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PURCHASED FOR THE

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO LIBRARY

FROM THE

CANADA COUNCIL SPECIAL GRANT

FOR

LINGUISTICS.

JOUENAL OF THE

GYPSY LORE SOCIETY.

JOURNAL OF THE

GYPSY LORE

SOCIETY

VOLUME I.

{JUL Y 188S— OCTOBER 1880)

Sorciers, batdeurs oujilons, Eeete immonde D\m ancien monde ; Sorciers, bateleurs oujilous, Gain hohemiens, d^oit venez-vous?

Berakgek.

EDINBURGH

Printed at the University Piess by T. and A. CONSTABLE for the Gypsy Lore Society

1889

0

V

OCT 3 1967

;lJ^/7-V OF TO^^''^*^

.*>■

JOUENAL OF THE

GYPSY LORE

SOCIETY.

Vol. I. JULY 1888. No. 1.

P E E F A C E.

" Good wine needs no bush," and our Journal, we trust, will thrive without self-commendation. Still, a word may well be said as to its aims. These are to o-ather new materials, to rearrange the old, and to formulate results, so as little by little to approach the goal — the final solution of the Gypsy problem. It has already been solved, but in so many and such diverse ways, that the true answer still remains a matter of doubt, if indeed the true answer has ever yet been given. There is Grellmann's old theory, by which the Gypsies first reached Europe in 1417, Pariahs expelled from India by Tamerlane less than ten years before. There is the Behram Gur theory, by which, about 430 A.D., the Jat ancestors of our Gypsies were summoned from India to Persia, and from Persia gradually wandered west- ward. And there is the Prehistoric theory, by which there have been Gypsies in Europe for more than two thousand years, by which Europe, or a great portion of Europe, owes to the Gypsies its knowledge of metallurgy.

These are but three out of many theories, besides which there are a number of minor questions, as, When did the Gypsies first set foot in England, or in North and South

VOL. I. — NO. I. A

PREFACE.

America ? Then there are the language, the manners, the folk-lore of the Gypsies. Much as has been written on these subjects, as much remains to be written, if we are ever to decide whether Romany is an early or a late descendant of Sanskrit ; whether the Gypsies derived their metallurgical terms from Greek, or the Greeks theirs from Romany ; whether the Gypsies have always been dwellers in tents ; and whether they got their arts, music, and folk-tales from the Gaujios, or whether the Gaiijios have borrowed from the " Egyptians."

Already we have promise of contributions dealing with the Romany dialects of Syria and Brazil, with the Gypsies of Persia and Central Africa, with Gypsy bibliography, and with eight hitherto unpublished folk-tales, which were col- lected from London Gyj^sies by the late Mr. Campbell of Islay. Indeed, our sole difficulty seems likely to be want of space. But if from a hundred we can increase our member- ship to twice or three times that number, the Journal will be proportionally enlarged, and Gypsy camp-meetings, at different centres, might hereafter be duly organised. Any- how, we trust to preserve much information that might otherwise perish. It is now seven years since the death of Dr. Kounavine, a Russian physician who had abandoned his profession, to wander for thirty-five years among the Gypsies of Eastern Europe, Asia, and Africa. What was the value of his vast collections we can only conjecture ; for from that day to this no trace of them has come to light. They perished with him somewhere in Siberia. Not every one may be a Dr. Kounavine, but there lives not the Romany Rye that has iiot something new to impart to his fellow-students.

The Editors.

TURKISH GYPSIES.

L— TUEKISH GYPSIES.

IN a small village near Tchorlu, between Constantinople and Adrianople, called Deghirmen Kioy (Village of the Mill), encamped in 18G6 a party of wandering Tchingliianes, with their bears. They had all Musulman names, and M'ere considered Musul- mau Bohemians.

One night one of them, called Mustapha, in passing a river with his bear, got imbedded in the mud up to his waist. His cries were heard by some workmen at a neighbouring farm, but, thinking that highw^aymen were at their work, they left the poor fellow to his fate. In the morning he was found still in the mud — dead.

His companions went to the Greek priest in the village to have him buried, but the priest, knowing that up to that day he had been called ]Mustapha, was unwilling to bury him. His companions had alleged that his name was Theodore. Finally the Turks, finding no vestige of circumcision, gave him up as a Christian, and he was buried according to the rites of the Christian Church. It is a strik- ing example of their indifference to religion.

Near Tchorlu, seventy miles north-west of Constantinople, is a place called Tchinghiane Serai (The Gypsies' Palace). It was given by the Turks to the exiled Khans of the Crimea towards the latter half of the eighteenth century. Now it contains a great many Gypsy families, who probably came to the place in order to escape the persecutions of Turks and Christians. For Serai, see the valuable work of Baron De Tott, Sur Ics Turcs et les Tartares (Maestrich, 1785), vol i. p. 194. The place is now a miserable village.

To the west of Tchorlu is a large place, called Hariupol. The Turks call it Hariampol and Herepoli. A great many Gypsies live in this place. They breed a vast number of buffaloes, the very best in Poumelia. In early spring they leave the place in great carts drawn by buffaloes, and travelling in the moist valleys continue their march until they have sold all their animals. Their families and culinary implements are all in the carts. They are all Musulmans, and are most of them wealthy. The carts are generally from five to ten in number. In autumn they return to their winter quarters in Hariupol. This place contains G.50 families, 500 Turkish.

Up to 1874 the Musulman Gypsies were exempt from military service, and, like the Christians, paid to the Government the exemp- tion tax called bedel. The following is a translation of a paragraph in

TURKISH GYPSIES.

Government report of 8 Mouharem 1291 (21st January 1874) : " Up to the present the Government has neglected to raise personally con- scripts among the Muslim-gypty (Musulman Gypsies), but to exempt these men from military service, which is due from all Ottoman subjects, is a breach of the common law. The Minister of War, by a report ap- proved by the Council of State, and by the Privy Council, has proposed in future to subject the Musulman Gypsies to personal military service. His Majesty has deigned to give his sanction to this proposition. Consequently, from the day when this measure is put in operation, the tax called Bedcli asJccri, paid up to now by the Musulman Gypsies, will cease." This is an important event in the history of

the race.

I have heard of a Gypsy in Adrianople who offered as a dowry with his daughter 20,000 francs (£800). He offered her to a young Greek, who would not take a Gypsy wife.

In a village some forty miles from Adrianople, called by the Turks, Kirk Kilizze, and by the Greeks, Saranta Ekklesiai (forty churches), are a number of Gypsies, wlio make sweetmeats which are sold at all the neighbouring fairs.

Nearly all the musicians of Eoumelia are Gypsies. They have sweet voices, and are very clever players on the violin.

On the farms they are employed at times in mowing and reaping ; sometimes they plough, but they are generally weak, and cannot stand at their work as the Bulgarians. They work generally on the farms as basketmakers and ironmongers.

The Greeks very rarely intermarry with Gypsies. The Gypsies never send their children to school. They are never seen at church except on great festival days. They never hunt, nor are they robbers. In general they cannot endure fatigue or long marches.

A number of people have assured me, that in the cities of Sophia, Silistria, Samakou, Turnevo, and Eustchuk, there are a great many public women of pure Gypsy blood. They are never found in the villages, where public women are not tolerated.

Christian Gypsies never marry into Turkish families, as such marriages are strictly forbidden by the Musulman law.

At Kizanlik, a small town near Adrianople, they employ Gypsy women as servants in the Ladies' Baths.

My observations on the Asiatic Gypsies, or ratlier on the Gypsies roaming on the plains of Asia Minor, are very meagre.

As to the Eoumelian Gypsies, I have made repeated inquiries in order to ascertain whether any religious rites exist among them which

TUllKISII GYPSIES. 5

may be considered as of pure Gypsy origin. Their marriages, funerals, and feasts are those of the sect to which they belong, or profess to belong. One particular habit I may mention. When they place the corpse in the coffin, they put the arms at the side of the body full length, instead of crossing them on the breast, as the Christians are in the habit of doing.

The Gypsies in all Eoumelia, in Macedonia, and in Thessaly, celebrate with music and dancing the 23d of April, St. George's Day. The custom is peculiar to all the inhabitants of the country, Chris- tians and Turks.

At Volo, in Thessaly, a wandering Gypsy told one of my friends that their Gypsy tribe once inhabited the central parts of Asia, and in coming to these countries they had their own peculiar language, which had been corrupted and mixed with Turkish, Greek, and Bulgarian words. I have my doubts on the geographical knowledge of this Gypsy. He probably picked up an idea of this nature from some European friends.

I have received sundry observations on the Gypsies roaming on the vast plains of Thessaly and Epirus from Dr. Zulia, an excellent physician at Volo, who went among them and collected a great many words. Others I received from Dr. Bugatchelo, a physician in Velizze, some eighty miles to the north-west of Salonica. The place is called Velizze in Greek, and Kiupruli in Turkish. A third col- lection was sent to me by Dr. Crispi of Bcllova, west of Sophia, in the very heart of Thrace.

Nothing new or of sj)ecial interest has been added to the words given in my own work on the language, but it is extremely important to see that they use the same language, though there is so little intercourse between them. The uniformity of the language spoken all over European Turkey is remarkable.

Alexander G. Paspati.

II.— EARLY ANNALS OF THE GYPSIES IN ENGLAND.

FOP the convenience of those who have not easy access to " The Papers of the Manchester Literary Club," I have recast a paper written by me for that Club in 1880. I have incorporated such further materials as have, since come in my way, and hope it may induce others to contribute their gleanings.

The date of the first appearance of Gypsies in England is unknown.

6 EARLY ANNALS OF THE GYPSIES IN ENGLAND.

From the fact of their formerly common occupatiou as tinkers, it has been conjectured by some that they have inhabited these islands from prehistoric ages. " Tinkler " and " Tinker," as proper names, can be traced to the thirteenth century at least ; but in tliose days there seem to have been two classes of tinkers, the one sedentary, and perhaps equivalent to our modern ironmongers, and the other styled " wandering tinkers," who were the itinerant menders of our pots and pans.

So far as English Gypsy existence is concerned, the prehistoric period extends to the year 1505.

Mons. Bataillard {Dc f Apparition des Bohdmicns en Europe, Paris, 1844, p. 53) has suggested that Gypsies may have come over to England so early as 1440. Certainly the party which visited Paris in August 1427 took a northward direction on leaving, and as the English were then ruling in the French capital, it is very probable that the Gypsies would hear of these more northerly happy hunting- grounds, and feel inclined to pay them a visit of inspection.

Mr. Borrow {Lavo-lil, p. 212) says they first came to England "about the year 1480," which is just half a century before the English Parliament began a series of repressive efforts.

Sir George M'Kenzie, who died in 1691, has recorded a tradition that between 1452 and 14G0 a company of Saracens or Gypsies from Ireland infested the country of Galloway, in Scotland, and the King promised the barony of Bombie to whomsoever should disperse them and bring in their captain dead or alive. The laird of Bombie's son, a Maclellan, killed the captain, and took his head on a sword to the king. Thereafter Maclellan took for his crest a Moor's head, and for a motto " Think on " (Simson's Hist, of the Gypsies, London, 1865, p. 99 ; Crawford's Peerage, Edinburgh, 1716, p. 238). Mr. Simson adds : " In the reign of James IL [of Scotland], away putting of soruers [forcible obtruders], fancied fools, vagabonds, out-liers, masterful beggars, bairds [strolling rhymers], and such like runners about, is more than once enforced by Acts of Parliament " (Glendook's Seots Acts of Parliament). In 1449 an Act, c. 9, was passed in which " overliers and masterful beggars " are described as going about the country wath " horses, hunds, and other goods " (Marwick, Sketch of History of High Constables of Edinburgh, 1865, Edinburgh, p. 35), a fact which acquires a further value when compared with the state- ment of Krantz, that on the Continent the first Gypsies (" venaticos canes pro more nobilitatis alunt ") kept hunting-dogs like the nobility.

As yet no positive mention of Gypsies in England earlier than

EARLY ANNALS OF THE GYPSIES IN ENGLAND. 7

1505 has been discovered, but in 1492 the Gypsies were expelled from Spain, which would drive some at least into France, if not into England, while in 1500 they were expelled from the German Empire, and on 27th July 1504 they were expelled from France (Bataillard, Nouvclks liecJierchcs, Paris, 1849, p. 38).

The first undoubted record referring to Gypsies in Great Britain is : — " 1505, Apr. 22. Item to the Egyptianis be the Kingis command, vij lib." — (Pitcairn's Criminal Trials of Scotland, Edinb. 1833, iii. 691).

A few months later, in July 1505, we find the Scottish King, James iv., writing to the King of Denmark to commend Anthony Gagino, a lord of Little Egypt, who, with his retinue, had a few months previously reached Scotland during a pilgrimage through the Chris- tian world, undertaken at the command of the Apostolic See (Pitcairu, 592; Dyrlund, Tatcrc orj Natmandsfolk, Christiania, 1872, p. 290). The draft of this curious letter is preserved in Scotland (Reg. MS.) 13 B ii.),and the original is in Denmark.

In 1514, at an inquest respecting the death of Pdchard Hunne in the Lollards' Tower, one of the witnesses mentioned an Egyptian woman who had been lodging at Lambeth, but had gone over seas a month before, and who could tell marvellous things by looking into one's hand {A Dijalog of Syr Thomas More, Knight, bk. iii. ch. xv. ; Bright's Travels in Lower Hungary, London, 1818, p. 538).

Under date 1517, Edward Hall, in his Chronicles (published in 1548), describes two ladies at a Court mummery as having their heads rolled in a kind of gauze, and tippers " like the Egyptians " em- broidered with gold; and under date 1520, he says that at a state banquet eight ladies came in attired "like to the Egyptians," very richly.

Between 1513 and 1523 some " Gypsions " were entertained by the Earl of Surrey at Tendring Hall, in »Suffolk ( Works of H. Howard, Earl of Surrey, ed. ISTott, London, 1815, vol. i. Appendix, p. 5).

About 1517 Skelton wrote his " Elynoure Eumminge," in which occurs her description.

" Her kirtell Bristowe red, With clothes upon her heade, That they way a sowe of leade, Wrythen iu a wonder wise After the Sarazin's gise, With a whim-wham Knit with a trim-tram Upon her brayne panne, Liice an Egyptian Capped about When she goeth oute."

8 EARLY ANNALS OF THE GYPSIES IN ENGLAND.

In October 1521 William Cholmeley gave certain " Egyptions " at Thornbury the large .sum of forty shillings, which would be equivalent to about twenty pounds {Letters, etc., Foreign and Domestic, Henry viil., vol. iii. pt. i. p. 499 (4) ).

In 1522 the churchwardens of Stratton, in Cornwall, received twenty-pence from the " Egypcions " for the use of the Church House (Archceoloffia xlvj.)

In 1526 Skelton published his Garland of Laurel, of which line 1455 reads as follows —

" By Mary Gipcy, quod scrips! scrips!,"

the allusion being to Sancta Maria ^gyptiaca, l)ut showing the early abbreviation of " Egyptian " into " Gypsy," which is also found in Shakespere, as will appear later on.

Samuel Eeid, in his Art of Juggling (1612, signature Bb), assigns 1528 as the year when the Gypsies invaded England, stating that it was then (in 1612) about an hundred years ago, about the twentieth year of King Henry the Eighth, when the " Egyptians " collected in the south of England, having been banished from their own country, and excelled in quaint tricks and devices. They spoke the right Egyptian language, and got much by palmistry and telling of fortunes, and cheated poor country-girls of money, silver spoons, and 'the best of their apparel. Their leader was Giles Hather, whom they called King, and Kit Calot was their Queen. They rode on horseback and in stransje attire.

Thornbury {Shakespere' s England, London, 1856, i. 261) says their chief in Henry viii.'s time was Cock Lorel, and then came Eatsee.

Harrison, in his Description of England. (Book ii. chap, x.), which is prefixed to Holinshed's Chronicle (London, 1587, p. 183), says it is not yet full threescore years since this trade began, and after de- scribing various sorts of cheats, adds : —

" They are now supposed, of one sex and another, to amount unto above ten thousand persons ; as I have heard reported. Moreover, in counterfeiting the Egyptian roges, they have devised a language among themselves, which they name Canting, but others pedlars' French, a speech compact thirty yeares since of Eng- lish, and a great number of od words of their owne devising, without all order or reason ; and yet such is it as none but themselves are able to understand. The first deviser thereof was hanged by the neck, a just reward no doubt for his desertes, and a common end to ail of that profession."

In 1530, a quarter of a century after their expulsion from France, they had become an intolerable nuisance in England ; and the Act

EAKLY ANNALS UF THE GYPSIES IN ENGLAND. 9

concerniug Egipcions was passed in 1530 (22 Henry vm. cap. 10.)

It recites that : —

"Afore this tynie dyverse and many outlandysshe [foreign] People callynge themselfes Egyptians, usyng no Craftc nor faicte of Mercbanndyce had conien into this Realme and gone from Sliire to Shire and Place to Place in greate Company, and used greate subtyll and crafty meanes to deceyve the People, beryng them in Hande [persuading them] that they by Palmestre coulde telle INIenne and Womeus Fortunes and so many tymes by crafte and subtyltie had deceyved the People of theyr INIoney and also had comytted many and haynous Felonycs and Kobberies to the greate Hurte and Deceyte of the People that they had comyn amonge."

In order to stop further ininiigratiou, it was enacted that : —

" From hensforth no suche Psone be suffred to come within this the Kynge's Realme."

If they did, they were to forfeit all their goods, and to be ordered to quit the realm within fifteen days, and to be imprisoned in default. Further, if " any such straunger " thereafter committed any murder, robbery, or other felony, and, upon being arraigned, he pleaded not guilty, the jury was to be " alltogether of Englysshemen " instead of half Englishmen and half foreigners (medietatis linguw), which they were otherwise entitled to claim under 8 Henry vi. All Egyptians then in England w^ere to quit it within sixteen days after the Act was proclaimed, or to be imprisoned and to forfeit their goods ; but if any of those goods were claimed as stolen, then they were upon proper proof to be forthwith restored to the owner ; and, as an inducement to execute the Act zealously, all Justices of the Peace, Sheriffs, or Escheators, who seized the goods of any Egyptians, were to retain half of them as their own, and to account in the Court of Exchequer for the other moiety, and they were not to pay any fees or other charges upon rendering the account. This Act is duly noticed in L' office et audorytc des Justices de Peas, London, 1538,

In 1530 the " Egyptianis that dansit before the king [James v. of Scotland] in Halyrudhous " received forty shillings (Pitcairn, iii., App., 592).

No trace exists of another Act of Parliament which Mr. Hoyland alleges was passed in 1535 {Hist. Survey, p. 79). He states that, after a recital similar to that of the Act passed in 1530, it was enacted that they should quit the realm within a month, or be pro- secuted as thieves and rascals, and any one importing them was to be fined £40. It is probable that Mr. Hoyland has made a mistake in the date, and meant 1555.

In 1531 John Popham was born at Huntworth or Wellington, in Somersetshire. He afterwards rose to be Lord Chief-Justice of Eng-

10 EAKLY ANNALS OF THE GYPSIES IN ENGLAND.

land, and tried Guy Fawkes. While still a child he was stolen by a band of Gypsies, and " for some months," according to Campbell {Lives oj the Chief-Justices, London, 1849, vol. i. p. 209), or "for several years," according to Eoberts (Social Ilistorij of S. Goiinties, p. 259), was detained by them. They disfigured him, and burnt on his left arm a cabalistic mark ; but their wandering life strengthened his previously weak constitution.

About December 1536 "a company of lewd persons, calling themselves Gipcyans," were convicted of "a most shamefull and detestable murder commytted amonges them," but received the king's pardon, in which was " a speciall proviso, inserted by their owne consentes, that, onles they shuld avoyde this his grace's realme l)y a certeyn daye, . . . yt shuld be lawful to all his graces offycers to hang them . . . without any further . . . tryal."

This pardon was filed in Chancery ; but the Gypsies, having recovered their liberty, were in no hurry to leave the country. Thomas Crumwell (Lord Privy Seal) wrote on December 5, 1537, to '•' my lorde of Chestre, president of the Counsaile of the Marches of Wales," to

" Laye diligent espiall throiigliowte all the partes there aboutes youe and the shires next adjoynyng whether any of the sayd personnes calling theniselfes Egipcyans or that hathe heretofore called theniselfes Egipsyans shall fortune to enter or travayle in the same. And in cace youe shall here or knowe of any suche, be they men or women, that ye shall compell them to repair to the nexte porte of the see to the place where they shallbe taken and eyther wythout delaye uppon the first wyaide that may conveye them into any parte of beyond the sees to take shipping and to passe to outward partyes, or if they shall in any wise breke that coniniaundement without any tract to see them executed . , . without siwring uppon any commys- siou licence or placarde that they may shewe or aledge for themselfes."

In 1542, twelve years after the first Act was passed. Dr. Andrew Borde, the original " jNIerry Andrew," published Tlie fyrst hake of the introduction of Knowledge, and described (ch. 38, pp. 217, 218) the Gypsies of those days as "swarte and disgisyd in theyr apparel con- trary to other nacyons"; he adds, "They be lyght fyngerd and vse pyking ; they have little maner and euyl loggyng, and yet they be pleasnt daunsers . . . there money is brasse and golde ... If there be any man that wyl learn parte of theyr speche, Euglyshe and Egipt speche foloweth." He gives thirteen sentences (Miklosich, Beitr. zur Kenntn. der zig-mund., Vienna, 1874, i. 5).

In the summer of 1544 Eobert Ap Kice, Esq., the Sheriff of Huntingdon, caused a large band of Gypsies, owning seventeen horses, to be apprehended under the Act passed in 1530. They were tried at a special assizes, a fact which probably indicates that the capture

EAliLY ANNALS OF THE GYPSIES IN ENGLAND. 1 1

was one of uuiisiial size and importance. They were convicted and sentenced to be taken in the custody of William Wever to Calais, the nearest English port on the Continent. A ship belonging to John Bowles was hired by the Admiralty for the purpose, the freight being £6, 5s., and the cost of victualling £2, 18s. The total expense was £36, 5s. 7d., but was reduced by the sale of the seventeen horses for live shillings each. The accounts were set out by Mr. Hoyland ((>;?. cit., p. 81) from the Book of Receipts and Payments of 35 Henry viii.

About Christmas 1544, a number of Gypsies, who had been imprisoned at Boston, in Lincolnshire, were by the king's command shipped from there and landed in Norway. Sliortly afterwards four Gypsies came " from Lenn, thinkinge to have had shippinge here at Bostone as their company had," but '•' the Constables of the same towne immediatly not onely sett them in the stockes as vagaboundes, but also serched them to their shertes, but nothing cowde be found upon them, not so moche as wolde paie for their mete and drynke, nor none other bagge or baggage but one horse not worthe iiij s.," and " here beynge no shipping for them, the forseide constables of Bostone did avoyde them owte of the towne as vagaboundes towardes the nexte portes, which be Hull and Xewcastell." These facts are gathered from a letter of Nicholas Eobertson, of Boston, to Thomas, Earl of Essex, Lord Privy Seal, preserved amongst the Kecords of the Kolls' House (AVright, History of Ludloiv, p. 390).

On January 21, 1545, at Hampton Court, a passport was granted for a party of Gypsies under Phillipe Lazer, their Governor, to embark at London, according to an order of the Admiralty {Archmo- loyia, xviii., 127, and Proceedinys of the Privy Council, folio 129 h).

The King of France, in 1545, entertained the notion of embodying four thousand Gypsies as pioneers to act against Boulogne, then held by the English (Briglit, 07;. cit., 523). This is mentioned in a letter from the Council of Boulogne to the Privy Council of England, under date February 21, 1545, preserved in the State Paper Office, French Correspondence, vol. vi., No. 7 7, and printed in Tlie Works of Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey (2 vols., London, 1815), vol. i. p. 209, Letter XX., as follows : —

" It may like your good Lordships to be advertised that this day arrived here a spy for us that hath been long upon the frontier for that purpose."

The news he had gathered was —

"That their army shall assemble about th' end of March, and that the Rhinecroft shall bring out of Almain twenty four ensigns for th' renforce of th' old bands, and six thousand Gascons to be new levied, and six thousand pioneers, besides four

12 EARLY ANNALS OF THE GYPSIES IN ENGLAND.

thousand Egyptians that shall serve for pioneers, whom it is thought the French King minding to avoid out of his realm, deterniineth before their departure to employ this year in that kind of service, and that by their help, before their dis- patch he hopeth with a tumbling trench to fill the dykes of this town."

On December 5, 1545 (37 Henry viii.), a Bill was introduced into the House of Lords "pro animadversione in Egyptios." It was read on December 7 and 10, and referred to the Chief- Justice of the Common Bench. It was read the third time next day, and then sent to the Commons under the title "pro expulsione et supphcio Egyptorum " (Journal of the House of Lords, vol. i. pp. 273a, 272b, 273b, 274a). The printed Journal of the House of Commons only begins with 1547 (the year of King Henry's death), and, as the Statute Book does not include this edict, it probably failed to pass the Commons, who, in the first year of Edward vi., on November 17 and 23, and December 19, 1547, revived the subject by a Bill "for pun- ishing vagrants and Egyptians." On December 20, it was taken to the Lords, and committed to the Lord Chancellor, and read on the following day {Journal of the House of Commons, vol. i. ; Journal of the House of Lords, i. 310b, 211b); but this Bill likewise proved abortive, and is not found in the Statute Book.

In 1547 certain garments were made for two Egyptians (Kempe, Loscley MSS., London, 1836, p. 77).

On January 19, 1549, the Justices of Durham wrote to the Earl of Shrewsbury, then Lord President of the Council in the North, a letter stating that " John Koland oon of that sorte of people callinge themselffes Egiptians " had " accused " Baptist Favjc, Amy Faiue, and George Faive, Egiptians," of having " counterfeate the Iv3mgs Ma*'*^^ Create Scale," — that the accused persons had been apprehended, and amongst their things had been found " one wryting with a greate Seall moche like to the Kings Ma*^^^ greate Seall, which we bothe by the wrytinge and and also by the Seall do suppose to be counterfeate and feanyd." They sent the seal for examination, and informed his Lordship that the accused persons, with great execrations, denied all knowledge of the seal, and alleged that Eoland was " their mortall enemy and haithe oftentymes accused the said Baptist before this and is moche in his debte," and that they supposed he " or some of his complices haithe put the counterfeate Seall amongst their wry- tyngs" (Brand and Ellis, Popular Antiqitities, 2 vols. 4to, London, 1813, vol. ii. p. 438; Lodge, Ilhtstrations of British History, 3 vols. 4to, London, 1791, vol. i. p. 135).

On June 22, 1549, the young king, Edward vi., writes in his

EARLY ANNALS OF THE GYPSIES IN ENGLAND. 13

jourual, "There was a privy search made through Sussex for all vagabonds, gipsies, conspirators, prophesiers, all players, and such like" {Blackwood's Magazine, vol. i. p. 45; Burnet, History of the Bcformation, folio, London, 1G81, part ii. p. 16; Cottonian MSS,, British Museum).

On the 20th, 21st, and 30th November, and 1st December, 1554 (1 Philip and Mary; Commons' Journal, vol. i.), a Bill was before the Commons "for making the coming of Egyptians into the Realm Felony!' It was taken to the Lords on the 1st, and read on the 3d, 5th, and 10th of December {Lords Journal, i. 472a, 472b, 473b, 474b), and passed as "An Act against certain Persons calling themselves Egy2')tians" (1 and 2 Philip and Mary, cap. 4). It recites the Act of 1530, but omits all mention of Mr. Hoyland's Act of 1535 {ante), and states that " divers of the said Company and such other like Persons had enterprised to come over again, using their old accustomed devilish and naughty Practices and Devices with such abominable Living as is not in any Christian Ptealm to be permitted, named, or known ; and that they were not duly punished." It was therefore enacted that after 31st January 1555, any one importing Gypsies should forfeit forty pounds; that any Gypsy so imported who remained in England one month should be deemed a felon, and forfeit his life, lands, and goods, being also deprived of the privileges of a mixed jury, of sanctuary, and of " benefit of clergy," that is to say, ability to read was to be no bar to the proceedings. All Gypsies then in England or Wales were to depart within twenty days after proclamation of the Act, and any who stayed longer were to forfeit their goods, half to the crown and half to the person who should seize them. If they remained forty days after the proclamation the punishment was the same as for newly-imported Gypsies who stayed a month.

Erom the next section of the Act it would appear that the penal- ties had been evaded by obtaining " licenses, letters, or passports" ; but now, after 1st January 1555, any applicant for such protection was to forfeit forty pounds, and all such licences were to become void.

As at least half a century had elapsed since the immigration began, and many of the Gypsies must have been born in England, the seventh section excepts from these pains and penalties all who within twenty days after proclamation of the Act should " leave that naughty idle and ungodly Life and Company and be placed in the Service of some honest and able inhabitant or honestly exercise himself in some lawful Work or Occupation," but only so long as such good behaviour lasted. Children under thirteen years of age were also excepted, and

14 EARLY ANNALS OF THE GYPSIES IN ENGLAND.

Gypsies then in prison were allowed to quit tlie realm in fourteen days after their release.

Eeferring to this Statute of Philip and Mary, Samuel Pad, in his Art of Juggling, says : —

" But what a number were executed presently upon this Statute, you would wonder, yet notwithstanding all would not prevaile ; but still they wandred, as before up and downe, and meeting once in a yeere at a place appointed : sometimes at the Devil's A — e in Peak in Darbishire, and otherwhiles at Ketbrooke by Black- heath, or elsewhere, as they agreed still at their meeting."

But, when speaking of his own time, 1612, he says : —

" These fellowes seeing that no profit comes by wandring, but hazard of their lives, do daily decrease and breake off their wonted society, and betake themselves many of them, some to be Pedlers, some Tinkers, some Juglers, and some to one kind of life or other."

On October 7, 1555, the Privy Council Register of Queen Mary records at Greenwich a letter to the Earl of Sussex and Sir John Shelton, Sheriff of Norfolk and Suffolk, returning again to them the passports and licences of " suche as name themselves Egiptians of w*^** company they had some in prison requiring them to examyne y^ truth of their pretended Licenses, and being eftsons punished according to the Statute to give order forthwith for their transportacon out of the Realm."

On January 27, 1555(-6), the same Register records another letter written from Greenwich to Mr. SuUiarde, Sheriff of the Counties of Norfolk and Suffolk " to p'cede with 5 or 6 of th' Egiptians by him apprehended, and to see the rest sent out of the Realme with charge not to returne upon pain of execution of the laws ag* them. He is also willed to p'cede to the execution of 3 by him stayed and to stay no more after condemnagon, but to execute them according to the judgment. He is also advertised that the Queues Maty, shall be moved for staying from granting any pardon to Howlet that he writeth for, and that the commission of Gaole delivery shall be shortly made and sent to them."

On February 14, 1558, Joan, the daughter of an Egyptian, was baptized at Lyme Regis, in Devonshire, having been born at Char- mouth, "the quarters theyre being fixed," in accordance with the seventh section of 1 Philip and Mary" (Roberts, Social Hist, of Southern Counties, Lond. 1850, p. 257).

In the summer of 1559 a very large number of Gypsies were apprehended in Dorsetshire, and committed for trial at the Assizes under the Statutes of Henry viil. and Philip and Mary. The authori- ties were apparently perplexed by the number and the wholesale

EARLY ANNALS OF THE GYPSIES IN ENGLAND. 15

slaughter that would follow a conviction in case the laws were strictly enforced. Lord Mountjoy, the Lord-Lieutenant of the county, there- fore wrote to the Privy Council for instructions, which were sent to him by a minute in Queen Elizabeth's name. This is dated " the last of August 1559," and states that " in our late dere sistar's tyme some exaple was made by executio of some of the lyke which yet hath not proffited to teare theis sort of people as was met beside y« horrible and shamefull lyffe y* they doe hant." The Queen thought it " very covenient tliat some sliarpe example and executio shuld be made uppo a good ndber of them" ; therefore no favour was to be shown to " fellons or such like malefactors," to old offenders, " or to such as have fro there youth of long tyme hanted this lewd lyfi'e nor to such as be ye p'ncipall captens and ryngledars of the copany ;" but " y® childre being under y<= age of xvj*^ and of such as very lately have come to this trade of lyfle and that apper to have bene ignorat of y*^ lawes in this behalfe provided and of wome having childre eth"" suckyng uppo them or being otherwise very yong so as w*out their mothers attendace they might perish or otlier wome being w* child," were left to the discretion of Lord Mountjoy and the " Justicees of assisees at there comig thither," with the remark that " we thvnk it very c5veniet that tliey be c5veyed owt of y*^ realme an in lyke casees hath been used."

At the Dorchester Assizes, on the 5th of September 1559, these Gypsies were tried and were acquitted on the technical grounds that they had imported themselves, and had not come over seas, for " upon throughe examinacon " they alleged " that in Decembre last they cam out of Skotland into England by Carlysle w'^'^ ys all by land," perhaps on hearing of Queen Elizabeth's accession to the throne, November 1 7, 1558. The "justicees of assisees [serjeants] Eychard "Weston and Rychard Harpo'' " however directed them to be kept in custody until the Queen's pleasure was known, and on the 23d of September, James Lord Mountjoy wrote from Canford, explaining that he had "caused learned counsayll to sett in hand the drawyng of their endytement," but they and also " the Justyce of assyse judged they not to be w^^in the daunger of felonye, . . . therefore I have taken order that they shalbe dyspatched, w*'^ as convenyent speede as may be, as vagabonds, according to the lawes, to the places wher they Vv'cre borne" (State Papers — Domestic — Elizabeth, vol. vi. Nos. 31, 39, 50, pp. 137, 138, 139).

It is highly probable that this same band, upon leaving Dorchester to go to Scotland, passed through Gloucestershire, and were, on the

16 EAELY ANNALS OF THE GYPSIES IN ENGLAND.

26th of October 1559, reapprehended at Longhope, in that county, by- George Jones, the county escheator, by direction of William Pytte, bailiff of the borough of Blanford, Dorsetshire, acting as Lord Mount- joy's messenger {State Papers, vol. vi. No. 20, p. 141). The escheator's return furnishes their names, viz. James Kyncowe, George Kyncowe, Andrew Christo, Thomas Grabriells, Eobert Johanny, John Lallowe, Christopher Lawrence, and Richarde Concow. Their ulti- mate fate beyond being taken to Gloucester Castle is not mentioned, nor is the cause of their reapprehension ; but probably in Lord JNIountjoy's opinion they were not fulfilling their promise to return to Scotland.

In 1559 the churchwardens of Stratton, in Cornwall, "receved of Jewes Jeptyons for the church howse ijs. vjd.," and in 1560 they " receuyd of J?e Jepsyons on nyzth yn the church howsse iiijd. {Arcliceolofjia, xlvj.).

In 1562 William Bullein, the author of A Book of Simples and of Surgery forming parte of his Bidivarhe of Defence, etc. (1562, folio), speaks of dog-leeches, who " fall to palmistry and telling of fortunes, daily deceiving the simple, like unto the swarms of Vaga- bonds, Egyj)tians, and some that call themselves Jews, whose eyes were so sharp as lynx " (Strype, Annals of the Beformation, Oxford, 1824, vol. ii. part ii. ch. xix. p. 307; Brand and Ellis, Popular Antiquities, p. 440).

On 20th, 23d, and 27th February 1562, we again find the Com- mons considering a Bill " for the punishment of vagabonds called Egyptians " {Commons' Journal, vol. i.). It was before the Lords on 27th February, and 2d, 4th, and 6th March {Lords' Journal, i, 596, 597, 598, 599), and passed as " An Act for further Punishment of Vagabonds calling themselves Egyptians " (5 Elizabeth, cap. 20). The Earl of Arundel alone dissented from the measure. Under this Act, after 1st May 1562, any person who for a month " at one time or at several times " was in the company of Gypsies, and imitated their Apparel, Speech, or other Behaviour, should, as a felon, suffer death and loss of lands and goods, without the benefits of a jury medietatis lingum, sanctuary, or " clergy " ; but children under fourteen were excepted ; and Gypsies then in prison were, within fourteen days from their release, to quit England and Wales, or put themselves to some honest service, or exercise some lawful trade. No natural born subjects, however, were to be compelled to quit England or Wales, but only to leave their naughty ways and in future to labour honestly.

FARLY ANNALS OF THE GYPSIES IN ENGLAND. 17

Wraxall {History of France, ii. 32), referring to this Act of 1563, states that in the reign of Elizabeth the Gypsies throughout England were supposed to exceed ten thousand.

On February 19, 1564, William, the son of an Egyptian, was baptized at Lanchester in the county of Durham {Ghron. Mircib., 1841).

On December 29, 1565, Sir John Throckmorton wrote to his brother Sir Nicholas, that having his house full of children, and prospects of a further increase, he was forced to wander up and down " like an Egyptian " in other men's houses, for want of one of his own {Calendar of State Papers, vol. xii. p. 574).

On March 30, 1567, " Eobartt, ane Egiptic,' was baptized at Bedford, and on April 26, 1567, at the same place, "John, ane Egiptn," was baptized (G-roome, In Gypsy Tents, Edinburgh, 1880).

In 1567, Thomas Harman, the author of A Caucat or Warcning

for commcn cvrsetors vvlgarcly called Vagahoncs, when speaking of

" vagabones or lousey leuterars," says : —

" I hope their synne is now at the hyghest ; and that as short and as spedy a redresse wylbe for these, as hath bene of late yeres for the wretched, wily, wandering vagabonds calling and naming them selves'Egiptians, depely dissembling and long hyding and couering their depe decetfuU practises, — feding the rude com- mon people, wholy addicted and geuen to nouelties, toyes, and new inventions, — delyting them with the strangenes of the attyre of their heades, and practising pavilmistrie to such as would know their fortunes : . . . And now (thankes bee to god), throughe wholsome lawes, and the due execution thereof, all be dispersed, banished, and the memory of them cleane extynguished ; that when they bee once named here after, our Chyldren wyll muche meruell what kynd of people they were {Early English Text Society, extra series, ix. p. 23).

Mr. Harman lived at Crayford, near Erith, in Kent.

On March 1, 1568, the Lords of the Council wrote to William More, Esq., " for the suppression of rogues, vagabonds, and Egyp- tians " in Surrey, who were to be " corrected sharply and restrained firmly in accordance with the laws of the Kealm " {Rist. MSS. Record Com., 7th Report, p. 620).

In 1569, the Privy Council caused a vigorous effort to be made by the authorities in every county to capture, punish, and send to their homes all vagrants, including Gypsies, throughout England. The first search was made on the 24th of March ; and at Higham Ferrars, Northamptonshire, the following " sturdey vacabownds " were taken and whypped, and sent home with passports, viz. : —

" Roger Lane, to whom a three weeks' passport was given to go to Stafford. Robert Bayly, and Alice his wife, 3 days to Gretton, in Rockingham Forest. Edward Ffyllcocks, 4 days to Newport, Bucks. Elizabeth Jurdayne, 2 days to Lowek, Northpton.

VOL. L — NO. I. B

18 EAELY ANNALS OF THE GYPSIES IN ENGLAND.

John Tomkyns, three weeks to Ludlow in Wales.

Valentyne Tyndale, on the 21st of June, had a passport to go to *ye back streate (!) in ye Cytie of London.' "

In the Hundred of ISTesse of Borougli, in the same county, Anne Diickdale, Jone Hodgekyne, and Elizabeth Lee, were similarly treated {State Pa-pcrs — Domestic — Elizcibeth, vol. li. No. 11, p. 334),

Many places omitted to make this first search or to send up the returns, so in June the Privy Council decreed a further and stricter search " to apprehend all vagabonds sturdy beggars commonly called rogues or Egyptians, and also all idle vagrant persons having no master nor no certainty how and whereby to live ; " and a similar search was to be made every month until November or longer, as they should see cause. There appear to have been fears of a rising of the people, and warning is given '' that all tales, news, spreading of unlawful books, should be stayed and sharply punished." The letters on this subject to the Lord-Lieutenant of the North and to the Sheriff of Yorkshire are to be found in Strype's Annals of the Reformation (vol. i. pt. ii. ch. liii. p. 295, and Appendix, p. 554, No. xliii.). They enjoined " a strait search and good strong watch to be begun on Sunday at night about 9 of the clock which shalbe the 10th of July," and "to continue the same al that night until four of the clock in the afternoon of the next day."

Baines {History of Laneasliire, ed. 1868, ch. xiii. p. 169) mentions this search, and repeats Strype's statement that the result was the apprehension of 13,000 masterless men.

On April 17, 1571, a Bill was drafted, but was not passed, that " priests and other popisly affected " lurking " in serving mens or mariners apparaile or otherwyse dysguised," were to be " demed judged and punished as vachabounds wandering in this realme called or calling theym selves Egiptians " {State Papers — Domestic — Eliza- beth, vol. Ixxvii. No. 60, p. 410).

In 1577 the Privy Council issued an order, signed by the Lord Chancellor Sir Nicolas Bacon and others, for the apprehension of Kowland Gabriel [cf. Thomas Grabriells, 1559], Katherine Deago [Spanish, Diego], and six others, who were tried on the 18th of April at Aylesbury for feloniously keeping company with other vagabonds vulgarly called and calling themselves Egyptians, and counterfeiting, transferring, and altering themselves in dress, language, and be- haviour. They were found guilty and hanged {The Annals of England, Oxford, 1856, vol ii. p. 287).

In 1578 Whetstone, in his Promos and Cassandra, i. 2, 6, in the

EAELY ANNALS OF THE GYPSIES IN ENGLAND. 19

stage direction for the scene, says : " Two hucksters, one woman, one like a Giptian, the rest poore rogues " ; and the scene contains the following line —

" How now, Giptian 1 all amort, knave, for Avant of company."

This I believe to be the first dramatic appearance of a Gipsy in Eno'land.

On April 2, 1581, Margaret Bannister, daughter of AVilliam Bannister, " going after the manner of roguish ^Egyptians," was bap- tized at Loughborough, in Leicestershire (Burns, History of Parish Registers, 1829).

In 1584 Eeginald Scot, younger son of Sir John Scot, of Kent,

published a quarto volume, called The Discouerie of Witchcraft, which

contained such " damnable opinions " concerning his beloved witches,

that King James the First ordered all obtainable copies to be burnt.

Scot (Book xi. ch. x.), says —

" The counterfeit Egyptians, which were indeed cousening vagabonds, practising the art called sortilegium, had no small credit with the multitude ; howbeit their diuinations were, as was their fast and loose."

And a few lines further he alludes to them as "these /Egyptian couseners " ; and again (Book xiii. ch. xxix.), he says —

" The J^gyptians juggling, witchcraft, or sortilegie standeth much in fast or loose, whereof though I have written somewhat generallie alreadie, yet hauing such opportunitie I will here show some of their particular feats ; not treating of their common tricks, which is so tedious, nor of their fortune-telling, which is so impious, and yet both of them mere cousenages," etc.

This game of fast and loose was sometimes called pricking the belt or girdle or garter, " in which a leathern belt is made up into a number of intricate folds and placed edgewise on a table. One of the folds is made to resemble the middle of the girdle, so that whoever shall thrust a skewer into it would think he held it fast to the table, whereas, when he has so done, the person with whom he plays may take hold of both end-s and draw it away. This appears to have been a game much practised by the Gypsies in the time of Shakspere, and is still in vogue " (Brand, Popular Antiqiuities, by Hazlitt, London, 1870, ii. 325).

Scot (o/A fit., Book xiii. ch. xxix.) describes the trick of " fast and loose " thus —

" Make one plain loose knot with two corner ends of a liandkercher, and seem- ing to draw the same very hard, hold fast the body of the said handkercher (neer to the knot) with your right hand, pulling the contrary end with the left hand, which is the corner of that which you hold. Then close up handsomely the knot which will be yet somewhat loose, and pull the handkercher so with your right hand, as

20 EARLY ANNALS OF THE GYPSIES IN ENGLAND.

the left hand end may be neer to the knot ; then it -will seem a true and a firm knot. And to make it appear more assuredly to be so indeed, let a stranger pull at the end which you hold in your left hand, whilest you hold fast the other in your right hand ; and, then holding the knot with your forefinger and thumb, and the nether part of your handkercher with your other fingers as you hold a bridle when you would with one hand slip up the knot and lengthen your reins. This done turn your handkercher over the knot with the left hand, in doing whereof you must sodainly slip out the end or corner, putting up the knot of your handkercher with your forefinger and thumb as you would put up the foresaid knot of your bridle. Then deliver the same (covered and wrapt in the midst of your handkercher) to one to hold fast, and so after some words used and wagers layed, take the handkercher and shake it, and it will be loose."

On April 22, 1586, the Justices at the Bury St. Edmunds Sessions in Suffolk directed the building of a house of correction, as " yt appeareth by dayly experience that the number of idle vagraunte loyteringe, sturdy roags, masteries men, levvde and yll disposed per- sons are exceedingly encreased and multiplied, committinge many grevious and outeragious disorders and offences," and the persons to be taken, under the Poor Laws and Vagrant Acts (14 Elizabeth, cap. V. ; 18 Elizabeth, cap. iii., repealed by 35 Elizabeth, cap. vii.), included "all idle persons goinge aboute usinge subtiltie and unlawfull games or plaie, all such as faynt themselves to have knowledge in phisiog- nomye, palmestrie, or otlier abused sciences, all tellers of destinies, deaths, or fortunes, and such lyke fantasticall imaginations " {Harl, MSS., British Museum, No. 364 ; Hoyland, op. cit, 83-86).

In 1591, Piobert Hilton, of Denver, in Norfolk, was convicted of felony " for calliuge himself by the name of an Egiptian," but on December 22 he was specially pardoned {Calendar of State Papers — Domestic — Elizabeth, Docquets, vol. ccxl. p. 146).

On August 8, 1592, Simson, Arington, Fetherstone, Fenwicke, and Lanckaster were hanged at Durham for being Egyptians {Parish Register, St. Nicholas, Durham; Chron. Mir ah. 1841; Burns, Parw/i Registers; Blaekiuood's Magazine, 1817, vol. i. 618n. ; Eoberts, >S'ocm/ History of Southern Counties, p. 259).

Shakspere, who was born 1564 and died 1616, mentions Gypsies several tunes : first in Romeo and. Jidiet (1593), IL, iv., 44, thus —

" Laura, to his lady, was but a kitchen wench, . . Cleoijatra, a gipsy."

Next in ^s You Like It (1600), v., iii., 16, where the two pages are to sing —

" Both in a tune, like two gipsies on a horse."

Again in Othello (1604), in., iv., 56, speaking of the all-important handkerchief, Othello says —

EARLY ANNALS OF THE GYPSIES IN ENGLAND. 21

" That handkerchief Did an Egyptian to my mother give ; She was a charmer, and could almost read The thoughts of people :

• «■•••

She dying gave it me."

And finally, in Antony and Cleo'patra (1606), i., i., 10, Philo says of Antony —

" His captain's heart is become the bellows and the fan to cool a gipsy's lust.''

In 1594 William Standley, Francis Brewerton, and John Weeks, of London, yeomen, were sentenced to be hanged " because they had consorted for a month with Egyptians " {Middlesex County Records, vol. i. ; Athenceum, September 11, 1886, p. 330). On August 28, 1594, they were pardoned "for counterfeiting themselves Egyptians, contrarie to the Statute " {Cal. of State Pajjers — Domestic — Elizaheth, Docquets, vol. cclxii. p. 551). A few years later, Joan Morgan was sentenced to be hanged for a similar offence {Athenaeum, September 11, 1886, p. 330).

On September 5, 1596, Sir Edward Hext (Sheriff in 1607), of Netherham, in Somersetshire, Justice, wrote the following graphic letter to the Lord Treasurer : —

" Experience teacheth that the execution of that godly law upon that wicked sect of rogues, the Egyptians, had clean cut them off, but they, seeing the liberties of others, do begin to spring up again, and there are in this country of them, but upon the peril of their lives. I avow it they were never so dangerous as the wandering soldiers or other stout rogues of England, for they went visibly in one company and were not above thirty or forty of them in a shire, but of this sort ofAvandering idle people there are three or four hundred in a shire, and though they go by two or three in a company, yet all or the most part of a shire do meet either at fairs or markets or in some alehouse, once a week. And in a great hay-house, in a remote place, there did resort weekly forty, sometimes sixty, where they did roast all kind of good meat. The inhabitants being wonderfully grieved by their rapines, made complaint at our last Easter sessions, after my Lord Chief Justice's departure, pre- cepts were made to the tithings adjoining for the apprehending of them. They made answer, they were so strong that they durst not adventure of them ; where- upon precepts were made to the constables of the shire but not apprehended, for they have intelligence of all things intended against them. For there be of them that will be present at every Assize, Sessions, and Assembly of Justices, and will so clothe themselves for that time as any should deem him to be an honest husband- man, so as nothing is spoken, done, or intended to be done, but they know it, I know this to be true by the confession of some. And they grow the more danger- ous in that they find they have bred that fear in Justices and other inferior officers, that no man dares call them into question. And at a late sessions a tall man, a man sturdy, and ancient traveller, was committed by a Justice and brought to the sessions, and had judgment to be whipped. He, present at the bar, in the fiice and hearing of the whole bench, swore a great oath, that if he were whipped it should be the dearest whipping to some that ever was. It strake such a fear in him that com- mitted him, as he prayed he might be deferred until the Assizes, where he was

22 EAELY ANNALS OF THE GYPSIES IN ENGLAND.

delivered without any whipping or other harm, and the justice glad he had so paci- fied his wrath. And they laugh in themselves at the lenity of the law, and the timorousness of the executioners of it," etc. etc. (Strype, Annals, etc., vol. iv. p. 410).

This account of the size of the gangs is confirmed by a letter, dated November 21, 1596, from the Privy Council to the Eecorder of London, Mr. Topcliffe, and Sir William Skevington, the Lieutenant of the Tower, and inventor of the torture popularly called the Scavenger's Daughter, described in Tanner's Socictas Europcca, p. 18. The letter states that " of late certaine lewd persons to the number of eighty gathered together, calling themselves Egipcians and wanderers through divers countyes of the realme," and were " stayed in North- amptonshire, whereupon we caused some of tlie ringleaders of them to be brought up hither, and have committed them to prison." The Council required the Eecorder " to examine the said lewd persons upon suche artycles and informations as you shall receive from the Lord Cheife Justice of Her Majesties Benche ; and yf you shall not be hable by faire meanes to bringe them to reveale their lewd be- havior, practyses, and ringleaders, then wee thinke it meet they shall be removed to Brydewell and there be put to the manacles, whereby they may be constrained to utter the truth in those matters con- cerning their lewd behaviour that shall be fitt to be demanded of them" {Privy Council Booh; Jardine, The Use of Torture in the Criminal Laiv of England 'previously to the Commonvxalth, London 1837, p. 41, and Appendix, No. 43, p. 99).

The well-known Poor Law Act, 39 Elizabeth, cap. iv., which was passed in 1596, contains, in the second section, a curious catalogue of persons who were to be deemed rogues and vagabonds, including " all tynkers wandering abroade . . . and all such p'sons, not being Pellons, wandering and p'tending themselves to be Egipcyans or wandering in the Habite, Eorme, or Attyre of counterfayte Egipcians."

These are all the Acts which were specially directed against Gypsies, and they remained in force, though not enforced, until repealed in 1784 by the Act 23 George iii., cap. li.

The Vagrant Act (17 George iL, cap. v.) declared that " all persons pretending to be Gypsies, or wandering in the habit and form of Egyptians, or pretending to have skill in palmistry, or pretending to tell fortunes," were to be dealt with as rogues and vagabonds.

In 1822 that Act was repealed by 3 George iv., cap. xL, by section 3 of which " all persons pretending to be Gypsies or to tell fortunes, or wandering abroad or lodging under tents or in carts " were to be deemed rogues and vagabonds ; and by 3 George iv., cap. cxxvi., sec.

EAKLY ANNALS OF THE GYPSIES IN ENGLAND. 23

121, any Gypsy encamping on the side of a turnpike road was liable to a penalty of forty shillings. By 5 George iv., cap. Ixxxiii, sec. 4, any one pretending to tell fortunes by palmistry, or otherwise to deceive ; any one wandering abroad and lodging under any tent or in any cart, not having any visible means of subsistence, and not giving a good account of himself, is liable for the first offence to three months' imprisonment.

Thus the fact of being a Gypsy gradually ceased to be an offence, and the only Acts which now expressly mention Gypsies are the Act just quoted against encamping on a turnpike road, and the Highway Act, 1835 (3 and 4 William iv., cap. 1. sec. 72), which renders any Gypsy j)itcliing a tent or encamping upon a highway liable to be fined forty shillings.

At the Devonshire Lent Assizes, 1598, Charles, Oliver, and Bartholomew Baptist were committed for " wandering like Egyp- tians " (Frasers Magazine, 1877, January, etc.).

On January 30, 1602, the Constables of Eepton in Derbyshire " gave the Gipsies xxd. to avoyde ye towne " {Christian World Magazine, Dec. 1887).

On July 9, 1605, at Stokesley Quarter Sessions, Yorkshire, the constables were called to account for permitting four women " vagrantes more Egyptianorum " to stay in their vill of Sutton and go forth unpunished, although previously warned by the chief constable {North Biding Bee. Soc. vol. i. p. 11).

On October 4, 1605, at Eichmond Quarter Sessions, Yorkshire, the grand jury presented Eobert Metcalf of Borrowby for receiving into his dwelling-house on January 6th, five men and boys, being Gypsies (existentes Egiptianos) and harbouring them for four days and nights together to the great terror of his neighbours {North Biding Bee. Soc. vol. i. p. 21).

In 1613 the Earl of Huntingdon had to send forces into Leicester- shire to compel the Egyptians to disband {Cal. of State Pajiers, vol. Ixxii.).

About 1621 Ben Jonson published his Masque of the GT/psies Metam orphosed.

On September 5, 1622, Lord Keeper Williams wrote to the Justices of Berkshire, ordering them to put in force the laws for suppressing vagrancy, etc., against the "whole troupe of rogues, beggars, ^giptians and idle persons " who infested the county {Hist. MSS. Com., 5th Eeport, p. 410).

About 1630 was published a ballad called " The Brave English Jipsey " {Ballad Societfs Boxburghe Ballads, part vii. p. 329).

24 EARLY ANNALS OF THE GYPSIES IN ENGLAND.

In 1631 Margaret rinch was born at Sutton in Kent, and lived

to be 109. She was the first Queen of the Gypsy Colony at Lambeth.

In 1635 the constables of Leverton, six miles north of Boston, in

Lincolnshire, gave eighteen Gypsies one penny each (Thompson, Hist.

of Boston, Boston, 1856, p. 574).

In October 1647, the inhabitants of Plumbland in Cumberland, complained that a Mr. Nicholson had broken open the doors of their church and left the church door open, " whereby the church tecame a lodging-place to a vagabond people going under the name of Egyptians, and was in danger of being burnt by the fires made in it " {Hist. MSS. Com., 6th Report, p. 215).

In 1649, at Bransby, in the North Biding of Yorkshire, "divers people in the habitts of jipsey," were apprehended, " Divers of them did tell fortunes," and " they did some tyme speak iu languages wich none who were by could understand." Their leader's name was Grey, and his followers were Elizabeth Grey, Eichard and Barbara Smith, and Francis and Elizabeth Parker. They owned a mare, had several children, and had travelled through the counties of Hereford, Stafford, Salop, Chester, and Lancaster, on their way to Northumber- land (Surtces Soc, vol. xl.).

About 1650 Sir Matthew Hale (1609-1676) says, in his Pleas of the Croivn (1778, i. 671): "I have not known these statutes much put in execution, only about twenty years since at the Assizes at Bury [St. Edmunds, in Suffolk] about thirteen were condemned and executed for this offence, namely, for being Gypsies.

Thomas Pennant, in his History of Wliiteford and Holywell (1796, p. 35) records a tradition that a similar fate overtook eighteen Welsh Gypsies about the same time.

In 1657 a Gypsy king named Buckle was buried (Moffatt's Hist, of Malmeslury, Tetbury, 1805, p. 71).

Henry Ellis {Original Letters Illustrative of English Hist., 1st Series, vol. ii. p. 100) says, " Some others were executed at Stafford a short time after the Ptestoration (1660)."

On August 11, 1668, the celebrated diarist Pepys says: "This afternoon, my wife and Mercer and Deb. went with Pelling to see the Gypsies at Lambeth and have their fortunes told, but what they did I did not enquire."

In 1687 we find Heme and Boswell in use as Gypsy names {BlackwoocV s Magazine, vol. xcix.).

H. T. Crofton.

A KOUMANIAN-GYPSY FOLK-TALE. 25

III.— A KOUMANIAN-GYPSY FOLK-TALE.

THE BAD MOTHER.

THIS story is No. 4 of the fourteen Pioumanian-Gypsy folk-tales published by Dr. Barbu Constantinescu in his Prohe de Liiiiba si Ziteratura Tsiganilor din Romania (Bucharest, 1878), in the original Eomany, with a parallel Eoumanian translation. Being ignorant of Pioumanian, I have made this literal translation directly from the Eomany, with occasional reference to a Roumanian-German dictionary for such borrowed words as paloso, " sabre," and odaia, " chamber." These are not numerous. The story is one of the best Gypsy folk-tales that we have, and is also one of the best-known among the Gypsies themselves. Por two Romany variants of it have been already published — No. 5 in Dr. Priedrich Miiller's Beitrdge zur Kenntniss der Bo7n-Sprache (Vienna, 1869), which was got from a Hungarian Gypsy soldier; and No. 11 in Dr. Pranz Miklosich's Mdrclien ^md Liedcr dcr Zigeuncr der Buhoioina (Vienna, 1874). These, being furnished with German and Latin interlinear translations, are accessible to tlie general student of folk-tales. Miiller's is much inferior to our version, from which it differs widely; Miklosich's is in some points superior; but all three are clearly derived from an older, more perfect original. Such an original I cannot recognise in any of the numerous non-Gypsy variants— five from Greece (Hahn, i. p. 176, 215 ; ii. 234, 279, 283) ; one from the Harz (Ey, 154) ; one from Lithuania (Schleicher, 54); two from Russia (De Gubernatis, ^oo/. MythA. 212; Ralston, 235), and one from Norway (Dasent, "The Blue Belt," 178). Hahn's variants come nearest to our Gypsy versions, but are one and all decidedly inferior.

There was an emperor. He had been married ten years, but had no children. And God granted that his empress conceived and bore a son. Now that lad was heroic ; his like was nowhere found. And the father lived half a year longer, and died. Then what is the lad to do ? He took [lit. put himself] and departed in quest of heroic achievements. And he travelled a long time, and took no heed, and came into a great forest. In that forest there was a certain house, and in that house twelve dragons. Then the lad went straight

26 A EOUMANIAN-GYPSY FOLK-TALE.

there, and saw that there was no one. He opened the door, and went in, and saw a sabre on a nail, and took it, and planted himself behind the door, and waited for the coming of the dragons. When they came, they did not go in all at once, but went in one by one. The lad waited with the sabre in his hand, and as each one went in, he cut off his head, and flung it on the floor. So the lad killed eleven dragons, and the youngest remained. And the lad went out to him, and took and fought with him, and fought half a day. And the lad vanquished the dragon, and took him, and put him in a jar, and fastened him well.

And the lad went to walk, and came on another house, where there was only a maiden. And when he saw the maiden, how did she please his heart ! As for the maiden, the lad pleased her just as well. And the maiden was yet more heroic than the lad. And they formed a strong love [ai astardine on ch drdgostea zicrali]. And the lad told the maiden he had killed eleven dragons, and one he had left alive, and put it in a jar. The maiden said, " You did ill not to kill it, but now let it be." And the lad said to the maiden, " I will go and fetch my mother, for she is alone at home." Then the maiden said, " Fetch her, but you will regret it [kamS Mis t2i]. But go and fetch her, and dwell with her."

So the lad departed to fetch his mother. He took his mother, and brought her into the house of the dragons whom he had slain, and he said to his mother, " Go into every chamber, only into this chamber do not go." His mother said, "I will not go, darling." And the lad departed into the forest to hunt. And his mother went into the chamber where he had told her not to go. And when she opened the door, the dragon saw her, and said to her, " Empress, give me a little water, and I will do you much good." She went and gave him water, and he said to her, " Dost love me ? then will I take thee, and thou shalt be mine empress." " I love thee," she said. Then the dragon said to her, "What will you do, to escape from your son, that we may be left to ourselves. Make yourself ill [i.e. pretend to be ill — Te kerds tu nasfcdi — ^just as in the Anglo-Romany], and say you have seen a dream, that he must bring you a suckling of the sow in the other world ; that if he does not bring it you, you will die ; but if he bring it you, say that you will recover." Then she went into the house, and tied up her head, and made herself ill. And when the lad came home, and saw her with her head tied up, he asked her, " What 's the matter, mother ? " She said, " I am ill.

TEIE BAD MOTHER. 27

darling. I shall die. But I saw a dream, to eat a suckling from the sow in the other world." Then the lad began to cry, for his mother will die. And he took and departed. Then he went to his sweet- heart, and told her, " INIaiden, my mother will die. And she has seen a dream, that I must bring her a porker from the other world." The maiden said, " Go, and be prudent. [Gia ai 'te avds gogheauer]. And when you return, come to me. Take my horse with the twelve wings, and mind the sow doesn't seize you, else she '11 eat both you and the horse." So the lad took her horse and departed. He arrived there ; and when the sun was midway in its course, he went to the little pigs, and took one, and fled. Then the sow heard him, and after him she came to seize him in her mouth. And at the very verge, just as he was leaping out, the sow bit off half his horse's tail. So the lad went to the maiden. And the maiden came out, and took the little pig, and hid it, and put another in its stead. Then he went home to his mother, and gave her the little pig, and she dressed it and ate, and said that she was well.

Three or four days later she made herself ill again, as the dragon

had shown her. When the lad came, he asked her, " What 's the

matter now, mother ? " "I am ill again, darling. I have seen a

dream that you must bring me an apple from the golden apple-tree

in the other world." So the lad took and departed to the maiden ;

and when the maiden saw him so troubled, she asked him, " What 's

the matter, lad ? " " What 's the matter ! my mother is ill again.

And she has seen a dream that I am to bring her an apple from

the apple-tree in the other world." Then the maiden knew that

his mother was walking to eat his head [i.e. compassing his death

— pMrdas tc lied Usko sord'] ; and she said to the lad, " Take my horse

and go, but be careful the apple-tree does not seize you there. When

you return, come to me." And the lad took and departed, and

came to the verge of the earth. And he let himself in, and went to

the apple-tree at midday when the apples were resting. And he

took an apple, and ran away. Then the leaves perceived it, and

began to rustle [? — isijyiti], and the apple-tree took itself after him to

lay its hand on him, and kill him. And the lad came out from the

vemc, and arrived in our world, and went to the maiden. Then

the maiden took the apple, stole it from him, and hid it, and put

another in its stead. And the lad stayed a little longer with her,

and departed to his mother. Then his mother, when she saw him,

asked him, " Have you brought it, darling ? " "I 've brought it,

28 A ROUMANIAN-GYPSY FOLK- TALE.

mother." So she took the apple, and ate, aud said there was nothing more the matter with her.

In a week's time the dragon told her to make herself ill again, and to ask for water from the great mountains. So she made herself ill. When the lad saw her ill, he began to weep, and said, " My mother will die. God ! she 's always ill " [mer^o nasfaol]. Then he went to her, and asked her, " Wliat 's the matter, mother ? " "I shall die, darling. But I shall recover if you will bring me water from the great mountains. Then the lad tarried no longer. He went to the maiden, and said to her, " My mother is ill again. And she has seen a dream that I must fetch her water from the great mountains." The maiden said, " Go, lad, but I fear the marshes will catch you, and the mountains there, and will kill you. But do you take my horse with twenty-and-four wings ; and, when you get there, wait afar off till midday, for at midday the mountains and the marshes set themselves at table, and eat. And do you go then with the pitcher, and draw water quickly and escape." Then the lad took the pitcher, and departed thither to the mountains, and waited till the sun had reached the middle of his course [ai hcslo gi hand ailo o kham andd masMr]. And he went and drew water, and fled. And the marshes and the mountains saw him, and took themselves after him : and they could not catch him. And the lad came to the maiden. Then the maiden went and took the pitcher with the water, and put another in its stead without his knowing it. And the lad arose and went home, and gave water to his mother, and she recovered.

