PRESENT CONDITION AND NUMBER OF THE GIPSIES IN SCOTLAND.
Every author who has written on the subject of the Gipsies has, I
believe, represented them as all having remarkably dark hair, black
eyes, and swarthy complexions. This notion has been carried to such an
extent, that Hume, on the criminal laws of Scotland, thinks the black
eyes should make part of the evidence in proving an individual to be of
the Gipsy race. The Gipsies, in Scotland, of the last century, were of
all complexions, varying from light flaxen hair, and blue eyes, and
corresponding complexions, to hair of raven black, dark eyes, and
swarthy countenances. Many of them had deep-red and light-yellow hair,
with very fair complexions. I am convinced that one-half of the Gipsies
in Scotland, at the present day, have blue eyes, instead of black ones.
According to the statistical account of the parish of Borthwick,
Mid-Lothian, (1839,) the Baillies, Wilsons, and Taits, at Middleton, the
descendants of the old Tweed-dale Gipsies, are described as, "in
general, of a colour rather cadaverous, or of a darkish pale; their
cheek-bones high; their eyes small, and light coloured; their hair of a
dingy white or red colour, and wiry; and their skin, drier and of a
tougher texture than that of the people of this country." This question
of colour has been illustrated in my enquiry into the history of the
Gipsy language; for the language is the only satisfactory thing by which
to test a Gipsy, let his colour be what it may.
In other countries, besides Scotland, the Gipsies are not all of one
uniform swarthy hue. A Russian gentleman stated to me that many of the
Gipsies in Finland have light hair, and fair complexions. I am also
informed there are Gipsies in Arabia with fair hair.
Among many other mal-practices, the Gipsies have, in all countries, been
accused of stealing children; but what became of these kidnapped
infants, no one appears to have given any account, that I am aware of.
To satisfy myself on this trait of their character, I enquired of a
Gipsy the reasons which induced his tribe to steal children. He candidly
acknowledged the practice, and said that the stolen children were
adopted as members of the tribe, and instructed in the language, and all
the mysteries of the body. They became, he said, equally hardy, clever,
and expert in all the practices of the fraternity. The male Gipsies were
very fond of marrying the stolen females. Some of the kidnapped children
were made servants, or, rather, a sort of slaves, to the tribe. They
considered that the occasional introduction of another race into their
own, and mixing the Gipsy blood, in that manner, invigorated and
strengthened their race. In this manner would the Gipsies alter the
complexion of their race, by the introduction of foreign blood among
them.[225]
[225] An objection is perhaps started, that these incorporated
individuals are not Gipsies. They have been brought into the body at
such an age as to leave no trace of past recollections, leaving alone
past associations. There was no occasion for such children being
either "squalling infants," or of such an age as was likely to lead
them to "betray the Gipsies," as Mr. Borrow supposes would be the
case, when he says that Gipsies have never stolen children, to bring
them up as Gipsies. How are they to discover their origin, when so
many of the body around them have the same colour of hair and
complexion? If the idea has ever entered into their imaginations, it
has led to a greater antipathy towards their own race, and attachment
to the tribe, from the special education which they have received to
those ends. So far as the matter of blood is concerned, they are not
what may be physiologically called Gipsies; and, by being married to
Gipsies, they become doubly attached to the body. What has been said
of children introduced among the Gipsies, in the way described,
applies with infinitely greater force to those born of one of such
parents.
Suppose, for instance, that the Spanish race was originally of an
exclusively _dark_ hair and complexion: should we therefore say that a
_fair_ Spaniard, at the present day, was no Spaniard? Or that the
Turks of Constantinople, on account of the mixture of their blood,
were not Turks? In the same manner are Gipsies with white blood in
their veins Gipsies. They may be half-breed, but it would be improper
to call them half-caste, Gipsies. But what are full-blood Gipsies, to
commence with? The idea itself is intangible; for, by adopting, more
or less, wherever they have been, others into their body, during their
singular history, a pure Gipsy, like the pure Gipsy language, is
doubtless nowhere to be found.
An English Gipsy acquaintance, of perfect European appearance, who,
for love of race and language, may be termed "a Gipsy of the Gipsies,"
admitted that he was only one-eighth Gipsy; his father, a full-blood
white, having married a quadroon Gipsy. He spoke Gipsy with great
fluency. He married a seven-eighths Gipsy. Were his descendants to
marry what are supposed to be pure Gipsies, the result would be as
follows: the first generation, (his children,) would be one-half
Gipsy; the second, three-fourths; the third, seven-eighths; the
fourth, fifteen-sixteenths; the fifth, thirty-one thirty-seconds; and
the sixth, sixty-three sixty-fourths. If this were to go on _ad
infinitum_, the issue would always lack the one part to make the full
blood. But the Gipsies do not calculate their vulgar fractions so
closely as that; the division of the blood doubtless bothers them, so
that they "lump" the question. What has been said, is breeding _up_.
Sometimes they breed _down_, and sometimes _across_. Mixing the blood,
in this way, is quite a peculiarity among the English Gipsies. I asked
my friend, if he was sure his wife was a pure Gipsy. He said she was
considered such, (I have put her down at seven-eighths,) but that one
of her forefathers was a fair-haired French Gipsy. According to a
well-admitted principle in physiology, a fair-haired Gipsy, of almost
full blood, is by no means so _rara avis in terris_ as a white crow.
Some of the children of my acquaintance took after himself, and had
blue eyes; and others after the mother, and had black ones. But the
English Gipsies, (the tented ones at least,) are much purer, in point
of blood, than their brethren in Scotland. Many of the Irish Gipsies
have very red hair--fiery and shaggy in the extreme. Indeed, they seem
to be pretty much all of a fairish kind.--ED.
Before going into details to show the condition in which the Gipsies are
at the present day, I will consider, shortly, the causes which have
contributed to the change that has come over their outward
circumstances, and driven so many of them, as it were, "to cover," in
consequence of the unfortunate times on which they had fallen; a state
of things which, however unfortunate to them, in their peculiar way of
thinking, has been of so much benefit to civilization, and society at
large.
About the commencement of the American war of independence, in 1775, the
Gipsies, in Scotland, occupied a very singular position in society.
Instead of being the proscribed, and, as they thought, persecuted,
members of the community, many of them then became the _preservers_ of
the peace and good order of the country. The country, as appears by the
periodical publications of the day, was, about this time, greatly
pestered by rogues and vagabonds. The Gipsies had art enough to get a
number of their chiefs appointed constables, peace-officers, and
_country-keepers_, in several counties in Scotland. These public
officers were to clear the country of all idle vagrants, vagabonds, and
disturbers of the peace. This was, sure enough, a very extraordinary
employment for the Gipsies. The situation of country-keeper was, of all
others, the office in society the most completely to their liking. It
gave them authority over every rogue in the country, and they certainly
followed out their instructions to the very letter. They hunted down,
with the utmost vigilance, every delinquent who was not of their tribe;
but, on the other hand, they took especial care to protect every
individual of their own fraternity, excepting those that were obnoxious
to themselves. When it agreed with their inclinations, these Gipsy
country-keepers sometimes caused stolen property to be returned to the
owners, as if it had been done by magic. It is needless to observe that
they were themselves the very chiefs of the depredators, but had
generally the dexterity never to be seen in the transactions.[226]
[226] The following extract from the Fife Herald, for the 18th June,
1829, will give the reader an idea of a Scotch "country-keeper," at
the time alluded to: "A Gipsy chief, of the name of Pat Gillespie, was
keeper for the county of Fife. He rode on horse-back, armed with a
sword and pistols attended by four men, on foot, carrying staves and
batons. He appears to have been a sort of travelling justice of the
peace. The practice seems to have been general. About the commencement
of the late French war, a man, of the name of Robert Scott, (Rob the
Laird,) was keeper for the counties of Peebles, Selkirk, and
Roxburgh."
A Gipsy country-keeper was at the height of his vanity and glory, when
he got an unfortunate individual of the community into his clutches. In
the presence of his captive, he would draw his sword, flourish it in the
air, and swear a terrible oath, that he would, at a blow, cut the head
from his body, if he made the least attempt at escape.
The public services of the Gipsies were in a short time discontinued, as
their conduct only made matters a great deal worse. A friend of
mine[227] saw those Gipsy constables, for Peebles-shire, sworn into
office, at the town of Peebles, when they were first appointed. He said
he never saw such a set of gloomy, strange-looking fellows, in his life;
and expressed his surprise at the conduct of the county magistrates, for
employing such banditti as conservators of the public peace. The most
extraordinary circumstance attending their appointment, he said, was,
that not one of them had a permanent residence within the county.
[227] The late Mr. Charles Alexander, tenant of Happrew.
During the American war, however, the tide of fortune again completely
turned against the Gipsies. The Government was in need of soldiers and
sailors; the Gipsies were a proscribed race; their peculiar habits were
continually involving them in serious scrapes and difficulties; the
consequence was, that the Tinklers were apprehended all over the
country, and forced into our fleets and armies then serving in America.
All the aged persons of intelligence with whom I have conversed on this
subject, agree in representing that the kidnapping system at that period
was the means of greatly breaking up and dispersing the Gipsy bands in
Scotland. From this blow these unruly vagrants have never recovered
their former position in the country.[228]
[228] We may very readily believe that almost all of the Gipsies would
desert the army, on landing in America, and marry Gipsy women in the
colonies, or bring others out from home, or marry with common natives,
or return home. Indeed, native-born American Gipsies say that many of
the British Gipsies voluntarily accepted the bounty, and a passage to
the colonies, during the war of the Revolution, and deserted the army
on landing. This would lead to a migration of the tribe generally to
America.--ED.
The war in America had been concluded only a few years before that with
France broke out. Our army and navy were, of necessity, again augmented
to an extent beyond precedent. It was not difficult to find pretences
for renewing the chase of the Gipsies, and apprehending them, under the
name of vagrants and disorderly persons. They were again compelled to
enlist into our regiments, and embark on board our ships of war, as
sailors and marines. An individual stated to me that, about the
commencement of this war, he had seen English Gipsies sent, in scores at
a time, on board of men-of-war, in the Downs.
