diff options
Diffstat (limited to '16358.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 16358.txt | 7500 |
1 files changed, 7500 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/16358.txt b/16358.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7fd326d --- /dev/null +++ b/16358.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7500 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, The English Gipsies and Their Language, by +Charles G. Leland + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: The English Gipsies and Their Language + + +Author: Charles G. Leland + + + +Release Date: July 25, 2005 [eBook #16358] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ENGLISH GIPSIES AND THEIR +LANGUAGE*** + + + + + + +Transcribed from the 1874 Trubner & Co. edition by David Price, email +ccx074@coventry.ac.uk + + + + + +THE ENGLISH GIPSIES AND THEIR LANGUAGE +By Charles G. Leland + + +Author of "Hans Breitmann's Ballads," "The Music Lesson of Confucius," +Etc. Etc. + +Second Edition + +LONDON +TRUBNER & CO., 57 & 59 LUDGATE HILL +1874 + +[_All rights reserved_] + + + + +PREFACE. + + +As Author of this book, I beg leave to observe that all which is stated +in it relative to the customs or peculiarities of Gipsies _was gathered +directly from Gipsies themselves_; and that every word of their language +here given, whether in conversations, stories, or sayings, was taken from +Gipsy mouths. While entertaining the highest respect for the labours of +Mr George Borrow in this field, I have carefully avoided repeating him in +the least detail; neither have I taken anything from Simson, Hoyland, or +any other writer on the Rommany race in England. Whatever the demerits +of the work may be, it can at least claim to be an original collection of +material fresh from nature, and not a reproduction from books. There +are, it is true, two German Gipsy letters from other works, but these may +be excused as illustrative of an English one. + +I may here in all sincerity speak kindly and gratefully of every true +Gipsy I have ever met, and of the cheerfulness with which they have +invariably assisted me in my labour to the extent of their humble +abilities. Other writers have had much to say of their incredible +distrust of _Gorgios_ and unwillingness to impart their language, but I +have always found them obliging and communicative. I have never had +occasion to complain of rapacity or greediness among them; on the +contrary, I have often wondered to see how the great want of such very +poor people was generally kept in check by their natural politeness, +which always manifests itself when they are treated properly. In fact, +the first effort which I ever made to acquire a knowledge of English +Rommany originated in a voluntary offer from an intelligent old dame to +teach me "the old Egyptian language." And as she also suggested that I +should set forth the knowledge which I might acquire from her and her +relatives in a book (referring to Mr Borrow's having done so), I may hold +myself fully acquitted from the charge of having acquired and published +anything which my Gipsy friends would not have had made known to the +public. + +Mr Borrow has very well and truly said that it is not by passing a few +hours among Gipsies that one can acquire a knowledge of their +characteristics; and I think that this book presents abundant evidence +that its contents were not gathered by slight and superficial intercourse +with the Rommany. It is only by entering gradually and sympathetically, +without any parade of patronage, into a familiar knowledge of the +circumstances of the common life of humble people, be they Gipsies, +Indians, or whites, that one can surprise unawares those little inner +traits which constitute the _characteristic_. However this may be, the +reader will readily enough understand, on perusing these pages--possibly +much better than I do myself--how it was I was able to collect whatever +they contain that is new. + +The book contains some remarks on that great curious centre and secret of +all the nomadic and vagabond life in England, THE ROMMANY, with comments +on the fact, that of the many novel or story-writers who have described +the "Travellers" of the Roads, very few have penetrated the real nature +of their life. It gives several incidents illustrating the character of +the Gipsy, and some information of a very curious nature in reference to +the respect of the English Gipsies for their dead, and the strange manner +in which they testify it. I believe that this will be found to be fully +and distinctly illustrated by anecdotes and a narrative in the original +Gipsy language, with a translation. There is also a chapter containing +in Rommany and English a very characteristic letter from a full-blood +Gipsy to a relative, which was dictated to me, and which gives a sketch +of the leading incidents of Gipsy life--trading in horses, +fortune-telling, and cock-shying. I have also given accounts of +conversations with Gipsies, introducing in their language and in English +their own remarks (noted down by me) on certain curious customs; among +others, on one which indicates that many of them profess among themselves +a certain regard for our Saviour, because His birth and life appear to +them to be like that of the Rommany. There is a collection of a number +of words now current in vulgar English which were probably derived from +Gipsy, such as row, shindy, pal, trash, bosh, and niggling, and finally a +number of _Gudli_ or short stories. These _Gudli_ have been regarded by +my literary friends as interesting and curious, since they are nearly all +specimens of a form of original narrative occupying a middle ground +between the anecdote and fable, and abounding in Gipsy traits. Some of +them are given word for word as they are current among Gipsies, and +others owe their existence almost entirely either to the vivid +imagination and childlike fancies of an old Gipsy assistant, or were +developed from some hint or imperfect saying or story. But all are +thoroughly and truly Rommany; for every one, after being brought into +shape, passed through a purely "unsophisticated" Gipsy mind, and was +finally declared to be _tacho_, or sound, by real Rommanis. The truth +is, that it is a difficult matter to hear a story among English Gipsies +which is not mangled or marred in the telling; so that to print it, +restitution and invention become inevitable. But with a man who lived in +a tent among the gorse and fern, and who intermitted his earnest +conversation with a little wooden bear to point out to me the gentleman +on horseback riding over the two beautiful little girls in the flowers on +the carpet, such fables as I have given sprang up of themselves, owing +nothing to books, though they often required the influence of a better +disciplined mind to guide them to a consistent termination. + +The Rommany English Vocabulary which I propose shall follow this work is +many times over more extensive than any ever before published, and it +will also be found interesting to all philologists by its establishing +the very curious fact that this last wave of the primitive Aryan-Indian +ocean which spread over Europe, though it has lost the original form in +its subsidence and degradation, consists of the same substance--or, in +other words, that although the grammar has wellnigh disappeared, the +words are almost without exception the same as those used in India, +Germany, Hungary, or Turkey. It is generally believed that English Gipsy +is a mere jargon of the cant and slang of all nations, that of England +predominating; but a very slight examination of the Vocabulary will show +that during more than three hundred years in England the Rommany have not +admitted a single English word to what they correctly call their +language. I mean, of course, so far as my own knowledge of Rommany +extends. To this at least I can testify, that the Gipsy to whom I was +principally indebted for words, though he often used "slang," invariably +discriminated correctly between it and Rommany; and I have often admired +the extraordinary pride in their language which has induced the Gipsies +for so many generations to teach their children this difference. {0a} +Almost every word which my assistant declared to be Gipsy I have found +either in Hindustani or in the works of Pott, Liebich, or Paspati. On +this subject I would remark by the way, that many words which appear to +have been taken by the Gipsies from modern languages are in reality +Indian. + +And as I have honestly done what I could to give the English reader fresh +material on the Gipsies, and not a rewarming of that which was gathered +by others, I sincerely trust that I may not be held to sharp account (as +the authors of such books very often are) for not having given more or +done more or done it better than was really in my power. Gipsies in +England are passing away as rapidly as Indians in North America. They +keep among themselves the most singular fragments of their Oriental +origin; they abound in quaint characteristics, and yet almost nothing is +done to preserve what another generation will deeply regret the loss of. +There are complete dictionaries of the Dacotah and many other American +Indian languages, and every detail of the rude life of those savages has +been carefully recorded; while the autobiographic romances of Mr Borrow +and Mr Simson's History contain nearly all the information of any value +extant relative to the English Gipsies. Yet of these two writers, Mr +Borrow is the only one who had, so to speak, an inside view of his +subject, or was a philologist. + +In conclusion I would remark, that if I have not, like many writers on +the poor Gipsies, abused them for certain proverbial faults, it has been +because they never troubled me with anything very serious of the kind, or +brought it to my notice; and I certainly never took the pains to hunt it +up to the discredit of people who always behaved decently to me. I have +found them more cheerful, polite, and grateful than the lower orders of +other races in Europe or America; and I believe that where their respect +and sympathy are secured, they are quite as upright. Like all people who +are regarded as outcasts, they are very proud of being trusted, and under +this influence will commit the most daring acts of honesty. And with +this I commend my book to the public. Should it be favourably received, +I will add fresh reading to it; in any case I shall at least have the +satisfaction of knowing that I did my best to collect material +illustrating a very curious and greatly-neglected subject. It is merely +as a collection of material that I offer it; let those who can use it, do +what they will with it. + +If I have not given in this book a sketch of the history of the Gipsies, +or statistics of their numbers, or accounts of their social condition in +different countries, it is because nearly everything of the kind may be +found in the works of George Borrow and Walter Simson, which are in all +respectable libraries, and may be obtained from any bookseller. + +I would remark to any impatient reader for mere entertainment, who may +find fault with the abundance of Rommany or Gipsy language in the +following pages, that _the principal object of the Author was to collect +and preserve such specimens of a rapidly-vanishing language_, and that +the title-page itself indirectly indicates such an object. I have, +however, invariably given with the Gipsy a translation immediately +following the text in plain English--at times very plain--in order that +the literal meaning of words may be readily apprehended. I call especial +attention to this fact, so that no one may accuse me of encumbering my +pages with Rommany. + +While writing this book, or in fact after the whole of the first part was +written, I passed a winter in Egypt; and as that country is still +supposed by many people to be the fatherland of the Gipsies, and as very +little is known relative to the Rommany there, I have taken the liberty +of communicating what I could learn on the subject, though it does not +refer directly to the Gipsies of England. Those who are interested in +the latter will readily pardon the addition. + +There are now in existence about three hundred works on the Gipsies, but +of the entire number comparatively few contain fresh material gathered +from the Rommany themselves. Of late years the first philologists of +Europe have taken a great interest in their language, which is now +included in "Die Sprachen Europas" as the only Indian tongue spoken in +this quarter of the world; and I believe that English Gipsy is really the +only strongly-distinct Rommany dialect which has never as yet been +illustrated by copious specimens or a vocabulary of any extent. I +therefore trust that the critical reader will make due allowances for the +very great difficulties under which I have laboured, and not blame me for +not having done better that which, so far as I can ascertain, would +possibly not have been done at all. Within the memory of man the popular +Rommany of this country was really grammatical; that which is now spoken, +and from which I gathered the material for the following pages, is, as +the reader will observe, almost entirely English as to its structure, +although it still abounds in Hindu words to a far greater extent than has +been hitherto supposed. + + + + +CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY. + + +The Rommany of the Roads.--The Secret of Vagabond Life in England.--Its +peculiar and thoroughly hidden Nature.--Gipsy Character and the Causes +which formed it.--Moral Results of hungry Marauding.--Gipsy ideas of +Religion. The Scripture story of the Seven Whistlers.--The Baker's +Daughter.--Difficulties of acquiring Rommany.--The Fable of the Cat.--The +Chinese, the American Indian, and the Wandering Gipsy. + +Although the valuable and curious works of Mr George Borrow have been in +part for more than twenty years before the British public, {1} it may +still be doubted whether many, even of our scholars, are aware of the +remarkable, social, and philological facts which are connected with an +immense proportion of our out-of-door population. There are, indeed, +very few people who know, that every time we look from the window into a +crowded street, the chances are greatly in favour of the assertion, that +we shall see at least one man who bears in his memory some hundreds of +Sanscrit roots, and that man English born; though it was probably in the +open air, and English bred, albeit his breeding was of the roads. + +For go where you will, though you may not know it, you encounter at every +step, in one form or the other, _the Rommany_. True, the dwellers in +tents are becoming few and far between, because the "close cultivation" +of the present generation, which has enclosed nearly all the waste land +in England, has left no spot in many a day's journey, where "the +travellers," as they call themselves, can light the fire and boil the +kettle undisturbed. There is almost "no tan to hatch," or place to stay +in. So it has come to pass, that those among them who cannot settle down +like unto the Gentiles, have gone across the Great Water to America, +which is their true Canaan, where they flourish mightily, the more +enterprising making a good thing of it, by _prastering graias_ or +"running horses," or trading in them, while the idler or more moral ones, +pick up their living as easily as a mouse in a cheese, on the endless +roads and in the forests. And so many of them have gone there, that I am +sure the child is now born, to whom the sight of a real old-fashioned +gipsy will be as rare in England as a Sioux or Pawnee warrior in the +streets of New York or Philadelphia. But there is a modified and yet +real Rommany-dom, which lives and will live with great vigour, so long as +a regularly organised nomadic class exists on our roads--and it is the +true nature and inner life of this class which has remained for ages, an +impenetrable mystery to the world at large. A member of it may be a +tramp and a beggar, the proprietor of some valuable travelling show, a +horse-dealer, or a tinker. He may be eloquent, as a Cheap Jack, noisy as +a Punch, or musical with a fiddle at fairs. He may "peddle" pottery, +make and sell skewers and clothes-pegs, or vend baskets in a caravan; he +may keep cock-shys and Aunt Sallys at races. But whatever he may be, +depend upon it, reader, that among those who follow these and similar +callings which he represents, are literally many thousands who, +unsuspected by the _Gorgios_, are known to one another, and who still +speak among themselves, more or less, that curious old tongue which the +researches of the greatest living philologists have indicated, is in all +probability not merely allied to Sanscrit, but perhaps in point of age, +an elder though vagabond sister or cousin of that ancient language. + +For THE ROMMANY is the characteristic leaven of all the real tramp life +and nomadic callings of Great Britain. And by this word I mean not the +language alone, which is regarded, however, as a test of superior +knowledge of "the roads," but a curious _inner life_ and freemasonry of +secret intelligence, ties of blood and information, useful to a class who +have much in common with one another, and very little in common with the +settled tradesman or worthy citizen. The hawker whom you meet, and whose +blue eyes and light hair indicate no trace of Oriental blood, may not be +a _churdo_, or _pash-ratt_, or half-blood, or _half-scrag_, as a full +Gipsy might contemptuously term him, but he may be, of his kind, a +quadroon or octoroon, or he may have "gipsified," by marrying a Gipsy +wife; and by the way be it said, such women make by far the best wives to +be found among English itinerants, and the best suited for "a traveller." +But in any case he has taken pains to pick up all the Gipsy he can. If +he is a tinker, he knows _Kennick_, or cant, or thieves' slang by nature, +but the Rommany, which has very few words in common with the former, is +the true language of the mysteries; in fact, it has with him become, +strangely enough, what it was originally, a sort of sacred Sanscrit, +known only to the Brahmins of the roads, compared to which the other +language is only commonplace _Prakrit_, which anybody may acquire. + +He is proud of his knowledge, he makes of it a deep mystery; and if you, +a gentleman, ask him about it, he will probably deny that he ever heard +of its existence. Should he be very thirsty, and your manners frank and +assuring, it is, however, not impossible that after draining a pot of +beer at your expense, he may recall, with a grin, the fact that he _has_ +heard that the Gipsies have a queer kind of language of their own; and +then, if you have any Rommany yourself at command, he will perhaps +_rakker Rommanis_ with greater or less fluency. Mr Simeon, in his +"History of the Gipsies," asserts that there is not a tinker or scissors- +grinder in Great Britain who cannot talk this language, and my own +experience agrees with his declaration, to this extent--that they all +have some knowledge of it, or claim to have it, however slight it may be. + +So rare is a knowledge of Rommany among those who are not connected in +some way with Gipsies, that the slightest indication of it is invariably +taken as an irrefutable proof of relationship with them. It is but a few +weeks since, as I was walking along the Marine Parade in Brighton, I +overtook a tinker. Wishing him to sharpen some tools for me, I directed +him to proceed to my home, and _en route_ spoke to him in Gipsy. As he +was quite fair in complexion, I casually remarked, "I should have never +supposed you could speak Rommany--you don't look like it." To which he +replied, very gravely, in a tone as of gentle reproach, "You don't look a +Gipsy yourself, sir; but you know you _are_ one--_you talk like one_." + +Truly, the secret of the Rommany has been well kept in England. It seems +so to me when I reflect that, with the exception of Lavengro and the +Rommany Rye, {5} I cannot recall a single novel, in our language, in +which the writer has shown familiarity with the _real_ life, habits, or +language of the vast majority of that very large class, the itinerants of +the roads. Mr Dickens has set before us Cheap Jacks, and a number of men +who were, in their very face, of the class of which I speak; but I cannot +recall in his writings any indication that he knew that these men had a +singular secret life with their _confreres_, or that they could speak a +strange language; for we may well call that language strange which is, in +the main, Sanscrit, with many Persian words intermingled. Mr Dickens, +however, did not pretend, as some have done, to specially treat of +Gipsies, and he made no affectation of a knowledge of any mysteries. He +simply reflected popular life as he saw it. But there are many novels +and tales, old and new, devoted to setting forth Rommany life and +conversation, which are as much like the originals as a Pastor Fido is +like a common shepherd. One novel which I once read, is so full of "the +dark blood," that it might almost be called a gipsy novel. The hero is a +gipsy; he lives among his kind--the book is full of them; and yet, with +all due respect to its author, who is one of the most gifted and best- +informed romance writers of the century, I must declare that, from +beginning to end, there is not in the novel the slightest indication of +any real and familiar knowledge of gipsies. Again, to put thieves' slang +into the mouths of gipsies, as their natural and habitual language, has +been so much the custom, from Sir Walter Scott to the present day, that +readers are sometimes gravely assured in good faith that this jargon is +pure Rommany. But this is an old error in England, since the vocabulary +of cant appended to the "English Rogue," published in 1680, was long +believed to be Gipsy; and Captain Grose, the antiquary, who should have +known better, speaks with the same ignorance. + +It is, indeed, strange to see learned and shrewd writers, who pride +themselves on truthfully depicting every element of European life, and +every type of every society, so ignorant of the habits, manners, and +language of thousands of really strange people who swarm on the highways +and bye-ways! We have had the squire and the governess, my lord and all +Bohemia--Bohemia, artistic and literary--but where are our _Vrais +Bohemiens_?--Out of Lavengro and Rommany Rye--nowhere. Yet there is to +be found among the children of Rom, or the descendants of the worshippers +of Rama, or the Doms or Coptic Romi, whatever their ancestors may have +been, more that is quaint and adapted to the purposes of the novelist, +than is to be found in any other class of the inhabitants of England. You +may not detect a trace of it on the roads; but once become truly +acquainted with a fair average specimen of a Gipsy, pass many days in +conversation with him, and above all acquire his confidence and respect, +and you will wonder that such a being, so entirely different from +yourself, could exist in Europe in the nineteenth century. It is said +that those who can converse with Irish peasants in their own native +tongue, form far higher opinions of their appreciation of the beautiful, +and of the elements of humour and pathos in their hearts, than do those +who know their thoughts only through the medium of English. I know from +my own observation that this is quite the case with the Indians of North +America, and it is unquestionably so with the Gipsy. When you know a +true specimen to the depths of his soul, you will find a character so +entirely strange, so utterly at variance with your ordinary conceptions +of humanity, that it is no exaggeration whatever to declare that it would +be a very difficult task for the best writer to convey to the most +intelligent reader an idea of his subject's nature. You have in him, to +begin with, a being whose every condition of life is in direct +contradiction to what you suppose every man's life in England must be. "I +was born in the open air," said a Gipsy to me a few days since; "and put +me down anywhere, in the fields or woods, I can always support myself." +Understand me, he did not mean by pilfering, since it was of America that +we were speaking, and of living in the lonely forests. We pity with +tears many of the poor among us, whose life is one of luxury compared to +that which the Gipsy, who despises them, enjoys with a zest worth more +than riches. + +"What a country America must be," quoth Pirengro, the Walker, to me, on +the occasion just referred to. "Why, my pal, who's just welled apopli +from dovo tem--(my brother, who has just returned from that country), +tells me that when a cow or anything dies there, they just chuck it away, +and nobody ask a word for any of it." "What would _you_ do," he +continued, "if you were in the fields and had nothing to eat?" + +I replied, "that if any could be found, I should hunt for fern-roots." + +"I could do better than that," he said. "I should hunt for a +_hotchewitchi_,--a hedge-hog,--and I should be sure to find one; there's +no better eating." + +Whereupon assuming his left hand to be an imaginary hedge-hog, he +proceeded to score and turn and dress it for ideal cooking with a case- +knife. + +"And what had you for dinner to-day?" I inquired. + +"Some cocks' heads. They're very fine--very fine indeed!" + +Now it is curious but true that there is no person in the world more +particular as to what he eats than the half-starved English or Irish +peasant, whose sufferings have so often been set forth for our +condolence. We may be equally foolish, you and I--in fact chemistry +proves it--when we are disgusted at the idea of feeding on many things +which mere association and superstition render revolting. But the old +fashioned gipsy has none of these qualms--he is haunted by no ghost of +society--save the policeman, he knows none of its terrors. Whatever is +edible he eats, except horse-meat; wherever there is an empty spot he +sleeps; and the man who can do this devoid of shame, without caring a pin +for what the world says--nay, without even knowing that he does not care, +or that he is peculiar--is independent to a degree which of itself +confers a character which is not easy to understand. + +I grew up as a young man with great contempt for Helvetius, D'Holbach, +and all the French philosophers of the last century, whose ideal man was +a perfect savage; but I must confess that since I have studied gipsy +nature, my contempt has changed into wonder where they ever learned in +their _salons_ and libraries enough of humanity to theorise so boldly, +and with such likeness to truth, as they did. It is not merely in the +absolute out-of-doors independence of the old-fashioned Gipsy, freer than +any wild beast from care for food, that his resemblance to a +"philosopher" consists, or rather to the ideal man, free from imaginary +cares. For more than this, be it for good or for evil, the real Gipsy +has, unlike all other men, unlike the lowest savage, positively no +religion, no tie to a spiritual world, no fear of a future, nothing but a +few trifling superstitions and legends, which in themselves indicate no +faith whatever in anything deeply seated. It would be difficult, I +think, for any highly civilised man, who had not studied Thought deeply, +and in a liberal spirit, to approach in the least to a rational +comprehension of a real Gipsy mind. During my life it has been my +fortune to become intimate with men who were "absolutely" or "positively" +free-thinkers--men who had, by long study and mere logic, completely +freed themselves from any mental tie whatever. Such men are rare; it +requires an enormous amount of intellectual culture, an unlimited +expenditure of pains in the metaphysical hot-bed, and tremendous self- +confidence to produce them--I mean "the real article." Among the most +thorough of these, a man on whom utter and entire freedom of thought sat +easily and unconsciously, was a certain German doctor of philosophy named +P---. To him God and all things were simply ideas of development. The +last remark which I can recall from him was "_Ja, ja_. We advanced +Hegelians agree exactly on the whole with the Materialists." Now, to my +mind, nothing seems more natural than that, when sitting entire days +talking with an old Gipsy, no one rises so frequently from the past +before me as Mr P---. To him all religion represented a portion of the +vast mass of frozen, petrified developments, which simply impede the +march of intelligent minds; to my Rommany friend, it is one of the +thousand inventions of _gorgio_ life, which, like policemen, are simply +obstacles to Gipsies in the search of a living, and could he have grasped +the circumstances of the case, he would doubtless have replied "_Avali_, +we Gipsies agree on the whole exactly with Mr P---." Extremes meet. + +One Sunday an old Gipsy was assuring me, with a great appearance of +piety, that on that day she neither told fortunes nor worked at any kind +of labour--in fact, she kept it altogether correctly. + +"_Avali_, _dye_," I replied. "Do you know what the Gipsies in Germany +say became of their church?" + +"_Kek_," answered the old lady. "No. What is it?" + +"They say that the Gipsies' church was made of pork, and the dogs ate +it." + +Long, loud, and joyously affirmative was the peal of laughter with which +the Gipsies welcomed this characteristic story. + +So far as research and the analogy of living tribes of the same race can +establish a fact, it would seem that the Gipsies were, previous to their +quitting India, not people of high caste, but wandering Pariahs, +outcasts, foes to the Brahmins, and unbelievers. All the Pariahs are not +free-thinkers, but in India, the Church, as in Italy, loses no time in +making of all detected free-thinkers Pariahs. Thus we are told, in the +introduction to the English translation of that very curious book, "The +Tales of the Gooroo Simple," which should be read by every scholar, that +all the true literature of the country--that which has life, and freedom, +and humour--comes from the Pariahs. And was it different in those days, +when Rabelais, and Von Hutten, and Giordano Bruno were, in their wise, +Pariahs and Gipsies, roving from city to city, often wanting bread and +dreading fire, but asking for nothing but freedom? + +The more I have conversed intimately with Gipsies, the more have I been +struck by the fact, that my mingled experiences of European education and +of life in the Far West of America have given me a basis of mutual +intelligence which had otherwise been utterly wanting. I, myself, have +known in a wild country what it is to be half-starved for many days--to +feel that all my thoughts and intellectual exertions, hour by hour, were +all becoming centered on one subject--how to get something to eat. I +felt what it was to be wolfish and even ravening; and I noted, step by +step, in myself, how a strange sagacity grew within me--an art of +detecting food. It was during the American war, and there were thousands +of us pitifully starved. When we came near some log hut I began at once +to surmise, if I saw a flour sack lying about, that there was a mill not +far distant; perhaps flour or bread in the house; while the dwellers in +the hut were closely scanned to judge from their appearance if they were +well fed, and of a charitable disposition. It is a melancholy thing to +recall; but it is absolutely necessary for a thinker to have once lived +such a life, that he may be able to understand what is the intellectual +status of those fellow beings whose whole life is simply a hunt for +enough food to sustain life, and enough beer to cheer it. + +I have spoken of the Gipsy fondness for the hedgehog. Richard Liebich, +in his book, _Die Zigeuner in ihrem Wesen und in ihrer Sprache_, tells +his readers that the only indication of a belief in a future state which +he ever detected in an old Gipsy woman, was that she once dreamed she was +in heaven. It appeared to her as a large garden, full of fine fat +hedgehogs. "This is," says Mr Liebich, "unquestionably very earthly, and +dreamed very sensuously; reminding us of Mahommed's paradise, which in +like manner was directed to the animal and not to the spiritual nature, +only that here were hedgehogs and there houris." + +Six or seven thousand years of hungry-marauding, end by establishing +strange points of difference between the mind of a Gipsy and a well-to-do +citizen. It has starved God out of the former; he inherited unbelief +from his half fed Pariah ancestors, and often retains it, even in +England, to this day, with many other unmistakable signs of his Eastern- +jackal origin. And strange as it may seem to you, reader, his +intercourse with Christians has all over Europe been so limited, that he +seldom really knows what religion is. The same Mr Liebich tells us that +one day he overheard a Gipsy disputing with his wife as to what was the +true character of the belief of the Gentiles. Both admitted that there +was a great elder grown up God (the _baro puro dewel_), and a smaller +younger God (the _tikno tarno dewel_). But the wife maintained, +appealing to Mr Liebich for confirmation, that the great God no longer +reigned, having abdicated in favour of the Son, while the husband +declared that the Great older God died long ago, and that the world was +now governed by the little God who was, however, not the son of his +predecessor, but of a poor carpenter. + +I have never heard of any such nonsense among the English wandering +Gipsies with regard to Christianity, but at the same time I must admit +that their ideas of what the Bible contains are extremely vague. One day +I was sitting with an old Gipsy, discussing Rommany matters, when he +suddenly asked me what the word was in the _waver temmeny jib_, or +foreign Gipsy, for The Seven Stars. + +"That would be," I said, "the _Efta Sirnie_. I suppose your name for it +is the Hefta Pens. There is a story that once they were seven sisters, +but one of them was lost, and so they are called seven to this day--though +there are only six. And their right name is the Pleiades." + +"That _gudlo_--that story," replied the gipsy, "is like the one of the +Seven Whistlers, which you know is in the Scriptures." + +"What!" + +"At least they told me so; that the Seven Whistlers are seven spirits of +ladies who fly by night, high in the air, like birds. And it says in the +Bible that once on a time one got lost, and never came back again, and +now the six whistles to find her. But people calls 'em the Seven +Whistlers--though there are only six--exactly the same as in your story +of the stars." + +"It's queer," resumed my Gipsy, after a pause, "how they always tells +these here stories by Sevens. Were you ever on Salisbury Plain?" + +"No!" + +"There are great stones there--_bori bars_--and many a night I've slept +there in the moonlight, in the open air, when I was a boy, and listened +to my father tellin' me about the Baker. For there's seven great +stories, and they say that hundreds of years ago a baker used to come +with loaves of bread, and waste it all a tryin' to make seven loaves +remain at the same place, one on each stone. But one all'us fell off, +and to this here day he's never yet been able to get all seven on the +seven stones." + +I think that my Gipsy told this story in connection with that of the +Whistlers, because he was under the impression that it also was of +Scriptural origin. It is, however, really curious that the Gipsy term +for an owlet is the _Maromengro's Chavi_, or Baker's Daughter, and that +they are all familiar with the monkish legend which declares that Jesus, +in a baker's shop, once asked for bread. The mistress was about to give +him a large cake, when her daughter declared it was too much, and +diminished the gift by one half. + + "He nothing said, + But by the fire laid down the bread, + When lo, as when a blossom blows-- + To a vast loaf the manchet rose; + In angry wonder, standing by, + The girl sent forth a wild, rude cry, + And, feathering fast into a fowl, + Flew to the woods a wailing owl." + +According to Eilert Sundt, who devoted his life to studying the _Fanten +and Tataren_, or vagabonds and Gipsies of Sweden and Norway, there is a +horrible and ghastly semblance among them of something like a religion, +current in Scandinavia. Once a year, by night, the Gipsies of that +country assemble for the purpose of un-baptizing all of their children +whom they have, during the year, suffered to be baptized for the sake of +gifts, by the Gorgios. On this occasion, amid wild orgies, they worship +a small idol, which is preserved until the next meeting with the greatest +secresy and care by their captain. I must declare that this story seems +very doubtful to me. + +I have devoted this chapter to illustrating from different points the +fact that there lives in England a race which has given its impress to a +vast proportion of our vagabond population, and which is more curious and +more radically distinct in all its characteristics, than our writers, +with one or two exceptions, have ever understood. One extraordinary +difference still remains to be pointed out--as it has, in fact, already +been, with great acumen, by Mr George Borrow, in his "Gipsies in Spain," +and by Dr Alexander Paspati, in his "Etudes sur les Tchinghianes ou +Bohemiens de l'Empire Ottoman" (Constantinople, 1870); also by Mr Bright, +in his "Hungary," and by Mr Simson. It is this, that in every part of +the world it is extremely difficult to get Rommany words, even from +intelligent gipsies, although they may be willing with all their heart to +communicate them. It may seem simple enough to the reader to ask a man +"How do you call 'to carry' in your language?" But can the reader +understand that a man, who is possibly very much shrewder than himself in +reading at a glance many phases of character, and in countless +trickeries, should be literally unable to answer such a question? And +yet I have met with many such. The truth is, that there are people in +this world who never had such a thing as an abstract idea, let us say +even of an apple, plumped suddenly at them--not once in all their +lives--and, when it came, the unphilosophical mind could no more grasp +it, than the gentleman mentioned by G. H. Lewes (History of Philosophy), +could grasp the idea of substance without attribute as presented by +Berkeley. The real Gipsy could talk about apples all day, but the sudden +demand for the unconnected word, staggers him--at least, until he has had +some practice in this, to him, new process. And it is so with other +races. Professor Max Muller once told me in conversation, as nearly as I +can recollect, that the Mohawk Indian language is extremely rich in +declension, every noun having some sixteen or seventeen inflexions of +case, but no nominative. One can express one's relations to a father to +a most extraordinary extent, among the dilapidated descendants of that +once powerful tribe. But such a thing as the abstract idea of _a_ +father, or of 'father' _pur et simple_, never entered the Mohawk mind, +and this is very like the Gipsies. + +When a rather wild Gipsy once gives you a word, it must be promptly +recorded, for a demand for its repetition at once confuses him. _On doit +saisir le mot echappe au Nomade, et ne pas l'obliger a le repeter, car il +le changera selon so, facon_, says Paspati. Unused to abstract efforts +of memory, all that he can retain is the sense of his last remark, and +very often this is changed with the fleeting second by some associated +thought, which materially modifies it. It is always difficult, in +consequence, to take down a story in the exact terms which a philologist +desires. There are two words for "bad" in English Gipsy, _wafro_ and +_vessavo_; and I think it must have taken me ten minutes one day to +learn, from a by no means dull gipsy, whether the latter word was known +to him, or if it were used at all. He got himself into a hopeless tangle +in trying to explain the difference between _wafro_ and _naflo_, or ill, +until his mind finally refused to act on _vessavo_ at all, and +spasmodically rejected it. With all the patience of Job, and the +meekness of Moses, I awaited my time, and finally obtained my +information. + +The impatience of such minds in narrative is amusing. Let us suppose +that I am asking some _kushto Rommany chal_ for a version of AEsop's +fable of the youth and the cat. He is sitting comfortably by the fire, +and good ale has put him into a story-telling humour. I begin-- + +"Now then, tell me this _adree Rommanis_, in Gipsy--Once upon a time +there was a young man who had a cat." + +Gipsy.--"_Yeckorus--'pre yeck cheirus_--_a raklo lelled a matchka_"-- + +While I am writing this down, and long before it is half done, the +professor of Rommany, becoming interested in the subject, continues +volubly-- + +--"_an' the matchka yeck sala dicked a chillico apre a rukk_--(and the +cat one morning saw a bird in a tree"--) + +I.--"Stop, stop! _Hatch a wongish_! That is not it! Now go on. _The +young man loved this cat so much_"-- + +_Gipsy_ (fluently, in Rommany), "that he thought her skin would make a +nice pair of gloves"-- + +"Confound your gloves! Now do begin again"-- + +_Gipsy_, with an air of grief and injury: "I'm sure I was telling the +story for you the best way I knew how!" + +Yet this man was far from being a fool. What was it, then? Simply and +solely, a lack of education--of that mental training which even those who +never entered a schoolhouse, receive more or less of, when they so much +as wait patiently for a month behind a chair, or tug for six months at a +plough, or in short, acquire the civilised virtue of Christian patience. +That is it. We often hear in this world that a little education goes a +great way; but to get some idea of the immense value of a very little +education indeed, and the incredible effect it may have upon character, +one should study with gentleness and patience a real Gipsy. + +Probably the most universal error in the world is the belief that all +men, due allowance being made for greater or less knowledge, or +"talents," have minds like our own; are endowed with the same moral +perception, and see things on the whole very much as we do. Now the +truth is that a Chinese, whose mind is formed, not by "religion" as we +understand it, but simply by the intense pressure of "Old Custom," which +we do not understand, thinks in a different manner from an European; +moralists accuse him of "moral obliquity," but in reality it is a moral +difference. Docility of mind, the patriarchal principle, and the very +perfection of innumerable wise and moral precepts have, by the practice +of thousands of years, produced in him their natural result. Whenever he +attempts to think, his mind runs at once into some broad and open path, +beautifully bordered with dry artificial flowers, {21} and the result has +been the inability to comprehend any new idea--a state to which the +Church of the Middle Ages, or any too rigidly established system, would +in a few thousand years have reduced humanity. Under the action of +widely different causes, the gipsy has also a different cast of mind from +our own, and a radical moral difference. A very few years ago, when I +was on the Plains of Western Kansas, old Black Kettle, a famous Indian +chief said in a speech, "I am not a white man, I am a _wolf_. I was born +like a wolf on the prairies. I have lived like a wolf, and I shall die +like one." Such is the wild gipsy. Ever poor and hungry, theft seems to +him, in the trifling easy manner in which he practises it, simply a +necessity. The moral aspects of petty crime he never considers at all, +nor does he, in fact, reflect upon anything as it is reflected on by the +humblest peasant who goes to church, or who in any way feels himself +connected as an integral part of that great body-corporate--Society. + + + + +CHAPTER II. A GIPSY COTTAGE. + + +The Old Fortune-Teller and her Brother.--The Patteran, or Gipsies' Road- +Mark .--The Christian Cross, named by Continental Gipsies Trushul, after +the Trident of Siva.--Curious English-Gipsy term for the Cross.--Ashwood +Fires on Christmas Day.--Our Saviour regarded with affection by the +Rommany because he was like themselves and poor.--Strange ideas of the +Bible.--The Oak.--Lizards renew their lives.--Snails.--Slugs.