long settled in Pennsylvania and Maryland, where they own farms. Some of
them leave their farms in charge of hired hands, during the summer, and
proceed South with their tents. In the State of Pennsylvania, there is a
settlement of them, on the J---- river, a little way above H----, where
they have saw-mills. About the Alleghany Mountains, there are many of
the tribe, following somewhat the original ways of the race. In the
United States generally, there are many Gipsy peddlers, British as well
as continental. There are a good many Gipsies in New York--English,
Irish, and continental--some of whom keep tin, crockery, and basket
stores; but these are all mixed Gipsies, and many of them of fair
complexion. The tin-ware which they make is generally of a plain, coarse
kind; so much so, that a Gipsy tin store is easily known. They
frequently exhibit their tin-ware and baskets on the streets, and carry
them about the city. Almost all, if not all, of those itinerant cutlers
and tinkers, to be met with in New York, and other American cities, are
Gipsies, principally German, Hungarian, and French. There are a good
many Gipsy musicians in America. "What!" said I, to an English Gipsy,
"those organ-grinders?" "Nothing so low as that. Gipsies don't _grind_
their music, sir; they _make_ it." But I found in his house, when
occupied by other Gipsies, a _hurdy-gurdy_ and tambourine; so that
Gipsies sometimes _grind_ music, as well as _make_ it. I know of a
Hungarian Gipsy who is leader of a Negro musical band, in the city of
New York; his brother drives one of the Avenue cars. There are a number
of Gipsy musicians in Baltimore, who play at parties, and on other
occasions. Some of the fortune-telling Gipsy women about New York will
make as much as forty dollars a week in that line of business. They
generally live a little way out of the city, into which they ride, in
the morning, to their places of business. I know of one, who resides in
New Jersey, opposite New York, and who has a place in the city, to which
ladies, that is, females of the highest classes, address their cards,
for her to call upon them. When she gets a chance of a young fellow with
his female friend, she "puts the screws on;" for she knows well that he
dare not "back out;" so she frequently manages to squeeze five dollars
out of him.
Many hundred, perhaps several thousand, of English tented, and partly
tented Gipsies, have arrived in America within the last ten years. They,
for the most part, travel, and have travelled every State in the Union,
east of the Rocky Mountains, as well as the British Provinces, as
horse-dealers, peddlers, doctors, exhibitors, fortune-tellers, and
_tramps_ generally. Such English Gipsies, above all men in America, may,
with the greatest propriety, say,
"No pent-up Utica contracts our powers,
But the whole boundless continent is ours."
The fortune-tellers, every time they set out on their peregrinations,
choose a new route; for they say it is more difficult to go over the
same ground in America, than it is in England. The horse-dealers say
that Jonathan is a good judge of a horse; that sometimes they get the
advantage of him, and sometimes he of them; but that his demand for a
warranty sometimes bothers them a deal. "What then?" I asked. "Well, we
give him a warranty; and should the beast _happen_ to turn out wrong,
let him catch us if he can!" It is really astonishing how sensibly these
English Gipsies talk of American affairs generally; they are very
discriminating in their remarks, and wonderfully observant of places and
localities. They do not like the Negroes. In their society they drop the
name of king, and adopt that of president. "Cunning fellows," said I,
"to eschew the name of king, and look down upon Negroes. That will do,
in America!"
I have found the above kind of Gipsies, in America, to be generally
pretty well off; they all seem to flourish, and have plenty of money
about them. The fortune-telling, horse-dealing, and peddling branches of
them have a fine field for following their respective businesses.
America, indeed, is a "great country" for the Gipsies; for it contains
"no end" of chickens, to say nothing of ducks, geese, and turkeys, many
of which are carried off by _varmint_, anyhow. There, they will find,
for some time, many opportunities of gathering rich harvests, among what
has been termed the shrewdest, but, in some things, the most gullible,
of mortals, as an instance may illustrate. A Gipsy woman, known as such,
drags, into the meshes of her necromancy, 'cute Jonathan; who, with an
infinite reliance on his own smartness, to "try the skill of the
critter," by her directions, ties up, in gold and paper, something like
a thousand dollars, and, after she has passed her hands over it, and
muttered a few cabalistic words, deposits it in his strong box. She sets
a day, on which she calls, handles the "dimes," while muttering some
more expressions, rather accidentally drops them, then returns them to
the box, and sets another day when she will call, and add much to his
wealth. She does not appear, however, on the day mentioned. Our
simpleton gets first anxious, then excited, then suspicious, then
examines his "pile," and finds it transformed into a lot of copper and
old paper! For, in dropping the parcel, Meg does it adroitly about the
folds of her dress, quickly substitutes another, exactly alike, and
makes off with the fruits of her labour. Then come the hue and cry,
telegraphing, and dispatching of warrants everywhere. But why need he
trouble himself? So, after a harder day's work than, perhaps, he ever
underwent in his life, he returns home: but knowing the sympathy he will
find there, he puts on his best face, and, to have the first word of it,
(for he is not to be laughed at,) wipes his forehead, twitches his
mouth, winks his eyes, and remarks: "Waal, I reckon I've been most
darnedly sold, anyhow!" Such occurrences are very common among almost
all classes of rural Americans. Sometimes it is to discover treasure on
the individual's lands, or in the neighbourhood; sometimes a mine, and
sometimes an Indian, a trapper, a pirate, or a revolutionary deposit.
When the Gipsy escapes with her spoil, she frequently makes for her
home, but where that is, no one knows. On being molested, while there,
she produces friends, in fair standing, who _prove_ an alibi; and, with
the further assistance of a well-feed lawyer, defies all the
requisitions, made by the governors of neighbouring States, for her
delivery. At other times, she will _divide_ with the inferior
authorities, or surrender the whole of the plunder; for, to go to jail
she will not, if she can help it.[286]
[286] If the real characters of those "lady fortune-tellers," who
flourish so much in the large cities, and publicly profess to reveal
all matters in "love and law, health and wealth, losses and crosses,"
were to be ascertained, many of them would, in all probability, be
found to belong to a superior class of Gipsies. And this may much more
be said of the more humble ones, who trust to the gossipping of a
class--and that a respectable class of females, for the advertising of
their calling. For a certainty, those are Gipsies who stroll about,
telling fortunes for dimes, clothes, or old bottles. The advertising
members form a very small part of the fraternity. The extent to which
such business is patronized, by Americans, of both sexes, and of
almost all positions in society is such, that it is doubtful if the
English reader would credit it, if it were put on record.
In Virginia, the more original kind of Gipsies are very frequently to be
met with. It is in the Slave States they are more apt to flourish in the
olden form. The planters need not trouble themselves about their
tampering with the Negroes, for they have no sympathy with them. Were it
otherwise, they would soon be _mum_, on finding what the results would
be to them. I have given some of them some useful hints on that score.
The general disposition of the people, the want of _learning_ among so
many of them, the distances between dwellings, the small villages, the
handy mechanical services of the Gipsies, the uncultivated tracts of
land, the game of various kinds, and the climate, seem to point out some
of the Slave States as an elysium for the Gipsies; unless the wealthier
part of the inhabitants should use the poorer class as tools to drive
them out of the country.[287]
[287] When travelling on the stage, towards Lake Huron, in Canada, I
was surprised at finding a Gipsy tent on the road-side, with a man
sitting in front of it, engaged in the mysteries of the tinker. I met
a camp of Gipsies on a vacant space, beside a clump of trees, in
Hamilton, at the head of Lake Ontario, but I deferred visiting them
till the following morning. When I returned to the spot, I found that
the birds had flown. Feeling disappointed, I began to question a man
who kept a toll-bar, immediately opposite to where their tents had
been, as to their peculiarities generally; when he said: "They seemed
droll kind o' folk--quite like ourselves--no way foreign; yet I could
not understand a word they were saying among themselves." Shortly
after this, a company of them entered a shop, in the same town, to buy
tin, when I happened to be in it. I accosted one of the mothers of the
company, in an abrupt but bland tone. "You're a' Nawkens (Gipsies) I
see."--"Ou ay, we're Nawkens," was her immediate reply, accompanied by
a smile on her weather-beaten countenance. "You'll aye speak the
language?" I continued. "We'll ne'er forget that," she again replied.
This seemed to be a company of Gipsies from the Scottish Border; for
the woman spoke about the broadest Scotch I ever heard. They dressed
well, and bore a good reputation in the neighbourhood.
There are a good many very respectable Scottish Gipsies in the United
States; but I do not wish to be too minute in describing them. In
Canada, I know of a doctor, a lawyer, and an editor, Scottish Gipsies.
The fact of the matter is, that, owing to the mixture of the blood, the
improvement, and perpetuation, and secrecy, of the race, there may be
many, very many, Gipsies, in almost every place in the world, and other
people not know of it: and it is not likely that, at the present time,
they will say that they are Gipsies. Indeed, the intelligent English
travelling Gipsies say that there are an immense number of Gipsies, of
all countries, colours, and occupations, in America.
There is even some resemblance between the formation of Gipsydom and
that of the United States. The children of emigrants, it is well known,
frequently prove the most ultra Americans. Instead of the original
colonists, at the Declaration of Independence, imagine the commencement
of Gipsydom as proceeding from the original stock of Gipsies. The
addition to their number, from without, differs from that which takes
place among Americans, in this way: that all such additions to Gipsydom
are made in such a manner, that the new blood gets innoculated, as it
were, with the old, or part of the old; so that it may be said of the
whole body,
_One drop of blood makes all Gipsydom akin._
The simple fact of a person having Gipsy blood in his veins, in addition
to the rearing of a Gipsy parent, acts upon him like a shock of
electricity; it makes him spring to his feet, and--"snap his teeth at
other dogs!" A very important circumstance contributing to this state of
things is the antipathy which mankind have for the very name of Gipsy,
which, as I have already said, they all take to themselves; insomuch
that the better class will not face it. They imagine that, socially
speaking, they are among the damned, and they naturally cast their lot
with the damned. Still, the antagonistic spirit which would naturally
arise towards society, in the minds of such Gipsies, remains, in a
measure, latent; for they feel confident in their incognito, while
moving among their fellow-creatures; which circumstance robs it of its
sting.
Let a Lowlander, in times that are past, but have cast up a Highlander's
blood to him, and what would have been the consequences? "Her ainsel
would have drawn her dirk, or whipped out her toasting-iron, and seen
which _was_ the prettiest man." Let the same have been done to a
Scottish Gipsy, in comparatively recent times, and he would have taken
his own peculiar revenge. See how the Baillies, as mentioned under the
chapter of Tweed-dale and Clydesdale Gipsies, mounted on horseback, and
with drawn swords in their hands, threatened death to all who opposed
them, for an affront offered to their mother. Twit a respectable Gipsy
with his blood, at the present day, and he would suffer in silence; for,
by getting into a passion, he would let himself out. For this reason, it
would be unmanly to hint it to him, in any tone of disparagement. The
difference of feeling between the two races, at the present day,
proceeds from positive ignorance on the part of the native towards the
other; an ignorance in which the Gipsy would rather allow him to remain;
for, let him turn himself in whatever direction he may, he imagines he
sees, and perhaps does see, nothing but a dark mountain of prejudice
existing between him and every other of his fellow-creatures. He would
rather retain his incognito, and allow his race to go down to posterity
shrouded in its present mystery. The history of the Gipsy race in
Scotland, more, perhaps, than in any other country, shows, to the eye of
the world, as few traces of its existence as would a fox, in passing
over a ploughed field. The farmer might see the foot-prints of reynard,
but how is he to find reynard himself? He must bring out the dogs and
have a hunt for him. As an Indian of the prairie, while on the "war
path," cunningly arranges the long grass into its natural position, as
he passes through it, to prevent his enemy following him, so has the
Scottish Gipsy, as he entered upon a settled life, destroyed, to the eye
of the ordinary native, every trace of his being a Gipsy. Still, I
cannot doubt but that he has misgivings that, some day, he will be
called up to judgment, and that all about him will be exposed to the
world.
