FIFE AND STIRLINGSHIRE GIPSIES.
In this account of the Gipsies in Fife, the horde which at one period
resided at the village of Lochgellie are frequently referred to. But it
is proper to premise that this noted band were not the only Gipsies in
Fife. This populous county contained, at one time, a great number of
nomadic Gipsies. The Falkland hills and the Falkland fairs were greatly
frequented by them;[96] and, not far from St. Andrews, some of the tribe
had, within these fifty years, a small farm, containing about twenty
acres of waste land, on which they had a small foundry, which the
country people, on that account, called "Little Carron." As my materials
for this chapter are chiefly derived from the Lochgellie band, and their
immediate connexions in other districts not far from Fife, their manners
and customs are, on that account, brought more under review.
[96] In Oliver and Boyd's Scottish Tourist, (1832), page 181, occurs
the following passage: "A singular set of vagrants existed long in
Falkland, called _Scrapies_, who had no other visible means of
existence than a horse or a cow. Their ostensible employment was the
carriage of commodities to the adjoining villages, and in the
intervals of work they turned out their cattle to graze on the Lomond
Hill. Their excursions at night were long and mysterious, for the
pretended object of procuring coals, but they roamed with their little
carts through the country-side, securing whatever they could lift, and
plundering fields in autumn. Whenever any enquiry was addressed to a
Falkland _Scrapie_ as to the support of his horse, the ready answer
was, 'Ou, he gangs up the (Lomond) Hill, ye ken.' This is now
prevented; the Lomond is enclosed, and the _Scrapies_ now manage their
affairs on the road-sides."
The people mentioned in this extract are doubtless those to whom our
author alludes. The reader will notice some resemblance between them
and the tribe in the Pyrenees, as described at page 87.--ED.
The village of Lochgellie was, at one time, a favourite resort of the
Gipsies. The grounds in its immediate vicinity are exactly of that
character upon which they seem to have fixed their permanent, or rather
winter's residence, in a great many parts of Scotland. By the
statistical account of the parish of Auchterderran, Lochgellie was
almost inaccessible for nearly six months in the year. The bleak and
heathy morasses, and rushy wastes, with which the village is surrounded,
have a gloomy and melancholy aspect. The scenery and face of the
adjoining country are very similar to those in the neighbourhood of
Biggar, in Lanarkshire, and Middleton, in Midlothian, which were also,
at that time, Gipsy stations. A little to the south of the spot where
the Linlithgow band, at one period, had their quarters, the country
becomes moory, bleak, and barren. The village of Kirk-Yetholm, at
present full of Gipsies, is also situated upon the confines of a wild,
pastoral tract, among the Cheviot hills.[97] The Gipsies, in general,
appear to have located themselves upon grounds of a flattish character,
between the cultivated and uncultivated districts; having, on one side,
a fertile and populous country, and, on the other, a heathy, boggy, and
barren waste, into which they could retire in times of danger.[98]
[97] Yetholm lies in a valley which, surrounded on all sides by lofty
mountains, seems completely sequestered from the rest of the
world--alike inaccessible from without, and not to be left from
within. The valley has, however, more than one outlet.--_Chambers'
Gazetteer of Scotland._--ED.
[98] In Hungary, their houses, which are always small, and poor in
appearance, are commonly situated in the outskirts of the village,
and, if possible, in the neighbourhood of some thicket or rough
land.--_Bright._--ED.
In the statistical account of Auchterderran, just alluded to, is to be
found the following notice of the Lochgellie Gipsies: "There are a few
persons called _Tinkers_ and _Horners_, half resident and half
itinerant, who are feared and suspected by the community. Two of them
were banished within these six years." This horde, at one time,
consisted of four or five families of the names of Graham, Brown,
Robertson, &c. The Jamiesons and Wilsons were also often seen at
Lochgellie; but such were the numbers that were coming and going about
the village, that it was difficult to say who were residenters, and who
were not. Some of them had fens from the proprietor of the estate of
Lochgellie. They were dreaded for their depredations, and were well
known to the country people, all over the shires of Fife, Kinross,
Perth, Forfar, Kincardine and Aberdeen, by the name of the "Lochgellie
band." The chiefs of this band were the Grahams, at the head of which
was old Charles Graham, an uncommonly stout and fine-looking man. He was
banished the kingdom for his many crimes. Charlie had been often in
courts of justice, and on one occasion, when he appeared for some crime
or other, the judge, in a surly manner, demanded of him, what had
brought him there?--"The auld thing again, my lord, but nae proof," was
the Tinkler's immediate reply. Ann Brown, one of his wives, and the
chief female of the band, was also sentenced to banishment for fourteen
years; seven of which, however, she spent in the prison of Aberdeen. She
remained altogether nine years at Botany Bay, married a Gipsy abroad,
returned to Scotland, with more than a hundred pounds in cash, and now
sells earthenware at St. Andrews.[99] Being asked why she left Botany
Bay, while making so much money there, she said, "It was to let them see
I could come back again."
[99] This woman is most probably dead, and the same may be said of
some of the other characters mentioned in this and other
chapters.--ED.
Young Charlie Graham, son and successor, as chief, to old Charlie, was
hanged at Perth, about thirty years ago, for horse-stealing. The
anecdotes which are told of this singular man are numerous. When he was
apprehended, a number of people assembled to look at him, as an object
of wonder; it being considered a thing almost impossible to take him.
His dog had discovered to the messengers the place of his concealment,
having barked at them as they came near the spot. His feelings became
irritated at the curiosity of the people, and he called out in great
bitterness to the officers: "Let me free, and gie me a stick three feet
lang, and I'll clear the knowe o' them." His feet and hands were so
handsome and small, in proportion to the other parts of his athletic
body, that neither irons nor hand-cuffs could be kept on his ankles or
wrists; without injury to his person the gyves and manacles always
slipped over his joints. He had a prepossessing countenance, an elegant
figure, and much generosity of heart; and, notwithstanding all his
tricks, was an extraordinary favourite with the public. Among the many
tricks he played, it is related that he once, unobserved, in a grass
park, converted a young colt into a gelding. He allowed the animal to
remain for some time in the possession of the owner, and then stole it.
He was immediately detected, and apprehended; but as the owner swore
positively to the description of his horse, and Charlie's being a
gelding, he got off clear. The man was amazed when he discovered the
trick that had been played upon him, but when, where, and by whom done,
he was entirely ignorant. Graham sold the animal to a third person,
again stole it, and replaced it in the park of the original owner. He
seemed to take great delight in stealing in this ingenious manner,
trying how dexterously he could carry off the property of the astonished
natives. He sometimes stole from wealthy individuals, and gave the booty
to the indigent, although they were not Gipsies; and so accustomed were
the people, in some places, to his bloodless robberies, that some only
put their spurs to their horses, calling out, as they passed him: "Ah
ha, Charlie lad, ye hae missed your mark to-night!" A widow, with a
large family, at whose house he had frequently been quartered, was in
great distress for want of money to pay her rent. Graham lent her the
amount required; but as the factor was returning home with it in his
pocket, Charlie robbed him, and, without loss of time, returned to the
woman, and gave her a full discharge for the sum she had just borrowed
from him.
He was asked, immediately before his execution, if he had ever performed
any good action during his life, to recommend him to the mercy of his
offended God. That of giving the widow and fatherless the money of which
he immediately afterwards robbed the factor, was the only instance he
adduced in his favour; thinking that thereby he had performed a virtuous
deed. In the morning of the day on which he was to suffer, he sent a
messenger to one of the magistrates, requesting a razor to take off his
beard; at the same time, in a calm manner, desiring the person to tell
the magistrate that, "unless his beard was shaven, he could appear
before neither God nor man." A short time before he was taken out to the
gallows, he was observed reclining very pensively and thoughtfully on a
seat. All at once he started up, exclaiming, in a mournful tone of
voice, "Oh, can ony o' ye read, sirs; will some o' ye read a psalm to
me?" at the same time regretting much that he had not been taught to
read. The fifty-first psalm was accordingly read to him, by a gentleman
present, which soothed his feelings exceedingly, and gave him much ease
and comfort. He was greatly agitated after ascending the platform--his
knees knocking against each other; but just before he was cast off, his
inveterate Gipsy feelings returned upon him with redoubled violence. He
kicked from his feet both of his shoes, in sight of the spectators--to
set at nought, as was supposed, some prophecy that he would die with
them on; and addressed the assembled crowd in the following words: "I am
this day to be married to the gallows-tree, by suffering in the manner
of many of my ancestors; and I am extremely glad to see such a number of
respectable people at my wedding." A number of the band attended his
execution, and, when his body was returned to them, they all kissed it
with great affection, and held the usual lyke-wake over it. His
sweetheart, or widow, I am uncertain which, of the name of Wilson, his
own cousin, put his corpse into hot lime, then buried it, and sat on his
grave, in a state of intoxication, till it was rendered unfit for the
use of the medical gentlemen; it having been reported that he was to be
taken out of his grave for the purpose of dissection. This man boasted
greatly, while under sentence of death, of never having spilled human
blood by committing murder.
Hugh Graham, brother to Charlie, above-mentioned, was stabbed with a
knife by his own cousin, John Young, in Aberdeenshire. These powerful
Gipsies never fell in with each other but a wrestling bout took place.
Young generally came off victorious, but Graham, although worsted, would
neither quit Young nor acknowledge his inferiority of strength. Young
frequently desired Graham to keep out of his way, as his obstinate
disposition would prove fatal to one of them some time or other. They,
however, met again, when a desperate struggle ensued. Graham was the
aggressor; he drew his knife to stab Young, who wrested it out of his
hand, and stabbing him in the upper part of the stomach, close to the
breast, laid his opponent dead at his feet.[100] In this battle the
Gipsy females, in their usual manner, took a conspicuous part, by
assisting the combatants on either side.
[100] Young was chased for nearly thirty miles, by Highlanders, on
foot, and General Gordon of Cairnfield, and others, on horseback; and,
as he was frequently in view, the affair much resembled a fox-hunt.
The hounds were most of them game-keepers--an active race of men; and
so exhausted were they, before the Gipsy was caught, that they were
seen lying by the springs, lapping water with their tongues, like
dogs.--_Blackwood's Magazine._--ED.
Jenny Graham, sister of these Grahams, was kept by a gentleman as his
mistress; but, although treated with affection, such was her attachment
to her old wandering way of life, that she left her protector and his
wealth, and rejoined her erratic associates in the gang. She was a
remarkably handsome and good-looking woman, and, while she traversed the
country, she frequently rode upon an ass, which was saddled and bridled.
On these occasions, she was sometimes dressed in a blue riding-habit and
a black beaver hat. It was generally supposed that the stolen articles
of value belonging to the family were committed to the care of Jenny.
Margaret Graham, another sister, is still living, and is a woman of
uncommon bodily strength; so much so, that she is considered to be a
good deal stronger than the generality of men. She was married to
William Davidson, a Gipsy, at Wemyss. They have a large family, and sell
earthenware through the country.
John Young, who stabbed his cousin, Hugh Graham, was one of seven sons,
and though above five feet ten inches in height, his mother used to call
him "the dwarf o' a' my bairns." He was condemned and hanged at Aberdeen
for the murder. He wrote a good hand, and the country-people were far
from being displeased with his society, while he was employed in
repairing their pots and pans in the way of his calling. Sarah Graham,
his mother, was of the highest Tinkler mettle. She lost a forefinger in
a Gipsy fray. Peter Young, another son of Sarah's, was also hanged at
Edinburgh, after breaking a number of prisons in which he was confined.
