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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. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have +to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. + + + + +Title: The Zincali + an account of the Gypsies of Spain + + +Author: George Borrow + + + +Release Date: August 15, 2019 [eBook #565] +[This file was first posted on April 15, 1996] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ZINCALI*** +</pre> +<p>Transcribed from the 1901 John Murray edition by David Price, +email ccx074@pglaf.org</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/cover.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Book cover" +title= +"Book cover" + src="images/cover.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<h1>THE ZINCALI</h1> + +<div class="gapshortline"> </div> +<p style="text-align: center">AN ACCOUNT OF THE<br /> +<b>GYPSIES OF SPAIN</b><br /> +BY GEORGE BORROW</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="GutSmall">AUTHOR +OF</span><br /> +<span class="GutSmall">‘THE BIBLE IN SPAIN’</span><br +/> +<span class="GutSmall">‘LAVENGRO’</span><br /> +<span class="GutSmall">ETC.</span></p> + +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<blockquote><p style="text-align: right">‘<i>For that which +is unclean by nature</i>,<br /> +<i>thou canst entertain no hope</i>; <i>no washing</i><br /> +<i>will turn the Gypsy white</i>.’—<span +class="smcap">Ferdousi</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p style="text-align: center">NEW IMPRESSION</p> + +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p style="text-align: center">LONDON<br /> +JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET<br /> +1901</p> + +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p style="text-align: center"><a name="pageiv"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. iv</span>Edinburgh: T. and A. <span +class="smcap">Constable</span>, Printers to Her Majesty</p> +<h2><a name="pagev"></a><span class="pagenum">p. v</span><span +class="GutSmall">TO</span><br /> +<span class="GutSmall">THE RIGHT HONOURABLE</span><br /> +THE EARL OF CLARENDON, G.C.B.</h2> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="GutSmall">KEEPER OF +HER MAJESTY’S PRIVY SEAL</span></p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="GutSmall">ETC., ETC., +ETC.</span></p> +<p><span class="smcap">My Lord</span>,</p> +<p><i>I feel it not only a gratification but an honour to be +permitted to dedicate these volumes</i> <a +name="citation0"></a><a href="#footnote0" +class="citation">[0]</a> <i>to your Lordship</i>, <i>the more +particularly as they are connected with Spain</i>, <i>a country +in which it was so frequently my fortune to experience such +prompt and salutary aid from your Lordship in the high capacity +of representative of our Gracious British Sovereign</i>.</p> +<p><i>The remembrance of the many obligations under which your +Lordship has placed me</i>, <i>by your energetic and effectual +interference in time of need</i>, <i>will ever in heartfelt +gratitude cause me to remain</i>, <i>with unfeigned sentiments of +respect</i>,</p> +<p><i>My Lord</i>,</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><i>Your most devoted +Servant</i>,</p> +<p style="text-align: right">GEORGE BORROW.</p> +<h2><a name="pagevii"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +vii</span>PREFACE</h2> +<p><span class="smcap">It</span> is with some diffidence that the +author ventures to offer the present work to the public.</p> +<p>The greater part of it has been written under very peculiar +circumstances, such as are not in general deemed at all +favourable for literary composition: at considerable intervals, +during a period of nearly five years passed in Spain—in +moments snatched from more important pursuits—chiefly in +ventas and posádas, whilst wandering through the country +in the arduous and unthankful task of distributing the Gospel +among its children.</p> +<p>Owing to the causes above stated, he is aware that his work +must not unfrequently appear somewhat disjointed and unconnected, +and the style rude and unpolished: he has, nevertheless, +permitted the tree to remain where he felled it, having, indeed, +subsequently enjoyed too little leisure to make much effectual +alteration.</p> +<p>At the same time he flatters himself that the work is not +destitute of certain qualifications to entitle it to +approbation. The author’s acquaintance with the Gypsy +race in general dates from a <a name="pageviii"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. viii</span>very early period of his life, +which considerably facilitated his intercourse with the +Peninsular portion, to the elucidation of whose history and +character the present volumes are more particularly +devoted. Whatever he has asserted, is less the result of +reading than of close observation, he having long since come to +the conclusion that the Gypsies are not a people to be studied in +books, or at least in such books as he believes have hitherto +been written concerning them.</p> +<p>Throughout he has dealt more in facts than in theories, of +which he is in general no friend. True it is, that no race +in the world affords, in many points, a more extensive field for +theory and conjecture than the Gypsies, who are certainly a very +mysterious people come from some distant land, no mortal knows +why, and who made their first appearance in Europe at a dark +period, when events were not so accurately recorded as at the +present time.</p> +<p>But if he has avoided as much as possible touching upon +subjects which must always, to a certain extent, remain shrouded +in obscurity; for example, the original state and condition of +the Gypsies, and the causes which first brought them into Europe; +he has stated what they are at the present day, what he knows +them to be from a close scrutiny of their ways and habits, for +which, perhaps, no one ever enjoyed better opportunities; and he +has, moreover, given—not a few words culled expressly for +the purpose of supporting a <a name="pageix"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. ix</span>theory, but one entire dialect of +their language, collected with much trouble and difficulty; and +to this he humbly calls the attention of the learned, who, by +comparing it with certain languages, may decide as to the +countries in which the Gypsies have lived or travelled.</p> +<p>With respect to the Gypsy rhymes in the second volume, he +wishes to make one observation which cannot be too frequently +repeated, and which he entreats the reader to bear in mind: they +are <i>Gypsy compositions</i>, and have little merit save so far +as they throw light on the manner of thinking and speaking of the +Gypsy people, or rather a portion of them, and as to what they +are capable of effecting in the way of poetry. It will, +doubtless, be said that the rhymes are <i>trash</i>;—even +were it so, they are original, and on that account, in a +philosophic point of view, are more valuable than the most +brilliant compositions pretending to describe Gypsy life, but +written by persons who are not of the Gypsy sect. Such +compositions, however replete with fiery sentiments, and +allusions to freedom and independence, are certain to be tainted +with affectation. Now in the Gypsy rhymes there is no +affectation, and on that very account they are different in every +respect from the poetry of those interesting personages who +figure, under the names of Gypsies, Gitános, Bohemians, +etc., in novels and on the boards of the theatre.</p> +<p>It will, perhaps, be objected to the present work, <a +name="pagex"></a><span class="pagenum">p. x</span>that it +contains little that is edifying in a moral or Christian point of +view: to such an objection the author would reply, that the +Gypsies are not a Christian people, and that their morality is of +a peculiar kind, not calculated to afford much edification to +what is generally termed the respectable portion of +society. Should it be urged that certain individuals have +found them very different from what they are represented in these +volumes, he would frankly say that he yields no credit to the +presumed fact, and at the same time he would refer to the +vocabulary contained in the second volume, whence it will appear +that the words <i>hoax</i> and <i>hocus</i> have been immediately +derived from the language of the Gypsies, who, there is good +reason to believe, first introduced the system into Europe, to +which those words belong.</p> +<p>The author entertains no ill-will towards the Gypsies; why +should he, were he a mere carnal reasoner? He has known +them for upwards of twenty years, in various countries, and they +never injured a hair of his head, or deprived him of a shred of +his raiment; but he is not deceived as to the motive of their +forbearance: they thought him a <i>Rom</i>, and on this +supposition they hurt him not, their love of ‘the +blood’ being their most distinguishing +characteristic. He derived considerable assistance from +them in Spain, as in various instances they officiated as +colporteurs in the distribution of the Gospel: but on that +account he is <a name="pagexi"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +xi</span>not prepared to say that they entertained any love for +the Gospel or that they circulated it for the honour of +Tebléque the Saviour. Whatever they did for the +Gospel in Spain, was done in the hope that he whom they conceived +to be their brother had some purpose in view which was to +contribute to the profit of the Calés, or Gypsies, and to +terminate in the confusion and plunder of the Busné, or +Gentiles. Convinced of this, he is too little of an +enthusiast to rear, on such a foundation, any fantastic edifice +of hope which would soon tumble to the ground.</p> +<p>The cause of truth can scarcely be forwarded by enthusiasm, +which is almost invariably the child of ignorance and +error. The author is anxious to direct the attention of the +public towards the Gypsies; but he hopes to be able to do so +without any romantic appeals in their behalf, by concealing the +truth, or by warping the truth until it becomes falsehood. +In the following pages he has depicted the Gypsies as he has +found them, neither aggravating their crimes nor gilding them +with imaginary virtues. He has not expatiated on +‘their gratitude towards good people, who treat them kindly +and take an interest in their welfare’; for he believes +that of all beings in the world they are the least susceptible of +such a feeling. Nor has he ever done them injustice by +attributing to them licentious habits, from which they are, +perhaps, more free than any race in the creation.</p> +<h2><a name="pagexii"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +xii</span>PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION</h2> +<p>I <span class="smcap">cannot</span> permit the second edition +of this work to go to press without premising it with a few +words.</p> +<p>When some two years ago I first gave <i>The Zincali</i> to the +world, it was, as I stated at the time, with considerable +hesitation and diffidence: the composition of it and the +collecting of Gypsy words had served as a kind of relaxation to +me whilst engaged in the circulation of the Gospel in +Spain. After the completion of the work, I had not the +slightest idea that it possessed any peculiar merit, or was +calculated to make the slightest impression upon the reading +world. Nevertheless, as every one who writes feels a kind +of affection, greater or less, for the productions of his pen, I +was averse, since the book was written, to suffer it to perish of +damp in a lumber closet, or by friction in my travelling +wallet. I committed it therefore to the press, with a +friendly ‘Farewell, little book; I have done for you all I +can, and much more than you deserve.’</p> +<p>My expectations at this time were widely different from those +of my namesake George in the <i>Vicar of Wakefield</i> when he +published his paradoxes. I <a name="pagexiii"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. xiii</span>took it as a matter of course that +the world, whether learned or unlearned, would say to my book +what they said to his paradoxes, as the event +showed,—nothing at all. To my utter astonishment, +however, I had no sooner returned to my humble retreat, where I +hoped to find the repose of which I was very much in need, than I +was followed by the voice not only of England but of the greater +part of Europe, informing me that I had achieved a feat—a +work in the nineteenth century with some pretensions to +originality. The book was speedily reprinted in America, +portions of it were translated into French and Russian, and a +fresh edition demanded.</p> +<p>In the midst of all this there sounded upon my ears a voice +which I recognised as that of the Mæcenas of British +literature: ‘Borromeo, don’t believe all you hear, +nor think that you have accomplished anything so very +extraordinary: a great portion of your book is very sorry trash +indeed—Gypsy poetry, dry laws, and compilations from dull +Spanish authors: it has good points, however, which show that you +are capable of something much better: try your hand +again—avoid your besetting sins; and when you have +accomplished something which will really do credit to — +Street, it will be time enough to think of another delivery of +these <i>Gypsies</i>.’</p> +<p>Mistos amande: ‘I am content,’ I replied; and +sitting down I commenced the <i>Bible in Spain</i>. At <a +name="pagexiv"></a><span class="pagenum">p. xiv</span>first I +proceeded slowly—sickness was in the land, and the face of +nature was overcast—heavy rain-clouds swam in the +heavens,—the blast howled amid the pines which nearly +surround my lonely dwelling, and the waters of the lake which +lies before it, so quiet in general and tranquil, were fearfully +agitated. ‘Bring lights hither, O Hayim Ben Attar, +son of the miracle!’ And the Jew of Fez brought in +the lights, for though it was midday I could scarcely see in the +little room where I was writing. . . .</p> +<p>A dreary summer and autumn passed by, and were succeeded by as +gloomy a winter. I still proceeded with the <i>Bible in +Spain</i>. The winter passed, and spring came with cold dry +winds and occasional sunshine, whereupon I arose, shouted, and +mounting my horse, even Sidi Habismilk, I scoured all the +surrounding district, and thought but little of the <i>Bible in +Spain</i>.</p> +<p>So I rode about the country, over the heaths, and through the +green lanes of my native land, occasionally visiting friends at a +distance, and sometimes, for variety’s sake, I stayed at +home and amused myself by catching huge pike, which lie perdue in +certain deep ponds skirted with lofty reeds, upon my land, and to +which there is a communication from the lagoon by a deep and +narrow watercourse.—I had almost forgotten the <i>Bible in +Spain</i>.</p> +<p>Then came the summer with much heat and <a +name="pagexv"></a><span class="pagenum">p. xv</span>sunshine, and +then I would lie for hours in the sun and recall the sunny days I +had spent in Andalusia, and my thoughts were continually +reverting to Spain, and at last I remembered that the <i>Bible in +Spain</i> was still unfinished; whereupon I arose and said: +‘This loitering profiteth nothing’—and I +hastened to my summer-house by the side of the lake, and there I +thought and wrote, and every day I repaired to the same place, +and thought and wrote until I had finished the <i>Bible in +Spain</i>.</p> +<p>And at the proper season the <i>Bible in Spain</i> was given +to the world; and the world, both learned and unlearned, was +delighted with the <i>Bible in Spain</i>, and the highest +authority <a name="citation1"></a><a href="#footnote1" +class="citation">[1]</a> said, ‘This is a much better book +than the <i>Gypsies</i>’; and the next great authority <a +name="citation2"></a><a href="#footnote2" +class="citation">[2]</a> said, ‘something betwixt Le Sage +and Bunyan.’ ‘A far more entertaining work than +<i>Don Quixote</i>,’ exclaimed a literary lady. +‘Another <i>Gil Blas</i>,’ said the cleverest writer +in Europe. <a name="citation3"></a><a href="#footnote3" +class="citation">[3]</a> ‘Yes,’ exclaimed the +cool sensible <i>Spectator</i>, <a name="citation4"></a><a +href="#footnote4" class="citation">[4]</a> ‘a <i>Gil +Blas</i> in water-colours.’</p> +<p>And when I heard the last sentence, I laughed, and shouted, +‘<i>Kosko pennese pal</i>!’ <a +name="citation5"></a><a href="#footnote5" +class="citation">[5]</a> It pleased me better than all the +rest. Is there not a text in a certain old book which says: +Woe unto you when all men shall speak well of you! Those +are awful words, brothers; woe is me!</p> +<p><a name="pagexvi"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +xvi</span>‘Revenons à nos +Bohémiens!’ Now the <i>Bible in Spain</i> is +off my hands, I return to ‘these <i>Gypsies</i>’; and +here you have, most kind, lenient, and courteous public, a fresh +delivery of them. In the present edition, I have attended +as much as possible to the suggestions of certain individuals, +for whose opinion I cannot but entertain the highest +respect. I have omitted various passages from Spanish +authors, which the world has objected to as being quite out of +place, and serving for no other purpose than to swell out the +work. In lieu thereof, I have introduced some original +matter relative to the Gypsies, which is, perhaps, more +calculated to fling light over their peculiar habits than +anything which has yet appeared. To remodel the work, +however, I have neither time nor inclination, and must therefore +again commend it, with all the imperfections which still cling to +it, to the generosity of the public.</p> +<p>A few words in conclusion. Since the publication of the +first edition, I have received more than one letter, in which the +writers complain that I, who seem to know so much of what has +been written concerning the Gypsies, <a name="citation6"></a><a +href="#footnote6" class="citation">[6]</a> should have taken no +notice of a theory entertained by many, namely, that they are of +Jewish origin, and that they are neither more nor less than the +descendants of the <a name="pagexvii"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. xvii</span>two lost tribes of Israel. +Now I am not going to enter into a discussion upon this point, +for I know by experience, that the public cares nothing for +discussions, however learned and edifying, but will take the +present opportunity to relate a little adventure of mine, which +bears not a little upon this matter.</p> +<p>So it came to pass, that one day I was scampering over a +heath, at some distance from my present home: I was mounted upon +the good horse Sidi Habismilk, and the Jew of Fez, swifter than +the wind, ran by the side of the good horse Habismilk, when what +should I see at a corner of the heath but the encampment of +certain friends of mine; and the chief of that camp, even Mr. +Petulengro, stood before the encampment, and his adopted +daughter, Miss Pinfold, stood beside him.</p> +<p><i>Myself</i>.—‘Kosko divvus <a +name="citation7"></a><a href="#footnote7" +class="citation">[7]</a>, Mr. Petulengro! I am glad to see +you: how are you getting on?’</p> +<p><i>Mr. Petulengro</i>.—‘How am I getting on? as +well as I can. What will you have for that nokengro <a +name="citation8"></a><a href="#footnote8" +class="citation">[8]</a>?’</p> +<p>Thereupon I dismounted, and delivering the reins of the good +horse to Miss Pinfold, I took the Jew of Fez, even Hayim Ben +Attar, by the hand, and went up to Mr. Petulengro, exclaiming, +‘Sure ye are two brothers.’ Anon the Gypsy +passed his <a name="pagexviii"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +xviii</span>hand over the Jew’s face, and stared him in the +eyes: then turning to me he said, ‘We are not dui palor <a +name="citation9"></a><a href="#footnote9" +class="citation">[9]</a>; this man is no Roman; I believe him to +be a Jew; he has the face of one; besides, if he were a Rom, even +from Jericho, he could rokra a few words in Rommany.’</p> +<p>Now the Gypsy had been in the habit of seeing German and +English Jews, who must have been separated from their African +brethren for a term of at least 1700 years; yet he recognised the +Jew of Fez for what he was—a Jew, and without hesitation +declared that he was ‘no Roman.’ The Jews, +therefore, and the Gypsies have each their peculiar and +distinctive countenance, which, to say nothing of the difference +of language, precludes the possibility of their having ever been +the same people.</p> +<p><i>March</i> 1, 1843.</p> +<h2>NOTICE TO THE FOURTH EDITION</h2> +<p><span class="smcap">This</span> edition has been carefully +revised by the author, and some few insertions have been +made. In order, however, to give to the work a more popular +character, the elaborate vocabulary of the Gypsy tongue, and +other parts relating to the Gypsy language and literature, have +been omitted. Those who take an interest in these subjects +are referred to the larger edition in two vols. <a +name="citation10"></a><a href="#footnote10" +class="citation">[10]</a></p> +<h2><a name="pagexix"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +xix</span>CONTENTS</h2> +<table> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: +center"><b>INTRODUCTION</b></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>On the Gypsies in general—Name and +Language—The Russian Gypsies—Gypsies at +Moscow—Hungarian Gypsies—Wallachia and +Moldavia—English Gypsies, or Rommany—Gypsy +Fortune-tellers—Gypsy Jockeys—Gypsy +Will—Thurtell—Gypsy Clans—Names of +Families—Gypsy Law—Pazorrhus—The +Patteran—Baptismal Papers—Gypsies of the +East—Artifice of Timour—Bishop of Forli</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page1">1</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center"><b>THE +ZINCALI</b></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center"><b>PART I</b></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER I</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Of the Spanish Gypsies in +general—Names—Arrival—Egyptian +Penitents—Peculiarities of Spain—Provinces which the +Gypsies principally frequented</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page41">41</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER II</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Manner of Life—Predatory Habits—The +Traveller—Jews and Gypsies—The Forge—The +Sparks—Gypsy Counts—Martin del Rio—Facility in +speaking Languages—Proverbs</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page48">48</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center"><a +name="pagexx"></a><span class="pagenum">p. xx</span>CHAPTER +III</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Excesses of the Gitános—The Bookseller of +Logroño</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page61">61</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER IV</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Gypsy Colonies in various Towns of Spain</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page71">71</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER V</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Cannibalism—The Forest—Anecdotes—Food of +the Gypsies—Child-stealing—Connection of the +Gitános with the Moors of Barbary</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page76">76</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER VI</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Barbary and its Tribes—Beni Aros—Sidi Hamed au +Muza—The Children of the Dar-Bushi-Fal, a Sect of Thieves +and Sorcerers, probably of Gypsy Origin</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page85">85</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER VII</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> + +<td><p>Chiromancy—Torreblanca—Gitánas—The +Gitána of Seville—La Buena Ventura—The +Dance—The Song—Tricks of the Gitánas—The +Widow—Occult Powers</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page98">98</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER VIII</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>The Evil Eye—Credulity of Eastern Nations on this +subject—Remedies for the Evil Eye—The +Talmud—Superstitions of the North</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page115">115</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER IX</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Exodus of the Jews: that of the Gypsies—Indifference +of the Gitános with respect to +Religion—Ezekiel—Tale of Egyptian +Descent—Quiñones—Melchior of <a +name="pagexxi"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +xxi</span>Guelama—Religious Tolerance—The Inquisitor +of Cordova—Gitános and Moriscos</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page122">122</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER X</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>The Expulsion of the Gitános; a Discourse addressed +by Dr. Sancho de Moncada to Philip the Third</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page137">137</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER XI</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Various Laws issued against the Spanish Gypsies, from the +time of Ferdinand and Isabella to the latter part of the +Eighteenth Century, embracing a period of nearly Three Hundred +Years</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page151">151</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER XII</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Carlos Tercero—His Law respecting the +Gitános</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page166">166</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center"><b>PART II</b></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER I</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Badajoz—The Gypsies—The Withered +Arm—Gypsy Law—Trimming and +Shearing—Metempsychosis—Paco and +Antonio—Antonio and the Magyar—The +Chai—Pharaoh—The Steeds of the Egyptians</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page177">177</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER II</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Madrid—Gypsy Women—Granada—Gypsy +Smiths—Pepe +Conde—Seville—Triana—Cordova—Horses—The +Esquilador—Characteristic Epistle—Catalonia, etc.</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page194">194</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center"><a +name="pagexxii"></a><span class="pagenum">p. xxii</span>CHAPTER +III</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>General Remarks on the Present State of the +Gitános—Inefficiency of the Old Laws—Prospects +of the Gitános—Partial Reformation—Decline of +the Gypsy Sect—Fair of Leon—Love of Race—Gypsy +executed—Numerical Decrease</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page207">207</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER IV</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Illustrations of Gypsy Character—The Gypsy Innkeeper +of Tarifa—The Gypsy Soldier of Valdepeñas</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page221">221</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER V</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Various Points connected with the +Gitános—Dress—Physical +Characteristics—The Gypsy Glance—Extracts from a +Spanish work</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page243">243</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER VI</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Certain Tricks and Practices of the Gypsy +Females—The Bahi—Hokkano Baro—Ustilar +Pastésas—Shoplifting—Drao—The +Loadstone—The Root of the Good Baron</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page252">252</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER VII</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>The Marriage Festival—Eastern Jews—Their +Weddings</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page266">266</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER VIII</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Attempts made to enlighten the Gitános—The +Inward Monitor—The One-eyed Gitána—Pépa +and Chicharóna—The Gypsy Congregation</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page274">274</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center"><a +name="pagexxiii"></a><span class="pagenum">p. xxiii</span><b>PART +III</b></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER I</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>The Poetry of the Gitános</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page287">287</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER II</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Spurious Gypsy Poetry of Andalusia</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page298">298</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Brijindope.—The Deluge</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page304">304</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>The Pestilence</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page310">310</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>On the Language of the Gitános</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page313">313</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p> Robber Language</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page335">335</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p> The Term ‘Busno’</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page354">354</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Specimens of Gypsy Dialects</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page357">357</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Vocabulary of their Language</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page365">365</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">APPENDIX</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Miscellanies in the Gitáno Language</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page415">415</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>The English Dialect of the Rommany</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page428">428</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +</table> +<h2><a name="pagexxiv"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +xxiv</span>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> +<table> +<tr> +<td><p>Gypsy’s Marriage Dance (<i>photogravure</i>)</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><i>Frontispiece</i></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>The Rearguard of the Marching Gypsies</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><i>To face page</i> <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page50">50</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Travellers attacked by the Gitános</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page52">52</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>A Song of Egypt</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="imageref"><a +href="#image108">108</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>The Gypsy Smith of Granada</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="imageref"><a +href="#image196">196</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>The Murder of Pindamonas by Pepe Conde</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="imageref"><a +href="#image198">198</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Roasting Chestnuts by the side of the Guadalquiver</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="imageref"><a +href="#image200">200</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>A Gypsy Family</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="imageref"><a +href="#image222">222</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +</table> +<h2><a name="page1"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 1</span>THE +GYPSIES</h2> +<h3>INTRODUCTION</h3> +<p><span class="smcap">Throughout</span> my life the Gypsy race +has always had a peculiar interest for me. Indeed I can +remember no period when the mere mention of the name of Gypsy did +not awaken within me feelings hard to be described. I +cannot account for this—I merely state a fact.</p> +<p>Some of the Gypsies, to whom I have stated this circumstance, +have accounted for it on the supposition that the soul which at +present animates my body has at some former period tenanted that +of one of their people; for many among them are believers in +metempsychosis, and, like the followers of Bouddha, imagine that +their souls, by passing through an infinite number of bodies, +attain at length sufficient purity to be admitted to a state of +perfect rest and quietude, which is the only idea of heaven they +can form.</p> +<p>Having in various and distant countries lived in habits of +intimacy with these people, I have come to the following +conclusions respecting them: that wherever they are found, their +manners and customs are virtually the same, though somewhat +modified by circumstances, and that the language they speak +amongst themselves, and of which they are particularly anxious to +keep others in ignorance, is in all countries one and the same, +but has been subjected more or less to modification; and lastly, +that their countenances exhibit a decided family resemblance, but +are darker or fairer according to the temperature of the climate, +but invariably darker, at least in Europe, than those of the +natives of the countries in which they dwell, for example, +England and Russia, Germany and Spain.</p> +<p>The names by which they are known differ with the country, +though, with one or two exceptions, not materially for example, +they are styled in Russia, Zigáni; in Turkey and Persia, +Zingarri; and in Germany, Zigeuner; all which words apparently +spring from the same etymon, which there is no improbability in +supposing to be ‘Zincali,’ a term by which these +people, especially those of Spain, sometimes designate +themselves, and the meaning of which is believed to be, <i>The +black men of Zend or Ind</i>. In England and Spain they are +commonly known as Gypsies and Gitános, from a general +belief that they were originally Egyptians, to which the two +words are tantamount; and in France as Bohemians, from the +circumstance that Bohemia was one of the first countries in +civilised Europe where they made their appearance.</p> +<p>But they generally style themselves and the language which +they speak, Rommany. This word, of which I shall ultimately +have more to say, is of Sanscrit origin, and signifies, The +Husbands, or that which pertaineth unto them. From whatever +motive this appellation may have originated, it is perhaps more +applicable than any other to a sect or caste like them, who have +no love and no affection beyond their own race; who are capable +of making great sacrifices for each other, and who gladly prey +upon all the rest of the human species, whom they detest, and by +whom they are hated and despised. It will perhaps not be +out of place to observe here, that there is no reason for +supposing that the word Roma or Rommany is derived from the +Arabic word which signifies Greece or Grecians, as some people +not much acquainted with the language of the race in question +have imagined.</p> +<p>I have no intention at present to say anything about their +origin. Scholars have asserted that the language which they +speak proves them to be of Indian stock, and undoubtedly a great +number of their words are Sanscrit. My own opinion upon +this subject will be found in a subsequent article. I shall +here content myself with observing that from whatever country +they come, whether from India or Egypt, there can be no doubt +that they are human beings and have immortal souls; and it is in +the humble hope of drawing the attention of the Christian +philanthropist towards them, especially that degraded and unhappy +portion of them, the Gitános of Spain, that the present +little work has been undertaken. But before proceeding to +speak of the latter, it will perhaps not be amiss to afford some +account of the Rommany as I have seen them in other countries; +for there is scarcely a part of the habitable world where they +are not to be found: their tents are alike pitched on the heaths +of Brazil and the ridges of the Himalayan hills, and their +language is heard at Moscow and Madrid, in the streets of London +and Stamboul.</p> +<h3>THE ZIGÁNI, OR RUSSIAN GYPSIES</h3> +<p>They are found in all parts of Russia, with the exception of +the government of St. Petersburg, from which they have been +banished. In most of the provincial towns they are to be +found in a state of half-civilisation, supporting themselves by +trafficking in horses, or by curing the disorders incidental to +those animals; but the vast majority reject this manner of life, +and traverse the country in bands, like the ancient Hamaxobioi; +the immense grassy plains of Russia affording pasturage for their +herds of cattle, on which, and the produce of the chase, they +chiefly depend for subsistence. They are, however, not +destitute of money, which they obtain by various means, but +principally by curing diseases amongst the cattle of the +mujíks or peasantry, and by telling fortunes, and not +unfrequently by theft and brigandage.</p> +<p>Their power of resisting cold is truly wonderful, as it is not +uncommon to find them encamped in the midst of the snow, in +slight canvas tents, when the temperature is twenty-five or +thirty degrees below the freezing-point according to +Réaumur; but in the winter they generally seek the shelter +of the forests, which afford fuel for their fires, and abound in +game.</p> +<p>The race of the Rommany is by nature perhaps the most +beautiful in the world; and amongst the children of the Russian +Zigáni are frequently to be found countenances to do +justice to which would require the pencil of a second Murillo; +but exposure to the rays of the burning sun, the biting of the +frost, and the pelting of the pitiless sleet and snow, destroys +their beauty at a very early age; and if in infancy their +personal advantages are remarkable, their ugliness at an advanced +age is no less so, for then it is loathsome, and even +appalling.</p> +<p>A hundred years, could I live so long, would not efface from +my mind the appearance of an aged Ziganskie Attaman, or Captain +of Zigáni, and his grandson, who approached me on the +meadow before Novo Gorod, where stood the encampment of a +numerous horde. The boy was of a form and face which might +have entitled him to represent Astyanax, and Hector of Troy might +have pressed him to his bosom, and called him his pride; but the +old man was, perhaps, such a shape as Milton has alluded to, but +could only describe as execrable—he wanted but the dart and +kingly crown to have represented the monster who opposed the +progress of Lucifer, whilst careering in burning arms and +infernal glory to the outlet of his hellish prison.</p> +<p>But in speaking of the Russian Gypsies, those of Moscow must +not be passed over in silence. The station to which they +have attained in society in that most remarkable of cities is so +far above the sphere in which the remainder of their race pass +their lives, that it may be considered as a phenomenon in Gypsy +history, and on that account is entitled to particular +notice.</p> +<p>Those who have been accustomed to consider the Gypsy as a +wandering outcast, incapable of appreciating the blessings of a +settled and civilised life, or—if abandoning vagabond +propensities, and becoming stationary—as one who never +ascends higher than the condition of a low trafficker, will be +surprised to learn, that amongst the Gypsies of Moscow there are +not a few who inhabit stately houses, go abroad in elegant +equipages, and are behind the higher orders of the Russians +neither in appearance nor mental acquirements. To the power +of song alone this phenomenon is to be attributed. From +time immemorial the female Gypsies of Moscow have been much +addicted to the vocal art, and bands or quires of them have sung +for pay in the halls of the nobility or upon the boards of the +theatre. Some first-rate songsters have been produced among +them, whose merits have been acknowledged, not only by the +Russian public, but by the most fastidious foreign critics. +Perhaps the highest compliment ever paid to a songster was paid +by Catalani herself to one of these daughters of Roma. It +is well known throughout Russia that the celebrated Italian was +so enchanted with the voice of a Moscow Gypsy (who, after the +former had displayed her noble talent before a splendid audience +in the old Russian capital, stepped forward and poured forth one +of her national strains), that she tore from her own shoulders a +shawl of cashmire, which had been presented to her by the Pope, +and, embracing the Gypsy, insisted on her acceptance of the +splendid gift, saying, that it had been intended for the +matchless songster, which she now perceived she herself was +not.</p> +<p>The sums obtained by many of these females by the exercise of +their art enable them to support their relatives in affluence and +luxury: some are married to Russians, and no one who has visited +Russia can but be aware that a lovely and accomplished countess, +of the noble and numerous family of Tolstoy, is by birth a +Zigána, and was originally one of the principal +attractions of a Rommany choir at Moscow.</p> +<p>But it is not to be supposed that the whole of the Gypsy +females at Moscow are of this high and talented description; the +majority of them are of far lower quality, and obtain their +livelihood by singing and dancing at taverns, whilst their +husbands in general follow the occupation of horse-dealing.</p> +<p>Their favourite place of resort in the summer time is Marina +Rotze, a species of sylvan garden about two versts from Moscow, +and thither, tempted by curiosity, I drove one fine +evening. On my arrival the Zigánas came flocking out +from their little tents, and from the tractir or inn which has +been erected for the accommodation of the public. Standing +on the seat of the calash, I addressed them in a loud voice in +the English dialect of the Rommany, of which I have some +knowledge. A shrill scream of wonder was instantly raised, +and welcomes and blessings were poured forth in floods of musical +Rommany, above all of which predominated the cry of <i>Kak +camenna tute prala</i>—or, How we love you, +brother!—for at first they mistook me for one of their +wandering brethren from the distant lands, come over the great +panee or ocean to visit them.</p> +<p>After some conversation they commenced singing, and favoured +me with many songs, both in Russian and Rommany: the former were +modern popular pieces, such as are accustomed to be sung on the +boards of the theatre; but the latter were evidently of great +antiquity, exhibiting the strongest marks of originality, the +metaphors bold and sublime, and the metre differing from anything +of the kind which it has been my fortune to observe in Oriental +or European prosody.</p> +<p>One of the most remarkable, and which commences thus:</p> +<blockquote><p>‘Za mateia rosherroro odolata<br /> +Bravintata,’</p> +</blockquote> +<p>(or, Her head is aching with grief, as if she had tasted wine) +describes the anguish of a maiden separated from her lover, and +who calls for her steed:</p> +<blockquote><p>‘Tedjav manga gurraoro’—</p> +</blockquote> +<p>that she may depart in quest of the lord of her bosom, and +share his joys and pleasures.</p> +<p>A collection of these songs, with a translation and +vocabulary, would be no slight accession to literature, and would +probably throw more light on the history of this race than +anything which has yet appeared; and, as there is no want of zeal +and talent in Russia amongst the cultivators of every branch of +literature, and especially philology, it is only surprising that +such a collection still remains a desideratum.</p> +<p>The religion which these singular females externally professed +was the Greek, and they mostly wore crosses of copper or gold; +but when I questioned them on this subject in their native +language, they laughed, and said it was only to please the +Russians. Their names for God and his adversary are Deval +and Bengel, which differ little from the Spanish Un-debel and +Bengi, which signify the same. I will now say something +of</p> +<h3>THE HUNGARIAN GYPSIES, OR CZIGÁNY</h3> +<p>Hungary, though a country not a tenth part so extensive as the +huge colossus of the Russian empire, whose tzar reigns over a +hundred lands, contains perhaps as many Gypsies, it not being +uncommon to find whole villages inhabited by this race; they +likewise abound in the suburbs of the towns. In Hungary the +feudal system still exists in all its pristine barbarity; in no +country does the hard hand of this oppression bear so heavy upon +the lower classes—not even in Russia. The peasants of +Russia are serfs, it is true, but their condition is enviable +compared with that of the same class in the other country; they +have certain rights and privileges, and are, upon the whole, +happy and contented, whilst the Hungarians are ground to +powder. Two classes are free in Hungary to do almost what +they please—the nobility and—the Gypsies; the former +are above the law—the latter below it: a toll is wrung from +the hands of the hard-working labourers, that most meritorious +class, in passing over a bridge, for example at Pesth, which is +not demanded from a well-dressed person—nor from the +Czigány, who have frequently no dress at all—and +whose insouciance stands in striking contrast with the trembling +submission of the peasants. The Gypsy, wherever you find +him, is an incomprehensible being, but nowhere more than in +Hungary, where, in the midst of slavery, he is free, though +apparently one step lower than the lowest slave. The habits +of the Hungarian Gypsies are abominable; their hovels appear +sinks of the vilest poverty and filth, their dress is at best +rags, their food frequently the vilest carrion, and occasionally, +if report be true, still worse—on which point, when +speaking of the Spanish Gitános, we shall have +subsequently more to say: thus they live in filth, in rags, in +nakedness, and in merriness of heart, for nowhere is there more +of song and dance than in an Hungarian Gypsy village. They +are very fond of music, and some of them are heard to touch the +violin in a manner wild, but of peculiar excellence. +Parties of them have been known to exhibit even at Paris.</p> +<p>In Hungary, as in all parts, they are addicted to +horse-dealing; they are likewise tinkers, and smiths in a small +way. The women are fortune-tellers, of course—both +sexes thieves of the first water. They roam where they +list—in a country where all other people are held under +strict surveillance, no one seems to care about these +Parias. The most remarkable feature, however, connected +with the habits of the Czigány, consists in their foreign +excursions, having plunder in view, which frequently endure for +three or four years, when, if no mischance has befallen them, +they return to their native land—rich; where they squander +the proceeds of their dexterity in mad festivals. They +wander in bands of twelve and fourteen through France, even to +Rome. Once, during my own wanderings in Italy, I rested at +nightfall by the side of a kiln, the air being piercingly cold; +it was about four leagues from Genoa. Presently arrived +three individuals to take advantage of the warmth—a man, a +woman, and a lad. They soon began to discourse—and I +found that they were Hungarian Gypsies; they spoke of what they +had been doing, and what they had amassed—I think they +mentioned nine hundred crowns. They had companions in the +neighbourhood, some of whom they were expecting; they took no +notice of me, and conversed in their own dialect; I did not +approve of their propinquity, and rising, hastened away.</p> +<p>When Napoleon invaded Spain there were not a few Hungarian +Gypsies in his armies; some strange encounters occurred on the +field of battle between these people and the Spanish +Gitános, one of which is related in the second part of the +present work. When quartered in the Spanish towns, the +Czigány invariably sought out their peninsular brethren, +to whom they revealed themselves, kissing and embracing most +affectionately; the Gitános were astonished at the +proficiency of the strangers in thievish arts, and looked upon +them almost in the light of superior beings: ‘They knew the +whole reckoning,’ is still a common expression amongst +them. There was a Czigánian soldier for some time at +Cordoba, of whom the Gitános of the place still frequently +discourse, whilst smoking their cigars during winter nights over +their braséros.</p> +<p>The Hungarian Gypsies have a peculiar accent when speaking the +language of the country, by which they can be instantly +distinguished; the same thing is applicable to the Gitános +of Spain when speaking Spanish. In no part of the world is +the Gypsy language preserved better than in Hungary.</p> +<p>The following short prayer to the Virgin, which I have +frequently heard amongst the Gypsies of Hungary and Transylvania, +will serve as a specimen of their language:—</p> +<blockquote><p>Gula Devla, da me saschipo. Swuntuna Devla, +da me bacht t’ aldaschis cari me jav; te ferin man, Devla, +sila ta niapaschiata, chungalé manuschendar, ke me jav +andé drom ca hin man traba; ferin man, Devia; ma mek man +Devla, ke manga man tre Devies-key.</p> +<p>Sweet Goddess, give me health. Holy Goddess, give me +luck and grace wherever I go; and help me, Goddess, powerful and +immaculate, from ugly men, that I may go in the road to the place +I purpose: help me, Goddess; forsake me not, Goddess, for I pray +for God’s sake.</p> +</blockquote> +<h3>WALLACHIA AND MOLDAVIA</h3> +<p>In Wallachia and Moldavia, two of the eastern-most regions of +Europe, are to be found seven millions of people calling +themselves Roumouni, and speaking a dialect of the Latin tongue +much corrupted by barbarous terms, so called. They are +supposed to be in part descendants of Roman soldiers, Rome in the +days of her grandeur having established immense military colonies +in these parts. In the midst of these people exist vast +numbers of Gypsies, amounting, I am disposed to think, to at +least two hundred thousand. The land of the Roumouni, +indeed, seems to have been the hive from which the West of Europe +derived the Gypsy part of its population. Far be it from me +to say that the Gypsies sprang originally from +Roumouni-land. All I mean is, that it was their grand +resting-place after crossing the Danube. They entered +Roumouni-land from Bulgaria, crossing the great river, and from +thence some went to the north-east, overrunning Russia, others to +the west of Europe, as far as Spain and England. That the +early Gypsies of the West, and also those of Russia, came from +Roumouni-land, is easily proved, as in all the western Gypsy +dialects, and also in the Russian, are to be found words +belonging to the Roumouni speech; for example, primavera, spring; +cheros, heaven; chorab, stocking; chismey, +boots;—Roum—primivari, cherul, chorapul, +chismé. One might almost be tempted to suppose that +the term Rommany, by which the Gypsies of Russia and the West +call themselves, was derived from Roumouni, were it not for one +fact, which is, that Romanus in the Latin tongue merely means a +native of Rome, whilst the specific meaning of Rome still remains +in the dark; whereas in Gypsy Rom means a husband, Rommany the +sect of the husbands; Romanesti if married. Whether both +words were derived originally from the same source, as I believe +some people have supposed, is a question which, with my present +lights, I cannot pretend to determine.</p> +<h3>THE ENGLISH GYPSIES</h3> +<p>No country appears less adapted for that wandering life, which +seems so natural to these people, than England. Those +wildernesses and forests, which they are so attached to, are not +to be found there; every inch of land is cultivated, and its +produce watched with a jealous eye; and as the laws against +trampers, without the visible means of supporting themselves, are +exceedingly severe, the possibility of the Gypsies existing as a +distinct race, and retaining their original free and independent +habits, might naturally be called in question by those who had +not satisfactorily verified the fact. Yet it is a truth +that, amidst all these seeming disadvantages, they not only exist +there, but in no part of the world is their life more in +accordance with the general idea that the Gypsy is like Cain, a +wanderer of the earth; for in England the covered cart and the +little tent are the houses of the Gypsy, and he seldom remains +more than three days in the same place.</p> +<p>At present they are considered in some degree as a privileged +people; for, though their way of life is unlawful, it is connived +at; the law of England having discovered by experience, that its +utmost fury is inefficient to reclaim them from their inveterate +habits.</p> +<p>Shortly after their first arrival in England, which is upwards +of three centuries since, a dreadful persecution was raised +against them, the aim of which was their utter extermination; the +being a Gypsy was esteemed a crime worthy of death, and the +gibbets of England groaned and creaked beneath the weight of +Gypsy carcases, and the miserable survivors were literally +obliged to creep into the earth in order to preserve their +lives. But these days passed by; their persecutors became +weary of pursuing them; they showed their heads from the holes +and caves where they had hidden themselves, they ventured forth, +increased in numbers, and, each tribe or family choosing a +particular circuit, they fairly divided the land amongst +them.</p> +<p>In England, the male Gypsies are all dealers in horses, and +sometimes employ their idle time in mending the tin and copper +utensils of the peasantry; the females tell fortunes. They +generally pitch their tents in the vicinity of a village or small +town by the road side, under the shelter of the hedges and +trees. The climate of England is well known to be +favourable to beauty, and in no part of the world is the +appearance of the Gypsies so prepossessing as in that country; +their complexion is dark, but not disagreeably so; their faces +are oval, their features regular, their foreheads rather low, and +their hands and feet small. The men are taller than the +English peasantry, and far more active. They all speak the +English language with fluency, and in their gait and demeanour +are easy and graceful; in both points standing in striking +contrast with the peasantry, who in speech are slow and uncouth, +and in manner dogged and brutal.</p> +<p>The dialect of the Rommany, which they speak, though mixed +with English words, may be considered as tolerably pure, from the +fact that it is intelligible to the Gypsy race in the heart of +Russia. Whatever crimes they may commit, their vices are +few, for the men are not drunkards, nor are the women harlots; +there are no two characters which they hold in so much +abhorrence, nor do any words when applied by them convey so much +execration as these two.</p> +<p>The crimes of which these people were originally accused were +various, but the principal were theft, sorcery, and causing +disease among the cattle; and there is every reason for supposing +that in none of these points they were altogether guiltless.</p> +<p>With respect to sorcery, a thing in itself impossible, not +only the English Gypsies, but the whole race, have ever professed +it; therefore, whatever misery they may have suffered on that +account, they may be considered as having called it down upon +their own heads.</p> +<p>Dabbling in sorcery is in some degree the province of the +female Gypsy. She affects to tell the future, and to +prepare philtres by means of which love can be awakened in any +individual towards any particular object; and such is the +credulity of the human race, even in the most enlightened +countries, that the profits arising from these practices are +great. The following is a case in point: two females, +neighbours and friends, were tried some years since, in England, +for the murder of their husbands. It appeared that they +were in love with the same individual, and had conjointly, at +various times, paid sums of money to a Gypsy woman to work charms +to captivate his affections. Whatever little effect the +charms might produce, they were successful in their principal +object, for the person in question carried on for some time a +criminal intercourse with both. The matter came to the +knowledge of the husbands, who, taking means to break off this +connection, were respectively poisoned by their wives. Till +the moment of conviction these wretched females betrayed neither +emotion nor fear, but then their consternation was indescribable; +and they afterwards confessed that the Gypsy, who had visited +them in prison, had promised to shield them from conviction by +means of her art. It is therefore not surprising that in +the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, when a belief in sorcery +was supported by the laws of all Europe, these people were +regarded as practisers of sorcery, and punished as such, when, +even in the nineteenth, they still find people weak enough to +place confidence in their claims to supernatural power.</p> +<p>The accusation of producing disease and death amongst the +cattle was far from groundless. Indeed, however strange and +incredible it may sound in the present day to those who are +unacquainted with this caste, and the peculiar habits of the +Rommanees, the practice is still occasionally pursued in England +and many other countries where they are found. From this +practice, when they are not detected, they derive considerable +advantage. Poisoning cattle is exercised by them in two +ways: by one, they merely cause disease in the animals, with the +view of receiving money for curing them upon offering their +services; the poison is generally administered by powders cast at +night into the mangers of the animals: this way is only practised +upon the larger cattle, such as horses and cows. By the +other, which they practise chiefly on swine, speedy death is +almost invariably produced, the drug administered being of a +highly intoxicating nature, and affecting the brain. They +then apply at the house or farm where the disaster has occurred +for the carcase of the animal, which is generally given them +without suspicion, and then they feast on the flesh, which is not +injured by the poison, which only affects the head.</p> +<p>The English Gypsies are constant attendants at the racecourse; +what jockey is not? Perhaps jockeyism originated with them, +and even racing, at least in England. Jockeyism properly +implies <i>the management of a whip</i>, 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 amongst horse-traffickers, +under the title of jockey whips. They are likewise fond of +resorting to the prize-ring, and have occasionally even attained +some eminence, as principals, in those disgraceful and +brutalising exhibitions called pugilistic combats. I +believe a great deal has been written on the subject of the +English Gypsies, but the writers have dwelt too much in +generalities; they have been afraid to take the Gypsy by the +hand, lead him forth from the crowd, and exhibit him in the area; +he is well worth observing. When a boy of fourteen, I was +present at a prize-fight; why should I hide the truth? It +took place on a green meadow, beside a running stream, close by +the old church of E-, and within a league of the ancient town of +N-, the capital of one of the eastern counties. The +terrible Thurtell was present, lord of the concourse; for +wherever he moved he was master, and whenever he spoke, even when +in chains, every other voice was silent. He stood on the +mead, grim and pale as usual, with his bruisers around. He +it was, indeed, who <i>got up</i> the fight, as he had previously +done twenty others; it being his frequent boast that he had first +introduced bruising and bloodshed amidst rural scenes, and +transformed a quiet slumbering town into a den of Jews and +metropolitan thieves. Some time before the commencement of +the combat, three men, mounted on wild-looking horses, came +dashing down the road in the direction of the meadow, in the +midst of which they presently showed themselves, their horses +clearing the deep ditches with wonderful alacrity. +‘That’s Gypsy Will and his gang,’ lisped a +Hebrew pickpocket; ‘we shall have another +fight.’ The word Gypsy was always sufficient to +excite my curiosity, and I looked attentively at the +newcomers.</p> +<p>I have seen Gypsies of various lands, Russian, Hungarian, and +Turkish; and I have also seen the legitimate children of most +countries of the world; but I never saw, upon the whole, three +more remarkable individuals, as far as personal appearance was +concerned, than the three English Gypsies who now presented +themselves to my eyes on that spot. Two of them had +dismounted, and were holding their horses by the reins. The +tallest, and, at the first glance, the most interesting of the +two, was almost a giant, for his height could not have been less +than six feet three. It is impossible for the imagination +to conceive anything more perfectly beautiful than were the +features of this man, and the most skilful sculptor of Greece +might have taken them as his model for a hero and a god. +The forehead was exceedingly lofty,—a rare thing in a +Gypsy; the nose less Roman than Grecian,—fine yet delicate; +the eyes large, overhung with long drooping lashes, giving them +almost a melancholy expression; it was only when the lashes were +elevated that the Gypsy glance was seen, if that can be called a +glance which is a strange stare, like nothing else in this +world. His complexion was a beautiful olive; and his teeth +were of a brilliancy uncommon even amongst these people, who have +all fine teeth. He was dressed in a coarse waggoner’s +slop, which, however, was unable to conceal altogether the +proportions of his noble and Herculean figure. He might be +about twenty-eight. His companion and his captain, Gypsy +Will, was, I think, fifty when he was hanged, ten years +subsequently (for I never afterwards lost sight of him), in the +front of the jail of Bury St. Edmunds. I have still present +before me his bushy black hair, his black face, and his big black +eyes fixed and staring. His dress consisted of a loose blue +jockey coat, jockey boots and breeches; in his hand was a huge +jockey whip, and on his head (it struck me at the time for its +singularity) a broad-brimmed, high-peaked Andalusian hat, or at +least one very much resembling those generally worn in that +province. In stature he was shorter than his more youthful +companion, yet he must have measured six feet at least, and was +stronger built, if possible. What brawn!—what +bone!—what legs!—what thighs! The third Gypsy, +who remained on horseback, looked more like a phantom than any +thing human. His complexion was the colour of pale dust, +and of that same colour was all that pertained to him, hat and +clothes. His boots were dusty of course, for it was +midsummer, and his very horse was of a dusty dun. His +features were whimsically ugly, most of his teeth were gone, and +as to his age, he might be thirty or sixty. He was somewhat +lame and halt, but an unequalled rider when once upon his steed, +which he was naturally not very solicitous to quit. I +subsequently discovered that he was considered the wizard of the +gang.</p> +<p>I have been already prolix with respect to these Gypsies, but +I will not leave them quite yet. The intended combatants at +length arrived; it was necessary to clear the ring,—always +a troublesome and difficult task. Thurtell went up to the +two Gypsies, with whom he seemed to be acquainted, and with his +surly smile, said two or three words, which I, who was standing +by, did not understand. The Gypsies smiled in return, and +giving the reins of their animals to their mounted companion, +immediately set about the task which the king of the flash-men +had, as I conjecture, imposed upon them; this they soon +accomplished. Who could stand against such fellows and such +whips? The fight was soon over—then there was a +pause. Once more Thurtell came up to the Gypsies and said +something—the Gypsies looked at each other and conversed; +but their words then had no meaning for my ears. The tall +Gypsy shook his head—‘Very well,’ said the +other, in English. ‘I will—that’s +all.’</p> +<p>Then pushing the people aside, he strode to the ropes, over +which he bounded into the ring, flinging his Spanish hat high +into the air.</p> +<p><i>Gypsy Will</i>.—‘The best man in England for +twenty pounds!’</p> +<p><i>Thurtell</i>.—‘I am backer!’</p> +<p>Twenty pounds is a tempting sum, and there men that day upon +the green meadow who would have shed the blood of their own +fathers for the fifth of the price. But the Gypsy was not +an unknown man, his prowess and strength were notorious, and no +one cared to encounter him. Some of the Jews looked eager +for a moment; but their sharp eyes quailed quickly before his +savage glances, as he towered in the ring, his huge form +dilating, and his black features convulsed with excitement. +The Westminster bravoes eyed the Gypsy askance; but the +comparison, if they made any, seemed by no means favourable to +themselves. ‘Gypsy! rum chap.—Ugly +customer,—always in training.’ Such were the +exclamations which I heard, some of which at that period of my +life I did not understand.</p> +<p>No man would fight the Gypsy.—Yes! a strong country +fellow wished to win the stakes, and was about to fling up his +hat in defiance, but he was prevented by his friends, +with—‘Fool! he’ll kill you!’</p> +<p>As the Gypsies were mounting their horses, I heard the dusty +phantom exclaim—</p> +<p>‘Brother, you are an arrant ring-maker and a +horse-breaker; you’ll make a hempen ring to break your own +neck of a horse one of these days.’</p> +<p>They pressed their horses’ flanks, again leaped over the +ditches, and speedily vanished, amidst the whirlwinds of dust +which they raised upon the road.</p> +<p>The words of the phantom Gypsy were ominous. Gypsy Will +was eventually executed for a murder committed in his early +youth, in company with two English labourers, one of whom +confessed the fact on his death-bed. He was the head of the +clan Young, which, with the clan Smith, still haunts two of the +eastern counties.</p> +<h3>SOME FURTHER PARTICULARS RESPECTING THE ENGLISH GYPSIES</h3> +<p>It is difficult to say at what period the Gypsies or Rommany +made their first appearance in England. They had become, +however, such a nuisance in the time of Henry the Eighth, Philip +and Mary, and Elizabeth, that Gypsyism was denounced by various +royal statutes, and, if persisted in, was to be punished as +felony without benefit of clergy; it is probable, however, that +they had overrun England long before the period of the earliest +of these monarchs. The Gypsies penetrate into all +countries, save poor ones, and it is hardly to be supposed that a +few leagues of intervening salt water would have kept a race so +enterprising any considerable length of time, after their arrival +on the continent of Europe, from obtaining a footing in the +fairest and richest country of the West.</p> +<p>It is easy enough to conceive the manner in which the Gypsies +lived in England for a long time subsequent to their arrival: +doubtless in a half-savage state, wandering about from place to +place, encamping on the uninhabited spots, of which there were +then so many in England, feared and hated by the population, who +looked upon them as thieves and foreign sorcerers, occasionally +committing acts of brigandage, but depending chiefly for +subsistence on the practice of the ‘arts of Egypt,’ +in which cunning and dexterity were far more necessary than +courage or strength of hand.</p> +<p>It would appear that they were always divided into clans or +tribes, each bearing a particular name, and to which a particular +district more especially belonged, though occasionally they would +exchange districts for a period, and, incited by their +characteristic love of wandering, would travel far and +wide. Of these families each had a sher-engro, or head man, +but that they were ever united under one Rommany Krallis, or +Gypsy King, as some people have insisted, there is not the +slightest ground for supposing.</p> +<p>It is possible that many of the original Gypsy tribes are no +longer in existence: disease or the law may have made sad havoc +among them, and the few survivors have incorporated themselves +with other families, whose name they have adopted. Two or +three instances of this description have occurred within the +sphere of my own knowledge: the heads of small families have been +cut off, and the subordinate members, too young and inexperienced +to continue Gypsying as independent wanderers, have been adopted +by other tribes.</p> +<p>The principal Gypsy tribes at present in existence are the +Stanleys, whose grand haunt is the New Forest; the Lovells, who +are fond of London and its vicinity; the Coopers, who call +Windsor Castle their home; the Hernes, to whom the north country, +more especially Yorkshire, belongeth; and lastly, my brethren, +the Smiths,—to whom East Anglia appears to have been +allotted from the beginning.</p> +<p>All these families have Gypsy names, which seem, however, to +be little more than attempts at translation of the English +ones:—thus the Stanleys are called Bar-engres <a +name="citation25"></a><a href="#footnote25" +class="citation">[25]</a>, which means stony-fellows, or +stony-hearts; the Coopers, Wardo-engres, or wheelwrights; the +Lovells, Camo-mescres, or amorous fellows the Hernes (German +Haaren) Balors, hairs, or hairy men; while the Smiths are called +Petul-engres, signifying horseshoe fellows, or blacksmiths.</p> +<p>It is not very easy to determine how the Gypsies became +possessed of some of these names: the reader, however, will have +observed that two of them, Stanley and Lovell, are the names of +two highly aristocratic English families; the Gypsies who bear +them perhaps adopted them from having, at their first arrival, +established themselves on the estates of those great people; or +it is possible that they translated their original Gypsy +appellations by these names, which they deemed synonymous. +Much the same may be said with respect to Herne, an ancient +English name; they probably sometimes officiated as coopers or +wheelwrights, whence the cognomination. Of the term +Petul-engro, or Smith, however, I wish to say something in +particular.</p> +<p>There is every reason for believing that this last is a +genuine Gypsy name, brought with them from the country from which +they originally came; it is compounded of two words, signifying, +as has been already observed, horseshoe fellows, or people whose +trade is to manufacture horseshoes, a trade which the Gypsies ply +in various parts of the world,—for example, in Russia and +Hungary, and more particularly about Granada in Spain, as will +subsequently be shown. True it is, that at present there +are none amongst the English Gypsies who manufacture horseshoes; +all the men, however, are tinkers more or less, and the word +Petul-engro is applied to the tinker also, though the proper +meaning of it is undoubtedly what I have already stated +above. In other dialects of the Gypsy tongue, this cognomen +exists, though not exactly with the same signification; for +example, in the Hungarian dialect, <i>Pindoro</i>, which is +evidently a modification of Petul-engro, is applied to a Gypsy in +general, whilst in Spanish Pepindorio is the Gypsy word for +Antonio. In some parts of Northern Asia, the Gypsies call +themselves Wattul <a name="citation26"></a><a href="#footnote26" +class="citation">[26]</a>, which seems to be one and the same as +Petul.</p> +<p>Besides the above-named Gypsy clans, there are other smaller +ones, some of which do not comprise more than a dozen +individuals, children included. For example, the Bosviles, +the Browns, the Chilcotts, the Grays, Lees, Taylors, and Whites; +of these the principal is the Bosvile tribe.</p> +<p>After the days of the great persecution in England against the +Gypsies, there can be little doubt that they lived a right merry +and tranquil life, wandering about and pitching their tents +wherever inclination led them: indeed, I can scarcely conceive +any human condition more enviable than Gypsy life must have been +in England during the latter part of the seventeenth, and the +whole of the eighteenth century, which were likewise the happy +days for Englishmen in general; there was peace and plenty in the +land, a contented population, and everything went well. +Yes, those were brave times for the Rommany chals, to which the +old people often revert with a sigh: the poor Gypsies, say they, +were then allowed to <i>sove abri</i> (sleep abroad) where they +listed, to heat their kettles at the foot of the oaks, and no +people grudged the poor persons one night’s use of a meadow +to feed their cattle in. <i>Tugnis amande</i>, our heart is +heavy, brother,—there is no longer Gypsy law in the +land,—our people have become negligent,—they are but +half Rommany,—they are divided and care for +nothing,—they do not even fear Pazorrhus, brother.</p> +<p>Much the same complaints are at present made by the Spanish +Gypsies. Gypsyism is certainly on the decline in both +countries. In England, a superabundant population, and, of +late, a very vigilant police, have done much to modify Gypsy +life; whilst in Spain, causes widely different have produced a +still greater change, as will be seen further on.</p> +<p>Gypsy law does not flourish at present in England, and still +less in Spain, nor does Gypsyism. I need not explain here +what Gypsyism is, but the reader may be excused for asking what +is Gypsy law. Gypsy law divides itself into the three +following heads or precepts:—</p> +<blockquote><p>Separate not from <i>the husbands</i>.</p> +<p>Be faithful to <i>the husbands</i>.</p> +<p>Pay your debts to <i>the husbands</i>.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>By the first section the Rom or Gypsy is enjoined to live with +his brethren, the husbands, and not with the gorgios <a +name="citation28"></a><a href="#footnote28" +class="citation">[28]</a> or gentiles; he is to live in a tent, +as is befitting a Rom and a wanderer, and not in a house, which +ties him to one spot; in a word, he is in every respect to +conform to the ways of his own people, and to eschew those of +gorgios, with whom he is not to mix, save to tell them +<i>hoquepenes</i> (lies), and to chore them.</p> +<p>The second section, in which fidelity is enjoined, was more +particularly intended for the women: be faithful to the +<i>Roms</i>, ye <i>juwas</i>, and take not up with the gorgios, +whether they be <i>raior</i> or <i>bauor</i> (gentlemen or +fellows). This was a very important injunction, so much so, +indeed, that upon the observance of it depended the very +existence of the Rommany sect,—for if the female Gypsy +admitted the gorgio to the privilege of the Rom, the race of the +Rommany would quickly disappear. How well this injunction +has been observed needs scarcely be said; for the Rommany have +been roving about England for three centuries at least, and are +still to be distinguished from the gorgios in feature and +complexion, which assuredly would not have been the case if the +juwas had not been faithful to the Roms. The gorgio says +that the juwa is at his disposal in all things, because she tells +him fortunes and endures his free discourse; but the Rom, when he +hears the boast, laughs within his sleeve, and whispers to +himself, <i>Let him try</i>.</p> +<p>The third section, which relates to the paying of debts, is +highly curious. In the Gypsy language, the state of being +in debt is called <i>Pazorrhus</i>, and the Rom who did not seek +to extricate himself from that state was deemed infamous, and +eventually turned out of the society. It has been asserted, +I believe, by various gorgio writers, that the Roms have +everything in common, and that there is a common stock out of +which every one takes what he needs; this is quite a mistake, +however: a Gypsy tribe is an epitome of the world; every one +keeps his own purse and maintains himself and children to the +best of his ability, and every tent is independent of the +other. True it is that one Gypsy will lend to another in +the expectation of being repaid, and until that happen the +borrower is pazorrhus, or indebted. Even at the present +time, a Gypsy will make the greatest sacrifices rather than +remain pazorrhus to one of his brethren, even though he be of +another clan; though perhaps the feeling is not so strong as of +old, for time modifies everything; even Jews and Gypsies are +affected by it. In the old time, indeed, the Gypsy law was +so strong against the debtor, that provided he could not repay +his brother husband, he was delivered over to him as his slave +for a year and a day, and compelled to serve him as a hewer of +wood, a drawer of water, or a beast of burden; but those times +are past, the Gypsies are no longer the independent people they +were of yore,—dark, mysterious, and dreaded wanderers, +living apart in the deserts and heaths with which England at one +time abounded. Gypsy law has given place to common law; but +the principle of honour is still recognised amongst them, and +base indeed must the Gypsy be who would continue pazorrhus +because Gypsy law has become too weak to force him to liquidate a +debt by money or by service.</p> +<p>Such was Gypsy law in England, and there is every probability +that it is much the same in all parts of the world where the +Gypsy race is to be found. About the peculiar practices of +the Gypsies I need not say much here; the reader will find in the +account of the Spanish Gypsies much that will afford him an idea +of Gypsy arts in England. I have already alluded to +<i>chiving drav</i>, or poisoning, which is still much practised +by the English Gypsies, though it has almost entirely ceased in +Spain; then there is <i>chiving luvvu adrey puvo</i>, or putting +money within the earth, a trick by which the females deceive the +gorgios, and which will be more particularly described in the +affairs of Spain: the men are adepts at cheating the gorgios by +means of <i>nok-engroes</i> and <i>poggado-bavengroes</i> +(glandered and broken-winded horses). But, leaving the +subject of their tricks and Rommany arts, by no means an +agreeable one, I will take the present opportunity of saying a +few words about a practice of theirs, highly characteristic of a +wandering people, and which is only extant amongst those of the +race who still continue to wander much; for example, the Russian +Gypsies and those of the Hungarian family, who stroll through +Italy on plundering expeditions: I allude to the <i>patteran</i> +or <i>trail</i>.