Thread #1654   Message #4107481
Posted By: Joe Offer
25-May-21 - 01:36 AM
Thread Name: Origins: The Raggle-Taggle Gypsy
Subject: RE: Origins: The Raggle-Taggle Gypsy

I got an interesting Canadian (???) Les Barker parody in an email from Elizabeth Block.

THE WRAGGLE TAGGLE GYPSIES, EH
(Les Barker)

here were three gypsies came to her door
A block from Bloor in Toron-ti-eh
And they said, Fair maid, would you run away,
Would you go with the Wraggle Taggle Gypsies, Eh?

Well, she went along
All the way down Yonge,
Sang a song at the offices of VIA
And from there did go
Through Ontar-i-o
On the train with the Wraggle Taggle Gypsies, Eh.

Well, her husband rode from Etobicoke*
Where he works with a guy from Mississau-gi-eh
And he soon did know the scenar-i-o,
She did go with the Wraggle Taggle Gypsies, Eh.

Come saddle me my milk-white steed
And bridle me my pony, oh,
I'll find my bride and ask her why
She did go with the Wraggle Taggle Gypsies, Eh.

It's a long, long ride through the countryside
Of Ontar-i-o and Manito-bi-eh
Out to Edmonton, where he found she had gone
Further on with the Wraggle Taggle Gypsies, Eh.

By now she'd be out in B.C.,
By the sea out in British Colum-bi-eh,
Some say she may have reached Swartz Bay
All the way with the Wraggle Taggle Gypsies, Eh.

Well, he went then to Tsawassen
Where he took the ferry very quickly, eh,
And there he learned she had just returned
To Toronto with the Wraggle Taggle Gypsies, Eh.

"What, home again! Well, sod that then!
I'm taking to the road out Cowichan Bay way,
I'm over her, and Nanaimo, sir,
I prefer to the Wraggle Taggle Gypsies, Eh!

By Les Barker
Transcribed from memory by Elizabeth Block.
*Etobicoke has a silent K