Then the lad departed into the forest to hunt. His mother went to the dragon, and told him, " He has brought me the water. What am I to do to him now ? " " What are you to do ? Why, take and play cards with him. You must say, ' For a wager, as I used to play with your father.' " So the lad came home, and found his mother merry [vedsdo] : it pleased him well. And she said to him at table, as they were eating, " Darling, when your father was living, what did we do ? When we had eaten and risen up, we took and played cards for a wager." Then the lad, " If you like, play with me, mother." So they took aud played cards, and his mother beat him ; and she took silken cords, and bound his two hands so tightly that the cord went into his hands. And the lad began to weep, and said to his mother, " Mother, release me or I die." She said, " That was just what I was wanting to do to you." And she called the dragon, "Come forth,

THE BAD MOTHER. 29

dragon, aud come and kill him." Then the dragon came forth, and took him, aud cut him in pieces, aud put him in the saddle-bags, and placed him on his horse, and let him go, and said to the horse, " Carry him, horse, dead [thither], whence thou didst carry him alive." And the horse hurried to the lad's sweetheart, and went straight to lier there. Then when the maiden saw him, she began to weep. And she took him, and put piece to piece ; when one was missing, she cut the porker, aud supplied flesh from the porker. So she put all the pieces of him in their place. And she took the water, and poured it on him, and he became whole. And she squeezed the apple in his mouth, and brouglit him to life. So when the lad arose, he went home to his mother, and drove a stake into the earth, and placed both her and the dragon on one pyre [? — rogojina\ And he set it alight, and they were consumed. Aud he departed thence, and took the maiden, and made a marriage, aud kept up the marriage three months day and night ; and I came away and told the story.

Feancis Hixdes Groome.

IV.— STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE GYPSIES IN THE

GERMAN EMPIEE.

AS I had last year the intention of visiting the Gypsies in Germany, in order to study their dialects — a field in which there is still (as every savant knows) a great deal of work to be done — I addressed myself to the Imperial-Austrian and Eoyal-Huugarian Embassy in Berlin for information concerning the number and location of the Gypsies living in the German Empire. This high authority elicited from the Ptoyal Prussian Government extensive data respecting the Gypsy colonies, and also, though in a less degree, respecting the nomadic tribes of Gypsies. These facts regarding the present condi- tion of the Gypsies, not only in Prussia, but throughout the whole Empire, have only been collected during recent years, and they can be thoroughly relied upon. To these data I think I ought to add the observations which I myself had the opportunity of making iu the course of my journey.

30 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE GYPSIES IN THE GERMAN EMPIRE.

Prussia.

Residing 'permanently in Prussia.

Provinces.	Places.	Families,	Heads.
1.	Konigsberg, .	10	24	98
2.	Gumbinen,	28	69	310
3.	Danzig, .	2	6	30
4.	Marienwerder,	7	26	136
5.	Potsdam,	3	9	38
6.	Frankfurt a. d. 0., .	5	10	39
7.	Coeslin, .	3	19	68
8.	Bromberg,	3	13	60
9.	Breslau, .	1	2	6
10.	Oppeln, .	2	2	7
11.	Merseburg,	— ?	10	28
12.	Erfurt, ." .	1	1	8
13.	Schleswig,	2	5	19
14.	Liineburg,	1	4	9
15.	Minden,	5	15	74
16.	Arnsberg,	3	24	108
17.	Cassel, .	1	1	10
18.	Wiesbaden, . Total,	1	1	6
	241	1054

With regard to the wandering Gypsies there is no authentic information. As far as I can gather from ncAvspapers, private accounts, and experiences gained during travels, nomadic tribes of Gypsies are still frequently met with in the western parts of Prussia (for example, in Westphalia and Brandenburg) ; in the northern parts (as, for example, Schleswig) only rarely. With regard to the residence of Gypsies as given in the foregoing table, it must not be assumed that they remain the whole year in the place officially assigned to them. The occupations of most of them necessitate their absenting themselves for a shorter or longer period.

Their occupations are, according to official information, as follows : —

The chiefs of families in the provinces of Konigsberg and Gumbinen are mostly without a fixed occupation and livelihood : they are partly horse-dealers, but rarely follow any other distinct calling. In the provinces of Danzig, Marienwerder, Potsdam, Frankfurt, Coeslin, Bromberg, Breslau, Oppeln, Merseburg, Erfurt, the Gypsies are mostly musicians and puppet showmen ; while in Prankfurt and Coeslin they have shooting-galleries. In the other provinces they mostly lead a wandering life. Eegarding the condition of the Gypsy colonies in Prussia, I can only speak

STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE GYPSIES IN THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 31

to what I have witnessed myself ; — and this refers to the colonies in Klein-Ptekeitschcn (Prov. Gumbinen), Berleburg, and Sasmanns- hausen (Prov. Arnsberg). In the first-named place I found very few Gypsies, the greater number having gone to the fair of Tilsit.

The place itself consists of small houses scattered about the sandy plain. The cottages, such as they were, in which I found the Gypsies located, were more like caves. The people did not live exclusively by themselves, for there were also a few German men and women among them. All gave one the impression of the greatest squalor and neglect ; their appearance was mean, and quarrels were frequent. When I left them I could hear for a long time after the noise of their wrangling ; the sober ones probably fighting with the drunk ones over the money received from me.

The German spoken by them is like that of the country people in the neighbourhood, a low German dialect. Their own language they speak very fluently, and with comparative purity, i

In Berleburg I have been told that the Gypsies dwell at the end of the little town. I did not visit them, as in questioning the Gypsy children in the school there I gained the conviction that the Gypsies of that colony no longer spoke their language. They are entirely Germanised, and only use some Ptomany words in intercourse with their wandering comrades.

In Sasmannshausen the Gypsy colony offered a wholly different picture from that in Klein-Ptekeitschen. Entirely separated from those who were not Gypsies, they live in small clean cottages. They are industrious workmen, on the railroads, and equally active when- ever a livelihood offers itself. They are not easily induced to leave the place ; they send tlieir children to school ; and, on the whole, they give one the impression of kind and peaceful people. The Ger- man population does not object to mix with them. This colony was founded bv a Prince Wittgenstein, and belonos to the few where the intention of the founders has been successful. The children do not speak their mother tongue at all ; - the younger adults under- stand it only tolerably, but one old Gypsy woman still knows it perfectly. They said that they could only imperfectly make them- selves understood in the language of their people with their wander- ing comrades. " Sie utzen uns weil wir nichts mehr konne " (" They laugh at us for not knowing any more "), said a Gypsy woman to me.

1 I have given a sketcli of the same in the xviii. vol. of the Zeitschrift far Vulkcr- Psycho - logie und Sprachioissenschaft, pp. 82-93.

^ The results of my observatioas will appear in the above-mentioned periodical in the course of the year.

32 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE GYPSIES IN THE GEEMAN EMPIRE.

What particularly struck me was that when the people spoke German they used the Swabian accent, which is not a peculiarity of the dialect of the German population of this part.

Bavakia. — As far as known, there are no Gypsy colonies here. The police authorities have the strictest orders not to permit Gypsy bands to enter Bavaria, or, if found, to send them away.

Saxony. — By the last census there were no Gypsies found here. Foreign Gypsies are by official orders interdicted from entering the country ; licences to travel are never granted to them, and should any enter they are expelled.

Baden. — In two communities in the province of Eberbach small colonies of Gypsies are found. In the year 1882 the colonies amounted to 24 persons, but they are diminishing. They are trades- men, pedlars, and musicians; they wander incessantly into the neighbouring countries, so that they very seldom appear in their own community. Numerous bands of Gypsies wander about the country, but as the police orders have lately been much stricter, they are not so frequent as formerly.

Oldenburg. — Here there are neither Gypsy colonies, nor any regular migrations of Gypsies.

The same is also the case in Hesse and Mecklenburg-Schwerin.

Saxe-Weimar. — There were formerly two resident Gypsy families in the townships of Ilmenau and Langsfeld, but their descendants have become entirely Germanised. Periodic migrations of Gypsies do not appear to occur.

Mecklenburg-Strelitz. — No colonies. During recent decades few Gypsies on their migrations have passed through the country.

Brunswick. — At a Commission of Inquiry in 1886 there were altogether found 85 Gypsies, of whom, however, only 17 w^ere subjects of Brunswick, the remainder not even belonging to Germany. Only two families are settled, and these in two different districts. These two families now number 11 persons, who gain their living mostly by wandering about. Large bands of wandering Gypsies appear during the season of fairs, from July to December, in the larger towns ; but this also may come to an end, as lately severe orders have been passed against wandering Gypsies.

Meiningen, Altenburg, and Saxe-Cobourg-Gotha. — There are no colonies ; wandering bands sometimes pass through.

Anhalt. — Gypsies are prohibited from entering the country.

ILLUSTRATIONS OF SOUTH-AUSTPJAN-KOMANKS. 33

SCHWAEZBURa - SONDERSHAUSEN, SciIWARZBURi; - liUDOLSTADT. —

Migrations of Gypsies are at present frequent.

Waldeck. — There were formerly small colonies : the descendants of those Gypsies live in extremely small numbers, separately. In August, large bands of wandering Gypsies come to the fair of Arolsen.

Eeuss jungere Linie, Schaumburg-Lippe, Lippe. — Wandering Gypsies rarely set foot in these countries.

Bremen. — In the town of Bremen no Gypsies have been seen for several years. In the country they appear sometimes; but now, however, more rarelv.

Hamburg. — Only passing bands show themselves whilst crossing the State.

Alsace-Lorraine. — Owing to the strict vigilance of the authori- ties, wandering bands of Gypsies are seldom seen. Yet there are in this province, as investigations in 1885 showed, eleven families of resident Gypsies, consisting of 53 persons. Besides these, there are also seventy-six families, who, with the exception of a few women, are not of the race of Gypsies. These people belong to nine town- ships, and number 332 souls. In Chateau-Salins they live united, and form a small colony of 47 persons. It is only in winter that they are found all living together in this dwelling.^

Rudolf von Sowa.

v.— ILLUSTRATIONS OF SOUTH-AUSTRIAN-EOMANES.

I. Scene from Othello (Act in. Scene 4).

OTHELLO — DESDEMONA.

0th. I have a salt and sullen rheum 0th. Mande hi jek sorelo tshil ke me

offends me ; lend me thy handkerchief. dukela ; pash mande tro nakt'skeri.

Des. Here, my lord. Des. Aki, mro rai.

0th. That which I gave you. 0th. Akowa me tut dijum.

De.?. I have it not about me. Des. Me na hiles manse.

0th. Not? 0th. Nane?

Des. No indeed, my lord. Des. Nane, harodev(51, mro rai.

0th. That is a fault : that handker- 0th. Kowa hi midshto : Ak6wa

1 Puchmajer also mentions, in the preface to his Rmnani Cib (Prague, 1821), that in Bohemia there are people not Gypsies, called Parne (Whites). These liave joined the Gypsies, who, in distinction to them, call themselves Kale (Blacks) ; they marry into Gypsy families, and share their wandering way of life. Here in Moravia, and in Hungarian Sl.avonia, this is not, so far as I know, the case, nor are these designations in use.

VOL. L — NO. L C

34

ILLUSTRATIONS OF SOUTH- AUSTRIAN -ROMANES.

chief did an Egyptian ^ to my mother give ; she was a charmer, and could ahnost read the thoughts of people ; she told her, while she kept it, 'twould make her amiable, and subdue my father entirely to her love ; but if she lost it, or made a gift of it, my father's eye should hold her loathly, and his spirit should hunt after new fancies : she, dying, gave it me ; and bid me, when my fate would have me wive, to give it her. I did so : and take heed oft, make it a darling like your precious eye ; to lose or give 't away, were such perdition, as nothing else could match.

Des. Is it possible ?

0th. 'Tis true ; there 's magic in the web of it ; a sibyl, that had number'd in the world the sun to make two hundred compasses, in her prophetic fury sew'd the work : the worms were hallow'd that did breed the silk ; and it was dyed in mummy, which the skilful conserv'd of maidens' hearts.

Des. Indeed ! is 't true ?

0th. Most veritable ; therefore look to 't well.

Des. Then would to heaven that I had never seen it.

nakeskeri jeki Eumni ^ dejas nirahi deja; jol his jeki tshowajahni, te shasti jol priservaf o manusheskeri rikerpen ; jol pendjas glan la tshin job rikerles, jol veles hako tshiro kamel pash mro dad te-kokeres rani leskero dsi ; aiiwa ganna jol naschjed les, te jol deles an o dawa- pen, dala mro dad dikkeles jol ssar prassapen ; te job rodjas pal newo Kama- pen ; di job hil les merapengre, job dijas mander, te pendjas, ganna o gowa man deles jeki pireni, te deles later an o dawapen : aduj nianghe gherdum : le tut garda, rackel les pash tudder ssir o guntsh, har tiri guntshi jak ; te nash- jevaf, gh^rles mekles, te dawa les pre vaver v^les jek dosh, perdal har hako dosh.

Des. Aromali ?

0th. But tshashepen ; jek tshowa- hanopen atshela andri o leskero tann ; jeki turkopaskeri, ke dikias o kam te gh(5raf duivarshel perdo pes trom trujal 0 berz ano lakri glanduno rakerpengheri diviopen sidjum agowa : o pareskoro ghernii jol has tshohodo, i shukeraker- pengheri rani gatterdjas len ano, tarni raneskeri, gheradum mulendero dsi, ssarde o hadawaskeri manushi.

Des. Arouiiili ! tshatshenes ?

0th. But tshatshepen : doleske dik o glan tut, de te rakkel les tshatsh(j.

Des. Dave, o boUoijpen kameles ke me ne les kekwar dikiom.

II. Psalm CL.

4. Sharen tume les sar o tambuk te kelliippen : sharen tume les sar o zerda- pangheri te kangripashemaskeri.

5. Sharen tume les ap o krisko godli tambuk : sharen tume les ap o krisko godlidir tambuk.

6. Gai, hako gowa ke lader hi o tucho share u Eai. Sharen tume u Eai.

J. PiNCHERLE.

1. Sharen tume u Eai. Sharen tume u Eai an u leste schwendo ker : sharen tume les an o buchloppenleskeri sor.

2. Sharen tumen les pre leskero sorelo gherappen : sharen tume pre leskero but baroppen.

3. Sharen tume les sar i godli o sapiengheskeri portamaskeri : sharen tume les sar o gatsheni te zerdapangheri pashemaskeri.

Note.— It is scarcely necessary to remind English readers that the spelling of tlie above is based upon the principles of German orthoepy,

1 Mr. Pincherle remarks: "I deliberately interpret and accordiugly translate 'an Egyptian ' as 'a Gypsy woman' (Rumni)." And it is very evident that Shakespeare was liere speaking of a Gypsy, whom he designated by the full form of the word, very generally used in his day. Again, "the Egyptian thief" of Twelfth Night (v. 1) is almost certainly a "Gypsy thief" ; and the casual reference here made throws an interesting side-light on the ways of English Gypsies in the sixteenth century. In Antony and Uleopatra (iv. 10), Shakespeare uses " Gypsy " as synonymous with "Egyptian," although there introduced as an equivoque.

THE GYPSIES OF CATALONIA. 35

VI.— THE GYPSIES OF CATALONIA.

IN writing about the Gypsies of the Pyreiiean countries,^ the late Dr. Victor dc Eochas distinguishes between those inhabiting the Basque Provinces and their congeners in Catalonia. He draws the line of demarcation from north to south, across the Pyrenees, and not along them, as one would be apt to expect. The Gypsy of Mauleon, French by nationality, finds his brother in Biscaya or Navarre : the French Gypsy of Eoussillon is at home in Barcelona — not Bayonne. Though serving in the French army, and voting and paying taxes as Frenchmen, the French Gypsies of the western and eastern Pyrenees look southward into Spain, not across to each other, for their fellow-countrymen. " The speech of the Gypsies of the Basses-Pyrenc'es," says De Eochas, " is Basque ; the most of the women speaking no other language, and so it is also with those middle-aged men who have not learned French, either in the army or in prison." " Oia- Gypsies [he is speaking now as a Eoussillonnais] are the brothers of those of Catalonia, from whom they have only been separated by the conquest of Eoussillon and La Cerdagne, under Louis XIII. Their usual language is Catalan, still the popular speech of the department of the Pyrdnees-Orientales.^ They are exactly like the Gypsies of the Fuerta San-Antonio, at Barcelona and Lerida." Indeed, the Gypsies of French-Catalonia are even yet spoken of as " Gitanos " by their non-Gypsy neighbours, who are still practically Catalans, although it is more than two centuries since the Treaty of the Pyrenees brought their province within the limits of France. In this historical fact, that Eoussillon was once a part of Catalonia, lies the explanation of the identity, in blood and dialect, of the Eoussillon Gypsies with those of modern Catalonia. And probably a similar reason accounts for the Basque nationality of the Gypsies on either side of the Western Pyrenees. However, it is not with them but with the Catalan family that we have here to do.^

Dr. De Eochas puts " Les Gitanos du Eoussillon et d'Espagne " at the head of his chapter, but it is apparent that his experiences in this respect do not take in any part of Spain outside of Catalonia. On

1 Les Parias de France et d'Espagne, Paris, 1876, pp. 215-30G.

2 This department answers precisely to the old province of Roussillon, together with the French portion of Cerdafia.

3 Although De Pvochas {op. cit., p. '253) speaks slightingly of tlie Basque dialect of Romanes, it nevertheless forms quite as interesting a study as that of Catalonia, to judge from the list of words given by Michel and Baudriniont. Many of these words are identical with those used by the Catalan Gypsies. Occasionally, the two dialects differ in an interest- ing way.

36 THE GYPSIES OF CATALONIA.

the other hand, his Catalan Gypsies are not restricted on the north ta the limits of that small corner of Catalonia now known as the French department of the PyrSn^cs-Oricntalcs. For they are found, he tells us, in Narbonne, Beziers, and Valence, to the north-east ; and again, on the north-west, in Toulouse and Bordeaux : " all in com- munication with each other, all — with some honourable exceptions — unanimous in taking advantage of the open dealing of those they do business with, or of the credulity of ignorant minds." Why this should be so — why the Gypsies of Toulouse, for example, should speak Catalan instead of Languedocienne, and should even receive visits from their kinsmen in north-eastern Spain — is not very clear. Perhaps it is that their connection dates back to the time when Catalonia was a country, not a province, and when its influence reached even beyond its most northern limits. That those Toulouse Gypsies have, at one time or another, moved into France from the Eastern Pyrenees, is at any rate evident from their speech.

As regards the earliest mention of Gypsies in Spain, M. Bataillard,^ while admitting the possibility, and even the probability, of previous arrivals, goes on to say that " the first object of historical research ought to be the immigration of Gypsies into the Peninsula during the fifteenth century ; because ... it is almost certain that the bulk of the Peninsular Gypsies are descended from the immigrants of that century." " It would be important, in any case," he remarks, a little later, " to collect all the documents that may yet remain relating to the first appearance of Gypsies in Spain. For my part, I only know of one such, and it has already been cited by me in my memoir of 1844.^ It records the arrival in Barcelona, on 11th July 1447, of a ' multitude of Egyptians ' [multitud de Egipcios], who, says the chronicler, spread themselves from thence over Spain." Eeferring to this event, Dr. De Eochas says that, on the date just mentioned, " there entered into Barcelona a troop [of Gypsies] commanded by chiefs, who assumed the titles of duke and count, and who practised the same impostures as in France, whence they probably came." There seems no good reason for assuming that they did enter Spain from France; because not only were they spoken of in 1447 as Egyptians ; and again, in a Castilian edict of 1499 as "Egyptians and foreign tinkers " [Egiptia7ios y calderos extrangeros], but, thirteen years later, they have no less than three different nationalities assigned to them, not one of which is the French,

1 Les Gitanos lU Espagne, etc., Lisbon, 1884.

- De V Ajipnrition dcs Boheinims en Europe, Paris, 1844.

THE CIYJ'SIKS OF CATALONIA. 37

Like the I'ecord of 1447, this last reference relates distinctly to Catcdonian Gypsies ; for it is in the " Constitution of Catalonia " that they are next mentioned — and in the year 1512. Here they are spoken of as " Bohemians and fools [.so^^s]/ styled Bohemians, Greeks, and Egyptians." Only the last of these names is used at the present day in the Peninsula : being Egi-pcioaxi or J^gyptoac, among the Basques, and Gitano in other parts of Spain and in French Catalonia. " Bohemian," apparently, is now restricted to France : and " Greek " is nowhere a modern equivalent of " Gypsy." Yet some of those Catalonian Gypsies of 1512 may well have come from Greece. Borrow tells us {Tltc Ziticali, 1841, ii. 110-11), in the words of a sixteenth century Spaniard, that "a learned person, in the year 1540," spoke to certain Spanish Gypsies " in the vulgar Greek, such as is used at present in the Morea and Archipelago," and, adds this Spanish writer, "some understood it, others did not." " The fact is remarkable, but not very surprising," comments M. Bataillard {Les Gitanos, p. 19, note), since there were, among those of 1512, "some Gypsies who alleged they were Greeks, and who without doubt came from Greece, or some neighbouring country." And he also refers to the fact that Professor Miklosicli has found "Greek, Slav, and Ptoumauian" elements in the Pyrenean- Gypsy dialects.

Whatever their history since 1512, the Catalonian Gyj^sies are to-day in a comparatively flourishing condition. Their physical appearance betokens good nourishment and an easy life, while several of them are strikingly handsome. " I have never met a single de- formed Gypsy," says De Eochas ; " whether it is that the race pro- duces none, or because the sickly and feeble succumb in infancy to the rigour of a life that serves to harden those of good constitutions. In fact, the good health of the Gypsies is proverbial ; their robust constitutions withstand all excesses and exposure. If there is no race which produces more children, there is certainly none which retains a greater number of old people.^ They are well set-up, and above the average size, with very brown skins, usually of the colour of leather, but sometimes deeper — never that of a negro : sometimes also of a clear bistre, and even white, doubtless owing to intermixture. But their features are never those of the negro, nor have they his

1 In Scotland the earlier statutes associate with Gypsies "sncli as make themselves fools," " fancied fools," and " professed pleasants." In other European countries, also, they have been known as mountebanks and jugglers. It is evident tliat those quasi-Bohemian sots of Catalonia were also, like their compeers elsewhere, professional "clowns," and " merry-andrews."

'- These statements form a curious contrast to Dr. Paspati's remarks on tlie Turkish Gypsies, ante, p. 3.

38 THE GYPSIES OF CATALONIA.

crisp hair. Eatlier do lliey resemble the yellow race, by reason of their big cheek-bones, their narrow foreheads, and their long, coarse, jet-black hair. One is inclined to suspect an admixture of Dravidian blood. This, however, is not the prevailing type. The most of them are not easily distinguished from the natives except by their com- plexion. But the observer can recognise them by other less striking though equally characteristic traits : by tlie brilliancy of their black, searching eyes, the beauty of their teeth, the symmetry of their figures." Dr. De Eochas had, of course, an intimate knowledge of the Eoussillon Gypsies ; but a casual acquaintanceship with the same people leads me to remark that I have the memory of eyes of a fine hazel (such as I have seen in some English and Greek Gypsies), instead of the deep black he speaks of ; and further, that the Mon- golian type was never suggested to me by a Catalonian Gypsy, although it was by one of a company of Hungarian " Tzigane " musicians. Otherwise, my impressions are of some very swarthy faces ; others of a rich clear brown — clear enough to show tlie blood mantling in the cheeks ; while the complexion of others was of a delicate sallow. One of tliis last type, a young fellow of nineteen or twenty, was exceedingly handsome, and with certainly most exquisite teeth. His own brother, a man of about thirty, had the good-natured, well-fed, comely appearance so often seen among the people of that region, Gypsy and Gentile. He was of the brown-skinned type, and both brothers bore witness to the fore- going statements as to the physical advantages, and also as to the fecundity of the race, since they belonged to a family of nine, and their father was one of ten.

So recently as 1832 the costume of the Catalonian Gypsies, as described by the author of the Historia dc los Gitdnos^ was of the same picturesque style as that of the more southern Gitanos as portrayed by Burgess and other modern artists. But De Eochas, writing in 1876, pictures them to us thus: "The costume of the Eoussillon Gypsy men invariably consists of a loose blouse of coarse blue cloth, falling to the knees, an otter-skin cap or a felt hat." To this may be added the equally invariable and prosaic trousers, while their feet are usually shod with the espardenas of the province. De Eochas adds that "the women wear the costume of the people, but particularly affect red." From personal experience I can add the memory of a young Gypsy girl in a country town, who wore a gown of a very gorgeous appearance, with broad stripes of faded

1 Borrow's Zincali, 1841, vol. i. pp. 311, 312.

TllK GYI'.SIKS OF CATALONIA. 39

pink, ulternated with white, running perpendicukirly through it. Also of two others in Perpignan, of a much more sedate and re- spectable order, whose dresses were of a flowered print pattern, though quiet in tone. De Eochas further says that well-to-do Gypsies, though dressed like other citizens, still show their inborn taste for gay colours. On the whole, however, it may be said that the Gypsies of Catalonia are attired so much in the same fashion as the Gaiijoes, that what attracts the eye to them is, in ninety- nine cases out of a hundred, not any peculiarity in the shape or colour of their dress, but tlie unmistakable hue of their tawny faces.

These Catalan Gypsies are very thoroughbred, and seldom marry outside their caste. But, like their brethren everywhere, they are forgetting their mother tongue. Unless when speaking to the old people, their language is Catalan. (Frequently, of course, in speaking with non-Gypsies, they employ Castilian or French, according to the side of the Pyrenees to which they belong.) At fairs, or in any horse-dealing or other business matter, they will introduce much Eomanes into their talk, so that the gadje present may not under- stand them. But the reason that a middle-aged Eoussillon Gypsy gave me for the neglect of their own tongue was simply that the younger members did not know enough of it for a continuous con- versation. They speak of their language as Kalo, but of course they also use the ordinary term, which I have heard them pronounce variously Edmani, Bumani, Bomands, Boimmhs, and Bumanditch. Bom, or Buvi, of course signifies a Gypsy: otherwise Bomanishel, Bomnishel, or Bomnitchel : also Kalo ^ and Chavo. But although Rom is here, as everywhere, equivalent to " Gypsy " (and to " husband "), yet here, as Dr. Paspati tells us is the case in Turkey, the word is sometimes inaccurately applied to others. One young Catalan Gypsy, who, however, possessed only a fragmentary knowledge of the language, assured me that " a man " was either rom or cjadjo, indiffer- ently ; and another enthusiastically informed me that a certain man (not a bit of a Gypsy, but a most accomplished scamp) was a latcho rom, meaning thereby a hravc homme. So that when De Rochas defined Bom as also signifying " man," he had doubtless been influenced by similar experiences ; although he elsewhere restricts it to its proper signification of " Gypsy " and " husband." But probably one might say of the Catalonian Eomane, as Dr. Paspati says of their Ijrethren in Turkey, that although they sometimes " extend the

1 Besides being employed as above, and iu the ordinary way as the adjective "black," Kal6 also denotes "cotfee."

40 THE GYPSIES OF CATALONIA,

designation of rom to strangers," yet " the primitive signification of word is retained with a remarkable tenacity."

The Gypsy population of Eoussillon is estimated at about 300 persons, says De Rochas, while the Beziers colony numbers about 100, and that of Toulouse sixty. In Narbonue there are only two or three families. Thus, including those of Bordeaux and Valence (whose numbers he does not give, but who are not likely numerous), we may assume the total number of Catalan Gypsies living north of the Pyrenees to be 500 or 600. Although the modern province of Catalonia, lying wholly in Spain, has always constituted nearly the whole of " Catalonia," De Eochas says nothing as to the size of its Gypsy population. The reason of this is no doubt that his experience were chiefly of French Catalonia. Nor can the present writer say anything noteworthy about those of Spanish Catalonia, since he only saw a few of them in the town of Gerona, and occasional stragglers on the French side of the borders.

Like Paspati, De Ptochas divides his Ptoussillon Gypsies into two classes — Sedentary and Nomadic ; " those who have a fixed domicile m towns, and those who go about in waggons, with their families, from village to village and from fair to fair." The former, he says, are the most numerous. In spite, however, of this division into two separate groups, he states in another place, when speaking of the Toulouse colony, that " like their brothers of Pioussillon, they frequent all the fairs within a radius of fifty leagues" ; while the few families in Beziers " are still half-nomadic." These statements are not quite consistent. But the fact seems to be that no such line of demarca- tion can be drawn. If we except the families of wealthy educated Gypsies (of which there are examples in Perpignan, Beziers, Toulouse, and Lerida), and also those who are unfit to travel by reason of age or infirmity, it may be affirmed with some certainty that all those town-dwellers lead the nomadic life, in some cases without a break, during the greater part of the year. And that, on the other hand, the most — if not all — of them are house-dwellers during the incle- ment weather of winter. Indeed, the non-Gypsy nomads would appear to be more incessantly nomadic than the Gypsies. During a winter residence of some seven weeks in a French Catalonian village, I saw many nomads — knife-grinders, tinkers, etc. — but only two Gypsy families ; and these, although travelling separately, were closely related, and occupied together the same house, situated in the little town of Le Boulou. There they hibernated, and only emerged at intervals for a brief waggon-trip, on the chance of getting some-

THE GYPSIES OF CATALONIA. 41

tliiug to do. Indeed some members of the Toulouse colony (a delightfully cordial group) plainly told me that they only spend the winter months in town, during which time their waggons have been placed in winter- quarters ; but as soon as the weather allows of it out come the waggons, and away they go along the roads, to villages, farms, and fairs. This wandering life they greatly prefer. But to lead it in winter is impossible. For one thing, the law only allows them twenty-four hours in one place, as nomads, and this — irksome enough in tine weather — is more than irksome during severe cold. Moreover, they can get little enough work in the towns during winter, without attempting the country. The chief occupation of these Catalan Gypsies is clipping liorses, mules, etc., and this they are not required to do in winter. Thus there is every inducement for them to spend the winter months in the towns, where, being then house-dwellers, they may live in one place as long as they like.

In the above paragraph a passing reference has been made to the nomadic knife-grinders, tinkers, etc., of Catalonia, in contradistinction to Gypsies. It is a curious thing that these occupations, so much identified wdth Gypsies in other countries, should here be apparently quite dissociated from them. Metal-working, De Kochas tells us, is almost quite a lost art among the French Gitanos, and is in decadence even in Spain, although it was not so in former times. Several of those people whom I saw in Roussillon were clearly not Gypsies ; and when I told the Gitanos that our English Gypsies often followed these callings, they were surprised and slightly amused. The almost exclusive occupation of the Catalan Gypsy is that of clipping and trimming horses, combined often with horse-dealing.

It is as horse-dealers that certain Gitanos have attained to wealth — a wealth sufficient to give a college education to their sons and* to bring up their daughters as ladies — and even the poorest Gitano is a horse-dealer when he has the chance. But the profession of csqiiila- d6r, tondeur (or, in Spanish Itomanes), rminrahador , is their main- stay, " horses, mules, donkeys or dogs, they are ready for all." ^ The humblest little tilted cart carries in it the large, heavy, but finely- adjusted shears, and the still more delicate instrument for close work round pastern and fetlock. In the towns, such as Toulouse and Perpignan (presumably also those of Catalonia proper), the Gypsies,

1 However, when De Rochas, whom I have quoted, goes on to saj^, " What is there that the Gitano would not clip ? He would try to shave an egg," he makes rather a wide state- ment. When I asked one of them, who bad just been showing me his instruments with evident pride, whether he was in the habit of shearing sheep, he rejnidiated the idea with astonishment, and with some slight indignation.

42 THE GYPSIES OF CATALONIA.

cluster daily, and with great regularity, at well-known corners, where they may be found — unless they have been secured for some piece of work — any time between eight and five o'clock, excluding an hour or two for their midday meal. Those, of course, who by successful trafficking in horse-flesh rise to become capitalists do not work as csquiladorcs, although these are themselves horse-dealers when they get a chance. In addition to this twofold occupation, however, there are others which they follow. Sometimes, says De Eochas, they are " mountebanks, chiromancers, mesmerists,^ and clairvoyants," palmis- try and clairvoyance being specially managed by the women. He qualifies this remark hj further stating that although fortune-telling still flourishes in Spain, it is no longer permitted in Erench-Catalonia, though slyly prosecuted in the booths at fairs. He says nothing about begging ; but one of them, in descanting upon the delights of their open-air life in summer, remarked to me that one had nothing to do but idle about, as one's wife and children got by begging all one wanted. To these pleasing accomplishments the Gitanas add those of pilfering,- and of selling contraband goods. " They also sell dresses, shawls, and neckerchiefs." " Some young girls sing, accompanying themselves on the guitar. This gift of music and love of the guitar (remarks De Eochas) forms yet another feature distinguishing the Eoussillon Gypsies from the other natives."

Besides these various forms of industry, roulette engages the attention of the men to a considerable extent, and probably pocket-

1 The statement that mesmerism is still practised by Catalonian Gypsies is very interesting. Under the name of glamour, the mesmeric power was formerly associated with the Gypsies in Scotland. " Glamour " is defined liy Sir Walter Scott as the " power of imposing on the eyesight of the spectators, so that the appearance of an object shall be totally difl'erent from the reality." And, in explanation of a reference to " the gypsies' glamour'd gang," in one of his ballads, he remarks: "Besides the prophetic powers ascribed to the Gypsies in most European countries, the Scottish peasants believe them possessed of the power of throwing upon bystanders a spell to fascinate their eyes and cause them to see the thing that is not. Thus, in the old ballad of ' Johnnie Faa,' the elopement of the Countess of Cassillis with a Gipsy leader is imputed to fascination —

' Sae .soon as they saw her weel-faur'd face, They cast the glamour o'er her. ' " And he relates an incident, told to him a long time previously, in which " a Gypsy exercised his glamour over a number of people at Haddington." He further remarks : "The jongleurs were also great professors of this mystery, which has in some degree descended, with their name, on the modern jugglers." (See note 2 M. to The Lay; also pp. 277-8 of The Min- strelsy, Murray's reprint, 1869. )

Not only have British Gy^jsies been accused of "jugglery," but the Scotch Act of Parlia- ment of 1579 was directed against "the idle people calling themselves Egyjitians, or any other that fancy themselves to have knowledge of prophecy, charming, or other abused sciences." It is tolerably clear that all this class of words— now obsolete, except in a poeti- cal sense — such as "glamour," "enchantment," "spellbound," "a magic spell," "to be- witch," " to charm " — were used to indicate the mesmeric intluence ; as far back as Merlin's famous "charm of woven paces and of waving hands."

" This is stated by De Kochas, and it had been previously stated by a writer of the year 18C2 in describing the same Gypsy family. (See Simsou's History, p. 87.)

THE GYJ'SIKS OF CATALONIA. 43

picking is iiul unkiiowu among tliem. This 1 realised IVoiu some almost reverential references to Englisli pickpockets as " very adroit," " ires forts" etc. (which were intended as indirect compliments to their English auditor, — for what Komani EaY has not experienced tliat a knowledge of Eomanes infers an intimate acquaintance with " the seamy side " ?). This, and the roulette-table, as well as other Gypsy proclivities, naturally makes them the prey of the ofticers of the law. " Do you like the gendarmes ? " I asked of one of the shadiest of them all. " In flic river" was his grim response. However, it is but fair to add that a country Gypsy whom I sounded on this subject repudi- ated any feeling of dislike to the gendarmes, remarking that if one didn't " do anything " one had no cause to fear or dislike them. He had a very frank, honest face, this young Gypsy, and very likely stuck closely to his legitimate business of horse-trimming and horse- dealing. Nevertheless, Gypsy ideas of right and wrong are radically different, in some respects, from those recognised by the laws of Europe.

And yet it is a mistake to suppose that the Gypsies of Spain, or indeed of Europe, do not share the religious beliefs common to Europe. In the seventeenth-century tale of Alonso, quoted by Borrow, we read of Gypsies praying to the saints {The Zincali, 1841, pp. 93-4). From these very Catalonian Gitauos M. Bataillard has received two Chris- tian legends (referred to on pp. 1 GO, 170 of //i Gypsy Tents). And, in Dr. De Eochas' account one reads how sacredly they observe All- Hallowtide and Christmas, at which latter time friends and relations separated all the year gather together to renew their friendship and to renounce all enmity. Mention is made, indeed, of one Gypsy who came from Barcelona to Perpignan at Christmas-time for no other reason than to be reconciled to his brother. These things testify, says De Eochas, to the existence of " religious sentiments that one would not have expected to find among people too often described as living without either faith or law."

" The Catalan peasant, superstitious and rude, detests the Gitano, and believes him capable of bewitching and poisoning his live-stock. This latter imputation (continues De Eochas) is not as trifling as the other — at least not as regards the past — for the Spanish Gypsies had a name for the poison they administered to animals, which they called drao} Some years ago a peasant belonging to the neighbour- hood of Perpignan stabbed a Gypsy to death on the mere suspicion that he had poisoned his pig." However little that particular Gypsy

1 This word (variously inflected) is of course well known to otlier European Gypsies.

44 THE GYPSIES OF CATALONIA.

had deserved his puiiisliment, it is not improbable that the practice — known in England also — has not been wholly forgotten in Cata- lonia. At any rate I found that a reference to haUtcho-drao elicited an interchange of looks, and the laughing remark that " he knows all about it." Whether or not they still find opportunities to dine off pork thus procured (for the poison is completely washed out before cooking), the Catalonian Gypsies, like others of their race, know how to appreciate baked hedgehog. Curiously enough, they do not seem to have a Itomani name for it, and the hotchiivitchi of our Eomane proved meaningless in their ears. And although snails are cooked in France by the (jndje, yet some Gitanos whom I interrogated assured me they never use them as food. As for the word I got for " snail " on this occasion, it was obviously not Eomanes. The man who offered me this word was a somewhat dangerous guide. He was unquestionably a most fluent speaker of Eomanes; but he was too clever. He not only, like his brother-Gypsies, could speak Catalan and French (or Spanish, when they are Spanish- Catalans), but he also knew Hungarian and Italian. He had travelled much, and in his travels he had gained a certain amount of education and polish, which raised him immensely above even his own brother, and which caused him to be regarded as a perfect savant by all his friends, as indeed he was. He could — and did — discourse with easy fluency upon " vagabondage," " the nomadic races," and "la vie de Boheme," like any philosopher. (And yet a more thorough knave one could hardly meet : his special weak- ness is roulette, and with prison interiors he is quite familiar.) One result, then, of all his experiences is that, while really a master of Eomanes, he has added to his vocabulary various words that are not genuine. This appeared when he told me that the Eomani word for a " snail " is shnik, and again when he in- sisted, in the teeth of his friends (who protested humbly), that pdilali is not the proper word for " brandy " (though that is the real Catalan-Eomanes), but that it ought to be called hrantuina. And shnoofa, he said, was Eomanes for " tobacco."^ That he had picked up these German words {schnecke, hranntiuein, and schnupf) from some of his foreign friends is quite evident. He was ignorant of the language to which they really belonged, and hearing them used by Eomane he had assumed they were Eomanes.

1 I afterwards obtained the true word, pronounced variously sAbalo and shuvalo, with which compare touvalo (Smart and Croftou, p. 185), fchuvdlo (Jesina, p. 96), and fguvdlo (Wlislocki, p. 124).

TIIR GYPSIES OF CATALONIA. 45

One has always to guard against similar errors. I have had s'Amhr^ro and tamhien given to me as Romanes by French-Catalan Gypsies, who, themselves unacquainted with Castilian, had heard their trans-Pyrenean kindred use these words ; and so convinced were they that they were right, that on each occasion (for time, place, and people were different) it was necessary to appeal for support to Spanish Gitanos standing by. Probably there are several such errors in this dialect of the language. It is probable that De Rochas himself has taken a Catalan word as Romanes when he includes do (signifying " of " or " of the ") in his vocabulary. Certainly Catalan Gypsies are constantly using the word — as in findro do fjra% (a horse's hoof), dai do cjaf (the mayor of a town) ; but then, on the other hand, the word occurs in Catalan, and moreover the construction has not the Romani cachet.

The French-Gitano use of dcii, as in the preceding paragraph, is worthy of remark. As elsewhere, daJi is in Catalonia the Romani for "mother." But not only do the French Gitanos make it do duty for mere, but it stands for maire as well, from the assonance of these two words. That the Gypsies of the French-Basque country have the same usage may be seen from Baudrimont's " baro daya'' witli the meaning of " magistrate." ^

And the word fjrcCi, introduced above, is also worth referring to in its Catalonian aspect. In England it is the singular of " horse " (in the plural grciia). According to De Rochas, " horse " is grast or gras in the singular, and grasts in the plural. The form grm is not mentioned by him. But although I found that the usual singular form is grass, grast, grash, or grasht, yet I once heard y^' gra/l, and it seemed invariable that one ought to say vArildtcM - graJi for " several horses." Dr. Paspati says that grdi, as a singular noun, is known to the Sedentary division of the Turkish Gypsies, but that their almost invariable word is grast, gras, or gra. The Nomads use only grdi.

To refer more particularly to the noteworthy features of the Catalan dialect is not within the limits of this paper. But it may be remarked that the guttural sounds — decaying in England, where they are often represented by k, h, and sh — are found here in their full viiTour. David MacRitchie.

c

1 Conversely, both Micliel aud Baudrimont liave raja fov "mere" (although the latter has also da'ia). In these instances the word asked for must have been " mere," which the Gypsy interrogated had heard as " maire."

2 Pastor JeSina's vocabulary is the only one in which I find this word (there sjielt varekeci). It is cognate with vdreko or vdreso (any), vdrekdy (somewhere), etc.

46

ADDITIONS TO GYPSY-ENGLISH VOCABULARY.

VII.— ADDITIONS TO GYrSY-ENGLISH VOCABULARY.

(The words in parentheses are roots or other fonns given in Smart & Crofton's Dialed of the English Gypsies, London, 1875.)

Abba, n., Haste.

Bau/i;/ier(jva, v., I boast {kh guttural).

Baufc/ier^ssa, You boast.

BauWiert'la peski. He boasts.

BaiU/iado, part., Boasted. Baurodirus {for baurodairest), adj..

Greatest (bauro). Bazengi-o, n., Shepherd (barsengri). Bengales, -j

Binges, ( adv., Wichcdly (beng). Bengenes, )

Bignonius, n., Beginning (begin-omus). Bisto, adv., Well (misto). Booinova, v., / boast (bo6ino). Bo6tsering, part., Working (bo6tsi). Biinnek, n.. Grasp, hold (bdnnek).

Chalavar, v., To bother, vex.

Cham, v.. Stop, halt.

Charer, v.. To stir.

Charvoli, ^ ^^_ pL, Frievds, mates,

Chavoli, V 5,.o(;j^„ (chooali, choobali).

Chowali, J

Choovelo, adj.. Poor (chooveno).

Choromus, n.. Thievery (chor).

Choro, adj.. Heavy.

Ddbus, n., A blow. Related to English slang dab, and Paspati's dap, tap, tav.

Didas, He gave (del).

Deshing, part., Praying.

Dikdova, I saw. As if dik-ed-ova, I \o6k-ed (dik).

Diksomengri, Watchmen (dik).

Do6ikani, \ ^'^J" ^'''''^ ^^''^'^- Do.sh, n.. Wrong (doosh). Draber, v.. To physic, poison, drug (drab).

Drabado, part., Poisoned.

Eiavela, Understanding, lit. He -under- stands (see Heiiivova). E4zeno-k6shters, ) n. pi., clothes-pegs

First Cglal).

Glano yek, )

Glaleno yek, ji

Glalenghi chainis. Previously ('glay).

Godlieskro, n.. Bell (godli).

Gresta, n.. Marc.

Eezenghi koshters, ) (e^zaw)

J

Haure, n. pi, Pennies ; lit.. Coppers

(haiiro). Heiiivova, v. I understand (eiavela). Heiiidom, I understood. Heiiiwela, He understands. Hetar6va, ) ^.^ j- ^^^^^ ^^ -^ Hetav6va, )

Hetavela, He hits. Hillarus, n., A hill. Hinova, v., Latin cacabo (hinder). Hodaw, interj., Never mind. Hoiiiv, v.. To vex (hoino). Ho/Jitamangro, n.. Toad (hofc^ter). H61ava, n., Stocking (hoolavers). Holovaari, n. pi. Stockings. H6njer, v.. To scratch (hondj). Horov, v., To scratch. Pott ii. 1G7, charuvav.

Horovova, I scratch.

Horovela, He scratches.

Horov, n., A scratch.

Horodd, part.. Scratched.

Horod6m, I scratched.

Jalomus, n.. Walk (jal). Jinaser, v., to know (jin).

0 rei kek jinasered. The gentleman did not knoiv. Jinomus, n.. Knowledge (jin). Jivomus, n., Life (jiv).

Kairikeni, n. Housekeeper (kair). K^limus, n.. Business (ker). Karrotaari, n. pi.. Carrots. Kater, prep.. From ; Pasp., Katar From.

Kater yek kair kater Avaver, From one house to another. K^keno, adj., None. Kinasar l(fsti, Biiy it (kin).

ADDITIONS TO fiYI'SY-ENOLTSH VOCABULARY

47

Kitchenieskro, n., TiiMkeeper (Kitchenia). Kli'sinomengro, n., Lock (Klisin). Koonya, n. pi., Knees ; Piisp., Kiini

Elhow. Ko6ser, v., To clean (Kosher). Koosh, 11. and v., Falsehood, to tell lies ;

Pasp., Kushipe. Kooshlo, adj., Soft. Miklosich vi. 28,

k6slo, Smooth. Kx'itcheno, adj., Noble. Kutcheno, ii., Hedgcstake.

Ladj6va, v., I ant ashamed (ladj). Ladjadi'), part., Ashamed. Ladjer ! For shame / shoching / Law, pron., Her. Pasp. la.

Kouide yon law. They loved her. Li, pron., She. Pott i. 242.

Nanei poori si-li, haw ] She is not

old, is she ? Wafedi rakli sas li, She v:as a bad girl. Lubnes, adv., Lihc a harlot (lubni). Lunderenghi Rumani-chals, London Gypsies.

Massomongri, n., Frying-pan (raas).

Meera, n. pi. Miles (rae^a).

Memo, My. English mine, Germ.

mein. Minaw, interj. Koordom duva gairo

mishto, minaw, I heat that man

well, did I not? (Mi-naw, lit.

me not). M611ako Mulliko Moovli, n.. Candle (miimbli).

, , ,' , [ n., Constable (uio6shkero). ISIuskro i ' ^

M^itS I "•' "^^"^ (mo(itsi).

Norodo, negat., No.

' Too kedas les.' ' Norodo ' ; You did it. No, not I.

Okaw, n. pi.. Eyes (yok).

p'allova } P""^!'-' ^•^'*"'' ^''^^'"'^ (P^'iU'O-

Piindomus, n., Sheepfold (pander).

Passer, v.. To trust, borrow (pazer).

Peer "|

p > n.. Stomach (per).

Peker, v., To cook (pek). Penesko-rom, Brother-in-law (pen).

adj., False.

P6ndi } Themselves. Penghi )

Pes, Himself. Pasp. Pes. Piromengro, n.. Pedestrian (piro). Podas, n. pi., Stairs (po6rdas). Podas chokha, Slippers, shoes. Pookeromus, n., Story (po6ker). Poorenki ora, Secondhand watch (pooro). Pdorokones, adv., In the old manner

(poor). Pootcher, v., To ask (pootch). Porder, v.. To fill (pordo).

Pordadom, I filled. Posh ko6roko, Wednesday, lit. HaJf-

tveeh ; cf. Germ. Mittwoch. P6sher, v.. To halve, share, divide (posh). Pre-omus, n.. Height ('pre).

Randjer, v.. To scratch. Pasp. Khand-

jiovava ; Liebich, randewawa.

Ranshko, adj., Carroty, red.

Eatcher, v., To bleed (ratt).

Raunikani -\

Raiinienikani \ adj., Lady-like (rauni).

Rauuieski )

Ridder, v., To carry, bear (ri'gher).

Ri'dder, v., To wi:ar (rood, riv).

Rivopen j ^„ , , • -r,, } n., Clothes (riv).

Rivomus \ ' ^

Roomus or Roomes, adv., Gypsily

(Romanes).

Rodom, T cried \ /. ,,\

Rode, They cried J

Ruzles, adv., Strongly (ro6zlo).

Sa, conj., If (sar).

Salimusti k6va, A joke (sal).

Sastere, n. pL, Irons, fetters (saster).

Shikeri, adj., Bad, spjiteful.

Shim, adj.. Small, inferior.

Shoonomus )

Shoonopen )

Sid, adj.. Quick (sig).

Sig-sig, Very quick (sig).

Sigly, adv.. Immediately (sig).

Sis, Was (sas).

Smeltini, n.. Cream (smentini).

So61omus, n., Oath (soloholomus).

Sofjter, v., To sleep (sooti).

Spdngo, n.. Match (spingher).

Stanyengro ^ n., Stableman, groom

Stanyaniengro ) (stanya).

Staromeskries, n. pi.. Prisoners (stardo,

staiiri, sterimus). . Stdva, n.. Prison.

n., Neius (shoon).

48 ADDITIONS TO GYPSY-ENGLISH VOCABULARY.

Stor, v., To feel. Stor(Jva, I feel ; Tilomeskro, ii., Pofkook (til).

Stordum, I felt. Tinkatiri, n. pi., Tinkers.

St6renghi, Fourth (stor). Trlneno, adj., Third (Trin). Stor, v., To arrest (staiiri). Pasp. asta-

rava. Vart, v., To watch (varter). Tardader, Longer (tarder).

Tarderim^ngro, n., Examiner (tarder). Yi')ger, v., To fire (a gun), (yog). Tasserm^ngro, n., Frying-pan (tatter).

Tatchomus, n., Truth (tdtcho). Zimnier, v., To pawn (sframer). Thinkasessa, You think. TfUer, v., To hold (til). H. T. Crofton.

VIIL— EEVIEW OF THE AECHDUKE JOSEF'S " CZIGANY

NYELVATAN."

IT may well be a legitimate source of pride to all who belong to the Gypsy Lore Society that contemporary with it there ap- peared a work by our fellow-member the Archduke Josef of Austro- Hungary on the subject of the Eomany race and their language, which is of such marked excellence that it cannot fail to be read with deep interest by every philologist or student of anthropology. For, as its author was one of the first half-dozen who formed the Association, the appearance of such a work at such a time may be regarded as a curious coincidence — perhaps, as " Gypsies," we may be allowed to consider it as a happy omen.

This work, Czigdny Nyelvatan, or " The Gypsy Language," is the result of many years' personal experience among the wanderers, as well as of very extensive study of the " large literature " of " Eoman- ology." Hungary is, par Eminence, the land of Gypsies, and the Archduke is of all men the one best qualified to investigate them, being not only passionately aficionado to the race, but, as a matter of course, invested with that authority which is nowhere so loved and respected, when kindly exerted, as in the country of the Magyar.

That the Archduke is practically regarded as a living storehouse of Gypsy lore, appears from an assurance in the Pester Lloyd that when a Eom in Hungary is asked some question as to his race which he cannot answer, he replies, " We don't understand that now— only the Archduke can answer that." On the same authority we are told that he employs Gypsies extensively on his estates, and, what no one

EEVIEW OF THE ARCHDUKE JOSEF's " CZIGANY NYELVATAN." 49

will doubt who knows how to get on with such folk, finds them trustworthy and profitable.

It is remarkable, but we have the best authority for the state- ment, that the Archduke, not being aware that scholars had preceded him in the discovery, after having studied for some time several Indian tongues, observed witli some astonishment that Romany had a marked likeness to Hindustani. This was when he was quite young. Since that time his reading has extended, as the book before me indicates, to a thorough knowledge of almost the entire literature of the subject. The work in question embraces a valuable grammar and vocabularies of the Hungarian Gypsy dialects, compared with ten or twelve Indian tongues. With this it gives a mass of historical information, and a critical bibliography which will be fully appre- ciated, not only by the Eomany Eye, but by every librarian. That the erudition displayed in the work should be extensive, or even w^ell condensed and harmonised, is not so remarkable when we know that the author has the largest special library on his subject in the world, with learned professors to act as secretaries. But \vith all this there is evident on every page the oculus magistri, while the genial freshness and sagacity of what is manifestly original in the book show that its writer was the right man in the right place for his work. In one thing only is it to a certain degree wanting — the account of English and American Gypsy literature, — several books of comparative im- portance not being mentioned. But as French and German versions of the Czigdny Nydvatan are to appear, it is to be hoped that this omission "will be corrected in them.

It is a great merit in the Eomany grammar given in this work that it is extremely clear and practical, giving few rules but many examples. We see in it throughout the hand of the true philological artist or scholar, and nowhere the weakness of the amateur. It will be welcome news to the Eomany-lorists that the author is now engaged on a Gypsy Dictionary, which, with its copious illustrations, will extend to 1000 folio pages. Chakles G. Leland.

VOL. I. — NO. I. D

50 NOTES AND QUERIES.

NOTES AND QUERIES. I.

I. EoMANI-CHAL.

1. Does Edmani signify Roumauian?

2. What does dial mean ?

3. In what countries is the term used by Gypsies ?

II. -ASAR.

As a cryptic ending this is often used by English Gypsies.

1. Is it the same as -isAr, which is so frequently added to gaujo words by

Danubian Gypsies to form verbs ?

2. Is it merely cryptic, or what is its force ?

III. -AMUS, -IMUS, -OMUS.

As a substantival cryptic ending this is very commonly used by English Gypsies. It is also with them interchangeable with -apen, -ip6n, -open. It seems common also with Danubian Gypsies. Is it a relic of -isrmis, or what is its etymology ?

H. T. Crofton.

2.

Dtnamitters.

In " A Charter of Edward the Third confirming and enlarging the Privileges of St. Giles Fair, Winchester, a.d. 1349," edited by Dean Kitchin (London 1886), occurs this passage : " And the Justiciaries and the Treasurer of the Bishop of Wolvesey for the time being, and the Clerk of the Pleas, shall yearly receive four basons and ewers, by way of fee (as they have received them of old time) from those traders from foreign parts, called ' Dynamitters,' who sell brazen vessels in the Fair {de illis Mercatoribus Alienigcnis vocatis Mercatoribus Dynamitters qui vasa amea in feria prcedida vendunt)." On which passage the learned Dean has the following note : " These foreigners were sellers, we are told, of brazen vessels of all kinds. The word may be connected with Dinant near Namur, where there was a great manufacture of Dinanderie, i.e. metal-work (chiefly in copper). A friend suggests JJinant-batteurs as the origin. Batteur was the proper title of these workers in metal. See Commines ii. i., ' une marchandise de ces ceuvres de cuivre, qu'on appelle Dinanderie, qui sont en effet pots et pesles.' " Students of M. Bataillard's treatises will at once recognise the possible significance of both passage and note. F. H. Groome.

3.

Dr. Solf on the German Gypsies.

"Dr. Solf has communicated to the Orientalische Gesellschaft of Berlin an interesting paper upon the peculiar organisation of the Gypsies in Germany, which contains many facts hitherto unknown to the general public. It appears that the Gypsies wandering through Germany are organised into three distinct ' tribes ' —

NOTES AND QUERIES. 51

those of Old Prussia, New Prussia, and Hanover.^ In one or other of these tribes each Gypsy is enrolled. Each tribe has its own banner and symbol. That of the Old Prussian tribe is a fir-tree upon a black and white ground ; that of the New Prussian tribe a birch-tree upon a green and white ground ; that of the Hanoverian tribe is a mulberry-tree upon a gold, blue, and white ground. A ' captain ' pre- sides over each tribe. He is elected for seven years. His powers are both regal and sacerdotal. He marries, divoi'ces, excommunicates and reconciles those who have forfeited honours and privileges. He is also the keeper of the official seal, upon which a hedgehog is engraved— a beast held as sacred by all the Gypsies. At great festivals of the tribe the captain always wears a crown — a three-cornered hat, ornamented with silver tassels— and a ribbon round his arm with the colours of the tribe. Nearly all the marriages are celebrated on Whitsunday. Great care is taken at present to avoid marriages between the degrees prohibited by the German law, although they are otherwise allowable by Gypsy custom and tradition. Adultery is exceedingly rare, and is ])unished with severity. The offending woman has her nose cut, and the man is shot in the knee or the elbow. The German Gypsies have a peculiar shyness of Protestantism. The children are baptized, and handsome presents are always expected from the god-parents. If a child is born while they are lodging near a village, they usually take him to the parish church for baptism. They wear no mourning at a death. Dr. Solf describes the Gypsy as ' full of piety.' The favourite colour, both with men and women, is green, which they regard as the colour oi honour."— Belfast Morning Neivs, 24th May 1888.

Gtpsies in Turkestan.

" A writer in a recent number of the Bussische Revue on the Syr Darya region, states that among the inhabitants are two tribes of Gypsies, the Masang and Ljuli. When and how they got into Central Asia is unknown, but it is believed that the Masang migrated from Turkey and the Ljuli from India. Both tribes speak Turkish and Persian, and are Mohammedans. The Masang are small traders and pedlars, wandering from town to town, and settlement to settlement, while the Ljuli lead a half-nomad life, living in winter in the settlements of other races, and in summer moving in the cultivated oases, with their possessions, from place to place. The children beg, dance, sing, and perform acrobatic feats ; the women tell fortunes, treat sickness, and are given to small rogueries. The whole of the Gypsies scattered over the region can scarcely number more than 500 or 600 families." — Belfast News Letter, 21st May, 1888.

That these Ljuli, Luli, or Luri have inhabited the Syr Darya region for many generations, we know from an Arab writer (cited by Professor De Goeje), who states that they were there " during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries." The Luli, or Luri, first appear in history in the fifth century of the Christian era, at which time a certain Indian king sent to the Persian monarch, Behram Gur, as many as 12,000 minstrels, male and female, of the race of the Luri. This we are told by Firdusi, in his Shah-Nama. At the present day the Persian Gypsies are known as Luri or Lidi, and are regarded as the descendants of those immigrants

1 Simson, in his History (p. 80), quotes a similar statement made by Dr. Wiessenburch, in tlic year 1727, who " notices that in Hungary (?) the gangs assumed their names from the countries whicli tliey chiefly traversed, as the band of Upper Saxony, of Brandenburg, and so fortli. Tliey resented to extremity any attempt on tlie part of other Gypsies to intrude on their province." This quite accords with the accounts given by Simson and otliers with regard to the Gypsies of Scotland at that period ; and we read how "Will Marshall," the celebrated chief of the Galloway Gypsies, when attempting to extend liis territory on the north-west, in the year 1712, was defeated by the tinkers of Ai-gyle or Dum- barton, after a tough battle, in which several lives were lost.

52 NOTES AND QUERIES.

of the fifth century. The Lull of the Syr Darya region, ilierefore, are clearly descended from those of the same name inhabiting that district in the sixteentli century, who presumably were an oifshoot from the main body in Persia.

5-

A Scottish John Bunyan.

That John Bunyan was a Gypsy has never been clearly proved, but there is no doubt that he was a tinker (which is often the same thing). And the recently published warrant for his arrest, which describes him as " one John Bunnyon of ye said Towne [Bedford], Tynlcer" seems to indicate plainly that he was by occu- pation a tinker at the very period when he was engaged in preaching at Non- conformist conventicles. A precisely similar case in Scotland, and in the same century, is alluded to by Sir Walter Scott. In The Heart of Midlothian (ch. xlvii.), old David Deans, reverting to the Covenanting wortliies of the seventeenth century, maintained " that many devout ministers and professors in times past had enjoyed downright revelation, like the blessed Peden, and Lundie, and Cameron, and Eenwick, and John Caird, the tinkler, wha entered into the secrets." In this instance the preacher was not only admittedly a " tinkler " (the Scotch term still applied to the nomadic caste), but his surname proves him to have come of a race of tinklers. For " caird " (being the Gaelic cca7-d, an artificer), is, or was, an every- day Scotch equivalent for " tinker " (which itself is the Cornish " tin-keard "). In course of time it attached to certain families as a surname, like Smith, Weaver, and a host of other names derived from special callings. In Scott's song, " Donald Caird 's come again," we see it in a state of transition ; for although this particular Donald receives the name as a surname, yet, as he was an undoubted caird, the word may also be regarded as a nickname, signifying " Tinker Donald." In the above case, however, this Covenanting tinker had evidently inherited " Caird " as a surname, otherwise the addition of " the tinkler " would not have been re- quired.

Is there anything further known regarding this man, — and what is the source whence Scott drew his information 1 D. MacRitchie.

" Egypt " as a European Place-name.

We know that as early as the fifteenth century the term " Egyptian " (now represented by the English " Gypsy," the Modern Greek " Gyphtos," and the Spanish "Gitano") was applied to the Romane in various countries of Europe. These people themselves also styled their leaders by such titles as Lord and Earl of Egypt, or of Little Egypt. In addition to this, there is some reason to believe that certain localities distinguished as favourite Gypsy haunts received the name of " Egypt " on that account.

Only two instances of this place-name have come under my notice. But if these " Egypts " have been so named because they were well-known Gypsy resorts, then it is not unlikely that other European examples may be found.

Both of the places referred to are situated in Scotland. One of them forms a part of the southern outskirts of Edinburgh, and is thus referred to by the late James Grant in his description of the "District of the Burghmuir " (Old and New

NOTES AND QUERIES. 53

Edinburgh, vol, iii. ch. iv.) : "At the foot of Morningside the Powburn takes the singular name of the Jordan as it flows through a farm named Egypt, and other Scriptural names abound close by, such as Hebron Bank, Caanan Lodge, and Caanan Lane. By some the origin of these names has been attributed to Puritan times, by others to Gypsies, when the southern side of the Muir was open and unenclosed."

Now it is almost quite certain that of all these " Scriptural names " that of " Egypt " is the only one that has been attached to this locality for more than two centuries, because whereas the farm of Egypt was so known in the title-deeds of the estate on which it stood as far back as a charter of the year 1652, the " Hebron Banks " are comparatively modern residences, certainly not of earlier date than the Georgian era, and probably all built within this century. That they were so named after the manner of Scott's Quaker, who transformed into " Mount Sharon " the " Sharing Knowe " of more profane associations, is quite likely ; but it may be safely affirmed that in the year 1652, when the farm bore the re- cognised designation of " Egypt," there was not a single street or villa on the adjoining portion of the Biu-gh Muir, then probably an " open and unenclosed " common. Indeed we have quite a modern illustration of how the pre-existing name of " Egypt " might suggest a host of similar names in later times, for within the last few years the farm has been cut up into suburban streets and villas, and over the site of the farmhouse itself runs the brand-new " Nile Grove."

Of course when a place is designated "Egypt" in a title-deed of 1652 the presumption is that it had been so known for a considerable time before that date. Lawyers do not readily accept a recent name — not to say a nickname — as the correct designation of lands or heritages. But, in the absence of earlier documen- tary evidence, we cannot take for granted that the name goes further back than the seventeenth century.

In this connection it is interesting to remember the quotation in Mr. Groome's In Gypsy Tents (p. 106) as to "how about 1623 Sir William Sinclair 'delivered ane Egyptian from the gibbet in the Burrow Moore [Burgh Muir], ready to be strangled, returning from Edinburgh to Roslin, upon which accoumpt the whole body of gypsies were, of old, accustomed to gather in the stanks of Roslin every year, where they acted severall plays, dureing the moneths of May and June.' " But as many Scotch " Egyptians " were at that period condemned to the galloAvs, and as a certain part of the Burghmuir was then " the Tyburn of Edinburgh," it cannot be assumed that this Gypsy of the year 1623 was inevitably one of those associated with this " Egypt."

Still more doubtful, but worth noting, is the reference made in an Edinburgh trial of the year 1586^ to a certain Scotch lad who, "when about eight years of age, was taken away by ane Egyptian into Egypt, , . . where he remained twelve years, and then came home." But if the southern side of the Burgh Muir was called " Egypt" in 1586, as it was in 1652, this may only mean that this boy was kidnapped by some passing Gypsy, and that — like tlie contemporary " Scholar Gypsy " of Oxford — he had lived among these people for several years.

Apart from such surmises, it seems tolerably clear that of these two traditions the correct one is that which alleges that this particular place received the name of "Egypt" because of its association with those "Egyptians" whom we now call " Gypsies."