</p> +<p>It is very possible that the reader during his country walks +or rides has observed, on coming to four cross-roads, two or +three handfuls of grass lying at a small distance from each other +down one of these roads; perhaps he may have supposed that this +grass was recently plucked from the roadside by frolicsome +children, and flung upon the ground in sport, and this may +possibly have been the case; it is ten chances to one, however, +that no children’s hands plucked them, but that they were +strewed in this manner by Gypsies, for the purpose of informing +any of their companions, who might be straggling behind, the +route which they had taken; this is one form of the patteran or +trail. It is likely, too, that the gorgio reader may have +seen a cross drawn at the entrance of a road, the long part or +stem of it pointing down that particular road, and he may have +thought nothing of it, or have supposed that some sauntering +individual like himself had made the mark with his stick: not so, +courteous gorgio; ley tiro solloholomus opré lesti, <i>you +may take your oath upon it</i> that it was drawn by a Gypsy +finger, for that mark is another of the Rommany trails; there is +no mistake in this. Once in the south of France, when I was +weary, hungry, and penniless, I observed one of these last +patterans, and following the direction pointed out, arrived at +the resting-place of ‘certain Bohemians,’ by whom I +was received with kindness and hospitality, on the faith of no +other word of recommendation than patteran. There is also +another kind of patteran, which is more particularly adapted for +the night; it is a cleft stick stuck at the side of the road, +close by the hedge, with a little arm in the cleft pointing down +the road which the band have taken, in the manner of a signpost; +any stragglers who may arrive at night where cross-roads occur +search for this patteran on the left-hand side, and speedily +rejoin their companions.</p> +<p>By following these patterans, or trails, the first Gypsies on +their way to Europe never lost each other, though wandering +amidst horrid wildernesses and dreary defiles. Rommany +matters have always had a peculiar interest for me; nothing, +however, connected with Gypsy life ever more captivated my +imagination than this patteran system: many thanks to the Gypsies +for it; it has more than once been of service to me.</p> +<p>The English Gypsies at the present day are far from being a +numerous race; I consider their aggregate number, from the +opportunities which I have had of judging, to be considerably +under ten thousand: it is probable that, ere the conclusion of +the present century, they will have entirely disappeared. +They are in general quite strangers to the commonest rudiments of +education; few even of the most wealthy can either read or +write. With respect to religion, they call themselves +members of the Established Church, and are generally anxious to +have their children baptized, and to obtain a copy of the +register. Some of their baptismal papers, which they carry +about with them, are highly curious, going back for a period of +upwards of two hundred years. With respect to the essential +points of religion, they are quite careless and ignorant; if they +believe in a future state they dread it not, and if they manifest +when dying any anxiety, it is not for the soul, but the body: a +handsome coffin, and a grave in a quiet country churchyard, are +invariably the objects of their last thoughts; and it is probable +that, in their observance of the rite of baptism, they are +principally influenced by a desire to enjoy the privilege of +burial in consecrated ground. A Gypsy family never speak of +their dead save with regret and affection, and any request of the +dying individual is attended to, especially with regard to +interment; so much so, that I have known a corpse conveyed a +distance of nearly one hundred miles, because the deceased +expressed a wish to be buried in a particular spot.</p> +<p>Of the language of the English Gypsies, some specimens will be +given in the sequel; it is much more pure and copious than the +Spanish dialect. It has been asserted that the English +Gypsies are not possessed of any poetry in their own tongue; but +this is a gross error; they possess a great many songs and +ballads upon ordinary subjects, without any particular merit, +however, and seemingly of a very modern date.</p> +<h3>THE GYPSIES OF THE EAST, OR ZINGARRI</h3> +<p>What has been said of the Gypsies of Europe is, to a +considerable extent, applicable to their brethren in the East, +or, as they are called, Zingarri; they are either found wandering +amongst the deserts or mountains, or settled in towns, supporting +themselves by horse-dealing or jugglery, by music and song. +In no part of the East are they more numerous than in Turkey, +especially in Constantinople, where the females frequently enter +the harems of the great, pretending to cure children of +‘the evil eye,’ and to interpret the dreams of the +women. They are not unfrequently seen in the coffee-houses, +exhibiting their figures in lascivious dances to the tune of +various instruments; yet these females are by no means unchaste, +however their manners and appearance may denote the contrary, and +either Turk or Christian who, stimulated by their songs and +voluptuous movements, should address them with proposals of a +dishonourable nature, would, in all probability, meet with a +decided repulse.</p> +<p>Among the Zingarri are not a few who deal in precious stones, +and some who vend poisons; and the most remarkable individual +whom it has been my fortune to encounter amongst the Gypsies, +whether of the Eastern or Western world, was a person who dealt +in both these articles. He was a native of Constantinople, +and in the pursuit of his trade had visited the most remote and +remarkable portions of the world. He had traversed alone +and on foot the greatest part of India; he spoke several dialects +of the Malay, and understood the original language of Java, that +isle more fertile in poisons than even ‘far Iolchos and +Spain.’ From what I could learn from him, it appeared that +his jewels were in less request than his drugs, though he assured +me that there was scarcely a Bey or Satrap in Persia or Turkey +whom he had not supplied with both. I have seen this +individual in more countries than one, for he flits over the +world like the shadow of a cloud; the last time at Granada in +Spain, whither he had come after paying a visit to his +Gitáno brethren in the presidio of Ceuta.</p> +<p>Few Eastern authors have spoken of the Zingarri, +notwithstanding they have been known in the East for many +centuries; amongst the few, none has made more curious mention of +them than Arabschah, in a chapter of his life of Timour or +Tamerlane, which is deservedly considered as one of the three +classic works of Arabian literature. This passage, which, +while it serves to illustrate the craft, if not the valour of the +conqueror of half the world, offers some curious particulars as +to Gypsy life in the East at a remote period, will scarcely be +considered out of place if reproduced here, and the following is +as close a translation of it as the metaphorical style of the +original will allow.</p> +<blockquote><p>‘There were in Samarcand numerous families +of Zingarri of various descriptions: some were wrestlers, others +gladiators, others pugilists. These people were much at +variance, so that hostilities and battling were continually +arising amongst them. Each band had its chief and +subordinate officers; and it came to pass that Timour and the +power which he possessed filled them with dread, for they knew +that he was aware of their crimes and disorderly way of +life. Now it was the custom of Timour, on departing upon +his expeditions, to leave a viceroy in Samarcand; but no sooner +had he left the city, than forth marched these bands, and giving +battle to the viceroy, deposed him and took possession of the +government, so that on the return of Timour he found order +broken, confusion reigning, and his throne overturned, and then +he had much to do in restoring things to their former state, and +in punishing or pardoning the guilty; but no sooner did he depart +again to his wars, and to his various other concerns, than they +broke out into the same excesses, and this they repeated no less +than three times, and he at length laid a plan for their utter +extermination, and it was the following:—He commenced +building a wall, and he summoned unto him the people small and +great, and he allotted to every man his place, and to every +workman his duty, and he stationed the Zingarri and their +chieftains apart; and in one particular spot he placed a band of +soldiers, and he commanded them to kill whomsoever he should send +to them; and having done so, he called to him the heads of the +people, and he filled the cup for them and clothed them in +splendid vests; and when the turn came to the Zingarri, he +likewise pledged one of them, and bestowed a vest upon him, and +sent him with a message to the soldiers, who, as soon as he +arrived, tore from him his vest, and stabbed him, pouring forth +the gold of his heart into the pan of destruction, <a +name="citation36"></a><a href="#footnote36" +class="citation">[36]</a> and in this way they continued until +the last of them was destroyed; and by that blow he exterminated +their race, and their traces, and from that time forward there +were no more rebellions in Samarcand.’</p> +</blockquote> +<p>It has of late years been one of the favourite theories of the +learned, that Timour’s invasion of Hindostan, and the +cruelties committed by his savage hordes in that part of the +world, caused a vast number of Hindoos to abandon their native +land, and that the Gypsies of the present day are the descendants +of those exiles who wended their weary way to the West. +Now, provided the above passage in the work of Arabschah be +entitled to credence, the opinion that Timour was the cause of +the expatriation and subsequent wandering life of these people, +must be abandoned as untenable. At the time he is stated by +the Arabian writer to have annihilated the Gypsy hordes of +Samarcand, he had but just commenced his career of conquest and +devastation, and had not even directed his thoughts to the +invasion of India; yet at this early period of the history of his +life, we find families of Zingarri established at Samarcand, +living much in the same manner as others of the race have +subsequently done in various towns of Europe and the East; but +supposing the event here narrated to be a fable, or at best a +floating legend, it appears singular that, if they left their +native land to escape from Timour, they should never have +mentioned in the Western world the name of that scourge of the +human race, nor detailed the history of their flight and +sufferings, which assuredly would have procured them sympathy; +the ravages of Timour being already but too well known in +Europe. That they came from India is much easier to prove +than that they fled before the fierce Mongol.</p> +<p>Such people as the Gypsies, whom the Bishop of Forli in the +year 1422, only sixteen years subsequent to the invasion of +India, describes as a ‘raging rabble, of brutal and animal +propensities,’ <a name="citation37"></a><a +href="#footnote37" class="citation">[37]</a> are not such as +generally abandon their country on foreign invasion.</p> +<h2><a name="page41"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 41</span>THE +ZINCALI<br /> +PART I</h2> +<h3>CHAPTER I</h3> +<p><span class="smcap">Gitános</span>, or Egyptians, is +the name by which the Gypsies have been most generally known in +Spain, in the ancient as well as in the modern period, but +various other names have been and still are applied to them; for +example, New Castilians, Germans, and Flemings; the first of +which titles probably originated after the name of Gitáno +had begun to be considered a term of reproach and infamy. +They may have thus designated themselves from an unwillingness to +utter, when speaking of themselves, the detested expression +‘Gitáno,’ a word which seldom escapes their +mouths; or it may have been applied to them first by the +Spaniards, in their mutual dealings and communication, as a term +less calculated to wound their feelings and to beget a spirit of +animosity than the other; but, however it might have originated, +New Castilian, in course of time, became a term of little less +infamy than Gitáno; for, by the law of Philip the Fourth, +both terms are forbidden to be applied to them under severe +penalties.</p> +<p>That they were called Germans, may be accounted for, either by +the supposition that their generic name of Rommany was +misunderstood and mispronounced by the Spaniards amongst whom +they came, or from the fact of their having passed through +Germany in their way to the south, and bearing passports and +letters of safety from the various German states. The title +of Flemings, by which at the present day they are known in +various parts of Spain, would probably never have been bestowed +upon them but from the circumstance of their having been +designated or believed to be Germans,—as German and Fleming +are considered by the ignorant as synonymous terms.</p> +<p>Amongst themselves they have three words to distinguish them +and their race in general: Zíncalo, Romanó, and +Chai; of the first two of which something has been already +said.</p> +<p>They likewise call themselves ‘Cales,’ by which +appellation indeed they are tolerably well known by the +Spaniards, and which is merely the plural termination of the +compound word Zíncalo, and signifies, The black men. +Chai is a modification of the word Chal, which, by the +Gitános of Estremadura, is applied to Egypt, and in many +parts of Spain is equivalent to ‘Heaven,’ and which +is perhaps a modification of ‘Cheros,’ the word for +heaven in other dialects of the Gypsy language. Thus Chai +may denote, The men of Egypt, or, The sons of Heaven. It +is, however, right to observe, that amongst the Gitános, +the word Chai has frequently no other signification than the +simple one of ‘children.’</p> +<p>It is impossible to state for certainty the exact year of +their first appearance in Spain; but it is reasonable to presume +that it was early in the fifteenth century; as in the year 1417 +numerous bands entered France from the north-east of Europe, and +speedily spread themselves over the greatest part of that +country. Of these wanderers a French author has left the +following graphic description: <a name="citation43"></a><a +href="#footnote43" class="citation">[43]</a></p> +<blockquote><p>‘On the 17th of April 1427, appeared in +Paris twelve penitents of Egypt, driven from thence by the +Saracens; they brought in their company one hundred and twenty +persons; they took up their quarters in La Chapelle, whither the +people flocked in crowds to visit them. They had their ears +pierced, from which depended a ring of silver; their hair was +black and crispy, and their women were filthy to a degree, and +were sorceresses who told fortunes.’</p> +</blockquote> +<p>Such were the people who, after traversing France and scaling +the sides of the Pyrenees, poured down in various bands upon the +sunburnt plains of Spain. Wherever they had appeared they +had been looked upon as a curse and a pestilence, and with much +reason. Either unwilling or unable to devote themselves to +any laborious or useful occupation, they came like flights of +wasps to prey upon the fruits which their more industrious +fellow-beings amassed by the toil of their hands and the sweat of +their foreheads; the natural result being, that wherever they +arrived, their fellow-creatures banded themselves against +them. Terrible laws were enacted soon after their +appearance in France, calculated to put a stop to their frauds +and dishonest propensities; wherever their hordes were found, +they were attacked by the incensed rustics or by the armed hand +of justice, and those who were not massacred on the spot, or +could not escape by flight, were, without a shadow of a trial, +either hanged on the next tree, or sent to serve for life in the +galleys; or if females or children, either scourged or +mutilated.</p> +<p>The consequence of this severity, which, considering the +manners and spirit of the time, is scarcely to be wondered at, +was the speedy disappearance of the Gypsies from the soil of +France.</p> +<p>Many returned by the way they came, to Germany, Hungary, and +the woods and forests of Bohemia; but there is little doubt that +by far the greater portion found a refuge in the Peninsula, a +country which, though by no means so rich and fertile as the one +they had quitted, nor offering so wide and ready a field for the +exercise of those fraudulent arts for which their race had become +so infamously notorious, was, nevertheless, in many respects, +suitable and congenial to them. If there were less gold and +silver in the purses of the citizens to reward the dexterous +handler of the knife and scissors amidst the crowd in the +market-place; if fewer sides of fatted swine graced the ample +chimney of the labourer in Spain than in the neighbouring +country; if fewer beeves bellowed in the plains, and fewer sheep +bleated upon the hills, there were far better opportunities +afforded of indulging in wild independence. Should the +halberded bands of the city be ordered out to quell, seize, or +exterminate them; should the alcalde of the village cause the +tocsin to be rung, gathering together the villanos for a similar +purpose, the wild sierra was generally at hand, which, with its +winding paths, its caves, its frowning precipices, and ragged +thickets, would offer to them a secure refuge where they might +laugh to scorn the rage of their baffled pursuers, and from which +they might emerge either to fresh districts or to those which +they had left, to repeat their ravages when opportunity +served.</p> +<p>After crossing the Pyrenees, a very short time elapsed before +the Gypsy hordes had bivouacked in the principal provinces of +Spain. There can indeed be little doubt, that shortly after +their arrival they made themselves perfectly acquainted with all +the secrets of the land, and that there was scarcely a nook or +retired corner within Spain, from which the smoke of their fires +had not arisen, or where their cattle had not grazed. +People, however, so acute as they have always proverbially been, +would scarcely be slow in distinguishing the provinces most +adapted to their manner of life, and most calculated to afford +them opportunities of practising those arts to which they were +mainly indebted for their subsistence; the savage hills of +Biscay, of Galicia, and the Asturias, whose inhabitants were +almost as poor as themselves, which possessed no superior breed +of horses or mules from amongst which they might pick and purloin +many a gallant beast, and having transformed by their dexterous +scissors, impose him again upon his rightful master for a high +price,—such provinces, where, moreover, provisions were +hard to be obtained, even by pilfering hands, could scarcely be +supposed to offer strong temptations to these roving visitors to +settle down in, or to vex and harass by a long sojourn.</p> +<p>Valencia and Murcia found far more favour in their eyes; a far +more fertile soil, and wealthier inhabitants, were better +calculated to entice them; there was a prospect of plunder, and +likewise a prospect of safety and refuge, should the dogs of +justice be roused against them. If there were the populous +town and village in those lands, there was likewise the lone +waste, and uncultivated spot, to which they could retire when +danger threatened them. Still more suitable to them must +have been La Mancha, a land of tillage, of horses, and of mules, +skirted by its brown sierra, ever eager to afford its shelter to +their dusky race. Equally suitable, Estremadura and New +Castile; but far, far more, Andalusia, with its three kingdoms, +Jaen, Granada, and Seville, one of which was still possessed by +the swarthy Moor,—Andalusia, the land of the proud steed +and the stubborn mule, the land of the savage sierra and the +fruitful and cultivated plain: to Andalusia they hied, in bands +of thirties and sixties; the hoofs of their asses might be heard +clattering in the passes of the stony hills; the girls might be +seen bounding in lascivious dance in the streets of many a town, +and the beldames standing beneath the eaves telling the +‘buena ventura’ to many a credulous female dupe; the +men the while chaffered in the fair and market-place with the +labourers and chalanes, casting significant glances on each +other, or exchanging a word or two in Rommany, whilst they placed +some uncouth animal in a particular posture which served to +conceal its ugliness from the eyes of the chapman. Yes, of +all provinces of Spain, Andalusia was the most frequented by the +Gitáno race, and in Andalusia they most abound at the +present day, though no longer as restless independent wanderers +of the fields and hills, but as residents in villages and towns, +especially in Seville.</p> +<h3><a name="page48"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +48</span>CHAPTER II</h3> +<p><span class="smcap">Having</span> already stated to the reader +at what period and by what means these wanderers introduced +themselves into Spain, we shall now say something concerning +their manner of life.</p> +<p>It would appear that, for many years after their arrival in +the Peninsula, their manners and habits underwent no change; they +were wanderers, in the strictest sense of the word, and lived +much in the same way as their brethren exist in the present day +in England, Russia, and Bessarabia, with the exception perhaps of +being more reckless, mischievous, and having less respect for the +laws; it is true that their superiority in wickedness in these +points may have been more the effect of the moral state of the +country in which they were, than of any other operating +cause.</p> +<p>Arriving in Spain with a predisposition to every species of +crime and villainy, they were not likely to be improved or +reclaimed by the example of the people with whom they were about +to mix; nor was it probable that they would entertain much +respect for laws which, from time immemorial, have principally +served, not to protect the honest and useful members of society, +but to enrich those entrusted with the administration of +them. Thus, if they came thieves, it is not probable that +they would become ashamed of the title of thief in Spain, where +the officers of justice were ever willing to shield an offender +on receiving the largest portion of the booty obtained. If +on their arrival they held the lives of others in very low +estimation, could it be expected that they would become gentle as +lambs in a land where blood had its price, and the shedder was +seldom executed unless he was poor and friendless, and unable to +cram with ounces of yellow gold the greedy hands of the pursuers +of blood,—the alguazil and escribano? therefore, if the +Spanish Gypsies have been more bloody and more wolfishly eager in +the pursuit of booty than those of their race in most other +regions, the cause must be attributed to their residence in a +country unsound in every branch of its civil polity, where right +has ever been in less esteem, and wrong in less disrepute, than +in any other part of the world.</p> +<p>However, if the moral state of Spain was not calculated to +have a favourable effect on the habits and pursuits of the +Gypsies, their manners were as little calculated to operate +beneficially, in any point of view, on the country where they had +lately arrived. Divided into numerous bodies, frequently +formidable in point of number, their presence was an evil and a +curse in whatever quarter they directed their steps. As +might be expected, the labourers, who in all countries are the +most honest, most useful, and meritorious class, were the +principal sufferers; their mules and horses were stolen, carried +away to distant fairs, and there disposed of, perhaps, to +individuals destined to be deprived <a name="page50"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 50</span>of them in a similar manner; whilst +their flocks of sheep and goats were laid under requisition to +assuage the hungry cravings of these thievish cormorants.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p50b.jpg"> +<img alt= +"The Rearguard of the Marching Gypsies" +title= +"The Rearguard of the Marching Gypsies" + src="images/p50s.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>It was not uncommon for a large band or tribe to encamp in the +vicinity of a remote village scantily peopled, and to remain +there until, like a flight of locusts, they had consumed +everything which the inhabitants possessed for their support; or +until they were scared away by the approach of justice, or by an +army of rustics assembled from the surrounding country. +Then would ensue the hurried march; the women and children, +mounted on lean but spirited asses, would scour along the plains +fleeter than the wind; ragged and savage-looking men, wielding +the scourge and goad, would scamper by their side or close +behind, whilst perhaps a small party on strong horses, armed with +rusty matchlocks or sabres, would bring up the rear, threatening +the distant foe, and now and then saluting them with a hoarse +blast from the Gypsy horn:—</p> +<blockquote><p>‘O, when I sit my courser bold,<br /> + My bantling in my rear,<br /> +And in my hand my musket hold—<br /> + O how they quake with fear!’</p> +</blockquote> +<p>Let us for a moment suppose some unfortunate traveller, +mounted on a handsome mule or beast of some value, meeting, +unarmed and alone, such a rabble rout at the close of eve, in the +wildest part, for example, of La Mancha; we will suppose that he +is journeying from Seville to Madrid, and that he has left at a +considerable distance behind him the gloomy and horrible passes +of the Sierra Morena; his bosom, which for some time past has +been contracted with dreadful forebodings, is beginning to +expand; his blood, which has been congealed in his veins, is +beginning to circulate warmly and freely; he is fondly +anticipating the still distant posada and savoury omelet. +The sun is sinking rapidly behind the savage and uncouth hills in +his rear; he has reached the bottom of a small valley, where runs +a rivulet at which he allows his tired animal to drink; he is +about to ascend the side of the hill; his eyes are turned +upwards; suddenly he beholds strange and uncouth forms at the top +of the ascent—the sun descending slants its rays upon red +cloaks, with here and there a turbaned head, or long streaming +hair. The traveller hesitates, but reflecting that he is no +longer in the mountains, and that in the open road there is no +danger of banditti, he advances. In a moment he is in the +midst of the Gypsy group, in a moment there is a general halt; +fiery eyes are turned upon him replete with an expression which +only the eyes of the Roma possess, then ensues a jabber in a +language or jargon which is strange to the ears of the traveller; +at last an ugly urchin springs from the crupper of a halting +mule, and in a lisping accent entreats charity in the name of the +Virgin and the Majoro. The traveller, with a faltering +hand, produces his purse, and is proceeding to loosen its +strings, but he accomplishes not his purpose, for, struck +violently by a huge knotted club in an unseen hand, he tumbles +headlong from his mule. Next morning a naked corse, +besmeared with brains and <a name="page52"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 52</span>blood, is found by an arriéro; +and within a week a simple cross records the event, according to +the custom of Spain.</p> +<blockquote><p>‘Below there in the dusky pass<br /> + Was wrought a murder dread;<br /> +The murdered fell upon the grass,<br /> + Away the murderer fled.’</p> +</blockquote> +<p>To many, such a scene, as above described, will appear purely +imaginary, or at least a mass of exaggeration, but many such +anecdotes are related by old Spanish writers of these people; +they traversed the country in gangs; they were what the Spanish +law has styled Abigeos and Salteadores de Camino, cattle-stealers +and highwaymen; though, in the latter character, they never rose +to any considerable eminence. True it is that they would +not hesitate to attack or even murder the unarmed and defenceless +traveller, when they felt assured of obtaining booty with little +or no risk to themselves; but they were not by constitution +adapted to rival those bold and daring banditti of whom so many +terrible anecdotes are related in Spain and Italy, and who have +acquired their renown by the dauntless daring which they have +invariably displayed in the pursuit of plunder.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p52b.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Travellers attacked by the Gitános" +title= +"Travellers attacked by the Gitános" + src="images/p52s.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>Besides trafficking in horses and mules, and now and then +attacking and plundering travellers upon the highway, the Gypsies +of Spain appear, from a very early period, to have plied +occasionally the trade of the blacksmith, and to have worked in +iron, forming rude implements of domestic and agricultural use, +which they disposed of, either for provisions or money, in the +neighbourhood of those places where they had taken up their +temporary residence. As their bands were composed of +numerous individuals, there is no improbability in assuming that +to every member was allotted that branch of labour in which he +was most calculated to excel. The most important, and that +which required the greatest share of cunning and address, was +undoubtedly that of the chalan or jockey, who frequented the +fairs with the beasts which he had obtained by various means, but +generally by theft. Highway robbery, though occasionally +committed by all jointly or severally, was probably the peculiar +department of the boldest spirits of the gang; whilst wielding +the hammer and tongs was abandoned to those who, though possessed +of athletic forms, were perhaps, like Vulcan, lame, or from some +particular cause, moral or physical, unsuited for the other two +very respectable avocations. The forge was generally placed +in the heart of some mountain abounding in wood; the gaunt smiths +felled a tree, perhaps with the very axes which their own sturdy +hands had hammered at a former period; with the wood thus +procured they prepared the charcoal which their labour +demanded. Everything is in readiness; the bellows puff +until the coal is excited to a furious glow; the metal, hot, +pliant, and ductile, is laid on the anvil, round which stands the +Cyclop group, their hammers upraised; down they descend +successively, one, two, three, the sparks are scattered on every +side. The sparks—</p> +<blockquote><p>‘More than a hundred lovely daughters I see +produced at one time, fiery as roses: in one moment they expire +gracefully circumvolving.’ <a name="citation54"></a><a +href="#footnote54" class="citation">[54]</a></p> +<p>The anvil rings beneath the thundering stroke, hour succeeds +hour, and still endures the hard sullen toil.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>One of the most remarkable features in the history of Gypsies +is the striking similarity of their pursuits in every region of +the globe to which they have penetrated; they are not merely +alike in limb and in feature, in the cast and expression of the +eye, in the colour of the hair, in their walk and gait, but +everywhere they seem to exhibit the same tendencies, and to hunt +for their bread by the same means, as if they were not of the +human but rather of the animal species, and in lieu of reason +were endowed with a kind of instinct which assists them to a very +limited extent and no farther.</p> +<p>In no part of the world are they found engaged in the +cultivation of the earth, or in the service of a regular master; +but in all lands they are jockeys, or thieves, or cheats; and if +ever they devote themselves to any toil or trade, it is assuredly +in every material point one and the same. We have found +them above, in the heart of a wild mountain, hammering iron, and +manufacturing from it instruments either for their own use or +that of the neighbouring towns and villages. They may be +seen employed in a similar manner in the plains of Russia, or in +the bosom of its eternal forests; and whoever inspects the site +where a horde of Gypsies has encamped, in the grassy lanes +beneath the hazel bushes of merry England, is generally sure to +find relics of tin and other metal, avouching that they have +there been exercising the arts of the tinker or smith. +Perhaps nothing speaks more forcibly for the antiquity of this +sect or caste than the tenacity with which they have uniformly +preserved their peculiar customs since the period of their +becoming generally known; for, unless their habits had become a +part of their nature, which could only have been effected by a +strict devotion to them through a long succession of generations, +it is not to be supposed that after their arrival in civilised +Europe they would have retained and cherished them precisely in +the same manner in the various countries where they found an +asylum.</p> +<p>Each band or family of the Spanish Gypsies had its Captain, +or, as he was generally designated, its Count. Don Juan de +Quiñones, who, in a small volume published in 1632, has +written some details respecting their way of life, says: +‘They roam about, divided into families and troops, each of +which has its head or Count; and to fill this office they choose +the most valiant and courageous individual amongst them, and the +one endowed with the greatest strength. He must at the same +time be crafty and sagacious, and adapted in every respect to +govern them. It is he who settles their differences and +disputes, even when they are residing in a place where there is a +regular justice. He heads them at night when they go out to +plunder the flocks, or to rob travellers on the highway; and +whatever they steal or plunder they divide amongst them, always +allowing the captain a third part of the whole.’</p> +<p>These Counts, being elected for such qualities as promised to +be useful to their troop or family, were consequently liable to +be deposed if at any time their conduct was not calculated to +afford satisfaction to their subjects. The office was not +hereditary, and though it carried along with it partial +privileges, was both toilsome and dangerous. Should the +plans for plunder, which it was the duty of the Count to form, +miscarry in the attempt to execute them; should individuals of +the gang fall into the hand of justice, and the Count be unable +to devise a method to save their lives or obtain their liberty, +the blame was cast at the Count’s door, and he was in +considerable danger of being deprived of his insignia of +authority, which consisted not so much in ornaments or in dress, +as in hawks and hounds with which the Señor Count took the +diversion of hunting when he thought proper. As the ground +which he hunted over was not his own, he incurred some danger of +coming in contact with the lord of the soil, attended, perhaps, +by his armed followers. There is a tradition (rather +apocryphal, it is true), that a Gitáno chief, once +pursuing this amusement, was encountered by a real Count, who is +styled Count Pepe. An engagement ensued between the two +parties, which ended in the Gypsies being worsted, and their +chief left dying on the field. The slain chief leaves a +son, who, at the instigation of his mother, steals the infant +heir of his father’s enemy, who, reared up amongst the +Gypsies, becomes a chief, and, in process of time, hunting over +the same ground, slays Count Pepe in the very spot where the +blood of the Gypsy had been poured out. This tradition is +alluded to in the following stanza:—</p> +<blockquote><p>‘I have a gallant mare in stall;<br /> + My mother gave that mare<br /> +That I might seek Count Pepe’s hall<br /> + And steal his son and heir.’</p> +</blockquote> +<p>Martin Del Rio, in his <i>Tractatus de Magia</i>, speaks of +the Gypsies and their Counts to the following effect: +‘When, in the year 1584, I was marching in Spain with the +regiment, a multitude of these wretches were infesting the +fields. It happened that the feast of Corpus Domini was +being celebrated, and they requested to be admitted into the +town, that they might dance in honour of the sacrifice, as was +customary; they did so, but about midday a great tumult arose +owing to the many thefts which the women committed, whereupon +they fled out of the suburbs, and assembled about St. +Mark’s, the magnificent mansion and hospital of the knights +of St. James, where the ministers of justice attempting to seize +them were repulsed by force of arms; nevertheless, all of a +sudden, and I know not how, everything was hushed up. At +this time they had a Count, a fellow who spoke the Castilian +idiom with as much purity as if he had been a native of Toledo; +he was acquainted with all the ports of Spain, and all the +difficult and broken ground of the provinces. He knew the +exact strength of every city, and who were the principal people +in each, and the exact amount of their property; there was +nothing relating to the state, however secret, that he was not +acquainted with; nor did he make a mystery of his knowledge, but +publicly boasted of it.’</p> +<p>From the passage quoted above, we learn that the +Gitános in the ancient times were considered as foreigners +who prowled about the country; indeed, in many of the laws which +at various times have been promulgated against them, they are +spoken of as Egyptians, and as such commanded to leave Spain, and +return to their native country; at one time they undoubtedly were +foreigners in Spain, foreigners by birth, foreigners by language +but at the time they are mentioned by the worthy Del Rio, they +were certainly not entitled to the appellation. True it is +that they spoke a language amongst themselves, unintelligible to +the rest of the Spaniards, from whom they differed considerably +in feature and complexion, as they still do; but if being born in +a country, and being bred there, constitute a right to be +considered a native of that country, they had as much claim to +the appellation of Spaniards as the worthy author himself. +Del Rio mentions, as a remarkable circumstance, the fact of the +Gypsy Count speaking Castilian with as much purity as a native of +Toledo, whereas it is by no means improbable that the individual +in question was a native of that town; but the truth is, at the +time we are speaking of, they were generally believed to be not +only foreigners, but by means of sorcery to have acquired the +power of speaking all languages with equal facility; and Del Rio, +who was a believer in magic, and wrote one of the most curious +and erudite treatises on the subject ever penned, had perhaps +adopted that idea, which possibly originated from their speaking +most of the languages and dialects of the Peninsula, which they +picked up in their wanderings. That the Gypsy chief was so +well acquainted with every town of Spain, and the broken and +difficult ground, can cause but little surprise, when we reflect +that the life which the Gypsies led was one above all others +calculated to afford them that knowledge. They were +continually at variance with justice; they were frequently +obliged to seek shelter in the inmost recesses of the hills; and +when their thievish pursuits led them to the cities, they +naturally made themselves acquainted with the names of the +principal individuals, in hopes of plundering them. +Doubtless the chief possessed all this species of knowledge in a +superior degree, as it was his courage, acuteness, and experience +alone which placed him at the head of his tribe, though Del Rio +from this circumstance wishes to infer that the Gitános +were spies sent by foreign foes, and with some simplicity +inquires, ‘Quo ant cui rei hæc curiosa exploratio? +nonne compescenda vagamundorum hæc curiositas, etiam si +solum peregrini et inculpatæ vitæ.’</p> +<p>With the Counts rested the management and direction of these +remarkable societies; it was they who determined their marches, +counter-marches, advances, and retreats; what was to be attempted +or avoided; what individuals were to be admitted into the +fellowship and privileges of the Gitános, or who were to +be excluded from their society; they settled disputes and sat in +judgment over offences. The greatest crimes, according to +the Gypsy code, were a quarrelsome disposition, and revealing the +secrets of the brotherhood. By this code the members were +forbidden to eat, drink, or sleep in the house of a Busno, which +signifies any person who is not of the sect of the Gypsies, or to +marry out of that sect; they were likewise not to teach the +language of Roma to any but those who, by birth or inauguration, +belonged to that sect; they were enjoined to relieve their +brethren in distress at any expense or peril; they were to use a +peculiar dress, which is frequently alluded to in the Spanish +laws, but the particulars of which are not stated; and they were +to cultivate the gift of speech to the utmost possible extent, +and never to lose anything which might be obtained by a loose and +deceiving tongue, to encourage which they had many excellent +proverbs, for example—</p> +<blockquote><p>‘The poor fool who closes his mouth never +winneth a dollar.’</p> +<p>‘The river which runneth with sound bears along with it +stones and water.’</p> +</blockquote> +<h3><a name="page61"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +61</span>CHAPTER III</h3> +<p><span class="smcap">The</span> Gitános not unfrequently +made their appearance in considerable numbers, so as to be able +to bid defiance to any force which could be assembled against +them on a sudden; whole districts thus became a prey to them, and +were plundered and devastated.</p> +<p>It is said that, in the year 1618, more than eight hundred of +these wretches scoured the country between Castile and Aragon, +committing the most enormous crimes. The royal council +despatched regular troops against them, who experienced some +difficulty in dispersing them.</p> +<p>But we now proceed to touch upon an event which forms an era +in the history of the Gitános of Spain, and which for +wildness and singularity throws all other events connected with +them and their race, wherever found, entirely into the shade.</p> +<h4>THE BOOKSELLER OF LOGROÑO</h4> +<p>About the middle of the sixteenth century, there resided one +Francisco Alvarez in the city of Logroño, the chief town +of Rioja, a province which borders on Aragon. He was a man +above the middle age, sober, reserved, and in general absorbed in +thought; he lived near the great church, and obtained a +livelihood by selling printed books and manuscripts in a small +shop. He was a very learned man, and was continually +reading in the books which he was in the habit of selling, and +some of these books were in foreign tongues and characters, so +foreign, indeed, that none but himself and some of his friends, +the canons, could understand them; he was much visited by the +clergy, who were his principal customers, and took much pleasure +in listening to his discourse.</p> +<p>He had been a considerable traveller in his youth, and had +wandered through all Spain, visiting the various provinces and +the most remarkable cities. It was likewise said that he +had visited Italy and Barbary. He was, however, invariably +silent with respect to his travels, and whenever the subject was +mentioned to him, the gloom and melancholy increased which +usually clouded his features.</p> +<p>One day, in the commencement of autumn, he was visited by a +priest with whom he had long been intimate, and for whom he had +always displayed a greater respect and liking than for any other +acquaintance. The ecclesiastic found him even more sad than +usual, and there was a haggard paleness upon his countenance +which alarmed his visitor. The good priest made +affectionate inquiries respecting the health of his friend, and +whether anything had of late occurred to give him uneasiness; +adding at the same time, that he had long suspected that some +secret lay heavy upon his mind, which he now conjured him to +reveal, as life was uncertain, and it was very possible that he +might be quickly summoned from earth into the presence of his +Maker.</p> +<p>The bookseller continued for some time in gloomy meditation, +till at last he broke silence in these words:—‘It is +true I have a secret which weighs heavy upon my mind, and which I +am still loth to reveal; but I have a presentiment that my end is +approaching, and that a heavy misfortune is about to fall upon +this city: I will therefore unburden myself, for it were now a +sin to remain silent.</p> +<p>‘I am, as you are aware, a native of this town, which I +first left when I went to acquire an education at Salamanca; I +continued there until I became a licentiate, when I quitted the +university and strolled through Spain, supporting myself in +general by touching the guitar, according to the practice of +penniless students; my adventures were numerous, and I frequently +experienced great poverty. Once, whilst making my way from +Toledo to Andalusia through the wild mountains, I fell in with +and was made captive by a band of the people called +Gitános, or wandering Egyptians; they in general lived +amongst these wilds, and plundered or murdered every person whom +they met. I should probably have been assassinated by them, +but my skill in music perhaps saved my life. I continued +with them a considerable time, till at last they persuaded me to +become one of them, whereupon I was inaugurated into their +society with many strange and horrid ceremonies, and having thus +become a Gitáno, I went with them to plunder and +assassinate upon the roads.</p> +<p>‘The Count or head man of these Gitános had an +only daughter, about my own age; she was very beautiful, but, at +the same time, exceedingly strong and robust; this Gitána +was given to me as a wife or cadjee, and I lived with her several +years, and she bore me children.</p> +<p>‘My wife was an arrant Gitána, and in her all the +wickedness of her race seemed to be concentrated. At last +her father was killed in an affray with the troopers of the +Hermandad, whereupon my wife and myself succeeded to the +authority which he had formerly exercised in the tribe. We +had at first loved each other, but at last the Gitáno +life, with its accompanying wickedness, becoming hateful to my +eyes, my wife, who was not slow in perceiving my altered +disposition, conceived for me the most deadly hatred; +apprehending that I meditated withdrawing myself from the +society, and perhaps betraying the secrets of the band, she +formed a conspiracy against me, and, at one time, being opposite +the Moorish coast, I was seized and bound by the other +Gitános, conveyed across the sea, and delivered as a slave +into the hands of the Moors.</p> +<p>‘I continued for a long time in slavery in various parts +of Morocco and Fez, until I was at length redeemed from my state +of bondage by a missionary friar who paid my ransom. With +him I shortly after departed for Italy, of which he was a +native. In that country I remained some years, until a +longing to revisit my native land seized me, when I returned to +Spain and established myself here, where I have since lived by +vending books, many of which I brought from the strange lands +which I visited. I kept my history, however, a profound +secret, being afraid of exposing myself to the laws in force +against the Gitános, to which I should instantly become +amenable, were it once known that I had at any time been a member +of this detestable sect.</p> +<p>‘My present wretchedness, of which you have demanded the +cause, dates from yesterday; I had been on a short journey to the +Augustine convent, which stands on the plain in the direction of +Saragossa, carrying with me an Arabian book, which a learned monk +was desirous of seeing. Night overtook me ere I could +return. I speedily lost my way, and wandered about until I +came near a dilapidated edifice with which I was acquainted; I +was about to proceed in the direction of the town, when I heard +voices within the ruined walls; I listened, and recognised the +language of the abhorred Gitános; I was about to fly, when +a word arrested me. It was Drao, which in their tongue +signifies the horrid poison with which this race are in the habit +of destroying the cattle; they now said that the men of +Logroño should rue the Drao which they had been +casting. I heard no more, but fled. What increased my +fear was, that in the words spoken, I thought I recognised the +peculiar jargon of my own tribe; I repeat, that I believe some +horrible misfortune is overhanging this city, and that my own +days are numbered.’</p> +<p>The priest, having conversed with him for some time upon +particular points of the history that he had related, took his +leave, advising him to compose his spirits, as he saw no reason +why he should indulge in such gloomy forebodings.</p> +<p>The very next day a sickness broke out in the town of +Logroño. It was one of a peculiar kind; unlike most +others, it did not arise by slow and gradual degrees, but at once +appeared in full violence, in the shape of a terrific +epidemic. Dizziness in the head was the first symptom: then +convulsive retchings, followed by a dreadful struggle between +life and death, which generally terminated in favour of the grim +destroyer. The bodies, after the spirit which animated them +had taken flight, were frightfully swollen, and exhibited a dark +blue colour, checkered with crimson spots. Nothing was +heard within the houses or the streets, but groans of agony; no +remedy was at hand, and the powers of medicine were exhausted in +vain upon this terrible pest; so that within a few days the +greatest part of the inhabitants of Logroño had +perished. The bookseller had not been seen since the +commencement of this frightful visitation.</p> +<p>Once, at the dead of night, a knock was heard at the door of +the priest, of whom we have already spoken; the priest himself +staggered to the door, and opened it,—he was the only one +who remained alive in the house, and was himself slowly +recovering from the malady which had destroyed all the other +inmates; a wild spectral-looking figure presented itself to his +eye—it was his friend Alvarez. Both went into the +house, when the bookseller, glancing gloomily on the wasted +features of the priest, exclaimed, ‘You too, I see, amongst +others, have cause to rue the Drao which the Gitános have +cast. Know,’ he continued, ‘that in order to +accomplish a detestable plan, the fountains of Logroño +have been poisoned by emissaries of the roving bands, who are now +assembled in the neighbourhood. On the first appearance of +the disorder, from which I happily escaped by tasting the water +of a private fountain, which I possess in my own house, I +instantly recognised the effects of the poison of the +Gitános, brought by their ancestors from the isles of the +Indian sea; and suspecting their intentions, I disguised myself +as a Gitáno, and went forth in the hope of being able to +act as a spy upon their actions. I have been successful, +and am at present thoroughly acquainted with their designs. +They intended, from the first, to sack the town, as soon as it +should have been emptied of its defenders.</p> +<p>‘Midday, to-morrow, is the hour in which they have +determined to make the attempt. There is no time to be +lost; let us, therefore, warn those of our townsmen who still +survive, in order that they may make preparations for their +defence.’</p> +<p>Whereupon the two friends proceeded to the chief magistrate, +who had been but slightly affected by the disorder; he heard the +tale of the bookseller with horror and astonishment, and +instantly took the best measures possible for frustrating the +designs of the Gitános; all the men capable of bearing +arms in Logroño were assembled, and weapons of every +description put in their hands. By the advice of the +bookseller all the gates of the town were shut, with the +exception of the principal one; and the little band of defenders, +which barely amounted to sixty men, was stationed in the great +square, to which, he said, it was the intention of the +Gitános to penetrate in the first instance, and then, +dividing themselves into various parties, to sack the +place. The bookseller was, by general desire, constituted +leader of the guardians of the town.</p> +<p>It was considerably past noon; the sky was overcast, and +tempest clouds, fraught with lightning and thunder, were hanging +black and horrid over the town of Logroño. The +little troop, resting on their arms, stood awaiting the arrival +of their unnatural enemies; rage fired their minds as they +thought of the deaths of their fathers, their sons, and their +dearest relatives, who had perished, not by the hand of God, but, +like infected cattle, by the hellish arts of Egyptian +sorcerers. They longed for their appearance, determined to +wreak upon them a bloody revenge; not a word was uttered, and +profound silence reigned around, only interrupted by the +occasional muttering of the thunder-clouds. Suddenly, +Alvarez, who had been intently listening, raised his hand with a +significant gesture; presently, a sound was heard—a +rustling like the waving of trees, or the rushing of distant +water; it gradually increased, and seemed to proceed from the +narrow street which led from the principal gate into the +square. All eyes were turned in that direction. . . .</p> +<p>That night there was repique or ringing of bells in the towers +of Logroño, and the few priests who had escaped from the +pestilence sang litanies to God and the Virgin for the salvation +of the town from the hands of the heathen. The attempt of +the Gitános had been most signally defeated, and the great +square and the street were strewn with their corpses. Oh! +what frightful objects: there lay grim men more black than +mulattos, with fury and rage in their stiffened features; wild +women in extraordinary dresses, their hair, black and long as the +tail of the horse, spread all dishevelled upon the ground; and +gaunt and naked children grasping knives and daggers in their +tiny hands. Of the patriotic troop not one appeared to have +fallen; and when, after their enemies had retreated with howlings +of fiendish despair, they told their numbers, only one man was +missing, who was never seen again, and that man was Alvarez.</p> +<p>In the midst of the combat, the tempest, which had for a long +time been gathering, burst over Logroño, in lightning, +thunder, darkness, and vehement hail.</p> +<p>A man of the town asserted that the last time he had seen +Alvarez, the latter was far in advance of his companions, +defending himself desperately against three powerful young +heathen, who seemed to be acting under the direction of a tall +woman who stood nigh, covered with barbaric ornaments, and +wearing on her head a rude silver crown. <a +name="citation69"></a><a href="#footnote69" +class="citation">[69]</a></p> +<p>Such is the tale of the Bookseller of Logroño, and such +is the narrative of the attempt of the Gitános to sack the +town in the time of pestilence, which is alluded to by many +Spanish authors, but more particularly by the learned Francisco +de Cordova, in his <i>Didascalia</i>, one of the most curious and +instructive books within the circle of universal literature.</p> +<h3><a name="page71"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +71</span>CHAPTER IV</h3> +<p><span class="smcap">The</span> Moors, after their subjugation, +and previous to their expulsion from Spain, generally resided +apart, principally in the suburbs of the towns, where they kept +each other in countenance, being hated and despised by the +Spaniards, and persecuted on all occasions. By this means +they preserved, to a certain extent, the Arabic language, though +the use of it was strictly forbidden, and encouraged each other +in the secret exercise of the rites of the Mohammedan religion, +so that, until the moment of their final expulsion, they +continued Moors in almost every sense of the word. Such +places were called Morerias, or quarters of the Moors.</p> +<p>In like manner there were Gitanerias, or quarters of the +Gitános, in many of the towns of Spain; and in more than +one instance particular barrios or districts are still known by +this name, though the Gitános themselves have long since +disappeared. Even in the town of Oviedo, in the heart of +the Asturias, a province never famous for Gitános, there +is a place called the Gitaneria, though no Gitáno has been +known to reside in the town within the memory of man, nor indeed +been seen, save, perhaps, as a chance visitor at a fair.</p> +<p>The exact period when the Gitános first formed these +colonies within the towns is not known; the laws, however, which +commanded them to abandon their wandering life under penalty of +banishment and death, and to become stationary in towns, may have +induced them first to take such a step. By the first of +these laws, which was made by Ferdinand and Isabella as far back +as the year 1499, they are commanded to seek out for themselves +masters. This injunction they utterly disregarded. +Some of them for fear of the law, or from the hope of bettering +their condition, may have settled down in the towns, cities, and +villages for a time, but to expect that a people, in whose bosoms +was so deeply rooted the love of lawless independence, would +subject themselves to the yoke of servitude, from any motive +whatever, was going too far; as well might it have been expected, +according to the words of the great poet of Persia, <i>that they +would have washed their skins white</i>.</p> +<p>In these Gitanerias, therefore, many Gypsy families resided, +but ever in the Gypsy fashion, in filth and in misery, with +little of the fear of man, and nothing of the fear of God before +their eyes. Here the swarthy children basked naked in the +sun before the doors; here the women prepared love draughts, or +told the buena ventura; and here the men plied the trade of the +blacksmith, a forbidden occupation, or prepared for sale, by +disguising them, animals stolen by themselves or their +accomplices. In these places were harboured the strange +Gitános on their arrival, and here were discussed in the +Rommany language, which, like the Arabic, was forbidden under +severe penalties, plans of fraud and plunder, which were perhaps +intended to be carried into effect in a distant province and a +distant city.</p> +<p>The great body, however, of the Gypsy race in Spain continued +independent wanderers of the plains and the mountains, and indeed +the denizens of the Gitanerias were continually sallying forth, +either for the purpose of reuniting themselves with the wandering +tribes, or of strolling about from town to town, and from fair to +fair. Hence the continual complaints in the Spanish laws +against the Gitános who have left their places of +domicile, from doing which they were interdicted, even as they +were interdicted from speaking their language and following the +occupations of the blacksmith and horse-dealer, in which they +still persist even at the present day.</p> +<p>The Gitanerias at evening fall were frequently resorted to by +individuals widely differing in station from the inmates of these +places—we allude to the young and dissolute nobility and +hidalgos of Spain. This was generally the time of mirth and +festival, and the Gitános, male and female, danced and +sang in the Gypsy fashion beneath the smile of the moon. +The Gypsy women and girls were the principal attractions to these +visitors; wild and singular as these females are in their +appearance, there can be no doubt, for the fact has been +frequently proved, that they are capable of exciting passion of +the most ardent description, particularly in the bosoms of those +who are not of their race, which passion of course becomes the +more violent when the almost utter impossibility of gratifying it +is known. No females in the world can be more licentious in +word and gesture, in dance and in song, than the Gitánas; +but there they stop: and so of old, if their titled visitors +presumed to seek for more, an unsheathed dagger or gleaming knife +speedily repulsed those who expected that the gem most dear +amongst the sect of the Roma was within the reach of a Busno.</p> +<p>Such visitors, however, were always encouraged to a certain +point, and by this and various other means the Gitános +acquired connections which frequently stood them in good stead in +the hour of need. What availed it to the honest labourers +of the neighbourhood, or the citizens of the town, to make +complaints to the corregidor concerning the thefts and frauds +committed by the Gitános, when perhaps the sons of that +very corregidor frequented the nightly dances at the Gitaneria, +and were deeply enamoured with some of the dark-eyed +singing-girls? What availed making complaints, when perhaps +a Gypsy sibyl, the mother of those very girls, had free admission +to the house of the corregidor at all times and seasons, and +spaed the good fortune to his daughters, promising them counts +and dukes, and Andalusian knights in marriage, or prepared +philtres for his lady by which she was always to reign supreme in +the affections of her husband? And, above all, what availed +it to the plundered party to complain that his mule or horse had +been stolen, when the Gitáno robber, perhaps the husband +of the sibyl and the father of the black-eyed Gitanillas, was at +that moment actually in treaty with my lord the corregidor +himself for supplying him with some splendid thick-maned, +long-tailed steed at a small price, to be obtained, as the reader +may well suppose, by an infraction of the laws? The favour +and protection which the Gitános experienced from people +of high rank is alluded to in the Spanish laws, and can only be +accounted for by the motives above detailed.</p> +<p>The Gitanerias were soon considered as public nuisances, on +which account the Gitános were forbidden to live together +in particular parts of the town, to hold meetings, and even to +intermarry with each other; yet it does not appear that the +Gitanerias were ever suppressed by the arm of the law, as many +still exist where these singular beings ‘marry and are +given in marriage,’ and meet together to discuss their +affairs, which, in their opinion, never flourish unless those of +their fellow-creatures suffer. So much for the Gitanerias, +or Gypsy colonies in the towns of Spain.</p> +<h3><a name="page76"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +76</span>CHAPTER V</h3> +<p>‘<span class="smcap">Los</span> Gitános son muy +malos!—the Gypsies are very bad people,’ said the +Spaniards of old times. They are cheats; they are +highwaymen; they practise sorcery; and, lest the catalogue of +their offences should be incomplete, a formal charge of +cannibalism was brought against them. Cheats they have +always been, and highwaymen, and if not sorcerers, they have +always done their best to merit that appellation, by arrogating +to themselves supernatural powers; but that they were addicted to +cannibalism is a matter not so easily proved.</p> +<p>Their principal accuser was Don Juan de Quiñones, who, +in the work from which we have already had occasion to quote, +gives several anecdotes illustrative of their cannibal +propensities. Most of these anecdotes, however, are so +highly absurd, that none but the very credulous could ever have +vouchsafed them the slightest credit. This author is +particularly fond of speaking of a certain juez, or judge, called +Don Martin Fajardo, who seems to have been an arrant +Gypsy-hunter, and was probably a member of the ancient family of +the Fajardos, which still flourishes in Estremadura, and with +individuals of which we are acquainted. So it came to pass +that this personage was, in the year 1629, at Jaraicejo, in +Estremadura, or, as it is written in the little book in question, +Zaraizejo, in the capacity of judge; a zealous one he undoubtedly +was.</p> +<p>A very strange place is this same Jaraicejo, a small ruinous +town or village, situated on a rising ground, with a very wild +country all about it. The road from Badajoz to Madrid +passes through it; and about two leagues distant, in the +direction of Madrid, is the famous mountain pass of +Mirabéte, from the top of which you enjoy a most +picturesque view across the Tagus, which flows below, as far as +the huge mountains of Plasencia, the tops of which are generally +covered with snow.</p> +<p>So this Don Martin Fajardo, judge, being at Jaraicejo, laid +his claw upon four Gitános, and having nothing, as it +appears, to accuse them of, except being Gitános, put them +to the torture, and made them accuse themselves, which they did; +for, on the first appeal which was made to the rack, they +confessed that they had murdered a female Gypsy in the forest of +Las Gamas, and had there eaten her. . . .</p> +<p>I am myself well acquainted with this same forest of Las +Gamas, which lies between Jaraicejo and Trujillo; it abounds with +chestnut and cork trees, and is a place very well suited either +for the purpose of murder or cannibalism. It will be as +well to observe that I visited it in company with a band of +Gitános, who bivouacked there, and cooked their supper, +which however did not consist of human flesh, but of a +puchéra, the ingredients of which were beef, bacon, +garbanzos, and berdolaga, or field-pease and +purslain,—therefore I myself can bear testimony that there +is such a forest as Las Gamas, and that it is frequented +occasionally by Gypsies, by which two points are established by +far the most important to the history in question, or so at least +it would be thought in Spain, for being sure of the forest and +the Gypsies, few would be incredulous enough to doubt the facts +of the murder and cannibalism. . . .</p> +<p>On being put to the rack a second time, the Gitános +confessed that they had likewise murdered and eaten a female +pilgrim in the forest aforesaid; and on being tortured yet again, +that they had served in the same manner, and in the same forest, +a friar of the order of San Francisco, whereupon they were +released from the rack and executed. This is one of the +anecdotes of Quiñones.</p> +<p>And it came to pass, moreover, that the said Fajardo, being in +the town of Montijo, was told by the alcalde, that a certain +inhabitant of that place had some time previous lost a mare; and +wandering about the plains in quest of her, he arrived at a place +called Arroyo el Puerco, where stood a ruined house, on entering +which he found various Gitános employed in preparing their +dinner, which consisted of a quarter of a human body, which was +being roasted before a huge fire: the result, however, we are not +told; whether the Gypsies were angry at being disturbed in their +cookery, or whether the man of the mare departed unobserved.</p> +<p>Quiñones, in continuation, states in his book that he +learned (he does not say from whom, but probably from Fajardo) +that there was a shepherd of the city of Gaudix, who once lost +his way in the wild sierra of Gadol: night came on, and the wind +blew cold: he wandered about until he descried a light in the +distance, towards which he bent his way, supposing it to be a +fire kindled by shepherds: on arriving at the spot, however, he +found a whole tribe of Gypsies, who were roasting the half of a +man, the other half being hung on a cork-tree: the Gypsies +welcomed him very heartily, and requested him to be seated at the +fire and to sup with them; but he presently heard them whisper to +each other, ‘this is a fine fat fellow,’ from which +he suspected that they were meditating a design upon his body: +whereupon, feeling himself sleepy, he made as if he were seeking +a spot where to lie, and suddenly darted headlong down the +mountain-side, and escaped from their hands without breaking his +neck.</p> +<p>These anecdotes scarcely deserve comment; first we have the +statement of Fajardo, the fool or knave who tortures wretches, +and then puts them to death for the crimes with which they have +taxed themselves whilst undergoing the agony of the rack, +probably with the hope of obtaining a moment’s respite; +last comes the tale of the shepherd, who is invited by Gypsies on +a mountain at night to partake of a supper of human flesh, and +who runs away from them on hearing them talk of the fatness of +his own body, as if cannibal robbers detected in their orgies by +a single interloper would have afforded him a chance of +escaping. Such tales cannot be true. <a +name="citation79"></a><a href="#footnote79" +class="citation">[79]</a></p> +<p>Cases of cannibalism are said to have occurred in Hungary +amongst the Gypsies; indeed, the whole race, in that country, has +been accused of cannibalism, to which we have alluded whilst +speaking of the Chingany: it is very probable, however, that they +were quite innocent of this odious practice, and that the +accusation had its origin in popular prejudice, or in the fact of +their foul feeding, and their seldom rejecting carrion or offal +of any description.</p> +<p>The Gazette of Frankfort for the year 1782, Nos. 157 and 207, +states that one hundred and fifty Gypsies were imprisoned charged +with this practice; and that the Empress Teresa sent +commissioners to inquire into the facts of the accusation, who +discovered that they were true; whereupon the empress published a +law to oblige all the Gypsies in her dominions to become +stationary, which, however, had no effect.</p> +<p>Upon this matter we can state nothing on our own +knowledge.</p> +<p>After the above anecdotes, it will perhaps not be amiss to +devote a few lines to the subject of Gypsy food and diet. I +believe that it has been asserted that the Romas, in all parts of +the world, are perfectly indifferent as to what they eat, +provided only that they can appease their hunger; and that they +have no objection to partake of the carcasses of animals which +have died a natural death, and have been left to putrefy by the +roadside; moreover, that they use for food all kinds of reptiles +and vermin which they can lay their hands upon.</p> +<p>In this there is a vast deal of exaggeration, but at the same +time it must be confessed that, in some instances, the habits of +the Gypsies in regard to food would seem, at the first glance, to +favour the supposition. This observation chiefly holds good +with respect to those of the Gypsy race who still continue in a +wandering state, and who, doubtless, retain more of the ways and +customs of their forefathers than those who have adopted a +stationary life. There can be no doubt that the wanderers +amongst the Gypsy race are occasionally seen to feast upon +carcasses of cattle which have been abandoned to the birds of the +air, yet it would be wrong, from this fact, to conclude that the +Gypsies were habitual devourers of carrion. Carrion it is +true they may occasionally devour, from want of better food, but +many of these carcasses are not in reality the carrion which they +appear, but are the bodies of animals which the Gypsies have +themselves killed by casting drao, in hope that the flesh may +eventually be abandoned to them. It is utterly useless to +write about the habits of the Gypsies, especially of the +wandering tribes, unless you have lived long and intimately with +them; and unhappily, up to the present time, all the books which +have been published concerning them have been written by those +who have introduced themselves into their society for a few +hours, and from what they have seen or heard consider themselves +competent to give the world an idea of the manners and customs of +the mysterious Rommany: thus, because they have been known to beg +the carcass of a hog which they themselves have poisoned, it has +been asserted that they prefer carrion which has perished of +sickness to the meat of the shambles; and because they have been +seen to make a ragout of boror (<i>snails</i>), and to roast a +hotchiwitchu or hedgehog, it has been supposed that reptiles of +every description form a part of their cuisine. It is high +time to undeceive the Gentiles on these points. Know, then, +O Gentile, whether thou be from the land of the Gorgios <a +name="citation82a"></a><a href="#footnote82a" +class="citation">[82a]</a> or the Busné <a +name="citation82b"></a><a href="#footnote82b" +class="citation">[82b]</a>, that the very Gypsies who consider a +ragout of snails a delicious dish will not touch an eel, because +it bears resemblance to a <i>snake</i>; and that those who will +feast on a roasted hedgehog could be induced by no money to taste +a squirrel, a delicious and wholesome species of game, living on +the purest and most nutritious food which the fields and forests +can supply. I myself, while living among the Roms of +England, have been regarded almost in the light of a cannibal for +cooking the latter animal and preferring it to hotchiwitchu +barbecued, or ragout of boror. ‘You are but half +Rommany, brother,’ they would say, ‘and you feed +gorgiko-nes (<i>like a Gentile</i>), even as you talk. +Tchachipen (<i>in truth</i>), if we did not know you to be of the +Mecralliskoe rat (<i>royal blood</i>) of Pharaoh, we should be +justified in driving you forth as a juggel-mush (<i>dog man</i>), +one more fitted to keep company with wild beasts and Gorgios than +gentle Rommanys.’</p> +<p>No person can read the present volume without perceiving, at a +glance, that the Romas are in most points an anomalous people; in +their morality there is much of anomaly, and certainly not less +in their cuisine.</p> +<p>‘Los Gitános son muy malos; llevan niños +hurtados a Berberia. The Gypsies are very bad people; they +steal children and carry them to Barbary, where they sell them to +the Moors’—so said the Spaniards in old times. +There can be little doubt that even before the fall of the +kingdom of Granada, which occurred in the year 1492, the +Gitános had intercourse with the Moors of Spain. +Andalusia, which has ever been the province where the +Gitáno race has most abounded since its arrival, was, +until the edict of Philip the Third, which banished more than a +million of Moriscos from Spain, principally peopled by Moors, who +differed from the Spaniards both in language and religion. +By living even as wanderers amongst these people, the +Gitános naturally became acquainted with their tongue, and +with many of their customs, which of course much facilitated any +connection which they might subsequently form with the +Barbaresques. Between the Moors of Barbary and the +Spaniards a deadly and continued war raged for centuries, both +before and after the expulsion of the Moriscos from Spain. +The Gitános, who cared probably as little for one nation +as the other, and who have no sympathy and affection beyond the +pale of their own sect, doubtless sided with either as their +interest dictated, officiating as spies for both parties and +betraying both.</p> +<p>It is likely enough that they frequently passed over to +Barbary with stolen children of both sexes, whom they sold to the +Moors, who traffic in slaves, whether white or black, even at the +present day; and perhaps this kidnapping trade gave occasion to +other relations. As they were perfectly acquainted, from +their wandering life, with the shores of the Spanish +Mediterranean, they must have been of considerable assistance to +the Barbary pirates in their marauding trips to the Spanish +coasts, both as guides and advisers; and as it was a far easier +matter, and afforded a better prospect of gain, to plunder the +Spaniards than the Moors, a people almost as wild as themselves, +they were, on that account, and that only, more Moors than +Christians, and ever willing to assist the former in their forays +on the latter.</p> +<p>Quiñones observes: ‘The Moors, with whom they +hold correspondence, let them go and come without any let or +obstacle: an instance of this was seen in the year 1627, when two +galleys from Spain were carrying assistance to Marmora, which was +then besieged by the Moors. These galleys struck on a +shoal, when the Moors seized all the people on board, making +captives of the Christians and setting at liberty all the Moors, +who were chained to the oar; as for the Gypsy galley-slaves whom +they found amongst these last, they did not make them slaves, but +received them as people friendly to them, and at their devotion; +which matter was public and notorious.’</p> +<p>Of the Moors and the Gitános we shall have occasion to +say something in the following chapter.</p> +<h3><a name="page85"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +85</span>CHAPTER VI</h3> +<p><span class="smcap">There</span> is no portion of the world so +little known as Africa in general; and perhaps of all Africa +there is no corner with which Europeans are so little acquainted +as Barbary, which nevertheless is only separated from the +continent of Europe by a narrow strait of four leagues +across.</p> +<p>China itself has, for upwards of a century, ceased to be a +land of mystery to the civilised portion of the world; the +enterprising children of Loyola having wandered about it in every +direction making converts to their doctrine and discipline, +whilst the Russians possess better maps of its vast regions than +of their own country, and lately, owing to the persevering labour +and searching eye of my friend Hyacinth, Archimandrite of Saint +John Nefsky, are acquainted with the number of its military force +to a man, and also with the names and places of residence of its +civil servants. Yet who possesses a map of Fez and Morocco, +or would venture to form a conjecture as to how many fiery +horsemen Abderrahman, the mulatto emperor, could lead to the +field, were his sandy dominions threatened by the Nazarene? +Yet Fez is scarcely two hundred leagues distant from Madrid, +whilst Maraks, the other great city of the Moors, and which also +has given its name to an empire, is scarcely farther removed from +Paris, the capital of civilisation: in a word, we scarcely know +anything of Barbary, the scanty information which we possess +being confined to a few towns on the sea-coast; the zeal of the +Jesuit himself being insufficient to induce him to confront the +perils of the interior, in the hopeless endeavour of making one +single proselyte from amongst the wildest fanatics of the creed +of the Prophet Camel-driver.</p> +<p>Are wanderers of the Gypsy race to be found in Barbary? +This is a question which I have frequently asked myself. +Several respectable authors have, I believe, asserted the fact, +amongst whom Adelung, who, speaking of the Gypsies, says: +‘Four hundred years have passed away since they departed +from their native land. During this time, they have spread +themselves through the whole of Western Asia, Europe, and +Northern Africa.’ <a name="citation86"></a><a +href="#footnote86" class="citation">[86]</a> But it is one +thing to make an assertion, and another to produce the grounds +for making it. I believe it would require a far greater +stock of information than has hitherto been possessed by any one +who has written on the subject of the Gypsies, to justify him in +asserting positively that after traversing the west of Europe, +they spread themselves over Northern Africa, though true it is +that to those who take a superficial view of the matter, nothing +appears easier and more natural than to come to such a +conclusion.</p> +<p>Tarifa, they will say, the most western part of Spain, is +opposite to Tangier, in Africa, a narrow sea only running +between, less wide than many rivers. Bands, therefore, of +these wanderers, of course, on reaching Tarifa, passed over into +Africa, even as thousands crossed the channel from France to +England. They have at all times shown themselves +extravagantly fond of a roving life. What land is better +adapted for such a life than Africa and its wilds? What +land, therefore, more likely to entice them?</p> +<p>All this is very plausible. It was easy enough for the +Gitános to pass over to Tangier and Tetuan from the +Spanish towns of Tarifa and Algeziras. In the last chapter +I have stated my belief of the fact, and that moreover they +formed certain connections with the Moors of the coast, to whom +it is likely that they occasionally sold children stolen in +Spain; yet such connection would by no means have opened them a +passage into the interior of Barbary, which is inhabited by wild +and fierce people, in comparison with whom the Moors of the +coast, bad as they always have been, are gentle and +civilised.</p> +<p>To penetrate into Africa, the Gitános would have been +compelled to pass through the tribes who speak the Shilha +language, and who are the descendants of the ancient +Numidians. These tribes are the most untamable and warlike +of mankind, and at the same time the most suspicious, and those +who entertain the greatest aversion to foreigners. They are +dreaded by the Moors themselves, and have always remained, to a +certain degree, independent of the emperors of Morocco. +They are the most terrible of robbers and murderers, and +entertain far more reluctance to spill water than the blood of +their fellow-creatures: the Bedouins, also, of the Arabian race, +are warlike, suspicious, and cruel; and would not have failed +instantly to attack bands of foreign wanderers, wherever they +found them, and in all probability would have exterminated +them. Now the Gitános, such as they arrived in +Barbary, could not have defended themselves against such enemies, +had they even arrived in large divisions, instead of bands of +twenties and thirties, as is their custom to travel. They +are not by nature nor by habit a warlike race, and would have +quailed before the Africans, who, unlike most other people, +engage in wars from what appears to be an innate love of the +cruel and bloody scenes attendant on war.</p> +<p>It may be said, that if the Gitános were able to make +their way from the north of India, from Multan, for example, the +province which the learned consider to be the original +dwelling-place of the race, to such an immense distance as the +western part of Spain, passing necessarily through many wild +lands and tribes, why might they not have penetrated into the +heart of Barbary, and wherefore may not their descendants be +still there, following the same kind of life as the European +Gypsies, that is, wandering about from place to place, and +maintaining themselves by deceit and robbery?</p> +<p>But those who are acquainted but slightly with the condition +of Barbary are aware that it would be less difficult and +dangerous for a company of foreigners to proceed from Spain to +Multan, than from the nearest seaport in Barbary to Fez, an +insignificant distance. True it is, that, from their +intercourse with the Moors of Spain, the Gypsies might have +become acquainted with the Arabic language, and might even have +adopted the Moorish dress, ere entering Barbary; and, moreover, +might have professed belief in the religion of Mahomet; still +they would have been known as foreigners, and, on that account, +would have been assuredly attacked by the people of the interior, +had they gone amongst them, who, according to the usual practice, +would either have massacred them or made them slaves; and as +slaves, they would have been separated. The mulatto hue of +their countenances would probably have insured them the latter +fate, as all blacks and mulattos in the dominions of the Moor are +properly slaves, and can be bought and sold, unless by some means +or other they become free, in which event their colour is no +obstacle to their elevation to the highest employments and +dignities, to their becoming pashas of cities and provinces, or +even to their ascending the throne. Several emperors of +Morocco have been mulattos.</p> +<p>Above I have pointed out all the difficulties and dangers +which must have attended the path of the Gitános, had they +passed from Spain into Barbary, and attempted to spread +themselves over that region, as over Europe and many parts of +Asia. To these observations I have been led by the +assertion that they accomplished this, and no proof of the fact +having, as I am aware, ever been adduced; for who amongst those +who have made such a statement has seen or conversed with the +Egyptians of Barbary, or had sufficient intercourse with them to +justify him in the assertion that they are one and the same +people as those of Europe, from whom they differ about as much as +the various tribes which inhabit various European countries +differ from each other? At the same time, I wish it to be +distinctly understood that I am far from denying the existence of +Gypsies in various parts of the interior of Barbary. +Indeed, I almost believe the fact, though the information which I +possess is by no means of a description which would justify me in +speaking with full certainty; I having myself never come in +contact with any sect or caste of people amongst the Moors, who +not only tallied in their pursuits with the Rommany, but who +likewise spoke amongst themselves a dialect of the language of +Roma; nor am I aware that any individual worthy of credit has +ever presumed to say that he has been more fortunate in these +respects.</p> +<p>Nevertheless, I repeat that I am inclined to believe that +Gypsies virtually exist in Barbary, and my reasons I shall +presently adduce; but I will here observe, that if these strange +outcasts did indeed contrive to penetrate into the heart of that +savage and inhospitable region, they could only have succeeded +after having become well acquainted with the Moorish language, +and when, after a considerable sojourn on the coast, they had +raised for themselves a name, and were regarded with +superstitious fear; in a word, if they walked this land of peril +untouched and unscathed, it was not that they were considered as +harmless and inoffensive people, which, indeed, would not have +protected them, and which assuredly they were not; it was not +that they were mistaken for wandering Moors and Bedouins, from +whom they differed in feature and complexion, but because, +wherever they went, they were dreaded as the possessors of +supernatural powers, and as mighty sorcerers.</p> +<p>There is in Barbary more than one sect of wanderers, which, to +the cursory observer, might easily appear, and perhaps have +appeared, in the right of legitimate Gypsies. For example, +there are the Beni Aros. The proper home of these people is +in certain high mountains in the neighbourhood of Tetuan, but +they are to be found roving about the whole kingdom of Fez. +Perhaps it would be impossible to find, in the whole of Northern +Africa, a more detestable caste. They are beggars by +profession, but are exceedingly addicted to robbery and murder; +they are notorious drunkards, and are infamous, even in Barbary, +for their unnatural lusts. They are, for the most part, +well made and of comely features. I have occasionally +spoken with them; they are Moors, and speak no language but the +Arabic.</p> +<p>Then there is the sect of Sidi Hamed au Muza, a very roving +people, companies of whom are generally to be found in all the +principal towns of Barbary. The men are expert vaulters and +tumblers, and perform wonderful feats of address with swords and +daggers, to the sound of wild music, which the women, seated on +the ground, produce from uncouth instruments; by these means they +obtain a livelihood. Their dress is picturesque, scarlet +vest and white drawers. In many respects they not a little +resemble the Gypsies; but they are not an evil people, and are +looked upon with much respect by the Moors, who call them +Santons. Their patron saint is Hamed au Muza, and from him +they derive their name. Their country is on the confines of +the Sahara, or great desert, and their language is the Shilhah, +or a dialect thereof. They speak but little Arabic. +When I saw them for the first time, I believed them to be of the +Gypsy caste, but was soon undeceived. A more wandering race +does not exist than the children of Sidi Hamed au Muza. +They have even visited France, and exhibited their dexterity and +agility at Paris and Marseilles.</p> +<p>I will now say a few words concerning another sect which +exists in Barbary, and will here premise, that if those who +compose it are not Gypsies, such people are not to be found in +North Africa, and the assertion, hitherto believed, that they +abound there, is devoid of foundation. I allude to certain +men and women, generally termed by the Moors ‘Those of the +Dar-bushi-fal,’ which word is equivalent to prophesying or +fortune-telling. They are great wanderers, but have also +their fixed dwellings or villages, and such a place is called +‘Char Seharra,’ or witch-hamlet. Their manner +of life, in every respect, resembles that of the Gypsies of other +countries; they are wanderers during the greatest part of the +year, and subsist principally by pilfering and +fortune-telling. They deal much in mules and donkeys, and +it is believed, in Barbary, that they can change the colour of +any animal by means of sorcery, and so disguise him as to sell +him to his very proprietor, without fear of his being +recognised. This latter trait is quite characteristic of +the Gypsy race, by whom the same thing is practised in most parts +of the world. But the Moors assert, that the children of +the Dar-bushi-fal can not only change the colour of a horse or a +mule, but likewise of a human being, in one night, transforming a +white into a black, after which they sell him for a slave; on +which account the superstitious Moors regard them with the utmost +dread, and in general prefer passing the night in the open fields +to sleeping in their hamlets. They are said to possess a +particular language, which is neither Shilhah nor Arabic, and +which none but themselves understand; from all which +circumstances I am led to believe, that the children of the +Dar-bushi-fal are legitimate Gypsies, descendants of those who +passed over to Barbary from Spain. Nevertheless, as it has +never been my fortune to meet or to converse with any of this +caste, though they are tolerably numerous in Barbary, I am far +from asserting that they are of Gypsy race. More +enterprising individuals than myself may, perhaps, establish the +fact. Any particular language or jargon which they speak +amongst themselves will be the best criterion. The word +which they employ for ‘water’ would decide the point; +for the Dar-bushi-fal are not Gypsies, if, in their peculiar +speech, they designate that blessed element and article most +necessary to human existence by aught else than the Sanscrit term +‘Pani,’ a word brought by the race from sunny Ind, +and esteemed so holy that they have never even presumed to modify +it.</p> +<p>The following is an account of the Dar-bushi-fal, given me by +a Jew of Fez, who had travelled much in Barbary, and which I +insert almost literally as I heard it from his mouth. +Various other individuals, Moors, have spoken of them in much the +same manner.</p> +<p>‘In one of my journeys I passed the night in a place +called Mulai-Jacub Munsur.</p> +<p>‘Not far from this place is a Char Seharra, or +witch-hamlet, where dwell those of the Dar-bushi-fal. These +are very evil people, and powerful enchanters; for it is well +known that if any traveller stop to sleep in their Char, they +will with their sorceries, if he be a white man, turn him as +black as a coal, and will afterwards sell him as a negro. +Horses and mules they serve in the same manner, for if they are +black, they will turn them red, or any other colour which best +may please them; and although the owners demand justice of the +authorities, the sorcerers always come off best. They have +a language which they use among themselves, very different from +all other languages, so much so that it is impossible to +understand them. They are very swarthy, quite as much so as +mulattos, and their faces are exceedingly lean. As for +their legs, they are like reeds; and when they run, the devil +himself cannot overtake them. They tell Dar-bushi-fal with +flour; they fill a plate, and then they are able to tell you +anything you ask them. They likewise tell it with a shoe; +they put it in their mouth, and then they will recall to your +memory every action of your life. They likewise tell +Dar-bushi-fal with oil; and indeed are, in every respect, most +powerful sorcerers.</p> +<p>‘Two women, once on a time, came to Fez, bringing with +them an exceedingly white donkey, which they placed in the middle +of the square called Faz el Bali; they then killed it, and cut it +into upwards of thirty pieces. Upon the ground there was +much of the donkey’s filth and dung; some of this they took +in their hands, when it straight assumed the appearance of fresh +dates. There were some people who were greedy enough to put +these dates into their mouths, and then they found that it was +dung. These women deceived me amongst the rest with a date; +when I put it into my mouth, lo and behold it was the +donkey’s dung. After they had collected much money +from the spectators, one of them took a needle, and ran it into +the tail of the donkey, crying “Arrhe li dar” (Get +home), whereupon the donkey instantly rose up, and set off +running, kicking every now and then most furiously; and it was +remarked, that not one single trace of blood remained upon the +ground, just as if they had done nothing to it. Both these +women were of the very same Char Seharra which I have already +mentioned. They likewise took paper, and cut it into the +shape of a peseta, and a dollar, and a half-dollar, until they +had made many pesetas and dollars, and then they put them into an +earthen pan over a fire, and when they took them out, they +appeared just fresh from the stamp, and with such money these +people buy all they want.</p> +<p>‘There was a friend of my grandfather, who came +frequently to our house, who was in the habit of making this +money. One day he took me with him to buy white silk; and +when they had shown him some, he took the silk in his hand, and +pressed it to his mouth, and then I saw that the silk, which was +before white, had become green, even as grass. The master +of the shop said, “Pay me for my silk.” +“Of what colour was your silk?” he demanded. +“White,” said the man; whereupon, turning round, he +cried, “Good people, behold, the white silk is +green”; and so he got a pound of silk for nothing; and he +also was of the Char Seharra.</p> +<p>‘They are very evil people indeed, and the emperor +himself is afraid of them. The poor wretch who falls into +their hands has cause to rue; they always go badly dressed, and +exhibit every appearance of misery, though they are far from +being miserable. Such is the life they lead.’</p> +<p>There is, of course, some exaggeration in the above account of +the Dar-bushi-fal; yet there is little reason to doubt that there +is a foundation of truth in all the facts stated. The +belief that they are enabled, by sorcery, to change a white into +a black man had its origin in the great skill which they possess +in altering the appearance of a horse or a mule, and giving it +another colour. Their changing white into green silk is a +very simple trick, and is accomplished by dexterously +substituting one thing for another. Had the man of the +Dar-bushi-fal been searched, the white silk would have been found +upon him. The Gypsies, wherever they are found, are fond of +this species of fraud. In Germany, for example, they go to +the wine-shop with two pitchers exactly similar, one in their +hand empty, and the other beneath their cloaks filled with water; +when the empty pitcher is filled with wine they pretend to be +dissatisfied with the quality, or to have no money, but contrive +to substitute the pitcher of water in its stead, which the +wine-seller generally snatches up in anger, and pours the +contents back, as he thinks, into the butt—but it is not +wine but water which he pours. With respect to the donkey, +which <i>appeared</i> to be cut in pieces, but which afterwards, +being pricked in the tail, got up and ran home, I have little to +say, but that I have myself seen almost as strange things without +believing in sorcery.</p> +<p>As for the dates of dung, and the paper money, they are mere +feats of legerdemain.</p> +<p>I repeat, that if legitimate Gypsies really exist in Barbary, +they are the men and women of the Dar-bushi-fal.</p> +<h3><a name="page98"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +98</span>CHAPTER VII</h3> +<p><span class="smcap">Chiromancy</span>, or the divination of +the hand, is, according to the orthodox theory, the determining +from certain lines upon the hand the quality of the physical and +intellectual powers of the possessor.</p> +<p>The whole science is based upon the five principal lines in +the hand, and the triangle which they form in the palm. +These lines, which have all their particular and appropriate +names, and the principal of which is called ‘the line of +life,’ are, if we may believe those who have written on the +subject, connected with the heart, with the genitals, with the +brain, with the liver or stomach, and the head. +Torreblanca, <a name="citation98"></a><a href="#footnote98" +class="citation">[98]</a> in his curious and learned book on +magic, observes: ‘In judging these lines you must pay +attention to their substance, colour, and continuance, together +with the disposition of the correspondent member; for, if the +line be well and clearly described, and is of a vivid colour, +without being intermitted or <i>puncturis infecta</i>, it denotes +the good complexion and virtue of its member, according to +Aristotle.</p> +<blockquote><p>‘So that if the line of the heart be found +sufficiently long and reasonably deep, and not crossed by other +accidental lines, it is an infallible sign of the health of the +heart and the great virtue of the heart, and the abundance of +spirits and good blood in the heart, and accordingly denotes +boldness and liberal genius for every work.’</p> +</blockquote> +<p>In like manner, by means of the hepatal line, it is easy to +form an accurate judgment as to the state of a person’s +liver, and of his powers of digestion, and so on with respect to +all the other organs of the body.</p> +<p>After having laid down all the rules of chiromancy with the +utmost possible clearness, the sage Torreblanca exclaims: +‘And with these terminate the canons of true and catholic +chiromancy; for as for the other species by which people pretend +to divine concerning the affairs of life, either past or to come, +dignities, fortunes, children, events, chances, dangers, etc., +such chiromancy is not only reprobated by theologians, but by men +of law and physic, as a foolish, false, vain, scandalous, futile, +superstitious practice, smelling much of divinery and a pact with +the devil.’</p> +<p>Then, after mentioning a number of erudite and enlightened men +of the three learned professions, who have written against such +absurd superstitions, amongst whom he cites Martin Del Rio, he +falls foul of the Gypsy wives in this manner: ‘A practice +turned to profit by the wives of that rabble of abandoned +miscreants whom the Italians call Cingari, the Latins Egyptians, +and we Gitános, who, notwithstanding that they are sent by +the Turks into Spain for the purpose of acting as spies upon the +Christian religion, pretend that they are wandering over the +world in fulfilment of a penance enjoined upon them, part of +which penance seems to be the living by fraud and +imposition.’ And shortly afterwards he remarks: +‘Nor do they derive any authority for such a practice from +those words in Exodus, <a name="citation100a"></a><a +href="#footnote100a" class="citation">[100a]</a> “et quasi +signum in manu tua,” as that passage does not treat of +chiromancy, but of the festival of unleavened bread; the +observance of which, in order that it might be memorable to the +Hebrews, the sacred historian said should be as a sign upon the +hand; a metaphor derived from those who, when they wish to +remember anything, tie a thread round their finger, or put a ring +upon it; and still less I ween does that chapter of Job <a +name="citation100b"></a><a href="#footnote100b" +class="citation">[100b]</a> speak in their favour, where is +written, “Qui in manu hominis signat, ut norint omnes opera +sua,” because the divine power is meant thereby which is +preached to those here below: for the hand is intended for power +and magnitude, Exod. chap. xiv., <a name="citation100c"></a><a +href="#footnote100c" class="citation">[100c]</a> or stands for +free will, which is placed in a man’s hand, that is, in his +power. Wisdom, chap. xxxvi. “In manibus abscondit +lucem,” <a name="citation100d"></a><a href="#footnote100d" +class="citation">[100d]</a> etc. etc. etc.</p> +<p>No, no, good Torreblanca, we know perfectly well that the +witch-wives of Multan, who for the last four hundred years have +been running about Spain and other countries, telling fortunes by +the hand, and deriving good profit from the same, are not +countenanced in such a practice by the sacred volume; we yield as +little credit to their chiromancy as we do to that which you call +the true and catholic, and believe that the lines of the hand +have as little connection with the events of life as with the +liver and stomach, notwithstanding Aristotle, who you forget was +a heathen, and knew as little and cared as little for the +Scriptures as the Gitános, whether male or female, who +little reck what sanction any of their practices may receive from +authority, whether divine or human, if the pursuit enable them to +provide sufficient for the existence, however poor and miserable, +of their families and themselves.</p> +<p>A very singular kind of women are the Gitánas, far more +remarkable in most points than their husbands, in whose pursuits +of low cheating and petty robbery there is little capable of +exciting much interest; but if there be one being in the world +who, more than another, deserves the title of sorceress (and +where do you find a word of greater romance and more thrilling +interest?), it is the Gypsy female in the prime and vigour of her +age and ripeness of her understanding—the Gypsy wife, the +mother of two or three children. Mention to me a point of +devilry with which that woman is not acquainted. She can at +any time, when it suits her, show herself as expert a jockey as +her husband, and he appears to advantage in no other character, +and is only eloquent when descanting on the merits of some +particular animal; but she can do much more: she is a prophetess, +though she believes not in prophecy; she is a physician, though +she will not taste her own philtres; she is a procuress, though +she is not to be procured; she is a singer of obscene songs, +though she will suffer no obscene hand to touch her; and though +no one is more tenacious of the little she possesses, she is a +cutpurse and a shop-lifter whenever opportunity shall offer.</p> +<p>In all times, since we have known anything of these women, +they have been addicted to and famous for fortune-telling; +indeed, it is their only ostensible means of livelihood, though +they have various others which they pursue more secretly. +Where and how they first learned the practice we know not; they +may have brought it with them from the East, or they may have +adopted it, which is less likely, after their arrival in +Europe. Chiromancy, from the most remote periods, has been +practised in all countries. Neither do we know, whether in +this practice they were ever guided by fixed and certain rules; +the probability, however, is, that they were not, and that they +never followed it but as a means of fraud and robbery; certainly, +amongst all the professors of this art that ever existed, no +people are more adapted by nature to turn it to account than +these females, call them by whatever name you will, +Gitánas, Zigánas, Gypsies, or Bohemians; their +forms, their features, the expression of their countenances are +ever wild and Sibylline, frequently beautiful, but never +vulgar. Observe, for example, the Gitána, even her +of Seville. She is standing before the portal of a large +house in one of the narrow Moorish streets of the capital of +Andalusia; through the grated iron door, she looks in upon the +court; it is paved with small marble slabs of almost snowy +whiteness; in the middle is a fountain distilling limpid water, +and all around there is a profusion of macetas, in which +flowering plants and aromatic shrubs are growing, and at each +corner there is an orange tree, and the perfume of the +azahár may be distinguished; you hear the melody of birds +from a small aviary beneath the piazza which surrounds the court, +which is surmounted by a toldo or linen awning, for it is the +commencement of May, and the glorious sun of Andalusia is burning +with a splendour too intense for his rays to be borne with +impunity. It is a fairy scene such as nowhere meets the eye +but at Seville, or perhaps at Fez and Shiraz, in the palaces of +the Sultan and the Shah. The Gypsy looks through the +iron-grated door, and beholds, seated near the fountain, a richly +dressed dame and two lovely delicate maidens; they are busied at +their morning’s occupation, intertwining with their sharp +needles the gold and silk on the tambour; several female +attendants are seated behind. The Gypsy pulls the bell, +when is heard the soft cry of ‘Quien es’; the door, +unlocked by means of a string, recedes upon its hinges, when in +walks the Gitána, the witch-wife of Multan, with a look +such as the tiger-cat casts when she stealeth from her jungle +into the plain.</p> +<p>Yes, well may you exclaim ‘Ave Maria purissima,’ +ye dames and maidens of Seville, as she advances towards you; she +is not of yourselves, she is not of your blood, she or her +fathers have walked to your climate from a distance of three +thousand leagues. She has come from the far East, like the +three enchanted kings, to Cologne; but, unlike them, she and her +race have come with hate and not with love. She comes to +flatter, and to deceive, and to rob, for she is a lying +prophetess, and a she-Thug; she will greet you with blessings +which will make your hearts rejoice, but your hearts’ blood +would freeze, could you hear the curses which to herself she +murmurs against you; for she says, that in her children’s +veins flows the dark blood of the ‘husbands,’ whilst +in those of yours flows the pale tide of the +‘savages,’ and therefore she would gladly set her +foot on all your corses first poisoned by her hands. For +all her love—and she can love—is for the Romas; and +all her hate—and who can hate like her?—is for the +Busnees; for she says that the world would be a fair world if +there were no Busnees, and if the Romamiks could heat their +kettles undisturbed at the foot of the olive-trees; and therefore +she would kill them all if she could and if she dared. She +never seeks the houses of the Busnees but for the purpose of +prey; for the wild animals of the sierra do not more abhor the +sight of man than she abhors the countenances of the +Busnees. She now comes to prey upon you and to scoff at +you. Will you believe her words? Fools! do you think +that the being before ye has any sympathy for the like of +you?</p> +<p>She is of the middle stature, neither strongly nor slightly +built, and yet her every movement denotes agility and +vigour. As she stands erect before you, she appears like a +falcon about to soar, and you are almost tempted to believe that +the power of volition is hers; and were you to stretch forth your +hand to seize her, she would spring above the house-tops like a +bird. Her face is oval, and her features are regular but +somewhat hard and coarse, for she was born amongst rocks in a +thicket, and she has been wind-beaten and sun-scorched for many a +year, even like her parents before her; there is many a speck +upon her cheek, and perhaps a scar, but no dimples of love; and +her brow is wrinkled over, though she is yet young. Her +complexion is more than dark, for it is almost that of a mulatto; +and her hair, which hangs in long locks on either side of her +face, is black as coal, and coarse as the tail of a horse, from +which it seems to have been gathered.</p> +<p>There is no female eye in Seville can support the glance of +hers,—so fierce and penetrating, and yet so artful and sly, +is the expression of their dark orbs; her mouth is fine and +almost delicate, and there is not a queen on the proudest throne +between Madrid and Moscow who might not and would not envy the +white and even rows of teeth which adorn it, which seem not of +pearl but of the purest elephant’s bone of Multan. +She comes not alone; a swarthy two-year-old bantling clasps her +neck with one arm, its naked body half extant from the coarse +blanket which, drawn round her shoulders, is secured at her bosom +by a skewer. Though tender of age, it looks wicked and sly, +like a veritable imp of Roma. Huge rings of false gold +dangle from wide slits in the lobes of her ears; her nether +garments are rags, and her feet are cased in hempen +sandals. Such is the wandering Gitána, such is the +witch-wife of Multan, who has come to spae the fortune of the +Sevillian countess and her daughters.</p> +<p>‘O may the blessing of Egypt light upon your head, you +high-born lady! (May an evil end overtake your body, +daughter of a Busnee harlot!) and may the same blessing await the +two fair roses of the Nile here flowering by your side! +(May evil Moors seize them and carry them across the +water!) O listen to the words of the poor woman who is come +from a distant country; she is of a wise people, though it has +pleased the God of the sky to punish them for their sins by +sending them to wander through the world. They denied +shelter to the Majari, whom you call the queen of heaven, and to +the Son of God, when they flew to the land of Egypt before the +wrath of the wicked king; it is said that they even refused them +a draught of the sweet waters of the great river when the blessed +two were athirst. O you will say that it was a heavy crime; +and truly so it was, and heavily has the Lord punished the +Egyptians. He has sent us a-wandering, poor as you see, +with scarcely a blanket to cover us. O blessed lady, +(Accursed be thy dead, as many as thou mayest have,) we have no +money to buy us bread; we have only our wisdom with which to +support ourselves and our poor hungry babes; when God took away +their silks from the Egyptians, and their gold from the +Egyptians, he left them their wisdom as a resource that they +might not starve. O who can read the stars like the +Egyptians? and who can read the lines of the palm like the +Egyptians? The poor woman read in the stars that there was +a rich ventura for all of this goodly house, so she followed the +bidding of the stars and came to declare it. O blessed +lady, (I defile thy dead corse,) your husband is at Granada, +fighting with king Ferdinand against the wild Corahai! (May +an evil ball smite him and split his head!) Within three +months he shall return with twenty captive Moors, round the neck +of each a chain of gold. (God grant that when he enter the +house a beam may fall upon him and crush him!) And within +nine months after his return God shall bless you with a fair +chabo, the pledge for which you have sighed so long. +(Accursed be the salt placed in its mouth in the church when it +is baptized!) Your palm, blessed lady, your palm, and the +palms of all I see here, that I may tell you all the rich ventura +which is hanging over this good house; (May evil lightning fall +upon it and consume it!) but first let me sing you a song of +Egypt, that the spirit of the Chowahanee may descend more +plenteously upon the poor woman.’</p> +<p>Her demeanour now instantly undergoes a change. Hitherto +she has been pouring forth a lying and wild harangue without much +flurry or agitation of manner. Her speech, it is true, has +been rapid, but her voice has never been raised to a very high +key; but she now stamps on the ground, and placing her hands on +her hips, she moves quickly to the right and left, advancing and +retreating in a sidelong direction. Her glances become more +fierce and fiery, and her coarse hair stands erect on her head, +stiff as the prickles of the hedgehog; and now she commences +clapping her hands, and uttering words of an unknown tongue, to a +strange and uncouth tune. The tawny bantling seems inspired +with the same fiend, and, foaming at the mouth, utters wild +sounds, in imitation of its dam. Still more rapid become +the sidelong movements of the Gitána. Movement! she +springs, she bounds, and at every bound she is a yard above the +ground. She no longer bears the child in her bosom; she +plucks it from thence, and fiercely brandishes it aloft, till at +last, with a yell she tosses it high into the air, like a ball, +and then, with neck and head thrown back, receives it, as it +falls, on her hands and breast, extracting a cry from the +terrified beholders. Is it possible she can be +singing? Yes, in the wildest style of her people; and here +is a snatch of the song, in the language of Roma, which she +occasionally screams—</p> +<blockquote><p>‘En los sastos de yesque plai me +diquélo,<br /> +Doscusañas de sonacai terélo,—<br /> +Corojai diquélo abillar,<br /> +Y ne asislo chapescar, chapescar.’</p> +<p>‘On the top of a mountain I stand,<br /> +With a crown of red gold in my hand,—<br /> +Wild Moors came trooping o’er the lea,<br /> +O how from their fury shall I flee, flee, flee?<br /> +O how from their fury shall I flee?’</p> +</blockquote> +<p>Such was the Gitána in the days of Ferdinand and +Isabella, and much the same is she now in the days of Isabel and +Christina.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a name="image108" href="images/p108b.jpg"> +<img alt= +"A Song of Egypt" +title= +"A Song of Egypt" + src="images/p108s.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>Of the Gitánas and their practices I shall have much to +say on a future occasion, when speaking of those of the present +time, with many of whom I have had no little intercourse. +All the ancient Spanish authors who mention these women speak of +them in unmeasured terms of abhorrence, employing against them +every abusive word contained in the language in which they +wrote. Amongst other vile names, they have been called +harlots, though perhaps no females on earth are, and have ever +been, more chaste in their own persons, though at all times +willing to encourage licentiousness in others, from a hope of +gain. It is one thing to be a procuress, and another to be +a harlot, though the former has assuredly no reason to complain +if she be confounded with the latter. ‘The +Gitánas,’ says Doctor Sancho de Moncada, in his +discourse concerning the Gypsies, which I shall presently lay +before the reader, ‘are public harlots, common, as it is +said, to all the Gitános, and with dances, demeanour, and +filthy songs, are the cause of infinite harm to the souls of the +vassals of your Majesty (Philip III.), as it is notorious what +infinite harm they have caused in many honourable houses. +The married women whom they have separated from their husbands, +and the maidens whom they have perverted; and finally, in the +best of these Gitánas, any one may recognise all the signs +of a harlot given by the wise king: “they are gadders +about, whisperers, always unquiet in the places and +corners.”’ <a name="citation109a"></a><a +href="#footnote109a" class="citation">[109a]</a></p> +<p>The author of Alonso, <a name="citation109b"></a><a +href="#footnote109b" class="citation">[109b]</a> he who of all +the old Spanish writers has written most graphically concerning +the Gitános, and I believe with most correctness, puts the +following account of the Gitánas, and their +fortune-telling practices, into the entertaining mouth of his +hero:—</p> +<blockquote><p>‘O how many times did these Gitánas +carry me along with them, for being, after all, women, even they +have their fears, and were glad of me as a protector: and so they +went through the neighbouring villages, and entered the houses +a-begging, giving to understand thereby their poverty and +necessity, and then they would call aside the girls, in order to +tell them the buena ventura, and the young fellows the good luck +which they were to enjoy, never failing in the first place to ask +for a cuarto or real, in order to make the sign of the cross; and +with these flattering words, they got as much as they could, +although, it is true, not much in money, as their harvest in that +article was generally slight; but enough in bacon to afford +subsistence to their husbands and bantlings. I looked on +and laughed at the simplicity of those foolish people, who, +especially such as wished to be married, were as satisfied and +content with what the Gitána told them, as if an apostle +had spoken it.’</p> +</blockquote> +<p>The above description of Gitánas telling fortunes +amongst the villages of Navarre, and which was written by a +Spanish author at the commencement of the seventeenth century, +is, in every respect, applicable, as the reader will not fail to +have observed, to the English Gypsy women of the present day, +engaged in the same occupation in the rural districts of England, +where the first demand of the sibyls is invariably a sixpence, in +order that they may cross their hands with silver, and where the +same promises are made, and as easily believed; all which, if it +serves to confirm the opinion that in all times the practices and +habits of the Egyptian race have been, in almost all respects, +the same as at the present day, brings us also to the following +mortifying conclusion,—that mental illumination, amongst +the generality of mankind, has made no progress at all; as we +observe in the nineteenth century the same gross credulity +manifested as in the seventeenth, and the inhabitants of one of +the countries most celebrated for the arts of civilisation, +imposed upon by the same stale tricks which served to deceive two +centuries before in Spain, a country whose name has long and +justly been considered as synonymous with every species of +ignorance and barbarism.</p> +<p>The same author, whilst speaking of these female Thugs, +relates an anecdote very characteristic of them; a device at +which they are adepts, which they love to employ, and which is +generally attended with success. It is the more deserving +attention, as an instance of the same description, attended with +very similar circumstances, occurred within the sphere of my own +knowledge in my own country. This species of deceit is +styled, in the peculiar language of the Rommany, <i>hokkano +baro</i>, or the ‘great trick’; it being considered +by the women as their most fruitful source of plunder. The +story, as related by Alonso, runs as follows:—</p> +<blockquote><p>‘A band of Gitános being in the +neighbourhood of a village, one of the women went to a house +where lived a lady alone. This lady was a young widow, +rich, without children, and of very handsome person. After +having saluted her, the Gypsy repeated the harangue which she had +already studied, to the effect that there was neither bachelor, +widower, nor married man, nobleman, nor gallant, endowed with a +thousand graces, who was not dying for love of her; and then +continued: “Lady, I have contracted a great affection for +you, and since I know that you well merit the riches you possess, +notwithstanding you live heedless of your good fortune, I wish to +reveal to you a secret. You must know, then, that in your +cellar you have a vast treasure; nevertheless you will experience +great difficulty in arriving at it, as it is enchanted, and to +remove it is impossible, save alone on the eve of Saint +John. We are now at the eighteenth of June, and it wants +five days to the twenty-third; therefore, in the meanwhile, +collect some jewels of gold and silver, and likewise some money, +whatever you please, provided it be not copper, and provide six +tapers, of white or yellow wax, for at the time appointed I will +come with a sister of mine, when we will extract from the cellar +such abundance of riches, that you will be able to live in a +style which will excite the envy of the whole +country.” The ignorant widow, hearing these words, +put implicit confidence in the deceiver, and imagined that she +already possessed all the gold of Arabia and the silver of +Potosi.</p> +<p>‘The appointed day arrived, and not more punctual were +the two Gypsies, than anxiously expected by the lady. Being +asked whether she had prepared all as she had been desired, she +replied in the affirmative, when the Gypsy thus addressed her: +“You must know, good lady, that gold calls forth gold, and +silver calls forth silver; let us light these tapers, and descend +to the cellar before it grows late, in order that we may have +time for our conjurations.” Thereupon the trio, the +widow and the two Gypsies, went down, and having lighted the +tapers and placed them in candlesticks in the shape of a circle, +they deposited in the midst a silver tankard, with some pieces of +eight, and some corals tipped with gold, and other jewels of +small value. They then told the lady, that it was necessary +for them all to return to the staircase by which they had +descended to the cellar, and there they uplifted their hands, and +remained for a short time as if engaged in prayer.</p> +<p>‘The two Gypsies then bade the widow wait for them, and +descended again, when they commenced holding a conversation, +speaking and answering alternately, and altering their voices in +such a manner that five or six people appeared to be in the +cellar. “Blessed little Saint John,” said one, +“will it be possible to remove the treasure which you keep +hidden here?” “O yes, and with a little more +trouble it will be yours,” replied the Gypsy sister, +altering her voice to a thin treble, as if it proceeded from a +child four or five years old. In the meantime, the lady +remained astonished, expecting the promised riches, and the two +Gitánas presently coming to her, said, “Come up, +lady, for our desire is upon the point of being gratified. +Bring down the best petticoat, gown, and mantle which you have in +your chest, that I may dress myself, and appear in other guise to +what I do now.” The simple woman, not perceiving the +trick they were playing upon her, ascended with them to the +doorway, and leaving them alone, went to fetch the things which +they demanded. Thereupon the two Gypsies, seeing themselves +at liberty, and having already pocketed the gold and silver which +had been deposited for their conjuration, opened the street door, +and escaped with all the speed they could.</p> +<p>‘The beguiled widow returned laden with the clothes, and +not finding those whom she had left waiting, descended into the +cellar, when, perceiving the trick which they had played her, and +the robbery which they had committed in stealing her jewels, she +began to cry and weep, but all in vain. All the neighbours +hastened to her, and to them she related her misfortune, which +served more to raise laughter and jeers at her expense than to +excite pity; though the subtlety of the two she-thieves was +universally praised. These latter, as soon as they had got +out of the door, knew well how to conceal themselves, for having +once reached the mountain it was not possible to find them. +So much for their divination, their foreseeing things to come, +their power over the secrets of nature, and their knowledge of +the stars.’</p> +</blockquote> +<p>The Gitánas in the olden time appear to have not +unfrequently been subjected to punishment as sorceresses, and +with great justice, as the abominable trade which they drove in +philtres and decoctions certainly entitled them to that +appellation, and to the pains and penalties reserved for those +who practised what was termed ‘witchcraft.’</p> +<p>Amongst the crimes laid to their charge, connected with the +exercise of occult powers, there is one, however, of which they +were certainly not capable, as it is a purely imaginary one, +though if they were punished for it, they had assuredly little +right to complain, as the chastisement they met was fully merited +by practices equally malefic as the crime imputed to them, +provided that were possible. <i>It was casting the evil +eye</i>.</p> +<h3><a name="page115"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +115</span>CHAPTER VIII</h3> +<p><span class="smcap">In</span> the Gitáno language, +casting the evil eye is called <i>Querelar nasula</i>, which +simply means making sick, and which, according to the common +superstition, is accomplished by casting an evil look at people, +especially children, who, from the tenderness of their +constitution, are supposed to be more easily blighted than those +of a more mature age. After receiving the evil glance, they +fall sick, and die in a few hours.</p> +<p>The Spaniards have very little to say respecting the evil eye, +though the belief in it is very prevalent, especially in +Andalusia amongst the lower orders. A stag’s horn is +considered a good safeguard, and on that account a small horn, +tipped with silver, is frequently attached to the +children’s necks by means of a cord braided from the hair +of a black mare’s tail. Should the evil glance be +cast, it is imagined that the horn receives it, and instantly +snaps asunder. Such horns may be purchased in some of the +silversmiths’ shops at Seville.</p> +<p>The Gitános have nothing more to say on this species of +sorcery than the Spaniards, which can cause but little surprise, +when we consider that they have no traditions, and can give no +rational account of themselves, nor of the country from which +they come.</p> +<p>Some of the women, however, pretend to have the power of +casting it, though if questioned how they accomplish it, they can +return no answer. They will likewise sell remedies for the +evil eye, which need not be particularised, as they consist of +any drugs which they happen to possess or be acquainted with; the +prescribers being perfectly reckless as to the effect produced on +the patient, provided they receive their paltry reward.</p> +<p>I have known these beings offer to cure the glanders in a +horse (an incurable disorder) with the very same powders which +they offer as a specific for the evil eye.</p> +<p>Leaving, therefore, for a time, the Spaniards and +Gitános, whose ideas on this subject are very scanty and +indistinct, let us turn to other nations amongst whom this +superstition exists, and endeavour to ascertain on what it is +founded, and in what it consists. The fear of the evil eye +is common amongst all oriental people, whether Turks, Arabs, or +Hindoos. It is dangerous in some parts to survey a person +with a fixed glance, as he instantly concludes that you are +casting the evil eye upon him. Children, particularly, are +afraid of the evil eye from the superstitious fear inculcated in +their minds in the nursery. Parents in the East feel no +delight when strangers look at their children in admiration of +their loveliness; they consider that you merely look at them in +order to blight them. The attendants on the children of the +great are enjoined never to permit strangers to fix their glance +upon them. I was once in the shop of an Armenian at +Constantinople, waiting to see a procession which was expected to +pass by; there was a Janisary there, holding by the hand a little +boy about six years of age, the son of some Bey; they also had +come to see the procession. I was struck with the +remarkable loveliness of the child, and fixed my glance upon it: +presently it became uneasy, and turning to the Janisary, said: +‘There are evil eyes upon me; drive them away.’ +‘Take your eyes off the child, Frank,’ said the +Janisary, who had a long white beard, and wore a hanjar. +‘What harm can they do to the child, efendijem?’ said +I. ‘Are they not the eyes of a Frank?’ replied +the Janisary; ‘but were they the eyes of Omar, they should +not rest on the child.’ ‘Omar,’ said I, +‘and why not Ali? Don’t you love +Ali?’ ‘What matters it to you whom I +love,’ said the Turk in a rage; ‘look at the child +again with your chesm fanar and I will smite you.’ +‘Bad as my eyes are,’ said I, ‘they can see +that you do not love Ali.’ ‘Ya Ali, ya Mahoma, +Alahhu!’ <a name="citation117"></a><a href="#footnote117" +class="citation">[117]</a> said the Turk, drawing his +hanjar. All Franks, by which are meant Christians, are +considered as casters of the evil eye. I was lately at +Janina in Albania, where a friend of mine, a Greek gentleman, is +established as physician. ‘I have been visiting the +child of a Jew that is sick,’ said he to me one day; +‘scarcely, however, had I left the house, when the father +came running after me. “You have cast the evil eye on +my child,” said he; “come back and spit in its +face.” And I assure you,’ continued my friend, +‘that notwithstanding all I could say, he compelled me to +go back and spit in the face of his child.’</p> +<p>Perhaps there is no nation in the world amongst whom this +belief is so firmly rooted and from so ancient a period as the +Jews; it being a subject treated of, and in the gravest manner, +by the old Rabbinical writers themselves, which induces the +conclusion that the superstition of the evil eye is of an +antiquity almost as remote as the origin of the Hebrew race; (and +can we go farther back?) as the oral traditions of the Jews, +contained and commented upon in what is called the Talmud, are +certainly not less ancient than the inspired writings of the Old +Testament, and have unhappily been at all times regarded by them +with equal if not greater reverence.</p> +<p>The evil eye is mentioned in Scripture, but of course not in +the false and superstitious sense; evil in the eye, which occurs +in Prov. xxiii. v. 6, merely denoting niggardness and +illiberality. The Hebrew words are <i>ain ra</i>, and stand +in contradistinction to <i>ain toub</i>, or the benignant in eye, +which denotes an inclination to bounty and liberality.</p> +<p>It is imagined that this blight is most easily inflicted when +a person is enjoying himself with little or no care for the +future, when he is reclining in the sun before the door, or when +he is full of health and spirits: it may be cast designedly or +not; and the same effect may be produced by an inadvertent +word. It is deemed partially unlucky to say to any person, +‘How well you look’; as the probabilities are that +such an individual will receive a sudden blight and pine +away. We have however no occasion to go to Hindoos, Turks, +and Jews for this idea; we shall find it nearer home, or +something akin to it. Is there one of ourselves, however +enlightened and free from prejudice, who would not shrink, even +in the midst of his highest glee and enjoyment, from saying, +‘How happy I am!’ or if the words inadvertently +escaped him, would he not consider them as ominous of approaching +evil, and would he not endeavour to qualify them by saying, +‘God preserve me!’—Ay, God preserve you, +brother! Who knows what the morrow will bring forth?</p> +<p>The common remedy for the evil eye, in the East, is the +spittle of the person who has cast it, provided it can be +obtained. ‘Spit in the face of my child,’ said +the Jew of Janina to the Greek physician: recourse is had to the +same means in Barbary, where the superstition is universal. +In that country both Jews and Moors carry papers about with them +scrawled with hieroglyphics, which are prepared by their +respective priests, and sold. These papers, placed in a +little bag, and hung about the person, are deemed infallible +preservatives from the ‘evil eye.’</p> +<p>Let us now see what the <i>Talmud</i> itself says about the +evil eye. The passage which we are about to quote is +curious, not so much from the subject which it treats of, as in +affording an example of the manner in which the Rabbins are wont +to interpret the Scripture, and the strange and wonderful +deductions which they draw from words and phrases apparently of +the greatest simplicity.</p> +<blockquote><p>‘Whosoever when about to enter into a city +is afraid of evil eyes, let him grasp the thumb of his right hand +with his left hand, and his left-hand thumb with his right hand, +and let him cry in this manner: “I am such a one, son of +such a one, sprung from the seed of Joseph”; and the evil +eyes shall not prevail against him. <i>Joseph is a fruitful +bough</i>, <i>a fruitful bough by a well</i>, <a +name="citation120a"></a><a href="#footnote120a" +class="citation">[120a]</a> etc. Now you should not say +<i>by a well</i>, but <i>over an eye</i>. <a +name="citation120b"></a><a href="#footnote120b" +class="citation">[120b]</a> Rabbi Joseph Bar Henina makes +the following deduction: <i>and they shall become</i> (the seed +of Joseph) <i>like fishes in multitude in the midst of the +earth</i>. <a name="citation120c"></a><a href="#footnote120c" +class="citation">[120c]</a> Now the fishes of the sea are +covered by the waters, and the evil eye has no power over them; +and so over those of the seed of Joseph the evil eye has no +power.’</p> +</blockquote> +<p>I have been thus diffuse upon the evil eye, because of late +years it has been a common practice of writers to speak of it +without apparently possessing any farther knowledge of the +subject than what may be gathered from the words themselves.</p> +<p>Like most other superstitions, it is, perhaps, founded on a +physical reality.</p> +<p>I have observed, that only in hot countries, where the sun and +moon are particularly dazzling, the belief in the evil eye is +prevalent. If we turn to Scripture, the wonderful book +which is capable of resolving every mystery, I believe that we +shall presently come to the solution of the evil eye. +‘The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by +night.’ Ps. cxxi. v. 6.</p> +<p>Those who wish to avoid the evil eye, instead of trusting in +charms, scrawls, and Rabbinical antidotes, let them never loiter +in the sunshine before the king of day has nearly reached his +bourn in the west; for the sun has an evil eye, and his glance +produces brain fevers; and let them not sleep uncovered beneath +the smile of the moon, for her glance is poisonous, and produces +insupportable itching in the eye, and not unfrequently +blindness.</p> +<p>The northern nations have a superstition which bears some +resemblance to the evil eye, when allowance is made for +circumstances. They have no brilliant sun and moon to addle +the brain and poison the eye, but the grey north has its marshes, +and fenny ground, and fetid mists, which produce agues, low +fevers, and moping madness, and are as fatal to cattle as to +man. Such disorders are attributed to elves and +fairies. This superstition still lingers in some parts of +England under the name of elf-shot, whilst, throughout the north, +it is called elle-skiod, and elle-vild (fairy wild). It is +particularly prevalent amongst shepherds and cow-herds, the +people who, from their manner of life, are most exposed to the +effects of the elf-shot. Those who wish to know more of +this superstition are referred to Thiele’s—<i>Danske +Folkesagn</i>, and to the notes of the <i>Koempe-viser</i>, or +popular Danish Ballads.</p> +<h3><a name="page122"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +122</span>CHAPTER IX</h3> +<p><span class="smcap">When</span> the six hundred thousand men, +<a name="citation122"></a><a href="#footnote122" +class="citation">[122]</a> and the mixed multitude of women and +children, went forth from the land of Egypt, the God whom they +worshipped, the only true God, went before them by day in a +pillar of cloud, to lead them the way, and by night in a pillar +of fire to give them light; this God who rescued them from +slavery, who guided them through the wilderness, who was their +captain in battle, and who cast down before them the strong walls +which encompassed the towns of their enemies, this God they still +remember, after the lapse of more than three thousand years, and +still worship with adoration the most unbounded. If there +be one event in the eventful history of the Hebrews which awakens +in their minds deeper feelings of gratitude than another, it is +the exodus; and that wonderful manifestation of olden mercy still +serves them as an assurance that the Lord will yet one day redeem +and gather together his scattered and oppressed people. +‘Art thou not the God who brought us out of the land of +bondage?’ they exclaim in the days of their heaviest +trouble and affliction. He who redeemed Israel from the +hand of Pharaoh is yet capable of restoring the kingdom and +sceptre to Israel.</p> +<p>If the Rommany trusted in any God at the period of +<i>their</i> exodus, they must speedily have forgotten him. +Coming from Ind, as they most assuredly did, it was impossible +for them to have known the true, and they must have been +followers (if they followed any) either of Buddh, or Brahmah, +those tremendous phantoms which have led, and are likely still to +lead, the souls of hundreds of millions to destruction; yet they +are now ignorant of such names, nor does it appear that such were +ever current amongst them subsequent to their arrival in Europe, +if indeed they ever were. They brought with them no Indian +idols, as far as we are able to judge at the present time, nor +indeed Indian rites or observances, for no traces of such are to +be discovered amongst them.</p> +<p>All, therefore, which relates to their original religion is +shrouded in mystery, and is likely so to remain. They may +have been idolaters, or atheists, or what they now are, totally +neglectful of worship of any kind; and though not exactly +prepared to deny the existence of a Supreme Being, as regardless +of him as if he existed not, and never mentioning his name, save +in oaths and blasphemy, or in moments of pain or sudden surprise, +as they have heard other people do, but always without any fixed +belief, trust, or hope.</p> +<p>There are certainly some points of resemblance between the +children of Roma and those of Israel. Both have had an +exodus, both are exiles and dispersed amongst the Gentiles, by +whom they are hated and despised, and whom they hate and despise, +under the names of Busnees and Goyim; both, though speaking the +language of the Gentiles, possess a peculiar tongue, which the +latter do not understand, and both possess a peculiar cast of +countenance, by which they may, without difficulty, be +distinguished from all other nations; but with these points the +similarity terminates. The Israelites have a peculiar +religion, to which they are fanatically attached; the Romas have +none, as they invariably adopt, though only in appearance, that +of the people with whom they chance to sojourn; the Israelites +possess the most authentic history of any people in the world, +and are acquainted with and delight to recapitulate all that has +befallen their race, from ages the most remote; the Romas have no +history, they do not even know the name of their original +country; and the only tradition which they possess, that of their +Egyptian origin, is a false one, whether invented by themselves +or others; the Israelites are of all people the most wealthy, the +Romas the most poor—poor as a Gypsy being proverbial +amongst some nations, though both are equally greedy of gain; and +finally, though both are noted for peculiar craft and cunning, no +people are more ignorant than the Romas, whilst the Jews have +always been a learned people, being in possession of the oldest +literature in the world, and certainly the most important and +interesting.</p> +<p>Sad and weary must have been the path of the mixed rabble of +the Romas, when they left India’s sunny land and wended +their way to the West, in comparison with the glorious exodus of +the Israelites from Egypt, whose God went before them in cloud +and in fire, working miracles and astonishing the hearts of their +foes.</p> +<p>Even supposing that they worshipped Buddh or Brahmah, neither +of these false deities could have accomplished for them what God +effected for his chosen people, although it is true that the idea +that a Supreme Being was watching over them, in return for the +reverence paid to his image, might have cheered them ‘midst +storm and lightning, ‘midst mountains and wildernesses, +‘midst hunger and drought; for it is assuredly better to +trust even in an idol, in a tree, or a stone, than to be entirely +godless; and the most superstitious hind of the Himalayan hills, +who trusts in the Grand Foutsa in the hour of peril and danger, +is more wise than the most enlightened atheist, who cherishes no +consoling delusion to relieve his mind, oppressed by the terrible +ideas of reality.</p> +<p>But it is evident that they arrived at the confines of Europe +without any certain or rooted faith. Knowing, as we do, +with what tenacity they retain their primitive habits and +customs, their sect being, in all points, the same as it was four +hundred years ago, it appears impossible that they should have +forgotten their peculiar god, if in any peculiar god they +trusted.</p> +<p>Though cloudy ideas of the Indian deities might be +occasionally floating in their minds, these ideas, doubtless, +quickly passed away when they ceased to behold the pagodas and +temples of Indian worship, and were no longer in contact with the +enthusiastic adorers of the idols of the East; they passed away +even as the dim and cloudy ideas which they subsequently adopted +of the Eternal and His Son, Mary and the saints, would pass away +when they ceased to be nourished by the sight of churches and +crosses; for should it please the Almighty to reconduct the Romas +to Indian climes, who can doubt that within half a century they +would entirely forget all connected with the religion of the +West! Any poor shreds of that faith which they bore with +them they would drop by degrees as they would relinquish their +European garments when they became old, and as they relinquished +their Asiatic ones to adopt those of Europe; no particular dress +makes a part of the things essential to the sect of Roma, so +likewise no particular god and no particular religion.</p> +<p>Where these people first assumed the name of Egyptians, or +where that title was first bestowed upon them, it is difficult to +determine; perhaps, however, in the eastern parts of Europe, +where it should seem the grand body of this nation of wanderers +made a halt for a considerable time, and where they are still to +be found in greater numbers than in any other part. One +thing is certain, that when they first entered Germany, which +they speedily overran, they appeared under the character of +Egyptians, doing penance for the sin of having refused +hospitality to the Virgin and her Son, and, of course, as +believers in the Christian faith, notwithstanding that they +subsisted by the perpetration of every kind of robbery and +imposition; Aventinus (<i>Annales Boiorum</i>, 826) speaking of +them says: ‘Adeo tamen vana superstitio hominum mentes, +velut lethargus invasit, ut eos violari nefas putet, atque +grassari, furari, imponere passim sinant.’</p> +<p>This singular story of banishment from Egypt, and Wandering +through the world for a period of seven years, for inhospitality +displayed to the Virgin, and which I find much difficulty in +attributing to the invention of people so ignorant as the Romas, +tallies strangely with the fate foretold to the ancient Egyptians +in certain chapters of Ezekiel, so much so, indeed, that it seems +to be derived from that source. The Lord is angry with +Egypt because its inhabitants have been a staff of reed to the +house of Israel, and thus he threatens them by the mouth of his +prophet.</p> +<blockquote><p>‘I will make the land of Egypt desolate in +the midst of the countries that are desolate, and her cities +among the cities that are laid waste shall be desolate forty +years: and I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and +will disperse them through the countries.’ Ezek., +chap. xxix. v. 12. ‘Yet thus saith the Lord God; at +the end of forty years will I gather the Egyptians from the +people whither they were scattered.’ v. 13.</p> +<p>‘Thus saith the Lord; I will make the multitude of Egypt +to cease, by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of +Babylon.’ Chap. xxx. v. 10.</p> +<p>‘And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and +disperse them among the countries; and they shall know that I am +the Lord.’ Chap. xxx. v. 26.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>The reader will at once observe that the apocryphal tale which +the Romas brought into Germany, concerning their origin and +wanderings, agrees in every material point with the sacred +prophecy. The ancient Egyptians were to be driven from +their country and dispersed amongst the nations, for a period of +forty years, for having been the cause of Israel’s +backsliding, and for not having known the Lord,—the modern +pseudo-Egyptians are to be dispersed among the nations for seven +years, for having denied hospitality to the Virgin and her +child. The prophecy seems only to have been remodelled for +the purpose of suiting the taste of the time; as no legend +possessed much interest in which the Virgin did not figure, she +and her child are here introduced instead of the Israelites, and +the Lord of Heaven offended with the Egyptians; and this legend +appears to have been very well received in Germany, for a time at +least, for, as Aventinus observes, it was esteemed a crime of the +first magnitude to offer any violence to the Egyptian pilgrims, +who were permitted to rob on the highway, to commit larceny, and +to practise every species of imposition with impunity.</p> +<p>The tale, however, of the Romas could hardly have been +invented by themselves, as they were, and still are, utterly +unacquainted with the Scripture; it probably originated amongst +the priests and learned men of the east of Europe, who, startled +by the sudden apparition of bands of people foreign in appearance +and language, skilled in divination and the occult arts, +endeavoured to find in Scripture a clue to such a phenomenon; the +result of which was, that the Romas of Hindustan were suddenly +transformed into Egyptian penitents, a title which they have ever +since borne in various parts of Europe. There are no means +of ascertaining whether they themselves believed from the first +in this story; they most probably took it on credit, more +especially as they could give no account of themselves, there +being every reason for supposing that from time immemorial they +had existed in the East as a thievish wandering sect, as they at +present do in Europe, without history or traditions, and unable +to look back for a period of eighty years. The tale +moreover answered their purpose, as beneath the garb of penitence +they could rob and cheat with impunity, for a time at +least. One thing is certain, that in whatever manner the +tale of their Egyptian descent originated, many branches of the +sect place implicit confidence in it at the present day, more +especially those of England and Spain.</p> +<p>Even at the present time there are writers who contend that +the Romas are the descendants of the ancient Egyptians, who were +scattered amongst the nations by the Assyrians. This belief +they principally found upon particular parts of the prophecy from +which we have already quoted, and there is no lack of +plausibility in the arguments which they deduce therefrom. +The Egyptians, say they, were to fall upon the open fields, they +were not to be brought together nor gathered; they were to be +dispersed through the countries, their idols were to be +destroyed, and their images were to cease out of Noph! In +what people in the world do these denunciations appear to be +verified save the Gypsies?—a people who pass their lives in +the open fields, who are not gathered together, who are dispersed +through the countries, who have no idols, no images, nor any +fixed or certain religion.</p> +<p>In Spain, the want of religion amongst the Gitános was +speedily observed, and became quite as notorious as their want of +honesty; they have been styled atheists, heathen idolaters, and +Moors. In the little book of Quiñones’, we +find the subject noticed in the following manner:—</p> +<blockquote><p>‘They do not understand what kind of thing +the church is, and never enter it but for the purpose of +committing sacrilege. They do not know the prayers; for I +examined them myself, males and females, and they knew them not, +or if any, very imperfectly. They never partake of the Holy +Sacraments, and though they marry relations they procure no +dispensations. <a name="citation130a"></a><a href="#footnote130a" +class="citation">[130a]</a> No one knows whether they are +baptized. One of the five whom I caused to be hung a few +days ago was baptized in the prison, being at the time upwards of +thirty years of age. Don Martin Fajardo says that two +Gitános and a Gitána, whom he hanged in the village +of Torre Perojil, were baptized at the foot of the gallows, and +declared themselves Moors.</p> +<p>‘They invariably look out, when they marry, if we can +call theirs marrying, for the woman most dexterous in pilfering +and deceiving, caring nothing whether she is akin to them or +married already, <a name="citation130b"></a><a +href="#footnote130b" class="citation">[130b]</a> for it is only +necessary to keep her company and to call her wife. +Sometimes they purchase them from their husbands, or receive them +as pledges: so says, at least, Doctor Salazar de Mendoza.</p> +<p>‘Friar Melchior of Guelama states that he heard asserted +of two Gitános what was never yet heard of any barbarous +nation, namely, that they exchanged their wives, and that as one +was more comely looking than the other, he who took the handsome +woman gave a certain sum of money to him who took the ugly +one. The licentiate Alonzo Duran has certified to me, that +in the year 1623–4, one Simon Ramirez, captain of a band of +Gitános, repudiated Teresa because she was old, and +married one called Melchora, who was young and handsome, and that +on the day when the repudiation took place and the bridal was +celebrated he was journeying along the road, and perceived a +company feasting and revelling beneath some trees in a plain +within the jurisdiction of the village of Deleitosa, and that on +demanding the cause he was told that it was on account of Simon +Ramirez marrying one Gitána and casting off another; and +that the repudiated woman told him, with an agony of tears, that +he abandoned her because she was old, and married another because +she was young. Certainly Gitános and Gitánas +confessed before Don Martin Fajardo that they did not really +marry, but that in their banquets and festivals they selected the +woman whom they liked, and that it was lawful for them to have as +many as three mistresses, and on that account they begat so many +children. They never keep fasts nor any ecclesiastical +command. They always eat meat, Friday and Lent not +excepted; the morning when I seized those whom I afterwards +executed, which was in Lent, they had three lambs which they +intended to eat for their dinner that day.—Quiñones, +page 13.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>Although what is stated in the above extracts, respecting the +marriages of the Gitános and their licentious manner of +living, is, for the most part, incorrect, there is no reason to +conclude the same with respect to their want of religion in the +olden time, and their slight regard for the forms and observances +of the church, as their behaviour at the present day serves to +confirm what is said on those points. From the whole, we +may form a tolerably correct idea of the opinions of the time +respecting the Gitános in matters of morality and +religion. A very natural question now seems to present +itself, namely, what steps did the government of Spain, civil and +ecclesiastical, which has so often trumpeted its zeal in the +cause of what it calls the Christian religion, which has so often +been the scourge of the Jew, of the Mahometan, and of the +professors of the reformed faith; what steps did it take towards +converting, punishing, and rooting out from Spain, a sect of +demi-atheists, who, besides being cheats and robbers, displayed +the most marked indifference for the forms of the Catholic +religion, and presumed to eat flesh every day, and to intermarry +with their relations, without paying the vicegerent of Christ +here on earth for permission so to do?</p> +<p>The Gitános have at all times, since their first +appearance in Spain, been notorious for their contempt of +religious observances; yet there is no proof that they were +subjected to persecution on that account. The men have been +punished as robbers and murderers, with the gallows and the +galleys; the women, as thieves and sorceresses, with +imprisonment, flagellation, and sometimes death; but as a rabble, +living without fear of God, and, by so doing, affording an evil +example to the nation at large, few people gave themselves much +trouble about them, though they may have occasionally been +designated as such in a royal edict, intended to check their +robberies, or by some priest from the pulpit, from whose stable +they had perhaps contrived to extract the mule which previously +had the honour of ambling beneath his portly person.</p> +<p>The Inquisition, which burnt so many Jews and Moors, and +conscientious Christians, at Seville and Madrid, and in other +parts of Spain, seems to have exhibited the greatest clemency and +forbearance to the Gitános. Indeed, we cannot find +one instance of its having interfered with them. The charge +of restraining the excesses of the Gitános was abandoned +entirely to the secular authorities, and more particularly to the +Santa Hermandad, a kind of police instituted for the purpose of +clearing the roads of robbers. Whilst I resided at Cordova, +I was acquainted with an aged ecclesiastic, who was priest of a +village called Puente, at about two leagues’ distance from +the city. He was detained in Cordova on account of his +political opinions, though he was otherwise at liberty. We +lived together at the same house; and he frequently visited me in +my apartment.</p> +<p>This person, who was upwards of eighty years of age, had +formerly been inquisitor at Cordova. One night, whilst we +were seated together, three Gitános entered to pay me a +visit, and on observing the old ecclesiastic, exhibited every +mark of dissatisfaction, and speaking in their own idiom, called +him a <i>balichow</i>, and abused priests in general in most +unmeasured terms. On their departing, I inquired of the old +man whether he, who having been an inquisitor, was doubtless +versed in the annals of the holy office, could inform me whether +the Inquisition had ever taken any active measures for the +suppression and punishment of the sect of the Gitános: +whereupon he replied, ‘that he was not aware of one case of +a Gitáno having been tried or punished by the +Inquisition’; adding these remarkable words: ‘The +Inquisition always looked upon them with too much contempt to +give itself the slightest trouble concerning them; for as no +danger either to the state, or the church of Rome, could proceed +from the Gitános, it was a matter of perfect indifference +to the holy office whether they lived without religion or +not. The holy office has always reserved its anger for +people very different; the Gitános having at all times +been <i>Gente barata y despreciable</i>.</p> +<p>Indeed, most of the persecutions which have arisen in Spain +against Jews, Moors, and Protestants, sprang from motives with +which fanaticism and bigotry, of which it is true the Spaniards +have their full share, had very little connection. Religion +was assumed as a mask to conceal the vilest and most detestable +motives which ever yet led to the commission of crying injustice; +the Jews were doomed to persecution and destruction on two +accounts,—their great riches, and their high superiority +over the Spaniards in learning and intellect. Avarice has +always been the dominant passion in Spanish minds, their rage for +money being only to be compared to the wild hunger of wolves for +horse-flesh in the time of winter: next to avarice, envy of +superior talent and accomplishment is the prevailing +passion. These two detestable feelings united, proved the +ruin of the Jews in Spain, who were, for a long time, an eyesore, +both to the clergy and laity, for their great riches and +learning. Much the same causes insured the expulsion of the +Moriscos, who were abhorred for their superior industry, which +the Spaniards would not imitate; whilst the reformation was kept +down by the gaunt arm of the Inquisition, lest the property of +the church should pass into other and more deserving hands. +The faggot piles in the squares of Seville and Madrid, which +consumed the bodies of the Hebrew, the Morisco, and the +Protestant, were lighted by avarice and envy, and those same +piles would likewise have consumed the mulatto carcass of the +Gitáno, had he been learned and wealthy enough to become +obnoxious to the two master passions of the Spaniards.</p> +<p>Of all the Spanish writers who have written concerning the +Gitános, the one who appears to have been most scandalised +at the want of religion observable amongst them, and their +contempt for things sacred, was a certain Doctor Sancho De +Moncada.