My Mother said, I never should – anonymous

This week while researching for my blog, I came across some rhymes from my childhood and one in particular stood out to me.  It’s a rhyme about playing in the woods with Gypsies and I started researching the origins.  You can imagine my surprise and disappointment when I couldn’t really find what I was looking for. 

I believe this particular rhyme was a clapping song and the author is unknown.  To me the words conjure up something sinister and we all know that parents once said anything to scare children into behaving themselves.  I remember my own mother telling me if I pulled a face and the wind change direction I would stay that way for ever, and guess what – I believed her!

Traditional Gypsy Caravan

Anyway, back to the rhyme and the subject, Gypsies. I’ve always wondered about Gypsies.  I know that they have a bad rep for jumping over peoples back fences and not paying for taxis and the like, but to me, when I think of Gypsies, I think of adventure.  I think of crystal balls and tarot cards and brightly coloured caravans pulled by Clydesdales. I think of barefooted children with snotty noses laughing and playing in fields.  I think of campfires with dogs sniffing around them and dark haired men playing guitars. I think of women with hooped earrings and colourful clothing dancing. But most of all I think of this rhyme from my childhood.  So here it is, the complete version – I hope.

My mother said, I never should
Play with the Gypsies in the wood;
If I did, she would say,
Naughty little girl to disobey.
Your hair shan't curl,
Your shoes shan't shine,
You gypsy girl, you shan't be mine.
And my father said if I did,
he'd rap my head with the teapot lid.

The wood was dark, the grass was green,
In came Sally with a tambourine.
I went to sea - no ship to get across,
I paid ten shillings for a blind white horse,
I up on his back,
and was off in a crack -
Sally, tell my mother I shall never come back.

Nowadays, this type of rhyme just isn’t pc. You wouldn’t be singing a clapping song like this with your friend in school just in case you offended somebody. But I love these old rhymes.  They were written before political correctness was introduced, in a simpler time.  So if you know the origin of this one, please let me know. Hopefully I won’t be saying in the future, Once upon a time in 2012, I asked a question about a rhyme and didn’t get an answer.