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Description: | Song about a gipsy and his travelling people. There are numerous tales of travellers and gipsy kings in the region throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth century. Northumbrian piper Jimmy Allan was frequently linked with various travelling families in Northumberland and his biography, printed some time in the nineteenth century, contains some particularly fascinating tales of his adventures with these families. Visits from travellers would have been met in towns and villages with a mixture of fascination and mistrust and were therefore a favourite topic for local song smiths.This song was written by Rowland Harrison and printed some time in the 1860s. Harrison was born in King William Street, Gateshead, on 23rd June 1841. From the age of 23 he found success as an author and comic singer, appearing at a number of music halls throughout the North East. Known for his talents at character portrayal, Harrison went on to manage the Geordy Black pub in Gateshead, the Commercial Hotel at Winlaton, and various music halls. It is not known when Rowland Harrison died but references in Allan's Tyneside songs indicate that he outlived Joe Wilson, Ned Corvan and other contemporaries by a number of years.'Gipsy Jack' forms part of a small song book issued by an unidentified publisher. It contains over 50 pages of local songs composed by Harrison, and contains an interesting illustration of the author as 'Geordy Black' in his famous song of the same name. The latest reference in the book dates its publication to around 1871. ; A collection of songs composed by Rowland Harrison. | Publisher: | unknown | Rights holder: | rights holder : Newcastle University | Subjects: | travel & gipsies travel and adventure | Temporal: | start=1861;end=1900; | Source: | Folk Archive Resource North East | Identifier: | farne:B0302502 | Go to resource |
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