Mary Ann Haynes

Mary Ann Haynes (born 1905; died 1977) was a Romany gypsy singer. Born in a gypsy wagon parked behind The Coach and Horses in Portsmouth, Haynes settled in Brighton where she worked as a flower-seller on the waterfront, earning enough to support her family but never achieving success as a singer in her lifetime. After her death in 1977 she was discovered by renowned folk recordist Mike Yates and her legacy of many hundreds of songs has now entered into the folk revival repertoire and adopted by self–confessed song collector Sam Lee.