</p> +<p>This worthy, whom we have already had occasion to mention, was +Professor of Theology at the University of Toledo, and shortly +after the expulsion of the Moriscos had been brought about by the +intrigues of the monks and robbers who thronged the court of +Philip the Third, he endeavoured to get up a cry against the +Gitános similar to that with which for the last +half-century Spain had resounded against the unfortunate and +oppressed Africans, and to effect this he published a discourse, +entitled ‘The Expulsion of the Gitános,’ +addressed to Philip the Third, in which he conjures that monarch, +for the sake of morality and everything sacred, to complete the +good work he had commenced, and to send the Gitános +packing after the Moriscos.</p> +<p>Whether this discourse produced any benefit to the author, we +have no means of ascertaining. One thing is certain, that +it did no harm to the Gitános, who still continue in +Spain.</p> +<p>If he had other expectations, he must have understood very +little of the genius of his countrymen, or of King Philip and his +court. It would have been easier to get up a crusade +against the wild cats of the sierra, than against the +Gitános, as the former have skins to reward those who slay +them. His discourse, however, is well worthy of perusal, as +it exhibits some learning, and comprises many curious details +respecting the Gitános, their habits, and their +practices. As it is not very lengthy, we here subjoin it, +hoping that the reader will excuse its many absurdities, for the +sake of its many valuable facts.</p> +<h3><a name="page137"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +137</span>CHAPTER X</h3> +<p>‘<span class="smcap">Sire</span>,</p> +<p>‘The people of God were always afflicted by the +Egyptians, but the Supreme King delivered them from their hands +by means of many miracles, which are related in the Holy +Scriptures; and now, without having recourse to so many, but only +by means of the miraculous talent which your Majesty possesses +for expelling such reprobates, he will, doubtless, free this +kingdom from them, which is what is supplicated in this +discourse, and it behoves us, in the first place, to consider</p> +<h4>‘WHO ARE THE GITÁNOS?</h4> +<p>‘Writers generally agree that the first time the +Gitános were seen in Europe was the year 1417, which was +in the time of Pope Martinus the Fifth and King Don John the +Second; others say that Tamerlane had them in his camp in 1401, +and that their captain was Cingo, from whence it is said that +they call themselves Cingary. But the opinions concerning +their origin are infinite.</p> +<p>‘The first is that they are foreigners, though authors +differ much with respect to the country from whence they +came. The majority say that they are from Africa, and that +they came with the Moors when Spain was lost; others that they +are Tartars, Persians, Cilicians, Nubians, from Lower Egypt, from +Syria, or from other parts of Asia and Africa, and others +consider them to be descendants of Chus, son of Cain; others say +that they are of European origin, Bohemians, Germans, or outcasts +from other nations of this quarter of the world.</p> +<p>‘The second and sure opinion is, that those who prowl +about Spain are not Egyptians, but swarms of wasps and +atheistical wretches, without any kind of law or religion, +Spaniards, who have introduced this Gypsy life or sect, and who +admit into it every day all the idle and broken people of +Spain. There are some foreigners who would make Spain the +origin and fountain of all the Gypsies of Europe, as they say +that they proceeded from a river in Spain called Cija, of which +Lucan makes mention; an opinion, however, not much adopted +amongst the learned. In the opinion of respectable authors, +they are called Cingary or Cinli, because they in every respect +resemble the bird cinclo, which we call in Spanish Motacilla, or +aguzanieve (wagtail), which is a vagrant bird and builds no nest, +<a name="citation138"></a><a href="#footnote138" +class="citation">[138]</a> but broods in those of other birds, a +bird restless and poor of plumage, as Ælian writes.</p> +<h4>‘THE GITÁNOS ARE VERY HURTFUL TO SPAIN</h4> +<p>‘There is not a nation which does not consider them as a +most pernicious rabble; even the Turks and Moors abominate them, +amongst whom this sect is found under the names of Torlaquis, <a +name="citation139"></a><a href="#footnote139" +class="citation">[139]</a> Hugiemalars, and Dervislars, of whom +some historians make mention, and all agree that they are most +evil people, and highly detrimental to the country where they are +found.</p> +<p>‘In the first place, because in all parts they are +considered as enemies of the states where they wander, and as +spies and traitors to the crown; which was proven by the emperors +Maximilian and Albert, who declared them to be such in public +edicts; a fact easy to be believed, when we consider that they +enter with ease into the enemies’ country, and know the +languages of all nations.</p> +<p>‘Secondly, because they are idle vagabond people, who +are in no respect useful to the kingdom; without commerce, +occupation, or trade of any description; and if they have any it +is making picklocks and pothooks for appearance sake, being +wasps, who only live by sucking and impoverishing the country, +sustaining themselves by the sweat of the miserable labourers, as +a German poet has said of them:—</p> +<blockquote><p>“Quos aliena juvant, propriis habitare +molestum,<br /> +Fastidit patrium non nisi nosse solum.”</p> +</blockquote> +<p>They are much more useless than the Moriscos, as these last +were of some service to the state and the royal revenues, but the +Gitános are neither labourers, gardeners, mechanics, nor +merchants, and only serve, like the wolves, to plunder and to +flee.</p> +<p>‘Thirdly, because the Gitánas are public harlots, +common, as it is said, to all the Gitános, and with +dances, demeanour, and filthy songs, are the cause of continual +detriment to the souls of the vassals of your Majesty, it being +notorious that they have done infinite harm in many honourable +houses by separating the married women from their husbands, and +perverting the maidens: and finally, in the best of these +Gitánas any one may recognise all the signs of a harlot +given by the wise king; they are gadders about, whisperers, +always unquiet in places and corners.</p> +<p>‘Fourthly, because in all parts they are accounted +famous thieves, about which authors write wonderful things; we +ourselves have continual experience of this fact in Spain, where +there is scarcely a corner where they have not committed some +heavy offence.</p> +<p>‘Father Martin Del Rio says they were notorious when he +was in Leon in the year 1584; as they even attempted to sack the +town of Logroño in the time of the pest, as Don Francisco +De Cordoba writes in his <i>Didascalia</i>. Enormous cases +of their excesses we see in infinite processes in all the +tribunals, and particularly in that of the Holy Brotherhood; +their wickedness ascending to such a pitch, that they steal +children, and carry them for sale to Barbary; the reason why the +Moors call them in Arabic, <i>Raso cherany</i>, <a +name="citation140"></a><a href="#footnote140" +class="citation">[140]</a> which, as Andreas Tebetus writes, +means <i>master thieves</i>. Although they are addicted to +every species of robbery, they mostly practise horse and cattle +stealing, on which account they are called in law <i>Abigeos</i>, +and in Spanish <i>Quatreros</i>, from which practice great evils +result to the poor labourers. When they cannot steal +cattle, they endeavour to deceive by means of them, acting as +<i>terceros</i>, in fairs and markets.</p> +<p>‘Fifthly, because they are enchanters, diviners, +magicians, chiromancers, who tell the future by the lines of the +hand, which is what they call <i>Buena ventura</i>, and are in +general addicted to all kind of superstition.</p> +<p>‘This is the opinion entertained of them universally, +and which is confirmed every day by experience; and some think +that they are caller Cingary, from the great Magian Cineus, from +whom it is said they learned their sorceries, and from which +result in Spain (especially amongst the vulgar) great errors, and +superstitious credulity, mighty witchcrafts, and heavy evils, +both spiritual and corporeal.</p> +<p>‘Sixthly, because very devout men consider them as +heretics, and many as Gentile idolaters, or atheists, without any +religion, although they exteriorly accommodate themselves to the +religion of the country in which they wander, being Turks with +the Turks, heretics with the heretics, and, amongst the +Christians, baptizing now and then a child for form’s +sake. Friar Jayme Bleda produces a hundred signs, from +which he concludes that the Moriscos were not Christians, all +which are visible in the Gitános; very few are known to +baptize their children; they are not married, but it is believed +that they keep the women in common; they do not use +dispensations, nor receive the sacraments; they pay no respect to +images, rosaries, bulls, neither do they hear mass, nor divine +services; they never enter the churches, nor observe fasts, Lent, +nor any ecclesiastical precept; which enormities have been +attested by long experience, as every person says.</p> +<p>‘Finally, they practise every kind of wickedness in +safety, by discoursing amongst themselves in a language with +which they understand each other without being understood, which +in Spain is called Gerigonza, which, as some think, ought to be +called Cingerionza, or language of Cingary. The king our +lord saw the evil of such a practice in the law which he enacted +at Madrid, in the year 1566, in which he forbade the Arabic to +the Moriscos, as the use of different languages amongst the +natives of one kingdom opens a door to treason, and is a source +of heavy inconvenience; and this is exemplified more in the case +of the Gitános than of any other people.</p> +<h4>‘THE GITÁNOS OUGHT TO BE SEIZED WHEREVER +FOUND</h4> +<p>‘The civil law ordains that vagrants be seized wherever +they are found, without any favour being shown to them; in +conformity with which, the Gitános in the Greek empire +were given as slaves to those who should capture them; as +respectable authors write. Moreover, the emperor, our lord, +has decreed by a law made in Toledo, in the year 1525, <i>that +the third time they be found wandering they shall serve as slaves +during their whole life to those who capture them</i>. +Which can be easily justified, inasmuch as there is no shepherd +who does not place barriers against the wolves, and does not +endeavour to save his flock, and I have already exposed to your +Majesty the damage which the Gitános perpetrate in +Spain.</p> +<h4>‘THE GITÁNOS OUGHT TO BE CONDEMNED TO DEATH</h4> +<p>‘The reasons are many. The first, for being spies, +and traitors to the crown; the second as idlers and +vagabonds.</p> +<p>‘It ought always to be considered, that no sooner did +the race of man begin, after the creation of the world, than the +important point of civil policy arose of condemning vagrants to +death; for Cain was certain that he should meet his destruction +in wandering as a vagabond for the murder of Abel. <i>Ero +vagus et profugus in terra: omnis igitur qui invenerit me</i>, +<i>occidet me</i>. Now, the <i>igitur</i> stands here as +the natural consequence of <i>vagus ero</i>; as it is evident, +that whoever shall see me must kill me, because he sees me a +wanderer. And it must always be remembered, that at that +time there were no people in the world but the parents and +brothers of Cain, as St. Ambrose has remarked. Moreover, +God, by the mouth of Jeremias, menaced his people, that all +should devour them whilst they went wandering amongst the +mountains. And it is a doctrine entertained by theologians, +that the mere act of wandering, without anything else, carries +with it a vehement suspicion of capital crime. Nature +herself demonstrates it in the curious political system of the +bees, in whose well-governed republic the drones are killed in +April, when they commence working.</p> +<p>‘The third, because they are stealers of four-footed +beasts, who are condemned to death by the laws of Spain, in the +wise code of the famous King Don Alonso; which enactment became a +part of the common law.</p> +<p>‘The fourth, for wizards, diviners, and for practising +arts which are prohibited under pain of death by the divine law +itself. And Saul is praised for having caused this law to +be put in execution in the beginning of his reign; and the Holy +Scripture attributes to the breach of it (namely, his consulting +the witch) his disastrous death, and the transfer of the kingdom +to David. The Emperor Constantine the Great, and other +emperors who founded the civil law, condemned to death those who +should practise such facinorousness,—as the President of +Tolosa has written.</p> +<p>‘The last and most urgent cause is, that they are +heretics, if what is said be truth; and it is the practice of the +law in Spain to burn such.</p> +<h4>‘THE GITÁNOS ARE EXPELLED FROM THE COUNTRY BY +THE LAWS OF SPAIN</h4> +<p>‘Firstly, they are comprehended as hale beggars in the +law of the wise king, Don Alonso, by which he expelled all sturdy +beggars, as being idle and useless.</p> +<p>‘Secondly, the law expels public harlots from the city; +and of this matter I have already said something in my second +chapter.</p> +<p>‘Thirdly, as people who cause scandal, and who, as is +visible at the first glance, are prejudicial to morals and common +decency. Now, it is established by the statute law of these +kingdoms, that such people be expelled therefrom; it is said so +in the well-pondered words of the edict for the expulsion of the +Moors: “And forasmuch as the sense of good and Christian +government makes it a matter of conscience to expel from the +kingdoms the things which cause scandal, injury to honest +subjects, danger to the state, and above all, disloyalty to the +Lord our God.” Therefore, considering the +incorrigibility of the Gitános, the Spanish kings made +many holy laws in order to deliver their subjects from such +pernicious people.</p> +<p>‘Fourthly, the Catholic princes, Ferdinand and Isabella, +by a law which they made in Medina del Campo, in the year 1494, +and which the emperor our lord renewed in Toledo in 1523, and in +Madrid in 1528 and 1534, and the late king our lord, in 1560, +banished them perpetually from Spain, and gave them as slaves to +whomsoever should find them, after the expiration of the term +specified in the edict—laws which are notorious even +amongst strangers. The words are:—“We declare +to be vagabonds, and subject to the aforesaid penalty, the +Egyptians and foreign tinkers, who by laws and statutes of these +kingdoms are commanded to depart therefrom; and the poor sturdy +beggars, who contrary to the order given in the new edict, beg +for alms and wander about.”</p> +<h4>‘THE LAWS ARE VERY JUST WHICH EXPEL THE GITÁNOS +FROM THE STATES</h4> +<p>All the doctors, who are of opinion that the Gitános +may be condemned to death, would consider it as an act of mercy +in your Majesty to banish them perpetually from Spain, and at the +same time as exceedingly just. Many and learned men not +only consider that it is just to expel them, but cannot +sufficiently wonder that they are tolerated in Christian states, +and even consider that such toleration is an insult to the +kingdoms.</p> +<p>‘Whilst engaged in writing this, I have seen a very +learned memorial, in which Doctor Salazar de Mendoza makes the +same supplication to your Majesty which is made in this +discourse, holding it to be the imperious duty of every good +government.</p> +<p>‘It stands in reason that the prince is bound to watch +for the welfare of his subjects, and the wrongs which those of +your Majesty receive from the Gitános I have already +exposed in my second chapter; it being a point worthy of great +consideration that the wrongs caused by the Moriscos moved your +royal and merciful bosom to drive them out, although they were +many, and their departure would be felt as a loss to the +population, the commerce, the royal revenues, and +agriculture. Now, with respect to the Gitános, as +they are few, and perfectly useless for everything, it appears +more necessary to drive them forth, the injuries which they cause +being so numerous.</p> +<p>‘Secondly, because the Gitános, as I have already +said, are Spaniards; and as others profess the sacred orders of +religion, even so do these fellows profess gypsying, which is +robbery and all the other vices enumerated in chapter the +second. And whereas it is just to banish from the kingdom +those who have committed any heavy delinquency, it is still more +so to banish those who profess to be injurious to all.</p> +<p>‘Thirdly, because all the kings and rulers have always +endeavoured to eject from their kingdoms the idle and +useless. And it is very remarkable, that the law invariably +commands them to be expelled, and the republics of Athens and +Corinth were accustomed to do so—casting them forth like +dung, even as Athenæus writes: <i>Nos genus hoc mortalium +ejicimus ex hac urbe velut purgamina</i>. Now the +profession of the Gypsy is idleness.</p> +<p>‘Fourthly, because the Gitános are diviners, +enchanters, and mischievous wretches, and the law commands us to +expel such from the state.</p> +<p>‘In the fifth place, because your Majesty, in the Cortes +at present assembled, has obliged your royal conscience to fulfil +all the articles voted for the public service, and the +forty-ninth says: “One of the things at present most +necessary to be done in these kingdoms, is to afford a remedy for +the robberies, plundering and murders committed by the +Gitános, who go wandering about the country, stealing the +cattle of the poor, and committing a thousand outrages, living +without any fear of God, and being Christians only in name. +It is therefore deemed expedient, that your Majesty command them +to quit these kingdoms within six months, to be reckoned from the +day of the ratification of these presents, and that they do not +return to the same under pain of death.”</p> +<p>‘Against this, two things may possibly be +urged:—</p> +<p>‘The first, that the laws of Spain give unto the +Gitános the alternative of residing in large towns, which, +it appears, would be better than expelling them. But +experience, recognised by grave and respectable men, has shown +that it is not well to harbour these people; for their houses are +dens of thieves, from whence they prowl abroad to rob the +land.</p> +<p>‘The second, that it appears a pity to banish the women +and children. But to this can be opposed that holy act of +your Majesty which expelled the Moriscos, and the children of the +Moriscos, for the reason given in the royal edict. +<i>Whenever any detestable crime is committed by any +university</i>, <i>it is well to punish all</i>. And the +most detestable crimes of all are those which the Gitános +commit, since it is notorious that they subsist on what they +steal; and as to the children, there is no law which obliges us +to bring up wolf-whelps, to cause here-after certain damage to +the flock.</p> +<h4>‘IT HAS EVER BEEN THE PRACTICE OF PRINCES TO EXPEL THE +GITÁNOS</h4> +<p>‘Every one who considers the manner of your +Majesty’s government as the truly Christian pattern must +entertain fervent hope that the advice proffered in this +discourse will be attended to; more especially on reflecting that +not only the good, but even the most barbarous kings have acted +up to it in their respective dominions.</p> +<p>‘Pharaoh was bad enough, nevertheless he judged that the +children of Israel were dangerous to the state, because they +appeared to him to be living without any certain occupation; and +for this very reason the Chaldeans cast them out of +Babylon. Amasis, king of Egypt, drove all the vagrants from +his kingdom, forbidding them to return under pain of death. +The Soldan of Egypt expelled the Torlaquis. The Moors did +the same; and Bajazet cast them out of all the Ottoman empire, +according to Leo Clavius.</p> +<p>‘In the second place, the Christian princes have deemed +it an important measure of state.</p> +<p>‘The emperor our Lord, in the German Diets of the year +1548, expelled the Gitános from all his empire, and these +were the words of the decree: “Zigeuner quos compertum est +proditores esse, et exploratores hostium nusquam in imperio locum +inveniunto. In deprehensos vis et injuria sine fraude +esto. Fides publica Zigeuners ne dator, nec data +servator.”</p> +<p>‘The King of France, Francis, expelled them from thence; +and the Duke of Terranova, when Governor of Milan for our lord +the king, obliged them to depart from that territory under pain +of death.</p> +<p>‘Thirdly, there is one grand reason which ought to be +conclusive in moving him who so much values himself in being a +faithful son of the church,—I mean the example which Pope +Pius the Fifth gave to all the princes; for he drove the +Gitános from all his domains, and in the year 1568, he +expelled the Jews, assigning as reasons for their expulsion those +which are more closely applicable to the +Gitános;—namely, that they sucked the vitals of the +state, without being of any utility whatever; that they were +thieves themselves, and harbourers of others; that they were +wizards, diviners, and wretches who induced people to believe +that they knew the future, which is what the Gitános at +present do by telling fortunes.</p> +<p>‘Your Majesty has already freed us from greater and more +dangerous enemies; finish, therefore, the enterprise begun, +whence will result universal joy and security, and by which your +Majesty will earn immortal honour. Amen.</p> +<p>‘O Regum summe, horum plura ne temnas (absit) ne +fortè tempsisse Hispaniæ periculosum +existat.’</p> +<h3><a name="page151"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +151</span>CHAPTER XI</h3> +<p><span class="smcap">Perhaps</span> there is no country in +which more laws have been framed, having in view the extinction +and suppression of the Gypsy name, race, and manner of life, than +Spain. Every monarch, during a period of three hundred +years, appears at his accession to the throne to have considered +that one of his first and most imperative duties consisted in +suppressing or checking the robberies, frauds, and other +enormities of the Gitános, with which the whole country +seems to have resounded since the time of their first +appearance.</p> +<p>They have, by royal edicts, been repeatedly banished from +Spain, under terrible penalties, unless they renounced their +inveterate habits; and for the purpose of eventually confounding +them with the residue of the population, they have been +forbidden, even when stationary, to reside together, every family +being enjoined to live apart, and neither to seek nor to hold +communication with others of the race.</p> +<p>We shall say nothing at present as to the wisdom which +dictated these provisions, nor whether others might not have been +devised, better calculated to produce the end desired. +Certain it is, that the laws were never, or very imperfectly, put +in force, and for reasons with which their expediency or equity +(which no one at the time impugned) had no connection +whatever.</p> +<p>It is true that, in a country like Spain, abounding in +wildernesses and almost inaccessible mountains, the task of +hunting down and exterminating or banishing the roving bands +would have been found one of no slight difficulty, even if such +had ever been attempted; but it must be remembered, that from an +early period colonies of Gitános have existed in the +principal towns of Spain, where the men have plied the trades of +jockeys and blacksmiths, and the women subsisted by divination, +and all kinds of fraud. These colonies were, of course, +always within the reach of the hand of justice, yet it does not +appear that they were more interfered with than the roving and +independent bands, and that any serious attempts were made to +break them up, though notorious as nurseries and refuges of +crime.</p> +<p>It is a lamentable fact, that pure and uncorrupt justice has +never existed in Spain, as far at least as record will allow us +to judge; not that the principles of justice have been less +understood there than in other countries, but because the entire +system of justiciary administration has ever been shamelessly +profligate and vile.</p> +<p>Spanish justice has invariably been a mockery, a thing to be +bought and sold, terrible only to the feeble and innocent, and an +instrument of cruelty and avarice.</p> +<p>The tremendous satires of Le Sage upon Spanish corregidors and +alguazils are true, even at the present day, and the most +notorious offenders can generally escape, if able to administer +sufficient bribes to the ministers <a name="citation153"></a><a +href="#footnote153" class="citation">[153]</a> of what is +misnamed justice.</p> +<p>The reader, whilst perusing the following extracts from the +laws framed against the Gitános, will be filled with +wonder that the Gypsy sect still exists in Spain, contrary to the +declared will of the sovereign and the nation, so often repeated +during a period of three hundred years; yet such is the fact, and +it can only be accounted for on the ground of corruption.</p> +<p>It was notorious that the Gitános had powerful friends +and favourers in every district, who sanctioned and encouraged +them in their Gypsy practices. These their fautors were of +all ranks and grades, from the corregidor of noble blood to the +low and obscure escribano; and from the viceroy of the province +to the archer of the Hermandad.</p> +<p>To the high and noble, they were known as Chalanes, and to the +plebeian functionaries, as people who, notwithstanding their +general poverty, could pay for protection.</p> +<p>A law was even enacted against these protectors of the +Gitános, which of course failed, as the execution of the +law was confided to the very delinquents against whom it was +directed. Thus, the Gitáno bought, sold, and +exchanged animals openly, though he subjected himself to the +penalty of death by so doing, or left his habitation when he +thought fit, though such an act, by the law of the land, was +punishable with the galleys.</p> +<p>In one of their songs they have commemorated the impunity with +which they wandered about. The escribano, to whom the +Gitános of the neighbourhood pay contribution, on a +strange Gypsy being brought before him, instantly orders him to +be liberated, assigning as a reason that he is no Gitáno, +but a legitimate Spaniard:—</p> +<blockquote><p>‘I left my house, and walked about<br /> + They seized me fast, and bound:<br /> +It is a Gypsy thief, they shout,<br /> + The Spaniards here have found.</p> +<p>‘From out the prison me they led,<br /> + Before the scribe they brought;<br /> +It is no Gypsy thief, he said,<br /> + The Spaniards here have caught.’</p> +</blockquote> +<p>In a word, nothing was to be gained by interfering with the +Gitános, by those in whose hands the power was vested; +but, on the contrary, something was to be lost. The chief +sufferers were the labourers, and they had no power to right +themselves, though their wrongs were universally admitted, and +laws for their protection continually being made, which their +enemies contrived to set at nought; as will presently be +seen.</p> +<p>The first law issued against the Gypsies appears to have been +that of Ferdinand and Isabella, at Medina del Campo, in +1499. In this edict they were commanded, under certain +penalties, to become stationary in towns and villages, and to +provide themselves with masters whom they might serve for their +maintenance, or in default thereof, to quit the kingdom at the +end of sixty days. No mention is made of the country to +which they were expected to betake themselves in the event of +their quitting Spain. Perhaps, as they are called +Egyptians, it was concluded that they would forthwith return to +Egypt; but the framers of the law never seem to have considered +what means these Egyptians possessed of transporting their +families and themselves across the sea to such a distance, or if +they betook themselves to other countries, what reception a host +of people, confessedly thieves and vagabonds, were likely to meet +with, or whether it was fair in the <i>two Christian princes</i> +to get rid of such a nuisance at the expense of their +neighbours. Such matters were of course left for the +Gypsies themselves to settle.</p> +<p>In this edict, a class of individuals is mentioned in +conjunction with the Gitános, or Gypsies, but +distinguished from them by the name of foreign tinkers, or +Caldéros estrangéros. By these, we presume, +were meant the Calabrians, who are still to be seen upon the +roads of Spain, wandering about from town to town, in much the +same way as the itinerant tinkers of England at the present +day. A man, half a savage, a haggard woman, who is +generally a Spaniard, a wretched child, and still more miserable +donkey, compose the group; the gains are of course exceedingly +scanty, nevertheless this life, seemingly so wretched, has its +charms for these outcasts, who live without care and anxiety, +without a thought beyond the present hour, and who sleep as sound +in ruined posadas and ventas, or in ravines amongst rocks and +pines, as the proudest grandee in his palace at Seville or +Madrid.</p> +<p>Don Carlos and Donna Juanna, at Toledo, 1539, confirmed the +edict of Medina del Campo against the Egyptians, with the +addition, that if any Egyptian, after the expiration of the sixty +days, should be found wandering about, he should be sent to the +galleys for six years, if above the age of twenty and under that +of fifty, and if under or above those years, punished as the +preceding law provides.</p> +<p>Philip the Second, at Madrid, 1586, after commanding that all +the laws and edicts be observed, by which the Gypsies are +forbidden to wander about, and commanded to establish themselves, +ordains, with the view of restraining their thievish and cheating +practices, that none of them be permitted to sell anything, +either within or without fairs or markets, if not provided with a +testimony signed by the notary public, to prove that they have a +settled residence, and where it may be; which testimony must also +specify and describe the horses, cattle, linen, and other things, +which they carry forth for sale; otherwise they are to be +punished as thieves, and what they attempt to sell considered as +stolen property.</p> +<p>Philip the Third, at Belem, in Portugal, 1619, commands all +the Gypsies of the kingdom to quit the same within the term of +six months, and never to return, under pain of death; those who +should wish to remain are to establish themselves in cities, +towns, and villages, of one thousand families and upwards, and +are not to be allowed the use of the dress, name, and language of +Gypsies, <i>in order that</i>, <i>forasmuch as they are not such +by nation</i>, <i>this name and manner of life may be for +evermore confounded and forgotten</i>. They are moreover +forbidden, under the same penalty, to have anything to do with +the buying or selling of cattle, whether great or small.</p> +<p>The most curious portion of the above law is the passage in +which these people are declared not to be Gypsies by +nation. If they are not Gypsies, who are they then? +Spaniards? If so, what right had the King of Spain to send +the refuse of his subjects abroad, to corrupt other lands, over +which he had no jurisdiction?</p> +<p>The Moors were sent back to Africa, under some colour of +justice, as they came originally from that part of the world; but +what would have been said to such a measure, if the edict which +banished them had declared that they were not Moors, but +Spaniards?</p> +<p>The law, moreover, in stating that they are not Gypsies by +nation, seems to have forgotten that in that case it would be +impossible to distinguish them from other Spaniards, so soon as +they should have dropped the name, language, and dress of +Gypsies. How, provided they were like other Spaniards, and +did not carry the mark of another nation on their countenances, +could it be known whether or not they obeyed the law, which +commanded them to live only in populous towns or villages, or how +could they be detected in the buying or selling of cattle, which +the law forbids them under pain of death?</p> +<p>The attempt to abolish the Gypsy name and manner of life might +have been made without the assertion of a palpable absurdity.</p> +<p>Philip the Fourth, May 8, 1633, after reference to the evil +lives and want of religion of the Gypsies, and the complaints +made against them by prelates and others, declares ‘that +the laws hitherto adopted since the year 1499, have been +inefficient to restrain their excesses; that they are not Gypsies +by origin or nature, but have adopted this form of life’; +and then, after forbidding them, according to custom, the dress +and language of Gypsies, under the usual severe penalties, he +ordains:—</p> +<p>‘1st. That under the same penalties, the aforesaid +people shall, within two months, leave the quarters (barrios) +where they now live with the denomination of Gitános, and +that they shall separate from each other, and mingle with the +other inhabitants, and that they shall hold no more meetings, +neither in public nor in secret; that the ministers of justice +are to observe, with particular diligence, how they fulfil these +commands, and whether they hold communication with each other, or +marry amongst themselves; and how they fulfil the obligations of +Christians by assisting at sacred worship in the churches; upon +which latter point they are to procure information with all +possible secrecy from the curates and clergy of the parishes +where the Gitános reside.</p> +<p>‘2ndly. And in order to extirpate, in every way, +the name of Gitános, we ordain that they be not called so, +and that no one venture to call them so, and that such shall be +esteemed a very heavy injury, and shall be punished as such, if +proved, and that nought pertaining to the Gypsies, their name, +dress, or actions, be represented, either in dances or in any +other performance, under the penalty of two years’ +banishment, and a mulct of fifty thousand maravedis to whomsoever +shall offend for the first time, and double punishment for the +second.’</p> +<p>The above two articles seem to have in view the suppression +and breaking up of the Gypsy colonies established in the large +towns, more especially the suburbs; farther on, mention is made +of the wandering bands.</p> +<p>‘4thly. And forasmuch as we have understood that +numerous Gitános rove in bands through various parts of +the kingdom, committing robberies in uninhabited places, and even +invading some small villages, to the great terror and danger of +the inhabitants, we give by this our law a general commission to +all ministers of justice, whether appertaining to royal domains, +lordships, or abbatial territories, that every one may, in his +district, proceed to the imprisonment and chastisement of the +delinquents, and may pass beyond his own jurisdiction in pursuit +of them; and we also command all the ministers of justice +aforesaid, that on receiving information that Gitános or +highwaymen are prowling in their districts, they do assemble at +an appointed day, and with the necessary preparation of men and +arms they do hunt down, take, and deliver them under a good guard +to the nearest officer holding the royal commission.’</p> +<p>Carlos the Second followed in the footsteps of his +predecessors, with respect to the Gitános. By a law +of the 20th of November 1692, he inhibits the Gitános from +living in towns of less than one thousand heads of families +(vecinos), and pursuing any trade or employment, save the +cultivation of the ground; from going in the dress of Gypsies, or +speaking the language or gibberish which they use; from living +apart in any particular quarter of the town; from visiting fairs +with cattle, great or small, or even selling or exchanging such +at any time, unless with the testimonial of the public notary, +that they were bred within their own houses. By this law +they are also forbidden to have firearms in their possession.</p> +<p>So far from being abashed by this law, or the preceding one, +the Gitános seem to have increased in excesses of every +kind. Only three years after (12th June 1695), the same +monarch deemed it necessary to publish a new law for their +persecution and chastisement. This law, which is +exceedingly severe, consists of twenty-nine articles. By +the fourth they are forbidden any other exercise or manner of +life than that of the cultivation of the fields, in which their +wives and children, if of competent age, are to assist them.</p> +<p>Of every other office, employment, or commerce, they are +declared incapable, and especially of being +<i>blacksmiths</i>.</p> +<p>By the fifth, they are forbidden to keep horses or mares, +either within or without their houses, or to make use of them in +any way whatever, under the penalty of two months’ +imprisonment and the forfeiture of such animals; and any one +lending them a horse or a mare is to forfeit the same, if it be +found in their possession. They are declared only capable +of keeping a mule, or some lesser beast, to assist them in their +labour, or for the use of their families.</p> +<p>By the twelfth, they are to be punished with six years in the +galleys, if they leave the towns or villages in which they are +located, and pass to others, or wander in the fields or roads; +and they are only to be permitted to go out, in order to exercise +the pursuit of husbandry. In this edict, particular mention +is made of the favour and protection shown to the Gitános, +by people of various descriptions, by means of which they had +been enabled to follow their manner of life undisturbed, and to +baffle the severity of the laws:—</p> +<p>‘Article 16.—And because we understand that the +continuance in these kingdoms of those who are called +Gitános has depended on the favour, protection, and +assistance which they have experienced from persons of different +stations, we do ordain, that whosoever, against whom shall be +proved the fact of having, since the day of the publication +hereof, favoured, received, or assisted the said Gitános, +in any manner whatever, whether within their houses or without, +the said person, provided he is noble, shall be subjected to the +fine of six thousand ducats, the half of which shall be applied +to our treasury, and the other half to the expenses of the +prosecution; and, if a plebeian, to a punishment of ten years in +the galleys. And we declare, that in order to proceed to +the infliction of such fine and punishment, the evidence of two +respectable witnesses, without stain or suspicion, shall be +esteemed legitimate and conclusive, although they depose to +separate acts, or three depositions of the Gitános +themselves, <i>made upon the rack</i>, although they relate to +separate and different acts of abetting and +harbouring.’</p> +<p>The following article is curious, as it bears evidence to +Gypsy craft and cunning:—</p> +<p>‘Article 18.—And whereas it is very difficult to +prove against the Gitános the robberies and delinquencies +which they commit, partly because they happen in uninhabited +places, but more especially on account of the <i>malice</i> and +<i>cunning</i> with which they execute them; we do ordain, in +order that they may receive the merited chastisement, that to +convict, in these cases, those who are called Gitános, the +depositions of the persons whom they have robbed in uninhabited +places shall be sufficient, provided there are at least two +witnesses to one and the same fact, and these of good fame and +reputation; and we also declare, that the <i>corpus delicti</i> +may be proved in the same manner in these cases, in order that +the culprits may be proceeded against, and condemned to the +corresponding pains and punishments.’</p> +<p>The council of Madrid published a schedule, 18th of August +1705, from which it appears that the villages and roads were so +much infested by the Gitáno race, that there was neither +peace nor safety for labourers and travellers; the corregidors +and justices are therefore exhorted to use their utmost endeavour +to apprehend these outlaws, and to execute upon them the +punishments enjoined by the preceding law. The ministers of +justice are empowered to fire upon them as public enemies, +wherever they meet them, in case of resistance or refusal to +deliver up the arms they carry about them.</p> +<p>Philip the Fifth, by schedule, October 1st, 1726, forbade any +complaints which the Gitános might have to make against +the inferior justices being heard in the higher tribunals, and, +on that account, banished all the Gypsy women from Madrid, and, +indeed, from all towns where royal audiences were held, it being +the custom of the women to flock up to the capital from the small +towns and villages, under pretence of claiming satisfaction for +wrongs inflicted upon their husbands and relations, and when +there to practise the art of divination, and to sing obscene +songs through the streets; by this law, also, the justices are +particularly commanded not to permit the Gitános to leave +their places of domicile, except in cases of very urgent +necessity.</p> +<p>This law was attended with the same success as the others; the +Gitános left their places of domicile whenever they +thought proper, frequented the various fairs, and played off +their jockey tricks as usual, or traversed the country in armed +gangs, plundering the small villages, and assaulting +travellers.</p> +<p>The same monarch, in October, published another law against +them, from St. Lorenzo, of the Escurial. From the words of +this edict, and the measures resolved upon, the reader may form +some idea of the excesses of the Gitános at this +period. They are to be hunted down with fire and sword, and +even the sanctity of the temples is to be invaded in their +pursuit, and the Gitános dragged from the horns of the +altar, should they flee thither for refuge. It was +impossible, in Spain, to carry the severity of persecution +farther, as the very parricide was in perfect safety, could he +escape to the church. Here follows part of this +law:—</p> +<p>‘I have resolved that all the lord-lieutenants, +intendants, and corregidors shall publish proclamations, and fix +edicts, to the effect that all the Gitános who are +domiciled in the cities and towns of their jurisdiction shall +return within the space of fifteen days to their places of +domicile, under penalty of being declared, at the expiration of +that term, as public banditti, subject to be fired at in the +event of being found with arms, or without them, beyond the +limits of their places of domicile; and at the expiration of the +term aforesaid, the lord-lieutenants, intendants, and corregidors +are strictly commanded, that either they themselves, or suitable +persons deputed by them, march out with armed soldiery, or if +there be none at hand, with the militias, and their officers, +accompanied by the horse rangers, destined for the protection of +the revenue, for the purpose of scouring the whole district +within their jurisdiction, making use of all possible diligence +to apprehend such Gitános as are to be found on the public +roads and other places beyond their domiciliary bounds, and to +inflict upon them the penalty of death, for the mere act of being +found.</p> +<p>‘And in the event of their taking refuge in sacred +places, they are empowered to drag them forth, and conduct them +to the neighbouring prisons and fortresses, and provided the +ecclesiastical judges proceed against the secular, in order that +they be restored to the church, they are at liberty to avail +themselves of the recourse to force, countenanced by laws +declaring, even as I now declare, that all the Gitános who +shall leave their allotted places of abode, are to be held as +incorrigible rebels, and enemies of the public peace.’</p> +<p>From this period, until the year 1780, various other laws and +schedules were directed against the Gitános, which, as +they contain nothing very new or remarkable, we may be well +excused from particularising. In 1783, a law was passed by +the government, widely differing in character from any which had +hitherto been enacted in connection with the Gitáno caste +or religion in Spain.</p> +<h3><a name="page166"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +166</span>CHAPTER XII</h3> +<p><span class="smcap">Carlos Tercero</span>, or Charles the +Third, ascended the throne of Spain in the year 1759, and died in +1788. No Spanish monarch has left behind a more favourable +impression on the minds of the generality of his countrymen; +indeed, he is the only one who is remembered at all by all ranks +and conditions;—perhaps he took the surest means for +preventing his name being forgotten, by erecting a durable +monument in every large town,—we do not mean a pillar +surmounted by a statue, or a colossal figure on horseback, but +some useful and stately public edifice. All the magnificent +modern buildings which attract the eye of the traveller in Spain, +sprang up during the reign of Carlos Tercero,—for example, +the museum at Madrid, the gigantic tobacco fabric at +Seville,—half fortress, half manufactory,—and the +Farol, at Coruña. We suspect that these erections, +which speak to the eye, have gained him far greater credit +amongst Spaniards than the support which he afforded to liberal +opinions, which served to fan the flame of insurrection in the +new world, and eventually lost for Spain her transatlantic +empire.</p> +<p>We have said that he left behind him a favourable impression +amongst the generality of his countrymen; by which we mean the +great body found in every nation, who neither think nor +reason,—for there are amongst the Spaniards not a few who +deny that any of his actions entitle him to the gratitude of the +nation. ‘All his thoughts,’ say they, +‘were directed to hunting—and hunting alone; and all +the days of the year he employed himself either in hunting or in +preparation for the sport. In one expedition, in the parks +of the Pardo, he spent several millions of reals. The noble +edifices which adorn Spain, though built by his orders, are less +due to his reign than to the anterior one,—to the reign of +Ferdinand the Sixth, who left immense treasures, a small portion +of which Carlos Tercero devoted to these purposes, squandering +away the remainder. It is said that Carlos Tercero was no +friend to superstition; yet how little did Spain during his time +gain in religious liberty! The great part of the nation +remained intolerant and theocratic as before, the other and +smaller section turned philosophic, but after the insane manner +of the French revolutionists, intolerant in its incredulity, and +believing more in the <i>Encyclopédie</i> than in the +Gospel of the Nazarene.’ <a name="citation167"></a><a +href="#footnote167" class="citation">[167]</a></p> +<p>We should not have said thus much of Carlos Tercero, whose +character has been extravagantly praised by the multitude, and +severely criticised by the discerning few who look deeper than +the surface of things, if a law passed during his reign did not +connect him intimately with the history of the Gitános, +whose condition to a certain extent it has already altered, and +over whose future destinies there can be no doubt that it will +exert considerable influence. Whether Carlos Tercero had +anything farther to do with its enactment than subscribing it +with his own hand, is a point difficult to determine; the chances +are that he had not; there is damning evidence to prove that in +many respects he was a mere Nimrod, and it is not probable that +such a character would occupy his thoughts much with plans for +the welfare of his people, especially such a class as the +Gitános, however willing to build public edifices, +gratifying to his vanity, with the money which a provident +predecessor had amassed.</p> +<p>The law in question is dated 19th September 1783. It is +entitled, ‘Rules for repressing and chastising the vagrant +mode of life, and other excesses, of those who are called +Gitános.’ It is in many respects widely +different from all the preceding laws, and on that account we +have separated it from them, deeming it worthy of particular +notice. It is evidently the production of a comparatively +enlightened spirit, for Spain had already begun to emerge from +the dreary night of monachism and bigotry, though the light which +beamed upon her was not that of the Gospel, but of modern +philosophy. The spirit, however, of the writers of the +<i>Encyclopédie</i> is to be preferred to that of +<i>Torquemada and Moncada</i>, and however deeply we may lament +the many grievous omissions in the law of Carlos Tercero (for no +provision was made for the spiritual instruction of the +Gitános), we prefer it in all points to that of Philip the +Third, and to the law passed during the reign of that unhappy +victim of monkish fraud, perfidy, and poison, Charles the +Second.</p> +<p>Whoever framed the law of Carlos Tercero with respect to the +Gitános, had sense enough to see that it would be +impossible to reclaim and bring them within the pale of civilised +society by pursuing the course invariably adopted on former +occasions—to see that all the menacing edicts for the last +three hundred years, breathing a spirit of blood and persecution, +had been unable to eradicate Gitanismo from Spain; but on the +contrary, had rather served to extend it. Whoever framed +this law was, moreover, well acquainted with the manner of +administering justice in Spain, and saw the folly of making +statutes which were never put into effect. Instead, +therefore, of relying on corregidors and alguazils for the +extinction of the Gypsy sect, the statute addresses itself more +particularly to the Gitános themselves, and endeavours to +convince them that it would be for their interest to renounce +their much cherished Gitanismo. Those who framed the former +laws had invariably done their best to brand this race with +infamy, and had marked out for its members, in the event of +abandoning their Gypsy habits, a life to which death itself must +have been preferable in every respect. They were not to +speak to each other, nor to intermarry, though, as they were +considered of an impure caste, it was scarcely to be expected +that the other Spaniards would form with them relations of love +or amity, and they were debarred the exercise of any trade or +occupation but hard labour, for which neither by nature nor habit +they were at all adapted. The law of Carlos Tercero, on the +contrary, flung open to them the whole career of arts and +sciences, and declared them capable of following any trade or +profession to which they might please to addict themselves. +Here follow extracts from the above-mentioned law:—</p> +<p>‘Art. 1. I declare that those who go by the name +of Gitános are not so by origin or nature, nor do they +proceed from any infected root.</p> +<p>‘2. I therefore command that neither they, nor any +one of them shall use the language, dress, or vagrant kind of +life which they have followed unto the present time, under the +penalties here below contained.</p> +<p>‘3. I forbid all my vassals, of whatever state, +class, and condition they may be, to call or name the +above-mentioned people by the names of Gitános, or new +Castilians, under the same penalties to which those are subject +who injure others by word or writing.</p> +<p>‘5. It is my will that those who abandon the said +mode of life, dress, language, or jargon, be admitted to whatever +offices or employments to which they may apply themselves, and +likewise to any guilds or communities, without any obstacle or +contradiction being offered to them, or admitted under this +pretext within or without courts of law.</p> +<p>‘6. Those who shall oppose and refuse the +admission of this class of reclaimed people to their trades and +guilds shall be mulcted ten ducats for the first time, twenty for +the second, and a double quantity for the third; and during the +time they continue in their opposition they shall be prohibited +from exercising the same trade, for a certain period, to be +determined by the judge, and proportioned to the opposition which +they display.</p> +<p>‘7. I grant the term of ninety days, to be +reckoned from the publication of this law in the principal town +of every district, in order that all the vagabonds of this and +any other class may retire to the towns and villages where they +may choose to locate themselves, with the exception, for the +present, of the capital and the royal residences, in order that, +abandoning the dress, language, and behaviour of those who are +called Gitános, they may devote themselves to some honest +office, trade, or occupation, it being a matter of indifference +whether the same be connected with labour or the arts.</p> +<p>‘8. It will not be sufficient for those who have +been formerly known to follow this manner of life to devote +themselves solely to the occupation of shearing and clipping +animals, nor to the traffic of markets and fairs, nor still less +to the occupation of keepers of inns and ventas in uninhabited +places, although they may be innkeepers within towns, which +employment shall be considered as sufficient, provided always +there be no well-founded indications of their being delinquents +themselves, or harbourers of such people.</p> +<p>‘9. At the expiration of ninety days, the justices +shall proceed against the disobedient in the following +manner:—Those who, having abandoned the dress, name, +language or jargon, association, and manners of Gitános, +and shall have moreover chosen and established a domicile, but +shall not have devoted themselves to any office or employment, +though it be only that of day-labourers, shall be considered as +vagrants, and be apprehended and punished according to the laws +in force against such people without any distinction being made +between them and the other vassals.</p> +<p>‘10. Those who henceforth shall commit any crimes, +having abandoned the language, dress, and manners of +Gitános, chosen a domicile, and applied themselves to any +office, shall be prosecuted and chastised like others guilty of +the same crimes, without any difference being made between +them.</p> +<p>‘11. But those who shall have abandoned the +aforesaid dress, language and behaviour, and those who, +pretending to speak and dress like the other vassals, and even to +choose a domiciliary residence, shall continue to go forth, +wandering about the roads and uninhabited places, although it be +with the pretext of visiting markets and fairs, such people shall +be pursued and taken by the justices, and a list of them formed, +with their names and appellations, age, description, with the +places where they say they reside and were born.</p> +<p>‘16. I, however, except from punishment the +children and young people of both sexes who are not above sixteen +years of age.</p> +<p>‘17. Such, although they may belong to a family, +shall be separated from their parents who wander about and have +no employment, and shall be destined to learn something, or shall +be placed out in hospices or houses of instruction.</p> +<p>‘20. When the register of the Gitános who +have proved disobedient shall have taken place, it shall be +notified and made known to them, that in case of another relapse, +the punishment of death shall be executed upon them without +remission, on the examination of the register, and proof being +adduced that they have returned to their former life.’</p> +<p>What effect was produced by this law, and whether its results +at all corresponded to the views of those who enacted it, will be +gathered from the following chapters of this work, in which an +attempt will be made to delineate briefly the present condition +of the Gypsies in Spain.</p> +<h2><a name="page177"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 177</span>THE +ZINCALI<br /> +PART II</h2> +<h3>CHAPTER I</h3> +<p><span class="smcap">About</span> twelve in the afternoon of +the 6th of January 1836, I crossed the bridge of the Guadiana, a +boundary river between Portugal and Spain, and entered Badajoz, a +strong town in the latter kingdom, containing about eight +thousand inhabitants, supposed to have been founded by the +Romans. I instantly returned thanks to God for having +preserved me in a journey of five days through the wilds of the +Alemtejo, the province of Portugal the most infested by robbers +and desperate characters, which I had traversed with no other +human companion than a lad, almost an idiot, who was to convey +back the mules which had brought me from Aldea Gallega. I +intended to make but a short stay, and as a diligence would set +out for Madrid the day next but one to my arrival, I purposed +departing therein for the capital of Spain.</p> +<p>I was standing at the door of the inn where I had taken up my +temporary abode; the weather was gloomy, and rain seemed to be at +hand; I was thinking on the state of the country I had just +entered, which was involved in bloody anarchy and confusion, and +where the ministers of a religion falsely styled Catholic and +Christian were blowing the trump of war, instead of preaching the +love-engendering words of the blessed Gospel.</p> +<p>Suddenly two men, wrapped in long cloaks, came down the narrow +and almost deserted street; they were about to pass, and the face +of the nearest was turned full towards me; I knew to whom the +countenance which he displayed must belong, and I touched him on +the arm. The man stopped, and likewise his companion; I +said a certain word, to which, after an exclamation of surprise, +he responded in the manner I expected. The men were +Gitános or Gypsies, members of that singular family or +race which has diffused itself over the face of the civilised +globe, and which, in all lands, has preserved more or less its +original customs and its own peculiar language.</p> +<p>We instantly commenced discoursing in the Spanish dialect of +this language, with which I was tolerably well acquainted. +I asked my two newly-made acquaintances whether there were many +of their race in Badajoz and the vicinity: they informed me that +there were eight or ten families in the town, and that there were +others at Merida, a town about six leagues distant. I +inquired by what means they lived, and they replied that they and +their brethren principally gained a livelihood by trafficking in +mules and asses, but that all those in Badajoz were very poor, +with the exception of one man, who was exceedingly +<i>balbalo</i>, or rich, as he was in possession of many mules +and other cattle. They removed their cloaks for a moment, +and I found that their under-garments were rags.</p> +<p>They left me in haste, and went about the town informing the +rest that a stranger had arrived who spoke Rommany as well as +themselves, who had the face of a Gitáno, and seemed to be +of the ‘erráte,’ or blood. In less than +half an hour the street before the inn was filled with the men, +women, and children of Egypt. I went out amongst them, and +my heart sank within me as I surveyed them: so much vileness, +dirt, and misery I had never seen amongst a similar number of +human beings; but worst of all was the evil expression of their +countenances, which spoke plainly that they were conversant with +every species of crime, and it was not long before I found that +their countenances did not belie them. After they had asked +me an infinity of questions, and felt my hands, face, and +clothes, they retired to their own homes.</p> +<p>That same night the two men of whom I have already +particularly spoken came to see me. They sat down by the +brasero in the middle of the apartment, and began to smoke small +paper cigars. We continued for a considerable time in +silence surveying each other. Of the two Gitános one +was an elderly man, tall and bony, with lean, skinny, and +whimsical features, though perfectly those of a Gypsy; he spoke +little, and his expressions were generally singular and +grotesque. His companion, who was the man whom I had first +noticed in the street, differed from him in many respects; he +could be scarcely thirty, and his figure, which was about the +middle height, was of Herculean proportions; shaggy black hair, +like that of a wild beast, covered the greatest part of his +immense head; his face was frightfully seamed with the small-pox, +and his eyes, which glared like those of ferrets, peered from +beneath bushy eyebrows; he wore immense moustaches, and his wide +mouth was garnished with teeth exceedingly large and white. +There was one peculiarity about him which must not be forgotten: +his right arm was withered, and hung down from his shoulder a +thin sapless stick, which contrasted strangely with the huge +brawn of the left. A figure so perfectly wild and uncouth I +had scarcely ever before seen. He had now flung aside his +cloak, and sat before me gaunt in his rags and nakedness. +In spite of his appearance, however, he seemed to be much the +most sensible of the two; and the conversation which ensued was +carried on chiefly between him and myself. This man, whom I +shall call the first Gypsy, was the first to break silence; and +he thus addressed me, speaking in Spanish, broken with words of +the Gypsy tongue:—</p> +<p><i>First Gypsy</i>.—‘Arromáli (in truth), I +little thought when I saw the erraño standing by the door +of the posada that I was about to meet a brother—one too +who, though well dressed, was not ashamed to speak to a poor +Gitáno; but tell me, I beg you, brother, from whence you +come; I have heard that you have just arrived from Laloró, +but I am sure you are no Portuguese; the Portuguese are very +different from you; I know it, for I have been in Laloró; +I rather take you to be one of the Corahai, for I have heard say +that there is much of our blood there. You are a Corahano, +are you not?’</p> +<p><i>Myself</i>.—‘I am no Moor, though I have been +in the country. I was born in an island in the West Sea, +called England, which I suppose you have heard spoken +of.’</p> +<p><i>First Gypsy</i>.—‘Yes, yes, I have a right to +know something of the English. I was born in this foros, +and remember the day when the English hundunares clambered over +the walls, and took the town from the Gabiné: well do I +remember that day, though I was but a child; the streets ran red +with blood and wine! Are there Gitános then amongst +the English?’</p> +<p><i>Myself</i>.—‘There are numbers, and so there +are amongst most nations of the world.’</p> +<p><i>Second Gypsy</i>.—‘Vaya! And do the +English Caloré gain their bread in the same way as those +of Spain? Do they shear and trim? Do they buy and +change beasts, and (lowering his voice) do they now and then +chore a gras?’ <a name="citation181"></a><a +href="#footnote181" class="citation">[181]</a></p> +<p><i>Myself</i>.—‘They do most of these things: the +men frequent fairs and markets with horses, many of which they +steal; and the women tell fortunes and perform all kinds of +tricks, by which they gain more money than their +husbands.’</p> +<p><i>First Gypsy</i>.—‘They would not be callees if +they did not: I have known a Gitána gain twenty ounces of +gold, by means of the hokkano baro, in a few hours, whilst the +silly Gypsy, her husband, would be toiling with his shears for a +fortnight, trimming the horses of the Busné, and yet not +be a dollar richer at the end of the time.’</p> +<p><i>Myself</i>.—‘You seem wretchedly poor. +Are you married?’</p> +<p><i>First Gypsy</i>.—‘I am, and to the best-looking +and cleverest callee in Badajoz; nevertheless we have never +thriven since the day of our marriage, and a curse seems to rest +upon us both. Perhaps I have only to thank myself; I was +once rich, and had never less than six borricos to sell or +exchange, but the day before my marriage I sold all I possessed, +in order to have a grand fiesta. For three days we were +merry enough; I entertained every one who chose to come in, and +flung away my money by handfuls, so that when the affair was over +I had not a cuarto in the world; and the very people who had +feasted at my expense refused me a dollar to begin again, so we +were soon reduced to the greatest misery. True it is, that +I now and then shear a mule, and my wife tells the bahi (fortune) +to the servant-girls, but these things stand us in little stead: +the people are now very much on the alert, and my wife, with all +her knowledge, has been unable to perform any grand trick which +would set us up at once. She wished to come to see you, +brother, this night, but was ashamed, as she has no more clothes +than myself. Last summer our distress was so great that we +crossed the frontier into Portugal: my wife sung, and I played +the guitar, for though I have but one arm, and that a left one, I +have never felt the want of the other. At Estremoz I was +cast into prison as a thief and vagabond, and there I might have +remained till I starved with hunger. My wife, however, soon +got me out: she went to the lady of the corregidor, to whom she +told a most wonderful bahi, promising treasures and titles, and I +wot not what; so I was set at liberty, and returned to Spain as +quick as I could.’</p> +<p><i>Myself</i>.—‘Is it not the custom of the +Gypsies of Spain to relieve each other in distress?—it is +the rule in other countries.’</p> +<p><i>First Gypsy</i>.—‘El krallis ha nicobado la +liri de los Calés—(The king has destroyed the law of +the Gypsies); we are no longer the people we were once, when we +lived amongst the sierras and deserts, and kept aloof from the +Busné; we have lived amongst the Busné till we are +become almost like them, and we are no longer united, ready to +assist each other at all times and seasons, and very frequently +the Gitáno is the worst enemy of his brother.’</p> +<p><i>Myself</i>.—‘The Gitános, then, no +longer wander about, but have fixed residences in the towns and +villages?’</p> +<p><i>First Gypsy</i>.—‘In the summer time a few of +us assemble together, and live about amongst the plains and +hills, and by doing so we frequently contrive to pick up a horse +or a mule for nothing, and sometimes we knock down a +Busné, and strip him, but it is seldom we venture so +far. We are much looked after by the Busné, who hold +us in great dread, and abhor us. Sometimes, when wandering +about, we are attacked by the labourers, and then we defend +ourselves as well as we can. There is no better weapon in +the hands of a Gitáno than his “cachas,” or +shears, with which he trims the mules. I once snipped off +the nose of a Busné, and opened the greater part of his +cheek in an affray up the country near Trujillo.’</p> +<p><i>Myself</i>.—‘Have you travelled much about +Spain?’</p> +<p><i>First Gypsy</i>.—‘Very little; I have never +been out of this province of Estremadura, except last year, as I +told you, into Portugal. When we wander we do not go far, +and it is very rare that we are visited by our brethren of other +parts. I have never been in Andalusia, but I have heard say +that the Gitános are many in Andalusia, and are more +wealthy than those here, and that they follow better the Gypsy +law.’</p> +<p><i>Myself</i>.—‘What do you mean by the Gypsy +law?’</p> +<p><i>First Gypsy</i>.—‘Wherefore do you ask, +brother? You know what is meant by the law of the +Calés better even than ourselves.’</p> +<p><i>Myself</i>.—‘I know what it is in England and +in Hungary, but I can only give a guess as to what it is in +Spain.’</p> +<p><i>Both Gypsies</i>.—‘What do you consider it to +be in Spain?’</p> +<p><i>Myself</i>.—‘Cheating and choring the +Busné on all occasions, and being true to the +erráte in life and in death.’</p> +<p>At these words both the Gitános sprang simultaneously +from their seats, and exclaimed with a boisterous +shout—‘Chachipé.’</p> +<p>This meeting with the Gitános was the occasion of my +remaining at Badajoz a much longer time than I originally +intended. I wished to become better acquainted with their +condition and manners, and above all to speak to them of Christ +and His Word; for I was convinced, that should I travel to the +end of the universe, I should meet with no people more in need of +a little Christian exhortation, and I accordingly continued at +Badajoz for nearly three weeks.</p> +<p>During this time I was almost constantly amongst them, and as +I spoke their language, and was considered by them as one of +themselves, I had better opportunity of arriving at a fair +conclusion respecting their character than any other person could +have had, whether Spanish or foreigner, without such an +advantage. I found that their ways and pursuits were in +almost every respect similar to those of their brethren in other +countries. By cheating and swindling they gained their +daily bread; the men principally by the arts of the +jockey,—by buying, selling, and exchanging animals, at +which they are wonderfully expert; and the women by telling +fortunes, selling goods smuggled from Portugal, and dealing in +love-draughts and diablerie. The most innocent occupation +which I observed amongst them was trimming and shearing horses +and mules, which in their language is called +‘monrabar,’ and in Spanish ‘esquilar’; +and even whilst exercising this art, they not unfrequently have +recourse to foul play, doing the animal some covert injury, in +hope that the proprietor will dispose of it to themselves at an +inconsiderable price, in which event they soon restore it to +health; for knowing how to inflict the harm, they know likewise +how to remove it.</p> +<p>Religion they have none; they never attend mass, nor did I +ever hear them employ the names of God, Christ, and the Virgin, +but in execration and blasphemy. From what I could learn, +it appeared that their fathers had entertained some belief in +metempsychosis; but they themselves laughed at the idea, and were +of opinion that the soul perished when the body ceased to +breathe; and the argument which they used was rational enough, so +far as it impugned metempsychosis: ‘We have been wicked and +miserable enough in this life,’ they said; ‘why +should we live again?’</p> +<p>I translated certain portions of Scripture into their dialect, +which I frequently read to them; especially the parable of +Lazarus and the Prodigal Son, and told them that the latter had +been as wicked as themselves, and both had suffered as much or +more; but that the sufferings of the former, who always looked +forward to a blessed resurrection, were recompensed by admission, +in the life to come, to the society of Abraham and the Prophets, +and that the latter, when he repented of his sins, was forgiven, +and received into as much favour as the just son.</p> +<p>They listened with admiration; but, alas! not of the truths, +the eternal truths, I was telling them, but to find that their +broken jargon could be written and read. The only words +denoting anything like assent to my doctrine which I ever +obtained, were the following from the mouth of a woman: +‘Brother, you tell us strange things, though perhaps you do +not lie; a month since I would sooner have believed these tales, +than that this day I should see one who could write +Rommany.’</p> +<p>Two or three days after my arrival, I was again visited by the +Gypsy of the withered arm, who I found was generally termed Paco, +which is the diminutive of Francisco; he was accompanied by his +wife, a rather good-looking young woman with sharp intelligent +features, and who appeared in every respect to be what her +husband had represented her on the former visit. She was +very poorly clad, and notwithstanding the extreme sharpness of +the weather, carried no mantle to protect herself from its +inclemency,—her raven black hair depended behind as far +down as her hips. Another Gypsy came with them, but not the +old fellow whom I had before seen. This was a man about +forty-five, dressed in a zamarra of sheep-skin, with a +high-crowned Andalusian hat; his complexion was dark as pepper, +and his eyes were full of sullen fire. In his appearance he +exhibited a goodly compound of Gypsy and bandit.</p> +<p><i>Paco</i>.—‘Laches chibeses te diñele +Undebel (May God grant you good days, brother). This is my +wife, and this is my wife’s father.’</p> +<p><i>Myself</i>.—‘I am glad to see them. What +are their names?’</p> +<p><i>Paco</i>.—‘Maria and Antonio; their other name +is Lopez.’</p> +<p><i>Myself</i>.—‘Have they no Gypsy +names?’</p> +<p><i>Paco</i>.—‘They have no other names than +these.’</p> +<p><i>Myself</i>.—‘Then in this respect the +Gitános of Spain are unlike those of my country. +Every family there has two names; one by which they are known to +the Busné, and another which they use amongst +themselves.’</p> +<p><i>Antonio</i>.—‘Give me your hand, brother! +I should have come to see you before, but I have been to +Olivenzas in search of a horse. What I have heard of you +has filled me with much desire to know you, and I now see that +you can tell me many things which I am ignorant of. I am +Zíncalo by the four sides—I love our blood, and I +hate that of the Busné. Had I my will I would wash +my face every day in the blood of the Busné, for the +Busné are made only to be robbed and to be slaughtered; +but I love the Caloré, and I love to hear of things of the +Caloré, especially from those of foreign lands; for the +Caloré of foreign lands know more than we of Spain, and +more resemble our fathers of old.’</p> +<p><i>Myself</i>.—‘Have you ever met before with +Caloré who were not Spaniards?’</p> +<p><i>Antonio</i>.—‘I will tell you, brother. I +served as a soldier in the war of the independence against the +French. War, it is true, is not the proper occupation of a +Gitáno, but those were strange times, and all those who +could bear arms were compelled to go forth to fight: so I went +with the English armies, and we chased the Gabiné unto the +frontier of France; and it happened once that we joined in +desperate battle, and there was a confusion, and the two parties +became intermingled and fought sword to sword and bayonet to +bayonet, and a French soldier singled me out, and we fought for a +long time, cutting, goring, and cursing each other, till at last +we flung down our arms and grappled; long we wrestled, body to +body, but I found that I was the weaker, and I fell. The +French soldier’s knee was on my breast, and his grasp was +on my throat, and he seized his bayonet, and he raised it to +thrust me through the jaws; and his cap had fallen off, and I +lifted up my eyes wildly to his face, and our eyes met, and I +gave a loud shriek, and cried Zíncalo, Zíncalo! and +I felt him shudder, and he relaxed his grasp and started up, and +he smote his forehead and wept, and then he came to me and knelt +down by my side, for I was almost dead, and he took my hand and +called me Brother and Zíncalo, and he produced his flask +and poured wine into my mouth, and I revived, and he raised me +up, and led me from the concourse, and we sat down on a knoll, +and the two parties were fighting all around, and he said, +“Let the dogs fight, and tear each others’ throats +till they are all destroyed, what matters it to the +Zíncali? they are not of our blood, and shall that be shed +for them?” So we sat for hours on the knoll and +discoursed on matters pertaining to our people; and I could have +listened for years, for he told me secrets which made my ears +tingle, and I soon found that I knew nothing, though I had before +considered myself quite Zíncalo; but as for him, he knew +the whole cuenta; the Bengui Lango <a name="citation189"></a><a +href="#footnote189" class="citation">[189]</a> himself could have +told him nothing but what he knew. So we sat till the sun +went down and the battle was over, and he proposed that we should +both flee to his own country and live there with the +Zíncali; but my heart failed me; so we embraced, and he +departed to the Gabiné, whilst I returned to our own +battalions.’</p> +<p><i>Myself</i>.—‘Do you know from what country he +came?’</p> +<p><i>Antonio</i>.—‘He told me that he was a +Mayoro.’</p> +<p><i>Myself</i>.—‘You mean a Magyar or +Hungarian.’</p> +<p><i>Antonio</i>.—‘Just so; and I have repented ever +since that I did not follow him.’</p> +<p><i>Myself</i>.—‘Why so?’</p> +<p><i>Antonio</i>.—‘I will tell you: the king has +destroyed the law of the Calés, and has put disunion +amongst us. There was a time when the house of every +Zíncalo, however rich, was open to his brother, though he +came to him naked; and it was then the custom to boast of the +“erráte.” It is no longer so now: those +who are rich keep aloof from the rest, will not speak in Calo, +and will have no dealings but with the Busné. Is +there not a false brother in this foros, the only rich man among +us, the swine, the balichow? he is married to a Busnee and he +would fain appear as a Busno! Tell me one thing, has he +been to see you? The white blood, I know he has not; he was +afraid to see you, for he knew that by Gypsy law he was bound to +take you to his house and feast you, whilst you remained, like a +prince, like a crallis of the Calés, as I believe you are, +even though he sold the last gras from the stall. Who have +come to see you, brother? Have they not been such as Paco +and his wife, wretches without a house, or, at best, one filled +with cold and poverty; so that you have had to stay at a mesuna, +at a posada of the Busné; and, moreover, what have the +Calés given you since you have been residing here? +Nothing, I trow, better than this rubbish, which is all I can +offer you, this Meligrána de los Bengues.’</p> +<p>Here he produced a pomegranate from the pocket of his zamarra, +and flung it on the table with such force that the fruit burst, +and the red grains were scattered on the floor.</p> +<p>The Gitános of Estremadura call themselves in general +Chai or Chabos, and say that their original country was Chal or +Egypt. I frequently asked them what reason they could +assign for calling themselves Egyptians, and whether they could +remember the names of any places in their supposed fatherland; +but I soon found that, like their brethren in other parts of the +world, they were unable to give any rational account of +themselves, and preserved no recollection of the places where +their forefathers had wandered; their language, however, to a +considerable extent, solved the riddle, the bulk of which being +Hindui, pointed out India as the birthplace of their race, whilst +the number of Persian, Sclavonian, and modern Greek words with +which it is checkered, spoke plainly as to the countries through +which these singular people had wandered before they arrived in +Spain.</p> +<p>They said that they believed themselves to be Egyptians, +because their fathers before them believed so, who must know much +better than themselves. They were fond of talking of Egypt +and its former greatness, though it was evident that they knew +nothing farther of the country and its history than what they +derived from spurious biblical legends current amongst the +Spaniards; only from such materials could they have composed the +following account of the manner of their expulsion from their +native land.