The modern Persian, as has been already observed, is a daughter of the

ancient Zend, and, as such, is entitled to claim affinity with the

Sanscrit, and its dialects. With this language none in the world would

be able to vie in simplicity and beauty, had not the Persians, in

adopting the religion of Mahomet, unfortunately introduces into their

speech an infinity of words of the rude coarse language used by the

barbaric Arab tribes, the immediate followers of the warlike Prophet.

With the rise of Islam the modern Persian was doomed to be carried into

India. This country, from the time of Alexander, had enjoyed repose from

external aggression, had been ruled by its native princes, and been

permitted by Providence to exercise, without control or reproof, the

degrading superstitions, and the unnatural and bloody rites of a religion

at the formation of which the fiends of cruelty and lust seem to have

presided; but reckoning was now about to be demanded of the accursed

ministers of this system for the pain, torture, and misery which they had

been instrumental in inflicting on their countrymen for the gratification

of their avarice, filthy passions, and pride; the new Mahometans were at

hand—Arab, Persian, and Afghan, with the glittering scimitar upraised,

full of zeal for the glory and adoration of the one high God, and the

relentless persecutors of the idol-worshippers. Already, in the four

hundred and twenty-sixth year of the Hegeira, we read of the destruction

of the great Butkhan, or image-house of Sumnaut, by the armies of the

far-conquering Mahmoud, when the dissevered heads of the Brahmans rolled

down the steps of the gigantic and Babel-like temple of the great image—

[Picture: Text which cannot be reproduced—Arabic?]

(This image grim, whose name was Laut,

Bold Mahmoud found when he took Sumnaut.)

It is not our intention to follow the conquests of the Mahometans from

the days of Walid and Mahmoud to those of Timour and Nadir; sufficient to

observe, that the greatest part of India was subdued, new monarchies

established, and the old religion, though far too powerful and widely

spread to be extirpated, was to a considerable extent abashed and humbled

before the bright rising sun of Islam. The Persian language, which the

conquerors {324} of whatever denomination introduced with them to

Hindustan, and which their descendants at the present day still retain,

though not lords of the ascendant, speedily became widely extended in

these regions, where it had previously been unknown. As the language of

the court, it was of course studied and acquired by all those natives

whose wealth, rank, and influence necessarily brought them into

connection with the ruling powers; and as the language of the camp, it

was carried into every part of the country where the duties of the

soldiery sooner or later conducted them; the result of which relations

between the conquerors and conquered was the adoption into the popular

dialects of India of an infinity of modern Persian words, not merely

those of science, such as it exists in the East, and of luxury and

refinement, but even those which serve to express many of the most common

objects, necessities, and ideas, so that at the present day a knowledge

of the Persian is essential for the thorough understanding of the

principal dialects of Hindustan, on which account, as well as for the

assistance which it affords in communication with the Mahometans, it is

cultivated with peculiar care by the present possessors of the land.

No surprise, therefore, can be entertained that the speech of the Gitános

in general, who, in all probability, departed from Hindustan long

subsequent to the first Mahometan invasions, abounds, like other Indian

dialects, with words either purely Persian, or slightly modified to

accommodate them to the genius of the language. Whether the Rommany

originally constituted part of the natives of Multan or Guzerat, and

abandoned their native land to escape from the torch and sword of

Tamerlane and his Mongols, as Grellmann and others have supposed, or

whether, as is much more probable, they were a thievish caste, like some

others still to be found in Hindustan, who fled westward, either from the

vengeance of justice, or in pursuit of plunder, their speaking Persian is

alike satisfactorily accounted for. With the view of exhibiting how

closely their language is connected with the Sanscrit and Persian, we

subjoin the first ten numerals in the three tongues, those of the Gypsy

according to the Hungarian dialect. {325a}

Gypsy. Persian. Sanscrit. {325b}

1 Jek Ek Ega

2 Dui Du Dvaya

3 Trin Se Treya

4 Schtar Chehar Tschatvar

5 Pansch Pansch Pantscha

6 Tschov Schesche Schasda

7 Efta Heft Sapta

8 Ochto Hescht Aschta

9 Enija Nu Nava

10 Dösch De Dascha

It would be easy for us to adduce a thousand instances, as striking as

the above, of the affinity of the Gypsy tongue to the Persian, Sanscrit,

and the Indian dialects, but we have not space for further observation on

a point which long since has been sufficiently discussed by others

endowed with abler pens than our own; but having made these preliminary

remarks, which we deemed necessary for the elucidation of the subject, we

now hasten to speak of the Gitáno language as used in Spain, and to

determine, by its evidence (and we again repeat, that the language is the

only criterion by which the question can be determined), how far the

Gitános of Spain are entitled to claim connection with the tribes who,

under the names of Zingáni, etc., are to be found in various parts of

Europe, following, in general, a life of wandering adventure, and

practising the same kind of thievish arts which enable those in Spain to

obtain a livelihood at the expense of the more honest and industrious of

the community.

The Gitános of Spain, as already stated, are generally believed to be the

descendants of the Moriscos, and have been asserted to be such in printed

books. {326} Now they are known to speak a language or jargon amongst

themselves which the other natives of Spain do not understand; of course,

then, supposing them to be of Morisco origin, the words of this tongue or

jargon, which are not Spanish, are the relics of the Arabic or Moorish

tongue once spoken in Spain, which they have inherited from their Moorish

ancestors. Now it is well known, that the Moorish of Spain was the same

tongue as that spoken at present by the Moors of Barbary, from which

country Spain was invaded by the Arabs, and to which they again retired

when unable to maintain their ground against the armies of the

Christians. We will, therefore, collate the numerals of the Spanish

Gitáno with those of the Moorish tongue, preceding both with those of the

Hungarian Gypsy, of which we have already made use, for the purpose of

making clear the affinity of that language to the Sanscrit and Persian.

By this collation we shall at once perceive whether the Gitáno of Spain

bears most resemblance to the Arabic, or the Rommany of other lands.

Hungarian Spanish Moorish

Gypsy. Gitáno. Arabic.

1 Jek Yeque Wahud

2 Dui Dui Snain

3 Trin Trin Slatza

4 Schtar Estar Arba

5 Pansch Pansche Khamsa

6 Tschov Job. Zoi Seta

7 Efta Hefta Sebéa

8 Ochto Otor Sminía

9 Enija Esnia (Nu. Tussa

_Pers._)

10 Dösch Deque Aschra

We believe the above specimens will go very far to change the opinion of

those who have imbibed the idea that the Gitános of Spain are the

descendants of Moors, and are of an origin different from that of the

wandering tribes of Rommany in other parts of the world, the specimens of

the two dialects of the Gypsy, as far as they go, being so strikingly

similar, as to leave no doubt of their original identity, whilst, on the

contrary, with the Moorish neither the one nor the other exhibits the

slightest point of similarity or connection. But with these specimens we

shall not content ourselves, but proceed to give the names of the most

common things and objects in the Hungarian and Spanish Gitáno,

collaterally, with their equivalents in the Moorish Arabic; from which it

will appear that whilst the former are one and the same language, they

are in every respect at variance with the latter. When we consider that

the Persian has adopted so many words and phrases from the Arabic, we are

at first disposed to wonder that a considerable portion of these words

are not to be discovered in every dialect of the Gypsy tongue, since the

Persian has lent it so much of its vocabulary. Yet such is by no means

the case, as it is very uncommon, in any one of these dialects, to

discover words derived from the Arabic. Perhaps, however, the following

consideration will help to solve this point. The Gitános, even before

they left India, were probably much the same rude, thievish, and ignorant

people as they are at the present day. Now the words adopted by the

Persian from the Arabic, and which it subsequently introduced into the

dialects of India, are sounds representing objects and ideas with which

such a people as the Gitános could necessarily be but scantily

acquainted, a people whose circle of ideas only embraces physical

objects, and who never commune with their own minds, nor exert them but

in devising low and vulgar schemes of pillage and deceit. Whatever is

visible and common is seldom or never represented by the Persians, even

in their books, by the help of Arabic words: the sun and stars, the sea

and river, the earth, its trees, its fruits, its flowers, and all that it

produces and supports, are seldom named by them by other terms than those

which their own language is capable of affording; but in expressing the

abstract thoughts of their minds, and they are a people who think much

and well, they borrow largely from the language of their religion—the

Arabic. We therefore, perhaps, ought not to be surprised that in the

scanty phraseology of the Gitános, amongst so much Persian, we find so

little that is Arabic; had their pursuits been less vile, their desires

less animal, and their thoughts less circumscribed, it would probably

have been otherwise; but from time immemorial they have shown themselves

a nation of petty thieves, horse-traffickers, and the like, without a

thought of the morrow, being content to provide against the evil of the

passing day.

The following is a comparison of words in the three languages:—

Hungarian Spanish Moorish

Gypsy. {330} Gitáno. Arabic.

Bone Cokalos Cocal Adorn

City Forjus Foros Beled

Day Dives Chibes Youm

Drink (to) Piava Piyar Yeschrab

Ear Kan Can Oothin

Eye Jakh Aquia Ein

Feather Por Porumia Risch

Fire Vag Yaque Afia

Fish Maczo Macho Hutz

Foot Pir Piro, pindro Rjil

Gold Sonkai Sonacai Dahab

Great Baro Baro Quibír

Hair Bala Bal Schar

He, pron. Wow O Hu

Head Tschero Jero Ras

House Ker Quer Dar

Husband Rom Ron Zooje

Lightning Molnija Malunó Brak

Love (to) Camaba Camelar Yehib

Man Manusch Manu Rajil

Milk Tud Chuti Helib

Mountain Bar Bur Djibil

Mouth Mui Mui Fum

Name Nao Nao Ism

Night Rat Rachi Lila

Nose Nakh Naqui Munghár

Old Puro Puro Shaive

Red Lal Lalo Hamr

Salt Lon Lon Mela

Sing Gjuwawa Gilyabar Iganni

Sun Cam Can Schems

Thief Tschor Choro Harám

Thou Tu Tucue Antsin

Tongue Tschib Chipe Lsán

Tooth Dant Dani Sinn

Tree Karscht Caste Schizara

Water Pani Pani Ma

Wind Barbar Barban Ruhk

We shall offer no further observations respecting the affinity of the

Spanish Gitáno to the other dialects, as we conceive we have already

afforded sufficient proof of its original identity with them, and

consequently shaken to the ground the absurd opinion that the Gitános of

Spain are the descendants of the Arabs and Moriscos. We shall now

conclude with a few remarks on the present state of the Gitáno language

in Spain, where, perhaps, within the course of a few years, it will have

perished, without leaving a vestige of its having once existed; and

where, perhaps, the singular people who speak it are likewise doomed to

disappear, becoming sooner or later engulfed and absorbed in the great

body of the nation, amongst whom they have so long existed a separate and

peculiar class.

