The present State of the Gypsies in Scotland.
* * * * *
The energy and perseverance by which North Britons are distinguished,
will be evinced throughout the pages of this section. A friend of the
author, having been requested to make application at the Advocates' and
the University Libraries, in the city of Edinburgh, for extracts from
some foreign publications, was also desired to transmit with them what
information could be obtained respecting the Gypsies in Scotland.
With a promptitude and zeal which characterises genuine philanthropy, a
circular, containing four queries, was dispatched to the Sheriff of every
county in that nation; soliciting through the medium of an official
organ, all the intelligence which could be obtained on the subject. In
consequence, returns have been made from nearly the whole of the shires,
either by the Sheriff, or his substitute; generally addressed to George
Miller, jun. Edinburgh; who has been a most effective coadjutor on this
occasion.
From thirteen counties, the reports are, "No Gypsies resident in them;"
some others give account of their only passing through at times.
William Frazer Tytler, Sheriff of Invernessshire, writes as follows: "The
undertaking in which you are engaged, for the civilization of so lost a
portion of mankind, merits every support. Its effects may be more
generally and extensively useful in England, where those unfortunate
people are extremely numerous. In Scotland, their number is
comparatively small, and particularly in the county of Inverness."
Alexander Moor, Sheriff Depute, of Aberdeenshire, states: "There are not
any Gypsies who have a permanent residence in that Sheriffalty.
Occasionally vagrants, both single and in bands, appear in this part of
the country; resorting to fairs, where they commit depredations on the
unwary. Some of them are supposed to be connected with Gypsies in the
southern part of the island."
John Blair, Sheriff Substitute for the County of Bute, writes: "I have to
inform that the people generally known by the description of Gypsies, are
not in use to come hither, unless abject, itinerant tinkers and braziers,
generally from Ireland, may be accounted such. A few of them often visit
us, and take up their abode for a time in different parts of the country,
where people can be prevailed upon to give them the accommodation of an
out-house or hut."
They are understood to be illiterate, neither they, nor their children,
who are often numerous, being able to read.
The distinguished northern Poet, Walter Scott, who is Sheriff of
Selkirkshire, has in a very obliging manner communicated the following
statement:
"A set of people possessing the same erratic habits, and practising the
trade of tinkers, are well known in the Borders; and have often fallen
under the cognisance of the law. They are often called Gypsies, and pass
through the county annually in small bands, with their carts and asses.
The men are tinkers, poachers, and thieves upon a small scale. They also
sell crockery, deal in old rags, in eggs, in salt, in tobacco and such
trifles; and manufacture horn into spoons, I believe most of those who
come through Selkirkshire, reside, during winter, in the villages of
Sterncliff and Spittal, in Northumberland, and in that of Kirk Yetholm,
Roxburghshire.
"Mr. Smith, the respectable Baillie {94} of Kelso, can give the most
complete information concerning those who reside at Kirk Yetholm.
Formerly, I believe, they were much more desperate in their conduct than
at present. But some of the most atrocious families have been
extirpated, I allude particularly to the _Winters_, a Northumberland
clan, who I fancy are all buried by this time.
"Mr. Reddell, Justice of Peace for Roxburghshire, with my assistance and
concurrence, cleared this country of the last of them, about eight or
nine years ago. They were thorough desperadoes, of the worst class of
vagabonds. Those who now travel through this country, give offence
chiefly by poaching, and small thefts. They are divided into clans, the
principal names being Faa, Baillie, Young, Ruthven, and Gordon.
"All of them are perfectly ignorant of religion, nor do their children
receive any education. They marry and cohabit amongst each other, and
are held in a sort of horror by the common people.
"I do not conceive them to be the proper Oriental Egyptian race, at least
they are much intermingled with our own national out-laws and vagabonds.
They are said to keep up a communication with each other through
Scotland, and to have some internal government and regulation as to the
districts which each family travels.
"I cannot help again referring to Mr. Smith of Kelso, a gentleman who can
give the most accurate information respecting the habits of those
itinerants, as their winter-quarters of Yetholm, are upon an estate of
which he has long had the management."
It is very satisfactory to have received from an authority so respectably
as that of William Smith, the Baillie of Kelso, above referred to,
answers to the four queries of the circular; accompanied by his own
interesting and appropriate illustrations, from which extracts are made
as follow, dated November, 1815.
"A considerable time having elapsed, since I had an opportunity, or
occasion to attend to the situation of the colony of Gypsies in our
neighbourhood, I was obliged to delay my answer to your inquiries, until
I could obtain more information respecting their present numbers.
"The great bar to the benevolent intentions of improving their situation
will be, the impossibility to convince them that there either is, or can
be, a mode of life preferable, or even equal to their own.