What is it that troubles the educated Gipsies? Nothing but the word
Gipsy; a word which, however sweet when used among themselves, conveys
an ugly, blackguard, and vagabond meaning to other people. The poet
asks, What is there in a name? and I reply, Everything, as regards the
name Gipsy. For a respectable Scottish Gipsy to say to the public, that
"his mother is a Gipsy," or, that "his wife is a Gipsy," or, that "he is
a Gipsy;" such a Gipsy simply could not do it. These Gipsies will hardly
ever use the word among themselves, except in very select circles; but
they will say "he's one of us;" "he's from Yetholm;" "he's from the
metropolis," (Yetholm being the metropolis of Scottish Gipsydom;) or,
"he's a traveller." If the company is not over classical, they will say
"he's from the black quarry," or, "he's been with the cuddies." Imagine
a select party of educated Scottish Gipsies, all closely related. They
will then chatter Gipsy over their tea; but if a person should drop in,
one of the party, who is not acquainted with him, will nudge and whisper
to another, "Is he one of the tribe?" or, "Is he one of us?" The better
class of Scottish Gipsies are very exclusive in matters of this kind.
All things considered, in what other position could the Gipsy race, in
Scotland especially, be, at the present day, than that described? How
can we imagine a race of people to act otherwise than hide themselves,
if they could, from the odium that attaches to the name of Gipsy? And
what estimate should we place on that charity which would lead a person
to denounce a Gipsy, should he deny himself to be a Gipsy?[288] As a
race, what can they offer to society at large to receive them within its
circle? They can offer little, as a race; but, if we consider them as
individuals, we will find many of them whose eduction, character, and
position in life, would warrant their admission into any ordinary
society, and some of them into any society. Notwithstanding all that,
none will answer up to the name of Gipsy. It necessarily follows, that
the race must remain shrouded in its present mystery, unless some one,
not of the race, should become acquainted with its history, and speak
for it. In Scotland, the prejudice towards the name of Gipsy might be
safely allowed to drop, were it only for this reason: that the race has
got so much mixed up with the native blood, and even with good families
of the country, as to be, in plain language, a jumble--a pretty kettle
of fish, indeed. One's uncle, in seeking for a wife, might have stumbled
over an Egyptian woman, and, either known or unknown to himself, had his
children brought up bitter Gipsies; so that one's cousins may be
Gipsies, for anything one knows. A man may have a colony of Gipsies in
his own house, and know nothing about it! The Gipsies _died_ out? Oh,
no. They commenced in Scotland by wringing the necks of one's
_chickens_, and now they sometimes . . . . . . ! But what is Gipsydom,
after all, but a "working in among other people?"
[288] Mixed Gipsies tell no lies, when they say that they are not
Gipsies; for, physiologically speaking, they are not Gipsies, but only
partly Gipsies, as regards blood. In every other way they are Gipsies,
that is, _chabos_, _calos_, or _chals_.
In seeking for Gipsies among Scotch people, I know where to begin, but
it puzzles me where to leave off. I would pay no regard to colour of
hair or eyes, character, employment, position, or, indeed, any outward
thing. The reader may say: "It must be a difficult matter to detect such
mixed and educated Gipsies as those spoken of." It is not only
difficult, but outwardly impossible. Such Gipsies cannot even tell each
other, from their personal appearance; but they have signs, which they
can use, if the others choose to respond to them. If I go into a company
which I have reason to believe is a Gipsy one, and it know nothing of
me, so far as my pursuit is concerned, I will bring the subject of the
Gipsies up, in a very roundabout way, and mark the effect which the
conversation makes, or the turn it takes. What I know of the subject,
and of the ignorance of mankind generally in regard to it, enables me to
say, in almost every instance, who they are, let them make any remark
they like, look as they like, pretend what they like, wriggle about as
they like, or keep dead silent. As I gradually glide into the subject,
and expatiate upon the "greatness of the society," one remarks, "I know
it;" upon the "respectability of some of its members," and another
emphatically exclaims, "That's a fact;" and upon "its universality," and
another bawls out, "That's so." Indeed, by finding the Gipsies, under
such circumstances, completely off their guard, (for they do not doubt
their secret being confined to themselves,) I can generally draw forth,
in one way or other, as much moral certainty, barring their direct
admission, as to their being Gipsies, as a dog, by putting his nose into
a hole, can tell whether a rat is there, or not.
The principle of the transmutation of Gipsy blood into white, in
appearance, is illustrated, in the ninth chapter of Mr. Borrow's "Bible
in Spain," by its changing into almost pure black. A Gipsy soldier, in
the Spanish army, killed his sergeant, for "calling him _calo_, (Gipsy,)
and cursing him," and made his escape. His wife remained in the army, as
a sutler, selling wine. Two years thereafter, a strange man came to her
wine shop. "He was dressed like a Moor, (_corahano_,) and yet he did not
look like one; he looked more like a black, and yet he was not a black,
either, though he was almost black. And, as I looked upon him, I
thought he looked something like the Errate, (Gipsies,) and he said to
me, '_Zincali, chachipé_,' (the Gipsy salutation.) And then he whispered
to me, in queer language, which I could scarcely understand,'Your
husband is waiting; come with me, my little sister, and I will take you
to him.' About a league from the town, beneath a hill, we found four
people, men and women, all very black, like the strange man; and we
joined ourselves with them, and they all saluted me, and called me
'little sister.' And away we marched, for many days, amidst deserts and
small villages. The men would cheat with mules and asses, and the women
told baji. I often asked him (her husband) about the black men, and he
told me that he believed them to be of the Errate." Her husband, then a
soldier in the Moorish army, having been killed, this Gipsy woman
married the black man, with whom she followed real Gipsy life. She said
to him: "Sure I am amongst the Errate; . . . . and I often said that
they were of the Errate; and then they would laugh, and say that it
might be so; and that they were not Moors, (_corahai_,) but they could
give no account of themselves." From this it would seem that, while
preserving their identity, wherever they go, there are Gipsies who may
not be known to the world, or to the tribe, in other continents, by the
same name.[289]
[289] The people above-mentioned are doubtless Gipsies. According to
Grellmann, the race is even to be found in the centre of Africa.
Mollien, in his travels to the sources of the Senegal and Gambia, in
1818, says: "Scattered among the Joloffs, we find a people not unlike
our Gipsies, and known by the name of Laaubés. Leading a roving life,
and without fixed habitation, their only employment is the manufacture
of wooden vessels, mortars, and bedsteads. They choose a well-wooded
spot, fell some trees, form huts with the branches, and work up the
trunks. For this privilege, they must pay a sort of tax to the prince
in whose states they thus settle. In general, they are both ugly and
slovenly.
"The women, notwithstanding their almost frightful faces, are covered
with amber and coral beads, presents heaped on them by the Joloffs,
from a notion that the favours, alone, of these women will be followed
by those of fortune. Ugly or handsome, all the young Laaubé females
are in request among the Negroes.
"The Laaubés have nothing of their own but their money, their tools,
and their asses; the only animals on which they travel. In the woods,
they make fires with the dung of the flocks. Ranged round the fires,
the men and women pass their leisure time in smoking. The Laaubés have
not those characteristic features and high stature which mark the
Joloffs, and they seem to form a distinct race. They are exempted from
all military service. Each family has its chief, but, over all, there
is a superior chief, who commands a whole tribe or nation. He collects
the tribute, and communicates with such delegates of the king as
receive the imposts: this serves to protect them from all vexation.
The Laaubés are idolaters, speak the Poula language, and pretend to
tell fortunes."
A word upon the universality of the Gipsies. English Gipsies, on
arriving in America, feel quite taken aback, on coming across a tent or
wigwam of Indians. "Didn't you feel," said I to some of them, "very like
a dog when he comes across another dog, a stranger to him?" And, with a
laugh, they said, "Exactly so." After looking awhile at the Indians,
they will approach them, and "cast their sign, and salute them in
Gipsy;" and if no response is made, they will pass on. They then come to
learn who the Indians are. The same curiosity is excited among the
Gipsies on meeting with the American farmer, on the banks of the
Mississippi or Missouri; who, in travelling to market, in the summer,
will, to save expenses, unyoke his horses, at mid-day or evening, at the
edge of the forest, light his fire, and prepare his meal. What with the
"kettle and tented wagon," the tall, lank, bony, and swarthy appearance
of the farmer, the Gipsy will approach him, as he did the Indian; and
pass on, when no response is made to his sign and salutation. Under such
circumstances, the Gipsy would cast his sign, and give his salutation,
whether on the banks of the Mississippi or the Ganges. Nay, a very
respectable Scottish Gipsy boasted to me, that, by his signs alone, he
could push his way to the wall of China, and even through China itself.
And there are doubtless Gipsies in China. Mr. Borrow says, that when he
visited the tribe at Moscow, they supposed him to be one of their
brothers, who, they said, were wandering about in Turkey, _China_, and
other parts. It is very likely that Russian Gipsies have visited China,
by the route taken by Russian traders, and met with Gipsies there.[290]
But it tickles the Gipsy most, when it is insinuated, that if Sir John
Franklin had been fortunate in his expedition, he would have found a
Gipsy tinkering a kettle at the North Pole.
[290] Bell, in an account of his journey to Pekin, [1721.] says that
upwards of sixty Gipsies had arrived at Tobolsky, on their way to
China, but were stopped by the Vice-Governor, for want of passports.
They had roamed, during the summer season, from Poland, in small
parties, subsisting by selling trinkets, and telling fortunes.
The particulars of a meeting between English and American Gipsies are
interesting. Some English Gipsies were endeavouring to sell some horses,
in Annapolis, in the State of Maryland, to what had the appearance of
being respectable American farmers; who, however, spoke to each other in
the Gipsy language, dropping a word now and then, such as "this is a
good one," and so on. The English Gipsies felt amazed, and at last said:
"What is that you are saying? Why, you are Gipsies!" Upon this, the
Americans wheeled about, and left the spot as fast as they could. Had
the English Gipsies taken after the Gipsy in their appearance, they
would not have caused such a consternation to their American brethren,
who showed much of "the blood" in their countenances; but as, from their
blood being much mixed, they did not look like Gipsies, they gave the
others a terrible fright, on their being found out. The English Gipsies
said they felt disgusted at the others not owning themselves up. But I
told them they ought rather to have felt proud of the Americans speaking
Gipsy, as it was the prejudice of the world that led them to hide their
nationality. On making enquiry in the neighbourhood, they found that
these American Gipsies had been settled there since, at least, the time
of their grandfather, and that they bore an English name.