He is spoken of as a singular man. Such was his generosity of character,
that he always exerted himself to the utmost to set his fellow-prisoners
free, although they happened not to be in the same apartment of the
prison. The life of this man was published about the time of his
execution. When any one asked old John Young where his sons were, his
reply was, "They are all hanged." They were seven in number, and it was
certainly a fearful end of a whole family. The following is an extract
of a letter addressed to Mr. Blackwood, from Aberdeen, relative to Peter
Young: "It is said, in your far-famed magazine, that Peter Young,
brother to John Young, the Gipsy, likewise suffered at _Aberdeen_. It is
true that he received sentence to die there, but the prison and all the
irons the persons were able to load him with, somehow or other, were
found insufficient to prevent him from making his escape. After he had
repeatedly broken loose, and had been as often retaken, the magistrates
at last resolved that he should be effectually secured; and, for that
purpose, ordered a great iron chain to be provided, and Peter to be fast
bound in it. As the jailer was making everything, as he thought, most
secure, Peter, with a sigh, gazed on him, and said, 'Ay, ay, I winna
come out now till I come out at the door;' making him believe that he
would not be able to make his escape again, nor come out till the day
fixed for his execution. But the great iron chain, bolts and bars, were
all alike unable to withstand his skill and strength: he came out,
within a few nights, at the 'door,' along with such of his
fellow-prisoners as were inclined to avail themselves of the 'catch;'
but he was afterwards taken, and conveyed to Edinburgh, and there made
to suffer the penalty which his crimes deserved.--D. C."[101]
[101] Our author says that the Life of Peter Young was published. The
following particulars, quoted in an account of the Gipsies, in the
sixteenth volume of Chambers' Miscellany, are probably taken from that
source:
"Peter was Captain of a band well known in the north of Scotland,
where his exploits are told to this day. Possessed of great strength
of body, and very uncommon abilities, he was a fine specimen of his
race, though he retained all their lawless propensities. He was proud,
passionate, revengeful, a great poacher, and an absolute despot,
although a tolerably just one, over his gang, maintaining his
authority with an oak stick, the principal sufferers from which were
his numerous wives."--"He esteemed himself to be a very honourable
man, and the keepers of the different public-houses in the country
seem to have thought that, to a certain extent, he was so. He never
asked for trust as long as he had a half-penny in his pocket. At the
different inns which he used to frequent, he was seldom or never
denied anything. If he pledged his word that he would pay his bill the
next time he came that way, he punctually performed his promise."
"Peter's work was that of a very miscellaneous nature. It comprehended
the profession of a blacksmith, in all its varieties, a tin-smith, and
brazier. His original business was to mend pots, pans, kettles, &c.,
of every description, and this he did with great neatness and
ingenuity. Having an uncommon turn for mechanics, he at last cleaned
and repaired clocks and watches. He could also engrave on wood or
metal; so also could his brother John; but where they learned any of
these arts I never heard. Peter was very handy about all sorts of
carpenter work, and occasionally amused himself, when the fancy seized
him, in executing some pieces of curious cabinet work that required
neatness of hand. He was particularly famous in making fishing-rods,
and in the art of fishing he was surpassed by few."
Immediately before _one_ of the days fixed for his execution, he
seized the jailer, and, upon the threat of instant death, compelled
him to lay on his back, as one dead, till he had set at liberty every
one in the prison, himself being the last to leave the building. After
travelling twenty-four miles, he went to sleep in the snow, and was
apprehended by a company of sportsmen, whose dogs had made a dead set
at him. On being taken to the gallows, one of the crowd cried: "Peter,
deny you are the man!"--which he did, declaring that his name was John
Anderson, and wondered what the people wanted with him. And there
being none present who could identify him, although he was well known
in Aberdeen, he managed to get off clear.--ED.
Charles Brown, one of the principal members of the Lochgellie band, was
killed in a desperate fight at Raploch, near Stirling. A number of Gipsy
boys, belonging to several gangs in the south, obtained a considerable
quantity of plunder, at a fair in Perth, and had, in the division of the
spoil, somehow or another, imposed on the Lochgellie tribe, and their
associates. Charles Graham, already mentioned, and Charles Brown, went
south in pursuit of the young depredators, for the purpose of compelling
them to give up their ill-gotten booty to those to whom, by the Gipsy
regulations, it of right belonged. After an arduous chase, the boys were
overtaken near Stirling, when a furious battle immediately commenced.
Both parties were armed with bludgeons. After having fought for a
considerable time, with equal success on both sides, Graham, from some
unknown cause, fled, leaving his near relation, Brown, to contend alone
with the youths, in the best way he could. The boys now became the
assailants, and began to press hard upon Brown, who defended himself
long and manfully with his bludgeon, displaying much art in the use of
his weapon, in warding off the lighter blows of his opponents, which
came in upon him from all quarters. At length he was forced to give way,
although very few of the blows reached his person. On retreating, with
his front to his assailants, his foot struck upon an old feal dyke, when
he fell to the ground. The enraged youths now sprang in upon him, like
tigers, and, without showing him the least mercy, dispatched him on the
spot, by literally beating out his brains with their bludgeons. Brown's
coat was brought home to Lochgellie, by some of his wife's friends, with
the collar and shoulders besmeared all over with blood and brains, with
quantities of his hair sticking in the gore. It was preserved for some
time in this shocking condition by his wife, and exhibited as a proof
that her husband had not fled, as well as to arouse the clan to
vengeance. My informant, a man about fifty years of age, with others,
saw this dreadful relique of Brown, in the very state in which it is now
described.
Alexander Brown, another member of the Lochgellie band, happened, on one
occasion, to be in need of butcher meat, for his tribe. He had observed,
grazing in a field, in the county of Linlithgow, a bullock that had, by
some accident, lost about three-fourths of its tail. He procured a tail
of a skin of the same colour as that of the animal, and, in an ingenious
manner, made it fast to the remaining part of its tail. Disguised in
this way, he drove off his booty; but after shipping the beast at the
Queens-ferry, on his way to the north, a servant, who had been
dispatched in quest of the depredator, overtook him as he was stepping
into the boat. An altercation immediately commenced about the ox. The
countryman said he could swear to the identity of the animal in Brown's
possession, were it not for its long tail; and was proceeding to examine
it narrowly, to satisfy himself on that particular, when the
ready-witted Gipsy, ever fertile in expedients to extricate himself from
difficulties, took his knife out of his pocket, and, in view of all
present, cut off the tail above the juncture, drawing blood instantly;
and, throwing it into the sea, called out to the pursuer, with some
warmth: "Swear to the ox now, and be ---- to ye." The countryman said
not another word, but returned home, while the Tinkler proceeded on his
journey with his prize.[102]
[102] Besides getting themselves out of scrapes in such an adroit
manner, the Scotch Gipsies have been known to serve a friend, when
innocently placed in a position of danger. It happened once that Billy
Marshall, the Gipsy chief in Gallowayshire, attacked and robbed the
laird of Bargally, and in the tussle lost his cap. A respectable
farmer, passing by, some time afterwards, picked up the cap, and put
it on his head. The laird, with his mind confused by the robbery and
the darkness combined, accused the farmer of the crime; and it would
have gone hard with him at the trial, had not Billy come to his
rescue. He seized the cap, in the open court, and, putting it on his
head, addressed the laird: "Look at me, sir, and tell me, by the oath
you have sworn, am not I the man that robbed you?"--"By heaven! you
are the very man."--"You see what sort of memory this gentleman has,"
exclaimed the Gipsy; "he swears to the bonnet, whatever features are
under it. If you, yourself, my lord, will put it on your head, he will
be willing to swear that your lordship was the person who robbed him."
The farmer was unanimously acquitted.
Notwithstanding Billy's courage in "taking care of the _living_," an
anecdote is related of his having been frightened almost out of his
wits, under very ludicrous circumstances. He and his gang had long
held possession of a cavern in Gallowayshire, where they usually
deposited their plunder, and sometimes resided, secure from the
officers of the law. Two Highland pipers, strangers to the country,
happened to enter it, to rest themselves during the night. They
perceived, at once, the character of its absent inhabitants; and they
were not long within it, before they were alarmed by the voices of a
numerous band advancing to its entrance. The pipers, expecting nothing
but death from the ruthless Gipsies, had the presence of mind to
strike up a pibroch, with tremendous fury; at the terrific reception
of which--the yelling of the bag-pipes issuing from the bowels of the
earth--Billy and his gang precipitately fled, as before a blast from
the infernal regions, and never afterwards dared to visit their
favourite haunt. The pipers, as might naturally be expected, carried
off, in the morning, the spoils of the redoubted Gipsies.--_Sir Walter
Scott._--ED.
But this Gipsy was not always so fortunate as he was on this occasion.
Being once apprehended near Dumblane, it was the intention of the
messengers to carry him direct to Perth, but they were under the
necessity of lodging him in the nearest prison for the night. Brown was
no sooner in custody than he began to meditate his escape. He requested,
as a favour, that the officers would sit up all night with him, in a
public-house, instead of a prison, promising them as much meat and
drink, for their indulgence and trouble, as they should desire. His
request having been granted, four or five officers were placed in and
about the room in which he was confined, as a guard on his person, being
aware of the desperate character they had to deal with. He took care to
ply them well with the bottle; and early next morning, before setting
out, he desired one of them to put up the window a little, to cool the
apartment. After walking several times across the room, the Gipsy, all
at once, threw himself out of the window, which was a considerable
height from the ground. The hue and cry was at his heels in an instant;
and as some of the messengers were gaining on him, he boldly faced
about, drew forth, from below his coat, a dagger, which he brandished in
the air, and threatened death to the first who should approach him. He
was, on this occasion, suffered to make his escape, as none had the
courage to advance upon him.
When in full dress, Brown wore a hat richly ornamented and trimmed with
beautiful gold lace, which was then fashionable among the first ranks in
Scotland, particularly among the officers of the army. His coat was made
of superfine cloth, of a light green colour, long in the tails, and
having one row of buttons at the breast. His shirt, of the finest
quality, was ruffled at hands and breast, with a black stock and buckle
round the neck. He also wore a pair of handsome boots, with
silver-plated spurs, all in the fashion of the day. Below his garments
he carried a large knife, and in the shaft or butt-end of his large
whip, a small spear, or dagger, was concealed. His brother-in-law,
Wilson, was frequently dressed in a similar garb, and both rode the best
horses in the country. Having the appearance of gentlemen in their
habits, and assuming the manners of such, which they imitated to a
wonderful degree, few persons took these men for Gipsies. Like many of
their race, they are represented as having been very handsome, tall, and
stout-made men, with agreeable and manly countenances. Among the
numerous thefts and robberies which they committed in their day, they
were never known to have taken a sixpence from people of an inferior
class, but, on the contrary, rather to have assisted the poor classes in
their pecuniary matters, with a generous liberality, not at all to be
looked for from men of their singular habits and manner of life. The
following particulars are descriptive of the manner and style in which
some of the Gipsies of rank, at one time, traversed this country.
Within these forty-five years, Mr. McRitchie, already alluded to,
happened to be in a smithy, in the neighbourhood of Carlisle, getting
the shoes of his riding-horse roughened on a frosty day, to enable him
to proceed on his journey, when a gentleman called for a like purpose.