But, rather than be forced into a service so much against their
inclinations, numerous instances occurred of Gipsies voluntarily
mutilating themselves. In the very custody of press-gangs, and other
hardened kidnappers, the determined Gipsies have, with hatchets, razors,
and other sharp instruments, struck from their hands a thumb, or finger
or two, to render them unfit for a military life. Several instances have
come to my knowledge of these resolute acts of the Scottish Gipsies. I
have myself seen several of the tribe without fingers; and, on enquiry,
I found that they themselves had struck them from their hands, in
consequence of their aversion to become soldiers and sailors. One man,
of the name of Graham, during the last war, laid his hand upon a block
of wood, and, in a twinkling, struck, with a hatchet, his thumb from one
of his hands. Another, of the name of Gordon, struck two of his fingers
from one of his hands with a razor. Such, indeed, was the aversion
which the whole Gipsy race had to a military life, that even mothers
sometimes mutilated their infants, by cutting off certain fingers, to
render them, when they became men, entirely incapable of serving in
either the army or navy.[229]
[229] "When Paris was garrisoned by the allied troops, in the year
1815, I was walking with a British officer, near a post held by the
Prussian troops. He happened, at the time, to smoke a cigar, and was
about, while passing the sentinel, to take it out of his mouth, in
compliance with a general regulation to that effect; when, greatly to
the astonishment of the passengers, the soldier addressed him in these
words; 'Rauchen Sie immer fort; verdamt sey der Preussische Dienst;'
that is: 'Smoke away; may the Prussian service be d----d.' Upon
looking closer at the man, he seemed plainly to be a _Zigeuner_, or
Gipsy, who took this method of expressing his detestation of the duty
imposed on him. When the risk he ran, by doing so, is considered, it
will be found to argue a deep degree of dislike which could make him
commit himself so unwarily. If he had been overheard by a sergeant or
corporal, the _prugel_ would have been the slightest instrument of
punishment employed."--_Sir Walter Scott: Note to Quentin Durward._
Mutilation was also very common among the English Gipsies, during the
French war. Strange as it may appear, the same took place among them,
at the commencement of the late Russian war; from which we may
conclude, that they had suffered severely during the previous war, or
they would not have resorted to so extreme a measure for escaping
military duty, when a press-gang was not even thought of. An English
Gipsy, at the latter time, laid two of his fingers on a block of wood,
and, handing his broom-knife to his neighbour, said, "Now, take off
these fingers, or I'll take off your head with this other hand!"
During the French war, Gipsies again and again accepted the bounty for
recruits, but took "French leave" of the service. The idea is finely
illustrated in Burns' "Jolly Beggars:"
"TUNE--_Clout the caudron_.
"My bonny lass, I work in brass,
A Tinkler is my station:
I've travell'd round all Christian ground,
In this my occupation.
I've ta'en the gold, an' been enroll'd
In many a noble squadron:
But vain they searched when off I march'd
To go and clout the caudron."
Poosie Nancie and her reputed daughter, Racer Jess, were very probably
Gipsies, who kept a poor "Tinkler Howff" at Mauchline.
Gipsies sometimes voluntarily join the navy, as musicians. Here their
vanity will have a field for conspicuous display; for a good fifer, on
board of a man-of-war, in accompanying certain work with his music, is
equal to the services of ten men. There were some Gipsy musicians in
the fleet at Sebastopol. But, generally speaking, Gipsies are like
cats--not very fond of the water.--ED.
Such causes as these, taken in connection with the improved internal
administration of the country, and the progression of the age, have cast
a complexion over the outward aspect of the bulk of the Scottish Gipsy
race, entirely different from what it was before they came into
existence.
Many of the Gipsies now keep shops of earthen-ware, china, and crystal.
Some of them, I am informed on the best authority, have from one to
eight thousand pounds invested in this line of business.[230] I am
disposed to think that few of these shops were established prior to the
commencement of the French war; as I find that several of their owners
travelled the country in their early years. Perhaps the fear of being
apprehended as vagrants, and compelled to enter the army or navy, forced
some of the better sort to settle in towns.[231] Like their tribe in
other countries, numbers of our Scottish Gipsies deal in horses; others
keep public-houses; and some of them, as innkeepers, will, in heritable
and moveable property, possess, perhaps, two or three thousand pounds.
These innkeepers and stone-ware merchants are scarcely to be
distinguished as Gipsies; yet they all retain the language, and converse
in it, among themselves. The females, as is their custom, are
particularly active in managing the affairs of their respective
concerns.
[230] Mr. Borrow mentions having observed, at a fair in Spain, a
family of Gipsies, richly dressed, after the fashion of their nation.
They had come a distance of upwards of a hundred leagues. Some
merchants, to whom he was recommended, informed him, that they had a
credit on their house, to the amount of twenty thousand dollars.--ED.
[231] In his enquiry into the present condition of the Gipsies, our
author has apparently confined his remarks exclusively to the body in
its present wandering state, and such part of it as left the tent
subsequently to the commencement of the French war. In the
Disquisition on the Gipsies, the subject will be fully reviewed, from
the date of arrival of the race in the country.--ED.
Many of them have betaken themselves to some of the regular occupations
of the country, such as coopers, shoemakers, and plumbers; some are
masons--an occupation to which they seem to have a partiality. Some of
them are members of masons' lodges. There are many of them itinerant
bell-hangers, and umbrella-menders. Among them there are tin-smiths,
braziers, and cutlers, in great numbers; and the tribe also furnish a
proportion of chimney-sweeps. I recollect of a Gipsy, who travelled the
country, selling earthen-ware, becoming, in the end, a master-sweep.
Several were, and I believe are, constables; and I am inclined to think
that the police establishments, in large as well as small towns, contain
some of the fraternity.[232] Individuals of the female Gipsies are
employed as servants, in the families of respectable persons, in town
and country. Some of them have been ladies' maids, and even
house-keepers to clergymen and farmers.[233] I heard of one, in a very
respectable family, who was constantly boasting of her ancient and high
descent; her father being a Baillie, and her mother a Faa--the two
principal families in Scotland. Some of those persons who sell
gingerbread at fairs, or what the country-people call _rowly-powly-men_,
are also of the Gipsy race. Almost all these individuals hawking
earthen-ware through the country, with carts, and a large proportion of
those hawking japan and white-iron goods, are Gipsies.
[232] This is quite common. An English mixed Gipsy spontaneously
informed me that he had been a constable In L----, and that he had a
cousin who was lately a _runner_ in the police establishment of M----.
Among other motives for the Gipsies joining the police is the
following: that such is their dislike for the people among whom they
live, owing to the prejudice which is entertained against them, that
nothing gives them greater satisfaction than being the instruments of
affronting and punishing their hereditary enemies. Besides this, the
lounging and idle kind of life, coupled with the activity, of a
constable, is pretty much to their natural disposition. An intelligent
mixed Gipsy is calculated to make a first-rate constable and
thief-catcher. Of course, he will not be very hard on those of his own
race who come in his way.--ED.
[233] Our author frequently spoke of a dissenting Scottish clergyman
having been married to a Gipsy, but was not aware, as far as I know,
of the circumstances under which the marriage took place. The
clergyman was not, in all probability, aware that he was taking a
Gipsy to his bosom; and as little did the public generally; but it was
well known to the initiated that both her father and mother had cut
and divided many a purse. The unquestionable character and standing of
the father, and the prudent conduct of the mother, protected the
children. One of the daughters married another dissenting clergyman,
which fairly disarmed those not of the Gipsy race of any prejudice
towards the grand-children. The issue of these marriages would pass
into Gipsydom, as explained in the Disquisition on the Gipsies.--ED.
Some of the itinerant venders of inferior sorts of jewelry, part of
which they also manufacture, and carry about in boxes on their
shoulders, are of the tribe; and some of them even carry these articles
in small, handsome, light-made carts. I had frequently observed, in my
neighbourhood, a very smart-looking and well-dressed man, who, with his
wife and family, and a servant to take care of his children, travelled
the country, in a neat, light cart, selling jewelry. All the family were
well dressed. I was curious to know the origin of this man, and, upon
enquiring of one of the tribe, but of a different clan, I found that he
was a Gipsy, of the name of Robertson, descended from the old _horners_
who traversed the kingdom, about half a century ago. He still retained
the speech, peculiar dance, and manner of handling the cudgel, the
practices and roguish tricks of his ancestors. I believe he also
practised chain-dropping. To show the line of life which some of the
descendants of the old style of Gipsies are now pursuing, in Scotland, I
will give the following anecdote, which I witnessed, relative to this
Gipsy jeweller.
I happened to be conversing, about twenty years ago, with four or five
individuals, on a public quay in Fifeshire, when a smart, well-dressed
sailor, apparently of the rank of a mate, obtruded himself on our
company. He said he was "a sailor, and had spent all his money in a
frolic, as many thoughtless sailors had done;" and, pulling out a watch,
he continued, "he would give his gold watch for a mere trifle, to supply
his immediate wants." One of the company at once thought he was an
impostor, and told him his watch was not gold at all, and worth very
little money. "Not worth much money!" he exclaimed; "why, I paid not
less than ten francs for it, in France, the other day!" At this
assertion, all present burst out a laughing at the impostor's ignorance
in exposing his own trick. "Why, friend," said a ship-master, who was
one of the company, "a franc is only worth tenpence; so you have paid
just eight and fourpence for this valuable watch of yours. Do not
attempt to cheat us in this manner." At finding himself so completely
exposed, the villain became furious, and stepping close up to the
ship-master, with abusive language, _chucked_ him under the chin, to
provoke him to fight. I at once perceived that the feigned sailor was a
professional boxer and cudgelist, and entreated the ship-master not to
touch him, notwithstanding his insolence. The "sailor," now disappointed
on all hands, brandished his bludgeon, and retreated backwards, dancing
in the Gipsy manner, and twirling his weapon before him, till he got his
back to a wall. Here he set all at defiance, with a design that some
one should strike at him, that he might avenge the affront he had
received. But he was allowed to go away without interruption. This man
was, in short, Robertson, the Gipsy travelling jeweller, disguised as a
sailor, and a well-known prize-fighter.
Almost all those cheats called thimble-riggers, who infest
thoroughfares, highways and byways, are also Gipsies, of a superior
class. I have tried them by the language, and found they understood it,
as has been seen in my account of the Gipsy language.
I need scarcely say, that all those females who travel the country in
families, selling articles made from horn, while the males practise the
mysteries of the tinker, are that portion of the Gipsies who adhere more
strictly to their ancient customs and manner of life. Some of the
principal families of these nomadic horner bands have yet districts on
which none others of the tribe dare encroach. This division of the
Gipsies are, by superficial observers, considered the only Gipsies in
existence in Scotland; which is a great mistake. The author of Guy
Mannering, himself, seems to have had this class of Gipsies, only, in
view, when he says, "There are not now above five hundred of the tribe
in Scotland." Those who deal in earthen-ware, and work at the tinsmith
business, call these horners Gipsies; and nothing can give greater
offence to these Gipsy potters and smiths than to ask them if they ever
_made horn spoons_; for, by asking them this question, you indirectly
call them Gipsies, an appellation that alarms them exceedingly.[234]
[234] It is only within these forty years that spoon-making from horn
became a regular trade. It would seem the Gipsies had a monopoly of
the business; for I am informed that the first man in Scotland who
served a regular apprenticeship to it was alive, in Glasgow, in 1836.
