My mother said I never should
Language: English
My mother said I never should
play with the gipsies in the wood.
If I did, then she would say:
“Naughty girl to disobey.
Your hair shan’t curl and your shoes won’t shine.
You gipsy girl, you won’t be mine”.
The wood was dark, the grass was green,
by came Sally with a tambourine.
I went to sea, no ship to get across,
so I paid a shilling for a blind white horse;
I upped on his back and was off in a crack.
Sally tell my mother that I’m never coming back.
Available sung texts: (what is this?)
• J. Frandsen J. Frandsen sets lines 1-2, 7-12
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by John Frandsen (b. 1956), "Gypsies in the Wood", 1987, lines 1-2,7-12 [ voice and guitar ], from Seven Silly Songs, no. 2, confirmed with a CD booklet [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Ramiro Real (b. 1969), "My mother said", 2002 [ chorus ], from Three Nursery Rhymes, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) (Lidy van Noordenburg) , "Mijn moeder zei", copyright © 2023, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: Lidy van Noordenburg
This text was added to the website: 2023-06-10
Line count: 12
Word count: 93
Mijn moeder zei
Language: Dutch (Nederlands) after the English
Mijn moeder zei dat ik nooit moest
spelen met de zigeuners in het bos.
Zo ja, dan zou ze fluisteren:
"Stoute meid, om niet te luisteren.
Je haar zal niet krullen en je schoenen niet glanzen.
Jij zigeunermeid, bent niet van mij".
Het bos was donker, het gras was groen,
Wat kwam Sally met de tamboerijn daar doen.
Ik ging naar zee, geen schip om te gaan,
dus betaalde ik een shilling voor een sneeuwwit paard;
Ik sprong op zijn rug en was er snel vandoor.
Sally, zeg mijn moeder dat ik nooit terugkom hoor.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from English to Dutch (Nederlands) copyright © 2023 by Lidy van Noordenburg, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
This text was added to the website: 2023-06-10
Line count: 12
Word count: 95