There are Scottish Gipsies in the United States, following respectable
callings, who speak excellent Gipsy, according to the judgment of
intelligent English Gipsies. The English Gipsies say the same of the
Gipsy families in Scotland, with whom they are acquainted; but that some
of their words vary from those spoken in England. There is, however, a
rivalry between the English and Scottish Gipsies, as to whose
pronunciation of the words is the correct one: in that respect, they
somewhat resemble the English and Scottish Latinists. One intelligent
Gipsy gave it as his opinion, that the word great, _baurie_, in
Scotland, was softer than _boro_, in England, and preferable, indeed,
the right pronunciation of the word. The German Gipsies are said, by
their English brethren, to speak Gipsy backwards; from which I would
conclude, that it follows the construction of the German language, which
differs so materially, in that respect, from the English.[291] It is a
thing well-nigh impossible, to get a respectable Scottish Gipsy to own
up to even a word of the Gipsy language. On meeting with a
respectable--Scotchman, I will call him--in a company, lately, I was
asked by him: "Are ye a' Tinklers?" "We're travellers," I replied. "But
who is he?" he continued, pointing to my acquaintance. Going up to him,
I whispered "His _dade_ is a _baurie grye-femler_," (his father is a
great horse-dealer;) and he made for the door, as if a bee had got into
his ear. But he came back; oh, yes, he came back. There was a mysterious
whispering of "pistols and coffee," at another time.
[291] Mr. Borrow says, with reference to the Spanish Gipsy language:
"Its grammatical peculiarities have disappeared, the entire language
having been modified and subjected to the rules of Spanish grammar,
with which it now coincides in syntax, in the conjugation of verbs,
and in the declension of its nouns." We might have naturally expected
that of the Gipsy language, in the course of four hundred years, from
the people speaking it being so much scattered over the country, and
coming so much in contact with the ordinary natives. But something
different might be looked for, where the Gipsies have not been
persecuted, but allowed to live together in a body, as in Hungary. Of
the Hungarian Gipsy language, Mr. Borrow says, that in no part of the
world is the Gipsy language better preserved than in Hungary; and that
the roving bands of Gipsies from that country, who visit France and
Italy, speak the pure Gipsy, with all its grammatical peculiarities.
He estimates that the Spanish Gipsy language may consist of four or
five thousand words; a sufficient number, one might suppose, to serve
the purpose of everyday life. A late writer in the Dublin University
Magazine estimates that five thousand words would serve the same
purpose in the English language. Four thousand words is a very large
language for the Gipsies of Spain to possess, in addition to the
ordinary one of the country.
It is beyond doubt that the Gipsy language in Great Britain is broken,
but not so broken as to consist of words only; it consists, rather, of
expressions, or pieces, which are tacked together by native
words--generally small words--which are lost to the ordinary ear, when
used in conversation. In that respect, the use of Gipsy may be compared
to the revolutions of a wheel: we know that the wheel has spokes, but,
in its velocity, we cannot distinguish the colour or material of each
individual spoke; it is only when it stands still that that can be done.
In the same manner, when we come to examine into the British Gipsy
language, we perceive its broken nature. But it still serves the purpose
of a speech. Let any one sit among English Gipsies, in America, and hear
them converse, and he cannot pick up an idea, and hardly a word which
they say. "I have always thought Dutch bad enough," said an Irishman,
who has often heard English Gipsies, in the State of New Jersey, speak
among themselves; "but Gipsy is perfect gibble-gabble, like ducks and
geese, for anything I can make of it." Some Gipsies can, of course,
speak Gipsy much better than others. It is most unlikely that the
Scottish Gipsies, with the head, the pride, and the tenacity of native
Scotch, would be the first to forget the Gipsy language. The sentiments
of the people themselves are very emphatic on that head. "It will never
be forgotten, sir; it is in our hearts, and, as long as a single Tinkler
exists, it will be remembered," (page 297.) "So long as there existed
two Gipsies in Scotland, it would never be lost," (page 316.) The
English Gipsies admit that the language is more easily preserved in a
settled life, but more useful to travelling and out-door Gipsies; and
that it is carefully kept up by both classes of Gipsies. This
information agrees with our author's, in regard to the settled Scottish
Gipsies. There is one very strong motive, among many, for the Gipsies
keeping up their language, and that is, as I have already said, their
self-respect. The best of them believe that it is altogether
problematical how they would be received in society, were they to make
an avowal of their being Gipsies, and lay bare the history of their race
to the world. The prejudice that exists against the race, and against
them, they imagine, were they known to be Gipsies, drives them back on
that language which belongs exclusively to themselves; to say nothing of
the dazzling hold which it takes of their imagination, as they arrive at
years of reflection, and consider that the people speaking it have been
transplanted from some other clime. The more intelligent the Gipsy, the
more he thinks of his speech, and the more care he takes of it.
People often reprobate the dislike, I may say the hatred, which the more
original Gipsy entertains for society; forgetting that society itself
has had the greatest share in the origin of it. When the race entered
Europe, they are not presumed to have had any hatred towards their
fellow-creatures.[292] That hatred, doubtless, sprang from the severe
reception, and universal persecution, which, owing to the singularity of
their race and habits, they everywhere met with. The race then became
born into that state of things. What would subsequent generations know
of the origin of the feud? All that they knew was, that the law made
them outlaws and outcasts; that they were subject, as Gipsies, to be
hung, before they were born. Such a Gipsy might be compared to Pascal's
man springing up out of an island: casting his eyes around him, he finds
nothing but a legal and social proscription hanging over his head, in
whatever direction he may turn. Whatever might be assumed to have been
the original, innate disposition of a Gipsy, the circumstances attending
him, from his birth to his death, were certainly not calculated to
improve him, but to make him much worse than he might otherwise have
been. The worst that can be said of the Scottish Gipsies, in times past,
has been stated by our author. With all their faults, we find a vein of
genuine nobility of character running through all their actions, which
is the more worthy of notice, considering that they were at war with
society, and society at war with them. Not the least important feature
is that of gratitude for kind and hospitable treatment. In that respect,
a true Scottish Gipsy has always been as true as steel; and that is
saying a great deal in his favour. The instance given by our author,
(pages 361-363,) is very touching, and to the point. I do not know how
it may be, at the present day, in Scotland, where are to be found so
many Irish Gipsies, of whom the Scottish and English Gipsies have not
much good to say, notwithstanding the assistance they render each other
when they meet, (page 324.) If the English farmers are questioned, I
doubt not that a somewhat similar testimony will be borne to the English
Gipsies, to this extent, at least, that, when civilly and hospitably
treated, and personally acquainted, they will respect the farmers'
property, and even keep others off it. Indeed, both Scottish and English
Gipsies call this "Gipsy law." It is certainly not the Scottish Gipsies,
or, I may venture to say, the English Gipsies, to whom Mr. Borrow's
words may be applied, when he says: "I have not expatiated on their
gratitude towards good people, who treat them kindly, and take an
interest in their welfare; for I believe, that, of all beings in the
world, they are the least susceptible of such a feeling." Such a
character may apply to the Spanish Gipsies for anything I know to the
contrary; and the causes to which it may be attributed must be the
influences which the Spanish character, and general deportment towards
the tribe, have exercised over them. In speaking of the bloody and
wolfish disposition which especially characterizes the Gitanos, Mr.
Borrow says: "The cause to which this must be attributed, must be their
residence in a country, unsound in every branch of its civil polity,
where right has ever been in less esteem, and wrong in less disrepute,
than in any other part of the world." Grellmann bears as poor testimony
to the character of the Hungarian Gipsies, in the matter of gratitude,
as Mr. Borrow does to the Spanish Gipsies, to whom I apprehend his
remarks are intended to apply. But both of these authors give an
opinion, unaccompanied by facts. Their opinion may be correct, however,
so far as it is applicable to the class of Gipsies, or the individuals,
to whom they refer. Gratitude is even a characteristic of the lower
animals. "For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and
of things in the sea, is tamed and hath been tamed of mankind," saith
St. James; the means of attaining to which is frequently kindness. I
doubt not that the same can be said of Gipsies anywhere; for surely we
can expect to find as much gratitude in them as can be called forth from
things that creep, fly, or swim in the sea. It is unreasonable, however,
to look for much gratitude from such Gipsies as the two authors in
question have evidently alluded to; for this reason: that it is a virtue
rarely to be met with from those "to whom much has been given;" and,
consequently, very little should be required of those to whom _nothing_
has been given, in the estimation of their fellow-creatures. In doing a
good turn to a Gipsy, it is not the act itself that calls forth, or
perhaps merits, a return in gratitude; but it is the way in which it is
done: for, while he is doubtless being benefited, he is, frequently if
not generally, as little sympathized with, personally, as if he were
some loathsome creature to which something had been thrown.
[292] I cannot agree with Mr. Borrow, when he says, that the Gipsies
"travelled three thousand miles into Europe, _with hatred in their
hearts towards the people among whom they settled_." In none of the
earliest laws passed against them, is anything said of their being
other than thieves, cheats, &c, &c. They seem to have been too politic
to commit murder; moreover, it appears to have been foreign to their
disposition to do aught but obtain a living in the most cunning manner
they could. There is no necessary connection between purloining one's
property and hating one's person. As long as the Gipsies were not
hardly dealt with, they could, naturally, have no actual hatred
towards their fellow-creatures. Mr. Borrow attributes none of the
spite and hatred of the race towards the community to the severity of
the persecutions to which it was exposed, or to that hard feeling with
which society has regarded it. These, and the example of the
Spaniards, doubtless led the Gitanos to shed the blood of the ordinary
natives.
As regards the improvement of the Gipsies, I would make the following
suggestions: The facts and principles of the present work should be
thoroughly canvassed and imprinted upon the public mind, and an effort
made to bring, if possible, our high-class Gipsies to own themselves up
to be Gipsies. The fact of these Gipsies being received into society,
and respected, as Gipsies, (as it is with them, at present, as men,)
could not fail to have a wonderful effect upon many of the humble,
ignorant, or wild ones. They would perceive, at once, that the
objections which the community had to them, proceeded, not from their
being Gipsies, but from their habits, only. What is the feeling which
Gipsies, who are known to be Gipsies, have for the public at large? The
white race, as a race, is simply odious to them, for they know well the
dreadful prejudice which it bears towards them. But let some of their
own race, however mixed the blood might be, be respected as Gipsies, and
it would, in a great measure, break down, at least in feeling, the wall
of caste that separates them from the community at large. This is the
first, the most important, step to be taken to improve the Gipsies,
whatever may be the class to which they belong. Let the prejudice be
removed, and it is impossible to say what might not follow. Before
attempting to reform the Gipsies, we ought to reform, or, at least,
inform, mankind in regard to them; and endeavour to reconcile the world
to them, before we attempt to reconcile them to the world; and treat
them as men, before we try to make them Christians. The _poor_ Gipsies
know well that there are many of their race occupying respectable
positions in life; perhaps they do not know many, or even any, of them,
personally, but they believe in it thoroughly. Still, they will deny it,
at least hide it from strangers, for this reason, among others, that it
is a state to which their children, or even they themselves, look
forward, as ultimately awaiting them, in which they will manage to
escape from the odium of their fellow-creatures, which clings to them in
their present condition. The fact of the poor travelling Gipsies knowing
of such respectable settled Gipsies, gives them a certain degree of
respect in their own eyes, which leads them to repel any advance from
the other race, let it come in almost whatever shape it may. The white
race, as I have already said, is perfectly odious to them. This is
exactly the position of the question. The more original kind of Gipsies
feel that the prejudice which exists against the race to which they
belong is such, that an intercourse cannot be maintained between them
and the other inhabitants; or, if it does exist, it is of so clandestine
a nature, that their appearance, and, it may be, their general habits,
do not allow or lead them to indulge in it. I will make a few more
remarks on this subject further on in this treatise.