[There is nothing in this remark to imply that the manufacturing of
spoons, and other articles, from horn, may not be monopolized by the
Gipsies yet, whatever the way in which it may be carried on.--ED.]
Since the termination of the long-protracted French war, the Gipsies
have, to some extent, resumed their ancient manners; and many of them
are to be seen encamped in the open fields. There are six tents to be
observed at present, for one during the war. To substantiate what I have
said of the numbers and manners of the nomadic Gipsies since the peace,
I will give the two following paragraphs, taken from the Caledonian
Mercury newspaper:
"_Tinklers and vagabonds_: The country has been much infested, of late
years, by wandering hordes of vagabonds, who, under pretence of
following the serviceable calling of tinkers, assume the name and
appearance of such, merely to extort contributions of victuals, and
other articles of value, from the country-people, particularly in lonely
districts. The evil has encreased rapidly of late, and calls loudly for
redress upon those in whose charge the police of the country districts
is placed. They generally travel in bands, varying in number from ten to
thirty; and wherever they pitch their camp, the neighbours are certain
of suffering loss of cattle or poultry, unless they submit to pay a
species of black-mail, to save themselves from heavier and more
irregular contributions. These bands possess all the vices peculiar to
the regular Gipsies, without any of the extenuating qualities which
distinguish these foreign tribes. Unlike the latter, they do not settle
in one place sufficiently long to attach themselves to the soil, or to
particular families; and seem possessed of no industrious habits, but
those of plunder, knavery, and riot. The chief headquarters of the
hordes are at the caves of Auchmithie, on the east coast of Forfarshire;
from which, to the wilds of Argyleshire, seems to be the usual route of
their bands; small detachments being sent off, at intermediate places,
to extend the scene of their plunder. Their numbers have been calculated
by one who lives on the direct line of their passage, through the braes
of Perthshire, and who has had frequent opportunities for observation;
and he estimates them at several hundred."--_22d August, 1829._
"A horde of Gipsies and vagabonds encamped, last week, in a quarry, on
the back of the hill opposite Cherry-bank. Their number amounted to
about thirty. The inhabitants in that quarter became alarmed; and
Provost Ross, whose mansion is in the vicinity of the new settlers,
ordered out a strong posse of officers from Perth, to dislodge them;
which they effected. The country is now kept in continual terror by
these vagabonds, and it will really be imperative on the landed
proprietors to adopt some decided measure for the suppression of this
growing evil."--_3d October, 1829._[235]
[235] From the numerous enquiries I have made, I am fully satisfied
that the greater part of the vagrants mentioned in these notices are
Gipsies; at least most of them speak the Gipsy language. [It matters
not whether the people mentioned are wholly or only partly of Gipsy
blood; it is sufficient if they have been reared as Gipsies. There are
enough of the tribe in the country to follow the kind of life
mentioned, to the extent the people can afford to submit to, without
having their prerogatives infringed upon by ordinary natives. Where
will we find any of the latter, who would betake themselves to the
tent, and follow such a mode of life? Besides, the Gipsies, with their
organization, would not tolerate it; and far less would they allow any
common natives, of the lowest class, to travel in their
company.--ED.]
A gentleman informed me that, in the same year, he counted, in
Aberdeenshire, thirty-five men, women, and children, in one band, with
six asses and two carts, for carrying their luggage and articles of
merchandise. Another individual stated to me, that upwards of three
hundred of the Gipsies attended the funeral of one of their old females,
who died near the bridge of Earn. So late as 1841, the sheriff of East
Lothian addressed a representation to the justices of the peace of
Mid-Lothian, recommending a new law for the suppression of the numerous
Gipsy tents in the Lothians. I have, myself, during a walk of two hours,
counted, in Edinburgh and its suburbs, upwards of fifty of these
vagrants, strolling about.[236]
[236] Owing to such causes as these, many of the Gipsies have been
again driven into their holes. It is amusing to notice the tricks
which some of them resort to, in evading the letter of the Vagrant
Act. They generally encamp on the borders of two counties, which they
will cross--passing over into the other--to avoid being taken up: for
county officers have no jurisdiction over them, beyond the boundaries
of their respective shires.--ED.
When I visited St. Boswell's, I felt convinced, as mentioned in the last
chapter, that there were upwards of three hundred Gipsies in the fair
held at that place. Part of them formed their carts, laden with
earthen-ware, into two lines, leaving a space between them, like a
street. In the rear of the carts were a few small tents, in which were
Gipsies, sleeping in the midst of the noise and bustle of the market;
and numbers of children, horses, asses, and dogs, hanging around them.
There were also kettles, suspended from triangles, in which victuals
were cooking; and many of the Gipsies enjoyed a warm meal, while others
at the market had to content themselves with a cold repast. In the midst
of the throng of this large and crowded fair, I noticed, without the
least discomposure on their part, some of the male Gipsies changing
their dirty, greasy-looking shirts for clean ones, leaving no covering
on their tawny persons, but their breeches; and some of the old females,
with bare shoulders and breasts, combing their dark locks, like black
horses' tails, mixed with grey. "Ae whow! look at that," exclaimed a
countryman to his companion; and, without waiting for his friend's
reply, he gravely added: "Everything after its kind." The Gipsies were,
in short, dressing themselves for the fair, in the midst of the crowd,
regardless of everything passing around them.
On my return from the English Border, I passed over the field where the
fair had been held, two days before, and found, to my surprise, the
Gipsies occupying their original encampment. They, alone, were in
possession of St. Boswell's Green. I counted twenty-four carts, thirty
horses, twenty asses, and about thirty dogs; and I thought there were
upwards of a hundred men, women, and children, on the spot. The
horses were, in general, complete rosinantes--as lean, worn-out,
wretched-looking animals, as possibly could be imagined. The field
trampled almost to mortar, by the multitude of horses, cattle, and
sheep, and human beings, at the fair; the lean, jaded and lame horses,
braying asses, and surly-looking dogs; the groups of miserable
furniture, ragged children, and gloomy-looking parents; a fire, here and
there, smoking before as many miserable tents--when contrasted with the
gaily-dressed multitude, of both sexes, on the spot, two days
before--presented a scene unequalled for its wretched, squalid and
desolate appearance. Any one desirous of viewing an Asiatic encampment,
in Scotland, should visit St. Boswell's Green, a day or two after the
fair.[237]
[237] St. Boswell's fair "is the resort of many salesmen of goods,
and, in particular, of _tinkers_. Bands of these very peculiar people,
the direct descendants of the original Gipsies, who so much annoyed
the country in the fifteenth century, haunt the fair, for the disposal
of earthen-ware, horn spoons, and tin culinary utensils. They possess,
in general, horses and carts, and they form their temporary camp by
each _whomling_ his cart upside down, and forming a lodgement with
straw and bedding beneath. Cooking is performed outside the
_craal_, in Gipsy fashion. There could not, perhaps, be witnessed,
at the present day, in Britain, a more amusing and interesting
scene, illustrative of a rude period, than is here annually
exhibited."--_Chambers' Gazetteer of Scotland._ [This writer is in
error as to the Gipsies annoying the country in the _fifteenth_
century: that occurred during the three following centuries.--ED.]
The following may be said to be about the condition in which the present
race of Scottish _tinkering_ Gipsies are to be found: I visited, at one
time, a horde of Gipsy tinsmiths, bivouacked by the side of a small
streamlet, about half a mile from the town of Inverkeithing. It
consisted of three married couples, the heads of as many families, one
grown-up, unmarried female, and six half-clad children below six years
of age. Including the more grown-up members, scattered about in the
neighbourhood, begging victuals, there must have been above twenty souls
belonging to this band. The tinsmiths had two horses and one ass, for
carrying their luggage, and several dogs. They remained, during three
cold and frosty nights, encamped in the open fields, with no tents or
covering, for twenty individuals, but two pairs of old blankets.[238]
Some of the youngest children, however, were pretty comfortably lodged
at night. The band had several boxes, or rather old chests, each about
four feet long, two broad, and two deep, in which they carried their
white-iron plates, working tools, and some of their infants, on the
backs of their horses. In these chests the children passed the night,
the lids being raised a little, to prevent suffocation. The stock of
working tools, for each family, consisted of two or three files, as many
small hammers, a pair of bellows, a wooden mallet, a pair of pincers, a
pair of large shears, a crucible, a soldering-iron or two, and a small
anvil, of a long shape, which was stuck into the ground.
[238] The Gipsies' supreme luxury is to lie, day and night, so near
the fire as to be in danger of burning. At the same time, they can
bear to travel in the severest cold, bare-headed, with no other
covering than a torn shirt, or some old rags carelessly thrown over
them, without fear of catching cold, cough, or any other disorder.
They are a people blessed with an iron constitution. Neither wet nor
dry weather, heat nor cold, let the extremes follow each other ever so
close, seems to have any effect upon them.--_Grellmann on the
Hungarian Gipsies._
Their power of resisting cold is truly wonderful, as it is not
uncommon to find them encamped, in the midst of the snow, in light
canvas tents, when the temperature is 25 or 30 degrees below freezing
point, according to Raumer.--_Borrow on the Russian Gipsies._
It is no uncommon thing to see a poor Scottish Gipsy wrap himself and
wife in a thin, torn blanket, and pass the night, in the cold of
December, in the open air, by the wayside. On rising up in the
morning, they will shake themselves in their rags, as birds of prey,
in coming off their perch, do their feathers; make for the nearest
public-house, with, perhaps, their last copper, for a gill; and, like
the ravens, go in search of a breakfast, wherever and whenever
Providence may send it to them.--ED.
The females as well as the males of this horde of Gipsies were busily
employed in manufacturing white-iron into household utensils, and the
clink of their hammers was heard from daybreak till dark.[239] The
males formed the plates into the shapes of the different utensils
required, and the females soldered and otherwise completed them, while
the younger branches of the families presented them for sale in the
neighbourhood. The breakfast of the band consisted of potatoes and
herrings, which the females and children had collected in the immediate
neighbourhood by begging. I noticed that each family ate their meals by
themselves, wrought at their calling by themselves, and sold their goods
for themselves. The name of the chief of the gang was Williamson, who
said he travelled in the counties of Fife and Perth. When I turned to
leave them, they heaped upon me the most fulsome praises, and so loud,
that I might distinctly hear them, exactly in the manner as those in
Spain, mentioned by Dr. Bright.