The other Scottish locality bearing the same name is situated in the parish of Farnell, in Forfarshire. It also is a farm. But whether any local tradition con- nects this " Egypt " with Gypsies, I do not know.

Are there, then, any other European " Egypts " besides these two in Scotland 1 Many instances could of course be furnished of places whose names announce

1 Quoted by Scott in Intniduction to the " Tale of Tamlaiie."

54 NOTES AND QUERIES.

them as the haunts of Gypsies, Tinkers, etc. But the pui'2:)ose of this note is to learn whether there are other examples of places called Egypt in any of the countries of Europe ; and if so, whether they are associated with Gypsies.

D. MacRitchie.

7.

A Correction.

Two entries of^the year 1492, in the Accounts of the Lord Iligh Treasurer of Scotland, have been quoted as possibly bearing reference to Gypsies, both by Mr. Groome in his article in the Encyclopcedia Britannica, and also by Mr. Crofton in his first essay on the early annals of the English Gypsies. These entries refer to a King of "Rowmais " or " Rowmanis," whose messenger, bearing letters to and from James IV. of Scotland, was in that country during the month of July 1492. It has been clearly shown l)y Dr. Tliomas Dickson, in his Preface to these Accounts (vol. i., Edinburgh, 1877, ])p. cxii-cxxvi), that the personage here referred to was Maximilian, King of the llonutns, with whom the King of Scotland was then in close alliance, chiefly for tlie purpose of checkmating Henry VII. of England by favouring the cause of Perkin Warbeck. Maximilian had been elected King of the Romans in 1486, and that was his most important title in 1492, although in the very next year he succeeded to the German empire through the death of his father. It is quite evident from Dr. Dickson's citations that this was the King of " Rowmanis " (as the Scotch spelling has it, or " Rowmais " in the contracted form) who thus figures in these Accounts ; and Mr. Crofton has conse- quently omitted him from his revised " Annals," now published in this number of the Society's Journal.

8.

An Ancient Funeral Rite.

" The death of the Gypsy Walter Cooper removes a well-known figure from the pedestrian crowd usually accompanying a meet of the Queen's Staghounds. Cooper is a frequent Gypsy name, and the clan, not too favourably known to the country gentry, numbers several families. The body was removed last week from the encampment on Datchet Common to the churchyard, being drawn on a car by a favourite mare. The animal was afterwards sacrificed to his manes. Fanciful Orientalists may perhaps be able to trace here a survival of the ancient Aryan offering of the horse, of which there is frequent mention in the ancient Sanscrit books."— IForZfZ, June 6, 1888.

9.

The Lowbets.

In an article headed " The Native Races of Gambia," in the Archccological Review (March 1887, p. 15), the seventh principal tribe is that of the Lowbeys, whose name has some resemblance, perhaps accidental, to that of Luri, or Lull, borne by the Gypsies in Persia, etc.

The description given is as follows : —

" This race may be described as the Gypsies of North-West Africa. It is almost mpossible to get any certain information in regard to their history. They wander

NOTES AND QUERIES. 55

about from place to place, and none whom I have questioned have been able to tell me the part of Africa whence they originally came. I am informed (not by a Lowbey) that there is a tradition which assigns to them the land of Midian as their original country, and that they were cursed by Jethro for stealing cattle, and doomed to a wandering life. I am inclined, however, to regard this story as a modern invention, seeing that I have not yet discovered a Lowbey who ever heard of Jethro, Moses, or of the land of Midian.

" They are a decidedly handsome race, bearing a stronger resemblance to the Foulahs than to any other people, though, as a rule, darker in colour. In all probability they were descended from the Foulahs, but, if so, it is curious that they should have completely changed their mode of life, the Foulahs being a pastoral and agricultural people, while the Lowbeys almost exclusively confine themselves to the making of the various wooden utensils in use by natives generally.

" They settle temporarily with any tribe, but never intermarry with another race, thus preserving the type of feature whicli obviously separates them from their human surroundings.

" In religion most of them are pagans, though a few jjrofess the Mohammedan faith. They have no laws of their own, but are guided by those of the people amongst whom they are for the time being located. In case of war happening they very sensibly remove at once into a district where there is peace. Their language appears to be allied to the Foulah tongue, but they usually speak the language of the tribe with whom they are staying. The Foulahs are a well-known African race, and many travellers have noted their unusual lightness of complexion."

The next number of the Journal will contain a notice of the Gypsy articles in the Ethnologische Mitleilungcn axis Ungarn, edited by Professor Anthon Herrmann.

NOTICE. — All Contributions must be legibly ivritten on one side onhj of the2Mpcr; viust bear the sender'' s name and address, though not necessarily for 2}ublica- tion; and must be sent to David MacEitchie, Esq., 4 Archibald Place, Edinburgh. A list of members, icith addresses, ivill hereafter be opened, for purposes of inter-correspondence.

JOUENAL OF THE

GYPSY LORE

SOCIETY.

Vol. I. OCTOBEE 1888. No. 2.

I.— THE DIALECT OF THE GYPSIES OF BEAZIL.

BY chance I became possessor of two works lately published in Eio de Janeiro, which furnished me with materials of the dialect in question. Their author is the prolific Brazilian writer Mello Moraes ; they have been published by B. L. Garcier, and bear

» » >

the titles : Cancioneiro dos Cigctnos, poesia pop^Uar dos Ciganos da Cidade Nova, 1885 ; Os Ciganos no Brazil, contrihuigdo cthnographica, 1886. The author gives in the first-mentioned work a Portuguese translation of a great number of Gypsy songs, and five stanzas in the original tongue ; in the latter an historical and statistical sketch, a number of translated songs, and a short glossary, which contains 253 vocables of the Brazil-Gypsy dialect.

My object being only to search into the linguistic materials, of which the author gives but a scanty supply, I will, first of all, examine his vocabidary with the view of pointing out the etymology of the Brazihan-Gypsy words ; but in doing so I will confine my examination to such words the etymology of which I can state decidedly, for they will afford sufficient and certain materials on which to base a disquisition on the concordance between the Brazil- Gypsy and other dialects.

VOL. L — NO. 11. E

58

THE DIALECT OF THE GYPSIES OF BRAZIL.

Vocabulary.

(A.) The Original set of Words which this Dialect has in common

with the older Dialects.

Acans, eyes ; Gr. yaka ; Sp. aguias ;

Basq. aca. Acdva, this ; Gr. akavd ; from the same

base are formed Sp. acoi, acallo,

acalan : Basq. aca (cf. Ascoli Zig.

156). A'gui, fire, sun ; Gr. yag ; Sp. yague ;

Basq. yac, -a. Anal, name ; Gr. nav, naf ; Sp. nao,

asnao. Arachai, priest ; Gr. rashdi ; Sp. ara-

jai, erajai. Aranin, hidy ; Gr. rdnni ; Sp. erani. Arens, eggs ; Gr. vando, vanro, arno,

egg ; Sp. anro. Aron, meal ; Gr. vanro, varo ; Sp. roi. Aruvinhar, to weep ; Gr. rovava, ru-

vava ; Sp. orabar, orobiar. Assanar, to laugh ; Gr. asdva ; Sp.

asaselar. Avinhar, to come ; Gr. avava ; Sp.

avillar, abillar, abillelar.

Bales, hairs ; Gr. bal, hair ; Sp. bal ; Basq. balla, hairs.

Balivaz, lard : the elements of this word are balo, hog ; and mas, meat, which both occur in Gr., whilst the compo- site itself is wanting ; but the Em. uses balimas, balevas, halavas ; Sp. baleba ; Basq. balebas, balabas, -a.

Baque, fate ; Gr. bakht ; Sp. baji.

Bar, much : the true meaning may be "large" ; Gr., Sp., Basq. baro.

Bengue, devil ; Gr. beng ; Sp. bengue, Basq. bee, -a.

Boque, hunger ; Gr. bok ; Sp. boqui, boque.

Bravaldo, rich ; Gr. baravald, barvalo ; Sp. balbalo.

Brichindin,TSi,xa; Gr. hrishin, brishindo; Sp. brijinda ; Basq. birzindo.

Bid, posteriors ; Gr. 'vid, bul ; Sj). bul.

Buzecas, spurs; Gr. wanting; Fi.m.buzexa; Sp. espusifia (cf. Pott D. Zig. ii. 429).

Cabin, hod; Gr. khabc ; Sp. jVi^/^'^j^l Cabipe, falsehood ; Gr. khokhamnibe, khokhaimbe ; Sp. jonjauipen.

Cachucon, deaf; Gr. kashuko, kasuko; Sp. cajuco.

Caiar, to eat ; Gr. khdva ; Sp. jalar ; Basq. galitia.

Caiardin, a black woman ; see the fol- lowing.

Caiardon, a black man ; Gr. kaliardo, kaliardi ; /. participle of kaliarava ; Sp. gallardo.

Calin, gypsy woman (cf. colon).

CcUon, gypsy man — i.e. "a black" ; Gr. kald (m.), kali (f.) ; Basq. talu, -a (m.).

Cambclin, pregnant ; Gr. kabni, kamni ; Sp. cambri.

Camelar, to wLsh, to love ; Gr. kamdma ; Sp. camelar, camblar ; Basq. acaba (1)

Candelar, to stink ; Gr. kdndava ; from khan, kan and dava the verb is want- ing in the Sp.-G. dictionaries : (cf. Miklosich, M. W. vii. 78).

Cangrina, gaol. The word may be re- ferred to the Gr. kanghcri, church ; Sp. cangari, cangri, the notion of a solid edifice only having been retained.

Casnin, hen ; Gr. kahni, kaghni ; Sp. cahi, cahai ; Basq. kani.

Caximbra, inn ; Sp. cachima ; Eng. kitchima.

Oiavo, cousin (cf. chavon).

Chavina, girl ; has been lately formed from chavon. The Gr. word is chdi, chei ; the Sp. chabi, chavi, chai.

Chavon, boy, son ; Gr. chavo, chav ; Sp. chabo, chabal ; Basq. chabo.

Chibe, tongue ; Gr. chip, chib ; Sp. chipe.

Chidar, to throw ; Gr. chidava, from chiv + dava ; Sp. chibandar formed from chib (f. chibar, chibelar) + dar.

Chor, thief ; Gr. chor ; Sp. choraro, chorui ; Basq. shor, -a.

Choripen, theft ; Gr. choribe ; Sp. choripen.

Ghidon, thick, fat ; Gr. tulo ; Sp. chulld.

Chundar, to hear ; Gr. shunava ; Sp. chunar.

Churdar, to rob ; Gr. chorava ; Sp. chorar : I suppose that the word ought to be spelled chordar (cf. above, chor, choripen) ; the difference of the mean-

THE DIALECT OF THE GYPSIES OF BRAZIL.

59

ing separates it from churdav, " to

throw," occurring in the Bohem.-G.

dialect. Churiii, knife ; Gr. churi, chori ; Sp.

chtiri ; Basq. churi, chutri. Cliuxans, breast ; Gr. chuchya ; Sp.

chuckai ; Basq. tichia. Crivdo, godfather ; Gr. kirivo, kirvo,

kivro ; Sp. quiribo. Crivin, godmother ; Gr. kirvi ; Sp.

qiiiribi. Cucdles, bones ; Gr. kohhala ; Sp. cocaU. Cucanin, liar (f.) ; Gr. kokhavni, kho-

khamni ; Sp., of. the verb jojabar.

Dabans, dashes ; Gr., cf. tapdava,

tavdava, I strike ; Em. dab ; in the

Sp.-G. dictionaries the word is not

found. Dai, mother ; Gr. dai, dei, tai ; Sp.

dai ; Basq. dai, -a, rai, -a. Danes, teeth ; Gr. dand, tooth ; Sp.

dans, dani. DaranOn, fearful ; Gr. darano ; Sp.

daraiioi. Despandinhar, to open; cf. Gr. ^:)a/i-

dava, I bind ; Sp. despandar, despan-

delar, to unbind. Diclon, kerchief ; Gr., Sp. dildo. Diclunes, shawl : seems to be the plural

of the former. Dinhar, to give ; Gr. dava, ptcp. di7io ;

Sp. difiar, dinelar ; Basq. deantsia. Dinilon, stupid ; Gr. dinilo, dilino ;

Sp. dinelo, dililo ; Basq. dihilo. Diquinhar, to see ; Gr. dikava, dikhava ;

Sp. dicar, dirabelar. Dirachin, M. translates it by noife,

" night " ; but it must be taken as an

adverb, " this night " — a composite

consisting of a demonstrative element

cf. Hng., Bhm. ada, wanting in Gr.,

and rachin, night ; Gr. rat, night ;

aratti, this night, rather than "by

night " ; Sp. rachi, night ; arachi,

night by night ; Basq. latsi. Dron, way ; Gr. drom ; Sp. drun. Duvel, God ; Gr. devel ; Sp. debel ; Basq.

d^lbel. DuvUa, the Mother of God ; lately

formed from the form .

Estade, hat ; Gr. stadik ; Sp. estache.

Estardar, to catch ; Gr. asfarava ; Sp.

estardar, estardclar, to incarcerate. Estardipen, gaol, or rather imjirisonment ;

Gr. astaribe, catching; Sp. estaribd,

estaripd; Basq. ostariben. Estardon, prisoner; Gr. astardo; Sp.

estardo. The Gr. word is the par- ticiple of astarava, but the Br. and Sp.

are not formed from estardar, but as

already formed words taken over from

an older form of the lanjfuacre. Gade, shirt; Gr. gad; Sp. gate; Basq.

gate, gat, -a. Gajao, non-Gyi)sy man; Gr. gajo; Sp.

gacho ; Basq. o-, gasho. Gajin, non-Gypsy women ; Gr. gaji; Sp.

gachi, cachi; Basq. e-, gashi. Garadar, to hide; Gr. geravava; Sp.

garabar, garabelar. Grai, horse; Gr. grast, gra, grai; Sp.

grasto, gra ; in Basq. there are krashni,

-a, mare ; and brastano, rider, derived

from a noun krasht or h-ast. Gruvinin, cow ; Gr. guruvni, gurumni ;

Sp. gurni. Guiadar, to sing; Gr. gildbava; Sp.

guillabar, guiabar; Basq. kiliaotsia. Gidpcn, M. doce, "sweet," but the word

means "sweetness," the ?t in guipen

is supposed to be pronounced; Gr.

gudlijye; in Sp. is found only gulo,

sweet. Guldo, sugar, i.e. "sweet"; Gr. gudlo;

guglo; Sp. gulo, gule. Cruru, bull; Gr. guruv ; Sp. gorui grui;

Basq. gurrOg guru, -a^ kari, -a.

Jalar, to go; Gr, Java; Sp. chalar; Baudrimont gives sigo-shade = courir, which seems to mean "they ran fast."

Jandon, a wise man; Sp. chande, from the follo\ving.

Janellar, to know ; Gr, ja^iava ; Sp. chanar, chanelar.

Jungalipen, ugliness ; in Gr, Paspati (p. 229) writes djungdliovava, voy. zungdlovava, but the latter is not found in his dictionary ; Hng. jungalo ; 'Bih.ui. jungdlo. In the Sp.-G. diction- aries I could not find the correspond- ing word.

Juquer, dog; Gr. jukel, 'Jiukcl; Sp. chuquel ; Basq. xakel, shukel.

.' Guru, -a, is supposed to mean "bull," not "cow," as Baudrunont writes.

60

THE DIALECT OF THE GYPSIES OF BRAZIL.

Juvacando, magician ; Gr. cJioveTchano, phautom ; Sp. wanting in the diction- aries.

Juvacanin, witch ; Gr. chovehhani, phantom ; Sp. chuacani, chuanjafd ; Basq. choacani ; witch, not " magi- cian," as Baudrimont states.

Juvinhar, to stay ; Gr. jivava, to live. In Spanish the verb is wanting ; cf. chibiben, life. I do not hesitate to class juvinhar and jivava together, for the labial v could cause the vowel i to be changed into u.

Kambulin, sweetheart (cf. camhulon). Kirai, cheese ; Gr. keral ; Sp. quird ;

Basq. kial, -a. Kralis, king, wanting in Gr. ; comes

from the Slavonian krali. This word

occurs in the most of the Gypsy

dialects ; thus, Sp. crally. Krangrin, church (cf. cangrina).

Lachin, good (f.), the fem. of the follow- ing.

Lachon, god (m.) ; Gr. lacho (m.), lachi (f.) ; Sp. lacho ; Basq. lasho.

Lacrin, girl ; Gr. rakli ; Sp. lacroi,

Lacron, boy ; cf. the following.

Lacitrron, boy ; Gr. raklo ; Sp. lacro.

Lajavo, ashamed (?) — IM. explains it as vergonha, " shame " ; Gr. lajavo ; cf. Sp. lacha, laya, shame.

Lindre, sleep, slumber =Gr. lindr; want- ing in all other dialects except the Eom., Hng., and Bhm.

Lon, salt ; Gr., Sp., Basq'. Ion.

Lubinin, whore ; Gr. luhni, lumni ; Sp. lumi, lumica ; Basq. hmi, -a.

Machon ) fish ; Gr. macho ; Sp. macho ;

Maxon, ] Basq. onasho.

Maaguinhar, to beg ; Gr. mangava ;

Sp. mangar, mangelar. Mardador, murderer : a late formation

from a verb mardar, which is to be

referred to the Gr. marava, to beat ;

Sp. m,arar, to kill. Marrao, bread ; (^r. manro, marno,

maro ; Sp. manro ; Basq. mandro. Maton, drunken ; Gr. matto ; Sp., Basq.

mato. Maz, meal ; Gr. mas ; Sp. maas ; Basq.

mag, -a.

Mensa, I, being the instrumental cause of me. Cf. Gr. mdnja, by me ; the Sp. uses the prepositional and accusar tive cases for the nom. viz. menda, man.

Merindin, funeral (?) is to be referred to the root mer ; cf. below.

Migeque, bad, angry ; wanting in Gr. ; Bhm. mizhex ; Germ, mijax ; Scand. iiiigak (cf. Pott D. Zig. ii, 459).

Merinhar, to die ; Gr. merava ; Sp. merar.

Missaia, table ; Gr. mesali, handker- chief ; Sp. mensalle ; even in Hng. this word means " table."

Mistoes, very well, rather well ; Gr. mishto, misto ; Sp. misto ; the Br. word looks as an adverb.

Mor, wine ; Gr. mol ; the word is want- ing in Sp. ; Miklosich M. W. viii. 17, compares Sp. molar, mole, amolelar, molancia.

Mxd, face ; Gr. mui, face, mouth ; Sp. mui ; Basq. muil.

Midadar, to kill ; is apparently a new formation, the base of which is mulon, q.v.

Midon, dead ; Gr. mxdo, molo ; Sp. mido.

Mutrinhar, to make^ water ; Gr. mu- trava ; Sp. mv,trar.

Nabasnao, cock ; Gr. bashno, basno ; Sp. basno ; in Brazil basndo is said to mean "cup" or "saucer," perhaps by an error of the compiler.

Nachaddo, poor, lost ; not formed from the verb nachadar, but the Br. equi- valent for the Gr. nashavdo ; Bhm. nashado, which for their part are par- ticijiles of nashavava.

Nachadar, to become poor, to be lost ; so explains M., but probably the verb is transitive, and means '"to lose"; Gr. 7iashavava ; Sp. nachabar, nachabelar, to lose.

Nachinhar, to fly ; Gr. nashava ; Sp. nachar, nacliarar, io dejjart.

Nagualao, sick, ill ; Gr. nasvalo, nas- falo ; Sp. nasalo.

Naki, I nose ; Gr. nak ; Sp. naqui,

Naque, J nacri.

THE DIALECT OF THE GYPSIES OF BRAZIL.

Gl

Paxivalin,

Pachivalin,

i

Paguerdar, to break ; Gr. imngava, but Bohm. 2>cffcrav ; Germ, pagerava; in Sp. the verb is not found.

Panin, water ; Gr. ^^aui ; Sp. pani, pani ; Basq. jjani.

Papiris, paper ; Boliem. papiris, from the German Papier.

Parnon, white ; Gr. parno.

Parrudar, to change ; Gr. paruvava, Bohem. parudav ; Sp. purnibar, far- ugar.

^ miss, young lady, that is lionourable(f.); Rm. 2>a- t'ivalo, honest ; Sp. pachibalo (m.) from the Gr. verb pakjava ; Sp. pachibar.

Pelens, testicles ; Gr., Sp. ^^e^e.

Pendar, to say, to explain ; Gr. penava ; Sp. penar, penelar.

Perin, pot ; Gr. piri ; Sp. pirri, pirria.

Perrengues, feet, M. ; but the true mean- ing of that word may be " trousers," a derivative from the unknown Br. equivalent of the Gr., Sp. pindo, pinro.

Piai; to drink ; Gr. piava ; Sp. piyar.

Pla, brother ; Gr. pral, plal ; Sp. j^/a^

Puron, old ; Gr. pi6ro, phuro ; Sp., Basq. puro.

Puz, earth ; Gr. phiiv ; Sp. pu.

Querdar, to make ; Gr. kerava ; Sp.

qucrai; querdar. Quiligin, key ; Gr. Midi, kilidi ; Sp.

wanting. Quiraz, cheese ; cf. kirai.

Baty, blood ; Gr. ratt ; Sp. aratc, rati ; Basq. lat, -a.

Requerdar, to speak ; Gr. vakerava,

vrakerava ; Sp. araquerar. Requerdipen, eloquence ; Gr. vrakeribe,

word. Roc, spoon ; Gr. roy ; Sp. rolli, roin. Ron, man ; Gr. rom ; Sp. rom, ro. Runin, woman ; Gr. romni ; Sp. roini.

Sastre, iron ; Gr. shastir, sastir ; Sp. sa ;

Basq. sast, -a. Sillas, powers ; wanting in Gr. ; Sp.

sila ; from the Slavonian sila. Stmacai, gold ; Gr. sovnakai, somnakai ;

Sp. sonacai, socanai. Suvinhar, to sleep ; Gr, sovava ; Sp.

sobar, sohelar ; Basq. soaotsia.

Tirdques, shoes ; Gr. triak ; Germ.

tirax ; Sj). tirajai ; Basq. tiak. Trup, body ; Em. trupo ; Sp. trupo ;

from the Slavonian trupii. Tunsa, thou ; cf. mensa ; Gr. tu ; Sp.

tu7i, tu, tut, tucue.

Urai, sir, king ; Gr. rai ; Sp. eray,

elay ; Basq. lay, -a. Urdar, to clothe ; Gr. uriava ; Sp. not

found in the dictionaries.

Vdzes, hands, fingers ; Gr. vait ; Sp. bast ; Basq. bast, -a.

Xaron, dish, bowl ; Gr. charo, plate ;

Sp. wanting. Xinorron, little, small ; Gr. tiknoro ;

chinorre, tizuino, tcino. Xores, beard ; Gr. chor, jor ; Sp. chon} Xuti, milk ; Gr. tud ; Sp. chuti, sut ;

Basq. sut, -a.

(B.) The words which the Brazilian dialect has in common with the Spanish dialect alone are not very numerous ; it will be sufficient to give a few instances of them : —

Br. bata, mother ; Sp. bata. Br. busnon, black ; cf. Sp. busno, wild.

Br. bato, father ; Sp. bato. Br. cascando, poor ; Sp. carcafii.

Br. buchardon, shooting, clap ; cf. Sp. Br. chinon, ofiicer ; Sp. chiiiobaro = Gr. bucharar, to throw, to shoot. baro, governor.

The Basque equivalents adjoined in the list (A) will show clearly, I think, that there is no nearer connection between the Portuguese

1 chor? cf. chorcro, barber; all the Sp.-G. dictiouaries write chon, not chor.

62 THE DIALECT OF THE GYPSIES OF BEAZIL.

(Brazilian) and the Basque-Gypsy dialect than between this and that of the Spanish Gypsies. Looking on that as a settled thing, I shall go on to point out the pecuharities in phonology and forma- tion of themes which are common to the Spanish and the Brazilian Gypsy dialects (leaving aside the Basque), and which distinguish them from all others; and those which, belonging only to one of the two dialects, separate them from each other.

Phonology. Moraes, in writing the Gypsy words, avails himself of the Portu- guese alphabet, to which he adds h, and the y, h, and / of which he uses nowhere. Even the Spanish Gypsiologists apply the orthography of their vernacular to the Eomany. I cannot decide if the Spanish and Portuguese alphabets are quite fit to express the very sound of the Gypsy words, but I suppose that they are, because the pronuncia- tion of almost all the Gypsy dialects follows rather accurately that of the vernacular of the country they are spoken in. Whether there is a difference in the pronunciation of Moraes' cli and x, of his c and Ic, k and qu, I am not able to decide. I have therefore thought it best to retain in writing the manner of spelling adopted by him.

The Accent. Moraes marks out the accent only in a few words, viz. acdva, hal'dnas, caMn, cacUns, chorip6n, chucd, cucdles, ddnes, estdde, gdde, guipdn, jungcdip6n, peldns, ijiugas, tii'dques, vdzes, and the numerous adjectives in on, in ; all which instances prove that the rules of accentuation are generally the same as in Portuguese. In the Spanish dialect the original Gypsy nouns, even if they end in vowels, bear the accent on the last syllable ; in the Brazilian dialect there are very few nouns which end in a vowel, except such as affix an inorganic e, viz. bdqve, chibe, gdde, hengue, etc.

CONCOEDANCES OF THE VoWELS.

Like the Spanish dialect, the Brazilian is fond of prefixing a vowel to words whose first consonant is r. In the selection of the vowel which precedes that consonant, the two dialects do not agree with one another ; the Spanish using always a or e, the Brazilian a and sometimes u. Thus : —

Br. Sp. Gr.

arachai arachai, crachai rasha%

aranin , erafd ranni

urai erai fai

THE DIALECT OF THE GYPSIES OF BRAZIL. 63

Sometimes one of the dialects has no prefixed vowel, where the other has : thus : —

Br.	Sp.	Gr.
anal	7iao	nav
requerdas	araqucrar

As a general rule, in the Spanish and the Brazilian dialects, e is prefixed to words commencing with st, according to the custom of the Spanish and the Portuguese languages ; thus : —

Br. Sp. Gr.

estade cstache stadiJc

estardar estardar astarava -^

estardipe estaribel astaribe

estardon estardo astardo

The Br. dialect substitutes the older i, o still retained in the Sp. by e, u : thus : —

Br. Sp. Gr.

perin piri piri

perrengucs pinro pinro

churdar chorar chorava

cucanin jojabar Jchokhavno

r%min romi romni

a peculiarity resulting from the dull pronunciation of i, o in Portu- guese, in unaccented syllables.

The labial v is of great influence to the preceding vowel, which becomes in many instances u ; thus : —

Br. Sp. Gr.

duvel debel devel ^

aruvinhar orabar rovava

juvmhar hib jivava

sunacai sonacai sovnacai

That influence is sensible even in the Spanish dialect in such instances as cliuanjani, chuacani ; Br. juvacanin ; but Gr. chovekhani.

There are no prominent peculiarities in the vocalism which might distinguish the Brazilian and Spanish dialects from the whole set of the others.

Concordances of the Consonants.

As in the Spanish dialect, there are no aspirates in the Brazilian — at least these are not expressed in writing, and it is very probable that they have disappeared in these as in so many other dialects. Even the Greek dialect seldom retains the original aspirate, while in

1 The a of the first syllable being prefixed.

2 Even in the Basque antl English Gj-psy dialects, the form of this word is dubel, douhelle ; duvel.

64

THE DIALECT OF THE GYPSIES OF BRAZIL.

the Hng. the aspirates freely interchange with the tenues. The only Bhm. dialect is rather consequent in discerning the two series of con- sonants, and therefore we must refer to it concerning the late tenues of the Sp. and Br. dialects, thus : —

Br.	Sp.	Gr.	Bhm.
candelar		kandava	Jchandav
paguerdar	• ..	pagerav	phagerav
panguinhar	2)andar	pandava	phandav
jjendar	penar	pcnava	plienav
puron	puro	puro, phuro	phuro
puz	pu	phuv	phuv^

Even the sound x, common to the older Gypsy dialects, though non-original, is absent from the Br. dialect ; whilst the Sp., in con- formity with the Spanish language itself, retains it in all instances. The Br. dialect, as a rule, substitutes Jc, c, qu, thus : —

cf. Sp.	Gr.
jojabar	khokhavni
jallipen	khahe
jonjmiipen	khokhamnihe
baji	bakht

Br. cucanin caben cabipe baqiie

and so on. Where the Spanish dialect hasj (x) instead of the old sh, the Brazilian retains the latter : — Br. cacliucoii ; Sp. cajuco ; Gr. hashuko.

G. seems to have been substituted for d in Br. panguinhar, to bind ; Sp. pandar ; Gr, pandava (we might have ex-pected pa^idinhar).

The consonant ch corresponds generally with Spanish ch, whether this be original or peculiar only to the Spanish dialect, thus : —

Br.

chuxans chundar arachai chulon

Sp. chuchai chunar arachai chullo

Gr.

chuchia shunava rashai tulo

Br. ch corresponds with Sp. /, Gr. sh, in Br. cachucon ; Sp. cajuco ; Gr. hashuTco.

The consonant x corresponds with the Sp. ch in every case : —

Br.	Sp.	Gr.
xoiron	CO	charo
xdres	chon	chor
xinorron	chinorre	tiknoro
xuti	chuti	tud
paxivalin	pachibali

Rm.

pat'ivali 1 The Sanscritic equivalents being gandha, bhanj, bandh, b/ian, vriddha, hhUmi.

THE DIALECT OF THE GYPSIES OF BRAZIL.

65

The consonant/ stands in lieu of an original j (<:?/), the Spanish equi^•alent of which is cli : —

Br.

jalar

janellar

gajao

Sp. chalar ckanelar gacho

Gr.

Java

janava

gO'jo

The consonant nh occurs very seldom ; Ih is never written.

The original d is often retained where the Spanish dialect has

changed it to t or ch

Br.

gade estade

Sp. gate estache

Gr.

gad stadik

The consonaiit n is in some instances the substitute of an orioiual (and Sp.) m. Thus : —

Gr.

rom romni

Br.		Sp.
ron		rom,
runin		romi
In one instance the	m,	even in
this change : —
Br.		Sp.
dron		drun

Gr. drom

Often the Br. n corresponds with Sp. n.

Br. juvacanin aranin casnin daranon halunas

Sp. chuacani erani card daranoi balune

Gr. chocehhani ranni Tcahni darano (wanting)

Z and r in both dialects interchange sometimes with one another thus : —

Br. cambelin juquer fiior bravaldo

Sp. _ cambri chuquel mol balbalo

Gr, kamli jukel mol barvalo

and with I, r, of the older dialects : —

Br.

pla.

lacron

lacri

Sp.

flal. lacro lacroi

Gr.

pral. ralilo rakli

66 THE DIALECT OF THE GYPSIES OF BRAZIL.

The softened Ih {V) is never met with, and the Sp. //, represented merely by /, where it has not altogether disappeared, thus : —

Br.	Sp.	Gr.	Slavon.
kralis	crally		krali
chulon	chullo	tulo
missaia	mensalle	mesali
guiaclar	guiUabar	gildbava
guipen	(?)	gudlipen

In some instances the Spanish dialect has //, where it is absent in the older dialects, and even in the Brazilian, thus : —

Br. Sp. Gr.

roe rolli roij

Peculiar to the Brazilian dialect is the final / in anal, name; Sp. nao ; Gr. nav.

The z, occurring only in a few words, is mostly a mere com- pendium scriphcrae for s ; thus, in halivaz and maz (cf. the list A).

The final z in puz, earth ; Sp. pu ; Gr. p)huv ; and in quiraz, cheese ; Sp. quira ; Gr. keral, is peculiar to the Brazilian dialect.

In the labial class there is a change between h and v to be observed, the 1) prevailing in the Spanish, the v in the Brazilian dialect, thus : —

Br.	Sp.	Gr.	Rm.
vazes	bast	vast
faxivalin	pachibali	• • •	pat'ivali
halivaz	baleba	• ••	balevas
barvaldo	balbalo	barvalo
crivdo	quiribo	kirivo
duvel	dehel	devel

This difference in pronunciation is the same as that which is found even between the Spanish and the Portuguese vernaculars.

On the whole, the Brazilian dialect has retained the original vowels and consonants in some instances, where the Spanish dialect has omitted, confused, or blended them together : such instances are : —

Gr.

guruvni

guruv

chovekhani

luhni

nasfalo

varo

In a few others the Spanish has the more original form ; thus it

Br.	Sp. _
guruvinin	gurni
guru juvacanin lubinin	grui chuacani lumi
naqualdo	nasalo
aron	roi

THE DIALECT OF THE GYPSIES OF BKAZIL.

6;

has retained the group nr, while not only the Brazilian but most of the other dialects have it chanired to r, thus : —

Br.

arcns (pi.) perrengues

Sp. anro pinro

Gr.

vanro pinro

The Other dialects affording : Em. aro, ponro, piro ; Hng. yaro,pindro, pro ; Bhm. yarro, piro ; Germ, yarro, plro ; Pol. Euss. yarzho, piro, etc.

Formation of Themes.

The old themes of nouns formed in o masc, t iem., still preserved in the Spanish, have undergone a change in the Brazilian dialect, where they either —

( 1 ) lost their final vowel, as : —

Br. bar trup naque, naki

Sp. baro trupo naqui

Gr. baro

nak

Slavon. iriqm

or (2) added an n to the vowel of the theme, as —

Br. chulon daranon cachucon colon aranin cambelin lubinin perin

Sp.

chullo daranoi cajuco calo eraiii cambri lumi pirria

Gr. tula darano kashuko calo ranni kamni lubni firi

or (3) the o changed into the nasal cto, as —

Br. Sp. Gr.

na^ualdo. nasalo nasfalo

crivdo quiribo kirivo

barvaldo balbalo barvalo

gajdo gacho gajo

A few feminine nouns have added the Portuguese theme suffix a, as —

Br. Sp. Gr.

cangrina cangri kangeri

chavina chabi chai duvela, from the masc. duvel

A number of themes, which in the older dialects end in a con- sonant, in the Brazilian, as in the Spanish, end in e, thus —

Br.

boque baque chibe

Sp. boque baji chipe

Gr.

bok

bakht

chib

68

THE DIALECT OF THE GYPSIES OF BRAZIL.

In the formation of verbal themes the Brazilian dialect dis- plays its special characteristics ; they are for the most part formed by the suffix inh, which in the older dialects is almost exclusively joined to roots borrowed from European languages (cf. Miklosich M. W. X. 1179 f.). Examples of these are : —

Br.	Sp.		Gr.
manguinhar	mangar		mangava
mutrinhar	mutrar		rmitrava
aruvinhar	orabar		rovava
nachinhar	nachar		nashava
despandinhar	despandar		pandava
diquinJiar	dicar		dihhava
dinhar	dinar		dava
merinhar	merar		merava
(2) In I or cl, as in	the Spanish dialect	Jm
Br.	Sp.		Gr.
caiar, instead of calhar jalar		khava
camelar	camblar		hamama
jalar	chalar	m	Java
janellar	chanelar		janava
(3) Composites with da. These are	more numerous than in
other dialect, thus :
Br.	Sp.	Gr.	Bbm.
chidar	chibar	chidava	cJiivav
chundar	chunar	shunava	shunav
churdar	chorar	chorava	chdrav
estardar	estardar	astarava	astarav
garadar	garabar	geravava	garuvav
guiadar	guillabar	giliavava	giVavav
paguerdar	(?)	...	2Mgerav
parrudar	purrubar	paruvava	parudav
requerdar	araquerar	vakerava	vaTcerav

and so on. Such forms as estardon, etc., are not participles formed from estardar, etc., for they would be estardino, etc. ; but older parti- ciples formed from the simple verbs, and taken over into the new form of the dialect.

Specimens and Observations on Grammar.

As specimens of the Brazilian-Gypsy language, Moraes supplies a few verses, with their translation, viz. : —

n.

De menQa dae te jalaste deste gdu tao cacliardin ! manguella ao duvel por menga que simo tao nachadin.

Quaiido, 6 diie, tn merinhaste menga tambem merinhon, em tanto nachadipem de menga tudo jalou.

THE DIALECT OF THE GYPSIES OF BEAZIL.

69

III.

IV.

0 bcito, tu merinhaste tao chinurrao eu fiquei ! inanguella ao duvel pov raen§a, que por tu§a eu mauguinliei !

Quem se ciniar nachadon nao requerde cime dar que 0 ron quidon requerdando dinhao dabans a mardar.

V.

Te camellava runin simando bar nachadon &6 o teu babanijaen me querdava bravalon.^

From these specimens it is evident that the Brazilian dialect, like the Spanish, having lost the original declension and conjugation, uses instead of it that of the vernacular. Whilst the Spanish dialect has retained the old possessive pronouns, viz. : — minrio, my ; tiro, thy ; desquero, his (cf. Gr. leskero), etc., that of Brazil uses de menga, of me ; thus : — de menga dde, my mother (i.) ; de menga tudo, all what is mine (ii.) ; and the Portuguese possessive pronoun, instead of the Gypsy, occurs in o teu hcibaniijcn, thy beauty (v.). The Gypsy per- sonal pronouns are in many instances (in these examples) supplanted by the Portuguese words, thus : — te jalastc, tibi iisti [cf. in the Slovak- Gypsy sub-dialect me mange phirava, ego mihi ibo, and ja tuke, i tibi] (i.) ; quando 6 dae tu merinhaste, when thou diedst, 0 mother (ii.) ; 0 lato, tu merinhaste, 0 father, thou diedst (iii.) ; tao chinurrao eu fiquei, so wretched I remained (ill.) ; te camellava runin, a woman loved thee (v.) ; o teu l)abani2:)hi me querdava hravaUn, thy beauty may make me happy (v.), etc. Instances of verbal forms are — jalaste, thou wentst (i.) ; manguella, pray ! (i.) ; simo [Moraes trans- lates it by fiquei, " I remained." I am in doubt about the meaning of that word] (i.) ; merinhaste, thou diedst (ii.) ; merinho2i, I died (ii.) ; jalou, I went (?) (ii.) ; manguinhei, I prayed (iii.) ; and so on. These few instances will sufficiently prove what I said above about the manner of conjugating.

J The following is the translation of these verses : The first two, in which a daughter is addressing her departed mother, may be Englished thus : " My mother, thou hast gone from the world mournful ! Pray to God for me, who remain without a protector. When thou diedst, 0 mother, I too died, — into such a forlorn condition have I wholly gone." The third verse, of a similar nature, is spoken by a son to his departed father : " O father, thou diedst ; I was left such a little child. Pray to God for me, for I have prayed for thee." The fourth verse goes thus — "He who does not admit his ill-fortxme fears that the unlucky man, when he has admitted his bad luck, will be Jseaten to death " (or, according to a freer translation given by Moraes, "will be regarded as beaten for ever"). The last verse is tliis: "I desired thee, 0 woman, although T myself am ugly. ( know thy beaxity wr.uLl make me liappy."

70 the dialect of teie gypsies of brazil.

Eesults. The Gypsy dialect of Brazil has a near connection with that ot Sjmin, as is demonstrated by the following peculiarities which they have in common : —

(a) They possess a set of vocables neither belonging to the other Gypsy dialects, nor borrowed, as far as I can decide, from the Spanish or Portuguese vernaculars.

(h) They are without aspirate consonants.

(c) They agree with one another in forming verbal themes in I and el.

(d) They are both destitute of the original declensions of nouns and verbs.

The Brazilian and the Spanish Gypsy dialects differ from one another in the following points : —

(a) The set of sounds is different in each of them, and the pro- nunciation not less different than that of the Portuguese and the Spanish languages themselves.

(&) The Brazilian dialect has in many cases preserved the more original forms of words, whilst the Spanish dialect affords more corrupted ones.

(c) The dialect of Brazil shows a preference for forming verbal themes in inh or by composition with da, so that the themes formed in this manner have nearly displaced all others. •

As all the points of agreement between the Brazilian and Spanish forms of Gypsy speech do not seem to be so important as to neces- sitate us to declare that one of them must be a sub-dialect of the other, they both are on the same degree of decay. They are spoken in countries, the vernaculars of which are offsprings of one and the same language, and have therefore influenced the speech of the Gypsies in almost the same manner ; the usual frequent intercourse of the Gypsies of neighbouring countries could bring their dialects nearer to one another, and so on. On the other hand, the differences of the Brazilian and the Spanish Gypsy forms of speech, particularly those points of difference which I mentioned above (sub b), are suffi- cient to justify us in claiming for the language of the Brazilian Gypsies the rank of an independent dialect.

EUDOLF VON SOWA.

pOMS, JATS, AND THE ORIGIN OF THE GYPSIES. 71

II.— POMS, JATS, AND THE OEIGIN OF THE GYPSIES.

[Extracted from the Indian Antiquary, 1886-87.]

M^

"E. LELAND has made a happy suggestion that the original Gypsies may have been Doms of India.^ He points out that Romany is ahnost letter for letter the same as Domani, the plural of Dom.^ Domani is the plural form in the Bhoj'purt dialect of the Bihari language. It was originally a genitive plural; so that Romany-Eye, " a Gypsy gentleman," may be well compared with the Bhoj'puri Domani rdy (Skr. Domdndm o'djd), " a king of the Doms." The Bhoj'puri-speaking Doms are a famous race, and they have many points of resemblance with the Gypsies of Europe. Thus, they are darker in complexion than the surrounding Biharis; are great thieves; live by hunting, dancing, and telling fortunes ; their women have a reputation for making love-philtres and medicines to procure abor- tion ; they keep fowls (which no orthodox Hindu will do), and are said to eat carrion. They are also great musicians and horsemen.

Mr. Fleet has drawn my attention to a South-Indian inscription given in the Ind. Arit. vol. xi. p. 9 ff., in line 50 of which a certain Domma is mentioned. On p. 10 of the same volume, Mr. Fleet says, with reference to him, " In connection with him (Eudradeva), the first record in this inscription is that he subdued a certain Domma, whose strength evidently lay in his cavalry. No clue is given as to who Domma was ; but as doma, domha, or dama, is the name of ' a despised mixed caste,' he may have been the leader of some abori- ginal tribe, which had not then lost all its power." If this conjecture is true, it would show that the Doms extended over the greater part of India, and in some places possessed considerable power.

But the resemblance of the Bhoj'puri and Gypsy dialects is not confined to a similarity of name. The Gypsy grammar is closely connected with Bhoj'piiri, or with its original Apabhrariisa Magadhi Prakrit, thus : —

Bhoj'puri. Magadhi Prakrit.

Dom

Dom Domassa or ^

Domas > ^ Doman Domaunam J

Domani kala

1 See The Gypsies, Boston, 1882, pp. 333-335. Also The Original Gypsies and their Language, Vienna, 1888.

2 This resemblance is not apparent to non-Orientalists, but the symbols d and r expressed originally the same sound. — [Ed.]

Nom. Obi. Si7ig.	Gypsy. Rom Romes
Obi. Pirn:	Romen
Nom.	kalo, ' black

72

pOMS, JATS, AND THE ORIGIN OF THE GYPSIES.

	Gypsy.	Bhoj'pdri.
Obi	kale	kale
Genitive termina-
tion of Nouns
and Pronouns	koro	kar
3rd sing, pres.	lela, ' he takes '	lela
2rd sing 2^cist	lelas, ' he was taking '	lelas
1st sing. fut.	jav, ' I will go '	jab (or jaba)
Past part.	gelo, ' gone '	gel (or gela)
1st sing. fut.	kama kerava, 'I will do'	karab (or karaba)
Infinitive	kerava, ' to do '	karab (or karaba)

These examples might be continued at great length, but the above is sufficient to show the close grammatical connection between the two languages. The vocabularies possess even more numerous points of resemblance, which will be evident to any one comparing the two. The following mongrel half-Gypsy, half-English rhyme, taken from Borrow, will show the extraordinary similarity of the two voca- bularies : —

Gypsy, English, Blwfpuri, .	The Rye squire ray	he mores hunts mare	adrey the wesh within wood andal bes' {Pers. besh)
Gypsy, English, Bhofpuri, .	The kaun-engro and ear-fellow (hare) kan-wala	chiriclo bird chirain
Gypsy, English, Blwfpuri, .	You sovs with sleep soe	leste him	'drey within andal	the wesh wood bes'
Gypsy, English, BhofpUiri, .	And rigs for carries	leste him	the	gono sack (game-bag) gon
Gypsy, English, Bhofpuri, .	Oprey Above upari	the rukh tree rukh	adrey within andal	the wesh wood bes'
Gypsy, English, BhofpUri, .	. Are	chiriclo male- bird chirain •	and	chiricli female-bird chirain •
Gypsy, English, Bhofpuri, .	. Tuley . Below . Tale	the rukh tree rukh	adrey within andal	the wesh wood bes'
Gypsy, English, BhofpUri, .	. Are	pireno lover piyara	and	pireni lady-love piyari

The termination of abstract nouns in ])en will at once suggest the Indian Gaudian pan, which comes from the Skr. tva or (Vaidik) tvan,

pOMS, JATS, AND THE ORIGIN OF THE GYPSIES. 73

through the Apabhraihsa Prakrit -pixtna {Hemachandra, iv. 437). The Gypsy sign of the comparative is dcr, Skr. tara, which can become dara in Magadhi Prakrit {Hem. iv. 302). On the verb a whole series of articles might be written. It will be sufficient to point out here identities like the following: Skr. sW^ds/^i, Mag. Pr, sunasi, Bihari sunas, Gypsy shiXncs, " thou hearest ; " Turkish Gypsy jdld, English Gypsy /ft/a, V>i\\»xi j did, "he goes."

This last is in both Gypsy and Bihari a compound tense, and the identity is specially remarkable. The compound is in India peculiar to Bihari, and is only used in Bhoj'piiri or the Dialed sjwkcn hy Magaliiyd JDoiiis, and in no other dialect.

The pronouns give rise to many suggestive considerations. The word for " I " is me, the Bihari men. But the plural men or mendi is still more interesting. A reference to the Turkish Gypsy shows that this was originally iXmcn or dmendi. Amen is the Bihari liaman or hamani, " we," but how are we to account for the form dmendi ? Here again Bhoj'puri alone gives us the clue. Hamcin or hamani is really an old genitive plural, the Pnxkrit amhdna " of us," and means " (many) of us," hence simply " we." In time, however, the original meaning became forgotten, and the word was considered a pure nominative plural. But the genius of the Bihari language, differing from that of the more Western Gaudians, seemed to demand that the nominative plural of nouns should be in a genitive form, and so the Bhoj'puri dialect, when the fact became forgotten that hamani was really a genitive, tacked on to it ngain M, the sign of the genitive, making hamanikd, which again means " (many) of us," " we." This is a peculiarity of the Bhoj'puri dialect alone, and does not occur in the otlier dialects. Now let us take the Gypsy amendi or mendi. We have seen that the element amen is really a genitive. I believe that di is also the sign of the genitive plural from the Mag. Pr. kadd (Skr. hritas), just as the to in esto is homkata (Apabhrams'a, nom. sing. katu).

The Jat theory of the origin of the Gypsies may be stated as follows : — According to the Shdh-Ndma, the Persian monarch Bahram Gaur received in the fifth century from an Indian king 12,000 musicians who were known as Luris, and according to the Majmu aiCt-Tawdrihh, the Luris or Lulis {i.e. Gypsies) of modern Persia are descendants of these. The historian Hamza Isfahani, who wrote half a century before Ferdiisi, the author of the Shdh Ndma, however, calls these imported musicians Zutts, and the Arabic Dictionary Al QdmlXs has the following entry: " Zutt, arabicised from Jatt, .a people of VOL. I, — NO. II. F

74 pOMS, JATS, AND THE ORIGIN OF THE GYPSIES.

Indian origin." Another lexicon, the MuliU, gives the same informa- tion, and adds that they are the people called Nawar in Syria, and that they are musicians and dancers. Zott, as the author writes it, is also a term of contempt. " You Zotti " is a term of abuse. Again, according to Istakri and Ibn Haukal, Arabic geographers of the tenth century, the fatherland of these people was the marshy lands of the Indus between Al-Mansura and Makran.

In the course of years numbers of Zotts settled in Persia, especially in the regions of the Lower Tigris, where in 820 a.d. they had become a great body of robbers and pirates. Various attempts were made to subdue them, which was not effected till 834 ; after which they were conveyed away to Ainzarba, on the northern frontier of Syria, In 855, according to Tdbari, the Byzantines attacked Ainzarba, and carried off the Zott prisoners with them to their own country. In this way we have the entry of the Gypsies into Europe accounted for.

Now, though it is possible that the Gypsies of Europe are descended from these Zotts who were imported into the Greek Empire, and that they are the same as the Lurts or Persian Gypsies, there appear to me to be two most important flaws in the chain by which it is attempted to connect Gypsies with the Jats (or Jatts, as they are always called there) of Sindh.

First, there is the point of language.

It is admitted by the advocates of the Jat theory that there is " a great unlikeness between Eomani and Jataki " (the Jat dialect), but they argue that " language does not form an infallible test of pedigree. There are several Gypsy populations by w^hom the language of the Eomani has been forgotten ; and everywhere the tendency among Gypsies of the present day is to relinquish their ancestral speech " (MacPtitchie, Gypsies of India, p. 82).

To this the answer is not far to seek. h\ the first place, though the language test may not be infallible, it is a very powerful one, and throws much doubt on any theory to which it gives an unfavourable reaction. The Gypsies of the present day undoubtedly speak an Indian language, and that language is not, in any way, nearly con- nected with Jataki, so that if we adopt the theory quoted above, we must also adopt the utterly impossible assumption that the Jats left India speaking Jataki, and in the course of their wanderings over Asia and Europe, while they were being or had been scattered into a number of independent tribes, gave up their own language, and exchanged it, not for the languages of their new homes, but all of

JJOMS, JATS, AND THE ORIGIN OF THE GYPSIES. 75

them for one certain definite language of India which they had left centuries before.

We have not only to assume this, but that clans scattered over Western Asia, and perhaps over Europe, all fortuitously agreed to adopt the same Indian language, though all communication between them was barred.

But, even admitting that the test of language when considered alone is not in this case infallible, it becomes so if we consider the circumstances which attended the importation from India of these 12,000 Zotts or Lviris. Ferdusi says distinctly that they were 12,000 musicians of both sexes, and the author of the MiVdt adds that they were dancers, and contemptible. I am at a loss to understand how so large a number of degraded persons could be found amongst those from whom were descended the brave defenders of Bharatpur. With all due deference to the authors of the Arabic Dictionary above referred to, it is impossible that these people can have been Jats.

The Jats are one of the highest castes of India. They claim to be, after the Efyputs, one of the purest tribes of Kshattriyas (Monier V(i\\\dim?i, Hinduism,^. 161), and any one with the smallest acquaint- ance with the Indian caste system can understand that a huge band of professional singers and dancers, men and women, could never have come from a Kshattriya tribe.

In spite, therefore, of the authority of Pott, of Trumpp, and of De Goeje, I am unable to accept the theory that the descent of the Gypsies from the Jats is proved, even if we admit that the former are descended from the Zotts or Luris of Arabic and Persian writers.

I am informed by Captain E. C. Temple that throughout India the Jats or Jatts number five and a half millions, but there are Jats and Jats, at any rate in the Paiijab, and the Jatt of the Lower Indus, Sindh, and the Derajat district differs as widely as can well be imagined from the Jat of Bharatpur, and the Jatt of the ruling Sikh families of the Panjab. In the latter cases he is a fine specimen of humanity, but in the former exactly the reverse. All along the Indus " Jatt " is a term of contempt, and implies roughly, any agri- cultural Muhammedan tribe which is not of the Locally superior sort — i.e. which is not Sayyid, Baloch, Pathan, or Quresh. This remark applies more or less also to the Salt Eange District, the Lower Chiiiab and Jhelam, and to Sindh itself Ibbetson's Etlinogra'pliy of the Panjdh, §§ 420 to -i-iO, is the best contribution to the subject ; compare also O'Brien's Settlement Re][jort of the 3Inzc(Jfarf/arh District. Captain Temple tliinks the above use of the term Jatt may possibly account

76 pOMf^, JATS, AND THE ORIGIN OF THE GYPSIES.

for the spread westwards of such a term as Zutts, to signify an inferior class of foreis^ners, thousjli it would arsjue nothing as to their real racial origin.

I have already stated my opinion that the language test points to an Indian tribe speaking a dialect derived from ]\Iagadhi, and not from Sauraseni Prakrit, and that, therefore, it is in Eastern Hindustan that we must look for their ancestors. I have further pointed out the extreme probability of the criminal tribe known as the Magahiya Poms (who, by the way, are great musicians, singers, and dancers), being descended from the same stock as the Gypsies. I may note here a word quoted by ]\Tr. MacEitchie from Mr. Leland, which lends a singular confirmation to the theory. It is the Gypsy term for bread, which is mdnro or raanro. This is usually connected either with the Gaudian mdiir, rice gruel, or with maiirud, the millet (Meusine coracana). Neither of these agrees with the idea of bread, but in the jNIagahi dialect of Bihari spoken south of the Ganges, in the native land of these ]\Iagahiya Doms, there is a peculiar word mandd or mdrird, which means wheat (the change from mandd to mdnrd is quite regular), whence the transition to the Gypsy mdnro, bread, is eminentlv natural. G. A. GRiErvSOX.

III.— THE CASCAPtEOTS OP CIBOUEE. (Communicated to the Editoes by the Eey, Wentworth Webstek.)

I CAN add very little to the information on the Gypsies in the Pays Basque given by MM. Pr. Michel, Cenac-Moncaut, Baud- rimont, and De Eochas. The following remarks are of value only as independent confirmatory evidence of the same facts.

On November 24, 1870, I had a long conversation with M. and Mde. Darramboure, former Mayor of Ciboure, a suburb of St. Jean de Luz, on the subject of the Cascarrotac, the mingled Basque and Gypsy population. The notes which I made at the time, writing down in English tlie Prencli of M. and Mde. Darramboure, are as follows. I may add that jM. Darramboure was then upwards of eighty, but with all his mental faculties fully alive. Mde. Darram- boure was slightly younger ; both are long since dead : —

The archives of the Mairie of Ciboure date only from 1763, con- sequently they give no information respecting the arrival and estab- lishment of the Cascarrotac at Ciboure, ^I. Darramboure supposes

THE CASCAKROTS OF CIBOUKE. 77

them to have come from Spain, and about two hundred years ago. The priests formerly marked in the registers, in tlie margin, baptism or marriage of a Cascarrot, or Bohemian, but do so no longer. The population of Ciboure confounded them with the Agots (the Basque equivalent of Cagots), though the Agots were fair, and the Cascarrots dark. In the youth of I\I. and Mde. Darramboure they still preserved some words of their own language (Debla, the sun ; mamhrim, bread ; harraha, meat ; ^;it?'o, old man ; bramhal, tempest, were remembered by Mde. Darramboure) ; now they have almost entirely lost it. The Hungarian Gypsies, who passed througli St. Jean de Luz in 1868 and 1870, and the Cascarrots could not understand each other.^

They were once far more numerous at Ciboure than at present, and inhabited the whole quartier of Bordegain. Some of the men are horse-dealers, others make baskets and weave, but many are fisher- men and sailors ; they fish more with the line than the others, and from the shore. They are courageous, and more industrious than the Basques. They intermarried first with the Spaniards, and afterwards with the Basques of the neighbourhood, and are now quite mixed with them. Occasionally in the mixed marriages the pure Gypsy type occurs in individuals, even where the Basque parent is fair. They used to live without religion ; if they had any of their own at their first arrival, iliey had forgotten it ; bat little by little they have become Catholics, and are now more fond of the services than the other Basques. No missionary, or other person, is known as their convcrtisseur. When the Basques buried in their churches (as they did before the Ee volution), the Cascarrots were always buried outside; at present both are buried together in the cemeteries.

Thus far ]\I. Darramboure.

I have heard since, on good authority, that the late aged cure of Ciboure once had representations made to him by the Vicar- General, on the part of a new Bishop of Bayonne, instigated by some pious ladies, summer visitants to Ciboure, who were sliocked by the freedom of manner and the gay dressing of this part of his congrega- tion at church, and at their fondness for dancing, etc. The old cure listened without saying a word till the discourse was ended, then he

1 The late Dr. De 'Roclias (wbo, it may be mentioned, was personally acquainted with Mr. Webster, and who looked over the notes now published), admits that the Cascarrots have still enough of their original language to prove their right to call themselves the descendants of " Romanichels." His account was published in 1876. But he points out that, of the 35'J "Basque-Gypsy" words collected by M. Baudriniont in 1S5S, partly from his own experience and partly from the lists of Michel and others, a consideralde number are repetitions, while others are clearly Basque, Spanish, Fi'ench, and slang. Nevertheless, most of the words are genuine Romani. — Ed.

78 THE CASCARROTS OF CIBOURE.

spoke deliberately to this effect : " 1 know my people well ; I go round among tliem. These girls often marry well. I see their rooms are kept neater and cleaner than the others ; they are furnished with more taste, and have nice flowers in them. My visits are welcome. They make their husbands happy, and glad to stay at home, and not go to the cabarets (public-houses) ; and as long as I see they make their husbands and homes happy, I will not speak to them about their dress and dancing." The cure was not in very good odour at the Eveche, afterwards, but no more representations were made to him.

My own observations on the above are, that the passage of the Hungarian Gypsies, or Gypsies from Eastern Europe, alluded to by M. Darramboure in 1868-70, is a recurring fact every two or three years. I left St. Jean de Luz in 1881, but for some time before that I had been ill, and a band may easily have passed without my being aware of it; but there were at least two other bands between 1870 and 1880, one — I believe, in 1872. Their route seems to be, as far as I have been able to trace it, vid Paris, Bordeaux, Bayonne, St. Jean de Luz, Hendaye, through Spain quite to the south, and returning by the eastern extremity of the Pyrenees, by Barcelona and Perpignan. M. de Eochas appears to have met one of these bands at Perpignan, in July 1875 (cf. Les Farias de France et d'Espagne, par V. de Kochas, p. 259 ; Hachette, Paris, 1876). These bands follow always the same route, and encamp on the same spots. When at St. Jean de Luz they make an apparently useless visit to Ascaiu, a village about five miles off their road, returning to St. Jean de Luz. They are evidently well off, with good carts, wagons, horses, and utensils ; many of them wear silver ear-rings and ornaments. Their trade, mending the copper vessels in the neighbourhood, seems to me to be a mere pretence ; it cannot pay the expenses of the journey. What is the reason of this migration ? Once I was standing with a Basque fisherman, watching their arrival, when the chief of the band ad- dressed him in Basque, and the conversation went on between them in that language. When it had ceased, I asked the fisherman, whom I knew well, how the man spoke Basque. The reply was curt : — " He speaks it as well as I do." Afterwards I tried to draw out the Gypsy, but he evaded my questions. " We pick up languages along the road. He had never been in the neighbourhood before," etc. These I believe to have been falsehoods. I must, however, add, that I have known Basque scholars learn Magyar, and Hungarians Basque, with unusual facility. Still the question remains : " What is the object of these journeys ? " — a question for your Society to answer.

THE CASCARROTS OF CIBOURE. 79

The testimony of M. and Mde. Darramboure, and of the late cure of Cibonre, all three Basques, to the good qualities of the Cascarrots seems to me to be of great importance. No people surpass the Basques in pride of race, and they would certainly not attribute superior qualities to another people unless they really possessed them. I have heard from others that the Cascarrots first introduced line-fishing at St. Jean de Luz and Ciboure. I have also personally remarked cases of the atavism mentioned ; one was very striking ; in another case the Gypsy type appeared in one only of a family, not a trace of it appearing in the others. The lower class of the Cascarrot women are slovenly and dirty in their dress and person ordinarily ; but show a sense of colour and taste on fete-days, etc. : they are exceedingly voluble, use much gesture, sing at the top of their voices, and are more fond of the Spanish fandango than of the Basque dances. I never saw a man pass a more unpleasant quarter of an hour than a Madrid footman, or upper servant, did in a third-class railway carriage between St. Jean de Luz and Bayonne. Several Cascarrot women and girls had come in at St. Jean de Luz with their fish. As usual, they were talking loudly, singing, gesticulating, all in high spirits, when the Spaniard remarked in Spanish (evidently think- ing that he would not be understood by them) to his neighbour, " What savages they are ! " The women and girls flew on him at once, clambering over the seats, gesticulating wildly, shaking their fists in his face, screaming out a torrent of abuse and cutting wit against him, and his nation, and all his belongings, in four languages, Basque, French, Spanish, and Gascoun, often jumbling two or more in the same sentence, defiant of grammar of any kind, all shouting at once, and without any intermission, till we arrived at Bayonne. The man at first thought he would be thrown out of the carriage ; but the spectators knew that the women would not really touch him, and they laughed till they could laugh no longer. These Cascarrots and the Basque fisherwomen, before the railway from Bayonne was made, used to show wonderful speed and endurance in carrying their fish on their heads to sell at Bayonne. Bare-footed and bare-legged, with petticoats girt up, they went along with a kind of dancing run,^ and

1 This peculiar " dancing run " recalls the following statements by M. Michel (Le Pays Basqiw, Paris 1857, pp. 138-9, note : " In Basque, the word Cascarrotac denotes, strictly speaking, a class of mountebanks, or, at any rate, of young people who, in fetes, triumphal processions, and escorts of honour, are chosen to lead the way, dancing as they go. . . . When the Orleanist princes returned from Spain, their can'iage was preceded by Cascarrots, who leaped and danced all the road from Saint Jean de Luz to Bayonne. In 1660, when Louis XIV., coming to his wedding, arrived at the first of these towns, a band of Crascabilaire dancers, placing themselves in front of the king's horses, danced to the sound of small, round

80 THE CASCAllUOTS OF ClBOUltE.

covered the "rouud at an extraordinary rate. Biarritz is nine miles from St. Jean de Luz by the most direct road, and few short cuts can be made : in a wager between Englishmen some twenty years ago, a Cascarrot woman delivered at Biarritz a written message a few minutes within the hour after starting from St. Jean de Luz. The woman was not aware of the bet ; but was told only that it was a most urgent case, and that she must go as fast as possible. I do not know that the Cascarrots much excelled the Basques in this ; the latter are wonderful walkers ; but they certainly were not inferior. It is allowed by all that they are now more zealous in keeping up traditionary religious customs, such as those of Christmas, Epiphany, Corpus Christi, St. John's Day, etc., than the Basques themselves.

bells and dnims, and performed the national dance. . . . Lastly, in 1701, during the fetes occasioned by the visit of Philip v. to Bayonne, great praise was given — according to the municipal records cited by Beylac (Xouvelle Chroniqiie de Bayonne, p. 193) — to a troop of Basque dancers, who, wearing a number of little bells and accompanied by the tambourine, performed marvels, dancing and capering in an extraordinary manner."

A parallel instance to these is that of the English jester and mountebank Kemp, who, in the year 1599, danced a morris from London to Norwich, a feat which it took him nine days to accomi)lish. Kemp styled himself " head-master of Morrice-dauncers/' and, in the wood- cut prefaced to his J\'ine Bates Wonder (London, 1600 ; reproduced by the Camden Society, London, 1840), one sees that he wore the dress and bells of the Morris-dancer. Moreover, that woodcut shows that "Thomas Slye my Taberer," who accompanied him, played upon the small, one-handed drum, or tambour, and with the other hand manipulated the flageolet, exactly in the fashion of the Jiujlars in the Eastern Pyrenees at the present day, which is akin to the Basque fashion (although the " tambour " of the latter people is a six-stringed instrument ; not a small drum, as in the other two instances). What Kemp danceil was, of course, the Morisco or Morris-dance ; and it is clear that this was the dance of the Cascarrots. Indeed, the Morris-dance is understood to have come to England from Spain, and to be so named because it was a dance of Mvors, a term once applied to any dark-skinned people ; and, indeed, applied to Gyjisies of the fifteenth century by a Scottisli writer.