"A strong spirit of independence, or what they would distinguish by the
name of liberty, runs through the whole tribe. It is no doubt a very
licentious liberty, but entirely to their taste. Some kind of honour,
peculiar to themselves, seems to prevail in their community. They reckon
it a disgrace to steal near their homes, or even at a distance, if
detected. I must always except that petty theft of feeding their
shelties and asses on the farmer's grass and corn, which they will do,
whether at home or abroad.
"When avowedly trusted, even in money transactions, they never deceived
me, nor forfeited their promise. I am sorry to say, however, that when
checked in their licentious appropriations, &c. they are very much
addicted both to threaten and to execute revenge.
"Having so far premised with respect to their general conduct and
character, I shall proceed to answer, as far as I am able, the four
queries subjoined to the circular which you sent me, and then subjoin, in
notes, some instances of their conduct in particular cases, which may
perhaps elucidate their general disposition and character."
"Query 1st. _What number of Gypsies in the County_?
"A. I know of none except the colony of Yetholm, and one family who
lately removed from that place to Kelso. Yetholm consists of two towns,
or large villages, called _Town_ Yetholm, and _Kirk_ Yetholm. The first
is in the estate of Mr. Wauchope, of Niddry; the latter in that of the
Marquis of Tweedale. The number of the Gypsey colony at present in Kirk
Yetholm, amounts to at least 109 men, women, and children; and perhaps
two or three may have escaped notice. They marry early in life, in
general have many children, and their number seems to be increasing.
"Query 2d. _In what do the men and women mostly employ themselves_?
"B. I have know the colony between forty and fifty years. At my first
remembrance of them, they were called the _Tinklers_, (Tinkers) of
Yetholm, from the males being chiefly then employed in mending pots, and
other culinary utensils, especially in their peregrinations through the
hilly and less populous parts of the country.
"Sometimes they were called _Horners_, from their occupation in making
and selling horn spoons, called Cutties. Now their common appellation is
that of _Muggers_, or, what pleases them better, _Potters_. They
purchase, at a cheap rate, the cast or faulty articles, at the different
manufactories of earthenware, which they carry for sale all over the
country; consisting of groups of six, ten, and sometimes twelve or
fourteen persons, male and female, young and old, provided with a horse
and cart to transport the pottery; besides shelties and asses to carry
the youngest of the children, and such baggage as they find necessary.
"In the country, they sleep in barns, and byres, or other out-houses: and
when they cannot find that accommodation, they take the canvas covering
from the pottery cart, and squat below it like a covey of partridges in
the snow.
"A few of the colony also employ themselves occasionally in making
beesoms, foot-bosses, &c. from heath, broom, and bent, and sell them at
Kelso, and the neighbouring towns. After all, their employment can be
considered little better than an apology for idleness and vagrancy.
"They are in general great adepts in hunting, shooting, and fishing; in
which last they use the net and spear, as well as the rod; and often
supply themselves with a hearty meal by their dexterity. They have no
notion of being limited in their field sports, either to time, place, or
mode of destruction.
"I do not see that the women are any otherwise employed, than attending
the young children; and assisting to sell the pottery when carried
through the country."
"Query 3rd. _Have they any settled abode in winter_, _and where_?
"C. Their residence, with the exception of a single family, who some
years ago came to Kelso, is at Kirk Yetholm, and chiefly confined to one
row of houses, or street of that town, which goes by the name of Tinkler
Row. Most of them have leases of their possessions, granted for a term
of nineteen times nineteen years, for payment of a small sum yearly;
something of the nature of a quit rent. There is no tradition in the
neighbourhood concerning the time when the Gypsies first took up their
residence at that place, nor whence they came.
"Most of their leases, I believe were granted by the family of the
Bennets of Grubet; the last of whom was Sir David Bennet, who died about
sixty years ago. The late Mr. Nesbit of Dirleton, then succeeded to the
estate, comprehending the Baronies of Kirk Yetholm, and Grubet. He died
about the year 1783, and not long after, the property was acquired by the
late Lord Tweedale's trustees.
"During the latter part of the life of the late Mr. Nesbit, he was less
frequently at his estate in Roxburghshire than formerly. He was a great
favourite of the Gypsies, and was in use to call them his body guards,
and often gave them money, &c.
"On the other hand, both the late and present Mr. Wauchope were of
opinion, that the example of these people had a bad effect upon the
morals and industry of the neighbourhood; and seeing no prospect of their
removal, and as little of their reformation, considered it as a duty to
the public, to prevent the evil increasing; and never would consent to
any of the colony taking up their residence in Town Yetholm.