[239] Some of the itinerant Gipsies, doubtless, use their trades, in a
great measure, as a cover for living by means such as society deems
very objectionable. Many of them work hard while they are at it,
as in the above instance, when "the clink of their hammers was
heard from daybreak till dark;" and as has been said of those in
Tweed-dale--"however early the farm servants rose to their ordinary
employments, they always found the Tinklers at work."--ED.
I have, for many months running, counted above twenty Gipsies depart out
of the town of Inverkeithing, about ten o'clock in the forenoon, every
day, on their way to various parts of the country; and I have been
informed that from twenty to thirty vagrants lodged in this small burgh
nightly. Some of the bakers declared that the persons who were the worst
to please with hot rolls for breakfast, were the beggars, or rather
Gipsies, who frequented the place. On one occasion, I observed twelve
females, without a single male among them, decamp out of the town, all
travelling in and around a cart, drawn by a shagged pony. The whole
party were neatly attired, some of the young girls having trowsers, with
frills about their ankles; and very few would have taken them for
Gipsies. A large proportion of those miserable-looking females, who are
accompanied by a number of ragged children, and scatter themselves
through the streets, and beg from door to door, are Gipsies. I do not
recollect, distressing as the times ever have been, of having seen
reduced Scotch tradesmen _begging in families_. I remember once seeing a
man with a white apron wrapped around his waist, his coat off, an infant
in his arms, and two others at his feet, accompanied by a dark-looking
fellow of about twenty, singing through the town mentioned. They
represented themselves as broken-down tradesmen, and had the appearance
of having just left their looms, to sing for bread; and many half-pence
they received. Suspecting them to be impostors, I observed their
motions, and soon saw them join other vagrants, outside of the town,
among whom were females. The poor tradesmen were now dressed in very
substantial drab surtouts. They were nothing but a family of Tinklers.
They were proceeding, with great speed, to the next town, to practise
their impositions on the inhabitants; and I learned that they had, in
this manner, traversed several counties in Scotland. At a subsequent
period, I fell in with another family, consisting of five children and
their parents, driving an ass and its colt, near the South Queensferry.
Upon the back of the ass were two stone-hammers, and two reaping-hooks,
placed in such a manner as any one, in passing, might observe them. I
enquired where they had been. "We have been in England, sir, seeking
work, but could find none." Few would have taken them for anything but
country labourers; but the truth was, they were a family of Gipsies, of
the well-known name of Marshall, from about Stranraer. Their implements
of industry, so conspicuously exhibited on the back of their ass, was
all deception.
It is only about twenty-five years since the Irish Gipsies, in bands,
made their appearance in Scotland. Many severe conflicts they had with
our Scottish tribes, before they obtained a footing in the country. But
there is a new swarm of Irish Gipsies at present scattered, in bands,
over Scotland, all acquainted with the Gipsy language. They are a set of
the most wretched creatures on the face of the earth. A horde of them,
consisting of several families, encamped, at one time, at Port Edgar, on
the banks of the Forth, near South Queensferry. They had three small
tents, two horses, and four asses, and trafficked in an inferior sort of
earthen-ware. On the outside of one of the tents, in the open air, with
nothing but the canopy of heaven above her, and the greensward beneath
her, one of the females, like the deer in the forest, brought forth a
child, without either the infant or mother receiving the slightest
injury.[240] The woman, however, was attended by a midwife from
Queensferry, who said that these Irish Gipsies were so completely
covered with filth and vermin, that she durst not enter one of their
tents, to assist the female in labour. Several individuals were
attracted to the spot, by the novelty of such an occurrence, in so
unusual a place as the open fields. Immediately after the child was
born, it was handed about to every one of the band, that they might look
at the "young donkey," as they called it. In about two days after the
accouchement, the horde proceeded on their journey, as if nothing had
happened.[241]
[240] I know another instance of a Gipsy having a child in the open
fields. It took place among the rushes on Stanhope-hangh, on the banks
of the Tweed. In the forenoon, she was delivered of her child, without
the assistance of a midwife, and in the afternoon the hardy Gipsy
resumed her journey. The infant was a daughter, named Mary Baillie.
[When a Gipsy woman is confined, it is either in a miserable hut or in
the open air, but always easily and fortunately. True Gipsy-like, for
want of some vessel, a hole is dug in the ground, which is filled with
cold water, and the new-born child is washed in it--_Grellmann, on the
Hungarian Gipsies._ We may readily believe that a child coming into
the world under the circumstances mentioned, would have some of the
peculiarities of a wild duck. Mr. Hoyland says that "on the first
introduction of a Gipsy child to school, he flew like a bird against
the sides of its cage; but by a steady care, and the influence of the
example of the other children, he soon became settled, and fell into
the ranks." It pleases the Gipsies to know that their ancestors came
into the world "like the deer in the forest," and, when put to school,
"flew like a bird against the sides of its cage."--ED.]
[241] This invasion of Scotland by Irish Gipsies has, of late years,
greatly altered the condition of the nomadic Scottish tribes; for this
reason, that as Scotland, no less than any other country, can support
only a certain number of such people who "live on the road," so many
of the Scottish Gipsies have been forced to betake themselves to other
modes of making a living. To such an extent has this been the case,
that Gipsies, speaking the Scottish dialect, are in some districts
comparatively rarely to be met with, where they were formerly
numerous. The same cause may even lead to the extinction of the
Scottish Gipsies as wanderers; but as the descendants of the Irish
Gipsies will acquire the Scottish vernacular in the second generation,
(a remarkably short period among the Gipsies,) what will then pass for
Scottish Gipsies will be Irish by descent. The Irish Gipsies are
allowed, by their English brethren, to speak good Gipsy, but with a
broad and vulgar accent; so that the language in Scotland will have a
still better chance of being preserved.
England has likewise been invaded by these Irish swarms. The English
Gipsies complain bitterly of them. "They have no law among them," they
say; "they have fairly destroyed Scotland as a country to travel in;
if they get a loan of anything from the country-people, to wrap
themselves in, in the barn, at night, they will decamp with it in the
morning. They have brought a disgrace upon the very name of Gipsy, in
Scotland, and are heartily disliked by both English and Scotch."
"There is a family of Irish Gipsies living across the road there, whom
I would not be seen speaking to," said a superior English Gipsy; "I
hate a Jew, and I dislike an Irish Gipsy." But English and Scottish
Gipsies pull well together; and are on very friendly terms in America,
and frequently visit each other. The English sympathise with the
Scottish, under the wrongs they have experienced at the hands of the
Irish, as well as on account of the persecutions they experienced in
Scotland, so long after such had ceased in England.
Twenty-five years ago, there were many Gipsies to be found between
Londonderry and Belfast, following the style of life described under
the chapter of Tweed-dale and Clydesdale Gipsies. Their names were
Docherty, McCurdy, McCloskey, McGuire, McKay, Holmes, Dinsmore,
Morrow, Allan, Stewart, Lindsay, Cochrane, and Williamson. Some of
these seem to have migrated from Scotland and the North of
England.--ED.
But there are Irish Gipsies of a class much superior to the above, in
Scotland. In 1836, a very respectable and wealthy master-tradesman
informed me that the whole of the individuals employed in his
manufactory, in Edinburgh, were Irish Gipsies.[242]
[242] In England, some of the Irish Gipsies send their children to
learn trades. There are many of such Irish mechanic Gipsies in
America. A short time ago, a company of them landed in New York, and
proceeded on to Chicago. Their occupations, among others, were those
of hatters and tailors.--ED.
The Gipsies do not appear to have been altogether free from the crime of
destroying their offspring, when, by infirmities, they could not be
carried along with them in their wanderings, and thereby became an
encumbrance to them. It has, indeed, been often noticed that few, or no,
deformed or sickly individuals are to be found among them.[243] The
following appears to be an instance of something like the practice in
question. A family of Gipsies were in the habit of calling periodically,
in their peregrinations over the country, at the house of a lady in
Argyleshire. They frequently brought with them a daughter, who was
ailing of some lingering disorder. The lady noticed the sickly child,
and often spoke kindly to her parents about her condition. On one
occasion, when the family arrived on her premises, she missed the child,
and enquired what had become of her, and whether she had recovered. The
father said his daughter was "a poor sickly thing, not worth carrying
about with them," and that he had "made away with her." Whether any
notice was taken of this murder, by the authorities, is not mentioned.
The Gipsies, however, are generally noted for a remarkable attachment to
their children.[244]
[243] They are neither overgrown giants nor diminutive dwarfs; and
their limbs are formed in the justest proportions. Large bellies are
as uncommon among them as humpbacks, blindness, or other corporeal
defects.--_Grellmann on the Hungarian Gipsies._--ED.
[244] The _Ross-shire Advertiser_, for April, 1842, says: "Gipsy
Recklessness.--Last week, two Gipsy women, who were begging through
the country, each with a child on her back, having got intoxicated,
took up their lodgings, for the night, in an old sawpit, in the parish
of Logie-Easter. It is supposed that they forgot to take the children
off their backs, when going to rest; for, in the morning, they were
found to be both dead, having been smothered by their miserable
mothers lying upon them through the night. One of the women, upon
awakening in the morning, called to the other, 'that her baby was
dead,' to which the reply was, 'that it could not be helped.' Having
dug a hole, they procured some straw, rolled up the children in it,
put them in the hole, and then filled it up with the earth."
Several authors have brought a general charge of cowardice against the
Gipsies, in some of the countries of Europe; but I never saw or heard of
any grounds for bringing such a charge against the Scottish Gipsies. On
the contrary, I always considered our Tinklers the very reverse of
cowards. Heron, in his journey through part of Scotland, before the year
1793, when speaking of the Gipsies in general, says: "They make
excellent soldiers, whenever the habit of military discipline can be
sufficiently impressed upon them." Several of our Scottish Gipsies have
even enjoyed commissions, as has already been noticed.[245] But the
military is not a life to their taste, as we have already seen; for,
rather than enter it, they will submit to even personal mutilation.
There is even danger in employing them in our regiments at the seat of
war; as I am convinced that, if there are any Gipsies in the ranks of
the enemy, an improper intercourse will exist between them in both
armies. During the last rebellion in Ireland, the Gipsy soldiers in our
regiments kept up an intimate and friendly correspondence with their
brethren among the Irish rebels.[246]
[245] Though Gipsies everywhere, they differ, in some respects, in the
various countries which they inhabit. For example, an English Gipsy,
of pugilistic tendencies, will, in a vapouring way, engage to _thrash_
a dozen of his Hungarian brethren. The following is the substance of
what Grellmann says on this feature of their character:
Sulzer says a Gipsy requires to have been a long time in the army
before he can meet an enemy's balls with decent soldiers' resolution.
