Michael Gray says there is a strong parallel between this line and the traditional folk song "Blackjack Davey," which Dylan arranged and recorded for his 1992 album Good as I Been to You, and in which footwear of Spanish leather also plays a significant role
The core of the song's story is that a lady forsakes a life of luxury to run off with a band of gypsies. In some versions there is one individual, named, for example as Johnny Faa or Black Jack Davy. In some versions there is one leader and his six brothers. In one local tradition, the lady is identified as the wife of the Earl of Cassilis. In some versions the gypsies charm her with their singing, or even cast a spell over her. In a typical version, the lord comes home to find his lady "gone with the gypsy laddie." He saddles his fastest horse to follow her. He finds her and bids her come home, asking "Would you forsake your husband and child?" She refuses to return: in many versions preferring the cold ground ("What care I for your fine feather sheets?") and the gypsy's company to her lord's wealth and fine bed. At the end of some versions the husband kills the gypsies. In the local Cassilis tradition, they are hung from the Cassilis Dule Tree.
Definitely in the top five Child ballads in terms of widespread popularity, and possibly second only to 'Barbara Allen', the Gypsies stealing the lady, or, to put it the other way round, the lady running off with the sexy Gypsies, has caught singers' attention all over the anglophone world for more than 200 years. For obvious reasons, the song has long been a favourite with members of the travelling community.
In the folk tradition the song was extremely popular, spread all over the English-speaking world by broadsheets and oral tradition. It went under a great many titles, including "Black Jack Davy", "The Gypsy Laddie", "The Draggletail Gypsies", "Seven Yellow Gypsies" and "Johnnie Faa".
Dylan based the song on the traditional British folk ballad "Leaving of Liverpool". He first played it for friends in Greenwich Village after returning from a two-week trip to London in early January 1963.
Oh it’s fare thee well my darlin’ trueI’m leavin’ in the first hour of the mornI’m bound off for the bay of MexicoOr maybe the coast of CalifornSo it’s fare thee well my own true loveWe’ll meet another day, another timeIt ain’t the leavin’That’s a-grievin’ meBut my true love who’s bound to stay behindOh the weather is against me and the wind blows hardAnd the rain she’s a-turnin’ into hailI still might strike it lucky on a highway goin’ westThough I’m travelin’ on a path beaten trailSo it’s fare thee well my own true loveWe’ll meet another day, another timeIt ain’t the leavin’That’s a-grievin’ meBut my true love who’s bound to stay behindI will write you a letter from time to timeAs I’m ramblin’ you can travel with me tooWith my head, my heart and my hands, my loveI will send what I learn back home to youSo it’s fare thee well my own true loveWe’ll meet another day, another timeIt ain’t the leavin’That’s a-grievin’ meBut my true love who’s bound to stay behindI will tell you of the laughter and of troublesBe them somebody else’s or my ownWith my hands in my pockets and my coat collar highI will travel unnoticed and unknownSo it’s fare thee well my own true loveWe’ll meet another day, another timeIt ain’t the leavin’That’s a-grievin’ meBut my true love who’s bound to stay behindI’ve heard tell of a town where I might as well be boundIt’s down around the old Mexican plainsThey say that the people are all friendly thereAnd all they ask of you is your nameSo it’s fare thee well my own true loveWe’ll meet another day, another timeIt ain’t the leavin’That’s a-grievin’ meBut my true love who’s bound to stay behindRead more: http://www.bobdylan.com/us/songs/farewell#ixzz3RYjeq0iW
