Back in the 1970s Bob Pegg wrote a narrative ballad enititled 'The Gypsy' - its the title track of his band Mr Fox's second and final album. The last verse:
The last time I heard a word about my Mary Lee
She was married to a tinker and was living in Dundee
They say she has a baby now to bounce upon her knee
And I wonder in the long nights does she ever think of me?
Cauldrum Street is in Dundee. Did Richard Thompson ever hear The Gypsy? Did he intend Beeswing to be a sequel and the girl in the song to be Mary Lee's daughter? Probably not - but it is an odd coincidence. Two long narrative ballads about lost love, one starting where the other leaves off.
Back in the 1970s Bob Pegg wrote a narrative ballad enititled 'The Gypsy' - its the title track of his band Mr Fox's second and final album. The last verse:
The last time I heard a word about my Mary Lee She was married to a tinker and was living in Dundee They say she has a baby now to bounce upon her knee And I wonder in the long nights does she ever think of me?
Cauldrum Street is in Dundee. Did Richard Thompson ever hear The Gypsy? Did he intend Beeswing to be a sequel and the girl in the song to be Mary Lee's daughter? Probably not - but it is an odd coincidence. Two long narrative ballads about lost love, one starting where the other leaves off.
Oh, and both songs are BRILLIANT.