They have often been employed in military expeditions, but never as
regular soldiers. In the thirty years' war, the Swedes had a body of
them in the army; and the Danes had three companies of them at the
siege of Hamburg, in 1686. They were chiefly employed in flying
parties, to burn, plunder, or lay waste the enemy's country.
In two Hungarian regiments, nearly every eighth man is a Gipsy. In
order to prevent either them(!) or any others from remembering their
descent, it is ordered, by the Government, that as soon as a Gipsy
joins the regiment, he is no longer to be called by that appellation.
Here he is placed promiscuously with other men. But whether he would
be adequate to a soldier's station--unmixed with strangers, in the
company of his equals only--is very doubtful. He has every outward
essential for a soldier, yet his innate properties, his levity, and
want of foresight, render him incompatible for the services of one, as
an instance may illustrate. Francis von Perenyi, who commanded at the
siege of Nagy Ida, being short of men, was obliged to have recourse to
the Gipsies, of whom he collected a thousand. These he stationed
behind the entrenchments, while he reserved his own men to garrison
the citadel. The Gipsies supported the attack with so much resolution,
and returned the fire of the enemy with such alacrity, that the
assailants--little suspecting who were the defendants--were compelled
to retreat. But the Gipsies, elated with victory, immediately crept
out of their holes, and cried after them, "Go, and be hanged, you
rascals! and thank God that we had no more powder and shot, or we
would have played the devil with you!" "What!" they exclaimed, bearing
in mind the proverb, "You can drive fifty Gipsies before you with a
wet rag," "What! are _you_ the heroes?" and, so saying, the besiegers
immediately wheeled about, and, sword in hand, drove the black crew
back to their works, entered them along with them, and in a few
minutes totally routed them.--ED.
[246] A Gipsy possesses all the properties requisite to render him a
fit agent to be employed in traitorous undertakings. Being
necessitous, he is easily corrupted; and his misconceived ambition and
pride persuade him that he thus becomes a person of consequence. He
is, at the same time, too inconsiderate to reflect on danger; and,
artful to the greatest decree, he works his way under the most
difficult circumstances. Gipsies have not only served much in the
capacity of spies, but their garb and manner of life have been assumed
by military and other men for the same purpose.--_Grellmann on the
Hungarian Gipsies._
Mr. Borrow gives a very interesting description of a meeting of two
Gipsies, in a battle between the French and Spaniards, in the
Peninsula, in Bonaparte's time. In the midst of a desperate
battle--when everything was in confusion--sword to sword and bayonet
to bayonet--a French soldier singled out one of the enemy, and, after
a severe personal contest, got his knee on his breast, and was about
to run his bayonet through him. His cap at this moment fell off, when
his intended victim, catching his eye, cried, "_Zincali, Zincali!_" at
which the other shuddered, relaxed his grasp, smote his forehead, and
wept. He produced his flask, and poured wine into his brother Gipsy's
mouth; and they both sat down on a knoll, while all were fighting
around. "Let the dogs fight, and tear each other's throats, till they
are all destroyed: what matters it to us? They are not of our blood,
and shall that be shed for them?"
What our author says of there being danger in employing Gipsies in
time of war has little or no foundation; for the associations between
those in the opposite ranks would be merely those of interest,
friendship, assistance, and scenes like the one depicted by Mr.
Borrow. The objection to Gipsies, on such occasions, is as applicable
to Jews and Freemasons.--ED.
The Scottish Gipsies have ever been distinguished for their gratitude to
those who treated them with civility and kindness, during their progress
through the country. The particulars of the following instance of a
Gipsy's gratitude are derived from a respectable farmer, to whom one of
the tribe offered assistance in his pecuniary distress. I was well
acquainted with both of them. The occurrence, which took place only
about ten years ago, will show that gratitude is still a prominent
feature in the character of the Scottish Gipsy.
The farmer became embarrassed in his circumstances, in the spring of the
year, when an ill-natured creditor, for a small sum, put him in jail,
with a design to extort payment of the debt from his relatives. The
farmer had always allowed a Gipsy chief, of the name of ----, with his
family, to take up his quarters on his premises, whenever the horde came
to the neighbourhood. The Gipsy's horse received the same provender as
the farmer's horses, and himself and family the same victuals as the
farmer's servants. So sure was the Gipsy of his lodgings, that he seldom
needed to ask permission to stay all night on the farm, when he arrived.
On learning that the farmer was in jail, he immediately went to see him.
When he called, the jailer laughed at him, and, for long, would not
intimate to the farmer that he wished to see him. With tears in his
eyes, the Gipsy then told him he "would be into the jail, and see the
honest man, whether he would or not." At last, an hour was fixed when he
would be allowed to enter the prison. When the time arrived, the Gipsy
made his appearance, with a quantity of liquor in his hand, for his
friend the farmer. "Weel, man," said he to the turnkey, "is this your
hour, now?" being displeased at the delay which had taken place. The
jailer again said to him that he was surely joking, and still refused
him admittance. "Joking, man?" exclaimed the Gipsy, with the tears again
glistening in his dark eyes, "I am not joking, for into this prison I
shall be; and if it is not by the door, it shall be by another way."
Observing the determined Gipsy quite serious, the jailer at last allowed
him to see the object of his search. The moment he saw the farmer, he
took hold of both his hands, and, immediately throwing his arms around
him, burst into tears, and was for some time so overcome by grief, that
he could not give utterance to his feelings. Recovering himself, he
enquired if it was the laird that had put him in prison; but on being
told it was a writer, one of his creditors, the Gipsy exclaimed, "They
are a d----d crew, thae writers,[247] and the lairds are little better."
With much feeling, he now said to his friend, "Your father, honest man,
was aye good to my horse, and your mother, poor body, was aye kind to
me, when I came to the farm. I was aye treated like one of their own
household, and I can never forget their kindness. Many a night's
quarters I received from them, when others would not suffer me to
approach their doors." The grateful Gipsy now offered the farmer fifty
pounds, to relieve him from prison. "We are," said he, "not so poor as
folk think we are;" and, putting his hand into his pocket, he added,
"Here is part of the money, which you will accept; and if fifty pounds
will not do, I will sell all that I have in the world, horses and all,
to get you out of this place." "Oh, my bonnie man," continued the Gipsy,
"had I you in my camp, at the back of the dyke, I would be a happy man.
You would be far better there than in this hole." The farmer thanked him
for his kind offer, but declined to accept it. "We are," resumed the
Gipsy, "looked upon as savages, but we have our feelings, like other
people, and never forget our friends and benefactors. Kind, indeed, have
your relatives been to me, and all I have in this world is at your
service." When the Gipsy found that his offer was not accepted, he
insisted that the farmer would allow him to supply him, from time to
time, with pocket money, in case he should, during his confinement, be
in want of the necessaries of life. Before leaving the prison, the
farmer asked the Gipsy to take a cup of tea with him; but long the Gipsy
modestly refused to eat with him, saying, "I am a black thief-looking
deevil, to sit down and eat in your company; but I will do it, this day,
for your sake, since you ask it of me." The Gipsy's wife, with all her
family, also insisted upon being allowed to see the farmer in
prison.[248]
[247] A _writer_ in Scotland corresponds with an _attorney_ in
England. It is interesting to notice the opinion which the Gipsy
entertained of the writers. Possibly he had been a good deal worried
by them, in connection with the conduct of some of his folk.--ED.
[248] There is something singularly inconsistent in the mind of the
Gipsies. They pride themselves, to an extraordinary degree, in their
race and language; at the same time, they are extremely sensitive to
the prejudice that exists against them. "We feel," say they, "that
every other creature despises us, and would crush us out of existence,
if it could be done. No doubt, there are things which many of the
Gipsies do not hold to be a shame, that others do; but, on the other
hand, they hold some things to be a shame which others do not. They
have many good points. They are kind to their own people, and will
feed and clothe them, if it is in their power; and they will not
molest others who treat them civilly. They are somewhat like the wild
American Indians: they even go so far as to despise their own people
who will willingly conform to the ways of the people among whom they
live, even to putting their heads under a roof. But, alas! a hard
necessity renders it unavoidable; a necessity of two kinds--that of
making a living under the circumstances in which they find themselves
placed, and the impossibility of enforcing their laws among
themselves. Let them do what they may, live as they may, believe what
they may, they are looked upon as everything that is bad. Yet they are
a people, an ancient and mysterious people, that have been scattered
by the will of Providence over the whole earth."
It is to escape this dreadful prejudice that all Gipsies, excepting
those who avowedly live and profess themselves Gipsies, will hide
their race, if they can, and particularly so, in the case of those who
fairly leave the tent, conform to the ordinary ways of society, and
engage in any of its various callings. While being convoyed by the son
of an English Gipsy, whose family I had been visiting, at their house,
where I had heard them freely speak of themselves as Gipsies, and
converse in Gipsy, I said, in quite a pleasant tone, "Ah, my little
man, and you are a young Gipsy?--Eh, what's the matter?" "I don't wish
to be known to the people as a Gipsy." His father, on another
occasion, said, "We are not ashamed to say to a friend that we are
Gipsies; but my children don't like people to be crying after them,
'Look at the Gipsies!'" And yet this family, like all Gipsies, were
strongly attached to their race and language. It was pitiful to think
that there was so much reason for them to make such a complaint. On
one occasion, I was asked, "If you would not deem it presumptuous,
might we ask you to take a bite with us?" "Eat with you? Why not?" I
replied. "What will your people think, if they knew that you had been
eating with us? You will lose caste." This was said in a serious
manner, but slightly tinged with irony. Bless me, I thought, are all
our Scottish Gipsies, of high and low degree, afraid that the ordinary
natives would not even eat with them, if they knew them to be
Gipsies?--ED.
This interview took place in presence of several persons, who were
surprised at the gratitude and manner of the determined Gipsy. It is
proper to mention that he is considered a very honest man, and is a
protection to the property of the country-people, wherever he is
quartered. He sells earthen-ware, through the country, and has,
sometimes, several horses in his possession, more for pleasure than
profit, some of which the farmers graze for nothing, as he is a great
favourite with those who are intimately acquainted with him. He is about
fifty years of age, about six feet in height, is spare made, has small
black eyes, and a swarthy complexion. He is styled King of the Gipsies,
but the country-people call him "Terrible," for a by-name. It was said
his mother was a witch, and many of the simple, ignorant people, in the
country, actually believed she was one. That her son believed she
possessed supernatural power, will appear from the following fact: As
some one was lamenting the hard case of the farmer remaining in prison,
the Gipsy gravely said, "Had my mother been able to go to the jail, to
see the honest man, she possessed the power to set him free."
