Gypsy In The Moonlight
Game Song
Caribbean
Verse 1:
Group
Gypsy in the moonlight
Gypsy in the dew
Gypsy never come back
Until the clock strike two
Verse 2
Walk in, Gypsy,
Group
Walk right in,
I say
Walk into my parlor
To hear my banjo play
Verse3:
Soloist
I don’t love
And nobody loves me
All I want is
(chooses a person of the
opposite sex and says his or her
name)
To come and dance with me
Verse 4:
Group Tra la la la la la
Tra la la la la
Tra la la la la la
Tra la la la la
I found “Gypsy In The Moonlight” on page 14 &
15 of the excellent book and CD “Brown Girl In The Ring, An Anthology of Song
Games from the Eastern Caribbean”. This
book and was collected and documented by Alan Lomax, J.D. Elder and Bess Lomax.
Pantheon Books, New York, published the book in 1997.
I found another version of this traditional song elsewhere with the title
“Tootsie in the Moonlight”. Before
I found the song “Tootsie In The Moonlight”, I thought that the “Gypsy”
in the song referred to a member of the ethnic group who we call “gypsies”. However, “Gypsy“ is written in capitol letters as a first
name or nickname would be and so is “Tootsie”.
It is possible that every player selected as the featured player could be
called “Gypsy” or “Tootsie” just as every girl selected as the center
player for a the game “Little Sally Walker” is referred to by that name.
Because the name “Gypsy” could refer to a girl or a boy, a child of
either sex could be selected as the featured player.
Another way of playing this game could be to change the name of the
featured payer according to the name or nickname of the featured player.
If the game was played by persons just meeting each other ,for example,
it would help players remember the names of persons in their group.
Here is a summary of the
instructions for playing “Gypsy
In The Moonlight” as founding the book “Brown Girl In The Ring”: the player
selected as “Gypsy” dances outside the circle during verse 1 and inside the
circle during verse 2. During verse
3, “Gypsy” sings the verse alone, and during verse 4 she or he selects a
partner and they dance together inside the ring.
The partner who is selected becomes the new “Gypsy” This is a very
common traditional way of playing circle games.
Notice that the featured partner purposefully chooses a partner, dances
with the partner, and afterwards the partner becomes the new featured player.
In more contemporary circle games, the featured player accidental selects
a partner by covering her or his eyes and turning around inside the center of
the circle while pointing to people forming the circle.
At the end of the song, the person who is pointed to enters the center of
the circle and becomes the new featured player.
The former center player immediately rejoins the rest of the group
forming the ring without performing any dance with the person who she or he
selected. The contemporary method
of playing circle games reflects the changing purpose of circle games. Traditionally, elementary and pre-teen school age children
used these games to publicly announce their preference for persons of the
opposite sex and to otherwise practice their courting skills.
Today, the courting purpose has been almost entirely removed as these
game songs are almost always used as recreational activities for only pre-school
and early elementary school age children.
The book “Brown Girl In The
Ring” mentions that the second verse of “Gypsy In The Moonlight” directing the featured player to
“Walk in” is a rephrasing of a very popular 1840s, 1850s minstrel tune sung that was
performed by the African American minstrel artist, Charles White.
The song was either titled “The
History of the World” or “Walk Into My Parlor”.
However, the “Brown Girl In A Ring”
authors indicate that the game song doesn’t appear to be “There’s A Brown Girl In The
Ring”, Random House, New York, 1997, p 15) If you grew up playing this game, or have any
information or comments on this game, we’d like to hear from you.
Share what you know with CocoJams!
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