"They mostly remain at home during winter, but as soon as the weather
becomes tolerably mild in spring, most of them, men, women, and children,
set out on their peregrination over the country, and live in a state of
vagrancy, until again driven into their habitations by the approach of
winter.
"Seeming to pride themselves as a separate tribe, they very seldom
intermarry out of the colony; and in rare instances where that happens,
the Gypsey, whether male or female, by influence and example, always
induces the stranger husband or wife to adopt the manners of the colony,
so that no improvement is ever obtained in that way. The progeny of such
alliances have almost universally the tawny complexion, and fine black
eyes of the Gypsey parent, whether father or mother.
"So strongly remarkable is the Gypsey cast of countenance, that even a
description of them to a stranger, who has had no opportunity of formerly
seeing them, will enable him to know them wherever he meets with them.
Some individuals, but very rarely, separate from the colony altogether;
and when they do so early in life, and go to a distance such as London,
or even Edinburgh, their acquaintances in the country get favourable
accounts of them. A few betake themselves to regular and constant
employments at home, but soon tire, and return to their old way of life.
"When any of them, especially a leader, or man of influence dies, they
have full meetings, not only of the colony, but of the Gypsies from a
distance, and those meetings, or _Late Wakes_, are by no means conducted
with sobriety or decency."
"Query 4th. _Are any of their children taught to read_, _and what
proportion of them_? _With any anecdotes respecting their customs and
conduct_.
"D. Education being obtained at a cheaper rate, the Gypsies in general,
give their male children as good a one, as is bestowed on those of the
labouring people and farm servants in the neighbourhood; such as reading,
writing, and the first principles of arithmetic. They all apply to the
clergyman of the parish for baptism to their children, and a strong
superstitious notion universally prevails with them, that it is unlucky
to have an unchristened child long in the house. Only a very few ever
attend divine service, and those as seldom as they can, just to prevent
being refused as sponsors at their children's baptism.
"They are in general, active and lively, particularly when engaged in
field sports; or in such temporary pursuits as are agreeable to their
habits and dispositions; but are destitute of the perseverance necessary
for a settled occupation, or even for finishing what a moderate degree of
continued labour, would enable them to accomplish in a few weeks."
NOTES
_By_ WM. SMITH, _intended to elucidate his answers to the Queries_ A
_and_ B, _on their licentious liberty_.
"I remember that about 45 years ago, being then apprentice to a writer,
who was in use to receive the rents as well as the small duties of Kirk
Yetholm, he sent me there with a list of names, and a statement of what
was due; recommending me to apply to the landlord of the public-house, in
the village, for any information or assistance which I might need.
"After waiting a long time, and receiving payment from most of the
feuers, or rentallers, I observed to him that none of the persons of the
names of Faa, Young, Blythe, Fleckie, &c. who, stood at the bottom of the
list for small sums, had come to meet me, according to the notice given
by the Baron Officer; and proposed sending to inform them that they were
detaining me, and to request their immediate attendance.
"The landlord, with a grave face, inquired whether my master had desired
me to ask money from those men. I said, not particularly; but they stood
on the list. "So, I see," said the landlord, "but had your master been
here himself, he did _not dare to ask money from them_, _either as rent_,
_or feu duty_.--_He knows that it is as good as if it were in his
pocket_. _They will pay when their own time comes_, _but do not like to
pay at a set time with the rest of the Barony_; _and still less to be
craved_."
"I accordingly returned without their money, and reported progress. I
found that the landlord was right; my master said with a smile, that it
was unnecessary to send to them, after the previous notice from the Baron
Officer; it was enough if I had received the money, if offered.--Their
rent and feu duty was brought to the office in a few weeks. I need
scarcely add, those persons all belonged to the tribe.
"Another instance of their licentious, independent spirit, occurs to me.
The family of Niddry always gave a decent, annual remuneration to a Baron
Baillie, for the purpose of keeping good order within their Barony of
Town Yetholm. The person whom I remember first in possession of that
office, was an old man called Doctor Walker, from his being also the
village surgeon; and from him I had the following anecdote:--
"Between Yetholm and the border farms in Northumberland, there were
formerly, as in most border situations, some uncultivated lands called
the _Plea lands_, or _Debateable lands_, the pasturage of which was
generally eaten up by the Sorners and vagabonds on both sides of the
marches.
"Many years ago, Lord Tankerville and some other of the English
borderers, made their request to Sir David Bennet, and the late Mr.
Wauchope of Niddry, that they would accompany them at a _riding_ of the
Plea lands, who readily complied with their request. They were induced
to this, as they understood that the Gypsies had taken offence, on the
supposition that they might be circumscribed in the pasture for their
shelties and asses, which they had held a long time, partly by stealth,
and partly by violence.