--Tobacco +Pipes as old as the world. + +"Duveleste; Avo. Mandy's kaired my patteran adusta chairuses where a +drum jals atut the waver," which means in English--"God bless you, yes. +Many a time I have marked my sign where the roads cross." + +I was seated in the cottage of an old Gipsy mother, one of the most noted +fortune-tellers in England, when I heard this from her brother, himself +an ancient wanderer, who loves far better to hear the lark sing than the +mouse cheep when he wakes of a morning. + +It was a very small but clean cottage, of the kind quite peculiar to the +English labourer, and therefore attractive to every one who has felt the +true spirit of the most original poetry and art which this country has +produced. For look high or low, dear reader, you will find that nothing +has ever been better done in England than the pictures of rural life, and +over nothing have its gifted minds cast a deeper charm. + +There were the little rough porcelain figures of which the English +peasantry are so fond, and which, cheap as they are, indicate that the +taste of your friends Lady --- for Worcester "porcelain," or the Duchess +of --- for Majolica, has its roots among far humbler folk. In fact there +were perhaps twenty things which no English reader would have supposed +were peculiar, yet which were something more than peculiar to me. The +master of the house was an Anglo-Saxon--a Gorgio--and his wife, by some +magic or other, the oracle before-mentioned. + +And I, answering said-- + +"So you all call it _patteran_?" {24} + +"No; very few of us know that name. We do it without calling it +anything." + +Then I took my stick and marked on the floor the following sign-- + +[Sign: ill24.jpg] + +"There," I said, "is the oldest patteran--first of all--which the Gipsies +use to-day in foreign lands. In Germany, when one band of Gipsies goes +by a cross road, they draw that deep in the dust, with the end of the +longest line pointing in the direction in which they have gone. Then, +the next who come by see the mark, and, if they choose, follow it." + +"We make it differently," said the Gipsy. "This is our sign--the _trin +bongo drums_, or cross." And he drew his patteran thus-- + +[Cross: ill25.jpg] + +"The long end points the way," he added; "just as in your sign." + +"You call a cross," I remarked, "_trin bongo drums_, or the three crooked +roads. Do you know any such word as _trushul_ for it?" + +"No; _trushilo_ is thirsty, and _trushni_ means a faggot, and also a +basket." + +"I shouldn't wonder if a faggot once got the old Rommany word for cross," +I said, "because in it every stick is crossed by the wooden _withy_ which +binds it; and in a basket, every wooden strip crosses the other." + +I did not, however, think it worth while to explain to the Gipsies that +when their ancestors, centuries ago, left India, it was with the memory +that Shiva, the Destroyer, bore a trident, the tri-cula in Sanscrit, the +_trisul_ of Mahadeva in Hindustani, and that in coming to Europe the +resemblance of its shape to that of the Cross impressed them, so that +they gave to the Christian symbol the name of the sacred triple spear. +{26} For if you turn up a little the two arms of a cross, you change the +emblem of suffering and innocence at once into one of murder--just as +ever so little a deviation from goodness will lead you, my dear boy, into +any amount of devilry. + +And that the unfailing lucid flash of humour may not be wanting, there +lightens on my mind the memory of _The Mysterious Pitchfork_--a German +satirical play which made a sensation in its time--and Herlossohn in his +romance of _Der Letzte Taborit_ (which helped George Sand amazingly in +Consuelo), makes a Gipsy chieftain appear in a wonderfully puzzling light +by brandishing, in fierce midnight dignity, this agricultural parody on +Neptune's weapon, which brings me nicely around to my Gipsies again. + +If I said nothing to the inmates of the cottage of all that the _trushul_ +or cross trident suggested, still less did I vex their souls with the +mystic possible meaning of the antique _patteran_ or sign which I had +drawn. For it has, I opine, a deep meaning, which as one who knew +Creuzer of old, I have a right to set forth. Briefly, then, and without +encumbering my book with masses of authority, let me state that in all +early lore, the _road_ is a symbol of life; Christ himself having used it +in this sense. Cross roads were peculiarly meaning-full as indicating +the meet-of life with life, of good with evil, a faith of which abundant +traces are preserved in the fact that until the present generation +suicides were buried at them, and magical rites and diabolic incantations +are supposed to be most successful when practised in such places. The +English _path_, the Gipsy patteran, the Rommany-Hindu _pat_, a foot, and +the Hindu _panth_, a road, all meet in the Sanscrit _path_, which was the +original parting of the ways. Now the _patteran_ which I have drawn, +like the Koua of the Chinese or the mystical _Swastika_ of the Buddhists, +embraces the long line of life, or of the infinite and the short, or +broken lines of the finite, and, therefore, as an ancient magical Eastern +sign, would be most appropriately inscribed as a _sikker-paskero +dromescro_--or hand post--to show the wandering Rommany how to proceed on +their way of life. + +[Svastika: ill27.jpg] + +That the ordinary Christian Cross should be called by the English Gipsies +a _trin bongo drum_--or the three cross roads--is not remarkable when we +consider that their only association with it is that of a "wayshower," as +Germans would call it. To you, reader, it may be that it points the way +of eternal life; to the benighted Rommany-English-Hindoo, it indicates +nothing more than the same old weary track of daily travel; of wayfare +and warfare with the world, seeking food and too often finding none; +living for petty joys and driven by dire need; lying down with poverty +and rising with hunger, ignorant in his very wretchedness of a thousand +things which he _ought_ to want, and not knowing enough to miss them. + +Just as the reader a thousand, or perhaps only a hundred, years +hence--should a copy of this work be then extant--may pity the writer of +these lines for his ignorance of the charming comforts, as yet unborn, +which will render _his_ physical condition so delightful. To thee, oh, +future reader, I am what the Gipsy is to me! Wait, my dear boy of the +Future--wait--till _you_ get to heaven! + +Which is a long way off from the Gipsies. Let us return. We had spoken +_of patteran_, or of crosses by the way-side, and this led naturally +enough to speaking of Him who died on the Cross, and of wandering. And I +must confess that it was with great interest I learned that the Gipsies, +from a very singular and Rommany point of view, respect, and even pay +him, in common with the peasantry in some parts of England, a peculiar +honour. For this reason I bade the Gipsy carefully repeat his words, and +wrote them down accurately. I give them in the original, with a +translation. Let me first state that my informant was not quite clear in +his mind as to whether the Boro Divvus, or Great Day, was Christmas or +New Year's, nor was he by any means certain on which Christ was born. But +he knew very well that when it came, the Gipsies took great pains to burn +an ash-wood fire. + +"Avali--adusta cheirus I've had to jal dui or trin mees of a Boro Divvus +sig' in the sala, to lel ash-wood for the yag. That was when I was a +bitti chavo, for my dadas always would keravit. + +"An' we kairs it because foki pens our Saviour, the tikno Duvel was born +apre the Boro Divvus, 'pre the puv, avree in the temm, like we Rommanis, +and he was brought 'pre pash an ash yag--(_Why you can dick dovo adree +the Scriptures_!). + +"The ivy and holly an' pine rukks never pookered a lav when our Saviour +was gaverin' of his kokero, an' so they tools their jivaben saw (sar) the +wen, and dicks selno saw the besh; but the ash, like the surrelo rukk, +pukkered atut him, where he was gaverin, so they have to hatch mullo +adree the wen. And so we Rommany chals always hatchers an ash yag saw +the Boro Divvuses. For the tickno duvel was chivved a wadras 'pre the +puvius like a Rommany chal, and kistered apre a myla like a Rommany, an' +jalled pale the tem a mangin his moro like a Rom. An' he was always a +pauveri choro mush, like we, till he was nashered by the Gorgios. + +"An' he kistered apre a myla? Avali. Yeckorus he putchered the pash- +grai if he might kister her, but she pookered him _kek_. So because the +pash-grai wouldn't rikker him, she was sovahalled againsus never to be a +dye or lel tiknos. So she never lelled kek, nor any cross either. + +"Then he putchered the myla to rikker him, and she penned: 'Avali!' so he +pet a cross apre laki's dumo. And to the divvus the myla has a trin +bongo drum and latchers tiknos, but the pash-grai has kek. So the mylas +'longs of the Rommanis." + +(TRANSLATION.)--"Yes--many a time I've had to go two or three miles of a +Great Day (Christmas), early in the morning, to get ash-wood for the +fire. That was when I was a small boy, for my father always would do it. + +"And we do it because people say our Saviour, the small God, was born on +the Great Day, in the field, out in the country, like we Rommanis, and he +was brought up by an ash-fire." + +Here a sudden sensation of doubt or astonishment at my ignorance seemed +to occur to my informant, for he said,-- + +"Why, you can see that in the Scriptures!" + +To which I answered, "But the Gipsies have Scripture stories different +from those of the Gorgios, and different ideas about religion. Go on +with your story. Why do you burn ash-wood?" + +"The ivy, and holly, and pine trees, never told a word where our Saviour +was hiding himself, and so they keep alive all the winter, and look green +all the year. But the ash, like the oak (_lit_. strong tree), told of +him (_lit_. across, against him), where he was hiding, so they have to +remain dead through the winter. And so we Gipsies always burn an ash- +fire every Great Day. For the Saviour was born in the open field like a +Gipsy, and rode on an ass like one, and went round the land a begging his +bread like a Rom. And he was always a poor wretched man like us, till he +was destroyed by the Gentiles. + +"And He rode on an ass? Yes. Once he asked the mule if he might ride +her, but she told him no. So because the mule would not carry him, she +was cursed never to be a mother or have children. So she never had any, +nor any cross either. + +"Then he asked the ass to carry him, and she said 'Yes;' so he put a +cross upon her back. And to this day the ass has a cross and bears +young, but the mule has none. So the asses belong to (are peculiar to) +the Gipsies." + +There was a pause, when I remarked-- + +"That is a _fino gudlo_--a fine story; and all of it about an ash tree. +Can you tell me anything about the _surrelo rukk_--the strong tree--the +oak?" + +"Only what I've often heard our people say about its life." + +"And what is that?" + +"Dui hundred besh a hatchin, dui hundred besh nasherin his chuckko, dui +hundred besh 'pre he mullers, and then he nashers sar his ratt and he's +kekoomi kushto." {30} + +"That is good, too. There are a great many men who would like to live as +long." + +"_Tacho_, true. But an old coat can hold out better than a man. If a +man gets a hole in him he dies, but his _chukko_ (coat) can be _toofered_ +and _sivved apre_ (mended and sewed up) for ever. So, unless a man could +get a new life every year, as they say the _hepputs_, the little lizards +do, he needn't hope to live like an oak." + +"Do the lizards get a new life every year?" + +"_Avali_. A _hepput_ only lives one year, and then he begins life over +again." + +"Do snails live as long as lizards?" + +"Not when I find 'em rya--if I am hungry. Snails are good eating. {32} +You can find plenty on the hedges. When they're going about in the +fields or (are found) under wood, they are not good eating. The best are +those which are kept, or live through (literally _sleep_) the winter. +Take 'em and wash 'em and throw 'em into the kettle, with water and a +little salt. The broth's good for the yellow jaundice." + +"So you call a snail"-- + +"A bawris," said the old fortune-teller. + +"Bawris! The Hungarian Gipsies call it a _bouro_. But in Germany the +Rommanis say stargoli. I wonder why a snail should be a stargoli." + +"I know," cried the brother, eagerly. "When you put a snail on the fire +it cries out and squeaks just like a little child. Stargoli means 'four +cries.'" + +I had my doubts as to the accuracy of this startling derivation, but said +nothing. The same Gipsy on a subsequent occasion, being asked what he +would call a _roan_ horse in Rommany, replied promptly-- + +"A matchno grai"--a fish-horse. + +"Why a matchno grai?" + +"Because a fish has a roan (_i.e_., roe), hasn't it? Leastways I can't +come no nearer to it, if it ain't that." + +But he did better when I was puzzling my brain, as the learned Pott and +Zippel had done before me, over the possible origin of churro or tchurro, +"a ball, or anything round," when he suggested-- + +"Rya--I should say that as a _churro_ is round, and a _curro_ or cup is +round, and they both sound alike and look alike, it must be all werry +much the same thing." {33} + +"Can you tell me anything more about snails?" I asked, reverting to a +topic which, by the way, I have observed is like that of the hedgehog, a +favourite one with Gipsies. + +"Yes; you can cure warts with the big black kind that have no shells." + +"You mean slugs. I never knew they were fit to cure anything." + +"Why, that's one of the things that everybody knows. When you get a wart +on your hands, you go on to the road or into the field till you find a +slug, one of the large kind with no shell (literally, with no house upon +him), and stick it on the thorn of a blackthorn in a hedge, and as the +snail dies, one day after the other, for four or five days, the wart will +die away. Many a time I've told that to Gorgios, and Gorgios have done +it, and the warts have gone away (literally, cleaned away) from their +hands." {34} + +Here the Gipsy began to inquire very politely if smoking were offensive +to me; and as I assured him that it was not, he took out his pipe. And +knowing by experience that nothing is more conducive to sociability, be +it among Chippeways or Gipsies, than that smoking which is among our +Indians, literally a burnt-offering, {35} I produced a small clay pipe of +the time of Charles the Second, given to me by a gentleman who has the +amiable taste to collect such curiosities, and give them to his friends +under the express condition that they shall be smoked, and not laid away +as relics of the past. If you move in _etching_ circles, dear readers, +you will at once know to whom I refer. + +The quick eye of the Gipsy at once observed my pipe. + +"That is a _crow-swagler_--a crow-pipe," he remarked. + +"Why a crow-pipe?" + +"I don't know. Some Gipsies call 'em _mullos' swaglers_, or dead men's +pipes, because those who made 'em were dead long ago. There are places +in England where you can find 'em by dozens in the fields. I never +dicked (saw) one with so long a stem to it as yours. And they're old, +very old. What is it you call it before everything" (here he seemed +puzzled for a word) "when the world was a-making?" + +"The Creation." + +"Avali--that's it, the Creation. Well, them crow-swaglers was kaired at +the same time; they're hundreds--avali--thousands of beshes (years) old. +And sometimes we call the beng (devil) a swagler, or we calls a swagler +the beng." + +"Why?" + +"Because the devil lives in smoke." + + + + +CHAPTER III. THE GIPSY TINKER. + + +Difficulty of coming to an Understanding with Gipsies.--The +Cabman.--Rommany for French.--"Wanderlust."--Gipsy Politeness.--The +Tinker and the Painting.--Secrets of Bat-catching.--The Piper of Hamelin, +and the Tinker's Opinion of the Story.--The Walloon Tinker of Spa.--Argot. + +One summer day in London, in 1871, I was seated alone in an artist's +studio. Suddenly I heard without, beneath the window, the murmur of two +voices, and the sleepy, hissing, grating sound of a scissors-grinder's +wheel. + +By me lay a few tools, one of which, a chisel, was broken. I took it, +went softly to the window, and looked down. + +There was the wheel, including all the apparatus of a travelling tinker. +I looked to see if I could discover in the two men who stood by it any +trace of the Rommany. One, a fat, short, mind-his-own-business, ragged +son of the roads, who looked, however, as if a sturdy drinker might be +hidden in his shell, was evidently not my "affair." He seemed to be the +"Co." of the firm. + +But by him, and officiating at the wheeling smithy, stood a taller +figure--the face to me invisible--which I scrutinised more nearly. And +the instant I observed his _hat_ I said to myself, "This looks like it." + +For dilapidated, worn, wretched as that hat was, there was in it an +attempt, though indescribably humble, to be something melo-dramatic, +foreign, Bohemian, and poetic. It was the mere blind, dull, dead germ of +an effort--not even _life_--only the ciliary movement of an antecedent +embryo--and yet it _had_ got beyond Anglo-Saxondom. No costermonger, or +common cad, or true Englishman, ever yet had that indefinable touch of +the opera-supernumerary in the streets. It _was_ a sombrero. + +"That's the man for me," I said. So I called him, and gave him the +chisel, and after a while went down. He was grinding away, and touched +his hat respectfully as I approached. + +Now the reader is possibly aware that of all difficult tasks one of the +most difficult is to induce a disguised Gipsy, or even a professed one, +to utter a word of Rommany to a man not of the blood. Of this all +writers on the subject have much to say. For it is so black-swanish, I +may say so centenarian in unfrequency, for a gentleman to speak Gipsy, +that the Zingaro thus addressed is at once subjected to morbid +astonishment and nervous fears, which under his calm countenance and +infinite "cheek" are indeed concealed, but which speedily reduce +themselves to two categories. + +1. That Rommany is the language of men at war with the law; therefore +you are either a detective who has acquired it for no healthy purpose, or +else you yourself are a scamp so high up in the profession that it +behooves all the little fish of outlawdom to beware of you. + +2. Or else--what is quite as much to be dreaded--you are indeed a +gentleman, but one seeking to make fun of him, and possibly able to do +so. At any rate, your knowledge of Rommany is a most alarming coin of +vantage. Certainly, reader, you know that a regular London streeter, say +a cabman, would rather go to jail than be beaten in a chaffing match. I +nearly drove a hansom into sheer convulsions one night, about the time +this chapter happened, by a very light puzzler indeed. I had hesitated +between him and another. + +"You don't know _your own mind_," said the disappointed candidate to me. + +"_Mind your own_ business," I replied. It was a poor palindrome, {38} +reader--hardly worth telling--yet it settled him. But he swore--oh, of +course he did--he swore beautifully. + +Therefore, being moved to caution, I approached calmly and gazed +earnestly on the revolving wheel. + +"Do you know," I said, "I think a great deal of your business, and take a +great interest in it." + +"Yes, sir." + +"I can tell you all the names of your tools in French. You'd like to +hear them, wouldn't you?" + +"Wery much indeed, sir." + +So I took up the chisel. "This," I said, "is a _churi_, sometimes called +a _chinomescro_." + +"That's the French for it, is it, sir?" replied the tinker, gravely. Not +a muscle of his face moved. + +"The _coals_," I added, "are _hangars_ or _wongurs_, sometimes called +_kaulos_." + +"Never heerd the words before in my life," quoth the sedate tinker. + +"The bellows is a _pudemengro_. Some call it a _pishota_." + +"Wery fine language, sir, is French," rejoined the tinker. In every +instance he repeated the words after me, and pronounced them correctly, +which I had not invariably done. "Wery fine language. But it's quite +new to me." + +"You wouldn't think now," I said, affably, "that _I_ had ever been on the +roads!" + +The tinker looked at me from my hat to my boots, and solemnly replied-- + +"I should say it was wery likely. From your language, sir, wery likely +indeed." + +I gazed as gravely back as if I had not been at that instant the worst +sold man in London, and asked-- + +"Can you _rakher Rommanis_?" (_i.e_., speak Gipsy.) + +And _he_ said he _could_. + +Then we conversed. He spoke English intermingled with Gipsy, stopping +from time to time to explain to his assistant, or to teach him a word. +This portly person appeared to be about as well up in the English Gipsy +as myself--that is, he knew it quite as imperfectly. I learned that the +master had been in America, and made New York and Brooklyn glad by his +presence, while Philadelphia, my native city had been benefited as to its +scissors and morals by him. + +"And as I suppose you made money there, why didn't you remain?" I +inquired. + +The Gipsy--for he was really a Gipsy, and not a half-scrag--looked at me +wistfully, and apparently a little surprised that I should ask him such a +question. + +"Why, sir, _you_ know that _we_ can't keep still. Somethin' kept telling +me to move on, and keep a movin'. Some day I'll go back again." + +Suddenly--I suppose because a doubt of my perfect Freemasonry had been +aroused by my absurd question--he said, holding up a kettle-- + +"What do you call this here in Rommanis?" + +"I call it a _kekavi_ or a _kavi_," I said. "But it isn't _right_ +Rommany. It's Greek, which the Rommanichals picked up on their way +here." + +And here I would remark, by the way, that I have seldom spoken to a Gipsy +in England who did not try me on the word for kettle. + +"And what do you call a face?" he added. + +"I call a face a _mui_," I said, "and a nose a _nak_; and as for _mui_, I +call _rikker tiro mui_, 'hold your jaw.' That is German Rommany." + +The tinker gazed at me admiringly, and then said, "You're 'deep' Gipsy, I +see, sir--that's what _you_ are." + +"_Mo rov a jaw_; _mo rakker so drovan_?" I answered. "Don't talk so +loud; do you think I want all the Gorgios around here to know I talk +Gipsy? Come in; _jal adree the ker and pi a curro levinor_." + +The tinker entered. As with most Gipsies there was really, despite the +want of "education," a real politeness--a singular intuitive refinement +pervading all his actions, which indicated, through many centuries of +brutalisation, that fountain-source of all politeness--the Oriental. Many +a time I have found among Gipsies whose life, and food, and dress, and +abject ignorance, and dreadful poverty were far below that of most +paupers and prisoners, a delicacy in speaking to and acting before +ladies, and a tact in little things, utterly foreign to the great +majority of poor Anglo-Saxons, and not by any means too common in even +higher classes. + +For example, there was a basket of cakes on the table, which cakes were +made like soldiers in platoons. Now Mr Katzimengro, or Scissorman, as I +call him, not being familiar with the anatomy of such delicate and +winsome maro, or bread, was startled to find, when he picked up one +biscuit de Rheims, that he had taken a row. Instantly he darted at me an +astonished and piteous glance, which said-- + +"I cannot, with my black tinker fingers, break off and put the cakes back +again; I do not want to take all--it looks greedy." + +So I said, "Put them in your pocket." And he did so, quietly. I have +never seen anything done with a better grace. + +On the easel hung an unfinished picture, representing the Piper of +Hamelin surrounded by rats without number. The Gipsy appeared to be much +interested in it. + +"I used to be a rat-catcher myself," he said. "I learned the business +under old Lee, who was the greatest rat-catcher in England. I suppose +you know, of course, sir, how to _draw_ rats?" + +"Certainly," I replied. "Oil of rhodium. I have known a house to be +entirely cleared by it. There were just thirty-six rats in the house, +and they had a trap which held exactly twelve. For three nights they +caught a dozen, and that finished the congregation." + +"Aniseed is better," replied the Gipsy, solemnly. (By the way, another +and an older Gipsy afterwards told me that he used caraway-oil and the +heads of dried herrings.) "And if you've got a rat, sir, anywhere in +this here house, I'll bring it to you in five minutes." + +He did, in fact, subsequently bring the artist as models for the picture +two very pretty rats, which he had quite tamed while catching them. + +"But what does the picture mean, sir?" he inquired, with curiosity. + +"Once upon a time," I replied, "there was a city in Germany which was +overrun with rats. They teased the dogs and worried the cats, and bit +the babies in the cradle, and licked the soup from the cook's own ladle." + +"There must have been an uncommon lot of them, sir," replied the tinker, +gravely. + +"There was. Millions of them. Now in those days there were no +Rommanichals, and consequently no rat-catchers." + +"'Taint so now-a-days," replied the Gipsy, gloomily. "The business is +quite spiled, and not to get a livin' by." + +"Avo. And by the time the people had almost gone crazy, one day there +came a man--a Gipsy--the first Gipsy who had ever been seen in _dovo tem_ +(or that country). And he agreed for a thousand crowns to clear all the +rats away. So he blew on a pipe, and the rats all followed him out of +town." + +"What did he blow on a pipe for?" + +"Just for _hokkerben_, to humbug them. I suppose he had oils rubbed on +his heels. But when he had drawn the rats away and asked for his money, +they would not give it to him. So then, what do you think he did?" + +"I suppose--ah, I see," said the Gipsy, with a shrewd look. "He went and +drew 'em all back again." + +"No; he went, and this time piped all the children away. They all went +after him--all except one little lame boy--and that was the last of it." + +The Gipsy looked earnestly at me, and then, as if I puzzled, but with an +expression of perfect faith, he asked-- + +"And is that all _tacho_--all a fact--or is it made up, you know?" + +"Well, I think it is partly one and partly the other. You see, that in +those days Gipsies were very scarce, and people were very much astonished +at rat-drawing, and so they made a queer story of it." + +"But how about the children?" + +"Well," I answered; "I suppose you have heard occasionally that Gipsies +used to chore Gorgios' chavis--steal people's children?" + +Very grave indeed was the assent yielded to this explanation. He _had_ +heard it among other things. + +My dear Mr Robert Browning, I little thought, when I suggested to the +artist your poem of the piper, that I should ever retail the story in +Rommany to a tinker. But who knows with whom he may associate in this +life, or whither he may drift on the great white rolling sea of humanity? +Did not Lord Lytton, unless the preface to Pelham err, himself once tarry +in the tents of the Egyptians? and did not Christopher North also wander +with them, and sing-- + + "Oh, little did my mother think, + The day she cradled me, + The lands that I should travel in, + Or the death that I should dee; + Or gae rovin' about wi' tinkler loons, + And sic-like companie"? + +"You know, sir," said the Gipsy, "that we have two languages. For +besides the Rummany, there's the reg'lar cant, which all tinkers talk." + +"_Kennick_ you mean?" + +"Yes, sir; that's the Rummany for it. A 'dolly mort' is Kennick, but +it's _juva_ or _rakli_ in Rummanis. It's a girl, or a rom's _chi_." + +"You say _rom_ sometimes, and then _rum_." + +"There's _rums_ and _roms_, sir. The _rum_ is a Gipsy, and a _rom_ is a +husband." + +"That's your English way of calling it. All the rest of the world over +there is only one word among Gipsies, and that is _rom_." + +Now, the allusion to _Kennick_ or cant by a tinker, recalls an incident +which, though not strictly Gipsy in its nature, I will nevertheless +narrate. + +In the summer of 1870 I spent several weeks at Spa, in the Ardennes. One +day while walking I saw by the roadside a picturesque old tinker, looking +neither better nor worse than the grinder made immortal by Teniers. + +I was anxious to know if all of his craft in Belgium could speak Gipsy, +and addressed him in that language, giving him at the same time my knife +to grind. He replied politely in French that he did not speak Rommany, +and only understood French and Walloon. Yet he seemed to understand +perfectly the drift of my question, and to know what Gipsy was, and its +nature, since after a pause he added, with a significant smile-- + +"But to tell the truth, monsieur, though I cannot talk Rommany, I know +another secret language. I can speak _Argot_ fluently." + +Now, I retain in my memory, from reading the Memoirs of Vidocq thirty +years ago, one or two phrases of this French thieves' slang, and I at +once replied that I knew a few words of it myself, adding-- + +"_Tu sais jaspiner en bigorne_?"--you can talk argot? + +"_Oui, monsieur_." + +"_Et tu vas roulant de vergne en vergne_?"--and you go about from town to +town? + +Grave and keen, and with a queer smile, the tinker replied, very slowly-- + +"Monsieur knows the Gipsies" (here he shook his head), "and monsieur +speaks _argot_ very well." (A shrug.) "Perhaps he knows more than he +credits himself with. Perhaps" (and here his wink was diabolical)-- +"_perhaps monsieur knows the entire tongue_!" + +Spa is full not only of gamblers, but of numbers of well-dressed Parisian +sharpers who certainly know "the entire tongue." I hastened to pay my +tinker, and went my way homewards. Ross Browne was accused in Syria of +having "burgled" onions, and the pursuit of philology has twice subjected +me to be suspected by tinkers as a flourishing member of the "dangerous +classes." + +But to return to my rat-catcher. As I quoted a verse of German Gipsy +song, he manifested an interest in it, and put me several questions with +regard to the race in other lands. + +"I wish I was a rich gentleman. I would like to travel like you, sir, +and have nothing to do but go about from land to land, looking after our +Rummany people as you do, and learnin' everything Rummany. Is it true, +sir, we come from Egypt?" + +"No. I think not. There are Gipsies in Egypt, but there is less Rommany +in their _jib_ (language) than in any other Gipsy tribe in the world. The +Gipsies came from India." + +"And don't you think, sir, that we're of the children of the lost Ten +Tribes?" + +"I am quite sure that you never had a drop of blood in common with them. +Tell me, do you know any Gipsy _gilis_--any songs?" + +"Only a bit of a one, sir; most of it isn't fit to sing, but it begins--" + +And here he sang: + + "Jal 'dree the ker my honey, + And you shall be my rom." + +And chanting this, after thanking me, he departed, gratified with his +gratuity, rejoiced at his reception, and most undoubtedly benefited by +the beer with which I had encouraged his palaver--a word, by the way, +which is not inappropriate, since it contains in itself the very word of +words, the _lav_, which means a word, and is most antiquely and +excellently Gipsy. Pehlevi is old Persian, and to _pen lavi_ is Rommany +all the world over "to speak words." + + + + +CHAPTER IV. GIPSY RESPECT FOR THE DEAD. + + +Gipsies and Comteists identical as to "Religion"--Singular Manner of +Mourning for the Dead, as practised by Gipsies--Illustrations from +Life--Gipsy Job and the Cigars--Oaths by the Dead--Universal Gipsy Custom +of never Mentioning the Names of the Dead--Burying valuable Objects with +the Dead--Gipsies, Comteists, Hegelians, and Jews--The Rev. James Crabbe. + +Comte, the author of the Positivist philosophy, never felt the need of a +religion until he had fallen in love; and at the present day his "faith" +appears to consist in a worship of the great and wise and good among the +dead. I have already spoken of many Gipsies reminding me, by their +entirely unconscious ungodliness, of thorough Hegelians. I may now add, +that, like the Positivists, they seem to correct their irreligion through +the influence of love; and by a strange custom, which is, in spirit and +fact, nothing less than adoring the departed and offering to the dead a +singular sacrifice. + +He who has no house finds a home in family and friends, whence it results +that the Gipsy, despite his ferocious quarrels in the clan, and his sharp +practice even with near relations, is--all things considered--perhaps the +most devoted to kith and kin of any one in the world. His very name--rom, +a husband--indicates it. His children, as almost every writer on him, +from Grellmann down to the present day, has observed, are more thoroughly +indulged and spoiled than any non-gipsy can conceive; and despite all the +apparent contradictions caused by the selfishness born of poverty, +irritable Eastern blood, and the eccentricity of semi-civilisation, I +doubt if any man, on the whole, in the world, is more attached to his +own. + +It was only three or four hours ago, as I write, on the fifth day of +February 1872, that a Gipsy said to me, "It is nine years since my wife +died, and I would give all Anglaterra to have her again." + +That the real religion of the Gipsies, as I have already observed, +consists like that of the Comteists, in devotion to the dead, is +indicated by a very extraordinary custom, which, notwithstanding the very +general decay, of late years, of all their old habits, still prevails +universally. This is the refraining from some usage or indulgence in +honour of the departed--a sacrifice, as it were, to their _manes_--and I +believe that, by inquiring, it will be found to exist among all Gipsies +in all parts of the world. In England it is shown by observances which +are maintained at great personal inconvenience, sometime for years, or +during life. Thus, there are many Gipsies who, because a deceased +brother was fond of spirits, have refrained, after his departure, from +tasting them, or who have given up their favourite pursuits, for the +reason that they were last indulged in, in company with the lost and +loved one. + +As a further illustration, I will give in the original Gipsy-language, as +I myself took it down rapidly, but literally, the comments of a +full-blooded Gipsy on this custom--the translation being annexed. I +should state that the narrative which precedes his comments was a reply +to my question, Why he invariably declined my offer of cigars? + +"No; I never toovs cigaras, kek. I never toovs 'em kenna since my pal's +chavo Job mullered. And I'll pooker tute how it welled." + +"It was at the boro wellgooro where the graias prasters. I was kairin +the paiass of the koshters, and mandy dicked a rye an' pookered him for a +droppi levinor. '_Avali_,' he penned, 'I'll del you levinor and a kushto +tuvalo too.' 'Parraco,' says I, 'rya.' So he del mandy the levinor and +a dozen cigaras. I pet em adree my poachy an' jailed apre the purge and +latched odoi my pal's chavo, an' he pook'd mandy, 'Where you jallin to, +kako?' And I penned: 'Job, I've lelled some covvas for tute.' 'Tacho,' +says he--so I del him the cigaras. Penned he: 'Where did tute latcher +'em?' 'A rye del 'em a mandy.' So he pet em adree his poachy, an' +pookered mandy, 'What'll tu lel to pi?' 'A droppi levinor.' So he +penned, 'Pauli the grais prasters, I'll jal atut the puvius and dick +tute.' + +"Eight or nine divvuses pauli, at the K'allis's Gav, his pal welled to +mandy and pookered mi Job sus naflo. And I penned, 'Any thing dush?' +'Worse nor dovo.' 'What _is_ the covvo?' Says yuv, 'Mandy kaums tute to +jal to my pal--don't spare the gry--mukk her jal!' So he del mi a fino +grai, and I kistered eight mee so sig that I thought I'd mored her. An' +I pet her dree the stanya, an' I jalled a lay in the puv and' odoi I +dicked Job. 'Thank me Duvel!' penned he, 'Kako you's welled acai, and if +mandy gets opre this bugni (for 'twas the bugni he'd lelled), I'll del +tute the kushtiest gry that you'll beat sar the Romni chuls.' But he +mullered. + +"And he pens as he was mullerin. 'Kako, tute jins the cigarras you del a +mandy?' '_Avali_,' I says he, 'I've got 'em acai in my poachy.' Mandy +and my pens was by him, but his romni was avree, adree the boro tan, +bikinin covvas, for she'd never lelled the bugni, nor his chavos, so they +couldn't well a dickin, for we wouldn't mukk em. And so he mullered. + +"And when yuv's mullo I pet my wast adree his poachy and there mandy +lastered the cigaras. And from dovo chairus, rya, mandy never tooved a +cigar. + +"Avali--there's adusta Romni chuls that kairs dovo. And when my juvo +mullered, mandy never lelled nokengro kekoomi. Some chairuses in her +jivaben, she'd lel a bitti nokengro avree my mokto, and when I'd pen, +'Deari juvo, what do you kair dovo for?' she pooker mandy, 'It's kushti +for my sherro.' And so when she mullered mandy never lelled chichi +sensus. + +"Some mushis wont haw mass because the pal or pen that mullered was +kammaben to it,--some wont pi levinor for panj or ten besh, some wont haw +the kammaben matcho that the chavo hawed. Some wont haw puvengroes or pi +tood, or haw pabos, and saw (sar) for the mullos. + +"Some won't kair wardos or kil the boshomengro--'that's mandy's pooro +chavo's gilli'--and some won't kel. 'No, I can't kel, the last time I +kelled was with mandy's poor juvo that's been mullo this shtor besh.' + +"'Come pal, let's jal an' have a drappi levinor--the boshomengri's odoi.' +'Kek, pal, kekoomi--I never pi'd a drappi levinor since my bibi's +jalled.' 'Kushto--lel some tuvalo pal?' 'Kek--kek--mandy never tooved +since minno juvo pelled a lay in the panni, and never jalled avree +kekoomi a jivaben.' 'Well, let's jal and kair paiass with the +koshters--we dui'll play you dui for a pint o' levinor.' 'Kek--I never +kaired the paiass of the koshters since my dadas mullered--the last +chairus I ever played was with him.' + +"And Lena, the juva of my pal's chavo, Job, never hawed plums a'ter her +rom mullered." + +(TRANSLATION).--"No, I never smoke cigars. No; I never smoke them now +since my brother's son Job died. And I'll tell you how it came. + +"It was at the great fair where the horses run (_i.e_., the races), I was +keeping a cock-shy, and I saw a gentleman, and asked him for a drop of +ale. 'Yes,' he said, 'I'll give you ale, and a good smoke too.' 'Thank +you,' says I, 'Sir.' So he gave me the ale, and a dozen cigars. I put +them in my pocket, and went on the road and found there my brother's son, +and he asked me, 'Where (are) you going, uncle?' And I said: 'Job, I +have something for you.' 'Good,' says he--so I gave him the cigars. He +said: 'Where did you find them?' 'A gentleman gave them to me.' So he +put them in his pocket, and asked me, 'What'll you take to drink?' 'A +drop of ale.' So he said, 'After the horses (have) run I'll go across +the field and see you.' + +"Eight or nine days after, at Hampton Court, {53} his 'pal' came to me +and told me that Job was ill. And I said, 'Anything wrong?' 'Worse nor +that.' 'What _is_ the affair?' Said he, 'I want you to go to my +pal,--don't spare the horse--let her go!' So he gave me a fine horse, +and I rode eight miles so fast that I thought I'd killed her. And I put +her in the stable, and I went down into the field, and there I saw Job. +'Thank God!' said he; 'Uncle, you've come here; and if I get over this +small-pox (for 'twas the smallpox he'd caught), I'll give you the best +horse that you'll beat all the Gipsies.' But he died. + +"And he says as he was dying, 'Uncle, you know the cigars you gave me?' +'Yes.' Says he, 'I've got 'em here in my pocket.' I and my sisters were +by him, but his wife was outside in the great tent, selling things, for +she never had the smallpox, nor his children, so they couldn't come to +see, for we wouldn't let them. And so he died. + +"And when he was dead, I put my hand in his pocket, and there I found the +cigars. And from that time, Sir, I never smoked a cigar. + +"Yes! there are plenty of Gipsies who do that. And when my wife died, I +never took snuff again. Sometimes in her life she'd take a bit of snuff +out (from) my box; and when I'd say, 'Dear wife, what do you do that +for?' she'd tell me, 'It's good for my head.' And so when she died I +never took any (none) since. + +"Some men won't eat meat because the brother or sister that died was fond +of (to) it; some won't drink ale for five or ten years; some won't eat +the favourite fish that the child ate. Some won't eat potatoes, or drink +milk, or eat apples; and all for the dead. + +"Some won't play cards or the fiddle--'that's my poor boy's tune'--and +some won't dance--'No, I can't dance, the last time I danced was with my +poor wife (or girl) that's been dead this four years.' + +"'Come, brother, let's go and have a drop of ale; the fiddler is there.' +'No, brother, I never drank a drop of ale since my aunt went (died).' +'Well, take some tobacco, brother?' 'No, no, I have not smoked since my +wife fell in the water and never came out again alive.' 'Well, let's go +and play at cock-shy, we two'll play you two for a pint o' ale.' 'No, I +never played at cock-shy since my father died; the last time I played was +with him.' + +"And Lena, the wife of my nephew Job, never ate plums after her husband +died." + +This is a strange manner of mourning, but it is more effective than the +mere wearing of black, since it is often a long-sustained and trying +tribute to the dead. Its Oriental-Indian origin is apparent enough. But +among the German Gipsies, who, I am firmly convinced, represent in +language and customs their English brethren as the latter were three +centuries ago, this reverence for the departed assumes an even deeper and +more serious character. Mr Richard Liebich (_Die Zigeuner_, _Leipzig_, +1863), tells us that in his country their most sacred oath is _Ap i +mulende_!--by the dead!--and with it may be classed the equally +patriarchal imprecation, "By my father's hand!" + +Since writing the foregoing sentence a very remarkable confirmation of +the existence of this oath among English Gipsies, and the sacredness with +which it is observed, came under my own observation. An elderly Gipsy, +during the course of a family difficulty, declared to his sister that he +would leave the house. She did not believe he would until he swore by +his dead wife--by his "_mullo juvo_." And when he had said this, his +sister promptly remarked: "Now you have sworn by her, I know you will do +it." He narrated this to me the next day, adding that he was going to +put a tent up, about a mile away, and live there. I asked him if he ever +swore by his dead father, to which he said: "Always, until my wife died." +This poor man was almost entirely ignorant of what was in the Bible, as I +found by questioning him; but I doubt whether I know any Christian on +whom a Bible oath would be more binding than was to him his own by the +dead. To me there was something deeply moving in the simple earnestness +and strangeness of this adjuration. + +The German, like the older English Gipsies, carefully burn the clothes +and bed of the deceased, and, indeed, most objects closely connected with +them, and what is more extraordinary, evince their respect by carefully +avoiding mentioning their names, even when they are borne by other +persons or are characteristic of certain things. So that when a Gipsy +maiden named Forella once died, her entire nation, among whom the trout +had always been known only by its German designation, Forelle, at once +changed the name, and, to this day it is called by them _mulo +madscho_--the dead fish,--or at times _lolo madscho_--the red fish. + +This is also the case among the English Gipsies. Wishing to have the +exact words and views of a real Rommany on this subject, I made inquiry, +and noted down his reply, which was literally as follows:-- + +"Avali; when Rommany chals or juvos are mullos, their pals don't kaum to +shoon their navs pauli--it kairs 'em too bongo--so they're purabend to +waver navs. Saw don't kair it--kek--but posh do, kenna. My chavo's nav +was Horfer or Horferus, but the bitti chavis penned him Wacker. Well, +yeck divvus pre the wellgooro o' the graias prasters, my juvo dicked a +boro _doll_ adree some hev of a buttika and penned, 'Dovo odoi dicks just +like moro Wacker!' So we penned him _Wackerdoll_, but a'ter my juvo +mullered I rakkered him Wacker again, because Wackerdoll pet mandy in +cammoben o' my poor juvo." + +In English: "Yes. When Gipsy men or women die, their friends don't care +to hear their names again--it makes them too sad, so they are changed to +other names. All don't do it--no--but half of them do so still. My +boy's name was Horfer or Horferus (Orpheus), but the children called him +Wacker. Well, one day at the great fair of the races, my wife saw a +large doll in some window of a shop, and said, 'That looks just like our +Wacker!' So we called him Wackerdoll, but after my wife died I called +him Wacker again, because Wacker_doll_ put me in mind of my poor wife." + +When further interrogated on the same subject, he said: + +"A'ter my juva mullered, if I dicked a waver rakli with lakis'nav, an' +mandy was a rakkerin laki, mandy'd pen ajaw a waver geeri's nav, an +rakker her by a waver nav:--dovo's to pen I'd lel some bongonav sar's +Polly or Sukey. An' it was the sar covva with my dades nav--if I dicked +a mush with a nav that simmed leskers, mandy'd rakker him by a waver nav. +For 'twould kair any mush wafro to shoon the navyas of the mullas a't +'were cammoben to him." + +Or in English, "After my wife died, if I saw another girl with her name, +and I was talking to her, I'd _speak_ another woman's name, and call her +by another name; that's to say, I'd take some nick-name, such as Polly or +Sukey. And it was the same thing with my father's name--if I saw a man +with a name that was the same as his (literally, 'that _samed_ his'), I'd +call him by another name. For 'twould make any man grieve (lit. 