</p> +<p>‘There was a great king in Egypt, and his name was +Pharaoh. He had numerous armies, with which he made war on +all countries, and conquered them all. And when he had +conquered the entire world, he became sad and sorrowful; for as +he delighted in war, he no longer knew on what to employ +himself. At last he bethought him on making war on God; so +he sent a defiance to God, daring him to descend from the sky +with his angels, and contend with Pharaoh and his armies; but God +said, I will not measure my strength with that of a man. +But God was incensed against Pharaoh, and resolved to punish him; +and he opened a hole in the side of an enormous mountain, and he +raised a raging wind, and drove before it Pharaoh and his armies +to that hole, and the abyss received them, and the mountain +closed upon them; but whosoever goes to that mountain on the +night of St. John can hear Pharaoh and his armies singing and +yelling therein. And it came to pass, that when Pharaoh and +his armies had disappeared, all the kings and the nations which +had become subject to Egypt revolted against Egypt, which, having +lost her king and her armies, was left utterly without defence; +and they made war against her, and prevailed against her, and +took her people and drove them forth, dispersing them over all +the world.’</p> +<p>So that now, say the Chai, ‘Our horses drink the water +of the Guadiana’—(Apilyela gras Chai la panee +Lucalee).</p> +<h4>‘THE STEEDS OF THE EGYPTIANS DRINK THE WATERS OF THE +GUADIANA</h4> +<blockquote><p>‘The region of Chal was our dear native +soil,<br /> +Where in fulness of pleasure we lived without toil;<br /> +Till dispersed through all lands, ’twas our fortune to +be—<br /> +Our steeds, Guadiana, must now drink of thee.</p> +<p>‘Once kings came from far to kneel down at our gate,<br +/> +And princes rejoic’d on our meanest to wait;<br /> +But now who so mean but would scorn our degree—<br /> +Our steeds, Guadiana, must now drink of thee.</p> +<p>‘For the Undebel saw, from his throne in the cloud,<br +/> +That our deeds they were foolish, our hearts they were proud;<br +/> +And in anger he bade us his presence to flee—<br /> +Our steeds, Guadiana, must now drink of thee.</p> +<p>‘Our horses should drink of no river but one;<br /> +It sparkles through Chal, ’neath the smile of the sun,<br +/> +But they taste of all streams save that only, and see—<br +/> +Apilyela gras Chai la panee Lucalee.’</p> +</blockquote> +<h3><a name="page194"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +194</span>CHAPTER II</h3> +<p><span class="smcap">In</span> Madrid the Gitános +chiefly reside in the neighbourhood of the ‘mercado,’ +or the place where horses and other animals are sold,—in +two narrow and dirty lanes, called the Calle de la Comadre and +the Callejon de Lavapies. It is said that at the beginning +of last century Madrid abounded with these people, who, by their +lawless behaviour and dissolute lives, gave occasion to great +scandal; if such were the case, their numbers must have +considerably diminished since that period, as it would be +difficult at any time to collect fifty throughout Madrid. +These Gitános seem, for the most part, to be either +Valencians or of Valencian origin, as they in general either +speak or understand the dialect of Valencia; and whilst speaking +their own peculiar jargon, the Rommany, are in the habit of +making use of many Valencian words and terms.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p194b.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Seville" +title= +"Seville" + src="images/p194s.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>The manner of life of the Gitános of Madrid differs in +no material respect from that of their brethren in other +places. The men, every market-day, are to be seen on the +skirts of the mercado, generally with some miserable +animal—for example, a foundered mule or galled borrico, by +means of which they seldom fail to gain a dollar or two, either +by sale or exchange. It must not, however, be supposed that +they content themselves with such paltry earnings. Provided +they have any valuable animal, which is not unfrequently the +case, they invariably keep such at home snug in the stall, +conducting thither the chapman, should they find any, and +concluding the bargain with the greatest secrecy. Their +general reason for this conduct is an unwillingness to exhibit +anything calculated to excite the jealousy of the chalans, or +jockeys of Spanish blood, who on the slightest umbrage are in the +habit of ejecting them from the fair by force of palos or +cudgels, in which violence the chalans are to a certain extent +countenanced by law; for though by the edict of Carlos the Third +the Gitános were in other respects placed upon an equality +with the rest of the Spaniards, they were still forbidden to +obtain their livelihood by the traffic of markets and fairs.</p> +<p>They have occasionally however another excellent reason for +not exposing the animal in the public mercado—having +obtained him by dishonest means. The stealing, concealing, +and receiving animals when stolen, are inveterate Gypsy habits, +and are perhaps the last from which the Gitáno will be +reclaimed, or will only cease when the race has become +extinct. In the prisons of Madrid, either in that of the +Saladero or De la Corte, there are never less than a dozen +Gitános immured for stolen horses or mules being found in +their possession, which themselves or their connections have +spirited away from the neighbouring villages, or sometimes from a +considerable distance. I say spirited away, for so well do +the thieves take their measures, and watch their opportunity, +that they are seldom or never taken in the fact.</p> +<p>The Madrilenian Gypsy women are indefatigable in the pursuit +of prey, prowling about the town and the suburbs from morning +till night, entering houses of all descriptions, from the highest +to the lowest; telling fortunes, or attempting to play off +various kinds of Gypsy tricks, from which they derive much +greater profit, and of which we shall presently have occasion to +make particular mention.</p> +<p>From Madrid let us proceed to Andalusia, casting a cursory +glance on the Gitános of that country. I found them +very numerous at Granada, which in the Gitáno language is +termed Meligrana. Their general condition in this place is +truly miserable, far exceeding in wretchedness the state of the +tribes of Estremadura. It is right to state that Granada +itself is the poorest city in Spain; the greatest part of the +population, which exceeds sixty thousand, living in beggary and +nakedness, and the Gitános share in the general +distress.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a name="image196" href="images/p196b.jpg"> +<img alt= +"The Gypsy Smith of Granada" +title= +"The Gypsy Smith of Granada" + src="images/p196s.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>Many of them reside in caves scooped in the sides of the +ravines which lead to the higher regions of the Alpujarras, on a +skirt of which stands Granada. A common occupation of the +Gitános of Granada is working in iron, and it is not +unfrequent to find these caves tenanted by Gypsy smiths and their +families, who ply the hammer and forge in the bowels of the +earth. To one standing at the mouth of the cave, especially +at night, they afford a picturesque spectacle. Gathered +round the forge, their bronzed and naked bodies, illuminated by +the flame, appear like figures of demons; while the cave, with +its flinty sides and uneven roof, blackened by the charcoal +vapours which hover about it in festoons, seems to offer no +inadequate representation of fabled purgatory. Working in +iron was an occupation strictly forbidden to the Gitános +by the ancient laws, on what account does not exactly appear; +though, perhaps, the trade of the smith was considered as too +much akin to that of the chalan to be permitted to them. +The Gypsy smith of Granada is still a chalan, even as his brother +in England is a jockey and tinker alternately.</p> +<p>Whilst speaking of the Gitános of Granada, we cannot +pass by in silence a tragedy which occurred in this town amongst +them, some fifteen years ago, and the details of which are known +to every Gitáno in Spain, from Catalonia to +Estremadura. We allude to the murder of Pindamonas by Pepe +Conde. Both these individuals were Gitános; the +latter was a celebrated contrabandista, of whom many remarkable +tales are told. On one occasion, having committed some +enormous crime, he fled over to Barbary and turned Moor, and was +employed by the Moorish emperor in his wars, in company with the +other renegade Spaniards, whose grand depôt or presidio is +the town of Agurey in the kingdom of Fez. After the lapse +of some years, when his crime was nearly forgotten, he returned +to Granada, where he followed his old occupations of +contrabandista and chalan. Pindamonas was a Gitáno +of considerable wealth, and was considered as the most +respectable of the race at Granada, amongst whom he possessed +considerable influence. Between this man and Pepe Conde +there existed a jealousy, especially on the part of the latter, +who, being a man of proud untamable spirit, could not well brook +a superior amongst his own people. It chanced one day that +Pindamonas and other Gitános, amongst whom was Pepe Conde, +were in a coffee-house. After they had all partaken of some +refreshment, they called for the reckoning, the amount of which +Pindamonas insisted on discharging. It will be necessary +here to observe, that on such occasions in Spain it is considered +as a species of privilege to be allowed to pay, which is an +honour generally claimed by the principal man of the party. +Pepe Conde did not fail to take umbrage at the attempt of +Pindamonas, which he considered as an undue assumption of +superiority, and put in his own claim; but Pindamonas insisted, +and at last flung down the money on the table, whereupon Pepe +Conde instantly unclasped one of those terrible Manchegan knives +which are generally carried by the contrabandistas, and with a +frightful gash opened the abdomen of Pindamonas, who presently +expired.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a name="image198" href="images/p198b.jpg"> +<img alt= +"The Murder of Pindamonas by Pepe Conde" +title= +"The Murder of Pindamonas by Pepe Conde" + src="images/p198s.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>After this exploit, Pepe Conde fled, and was not seen for some +time. The cave, however, in which he had been in the habit +of residing was watched, as a belief was entertained that sooner +or later he would return to it, in the hope of being able to +remove some of the property contained in it. This belief +was well founded. Early one morning he was observed to +enter it, and a band of soldiers was instantly despatched to +seize him. This circumstance is alluded to in a Gypsy +stanza:—</p> +<blockquote><p>‘Fly, Pepe Conde, seek the hill;<br /> + To flee’s thy only chance;<br /> +With bayonets fixed, thy blood to spill,<br /> + See soldiers four advance.’</p> +</blockquote> +<p>And before the soldiers could arrive at the cave, Pepe Conde +had discovered their approach and fled, endeavouring to make his +escape amongst the rocks and barrancos of the Alpujarras. +The soldiers instantly pursued, and the chase continued a +considerable time. The fugitive was repeatedly summoned to +surrender himself, but refusing, the soldiers at last fired, and +four balls entered the heart of the Gypsy contrabandista and +murderer.</p> +<p>Once at Madrid I received a letter from the sister’s son +of Pindamonas, dated from the prison of the Saladero. In +this letter the writer, who it appears was in durance for +stealing a pair of mules, craved my charitable assistance and +advice; and possibly in the hope of securing my favour, forwarded +some uncouth lines commemorative of the death of his relation, +and commencing thus:—</p> +<blockquote><p>‘The death of Pindamonas fill’d all +the world with pain;<br /> +At the coffee-house’s portal, by Pepe he was +slain.’</p> +</blockquote> +<p>The faubourg of Triana, in Seville, has from time immemorial +been noted as a favourite residence of the Gitános; and +here, at the present day, they are to be found in greater number +than in any other town in Spain. This faubourg is indeed +chiefly inhabited by desperate characters, as, besides the +Gitános, the principal part of the robber population of +Seville is here congregated. Perhaps there is no part even +of Naples where crime so much abounds, and the law is so little +respected, as at Triana, the character of whose inmates was so +graphically delineated two centuries and a half back by +Cervantes, in one of the most amusing of his tales. <a +name="citation199"></a><a href="#footnote199" +class="citation">[199]</a></p> +<p>In the vilest lanes of this suburb, amidst dilapidated walls +and ruined convents, exists the grand colony of Spanish +Gitános. Here they may be seen wielding the hammer; +here they may be seen trimming the fetlocks of horses, or +shearing the backs of mules and borricos with their cachas; and +from hence they emerge to ply the same trade in the town, or to +officiate as terceros, or to buy, sell, or exchange animals in +the mercado, and the women to tell the bahi through the streets, +even as in other parts of Spain, generally attended by one or two +tawny bantlings in their arms or by their sides; whilst others, +with baskets and chafing-pans, proceed to the delightful banks of +the Len Baro, <a name="citation200"></a><a href="#footnote200" +class="citation">[200]</a> by the Golden Tower, where, squatting +on the ground and kindling their charcoal, they roast the +chestnuts which, when well prepared, are the favourite bonne +bouche of the Sevillians; whilst not a few, in league with the +contrabandistas, go from door to door offering for sale +prohibited goods brought from the English at Gibraltar. +Such is Gitáno life at Seville; such it is in the capital +of Andalusia.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a name="image200" href="images/p200b.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Roasting Chestnuts by the side of the Guadalquiver" +title= +"Roasting Chestnuts by the side of the Guadalquiver" + src="images/p200s.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>It is the common belief of the Gitános of other +provinces that in Andalusia the language, customs, habits, and +practices peculiar to their race are best preserved. This +opinion, which probably originated from the fact of their being +found in greater numbers in this province than in any other, may +hold good in some instances, but certainly not in all. In +various parts of Spain I have found the Gitános retaining +their primitive language and customs better than in Seville, +where they most abound: indeed, it is not plain that their number +has operated at all favourably in this respect. At Cordova, +a town at the distance of twenty leagues from Seville, which +scarcely contains a dozen Gitáno families, I found them +living in much more brotherly amity, and cherishing in a greater +degree the observances of their forefathers.</p> +<p>I shall long remember these Cordovese Gitános, by whom +I was very well received, but always on the supposition that I +was one of their own race. They said that they never +admitted strangers to their houses save at their marriage +festivals, when they flung their doors open to all, and save +occasionally people of influence and distinction, who wished to +hear their songs and converse with their women; but they assured +me, at the same time, that these they invariably deceived, and +merely made use of as instruments to serve their own +purposes. As for myself, I was admitted without scruple to +their private meetings, and was made a participator of their most +secret thoughts. During our intercourse some remarkable +scenes occurred. One night more than twenty of us, men and +women, were assembled in a long low room on the ground floor, in +a dark alley or court in the old gloomy town of Cordova. +After the Gitános had discussed several jockey plans, and +settled some private bargains amongst themselves, we all gathered +round a huge brasero of flaming charcoal, and began conversing +<i>sobre las cosas de Egypto</i>, when I proposed that, as we had +no better means of amusing ourselves, we should endeavour to turn +into the Calo language some pieces of devotion, that we might see +whether this language, the gradual decay of which I had +frequently heard them lament, was capable of expressing any other +matters than those which related to horses, mules, and Gypsy +traffic. It was in this cautious manner that I first +endeavoured to divert the attention of these singular people to +matters of eternal importance. My suggestion was received +with acclamations, and we forthwith proceeded to the translation +of the Apostles’ creed. I first recited in Spanish, +in the usual manner and without pausing, this noble confession, +and then repeated it again, sentence by sentence, the +Gitános translating as I proceeded. They exhibited +the greatest eagerness and interest in their unwonted occupation, +and frequently broke into loud disputes as to the best +rendering—many being offered at the same time. In the +meanwhile, I wrote down from their dictation; and at the +conclusion I read aloud the translation, the result of the united +wisdom of the assembly, whereupon they all raised a shout of +exultation, and appeared not a little proud of the +composition.</p> +<p>The Cordovese Gitános are celebrated esquiladors. +Connected with them and the exercise of the <i>arte de +esquilar</i>, in Gypsy monrabar, I have a curious anecdote to +relate. In the first place, however, it may not be amiss to +say something about the art itself, of all relating to which it +is possible that the reader may be quite ignorant.</p> +<p>Nothing is more deserving of remark in Spanish grooming than +the care exhibited in clipping and trimming various parts of the +horse, where the growth of hair is considered as prejudicial to +the perfect health and cleanliness of the animal, particular +attention being always paid to the pastern, that part of the foot +which lies between the fetlock and the hoof, to guard against the +arestin—that cutaneous disorder which is the dread of the +Spanish groom, on which account the services of a skilful +esquilador are continually in requisition.</p> +<p>The esquilador, when proceeding to the exercise of his +vocation, generally carries under his arm a small box containing +the instruments necessary, and which consist principally of +various pairs of scissors, and the <i>aciál</i>, two short +sticks tied together with whipcord at the end, by means of which +the lower lip of the horse, should he prove restive, is twisted, +and the animal reduced to speedy subjection. In the girdle +of the esquilador are stuck the large scissors called in Spanish +<i>tijeras</i>, and in the Gypsy tongue <i>cachas</i>, with which +he principally works. He operates upon the backs, ears, and +tails of mules and borricos, which are invariably sheared quite +bare, that if the animals are galled, either by their harness or +the loads which they carry, the wounds may be less liable to +fester, and be more easy to cure. Whilst engaged with +horses, he confines himself to the feet and ears. The +esquiladores in the two Castiles, and in those provinces where +the Gitános do not abound, are for the most part +Aragonese; but in the others, and especially in Andalusia, they +are of the Gypsy race. The Gitános are in general +very expert in the use of the cachas, which they handle in a +manner practised nowhere but in Spain; and with this instrument +the poorer class principally obtain their bread.</p> +<p>In one of their couplets allusion is made to this occupation +in the following manner:—</p> +<blockquote><p>‘I’ll rise to-morrow bread to earn,<br +/> + For hunger’s worn me grim;<br /> +Of all I meet I’ll ask in turn,<br /> + If they’ve no beasts to trim.’</p> +</blockquote> +<p>Sometimes, whilst shearing the foot of a horse, exceedingly +small scissors are necessary for the purpose of removing fine +solitary hairs; for a Spanish groom will tell you that a +horse’s foot behind ought to be kept as clean and smooth as +the hand of a señora: such scissors can only be procured +at Madrid. My sending two pair of this kind to a Cordovese +Gypsy, from whom I had experienced much attention whilst in that +city, was the occasion of my receiving a singular epistle from +another whom I scarcely knew, and which I shall insert as being +an original Gypsy composition, and in some points not a little +characteristic of the people of whom I am now writing.</p> +<blockquote><p style="text-align: right">‘Cordova, 20th day +of January, 1837.</p> +<p>‘<span class="GutSmall">SEÑOR DON +JORGE</span>,</p> +<p>‘After saluting you and hoping that you are well, I +proceed to tell you that the two pair of scissors arrived at this +town of Cordova with him whom you sent them by; but, +unfortunately, they were given to another Gypsy, whom you neither +knew nor spoke to nor saw in your life; for it chanced that he +who brought them was a friend of mine, and he told me that he had +brought two pair of scissors which an Englishman had given him +for the Gypsies; whereupon I, understanding it was yourself, +instantly said to him, “Those scissors are for me”; +he told me, however, that he had already given them to another, +and he is a Gypsy who was not even in Cordova during the time you +were. Nevertheless, Don Jorge, I am very grateful for your +thus remembering me, although I did not receive your present, and +in order that you may know who I am, my name is Antonio Salazar, +a man pitted with the small-pox, and the very first who spoke to +you in Cordova in the posada where you were; and you told me to +come and see you next day at eleven, and I went, and we conversed +together alone. Therefore I should wish you to do me the +favour to send me scissors for trimming beasts,—good +scissors, mind you,—such would be a very great favour, and +I should be ever grateful, for here in Cordova there are none, or +if there be, they are good for nothing. Señor Don +Jorge, you remember I told you that I was an esquilador by trade, +and only by that I got bread for my babes. Señor Don +Jorge, if you do send me the scissors for trimming, pray write +and direct to the alley De la Londiga, No. 28, to Antonio +Salazar, in Cordova. This is what I have to tell you, and +do you ever command your trusty servant, who kisses your hand and +is eager to serve you.</p> +<p style="text-align: right">‘<span class="smcap">Antonio +Salazar</span>.’</p> +<p style="text-align: center">FIRST COUPLET</p> +<p>‘That I may clip and trim the beasts, a pair of cachas +grant,<br /> +If not, I fear my luckless babes will perish all of +want.’</p> +<p style="text-align: center">SECOND COUPLET</p> +<p>‘If thou a pair of cachas grant, that I my babes may +feed,<br /> +I’ll pray to the Almighty God, that thee he ever +speed.’</p> +</blockquote> +<p>It is by no means my intention to describe the exact state and +condition of the Gitános in every town and province where +they are to be found; perhaps, indeed, it will be considered that +I have already been more circumstantial and particular than the +case required. The other districts which they inhabit are +principally those of Catalonia, Murcia, and Valencia; and they +are likewise to be met with in the Basque provinces, where they +are called Egipcioac, or Egyptians. What I next purpose to +occupy myself with are some general observations on the habits, +and the physical and moral state of the Gitános throughout +Spain, and of the position which they hold in society.</p> +<h3><a name="page207"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +207</span>CHAPTER III</h3> +<p><span class="smcap">Already</span>, from the two preceding +chapters, it will have been perceived that the condition of the +Gitános in Spain has been subjected of late to +considerable modification. The words of the Gypsy of +Badajoz are indeed, in some respects, true; they are no longer +the people that they were; the roads and +‘despoblados’ have ceased to be infested by them, and +the traveller is no longer exposed to much danger on their +account; they at present confine themselves, for the most part, +to towns and villages, and if they occasionally wander abroad, it +is no longer in armed bands, formidable for their numbers, and +carrying terror and devastation in all directions, bivouacking +near solitary villages, and devouring the substance of the +unfortunate inhabitants, or occasionally threatening even large +towns, as in the singular case of Logroño, mentioned by +Francisco de Cordova. As the reader will probably wish to +know the cause of this change in the lives and habits of these +people, we shall, as briefly as possible, afford as much +information on the subject as the amount of our knowledge will +permit.</p> +<p>One fact has always struck us with particular force in the +history of these people, namely, that Gitanismo—which means +Gypsy villainy of every description—flourished and knew +nothing of decay so long as the laws recommended and enjoined +measures the most harsh and severe for the suppression of the +Gypsy sect; the palmy days of Gitanismo were those in which the +caste was proscribed, and its members, in the event of renouncing +their Gypsy habits, had nothing farther to expect than the +occupation of tilling the earth, a dull hopeless toil; then it +was that the Gitános paid tribute to the inferior +ministers of justice, and were engaged in illicit connection with +those of higher station, and by such means baffled the law, whose +vengeance rarely fell upon their heads; and then it was that they +bid it open defiance, retiring to the deserts and mountains, and +living in wild independence by rapine and shedding of blood; for +as the law then stood they would lose all by resigning their +Gitanismo, whereas by clinging to it they lived either in the +independence so dear to them, or beneath the protection of their +confederates. It would appear that in proportion as the law +was harsh and severe, so was the Gitáno bold and +secure. The fiercest of these laws was the one of Philip +the Fifth, passed in the year 1745, which commands that the +refractory Gitános be hunted down with fire and sword; +that it was quite inefficient is satisfactorily proved by its +being twice reiterated, once in the year ‘46, and again in +‘49, which would scarcely have been deemed necessary had it +quelled the Gitános. This law, with some unimportant +modifications, continued in force till the year ‘83, when +the famous edict of Carlos Tercero superseded it. Will any +feel disposed to doubt that the preceding laws had served to +foster what they were intended to suppress, when we state the +remarkable fact, that since the enactment of that law, as humane +as the others were unjust, <i>we have heard nothing more of the +Gitános from official quarters</i>; <i>they have ceased to +play a distinct part in the history of Spain</i>; <i>and the law +no longer speaks of them as a distinct people</i>? The +caste of the Gitáno still exists, but it is neither so +extensive nor so formidable as a century ago, when the law in +denouncing Gitanismo proposed to the Gitános the +alternatives of death for persisting in their profession, or +slavery for abandoning it.</p> +<p>There are fierce and discontented spirits amongst them, who +regret such times, and say that Gypsy law is now no more, that +the Gypsy no longer assists his brother, and that union has +ceased among them. If this be true, can better proof be +adduced of the beneficial working of the later law? A +blessing has been conferred on society, and in a manner highly +creditable to the spirit of modern times; reform has been +accomplished, not by persecution, not by the gibbet and the rack, +but by justice and tolerance. The traveller has flung aside +his cloak, not compelled by the angry buffeting of the north +wind, but because the mild, benignant weather makes such a +defence no longer necessary. The law no longer compels the +Gitános to stand back to back, on the principal of mutual +defence, and to cling to Gitanismo to escape from servitude and +thraldom.</p> +<p>Taking everything into consideration, and viewing the subject +in all its bearings with an impartial glance, we are compelled to +come to the conclusion that the law of Carlos Tercero, the +provisions of which were distinguished by justice and clemency, +has been the principal if not the only cause of the decline of +Gitanismo in Spain. Some importance ought to be attached to +the opinion of the Gitános themselves on this point. +‘El Crallis ha nicobado la liri de los Cales,’ is a +proverbial saying among them. By Crallis, or King, they +mean Carlos Tercero, so that the saying, the proverbial saying, +may be thus translated: <i>The Law of Carlos Tercero has +superseded Gypsy Law</i>.</p> +<p>By the law the schools are open to them, and there is no art +or science which they may not pursue, if they are willing. +Have they availed themselves of the rights which the law has +conferred upon them?</p> +<p>Up to the present period but little—they still continue +jockeys and blacksmiths; but some of these Gypsy chalans, these +bronzed smiths, these wild-looking esquiladors, can read or write +in the proportion of one man in three or four; what more can be +expected? Would you have the Gypsy bantling, born in filth +and misery, ‘midst mules and borricos, amidst the mud of a +choza or the sand of a barranco, grasp with its swarthy hands the +crayon and easel, the compass, or the microscope, or the tube +which renders more distinct the heavenly orbs, and essay to +become a Murillo, or a Feijoo, or a Lorenzo de Hervas, as soon as +the legal disabilities are removed which doomed him to be a +thievish jockey or a sullen husbandman? Much will have been +accomplished, if, after the lapse of a hundred years, one hundred +human beings shall have been evolved from the Gypsy stock, who +shall prove sober, honest, and useful members of +society,—that stock so degraded, so inveterate in +wickedness and evil customs, and so hardened by brutalising +laws. Should so many beings, should so many souls be +rescued from temporal misery and eternal woe; should only the +half of that number, should only the tenth, nay, should only one +poor wretched sheep be saved, there will be joy in heaven, for +much will have been accomplished on earth, and those lines will +have been in part falsified which filled the stout heart of +Mahmoud with dismay:—</p> +<blockquote><p>‘For the root that’s unclean, hope if +you can;<br /> +No washing e’er whitens the black Zigan:<br /> +The tree that’s bitter by birth and race,<br /> +If in paradise garden to grow you place,<br /> +And water it free with nectar and wine,<br /> +From streams in paradise meads that shine,<br /> +At the end its nature it still declares,<br /> +For bitter is all the fruit it bears.<br /> +If the egg of the raven of noxious breed<br /> +You place ‘neath the paradise bird, and feed<br /> +The splendid fowl upon its nest,<br /> +With immortal figs, the food of the blest,<br /> +And give it to drink from Silisbél, <a +name="citation211"></a><a href="#footnote211" +class="citation">[211]</a><br /> +Whilst life in the egg breathes Gabriél,<br /> +A raven, a raven, the egg shall bear,<br /> +And the fostering bird shall waste its care.’—</p> +<p style="text-align: right"><span +class="smcap">Ferdousi</span>.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>The principal evidence which the Gitános have hitherto +given that a partial reformation has been effected in their +habits, is the relinquishment, in a great degree, of that +wandering life of which the ancient laws were continually +complaining, and which was the cause of infinite evils, and +tended not a little to make the roads insecure.</p> +<p>Doubtless there are those who will find some difficulty in +believing that the mild and conciliatory clauses of the law in +question could have much effect in weaning the Gitános +from this inveterate habit, and will be more disposed to think +that this relinquishment was effected by energetic measures +resorted to by the government, to compel them to remain in their +places of location. It does not appear, however, that such +measures were ever resorted to. Energy, indeed, in the +removal of a nuisance, is scarcely to be expected from Spaniards +under any circumstances. All we can say on the subject, +with certainty, is, that since the repeal of the tyrannical laws, +wandering has considerably decreased among the +Gitános.</p> +<p>Since the law has ceased to brand them, they have come nearer +to the common standard of humanity, and their general condition +has been ameliorated. At present, only the very poorest, +the parias of the race, are to be found wandering about the +heaths and mountains, and this only in the summer time, and their +principal motive, according to their own confession, is to avoid +the expense of house rent; the rest remain at home, following +their avocations, unless some immediate prospect of gain, lawful +or unlawful, calls them forth; and such is frequently the +case. They attend most fairs, women and men, and on the way +frequently bivouac in the fields, but this practice must not be +confounded with systematic wandering.</p> +<p>Gitanismo, therefore, has not been extinguished, only +modified; but that modification has been effected within the +memory of man, whilst previously near four centuries elapsed, +during which no reform had been produced amongst them by the +various measures devised, all of which were distinguished by an +absence not only of true policy, but of common-sense; it is +therefore to be hoped, that if the Gitános are abandoned +to themselves, by which we mean no arbitrary laws are again +enacted for their extinction, the sect will eventually cease to +be, and its members become confounded with the residue of the +population; for certainly no Christian nor merely philanthropic +heart can desire the continuance of any sect or association of +people whose fundamental principle seems to be to hate all the +rest of mankind, and to live by deceiving them; and such is the +practice of the Gitános.</p> +<p>During the last five years, owing to the civil wars, the ties +which unite society have been considerably relaxed; the law has +been trampled under foot, and the greatest part of Spain overrun +with robbers and miscreants, who, under pretence of carrying on +partisan warfare, and not unfrequently under no pretence at all, +have committed the most frightful excesses, plundering and +murdering the defenceless. Such a state of things would +have afforded the Gitános a favourable opportunity to +resume their former kind of life, and to levy contributions as +formerly, wandering about in bands. Certain it is, however, +that they have not sought to repeat their ancient excesses, +taking advantage of the troubles of the country; they have gone +on, with a few exceptions, quietly pursuing that part of their +system to which they still cling, their jockeyism, which, though +based on fraud and robbery, is far preferable to wandering +brigandage, which necessarily involves the frequent shedding of +blood. Can better proof be adduced, that Gitanismo owes its +decline, in Spain, not to force, not to persecution, not to any +want of opportunity of exercising it, but to some other +cause?—and we repeat that we consider the principal if not +the only cause of the decline of Gitanismo to be the conferring +on the Gitános the rights and privileges of other +subjects.</p> +<p>We have said that the Gitános have not much availed +themselves of the permission, which the law grants them, of +embarking in various spheres of life. They remain jockeys, +but they have ceased to be wanderers; and the grand object of the +law is accomplished. The law forbids them to be jockeys, or +to follow the trade of trimming and shearing animals, without +some other visible mode of subsistence. This provision, +except in a few isolated instances, they evade; and the law seeks +not, and perhaps wisely, to disturb them, content with having +achieved so much. The chief evils of Gitanismo which still +remain consist in the systematic frauds of the Gypsy jockeys and +the tricks of the women. It is incurring considerable risk +to purchase a horse or a mule, even from the most respectable +Gitáno, without a previous knowledge of the animal and his +former possessor, the chances being that it is either diseased or +stolen from a distance. Of the practices of the females, +something will be said in particular in a future chapter.</p> +<p>The Gitános in general are very poor, a pair of large +cachas and various scissors of a smaller description constituting +their whole capital; occasionally a good hit is made, as they +call it, but the money does not last long, being quickly +squandered in feasting and revelry. He who has habitually +in his house a couple of donkeys is considered a thriving +Gitáno; there are some, however, who are wealthy in the +strict sense of the word, and carry on a very extensive trade in +horses and mules. These, occasionally, visit the most +distant fairs, traversing the greatest part of Spain. There +is a celebrated cattle-fair held at Leon on St. John’s or +Midsummer Day, and on one of these occasions, being present, I +observed a small family of Gitános, consisting of a man of +about fifty, a female of the same age, and a handsome young +Gypsy, who was their son; they were richly dressed after the +Gypsy fashion, the men wearing zamarras with massy clasps and +knobs of silver, and the woman a species of riding-dress with +much gold embroidery, and having immense gold rings attached to +her ears. They came from Murcia, a distance of one hundred +leagues and upwards. Some merchants, to whom I was +recommended, informed me that they had credit on their house to +the amount of twenty thousand dollars.</p> +<p>They experienced rough treatment in the fair, and on a very +singular account: immediately on their appearing on the ground, +the horses in the fair, which, perhaps, amounted to three +thousand, were seized with a sudden and universal panic; it was +one of those strange incidents for which it is difficult to +assign a rational cause; but a panic there was amongst the +brutes, and a mighty one; the horses neighed, screamed, and +plunged, endeavouring to escape in all directions; some appeared +absolutely possessed, stamping and tearing, their manes and tails +stiffly erect, like the bristles of the wild boar—many a +rider lost his seat. When the panic had ceased, and it did +cease almost as suddenly as it had arisen, the Gitános +were forthwith accused as the authors of it; it was said that +they intended to steal the best horses during the confusion, and +the keepers of the ground, assisted by a rabble of chalans, who +had their private reasons for hating the Gitános, drove +them off the field with sticks and cudgels. So much for +having a bad name.</p> +<p>These wealthy Gitános, when they are not ashamed of +their blood or descent, and are not addicted to proud fancies, or +‘barbales,’ as they are called, possess great +influence with the rest of their brethren, almost as much as the +rabbins amongst the Jews; their bidding is considered law, and +the other Gitános are at their devotion. On the +contrary, when they prefer the society of the Busné to +that of their own race, and refuse to assist their less fortunate +brethren in poverty or in prison, they are regarded with +unbounded contempt and abhorrence, as in the case of the rich +Gypsy of Badajoz, and are not unfrequently doomed to destruction: +such characters are mentioned in their couplets:—</p> +<blockquote><p>‘The Gypsy fiend of Manga mead,<br /> + Who never gave a straw,<br /> +He would destroy, for very greed,<br /> + The good Egyptian law.</p> +<p>‘The false Juanito day and night<br /> + Had best with caution go;<br /> +The Gypsy carles of Yeira height<br /> + Have sworn to lay him low.’</p> +</blockquote> +<p>However some of the Gitános may complain that there is +no longer union to be found amongst them, there is still much of +that fellow-feeling which springs from a consciousness of +proceeding from one common origin, or, as they love to term it, +‘blood.’ At present their system exhibits less +of a commonwealth than when they roamed in bands amongst the +wilds, and principally subsisted by foraging, each individual +contributing to the common stock, according to his success. +The interests of individuals are now more distinct, and that +close connection is of course dissolved which existed when they +wandered about, and their dangers, gains, and losses were felt in +common; and it can never be too often repeated that they are no +longer a proscribed race, with no rights nor safety save what +they gained by a close and intimate union. Nevertheless, +the Gitáno, though he naturally prefers his own interest +to that of his brother, and envies him his gain when he does not +expect to share in it, is at all times ready to side with him +against the Busno, because the latter is not a Gitáno, but +of a different blood, and for no other reason. When one +Gitáno confides his plans to another, he is in no fear +that they will be betrayed to the Busno, for whom there is no +sympathy, and when a plan is to be executed which requires +co-operation, they seek not the fellowship of the Busné, +but of each other, and if successful, share the gain like +brothers.</p> +<p>As a proof of the fraternal feeling which is not unfrequently +displayed amongst the Gitános, I shall relate a +circumstance which occurred at Cordova a year or two before I +first visited it. One of the poorest of the Gitános +murdered a Spaniard with the fatal Manchegan knife; for this +crime he was seized, tried, and found guilty. +Blood-shedding in Spain is not looked upon with much abhorrence, +and the life of the culprit is seldom taken, provided he can +offer a bribe sufficient to induce the notary public to report +favourably upon his case; but in this instance money was of no +avail; the murdered individual left behind him powerful friends +and connections, who were determined that justice should take its +course. It was in vain that the Gitános exerted all +their influence with the authorities in behalf of their comrade, +and such influence was not slight; it was in vain that they +offered extravagant sums that the punishment of death might be +commuted to perpetual slavery in the dreary presidio of Ceuta; I +was credibly informed that one of the richest Gitános, by +name Fruto, offered for his own share of the ransom the sum of +five thousand crowns, whilst there was not an individual but +contributed according to his means—nought availed, and the +Gypsy was executed in the Plaza. The day before the +execution, the Gitános, perceiving that the fate of their +brother was sealed, one and all quitted Cordova, shutting up +their houses and carrying with them their horses, their mules, +their borricos, their wives and families, and the greatest part +of their household furniture. No one knew whither they +directed their course, nor were they seen in Cordova for some +months, when they again suddenly made their appearance; a few, +however, never returned. So great was the horror of the +Gitános at what had occurred, that they were in the habit +of saying that the place was cursed for evermore; and when I knew +them, there were many amongst them who, on no account, would +enter the Plaza which had witnessed the disgraceful end of their +unfortunate brother.</p> +<p>The position which the Gitános hold in society in Spain +is the lowest, as might be expected; they are considered at best +as thievish chalans, and the women as half sorceresses, and in +every respect thieves; there is not a wretch, however vile, the +outcast of the prison and the presidio, who calls himself +Spaniard, but would feel insulted by being termed Gitáno, +and would thank God that he is not; and yet, strange to say, +there are numbers, and those of the higher classes, who seek +their company, and endeavour to imitate their manners and way of +speaking. The connections which they form with the +Spaniards are not many; occasionally some wealthy Gitáno +marries a Spanish female, but to find a Gitána united to a +Spaniard is a thing of the rarest occurrence, if it ever takes +place. It is, of course, by intermarriage alone that the +two races will ever commingle, and before that event is brought +about, much modification must take place amongst the +Gitános, in their manners, in their habits, in their +affections, and their dislikes, and, perhaps, even in their +physical peculiarities; much must be forgotten on both sides, and +everything is forgotten in the course of time.</p> +<p>The number of the Gitáno population of Spain at the +present day may be estimated at about forty thousand. At +the commencement of the present century it was said to amount to +sixty thousand. There can be no doubt that the sect is by +no means so numerous as it was at former periods; witness those +barrios in various towns still denominated Gitánerias, but +from whence the Gitános have disappeared even like the +Moors from the Morerias. Whether this diminution in number +has been the result of a partial change of habits, of pestilence +or sickness, of war or famine, or of all these causes combined, +we have no means of determining, and shall abstain from offering +conjectures on the subject.</p> +<h3><a name="page221"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +221</span>CHAPTER IV</h3> +<p><span class="smcap">In</span> the autumn of the year 1839, I +landed at Tarifa, from the coast of Barbary. I arrived in a +small felouk laden with hides for Cadiz, to which place I was +myself going. We stopped at Tarifa in order to perform +quarantine, which, however, turned out a mere farce, as we were +all permitted to come on shore; the master of the felouk having +bribed the port captain with a few fowls. We formed a +motley group. A rich Moor and his son, a child, with their +Jewish servant Yusouf, and myself with my own man Hayim Ben +Attar, a Jew. After passing through the gate, the Moors and +their domestics were conducted by the master to the house of one +of his acquaintance, where he intended they should lodge; whilst +a sailor was despatched with myself and Hayim to the only inn +which the place afforded. I stopped in the street to speak +to a person whom I had known at Seville. Before we had +concluded our discourse, Hayim, who had walked forward, returned, +saying that the quarters were good, and that we were in high +luck, for that he knew the people of the inn were Jews. +‘Jews,’ said I, ‘here in Tarifa, and keeping an +inn, I should be glad to see them.’ So I left my +acquaintance, and hastened to the house. We first entered a +stable, of which the ground floor of the building consisted, and +ascending a flight of stairs entered a very large room, and from +thence passed into a kitchen, in which were several people. +One of these was a stout, athletic, burly fellow of about fifty, +dressed in a buff jerkin, and dark cloth pantaloons. His +hair was black as a coal and exceedingly bushy, his face much +marked from some disorder, and his skin as dark as that of a +toad. A very tall woman stood by the dresser, much +resembling him in feature, with the same hair and complexion, but +with more intelligence in her eyes than the man, who looked heavy +and dogged. A dark woman, whom I subsequently discovered to +be lame, sat in a corner, and two or three swarthy girls, from +fifteen to eighteen years of age, were flitting about the +room. I also observed a wicked-looking boy, who might have +been called handsome, had not one of his eyes been injured. +‘Jews,’ said I, in Moorish, to Hayim, as I glanced at +these people and about the room; ‘these are not Jews, but +children of the Dar-bushi-fal.’</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a name="image222" href="images/p222b.jpg"> +<img alt= +"A Gypsy Family" +title= +"A Gypsy Family" + src="images/p222s.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>‘List to the Corahai,’ said the tall woman, in +broken Gypsy slang, ‘hear how they jabber (hunelad como +chamulian), truly we will make them pay for the noise they raise +in the house.’ Then coming up to me, she demanded +with a shout, fearing otherwise that I should not understand, +whether I would not wish to see the room where I was to +sleep. I nodded: whereupon she led me out upon a back +terrace, and opening the door of a small room, of which there +were three, asked me if it would suit. +‘Perfectly,’ said I, and returned with her to the +kitchen.</p> +<p>‘O, what a handsome face! what a royal person!’ +exclaimed the whole family as I returned, in Spanish, but in the +whining, canting tones peculiar to the Gypsies, when they are +bent on victimising. ‘A more ugly Busno it has never +been our chance to see,’ said the same voices in the next +breath, speaking in the jargon of the tribe. +‘Won’t your Moorish Royalty please to eat +something?’ said the tall hag. ‘We have nothing +in the house; but I will run out and buy a fowl, which I hope may +prove a royal peacock to nourish and strengthen you.’ +‘I hope it may turn to drow in your entrails,’ she +muttered to the rest in Gypsy. She then ran down, and in a +minute returned with an old hen, which, on my arrival, I had +observed below in the stable. ‘See this beautiful +fowl,’ said she, ‘I have been running over all Tarifa +to procure it for your kingship; trouble enough I have had to +obtain it, and dear enough it has cost me. I will now cut +its throat.’ ‘Before you kill it,’ said +I, ‘I should wish to know what you paid for it, that there +may be no dispute about it in the account.’ +‘Two dollars I paid for it, most valorous and handsome sir; +two dollars it cost me, out of my own quisobi—out of my own +little purse.’ I saw it was high time to put an end +to these zalamerias, and therefore exclaimed in Gitáno, +‘You mean two brujis (reals), O mother of all the witches, +and that is twelve cuartos more than it is worth.’ +‘Ay Dios mio, whom have we here?’ exclaimed the +females. ‘One,’ I replied, ‘who knows you +well and all your ways. Speak! am I to have the hen for two +reals? if not, I shall leave the house this moment.’ +‘O yes, to be sure, brother, and for nothing if you wish +it,’ said the tall woman, in natural and quite altered +tones; ‘but why did you enter the house speaking in Corahai +like a Bengui? We thought you a Busno, but we now see that +you are of our religion; pray sit down and tell us where you have +been.’ . .</p> +<p><i>Myself</i>.—‘Now, my good people, since I have +answered your questions, it is but right that you should answer +some of mine; pray who are you? and how happens it that you are +keeping this inn?’</p> +<p><i>Gypsy Hag</i>.—‘Verily, brother, we can +scarcely tell you who we are. All we know of ourselves is, +that we keep this inn, to our trouble and sorrow, and that our +parents kept it before us; we were all born in this house, where +I suppose we shall die.’</p> +<p><i>Myself</i>.—‘Who is the master of the house, +and whose are these children?’</p> +<p><i>Gypsy Hag</i>.—‘The master of the house is the +fool, my brother, who stands before you without saying a word; to +him belong these children, and the cripple in the chair is his +wife, and my cousin. He has also two sons who are grown-up +men; one is a chumajarri (shoemaker), and the other serves a +tanner.’</p> +<p><i>Myself</i>.—‘Is it not contrary to the law of +the Cales to follow such trades?’</p> +<p><i>Gypsy Hag</i>.—‘We know of no law, and little +of the Cales themselves. Ours is the only Calo family in +Tarifa, and we never left it in our lives, except occasionally to +go on the smuggling lay to Gibraltar. True it is that the +Cales, when they visit Tarifa, put up at our house, sometimes to +our cost. There was one Rafael, son of the rich Fruto of +Cordova, here last summer, to buy up horses, and he departed a +baria and a half in our debt; however, I do not grudge it him, +for he is a handsome and clever Chabó—a fellow of +many capacities. There was more than one Busno had cause to +rue his coming to Tarifa.’</p> +<p><i>Myself</i>.—‘Do you live on good terms with the +Busné of Tarifa?’</p> +<p><i>Gypsy Hag</i>.—‘Brother, we live on the best +terms with the Busné of Tarifa; especially with the +errays. The first people in Tarifa come to this house, to +have their baji told by the cripple in the chair and by +myself. I know not how it is, but we are more considered by +the grandees than the poor, who hate and loathe us. When my +first and only infant died, for I have been married, the child of +one of the principal people was put to me to nurse, but I hated +it for its white blood, as you may well believe. It never +throve, for I did it a private mischief, and though it grew up +and is now a youth, it is—mad.’</p> +<p><i>Myself</i>.—‘With whom will your +brother’s children marry? You say there are no +Gypsies here.’</p> +<p><i>Gypsy Hag</i>.—‘Ay de mi, hermano! It is +that which grieves me. I would rather see them sold to the +Moors than married to the Busné. When Rafael was +here he wished to persuade the chumajarri to accompany him to +Cordova, and promised to provide for him, and to find him a wife +among the Callees of that town; but the faint heart would not, +though I myself begged him to comply. As for the curtidor +(tanner), he goes every night to the house of a Busnee; and once, +when I reproached him with it, he threatened to marry her. +I intend to take my knife, and to wait behind the door in the +dark, and when she comes out to gash her over the eyes. I +trow he will have little desire to wed with her then.’</p> +<p><i>Myself</i>.—‘Do many Busné from the +country put up at this house?’</p> +<p><i>Gypsy Hag</i>.—‘Not so many as formerly, +brother; the labourers from the Campo say that we are all +thieves; and that it is impossible for any one but a Calo to +enter this house without having the shirt stripped from his +back. They go to the houses of their acquaintance in the +town, for they fear to enter these doors. I scarcely know +why, for my brother is the veriest fool in Tarifa. Were it +not for his face, I should say that he is no Chabó, for he +cannot speak, and permits every chance to slip through his +fingers. Many a good mule and borrico have gone out of the +stable below, which he might have secured, had he but tongue +enough to have cozened the owners. But he is a fool, as I +said before; he cannot speak, and is no Chabó.’</p> +<p>How far the person in question, who sat all the while smoking +his pipe, with the most unperturbed tranquillity, deserved the +character bestowed upon him by his sister, will presently +appear. It is not my intention to describe here all the +strange things I both saw and heard in this Gypsy inn. +Several Gypsies arrived from the country during the six days that +I spent within its walls; one of them, a man, from Moron, was +received with particular cordiality, he having a son, whom he was +thinking of betrothing to one of the Gypsy daughters. Some +females of quality likewise visited the house to gossip, like +true Andalusians. It was singular to observe the behaviour +of the Gypsies to these people, especially that of the remarkable +woman, some of whose conversation I have given above. She +whined, she canted, she blessed, she talked of beauty of colour, +of eyes, of eyebrows, and pestañas (eyelids), and of +hearts which were aching for such and such a lady. Amongst +others, came a very fine woman, the widow of a colonel lately +slain in battle; she brought with her a beautiful innocent little +girl, her daughter, between three and four years of age. +The Gypsy appeared to adore her; she sobbed, she shed tears, she +kissed the child, she blessed it, she fondled it. I had my +eye upon her countenance, and it brought to my recollection that +of a she-wolf, which I had once seen in Russia, playing with her +whelp beneath a birch-tree. ‘You seem to love that +child very much, O my mother,’ said I to her, as the lady +was departing.</p> +<p><i>Gypsy Hag</i>.—‘No lo camélo, +hijo! I do not love it, O my son, I do not love it; I love +it so much, that I wish it may break its leg as it goes +downstairs, and its mother also.’</p> +<p>On the evening of the fourth day, I was seated on the stone +bench at the stable door, taking the fresco; the Gypsy innkeeper +sat beside me, smoking his pipe, and silent as usual; presently a +man and woman with a borrico, or donkey, entered the +portal. I took little or no notice of a circumstance so +slight, but I was presently aroused by hearing the Gypsy’s +pipe drop upon the ground. I looked at him, and scarcely +recognised his face. It was no longer dull, black, and +heavy, but was lighted up with an expression so extremely +villainous that I felt uneasy. His eyes were scanning the +recent comers, especially the beast of burden, which was a +beautiful female donkey. He was almost instantly at their +side, assisting to remove its housings, and the alforjas, or +bags. His tongue had become unloosed, as if by sorcery; and +far from being unable to speak, he proved that, when it suited +his purpose, he could discourse with wonderful volubility. +The donkey was soon tied to the manger, and a large measure of +barley emptied before it, the greatest part of which the Gypsy +boy presently removed, his father having purposely omitted to mix +the barley with the straw, with which the Spanish mangers are +always kept filled. The guests were hurried upstairs as +soon as possible. I remained below, and subsequently +strolled about the town and on the beach. It was about nine +o’clock when I returned to the inn to retire to rest; +strange things had evidently been going on during my +absence. As I passed through the large room on my way to my +apartment, lo, the table was set out with much wine, fruits, and +viands. There sat the man from the country, three parts +intoxicated; the Gypsy, already provided with another pipe, sat +on his knee, with his right arm most affectionately round his +neck; on one side sat the chumajarri drinking and smoking, on the +other the tanner. Behold, poor humanity, thought I to +myself, in the hands of devils; in this manner are human souls +ensnared to destruction by the fiends of the pit. The +females had already taken possession of the woman at the other +end of the table, embracing her, and displaying every mark of +friendship and affection. I passed on, but ere I reached my +apartment I heard the words mule and donkey. +‘Adios,’ said I, for I but too well knew what was on +the carpet.</p> +<p>In the back stable the Gypsy kept a mule, a most extraordinary +animal, which was employed in bringing water to the house, a task +which it effected with no slight difficulty; it was reported to +be eighteen years of age; one of its eyes had been removed by +some accident, it was foundered, and also lame, the result of a +broken leg. This animal was the laughing-stock of all +Tarifa; the Gypsy grudged it the very straw on while alone he fed +it, and had repeatedly offered it for sale at a dollar, which he +could never obtain. During the night there was much +merriment going on, and I could frequently distinguish the voice +of the Gypsy raised to a boisterous pitch. In the morning +the Gypsy hag entered my apartment, bearing the breakfast of +myself and Hayim. ‘What were you about last +night?’ said I.</p> +<p>‘We were bargaining with the Busno, evil overtake him, +and he has exchanged us the ass, for the mule and the +reckoning,’ said the hag, in whose countenance triumph was +blended with anxiety.</p> +<p>‘Was he drunk when he saw the mule?’ I +demanded.</p> +<p>‘He did not see her at all, O my son, but we told him we +had a beautiful mule, worth any money, which we were anxious to +dispose of, as a donkey suited our purpose better. We are +afraid that when he sees her he will repent his bargain, and if +he calls off within four-and-twenty hours, the exchange is null, +and the justicia will cause us to restore the ass; we have, +however, already removed her to our huérta out of the +town, where we have hid her below the ground. Dios sabe +(God knows) how it will turn out.’</p> +<p>When the man and woman saw the lame, foundered, one-eyed +creature, for which and the reckoning they had exchanged their +own beautiful borrico, they stood confounded. It was about +ten in the morning, and they had not altogether recovered from +the fumes of the wine of the preceding night; at last the man, +with a frightful oath, exclaimed to the innkeeper, ‘Restore +my donkey, you Gypsy villain!’</p> +<p>‘It cannot be, brother,’ replied the latter, +‘your donkey is by this time three leagues from here: I +sold her this morning to a man I do not know, and I am afraid I +shall have a hard bargain with her, for he only gave two dollars, +as she was unsound. O, you have taken me in, I am a poor +fool as they call me here, and you understand much, very much, +baribu.’ <a name="citation230"></a><a href="#footnote230" +class="citation">[230]</a></p> +<p>‘Her value was thirty-five dollars, thou demon,’ +said the countryman, ‘and the justicia will make you pay +that.’</p> +<p>‘Come, come, brother,’ said the Gypsy, ‘all +this is mere conversation; you have a capital bargain, to-day the +mercado is held, and you shall sell the mule; I will go with you +myself. O, you understand baribu; sister, bring the bottle +of anise; the señor and the señora must drink a +copíta.’ After much persuasion, and many +oaths, the man and woman were weak enough to comply; when they +had drunk several glasses, they departed for the market, the +Gypsy leading the mule. In about two hours they returned +with the wretched beast, but not exactly as they went; a numerous +crowd followed, laughing and hooting. The man was now +frantic, and the woman yet more so. They forced their way +upstairs to collect their baggage, which they soon effected, and +were about to leave the house, vowing revenge. Now ensued a +truly terrific scene, there were no more blandishments; the Gypsy +men and women were in arms, uttering the most frightful +execrations; as the woman came downstairs, the females assailed +her like lunatics; the cripple poked at her with a stick, the +tall hag clawed at her hair, whilst the father Gypsy walked close +beside the man, his hand on his clasp-knife, looking like nothing +in this world: the man, however, on reaching the door, turned to +him and said: ‘Gypsy demon, my borrico by three +o’clock—or you know the rest, the +justicia.’</p> +<p>The Gypsies remained filled with rage and disappointment; the +hag vented her spite on her brother. ‘’Tis your +fault,’ said she; ‘fool! you have no tongue; you a +Chabó, you can’t speak’; whereas, within a few +hours, he had perhaps talked more than an auctioneer during a +three days’ sale: but he reserved his words for fitting +occasions, and now sat as usual, sullen and silent, smoking his +pipe.</p> +<p>The man and woman made their appearance at three +o’clock, but they came—intoxicated; the Gypsy’s +eyes glistened—blandishment was again had recourse +to. ‘Come and sit down with the cavalier here,’ +whined the family; ‘he is a friend of ours, and will soon +arrange matters to your satisfaction.’ I arose, and +went into the street; the hag followed me. ‘Will you +not assist us, brother, or are you no Chabó?’ she +muttered.</p> +<p>‘I will have nothing to do with your matters,’ +said I.</p> +<p>‘I know who will,’ said the hag, and hurried down +the street.</p> +<p>The man and woman, with much noise, demanded their donkey; the +innkeeper made no answer, and proceeded to fill up several +glasses with the <i>anisado</i>. In about a quarter of an +hour, the Gypsy hag returned with a young man, well dressed, and +with a genteel air, but with something wild and singular in his +eyes. He seated himself by the table, smiled, took a glass +of liquor, drank part of it, smiled again, and handed it to the +countryman. The latter seeing himself treated in this +friendly manner by a caballero, was evidently much flattered, +took off his hat to the newcomer, and drank, as did the woman +also. The glass was filled, and refilled, till they became +yet more intoxicated. I did not hear the young man say a +word: he appeared a passive automaton. The Gypsies, +however, spoke for him, and were profuse of compliments. It +was now proposed that the caballero should settle the dispute; a +long and noisy conversation ensued, the young man looking +vacantly on: the strange people had no money, and had already run +up another bill at a wine-house to which they had retired. +At last it was proposed, as if by the young man, that the Gypsy +should purchase his own mule for two dollars, and forgive the +strangers the reckoning of the preceding night. To this +they agreed, being apparently stultified with the liquor, and the +money being paid to them in the presence of witnesses, they +thanked the friendly mediator, and reeled away.</p> +<p>Before they left the town that night, they had contrived to +spend the entire two dollars, and the woman, who first recovered +her senses, was bitterly lamenting that they had permitted +themselves to be despoiled so cheaply of a <i>prenda tan +preciosa</i>, as was the donkey. Upon the whole, however, I +did not much pity them. The woman was certainly not the +man’s wife. The labourer had probably left his +village with some strolling harlot, bringing with him the animal +which had previously served to support himself and family.</p> +<p>I believe that the Gypsy read, at the first glance, their +history, and arranged matters accordingly. The donkey was +soon once more in the stable, and that night there was much +rejoicing in the Gypsy inn.</p> +<p>Who was the singular mediator? He was neither more nor +less than the foster child of the Gypsy hag, the unfortunate +being whom she had privately injured in his infancy. After +having thus served them as an instrument in their villainy, he +was told to go home. . . .</p> +<h4>THE GYPSY SOLDIER OF VALDEPEÑAS</h4> +<p>It was at Madrid one fine afternoon in the beginning of March +1838, that, as I was sitting behind my table in a cabinete, as it +is called, of the third floor of No. 16, in the Calle de +Santiágo, having just taken my meal, my hostess entered +and informed me that a military officer wished to speak to me, +adding, in an undertone, that he looked a <i>strange +guest</i>. I was acquainted with no military officer in the +Spanish service; but as at that time I expected daily to be +arrested for having distributed the Bible, I thought that very +possibly this officer might have been sent to perform that piece +of duty. I instantly ordered him to be admitted, whereupon +a thin active figure, somewhat above the middle height, dressed +in a blue uniform, with a long sword hanging at his side, tripped +into the room. Depositing his regimental hat on the ground, +he drew a chair to the table, and seating himself, placed his +elbows on the board, and supporting his face with his hands, +confronted me, gazing steadfastly upon me, without uttering a +word. I looked no less wistfully at him, and was of the +same opinion as my hostess, as to the strangeness of my +guest. He was about fifty, with thin flaxen hair covering +the sides of his head, which at the top was entirely bald. +His eyes were small, and, like ferrets’, red and +fiery. His complexion like a brick, a dull red, checkered +with spots of purple. ‘May I inquire your name and +business, sir?’ I at length demanded.</p> +<p><i>Stranger</i>.—‘My name is Chaléco of +Valdepeñas; in the time of the French I served as +bragante, fighting for Ferdinand VII. I am now a captain on +half-pay in the service of Donna Isabel; as for my business here, +it is to speak with you. Do you know this book?’</p> +<p><i>Myself</i>.—‘This book is Saint Luke’s +Gospel in the Gypsy language; how can this book concern +you?’</p> +<p><i>Stranger</i>.—‘No one more. It is in the +language of my people.’</p> +<p><i>Myself</i>.—‘You do not pretend to say that you +are a Caló?’</p> +<p><i>Stranger</i>.—‘I do! I am Zíncalo, +by the mother’s side. My father, it is true, was one +of the Busné; but I glory in being a Caló, and care +not to acknowledge other blood.’</p> +<p><i>Myself</i>.—‘How became you possessed of that +book?’</p> +<p><i>Stranger</i>.—‘I was this morning in the Prado, +where I met two women of our people, and amongst other things +they told me that they had a gabicóte in our +language. I did not believe them at first, but they pulled +it out, and I found their words true. They then spoke to me +of yourself, and told me where you live, so I took the book from +them and am come to see you.’</p> +<p><i>Myself</i>.—‘Are you able to understand this +book?’</p> +<p><i>Stranger</i>.—‘Perfectly, though it is written +in very crabbed language: <a name="citation235"></a><a +href="#footnote235" class="citation">[235]</a> but I learnt to +read Caló when very young. My mother was a good +Calli, and early taught me both to speak and read it. She +too had a gabicóte, but not printed like this, and it +treated of a different matter.’</p> +<p><i>Myself</i>.—‘How came your mother, being a good +Calli, to marry one of a different blood?’</p> +<p><i>Stranger</i>.—‘It was no fault of hers; there +was no remedy. In her infancy she lost her parents, who +were executed; and she was abandoned by all, till my father, +taking compassion on her, brought her up and educated her: at +last he made her his wife, though three times her age. She, +however, remembered her blood and hated my father, and taught me +to hate him likewise, and avoid him. When a boy, I used to +stroll about the plains, that I might not see my father; and my +father would follow me and beg me to look upon him, and would ask +me what I wanted; and I would reply, Father, the only thing I +want is to see you dead.’</p> +<p><i>Myself</i>.—‘That was strange language from a +child to its parent.’</p> +<p><i>Stranger</i>.—‘It was—but you know the +couplet, <a name="citation236a"></a><a href="#footnote236a" +class="citation">[236a]</a> which says, “I do not wish to +be a lord—I am by birth a Gypsy—I do not wish to be a +gentleman—I am content with being a +Caló!”’</p> +<p><i>Myself</i>.—‘I am anxious to hear more of your +history—pray proceed.’</p> +<p><i>Stranger</i>.—‘When I was about twelve years +old my father became distracted, and died. I then continued +with my mother for some years; she loved me much, and procured a +teacher to instruct me in Latin. At last she died, and then +there was a pléyto (law-suit). I took to the sierra +and became a highwayman; but the wars broke out. My cousin +Jara, of Valdepeñas, raised a troop of brigantes. <a +name="citation236b"></a><a href="#footnote236b" +class="citation">[236b]</a> I enlisted with him and +distinguished myself very much; there is scarcely a man or woman +in Spain but has heard of Jara and Chaléco. I am now +captain in the service of Donna Isabel—I am covered with +wounds—I am—ugh! ugh! ugh—!’</p> +<p>He had commenced coughing, and in a manner which perfectly +astounded me. I had heard hooping coughs, consumptive +coughs, coughs caused by colds, and other accidents, but a cough +so horrible and unnatural as that of the Gypsy soldier, I had +never witnessed in the course of my travels. In a moment he +was bent double, his frame writhed and laboured, the veins of his +forehead were frightfully swollen, and his complexion became +black as the blackest blood; he screamed, he snorted, he barked, +and appeared to be on the point of suffocation—yet more +explosive became the cough; and the people of the house, +frightened, came running into the apartment. I cries, +‘The man is perishing, run instantly for a +surgeon!’ He heard me, and with a quick movement +raised his left hand as if to countermand the order; another +struggle, then one mighty throe, which seemed to search his +deepest intestines; and he remained motionless, his head on his +knee. The cough had left him, and within a minute or two he +again looked up.</p> +<p>‘That is a dreadful cough, friend,’ said I, when +he was somewhat recovered. ‘How did you get +it?’</p> +<p><i>Gypsy Soldier</i>.—‘I am—shot through the +lungs—brother! Let me but take breath, and I will +show you the hole—the agujéro.’</p> +<p>He continued with me a considerable time, and showed not the +slightest disposition to depart; the cough returned twice, but +not so violently;—at length, having an engagement, I arose, +and apologising, told him I must leave him. The next day he +came again at the same hour, but he found me not, as I was abroad +dining with a friend. On the third day, however, as I was +sitting down to dinner, in he walked, unannounced. I am +rather hospitable than otherwise, so I cordially welcomed him, +and requested him to partake of my meal. ‘Con +múcho gusto,’ he replied, and instantly took his +place at the table. I was again astonished, for if his +cough was frightful, his appetite was yet more so. He ate +like a wolf of the sierra;—soup, puchero, fowl and bacon +disappeared before him in a twinkling. I ordered in cold +meat, which he presently despatched; a large piece of cheese was +then produced. We had been drinking water.</p> +<p>‘Where is the wine?’ said he.</p> +<p>‘I never use it,’ I replied.</p> +<p>He looked blank. The hostess, however, who was present +waiting, said, ‘If the gentleman wish for wine, I have a +bota nearly full, which I will instantly fetch.’</p> +<p>The skin bottle, when full, might contain about four +quarts. She filled him a very large glass, and was removing +the skin, but he prevented her, saying, ‘Leave it, my good +woman; my brother here will settle with you for the little I +shall use.’</p> +<p>He now lighted his cigar, and it was evident that he had made +good his quarters. On the former occasion I thought his +behaviour sufficiently strange, but I liked it still less on the +present. Every fifteen minutes he emptied his glass, which +contained at least a pint; his conversation became +horrible. He related the atrocities which he had committed +when a robber and bragante in La Mancha. ‘It was our +custom,’ said he, ‘to tie our prisoners to the +olive-trees, and then, putting our horses to full speed, to tilt +at them with our spears.’ As he continued to drink he +became waspish and quarrelsome: he had hitherto talked Castilian, +but he would now only converse in Gypsy and in Latin, the last of +which languages he spoke with great fluency, though +ungrammatically. He told me that he had killed six men in +duels; and, drawing his sword, fenced about the room. I saw +by the manner in which he handled it, that he was master of his +weapon. His cough did not return, and he said it seldom +afflicted him when he dined well. He gave me to understand +that he had received no pay for two years. ‘Therefore +you visit me,’ thought I. At the end of three hours, +perceiving that he exhibited no signs of taking his departure, I +arose, and said I must again leave him. ‘As you +please, brother,’ said he; ‘use no ceremony with me, +I am fatigued, and will wait a little while.’ I did +not return till eleven at night, when my hostess informed me that +he had just departed, promising to return next day. He had +emptied the bota to the last drop, and the cheese produced being +insufficient for him, he sent for an entire Dutch cheese on my +account; part of which he had eaten and the rest carried +away. I now saw that I had formed a most troublesome +acquaintance, of whom it was highly necessary to rid myself, if +possible; I therefore dined out for the next nine days.</p> +<p>For a week he came regularly at the usual hour, at the end of +which time he desisted; the hostess was afraid of him, as she +said that he was a brujo or wizard, and only spoke to him through +the wicket.</p> +<p>On the tenth day I was cast into prison, where I continued +several weeks. Once, during my confinement, he called at +the house, and being informed of my mishap, drew his sword, and +vowed with horrible imprecations to murder the prime minister of +Ofalia, for having dared to imprison his brother. On my +release, I did not revisit my lodgings for some days, but lived +at an hotel. I returned late one afternoon, with my servant +Francisco, a Basque of Hernáni, who had served me with the +utmost fidelity during my imprisonment, which he had voluntarily +shared with me. The first person I saw on entering was the +Gypsy soldier, seated by the table, whereon were several bottles +of wine which he had ordered from the tavern, of course on my +account. He was smoking, and looked savage and sullen; +perhaps he was not much pleased with the reception he had +experienced. He had forced himself in, and the woman of the +house sat in a corner looking upon him with dread. I +addressed him, but he would scarcely return an answer. At +last he commenced discoursing with great volubility in Gypsy and +Latin. I did not understand much of what he said. His +words were wild and incoherent, but he repeatedly threatened some +person. The last bottle was now exhausted: he demanded +more. I told him in a gentle manner that he had drunk +enough. He looked on the ground for some time, then slowly, +and somewhat hesitatingly, drew his sword and laid it on the +table. It was become dark. I was not afraid of the +fellow, but I wished to avoid anything unpleasant. I called +to Francisco to bring lights, and obeying a sign which I made +him, he sat down at the table. The Gypsy glared fiercely +upon him—Francisco laughed, and began with great glee to +talk in Basque, of which the Gypsy understood not a word. +The Basques, like all Tartars, <a name="citation241a"></a><a +href="#footnote241a" class="citation">[241a]</a> and such they +are, are paragons of fidelity and good nature; they are only +dangerous when outraged, when they are terrible indeed. +Francisco, to the strength of a giant joined the disposition of a +lamb. He was beloved even in the patio of the prison, where +he used to pitch the bar and wrestle with the murderers and +felons, always coming off victor. He continued speaking +Basque. The Gypsy was incensed; and, forgetting the +languages in which, for the last hour, he had been speaking, +complained to Francisco of his rudeness in speaking any tongue +but Castilian. The Basque replied by a loud +carcajáda, and slightly touched the Gypsy on the +knee. The latter sprang up like a mine discharged, seized +his sword, and, retreating a few steps, made a desperate lunge at +Francisco.</p> +<p>The Basques, next to the Pasiegos, <a +name="citation241b"></a><a href="#footnote241b" +class="citation">[241b]</a> are the best cudgel-players in Spain, +and in the world. Francisco held in his hand part of a +broomstick, which he had broken in the stable, whence he had just +ascended. With the swiftness of lightning he foiled the +stroke of Chaléco, and, in another moment, with a +dexterous blow, struck the sword out of his hand, sending it +ringing against the wall.