Firstly Thank you to our Guest, and to Henry and Iains again for all that typing.
I was aware of the Grainger comment about George Medcalfe and of course thanks to Henry, I'm now aware of Mrs. Hudson's account. I think both accounts are true, which might seem daft until you give it some consideration. I have no doubt our 'young Gypsy' sang the song to Taylor and the assembled camp. I am equally sure that Medcalfe sang it to Taylor as well. I suspect that the conversation may well have been along the lines of 'I heard that song the other night/week/month at 'The Pit' from one of the Gypsy Folk, do you have some words?' 'Well I can only remember two verses.' How many times has this conversation happened in a Folk Club? Medcalfe is not a Gypsy name, not that it matters.
Thanks to Henry again we are now aware the Gypsy Folk stopped in the chalk pits at Binbrook and that Binbrook is 15 miles from Brigg. This means that it was a one, or at the most, two night stop over on the way to the fair. Fifteen miles is nowt in a car, but a good lift by horse and cart. So the picture is now becoming a bit clearer. It means the Gypsy Folk were heading North to Brigg. That narrows it down a lot and one thing immediately occurs to me. I have camped with the the Travellers in Great Ouseburn (North)and Spalding (South) of Binbrook
The Northern Travellers were heading to Boroughbridge, not Brigg, and the Southern Gypsies used to travel to Brigg and/or Appleby back in the day.
I was camping upon the Boswell's ground in Spalding. Mally Boswell (not my wife Mally she had Dolan blood) told me that years ago the families spent the summer on the fruit picking, before heading North to the fairs, then on to wintering grounds.
Mrs. Hudson's interesting story about the 'King' of the Gypsies inviting Joseph Taylor to join them, is also telling an interesting tale in this context. The Boswells are considered to be one of the oldest Romany families to exist in England. There is the 'Book of Boswell, as I am sure you are aware, so the 'King' may well have been a young 'Alger'(Trafalger) Boswell, or possibly his father. The dates seem correct. They were and still are a very proud family.
Yes this may be a flight of fancy, but it fits with the facts as I know them.
It was the Boswells camping at the 'Pit', by a balance of probabilities. I would love to think that Iains and Henry with a bit of help from me have cracked the mystery of which family sang Brigg Fair! However as before my mind is open to other views, and I do tend to get a bit carried away, even at the this late stage.