Though the words or a part of the words of the original tongue still

remain, preserved by memory amongst the Gitános, its grammatical

peculiarities have disappeared, the entire language having been modified

and subjected to the rules of Spanish grammar, with which it now

coincides in syntax, in the conjugation of verbs, and in the declension

of its nouns. Were it possible or necessary to collect all the relics of

this speech, they would probably amount to four or five thousand words;

but to effect such an achievement, it would be necessary to hold close

and long intercourse with almost every Gitáno in Spain, and to extract,

by various means, the peculiar information which he might be capable of

affording; for it is necessary to state here, that though such an amount

of words may still exist amongst the Gitános in general, no single

individual of their sect is in possession of one-third part thereof, nor

indeed, we may add, those of any single city or province of Spain;

nevertheless all are in possession, more or less, of the language, so

that, though of different provinces, they are enabled to understand each

other tolerably well, when discoursing in this their characteristic

speech. Those who travel most are of course best versed in it, as,

independent of the words of their own village or town, they acquire

others by intermingling with their race in various places. Perhaps there

is no part of Spain where it is spoken better than in Madrid, which is

easily accounted for by the fact, that Madrid, as the capital, has always

been the point of union of the Gitános, from all those provinces of Spain

where they are to be found. It is least of all preserved in Seville,

notwithstanding that its Gitáno population is very considerable,

consisting, however, almost entirely of natives of the place. As may

well be supposed, it is in all places best preserved amongst the old

people, their children being comparatively ignorant of it, as perhaps

they themselves are in comparison with their own parents. We are

persuaded that the Gitáno language of Spain is nearly at its last stage

of existence, which persuasion has been our main instigator to the

present attempt to collect its scanty remains, and by the assistance of

the press, rescue it in some degree from destruction. It will not be

amiss to state here, that it is only by listening attentively to the

speech of the Gitános, whilst discoursing amongst themselves, that an

acquaintance with their dialect can be formed, and by seizing upon all

unknown words as they fall in succession from their lips. Nothing can be

more useless and hopeless than the attempt to obtain possession of their

vocabulary by inquiring of them how particular objects and ideas are

styled; for with the exception of the names of the most common things,

they are totally incapable, as a Spanish writer has observed, of yielding

the required information, owing to their great ignorance, the shortness

of their memories, or rather the state of bewilderment to which their

minds are brought by any question which tends to bring their reasoning

faculties into action, though not unfrequently the very words which have

been in vain required of them will, a minute subsequently, proceed

inadvertently from their mouths.

We now take leave of their language. When wishing to praise the

proficiency of any individual in their tongue, they are in the habit of

saying, ‘He understands the seven jargons.’ In the Gospel which we have

printed in this language, and in the dictionary which we have compiled,

we have endeavoured, to the utmost of our ability, to deserve that

compliment; and at all times it will afford us sincere and heartfelt

pleasure to be informed that any Gitáno, capable of appreciating the said

little works, has observed, whilst reading them or hearing them read: It

is clear that the writer of these books understood

THE SEVEN JARGONS.

ON ROBBER LANGUAGE; OR, AS IT IS CALLED IN SPAIN, GERMANIA

‘So I went with them to a music booth, where they made me almost

drunk with gin, and began to talk their _Flash Language_, which I did

not understand.’—Narrative of the Exploits of Henry Simms, executed

at Tyburn, 1746.

‘Hablaronse los dos en Germania, de lo qual resultó darme un abraço,

y ofrecerseme.’—QUEVEDO. Vida dal gran Tacaño.

HAVING in the preceding article endeavoured to afford all necessary

information concerning the Rommany, or language used by the Gypsies

amongst themselves, we now propose to turn our attention to a subject of

no less interest, but which has hitherto never been treated in a manner

calculated to lead to any satisfactory result or conclusion; on the

contrary, though philosophic minds have been engaged in its

consideration, and learned pens have not disdained to occupy themselves

with its details, it still remains a singular proof of the errors into

which the most acute and laborious writers are apt to fall, when they

take upon themselves the task of writing on matters which cannot be

studied in the closet, and on which no information can be received by

mixing in the society of the wise, the lettered, and the respectable, but

which must be investigated in the fields, and on the borders of the

highways, in prisons, and amongst the dregs of society. Had the latter

system been pursued in the matter now before us, much clearer, more

rational, and more just ideas would long since have been entertained

respecting the Germania, or language of thieves.

In most countries of Europe there exists, amongst those who obtain their

existence by the breach of the law, and by preying upon the fruits of the

labours of the quiet and orderly portion of society, a particular jargon

or dialect, in which the former discuss their schemes and plans of

plunder, without being in general understood by those to whom they are

obnoxious. The name of this jargon varies with the country in which it

is spoken. In Spain it is called ‘Germania’; in France, ‘Argot’; in

Germany, ‘Rothwelsch,’ or Red Italian; in Italy, ‘Gergo’; whilst in

England it is known by many names; for example, ‘cant, slang, thieves’

Latin,’ etc. The most remarkable circumstance connected with the history

of this jargon is, that in all the countries in which it is spoken, it

has invariably, by the authors who have treated of it, and who are

numerous, been confounded with the Gypsy language, and asserted to be the

speech of those wanderers who have so long infested Europe under the name

of Gitános, etc. How far this belief is founded in justice we shall now

endeavour to show, with the premise that whatever we advance is derived,

not from the assertions or opinions of others, but from our own

observation; the point in question being one which no person is capable

of solving, save him who has mixed with Gitános and thieves,—not with the

former merely or the latter, but with both.

We have already stated what is the Rommany or language of the Gypsies.

We have proved that when properly spoken it is to all intents and

purposes entitled to the appellation of a language, and that wherever it

exists it is virtually the same; that its origin is illustrious, it being

a daughter of the Sanscrit, and in consequence in close connection with

some of the most celebrated languages of the East, although it at present

is only used by the most unfortunate and degraded of beings, wanderers

without home and almost without country, as wherever they are found they

are considered in the light of foreigners and interlopers. We shall now

state what the language of thieves is, as it is generally spoken in

Europe; after which we shall proceed to analyse it according to the

various countries in which it is used.

The dialect used for their own peculiar purposes amongst thieves is by no

means entitled to the appellation of a language, but in every sense to

that of a jargon or gibberish, it being for the most part composed of

words of the native language of those who use it, according to the

particular country, though invariably in a meaning differing more or less

from the usual and received one, and for the most part in a metaphorical

sense. Metaphor and allegory, indeed, seem to form the nucleus of this

speech, notwithstanding that other elements are to be distinguished; for

it is certain that in every country where it is spoken, it contains many

words differing from the language of that country, and which may either

be traced to foreign tongues, or are of an origin at which, in many

instances, it is impossible to arrive. That which is most calculated to

strike the philosophic mind when considering this dialect, is doubtless

the fact of its being formed everywhere upon the same principle—that of

metaphor, in which point all the branches agree, though in others they

differ as much from each other as the languages on which they are

founded; for example, as the English and German from the Spanish and

Italian. This circumstance naturally leads to the conclusion that the

robber language has not arisen fortuitously in the various countries

where it is at present spoken, but that its origin is one and the same,

it being probably invented by the outlaws of one particular country; by

individuals of which it was, in course of time, carried to others, where

its principles, if not its words, were adopted; for upon no other

supposition can we account for its general metaphorical character in

regions various and distant. It is, of course, impossible to state with

certainty the country in which this jargon first arose, yet there is

cogent reason for supposing that it may have been Italy. The Germans

call it Rothwelsch, which signifies ‘Red Italian,’ a name which appears

to point out Italy as its birthplace; and which, though by no means of

sufficient importance to determine the question, is strongly

corroborative of the supposition, when coupled with the following fact.

We have already intimated, that wherever it is spoken, this speech,

though composed for the most part of words of the language of the

particular country, applied in a metaphorical sense, exhibits a

considerable sprinkling of foreign words; now of these words no slight

number are Italian or bastard Latin, whether in Germany, whether in

Spain, or in other countries more or less remote from Italy. When we

consider the ignorance of thieves in general, their total want of

education, the slight knowledge which they possess even of their mother

tongue, it is hardly reasonable to suppose that in any country they were

ever capable of having recourse to foreign languages, for the purpose of

enriching any peculiar vocabulary or phraseology which they might deem

convenient to use among themselves; nevertheless, by associating with

foreign thieves, who had either left their native country for their

crimes, or from a hope of reaping a rich harvest of plunder in other

lands, it would be easy for them to adopt a considerable number of words

belonging to the languages of their foreign associates, from whom perhaps

they derived an increase of knowledge in thievish arts of every

description. At the commencement of the fifteenth century no nation in

Europe was at all calculated to vie with the Italian in arts of any kind,

whether those whose tendency was the benefit or improvement of society,

or those the practice of which serves to injure and undermine it. The

artists and artisans of Italy were to be found in all the countries of

Europe, from Madrid to Moscow, and so were its charlatans, its jugglers,

and multitudes of its children, who lived by fraud and cunning.

Therefore, when a comprehensive view of the subject is taken, there

appears to be little improbability in supposing, that not only were the

Italians the originators of the metaphorical robber jargon, which has

been termed ‘Red Italian,’ but that they were mainly instrumental in

causing it to be adopted by the thievish race in various countries of

Europe.

It is here, however, necessary to state, that in the robber jargon of

Europe, elements of another language are to be discovered, and perhaps in

greater number than the Italian words. The language which we allude to

is the Rommany; this language has been, in general, confounded with the

vocabulary used among thieves, which, however, is a gross error, so

gross, indeed, that it is almost impossible to conceive the manner in

which it originated: the speech of the Gypsies being a genuine language

of Oriental origin, and the former little more than a phraseology of

convenience, founded upon particular European tongues. It will be

sufficient here to remark, that the Gypsies do not understand the jargon

of the thieves, whilst the latter, with perhaps a few exceptions, are

ignorant of the language of the former. Certain words, however, of the

Rommany have found admission into the said jargon, which may be accounted

for by the supposition that the Gypsies, being themselves by birth,

education, and profession, thieves of the first water, have, on various

occasions, formed alliances with the outlaws of the various countries in

which they are at present to be found, which association may have

produced the result above alluded to; but it will be as well here to

state, that in no country of Europe have the Gypsies forsaken or

forgotten their native tongue, and in its stead adopted the ‘Germania,’

‘Red Italian,’ or robber jargon, although in some they preserve their

native language in a state of less purity than in others. We are induced

to make this statement from an assertion of the celebrated Lorenzo

Hervas, who, in the third volume of his _Catalogo de las Lenguas_, trat.

3, cap. vi., p. 311, expresses himself to the following effect:—‘The

proper language of the Gitános neither is nor can be found amongst those

who scattered themselves through the western kingdoms of Europe, but only

amongst those who remained in the eastern, where they are still to be

found. The former were notably divided and disunited, receiving into

their body a great number of European outlaws, on which account the

language in question was easily adulterated and soon perished. In Spain,

and also in Italy, the Gitános have totally forgotten and lost their

native language; yet still wishing to converse with each other in a

language unknown to the Spaniards and Italians, they have invented some

words, and have transformed many others by changing the signification

which properly belongs to them in Spanish and Italian.’ In proof of

which assertion he then exhibits a small number of words of the ‘Red

Italian,’ or allegorical tongue of the thieves of Italy.