Though Kemp is not stated to have been dark-skinned, either l:>y nature or by art, we learn through Douce {Illustrations of Shakesjxare, vol. ii. pp. 434 et seq , London, 1807) "that the Morris-dancers usually blackened their faces with soot, that they might the better l)ass for Moors." Also that a sixteenth-century Frenchman, in describing the " uncori-upted Morris-dance," "relates that in his youthful days it was the custom in good societies for a boy to come into the hall, when supj)er was finished, with his face blackened, his forehead bound with wliite or yellow taffeta, and bells tied to his legs. He then proceeded to dance the Morisco, the whole length of the hall, backwards and forwards, to the great amusement of the company." From which evidence it is clear that the "uncorrupted '^iovr'is-dnncers " were people of a swarthy comiDlexion.

Douce gives several fifteenth-century references to this dance. One of these states that " at a splendid feast given by Gaston de Foix at Vendome in 1458, ' foure yong laddes and a damosell attired like savages daunced (by good direction) an excellent Morisco, before the assembly.'" He adds that "Coquillart, a French poet, who wrote about 1470, says that the Swiss danced the Morisco to the beat of the drum." He also quotes these lines from Shake- speare (2nd Pt. KiH(/ Henry Sixth, in. 1) : —

" . . . I have seen him Caper upright like a wild Morisco, Shaking the bloody darts, as he his bells."

All these extracts tend to show that the original dance of the Cascarrots was the Morris, or Moorish dance ; so called by other Europeans because it was the peculiar dance of a dark- skinned people. Of course, the " dancing run " of the modern Cascan-ot fishwomen must be something less ornate and much more practical than that for which their forefathers were distinguished. — Ed.

THE CASCAKKOTS OF GIBOURE. 81

The neighbourhood of St. Jean de Luz has been the scene of more than one epidemic of witchcraft, and I have heard many tales of witches ; but in none do the Cascarrots figure. Two of the tales of my Basque Legends (Griffith and Farran, 1879) were obtained from the Cascarrots ; i.e. Laurentine Kopena, a beggar woman, after she had exhausted her own budget, went at my request and learned these tales from the Cascarrots; i\\Qj 2irQ Ass -sJdn (pp. 158-61), and the one alluded to on pp. 191-2 ; both have evidently passed through the French. One of tlie richest of the Cascarrots at Ciboure, since dead, was popularly called the King of the Cascarrots. I knew him by sight, but I doubt if lie possessed any real authority whatever; hospitable to the rest he certainly was. His property has since been sold, and I ha^'e not heard of any successor to the pseudo-title. As to the etymology or signification of the word Cascarrotac, I can give no explanation. Dr. Guilbeau, Mayor of St. Jean de Luz, himself a Basc|ue, makes it equivalent to Cast' Agotac, meaning, I suppose, the Cagot-caste or race ; but I should consider this doubtful.^

There is a strange story, which I have often been assured is founded on fact, but of which I have not been able to procure an original authentic narrative, alluded to by Dr. de Eoclias (p. 251), and of which a distorted literary version is given in tales iii. and iv. of the anonymous Bomancero du Bays Basque (Paris, 1859), written really by Fr. Michel. It deals with a case of seduction, and a Gypsy, chief of a band of smugglers, who afterwards turned hermit ; but the facts are very obscure. The hillside at the foot of which the railway now runs on both sides of the Biarritz station, above the small lakes Brindos and Mouriscot, has been pointed out formerly to me as a favourite camping-ground of Bohemiens, and the scene of many con- flicts, with stones put up to mark the spots where victims had been murdered. I have also found orders at the end of the last century and beginning of this for the expulsion of these Bohemiens thence. During the first Carlist war Gypsies are said to have attacked the Carlist contrabandistas who were conveying treasure over the frontier ; "mil they were easily repulsed. In general, they are accused rather of petty pilfering than of open robbery with violence. Like Dr. de Eochas, I have heard wonder expressed by the peasants as to where the real Gypsies used to bury their dead.

In the Mascarades, still represented at Tardetz in La Soule, during

' M. Bataillard, in his letter Sur les Origines des Bohemiens, Paris, 1875 (p. 7, note 2), asks, with reference to this name, " Onght we to see in it a memory oi Kaskar, that town and province of earlier Asia where the deported Zotts made a long stay (see De Goeje, pp. 8-11 and 13)? The thing is possible ; but I do not go so far as to assert it." — Ed.

82 THE CASCARROTS OF CIBOURE.

the Carnival, among the animal and character dances, the Bouhame- jaounac, the king of the Gypsies, and his company, are represented. An excellent account of this Mascarade is given by Augustin Chaho, a learned Basque, a native of Tardetz, in vol. ii. of his Biarritz, entre les Pyrenees et V Ocean (Bayonne, n.d. ; 1850-60 ?). The king carries a wooden sword, marked with charred stripes, and they have a tradi- tional song, air, and dance to themselves. A wooden sword appears also at the opposite extremity of the Basque territory, though without any connection with the Gypsies. This singular ceremony is observed at Vitoria (Alava) at the election of a new Sindico, or Mayor. " After he has taken the oath in the same way as the other municipal councillors, he takes another very solemn one outside the Church of St. Michael, on the spot where the cutlass of Vitoria {d machete Vitoriano) is kept. In a little hollow in the wall at the back of the church there is a wooden knife (cuchillo de madera), before which he takes a fresh oath in presence of the whole population, and of the newly elected municipal councillors. The oath contains the formula that his head should be cut off with a knife, similar to the cutlass, if he did not fulfil his obligations ; and after he had taken it, the pro- curador, preceded by his servants, kissed the cutlass to the sound of drums and trumpets. When this singular ceremony was ended, the Secretary of the municipality stood up and read with a loud voice the powers which the city granted to the Sindico for the defence of its rights and privileges." (Historia dc la Legislacion de Espaiia, by the Marquis de Montesa and Cayetano Maurique, vol. ii. p. 522 ; Madrid, 1868). Prof. J. Ehys, in his Celtic Britain, p. 258 (S. P. C. K., 1882), speaks of a national devotion of the Irish to the sword, which weapon they regarded as inspired and capable, among other things, of giving the lie to the perjurer.

Perhaps this is wide of my subject, but your Society may possibly like to investigate the question whether there is any connection between this cultc of the sword among these three peoples.

The Gypsies have also amalgamated with the Basques at St. Palais (Basses Pyrenees), and, I believe, near Bilbao ; but I have no information to give of these from personal inquiry.

[In a subsequent letter, Mr. Webster makes the following remarks with regard to Cascarrot and Basque dances :—

" The subject of Dances in the Pays Basque and in Las Provincias Vascongadas is a very important one. . . • The chief and all the most characteristic of the Basque dances are danced by meii only. Among

THE CASCARROTS OF CIBOUKE. 83

the Cascarrots, it is the women and girls who dance more than the men, either among themselves or with the men. This, I think, marks a real distinction. In very few of the old Basque dances did the women join : most were for men alone. In modern dances learned from French or Spaniards both sexes join ; but I have never seen, away from the influence of towns, any Basque girl, or girls, dance the Fandango in public, as the Cascarrot girls are fond of doing.

"The dance before I'liilip v. in 1701 (referred to in preceding foot-note, p. 80) was probably the Pampcrruque, the official dance of Bayonne, which was danced as a kind of serenade before distin- guished persons passing through Bayonne. There is a very odd and distorted account of it in Madame d'Aulnoy's Memoirs." (From which statement we may suggest that possibly the official dance of Bayonne was identical with that known elsewhere as the Morisco. The little bells, which accompanied the dances of 1660 and 1701, are specially characteristic of the Morisco, or Morris-dance.)

Mr. AYebster also adds these observations : —

" I can never form the least explanation to myself why the Gypsies coalesce with the Basques rather than with other races, such as Spaniards and Gascons; hut the fact is so. . . .

"It is, I think, only in the 8vo editions of Cenac-Moncaut's Histoire des Pyr6n4es, etc. (4 vols., Paris, Amyot, 1853-55), that you will find the vocabulary and songs of the Cascarrots of Ciboure. These are omitted (and much else) in the subsequent 12mo editions of the work, . . . There is somewhere in the Bulletin of the Socidtd Raw.ond (Bagneres de Bigorre) a paper on the Gypsies of the Basses and Hautes Pyrenees by the late M. E. Frossard, Pasteur. He deals chiefly with the moral side of the question ; but he knew the Pyrenees and the country well."

It is from M. Cenac-Moncaut's book that M. Michel has taken several of the words in his Basque-Gypsy list; and the former lumself announces that he is indebted for his words and soncrs " to the patient researches of M. Sansberro, who obtained them from the Cascarrotac of Ciboure, a people of Gypsy origin, now blended with the rest of the Basque population." Besides those words which he procured from C^nac-Moncaut, Michel had copied the list given in " Le Moyen Age et la Renaissance, sect, des Moeurs et usages de la vie civile, chap. BoMmiens^ Tnendiants, gueux, cours des miracles, fob x." None of Michel's words appear to have been collected by himself.

84 THE CASCAKROTS OF CIBOURE.

Baudrimont, agaiu ( Vocabulaire de la Langue dcs BoMmiens habitant Usjiays hasques frangais, Bordeaux, 1862), has added Micliel's list to his own, thus obtaining many of his words at fourth-hand ; hut tlie greater part of his list was made up by himself from Gypsies at Saint-Palais.

These writers, with, of course, De Eochas, seem to be the only ones who have specially studied the Basque Gypsies. Mr. Webster's notes, taken incidentally while following up another subject, are quite independent of any of these, fi.nd they, thus form an interesting and instructive addition to the literature of this branch of Gypsy study. — Ed.].

IV. -TWO GYPSY FOLK-TALES.

1. — Tale of a Foolish Brother and of a Wonderful Bush.

[This is one of a collection of Polish-Gypsy Tales and Songs made by our distinguished fellow-member. Professor Kopernicki. Unfor- tunately, this collection has had to await a publisher for many years, though we trust to see it issued in book-form this winter. This particular tale was dictated to Dr. Kopernicki by " a very intelligent

V

Gypsy, named John Coron (pronounced Tclioron, i.e. in Gypsy, tliief or 2)auper), then immured in the prison of Cracow."- -Ed.]

THEEE was once a poor peasant who had three sons ; two of them wise and one foolish. One day the king gave a feast, to which everybody was invited, rich and poor. These two wise brothers set out for the feast like the rest, leaving the poor fool at home, crouching over his stove.^ He tliereupon besought his mother to allow him to go after his brothers. But the mother answered, " Fool that thou art ! thy brothers go thither to tell tales,^ whilst thou, thou knowest nothing; what then couldst thou tell ? " Still the fool continues to pray his mother to let him go, but she still refuses, " Very well ! if thou wilt not let me go there, with the help of God ^ I shall know what to do."

1 Every peasant's cottage in Poland is heated by an oven for baking bread. On the flat- roofed arch of this oven, which acts as a stove, the old, sick, and infirm members of the family place themselves for warmth. — I. K.

" It may be noted that this tacit recognition of these two brothers as professional tale- tellers is more suggestive of Iheir being Gypsies than ordinary " peasants. " — Ed.

3 With the help of God (or oj the good God), a phi ase frequently occurring in our Gypsy's narrative, is borrowed from the popular speech of Poland. — I. K.

•fwo avrsY folk-tales. s5

Well, one day the king contrived a certain tower; he then placed liis daughter on the second story, and issued a proclamation that whoever should kiss his davighter there should have her in marriage. Well, various princes and nobles hastened to the place . . . not one of them could reach her. The king then decreed that the peasants were to come. This order reached the house where dwelt the peasant who had three sons, two wise and one foolish. The two wise brothers arose and set out. The fool feigned to go in search of water, but he went to a bush and struck it three times with a stick. Where- upon a fairy appeared, who demanded, " What wouldst thou 1" " 1 Avish to have a horse of silver, garments of silver, and a sum of money," After he had received all these things, he set out on his way. Whom should he happen to overtake on the road but his two wise brothers ! " Whither are you going ? " he asked of them. " We are going to a king's palace — he who has contrived this tower — upon the second story of which he has placed his daughter, and he has proclaimed that whoever should kiss her there shall become her husband." The fool oot down from his horse, cut himself a cudgel, and began to beat his two brothers ; and finally he gave them each three ducats. The two brothers did not recognise him, and so he went on by himself, unknown. When he had come to the king's palace all the great lords looked with admiration at this prince, mounted on a silver steed, and clad in garments of silver. He leaji^t up with a great spring towards the princess, and almost attained near enough to kiss her. He fell back again, and then, with the help of the good God, he took his departure. These noblemen then asked of each other : " What is the meaning of this ? He had scarcely arrived when he nearly succeeded in kissing the princess." The fool then returned home, and went to the bush, and struck it thrice. The fairy again appeared, and asked of him : " What is thy will ? " He commanded her to hide his horse and his clothes. He took his buckets filled with water and went back into the house. " Where hast thou been ? " asked his mother of him. " Mother, I have been outside, and I stripped myself, and (pardon me for saying so) I have been hunting lice in my shirt." " That is well ! " said his mother, and she gave him some food. On the return of the two wise brothers, their mother desired them to tell her what they had seen. " Mother, we saw there a prince mounted on a silver steed, and himself clad in silver. He had overtaken us by the way, and asked of us whither we were going. We told him the truth : that we were going to the palace of the king wlio had contrived this tower, on tlie second story

86 TWO GYPSY FOLK-TALES.

of which he had placed his daughter, decreeing that whosoever should attain near enough to give her a kiss should marry her. The prince dismounted, cut himself a cudgel, and gave us a sound beating, and then gave us each three ducats." The mother was very well pleased to get this money ; for she was poor, and she could now buy herself something to eat.

Next day these two brothers again set out. The mother cried to her foolish son : " Go and fetch me some water." He went out to get the water, laid down his pails beside the well, and went to the bush ; he struck it thrice, and the fairy appeared to him. " What is thy will ? " "I wish to have a horse of gold, and golden garments." The fairy brought him a horse of gold, golden garments, and a sum of money. Off he set, and once more he overtook his brothers on the road. This time he did not dismount, but holdincr a cudgel in his hand, he charged upon his brothers, beat them severely, and gave them ten ducats apiece. He then betook himself to the king. The nobles gazed admiringly on him, seated on his horse of gold, himself attired in a golden garb. With a single bound he reached the second story, and gave the princess a kiss. Well, they wished to detain him, but he sprang away, and fled like the wind, with the help of the good God. He came back to his bush, out of which the fairy issued, and asked of him, " What wilt thou ? " " Hide my horse and my clothes." He dressed himself in his wretched clothes, and went into the house again, " Where hast thou been ? " asked his mother. " I have been sitting in the sun, and (excuse me for saying it) I have been hunting lice in my shirt." She answered nothing, but gave him some food. He went and squatted down behind the stove in idiot fashion. The two wise brothers arrived. Their mother saw how severely they had been beaten, and she asked of them, " AVlio has maltreated you so terribly ? " " It was that prince, mother." " And why have you not laid a complaint against him before the king ? " " But he gave us ten ducats apiece." '' I will not send you any more to the king," said the mother to them. " ]\Iother, they have posted sentinels all over the town in order to arrest him [the " prince "J ; for he has already kissed the king's daughter, after doing which he took to Hight. Then the sentinels were posted. We are certain to catch this prince." The fool then said to them : " How will you be able to seize him, since he evidently knows several tricks % " " Thou art a fool," said the two wise brothers to him ; " we are bound to capture him." " Capture away, with the help of the good God," replied the fool.

Three davs later the two wise brothers set out, leaving the fool

TWO GYPSY FOLK-TALKS. 87

cowering behind the stove. " Go and fetch some wood," called his mother to him. He roused himself and went, with the good God. He came to the bush, and struck it three times. The fairy issued out of it and asked, " What dost thou demand ? " "I demand a horse of diamonds, garments of diamonds, and some money." He arrayed himself and set out ; he overtook his two brothers, but this time he did not beat them, only he gave them each twenty ducats. He reached the king's city, and the nobles tried to seize him. He sprang up on to the second story, and, for the second time, he kissed the princess, who gave him her gold ring. Well, they wished to take him, but he said to them, " If you had all the wit in the world you could not catch me." But they were determined to seize him. He fled away like the wind. He came to the bush ; he struck it thrice ; the fairy issued from it and came to him, and took his horse and his clothes. He gathered some wood, and returned to the house ; his mother is pleased with him and says, " There, now ! that is how thou shouldst always behave ! " and she gave him something to eat. He went and crouched behind the stove. His two brothers arrived ; the mother questioned them. ..." Mother," they answered, " this prince could not be taken." " And has he not given you a beating 1 " " No, mother ; on the contrary, he gave us each twenty ducats more." " To-morrow," said the mother, " you shall not go there again." And the two brothers answered, " No, we will go there no more." Aha ! so much the better.

This king gave yet another feast, and he decreed " that all the princes, as many as there shall be of them, shall come to my palace so that my daughter may identify her husband among them." This feast lasted four days, but the husband of the princess was not there. What did this king do ? He ordained a third feast for beggars and poor country-folk, and he decreed, " that every one should come, be he blind or halt, let him not be ashamed, but come." This feast lasted for a week, but the husband of the princess was not there. What then did the king do ? He sent his servants with the order to go from house to house, and to bring to him the man upon whom should be found the princess's ring ; " Be he blind or halt, let him be brought to me," said the king.

Well, the servants went from house to house for a week, and all who were found in each house they called together, in order to make the search. At last they came to this same house in which dwelt the fool. As soon as the fool saw them he went and lay down upon the stove. In came the king's servants, gathered the people of the

88 TWO GYPSY iOLK-TALES.

house together, and asked of the fool, "What art thou doing there?" " What does that matter to you ? " replied the fool. Aud his mother said to them, " Sirs, he is a fool." " ISTo matter," said they, " fool or blind man, we gather together all whom we see, for so the king has commanded us." They make the fool come down from the stove ; they look ; the gold ring is on his finger ! " So, then, it is thou who art so clever ? " " It is I." He made ready, and set out with them. He had nothing upon him, this fool, but a iniserable shirt and a cloak all tattered and torn. He came to the king, to whom the servants said, " Sire, we bring him to you." " Is this really he ? " " He himself." They show the ring. " Well 1 this is he." The king commanded that sumptuous garments be made for him as quickly as possible. In these clothes he presented a very good appearance. The king is well pleased ; the wedding comes off, and they live happily, with the help of the good God.

Some time after, another king declared war against this one : " Since thou hast not given thy daughter in marriage to my son, I will make war against thee." But this king^ had two sons. The fool also made preparations, and went to the war. His two brothers- in-law went in advance, — the fool set out after them. He took a short cut, and, having placed himself on their line of march, he sat down on the margin of a pond and amused himself by hunting frogs. These two wise brothers-in-law came up. " Just look at him ; see what he is doing ! he is not thinking of the war, but only amusing himself in hunting frogs." These two brothers went on, and this fool mounted his horse, and went to his bush : he struck it thrice, and the fairy appeared before him. " AYhat demandest thou ? " "I demand a magnificent horse and a sabre, with which I may be able to exterminate the entire army ; and some of the most beautiful clothes." He speedily dressed himself, he girded on this sabre, he mounted his horse, and set forth with the help of God. Having overtaken these two brothers-in-law by the way, he asked of them, " Whither are you bound ? " " We are going to the war." " So am I ; let us all three go together." He arrived at the field of battle ; he cut all his enemies into pieces, not a single one of them escaped. He returned home, this fool, with his horse and all the rest ; he hid his horse and his sabre and all the rest, so that nobody would know anything of them. These two brothers arrived after the fool had returned. The king asked of them : " Were you at the war, my childi^en ? " " Yes, father, we were there, but thy son-in-law was

1 The one challenged. — I.K.

TWO GYPSY FOLK-TALES. 89

not there." " And what was he about ? " " He ! he was amusino' himself hunting frogs ; but a prince came and cut the whole army in pieces ; not a single man of them has escaped," Then the king reproached his daughter thus : " What, then, hast thou done in marry- ing a husband who amuses himself in catching frogs ? " " Is the fault mine, father ? Even as God has given him to me, so will I keep him." On the following day these two sons of the king did not go to the war, but the king himself went there with his son-in- law. But the fool mounted his horse the quickest and set out first ; the king came after, not knowing where his son-in-law had gone. The king arrived at the war, and he saw that his son-in-law had already cut into pieces the whole of the enemy's army. And in con- sequence of this the other king said to this one that henceforth he would no more war against him. They shook hands with each other, these two kings. The fool was wounded in his great toe. His father-in-law saw this, he tore his own handkerchief and dressed the wounded foot ; and this handkerchief was marked with the king's name. The fool got home the quickest, before his father-in-law ; he pulled off his boots and lay down to sleep, for his foot pained him. The king came home, and his sons asked him, "Father, was our brother-in-law at the war ? " " No, I have not seen him at all ; he was not there ; but a prince was there who has exterminated the whole army. Then this king and I shook hands in token that never more should there be war between us." Then his daughter said, " My husband has my father's handkerchief round his foot," The king bounded forth, he looked at the handkerchief : it is his ! it bears his name ! " So, then, it is thou who art so clever ? " " Yes, father, it is I," The king is very joyful, so are his sons and the queen, and the wife of this fool — all are filled with joy.

Well, they made the wedding over again, and they lived together with the help of the good, golden God,

ISIDOKE KOPERNICKL

2, — The Peincess and the Fokester's Son,

THE following story has been kindly communicated to me by our esteemed colleague. Dr. Eudolf von Sowa, " I obtained the original," he says in a letter, "from a Gypsy serving as a soldier at Briiun, It offers some marked peculiarities characteristic of the Moravian variety of the Bohemian-Gypsy dialect. That dialect is vol. I. — no. il g

90 TWO GYPSY FOLK-TALES.

well known by P. Jesiua's Romani Chih (3rd ed. 1886), but in the Moravian variety no texts have been hitherto published. My German translation follows the original as closely as possible, but there are several stumbling-blocks. In some passages I did not catch the speaker's words correctly, and I had no chance of revising my version with his assistance ; for some days after I made his acquaint- ance my Gypsy was arrested for an abominable crime." To which I need only add that in no collection, Gypsy or non-Gypsy, have I hitherto met with this story. It offei-s, however, some striking analogies with the Welsh-Gypsy story of " An Old King and his Three Sons in England," which I got from John Eoberts, the Harper {In Chjpsy Tents, Edinb. 1880, pp. 299-317). That story is itself identical with, though much superior to, " The Accursed Garden," on p. 304 of Vernaleken's In the Land of Marvels: Folk-talcs from Austria and Bohemia (Lond. 1884).

Somewhere or other there lived a forester. He ill-used his wife and his children, and often got drunk. Then the mother said, " ]My children, the father is always beating us, so we '11 get our things together and leave him. We will wander out into the world, whither our eyes lead us." They took their things, and followed the road through a great forest. They journeyed two days and two nights without reaching any place ; so the eldest son said to his mother, " Mother, dear, night has come on us, let us sleep here." " My children," said the mother, " pluck moss, make a resting-place, and we will lie down here to sleep." The elder son said to his brother, " Go for wood." They made a fire, and seated themselves by it. Then said the elder son to his brother, " Now, you must keep watch, for there are wild beasts about, so that we be not devoured. Do you sleep first ; then you '11 get up, I lie down to sleep, then you will watch again." So the younger brother lay down near his mother to sleep ; the elder kept watch with his gun. Then he thought within himself, and said, " Great God, wherever are we in these great forests ? Surely we soon must perish ! " He climbed up a high tree, and looked all around, till a light flashed in his eyes. When he saw the light, he took his hat from his head, and let it drop.^ Then he climbed down, and looked to see if his mother was all right [?]. From the spot where his hat lay he walked straight forward for a good dis-

1 This at first puzzleil me, but the sequel shows that he threw his liat in the diiection of the light, so that when he had descended, and could no longer discern the light, he might know by the hat in wliat direction to find it. In no other folk-tale have I come across this expedient.

TWO GYPSY FOLK -TALES. 91

tance, a whole half-hour. Then he observed a fire. Who was there but four-and-twenty robbers, cooking and drinking? He went througli the wood, keeping out of their sight, and loaded his gun ; and, just as one of them was taking a drink of wine, he shot the jug right from his lips, so that only the handle was left in his hand. And his gun was so constructed that it made no report. Then the robber said to his comrade, " Comrade, why won't you let nie alone, but knock the jug out of my mouth ? " " You fool, I never touched you." He took a pull out of another jug, and tlie lad loaded again. He sat on a tree, and again shot the jug, — shot it away from his mouth, so that the handle remained in his hand. Then the first robber said, " Will you leave me alone, else I '11 pay you out with this knife." But his comrade stepped up to him, looking just like a fool ; at last he said, " My good fellow, I am not touching you. See, it is twice that has happened ; may be it is some one in the forest. Take your gun, and let 's go and look if there is not some one there." They went and they hunted, searched every tree, and found him, the forester's son, sitting on a tree, on the highest point. They said to him, " You gnome [zemsJco chrdikona, Czech zemsky ccrtik, "earth -devil"], come down. If you won't, we'll shoot at you till you fall down from the tree." But he would not come. Again they ordered him. What was the poor fellow to do? He had to come. When he was down, they each seized him by an arm, and he thought to himself, " Things look bad with me. I shall never see my mother and brother again. They '11 either kill me, or tie me up to a tree." They brought him to the fire, and asked him, " What are you ? are you a craftsman ? " " I am one of your trade." " If you are of our trade, eat, drink, and smoke as much as your heart desires." When he had eaten and drunken, they said, " Since you are such a clever chap, and such a good shot, there is a castle with a princess in it, whom we went after, but could not come at her nohow, this princess. May be, as you are so smart [feshakos; Austrian /<?sc/i], there's a big dog yonder that made us run [?], but as you are such a good shot, and your gun makes no report, you '11 kill this dog, and then we "11 make you our captain." Then they broke up camp, took something to eat and to drink, and came to the castle. When they reached the castle the dog made a great noise. They lifted him up, the forester's son ; lie aimed his gun, and, as the dog sprang at him, he fired and hit him. The dog made ten more paces, and fell to the earth. As he fell the lad said to the robbers, " Comrades, the dog is dead." " Brave fellow," said they, " now you shall be our captain, for killing the dog; but one

92 TWO GYPSY FOLK-TALES.

thing more you must do. We will make a hole for you in the wall. When we have done that, then — you are so slender — you will creep through the hole." They made the hole, and he crept through it. Then the robbers said to him, " Here you, you have to go up a flight of steps, and at the fourth flight you will come to a door. There is one door, two doors, three doors." So through each door he passed ; then he passed through the third, there were a quantity of swords. He saw they were very fine swords, and took one of them. Then he went to the fourth door, opened it slowly ; it did not stop him, for the keys were there. Through the keyhole he saw a bed. Then he opened it, and went in. There he saw a princess lying, quite naked, but covered with a white ...[?]. At her feet stood a table, on which lay a pair of golden scissors.

[" Then follows," says Dr. von Sowa, " a passage which contains many strange words to me, many corrupted, etc., therefore I give it in the original : — ' Has odoi sovnakaskere (golden) bolde, ehas prazki (Czech, ' clasps '), he has odoi dui angrust'a (and there were two rings there), has lakero laf chingel (chindo) andra angrusti, le (?) akakana prala (?), te dikhel har has joi auka sovlas (sees her sleeping thus). Phend'as peske (he thought), Ach baro devel (0 great god), te sht'i tuha sovaf (? what if I lie with her). No peske phenda's, Ker mro devel, har kames (do, my God, as thou wilt). Akakana lie'as ada chifiibnangere (he took the scissors), har has oda sokora lacluirdi, chind'as (cut) ale soflichkos (looks like, but is not, a Czech word), har has lakri minch auka dui. Akakana dinas prek oda postela yek cheroi (leg), pale h-aver shchastne. Akorat laha sut'as (lay with her) kai nashti pes ani zbudinlas (she could not awake). Akakana shchastne la kabnard'as, no akana peske so has odova savoro lelas ola vyetsi (Czech, ' things ') kaithar lake ala flekos peske lelas oda yek angrust h-akakana oda yek pantofios ' (took to himself one of the rings and one of the slippers)." The meaning, however, is pretty clear, and the sequel makes it much clearer.]

Then he went out, taking the sword with him, and shutting the door. As he passed through the fourth door he said to himself, " I must open it carefully, so as not to waken her mother and father." He got out safely, then he went through the courtyard to the robbers. When he reached the hole he said to them, " My dear men, I know where she is. Come, we'll soon have the princess, but you must creep through the hole one after the other." Then he drew his

TWO GYPSY FOLK-TALES. 93

sword, and as oue came tlirough after the other, he seized him by the head, cut off his head, and cast him aside. When he had done so to the twenty-fourth, he cast away the sword, and returned by tlie way that he had come to his mother, where they had slept. (He had thought never again to see his mother and his brother.) When he came to his mother, he said, " Mother, how do you find yourself ? you must be sleepy." His mother asked him, " My dear son, how have you managed to do with so little sleep ?" His younger brother said, " Why didn't you wake me up ? " " You were so sleepy, I let you sleep." Then they made a fire, ate and drank, and wandered on again through the forest. They arrived in a town, and sought employment. The mother said to her eldest son, " My sou, we will stay at least a year here." She fortunately got a place at a big house as cook, and the two lads went as servants to an innkeeper. When they had been a year there, the mother said to her two sons, " Just see how well off we were at home, and here we have to work, and I an old body. You are young folk, and can stick to it, but I am old, and can't stand it any longer. The father ill-used us ; still, let us return home, if the Lord God gives us health and strength to do so. So they made ready, the landlord paid them their wages, and they set out. They went by the very way that he had gone to the castle and killed the twenty-four robbers.

But how had they got on there since the year when he did that to her ? The princess had borne a child, but she knew not who was the father. She had a tavern built not far from the castle, and said to her mother, " Mother, dear, see what has befallen me, and how I now am. But I know not who the child is by. You have let me have the tavern built. Whoever comes there I will entertain gratis, and ask him what he has learned in the world — whether he has any story to tell me, or whether he has had any strange experiences. Perhaps the man will turn up by whom I had the child."

As luck would have it, the two brothers came through the village where the tavern was. There was a large signboard, on which was written, " Every man may eat and drink to his heart's desire, and smoke, only he must relate his experiences that he has gone through in the world." The elder lad said to his brother, " Brother dear, where are we ? I don't know myself." ]3ut he knew right well whom the tavern belonged to. They halted. Then he looked at the notice, and said to his mother, " See, mother, dear, see what that is. See there is written that the victuals and drink are gratis." " Let us go in, my sou ; we are very hungry anyhow. Sure, we '11 find something

94 TWO GYPSY FOLK-TALES.

to tell her, if only she '11 give us to eat and to drink." They went into the tavern. Straightway the hostess greeted them, and said, " Good day, where do you come from ? " " We come from a town out yonder. We have heen working there ; now we want to return home, where my husband is." She said, " Good ! what might you drink, what will you eat ? I will give you just what you want." " Ah, my God ! " said she, " kind lady, if you would be so good as to give us something. We know that you are a kind lady." So she said to her women-servants, " Bring wine here, bring beer here, bring food here, and for the two men living something to smoke." When they brought it, they ate and drank, " Now," said the princess — the seeming hostess — (but they knew not that she was a princess ; only the elder son knew it) — " oh ! if you only would tell me something ? Come, you, old wife, what have you seen in your time ? " " Why, my good lady, I have gone through plenty. When I was at home, my man drank much, ran through my money. When he got drunk, he'd come home, scold and knock me about, smash everything that came to hand, and as for his children, he couldn't bear the sight of them. He scolded and knocked them about till they didn't know where they were. At last I said to my children, ' My children, since I can't get on with my man, and he uses us so badly, let us take our few things, and go off into the world.' " The hostess listened, brought the old wife a mug of beer, and gave it her. When she had drunk, the hostess said, " Speak on." " AVell, we set off, and journeyed through the great forests, where we must go on and on, two whole days, with- out ever lighting on village or town. Never a peasant was to be seen, and night," she said, " came upon us, when we could go no further, and I was so weak that I could not take another step. There, poor soul, I had to bide, lying in the great forest under a great tree. It rained [a loxuna here] that we might not get wet. Forth- with I gathered wood, made a big fire, plucked moss, and made a resting-place for us. It was dark, and my sons said, ' We must mind and not be eaten by wild beasts.' And my elder son said to his brother, ' I will think what must be done. You have also a couple of guns, if anything attacks us you will shoot.' But he said to his elder brother, ' Do you, my brother, sleep first, and when you have had your sleep out, then you will watch again.' " [There is some confusion here ; and from this point the son, not the mother, seems to become the narrator.] " As they all slept, under that great tree, then he thought to himself, ' I will sling my gun round my neck and climb a tree.' He climbed a tree, reached its top, for he wondered whether he

TWO fiYPSY FOLK-TALES. 95

might not see something — a village or a town or a light. As it was, he saw a light. He took the hat from his head, and threw it in the direction of the light." Then she said, " Ah ! hostess, believe him not. Mark you, that is not true," said his mother. But she went and brought them beer, and said, "Tell on." And he said, "I climbed down from the tree to loolv where my hat was." " Ah ! believe him not, hostess, believe him not ; mark you, that is not true." " Nay, let him go on with his story. What was there ? " " Twenty- four robbers. There was a bright light that dazzled my eyes. Not far from them was a tree." [" At this point," says Dr. von Sowa, " the story-teller forgot that the son is the narrator, so resumed the third person, repeating his former words almost verhati7ii : — ' Chak gel'as upre, akakana nabiyind'as peskri phurdini. Har yek pielas pal lenge atar leskro mui odova phagl'as,' etc., till he came to the passage where the robbers send the boy into the castle. It ends with : ' He odoi savoro viskumineha (Czech, ' spy out '), he pale amenge aveha te phenel te hi (?) manush soven.' " The story goes on.] Then said the old mother to the hostess, " Believe him not, believe him not, for that is not true that he tells you." " Let him proceed. What have you then done ?" the hostess asked him. " I have done nothinry." " You must have done something." " Well then, I have lain with you. I have taken away the ring. I have taken away half a golden cloth. A slipper have I taken from you — that I carried off. But I took me a sword, and went out, shut the door behind me. Then I went to where the robbers were, called to them to step througli the hole one after another. As they came through the hole, I cut off each one's head, and flung him aside." Then the hostess saw that it was true. " Then you will be my man." And he drew the things out, and showed them to her. And they straightway embraced and kissed one another. And she went into the little room, fetched the boy. "See, that is your child ; I am your wife." Forthwith she bids them harness two horses to the carriage ; they drove to the castle. When they reached it, she said to her father, " Father, dear, see, I have soon found my husband." Forthwith they made a feast, invited everybody. Forthwith the banns were proclaimed, and they were married. The floor there was made of paper, and I came away hither.

Fkancis HiNDES Groome.

96

ORTHOGRAPHY AND ACCENT.

v.— ORTHOGRAPHY AND ACCENT.

IT appears very advisable that as far as possible some system of orthography should be adopted by the Society. The want of a system, when engaged on the Dialect of the Enrjlish Gypsies (1875), led to a modification of Mr. Ellis's glossic. Since then several Orientalists have pointed out that ^. l.li such an Oriental language as Romany it would be convenient to assimilate the orthography more closely to that adopted for transliterating Sanskrit, Hindustani, etc., known as the " Jonesian," thus

Jonesiau. e

a

A

a

e

i

e

ai

i

6

6

yu

a

u

u

oi

au

	Glossic.	Examjile.
	ai	bait ; French e
	a	gnat
	aa	baa
	au, aw	caul, caw
	e final	as ai in bait ; French c
	1 final, ee	beet ; French i
	e	net
	ei	height
	i	knit
	6	coal
	0	doll
	eu	feud
	u	nut
	00 (short)	foot
	00 (long)	cool
	oi	foil
	ou	foul ; Germ, faul
g	always hard, as in m
ch	as in church
sh	as in shirt
J	as in judge
kh	for the iiuttural

Phonology is a study in itself, for which only those with fine musical ears are really suited. I am personally unable to say that the English or Welsh Gypsies have more than one guttural. They have a very liquid o, which is almost a u, in the past tense, e.g.pendom, "I said." This exact sound is in use amongst the Turkish Tchiughianes. It is difficult for an inexpert phonologist to give the pronunciation of the ending which is conveniently averaged by -ova, but which in the Turkish Romany (and in most, if not all, the Continental dialects) is written -ava, e.g. Pcndva, " I say " : Paspati, 'penciva. English is such a notoriously ill-spelt language that it is highly requisite for the Society to agree upon a system, and the foregoing is thrown out as a sugges- tion with the hope that, while simple in itself, it will make it easier

THE GENITIVE IN GYPSY. 97

for our friends on the Continent and in India to handle the materials which our Journal is intended to garner.

Hardly less important is the accent. In the pure dialect this is almost invariably on the last syllable if the word ends with a vowel, and otherwise is on the first syllable of the inflection. In the corrupt, or " posh and posh," dialect, the English system of accent is preferred. •The pronunciation varies amongst the English Gypsies so widely, and the speakers are so totally unconscious of the suliject, that I have known a Gypsy puzzled by the word kister, " to ride," because he had been accustomed to the form kcstcr. The words were as entirely different to him as the words hlisfer and Muster. It is well to record all forms, H. T. Ckofton.

VI.— THE GENITIVE IN GYPSY

Extracted from The Indian Antiquary, 1887.]

THE form of the genitive is most interesting. It is in the singular cskro, in the plural engro. These have varieties such as mesJcro, vicngro ; omeskro, oiiungro.

These genitive forms, as in the other Gaudian languages, were originally adjectives.

The termination is really kro or gro, the es and en being respec- tively the singular and plural oblique terminations of the nouns, es-kro, en-kro (altered to gro for euphony). This any student of Prakrit will at once be able to trace to its Maoadhi Prakrit forms.

O

Kro, as seen from other Gypsy dialects, is a contraction from koro which is the same as the Bihari genitive termination kar(a). Kera is tlie direct descendant of the Prakrit adjectival suffix kera, which implies possession, e.g. (Apabhraiiis'a Prakrit in Hemachandra, iv. 422) jasu kererii humkclradaem muhahiirh j^adamti srnidiih, " on account of whose roaring the grass falls from the mouths (of the deer)." Here the first three words are literally in Sanskrit gasga krifxna hurh- kdrSna, in which yasya kritena is pleonastic for simple yasya. Now here two thing are to be noted, {a) that kera is used adjectivally, and {!)) that the noun to which it is pleonastically attached is in the genitive case. Witli these two facts, compare in Gypsy {a) that these nouns in kro or gro form nouns denoting an agent or possessor, the termination o being masculine and i (kri, grl) feminine or neuter.

98 THE GENITIVE IN GYPSY.

and (b) that the oblique bases es and en are originally geuitives singular and plural respectively. Us corresponds to the Magadhi Prakrit gen. sing, term as's'a (Hem. iv. 299), and en to the gen. pi, term dnam or anha of the same dialect (Hem. iv. 300, and Lassen, 271, cf. Hem. iii. 123). Taking gaveshro, or gavengro, a policeman, as typical examples, and tracing back to Sanskrit, we get (1) grdmasya hrita ; ]\Iag. Piak. gdmas's'a hera ; Apabhraiiis'a Prakrit gdiivas's'a hera Qlhw. iv\ 397) ; Turkish Gypsy ^rtycs-^'oro ; Engl. Gypsy ^av6,s- kro; (2) Skr. grdmdndm Jcriia ; Mag. Pr. gdmanlm kera;'^ Turkish G, gdven-goro ; Engl. G. gavengro.

We are now in a position to consider the other terminations given above, viz. (o)meskro, {o)mengro. Examples —

Sastermeskro, blacksmith, from sastcr, iron. Yogomcskro, gun, „ >/og, fire.

Tattermengro, frying-pan, „ tatter, to heat. Chinomcngro, hatchet, „ chin, to cut.

The terminations kro and gro have been already disposed of. It remains to consider the form (o)mes and (o)mcn. In the form mes and men it will appear that the o has only dropped out in obedience to the laws of euphony ; just as in the Bihari language the form sastrawd has become sastrvxl, a weapon.

It remains therefore to consider the fuller forms 07nes and omen.

These correspond to what in Bihari grammar are called " long forms," which are formed by adding the syllable 'wd or yd to any noun. Thus sastr, or long-form sastrwd, a weapon ; dgi or agiyde, fire. In Bihari a different termination is used for adjectives, so that the long forms of tattd, hot, and chhinn, cut, are tatakkd and chhinakkd ; but the Gypsy apparently retains the lo for adjectives also, so that we may substitute, for the sake of comparison, supposititious Bihari words, taViva, a thing heated, and chhinn'wa, a thing cut. Now in Prakrit (Hem. iv. 397) ni can be changed to v preceded by anunasika, and though Hemachandra does not state the converse rule that V can become m, it does so in Bihari. In vulgar Maithili, as spoken by women, this long-form termination \vd is commonly pro- nounced \vdn or 'md. Examples will be found on p. 20 of Grierson's Maithil Chrestomathy, where we find agannid for anganivd, a court-

^ Hem. iii. 123 confines this form to numerals, but is regularly formed from fjdniavnam.

THK GENITIVE IN GYPSY. 99

yard, hisaran'nid for Msaran'ivd, forgotten ; and again p. 22, where we find asanan'md for asanan'wd, bathing.

In Gypsy, therefore, sdstcrvies is the genitive singular of the long form of sdstcr ; yogdmes the same of yorj; and tattcrmen, gen. pi. of the long form of tatter (? tattci), and chinomen the same of chin.

The long-form termination 'wd or 'md is a relic of the Sanskrit l)leonastic termination ka, which was very common in Prfikrit, in which, as the /.■ came between two vowels, it was elided. In the modern Gaudians a lo or y was then inserted to till the hiatus. Thus, Skr. s'astra or s'astralca, a weapon ; ]Mag. Prcik. s'astra{k)a, gen. sing. s'astra-ass'a kera, Engl. Cx. sastermeskro.

]\[ag. Prak. gen. sing, s'astra-dha (Hem. iv. 299) kcra, Bihari sastr'ivd hir, or vulgar sasti'md kar. To take another example, Skr. tapta{ka) heated, Mag. Pralc. gen. pi. tatta-anlm kcra, Engl. G. tattcr- mengro, Bihaii tattaioanh kar, or vulgar tattamanh kar.

Besides eskro, etc., there are in the Engl. G. dialect, the termina- tions esko and esto in common use both as gen. sing, and as adjectival terminations.

Of these the ko in csko is again the Skr. krlta, of which another Prakrit f(H'm is kia which becomes ko in Gypsy and ka in Bihari, through an intermediate form kya.

The to of csto is not so clear. I believe it is from the same krita, which can again in Pnlkrit become kata (Hem. iv. 323). Thus take the Gypsy mucsto (e.g. mUcsto kova, a looking-glass). This would be Skr. iiiukhasya krita, Magahi Prakrit muJias'-sa kata. If these two were pronounced as one, thus muhas's'akata, the k would be liable to elision as falling between two vowels, so that we should get miihas's'a- ata, which might become in Gypsy mucsto. This derivation, which would be otherwise rather hazardous, fits in with a similar explana- tion of the Gypsy dative termination estc, of wliicli the te would represent, if this theory is correct, the Skr. krite, a word often used to signify " for," the original of the Bihari dative sutiix kcchun or keii, through the Prakrit kate and the Apabhramsa Pnikrit kaahurii or kaahiiii (Hem. iv. 340, 347 ; Kramadis'warn, as quoted in Lassen, 26). G. A. Gkiersox.

100 ORIGINAL POPULAK MELODIES OF TRANSYLVANIAN TENT-GYPSIES.

VII.— OEIGINAL POPULAK MELODIES OF THE TEANSYLVANIAN TENT-GYPSIES.

(From the Ethnologische Mitteihmgen aus Ungarn^ Part I.)

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ORIGINAL POPULAR MELODIES OF TRANSYLVANIAN TENT-GYPSIES. 101

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102 AXGLO-EOMANY GLEANINGS.

VIII.— ANGLO-EOMANY GLEANINGS.

ETYMOLOGICON Univeksale; or, Universal Etymological Dictionary. On a new plan. In which it is shown that consonants are alone to be regarded in discovering the affinities of words, and that tlie vowels are to be wholly rejected ; that languages contain the same fundamental idea ; and that they are derived from the EAETH, and tlie operations, accidents, and properties belonging to it. With illustrations drawn from various languages : The Teutonic Dialects, English, Gothic, Saxon, German, Danish, etc. — Greek, Latin, French, Italian, Spanish. — The Celtic Dialects, Gaelic, Irish, Welsh, Bretagne, etc. — The dialects of the Sclavonic, Russian, etc. — The Eastern Languages, Hebrew, Arabic, Persian, Sanscrit, Gipsey, Coptic, etc." By the Eev. Walter Whiter, M.A., Eector of Hardingham, in the county of Norfolk, and late Fellow of Clare Hall, Cambridge. 3 vols., 1822-25.

The penultimate word in this wonderful title attracted my atten- tion to this no less wonderful work. Its contents have not wholly disappointed my expectations, for Mr. Whiter himself, or an informant (? George Borrow), had clearly some knowledge of Eomany, gained independently and not from books. This the following extracts will show : —

Vol. i. p. 128. "Gipsey oUo, 'eight.'"

P. 222.— "Gipsey yek, 'one.'"

P. 312. — "In Gipsey sc is 'is,' which an.swers to the Hindostan ta, etc. ; and still more agrees in form M'ith the Celtic terms si, so, etc. In Gipsey, likewise, so — sa means ' how,' ' what ' ; &.s So se Roman/. ' Wliat is it in Gipsey ? ' >S'a shan Ria, Sa slian Raunda, ' How do you do, sir ? ' ' How do you do, madam ? ' The Ria and Raun4a belong to Rex and Regina (Lat.), Re (Ital.), Roi, Reine (Fr.), Rajah (Hindoo), etc. The slum I conceive to be a compound of slia, a variety of sc, to denote the participle ' being,' and an, which may be called the verb, corresponding with the Hindostan liona, ' to be.' "

P. 320. — " The Gipsey is acknowledged to be a Hindostan dialect, or a dialect of the Sanscrit ; and the resemblance of the Latin to the Sanscrit has afforded a subject of great astonishment. ' It will perhaps be discovered by some future inquirer,' as I have ventured to suggest, ' that from a horde of vagrant Gijyscys once issued that band of sturdy robbers, the companions of Eomulus and of Eemus, who laid the foundations of the Eternal City on the banks of the Tibur.' We now see that the Italian verb of being, so, se, and the Gipsey se, coincide

ANGLO-KOMANY GLEANINGS. 103

with each other. It is curious, likewise, that some sliould have observed the resemblance between the cloak or blanket, thrown over the shoulders of the Gipseys, and the Roman Toga. I was not aware that this resemblance had been noticed, when I ventured on the above conjecture. ]\Iartinius, under the article Cingarus, has the following passage : — ' Brodseus, lib. 8, Miscellan. cap. 1 7, ait ipsam Romanam Togam eandem pene cum ea fuisse, qua, quos Galli Bohemos, Itali Cingaros nominant, amiciuntur.' This is, I think, exceedingly im- pressive and singular. The mode in which the Gipseys wear tlie cloak or blanket, which is thrown over their shoulders, is certainly unlike any other mode of wearing a similar covering; and the Eomans, we all know, were so marked and distinguished from every other people by the dress of their Toga or cloak, that they were called the Gens Togata: —

' Romanos rerum dominos, Gentemque Togatam.' "

P. 339. " Gipsey sa, so, Id, ' how,' ' what,' ' where.' "

P. 508. " Gipsey efta, ' seven.' "

Vol. ii. p. 850. " Gipsey yog, ' fire.' "

P. 1004. " In the Gipsey dialect, Ri and Rauneoxo. titles of respect for a ' gentleman ' and ' lady,' ' sir ' and ' madam.' "

P. 1223. "We cannot but observe that the name of the sreat nation, the PiOM«?is, — PtOMANi, belongs to our element PiM, and PiOMANi is the name by which the Gipseys distinguish their own tribe. This is certainly a very curious coincidence ; and I must leave the reader to his own reflections respecting the cause of its existence, on which I have ventured to offer a suggestion on a former occasion (p. 320)." Both this passage and that are curiously sus^estive of George Borrow.

Yol. iii. p. 32. " In Gipsey Pctal-engro is a ' farrier,' and Grc sko Petallcs is a ' horse-shoe.' The term Engro means ' in,' ' engaged in,' 'concerned in,' and is added to substantives for the purpose of expressing the occupation of a person, as Cacave-Engro, a ' tinker,' i.r. a person employed in kettles, etc., etc. The term Grc or Gri is a ' horse,' and sko is the post positive article denoting ' of.' "

P. 47. " In the dialect of the Gipseys Facial means ' after'; Bcsli, 'down'; Beside so kam, 'the sun is set,' or doim ; Besh telsc, 'sit down ' ; Okhis scammin, Besh Poshe mandee, ' There's a chair, sit doivn by me ' ; where we see in hesh and poshe the element used in different forms to express congenial ideas expressed by the verb and adverb, ' sit ' and ' down.' Let us likewise note in okhis and scammin the Greek ekei and the Latin scamnvm. In Gipsey vassave means 'liase'

104 ANGLO-KOMANY GLEANINGS.

or ' bad,' as vassave chib, a ' bad tongue ' or ' bad-spoken person,' and I have already observed that in Sanscrit vasa deva is ' the Goddess of the Earth/ where we are brought to the spot from which all these terms are derived."

That I have unearthed the whole stock of Mr, Whiter's Eomani words I will not positively assert ; but, at least, I have collected twenty-six, which I here arrange in their proper order : — Besh, sit (p. part, beshtc); chib, tongue; efia, seven; gre or gri, horse (adj. gresho); cacave-engro, tinker; kam, sun; ki, where; mandee, me; o, the; oMis, there (rather ohhi se, here is); okto, eight; padal, after (across); petalles, horse-shoe (accus.) ; petal-engro, farrier; poshe, near; ra%in4, lady (voc. raunia); W, gentleman (voc. ria)\ Eomani, Gypsy (adv. Romand); sa, so, how (sar); shan, art; se, is; scammin, chair ; so, what; telse, down (? misprint for telae); vassave, bad; yeJc, one; yog, fire. The general correctness of these words and forms is remarkable. Indeed, Mr. Whiter could clearly, had he so chosen, have given us a valuable Eomani vocabulary.

Oriental Fragments (Lond. 1834), by the author of The Hindu Pan- theon {i.e. Major Moor, of Bealings, in Suffolk), is a work almost odder than Mr. Whiter's. The following passages deal with the Gypsies : —

P. 141. "Our magnificent Coronation pa/^, which appears to be also called dalmatica — {Dalmatia, the region of Gypsies ?) — spread as above described over a ridge-pole, would form the body or sides, all except the upright ends, of an Indian or Gypsy p)all. What do Gypsies call their palls ? I expect, in my next discourse with those curious people, to find that pall is also their name,"

Pp. 347-351. "The Gypsies (gyptsT) are similarly seen all over India as all over England — and nearly all over the intervening regions. . . . Nor can any two races of men be much more unlike, bating itinerancy, than the Vanjari and the wandering Zingari of India. The latter word, as Zingar, means a ' saddler.' All leather- workers in India are base. In the Mahratta countries saddle and bridle makers must, with such an equestrian erratic people, have been much employed, and of necessity also wanderers. I have forgotten the appellations by which these wanderers are called in different parts of India. Wherever I have been, I have, I think, seen gangs of them, four or five or more in number, of males — women and children to correspond — and have ever been reminded by them of the Gypsies of England. Here they are mostly tinkers ; in India cobblers. . . . Some years ago, I recollect, among other things, asking a black-eyed,

REVIEWS. 105

black-haired, black-skinned, white-toothed, handsome Gipsy woman, what she called tliis ? showing her a knife. ' CJmry,' she said ; exactly as half the inhabitants of the great Indian range would have answered — from Indus to the Brahmaputra. I have forgotten the rest of our colloquy. (I received the same answer to the same ques- tion, from a like person, within a week of my writing this note — May 1833)."

This I may cap with an experience of my own. Some years ago I was in a railway carriage with a sergeant and a private, who were bringing back a deserter. The private's pipe had got choked, and " Lend us your churi" he said to the sergeant. "Gypsies," I thought; but no, they had simply lately returned from India, where they had picked up the word. Whence, by the by, did Scott get cliury, the only true Eomany word in all his works? It occurs, not in Gvy Mannering, but in the Heart of Midlothian and the Fortunes of Nigel.

Feancis Hindes Groome.

EEVIEWS.

Uthnologische Mitteilungcn a^is Ungarn : Zeitschrift fUr die Volks- kunde der Beioohncr JJngarns nnd seiner JSfehenldnder. Redigicrt tend heraiisgegehen von Prof. Dr. Anton Herrmann. Budapest, 1887, 1888. (Ethnological Contributions from Hungary : A Journal of Ethnology for Hungary and adjacent countries. Edited and published by Prof. Dr. Anton Herrmann. Budapest : 1887, 1888.) Containing several articles relative to Gypsies, with Gypsy Melodies.

Gypsy lore is a sister of Folk-lore, and both are daughters of Eth- nology. The Austrian Empire, and especially Hungary, abounds far more than any other country in Europe in varied, strange, and attrac- tive races of people, including several branches of the best type of the Eomany ; and therefore it is not remarkable that the Ethnolocjische Mitteilungcn avs Ungarn, or Ethnological Contributions from Hungary, as it is remarkably well edited, should contain much that would deeply interest all our readers. This will appear from the following partial list of its contents. Firstly, an excellent introduction by the pub- lisher, Dr. Anton Herrmann. " General Characteristics of Magyar VOL I. — NO. II. H

106 KEVIEWS.

Folk-Lore," by Dr. L. Katona, a paper on the comparative examination of German, Hungarian, and Gypsy popular songs, showing that many have appeared through the ages in a great variety of versions. " Miir- chenhort," an article in which it is pointed out that the folk-tale has in all ages been in a way a gospel of consolation and hope to the poor, and which is illustrated, or rather connected, with a comparison between Hungarian Gypsy Tales and those of the Algonkin Indians of America. This is followed by " The Moon in Hungarian Popular Beliefs," and a paper " On the Origin of the Eoumanian Language," by Ladislaus E^thy, a tongue whose likeness to Latin is very much exaggerated by the modern " Eoumans." " It cannot," observes the critic, " be classed among the later Latin tongues, but rather ranks by comparison with the Negro-French of the Isle of France," tliat is to say, as a Latin " Pidgin." Next we have a full review of " Finnish Legends," translated by Emmy Schreck, a subject deserving careful study, as it presents innumerable points of resemblance to the tradi- tions of the Eskimo and Eed Indians already mentioned. This is followed by a critique of collections of Euthenian or Hungarian- Eussian popular songs, and (in two parts) an extremely interesting paper on "Magic Formulas and Incantations of the Transylvanian and South Hungarian Gypsies," by Dr. Heinrich v. Wlislocki, who is probably more practically familiar with Gypsy life and language in every form than any scholar who ever lived. This series of articles has also been published in book form, and I am now engaged in trans- lating it into English, with additions drawn from other sources. It is probable that many of these formulas are very ancient. About eio'hteen months ago I learned from a uirl in Florence two mao-ic " conjurations," which are to be effectively found in the old Assyrian spells of Lenormant. Very interesting indeed are the copious " Speci- mens of Popular Ballads in German, Magyar, Eoumanian, Wendish, Euthenian, Slovak, Servian, Bosnian, and other languages," with German versions. Among these are two in the singular Spanish dialect spoken by Scj^hardim Jews in Hungary, which are in the style of the songs of Gil Vincente. Dr. Herrmann, who fortunately under- stands music, gives the score of a number of Transylvanian Gypsy airs. It is not generally known that there are many melodies which Hungarian and Eussian Gypsies will on no account play before a " Gajo." " Sveta Nedjelica " (Holy Sunday) is the partial translation into German of a very interesting Bosnian poem. Allied to it is " The Song of Gusinje," a Bosnian Mahometan epic, which illustrates the incredible variety and richness of the folk-lore of Hungary. Prof.

HEVIKWS. 107

Paul Huiilalvy contributes a paper " On the Hungarian Fisheries," in -which the etymology of a number of words peculiar to fishermen and hunters is given. We have from Dr. Karl Papay a communication on the inhabitants of the Hungarian Isle of Csepel, in the Danube, which is believed to contain an immense hoard of prehistoric relics in graves, which have been as yet very little explored. Some new and curious narrations are given in " Contributions on Vampyrism in Servia," by Ludwig von Thalloczy. " Hungarian Popular Tales," by Job Sebesi, will interest any reader. In " Ungarischer Aberglauben " and " Piou- manian Exorcisms against the Evil Eye," we have relics of the old Shamanism ah'eady represented by the Gypsy spells. Yet again we find many pages devoted to Austrian popular songs in many tongues — a rich field, when it is remembered that there are fourteen languages peculiar to the country, if we include Hungary. The editorial and critical contributions to the Ethnologischc Mitteilungcn are copious and creditable. The work is a folio pamphlet of 123 pages, appearing every month, with the exception of July and August, which are devoted by the editor to personal researches among Gypsies, Croats, and all the people which supply him with subjects. The cost of each number is two marks, that of the first five, five marks, or five shillings. Address — Prof. Dr. Anton Herrmann, Budapest, I., Attila-utcza 49. To conclude, I can say most sincerely that I know of no work in which there is in a corresponding amount of " letter-press," so much to deeply interest the ethnologist and folk-lorist, or the Eomany Eye and lover of literary cicriosce in prose or verse.

Charles G. Leland.

Even although the IldrchenJiort, above referred to, had no bearing upon our special subject, it would still merit a fuller notice in this Journal; since it comes from the hand of a Gypsy brother — no other, indeed, than our Sherengro himself. But it does actually deal, although not exclusively, witli one feature of Gypsyism. And, more- over, it brings to light a new and most interesting question, which (it is needless to say) here receives a broad, comprehensive, and original treatment.

Mr. Leland begins by reminding us that the serious study of what educated men, back to remote ages, have regarded as merely silly tales, " vulgar " beliefs, and gross superstition — that which is now known under the general title of Folk-Lore — is a study peculiar to this century, almost to this generation. Even we, lie adds, are not

108 ERVIEWS.

in a position to realise and understand, so well as our descendants shall do, the important part that Folk-Lore— or, more precisely, the YoYk- Talc— \ms played in directing the actions of men.

The Folk-Tale he divides into two grand classifications; under

its primary aspect as a matter of genuine, unquestioning belief ; and

again, as it appears when it has sunk into the position of a mere

nursery-tale, told for amusement, and tacitly regarded as quite

unworthy of serious consideration. The folk-tales of such countries

as Germany, Britain, France, and Scandinavia have, he points out,

lono- a<TO fallen into the second of these divisions. But there is one

European people that still implicitly accepts its legends as real and

true, and that is the Gypsy race — more definitely the Gypsies of

Hunf ary. These tales, or the ethics which they inculcate, constitute

the Hungarian Gypsy's religion. He may call himself a Christian,

but Christianity is only his holiday garb : the actual religion which

is his everyday attire, and which influences him in all the actions of

his life, is to be found in the legendary lore of his race. No matter

how incredible or impossible their statements may seem to modern

Europeans, to him they are deep-seated articles of belief. And what

they mainly teach him is to console himself for present suffering by

the expectation of " a good time coming." This is what Mr. Leland

finds, he tells us, to be the germ of the primitive folk-tale — the

Gospel of consolation ; and consolation which, as much as that of

Christianity, is offered to the poorest and meanest. In the folk-tale

it is not the rich and strong who are esteemed : the hero is nearly

always poor and unfriended — a helpless orphan, a poor man, the

youngest brother or the weakest child, a deformed hunchback — it is

to such as these that success and happiness come at last.

Although this exaltation of the still despised " children's stories " is novel to most of us, the theme is well worthy of consideration. For a man's religion is only that which he says it is, when it happens that the professed belief actuates his daily life. It is not the Christianity which the Hungarian Gypsy professes that comforts him in distress (although no doubt that could do so too), but the memory of many an ancient legend that showed him how the gods took pity upon the friendless and unhappy. It is the application to his own case of the moral conveyed in these stories, that brings him comfort. This idea quite coincides with the suggestion made by a recent writer that the " moral " appended to the tales of J^^sop indicates that these drew their origin, very remotely, perhaps, from some book of Buddhist teaching. Assuming this theory to be correct, we have

REVIEWS. 109

thus in "^sop's Fables " a distinct counterpart to those Hungarian- Gypsy tales : both representing a genuine faith, although in each case the source of their inspiration has been lost, and each is viewed by indifferent moderns as nothing better than a collection of nursery tales. Nor, indeed, is it only by means of either of these collections that religion has been taught. Mr. Leland has said that the religion of the Gypsy folk-tale is like that of Christianitj^, in that it offers comfort to the poor and outcast. But is this the only point of resemblance ? Surely no religion was ever expounded more fully through tlie medium of stories than Christianity itself. Whether these were themselves Jewish folk-tales which had lon^ been current, or whether they were originated by the Teacher Himself, they were the favourite and forcible exponents of the Christian religion.

One other instructive feature the Mdrchenhort presents. While keeping in view the traditions of the Hungarian Gypsies, Mr. Leland places quite as prominently those of another, and in some respects a similar race. The folk-tales of the Algonquin Indians of North America are, he finds, on precisely the same level as those of the Gypsies. That is to say, they still constitute a religion, and are firmly believed in by the Algonquins themselves, to whom they present the same Gospel of comfort in distress.

But, while this forms their connection with the main argument of the Metre] icnhort, every reader of Mr. Leland's Algonquin Legends of New Engletnd ^ is aware of the fact which he again enforces in this essay, that the Algonquin mythology bears a most unmistakable likeness to that of ancient Scandinavia. Thor, Loki, the fairies and the dwarfs, figure again and again, though in altered guise, in those Transatlantic tales. How this has happened, Ave need not discuss here. But again the Hungarian Gypsies come into prominence : for they too have a mass of beliefs which, if not exactly those of Scan- dinavia, are at least those of medieeval Europe, and vividly recall the incidents of the Nibelungen Lied. Here we stand upon much firmer ground than we should, were we to speculate upon the way in which the tales of Thor and Loki probably found their way across the Atlantic. For not only do the Transylvanian Gypsies of to-day pos- sess tales which suggest the Nibelungen Lied, but that TAcd itself is said by some to have been composed by a Transylvanian Gypsy.-

1 London, 1884.

- Kingsley, in his Saint's Tragedy, speaks of Klingsor, one of the reputed authors of the Nibelungen Lied, as " a Zingar wizard," and states that he was a famous astrologer, fortune- teller, and necromancer, inhabiting Siebenbiirgen during the thirteenth century. Kingsley draws his facts from Dietrich the Thuringian.

110 REVIEWS.

And certainly the caste which possesses such inherited beliefs in this century presents itself as the most probable source of a thirteenth- century epic, composed of such materials, and assigned to the same locality. Unless it can be proved that there were no Gypsies in Transylvania during the thirteenth century.

Of the rich store of Transylvanian-Gypsy lore which Drs. Von Wlislocki and Herrmann have garnered for us in the Ethnologische Mitteilungen aus Ungarn, we can only give an imperfect sketch in these pages. Everything they give is fresh from the Gypsies them- selves, the result of long and careful observation while dwelling among them. Unquestionably the most interesting of all these communica- tions is Von Wlislocki's pregnant article on the South-Hungarian Gypsy Spells. These spells are employed in curing and in warding off disease, whether of men or animals, in counteracting the Evil Eye and all baneful influences, and in recovering lost property, or discover- ing hidden treasure. The power to employ such charms is chiefly vested in the female Gypsies, though not in all of them. To be a true witch {cohdlyi), otherwise a "good" or "wise" woman {lace romni or gule romni), by right of birth, one must be the seventh of an uninter- rupted series of girls. Such a girl is a born witch, though her super- natural powers require cultivation, and she is eagerly sought after in marriage by the young men of her tribe. The ninth boy of an un- interrupted series of boys has also similar powers.^ But it is with the " wise women " that the superior knowledge and skill chiefly rests. And as, mingled with many ancient rites, there is a certain amount of everyday medical learning discernible in their charms, it is easily understood how those " wise women " are not only looked up to with great respect by their fellow-Gypsies, but also by the neighbouring country people, to whom they sell, at very high prices, various miraculous salves against fever and other sicknesses.

Those women who have learned their magic lore direct from the unseen powers of Earth and Water are regarded as the greatest witches of all. And as these powers are addressed in many of their formulas, they may here be briefly referred to.