What are the respectable, well-disposed Scottish Gipsies but Scotch
people, after all? They are to be met with in almost every, if not
every, sphere in which the ordinary Scot is to be found. The only
difference between the two is, that, however mixed the blood of these
Gipsies may be, their associations of descent and tribe go back to those
black, mysterious heroes who entered Scotland, upwards of three hundred
and fifty years ago; and that, with this descent, they have the words
and signs of Gipsies. The possession of all these, with the knowledge of
the feelings which the ordinary natives have for the very name of Gipsy,
makes the only distinction between them and other Scotchmen. I do not
say that the world would have any prejudice against these Gipsies, as
Gipsies, still, they are morbidly sensitive that it would have such a
feeling. The light of reason, of civilization, of religion, and the
genius of Britons, forbid such an idea. What object more worthy of
civilization, and of the age in which we live, than that such Gipsies
would come forward, and, by their positions in society, their talents
and characters, dispel the mystery and gloom that hang over the history
of the Gipsy race!
But will these Gipsies do that? I have my misgivings. They may not do it
now, but I am sanguine enough to think that it is an event that may take
place at some future time. The subject must, in the meantime, be
thoroughly investigated, and the mind of the public fully prepared for
such a movement. The Gipsies themselves, to commence with, should
furnish the public with information, anonymously, so far as they are
personally concerned, or confidentially, through a person of standing,
who can guarantee the trustworthiness of the Gipsy himself. I do not
expect that they would give us any of the language; but they can furnish
us with some idea of the position which the Gipsies occupy in the world,
and throw a great deal of light upon the history of the race in
Scotland, in, at least, comparatively recent times. In anticipation of
such an occurrence, I would make this suggestion to them: that they must
be very careful what they say, on account of the "court holding them
interested witnesses;" and, whatever they may do, to deny nothing
connected with the Gipsies. They certainly have kept their secret well;
indeed, they have considered the subject, so far as the public is
concerned, as dead and buried long ago. It is of no use, however,
Gipsies; "murder will out;" the game is up; it is played out. I may say
to you what the hunter said to the 'coon, or rather what the 'coon said
to the hunter: "You may just as well come down the tree." Yes! come down
the tree; you have been too long up; come down, and let us know all
about you.[293]
[293] I accidentally got into conversation with an Irishman, in the
city of New York, about secret societies, when he mentioned that he
was a member of a great many such, indeed, "all of them," as he
expressed it. I said there was one society of which he was not a
member, when he began to enumerate them, and at last came to the
Zincali. "What," said I, "are you a member of this society?" "Yes,"
said he; "the Zincali, or Gipsy." He then told me that there are many
members of this society in the city of New York; not all members of
it, under that name, but of its outposts, if I may so express it. The
principal or arch-Gipsy for the city, he said, was a merchant, in ----
street, who had in his possession a printed vocabulary, or dictionary,
of the language, which was open only to the most thoroughly initiated.
In the course of our conversation, it fell out that the native
American Gipsy referred to at page 420 was one of the thoroughly
initiated; which circumstance explained a question he had put to me,
and which I evaded, by saying that I was not in the habit of telling
tales out of school.
In Spain, as we have seen, a Gipsy taught her language to her son from
a MS. I doubt not there are MS. if not printed, vocabularies of the
Gipsy language among the tribe in Scotland, as well as in other
countries.
Scottish Gipsies! I now appeal to you as men. Am I not right, in
asserting, that there is nothing you hold more dear than your Egyptian
descent, signs, and language? And nothing you more dread than such
becoming known to your fellow-men around you? Do you not read, with the
greatest interest, any and everything printed, which comes in your way,
about the Gipsies, and say, that you thank God all that is a thousand
miles away from you? Whence this inconsistency? Ah! I understand it
well. Shall the prejudice of mankind towards the name of Gipsy drive you
from the position which you occupy? Can it drive you from it? No, it
cannot. The Gipsies, you know, are a people; a "mixed multitude," no
doubt, but still a people. You know you are Gipsies, for your parents
before you were Gipsies, and, consequently, that you cannot be anything
but Gipsies. What effect, then, has the prejudice against the race upon
you? Does it not sometimes appear to you as if, figuratively speaking,
it would put a dagger into your hands against the rest of your species,
should they discover that you belonged to the tribe? Or that it would
lead you to immediately "take to your beds," or depart, bed and baggage,
to parts unknown? But then, Gipsies, what can you do? The thought of it
makes you feel as if you were sheep. Some of you may be bold enough to
face a lion in the flesh; but who so bold as to own to the world that he
is a Gipsy? There is just one of the higher class that I know of, and he
was a noble specimen of a man, a credit to human nature itself. Although
_you_ might shrink from such a step, would you not like, and cannot you
induce, _some one_ to take it? Take my word for it, respectable Scottish
Gipsies, the thing that frightens you is, after all, a bug-bear--a
scare-crow. But, failing some of you "coming out," would you not rather
that the world should now know that much of the history of the Gipsy
race, as to show that it was no necessary disparagement in any of you to
be a Gipsy? Would you not rather that a Gipsy _might_ pass, anywhere,
for a _gentleman_, as he _does_ now, everywhere, for a _vagabond_; and
that you and your children might, if they liked, show their true
colours, than, as at present, go everywhere _incog_, and carry within
them that secret which they are as afraid of being divulged to the
world, as if you and all your kin were conspirators and murderers? The
secret being out, the incognito of your race goes for nothing. Come
then, Scottish Gipsy, make a clean breast of it, like a man. Which of
you will exclaim,
"Thus from the grave I'll rise, and save my love;
Draw all your swords, and quick as lightning move!
When I rush on, sure none will dare to stay;
'Tis love commands, and glory leads the way!"
Will none of you move? Ah! Gipsies, you are "great hens," and no
wonder.
American Gipsies, descendants of the real old British stock! I make the
same appeal to you. Let the world know how you are getting on, in this
land of "liberty and equality;" and whether any of your race are
senators, congressmen, and what not. I have heard of a Gipsy, a sheriff
in the State of Pennsylvania; and I know of a Scottish Gipsy, who was
lately returned a member of the Legislature of the State of New York.
The reader may ask: Is it possible that there is a race of men, residing
in the British Isles, to be counted by its hundreds of thousands,
occupying such a position as that described? And I reply, Alas! it is
too true. Exeter Hall may hobnob with Negroes, Hottentots, and
Bosjesmen--always with something or other from a distance; but what has
it ever done for the Gipsies? Nothing! It will rail at the American
prejudice towards the Negro, and entirely pass over a much superior race
at its own door! The prejudice against the Negro proceeds from two
causes--his appearance and the servitude in which he is, or has been,
held. But there can be no prejudice against the Gipsy, on such grounds.
It will not do to say that the prejudice is against the tented Gipsies,
only; it is against the race, root and branch, as far as it is known.
What is it but that which compels the Gipsy, on entering upon a
settled life, to hide himself from the unearthly prejudice of his
fellow-creatures? The Englishman, the Scotchman, and the Irishman may
rail at the American for his peculiar prejudices; but the latter, if he
can but capitalize the idea, has, in all conscience, much to throw back
upon society in the mother country. Instead of a class of the British
public spending so much of their time in an agitation against an
institution thousands of miles away from home, and over which they have,
and can expect to have, no control, they might direct their attention to
an evil laying at their own doors--that social prejudice which is so
much calculated to have a blasting influence upon the condition of so
many of their fellow-subjects. It is beyond doubt that there cannot be
less than a quarter of a million of Gipsies in the British Isles, who
are living under a grinding despotism of caste; a despotism so absolute
and odious, that the people upon whom it bears cannot, as in Scotland,
were it almost to save their lives, even say who they are! Let the time
and talents spent on the agitation in question be transferred, for a
time, into some such channel as would be implied in a "British
Anti-Gipsy-prejudice Association," and a great moral evil may disappear
from the face of British society. In such a movement, there would be
none of that direct or indirect interest to be encountered, which lies
on the very threshold of slavery, in whatever part of the world it
exists; nor would there be any occasion to appeal to people's
pockets.[294] After the work mentioned has been accomplished, the
British public might turn their attention to wrongs perpetrated in other
climes. Americans, however, must not attempt to seek, in the British
Gipsy-prejudice, an excuse for their excessive antipathy towards
Negroes. I freely admit that the dislike of white men, generally, for
the Negro, lies in something that is irremovable--something that is
irrespective of character, or present or previous social condition. But
it is not so with the Gipsy, for his race is, physically, among the
finest that are to be found on the face of the earth. Americans ought
also to consider that there are plenty of Gipsies among themselves,
towards whom, however, there are none of those prejudices that spring
from local tradition or association, but only such as proceed from
literature, and that towards the tented Gipsy.
[294] Among the various means by which the name of Gipsy can be raised
up, it may be mentioned, that beginning the word with a capital is one
of no little importance. The almost invariable custom with writers, in
that respect, has been as if they were describing rats and mice,
instead of a race of men.
What is to be the future of the Gipsy race? A reply to this question
will be found in the history of it during the past, as described; for it
resolves itself into two very simple matters of fact. In the first
place, we have a foreign race, deemed, by itself, to be, as indeed it
is, universal, introduced into Scotland, for example, taken root there,
spread, and flourished; a race that rests upon a basis the strongest
imaginable. On the other hand, there is the prejudice of caste towards
the name, which those bearing it escape, only, by assuming an incognito
among their fellow-creatures. These two principles, acting upon beings
possessing the feelings of men, will, of themselves, produce that state
of things which will constitute the history of the Gipsies during all
time coming, whatever may be the changes that may come over their
character and condition. They may, in course of time, lose their
language, as some of them, to a great extent, have done already; but
they will always retain a consciousness of being Gipsies. The language
may be lost, but their signs will remain, as well as so much of their
speech as will serve the purpose of pass-words. "There is something
there," said an English Gipsy of intelligence, smiting his breast,
"There is something there which a Gipsy cannot explain." And, said a
Scottish Gipsy: "It will never be forgotten; as long as the world lasts,
the Gipsies will be Gipsies." What idea can be more preposterous than
that of saying, that a change of residence or occupation, or a little
more or less of education or wealth, or a change of character or creed,
can eradicate such feeling from the heart of a Gipsy; or that these
circumstances can, by any human possibility, change his descent, his
tribe, or the blood that is in his body? How can we imagine this race,
arriving in Europe so lately as the fifteenth century, and in Scotland
the century following, with an origin so distinct from the rest of the
world, and so treated by the world, can possibly have lost a
consciousness of nationality in its descent, in so short a time after
arrival; or, that that can happen in the future, when there are so many
circumstances surrounding it to keep alive a sense of its origin, and so
much within it to preserve its identity in the history of the human
family? Let the future history of the world be what it may, Gipsydom is
immortal.[295]
[295] This sensation, in the minds of the Gipsies, of the perpetuity
of their race, creates, in a great measure, its immortality.