The animal on which he was mounted was a handsome blood-horse, which was
saddled and bridled in a superior manner. He was himself dressed in
superfine clothes, with a riding-whip in his hand; was booted and
spurred, with saddle-bags behind him; and had, altogether, man and
horse, the equipment and appearance of a smart English mercantile
traveller, riding in the way of his business. There being several horses
in the smithy, he, in a haughty and consequential manner, enquired of
the smith, very particularly, whose turn it was first: indicating a
strong desire to be first served, although he was the last that had
entered the smithy. This bold assurance made my acquaintance take a
steady look at the intrusive stranger, whom he surveyed from head to
foot. And what was his astonishment when he found the mighty gentleman
to be no other than Sandie Brown, the Tinkler's son, from the
neighbourhood of Crieff; whom he had often seen strolling through the
country in a troop of Gipsies, and frequently in his father's house, at
the North Queensferry. He could scarcely believe his eyes, so to prevent
any disagreeable mistake, politely asked the "gentleman" if his name was
not Brown; observing that he thought he had seen him somewhere before.
The surprised Tinkler hesitated considerably at the unexpected question,
and, after having put some queries on his part, answered that "he would
not deny himself--his name was really Brown." He had, in all likelihood,
been travelling under a borrowed name, a practice very common with the
Gipsies. When he found himself detected, yet seeing no danger to be
apprehended from the accidental meeting, he very shrewdly showed great
marks of kindness to his acquaintance. Being now quite free from
embarrassment, he, in a short time, began to display, as is the Gipsy
custom, extraordinary feats of bodily strength, by twisting with his
hands strong pieces of iron; taking bets regarding his power in these
practices, with those who would wager with him. Before parting with my
friend, Brown very kindly insisted upon treating him with a bottle of
any kind of liquor he would choose to drink. At some sequestered station
of his tribe, on his way home, the equestrian Tinkler would unmask
himself--dispose of his horse, pack up his fine clothes, and assume his
ragged coat, leathern apron, and budget--before he would venture among
the people of the country, who were acquainted with his real character.
Here we see a haughty, overbearing, highway robber, clothed in excellent
apparel, and mounted on a good steed, metamorphose himself, in an
instant, into a poor, wandering, beggarly, and pitiful Gipsy.
This Alexander Brown, and his brother-in-law, Wilson, carried on
conjointly a considerable trade in horse-stealing between Scotland and
England. The horses which were stolen in the South were brought to
Scotland, and sold there; those stolen in Scotland were, on the other
hand, disposed of in the South by English Gipsies. The crime of
horse-stealing has brought a great many of these wanderers to an
untimely end on the gallows. Brown was at last hanged at Edinburgh, to
expiate the many crimes he had, from time to time, committed. It is said
that his brother-in-law, Wilson, was hanged along with him on the same
day, having been also guilty of a number of crimes. Brown was taken in
a wood in Rannach, having been surprised and overpowered by a party of
Highlanders, raised for the purpose of apprehending him, and dispersing
his band, who lay in the wood in which he was captured. He thought to
evade them by clapping close to the ground, like a wild animal. Upon
being seized, a furious scuffle ensued; and during the violent tossing
and struggling which took place, while they were securing this sturdy
wanderer, he took hold of the bare thigh of one of the Highlanders, and
bit it most cruelly. Martha, the mother of Brown, and the mother-in-law
of Wilson, was apprehended in the act of stealing a pair of sheets while
attending their execution.
Charles, by some called William, a brother of Alexander Brown, was run
down by a party of the military and some messengers, near Dundee. He was
carried to Perth, where he was tried, condemned and executed, to atone
for the numerous crimes of which he was guilty. He was conveyed to Perth
by water, in consequence of it being reported that the Gipsies of Fife,
with the Grahams and Ogilvies at their head, were in motion to rescue
him. He, also, was a man of great personal strength; and regretting,
after being handcuffed, having allowed himself to be so easily taken,
he, in wrath, drove the messengers before him with his feet, as if they
had been children. While in the apartment of the prison called the
condemned cell, or the cage, he freed himself from his irons, and by
some means set on fire the damp straw on which he lay, with the design
of making his escape in the confusion. Surprised at the building being
on fire, and suspecting Brown to have been the cause of it, and that he
was free from his chains, ramping like a lion in his den, no one, in the
hurry, could be found with resolution enough to venture near him, till a
sergeant of the forty-second regiment volunteered his services. Before
he would face the Tinkler, however, he requested authority from the
magistrates to defend himself with his broad-sword, and, in case the
prisoner became desperate, to cut him down. This permission being
obtained, the sergeant drew his sword, and, assisted by the jailer's
daughter, unbarred the doors, till he came to the cage, whence the
prison was being filled with smoke. As he advanced to the door, he asked
with a loud voice, "Who is there?" "The devil," vociferated the Gipsy,
through fire and smoke. "I am also a devil, and of the black-watch,"
thundered back the intrepid Highlander. The resolute reply of the
soldier sounded like a death knell to the artful Tinkler--he knew his
man--it daunted him completely; for, after some threats from the
sergeant, he quietly allowed himself to be again loaded with irons, and
thoroughly secured in his cell, whence he did not stir till the day of
his execution.
Lizzy Brown, by some called Snippy, a member of the same family, was a
tall, stout woman, with features far from being disagreeable. She lost
her nose in a battle, fought in the shire of Angus. In this rencounter,
the Gipsies fought among themselves with highland dirks, exhibiting all
the fury of hostile tribes of Bedouin Arabs of the desert. When this
woman found that her nose was struck off, by the sweep of a dirk, she
put her hand to the wound, and, as if little had befallen her, called
out, in the heat of the scuffle, to those nearest her: "But, in the
middle o' the meantime, where is my nose?" Poor Lizzy's tall figure was
conspicuous among the tribe, owing to the want of that ornamental part
of her face.
The Grahams of Lochgellie, the Wilsons of Raploch, near Stirling, and
the Jamiesons, noticed under the head of Linlithgowshire Gipsies, were
all, by the female side, immediately descended from old Charles Stewart,
a Gipsy chief, at one period of no small consequence, among these
hordes.[103] When I enquired if the Robertsons, who lived, at one time,
at Menstry, were related to the Lochgellie band, the answer which I
received was: "The Tinklers are a' sib"--meaning that they are all
connected with one another by the ties of blood, and considered as one
family. This is a most powerful bond of union among these desperate
clans, which almost bids defiance to the breaking up of their strongly
cemented society. Old Charles Stewart was described to me as a stout,
good-looking man, with a fair complexion; and I was informed that he
lived to a great age. He affirmed, wherever he went, that he was a
descendant of the royal Stewarts of Scotland. His descendants still
assert that they are sprung from the royal race of Scotland. In support
of this pretension, Stewart, in the year 1774, at a wedding, in the
parish of Corstorphine, actually wore a large cocked hat, decorated with
a beautiful plume of white feathers, in imitation of the white cockade
of the Pretender. On this occasion, he wore a short coat, philabeg and
purse, and tartan hose. He sometimes wore a piece of brass, as a star,
on his left breast, with a cudgel in his hand. Such ridiculous attire
corresponds exactly with the taste and ideas of a Gipsy.[104] These
pretensions of Stewart are exactly of a piece with the usual Gipsy
policy of making the people believe that they are descended from
families of rank and influence in the country. At the same time, it
cannot be denied that some of our Scottish kings, especially James V,
the "Gaberlunzie-man,"[105] were far from being scrupulous or fastidious
in their vague amours. As old Charles Stewart was, on one occasion,
crossing the Forth, at Queensferry, chained to his son-in-law, Wilson,
in charge of messengers, he, with considerable shame in his countenance,
observed David McRitchie, whose father, as already mentioned, kept a
first-rate inn at the north-side, and in which the Tinkler had
frequently regaled himself with his merry companions. Stewart called
McRitchie to him, and, taking five shillings out of his pocket, said to
him, "Hae, Davie, there's five shillings to drink my health, man; I'll
laugh at them a'." He did laugh at them all, for nothing could be
proved against him and he was immediately set at liberty. It was, as
Charles Graham said--"The auld thing again, but nae proof."[106]
[103] It is interesting to notice that the three criminals who gave
occasion to the Porteous mob, in 1736, were named Stewart, Wilson and
Robertson. They were doubtless Gipsies of the above mentioned clans.
Their crimes and modes of escape were quite in keeping with the
character of the Gipsies.--ED.
[104] Grellmann, in giving an account of the attire of the poorer kind
of Hungarian Gipsies, says: We are not to suppose however that they
are indifferent about dress; on the contrary, they love fine clothes
to an extravagant degree. Whenever an opportunity offers of acquiring
a good coat, either by gift, purchase, or theft, the Gipsy immediately
bestirs himself to become master of it. Possessed of the prize, he
puts it on directly, without considering in the least whether it suits
the rest of his apparel. If his dirty shirt had holes in it as big as
a barn door, or his breeches so out of condition that any one might,
at the first glance, perceive their antiquity; were he unprovided with
shoes and stockings, or a covering for his head; none of these defects
would prevent his strutting about in a laced coat, feeling himself of
still greater consequence in case it happened to be a red one. They
are particularly fond of clothes which have been worn by people of
distinction, and will hardly ever deign to put on a boor's coat. They
will rather go half naked, or wrap themselves up in a sack, than
condescend to wear a foreign garb. Green is a favourite colour with
the Gipsies, but scarlet is held in great esteem among them. It is the
same with the Hungarian female Gipsies. In Spain, they hang all sorts
of trumpery in their ears, and baubles around their necks.
Mr. Borrow says of the Spanish Gipsies, that there is nothing in the
dress of either sex differing from that of the other inhabitants. The
same may be said of the Scottish tribes, and even of those in
England.--ED.
[105] _Gaberlunzie-man_--The beggar-man with the ragged apparel.
[106] The unabashed hardihood of the Gipsies, in the face of
suspicion, or even of open conviction, is not less characteristic than
the facility with which they commit crimes, or their address in
concealing them. A Gipsy of note, (known by the title of the "Earl of
Hell") was, about twenty years ago, tried for a theft of a
considerable sum of money at a Dalkeith market. The proof seemed to
the judge fully sufficient, but the jury rendered a verdict of "not
proven." On dismissing the prisoner from the bar, the judge informed
him, in his own characteristic language, "That he had rubbit shouthers
wi' the gallows that morning;" and warned him not again to appear
there with a similar body of proof against him as it seemed scarcely
possible he should meet with another jury who would construe it as
favourably. His counsel tendered him a similar advice. The Gipsy,
however, replied, to the great entertainment of all around, "That he
was proven an innocent man, and that naebody had ony right to use
siccan language to him."--_Blackwood's Magazine._--ED.