That numbers of our Gipsies attend the church, and publicly profess
Christianity, and get their children baptized, is certain; and that many
of the male heads of principal families have the appearance and
reputation of great honesty of character, is also certain. Yet their
wives and other members of their families are, in general, little better
than professed thieves; and are secretly countenanced and encouraged in
their practices by many of those very chief males, who designedly keep
up an outward show of integrity, for the purpose of deception, and of
affording their plundering friends protection. When the head of the
family is believed to be an honest man, it excites a feeling of sympathy
for his tribe on his account, and it enables him to step forward, with
more freedom, to protect his kindred, when they happen to get into
scrapes. I am convinced, could the fact be ascertained, that many of the
offenders who are daily brought before our courts of justice are
Gipsies, though their external appearance does not indicate them to be
of that race.
With regard to the education of our Scottish Gipsies, I am convinced
that very few of them receive any education at all; except some of those
among the superior classes, who have property in houses, and permanent
residences. A Gipsy, of some property, who gave one of her sons a good
education, declared that the young man was entirely spoiled.[249] It
appears, however, that the males of the Yetholm colony received such an
education as is commonly given to the working classes; but it is
supposed there is scarcely such a thing as a female Gipsy who has been
educated. There are, however, instances to the contrary; and I know one
female at least, who can handle her pen with some dexterity.[250]
[249] It it well to notice the fact, that by giving a Gipsy child a
good education, it became "entirely spoiled." It would be well if we
could "spoil" all the Gipsies. A thoroughly spoiled Gipsy makes a very
good man, but leaves him a Gipsy notwithstanding. A "thorough Gipsy"
has two meanings; one strongly attached to the tribe, and its
_original habits_, or one without these original habits. There are a
good many "spoiled" Gipsies, male and female, in Scotland.--ED.
[250] The education and acquirements of the Spanish Gipsies, according
to Mr. Borrow, are, on the whole, not inferior to those of the lower
classes of the Spaniards; some of the young _men_ being able to read
and write in a manner by no means contemptible; but such never occurs
among the females. Neglecting females, in the matter of education, is
quite in keeping with the Oriental origin of the Gipsies. The same
feature is observable among the Jews; and the Talmud bears heavily
upon Jewish women. Every Jew says, in his morning prayer, "Blessed art
thou, O Lord, our God, King of the Universe, who hast not made me a
woman!" And the woman returns thanks for having been "created
according to God's will."--ED.
As to their religious sentiments, I am inclined to think that the
greater part of the Scottish Gipsies are quite indifferent on the
subject. Numbers of them certainly attend church, occasionally, when at
home, in their winter quarters; but not one of them will enter its door
when travelling through the country.[251] On Sundays, while resting
themselves by the side of the public roads, the females employ
themselves in washing and sewing their apparel, without any regard for
that sacred day. It appears to me that a large proportion of them comply
with our customs and forms of worship, more for the purpose of
concealing their tribe and practices, than from any serious belief in
the doctrines of Christianity. I recollect, however, of once conversing
with an aged man who professed much apparent zeal in religious matters;
and I mind well that he stoutly maintained, in opposition to Calvin's
ideas on the subject of free grace, that everything depended upon our
own works. "By my works in this life," said he, "I must stand, or fall,
in the world to come." This very man acknowledged to me that the Gipsies
were a tribe of thieves. But almost all the Gipsies, when the subject of
religion is mentioned to them, affect to be very pious; speak of the
goodness of God to them, with much apparent sincerity; lament the want
of education; and reprobate, in strong terms, every act of immorality.
This, I am sorry to say, is, in general, all hypocrisy and deception.
There is not a better test, in a general way, for discovering who are
Gipsies, than the expression of "God bless you," which is constantly in
the mouth of every female.[252]
[251] The ostensible reason which the Gipsy gives for not attending
church, when travelling, is to prevent himself being ridiculed by the
people. If he enters a place of worship, he makes the old people
stare, and frightens the children. On returning from church, a child
will exclaim, "Mother, mother, there was a Tinkler at the kirk,
to-day."--"A what? a _Tinkler_ at the kirk? What could have possessed
_him_ to go there?"
Gipsies are extremely sensitive to the feeling in question. A short
time ago, one of them entered ----, in the State of ----, with a
"shears to grind," having a small bell attached. Some bar-room gentry
assembled around him, and saluted him with, "Oh, oh, a Gipsy in a new
rig!" So keenly did he feel the insult, that he at once left the
village.--ED.
[252] According to Grellmann, the Gipsies did not bring any particular
religion with them from their own country, but have regulated it
according to those of the countries in which they have lived. They
suffer themselves to be baptized among Christians, and circumcised
among Mahommedans. They are Greeks with Greeks, Catholics with
Catholics, Protestants with Protestants, and as inconstant in their
creed as their place of residence. They suffer their children to be
several times baptised. To-day, they receive the sacrament as a
Lutheran; next Sunday, as a Catholic; and, perhaps before the end of
the week, in the Reformed Church. The greater part of them do not go
so far as this, but live without any religion at all, and worse than
heathens. So thoroughly indifferent are they in this respect, as to
have given rise to the adage, "The Gipsy's church was built of bacon,
and the dogs ate it." So perfectly convinced are the Turks of the
insincerity of the Gipsy in matters of religion, that, although a Jew,
by becoming a Mahommedan, is freed from the payment of the poll-tax, a
Gipsy--at least in the neighbourhood of Constantinople--is not, even
although his ancestors, for centuries, had been Mahommedans, or he
himself should actually have made a pilgrimage to Mecca. His only
privilege is to wear a white turban, which is denied to unbelieving
Jews and Gipsies.
Mr. Borrow says, that when the female Gipsies, who sing in the choirs
of Moscow, were questioned, in their own language, about their
externally professing the Greek religion, they laughed, and said it
was only to please the Russians.
The same author mentions an instance in which he preached to them;
taking, for his text, the situation of the Hebrews in Egypt, and
drawing a comparison between it and theirs in Spain. Warming with his
subject, he spoke of the power of God in preserving both, as a
distinct people, in the world to this day. On concluding, he looked
around to see what impression he had made upon them, but the only
response he got from them all was--a squint of the eye!--ED.
With regard to the general politics of the Scottish Gipsies, if they
entertain any political sentiments at all, I am convinced they are
monarchical; and that, were any revolutionary convulsion to loosen the
bonds of society, and separate the lower from the higher classes, they
would take to the side of the superior portion of the community. They
have, at all times, heartily despised the peasantry, and been disposed
to treat menials with great contempt, though, at the very moment, they
were begging at the doors of their masters. In the few instances which
have come to my knowledge, of Scottish Gipsies forming matrimonial
connexions with individuals of the community, those individuals were
not of the working or lower classes of society.[253]
[253] What our author says of the politics of the Gipsies is rather
more applicable to their ideas of their social position. Being a small
body in comparison with the general population of the country, they
entertain a very exclusive and, consequently, a very aristocratic idea
of themselves, whatever others may think of them; and therefore scorn
the prejudice of the very lowest order of the common natives.--ED.
I believe there are Gipsies, in more or less numbers, in almost every
town in Scotland, permanent as well as periodical residenters. In many
of the villages there are also Gipsy inhabitants. In Mid-Lothian there
are great numbers of them, who have houses, in which they reside
permanently, but a portion of them travel in other districts, during the
summer season. I have been at no ordinary pains and trouble in making
enquiries regarding the number of the Gipsies, and the result of my
numerous investigations induces me to believe that there are about five
thousand of them in Scotland, at the present day. Indeed, some of the
Gipsies themselves entertain the same opinion, and they must certainly
be allowed to have some idea of the number of their own fraternity.[254]
[254] Before the reformation of our criminal law, many of the male
Gipsies perished on the gallows, but now, the greatest punishment they
meet with is banishment, or a short imprisonment, for "sorning,
pickery, and little thieving." Few of them are now "married to the
gallows tree," in the manner of Graham, as described under the head of
Fifeshire Gipsies. Owing to their, (the more original kind
especially,) all marrying very young, and having very large families,
their number cannot fail to encrease, under the present laws, in a
ratio far beyond that of our own population. Instead of there being
only 5,000 Gipsies in Scotland, there are, as I have already said,
nearer 100,000, for reasons to be given in my Disquisition on the
Gipsies.--ED.
It appears to me that the civilization and improvement of the body,
generally, would be a work of great difficulty. I would be apt to give
nearly the same answer which a Hungarian nobleman gave to Dr. Bright,
when that traveller asked him if he could not devise a plan for
bettering the condition of the race in Hungary. The nobleman said he
knew of no manner of improving the Gipsies.[255] The best plan yet
proposed for improving the race appears to be the one suggested by the
Rev. James Crabb, of Southampton, and the Rev. John Baird, of
Yetholm.[256] One of the first steps, however, should be a complete
publicity to their language, if that was possible; and encouragement
held out to them to speak it openly, without fear or reproach. Their
secret speech is a strong bond of union among them, and forms, as it
were, a wall of separation between them and the other inhabitants of the
country.
[255] Speaking of the attempted civilization of the Gipsies, by the
Empress Maria Theresa, Grellmann says, "A boy, (for you must leave the
old stock alone,) would frequently seem in the most promising train to
civilization; on a sudden, his wild nature would appear, a relapse
follow, and he become a perfect Gipsy again."
"_Curate._--Could you not, by degrees, bring yourself to a more
settled mode of life?
"_Gipsy._--I would not tell you a lie, sir; I really think I could
not, having been brought up to it from a child."--_Hoyland on the
English Gipsies._
The restless desire which the more original kind of Gipsies, and those
more recently from the tent, have for moving about, is generally
gratified in some way or other. The poorer class will send their wives
and young ones to the "grass," in company with the nomadic portion, or
to the streets in towns. In either case, they have no great occasion
to feel uneasy about their support; for she would be a poor wife
indeed, if she could not forage for herself and "weary bairns." Among
other things, she can hire herself to assist in disposing of the wares
made by another Gipsy. Her husband will then work at his calling, or
go on the _tramp_, like some of our ordinary mechanics.
The feeling which mankind in general have for the sweets of the
country, and the longing which so many of us have to end our days in
the midst of them, amount almost to a mania with these Gipsies.
Frequently will Gipsies, in England, after spending the best part of
their lives in a settled occupation, again take to the tent; while
others of them, on arrival in America, will buy themselves places, and
live on them till seized with the travelling epidemic, communicated by
a roving company of their tribe accidentally arriving in their
neighbourhood. Some of the more recently settled class of Gipsies,
whose occupations do not easily admit of their enjoying the pleasure
of a country or travelling life, show a great partiality to their
wandering brethren, however poor, with whom they are on terms of
intimacy, and especially if they happen to be related. Their children,
from hearing their parents speak of the "good old times"--the "golden
age" of the Gipsies--when they could wander hither and thither, with
little molestation, and live, in a measure, at free-quarters, wherever
they went, grow impatient under the restraint which society has thrown
around them; and vent their feelings in abusing that same society, and
all the members thereof. They envy the lot of these "country cousins."