It is much to be lamented that a man like Hervas, so learned, of such

knowledge, and upon the whole well-earned celebrity, should have helped

to propagate three such flagrant errors as are contained in the passages

above quoted: 1st. That the Gypsy language, within a very short period

after the arrival of those who spoke it in the western kingdoms of

Europe, became corrupted, and perished by the admission of outlaws into

the Gypsy fraternity. 2ndly. That the Gypsies, in order to supply the

loss of their native tongue, invented some words, and modified others,

from the Spanish and Italian. 3rdly. That the Gypsies of the present

day in Spain and Italy speak the allegorical robber dialect. Concerning

the first assertion, namely, that the Gypsies of the west lost their

language shortly after their arrival, by mixing with the outlaws of those

parts, we believe that its erroneousness will be sufficiently established

by the publication of the present volume, which contains a dictionary of

the Spanish Gitáno, which we have proved to be the same language in most

points as that spoken by the eastern tribes. There can be no doubt that

the Gypsies have at various times formed alliances with the robbers of

particular countries, but that they ever received them in considerable

numbers into their fraternity, as Hervas has stated, so as to become

confounded with them, the evidence of our eyesight precludes the

possibility of believing. If such were the fact, why do the Italian and

Spanish Gypsies of the present day still present themselves as a distinct

race, differing from the other inhabitants of the west of Europe in

feature, colour, and constitution? Why are they, in whatever situation

and under whatever circumstances, to be distinguished, like Jews, from

the other children of the Creator? But it is scarcely necessary to ask

such a question, or indeed to state that the Gypsies of Spain and Italy

have kept themselves as much apart as, or at least have as little mingled

their blood with the Spaniards and Italians as their brethren in Hungaria

and Transylvania with the inhabitants of those countries, on which

account they still strikingly resemble them in manners, customs, and

appearance. The most extraordinary assertion of Hervas is perhaps his

second, namely, that the Gypsies have invented particular words to supply

the place of others which they had lost. The absurdity of this

supposition nearly induces us to believe that Hervas, who has written so

much and so laboriously on language, was totally ignorant of the

philosophy of his subject. There can be no doubt, as we have before

admitted, that in the robber jargon, whether spoken in Spain, Italy, or

England, there are many words at whose etymology it is very difficult to

arrive; yet such a fact is no excuse for the adoption of the opinion that

these words are of pure invention. A knowledge of the Rommany proves

satisfactorily that many have been borrowed from that language, whilst

many others may be traced to foreign tongues, especially the Latin and

Italian. Perhaps one of the strongest grounds for concluding that the

origin of language was divine is the fact that no instance can be adduced

of the invention, we will not say of a language, but even of a single

word that is in use in society of any kind. Although new dialects are

continually being formed, it is only by a system of modification, by

which roots almost coeval with time itself are continually being

reproduced under a fresh appearance, and under new circumstances. The

third assertion of Hervas, as to the Gitános speaking the allegorical

language of which he exhibits specimens, is entitled to about equal

credence as the two former. The truth is, that the entire store of

erudition of the learned Jesuit, and he doubtless was learned to a

remarkable degree, was derived from books, either printed or manuscript.

He compared the Gypsy words in the publication of Grellmann with various

vocabularies, which had long been in existence, of the robber jargons of

Spain and Italy, which jargons by a strange fatuity had ever been

considered as belonging to the Gypsies. Finding that the Gypsy words of

Grellmann did not at all correspond with the thieves’ slang, he concluded

that the Gypsies of Spain and Italy had forgotten their own language, and

to supply its place had invented the jargons aforesaid, but he never gave

himself the trouble to try whether the Gypsies really understood the

contents of his slang vocabularies; had he done so, he would have found

that the slang was about as unintelligible to the Gypsies as he would

have found the specimens of Grellmann unintelligible to the thieves had

he quoted those specimens to them. The Gypsies of Spain, it will be

sufficient to observe, speak the language of which a vocabulary is given

in the present work, and those of Italy who are generally to be found

existing in a half-savage state in the various ruined castles, relics of

the feudal times, with which Italy abounds, a dialect very similar, and

about as much corrupted. There are, however, to be continually found in

Italy roving bands of Rommany, not natives of the country, who make

excursions from Moldavia and Hungaria to France and Italy, for the

purpose of plunder; and who, if they escape the hand of justice, return

at the expiration of two or three years to their native regions, with the

booty they have amassed by the practice of those thievish arts, perhaps

at one period peculiar to their race, but at present, for the most part,

known and practised by thieves in general. These bands, however, speak

the pure Gypsy language, with all its grammatical peculiarities. It is

evident, however, that amongst neither of these classes had Hervas pushed

his researches, which had he done, it is probable that his investigations

would have resulted in a work of a far different character from the

confused, unsatisfactory, and incorrect details of which is formed his

essay on the language of the Gypsies.

Having said thus much concerning the robber language in general, we shall

now proceed to offer some specimens of it, in order that our readers may

be better able to understand its principles. We shall commence with the

Italian dialect, which there is reason for supposing to be the prototype

of the rest. To show what it is, we avail ourselves of some of the words

adduced by Hervas, as specimens of the language of the Gitános of Italy.

‘I place them,’ he observes, ‘with the signification which the greater

number properly have in Italian.’

Robber jargon of Italy. Proper signification

of the words.

Arm Ale / Barbacane Wings / Barbican

Belly Fagiana Pheasant

Devil Rabuino Perhaps _Rabbin_,

which, in Hebrew, is

Master

Earth Calcosa Street, road

Eye Balco Balcony

Father Grimo Old, wrinkled

Fire Presto Quick

God Anticrotto Probably Antichrist

Hair Prusa {346a}

Head Elmo / Borella {346b} / Chiurla Helmet

{346c}

Heart Salsa Sauce

Man Osmo From the Italian

_uomo_, which is man

Moon Mocoloso di Sant’ Alto Wick of the firmament

Night Brunamaterna Mother-brown

Nose Gambaro Crab

Sun Ruffo di Sant’ Alto Red one of the

firmament

Tongue Serpentina / Danosa Serpent-like /

Hurtful

Water Lenza / Vetta {346d} Fishing-net / Top,

bud

The Germania of Spain may be said to divide itself into two dialects, the

ancient and modern. Of the former there exists a vocabulary, published

first by Juan Hidalgo, in the year 1609, at Barcelona, and reprinted in

Madrid, 1773. Before noticing this work, it will perhaps be advisable to

endeavour to ascertain the true etymology of the word Germania, which

signifies the slang vocabulary, or robber language of Spain. We have no

intention to embarrass our readers by offering various conjectures

respecting its origin; its sound, coupled with its signification,

affording sufficient evidence that it is but a corruption of Rommany,

which properly denotes the speech of the Roma or Gitános. The thieves

who from time to time associated with this wandering people, and acquired

more or less of their language, doubtless adopted this term amongst

others, and, after modifying it, applied it to the peculiar phraseology

which, in the course of time, became prevalent amongst them. The

dictionary of Hidalgo is appended to six ballads, or romances, by the

same author, written in the Germanian dialect, in which he describes the

robber life at Seville at the period in which he lived. All of these

romances possess their peculiar merit, and will doubtless always be

considered valuable, and be read as faithful pictures of scenes and

habits which now no longer exist. In the prologue, the author states

that his principal motive for publishing a work written in so strange a

language was his observing the damage which resulted from an ignorance of

the Germania, especially to the judges and ministers of justice, whose

charge it is to cleanse the public from the pernicious gentry who use it.

By far the greatest part of the vocabulary consists of Spanish words used

allegorically, which are, however, intermingled with many others, most of

which may be traced to the Latin and Italian, others to the Sanscrit or

Gitáno, Russian, Arabic, Turkish, Greek, and German languages. {348} The

circumstances of words belonging to some of the languages last enumerated

being found in the Gitáno, which at first may strike the reader as

singular, and almost incredible, will afford but slight surprise, when he

takes into consideration the peculiar circumstances of Spain during the

sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Spain was at that period the most

powerful monarchy in Europe; her foot reposed upon the Low Countries,

whilst her gigantic arms embraced a considerable portion of Italy.

Maintaining always a standing army in Flanders and in Italy, it followed

as a natural consequence, that her Miquelets and soldiers became

tolerably conversant with the languages of those countries; and, in

course of time, returning to their native land, not a few, especially of

the former class, a brave and intrepid, but always a lawless and

dissolute species of soldiery, either fell in or returned to evil

society, and introduced words which they had learnt abroad into the

robber phraseology; whilst returned galley-slaves from Algiers, Tunis,

and Tetuan, added to its motley variety of words from the relics of the

broken Arabic and Turkish, which they had acquired during their

captivity. The greater part of the Germania, however, remained strictly

metaphorical, and we are aware of no better means of conveying an idea of

the principle on which it is formed, than by quoting from the first

romance of Hidalgo, where particular mention is made of this jargon:—

‘A la cama llama Blanda

Donde Sornan en poblado

A la Fresada Vellosa,

Que mucho vello ha criado.

Dice á la sabana Alba

Porque es alba en sumo grado,

A la camisa Carona,

Al jubon llama apretado:

Dice al Sayo Tapador

Porque le lleva tapado.

Llama á los zapatos Duros,

Que las piedras van pisando.

A la capa llama nuve,

Dice al Sombrero Texado.

Respeto llama á la Espada,

Que por ella es respetado,’ etc. etc.

HIDALGO, p. 22–3.

After these few remarks on the ancient Germania of Spain, we now proceed

to the modern, which differs considerably from the former. The principal

cause of this difference is to be attributed to the adoption by the

Spanish outlaws, in latter years, of a considerable number of words

belonging to, or modified from, the Rommany, or language of the Gitános.

The Gitános of Spain, during the last half-century, having, in a great

degree, abandoned the wandering habit of life which once constituted one

of their most remarkable peculiarities, and residing, at present, more in

the cities than in the fields, have come into closer contact with the

great body of the Spanish nation than was in former days their practice.

From their living thus in towns, their language has not only undergone

much corruption, but has become, to a slight degree, known to the dregs

of society, amongst whom they reside. The thieves’ dialect of the

present day exhibits, therefore, less of the allegorical language

preserved in the pages of Hidalgo than of the Gypsy tongue. It must be

remarked, however, that it is very scanty, and that the whole robber

phraseology at present used in Spain barely amounts to two hundred words,

which are utterly insufficient to express the very limited ideas of the

outcasts who avail themselves of it.

Concerning the Germania of France, or ‘Argot,’ as it is called, it is

unnecessary to make many observations, as what has been said of the

language of Hidalgo and the Red Italian is almost in every respect

applicable to it. As early as the middle of the sixteenth century a

vocabulary of this jargon was published under the title of _Langue des

Escrocs_, at Paris. Those who wish to study it as it at present exists

can do no better than consult _Les Mémoires de Vidocq_, where a multitude

of words in Argot are to be found, and also several songs, the subjects

of which are thievish adventures.

The first vocabulary of the ‘Cant Language,’ or English Germania,

appeared in the year 1680, appended to the life of _The English Rogue_, a

work which, in many respects, resembles the _History of Guzman

d’Alfaráche_, though it is written with considerably more genius than the

Spanish novel, every chapter abounding with remarkable adventures of the

robber whose life it pretends to narrate, and which are described with a

kind of ferocious energy, which, if it do not charm the attention of the

reader, at least enslaves it, holding it captive with a chain of iron.