Another very singular Gipsy, of the name of Jamie Robertson, a near
relation of the Lochgellie tribe, resided at Menstry, at the foot of the
Ochil hills. James was an excellent musician, and was in great request
at fairs and country weddings. Although characterized by a dissoluteness
of manners, and professed roguery, this man, when trusted, was strictly
honest. A decent man in the neighbourhood, of the name of Robert Gray,
many a time lent him sums of money, to purchase large ox horns and other
articles, in the east of Fife, which he always repaid on the very day he
promised, with the greatest correctness and civility. The following
anecdote will show the zeal with which he would resent an insult which
he conceived to be offered to his friend: In one of his excursions
through Fife, he happened to be lying on the ground, basking himself in
the sun, while baiting his ass, on the roadside, when a countryman, an
entire stranger to him, came past, singing, in lightness of heart, the
song of "Auld Robin Gray," which, unfortunately for the man, Robertson
had never heard before. On the unconscious stranger coming to the words
"Auld Robin Gray was a kind man to me," the hot-blooded Gipsy started to
his feet, and, with a volley of oaths, felled him with his bludgeon to
the ground; repeating his blows in the most violent manner, and telling
him, "Auld Robin Gray was a kind man to him indeed, but it was not for
him to make a song on Robin for that." In short, he nearly put the
innocent man to death, in the heat of his passion, for satirizing, as
he thought, his friend in a scurrilous song. It was an invariable custom
with Robertson, whenever he passed Robert Gray's house, even were it at
the dead hour of night, to draw out his "bread winner," and give him a
few of his best airs, in gratitude for his kindness.
Robertson's wife, a daughter of Martha, whose son and son-in-law, Brown
and Wilson, were executed, as already mentioned, was sentenced to
transportation to Botany Bay; but, owing to her advanced years, it was
not thought worth the expense and trouble of sending her over seas, and
she was set at liberty. Her grandson, Joyce Robertson, would also have
been transported, if not hanged, but for the assistance of some of his
clan rescuing him from Stirling jail. So coolly and deliberately did he
go about his operations, in breaking out of the prison, that he took
along with him his oatmeal bag, and a favourite bird, in a cage, with
which he had amused himself during his solitary confinement. The
following anecdote of this audacious Gipsy, which was told to me by an
inhabitant of Stirling, who was well acquainted with the parties, is, I
believe, unequalled in the history of robberies: While Robertson was
lying in jail, an old man, for what purpose is not mentioned, went to
the prison window, to speak to him through the iron stauncheons. Joyce,
putting forth his hand, took hold of the unsuspecting man by the breast
of his coat, and drew him close up to the iron bars of the window; then
thrusting out his other hand, and pointing a glittering knife at his
heart, threatened him with instant death, if he did not deliver him the
money he had on him. The poor man, completely intimidated, handed into
the prison all the money he had; but had it returned, on the jailer
being informed of the extraordinary transaction.[107] After escaping
from confinement, this Gipsy stole a watch from a house at Alva, but had
hardly got it into his possession before he was discovered, and had the
inhabitants of the village in pursuit of him. A man, of the name of
Dawson, met him in his flight, and, astonished at seeing the crowd at
his heels, enquired, impatiently, what was the matter. "They are all
running after me, and you will soon run too," replied the Tinkler,
without shortening his step. He took to Tullibody plantations, but was
apprehended, and had the watch taken from him.
[107] The "game" of such a Gipsy may be fitly compared to that of a
sparrow-hawk. This bird has been known, while held in the hand, after
being wounded, to seize, when presented to it, a sparrow with each
claw, and a third with its beak.--ED.
I will notice another principal Gipsy, closely connected by blood with
the Fife bands, and of that rank that entitled him to issue tokens to
the members of his tribe. The name of this chief was Charles Wilson, and
his place of residence, at one time, was Raploch, close by Stirling
castle, where he possessed some heritable property in houses. He was a
stout, athletic, good-looking man, fully six feet in stature, and of a
fair complexion; and was, in general, handsomely dressed, frequently
displaying a gold watch, with many seals attached to its chain. In his
appearance he was respectable, very polite in his manners, and had,
altogether, little or nothing about him which, at first sight, or to the
general public, indicated him to be a Gipsy. But, nevertheless, I was
assured by one of the tribe, who was well acquainted with him, that he
spoke the language, and observed all the customs, and followed the
practices of the Gipsies.
He was a pretty extensive horse-dealer, having at times in his
possession numbers of the best bred horses in the country. He most
commonly bought and sold hunters, and such as were suitable for cavalry;
and for some of his horses he received upwards of a hundred guineas
apiece. In his dealings he always paid cash for his purchases, but
accepted bills from his customers of respectability. Many a one
purchased horses of him; and he was taken notice of by many respectable
people in the neighbourhood; but the community in general looked upon
him, and his people, with suspicion and fear, and were by no means fond
of quarrelling with any of his vindictive fraternity. When any of his
customers required a horse from him, and told him that the matter was
left wholly to himself, as regards price, but to provide an animal
suitable for the purpose required, no man in Scotland would act with
greater honour than Charles Wilson. He would then fit his employer
completely, and charge for the horse exactly what the price should be.
To this manner of dealing he was very averse, and endeavoured to avoid
it as much as possible. It is said he was never known to deceive any one
in his transactions, when entire confidence was placed in him. But, on
the other hand, when any tried to make a bargain with him, without any
reference to himself, but trusting wholly to their own judgment, he
would take three prices for his horses, if he could obtain them, and
cheat them, if it was in his power. It is said his people stole horses
in Ireland, and sent them to him, to dispose of in Scotland. On one
occasion his gang stole and sold in Edinburgh, Stirling and Dumbarton a
grey stallion, three different times in one week. Wilson himself was
almost always mounted on a blood-horse of the highest mettle.
At one time, Charles Wilson travelled the country with a horse and cart,
vending articles which his gang plundered from shops in Glasgow and
other places. He had an associate who kept a regular shop, and when
Wilson happened to be questioned about his merchandise, he always had
fictitious bills of particulars, invoices and receipts, ready to show
that the goods were lawfully purchased from his merchant, who was no
other than his friend and associate. As Charles was chief of his tribe,
he received the title of captain, to distinguish him from the meaner
sort of his race. Like others of his rank among the Gipsies, he
generally had a numerous gang of youths in fairs, plundering for him in
all directions, among the heedless and unthinking crowd. But he always
managed matters with such art and address that, however much he might be
suspected, no evidence could ever be found to show that he acted a part
in such transactions. It was well understood, however, that Charlie, as
he was commonly called, divided the contents of many a purse with his
band; all the plundered articles being in fact brought to him for
distribution.
This chief, as I have already mentioned, issued tokens to the members of
his own tribe; a part of the polity of the Gipsies which will be fully
described in the following chapter. But, besides these regular Gipsy
tokens, he, like many of his nation, gave tokens of protection to his
particular friends of the community at large. The following is one
instance, among many, of this curious practice among the Gipsies. I
received the particulars from the individual himself who obtained the
token or passport from Wilson. My informant, Mr. Buchanan, a retired
officer of the Excise, chanced, in his youth, to be in a fair at
Skirling, in Peebles-shire, when an acquaintance of his, of the name of
John Smith, of Carnwath Mill, received, in a tent, fifty pounds for
horses which he had sold in the market. Wilson, who was acquainted with
both parties, was in the tent at the time, and saw the latter receive
the money. On leaving the tent, Smith mentioned to his friend that he
was afraid of being robbed in going home, as Wilson knew he had money in
his possession. Mr. Buchanan, being well acquainted with Wilson, went to
him in the fair, and told him the plain facts; that Smith and himself
were to travel with money on their persons, and that they were
apprehensive of being robbed of it, on their way home. The Gipsy, after
hesitating for a moment, gave Buchanan a pen-knife, which he was to show
to the first person who should offer to molest them; at the same time
enjoining him to keep the affair quite private. After my informant and
his friend had travelled a considerable distance on their way home, they
observed, at a little distance before them, a number of Tinklers--men
and women--fighting together on the side of the road. One of the females
came forward to the travellers, and urged them vehemently to assist her
husband, who, she said, was like to be murdered by others who had fallen
upon him on the highway. My friend knew quite well that all the fighting
was a farce, got up for the purpose of robbing him and his companion,
the moment they interfered with the combatants in their feigned quarrel.
Instead of giving the woman the assistance she asked, he privately and
very quietly, as if he wished nobody to see it, showed her Wilson's
knife in his hand, when she immediately exclaimed, "You are our
friends," and called, at the same moment, to those engaged in the
scuffle, in words to the same effect. Both the travellers now passed on,
but, on looking behind them, they observed that the squabble had
entirely ceased. The pen-knife was returned to Wilson the day following.
I may give, in this place, another instance of these tokens being
granted by the Gipsies to their particular favourites of the community.
The particulars were given to me by the individual with whom the
incident occurred; and the Gipsy mentioned I have myself seen and spoken
to: A---- A----, a small farmer, who resided in the west of Fife,
happened to be at one of the Falkland fairs, where, in the evening, he
fell in with old Andrew Steedman, a Gipsy horse-dealer from Lochgellie,
with whom he was well acquainted. They entered a public-house in
Falkland to have a dram together, before leaving the fair, and after
some conversation had passed, on various subjects, Steedman observed to
his acquaintance that it would be late in the night before he could
reach his home, and that he might be exposed to some danger on the road;
but he would give him his snuff-box, to present and offer a snuff to the
first person who should offer to molest him. My informant, possessed of
the Gipsy's snuff-box, mounted his horse, and left his acquaintance and
Falkland behind for his home. He had not proceeded far on his journey,
before a man in the dark seized the bridle of his horse, and ordered him
to stop; without, however, enforcing his command to surrender in that
determined tone and manner common to highwaymen with those they intend
to rob. The farmer at once recognized the robber to be no other than
young Charles Graham, one of the Lochgellie Tinklers, whom he personally
knew. Instead of delivering him his purse, he held out to him the
snuff-box, as if nothing had happened, and, offering him a pinch, asked
him if he was going to Lochgellie to-night. A sort of parley now ensued,
the farmer feeling confident in the strength of his protection, and
Graham confounded at being recognized by an acquaintance whom he was
about to rob, and who, moreover, was in possession of a Gipsy token. At
first a dry conversation ensued, similar to that between persons
unacquainted with each other when they happen to meet; but Graham,
recovering his self-possession, soon became very frank and kind, and
insisted on the farmer accompanying him to a public-house on the
road-side, where he would treat him to a dram. The farmer, a stout,
athletic man, and no coward, complied with the Gipsy's invitation
without hesitation. While drinking their liquor, Graham took up the
snuff-box, and examined it all over very attentively, by the light of
the candle, and returned it, without making a single remark, relative
either to the untoward occurrence or the snuff-box itself. The farmer
was equally silent as to what had taken place; but he could not help
noticing the particular manner in which the Gipsy examined the token.
They drank a hearty dram together, and parted the best of friends; the
farmer for his home, and Graham, as he supposed, for the highway, to
exercise his calling. Graham, about this period, resided in a house
belonging to Steedman, in Lochgellie.
Instances occurred of individuals, who happened to be plundered,
applying to Charles Wilson for his assistance to recover their property.
The particulars of the following case are in the words of a friend who
gave me the anecdote: "A boy, having received his hard-earned fee, at
the end of a term, set out for Stirling to purchase some clothes for
himself. On the road he was accosted by two men, who conversed with and
accompanied him to Stirling. The lad proceeded accordingly to fit
himself in a shop with a new suit, but, to his utter disappointment and
grief, his small penny-fee was gone. The merchant questioned him about
the road he had come, and whether he had been in company with any one on
the way or otherwise. Upon the appearance of his companions being
described, the shop-keeper suspected they might have picked his pocket
unobserved. As a last resource, the boy was advised to call upon Charlie
Wilson, and relate to him the particulars of his misfortune; which he
accordingly did. Charles heard his story to the end, and desired him to
call next day, when he might be able to give him some information
relative to his loss. The young lad kept the appointment, and, to his
great joy, the Tinkler chief paid him down every farthing of his lost
money; but at the same time told him to ask no questions."
