I AM A ROMANY
(Traditional)
I was born in an old gypsy wagon,
I was brought from those commons, you know.
And our troubles began in the winter,
That's when we're no place to go.
But I'm determined to marry the girl that I love, take a wagon and tent on my own.

I'm a Romany rye, I poor didikai,
Born in a tent underneath the blue sky.
I want no gilted mansion.
That life will just suit me.
You give to me the open sky
And the song of a lark as it flies so high.
Roamin' around the country,
That life will just suit me.
For I'm just a Romany,
Everyone know,
A Romany I shall be.

Sung by Phoebe Smith, recorded by Peter Kennedy at Melton, Woodbridge, Suffolk, 1954. Available on CD from Saydisc Records, bearing copyright symbols (p) and (c).

A very fine song. JWM