viewed in
Internet Explorer

Music (PDF)

Music (BMW)

Back to
Index

Updated 11/01/2019

 


The Gypsy's Warning

Although The Gipsy's Warning is a relatively recent song which turns up in the repertoire of many traditional singers, we know little about its origin. It appears to have been first printed in America in 1864, the music “arranged by Henry A. Goard”, although by 1892 the copyright has passed to one D.S. Holmes. In 1896 the song was sufficiently well known to form the basis of a Broadway melodrama of the same name. In 1978 it became the first song to be transmitted over the telephone, Thomas Augustus Watson singing it at a demonstration organized by the pioneer Alexander Graham Bell.

 


 

As with many traditional songs, the lyrics vary depending on the performer.  Here is but one:

Lyrics

 
Do not trust him, gentle lady, though his voice be low and sweet,
Heed not him who kneels before you, gently pleading at thy feet.
Now thy life is in its morning, blight not this, thy happy lot,
Listen to the gypsy's warning, gentle lady trust him not,
Listen to the gypsy's warning, gentle lady trust him not.

Do not turn so coldly from me, I would only guard thy youth,
From his stern and withering powers, I would only tell the truth.
I would shield thee from all danger, shield thee from the tempter's care,
Lady, shun that dark eyed stranger, I have warned thee, now beware,
Lady, shun that dark eyed stranger, I have warned thee, now beware.
Lady, once there lived a maiden, pure and fresh and, like thee, fair,
And he wooed, and wooed and won her, filled her gentle heart with care.
Then he heeded not her weeping, nor cared he her life to save,
So she perished, now she's sleeping in a cold and silent grave,
So she perished, now she's sleeping in a cold and silent grave.

Keep your gold, I do not wish it. lady, I have prayed for this;
For the hour when I might foil him, rob him of expected bliss.
Gentle lady, do not wonder at my words so cold and wild,
In that graveyard over yonder lies the gypsy's only child,
In that graveyard over yonder lies the gypsy's only child.