This Gipsy chief died within these thirty-five years in his own house,
on the castle-hill at Stirling, whither he had removed from Raploch. It
is stated that, for a considerable time before his death, he
relinquished his former practices, and died in full communion with the
church.[108] He was, about the latter end of his life, reduced to
considerable poverty, and was under the necessity of betaking himself to
his original occupation of making horn spoons for a subsistence. In the
days of his prosperity, Charles was considered a very kind-hearted and
generous man to the poor; and it seldom happened that poverty and
distress were not relieved by him, when application was made to him by
the needy. Although many of the more original kind of Gipsies have a
respectable appearance, and may possess a little money, during the prime
of life, yet the most of them, in their old age, are in a condition of
poverty and misery.
[108] In the "Monthly Visitor" for February, 1856, will be found an
account of the conversion of one of this Gipsy clan, of the name of
Jeanie Wilson. The tract is very appropriately headed, "A lily among
thorns."--ED.
Charles Wilson had a family of very handsome daughters, one of whom was
considered a perfect beauty. She did not travel the country, like the
rest of her family, but remained at home, and acted as her father's
housekeeper; and, when any of the tribe visited him, they always
addressed her by the title of "my lady," (_raunie_,) and otherwise
treated her with great respect. This beautiful girl was, about the year
1795, kept as a mistress by an adjutant of a Scotch regiment of fencible
cavalry. She was frequently seen as handsomely and fashionably attired
as the first females in Stirling; and some of the troopers were not
displeased to see their adjutant's mistress equal in appearance to the
highest dames in the town. But Wilson's daughters were all frequently
dressed in a very superior manner, and could not have been taken for
Gipsies.
To suit their purposes of deception, in practising their pilfering
habits, the female Gipsies, as well as the males, often changed their
wearing apparel. Some of them have been seen in four different dresses
in one fair day, varying from the appearance of a sturdy female beggar
to that of a young, flirting wench, fantastically dressed, and throwing
herself, a perfect lure, in the way of the hearty, ranting,
half-intoxicated, and merry young farmers, for the sole purpose of
stripping them of their money.[109] The following is given as an
instance of this sort of female deception:--On a fair-day, in the town
of Kinross, a Brae-laird,[110] in the same county, fell in with a Gipsy
harpy of the above character, of the name of Wilson, one of Charles'
daughters, it was understood. She had a fine person, an agreeable and
prepossessing countenance, was handsomely dressed, and was, altogether,
what one would pronounce a pretty girl. Her charms made a very sudden
and deep impression on the susceptible laird; and as it was an easy
matter, in those times, to make up acquaintance at these large and
promiscuous gatherings, the enamoured rustic soon found means to
introduce himself to the stranger lady. He treated her in a gallant
manner, and engaged to pay his respects to her at her place of
residence. It happened, however, that a number of Tinklers were, that
very evening, apprehended in the fair, for picking pockets, and a great
many purses were found in their custody. Proclamation was made by the
authorities, that all those who had lost their money should appear at a
place named, and identify their property. The Brae-laird, among others,
missed his pocket-book and purse, and accordingly went to enquire after
them. His purse was produced to him; but greatly was he ashamed and
mortified when the thief was also shown to him, lying in prison--the
very person of his handsome and beautiful sweetheart, now metamorphosed
into a common Tinkler wench. Whether he now provoked the ire of his
dulcinea, by harsh treatment, is not mentioned; but the woman sent, as
it were, a dagger to his heart, by calling out before all present: "Ay,
laird, ye're no sae kind to me noo, lad, as when ye treated me wi' wine
in the forenoon." The man, confounded at his exposure, was glad to get
out of her presence, and, rather than bear the cutting taunts of the
Gipsy, fled from the place of investigation, leaving his money behind
him.[111]
[109] An old woman, whom I found occupying the house of Charles
Wilson, at Raploch, in 1845, informed me that she had seen his wife in
_five_ different dresses, in one market-day. She was, at the time, a
servant in a _blacksmith's_ family in Stirling, who were _great
friends_ of Charles Wilson; and every time Mrs. Wilson came into the
smith's house, from her plundering in the market, this servant girl,
then nine years old, _cleaned her shoes_ for a fresh expedition in the
crowd. When suspected, or even detected, in their practices, these
female Gipsies, by such change of dress and character, easily escaped
apprehension by the authorities.
[110] There are a number of small landed proprietors in the hilly
parts of Kinross-shire; hence the appellation of Brae-laird.
[111] It is interesting to notice such rencounters between these
pretty, genteel-looking Gipsies and the ordinary natives. The
denouement, in this instance, might have been a marriage, and the
plantation of a colony of Gipsies among the Braes of Kinross-shire.
The same might have happened in the case of the other lady Wilson,
with the adjutant at Stirling, or with one of his acquaintances.--ED.
It is almost needless to mention that the Stirlingshire Gipsies
contributed their full proportion to the list of victims to the offended
laws of the country. Although Charles Wilson, the chieftain of the
horde, dexterously eluded justice himself, two of his brothers were
executed within the memory of people still living. Another of his
relatives, of the name of Gordon, also underwent the last penalty of the
law, at Glasgow, where an acquaintance of mine saw him hanged. Wilson
had a son who carried a box of jewelry through the country, and was
suspected of having been concerned in robbing a bank, at, I believe,
Dunkeld. Some of the descendants of this Stirlingshire tribe still roam
up and down the kingdom, nearly in the old Gipsy manner; and several of
them have their residence, when not on the tramp, in the town of
Stirling.
The great distinguishing feature in the character of the Gipsies is an
incurable propensity for theft and robbery, and taking openly and
forcibly (sorning) whatever answers their purpose. A Gipsy, of about
twenty-one years of age, stated to me that his forefathers considered it
quite lawful, among themselves, to take from others, not of their own
fraternity, any article they stood in need of. Casting his eyes around
the inside of my house, he said: "For instance, were they to enter this
room, they would carry off anything that could be of service to them,
such as clothes, money, victuals, &c.:" "but," added he, "all this
proceeded from ignorance; they are now quite changed in their manners."
Another Gipsy, a man of about sixty years of age, informed me that the
tribe have a complete and thorough hatred of the whole community,
excepting those who shelter them, or treat them with kindness; and that
a dexterous theft or robbery, committed on any of the natives among whom
they travel, is looked upon as one of the most meritorious actions which
a Gipsy can possibly perform.
But the Gipsies are by no means the only nation in the world that have
considered theft reputable. In Sparta, under the celebrated law-giver
Lycurgus, theft was also reputable. In Hugh Murray's account of an
embassy from Portugal to the Emperor of Abyssinia, in 1620, we find the
following curious passage relative to thieves in that part of the world:
"As the embassy left the palace, a band of thieves carried off a number
of valuable articles, while a servant who attempted to defend them was
wounded in the leg. The ambassadors, enquiring the mode of obtaining
redress for this outrage, were assured that these thieves formed a
regular part of the court establishment, and that officers were
appointed who levied a proportion of the articles stolen, for behoof his
imperial majesty."[112] In another part of Africa, there is a horde of
Moors who go by the name of the tribe of thieves. This wandering,
vagabond horde do not blush at adopting this odious denomination. Their
chief is called chief of the tribe of thieves.[113] In Hugh Murray's
Asia, we have the following passage relative to the professed thieves in
India.
[112] Vol. ii., page 17.
[113] Golbery's Travels, translated by Francis Blagden. Vol. i, page
158.
"Nothing tends more to call in question the mildness of the Hindoo
disposition than the vast scale of the practice of decoity. This term,
though essentially synonymous with robbery, suggests, however, very
different ideas. With us, robbers are daring and desperate outlaws, who
hide themselves in the obscure corners of great cities, shunned and
detested by all society. In India, they are regular and reputable
persons, who have not only houses and families, but often landed
property, and have much influence in the villages where they reside.
This profession, like all others, is hereditary; and a father has been
heard, from the gallows, carefully admonishing his son not to be
deterred, by his fate, from following the calling of his ancestors. They
are very devout, and have placed themselves under the patronage of the
goddess Kali, revered in Bengal above all other deities, and who is
supposed to look with peculiar favour on achievements such as theirs.
They are even recognized by the old Hindoo laws, which contain
enactments for the protection of stolen goods, upon a due share being
given to the magistrate. They seldom, however, commit depredations in
their own village, or even in that immediately adjoining, but seek a
distant one, where they have no tie to the inhabitants. They are formed
into bands, with military organization, so that when a chief dies, there
is always another ready to succeed him. They calculate that they have
ten chances to one of never being brought to justice."
The old Hindoo law alluded to in the above passage is, I presume, the
following enactment in the Gentoo Code, translated by Nathaniel Brassey
Halhed, page 146: "The mode of shares among robbers is this: If any
thieves, by the command of the magistrate, and with his assistance, have
committed depredations upon, and brought any booty from, another
province, the magistrate shall receive a share of one-sixth of the
whole; if they receive no command or assistance from the magistrate,
they shall give the magistrate, in that case, one-tenth of his share;
and of the remainder, their chief shall receive four shares: and
whosoever among them is perfect master of his occupation, shall receive
three shares; also whichever of them is remarkably strong and stout,
shall receive two shares; and the rest shall receive each one share. If
any one of the community of thieves happens to be taken, and should be
released from the Cutchery, (court of justice), upon payment of a sum
of money, all the thieves shall make good that sum by equal
shares."--"In the Gentoo code containing this law, there are many severe
enactments against theft and robbery of every description; but these
laws refer to domestic disturbers of their own countrymen, or violators
of the first principles of society. The law which regulates these shares
of robbers, refers only to such bold and hardy adventurers as sally
forth to levy contributions in a foreign province."
Now our Gipsies are, in one point, exactly on a level with the
adventurers here mentioned. They look upon themselves as being in a
foreign land, and consider it fair game to rob, plunder, and cheat all
and every one of the "strangers" among whom they travel. I am disposed
to believe that there were also rules among the Gipsy bands for dividing
their booty, something like the old Hindoo law alluded to.[114]
[114] What is said here is, of course, applicable to a class, only, of
the Gipsies. Our author need not have gone so very far away from home,
for instances of theft and robbery being, under certain circumstances,
deemed honourable. Both were, at one time, followed in Scotland, when
all practised
"The good old rule, the simple plan,
That they should take who have the power,
And they should keep who can."
See Disquisition on the Gipsies.--ED.
We find the following curious particulars mentioned of a tribe among the
mountains in India, who are supposed to be the aborigines of Hindostan.
They are called Kookies or Lunctas. "Next to personal valour, the
accomplishment most esteemed in a warrior is superior address in
stealing; and if a thief can convey, undiscovered, to his own house, his
neighbour's property, it cannot afterwards be reclaimed; nor, if
detected in the act, is he otherwise punished than by exposure to the
ridicule of the Porah, and being obliged to restore what he may have
laid hold of." "It is a great recommendation in obtaining a wife, when a
Kookie can say that his house is full of stolen articles."[115] There
are several other tribes in the world among whom theft and robbery are
considered meritorious actions. It appears that among the Coords "no one
is allowed to marry a wife till he has committed some great act of
robbery or murder." In an account of Kamtschatka, it is mentioned that
"among all these barbarous nations, excepting the Kamtschadales, theft
is reputable, provided they do not steal in their own tribe, or if done
with such art as to prevent discovery: on the other hand, it is punished
very severely if discovered; not for the theft, but for the want of
address in the art of stealing. A Tschukotskoe girl cannot be married
before she has shown her dexterity in this way."[116]
[115] Asiatic Researches, vol. vii., pages 189 and 193.