Amongst his other adventures, the hero falls in with a Gypsy encampment,

is enrolled amongst the fraternity, and is allotted a ‘mort,’ or

concubine; a barbarous festival ensues, at the conclusion of which an

epithalamium is sung in the Gypsy language, as it is called in the work

in question. Neither the epithalamium, however, nor the vocabulary, are

written in the language of the English Gypsies, but in the ‘Cant,’ or

allegorical robber dialect, which is sufficient proof that the writer,

however well acquainted with thieves in general, their customs and

manners of life, was in respect to the Gypsies profoundly ignorant. His

vocabulary, however, has been always accepted as the speech of the

English Gypsies, whereas it is at most entitled to be considered as the

peculiar speech of the thieves and vagabonds of his time. The cant of

the present day, which, though it differs in some respects from the

vocabulary already mentioned, is radically the same, is used not only by

the thieves in town and country, but by the jockeys of the racecourse and

the pugilists of the ‘ring.’ As a specimen of the cant of England, we

shall take the liberty of quoting the epithalamium to which we have above

alluded:—

‘Bing out, bien morts, and tour and tour

Bing out, bien morts and tour;

For all your duds are bing’d awast,

The bien cove hath the loure. {351}

‘I met a dell, I viewed her well,

She was benship to my watch:

So she and I did stall and cloy

Whatever we could catch.

‘This doxy dell can cut ben whids,

And wap well for a win,

And prig and cloy so benshiply,

All daisy-ville within.

‘The hoyle was up, we had good luck,

In frost for and in snow;

Men they did seek, then we did creep

And plant the roughman’s low.’

It is scarcely necessary to say anything more upon the Germania in

general or in particular; we believe that we have achieved the task which

we marked out for ourselves, and have conveyed to our readers a clear and

distinct idea of what it is. We have shown that it has been erroneously

confounded with the Rommany, or Gitáno language, with which it has

nevertheless some points of similarity. The two languages are, at the

present day, used for the same purpose, namely, to enable habitual

breakers of the law to carry on their consultations with more secrecy and

privacy than by the ordinary means. Yet it must not be forgotten that

the thieves’ jargon was invented for that purpose, whilst the Rommany,

originally the proper and only speech of a particular nation, has been

preserved from falling into entire disuse and oblivion, because adapted

to answer the same end. It was impossible to treat of the Rommany in a

manner calculated to exhaust the subject, and to leave no ground for

future cavilling, without devoting a considerable space to the

consideration of the robber dialect, on which account we hope we shall be

excused many of the dry details which we have introduced into the present

essay. There is a link of connection between the history of the Roma, or

wanderers from Hindustan, who first made their appearance in Europe at

the commencement of the fifteenth century, and that of modern roguery.

Many of the arts which the Gypsies proudly call their own, and which were

perhaps at one period peculiar to them, have become divulged, and are now

practised by the thievish gentry who infest the various European states,

a result which, we may assert with confidence, was brought about by the

alliance of the Gypsies being eagerly sought on their first arrival by

the thieves, who, at one period, were less skilful than the former in the

ways of deceit and plunder; which kind of association continued and held

good until the thieves had acquired all they wished to learn, when they

left the Gypsies in the fields and plains, so dear to them from their

vagabond and nomad habits, and returned to the towns and cities. Yet

from this temporary association were produced two results; European fraud

became sharpened by coming into contact with Asiatic craft, whilst

European tongues, by imperceptible degrees, became recruited with various

words (some of them wonderfully expressive), many of which have long been

stumbling-stocks to the philologist, who, whilst stigmatising them as

words of mere vulgar invention, or of unknown origin, has been far from

dreaming that by a little more research he might have traced them to the

Sclavonic, Persian, or Romaic, or perhaps to the mysterious object of his

veneration, the Sanscrit, the sacred tongue of the palm-covered regions

of Ind; words originally introduced into Europe by objects too miserable

to occupy for a moment his lettered attention—the despised denizens of

the tents of Roma.

ON THE TERM ‘BUSNO’

Those who have done me the honour to peruse this strange wandering book

of mine, must frequently have noticed the word ‘Busno,’ a term bestowed

by the Spanish Gypsy on his good friend the Spaniard. As the present

will probably be the last occasion which I shall have to speak of the

Gitános or anything relating to them, it will perhaps be advisable to

explain the meaning of this word. In the vocabulary appended to former

editions I have translated Busno by such words as Gentile, savage, person

who is not a Gypsy, and have stated that it is probably connected with a

certain Sanscrit noun signifying an impure person. It is, however,

derived immediately from a Hungarian term, exceedingly common amongst the

lower orders of the Magyars, to their disgrace be it spoken. The

Hungarian Gypsies themselves not unfrequently style the Hungarians

Busnoes, in ridicule of their unceasing use of the word in question. The

first Gypsies who entered Spain doubtless brought with them the term from

Hungary, the language of which country they probably understood to a

certain extent. That it was not ill applied by them in Spain no one will

be disposed to deny when told that it exactly corresponds with the

Shibboleth of the Spaniards, ‘Carajo,’ an oath equally common in Spain as

its equivalent in Hungary. Busno, therefore, in Spanish means _El del

carajo_, or he who has that term continually in his mouth. The Hungarian

words in Spanish Gypsy may amount to ten or twelve, a very inconsiderable

number; but the Hungarian Gypsy tongue itself, as spoken at the present

day, exhibits only a slight sprinkling of Hungarian words, whilst it

contains many words borrowed from the Wallachian, some of which have

found their way into Spain, and are in common use amongst the Gitános.

SPECIMENS OF GYPSY DIALECTS

THE ENGLISH DIALECT OF THE ROMMANY

‘TACHIPEN if I jaw ’doi, I can lel a bit of tan to hatch: N’etist I

shan’t puch kekomi wafu gorgies.’

The above sentence, dear reader, I heard from the mouth of Mr.

Petulengro, the last time that he did me the honour to visit me at my

poor house, which was the day after Mol-divvus {359}, 1842: he stayed

with me during the greater part of the morning, discoursing on the

affairs of Egypt, the aspect of which, he assured me, was becoming daily

worse and worse. ‘There is no living for the poor people, brother,’ said

he, ‘the chokengres (police) pursue us from place to place, and the

gorgios are become either so poor or miserly, that they grudge our cattle

a bite of grass by the wayside, and ourselves a yard of ground to light a

fire upon. Unless times alter, brother, and of that I see no

probability, unless you are made either poknees or mecralliskoe geiro

(justice of the peace or prime minister), I am afraid the poor persons

will have to give up wandering altogether, and then what will become of

them?’

‘However, brother,’ he continued, in a more cheerful tone, ‘I am no

hindity mush, {360a} as you well know. I suppose you have not forgot

how, fifteen years ago, when you made horseshoes in the little dingle by

the side of the great north road, I lent you fifty cottors {360b} to

purchase the wonderful trotting cob of the innkeeper with the green

Newmarket coat, which three days after you sold for two hundred.

‘Well, brother, if you had wanted the two hundred instead of the fifty, I

could have lent them to you, and would have done so, for I knew you would

not be long pazorrhus to me. I am no hindity mush, brother, no Irishman;

I laid out the other day twenty pounds in buying ruponoe peamengries;

{360c} and in the Chonggav, {360d} have a house of my own with a yard

behind it.

‘_And_, _forsooth_, _if I go thither_, _I can choose a place to light

afire upon_, _and shall have no necessity to ask leave of these here

Gentiles_.’

Well, dear reader, this last is the translation of the Gypsy sentence

which heads the chapter, and which is a very characteristic specimen of

the general way of speaking of the English Gypsies.

The language, as they generally speak it, is a broken jargon, in which

few of the grammatical peculiarities of the Rommany are to be

distinguished. In fact, what has been said of the Spanish Gypsy dialect

holds good with respect to the English as commonly spoken: yet the

English dialect has in reality suffered much less than the Spanish, and

still retains its original syntax to a certain extent, its peculiar

manner of conjugating verbs, and declining nouns and pronouns.

ENGLISH DIALECT

Moro Dad, savo djives oteh drey o charos, te caumen Gorgio ta Romany

Chal tiro nav, te awel tiro tem, te kairen tiro lav aukko prey puv,

sar kairdios oteh drey o charos. Dey men to-divvus moro divvuskoe

moro, ta for-dey men pazorrhus tukey sar men for-denna len pazorrhus

amande; ma muk te petrenna drey caik temptacionos; ley men abri sor

doschder. Tiro se o tem, Mi-duvel, tiro o zoozlu vast, tiro sor

koskopen drey sor cheros. Avali. Ta-chipen.

SPANISH DIALECT

Batu monro sos socabas oté enré ye char, que camele Gacho ta Romani

Cha tiro nao, qu’abillele tiro chim, querese tiro lao acoi opré ye

puve sarta se querela oté enré ye char. Diñanos sejonia monro manro

de cata chibes, ta estormenanos monrias bisauras sasta mu

estormenamos a monrias bisabadores; na nos meques petrar enré cayque

pajandia, lillanos abri de saro chungalipen. Persos tiro sinela o

chim, Undevel, tiro ye silna bast, tiro saro lachipen enré saro

chiros. Unga. Chachipé.

_English Translation of the above_

Our Father who dwellest there in heaven, may Gentile and Gypsy love

thy name, thy kingdom come, may they do thy word here on earth as it

is done there in heaven. Give us to-day our daily bread, {361a} and

forgive us indebted to thee as we forgive them indebted to us, {361b}

suffer not that we fall into _no_ temptation, take us out from all

evil. {361c} Thine {361d} is the kingdom my God, thine the strong

hand, thine all goodness in all time. Aye. Truth.

HUNGARIAN DIALECT

The following short sentences in Hungarian Gypsy, in addition to the

prayer to the Virgin given in the Introduction, will perhaps not prove

unacceptable to the reader. In no part of the world is the Gypsy tongue

at the present day spoken with more purity than in Hungary, {362} where

it is used by the Gypsies not only when they wish to be unintelligible to

the Hungarians, but in their common conversation amongst themselves.

From these sentences the reader, by the help of the translations which

accompany them, may form a tolerable idea not only of what the Gypsy

tongue is, but of the manner in which the Hungarian Gypsies think and

express themselves. They are specimens of genuine Gypsy talk—sentences

which I have myself heard proceed from the mouths of the Czigany; they

are not Busno thoughts done into gentle Rommany. Some of them are given

here as they were written down by me at the time, others as I have

preserved them in my memory up to the present moment. It is not

improbable that at some future time I may return to the subject of the

Hungarian Gypsies.

Varé tava soskei me puchelas cai Much I ponder why you ask me

soskei avillara catári. (questions), and why you should

come hither.

Mango le gulo Devlas vas o erai, I pray the sweet Goddess for the

hodj o erai te pirel misto, te gentleman, that the gentleman may

n’avel pascotia l’eras, ta na journey well, that misfortune

avel o erai nasvalo. come not to the gentleman, and

that the gentleman fall not sick.