Paradoxical as it may appear, the way to preserve the existence of a
people is to scatter it, provided, however, that it is a race
thoroughly distinct from others, to commence with. When, by the force
of circumstances, it has fairly settled down into the idea that it is
a people, those living in one country become conscious of its
existence in others; and hence arises the principal cause of the
perpetuity of its existence as a scattered people.
In considering the question of the Gipsies being openly admitted, as a
race, into the society of mankind, I ask, what possible reason could a
British subject advance against such taking place with, at least, the
better kind of Scottish Gipsies? Society, generally, would not be
over-ready to lessen the distance between itself and the tented Gipsies,
or those who live by means really objectionable; but it should have that
much sense of justice, as to confine its peculiar feelings to the ways
of life of these individuals, and not keep them up against their
children, when they follow different habits. If, for example, I should
have made the acquaintance of some Scottish Gipsies, associated with
them, and acquired a respect for them, (as has happened with me,) how
could I take exceptions to them, on account of it afterwards leaking out
that they were Gipsies? A sense of ordinary justice would forbid me
doing so. I can see nothing objectionable in their conduct, as
distinguished from that of other people; and as for their appearance,
any person, on being asked to point out the Gipsy, would, so far as
colour of hair and eyes goes, pitch upon many a common native, in
preference to them. A sense of ordinary justice, as I have said, would
disarm me of any prejudice against them; nay, it would urge me to think
the more of them, on account of their being Gipsies. To the ordinary
eye, they are nothing but Scotch people, and pass, everywhere, for such.
There is a Scottish Gipsy in the United States, with whom I am
acquainted--a liberal-minded man, and good company--who carries on a
wholesale trade, in a respectable article of merchandise, and he said to
me: "I will not deny it, nor am I ashamed to say it--_I come from
Yetholm_." And I replied: "Why should you be ashamed of it?"
It is this hereditary prejudice of centuries towards the name, that
constitutes the main difficulty in the way of recognition of these
Gipsies by the world generally. How long it may be since they or their
ancestors left the tent, is a thing of no importance; personal
character, education, and position in life, are the only things that
should be considered. The Gipsies to whom I allude do not require to be
reformed, unless in that sense in which all men stand in need of
reformation: what is wanted is, that the world should raise up the name
of Gipsy. And why should not that be done by the people of Great
Britain, and Scotland especially, in whose mouths are continually these
words: "God hath made of one blood all nations of men, for to dwell on
all the face of the earth?" Will the British public spend its hundreds
of thousands, annually, on every other creature under heaven, and refuse
to countenance the Gipsy race? Will it squander its tens of thousands to
convert, perhaps, on an average, one Jew, and refuse a kind word, nay,
grudge a smile, towards that body, a member of which may be an official
of that Missionary Society, or, it may be, the very chairman of it? I
can conceive no liberal-minded Scotchman, possessing a feeling of true
self-respect, entertaining a prejudice against such Gipsies. The only
people in Scotland in whose mind such a prejudice might be supposed to
exist, are those miserable old women around the neighbourhood of
Stirling, who, under the influence of the old Highland feud, will look
with the greatest contempt upon a person, if he but come from the north
of the Ochils. I would class, with such old women, all of our Scotch
people who would object to the Gipsies to whom I have alluded. A
Scotchman should even have that much love of country, as to take hold of
his own Gipsies, and "back them up" against those of other countries:
and particularly should he do that, when the "Gipsies" might be his
cousins, nay, his own children, for anything that he might know to the
contrary. Scotch people should consider that the "Tinklers," whom they
see going about, at the present day, are, if not the very lowest kind of
Gipsies, at least those who follow the original ways of their race; and
are greatly inferior, not only relatively, but actually, to many of
those who have gone before them. They should also consider that Gipsies
are a race, however mixed the blood may be; subject, as a race, to be
governed, in their descent, by those laws which regulate the descent of
all races; and that a Gipsy is as much a Gipsy in a house as in a tent,
in a "but and a ben" as in a palace.
Wherever a Gipsy goes, he carries his inherent peculiarities with him;
and the objection to him he considers to be to something inseparable
from himself--that which he cannot escape; but the confidence which he
has in his incognito neutralizes, as I have already said, the feelings
which such a circumstance would naturally produce. But, to disarm him
altogether of this feeling, all that is necessary is to state his case,
and have it admitted by the "honourable of the earth;" so that his mind
may be set at perfect rest on that point. He would, doubtless, still
hide the fact of his being a Gipsy, but he would enjoy, in his retreat,
that inward self-respect, among his fellow-creatures, which such an
admission would give him; and which is so much calculated to raise the
people, generally, in every moral attribute. It is, indeed, a melancholy
thing, to contemplate this cloud which hangs over such a man, as he
mixes with other people, in his daily calling; but to dispel it
altogether, the Gipsy himself must, in the manner described, give us
some information about his race. Apart from the sense of justice which
is implied in admitting these Gipsies, as Gipsies, to a social equality
with others, a motive of policy should lead us to take such a step; for
it can augur no good to society to have the Gipsy race residing in its
midst, under the cloud that hangs over it. Let us, by a liberal and
enlightened policy, at least blunt the edge of that antipathy which many
of the Gipsy race have, and most naturally have, to society at large.
In receiving a Gipsy, as a Gipsy, into society, there should be no kind
of officious sympathy shown him, for he is too proud to submit to be
made the object of it. Should he say that he is a Gipsy, the remark
ought to be received as a mere matter of course, and little notice taken
of it; just as if it made no difference to the other party whether he
was a Gipsy or not. A little surprise would be allowable; but anything
like condolence would be out of the question. And let the Gipsy himself,
rather, talk upon the subject, than a desire be shown to ask him
questions, unless his remarks should allow them, in a natural way, to be
put to him. As to the course to be pursued by the Gipsy, should he feel
disposed to own himself up, I would advise him to do it in an
off-handed, hearty manner; to show not the least appearance that he had
any misgivings about any one taking exceptions to him on that account.
Should he act otherwise, that is, hesitate, and take to himself
shamefacedness, in making the admission, it would, perhaps, have been
better for him not to have committed himself at all: for, in such a
matter, it may be said, that "he that doubteth is damned." The simple
fact of a man, in Scotland, saying, after the appearance of this work
there, that he is a Gipsy, if he is conscious of having the esteem of
his neighbours, would probably add to his popularity among them;
especially if they were men of good sense, and had before their eyes the
expression of good-will of the organs of society towards the Gipsy race.
Such an admission, on the part of a Gipsy, would presumptively prove,
that he was a really candid and upright person; for few Scottish
Gipsies, beyond those about Yetholm, would make such a confession.
Having mentioned the subject, the Gipsy should allude to it, on every
appropriate occasion, and boast of being in possession of those words
and signs which the other is entirely ignorant of. He could well say:
"What was Borrow to him, or he to Borrow; that, for his part, he could
traverse the world over, and, in the centre of any continent, be
received and feasted, by Gipsies, as a king." If but one respectable
Scottish Gipsy could be prevailed upon to act in this way, what an
effect might it not have upon raising up the name of this singular race!
But there is a very serious difficulty to be encountered in the outset
of such a proceeding, and it is this, that if a Gipsy owns himself up,
he necessarily "lets out," perhaps, all his kith and kin; a regard for
whom would, in all probability, keep him back. But there would be no
such difficulty to be met with in the way of the Gipsy giving us
information by writing. Let us, then, Gipsy, have some writing upon the
Gipsies. It will serve no good purpose to keep such information back;
the keeping of it back will not cast a doubt upon the facts and
principles of the present work; for rest assured, Gipsy, that, upon its
own merits, your secret is exploded. I would say this to you, young
Scottish Gipsy; pay no regard to what that old Gipsy says, when he tells
you, that "he is too old a bird to be caught with chaff in that way."
The history of the Gipsies is the history of a people (mixed, in point
of blood, as it is,) which exists; not the history of a people, like the
Aborigines of North America, which has ceased to exist, or is daily
ceasing to exist.[296] It is the history of a people within a people,
with whom we come in contact daily, although we may not be aware of it.
Any person of ordinary intelligence can have little difficulty in
comprehending the subject, shrouded as it is from the eye of the world.
But should he have any such difficulty, it will be dispelled by his
coming in contact with a Gipsy who has the courage to own himself up to
be a Gipsy. It is no argument to maintain that the Gipsy race is not a
race, because its blood is mixed with other people. That can be said of
all the races of Western Europe, the English more especially; and, in a
much greater degree, of that of the United States of America. Every
Gipsy has part of the Gipsy blood, and more or less of the words and
signs; which, taken in connection with the rearing of Gipsies, act upon
his mind in such a manner, that he is penetrated with the simple idea
that he is a Gipsy; and create that distinct feeling of nationality
which the matters of territory, and sometimes dialect, government, and
laws, do with most of other races. Take a Gipsy from any country in the
world you may, and the feeling of his being a Gipsy comes as naturally
to him as does the nationality of a Jew to a Jew; although we will
naturally give him a more definite name, to distinguish him; such as an
English, Welsh, Scotch, or Irish Gipsy, or by whatever country of which
the Gipsy happens to be a native.
[296] The fact of these Indians, and the aboriginal races found in the
countries colonised by Europeans, disappearing so rapidly, prevents
our regarding them with any great degree of interest. This
circumstance detracts from that idea of dignity which the perpetuity
and civilization of their race would inspire in the minds of others.
But I am afraid that what has been said is not sufficiently explanatory
to enable some people to understand this subject. These people know what
a Gipsy, in the popular sense, means; they have either seen him, and
observed his general mode of life, or had the same described to them in
books. This idea of a Gipsy has been impressed upon their minds almost
from infancy. But it puzzles most people to form any idea of a
Gipsy of a higher order; such a Gipsy, for example, as preaches the
gospel, or argues the law: that seems, hitherto, to have been almost
incomprehensible to them. They know intuitively what is meant by any
particular people who occupy a territory--any country, tract of land, or
isle. They also know what is meant by the existence of the Jews. For the
subject is familiar to them from infancy; it is wrapt up in their early
reading; it is associated with the knowledge and practice of their
religion, and the attendance, on the part of the Jews, at a place of
worship. They have likewise seen and conversed with the Jews, or others
who have done either or both; or they are acquainted with them by the
current remarks of the world. But a people resembling, in so many
respects, the Jews, without having any territory, or form of creed,
peculiar to itself, or any history, or any peculiar outward associations
or residences, or any material difference in appearance, character, or
occupation, is something that the general mind of mankind would seem
never to have dreamt of, or to be almost capable of realizing to itself.
We have already seen how a writer in Blackwood's Magazine gravely
asserts, that, although "Billy Marshall left descendants numberless, the
race, of which he was one, was in danger of becoming extinct;" when, in
fact, it had only passed from its first stage of existence--the tent,
into its second--tramping, without the tent; and after that, into its
ultimate stage--a settled life. We have likewise seen how Sir Walter
Scott imagines that the Scottish Gipsies have decreased, since the time
of Fletcher, of Saltoun, about the year 1680, from 100,000 to 500, by
"the progress of time, and encrease of the means of life, and the power
of the laws." Mr. Borrow has not gone one step ahead of these writers;
and, although I naturally enough excuse them, I am not inclined to let
him go scot-free, since he has set himself forward so prominently as an
authority on the Gipsy question.[297]
[297] A writer in the Penny Cyclopædia illustrates this absurd idea,
in very plain terms, when he says: "In England, the Gipsies have much
diminished, of late years, in consequence of the enclosure of lands,
and the laws against vagrants." Sir Walter Scott's idea of the Gipsies
has been followed in a pictorial history of Scotland, lately issued
from the Scottish press.