</p> +<p>The Gypsy resumed his seat and his cigar. He +occasionally looked at the Basque. His glances were at +first atrocious, but presently changed their expression, and +appeared to me to become prying and eagerly curious. He at +last arose, picked up his sword, sheathed it, and walked slowly +to the door; when there he stopped, turned round, advanced close +to Francisco, and looked him steadfastly in the face. +‘My good fellow,’ said he, ‘I am a Gypsy, and +can read baji. Do you know where you will be at this time +to-morrow?’ <a name="citation242"></a><a +href="#footnote242" class="citation">[242]</a> Then, +laughing like a hyena, he departed, and I never saw him +again.</p> +<p>At that time on the morrow, Francisco was on his +death-bed. He had caught the jail fever, which had long +raged in the Carcel de la Corte, where I was imprisoned. In +a few days he was buried, a mass of corruption, in the Campo +Santo of Madrid.</p> +<h3><a name="page243"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +243</span>CHAPTER V</h3> +<p><span class="smcap">The</span> Gitános, in their habits +and manner of life, are much less cleanly than the +Spaniards. The hovels in which they reside exhibit none of +the neatness which is observable in the habitations of even the +poorest of the other race. The floors are unswept, and +abound with filth and mud, and in their persons they are scarcely +less vile. Inattention to cleanliness is a characteristic +of the Gypsies, in all parts of the world.</p> +<p>The Bishop of Forli, as far back as 1422, gives evidence upon +this point, and insinuates that they carried the plague with +them; as he observes that it raged with peculiar violence the +year of their appearance at Forli. <a name="citation243"></a><a +href="#footnote243" class="citation">[243]</a></p> +<p>At the present day they are almost equally disgusting, in this +respect, in Hungary, England, and Spain. Amongst the richer +Gitános, habits of greater cleanliness of course exist +than amongst the poorer. An air of sluttishness, however, +pervades their dwellings, which, to an experienced eye, would +sufficiently attest that the inmates were Gitános, in the +event of their absence.</p> +<p>What can be said of the Gypsy dress, of which such frequent +mention is made in the Spanish laws, and which is prohibited +together with the Gypsy language and manner of life? Of +whatever it might consist in former days, it is so little to be +distinguished from the dress of some classes amongst the +Spaniards, that it is almost impossible to describe the +difference. They generally wear a high-peaked, +narrow-brimmed hat, a zamarra of sheep-skin in winter, and, +during summer, a jacket of brown cloth; and beneath this they are +fond of exhibiting a red plush waistcoat, something after the +fashion of the English jockeys, with numerous buttons and +clasps. A faja, or girdle of crimson silk, surrounds the +waist, where, not unfrequently, are stuck the cachas which we +have already described. Pantaloons of coarse cloth or +leather descend to the knee; the legs are protected by woollen +stockings, and sometimes by a species of spatterdash, either of +cloth or leather; stout high-lows complete the equipment.</p> +<p>Such is the dress of the Gitános of most parts of +Spain. But it is necessary to remark that such also is the +dress of the chalans, and of the muleteers, except that the +latter are in the habit of wearing broad sombreros as +preservatives from the sun. This dress appears to be rather +Andalusian than Gitáno; and yet it certainly beseems the +Gitáno better than the chalan or muleteer. He wears +it with more easy negligence or jauntiness, by which he may be +recognised at some distance, even from behind.</p> +<p>It is still more difficult to say what is the peculiar dress +of the Gitánas; they wear not the large red cloaks and +immense bonnets of coarse beaver which distinguish their sisters +of England; they have no other headgear than a handkerchief, +which is occasionally resorted to as a defence against the +severity of the weather; their hair is sometimes confined by a +comb, but more frequently is permitted to stray dishevelled down +their shoulders; they are fond of large ear-rings, whether of +gold, silver, or metal, resembling in this respect the poissardes +of France. There is little to distinguish them from the +Spanish women save the absence of the mantilla, which they never +carry. Females of fashion not unfrequently take pleasure in +dressing à la Gitána, as it is called; but this +female Gypsy fashion, like that of the men, is more properly the +fashion of Andalusia, the principal characteristic of which is +the saya, which is exceedingly short, with many rows of +flounces.</p> +<p>True it is that the original dress of the Gitános, male +and female, whatever it was, may have had some share in forming +the Andalusian fashion, owing to the great number of these +wanderers who found their way to that province at an early +period. The Andalusians are a mixed breed of various +nations, Romans, Vandals, Moors; perhaps there is a slight +sprinkling of Gypsy blood in their veins, and of Gypsy fashion in +their garb.</p> +<p>The Gitános are, for the most part, of the middle size, +and the proportions of their frames convey a powerful idea of +strength and activity united; a deformed or weakly object is +rarely found amongst them in persons of either sex; such probably +perish in their infancy, unable to support the hardships and +privations to which the race is still subjected from its great +poverty, and these same privations have given and still give a +coarseness and harshness to their features, which are all +strongly marked and expressive. Their complexion is by no +means uniform, save that it is invariably darker than the general +olive hue of the Spaniards; not unfrequently countenances as dark +as those of mulattos present themselves, and in some few +instances of almost negro blackness. Like most people of +savage ancestry, their teeth are white and strong; their mouths +are not badly formed, but it is in the eye more than in any other +feature that they differ from other human beings.</p> +<p>There is something remarkable in the eye of the Gitáno: +should his hair and complexion become fair as those of the Swede +or the Finn, and his jockey gait as grave and ceremonious as that +of the native of Old Castile, were he dressed like a king, a +priest, or a warrior, still would the Gitáno be detected +by his eye, should it continue unchanged. The Jew is known +by his eye, but then in the Jew that feature is peculiarly small; +the Chinese has a remarkable eye, but then the eye of the Chinese +is oblong, and even with the face, which is flat; but the eye of +the Gitáno is neither large nor small, and exhibits no +marked difference in its shape from the eyes of the common +cast. Its peculiarity consists chiefly in a strange staring +expression, which to be understood must be seen, and in a thin +glaze, which steals over it when in repose, and seems to emit +phosphoric light. That the Gypsy eye has sometimes a +peculiar effect, we learn from the following stanza:—</p> +<blockquote><p>‘A Gypsy stripling’s glossy eye<br /> + Has pierced my bosom’s core,<br /> +A feat no eye beneath the sky<br /> + Could e’er effect before.’</p> +</blockquote> +<p>The following passages are extracted from a Spanish work, <a +name="citation247"></a><a href="#footnote247" +class="citation">[247]</a> and cannot be out of place here, as +they relate to those matters to which we have devoted this +chapter.</p> +<p>‘The Gitános have an olive complexion and very +marked physiognomy; their cheeks are prominent, their lips thick, +their eyes vivid and black; their hair is long, black, and +coarse, and their teeth very white. The general expression +of their physiognomy is a compound of pride, slavishness, and +cunning. They are, for the most part, of good stature, well +formed, and support with facility fatigue and every kind of +hardship. When they discuss any matter, or speak among +themselves, whether in Catalan, in Castilian, or in Germania, +which is their own peculiar jargon, they always make use of much +gesticulation, which contributes to give to their conversation +and to the vivacity of their physiognomy a certain expression, +still more penetrating and characteristic.</p> +<p>‘When a Gitáno has occasion to speak of some +business in which his interest is involved, he redoubles his +gestures in proportion as he knows the necessity of convincing +those who hear him, and fears their impassibility. If any +rancorous idea agitate him in the course of his narrative; if he +endeavour to infuse into his auditors sentiments of jealousy, +vengeance, or any violent passion, his features become +exaggerated, and the vivacity of his glances, and the contraction +of his lips, show clearly, and in an imposing manner, the foreign +origin of the Gitános, and all the customs of barbarous +people. Even his very smile has an expression hard and +disagreeable. One might almost say that joy in him is a +forced sentiment, and that, like unto the savage man, sadness is +the dominant feature of his physiognomy.</p> +<p>‘The Gitána is distinguished by the same +complexion, and almost the same features. In her frame she +is as well formed, and as flexible as the Gitáno. +Condemned to suffer the same privations and wants, her +countenance, when her interest does not oblige her to dissemble +her feelings, presents the same aspect of melancholy, and shows +besides, with more energy, the rancorous passions of which the +female heart is susceptible. Free in her actions, her +carriage, and her pursuits, she speaks, vociferates, and makes +more gestures than the Gitáno, and, in imitation of him, +her arms are in continual motion, to give more expression to the +imagery with which she accompanies her discourse; her whole body +contributes to her gesture, and to increase its force; +endeavouring by these means to sharpen the effect of language in +itself insufficient; and her vivid and disordered imagination is +displayed in her appearance and attitude.</p> +<p>‘When she turns her hand to any species of labour, her +hurried action, the disorder of her hair, which is scarcely +subjected by a little comb, and her propensity to irritation, +show how little she loves toil, and her disgust for any continued +occupation.</p> +<p>‘In her disputes, the air of menace and high passion, +the flow of words, and the facility with which she provokes and +despises danger, indicate manners half barbarous, and ignorance +of other means of defence. Finally, both in males and +females, their physical constitution, colour, agility, and +flexibility, reveal to us a caste sprung from a burning clime, +and devoted to all those exercises which contribute to evolve +bodily vigour, and certain mental faculties.</p> +<p>‘The dress of the Gitáno varies with the country +which he inhabits. Both in Rousillon and Catalonia his +habiliments generally consist of jacket, waistcoat, pantaloons, +and a red faja, which covers part of his waistcoat; on his feet +he wears hempen sandals, with much ribbon tied round the leg as +high as the calf; he has, moreover, either woollen or cotton +stockings; round his neck he wears a handkerchief, carelessly +tied; and in the winter he uses a blanket or mantle, with +sleeves, cast over the shoulder; his head is covered with the +indispensable red cap, which appears to be the favourite ornament +of many nations in the vicinity of the Mediterranean and Caspian +Sea.</p> +<p>‘The neck and the elbows of the jacket are adorned with +pieces of blue and yellow cloth embroidered with silk, as well as +the seams of the pantaloons; he wears, moreover, on the jacket or +the waistcoat, various rows of silver buttons, small and round, +sustained by rings or chains of the same metal. The old +people, and those who by fortune, or some other cause, exercise, +in appearance, a kind of authority over the rest, are almost +always dressed in black or dark-blue velvet. Some of those +who affect elegance amongst them keep for holidays a complete +dress of sky-blue velvet, with embroidery at the neck, +pocket-holes, arm-pits, and in all the seams; in a word, with the +exception of the turban, this was the fashion of dress of the +ancient Moors of Granada, the only difference being occasioned by +time and misery.</p> +<p>‘The dress of the Gitánas is very varied: the +young girls, or those who are in tolerably easy circumstances, +generally wear a black bodice laced up with a string, and +adjusted to their figures, and contrasting with the +scarlet-coloured saya, which only covers a part of the leg; their +shoes are cut very low, and are adorned with little buckles of +silver; the breast, and the upper part of the bodice, are covered +either with a white handkerchief, or one of some vivid colour; +and on the head is worn another handkerchief, tied beneath the +chin, one of the ends of which falls on the shoulder, in the +manner of a hood. When the cold or the heat permit, the +Gitána removes the hood, without untying the knots, and +exhibits her long and shining tresses restrained by a comb. +The old women, and the very poor, dress in the same manner, save +that their habiliments are more coarse and the colours less in +harmony. Amongst them misery appears beneath the most +revolting aspect; whilst the poorest Gitáno preserves a +certain deportment which would make his aspect supportable, if +his unquiet and ferocious glance did not inspire us with +aversion.’</p> +<h3><a name="page252"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +252</span>CHAPTER VI</h3> +<p><span class="smcap">Whilst</span> their husbands are engaged +in their jockey vocation, or in wielding the cachas, the Callees, +or Gypsy females, are seldom idle, but are endeavouring, by +various means, to make all the gain they can. The richest +amongst them are generally contrabandistas, and in the large +towns go from house to house with prohibited goods, especially +silk and cotton, and occasionally with tobacco. They +likewise purchase cast-off female wearing-apparel, which, when +vamped up and embellished, they sometimes contrive to sell as +new, with no inconsiderable profit.</p> +<p>Gitánas of this description are of the most respectable +class; the rest, provided they do not sell roasted chestnuts, or +esteras, which are a species of mat, seek a livelihood by +different tricks and practices, more or less fraudulent; for +example—</p> +<p><i>La Bahi</i>, or fortune-telling, which is called in +Spanish, <i>buena ventura</i>.—This way of extracting money +from the credulity of dupes is, of all those practised by the +Gypsies, the readiest and most easy; promises are the only +capital requisite, and the whole art of fortune-telling consists +in properly adapting these promises to the age and condition of +the parties who seek for information. The Gitánas +are clever enough in the accomplishment of this, and in most +cases afford perfect satisfaction. Their practice chiefly +lies amongst females, the portion of the human race most given to +curiosity and credulity. To the young maidens they promise +lovers, handsome invariably, and sometimes rich; to wives +children, and perhaps another husband; for their eyes are so +penetrating, that occasionally they will develop your most secret +thoughts and wishes; to the old, riches—and nothing but +riches; for they have sufficient knowledge of the human heart to +be aware that avarice is the last passion that becomes extinct +within it. These riches are to proceed either from the +discovery of hidden treasures or from across the water; from the +Americas, to which the Spaniards still look with hope, as there +is no individual in Spain, however poor, but has some connection +in those realms of silver and gold, at whose death he considers +it probable that he may succeed to a brilliant +‘heréncia.’ The Gitánas, in the +exercise of this practice, find dupes almost as readily amongst +the superior classes, as the veriest dregs of the +population. It is their boast, that the best houses are +open to them; and perhaps in the space of one hour, they will +spae the bahi to a duchess, or countess, in one of the hundred +palaces of Madrid, and to half a dozen of the lavanderas engaged +in purifying the linen of the capital, beneath the willows which +droop on the banks of the murmuring Manzanares. One great +advantage which the Gypsies possess over all other people is an +utter absence of <i>mauvaise honte</i>; their speech is as +fluent, and their eyes as unabashed, in the presence of royalty, +as before those from whom they have nothing to hope or fear; the +result being, that most minds quail before them. There were +two Gitánas at Madrid, one Pepita by name, and the other +La Chicharona; the first was a spare, shrewd, witch-like female, +about fifty, and was the mother-in-law of La Chicharona, who was +remarkable for her stoutness. These women subsisted +entirely by fortune-telling and swindling. It chanced that +the son of Pepita, and husband of Chicharona, having spirited +away a horse, was sent to the presidio of Malaga for ten years of +hard labour. This misfortune caused inexpressible +affliction to his wife and mother, who determined to make every +effort to procure his liberation. The readiest way which +occurred to them was to procure an interview with the Queen +Regent Christina, who they doubted not would forthwith pardon the +culprit, provided they had an opportunity of assailing her with +their Gypsy discourse; for, to use their own words, ‘they +well knew what to say.’ I at that time lived close by +the palace, in the street of Santiago, and daily, for the space +of a month, saw them bending their steps in that direction.</p> +<p>One day they came to me in a great hurry, with a strange +expression on both their countenances. ‘We have seen +Christina, hijo’ (my son), said Pepita to me.</p> +<p>‘Within the palace?’ I inquired.</p> +<p>‘Within the palace, O child of my garlochin,’ +answered the sibyl: ‘Christina at last saw and sent for us, +as I knew she would; I told her “bahi,” and +Chicharona danced the Romalis (Gypsy dance) before +her.’</p> +<p>‘What did you tell her?’</p> +<p>‘I told her many things,’ said the hag, +‘many things which I need not tell you: know, however, that +amongst other things, I told her that the chabori (little queen) +would die, and then she would be Queen of Spain. I told +her, moreover, that within three years she would marry the son of +the King of France, and it was her bahi to die Queen of France +and Spain, and to be loved much, and hated much.’</p> +<p>‘And did you not dread her anger, when you told her +these things?’</p> +<p>‘Dread her, the Busnee?’ screamed Pepita: +‘No, my child, she dreaded me far more; I looked at her +so—and raised my finger so—and Chicharona clapped her +hands, and the Busnee believed all I said, and was afraid of me; +and then I asked for the pardon of my son, and she pledged her +word to see into the matter, and when we came away, she gave me +this baria of gold, and to Chicharona this other, so at all +events we have hokkanoed the queen. May an evil end +overtake her body, the Busnee!’</p> +<p>Though some of the Gitánas contrive to subsist by +fortune-telling alone, the generality of them merely make use of +it as an instrument towards the accomplishment of greater +things. The immediate gains are scanty; a few cuartos being +the utmost which they receive from the majority of their +customers. But the bahi is an excellent passport into +houses, and when they spy a convenient opportunity, they seldom +fail to avail themselves of it. It is necessary to watch +them strictly, as articles frequently disappear in a mysterious +manner whilst Gitánas are telling fortunes. The +bahi, moreover, is occasionally the prelude to a device which we +shall now attempt to describe, and which is called <i>Hokkano +Baro</i>, or the great trick, of which we have already said +something in the former part of this work. It consists in +persuading some credulous person to deposit whatever money and +valuables the party can muster in a particular spot, under the +promise that the deposit will increase many manifold. Some +of our readers will have difficulty in believing that any people +can be found sufficiently credulous to allow themselves to be +duped by a trick of this description, the grossness of the +intended fraud seeming too palpable. Experience, however, +proves the contrary. The deception is frequently practised +at the present day, and not only in Spain but in +England—enlightened England—and in France likewise; +an instance being given in the memoirs of Vidocq, the late +celebrated head of the secret police of Paris, though, in that +instance, the perpetrator of the fraud was not a Gypsy. The +most subtle method of accomplishing the hokkano baro is the +following:—</p> +<p>When the dupe—a widow we will suppose, for in these +cases the dupes are generally widows—has been induced to +consent to make the experiment, the Gitána demands of her +whether she has in the house some strong chest with a safe +lock. On receiving an affirmative answer, she will request +to see all the gold and silver of any description which she may +chance to have in her possession. The treasure is shown +her; and when the Gitána has carefully inspected and +counted it, she produces a white handkerchief, saying, Lady, I +give you this handkerchief, which is blessed. Place in it +your gold and silver, and tie it with three knots. I am +going for three days, during which period you must keep the +bundle beneath your pillow, permitting no one to go near it, and +observing the greatest secrecy, otherwise the money will take +wings and fly away. Every morning during the three days it +will be well to open the bundle, for your own satisfaction, to +see that no misfortune has befallen your treasure; be always +careful, however, to fasten it again with the three knots. +On my return, we will place the bundle, after having inspected +it, in the chest, which you shall yourself lock, retaining the +key in your possession. But, thenceforward, for three +weeks, you must by no means unlock the chest, nor look at the +treasure—if you do it will fly away. Only follow my +directions, and you will gain much, very much, baribu.</p> +<p>The Gitána departs, and, during the three days, +prepares a bundle as similar as possible to the one which +contains the money of her dupe, save that instead of gold ounces, +dollars, and plate, its contents consist of copper money and +pewter articles of little or no value. With this bundle +concealed beneath her cloak, she returns at the end of three days +to her intended victim. The bundle of real treasure is +produced and inspected, and again tied up by the Gitána, +who then requests the other to open the chest, which done, she +formally places <i>a bundle</i> in it; but, in the meanwhile, she +has contrived to substitute the fictitious for the real +one. The chest is then locked, the lady retaining the +key. The Gitána promises to return at the end of +three weeks, to open the chest, assuring the lady that if it be +not unlocked until that period, it will be found filled with gold +and silver; but threatening that in the event of her injunctions +being disregarded, the money deposited will vanish. She +then walks off with great deliberation, bearing away the +spoil. It is needless to say that she never returns.</p> +<p>There are other ways of accomplishing the hokkano baro. +The most simple, and indeed the one most generally used by the +Gitánas, is to persuade some simple individual to hide a +sum of money in the earth, which they afterwards carry +away. A case of this description occurred within my own +knowledge, at Madrid, towards the latter part of the year +1837. There was a notorious Gitána, of the name of +Aurora; she was about forty years of age, a Valencian by birth, +and immensely fat. This amiable personage, by some means, +formed the acquaintance of a wealthy widow lady; and was not slow +in attempting to practise the hokkano baro upon her. She +succeeded but too well. The widow, at the instigation of +Aurora, buried one hundred ounces of gold beneath a ruined arch +in a field, at a short distance from the wall of Madrid. +The inhumation was effected at night by the widow alone. +Aurora was, however, on the watch, and, in less than ten minutes +after the widow had departed, possessed herself of the treasure; +perhaps the largest one ever acquired by this kind of +deceit. The next day the widow had certain misgivings, and, +returning to the spot, found her money gone. About six +months after this event, I was imprisoned in the Carcel de la +Corte, at Madrid, and there I found Aurora, who was in durance +for defrauding the widow. She said that it had been her +intention to depart for Valencia with the ‘barias,’ +as she styled her plunder, but the widow had discovered the trick +too soon, and she had been arrested. She added, however, +that she had contrived to conceal the greatest part of the +property, and that she expected her liberation in a few days, +having been prodigal of bribes to the +‘justicia.’ In effect, her liberation took +place sooner than my own. Nevertheless, she had little +cause to triumph, as before she left the prison she had been +fleeced of the last cuarto of her ill-gotten gain, by alguazils +and escribanos, who, she admitted, understood hokkano baro much +better than herself.</p> +<p>When I next saw Aurora, she informed me that she was once more +on excellent terms with the widow, whom she had persuaded that +the loss of the money was caused by her own imprudence, in +looking for it before the appointed time; the spirit of the earth +having removed it in anger. She added that her dupe was +quite disposed to make another venture, by which she hoped to +retrieve her former loss.</p> +<p><i>Ustilar pastésas</i>.—Under this head may be +placed various kinds of theft committed by the +Gitános. The meaning of the words is stealing with +the hands; but they are more generally applied to the filching of +money by dexterity of hand, when giving or receiving +change. For example: a Gitána will enter a shop, and +purchase some insignificant article, tendering in payment a baria +or golden ounce. The change being put down before her on +the counter, she counts the money, and complains that she has +received a dollar and several pesetas less than her due. It +seems impossible that there can be any fraud on her part, as she +has not even taken the pieces in her hand, but merely placed her +fingers upon them; pushing them on one side. She now asks +the merchant what he means by attempting to deceive the poor +woman. The merchant, supposing that he has made a mistake, +takes up the money, counts it, and finds in effect that the just +sum is not there. He again hands out the change, but there +is now a greater deficiency than before, and the merchant is +convinced that he is dealing with a witch. The +Gitána now pushes the money to him, uplifts her voice, and +talks of the justicia. Should the merchant become +frightened, and, emptying a bag of dollars, tell her to pay +herself, as has sometimes been the case, she will have a fine +opportunity to exercise her powers, and whilst taking the change +will contrive to convey secretly into her sleeves five or six +dollars at least; after which she will depart with much +vociferation, declaring that she will never again enter the shop +of so cheating a picaro.</p> +<p>Of all the Gitánas at Madrid, Aurora the fat was, by +their own confession, the most dexterous at this species of +robbery; she having been known in many instances, whilst +receiving change for an ounce, to steal the whole value, which +amounts to sixteen dollars. It was not without reason that +merchants in ancient times were, according to Martin Del Rio, +advised to sell nothing out of their shops to Gitánas, as +they possessed an infallible secret for attracting to their own +purses from the coffers of the former the money with which they +paid for the articles they purchased. This secret consisted +in stealing á pastésas, which they still +practise. Many accounts of witchcraft and sorcery, which +are styled old women’s tales, are perhaps equally well +founded. Real actions have been attributed to wrong +causes.</p> +<p>Shoplifting, and other kinds of private larceny, are connected +with stealing á pastésas, for in all dexterity of +hand is required. Many of the Gitánas of Madrid are +provided with large pockets, or rather sacks, beneath their +gowns, in which they stow away their plunder. Some of these +pockets are capacious enough to hold, at one time, a dozen yards +of cloth, a Dutch cheese and a bottle of wine. Nothing that +she can eat, drink, or sell, comes amiss to a veritable +Gitána; and sometimes the contents of her pocket would +afford materials for an inventory far more lengthy and curious +than the one enumerating the effects found on the person of the +man-mountain at Lilliput.</p> +<p><i>Chiving Drao</i>.—In former times the Spanish Gypsies +of both sexes were in the habit of casting a venomous preparation +into the mangers of the cattle for the purpose of causing +sickness. At present this practice has ceased, or nearly +so; the Gitános, however, talk of it as universal amongst +their ancestors. They were in the habit of visiting the +stalls and stables secretly, and poisoning the provender of the +animals, who almost immediately became sick. After a few +days the Gitános would go to the labourers and offer to +cure the sick cattle for a certain sum, and if their proposal was +accepted would in effect perform the cure.</p> +<p>Connected with the cure was a curious piece of double +dealing. They privately administered an efficacious remedy, +but pretended to cure the animals not by medicines but by charms, +which consisted of small variegated beans, called in their +language bobis, <a name="citation262a"></a><a +href="#footnote262a" class="citation">[262a]</a> dropped into the +mangers. By this means they fostered the idea, already +prevalent, that they were people possessed of supernatural gifts +and powers, who could remove diseases without having recourse to +medicine. By means of drao, they likewise procured +themselves food; poisoning swine, as their brethren in England +still do, <a name="citation262b"></a><a href="#footnote262b" +class="citation">[262b]</a> and then feasting on the flesh, which +was abandoned as worthless: witness one of their own +songs:—</p> +<blockquote><p>‘By Gypsy drow the Porker died,<br /> +I saw him stiff at evening tide,<br /> +But I saw him not when morning shone,<br /> +For the Gypsies ate him flesh and bone.’</p> +</blockquote> +<p>By drao also they could avenge themselves on their enemies by +destroying their cattle, without incurring a shadow of +suspicion. Revenge for injuries, real or imaginary, is +sweet to all unconverted minds; to no one more than the Gypsy, +who, in all parts of the world, is, perhaps, the most revengeful +of human beings.</p> +<p>Vidocq in his memoirs states, that having formed a connection +with an individual whom he subsequently discovered to be the +captain of a band of Walachian Gypsies, the latter, whose name +was Caroun, wished Vidocq to assist in scattering certain powders +in the mangers of the peasants’ cattle; Vidocq, from +prudential motives, refused the employment. There can be no +doubt that these powders were, in substance, the drao of the +Spanish Gitános.</p> +<p><i>La Bar Lachi</i>, <i>or the Loadstone</i>.—If the +Gitános in general be addicted to any one superstition, it +is certainly with respect to this stone, to which they attribute +all kinds of miraculous powers. There can be no doubt, that +the singular property which it possesses of attracting steel, by +filling their untutored minds with amazement, first gave rise to +this veneration, which is carried beyond all reasonable +bounds.</p> +<p>They believe that he who is in possession of it has nothing to +fear from steel or lead, from fire or water, and that death +itself has no power over him. The Gypsy contrabandistas are +particularly anxious to procure this stone, which they carry upon +their persons in their expeditions; they say, that in the event +of being pursued by the jaracanallis, or revenue officers, +whirlwinds of dust will arise, and conceal them from the view of +their enemies; the horse-stealers say much the same thing, and +assert that they are uniformly successful, when they bear about +them the precious stone. But it is said to be able to +effect much more. Extraordinary things are related of its +power in exciting the amorous passions, and, on this account, it +is in great request amongst the Gypsy hags; all these women are +procuresses, and find persons of both sexes weak and wicked +enough to make use of their pretended knowledge in the +composition of love-draughts and decoctions.</p> +<p>In the case of the loadstone, however, there is no pretence, +the Gitánas believing all they say respecting it, and +still more; this is proved by the eagerness with which they seek +to obtain the stone in its natural state, which is somewhat +difficult to accomplish.</p> +<p>In the museum of natural curiosities at Madrid there is a +large piece of loadstone originally extracted from the American +mines. There is scarcely a Gitána in Madrid who is +not acquainted with this circumstance, and who does not long to +obtain the stone, or a part of it; its being placed in a royal +museum serving to augment, in their opinion, its real +value. Several attempts have been made to steal it, all of +which, however, have been unsuccessful. The Gypsies seem +not to be the only people who envy royalty the possession of this +stone. Pepita, the old Gitána of whose talent at +telling fortunes such honourable mention has already been made, +informed me that a priest, who was muy enamorado (in love), +proposed to her to steal the loadstone, offering her all his +sacerdotal garments in the event of success: whether the singular +reward that was promised had but slight temptations for her, or +whether she feared that her dexterity was not equal to the +accomplishment of the task, we know not, but she appears to have +declined attempting it. According to the Gypsy account, the +person in love, if he wish to excite a corresponding passion in +another quarter by means of the loadstone, must swallow, <i>in +aguardiente</i>, a small portion of the stone pulverised, at the +time of going to rest, repeating to himself the following magic +rhyme:—</p> +<blockquote><p>‘To the Mountain of Olives one morning I +hied,<br /> +Three little black goats before me I spied,<br /> +Those three little goats on three cars I laid,<br /> +Black cheeses three from their milk I made;<br /> +The one I bestow on the loadstone of power,<br /> +That save me it may from all ills that lower;<br /> +The second to Mary Padilla I give,<br /> +And to all the witch hags about her that live;<br /> +The third I reserve for Asmodeus lame,<br /> +That fetch me he may whatever I name.’</p> +</blockquote> +<p><i>La raiz del buen Baron</i>, <i>or the root of the good +Baron</i>.—On this subject we cannot be very +explicit. It is customary with the Gitánas to sell, +under this title, various roots and herbs, to unfortunate females +who are desirous of producing a certain result; these roots are +boiled in white wine, and the abominable decoction is taken +fasting. I was once shown the root of the good baron, +which, in this instance, appeared to be parsley root. By +the good baron is meant his Satanic majesty, on whom the root is +very appropriately fathered.</p> +<h3><a name="page266"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +266</span>CHAPTER VII</h3> +<p><span class="smcap">It</span> is impossible to dismiss the +subject of the Spanish Gypsies without offering some remarks on +their marriage festivals. There is nothing which they +retain connected with their primitive rites and principles, more +characteristic perhaps of the sect of the Rommany, of the sect of +the <i>husbands and wives</i>, than what relates to the marriage +ceremony, which gives the female a protector, and the man a +helpmate, a sharer of his joys and sorrows. The Gypsies are +almost entirely ignorant of the grand points of morality; they +have never had sufficient sense to perceive that to lie, to +steal, and to shed human blood violently, are crimes which are +sure, eventually, to yield bitter fruits to those who perpetrate +them; but on one point, and that one of no little importance as +far as temporal happiness is concerned, they are in general wiser +than those who have had far better opportunities than such +unfortunate outcasts, of regulating their steps, and +distinguishing good from evil. They know that chastity is a +jewel of high price, and that conjugal fidelity is capable of +occasionally flinging a sunshine even over the dreary hours of a +life passed in the contempt of almost all laws, whether human or +divine.</p> +<p>There is a word in the Gypsy language to which those who speak +it attach ideas of peculiar reverence, far superior to that +connected with the name of the Supreme Being, the creator of +themselves and the universe. This word is +<i>Lácha</i>, which with them is the corporeal chastity of +the females; we say corporeal chastity, for no other do they hold +in the slightest esteem; it is lawful amongst them, nay +praiseworthy, to be obscene in look, gesture, and discourse, to +be accessories to vice, and to stand by and laugh at the worst +abominations of the Busné, provided their <i>Lácha +ye trupos</i>, or corporeal chastity, remains unblemished. +The Gypsy child, from her earliest years, is told by her strange +mother, that a good Calli need only dread one thing in this +world, and that is the loss of Lácha, in comparison with +which that of life is of little consequence, as in such an event +she will be provided for, but what provision is there for a Gypsy +who has lost her Lácha? ‘Bear this in mind, my +child,’ she will say, ‘and now eat this bread, and go +forth and see what you can steal.’</p> +<p>A Gypsy girl is generally betrothed at the age of fourteen to +the youth whom her parents deem a suitable match, and who is +generally a few years older than herself. Marriage is +invariably preceded by betrothment; and the couple must then wait +two years before their union can take place, according to the law +of the Calés. During this period it is expected that +they treat each other as common acquaintance; they are permitted +to converse, and even occasionally to exchange slight +presents. One thing, however, is strictly forbidden, and if +in this instance they prove contumacious, the betrothment is +instantly broken and the pair are never united, and thenceforward +bear an evil reputation amongst their sect. This one thing +is, going into the campo in each other’s company, or having +any rendezvous beyond the gate of the city, town, or village, in +which they dwell. Upon this point we can perhaps do no +better than quote one of their own stanzas:—</p> +<blockquote><p>‘Thy sire and mother wrath and hate<br /> + Have vowed against us, love!<br /> +The first, first night that from the gate<br /> + We two together rove.’</p> +</blockquote> +<p>With all the other Gypsies, however, and with the Busné +or Gentiles, the betrothed female is allowed the freest +intercourse, going whither she will, and returning at all times +and seasons. With respect to the Busné, indeed, the +parents are invariably less cautious than with their own race, as +they conceive it next to an impossibility that their child should +lose her Lácha by any intercourse with <i>the white +blood</i>; and true it is that experience has proved that their +confidence in this respect is not altogether idle. The +Gitánas have in general a decided aversion to the white +men; some few instances, however, to the contrary are said to +have occurred.</p> +<p>A short time previous to the expiration of the term of the +betrothment, preparations are made for the Gypsy bridal. +The wedding-day is certainly an eventful period in the life of +every individual, as he takes a partner for better or for worse, +whom he is bound to cherish through riches and poverty; but to +the Gypsy particularly the wedding festival is an important +affair. If he is rich, he frequently becomes poor before it +is terminated; and if he is poor, he loses the little which he +possesses, and must borrow of his brethren; frequently involving +himself throughout life, to procure the means of giving a +festival; for without a festival, he could not become a Rom, that +is, a husband, and would cease to belong to this sect of +Rommany.</p> +<p>There is a great deal of what is wild and barbarous attached +to these festivals. I shall never forget a particular one +at which I was present. After much feasting, drinking, and +yelling, in the Gypsy house, the bridal train sallied +forth—a frantic spectacle. First of all marched a +villainous jockey-looking fellow, holding in his hands, uplifted, +a long pole, at the top of which fluttered in the morning air a +snow-white cambric handkerchief, emblem of the bride’s +purity. Then came the betrothed pair, followed by their +nearest friends; then a rabble rout of Gypsies, screaming and +shouting, and discharging guns and pistols, till all around rang +with the din, and the village dogs barked. On arriving at +the church gate, the fellow who bore the pole stuck it into the +ground with a loud huzza, and the train, forming two ranks, +defiled into the church on either side of the pole and its +strange ornaments. On the conclusion of the ceremony, they +returned in the same manner in which they had come.</p> +<p>Throughout the day there was nothing going on but singing, +drinking, feasting, and dancing; but the most singular part of +the festival was reserved for the dark night. Nearly a ton +weight of sweetmeats had been prepared, at an enormous expense, +not for the gratification of the palate, but for a purpose purely +Gypsy. These sweetmeats of all kinds, and of all forms, but +principally yémas, or yolks of eggs prepared with a crust +of sugar (a delicious bonne-bouche), were strewn on the floor of +a large room, at least to the depth of three inches. Into +this room, at a given signal, tripped the bride and bridegroom +<i>dancing romális</i>, followed amain by all the +Gitános and Gitánas, <i>dancing +romális</i>. To convey a slight idea of the scene is +almost beyond the power of words. In a few minutes the +sweetmeats were reduced to a powder, or rather to a mud, the +dancers were soiled to the knees with sugar, fruits, and yolks of +eggs. Still more terrific became the lunatic +merriment. The men sprang high into the air, neighed, +brayed, and crowed; whilst the Gitánas snapped their +fingers in their own fashion, louder than castanets, distorting +their forms into all kinds of obscene attitudes, and uttering +words to repeat which were an abomination. In a corner of +the apartment capered the while Sebastianillo, a convict Gypsy +from Melilla, strumming the guitar most furiously, and producing +demoniacal sounds which had some resemblance to Malbrun +(Malbrouk), and, as he strummed, repeating at intervals the Gypsy +modification of the song:—</p> +<blockquote><p>‘Chalá Malbrún +chinguerár,<br /> +Birandón, birandón, birandéra—<br /> +Chalá Malbrún chinguerár,<br /> +No sé bus truterá—<br /> + No sé bus truterá.<br /> + No sé bus +truterá.<br /> +La romí que le caméla,<br /> +Birandón, birandón,’ etc.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>The festival endures three days, at the end of which the +greatest part of the property of the bridegroom, even if he were +previously in easy circumstances, has been wasted in this strange +kind of riot and dissipation. Paco, the Gypsy of Badajoz, +attributed his ruin to the extravagance of his marriage festival; +and many other Gitános have confessed the same thing of +themselves. They said that throughout the three days they +appeared to be under the influence of infatuation, having no +other wish or thought but to make away with their substance; some +have gone so far as to cast money by handfuls into the +street. Throughout the three days all the doors are kept +open, and all corners, whether Gypsies or Busné, welcomed +with a hospitality which knows no bounds.</p> +<p>In nothing do the Jews and Gitános more resemble each +other than in their marriages, and what is connected +therewith. In both sects there is a betrothment: amongst +the Jews for seven, amongst the Gitános for a period of +two years. In both there is a wedding festival, which +endures amongst the Jews for fifteen and amongst the +Gitános for three days, during which, on both sides, much +that is singular and barbarous occurs, which, however, has +perhaps its origin in antiquity the most remote. But the +wedding ceremonies of the Jews are far more complex and +allegorical than those of the Gypsies, a more simple +people. The Nazarene gazes on these ceremonies with mute +astonishment; the washing of the bride—the painting of the +face of herself and her companions with chalk and +carmine—her ensconcing herself within the curtains of the +bed with her female bevy, whilst the bridegroom hides himself +within his apartment with the youths his companions—her +envelopment in the white sheet, in which she appears like a +corse, the bridegroom’s going to sup with her, when he +places himself in the middle of the apartment with his eyes shut, +and without tasting a morsel. His going to the synagogue, +and then repairing to breakfast with the bride, where he +practises the same self-denial—the washing of the +bridegroom’s plate and sending it after him, that he may +break his fast—the binding his hands behind him—his +ransom paid by the bride’s mother—the visit of the +sages to the bridegroom—the mulct imposed in case he +repent—the killing of the bullock at the house of the +bridegroom—the present of meat and fowls, meal and spices, +to the bride—the gold and silver—that most imposing +part of the ceremony, the walking of the bride by torchlight to +the house of her betrothed, her eyes fixed in vacancy, whilst the +youths of her kindred sing their wild songs around her—the +cup of milk and the spoon presented to her by the +bridegroom’s mother—the arrival of the sages in the +morn—the reading of the Ketuba—the night—the +half-enjoyment—the old woman—the tantalising knock at +the door—and then the festival of fishes which concludes +all, and leaves the jaded and wearied couple to repose after a +fortnight of persecution.</p> +<p>The Jews, like the Gypsies, not unfrequently ruin themselves +by the riot and waste of their marriage festivals. +Throughout the entire fortnight, the houses, both of bride and +bridegroom, are flung open to all corners;—feasting and +song occupy the day—feasting and song occupy the hours of +the night, and this continued revel is only broken by the +ceremonies of which we have endeavoured to convey a faint +idea. In these festivals the sages or <i>ulemma</i> take a +distinguished part, doing their utmost to ruin the contracted +parties, by the wonderful despatch which they make of the fowls +and viands, sweetmeats, <i>and strong waters</i> provided for the +occasion.</p> +<p>After marriage the Gypsy females generally continue faithful +to their husbands through life; giving evidence that the +exhortations of their mothers in early life have not been without +effect. Of course licentious females are to be found both +amongst the matrons and the unmarried; but such instances are +rare, and must be considered in the light of exceptions to a +principle. The Gypsy women (I am speaking of those of +Spain), as far as corporeal chastity goes, are very paragons; but +in other respects, alas!—little can be said in praise of +their morality.</p> +<h3><a name="page274"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +274</span>CHAPTER VIII</h3> +<p><span class="smcap">Whilst</span> in Spain I devoted as much +time as I could spare from my grand object, which was to +circulate the Gospel through that benighted country, to attempt +to enlighten the minds of the Gitános on the subject of +religion. I cannot say that I experienced much success in +my endeavours; indeed, I never expected much, being fully +acquainted with the stony nature of the ground on which I was +employed; perhaps some of the seed that I scattered may +eventually spring up and yield excellent fruit. Of one +thing I am certain: if I did the Gitános no good, I did +them no harm.</p> +<p>It has been said that there is a secret monitor, or +conscience, within every heart, which immediately upbraids the +individual on the commission of a crime; this may be true, but +certainly the monitor within the Gitáno breast is a very +feeble one, for little attention is ever paid to its +reproofs. With regard to conscience, be it permitted to +observe, that it varies much according to climate, country, and +religion; perhaps nowhere is it so terrible and strong as in +England; I need not say why. Amongst the English, I have +seen many individuals stricken low, and broken-hearted, by the +force of conscience; but never amongst the Spaniards or Italians; +and I never yet could observe that the crimes which the +Gitános were daily and hourly committing occasioned them +the slightest uneasiness.</p> +<p>One important discovery I made among them: it was, that no +individual, however wicked and hardened, is utterly +<i>godless</i>. Call it superstition, if you will, still a +certain fear and reverence of something sacred and supreme would +hang about them. I have heard Gitános stiffly deny +the existence of a Deity, and express the utmost contempt for +everything holy; yet they subsequently never failed to contradict +themselves, by permitting some expression to escape which belied +their assertions, and of this I shall presently give a remarkable +instance.</p> +<p>I found the women much more disposed to listen to anything I +had to say than the men, who were in general so taken up with +their traffic that they could think and talk of nothing else; the +women, too, had more curiosity and more intelligence; the +conversational powers of some of them I found to be very great, +and yet they were destitute of the slightest rudiments of +education, and were thieves by profession. At Madrid I had +regular conversaziones, or, as they are called in Spanish, +tertúlias, with these women, who generally visited me +twice a week; they were perfectly unreserved towards me with +respect to their actions and practices, though their behaviour, +when present, was invariably strictly proper. I have +already had cause to mention Pépa the sibyl, and her +daughter-in-law, Chicharona; the manners of the first were +sometimes almost elegant, though, next to Aurora, she was the +most notorious she-thug in Madrid; Chicharona was good-humoured, +like most fat personages. Pépa had likewise two +daughters, one of whom, a very remarkable female, was called La +Tuérta, from the circumstance of her having but one eye, +and the other, who was a girl of about thirteen, La +Casdamí, or the scorpion, from the malice which she +occasionally displayed.</p> +<p>Pépa and Chicharona were invariably my most constant +visitors. One day in winter they arrived as usual; the +One-eyed and the Scorpion following behind.</p> +<p><i>Myself</i>.—‘I am glad to see you, Pépa: +what have you been doing this morning?’</p> +<p><i>Pépa</i>.—‘I have been telling baji, and +Chicharona has been stealing á pastésas; we have +had but little success, and have come to warm ourselves at the +braséro. As for the One-eyed, she is a very sluggard +(holgazána), she will neither tell fortunes nor +steal.’</p> +<p><i>The One-eyed</i>.—‘Hold your peace, mother of +the Bengues; I will steal, when I see occasion, but it shall not +be á pastésas, and I will hokkawar (deceive), but +it shall not be by telling fortunes. If I deceive, it shall +be by horses, by jockeying. <a name="citation276"></a><a +href="#footnote276" class="citation">[276]</a> If I steal, +it shall be on the road—I’ll rob. You know +already what I am capable of, yet knowing that, you would have me +tell fortunes like yourself, or steal like Chicharona. Me +diñela cónche (it fills me with fury) to be asked +to tell fortunes, and the next Busnee that talks to me of bajis, +I will knock all her teeth out.’</p> +<p><i>The Scorpion</i>.—‘My sister is right; I, too, +would sooner be a salteadóra (highwaywoman), or a +chalána (she-jockey), than steal with the hands, or tell +bájis.’</p> +<p><i>Myself</i>.—‘You do not mean to say, O +Tuérta, that you are a jockey, and that you rob on the +highway.’</p> +<p><i>The One-eyed</i>.—‘I am a chalána, +brother, and many a time I have robbed upon the road, as all our +people know. I dress myself as a man, and go forth with +some of them. I have robbed alone, in the pass of the +Guadarama, with my horse and escopéta. I alone once +robbed a cuadrilla of twenty Gallégos, who were returning +to their own country, after cutting the harvests of Castile; I +stripped them of their earnings, and could have stripped them of +their very clothes had I wished, for they were down on their +knees like cowards. I love a brave man, be he Busné +or Gypsy. When I was not much older than the Scorpion, I +went with several others to rob the cortíjo of an old man; +it was more than twenty leagues from here. We broke in at +midnight, and bound the old man: we knew he had money; but he +said no, and would not tell us where it was; so we tortured him, +pricking him with our knives and burning his hands over the lamp; +all, however, would not do. At last I said, “Let us +try the <i>pimientos</i>”; so we took the green pepper +husks, pulled open his eyelids, and rubbed the pupils with the +green pepper fruit. That was the worst pinch of all. +Would you believe it? the old man bore it. Then our people +said, “Let us kill him,” but I said, no, it were a +pity: so we spared him, though we got nothing. I have loved +that old man ever since for his firm heart, and should have +wished him for a husband.’</p> +<p><i>The Scorpion</i>.—‘Ojalá, that I had +been in that cortíjo, to see such sport!’</p> +<p><i>Myself</i>.—‘Do you fear God, O +Tuérta?’</p> +<p><i>The One-eyed</i>.—‘Brother, I fear +nothing.’</p> +<p><i>Myself</i>.—‘Do you believe in God, O +Tuérta?’</p> +<p><i>The One-eyed</i>.—‘Brother, I do not; I hate +all connected with that name; the whole is folly; me +diñela cónche. If I go to church, it is but +to spit at the images. I spat at the búlto of +María this morning; and I love the Corojai, and the +Londoné, <a name="citation278a"></a><a +href="#footnote278a" class="citation">[278a]</a> because they are +not baptized.’</p> +<p><i>Myself</i>.—‘You, of course, never say a +prayer.’</p> +<p><i>The One-eyed</i>.—‘No, no; there are three or +four old words, taught me by some old people, which I sometimes +say to myself; I believe they have both force and +virtue.’</p> +<p><i>Myself</i>.—‘I would fain hear; pray tell me +them.’</p> +<p><i>The One-eyed</i>.—‘Brother, they are words not +to be repeated.’</p> +<p><i>Myself</i>.—‘Why not?’</p> +<p><i>The One-eyed</i>.—‘They are holy words, +brother.’</p> +<p><i>Myself</i>.—‘Holy! You say there is no +God; if there be none, there can be nothing holy; pray tell me +the words, O Tuérta.’</p> +<p><i>The One-eyed</i>.—‘Brother, I dare +not.’</p> +<p><i>Myself</i>.—‘Then you do fear +something.’</p> +<p><i>The One-eyed</i>.—‘Not I—</p> +<blockquote><p>‘<i>Saboca Enrecar María Ereria</i>, +<a name="citation278b"></a><a href="#footnote278b" +class="citation">[278b]</a></p> +</blockquote> +<p>and now I wish I had not said them.’</p> +<p><i>Myself</i>.—‘You are distracted, O +Tuérta: the words say simply, ‘Dwell within us, +blessed Maria.’ You have spitten on her búlto +this morning in the church, and now you are afraid to repeat four +words, amongst which is her name.’</p> +<p><i>The One-eyed</i>.—‘I did not understand them; +but I wish I had not said them.’</p> +<p>. . . . .</p> +<p>I repeat that there is no individual, however hardened, who is +utterly <i>godless</i>.</p> +<p>The reader will have already gathered from the conversations +reported in this volume, and especially from the last, that there +is a wide difference between addressing Spanish Gitános +and Gitánas and English peasantry: of a certainty what +will do well for the latter is calculated to make no impression +on these thievish half-wild people. Try them with the +Gospel, I hear some one cry, which speaks to all: I did try them +with the Gospel, and in their own language. I commenced +with Pépa and Chicharona. Determined that they +should understand it, I proposed that they themselves should +translate it. They could neither read nor write, which, +however, did not disqualify them from being translators. I +had myself previously translated the whole Testament into the +Spanish Rommany, but I was desirous to circulate amongst the +Gitános a version conceived in the exact language in which +they express their ideas. The women made no objection, they +were fond of our tertúlias, and they likewise reckoned on +one small glass of Malaga wine, with which I invariably presented +them. Upon the whole, they conducted themselves much better +than could have been expected. We commenced with Saint +Luke: they rendering into Rommany the sentences which I delivered +to them in Spanish. They proceeded as far as the eighth +chapter, in the middle of which they broke down. Was that +to be wondered at? The only thing which astonished me was, +that I had induced two such strange beings to advance so far in a +task so unwonted, and so entirely at variance with their habits, +as translation.</p> +<p>These chapters I frequently read over to them, explaining the +subject in the best manner I was able. They said it was +lachó, and jucál, and mistó, all of which +words express approval of the quality of a thing. Were they +improved, were their hearts softened by these Scripture +lectures? I know not. Pépa committed a rather +daring theft shortly afterwards, which compelled her to conceal +herself for a fortnight; it is quite possible, however, that she +may remember the contents of those chapters on her death-bed; if +so, will the attempt have been a futile one?</p> +<p>I completed the translation, supplying deficiencies from my +own version begun at Badajoz in 1836. This translation I +printed at Madrid in 1838; it was the first book which ever +appeared in Rommany, and was called ‘Embéo e Majaro +Lucas,’ or Gospel of Luke the Saint. I likewise +published, simultaneously, the same Gospel in Basque, which, +however, I had no opportunity of circulating.</p> +<p>The Gitános of Madrid purchased the Gypsy Luke freely: +many of the men understood it, and prized it highly, induced of +course more by the language than the doctrine; the women were +particularly anxious to obtain copies, though unable to read; but +each wished to have one in her pocket, especially when engaged in +thieving expeditions, for they all looked upon it in the light of +a charm, which would preserve them from all danger and mischance; +some even went so far as to say, that in this respect it was +equally efficacious as the Bar Lachí, or loadstone, which +they are in general so desirous of possessing. Of this +Gospel <a name="citation281"></a><a href="#footnote281" +class="citation">[281]</a> five hundred copies were printed, of +which the greater number I contrived to circulate amongst the +Gypsies in various parts; I cast the book upon the waters and +left it to its destiny.</p> +<p>I have counted seventeen Gitánas assembled at one time +in my apartment in the Calle de Santiágo in Madrid; for +the first quarter of an hour we generally discoursed upon +indifferent matters, I then by degrees drew their attention to +religion and the state of souls. I finally became so bold +that I ventured to speak against their inveterate practices, +thieving and lying, telling fortunes, and stealing á +pastésas; this was touching upon delicate ground, and I +experienced much opposition and much feminine clamour. I +persevered, however, and they finally assented to all I said, not +that I believe that my words made much impression upon their +hearts. In a few months matters were so far advanced that +they would sing a hymn; I wrote one expressly for them in +Rommany, in which their own wild couplets were, to a certain +extent, imitated.</p> +<p>The people of the street in which I lived, seeing such numbers +of these strange females continually passing in and out, were +struck with astonishment, and demanded the reason. The +answers which they obtained by no means satisfied them. +‘Zeal for the conversion of souls,—the souls too of +Gitánas,—disparáte! the fellow is a +scoundrel. Besides he is an Englishman, and is not +baptized; what cares he for souls? They visit him for other +purposes. He makes base ounces, which they carry away and +circulate. Madrid is already stocked with false +money.’ Others were of opinion that we met for the +purposes of sorcery and abomination. The Spaniard has no +conception that other springs of action exist than interest or +villainy.</p> +<p>My little congregation, if such I may call it, consisted +entirely of women; the men seldom or never visited me, save they +stood in need of something which they hoped to obtain from +me. This circumstance I little regretted, their manners and +conversation being the reverse of interesting. It must not, +however, be supposed that, even with the women, matters went on +invariably in a smooth and satisfactory manner. The +following little anecdote will show what slight dependence can be +placed upon them, and how disposed they are at all times to take +part in what is grotesque and malicious. One day they +arrived, attended by a Gypsy jockey whom I had never previously +seen. We had scarcely been seated a minute, when this +fellow, rising, took me to the window, and without any preamble +or circumlocution, said—‘Don Jorge, you shall lend me +two barias’ (ounces of gold). ‘Not to +your whole race, my excellent friend,’ said I; ‘are +you frantic? Sit down and be discreet.’ He +obeyed me literally, sat down, and when the rest departed, +followed with them. We did not invariably meet at my own +house, but occasionally at one in a street inhabited by +Gypsies. On the appointed day I went to this house, where I +found the women assembled; the jockey was also present. On +seeing me he advanced, again took me aside, and again +said—‘Don Jorge, you shall lend me two +barias.’ I made him no answer, but at once entered on +the subject which brought me thither. I spoke for some time +in Spanish; I chose for the theme of my discourse the situation +of the Hebrews in Egypt, and pointed out its similarity to that +of the Gitános in Spain. I spoke of the power of +God, manifested in preserving both as separate and distinct +people amongst the nations until the present day. I warmed +with my subject. I subsequently produced a manuscript book, +from which I read a portion of Scripture, and the Lord’s +Prayer and Apostles’ Creed, in Rommany. When I had +concluded I looked around me.</p> +<p>The features of the assembly were twisted, and the eyes of all +turned upon me with a frightful squint; not an individual present +but squinted,—the genteel Pépa, the good-humoured +Chicharona, the Casdamí, etc. etc. The Gypsy fellow, +the contriver of the jest, squinted worst of all. Such are +Gypsies.</p> +<h2><a name="page287"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 287</span>THE +ZINCALI<br /> +PART III</h2> +<h3>CHAPTER I</h3> +<p><span class="smcap">There</span> is no nation in the world, +however exalted or however degraded, but is in possession of some +peculiar poetry. If the Chinese, the Hindoos, the Greeks, +and the Persians, those splendid and renowned races, have their +moral lays, their mythological epics, their tragedies, and their +immortal love songs, so also have the wild and barbarous tribes +of Soudan, and the wandering Esquimaux, their ditties, which, +however insignificant in comparison with the compositions of the +former nations, still are entitled in every essential point to +the name of poetry; if poetry mean metrical compositions intended +to soothe and recreate the mind fatigued by the cares, +distresses, and anxieties to which mortality is subject.</p> +<p>The Gypsies too have their poetry. Of that of the +Russian Zigani we have already said something. It has +always been our opinion, and we believe that in this we are by no +means singular, that in nothing can the character of a people be +read with greater certainty and exactness than in its +songs. How truly do the warlike ballads of the Northmen and +the Danes, their <i>drapas</i> and <i>kæmpe-viser</i>, +depict the character of the Goth; and how equally do the songs of +the Arabians, replete with homage to the one high, uncreated, and +eternal God, ‘the fountain of blessing,’ ‘the +only conqueror,’ lay bare to us the mind of the Moslem of +the desert, whose grand characteristic is religious veneration, +and uncompromising zeal for the glory of the Creator.</p> +<p>And well and truly do the coplas and gachaplas of the +Gitános depict the character of the race. This +poetry, for poetry we will call it, is in most respects such as +might be expected to originate among people of their class; a set +of Thugs, subsisting by cheating and villainy of every +description; hating the rest of the human species, and bound to +each other by the bonds of common origin, language, and +pursuits. The general themes of this poetry are the various +incidents of Gitáno life and the feelings of the +Gitános. A Gypsy sees a pig running down a hill, and +imagines that it cries ‘Ustilame Caloro!’ <a +name="citation288"></a><a href="#footnote288" +class="citation">[288]</a>—a Gypsy reclining sick on the +prison floor beseeches his wife to intercede with the alcayde for +the removal of the chain, the weight of which is bursting his +body—the moon arises, and two Gypsies, who are about to +steal a steed, perceive a Spaniard, and instantly +flee—Juanito Ralli, whilst going home on his steed, is +stabbed by a Gypsy who hates him—Facundo, a Gypsy, runs +away at the sight of the burly priest of Villa Franca, who hates +all Gypsies. Sometimes a burst of wild temper gives +occasion to a strain—the swarthy lover threatens to slay +his betrothed, even <i>at the feet of Jesus</i>, should she prove +unfaithful. It is a general opinion amongst the +Gitános that Spanish women are very fond of Rommany chals +and Rommany. There is a stanza in which a Gitáno +hopes to bear away a beauty of Spanish race by means of a word of +Rommany whispered in her ear at the window.</p> +<p>Amongst these effusions are even to be found tender and +beautiful thoughts; for Thugs and Gitános have their +moments of gentleness. True it is that such are few and far +between, as a flower or a shrub is here and there seen springing +up from the interstices of the rugged and frightful rocks of +which the Spanish sierras are composed: a wicked mother is afraid +to pray to the Lord with her own lips, and calls on her innocent +babe to beseech him to restore peace and comfort to her +heart—an imprisoned youth appears to have no earthly friend +on whom he can rely, save his sister, and wishes for a messenger +to carry unto her the tale of his sufferings, confident that she +would hasten at once to his assistance. And what can be +more touching than the speech of the relenting lover to the fair +one whom he has outraged?</p> +<blockquote><p>‘Extend to me the hand so small,<br /> +Wherein I see thee weep,<br /> +For O thy balmy tear-drops all<br /> +I would collect and keep.’</p> +</blockquote> +<p>This Gypsy poetry consists of quartets, or rather couplets, +but two rhymes being discernible, and those generally imperfect, +the vowels alone agreeing in sound. Occasionally, however, +sixains, or stanzas of six lines, are to be found, but this is of +rare occurrence. The thought, anecdote or adventure +described, is seldom carried beyond one stanza, in which +everything is expressed which the poet wishes to impart. +This feature will appear singular to those who are unacquainted +with the character of the popular poetry of the south, and are +accustomed to the redundancy and frequently tedious repetition of +a more polished muse. It will be well to inform such that +the greater part of the poetry sung in the south, and especially +in Spain, is extemporary. The musician composes it at the +stretch of his voice, whilst his fingers are tugging at the +guitar; which style of composition is by no means favourable to a +long and connected series of thought. Of course, the +greater part of this species of poetry perishes as soon as +born. A stanza, however, is sometimes caught up by the +bystanders, and committed to memory; and being frequently +repeated, makes, in time, the circuit of the country. For +example, the stanza about Coruncho Lopez, which was originally +made at the gate of a venta by a Miquelet, <a +name="citation290"></a><a href="#footnote290" +class="citation">[290]</a> who was conducting the said Lopez to +the galleys for a robbery. It is at present sung through +the whole of the peninsula, however insignificant it may sound to +foreign ears:—</p> +<blockquote><p>‘Coruncho Lopez, gallant lad,<br /> + A smuggling he would ride;<br /> +He stole his father’s ambling prad,<br /> +And therefore to the galleys sad<br /> + Coruncho now I guide.’</p> +</blockquote> +<p>The couplets of the Gitános are composed in the same +off-hand manner, and exactly resemble in metre the popular +ditties of the Spaniards. In spirit, however, as well as +language, they are in general widely different, as they mostly +relate to the Gypsies and their affairs, and not unfrequently +abound with abuse of the Busné or Spaniards. Many of +these creations have, like the stanza of Coruncho Lopez, been +wafted over Spain amongst the Gypsy tribes, and are even +frequently repeated by the Spaniards themselves; at least, by +those who affect to imitate the phraseology of the +Gitános. Those which appear in the present +collection consist partly of such couplets, and partly of such as +we have ourselves taken down, as soon as they originated, not +unfrequently in the midst of a circle of these singular people, +dancing and singing to their wild music. In no instance +have they been subjected to modification; and the English +translation is, in general, very faithful to the original, as +will easily be perceived by referring to the lexicon. To +those who may feel disposed to find fault with or criticise these +songs, we have to observe, that the present work has been written +with no other view than to depict the Gitános such as they +are, and to illustrate their character; and, on that account, we +have endeavoured, as much as possible, to bring them before the +reader, and to make them speak for themselves. They are a +half-civilised, unlettered people, proverbial for a species of +knavish acuteness, which serves them in lieu of wisdom. To +place in the mouth of such beings the high-flown sentiments of +modern poetry would not answer our purpose, though several +authors have not shrunk from such an absurdity.</p> +<p>These couplets have been collected in Estremadura and New +Castile, in Valencia and Andalusia; the four provinces where the +Gitáno race most abounds. We wish, however, to +remark, that they constitute scarcely a tenth part of our +original gleanings, from which we have selected one hundred of +the most remarkable and interesting.</p> +<p>The language of the originals will convey an exact idea of the +Rommany of Spain, as used at the present day amongst the +Gitános in the fairs, when they are buying and selling +animals, and wish to converse with each other in a way +unintelligible to the Spaniards. We are free to confess +that it is a mere broken jargon, but it answers the purpose of +those who use it; and it is but just to remark that many of its +elements are of the most remote antiquity, and the most +illustrious descent, as will be shown hereafter. We have +uniformly placed the original by the side of the translation; for +though unwilling to make the Gitános speak in any other +manner than they are accustomed, we are equally averse to have it +supposed that many of the thoughts and expressions which occur in +these songs, and which are highly objectionable, originated with +ourselves. <a name="citation292"></a><a href="#footnote292" +class="citation">[292]</a></p> +<h4>RHYMES OF THE GITÁNOS</h4> +<p class="poetry">Unto a refuge me they led,<br /> + To save from dungeon drear;<br /> +Then sighing to my wife I said,<br /> + I leave my baby dear.</p> +<p class="poetry">Back from the refuge soon I sped,<br /> + My child’s sweet face to see;<br /> +Then sternly to my wife I said,<br /> + You’ve seen the last of me.</p> +<p class="poetry">O when I sit my courser bold,<br /> + My bantling in my rear,<br /> +And in my hand my musket hold,<br /> + O how they quake with fear.</p> +<p class="poetry">Pray, little baby, pray the Lord,<br /> + Since guiltless still thou art,<br /> +That peace and comfort he afford<br /> + To this poor troubled heart.</p> +<p class="poetry">The false Juanito, day and night,<br /> + Had best with caution go,<br /> +The Gypsy carles of Yeira height<br /> + Have sworn to lay him low.</p> +<p class="poetry">There runs a swine down yonder hill,<br /> + As fast as e’er he can,<br /> +And as he runs he crieth still,<br /> + Come, steal me, Gypsy man.</p> +<p class="poetry">I wash’d not in the limpid flood<br /> + The shirt which binds my frame;<br /> +But in Juanito Ralli’s blood<br /> + I bravely wash’d the same.</p> +<p class="poetry">I sallied forth upon my grey,<br /> + With him my hated foe,<br /> +And when we reach’d the narrow way<br /> + I dealt a dagger blow.</p> +<p class="poetry">To blessed Jesus’ holy feet<br /> + I’d rush to kill and slay<br /> +My plighted lass so fair and sweet,<br /> + Should she the wanton play.</p> +<p class="poetry">I for a cup of water cried,<br /> + But they refus’d my prayer,<br /> +Then straight into the road I hied,<br /> + And fell to robbing there.</p> +<p class="poetry">I ask’d for fire to warm my frame,<br /> + But they’d have scorn’d my prayer,<br /> +If I, to pay them for the same,<br /> + Had stripp’d my body bare.</p> +<p class="poetry">Then came adown the village street,<br /> + With little babes that cry,<br /> +Because they have no crust to eat,<br /> + A Gypsy company;<br /> +And as no charity they meet,<br /> + They curse the Lord on high.</p> +<p class="poetry">I left my house and walk’d about,<br /> + They seized me fast and bound;<br /> +It is a Gypsy thief, they shout,<br /> + The Spaniards here have found.</p> +<p class="poetry">From out the prison me they led,<br /> + Before the scribe they brought;<br /> +It is no Gypsy thief, he said,<br /> + The Spaniards here have caught.</p> +<p class="poetry">Throughout the night, the dusky night,<br /> + I prowl in silence round,<br /> +And with my eyes look left and right,<br /> + For him, the Spanish hound,<br /> +That with my knife I him may smite,<br /> + And to the vitals wound.</p> +<p class="poetry">Will no one to the sister bear<br /> + News of her brother’s plight,<br /> +How in this cell of dark despair,<br /> + To cruel death he’s dight?</p> +<p class="poetry">The Lord, as e’en the Gentiles state,<br +/> + By Egypt’s race was bred,<br /> +And when he came to man’s estate,<br /> + His blood the Gentiles shed.</p> +<p class="poetry">O never with the Gentiles wend,<br /> + Nor deem their speeches true;<br /> +Or else, be certain in the end<br /> + Thy blood will lose its hue.</p> +<p class="poetry">From out the prison me they bore,<br /> + Upon an ass they placed,<br /> +And scourg’d me till I dripp’d with gore,<br /> + As down the road it paced.</p> +<p class="poetry">They bore me from the prison nook,<br /> + They bade me rove at large;<br /> +When out I’d come a gun I took,<br /> + And scathed them with its charge.</p> +<p class="poetry">My mule so bonny I bestrode,<br /> + To Portugal I’d flee,<br /> +And as I o’er the water rode<br /> + A man came suddenly;<br /> +And he his love and kindness show’d<br /> + By setting his dog on me.</p> +<p class="poetry">Unless within a fortnight’s space<br /> + Thy face, O maid, I see;<br /> +Flamenca, of Egyptian race,<br /> + My lady love shall be.</p> +<p class="poetry">Flamenca, of Egyptian race,<br /> + If thou wert only mine,<br /> +Within a bonny crystal case<br /> + For life I’d thee enshrine.</p> +<p class="poetry">Sire nor mother me caress,<br /> + For I have none on earth;<br /> +One little brother I possess,<br /> + And he’s a fool by birth.</p> +<p class="poetry">Thy sire and mother wrath and hate<br /> + Have vow’d against me, love!<br /> +The first, first night that from the gate<br /> + We two together rove.</p> +<p class="poetry">Come to the window, sweet love, do,<br /> + And I will whisper there,<br /> +In Rommany, a word or two,<br /> + And thee far off will bear.</p> +<p class="poetry">A Gypsy stripling’s sparkling eye<br /> + Has pierced my bosom’s core,<br /> +A feat no eye beneath the sky<br /> + Could e’er effect before.</p> +<p class="poetry">Dost bid me from the land begone,<br /> + And thou with child by me?<br /> +Each time I come, the little one,<br /> + I’ll greet in Rommany.</p> +<p class="poetry">With such an ugly, loathly wife<br /> + The Lord has punish’d me;<br /> +I dare not take her for my life<br /> + Where’er the Spaniards be.</p> +<p class="poetry">O, I am not of gentle clan,<br /> + I’m sprung from Gypsy tree;<br /> +And I will be no gentleman,<br /> + But an Egyptian free.</p> +<p class="poetry">On high arose the moon so fair,<br /> + The Gypsy ’gan to sing:<br /> +I see a Spaniard coming there,<br /> + I must be on the wing.</p> +<p class="poetry">This house of harlotry doth smell,<br /> + I flee as from the pest;<br /> +Your mother likes my sire too well;<br /> + To hie me home is best.</p> +<p class="poetry">The girl I love more dear than life,<br /> + Should other gallant woo,<br /> +I’d straight unsheath my dudgeon knife<br /> + And cut his weasand through;<br /> +Or he, the conqueror in the strife,<br /> + The same to me should do.</p> +<p class="poetry">Loud sang the Spanish cavalier,<br /> + And thus his ditty ran:<br /> +God send the Gypsy lassie here,<br /> + And not the Gypsy man.</p> +<p class="poetry">At midnight, when the moon began<br /> + To show her silver flame,<br /> +There came to him no Gypsy man,<br /> + The Gypsy lassie came.</p> +<h3><a name="page298"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +298</span>CHAPTER II</h3> +<p><span class="smcap">The</span> Gitános, abject and vile +as they have ever been, have nevertheless found admirers in +Spain, individuals who have taken pleasure in their phraseology, +pronunciation, and way of life; but above all, in the songs and +dances of the females. This desire for cultivating their +acquaintance is chiefly prevalent in Andalusia, where, indeed, +they most abound; and more especially in the town of Seville, the +capital of the province, where, in the barrio or Faubourg of +Triana, a large Gitáno colon has long flourished, with the +denizens of which it is at all times easy to have intercourse, +especially to those who are free of their money, and are willing +to purchase such a gratification at the expense of dollars and +pesetas.