Cana cames aves pale. When you please come back.

Ki’som dhes keral avel o rai How many days did the gentleman

catari? {363a} take to come hither?

Kit somu berschengro hal tu? How many years old are you?

{363b}

Cadé abri mai lachi e mol sar Here out better (is) the wine

ando foro. than in the city.

Sin o mas balichano, ta i gorkhe The meat is of pig, and the

garasheskri; {363c} sin o manro gherkins cost a grosh—the bread

parno, cai te felo do is white, and the lard costs two

garashangro. groshen.

Yeck quartalli mol ando lende. One quart of wine amongst us.

Andé mol oté mestchibo. In wine there (is) happiness.

Khava piava—dui shel, tri shel I will eat, I will drink—two

predinava. hundred, three hundred I will

place before.

Damen Devla saschipo ando mure Give us Goddess health in our

cocala. bones.

Te rosarow labio tarraco le I will seek a waistcoat, which I

Mujeskey miro pralesco, ta vela have, for Moses my brother, and I

mi anao tukey le Mujeskey miro will change names with Moses my

pralesky. brother. {363d}

Llundun baro foro, bishwar mai London (is) a big city, twenty

baro sar Cosvaro. times more big than Colosvar.

Nani yag, mullas. There is no fire, it is dead.

Nasiliom cai purdiom but; besh te I have suffered and toiled much:

pansch bersch mi homas slugadhis twenty and five years I was

pa Baron Splini regimentos. serving in Baron Splini’s

regiment.

Saro chiro cado Del; cavo o puro Every time (cometh) from God;

diñas o Del. that old (age) God gave.

Me camov te jav ando I wish to go unto Bukarest—from

Buka-resti—cado Bukaresti lachico Bukarest, the good country, (it

tem dur drom jin keri. is) a far way unto (my) house.

Mi hom nasvallo. I am sick.

Soskei nai jas ke baro ful-cheri? Why do you not go to the great

physician

Wei mangue ke nani man lové Because I have no money I can’t

nastis jav. go

Belgra sho mille pu cado Belgrade (is) six miles of land

Cosvarri; hin oter miro chabo. from Colosvar; there is my son.

Te vas Del l’erangue ke meclan May God help the gentlemen that

man abri ando a pan-dibo. they let me out (from) in the

prison.

Opré rukh sarkhi ye chiriclo, ca On the tree (is) the nest of the

kerel anre e chiricli. bird, where makes eggs the female

bird.

Ca hin tiro ker? Where is your house?

Ando calo berkho, oter bin miro In the black mountain, there is

ker, av prala mensar; jas mengue my house; come brother with me;

keri. let us go to my house.

Ando bersch dui chiro, ye ven, ta In the year (are) two seasons,

nilei. the winter and summer.

O felhegos del o breschino, te The cloud gives the rain, and

purdel o barbal. puffs (forth) the wind.

Hir mi Devlis camo but cavo By my God I love much that

erai—lacho manus o, Anglus, tama gentleman—a good man he, an

rakarel Ungarica; avel catari Englishman, but he speaks

ando urdon le trin Hungarian; he came {364a} hither

gras-tensas—beshel cate abri po in a waggon with three horses, he

buklo tan; le poivasis ando bas sits here out in the wilderness;

irinel ando lel. Bo zedun stadji {364b} with a pencil in his hand

ta bari barba. he writes in a book. He has a

green hat and a big beard.

VOCABULARY OF THEIR LANGUAGE

This section of the book could not be transcribed in 1997 as it contained

many non-european languages and Gutenberg didn’t support Unicode then.

It will be transcribed at some future point.—DP, August 2019.

APPENDIX

MISCELLANIES IN THE GITÁNO LANGUAGE

ADVERTISEMENT

IT is with the view of preserving as many as possible of the monuments of

the Spanish Gypsy tongue that the author inserts the following pieces;

they are for the most part, whether original or translated, the

productions of the ‘Aficion’ of Seville, of whom something has been said

in the Preface to the Spurious Gypsy Poetry of Andalusia; not the least

remarkable, however, of these pieces is a genuine Gypsy composition, the

translation of the Apostles’ Creed by the Gypsies of Cordova, made under

the circumstances detailed in the second part of the first volume. To

all have been affixed translations, more or less literal, to assist those

who may wish to form some acquaintance with the Gitáno language.

COTORRES ON CHIPE CALLI / MISCELLANIES

BATO Nonrro sos socabas on o tarpe, manjirificádo quejésa tute acnao;

abillános or tute sichén, y querese tute orependola andial on la chen

sata on o tarpe; or manrro nonrro de cata chibel diñanoslo sejoñía, y

estormenanos nonrrias bisauras andial sata gabéres estormenamos á nonrros

bisaraores; y nasti nes muques petrar on la bajanbó, bus listrabanos de

chorre.—Anarania.

FATHER Our, who dwellest in the heaven, sanctified become thy name;

come-to-us the thy kingdom, and be-done thy will so in the earth as in

the heaven; the bread our of every day give-us-it to-day, and pardon-us

our debts so as we-others pardon (to) our debtors; and not let us fall in

the temptation, but deliver-us from wickedness.—Amen.

Panchabo on Ostebe Bato saro-asisiláble, Perbaraor de o tarpe y la chen,

y on Gresoné desquero Beyio Chabal nonrrio Eraño, sos guilló

sar-trujatapucherído per troecane y sardaña de or Chanispero Manjaro, y

pureló de Manjari ostelinda debla; Bricholó ostelé de or asislar de Brono

Alieñicato; guilló trejuficao, mule y cabañao; y sundiló á los casinobés,

{416} y á or brodeló chibél repureló de enrre los mulés, y encalomó á los

otarpes, y soscabela bestíque á la tabastorre de Ostebe Bato

saro-asisilable, ende aotér á de abillar á sarplar á los Apucheris y

mulés. Panchabo on or Chanispero Manjaró, la Manjari Cangari Pebuldórica

y Rebuldórica, la Erunon de los Manjarós, or Estormén de los crejétes, la

repureló de la mansenquere y la chibibén verable.—Anarania, Tebléque.

I believe in God, Father all-powerful, creator of the heaven and the

earth, and in Christ his only Son our Lord, who went conceived by deed

and favour of the Spirit Holy, and born of blessed goddess divine;

suffered under (of) the might of Bronos Alienicatos; {417a} went

crucified, dead and buried; and descended to the conflagrations, and on

the third day revived {417b} from among the dead, and ascended to the

heavens, and dwells seated at the right-hand of God, Father all-powerful,

from there he-has to come to impeach (to) the living and dead. I believe

in the Spirit Holy, the Holy Church Catholic and Apostolic, the communion

of the saints, the remission of the sins, the re-birth of the flesh, and

the life everlasting.—Amen, Jesus.

OCANAJIMIA A LA DEBLA / PRAYER TO THE VIRGIN

O Débla quirindía, Day de sarós los Bordeles on coin panchabo: per los

duquipénes sos naquelástes á or pindré de la trejúl de tute Chaborró

majarolísimo te manguélo, Débla, me alcorabíses de tute chaborró or

estormén de sares las dojis y crejétes sos menda udicáre aquerao on

andoba surdéte.—Anarania, Tebléque.

Ostebé te berarbe Ostelinda! perdoripe sirles de sardañá; or Erañó sin

sartute; bresban tute sirles enrré sares las rumiles, y bresban sin or

frujero de tute po.—Tebléque.

Manjari Ostelinda, day de Ostebé, brichardila per gabéres crejetaóres

aocaná y on la ocana de nonrra beribén!—Anarania, Tebléque.

Chimuclani or Bato, or Chabal, or Chanispero manjaró; sata sia on or

presimelo, aocana, y gajeres: on los sicles de los sicles.—Anarania.

O most holy Virgin, Mother of all the Christians in whom I believe; for

the agony which thou didst endure at the foot of the cross of thy most

blessed Son, I entreat thee, Virgin, that thou wilt obtain for me, from

thy Son, the remission of all the crimes and sins which I may have

committed in this world.—Amen, Jesus.

God save thee, Maria! full art thou of grace; the Lord is with thee;

blessed art thou amongst all women, and blessed is the fruit of thy

womb.—Jesus.

Holy Maria, mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and in the hour of

our death!—Amen, Jesus.

Glory (to) the Father, the Son, (and) the Holy Ghost; as was in the

beginning, now, and for ever: in the ages of the ages.—Amen.

OR CREDO / THE CREED

SARTA LO CHIBELARON LOS CALES DE CORDOVATI / TRANSLATED BY THE GYSPIES OF

CORDOVA

Pachabélo en Un-debel batu tosaro-baro, que ha querdi el char y la

chiqué; y en Un-debél chinoró su unico chaboró eraño de amangue, que

chaló en el trupo de la Majarí por el Duquende Majoró, y abió del veo de

la Majarí; guilló curádo debájo de la sila de Pontio Piláto el chínobaró;

guilló mulo y garabado; se chalé á las jacháris; al trin chibé se ha

sicobádo de los mulés al char; sinéla bejádo á las baste de Un-debél

barreá; y de oté abiará á juzgar á los mulés y á los que no lo sinélan;

pachabélo en el Majaró; la Cangrí Majarí bareá; el jalar de los Majaries;

lo mecó de los grécos; la resureccion de la maas, y la ochi que no

maréla.

I believe in God the Father all-great, who has made the heaven and the

earth; and in God the young, his only Son, the Lord of us, who went into

the body of the blessed (maid) by (means of) the Holy Ghost, and came out

of the womb of the blessed; he was tormented beneath the power of Pontius

Pilate, the great Alguazil; was dead and buried; he went (down) to the

fires; on the third day he raised himself from the dead unto the heaven;

he is seated at the major hand of God; and from thence he shall come to

judge the dead and those who are not (dead). I believe in the blessed

one; in the church holy and great; the banquet of the saints; the

remission of sins; the resurrection of the flesh, and the life which does

not die.

REJELENDRES / PROVERBS

Or soscabela juco y teráble garipé no le sin perfiné anelar relichi.

Bus yes manupe cha machagarno le pendan chuchipon los brochabos.

Sacais sos ne dicobélan calochin ne bridaquélan.

Coin terelare trasardos e dinastes nasti le buchare berrandáñas á

desquero contiqué.

On sares las cachimanes de Sersen abillen rechés.

Bus mola yes chirriclo on la ba sos grés balogando.

A Ostebé brichardilando y sar or mochique diñelando.

Bus mola quesar jero de gabuño sos manporí de bombardo.

Dicár y panchabár, sata penda Manjaró Lillar.

Or esorjié de or narsichislé sin chismar lachinguél.

Las queles mistos grobelás: per macara chibel la pirí y de rachi la

operisa.

Aunsos me dicas vriardao de jorpoy ne sirlo braco.

Chachipé con jujána—Calzones de buchí y medias de lana.

Chuquel sos piréla cocal teréla.

Len sos sonsi bela pani ó reblandani teréla.

He who is lean and has scabs needs not carry a net. {419a}

When a man goes drunk the boys say to him ‘suet.’ {419b}

Eyes which see not break no heart.

He who has a roof of glass let him not fling stones at his neighbour.