In explaining this subject, it is by no means necessary to "crack an
egg" for the occasion. There is doubtless a "hitch," but it is a hitch
so close under our very noses, that it has escaped the observation of
the world. Still, the point can be readily enough realized by any one.
Take, for example, the Walker family. Walker knows well enough who his
father, grandfather, and so forth were; and holds himself to be a
Walker. Is it not so with the Gipsies? What is it but a question of
"folk?" A question more familiar to Scotch people than any other people.
If one's ancestors were all Walkers, is not the present Walker still a
Walker? If such or such a family was originally of the Gipsy race, is it
not so still? How did Billy Marshall happen to be a Gipsy? Was he a
Gipsy because he lived in a tent? or, did he live in a tent, like a
Gipsy of the old stock? If Billy was a Gipsy, surely Billy's children
must also have been Gipsies!
The error committed by writers, with reference to the so-called
"dying-out" of the Gipsy race, arises from their not distinguishing
between the questions of race, blood, descent, and language, and a style
of life, or character, or mode of making a living. Suppose that a native
Scottish cobbler should leave his last, and take to peddling, as a
packman, and ultimately settle again in a town, as a respectable
tradesman. On quitting "the roads," he would cease to be a packman; nor
could his children after him be called packmen, because the whole family
were native Scotch from the first; following the pack having been only
the occupation of the father, during part of his life. Should a company
of American youths and maidens take to the swamp, cranberrying and
gipsying, for a time, it could not be said that they had become Gipsies;
for they were nothing but ordinary Americans. Should the society of
Quakers dissolve into its original elements, it would just be English
blood quakerized, returning to English blood before it was quakerized.
But it is astonishing that intelligent men should conceive, and others
retail, the ideas that have been expressed in regard to the destiny of
the Gipsy race. What avails the lessons of history, or the daily
experience of every family of the land, the common sense of mankind, or
the instinct of a Hottentot, if no other idea of the fate of the Gipsy
race can be given than that referred to? Upon the principle of the
Gipsies "dying out," by settling, and changing their habits, it would
appear that, when at home, in the winter, they were not Gipsies; but
that they were Gipsies, when they resumed their habits, in the spring!
On the same principle, it would appear, that, if every Gipsy in the
world were to disappear from the roads and the fields, and drop his
original habits, there would be no Gipsies in the world, at all! What
idea can possibly be more ridiculous?[298]
[298] The following singular remarks appeared in a very late number of
Chambers' Journal, on the subject of the Gipsies of the Danube: "As
the wild cat, the otter, and the wolf, generally disappear before the
advance of civilization, the wild races of mankind are, in like manner
and degree, gradually coming to an end, and from the same causes(!)
The waste lands get enclosed, the woods are cut down, the police
becomes yearly more efficient, and the Pariahs vanish with their means
of subsistence. [Where do they go to?] In England, there are, at most,
1,500 Gipsies(!) Before the end of the present century, they will
probably be extinct over Western Europe(!)"
It is perfectly evident that the world, outside of Gipsydom, has to be
initiated in the subject of the Gipsies, as in the first principles of
a science, or as a child is instructed in its alphabet. And yet, the
above-mentioned writer takes upon himself to chide Mr. Borrow, in the
matter of the Gipsies.
It is better, however, to compare the Gipsy tribe in Scotland, at the
present day, to an ordinary clan in the olden time; although the
comparison falls far short of the idea. We know perfectly well what it
was to have been a member of this or that clan. Sir Walter Scott knew
well that he was one of the Buccleuch clan, and a descendant of _Auld
Beardie_; so that he could readily say that he was a Scott. Wherein,
then, consists the difficulty in understanding what a Scottish Gipsy is?
Is it not simply that he is "one of them;" a descendant of that foreign
race of which we have such notice in the treaty of 1540, between James
V. and John Faw, the then head of the Scottish Gipsy tribe? A Scottish
Gipsy has the blood, the words, and the signs, of these men, and as
naturally holds himself to be "one of them," as a native Scotchman holds
himself to be one of his father's children. How, then, can a "change of
habits" prevent a man from being his father's son? How could a "change
of habits" make a McGregor anything but a McGregor? How could the
effects of any just and liberal law towards the McGregors lead to the
decrease, and final extinction, of the McGregors? Every man, every
family, every clan, and every people, are continually "changing their
habits," but still remain the same people. It would be a treat to have a
treatise from Mr. Borrow upon the Gipsy race "dying out," by "changing
its habits," or by the acts of any government, or by ideas of
"gentility."
I have already alluded to a resemblance between the position of the
Gipsy race, at the present day, and that of the English and American
races. Does any one say that the English race is not a race? Or that the
American is not a race? And yet the latter is a compost of everything
that migrates from the Old World. But take some families, and we will
find that they are almost pure English, in descent, and hold themselves
to be actually such. But ask them if they are English, and they will
readily answer: "_English?_ No, siree!" The same principle holds still
more with the Gipsy race. It is not a question of country against
country, or government against government, separated by an ocean; but
the difference proceeds from a prejudice, as broad and deep as the
ocean, that exists between two races--the native, and that of such
recent introduction--dwelling in the same community.
I have explained the effect which the mixing of native blood with Gipsy
has upon the Gipsy race, showing that it only modifies its appearance,
and facilitates its passing into settled and respectable life. I will
now substantiate the principle from what is daily observed among the
native race itself. Take any native family--one of the Scotts, for
example. Let us commence with a family, tracing its origin to a Scott,
in the year 1600, and imagine that, in its descent, every representative
of the name married a wife of another family, or clan, having no Scotts'
blood in her veins. In the seventh descent, there would be only one
one-hundred and twenty-eighth part of the original Scott in the last
representative of the family. Would not the last Scott be a Scott? The
world recognizes him to be a Scott; he holds himself to be a
Scott--"every inch a Scott;" and doubtless he is a Scott, as much as his
ancestor who existed in the year 1600. What difficulty can there,
therefore, be, in understanding how a man can be a Gipsy, whose blood is
mixed, even "dreadfully mixed," as the English Gipsies express it?
Gipsies are Gipsies, let their blood be mixed as much as it may; whether
the introduction of the native blood may have come into the family
through the male or the female line.
In the descent of a native family, in the instance given, the issue
follows the name of the family. But, with the Gipsy race, the thing to
be transmitted is not merely a question of family, but a race distinct
from any particular family. If a Gipsy woman marries into a native
family, the issue retains the family name of the husband, but passes
into the Gipsy tribe; if a Gipsy man marries into a native family, the
issue retains his name, in the general order of society, and likewise
passes into the Gipsy tribe; so that such intermarriages, which almost
invariably take place unknown to the native race, always leave the issue
Gipsy. For the Gipsy element of society is like a troubled spirit, which
has been despised, persecuted, and damned; cross it out, to appearance,
as much as you may, it still retains its Gipsy identity. It then assumes
the form of a disembodied spirit, that will enter into any kind of
tabernacle, in the manner described, dispel every other kind of spirit,
clean or unclean, as the case may be, and come up, under any garb,
colour, character, occupation, or creed--Gipsy. It is perfectly
possible, but not very probable, to find a Gipsy a Jew, in creed, and,
for the most part, in point of blood, in the event of a Jew marrying a
mixed Gipsy. He might follow the creed of the Jewish parent, and be
admitted into the synagogue; but, although outwardly recognised as a
Jew, and having Jewish features, he would still be a _chabo_; for there
are Gipsies of all creeds, and, like other people in the world, of no
creed at all. But it is extremely disagreeable to a Gipsy to have such a
subject mentioned in his hearing; for he heartily dislikes a Jew, and
says that no one has any "chance" in dealing with him. A Gipsy likewise
says, that the two races ought not to be mentioned in the same breath,
or put on the same footing, which is very true; for reason tells us,
that, strip the Gipsy of every idea connected with "taking bits o'
things," and leading a wild life, and there should be no points of
enmity between him and the ordinary native; certainly not that of creed,
which exists between the Jew and the rest of the world, to which
question I will by and by refer.
The subject of the Gipsies has hitherto been treated as a question of
natural history, only, in the same manner as we would treat ant-bears.
Writers have sat down beside them, and looked at them--little more than
looked at them--described some of their habits, and reported their
_chaff_. To get to the bottom of the subject, it is necessary to sound
the mind of the Gipsy, lay open and dissect his heart, identify one's
self with his feelings, and the bearings of his ideas, and construct,
out of these, a system of mental science, based upon the mind of the
Gipsy, and human nature generally. For it is the mind of the Gipsy that
constitutes the Gipsy; that which, in reference to its singular origin
and history, is, in itself, indestructible, imperishable and immortal.
Consider, then, this race, which is of such recent introduction upon the
stage of the European world, of such a singular origin and history, and
of such universal existence, with such a prejudice existing against it,
and the merest impulse of reflection, apart from the facts of the case,
will lead us to conclude, that, as it has settled, it has remained true
to itself, in the various associations of life. In whatever position, or
under whatever circumstances, it is to be found, it may be compared, in
reference to its past history, to a chain, and the early Gipsies, to
those who have charged it with electricity. However mixed, or however
polished, the metal of the links may have since become, they have always
served to convey the Gipsy fluid to every generation of the race. It is
even unnecessary to enquire, particularly, how that has been
accomplished, for it is self-evident that the process which has linked
other races to their ancestry, has doubly linked the Gipsy race to
theirs. Indeed, the idea of being Gipsies never can leave the Gipsy
race. A Gipsy's life is like a continual conspiracy towards the rest of
the world; he has always a secret upon his mind, and, from his childhood
to his old age, he is so placed as if he were, in a negative sense,
engaged in some gunpowder plot, or as if he had committed a crime, let
his character be as good as it possibly may. Into whatever company he
may enter, he naturally remarks to himself: "I wonder if there are any
of us here." That is the position which the mixed and better kind of
Gipsy occupies, generally and passively. Of course, there are some of
the race who are always actually hatching some plot or other against the
rest of the world. Take a Gipsy of the popular kind, who appears as such
to the world, and there are two ideas constantly before him--that of the
_Gorgio_ and _Chabo_: they may slumber while he is in his house, or in
his tent, or when he is asleep, or his mind is positively occupied with
something; but let any one come near him, or him meet or accost any one,
and he naturally remarks, to himself, that the person "is _not_ one of
us," or that he "_is_ one of us." He knows well what the native may be
thinking or saying of him, and he as naturally responds in his own mind.
This circumstance of itself, this frightful prejudice against the
individual, makes, or at least keeps, the Gipsy wild; it calls forth the
passion of resentment, and produces a feeling of reckless abandon, that
might otherwise leave him. To that is to be added the feeling, in the
Gipsy's mind, of his race having been persecuted, for he knows little of
the circumstances attending the origin of the laws passed against his
tribe, and attributes them to persecution alone. He considers that he
has a right to travel; that he has been deprived of rights to travel,
which were granted to his tribe by the monarchs of past ages; and,
moreover, that his ancestors--the "ancient wandering Egyptians"--always
travelled. He feels perfectly independent of, and snaps his fingers at,
everybody; and entertains a profound suspicion of any one who may
approach him, inasmuch as he imagines that the stranger, however fair he
may speak to him, has that feeling for him, as if he considered it
pollution to touch him. But he is very civil and plausible when he is
at home.
