Hi,

I found another interesting twist of two words- Darby (a horse) and derby (a hat). Gypsy Davy's horse is a "darby" (Go saddle me up my darby, --Brown A, see also Brown B) and his hat is a "derby" (see Lunsford and his Collection where it's "Then bridle and saddle my old gray mare/ And hand me down my derby )-- how could singers get mixed up?

So I ask you, what is a Darby horse? And, do you think the two have been confused here?

Richie

BTW I've finished putting 244 versions from North America on my site and added a few notes here:
http://www.bluegrassmessengers.com/us--canada-versions-200-the-gypsy-laddie.aspx