'bad') +to hear the names of the dead that were dear to him." + +I suppose that there are very few persons, not of Gipsy blood, in +England, to whom the information will not be new, that there are to be +found everywhere among us, people who mourn for their lost friends in +this strange and touching manner. + +Another form of respect for the departed among Gipsies, is shown by their +frequently burying some object of value with the corpse, as is, however, +done by most wild races. On questioning the same Gipsy last alluded to, +he spoke as follows on this subject, I taking down his words:-- + +"When Job mullered and was chivved adree the puv, there was a nevvi +kushto-dickin dui chakkas pakkered adree the mullo mokto. Dighton penned +a mandy the waver divvus, that trin thousand bars was gavvered posh yeck +o' the Chilcotts. An I've shooned o' some Stanleys were buried with +sonnakai wongashees apre langis wastos. '_Do sar the Rommany chals kair +adovo_?' Kek. Some chivs covvas pash the mullos adree the puv, and boot +adusta don't." + +In English: "When Job died and was buried, there was a new beautiful pair +of shoes put in the coffin (_lit_. corpse-box). Dighton told me the +other day, that three thousand pounds were hidden with one of the +Chilcotts. And I have heard of some Stanleys who were buried with gold +rings on their fingers. '_Do all the Gipsies do that_?' No! some put +things with the dead in the earth, and many do not." + +Mr Liebich further declares, that while there is really nothing in it to +sustain the belief, this extraordinary reverence and regard for the dead +is the only fact at all indicating an idea of the immortality of the soul +which he has ever found among the Gipsies; but, as he admits, it proves +nothing. To me, however, it is grimly grotesque, when I return to the +disciples of Comte--the Positivists--the most highly cultivated scholars +of the most refined form of philosophy in its latest stage, and find that +their ultimate and practical manifestation of _la religion_, is quite the +same as that of those unaffected and natural Positivists, the Gipsies. +With these, as with the others, our fathers find their immortality in our +short-lived memories, and if among either, some one moved by deep love--as +Auguste was by the eyes of Clotilda--has yearned for immortality with the +dear one, and cursed in agony Annihilation, he falls upon the faith +founded in ancient India, that only that soul lives for ever which has +done so much good on earth, as to leave behind it in humanity, +ineffaceable traces of its elevation. + +Verily, the poor Gipsies would seem, to a humourist, to have been created +by the devil, whose name they almost use for God, a living parody and +satanic burlesque of all that human faith, doubt, or wisdom, have ever +accomplished in their highest forms. Even to the weakest minded and most +uninformed manufacturers of "Grellmann-diluted" pamphlets, on the +Gipsies, their parallel to the Jews is most apparent. All over the world +this black and God-wanting shadow dances behind the solid Theism of "The +People," affording proof that if the latter can be preserved, even in the +wildest wanderings, to illustrate Holy Writ--so can gipsydom--for no +apparent purpose whatever. How often have we heard that the preservation +of the Jews is a phenomenon without equal? And yet they both live--the +sad and sober Jew, the gay and tipsy Gipsy, Shemite and Aryan--the one so +ridiculously like and unlike the other, that we may almost wonder whether +Humour does not enter into the Divine purpose and have its place in the +Destiny of Man. For my own part, I shall always believe that the Heathen +Mythology shows a superiority to any other, in _one_ conception--that of +Loki, who into the tremendous upturnings of the Universe always inspires +a grim grotesqueness; a laughter either diabolic or divine. + +Judaism, which is pre-eminently the principle of religious belief:--the +metaphysical emancipation and enlightenment of Germany, and the +materialistic positivism of France, are then, as I have indicated, +nowhere so practically and yet laughably illustrated as by the Gipsy. +Free from all the trammels of faith, and, to the last degree, indifferent +and rationalistic, he satisfies the demands of Feuerbach; devoted to the +positive and to the memory of the dead, he is the ideal of the greatest +French philosophy, while as a wanderer on the face of the earth--not +neglectful of picking up things _en route_--he is the rather blurred +_facsimile_ of the Hebrew, the main difference in the latter parallel +being that while the Jews are God's chosen people, the poor Gipsies seem +to have been selected as favourites by that darker spirit, whose name +they have naively substituted for divinity:--_Nomen et omen_. + +I may add, however, in due fairness, that there are in England some true +Gipsies of unmixed blood, who--it may be without much reflection--have +certainly adopted ideas consonant with a genial faith in immortality, and +certain phases of religion. The reader will find in another chapter a +curious and beautiful Gipsy custom recorded, that of burning an ash fire +on Christmas-day, in honour of our Saviour, because He was born and lived +like a Gipsy; and one day I was startled by bearing a Rom say "Miduvel +hatch for mandy an' kair me kushto."--My God stand up for me and make me +well. "That" he added, in an explanatory tone, "is what you say when +you're sick." These instances, however, indicate no deep-seated +conviction, though they are certainly curious, and, in their extreme +simplicity, affecting. That truly good man, the Rev. James Crabb, in his +touching little book, "The Gipsies' Advocate," gave numbers of instances +of Gipsy conversions to religion and of real piety among them, which +occurred after their minds and feelings had been changed by his labours; +indeed, it would seem as if their lively imaginations and warm hearts +render them extremely susceptible to the sufferings of Jesus. But this +does not in the least affect the extraordinary truth that in their +nomadic and natural condition, the Gipsies, all the world over, present +the spectacle, almost without a parallel, of total indifference to, and +ignorance of, religion, and that I have found true old-fashioned +specimens of it in England. + +I would say, in conclusion, that the Rev. James Crabb, whose unaffected +and earnest little book tells its own story, did much good in his own +time and way among the poor Gipsies; and the fact that he is mentioned to +the present day, by them, with respect and love, proves that missionaries +are not useless, nor Gipsies ungrateful--though it is almost the fashion +with too many people to assume both positions as rules without +exceptions. + + + + +CHAPTER V. GIPSY LETTERS. + + +A Gipsy's Letter to his Sister.--Drabbing Horses.--Fortune Telling.--Cock +Shys.--"Hatch 'em pauli, or he'll lel sar the Covvas!"--Two German Gipsy +Letters. + +I shall give in this chapter a few curious illustrations of Gipsy life +and character, as shown in a letter, which is illustrated by two +specimens in the German Rommany dialect. + +With regard to the first letter, I might prefix to it, as a motto, old +John Willett's remark: "What's a man without an imagination?" Certainly +it would not apply to the Gipsy, who has an imagination so lively as to +be at times almost ungovernable; considering which I was much surprised +that, so far as I know, the whole race has as yet produced only one +writer who has distinguished himself in the department of fiction--albeit +he who did so was a giant therein--I mean John Bunyan. + +And here I may well be allowed an unintended digression, as to whether +Bunyan were really a Gipsy. In a previous chapter of this work, I, with +little thought of Bunyan, narrated the fact that an intelligent tinker, +and a full Gipsy, asked me last summer in London, if I thought that the +Rommany were of the Ten Tribes of Israel? When John Bunyan tells us +explicitly that he once asked his father whether he and his relatives +were of the race of the Israelites--he having then never seen a Jew--and +when he carefully informs his readers that his descent was of a low and +inconsiderable generation, "my father's house being of that rank that is +meanest and most despised of all the families of the land," there remains +no rational doubt whatever that Bunyan was indeed a Rom of the Rommany. +"_Applico_" of which, as my own special and particular Gipsy is wont to +say--it is worth noting that the magician Shakespeare, who knew +everything, showed himself superior to many modern dramatists in being +aware that the tinkers of England had, not a peculiar cant, but a special +_language_. + +And now for the letters. One day Ward'engro of the K'allis's Gav, asked +me to write him a letter to his daughter, in Rommany. So I began to +write from his dictation. But being, like all his race, unused to +literary labour, his lively imagination continually led him astray, and +as I found amusement in his so doing, it proved to be an easy matter to +induce him to wander off into scenes of gipsy life, which, however +edifying they might be to my reader, would certainly not have the charm +of novelty to the black-eyed lady to whom they were supposed to be +addressed. However, as I read over from time to time to my Rommany chal +what I had written, his delight in actually hearing his own words read +from writing, partook of all the pride of successful authorship--it was, +my dear sir, like your delight over your first proof sheet. + +Well, this was the letter. A translation will be found following it. + +THE PANNI GAV, _Dec_. 16, 1871. + +MY KAMLI CHAVI,--Kushti bak! My cammoben to turo mush an' turo dadas an' +besto bak. We've had wafri bak, my pen's been naflo this here cooricus, +we're doin' very wafro and couldn't lel no wongur. Your dui pals are +kairin kushto, prasturin 'bout the tem, bickinin covvas. {65} Your puro +kako welled acai to his pen, and hatched trin divvus, and jawed avree +like a puro jucko, and never del mandy a poshero. + +Kek adusta nevvi. A rakli acai lelled a hora waver divvus from a waver +rakli, and the one who nashered it pens: "Del it pauli a mandi and I wont +dukker tute! Del it apre!" But the waver rakli penned "kek," and so +they bitchered for the prastramengro. He lelled the juva to the wardo, +and just before she welled odoi, she hatched her wast in her poachy, an' +chiv it avree, and the prastramengro hatched it apre. So they bitchered +her for shurabun. + +(Here my Gipsy suggested that _stardo_ or _staramangro_ might be used for +greater elegance, in place of shurabun.) + +I've got kek gry and can't lel no wongur to kin kek. My kamli chavi, if +you could bitch me a few bars it would be cammoben. I rikkers my covvas +apre mi dumo kenna. I dicked my kako, waver divvus adree a lot o Rommany +chals, saw a piin'. There was the juvas a koorin adoi and the mushis a +koorin an' there was a boro chingaree, some with kali yakkas an' some +with sherros chinned so the ratt jalled alay 'pre the drum. There was +dui or trin bar to pessur in the sala for the graias an' mylas that got +in pandamam (_pandapenn_). + +Your pal's got a kushti gry that can jal alangus the drum kushto. L--- +too's got a baro kushto gry. He jawed to the wellgooro, to the boro gav, +with a poggobavescro gry an' a nokengro. You could a mored dovo gry an' +kek penn'd a lav tute. I del it some ballovas to hatch his bavol and I +bikened it for 9 bar, to a rye that you jins kushto. Lotti was at the +wellgooro dukkerin the ranis. She lelled some kushti habben, an' her +jellico was saw porder, when she dicked her mush and shelled. "Havacai! +I've got some fine habben!" She penned to a rakli, "Pet your wonger +adree turo wast an I'll dukker tute." An' she lelled a pash bar from the +rani. She penned her: "You kaums a rye a longo duros. He's a kaulo and +there's a waver rye, a pauno, that kaums you too, an' you'll soon lel a +chinamangree. Tute'll rummorben before dui besh, an' be the dye of trin +chavis.' + +There was a gry jallin with a wardo langus the drum, an' I dicked a +raklo, an' putsched (_pootched_) him. "How much wongur?" an' he pookered +man'y "Desh bar;" I penned: "Is dovo, noko gry?" "Avali." Well, a +Rommany chul del him desh bar for the gry an' bikined it for twelve bar +to a boro rye. It was a fino kaulo gry with a boro herree, but had a +naflo piro; it was the _nearo_ piro an' was a dellemescro. He del it +some hopium drab to hatch adoi, and tooled his solivengro upo the purgis. + +At the paiass with the koshters a rye welled and Wantelo shelled avree: +"Trin kosters for a horra, eighteen for a shekori!" An' the rye lelled a +koshter an' we had pange collos for trin dozenos. The rye kaired paiass +kushto and lelled pange cocoanuts, and lelled us to his wardo, and dell'd +mandy trin currus of tatty panni, so that I was most matto. He was a +kushti rye and his rani was as good as the rye. + +There was a waver mush a playin, an' mandy penned: "Pen the kosh paulier, +hatch 'em odoi, don't well adoorer or he'll lel saw the covvos! Chiv 'em +pauli!" A chi rakkered the ryes an' got fifteen cullos from yeck. And +no moro the divvus from your kaum pal, + +M. + + + +TRANSLATION. + + +THE WATER VILLAGE, _Dec_. 16, 1871. + +MY DEAR DAUGHTER,--Good luck! my love to your husband and your father, +and best luck! We've had bad fortune, my sister has been sick this here +week, we're doing very badly and could not get any money. Your two +brothers are doing well, running about the country selling things. Your +old uncle came to his sister and stayed three days, and went away like an +old dog and never gave me a penny. + +Nothing much new. A girl here took a watch the other day from another +girl, and the one who lost it said: "Give it back to me and I won't hurt +you." But the other girl said "No," and so they sent for the constable. +He took the girl to the station (or carriage), and just before she got +there she put her hand in her pocket and threw it away, and the policeman +picked it up. So they sent her to prison. + +I have no horse, and can't get any money to buy _none_. My dear +daughter, if you could send me a few pounds it would be agreeable. I +carry my _traps_ on my back now. I saw my uncle the other day among a +lot of Gipsies, all drinking. There were the women fighting there, and +the men fighting, and there was a great _shindy_, some with black eyes, +and some with heads cut so that the blood ran down on the road. There +were two or three pounds to pay in the morning for the horses and asses +that were in the pound. + +Your brother has got a capital horse that can go along the road nicely. +L---, too, has a large fine horse. He went to the fair in --- with a +broken-winded horse and a glandered. You could have killed that horse +and nobody said a word to you. I gave it some lard to stop his +breathing, and I sold it for nine pound to a gentleman whom you know +well. + +Lotty was at the fair telling fortunes to the ladies. She got some +excellent food, and her apron was quite full, when she saw her husband +and cried out: "Come here! I've got some nice victuals!" She said to a +girl: "Put you money in your hand and I'll tell you your fortune." And +she took half a sovereign from the lady. She told her: "You love a +gentleman who is far away. He is dark, and there is another gentleman, a +fair-haired man that loves you, and you'll soon get a letter. You'll +marry before two years, and be the mother of three children." + +There was a horse going with a waggon along the road; and I saw a youth, +and asked him, "How much money?" (for the horse), and he replied to me, +"Ten pounds." I said, "Is that your horse?" "Yes." Well, a Gipsy gave +him ten pounds for the horse, and sold it for twelve pounds to a great +gentleman. It was a good black horse, with a (handsome) strong leg +(literally large), but it had a bad foot; it was the _near_ foot, and it +was a kicker. He gave it some opium medicament to keep quiet (literally +to stop there), and held his rein (_i.e_., trotted him so as to show his +pace, and conceal his faults) on the road. + +At the cock-shy a gentleman came, and Wantelo halloed out, "Three sticks +for a penny, eighteen for a sixpence!" And the gentleman took a stick, +and we had five shillings for three dozen throws! The gentleman played +well, and got five cocoanuts, and took us to his carriage and gave me +three glasses of brandy, so that I was almost drunk. He was a good +gentleman, and his lady was as good as her husband. + +There was another man playing; and I said, "Set the sticks more back, set +'em there; don't go further or he'll get all the things! Set 'em back!" +A Gipsy girl talked to the gentlemen (_i.e_., persuaded them to play), +and got fifteen shillings from one. And no more to-day from your dear +brother, + +M. + +* * * * * + +One thing in the foregoing letter is worth noting. Every remark or +incident occurring in it is literally true--drawn from life--_pur et +simple_. It is, indeed, almost the _resume_ of the entire life of many +poor Gipsies during the summer. And I may add that the language in which +it is written, though not the "deep" or grammatical Gipsy, in which no +English words occur--as for instance in the Lord's Prayer, as given by Mr +Borrow in his appendix to the Gipsies in Spain {70}--is still really a +fair specimen of the Rommany of the present day, which is spoken at races +by cock-shysters and fortune-tellers. + +The "Water Village," from which it is dated, is the generic term among +Gipsies for all towns by the sea-side. The phrase _kushto_ (or +_kushti_), _bak_!--"good luck!" is after "_Sarishan_!" or "how are you?" +the common greeting among Gipsies. The fight is from life and to the +life; and the "two or three pounds to pay in the morning for the horses +and asses that got impounded," indicates its magnitude. To have a beast +in pound in consequence of a frolic, is a common disaster in Gipsy life. + +During the dictation of the foregoing letter, my Gipsy paused at the word +"broken-winded horse," when I asked him how he could stop the heavy +breathing? + +"With ballovas (or lard and starch)--long enough to sell it." + +"But how would you sell a glandered horse?" + +Here he described, with great ingenuity, the manner in which he would +_tool_ or manage the horse--an art in which Gipsies excel all the world +over--and which, as Mr Borrow tells us, they call in Spain "_de +pacuaro_," which is pure Persian. + +"But that would not stop the running. How would you prevent that?" + +"I don't know." + +"Then I am a better graiengro than you, for I know a powder, and with a +penny's worth of it I could stop the glanders in the worst case, long +enough to sell the horse. I once knew an old horse-dealer who paid sixty +pounds for a _nokengro_ (a glandered horse) which had been powdered in +this way." + +The Gipsy listened to me in great admiration. About a week afterwards I +heard he had spoken of me as follows:-- + +"Don't talk about knowing. My rye knows more than anybody. He can cheat +any man in England selling him a glandered horse." + +Had this letter been strictly confined to the limits originally intended, +it would have spoken only of the sufferings of the family, the want of +money, and possibly, the acquisition of a new horse by the brother. In +this case it bears a decided family-likeness to the following letter in +the German-Gipsy dialect, which originally appeared in a book entitled, +_Beytrag zur Rottwellischen Grammatik_, _oder Worterbuch von der Zigeuner +Spracke_, Leipzig 1755, and which was republished by Dr A. F. Pott in his +stupendous work, _Die Zigeuner in Europa und Asien_. Halle, 1844. + + + +GERMAN GIPSY. + + +MIRI KOMLI ROMNI,--Ertiewium Francfurtter wium te gajum apro Newoforo. +Apro drum ne his mange mishdo. Mare manush tschingerwenes ketteni. +Tschiel his te midschach wettra. Tschawe wele naswele. Dowa ker, kai me +gaijam medre gazdias tele; mare ziga t'o terno kalbo nahsle penge. O +flachso te hanfa te wulla te schwigarizakri te stifftshakri ho spinderde +gotshias nina. Lopennawa, wium ke tshorero te wiam hallauter nange +Denkerdum tschingerwam mangi kasht te mre wastiengri butin, oder hunte di +kaw te kinnaw tschommoni pre te bikkewaw pale, te de denkerwaw te +ehrnahrwaw man kiacke. Me bium kiacke kuremangrender pene aper mande, +buten tschingerde buten trinen marde te man, tshimaster apri butin +tshidde. O bolloben te rackel tutt andre sawe kolester, kai me wium adre +te me tshawa tiro rum shin andro meraben. + + + +TRANSLATION. + + +MY DEAR WIFE,--Before I came to Frankfort I went to Neustadt. On the way +it did not go well with me. Our men quarrelled together. It was cold +and wet weather. The children were ill. That house into which we had +gone burnt down; our kid and the young calf run away. The flax and hemp +and wool [which] the sister-in-law and step-daughter spun are also +burned. In short, I say I became so poor that we all went naked. I +thought of cutting wood and working by hand, or I should go into business +and sell something. I think I will make my living so. I was so treated +by the soldiers. They fell on us, wounded many, three they killed, and I +was taken to prison to work for life. Heaven preserve you in all things +from that into which I have fallen, and I remain thy husband unto death. + +* * * * * + +It is the same sad story in all, wretchedness, poverty, losses, and +hunger. In the English letter there was a _chingari_--a shindy; in the +German they have a _tshinger_, which is nearly the same word, and means +the same. It may be remarked as curious that the word _meraben_ at the +end of the letter, meaning death, is used by English Gipsies to signify +life as well. + + "Dick at the gorgios, + The gorgios round mandy; + Trying to take my meripon, + My meripon away." + +The third letter is also in the German-Gipsy dialect, and requires a +little explanation. Once a man named Charles Augustus was arrested as a +beggar and suspected Gipsy, and brought before Mr Richard Liebich, who +appears to have been nothing less in the total than the _Furstlich Reuss- +Plauenschem Criminalrathe und Vorstande des Furstlichen Criminalgerichts +zu Lobenstein_--in fact, a rather lofty local magistrate. Before this +terrible title Charles appeared, and swore stoutly that he was no more a +Rommany chal than he was one of the Apostles--for be it remembered, +reader, that in Germany at the present day, the mere fact of being a +Gipsy is still treated as a crime. Suddenly the judge attacked him with +the words--"_Tu hal rom, me hom, rakker tschatschopenn_!"--"Thou art a +Gipsy, I am a Gipsy, speak the truth." And Charles, looking up in +amazement and seeing the black hair and brown face of the judge, verily +believed that he was of the blood of Dom. So crossing his arms on his +breast in true Oriental style, he salaamed deeply, and in a submissive +voice said--"_Me hom rom_"--"_I am a_ Gipsy." + +The judge did not abuse the confidence gained by his little trick, since +he appears to have taken Charles under his wing, employed him in small +jobs (in America we should say _chores_, but the word would be +frightfully significant, if applied to a Gipsy), {75} and finally +dismissed him. And Charles replied Rommanesquely, by asking for +something. His application was as follows:-- + + + +GERMAN GIPSY. + + +"LICHTENBERG ANE DESCHE OCHDADO, _Januar_ 1859. + +"LADSCHO BARO RAI,--Me hunde dschinawe duge gole dui trin Lawinser mire +zelle gowe, har geas mange an demaro foro de demare Birengerenser. Har +weum me stildo gage lean demare Birengere mr lowe dele, de har weum biro +gage lean jon man dran o stilibin bri, de mangum me mr lowe lender, gai +deum dele. Jon pendin len wellen geg mander. Gai me deum miro lowe +lende, naste pennene jon gar wawer. Brinscherdo lowe hi an i Gissig, o +baro godder lolo paro, trin Chairingere de jeg dschildo gotter sinagro +lowe. Man weas mr lowe gar gobe dschanel o Baro Dewel ani Bolebin. Miro +baaro bargerbin vaschge demare Ladschebin bennawe. O baro Dewel de +pleisserwel de maro ladscho sii i pure sasde Tschiwaha demende demaro +zelo Beero. De hadzin e Birengere miro lowe, dale mangawa me len de +bidschin jon mire lowe gadder o foro Naile abbi Bidschebasger wurtum +sikk. Gai me dschingerdum ab demende, hi gar dschadscho, gai miri romni +hass mando, gowe hi dschadscho. Obaaro Dewel de bleiserwel de mange de +menge demaro Ladscho Sii. Miero Bargerbin. De me dschawe demaro gandelo +Waleddo. + +CHARLES AUGUSTIN." + + + +TRANSLATION. + + +"LICHTENBERG, _January_ 18, 1859. + +"GOOD GREAT SIR,--I must write to you with these two or three words my +whole business (_gowe_, English Gipsy _covvo_, literally 'thing,') how it +happened to me in your town, by your servants (literally 'footmen'). When +I was arrested, your servants took my money away, and when I was freed +they took me out of prison. I asked my money of them which I had given +up. They said they had got none from me. That I gave them my money they +cannot deny. The said (literally, known) money is in a purse, a great +piece, red (and) old, three kreutzers, and a yellow piece of good-for- +nothing money. I did not get my money, as the great God in heaven knows. +My great thanks for your goodness, I say. The great God reward your good +heart with long healthy life, you and your whole family. And if your +servants find my money, I beg they will send it to the town Naila, by the +post at once. That I cursed you is not true; that my wife was drunk is +true. The great God reward your good heart. My thanks. And I remain, +your obedient servant, + +CHARLES AUGUSTIN." + +Those who attempt to read this letter in the original, should be informed +that German Gipsy is, as compared to the English or Spanish dialects, +almost a perfect language; in fact, Pott has by incredible industry, +actually restored it to its primitive complete form; and its orthography +is now settled. Against this orthography poor Charles Augustin sins +sadly, and yet it may be doubted whether many English tramps and beggars +could write a better letter. + +The especial Gipsy characteristic in this letter is the constant use of +the name of God, and the pious profusion of blessings. "She's the +_blessing-est_ old woman I ever came across," was very well said of an +old Rommany dame in England. And yet these well-wishings are not always +insincere, and they are earnest enough when uttered in Gipsy. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. GIPSY WORDS WHICH HAVE PASSED INTO ENGLISH SLANG. + + +Jockey.--Tool.--Cove or Covey.--Hook, Hookey, and Walker, Hocus, Hanky- +Panky, and Hocus-Pocus.--Shindy.--Row.--Chivvy.--Bunged Eye.--Shavers.-- +Clichy.--Caliban.--A Rum 'un.--Pal.--Trash.--Cadger.--Cad.--Bosh.--Bats.-- +Chee-chee.--The Cheese.--Chiv Fencer.--Cooter.--Gorger.--Dick.--Dook.-- +Tanner.--Drum.--Gibberish.--Ken.--Lil.--Loure.--Loafer.--Maunder.--Moke.-- +Parny.--Posh.--Queer. Raclan.--Bivvy.--Rigs.--Moll.--Distarabin.--Tiny.-- +Toffer.--Tool.--Punch.--Wardo.--Voker (one of Mr Hotten's Gipsy words).-- +Welcher.--Yack.--Lushy.--A Mull.--Pross.--Toshers.--Up to Trap.--Barney.-- +Beebee.--Cull, Culley.--Jomer.--Bloke.--Duffer.--Niggling.--Mug.-- +Bamboozle, Slang, and Bite.--Rules to be observed in determining the +Etymology of Gipsy Words. + +Though the language of the Gipsies has been kept a great secret for +centuries, still a few words have in England oozed out here and there +from some unguarded crevice, and become a portion of our tongue. There +is, it must be admitted, a great difficulty in tracing, with anything +like accuracy, the real origin or identity of such expressions. Some of +them came into English centuries ago, and during that time great changes +have taken place in Rommany. At least one-third of the words now used by +Scottish Gipsies are unintelligible to their English brothers. To +satisfy myself on this point, I have examined an intelligent English +Gipsy on the Scottish Gipsy vocabularies in Mr Simpson's work, and found +it was as I anticipated; a statement which will not appear incredible +when it is remembered, that even the Rommany of Yetholm have a dialect +marked and distinct from that of other Scotch Gipsies. As for England, +numbers of the words collected by William Marsden, and Jacob Bryant, in +1784-5, Dr Bright in 1817, and by Harriott in 1830, are not known at the +present day to any Gipsies whom I have met. Again, it should be +remembered that the pronunciation of Rommany differs widely with +individuals; thus the word which is given as _cumbo_, a hill, by Bryant, +I have heard very distinctly pronounced _choomure_. + +I believe that to Mr Borrow is due the discovery that the word JOCKEY is +of Gipsy origin, and derived from _chuckni_, which means a whip. For +nothing is more clearly established than that the jockey-whip was the +original term in which this word first made its appearance on the turf, +and that the _chuckni_ was a peculiar form of whip, very long and heavy, +first used by the Gipsies. "Jockeyism," says Mr Borrow, "properly means +_the management of a whip_, and the word jockey is neither more nor less +than the term, slightly modified, by which they designate the formidable +whips which they usually carry, and which are at present in general use +among horse-traffickers, under the title of jockey-whips." In Hungary +and Germany the word occurs as _tschuckini_ or _chookni_, and _tschupni_. + +Many of my readers are doubtless familiar with the word to TOOL as +applied to dexterously managing the reins and driving horses. 'To tool +the horses down the road,' is indeed rather a fine word of its class, +being as much used in certain clubs as in stables, and often denotes +stylish and gentlemanly driving. And the term is without the slightest +modification, either of pronunciation or meaning, directly and simply +Gipsy, and is used by Gipsies in the same way. It has, however, in +Rommany, as a primitive meaning--to hold, or to take. Thus I have heard +of a feeble old fellow that "he could not tool himself togetherus"--for +which last word, by the way, _kettenus_ might have been more correctly +substituted. + +COVE is not an elegant, though a very old, word, but it is well known, +and I have no doubt as to its having come from the Gipsy. In Rommany, +all the world over, _cova_ means "a thing," but it is almost indefinite +in its applicability. "It is," says Pott, "a general helper on all +occasions; is used as substantive and adjective, and has a far wider +scope than the Latin _res_." Thus _covo_ may mean "that man;" _covi_, +"that woman;" and _covo_ or _cuvvo_, as it very often does in English, +"that, there." It sometimes appears in the word _acovat_, or _this_. +There is no expression more frequent in a Gipsy's mouth, and it is +precisely the one which would be probably overheard by "Gorgios" and +applied to persons. I believe that it first made its appearance in +English slang as _covey_, and was then pronounced _cuvvy_, being +subsequently abbreviated into cove. + +Quite a little family of words has come into English from the Rommany, +_Hocben_, _huckaben_, _hokkeny_, or _hooker_, all meaning a lie, or to +lie, deception and _humbug_. Mr Borrow shows us that _hocus_, to +"bewitch" liquor with an opiate, and _hoax_, are probably Rommany from +this root, and I have no doubt that the expression, "Yes, with a _hook_," +meaning "it is false," comes from the same. The well-known "Hookey" who +corresponds so closely with his untruthful and disreputable pal "Walker," +is decidedly of the streets--gipsy. In German Gipsy we find _chochavav_ +and _hochewawa_, and in Roumanian Gipsy _kokao_--a lie. Hanky-panky and +Hocus-pocus are each one half almost pure Hindustani. {81} + +A SHINDY approaches so nearly in sound to the Gipsy word _chingaree_, +which means precisely the same thing, that the suggestion is at least +worth consideration. And it also greatly resembles _chindi_, which may +be translated as "cutting up," and also quarrel. "To cut up shindies" +was the first form in which this extraordinary word reached the public. +In the original Gipsy tongue the word to quarrel is _chinger-av_, meaning +also (Pott, _Zigeuner_, p. 209) to cut, hew, and fight, while to cut is +_chinav_. "Cutting up" is, if the reader reflects, a very unmeaning word +as applied to outrageous or noisy pranks; but in Gipsy, whether English, +German, or Oriental, it is perfectly sensible and logical, involving the +idea of quarrelling, separating, dividing, cutting, and stabbing. What, +indeed, could be more absurd than the expression "cutting up shines," +unless we attribute to _shine_ its legitimate Gipsy meaning of _a piece +cut off_, and its cognate meaning, a noise? + +I can see but little reason for saying that a man _cut away_ or that he +_shinned_ it, for run away, unless we have recourse to Gipsy, though I +only offer this as a mere suggestion. + +"Applico" to shindy we have the word ROW, meaning nearly the same thing +and as nearly Gipsy in every respect as can be. It is in Gipsy at the +present day in England, correctly, _rov_, or _roven_--to cry--but _v_ and +_w_ are so frequently transposed that we may consider them as the same +letter. _Raw_ or _me rauaw_, "I howl" or "cry," is German Gipsy. _Rowan_ +is given by Pott as equivalent to the Latin _ululatus_, which constituted +a very respectable _row_ as regards mere noise. "Rowdy" comes from "row" +and both are very good Gipsy in their origin. In Hindustani _Rao mut_ is +"don't cry!" + +CHIVVY is a common English vulgar word, meaning to goad, drive, vex, +hunt, or throw as it were here and there. It is purely Gipsy, and seems +to have more than one root. _Chiv_, _chib_, or _chipe_, in Rommany, mean +a tongue, inferring scolding, and _chiv_ anything sharp-pointed, as for +instance a dagger, or goad or knife. But the old Gipsy word _chiv-av_ +among its numerous meanings has exactly that of casting, throwing, +pitching, and driving. To _chiv_ in English Gipsy means as much and more +than to _fix_ in America, in fact, it is applied to almost any kind of +action. + +It may be remarked in this connection, that in German or continental +Gipsy, which represents the English in a great measure as it once was, +and which is far more perfect as to grammar, we find different words, +which in English have become blended into one. Thus, _chib_ or _chiv_, a +tongue, and _tschiwawa_ (or _chiv_-ava), to lay, place, lean, sow, sink, +set upright, move, harness, cover up, are united in England into _chiv_, +which embraces the whole. "_Chiv it apre_" may be applied to throwing +anything, to covering it up, to lifting it, to setting it, to pushing it, +to circulating, and in fact to a very great number of similar verbs. + +There is, I think, no rational connection between the BUNG of a barrel +and an eye which has been closed by a blow. One might as well get the +simile from a knot in a tree or a cork in a flask. But when we reflect +on the constant mingling of Gipsies with prizefighters, it is almost +evident that the word BONGO may have been the origin of it. A _bongo +yakko_ or _yak_, means a distorted, crooked, or, in fact, a bunged eye. +It also means lame, crooked, or sinister, and by a very singular figure +of speech, _Bongo Tem_ or the Crooked Land is the name for hell. {83} + +SHAVERS, as a quaint nick-name for children, is possibly inexplicable, +unless we resort to Gipsy, where we find it used as directly as possible. +_Chavo_ is the Rommany word for child all the world over, and the English +term _chavies_, in Scottish Gipsy _shavies_, or shavers, leaves us but +little room for doubt. I am not aware to what extent the term "little +shavers" is applied to children in England, but in America it is as +common as any cant word can be. + +I do not know the origin of the French word CLICHY, as applied to the +noted prison of that name, but it is perhaps not undeserving the comment +that in Continental Gipsy it means a key and a bolt. + +I have been struck with the fact that CALIBAN, the monster in "The +Tempest," by Shakespeare, has an appellation which literally signifies +blackness in Gipsy. In fact, this very word, or Cauliban, is given in +one of the Gipsy vocabularies for "black." Kaulopen or Kauloben would, +however, be more correct. + +"A regular RUM 'un" was the form in which the application of the word +"rum" to strange, difficult, or distinguished, was first introduced to +the British public. This, I honestly believe (as Mr Borrow indicates), +came from _Rum_ or _Rom_, a Gipsy. It is a peculiar word, and all of its +peculiarities might well be assumed by the sporting Gipsy, who is always, +in his way, a character, gifted with an indescribable self-confidence, as +are all "horsey" men characters, "sports" and boxers, which enables them +to keep to perfection the German eleventh commandment, "Thou shall not +let thyself be _bluffed_!"--_i.e_., abashed. + +PAL is a common cant word for brother or friend, and it is purely Gipsy, +having come directly from that language, without the slightest change. On +the Continent it is _prala_, or _pral_. In England it sometimes takes +the form "_pel_." + +TRASH is derived by Mr Wedgwood (Dictionary of English Etymology, 1872) +from the old word _trousse_, signifying the clipping of trees. But in +old Gipsy or in the German Gipsy of the present day, as in the Turkish +Rommany, it means so directly "fear, mental weakness and worthlessness," +that it may possibly have had a Rommany origin. Terror in Gipsy is +_trash_, while thirst is _trush_, and both are to be found in the +Hindustani. _Tras_, which means _thirst_ and _alarm_ or _terror_. + +It should be observed that in no instance can these Gipsy words have been +borrowed from English slang. They are all to be found in German Gipsy, +which is in its turn identical with the Rommany language of India--of the +Nats, Bhazeghurs, Doms, Multanee or Banjoree, as I find the primitive +wandering Gipsies termed by different writers. + +I am aware that the word CAD was applied to the conductor of an omnibus, +or to a non-student at Universities, before it became a synonym for +vulgar fellow, yet I believe that it was abbreviated from cadger, and +that this is simply the Gipsy word Gorgio, which often means a man in the +abstract. I have seen this word printed as gorger in English slang. +CODGER, which is common, is applied, as Gipsies use the term Gorgio, +contemptuously, and it sounds still more like it. + +BOSH, signifying nothing, or in fact empty humbug, is generally credited +to the Turkish language, but I can see no reason for going to the Turks +for what the Gipsies at home already had, in all probability, from the +same Persian source, or else from the Sanskrit. With the Gipsies, _bosh_ +is a fiddle, music, noise, barking, and very often an idle sound or +nonsense. "Stop your bosherin," or "your bosh," is what they would term +_flickin lav_, or current phrase. + +"BATS," a low term for a pair of boots, especially bad ones, is, I think, +from the Gipsy and Hindustani _pat_, a foot, generally called, however, +by the Rommany in England, Tom Pats. "To pad the hoof," and "to stand +pad "--the latter phrase meaning to stand upright, or to stand and beg, +are probably derived from _pat_. It should be borne in mind that +Gipsies, in all countries, are in the habit of changing certain letters, +so that _p_ and _b_, like _l_ and _n_, or _k_ and _g_ hard, may often be +regarded as identical. + +"CHEE-CHEE," "be silent!" or "fie," is termed "Anglo-Indian," by the +author of the Slang Dictionary, but we need not go to India of the +present day for a term which is familiar to every Gipsy and "traveller" +in England, and which, as Mr Simson discovered long ago, is an excellent +"spell" to discourage the advances of thimble-riggers and similar gentry, +at fairs, or in public places. + +CHEESE, or "THE CHEESE," meaning that anything is pre-eminent or +superior; in fact, "the thing," is supposed by many to be of gipsy origin +because Gipsies use it, and it is to be found as "chiz" in Hindustani, in +which language it means a thing. Gipsies do not, however, seem to regard +it themselves, as _tacho_ or true Rommanis, despite this testimony, and I +am inclined to think that it partly originated in some wag's perversion +of the French word _chose_. + +In London, a man who sells cutlery in the streets is called a CHIVE +FENCER, a term evidently derived from the Gipsy _chiv_, a sharp-pointed +instrument or knife. A knife is also called a _chiv_ by the lowest class +all over England. + +COUTER or COOTER is a common English slang term for a guinea. It was not +necessary for the author of the Slang Dictionary to go to the banks of +the Danube for the origin of a word which is in the mouths of all English +Gipsies, and which was brought to England by their ancestors. A +sovereign, a pound, in Gipsy, is a _bar_. + +A GORGER, meaning a gentleman, or well-dressed man, and in theatrical +parlance, a manager, is derived by the author of the Slang +Dictionary--absurdly enough, it must be confessed--from "gorgeous,"--a +word with which it has no more in common than with gouges or chisels. A +gorger or gorgio--the two are often confounded--is the common Gipsy word +for one who is not Gipsy, and very often means with them a _rye_ or +gentleman, and indeed any man whatever. Actors sometimes call a fellow- +performer a _cully-gorger_. + +DICK, an English slang word for sight, or seeing, is purely Gipsy in its +origin, and in common use by Rommanis over all the world. + +DOOK, to tell fortunes, and DOOKING, fortune-telling, are derived by the +writer last cited, correctly enough, from the Gipsy _dukkerin_,--a fact +which I specify, since it is one of the very rare instances in which he +has not blundered when commenting on Rommany words, or other persons' +works. + +Mr Borrow has told us that a TANNER or sixpence, sometimes called a +Downer, owes its pseudonym to the Gipsy word _tawno_ or _tano_, meaning +"little"--the sixpence being the little coin as compared with a shilling. + +DRUM or DROM, is the common English Gipsy word for a road. In English +slang it is applied, not only to highways, but also to houses. + +If the word GIBBERISH was, as has been asserted, first applied to the +language of the Gipsies, it may have been derived either from "Gip," the +nickname for Gipsy, with _ish_ or _rish_ appended as in Engl-_ish_, I- +_rish_, or from the Rommany word _Jib_ signifying a language. + +KEN, a low term for a house, is possibly of Gipsy origin. The common +word in every Rommany dialect for a house is, however, neither ken nor +khan, but _Ker_. + +LIL, a book, a letter, has passed from the Gipsies to the low "Gorgios," +though it is not a very common word. In Rommany it can be _correctly_ +applied only to a letter or a piece of paper, which is written on, though +English Gipsies call all books by this name, and often speak of a letter +as a _Chinamangri_. + +LOUR or LOWR, and LOAVER, are all vulgar terms for money, and combine two +Gipsy words, the one _lovo_ or _lovey_, and the other _loure_, to steal. +The reason for the combination or confusion is obvious. The author of +the Slang Dictionary, in order to explain this word, goes as usual to the +Wallachian Gipsies, for what he might have learned from the first tinker +in the streets of London. I should remark on the word loure, that Mr +Borrow has shown its original identity with _loot_, the Hindustani for +plunder or booty. + +I believe that the American word loafer owes something to this Gipsy +root, as well as to the German _laufer_ (_landlaufer_), and Mexican +Spanish _galeofar_, and for this reason, that when the term first began +to be popular in 1834 or 1835, I can distinctly remember that it meant to +_pilfer_. Such, at least, is my earliest recollection, and of hearing +school boys ask one another in jest, of their acquisitions or gifts, +"Where did you loaf that from?" A petty pilferer was a loafer, but in a +very short time all of the tribe of loungers in the sun, and disreputable +pickers up of unconsidered trifles, now known as bummers, were called +loafers. On this point my memory is positive, and I call attention to +it, since the word in question has been the subject of much conjecture in +America. + +It is a very curious fact, that while the word _loot_ is unquestionably +Anglo-Indian, and only a recent importation into our English "slanguage," +it has always been at the same time English-Gipsy, although it never rose +to the surface. + +MAUNDER, to stroll about and beg, has been derived from _Mand_, the Anglo- +Saxon for a basket, but is quite as likely to have come from Maunder, the +Gipsy for "to beg." Mumper, a beggar, is also from the same source. + +MOKE, a donkey, is _said_ to be Gipsy, by Mr Hotten, but Gipsies +themselves do not use the word, nor does it belong to their usual +language. The proper Rommany word for an ass is _myla_. + +PARNY, a vulgar word for rain, is supposed to have come into England from +the "Anglo-Indian" source, but it is more likely that it was derived from +the Gipsy _panni_ or water. "Brandy pawnee" is undoubtedly an +Anglo-Indian word, but it is used by a very different class of people +from those who know the meaning of _Parny_. + +POSH, which has found its way into vulgar popularity, as a term for small +coins, and sometimes for money in general, is the diminutive of the Gipsy +word _pashero_ or _poshero_, a half-penny, from _pash_ a half, and +_haura_ or _harra_, a penny. + +QUEER, meaning across, cross, contradictory, or bad, is "supposed" to be +the German word _quer_, introduced by the Gipsies. In their own language +_atut_ means across or against, though to _curry_ (German and Turkish +Gipsy _kurava_), has some of the slang meaning attributed to _queer_. An +English rogue will say, "to shove the queer," meaning to pass counterfeit +money, while the Gipsy term would be to _chiv wafri lovvo_, or _lovey_. + +"RAGLAN, a married woman, originally _Gipsy_, but now a term with English +tramps" (_The Slang Dictionary_, _London_ 1865). In Gipsy, _raklo_ is a +youth or boy, and _rakli_, a girl; Arabic, _ragol_, a man. I am +informed, on good authority, that these words are known in India, though +I cannot find them in dictionaries. They are possibly transposed from +_Lurka_ a youth and _lurki_ a girl, such transpositions being common +among the lowest classes in India. + +RUMMY or RUMY, as applied to women, is simply the Gipsy word _romi_, a +contraction of _romni_, a wife; the husband being her _rom_. + +BIVVY for beer, has been derived from the Italian _bevere_, but it is +probably Gipsy, since in the old form of the latter language, Biava or +Piava, means to drink. To _pivit_, is still known among English Gipsies. + +RIGS--running one's rigs is said to be Gipsy, but the only meaning of +_rig_, so far as I am able to ascertain in Rommany, is _a side_ or _an +edge_. It is, however, possible that one's _side_ may in earlier times +have been equivalent to "face, or encounter." To _rikker_ or _rigger_ in +Gipsy, is to carry anything. + +MOLL, a female companion, is probably merely the nickname for Mary, but +it is worth observing, that _Mal_ in old Gipsy, or in German Gipsy, means +an associate, and Mahar a wife, in Hindustani. + +STASH, to be quiet, to stop, is, I think, a variation of the common Gipsy +word hatch, which means precisely the same thing, and is derived from the +older word _atchava_. + +STURABAN, a prison, is purely Gipsy. Mr Hotten says it is from the Gipsy +_distarabin_, but there is no such word beginning with _dis_, in the +English Rommany dialect. In German Gipsy a prison is called +_stillapenn_. + +TINY or TEENY has been derived from the Gipsy _tano_, meaning "little." + +TOFFER, a woman who is well dressed in new clean clothes, probably gets +the name from the Gipsy _tove_, to wash (German Gipsy _Tovava_). She is, +so to speak, freshly washed. To this class belong Toff, a dandy; +_Tofficky_, dressy or gay, and _Toft_, a dandy or swell. + +TOOL as applied to stealing, picking pockets, and burglary, is, like +_tool_, to drive with the reins; derived beyond doubt from the Gipsy word +_tool_, to take or hold. In all the Continental Rommany dialects it is +_Tulliwawa_. + +PUNCH, it is generally thought, is Anglo-Indian, derived directly from +the Hindustani _Pantch_ or five, from the five ingredients which enter +into its composition, but it may have partially got its name from some +sporting Gipsy in whose language the word for _five_ is the same as in +Sanskrit. There have been thousands of "swell" Rommany chals who have +moved in sporting circles of a higher class than they are to be found in +at the present day. + +"VARDO formerly was _Old Cant_ for a waggon" (_The Slang Dictionary_). It +may be added that it is pure Gipsy, and is still known at the present day +to every Rom in England. In Turkish Gipsy, _Vordon_ means a vehicle, in +German Gipsy, _Wortin_. + +"Can you VOKER Rommany?" is given by Mr Hotten as meaning "Can you speak +Gipsy,"--but there is no such word in Rommany as _voker_. He probably +meant "Can you _rakker_"--pronounced very often _Roker_. Continental +Gipsy _Rakkervava_. Mr Hotten derives it from the Latin _Vocare_! + +I do not know the origin of WELCHER, a betting cheat, but it is worthy of +remark that in old Gipsy a _Walshdo_ or Welsher meant a Frenchman (from +the German Walsch) or any foreigner of the Latin races. + +YACK, a watch, probably received its name from the Gipsy _Yak_ an eye, in +the old times when watches were called bull's eyes. + +LUSHY, to be tipsy, and LUSH, are attributed for their origin to the name +of Lushington, a once well-known London brewer, but when we find _Losho_ +and _Loshano_ in a Gipsy dialect, meaning jolly, from such a Sanskrit +root as _Lush_; as Paspati derives it, there seems to be some ground for +supposing the words to be purely Rommany. Dr Johnson said of lush that +it was "opposite to pale," and this curiously enough shows its first +source, whether as a "slang" word or as indicative of colour, since one +of its early Sanskrit meanings is _light_ or _radiance_. This identity +of the so regarded vulgar and the refined, continually confronts us in +studying Rommany. + +"To make a MULL of anything," meaning thereby to spoil or confuse it, if +it be derived, as is said, from the Gipsy, must have come from _Mullo_ +meaning _dead_, and the Sanskrit _Mara_. There is, however, no such +Gipsy word as mull, in the sense of entangling or spoiling. + +PROSS is a theatrical slang word, meaning to instruct and train a tyro. +As there are several stage words of manifest Gipsy origin, I am inclined +to derive this from the old Gipsy _Priss_, to read. In English Gipsy +_Prasser_ or _Pross_ means to ridicule or scorn. Something of this is +implied in the slang word _Pross_, since it also means "to sponge upon a +comrade," &c., "for drink." + +TOSHERS are in English low language, "men who steal copper from ship's +bottoms." I cannot form any direct connection between this word and any +in English Gipsy, but it is curious that in Turkish Gipsy _Tasi_ is a +cup, and in Turkish Persian it means, according to Paspati, a copper +basin used in the baths. It is as characteristic of English Gipsy as of +any of its cognate dialects, that we often find lurking in it the most +remarkable Oriental fragments, which cannot be directly traced through +the regular line of transmission. + +UP TO TRAP means, in common slang, intelligent. It is worth observing, +that in Gipsy, _drab_ or _trap_ (which words were pronounced alike by the +first Gipsies who came from Germany to England), is used for medicine or +poison, and the employment of the latter is regarded, even at the +present, as the greatest Rommany secret. Indeed, it is only a few days +since a Gipsy said to me, "If you know _drab_, you're up to everything; +for there's nothing goes above that." With _drab_ the Gipsy secures +game, fish, pigs, and poultry; he quiets kicking horses until they can be +sold; and last, not least, kills or catches rats and mice. As with the +Indians of North America, _medicine_--whether to kill or cure--is to the +Gipsy the art of arts, and those who affect a knowledge of it are always +regarded as the most intelligent. It is, however, remarkable, that the +Gipsy, though he lives in fields and woods, is, all the world over, far +inferior to the American Indian as regards a knowledge of the properties +of herbs or minerals. One may pick the first fifty plants which he sees +in the woods, and show them to the first Indian whom he meets, with the +absolute certainty that the latter will give him a name for every one, +and describe in detail their qualities and their use as remedies. The +Gipsy seldom has a name for anything of the kind. The country people in +America, and even the farmers' boys, have probably inherited by tradition +much of this knowledge from the aborigines. + +BARNEY, a mob or crowd, may be derived from the Gipsy _baro_, great or +many, which sometimes takes the form of _barno_ or _barni_, and which +suggests the Hindustani Bahrna "to increase, proceed, to gain, to be +promoted;" and Bharna, "to fill, to satisfy, to be filled, &c."