Into all the taverns of Spain may reeds come.

A bird in the hand is worth more than a hundred flying.

To God (be) praying and with the flail plying.

It is worth more to be the head of a mouse than the tail of a lion.

To see and to believe, as Saint Thomas says.

The extreme {421a} of a dwarf is to spit largely.

Houses well managed:—at mid-day the stew-pan, {421b} and at night salad.

Although thou seest me dressed in wool I am no sheep.

Truth with falsehood-Breeches of silk and stockings of Wool. {421c}

The dog who walks finds a bone.

The river which makes a noise {421d} has either water or stones.

ODORES YE TILICHE / THE LOVER’S JEALOUSY

Dica Callí sos linastes terelas, plasarandote misto men calochin

desquiñao de trinchas puñís y canrrias, sata anjella terelaba dicando on

los chorres naquelos sos me tesumiaste, y andial reutilá á men Jelí,

diñela gao á sos menda orobibele; men puñi sin trincha per la quimbíla

nevel de yes manu barbaló; sos saro se muca per or jandorro. Lo sos bus

prejeno Callí de los Bengorros sin sos nu muqueis per yes manú barbalo. . . .

On tute orchíri nu chismo, tramistó on coin te araquera, sos menda

terela men nostus pa avel sos me caméla bus sos túte.

Reflect, O Callee! {421e} what motives hast thou (now that my heart is

doting on thee, having rested awhile from so many cares and griefs which

formerly it endured, beholding the evil passages which thou preparedst

for me;) to recede thus from my love, giving occasion to me to weep. My

agony is great on account of thy recent acquaintance with a rich man; for

every thing is abandoned for money’s sake. What I most feel, O Callee,

of the devils is, that thou abandonest me for a rich man . . . I spit

upon thy beauty, and also upon him who converses with thee, for I keep my

money for another who loves me more than thou.

OR PERSIBARARSE SIN CHORO / THE EVILS OF CONCUBINAGE

Gajeres sin corbó rifian soscabar yes manu persibaraó, per sos saro se

linbidían odoros y besllí, y per esegritón apuchelan on sardañá de saros

los Benjes, techescándo grejos y olajais—de sustíri sos lo resaronomó

niquilla murmo; y andial lo fendi sos terelamos de querar sin techescarle

yes sulibári á or Jelí, y ne panchabar on caute manusardí, persos trutan

á yesque lilí.

It is always a strange danger for a man to live in concubinage, because

all turns to jealousy and quarrelling, and at last they live in the

favour of all the devils, voiding oaths and curses: so that what is cheap

turns out dear. So the best we can do, is to cast a bridle on love, and

trust to no woman, for they {423a} make a man mad.

LOS CHORES / THE ROBBERS

On grejelo chiro begoreó yesque berbanilla de chores á la burda de yes

mostipelo a oleba rachí—Andial sos la prejenáron los cambraís

presimeláron a cobadrar; sar andoba linaste changanó or lanbró, se

sustiñó de la charipé de lapa, utiló la pusca, y niquilló platanando per

or platesqueró de or mostipelo á la burda sos socabelába pandí, y per or

jobi de la clichí chibeló or jundró de la pusca, le diñó pesquibo á or

languté, y le sumuqueló yes bruchasnó on la tesquéra á or Jojerián de los

ostilaóres y lo techescó de or gráte á ostelé. Andial sos los debus

quimbilos dicobeláron á desquero Jojerian on chen sar las canrriáles de

la Beriben, lo chibeláron espusifias á los grastes, y niquilláron

chapescando, trutando la romuy apála, per bausalé de las machas ó

almedálles de liripió.

On a certain time arrived a band of thieves at the gate of a farm-house

at midnight. So soon as the dogs heard them they began to bark, which

causing {423b} the labourer to awake, he raised himself from his bed with

a start, took his musket, and went running to the court-yard of the

farm-house to the gate, which was shut, placed the barrel of his musket

to the keyhole, gave his finger its desire, {423c} and sent a bullet into

the forehead of the captain of the robbers, casting him down from his

horse. Soon as the other fellows saw their captain on the ground in the

agonies of death, they clapped spurs to their horses, and galloped off

fleeing, turning their faces back on account of the flies {423d} or

almonds of lead.

COTOR YE GABICOTE MAJARO / SPECIMEN OF THE GOSPEL

OR SOS SARO LO HA CHIBADO EN CHIPE CALLI OR RANDADOR DE OCONOS PAPIRIS

AUNSOS NARDIAN LO HA DINADO AL SURDETE / FROM THE AUTHOR’S UNPUBLISHED

TRANSLATION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT

Y soscabando dicando dicó los Barbalós sos techescában desqueros mansis

on or Gazofilacio; y dicó tramisto yesque pispiricha chorrorita, sos

techescába duis chinorris sarabállis, y peneló: en chachipé os peneló,

sos caba chorrorri pispiricha á techescao bus sos sares los avéles:

persos saros ondobas han techescao per los mansis de Ostebé, de lo sos

les costuña; bus caba e desquero chorrorri á techescao saro or susalo sos

terelaba. Y pendó á cormuñís, sos pendában del cangaripé, soscabelaba

uriardao de orchíris berrandáñas, y de dénes: Cabas buchis sos dicais,

abillarán chibeles, bus ne muquelará berrandáña costuñé berrandáña, sos

ne quesesa demarabeá. Y le prucháron y pendáron: Docurdó, bus quesa

ondoba? Y sos simachi abicará bus ondoba presimáre? Ondole pencló:

Dicad, sos nasti queseis jonjabaos; persos butes abillarán on men acnao,

pendando: man sirlo, y or chiro soscabéla pajes: Garabaos de guillelar

apalà, de ondoláyos: y bus junureis bargañas y sustiñés, ne os espajuéis;

persos sin perfiné sos ondoba chundée brotobó, bus nasti quesa escotriá

or egresitón. Oclinde les pendaba: se sustinará suéste sartra suéste, y

sichén sartra sichén, y abicará bareles dajirós de chénes per los gaos, y

retréques y bocátas, y abicará buchengerés espajuis, y bareles simachis

de otárpe: bus anjella de saro ondoba os sinastrarán y preguillarán,

enregandoós á la Socretería, y los ostardós, y os legerarán á los

Ocláyes, y á los Baquedunis, per men acnao: y ondoba os chundeará on

chachipé. Terelad pus seraji on bros garlochínes de ne orobrár anjella

sata abicáis de brudilar, persos man os diñaré rotuñí y chanár, la sos ne

asislarán resistír ne sartra pendar satos bros enormes. Y quesaréis

enregaos de bros bátos, y oprános, y sastris, y monrrores, y querarán

merar á cormuñí de avéres; y os cangelarán saros per men acnao; bus ne

carjibará ies bal de bros jerós. Sar bras opachirimá avelaréis bras

orchis: pus bus dicaréis á Jerusalén relli, oclinde chanad sos, desqueró

petra soscabela pajés; oclinde los soscabelan on la Chutéa, chapésguen á

los tober-jélis; y los que on macara de ondolaya, niquillense; y lo sos

on los oltariqués, nasti enrren on ondoláya; persos ondoba sen chibéles

de Abilláza, pa sos chundéen sares las buchís soscabélan libanás; bus

isna de las ararís, y de las sos diñan de oropielar on asirios chibéles;

persos abicará bare quichartúra costuñe la chen, e guillará pa andoba

Gao; y petrarán á surabi de janrró; y quesan legeraos sinastros á sarés

las chénes, y Jerusalén quesá omaná de los suestíles, sasta sos quejesen

los chirós de las sichenes; y abicara simachés on or orcán, y on la

chimutiá, y on las uchurgañis; y on la chen chalabeó on la suéte per or

dán sos bausalará la loria y des-querós gulas; muquelándo los romáres

bifaos per dajiraló de las buchís sos costuñe abillarán á saro or

surdéte; persos los soláres de los otarpes quesan sar-chalabeaos; y

oclinde dicarán á or Chaboró e Manú abillar costuñe yesque minrriclá sar

baro asislar y Chimusolano: bus presimelaren á chundear caba buchis,

dicád, y sustiñád bros jerós, persos pajes soscabela bras redención.

And whilst looking he saw the rich who cast their treasures into the

treasury; and he saw also a poor widow, who cast two small coins, and he

said: In truth I tell you, that this poor widow has cast more than all

the others; because all those have cast, as offerings to God, from that

which to them abounded; but she from her poverty has cast all the

substance which she had. And he said to some, who said of the temple,

that it was adorned with fair stones, and with gifts: These things which

ye see, days shall come, when stone shall not remain upon stone, which

shall not be demolished. And they asked him and said: Master, when shall

this be? and what sign shall there be when this begins? He said: See,

that ye be not deceived, because many shall come in my name, saying: I am

(he), and the time is near: beware ye of going after them: and when ye

shall hear (of) wars and revolts do not fear, because it is needful that

this happen first, for the end shall not be immediately. Then he said to

them: Nation shall rise against nation, and country against country, and

there shall be great tremblings of earth among the towns, and pestilences

and famines; and there shall be frightful things, and great signs in the

heaven: but before all this they shall make ye captive, and shall

persecute, delivering ye over to the synagogue, and prisons; and they

shall carry ye to the kings, and the governors, on account of my name:

and this shall happen to you for truth. Keep then firm in your hearts,

not to think before how ye have to answer, for I will give you mouth and

wisdom, which all your enemies shall not be able to resist, or

contradict. And ye shall be delivered over by your fathers, and

brothers, and relations, and friends, and they shall put to death some of

you; and all shall hate you for my name; but not one hair of your heads

shall perish. With your patience ye shall possess your souls: but when

ye shall see Jerusalem surrounded, then know that its fall is near; then

those who are in Judea, let them escape to the mountains; and those who

are in the midst of her, let them go out; and those who are in the

fields, let them not enter into her; because those are days of vengeance,

that all the things which are written may happen; but alas to the

pregnant and those who give suck in those days, for there shall be great

distress upon the earth, and it shall move onward against this people;

and they shall fall by the edge of the sword; and they shall be carried

captive to all the countries, and Jerusalem shall be trodden by the

nations, until are accomplished the times of the nations; and there shall

be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and in the earth

trouble of nations from the fear which the sea and its billows shall

cause; leaving men frozen with terror of the things which shall come upon

all the world; because the powers of the heavens shall be shaken; and

then they shall see the Son of Man coming upon a cloud with great power

and glory: when these things begin to happen, look ye, and raise your

heads, for your redemption is near.

THE ENGLISH DIALECT OF THE ROMMANY

‘TACHIPEN if I jaw ‘doi, I can lel a bit of tan to hatch: N’etist I

shan’t puch kekomi wafu gorgies.’

The above sentence, dear reader, I heard from the mouth of Mr.

Petulengro, the last time that he did me the honour to visit me at my

poor house, which was the day after Mol-divvus, {428a} 1842: he stayed

with me during the greatest part of the morning, discoursing on the

affairs of Egypt, the aspect of which, he assured me, was becoming daily

worse and worse. ‘There is no living for the poor people, brother,’ said

he, ‘the chok-engres (police) pursue us from place to place, and the

gorgios are become either so poor or miserly, that they grudge our cattle

a bite of grass by the way side, and ourselves a yard of ground to light

a fire upon. Unless times alter, brother, and of that I see no

probability, unless you are made either poknees or mecralliskoe geiro

(justice of the peace or prime minister), I am afraid the poor persons

will have to give up wandering altogether, and then what will become of

them?

