Gypsy warned me (The)

AKA
First published1920
LyricsWeston Music LeeRoudRN25548
Music Hall performersViolet Loraine 1920s
Folk performancesAlice Kane 1983
I went to see a gypsy once to learn my future fate
Said she, 'Be very careful when you want to choose a mate.'
So when a young man winked at me, outside the garden gate
I went to see the gypsy once again
I told her how my heart would flutter 'neath his soulful gaze
And when I said, 'This young man has such very taking ways'

Chorus: The gypsy warned me, the gypsy warned me
'Oh' she said to me, 'my child
He's a bad lad, a very bad lad'
But I only blushed and smiled
He took me in the country once, it really was sublime,
A dragonfly flew down my back, and what a pantomime
For he tried to find out where the flies go in the wintertime
'Cause I didn't take the gypsy's warning.

An actor stayed at Mother's once, so debonair and smart
In 'The girl who lost her character' he played the villain's part
He told me that he loved me and to him I lost my heart
So I went to see the gypsy once again
I told her of the part he played and what he used to do
She scanned the lines upon my hand, and looking very blue

Chorus: The gypsy warned me, the gypsy warned me
'Oh' she said to me 'my child
He's a bad lad, a very bad lad'
But I only blushed and smiled
Though in 'The girl who lost her character' he made a hit
I thought he'd buy a wedding ring for me, I must admit
But all the bounder gave me was two tickets for the pit
'Cause I didn't take the gypsy's warning.

Of marrying a titled gent I'd always had a hope
One night I met Count Zog-it-off, he handed me the 'Dope'
He put the fluence on me then he asked me to elope
So I went to see the gypsy once again
I told her of Count Zog-it-off and how he'd been so kind
Said she, 'You get some Zog, my dear, and Zog it off your mind'

The gipsy warned me, the gypsy warned me
'Oh' she said to me 'my child
He's a bad lad, a very bad lad'
But I only blushed and smiled
At two o' clock next morning there I met Count Zog-it-off
Said he 'The carriage waits my dear' I heard a lady cough
'Twas his wife and fourteen children all come round to see him off
'Cause I didn't take the gypsy's warning.

I love the Airforce uniform; I like that shade of blue
And young Lieutenant Reggie, oh, the stunts he used to do
He'd fly across our house and drop love-letters down the flue
So I went to see the gypsy once again
Said she, 'Be careful dearie, flying men are very slim
He'll surely drop in on you when you're not expecting him'

Chorus: The gypsy warned me, the gypsy warned me
'Oh' she said to me 'my child
He's a bad lad, a very bad lad'
But I only blushed and smiled
And that night in his aeroplane young Reginald Magrath
Flew right across the garden wall and up the garden path
Crashed through the bathroom window pane and I was in the bath
'Cause I didn't take the gypsy's warning.

The gypsy with her warnings grew so very, very strict
I never got a young man, and I thought it time I kicked
And getting rather anxious as to why I hadn't clicked
I went to see the gypsy once again
Said she 'A brave young man will snatch you from your bed
But if you don't hang on to him, that man you'll never wed'

The gypsy warned me, the giypsy warned me
'Oh' she said to me 'my child
He's a bad lad, a very bad lad'
But I only blushed and smiled
That night the house caught fire, and in his helmet shining bright
A firemen snatched me from my bed, and got me down alright
Then he jumped upon his engine, and he shouted out 'Good night'
'Cause I didn't take the gypsy's warning.
 

The song was first performed by Violet Loraine (1886-1956) as part of a revue show called Whirligig, at the Palace, London in 1920. Violet had previously starred with Gorge Robey in the hit show Bing Boys are here! and became famous for singing If you were the only girl in the world with Robey.

Collected from the singing of Alice Kane (1908-2003), a song she learnt in her Ulster childhood.

Not to be confused with The Gypsies Warning Roud 1764.

Sources:

Last Updated on October 22, 2020 by John Baxter | Published: April 9, 2020

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