It is from such material that all kinds of settled Gipsies, at one time
or other, have sprung. Such is the prejudice against the race, that, if
they did not hide the fact of their being Gipsies from the ordinary
natives, they would hardly have the "life of a dog" among them, because
of their having sprung from a race which, in its original state, has
been persecuted, and so much despised. By settling in life, and
conforming with the ways of the rest of the community, they "cease to be
Gipsies," in the estimation of the world; for the world imagines that,
when the Gipsy conforms to its ways, there is an end of his being a
Gipsy. Barring the "habits," such a Gipsy is as much a Gipsy as before,
although he is one _incog_. The wonder is not that he and his
descendants should be Gipsies; but the real wonder is, that they should
not be Gipsies. Neither he nor his descendants have any choice in the
matter. Does the settled Gipsy keep a crockery or tin establishment, or
an inn, or follow any other occupation? Then his children cannot all
follow the same calling; they must betake themselves to the various
employments open to the community at large, and, their blood being
mixed, they become lost to the general eye, amid the rest of the
population. While this process is gradually going on, the Gipsy
population which always remains in the tent--the hive from which the
tribe swarms--attracts the attention of the public, and prevents it from
thinking anything about the matter. In England, alone, we may safely
assume that the tented Gipsy population, about the commencement of this
century, must have encreased at least four-fold by this time, while, to
the eye of the public, it would appear that "the Gipsies are gradually
decreasing, so that, by and by, they will become extinct."
The world, generally, has never even thought about this subject. When I
have spoken to people promiscuously in regard to it, they have replied:
"We suppose that the Gipsies, as they have settled in life, have got
lost among the general population:" than which nothing can be more
unfounded, as a matter of fact, or ridiculous, as a matter of theory.
Imagine a German family settling in Scotland. The feeling of being
Germans becomes lost in the first generation, who do not, perhaps, speak
a word of German. There is no prejudice entertained for the family,
but, on the contrary, much good-will and respect are shown it by its
neighbours. The parents identify themselves with those surrounding them;
the children, born in the country, become, or rather are, Scotch
altogether; so that all that remains is the sense of a German
extraction, which, but for the name of the family, would very soon be
lost, or become a mere matter of tradition. In every other respect, the
family, sooner or later, becomes lost amid the general population. In
America, we daily see Germans getting mixed with, and lost among,
Americans; but where is the evidence of such a process going on, or ever
having taken place, in Great Britain, between the Gipsy and the native
races? The prejudice which the ordinary natives have for the very name
of Gipsy is sufficient proof that the Gipsy tribe has not been lost in
any such manner. Still, it has not only got mixed, but "dreadfully
mixed," with the native blood; but it has worked up the additional blood
within itself, having thoroughly gipsyfied it. The original Gipsy blood
may be compared to liquid in a vessel, into which native liquid has been
put: the mixture has, as a natural consequence, lost, in a very great
measure, its original colour; but, inasmuch as the most important
element in the amalgamation has been _mind_, the result is, that, in its
descent, it has remained, as before, Gipsy. Instead, therefore, of the
Gipsies having become lost among the native population, a certain part
of the native blood has been lost among them, greatly adding to the
number of the body.
We cannot institute any comparison between the introduction of the
Gipsies and the Huguenots, the last body of foreigners that entered
Great Britain, relative to the destiny of the respective foreign
elements. For the Huguenots were not a race, as distinguished from every
other creature in the world, but a religious party, taking refuge among
a people of cognate blood and language, and congenial religious feelings
and faith; and were, to say the least of it, on a par, in every respect,
with the ordinary natives, with nothing connected with them to prevent
an amalgamation with the other inhabitants; but, on the contrary, having
this characteristic, in common with the nations of Europe, that the
place of birth constitutes the fact, and, taken in connection with the
residence, creates the feelings of nationality and race. Many of my
readers are, doubtless, conversant with the history of the Huguenots.
Even in some parts of America, nothing is more common than for people to
say that they are Huguenots, that is, of Huguenot descent, which is very
commonly made the foundation of the connections and intimate
associations of life. The peculiarity is frequently shown in the
appearance of the individuals, and in such mental traits as spring from
the contemplation of the Huguenots as an historical and religious party,
even when the individual now follows the Catholic faith. But these
people differ in no essential respect from the other inhabitants.
But how different is the position always occupied by the Gipsies! Well
may they consider themselves "strangers in the land;" for by whom have
they ever been acknowledged? They entered Scotland, for example, and
have encreased, progressed, and developed, with so great a prejudice
against them, and so separated in their feelings from others around
them, as if none had almost existed in the country but themselves, while
they were "dwelling in the midst of their brethren;" the native blood
that has been incorporated with them having the appearance as if it had
come from abroad. They, a people distinct from any other in the world,
have sprung from the most primitive stage of human existence--the tent,
and their knowledge of their race goes no further back than when it
existed in other parts of the world, in the same condition, more or
less, as themselves. They have been a migratory tribe, wherever they
have appeared or settled, and have never ceased to be the same peculiar
race, notwithstanding the changes which they have undergone; and have
been at home wherever they have found themselves placed. The mere place
of birth, or the circumstance under which the individual has been
reared, has had no effect upon their special nationality, although, as
citizens of particular countries, they have assimilated, in their
general ideas, with others around them. And not only have they had a
language peculiar to themselves, but signs as exclusively theirs as are
those of Freemasons. For Gipsies stand to Gipsies as Freemasons to
Freemasons; with this difference--that Masons are bound to respond to
and help each other, while such associations, among the Gipsies, are
optional with the individual, who, however, is persuaded that the same
people, with these exclusive peculiarities, are to be met with in every
part of the world. A Gipsy is, in his way, a Mason born, and, from his
infancy, is taught to hide everything connected with his race, from
those around him. He is his own _tyler_, and _tyles_ his lips
continually. Imagine, then, a person taught, from his infancy, to
understand that he is a Gipsy; that his blood, (at least part of it,) is
Gipsy; that he has been instructed in the language, and initiated in all
the mysteries, of the Gipsies; that his relations and acquaintances in
the tribe have undergone the same experience; that the utmost reserve
towards those who are not Gipsies has been continually inculcated upon
him, and as often practised before his eyes; and what must be the
leading idea, in that person's mind, but that he is a Gipsy? His
pedigree is Gipsy, his mind has been cast in a Gipsy mould, and he can
no more "cease to be a Gipsy" than perform any other impossibility in
nature. Thus it is that Gipsydom is not a work of man's hand, nor a
creed, that is "revealed from faith to faith;" but a work which has been
written by the hand of God upon the heart of a family of mankind, and is
reflected from the mind of one generation to that of another. It enters
into the feelings of the very existence of the man, and such is the
prejudice against his race, on the part of the ordinary natives, that
the better kind of Scottish Gipsy feels that he, and more particularly
she, would almost be "torn in pieces," if the public really knew all
about them.
These facts will sufficiently illustrate how a people, "resembling, in
so many respects, the Jews, without having any territory, or form of
creed, peculiar to itself, or any history, or any peculiar outward
associations or residences, or any material difference in appearance,
character, or occupation," can be a people, living among other people,
and yet be distinct from those among whom they live. The distinction
consists in this people having _blood_, _language_, a _cast of mind_,
and _signs_, peculiar to itself; the three first being the only elements
which distinguish races; for religion is a secondary consideration; one
religion being common to many distinct races. This principle, which is
more commonly applied to people occupying different countries, is
equally applicable to races, clans, families, or individuals, living
within the boundary of a particular country, or dwelling in the same
community. We can easily understand how two individuals can be two
distinct individuals, notwithstanding their being members of the same
family, and professing the same religion. We can still more easily
understand the same of two families, and still more so of two septs or
clans of the same general race. And, surely, there can be no difficulty
in understanding that the Gipsy tribe, whatever may be its habits, is
something different from any native tribe: for it has never yet found
rest for the sole of its foot among the native race, although it has
secured a shelter clandestinely; and of the extent, and especially of
the nature, of its existence, the world may be said to be entirely
ignorant. The position which the Gipsy race occupies in Scotland is that
which it substantially occupies in every other country--unacknowledged,
and, in a sense, damned, everywhere. There is, therefore, no wonder that
it should remain a distinct family among mankind, cemented by its
language and signs, and the knowledge of its universality. The
phenomenon rests upon purely natural causes, and differs considerably
from that of the existence of the Jews. For the Jews are, everywhere,
acknowledged by the world, after a sort; they have neither language nor,
as far as I know, signs peculiar to themselves, (although there are
secret orders among them,) but possess the most ancient history, an
original country, to which they, more or less, believe they will be
restored, and a religion of divine origin, but utterly superseded by a
new and better dispensation. Notwithstanding all that, the following
remark, relative to the existence of the Jews, since the dispersion, may
very safely be recalled: "The philosophical historian confesses that he
has no place for it in all his generalizations, and refers it to the
mysteries of Providence." For the history of the Gipsies bears a very
great resemblance to it; and, inasmuch as that is not altogether "the
device of men's hands," it must, also, be referred to Providence, for
Providence has a hand in everything.
It is very true that the "philosophical historian has no place, in all
his generalizations, for the phenomenon of the existence of the Jews,
since the dispersion," for he has never investigated the subject
inductively, and on its own merits. It is poor logic to assert that,
because the American Indians are, to a great extent, and will soon be,
extinct, therefore the existence of the Jews, to-day, is a miracle. And
it would be nearly as poor logic to maintain the same of the Jews in
connection with any of the ancient and extinct nations. There is no
analogy between the history of the Jews, since the dispersion, and that
of any other people, (excepting the Gipsies;) and, consequently, no
comparison can be instituted between them.[299] Before asking how it is
that the Jews exist to-day, it would be well to enquire by what possible
process they could cease to be Jews. And by what human means the Jews,
as a people, or even as individuals, will receive Christ as their
Messiah, and thereby become Christian Jews. This idea of the Jews
existing by a miracle has been carried to a very great length, as the
following quotation, from an excellent writer, on the Evidences of
Christianity, will show: "What is this," says he, "but a miracle?
connected with the prophecy which it fulfills, it is a double miracle.
Whether testimony can ever establish the credibility of a miracle is of
no importance here. This one is obvious to every man's senses. All
nations are its eye-witnesses. . . . . The laws of nature have been
suspended in their case." This writer, in a spirit of gambling, stakes
the whole question of revelation upon his own dogma; and, according to
his hypothesis, loses it. The laws of nature would, indeed, have been
suspended, in their case, and a miracle would, indeed, have been
wrought, if the Jews had ceased to be Jews, or had become anything else
than what they are to-day. Writers on the Christian Evidences should
content themselves with maintaining that the Jews have fulfilled the
prophecies, and will yet fulfill them, and assert nothing further of
them.
[299] I leave out of view various scattered nations in Asia.
The writer alluded to compares the history of the Jews, since the
dispersion, to the following phenomenon: "A mighty river, having
plunged, from a mountain height, into the depths of the ocean, and been
separated into its component drops, and thus scattered to the ends of
the world, and blown about, by all winds, during almost eighteen
centuries, is still capable of being disunited from the waters of the
ocean; its minutest drops, never having been assimilated to any other,
are still distinct, unchanged, and ready to be gathered." Such language
cannot be applied to the Jews; for the philosophy of their existence,
to-day, is so very simple in its nature, as to have escaped the
observation of mankind. I will give it further on in this Disquisition.