They consist mainly of the water-spirits, or kelpies, the gnomes, or kobolds, and the " good fairies," all of whom were once firmly be- lieved in by other European peoples. There is also the Slayer of Flesh (Ildshurddlo, or more correctly MdsJimurdcUo), who exactly cor- responds with the giants of the " Jack the Giant-Killer " order. He

1 Three, seven, and nine are magic numbers among these people ; the last probably because it is three tintes three. The first two numbers, as well as the seventh -daughter idea, are regarded as " lucky " by other races.

REVIFAVS. 1 ] 1

lurks in desert places, on the outlook for men and Ijeasts, whose flesh (especially the former variety) he highly esteems. Yet he is so stupid and gullible that he is often outwitted by men, who thus gain from him his hoarded treasures. And he lias this good point, that his huge strength is always at the service of the man who may have helped him when in dilficulty.

But the Mdshurddlo is apparently seldom prayed to : only once, indeed, in these examples — in a spell against fever. The other " supernaturals" figure much more frequently. Of tliem, the good fairies, or Urmcn, seem always favourable to man. And they are the kindly protectors of the brutes also. So that the Gypsies, when they see their children tormenting an animal, make them desist by calling out to them, " Urmc tide nd hied somndkicne pgdhd/j .'" ("The good fairies will not give you any golden apples.") However, although the Urmcn are so favourably disposed towards man and beast, the gnomes and kelpies appear almost invariably as their dreaded foes. In illustration of this, take the following charm to keep away evil from an unbaptized child. (For here, as in many other places, it is believed that until a child is baptized it is not safe against the powers of evil.) These Hungarian Gypsies, therefore, take the precaution of lighting a fire before the tent of the " childing mother," and this fire is not suffered to go out until the ceremony of baptism has taken place. The women, who light and feed the fire, croon, as they do so, the followincr chant —

o

Burn ye, bum ye fast, 0 Fire !

And guard the babe from wrathful ire

Of earthy Gnome and Water-Sprite,

Whom with thy dark smoke banish quite !

Kindly Fairies, hither fare,

And let the babe good-fortune share,

Let luck attend hiui ever here,

Throughout his life be luck aye near !

Twigs and branches now in store,

And still of branches many more, ^ ^" Give we to thy flame, O Fire ! Burn ye, burn ye, fast and high, Hear the little baby cry !

Again, it is the female-gnome, the " earth-woman," who is accused of secretly suckling a baby when it refuses its own mother's milk. And bitter are the curses {^'Sickness devour thy body" "Let thy milk become Jire," " May thou burn- in the earth ") directed against her in the incantation that helps to restore the baby to the breast. So, too, in such complaints as tliose of the eye, or bleeding at. the nose, the

1 1 2 REVIEWS.

sickness is not only conjured out of the patient, but given for ever to the o-nome. Similarly, a spell against fever transfers it into the water {" I am no friend to thee"): by which the water-spirit, or kelpie, is to be understood.

Yet, on the other hand, the abhorred water-being is sometimes propitiated. As when a mother, to charm away convulsive crying in her child, goes through the prescribed ceremonial in all its details, of which the last is this appeal, as she casts a red thread into the stream, "Take this thread, 0 Water-Spirit, and take with it the crying of my child 1 If it gets well, I will bring thee apples and eggs ! " The Kelpie again appears in a friendly character when a man, in order to recover a stolen horse, takes his infant to a stream, and, bending over the water, asks the invisible genius to indicate, by means of the baby's hand, the direction in which the horse has been taken. In these two instances, we seem to have a survival of the worship of water and the watery powers, once common throughout Europe.

It is the belief of these Gypsies that all sicknesses are caused by demoniacal possession. And these evil spirits must not only be conjured out of one's body, but into something else : it may be a hole specially made in a tree (afterwards carefully plugged), or it may be water, earth, or the powers dwelling therein. Some of the formulas are curiously complicated. That against disease of the eyes first conjures the sickness out of the eyes into the water, then out of the water and into the saffron, from thence into the earth, and then out of the earth into the earth-man — " TIie7r is thy home, thither fjo thou and feast /" This, too, is undoubtedly an ancient belief.

" The nearest running water " plays an important part in many of these magic rites. And Dr. Von Wlislocki states that even yet no tent-dwelling Gypsy (of this family) will cross a bridge without spitting thrice over the parapet. (For expectoration itself has some mystic meaning.) In addition to water, fire, and earth, there are many other important accessories to these charms, such as trees and plants of various kinds, black dogs, black hens, frogs, birds, red and white wool, and so forth.

But, happily, he who wants to acquaint himself more particularly with these Zauber- und Bespreehungsformeln der transsilvanischen tind siXdimgarischen Zigeuner can now obtain the little book with very little trouble and expense.

The Gypsy airs taken down by Dr. Herrmann, we are enabled by his courtesy to reproduce in the present number of our Journal.

REVIEWS. 113

Two tales {The Squirrel and the Fish, and Who Loves Met), as M'ell as a tragic ballad of Anrush and liitJcui, and a love-song (Ushci lele, mrc galamha !) — all Eomani — are also included among these very interesting " Contributions fvuui Hungary."

DaVJD ]\lAClilTCllIE.

Mk. Gkoome'6 TiiEouY OF Tin: JDiEEUbiON OF Folk-Tale.s

BY xMEA^d OF THE GyPSIES.

The question of the diffusion of Folk-tales is one only less interest- ing, and hardly less difficult than that of their origin; and indeed it can scarcely be said that the materials for its solution are yet in the pos- session of the student, despite the wealth of collections from all parts of the world which have issued from the press in such profusion during the last decade. JNIuch more might already have been done had the editors of these always had a scientific grasp of the conditions of the problem. But unfortunately the really important and trustworthy collections are still so few that we have almost exhausted their number when we have enumerated the names of Grimm, Von Hahn, Campbell, Asbjornsen, Ealston, Calloway, Gill, Pitre, Crane, Krauss, Sebillot, Luzel, Leland, Temple, and Cosquin. Many editors also have started with some scholar's preconceived theory, and instead of first finding their facts, and then deducing a theory to account for these, have contented themselves with casting about to find facts to bolster up a theory already made. It is unnecessary here to do more than allude to the theory that folk-tales are the detritus of old Aryan myths, as it held possession of the field almost till yesterday, and indeed is not yet by any means generally discredited. It was consecrated by the august support of Grimm, and has been elo- quently elucidated by Von Halm, Max ]\Iiiller, and Dasent, and witli much more zeal than discretion by Sir George Cox and De Guber- natis. The next contribution of first importance to the question was the masterly introduction of Benfey, to his translation of the Pantchatantra (1859). This great scholar's contention was that the popular tales of Europe were imported from India, and diffused chiefly through literary channels, such as translations of Eastern story-books and the like. Mr. Clouston and M. Cosquin follow Benfey with greater or less modifications. M. Cosquin argues that if the Aryan race, before its dispersion, preserved the myths only in their earliest germinal form, after the separate branches had lost

114 REVIEWS.

touch of one another, it would have been impossible that the final form of the myths — the household tales as we possess them now — would have so closely resembled each other as they do ; and that there- fore most of the folk-tales have spread all round the world from people to people by way of borrowing, and that their ultimate source is India — not in prehistoric times, but within the period of actual history, Benfey contended that the essential ideas forming the basis of our folk-tales were mainly features of Indian origin; and Cosquin supplements by arguing that their formative ideas were carried westwards wdthin the historical period. Mr. Lang has weak- ened this position considerably by bringing forward from widely scattered savage races, awkward analogies and startling identities apparently inconsistent with so comparatively narrow and recent an origin, and apparently would make the spontaneous generation of simi- lar ideas and incidents, under the same physical conditions, and at parallel levels in culture, a much more important factor in the manu- facture of folk-tales. Here the question at issue may be narrowed to that of what constitutes the essential elements in such a story. No doubt the ideas and situations are afloat everywhere wherever men exist at the same stage of culture, but how far are independent parallel or identical combinations possible ? That which makes a story, pro- perly speaking, is not the ideas which enter into it, such as speaking beasts, transformations, objects of magic, and the like, for these might easily be generated in parallel sets, but rather the combination of the same, which is usually a thing completely arbitrary. When we find among the Iroquois or the Zulus, a certain story where adventures succeed each other or combine, in the same manner, as in a certain other European story, we can confidently afiirm of that story, that there has not been generation at an independent time and manner among the Zulus or the Iroquois and among the Europeans, but that there has been transmission by some means or other. The point of departure of that transmission M. Cosquin seeks to point out historically in India. We know already of diverse currents which have carried into all directions several written collections, and it seems as easy to suppose that oral Indian stories should also have followed different routes, eastwards to Indo-China, northwards to Tibet and Tartary, westwards to the Persians, thence to the neighbouring peoples, and at last to Europe. It is admitted by all that such borrowing has occurred; the only questions being as to the extent and the medium employed, and how far it is possible to believe that parallel combinations might be constructed through

IIEVIEWS. 1 1 5

the identical working of the human imagination. Mr. Lang admits readily that the process of borrowing has also gone on, and that stories once invented may have been carried on through the mists of the past by such social accidents as the pilgrimage of hardy mer- chants across land and sea, the seizure and sale of slaves, and marriage by capture.

At this point comes the latest contributor to the question with a pregnant suggestion that tlie Gypsies, in their restless and incessant wauJorings, may have had a large share in the diffusion of these stories. This striking and original theory has been put forth by Mr. Francis H. Groome in an article in The National Reviev- for July of this year. jSIr. Groome dwells on the ubiquity of the Gypsy race, on their continual journeyings, on the fact that in earlier ages they were welcomed everywhere by kings and nobles, that their earliest appearance in European countries gives ample time for the diffusion of many stories, and further that many of jMr. Lang's survivals of dead savagery are still living realities in Gypsy tents. Again, he points out many things appearing as integral elements in the development of the action in some widely-spread folk-tales, such as the existence of priests and churches, portraits, playing-cards, letters, and the like, as proving that not only the story-elements, but the combinations of these have really been transmitted together, and that within such comparatively recent historical periods as fit well with the theory of transmission by Gypsies. Moreover many stories actu- ally collected at the present time from Gypsies in Europe are more perfect in literary form and detail than parallel stories among non-Gypsy races, and this is merely what might have been expected if the Gypsies were originally a professional story-telling race. Mr. Groome tells us that as yet only 127 Gypsy stories have been printed by Friedrich jMuller, Paspati, Miklosich, Constan- tinescu. Von Wlislocki, and himself, and it must be admitted that the case he makes out from such comparatively scanty materials is strong indeed. His theory is very plausible, fits well with many of the facts, and explains what must have prevailed to a large extent. It is an attempt to fling a bridge across a hitherto almost unbridged gulf, and the only question now to be considered is whether the structure will bear the weight that must be put upon it. If an Indian origin is not claimed for all our folk-tales, Mr. Groome's contention may be taken as already proved ; but we must not forget the claims of Egypt as the cradle of much early human culture, and Benfey tells us that metem- psychosis— an elemental idea in folk-tales — was itself carried to the

116 REVIEWS.

Ganges from the Nile. Sir Eichard Burton attributes the origination of all art and culture to Egypt, but even this is by no means incon- sistent with Mr. Groome's theory, for ideas may have been carried thence to India, which there ripened into fruit, and were, scores of generations after, re-carried to the West. It is to be hoped that storiologists will work out this subject, and discover not only what stories belong to the Gypsies, or have been transmitted by them, but also what internal evidences of Gypsy origin there are in the stories in non-Gypsy collections. Meantime folk-lorists have to thank Mr. Groome for a most suggestive and interesting, as well as new and plausible answer to the old Sphinx-like riddle of the diffusion of nursery-tales. Thomas Davidson.

Our Gypsy Eecoed.

In addition to the articles in Ethnologischc Mitteilungen cms Ungarn, more fully referred to in the preceding pages, we have to notice several other recent contributions to Gypsy Lore. Dr. von Sowa favours us with the following memorandum which he has made of the Gypsy publications coming under his notice during the past year : —

" I have collected the following titles of treatises on the Gypsies, published during the past year: — (1) John Avery, " Origin of the Gypsies" {American Antiquarian and Oriental Journal, ix. 192); (2) E. Gerard, " Tmusylvanian Peoples" {Contemporary Bevieu; 41, 327-46); (3) G. A. Grierson, "Arabic and Persian Eeferences to Gypsies" {Indian Antic[uary, xvi. 257-58); (4) " The Transylvanian Tziganes" {JBlaclacood's Magazine, May 1887); (5) "Les Tziganes chez les Slaves Meridionaux" {Revue Internat., Sept., Oct. 1887); (6) H. V. Wlislocki, " Volkslieder der transsilv. Zigeuner" {Magazin fur die Lit. des In- und Auslandes, 1887, 131 f.) ; (7) v. Wl. " Volks- lieder der transs, Zig." {Zcitschr. d. d. morg. Gcs. xli. 347-50) ; (8) v. Wl. "Beitriige zu Benfey's Pantschatantra " {ih. xlii. 113 ff.) ; (9) v. Wl. " Die Stam- u. Eamilienverhaltnisse der transs. Zeltzigeuner " {Globus, liii. 183-89); (10) v. Wl. " Gebrauche der transs. Zelt- zigeuner, etc." {ih. li. 249 ff., 267 ff.) ; (11) v. Wl. "Die Eagnar- Lodbrokssage in Siebenblirgen " {Germania, xx. 362 ff.) ; (12) v. Wl. "Die Mausethurmsage in Siebenblirgen" {ih. xx. 432-42); (13) v. Wl. "Von den drei Frauen " {ih. xx. 442-51); (14) v. Wl. " Zur

REVIEWS. 117

vergleiclieiiJen Yolkslyrik," etc. (Zeitsch. fur. vgl. Literaturgeseh. i. 245-54); (15) v. Wl. " Zur Volkskimde der transs. Zig., Hamburg, 1887," 40 pages; (16) W. Crooke, "Notes on the Gipsy Tribes of the N.W. Provinces and Oudh" {Indian Antiq. xvii. 68-75) ; (17) "Eine Zigeiinerkonigin " (Gartenlaube 1887, 147); (18) A new edition of BoRROw's Zinccdi, and (19) of Jesina's Romani Cih. [Jesina is pub- lishing a work now : Slovnik cesko-cikdnsky a cik. c. (Tchek-Gypsy and G.-Tch. Dictionary)].

The Bevue des Traditions Popidaires, of July, contains (p. 386) the words of a Russian popular song, " Anastasia, Open the Door " ; and the remark is added that " this song is sung to a very lively air, and chiefly by the Gypsies." However, we cannot assume from this that either the words or the music are of Gypsy origin ; though this may be the case. In the August number of the same journal, M. Eugene Hins gives two more of his Christian Legends of the Ukraine ; one of which, " God, St. Peter, and the Gypsy " relates, as its title indicates, the experiences of a certain " Tsygane." A foot-note informs us that Gypsies, Jews, and Muscovites are the favourite objects of ridicule in the popular tales of Little Ptussia. Yet the Gypsy of this story comes well out of all his adventures.

Vol. IV. of Knjptadia (Heilbronn : Henninger Gebrlider, 1888) begins with a Polish-Gypsy story of " A Foolish Young Woman " ; translated into French from the Piomani original. Without contain- ing anything worthy of remark, or distinctive of Gypsy life and manners, it abounds in the coarse humour that formerly characterised the " chap-book " literature of this country.

An article on " Gypsy Charms," contributed by Mr. Leland to the >S^^. James s Gazette of 2d August, is reproduced among our " Notes and Queries." It will be observed that we are promised an amplifi- cation of this subject from the same pen, based upon Dr. von Wlislocki's little book. We have also the pleasure of announcing that Mr. Leland is engaged on a collection of Hungarian and other Gypsy Tales, or Gypsy Legends of Many Lands.

Contemporaneously with the autumn number of our Journal appears a work by another fellow-member, Signore Adriano Colocci, entitled Gli Zingari (The Gypsies). But we shall not have an opportunity of referring particularly to it until our next number.

lis NOTES AiND (.^UKlllll.S.

NOTES AND QUEEIES.

I.

Beng.

Is it not possible that the Avorcl Beng in Gypsy had once two meanings, "frog" as well as "devil," of which the former has disappeared ?

The Bihari (and Hindustani) for "frog" is beng or beng. This is derived from the Skr. vyahga, " having deformed limbs," and not from bhcka, as most diction- aries make out. The Gypsy word is evidently derived from the same word as is shown by the Hungarian Gypsy byeng, "devil" (jNIiklosich, vii. 10). Curiously enough, in some Gypsy dialects we find the word beng bearing the meaning of " dragon." Thus, according to Miklosich, in a Beitrag zur rothvellischen Grammatik, we see beng given as the German Gypsy for " drache, tcufel." Again in Spanish Gypsy benge means " dragon," and benguchi, " basilisk," but bengi, " devil." The meanings of both ''frog" and "devil" can well come from vyanga — indeed the first meaning is given in the Skr. dictionaries.

The idea of the devil having deformed limbs is very old. It will be sufficient here to allude to the fable of the Diable Boiteux. Paspati, though he goes wrong in the derivation (connecting panlca, bheha, and bmg) hits on the same idea as that to which I have come independently.

Talking of the Gypsies, he says (Tchinghiancs, p. 169) : "The devil (6td/3oXof, shaitdn of the Musalmans) was unknown to them ; but by means of the Christian pictures (representing St. George on horseback overcoming the devil in the form of a dragon) the devil became familiar to them in the form of a big frog. These pictures, so common everywhere, and painted by clumsy artists, have perhaps more than anything else contributed towards likening in their imaginations the devil to a dragon or frog." G. A. Grierson.

o^

2.

Gypsy Charms.

Heine has with pleasant plausibility traced the origin of one kind of fairy lore to the associations and feelings which we form for familiar objects. A coin, a pen- knife, a pebble, it seems, which has long been carried in the pocket or worn by any one, becomes imbued with his or her personality. If it could speak, we should ex- pect to hear from it an echo of the familiar voice of the wearer ; as happened, indeed, in Thuringia in the year 1562, when a fair maid, Adelhait von Helbach, was carried into captivity by certain ill-mannered persons. " Now her friends, pursuing, knew not whither to go, when they heard her voice, albeit very small and feeble, calling to them ; and, seeking, they found in the bush by the road a silver image of the Virgin, which she had worn : and this image told them which road to take. Following the direction, they recovered her ; the Eaubritter who bore her away being broken on the wheel, and the image hung up for the glory of the Virgin, who had spoken by it, in the Church of our Lady of Kalbrunn." Again, these objects have such strange ways of remaining with one that we end by suspecting that they have a will of their own. With certain persons these small familiar friends become at last fetishes, which bring luck, giving to those who firmly believe in them great comfort and endurance in adversity.

Continental Gypsies are notable believers in aundets. Being in a camp of very wild Cigany in Hungary somewhat less than two years ago, I asked them what they wore for baU, or luck ; whereupon they all produced small sea-shells, which I was assured were potent against ordinary misfortunes. But for a babe which was really ill they had provided an "appreciable" dose in the form of three Maria Theresa

NOTES AND QURHIES. 1 1 9

silver dollars, which were hung rouud its neck, hut hidden under its clothes. And I may here remark that all through many lands, even into the heart of Africa, tliis particular dollar is held in high esteem for magical purposes. From one to another the notion has been transferred, and travellers and traders are often puzzled to know why the savages will have no coin save this. From Russia to the Cape it is the same story, and one to be specially studied by those ethnologists who do not believe in transmission, and hold that myths and legends are of local growth, and accounted for by similar local conditions.

The Gypsies were very desirous to know what my charm was. Fortunately I had in my purse a very fine fossil shark's tooth, which I had purchased in Whitby, and this was greatly admired by the learned of the tribe. ISIindful of good example, I obtained for myself specimens of the mystic shells, foreseeing that they would answer as passes and signs among the fraternity in Germany and elsewhere. Which indeed came to pass a few days ago in the town of Homburg, when looking from my window in the Schwedenpfad I saw two very honest-looking Gypsies go by. Walk- ing forth, I joined them, and led them into a garden, where over beer and cigars we discussed " the affairs of Egypt." These Eomanys were from the Tyrol, and had the frank bold manner of the mountain-men blended with the natural politeness of the better class of Gypsy. I had taken with me in my pocket, foreseeing its use, a small bag or purse, containing an assortment of objects such as would have puzzled anybody except a Red Indian, a negro, or any believer in medaoUn or Voodoo, or my new acquaintance ; and after a conversation on dtirkepen (in Anglo-Gypsy, dulJitrin), or fortune-telling, I asked the men what they were. They wished to see my amulets first. So I produced the shells ; which were at once recognised and greatly admired, especially one, which is something of a curiosity, since in its natural markings is the word NAV very plainly inscribed : Nar, in Gypsy, meaning " the name." The elder Gypsy said he had no charm ; he had long been seeking a good one, but had not as yet met with the correct article. And then he begged me — gracious powers, how he did beg I — to bestow on him one of my shells. I resolved to do so — but at another time.

The younger Gypsy, who was a -j^iascke-paskero, a musician, and had with him a rare old violin in a wonderfully carved wooden case at least two centuries old, was " all right " on the fetish question. He had his shell, sewn up in a black leather bag, which he wore by a cord round his neck. Then I exhibited my small museum. Every object in it was carefully and seriously examined. My shark's tooth was declared to be a very good fetish, a black pebble almost equal to the shell, and an American Indian arrow-head of quartz passed muster as of possible though some- what doubtful virtue. But an English sixpence with a hole in it was rejected as a very petty and contemj)tible object. I offered it in vain as a present to my friends : they would not accept it. Neither did they want money : my dross might perish with me. It was the shell — the precious beautiful little shell on which the Romany in search of a fetish had set his heart ; the shell which would bring him luck, and cause him to be envied, and ensure him admiration in the tents of the wanderers from Paris to Constantinople. He admitted that it was the very shell of shells — a baro sereskeri skarkuni, or fan)ous sea-snail. I believe the Gyjisies would have eiven me their fine old Stainer violin, and the carved case for it. Failins to get the shell, he implored me to give him the black pebble. I resolved to give him b )th in free gift the next time we met, or as a parting souvenir. Alas for the Romany chal I — we never met again. The police allow no Gypsies in Homburg, and so they had to move on. I sought them that night and I sought them next day ; but they were over the hills and far away. But I have no doubt that the fame of the shell on which Nature has written the Name — the very logos of magic itself — will spread ere the summer be past even to the Carpathians. Something tells me that it is not played out yet, and that I shall hear anon something regarding it. — St. James's Garxtte, August 2, 1888. Cuaules G. Leland.

120 NOTES AKD QUEPJES.

3.

DZEKA.

What is the origin of the Gypsy word dzeka, which signifies satisfaction, plea- sure, delight ? Quite unknown elsewhere, it is met with in several of the tales of the Polish Gypsies. — Ex. : Oda leske x>re dzeka felds — that fell in agreement with him {i.e. that pleased or delighted him). I. Koperxicki.

4.

" People of Turkey."

Who wrote this book, and what is the legend (recorded at pp. 158-168) taken from the lips of a Gypsy regarding their origin ? H. T. Croftox.

5.

Gtpsy Statistics. These few notes, culled from various sources, may serve as a postscript to Professor von Sowa's invaluable article on Statistics of the German Gypsies. According to Behm und Wagners Bevolkcrung der Erde (vii., Gotha, 1882), Persia in 1881 had 4G00 families of Baluchis and Gypsies ; 52,000 families of Bachtiaris and Luris — a somewhat unsatisfactory classification. The Almanack de Gotha for 1888 gives :— Roumania, 200,000 Gypsies in 1876 ; Servia, "29,020 se servent de la langue bohemienne," in 1884 ; Bulgaria, 37,600 in 1881 ; Eastern Eoumelia, 27,190 on 13th January 1885 ; and Hungan.^, 79,393 on 31st December 1880. Where and from whom may we look for articles on the Gypsies of Great Britain and America like those of Dr. von Sowa ? F. H. Groomp:.

6.

Superstitions. In reviewing Andrew Lang's Custom and Myth (London, 1885), in the AtliOKcum of 21st Feb. 1885 (p. 246), Mr. Theodore Watts says : — " Eomani customs and traditions he has ignored altogether, though assuredly something may be learnt from the Romanis. A Roniani girl, for instance, will tell you that the dark-blue punctured rosettes at the corners of her mouth, ornamental as she considers them to be, have something to do with luck as well as ornament. . . . Tattooed on the breast of the South Papuan woman we find the same cross (or Sanscrit trisula), which the Romanis believe to be the most powerful of all symbols — so powerful that the rainbow will fade from the sky ' at the very sight of it.' "

We have the pleasure of announcing that ]\I. Paul Bataillard will commence, in our Januarj' Number, the reproduction — in an amended form — of his valuable treatise Dc V a2:)iMrition et de la dispersion des Bohemiens en Euroj)e, originally pub- lished in 1844.

Our next number will also contain a list of the Society's members, with their addresses.

NOTICE. — All Contributions must he legibly icritten on one side only of the paper; must hear the sender's name and address, though not necessarily for jnihlica- tion; and must be sent to David MacRitchie, Esq., 4 Archibald Place, Edinburgh.

JOUENAL OF THE

GYPSY LORE

SOCIETY.

Vol. I. JANUAKY 1889. No. 3

I.— A LETTER FROM HUNGARY.

Budapest, Nov. 5, 1888.

HERE am I indeed iu Gypsy Land — when I was at home I was in no better place to make studies for our readers. But I shall refrain from being "deep," though I have been in profound conferences with Professor Herrmann, who is, as Romany Rye, nemini secundus ; unless it be to our illustrious colleague the Archduke and the Romany scholars Thewrewk and Wlislocki. Owing to the vast wealth of material and the example set by his Imperial-Royal Highness, Gypsyology is here in great honour, and I have realised by very pleasant experience that, as member and representative of our Society, I am not without honour.

My first experience was at Vienna, where on the second day after arrival I visited the Cszardas Cafe in the Prater, where a Gypsy band always plays of evenings. It was two years since I had been there, and I supposed that I must be among the forgotten. But adv.ro — far from it. When the head waiter entered he cried aloud, " Pane Leland ! " [I always suspected that man of Croatism or Moravianism or Bohemian or Pan-Slavonic heresy of some kind, and pan6 proved it.] He was accompanied by a Romany who burst into

VOL. I. — NO. III. I

122 A LETTER FROM HUNGARY.

a fervid torrent of Cingani welcome — in a minute I was seated at a table with fourteen more of his kind ; where they came from, unless they rose from the ground, I could not imagine — every man supplied with a half litre of beer, and all beaming with bliss, at the arrival of the Romano rai. Eemember me — I should think so ! There sat by me a good-natured, well-dressed Eom, who, being the leader of another band, was present as a visitor. He hummed two English airs. " Do you remember them ? " he asked ; " two years ago you sang them to me." I had done so only once, and his band had played them immediately, and manct alta mente. But this being " wax to receive and marble to retain " is characteristic of the Hungarian Gypsy. A few days ago, a Romany leader of an orchestra came to a bookseller in a small town in Hungary, and said : " You have just received the score of an opera from Vienna — how much does it cost ? " " Twenty-four florins." The Gypsy looked grave. " That is a great deal of money, and my men may not care to play it after all. Will you allow me to bring them here to examine it." The bookseller consented, the Gypsies came, and the leader, as the only one who could read music, played it. " No, they did'nt like it — it would not do." That evening the bookseller attended the Gypsy concert, and heard the entire opera given with accuracy and feeling. Like the Children of the Mist with cattle, the Gypsies have a far more economical and speedy method of getting their music than by paying for it.^

I arrived in Budapest at nearly ten o'clock, and went to a hotel. The waiter, who was very polite, suggested that if I would go into the dining-room I would find something which would be new to me — something characteristic and interesting. " It is a Gypsy band," he said ; " strangers should always hear one." I quite agreed with him, and he escorted me to the lighted hall, and led me up to the pdshopaskeri — and lo ! there was a cry of Latcho divvus, rya ! from the entire band — for there was one man whom I had known in Liszt's selected band in Paris in 1878, and one again in Philadelphia, and two in England, and all the rest somewhere. And they played for me the Chiriclo'i ghiloi or " Bird's song " — which is never given twice

1 That this wonderful gift is characteristic of the Hungarian Gypsy is known to every one who has listened to a Zigani orchestra. But it was also characteristic of Euglisli Gypsies within this century. We have heard an Oxfordshire villager, in describing a band of Gypsies who frequented his neighbourhood fifty years ago, state that every man of them was a "deadly fine fiddler," and that they invariably played without the written score. Their leader, a certain Jasper Smith, styled "the King of the Fiddlers," spoke with the greatest contempt of "them tadpoles," as he quaintly designated the crotchets and minims which are a sine qua nnn to most modern musicians. — [Ed,]

A LETTER FROM HUNGARY. 123

alike, yet is always so wonderful and wild and sweet. Eeal (xypsy music is to those who have once learned to love it, like opium or haschisb, deeply fascinating, strangely exciting, and more suggestive of magic than any other influence. But as all fruit to be enjoyed in perfection must be eaten in the land where it grows, so Gypsy music never seems to be the same in London as in Austria or Hungary.

Gypsy Lore, owing to the abundance of material and the influence of the Archduke Joseph, is taking a very prominent place in Hungary. There is no country in Europe in which folk-lore is so much of a living thing as here, where there are people to the manner born who speak, here or there, fourteen languages, and have in all of them fairy tales, spells, and charms in which they really believe. Therefore, the newly formed or forming Hungarian Folk-Lore Society founded by our friend and fellow-member Professor Anton Herrmann, will be on a scale hitherto " unliked." There will be a Madyar committee, as also German, Bohemian, Croat, Wallach, Armenian, Spanish, Serb, and last, not least, a Romany sub- division, of which the Archduke Joseph — as he is the man most learned of all living in Gypsy dialects, — will be the leader. An organ already exists in the Ethnologische Mittdlungcn, edited by Professor Herrmann, which, as I have already stated, is really, as regards great variety and richness of material and scholarly criticism, perhaps the best publication of the kind in Europe. As representative of our Gypsy Lore Society I was received, I am happy to say, with special kindness. A reception was given me by the Ethnological Society, at which the venerable Hunfalvy, the accomplished Pulsky, with Professors Hampel and Thewrewk, and indeed all the learned of Budapest, were present, and at which Professor Herrmann delivered a discourse chiefly on our Society, in which he gave seriatim an account of every article which has been published in the Gypsy Lore Journal.

I must do the learned men of Hungary the justice to state that they feel and understand more than any whom I have ever met, the real importance and value of Folk-Lore, of which Gypsy Lore is a daughter. Now as Schiller has said of poetry.

To some she is a goddess great,

To some a milch-cow of the field , Their science is to calculate

How many quarts she '11 yield ;

so there are people to whom Folk-Lore is a science, or the last great branch of History, or the light which shows us its innermost life, While to others it is only a fleeting fancy for literary or- popular brie-

124 A LETTER FROM HUNGARY.

a-brac and odd trifles. But in Hungary an earnest pursuit of it may be of national and political value, for here it cannot fail not only to interest every man of any intelligence in the characteristics of his race, but to cause a mutual rapprochement or union between the writers of different races. Can we not see for ourselves how much good literary and social and scientific congresses are doing every year in making men acquainted with one another, in establishing personal friendships and correspondence ? And because the more ignorant mass of the public sees or knows nothing of all this, and of the immense benefit which a country derives from thus benefiting its scholars and thinkers, they cry out that these meetings are of no practical use. So I have heard it asserted fifty times that the Socia Science and similar congresses were " failures " ; but I do not believe that any assembly in which intellectual men became mutually and extensively acquainted was ever held which was not a success. And as Folk-Lore is perhaps more generally interesting than any other branch of learning, it may be destined in the future to exert far higher social influences than any as yet dreamed of. And it is some- thing in our own Gypsy Lore Society that it has united men of many lands, and made us better acquainted ; and I have realised with a pleasure which I can hardly express liow well the works of my colleagues are known here, and how welcome they themselves would be.

I am promised from several sources valuable contributions to my work on Gypsy sorcery, charms, spells, and fortune-telling.

Professor Herrmann has made what may be considered as the only collection ever gathered of real Gypsy airs and songs, and these we propose to edit and jointly publish, his version to be in German and mine in English. For, be it noted, it is not every air which is sold by booksellers as Zingaro and Zigeuner and Gypsy which is anything of the kind. I have been assured by Gypsies many and many a time that they do not and will not under any consideration play or sing for the gaji or gorgios what they play or sing for me. A Hungarian gentleman who has been all his life devoted to Eomany music had never so much as heard of some of their best loved heart and home melodies. And of these latter Professor Herrmann has made a noble collection. And so latchi 'rati !

Charles G. Leland.

NOTES ON THE DIALECT OF THE BOSNIAN GYPSIES. 12 a

II.— NOTES ON THE DIALECT OF THE BOSNIAN GYPSIES.

OF all the dialects of the Gypsy language, which, it is well known, yields so easily under the modifying influences of every local tongue, the dialect of the Servian Gypsies is certainly the least known. The only materials regarding it were published by Prof. Fr. Miklosich {tlb. die Mnndarten und Wanderungen der Zigeuner, vi. pp. 22-56). They consist of three small vocabularies, collected by H. Novakovich and others in Servia, and by Lukarich and Prof. Fr. Miiller in Syrmia ; the latter interlaced with a certain number of very brief phrases.

T hope, therefore, that my present notes upon the language of the Bosnian Gypsies may not form a superfluous contribution to this matter. They are drawn from the materials kindly offered to me by the distinguished ethnologist Dr. Fr. I. Krauss, which were collected by himself at Dervent (N.-E. of Bosnia), from the Gypsies settled there in a distinct " Gypsy-suburb " (cigaiiska moJiala).

They consist partly of several separate words for the vocabulary, but chiefly of a series of translated Servian phrases, purposely con- structed by Dr. Krauss, as examples of grammatical forms of the Gypsy language, unknown to him before.

Though gathered very hastily in some few hours of his occasional residence among Gypsies, these specimens, noted by an accomplished linguist as carefully and exactly as possible, have proved valuable enough to enable me to extract from them some characteristic out- lines, which I venture to publish here as some slight supplementary information for Gypsy -students.

In the Gypsy texts which I am about to give, I shall keep the phonetic Croatian transcription of Dr. Krauss, as being nearest to Miklosich's orthography, which ought to be universally adopted for every Gypsy dialect.

(«) Phonetic.

Very few valuable observations can be made upon the phonetic ^peculiarities of this dialect from its written examples only.

1. The principal is the adopted Servian mute semi- vowel (^ (b) instead of e and i of other Gypsy-dialects ; viz. hrs ( = hers), year ; 'prno ( = 'pirno or pinro), foot ; crde ( = cirde), draw, etc.

126 NOTES ON THE DIALECT OF THE BOSNIAN GYPSIES.

The same has been noted also in Syrmia and Servia by all previous observers (see Miklosich, op. cit.), in the words — lr§n ( = hruin), rain ; ckno { = cikno), small; mnro { = viinro), mine, etc.

2. Another phonetic peculiarity, proper, as it seems, to every Gypsy dialect, is the frequent avoiding of the hiatus by the elision of one of two concurring vowels ; viz. pekav kas ( =pe 'kav, i.e. pe akav), upon this tree.

.3. The terminal vowel o sounds sometimes as u, as among the Polish Gypsies ; e.g. andu gav ( = ando or and' o (jav), in the village.

4. As to the consonants, some of them are now and then omitted

from the middle or from the end of words ; viz. — cao ( = cavo), child; jw7ia// ( =jj/waZ/), brother ; romi { = romni),\y\ie; kas ( = kast), tree ; ame ( = amen), we ; tumc ( = tumen), you, etc. And, on the contrary, euphonic consonants are added some- times, as mrno { = iruro), mine; manglal { = anglal), at first.

5. Lastly, we meet with hard consonants changed into soft ones

of the same order and vice versd; viz. nib ( = rup), silver; bud ( = but), much; rad { = rat), night; zulolo { = zuralo or zoralo), strong. -ST is also changed into c or 6 in the words vaterdan ( = vakerdan or vakcrden), they talk ; icr ( = klicr), house ; ^ and the aspirate ph is changed into h, ex. Iiabaj {=phabaj), apple.

(&) Morphology.

1. The articles — sing. m. o, fem. i, and plur. c are used more

rarely than in other Gypsy dialects.

2. The mode of declining the substantives by cases and numbers,

as may have been perceived from the few examples we have cited, does not particularly diverge from the general rules.

3. The pronouns of the Bosnian-Gypsy, as our examples prove,

are, in an extraordinary degree, confused and erroneous. This is undoubtedly owing to the innate flightiness and want of reflection proper to the Gypsy mind in general. In fact, the Gypsy scarcely discerns the very meaning of the person expressed in a Polish, Servian, German, or other phrase ; and, taking very often the 3d person for the 2d or 1st, he trans-

1 This tendency has been noted by Fr. Miiller in Syrmia in the words: cer (—kher)- huci {—hukhi], labour, celel (—khelel), to dance, derel {—kerel), to work.

XOTKS ON THE DIALECT OK TIIK BOSNIAN GYPSIES, 127

lates it so in Gypsy. Tlierefore the personal pronouns in the Bosnian-Gypsy dialect, as noted by Dr. Krauss, are —

sing. — 1. me ; 2. tu and te ; 3. vov or vo and me !

plur. — 1. ame or me ; 2. tume or tu ; hime or vov and awie !

and possessive pronouns are :

sing. — 1. mr/io ( = 7?M-o) ; 2. ciro{ = tiro) ; 3. ciro (for /cs^-ero '). plur. — 1. amaro ; 2. tumaro ; 3. j;a?e tumaro (for lengero).

Besides this, the dative of the possessive pronoun mrno { = mro) is often irregular, as — mu, ma, and me; viz., vov dij'a ( = diuia) he mu ujake hcibaj, he gave to my uncle an apple ; ma ( = mre) dades6i, to my father ; one caorendr. ( = Hire cavorerende), to my little children.

4. The comparison of the adjectives among the Bosnian Gypsies, as seen from the examples purposely constructed by Dr. Krauss, is not formed with the terminal eder, as in many other Gypsy dialects, but with the Italian and Eoumanian mai (more), having a double-accented for the comparative, and long a for the superlative; viz. — phuro, old ; maj phuro, older ; mdj plvuro, the oldest ; haw, great ; maj haro, greater ; mdj haro, the greatest; lacho { = laco), good; maj la6ho (instead oifeder), better, etc.

."). Of the numerals two only — 40 (sardnda) and 50 {pinga=][)enda) are uncommon ; all the others offer but few and slight devia- tions from the general rule ; viz. : —

1. jek. 12. desuduj.

2. duj. 18. desochto.

3. trin. 19. deSunja.

4. star. 20. bis.

5. fandz. 30. tranda.

6. .so. 40. saranda.

7. efta. 50. pinga.

8. ochti? 60. sovardes.

9. inju. 70. eftavardeS.

10. des. 80. ochtovardes.

11. desujek. 90. njavardes. 1884. miljaoehtoso,ochtovardcstajMar.

JV.i>. — The absolutely false denominations of the numbers 300-600 (and of 800 in the last example) came e\'idently from the habitual inattention of the Gypsy interrogated. Being already wearied with tlie prolonged and abstract numeration, — after the number 106, sel taj so, he kept these two last words in his mind and applied them improperly again : taj instead of var (times) and -so (six) instead of sel (hundred).

1 Leskero is met sometimes in a modified form: lece or lehce; viz., me dikimlece dade {=me dikVom leskere dades) I saw his fatlier; tu bacardan lehce daha { — tu bakerd'as leskere dafut) thou talkedst with his mother. '- cA as in German.

100.	sel.
101.	sel ta jek.
105.	.sella pcinda.
106.	sella i so.
200.	duj so.
300.	trin taj .so.
400.	star taj so.
500.	pandz taj so.
600.	So taj .so.
1000.	m'ilja.

128

NOTES ON THE DIALECT OF THE BOSNIAN GYPSIES.

6. With regard to the verbal forms very few hints are found in Dr. Krauss's notes. The conjugation of the verb to he, given in the present tense only, is extremely variable : —

sing. — 1. me sem and som.

2. tu sen (for sal).

3. vo e and vo hi.

plur. — 1. me sem.

2. turtle sen.

3. tume sen (for von hin).

The same irregularity exists, it appears, with the personal terminations of all other conjugated verbs ; viz. tu vaierdan (for va6erdal), tu a§undan (for asiind'al), etc.

7. The most remarkable and important peculiarity of the conju-

gation in this dialect is the exclusively Servian form of the future tense, which these Gypsies have adopted. Instead of their own future terminations (1. ava; 2. eha\ 3. e/a, etc.), the Bosnian Gypsies employ an equivalent for the Servian auxiliary ocu, tu (I will), and put their Gypsy kamav — abbreviated ka — as prefix to the verb in every person of the future tense, viz. : —

me kadobisara (for dobisarava) pismo, I will get a letter.

tu kacumide{ = ctimideha) ceja, Thou wilt kiss a girl.

vo kacincl { = cinela) vordona, He will buy a cart.

ame ka lehce osvetima { = amen leske osvetimaha), We will revenge him.

tume kacere ( = tumen cerena), You will work.

vov kabicinel e graste (for e gras), They will sell the horse.

8. And likewise, the perfect tense is sometimes formed with the

Servian prefix vi, added to its regular form. Ex. vioMlj^m vipilje'm. We have eaten and drunk everything.

In order to explain the preceding notes more fully, I now reproduce the exact materials from which they were compiled. These I shall arrange as follows : — vocabulary, examples of grammar, separate phrases, and some other specimens of the Gypsy language. The Gypsy texts, although sometimes incorrect and obscure, are repro- duced exactly, with necessary explanations and corrections added in parentheses. The English versions, frequently at variance with the Gypsy text, are literally translated from the Servian.

cereil, star.

e curi, knife.

jag a, iire.

kas, tree, wood.

ublak (Slav.), heaven.

paj, water.

patra, leaves.

pori, handle.

rom, man.

romt:, wife.

Rahum (Turk), God.

tover, axe.

thud, milk.

vac'ar, to speak.

NOTES ON THE DIALECT OF THE BOSNIAN GYPSIES.

129

He praises himself because he is a

better hero than thou. He is a better tradesman. I am stronger than thou.

We were the most splashed. Wine is dearer than brandy.

Who is stronger, this is right.

(Gypsy version : who is .stronger, need

not seek the power of right.) God is the strongest.

I am Peter's son. Thou art Peter's daughter. He is Francis' brother. We are Luke's nephews. You are good men. They are good hosts.

I am going home.

Thou goest into the garden.

He goes on the place.

We go to the field.

You go to the village.

They go to the mountain.

I have seen the water.

Thou hast heard the call.

He broke his leg last year.

Of the banquet we have eaten and

drunk. You have fought together then. Those men have driven you then.

I am the first in the range.

We were before the Court of Justice

with your neighbours. On that tree are many green leaves. I did not drink three years' black (red)

wine. I offered to my father a knife.

My father died three years ago.

After the great rain the grass grows greater.

Vo hvalipe ( = hvali^ j^^es), Icaj tutar

maj laco ( =feder) junako. Vov maj laco trgovco. Me se maj ( = me scm maj) zidolo tumenda

( = tumcndar). Me najgore cindziljem. 0 vino hi maj skupo rac'ijatar ( = rak-

hiatar). Ko hima maj zuralo { = ko hi maj zxLralo),

tana rodul ( = fe na rodel) sile pravo.

Oddel ( = 0 Del, i.e. devel hin) maj

zuralo. Me som Pctrcko cao. Tu sen e Petreci cej ( = caj). Vo e Franjoko phall. Me {=ame) scm e Lvkjre pastorkuje.^ Tu mesen {=ht.me sen) lace manus. Til mesen lace gaz'dujra (=gazdora).

Me dzav cere { = khere).

Me dzav ande basc'ave ( = ba.sc'a).

Vov dzal po pijaco.

Von dzal andu vial.

Tu me { = turiie) dzan andu gar.

Tu me dian andu brdo.

Me dikljem { = dikl'om) o paj. Tu asundrin { = a.sund'al) e vik;i. Tu me phage 71 oprno ( = o pinro). Me po pijeri^ \\xaljem, vipiljem.

Tu me ( = t'ume) marden tu mc.

Tu mengo { = tumenge) sveto tradija.

Me som prvo ando redo.

Me pravdisailjem tumarem (tumare)

koinsijanca. Pekav {pe akav) kas budpatra zeleni. Me^il {=me na) piljem trin brs o halo

vino. Me ma dadesci { = mre dadeske) poklo-

nisardem ecuri { = e6uri). Mo {=mro) dado mulja pedes {=pe des)

brs manglal ( = anglal). Manglal ecer ( = o kher) bajrilja (?)

velik ki§a ( = baro brisind) rasti baricar

{=bareder) trava.*

1 The words in italic are adaptations from the Servian.

- Corrupted Servian pastorf-ad. ' '^ Corrupted Servian pir.

■• This Gypsy version is rendered verj- intricate by tlie arbitrary addition of the words : manglal e rer (before the house) and by the unintelligible word hajrilja instead of pale (after). The correct Gypsy translation should be : "Pal o baro biisind rasti baruhr cur."

130 NOTKS ON THE DIALECT OF THE BOSNIAN GYPSIES.

Tlie sun shone beautiful. Ohham ( = o Uham) sukardji djivisailja

lehce.^ The moon shines as silver. Ocon ( = o con) osvani sar rub.

The thunder after thunder stroke. Sa (?) gromo pala gromeste paro.

I need to carry some bread for my Trobuj tecinav { = te cinav) aro mccdo children. vorendji {=me cavorcnde) sexan { = tc

xan) bokhale.^ At midnight are plenty of stars. Opasirad ( = pas e rat) perdudell ( =

pherdo full + dell ?) cerea. It will rain, the apes are leaping. Avella brSun, celenna { = kele)i) e ma-

garc7?KX. (?) ( = magarci). He whose leg aches may not set out in Kadukall { = kaj dukhal) o prno, ta

the road. nadjal { = te na dzal) po drom.

Who is guilty, may be silent. Ko hi darano, nek suti.

Make as it was ordered. Vcinisar sold (•=ucini sar so hi) zapo-

vedime. Do not strike, I have headache. Namar { = na mar), dukall ma {=man)

osoro ( = 0 Hero). Drive wood from the forest. Crde androvus { = andro vuP) ekas ( = e

kast). Where it smokes, there is fire. Go te kahi tu go te vijag.*

That is the stick, five spans long. Gote (?) rovli pandz pedljira.

Who is timid, may not excite the dogs. Ko daral, ta narodel ( = te na rodel) "

ducelen { = dzukelen or dzuklen).

One man knows something, all men Jek insano saranel djanel sal).''' know all.

A Gypsy Congratulation.

God may give health to my Lord ! Odel ( = o devel) sastipe me gospodine ta

(te) dell I

God (may give him) five thousand Odel pan {=pandzX) mil^e galhe ; Me

ducats; to his children health may laori {=cavore7ide) sastipe tetherel

He make ! { = te kerel).

May he white-haired beget grandsons 1 Tetherel unuko ^ra?-?io6aZi .' tetherel !

may have children born from chil- caorell { = cavoren) caorenda! { — ca-

dren ! vorende).

A Defectivk Fragment or a Song,

That is good. Godovahi { = odova hin) laco.

(?) Insano (11)

He rose for the work. Ustilja pala o rado { = bukhi).

May give God. Te delle { = te del) odell ( = o devel).

May give. Te delle.

Gifts of fortune luay he have ! Dunjaluko {turk 1) te avelle! {= te avel).

1 Likewise added arbitrary the word le7ice (to him).

2 The Gypsy version, thoroughly altered, means: "I need to buy some flour for my children, they may eat, hungry."

3 Version incorrect : ant^j-o r its' signifies "into the forest."

•4 Thoroughly unintelligible version ; it should be : " Kaj hin thuv, odoj hin the jag." 5 Frequent Gypsy '' cfid pro quo " : rodel signifies " seeks," Servian trazi, used Instead of drazi (Serv.) i.e. " excites." " Absolutely unintelligible.

TKANSYLVANIAN GYPSY SONGS. 131

A Begging Speech.

Bijandija mandzi { = mange) raoro ; pijanda { = bijandu) mrli { = mri) romni

reora ( = cajora) lakona Zlata. Ineka Jcaiulz Icathindi bokhali padselja nella

kathide kandz.

In its second part absolutely unintelligible, this appeal should mean : " A

child is born unto me. My wife bore a child, named Zlata. But she has nothini;

in the world. She is hungry."

rsiUORK KOPEKNICKI.

III.— TEANSYLVANIAN GYPSY SONGS.

[The following are three of the songs whose airs are given in the specimens of " Original Popular Melodies of the Trausylvanian Tent- Gypsies," reproduced in our October number. They have been supplied to us, along with a German translation, by Professor Herrmann ; and the English words now given form a tolerably literal rendering of the original.]

I.

Sung to Melody No. 4. Text and melody supplied by Wallachian Gypsies at Marosviisarhely by Alb. Geigei", and revised by Dr. Herrmann.

Maru, Devla, kas kames, jaj I Strike whom thou wilt, 0 God. Alas !

Ke man destul ^ phabares, man, Enough thy fires have scorched me.

Maru, Devla, koke bar, jaj ! Strike down, 0 God, this hedge — for, all !

Kai nast'i ^ chut'ilom pordal. It cannot else surmounted be.

II.

Sung to Melody No. 8. From Anica Ourar, a Wallachian Gypsy girl of twenty, imprisoned at Brasso (Kronstadt), in 1886. The words written by Dr. Herr- mann, and the melody noted by his companion, the musician Zoltan Heltay.

" De man mol la durul'asa, " Come, bring a jar of wine to me,

Ke me dau tut la brad'asa ^ ! " Or I '11 the cudgel deal to thee ! "

Sakade pend'e roma. So ever have the Gypsies said,

Ke has lenge but zulta ; When money they in plenty had ;

Kerel les la corimasa, 'Twas made by them in penury,

Tai pijel la barimasa. In lofty pride 'twas drunk away.

III.

Sung to Melody No. 9. From a Gypsy girl, Maria Prikulic, in the service of Herr Herbst, Cseszora. She is able to read and write, and is sister to the first violin in Belenyes (Bihar), her native place. The text revised by Dr. Herrmann ; the air noted doAvn by Z, Heltay.

Kel'e 1 caje romani 0 the many Gypsy maids

Sa has mange pirani, Who have been my lovers true,

Ke gend'eDde,^ ke len lau, They believed that I 'd them wed ;

Da 1 me oda na kerau. That 's just what I did not do.

Ke vod'i man para^ riiu,! For my heart it pains me sore,

Kaua ekha ca - dikhau ; If but one I chance to see ;

Ke e caje romani Like a slim and slender flower

Sar o sale ^ lulud'i. Is each gentle Romani.

' Borrowed from the Roumanian. 2 Borrowed from the ]Magyar. '

132 GYPSYING BY THK ADKIATIC.

IV.— GYPSYING BY THE ADKIATIC.

AS the ordinary educated European does not gain an acquaintance- ship with the ways and the language of the Eomane without stepping out of the smooth, macadamised road that Conventionality loves, it seems to me that every Eoman Eai must naturally be interested even in learning the most trifling details referring to the manner of a brother's " conversion." It is under this belief that I offer these few notes bearing upon my own experiences. And I shall begin by relating the circumstances which led me at length to learn the Gypsies' tongue.

In the year 1863, as I was walking along a side street leading into one of the squares of Trieste, I observed a Gypsy woman, of Hagar-like aspect, and with a little baby clinging to her shoulders, who was being hooted at and abused by a number of noisy rowdies. At the sight of this I interfered, and succeeded in shaming them into leaving the woman in peace ; who, thus freed from her persecutors, seated herself upon a neighbouring door-step, and relieved her injured feelings by a flood of tears. At this, I approached her, soothed her as best I could, adding a pecuniary trifle to help her, and finally I asked her (continuing to speak in Italian), " What is your name ? " " Maria," she replied, laying the accent upon the first syllable of the word. Then, as nothing else remained to be done, except to say farewell, I asked her, " How do you say Addio in your language ? " Whereupon, with an air that seemed expressive (to my puzzled eyes) of annoyance or anger, she arose, and with a haussement of her baby- burthened shoulders, muttering the word D4vdl, she made abruptly

oir.

To my untutored ears it seemed that such passing kindness as I had shown the woman had only resulted in my being consigned to the devil (for I concluded that BSvel was no other than Diavolo), and consequently my indignation against her rudeness and ingratitude was great. And all that day I felt the sting of such treatment received from one of those whom I had till then regarded as the very refuse of mankind. However, this feeling of irritation seemed only to result in the desire to learn more precisely what the woman meant; and thus I was driven to obtain further knowledge from books. The very next day I repaired to a German bookseller's, and from him I demanded some work on the Gypsies. He had none on hand at the time, but he gave me a catalogue, and out of this I selected Pott's

GYPSYING BY THE ADRIATIC. 133

two large volumes, whicli soon afterwards the post brought to me from Leipsic. It was not until after some time and trouble that I found out, among the intricacies of that precious but ill-arranged vocabulary, the magic word D6vel, the cause of my soul's torment. When I learned, as I then did, that it meant exactly the reverse of what I had thought, poor Maria rose in my estimation with a bound. And from that time I took such a liking to her language that I began to practise it myself, and even that very year came out as an incipient Gypsy-author. Maria herself figures in my Viaggio Sentimentale, in which I plead tlie Gypsies' cause before my fellow-men. And it is Maria herself who has taught me much of the language and the lore of her people.

To this, my earliest Gypsy experience, I shall add one of my most recent. Two years ago I was staying at Go.ritz, and one evening in the course of my walk I descried, in a solitary field outside of the town, some Gypsy women beside a cart. I of course went up to them, and accosted them in Eomani, which they understood and spoke perfectly well. When I did so, I was quite unaware of the fact that their men, in a state of semi-intoxication, were close at hand among some bushes engaged in quarrelling over the sale of a half-starved donkey ; but, at the sound of my voice they rushed out, and, hearing that I was talking in their own tongue, they eagerly urged me to accompany them to a neighbouring tavern, indifferent to the fact that they were already drunk. They insisted that I must come and drink with them, as I was a " Kalo." In the meanwhile, their young imps, of both sexes, were trying to pick my pockets ; but this I soon became aware of, and made them desist, with the admonition " Tate na tshores ! " I also found, it necessary to extricate myself from the embraces of the drunkest of the men, who, while insisting upon my being " a stray Gypsy " (an idea which my features rather bear out), was busily engaged in exploring the breast-pocket of my coat. The daylight was beginning to fade. Altogether, it seemed prudent to sacrifice my linguistic inclinations to my personal safety ; and, assur- ing my friend that I was no Gypsy but a mere gadsJio and raker- paskcro, I called out to some peasants who were providentially passing by, whereupon he loosened his grip, and thus allowed me to join my deliverers. Pursued by many deep oaths, I went on, under the pru- tection of my two " guardian angels," until we gained the main road leading to town.

I had passed a mauvais quart d'heure. These men were looking so wild at the time that an unpleasant apprehension of being not only

134 GYPSYING BY THE ADRIATIC.

assaulted, but perhaps murdered, got hold of me, and to such an extent that I promised myself never more to go in search of Gypsies unless escorted by at least one friend. In the secluded and unfre- quented place to which they wanted to take me, I might have fallen a monetary or a physical victim to my Gypsyologism.

In such circumstances, there was little I could learn from them. The women, however, had told me they were from Carinthia, and were then on their way back. Strange to say, the women were all blondes, with the exception of one who had the real Indian features and physique. The men were tall and portly ; and they too, instead of being olive-coloured, were of a deep-red complexion. This, however, may have been the result of much brandy. But they had the regular Gypsy features ; oval face, low brow, ivory teeth, and jet-black hair, which fell in curls at the temples.^ A red handkerchief tied round the neck gave them much the air of brigands.

This is what I call my negative linguistic campaign. Had they not been overdrunk and in a choleric mood, when I surprised them, I dare say they would have behaved quite mannerly towards me. For I almost invariably observe how sensibly kind they are to one who addresses them in their own tongue.

These two instances of intercourse with Gypsies — in the first case with a Zingara del Littorcde, in the second with a Carinthian band — I lay before my fellow-members as illustrative of the pursuit of Gypsy-hunting in the neighbourhood of the Adriatic.

J. PiNCHERLE.

V.~A SUPPLEMENT TO THE STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE GYPSIES IN THE GEEMAN EMPIEE.

WIPTEMBEEG. — In the district {Oheramtsbezirh) of Bocknang there is a Gypsy family of about twelve souls ; they possess a house, but they wander about almost the whole year. In the district of Ludwigsburg there are two Gypsy families settled ; to the festival called ScMferlaiif, which is held every year at Mark- groeningen, a great number of Gypsies flock together. In the district of Weinsberg there are some Germanised descendants of a Gypsy family ; they are for the most part pedlars, and wander about

1 This aescription of the Gypsy face coincides exactly with that given by Borrow. The curls on either temple are mentioned by Swiuburce in his description of Spanish Gypsies ; and Mr. Groome has seen one old-fashioned English Gypsy thus adorned— a Buclcland, at Devizes fair, in 1872. - [Ed.]

SUPPLEMENTARY STATISTICS OF THE GYPSIES IN GERMANY. 135

during the greater part of the year. In the district of Gmnnd there is only one place in which there are settled Gypsies ; but even these are never found at home in the community they belong to. In the district of Oehringen there is one family of Gypsies, twenty-seven souls ; these say that they lived formerly in Alsace. In the district of Ehingen a small Gypsy colony is found, comprising eight families (thirty-six souls), but they are seldom seen in their own district.

Keuss aeltere Linie, LtJBECK. There are no Gypsies in these provinces. Eudolf von Sowa.

Erratum.

[In the " Statistical Account of the Gypsies in the German Empire," contributed by Professor von Sowa to our July Journal, it is stated (p. 30) that some of the Gypsies in Frankfurt and Coesliu keep shooting galleries. This, however, is the result of an error in translation (for the learned author, being pressed for time at the date when his article required to be sent in, did not himself render it into English, which was done in Edinburgh). What Dr. von Sowa really stated wa^ that the Gypsies referred to were frequently rat-catchers. The German word used by him is Kammerjuger, literally " chamber-hunter." This word signifies either " the servant of a prince," or a "rat-catcher" ; two occupations which at the first glance seem totally disconnected, although it is likely that the one term included the other in the days when " a rat behind the arras " was no uncommon pheno- menon, even m the chamber of a prince. The idea that Icammerjdcjer denoted the " sportsman " of a shooting-gallery (or chamber) was borne out by the fact that this occupation is followed in England by a class of people, to some extent, of Gypsy l)lood. However, this is not what was stated in Dr. von Sowa'.s article. — Ed.]

VI.— CHEISTMAS CAROLS : THE THREE MAGI.

rpHE following Noiil or Christmas Carol will serve to illustrate a -L certain popular belief regarding Gypsies, existent in the middle of the seventeenth century, but prevalent during many of the pre- ceding centuries. It was composed by le Sieur Nicolas Saboly, Beneficier et Maitre de Musique de I'Eglise de St. Pierre d'Avignou. Saboly is perhaps the most renowned writer of Provencal Noels. I tiud ten editions of his Recue.il de Noels enumerated between 1670 and the present time. The edition I copy from is " Avignon, chez Peyri, 1854." This Noel is also given in Voyage dans les Diimrte- ments du Midi, by A. L. Millin, vol. iv. p. 163 (1811), with slight variations, marking a difference of dialect. It has been translated at

136

CHRISTMAS CAROLS: THE THREE MAGI.

least twice into English — the last time in The Anglican Clnirch Magazine, December 1887 : —

LXIX. Noel. Sur I'air des Bohemien .

N'aoutrei sian tres Boumian Qu^ dounan la bonoi; fourtunou. N'aoutrei sian tres Boumian Qu'arrapen pertout vounte sian : Enfan eimable et tant doux, Boutou, boute aqui la croux, Et chascun te dira Tout ce que t'arribara : Coumencou, Janan, cependan D6 li veire la man.

We are three Bohemians Who tell good fortune. We are three Bohemians Who rob wherever we may be ; Child, lovely and so sweet, Place, place here, the cross,^ And each (of us) will tell thee Everything that will hapj^en to thee ; Begin, Janan, however, Give him the hand to see.

Tu sies, a ce qu^ vieou, Egaou a Dieou,

Et sies soun Fis tout adourable Tu sies, a ce que vieou Egaou a Dieou, Nascu per yeou din lou nean : L'amour t'a fach enfan Per tout lou genre human : Unou Viergeou es ta mayre, Si^s na sensou gis d6 payre ; Aco se vei din ta man. L'amour t'a fach enfan, etc.

L'ia encare un gran secret, Que Janan n'a pas vougu-dire ; L'ia encare un gran secret Que fara ben leou soun efet : Vene, vene, beou Messi, Mettou, mettou, mette eici, La pecou blanquou, ooussi Per nous fayre rejoui : Janan, parlara, beou Meina, Boute aqui per dina.

Soutou tant de mouyeu L'ia quaouquaren Per noste ben de fort sinistre ; Soutou tant de mouyen L'ia quaouquaren. Per noste ben, de rigouroux : Se I'y ves unou crous Qu'es lou salut de tous. Et si te I'aouze dire, Lou sujet de toun martyre Es que sies ben amouroux. S^ I'y ves unou crous, etc.

Thou art, from what I see. Equal to God.

And thou art his Son all wonderful : Thou art, from what I see, Equal to God.

Born for me in the nothingness : Love has made you a child For all the human race : A virgin is thy mother. Thou art born without any Father ; This I see in thy hand. Love has made thee a child, etc.

There is still a great secret. Which Janan has not wished to tell There is still a great secret. Which will have soon its effect : Come, come, beauteous Messiah, Place, place, place here, The white piece (of money) To make us rejoice : .Janan wiU tell, beauteous Messiah, Give (it) here for dinner.

Under so many means There is something For our good very unhappy ; Under so many means There is something For our good hard (to bear) : One sees there a cross That is the salvation of all. And if I dare to tell it thee. The cause of thy martyrdom Is that thou art right loving. One sees there a cross, etc.

As our English Gypsies say, "Cross my hand," etf.

CHRISTMAS CAROLS: THE THREE MAGI.

137

L'ai encarou quaouqnaren Oou bout d.6 ta lignou vitalou : L'ia encarou quaouquaren Que t^ voou dire Magnssen : Vene, vfene, beou german, Dounou, dounou eici ta man, Et te d^vinaran Quaouquaren de ben charman : May veugue d'argen ou tan ben vSensou, noun s^ fay ren.

Tu sies Dieou et raourtaou, Et couniou taou Vieouras ben poou dessu la

terrou ; Tu sies Dieou et inourtaoii, Et couniou taou Saras ben poou din noste

eta; May ta divinita Es su I'eternita : Si^s rOoutour d^ la vidou, Toun essence & infinidcm, N'as ren que sie limita. May ta Divinita, etc.

There is still something At the end of the vital line : There is still something Which Magassen will tell thee : Come, come, gentle brother, Give, give here thy hand, And I will divine for thee Something very charming : But let the silver come, or nevertheles-s Without it we do nothing.

Thou art God and mortal, And as such Thou wilt live a very short time on the

earth ; Thou art God and mortal, And as such Thou wilt be a very short time in our

condition : But thy Divinity Is for eternity : Thou art the Author of life. Thy essence is infinite, Thou hast nothing that may be limited. But thy Divinity, etc.

Vos-ti pas que diguen Quaoquaren a sa santou Mayre? Vos-ti pas que 1^ fen Per lou men noste coumplimen ? Bellou Damou, ven6 eiga, N'aoutrei couneissen deja Que din ta bellou man L'ia un myst^ri ben gran. Tu qu6 si^s pouli, digou li Quaouquaren de joli.

Wilt thou not that we tell Something to thy holy mother ? Wilt thou not that we make to her At the least our compliments? Fair Lady, come hither, We others already know That within thy fair hand There is a mystery veiy great. Thou who art polite, tell her Something pretty.

Tu sies doou sang rouyaou, Et toun houstaou Es dei pu haou d'aqueste mounde : Et toun houstaou Es dei pu haou, a ce que vieou ; Toun Seignour es toun Fieou, Et soun Payre lou Dieou: Qut^ podes-ti may estre ? Sies la Fiou de toun j\Iestre Et la Mayre d6 toun Dieou. Toun Seignour es toun Fieou, etc.

