Uploaded December 2012 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
The Whistling Gypsy sometimes known simply as The Gypsy Rover was written by Leo McGuire in Dublin about 1950 and first sung by Joe Lynch, the popular ballad singer from Cork. The song was written apparently as a dare - that he could write a popular Irish song that would not have a sad ending ! There are a number of similar traditional songs about a well-off woman's encounter with Gypsies dating back at least as far as the early 19th century known as The Raggle Taggle Gypsy, The Gypsy Laddie, Seven Yellow Gypsies, Gypsie Davie etc.. (Wiki) .
The Whistling Gypsy sometimes known simply as The Gypsy Rover was written by Leo McGuire in Dublin about 1950 and first sung by Joe Lynch, the popular ballad singer from Cork. The song was written apparently as a dare - that he could write a popular Irish song that would not have a sad ending ! There are a number of similar traditional songs about a well-off woman's encounter with Gypsies dating back at least as far as the early 19th century known as The Raggle Taggle Gypsy, The Gypsy Laddie, Seven Yellow Gypsies, Gypsie Davie etc.. (Wiki) .