The language in question is somewhat applicable to the Gipsies, for they
have become _worked into_ all other nations, in regard to blood and
language, and are "still distinct and unchanged," as to their being
Gipsies, whatever their habits may be; and, although there is no
occasion for them to be "gathered," they would yet, outwardly or
inwardly, heartily respond to any call addressed to them.[300]
[300] It is interesting to hear the Gipsies speak of their race
"taking of" this or the other race. Said an English Gipsy, to me, with
reference to some Gipsies of whom we were speaking: "They take of the
Arabians."
There is, as I have already said, no real outward difference between
many settled and educated Scottish Gipsies and ordinary natives; for
such Gipsies are as likely to have fair hair and blue eyes, as black.
Their characters and occupations may be the same; they may have intimate
associations together; may be engaged in business as partners; may even
be cousins, nay, half-brothers. But let them, on separate occasions,
enter a company of Gipsies, and the reception shown to them will mark
the difference in the two individuals. The difference between two such
Scotchmen, (for they really are both Scotch,) the reader may remark,
makes the Gipsy only a Gipsy nominally, which, outwardly, he is; but he
is still a Gipsy, although, in point of colour, character, or condition,
not one of the old stock; for he has "the blood," and has been reared
and instructed as a Gipsy. But such a Gipsy is not fond of entering a
company of Gipsies, strangers to him, unless introduced by a friend in
whom he has confidence, for he is afraid of being known to be a Gipsy.
He is more apt to visit some of the more original kind of the race,
where he is not known. On sitting down beside them, with a friendly air,
they will be sure to treat him kindly, not knowing but that they may be
entertaining a Gipsy unawares; for such original Gipsies, believing that
"the blood" is to be found well up in life, feel very curious when they
meet with such a person. If he "lets out" an idea in regard to the race,
and expresses a kindly feeling towards "the blood," the suspicions of
his friends are at once excited, so that, if he, in an equivocal manner,
remarks that he is "_not_ one of them," hesitates, stammers, and
protests that he really is not one of them, they will as readily swear
that he _is_ one of them; for well does the blackguard Gipsy, (as the
world calls him,) know the delicacy of such settled and educated Gipsies
in owning the blood. There is less suspicion shown, on such occasions,
when the settled Gipsy is Scotch, and the _bush_ Gipsy English; and
particularly so should the occasion be in America; for, when they meet
in America, away from the peculiar relations under which they have been
reared, and where they can "breathe," as they express it, the respective
classes are not so suspicious of each other.
Besides the difference just drawn between the Gipsy and ordinary
native--that of recognizing and being recognized by another Gipsy--I may
mention the following general distinction between them. The ordinary
Scot knows that he is a Scot, and nothing more, unless it be something
about his ancestors of two or three generations. But the Gipsy's idea of
Scotland goes back to a certain time, indefinite to him, as it may be,
beyond which his race had no existence in the country. Where his
ancestors sojourned, immediately, or at any time, before they entered
Scotland, he cannot tell; but this much he knows of them, that they are
neither Scottish nor European, but that they came from the East. The
fact of his blood being mixed exercises little or no influence over his
feelings relative to his tribe, for, mixed as it may be, he knows that
he is one of the tribe, and that the origin of his tribe is his origin.
In a word, he knows that he has sprung from the tent. Substitute the
word Scotch for Moor, as related of the black African Gipsies, at page
429, and he may say of himself and tribe: "We are not Scotch, but can
give no account of ourselves." It is a little different, if the mixture
of his blood is of such recent date as to connect him with native
families; in that case, he has "various bloods" to contend for, should
they be assailed; but his Gipsy blood, as a matter of course, takes
precedence. By marrying into the tribe, the connection with such native
families gradually drops out of the memory of his descendants, and
leaves the sensation of tribe exclusively Gipsy. Imagine, then, that the
Gipsy has been reared a Gipsy, in the way so frequently described, and
that he "knows all about the Gipsies," while the ordinary native knows
really nothing about them; and we have a general idea of what a Scottish
Gipsy is, as distinguished from an ordinary Scotchman. If we admit that
every native Scot knows who he is, we may readily assume that every
Scottish Gipsy knows who _he_ is. But, to place the point of difference
in a more striking light, it may be remarked, that the native Scot will
instinctively exclaim, that "the present work has no earthly relation
either to him or his folk;" while the Scottish Gipsy will as
instinctively exclaim: "It's us, there's no mistake about it;" and will
doubtless accept it, in the main, with a high degree of satisfaction, as
the history of his race, and give it to his children as such.
A respectable, indeed, any kind of, Scottish Gipsy does not contemplate
his ancestors--the "Pilgrim Fathers," and "Pilgrim Mothers," too--as
robbers, although he could do that with as much grace as any Highland or
Border Scot, but as a singular people, who doubtless came from the
Pyramids; and their language, as something about which he really does
not know what to think; whether it is Egyptian, Sanscrit, or what it is.
Still, he has part of it; he loves it; and no human power can tear it
out of his heart. He knows that every intelligent being sticks to his
own, and clings to his descent; and he considers it his highest pride to
be an Egyptian--a descendant of those swarthy kings and queens, princes
and princesses, priests and priestesses, and, of course, thieves and
thievesses, that, like an apparition, found their way into, and, after
wandering about, settled down in, Scotland. Indeed, he never knew
anything else than that he was an Egyptian; for it is in his blood; and,
what is more, it is in his heart, so that he cannot forget it, unless he
should lose his faculties and become an idiot; and then he would be an
Egyptian idiot. How like a Gipsy it was for Mrs. Fall, of Dunbar, to
"work in tapestry the principal events in the life of the founder of her
family, from the day the Gipsy child came to Dunbar, in its mother's
creel, until the same Gipsy child had become, by its own honourable
exertions, the head of the first mercantile establishment then existing
in Scotland."
The Scottish Gipsies, when their appearance has been modified by a
mixture of the white blood, have possessed, in common with the
Highlanders, the faculty of "getting out" of the original ways of their
race, and becoming superior in character, notwithstanding the excessive
prejudice that exists against the nation of which they hold themselves
members. Except his strong partiality for his blood and tribe, language,
and signs, such a Gipsy becomes, in his general disposition and ways,
like any ordinary native. It is impossible that it should be otherwise.
Whenever a Gipsy, then, forsakes his original habits, and conforms with
the ways of the other inhabitants, he becomes, for all practical
purposes, an ordinary citizen of the Gipsy clan. If he is a man of good
natural abilities, the original wild ambition of his race acquires a new
turn; and his capacity fits him for any occupation. Priding himself on
being an Egyptian, a member of this world-wide community, he acquires,
as he gains information, a spirit of liberality of sentiment; he reads
history, and perceives that every family of mankind has not only been
barbarous, but very barbarous, at one time; and, from such reflections,
he comes to consider his own origin, and very readily becomes confirmed
in his early, but indistinct, ideas of his people, that they really are
somebody. Indeed, he considers himself not only as good, but better than
other people. His being forced to assume an incognito, and "keep as
quiet as pussy," chafes his proud spirit, but it does not render him
gloomy, for his natural disposition is too buoyant for that. How, then,
does such a Scottish Gipsy feel in regard to his ancestors? He feels
exactly as Highlanders do, in regard to theirs, or, as the Scottish
Borderers do, with reference to the "Border Ruffians," as I have heard a
Gipsy term them. Indeed, the gallows of Perth and Stirling, Carlisle and
Jedburgh, could tell some fine tales of many respectable Scottish
people, in times that are past.
The children of such a Gipsy differ very much from those of the same
race in their natural state, although they may have the same amount of
blood, and the same eye. The eye of the former is subdued, for his
passions, in regard to his race, have never been called forth; while the
eye of the latter rolls about, as if he were conscious that every one he
meets with is remarking of him, "There goes a vagabond of a Gipsy." Two
fine specimens of the former kind of Gipsies attended the High School of
Edinburgh, when I was at that institution. Hearing the family frequently
spoken of at home, my attention was often taken up with the boys,
without understanding what a Gipsy of _that_ kind could mean; although I
had a pretty good idea of the common Gipsy, or Tinkler, as he is
generally called in Scotland. These two young Gipsies were what might be
called sweet youths; modest and shy, among the other boys, as young
tamed wild turkeys; very dark in colour, with an eye that could be
caught in whatever way I might look at them. They now occupy very
honourable positions in life. There were other Gipsies at the High
School, at this time, but they were of the "brown sort." I have met, in
the United States, with a Scottish Gipsy, taking greatly after the
Gipsy, in his appearance; a man very gentlemanly in his manner and
bearing, and as neat and trim as if he had "come out of a box." It is
natural, indeed, to suppose that there must be a great difference, in
many respects, between a wild, original Gipsy, and one of the tame and
educated kind, whose descent is several, perhaps many, generations from
the tent. In the houses of the former, things are generally found lying
about, here-away, there-away, as if they were just going to be taken out
and placed in the waggon, or on the ass's back.
It is certainly a singular position which is occupied, from generation
to generation, and century to century, by our settled Scottish, as well
as other, Gipsies, who are not known to the world as such, yet maintain
a daily intercourse with others not of their own tribe. It resembles a
state of semi-damnation, with a drawn sword hanging over their heads,
ready to fall upon them at any moment. But the matter cannot be mended.
They are Gipsies, by every physical and mental necessity, and they
accommodate themselves to their circumstances as they best may. This
much is certain, that they have the utmost confidence in their
incognito, as regards their descent, personal feelings, and exclusively
private associations. The word "Gipsy," to be applied to them by
strangers, frightens them, in contemplation, far more than it does the
children of the ordinary natives; for they imagine it a dreadful thing
to be known to their neighbours as Gipsies. Still, they have never
occupied any other position; they have been born in it, and reared in
it; it has even been the nature of the race, from the very first, always
to "work in the dark." In all probability, it has never occurred to them
to imagine that it will ever be otherwise: nor do they evidently wish
it; for they can see no possible way to have themselves acknowledged, by
the world, as Gipsies. The very idea horrifies them. So far from letting
the world know anything of them, as Gipsies, their constant care is to
keep it in perpetual darkness on the subject. Of all men, these Gipsies
may say:
". . . . . . rather bear those ills we have,
Than fly to others we know not of."
Indeed, the only thing that worries such a Gipsy is the idea that the
public should know all about _him_; otherwise, he feels a supreme
satisfaction in being a Gipsy; as well as in having such a history of
his race as I have informed him I proposed publishing, provided I do not
in any way mix _him_ up with it, or "let _him_ out." By bringing up the
body in the manner done in this work, by making a sweep of the whole
tribe, the responsibility becomes spread over a large number of people;
so that, should the Gipsy become, by any means, known, personally, to
the world, he would have the satisfaction of knowing that he had others
to keep him company; men occupying respectable positions in life, and
respected, by the world at large, as individuals.
Here, then, we have one of the principal reasons for everything
connected with the Gipsies being hidden from the rest of mankind. They
have always been looked upon as arrant vagabonds, while they have looked
upon their ancestors as illustrious and immortal heroes. How, then, are
we to bridge over this gulf that separates them, in feeling, from the
rest of the world? The natural reply is, that we should judge them, not
by their condition and character in times that are past, but by what
they are to-day.