[116] Dr. James Grieve's translation of a Russian account of
Kamtschatka, page 323.
Halhed, in apologizing for the Hindoo magistrate participating in the
plunder of banditti, which applies equally well to the Gipsies, remarks
that, "unjust as this behaviour may appear in the eye of equity, it
bears the most genuine stamp of antiquity, and corresponds entirely with
the manners of the early Grecians, at or before the period of the Trojan
war, and of the western nations before their emersion from barbarism; a
practice still kept up among the piratic States of Barbary, to its
fullest extent by sea, and probably among many hordes of Tartars and
Arabian banditti by land." It is proper to mention that the Gipsies
seldom or never steal from one another; at least, I never could find out
an instance of a theft having been committed by a Gipsy on one of his
own tribe.
It will be seen, from the following details, that the sanguinary laws
which have been, from time to time, promulgated all over Europe against
the Gipsies, were not enacted to put down fanciful crimes, as an author
of the present day seems, in his travels, to insinuate. To plunder the
community with more safety to their persons, the Gipsies appear to have
had a system of theft peculiar to themselves. Those of Lochgellie
trained all their children to theft. Indeed, this has been the general
practice with the tribe all over Scotland. Several individuals have
mentioned to me that the Lochgellie band were exercised in the art of
thieving under the most rigid discipline. They had various ways of
making themselves expert thieves. They frequently practised themselves
by picking the pockets of each other. Sometimes a pair of breeches were
made fast to the end of a string, suspended from a high part of the
tent, kiln, or outhouse in which they happened to be encamped. The
children were set at work to try if they could, by sleight of hand,
abstract money from the pockets of the breeches hanging in this
position, without moving them. Sometimes they used bells in this
discipline. The children who were most expert in abstracting the money
in this manner, were rewarded with applause and presents; while, on the
other hand, those who proved awkward, by ringing the bell, or moving the
breeches, were severely chastised. After the youths were considered
perfect in this branch of their profession, a purse, or other small
object, was laid down in an exposed part of the tent or camp, in view of
all the family. While the ordinary business of the Gipsies was going
forward, the children again commenced their operations, by exerting
their ingenuity and exercising their patience, in trying to carry off
the purse without being perceived by any one present. If they were
detected, they were again beaten; but if they succeeded unnoticed, they
were caressed and liberally rewarded. As far as my information goes,
this systematic training of the Gipsy youth was performed by the chief
female of the bands. These women seem to have had great authority over
their children. Ann Brown, of the Lochgellie tribe, could, by a single
stamp of her foot, cause the children to crouch to the ground, like
trembling dogs under the lash of an angry master. The Gipsies, from
these constant trainings, became exceedingly dexterous at picking
pockets. The following instance of their extraordinary address in these
practices, will show the effects of their careful training, as well as
exhibit the natural ingenuity which they will display in compassing
their ends.
A principal male Gipsy, of a very respectable appearance, whose name it
is unnecessary to mention, happened, on a market day, to be drinking in
a public-house, with several farmers with whom he was well acquainted.
The party observed, from the window, a countryman purchase something at
a stand in the market, and, after paying for it, thrust his purse into
his watch-pocket, in the band of his breeches. One of the company
remarked that it would be a very difficult matter to rob the cautious
man of his purse, without being detected. The Gipsy immediately offered
to bet two bottles of wine that he would rob the man of his purse, in
the open and public market, without being perceived by him. The bet was
taken, and the Gipsy proceeded about the difficult and delicate
business. Going up to the unsuspecting man, he requested, as a
particular favour, if he would ease the stock about his neck, which
buckled behind--an article of dress at that time in fashion. The
countryman most readily agreed to oblige the stranger gentleman--as he
supposed him to be. The Gipsy, now stooping down, to allow his stock to
be adjusted, placed his head against the countryman's stomach, and,
pressing it forward a little, he reached down one hand, under the
pretence of adjusting his shoe, while the other was employed in
extracting the farmer's purse. The purse was immediately brought into
the company, and the cautious, unsuspecting countryman did not know of
his loss, till he was sent for, and had his property returned to him.
The Gipsy youth, trained from infancy to plunder, in the manner
described, were formed into companies or bands, with a captain at their
head. These captains were generally the grown-up sons of the old
chieftains, who, having been themselves leaders in their youth,
endeavoured, in their old age, to support, outwardly, a pretty fair
character, although under considerable suspicion. The captains were
generally well dressed, and could not be taken for Gipsies. The youths
varied in age from ten to thirty years. They travelled to fairs singly,
or at least never above two together, while their captains almost always
rode on horse-back, but never in company with any of their men.[117] The
band consisted of a great number of individuals, and in a fair several
of these companies would be present; each company acting independent of
the others, for behoof of its own members and chief. Each chief, on such
occasions, had his own headquarters, to which his men repaired with
their booty, as fast as they obtained it. Some of the chiefs, handsomely
dressed, pretended to be busily employed in buying and selling horses,
but were always ready to attend to the operations of their tribe,
employed in plundering in the market. The purses were brought to the
horse-dealer by the members of his band, who, to prevent being
discovered, pretended to be buying horses from him, while communicating
with him relative to their peculiar vocation. When a detection was
likely to take place, the chief mounted a good horse, and rode off to a
distant part of the country, previously made known to his men, with the
whole of the booty in his custody. To this place the band, when all was
quiet, repaired, and received their share of the plunder. They could
communicate information to one another by signs, to say nothing of their
language, which frequently enabled them to get the start of their
pursuers. Like the fox, the dog, and the _corbie_, they frequently
concealed their stolen articles in the earth. Parties of them would
frequently commence sham fights in markets, to facilitate the picking of
the pockets of the people, while crowded together to witness the
scuffles.
[117] An old Gipsy told me that he had seen one of the principal
chiefs, dressed like a gentleman, travelling in a post-chaise, for the
purpose of attending fairs.
[Vidocq, of the French secret police, thus writes of the Hungarian
Gipsies, visiting the west of Europe: Raising my eyes towards a crowd
in front of a menagerie, I perceived one of the _false jockeys_ taking
the purse of a fat glazier, whom we saw the next moment seeking for it
in his pocket; the _Bohemian_ then entered a jeweller's shop, where
were already two of the _pretended Zealand peasants_, and my companion
assured me that he would not come out until he had pilfered some of
the jewels that were shown to him. In every part of the fair where
there was a crowd, I met some of the lodgers of the Duchess, (the inn
kept by a Gipsy woman in which he had spent the previous night.)--ED.]
Many of the male Gipsies used a piece of strong leather, like a
sailmaker's palm, having a short piece of sharp steel, like the point of
a surgeon's lancet, where the sailmaker has his thimble. The long
sleeves of their coats concealed the instrument, and when they wished to
cut a purse out of an arm-pocket, they stretched out the arm, and ran it
flatly and gently along the cloth of the coat, opposite the pocket of
the individual they wished to plunder. The female Gipsies wore, upon
their forefingers, rings of a peculiar construction, yet nothing unusual
in their appearance, excepting their very large size. On closing the
hand, the pressure upon a spring sent forth, through an aperture or slit
in the ring, a piece of sharp steel, something like the manner in which
a bee thrusts out and withdraws its sting. With these ingenious
instruments the female Gipsies cut the outside of the pockets of their
victims, exactly as a glazier runs his diamond over a sheet of glass.
The opening once made by the back of the forefinger, the hand,
following, was easily introduced into the pocket. In the midst of a
crowded fair, the dexterous Gipsies, with their nimble fingers, armed
with these invisible instruments, cut the pocket-books and purses of the
honest farmers, as if they had been robbed by magic. So skillful were
the wife and one of the sisters of Charles Wilson, in the art of
thieving, that although the loss of the pocket-book was, in some
instances, immediately discovered, nothing was ever found upon their
persons by which their guilt could be established. No instrument
appeared in their possession with which the clothes of the plundered
individuals could have been cut, as no one dreamt that the rings on
their fingers contained tools so admirably adapted for such purposes.
The Gipsy chiefs in Scotland appear, at one time, to have received a
share of the plundered articles in the same manner as those of the same
rank received from their inferiors in Hungary. Grellmann says: "Whenever
a complaint is made that any of their people have been guilty of theft,
the Waywode (chief) not only orders a general search to be made in every
tent or hut, and returns the stolen goods to the owner, if they can be
found; but he punishes the thief, in presence of the complainant, with
his whip. He does not, however, punish the aggressor from any regard to
justice, but rather to quiet the plaintiff, and at the same time to make
his people more wary in their thefts, as well as more dexterous in
concealing their prey. These very materially concern him, since, by
every discovery that is made, his income suffers, as the whole profit of
his office arises from his share of the articles that are stolen. Every
time any one brings in a booty, he is obliged to give information to the
Arch-gipsy of his successful enterprise, then render a just account of
what and how much he has stolen, in order that the proper division may
be made. This is the situation in which a Gipsy looks on himself as
bound to give a fair and true detail, though, in every other instance,
he does not hesitate to perjure himself."
A shrewd and active magistrate, in the west of Fife, knew our Scottish
Gipsy depredators so well, that he caused them all to be apprehended as
they entered the fairs held in the town in which he resided; and when
the market, which lasted for several days, was over, the Gipsies were
released from prison, with empty pockets and hungry bellies--most
effectually baffled in their designs.
Great numbers of these Gipsy plunderers, at one time, crossed the Forth
at the Queensferry, for the purpose of stealing and robbing at the fairs
in the north of Scotland. They all travelled singly or in pairs. Very
few persons knew whence they came, or with whom they were connected.
They were, in general, well dressed, and could not have been taken for
Gipsies. Every one put up at a public-house, at North Queensferry, kept
by a Mr. McRitchie, already mentioned, an inn well known in the
neighbourhood for its good fare, and much frequented by all classes of
society. In this house, on the morning after a fair in Dunfermline, when
_their business_ was all over, and themselves not alarmed by detection,
or other scaring incidents, no fewer than fourteen of these plunderers
have frequently been seen sitting at breakfast, with Captain Gordon,
their commander, at their head. The landlord's son informed me that they
ate and drank of the best in the house, and paid most handsomely for
everything they called for. I believe they were among the best customers
the landlord had. Gipsies, however, are by no means habitual drinkers,
or tiplers; but when they do sit down, it is, in the phraseology of the
sea, a complete _blow-out_. About this public-house, these Gipsies were
perfectly inoffensive, and remarkably civil to all connected with it.
They troubled or stole from none of the people about the inn, nor from
those who lodged in the house, while they were within doors, or in the
immediate neighbourhood. Anything could have been trusted with them on
these occasions. At these meetings, the landlord's son frequently heard
them talking in the Gipsy language. Gordon, at times, paid the reckoning
for the whole, and transacted any other business with the landlord; but,
when the Gipsy company was intermixed with females, which was commonly
the case, each individual paid his own share of the bill incurred. It
was sometimes the practice with the young bands to leave their reckoning
to be paid by their chiefs, who were not present, but who, perhaps next
day, came riding up, and paid the expenses incurred by their men. I am
informed that two chiefs, of the names of Wilson and Brown, often paid
the expenses of their bands in this way. When any of these principal
Gipsies happened to remain in the public-house all night, they behaved
very genteelly. They paid the chamber-maid, boots, and waiter with more
liberality than was the custom with mercantile travellers generally.