‘However, brother,’ he continued, in a more cheerful tone, ‘I am no

hindity mush, {428b} as you well know. I suppose you have not forgot

how, fifteen years ago, when you made horse-shoes in the little dingle by

the side of the great north road, I lent you fifty cottors {428c} to

purchase the wonderful trotting cob of the innkeeper with the green

Newmarket coat, which three days after you sold for two hundred.

‘Well, brother, if you had wanted the two hundred, instead of the fifty,

I could have lent them to you, and would have done so, for I knew you

would not be long pazorrhus to me. I am no hindity mush, brother, no

Irishman; I laid out the other day twenty pounds in buying rupenoe

peam-engries; {429a} and in the Chong-gav, {429b} have a house of my own

with a yard behind it.

‘_And_, _forsooth_, _if I go thither_, _I can choose a place to light a

fire upon_, _and shall have no necessity to ask leave of these here

Gentiles_.’

Well, dear reader, this last is the translation of the Gypsy sentence

which heads the chapter, and which is a very characteristic specimen of

the general way of speaking of the English Gypsies.

The language, as they generally speak it, is a broken jargon, in which

few of the grammatical peculiarities of the Rommany are to be

distinguished. In fact, what has been said of the Spanish Gypsy dialect

holds good with respect to the English as commonly spoken: yet the

English dialect has in reality suffered much less than the Spanish, and

still retains its original syntax to a certain extent, its peculiar

manner of conjugating verbs, and declining nouns and pronouns. I must,

however, qualify this last assertion, by observing that in the genuine

Rommany there are no prepositions, but, on the contrary, post-positions;

now, in the case of the English dialect, these post-positions have been

lost, and their want, with the exception of the genitive, has been

supplied with English prepositions, as may be seen by a short example:—

Hungarian Gypsy. {429c} English Gypsy. English.

Job Yow He

Leste Leste Of him

Las Las To him

Les Los Him

Lester From leste From him

Leha With leste With him

PLURAL.

Jole Yaun They

Lente Lente Of them

Len Len To them

Len Len Them

Lender From Lende From them

The following comparison of words selected at random from the English and

Spanish dialects of the Rommany will, perhaps, not be uninteresting to

the philologist or even to the general reader. Could a doubt be at

present entertained that the Gypsy language is virtually the same in all

parts of the world where it is spoken, I conceive that such a vocabulary

would at once remove it.

English Gypsy. Spanish Gypsy.

Ant Cria Crianse

Bread Morro Manro

City Forus Foros

Dead Mulo Mulo

Enough Dosta Dosta

Fish Matcho Macho

Great Boro Baro

House Ker Quer

Iron Saster Sas

King Krallis Crális

Love(I) Camova Camelo

Moon Tchun Chimutra

Night Rarde Rati

Onion Purrum Porumia

Poison Drav Drao

Quick Sig Sigo

Rain Brishindo Brejindal

Sunday Koorokey Curque

Teeth Danor Dani

Village Gav Gao

White Pauno Parno

Yes Avalí Ungalé

As specimens of how the English dialect maybe written, the following

translations of the Lord’s Prayer and Belief will perhaps suffice.

THE LORD’S PRAYER

Míry dad, odoi oprey adrey tíro tatcho tan; Medeveleskoe si tíro nav;

awel tiro tem, be kairdo tiro lav acoi drey pov sá odoi adrey kosgo tan:

dey mande ke-divvus miry diry morro, ta fordel man sor so mé pazzorrus

tute, sá mé fordel sor so wavior mushor pazzorrus amande; ma riggur man

adrey kek dosch, ley man abri sor wafodu; tiro se o tem, tíro or

zoozli-wast, tiro or corauni, kanaw ta ever-komi. Avali. Tatchipen.

LITERAL TRANSLATION

My Father, yonder up within thy good place; god-like be thy name; come

thy kingdom, be done thy word here in earth as yonder in good place.

Give to me to-day my dear bread, and forgive me all that I am indebted to

thee, as I forgive all that other men are indebted to me; not lead me

into any ill; take me out (of) all evil; thine is the kingdom, thine the

strong hand, thine the crown, now and evermore. Yea. Truth.

THE BELIEF

Mé apasavenna drey mi-dovvel, Dad soro-ruslo, savo kedas charvus ta pov:

apasavenna drey olescro yeck chavo moro arauno Christos, lias

medeveleskoe Baval-engro, beano of wendror of medeveleskoe gairy Mary:

kurredo tuley me-cralliskoe geiro Pontius Pilaten wast; nasko pré rukh,

moreno, chivios adrey o hev; jas yov tuley o kálo dron ke wafudo tan,

bengeskoe stariben; jongorasa o trito divvus, atchasa opré to tatcho tan,

Mí-dovvels kair; bestela kanaw odoi pré Mi-dovvels tacho wast Dad

soro-boro; ava sig to lel shoonaben opré mestepen and merripen.

Apasa-venna en develeskoe Baval-engro; Boro develeskoe congrí, develeskoe

pios of sore tacho foky ketteney, soror wafudu-pénes fordias, soror mulor

jongorella, kek merella apopli. Avalí, palor.

LITERAL TRANSLATION

I believe in my God, Father all powerful, who made heaven and earth; I

believe in his one Son our Lord Christ, conceived by Holy Ghost, {432}

born of bowels of Holy Virgin Mary, beaten under the royal governor

Pontius Pilate’s hand; hung on a tree, slain, put into the grave; went he

down the black road to bad place, the devil’s prison; he awaked the third

day, ascended up to good place, my God’s house; sits now there on my

God’s right hand Father-all-powerful; shall come soon to hold judgment

over life and death. I believe in Holy Ghost; Great Holy Church, Holy

festival of all good people together, all sins forgiveness, that all dead

arise, no more die again. Yea, brothers.

SPECIMEN OF A SONG IN THE VULGAR OR BROKEN ROMMANY

As I was a jawing to the gav yeck divvus,

I met on the dron miro Rommany chi:

I puch’d yoi whether she com sar mande;

And she penn’d: tu si wafo Rommany,

And I penn’d, I shall ker tu miro tacho Rommany,

Fornigh tute but dui chavé:

Methinks I’ll cam tute for miro merripen,

If tu but pen, thou wilt commo sar mande.

TRANSLATION

One day as I was going to the village,

I met on the road my Rommany lass:

I ask’d her whether she would come with me,

And she said thou hast another wife.

I said, I will make thee my lawful wife,

Because thou hast but two children;

Methinks I will love thee until my death,

If thou but say thou wilt come with me.

Many other specimens of the English Gypsy muse might be here adduced; it

is probable, however, that the above will have fully satisfied the

curiosity of the reader. It has been inserted here for the purpose of

showing that the Gypsies have songs in their own language, a fact which

has been denied. In its metre it resembles the ancient Sclavonian

ballads, with which it has another feature in common—the absence of

rhyme.

FOOTNOTES

{0} Although the present edition is only in one volume, Borrow’s

original references to the two volumes in the above Dedication and the

Preface have been retained.

{1} _Quarterly Review_, Dec. 1842

{2} _Edinburgh Review_, Feb. 1843.

{3} _Examiner_, Dec. 17, 1842.

{4} _Spectator_, Dec. 7, 1842.

{5} Thou speakest well, brother!

{6} This is quite a mistake: I know very little of what has been written

concerning these people: even the work of Grellmann had not come beneath

my perusal at the time of the publication of the first edition of _The

Zincali_, which I certainly do not regret: for though I believe the

learned German to be quite right in his theory with respect to the origin

of the Gypsies, his acquaintance with their character, habits, and

peculiarities, seems to have been extremely limited.

{7} Good day.

{8} Glandered horse.

{9} Two brothers.

{10} The edition here referred to has long since been out of print.

{25} It may not be amiss to give the etymology of the word engro, which

so frequently occurs in compound words in the English Gypsy tongue:—the

_en_ properly belongs to the preceding noun, being one of the forms of

the genitive case; for example, Elik-_en_ boro congry, the great Church

or Cathedral of Ely; the _gro_ or _geiro_ (Spanish _guero_), is the

Sanscrit _kar_, a particle much used in that language in the formation of

compounds; I need scarcely add that _monger_ in the English words

Costermonger, Ironmonger, etc., is derived from the same root.

{26} For the knowledge of this fact I am indebted to the well-known and

enterprising traveller, Mr. Vigne, whose highly interesting work on

Cashmire and the Panjab requires no recommendation from me.

{28} Gorgio (Spanish _gacho_), a man who is not a Gypsy: the Spanish

Gypsies term the Gentiles Busne, the meaning of which word will be

explained farther on.

{36} An Eastern image tantamount to the taking away of life.

{37} Gentes non multum morigeratæ, sed quasi bruta animalia et furentes.

See vol. xxii. of the Supplement to the works of Muratori, p. 890.

{43} As quoted by Hervas: _Catalogo de las Lenguas_, vol. iii. p. 306.

{54} We have found this beautiful metaphor both in Gypsy and Spanish; it

runs thus in the former language:—

‘LAS MUCHIS. (The Sparks.)

‘Bus de gres chabalas orchiris man diqué á yes chiro purelar

sistilias sata rujias, y or sisli carjibal diñando trutas discandas.

{69} In the above little tale the writer confesses that there are many

things purely imaginary; the most material point, however, the attempt to

sack the town during the pestilence, which was defeated by the courage

and activity of an individual, rests on historical evidence the most

satisfactory. It is thus mentioned in the work of Francisco de Cordova

(he was surnamed Cordova from having been for many years canon in that

city):—

‘Annis præteritis Iuliobrigam urbem, vulgo Logroño, pestilenti

laborantem morbo, et hominibus vacuam invadere hi ac diripere

tentarunt, perfecissentque ni Dens O. M. cuiusdam _bibliopolæ_ opera,

in corum, capita, quam urbi moliebantur perniciem avertisset.’

_Didascalia_, Lugduni, 1615, I vol. 8VO. p. 405, cap. 50.

{79} Yet notwithstanding that we refuse credit to these particular

narrations of Quiñones and Fajardo, acts of cannibalism may certainly

have been perpetrated by the Gitános of Spain in ancient times, when they

were for the most part semi-savages living amongst mountains and deserts,

where food was hard to be procured: famine may have occasionally

compelled them to prey on human flesh, as it has in modern times

compelled people far more civilised than wandering Gypsies.

{82a} England.

{82b} Spain.

{86} _Mithridates_: erster Theil, s. 241.

{98} Torreblanca: _de Magia_, 1678.

{100a} Exodus, chap. xiii. v. 9. ‘And it shall be for a sign unto thee

upon thy hand.’ Eng. Trans.

{100b} No chapter in the book of Job contains any such verse.

{100c} ‘And the children of Israel went out with an high hand.’ Exodus,

chap. xiv. v. 8. Eng. Trans.