--(Brice's +"Hindustani and English Dictionary." London, Trubner & Co., 1864). + +BEEBEE, which the author of the Slang Dictionary declares means a lady, +and is "Anglo-Indian," is in general use among English Gipsies for aunt. +It is also a respectful form of address to any middle-aged woman, among +friends. + +CULL or CULLY, meaning a man or boy, in Old English cant, is certainly of +Gipsy origin. _Chulai_ signifies man in Spanish Gipsy (Borrow), and +_Khulai_ a gentleman, according to Paspati; in Turkish Rommany--a +distinction which the word _cully_ often preserves in England, even when +used in a derogatory sense, as of a dupe. + +JOMER, a sweetheart or female favourite, has probably some connection in +derivation with choomer, a kiss, in Gipsy. + +BLOKE, a common coarse word for a man, may be of Gipsy origin; since, as +the author of the Slang Dictionary declares, it may be found in +Hindustani, as Loke. "_Lok_, people, a world, region."--("Brice's Hind. +Dictionary.") _Bala' lok_, a gentleman. + +A DUFFER, which is an old English cant term, expressive of contempt for a +man, may be derived from the Gipsy _Adovo_, "that," "that man," or "that +fellow there." _Adovo_ is frequently pronounced almost like "a duffer," +or "_a duvva_." + +NIGGLING, which means idling, wasting time, doing anything slowly, may be +derived from some other Indo-European source, but in English Gipsy it +means to go slowly, "to potter along," and in fact it is the same as the +English word. That it is pure old Rommany appears from the fact that it +is to be found as _Niglavava_ in Turkish Gipsy, meaning "I go," which is +also found in _Nikliovava_ and _Nikavava_, which are in turn probably +derived from the Hindustani _Nikalna_, "To issue, to go forth or out," +&c. (Brice, Hind. Dic.) _Niggle_ is one of the English Gipsy words +which are used in the East, but which I have not been able to find in the +German Rommany, proving that here, as in other countries, certain old +forms have been preserved, though they have been lost where the +vocabulary is far more copious, and the grammar much more perfect. + +MUG, a face, is derived by Mr Wedgwood from the Italian MOCCA, a mocking +or apish mouth (Dictionary of English Etymology), but in English Gipsy we +have not only _mui_, meaning the face, but the _older_ forms from which +the English word was probably taken, such as Mak'h (Paspati), and finally +the Hindustani _Mook_ and the Sanskrit _Mukha_, mouth or face +(Shakespeare, Hind. Dic., p. 745). In all cases where a word is so +"slangy" as mug, it seems more likely that it should have been derived +from Rommany than from Italian, since it is only within a few years that +any considerable number of the words of the latter language was imparted +to the lower classes of London. + +BAMBOOZLE, BITE, and SLANG are all declared by the author of the Slang +Dictionary to be Gipsy, but, with the exception of the last word, I am +unable to verify their Rommany origin. Bambhorna does indeed mean in +Hindustani (Brice), "to bite or to worry," and bamboo-bakshish to deceive +by paying with a whipping, while _swang_, as signifying mimicking, +acting, disguise and sham, whether of words or deeds, very curiously +conveys the spirit of the word slang. As for _bite_ I almost hesitate to +suggest the possibility of a connection between it and _Bidorna_, to +laugh at. I offer not only these three suggested derivations, but also +most of the others, with every reservation. For many of these words, as +for instance _bite_, etymologists have already suggested far more +plausible and more probable derivations, and if I have found a place for +Rommany "roots," it is simply because what is the most plausible, and +apparently the most probable, is not always the true origin. But as I +firmly believe that there is much more Gipsy in English, especially in +English slang and cant, than the world is aware of, I think it advisable +to suggest what I can, leaving to abler philologists the task of testing +its value. + +Writers on such subjects err, almost without an exception, in insisting +on one accurately defined and singly derived source for every word, when +perhaps three or four have combined to form it. The habits of thought +and methods of study followed by philologists render them especially open +to this charge. They wish to establish every form as symmetrical and +mathematical, where nature has been freakish and bizarre. Some years ago +when I published certain poems in the broken English spoken by Germans, +an American philologist, named Haldemann, demonstrated to his own +satisfaction that the language which I had put into Hans Breitmann's +mouth was inaccurate, because I had not reduced it to an uniform dialect, +making the same word the same in spelling and pronunciation on all +occasions, when the most accurate observation had convinced me, as it +must any one, that those who have only partially learned a language +continually vary their methods of uttering its words. + +That some words have come from one source and been aided by another, is +continually apparent in English Gipsy, as for instance in the word for +reins, "guiders," which, until the Rommany reached England, was voidas. +In this instance the resemblance in sound between the words undoubtedly +conduced to an union. Gibberish may have come from the Gipsy, and at the +same time owe something to _gabble_, _jabber_, and the old Norse or +Icelandic _gifra_. _Lush_ may owe something to Mr Lushington, something +to the earlier English _lush_, or rosy, and something to the Gipsy and +Sanskrit. It is not at all unlikely that the word _codger_ owes, through +_cadger_, a part of its being to _kid_, a basket, as Mr Halliwell +suggests (Dictionary of Archaic and Provincial Words, 1852), and yet come +quite as directly from _gorger_ or _gorgio_. "The cheese" probably has +the Gipsy-Hidustani _chiz_ for a father, and the French _chose_ for a +mother, while both originally sprung thousands of years ago in the great +parting of the Aryan nations, to be united after so long a separation in +a distant island in the far northern seas. + +The etymologist who hesitates to adopt this principle of joint sources of +derivation, will find abundant instances of something very like it in +many English Gipsy words themselves, which, as belonging to a language in +extreme decay, have been formed directly from different, but somewhat +similarly sounding, words, in the parent German or Eastern Rommany. Thus, +_schukker_, pretty; _bi-shukker_, slow; _tschukko_, dry, and +_tschororanes_, secretly, have in England all united in _shukar_, which +expresses all of their meanings. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. PROVERBS AND CHANCE PHRASES. + + +An Old Gipsy Proverb--Common Proverbs in Gipsy Dress--Quaint +Sayings--Characteristic Rommany Picture-Phrases. + +Every race has not only its peculiar proverbs, sayings, and catch-words, +but also idiomatic phrases which constitute a characteristic chiaroscuro, +if not colour. The Gipsies in England have of course borrowed much from +the Gorgios, but now and then something of their own appears. In +illustration of all this, I give the following expressions noted down +from Gipsy conversation:-- + +_Tacho like my dad_. True like my father. + +_Kushto like my dad_. Good like my father. + +This is a true Gipsy proverb, used as a strongly marked indication of +approbation or belief. + +_Kushto bak_. Good luck! + +As the Genoese of old greeted their friends with the word _Guadagna_! or +"Gain!" indicating as Rabelais declares, their sordid character, so the +Gipsy, whose life is precarious, and who depends upon chance for his +daily bread, replies to "Sarishan!" (good day!) with "Kushto bak!" or +"Good luck to you!" The Arabic "Baksheesh" is from the same root as bak, +_i.e_., bacht. + +_When there's a boro bavol_, _huller the tan parl the waver rikk pauli +the bor_. When the wind is high, move the tent to the other side of the +hedge behind it. + +That is to say, change sides in an emergency. + +"_Hatch apre! Hushti! The prastramengro's wellin! Jal the graias +avree! Prastee_!" + +"Jump up! Wide awake there! The policeman's coming! Run the horses +off! Scamper!" + +This is an alarm in camp, and constitutes a sufficiently graphic picture. +The hint to run the horses off indicates a very doubtful title to their +possession. + +_The prastramengro pens me mustn't hatch acai_. + +The policeman says we mustn't stop here. + +No phrase is heard more frequently among Gipsies, who are continually in +trouble with the police as to their right to stop and pitch their tents +on commons. + +_I can hatch apre for pange_ (_panj_) _divvuses_. + +I can stop here for five days. + +A common phrase indicating content, and equivalent to, "I would like to +sit here for a week." + +_The graias have taddered at the kas-stoggus_--_we must jal an +durer_--_the gorgio's dicked us_! + +The horses have been pulling at the hay-stack--we must hurry away--the +man has seen us! + +When Gipsies have remained over night on a farm, it sometimes happens +that their horses and asses--inadvertently of course--find their way to +the haystacks or into a good field. _Humanum est errare_! + +_Yeck mush can lel a grai ta panni_, _but twenty cant kair him pi_. + +One man can take a horse to water, but twenty can't make him drink. + +A well-known proverb. + +_A chirrico 'dree the mast is worth dui_ '_dree the bor_. + +A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush (hedge). + +_Never kin a pong dishler nor lel a romni by momeli dood_. + +Never buy a handkerchief nor choose a wife by candle-light. + +_Always jal by the divvus_. + +Always go by the day. + +_Chin tutes chuckko by tute's kaum_. + +Cut your coat according to your fancy. This is a Gipsy variation of an +old proverb. + +_Fino ranyas kair fino trushnees_. + +Nice reeds make nice baskets. + +_He can't tool his kokerus togetherus_ (_kettenus_). + +He can't hold himself together. Spoken of an infirm old man. + +_Too boot of a mush for his kokero_. + +Too much of a man for himself; _i.e_., he thinks too much of himself. + +_He_'s _too boot of a mush to rakker a pauveri chavo_. + +He's too proud too speak to a poor man. This was used, not in +depreciation of a certain nobleman, whom the Gipsy who gave it to me had +often seen, but admiringly, as if such _hauteur_ were a commendable +quality. + +_More_ (_koomi_) _covvas the well_. + +There are more things to come. Spoken of food on a table, and equivalent +to "Don't go yet." _The_ appears to be used in this as in many other +instances, instead of _to_ for the sake of euphony. + +_The jivaben has jawed avree out of his gad_. + +The life has gone out of his shirt, _i.e_., body. This intimates a long +and close connection between the body and the under garment. "Avree out +of," a phrase in which the Gipsy word is immediately followed by its +English equivalent, is a common form of expression for the sake of +clearness. + +_I toves my own gad_. + +I wash my own shirt. + +A saying indicating celibacy or independence. + +_Mo rakkerfor a pennis when tute can't lel it_. + +Don't ask for a thing when you can't get it. + +_The wongurs kairs the grasni jal_. + +Money makes the mare go. + +_It's allers the boro matcho that pet-a-lay 'dree the panni_. + +It is always the largest fish that falls back into the water. + +_Bengis your see_! _Beng in tutes bukko_! + +The devil in your heart. The devil in your body, or bowels. + +This is a common form of imprecation among Gipsies all over the world. + +_Jawin sar a mush mullerin adree the boro naflo-ker_. + +Going like a man dying in the hospital. + +_Rikker it adree tute's kokero see an' kek'll jin_. + +Keep it a secret in your own heart, and nobody will know it. + +_Del sar mush a sigaben to hair his jivaben_. Give every man a chance to +make his living. + +_It's sim to a choomer, kushti for kek till it's pordered atween dui_. + +It's like a kiss, good for nothing until it is divided between two. + +_A cloudy sala often purabens to a fino divvus_. + +A cloudy morning often changes to a fine day. + +_Iuzhiou panni never jalled avree from a chickli tan_. + +Clean water never came out from a dirty place. + +_Sar mush must jal to the cangry, yeck divvus or the waver_. + +Every man must go to the church (_i.e_., be buried) some day or other. + +_Kek mush ever lelled adusta mongur_. + +No man ever got money enough. + +_Pale the wafri bak jals the kushti bak_. + +Behind bad luck comes good luck. + +_Saw mushis ain't got the sim kammoben as wavers_. + +All men have not the same tastes. + +_Lel the tacho pirro, an' it's pash kaired_. + +Well begun is half done. + +_Whilst tute's rakkerin the cheiruses jal_. + +While you are talking the _times_ (hours) fly. + +_Wafri bak in a boro ker_, _sim's adree a bitti her_. + +There may be adversity in a large house as well as in a small one. + +_The kushtiest covvas allers jal avree siggest_. + +The best is soonest gone. + +_To dick a puro pal is as cammoben as a kushti habben_. + +To see an old friend is as agreeable as a good meal. + +_When tuti's pals chinger yeck with a waver_, _don't tute jal adoi_. + +When your brothers quarrel don't you meddle. + +_Pet up with the rakkerin an' mor pen chichi_. + +Endure the chattering and say nothing. + +_When a mush dels tute a grai tute man dick 'dree lester's mui_. + +When a man gives you a horse you must not look in his mouth. + +_Man jal atut the puvius_. + +Do not go across the field. Intimating that one should travel in the +proper road. + +_There's a kushti sovaben at the kunsus of a duro drum_. + +There is a sweet sleep at the end of a long road. + +_Kair the cammodearer_. + +Make the best of it. + +_Rikker dovo adree tute's see_. + +Keep that a secret. + +_The koomi foki the tacho_. + +The more the merrier. + +_The pishom kairs the gudlo_. + +The bee makes the honey. _Id est_, each does his own work. + +_The pishom lels the gudlo avree the roozhers_. + +The bee gets honey from flowers. _Id est_, seeks it in the right place. + +_Hatch till the dood wells apre_. + +Wait till the moon rises. A very characteristic Gipsy saying. + +_Can't pen shukker atut lendy_. + +You cannot say aught against them. + +_He's boccalo ajaw to haw his chokkas_. + +He's hungry enough to eat his shoes. + +_The puro beng is a fino mush_! + +The devil is a nice character. + +_Mansha tu pal_! + +Cheer up, brother. Be a man! Spoken to any one who seems dejected. This +corresponds partially to the German Gipsy _Manuschwari_! which is, +however, rather an evil wish and a curse, meaning according to Dr Liebich +(_Die Zigeuner_) the gallows, dire need, and epilepsy. Both in English +and German it is, however, derived from Manusch, a man. + +_He's a hunnalo nakin mush_. + +He is an avaricious man. Literally, a spiteful nosed man. + +_Tute can hair a covva ferridearer if you jal shukar_. + +You can do a thing better if you go about it secretly. + +_We're lullero adoi we don't jin the jib_. + +We are dumb where we do not understand the language. + +_Chucked_ (_chivved_) _saw the habben avree_. + +He threw all the victuals about. A melancholy proverb, meaning that +state of irritable intoxication when a man comes home and abuses his +family. + +_A myla that rikkers tute is kushtier to kistur than a grai that chivs +you apre_. + +An ass that carries you is better than a horse that throws you off. + +_The juva_, _that sikkers her burk will sikker her bull_. + +"Free of her lips, free of her hips." + +_He sims mandy dree the mui_--_like a puvengro_. + +He resembles me--like a potato. + +_Yeck hotchewitchi sims a waver as yeck bubby sims the waver_. + +One hedgehog is as like another as two peas. + +_He mored men dui_. + +He killed both of us. A sarcastic expression. + +_I dicked their stadees an langis sherros_. + +I saw their hats on their heads. Apropos of amazement at some very +ordinary thing. + +_When you've tatti panni and rikker tutes kokero pash matto you can jal +apre the wen sar a grai_. + +When you have brandy (spirits), and keep yourself half drunk, you can go +through the winter like a horse. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. INDICATIONS OF THE INDIAN ORIGIN OF THE GIPSIES. + + +Boro Duvel, or "Great God," an Old Gipsy term for Water--Bishnoo or +Vishnu, the Rain-God--The Rain, called God's Blood by Gipsies--The Snow, +"Angel's Feathers."--Mahadeva--Buddha--The Simurgh--The Pintni or +Mermaid--The Nag or Blind-Worm--Nagari and Niggering--The Nile--Nats and +Nautches, Naubat and Nobbet--A Puncher--Pitch, Piller and +Pivlibeebee--Quod--Kishmet or Destiny--The Koran in England--"Sass"-- +Sherengro--Sarserin--Shali or Rice--The Shaster in England--The Evil +Eye--Sikhs--Stan, Hindostan, Iranistan--The true origin of Slang--Tat, +the Essence of Being--Bahar and Bar--The Origin of the Words Rom and +Romni.--Dom and Domni--The Hindi tem--Gipsy and Hindustani points of +the Compass--Salaam and Shulam--Sarisham!--The Cups--Women's treading +on objects--Horseflesh--English and Foreign Gipsies--Bohemian and +Rommany. + +A learned Sclavonian--Michael von Kogalnitschan--has said of Rommany, +that he found it interesting to be able to study a Hindu dialect in the +heart of Europe. He is quite right; but as mythology far surpasses any +philology in interest, as regards its relations to poetry, how much more +wonderful is it to find--to-day in England--traces of the tremendous +avatars, whose souls were gods, long ago in India. And though these +traces be faint, it is still apparent enough that they really exist. + +One day an old Gipsy, who is said to be more than usually "deep" in +Rommany, and to have had unusual opportunity for acquiring such knowledge +from Gipsies older and deeper than himself, sent word to me, to know if +"the rye" was aware that Boro Duvel, or the Great God, was an old Rommany +expression for water? I thought that this was a singular message to come +from a tent at Battersea, and asked my special Gipsy _factotum_, why God +should be called water, or water, God? And he replied in the following +words: + +"Panni is the Boro Duvel, and it is Bishnoo or Vishnoo, because it pells +alay from the Boro Duvel. '_Vishnu is the Boro Duvel then_?'--Avali. +There can't be no stretch adoi--can there, rya? Duvel is Duvel all the +world over--but by the right _formation_, Vishnoo is the Duvel's ratt. +I've shuned adovo but dusta cheiruses. An' the snow is poris, that jals +from the angels' winguses. And what I penned, that Bishnoo is the +Duvel's ratt, is puro Rommanis, and jinned by saw our foki." {110} + +Now in India, Vishnu and Indra are the gods of the rain. + +The learned, who insist that as there ought to be, so there must be, but +a single source of derivation for every word, ignoring the fact that a +dozen causes may aid in its formation, will at once declare that, as +Bishnoo or Vishnoo is derived from the old Gipsy Brishni or Brschindo, +and this from the Hindu Barish, and the Sanscrit Varish or Prish, there +can be "no rational ground" for connecting the English Gipsy word with +the Hindu god. But who can tell what secret undercurrents of dim +tradition and vague association may have come down to the present day +from the olden time. That rain should be often called God's blood, and +water bearing the name of Vishnu be termed God, and that this should be +regarded as a specially curious bit of Gipsy lore, is at any rate +remarkable enough. + +As for the Gipsies in question ever having heard of Vishnu and other gods +(as a friend suggests to me), save in this dim tradition, I can only say, +that I doubt whether either of them ever heard even of the apostles; and +I satisfied myself that the one who brought the secret had never heard of +Joseph, was pitiably ignorant of Potiphar's wife, and only knew of +"Mozhus" or Moses, that he "once heerd he was on the bulrushes." + +Mahadeva, or Mahadev, exists apparently in the mouth of every English +Gipsy in the phrase "Maduveleste!" or, God bless you. This word Maduvel +is often changed to Mi--duvel, and is generally supposed to mean "My +God;" but I was once assured, that the _old_ and correct form was Ma, +meaning great, and that it only meant great in connection with Duvel. + +A curious illustration of a lost word returning by chance to its original +source was given one day, when I asked a Gipsy if he knew such a word as +Buddha? He promptly replied, "Yes; that a booderi or boodha mush was an +_old_ man;" and pointing to a Chinese image of Buddha, said: "That is a +Boohda." He meant nothing more than that it represented an aged person, +but the coincidence was at least remarkable. Budha in Hindustani really +signifies an old man. + +The same Gipsy, observing on the chimney-piece a quaint image of a +Chinese griffin--a hideous little goblin with wings--informed me that the +Gipsy name for it was a Seemor or Seemorus, and further declared that the +same word meant a dolphin. "But a dolphin has no wings," I remarked. +"Oh, hasn't it?" rejoined the Gipsy; "its _fins_ are its wings, if it +hadn't wings it could not be a Seemor." I think I recognise in this +Seemor, the Simurgh or Griffin of Persian fable. {112} I could learn +nothing more than this, that the Gipsy had always regarded a dolphin as +resembling a large-headed winged monster, which he called a Seemor. + +NAG is a snake in Hindustani. The English Gipsies still retain this +primaeval word, but apply it only to the blind-worm. It is, however, +remarkable that the Nag, or blind-worm, is, in the opinion of the +Rommany, the most mysterious of creatures. I have been told that "when a +nag mullers it's hardus as a kosh, and you can pogger it like a swagler's +toov," "When a blind-worm dies it is as hard as a stick, and you can +break it like a pipe-stem." They also believe that the Nag is gifted, so +far as his will goes, with incredible malignity, and say of him-- + + "If he could dick sim's he can shoon, + He wouldn't mukk mush or grai jal an the drum." + +"If he could see as well as he can hear, he would not allow man or horse +to go on the road." + +The Hindi alphabet Deva Nagari, "the writing of the gods," is commonly +called Nagari. A common English Gipsy word for writing is "niggering." +"He niggered sar he could pooker adree a chinamangree." The resemblance +between _nagari_ and _nigger_ may, it is true, be merely accidental, but +the reader, who will ascertain by examination of the vocabulary the +proportion of Rommany words unquestionably Indian, will admit that the +terms have probably a common origin. + +From Sanskrit to English Gipsy may be regarded as a descent "from the +Nile to a street-gutter," but it is amusing at least to find a passable +parallel for this simile. _Nill_ in Gipsy is a rivulet, a river, or a +gutter. Nala is in Hindustani a brook; nali, a kennel: and it has been +conjectured that the Indian word indicates that of the great river of +Egypt. + +All of my readers have heard of the Nautch girls, the so-called +_bayaderes_ or dancing-girls of India; but very few, I suppose, are aware +that their generic name is remotely preserved in several English Gipsy +words. Nachna in Hindustani means to dance, while the Nats, who are a +kind of Gipsies, are generally jugglers, dancers, and musicians. A +_natua_ is one of these Nats, and in English Gipsy _nautering_ means +going about with music. Other attractions may be added, but, as I have +heard a Gipsy say, "it always takes music to go _a-nauterin_' or +_nobbin_'." + +_Naubat_ in the language of the Hindu Nats signifies "time, turn, and +instruments of music sounding at the gate of a great man, at certain +intervals." "Nobbet," which is a Gipsy word well known to all itinerant +negro minstrels, means to go about with music to get money. "To nobbet +round the tem, bosherin'." It also implies time or turn, as I inferred +from what I was told on inquiry. "You can shoon dovo at the wellgooras +when yeck rakkers the waver, You jal and nobbet." "You can hear that at +the fairs when one says to the other, You go and nobbet," meaning, "It is +your turn to play now." + +_Nachna_, to dance (Hindustani), appears to be reflected in the English +Gipsy "nitchering," moving restlessly, fidgeting and dancing about. +Nobbeting, I was told, "_is_ nauterin'--it's all one, rya!" + +_Paejama_ in India means very loose trousers; and it is worth noting that +Gipsies call loose leggings, trousers, or "overalls," peajamangris. This +may be Anglo-Indian derived from the Gorgios. Whether "pea-jacket" +belongs in part to this family, I will not attempt to decide. + +Living constantly among the vulgar and uneducated, it is not to be +wondered at that the English Gipsies should have often given a vulgar +English and slangy term to many words originally Oriental. I have found +that, without exception, there is a disposition among most people to +promptly declare that all these words were taken, "of course," from +English slang. Thus, when I heard a Gipsy speak of his fist as a +"puncher," I naturally concluded that he did so because he regarded its +natural use to be to "punch" heads with. But on asking him why he gave +it that name, he promptly replied, "Because it takes pange (five) fingers +to make a fist." And since _panja_ means in Hindustani a hand with the +five fingers extended, it is no violent assumption to conclude that even +_puncher_ may owe quite as much to Hindustani as to English, though I +cheerfully admit that it would perhaps never have existed had it not been +for English associations. Thus a Gipsy calls a pedlar a _packer_ or +_pack-mush_. Now, how much of this word is due to the English word pack +or packer, and how much to _paikar_, meaning in Hindustani a pedlar? I +believe that there has been as much of the one as of the other, and that +this doubly-formative influence, or _influence of continuation_, should +be seriously considered as regards all Rommany words which resemble in +sound others of the same meaning, either in Hindustani or in English. It +should also be observed that the Gipsy, while he is to the last degree +inaccurate and a blunderer as regards _English_ words (a fact pointed out +long ago by the Rev. Mr Crabb), has, however, retained with great +persistence hundreds of Hindu terms. Not being very familiar with +peasant English, I have generally found Gipsies more intelligible in +Rommany than in the language of their "stepfather-land," and have often +asked my principal informant to tell me in Gipsy what I could not +comprehend in "Anglo-Saxon." + +"To pitch together" does not in English mean to stick together, although +_pitch_ sticks, but it does in Gipsy; and in Hindustani, _pichchi_ means +sticking or adhering. I find in all cases of such resemblance that the +Gipsy word has invariably a closer affinity as regards meaning to the +Hindu than to the English, and that its tendencies are always rather +Oriental than Anglo-Saxon. As an illustration, I may point out _piller_ +(English Gipsy) to attack, having an affinity in _pilna_ (Hindustani), +with the same meaning. Many readers will at once revert to _pill_, +_piller_, and _pillage_--all simply _implying_ attack, but really meaning +to _rob_, or robbery. But _piller_ in English Gipsy also means, as in +Hindustani, to assault indecently; and this is almost conclusive as to +its Eastern origin. + +It is remarkable that the Gipsies in England, or all the world over, +have, like the Hindus, a distinctly descriptive expression for every +degree of relationship. Thus a _pivli beebee_ in English Gipsy, or +_pupheri bahim_ in Hindustani, is a father's sister's daughter. This in +English, as in French or German, is simply a cousin. + +_Quod_, imprisonment, is an old English cant and Gipsy word which Mr +Hotten attempts to derive from a college quadrangle; but when we find +that the Hindu _quaid_ also means confinement, the probability is that it +is to it we owe this singular term. + +There are many words in which it is evident that the Hindu Gipsy meaning +has been shifted from a cognate subject. Thus _putti_, the hub of a +wheel in Gipsy, means the felly of a wheel in Hindustani. _Kaizy_, to +rub a horse down, or scrape him, in the original tongue signifies "to tie +up a horse's head by passing the bridle to his tail," to prevent his +kicking while being rubbed or 'scraped. _Quasur_, or _kasur_, is in +Hindustani flame: in English Gipsy _kessur_ signifies smoke; but I have +heard a Gipsy more than once apply the same term to flame and smoke, just +as _miraben_ stands for both life and death. + +Very Oriental is the word kismet, or destiny, as most of my readers are +probably aware. It is also English Gipsy, and was explained to me as +follows: "A man's _kismut_ is what he's bound to kair--it's the kismut of +his see. Some men's kismut is better'n wavers, 'cos they've got more +better chiv. Some men's kismut's to bikin grais, and some to bikin +kanis; but saw foki has their kismut, an' they can't pen chichi elsus." +In English, "A man's destiny is what he is bound to do--it is the fate of +his soul (life). Some men's destiny is better than others, because they +have more command of language. Some are fated to sell horses, and others +to sell hens; but all people have their mission, and can do nothing +else." + +_Quran_ in the East means the Koran, and quran uthara to take an oath. In +English Gipsy kurran, or kurraben, is also an oath, and it seems strange +that such a word from such a source should exist in England. It is, +however, more interesting as indicating that the Gipsies did not leave +India until familiarised with Mohammedan rule. "He kaired his kurran pre +the Duvel's Bavol that he would jal 'vree the tem for a besh." "He swore +his oath upon God's Breath (the Bible) that he would leave the country +for a year." Upon inquiring of the Gipsy who uttered this phrase why he +called the Bible "God's Breath," he replied naively, "It's sim to the +Duvel's jivaben, just the same as His breathus." "It is like God's life, +just the same as His breath." + +It is to be observed that _nearly all the words which Gipsies claim as +Gipsy_, _notwithstanding their resemblance to English_, _are to be found +in Hindustani_. Thus _rutter_, to copulate, certainly resembles the +English _rut_, but it is quite as much allied to _rutana_ (Hindustani), +meaning the same thing. "Sass," or sauce, meaning in Gipsy, bold, +forward impudence, is identical with the same English word, but it agrees +very well with the Hindu _sahas_, bold, and was perhaps born of the +latter term, although it has been brought up by the former. + +Dr A. F. Pott remarks of the German Gipsy word _schetra_, or violin, that +he could nowhere find in Rommany a similar instrument with an Indian +name. Surrhingee, or sarunghee, is the common Hindu word for a violin; +and the English Gipsies, on being asked if they knew it, promptly replied +that it was "an old word for the neck or head of a fiddle." It is true +they also called it sarengro, surhingro, and shorengro, the latter word +indicating that it might have been derived from sherro-engro--_i.e_., +"head-thing." But after making proper allowance for the Gipsy tendency, +or rather passion, for perverting words towards possible derivations, it +seems very probable that the term is purely Hindu. + +Zuhru, or Zohru, means in the East Venus, or the morning star; and it is +pleasant to find a reflection of the rosy goddess in the Gipsy _soor_, +signifying "early in the morning." I have been told that there is a +Rommany word much resembling _soor_, meaning the early star, but my +informant could not give me its exact sound. _Dood of the sala_ is the +common name for Venus. Sunrise is indicated by the eccentric term of +"_kam-left the panni_" or sun-left the water. "It wells from the waver +tem you jin," said my informant, in explanation. "The sun comes from a +foreign country, and first leaves that land, and then leaves the sea, +before it gets here." + +When a Gipsy is prowling for hens, or any other little waifs, and wishes +to leave a broken trail, so that his tracks may not be identified, he +will walk with the feet interlocked--one being placed outside the +other--making what in America is very naturally termed a snake-trail. +This he calls _sarserin_, and in Hindu _sarasana_ means to creep along +like a snake. + +Supposing that the Hindu word for rice, _shali_, could hardly have been +lost, I asked a Gipsy if he knew it, and he at once replied, "_Shali giv_ +is small grain-corn, werry little grainuses indeed." + +_Shalita_ in Hindustani is a canvas sack in which a tent is carried. The +English Gipsy has confused this word with _shelter_, and yet calls a +small or "shelter" tent a shelter _gunno_, or bag. "For we rolls up the +big tent in the shelter tent, to carry it." A tent cloth or canvas is in +Gipsy a _shummy_, evidently derived from the Hindu shumiyana, a canopy or +awning. + +It is a very curious fact that the English Gipsies call the Scripture or +Bible the _Shaster_, and I record this with the more pleasure, since it +fully establishes Mr Borrow as the first discoverer of the word in +Rommany, and vindicates him from the suspicion with which his assertion +was received by Dr Pott. On this subject the latter speaks as follows:-- + +"Eschastra de Moyses, l. ii. 22; [Greek text], M.; Sanskrit, castra; +Hind., shastr, m. Hindu religious books, Hindu law, Scripture, +institutes of science (Shakespeare). In proportion to the importance of +the real existence of this word among the Gipsies must be the suspicion +with which we regard it, when it depends, as in this instance, only on +Borrow's assertion, who, in case of need, to supply a non-existing word, +may have easily taken one from the Sanskrit."