Captain Gordon, just mentioned, assumed very considerable consequence at
this place. Frequently he hired boats and visited the islands in the
Forth, and adjacent coasts, like a gentleman of pleasure. On one
occasion he paid no less than a guinea, with brandy and eatables _ad
libitum_, to be rowed over to Inch-colm, a distance of four miles.
The female Gipsies from the south, on visiting their friends at
Lochgellie, in the depth of winter, often hired horses at the North
Queensferry, and rode, with no small pomp and pride, to the village.
Sometimes two females would ride upon one horse. A very decent old man,
of the name of Thomas Chalmers, a small farmer, informed me that he
himself had rode to Lochgellie, with a female Gipsy behind him,
accompanied by other two, mounted on another of his horses, riding with
much spirit and glee by his side. Chalmers said that these women not
only paid more than the common hire, but treated the owners of the
horses with as much meat and drink as they could take. The male Gipsies
also hired horses at this Ferry, with which they rode to markets in the
north.
The young Gipsies, male and female, of whom I have spoken, appear to
have been the flower of the different bands, collected and employed in a
general plundering at the fairs in the north. So well did they pay their
way at the village and passage alluded to, that the boatmen gave them
the kindly name of "our frien's." These wanderers were all known at the
village by the name of "Gillie Wheesels," or "Killie Wheesh," which, in
the west of Fife, signified "the lads that take the purses." Old Thomas
Chalmers informed me that he had frequently seen these sharks of boatmen
shake these Gipsy thieves heartily by the hand, and, with a significant
smile on their harsh, weather-beaten countenances, wish them a good
market, as they landed them on the north side of the Forth, on their way
to picking pockets at fairs.
As an incident in the lives of these Gipsies, I will give the following,
which was witnessed by Chalmers: A Gillie of a Gipsy horse-couper stole
a black colt, in the east of Fife, and carried it direct to a fair in
Perth, where he exchanged it for a white horse, belonging to a
Highlander wearing a green kilt. The Highlander, however, had not long
put the colt into the stable, before word was brought to him that it was
gone. Suspecting the Gipsy of the theft, the sturdy Gael proceeded in
search of him, and receiving positive information of the fact, he
pursued him, like a staunch hound on the warm foot of reynard, till he
overtook him in a house on the north side of Kinross. The Gipsy was
taking some refreshment in the same room with Chalmers, when the
Highlander, in a storm of broken English, burst into their presence.
The astute and polished Gipsy instantly sprang to his feet, and,
throwing his arms around the foaming Celt, embraced and hugged him in
the eastern manner, overpowering him with expressions of joy at seeing
him again. This quite exasperated the mountaineer: almost suffocated
with rage, he shook the Gipsy from his person, with the utmost disdain,
and demanded the colt he had stolen from him. Notwithstanding the
deceitful embraces and forced entreaties of the Gipsy, he was, with the
assistance of a messenger, at the back of the Highlander, safely lodged
in the jail of Cupar.
Considering the great aptitude which the Gipsies have always shown for
working in metals, it is not surprising that they should have resorted
to coining, among their many expedients for circumventing and plundering
the "strangers" among whom they sojourn. The following instance will
illustrate the singular audacity which they can display in this branch
of their profession: As an honest countryman, of much simplicity of
character, of the name of W---- O----, was journeying along the public
road, a travelling Tinkler, whom he did not know, chanced to come up to
him. After walking and conversing for some time, the courteous Gipsy, on
arriving at a public-house, invited him to step in, and have a
"tasting." They accordingly entered the house, and had no sooner
finished one half _mutchken_, than the liberal wanderer called for
another; but when the reckoning came to be thought of, the countryman
was surprised when his friend the Tinkler declared that he had not a
coin in his possession. Unfortunately, the honest man happened also to
be without a farthing in his pocket, and how they were to get out of the
house, without paying the landlord, whom neither of them knew, puzzled
him not a little. While meditating over their dilemma, the Gipsy, with
his eyes rolling about in every direction, as is their wont, espied a
pewter basin under a bed in the room. This was all he required. Bolting
the door of the apartment, he opened his budget, and, taking out a pair
of large shears, cut a piece from the side of the basin, and, putting it
into his crucible on the fire, in no time, with his coining instruments,
threw off several half-crowns, resembling good, sterling money. If the
simple countryman was troubled at not being able to pay his reckoning,
he was now terrified at being locked up with a man busily engaged in
coining base money from an article stolen in the very apartment in which
he was confined. He expected, every moment, some one to burst the door
open, and apprehend them, while the Tinkler had all his coining
apparatus about him. His companion, however, was not in the least
disturbed, but deliberately finished his coin in a superior manner, and
cutting the remainder of the basin into pieces, packed it into his
wallet. Unlocking the door, he rang the bell, and tendered one of his
half-crowns to his host, to pay his score, which was accepted without a
suspicion. The Tinkler then offered his fellow-traveller part of his
remaining coin; but the unsophisticated man, far from touching one of
them, was only too glad to rid himself of so dangerous an acquaintance.
The Gipsy, on his part, marched off, with his spirits elevated with
liquor, and his pockets replenished with money, smiling at the
simplicity and terror of the countryman.
However numerous the crimes which the Gipsies have committed, or the
murders they have perpetrated in their own tribe, yet, in justice to
them, I must say that only two instances have come to my knowledge of
their having put to death natives of Scotland who were not of their own
fraternity. One of these instances was that of a man of the name of Adam
Thomson, whom they murdered because he had encroached, it was said, upon
one of their supposed privileges--that of gathering rags through the
country. Amongst other acts of cruelty, they placed the poor man on a
fire, in his own house. Two Gipsies were tried for the murder, but
whether they were both executed, I do not know. The following
particulars connected with this deed will show how exactly the Gipsies
know the different routes and halting-places of each band, as they
travel through the country. Indeed, I have been informed that the track
which each horde is to take, the different stages, and the number of
days they are to remain at each place, are all marked out and fixed upon
in the spring, before they leave their winter residence. One of the
Gipsies concerned in the murder of Thomson lay in prison, in one of the
towns in the south of Scotland, for nearly twelve months, without having
had any communication with his tribe. There was not sufficient evidence
against him to justify his being brought to trial; nor would he give any
information regarding the transaction. At last he changed his mind, and
told the authorities they would find the murderer at a certain spot in
the Highlands, on a certain day and hour of that day; but if he could
not be found there, they were to proceed to another place, at twenty
miles' distance, where they would be sure to find him.
The murderer was found at the place, and on the day, mentioned by the
Gipsy. But, on entering the house, the constables could not discover
him, although they knew he had been within its walls a few minutes
before they approached it. A fire having been kindled in the house, a
noise was heard in the chimney, which attracted the notice of the
constables; and, on examination, they found the object of their search;
the heat and smoke having caused him to become restless in his place of
concealment. He was secured, and some of the country-people were called
upon to assist in carrying him to Edinburgh. The prisoner was bound into
a cart with ropes, to prevent him making his escape; the party in charge
of him being aware of the desperate character of the man. Nothing
particular occurred on the road, until after they had passed the town of
Linlithgow, when, to their astonishment, they found a woman in the pangs
of labour, in the open field. She called upon them either to bring her a
midwife, or take her to one; a claim that could not be resisted. She was
accordingly put into the cart, beside the prisoner, and driven with all
speed to a place where a midwife could be procured. On arriving opposite
a dell, full of trees and bushes, about the west-end of Kirkliston, the
guards were confounded at seeing their prisoner, all at once, spring out
of the cart, and, darting into the cover, vanish in an instant. Pursuit
was immediately given, and, in the excitement, the unfortunate woman was
left to her fate. In searching for the Gipsy, they met a gentleman
shooting in the neighbourhood, who had observed a man hide himself among
the bushes. On going to the spot, they found the criminal, lying like a
fox in his hole. The sportsman, presenting his gun, threatened to blow
out his brains, if he did not come out, and deliver himself up to the
constables. On returning with him to the cart, his captors, to their
astonishment, found that the woman in labour had also vanished. It is
needless to add that she was a Gipsy, who had feigned being in travail,
and, while in the cart, had cut the ropes with which the prisoner was
bound, to enable him to make his escape.
The female Gipsies have had recourse to many expedients in their
impositions on the public. The following is an instance, of a singular
nature, that took place a good many years ago. When it is considered
that the Gipsies, in their native country,[118] would not be encumbered
with much wearing-apparel, but would go about in a state little short of
nudity, the extreme indecency of such an action will appear somewhat
lessened. The inhabitants of Winchburgh and neighbourhood were one day
greatly astonished at beholding a female, with a child in her arms,
walking along the road, as naked as when she was born. She stated to the
country-people that she had just been plundered, and stripped of every
article of her wearing-apparel, by a band of Tinklers, to whom she
pointed, lying in a field hard by. She submitted her piteous condition
to the humanity of the inhabitants, and craved any sort of garment to
cover her nakedness. The state in which she was found left not the
slightest doubt on the minds of the spectators as to the truth of her
representations. Almost every female in the neighbourhood ran with some
description of clothing to the unfortunate woman; so that, in a short
time, she was not only comfortably clad, but had many articles of dress
to spare. Shortly after, she left the town, and proceeded on her
journey. But some one, observing her motions more closely than the rest,
was astonished at seeing her go straight to the very Tinklers who, she
said, had stripped her. Her appearance among her band convulsed them all
with laughter, at the dexterous trick she had played upon the simple
inhabitants.
[118] It is pretty certain that the Gipsies came from a warm country,
for they have no words for frost or snow, as will be seen in my
enquiry into the history of their language.
The following anecdote, related to me of one of the well-attired female
Gipsies, belonging to the Stirling horde, will illustrate the gratitude
which the Scottish Gipsies have, on all occasions, shown to those who
have rendered them acts of kindness and attention: A person, belonging
to Stirling, had rendered himself obnoxious to the Gipsies, by giving
information relative to one of the gang, of the name of Hamilton, whom
he had observed picking a man's pocket of forty pounds in a fair at
Doune. Hamilton was apprehended immediately after committing the theft,
but none of the money was found upon him. The informer, however, was
marked out for destruction by the band, for his officious conduct; and
they only waited a convenient opportunity to put their resolution into
execution. Some time afterwards, the proscribed individual had occasion
to go to a market at no great distance from Stirling, and while on his
way to it, he observed, on the road before him, a female, in the attire
of a lady, riding on horseback. On coming to a pond at the road-side,
the horse suddenly made for the water, and threw down its head to drink.
Not being prepared for the movement, the rider was thrown from her seat,
with considerable violence, to the ground. The proscribed individual,
observing the accident, ran forward to her assistance; but, being only
slightly stunned, she was, with his help, safely placed in her seat
again. She now thanked him for his kind and timely assistance, and
informed him of the conspiracy that had been formed against him. She
said it was particularly fortunate for him that such an accident had
befallen her under the circumstances; for, in consequence of the
information he had given about the pocket-picking at Doune, he was to
have been way-laid and murdered; that very night having been fixed upon
for carrying the resolution into effect. But, as he had shown her this
kindness, she would endeavour to procure, from her people, a pardon for
him, for the past. She then directed him to follow slowly, while she
would proceed on, at a quick pace, and overtake some of her people, to
whom she would relate her accident, and the circumstances attending it.