Meetings of that kind render these Gipsies, (old as well as young,)
irritable, discontented, and gloomy: they feel like "birds in a cage,"
as a Gipsy expressed it. Not unfrequently will a young town Gipsy
travel in the company of these country relatives, dressed _a la
Tinklaire_, as a relief to the discontentment which a restrained and
pent-up life creates within him. At other times, his parents will know
nothing of his movements, beyond his coming home to "roost" at night.
The nomadic class take to winter-quarters in some village, towards the
close of the year, and fret themselves all day long, till, on the
return of spring, they can say, "To your tents, O Gipsies!" There is
as little direct relation existing between the tent and the
long-settled Gipsies, as there is between it and ordinary Scotch
people. But there is that tribal or national association connected
with it, that is inseparable from the feelings of a Gipsy, however
high may be the position in life to which he may have risen.--ED.
[256] The Fourteenth Annual Festival of the Rev. James Crabb's
Association, for civilizing and teaching the principles of
Christianity to the Gipsies in England, was held on the 25th December,
1841. At that time, twenty Gipsy youths were attending his school. He
was very sanguine of ultimately ameliorating the condition of the
British Gipsies.
At Yetholm, in the same year, after the Rev. John Baird's school had
been in existence about two years, there were about forty Gipsy
children receiving instruction. When they were educated, they were
hired as servants to families, or bound apprentices to different
trades.
[I will offer some remarks on the improvement of the Gipsies, in the
Disquisition on the Gipsies.--ED.]
Many of the Gipsies, following the various occupations enumerated, are
not now to be distinguished from others of the community, except by the
most minute observation; yet they appear a distinct and separate people;
seldom contracting marriage out of their own tribe.[257] A tradesman of
Gipsy blood will sooner give his hand to a lady's maid of his own race,
than marry the highest female in the land; while the Gipsy lady's maid
will take a Gipsy shoemaker, in preference to any one out of her tribe.
A Gipsy woman will far rather prefer, in marriage, a man of her own
blood who has escaped the gallows, to the most industrious and
best-behaved tradesman in the kingdom. Like the Jews, almost all those
in good circumstances marry among themselves, and, I believe, employ
their poorer brethren as servants. I have known Gipsies most solemnly
declare, that no consideration would induce them to marry out of their
own tribe; and I am informed, and convinced, that almost every one of
them marries in that way. One of them stated to me that, let them be in
whatever situation of life they may, they all "stick to each other."
[257] It is a difficult matter to tell some of the settled Scottish
Gipsies. In searching for them, some regard must be had to the
employment of the individual, his associations, and his isolation from
the community generally, beyond what is necessary in following his
calling and out-door relations, as contrasted with his hospitality to
strangers from a distance; a close scrutiny of the habits of himself
and his numerous motley visitors; the rough-and-tumble way in which he
sometimes lives; his attachment to animals, such as horses, asses,
dogs, cats, birds, or pets of any kind; these, and other relative
circumstances, go a great way to enable one to pounce upon some of
them. But the use of their language, and the effect it has upon them,
(barring their responding to it,) is, at the present stage of their
history, the only satisfactory test. Scottish Gipsy families will
generally be found to be all dark in their appearance, or all very
fair or reddish, or partly very fair, and partly very dark, and
sometimes dark or fair nondescript. Many of the residentary class of
mechanic Gipsies are difficult of detection; so are the better
classes, generally, if it is long since their ancestors left the
tent--ED.
A DISQUISITION ON THE PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE OF GIPSYDOM.
"There is nothing hid that shall not be revealed."
In giving an account of the Gipsies, the subject would be very
incomplete, were not something said about the manner in which they have
drawn into their body the blood of other people, and the way in which
the race is perpetuated; and a description given of their present
condition, and future prospects, particularly as our author has
overlooked some important points connected with their history, which I
will endeavour to furnish. One of these important points is, that he has
confined his description of the present generation of settled Gipsies to
the descendants of those who left the tent subsequently to the
commencement of the French war, to the exclusion of those who settled
long anterior to that time. It is also necessary to treat the subject
abstractly--to throw it into principles, to give the philosophy of
it--to ensure the better understanding, and perpetuate the knowledge of
it, amid the shifting objects that present themselves to the eye of the
world, and even of the people described.
Gipsydom may, in a word, be said to be literally a sealed book, a _terra
incognita_, to mankind in general. The Gipsies arrived in Europe a
strange race; strange in their origin, appearance, habits and
disposition. Supposing that their habits had never led them to interfere
with the property of others, or obtain money by any objectionable way,
but that they had confined their calling to tinkering, making and
selling wares, trading, and such like, they would, in all probability,
still have remained a caste in the community, with a strong feeling of
sympathy for those living in other countries, in consequence of the
singularity of their origin and development, as distinguished from those
of the other inhabitants, their language and that degree of prejudice
which most nations have for foreigners settling among them and
particularly so in the case of a people so different in their appearance
and mode of life as were the Gipsies from those among whom they settled.
That may especially be said of tented Gipsies, and even of those who,
from time to time, would be forced to leave the tent, and settle in
towns, or live as _tramps_, as distinguished from tented Gipsies. The
simple idea of their origin and descent, tribe and language, transmitted
from generation to generation, being so different from those of the
people among whom they lived, was, in itself, perfectly sufficient to
retain them members of Gipsydom, although, in cases of intermarriages
with the natives, the mixed breeds might have gone over to the white
race, and been lost to the general body. But in most of such cases that
would hardly have taken place; for between the two races, the difference
of feeling, were it only a slight jealousy, would have led the smaller
and more exclusive and bigoted to bring the issue of such intermarriages
within its influence. In Great Britain, the Gipsies are entitled, in one
respect at least, to be called Englishmen, Scotchmen, or Irishmen; for
their general ideas as men, as distinguished from their being Gipsies,
and their language, indicate them, at once, to be such, nearly as much
as the common natives of these countries. A half or mixed breed might
more especially be termed or pass for a native; so that, by clinging to
the Gipsies, and hiding his Gipsy descent and affiliation from the
native race, he would lose nothing of the outward character of an
ordinary inhabitant; while any benefit arising from his being a Gipsy
would, at the same time, be enjoyed by him.
But the subject assumes a totally different aspect when, instead of a
slight jealousy existing between the two races, the difference in
feeling is such as if a gulf had been placed between them. The effect of
a marriage between a white and a Gipsy, especially if he or she is known
to be a Gipsy, is such, that the white instinctively withdraws from any
connexion with his own race, and casts his lot with the Gipsies. The
children born of such unions become ultra Gipsies. A very fine
illustration of this principle of half-breed ultra Gipsyism is given by
Mr. Borrow, in his "Gipsies in Spain," in the case of an officer in the
Spanish army adopting a young female Gipsy child, whose parents had
been executed, and educating and marrying her. A son of this marriage,
who rose to be a captain in the service of Donna Isabel, hated the white
race so intensely, as, when a child, to tell his father that he wished
he (his father) was dead. At whose door must the cause of such a feeling
be laid? One would naturally suppose that the child would have left,
perhaps despised, his mother's people, and clung to those whom the world
deemed respectable. But the case was different. Suppose the mother had
not been prompted by some of her own race, while growing up, and the
son, in his turn, not prompted by the mother, all that was necessary to
stir up his hatred toward the white race was simply to know who he was,
as I will illustrate.[258]
[258] This Spanish Gipsy is reported by Mr. Borrow to have said: "She,
however, remembered her blood, and hated my father, and taught me to
hate him likewise. When a boy, I used to stroll about the plain, that
I might not see my father; and my father would follow me, and beg me
to look upon him, and would ask me what I wanted; and I would reply,
'Father, the only thing I want is to see you dead!'"
This is certainly an extreme instance of the result of the prejudice
against the Gipsy race; and no opinion can be formed upon it, without
knowing some of the circumstances connected with the feelings of the
father, or his relations, toward the mother and the Gipsy race
generally. This Gipsy woman seems to have been well brought up by her
protector and husband; for she _taught her child Gipsy from a MS._,
and procured a teacher to instruct him in Latin. There are many
reflections to be drawn from the circumstances connected with this
Spanish Gipsy family, but they do not seem to have occurred to Mr.
Borrow.
Suppose that a great iron-master should fancy a Cinderella, living by
scraping pieces of iron from the refuse of his furnaces, educate her,
and marry her, as great iron-masters have done. Being both of the same
race, a complete amalgamation would take place at once: perhaps the wife
was the best person of the two. Silly people might sneer at such a
marriage; but if no objection attached to the personal character of the
woman, she might be received into society at once, and admired by some,
and envied by others, particularly if she had no "low relations" living
near her. She might even boast of having been a Cinderella, if it
happened to be well known; in which case she might be deemed free of
pride, and consequently a very sensible, amiable woman, and worthy of
every admiration.
But who ever heard of such a thing taking place with a Gipsy? Suppose a
Gipsy elevated to such a position as that spoken of; she would not, she
dare not, mention her descent to any one not of her own race, and far
less would she give an _exposé_ of Gipsydom; for she instinctively
perceives, or at least believes, that, such is the prejudice against her
race, people would avoid her as something horridly frightful, although
she might be the finest woman in the world. Who ever heard of a
civilized Gipsy, before Mr. Borrow mentioned those having attained to
such an eminent position in society at Moscow? Are there none such
elsewhere than in Moscow? There are many in Scotland. It is this
unfortunate prejudice against the name that forces all our Gipsies, the
moment they leave the tent, (which they almost invariably do with their
blood diluted with the white,) to hide from the public their being
Gipsies; for they are morbidly sensitive of the odium which attaches to
the name and race being applied to them. It is quite time enough to
discover the great secret of Nature, when it is unavoidable to enter
"The undiscovered country from whose bourne
No traveller returns."
As little disposition is manifested by these Gipsies to "show their
hands:" the uncertainty of such an experiment makes the very idea
dreadful to them. Hence it is that the constant aim of settled Gipsies
is to hide the fact of their being Gipsies from other people.
It is a very common idea that Gipsies do not mix their blood with that
of other people. Now, what is the fact? I may, indeed, venture to
assert, that there is not a full-blooded Gipsy in Scotland;[259] and,
most positively, that in England, where the race is held to be so pure,
all that can be said of _some_ families is, that they have not been
crossed, _as far as is known_; but that, with these exceptions, the body
is much mixed: "dreadfully mixed" is the Gipsies' description, as, in
many instances, my own eyes have witnessed. This brings me to an issue
with a writer in the Edinburgh Review, who, in October, 1841, when
reviewing the "Gipsies in Spain," by Mr. Borrow, says, "Their descent is
purity itself; no mixture of European blood has contaminated theirs.