--_Die Zigeuner_, vol. ii. +p. 224. + +The word _shaster_ was given to me very distinctly by a Gipsy, who +further volunteered the information, that it not only meant the +Scriptures, but also any written book whatever, and somewhat marred the +dignity of the sublime association of the Bible and Shaster, by adding +that "any feller's bettin'-book on the race-ground was a _shasterni lil_, +'cos it's written." + +I have never heard of the evil eye among the lower orders of English, but +among Gipsies a belief in it is as common as among Hindus, and both +indicate it by the same word, _seer_ or _sihr_. In India _sihr_, it is +true, is applied to enchantment or magic in general, but in this case the +whole may very well stand for a part. I may add that my own +communications on the subject of the _jettatura_, and the proper means of +averting it by means of crab's claws, horns, and the usual sign of the +fore and little finger, were received by a Gipsy auditor with great faith +and interest. + +To show, teach, or learn, is expressed in Gipsy by the word _sikker_, +_sig_, or _seek_. The reader may not be aware that the Sikhs of India +derive their name from the same root, as appears from the following +extract from Dr Paspati's _etudes_: "_Sikava_, v. prim. 1 cl. 1 conj. +part, siklo', montrer, apprendre. Sanskrit, s'iks', to learn, to acquire +science; siksaka, adj., a learner, a teacher. Hindustani, seek'hna, +v.a., to learn, to acquire; seek'h, s.f., admonition." I next inquired +why they were called Seeks, and they told me it was a word borrowed from +one of the commandments of their founder, which signifies 'learn thou,' +and that it was adopted to distinguish the sect soon after he +disappeared. The word, as is well known, has the same import in the +Hindoovee" ("Asiatic Researches," vol. i. p. 293, and vol. ii. p. 200). +This was a noble word to give a name to a body of followers supposed to +be devoted to knowledge and truth. + +The English Gipsy calls a mermaid a _pintni_; in Hindu it is _bint ool +buhr_, a maid of the sea. Bero in Gipsy is the sea or a ship, but the +Rommany had reduced the term to the original _bint_, by which a girl is +known all over the East. + + "Ya bint' Eeskendereyeh." + +_Stan_ is a word confounded by Gipsies with both _stand_, a place at the +races or a fair, and _tan_, a stopping-place, from which it was probably +derived. But it agrees in sound and meaning with the Eastern _stan_, "a +place, station," and by application "country," so familiar to the reader +in Hindustan, Iranistan, Beloochistan, and many other names. It is +curious to find in the Gipsy tan not only the root-word of a tent, but +also the "Alabama," or "here we rest," applied by the world's early +travellers to so many places in the Morning Land. + +_Slang_ does _not_ mean, as Mr Hotten asserts, the secret language of the +Gipsies, but is applied by them to acting; to speaking theatrical +language, as in a play; to being an acrobat, or taking part in a show. It +is a very old Gipsy word, and indicates plainly enough the origin of the +cant word "slang." Using other men's words, and adopting a conventional +language, strikes a Gipsy as _artificial_; and many men not Gipsies +express this feeling by speaking of conventional stage language as +"theatrical slang." Its antiquity and origin appear in the Hindu swangi, +an actor; swang, mockery, disguise, sham; and swang lena, to imitate. As +regards the sound of the words, most English Gipsies would call swang +"slang" as faithfully as a Cockney would exchange _hat_ with '_at_. + +Deepest among deep words in India is _tat_, an element, a principle, the +essence of being; but it is almost amusing to hear an English Gipsy say +"that's the tatto (or tat) of it," meaning thereby "the thing itself," +the whole of it. And thus the ultimate point of Brahma, and the infinite +depth of all transcendental philosophy, may reappear in a cheap, +portable, and convenient form, as a declaration that the real meaning of +some mysterious transaction was that it amounted to a sixpenny swindle at +thimble-rig; for to such base uses have the Shaster and the Vedas come in +England. + +It is, however, pleasant to find the Persian _bahar_, a garden, recalling +Bahar Danush, the garden of knowledge (Hindustani, bagh), reappearing in +the English Gipsy _bar_. "She pirryed adree the bar lellin ruzhers." +"She walked in the garden plucking flowers." And it is also like old +times and the Arabian Nights at home, to know that bazaar is a Gipsy +word, though it be now quite obsolete, and signifies no longer a public +street for shops, but an open field. + +But of all words which identify the Gipsies with the East, and which +prove their Hindu origin, those by which they call themselves Rom and +Romni are most conclusive. In India the Dom caste is one of the lowest, +whose business it is for the men to remove carcasses, while the Domni, or +female Dom, sings at weddings. Everything known of the Dom identifies +them with Gipsies. As for the sound of the word, any one need only ask +the first Gipsy whom he meets to pronounce the Hindu _d_ or the word Dom, +and he will find it at once converted into _l_ or _r_. There are, it is +true, other castes and classes in India, such as Nats, the roving +Banjaree, Thugs, &c., all of which have left unmistakable traces on the +Gipsies, from which I conclude that at some time when these pariahs +became too numerous and dangerous there was a general expulsion of them +from India. {124} + +I would call particular attention to my suggestion that the Corn of India +is the true parent of the Rom, because all that is known of the former +caste indicates an affinity between them. The Dom pariahs of India who +carry out or touch dead bodies, also eat the bodies of animals that have +died a natural death, as do the Gipsies of England. The occupation of +the Domni and Romni, dancing and making music at festivals, are +strikingly allied. I was reminded of this at the last opera which I +witnessed at Covent Garden, on seeing stage Gipsies introduced as part of +the fete in "La Traviata." + +A curious indication of the Indian origin of the Gipsies may be found in +the fact that they speak of every foreign country beyond sea as the Hindi +tem, Hindi being in Hindustani their own word for Indian. Nothing was +more natural than that the Rommany on first coming to England should +speak of far-away regions as being the same as the land they had left, +and among such ignorant people the second generation could hardly fail to +extend the term and make it generic. At present an Irishman is a _Hindi +tem mush_, or Hindu; and it is rather curious, by the way, that a few +years ago in America everything that was _anti_-Irish or native American +received the same appellation, in allusion to the exclusive system of +castes. + +Although the Gipsies have sadly confounded the Hindu terms for the +"cardinal points," no one can deny that their own are of Indian origin. +Uttar is north in Hindustani, and Utar is west in Rommany. As it was +explained to me, I was told that "Utar means west and wet too, because +the west wind is wet." _Shimal_ is also north in Hindu; and on asking a +Gipsy what it meant, he promptly replied, "It's where the snow comes +from." _Poorub_ is the east in Hindustani; in Gipsy it is changed to +porus, and means the west. + +This confusion of terms is incidental to every rude race, and it must be +constantly borne in mind that it is very common in Gipsy. Night suggests +day, or black white, to the most cultivated mind; but the Gipsy confuses +the name, and calls yesterday and to-morrow, or light and shadow, by the +same word. More than this, he is prone to confuse almost all opposites +on all occasions, and wonders that you do not promptly accept and +understand what his own people comprehend. This is not the case among +the Indians of North America, because oratory, involving the accurate use +of words, is among them the one great art; nor are the negroes, despite +their heedless ignorance, so deficient, since they are at least very fond +of elegant expressions and forcible preaching. I am positive and +confident that it would be ten times easier to learn a language from the +wildest Indian on the North American continent than from any real English +Gipsy, although the latter may be inclined with all his heart and soul to +teach, even to the extent of passing his leisure days in "skirmishing" +about among the tents picking up old Rommany words. Now the Gipsy has +passed his entire life in the busiest scenes of civilisation, and is +familiar with all its refined rascalities; yet notwithstanding this, I +have found by experience that the most untutored Kaw or Chippewa, as +ignorant of English as I was ignorant of his language, and with no means +of intelligence between us save signs, was a genius as regards ability to +teach language when compared to most Gipsies. + +Everybody has heard of the Oriental _salaam_! In English Gipsy _shulam_ +means a greeting. "Shulam to your kokero!" is another form of +_sarishan_! the common form of salutation. The Hindu _sar i sham_ +signifies "early in the evening," from which I infer that the Dom or Rom +was a nocturnal character like the Night-Cavalier of Quevedo, and who +sang when night fell, "Arouse ye, then, my merry men!" or who said "Good- +evening!" just as we say (or used to say) "Good-day!" {127} + +A very curious point of affinity between the Gipsies and Hindus may be +found in a custom which was described to me by a Rom in the following +words:-- + +"When a mush mullers, an' the juvas adree his ker can't _kair habben_ +because they feel so naflo 'bout the rom being gone, or the chavi or +juvalo mush, or whoever it may be, then their friends for trin divvuses +kairs their habben an' bitchers it a lende. An' that's tacho Rommanis, +an' they wouldn't be dessen Rommany chuls that wouldn't kair dovo for +mushis in sig an' tukli." + +"When a man dies, and the women in his house cannot prepare food +(literally, make food) as they feel so badly because the man is gone (or +the girl, or young man, or whoever it may be), then their friends for +three days prepare their food and send it to them. And that is real +Rommany (custom), and they would not be decent Rommany fellows who would +not do that for people in sorrow and distress." + +Precisely the same custom prevails in India, where it is characterised by +a phrase strikingly identical with the English Gipsy term for it. In +England it is to _kair habben_, in Hindustani (Brice, Hin. Dict.) "karwa +khana is the food that is sent for three days from relations to a family +in which one of the members has died." The Hindu karwana, to make or to +cause to do, and kara, to do, are the origin of the English Gipsy _kair_ +(to make or cook), while from khana, or 'hana, to eat, comes _haw_ and +_habben_, or food. + +The reader who is familiar with the religious observances of India is +probably aware of the extraordinary regard in which the cup is held by +many sects. In Germany, as Mr Liebich declares, drinking-cups are kept +by the Gipsies with superstitious regard, the utmost care being taken +that they never fall to the ground. "Should this happen, the cup is +_never_ used again. By touching the ground it becomes sacred, and should +no more be used. When a Gipsy cares for nothing else, he keeps his +drinking-cup under every circumstance." I have not been able to +ascertain whether this species of regard for the cup ever existed in +England, but I know of many who could not be induced to drink from a +white cup or bowl, the reason alleged being the very frivolous and +insufficient one, that it reminded them of a blood-basin. It is almost +needless to say that this could never have been the origin of the +antipathy. No such consideration deters English peasants from using +white crockery drinking-vessels. + +In Germany, among the Gipsies, if a woman has trodden on any object, or +if the skirt of her dress has swept over or touched it, it is either +destroyed, or if of value, is disposed of or never used again. I found +on inquiry that the same custom still prevails among the old Gipsy +families in England, and that if the object be a crockery plate or cup, +it is at once broken. For this reason, even more than for convenience, +real Gipsies are accustomed to hang every cooking utensil, and all that +pertains to the table, high up in their waggons. It is almost needless +to point out how closely these ideas agree with those of many Hindus. The +Gipsy eats every and any thing except horseflesh. Among themselves, +while talking Rommany, they will boast of having eaten _mullo baulors_, +or pigs that have died a natural death, and _hotchewitchi_, or hedgehog, +as did the belle of a Gipsy party to me at Walton-on-Thames in the summer +of 1872. They can give no reason whatever for this inconsistent +abstinence. But Mr Simson in his "History of the Gipsies" has adduced a +mass of curious facts, indicating a special superstitious regard for the +horse among the Rommany in Scotland, and identifying it with certain +customs in India. It would be a curious matter of research could we +learn whether the missionaries of the Middle Ages, who made abstinence +from horse-flesh a point of salvation (when preaching in Germany and in +Scandinavia), derived their superstition, in common with the Gipsies, +from India. + +There can be no doubt that in seeking for the Indian origin of many Gipsy +words we are often bewildered, and that no field in philology presents +such opportunity for pugnacious critics to either attack or defend the +validity of the proofs alleged. The very word for "doubtful" or +"ambiguous," _dubeni_ or _dub'na_, is of this description. Is it derived +from the Hindu _dhoobd'ha_, which every Gipsy would pronounce _doobna_, +or from the English _dubious_, which has been made to assume the Gipsy- +Indian termination _na_? Of this word I was naively told, "If a juva's +bori (girl is big), that's _dub'ni_; and if she's shuvalo (swelled up), +_that's_ dubni: for it may pen (say) she's kaired a tikno (is +_enceinte_), and it may pen she hasn't." But when we find that the +English Gipsy also employs the word _dukkeni_ for "doubtful," and compare +it with the Hindustani _dhokna_ or _dukna_, the true derivation becomes +apparent. + +Had Dr Pott or Dr Paspati had recourse to the plan which I adopted of +reading a copious Hindustani dictionary entirely through, word by word, +to a patient Gipsy, noting down all which he recognised, and his +renderings of them, it is very possible that these learned men would in +Germany and Turkey have collected a mass of overwhelming proof as to the +Indian origin of Rommany. At present the dictionary which I intend shall +follow this work shows that, so far as the Rommany dialects have been +published, that of England contains a far greater number of almost +unchanged Hindu words than any other, a fact to which I would especially +call the attention of all who are interested in this curious language. +And what is more, I am certain that the supply is far from being +exhausted, and that by patient research among old Gipsies, the +Anglo-Rommany vocabulary might be increased to possibly five or six +thousand words. + +It is very possible that when they first came from the East to Europe the +Gipsies had a very copious supply of words, for there were men among them +of superior intelligence. But in Turkey, as in Germany, they have not +been brought into such close contact with the _Gorgios_ as in England: +they have not preserved their familiarity with so many ideas, and +consequently their vocabulary has diminished. Most of the Continental +Gipsies are still wild, black wanderers, unfamiliar with many things for +which the English Gipsy has at least a name, and to which he has +continued to apply old Indian words. Every one familiar with the subject +knows that the English Gipsies in America are far more intelligent than +their German Rommany cousins. A few years ago a large party of the +latter appeared at an English racecourse, where they excited much +attention, but greatly disgusted the English Roms, not as rivals, but +simply from their habits. "They couldn't do a thing but beg," said my +informant. "They jinned (knew) nothing else: they were the dirtiest +Gipsies I ever saw; and when the juvas suckled the children, they +sikkered their burks (showed their breasts) as I never saw women do +before foki." Such people would not, as a rule, know so many words as +those who looked down on them. + +The conclusion which I have drawn from studying Anglo-Rommany, and +different works on India, is that the Gipsies are the descendants of a +vast number of Hindus, of the primitive tribes of Hindustan, who were +expelled or emigrated from that country early in the fourteenth century. +I believe they were chiefly of the primitive tribes, because evidence +which I have given indicates that they were identical with the two castes +of the Doms and Nats--the latter being, in fact, at the present day, the +real Gipsies of India. Other low castes and outcasts were probably +included in the emigration, but I believe that future research will prove +that they were all of the old stock. The first Pariahs of India may have +consisted entirely of those who refused to embrace the religion of their +conquerors. + +It has been coolly asserted by a recent writer that Gipsies are not +proved to be of Hindu origin because "a few" Hindu words are to be found +in their language. What the proportion of such words really is may be +ascertained from the dictionary which will follow this work. But +throwing aside all the evidence afforded by language, traditions, +manners, and customs, one irrefutable proof still remains in the physical +resemblance between Gipsies all the world over and the natives of India. +Even in Egypt, the country claimed by the Gipsies themselves as their +remote great-grandfather-land, the native Gipsy is not Egyptian in his +appearance but Hindu. The peculiar brilliancy of the eye and its +expression in the Indian is common to the Gipsy, but not to the Egyptian +or Arab; and every donkey-boy in Cairo knows the difference between the +_Rhagarin_ and the native as to personal appearance. I have seen both +Hindus in Cairo and Gipsies, and the resemblance to each other is as +marked as their difference from Egyptians. + +A few years ago an article on the Rommany language appeared in the +"Atlantic Magazine" (Boston, U.S., America), in which the writer declared +that Gipsy has very little affinity with Hindustani, but a great deal +with Bohemian or Chech--in fact, he maintained, if I remember right, that +a Chech and a Rom could understand one another in either of their +respective tongues. I once devoted my time for several months to +unintermitted study of Chech, and consequently do not speak in entire +ignorance when I declare that true Rommany contains scores of Hindu words +to one of Bohemian. {133} + + + + +CHAPTER IX. MISCELLANEA. + + +Gipsies and Cats.--"Christians."--Christians not "Hanimals."--Green, Red, +and Yellow.--The Evil Eye.--Models and Morals.--Punji and +Sponge-cake.--Troubles with a Gipsy Teacher.--Pilferin' and +Bilberin'.--Khapana and Hopper.--Hoppera-glasses.--The little wooden +Bear.--Huckeny Ponkee, Hanky Panky, Hocus-pocus, and Hokkeny +Baro.--Burning a Gipsy Witch alive in America.--Daniel in the Lions' +Den.--Gipsy Life in Summer.--The Gavengroes.--The Gipsy's Story of Pitch- +and-Toss.--"You didn't fight your Stockings off?"--The guileless and +venerable Gipsy.--The Gipsy Professor of Rommany and the Police.--His +Delicacy of Feeling.--The old Gipsy and the beautiful Italian Models.--The +Admired of the Police.--Honesty strangely illustrated.--Gipsies willing +or unwilling to communicate Rommany.--Romance and Eccentricity of Gipsy +Life and Manners.--The Gipsy Grandmother and her Family.--A fine Frolic +interrupted.--The Gipsy Gentleman from America.--No such Language as +Rommany.--Hedgehogs.--The Witch Element in Gipsy Life.--Jackdaws and +Dogs.--Their Uses.--Lurchers and Poachers.--A Gipsy Camp.--The Ancient +Henry.--I am mistaken for a Magistrate or Policeman.--Gipsies of Three +Grades.--The Slangs.--Jim and the Twigs.--Beer rained from +Heaven.--Fortune-telling.--A golden Opportunity to live at my +Ease.--Petulamengro.--I hear of a New York Friend.--The Professor's +Legend of the Olive-leaf and the Dove, "A wery tidy little Story."--The +Story of Samson as given by a Gipsy.--The great Prize-fighter who was +hocussed by a Fancy Girl.--The Judgment Day.--Passing away in Sleep or +Dream to God.--A Gipsy on Ghosts.--Dogs which can kill Ghosts.--Twisted- +legged Stealing.--How to keep Dogs away from a Place.--Gipsies avoid +Unions.--A Gipsy Advertisement in the "Times."--A Gipsy Poetess and a +Rommany Song. + +It would be a difficult matter to decide whether the superstitions and +odd fancies entertained by the Gipsies in England are derived from the +English peasantry, were brought from India, or picked up on the way. This +must be left for ethnologists more industrious and better informed than +myself to decide. In any case, the possible common Aryan source will +tend to obscure the truth, just as it often does the derivation of +Rommany words. But nothing can detract from the inexpressibly quaint +spirit of Gipsy originality in which these odd _credos_ are expressed, or +surpass the strangeness of the reasons given for them. If the spirit of +the goblin and elfin lingers anywhere on earth, it is among the Rommany. + +One day I questioned a Gipsy as to cats, and what his opinion was of +black ones, correctly surmising that he would have some peculiar ideas on +the subject, and he replied-- + +"Rommanys never lel kaulo matchers adree the ker, 'cause they're mullos, +and beng is covvas; and the puro beng, you jin, is kaulo, an' has shtor +herros an' dui mushis--an' a sherro. But pauno matchers san kushto, for +they're sim to pauno ghosts of ranis." + +Which means in English, "Gipsies never have black cats in the house, +because they are unearthly creatures, and things of the devil; and the +old devil, you know, is black, and has four legs and two arms--and a +head. But white cats are good, for they are like the white ghosts of +ladies." + +It is in the extraordinary reason given for liking white cats that the +subtle Gipsyism of this cat-commentary consists. Most people would +consider a resemblance to a white ghost rather repulsive. But the Gipsy +lives by night a strange life, and the reader who peruses carefully the +stories which are given in this volume, will perceive in them a +familiarity with goblin-land and its denizens which has become rare among +"Christians." + +But it may be that I do this droll old Gipsy great wrong in thus +apparently classing him with the heathen, since he one day manifested +clearly enough that he considered he had a right to be regarded as a true +believer--the only drawback being this, that he was apparently under the +conviction that all human beings were "Christians." And the way in which +he declared it was as follows: I had given him the Hindustani word +_janwur_, and asked him if he knew such a term, and he answered-- + +"Do I jin sitch a lav (know such a word) as _janwur_ for a hanimal? Avo +(yes); it's _jomper_--it's a toadus" (toad). + +"But do you jin the lav (know the word) for an _animal_?" + +"Didn't I just pooker tute (tell you) it was a jomper? for if a toad's a +hanimal, _jomper_ must be the lav for hanimal." + +"But don't you jin kek lav (know a word) for sar the covvas that have +jivaben (all living things)--for jompers, and bitti matchers (mice), and +gryas (horses)? You and I are animals." + +"Kek, rya, kek (no, sir, no), we aren't hanimals. _Hanimals_ is critters +that have something queer about 'em, such as the lions an' helephants at +the well-gooroos (fairs), or cows with five legs, or won'ful piebald +grais--_them's_ hanimals. But Christins aint hanimals. Them's _mushis_" +(men). + +To return to cats: it is remarkable that the colour which makes a cat +desirable should render a bowl or cup objectionable to a true Gipsy, as I +have elsewhere observed in commenting on the fact that no old-fashioned +Rommany will drink, if possible, from white crockery. But they have +peculiar fancies as to other colours. Till within a few years in Great +Britain, as at the present day in Germany, their fondness for green coats +amounted to a passion. In Germany a Gipsy who loses caste for any +offence is forbidden for a certain time to wear green, so that _ver non +semper viret_ may be truly applied to those among them who bloom too +rankly. + +The great love for red and yellow among the Gipsies was long ago pointed +out by a German writer as a proof of Indian origin, but the truth is, I +believe, that all dark people instinctively choose these hues as agreeing +with their complexion. A brunette is fond of amber, as a blonde is of +light blue; and all true _kaulo_ or dark Rommany _chals_ delight in a +bright yellow _pongdishler_, or neckerchief, and a red waistcoat. The +long red cloak of the old Gipsy fortune-teller is, however, truly dear to +her heart; she feels as if there were luck in it--that _bak_ which is +ever on Gipsy lips; for to the wanderers, whose home is the roads, and +whose living is precarious, Luck becomes a real deity. I have known two +old fortune-telling sisters to expend on new red cloaks a sum which +seemed to a lady friend very considerable. + +I have spoken in another chapter of the deeply-seated faith of the +English Gipsies in the evil eye. Subsequent inquiry has convinced me +that they believe it to be peculiar to themselves. One said in my +presence, "There was a kauli juva that dicked the evil yack ad mandy the +sala--my chavo's missis--an' a'ter dovo I shooned that my chavo was +naflo. A bongo-yacki mush kairs wafro-luckus. _Avali_, the Gorgios +don't jin it--it's saw Rommany." + +_I.e_., "There was a dark woman that looked the evil eye at me this +morning--my son's wife--and after that I heard that my son was ill. A +squint-eyed man makes bad-luck. Yes, the Gorgios don't know it--it's all +Rommany." + +The Gipsy is of an eminently social turn, always ready when occasion +occurs to take part in every conversation, and advance his views. One +day my old Rom hearing an artist speak of having rejected some uncalled- +for advice relative to the employment of a certain model, burst out in a +tone of hearty approbation with-- + +"That's what _I_ say. Every man his own juva (every man his own girl), +an' every painter his own _morals_." + +If it was difficult in the beginning for me to accustom the Gipsy mind to +reply clearly and consistently to questions as to his language, the +trouble was tenfold increased when he began to see his way, as he +thought, to my object, and to take a real interest in aiding me. For +instance, I once asked-- + +"Puro! do you know such a word as _punji_? It's the Hindu for capital." + +(Calmly.) "Yes, rya; that's a wery good word for capital." + +"But is it Rommany?" + +(Decidedly.) "It'll go first-rateus into Rommany." + +"But can you make it out? Prove it!" + +(Fiercely.) "Of course I can make it out. _Kushto_. Suppose a man +sells 'punge-cake, would'nt that be his capital? _Punje_ must be +capital." + +But this was nothing to what I endured after a vague fancy of the meaning +of seeking a derivation of words had dimly dawned on his mind, and he +vigorously attempted to aid me. Possessed with the crude idea that it +was a success whenever two words could be forced into a resemblance of +any kind, he constantly endeavoured to Anglicise Gipsy words--often, +alas! an only too easy process, and could never understand why it was I +then rejected them. By the former method I ran the risk of obtaining +false Hindustani Gipsy words, though I very much doubt whether I was ever +caught by it in a single instance; so strict were the tests which I +adopted, the commonest being that of submitting the words to other +Gipsies, or questioning him on them some days afterwards. By the latter +"aid" I risked the loss of Rommany words altogether, and undoubtedly did +lose a great many. Thus with the word _bilber_ (to entice or allure), he +would say, in illustration, that the girls _bilbered_ the gentleman into +the house to rob him, and then cast me into doubt by suggesting that the +word must be all right, "'cause it looked all the same as _pilferin_'." + +One day I asked him if the Hindustani word khapana (pronounced almost +hopana) (to make away with) sounded naturally to his ears. + +"Yes, rya; that must be _happer_, _habber_, or _huvver_. To hopper +covvas away from the tan (_i.e_., to _hopper_ things from the place), is +when you rikker 'em awayus (carry them away, steal them), and gaverit +(hide _it_) tally your chuckko (under your coat). An' I can pen you a +waver covva (I can tell you another thing) that's _hopper_--them's the +glasses that you look through--_hoppera_-glasses." + +And here in bounding triumph he gave the little wooden bear a drink of +ale, as if it had uttered this chunk of solid wisdom, and then treated +himself to a good long pull. But the glance of triumph which shot from +his black-basilisk eyes, and the joyous smile which followed these feats +of philology, were absolutely irresistible. All that remained for me to +do was to yield in silence. + +One day we spoke of _huckeny pokee_, or _huckeny ponkee_, as it is +sometimes called. It means in Rommany "sleight of hand," and also the +adroit substitution of a bundle of lead or stones for another containing +money or valuables, as practised by Gipsy women. The Gipsy woman goes to +a house, and after telling the simple-minded and credulous housewife that +there is a treasure buried in the cellar, persuades her that as "silver +draws silver," she must deposit all her money or jewels in a bag near the +place where the treasure lies. This is done, and the Rommany _dye_ +adroitly making up a parcel resembling the one laid down, steals the +latter, leaving the former. + +Mr Barrow calls this _hokkeny baro_, the great swindle. I may remark, by +the way, that among jugglers and "show-people" sleight of hand is called +_hanky panky_. "Hocus-pocus" is attributed by several writers to the +Gipsies, a derivation which gains much force from the fact, which I have +never before seen pointed out, that _hoggu bazee_, which sounds very much +like it, means in Hindustani legerdemain. English Gipsies have an +extraordinary fancy for adding the termination _us_ in a most irregular +manner to words both Rommany and English. Thus _kettene_ (together) is +often changed to _kettenus_, and _side_ to _sidus_. In like manner, +_hoggu_ (_hocku_ or _honku_) _bazee_ could not fail to become _hocus +bozus_, and the next change, for the sake of rhyme, would be to hocus-po- +cus. + +I told my ancient rambler of an extraordinary case of "huckeny pokee" +which had recently occurred in the United States, somewhere in the west, +the details of which had been narrated to me by a lady who lived at the +time in the place where the event occurred. + +"A Gipsy woman," I said, "came to a farmhouse and played huckeny pokee on +a farmer's wife, and got away all the poor woman's money." + +"Did she indeed, rya?" replied my good old friend, with a smile of joy +flashing from his eyes, the unearthly Rommany light just glinting from +their gloom. + +"Yes," I said impressively, as a mother might tell an affecting story to +a child. "All the money that that poor woman had, that wicked Gipsy +woman took away, and utterly ruined her." + +This was the culminating point; he burst into an irrepressible laugh; he +couldn't help it--the thing had been done too well. + +"But you haven't heard all yet," I added. "There's more covvas to well." + +"Oh, I suppose the Rummany chi prastered avree (ran away), and got off +with the swag?" + +"No, she didn't." + +"Then they caught her, and sent her to starabun" (prison). + +"No," I replied. + +"And what did they do?" + +"THEY BURNT HER ALIVE!" + +His jaw fell; a glossy film came over his panther-eyes. For a long time +he had spoken to me, had this good and virtuous man, of going to America. +Suddenly he broke out with this vehement answer-- + +"I won't go to that country--_s'up mi duvel_! I'll never go to America." + +It is told of a certain mother, that on showing her darling boy a picture +in the Bible representing Daniel in the lions' den, she said, "And there +is good Daniel, and there are those naughty lions, who are going to eat +him all up." Whereupon the dear boy cried out, "O mother, look at that +poor little lion in the corner--he won't get any." + +It is from this point of view that such affairs are naturally regarded by +the Rommany. + +There is a strange goblinesque charm in Gipsydom--something of nature, +and green leaves, and silent nights--but it is ever strangely commingled +with the forbidden; and as among the Greeks of old with Mercury amid the +singing of leafy brooks, there is a tinkling of, at least, petty larceny. +Witness the following, which came forth one day from a Gipsy, in my +presence, as an entirely voluntary utterance. He meant it for something +like poetry--it certainly was suggested by nothing, and as fast as he +spoke I wrote it down:-- + +"It's kushto in tattoben for the Rommany chals. Then they can jal langs +the drum, and hatch their tan acai and odoi pre the tem. We'll lel moro +habben acai, and jal andurer by-an'-byus, an' then jal by ratti, so's the +Gorgios won't dick us. I jins a kushti puv for the graias; we'll hatch +'pre in the sala, before they latcher we've been odoi, an' jal an the +drum an' lel moro habben." + +"It is pleasant for the Gipsies in the summer-time. Then they can go +along the road, and pitch their tent here and there in the land. We'll +take our food here, and go further on by-and-by, and then go by night, so +that the Gorgios won't see us. I know a fine field for the horses; we'll +stop there in the morning, before they find we have been there, and go on +the road and eat our food." + +"I suppose that you often have had trouble with the _gavengroes_ (police) +when you wished to pitch your tent?" + +Now it was characteristic of this Gipsy, as of many others, that when +interested by a remark or a question, he would reply by bursting into +some picture of travel, drawn from memory. So he answered by saying-- + +"They hunnelo'd the choro puro mush by pennin' him he mustn't hatch odoi. +'What's tute?' he pens to the prastramengro; 'I'll del you thrin bar to +lel your chuckko offus an' koor mandy. You're a ratfully jucko an' a +huckaben.'" + +_English_--They angered the poor old man by telling him he must not stop +there. "What are you?" he said to the policeman, "I'll give you three +pounds to take your coat off and fight me. You're a bloody dog and a +lie" (liar). + +"I suppose you have often taken your coat off?" + +"Once I lelled it avree an' never chivved it apre ajaw." + +(_I.e_., "Once I took it off and never put it on again.") + +"How was that?" + +"Yeckorus when I was a tano mush, thirty besh kenna--rummed about pange +besh, but with kek chavis--I jalled to the prasters of the graias at +Brighton. There was the paiass of wussin' the pasheros apre for wongur, +an' I got to the pyass, an' first cheirus I lelled a boro bittus--twelve +or thirteen bar. Then I nashered my wongur, an' penned I wouldn't pyass +koomi, an' I'd latch what I had in my poachy. Adoi I jalled from the +gudli 'dree the toss-ring for a pashora, when I dicked a waver mush, an' +he putched mandy, 'What bak?' and I penned pauli, 'Kek bak; but I've got +a bittus left.' So I wussered with lester an' nashered saw my covvas--my +chukko, my gad, an' saw, barrin' my rokamyas. Then I jalled kerri with +kek but my rokamyas an--I borried a chukko off my pen's chavo. + +"And when my juva dickt'omandy pash-nango, she pens, 'Dovo's tute's +heesis?' an' I pookered her I'd been a-koorin'. But she penned, 'Why, +you haven't got your hovalos an; you didn't koor tute's hovalos avree?' +'No,' I rakkered; 'I taddered em offus. (The mush played me with a dui- +sherro poshero.) + +"But dree the sala, when the mush welled to lel avree the jucko (for I'd +nashered dovo ajaw), I felt wafrodearer than when I'd nashered saw the +waver covvas. An' my poor juva ruvved ajaw, for she had no chavo. I had +in those divvuses as kushti coppas an' heesus as any young Gipsy in +Anglaterra--good chukkos, an' gads, an' pongdishlers. + +"An' that mush kurried many a geero a'ter mandy, but he never lelled no +bak. He'd chore from his own dadas; but he mullered wafro adree East +Kent." + +"Once when I was a young man, thirty years ago (now)--married about five +years, but with no children--I went to the races at Brighton. There was +tossing halfpence for money, and I took part in the game, and at first +(first time) I took a good bit--twelve or thirteen pounds. Then I lost +my money, and said I would play no more, and would keep what I had in my +pocket. Then I went from the noise in the toss-ring for half an hour, +when I saw another man, and he asked me, 'What luck?' and I replied, 'No +luck; but I've a little left yet.' So I tossed with him and lost all my +things--my coat, my shirt, and all, except my breeches. Then I went home +with nothing but my breeches on--I borrowed a coat of my sister's boy. + +"And when my wife saw me half-naked, she _says_, 'Where are your +clothes?' and I told her I had been fighting. But she said, 'Why, you +have not your stockings on; you didn't fight your stockings off!' 'No,' +I said; 'I drew them off.' (The man played me with a two-headed +halfpenny.) + +"But in the morning when the man came to take away the dog (for I had +lost that too), I felt worse than when I lost all the other things. And +my poor wife cried again, for she had no child. I had in those days as +fine clothes as any young Gipsy in England--good coats, and shirts, and +handkerchiefs. + +"And that man hurt many a man after me, but he never had any luck. He'd +steal from his own father; but he died miserably in East Kent." + +It was characteristic of the venerable wanderer who had installed himself +as my permanent professor of Rommany, that although almost every phrase +which he employed to illustrate words expressed some act at variance with +law or the rights of property, he was never weary of descanting on the +spotlessness, beauty, and integrity of his own life and character. These +little essays on his moral perfection were expressed with a touching +artlessness and child-like simplicity which would carry conviction to any +one whose heart had not been utterly hardened, or whose eye-teeth had not +been remarkably well cut, by contact with the world. In his delightful +_naivete_ and simple earnestness, in his ready confidence in strangers +and freedom from all suspicion--in fact, in his whole deportment, this +Rommany elder reminded me continually of one--and of one man only--whom I +had known of old in America. Need I say that I refer to the excellent --- +---? + +It happened for many days that the professor, being a man of early +habits, arrived at our rendezvous an hour in advance of the time +appointed. As he resolutely resisted all invitation to occupy the room +alone until my arrival, declaring that he had never been guilty of such a +breach of etiquette, and as he was, moreover, according to his word, the +most courteous man of the world in it, and I did not wish to "contrary" +him, he was obliged to pass the time in the street, which he did by +planting himself on the front steps or expanding himself on the railings +of an elderly and lonely dame, who could not endure that even a mechanic +should linger at her door, and was in agony until the milkman and baker +had removed their feet from her steps. Now, the appearance of the +professor (who always affected the old Gipsy style), in striped corduroy +coat, leather breeches and gaiters, red waistcoat, yellow +neck-handkerchief, and a frightfully-dilapidated old white hat, was not, +it must be admitted, entirely adapted to the exterior of a highly +respectable mansion. "And he had such a vile way of looking, as if he +were a-waitin' for some friend to come out o' the 'ouse." It is almost +needless to say that this apparition attracted the police from afar off +and all about, or that they gathered around him like buzzards near a +departed lamb. I was told by a highly intelligent gentleman who +witnessed the interviews, that the professor's kindly reception of these +public characters--the infantile smile with which he courted their +acquaintance, and the good old grandfatherly air with which he listened +to their little tales--was indescribably delightful. "In a quarter of an +hour any one of them would have lent him a shilling;" and it was soon +apparent that the entire force found a charm in his society. The lone +lady herself made a sortie against him once; but one glance at the +amiable smile, "which was child-like and bland," disarmed her, and it was +reported that she subsequently sent him out half-a-pint of beer. + +It is needless to point out to the reader accustomed to good society that +the professor's declining to sit in a room where valuable and small +objects abounded, in the absence of the owner, was dictated by the most +delicate feeling. Not less remarkable than his strict politeness was the +mysterious charm which this antique nomad unquestionably exercised on the +entire female sex. Ladies of the highest respectability and culture, old +or young, who had once seen him, invariably referred to him as "that +charming old Gipsy." + +Nor was his sorcery less potent on those of low degree. Never shall I +forget one morning when the two prettiest young Italian model-girls in +all London were poseeing to an artist friend while the professor sat and +imparted to me the lore of the Rommany. The girls behaved like moral +statues till he appeared, and like quicksilver imps and devilettes for +the rest of the sitting. Something of the wild and weird in the mountain +Italian life of these ex-contadine seemed to wake like unholy fire, and +answer sympathetically to the Gipsy wizard-spell. Over mountain and sea, +and through dark forests with legends of _streghe_ and Zingari, these +semi-outlaws of society, the Neapolitan and Rommany, recognised each +other intuitively. The handsomest young gentleman in England could not +have interested these handsome young sinners as the dark-brown, +grey-haired old vagabond did. Their eyes stole to him. Heaven knows +what they talked, for the girls knew no English, but they whispered; they +could not write little notes, so they kept passing different objects, to +which Gipsy and Italian promptly attached a meaning. Scolding them +helped not. It was "a pensive sight." + +To impress me with a due sense of his honesty and high character, the +professor informed me one day that he was personally acquainted, as he +verily believed, with every policeman in England. "You see, rya," he +remarked, "any man as is so well known couldn't never do nothing wrong +now,--could he?" + +Innocent, unconscious, guileless air--and smile! I shall never see its +equal. I replied-- + +"Yes; I think I can see you, Puro, walking down between two lines of +hundreds of policemen--every one pointing after you and saying, 'There +goes that good honest --- the honestest man in England!'" + +"Avo, rya," he cried, eagerly turning to me, as if delighted and +astonished that I had found out the truth. "That's just what they all +pens of me, an' just what I seen 'em a-doin' every time." + +"You know all the police," I remarked. "Do you know any turnkeys?" + +He reflected an instant, and then replied, artlessly-- + +"I don't jin many o' them. But I can jist tell you a story. Once at +Wimbledown, when the _kooroo-mengroes_ were _odoi_ (when the troopers +were there), I used to get a pound a week carryin' things. One day, when +I had well on to two stun on my _dumo_ (back), the chief of police sees +me an' says, 'There's that old scoundrel again! that villain gives the +police more trouble than any other man in the country!' 'Thank you, +sir,' says I, wery respectable to him. 'I'm glad to see you're earnin' a +'onest livin' for once,' says he. 'How much do you get for carryin' that +there bundle?' 'A sixpence, rya!' says I. 'It's twice as much as you +ought to have,' says he; 'an' I'd be glad to carry it myself for the +money.' 'All right, sir,' says I, touchin' my hat and goin' off, for he +was a wery nice gentleman. Rya," he exclaimed, with an air of placid +triumph, "do you think the head-police his selfus would a spoke in them +wery words to me if he hadn't a thought I was a good man?" + +"Well, let's get to work, old Honesty. What is the Rommanis for to +hide?" + +"To _gaverit_ is to hide anything, rya. _Gaverit_." And to illustrate +its application he continued-- + +"They penned mandy to gaver the gry, but I nashered to keravit, an' the +mush who lelled the gry welled alangus an' dicked it." + +("They told me to hide the horse, but I forgot to do it, and the man who +_owned_ the horse came by and saw it.") + +It is only a few hours since I heard of a gentleman who took incredible +pains to induce the Gipsies to teach him their language, but never +succeeded. I must confess that I do not understand this. When I have +met strange Gipsies, it has often greatly grieved me to find that they +spoke their ancient tongue very imperfectly, and were ignorant of certain +Rommany words which I myself, albeit a stranger, knew very well, and +would fain teach them. But instead of accepting my instructions in a +docile spirit of ignorant humility, I have invariably found that they +were eagerly anxious to prove that they were not so ignorant as I +assumed, and in vindication of their intelligence proceeded to pour forth +dozens of words, of which I must admit many were really new to me, and +which I did not fail to remember. + +The scouting, slippery night-life of the Gipsy; his familiarity with deep +ravine and lonely wood-path, moonlight and field-lairs; his use of a +secret language, and his constant habit of concealing everything from +everybody; his private superstitions, and his inordinate love of +humbugging and selling friend and foe, tend to produce in him that +goblin, elfin, boyish-mischievous, out-of-the-age state of mind which is +utterly indescribable to a prosaic modern-souled man, but which is +delightfully piquant to others. Many a time among Gipsies I have felt, I +confess with pleasure, all the subtlest spirit of fun combined with +picture-memories of Hayraddin Maugrabin--witch-legends and the +"Egyptians;" for in their ignorance they are still an unconscious race, +and do not know what the world writes about them. They are not +attractive from the outside to those who have no love for quaint +scholarship, odd humours, and rare fancies. A lady who had been in a +camp had nothing to say of them to me save that they were "dirty--dirty, +and begged." But I ever think, when I see them, of Tieck's Elves, and of +the Strange Valley, which was so grim and repulsive from without, but +which, once entered, was the gay forecourt of goblin-land. + +The very fact that they hide as much as they can of their Gipsy life and +nature from the Gorgios would of itself indicate the depths of +singularity concealed beneath their apparent life--and this reminds me of +incidents in a Sunday which I once passed beneath a Gipsy roof. I was, +_en voyage_, at a little cathedral town, when learning that some Gipsies +lived in a village eight miles distant, I hired a carriage and rode over +to see them. I found my way to a neat cottage, and on entering it +discovered that I was truly enough among the Rommany. By the fire sat a +well-dressed young man; near him was a handsome, very dark young woman, +and there presently entered a very old woman,--all gifted with the +unmistakable and peculiar expression of real Gipsies. + +The old woman overwhelmed me with compliments and greetings. She is a +local celebrity, and is constantly visited by the most respectable ladies +and gentlemen. This much I had learned from my coachman. But I kept a +steady silence, and sat as serious as Odin when he visited the Vala, +until the address ceased. Then I said in Rommany-- + +"Mother, you don't know me. I did not come here to listen to fortune- +telling." + +To which came the prompt reply, "I don't know what the gentleman is +saying." I answered always in Rommany. + +"You know well enough what I am saying. You needn't be afraid of me--I'm +the nicest gentleman you ever saw in all your life, and I can talk +Rommany as fast as ever you ran away from a policeman." + +"What language is the gentleman talking?" cried the old dame, but +laughing heartily as she spoke. + + "Oh dye--miri dye, + Don't tute jin a Rommany rye? + Can't tu rakker Rommany jib, + Tachipen and kek fib?" + +"Avo, my rye; I can understand you well enough, but I never saw a Gipsy +gentleman before." + +[Since I wrote that last line I went out for a walk, and on the other +side of Walton Bridge, which legend says marks the spot where Julius +Caesar crossed, I saw a tent and a waggon by the hedge, and knew by the +curling blue smoke that a Gipsy was near. So I went over the bridge, and +sure enough there on the ground lay a full-grown Petulamengro, while his +brown _juva_ tended the pot. And when I spoke to her in Rommany she +could only burst out into amazed laughter as each new sentence struck her +ear, and exclaim, "Well! well! that ever I should live to hear this! Why, +the gentleman talks just like one of _us_! '_Bien apropos_,' sayde ye +ladye."] + +"Dye," quoth I to the old Gipsy dame, "don't be afraid. I'm _tacho_. And +shut that door if there are any Gorgios about, for I don't want them to +hear our _rakkerben_. Let us take a drop of brandy--life is short, and +here's my bottle. I'm not English--I'm a _waver temmeny mush_ (a +foreigner). But I'm all right, and you can leave your spoons out. +Tacho." + + "The boshno an' kani + The rye an' the rani; + Welled acai 'pre the boro lun pani. + Rinkeni juva hav acai! + Del a choomer to the rye!" + +"_Duveleste_!" said the old fortune-teller, "that ever I should live to +see a rye like you! A boro rye rakkerin' Rommanis! But you must have +some tea now, my son--good tea." + +"I don't pi muttermengri dye ('drink tea,' but an equivoque). It's +muttermengri with you and with us of the German jib." + +"Ha! ha! but you must have food. You won't go away like a Gorgio without +tasting anything?" + +"I'll eat bread with you, but tea I haven't tasted this five-and-twenty +years." + +"Bread you shall have, rya." And saying this, the daughter spread out a +clean white napkin, and placed on it excellent bread and butter, with +plate and knife. I never tasted better, even in Philadelphia. Everything +in the cottage was scrupulously neat--there was even an approach to +style. The furniture and ornaments were superior to those found in +common peasant houses. There was a large and beautifully-bound +photograph album. I found that the family could read and write--the +daughter received and read a note, and one of the sons knew who and what +Mr Robert Browning was. + +But behind it all, when the inner life came out, was the wild Rommany and +the witch-_aura_--the fierce spirit of social exile from the world in +which they lived (the true secret of all the witch-life of old), and the +joyous consciousness of a secret tongue and hidden ways. To those who +walk in the darkness of the dream, let them go as deep and as windingly +as they will, and into the grimmest gloom of goblin-land, there will +never be wanting flashes of light, though they be gleams diavoline, +corpse-candlelights, elfin sparkles, and the unearthly blue lume of the +eyes of silent night-hags wandering slow. In the forgotten grave of the +sorcerer burns steadily through long centuries the Rosicrucian lamp, and +even to him whose eyes are closed, sparkle, on pressure, phosphorescent +rings. So there was Gipsy laughter; and the ancient _wicca_ and Vala +flashed out into that sky-rocketty joyousness and Catherine-wheel gaiety, +which at eighty or ninety, in a woman, vividly reminds one of the Sabbat +on the Brocken, of the ointment, and all things terrible and unearthly +and forbidden. + +I do not suppose that there are many people who can feel or understand +that among the fearfully dirty dwellers in tents and caravans, +cock-shysters and dealers in dogs of doubtful character, there can be +anything strange, and quaint, and deeply tinged with the spirit of which +I have spoken. As well might one attempt to persuade the twenty-stone +half-illiterate and wholly old-fashioned rural magistrate of the last +century that the poor devil of a hen-stealing Gipsy dragged before him +knew that which would send thrills of joy through the most learned +philologist in Europe, and cause the great band of scholars to sing for +joy. Life, to most of us, is nothing without its humour; and to me a +whilome German student illustrating his military marauding by phrases +from Fichte, or my friend Pauno the Rommany urging me with words to be +found in the Mahabahrata and Hafiz to buy a terrier, is a charming +experience. + +I believe that my imagination has neither been led nor driven, when it +has so invariably, in my conversing with Gipsy women, recalled Faust, and +all I have ever read in Wierus, Bodinus, Bekker, Mather, or Glanvil, of +the sorceress and _sortilega_. And certainly on this earth I never met +with such a perfect _replica_ of Old Mother Baubo, the mother of all the +witches, as I once encountered at a certain race. Swarthy, black-eyed, +stout, half-centuried, fiercely cunning, and immoderately sensual, her +first salutation was expressed in a phrase such as a Corinthian soul +might be greeted with on entering that portion of the after-world devoted +to the fastest of the fair. With her came a tall, lithe, younger +sorceress; and verily the giant fat sow for her majesty, and the broom +for the attendant, were all that was wanting. + +To return to the cottage. Our mirth and fun grew fast and furious; the +family were delighted with my anecdotes of the Rommany in other +lands--German, Bohemian, and Spanish,--not to mention the _gili_. And we +were just in the gayest centre of it all, "whin,--och, what a pity!