She then informed him that if she waved her _hand_, upon his coming in
sight of herself and her people, he was to retrace his steps homeward,
there being then no mercy for him; but if she waved her _handkerchief_,
he might advance without fear. To his heart-felt delight, on coming near
the party, the signal of peace was given, when he immediately hastened
forward to the spot. The band, who had been in deliberation upon his
fate, informed him that the lady's intercession had prevailed with them
to spare his life; and that now he might consider himself safe, provided
he would take an oath, there and then, never again to give evidence
against any of their people, or speak to any one about their practices,
should he discover them. The person in question deemed it prudent,
under all the circumstances of the case, to take the oath; after which,
nothing to his hurt, in either purse or person, ever followed.[119] The
lady, thus equipped, and possessed of so much influence, was the chief
female of the Gipsy band, to whom all the booty obtained at the fair was
brought, at the house where she put up at for the day. It would seem
that she was determined to save her friend at all events; for, had her
band not complied with her wishes, the waving of her hand--the signal
for him to make his escape--would have defeated their intentions for
that time.
[119] Such interference with the Gipsies causes them much greater
offence than if the informer was a principal in the transaction. To
such people, their advice has always been: "Follow your nose, and let
sleeping dogs lie." The following anecdote will illustrate the way in
which they have revenged themselves, under circumstances different
from the above:
Old Will, of Phaup, at the head of Ettrick, was wont to shelter them
for many years. They asked nothing but house-room, and grass for their
horses; and, though they sometimes remained for several days, he could
have left every chest and press about the house open, with the
certainty that nothing would be missing; for, he said, "he aye ken'd
fu' weel that the toad wad keep his ain hole clean." But it happened
that he found one of the gang, through the trick of a neighbouring
farmer, feeding six horses on the best piece of grass on his farm,
which he was keeping for winter fodder. A desperate combat followed,
and the Gipsy was thrashed to his heart's content, and hunted out of
the neighbourhood. A warfare of five years' duration ensued between
Will and the Gipsies. They nearly ruined him, and, at the end of that
period, he was glad to make up matters with his old friends, and
shelter them as formerly. He said he could have held his own with
them, had it not been for their warlockry; for nothing could he keep
from them--they once found his purse, though he had made his wife bury
it in the garden.--_Blackwood's Magazine._ It is the afterclap that
keeps the people off the Gipsies, and secures for them a sort of
toleration wherever they go.--ED.
When occurrences of so grave and imposing a nature as the above are
taken into consideration, the fear and awe with which the Gipsies have
inspired the community are not to be wondered at.
The Gipsies at Lochgellie had a dance peculiar to themselves, during the
performance of which they sung a song, in the Gipsy language, which they
called a "croon." A Gipsy informed me that it was exactly like the one
old Charles Stewart, and other Gipsies, used to perform, and which I
will describe. At the wedding near Corstorphine, which Charles Stewart
attended, as already mentioned, there were five or six female Gipsies in
his train. On such occasions he did not allow males to accompany him.
At some distance from the people at the wedding, but within hearing of
the music, the females formed themselves into a ring, with Charles in
the centre. Here, in the midst of the circle, he danced and capered in
the most antic and ludicrous manner, sweeping his cudgel around his body
in all directions, and moving with much grace and agility. Sometimes he
danced round the outside of the circle. The females danced and
courtesied to him, as he faced about and bowed to them. When they
happened to go wrong, he put them to rights by a movement of his cudgel;
for it was by the cudgel that all the turns and figures of the dance
were regulated. A twirl dismissed the females; a cut recalled them; a
sweep made them squat on the ground; a twist again called them up, in an
instant, to the dance. In short, Stewart distinctly spoke to his female
dancers by means of his cudgel, commanding them to do whatever he
pleased, without opening his mouth to one of them.
George Drummond, a Gipsy chief of an inferior gang in Fife, danced with
his seraglio of females, amounting sometimes to half a dozen, in the
same manner as Stewart, without the slightest variation, excepting that
his gestures were, on some occasions, extremely lascivious. He threw
himself into almost every attitude in which the human body can be
placed, while his cudgel was flying about his person with great
violence. All the movements of the dance were regulated by the measures
of an indecent song, at the chorus of which the circular movements of
Drummond's cudgel ceased; when one of the females faced about to him,
and joined him with her voice, the gestures of both being exceedingly
obscene. Drummond's appearance, while dancing, has been described to me,
by a gentleman who has often seen him performing, as exactly like what
is called a "jumping-jack"--that is, a human figure, cut out of wood or
paste-board, with which children often amuse themselves, by regulating
its ludicrous movements by means of strings attached to various parts of
it.
Dr. Clark, in his account of his travels through Russia, gives a
description of a Gipsy dance in Moscow, which is, in all respects, very
similar to that performed by Stewart and Drummond. These travels came
into my hands some time after I had taken notes of the Scottish Gipsy
dance. Napkins appear to have been used by the Russian Gipsies, where
sticks were employed by our Scottish tribes. No mention, however, is
made, by Dr. Clark, whether the females, in the dance at Moscow, were
guided by signs with the napkins, in the manner in which Stewart and
Drummond, by their cudgels, directed their women in their dances. The
eyes of the females were constantly fixed upon Stewart's cudgel. Dr.
Clark is of opinion that the national dance in Russia, called the
_barina_, is derived from the Gipsies; and thinks it probable that our
common hornpipe is taken from these wanderers.[120]
[120] If I am not mistaken, Col. Todd is of opinion that the Gipsies
originally came from Cabool, in Afghanistan. I will here give a
description of an Afghan dance, very like the Gipsy dance in Scotland.
"The western Afghans are fond of a particular dance called _Attum_, or
_Ghoomboor_, in which from fourteen to twenty people move, in strange
attitudes, with shouting, clapping of hands, and snapping of fingers,
in a circle, round a single person, who plays on an instrument in the
centre."--_Fraser's Library._
George Drummond was, in rank, quite inferior to the Lochgellie band, who
called him a "beggar Tinkler," and seemed to despise him. He always
travelled with a number of females in his company. These he married
after the custom of the Gipsies, and divorced some of them over the body
of a horse, sacrificed for the occasion; a description of both of which
ceremonies will be given in another chapter. He chastised his women with
his cudgel, without mercy, causing the blood to flow at every blow, and
frequently knocked them senseless to the ground; while he would call out
to them, "What the deevil are ye fighting at--can ye no' 'gree? I'm sure
there's no' sae mony o' ye!" although, perhaps, four would be engaged in
the scuffle. Such was this man's impudence and audacity, that he
sometimes carried off the flesh out of the kail-pots of the farmers; and
so terrified were some of the inhabitants of Fife, at some of the Gipsy
women who followed him, that, the moment they entered their doors, salt
was thrown into the fire, to set at defiance the witchcraft which they
believed they possessed. One female, called Dancing Tibby, was, in
particular, an object of apprehension and suspicion. In Drummond's
journeys through the country, when he came at night to a farmer's
premises, where he intended to lodge, and found his place occupied by
others of his gang, he, without hesitation, turned them out of their
quarters, and took possession of their warm beds himself; letting them
shift for themselves as they best might. This man lived till he was
ninety years of age, and was, from his youth, impressed with a belief
that he would die in the house in which he was born; although he had
travelled a great part of the continent, and, while in the army, had
been in various engagements. He fell sick when at some distance from the
place of his nativity, but he hired a conveyance, and drove with haste
to die on his favourite spot. To this house he was allowed admittance,
where he closed his earthly career, in about forty-eight hours after his
arrival. Like others of his tribe, Drummond, at times, gave tokens of
protection to some of his particular friends, outside of the circle of
his own fraternity.
James Robertson, a Gipsy closely related to the Lochgellie band, of whom
I have already made mention, frequently danced, with his wife and
numerous sisters, in a particular fashion, changing and regulating the
figures of the dance by means of a bonnet; being, I believe, the same
dance which I have attempted to describe as performed by others of the
tribe in Scotland. When his wife and sisters got intoxicated, which was
often the case, it was a wild and extravagant scene to behold those
light-footed damsels, with loose and flowing hair, dancing, with great
spirit, on the grass, in the open field, while James was, with all his
"might and main," like the devil playing to the witches, in "Tam o'
Shanter," keeping the bacchanalians in fierce and animated music. When
like to flag in his exertions to please them with his fiddle, they have
been heard calling loudly to him, like Maggy Lawder to Rob the Ranter,
"Play up, Jamie Robertson; if ever we do weel, it will be a wonder;"
being totally regardless of all sense of decorum and decency.
The Gipsies in Fife followed the same occupations, in all respects, as
those in other parts of Scotland, and were also dexterous at all
athletic exercises. They were exceedingly fond of cock-fighting, and,
when the season came round for that amusement, many a good cock was
missing from the farm-yards. The Lochgellie band considered begging a
disgrace to their tribe. At times they were handsomely dressed, wearing
silver buckles in their shoes, gold rings on their fingers, and gold and
silver brooches in the bosoms of their ruffled shirts. They killed, at
Martinmass, fat cattle for their winter's provisions, and lived on the
best victuals the country could produce. It is, I believe, the common
practice, among inferior Scotch traders, for those who receive money to
treat the payer, or return a trifle of the payment, called a luck-penny:
but, in opposition to this practice, the Lochgellie Gipsies always
treated those to whom they paid money for what they purchased of them.
They occasionally attended the church, and sometimes got their children
baptized; but when the clergyman refused them that privilege, they
baptized them themselves. At their baptisms, they had great feastings
and drinkings. Their favourite beverage, on such occasions, was oatmeal
and whiskey, mixed. When intoxicated, they were sometimes very fond of
arguing and expostulating with clergymen on points of morality. With
regard to the internal government of the Lochgellie Gipsies, I can only
find that they held consultations among themselves, relative to their
affairs, and that the females had votes as well as the males, but that
old Charles Graham had the casting vote; while, in his absence, his
wife, Ann Brown, managed their concerns.
There is a strict division of property among the Gipsies; community of
goods having no place among them. The heads of each family, although
travelling in one band, manufacture and vend their own articles of
merchandise, for the support of their own families. The following
particulars are illustrative of this fact among the Gipsies:--A farmer
in Fife, who would never allow them to kindle fires in his out-houses,
had a band of them, of about twenty-five persons, quartered one night on
his farm. Next morning, the chief female borrowed from the family a
large copper caldron, used for the purposes of the dairy, with which she
had requested permission to cook the breakfast of the horde upon the
kitchen fire. This having been granted, each family produced a small
linen bag, (not the beggar's wallet,) made of coarse materials,
containing oatmeal; of which at least four were brought into the
apartment. The female who prepared the repast went regularly over the
bags, taking out the meal in proportion to the members of the families
to which they respectively belonged, and repeated her visits in this
manner till the porridge was ready to be served up.
I shall conclude my account of the Gipsies in Fife by mentioning the
curious fact that, within these sixty years, a gentleman of
considerable landed property, between the Forth and the Tay, abandoned
his relatives, and travelled over the kingdom in the society of the
Gipsies. He married one of the tribe, of the name of Ogilvie, who had
two daughters to him. Sometimes he quartered, it is said, upon his own
estate, disguised, of course, among the gang, to the great annoyance of
his relatives, who were horrified at the idea of his becoming a Tinkler,
and alarmed at the claims which he occasionally made upon the estate.
His daughters travel the country, at the present day, as common
Gipsies.