09/06/2026
I am frequently amazed at how relevant old Folk songs are with current events. This Celtic-Folk song comes out of Scotland during the 16th through 19th Centuries concerning the intense hatred Scotland had against the Gypsies (a shortened generic classification from 'Egyptians'). There is some confusion and contention with the Irish "Travelers." Travelers are NOT Gypsies, though both were considered migrant workers at times throughout the British Isles and Europe. There was a period of time in Scotland, that if a Gypsy was caught he (or she) was hung or drowned immediately. And anyone consorting with Gypsies were persecuted as was the case in the attached folk song. But why was there so much hatred of the Gypsies?
As cited on the internet, the broad classification of "Gypsies" referred to the Barbary Pirates or Corsairs that came out of Morocco in northern Africa. They were "Muslim Slavers" (as they were also called) who were connected with Muslim/Islamic countries in Northern Africa and the Middle East. These Muslim Pirates had strongholds in Spain, Morocco, Libya, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and others from the 14th Century. Barbary Pirates often made "slave" raids in parts of the Mediterranean, like Italy, France, Greece, as well as Ireland, Scotland, Iceland, and into the north seas of Norway, Finland, and others. Aside from protection money, these pirates viewed women as primary targets for supplying their buyers with slaves in places like the Morocco Slave Markets, as well as slaves from England and the Americas (Caribbean primarily). Blond, blue eyed girls from Finland were highly prized, as well as red-headed, green eyed girls out of Scotland and Ireland. There were also markets for young boys as catamites for the elites in England and Europe ... even into the 20th Century.
These Muslim Slavers were also suppliers of slaves into the Americas. President Jefferson was the first to refuse to pay the "protection money" to these pirates and led to the American war against the Barbary Pirates in 1801-1805. Part of the U.S. Marine Corps Hymn includes this engagement in the phrase, "... to the shores of Tripoli ... " With this context in mind, this folk song makes more sense. I have supplied more details of the times in the free, PDF Story Broadside of "Gypsy Davey" located in the Story Broadside page https://kelticdeadmusic.org/story-broadsides/ . My story broadsides are personal interpretations to provide context to the KDM music projects, and the readers can look up the subjects to verify on their own. You can also find the sheet music arrangements in the PDF Broadside views. We use those arrangements in creating our live acoustic music selections (no AI or synthesized music).
On YouTube, Gypsy Davey is a Doc Watson variant of the Child ballad, "Gypsie Laddie."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apX86-tr8Pw
For a free PDF Story Broadside with Sheet music visit https://kelti...