</p> +<p>When we consider the character of the Andalusians in general, +we shall find little to surprise us in this predilection for the +Gitános. They are an indolent frivolous people, fond +of dancing and song, and sensual amusements. They live +under the most glorious sun and benign heaven in Europe, and +their country is by nature rich and fertile, yet in no province +of Spain is there more beggary and misery; the greater part of +the land being uncultivated, and producing nothing but thorns and +brushwood, affording in itself a striking emblem of the moral +state of its inhabitants.</p> +<p>Though not destitute of talent, the Andalusians are not much +addicted to intellectual pursuits, at least in the present +day. The person in most esteem among them is invariably the +greatest <i>majo</i>, and to acquire that character it is +necessary to appear in the dress of a Merry Andrew, to bully, +swagger, and smoke continually, to dance passably, and to strum +the guitar. They are fond of obscenity and what they term +<i>picardías</i>. Amongst them learning is at a +terrible discount, Greek, Latin, or any of the languages +generally termed learned, being considered in any light but +accomplishments, but not so the possession of thieves’ +slang or the dialect of the Gitános, the knowledge of a +few words of which invariably creates a certain degree of +respect, as indicating that the individual is somewhat versed in +that kind of life or <i>trato</i> for which alone the Andalusians +have any kind of regard.</p> +<p>In Andalusia the Gitáno has been studied by those who, +for various reasons, have mingled with the Gitános. +It is tolerably well understood by the chalans, or jockeys, who +have picked up many words in the fairs and market-places which +the former frequent. It has, however, been cultivated to a +greater degree by other individuals, who have sought the society +of the Gitános from a zest for their habits, their dances, +and their songs; and such individuals have belonged to all +classes, amongst them have been noblemen and members of the +priestly order.</p> +<p>Perhaps no people in Andalusia have been more addicted in +general to the acquaintance of the Gitános than the +friars, and pre-eminently amongst these the half-jockey +half-religious personages of the Cartujan convent at Xeres. +This community, now suppressed, was, as is well known, in +possession of a celebrated breed of horses, which fed in the +pastures of the convent, and from which they derived no +inconsiderable part of their revenue. These reverend +gentlemen seem to have been much better versed in the points of a +horse than in points of theology, and to have understood +thieves’ slang and Gitáno far better than the +language of the Vulgate. A chalan, who had some knowledge +of the Gitáno, related to me the following singular +anecdote in connection with this subject.</p> +<p>He had occasion to go to the convent, having been long in +treaty with the friars for a steed which he had been commissioned +by a nobleman to buy at any reasonable price. The friars, +however, were exorbitant in their demands. On arriving at +the gate, he sang to the friar who opened it a couplet which he +had composed in the Gypsy tongue, in which he stated the highest +price which he was authorised to give for the animal in question; +whereupon the friar instantly answered in the same tongue in an +extemporary couplet full of abuse of him and his employer, and +forthwith slammed the door in the face of the disconcerted +jockey.</p> +<p>An Augustine friar of Seville, called, we believe, Father +Manso, who lived some twenty years ago, is still remembered for +his passion for the Gitános; he seemed to be under the +influence of fascination, and passed every moment that he could +steal from his clerical occupations in their company. His +conduct at last became so notorious that he fell under the +censure of the Inquisition, before which he was summoned; +whereupon he alleged, in his defence, that his sole motive for +following the Gitános was zeal for their spiritual +conversion. Whether this plea availed him we know not; but +it is probable that the Holy Office dealt mildly with him; such +offenders, indeed, have never had much to fear from it. Had +he been accused of liberalism, or searching into the Scriptures, +instead of connection with the Gitános, we should, +doubtless, have heard either of his execution or imprisonment for +life in the cells of the cathedral of Seville.</p> +<p>Such as are thus addicted to the Gitános and their +language, are called, in Andalusia, Los del’ Aficion, or +those of the predilection. These people have, during the +last fifty years, composed a spurious kind of Gypsy literature: +we call it spurious because it did not originate with the +Gitános, who are, moreover, utterly unacquainted with it, +and to whom it would be for the most part unintelligible. +It is somewhat difficult to conceive the reason which induced +these individuals to attempt such compositions; the only probable +one seems to have been a desire to display to each other their +skill in the language of their predilection. It is right, +however, to observe, that most of these compositions, with +respect to language, are highly absurd, the greatest liberties +being taken with the words picked up amongst the Gitános, +of the true meaning of which the writers, in many instances, seem +to have been entirely ignorant. From what we can learn, the +composers of this literature flourished chiefly at the +commencement of the present century: Father Manso is said to have +been one of the last. Many of their compositions, which are +both in poetry and prose, exist in manuscript in a compilation +made by one Luis Lobo. It has never been our fortune to see +this compilation, which, indeed, we scarcely regret, as a rather +curious circumstance has afforded us a perfect knowledge of its +contents.</p> +<p>Whilst at Seville, chance made us acquainted with a highly +extraordinary individual, a tall, bony, meagre figure, in a +tattered Andalusian hat, ragged capote, and still more ragged +pantaloons, and seemingly between forty and fifty years of +age. The only appellation to which he answered was +Manuel. His occupation, at the time we knew him, was +selling tickets for the lottery, by which he obtained a miserable +livelihood in Seville and the neighbouring villages. His +appearance was altogether wild and uncouth, and there was an +insane expression in his eye. Observing us one day in +conversation with a Gitána, he addressed us, and we soon +found that the sound of the Gitáno language had struck a +chord which vibrated through the depths of his soul. His +history was remarkable; in his early youth a manuscript copy of +the compilation of Luis Lobo had fallen into his hands. +This book had so taken hold of his imagination, that he studied +it night and day until he had planted it in his memory from +beginning to end; but in so doing, his brain, like that of the +hero of Cervantes, had become dry and heated, so that he was +unfitted for any serious or useful occupation. After the +death of his parents he wandered about the streets in great +distress, until at last he fell into the hands of certain +toreros, or bull-fighters, who kept him about them, in order that +he might repeat to them the songs of the <i>Aficion</i>. +They subsequently carried him to Madrid, where, however, they +soon deserted him after he had experienced much brutality from +their hands. He returned to Seville, and soon became the +inmate of a madhouse, where he continued several years. +Having partially recovered from his malady, he was liberated, and +wandered about as before. During the cholera at Seville, +when nearly twenty thousand human beings perished, he was +appointed conductor of one of the death-carts, which went through +the streets for the purpose of picking up the dead bodies. +His perfect inoffensiveness eventually procured him friends, and +he obtained the situation of vendor of lottery tickets. He +frequently visited us, and would then recite long passages from +the work of Lobo. He was wont to say that he was the only +one in Seville, at the present day, acquainted with the language +of the Aficion; for though there were many pretenders, their +knowledge was confined to a few words.</p> +<p>From the recitation of this individual, we wrote down the +Brijindope, or Deluge, and the poem on the plague which broke out +in Seville in the year 1800. These and some songs of less +consequence, constitute the poetical part of the compilation in +question; the rest, which is in prose, consisting chiefly of +translations from the Spanish, of proverbs and religious +pieces.</p> +<h4><a name="page304"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +304</span>BRIJINDOPE.—THE DELUGE <a +name="citation304"></a><a href="#footnote304" +class="citation">[304]</a><br /> +A POEM: IN TWO PARTS</h4> +<p style="text-align: center">PART THE FIRST</p> +<p class="poetry">I with fear and terror quake,<br /> +Whilst the pen to write I take;<br /> +I will utter many a pray’r<br /> +To the heaven’s Regent fair,<br /> +That she deign to succour me,<br /> +And I’ll humbly bend my knee;<br /> +For but poorly do I know<br /> +With my subject on to go;<br /> +Therefore is my wisest plan<br /> +Not to trust in strength of man.<br /> +I my heavy sins bewail,<br /> +Whilst I view the wo and wail<br /> +Handed down so solemnly<br /> +In the book of times gone by.<br /> +Onward, onward, now I’ll move<br /> +In the name of Christ above,<br /> +And his Mother true and dear,<br /> +She who loves the wretch to cheer.<br /> +All I know, and all I’ve heard<br /> +I will state—how God appear’d<br /> +And to Noah thus did cry:<br /> +Weary with the world am I;<br /> +Let an ark by thee be built,<br /> +For the world is lost in guilt;<br /> +And when thou hast built it well,<br /> +Loud proclaim what now I tell:<br /> +Straight repent ye, for your Lord<br /> +In his hand doth hold a sword.<br /> +And good Noah thus did call:<br /> +Straight repent ye one and all,<br /> +For the world with grief I see<br /> +Lost in vileness utterly.<br /> +God’s own mandate I but do,<br /> +He hath sent me unto you.<br /> +Laugh’d the world to bitter scorn,<br /> +I his cruel sufferings mourn;<br /> +Brawny youths with furious air<br /> +Drag the Patriarch by the hair;<br /> +Lewdness governs every one:<br /> +Leaves her convent now the nun,<br /> +And the monk abroad I see<br /> +Practising iniquity.<br /> +Now I’ll tell how God, intent<br /> +To avenge, a vapour sent,<br /> +With full many a dreadful sign—<br /> +Mighty, mighty fear is mine:<br /> +As I hear the thunders roll,<br /> +Seems to die my very soul;<br /> +As I see the world o’erspread<br /> +All with darkness thick and dread;<br /> +I the pen can scarcely ply<br /> +For the tears which dim my eye,<br /> +And o’ercome with grievous wo,<br /> +Fear the task I must forego<br /> +I have purposed to perform.—<br /> +Hark, I hear upon the storm<br /> +Thousand, thousand devils fly,<br /> +Who with awful howlings cry:<br /> +Now’s the time and now’s the hour,<br /> +We have licence, we have power<br /> +To obtain a glorious prey.—<br /> +I with horror turn away;<br /> +Tumbles house and tumbles wall;<br /> +Thousands lose their lives and all,<br /> +Voiding curses, screams and groans,<br /> +For the beams, the bricks and stones<br /> +Bruise and bury all below—<br /> +Nor is that the worst, I trow,<br /> +For the clouds begin to pour<br /> +Floods of water more and more,<br /> +Down upon the world with might,<br /> +Never pausing day or night.<br /> +Now in terrible distress<br /> +All to God their cries address,<br /> +And his Mother dear adore,—<br /> +But the time of grace is o’er,<br /> +For the Almighty in the sky<br /> +Holds his hand upraised on high.<br /> +Now’s the time of madden’d rout,<br /> +Hideous cry, despairing shout;<br /> +Whither, whither shall they fly?<br /> +For the danger threat’ningly<br /> +Draweth near on every side,<br /> +And the earth, that’s opening wide,<br /> +Swallows thousands in its womb,<br /> +Who would ‘scape the dreadful doom.<br /> +Of dear hope exists no gleam,<br /> +Still the water down doth stream;<br /> +Ne’er so little a creeping thing<br /> +But from out its hold doth spring:<br /> +See the mouse, and see its mate<br /> +Scour along, nor stop, nor wait;<br /> +See the serpent and the snake<br /> +For the nearest highlands make;<br /> +The tarantula I view,<br /> +Emmet small and cricket too,<br /> +All unknowing where to fly,<br /> +In the stifling waters die.<br /> +See the goat and bleating sheep,<br /> +See the bull with bellowings deep.<br /> +And the rat with squealings shrill,<br /> +They have mounted on the hill:<br /> +See the stag, and see the doe,<br /> +How together fond they go;<br /> +Lion, tiger-beast, and pard,<br /> +To escape are striving hard:<br /> +Followed by her little ones,<br /> +See the hare how swift she runs:<br /> +Asses, he and she, a pair.<br /> +Mute and mule with bray and blare,<br /> +And the rabbit and the fox,<br /> +Hurry over stones and rocks,<br /> +With the grunting hog and horse,<br /> +Till at last they stop their course—<br /> +On the summit of the hill<br /> +All assembled stand they still;<br /> +In the second part I’ll tell<br /> +Unto them what there befell.</p> +<p style="text-align: center">PART THE SECOND</p> +<p class="poetry">When I last did bid farewell,<br /> +I proposed the world to tell,<br /> +Higher as the Deluge flow’d,<br /> +How the frog and how the toad,<br /> +With the lizard and the eft,<br /> +All their holes and coverts left,<br /> +And assembled on the height;<br /> +Soon I ween appeared in sight<br /> +All that’s wings beneath the sky,<br /> +Bat and swallow, wasp and fly,<br /> +Gnat and sparrow, and behind<br /> +Comes the crow of carrion kind;<br /> +Dove and pigeon are descried,<br /> +And the raven fiery-eyed,<br /> +With the beetle and the crane<br /> +Flying on the hurricane:<br /> +See they find no resting-place,<br /> +For the world’s terrestrial space<br /> +Is with water cover’d o’er,<br /> +Soon they sink to rise no more:<br /> +‘To our father let us flee!’<br /> +Straight the ark-ship openeth he,<br /> +And to everything that lives<br /> +Kindly he admission gives.<br /> +Of all kinds a single pair,<br /> +And the members safely there<br /> +Of his house he doth embark,<br /> +Then at once he shuts the ark;<br /> +Everything therein has pass’d,<br /> +There he keeps them safe and fast.<br /> +O’er the mountain’s topmost peak<br /> +Now the raging waters break.<br /> +Till full twenty days are o’er,<br /> +‘Midst the elemental roar,<br /> +Up and down the ark forlorn,<br /> +Like some evil thing is borne:<br /> +O what grief it is to see<br /> +Swimming on the enormous sea<br /> +Human corses pale and white,<br /> +More, alas! than I can write:<br /> +O what grief, what grief profound,<br /> +But to think the world is drown’d:<br /> +True a scanty few are left,<br /> +All are not of life bereft,<br /> +So that, when the Lord ordain,<br /> +They may procreate again,<br /> +In a world entirely new,<br /> +Better people and more true,<br /> +To their Maker who shall bow;<br /> +And I humbly beg you now,<br /> +Ye in modern times who wend,<br /> +That your lives ye do amend;<br /> +For no wat’ry punishment,<br /> +But a heavier shall be sent;<br /> +For the blessed saints pretend<br /> +That the latter world shall end<br /> +To tremendous fire a prey,<br /> +And to ashes sink away.<br /> +To the Ark I now go back,<br /> +Which pursues its dreary track,<br /> +Lost and ‘wilder’d till the Lord<br /> +In his mercy rest accord.<br /> +Early of a morning tide<br /> +They unclosed a window wide,<br /> +Heaven’s beacon to descry,<br /> +And a gentle dove let fly,<br /> +Of the world to seek some trace,<br /> +And in two short hours’ space<br /> +It returns with eyes that glow,<br /> +In its beak an olive bough.<br /> +With a loud and mighty sound,<br /> +They exclaim: ‘The world we’ve found.’<br /> +To a mountain nigh they drew,<br /> +And when there themselves they view,<br /> +<a name="page310"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 310</span>Bound +they swiftly on the shore,<br /> +And their fervent thanks outpour,<br /> +Lowly kneeling to their God;<br /> +Then their way a couple trod,<br /> +Man and woman, hand in hand,<br /> +Bent to populate the land,<br /> +To the Moorish region fair—<br /> +And another two repair<br /> +To the country of the Gaul;<br /> +In this manner wend they all,<br /> +And the seeds of nations lay.<br /> +I beseech ye’ll credence pay,<br /> +For our father, high and sage,<br /> +Wrote the tale in sacred page,<br /> +As a record to the world,<br /> +Record sad of vengeance hurl’d.<br /> +I, a low and humble wight,<br /> +Beg permission now to write<br /> +Unto all that in our land<br /> +Tongue Egyptian understand.<br /> +May our Virgin Mother mild<br /> +Grant to me, her erring child,<br /> +Plenteous grace in every way,<br /> +And success. Amen I say.</p> +<p style="text-align: center">THE PESTILENCE</p> +<p class="poetry">I’m resolved now to tell<br /> +In the speech of Gypsy-land<br /> +All the horror that befell<br /> +In this city huge and grand.</p> +<p class="poetry">In the eighteenth hundred year<br /> +In the midst of summertide,<br /> +God, with man dissatisfied,<br /> +His right hand on high did rear,<br /> +With a rigour most severe;<br /> +Whence we well might understand<br /> +He would strict account demand<br /> +Of our lives and actions here.<br /> +The dread event to render clear<br /> +Now the pen I take in hand.</p> +<p class="poetry">At the dread event aghast,<br /> +Straight the world reform’d its course;<br /> +Yet is sin in greater force,<br /> +Now the punishment is past;<br /> +For the thought of God is cast<br /> +All and utterly aside,<br /> +As if death itself had died.<br /> +Therefore to the present race<br /> +These memorial lines I trace<br /> +In old Egypt’s tongue of pride.</p> +<p class="poetry">As the streets you wander’d through<br /> +How you quail’d with fear and dread,<br /> +Heaps of dying and of dead<br /> +At the leeches’ door to view.<br /> +To the tavern O how few<br /> +To regale on wine repair;<br /> +All a sickly aspect wear.<br /> +Say what heart such sights could brook—<br /> +Wail and woe where’er you look—<br /> +Wail and woe and ghastly care.</p> +<p class="poetry">Plying fast their rosaries,<br /> +See the people pace the street,<br /> +And for pardon God entreat<br /> +Long and loud with streaming eyes.<br /> +And the carts of various size,<br /> +Piled with corses, high in air,<br /> +To the plain their burden bear.<br /> +O what grief it is to me<br /> +Not a friar or priest to see<br /> +In this city huge and fair.</p> +<h4><a name="page313"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 313</span>ON +THE LANGUAGE OF THE GITÁNOS</h4> +<blockquote><p>‘I am not very willing that any language +should be totally extinguished; the similitude and derivation of +languages afford the most indubitable proof of the traduction of +nations, and the genealogy of mankind; they add often physical +certainty to historical evidence of ancient migrations, and of +the revolutions of ages which left no written monuments behind +them.’—<span class="smcap">Johnson</span>.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">The</span> Gypsy dialect of Spain is at +present very much shattered and broken, being rather the +fragments of the language which the Gypsies brought with them +from the remote regions of the East than the language itself: it +enables, however, in its actual state, the Gitános to hold +conversation amongst themselves, the import of which is quite +dark and mysterious to those who are not of their race, or by +some means have become acquainted with their vocabulary. +The relics of this tongue, singularly curious in themselves, must +be ever particularly interesting to the philological antiquarian, +inasmuch as they enable him to arrive at a satisfactory +conclusion respecting the origin of the Gypsy race. During +the later part of the last century, the curiosity of some learned +individuals, particularly Grellmann, Richardson, and Marsden, +induced them to collect many words of the Romanian language, as +spoken in Germany, Hungary, and England, which, upon analysing, +they discovered to be in general either pure Sanscrit or +Hindustani words, or modifications thereof; these investigations +have been continued to the present time by men of equal curiosity +and no less erudition, the result of which has been the +establishment of the fact, that the Gypsies of those countries +are the descendants of a tribe of Hindus who for some particular +reason had abandoned their native country. In England, of +late, the Gypsies have excited particular attention; but a desire +far more noble and laudable than mere antiquarian curiosity has +given rise to it, namely, the desire of propagating the glory of +Christ amongst those who know Him not, and of saving souls from +the jaws of the infernal wolf. It is, however, with the +Gypsies of Spain, and not with those of England and other +countries, that we are now occupied, and we shall merely mention +the latter so far as they may serve to elucidate the case of the +Gitános, their brethren by blood and language. Spain +for many centuries has been the country of error; she has +mistaken stern and savage tyranny for rational government; base, +low, and grovelling superstition for clear, bright, and +soul-ennobling religion; sordid cheating she has considered as +the path to riches; vexatious persecution as the path to power; +and the consequence has been, that she is now poor and powerless, +a pagan amongst the pagans, with a dozen kings, and with +none. Can we be surprised, therefore, that, mistaken in +policy, religion, and moral conduct, she should have fallen into +error on points so naturally dark and mysterious as the history +and origin of those remarkable people whom for the last four +hundred years she has supported under the name of +Gitános? The idea entertained at the present day in +Spain respecting this race is, that they are the descendants of +the Moriscos who remained in Spain, wandering about amongst the +mountains and wildernesses, after the expulsion of the great body +of the nation from the country in the time of Philip the Third, +and that they form a distinct body, entirely unconnected with the +wandering tribes known in other countries by the names of +Bohemians, Gypsies, etc. This, like all unfounded opinions, +of course originated in ignorance, which is always ready to have +recourse to conjecture and guesswork, in preference to travelling +through the long, mountainous, and stony road of patient +investigation; it is, however, an error far more absurd and more +destitute of tenable grounds than the ancient belief that the +Gitános were Egyptians, which they themselves have always +professed to be, and which the original written documents which +they brought with them on their first arrival in Western Europe, +and which bore the signature of the king of Bohemia, expressly +stated them to be. The only clue to arrive at any certainty +respecting their origin, is the language which they still speak +amongst themselves; but before we can avail ourselves of the +evidence of this language, it will be necessary to make a few +remarks respecting the principal languages and dialects of that +immense tract of country, peopled by at least eighty millions of +human beings, generally known by the name of Hindustan, two +Persian words tantamount to the land of Ind, or, the land watered +by the river Indus.</p> +<p>The most celebrated of these languages is the Sanskrida, or, +as it is known in Europe, the Sanscrit, which is the language of +religion of all those nations amongst whom the faith of Brahma +has been adopted; but though the language of religion, by which +we mean the tongue in which the religious books of the Brahmanic +sect were originally written and are still preserved, it has long +since ceased to be a spoken language; indeed, history is silent +as to any period when it was a language in common use amongst any +of the various tribes of the Hindus; its knowledge, as far as +reading and writing it went, having been entirely confined to the +priests of Brahma, or Brahmans, until within the last +half-century, when the British, having subjugated the whole of +Hindustan, caused it to be openly taught in the colleges which +they established for the instruction of their youth in the +languages of the country. Though sufficiently difficult to +acquire, principally on account of its prodigious richness in +synonyms, it is no longer a sealed language,—its laws, +structure, and vocabulary being sufficiently well known by means +of numerous elementary works, adapted to facilitate its +study. It has been considered by famous philologists as the +mother not only of all the languages of Asia, but of all others +in the world. So wild and preposterous an idea, however, +only serves to prove that a devotion to philology, whose +principal object should be the expansion of the mind by the +various treasures of learning and wisdom which it can unlock, +sometimes only tends to its bewilderment, by causing it to +embrace shadows for reality. The most that can be allowed, +in reason, to the Sanscrit is that it is the mother of a certain +class or family of languages, for example, those spoken in +Hindustan, with which most of the European, whether of the +Sclavonian, Gothic, or Celtic stock, have some connection. +True it is that in this case we know not how to dispose of the +ancient Zend, the mother of the modern Persian, the language in +which were written those writings generally attributed to +Zerduscht, or Zoroaster, whose affinity to the said tongues is as +easily established as that of the Sanscrit, and which, in respect +to antiquity, may well dispute the palm with its Indian +rival. Avoiding, however, the discussion of this point, we +shall content ourselves with observing, that closely connected +with the Sanscrit, if not derived from it, are the +Bengáli, the high Hindustáni, or grand popular +language of Hindustan, generally used by the learned in their +intercourse and writings, the languages of Multan, Guzerat, and +other provinces, without mentioning the mixed dialect called +Mongolian Hindustáni, a corrupt jargon of Persian, +Turkish, Arabic, and Hindu words, first used by the Mongols, +after the conquest, in their intercourse with the natives. +Many of the principal languages of Asia are totally unconnected +with the Sanscrit, both in words and grammatical structure; these +are mostly of the great Tartar family, at the head of which there +is good reason for placing the Chinese and Tibetian.</p> +<p>Bearing the same analogy to the Sanscrit tongue as the Indian +dialects specified above, we find the Rommany, or speech of the +Roma, or Zincali, as they style themselves, known in England and +Spain as Gypsies and Gitános. This speech, wherever +it is spoken, is, in all principal points, one and the same, +though more or less corrupted by foreign words, picked up in the +various countries to which those who use it have +penetrated. One remarkable feature must not be passed over +without notice, namely, the very considerable number of Sclavonic +words, which are to be found embedded within it, whether it be +spoken in Spain or Germany, in England or Italy; from which +circumstance we are led to the conclusion, that these people, in +their way from the East, travelled in one large compact body, and +that their route lay through some region where the Sclavonian +language, or a dialect thereof, was spoken. This region I +have no hesitation in asserting to have been Bulgaria, where they +probably tarried for a considerable period, as nomad herdsmen, +and where numbers of them are still to be found at the present +day. Besides the many Sclavonian words in the Gypsy tongue, +another curious feature attracts the attention of the +philologist—an equal or still greater quantity of terms +from the modern Greek; indeed, we have full warranty for assuming +that at one period the Spanish section, if not the rest of the +Gypsy nation, understood the Greek language well, and that, +besides their own Indian dialect, they occasionally used it for +considerably upwards of a century subsequent to their arrival, as +amongst the Gitános there were individuals to whom it was +intelligible so late as the year 1540.</p> +<p>Where this knowledge was obtained it is difficult to +say,—perhaps in Bulgaria, where two-thirds of the +population profess the Greek religion, or rather in Romania, +where the Romaic is generally understood; that they <i>did</i> +understand the Romaic in 1540, we gather from a very remarkable +work, called <i>El Estudioso Cortesáno</i>, written by +Lorenzo Palmiréno: this learned and highly extraordinary +individual was by birth a Valencian, and died about 1580; he was +professor at various universities—of rhetoric at Valencia, +of Greek at Zaragossa, where he gave lectures, in which he +explained the verses of Homer; he was a proficient in Greek, +ancient and modern, and it should be observed that, in the +passage which we are about to cite, he means himself by the +learned individual who held conversation with the Gitános. +<a name="citation321"></a><a href="#footnote321" +class="citation">[321]</a> <i>El Estudioso +Cortesáno</i> was reprinted at Alcala in 1587, from which +edition we now copy.</p> +<p>‘Who are the Gitános? I answer; these vile +people first began to show themselves in Germany, in the year +1417, where they call them Tartars or Gentiles; in Italy they are +termed Ciani. They pretend that they come from Lower Egypt, +and that they wander about as a penance, and to prove this, they +show letters from the king of Poland. They lie, however, +for they do not lead the life of penitents, but of dogs and +thieves. A learned person, in the year 1540, prevailed with +them, by dint of much persuasion, to show him the king’s +letter, and he gathered from it that the time of their penance +was already expired; he spoke to them in the Egyptian tongue; +they said, however, as it was a long time since their departure +from Egypt, they did not understand it; he then spoke to them in +the vulgar Greek, such as is used at present in the Morea and +Archipelago; <i>some understood it</i>, others did not; so that +as all did not understand it, we may conclude that the language +which they use is a feigned one, <a name="citation67"></a><a +href="#footnote67" class="citation">[67]</a> got up by thieves +for the purpose of concealing their robberies, like the jargon of +blind beggars.’</p> +<p>Still more abundant, however, than the mixture of Greek, still +more abundant than the mixture of Sclavonian, is the alloy in the +Gypsy language, wherever spoken, of modern Persian words, which +circumstance will compel us to offer a few remarks on the share +which the Persian has had in the formation of the dialects of +India, as at present spoken.</p> +<p>The modern Persian, as has been already observed, is a +daughter of the ancient Zend, and, as such, is entitled to claim +affinity with the Sanscrit, and its dialects. With this +language none in the world would be able to vie in simplicity and +beauty, had not the Persians, in adopting the religion of +Mahomet, unfortunately introduces into their speech an infinity +of words of the rude coarse language used by the barbaric Arab +tribes, the immediate followers of the warlike Prophet. +With the rise of Islam the modern Persian was doomed to be +carried into India. This country, from the time of +Alexander, had enjoyed repose from external aggression, had been +ruled by its native princes, and been permitted by Providence to +exercise, without control or reproof, the degrading +superstitions, and the unnatural and bloody rites of a religion +at the formation of which the fiends of cruelty and lust seem to +have presided; but reckoning was now about to be demanded of the +accursed ministers of this system for the pain, torture, and +misery which they had been instrumental in inflicting on their +countrymen for the gratification of their avarice, filthy +passions, and pride; the new Mahometans were at hand—Arab, +Persian, and Afghan, with the glittering scimitar upraised, full +of zeal for the glory and adoration of the one high God, and the +relentless persecutors of the idol-worshippers. Already, in +the four hundred and twenty-sixth year of the Hegeira, we read of +the destruction of the great Butkhan, or image-house of Sumnaut, +by the armies of the far-conquering Mahmoud, when the dissevered +heads of the Brahmans rolled down the steps of the gigantic and +Babel-like temple of the great image—</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p323b.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Text which cannot be reproduced—Arabic?" +title= +"Text which cannot be reproduced—Arabic?" + src="images/p323s.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<blockquote><p>(This image grim, whose name was Laut,<br /> + Bold Mahmoud found when he took Sumnaut.)</p> +</blockquote> +<p>It is not our intention to follow the conquests of the +Mahometans from the days of Walid and Mahmoud to those of Timour +and Nadir; sufficient to observe, that the greatest part of India +was subdued, new monarchies established, and the old religion, +though far too powerful and widely spread to be extirpated, was +to a considerable extent abashed and humbled before the bright +rising sun of Islam. The Persian language, which the +conquerors <a name="citation324"></a><a href="#footnote324" +class="citation">[324]</a> of whatever denomination introduced +with them to Hindustan, and which their descendants at the +present day still retain, though not lords of the ascendant, +speedily became widely extended in these regions, where it had +previously been unknown. As the language of the court, it +was of course studied and acquired by all those natives whose +wealth, rank, and influence necessarily brought them into +connection with the ruling powers; and as the language of the +camp, it was carried into every part of the country where the +duties of the soldiery sooner or later conducted them; the result +of which relations between the conquerors and conquered was the +adoption into the popular dialects of India of an infinity of +modern Persian words, not merely those of science, such as it +exists in the East, and of luxury and refinement, but even those +which serve to express many of the most common objects, +necessities, and ideas, so that at the present day a knowledge of +the Persian is essential for the thorough understanding of the +principal dialects of Hindustan, on which account, as well as for +the assistance which it affords in communication with the +Mahometans, it is cultivated with peculiar care by the present +possessors of the land.</p> +<p>No surprise, therefore, can be entertained that the speech of +the Gitános in general, who, in all probability, departed +from Hindustan long subsequent to the first Mahometan invasions, +abounds, like other Indian dialects, with words either purely +Persian, or slightly modified to accommodate them to the genius +of the language. Whether the Rommany originally constituted +part of the natives of Multan or Guzerat, and abandoned their +native land to escape from the torch and sword of Tamerlane and +his Mongols, as Grellmann and others have supposed, or whether, +as is much more probable, they were a thievish caste, like some +others still to be found in Hindustan, who fled westward, either +from the vengeance of justice, or in pursuit of plunder, their +speaking Persian is alike satisfactorily accounted for. +With the view of exhibiting how closely their language is +connected with the Sanscrit and Persian, we subjoin the first ten +numerals in the three tongues, those of the Gypsy according to +the Hungarian dialect. <a name="citation325a"></a><a +href="#footnote325a" class="citation">[325a]</a></p> +<table> +<tr> +<td><p> </p> +</td> +<td><p>Gypsy.</p> +</td> +<td><p>Persian.</p> +</td> +<td><p>Sanscrit. <a name="citation325b"></a><a +href="#footnote325b" class="citation">[325b]</a></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">1</p> +</td> +<td><p>Jek</p> +</td> +<td><p>Ek</p> +</td> +<td><p>Ega</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">2</p> +</td> +<td><p>Dui</p> +</td> +<td><p>Du</p> +</td> +<td><p>Dvaya</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">3</p> +</td> +<td><p>Trin</p> +</td> +<td><p>Se</p> +</td> +<td><p>Treya</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">4</p> +</td> +<td><p>Schtar</p> +</td> +<td><p>Chehar</p> +</td> +<td><p>Tschatvar</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">5</p> +</td> +<td><p>Pansch</p> +</td> +<td><p>Pansch</p> +</td> +<td><p>Pantscha</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">6</p> +</td> +<td><p>Tschov</p> +</td> +<td><p>Schesche</p> +</td> +<td><p>Schasda</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">7</p> +</td> +<td><p>Efta</p> +</td> +<td><p>Heft</p> +</td> +<td><p>Sapta</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">8</p> +</td> +<td><p>Ochto</p> +</td> +<td><p>Hescht</p> +</td> +<td><p>Aschta</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">9</p> +</td> +<td><p>Enija</p> +</td> +<td><p>Nu</p> +</td> +<td><p>Nava</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">10</p> +</td> +<td><p>Dösch</p> +</td> +<td><p>De</p> +</td> +<td><p>Dascha</p> +</td> +</tr> +</table> +<p>It would be easy for us to adduce a thousand instances, as +striking as the above, of the affinity of the Gypsy tongue to the +Persian, Sanscrit, and the Indian dialects, but we have not space +for further observation on a point which long since has been +sufficiently discussed by others endowed with abler pens than our +own; but having made these preliminary remarks, which we deemed +necessary for the elucidation of the subject, we now hasten to +speak of the Gitáno language as used in Spain, and to +determine, by its evidence (and we again repeat, that the +language is the only criterion by which the question can be +determined), how far the Gitános of Spain are entitled to +claim connection with the tribes who, under the names of +Zingáni, etc., are to be found in various parts of Europe, +following, in general, a life of wandering adventure, and +practising the same kind of thievish arts which enable those in +Spain to obtain a livelihood at the expense of the more honest +and industrious of the community.</p> +<p>The Gitános of Spain, as already stated, are generally +believed to be the descendants of the Moriscos, and have been +asserted to be such in printed books. <a +name="citation326"></a><a href="#footnote326" +class="citation">[326]</a> Now they are known to speak a +language or jargon amongst themselves which the other natives of +Spain do not understand; of course, then, supposing them to be of +Morisco origin, the words of this tongue or jargon, which are not +Spanish, are the relics of the Arabic or Moorish tongue once +spoken in Spain, which they have inherited from their Moorish +ancestors. Now it is well known, that the Moorish of Spain +was the same tongue as that spoken at present by the Moors of +Barbary, from which country Spain was invaded by the Arabs, and +to which they again retired when unable to maintain their ground +against the armies of the Christians. We will, therefore, +collate the numerals of the Spanish Gitáno with those of +the Moorish tongue, preceding both with those of the Hungarian +Gypsy, of which we have already made use, for the purpose of +making clear the affinity of that language to the Sanscrit and +Persian. By this collation we shall at once perceive +whether the Gitáno of Spain bears most resemblance to the +Arabic, or the Rommany of other lands.</p> +<table> +<tr> +<td><p> </p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: center">Hungarian<br /> +Gypsy.</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: center">Spanish<br /> +Gitáno.</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: center">Moorish<br /> +Arabic.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">1</p> +</td> +<td><p>Jek</p> +</td> +<td><p>Yeque</p> +</td> +<td><p>Wahud</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">2</p> +</td> +<td><p>Dui</p> +</td> +<td><p>Dui</p> +</td> +<td><p>Snain</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">3</p> +</td> +<td><p>Trin</p> +</td> +<td><p>Trin</p> +</td> +<td><p>Slatza</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">4</p> +</td> +<td><p>Schtar</p> +</td> +<td><p>Estar</p> +</td> +<td><p>Arba</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">5</p> +</td> +<td><p>Pansch</p> +</td> +<td><p>Pansche</p> +</td> +<td><p>Khamsa</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">6</p> +</td> +<td><p>Tschov</p> +</td> +<td><p>Job. Zoi</p> +</td> +<td><p>Seta</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">7</p> +</td> +<td><p>Efta</p> +</td> +<td><p>Hefta</p> +</td> +<td><p>Sebéa</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">8</p> +</td> +<td><p>Ochto</p> +</td> +<td><p>Otor</p> +</td> +<td><p>Sminía</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">9</p> +</td> +<td><p>Enija</p> +</td> +<td><p>Esnia (Nu. <i>Pers.</i>)</p> +</td> +<td><p>Tussa</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">10</p> +</td> +<td><p>Dösch</p> +</td> +<td><p>Deque</p> +</td> +<td><p>Aschra</p> +</td> +</tr> +</table> +<p>We believe the above specimens will go very far to change the +opinion of those who have imbibed the idea that the +Gitános of Spain are the descendants of Moors, and are of +an origin different from that of the wandering tribes of Rommany +in other parts of the world, the specimens of the two dialects of +the Gypsy, as far as they go, being so strikingly similar, as to +leave no doubt of their original identity, whilst, on the +contrary, with the Moorish neither the one nor the other exhibits +the slightest point of similarity or connection. But with +these specimens we shall not content ourselves, but proceed to +give the names of the most common things and objects in the +Hungarian and Spanish Gitáno, collaterally, with their +equivalents in the Moorish Arabic; from which it will appear that +whilst the former are one and the same language, they are in +every respect at variance with the latter. When we consider +that the Persian has adopted so many words and phrases from the +Arabic, we are at first disposed to wonder that a considerable +portion of these words are not to be discovered in every dialect +of the Gypsy tongue, since the Persian has lent it so much of its +vocabulary. Yet such is by no means the case, as it is very +uncommon, in any one of these dialects, to discover words derived +from the Arabic. Perhaps, however, the following +consideration will help to solve this point. The +Gitános, even before they left India, were probably much +the same rude, thievish, and ignorant people as they are at the +present day. Now the words adopted by the Persian from the +Arabic, and which it subsequently introduced into the dialects of +India, are sounds representing objects and ideas with which such +a people as the Gitános could necessarily be but scantily +acquainted, a people whose circle of ideas only embraces physical +objects, and who never commune with their own minds, nor exert +them but in devising low and vulgar schemes of pillage and +deceit. Whatever is visible and common is seldom or never +represented by the Persians, even in their books, by the help of +Arabic words: the sun and stars, the sea and river, the earth, +its trees, its fruits, its flowers, and all that it produces and +supports, are seldom named by them by other terms than those +which their own language is capable of affording; but in +expressing the abstract thoughts of their minds, and they are a +people who think much and well, they borrow largely from the +language of their religion—the Arabic. We therefore, +perhaps, ought not to be surprised that in the scanty phraseology +of the Gitános, amongst so much Persian, we find so little +that is Arabic; had their pursuits been less vile, their desires +less animal, and their thoughts less circumscribed, it would +probably have been otherwise; but from time immemorial they have +shown themselves a nation of petty thieves, horse-traffickers, +and the like, without a thought of the morrow, being content to +provide against the evil of the passing day.</p> +<p>The following is a comparison of words in the three +languages:—</p> +<table> +<tr> +<td><p> </p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: center">Hungarian<br /> +Gypsy. <a name="citation330"></a><a href="#footnote330" +class="citation">[330]</a></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: center">Spanish<br /> +Gitáno.</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: center">Moorish<br /> +Arabic.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Bone</p> +</td> +<td><p>Cokalos</p> +</td> +<td><p>Cocal</p> +</td> +<td><p>Adorn</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>City</p> +</td> +<td><p>Forjus</p> +</td> +<td><p>Foros</p> +</td> +<td><p>Beled</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Day</p> +</td> +<td><p>Dives</p> +</td> +<td><p>Chibes</p> +</td> +<td><p>Youm</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Drink (to)</p> +</td> +<td><p>Piava</p> +</td> +<td><p>Piyar</p> +</td> +<td><p>Yeschrab</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Ear</p> +</td> +<td><p>Kan</p> +</td> +<td><p>Can</p> +</td> +<td><p>Oothin</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Eye</p> +</td> +<td><p>Jakh</p> +</td> +<td><p>Aquia</p> +</td> +<td><p>Ein</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Feather</p> +</td> +<td><p>Por</p> +</td> +<td><p>Porumia</p> +</td> +<td><p>Risch</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Fire</p> +</td> +<td><p>Vag</p> +</td> +<td><p>Yaque</p> +</td> +<td><p>Afia</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Fish</p> +</td> +<td><p>Maczo</p> +</td> +<td><p>Macho</p> +</td> +<td><p>Hutz</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Foot</p> +</td> +<td><p>Pir</p> +</td> +<td><p>Piro, pindro</p> +</td> +<td><p>Rjil</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Gold</p> +</td> +<td><p>Sonkai</p> +</td> +<td><p>Sonacai</p> +</td> +<td><p>Dahab</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Great</p> +</td> +<td><p>Baro</p> +</td> +<td><p>Baro</p> +</td> +<td><p>Quibír</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Hair</p> +</td> +<td><p>Bala</p> +</td> +<td><p>Bal</p> +</td> +<td><p>Schar</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>He, pron.</p> +</td> +<td><p>Wow</p> +</td> +<td><p>O</p> +</td> +<td><p>Hu</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Head</p> +</td> +<td><p>Tschero</p> +</td> +<td><p>Jero</p> +</td> +<td><p>Ras</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>House</p> +</td> +<td><p>Ker</p> +</td> +<td><p>Quer</p> +</td> +<td><p>Dar</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Husband</p> +</td> +<td><p>Rom</p> +</td> +<td><p>Ron</p> +</td> +<td><p>Zooje</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Lightning</p> +</td> +<td><p>Molnija</p> +</td> +<td><p>Malunó</p> +</td> +<td><p>Brak</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Love (to)</p> +</td> +<td><p>Camaba</p> +</td> +<td><p>Camelar</p> +</td> +<td><p>Yehib</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Man</p> +</td> +<td><p>Manusch</p> +</td> +<td><p>Manu</p> +</td> +<td><p>Rajil</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Milk</p> +</td> +<td><p>Tud</p> +</td> +<td><p>Chuti</p> +</td> +<td><p>Helib</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Mountain</p> +</td> +<td><p>Bar</p> +</td> +<td><p>Bur</p> +</td> +<td><p>Djibil</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Mouth</p> +</td> +<td><p>Mui</p> +</td> +<td><p>Mui</p> +</td> +<td><p>Fum</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Name</p> +</td> +<td><p>Nao</p> +</td> +<td><p>Nao</p> +</td> +<td><p>Ism</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Night</p> +</td> +<td><p>Rat</p> +</td> +<td><p>Rachi</p> +</td> +<td><p>Lila</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Nose</p> +</td> +<td><p>Nakh</p> +</td> +<td><p>Naqui</p> +</td> +<td><p>Munghár</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Old</p> +</td> +<td><p>Puro</p> +</td> +<td><p>Puro</p> +</td> +<td><p>Shaive</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Red</p> +</td> +<td><p>Lal</p> +</td> +<td><p>Lalo</p> +</td> +<td><p>Hamr</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Salt</p> +</td> +<td><p>Lon</p> +</td> +<td><p>Lon</p> +</td> +<td><p>Mela</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Sing</p> +</td> +<td><p>Gjuwawa</p> +</td> +<td><p>Gilyabar</p> +</td> +<td><p>Iganni</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Sun</p> +</td> +<td><p>Cam</p> +</td> +<td><p>Can</p> +</td> +<td><p>Schems</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Thief</p> +</td> +<td><p>Tschor</p> +</td> +<td><p>Choro</p> +</td> +<td><p>Harám</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Thou</p> +</td> +<td><p>Tu</p> +</td> +<td><p>Tucue</p> +</td> +<td><p>Antsin</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Tongue</p> +</td> +<td><p>Tschib</p> +</td> +<td><p>Chipe</p> +</td> +<td><p>Lsán</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Tooth</p> +</td> +<td><p>Dant</p> +</td> +<td><p>Dani</p> +</td> +<td><p>Sinn</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Tree</p> +</td> +<td><p>Karscht</p> +</td> +<td><p>Caste</p> +</td> +<td><p>Schizara</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Water</p> +</td> +<td><p>Pani</p> +</td> +<td><p>Pani</p> +</td> +<td><p>Ma</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Wind</p> +</td> +<td><p>Barbar</p> +</td> +<td><p>Barban</p> +</td> +<td><p>Ruhk</p> +</td> +</tr> +</table> +<p>We shall offer no further observations respecting the affinity +of the Spanish Gitáno to the other dialects, as we +conceive we have already afforded sufficient proof of its +original identity with them, and consequently shaken to the +ground the absurd opinion that the Gitános of Spain are +the descendants of the Arabs and Moriscos. We shall now +conclude with a few remarks on the present state of the +Gitáno language in Spain, where, perhaps, within the +course of a few years, it will have perished, without leaving a +vestige of its having once existed; and where, perhaps, the +singular people who speak it are likewise doomed to disappear, +becoming sooner or later engulfed and absorbed in the great body +of the nation, amongst whom they have so long existed a separate +and peculiar class.</p> +<p>Though the words or a part of the words of the original tongue +still remain, preserved by memory amongst the Gitános, its +grammatical peculiarities have disappeared, the entire language +having been modified and subjected to the rules of Spanish +grammar, with which it now coincides in syntax, in the +conjugation of verbs, and in the declension of its nouns. +Were it possible or necessary to collect all the relics of this +speech, they would probably amount to four or five thousand +words; but to effect such an achievement, it would be necessary +to hold close and long intercourse with almost every +Gitáno in Spain, and to extract, by various means, the +peculiar information which he might be capable of affording; for +it is necessary to state here, that though such an amount of +words may still exist amongst the Gitános in general, no +single individual of their sect is in possession of one-third +part thereof, nor indeed, we may add, those of any single city or +province of Spain; nevertheless all are in possession, more or +less, of the language, so that, though of different provinces, +they are enabled to understand each other tolerably well, when +discoursing in this their characteristic speech. Those who +travel most are of course best versed in it, as, independent of +the words of their own village or town, they acquire others by +intermingling with their race in various places. Perhaps +there is no part of Spain where it is spoken better than in +Madrid, which is easily accounted for by the fact, that Madrid, +as the capital, has always been the point of union of the +Gitános, from all those provinces of Spain where they are +to be found. It is least of all preserved in Seville, +notwithstanding that its Gitáno population is very +considerable, consisting, however, almost entirely of natives of +the place. As may well be supposed, it is in all places +best preserved amongst the old people, their children being +comparatively ignorant of it, as perhaps they themselves are in +comparison with their own parents. We are persuaded that +the Gitáno language of Spain is nearly at its last stage +of existence, which persuasion has been our main instigator to +the present attempt to collect its scanty remains, and by the +assistance of the press, rescue it in some degree from +destruction. It will not be amiss to state here, that it is +only by listening attentively to the speech of the +Gitános, whilst discoursing amongst themselves, that an +acquaintance with their dialect can be formed, and by seizing +upon all unknown words as they fall in succession from their +lips. Nothing can be more useless and hopeless than the +attempt to obtain possession of their vocabulary by inquiring of +them how particular objects and ideas are styled; for with the +exception of the names of the most common things, they are +totally incapable, as a Spanish writer has observed, of yielding +the required information, owing to their great ignorance, the +shortness of their memories, or rather the state of bewilderment +to which their minds are brought by any question which tends to +bring their reasoning faculties into action, though not +unfrequently the very words which have been in vain required of +them will, a minute subsequently, proceed inadvertently from +their mouths.</p> +<p>We now take leave of their language. When wishing to +praise the proficiency of any individual in their tongue, they +are in the habit of saying, ‘He understands the seven +jargons.’ In the Gospel which we have printed in this +language, and in the dictionary which we have compiled, we have +endeavoured, to the utmost of our ability, to deserve that +compliment; and at all times it will afford us sincere and +heartfelt pleasure to be informed that any Gitáno, capable +of appreciating the said little works, has observed, whilst +reading them or hearing them read: It is clear that the writer of +these books understood</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">The Seven +Jargons</span>.</p> +<h4><a name="page335"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 335</span>ON +ROBBER LANGUAGE; OR, AS IT IS CALLED IN SPAIN, GERMANIA</h4> +<blockquote><p>‘So I went with them to a music booth, where +they made me almost drunk with gin, and began to talk their +<i>Flash Language</i>, which I did not +understand.’—Narrative of the Exploits of Henry +Simms, executed at Tyburn, 1746.</p> +<p>‘Hablaronse los dos en Germania, de lo qual +resultó darme un abraço, y +ofrecerseme.’—<span +class="smcap">Quevedo</span>. Vida dal gran +Tacaño.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">Having</span> in the preceding article +endeavoured to afford all necessary information concerning the +Rommany, or language used by the Gypsies amongst themselves, we +now propose to turn our attention to a subject of no less +interest, but which has hitherto never been treated in a manner +calculated to lead to any satisfactory result or conclusion; on +the contrary, though philosophic minds have been engaged in its +consideration, and learned pens have not disdained to occupy +themselves with its details, it still remains a singular proof of +the errors into which the most acute and laborious writers are +apt to fall, when they take upon themselves the task of writing +on matters which cannot be studied in the closet, and on which no +information can be received by mixing in the society of the wise, +the lettered, and the respectable, but which must be investigated +in the fields, and on the borders of the highways, in prisons, +and amongst the dregs of society. Had the latter system +been pursued in the matter now before us, much clearer, more +rational, and more just ideas would long since have been +entertained respecting the Germania, or language of thieves.</p> +<p>In most countries of Europe there exists, amongst those who +obtain their existence by the breach of the law, and by preying +upon the fruits of the labours of the quiet and orderly portion +of society, a particular jargon or dialect, in which the former +discuss their schemes and plans of plunder, without being in +general understood by those to whom they are obnoxious. The +name of this jargon varies with the country in which it is +spoken. In Spain it is called ‘Germania’; in +France, ‘Argot’; in Germany, +‘Rothwelsch,’ or Red Italian; in Italy, +‘Gergo’; whilst in England it is known by many names; +for example, ‘cant, slang, thieves’ Latin,’ +etc. The most remarkable circumstance connected with the +history of this jargon is, that in all the countries in which it +is spoken, it has invariably, by the authors who have treated of +it, and who are numerous, been confounded with the Gypsy +language, and asserted to be the speech of those wanderers who +have so long infested Europe under the name of Gitános, +etc. How far this belief is founded in justice we shall now +endeavour to show, with the premise that whatever we advance is +derived, not from the assertions or opinions of others, but from +our own observation; the point in question being one which no +person is capable of solving, save him who has mixed with +Gitános and thieves,—not with the former merely or +the latter, but with both.</p> +<p>We have already stated what is the Rommany or language of the +Gypsies. We have proved that when properly spoken it is to +all intents and purposes entitled to the appellation of a +language, and that wherever it exists it is virtually the same; +that its origin is illustrious, it being a daughter of the +Sanscrit, and in consequence in close connection with some of the +most celebrated languages of the East, although it at present is +only used by the most unfortunate and degraded of beings, +wanderers without home and almost without country, as wherever +they are found they are considered in the light of foreigners and +interlopers. We shall now state what the language of +thieves is, as it is generally spoken in Europe; after which we +shall proceed to analyse it according to the various countries in +which it is used.</p> +<p>The dialect used for their own peculiar purposes amongst +thieves is by no means entitled to the appellation of a language, +but in every sense to that of a jargon or gibberish, it being for +the most part composed of words of the native language of those +who use it, according to the particular country, though +invariably in a meaning differing more or less from the usual and +received one, and for the most part in a metaphorical +sense. Metaphor and allegory, indeed, seem to form the +nucleus of this speech, notwithstanding that other elements are +to be distinguished; for it is certain that in every country +where it is spoken, it contains many words differing from the +language of that country, and which may either be traced to +foreign tongues, or are of an origin at which, in many instances, +it is impossible to arrive. That which is most calculated +to strike the philosophic mind when considering this dialect, is +doubtless the fact of its being formed everywhere upon the same +principle—that of metaphor, in which point all the branches +agree, though in others they differ as much from each other as +the languages on which they are founded; for example, as the +English and German from the Spanish and Italian. This +circumstance naturally leads to the conclusion that the robber +language has not arisen fortuitously in the various countries +where it is at present spoken, but that its origin is one and the +same, it being probably invented by the outlaws of one particular +country; by individuals of which it was, in course of time, +carried to others, where its principles, if not its words, were +adopted; for upon no other supposition can we account for its +general metaphorical character in regions various and +distant. It is, of course, impossible to state with +certainty the country in which this jargon first arose, yet there +is cogent reason for supposing that it may have been Italy. +The Germans call it Rothwelsch, which signifies ‘Red +Italian,’ a name which appears to point out Italy as its +birthplace; and which, though by no means of sufficient +importance to determine the question, is strongly corroborative +of the supposition, when coupled with the following fact. +We have already intimated, that wherever it is spoken, this +speech, though composed for the most part of words of the +language of the particular country, applied in a metaphorical +sense, exhibits a considerable sprinkling of foreign words; now +of these words no slight number are Italian or bastard Latin, +whether in Germany, whether in Spain, or in other countries more +or less remote from Italy. When we consider the ignorance +of thieves in general, their total want of education, the slight +knowledge which they possess even of their mother tongue, it is +hardly reasonable to suppose that in any country they were ever +capable of having recourse to foreign languages, for the purpose +of enriching any peculiar vocabulary or phraseology which they +might deem convenient to use among themselves; nevertheless, by +associating with foreign thieves, who had either left their +native country for their crimes, or from a hope of reaping a rich +harvest of plunder in other lands, it would be easy for them to +adopt a considerable number of words belonging to the languages +of their foreign associates, from whom perhaps they derived an +increase of knowledge in thievish arts of every +description. At the commencement of the fifteenth century +no nation in Europe was at all calculated to vie with the Italian +in arts of any kind, whether those whose tendency was the benefit +or improvement of society, or those the practice of which serves +to injure and undermine it. The artists and artisans of +Italy were to be found in all the countries of Europe, from +Madrid to Moscow, and so were its charlatans, its jugglers, and +multitudes of its children, who lived by fraud and cunning. +Therefore, when a comprehensive view of the subject is taken, +there appears to be little improbability in supposing, that not +only were the Italians the originators of the metaphorical robber +jargon, which has been termed ‘Red Italian,’ but that +they were mainly instrumental in causing it to be adopted by the +thievish race in various countries of Europe.</p> +<p>It is here, however, necessary to state, that in the robber +jargon of Europe, elements of another language are to be +discovered, and perhaps in greater number than the Italian +words. The language which we allude to is the Rommany; this +language has been, in general, confounded with the vocabulary +used among thieves, which, however, is a gross error, so gross, +indeed, that it is almost impossible to conceive the manner in +which it originated: the speech of the Gypsies being a genuine +language of Oriental origin, and the former little more than a +phraseology of convenience, founded upon particular European +tongues. It will be sufficient here to remark, that the +Gypsies do not understand the jargon of the thieves, whilst the +latter, with perhaps a few exceptions, are ignorant of the +language of the former. Certain words, however, of the +Rommany have found admission into the said jargon, which may be +accounted for by the supposition that the Gypsies, being +themselves by birth, education, and profession, thieves of the +first water, have, on various occasions, formed alliances with +the outlaws of the various countries in which they are at present +to be found, which association may have produced the result above +alluded to; but it will be as well here to state, that in no +country of Europe have the Gypsies forsaken or forgotten their +native tongue, and in its stead adopted the +‘Germania,’ ‘Red Italian,’ or robber +jargon, although in some they preserve their native language in a +state of less purity than in others. We are induced to make +this statement from an assertion of the celebrated Lorenzo +Hervas, who, in the third volume of his <i>Catalogo de las +Lenguas</i>, trat. 3, cap. vi., p. 311, expresses himself to the +following effect:—‘The proper language of the +Gitános neither is nor can be found amongst those who +scattered themselves through the western kingdoms of Europe, but +only amongst those who remained in the eastern, where they are +still to be found. The former were notably divided and +disunited, receiving into their body a great number of European +outlaws, on which account the language in question was easily +adulterated and soon perished. In Spain, and also in Italy, +the Gitános have totally forgotten and lost their native +language; yet still wishing to converse with each other in a +language unknown to the Spaniards and Italians, they have +invented some words, and have transformed many others by changing +the signification which properly belongs to them in Spanish and +Italian.’ In proof of which assertion he then +exhibits a small number of words of the ‘Red +Italian,’ or allegorical tongue of the thieves of +Italy.</p> +<p>It is much to be lamented that a man like Hervas, so learned, +of such knowledge, and upon the whole well-earned celebrity, +should have helped to propagate three such flagrant errors as are +contained in the passages above quoted: 1st. That the Gypsy +language, within a very short period after the arrival of those +who spoke it in the western kingdoms of Europe, became corrupted, +and perished by the admission of outlaws into the Gypsy +fraternity. 2ndly. That the Gypsies, in order to +supply the loss of their native tongue, invented some words, and +modified others, from the Spanish and Italian. 3rdly. +That the Gypsies of the present day in Spain and Italy speak the +allegorical robber dialect. Concerning the first assertion, +namely, that the Gypsies of the west lost their language shortly +after their arrival, by mixing with the outlaws of those parts, +we believe that its erroneousness will be sufficiently +established by the publication of the present volume, which +contains a dictionary of the Spanish Gitáno, which we have +proved to be the same language in most points as that spoken by +the eastern tribes. There can be no doubt that the Gypsies +have at various times formed alliances with the robbers of +particular countries, but that they ever received them in +considerable numbers into their fraternity, as Hervas has stated, +so as to become confounded with them, the evidence of our +eyesight precludes the possibility of believing. If such +were the fact, why do the Italian and Spanish Gypsies of the +present day still present themselves as a distinct race, +differing from the other inhabitants of the west of Europe in +feature, colour, and constitution? Why are they, in +whatever situation and under whatever circumstances, to be +distinguished, like Jews, from the other children of the +Creator? But it is scarcely necessary to ask such a +question, or indeed to state that the Gypsies of Spain and Italy +have kept themselves as much apart as, or at least have as little +mingled their blood with the Spaniards and Italians as their +brethren in Hungaria and Transylvania with the inhabitants of +those countries, on which account they still strikingly resemble +them in manners, customs, and appearance. The most +extraordinary assertion of Hervas is perhaps his second, namely, +that the Gypsies have invented particular words to supply the +place of others which they had lost. The absurdity of this +supposition nearly induces us to believe that Hervas, who has +written so much and so laboriously on language, was totally +ignorant of the philosophy of his subject. There can be no +doubt, as we have before admitted, that in the robber jargon, +whether spoken in Spain, Italy, or England, there are many words +at whose etymology it is very difficult to arrive; yet such a +fact is no excuse for the adoption of the opinion that these +words are of pure invention. A knowledge of the Rommany +proves satisfactorily that many have been borrowed from that +language, whilst many others may be traced to foreign tongues, +especially the Latin and Italian. Perhaps one of the +strongest grounds for concluding that the origin of language was +divine is the fact that no instance can be adduced of the +invention, we will not say of a language, but even of a single +word that is in use in society of any kind. Although new +dialects are continually being formed, it is only by a system of +modification, by which roots almost coeval with time itself are +continually being reproduced under a fresh appearance, and under +new circumstances. The third assertion of Hervas, as to the +Gitános speaking the allegorical language of which he +exhibits specimens, is entitled to about equal credence as the +two former. The truth is, that the entire store of +erudition of the learned Jesuit, and he doubtless was learned to +a remarkable degree, was derived from books, either printed or +manuscript. He compared the Gypsy words in the publication +of Grellmann with various vocabularies, which had long been in +existence, of the robber jargons of Spain and Italy, which +jargons by a strange fatuity had ever been considered as +belonging to the Gypsies. Finding that the Gypsy words of +Grellmann did not at all correspond with the thieves’ +slang, he concluded that the Gypsies of Spain and Italy had +forgotten their own language, and to supply its place had +invented the jargons aforesaid, but he never gave himself the +trouble to try whether the Gypsies really understood the contents +of his slang vocabularies; had he done so, he would have found +that the slang was about as unintelligible to the Gypsies as he +would have found the specimens of Grellmann unintelligible to the +thieves had he quoted those specimens to them. The Gypsies +of Spain, it will be sufficient to observe, speak the language of +which a vocabulary is given in the present work, and those of +Italy who are generally to be found existing in a half-savage +state in the various ruined castles, relics of the feudal times, +with which Italy abounds, a dialect very similar, and about as +much corrupted. There are, however, to be continually found +in Italy roving bands of Rommany, not natives of the country, who +make excursions from Moldavia and Hungaria to France and Italy, +for the purpose of plunder; and who, if they escape the hand of +justice, return at the expiration of two or three years to their +native regions, with the booty they have amassed by the practice +of those thievish arts, perhaps at one period peculiar to their +race, but at present, for the most part, known and practised by +thieves in general. These bands, however, speak the pure +Gypsy language, with all its grammatical peculiarities. It +is evident, however, that amongst neither of these classes had +Hervas pushed his researches, which had he done, it is probable +that his investigations would have resulted in a work of a far +different character from the confused, unsatisfactory, and +incorrect details of which is formed his essay on the language of +the Gypsies.</p> +<p>Having said thus much concerning the robber language in +general, we shall now proceed to offer some specimens of it, in +order that our readers may be better able to understand its +principles. We shall commence with the Italian dialect, +which there is reason for supposing to be the prototype of the +rest. To show what it is, we avail ourselves of some of the +words adduced by Hervas, as specimens of the language of the +Gitános of Italy. ‘I place them,’ he +observes, ‘with the signification which the greater number +properly have in Italian.’</p> +<table> +<tr> +<td><p> </p> +</td> +<td><p>Robber jargon of Italy.</p> +</td> +<td><p>Proper signification of the words.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Arm</p> +</td> +<td><p>Ale / Barbacane</p> +</td> +<td><p>Wings / Barbican</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Belly</p> +</td> +<td><p>Fagiana</p> +</td> +<td><p>Pheasant</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Devil</p> +</td> +<td><p>Rabuino</p> +</td> +<td><p>Perhaps <i>Rabbin</i>, which, in Hebrew, is Master</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Earth</p> +</td> +<td><p>Calcosa</p> +</td> +<td><p>Street, road</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Eye</p> +</td> +<td><p>Balco</p> +</td> +<td><p>Balcony</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Father</p> +</td> +<td><p>Grimo</p> +</td> +<td><p>Old, wrinkled</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Fire</p> +</td> +<td><p>Presto</p> +</td> +<td><p>Quick</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>God</p> +</td> +<td><p>Anticrotto</p> +</td> +<td><p>Probably Antichrist</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Hair</p> +</td> +<td><p>Prusa <a name="citation346a"></a><a href="#footnote346a" +class="citation">[346a]</a></p> +</td> +<td><p> </p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Head</p> +</td> +<td><p>Elmo / Borella <a name="citation346b"></a><a +href="#footnote346b" class="citation">[346b]</a> / Chiurla <a +name="citation346c"></a><a href="#footnote346c" +class="citation">[346c]</a></p> +</td> +<td><p>Helmet</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Heart</p> +</td> +<td><p>Salsa</p> +</td> +<td><p>Sauce</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Man</p> +</td> +<td><p>Osmo</p> +</td> +<td><p>From the Italian <i>uomo</i>, which is man</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Moon</p> +</td> +<td><p>Mocoloso di Sant’ Alto</p> +</td> +<td><p>Wick of the firmament</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Night</p> +</td> +<td><p>Brunamaterna</p> +</td> +<td><p>Mother-brown</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Nose</p> +</td> +<td><p>Gambaro</p> +</td> +<td><p>Crab</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Sun</p> +</td> +<td><p>Ruffo di Sant’ Alto</p> +</td> +<td><p>Red one of the firmament</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Tongue</p> +</td> +<td><p>Serpentina / Danosa</p> +</td> +<td><p>Serpent-like / Hurtful</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Water</p> +</td> +<td><p>Lenza / Vetta <a name="citation346d"></a><a +href="#footnote346d" class="citation">[346d]</a></p> +</td> +<td><p>Fishing-net / Top, bud</p> +</td> +</tr> +</table> +<p>The Germania of Spain may be said to divide itself into two +dialects, the ancient and modern. Of the former there +exists a vocabulary, published first by Juan Hidalgo, in the year +1609, at Barcelona, and reprinted in Madrid, 1773. Before +noticing this work, it will perhaps be advisable to endeavour to +ascertain the true etymology of the word Germania, which +signifies the slang vocabulary, or robber language of +Spain. We have no intention to embarrass our readers by +offering various conjectures respecting its origin; its sound, +coupled with its signification, affording sufficient evidence +that it is but a corruption of Rommany, which properly denotes +the speech of the Roma or Gitános. The thieves who +from time to time associated with this wandering people, and +acquired more or less of their language, doubtless adopted this +term amongst others, and, after modifying it, applied it to the +peculiar phraseology which, in the course of time, became +prevalent amongst them. The dictionary of Hidalgo is +appended to six ballads, or romances, by the same author, written +in the Germanian dialect, in which he describes the robber life +at Seville at the period in which he lived. All of these +romances possess their peculiar merit, and will doubtless always +be considered valuable, and be read as faithful pictures of +scenes and habits which now no longer exist. In the +prologue, the author states that his principal motive for +publishing a work written in so strange a language was his +observing the damage which resulted from an ignorance of the +Germania, especially to the judges and ministers of justice, +whose charge it is to cleanse the public from the pernicious +gentry who use it. By far the greatest part of the +vocabulary consists of Spanish words used allegorically, which +are, however, intermingled with many others, most of which may be +traced to the Latin and Italian, others to the Sanscrit or +Gitáno, Russian, Arabic, Turkish, Greek, and German +languages. <a name="citation348"></a><a href="#footnote348" +class="citation">[348]</a> The circumstances of words +belonging to some of the languages last enumerated being found in +the Gitáno, which at first may strike the reader as +singular, and almost incredible, will afford but slight surprise, +when he takes into consideration the peculiar circumstances of +Spain during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Spain +was at that period the most powerful monarchy in Europe; her foot +reposed upon the Low Countries, whilst her gigantic arms embraced +a considerable portion of Italy. Maintaining always a +standing army in Flanders and in Italy, it followed as a natural +consequence, that her Miquelets and soldiers became tolerably +conversant with the languages of those countries; and, in course +of time, returning to their native land, not a few, especially of +the former class, a brave and intrepid, but always a lawless and +dissolute species of soldiery, either fell in or returned to evil +society, and introduced words which they had learnt abroad into +the robber phraseology; whilst returned galley-slaves from +Algiers, Tunis, and Tetuan, added to its motley variety of words +from the relics of the broken Arabic and Turkish, which they had +acquired during their captivity. The greater part of the +Germania, however, remained strictly metaphorical, and we are +aware of no better means of conveying an idea of the principle on +which it is formed, than by quoting from the first romance of +Hidalgo, where particular mention is made of this +jargon:—</p> +<blockquote><p>‘A la cama llama Blanda<br /> +Donde Sornan en poblado<br /> +A la Fresada Vellosa,<br /> +Que mucho vello ha criado.<br /> +Dice á la sabana Alba<br /> +Porque es alba en sumo grado,<br /> +A la camisa Carona,<br /> +Al jubon llama apretado:<br /> +Dice al Sayo Tapador<br /> +Porque le lleva tapado.<br /> +Llama á los zapatos Duros,<br /> +Que las piedras van pisando.<br /> +A la capa llama nuve,<br /> +Dice al Sombrero Texado.<br /> +Respeto llama á la Espada,<br /> +Que por ella es respetado,’ etc. etc.</p> +<p style="text-align: right"><span class="smcap">Hidalgo</span>, +p. 22–3.