Et tu, bon Seigne-gran, Qu6 si^s oou cantoun de la crupi, Et tu, bon Seigne-gran, Vos-ti pas que v^guen ta man / Digou, tu crises bessay

VOL L — NO. III.

Thou art of royal biood, And thy house

Is of the highest of this w^orld : And thy house

Is of the highest, from what I see Thy Lord is thy Son, And his Father is thy God : What couldest thou be more? Thou art the daughter of thy Master And the Mother of thy God. Thy Lord is thy Son, etc.

And thou, good old man, Who art at the corner of the manger, And thou, good old man. Wilt thou not that we see thy hand ? Say, thou fearest perhaps

138

CHRISTMAS CAROLS: THE THREE MAGL

Que noun rousen alquel ay Qu'es aqui destaca? Roubarian pu-leou lou ga : Mete aqui dessu, beou Moiissa, N'aven pens-a begu.

That we should steal that ass Which is tied up there ? We would rather steal the child : Place (something) here upon, fair sir, We have scarcely drunk (to-day).

Yeou Teze din ta man Que sies ben gran, Que sies ben sant, que sies ben

juste, Yeou veze din ta man Que sies ben sant et ben ama : Ah! divin marida, As toujour counserva Unou sante abstinengou ; Tu gardes la Providencou, N'en sies-ti pas ben garda? Ah ! divin marida, etc.

I see within thy hand That thou art very great, That thou art very holy, that thou art

very just ; I see in thy hand

That thou art very holy, and well loved : Ah! divine husband, Hast thou always preserved A holy abstinence : Thou guardest Providence ; Art thou not well guarded I Ah I divine husband, etc.

N'aoutrei couneissen ben Que sies vengu dedin lou mounde ; N'aoutrei couneissen ben Que tu sies vengu sense argen : Bel enfan, n'en parlen plus, Quan tu sies vengu tout nixs, Oregnies, a ce que vian, Lou rescontre dei Boumian ; Que cregni^s, beou Fieou, tu sies

Dieou ; Escoutou, noste a Dieou.

We others know well That thou art come into the world ; We others know well That thou art come without money : Fair child, let us not speak more of it, Since thou art come quite naked. Thou fearedst, from what we see, Meeting with Bohemians ; "Why didst thou fear, fair Son?— thou art

God. Listen to our farewell.

Si trop de liberta Nous a pourta A devina toun aventourou : Si trop de liberta Nous a pourta A te parla trop Ubramen, Te pregan humblamen De fayre egalamen Nostou bonou fourtounou, Et que nous en donnes unou Que dure eternelamen, Te pregan humblamen, etc.

If too much liberty Has led us

To divine thy fortune: If too much liberty Has led us

To speak to thee too freely, We pray thee liumbly To make equally Oiu: good fortune, And that you give us one "Which may last eternally. We pray thee humbly, etc.

No. 69 1 of " Poesias Popiilares colegidas por Don Tomas Seguro" ; Leipzig: Brockhaus, 1862, p. 102 is entitled Villancicos que cantan los ninospara el dia de los Santos Reyes ("Carols which the children sing on the day of the Holy Kings ")?

1 No. 68 is a ballad, -'El Gitano," of a Gypsy in prison for roljbing a mule, and a Gypsy givl telling fortunes.

2 Epiphany or Twelfth Day,

CHRISTMAS CAROLS: THE THREE MAGI.

139

Las Gitanas que son siempre La alegria del portal, Viendo Uegar a los reyes Un baile quier en formar.

ESTRIBILLO.

Prevenid castauuelas, Gitanas ; Que al portal han entrado tres reyes,

A ver el zaxjal;

Clias, chas, chas}

Castauetas, bandurria, sonajas Ligeras tocad ; chcis :

Y vaya de baile,

Y vaya de solas : Ghis, chis, chis. Chas, chas, chas.

Que al Eey Nino mudanzas alegran

Y hoy los reyes liraosna daran ;

Chas, chas, chas.

Saltar y buUir Volver y cruzar ; cha.s :

Y puestar en rueda Ballad sin parar.

Gitanillas, alegres, festivas,

El baile alegrad Que al portal han entrado tres reyes,

A ver al ::agal.

Bailad sin parar; Chis, chis, chis, Glias, chas, chas : Saltar y bullir, Volver y criizar.

The Gypsy women, who are always The joy of the town-gate, Seeing the kings arrive Wish to give them a dance.

Chorus. Get ready the castanets, Gypsies ; The three kings have come in at the gate,

To see the young boy ;

Chas, chas, chas.^

Strike the castanets, the bandurine. The joyous timbrels ; chas :

And go in the dance; [or, Here goes the dance]

And go one by one :

Chis, chis, chis,

Chas, chas, chas.

How the changing movements will please

the child-king, And to-day the kings will give us alms ; Chas, chas, chas.

To dance and bustle about. To turn and cross ; chas : And, formed in a wheel.

Dance ye without stopping. G-ypsy-girls, gay and joyous,

Make the dance gay. For the three kings have come in at the

gate.

To see the young boy.

Dance without stopping ;

Chis, chis, chis,

Chas, chas, chas :

To leap and bustle round.

To turn and to cross.

No. 70 is similar.

Bien venidos, Eeyes, Seais al portal ; Que las gitanillas Os desean y-a.

The first verse is,

AVelcome, 0 kings, Are ye at the gate ; How the Gypsy-girls Are already longing for you.

With a refrain at every fourth verse,

Chas, elms, chasi: Chas, chas, chas:

Soltar y bullir To leap and bustle about,

Volver y cruzar To turn and to cross,

Y poneros en rueda - And to make a wheel,

Bailad sin parar. Dance without stopping.

1 The chis, chas is nieaut to represent the snapping of the castanets.

140 CHRISTMAS CAROLS: THE THREE MAGI.

There are several Christmas carols in Spanish put into the mouth of Gypsies. The most tender and beautiful with which I am acquainted is " La Prediccion de la Gitana," given by Fernan Caballero in her Cuentos y Poesias popidarcs Audaluces. The quaintest one is the following, in the same volume : —

En el portal de Belen In the gate of Bethlehem

Gitanitos han entrado, The little Gypsies have entered,

Y al nino recien nacido And the new-born child

Los panales le han quitado. Have robbed of his swaddling clothes,

i Picaros gitanos, Rascally Gypsies,

Caras de aceitunas, Faces of olives,

No han dejado al nino They have not left the child

Ropita ninguna ! One little rag !

I presume many of our members are familiar with the wonder- fully cheap Coleccion de Cantcs Flamencos, the songs composed by Gypsies in the Andalusian dialect, collected and annotated by D^mofilo (S. Machado y Alvarez) Sevilla, 1851. Some few have been translated in Spanish and Italian Folk-lore Songs by Alma Strettell (Macmillan & Co.).

Some articles on the Gypsies (mostly a compilation) have appeared in recent numbers of the Bivista Gontemporanea (Madrid), in a series of chapters on the etymologies of the last edition of the Dictionary of the Spanish Academy, by D. A. Fernandez Merino ; in conclusion, he says that he reserves fuller remarks and researches for a special work which he has in preparation.

Wentworth Webster.

Of the Andalusian Carol quoted above, it may be remarked that it is substantially of old date. We are told by Ticknor, in his History of Spanish Literature^ that there is a manuscript poem in the Escurial, of date 1250-60, which (although its title is " The Adoration of the Three Holy Kings ") has as its chief subject " an arrest of the Holy Family, during their flight to Egypt, by robbers." These robbers, it is true, are not there styled " Gypsies." But a considera- tion of the other very important and striking Carols will make it eAddent that all of them illustrate the association of Gypsies with the events of the Nativity — an association that was apparently recog- nised throughout mediaeval Europe.

For the Noel itself is obviously a version of the miracle-play known

1 London, 1849, voL i. p. 25.

CHRISTMAS CAROLS: THE THREE MAGI. 141

as " The Adoration of the Three Holy Kings," or " The Three Magi." " The legend of The Three Kings, commonly described as the Three Kings of Cologne, as that city was believed to have been their final resting-place, was extremely popular in the Middle Ages," says Wright in his edition of The Chester Plays ; ^ and one learns a good deal about them from him, from Ticknor, and from Sandys. The last named, in his Christmas Carols^ states that " the Venerable Bede, in the seventh century, is the first writer in this country who gives a particular description of them, which he probably took from some earlier tradition " ; and, again, that " Lebeuf mentions a Latin mystery of the Three Kings as early as the time of Henry the First of France, in the eleventh century." Wright makes mention^ of a Latin play of The Three Kings, " apparently of the twelfth century," which " was found in a MS. at Orleans." The Chester Mysteries, says Sandys,^ " were produced in 1268," and this special subject appears to have been a peculiar favourite at Chester, since it was the custom there to make two plays of it, viz., " The Three Kings " and " The Oblation of the Three Kings." Les Trois JRois was one of the spectacles exhibited at " the fete which Philippe-le-Bel gave in 1313, on conferring knighthood on his children."^ "This legend afforded the subject of one of the Corpus Christi plays at Newcastle," says Sandys,^ and he adds that, although acted in that town as early as 1426, "they are considered of older date " there. And " when Henry the Sixth [of England] entered Paris, in 1431, as King of France, he was met at the gate of St. Denis by a dumb show representing [inter alia] the adoration of the Three Kings." ^ Further north,|at Aberdeen, " the Three Kings of Cologne " figured in the procession held on Candlemas Day (Purifi°. of the B.V.M.) " by the auld lovabile consuetud and ryt of the burgh " ; of which there is mention in the years 1442, 1505, and 1510.^ And one reads further that when Queen Margaret * made her entry into Aber- deen in 1511, the procession in her honour included "the Orient Kings Three," who were represented offering gold, incense, and myrrh to the infant Christ.

But it is unnecessary to multiply instances showing how popular this religious play has been, or how it has continued to be acted in one part or another of Europe, down to the present day. What we

1 The Chester Plays, edited by T. Wright, London, 1843, p. 255. - London, 1833, Introduction, pp. Ixxxiii. and Ixxxviii. '

^ O/j. cit. pp. V. -vii. 4 Qp_ cit^ p. xvi. , note.

s Sandj's, op. cit. p. xx., note. ^ Op. cit. p. Ixxxix. ' Jl'id-

^ In the Council Register of Aberdeen; quoted in Kennedy's Annuls of Aberdien, London, 1818, vol. i. p. 95.

" Wife of James iv, of Scotland, daiigjjter yt Henry vii. of EnghauU.

142 CHRISTMAS CAROLS: THE THREE MAGI.

are here concerned with is the belief that these three kiiigs or magi were of the race of " Bohemians " (so-called).

That one, at least, of the three was a black man, is an old belief. Bede, in the seventh century, describes one of them as " of a dark, or black complexion, as a Moor." ^ And they were very commonly represented thus. That is how they are represented to-day by the vil- lagers of the Alps of Carinthia and Carniola ; perhaps the only modern Europeans who still perform this old miracle-play. We are told by a modern writer, describing " Christmas in a Slav village," that the play of " The Three Holy Kings" is enacted there every Twelfth Night. " The three appear in full costume — the one with Ms face conscientiously Uached — with holy water and censers filled with burning incense." ^

But when Longfellow introduces the Wise Men of the East in a miracle-play of the Nativity, supposed to be enacted at Strasburg in medieval times, he says : " Three Gypsy Kings, Gaspar, Melchio7\ and Bclshazzar, shall come in." Though this part of Longfellow's Golden Legend does not seem to be derived from the Aurea Legenda, yet he himself was so well versed in medicevalism that it is evident he had good reason to believe that all the Three were generally repre- sented as Gypsies. And when one looks at the text of " The Obla- tion," as played at Chester, one sees that although the Three Kings do not there announce themselves to be " Bohemians," they succes- sively foretell Christ's future in very similar terms to the three in Saboly's Provencal Noel.

How and when did this belief originate ? Sandys, in referring to

the prediction in the tenth verse of the 72d Psalm, generally believed

to relate to the Three Kings, states that one version has it, " Kings

shall come out of the Moors' land to worship Christ." ^ To people

who thus understood the passage, the kings of this " Moors' land "

would naturally be themselves " Moors." Indeed, it is pretty certain

that the sign of an Augsburg hostelry, The Three Moors, testifies to

this identity. There is also an old inn at Newcastle, called The Three

Indian Kings, whose sign was very probably at one time a counterpart

of that of Augsburg. (This miracle-play, it may be observed, seems

long to have been a favourite at Newcastle, where it was acted in

1426, and presumably long before. The latest date given by Sandys *

1 Sandys, op. cit. p. Ixxxiii.

2 Saturday Revieiv, 8th December 1888, " Cliristmas iu tlie Alps." (It would he inter- esting to learn the formula employed in this instance.)

3 Sandys, op. cit. p. Ixxxii.

■* Who refers for these particulars to Brand's History of Neivcastle.

CHKISTMAS CAROLS: THE THREE MAGI. 143

in connection with Newcastle is 1536, but this play did not cease to be acted in England until a much later period.) ^ That men who were spoken of as " Indians " and " Moors " should be portrayed as of dark complexion was very natural and reasonable. And as no European people could have been more " Indian " like than the Gypsies, it was equally natural that they should be regarded as the representatives of the Eastern Magi.

There is no direct assertion made, in Wright's version of this "mystery," that the Three Kings of the East were Gypsies. This could be explained by the assumption that the fact, or belief, was so generally admitted that it did not require to be asserted. In the English version of the Legend, Mdiich Wright gives,^ there is indeed something that may be construed into a tacit recognition of this con- nection. The writer of that manuscript informs us that he had fathered its statements out of the traditional books containino; the Legend, and from " hearing and sight also of sermons and homilies that be drawn out of divers books." And he recounts the old tale, how, from the time of Balaam's famous prophecy, a certain people of the East had kept watch for the appearing of the Star, to which duty they had ordained twelve of their best astronomers, whose number was never allowed to lessen by death. These, for many centuries, had watched on a chosen hill, until at length the expected light appeared. Now, the chronicler — among many statements which are obviously unreliable — says that this hill was called " the hill of Vaws." And he adds that the progeny of Melchior, one of the three, became, on this account, known as " the progeny of Vaws into this day." Without attempting to regard the many odd statements of this scribe as of historical value, one cannot fail to recognise from his several allusions to " the progeny of Vaws," that he knew of a race of people contemporary with himself, who were known by some such title, and who were recognised as descendants of one of the Three Kings. And, as the scribe's English has a smack of the "North

^ Among the names of inns that of The Three Spanish Gyi)sies in Loudon in the seventeenth century is worth noting. The same authority (Hone's Every-Day Book, London 1835, vol. i. p. 582 and 747) makes mention of a mystery of The Three Dons, performed at Romans in Dauphine in 1509. As these ' ' Dons " were martyrs, like the Three Kings of medicBval belief, one is apt to suspect that both of these terms relate to this play derived from a Spanish source. Tlie last act of Lope de Vega's Nacimiento cle Christo ends, says Ticknor, "with the appearance of the Three Kings preceded by dances of Gypsies and Negroes, and with the worship and olferings brought by all to the new-born Saviour." Lope de Vega, it i.s true, belongs to a later period than the play of The Three Dons, but he did no violence to the belief of the previous century in associating, if not identifying, the Three Kings with Gypsies. Indeed, it is quite likely that the Gypsy carols, with Castanet accompaniment, in Don Tonias Seguro's collection, were current during the sixteenth century.

-' At the end of vol. i. of the Chester Plays.

144 CHRISTMAS CAROLS: THE THREE MAGI.

Countrie," where (on both sides of the Borders) Gypsies were generi- cally known as " Faws," it is not improbable that this really signified his belief that " the progeny of Vaws," or of Melchior, were the swarthy " Faws " whom he frequently saw. In his Legend he refers to some of Melchior's descendants as " the princes of Vaws " ; and, as a certain " Francis Heron, king of the Faws " was buried at Jarrow- on-Tyne, so recently as the year 1756, whose forefathers, in Gypsy fashion, had no doubt borne the same title, it is conceivable that a half-educated monk of the North of England would have no difficulty in reconciling the name of his Gypsy neighbours with the alleged Gypsy lineage of one, at least, of the Three Kings.^

There are certainly hints of a special lineage in these niediseval representatives of the Magi. In the Chester Plays, one of the kings refers to himself and his comrades as " We that be of Balaam's blood," — " We kings of his Jcind." From the beginning of the Christian era back to the days of Balaam of Aramsea is a long jump. Nevertheless there is a certain consistency running through the theory. It is undoubtedly an old belief, and one which received the support of Origen, that the Three Kings came from the East to Bethlehem, because Balaam, in the same neighbourhood, though long ages before, had predicted the appearing of the Star. Now, Balaam himself was a " Wise Man of the East." He is introduced to us as a professional magus, or fortune-teller, living at Pethor, on the Euphrates ; and, in his efforts to pronounce a curse against the Israelites, he employed incantations in the first two instances. When he refers to his home as in or near " the mountains of the East," he uses an expression that applies equally well to the Three Magi; who were, not unlikely, dwellers in Mesopotamia as he was. What is certainly worth noting is that the term magus, assuming it to mean a high-priest of the arts of divination and astrology, is equally applicable to the soothsayer of Pethor, to the Three Magi, and to the " Gypsies " of a later day. Of course, the last-named class only represents these arts in their latest stage of degradation ; but, in other times, when men's notions of religion and of science differed greatly from ours, a magus was prophet, priest, and king.

They have been well honoured, these Three Kings, whoever they were. If the remains still preserved in Cologne Cathedral are really theirs, one wonders what judgment a craniologist would pronounce

, 1 It ought to be added, however, that while this writer speaks of Jasper as a " black Ethiop," and Bade ascribes that quality to Balthazar, Melchior, the ancestor of the " Vaws," does not seem to be anywhere so specified. (There are various names given to the kings, bii the favourite are Jasper or Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar.)

CHRISTMAS CAROLS: THE THREE MAGI. 145

upon them. How they got there has been often tohl ; and never more pleasantly than by Dr. Sebastian Evans, in the poem of which the Three are the theme, wherein he relates their journey ings to and fro, ending with their death as Christian martyrs. And how, thereafter,

" tJiK Empress Helena gathered their bones, And set them with gold and with ruby stones, And treasured them up in a holy shrine Of the church in the city of Constantine. But when Godfrey was King of Jerusalem, Bishop Eustace to Milan translated them, And thence, ivith a nail of the Holy Cross, They were dolen by Emperor Barbaross, And Bishop Bene laid every bone In the shrine of the Kings, in the Church of Cologne, A7id there in rubies luritten in full, Ye may read for a ducat on every skull The names of the Three who folio u-ed the Star, Caspar, Melchior, Balthazar.''

David MacRitchie.

VIL— TALE OF A GIRL WHO WAS SOLD TO THE DEVIL,

AND OF HER BROTHERS

ONCE upon a time there lived a countryman and his old wife : he had three daughters, but he was very poor. One day he and his young daughter went into the forest to gather mushrooms. And there he met with a great lord. The old peasant bared his head, and, being frightened at the sight of the nobleman, he said apologetically : " I am not chopping off your honour's wood with my hatchet, I am only gathering what is lying on the ground." " 1 would willingly give thee all this forest," replies the nobleman ; and he then asks the peasant if that is his wife who is with him. " No, my lord, she is my daughter." " AVilt thou sell her to me ? " " Pray, my lord, do not mock and laugh at my daughter, since none but a great lady is a fitting match for your lordship." " That matters little to thee ; all thou hast to do is to sell her to me." As the peasant did not name the price he asked for her, the nobleman wave him two liandfuls of ducats.

The peasant, quite enraptured, grasped the money, but instead of going home to his wife, he went to a Jew's. He asked the Jew- to give him something to eat and drink, but the Jew refused, being

1 The reciter of this tale was John Coron, the iiai'rator of the Tale of a Foolish Brother, given in the preceding number of our Journal.

TALE OF A GIRL SOLD TO THE DEVIL,

/ertain that he had no money to pay him with ; however, as soon IS the peasant had shown him the large sum that he had, the delighted Jew seated him at the table and gave him food and drink. He made the old peasant drunk, and stole away all his money. The peasant returned home to his wife. She asked of him where he had left his daughter. " Wife, I have placed her in service with a great lord." The wife asked him if he had brought anything to her. He replied that he was himself hungry ; but that this nobleman had said to him that he had taken one daughter, and that he would take the two others also. His wife bade him take them away. He went away with these two daughters, and one of them he sold to another lord. This one gave him a hatful of ' money. Then the peasant said to his remaining daughter : " Wait for me here in the forest ; I will bring thee something to eat and drink, do not stray from here." He went to the same Jew that had stolen his money from him. This Jew again stole from him the money he had received from the other lord. The peasant returned to his daughter, to whom he brought some bread, which she ate with delight.

There came a third nobleman, who purchased this third girl. " Do not go to the Jew," said this lord to the peasant, " but go straight home to thy wife, and hand over thy money to her, so that she may take charge of it ; for this Jew will rob thee once more." The peasant returned home to his wife, who was very glad. . . . This great lord spoke thus to him : " There is, in a forest, a beautiful castle covered with silver. Go to the town, buy some fine horses and harness, engage some peasants for work, and rest thou thyself; make the peasants do the work." . . . He got into a carriage he took his peasants, and they set out with the help of God. They came, by a magnificent road, smooth as glass, into a great forest. They met a beggar, who asked of this great lord (this peasant, once poor, now become rich) where his daughters were ? Soon after, these peasants discover that they are quite bewildered ; they find themselves surrounded by deep ravines and insurmountable obstacles, so that they cannot get out, for they have lost their way. There came an old beggar who asked of them, "Why do you remain here, why are you not going on ? " " Alas ! " they answered, " we cannot get out of this, we had a beautiful road and we have lost it." " Whip up your horses a little," said the old man to them, " perhaps they will go on." A lad touched up the horses, and all of a sudden the peasants see before them a magnificent road. They wish to thank this mendicant, but he has already

AND OF HEE BROTHER. 147

disappeared. The peasants fall to weeping, tor, say they to them- selves, " This Avas no mendicant ; more likely was it the good God himself." They reach this castle : the peasant is in ecstasies with it. The peasants work for him, and he and his wife take their ease.

Ten years rolled hy. He had once three daughters, whom he had already forgotten. " The good God," said he, " had given me three daughters, but I have never yet had a son." One day the good God so ordered it that this peasant woman was brought to bed. She was. delivered (pray excuse me) of a boy. This boy grew exceedingly, he was already three years old, he was very intelligent. AVhen he was twelve years old his father put him to school. He was an apt scholar : he knew German, and could read anything !

One day, this boy, having returned home, asked of his father, " How do you do, father ? " His mother gave him some food, and sent him to bed. ISText day he got up, and went to school. Two little boys who passed along said, the one to the other, " There goes the little boy whose father has sold his daughters to the devils." This boy reached the school filled with anger ; he wrote his task quickly, for he could not calm his angry feelings. He went home to his father as quickly as possible ; he took two pistols, and called on his father to come to him. As soon as his father came into the room, the boy locked the door on them both. " Kow, father, tell me the truth : had I ever any sisters ? If you do not confess the truth to me, I will fire one of these pistols at you and the other at myself." The father answered: "You have had three sisters, my child, but I have sold them to I know not whom." He sent his father to the town, and bade him, " Buy for me, father, an apple weighing one pound." The father came back home, and gave the apple to his son. The latter was delighted with it, and he made preparations for going out into the world. He embraced his father and mother. •' The good God be with you," he said to them, " for it may be T shall never see you more ; perchance I may perish."

He came to a field, where he saw two boys fighting terribly. The father of these two boys had, when dying, left to the one a cloak and to the other a saddle. This little boy went up to these boys and asked them, " What are you fighting about ? " " Excuse us, my lord," replied the younger, " our parents are dead ; they have left to one of us a cloak and to the other a saddle : my elder brother wants to take both cloak and saddle, and does not wish to give me any- thing." This little nobleman said to them, " Come now, I will put

148 TALE OF A GIRL SOLD TO THE DEVIL,

you right : here is an apple, which I shall throw far out into this field ; and whichever of you gets up to it first shall have both of these things." He flung away the apple, and while the boys were running to get it, this little nobleman purloined both cloak and saddle. He resumed his journey, and went away, with the help of God. He came to a field, he stopped, he examined the cloak he had just stolen, and to the saddle he cried : " Bear me away to where my young sister lives ! " The saddle took hold of him, lifted him into the air, and carried him to the dwelling of his young sister. He cried to his young sister : " Let me in, sister ! " Her response was : " I have been here for twenty years, I have never seen anybody during that time ; and you — you will break my slumber." " Sister ! if you do not believe that I am your brother, here is a handkerchief which will prove that I am." His sister read thereon the names of her father, of her mother, and of her brother. Then she let him enter, and fainted away. " Where am I to hide you now, brother ? for if my husband comes he will devour you." "Have no fear on my account," he replied ; " I have a cloak which makes me invisible whenever I wear it." Her husband returned, she served some food to him, and then, employing a little artifice, " Husband," she said, " 1 dreamt that I had a brother." " Very good ! " " If he should come here, you would not hurt him, would you, husband ? " " What harm would I do to him ? I would give him something to eat and to drink." At this she called out, " Brother, let my husband see you ! " The young lad's brother-in-law saw him, and was greatly pleased with his appearance ; he gave him food and something to drink. He went out and called his brothers. They, well satisfied with the state of things, entered, along with the boy's two other sisters. The latter were brimming over with delight. A lovely lady also came, who enchanted him. "Is this young lady married?" he asked of his sister. " No," she replied, " she has no husband ; you can marry her, if you like." They fell in love with each other ; they were married.

For ten years they lived there. At last this youth said to his sister : " I must return home to my father ; mayhap he is dead by this time ? " He got up next morning, his brothers-in-law gave him large sums of gold and silver.

They drew near to the house, he and his wife. Not far from this house there was a small wood through which they had to pass, and in it they noticed a beautiful wand.^ " Let us take this wand," said his wife to him, " it is very pretty, we shall plant it at home." He

1 In the original it is " sukar kast," — I. K,

AND OF HER BROTHER. 149

obeyed her, and took this wand. He reached the house : the father was very happy that his son was now married.

Five years passed away. The good God gave them a sou. He went to the town in order to invite godfathers After the baptism they came back from church, they ate, they drank, and finally every- body went away ; he remained alone with his wife. One day he went to the town. When he came home, he saw that his wife was no longer there, and that the sapling had also disappeared ! (This was no sapling, but a demon.) He began to lament. " Why do you lament ? " asked his father. " Do not make me angry, father," said he, " for I am going out into the world."

He got ready for the road ; he set out. He came into a great forest. As it was beginning to rain, he took shelter under an oak, and in that very oak his wife was concealed. He slept for a little while ; then he heard a child weeping. " Who is this that is crying ? " he asked of his wife. " It is your child." And he recog- nised her and cried ; " Wife, hearken to what I am going to say to you. Ask this dragon of yours where it is that he hides the key of his house." " Very well," assented she. The dragon came back to the house, she threw her arms round his neck, and said to him, " Husband, tell me truly, where is the key of our house ? " " What good would it do you if I told you ? " he replied : " well, then, listen. In a certain forest there is a great cask ; inside this cask there is a cow ; in this cow there is a calf ; in this calf a goose ; in this goose a duck ; in this duck an egg ; and it is inside this egg that the key is to be found." " Very good, that is one secret I know." She then asked of him wherein lay his strength. The dragon owned this to his wife : " When I am attired as a lord, I cannot be killed ; neither could any one kill me when I am dressed as a king ; but it is only at the moment I am putting on my boots that I may be killed," " Very good, now I know both his secrets." — He smelt at his feather,^ and all his three brothers-in-law appeared beside him. They lay in wait until the moment when the dragon was drawing on his boots, and then they slew him. They betook themselves to that forest, they

1 The narrabn- had omitted to mention this before. In many Polish and Russniak ales, one meets with a bird's feather or a horse-hair, possessing the magical power of making anybody of whom one has need, liowever far oft', to immediately appear beside one. One has on\y to burn this feather (or horse-hair) a little, and then to smell it. In this Gypsy tale, therefore, the hero's brothers-in-law had evidently given him such a feather, along with the ' lart'e sums of gold and silver," at the time of his departure from their home. But the narrator had forgotten to mention this in recounting the departure, though he remembered the feather when he reached that point at which the hero had need of it to summon his brothers-in-law to his aid, in order to kill the dragon.— I. K.

STRAY NOTES ON GEORGE BORROW S LIFE IN SPAIN.

laslied the cask, they killed the cow that was inside of it, they dlled the goose that was inside the calf, then the duck that was ^inside the goose, they broke open the egg, and out of it they drew the key. He took this key, he came back to where his wife was, he opened the oak, and he enabled his wife to come forth out of it. " Now, my brothers-in-law, the good God be with you ; as for me, I am setting out to follow my way of happiness ; — now I shall no more encounter any evil thing."

He retiu'ned to his father's house with liis wife. His father was very glad to see him come back with his wife ; he gave them some- thing to eat and drink, and he said to his son : " Hearken to me, my child ; we are .old now, I and my wife ; thou must stay beside me." And he answered him : " It is well, my father ; if thou sendest me not away, I will dwell with thee."

Isidore Kopernicki.

VIIL— STEAY NOTES ON GEORGE BOEEOW'S LIFE IN

SPAIN.

I WAS little more than a boy when I first heard George Borrow spoken of at the annual dinner given by a connection of my famil}'" to the deputation of the British and Foreign Bible Society in a country town near London. These dinners were very dull affairs to the younger guests, and the general conversation was most oppressive to them. But our interest woke up at the mention of the name of George Borrow : and this is why I remember clearly even now what I heard of him, while I have forgotten almost every other circumstance of these anniversaries. I can distinctly recall one of the secretaries telling of his first meeting with Borrow, whom he found waiting at the offices of the Society one morning ; — how puzzled he was by his appearance ; how, after he had read his letters of introduction,, he wished to while away the time till a brother secretary should arrive, and did not want to say anything to commit himself to such a strange applicant ; so he began by politely hoping that Borrow had slept well. " I am not aware that I feU asleep on the road," was the reply ; " I have w^alked from Norwich to London." (I forget now in how many hours, and when he started.) Then the secretary stated, as I have heard from others, that Borrow said that he had been stolen by Gypsies in his boyhood, had passed several

STKAY NOTES ON GEORGE BORROW'S LIFE IN SPAIN. 151

years with them, but had been recognised at a fair in Norfolk, and brought home to his family by his uncle.

Of late years I have made the acquaintance of the Marquis de Santa Coloma, who was Borrow's companion on ship-board when he was wrecked, and with whom he landed at Cadiz. According to the expression of the Marquis, when they stepped on to the quay at Cadiz, Borrow looked round, saw some Gitanos lounging there, said something that the Marquis could not understand, and immediately " that man became ' une grappe de Gitanos.' " They hung round his neck, clung to his knees, seized his hands-, kissed his feet, so that the Marquis hardly liked to join his comrade again after such close embraces by so dirty a company. The Marquis de Sta. Coloma met Borrow again at Seville. He had very great difficulty in finding him out ; though he was aware of the street in which he resided, no one knew him by name. At last by dint of inquiry and description, some one exclaimed, " Oh ! you mean el Brujo " (the wizard), and he was directed to the house. He^was admitted with great caution, and conducted through a lot of passages and stairs, till at last he was ushered into a handsomely furnished apartment in the " mirador" where Borrow was living vnth Ms vjife and daughter. This last state- ment of M. de Sta. Coloma had always somew^hat puzzled me, until I read Professor Knapp's pamphlet.^ It is evident now that, to his Spanish friends at least, he thus called Mrs. Clarke and her daughter Henrietta his wife and daughter ; and M. de Sta. Coloma evidently beheves that the young lady was Borrow's oivn daughter, and not his step-daughter merely. At this time the roads from Seville to J\Iadrid were very unsafe. Sta. Coloma wished Borrow to join his party, who were going w^ell armed. Borrow said he would be safer with his Gypsies. Both arrived without accident in Madrid; the Marquis's party first. Borrow, on his arrival, told Sta. Coloma that his Gypsy chief had led him by by-paths and mountains ; that they had not slept in a village, nor seen a town the whole way. In Madrid, Borrow used to ride a fine black Andalusian horse, with a Russian skin for a saddle, and without stirrups ; altogether making so con- spicuous a figure that Sta. Coloma hesitated, and it needed all his courage to be seen riding with him. At this period Borrow spent a great deal of money, and lived very freely (i.e. luxuriously) in Spain. From the point of view of the Marquis, a Spanish Eoman Catholic, Borrow was excessively bigoted, and fond of attacking Eoman

1 '•' George Borrow," by Professor W. J. Knapp, of Yale University ; -extracted from The Chautauquan, November 1887.

152 STRAY NOTES ON GEOEGE BORROW'S LIFE IN SPAIN.

I

Catholics and Catholicism. He evidently, however, liked him as a companion ; but he says that Borrow never, as far as he saw or could learn, spoke of religion to his Cypsy friends, and that he soon noticed his difference of attitude towards them. He was often going to the British Embassy, and he thilnks was considered a great bore there- If any one knew the true hiistory of what Borrow did in Spain, it would be the late Lord Clarendon, then Mr. Villiers, and his attaches and secretaries in Madrid.

Santa Coloma had been lone of Zumalacarregui's aide-de-camps, and agent for the Carlist party in England, and it was in returning from one of these missions that he met Borrow on board ship. They encountered one another again in the north of Spain. Borrow, in addition to, or in lieu of, his work as agent for the Bible Society, was acting as special correspondent to the Morning Herald. He organised a system of runners or horsemen to Behobie, and thence of post-chaises to Bayonne, so that the Morning Herald got his letters and despatches sometimes before the Government got theirs. M. de Sta. Coloma is very positive on the point that Borrow's imprisonment in the citadel of Pampeluna had nothing whatever to do with religion, but with his conduct as war correspondent to the Morning Herald. Borrow had written the truth, which was not to the praise of General Quesada. Quesada got hold of him, and by an arbitrary act shut him up in the citadel. Borrow found means to let Santa Coloma know where he was ; and it was by the intercession and secret influence of Santa

Coloma and his Carlist friends, that, on application to Mr. Villiers (Lord Clarendon), pressure was put on Quesada, and Borrow got

released.

Sta. Coloma tells me that Borrow told him that the Spanish

Gypsies were not nearly so pure in speech and blood as are the

English Gypsies.

Borrow's knowledge of Basque seems to have been of the very

slightest ; nothing more than what any tourist with a facility for

language could pick up in a few weeks.

Another point explained to me by Dr. Knapp's pamphlet is that

Borrow was with the Gypsies in Russia. Sta. Coloma had told me

this, but I could not understand how it could be.

There is no difficulty to any one who knows the history of the

first Carlist War, in understanding how, even when the English

Legion was fighting for the Christinas, Borrow found it necessary to

apply to Carlist friends for their intercession to an English Liberal

Minister to get released from imprisonment by a Spanish Liberal

HAND-LIST OF BOOKS, ETC., IN ENGLISH KELATING TO GYPSIES. \n?>

General. The Duke of Wellington gave the telescope which he used at Waterloo to Zumalacarregui as a present, and Zumalacarregui was slain by an English bullet. I find references to the letters in the Morning Herald in Le Camp et la Cour cle D. Carlos, by J. G. Mitchell, Bayonne 1839 ; but with no indication of the author.

Wentworth Webster.!

IX.— HAND-LIST OF BOOKS, ETC., IN ENGLISH EELATING TO GYPSIES. Compiled by H. T. Crofton, 1888.

Academy, The, .... Adams, W. Maurice,

AiNSWORTH, W. HaRRISOX,

Alexander, Francesca, . Allan, Life of James, Ancient and Modern Britons, . Annual Eegister, 1784, . Anstet, F.,

Anthropologia, 1875,

Anthropological Society, 1870, Antiquarian Chronicle, No. 2, Arch^ologia, vol. vii., 1785, Arnold, Matthew, . Asiatic Researches, vol. vii.,

1784. Asiatic Society, Royal, of Great

Britain, vol. ii., 1830, Athen.^um, The, Avery, John, ....

Aylwin,

Axon, W. E. A.,

Various Reviews.

Wandering Tribes of Great Britain. Cassell's

Magazine, Nov. 1883, pp. 728-731. Eookwood, 1839.

Roadside Songs of Tu.scany. 1888. By James Thompson. Newcastle, 1828. Anon. : [D. MacRitchie]. 1884. Bryant's Vocabulary and Marsden's Letter. A Gipsy Fair in Surrey. Harper's Magazine,

March 1888. Dr. Charnock on Roumanian Gypsies, and

Sim Dialect. Mitra's Gipsies of Bengal. Gipsy Kings.

Marsden's Letter and Bryant's Vocabulary. The Scholar Gy]^)sy. Captain David Richardson.

Colonel J. S. Harriot.

Various Reviews.

Origin of the Gipsies. American Antiquarian and Oriental Journal, vol. ix., p. 192.

An open air Romance for Puets, Painters, and Gypsies, with a dedicatory Sonnet to the lieloved memory of George Borrow, the Great High Priest of the Ungenteel. By Theodore Watts. Still (Jan. 1889) unpublished.

Some Transylvanian Gipsy Songs. Manchester Quarterly, No. 7, July 1883.

Stray Leaves. 1888. Gipsy Colour Names.

' Professor Knapp, in a recent letter, makes the following interesting statement : " 1 have a project of writing for the Journal a paper on 'The Sources of the Calo Literature in Bon-ow's Zincali, 1841.' I have all the original MSS. of those sources, and they are not in George Borrow's handwriting ; indeed they are much more correct than he prints them, with sundry pieces he did not print at all, because a little '.strong' for a Bibl.e Society man— a Majors Lil-cngro Manv.sh."

■ VOL. I. — NO. III. L

154: HAND-LIST OF BOOKS, ETC., IN ENGLISH RELATING TO GYPSIES.

B., W., . Bailey, J. E.,

. Gipsies und their Friends. Temple Bar Maga- zine, May, 1876, pp. 65-76. . Les Tchinghianes. ^Owens College Magazine. Jan. 1871, pp. 85-93. [Review of Paspati's book.] Baily's Sporting Magazine, Slang Terms and OrientaljRoots. ByJ.C.M.H. vol. xxi., Nov. and Dec. 1871 ;

Feb. 1872. Baird, Rev. John,

5J 11

Baird, W,,

Barrie, J. M., . Beale, Annie, . Birkbeck, Miss A. M.

Blackwood's Magazine, 1817, „ 1866,

„ „ 1887,

Bohemian, The,

Bombay Literary Society, Boner, Charles, BoRDE, Andrew,

Borrow, George,

Scottish Gypsy's Advocate. Edinburgh, 1839. Report to Scottish Church Society, 1841. Memoir of late Rev. John Baird, minister of

Yetholm. London. Auld Licht Idylls, 1888, pp. 41-44 and 242, 243. Among the Gypsies. Sunday Magazine, 1875. Rural and Historical Gleanings from Eastern

EuroiJe. 1854. [A chapter on Hungarian

Gj^sies.] Articles on Scottish Gypsies. Simson's History of the Gypsies. Transylvanian Tsiganes. Romancist and Novelist's Library. London,

1839. Lieutenant Francis Irvine's Article. 1819. Transylvania. London, 1865. Fyrst Boke of the Introduction of Knowledge.

1548.

Reprinted by

Murray, 1888.

. Bible in Spain.

. Zincali. 1841.

. Lavengro.

. Romany Rye.

. Wild Wales, 1862.

. Romano Lavo-lil. 1874. j

. Embeo e Majaro Lucas. Badajoz, 1837.

. Criscote e Majaro Lucas. Lundra, 1872.

. Macmillan's Magazine, Jan. 1886.

Brand's Popular Antiquities, . Athenaeum, Sept. 1881. See Knapp, Prof.

Bright, Dr. Richard, . . Travels through Lower Hungary. 1818. BRiTiSHAssociATioNatLeeds,1858, Rev. T. W. Norwood.

„ „ „ 1861, Dr. B. C. Smart.

Brockie, William, . . . Gypsies of Yetholm. 1884.

Bryant, Jacob, Archseologia, vol. vii., 1785.

„ „ . . . . Annual Register, 1784.

Bruce,

Burton, Sir Richard F.,

The Court Cave ; or. The Hospitable Gypsies.

Edinburgh, 1816. Sind, and the Races that inhabit that Valley.

London, 1851.

Canning, Elizabeth, Trial of, . By Henry Fielding. 1753.

Carew, Bampfylde Moore, Ad- 1745.

ventures of.

Cassell's Family Magazine, Wandering Tribes of Great Britain, by Adams.

Nov. 1883.

Catherwood, Mary H., . . The Gypsies (" Wide Awake," Boston, U.S.,

April 1885).

HAND-LIST OF BOOKS, ETC., IN ENGLISH RELATING TO GYPSIES. 155

Century JSIagazixe, .

J) )) • • •

Chambers's Encyclopedia,

„ Dr. Robert,

„ Miscellany, vol. xvi.,

„ Journal,

U 5> • •

>5 >» • •

Charnock, Dr., ....

Christian Guardian, 1812,

Church of England and Lam- beth Magazine, 1875.

Churchman's Shilling Magazine,

Clark, E. L., .

Clarke, E. D., .

Cobbold, Rev. Richard,

Collectanea de Rebus Hiber- Nicis, vol. vi.

Contemporary Review, vol. xli.,

Cooke, Keningale, .

CoPSEY, Daniel,

COPSON, H. J., .

CoRNHiLL Magazine, vols, xxvii.,

xxviii., xxix., 1873. CovERLEY, Sir Roger de, Crabb, James,

Craig, A.	R.,
Crawfurd, J.,
Crofton,	H. T.,
5)	M
»	11

Crooke, W.,

Cross, Mrs.,

D'Anvers, N., Deutsch, E., Dighton, Robert, Drake, 0. S. T.,

Visiting the Gypsies. April 1883.

A Gypsy Beauty. 1886.

Article " Gypsies," by E. Deutsch, in 1st cd, ; in 2d, by F. H, Groonie.

Exploits, etc., of Scottish Gypsies. 1821 and 1886.

Account of the Gypsies. 1847.

Greek Gypsies at Liverpool. 1886.

Queen Esther Faa Blyth and the Yetholm Gypsies. 18th Aug. 1883.

Ottoman Gypsies. 1878.

Roumanian Gypsies. Anthropologia, 1875.

On the Gypsy dialect called Sim. Anthropo- logia, 1875.

See Hoyland, p. 189.

Rev. S. B. James.

Sea Drake.

Races of European Turkey. 1878. Travels in various Countries. 1825. John Steggall, the Suffolk Gypsy. 1856. Dr. Charles Vallancey.

E. Gerard. Transylvanian Peoples. Guitar Player, 1881. The Gypsies' Match. Dialect and Manners of Gypsies. Monthly

Magazine, vol. xlvi., 1818. The Gypsy's Warning, c. 1838. Zelda's Fortune, by R. E. Francillon.

'Viij

See Tom Taylor.

Gypsy's Advocate, 1831.

Life of. See Rudall.

Condition of the Gypsies.

Book of the Hand. 1867.

The Origin of the Gypsies. (Read before the Ethnological Society, 17th Feb. 1863).

Dialect of English Gypsies. See Smart.

Early Books on Gypsies. Antiquary, vol. i.

Gip.sy Life in Lancashire and Cheshire. Man- chester Literary Club, vol. iii., 1877.

Former Costume of the Gypsies. Manchester Literary Club, vol. ii. 1876.

English Gypsies under the Tudors. Manchester Literary Club, vol. vi., 1880.

Gipsy Folk-Tales. Manchester Quarterly, 1 882.

Gypsy Tribes of N.-W. Provinces. Indian Antiquary, vol. xvii.

The Spanish Gypsy. By " George EUot." 1869.

. House on Wheels. By De Stolz. 1875. See Chambers's Encyclopedia. Prints. " Gypsey's Prophecy." Dublin, 1780. A Strange People and a Strange Language. Churchman's Shilling Magazine, 1876.

156 HAND-LIST OF BOOKS, ETC., IN ENGLISH RELATING TO GYPSIES.

Dictionary of Canting Crew. c. 1724. Origin and Wanderings of the Gypsies. The Russians at Home and Abroad. 1879. Travels in Austria, Russia, and Turkey. London, 1838. . See Cross.

Poor Janos ; a Tale of Hungarian Gipsy Life. London, 1886. . s.v. "Gypsies." BRiTANNicA,9thed.,s.v. "Gypsies." /See Groome. Metropolitaxa, s.v. "Gypsies." See Renouard. Ethnological Societt, vol. ii., . Dr. B. C. Smart.

E.,B., . . .

Edinburgh Review, 1878, Edwards, H. Sutherland, Elliott,

Eliot, George, . Elmeny, Frank,

Encyclopedia, Rees', 1819,

5)

Fortune Teller, Francillon, R. E.,

See Norwood Gipsy, True-telling Gypsy. See Cornhill Magazine.

Garvock, the Gypsy, a Romance Glasgow Weekly Mail, 1866. of Fifty Years Ago.

Gerard, E.,

Gipsy Chief : A Novel, Gipsies, The : A Tale, Gipsy's Warning : A Tale, , Good Words Magazine,

Grellmann, H. M. G., Grierson, G. a.,

Groome, F. H.,

Gypsy Lore Society's Journal, H., J. CM.,

Haggart, David, Life of, .

Harper's New Monthly Maga- zine, 1882.

Transylvanian Peoples. Contemporary Review, vol. xli.

1823.

Anon. 1842.

Anon.

Rambles with the Romany. By Irvine Mon- tagu ; and see Ralston.

Dissertation on the Gipsies, 1787 and 1807.

English Gipsy Index. Indian Antiquary, 1886.

Arabic and Persian References to Gipsies. Indian Antiquary, vol. xvi.

In Gypsy Tents. 1880.

Gypsies. Encyclopaedia Britannica, 9th ed. ; Chambers's Encyclopaedia, 2d ed.

Gypsy Folk-tales : A Missing Link. National

Review, 1888. 1888, etc.

Slang Terms and Oriental Roots. Sec Baily's

Sporting Magazine. Written in Edinburgh Gaol, 1821. Gypsy Dance, Spanish Vistas.

Harriot, Colonel J. S.,

Hellis, Nellie, Hook, Theodore,

Hotten, J. C, . House on Wheels, Howitt, Richard, HoYLAND, John,

Hugo, Victor,

1888, Anstey's Gypsy Fair in Surrey.

. Observations on the Oriental Origin of the

Romanichal. Royal Asiatic Society of Great

Britain, vol. ii. London, 1830. . Gypsy Jan : A Tale. London, c. 1886. . Martha, the Gypsy ; or. The Fatal Curse : A

Tale. Johnson's Cheap Library, Leeds. . The Slang Dictionary. London, 1864. . See Stolz.

. Gypsy King, and other Poems. 1840. . Historical Survey of the Customs, etc., of the

Gypsies. York, 1816. . The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Various

editions.

HAND-LIST OF BOOKS, ETC., IN ENGLISH RELATING TO GYPSIES. 157 Hunter, William,

Illustrated London News, Indian Antiquary, . Irene and the Gipsies : A Tale, Irvine, Lieut. F., . . ,

James, G. P. R., ... Rev. S. B

Janus ; or, the Edinburgh Literary Almanack, 1826.

Japp, a.,

Johnson, C,

Jones, Hannah Maria,

Kensington, a Monthly Maga- zine, 1879, Kerrigan, T. E., Ketura, the Gypsy Queen,

King, Charles, . . .

Knapp, Prof. Wiliam T., .

land, (	D. G., .
?)	)j
?)	))
))	)>
»	))
'5	)>
))	}j
J>	»
J)	))

Leslie, Emma, ....

Literary and Statistical Maga- zine for Scotland, vols, i., ii. Logan, W, H., . London Society, vol. xlvii.. Lost Sir Massingberd: A Novel, Lucas, Joseph, ....

Biggar and the House of Fleming, 1867, chap. xix.

See Tom Taylor.

See Grierson, Crooke.

Children's Picture Annual, c. 1880.

Similitude between Gypsy and Hindi Lan- guages. Literary Society of Bombay, 1819.

The Gipsy. London, 1835, and other editions. English Gyjisies ; a Monograph, in five chapters. Church of England Magazine. London, 1875. Song of the Gypsy King, from the German.

The Gypsies. Gentleman's Magazine, 1883. Lives of Highwaymen, etc. 1736. Gipsy Mother : A Tale. 1833. Gipsy Girl; or, The Heir of Hazel Dell. c. 1833.

Gipsy : A Tale. By B. L. A.

A Gypsy Beauty. Century Magazine, 1886. People's Pocket Story Books. London, c.

1875. Romany Language of Coin. Notes and Queries,

1884. " George Borrow," The Chautauquan. Nov.

1887. Life of Borrow [in preparation].

English Gipsy Songs. London, 1875.

English Gipsies. London, 1873.

Breitmann Ballads. London, 1872.

The Gypsies. London, 1882.

Johnston's Universal Cyclopaedia, vols, ii., iii.

New York, 1876-77, Arts, "Gypsies" and

" Rommany Language." Russian Gipsies. Macmillan's Magazine, 1879. Playbill of ZiUah : a new romantic drama.

With Romany Song. 1879. Visiting the Gipsies. Century Magazine, 1883, Charlotte Cooper, a Gypsy Beauty, Century

Magazine, 1886, Gypsy Charms. St. James's Gazette, 2d Aug.

1888, The Original Gipsies, Holder ; Vienna, 1888. The Gypsy Queen : A Tale, London. See Leland ; A Gypsy Beauty.

A Pedlai-'s Pack of Ballads, pp. 139-141, 1869. Our Gypsies and the Gypsy Children. James Payn.

Yetholm History of the Gypsies. Kelso, 1882. Petty Romany. Nineteenth Century Maga- zine, 1880.

158 HAND-LIST OF BOOKS, ETC., IN ENGLISH RELATING TO GYPSIES.

Macmillan's Magazine,

Mackenzie and Irby, MacRitchie, D.,

»> » • •

M ACT AG G ART, JoHN, .

Maillard, Annette Marie, Malen, M, E. 0., Marsden, W,,

Marsters, T.,

Mason,

Melville, G. J. Whyte,

Mitchell, Thomas, .

Mitra, Babu R.,

Montagu, Irvine, Monthly Magazine, 1818, MoRwooD, Vernon S.,

Murray, R.,

. Articles on George Borrow ; Russian Gypsies,

by Leland. , Travels in Sclavonic Provinces, 1877. . Ancient and Modern Britons. London, 1884.

. Greek Gypsies at Liverpool. Chambers's Jour- nal, vol. iii., 1886.

. The Gypsies of India. London, 1886.

. Scottish Gallovidian Encyclopedia, 1824, pp. 66-70 and 142.

. Zingra, the Gypsy : A Tale.

. Naomi, the Gypsy Girl : A Tale.

. See Archosologia, 1785.

. See Annual Register, 1784.

. Poetical Manual. 18,33.

. Border Tour.

. Katerfelto, 1875; Black but Comely, 1879.

. History of Thomas Mitchell, born and educated among the Gypsies. 1816.

. Gipsies of Bengal. Anthropological Society. London, 1870.

. Rambles with the Romany. See Good Words.

. See D. Copsey.

. Our Gypsies. 1885.

. Gipsies in England. Victoria Magazine, 1867.

. Clarissa, the Gypsy : A Tale.

. The Gypsy Scare : A Tale.

. The Gipsies of the Border. Galashiels, 1875.

National Review, 1888, . . See Groome.

Nevill, L., .... a Romany Queen. London.

Newbold, The Gipsies of Egypt. Royal Asiatic Society.

London, 1856. Nineteenth Century Maga- Petty Romany. Joseph Lucas.

ziNE, vol. viii. NoRMAND, Hugh de, , . . The Gipsy Queen. New York, 1882. Norwood Gypsy; or, Universal

Dream Book, 1810. Norwood, Rev. T. W., . . Race and Language of Gypsies. British Asso- ciation, Leeds, 1858. Notes and Queries, . . . Passim.

Oliver, Ousely, W., Palmer, Prof. E. H., Paspati, a. G., .

Fayn, Jambs, .... People of Turkey, pp. 158-168. Phillips, George S. ("January

Searle"). Philological Society, 1863, Pinkerton, W., ....

Rambles in the Border.

Travels in the East. London, 1823.

English Gipsy Songs. See Leland.

Memoir on Language of Gypsies in Turkish

Empire. New Haven, 1862. Journal of American Oriental Society, vol. vii. [Same Memoir.] Lost Sir Massingberd.

The Gypsies of the Danes' Dike. London,

1864. See Dr. B. C. Smart. Somersetshire Gypsy Vocabulary. 1780.

HAND-LIST OF P.OOK.S, ETC., IN ENGLISH RELATING TO GYPSIES. 1 nO

Potter, H. T., . pottinger, h., .

Quarterly Eeview, ,

Ragged Uproar; or, Oxford

Roratory : A Dramatic Satire. Ralston, "W. R. J., .

Ranger of the Tomb; or. Gipsy's

Prophecy : A Romance. Renouard, Rev. Cecil, Richardson, Captain D.,

Roberts, Samuel,

)) ))

RuDALL, John, . Rutherford,

Saintsbury, George, Scott, Sir Walter, Scot, Reginald, Sheldon, . Sims, G. R., Simson, Walter,

SiMsoN, James,

)) ?>

Smart, B. C,

Smith, George,

of Coalville,

,, Hubert,

Smith, Laura A., Stanley, A. P., . Steggall, John, Stood ART, Jane T., Stolz, de, Madame, Strettell, Alma, Stuart, Charles, Sykes,

Tattershall, Taylor, Tom,

Dictionary of Cant, etc.

Travels in Beloochistan and Scinde. 1816.

Various Reviews. 1760.

A Gipsies' Christmas Gathering. Good Words. 1868.

1847.

" Gypsy" : Encyclopa3dia Metropolitana. 1845.

Asiatic Researches, vol. vii. 1784.

Account of the Bazeegurs. 1812.

The Gypsies. 1836, and other editions.

Parallel Miracles. 1830.

Life of James Crabb. London, 1854.

Southern Counties Register.

See George Borrow, ISIacmillan's Magazine.

Guy Mannering and Quentin Durward.

Discovery of Witchcraft. 1651.

History of Berwick.

The Romany Rye : A Drama. 1882.

History of the Gypsies. 1865, and other editions.

The Gipsies. 1875.

Social Emancipation of the Gypsies. 1884.

John Bunyan. 1880.

Scottish Churches and the Gipsies. 1881.

The Gipsies, etc. 1883.

Was John Bunyan a Gipsy 1 1882.

Dialect of the English Gipsies. English Philo- logical Society, 1863.

Dialect of the English Gipsies. 1875 ; and see Crofton, H. T.

British Association, Leeds. 1861.

Ethnological Society, vol. ii.

Incidents in a Gipsy's Life. 1886.

I 've been a Gypsying. 1883.

Gypsies and their Children. London Society, 18—.

Gipsy Life. 1880.

Tent Life in Norway with English Gipsies. London, 1873.

Through Romany Song-Land (in preparation).

The Gipsies ; a Poem. Oxford, 1842.

See Cobbold.

In Cheviot's Glens. 1887.

House on Wheels. 1875. .Songs of Spanish Gipsies. 1887.

David Blythe, the Gipsy King. 1883.

Local Records of Durham, etc.. vol. i.

Tobias Smith, executed at Bedford. 1792. Sir Roger de Coverley, 1851 .

160 HAND-LIST OF BOOKS, ETC. Taylor, Tom, ....

Temple Bar Magazine,

Times, The,

Thompson, James,

Thomson, W.,

True Telling Gipsy ; or, New

Fortune Teller. TucKEY, Janet, .... Turner, C. J. Eibton,

Vallancey, Charles,

Victoria Magazine, . Walker, E. G.,

Watts, Theodore,

Weekly Miscellany, vol. xvi., .

Weylland, John M. .

Wilson, John Mackay,

, IN ENGLISH RELATING TO GYPSIES.

Gipsy Experiences of a Eoumany Eei. Illus- trated London News, 1851.

Origin and History of the Gypsies. Illustrated London News, 1856.

Bath, 1870.

Gipsies and their Friends. By W. B, 1876.

1872, Oct. 11, 17 ; p. 1, column 2.

Life of James Allan. Newcastle, 1828.

Mammuth. 1789.

1805, and other editions.

English Gipsy iSongs. See Leland. History of Vagrants and Vagrancy.

1887.

Woodcock, Henry, Wotherspdon, .

Zana, the Gipsy, or. Heiress of

Clair Hall. Zelda's Fortune, Zingra, the Gipsy, . ZiNGARi, The : A Poem, .

Language of Gipsies of Bohemia, etc. Collec- tanea de Eebus Hibernicis. Dublin, 1786. See Morwood, V. G.

The Fortune Teller; or. Heir of Hazelmore: A Eomantic Tale.

See Aylwin and Borrow (Athenaeum).

1779.

Eound the Tower; or. The Story of the London City Mission. 1875.

Tales of the Borders, 1835 : (a) The Faa's Eevenge ; (b) Judith the Egyptian ; (c) Pol- warth on the Green ; (d) The Countess of Cassilis ; (e) The Hawick Spate; (/) The Gipsy Lover.

The Gipsies. London, 1865. A Word for the Eomany Chals. Cheltenham College Magazine, 1873.

London, c. 1877.

See CornhUl Magazine and Francillon. By A. M. Maillard. Bridge water, 1841.

X._A VOCABULAEY OF THE SLOVAK-GYPSY DIALECT.

By E. von Sowa.

Authorities.

M. — F. Miklosich, Beitrage zur Kenntniss der Zigeuner-Mundarten, iv., "Wien, 1878. In this work the author deals with — (1) a story obtained by I. Kluch from the Carpathian Gypsies (i. a. p. 1 ff), — and

A VOCABULARY OF THE SLOVAK-GYPSY DIALECT. 161

*^T. — (2) Eight stanzas collected by I. Eotarides at Drienovo. The speech of the latter is, as I tried to prove in another place, a sub- dialect of the Hungarian- -not, like that of my own and Kluch's texts, of the Bohemian — dialect.

M. W. — (3) Vocables occurring in the M. W. (see under " Abbre- viations ") of the same author, and marked by him as Carpathian ; the source of these vocables, which for the most part do not occur in the text published by him, I do not know.

K. — A.KaKna,La, langue des Tziganes slovaques ; Posen, 1880. This author states that he collected his texts and vocables — (1) in the environs of Pest'an (Postven), Nove Mesto (Vagh Ujhely), Trencin (Trencsen), ^eliu (solna), and St. Martin.

*K. — (2) This refers to that portion of the above work which deals with fifteen stanzas collected by Dr. Kopernicki in the district of Gomor (south-east border of the Slovak territory). The vocables occurring in these stanzas belong to the Hungarian dialect.

S. — (1) The texts (nineteen tales and one song) collected by myself, in the years 1884 and 1885, at Trencin — Teplice (Tapolcza), a part of which has been published in the Zcitschrift der deutschen morgenldndischen Gesellschaft,\6\. xxxix., of 1885, p. 509 — ib., another part in my Grammar of the Slovak-Gypsy Dialect {Die Mundart der slovakischcn Zigcmicr \ Gottingen, 1887). The rest has not yet been published.

(2) A set of sentences composed by myself, and translated by my Gypsies into their language.

(3) A collection of words obtained by me in conversation with them.

Spelling.

The alphabet, which will be used in the Vocabulary is the follow- ing : — a, d (Gr.i a), h, ch (Gr., M. K., c), d, d', dz, e, 4,f, g, h, x (Gr., M. ch\ K. li), i, i,j (Gr., M., K. dz), k, hli, I, I' (M., K. often l\ m, n, n (K., n or ni), o, 6, p, pli, r, s, sh (Gr., M., K. s), t, th, t' (K. ti), t'h, ts (Gr., M., K. c), «, ^, V, y (Gr. M., K. j\ z, zh (Gr., M., K. ^).

Abbreviations.

Pa. — A. Paspati, £tudes sur les Tchinghianes ou Bohemiens de I'empire ottoman : Constantinople, 1870.

M. — F. Midler, Beitriige zur Kentniss der Romsprache, i. : Wieu, 1869; ii., ib. 1872.

1 My Grammar, quoted above.

162 A VOCABULAKY OF THE SLOVAK-GYPSY DIALECT.

Jcs. — J. JeUna, Eomani (jib, Qili jazyk cikansky : 2d edit., Prague, 1883 ; whenever I quote the 3d edit. (Leipzig, 1886), I shall mark it with Jes. 3.

M. W. — F. MiUosicli, Die Mundarten und Wanderungen der Zigeuner Europas (12 parts) : Wien, 1872-80.

Ptt. — A. Pott, Die Zigeuner in Europa und Asien : Halle, 1844 ; ii., ib. 1845.

a. — Indicates a word once only once occurring in the materials out of which my Vocabulary is composed, or a meaning of a word estab- lished by only one sentence.

SI. — The sub-dialects (Mundarten) spoken by the Gypsies living among Slovaks, and belonging for the one part to the Bohemian- and for the other to the Hungarian- Gypsy dialects.

Gt. — The dialect of the Greek Gypsies.

Bm. „ „ Roumanian Gypsies.

Hng. „ „ Hungarian Gypsies.

Bhm. „ „ Bohemian Gypsies.

Mag. „ Magyar languaage.

Btim. „ Eoumanian language.

Serv. „ Servian language,

Slavon.,, (Old) Slavonic language.

Tchk. „ Tchek language.

Slov. „ Slovak dialect of the latter.

A.

A, a., K., intj., ah ! oh ! dwellest. Even the Tchk. and Slov.

Achau, M., S., achav ; K., vb. intr., pt, pf. achlo. Gr., Hng., Bhm. ; in Gr, the ]3t. pf. is achilo. (1) To become pale achle tovarisha — then they be

often use one and the same word for " remaining " and " dwelling." Achori, a., M., S., f. ? (yachori ?), dim ; cf. yakh. The form and the gender

came journeymen ; lestar achl'as hahni must be concluded from the only

— by him she became pregnant. (2) instance : — haV - achora, black eyes ;

To be ; akakanah ach mre sovnakune eye.

dciieha — now be with my golden ^rfa, M., K., S., dem. pron., f., ada, pi.

god (farewell) ; cf Slov. Btid' s ala ; K., but these forms are used in-

BoJiom. T'ho achen/ — he. silent! differently ; Gr., Bhm. wanting, Hng.

(3) To remain; adai tro vod'i achla, =S1. (1) This, the mentioned, the

hie tut mro rom muddrla — here thy past ; amenge vareko ada rat savoro

soul will remain — see, my husband avri chord'as — somebody this night

will kill thee. (4) To continue ; a., has stolen all our goods ; Na pil'om

achellas o biyau iifta tsela horsh — the na hcd'om ada tselo kurko — I have

nuptials continued seven whole years, neither drunk nor eaten all this week.

M. W, (5) To dwell ; I'ijeha man K. (2) This, the following ; a., hem,

Mre ke tute, kai tu aches — thou wilt dikena, so me ada rat kerava — why,

bear me home to thee where thou you will see, what I shall do this night.

A VOCABULARY OF THE SLOVAK-GYPSY DIALECT.

163

Adadire, a., K., adv. of dives, Gr. wanting, the Gr. correspondent being avdives, avdics from another base ; Hng. adadiy ; Bhm. adadives, to-day (lit., this day). Ada divesoro, a., K., adv., dim, id. ; adal'inai, a., S., adv. ; Bhm., SI. : (cf. I'inai), this year (lit., this summer).

Adai, M., K., S., yadai ; K. adv. ; Gr. wanting ; Hng., Bhm. = SI. (1) here ; adai tro vod'i achla — here thy soul will remain. (2) Hither ; so adai avl'al ? — why didst thou come hither ?

Adardc, M., W., S., adv. ; Gr. wanting ; Bhm., it means " here " ; cf. in the Moravian var. of the Bhm. d. karde, " where." Hither : Yav adarde yelh choneste — come here after a month.

Adava, M., K., S., dem. pron., f. adaya ; pi. adala K. ; Gr., Hng., Bhm. want- ing ; Pol., Kuss., Ital. = SI. ; this ; of whom, or which is spoken ; le tri- tonejeneha so herd'an ? — so kerd'am ? mangeUas amendar the xal, ta lil'am leske jakha avri. Ta adava som mc. oda terno hrdlis auka phcnd'as — De tertio quid fecistis ? — quid fecimus ? petebat a nobis edere, tum sumsimus ei oculos foras. Tum hie, sum ego ille juvenis, rex ita dixit, M.