--this +fine tay-party was suddenly broken up," as Patrick O'Flanegan remarked +when he was dancing with the chairs to the devil's fiddling, and his wife +entered. For in rushed a Gipsy boy announcing that Gorgios (or, as I may +say, "wite trash") were near at hand, and evidently bent on entering. +That this irruption of the enemy gave a taci-turn to our riotry and +revelling will be believed. I tossed the brandy in the cup into the +fire; it flashed up, and with it a quick memory of the spilt and blazing +witch-brew in "Faust." I put the tourist-flask in my pocket, and in a +trice had changed my seat and assumed the air of a chance intruder. In +they came, two ladies--one decidedly pretty--and three gentlemen, all of +the higher class, as they indicated by their manner and language. They +were almost immediately followed by a Gipsy, the son of my hostess, who +had sent for him that he might see me. + +He was a man of thirty, firmly set, and had a stern hard countenance, in +which shone two glittering black eyes, which were serpent-like even among +the Rommany. Nor have I ever seen among his people a face so expressive +of self-control allied to wary suspicion. He was neatly dressed, but in +a subdued Gipsy style, the principal indication being that of a pair of +"cords," which, however, any gentleman might have worn--in the field. His +English was excellent--in fact, that of an educated man; his sum total +that of a very decided "character," and one who, if you wronged him, +might be a dangerous one. + +We entered into conversation, and the Rommany rollicking seemed all at +once a vapoury thing of the dim past; it was the scene in a witch-revel +suddenly shifted to a drawing-room in May Fair. We were all, and all at +once, so polite and gentle, and so readily acquainted and +cosmo-polite--quite beyond the average English standard; and not the +least charming part of the whole performance was the skill with which the +minor parts were filled up by the Gipsies, who with exquisite tact +followed our lead, seeming to be at once hosts and guests. I have been +at many a play, but never saw anything better acted. + +But under it all burnt a lurid though hidden flame; and there was a +delightful _diablerie_ of concealment kept up among the Rommany, which +was the more exquisite because I shared in it. Reader, do you remember +the scene in George Borrow's "Gipsies in Spain," in which the woman +blesses the child in Spanish, and mutters curses on it meanwhile in +Zincali? So it was that my dear old hostess blessed the sweet young +lady, and "prodigalled" compliments on her; but there was one instant +when her eye met mine, and a soft, quick-whispered, wicked Rommany +phrase, unheard by the ladies, came to my ear, and in the glance and word +there was a concentrated anathema. + +The stern-eyed Gipsy conversed well, entertaining his guests with ease. +After he had spoken of the excellent behaviour and morals of his +tribe--and I believe that they have a very high character in these +respects--I put him a question. + +"Can you tell me if there is really such a thing as a Gipsy language? one +hears such differing accounts, you know." + +With the amiable smile of one who pitied my credulity, but who was +himself superior to all petty deception or vulgar mystery, he replied-- + +"That is another of the absurd tales which people have invented about +Gipsies. As if we could have kept such a thing a secret!" + +"It does, indeed, seem to me," I replied, "that if you _had_, some people +who were not Gipsies _must_ have learned it." + +"Of course," resumed the Gipsy, philosophically, "all people who keep +together get to using a few peculiar terms. Tailors and shoemakers have +their own words. And there are common vagabonds who go up and down +talking thieves' slang, and imposing it on people for Gipsy. But as for +any Gipsy tongue, I ought to know it" ("So I should think," I mentally +ejaculated, as I contemplated his brazen calmness); "and I don't know +three words of it." + +And we, the Gorgios, all smiled approval. At least that humbug was +settled; and the Rommany tongue was done for--dead and buried--if, +indeed, it ever existed. Indeed, as I looked in the Gipsy's face, I +began to realise that a man might be talked out of a belief in his own +name, and felt a rudimentary sensation to the effect that the language of +the Black Wanderers was all a dream, and Pott's Zigeuner the mere +tinkling of a pot of brass, Paspati a jingling Turkish symbol, and all +Rommany a _praeterea nihil_ without the _vox_. To dissipate the +delusion, I inquired of the Gipsy-- + +"You have been in America. Did you ever hunt game in the west?" + +"Yes; many a time. On the plains." + +"Of course--buffalo--antelope--jack rabbits. And once" (I said this as +if forgetfully)--"I once ate a hedgehog--no, I don't mean a hedgehog, but +a porcupine." + +A meaning glance shot from the Gipsy's eye. I uttered a first-class +password, and if he had any doubt before as to who the Rommany rye might +be, there was none now. But with a courteous smile he replied-- + +"It's quite the same, sir--porcupine or hedgehog. I know perfectly well +what you mean." + +"Porcupines," I resumed, "are very common in America. The Chippeways +call them _hotchewitchi_." + +This Rommany word was a plumper for the Gipsy, and the twinkle of his +eye--the smallest star of mirth in the darkest night of gravity I ever +beheld in my life--was lovely. I had trumped his card at any rate with +as solemn gravity as his own; and the Gorgios thought our reminiscences +of America were very entertaining. + + "He had more tow upon his distaffe + Than Gervais wot of." + +But there was one in the party--and I think only one--who had her own +private share in the play. That one was the pretty young lady. Through +all the conversation, I observed from time to time her eyes fixed on my +face, as if surmising some unaccountable mystery. I understood it at +once. The bread and butter on the table, partly eaten, and the +snow-white napkin indicated to a feminine eye that some one not of the +household had been entertained, and that I was the guest. Perhaps she +had seen the old woman's quick glance at me, but it was evident that she +felt a secret. What she divined I do not know. Should this work ever +fall into her hands, she will learn it all, and with it the fact that +Gipsies can talk double about as well as any human beings on the face of +the earth, and enjoy fun with as grave a face as any Ojib'wa of them all. + +The habits of the Gipsy are pleasantly illustrated by the fact that the +collection of "animated books," which no Rommany gentleman's library +should be without, generally includes a jackdaw. When the foot of the +Gorgio is heard near the tent, a loud "_wa-awk_" from the wary bird +(sounding very much like an alarm) at once proclaims the fact; and on +approaching, the stranger finds the entire party in all probability +asleep. Sometimes a dog acts as sentinel, but it comes to the same +thing. It is said you cannot catch a weasel asleep: I am tempted to add +that you can never find a Gipsy awake--but it means precisely the same +thing. + +Gipsies are very much attached to their dogs, and in return the dogs are +very much attached to their masters--so much so that there are numerous +instances, perfectly authenticated, of the faithful animals having been +in the habit of ranging the country alone, at great distances from the +tent, and obtaining hares, rabbits, or other game, which they carefully +and secretly brought by night to their owners as a slight testimonial of +their regard and gratitude. As the dogs have no moral appreciation of +the Game Laws, save as manifested in gamekeepers, no one can blame them. +Gipsies almost invariably prefer, as canine manifesters of devotion, +lurchers, a kind of dog which of all others can be most easily taught to +steal. It is not long since a friend of mine, early one morning between +dark and dawn, saw a lurcher crossing the Thames with a rabbit in his +mouth. Landing very quietly, the dog went to a Gipsy _tan_, deposited +his burden, and at once returned over the river. + +Dogs once trained to such secret hunting become passionately fond of it, +and pursue it unweariedly with incredible secrecy and sagacity. Even +cats learn it, and I have heard of one which is "good for three rabbits a +week." Dogs, however, bring everything home, while puss feeds herself +luxuriously before thinking of her owner. But whether dog or cat, cock +or jackdaw, all animals bred among Gipsies do unquestionably become +themselves Rommanised, and grow sharp, and shrewd, and mysterious. A +writer in the _Daily News_ of October 19, 1872, speaks of having seen +parrots which spoke Rommany among the Gipsies of Epping Forest. A Gipsy +dog is, if we study him, a true character. Approach a camp: a black +hound, with sleepy eyes, lies by a tent; he does not bark at you or act +uncivilly, for that forms no part of his master's life or plans, but +wherever you go those eyes are fixed on you. By-and-by he disappears--he +is sure to do so if there are no people about the _tan_--and then +reappears with some dark descendant of the Dom and Domni. I have always +been under the impression that these dogs step out and mutter a few words +in Rommany--their deportment is, at any rate, Rommanesque to the highest +degree, indicating a transition from the barbarous silence of doghood to +Christianly intelligence. You may persuade yourself that the Gipsies do +not mind your presence, but rest assured that though he may lie on his +side with his back turned, the cunning _jucko_ is carefully noting all +you do. The abject and humble behaviour of a poor negro's dog in America +was once proverbial: the quaint shrewdness, the droll roguery, the demure +devilry of a real Gipsy dog are beyond all praise. + +The most valuable dogs to the Gipsies are by no means remarkable for size +or beauty, or any of the properties which strike the eye; on the +contrary, an ugly, shirking, humble-looking, two-and-sixpenny-countenanced +cur, if he have but intellect, is much more their _affaire_. Yesterday +morning, while sitting among the tents of "ye Egypcians," I overheard +a knot of men discussing the merits of a degraded-looking doglet, who +seemed as if he must have committed suicide, were he only gifted with +sense enough to know how idiotic he looked. "Would you take seven pounds +for him?" asked one. "Avo, I would take seven bar; but I wouldn't take +six, nor six an' a half neither." + +The stranger who casts an inquisitive eye, though from afar off, into a +Gipsy camp, is at once noted; and if he can do this before the wolf--I +mean the Rom--sees him, he must possess the gift of fern-seed and walk +invisible, as was illustrated by the above-mentioned yesterday visit. +Passing over the bridge, I paused to admire the scene. It was a fresh +sunny morning in October, the autumnal tints were beautiful in golden +brown or oak red, while here and there the horse-chestnuts spread their +saffron robes, waving in the embraces of the breeze like hetairae of the +forest. Below me ran the silver Thames, and above a few silver +clouds--the belles of the air--were following its course, as if to watch +themselves in the watery winding mirror. And near the reedy island, at +the shadowy point always haunted by three swans, whom I suspect of having +been there ever since the days of Odin-faith, was the usual punt, with +its elderly gentlemanly gudgeon-fishers. But far below me, along the +dark line of the hedge, was a sight which completed the English character +of the scene--a real Gipsy camp. Caravans, tents, waggons, asses, +smouldering fires; while among them the small forms of dark children +could be seen frolicking about. One Gipsy youth was fishing in the +stream from the bank, and beyond him a knot of busy basketmakers were +visible. + +I turned the bridge, adown the bank, and found myself near two young men +mending chairs. They greeted me civilly; and when I spoke Rommany, they +answered me in the same language; but they did not speak it well, nor did +they, indeed, claim to be "Gipsies" at all, though their complexions had +the peculiar hue which indicates some other than Saxon admixture of +blood. Half Rommany in their knowledge, and yet not regarded as such, +these "travellers" represented a very large class in England, which is as +yet but little understood by our writers, whether of fact or fiction. +They laughed while telling me anecdotes of gentlemen who had mistaken +them for real Rommany chals, and finally referred me to "Old Henry," +further down, who "could talk with me." This ancient I found a hundred +yards beyond, basketing in the sun at the door of his tent. He greeted +me civilly enough, but worked away with his osiers most industriously, +while his comrades, less busy, employed themselves vigorously in looking +virtuous. One nursed his infant with tender embraces, another began to +examine green sticks with a view to converting them into clothes-pegs--in +fact I was in a model community of wandering Shakers. + +I regret to say that the instant I uttered a Rommany word, and was +recognised, this discipline of decorum was immediately relaxed. It was +not complimentary to my moral character, but it at least showed +confidence. The Ancient Henry, who bore, as I found, in several respects +a strong likeness to the Old Harry, had heard of me, and after a short +conversation confided the little fact, that from the moment in which I +had been seen watching them, they were sure I was a _gav-mush_, or police +or village authority, come to spy into their ways, and to at least order +them to move on. But when they found that I was not as one having +authority, but, on the contrary, came talking Rommany with the firm +intention of imparting to them three pots of beer just at the thirstiest +hour of a warm day, a great change came over their faces. A chair was +brought to me from a caravan at some distance, and I was told the latest +news of the road. + +"Matty's got his slangs," observed Henry, as he inserted a _ranya_ or +osier-withy into his basket, and deftly twined it like a serpent to right +and left, and almost as rapidly. Now a _slang_ means, among divers +things, a hawker's licence. + +"I'm glad to hear it," I remarked. There was deep sincerity in this +reply, as I had more than once contributed to the fees for the aforesaid +_slangs_, which somehow or other were invariably refused to the +applicant. At last, however, the slangs came; and his two boys, provided +with them (at ten shillings per head), were now, in their sphere of life, +in the position of young men who had received an education or been amply +established in business, and were gifted with all that could be expected +from a doting father. In its way this bit of intelligence meant as much +to the basketmaker as, "Have you heard that young Fitz-Grubber has just +got the double-first at Oxford?" or, "Do you know that old Cheshire has +managed that appointment in India for his boy?--splendid independence, +isn't it?" And I was shrewdly suspected by my audience, as the question +implied, that I had had a hand in expanding this magnificent opening for +the two fortunate young men. + +"_Dick adoi_!" cried one, pointing up the river. "Look there at Jim!" + +I looked and saw a young man far off, shirking along the path by the +river, close to the hedge. + +"He thinks you're a _gav-mush_," observed Henry; "and he's got some +sticks, an' is tryin' to hide them 'cause he daren't throw 'em away. Oh, +aint he scared?" + +It was a pleasing spectacle to see the demi-Gipsy coming in with his poor +little green sticks, worth perhaps a halfpenny, and such as no living +farmer in all North America would have grudged a cartload of to anybody. +Droll as it really seemed, the sight touched me while I laughed. Oh, if +charity covereth a multitude of sins, what should not poverty do? I care +not through which door it comes--nay, be it by the very portal of Vice +herself--when sad and shivering poverty stands before me in humble form, +I can only forgive and forget. And this child-theft was to obtain the +means of work after all. And if you ask me why I did not at once proceed +to the next magistrate and denounce the criminal, I can only throw myself +for excuse on the illustrious example of George the Fourth, head of +Church and State, who once in society saw a pickpocket remove from a +gentleman's fob his gold watch, winking at the king as he did so. "Of +course I couldn't say anything," remarked the good-natured monarch, "for +the rascal took me into his confidence." + +Jim walked into camp amid mild chaff, to be greeted in Rommany by the +suspected policeman, and to accept a glass of the ale, which had rained +as it were from heaven into this happy family. These basketmakers were +not real Gipsies, but _churdi_ or half-bloods, though they spoke with +scorn of the two chair-menders, who, working by themselves at the +extremity of the tented town (and excluded from a share in the beer), +seemed to be a sort of pariahs unto these higher casters. + +I should mention, _en passant_, that when the beer-bearer of the camp +was sent for the three pots, he was told to "go over to Bill and borrow +his two-gallon jug--and be very careful not to let him find out what it +was for." I must confess that I thought this was deeply unjust to the +imposed-upon and beerless William; but it was another case of confidence, +and he who sits among Gipsies by hedgerows green must not be +over-particular. _Il faut heurler avec les loups_. "Ain't it wrong to +steal dese here chickens?" asked a negro who was seized with scruples +while helping to rob a hen-roost. "Dat, Cuff, am a great moral question, +an' we haint got time to discuss it--so jist hand down anoder pullet." + +I found that Henry had much curious knowledge as to old Rommany ways, +though he spoke with little respect of the Gipsy of the olden time, who, +as he declared, thought all he needed in life was to get a row of silver +buttons on his coat, a pair of high boots on his feet, and +therewith--_basta_! He had evidently met at one time with Mr George +Borrow, as appeared by his accurate description of that gentleman's +appearance, though he did not know his name. "Ah! he could talk the jib +first-rateus," remarked my informant; "and he says to me, 'Bless you! +you've all of you forgotten the real Gipsy language, and don't know +anything about it at all.' Do you know Old Frank?" he suddenly inquired. + +"Avo," I replied. "He's the man who has been twice in America." + +"But d'ye know how rich he is? He's got money in bank. And when a man +gets money in bank, _I_ say there is somethin' in it. An' how do you +suppose he made that money?" he inquired, with the air of one who is +about to "come down with a stunner." "He did it _a-dukkerin_'." {171} +But he pronounced the word _durkerin_'; and I, detecting at once, as I +thought, an affinity with the German "turkewava," paused and stared, lost +in thought. My pause was set down to amazement, and the Ancient Henry +repeated-- + +"Fact. By _durkerin_'. I don't wonder you're astonished. Tellin' +fortunes just like a woman. It isn't every man who could do that. But I +suppose you could," he continued, looking at me admiringly. "You know +all the ways of the Gorgios, an' could talk to ladies, an' are up to high +life; ah, you could make no end of money. Why don't you do it?" + +Innocent Gipsy! was this thy idea of qualification for a seer and a +reader of dark lore? What wouldst thou say could I pour into thy brain +the contents of the scores of works on "occult nonsense," from Agrippa to +Zadkiel, devoured with keen hunger in the days of my youth? Yes, in +solemn sadness, out of the whole I have brought no powers of divination; +and in it all found nothing so strange as the wondrous tongue in which we +spoke. In this mystery called Life many ways have been proposed to me of +alleviating its expenses; as, for instance, when the old professor +earnestly commended that we two should obtain (I trust honestly) a donkey +and a _rinkni juva_, who by telling fortunes should entirely contribute +to our maintenance, and so wander cost-free, and _kost-frei_ over merrie +England. But I threw away the golden opportunity--ruthlessly rejected +it--thereby incurring the scorn of all scientific philologists (none of +whom, I trow, would have lost such a chance). It was for doing the same +thing that Matthew Arnold immortalised a clerke of Oxenforde: though it +may be that "since Elizabeth" such exploits have lost their prestige, as +I knew of two students at the same university who a few years ago went +off on a six weeks' lark with two Gipsy girls; but who, far from desiring +to have the fact chronicled in immortal rhyme, were even much afraid lest +it should get into the county newspaper! + +Leaving the basketmakers (among whom I subsequently found a +grand-daughter of the celebrated Gipsy Queen, Charlotte Stanley), I went +up the river, and there, above the bridge, found, as if withdrawn in +pride, two other tents, by one of which stood a very pretty little girl +of seven or eight years with a younger brother. While talking to the +children, their father approached leading a horse. I had never seen him +before, but he welcomed me politely in Rommany, saying that I had been +pointed out to him as the Rommany rye, and that his mother, who was +proficient in their language, was very desirous of meeting me. He was +one of the smiths--a Petulengro or Petulamengro, or master of the horse- +shoe, a name familiar to all readers of Lavengro. + +This man was a full Gipsy, but he spoke better English, as well as better +Rommany, than his neighbours, and had far more refinement of manner. And +singularly enough, he appeared to be simpler hearted and more unaffected, +with less Gipsy trickery, and more of a disposition for honest labour. +His brother and uncle were, indeed, hard at work among the masons in a +new building not far off, though they lived like true Gipsies in a tent. +Petulamengro, as the name is commonly given at the present day, was +evidently very proud of his Rommany, and talked little else: but he could +not speak it nearly so well nor so fluently as his mother, who was of +"the old sort," and who was, I believe, sincerely delighted that her +skill was appreciated by me. All Gipsies are quite aware that their +language is very old and curious, but they very seldom meet with Gorgios +who are familiar with the fact, and manifest an interest in it. + +While engaged in conversation with this family, Petulamengro asked me if +I had ever met in America with Mr ---, adding, "He is a brother-in-law of +mine." + +I confess that I was startled, for I had known the gentleman in question +very well for many years. He is a man of considerable fortune, and +nothing in his appearance indicates in the slightest degree any affinity +with the Rommany. He is not the only real or partial Gipsy whom I know +among the wealthy and highly cultivated, and it is with pleasure I +declare that I have found them all eminently kind-hearted and hospitable. + +It may be worth while to state, in this connection, that Gipsy blood +intermingled with Anglo-Saxon when educated, generally results in +intellectual and physical vigour. The English Gipsy has greatly changed +from the Hindoo in becoming courageous, in fact, his pugnacity and pluck +are too frequently carried to a fault. + +My morning's call had brought me into contact with the three types of the +Gipsy of the roads. Of the half-breeds, and especially of those who have +only a very slight trace of the dark blood or _kalo ratt_, there are in +Great Britain many thousands. Of the true stock there are now only a few +hundreds. But all are "Rommany," and all have among themselves an +"understanding" which separates them from the "Gorgios." + +It is difficult to define what this understanding is--suffice it to say, +that it keeps them all in many respects "peculiar," and gives them a +feeling of free-masonry, and of guarding a social secret, long after they +leave the roads and become highly reputable members of society. But they +have a secret, and no one can know them who has not penetrated it. + +* * * * * + +One day I mentioned to my old Rommany, what Mr Borrow has said, that no +English Gipsy knows the word for a leaf, or _patrin_. He admitted that +it was true; but after considering the subject deeply, and dividing the +deliberations between his pipe and a little wooden bear on the table--his +regular oracle and friend--he suddenly burst forth in the following +beautiful illustration of philology by theology:-- + +"Rya, I pens you the purodirus lav for a leaf--an' that's a _holluf_. +(Don't you jin that the holluf was the firstus leaf? so holluf must be +the Rommany lav, sense Rommanis is the purodirest jib o' saw.) For when +the first mush was kaired an' created in the tem adree--and that was the +boro Duvel himself, I expect--an' annered the tem apre, he was in the +bero, an' didn't jin if there was any puvius about, so he bitchered the +chillico avree. An' the chillico was a dove, 'cause dove-us is like +Duvel, an' pash o' the Duvel an' Duvel's chillico. So the dove mukkered +avree an' jalled round the tem till he latchered the puvius; for when he +dickered a tan an' lelled a holluf-leaf, he jinned there was a tem, an' +hatched the holluf apopli to his Duvel. An' when yuv's Duvel jinned +there was a tem, he kaired bitti tiknos an' foki for the tem--an' I don't +jin no more of it. Kekoomi. An' that is a wery tidy little story of the +leaf, and it sikkers that the holluf was the first leaf. Tacho." + +"Sir, I will tell you the oldest word for a leaf--and that is an olive. +(Don't you know that the olive was the first leaf? so olive must be the +Rommany word, since Rommanis is the oldest language of all.) For when +the first man was made and created in the world--and that was the great +God himself, I expect--and brought the land out, he was in the ship, and +didn't know if there was any earth about him, so he sent the bird out. +And the bird was a dove, because _dove_ is like _Duvel_ (God), and half +God and God's bird. So the dove flew away and went around the world till +he found the earth; for when he saw a place and took an olive-leaf, he +knew there was a country (land), and took the olive-leaf back to his +Lord. And when his Lord knew there was land, he made little children and +people for it--and I don't know anything more about it. And that is a +very tidy little story of the leaf, and it shows that the olive was the +first leaf." + +Being gratified at my noting down this original narrative from his own +lips, my excellent old friend informed me, with cheerfulness not +unmingled with the dignified pride characteristic of erudition, and of +the possession of deep and darksome lore, that he also knew the story of +Samson. And thus spake he:-- + +"Samson was a boro mush, wery hunnalo an' tatto at koorin', so that he +nashered saw the mushis avree, an' they were atrash o' lester. He was so +surrelo that yeckorus when he poggered avree a ker, an' it had a boro +sasterni wuder, he just pet it apre his dumo, an' hookered it avree, an' +jalled kerri an' bikin'd it. + +"Yeck divvus he lelled some weshni juckals, an' pandered yagni-trushnees +to their poris and mukked 'em jal. And they nashered avree like puro +bengis, sig in the sala, when sar the mushis were sutto, 'unsa parl the +giv puvius, and hotchered sar the giv. + +"Then the krallis bitchered his mushis to lel Samson, but he koshered +'em, an' pash mored the tat of 'em; they couldn't kurry him, and he +sillered 'em to praster for their miraben. An' 'cause they couldn't +serber him a koorin', they kaired it sidd pre the chingerben drum. Now +Samson was a seehiatty mush, wery cammoben to the juvas, so they got a +wery rinkeni chi to kutter an' kuzzer him. So yuv welled a laki to a +worretty tan, an' she hocussed him with drab till yuv was pilfry o' +sutto, an his sherro hungered hooper side a lacker; an' when yuv was +selvered, the mushis welled and chinned his ballos apre an' chivved him +adree the sturaben. + +"An' yeck divvus the foki hitchered him avree the sturaben to kair pyass +for 'em. And as they were gillerin' and huljerin' him, Samson chivved +his wasters kettenus the boro chongurs of the sturaben, and bongered his +kokerus adree, an sar the ker pet a lay with a boro gudli, an' sar the +pooro mushis were mullered an' the ker poggered to bitti cutters." + +"Samson was a great man, very fierce and expert at fighting, so that he +drove all men away, and they were afraid of him. He was so strong that +once when he broke into a house, and it had a great iron door, he just +put it on his back, and carried it away and went home and sold it. + +"One day he caught some foxes, and tied firebrands to their tails and let +them go. And they ran away like old devils, early in the morning, when +all the people were asleep, across the field, and burned all the wheat. + +"Then the king sent his men to take Samson, but he hurt them, and half +killed the whole of them; they could not injure him, and he compelled +them to run for life. And because they could not capture him by +fighting, they did it otherwise by an opposite way. Now Samson was a man +full of life, very fond of the girls, so they got a very pretty woman to +cajole and coax him. And he went with her to a lonely house, and she +'hocussed' him with poison till he was heavy with sleep, and his head +drooped by her side; and when he was poisoned, the people came and cut +his hair off and threw him into prison. + +"And one day the people dragged him out of prison to make sport for them. +And as they were making fun of him and teasing him, Samson threw his +hands around the great pillars of the prison, and bowed himself in, and +all the house fell down with a great noise, and all the poor men were +killed and the house broken to small pieces. + +"And so he died." + +"Do you know what the judgment day is, Puro?" + +"Avo, rya. The judgment day is when you _soves alay_ (go in sleep, or +dream away) to the boro Duvel." + +I reflected long on this reply of the untutored Rommany. I had often +thought that the deepest and most beautiful phrase in all Tennyson's +poems was that in which the impassioned lover promised his mistress to +love her after death, ever on "into the dream beyond." And here I had +the same thought as beautifully expressed by an old Gipsy, who, he +declared, for two months hadn't seen three nights when he wasn't as drunk +as four fiddlers. And the same might have been said of Carolan, the +Irish bard, who lived in poetry and died in whisky. + +The soul sleeping or dreaming away to God suggested an inquiry into the +Gipsy idea of the nature of spirits. + +"You believe in _mullos_ (ghosts), Puro. Can everybody see them, I +wonder?" + +"Avo, rya, avo. Every mush can dick mullos if it's their cammoben to be +dickdus. But 'dusta critters can dick mullos whether the mullos kaum it +or kek. There's grais an' mylas can dick mullos by the ratti; an' +yeckorus I had a grai that was trasher 'dree a tem langs the rikkorus of +a drum, pash a boro park where a mush had been mullered. He prastered a +mee pauli, but pash a cheirus he welled apopli to the wardos. A chinned +jucko or a wixen can hunt mullos. Avali, they chase sperits just the sim +as anything 'dree the world--dan'r 'em, koor 'em, chinger 'em--'cause the +dogs can't be dukkered by mullos." + +In English: "Yes, sir, yes. Every man can see ghosts if it is their will +to be seen. But many creatures can see ghosts whether the ghosts wish it +or not. There are horses and asses (which) can see ghosts by the night; +and once I had a horse that was frightened in a place by the side of a +road, near a great park where a man had been murdered. He ran a mile +behind, but after a while came back to the waggons. A cut (castrated) +dog or a vixen can hunt ghosts. Yes, they chase spirits just the same as +anything in the world--bite 'em, fight 'em, tear 'em--because dogs cannot +be hurt by ghosts." + +"Dogs," I replied, "sometimes hunt men as well as ghosts." + +"Avo; but men can fool the juckals avree, and men too, and mullos can't." + +"How do they kair it?" + +"If a choramengro kaums to chore a covva when the snow is apre the +puvius, he jals yeck piro, palewavescro. If you chiv tutes piros pal-o- +the-waver--your kusto piro kaired bongo, jallin' with it a rikkorus, an' +the waver piro straightus--your patteran'll dick as if a bongo-herroed +mush had been apre the puvius. (I jinned a mush yeckorus that had a dui +chokkas kaired with the dui tachabens kaired bongo, to jal a-chorin' +with.) But if you're pallered by juckals, and pet lully dantymengro +adree the chokkas, it'll dukker the sunaben of the juckos. + +"An' if you chiv lully dantymengro where juckos kair panny, a'ter they +soom it they won't jal adoi chichi no moreus, an' won't mutter in dovo +tan, and you can keep it cleanus." + +That is, "If a thief wants to steal a thing when the snow is on the +ground, he goes with one foot behind the other. If you put your feet one +behind the other--your right foot twisted, going with it to one side, and +the other foot straight--your trail will look as if a crooked-legged man +had been on the ground. (I knew a man once that had a pair of shoes made +with the two heels reversed, to go a-thieving with.) But if you are +followed by dogs, and put red pepper in your shoes, it will spoil the +scent of the dogs. + +"And if you throw red pepper where dogs make water, they will not go +there any more after they smell it, and you can keep it clean." + +"Well," I replied, "I see that a great many things can be learned from +the Gipsies. Tell me, now, when you wanted a night's lodging did you +ever go to a union?" + +"Kek, rya; the tramps that jal langs the drum an' mang at the unions are +kek Rommany chals. The Rommany never kair dovo--they'd sooner besh in +the bavol puv firstus. We'd putch the farming rye for mukkaben to hatch +the ratti adree the granja,but we'd sooner suv under the bor in the +bishnoo than jal adree the chuvveny-ker. The Rommany chals aint sim to +tramps, for they've got a different drum into 'em." + +In English: "No, sir; the tramps that go along the road and beg at the +unions are not Gipsies. The Rommany never do that--they'd sooner stay in +the open field (literally, air-field). We would ask the farmer for leave +to stop the night in the barn, but we'd sooner sleep under the hedge in +the rain than go in the poorhouse. Gipsies are not like tramps, for they +have a different _way_." + +The reader who will reflect on the extreme misery and suffering incident +upon sleeping in the open air, or in a very scanty tent, during the +winter in England, and in cold rains, will appreciate the amount of manly +pride necessary to sustain the Gipsies in thus avoiding the union. That +the wandering Rommany can live at all is indeed wonderful, since not only +are all other human beings less exposed to suffering than many of them, +but even foxes and rabbits are better protected in their holes from +storms and frost. The Indians of North America have, without exception, +better tents; in fact, one of the last Gipsy _tans_ which I visited was +merely a bit of ragged canvas, so small that it could only cover the +upper portion of the bodies of the man and his wife who slept in it. +Where and how they packed their two children I cannot understand. + +The impunity with which any fact might be published in English Rommany, +with the certainty that hardly a soul in England not of the blood could +understand it, is curiously illustrated by an incident which came within +my knowledge. The reader is probably aware that there appear +occasionally in the "Agony" column of the _Times_ (or in that devoted to +"personal" advertisements) certain sentences apparently written in some +very strange foreign tongue, but which the better informed are aware are +made by transposing letters according to the rules of cryptography or +secret writing. Now it is estimated that there are in Great Britain at +least one thousand lovers of occult lore and quaint curiosa, decipherers +of rebuses and adorers of anagrams, who, when one of these delightful +puzzles appears in the _Times_, set themselves down and know no rest +until it is unpuzzled and made clear, being stimulated in the pursuit by +the delightful consciousness that they are exploring the path of +somebody's secret, which somebody would be very sorry to have made known. + +Such an advertisement appeared one day, and a friend of mine, who had a +genius for that sort of thing, sat himself down early one Saturday +morning to decipher it. + +First of all he ascertained which letter occurred most frequently in the +advertisement, for this must be the letter _e_ according to rules made +and provided by the great Edgar A. Poe, the American poet-cryptographer. +But to reveal the secret in full, I may as well say, dear reader, that +you must take printers' type in their cases, _and follow the proportions +according to the size of the boxes_. By doing this you cannot fail to +unrip the seam of any of these transmutations. + +But, alas! this cock would not fight--it was a dead bird in the pit. My +friend at once apprehended that he had to deal with an old hand--one of +those aggravating fellows who are up to cryp--a man who can write a +sentence, and be capable of leaving the letter _e_ entirely out. For +there _are_ people who will do this. + +So he went to work afresh upon now hypotheses, and pleasantly the hours +fled by. Quires of paper were exhausted; he worked all day and all the +evening with no result. That it was not in a foreign language my friend +was well assured. + + "For well hee knows the Latine and the Dutche; + Of Fraunce and Toscanie he hath a touche." + +Russian is familiar to him, and Arabic would not have been an unknown +quantity. So he began again with the next day, and had been breaking the +Sabbath until four o'clock in the afternoon, when I entered, and the +mystic advertisement was submitted to me. I glanced at it, and at once +read it into English, though as I read the smile at my friend's lost +labour vanished in a sense of sympathy for what the writer must have +suffered. It was as follows, omitting names:-- + + "MANDY jins of --- ---. Patsa mandy, te bitcha lav ki tu shan. Opray + minno lav, mandy'l kek pukka til tute muks a mandi. Tute's di's see + se welni poggado. Shom atrash tuti dad'l jal divio. Yov'l fordel + sor. For miduvel's kom, muk lesti shoon choomani." + +In English: "I know of ---. Trust me, and send word where you are. On +my word, I will not tell till you give me leave. Your mother's heart is +wellnigh broken. I am afraid your father will go mad. He will forgive +all. For God's sake, let him know something." + +This was sad enough, and the language in which it was written is good +English Rommany. I would only state in addition, that I found that in +the very house in which I was living, and at the same time, a lady had +spent three days in vainly endeavouring to ascertain the meaning of these +sentences. + +It is possible that many Gipsies, be they of high or low degree, in +society or out of it, may not be pleased at my publishing a book of their +language, and revealing so much of what they fondly cherish as a secret. +They need be under no apprehension, since I doubt very much whether, even +with its aid, a dozen persons living will seriously undertake to study +it--and of this dozen there is not one who will not be a philologist; and +such students are generally aware that there are copious vocabularies of +all the other Gipsy dialects of Europe easy to obtain from any +bookseller. Had my friend used the works of Pott or Paspati, Ascoli or +Grellman, he would have found it an easy thing to translate this +advertisement. The truth simply is, that for _scholars_ there is not a +single secret or hidden word in English Gipsy or in any other Rommany +dialect, and none except scholars will take pains to acquire it. Any man +who wished to learn sufficient Gipsy to maintain a conversation, and +thereby learn all the language, could easily have done so half a century +ago from the vocabularies published by Bright and other writers. A +secret which has been for fifty years published in very practical detail +in fifty books, is indeed a _secret de Ponchinelle_. + +I have been asked scores of times, "Have the Gipsies an alphabet of their +own? have they grammars of their language, dictionaries, or books?" Of +course my answer was in the negative. I have heard of vocabularies in +use among crypto-Rommanies, or those who having risen from the roads live +a secret life, so to speak, but I have never seen one. But they have +songs; and one day I was told that in my neighbourhood there lived a +young Gipsy woman who was a poetess and made Rommany ballads. "She can't +write," said my informant; "but her husband's a _Gorgio_, and he can. If +you want them, I'll get you some." The offer was of course accepted, and +the Gipsy dame, flattered by the request, sent me the following. The +lyric is without rhyme, but, as sung, not without rhythm. + + + +"GILLI OF A RUMMANY JUVA. + + + "Die at the gargers (Gorgios), + The gargers round mandy! + Trying to lel my meripon, + My meripon (meripen) away. + + I will care (kair) up to my chungs (chongs), + Up to my chungs in Rat, + All for my happy Racler (raklo). + + My mush is lelled to sturribon (staripen), + To sturribon, to sturribon; + Mymush is lelled to sturribon, + To the Tan where mandy gins (jins)." + + + +TRANSLATION. + + +"Look at the Gorgios, the Gorgios around me! trying to take my life away. + +"I will wade up to my knees in blood, all for my happy boy. + +"My husband is taken to prison, to prison, to prison; my husband is taken +to prison, to the place of which I know." + + + + +CHAPTER X. GIPSIES IN EGYPT. + + +Difficulty of obtaining Information.--The Khedive on the Gipsies.--Mr +Edward Elias.--Mahomet introduces me to the Gipsies.--They call +themselves Tataren.--The Rhagarin or Gipsies at Boulac.--Cophts.--Herr +Seetzen on Egyptian Gipsies.--The Gipsy with the Monkey in Cairo.