. . . . . They, (the stranger and Gipsy,) may live together; the
European vagrant is often to be found in the tents of the Gipsies; they
may join in the fellowship of sport, the pursuit of plunder, the
management of their low trades, but they can never fraternize." A writer
in Blackwood's Magazine, on the same occasion, says, "Their care to
preserve the purity of their race might, in itself, have confuted the
unfounded charge, so often brought against them, of stealing children,
and bringing them up as Gipsies." More unfounded ideas than those put
forth by these two writers are scarcely possible to be imagined.[260]
[259] It is claimed, by some Scottish Gipsies, that there are
full-blood Gipsies at Yetholm, but I do not believe it. This, I may
venture to say, that there can be no certainty, but, on the contrary,
great doubt, on the subject. But, after all, what is a pure Gipsy? Was
the race pure when it entered Scotland, or even Europe? The idea is
perfectly arbitrary.
[260] It would be interesting to know where these writers got such
ideas about the purity of the Gipsy blood. It certainly was not from
Mr. Borrow's account of the Gipsies in Spain, whatever they may have
inferred from that work.
This mixture of "the blood" is notorious. Many a full or nearly
full-blood Gipsy will say that Gipsies do not mix their blood with that
of the stranger. In such a case he only shuffles; for he whispers to
himself two words, in his own language, which contradict what he says;
which words I forget, but they mean "I belie it;" that is, he belies
what he has just said. Besides, it lets the Gipsies down in their
imagination, and, they think, in the imagination of others, to allow
that the blood of their race is mixed. It is also a secret which they
would rather hide from the world.[261] I am intimate with English Gipsy
families, in none of whom is full blood; the most that can be said of
them is, that they range from nearly full, say from seven-eighths, down
to one-eighth, and perhaps less. Suppose that a fair-haired common
native marries a full-blood Gipsy: the issue of such an union will show
some of the children, in point of external appearance, perfectly
European, like the father, and others, Gipsies, like the mother. If two
such European-like Gipsies marry, some of their children will take after
the Gipsy, and be pretty, even very, dark, and others after the white
race. In crossing a second time with full white blood, the issue will
take still more after the white race. Still, the Gipsy cannot be crossed
altogether out; he will come up, but of course in a modified form.
Should the white blood be of a dark complexion and hair, and have no
tendency, from its ancestry, to turn to fair, in its descent, then the
issue between it and the Gipsy will always be dusky. I have seen all
this, and had it fully explained by the Gipsies themselves.
[261] An instance of this kind of shuffling is given by Mr. Borrow, in
the tenth chapter of the "Romany Rye," in the person of Ursula, a full
or nearly full-blood Gipsy. She confines the crossing of the blood to
such instances as when a Gipsy dies and leaves his children to be
provided for by "_gorgios_, trampers, and basket-makers, who live in
caravans;" but she says, "I hate to talk of the matter." When Mr.
Borrow asked her, if a Gipsy woman, unless compelled by hard
necessity, would have anything to do with a _gorgio_, she replied, "We
are not over-fond of _gorgios_, and we hate basket-makers and folks
that live in caravans." Here she makes a very important distinction
between _gorgios_, (native English,) and _basket-makers and folks that
live in caravans_, (mixed Gipsies.) She does not deny that a Gipsy
woman will intermarry with a native under certain circumstances. A
pretty-pure Gipsy, when angry, will very readily call a mixed Gipsy a
_gorgio_, or, indeed, by any other name.
The result of this mixture of the Gipsy and European blood is founded,
not only on the ordinary principles of physiology, but on common sense
itself; for why should not such issue take after the European, in
preference to the Gipsy? If a residence in Europe of 450 years has had
no effect upon the appearance of what may be termed pure Gipsies, (a
point which, at least, is questionable,) the length of time, the effects
of climate, and the influence of mind, should, at least, predispose it
to merge, by mixture, into something bearing a resemblance to the
ordinary European; which, by a continued crossing, it does. Indeed, it
soon disappears to the common eye: to a stranger it is not observable,
unless the mixture happens to be met with in a tent, or under such
circumstances as one expects to meet with Gipsies. In paying a visit to
an English Gipsy family, I was invited to call again, on such a day,
when I would meet with some Welsh Gipsies. The principal Welsh Gipsy I
found to be a very quiet man, with fair hair, and quite like an ordinary
Englishman; who was admitted by his English brethren to "speak deep
Gipsy." He had just arrived from Wales, where he had been employed in an
iron work. Unless I am misinformed, the issue of a fair-haired European
and an ordinary Hindoo woman, in India, sometimes shows the same result
as I have stated of the Gipsies; but it ought to be much more so in the
case of the Gipsy in Europe, on account of the race having been so long
acclimated there. Indeed, it is generally believed, that the population
of Europe contains a large part of Asiatic blood, from that continent
having at one time been overrun by Asiatics, who mixed their blood with
an indigenous race which they met with there.
Of the mixed Spanish Gipsy, to whom I have alluded, Mr. Borrow says,
that "he had _flaxen hair_; his eyes small, and, like ferrets, red and
fiery; and his complexion like a brick, or dull red, chequered with
spots of purple." This description, with, perhaps, the exception of the
red eyes, and spots of purple, is quite in keeping with that of many of
the mixed Gipsies. The race seems even to have given a preference to
fair or red hair, in the case of such children and grown-up natives as
they have adopted into their body. I have met with a young Spaniard from
Corunna, who is so much acquainted with the Gipsies in Spain, that I
took him to be a mixed Gipsy himself; and he says that mixtures among
the Spanish Gipsies are very common; the white man, in such cases,
always casting his lot with the Gipsies. None of the French, German, or
Hungarian Gipsies whom I have met with in America are full blood, or
anything like it; but I am told there are such, and very black too, as
the English Gipsies assert. Indeed, considering how "dreadfully mixed"
the Gipsies are in Great Britain and Ireland, I cannot but conclude that
they are more or less so all over the world.[262]
[262] Grellmann evidently alludes to Gipsies of mixed blood, when he
writes in the following manner: "Experience shows that the dark colour
of the Gipsies, which is continued from generation to generation, is
more the effect of education and manner of life than descent. Among
those who profess music in Hungary, or serve in the imperial army,
where they have learned to pay more attention to order and
cleanliness, there are many to be found whose extraction is not at all
discernible in their colour." For my part, I cannot say that such
language is applicable to full-blood Gipsies. Still, the change from
tented to settled and tidy Gipsydom is apt to show its effects in
modifying the complexion of such Gipsies, and to a much greater degree
in their descendants.
The blood once mixed, there is nothing to prevent a little more being
added, and a little more, and so on. There are English Gipsy girls who
have gone to work in factories in the Eastern States, and picked up
husbands among the ordinary youths of these establishments. And what
difference does it make? Is not the game in the Gipsy woman's own hands?
Will she not bring up her children Gipsies, initiate them in all the
mysteries of Gipsydom, and teach them the language? There is another
married to an American farmer "down east." All that she has to do is
simply to "tell her wonderful story," as the Gipsies express it.
Jonathan must think that he has caged a queer kind of a bird in the
English Gipsy woman. But will he say to his friends, or neighbours, that
his wife is a Gipsy? Will the children tell that their mother, and,
consequently, they themselves are Gipsies? No, indeed. Jonathan,
however, will find her a very active, managing woman, who will always be
a-stirring, and will not allow her "old man" to kindle the fires of a
morning, milk his cows, or clean his boots, and, as far as she is
concerned, will bring him lots of _chabos_.
Gipsies, however, do not like such marriages; still they take place.
They are more apt to occur when they have attained to that degree of
security in a community where no one knows them to be Gipsies, or when
they have settled in a neighbourhood to which they had come strangers.
The parents exercise more constraint over their sons than daughters;
they cannot bear the idea of a son taking a strange woman for a wife;
for a strange woman is a snare unto the Gipsies. If a Scottish Gipsy lad
shows a hankering after a stranger lass, the mother will soon "cut his
comb," by asking him, "What would she say if she knew you to be a loon
of a Gipsy? Take such or such a one (Gipsies) for a wife, if you want
one." But it is different with the girls. If a Gipsy lass is determined
to have the stranger for a husband, she has only to say, "Never mind,
mother; it makes no earthly difference; I'll turn that fellow round my
little finger; I'll take care of the children when I get them." I do not
know how the settled Scottish Gipsies broach the subject of being
Gipsies to the stranger son-in-law when he is introduced among them. I
can imagine the girl, during the courtship, saying to herself, with
reference to her intended, "I'll lead you captive, my pretty fellow!"
And captive she does lead him, in more senses than one. Perhaps the
subject is not broached to him till after she has borne him children;
or, if he is any way soft, the mother, with a leering eye, will say to
him at once, "Ah ha, lad, ye're among Gipsies now!" In such a case, the
young man will be perfectly bewildered to know what it all means, so
utterly ignorant is he about Gipsies; when, however, he comes to learn
all about it, it will be _mum_ with him, as if his wife's friends had
_burked_ him, or some "old Gipsy" had come along, and sworn him in on
the point of a drawn dirk. It may be that the Gipsy never mentions the
subject to her husband at all, for fear he should "take her life;" she
can, at all events, trust her secret with her children.
Why should there be any hard feelings towards a Gipsy for "taking in and
burking" a native in this way? She does not propose--she only disposes
of herself. She has no business to tell the other that she is a Gipsy.
She does not consider herself a worse woman than he is a man, but, on
the contrary, a better. She would rather prefer a _chabo_, but, somehow
or other, she sacrifices her feelings, and takes the _gorgio_, "for
better or worse." Or there may be considerable advantages to be derived
from the connexion, so that she spreads her snares to secure them. Being
a Gipsy, she has the whip-hand of the husband, for no consideration will
induce him to divulge to any one the fact that his wife is a
Gipsy--should she have told him; in which case she has such a hold upon
him, as to have "turned him round her little finger" most effectually.
"Married a Gipsy! it's no' possible!" "Ay, it is possible. There!" she
will say, chattering her words, and, with her fingers, showing him the
signs. He soon gets reconciled to the "better or worse" which _he_ has
taken to his bosom, as well as to her "folk," and becomes strongly
attached to them. The least thing that the Gipsy can then do is to tell
her "wonderful story" to her children. It is not teaching them any
damnable creed; it is only telling them who they are; so that they may
acknowledge herself, her people, her blood, and the blood of the
children themselves.