Adebor, a., S., adv., Gr. wanting ; there is formed abor, Pa. 127, from another base ; Hng., Bhm, wanting. So much ; attributively used in the only instance we have ; kai you, aso gdjo dil'ino, il'as adebor love ? — whence did he, such a foolish peasant, take so much

money

X

Adeso, S., pron. dem., Gr. ; Hng., Bhm. wanting ; Hng. corresponds aso, Bhm. akadeso ; both from other bases ; Em. = S1. Such; ke rut' i mange trironmi nuk thovel he shut'el dui adese homolki — to-night thy wife may put and dry two such whey-cheeses for me. The meaning may be : such a food, which is called whey-cheese, Kind'as peske papiris adeso har orndtos — he bought for himself such a paper like pontifi- cals ; Adeso bdro jukel — such a large dog ; Mange aneha naifeder mol te piyel h-adeso mas — thou wilt bring me the best wine for drinking and even (?) such meat.

Adetsi, a., M. W., adv. ; cf. M. W.

X. 131 ; Gr. wanting ; cf. atsi ; Hng. wanting, Bhm. = SI. ; so much, so many.

Agor. See Yagor.

Ax, read ay, S., interj, ; Slov. ach, ah ! oh ! alas !

Akada, M., S.,akado, a., K., pron. dem., Gr., Hng., Bhm. wanting ; cf. Bhm. akadarde, " look there ! " from the same base ; this, whom one can show, or look at ; dava tumenge akada shukdr id'a — I shall give you this fine dress. (The speaker is bearing the clothes on his shoulders.) So hi tut ? hi akada bashno — what have you ? I have this cock. (He is showing it.)

Akadai, a., M. W., adv. ; Gr., Hng., Bhm. wanting ; here.

Akadava, K., S., pron. dem., f. akadaya. pi. akadala, K. ; Gr., Hng., Bhm, wanting ; " this." The very meaning cannot be stated. Kal. gives no translation. My Gyjjsies confirmed the existence of that word, but ex- plained it incorrectly as " so, in this very manner," Slov. takto. The only two instances are : sako dives mosi te xalas (sc. o drakos), yekha manushna. Ax devla, so pes akadava kerla ? I^dne mozhnd vets,kai pes sako dives oh drak- oske te del te xal — every day he, the dragon, must eat a woman. Oh God ! what will be done 1 It is impossible that one can give food to the dragon every day, Te na tu akadava chiveha, akada rovl'i, uches and o I'leba — if thou wilt not throw this stick highly into the heavens. In both sentences the use of akadava is not clear,

Akakanak, S., adv., Gr., Hng. wanting ; cf. the following vocable ; Bhm. = SI. (1). Now ; akakanak ach deiieha, Idcho shukdr phral — now, farewell, good and beautiful brother ! (2). Forthwith, instantly (?) ; me tut akakanak prv- hdl'inava —I instantly shall put thee to the proof. Perhaps akakanak even in this instance means " now." Akana, S. adv., Gr. ; Bhm. = SI., and Akanak, M., K., S., adv. ; Hng. akanak, akanik, akdnek ; now then. Akana les mind'ar muddrlas — then he killed him immediately ; akanak mange 2}hen, soske tu ole bakren atsi xas — now tell me why thou eatst the sheep so much.

164

A VOCABULARY OF THE SLOVAK-GYPSY DIALECT.

Akarav, M., W., akard'as, vii. b. ; akhdrav ; M. W. akerav ; K., vb. tr., Gr. akarava, akerava ; Bhm. akarav; "to groan ;" Hng. akyarav. Gypsies confirmed the existence of the vocable, but afterwards substituted for it vich- inav q.v. To call ; akeren man pro hiau — they invite me to the wedding. K. Akaso, M. W., pron. dem. Mikl. states (M. W. xi. 22) that he has doubts about the word, but he gives an instance of of its use ; this ? such ? besh tuke pr- oda grast, al'e the le akase le lukes- tanentsa id'entsa — sit upon the horse, but with these (such ?) soldiers' coats. — M. W. Akatar, K., prp., Gr.=Sl., but means " hence " ; Hng., Bhm. wanting ; around ; cf. katar. Akauka, M., adv., Gr., Hng., Bhm. wanting. So ; yek yekhatar akauka pes phuchenas — una ub una ita se interrogabant, M. Akava, M. W., a. ; akavo, a. ; akova, a., K. pron. dem. ; pi. akala, M. W. ; the form akalo, a., K., given as a nom. sing, seems to be an oblique form of the same. Gr., Hng. = Si. ; Bhm. wanting ; this, K, Ake, S., adv., Gr., Hng., Bhm. wanting ; there ; voici ; hem ake tut na has ani yekh nevo — why, there thou hadst not even one kreuzer ; he tut dava le ake dui neve — and I shall give to thee the two kreuzers here. Akor, K. akor, ]\I. adv. ; Mag. aJckw ;

" then " ; used as in Magyar. Akurdt, S., adv., Slov. akurdt, from the German ; (1) just entirely ; (2) but now ; at that very moment ; (3) in- deed ? used as in Slovak. Akhor, a., K., s. m., Gr., Hng., Bhm. = SL, and Gr., Hng. akor ; K. translates, noisetier ; in the other d. it means the nut only, and probably even in this. Al'e, S. ale, M. conj. ; Slov. ale ; " but,"

" though," used as m Slovak. Ale'bo, S. conj. ; Slov. alebo ; "or," used

as in Slovak. Amdro, M., K., S. poss. pron., Gr. amaro,

Hng., Bhm. = SI. ; our. Ambri, S. amhro, M. W. s. f. ; pi. ambre, S. yambri, M. W. ,• Gr., Hng., Bhm. ambrol, f. ; pear, M. W. It is

said to mean also " apple." The form of the word is proved by the sen- tences : oda ambri nane gul'i — this pear is not sweet, S. ; de mange oda ambre — give me those pears, S.

Ambrdri a., S. s. f. (dim. of the former), pear.

Amen, a., or. anun ? S. (Slov. amen), amen, finishing a tale.

Amen, M., K., S., pron. Pers. (Gr., Hng., Bhm. = Sl.),we.

Amoi'ns, M. W., S. s. m. (M. W.) ; Gr. amuni ; f. Hng. amoni, mani, f. Bhm. = SI. (The gender has not been marked by Jes.), anvil.

Anau, M. W., S. ; anav, K. vb. tr. pi. pf. ando (Gr. anava, Hng. Bhm. = SI.) 1. To bring ; akanak mosi t-anes so me kamava te j)iyel he te xal — now thou must bring me, what I shall wish, to drink and to eat. 2. To bear; Pdni anes? dost thou bear water ?

3. T© ofi"er (a., basaviben, to serenate), K. ani susie, mri pirdni, basaviben.

4. To deprive, M. W. ; Man and'as yepashe kral'osthar the mra rakl'atar — he has deprived me of half my kingdom and my daughter.

Aiida (and) ande, M. K. S., ando { = and-o) K., prp. (Gr. ande, ane; Hng. ande, seems to be wanted in Bhm.) 1. In. — Anda gono ehas o rashai — in the sack was the priest ; you has and-o sasikdno mdro — he was in military service (lit. in the soldiers' bread). 2. Into. — Java me yepash rat anda kos- haris — at midnight I shall go into the sheepfold. 3. To. — Auka chid'as and-e phu imar zhi and-e men — so he threw (him) into the earth up to the neck.

Andal, M. S., prp., Gr., Hng. = SI., Bhm., wanting ; out from ; ta angoder andal m/ri tarishna xaha — and first we will eat from my sack, M.

Andar, a., M. W., prp. ; (cf. the fore- going) : Uxt'el avri sar andar chikate — he jumps out, like from mud.

Andral, M. W., prp. (Gr., Hng., Bhm.= SI.), out from.

Andre, S., andro ( = andr-o), K., adv. prp. ; 1. in, into (adv.) avVais andre, pihend'as le rashaske — he went in (and) said to the priest. 2. Into (prp.) ; andre yek foros avle trin ase dromaskre

A VOCABULA.RY OF THE SLOVAK-GYPSY DIALECT.

165

tnanusha — three travellers came into a town.

And'el'is. S., s. m. (SIov. andel), angel.

Angal, M. W. K., S., angalo{ = angal-o), anglo { = angl-o), K., prp., Gr., Hng. wanting, Bhm. = Sl. 1. Out of; Leske mind'ar e sviri pel'as angal o vast — immediately the hammer fell out of his hand. 2. Before ; Sakonake moxto dinas angal o oliaris — for each (of them) he gave (put) a coffin before the altar ; angal odova, before that, formerly, M. W. 3. In presence of ? n., K., Angal tute tut kamav — in thy presence, I love thee, K. ; angal dilos- kero, M. W.

Angal'i. s. f. (the form is concluded from the folloAving ; Gr., Hng. angali, Bhm. wanting), armful.

Angal' dri, M. W., s.f. (dim. of the fore- going), armful.

Angar, s. m., concluded from the follow- ing (Gr., Hng., Bhm, = SI.), coal.

Angaroro, M. W., s. m. (dim. of the foregoing), a piece of coal.

Angaruno, K., adj. of coal.

Anglal, M. W., adv. (Gr., Hng., Bhm. = SI.), formerly.

Angle (ayigl-o), a., k. prp. (Grch., Hng. = SI.; Bhm. wanting), before.

Angluno, M., adj. (Gr., Hng. SI. ; Bhm. wanting), fir.st, former.

Angoder, M., K., S., adv., formerly, before that ; ta angoder andal mri tarishua xaha — and first we will eat from my sack, i.e. before we take from the others, M.

Angmsti, S., s.f. (Gr. angrusti,angrusht' ; Hng. angrusti ; Bhm. = SI.), ring, finder-ring.

Angusht, S., angushto, M., K., S., s. m., (Gr. angust, angusht ; Hng., Bhm., angushto), finger.

Angutno, M. W., adj. (Gr., Hng., Bhm. wanting ; Gr. corresponds anglutno from another base), first, former.

Alii, M. W., S,, adv. conj., Slov. ani. 1. Nor ; 2. not even ; 3. only not ; with the imperative mood ; used as in Slovak.

Aproha, a., S., s. m., SI., Jes. 3.^ The word is not found in any other Gypsy

dialect as far as I know : its gender I concluded from the only sentence in which the word occurs ; forge. Aol'as kere beshchas ])al o aproha, Was te kerel mind'ar oda kl'id'i — he came home, sat behind the forge, began to make the key.

Asav, M. W., vb. itr. (Gr. asava ; Hng. = SI. ; Bhm. asav man, the correspond- ing Tchk. vb. being reflexive), to laugh.

Asavav, a., M. W., vb. itr. (Hng. = SI.), id.

Asavo, a., S., pron. dem. (Gr. asavko ; Hng. asavo, asevo ; Bhm. wanting), such.

Aso, M., K., S., pron. dem. (Gr., Bhm. wanting : in the latter being used akadeso, from another base ; Hng. = SI.). 1. Such ; 0 ram dinas te sivel asa id' a har rashai — the Gypsy caused to sew such a vestment like (the vest- ment of) a priest ; So shai aso zasluz- hinlas, so zakdntrinel duye vckl'en ? — what might deserve such a man, who brings to ruin two souls ? trin ase dromaskre manusha — three travellers ( = of such men travelling), K. 2. Often it is used in the sense of very. Aso bdro chiriklo, eagle, hawk, S. ; aso bdro halo, hedgehog, a. s. on. 3. So ? a.. You aso koshad'as les — he chided him so (in such a manner).

Aspoii, M. W., S., adv. (Slov. aspon), at least ; used as in Slovak.

Asharau, ashdrau, a., S., vb. tr. (Gr. wanting; Hng., Bhm. = SI.), to praise. Ashdrau man, a., S., vb. reti., to boast ; Chak piale pes kamle kere te ashdrcl, hoi yon muddrde — then they would boast at home, that they had killed (him).

Ashta, S., intj. (Gr. shta, ashta, " attends," Pa. 494 ; Hng. wanting ; Bhm., Jes. = SI. ; cf. M. W. vii. 7(5), a summons to give something ; Germ, "her mit!" Ashta, daiko, oda pdrno kosnoro — Mother, give (me) the white kerchief !

Atar, S., atxar, *M. (Gr., Hng. = Si. ; Bhm. wanting, there being used adatar from another base), from here.

1 P. Jesina had detected this vocable in the dialect of the Bhm. Gypsies before 1 had heard it from the SI. He was aware of its meaning, but not of its gender.

166

A VOCABULARY OF THE SLOVAK-GYPSY DIALECT.

from there. Uzh me tut akanak vimozhinava atar — already I shall help thee (to come out) from here.

Atoska, K., prp, (Gr., Hng., Bhm, want- ing), after. Kana katar mande upre nshchcs atoska tu pal amende ineres — when thou gettest up near me, thou wilt die, after the other, K.

Atsi,^., at'si, M. W., adv. (Gr. only the correlative keti is found, Pa. 24, with attja, "here," to which Mikl.,M.W. vii. 12, puts it : it has in common but the demonstrative element ; Hng. at'i, at'hi ; Bhm. wanting, there being found adetsi from another base), so much, so many ; so tu kames, hoi mange afsi bersh adai solgdrines? — what dost thou claim for having served to me so many years? Atsi e/ias, azh la lopataha churdelas pr-e vcrda — so much was there, that he threw it with shovel upon the car ; Soske tu ale hakren atsi xas? — why dost thou eat the sheep so much ?

Auka, M., K., S., aiike, a., K., adv. (Gr. cf. avaka, "this"; Hng. avka, auka ; Bhm. avoka; but Morav. = Sl.) 1. So (in comparisons) ; Auka has yon harvale sar yekh raya — so rich they were, like (some) gentlemen. 2. Then, in this case (Germ, "so") in the con- clusion following a conditional sen- tence. Kana man na rakeha yekh hersheha adai, auka piheneha — if thou shalt not find me here after a year, then thou mayst say. 3. So very, so much ; Auka les mol'inlas |;?-c mro sovnakuno devel — he begged him so much by my golden God. 4. Then, consequently, therefore ; -B romni leske phendJas, hoi te den pre sluzh ha duyen oh rdklen, o duyen te den pr-o remeslos ; auka len diiias, le Yankos he le Gashparis, te viuchinel — the wife told him, that they may send two of the boys to the service and dedicate two to the trade (profession) ; there- fore he apprenticed them, John and Caspar.

Avau, M., S., avav, K., vb. itr., iiup- yav, pt.pf. avlo ; cf. ovav and shevav (Gr. avava, Hng., Bhm. = SI.) 1. To come ; Kana avri sikile, avle kere — when they had served out their time.

they came home. 2. To go (with pal) : na phiryom pal late, avl'as yoi pal mande — I did not follow her, (but) she followed me. 3. To be (have) ; it supplants the forms of som in the future tense, rarely in the potential mood (imperfect) : Man avla nisht pash mande — I shall have nothing /^with me). 4. To become ; Pale acavas tri romni — then (afterAvards) I would become thy wife, S. I can- not fully explain the sense of avau in the following sentence : Tu ire mcribnesthar aveha — thou wUt lose thy life ; cf. German, Du wirst um dein Leben kommen, M. W. 5. To arise, a., S. ; Ole raklores avlas sov- nakuni cherxeu and o kol'in — to that boy a golden star arose on the breast.

Aver, M. W., K., S., adj. (Gr., Hng., Bhm., SI.) 1. Another : its use with ordinal numbers is noteworthy : Papales chak les aver trito shebrakos stretn'ind'as — again another third beggar met him (probably, another b., viz. the third). 2. The second (either there may be enumerated but two or more) ; cf. the tale Kal. p. 104, No. 39 — Aver dives, S., to-morrow.

a., S., adj. (cf. jeno), another, not difi'ering from the simple aver. Aver- jeno kind'as bakren — another (man) bought sheep.

avreskero, K., etr anger, being the gen. olaver.

avrival, a.. S., avreval, M. W. (cf. val-var), another time, the second time.

Avgoder, augoder, M. W., adv. (cf. Gr. avgo, " the first " ; Hng. wanting ; Bhm, avgoder), formerly.

Avral, M. W., adv. (Gr. avryal, Hng. avriyal, Bhm. wanting), from outside.

Avri, M. S., adv. (Gr., Hng., Bhm. = SI.), out. It is frequently composed with verbs, thus : jau avri, I go out ; sikl'o- vav avri, I learn out, I serve out my time ; Lau avri, I take out. In Tu dai mri shukdr, hoi man avri ikerd'al, the meaning of the verb (cf. ikerau) is not clear.

Azh, S., conj. (Slov. az). 1. Till, until ; 2. so that ; its use being the same as in Slovak.

REVIEWS. 16'

EEVIEWS.

Strmj Chapters in Literature, Folk-lore, and Archceology. By W. E. A. Axon. J. Heywood, London, 1888. Pp. xii., 308.

The second chapter in this interesting volume is on " Colour- names amongst the English Gypsies." It was read as a paper at the Manchester Meeting of the British Association in 1887, and deals with the development of the colour-sense. Mr. Axon, after a statement of curious facts, arrives at the conclusion that " it is clear that there is no relation between the colour perception and the colour nomenclature of the English Gypsies." H. T. C.

English Waiifaring Life in the Middle Ages. By J. J. Jusseeand. Translated into English by Lucy Toulmin Smith. London : T. Fisher Unwin, 1889.

The statement, on p, 17G of this book, that the Gypsy race " remained entirely unknown in England till the fifteenth century," and that consequently " we have nothing to do with it here," precludes us from making more than a passing reference to this admirable edition of a very instructive work. Yet it is there acknowledged that the Gypsies are specially the representatives of "the caste of wanderers " in England, and the book has much to say of itinerant fiddlers, jugglers, and mountebanks, all favourite Gypsy occupations. The tinkers referred to on p. 232 must midoubtedly have been Gypsies, but their date is subsequent to the above limit. However, since the fifteenth century is as yet the earliest recorded date for the appear- ance of Gypsies (under that name) in England, we must assume that none of those mediaeval nomads were Gypsies.

The Quarter's Eecord.

Nothing connected with Gypsy study, during the past three months, has been of such interest to this Society as the movement of sympathy and affiliation evinced by various kindred associations. We have learned of the formation in Budapest of a Folk-Lore Society, having " Gypsy Lore " as one of its special departments ; and nowhere else can the subject be studied to greater advantage, or with more zeal and scholarship. The deep interest in Gypsiology that is taken by the savants of Budapest and throughout Austria-Hungary, is a thing beyond question, as, indeed, our President's letter testifies.

168 KEVIEWS.

We hail with pleasure the appearance of this new Society, and espe- cially the establishment of its " Gypsy " section. This latter, through the medium of Professor Herrmann, invites the co-operation of mem- bers of our own Society ; and there is every prospect that each will prove of marked benefit to the other in their common study.

What we think may be regarded as a similar movement has been initiated in France by M. Paul Sebillot, of the SocUU des Traditions Populaircs. In the December number of the Revue of that Society, he calls the attention of his fellow-members to the existence of this Association ; and he, very happily, gives them a " lead " with two pages of his own Notes sur les BoMmiens, which form an appreciable addition to the sum of our knowledge.^ Now that the attention of French folk-lorists has been drawn to the subject, there is good reason for believing that this article is but the precursor of many others of the kind. Although France seems now-a-days to be very barren of Gypsies in its central and northern parts, it was not always so, and much can yet be gleaned from popular references and traditions respecting them. There must be many references to Gypsies in local records, as well as in documents better known to history ; and in many parts of France the race and its language can be studied any day.

It is also encouraging to record that at last session of the Heal Academia de la Historia in Madrid, the question of joining the mem- bership of our Society was decided in the affirmative. Spain offers so rich a field for the study of Gypsiology that we may already con- gratulate ourselves on this decision of the Koyal Academy.

Certainly not the least important of the quarter's events is the connection established with the Folk-Lore Society, from which the happiest results may be predicted. Our interchange with the Journal of American Folk-Lore is also a matter for congratulation ; and we cordially echo the wish, expressed in the last number of that Journal, " that this Society may find many friends in the United States."

1 M. Sebillot gives several local terms for " Gypsy," of whicli the most frequent is " Bohemien," variously modified. The Burgundian " Gyptien " is almost identical with the English "Gyptian." In Languedoc, as in Roussillon, the Spanish "Gitano" is used. But Juhccien, C'aumaro, Catin, and Sairradin provoke further inquiry. The last may be only a modification of Sarrasin, once a French term for a Gypsy. A caste of Chai'guerauds, who form the population of a small village in the Roannais district, and who are alleged to be of Gypsy descent, and to have the power of casting spells, would no doubt yield something to an investigator. Another addition to the many legends connecting Gypsies with the life of Christ is that which permits the Gypsies to steal five sous every day, "because a Gypsy woman hid the child Jesus in her basket at the time of Herod's proscription." Several popular proverbs and sayings relative to Gypsies are dra\vn from varioxxs parts of France, the most striking of which is this one of the seventeenth century : "The Gypsy woman tells the fortune of other people, and the poor wretch doesn't know her own."

NOTES AND QUERIES. 169

NOTES AND QUEEIES. I.

Uniformity of ORTiioGRArHY.

We have been favoured by Dr. Kopernicki with the following remarks, in answer to a request for his opinion upon this subject : —

" Uniformity of orthography in the transcription of Gypsy texts is beyond ques- tion an urgent necessity, and of primary importance, in the study of the various Gypsy dialects. I therefore warmly applaud the remarks of Mr. Crofton, who has just raised this important question as one deserving immediate discussion. So far as I myself am concerned, Ijeing nothing more than a faithful cojiyist of this interesting language, and not having any scientific knowledge in linguistic matters, I would never presume to speak as a leading authority in this question, so difficult to solve, — although really only difficult in appearance. In my opinion, Miklosich's orthography is the one which conforms best with all the dialects, and which would only demand a few insignificant signs for the expression of purely local deviations from the principal dialects."

Dr. Kopernicki then subjoins a list which clearly indicates " the orthography adopted for my Polish-Gypsy texts, which is essentially that of Miklosich, with certain additional modifications, rendered indispensable by the phonetic peculiarity of this dialect." " These are all the sounds of the Polish dialect of Gypsy, and apparently of all the others. There is absolutely nothing wanting for the most dis- tinct and faithful expression of every special sound, without the least confusion or ambiguity. I find it therefore completely adapted to this language." The total number of the signs employed by Dr. Kopernicki is fifty. As Miklosich's system is familiar to most of our members, it is unnecessary to reproduce his symbols here. Moreover, there are obvious reasons against our employing a certain typo- graphy, until we have ascertained that there are no serious objections to be urged against it. The desirability of a uniform orthographical system, and the necessity for fixing upon such a system at the earliest possible date, must be fully recognised by all members. It is clear that the one to be adopted is that which combines simplicity with exact orthoepy ; and no better form than Miklosich's has yet been offered to us. Certain concessions must, in any case, be made by those who have previously followed other princii^les ; but this offers no real obstacle to the adoption of such an orthography as Miklosich's.

It is important that this question should be settled soon, as, until it is settled we cannot print Romani text to any extent. We therefore invite other members to favour us with their opinions on this question, before the issue of our April number. — [Ed.]

Etymology of " Gurko."

Can any one assist me in ascertaining the etymology of the word " Gurko " ? Pott and several other authors say that it is derived from the Greek kyrie, " Lord" ; but this could only be positively admitted had the Gypsies been converted from heathenism or Buddhism to the Greek orthodox Christian fiiith. And history surely does not bear out this surmise.

In their migrations or exodus, had the Gypsies no other word for "holy-day" except this Greek word just quoted ? Since they said, in their own language, U Rai and Devel for " Lord " and " God," why should they not have expressed " the Lord's Day " by o Raieslccro or o Develeskero dives ?

A positive and convincing solution of the etymology of this word "Gurko" would throw much light upon the question of the original religious belief of the Gypsies.

J. PiNCHERLE.

VOL. I. — NO. III. M

170 NOTES AND QUERIES.

3.

" SiMO."

In his interesting paper on the " Dialect of the Gypsies of Brazil," in the last number of the Journal, Professor von Sowa says, on page 69, "' Simo [Moraes translates it by fiq^iei, ' I remained.' I am in doubt about the meaning of that word.]" Is it not the Spanish Gypsy " Sinar, v. n. ' To be.' Ser, Estar " (Borrow, The Zincali, ii. 107)? This would give a good sense in both the verses in which the word occurs. If so, fiquci should rather be sou or estou.

Herbert W. Greene.

A Peculiarity of Gypsy Utterance.

In The Zincali (Lond. 1841, vol. i.) Borrow quotes "Alonso" (the novel " composed by the Doctor Gerdnimo de Alcala, native of the city of Segovia, who flourished about the commencement of the seventeenth century"), and in this story the hero, recounting his falling into the hands of the Gitanos, says (p. 88) : " Then one of them, lisping a little, after the Gitdno fashion, told me that I must "go with them to their encampment to speak to my lord the Conde."

Is there any other writer who has any remark corroborating this " lisping a little, after the Gitano fashion " ? David MacRitchie.

Gypsies of Oudh.

The following extract is from a letter received from Archibald Constable, of the Oude and Rohilkund Railway Company's service, dated Lucknow, 14th July 1888 :—

" I enclose a list showing how I have disposed of the " Gypsy Lore " prospectuses you sent me. Seven is a lucky number with the Indian Gypsies, the Nats, or Barnes, as they are called in Oudh. All this part of India is a happy hunting-ground for these and other allied tribes, who, alas ! are ranked among the criminal tribes, and under an Act of the Indian Legislature are compelled to ' move on,' and are not allowed to camp for any length of time in one village. Many a pleasant hour I have spent talking to these interesting people ; and if any of the members of the Society come to these parts, I '11 put them in the way of collecting a good deal of Gypsy lore, viva voce. Please send me seven copies more of the prospectus, and I '11 do what I can to still further judiciously distribute them." . . . Further on in the same letter — indeed at its twentieth page — my correspondent adds a postscript, which begins thus : — " Twenty is an unlucky number with Indian Gypsies, so I go on to add," etc., etc. Archibald Constable.

6.

Mayadds.

The Civil and Military Gazette, January 1882, alludes to a wandering tribe which had caused some curiosity in Madras, and which, it was thought, might be identified with a singular class of Gypsies known by the name of Mayadds, who visited Lahore in 1868, and a curious and interesting account of whom is published in a memorandum written by Dr. Leitner, and printed by the Punjaub Government.

NOTES AND QUERIES. 171

" In that year a large crowd of them arrived on foot and in carts from Afghanistan, and encamped for some little time in this place. They spoke a peculiar jargon amongst them.selves, thougli, when within earshot of Europeans and Indians, they spoke Persian. At first it seems that there was a difficulty in identifying even their place of abode, but officers from various parts of India affirmed that the noisy and quarrelsome strangers were in the way of passing periodically between this country [India] and Central Asia, and that they had an unpleasant habit of looting villages on their route. The Mayadds were always armed on reaching the Indian frontier, a fact for which they accounted by saying that they were Shiahs, whom, as every one knows, their Sunni co-religionists sometimes manage to sell as slaves. ' When,' says Dr. Leitner, ' I visited their encampment, their frantic gesticulations, and the hurling of children by one woman to another to emphasise her rage, reminded me of a scene recorded in my account of the Gypsies of Turkey, . . , when a case was decided in favour of that side in a tribal contention which could dance most obscenely, and use the strongest expressions whilst advocating their own cause.' Others of the same tribe appear to have visited Lahore in 1870. Their Central Asiatic home is said to be Khorasan, and it seems that their journey from one country to the other and back extends over many years. A partial vocabulary of the dialect of thieves' Latin used by the Mayadds has, we believe, been compiled by Dr. Leitner."

7-

AUSTEO-HUNGARIAN ITEMS.

(a) Gypsies of the Austrian Alps. (From the Saturday Review of 3d November 1888.)

The Alpine Gypsy also differs in many respects from all others, [i.e., beggars, vagrants, etc.], but his is a case of degeneration rather than development. Formerly large troops used to wander to and fro, and encamp before the various villages. They were the best of tinkers and coppersmiths, and also made money by horse- dealing, as well as by theft and fortune-telling. They were noted musicians, and the villagers listened gladly and danced wildly to their strange tunes. That was the golden age of Gypsy life in Austria : liberal institutions have done away with it. In many provinces laws have been passed which exclude all Gyjisies that come from without. The few who have been born in the province or have a right of dwelling within it are still allowed to wander about as they wUl ; but every man's eye is upon and every man's hand against them, and they themselves, have a sharp eye and ready hand for the stray duck or chicken, though they prefer badgers, otters, and game of all kinds. Perhaps their fingers sometimes grasp property of greater value. They wander about in small bands, and do nothing but play music, which is no longer what it was, or still is in Hungary and Spain. Now and then a few bands meet ; then there is a little dancing, and perhaps an acrobatic performance. But they always look cheerless and desolate. The glory is departed, and they know it.

Yet even in this degraded condition the charm of the Gypsy girls asserts itself, and stories are still told of men who have thrown up their positions and abandoned alike their interests and their honour for the love of such women. It would be wrong to give any of these, as persons still living might be hurt by the disclosure, and, besides, it is difficult to verify them ; but here is one of an earlier date— the events happened before 1848 — which we have from the lips of a person who was intimate with all the non-Gypsy characters and present at the turning-point of the story. The tale has also been told us by others, but in a more fragmentary form. We omit names, for the reason already mentioned.

172 NOTES AND QUERIES.

The proprietor of a large estate and an important iron foundry was an elderly man. His first wife had died without leaving him any children, and he married a young girl of great beauty and amiability, but small fortune. By the marriage- contract the survivor was to inherit the whole property in case there were no chil- dren. A young man of the name of W was the overseer of the foundry, and

lived in the house. During an inundation the proprietor was engaged with every one near in doing what could be done to save the lives and property of his neigh- bours, when he unfortunately stepped upon a caving bank, which gave way beneath him. He was drawn out of the brook almost at once, but not before a large log, borne down by the torrent, had struck his head so heavily that he died almost immediately, without recovering consciousness. The widow placed the whole

management of her affairs in W 's hands, and he executed the trust with the

greatest honesty, prudence, and skill. She was young and blonde ; he, dark, slender, and of polished manners. He was very careful about his dress and the furniture of his rooms, and spent what his neighbours thought a good deal of money upon them ; but in other respects he was by no means extravagant. In a few years he had gained the respect and confidence of the whole district, and everybody — the widow included— thought that the business engagement would end in a marriage. One day he was obliged to drive to a neighbouring village on business, and there met several friends, among whom was our informant. On their way to the inn they stopped to watch the performance of a band of Gypsies, among whom there was a very pretty girl, with curly black hair, a complexion remarkably clear and a shade or two lighter than that of her companions, and jet black eyes that " flamed and flimmered." Her form was perfectly rounded and fully developed, yet she

seemed to be very young. When they were in the inn, W took no part in the

conversation ; he laid his head on his hand, and only replied to questions in mono- syllables. After a while he suddenly ordered his carriage and drove oft". Those who remained were struck by his manner, and questioned each other as to whether anyone had oftended him. On the following morning the Gypsies left for a neigh- bouring town. W drove home, made up his accounts with the greatest accuracy,

and said he must go to the place which was the Gypsies' destination on the follow- ing day. He neither drew his salary nor said anything about his furniture, but he took a large chest with him. This he had unloaded next day at a small inn, sent the carriage back, and never returned. After some days the widow became anxious and made inquiries about him, but could only learn the facts above given, and it was impossible to employ the police, as no crime had been committed. For some

time reports came that W had been seen acting with a Gypsy company in

various distant places. Three years after his flight a dead body was found in a charcoal-burner's hut on the mountains, near the place where his first meeting with the Gypsies occurred. The workmen said he had come to them in labourer's clothes, and asked for work about half-a-year before ; he had done his work well and skil- fully, but was very reserved, so that nothing was known about him. When the body

was brought down it was at once recognised as that of W , who was about thirty

years old at the date of his death.

If this story stood alone it would be hardly worth recording. But it does not stand alone ; it is a typical Gypsy love-story, and the only one we have had an opportunity of verifying. The sudden fascination, the ruthless desertion of comfort and duty, the long wanderings, the sad return of the unfortunate hero to the neigh- bourhood of a home over the threshold of which he has not courage to pass, and of a forgiveness he does not venture to claim, the lonely death — all these recur in hundreds of legends with an almost wearisome monotony. The above are the facts on which such tales are founded. The expert tale-teller would of course alter them to suit his purpose.

As to the cause of the strange fascination which the wandering tribe seems to possess, it is difficult to form an opinion. Nobody will be inclined to deny that

NOTES AND QUERIES. 173

at an early age some Gj^isy girls possess very unusual attractions, and that both their beauty and their grace are of a kind that is likely to exercise a strong influence on imaginative men of a certain temperament. But, as a rule, the men of a camp are far better looking than the women. Why do we rarely, if ever, hear of wives or maidens, of whatever class, abandoning everything for the sake of such a man ? Stories of children of both sexes being stolen are of course common enough, and in the Danubian principalities a few legends are current of noble ladies who have left their homes to join a troop, but in the latter case it is almost always an old woman who lures the heroine away.

(b) Oath by Bread and Salt.

In Pester Lloyd, 1st July, 1881, the following anecdote appeared : — In the neighbourhood of Eakos Palota there was an interesting scene enacted yesterday forenoon amongst a camp of Gypsies. A Gypsy who had lost his cash informed his leader of the fact, who summoned the elders of the camp to a council, after which he gave notice at the top of his voice that whoever had stolen the money must at once restore it. As, however, his challenge had not the desired effect, the chief took two poles which he bound together in the form of a cross, and fixed one end in the ground. On the top of the cross he then fastened a piece of bread, and sprinkled it with salt, and upon this those present were directed to swear one by one that they had not committed the theft. One by one the members knelt before the cross, and took the oath, till the last member of the band — an old woman — as she was about to take the oath turned pale, put her hand in her pocket, and brought out the stolen money. By way of punishment she was then and there soundly beaten and kicked out.

(c) BarvaljS Romane.

The Minister of the Interior, says the Vienna correspondent of the Daily Tele- grajjh, has issued a decree in virtue of which the nomad life led by the Gypsies will henceforth be subject to legal restrictions. Itinerant Gypsy bands will no longer be permitted to go about from town to town and from village to village. In future, wherever they turn up they will be called upon to give an account of themselves, and should it be ascertained that they have come from the East they are to be turned back under gendarme escort. On such occasions all expense entailed by their transport is to be defrayed by themselves, and should they be insolvent their live stock and chattels are to be sold by auction. The itinerant Gypsy of Austria and Bohemia is of doubtful honesty, whereas his brother in Hungary is hardwork- ing and inoffensive. A case recently came to my knowledge of a Hungarian Gypsy horse-dealer employing an English governess for his daughters, who were receiving an excellent education, while his son was an officer in the Roumanian army. — Dundee Evening Telegraph, 29th Oct. 1888.

(d) Two Famous Gypsy Musicians.

On the afternoon of 30th October last, the Central Cemetery at Budapest was, says a Moravian paper, the scene of a remarkable spectacle. " The INIagnates' Club had erected a monument to the Gypsy violinist Berkes, bearing the inscription The Magnates' Club to its favourite leader,' which was this day unveiled. ISIany hundred Gypsies, having their instruments with them, were present at the solemn function. First of all, a venerable player (not himself a Gypsy, says another paper) delivei-ed an impressive oration, after which a chorale was sung by the choir of the Volkslheater, and then the diverse bands of listening Gypsies simultaneously seized their instruments and played Berkes' favourite air in a way which moved all to tears. They then repaired to the neighbouring grave of Racz Pali, where they also played in the most touching manner the melody he had most loved. In spite of

174 NOTES AND QUERIES.

the gathering dusk, and of the fact that they were quite unprepared, the concerted playing of these many hundred musicians was most highly effective."

This ceremony has been noticed by many English journals, one of which {Man- chester Guardian, 2d November) adds the information that Berkes Lajos died in February 1885, at the age of 48 ; and that his son, " who conducts his father's band, is the same Gypsy who played at Gorgeny Szent Imre, in Transylvania, before the Crown Prince Rudolph and the Prmce of Wales." The Newcastle Daily Chronicle (2d November) devotes a leader to the affair, and makes the addi- tional statement that Berkes Lajos was " the head or ' Primate ' of all the Hungarian Zigeuners " (which perhaps is based on nothing more than a too-liberal interpretation of " Primas ").

8.

An American Gypsy's Letter.

[Professor Knapp sends us the following letter,— a copy of one which he received from a local Gypsy. The writer is a man of fair education, and had replied, through the medium of the newspapers, to some remarks which Dr. Knapp had just made, in a lecture on " The History of the Gypsies." This led to an inter- view, and finally to the letter now given. The Romani sentences are in the " broken dialect " commonly used by modern English Gypsies.]

" 201 George St., New Haven, 30th Mar. '88. " To Professor Knapp, etc., etc.

" Dear Sir,— I leave the MS. of which I spoke, but with faint hope of its being worth anything. [It was too gorgious]. Have you any influence with the ladies or gentlemen who are organizing the Easter Carnival to be held at the State House next week ? If you have, will you please say a kind Word for us in order that my wife may have her tent there. (I see they advertise a ' Gypsy Camp ' as one of tlie attractions). . . . Mandi'l kekka mong, mandi's palala, mandi pooches for bootsey. Mandi's trin chavers & rom [roumi] are adrey de kave & kek lover to lell hobben. It doesn't seem so hard to say this if I say it in Romanys, but now you will know how glad and thankful I will be if she can get an engagement for next week.

"The Museum [where they had a tent] is kek cooshter, and the dearie Duvle jins its too Tshill adres de tan for de chavers. I have done my best to lell bootsey, but they'll kekka lell a Romany chal. — I am. Sir, yours truly, Sidney Gray."

9.

Coronation Ceremony in Ohio.

One of the most picturesque ceremonies of Gypsy lil'e has just taken jjlace near Dayton, Ohio. This ceremony consisted of the coronation of Matilda ii. as Queen of the American Gypsies. The Gypsies in this country, says a Telegraph corre- spondent, have been controlled for many years by four families, the Stanleys ^ Coopers, Harrisons, and Jeffreys. These families came here from England in 1859. Stanley, known as Sugar Stanley, the principal member of the first-mentioned family, was made king of all the tribes. At his death his daughter Hagar became Queen. Dying in 1874, she was succeeded by her sister, who was proclaimed Matilda i., but she only lived to reign six years. The succession fell to Jeanuette, granddaughter of King Sugar, who is succeeded by Matilda, another granddaughter

NOTES AND QUERIES. 175

of King Sugar Stanley, whose succession is now being celebrated. She is only seventeen years old, is 5 feet 7 inches in height, has a graceful figure, and is a very interesting personage. At her coronation she wore a red silk dress ; her hair hun down loosely behind, gathered in the centre with a crimson ribbon, which set off her dark brown hair. Queen Matilda is the absolute ruler of all the Komany tribes in America : her decrees must absolutely be obeyed without question. — Ayrshire Argus, 2d Nov. 1888.

(!■

10.

" Working the Planet."

Under the above heading, the following paragraph appeared in a recent news- paper. It only adds one more to the long list of examples of Gypsy hukaben. " A domestic servant of Park Road, Hampstead, was charged at the Marylebone Police Court yesterday with stealing a gold watch, a chain, a brooch, etc., worth £10, the property of ^liss Agnes Battenbury. The prosecutrix said that the prisoner had been in the service of her sister, with whom she (the prosecutrix) was residing. On Thursday last she missed her Avatch from her dressing-table. It was worth .£3 or £A. On the following Saturday she missed a necklet set with jewels, a gold brooch, and a ring. They were safe on the previous Sunday week. She went to the police, and a detective came to the house and questioned the prisoner. She said a Gypsy woman had come round five or six times, and she had given her her own things, and then she had taken prosecutrix's and given them to the Gypsy. Detective-Sergeant Fleming said he went to the house in Park Road and saw the prisoner, who cried, and said her best friend had called on her on Wednesday last. He asked who her friend was, and she replied the woman who goes about with a caravan. The woman told ln-r she could tell her fortune, so she (prisoner) gave her a dress and petticoat. The Gypsy told her that that was not sufficient to work the planet, and asked for something more valuable. She then gave her her mistress's gold watch, necklet, and brooch, and the woman promised to return them when she had shown them to the astronomer in Camden Town. The prisoner was remanded."

II.

A Scottish Gypsy Fray.

In Robert Wilson's Sketch of the History of Hawick (Hawick, 1825) the follow- ing passage occurs on p. 74 : — "Another disgraceful afl:ray took place at the Winter Fair of this town, somewhere about eighty years ago. Two parties of Gypsies and tinkers had pitched their tents on the Common Haugh, and were busy in mending bellows, clouting caldrons, and drinking whisky. A dispute arose between two of the men respecting the right of property to a frail sister, who had, it appears, con- ferred favours on both. The high words of the disputants soon arranged the Loch- mabenites and Yetholmites in array of battle. Words were succeeded by blows, and male and female savages mingled with equal valour and ferocity in the fight ; while the lady, who, like another Helen, had originated the strife, Avas taken ami retaken several times. The magistrates, with their officers and constables, al length came upon the ground, and separated the rioters, but not before two of them had been so cut and mauled that tliey died in the course of the evening. Three or four of these wretches were put into the stocks in the old jail of the town, previous to their being sent to Jedburgh, among Avhom were the fair Cyprian and one of her paramours. On lodging the party in prison, one of the bailies, it is said, seemed to feel much for the poor girl, and spake to her thus : ' My woman, it 's a pity ye

176 NOTES AND QUERIES.

shou'd follow sic a trade, or keep sic company ; ye liae a face and a form that might grace ony honest man's table— and as I understand little thing can be brought against you o' this day's mischief, I wad advise ye to leave thae tinkler loons, ane and a' o' them, an' gang to service. There 's nae saying what a bonny face like yours may do for its owner.' The bailie was a believer in the story of Cinderella." — This is, of course, the battle at Hawick Bridge in 1772 or 1773, of which a full account is given in Mr. Simson's History of the Gypsies, pp. 189-93.

12.

Surrey Gypsies.

Croydon, May 29. — Thomas Cuffley was summoned before the Borough Justices for not abating a nuisance in a yard belonging to him at Handcroft Road. Dr. Philpot had inspected the place for the Corporation, and found seven caravans and two tents. The Sanitary Committee required the yard to be paved, and did not wish to encourage the Gypsy people in the neighbourhood. The horses were always walking about, being let loose in the morning and evening. The owner explained that he could not get rid of the Gypsies, as he did not know Avhere to find them. They would not be back until the end of August, as they were away for the fruit season. The case was adjourned till June 19th, to see if the owner could get rid of his absentee tenants. — Croydon Ga-^ctte, June 2, 1888.

13. ?

A Gypsy Heirloom. To the Editor of the Examiner and Times.

Sir, — The enclosed is interesting, as you will see, and will help to clear up some historical matters relating to Gypsy life, and it will also be of much value to me in my work for the Gypsy and van children, and the pressing forward of the bills I have in hand. With many thanks for past help, yours, etc.,

George Smith, of Coalville.

The Cabin, Crick, Rugby, Nov. 23.

This is to certify that the small symbolical and mystical copper and brass box, bearing the name " Right Doar Lee," engraved and dated one thousand one hundred and ninety-seven, I have in my possession — now sold to George Smith, of Coalville, The Cabin, Crick, Rugby, for a nominal sum, as a token of goodwill for his long efforts to improve our condition and educate our children, and also for the many kindnesses received from him — is the heirloom of our family, Gypsy Lees, and was handed to me by my father, Zachariah Lee, over thirty years ago, and which was held by him from his father and ancestors back to the date shown on the mystical box. As witness my hand this sixteenth day of November, one thousand eight hundred and eighty-eight. David Lee, his mark x

Witnesses to the above signature and supported by them : —

James Lee, his mark x William Lee, his mark x Randall Lee, his mark x Alfred Lee, his mark x Edward Lee, his mark x Manchester Examiner, 26th November 1888.

NOTES AND QUERIES. 177

14.

Dowry of an Exglisii-Gypsy Bride.

The following paragraph is taken from the Edinburgh Evening Dispatch of 18th October 1888 : — "A Gypsy wedding took place the other day at Fletton, near Peterborough, which excited great interest in the neighbourhood, and the church was densely crowded. The contracting parties were respectively twenty-two and twenty-one years of age, and the bride's dot was £500 in cash, and a fully furnished caravan to live in."

15.

How TO Cook a Hedgehog.

{Manchester City News, July 31 1886.)

Bankfield House, Conway Valley. In answer to '" C.A.J," who wants to know how hedgehogs are cooked, I was reminded of the following incident that took place twenty-three years ago. At that time I was staying at the "Waterloo Hotel, Bettws-y-Coed. In the lane at the back of the hotel (Beaver Bridge end) one afternoon, my little terrier killed a hedgehog, not far from where a Gypsy tinker had his tent. It was a favourite camping spot with that tribe. He came up after the fun was over, and in con- versation said, " Hedgehogs are splendid eating baked in clay or mud. Clay is the best, but is not always at hand. I'll just show you," said he, " how the thing is done." With that he took out his pocket-knife and slit the hedgehog open, and drew the inside from it. Afterwards he got over the wall into the potato field opposite, and got several handfuls of soil, and with a little water mixed some road gravel with it into a thick mud, and rolled the hedgehog up in it. The process reminded me of the apple dumplings. He said, " It will take about an hour to bake it thorougblv in a good fire of wood. Afterwards I crack it all over (same as you do a hard boiled egg to get the shell off), the mud, quills, and skin coming oS' in one mass, leaving the hedgepig beautifully clean. Will you stop and see me eat it ? " I said " No," for sundry reasons. I've not the slightest doubt he ate it. He was evidently a " man of mettle," and didn't believe in doing things by halves. With him it was : " The whole hocr or none." John Taylor.

16.

A vSpaxish Gypsy Vocabulary.

The following brief vocabulary was taken down from a (xypsy model at Granada, in 1876. The words are spelt phonetically, according to the Spanish pronunciation of tlie letters. All the peasantry thereabouts constantly transpose r and /.

Prajo, tobacco. Jamar (?), to eat.

Llagui, match. Llacrai, eyes.

Ondever, God. Mui, mouth.

ChucheUi, breast. Nacri, nose.

Varon, dollar. Ambea, face.

Uguaripen, pretty (?)• Vales, hair.

Lluro, mule. Embastes, hands.

Jer, donkey. Nicaha ! get out !

Matron, bread. Nicaha d posh, take away life.

178

NOTES AND QUERIES.

Gaiji, Gypsy girl.

Camela, like, desire.

Ta, to.

Piar, drink.

(Jalo, male Gypsy (plur. raler).

Eumia, Gypsy wife.

Haji, go (imperative).

Alubias, beans.

Relaoras, potatoes.

Mor, wine.

RepaFii, handy.

Estachi, hat.

Ran, stick.

Gandi, shirt.

Jalunis, breeches.

Chapires, shoes.

Ambea, jacket.

Churi, knife.

Chinjarar, a fight.

Mnlo, corpse.

Tirive, prison.

Cangri, church.

Chorro, thief (plnr. chorris).

Ckuguela, female thief.

Martuvillo, lazy.

Tasintenga, matter. (It is part of a

hideous curse.) Chinicro, handkerchief. Jalleris, money. Caler, quartos (a coin). Bruji, real (do.). Liia, peseta (do.). Varril, onza (do.). Callardo, negro. Chaborocillo, baby. Lacro, Spaniard. Lumnia, harlot. Quer, house. Orucilla girl. Que chunga / how ugly ! Malpucaro (?)

Pujcro (?)

A. R. S. A.

17.

Spanish Gypsies and British Tourists.

(From the Edinburgh Scotsman.)

Madrid, Ajnil 28, 1888.

Sir, — I have received here the Scotsman of the 20th inst., containing a report of the trial of Dr. Middle ton at Cordova for shooting a Gypsy there. Having twice visited Cordova lately, I may state, for the information of tourists, that the town is as quiet as a provincial Scottish town, and that we neither saw nor were bothered by any Gypsies. That some still do offer their services as guides to tourists, however, I learnt when there ; for an English couple were followed by one until the superintendent of police suddenly appeared, and the Gypsy at once took to his heels. Tlie said superintendent warned the tourists on no account to take a Gypsy as their guide, which they assured him they had no intention of doing.

As to the Spanish Gypsies, they form a class apart, looked down upon by the Spanish population. They dwell in quarters of their own, and have trades of their own. We saw a great deal of them at the recent Seville Fair and at Granada. They are a dark, handsome race, and the women, however old, carry themselves as straight as arrows. At Granada, to which all tourists go to see the Alhambra, they are inveterate beggars. They spoil the tourist's pleasure by their ceaseless pursuit of him. We visited the caves in which they dwell, and found the interiors tidy and the Gypsies decently clad. Then we turned to the Moorish quarter of Granada, where Gypsies also congregate, and found ourselves escorted by two policemen, each armed with sword and revolver. This escort was owing to a recent fracas which occurred here between an American gentleman and Gypsies, wdio assaulted and wounded him. The American drew his revolver, and there might have been another Dr. Middleton case had his wife not induced him not to fire. All this shows that, so far as Spanish Gypsies are concerned, they are not a safe class to have anything to do with, but, except at Granada, we were never troubled by them ; and I would counsel tourists not to allow the thought of them to interfere with their visit to Spain, a country which is one of the most interesting and curious in Europe. — I am, &c., R. R.

NOTES AND QUERIES. 179

I8.

Scotch " Egyptians '' of the 19th Century.

The following passages are extracted from the recently published and very entertaining Auld Licht Idylls ; a book descriptive of provincial life in an eastern county of Scotland. We are informed, on excellent authority, that, although the book does not profess to be historical, the " Claypits beggars " here mentioned are described much as they actually were, and that their names also are real. Fifty years ago, these people called themselves, and were frequently styled by others, " Gypsies," and still more commonly " the Egyptians." These extracts, too brief as they are, form a slight supplement to Mr. Simson's descriptions of the Scottish (xypsies ; and it is interesting to note that they testify once more to the priestly power vested in a Gypsy king, of which there are several examples in Simson's pages, and that the supreme rider of this petty tribe was its lawgiver as well as its pope and autocrat. Miserable in the extreme was this paltry " kingship," but it forms one of the latest witnesses to the former Gypsy system of Scotland, — if not of Europe, — and, indeed, it represents an exceedingly ancient and primitive form of government. These Claypits " Egyptians " are thus amusingly described : —

" Storm-stead shows used to emphasize the severity of a Thrums winter. As the name indicates, these were gatherings of travelling booths in the winter time. Half a century ago the country was overrun by itinerant showmen. ... To the storm-stead shows came the Gypsies in great numbers. Claypots (which is a cor- ruption of Claypits) was their headquarters, near Thrums, and it is still sacred to their memory. It was a clachan of miserable little huts, built entirely of clay from the dreary and sticky pit in which they had been flung together. A shapeless hole on one side was the doorway, and a little hole, stuffed with straw in winter, the window. Some of the remnants of these hovels stiU stand. Their occupants, though they went by the name of Gypsies among themselves, were known to the weavers as the Claypots beggars ; and their king was Jimmy PaAvse. His regal dignity gave Jimmy the right to seek alms first when he chose to do so ; thus he got the cream of a place before his subjects set to work. He was rather foppish in his dress, generally alfecting a suit of grey cloth with showy metal bottons on it, and a broad blue bonnet. His wife was a little body like himself ; and when they went a-begging, Jimmy with a meal-bag for alms on his back, she always took her husband's arm. .Jimmy was the legal adviser of his subjects ; his decision was considered final on all questions, and he guided them in their courtships as well as on their death-beds. He christened their children, and officiated at their weddincrs. marrying them over the tongs."'

" There is little doubt," says the same writer, on a later page, " that it was a fit of sarcasm that induced Tammas [a neighbouring villager] to marry a Gyjjsy lassie. Mr. Byars [the local minister] would not join them, so Tammas had himself married by Jimmy Pawse, the gay little Gypsy king, and after that the minister re-married them. The marriage over the tongs is a thing to scandalise any well-brought up person, for before he joined the couple's hands, Jimmy jumped about in a startlintf way, uttering wild gibberish, and after the ceremony was over there was roucji work, with incantations and blowing on pipes."

One is disposed to speculate as to whether this " wUd gibberish " was actual Romanes, or that Shelta which Mr. Leland has introduced to the notice of Gypsi- ologists, and which is a mixture of Romanes and Gaelic. Pure Romani speech seems to have decayed at a nuich earlier period in Scotland tlian in En<dand although a broken dialect still survives.

Marrying over the tongs, or over a broomstick, is well known m Scotland as a " tinkler " ceremony ; and divorce is said to be eff"ected, or at least symbolised, by the partners standing on either side of this stick or tongs, back to back, and jump- ing away from it. " Marrying over the sword," a practice that appears to have been kept up among British soldiers until a comparatively recent period, has evidently a like origin.

180 NOTES AND QUERIES.

19.

Gypsy Musicians in Wales.

[The particulars here quoted (from a long account in the Wrexham Advertiser of September 1876) were furnished to the contributor by John Roberts, the well- known Gypsy harper of "Wales, of whom one reads in Mr. Groome's In. Gypsy Tents.]

" Sir, — Respecting the modern harpers of Wales and a few of the old ones, I have the pleasure of forwarding the following particulars, furnished to me by one of the tawny tribe. I may also be permitted to say that the Welsh harp is not likely to die out just yet, for the veteran and venerable minstrel who gave me the following notes has only twelve sons and a daughter, who daily play the triple-stringed nstrument, and the Eisteddvod ought to honour him with an invitation.

'• J. Ceiriog Hughes.

" ' Mr. John Parry, of Ruabou (a blind man), harper to Sir Watkin W. Wynn, Bart., taught William Williams of Penmorfa (a blind man), who became afterwards Welsh harper to the ancient family of the Hughes's of Frecib, near Llandolo, Car- marthenshire. William Williams taught the celebrated Richard Roberts, of Car- narvon (also a blind man), who had the honour of performing upon different occasions before the Royal family. Mr. Roberts taught the following pupils : — Archelaus Wood, an Egyptian, who became harper to the Maedock family, Tremadoc and Tregj'nter, Breckonshire ; John Wood Jones, an Egyptian, formerly of Brecon, came to be harper to the Right Hon. Lady Llanover ; John Robertson, of Bangor, Carnarvonshire (he was another pupil of Richard Roberts, and died about twenty years ago) ; Hugh Pugh, of Dolgelley, Welsh harper to the Cymreigyddion Society, London ; the late Mr. Ellis Roberts, harpist to his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales. All the above gained silver harps. '

" A short account of the Egyptians who first came to Wales, where some of them came to be very noted players upon the Welsh harp, and continue to the present day : —

" ' About 200 years ago came an old man, of the name of Abraham Wood, his wife, three sons, and a daughter. He brought with him a violin, and he is sup- posed to be the first one that ever played upon one in Wales. The eldest of his three sons, Valentine Wood, did very early take to the harp, but was not considered much of a player. The second son, William, was considered a sweet violin player. He was father to Archelaus Wood, aforementioned, who was the first pupil to the celebrated Mr. Roberts, of Carnarvon. Third, Solomon Wood. Valentine Wood had three sons — first was Adam, a good harper. He was the father of John Wood Jones, which was the second puj^il of ]\Ir. Roberts, of Carnarvon, and harpist to the Right Hon. Lady Llanover. Old Tom Wood, who was a very fine player on the violin. Jeremiah Wood Jones, who became to be harper for fifty-one years to the ancient family of Gogerddan, had three sons, Jeremiah, Theophilus, and John. The first was a good player, second middling, third, John ; had he been placed in good hands, he would have been, in his day, one of the best harpers in Wales. Thomas, the second son to Valentine Wood, had twelve sons, out of which two of them be- came good harpers — the first, Adam, the second, Robert, who used to very often visit Colonel Gwynne, of Glanbran, considered a very good player. Benjamin Wood Jones, of Carmarthen, was also a good player. All these harpers were after the school of blind Parry, of Ruabon.' "

M. Bataillard having had too little leisure for the complete revision of his treatise De Vaiyparition, etc., its appearance in our Journal has necessarily been postponed till April.

NOTICE. — All Contributions nmst be legibly written on one side only of the paper; must bear the sender's name and address, though not necessarily for publica- tion; and must be sent to David MacRitchie, Esq., 4 Archibald Place, Edinburgh.

GYPSY LORE SOCIETY.

1st January 1889.

PRESIDENT. CHARLES GODFREY LELAND.

VICE-PRESIDEN T. HENRY T. CROFTON.

EDITORS OF THE JOURNAL

DAVID MACRITCHIE. FRANCIS HINDES GROOME.

MEMBERS.

H.I.H. The Archduke Joseph of Austria -Hungary, Alcsuth,

Budapest. Hon. John Abercromby, 21 Chapel Street, Belgrave Square, Loudon. Miss Alger, 6 Brimmer Street, Boston, United States. W. E. A. Axon, Murray Street, Higher Broughton, Manchester, Great

Britain.

Paul Bataillard, Rue de rOdeon 12, Paris.

Royal Library of Bavaria, Munich.

Berlin Royal Library.

Bodleian Library, Oxford.

Boston (United States) Public Library.

Sir Richard F. Burton, K.C.M.G., Athenaeum Club, Pall Mall, London.

Richard C. Christie, Glenwood, Virginia Water, near Staines, Middlesex, Great Britain.

182 LIST OF MEMBERS.

Edward Clodd, 19 Carleton Koad, Tufnell Park, London.

Edmund T. Coleman, 1 Ingestre Koad, Dartmouth Park Hill, London.

Adriano Colocci, Jesi (Marche), Italy.

Archibald Constable, 11 Thistle Street, Edinburgh, Great Britain.

Cornish Brothers, 37 New Street, Birmingham, Great Britain.

Miss Marian Eoalfe Cox, Claverton, Streatham Hill, London.

Rev. Addison Crofton, Reddish Green, near Stockport, ]\Ianchester,

Great Britain. Henry T. Crofton, 36 Brazenose Street, Manchester, Great Britain.

Thomas Davidson, 339 High Street, Edinburgh, Great Britain.

Professor John Ferguson, The University, Glasgow, Great Britain. R. E. Francillon, 21 Regent's Park Terrace, Gloucester Gate, London.

Herbert W, Greene, Magdalen College, Oxford, Great Britain. G. A. Grierson, B.C.S., Gaya Behar, Bengal Presidency, India. Francis Hindes Groome, 339 High Street, Edinburgh, Great Britain.

Harvard University Library.

Rev. James J. Hazell, Convent Lodge, East Finchley, London. Professor Dr. Anton Herrmann, I., Attila-utcza 47, Budapest. H. H. Howorth, M.P., Eccles, Manchester, Great Britain.

W. J. Ibbetson, 2 Iverson Road, Brondesbury, London.

Surgeon-Major W. Johnston, South Camp, Aldershot, Great Britain.

Professor W. J. Knapp, Ph.D., Yale University, New Haven, United States.

Franz Koos, Brasso, Kronstadt, Austria-Hungary.

Professor Dr. I. Kopernicki, Cracow University, Galicia, Austria- Hungary.

Professor Dr. Ernst Kuhn, 32 Hess-Strasse, Munich, Germany.

Mrs. Leckie, 4 Gayfield Square, Edinburgh, Great Britain. Leyden University Library.

Charles G. Leland, Savile Club, Piccadilly, London.

Dr. J. Paul Lergetporer, Leopoldstrasse 14/1, Innsbruck, Tirol, Austria- Hungary.

list of members. 183

Madrid Eoyal Academy of History.

Manchester Public Free Library.

David P. Masson, Alliance Bank, Rawal Pindi, Punjab, India.

Professor Dr. Franz von Miklosich, viii. Josef stadter Strasse 11, Vienna.

Justin H. M'Carthy, M.P., 20 Cheyne Gardens, Chelsea Embankment,

London. Miss MacRitchie, 4 Gayfield Square, Edinburgh, Great Britain. Miss MacRitchie, 4 Archibald Place, ,, „

Miss E. E. MacRitchie, „ ,, ,,

David MacRitchie, „ „ „

John MacRitchie, Beaumont, Kansas, United States. William MacRitchie, Manchester, Virginia, United States.

Owens College Library, Manchester.

Dr. Alexander G. Paspati, Rue Valaorites, Athens. Mrs. Penuell, 16 North Street, Westminster, London. Literary and Antiquarian Society of Perth (Great Britain). J. Pincherle, Libreria Levi, Via S. Spiridione 4, Trieste.

D. Fearon Ranking, LL.D., Rockville, Merchiston, Edinburgh, Great Britain.

John Sampson, 9 Low Hill, Liverpool, Great Britain.

W. W. Scarborough, Cincinnati, Ohio, United States.

J. Shearman, 126 Fellows Road, South Hampstead, London.

Signet Library, Edinburgh.

Professor Dr. R. von Sowa, Carlsglacis 1, Britnn, Austria-Hungary.

Captain R. C. Temple, B.C.S., ]\Iandalay, Upper Burma. Professor Dr. Emil Thewrewk de Ponor, Tarnok-utcza 12, Budapest.

MiLWARD Valentine, 8 Seton Place, Edinburgh, Great Britain.

Theodore Watts, The Pines, Putney Hill, Putney, London.

Rev. Alexander Webster, 1 Hartington Gardens, Edinburgh, Great Britain.

Rev. Wentworth Webster, Sare, par St. Jean de Luz, Basses Pyr^n^es, France.

Dr. Heinrich von Wlislocki, Szaszsebes, Miihlbach, Siebenburgen, Austria- Hungary.

Worcester (United States) Free Public Library.

184 LIST OF MEMBERS.

PUBLICATIONS WITH WHICH THE SOCIETY'S ''JOURNAL"

IS EXCHANGED.

Ethnologische MiUeilungen mis Ungarn.

Melusine.

Revue des Traditions Popidaires.

The Folk-Lore Record.

The Journal of American Folk-Lore.

The Antiquary.

Honorary Secretary and Treasurer.

DAVID MACPJTCHIE, 4 ARCHIBALD PLACE, EDINBURGH.

Members are requested to bring the Gypsy Lore Society under the notice of any of their friends who are interested in this or kindred studies. An increased membership is necessary in order to carry out fully the aims of the Society, as the present income is not large enough to warrant such outlay as that involved in the reproduction of photographs, or other illustrations, and of music. These are two very attractive departments of Gypsy Lore, and they are not less instructive than the others ; but neither of them can be gone into until the income of the Society is considerably larger than at present.

JOUENAL OF THE

GYPSY LORE

SOCIETY.

Vol. I. APRIL 1889. No. 4

I.— BEGINNING OF THE LAOIIGKATION OF THE GYPSIES INTO WESTERN EUROPE IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY.

Introduction.

rpHE editors of the Journal had asked my permission simply to -L reproduce, in English, the work which I published in 1844 in the BiUiotliequc clc V^colc dcs Chartes ^ under the title " Be Fcq^iJari- iion et dc la dispersion des BoMmiens en Euro'pe." A portion only of that work will be found here — the portion wdiich was already the most ex- tensive, and which is now considerably enlarged. It, therefore, does not appear to me superfluous to inform the reader what this former memoir was, as also another which 1 published five years later in the same collection,- and whicli was the very needful complement of the preceding one. I will also explain why I now eliminate certain parts of the memoir of 1844, and content myself with referring to the

•1 Fifth year or fifth volume of this collection. The memoir appeared in two articles (5th and 6th parts of this vol.), which were united and pi'inted separately from the collection, forming 59 j'ages, in large 8vo, including four pages of titles. This has heen out of jirint for the last thirty years.

2 " Xouvelles recherches sur Vojiparition des Boliemiens en Europe," in the JiMio- tJiiqv.e cle VEcole des Chartes, vol. i. of the 3d series, 1st part, October 1849. The reprint, to which I made some additions in the Note additionneUe, which fills the last ten pages, forms 48 pages, in large Svo. My references are generally to the reprints (tirages A part) of my writings.

VOL. I. — NO. IV. N

186 BEGINNING OF THE IMMIGRATION OF THE GYPSIES INTO

publication of 1849, and I will point out the principal improvements I have introduced into the present article.