--Street- +cries of the Gipsy Women in Egypt. Captain Newbold on the Egyptian +Gipsies. + +Since writing the foregoing pages, and only a day or two after one of the +incidents therein described, I went to Egypt, passing the winter in Cairo +and on the Nile. While waiting in the city for the friend with whom I +was to ascend the mysterious river, it naturally occurred to me, that as +I was in the country which many people still believe is the original land +of the Gipsies, it would be well worth my while to try to meet with some, +if any were to be found. + +It is remarkable, that notwithstanding my inquiries from many gentlemen, +both native and foreign, including savans and beys, the only educated +person I ever met in Egypt who was able to give me any information on the +subject of its Gipsies was the Khedive or Viceroy himself, a fact which +will not seem strange to those who are aware of the really wonderful +extent of his knowledge of the country which he rules. I had been but a +few days in Cairo when, at an interview with the Khedive, Mr Beardsley, +the American Consul, by whom I was presented, mentioned to his Highness +that I was interested in the subject of the Gipsies, upon which the +Khedive said that there were in Egypt many people known as "_Rhagarin_" +(Ghagarin), who were probably the same as the "Bohemiens" or Gipsies of +Europe. His words were, as nearly as I can remember, as follows:-- + +"They are wanderers who live in tents, and are regarded with contempt +even by the peasantry. Their women tell fortunes, tattoo, {189} and sell +small-wares; the men work in iron (_quincaillerie_). They are all adroit +thieves, and noted as such. The men may sometimes be seen going around +the country with monkeys; in fact, they appear to be in all respects the +same people as the Gipsies of Europe." + +This was all that I could learn for several days; for though there were +Gipsies--or "Egypcians"--in Egypt, I had almost as much trouble to find +them as Eilert Sundt had to discover their brethren in Norway. In +speaking of the subject to Mr Edward Elias, a gentleman well known in +Egypt, he most kindly undertook to secure the aid of the chief of police, +who in turn had recourse to the Shekh of the Gipsies. But the Shekh I +was told was not himself a Gipsy, and there were none of his subjects in +Cairo. After a few days, three wanderers, supposed to be Rommany, were +arrested; but on examination they proved to be ignorant of any language +except Arabic. Their occupation was music and dancing "with a stick;" in +fact, they were performers in those curious and extremely ancient +Fescennine farces, or _Atellanae_, which are depicted on ancient vases, +and are still acted on the roads in Egypt as they were in Greece before +the days of Thespis. Then I was informed that Gipsies were often +encamped near the Pyramids, but research in this direction was equally +fruitless. + +Remembering what his Highness had told me, that Gipsies went about +exhibiting monkeys, I one day, on meeting a man bearing an ape, +endeavoured to enter into conversation with him. Those who know Cairo +can imagine with what result! In an instant we were surrounded by fifty +natives of the lower class, jabbering, jeering, screaming, and +begging--all intent, as it verily seemed, on defeating my object. I gave +the monkey-bearer money; instead of thanking me, he simply clamoured for +more, while the mob became intolerable, so that I was glad to make my +escape. + +At last I was successful. I had frequently employed as donkey-driver an +intelligent and well-behaved man named Mahomet, who spoke English well, +and who was familiar with the byways of Cairo. On asking him if he could +show me any Rhagarin, he replied that every Saturday there was a fair or +market held at Boulac, where I would be sure to meet with women of the +tribe. The men, I was told, seldom ventured into the city, because they +were subject to much insult and ill-treatment from the common people. On +the day appointed I rode to the market, which was extremely interesting. +There were thousands of blue-shirted and red-tarbouched or white-turbaned +Egyptians, buying or selling, or else merely amusing themselves; dealers +in sugar-cane, pipe-pedlars, and vendors of rosaries; jugglers and +minstrels. At last we came to a middle-aged woman seated on the ground +behind a basket containing beads, glass armlets, and similar trinkets. +She was dressed like any Arab woman of the lower class, but was not +veiled, and on her chin blue lines were tattooed. Her features and whole +expression were, however, evidently Gipsy. + +I spoke to her in Rommany, using such words as would have been +intelligible to any of the race in England, Germany, or Turkey; but she +did not understand me, and declared that she could speak nothing but +Arabic. At my request Mahomet explained to her that I had travelled from +a distant country in "Orobba," where there were many Rhagarin who +declared that their fathers came from Egypt, and that I wished to know if +any in the latter country could speak the old language. She replied that +the Rhagarin of "Montesinos" could still speak it, but that her people in +Egypt had lost the tongue. Mahomet declared that Montesinos meant Mount +Sinai or Syria. I then asked her if the Rhagarin had no peculiar name +for themselves, and she replied, "Yes, we call ourselves Tataren." + +This was at least satisfactory. All over Southern Germany and in Norway +the Rommany are sailed Tataren; and though the word means Tartars, and is +simply a misapplied term, it indicates a common race. The woman seemed +to be very much gratified at the interest I manifested in her people. I +gave her a double piastre, and asked for its value in blue-glass armlets. +She gave me two pair, and as I turned to depart called me back, and with +a good-natured smile handed me four more as a present. This generosity +was very Gipsy-like, and very unlike the usual behaviour of any common +Egyptian. + +While on the Nile, I inquired of people in different towns if they had +ever seen Gipsies where they lived, and was invariably answered in the +negative. Remembering to have read in some book a statement that the +Ghawazi or dancing-girls formed a tribe by themselves, and spoke a +peculiar language, I asked an American who has lived for many years in +Egypt if he thought they could be Gipsies. He replied that an English +lady of title, who had also been for a long time in the country, had +formed this opinion. But when I questioned dancing-girls myself, I found +them quite ignorant of any language except Arabic, and knowing nothing +relating to the Rommany. Two Ghawazi whom I saw had, indeed, the +peculiarly brilliant eyes and general expression of Gipsies. The rest +appeared to be Egyptian-Arab; and I found on inquiry that one of the +latter had really been a peasant girl who till within seven months had +worked in the fields, while two others were occupied alternately with +field-work and dancing. + +At the market in Boulac, Mahomet took me to a number of _Rhagarin_. They +all resembled the one whom I have described, and were all occupied in +selling exactly the same class of articles. They all differed slightly, +as I thought, from the ordinary Egyptians in their appearance, and were +decidedly unlike them, in being neither importunate for money nor +disagreeable in their manners. But though they were certainly Gipsies, +none of them would speak Rommany, and I doubt very much if they could +have done so. + +Bonaventura Vulcanius, who in 1597 first gave the world a specimen of +Rommany in his curious book "De Literis et Lingua Getarum" (which +specimen, by the way, on account of its rarity, I propose to republish in +another work), believed that the Gipsies were Nubians; and others, +following in his track, supposed they were really Cophtic Christians +(Pott, "Die Zigeuner," &c., Halle, 1844, p. 5). And I must confess that +this recurred forcibly to my memory when, at Minieh, in Egypt, I asked a +Copht scribe if he were Muslim, and he replied, "_La_, _ana Gipti_" ("No, +I am a Copht"), pronouncing the word _Gipti_, or Copht, so that it might +readily be taken for "Gipsy." And learning that _romi_ is the Cophtic +for a man, I was again startled; and when I found _tema_ (tem, land) and +other Rommany words in ancient Egyptian (_vide_ Brugsch, "Grammaire," +&c.), it seemed as if there were still many mysteries to solve in this +strange language. + +Other writers long before me attempted to investigate Egyptian Gipsy, but +with no satisfactory result. A German named Seetzen ascertained that +there were Gipsies both in Egypt and Syria, and wrote (1806) on the +subject a MS., which Pott ("Die Zigeuner," &c.) cites largely. Of these +Roms he speaks as follows: "Gipsies are to be found in the entire Osmanli +realm, from the limits of Hungary into Egypt. The Turks call them +Tschinganih; but the Syrians and Egyptians, as well as themselves, +_Nury_, in the plural _El Nauar_. It was on the 24th November 1806 when +I visited a troop of them, encamped with their black tents in an olive +grove, to the west side of Naplos. They were for the greater part of a +dirty yellow complexion, with black hair, which hung down on the side +from where it was parted in a short plait, and their lips are mulatto- +like." (Seetzen subsequently remarks that their physiognomy is precisely +like that of the modern Egyptians.) "The women had their under lips +coloured dark blue, like female Bedouins, and a few eaten-in points +around the mouth of like colour. They, and the boys also, wore earrings. +They made sieves of horse-hair or of leather, iron nails, and similar +small ironware, or mended kettles. They appear to be very poor, and the +men go almost naked, unless the cold compels them to put on warmer +clothing. The little boys ran about naked. Although both Christians and +Mahometans declared that they buried their dead in remote hill corners, +or burned them, they denied it, and declared they were good Mahometans, +and as such buried their dead in Mahometan cemeteries." (This +corresponds to their custom in Great Britain in the past generation, and +the earnestness which they display at present to secure regular burial +like Christians.) "But as their instruction is even more neglected than +that of the Bedouins, their religious information is so limited that one +may say of them, they have either no religion at all, or the simplest of +all. As to wine, they are less strict than most Mahometans. They +assured me that in Egypt there were many _Nury_." + +The same writer obtained from one of these Syrian-Egyptian Gipsies a not +inconsiderable vocabulary of their language, and says: "I find many +Arabic, Turkish, and some Greek words in it; it appears to me, however, +that they have borrowed from a fourth language, which was perhaps their +mother-tongue, but which I cannot name, wanting dictionaries." The words +which he gives appear to me to consist of Egyptian-Arabic, with its usual +admixture from other sources, simply made into a gibberish, and sometimes +with one word substituted for another to hide the meaning--the whole +probably obtained through a dragoman, as is seen, for instance, when he +gives the word _nisnaszeha_, a fox, and states that it is of unknown +origin. The truth is, _nisnas_ means a monkey, and, like most of +Seetzen's "Nuri" words, is inflected with an _a_ final, as if one should +say "monkeyo." I have no doubt the Nauar may talk such a jargon; but I +should not be astonished, either, if the Shekh who for a small pecuniary +consideration eagerly aided Seetzen to note it down, had "sold" him with +what certainly would appear to any Egyptian to be the real babble of the +nursery. There are a very few Rommany words in this vocabulary, but then +it should be remembered that there are some Arabic words in Rommany. + +The street-cry of the Gipsy women in Cairo is [ARABIC TEXT which cannot +be reproduced] "_Neduqq wanetahir_!" "We tattoo and circumcise!" a +phrase which sufficiently indicates their calling. In the "Deutscher +Dragoman" of Dr Philip Wolff, Leipzig, 1867, I find the following under +the word Zigeuner:-- + +"Gipsy--in Egypt, Gagri" (pronounced more nearly 'Rh'agri), "plural +_Gagar_; in Syria, _Newari_, plural _Nawar_. When they go about with +monkeys, they are called _Kurudati_, from _kird_, ape. The Gipsies of +Upper Egypt call themselves Saaideh--_i.e_., people from Said, or Upper +Egypt (_vide_ Kremer, i. 138-148). According to Von Gobineau, they are +called in Syria Kurbati, [ARABIC TEXT which cannot be reproduced] (_vide_ +'Zeitschrift der D. M. G.,' xi. 690)." + +More than this of the Gipsies in Egypt the deponent sayeth not. He has +interrogated the oracles, and they were dumb. That there are Roms in the +land of Mizr his eyes have shown, but whether any of them can talk +Rommany is to him as yet unknown. + +* * * * * + +Since the foregoing was printed, I have found in the _Journal of the +Royal Asiatic Society_ (Vol. XVI., Part 2, 1856, p. 285), an article on +The Gipsies in Egypt, by the late Captain Newbold, F.R.S., which gives +much information on this mysterious subject. The Egyptian Gipsies, as +Captain Newbold found, are extremely jealous and suspicious of any +inquiry into their habits and mode of life, so that he had great +difficulty in tracing them to their haunts, and inducing them to +unreserved communication. + +These Gipsies are divided into three kinds, the Helebis, Ghagars +(Rhagarin), and Nuris or Nawer. Of the Rhagars there are sixteen +thousand. The Helebi are most prosperous of all these, and their women, +who are called Fehemis, are the only ones who practice fortune-telling +and sorcery. The male Helebis are chiefly ostensible dealers in horses +and cattle, but have a bad character for honesty. Some of them are to be +found in every official department in Egypt, though not known to be +Gipsies--(a statement which casts much light on the circumstance that +neither the chief of police himself nor the Shekh of the Rhagarin, with +all their alleged efforts, could find a single Gipsy for me). The +Helebis look down on the Rhagarin, and do not suffer their daughters to +intermarry with them, though they themselves marry Rhagarin girls. The +Fehemi, or Helebi women, are noted for their chastity; the Rhagarin are +not. The men of the Rhagarin are tinkers and blacksmiths, and sell cheap +jewellery or instruments of iron and brass. Many of them are athletes, +mountebanks, and monkey-exhibitors; the women are rope-dancers and +musicians. They are divided into classes, bearing the names of Romani, +Meddahin, Ghurradin, Barmeki (Barmecides), Waled Abu Tenna, Beit er +Rafai, Hemmeli, &c. The Helebis and Rhagarin are distinctly different in +their personal appearance from the other inhabitants of Egypt, having the +eyes and expression peculiar to all Gipsies. Captain Newbold, in fact, +assumes that any person "who remains in Egypt longer than the ordinary +run of travellers, and roams about the streets and environs of the large +towns, can hardly fail to notice the strange appearance of certain +females, whose features at once distinguish them from the ordinary Fellah +Arabs and Cophts of the country." + +"The Nuris or Nawers are hereditary thieves, but are now (1856) employed +as police and watchmen in the Pacha's country estates. In Egypt they +intermarry with the Fellahin or Arabs of the soil, from whom, in physical +appearance and dress, they can hardly be distinguished. Outwardly they +profess Mohammedanism, and have little intercourse with the Helebis and +Ghagars (or Rhagarin)." + +Each of these tribes or classes speak a separate and distinct dialect or +jargon. That of the Rhagarin most resembles the language spoken by the +Kurbats, or Gipsies of Syria. "It seems to me probable," says Captain +Newbold, "that the whole of these tribes had one common origin in India, +or the adjacent countries on its Western frontier, and that the +difference in the jargons they now speak is owing to their sojourn in the +various countries through which they have passed. _This is certain_, +_that the Gipsies are strangers in the land of Egypt_." + +I am not astonished, on examining the specimens of these three dialects +given by Captain Newbold, with the important addition made by Mr W. +Burckhardt Barker, that I could not converse with the Rhagarin. That of +the Nawers does not contain a single word which would be recognised as +Rommany, while those which occur in the other two jargons are, if not +positively either few and far between, strangely distorted from the +original. A great number are ordinary vulgar Arabic. It is very curious +that while in England such a remarkably large proportion of Hindustani +words have been preserved, they have been lost in the East, in countries +comparatively near the fatherland--India. + +I would, in conclusion to this work, remark that numbers of Rommany +words, which are set down by philologists as belonging to Greek, +Slavonian, and other languages, were originally Hindu, and have only +changed their form a little because the wanderers found a resemblance to +the old word in a new one. I am also satisfied that much may be learned +as to the origin of these words from a familiar acquaintance with the +vulgar dialects of Persia, and such words as are not put down in +dictionaries, owing to their provincial character. I have found, on +questioning a Persian gentleman, that he knew the meaning of many Rommany +words from their resemblance to vulgar Persian, though they were not in +the Persian dictionary which I used. + + + + +ROMMANI GUDLI; OR, GIPSY STORIES AND FABLES. + + +The Gipsy to whom I was chiefly indebted for the material of this book +frequently narrated to me the _Gudli_ or small stories current among his +people, and being a man of active, though child-like imagination, often +invented others of a similar character. Sometimes an incident or saying +would suggest to me the outline of a narrative, upon which he would +eagerly take it up, and readily complete the tale. But if I helped him +sometimes to evolve from a hint, a phrase, or a fact, something like a +picture, it was always the Gipsy who gave it Rommany characteristics and +conferred colour. It was often very difficult for him to distinctly +recall an old story or clearly develop anything of the kind, whether it +involved an effort of memory or of the imagination, and here he required +aid. I have never in my life met with any man whose mind combined so +much simplicity, cunning, and grotesque fancy, with such an entire +incapacity to appreciate either humour or "poetry" as expressed in the +ordinary language of culture. The metre and rhyme of the simplest ballad +made it unintelligible to him, and I was obliged to repeat such poetry +several times before he could comprehend it. Yet he would, while I was +otherwise occupied than with him, address to his favourite wooden image +of a little bear on the chimneypiece, grotesque soliloquies which would +have delighted a Hoffman, or conduct with it dialogues which often +startled me. With more education, he would have become a Rommany Bid- +pai; and since India is the fatherland of the fable, he may have derived +his peculiar faculty for turning morals and adorning tales legitimately +from that source. + +I may state that those stories, which were made entirely; as a few were; +or in part, by my assistant and myself, were afterwards received with +approbation by ordinary Gipsies as being thoroughly Rommany. As to the +_language_ of the stories, it is all literally and faithfully that of a +Gipsy, word by word, written down as he uttered it, when, after we had +got a _gudlo_ into shape, he told it finally over, which he invariably +did with great eagerness, ending with an improvised moral. + + + +GUDLO I. HOW A GIPSY SAVED A CHILD'S LIFE BY BREAKING A WINDOW. + + +'Pre yeck divvus (or yeckorus) a Rommany chal was kairin' pyass with the +koshters, an' he wussered a kosh 'pre the hev of a boro ker an' poggered +it. Welled the prastramengro and penned, "Tu must pooker (or pessur) for +the glass." But when they jawed adree the ker, they lastered the kosh +had mullered a divio juckal that was jawan' to dant the chavo. So the +rani del the Rommany chal a sonnakai ora an' a fino gry. + +But yeck koshter that poggers a hev doesn't muller a juckal. + + +TRANSLATION. + + +On a day (or once) a Gipsy was playing at cockshy, and he threw a stick +through the window of a great house and broke the glass. Came the +policeman and said, "You must answer (or pay) for the glass." But when +they went into the house, they found the stick had killed a mad dog that +was going to bite the child (boy). So the lady gave the Gipsy a gold +watch and a good horse. + +But every stick that breaks a window does not kill a dog. + + + +GUDLO II. THE GIPSY STORY OF THE BIRD AND THE HEDGEHOG. + + +'Pre yeck divvus a hotchewitchi dicked a chillico adree the puv, and the +chillico pukkered lesco, "Mor jal pauli by the kushto wastus, or the +hunters' graias will chiv tute adree the chick, mullo; an' if you jal the +waver rikk by the bongo wast, dovo's a Rommany tan adoi, and the Rommany +chals will haw tute." Penned the hotchewitchi, "I'd rather jal with the +Rommany chals, an' be hawed by foki that kaum mandy, than be pirraben +apre by chals that dick kaulo apre mandy." + +It's kushtier for a tacho Rom to be mullered by a Rommany pal than to be +nashered by the Gorgios. + + +TRANSLATION. + + +On a day a hedgehog met a bird in the field, and the bird told him, "Do +not go around by the right hand, or the hunters' horses will trample you +dead in the dirt; and if you go around by the left hand, there's a Gipsy +tent, and the Gipsies will eat you." Said the hedgehog, "I'd rather go +with the Gipsies, and be eaten by folk that like me, than be trampled on +by people that despise (literally, look black upon) me." + +It is better for a real Gipsy to be killed by a Gipsy brother than to be +hung by Gorgios. + + + +GUDLO III. A STORY OF A FORTUNE-TELLER. + + +Yeckorus a tano Gorgio chivved apre a shubo an' jalled to a puri Rommany +dye to get dukkered. And she pookered lester, "Tute'll rummorben a Fair +Man with kauli yakkas." Then the raklo delled laki yeck shukkori an' +penned, "If this shukkori was as boro as the hockaben tute pukkered +mandy, tute might porder sar the bongo tem with rupp." But, hatch a +wongish!--maybe in a divvus, maybe in a curricus, maybe a dood, maybe a +besh, maybe waver divvus, he rummorbend a rakli by the nav of Fair Man, +and her yakkas were as kaulo as miri juva's. + +There's always dui rikk to a dukkerben. + + +TRANSLATION. + + +Once a little Gorgio put on a woman's gown and went to an old Gipsy +mother to have his fortune told. And she told him, "You'll marry a Fair +Man with black eyes." Then the young man gave her a sixpence and said, +"If this sixpence were as big as the lie you told me, you could fill all +hell with silver." But, stop a bit! after a while--maybe in a week, +maybe a month, maybe in a year, maybe the other day--he married a girl by +the name of Fair Man, and her eyes were as black as my sweetheart's. + +There are always two sides to a prediction. + + + +GUDLO IV. HOW THE ROYSTON ROOK DECEIVED THE ROOKS AND PIGEONS. + + +'Pre yeck divvus a Royston rookus jalled mongin the kaulo chiriclos, an' +they putched (pootschered) him, "Where did tute chore tiro pauno chukko?" +And yuv pookered, "Mandy chored it from a biksherro of a pigeon." Then +he jalled a-men the pigeons an' penned, "Sarishan, pals?" And they +putched lesti, "Where did tute lel akovo kauli rokamyas te byascros?" And +yuv penned, "Mandy chored 'em from those wafri mushis the rookuses." + +Pash-ratis pen their kokeros for Gorgios mongin Gorgios, and for Rommany +mongin Rommany chals. + + +TRANSLATION. + + +On a day a Royston rook {206} went among the crows (black birds), and +they asked him, "Where did you steal your white coat?" And he told +(them), "I stole it from a fool of a pigeon." Then he went among the +pigeons and said, "How are you, brothers?" And they asked him, "Where +did you get those black trousers and sleeves?" And he said, "I stole 'em +from those wretches the rooks." + +Half-breeds call themselves Gorgio among Gorgios, and Gipsy among +Gipsies. + + + +GUDLO V. THE GIPSY'S STORY OF THE GORGIO AND THE ROMMANY CHAL. + + +Once 'pre a chairus (or chyrus) a Gorgio penned to a Rommany chal, "Why +does tute always jal about the tem ajaw? There's no kushtoben in what +don't hatch acai." Penned the Rommany chal, "Sikker mandy tute's +wongur!" And yuv sikkered him a cutter (cotter?), a bar, a pash-bar, a +pash-cutter, a pange-cullo (caulor?) bittus, a pash-krooner (korauna), a +dui-cullos bittus, a trin-mushi, a shuckori, a stor'oras, a trin'oras, a +dui'oras, a haura, a poshero, a lulli, a pash-lulli. Penned the Rommany +chal, "Acovo's sar wafri wongur." "Kek," penned the Gorgio; "se sar +kushto an' kirus. Chiv it adree tute's wast and shoon it ringus." "Avo," +penned the Rommany chal. "Tute pookered mandy that only wafri covvas +keep jallin', te 'covo wongur has jalled sar 'pre the 'tem adusta timei +(or timey)." + +Sar mushis aren't all sim ta rukers (rukkers.) Some must pirraben, and +can't besh't a lay. + + +TRANSLATION. + + +Once upon a time a Gorgio said to a Gipsy, "Why do you always go about +the country so? There is 'no good' in what does not rest (literally, +stop here)." Said the Gipsy, "Show me your money!" And he showed him a +guinea, a sovereign, a half-sovereign, a half-guinea, a five-shilling +piece, a half-crown, a two-shilling piece, a shilling, a sixpence, a +fourpenny piece, a threepence, a twopence, a penny, a halfpenny, a +farthing, a half-farthing. Said the Gipsy, "This is all bad money." +"No," said the other man; "it is all good and sound. Toss it in your +hand and hear it ring!" "Yes," replied the Gipsy. "You told me that +only bad things _keep going_, and this money has gone all over the +country many a time." + +All men are not like trees. Some must travel, and cannot keep still. + + + +GUDLO VI. HOW THE GIPSY BRIBED THE POLICEMAN. + + +Once apre a chairus a Rommany chal chored a rani chillico (or chiriclo), +and then jalled atut a prastramengro 'pre the drum. "Where did tute +chore adovo rani?" putchered the prastramengro. "It's kek rani; it's a +pauno rani that I kinned 'dree the gav to del tute." "Tacho," penned the +prastramengro, "it's the kushtiest pauno rani mandy ever dickdus. Ki did +tute kin it?" + +Avali, many's the chairus mandy's tippered a trinmushi to a prastramengro +ta mukk mandy hatch my tan with the chavvis. + + +TRANSLATION. + + +Once on a time a Gipsy stole a turkey, and then met a policeman on the +road. "Where did you steal that turkey?" asked the policeman. "It's no +turkey; it's a goose that I bought in the town to give you." "Fact," +said the policeman, "it _is_ the finest goose I ever saw. Where _did_ +you buy it?" + +Yes, many's the time I have given a shilling (three fourpence) to a +policeman to let me pitch my tent with the children. {209} + + + +GUDLO VII. HOW A GIPSY LOST THREEPENCE. + + +Yeckorus a choro mush besht a lay ta kair trin horras-worth o' peggi for +a masengro. There jessed alang's a rye, who penned, "Tool my gry, an' +I'll del tute a shukori." While he tooled the gry a rani pookered him, +"Rikker this trushni to my ker, an' I'll del tute a trin grushi." So he +lelled a chavo to tool the gry, and pookered lester, "Tute shall get pash +the wongur." Well, as yuv was rikkinin' the trushnee an' siggerin burry +ora bender the drum, he dicked a rye, who penned, "If tute'll jaw to the +ker and hatch minni's juckal ta mandy, mi'll del tute a pash-korauna." So +he got a waver chavo to rikker the trushnee for pash the wongur, whilst +he jalled for the juckal. Wellin' alangus, he dicked a barvelo givescro, +who penned, "'Avacai an' husker mandy to lel my guruvni (_gruvni_) avree +the ditch, and I'll del you pange cullos" (caulos). So he lelled it. But +at the kunsus of the divvus, sa yuv sus kennin apre sustis wongurs, he +penned, "How wafro it is mandy nashered the trinoras I might have lelled +for the mass-koshters!" + +A mush must always pet the giv in the puv before he can chin the harvest. + + +TRANSLATION. + + +Once a poor man sat down to make threepence-worth of skewers {210} for a +butcher. There came along a gentleman, who said, "Hold my horse, and +I'll give you a sixpence." While he held the horse a lady said to him, +"Carry this basket to my house, and I'll give you a shilling." So he got +a boy to hold the horse, and said to him, "You shall have half the +money." Well, as he was carrying the basket and hurrying along fast +across the road he saw a gentleman, who said, "If you'll go to the house +and bring my dog to me, I will give you half-a-crown." So he got another +boy to carry the basket for half the money, while he went for the dog. +Going along, he saw a rich farmer, who said, "Come and help me here to +get my cow out of the ditch, and I'll give you five shillings." So he +got it. But at the end of the day, when he was counting his money, he +said, "What a pity it is I lost the threepence I might have got for the +skewers!" (literally, meat-woods.) + +A man must always put the grain in the ground before he can cut the +harvest. + + + +GUDLO VIII. THE STORY OF THE GIPSY'S DOG. + + +'Pre yeck divvus a choro mush had a juckal that used to chore covvas and +hakker them to the ker for his mush--mass, wongur, horas, and rooys. A +rye kinned the juckal, an' kaired boot dusta wongur by sikkerin' the +juckal at wellgooras. + +Where barvelo mushis can kair wongur tacho, chori mushis have to loure. + + +TRANSLATION. + + +On a day a poor man had a dog that used to steal things and carry them +home for his master--meat, money, watches, and spoons. A gentleman +bought the dog, and made a great deal of money by showing him at fairs. + +Where rich men can make money honestly, poor men have to steal. + + + +GUDLO IX. A STORY OF THE PRIZE-FIGHTER AND THE GENTLEMAN. + + +'Pre yeck chairus a cooromengro was to coor, and a rye rakkered him, +"Will tute mukk your kokero be koored for twenty bar?" Penned the +cooromengro, "Will tute mukk mandy pogger your herry for a hundred bar?" +"Kek," penned the rye; "for if I did, mandy'd never pirro kushto ajaw." +"And if I nashered a kooraben," penned the engro, "mandy'd never praster +kekoomi." + +Kammoben is kushtier than wongur. + + +TRANSLATION. + + +On a time a prize-fighter was to fight, and a gentleman asked him, "Will +you sell the fight" (_i.e_., let yourself be beaten) "for twenty pounds?" +Said the prize-fighter, "Will you let me break your leg for a hundred +pounds?" "No," said the gentleman; "for if I did, I should never walk +well again." "And if I lost a fight," said the prize-fighter (literally, +master, doer), "I could never 'run' again." + +Credit is better than money. + + + +GUDLO X. OF THE GENTLEMAN AND THE OLD GIPSY WOMAN. + + +Pre yeck chairus a Rommany dye adree the wellgooro rakkered a rye to del +laker trin mushi for kushto bak. An' he del it, an' putchered laki, "If +I bitcher my wongur a-mukkerin' 'pre the graias, ki'll manni's bak be?" +"My fino rye," she penned, "the bak'll be a collos-worth with mandy and +my chavvis." + +Bak that's pessured for is saw (sar) adoi. + + +TRANSLATION. + + +On a time a Gipsy mother at the fair asked a gentleman to give her a +shilling for luck. And he gave it, and asked her, "If I lose my money a- +betting on the horses, where will my luck be?" "My fine gentleman," she +said, "the luck will be a shilling's worth with me and my children." + +Luck that is paid for is always somewhere (literally, there). + + + +GUDLO XI. THE GIPSY TELLS OF THE CAT AND THE HARE. + + +Yeckorus the matchka jalled to dick her kako's chavo the kanengro. An' +there welled a huntingmush, an' the matchka taddied up the choomber, pre +durer, pre a rukk, an' odoi she lastered a chillico's nest. But the +kanengro prastered alay the choomber, longodurus adree the tem. + + Wafri bak kairs + A choro mush ta jal alay, + But it mukks a boro mush + To chiv his kokero apre. {213} + + + +TRANSLATION. + + +Once the cat went to see her cousin the hare. And there came a hunter, +and the cat scrambled up the hill, further up, up a tree, and there she +found a bird's nest. But the hare ran down the hill, far down into the +country. + +Bad luck sends a poor man further down, but it causes a great man to rise +still more. + + + +GUDLO XII. OF THE GIPSY WOMAN AND THE CHILD. + + +Pre yeck chairus a chi jalled adree a waver tem, an' she rikkered a gunno +pre laki dumo with a baulo adree. A rakli who was ladge of her tikno +chored the baulo avree the gunno and chivved the chavi adree. Pasch a +waver hora the chi shooned the tikno rov (ruvving), and dicked adree the +gunno in boro toob, and penned, "If the baulos in akovo tem puraben into +chavos, sa do the chavos puraben adree?" + + +TRANSLATION. + + +Once a woman went into a strange land, and she carried a bag on her back +with a pig in it. A girl who was ashamed of her child stole the pig from +the bag and put the baby in (its place). After an hour the woman heard +the child cry, and looked into the bag with great amazement, and said, +"If the pigs in this country change into children, into what do the +children change?" + + + +GUDLO XIII. OF THE GIRL THAT WAS TO MARRY THE DEVIL. + + +'Pre yeck divvus a Rommany dye dukkered a rakli, and pookered laki that a +kaulo rye kaumed her. But when the chi putchered her wongur, the rakli +penned, "Puri dye, I haven't got a poshero to del tute. But pen mandy +the nav of the kaulo rye." Then the dye shelled avree, very hunnalo, +"Beng is the nav of tute's pirryno, and yuv se kaulo adusta." + +If you chore puri juvas tute'll lel the beng. + + +TRANSLATION. + + +On a day a Gipsy mother told a girl's fortune, and said to her that a +dark (black) gentleman loved her. But when the woman demanded her money, +the girl said, "Old mother, I haven't got a halfpenny to give you. But +tell me the name of the dark gentleman." Then the mother roared out, +very angry, "Devil is the name of your sweetheart, and he is black +enough." + +If you cheat old women you will catch the devil. + + + +GUDLO XIV. OF THE GIPSY WHO STOLE THE HORSE. + + +Yeckorus a mush chored a gry and jalled him avree adree a waver tem, and +the gry and the mush jalled kushti bak kettenus. Penned the gry to his +mush, "I kaums your covvas to wearus kushtier than mandy's, for there's +kek chucknee or mellicus (pusimigree) adree them." "Kek," penned the +mush pauli; "the trash I lel when mandy jins of the prastramengro an' the +bitcherin' mush (krallis mush) is wafrier than any chucknee or busaha, +an' they'd kair mandy to praster my miramon (miraben) avree any divvus." + + +TRANSLATION. + + +Once a man stole a horse and ran him away into another country, and the +horse and the man became very intimate. Said the horse to the man, "I +like your things to wear better than I do mine, for there's no whip or +spur among them." "No," replied the man; "the fear I have when I think +of the policeman and of the judge (sending or "transporting" man, or +king's man) is worse than any whip or spur, and they would make me run my +life away any day." + + + +GUDLO XV. THE HALF-BLOOD GIPSY, HIS WIFE, AND THE PIG. + + +'Pre yeck divvus there was a mush a-piin' ma his Rommany chals adree a +kitchema, an' pauli a chairus he got pash matto. An' he penned about +mullo baulors, that _he_ never hawed kek. Kenna-sig his juvo welled +adree an' putched him to jal kerri, but yuv pookered her, "Kek--I won't +jal kenna." Then she penned, "Well alang, the chavvis got kek habben." +So she putchered him ajaw an' ajaw, an' he always rakkered her pauli +"Kek." So she lelled a mullo baulor ap her dumo and wussered it 'pre the +haumescro pre saw the foki, an' penned, "Lel the mullo baulor an' rummer +it, an' mandy'll dick pauli the chavos." + + +TRANSLATION. + + +Once there was a man drinking with his Gipsy fellows in an alehouse, and +after a while he got half drunk. And he said of pigs that had died a +natural death, _he_ never ate any. By-and-by his wife came in and asked +him to go home, but he told her, "No--I won't go now." Then she said, +"Come along, the children have no food." So she entreated him again and +again, and he always answered "No." So she took a pig that had died a +natural death, from her back and threw it on the table before all the +people, and said, "Take the dead pig for a wife, and I will look after +the children." {218} + + + +GUDLO XVI. THE GIPSY TELLS THE STORY OF THE SEVEN WHISTLERS. + + +My raia, the gudlo of the Seven Whistlers, you jin, is adree the +Scriptures--so they pookered mandy. + +An' the Seven Whistlers (_Efta Shellengeri_) is seven spirits of ranis +that jal by the ratti, 'pre the bavol, parl the heb, like chillicos. An' +it pookers 'dree the Bible that the Seven Whistlers shell wherever they +praster atut the bavol. But aduro timeus yeck jalled avree an' got +nashered, and kenna there's only shove; but they pens 'em the Seven +Whistlers. An' that sims the story tute pookered mandy of the Seven +Stars. + + +TRANSLATION. + + +Sir, the story of the Seven Whistlers, you know, is in the Scriptures--so +they told me. + +An' the Seven Whistlers are seven spirits of ladies that go by the night, +through the air, over the heaven, like birds. And it tells (us) in the +Bible that the Seven Whistlers whistle wherever they fly across the air. +But a long time ago one went away and got lost, and now there are only +six; but they call them the Seven Whistlers. And that is like the story +you told me of the Seven Stars. {219} + + + +GUDLO XVII. AN OLD STORY WELL KNOWN TO ALL GIPSIES. + + +A Rommany rakli yeckorus jalled to a ker a-dukkerin'. A'ter she jalled +avree, the rakli of the ker missered a plachta, and pookered the rye that +the Rommany chi had chored it. So the rye jalled aduro pauli the tem, +and latched the Rommany chals, and bitchered them to staruben. Now this +was adree the puro chairus when they used to nasher mushis for any bitti +covvo. And some of the Rommany chals were nashered, an' some pannied. +An' sar the gunnos, an' kavis, and covvas of the Rommanis were chivved +and pordered kettenus 'pre the bor adree the cangry-puv, an' kek mush +tooled 'em. An' trin dood (or munti) pauli, the rakli was kairin' the +baulors' habben at the kokero ker, when she latched the plachta they +nashered trin dood adovo divvus. So the rakli jalled with the plachta ta +laki rye, and penned, "Dick what I kaired on those chuvvenny, chori +Rommany chals that were nashered and pannied for adovo bitti covvo adoi!" + +And when they jalled to dick at the Rommanis' covvas pauli the bor adree +the cangry-puv, the gunnos were pordo and chivved adree, chingered saw to +cut-engroes, and they latched 'em full o' ruppeny covvos--rooys an' +churls of sonnakai, an' oras, curros an' piimangris, that had longed o' +the Rommany chals that were nashered an' bitschered padel. + + +TRANSLATION. + + +A Gipsy girl once went to a house to tell fortunes. After she went away, +the girl of the house missed a pudding-bag (literally, _linen cloth_), +and told the master the Gipsy girl had stolen it. So the master went far +about the country, and found the Gipsies, and sent them to prison. Now +this was in the old time when they used to hang people for any little +thing. And some of the Gipsies were hung, and some transported +(literally, _watered_). And all the bags, and kettles, and things of the +Gipsies were thrown and piled together behind the hedge in the +churchyard, and no man touched them. And three months after, the maid +was preparing the pigs' food at the same house, when she found the linen +cloth they lost three months (before) that day. So the girl went with +the cloth to her master, and said, "See what I did to those poor, poor +Gipsies that were hung and transported for that trifle (there)!" + +And when they went to look at the Gipsies' things behind the hedge in the +churchyard, the bags were full and burst, torn all to rags, and they +found them full of silver things--spoons and knives of gold, and watches, +cups and teapots, that had belonged to the Gipsies that were hung and +transported. {221a} + + + +GUDLO XVIII. HOW THE GIPSY WENT TO CHURCH. + + +Did mandy ever jal to kangry? Avali, dui koppas, and beshed a lay odoi. +I was adree the tale tem o' sar, an' a rye putched mandy to well to +kangry, an' I welled. And sar the ryas an' ranis dicked at mandy as I +jalled adree. {221b} So I beshed pukkenus mongin some geeros and dicked +upar again the chumure praller my sherro, and there was a deer and a +kanengro odoi chinned in the bar, an' kaired kushto. I shooned the +rashai a-rakkerin'; and when the shunaben was kerro, I welled avree and +jalled alay the drum to the kitchema. + +I latchered the raias mush adree the kitchema; so we got matto odoi, an' +were jallin' kerri alay the drum when we dicked the raias wardo +a-wellin'. So we jalled sig 'dusta parl the bor, an' gavered our kokeros +odoi adree the puv till the rye had jessed avree. + +I dicked adovo rye dree the sala, and he putched mandy what I'd kaired +the cauliko, pash kangry. I pookered him I'd pii'd dui or trin curros +levinor and was pash matto. An' he penned mandy, "My mush was matto sar +tute, and I nashered him." I pookered him ajaw, "I hope not, rya, for +such a bitti covvo as dovo; an' he aint cammoben to piin' levinor, he's +only used to pabengro, that don't kair him matto." But kek, the choro +mush had to jal avree. An' that's sar I can rakker tute about my jallin' +to kangry. + + +TRANSLATION. + + +Did I ever go to church? Yes, twice, and sat down there. I was in the +lower land of all (Cornwall), and a gentleman asked me to go to church, +and I went. And all the ladies and gentlemen looked at me as I went in. +So I sat quietly among some men and looked up on the wall above my head, +and there were a deer and a rabbit cut in the stone, beautifully done. I +heard the clergyman speaking; and when the sermon was ended (literally, +made), I came out and went down the road to the alehouse. + +I found the gentleman's servant in the alehouse; so we got drunk there, +and were going home down the road when we saw the gentleman's carriage +coming. So we went quickly enough over the hedge, and hid ourselves +there in the field until the gentleman was gone. + +I saw the gentleman in the morning, and he asked me what I had done the +day before, after church. I told him I'd drunk two or three cups of ale +and was half tipsy. And he said, "My man was drunk as you, and I sent +him off." I told him then, "I hope not, sir, for such a little thing as +that; and he is not used to drink ale, he's only accustomed to cider, +that don't intoxicate him." But no, the poor man had to go away. _And +that's all I can tell you about my going to church_. + + + +GUDLO XIX. WHAT THE LITTLE GIPSY GIRL TOLD HER BROTHER. + + +Penned the tikni Rommani chavi laki pal, "More mor the pishom, 'cause +she's a Rommani, and kairs her jivaben jallin' parl the tem dukkerin' the +ruzhas and lellin' the gudlo avree 'em, sar moro dye dukkers the ranis. +An' ma wusser bars at the rookas, 'cause they're kaulos, an' kaulo ratt +is Rommany ratt. An' maun pogger the bawris, for yuv rikkers his tan pre +the dumo, sar moro puro dadas, an' so yuv's Rommany." + + +TRANSLATION. + + +Said the little Gipsy girl to her brother, "Don't kill the bee, because +she is a Gipsy, and makes her living going about the country telling +fortunes to the flowers and taking honey out of them, as our mother tells +fortunes to the ladies. And don't throw stones at the rooks, because +they are dark, and dark blood is Gipsy blood. And don't crush the snail, +for he carries his tent on his back, like our old father" (_i.e_., +carries his home about, and so he too is Rommany). + + + +GUDLO XX. HOW CHARLEY LEE PLAYED AT PITCH-AND-TOSS. + + +I jinned a tano mush yeckorus that nashered sar his wongur 'dree the toss- +ring. Then he jalled kerri to his dadas' kanyas and lelled pange bar +avree. Paul' a bitti chairus he dicked his dadas an' pookered lester +he'd lelled pange bar avree his gunnas. But yuv's dadas penned, "Jal an, +kair it ajaw and win some wongur againus!" So he jalled apopli to the +toss-ring an' lelled sar his wongur pauli, an' pange bar ferridearer. So +he jalled ajaw kerri to the tan, an' dicked his dadas beshtin' alay by +the rikk o' the tan, and his dadas penned, "Sa did you keravit, my +chavo?" "Kushto, dadas. I lelled sar my wongur pauli; and here's tute's +wongur acai, an' a bar for tute an' shtar bar for mi-kokero." + +An' that's tacho as ever you tool that pen in tute's waster--an' dovo +mush was poor Charley Lee, that's mullo kenna. + + +TRANSLATION. + + +I knew a little fellow once that lost all his money in the toss-ring +(_i.e_., at pitch-and-toss). Then he went home to his father's sacks and +took five pounds out. After a little while he saw his father and told +him he'd taken five pounds from his bags. But his father said, "Go on, +spend it and win some more money!" So he went again to the toss-ring and +got all his money back, and five pounds more. And going home, he saw his +father sitting by the side of the tent, and his father said, "How did you +succeed (_i.e_., _do it_), my son?" "Very well, father. I got all _my_ +money back; and here's _your_ money now, and a pound for you and four +pounds for myself." + +And that's true as ever you hold that pen in your hand--and that man was +poor Charley Lee, that's dead now. + + + +GUDLO XXI. OF THE TINKER AND THE KETTLE. + + +A petulamengro hatched yeck divvus at a givescro ker, where the rani del +him mass an' tood. While he was hawin' he dicked a kekavi sar chicklo +an' bongo, pashall a boro hev adree, an' he putchered, "Del it a mandy +an' I'll lel it avree for chichi, 'cause you've been so kushto an' +kammoben to mandy." So she del it a lester, an' he jalled avree for trin +cooricus, an' he keravit apre, an' kaired it pauno sar rupp. Adovo he +welled akovo drum pauli, an' jessed to the same ker, an' penned, "Dick +acai at covi kushti kekavi! I del shove trin mushis for it, an' tu shall +lel it for the same wongur, 'cause you've been so kushto a mandy." + +Dovo mush was like boot 'dusta mushis--wery cammoben to his kokero. + + +TRANSLATION. + + +A tinker stopped one day at a farmer's house, where the lady gave him +meat and milk. While he was eating he saw a kettle all rusty and bent, +with a great hole in it, and he asked, "Give it to me and I will take it +away for nothing, because you have been so kind and obliging to me." So +she gave it to him, and he went away for three weeks, and he repaired it +(the kettle), and made it as bright (white) as silver. Then he went that +road again, to the same house, and said, "Look here at this fine kettle! +I gave six shillings for it, and you shall have it for the same money, +because you have been so good to me." + +That man was like a great many men--very benevolent to himself. + + + +GUDLO XXII. THE STORY OF "ROMMANY JOTER." + + +If a Rommany chal gets nashered an' can't latch his drum i' the ratti, he +shells avree, "_Hup_, _hup_--_Rom-ma-ny_, _Rom-ma-ny jo-ter_!" When the +chavvis can't latch the tan, it's the same gudlo, "_Rom-ma-ny jo-ter_!" +Joter pens kett'nus. + +And yeck ratti my dadas, sixty besh kenna, was pirryin' par the weshes to +tan, an' he shooned a bitti gudlo like bitti ranis a rakkerin' puro tacho +Rommanis, and so he jalled from yeck boro rukk to the waver, and paul' a +cheirus he dicked a tani rani, and she was shellin' avree for her +miraben, "_Rom-ma-ny_, _Rom-ma-ny jo-ter_!" So my dada shokkered ajaw, +"_Rom-ma-ny chal_, _ak-ai_!" But as he shelled there welled a boro +bavol, and the bitti ranis an' sar prastered avree i' the heb like +chillicos adree a starmus, and all he shunned was a savvaben and "Rom-ma- +ny jo-ter!" shukaridir an' shukaridir, pash sar was kerro. + +An' you can dick by dovo that the kukalos, an' fairies, an' mullos, and +chovihans all rakker puro tacho Rommanis, 'cause that's the old 'Gyptian +jib that was penned adree the Scripture tem. + + +TRANSLATION. + + +If a Gipsy is lost and cannot find his way in the night, he cries out, +"Hup, hup--Rom-ma-ny, Rom-ma-ny jo-ter!" When the children cannot find +the tent, it is the same cry, "_Rom-ma-ny jo-ter_!" Joter means +together. + +And one night my father, sixty years ago (literally, _now_), was walking +through the woods to his tent, and he heard a little cry like little +ladies talking real old Gipsy, and so he went from one great tree to the +other (_i.e_., concealing