{100d} No such verse is to be found in the book mentioned.

{109a} Prov., chap. vii. vers. 11, 12. ‘She is loud and stubborn; her

feet abide not in her house. Now is she without, now in the streets, and

lieth in wait at every corner.’ Eng. Trans.

{109b} _Historia de Alonso_, _mozo de muchos amos_: or, the story of

Alonso, servant of many masters; an entertaining novel, written in the

seventeenth century, by Geronimo of Alcalá, from which some extracts were

given in the first edition of the present work.

{117} O Ali! O Mahomet!—God is God!—A Turkish war-cry.

{120a} Gen. xlix. 22.

{120b} In the original there is a play on words.—It is not necessary to

enter into particulars farther than to observe that in the Hebrew

language ‘ain’ means a well, and likewise an eye.

{120c} Gen. xlviii. 16. In the English version the exact sense of the

inspired original is not conveyed. The descendants of Joseph are to

increase like fish.

{122} Exodus, chap. xii. v. 37, 38.

{130a} Quiñones, p. 11.

{130b} The writer will by no means answer for the truth of these

statements respecting Gypsy marriages.

{138} This statement is incorrect.

{139} The Torlaquis (idle vagabonds), Hadgies (saints), and Dervishes

(mendicant friars) of the East, are Gypsies neither by origin nor habits,

but are in general people who support themselves in idleness by

practising upon the credulity and superstition of the Moslems.

{140} In the Moorish Arabic, [Picture: Arabic text] —or reus al haramin,

the literal meaning being, ‘heads or captains of thieves.’

{153} A favourite saying amongst this class of people is the following:

‘Es preciso que cada uno coma de su oficio’; _i.e._ every one must live

by his trade.

{167} For the above well-drawn character of Charles the Third I am

indebted to the pen of Louis de Usoz y Rio, my coadjutor in the editing

of the New Testament in Spanish (Madrid, 1837). For a further account of

this gentleman, the reader is referred to _The Bible in Spain_, preface,

p. xxii.

{181} Steal a horse.

{189} The lame devil: Asmodeus.

{199} Rinconete and Cortadillo.

{200} The great river, or Guadalquiver.

{211} A fountain in Paradise.

{230} A Gypsy word signifying ‘exceeding much.’

{235} ‘Lengua muy cerráda.’

{236a} ‘No camelo ser eray, es Caló mi nacimiénto;

No camelo ser eray, eon ser Calé me conténto.’

{236b} Armed partisans, or guerillas on horseback: they waged a war of

extermination against the French, but at the same time plundered their

countrymen without scruple.

{241a} The Basques speak a Tartar dialect which strikingly resembles the

Mongolian and the Mandchou.

{241b} A small nation or rather sect of contrabandistas, who inhabit the

valley of Pas amidst the mountains of Santander; they carry long sticks,

in the handling of which they are unequalled. Armed with one of these

sticks, a smuggler of Pas has been known to beat off two mounted

dragoons.

{242} The hostess, Maria Diaz, and her son Joan José Lopez, were present

when the outcast uttered these prophetic words.

{243} Eodem anno precipue fuit pestis seu mortalitas Forlivio.

{247} This work is styled _Historia de los Gitános_, by J. M—, published

at Barcelona in the year 1832; it consists of ninety-three very small and

scantily furnished pages. Its chief, we might say its only merit, is the

style, which is fluent and easy. The writer is a theorist, and

sacrifices truth and probability to the shrine of one idea, and that one

of the most absurd that ever entered the head of an individual. He

endeavours to persuade his readers that the Gitános are the descendants

of the Moors, and the greatest part of his work is a history of those

Africans, from the time of their arrival in the Peninsula till their

expatriation by Philip the Third. The Gitános he supposes to be various

tribes of wandering Moors, who baffled pursuit amidst the fastnesses of

the hills; he denies that they are of the same origin as the Gypsies,

Bohemians, etc., of other lands, though he does not back his denial by

any proofs, and is confessedly ignorant of the Gitáno language, the grand

criterion.

To this work we shall revert on a future occasion.

{262a} A Russian word signifying beans.

{262b} The term for poisoning swine in English Gypsy is _Drabbing

bawlor_.

{276} Por médio de chalanerías.

{278a} The English.

{278b} These words are very ancient, and were, perhaps, used by the

earliest Spanish Gypsies; they differ much from the language of the

present day, and are quite unintelligible to the modern Gitános.

{281} It was speedily prohibited, together with the Basque gospel; by a

royal ordonnance, however, which appeared in the Gazette of Madrid, in

August 1838, every public library in the kingdom was empowered to

purchase two copies in both languages, as the works in question were

allowed to possess some merit _in a literary point of view_. For a

particular account of the Basque translation, and also some remarks on

the Euscarra language, the reader is referred to _The Bible in Spain_,

vol. ii. p. 385–398.

{288} Steal me, Gypsy.

{290} A species of gendarme or armed policeman. The Miquelets have

existed in Spain for upwards of two hundred years. They are called

Miquelets, from the name of their original leader. They are generally

Aragonese by nation, and reclaimed robbers.

{292} Those who may be desirous of perusing the originals of the

following rhymes should consult former editions of this work.

{304} For the original, see other editions.

{321} For this information concerning Palmiréno, and also for a sight of

the somewhat rare volume written by him, the author was indebted to a

kind friend, a native of Spain.

{67} A very unfair inference; that some of the Gypsies did not

understand the author when he spoke Romaic, was no proof that their own

private language was a feigned one, invented for thievish purposes.

{324} Of all these, the most terrible, and whose sway endured for the

longest period, were the Mongols, as they were called: few, however, of

his original Mongolian warriors followed Timour in the invasion of India.

His armies latterly appear to have consisted chiefly of Turcomans and

Persians. It was to obtain popularity amongst these soldiery that he

abandoned his old religion, a kind of fetish, or sorcery, and became a

Mahometan.

{325a} As quoted by Adelung, _Mithridates_, vol. i.

{325b} Mithridates.

{326} For example, in the _Historia de los Gitános_, of which we have

had occasion to speak in the first part of the present work: amongst

other things the author says, p. 95, ‘If there exist any similitude of

customs between the Gitános and the Gypsies, the Zigeuners, the Zingári,

and the Bohemians, they (the Gitános) cannot, however, be confounded with

these nomad castes, nor the same origin be attributed to them; . . . all

that we shall find in common between these people will be, that the one

(the Gypsies, etc.) arrived fugitives from the heart of Asia by the

steppes of Tartary, at the beginning of the fifteenth century, while the

Gitános, descended from the Arab or Morisco tribes, came from the coast

of Africa as conquerors at the beginning of the eighth.’

He gets rid of any evidence with respect to the origin of the Gitános

which their language might be capable of affording in the following

summary manner: ‘As to the particular jargon which they use, any

investigation which people might pretend to make would be quite useless;

in the first place, on account of the reserve which they exhibit on this

point; and secondly, because, in the event of some being found

sufficiently communicative, the information which they could impart would

lead to no advantageous result, owing to their extreme ignorance.’

It is scarcely worth while to offer a remark on reasoning which could

only emanate from an understanding of the very lowest order,—so the

Gitános are so extremely ignorant, that however frank they might wish to

be, they would be unable to tell the curious inquirer the names for bread

and water, meat and salt, in their own peculiar tongue—for, assuredly,

had they sense enough to afford that slight quantum of information, it

would lead to two very advantageous results, by proving, first, that they

spoke the same language as the Gypsies, etc., and were consequently the

same people—and secondly, that they came not from the coast of Northern

Africa, where only Arabic and Shillah are spoken, but from the heart of

Asia, three words of the four being pure Sanscrit.

{330} As given in the _Mithridates_ of Adelung.

{346a} Possibly from the Russian _boloss_, which has the same

signification.

{346b} Basque, _burua_.

{346c} Sanscrit, _schirra_.

{346d} These two words, which Hervas supposes to be Italian used in an

improper sense, are probably of quite another origin. _Len_, in Gitáno,

signifies ‘river,’ whilst _vadi_ in Russian is equivalent to water.

{348} It is not our intention to weary the reader with prolix specimens;

nevertheless, in corroboration of what we have asserted, we shall take

the liberty of offering a few. Piar, to drink, (p. 188,) is Sanscrit,

_piava_. Basilea, gallows, (p. 158,) is Russian, _becilitz_. Caramo,

wine, and gurapo, galley, (pp. 162, 176,) Arabic, _haram_ (which

literally signifies that which is forbidden) and _grab_. Iza, (p. 179,)

harlot, Turkish, _kize_. Harton, bread, (p. 177,) Greek, _artos_.

Guido, good, and hurgamandera, harlot, (pp. 177, 178,) German, _gut_ and

_hure_. Tiple, wine, (p. 197,) is the same as the English word tipple,

Gypsy, _tapillar_.

{351} This word is pure Wallachian (λοναρε), and was brought by the

Gypsies into England; it means ‘booty,’ or what is called in the present

cant language, ‘swag.’ The Gypsies call booty ‘louripen.’

{359} Christmas, literally Wine-day.

{360a} Irishman or beggar, literally a dirty squalid person.

{360b} Guineas.

{360c} Silver teapots.

{360d} The Gypsy word for a certain town.

{361a} In the Spanish Gypsy version, ‘our bread of each day.’

{361b} Span., ‘forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.’

{361c} Eng., ‘all evil _from_’; Span., ‘from all ugliness.’

{361d} Span., ‘for thine.’

{362} By Hungary is here meant not only Hungary proper, but

Transylvania.

{363a} How many days made come the gentleman hither.

{363b} How many-year fellow are you.

{363c} Of a grosh.

{363d} My name shall be to you for Moses my brother.

{364a} Comes.

{364b} Empty place.

{416} V. _Casinoben_ in Lexicon.

{417a} By these two words, Pontius Pilate is represented, but whence

they are derived I know not.

{417b} Reborn.

{419a} Poverty is always avoided.

{419b} A drunkard reduces himself to the condition of a hog.

{421a} The most he can do.

{421b} The puchero, or pan of glazed earth, in which bacon, beef, and

garbanzos are stewed.

{421c} Truth contrasts strangely with falsehood; this is a genuine Gypsy

proverb, as are the two which follow; it is repeated throughout Spain

_without being understood_.

{421d} In the original _wears a mouth_; the meaning is, ask nothing,

gain nothing.

{421e} Female Gypsy,

{423a} Women _understood_.

{423b} With that motive awoke the labourer. _Orig_.

{423c} Gave its pleasure to the finger, _i.e._ his finger was itching to

draw the trigger, and he humoured it.

{423d} They feared the shot and slugs, which are compared, and not

badly, to flies and almonds.

{428a} Christmas, literally Wine-day.

{428b} Irishman or beggar, literally a dirty squalid person.

{428c} Guineas.

{429a} Silver tea-pots.

{429b} The Gypsy word for a certain town.

{429c} As given by Grellmann.

{432} The English Gypsies having, in their dialect, no other term for

ghost than mulo, which simply means a dead person, I have been obliged to

substitute a compound word. Bavalengro signifies literally a wind thing,

or _form of air_.