"Both threats and entreaties were employed to keep them away; and, at
last, Sir David obtained a promise from some of the heads of the gang,
that none of them should show their faces on the occasion.
"They, however, got upon the hills at a little distance, whence they
could see every thing that passed. At first they were very quiet. But
when they saw the English Court Book Spread out on a cushion before the
clerk, and apparently taken in a line of direction, interfering with what
they considered to be their privileged ground, it was with great
difficulty that the most moderate of them, could restrain the rest from
running down, and taking vengeance, even in sight of their own Lord of
the Manor.
"They only abstained for a short time, and no sooner had Sir David, and
the other gentleman taken leave of each other in the most polite and
friendly manner, as border chiefs are wont to do, since border feuds
ceased, and had departed to a sufficient distance, than the clan, armed
with bludgeons, pitch-forks, and such other hostile weapons as they could
find, rushed down in a body; and before the chiefs on either side had
reached their home, there was neither English tenant, horse, cow, nor
sheep left upon the premises.
"Notes on Answers C and D.
"_Peculiar cast of_ GYPSEY FEATURES, _every where distinguishable_, &c.
"When first I knew any thing about the colony, old Will Faa was king, or
leader, and had held the sovereignty for many years.
"Meeting at Kelso with Mr. Walter Scott, whose discriminating habits and
just observations I had occasion to know from his youth, and at the same
time seeing one of my Yetholm friends in the horse market, I merely said
to Mr. Scott, "Try to get before that man with the long drab coat, look
at him on your return, and tell me whether you ever saw him, and what you
think of him." He was so good as to indulge me; and rejoining me said
without hesitation, "I never saw the man that I know of; but he is one of
the Gypsies of Yetholm, that you told me of several years ago." I need
scarcely say that he was perfectly correct.
"The descendants of Faa, now take the name of _Fall_, from the Messrs.
Falls, of Dunbar, who, they pride themselves in saying, are of the same
stock and lineage. When old Will Faa was upwards of eighty years of age,
he called on me at Kelso, in his way to Edinburgh, telling that he was
going to see the Laird, the late Mr. Nesbit, of Dirleton, as he
understood that he was very unwell, and himself being now old, and not so
stout as he had been, he wished to see him once more before he died.
"The old man set out by the nearest road, which was by no means his
common practice. Next market-day, same of the farmers informed me, that
they had been in Edinburgh, and seen Will Faa upon the bridge; (the south
bridge was not then built;) that he was tossing about his old brown hat,
and huzzaing with great vociferation, that he had seen the Laird before
he died. Indeed Will himself had no time to lose, for having set his
face homewards by the way of the sea coast, to vary his route, as is the
general custom of the gang, he only got the length of Coldingham, when he
was taken ill, and died.
"His death being notified to his friends at Yetholm, they and their
acquaintance at Berwick, Spittal, Horncliff, &c. met to pay the last
honours to their old leader. His obsequies were continued three
successive days and nights, and afterwards repeated at Yetholm, whither
he was brought for interment. I cannot say that the funeral rites were
celebrated with decency and sobriety, for that was by no means the case.
This happened in the year 1783, or 1784, and the late Mr. Nesbit did not
long survive."
William Dymock, W. S. Edinburgh, distinguished in the profession of the
law, by his sound judgment and strict integrity, having had the perusal
of the preceding report from William Smith, gives the following testimony
concerning that account: "Baillie Smith's report is quite graphical,
correct truth, and correctly expressed.--It is useful as showing, that
the parties of Tinklers are great detachments from one colony."
With this, accords Sir John Sinclair's observation in his Statistical
Account of Scotland, Vol. II. p. 124, when describing the village of
Eaglesham, he remarks: "There is no magistrate nearer than four miles,
and the place is oppressed with gangs of Gypsies, commonly called
Tinklers, or sturdy beggars."
Before receiving the very interesting report from William Smith, the
author of this Survey was entirely at a loss to determine what was become
of the descendants of John Faw, who styled himself Lord and Earl of
Little Egypt; and with a numerous retinue entered Scotland in the reign
of Queen Mary, as stated in Section the 5th.--His complaint of his men
refusing to return home with him, might be only a feint, invented to
cover his design of continuing in the country; for there does not appear
to be any traces in history of the banishment of Faw-gang, or of their
quitting Scotland.--But in the above cited report, we find at the head of
the Tinklers a Will Faa, in whose name there is only a variation of one
letter from that of his distinguished predecessor; and that in reference
to this origin, he asserts the _Falls_ of Dunbar to be of the same stock
and lineage.