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>After these few remarks on the ancient Germania of Spain, we +now proceed to the modern, which differs considerably from the +former. The principal cause of this difference is to be +attributed to the adoption by the Spanish outlaws, in latter +years, of a considerable number of words belonging to, or +modified from, the Rommany, or language of the +Gitános. The Gitános of Spain, during the +last half-century, having, in a great degree, abandoned the +wandering habit of life which once constituted one of their most +remarkable peculiarities, and residing, at present, more in the +cities than in the fields, have come into closer contact with the +great body of the Spanish nation than was in former days their +practice. From their living thus in towns, their language +has not only undergone much corruption, but has become, to a +slight degree, known to the dregs of society, amongst whom they +reside. The thieves’ dialect of the present day +exhibits, therefore, less of the allegorical language preserved +in the pages of Hidalgo than of the Gypsy tongue. It must +be remarked, however, that it is very scanty, and that the whole +robber phraseology at present used in Spain barely amounts to two +hundred words, which are utterly insufficient to express the very +limited ideas of the outcasts who avail themselves of it.</p> +<p>Concerning the Germania of France, or ‘Argot,’ as +it is called, it is unnecessary to make many observations, as +what has been said of the language of Hidalgo and the Red Italian +is almost in every respect applicable to it. As early as +the middle of the sixteenth century a vocabulary of this jargon +was published under the title of <i>Langue des Escrocs</i>, at +Paris. Those who wish to study it as it at present exists +can do no better than consult <i>Les Mémoires de +Vidocq</i>, where a multitude of words in Argot are to be found, +and also several songs, the subjects of which are thievish +adventures.</p> +<p>The first vocabulary of the ‘Cant Language,’ or +English Germania, appeared in the year 1680, appended to the life +of <i>The English Rogue</i>, a work which, in many respects, +resembles the <i>History of Guzman d’Alfaráche</i>, +though it is written with considerably more genius than the +Spanish novel, every chapter abounding with remarkable adventures +of the robber whose life it pretends to narrate, and which are +described with a kind of ferocious energy, which, if it do not +charm the attention of the reader, at least enslaves it, holding +it captive with a chain of iron. Amongst his other +adventures, the hero falls in with a Gypsy encampment, is +enrolled amongst the fraternity, and is allotted a +‘mort,’ or concubine; a barbarous festival ensues, at +the conclusion of which an epithalamium is sung in the Gypsy +language, as it is called in the work in question. Neither +the epithalamium, however, nor the vocabulary, are written in the +language of the English Gypsies, but in the ‘Cant,’ +or allegorical robber dialect, which is sufficient proof that the +writer, however well acquainted with thieves in general, their +customs and manners of life, was in respect to the Gypsies +profoundly ignorant. His vocabulary, however, has been +always accepted as the speech of the English Gypsies, whereas it +is at most entitled to be considered as the peculiar speech of +the thieves and vagabonds of his time. The cant of the +present day, which, though it differs in some respects from the +vocabulary already mentioned, is radically the same, is used not +only by the thieves in town and country, but by the jockeys of +the racecourse and the pugilists of the ‘ring.’ As a +specimen of the cant of England, we shall take the liberty of +quoting the epithalamium to which we have above +alluded:—</p> +<blockquote><p>‘Bing out, bien morts, and tour and tour<br +/> +Bing out, bien morts and tour;<br /> +For all your duds are bing’d awast,<br /> +The bien cove hath the loure. <a name="citation351"></a><a +href="#footnote351" class="citation">[351]</a></p> +<p>‘I met a dell, I viewed her well,<br /> +She was benship to my watch:<br /> +So she and I did stall and cloy<br /> +Whatever we could catch.</p> +<p>‘This doxy dell can cut ben whids,<br /> +And wap well for a win,<br /> +And prig and cloy so benshiply,<br /> +All daisy-ville within.</p> +<p>‘The hoyle was up, we had good luck,<br /> +In frost for and in snow;<br /> +Men they did seek, then we did creep<br /> +And plant the roughman’s low.’</p> +</blockquote> +<p>It is scarcely necessary to say anything more upon the +Germania in general or in particular; we believe that we have +achieved the task which we marked out for ourselves, and have +conveyed to our readers a clear and distinct idea of what it +is. We have shown that it has been erroneously confounded +with the Rommany, or Gitáno language, with which it has +nevertheless some points of similarity. The two languages +are, at the present day, used for the same purpose, namely, to +enable habitual breakers of the law to carry on their +consultations with more secrecy and privacy than by the ordinary +means. Yet it must not be forgotten that the thieves’ +jargon was invented for that purpose, whilst the Rommany, +originally the proper and only speech of a particular nation, has +been preserved from falling into entire disuse and oblivion, +because adapted to answer the same end. It was impossible +to treat of the Rommany in a manner calculated to exhaust the +subject, and to leave no ground for future cavilling, without +devoting a considerable space to the consideration of the robber +dialect, on which account we hope we shall be excused many of the +dry details which we have introduced into the present +essay. There is a link of connection between the history of +the Roma, or wanderers from Hindustan, who first made their +appearance in Europe at the commencement of the fifteenth +century, and that of modern roguery. Many of the arts which +the Gypsies proudly call their own, and which were perhaps at one +period peculiar to them, have become divulged, and are now +practised by the thievish gentry who infest the various European +states, a result which, we may assert with confidence, was +brought about by the alliance of the Gypsies being eagerly sought +on their first arrival by the thieves, who, at one period, were +less skilful than the former in the ways of deceit and plunder; +which kind of association continued and held good until the +thieves had acquired all they wished to learn, when they left the +Gypsies in the fields and plains, so dear to them from their +vagabond and nomad habits, and returned to the towns and +cities. Yet from this temporary association were produced +two results; European fraud became sharpened by coming into +contact with Asiatic craft, whilst European tongues, by +imperceptible degrees, became recruited with various words (some +of them wonderfully expressive), many of which have long been +stumbling-stocks to the philologist, who, whilst stigmatising +them as words of mere vulgar invention, or of unknown origin, has +been far from dreaming that by a little more research he might +have traced them to the Sclavonic, Persian, or Romaic, or perhaps +to the mysterious object of his veneration, the Sanscrit, <a +name="page354"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 354</span>the sacred +tongue of the palm-covered regions of Ind; words originally +introduced into Europe by objects too miserable to occupy for a +moment his lettered attention—the despised denizens of the +tents of Roma.</p> +<h5>ON THE TERM ‘BUSNO’</h5> +<p>Those who have done me the honour to peruse this strange +wandering book of mine, must frequently have noticed the word +‘Busno,’ a term bestowed by the Spanish Gypsy on his +good friend the Spaniard. As the present will probably be +the last occasion which I shall have to speak of the +Gitános or anything relating to them, it will perhaps be +advisable to explain the meaning of this word. In the +vocabulary appended to former editions I have translated Busno by +such words as Gentile, savage, person who is not a Gypsy, and +have stated that it is probably connected with a certain Sanscrit +noun signifying an impure person. It is, however, derived +immediately from a Hungarian term, exceedingly common amongst the +lower orders of the Magyars, to their disgrace be it +spoken. The Hungarian Gypsies themselves not unfrequently +style the Hungarians Busnoes, in ridicule of their unceasing use +of the word in question. The first Gypsies who entered +Spain doubtless brought with them the term from Hungary, the +language of which country they probably understood to a certain +extent. That it was not ill applied by them in Spain no one +will be disposed to deny when told that it exactly corresponds +with the Shibboleth of the Spaniards, ‘Carajo,’ an +oath equally common in Spain as its equivalent in Hungary. +Busno, therefore, in Spanish means <i>El del carajo</i>, or he +who has that term continually in his mouth. The Hungarian +words in Spanish Gypsy may amount to ten or twelve, a very +inconsiderable number; but the Hungarian Gypsy tongue itself, as +spoken at the present day, exhibits only a slight sprinkling of +Hungarian words, whilst it contains many words borrowed from the +Wallachian, some of which have found their way into Spain, and +are in common use amongst the Gitános.</p> +<h4><a name="page357"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +357</span>SPECIMENS OF GYPSY DIALECTS</h4> +<h5>THE ENGLISH DIALECT OF THE ROMMANY</h5> +<blockquote><p>‘<span class="smcap">Tachipen</span> if I +jaw ’doi, I can lel a bit of tan to hatch: N’etist I +shan’t puch kekomi wafu gorgies.’</p> +</blockquote> +<p>The above sentence, dear reader, I heard from the mouth of Mr. +Petulengro, the last time that he did me the honour to visit me +at my poor house, which was the day after Mol-divvus <a +name="citation359"></a><a href="#footnote359" +class="citation">[359]</a>, 1842: he stayed with me during the +greater part of the morning, discoursing on the affairs of Egypt, +the aspect of which, he assured me, was becoming daily worse and +worse. ‘There is no living for the poor people, +brother,’ said he, ‘the chokengres (police) pursue us +from place to place, and the gorgios are become either so poor or +miserly, that they grudge our cattle a bite of grass by the +wayside, and ourselves a yard of ground to light a fire +upon. Unless times alter, brother, and of that I see no +probability, unless you are made either poknees or mecralliskoe +geiro (justice of the peace or prime minister), I am afraid the +poor persons will have to give up wandering altogether, and then +what will become of them?’</p> +<p>‘However, brother,’ he continued, in a more +cheerful tone, ‘I am no hindity mush, <a +name="citation360a"></a><a href="#footnote360a" +class="citation">[360a]</a> as you well know. I suppose you +have not forgot how, fifteen years ago, when you made horseshoes +in the little dingle by the side of the great north road, I lent +you fifty cottors <a name="citation360b"></a><a +href="#footnote360b" class="citation">[360b]</a> to purchase the +wonderful trotting cob of the innkeeper with the green Newmarket +coat, which three days after you sold for two hundred.</p> +<p>‘Well, brother, if you had wanted the two hundred +instead of the fifty, I could have lent them to you, and would +have done so, for I knew you would not be long pazorrhus to +me. I am no hindity mush, brother, no Irishman; I laid out +the other day twenty pounds in buying ruponoe peamengries; <a +name="citation360c"></a><a href="#footnote360c" +class="citation">[360c]</a> and in the Chonggav, <a +name="citation360d"></a><a href="#footnote360d" +class="citation">[360d]</a> have a house of my own with a yard +behind it.</p> +<blockquote><p>‘<i>And</i>, <i>forsooth</i>, <i>if I go +thither</i>, <i>I can choose a place to light afire upon</i>, +<i>and shall have no necessity to ask leave of these here +Gentiles</i>.’</p> +</blockquote> +<p>Well, dear reader, this last is the translation of the Gypsy +sentence which heads the chapter, and which is a very +characteristic specimen of the general way of speaking of the +English Gypsies.</p> +<p>The language, as they generally speak it, is a broken jargon, +in which few of the grammatical peculiarities of the Rommany are +to be distinguished. In fact, what has been said of the +Spanish Gypsy dialect holds good with respect to the English as +commonly spoken: yet the English dialect has in reality suffered +much less than the Spanish, and still retains its original syntax +to a certain extent, its peculiar manner of conjugating verbs, +and declining nouns and pronouns.</p> +<p style="text-align: center">ENGLISH DIALECT</p> +<blockquote><p>Moro Dad, savo djives oteh drey o charos, te +caumen Gorgio ta Romany Chal tiro nav, te awel tiro tem, te +kairen tiro lav aukko prey puv, sar kairdios oteh drey o +charos. Dey men to-divvus moro divvuskoe moro, ta for-dey +men pazorrhus tukey sar men for-denna len pazorrhus amande; ma +muk te petrenna drey caik temptacionos; ley men abri sor +doschder. Tiro se o tem, Mi-duvel, tiro o zoozlu vast, tiro +sor koskopen drey sor cheros. Avali. Ta-chipen.</p> +</blockquote> +<p style="text-align: center">SPANISH DIALECT</p> +<blockquote><p>Batu monro sos socabas oté enré ye +char, que camele Gacho ta Romani Cha tiro nao, qu’abillele +tiro chim, querese tiro lao acoi opré ye puve sarta se +querela oté enré ye char. Diñanos +sejonia monro manro de cata chibes, ta estormenanos monrias +bisauras sasta mu estormenamos a monrias bisabadores; na nos +meques petrar enré cayque pajandia, lillanos abri de saro +chungalipen. Persos tiro sinela o chim, Undevel, tiro ye +silna bast, tiro saro lachipen enré saro chiros. +Unga. Chachipé.</p> +</blockquote> +<p style="text-align: center"><i>English Translation of the +above</i></p> +<blockquote><p>Our Father who dwellest there in heaven, may +Gentile and Gypsy love thy name, thy kingdom come, may they do +thy word here on earth as it is done there in heaven. Give +us to-day our daily bread, <a name="citation361a"></a><a +href="#footnote361a" class="citation">[361a]</a> and forgive us +indebted to thee as we forgive them indebted to us, <a +name="citation361b"></a><a href="#footnote361b" +class="citation">[361b]</a> suffer not that we fall into +<i>no</i> temptation, take us out from all evil. <a +name="citation361c"></a><a href="#footnote361c" +class="citation">[361c]</a> Thine <a +name="citation361d"></a><a href="#footnote361d" +class="citation">[361d]</a> is the kingdom my God, thine the +strong hand, thine all goodness in all time. Aye. +Truth.</p> +</blockquote> +<h5>HUNGARIAN DIALECT</h5> +<p>The following short sentences in Hungarian Gypsy, in addition +to the prayer to the Virgin given in the Introduction, will +perhaps not prove unacceptable to the reader. In no part of +the world is the Gypsy tongue at the present day spoken with more +purity than in Hungary, <a name="citation362"></a><a +href="#footnote362" class="citation">[362]</a> where it is used +by the Gypsies not only when they wish to be unintelligible to +the Hungarians, but in their common conversation amongst +themselves.</p> +<p>From these sentences the reader, by the help of the +translations which accompany them, may form a tolerable idea not +only of what the Gypsy tongue is, but of the manner in which the +Hungarian Gypsies think and express themselves. They are +specimens of genuine Gypsy talk—sentences which I have +myself heard proceed from the mouths of the Czigany; they are not +Busno thoughts done into gentle Rommany. Some of them are +given here as they were written down by me at the time, others as +I have preserved them in my memory up to the present +moment. It is not improbable that at some future time I may +return to the subject of the Hungarian Gypsies.</p> +<table> +<tr> +<td><p>Varé tava soskei me puchelas cai soskei avillara +catári.</p> +</td> +<td><p>Much I ponder why you ask me (questions), and why you +should come hither.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Mango le gulo Devlas vas o erai, hodj o erai te pirel +misto, te n’avel pascotia l’eras, ta na avel o erai +nasvalo.</p> +</td> +<td><p>I pray the sweet Goddess for the gentleman, that the +gentleman may journey well, that misfortune come not to the +gentleman, and that the gentleman fall not sick.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Cana cames aves pale.</p> +</td> +<td><p>When you please come back.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Ki’som dhes keral avel o rai catari? <a +name="citation363a"></a><a href="#footnote363a" +class="citation">[363a]</a></p> +</td> +<td><p>How many days did the gentleman take to come hither?</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Kit somu berschengro hal tu? <a name="citation363b"></a><a +href="#footnote363b" class="citation">[363b]</a></p> +</td> +<td><p>How many years old are you?</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Cadé abri mai lachi e mol sar ando foro.</p> +</td> +<td><p>Here out better (is) the wine than in the city.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Sin o mas balichano, ta i gorkhe garasheskri; <a +name="citation363c"></a><a href="#footnote363c" +class="citation">[363c]</a> sin o manro parno, cai te felo do +garashangro.</p> +</td> +<td><p>The meat is of pig, and the gherkins cost a +grosh—the bread is white, and the lard costs two +groshen.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Yeck quartalli mol ando lende.</p> +</td> +<td><p>One quart of wine amongst us.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Andé mol oté mestchibo.</p> +</td> +<td><p>In wine there (is) happiness.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Khava piava—dui shel, tri shel predinava.</p> +</td> +<td><p>I will eat, I will drink—two hundred, three hundred +I will place before.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Damen Devla saschipo ando mure cocala.</p> +</td> +<td><p>Give us Goddess health in our bones.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Te rosarow labio tarraco le Mujeskey miro pralesco, ta +vela mi anao tukey le Mujeskey miro pralesky.</p> +</td> +<td><p>I will seek a waistcoat, which I have, for Moses my +brother, and I will change names with Moses my brother. <a +name="citation363d"></a><a href="#footnote363d" +class="citation">[363d]</a></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Llundun baro foro, bishwar mai baro sar Cosvaro.</p> +</td> +<td><p>London (is) a big city, twenty times more big than +Colosvar.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Nani yag, mullas.</p> +</td> +<td><p>There is no fire, it is dead.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Nasiliom cai purdiom but; besh te pansch bersch mi homas +slugadhis pa Baron Splini regimentos.</p> +</td> +<td><p>I have suffered and toiled much: twenty and five years I +was serving in Baron Splini’s regiment.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Saro chiro cado Del; cavo o puro diñas o Del.</p> +</td> +<td><p>Every time (cometh) from God; that old (age) God gave.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Me camov te jav ando Buka-resti—cado Bukaresti +lachico tem dur drom jin keri.</p> +</td> +<td><p>I wish to go unto Bukarest—from Bukarest, the good +country, (it is) a far way unto (my) house.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Mi hom nasvallo.</p> +</td> +<td><p>I am sick.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Soskei nai jas ke baro ful-cheri?</p> +</td> +<td><p>Why do you not go to the great physician</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Wei mangue ke nani man lové nastis jav.</p> +</td> +<td><p>Because I have no money I can’t go</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Belgra sho mille pu cado Cosvarri; hin oter miro +chabo.</p> +</td> +<td><p>Belgrade (is) six miles of land from Colosvar; there is my +son.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Te vas Del l’erangue ke meclan man abri ando a +pan-dibo.</p> +</td> +<td><p>May God help the gentlemen that they let me out (from) in +the prison.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Opré rukh sarkhi ye chiriclo, ca kerel anre e +chiricli.</p> +</td> +<td><p>On the tree (is) the nest of the bird, where makes eggs +the female bird.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Ca hin tiro ker?</p> +</td> +<td><p>Where is your house?</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Ando calo berkho, oter bin miro ker, av prala mensar; jas +mengue keri.</p> +</td> +<td><p>In the black mountain, there is my house; come brother +with me; let us go to my house.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Ando bersch dui chiro, ye ven, ta nilei.</p> +</td> +<td><p>In the year (are) two seasons, the winter and summer.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>O felhegos del o breschino, te purdel o barbal.</p> +</td> +<td><p>The cloud gives the rain, and puffs (forth) the wind.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Hir mi Devlis camo but cavo erai—lacho manus o, +Anglus, tama rakarel Ungarica; avel catari ando urdon le trin +gras-tensas—beshel cate abri po buklo tan; le poivasis ando +bas irinel ando lel. Bo zedun stadji ta bari barba.</p> +</td> +<td><p>By my God I love much that gentleman—a good man he, +an Englishman, but he speaks Hungarian; he came <a +name="citation364a"></a><a href="#footnote364a" +class="citation">[364a]</a> hither in a waggon with three horses, +he sits here out in the wilderness; <a name="citation364b"></a><a +href="#footnote364b" class="citation">[364b]</a> with a pencil in +his hand he writes in a book. He has a green hat and a big +beard.</p> +</td> +</tr> +</table> +<h4><a name="page365"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +365</span>VOCABULARY OF THEIR LANGUAGE</h4> +<p>This section of the book could not be transcribed in 1997 as +it contained many non-european languages and Gutenberg +didn’t support Unicode then. It will be transcribed +at some future point.—DP, August 2019.</p> +<h2><a name="page415"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +415</span>APPENDIX</h2> +<h3>MISCELLANIES IN THE GITÁNO LANGUAGE</h3> +<h4>ADVERTISEMENT</h4> +<p><span class="smcap">It</span> is with the view of preserving +as many as possible of the monuments of the Spanish Gypsy tongue +that the author inserts the following pieces; they are for the +most part, whether original or translated, the productions of the +‘Aficion’ of Seville, of whom something has been said +in the Preface to the Spurious Gypsy Poetry of Andalusia; not the +least remarkable, however, of these pieces is a genuine Gypsy +composition, the translation of the Apostles’ Creed by the +Gypsies of Cordova, made under the circumstances detailed in the +second part of the first volume. To all have been affixed +translations, more or less literal, to assist those who may wish +to form some acquaintance with the Gitáno language.</p> +<h4>COTORRES ON CHIPE CALLI / MISCELLANIES</h4> +<p><span class="smcap">Bato</span> Nonrro sos socabas on o tarpe, +manjirificádo quejésa tute acnao; abillános +or tute sichén, y querese tute orependola andial on la +chen sata on o tarpe; or manrro nonrro de cata chibel +diñanoslo sejoñía, y estormenanos nonrrias +bisauras andial sata gabéres estormenamos á nonrros +bisaraores; y nasti nes muques petrar on la bajanbó, bus +listrabanos de chorre.—Anarania.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Father</span> Our, who dwellest in the +heaven, sanctified become thy name; come-to-us the thy kingdom, +and be-done thy will so in the earth as in the heaven; the bread +our of every day give-us-it to-day, and pardon-us our debts so as +we-others pardon (to) our debtors; and not let us fall in the +temptation, but deliver-us from wickedness.—Amen.</p> +<p>Panchabo on Ostebe Bato saro-asisiláble, Perbaraor de o +tarpe y la chen, y on Gresoné desquero Beyio Chabal +nonrrio Eraño, sos guilló +sar-trujatapucherído per troecane y sardaña de or +Chanispero Manjaro, y pureló de Manjari ostelinda debla; +Bricholó ostelé de or asislar de Brono +Alieñicato; guilló trejuficao, mule y +cabañao; y sundiló á los casinobés, +<a name="citation416"></a><a href="#footnote416" +class="citation">[416]</a> y á or brodeló +chibél repureló de enrre los mulés, y +encalomó á los otarpes, y soscabela bestíque +á la tabastorre de Ostebe Bato saro-asisilable, ende +aotér á de abillar á sarplar á los +Apucheris y mulés. Panchabo on or Chanispero +Manjaró, la Manjari Cangari Pebuldórica y +Rebuldórica, la Erunon de los Manjarós, or +Estormén de los crejétes, la repureló de la +mansenquere y la chibibén verable.—Anarania, +Tebléque.</p> +<p>I believe in God, Father all-powerful, creator of the heaven +and the earth, and in Christ his only Son our Lord, who went +conceived by deed and favour of the Spirit Holy, and born of +blessed goddess divine; suffered under (of) the might of Bronos +Alienicatos; <a name="citation417a"></a><a href="#footnote417a" +class="citation">[417a]</a> went crucified, dead and buried; and +descended to the conflagrations, and on the third day revived <a +name="citation417b"></a><a href="#footnote417b" +class="citation">[417b]</a> from among the dead, and ascended to +the heavens, and dwells seated at the right-hand of God, Father +all-powerful, from there he-has to come to impeach (to) the +living and dead. I believe in the Spirit Holy, the Holy +Church Catholic and Apostolic, the communion of the saints, the +remission of the sins, the re-birth of the flesh, and the life +everlasting.—Amen, Jesus.</p> +<h4>OCANAJIMIA A LA DEBLA / PRAYER TO THE VIRGIN</h4> +<p>O Débla quirindía, Day de sarós los +Bordeles on coin panchabo: per los duquipénes sos +naquelástes á or pindré de la trejúl +de tute Chaborró majarolísimo te manguélo, +Débla, me alcorabíses de tute chaborró or +estormén de sares las dojis y crejétes sos menda +udicáre aquerao on andoba surdéte.—Anarania, +Tebléque.</p> +<p>Ostebé te berarbe Ostelinda! perdoripe sirles de +sardañá; or Erañó sin sartute; +bresban tute sirles enrré sares las rumiles, y bresban sin +or frujero de tute po.—Tebléque.</p> +<p>Manjari Ostelinda, day de Ostebé, brichardila per +gabéres crejetaóres aocaná y on la ocana de +nonrra beribén!—Anarania, Tebléque.</p> +<p>Chimuclani or Bato, or Chabal, or Chanispero manjaró; +sata sia on or presimelo, aocana, y gajeres: on los sicles de los +sicles.—Anarania.</p> +<p>O most holy Virgin, Mother of all the Christians in whom I +believe; for the agony which thou didst endure at the foot of the +cross of thy most blessed Son, I entreat thee, Virgin, that thou +wilt obtain for me, from thy Son, the remission of all the crimes +and sins which I may have committed in this world.—Amen, +Jesus.</p> +<p>God save thee, Maria! full art thou of grace; the Lord is with +thee; blessed art thou amongst all women, and blessed is the +fruit of thy womb.—Jesus.</p> +<p>Holy Maria, mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and in the +hour of our death!—Amen, Jesus.</p> +<p>Glory (to) the Father, the Son, (and) the Holy Ghost; as was +in the beginning, now, and for ever: in the ages of the +ages.—Amen.</p> +<h4>OR CREDO / THE CREED<br /> +SARTA LO CHIBELARON LOS CALES DE CORDOVATI / TRANSLATED BY THE +GYSPIES OF CORDOVA</h4> +<p>Pachabélo en Un-debel batu tosaro-baro, que ha querdi +el char y la chiqué; y en Un-debél chinoró +su unico chaboró eraño de amangue, que chaló +en el trupo de la Majarí por el Duquende Majoró, y +abió del veo de la Majarí; guilló +curádo debájo de la sila de Pontio Piláto el +chínobaró; guilló mulo y garabado; se +chalé á las jacháris; al trin chibé +se ha sicobádo de los mulés al char; sinéla +bejádo á las baste de Un-debél +barreá; y de oté abiará á juzgar +á los mulés y á los que no lo +sinélan; pachabélo en el Majaró; la +Cangrí Majarí bareá; el jalar de los +Majaries; lo mecó de los grécos; la resureccion de +la maas, y la ochi que no maréla.</p> +<p>I believe in God the Father all-great, who has made the heaven +and the earth; and in God the young, his only Son, the Lord of +us, who went into the body of the blessed (maid) by (means of) +the Holy Ghost, and came out of the womb of the blessed; he was +tormented beneath the power of Pontius Pilate, the great +Alguazil; was dead and buried; he went (down) to the fires; on +the third day he raised himself from the dead unto the heaven; he +is seated at the major hand of God; and from thence he shall come +to judge the dead and those who are not (dead). I believe +in the blessed one; in the church holy and great; the banquet of +the saints; the remission of sins; the resurrection of the flesh, +and the life which does not die.</p> +<h4>REJELENDRES / PROVERBS</h4> +<p>Or soscabela juco y teráble garipé no le sin +perfiné anelar relichi.</p> +<p>Bus yes manupe cha machagarno le pendan chuchipon los +brochabos.</p> +<p>Sacais sos ne dicobélan calochin ne +bridaquélan.</p> +<p>Coin terelare trasardos e dinastes nasti le buchare +berrandáñas á desquero contiqué.</p> +<p>On sares las cachimanes de Sersen abillen rechés.</p> +<p>Bus mola yes chirriclo on la ba sos grés balogando.</p> +<p>A Ostebé brichardilando y sar or mochique +diñelando.</p> +<p>Bus mola quesar jero de gabuño sos manporí de +bombardo.</p> +<p>Dicár y panchabár, sata penda Manjaró +Lillar.</p> +<p>Or esorjié de or narsichislé sin chismar +lachinguél.</p> +<p>Las queles mistos grobelás: per macara chibel la +pirí y de rachi la operisa.</p> +<p>Aunsos me dicas vriardao de jorpoy ne sirlo braco.</p> +<p>Chachipé con jujána—Calzones de +buchí y medias de lana.</p> +<p>Chuquel sos piréla cocal teréla.</p> +<p>Len sos sonsi bela pani ó reblandani teréla.</p> +<p>He who is lean and has scabs needs not carry a net. <a +name="citation419a"></a><a href="#footnote419a" +class="citation">[419a]</a></p> +<p>When a man goes drunk the boys say to him ‘suet.’ +<a name="citation419b"></a><a href="#footnote419b" +class="citation">[419b]</a></p> +<p>Eyes which see not break no heart.</p> +<p>He who has a roof of glass let him not fling stones at his +neighbour.</p> +<p>Into all the taverns of Spain may reeds come.</p> +<p>A bird in the hand is worth more than a hundred flying.</p> +<p>To God (be) praying and with the flail plying.</p> +<p>It is worth more to be the head of a mouse than the tail of a +lion.</p> +<p>To see and to believe, as Saint Thomas says.</p> +<p>The extreme <a name="citation421a"></a><a href="#footnote421a" +class="citation">[421a]</a> of a dwarf is to spit largely.</p> +<p>Houses well managed:—at mid-day the stew-pan, <a +name="citation421b"></a><a href="#footnote421b" +class="citation">[421b]</a> and at night salad.</p> +<p>Although thou seest me dressed in wool I am no sheep.</p> +<p>Truth with falsehood-Breeches of silk and stockings of Wool. +<a name="citation421c"></a><a href="#footnote421c" +class="citation">[421c]</a></p> +<p>The dog who walks finds a bone.</p> +<p>The river which makes a noise <a name="citation421d"></a><a +href="#footnote421d" class="citation">[421d]</a> has either water +or stones.</p> +<h4>ODORES YE TILICHE / THE LOVER’S JEALOUSY</h4> +<p>Dica Callí sos linastes terelas, plasarandote misto men +calochin desquiñao de trinchas puñís y +canrrias, sata anjella terelaba dicando on los chorres naquelos +sos me tesumiaste, y andial reutilá á men +Jelí, diñela gao á sos menda orobibele; men +puñi sin trincha per la quimbíla nevel de yes manu +barbaló; sos saro se muca per or jandorro. Lo sos +bus prejeno Callí de los Bengorros sin sos nu muqueis per +yes manú barbalo. . . . On tute orchíri nu chismo, +tramistó on coin te araquera, sos menda terela men nostus +pa avel sos me caméla bus sos túte.</p> +<p>Reflect, O Callee! <a name="citation421e"></a><a +href="#footnote421e" class="citation">[421e]</a> what motives +hast thou (now that my heart is doting on thee, having rested +awhile from so many cares and griefs which formerly it endured, +beholding the evil passages which thou preparedst for me;) to +recede thus from my love, giving occasion to me to weep. My +agony is great on account of thy recent acquaintance with a rich +man; for every thing is abandoned for money’s sake. +What I most feel, O Callee, of the devils is, that thou +abandonest me for a rich man . . . I spit upon thy beauty, and +also upon him who converses with thee, for I keep my money for +another who loves me more than thou.</p> +<h4>OR PERSIBARARSE SIN CHORO / THE EVILS OF CONCUBINAGE</h4> +<p>Gajeres sin corbó rifian soscabar yes manu +persibaraó, per sos saro se linbidían odoros y +besllí, y per esegritón apuchelan on +sardañá de saros los Benjes, techescándo +grejos y olajais—de sustíri sos lo resaronomó +niquilla murmo; y andial lo fendi sos terelamos de querar sin +techescarle yes sulibári á or Jelí, y ne +panchabar on caute manusardí, persos trutan á +yesque lilí.</p> +<p>It is always a strange danger for a man to live in +concubinage, because all turns to jealousy and quarrelling, and +at last they live in the favour of all the devils, voiding oaths +and curses: so that what is cheap turns out dear. So the +best we can do, is to cast a bridle on love, and trust to no +woman, for they <a name="citation423a"></a><a +href="#footnote423a" class="citation">[423a]</a> make a man +mad.</p> +<h4>LOS CHORES / THE ROBBERS</h4> +<p>On grejelo chiro begoreó yesque berbanilla de chores +á la burda de yes mostipelo a oleba +rachí—Andial sos la prejenáron los +cambraís presimeláron a cobadrar; sar andoba +linaste changanó or lanbró, se +sustiñó de la charipé de lapa, utiló +la pusca, y niquilló platanando per or platesqueró +de or mostipelo á la burda sos socabelába +pandí, y per or jobi de la clichí chibeló or +jundró de la pusca, le diñó pesquibo +á or languté, y le sumuqueló yes +bruchasnó on la tesquéra á or +Jojerián de los ostilaóres y lo techescó de +or gráte á ostelé. Andial sos los +debus quimbilos dicobeláron á desquero Jojerian on +chen sar las canrriáles de la Beriben, lo +chibeláron espusifias á los grastes, y +niquilláron chapescando, trutando la romuy apála, +per bausalé de las machas ó almedálles de +liripió.</p> +<p>On a certain time arrived a band of thieves at the gate of a +farm-house at midnight. So soon as the dogs heard them they +began to bark, which causing <a name="citation423b"></a><a +href="#footnote423b" class="citation">[423b]</a> the labourer to +awake, he raised himself from his bed with a start, took his +musket, and went running to the court-yard of the farm-house to +the gate, which was shut, placed the barrel of his musket to the +keyhole, gave his finger its desire, <a +name="citation423c"></a><a href="#footnote423c" +class="citation">[423c]</a> and sent a bullet into the forehead +of the captain of the robbers, casting him down from his +horse. Soon as the other fellows saw their captain on the +ground in the agonies of death, they clapped spurs to their +horses, and galloped off fleeing, turning their faces back on +account of the flies <a name="citation423d"></a><a +href="#footnote423d" class="citation">[423d]</a> or almonds of +lead.</p> +<h4>COTOR YE GABICOTE MAJARO / SPECIMEN OF THE GOSPEL<br /> +OR SOS SARO LO HA CHIBADO EN CHIPE CALLI OR RANDADOR DE OCONOS +PAPIRIS AUNSOS NARDIAN LO HA DINADO AL SURDETE / FROM THE +AUTHOR’S UNPUBLISHED TRANSLATION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT</h4> +<p>Y soscabando dicando dicó los Barbalós sos +techescában desqueros mansis on or Gazofilacio; y +dicó tramisto yesque pispiricha chorrorita, sos +techescába duis chinorris sarabállis, y +peneló: en chachipé os peneló, sos caba +chorrorri pispiricha á techescao bus sos sares los +avéles: persos saros ondobas han techescao per los mansis +de Ostebé, de lo sos les costuña; bus caba e +desquero chorrorri á techescao saro or susalo sos +terelaba. Y pendó á cormuñís, +sos pendában del cangaripé, soscabelaba uriardao de +orchíris berrandáñas, y de dénes: +Cabas buchis sos dicais, abillarán chibeles, bus ne +muquelará berrandáña costuñé +berrandáña, sos ne quesesa demarabeá. +Y le prucháron y pendáron: Docurdó, bus +quesa ondoba? Y sos simachi abicará bus ondoba +presimáre? Ondole pencló: Dicad, sos nasti +queseis jonjabaos; persos butes abillarán on men acnao, +pendando: man sirlo, y or chiro soscabéla pajes: Garabaos +de guillelar apalà, de ondoláyos: y bus junureis +bargañas y sustiñés, ne os espajuéis; +persos sin perfiné sos ondoba chundée +brotobó, bus nasti quesa escotriá or +egresitón. Oclinde les pendaba: se sustinará +suéste sartra suéste, y sichén sartra +sichén, y abicará bareles dajirós de +chénes per los gaos, y retréques y bocátas, +y abicará buchengerés espajuis, y bareles simachis +de otárpe: bus anjella de saro ondoba os +sinastrarán y preguillarán, enregandoós +á la Socretería, y los ostardós, y os +legerarán á los Ocláyes, y á los +Baquedunis, per men acnao: y ondoba os chundeará on +chachipé. Terelad pus seraji on bros +garlochínes de ne orobrár anjella sata +abicáis de brudilar, persos man os diñaré +rotuñí y chanár, la sos ne asislarán +resistír ne sartra pendar satos bros enormes. Y +quesaréis enregaos de bros bátos, y oprános, +y sastris, y monrrores, y querarán merar á +cormuñí de avéres; y os cangelarán +saros per men acnao; bus ne carjibará ies bal de bros +jerós. Sar bras opachirimá avelaréis +bras orchis: pus bus dicaréis á Jerusalén +relli, oclinde chanad sos, desqueró petra soscabela +pajés; oclinde los soscabelan on la Chutéa, +chapésguen á los tober-jélis; y los que on +macara de ondolaya, niquillense; y lo sos on los +oltariqués, nasti enrren on ondoláya; persos ondoba +sen chibéles de Abilláza, pa sos chundéen +sares las buchís soscabélan libanás; bus +isna de las ararís, y de las sos diñan de oropielar +on asirios chibéles; persos abicará bare +quichartúra costuñe la chen, e guillará pa +andoba Gao; y petrarán á surabi de janrró; y +quesan legeraos sinastros á sarés las +chénes, y Jerusalén quesá omaná de +los suestíles, sasta sos quejesen los chirós de las +sichenes; y abicara simachés on or orcán, y on la +chimutiá, y on las uchurgañis; y on la chen +chalabeó on la suéte per or dán sos +bausalará la loria y des-querós gulas; +muquelándo los romáres bifaos per dajiraló +de las buchís sos costuñe abillarán á +saro or surdéte; persos los soláres de los otarpes +quesan sar-chalabeaos; y oclinde dicarán á or +Chaboró e Manú abillar costuñe yesque +minrriclá sar baro asislar y Chimusolano: bus presimelaren +á chundear caba buchis, dicád, y +sustiñád bros jerós, persos pajes soscabela +bras redención.</p> +<p>And whilst looking he saw the rich who cast their treasures +into the treasury; and he saw also a poor widow, who cast two +small coins, and he said: In truth I tell you, that this poor +widow has cast more than all the others; because all those have +cast, as offerings to God, from that which to them abounded; but +she from her poverty has cast all the substance which she +had. And he said to some, who said of the temple, that it +was adorned with fair stones, and with gifts: These things which +ye see, days shall come, when stone shall not remain upon stone, +which shall not be demolished. And they asked him and said: +Master, when shall this be? and what sign shall there be when +this begins? He said: See, that ye be not deceived, because +many shall come in my name, saying: I am (he), and the time is +near: beware ye of going after them: and when ye shall hear (of) +wars and revolts do not fear, because it is needful that this +happen first, for the end shall not be immediately. Then he +said to them: Nation shall rise against nation, and country +against country, and there shall be great tremblings of earth +among the towns, and pestilences and famines; and there shall be +frightful things, and great signs in the heaven: but before all +this they shall make ye captive, and shall persecute, delivering +ye over to the synagogue, and prisons; and they shall carry ye to +the kings, and the governors, on account of my name: and this +shall happen to you for truth. Keep then firm in your +hearts, not to think before how ye have to answer, for I will +give you mouth and wisdom, which all your enemies shall not be +able to resist, or contradict. And ye shall be delivered +over by your fathers, and brothers, and relations, and friends, +and they shall put to death some of you; and all shall hate you +for my name; but not one hair of your heads shall perish. +With your patience ye shall possess your souls: but when ye shall +see Jerusalem surrounded, then know that its fall is near; then +those who are in Judea, let them escape to the mountains; and +those who are in the midst of her, let them go out; and those who +are in the fields, let them not enter into her; because those are +days of vengeance, that all the things which are written may +happen; but alas to the pregnant and those who give suck in those +days, for there shall be great distress upon the earth, and it +shall move onward against this people; and they shall fall by the +edge of the sword; and they shall be carried captive to all the +countries, and Jerusalem shall be trodden by the nations, until +are accomplished the times of the nations; and there shall be +signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and in the +earth trouble of nations from the fear which the sea and its +billows shall cause; leaving men frozen with terror of the things +which shall come upon all the world; because the powers of the +heavens shall be shaken; and then they shall see the Son of Man +coming upon a cloud with great power and glory: when these things +begin to happen, look ye, and raise your heads, for your +redemption is near.</p> +<h3><a name="page428"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 428</span>THE +ENGLISH DIALECT OF THE ROMMANY</h3> +<blockquote><p>‘<span class="smcap">Tachipen</span> if I +jaw ‘doi, I can lel a bit of tan to hatch: N’etist I +shan’t puch kekomi wafu gorgies.’</p> +</blockquote> +<p>The above sentence, dear reader, I heard from the mouth of Mr. +Petulengro, the last time that he did me the honour to visit me +at my poor house, which was the day after Mol-divvus, <a +name="citation428a"></a><a href="#footnote428a" +class="citation">[428a]</a> 1842: he stayed with me during the +greatest part of the morning, discoursing on the affairs of +Egypt, the aspect of which, he assured me, was becoming daily +worse and worse. ‘There is no living for the poor +people, brother,’ said he, ‘the chok-engres (police) +pursue us from place to place, and the gorgios are become either +so poor or miserly, that they grudge our cattle a bite of grass +by the way side, and ourselves a yard of ground to light a fire +upon. Unless times alter, brother, and of that I see no +probability, unless you are made either poknees or mecralliskoe +geiro (justice of the peace or prime minister), I am afraid the +poor persons will have to give up wandering altogether, and then +what will become of them?</p> +<p>‘However, brother,’ he continued, in a more +cheerful tone, ‘I am no hindity mush, <a +name="citation428b"></a><a href="#footnote428b" +class="citation">[428b]</a> as you well know. I suppose you +have not forgot how, fifteen years ago, when you made horse-shoes +in the little dingle by the side of the great north road, I lent +you fifty cottors <a name="citation428c"></a><a +href="#footnote428c" class="citation">[428c]</a> to purchase the +wonderful trotting cob of the innkeeper with the green Newmarket +coat, which three days after you sold for two hundred.</p> +<p>‘Well, brother, if you had wanted the two hundred, +instead of the fifty, I could have lent them to you, and would +have done so, for I knew you would not be long pazorrhus to +me. I am no hindity mush, brother, no Irishman; I laid out +the other day twenty pounds in buying rupenoe peam-engries; <a +name="citation429a"></a><a href="#footnote429a" +class="citation">[429a]</a> and in the Chong-gav, <a +name="citation429b"></a><a href="#footnote429b" +class="citation">[429b]</a> have a house of my own with a yard +behind it.</p> +<p>‘<i>And</i>, <i>forsooth</i>, <i>if I go thither</i>, +<i>I can choose a place to light a fire upon</i>, <i>and shall +have no necessity to ask leave of these here +Gentiles</i>.’</p> +<p>Well, dear reader, this last is the translation of the Gypsy +sentence which heads the chapter, and which is a very +characteristic specimen of the general way of speaking of the +English Gypsies.</p> +<p>The language, as they generally speak it, is a broken jargon, +in which few of the grammatical peculiarities of the Rommany are +to be distinguished. In fact, what has been said of the +Spanish Gypsy dialect holds good with respect to the English as +commonly spoken: yet the English dialect has in reality suffered +much less than the Spanish, and still retains its original syntax +to a certain extent, its peculiar manner of conjugating verbs, +and declining nouns and pronouns. I must, however, qualify +this last assertion, by observing that in the genuine Rommany +there are no prepositions, but, on the contrary, post-positions; +now, in the case of the English dialect, these post-positions +have been lost, and their want, with the exception of the +genitive, has been supplied with English prepositions, as may be +seen by a short example:—</p> +<table> +<tr> +<td><p>Hungarian Gypsy. <a name="citation429c"></a><a +href="#footnote429c" class="citation">[429c]</a></p> +</td> +<td><p>English Gypsy.</p> +</td> +<td><p>English.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Job</p> +</td> +<td><p>Yow</p> +</td> +<td><p>He</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Leste</p> +</td> +<td><p>Leste</p> +</td> +<td><p>Of him</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Las</p> +</td> +<td><p>Las</p> +</td> +<td><p>To him</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Les</p> +</td> +<td><p>Los</p> +</td> +<td><p>Him</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Lester</p> +</td> +<td><p>From leste</p> +</td> +<td><p>From him</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Leha</p> +</td> +<td><p>With leste</p> +</td> +<td><p>With him</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="3"><p style="text-align: center">PLURAL.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Jole</p> +</td> +<td><p>Yaun</p> +</td> +<td><p>They</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Lente</p> +</td> +<td><p>Lente</p> +</td> +<td><p>Of them</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Len</p> +</td> +<td><p>Len</p> +</td> +<td><p>To them</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Len</p> +</td> +<td><p>Len</p> +</td> +<td><p>Them</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Lender</p> +</td> +<td><p>From Lende</p> +</td> +<td><p>From them</p> +</td> +</tr> +</table> +<p>The following comparison of words selected at random from the +English and Spanish dialects of the Rommany will, perhaps, not be +uninteresting to the philologist or even to the general +reader. Could a doubt be at present entertained that the +Gypsy language is virtually the same in all parts of the world +where it is spoken, I conceive that such a vocabulary would at +once remove it.</p> +<table> +<tr> +<td><p> </p> +</td> +<td><p>English Gypsy.</p> +</td> +<td><p>Spanish Gypsy.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Ant</p> +</td> +<td><p>Cria</p> +</td> +<td><p>Crianse</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Bread</p> +</td> +<td><p>Morro</p> +</td> +<td><p>Manro</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>City</p> +</td> +<td><p>Forus</p> +</td> +<td><p>Foros</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Dead</p> +</td> +<td><p>Mulo</p> +</td> +<td><p>Mulo</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Enough</p> +</td> +<td><p>Dosta</p> +</td> +<td><p>Dosta</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Fish</p> +</td> +<td><p>Matcho</p> +</td> +<td><p>Macho</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Great</p> +</td> +<td><p>Boro</p> +</td> +<td><p>Baro</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>House</p> +</td> +<td><p>Ker</p> +</td> +<td><p>Quer</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Iron</p> +</td> +<td><p>Saster</p> +</td> +<td><p>Sas</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>King</p> +</td> +<td><p>Krallis</p> +</td> +<td><p>Crális</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Love(I)</p> +</td> +<td><p>Camova</p> +</td> +<td><p>Camelo</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Moon</p> +</td> +<td><p>Tchun</p> +</td> +<td><p>Chimutra</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Night</p> +</td> +<td><p>Rarde</p> +</td> +<td><p>Rati</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Onion</p> +</td> +<td><p>Purrum</p> +</td> +<td><p>Porumia</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Poison</p> +</td> +<td><p>Drav</p> +</td> +<td><p>Drao</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Quick</p> +</td> +<td><p>Sig</p> +</td> +<td><p>Sigo</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Rain</p> +</td> +<td><p>Brishindo</p> +</td> +<td><p>Brejindal</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Sunday</p> +</td> +<td><p>Koorokey</p> +</td> +<td><p>Curque</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Teeth</p> +</td> +<td><p>Danor</p> +</td> +<td><p>Dani</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Village</p> +</td> +<td><p>Gav</p> +</td> +<td><p>Gao</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>White</p> +</td> +<td><p>Pauno</p> +</td> +<td><p>Parno</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Yes</p> +</td> +<td><p>Avalí</p> +</td> +<td><p>Ungalé</p> +</td> +</tr> +</table> +<p>As specimens of how the English dialect maybe written, the +following translations of the Lord’s Prayer and Belief will +perhaps suffice.</p> +<h4>THE LORD’S PRAYER</h4> +<p>Míry dad, odoi oprey adrey tíro tatcho tan; +Medeveleskoe si tíro nav; awel tiro tem, be kairdo tiro +lav acoi drey pov sá odoi adrey kosgo tan: dey mande +ke-divvus miry diry morro, ta fordel man sor so mé +pazzorrus tute, sá mé fordel sor so wavior mushor +pazzorrus amande; ma riggur man adrey kek dosch, ley man abri sor +wafodu; tiro se o tem, tíro or zoozli-wast, tiro or +corauni, kanaw ta ever-komi. Avali. Tatchipen.</p> +<h5>LITERAL TRANSLATION</h5> +<p>My Father, yonder up within thy good place; god-like be thy +name; come thy kingdom, be done thy word here in earth as yonder +in good place. Give to me to-day my dear bread, and forgive +me all that I am indebted to thee, as I forgive all that other +men are indebted to me; not lead me into any ill; take me out +(of) all evil; thine is the kingdom, thine the strong hand, thine +the crown, now and evermore. Yea. Truth.</p> +<h4>THE BELIEF</h4> +<p>Mé apasavenna drey mi-dovvel, Dad soro-ruslo, savo +kedas charvus ta pov: apasavenna drey olescro yeck chavo moro +arauno Christos, lias medeveleskoe Baval-engro, beano of wendror +of medeveleskoe gairy Mary: kurredo tuley me-cralliskoe geiro +Pontius Pilaten wast; nasko pré rukh, moreno, chivios +adrey o hev; jas yov tuley o kálo dron ke wafudo tan, +bengeskoe stariben; jongorasa o trito divvus, atchasa opré +to tatcho tan, Mí-dovvels kair; bestela kanaw odoi +pré Mi-dovvels tacho wast Dad soro-boro; ava sig to lel +shoonaben opré mestepen and merripen. Apasa-venna en +develeskoe Baval-engro; Boro develeskoe congrí, develeskoe +pios of sore tacho foky ketteney, soror wafudu-pénes +fordias, soror mulor jongorella, kek merella apopli. +Avalí, palor.</p> +<h5>LITERAL TRANSLATION</h5> +<p>I believe in my God, Father all powerful, who made heaven and +earth; I believe in his one Son our Lord Christ, conceived by +Holy Ghost, <a name="citation432"></a><a href="#footnote432" +class="citation">[432]</a> born of bowels of Holy Virgin Mary, +beaten under the royal governor Pontius Pilate’s hand; hung +on a tree, slain, put into the grave; went he down the black road +to bad place, the devil’s prison; he awaked the third day, +ascended up to good place, my God’s house; sits now there +on my God’s right hand Father-all-powerful; shall come soon +to hold judgment over life and death. I believe in Holy +Ghost; Great Holy Church, Holy festival of all good people +together, all sins forgiveness, that all dead arise, no more die +again. Yea, brothers.</p> +<h4>SPECIMEN OF A SONG IN THE VULGAR OR BROKEN ROMMANY</h4> +<p>As I was a jawing to the gav yeck divvus,<br /> +I met on the dron miro Rommany chi:<br /> +I puch’d yoi whether she com sar mande;<br /> +And she penn’d: tu si wafo Rommany,</p> +<p>And I penn’d, I shall ker tu miro tacho Rommany,<br /> +Fornigh tute but dui chavé:<br /> +Methinks I’ll cam tute for miro merripen,<br /> +If tu but pen, thou wilt commo sar mande.</p> +<h5>TRANSLATION</h5> +<p>One day as I was going to the village,<br /> +I met on the road my Rommany lass:<br /> +I ask’d her whether she would come with me,<br /> +And she said thou hast another wife.</p> +<p>I said, I will make thee my lawful wife,<br /> +Because thou hast but two children;<br /> +Methinks I will love thee until my death,<br /> +If thou but say thou wilt come with me.</p> +<p>Many other specimens of the English Gypsy muse might be here +adduced; it is probable, however, that the above will have fully +satisfied the curiosity of the reader. It has been inserted +here for the purpose of showing that the Gypsies have songs in +their own language, a fact which has been denied. In its +metre it resembles the ancient Sclavonian ballads, with which it +has another feature in common—the absence of rhyme.</p> +<h2>FOOTNOTES</h2> +<p><a name="footnote0"></a><a href="#citation0" +class="footnote">[0]</a> Although the present edition is +only in one volume, Borrow’s original references to the two +volumes in the above Dedication and the Preface have been +retained.</p> +<p><a name="footnote1"></a><a href="#citation1" +class="footnote">[1]</a> <i>Quarterly Review</i>, Dec. +1842</p> +<p><a name="footnote2"></a><a href="#citation2" +class="footnote">[2]</a> <i>Edinburgh Review</i>, Feb. +1843.</p> +<p><a name="footnote3"></a><a href="#citation3" +class="footnote">[3]</a> <i>Examiner</i>, Dec. 17, +1842.</p> +<p><a name="footnote4"></a><a href="#citation4" +class="footnote">[4]</a> <i>Spectator</i>, Dec. 7, +1842.</p> +<p><a name="footnote5"></a><a href="#citation5" +class="footnote">[5]</a> Thou speakest well, brother!</p> +<p><a name="footnote6"></a><a href="#citation6" +class="footnote">[6]</a> This is quite a mistake: I know +very little of what has been written concerning these people: +even the work of Grellmann had not come beneath my perusal at the +time of the publication of the first edition of <i>The +Zincali</i>, which I certainly do not regret: for though I +believe the learned German to be quite right in his theory with +respect to the origin of the Gypsies, his acquaintance with their +character, habits, and peculiarities, seems to have been +extremely limited.</p> +<p><a name="footnote7"></a><a href="#citation7" +class="footnote">[7]</a> Good day.</p> +<p><a name="footnote8"></a><a href="#citation8" +class="footnote">[8]</a> Glandered horse.</p> +<p><a name="footnote9"></a><a href="#citation9" +class="footnote">[9]</a> Two brothers.</p> +<p><a name="footnote10"></a><a href="#citation10" +class="footnote">[10]</a> The edition here referred to has +long since been out of print.</p> +<p><a name="footnote25"></a><a href="#citation25" +class="footnote">[25]</a> It may not be amiss to give the +etymology of the word engro, which so frequently occurs in +compound words in the English Gypsy tongue:—the <i>en</i> +properly belongs to the preceding noun, being one of the forms of +the genitive case; for example, Elik-<i>en</i> boro congry, the +great Church or Cathedral of Ely; the <i>gro</i> or <i>geiro</i> +(Spanish <i>guero</i>), is the Sanscrit <i>kar</i>, a particle +much used in that language in the formation of compounds; I need +scarcely add that <i>monger</i> in the English words +Costermonger, Ironmonger, etc., is derived from the same +root.</p> +<p><a name="footnote26"></a><a href="#citation26" +class="footnote">[26]</a> For the knowledge of this fact I +am indebted to the well-known and enterprising traveller, Mr. +Vigne, whose highly interesting work on Cashmire and the Panjab +requires no recommendation from me.</p> +<p><a name="footnote28"></a><a href="#citation28" +class="footnote">[28]</a> Gorgio (Spanish <i>gacho</i>), a +man who is not a Gypsy: the Spanish Gypsies term the Gentiles +Busne, the meaning of which word will be explained farther +on.</p> +<p><a name="footnote36"></a><a href="#citation36" +class="footnote">[36]</a> An Eastern image tantamount to +the taking away of life.</p> +<p><a name="footnote37"></a><a href="#citation37" +class="footnote">[37]</a> Gentes non multum +morigeratæ, sed quasi bruta animalia et furentes. See +vol. xxii. of the Supplement to the works of Muratori, p. +890.</p> +<p><a name="footnote43"></a><a href="#citation43" +class="footnote">[43]</a> As quoted by Hervas: <i>Catalogo +de las Lenguas</i>, vol. iii. p. 306.</p> +<p><a name="footnote54"></a><a href="#citation54" +class="footnote">[54]</a> We have found this beautiful +metaphor both in Gypsy and Spanish; it runs thus in the former +language:—</p> +<blockquote><p>‘<span class="smcap">Las +Muchis</span>. (The Sparks.)</p> +<p>‘Bus de gres chabalas orchiris man diqué á +yes chiro purelar sistilias sata rujias, y or sisli carjibal +diñando trutas discandas.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><a name="footnote69"></a><a href="#citation69" +class="footnote">[69]</a> In the above little tale the +writer confesses that there are many things purely imaginary; the +most material point, however, the attempt to sack the town during +the pestilence, which was defeated by the courage and activity of +an individual, rests on historical evidence the most +satisfactory. It is thus mentioned in the work of Francisco +de Cordova (he was surnamed Cordova from having been for many +years canon in that city):—</p> +<blockquote><p>‘Annis præteritis Iuliobrigam urbem, +vulgo Logroño, pestilenti laborantem morbo, et hominibus +vacuam invadere hi ac diripere tentarunt, perfecissentque ni Dens +O. M. cuiusdam <i>bibliopolæ</i> opera, in corum, capita, +quam urbi moliebantur perniciem avertisset.’ +<i>Didascalia</i>, Lugduni, 1615, I vol. 8VO. p. 405, cap. +50.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><a name="footnote79"></a><a href="#citation79" +class="footnote">[79]</a> Yet notwithstanding that we +refuse credit to these particular narrations of Quiñones +and Fajardo, acts of cannibalism may certainly have been +perpetrated by the Gitános of Spain in ancient times, when +they were for the most part semi-savages living amongst mountains +and deserts, where food was hard to be procured: famine may have +occasionally compelled them to prey on human flesh, as it has in +modern times compelled people far more civilised than wandering +Gypsies.</p> +<p><a name="footnote82a"></a><a href="#citation82a" +class="footnote">[82a]</a> England.</p> +<p><a name="footnote82b"></a><a href="#citation82b" +class="footnote">[82b]</a> Spain.</p> +<p><a name="footnote86"></a><a href="#citation86" +class="footnote">[86]</a> <i>Mithridates</i>: erster Theil, +s. 241.</p> +<p><a name="footnote98"></a><a href="#citation98" +class="footnote">[98]</a> Torreblanca: <i>de Magia</i>, +1678.</p> +<p><a name="footnote100a"></a><a href="#citation100a" +class="footnote">[100a]</a> Exodus, chap. xiii. v. 9. +‘And it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thy hand.’ +Eng. Trans.</p> +<p><a name="footnote100b"></a><a href="#citation100b" +class="footnote">[100b]</a> No chapter in the book of Job +contains any such verse.</p> +<p><a name="footnote100c"></a><a href="#citation100c" +class="footnote">[100c]</a> ‘And the children of +Israel went out with an high hand.’ Exodus, chap. +xiv. v. 8. Eng. Trans.</p> +<p><a name="footnote100d"></a><a href="#citation100d" +class="footnote">[100d]</a> No such verse is to be found in +the book mentioned.</p> +<p><a name="footnote109a"></a><a href="#citation109a" +class="footnote">[109a]</a> Prov., chap. vii. vers. 11, +12. ‘She is loud and stubborn; her feet abide not in +her house. Now is she without, now in the streets, and +lieth in wait at every corner.’ Eng. Trans.</p> +<p><a name="footnote109b"></a><a href="#citation109b" +class="footnote">[109b]</a> <i>Historia de Alonso</i>, +<i>mozo de muchos amos</i>: or, the story of Alonso, servant of +many masters; an entertaining novel, written in the seventeenth +century, by Geronimo of Alcalá, from which some extracts +were given in the first edition of the present work.</p> +<p><a name="footnote117"></a><a href="#citation117" +class="footnote">[117]</a> O Ali! O Mahomet!—God is +God!—A Turkish war-cry.</p> +<p><a name="footnote120a"></a><a href="#citation120a" +class="footnote">[120a]</a> Gen. xlix. 22.</p> +<p><a name="footnote120b"></a><a href="#citation120b" +class="footnote">[120b]</a> In the original there is a play +on words.—It is not necessary to enter into particulars +farther than to observe that in the Hebrew language +‘ain’ means a well, and likewise an eye.</p> +<p><a name="footnote120c"></a><a href="#citation120c" +class="footnote">[120c]</a> Gen. xlviii. 16. In the +English version the exact sense of the inspired original is not +conveyed. The descendants of Joseph are to increase like +fish.</p> +<p><a name="footnote122"></a><a href="#citation122" +class="footnote">[122]</a> Exodus, chap. xii. v. 37, +38.</p> +<p><a name="footnote130a"></a><a href="#citation130a" +class="footnote">[130a]</a> Quiñones, p. 11.</p> +<p><a name="footnote130b"></a><a href="#citation130b" +class="footnote">[130b]</a> The writer will by no means +answer for the truth of these statements respecting Gypsy +marriages.</p> +<p><a name="footnote138"></a><a href="#citation138" +class="footnote">[138]</a> This statement is incorrect.</p> +<p><a name="footnote139"></a><a href="#citation139" +class="footnote">[139]</a> The Torlaquis (idle vagabonds), +Hadgies (saints), and Dervishes (mendicant friars) of the East, +are Gypsies neither by origin nor habits, but are in general +people who support themselves in idleness by practising upon the +credulity and superstition of the Moslems.</p> +<p><a name="footnote140"></a><a href="#citation140" +class="footnote">[140]</a> In the Moorish Arabic, +<a href="images/p140b.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Arabic text" +title= +"Arabic text" + src="images/p140s.jpg" /> +</a>—or reus al haramin, the literal meaning being, +‘heads or captains of thieves.’</p> +<p><a name="footnote153"></a><a href="#citation153" +class="footnote">[153]</a> A favourite saying amongst this +class of people is the following: ‘Es preciso que cada uno +coma de su oficio’; <i>i.e.</i> every one must live by his +trade.</p> +<p><a name="footnote167"></a><a href="#citation167" +class="footnote">[167]</a> For the above well-drawn +character of Charles the Third I am indebted to the pen of Louis +de Usoz y Rio, my coadjutor in the editing of the New Testament +in Spanish (Madrid, 1837). For a further account of this +gentleman, the reader is referred to <i>The Bible in Spain</i>, +preface, p. xxii.</p> +<p><a name="footnote181"></a><a href="#citation181" +class="footnote">[181]</a> Steal a horse.</p> +<p><a name="footnote189"></a><a href="#citation189" +class="footnote">[189]</a> The lame devil: Asmodeus.</p> +<p><a name="footnote199"></a><a href="#citation199" +class="footnote">[199]</a> Rinconete and Cortadillo.</p> +<p><a name="footnote200"></a><a href="#citation200" +class="footnote">[200]</a> The great river, or +Guadalquiver.</p> +<p><a name="footnote211"></a><a href="#citation211" +class="footnote">[211]</a> A fountain in Paradise.</p> +<p><a name="footnote230"></a><a href="#citation230" +class="footnote">[230]</a> A Gypsy word signifying +‘exceeding much.’</p> +<p><a name="footnote235"></a><a href="#citation235" +class="footnote">[235]</a> ‘Lengua muy +cerráda.’</p> +<p><a name="footnote236a"></a><a href="#citation236a" +class="footnote">[236a]</a> ‘No camelo ser eray, es +Caló mi nacimiénto;<br /> +No camelo ser eray, eon ser Calé me +conténto.’</p> +<p><a name="footnote236b"></a><a href="#citation236b" +class="footnote">[236b]</a> Armed partisans, or guerillas +on horseback: they waged a war of extermination against the +French, but at the same time plundered their countrymen without +scruple.</p> +<p><a name="footnote241a"></a><a href="#citation241a" +class="footnote">[241a]</a> The Basques speak a Tartar +dialect which strikingly resembles the Mongolian and the +Mandchou.</p> +<p><a name="footnote241b"></a><a href="#citation241b" +class="footnote">[241b]</a> A small nation or rather sect +of contrabandistas, who inhabit the valley of Pas amidst the +mountains of Santander; they carry long sticks, in the handling +of which they are unequalled. Armed with one of these +sticks, a smuggler of Pas has been known to beat off two mounted +dragoons.</p> +<p><a name="footnote242"></a><a href="#citation242" +class="footnote">[242]</a> The hostess, Maria Diaz, and her +son Joan José Lopez, were present when the outcast uttered +these prophetic words.</p> +<p><a name="footnote243"></a><a href="#citation243" +class="footnote">[243]</a> Eodem anno precipue fuit pestis +seu mortalitas Forlivio.</p> +<p><a name="footnote247"></a><a href="#citation247" +class="footnote">[247]</a> This work is styled <i>Historia +de los Gitános</i>, by J. M—, published at Barcelona +in the year 1832; it consists of ninety-three very small and +scantily furnished pages. Its chief, we might say its only +merit, is the style, which is fluent and easy. The writer +is a theorist, and sacrifices truth and probability to the shrine +of one idea, and that one of the most absurd that ever entered +the head of an individual. He endeavours to persuade his +readers that the Gitános are the descendants of the Moors, +and the greatest part of his work is a history of those Africans, +from the time of their arrival in the Peninsula till their +expatriation by Philip the Third. The Gitános he +supposes to be various tribes of wandering Moors, who baffled +pursuit amidst the fastnesses of the hills; he denies that they +are of the same origin as the Gypsies, Bohemians, etc., of other +lands, though he does not back his denial by any proofs, and is +confessedly ignorant of the Gitáno language, the grand +criterion.</p> +<p>To this work we shall revert on a future occasion.</p> +<p><a name="footnote262a"></a><a href="#citation262a" +class="footnote">[262a]</a> A Russian word signifying +beans.</p> +<p><a name="footnote262b"></a><a href="#citation262b" +class="footnote">[262b]</a> The term for poisoning swine in +English Gypsy is <i>Drabbing bawlor</i>.</p> +<p><a name="footnote276"></a><a href="#citation276" +class="footnote">[276]</a> Por médio de +chalanerías.</p> +<p><a name="footnote278a"></a><a href="#citation278a" +class="footnote">[278a]</a> The English.</p> +<p><a name="footnote278b"></a><a href="#citation278b" +class="footnote">[278b]</a> These words are very ancient, +and were, perhaps, used by the earliest Spanish Gypsies; they +differ much from the language of the present day, and are quite +unintelligible to the modern Gitános.</p> +<p><a name="footnote281"></a><a href="#citation281" +class="footnote">[281]</a> It was speedily prohibited, +together with the Basque gospel; by a royal ordonnance, however, +which appeared in the Gazette of Madrid, in August 1838, every +public library in the kingdom was empowered to purchase two +copies in both languages, as the works in question were allowed +to possess some merit <i>in a literary point of view</i>. +For a particular account of the Basque translation, and also some +remarks on the Euscarra language, the reader is referred to +<i>The Bible in Spain</i>, vol. ii. p. 385–398.</p> +<p><a name="footnote288"></a><a href="#citation288" +class="footnote">[288]</a> Steal me, Gypsy.</p> +<p><a name="footnote290"></a><a href="#citation290" +class="footnote">[290]</a> A species of gendarme or armed +policeman. The Miquelets have existed in Spain for upwards +of two hundred years. They are called Miquelets, from the +name of their original leader. They are generally Aragonese +by nation, and reclaimed robbers.</p> +<p><a name="footnote292"></a><a href="#citation292" +class="footnote">[292]</a> Those who may be desirous of +perusing the originals of the following rhymes should consult +former editions of this work.</p> +<p><a name="footnote304"></a><a href="#citation304" +class="footnote">[304]</a> For the original, see other +editions.</p> +<p><a name="footnote321"></a><a href="#citation321" +class="footnote">[321]</a> For this information concerning +Palmiréno, and also for a sight of the somewhat rare +volume written by him, the author was indebted to a kind friend, +a native of Spain.</p> +<p><a name="footnote67"></a><a href="#citation67" +class="footnote">[67]</a> A very unfair inference; that +some of the Gypsies did not understand the author when he spoke +Romaic, was no proof that their own private language was a +feigned one, invented for thievish purposes.</p> +<p><a name="footnote324"></a><a href="#citation324" +class="footnote">[324]</a> Of all these, the most terrible, +and whose sway endured for the longest period, were the Mongols, +as they were called: few, however, of his original Mongolian +warriors followed Timour in the invasion of India. His +armies latterly appear to have consisted chiefly of Turcomans and +Persians. It was to obtain popularity amongst these +soldiery that he abandoned his old religion, a kind of fetish, or +sorcery, and became a Mahometan.</p> +<p><a name="footnote325a"></a><a href="#citation325a" +class="footnote">[325a]</a> As quoted by Adelung, +<i>Mithridates</i>, vol. i.</p> +<p><a name="footnote325b"></a><a href="#citation325b" +class="footnote">[325b]</a> Mithridates.</p> +<p><a name="footnote326"></a><a href="#citation326" +class="footnote">[326]</a> For example, in the <i>Historia +de los Gitános</i>, of which we have had occasion to speak +in the first part of the present work: amongst other things the +author says, p. 95, ‘If there exist any similitude of +customs between the Gitános and the Gypsies, the +Zigeuners, the Zingári, and the Bohemians, they (the +Gitános) cannot, however, be confounded with these nomad +castes, nor the same origin be attributed to them; . . . all that +we shall find in common between these people will be, that the +one (the Gypsies, etc.) arrived fugitives from the heart of Asia +by the steppes of Tartary, at the beginning of the fifteenth +century, while the Gitános, descended from the Arab or +Morisco tribes, came from the coast of Africa as conquerors at +the beginning of the eighth.’</p> +<p>He gets rid of any evidence with respect to the origin of the +Gitános which their language might be capable of affording +in the following summary manner: ‘As to the particular +jargon which they use, any investigation which people might +pretend to make would be quite useless; in the first place, on +account of the reserve which they exhibit on this point; and +secondly, because, in the event of some being found sufficiently +communicative, the information which they could impart would lead +to no advantageous result, owing to their extreme +ignorance.’</p> +<p>It is scarcely worth while to offer a remark on reasoning +which could only emanate from an understanding of the very lowest +order,—so the Gitános are so extremely ignorant, +that however frank they might wish to be, they would be unable to +tell the curious inquirer the names for bread and water, meat and +salt, in their own peculiar tongue—for, assuredly, had they +sense enough to afford that slight quantum of information, it +would lead to two very advantageous results, by proving, first, +that they spoke the same language as the Gypsies, etc., and were +consequently the same people—and secondly, that they came +not from the coast of Northern Africa, where only Arabic and +Shillah are spoken, but from the heart of Asia, three words of +the four being pure Sanscrit.</p> +<p><a name="footnote330"></a><a href="#citation330" +class="footnote">[330]</a> As given in the +<i>Mithridates</i> of Adelung.</p> +<p><a name="footnote346a"></a><a href="#citation346a" +class="footnote">[346a]</a> Possibly from the Russian +<i>boloss</i>, which has the same signification.</p> +<p><a name="footnote346b"></a><a href="#citation346b" +class="footnote">[346b]</a> Basque, <i>burua</i>.</p> +<p><a name="footnote346c"></a><a href="#citation346c" +class="footnote">[346c]</a> Sanscrit, <i>schirra</i>.</p> +<p><a name="footnote346d"></a><a href="#citation346d" +class="footnote">[346d]</a> These two words, which Hervas +supposes to be Italian used in an improper sense, are probably of +quite another origin. <i>Len</i>, in Gitáno, +signifies ‘river,’ whilst <i>vadi</i> in Russian is +equivalent to water.</p> +<p><a name="footnote348"></a><a href="#citation348" +class="footnote">[348]</a> It is not our intention to weary +the reader with prolix specimens; nevertheless, in corroboration +of what we have asserted, we shall take the liberty of offering a +few. Piar, to drink, (p. 188,) is Sanscrit, +<i>piava</i>. Basilea, gallows, (p. 158,) is Russian, +<i>becilitz</i>. Caramo, wine, and gurapo, galley, (pp. +162, 176,) Arabic, <i>haram</i> (which literally signifies that +which is forbidden) and <i>grab</i>. Iza, (p. 179,) harlot, +Turkish, <i>kize</i>. Harton, bread, (p. 177,) Greek, +<i>artos</i>. Guido, good, and hurgamandera, harlot, (pp. +177, 178,) German, <i>gut</i> and <i>hure</i>. Tiple, wine, +(p. 197,) is the same as the English word tipple, Gypsy, +<i>tapillar</i>.</p> +<p><a name="footnote351"></a><a href="#citation351" +class="footnote">[351]</a> This word is pure Wallachian +(λοναρε), and was brought +by the Gypsies into England; it means ‘booty,’ or +what is called in the present cant language, +‘swag.’ The Gypsies call booty +‘louripen.’</p> +<p><a name="footnote359"></a><a href="#citation359" +class="footnote">[359]</a> Christmas, literally +Wine-day.</p> +<p><a name="footnote360a"></a><a href="#citation360a" +class="footnote">[360a]</a> Irishman or beggar, literally a +dirty squalid person.</p> +<p><a name="footnote360b"></a><a href="#citation360b" +class="footnote">[360b]</a> Guineas.</p> +<p><a name="footnote360c"></a><a href="#citation360c" +class="footnote">[360c]</a> Silver teapots.</p> +<p><a name="footnote360d"></a><a href="#citation360d" +class="footnote">[360d]</a> The Gypsy word for a certain +town.</p> +<p><a name="footnote361a"></a><a href="#citation361a" +class="footnote">[361a]</a> In the Spanish Gypsy version, +‘our bread of each day.’</p> +<p><a name="footnote361b"></a><a href="#citation361b" +class="footnote">[361b]</a> Span., ‘forgive us our +debts as we forgive our debtors.’</p> +<p><a name="footnote361c"></a><a href="#citation361c" +class="footnote">[361c]</a> Eng., ‘all evil +<i>from</i>’; Span., ‘from all ugliness.’</p> +<p><a name="footnote361d"></a><a href="#citation361d" +class="footnote">[361d]</a> Span., ‘for +thine.’</p> +<p><a name="footnote362"></a><a href="#citation362" +class="footnote">[362]</a> By Hungary is here meant not +only Hungary proper, but Transylvania.</p> +<p><a name="footnote363a"></a><a href="#citation363a" +class="footnote">[363a]</a> How many days made come the +gentleman hither.</p> +<p><a name="footnote363b"></a><a href="#citation363b" +class="footnote">[363b]</a> How many-year fellow are +you.</p> +<p><a name="footnote363c"></a><a href="#citation363c" +class="footnote">[363c]</a> Of a grosh.</p> +<p><a name="footnote363d"></a><a href="#citation363d" +class="footnote">[363d]</a> My name shall be to you for +Moses my brother.</p> +<p><a name="footnote364a"></a><a href="#citation364a" +class="footnote">[364a]</a> Comes.</p> +<p><a name="footnote364b"></a><a href="#citation364b" +class="footnote">[364b]</a> Empty place.</p> +<p><a name="footnote416"></a><a href="#citation416" +class="footnote">[416]</a> V. <i>Casinoben</i> in +Lexicon.</p> +<p><a name="footnote417a"></a><a href="#citation417a" +class="footnote">[417a]</a> By these two words, Pontius +Pilate is represented, but whence they are derived I know +not.</p> +<p><a name="footnote417b"></a><a href="#citation417b" +class="footnote">[417b]</a> Reborn.</p> +<p><a name="footnote419a"></a><a href="#citation419a" +class="footnote">[419a]</a> Poverty is always avoided.</p> +<p><a name="footnote419b"></a><a href="#citation419b" +class="footnote">[419b]</a> A drunkard reduces himself to +the condition of a hog.</p> +<p><a name="footnote421a"></a><a href="#citation421a" +class="footnote">[421a]</a> The most he can do.</p> +<p><a name="footnote421b"></a><a href="#citation421b" +class="footnote">[421b]</a> The puchero, or pan of glazed +earth, in which bacon, beef, and garbanzos are stewed.</p> +<p><a name="footnote421c"></a><a href="#citation421c" +class="footnote">[421c]</a> Truth contrasts strangely with +falsehood; this is a genuine Gypsy proverb, as are the two which +follow; it is repeated throughout Spain <i>without being +understood</i>.</p> +<p><a name="footnote421d"></a><a href="#citation421d" +class="footnote">[421d]</a> In the original <i>wears a +mouth</i>; the meaning is, ask nothing, gain nothing.</p> +<p><a name="footnote421e"></a><a href="#citation421e" +class="footnote">[421e]</a> Female Gypsy,</p> +<p><a name="footnote423a"></a><a href="#citation423a" +class="footnote">[423a]</a> Women <i>understood</i>.</p> +<p><a name="footnote423b"></a><a href="#citation423b" +class="footnote">[423b]</a> With that motive awoke the +labourer. <i>Orig</i>.</p> +<p><a name="footnote423c"></a><a href="#citation423c" +class="footnote">[423c]</a> Gave its pleasure to the +finger, <i>i.e.</i> his finger was itching to draw the trigger, +and he humoured it.</p> +<p><a name="footnote423d"></a><a href="#citation423d" +class="footnote">[423d]</a> They feared the shot and slugs, +which are compared, and not badly, to flies and almonds.</p> +<p><a name="footnote428a"></a><a href="#citation428a" +class="footnote">[428a]</a> Christmas, literally +Wine-day.</p> +<p><a name="footnote428b"></a><a href="#citation428b" +class="footnote">[428b]</a> Irishman or beggar, literally a +dirty squalid person.</p> +<p><a name="footnote428c"></a><a href="#citation428c" +class="footnote">[428c]</a> Guineas.</p> +<p><a name="footnote429a"></a><a href="#citation429a" +class="footnote">[429a]</a> Silver tea-pots.</p> +<p><a name="footnote429b"></a><a href="#citation429b" +class="footnote">[429b]</a> The Gypsy word for a certain +town.</p> +<p><a name="footnote429c"></a><a href="#citation429c" +class="footnote">[429c]</a> As given by Grellmann.</p> +<p><a name="footnote432"></a><a href="#citation432" +class="footnote">[432]</a> The English Gypsies having, in +their dialect, no other term for ghost than mulo, which simply +means a dead person, I have been obliged to substitute a compound +word. Bavalengro signifies literally a wind thing, or +<i>form of air</i>.</p> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ZINCALI***</p> +<pre> + + +***** This file should be named 565-h.htm or 565-h.zip****** + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/5/6/565 + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will +be renamed. + +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law 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. 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