himself), and after a while he saw a little +lady, and she was crying out as if for her life, "_Rom-ma-ny_, _Rom-ma-ny +jo-ter_!" So my father cried again, "_Gipsy_, _here_!" But as he +hallooed there came a great blast of wind, and the little ladies and all +flew away in the sky like birds in a storm, and all he heard was a +laughing and "_Rom-ma-ny jo-ter_!" softer and softer, till all was done. + +And you can see by that that the goblins (dwarfs, mannikins), and +fairies, and ghosts, and witches, and all talk real old Gipsy, because +that is the old Egyptian language that was talked in the Scripture land. + + + +GUDLO XXIII. OF THE RICH GIPSY AND THE PHEASANT. + + +Yeckorus a Rommany chal kaired adusta wongur, and was boot barvelo an' a +boro rye. His chuckko was kashno, an' the crafnies 'pre lester chuckko +were o' sonnakai, and his graias solivaris an' guiders were sar ruppeny. +Yeck divvus this here Rommany rye was hawin' habben anerjal the krallis's +chavo, an' they hatched adree a weshni kanni that was kannelo, but saw +the mushis penned it was kushtidearer. "Bless mi-Duvel!" rakkered the +Rommany rye shukar to his juvo, "tu and mandy have hawed mullo mass boot +'dusta cheiruses, mi-deari, but never soomed kek so wafro as dovo. It +kauns worse than a mullo grai!" + +Boro mushis an' bitti mushis sometimes kaum covvas that waver mushis +don't jin. + + +TRANSLATION. + + +Once a Gipsy made much money, and was very rich and a great gentleman. +His coat was silk, and the buttons on his coat were of gold, and his +horse's bridle and reins were all silver. One day this Gipsy gentleman +was eating (at table) opposite to the king's son, and they brought in a +pheasant that smelt badly, but all the people said it was excellent. +"Bless me, God!" said the Gipsy gentleman softly (whispering) to his +wife, "you and I have eaten dead meat (meat that died a natural death) +many a time, my dear, but never smelt anything so bad as that. It stinks +worse than a dead horse!" + +Great men and small men sometimes like (agree in liking things) that +which other people do not understand. + + + +GUDLO XXIV. THE GIPSY AND THE "VISITING-CARDS." + + +Yeckorus a choro Rommany chal dicked a rani hatch taller the wuder of a +boro ker an' mukked adovo a bitti lil. Then he putched the rakli, when +the rani jessed avree, what the lil kaired. Adoi the rakli pukkered +lesco it was for her rani ta jin kun'd welled a dick her. "Avali!" +penned the Rommany chal; "_that's_ the way the Gorgios mukks their +patteran! _We_ mukks char apre the drum." + +The grai mukks his pirro apre the drum, an' the sap kairs his trail adree +the puv. + + +TRANSLATION. + + +Once a poor Gipsy saw a lady stop before the door of a great house and +left there a card (little letter). Then he asked the girl, when the lady +went away, what the card meant (literally, _did_). Then (there) the girl +told him it was for her lady to know who had come to see her. "Yes!" +said the Gipsy; "so that is the way the Gorgios leave their sign! _We_ +leave grass on the road." + +The horse leaves his track on the road, and the snake makes his trail in +the dust. + + + +GUDLO XXV. THE GIPSY IN THE FOREST. + + +When I was beshin' alay adree the wesh tale the bori rukkas, mandy +putched a tikno chillico to latch mandy a bitti moro, but it jalled avree +an' I never dicked it kekoomi. Adoi I putched a boro chillico to latch +mandy a curro o' tatti panni, but it jalled avree paul' the waver. Mandy +never putchered the rukk parl my sherro for kek, but when the bavol +welled it wussered a lay to mandy a hundred ripe kori. + + +TRANSLATION. + + +When I was sitting down in the forest under the great trees, I asked a +little bird to bring (find) me a little bread, but it went away and I +never saw it again. Then I asked a great bird to bring me a cup of +brandy, but it flew away after the other. I never asked the tree over my +head for anything, but when the wind came it threw down to me a hundred +ripe nuts. + + + +GUDLO XXVI. THE GIPSY FIDDLER AND THE YOUNG LADY. + + +Yeckorus a tano mush was kellin' kushto pre the boshomengro, an' a kushti +dickin rani pookered him, "Tute's killaben is as sano as best-tood." And +he rakkered ajaw, "Tute's mui's gudlo sar pishom, an' I'd cammoben to +puraben mi tood for tute's pishom." + +Kushto pash kushto kairs ferridearer. + + +TRANSLATION. + + +Once a young man was playing well upon the violin, and a beautiful lady +told him, "Your playing is as soft as cream." And he answered, "Your +mouth (_i.e_., lips or words) is sweet as honey, and I would like to +exchange my cream for your honey." + +Good with good makes better. + + + +GUDLO XXVII. HOW THE GIPSY DANCED A HOLE THROUGH A STONE. + + +Yeckorus some plochto Rommany chals an' juvas were kellin' the +pash-divvus by dood tall' a boro ker, and yeck penned the waver, "I'd be +cammoben if dovo ker was mandy's." And the rye o' the ker, kun sus +dickin' the kellaben, rakkered, "When tute kells a hev muscro the bar +you're hatchin' apre, mandy'll del tute the ker." Adoi the Rom tarried +the bar apre, an' dicked it was hollow tale, and sar a curro 'pre the +waver rikk. So he lelled dui sastern chokkas and kelled sar the ratti +'pre the bar, kairin' such a gudlo you could shoon him a mee avree; an' +adree the sala he had kaired a hev adree the bar as boro as lesters +sherro. So the barvelo rye del him the fino ker, and sar the mushis got +matto, hallauter kettenus. + +Many a cheirus I've shooned my puri dye pen that a bar with a hev adree +it kairs kammoben. + + +TRANSLATION. + + +Once some jolly Gipsy men and girls were dancing in the evening by +moonlight before a great house, and one said to the other, "I'd be glad +if that house was mine." And the gentleman of the house, who was looking +at the dancing, said, "When you dance a hole through (in the centre of) +the stone you are standing on, I'll give you the house." Then the Gipsy +pulled the stone up, and saw it was hollow underneath, and like a cup on +the other side. So he took two iron shoes and danced all night on the +stone, making such a noise you could hear him a mile off; and in the +morning he had made a hole in the stone as large as his head. So the +rich gentleman gave him the fine house, and all the people got drunk, all +together. + +Many a time I've heard my old mother say that a stone with a hole in it +brings luck. + + + +GUDLO XXVIII. STORY OF THE GENTLEMAN AND THE GIPSY. + + +Yeckorus a boro rye wouldn't mukk a choro, pauvero, chovveny Rommany chal +hatch odoi 'pre his farm. So the Rommany chal jalled on a puv apre the +waver rikk o' the drum, anerjal the ryas beshaben. And dovo ratti the +ryas ker pelled alay; kek kash of it hatched apre, only the foki that +loddered adoi hullered their kokeros avree ma their miraben. And the +ryas tikno chavo would a-mullered if a Rommany juva had not lelled it +avree their pauveri bitti tan. + +An' dovo's sar _tacho like my dad_, an' to the divvus kenna they pens +that puv the Rommany Puv. + + +TRANSLATION. + + +Once a great gentleman would not let a poor, poor, poor Gipsy stay on his +farm. So the Gipsy went to a field on the other side of the way, +opposite the gentleman's residence. And that night the gentleman's house +fell down; not a stick of it remained standing, only the people who +lodged there carried themselves out (_i.e_., escaped) with their lives. +And the gentleman's little babe would have died if a Gipsy woman had not +taken it into their poor little tent. + +And that's all _true as my father_, and to this day they call that field +the Gipsy Field. + + + +GUDLO XXIX. HOW THE GIPSY WENT INTO THE WATER. + + +Yeck divvus a prastramengro prastered pauli a Rommany chal, an' the chal +jalled adree the panni, that was pordo o' boro bittis o' floatin' shill, +and there he hatched pall his men with only his sherro avree. "Hav +avree," shelled a rye that was wafro in his see for the pooro rnush, "an' +we'll mukk you jal!" "Kek," penned the Rom; "I shan't jal." "Well +avree," penned the rye ajaw, "an' I'll del tute pange bar!" "_Kek_," +rakkered the Rom. "Jal avree," shokkered the rye, "an' I'll del tute +pange bar an' a nevvi chukko!" "Will you del mandy a walin o' tatto +panni too?" putched the Rommany chal. "Avail, avail," penned the rye; +"but for Duveleste hav' avree the panni!" "Kushto," penned the Rommany +chal, "for cammoben to tute, rya, I'll jal avree!" {235} + + +TRANSLATION. + + +Once a policeman chased a Gipsy, and the Gipsy ran into the river, that +was full of great pieces of floating ice, and there he stood up to his +neck with only his head out. "Come out," cried a gentleman that pitied +the poor man, "and we'll let you go!" "No," said the Gipsy; "I won't +move." "Come out," said the gentleman again, "and I'll give you five +pounds!" "No," said the Gipsy. "Come out," cried the gentleman, "and +I'll give you five pounds and a new coat!" "Will you give me a glass of +brandy too?" asked the Gipsy. "Yes, yes," said the gentleman; "but for +God's sake come out of the water!" "Well," exclaimed the Gipsy, "to +oblige you, sir, I'll come out!" + + + +GUDLO XXX. THE GIPSY AND HIS TWO MASTERS. + + +"Savo's tute's rye?" putched a ryas mush of a Rommany chal. "I've dui +ryas," pooked the Rommany chal: "Duvel's the yeck an' beng's the waver. +Mandy kairs booti for the beng till I've lelled my yeckora habben, an' +pallers mi Duvel pauli ajaw." + + +TRANSLATION. + + +"Who is your master?" asked a gentleman's servant of a Gipsy. "I've two +masters," said the Gipsy: "God is the one, and the devil is the other. I +work for the devil till I have got my dinner (one-o'clock food), and +after that follow the Lord." + + + +GUDLO XXXI. THE LITTLE GIPSY BOY AT THE SILVERSMITH'S. + + +A bitti chavo jalled adree the boro gav pash his dadas, an' they hatched +taller the hev of a ruppenomengro's buddika sar pordo o' kushti-dickin +covvas. "O dadas," shelled the tikno chavo, "what a boro choromengro +dovo mush must be to a' lelled so boot adusta rooys an' horas!" + +A tacho covva often dicks sar a hokkeny (huckeny) covva; an dovo's sim of +a tacho mush, but a juva often dicks tacho when she isn't. + + +TRANSLATION. + + +A little boy went to the great village (_i.e_., London) with his father, +and they stopped before the window of a silversmith's shop all full of +pretty things. "O father," cried the small boy, "what a great thief that +man must be to have got so many spoons and watches!" + +A true thing often looks like a false one; and the same is true (and +that's _same_) of a true man, but a girl often looks right when she is +not. + + + +GUDLO XXXII. THE GIPSY'S DREAM. + + +Mandy sutto'd I was pirraben lang o' tute, an' I dicked mandy's pen odoi +'pre the choomber. Then I was pirryin' ajaw parl the puvius, an' I +welled to the panni paul' the Beng's Choomber, an' adoi I dicked some +ranis, saw nango barrin' a pauno plachta 'pre lengis sherros, adree the +panni pash their bukkos. An' I pookered lengis, "Mi-ranis, I putch +tute's cammoben; I didn't jin tute sus acai." But yeck pre the wavers +penned mandy boot kushti cammoben, "Chichi, mor dukker your-kokero; we +just welled alay acai from the ker to lel a bitti bath." An' she savvy'd +sa kushto, but they all jalled avree glan mandy sar the bavol, an' tute +was hatchin' pash a maudy sar the cheirus. + +So it pens, "when you dick ranis sar dovo, you'll muller kushto." Well, +if it's to be akovo, I kaum it'll be a booti cheirus a-wellin.' Tacho! + + +TRANSLATION. + + +I dreamed I was walking with you, and I saw my sister (a fortune-teller) +there upon the hill. Then I (found myself) walking again over the field, +and I came to the water near the Devil's Dyke, and there I saw some +ladies, quite naked excepting a white cloth on their heads, in the water +to the waists. And I said to them, "Ladies, I beg your pardon; I did not +know you were here." But one among the rest said to me very kindly, "No +matter, don't trouble yourself; we just came down here from the house to +take a little bath." And she smiled sweetly, but they all vanished +before me like the cloud (wind), and you were standing by me all the +time. + +So it means, "_when you see ladies like that, you will die happily_." +Well, if it's to be that, I hope it will be a long time coming. Yes, +indeed. + + + +GUDLO XXXIII. OF THE GIRL AND HER LOVER. + + +Yeckorus, boot hundred beshes the divvus acai, a juva was wellin' to +chore a yora. "Mukk mandy hatch," penned the yora, "an' I'll sikker tute +ki tute can lel a tikno pappni." So the juva lelled the tikno pappni, +and it pookered laki, "Mukk mandy jal an' I'll sikker tute ki tute can +chore a bori kani." Then she chored the bori kani, an' it shelled avree, +"Mukk mandy jal an' I'll sikker tute ki you can loure a rani-chillico." +And when she lelled the rani-chillico, it penned, "Mukk mandy jal an' +I'll sikker tute odoi ki tute can lel a guruvni's tikno." So she lelled +the guruvni's tikno, an' it shokkered and ruvved, an' rakkered, "Mukk +mandy jal an' I'll sikker tute where to lel a fino grai." An' when she +loured the grai, it penned laki, "Mukk mandy jal an' I'll rikker tute to +a kushto-dick barvelo rye who kaums a pirreny." So she lelled the kushto +tauno rye, an' she jivved with lester kushto yeck cooricus; but pash dovo +he pookered her to jal avree, he didn't kaum her kekoomi. "Sa a wafro +mush is tute," ruvved the rakli, "to bitcher mandy avree! For tute's +cammoben I delled avree a yora, a tikno pappni, a boro kani, a +rani-chillico, a guruvni's tikno, an' a fino grai." "Is dovo tacho?" +putched the raklo. "'Pre my mullo dadas!" sovahalled the rakli," I del +'em sar apre for tute, yeck paul the waver, an' kenna tu bitchers mandy +avree!" "So 'p mi-Duvel!" penned the rye, "if tute nashered sar booti +covvas for mandy, I'll rummer tute." So they were rummobend. + +Avali, there's huckeny (hokkeny) tachobens and tacho huckabens. You can +sovahall pre the lil adovo. + + +TRANSLATION. + + +Once, many hundred years ago (to-day now), a girl was going to steal an +egg. "Let me be," said the egg, "and I will show you where you can get a +duck." So the girl got the duck, and it said (told) to her, "Let me go +and I will show you where you can get a goose" (large hen). Then she +stole the goose, and it cried out, "Let me go and I'll show you where you +can steal a turkey" (lady-bird). And when she took the turkey, it said, +"Let me go and I'll show you where you can get a calf." So she got the +calf, and it bawled and wept, and cried, "Let me go and I'll show you +where to get a fine horse." And when she stole the horse, it said to +her, "Let me go and I'll carry you to a handsome, rich gentleman who +wants a sweetheart." So she got the nice young gentleman, and lived with +him pleasantly one week; but then he told her to go away, he did not want +her any more. "What a bad man you are," wept the girl, "to send me away! +For your sake I gave away an egg, a duck, a goose, a turkey, a calf, and +a fine horse." "Is that true?" asked the youth. "By my dead father!" +swore the girl, "I gave them all up for you, one after the other, and now +you send me away!" "So help me God!" said the gentleman, "if you lost so +many things for me, I'll marry you." So they were married. + +Yes, there are false truths and true lies. You may kiss the book on +_that_. + + + +GUDLO XXXIV. THE GIPSY TELLS OF WILL-O'-THE-WISP. + + +Does mandy jin the lav adree Rommanis for a Jack-o'-lantern--the dood +that prasters, and hatches, an' kells o' the ratti, parl the panni, adree +the puvs? _Avali_; some pens 'em the Momeli Mullos, and some the Bitti +Mullos. They're bitti geeros who rikker tute adree the gogemars, an' +sikker tute a dood till you're all jalled apre a wafro drum an nashered, +an' odoi they chiv their kokeros pauli an' savs at tute. Mandy's dicked +their doods adusta cheiruses, an' kekoomi; but my pal dicked langis muis +pash mungwe yeck ratti. He was jallin' langus an' dicked their doods, +and jinned it was the yag of lesters tan. So he pallered 'em, an' they +tadered him dukker the drum, parl the bors, weshes, puvius, gogemars, +till they lelled him adree the panni, an then savvy'd avree. And odoi he +dicked lender pre the waver rikk, ma lesters kokerus yakkis, an' they +were bitti mushis, bitti chovihanis, about dui peeras boro. An' my pal +was bengis hunnalo, an' sovahalled pal' lengis, "If I lelled you acai, +you ratfolly juckos! if I nashered you, I'd chin tutes curros!" An' he +jalled to tan ajaw an' pookered mandy saw dovo 'pre dovo rat. "Kun sus +adovo?" Avali, rya; dovo was pash Kaulo Panni--near Blackwater. + + +TRANSLATION. + + +Do I know the word in Rommanis for a Jack-o'-lantern--the light that +runs, and stops, and dances by night, over the water, in the fields? Yes; +some call them the Light Ghosts, and some the Little Ghosts. They're +little men who lead you into the waste and swampy places, and show you a +light until you have gone astray and are lost, and then they turn +themselves around and laugh at you. I have seen their lights many a +time, and nothing more; but my brother saw their faces close and opposite +to him (directly _vis-a-vis_) one night. He was going along and saw +their lights, and thought it was the fire of his tent. So he followed +them, and they drew him from the road over hedges, woods, fields, and +lonely marshes till they got him in the water, and then laughed out loud. +And there he saw them with his own eyes, on the opposite side, and they +were little fellows, little goblins, about two feet high. And my brother +was devilish angry, and swore at them! "If I had you here, you wretched +dogs! if I caught you, I'd cut your throats!" And he went home and told +me all that that night. "_Where was it_?" Yes, sir; that was near +Blackwater. + + + +GUDLO XXXV. THE GIPSY EXPLAINS WHY THE FLOUNDER HAS HIS MOUTH ON ONE +SIDE. + + +Yeckorus sar the matchis jalled an' suvved kettenescrus 'dree the panni. +And yeck penned as yuv was a boro mush, an' the waver rakkered ajaw sa +yuv was a borodiro mush, and sar pookered sigan ket'nus how lengis were +borodirer mushis. Adoi the flounder shelled avree for his meriben +"Mandy's the krallis of you sar!" an' he shelled so surrelo he kaired his +mui bongo, all o' yeck rikkorus. So to akovo divvus acai he's penned the +Krallis o' the Matchis, and rikkers his mui bongo sar o' yeck sidus. + +Mushis shouldn't shell too shunaben apre lengis kokeros. + + +TRANSLATION. + + +Once all the fish came and swam together in the water. And one said that +he was a great person, and the other declared that he was a greater +person, and (at last) all cried out at once what great characters (men) +they all were. Then the flounder shouted for his life, "I'm the king of +you all!" and he roared so violently he twisted his mouth all to one +side. So to this day he is called the King of the Fishes, and bears his +face crooked all on one side. + +Men should not boast too loudly of themselves. + + + +GUDLO XXXVI. A GIPSY ACCOUNT OF THE TRUE ORIGIN OF THE FISH CALLED OLD +MAIDS OR YOUNG MAIDS. + + +Yeckorus kushti-dickin raklos were suvvin' 'dree the lun panni, and there +welled odoi some plochti raklis an' juvas who pooked the tano ryas to +hav' avree an' choomer 'em. But the raklos wouldn't well avree, so the +ranis rikkered their rivabens avree an' pirried adree the panni paul' +lendy. An' the ryas who were kandered alay, suvved andurer 'dree the +panni, an' the ranis pallered 'em far avree till they were saw latchered, +raklos and raklis. So the tauno ryas were purabened into Barini Mushi +Matchis because they were too ladge (latcho) of the ranis that kaumed +'em, and the ranis were kaired adree Puri Rani Matchis and Tani Rani +Matchis because they were too tatti an' ruzli. + +Raklos shouldn't be too ladge, nor raklis be too boro of their kokeros. + + +TRANSLATION. + + +Once some handsome youths were swimming in the sea, and there came some +wanton women and girls who told the young men to come out and kiss them. +But the youths would not come out, so the ladies stripped themselves and +ran into the water after them. And the gentles who were driven away swam +further into the water, and the ladies followed them far away till all +were lost, boys and girls. So the young men were changed into Codfish +because they were too shy of the girls that loved them, and the ladies +were turned into Old Maids and Young Maids because they were too wanton +and bold. + +Men should not be too modest, nor girls too forward. + + + +GUDLO XXXVII. HOW LORD COVENTRY LEAPED THE GIPSY TENT. A TRUE STORY. + + +I dicked Lord Coventry at the Worcester races. He kistured lester noko +grai adree the steeple-chase for the ruppeny--kek,--a sonnakai tank I +think it was,--but he nashered. It was dovo tano rye that yeck divvus in +his noko park dicked a Rommany chal's tan pash the rikk of a bor; and at +yeck leap he kistered apre the bor, and jalled right atut an' parl the +Rommany chal's tan. "Ha, kun's acai?" he shelled, as he dicked the tikno +kaulos; "a Rommany chal's tan!" And from dovo divvus he mukked akovo Rom +hatch his cammoben 'pre his puv. Tacho. + +Ruzlo mushis has boro sees. + + +TRANSLATION. + + +I saw Lord Coventry at the Worcester races. He rode his own horse in the +steeple-chase for the silver--no, it was a gold tankard, I think, but he +lost. + +It was that young gentleman who one day in his own park saw a Gipsy tent +by the side of a hedge, and took a flying leap over tent, hedge, and all. +"Ha, what's here?" he cried, as he saw the little brown children; "a +Gipsy's tent!" And from that day he let that Gipsy stay as much as he +pleased on his land. + +Bold men have generous hearts. + + + +GUDLO XXXVIII. OF MR BARTLETT'S LEAP. + + +Dovo's sim to what they pens of Mr Bartlett in Glo'stershire, who had a +fino tem pash Glo'ster an' Bristol, where he jivved adree a boro ker. Kek +mush never dicked so booti weshni juckalos or weshni kannis as yuv +rikkered odoi. They prastered atut saw the drumyas sim as kanyas. Yeck +divvus he was kisterin' on a kushto grai, an' he dicked a Rommany chal +rikkerin' a truss of gib-puss 'pre lester dumo pral a bitti drum, an' +kistered 'pre the pooro mush, puss an' sar. I jins that puro mush better +'n I jins tute, for I was a'ter yeck o' his raklis yeckorus; he had +kushti-dick raklis, an' he was old Knight Locke. "Puro," pens the rye, +"did I kair you trash?" "I mang tute's shunaben, rya," pens Locke pauli; +"I didn't jin tute sus wellin'!" So puro Locke hatched odoi 'pre dovo +tem sar his miraben, an' that was a kushti covva for the puro Locke. + + +TRANSLATION. + + +That is like what is told of Mr Bartlett in Gloucestershire, who had a +fine place near Gloucester and Bristol, where he lived in a great house. +No man ever saw so many foxes or pheasants as he kept there. They ran +across all the paths like hens. One day he was riding on a fine horse, +when he saw a Gipsy carrying a truss of wheat-straw on his back up a +little path, and leaped over the poor man, straw and all. I knew that +old man better than I know you, for I was after one of his daughters +then; he had beautiful girls, and he was old Knight Locke. "Old fellow," +said the gentleman, "did I frighten you?" "I beg your pardon, sir," said +Locke after him; "I didn't know you were coming!" So old Locke stayed on +that land all his life, and that was a good thing for old Locke. + + + +GUDLO XXXIX. THE GIPSY, THE PIG, AND THE MUSTARD. + + +Yeckorus a Rommany chal jalled to a boro givescroker sa's the rye sus +hawin'. And sikk's the Rom wan't a-dickin', the rye all-sido pordered a +kell-mallico pash kris, an' del it to the Rommany chal. An' sa's the +kris dantered adree his gullo, he was pash tassered, an' the panni welled +in his yakkas. Putched the rye, "Kun's tute ruvvin' ajaw for?" An' he +rakkered pauli, "The kris lelled mandys bavol ajaw." Penned the rye, "I +kaum the kris'll del tute kushti bak." "Parraco, rya," penned the Rom +pauli; "I'll kommer it kairs dovo." Sikk's the rye bitchered his sherro, +the Rommany chal loured the krissko-curro ma the ruppeny rooy, an' kek +dicked it. The waver divvus anpauli, dovo Rom jalled to the ryas baulo- +tan, an' dicked odoi a boro rikkeno baulo, an' gillied, "I'll dick acai +if I can kair tute ruv a bitti." + +Now, rya, you must jin if you del a baulor kris adree a pabo, he can't +shell avree or kair a gudlo for his miraben, an' you can rikker him +bissin', or chiv him apre a wardo, an' jal andurer an' kek jin it. An' +dovo's what the Rommany chal kaired to the baulor, pash the sim kris; an' +as he bissered it avree an' pakkered it adree a gunno, he penned shukkar +adree the baulor's kan, "Calico tute's rye hatched my bavol, an' the +divvus I've hatched tute's; an' yeckorus your rye kaumed the kris would +del mandy kushti bak, and kenna it _has_ del mengy kushtier bak than ever +he jinned. + +Ryes must be sig not to kair pyass an' trickis atop o' choro mushis. + + +TRANSLATION. + + +Once a Gipsy went to a great farmhouse as the gentleman sat at table +eating. And so soon as the Gipsy looked away, the gentleman very quietly +filled a cheese-cake with mustard and gave it to the Gipsy. When the +mustard bit in his throat, he was half choked, and the tears came into +his eyes. The gentleman asked him, "What are you weeping for now?" And +he replied, "The mustard took my breath away." The gentleman said, "I +hope the mustard will give you good luck!" "Thank you, sir," answered +the Gipsy; "I'll take care it does" (that). As soon as the gentleman +turned his head, the Gipsy stole the mustard-pot with the silver spoon, +and no one saw it. The next day after, that Gipsy went to the +gentleman's pig-pen, and saw there a great fine-looking pig, and sang, +"I'll see now if I can make _you_ weep a bit." + +Now, sir, you must know that if you give a pig mustard in an apple, he +can't cry out or squeal for his life, and you can carry him away, or +throw him on a waggon, and get away, and nobody will know it. And that +is what the Gipsy did to the pig, with the same mustard; and as he ran it +away and put it in a bag, he whispered softly into the pig's ear, +"Yesterday your master stopped my breath, and to-day I've stopped yours; +and once your master hoped the mustard would give me good luck, and now +it _has_ given me better luck than he ever imagined." + +Gentlemen must be careful not to make sport of and play tricks on poor +men. + + + +GUDLO XL. EXPLAINING THE ORIGIN OF A CURRENT GIPSY PROVERB OR SAYING. + + +Trin or shtor beshes pauli kenna yeck o' the Petulengros dicked a boro +mullo baulor adree a bitti drum. An' sig as he latched it, some Rommany +chals welled alay an' dicked this here Rommany chal. So Petulengro he +shelled avree, "A fino baulor! saw tulloben! jal an the sala an' you +shall have pash." And they welled apopli adree the sala and lelled pash +sar tacho. And ever sense dovo divvus it's a rakkerben o' the Rommany +chals, "Sar tulloben; jal an the sala an' tute shall lel your pash." + + +TRANSLATION. + + +Three or four years ago one of the Smiths found a great dead pig in a +lane. And just as he found it, some Gipsies came by and saw this +Rommany. So Smith bawled out to them, "A fine pig! all fat! come in the +morning and you shall have half." And they returned in the morning and +got half, all right. And ever since it has been a saying with the +Gipsies, "It's _all fat_; come in the morning and get your half." + + + +GUDLO XLI. THE GIPSY'S FISH-HOOK. + + +Yeckorus a rye pookered a Rommany chal he might jal matchyin' 'dree his +panni, and he'd del lester the cammoben for trin mushi, if he'd only +matchy with a bongo sivv an' a punsy-ran. So the Rom jalled with India- +drab kaired apre moro, an' he drabbered saw the matchas adree the panni, +and rikkered avree his wardo sar pordo. A boro cheirus pauli dovo, the +rye dicked the Rommany chal, an' penned, "You choramengro, did tute lel +the matchas avree my panni with a hook?" "Ayali, rya, with a hook," +penned the Rom pale, werry sido. "And what kind of a hook?" "Rya," +rakkered the Rom, "it was yeck o' the longi kind, what we pens in amandis +jib a hookaben" (_i.e_., huckaben or hoc'aben). + +When you del a mush cammoben to lel matchyas avree tute's panni, you'd +better hatch adoi an' dick how he kairs it. + + +TRANSLATION. + + +Once a gentleman told a Gipsy he might fish in his pond, and he would +give him permission to do so for a shilling, but that he must only fish +with a hook and a fishing-pole (literally, crooked needle). So the Gipsy +went with India-drab (juice of the berries of _Indicus cocculus_) made up +with bread, and poisoned all the fish in the pond, and carried away his +waggonful. A long time after, the gentleman met the Gipsy, and said, +"You thief, did you catch the fish in my pond with a hook?" "Yes, sir, +with a hook," replied the Gipsy very quietly. "And what kind of a hook?" +"Sir," said the Gipsy, "it was one of the long kind, what we call in our +language a hookaben" (_i.e_., _a lie or trick_). + +When you give a man leave to fish in your pond, you had better be present +and see how he does it. + + + +GUDLO XLII. THE GIPSY AND THE SNAKE. + + +If you more the first sappa you dicks, tute'll more the first enemy +you've got. That's what 'em pens, but I don't jin if it's tacho or +nettus. And yeckorus there was a werry wafro mush that was allers +a-kairin' wafri covvabens. An' yeck divvus he dicked a sap in the wesh, +an' he prastered paller it with a bori churi adree lester waster and +chinned her sherro apre. An' then he rakkered to his kokerus, "Now that +I've mored the sap, I'll lel the jivaben of my wenomest enemy." And just +as he penned dovo lav he delled his pirro atut the danyas of a rukk, an' +pet alay and chivved the churi adree his bukko. An' as he was beshin' +alay a-mullerin' 'dree the weshes, he penned to his kokerus, "Avali, I +dicks kenna that dovo's tacho what they pookers about morin' a sappa; for +I never had kek worser ennemis than I've been to mandy's selfus, and what +wells of morin' innocen hanimals is kek kushtoben." + + +TRANSLATION. + + +If you kill the first snake you see, you'll kill the first (principal) +enemy you have. That is what they say, but I don't know whether it is +true or not. And once there was a very bad man who was always doing bad +deeds. And one day he saw a snake in the forest, and ran after it with a +great knife in his hand and cut her head off. And then he said to +himself, "Now that I've killed the snake, I'll take the life of my most +vindictive (literally, most venomous) enemy." And just as he spoke that +word he struck his foot against the roots of a tree, and fell down and +drove the knife into his own body (liver or heart). And as he lay dying +in the forests, he said to himself, "Yes, I see now that it is true what +they told me as to killing a snake; for I never had any worse enemy than +I have been to myself, and what comes of killing innocent animals is +naught good." + + + +GUDLO XLIII. THE STORY OF THE GIPSY AND THE BULL. + + +Yeckorus there was a Rommany chal who was a boro koorin' mush, a surrelo +mush, a boro-wasteni mush, werry toonery an' hunnalo. An' he penned +adusta cheiruses that kek geero an' kek covva 'pre the drumyas couldn't +trasher him. But yeck divvus, as yuv was jallin' langs the drum with a +waver pal, chunderin' an' hookerin' an' lunterin', an' shorin' his kokero +how he could koor the puro bengis' selfus, they shooned a guro a-goorin' +an' googerin', an' the first covva they jinned he prastered like divius +at 'em, an' these here geeros prastered apre ye rukk, an' the boro +koorin' mush that was so flick o' his wasters chury'd first o' saw (sar), +an' hatched duri-dirus from the puv pre the limmers. An' he beshed adoi +an' dicked ye bullus wusserin' an' chongerin' his trushnees sar aboutus, +an' kellin' pre lesters covvas, an' poggerin' to cutengroes saw he lelled +for lesters miraben. An' whenever the bavol pudered he was atrash he'd +pelt-a-lay 'pre the shinger-ballos of the gooro (guro). An' so they +beshed adoi till the sig of the sala, when the mush who dicked a'ter the +gruvnis welled a-pirryin' by an' dicked these here chals beshin' like +chillicos pre the rukk, an' patched lengis what they were kairin' dovo +for. So they pookered him about the bullus, an' he hankered it avree; +an' they welled alay an' jalled andurer to the kitchema, for there never +was dui mushis in 'covo tem that kaumed a droppi levinor koomi than +lender. But pale dovo divvus that trusheni mush never sookered he +couldn't be a trashni mush no moreus. Tacho. + + +TRANSLATION. + + +Once there was a Gipsy who was a great fighting man, a strong man, a +great boxer, very bold and fierce. And he said many a time that no man +and no thing on the roads could frighten him. But one day, as he was +going along the road with another man (his friend), exaggerating and +bragging and boasting, and praising himself that he could beat the old +devil himself, they heard a bull bellowing and growling, and the first +thing they knew he ran like mad at them; and these men hurried up a tree, +and the great fighting man that was so handy with his fists climbed first +of all, and got (placed) himself furtherest from the ground on the limbs. +And he sat there and saw the bull tossing and throwing his baskets all +about, and dancing on his things, and breaking to pieces all he had for +his living. And whenever the wind blew he was afraid he would fall on +the horns of the bull. And so they sat there till daybreak, when the man +who looked after the cows came walking by and saw these fellows sitting +like birds on the tree, and asked them what they were doing that for. So +they told him about the bull, and he drove it away; and they came down +and went on to the alehouse, for there never were two men in this country +that wanted a drop of beer more than they. But after that day that +thirsty man never boasted he could not be a frightened man. True. + + + +GUDLO XLIV. THE GIPSY AND HIS THREE SWEETHEARTS. + + +Yeckorus a tano mush kaired his cammoben ta trin juvas kett'nus an' kek +o' the trin jinned yuv sus a pirryin' ye waver dui. An 'covo raklo +jivved adree a bitti tan pash the rikkorus side o' the boro lun panni, +an' yeck ratti sar the chais welled shikri kett'nus a lester, an' kek o' +the geeris jinned the wavers san lullerin adoi. So they jalled sar-sigan +kett'nus, an' rakkered, "Sarshan!" ta yeck chairus. An' dovo raklo +didn't jin what juva kaumed lester ferridirus, or kun yuv kaumed ye +ferridirus, so sar the shtor besht-a-lay sum, at the habbenescro, and yuv +del len habben an' levinor. Yeck hawed booti, but ye waver dui wouldn't +haw kek, yeck pii'd, but ye waver dui wouldn't pi chommany, 'cause they +were sar hunnali, and sookeri an' kuried. So the raklo penned lengis, +yuv sos atrash if yuv lelled a juva 'at couldn't haw, she wouldn't jiv, +so he rummored the rakli that hawed her habben. + +All'ers haw sar the habben foki banders apre a tute, an' tute'll jal +sikker men dush an' tukli. + + +TRANSLATION. + + +Once a young man courted three girls together, and none of the three knew +he was courting the two others. And that youth lived in a little place +near the side of the great salt water, and one night all the girls came +at once together to him, and none of the girls knew the others were +coming there. So they went all quick together, and said "Good evening," +(sarishan means really "How are you?") at the same time. And that youth +did not know which girl liked him best, or whom he loved best; so all the +four sat down together at the table, and he gave them food and beer. One +ate plenty, but the other two would eat nothing; one drank, but the other +two would not drink something, because they were all angry, and grieved, +and worried. So the youth told them he was afraid if he took a wife that +could not eat, she would not live, so he married the girl that ate her +food. + +Always eat all the food that people give you (literally share out to +you), and you will go readily (securely) through sorrow and trouble. + + + +GUDLO XLV. THE GIPSIES AND THE SMUGGLERS. A TRUE STORY. + + +Yeckorus, most a hundred besh kenna, when mi dadas sus a chavo, yeck +ratti a booti Rommany chals san millerin kettenescrus pash the boro +panni, kun sar-sig the graias ankaired a-wickerin an' ludderin an' +nuckerin' an kairin a boro gudli, an' the Rommanis shuned a shellin, an' +dicked mushis prasterin and lullyin for lenders miraben, sa's seer-dush, +avree a boro hev. An' when len san sar jalled lug, the Rommany chals +welled adoi an' latched adusta bitti barrels o' tatto-panni, an' fino +covvas, for dovo mushis were 'mugglers, and the Roms lelled sar they +mukked pali. An' dovo sus a boro covva for the Rommany chals, an' they +pii'd sar graias, an' the raklis an' juvas jalled in kushni heezis for +booti divvuses. An' dovo sus kerro pash Bo-Peep--a boro puvius adree +bori chumures, pash Hastings in Sussex. + +When 'mugglers nasher an' Rommany chals latch, there's kek worser +cammoben for it. + + +TRANSLATION. + + +Once almost a hundred years now, when my father was a boy, one night many +Gipsies were going together near the sea, when all at once the horses +began whinnying and kicking and neighing, and making a great noise, and +the Gipsies heard a crying out, and saw men running and rushing as if in +alarm, from a great cave. And when they were all gone away together, the +Gipsies went there and found many little barrels of brandy, and +valuables, for those men were smugglers, and the Gipsies took all they +left behind. And that was a great thing for the Gipsies, and they drank +like horses, and the girls and women went in silk clothes for many days. +And that was done near Bo-Peep, a great field in the hills, by Hastings +in Sussex. + +When smugglers lose and Gipsies find, nobody is the worse for it. + + + + +FOOTNOTES + + +{0a} The reason why Gipsy words have been kept unchanged was fully +illustrated one day in a Gipsy camp in my hearing, when one man declaring +of a certain word that it was only _kennick_ or slang, and not +"Rommanis," added, "It can't be Rommanis, because everybody knows it. +When a word gets to be known to everybody, it's no longer Rommanis." + +{1} Lavengro and the Rommany Rye: London, John Murray. + +{5} To these I would add "Zelda's Fortune," now publishing in the +_Cornhill Magazine_. + +{21} Educated Chinese often exercise themselves in what they call +"handsome talkee," or "talkee leeson" (i.e., reason), by sitting down and +uttering, by way of assertion and rejoinder, all the learned and wise +sentences which they can recall. In their conversation and on their +crockery, before every house and behind every counter, the elegant +formula makes its appearance, teaching people not merely _how_ to think, +but what should be thought, and when. + +{24} Probably from the modern Greek [Greek text], the sole of the foot, +_i.e_., a track. Panth, a road, Hindustani. + +{26} Pott: "Die Zigeuner in Europa and Asien," vol. ii, p. 293. + +{30} Two hundred (shel) years growing, two hundred years losing his +coat, two hundred years before he dies, and then he loses all his blood +and is no longer good. + +{32} The words of the Gipsy, as I took them down from his own lips, were +as follows:-- + +"Bawris are kushto habben. You can latcher adusta 'pre the bors. When +they're pirraben pauli the puvius, or tale the koshters, they're kek +kushti habben. The kushtiest are sovven sar the wen. Lel'em and tove +'em and chiv 'em adree the kavi, with panny an' a bitti lun. The +simmun's kushto for the yellow jaundice." + +I would remind the reader that in _every instance_ where the original +Gipsy language is given, it was written down or _noted_ during +conversation, and subsequently written out and read to a Gipsy, by whom +it was corrected. And I again beg the reader to remember, that every +Rommany phrase is followed by a translation into English. + +{33} Dr Pott intimates that _scharos_, a globe, may be identical with +_sherro_, a head. When we find, however, that in German Rommany +_tscharo_ means goblet, pitcher, vessel, and in fact cup, it seems as if +the Gipsy had hit upon the correct derivation. + +{34} "Dovos yect o' the covvos that saw foki jins. When you lel a wart +'pre tutes wasters you jal 'pre the drum or 'dree the puvius till you +latcher a kaulo bawris--yeck o' the boro kind with kek ker apre him, an' +del it apre the caro of a kaulo kosh in the bor, and ear the bawris +mullers, yeck divvus pauli the waver for shtar or pange divvuses the +wart'll kinner away-us. 'Dusta chairusses I've pukkered dovo to Gorgios, +an' Gorgios have kaired it, an' the warts have yuzhered avree their +wasters." + +{35} Among certain tribes in North America, tobacco is both burned +before and smoked "unto" the Great Spirit. + +{38} This word palindrome, though Greek, is intelligible to every Gipsy. +In both languages it means "back on the road." + +{53} The Krallis's Gav, King's Village, a term also applied to Windsor. + +{65} Pronounced cuv-vas, like _covers_ without the _r_. + +{70} The Lord's Prayer in pure English Gipsy:-- + +"Moro Dad, savo djives oteh drey o charos, te caumen Gorgio ta Rommanny +chal tiro nav, te awel tiro tem, te kairen tiro lav aukko prey puv, sar +kairdios oteh drey o charos. Dey men todivvus more divvuskoe moro, ta +for dey men pazorrhus tukey sar men for-denna len pazhorrus amande; ma +muck te petrenna drey caik temptaciones; ley men abri sor doschder. Tiro +se o tem, mi-duvel, tiro o zoozlu vast, tiro sor koskopen drey sor +cheros. Avali. Tachipen." + +Specimens of old English Gipsy, preserving grammatical forms, may be +found in Bright's Hungary (Appendix). London, 1818. I call attention to +the fact that all the specimens of the language which I give in this book +simply represent _the modern and greatly corrupted_ Rommany of the roads, +which has, however, assumed a peculiar form of its own. + +{75} In gipsy _chores_ would mean swindles. In America it is applied to +small jobs. + +{81} Vide chapter x. + +{83} This should be _Bengo-tem_ or devil land, but the Gipsy who gave me +the word declared it was _bongo_. + +{110} In English: "Water is the Great God, and it is Bishnoo or Vishnoo +because it falls from God. _Vishnu is then the Great God_?" "Yes; there +can be no forced meaning there, can there, sir? Duvel (God) is Duvel all +the world over; but correctly speaking, Vishnu is God's blood--I have +heard that many times. And the snow is feathers that fall from the +angels' wings. And what I said, that Bishnoo is God's Blood is old +Gipsy, and known by all our people." + +{112} "Simurgh--a fabulous bird, _a griffin_."--_Brice's Hindustani +Dictionary_. + +{124} Romi in Coptic signifies _a man_. + +{127} Since writing the above I have been told that among many Hindus +"(good) evening" is the common greeting at any time of the day. And more +recently still, meeting a gentleman who during twelve years in India had +paid especial attention to all the dialects, I greeted him, as an +experiment, with "Sarisham!" He replied, 'Why, that's more elegant than +common Hindu--it's Persian!" "Sarisham" is, in fact, still in use in +India, as among the Gipsies. And as the latter often corrupt it into +_sha'shan_, so the vulgar Hindus call it "shan!" Sarishan means in +Gipsy, "How are you?" but its affinity with _sarisham_ is evident. + +{133} Miklosich ("Uber die Mundarten de der Zigeuner," Wien, 1872) +gives, it is true, 647 Rommany words of Slavonic origin, but many of +these are also Hindustani. Moreover, Dr Miklosich treats as Gipsy words +numbers of Slavonian words which Gipsies in Slavonian lands have +Rommanised, but which are not generally Gipsy. + +{171} Fortune-telling. + +{189} In Egypt, as in Syria, every child is more or less marked by +tattooing. Infants of the first families, even among Christians, are +thus stamped. + +{206} The Royston rook or crow has a greyish-white back, but is with +this exception entirely black. + +{209} The peacock and turkey are called lady-birds in Rommany, because, +as a Gipsy told me, "they spread out their clothes, and hold up their +heads and look fine, and walk proud, like great ladies." I have heard a +swan called a pauno rani chillico--a white lady-bird. + +{210} To make skewers is a common employment among the poorer English +Gipsies. + +{213} This rhyme and metre (such as they are) were purely accidental +with my narrator; but as they occurred _verb. et lit_., I set them down. + +{218} This story is well known to most "travellers." It is also true, +the "hero" being a _pash-and-pash_, or half-blood Rommany chal, whose +name was told to me. + +{219} The reader will find in Lord Lytton's "Harold" mention of an Anglo- +Saxon superstition very similar to that embodied in the story of the +Seven Whistlers. This story is, however, entirely Gipsy. + +{221a} This, which is a common story among the English Gipsies, and told +exactly in the words here given, is implicitly believed in by them. +Unfortunately, the terrible legends, but too well authenticated, of the +persecutions to which their ancestors were subjected, render it very +probable that it may have occurred as narrated. When Gipsies were hung +and transported merely for _being_ Gipsies, it is not unlikely that a +persecution to death may have originated in even such a trifle as the +alleged theft of a dish-clout. + +{221b} Although they bear it with remarkable _apparent_ indifference, +Gipsies are in reality extremely susceptible to being looked at or +laughed at. + +{235} This story was told me in a Gipsy tent near Brighton, and +afterwards repeated by one of the auditors while I transcribed it. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ENGLISH GIPSIES AND THEIR +LANGUAGE*** + + +******* This file should be named 16358.txt or 16358.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/6/3/5/16358 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/pglaf. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://www.gutenberg.org/about/contact + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/donate + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: +https://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + |