"Poor Little Gypsy" (1 Sep 1800)
A favorite Song
in the Comic Opera
of the
[Review, or The] Wags of Windsor,
composed by
Dr. [Samuel] Arnold. [Mus. Doc. Oxon.] [1740-1802]

Boston,[ MA:]
Printed and sold by G. Graupner at his Musical Academy, No. 6 Franklin Street, Frankl. Place;
Piano Fortes for Sale, to Let and tuned in Town and Country at the shortest Notice.
[Source: LL-SSM-1-023-0004@Lilly;
page nos. 77-78]

1. A poor little Gypsey I wander forlorn,
My Forturne was told long before I was born,
So Fortunes I tell as forsaken I stray,
And in search of my Love I am lost on my Way:

[REFRAIN sung after each VERSE]
Spare a Halfpenny, spare a Halfpenny,
Spare a poor little Gypsey, a Gypsey a Halfpenny,
Spare a poor little Gypsey a Halfpenny.

2. I fear from this Line you have been a sad Man,
And to harm us poor Girls, have form’d many a Plan;
But beware lest Repentance too late cause you Pain,
And attend to the Lesson I give in my Strain.

3. Through Woods and through Wilds oft’ aweary I roam,
Long absent from Parents, from Friends, and from Home;
Though sad is my Heart, and tho’ sore are my Feet,
Yet I sing on my Way thus to all that I meet.