When first I took up this subject forty-five years ago, the ideas of Grellmann^ were in full favour. iSTow, Grellmann, who connected the Gypsies with the caste of Sudras, and who attributed their emigra- tion from India to the invasions of Timur into that country (a.I). 1408 and 1409), fixed their arrival in Europe at the year 1417;"^ he thus maintained that the Gypsies, after having wandered in Asia Minor and Egypt, had entered the south-east of Europe the very year in which one of their detachments appeared on the shores of the North Sea.^ He thought it so certain that no Gypsies had ever been seen in^ Europe before 1417,* that he went so far as to rectify the statement of two western chroniclers who had signalised their presence in Hesse in 1414 and in Meissen in 1416.^

On closer examination — that is to say, in collecting the original documents for my work, published in 1844 — I was therefore much surprised not to meet with a single one relating to the advent of the Gypsies in any country whatever of eastern Europe, and particularly in the south-east of Europe, either in 1417 or at any other date.

1 Historischer Versuch uber die Zigeuner, 2d edit., GbttingeD, 1787, in small 8vo., of xvi. and 368 pages. Tbe first edition is that of Dessau and Leipzig, 1783. The French trans- lation, by M. J., Paris, 1810, in 8vo, unfortunately bears upon its title-jiage that it was made " from the second edition," which misled me at a period when I was not in possession of tlie latter ; in reality it was made from the first.

- It is now proved that all these assertions are erroneous. But in saying this I would not wish to be thought uu just or ungrateful towards Grellmann : his book, now a hundred years old, still forms a rich repertory of facts and bibliographical information indispensable to every student of the Gyj)sies, and it is there, as I have taken care to say at the be- ginning of my memoir of 1844, that I found the first foundation of valuable indications for my work.

3 Grellmann even thought that he had found a confirmation of this pretended fact in the sayings of the Gypsies at Bologna in 1422 (Grell. pp. 205-207 ; Fr. tr., pp. 207-210). But I have shown {De l'a.2^parition, etc., pp. 13-14 of tlie reprint) the weakness of this argument.

■4 It must be said that several of his predecessors had gone before him in this direction. I will content myself with quoting George Pray, who must have been a great authority for Grellmann at a time when those authors of Eastern Europe who had not written either in Latin or in German were generally unknown in the West. G. Pray, author of Annales regum Hungarice, in 5 vols, in fol. 1764-1770, and of several other great collections, was, indeed, one of the most learned Hungarians of his time. Now he had written (in the above- named work, part iv., p. 275): — " Ceric priniuni omnium in Moldavia, Valachia ac Hun- garia, circiter annum 1417, visi sunt, isthincque in alias Europaj ditioues propagati." Not- withstanding the circiter which destroyed a little of the precision of the date, the Roumanian documents, in the absence at that time of any very positive Hungarian documents, have since furnished an absolute contradiction to Pray. Grellmann would have done better to abide by the opinion of another learned historian of Eastern Europe — the Moldavian Prince Demetrius Cantemir — whom he also quotes further on, and who declares that, in Moldavia, nothing was known concerning the period at which the Gypsies had arrived in that country.

5 Grellmann, note of p. 206 : Fr. tr.> p. 209. — I had myself accepted these two pretended rectifications in 1844, pp. 18-19, and pp. 25-26 ; but, so early as 1849 {Nouvelles recherches, p. 37), I expressed well-founded doubts on the subject.

WESTKPiN F.UltOl'K IN THE FIFTEENTH CEXTUIJY. 187

As it was, however, clear that the Gypsies had come to us from the south-east of Europe, or Itij the south-east of Europe,^ I was obliged, on remarking the absence of all positive information respecting their first appearance in this region, to propose the three following alternatives, which I examined successively : Either the Gypsies had existed in the south-east of Europe for a longer or shorter time before 1417; or they had spread there at the same time as they appeared in the west, that is to say towards 1417 (the date whicli I accepted for the west, arid which I still accept, whilst making certain important reservations, as will be seen hereafter) ; or those who had appeared suddenly in the west- in 1417 had simply crossed the south-east of Europe, whilst the mass of them spread themselves there only successively and at a later date, as they did in the west.

These three alternatives are given in chronological order, and likewise in the order of their probability ; for it is hardly neces- sary to say that the first appeared to me by far the most probable. But I could then find no decisive document in its favour, and I prudently left the question in suspense.

What I have just summed iip (with the exception of a short passage on p. 4, which I will take up when I come to my present First 'period, and a tradition on p. 17, which would be curious if I could guarantee its authenticity) fills sixteen pages of my first memoir (p. 3-18), which it would be all tlie more useless to reproduce here, as I have discussed the question with more success in the second memoir {Nouvellcs recherches, etc., 1849), of which I have now to speak.

Since 1844 I became acquainted with three new and reliable documents which decided the question in the way I had foreseen, — namely, a twofold Roumanian document (two confirmations dating from 1386 and 1387), of a donation made about 1370 by a Prince of Wallachia,^ of forty Salachi (families) of Atsigani, which proves that

1 I devoted some pages (pi). 6-9 and 12-13) of my first memoir to establish that this point was beyond doubt ; I more especially, in a long note, quoted a certain number of ancient authors, remarking that their errors or tlieir uncertainties respecting the date of tlie arrival of the Gypsies in Europe do not weaken the agreement of their testimony resjiect- ing the previous habitation of those who spread over the West. This origin is, however, so universally acknowledged at the present day that it is useless to insist upon it.

- They were not very numerous from 1417 up to 1438, as I established at the outset (p. 4), and as will be seen further on.

3 In briefly summing up in my memoir of 1849 (p. 20), these two documents, which 1 had inteijded speaking of anew (see the same, note 3), I unfortunately made a confusion between the names of the Wallachian princes concerned in this donation. I rectified this confusion in my Lettre « la Rente critique of 1875, p. 14, note 2 (it is, however, necessai-y to suppress [line 14 of this note] a " nmi" which is a fresh lapsus), and again more succinctly, in Etatdela Question, p. 8. In short, the document of 1386, which raises- some chrono- logical difficulties and adds nothing to that of 1387, may be put aside. By the latter, the original of which (in Slavonic, as are all the official Roumanian documents of this period)

188 BEGINNING OF THE IMMIGHATION OF THE GYPSIES INTO

at this period (1370) the Gypsies were already slaves in Roumania : Secondly, a passage in the relation of a journey made by Symon Simeonis,^ who, visiting the island of Crete in 1322-, found there a race of people which he does not name, but of whom he gives a description that can only apply to the Gypsies. Finally, a line in the Chronique dr Ghyprc (then unpublished) of Florio Bustrou, which proves that the Cingani existed in Cyprus towards the year 146.s, and paid a tax to the royal treasury.^

Armed with these documents, which lent each other a mutual support, and which proved not only that the Gypsies were scattered over the south-east of Europe in the fourteenth century, but also that very probably they were not even new-comers there, I took up the far less clear documents that I had already examined in my first memoir : I added several others, ami I applied fresh and improved tests to them.

In short, the thirty-six first pages of my Armrrl/cs rcrJicrrJu'.s (1849) resolved an important question which had not been seriously mooted before 1844, and which opened a road leading further than 1 could then foresee, for we can now go ] lack with a certainty which 1 think incontesta])le U\ the beginning of the ninth century.^ We cannot even consider this date as final — nor any other — as M. Mik- losich himself remarks.-'' 1 have since then, indeed, carried the

exists in the archives of Bucharest, and which has been imljlished, togetlier with a Roumanian translation, in the Archiva istorica of Mr. Hajdeu, vol. iii., Bucuresci, 1867, in 'Ito, pji. 191-194, Mircea I. voivode of Wallachia, confirms, amongst other liberalities, a donation of forty Salachi of Atsigani made to the monastery of Saint Antony of Voditza by his uncle Vladislav, who reigned about 1370 or 1372.

1 Symon Simeonis or Simon Symeonis (for the name is written in both ways) belonged to the order of Minorites, as likewise his fellow-traveller, who died bel'ore reaching the Holy Land. It appears that he was a Spaniard, and not an '•Englishman" as I wrote p. 35.

- And not " the island of Cyprus in 1332," as I wrote, p. 12, axiA passim in my Nouvelles recherche.s. But this double error is not to be imputed to me, for I then took care to say that I quoted this valuable passage after Bryant, not having been able to find the original work. I was only able to rectify it (and incorrectly in Les derniers travaux, jj. 72) alter having the rare opportimity of purchasing the volume : Itineraria Si/vionis Himeonis, etc. Cantab. 1778, in large Svo. of xvi and 396 pp., with intercalation of eight supplementary pages, numbered from 77 to 84 with an asterisk. The passage which interests us is to be found p. 17. The error of date bearing upon ten years only was not of great consequence, Init the error of place, more serious in itself, led me in my youirllcs reclicrrhes into ^' ruppmclw- ments" which would demand rectification.

3 These two documents relative to the islands of the eastern Mediterranean gave addi- tional interest to evidences furnished by the sixteenth century concerning these regions, which I have reproduced on account of their retrospective value.

•* I think one nnght say to the seventh century (see Etat de la question, more amply indicated lower on, p. 33-40) ; but I give the date admitted by M. Miklosich in order to avoid entering here into the discussion raised by this important point.

•'' See Elat de la questiim de Vanciennete des Tsiganes en Europe. Exti'act from the Account of the Congress of Anthrojiology .and Prehistoric Archeology, viii. session, Buda- pest, 1876 ; Paris, 1877 ; in Svo of 62 pp., and two pages of Errata, that I \\A\e added to this tiraye-u-part, the printing of the "Account" having been very liadly executed at Pest. It

WESTEUX EUllOPE IN THK FIFTEENTH CENTUKY. ISO

question further than any one elae has done; tor 1 now think nut only, as did some ot my predecessors, that the Gypsies had ah'eady aneestors in the south-east of Europe and in Asia Minor in the days of Herodotus and even Homer, but that these aneestors (from whom, however, 1 do not pretend that 'dl the Gypsies now scattered over the worhl descend) have contributed to the propagation of primitive metalhn;uy in certain countries. ^

But I will not now mix up these disputable questions with purely historical studies. I only warn the reader who has recourse to the writings in which I expound these new ideas that, since the publication of my long Lettre a la Berw critique of 187-"), on the Orit/ines drs Bohemiens and of some of the writings which followed, I have seen the insufficiency of the etymological comparisons {rapjjrochrmenfs efi/)U(>- logiques) which had at first seemed conclusive to me, and by which 1 thought it possible, temporarily, to supply the place of the unavoidably long and complex statement of the considerations, and the historical, ethnological, and arcliieological congruities which, I think, will render my theory very plausible. Want of time has always obliged me to defer this statement, and my advanced age may now, perhaps, prevenl me from ever accomplishing it. I request the reader will also believe that I am not ignorant of the philological objections which have been opposed to my theory, and that I take account of them in the measure in which they are certain; but I remain convinced, with an eminent Indianisf- who was also a most competent Gypsiologist, that

is this writing wliicli may now temporarily take the place ot the first thirty-six pages of my Nouvelles rechcrchcs oi' 1849, and I beg to refer the reader to it, asking him at the .same time not to I'oi-get that it is only a general sketch, and that for details even the memoir of 1849 may .still furnish some useful elements.

1 At the end (pp. 1-3-I4 of the tirage-d-part) of a iirst communication made to the Society of Anthropology, Nov. 18th, 1875, on presenting my Lettre « la Rente Critique, Sur h's Orifjines des Bohemiens, I had already said a few words on the probaLle j)art taken by the Gypsies in primitive metallurgy. I took up the idea anew (pp. 15-28) in a communica- tion made on the 2d Dec. following {Les Tsiganes de rdge de bronze), which was united to the i^receding in the same pamphlet.

- GusTAVE Garkez, wlio died suddenly at Paris, where he resided, on the 3d Dec. 1888, at tlie age of 54 years. His death is a very great loss to science, greater still to all the .scholars who liad dealings with him ; irreparable to me, for he was my light in all Gypsy (piestions con- cerning India and the East in general, and it was impossible to find one more abundant and more sure. He was at the same time untiring in kindness, and the most excellent of men. He was little known, because he had not published uuich; but two eminent members of the Asiatic Society to which M. Garrez lent his assiduous co-operation, MM. Barth and Senart, liave revealed to the world of learning the immense loss it has sustained. They have published on their friend and colleague two very interesting articles, of which the one appeared in the Revue criti'iuc of the 28th of January 1889, the other in the Jodriwl asiatique, in the number for Nov. -Dec. 1888. Both explain very well why Garrez pub- lished so little, and even wrote so little : it was because his learning was so exten.'-ive and his criticism so penetrating that lie never succeeded in satisfying himself.- But, amongst an accumulation of learning admirably co-ordinated in his powerful brain, his two biographers have forgotten the subject of the Gypsies and their language, Avhich he had studied very seriously, considering them as a necessary complement to his Indian studies.

190 BEGINNING OF THE IMMIGRATION OF THE GYPSIES INTO

philology alone cannot decide these very complex questions, and that if one arrives by different roads at conclusions equally certain or equally probable, means will necessarily be found to reconcile what may appear contradictory. But I was then so far from the ideas I have just mentioned, that I scarcely dreamt of going back beyond the thirteenth century.^

At the same time, however, whilst my Nouvelles recherches were already in the press, my attention was drawn by the learned Arabic scholar, M. Eeinaud, to several Oriental documents which appeared to open up some entirely new perspectives in regard to the origin of the Gypsies ; and although the question of origin was foreign to the subject to which my actual study was devoted, I naturally hastened to take advantage of such a discovery. Hence the JSfote adclitionncllc which fills the ten last pages (pp. 39-48)'^ of my Nouvelles ixclierclics.^ The subject of which I there treat is precisely that which forms the

It was M. Garrez who, consulted by the directors of the Revue critique, at tlie time of the puhlieation of my Lettre of 1875 concerning les Ori(/lnes des Bohemiens, pointed ont tlie in- sufficiency of my arguments in favour of the antiquity of the Gypsies in Europe, and it was on this occasion that I made his acquaintance without then divining all the value of this meeting. But lie nevertheless always encouraged me to pursue my researches in the historical road which I was the only one to follow ; and it is he also who, later on, one day said to me : "I really think that the discovery of the Indian origin of the Gypsy tongue has injured more than it has served in the discovery of the origin of the Gypsies, because it has pre- vented from searching for it." This is exactly what I thought, but I should not perhaps have dared to say it ; and this opinion has a very different weight in the mouth of such an Indianist from what it would have had in mine.

In speaking of this esteemed friend it is impossible not to think of anotlier loss, less recent and much less unexpected, Init which has been also much felt by me, that of Pott, tlie eminent Sanscrit scholar and philologist of Halle, the greatest etymologist of our times, who died in July 1887, at the age of more than 84 years. He was the worthy patriarch of the Gypsiologists. His Zigeuner in Europa unci Asien (2 vols. 8vo, 1844-45) ap- peared when the Neo-Aryan tongues of India were nearly unknown ; his age and his iuHr- mities did not permit him in the last days of his life to follow the progress of Indian philology like Garrez. But this great work, to say nothing of Pott's later contributions to Gypsy studies, is none the less a monument of erudition and a valuable repertory, which seems to me too much neglected at the present time. Pott also was not one of those exclusive Gysiologists who are of opinion that the tongue of the Gyi)sies is the sole source from which we can learn anything concerning their origiu and their history, more or less ancient. As the jiresent is the first publication made by me since his death, I wish to express in it my very grateful remembrance for the partictilar kindness with which he always wel- comed my modest writings.

1 See Nouv. recherches, 1849, f). 35. Cf. p. 19, where the eleventh century ab-eady ap- peared a very early date to me, and p. 36, where I consider as improbable the hypothesis of Dr. Hasse, who discovers the Gypsies on the banks of the Danube in the times uf Herodotus — a hypothesis which I fully admit now.

2 Between p. 36 of this memoir of 1849, to which my preceding analysis is confined, and p. 39, which begins the Note adcUtionnelle, three pages are devoted to the Additions ct corrections to my memoir of 1844. I mark out there the new divisions of the subject which are the necessary consequence of the undoubtedly correcter notions we had recently acquired, and I there point out documents concerning the Gypsies in the West which had come to my knowledge since 1844.

3 The same Note additionnelle, in the same small type, occupies but eight pages in the Bibliotheque de I'Ecole des Charles, because I made additions in the reprint (tirage a part).

wp:stekn EUKorK m the fiftkexth centui;y. 191

memoir which M. de Goeje, the learned Arabic scholar of Leydeu, publislied in 1875 (in Dutch), under the title Contribution a I'histoire des Tsiganes (25 pages in 8vo.), and of which an English transla- tion has been given in the volume entitled The Gypsies of India by Mr. David Macllitchie (London, 1886). This last circumstance renders unnecessary any long explanation in these pages. M. de Goeje was not acquainted with my work of 184:9 when he published his memoir, and I am glad he was not, for, had he not thought the subject entirely new, he would not perhaps have discussed it. Now liis work is naturally superior to mine ; it has, above all, the great advantage of following the transportations of Djatts and other Indians as far as the territory of the Byzantine Empire, towards the year 855, whilst the documents pointed out or furnished me by M. Eeinaud go no further, so far as regards these trans- portations, than Anazarbe (Ainzarba) on the confines of Syria and Asia Minor towards 835. But the basis and the subject of these two studies were so identical that I was obliged to claim my right of priority.^ It is well to add that, if I was then anxious to establish it, and if I am still anxious to do so at the present day, it is, above all, because it appears to me to give me more authority for reducing to its true value a theory which was mine so far back as 1849, and which I then found seductive, but of which I had acknowledged the insufticiency long before 1875.

I think now, as I did in 1875, that the Djatts and other Indians transported at divers periods from India to more western regions, and finally, towards 855, to the territory of the Byzantine Empire, may probably have fused with the Gpysy race,- especially if the Gypsies already existed, as I am persuaded they did, in these parts, but that they could not have been the stock of the Gypsy race for two principal reasons : " It is unlikely that the five hundred thousand Gypsies, at least, who now exist in the south-east of Europe, to speak only of this region, should descend from a few thousand Djatts trans- ported tliere in 855 ; and, moreover, it is impossihlc that these Djatts,

1 I did so by a long letter published in The Academy of the 5th of June 1875, and also at the commencement of my Letlre a la Revue critique : siir Ics Originc.s des Bohimiens (Sept. and Oct. 1875). This right of priority was graciously acknowledged by M. de Goeje iu a correspondence exchanged between us on tlie subject. 1 only regret that he did not remember publicly to acknowledge it in the English translation of 1886, which was revised by him (without his having made, however, the slightest change on his work of 1875).

2 I have even produced in support of this probability a small new contriliution which has its value by giving, perhaps indiscreetly, in my Lcltrc d la Revue critique of lS75(pp. lU-11), an unpublished conmmnication of M. Paspati concerning the Gypsies of Hai'iupol, near Tchorlu (seventy miles to the north-west of Constantinople), who are rearers- of bujf'aloes. This communication will lie found, as tifth paragraph, in tlie notes published by SI. Paspati, under the title of Turkish Gypsies, in the first number of the present Journal (July, 1888).

192 BEC4INNING OF THE IMMIGRATION OF THE GYPSIES INTO

rearers of buffaloes, or given to other occupations foreign to the generality of Gypsies, should have been the forefathers of a race distinguished by three principal occupations, the working of metals, divination, and music, and which — more especially in the working of metals — employs with great skill primitive methods dating certainly from a remote antiquity." ^

However that may be, I had not waited for the new views opened out in my Note additionndlc, to discern that the question of the /ir-s/ appearance of the Gypsies in the south-east of Europe was becoming quite distinct from that of their first appearance in the west ; and although I did not then think the former question insoluble, as I now consider it, I at once separated it distinctly l)y adopting a new division of the subject {Nouv. rccJi., p. 7 and pp. 36-38); that is to say, by placing in a First Fart — " Lcs Buhemiens dans V Europe Orienia/e rt Septentrional c " — the countries where their advent remained un- known, and by resei-ving for the Secotid Fart, " Lcs BoMmiens en acci- dent" all that we know of their first appearance in this part of Europe.

I traced at the same time, as far as possible, tlie line of demarca- tion between the two zones — that of the known and that of the unknown ; saying {Ihid., p. 6) that it might be represented by " drawing a nearly straight line from the southern extremity of the Baltic Sea, near the mouth of the Oder, to the Adriatic near Venice or Trieste."

It was to be well understood that I did not pretend to apply to the immense European zone placed to the east of this line, the new ideas that we had just acquired for the south-east of Europe. Here — I mean to say in the Balkan Peninsula (including the eastern part of the Mediterranean) and in the Danubian regions— we then knew with certainty that the Gypsies had existed long before 1417. From what time had they existed ? I then thought that, some day or other, we should come to know it ; I now think, though I may be mistaken, that it will never be known. We may, no doubt, discover that at such or such a period new immigrations of Gypsies took place in these countries,- Itut I think that we shall never know when the first took

1 The (}uoted passage is copied from p. 4 of the paniplilet {lirmje d part), in which T liave, midei- the title of tiur les orir/lncs des Bohemicns : La^ Tsiganes il Vdrje de hronze, united the two communications of November and December 1875 made by me to the Antliro- pological Society. I sum up there, much more briefly than in the two writings imlicated in the last notp but one, my objections figainst tlie theory in tjnestion. It must be remarl^ed also (ihid., note to p. 5) that 1 had then in my hands a complete translation into French of M. de Goeje's memoir, which coniirmed the estimate contained in my two preceding writings, published before 1 could become perfectly acquainted with M. de Goeje's work. It is well to support my refutation on ethnographical considerations of M. de Goeje's too exclusive theory, by the philological arguments of M. Miklosich (vi., 1S76, pp. 63-64).

2 It is here, as I have said above, that the theory of M. de Goeje (which was also mine so far back as 1849), reduced to its true value, might lind a legitimate place. Other niigra-

WESTKUN EUUOrK IX THE FIFTEENTH CENTUIIV. 193

place, because they are lusL in Ihe night of ages. I therefore blot out from my programme their advent in the south-east of Europe.

But, in the great eastern and northern zone, as it is tractul above, there are other countries whicli may demand fresh lines of demarcation, according as the Gypsies have existed there at perioels more or less anterior to 1417, or have spread themselves there towards this date, or have arrived there later, perhaps even much later (whicli appears also to have been the case in some distant countries of Western Europe). There is here, without doubt, matter for discussing certain dates, generally rather recent, which have been attributed of late to the earliest appearance of the Gypsies in some of these countries, But I doubt whether any of tliese dates would appear decisive to me,^ and I cannot stay to examine them here. IMoreover, I could not do so without reproducing certain parts of my memoir of 1849, which, even in these questions retain a certain value; it is simpler to refi-v the reader to them.

Thus, the two zones, that of the known and that of the unknown, have varied little during the last forty years. As to the line of demarca- tion A\hich I had traced between them, I need scarcely say that in m\- opinion then, as also in my opinion now, it can nowhere be absolutely determined. It is necessarily an uncertain line, destined to receive divers inflexions according to reliable information on one side or the other. It will also be necessary to remark that the western side repre- sents, not only the known, but also the immigration commenced in J 4 1 7, and that, consequently, it would l)c needful to add to it the countries of the eastern zone where the immigration of the Gypsies would have come in from the west, and would thus have been a consecutive fact with the innnigration in the west. We are far from having anv such precise information. I think that all we have learned that is new and certain on this point during the last forty years is, on tlie contrary, that Bohemia, which was, so to say, cut in two by the line

tioiis I'roni tliu Balkan Peninsula into the region of the Danube, probably also Ironi Asia. and i)erhaps even from Africa into Europe, at the begiuLiug and during tlie whole cour.se of the fifteentli century, are so ]ii-ol)al)le tiiat 1 do not now liesitatc to make them intervene in the explanation of certain lacts belonging to the first period (1-117-1438) of the immigration into the West, as will be seen further on.

1 I persist in thinking, for e.xami'le, that tlie existence of the Gypsies in Poland, and perhaps even in Northern Lithuania, is more remote than is generally admitted. As tn Russia, since it extends from Lapland and Nova Zembla to the Caucasus, and from the Baltic Sea to the Ural Mountains, to say nothing of Siberia and of the other Asiatic possessions, it is not easy to throw any light upon a que.stion like that of tlie presence of the Gypsies before, during, and even alter the fifteenth century ; and wliat one could learn of any valur concerning their earliest ajipearance in one of the great provinces, so different fioni each other, in this immense empire, would be strictly limited to this province. Here again philo- logv alone is not sufficient.

194 BEGINNING OF THE IMMIGRATION OF THE GYPSIES INTO

in question, appears decidedly to belong to the eastern zone.^ It may be asked, too, whether it would not be right to include Moravia and Silesia in the same.^ It is presumable that this zone will even be extended in the direction of Venice and Trieste,^ where I have placed the termination of a temporary line, and also by a sort of projection on the side of eastern Italy, which is so near the old Gypsy station of Corfu.*

But it is time to return to that part of my first memoir (1844) which concerns the immigration of the Gypsies into Western Europe in the fifteenth century, and to confine ourselves to it. As we are about to speak of a work which is to pass under the reader's eyes, I shall happily be able to be much more brief.

At the same time that I discovered the absence of all documents relative to the appearance of the Gypsies in Eastern Europe, I made, at the outset of my researches, another discovery of less consequence but still highly interesting. Our most numerous and most important documents, as I have remarked, are confined to the time comprised between 1417 and about 1438. Up to the time of my discovery it had always been supposed that the facts revealed by them denoted the real immigration of the Gypsies into the west (and even into Europe) ; so much so that, as soon as a few Gypsies had been signal- ised in a country, it was concluded that the race had from that time taken root there. The examination and the comparing of documents had convinced me, on the contrary, that, from 1417 up to about 1438, the west was only travelled over by a small number of Gypsy bands who explored this new region, and who had all, or mostly all, close connection with each other, obeying the same chiefs, separating or

1 " The annals written in tlie Bohemian tongue speak, iimler the year 1416, of the appear- ance (auftreten) of Gypsies in Bohemia, witliout designating them as a people never before seen: 'That same year (1116) the Gypsies (C'ikani) wandered ahout the land of Bohemia and deceived tlie people.' — Scri^jtores rerum bohem., in. Prague, 1829, p. 30." I extract this quotation from the memoirs of Miklosich (Ueber die Mimdarien imd die Wanderungen der Zigeuiier Earopas, iii. Wien, 1873, pp. 22-23), taking notice that, according to his own remark, the word appearance is not that which appears to be suitable. The original phrase which I have put between single inverted commas, is given by Miklosich in the Bohemian tongue, as extracted from the Annals he has just quoted.

" " It is xDrobable that they appeared for the tirst time in Moiavia and Silesia towards the year 1416 . . . " — Miklosich, ibid. p. 23. Was it veally for the first time ? See in Nouv. rechcrches, pp. 29-31, the double document of 1344 and 1394, which has, I3erha2)s, a gi-eater value than 1 formerly attributed to it.

•' I have always thought that Venice, which was in such close relation with the east during the times which here iuterest us, must contain in its archives documents that would be very precious to us. In consequence of these relations she may even have early drawn into her orbit some groups of Gypsies (this is what 1 have already remarked in Mat de la question, p. 22). A question almost analogous may be asked concerning the soutii of Spain and Portugal (see my coiumuuication Les Gilanos d'Espayne et les Cicjanus du Portugal, Congress of Lisbon of 1880, pp. 497-510, pp. 17-30 of the tirage djjart).

■^ See Etat de la (jucstio/i . . . 1876, pp. 20-22.

WESTKUN KUKOI'K L\ TlIK FlKTKKNTJi CKNTUUV. 195

joining again at various places evidently fixed upon beforehand for the great journey. It is from 1438 only that the Gypsy race begins to spread, little by little, in succeeding waves, over the various countries of the west.^

From thence, the separation into two periods of the innnigration of the Gypsies in the west: the first comprising the years 1417-1438, the second- beginning towards 1438 and continuing up to a period which it seems to me impossible to fix with any precision, l)ut wliicli certainly encroaches on the sixteenth century.

The immigration of the Gypsies in the west presented, especially at the outset, an extremely singular character, which rendered its history so much the more curious. They gave themselves out as penitents and pilgrims come from Egypt, and brought accordingly letters of recommendation from the Emperor, and afterwards from the Pope. They presented themselves with these letters before the local authorities asking for aid, and, far from hiding themselves as much as possible, as might have been expected, they made themselves highly conspicuous. It is to this circumstance that we owe the valuable documents of the first period, which enable us in some degree to follow the wanderings of these strange travellers.

It is evidently this part of my memoir of 1844 that the editors of the present Journal had more especially in view when they asked me to reproduce the memoir itself ; for, unlike that which preceded it, this part (from p. 18) has lost nothing from age. Several authors have drawn largely from it, as they have besides from several other of my Gypsy writings, and too often without properly acknowledging the source from which they drew ; but no one has recommenced it ; and as the first part at least (1417-1438), which is the only one which is seriously examined in it, is essentially composed of docu- ments arranged in chronological order, which is the only })roper one, no one could recommence it without bringing a mass of new docu- ments, which would change its disposition — a very improbable case, and which I need scarcely say has not presented itself. It has happened, on the contrary, that the authors who wished to appear

1 See my memoir of 1844, pp. 4, 44-47, and that of 1849, pp. 36, 37.

- I must add here to what I have already said (p. 14) of the divisions of my subject into two periods, that these two periods perfectly established in my memoir of 1844 were then the second and the third — the first being reserved for any certain information that might be obtained concerning the first appearance oi' the Gypsies in Western Europe ; but they had become the first and second so early as 1849 (as they still are), for Eastern Europe foniis in future a first part totally distinct from the second, which is devoted to the west. Wlien I now speak of the first and second periods, I coiise(iuently reier to the second and third of my memoir of 1844, where alone I have treated of them formerly (excepting a few additions and corrections, j.]). 37-39 in my Xouv. rccherches, 1849).

196 BEGINNING OF THE IMMIGKATION OF THE GYPSIES INTO

to have treated the subject as though they were the hrst to do so, and as though they drew directly from the original sources, liave not brought forward any really new document belonging to this important period of 1417 to 1438.

But if this part could with difficulty be re-cast, it could and would necessarily increase, become more complete and more perfect, in proportion as fresh documents were discovered. Some have, indeed, come to light, of which those who contented themselves with pilfering nie were wholly unaware, and of which I now take advantage for improving my present work, taking care to point out the authors to whom I owe the discovery. Those who will take the trouble to compare my old memoir with the present one will see that they are sufficiently numerous ; Holland, in particular, which has been better explored in this respect than any other country, has furnished a considerable number. But as the matter extends to all the countries in the west, where so many different collections have been published, I am no doubt unacquainted with many documents, even those which have been printed, to say nothing of those which lie still buried in the Archives,^ and which are probably more numerous than those that have been published. I should be very grateful to such of mj readers as may be acquainted with any documents of this kind, if they would point them out to me with precision.^

This First Period of the immigration of the Gypsies into the west being the principal object of my present work, like that of 1844, I should add that I have not confined myself to enriching it with new documents ; I have taken still more care than before to reproduce exactly and entirely those which are contemporary and original. I have also given more space to the interpretation of these documents, modifying often the form, to render it more exact, and sometimes the sense of what I wrote forty years since. I have even added, at the beginning of the First Period, a commentary explaining, so far as it is possible to explain, the strange facts contained in it. This addition appeared the more useful to me as some persons had formerly^ reproached me with not enabling the reader to steer his way through the mixture of

1 As will he remarked in reading my work, it is more especially the nmiiicipal accounts which are to be explored.

2 My present address is 12 Kue de FOdeon, Paris. Those who may forget it liuve only to remember that I am " Archiviste de la Facultc de Medecine." The smallest document anterior to 1440 has a pavtionlar value, esppcially if it bears a precise date, but those of the succeeding years may also contain precious infornuition. Vavh amongst those of mucli more recent date there are certainly some of great interest.

^ See Nouvelles recherches, pp. 38-39.

WP:STEliX EUROl'K IN TllK FIFTEENTH GENTUIJY. 197

facts aud lictioii. This commentary and certain critical discussions, such as those concerning tlie Gypsies in Switzerland, certainly make my narrative heavy, and this defect is rendered still more sensible by the unavoidable partitioning of my work in several numbers of this Journal. But if, as I think, this fault has its utility, I trust the serious student will easily forgive it.

As to the Second Period, that which begins towards 1438, and which ought to contain the immigration of the mass of the Gypsies in the west — that is to say wliat is in reality the true immigration — it would be very difficult to fdl up the outline properly. I had already made this remark of old, and I will explain it when 1 come to speak of this part of my subject. I confined myself in 1844 (in wliat was then the Third Period, pp. 47-56) to collecting and arranging chronologically, or nearly so, the scattered facts, beginning with 1438, which had come to my knowledge, including on one side some unpublished i'rencii documents (to whicli it will now suffice to refer the reader), and on the other the notions more or less uncertain which it was possible to entertain concerning the first a]3pearance of the Gypsies, not only in countries such as England and probably Spain, where the immigration of the Gypsies is a consecutive fact of their immigration in the west, but also in countries of the north and the east, such as Sweden and Eussia and even Poland, which then belonged ^ and still belong to the unknown zone, as I have remarked above. All this was a little confused, and this part of my old memoir scarcely merits to be reproduced at the present time ; but, liaving been obliged to devote to the essential part of the present work {First Period) all the time of which I have been able to dispose since this publication was asked for, I have not even had leisure seriously to consider what I should put in its place. At all events, as I have entitled the present publication Beginning of the Immigration of the Gypsies info Western Europe in the Fiftecrith Century, the reader will not expect to find in it more than it contains.

The present work is, therefore, new in many respects; but I beg the reader will not forget that it is also old, very old ; ibr I should be sorry that any one should remember having found, under another name than mine, things that are contained in this publication, and think me the plagiarist of the authors who have pilfered from me.

I have as yet said nothing of a preliminary part which I think necessary to introduce before the First Period of the immigration info

1 See also .VowreZfes recherches, 1819, pp. 25:51. aii'l in the Additions and corrections, p. 38.

198 BEGINNING OF THE IMMIGRATION OF THE GYPSIES INTO

the west. But, as this new chapter will follow immediately, I shall the more willingly place in it the considerations which explain and justify it, as I have not, up to the present time, many certain and very conclusive documents to produce in it.

Antecedents and Pkeludes.

Whatever future discoveries may bring to light, the immigration of the Gypsies into the west, which began officially, so to speak, in 1417, remains a well-authenticated fact and a predominating feature of the history of the race in our countries. I say officially, because they then presented themselves with letters from the Emperor, and a little later, in 1422, with letters from the Pope, and, instead of shunning observation, they courted attention by every means in their power.

But, since it is known that the Gypsies certainly existed in the south-east of Europe at far earlier periods, at a date which it is impossible to fix, it is natural to ask whether none had ever come westward before 1417. I think that no one, even a jiriori, could seriously reply to this question in the negative. But, a posteriori, after examination of the facts and of the documents (even those of later date than 1417, and some still more recent) now in our pos- session, one remains convinced that not only Gypsies may have come into these same parts long before 1417, but that they must have done so. At the same time it is easy to understand the diffi- culty, if not the impossibility, of finding undeniable historical traces of these curious episodes of the history of the Gypsies.

I have already devoted a special paragraph to this new question in J^tat (U la question . . . 1876 (§ iv. pp. 48-50),^ but there I chiefly alluded to ancient times, of which I cannot speak here. I have, besides, in different parts of the same treatise,- made observations explaining the absence or the extreme scarceness of more or less ancient documents, which observations are equally applicable here. I will now sum them up and complete them, for I am obliged to commence by negative proofs, not only because I cannot produce many others, but also because these already possess considerable significance.

First. In the countries where the Gypsies were best known, the historians of the country formerly disdained to speak of them ; indeed.

See also pp. 5, G, a passage which particiilarly points to the period preceding the earliest recorded appearance of the Gypsies in the west. See pp. 30-33. Cp. p. 40.

WESTERN EUIIOI'E IX THE FIFTEENTH CENTUUY. 199

we should have heard notliing of the existence of the Gypsies in Eoumania in the fourteenth century, had they not ah-eady been reduced to bondage there, and become in consequence the object of important donations ; nor in Corfu and the island of Cyprus at the same period, if in these two islands they had not been submitted to conditions equally special; nor in Crete so far back as 1322, nor in the Peloponnesus, a little later, if foreign travellers had not passed that way. We should not have heard of their travelling in the twelfth century over Austria and the " world," according to the expression of an Austrian monk of the period, if he had not had the strange idea of introducing them and describing them in a metrical translation of the book of Genesis. We should be quite ignorant of their existence in the Byzantine empire ever since the seventh century (or, according to M. Miklosich, the beginning of the ninth century) up to the thirteenth, if they had not been more or less mixed up with a sect of heretics of low degree, under the name of Athingans. In a word, we should know nothing of the existence of the Gypsies in the south-east of Europe before 1417, if it had not been for purely accidental circumstances, and if, in the greater number of the places I have just named, they had not been in conditions absolutely different from their normal state, and which were the cause of the documents that have come down to us.

But I proceed to make a statement wdiich is very applicable in the present case, for it proves that the Gypsies, even when new-comers in a country, might pass there unperceived — a statement as simple as it is important — and one which has but recently come under my notice, for I produce it here for the first time. It obliges me to enter into some preliminary explanations.

In support of my theory concerning the antiquity of the Gypsies in the south-east of Europe, after having sought confirmation in my preceding remark for explaining the absence or extreme paucity of documents relative to their presence there in ancient times (and I do not doubt but that they were well known there), I remarked, in ^tat (Ic la question (pp. 31-33), that it was on the contrary impossible that their appearance or their ^rs^ arrival should not have been signalised in these countries if it had occurred in times more or less modern ; for it is absolutely unlikely that the Gypsies, numbering several hundreds of thousands in this region, should have crossed the Bos- porus under the walls of Byzantium, and in the light of historical times, without any annalist having made mention of the circumstance. To this very significant absence of documents concerning so consider-

200 BEGINNING OF THK IMMIGRATION OF THE GYPSIES INTO

able a fact, I opposed (p. 31) the relative abundance of those which mention the appearance of the Gypsies in the west in the fifteenth century, although they were much less numerous, because they were new-comers there. The first part of this demonstration retains a certain value on account of the enormous number of Gypsies who, or at least the majority of whom, must have crossed a region so limited and so anciently civilised as that bordering on the Bosporus ; but I perceive that the second part is very weak, not to say ineffective, for, if we are tolerably well informed respecting the immigration of the Gypsies into the west in the fifteenth century, it is owing to very peculiar cir- cumstances which are quite foreign to the normal condition of this people.

The documents which make us acquainted with the Gypsies in the first period of their immigration into the west (1417-1438), when there were but few of them, are exclusively of two sorts : several passages in Clironicles, and a still more considerable number of entries in Municipal Accounts, attesting the gifts made to such or such a duke, earl, or lord of Little Egypt and his band, who invari- ably presented themselves as penitents and pilgrims banished from their homes, and who generally exhibited in support of their state- ments and demands for subsidies, letters of recommendation at first from the Emperor and, later, from the Pope. This certainly is not what may be called the common way in which the Gypsies present them- selves, and it is to this exceptional circumstance that we are indebted for all the entries in Town Accounts by which the presence of these new-comers into the west during the period extending from 1417 to 1438, and long afterwards, is made known. As for the passages in Chronicles, which are the only source of information for the first period that can be added to the preceding, I doubt whether we should have had a single one, had it not been for a concurrence of similar exceptional circumstances ; that is to say, if the Gypsies, especially at the commencement of the immigration, instead of shunning observation and dispersing themselves, as one might have expected, over the country, and introducing themselves in small numbers at a time and more or less furtively into the towns, had not on the contrary made a point of presenting themselves in cities with a sort of ostentation, drawing all eyes to them. What is quite certain is that we should not otlier\^'ise have had the importnnt narratives furnished by the chronicler of Flanders (Tournai, 1422), nor by the Bourgeois de Paris, 1427, nor many others.

It is even very probable, as may be said in passing, that this

WESTERN EUROPE IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 201

entirely new statement may help to explain why the beginnings of the Gypsies in England have remained so obscure. I have some grounds for thinking, indeed, that it is because (for reasons that I shall, perhaps, examine in their time and place) they did not pre-

I

sent themselves there in the same manner as on the Continent, but introduced themselves more or less furtively.

Second. Even in the countries where the Gypsies are well known (in the east and in the west) a multitude of different names have been, and still are given to them, under which they are often not easily recognised. It would require a long chapter to enumerate and explain all those with which we are acquainted. Add to this list the names which we do not know, i.e. those which may have been in use at periods more or less ancient, and which may have fallen into dis- use even before 1417, the date at which the Gypsies began themselves to make themselves well known in the west ; add also the names of a vulgar kind, such as vagabond, beggar, foreigner, etc., under which the Gypsies may have been designated separately, or along with other people of the same sort ; and it will be understood that documents concerning the Gypsies in the west before 1417 may exist, which leave us very uncertain as to whether or not the Gypsies are there referred to.

As complement to this new observation, it must be remarked that the names given to the Gypsies frequently depend upon those whicli they give themselves ostensibly,^ but that this, in general, is only a fresh source of error or confusion. Indeed, even in the countries to which they are well accustomed, and where they are aware that they are well known, they avoid designating themselves by the names which are in use there ; still more do they conceal these names in other countries. It is thus that they called themselves Egyptians, or more exactly people of Little Egypt, when they spread over the west ; it is thus that the Gypsy blacksmiths, who have travelled over Europe during the last twenty years, coming from Hungary or the neighbour- ing lands, say that they are Hungarians, or attribute to themselves some other nationality ; from which it has resulted (and the detail is notewortliy) that, in a country like France, where the Gypsies have now been known for nearly five centuries, but where they are not numerous, provincial journalists, who have noticed their passage, have not at first recognised them for Gypsies. I could also mention the Greek Gypsies who landed at Liverpool in 1886 ; but I shall return

1 I say osteiisihhj, because tliey have among themselves secret names, which we have only begun to know since the race has been studied.

VOL I. — NO. IV. 0

202 BEGINNING OF THE IMMIGRATION OF THE GYPSIES INTO

by and by to these strange travellers, as well as to the Gypsy black- smiths from Hungary.

After the preceding observations, it will necessarily be admitted that Gypsies may have come into the west at divers periods anterior to 1417, without its being easy or even possible to find any historical confirmation of the fact; and if so, when it is question of a race so addicted to travelling, why not admit at the same time that such must often have been the case ?

I know very well that, in general, nomads remain within the bounds of the countries they are accustomed to wander over, and that the Gypsies themselves, who have not the same reasons as pastoral nomads for confining themselves to these limits, generally remain in the countries to which they have grown accustomed. It requires extraordinary circumstances to induce them to emigrate en masse ; and it is for this reason, no doubt, that the great immigration (very partial nevertheless) of the Gypsies into the west only took place centuries after they had fixed their seat in the east. But this obser- vation is applicable only to the masses ; and all those who are acquainted with the Gypsies know that there are some amongst them, belonging to whatsoever category, who travel over new countries, and that there are even families of Gypsies who emigrate to distant lands. There is besides a class peculiar to the Gypsies — a remarkable class, and which I suspect to have been much more numerous formerly — whose habit it is to make trading circuits more or less extensive : I mean the blacksmiths, who have now their principal seat in Hungary and in the Banat of Temesvar.

It is precisely these Gypsy blacksmiths who are described to us at the beginning of the twelfth century, by an Austrian monk, as " travelling far over the world" ^ and it is the same Gypsy CaldaraH (as they are called in the districts of Eoumania where they are accustomed to journey) who have recommenced in our own days, throughout the whole of the west, circuits which have led them some- times as far as England, as far as Norway, and sometimes, by way of France and Spain, as far as Corsica and Algeria. France was, dur- ing a certain time, " infested " by them, to quote the newspapers of the day, whilst I was rejoicing in the good luck which had thrown them in my way. How can we doubt that the great circuits which they appear to have made in the twelfth century, which we have our- selves seen them make, especially since 1866, and which seem to have

1 I have already made allusion to this document ; but I refer the reader anew to Mat de la question, pp. 23-29.

WESTERN EUROPE IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 203

nearly ceased during the last few years,^ have not since the twelfth century, at any rate, had various alternations,^ and that Gypsies, con- sequently, have travelled over the west at many periods, which it is all the more difficult, if not impossible, to determine, as these circuits were intermittent, and must often have been made in different directions ?

These exotic Gypsy blacksmiths generally return to the country whence they came, and consequently are not immigrants ; they may, however, very well figure in the antecedents of the immigration into the west.

As to the other, and much more numerous, Gypsies of the east, it may have happened amongst them, as it happens at the present time amongst the Gypsies of every country, that some individuals, or even some families, take to travelling merely to see foreign parts, and that their adventurous disposition may thus have led them into the west without, perhaps, their having settled there. It is among them, however, that there may and that there must have been real immi- grants into the west long before 1417; for independently of the general circumstances which determine a great movement of migra- tion among the Gypsies, such as that of the fifteenth century, there are always particular and local circumstances which may engage a group of families to adventure themselves into new countries with the hope of finding there easier means of living. Those of my readers who bear in mind the observations I advanced above, will understand that, even if these immigrations into the w^est were of frequent occurrence during the Middle Ages, that is to say, in dis- turbed times, when there were in our countries so many wayfarers and

1 I am much less well informed in tliis respect during the last few years tlian I was for- mei'ly. I should be very grateful to those who would inform me as exactly as possible of the ijassage of these Gypsy blacksmiths from Hungary. They travel sometimes in rather large numbers in waggons, which have no resemblance to the houses upon wheels of our Gypsies, and wherever they stoii they set up large tents, where each waggon finds its place. The men have generally long hair, and clothes more or less foreign, often ornamented with very large silver buttons, and the chiefs carry a large stick with a silver head. It is easy to recognise them at a glance by these signs, and by their trade. The first information to be gathered, as far as possible, is respecting their own numbers, the number of their horses, and of their tents and waggons, the dates of their arrival and of their departure, the direction they follow, the names of the chiefs, etc. Question them, if one can, on the extent and duration of their journey, on the number of Gypsies of the same profession as themselves, on the countries w,hich tiiey and their fellows have now the habit of frequenting. Articles from newspapers concerning them would be welcome, biit if any such are sent as cuttings, the date and the name of the newspaper are requested.

- The journeys of these Gypsy blacksmiths had already been remarked in Germany and Italy long before 1866, as I have noted in Etat de la qmstion, p. 56. On the other hand, the Edict of Ferdinand and Isabella, published at Medina del Campo, in 1499, mentions the " Calderos estrangeros," who niiglit well be Gypsies (see my Gitanos d'Espagne, Congress of Lisbon, 1880, tire d jJarf., 1884, p. 509). 1 could quote other documents of the same kind as this, but none more precise.

204 BEGINNING OF THE IMMIGRATION OF THE GYPSIES INTO

beggars, so many vagabonds more dangerous than most of the Gyp- sies, they may not have left any historical traces, especially if such immigrations were made, as is probable, by small groups, and without noise, and if the new-comers did not too much abuse the patience of the natives.

But to make this more evident, I will take a recent example, placing it hypothetically in an unknown past. Every one knows in England how, in July 1886, a band of about a hundred Gypsies coming from the south-east of Europe landed at Liverpool ; they intended taking passage to America, where they hoped to find an easier life ; but various obstacles having prevented them from carrying out their intention, they at last remained in England, where they dispersed themselves more or less, and where they appear to be already quite forgotten.^ In a country like England, where the Gypsies are so well known, it was easily guessed what they were, and when it was known through the Greek Consul at Liverpool, whose protection they invoked, fehat most of them came from Corfu,^ they were immediately designated by the name of Greek Gypsies. They had besides no reason for not saying themselves whence they came ; but they obstinately refused, as they invariably do, to confess themselves Gypsies, and there might have remained some doubts on this subject, if Gypsiologists, as expert as Mr. Crofton and Mr. MacEitchie, had not paid them a visit.

It is clear that perfectly analogous facts may and must have occurred before 1417 as well as in our own times. I say analo- gous, and not identical, because the causes which occasion emigra- tion may differ according to the cases, and also because in olden times the object — more or less vaguely had in view — could not have

1 Although as well informed as possible by Mr. Crofton, who knew that this Gypsy epi- sode would particularly interest me, and who sent me with his usual great obligingness all that he could collect in newspaper articles concerning them, I was able to know only up to May 1887, and very imperfectly, what had become of one or two of their detachments, and since then I have remained entirely without information respecting them. Here, again, I should be truly grateful to any one who could give me tidings of these strangers since May 1887 — or even add any information anterior to this date. Another interesting point would be to know exactly what causes had influenced their emigration from Corfu, and pro- bably the emigration of those who had preceded them in Corsica (see the following note). But this is a question which probably only could be elucidated in Corfu, where I can scarcely hope that our Journal will find any one disposed to make this little inquiry.

2 Corfu is precisely the seat of a Gypsy colony, of which Hopf {Die einwanderv.ng der Zigeuner, Gotha, 1870, pp. 17-22) has sketched the history since 1346 up to our days (I have summed it up in Mat de la iiuesiion, pp. 20, 21). I must observe that already, in July 1881, a band of Gypsy blacksmiths from Corfu, much less numerous than those which arrived in Liverpool, had landed in Corsica after having travelled over Italy. But I cannot enlarge here on the sad adventure that happened to it in Corsica. I will only remark that, although blacksmiths, they did not, any more than the Gypsies who disembarked at Liverpool,^ belong to the class of great Gypsy travellers, who have their principal seat in Hungary and in the Banat, and who are not, habitually at least, emigrants.

WESTERN EUROPE IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 205

been America. But these are secondary circumstances. It is not less clear that, if the fact I have just recalled to mind had taken place a few centuries or only a few years before 1417, it would remain perfectly unknown to us ; for, supposing what is already very doubt- ful, that some English annalist had recorded the advent at Liverpool of these singular strangers, it would be impossible for us to know that they were Gypsies. And yet the circumstances in which this little Gypsy immigration into England was accomplished render it much more striking than those which must have taken place from one country to another on the Continent by a sort of infil-. tration — this is what I wished to put in evidence.

There must have been thus small migrations into the west at all periods posterior to the unknown time of the first establishment of the Gypsies in the south-east of Europe, and particularly, no doubt, at epochs almost equally unknown to-day, where Gypsy population has received new recruits, or has displaced itself in these countries ; ^ and this is what I call the cmtccedcnts of the immigration of the fifteenth century, comprising therein the great trading circuits of the Gypsy blacksmiths. But this immigration of the fifteeutli century itself may have had some forerunners, as it has certainly had some loiterers ; I mean to say that groups of Gypsies, urged no doubt by the same causes which produced this general movement so singu- larly inaugurated in 1417 and in the following years, may before this date have spread themselves in some countries of the west, and remained more or less unperceived because they slid in without noisy demonstrations. This is what I call the preludes.

Among the few documents that I have now to make known, the two first seem to belong to this last kind of facts. I would not affirm it, however, because, details being wanting, one cannot be certain whether such of these facts may not have had its root in an older past, and be independent of the causes that produced the immigration whose official beginning dates from 1417.

Wilhelm Dilich (whose real name is Wil. Schaefer) tells us, in his Hessian Chronicle^ that some Zigeuners came into this country in 1414; here is all he says under the head of the above-named year : — " Then {zu der zeit) came for the first time into this country the thieving, malicious, and wizard beggars (Bettelvolk) the Zi- geuners."

1 It is natural indeed to suppose that, in a population which has so little cohesion, a move- ment of migration, even i^artial and limited, may not stop exactly where the principal mass takes up its new abode. Once in movement some go further, and may go very far.

- Hessische Chronick, Cassel, 1617, in fol., p. 229.

206 BEGINNING OF THE IMMIGRATION OF THE GYPSIES INTO

•Anotlier very trustworthy chronicler, G, Fabricius, gives us — in terms also too concise — a piece of information relating to Meissen, in 1416, but which, although by two years posterior to the preceding, appears to have a little more importance; under the date A°. 1416, " By order," he says, " of Prince Frederick, ^ the Zingani, a sort of wandering, mischievous people, are driven out of the country on account of their pilferings, their stellionates, ^ and their disorderly life." ^ But these Gypsies (whose number is nowhere named), since what date were they in Meissen ? It seems likely that if their arrival there had been quite recent, Fabricius might have known it, and would have mentioned it. We have here, however, only a slight presumption of their more or less ancient sojourn in the country.

As I have already said (p. 186), various authors have attempted to rectify the dates furnished by these two documents ; and I myself, in my memoir of 1847 (pp. 18, 19, and pp. 25, 26), had accepted these rectifications ; but I now reject them (as already in 1849, p. 37), and this time very decidedly. It was Calvisius who, referring in his 0]pus chronologicum (Frankfort, edit. 1650, in fol., p. 873) to the passage in Fabricius, substituted the date of 1418 and changed the sense.^ He gives, of course, no explanation. Grellmann after- wards adopts this pretended rectification, and inflicts a perfectly similar one upon the passage from Dilich, giviug as sole reason that the date of 1414 is impossible, because no other author speaks of the Gypsies before 1417.^ But this is a poor reason, and Calvisius had certainly no other for rectifying Fabricius. It has been previously seen whither this criterion had led Grellmann in speaking of the east : it is not more certain here. Without doubt the chroniclers are not infallible, especially when they are not contemporary with the fact they relate and date. We shall see this with regard to the Gypsies in Switzerland in 1418 ; but we must, nevertheless, rely on the chroniclers, and believe that tliey had some reliable document

1 Frederick tbe Warlike, Margrave of Meissen, a prince jealous of his sovereignty, and n bad terms with the Emperor Sigismund.

- A stellionate consists in selling as one's own a thing belonging to another person — a stolen horse, for example.

•^ A. 1416 : " Zigani, genus hominum erroneum et maleficum, ex ea ditione, propter furta, stellionatiTm et libidines, exterminantur, mandato Frederici principis," Georg. Fabricii Cliemnicensis Rerum Misnicarum Libri viii., Lipsiae, without date, in 4to. — G. Fabricius, a Latin poet and an exact and esteemed historian, was born at Chemnitz (Electorate, subse- quently Kingdom of Saxony) in 1516. He only published his Res Misniccc in 1560, in 4to, two years before his death.

•1 Here is the passage of the O^jus chronologicum of Calvisius indicated above : "Tartari, vulgo Zigeuner, genus erroneum et maleficum, primum in his regionibus visum ; et propter furta et libidines ex Misnia exterminantur — Fab."

5 Grellmann, 1787, pp. 206, 207 ; Fi-. trans, of 1810, p. 209.

WESTERN EUROPE IN THE FIFTEENTH CKNTURY. 207

under their eyes, when we have not some good reason for rectifying them ; and here I perceive none whatever.

I now come to a document which must be anterior to the year 1400, and which lias been published^ without any commentary by Professor Dr. Eeuss of Wiirtzburg, under the title : " Proclamation against Gi/psics (Verordnung gegen Zigeuner)." But the point is to be absolutely sure that it really concerns the Gypsies, and this I make no pretension to decide. I will only offer some observations which render this ascription more likely in my eyes than it first appeared to me. Here is the whole passage from Dr. Eeuss : —

" The book of Statutes (Statutenbuch) of the prince-bishop of

Wiirtzburg, Gerhard de Schwartzburg (elected in 1373, died in 1400),

a manuscript on parchment belonging to the historical society (Histor.

Verein) of Wiirtzburg . . . contains at fol. (? Bl.) 34, the following

. proclamation : —

" Concerning those who lodge and harbour the people belonging to the nation of the Bemische. — It is also our will and we order all our subjects, as well priests as laymen, ecclesiastics and seculars, poor and rich, established in our state of Wirczburg, and also all inn- keepers, concerning the foreigners called Bemische, that they wholly abstain from oivino- them to eat and drink, from lodoinf? them or from receiving them into their houses. Whoever infringes this order will be punished by a fine of one florin."

This ordinance does not contain anything that might not very well be applied to the Gypsies, but it does not describe them in a way to make them clearly recognisable. It remains then to know what were " these foreigners called Bemische."

Now, amongst the entries concerning the Gypsies which Dr. G. L. Kriegk, archivist of the town of Frankfort-on-the-Main, has extracted either from the Books of Accounts, or from the Books of the Bur- gomasters of the said town, and published in his work Dcutschcs

1 In Anzeiger fur Kunde der deutschen Vorzeit, vol i., year ISiii) (first published at Niirnherg in 1863), col. 83, 84. The article contains, besides, nothing in addition to what I translate above, but a short notice of a deliberation of the Council of the town of Wiirtz- burg concerning a Gypsy woman (Zigeunerin) in 1494. — In the year 1856, same vol. i. of tlie same collection, is to be found, col. 173, 174, an article signed " Aug. Stciber," where it is sought to establi.sh that Gypsies existed in Alsace towards the year 1270 ; but the demon- stration leaves much to be desired, and I content myself with referring to it the reader who would wish to go deeper into the question. To conclude, the year 1857 (vol. ii. of the same collection, published also at Niirnberg in 1863), contains, col. 369-371, an article upon " The Zigeuner in Westphalia, by Frederick Woeste, of Iserlohn," which tends to prove that the Gypsies existed in Westphalia before the end of the fourteenth ceuturj-, on one hand, under various names, especially under the Latin name oi focidatrices, serving to designate the Gypsy women ; and, on the other hand, under the name of (raiurerschen. But here, neither, do I find anything conclusive, nor even sufficiently plausible to induce me to stop to examine it.

208 BEGINNING OF THE IMMIGRATION OF THE GYPSIES INTO

Burgerthu7ii im Mittelalter (vol. i.), Frankfort-a-M., 1868, in 8vo, I remark in note 133/ p. 541, the following mention, under the date of 1495 : " Those who call themselves Bemischen are to go away, other- wise the council will have them put in prison." This entry occurs in the midst of many others which incontestably concern the Gypsies, desi"nated uuder various names and under various forms of the name Zigeuner, which have their interest, and M. Kriegk does not ex- press the slightest doubt but that this entry equally concerns them. Now, although M. Kriegk does not explain the name Bemischc? a G-erman archivist of the town to which these documents relate appears better situated than ourselves to appreciate a case of this kind, and the identification which he accepts between the people who bore this name and the Gypsies has probably some value.

I think I might find other examples of the name Bemischc applied elsewhere, in Holland for example, to the Gypsies in the fifteenth century, if I had time to seek them.

But here is a very strange document which brings us back to the principality of Wiirtzburg, where we have found this name Bemische given before the end of the fourteenth century, to "strangers" whom the prince-bishop forbids his subjects to lodge or feed — a document calculated to make one presume that Gypsies must in reality have existed from early times in this little state.

There is a Ghronique de Flandre, containing a passage, as clear as it is interesting, concerning the Gypsies at Tournai, towards the month of May 1422,^ of which I shall make use in my First Period. The author of this Chronicle, who is a contemporary, and who has certainly seen the " Egyptians" of whom he speaks, ends the description he gives of them by the following remark : " And folks

1 Containing extracts from the BiirgernieisterMclier of the town of Frankfort.

2 One can scarcely think this word has any connection with that of Bohmen, which I meet with under tiie date of 1480 in the extracts drawn from the Stddtischen B.echenhilcher of the town of Frankfort (in the same vol. of M. Kriegk, p. 150), because this name of Bohmen (no doubt Bohemien, as in France), which has nothing surprising in 1480, would with difficulty be explained if applied to the Gypsies of a period anterior to 1400, when the name of Bemische was already in use. I remark, by the way, that M. Kriegk, who, p. 149, quotes this name of " Bohmen (Beheimen) " amongst those given at Frankfort to the Gypsies in the sixteenth century, thinks, p. 150, that the Bohmen of the document of 1480 mentioned above, "do not appear to have been Gypsies, because they had not been simply sent away or driven from the town, but they had been conducted to . . . the forge called Waldschmide, near Nidda, in Upper Hesse." But this detail appears to me, on the contrary, to indicate that they were probably Gypsy blacksmiths, upon whom it was sought to impose regular work.

3 Recueil des Chroniques de Flandre, published under the direction of the Royal Com- mission of History by J. J. de Sraet, in 4to, vol. iii., Brussels, 1856, p. 372 and following. All this curious passage has been reproduced in Extraits des anciens registres des Consaux de la Ville de Tournai, published by H. Vanderbroeck, archivist of the town, in 8vo., vol. i., Tournai, 1861, pp. 236-238.

WESTERN EUROPE IN THE EIFTEENTII CENTURY, 209

gossiped about the allegation made by these people that they came from Egypt, but they were only, as hath since been known, from a town in Germany named in Latin EjnjJolensis, and in common parlance Mahone,^ situate between the town of ' Wilseuacque ' and 'Jlomme,' at six days' journey from the said ' Vilsenacque,' and they abide there by tribute and servitude."

The way in which it has pleased the Flemish chronicler to indicate the geographical position of the town which he calls in Latin Epipo- lensis, between the town of " Wilsenacque " (which must be Wilsnach, a small town of the Marquisate of Brandenburg ) ^ and " Eomme " (?) .... seems a sort of enigma made on purpose to embarrass the reader; but yet the important place, which the chronicler desig- nates by a Latin adjective more or less inaccurate, EpipoUnsis, can be none other than Wiirtzburg, in Latin Herhipolis? It is then finally from Wiirtzburg that the chronicler makes the pretended Egyptians come. Certainly it is not thence that all those came who spread over the west, and we have good reasons for thinking that neither did the band which appeared at Tournai in 1422 come from thence; but that this chronicler, who was, moreover, a very intelligent man, should have had such an idea, he must have learnt soon after tlie passage of the band which came to Tournai in May 1422, that Wiirtzburg, or rather Franconia, of which the larger part formed the state of the prince-bishop, contained a certain number of people of the same sort who " abode there by tribute and servitude." Now this is not a condition to which, before 1422, the Gypsies of the immigration commenced in 1417 could have been reduced; it is a condition more or less analogous to those in which we have found the Gypsies in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries in various countries of the east, to which they appear to have been subjected for a long time ; it could only have been established in the bishopric of Wiirtzburg over Gypsies who had arrived there successively by families, or in very small groups, who had tried their chance in the west, and who, not well knowing what to do, had accommodated themselves to the sort of semi-servitude offered them, in return, no doubt, for some advantages, and above all for their being tolerated in this principality.

From these considerations, I am strongly disposed to believe

1 M. Vanderbrocck writes here Mahode : is this a correction ?

2 See the Diction, (leoijr. of Baudraiul, Paris, 1705, in fol., at the word Wilsmac/C, Wilsnach.

3 See the same at tlie word WurtrJmrg. It remains to be learnt if this town has been sometimes called, "in common parlance," by a name approaching to Mahone or Mahode.

210 BEGINNING OF THE IMMIGRATION OF THE GYPSIES INTO

that the Bemischc who occasioned the ordinance issued at a date necessarily comprised between 1373 and 1400, by Gerhard de Schwarzburg, prince-bishop of Wiirtzburg, were really Gypsies. In support of the detail supplied by the chronicler of Flanders that " they abode there by tribute and servitude," that is to say that they were tolerated there under certain conditions by which the bishop probably profited, one may remark that this prince did not drive them out of his principality as the Margrave of Meissen did at a later date, but that he only prohibited his subjects from lodging them or feeding them under penalty of a fine, a radical measure which he may have taken in the interest of those it affected in order to prevent the Bemische from being any longer a burden to them.

It must be well understood that I do not offer these conjectures for certainties, but they appear to me highly plausible. This probable state of things still existed, it appears, in 1422, and it may have lasted some time longer. But, first of all, some of the Gypsy families, those least amenable to discipline, may have shaken off the yoke before this period, although to all appearance it was not very heavy, and may have passed into Meissen, for example, whence they were to be expelled in 1416, or into Hesse, where the presence of Gypsies is signalised as early as 1414. Besides, it is probable that the spectacle of the benefits the immigrants of 1417 and of the following years derived from their frauds may have tempted the Gypsies of Franconia, that the example of the independence of these new-comers may at least have been an inducement to emancipate themselves, and that they mixed themselves little by little with the other Gypsies of the west.

However that may be, it will be remarked that the foregoing facts, and others which some writers have pretended to establish, but which I neglected as being still less certain than those to which I have drawn attention, concern the western region of Germany. This is easily explained. The diversity of the languages spoken in different countries is an obstacle that the Gypsies know very well how to surmount when they have any reason for venturing into new countries ; but it is an obstacle which naturally stops them under ordinary circumstances, whilst on the contrary they are naturally, so to speak, induced to pursue their course wherever a language witli which they are already familiar is spoken ; for their true frontiers are not the political ones, but those traced by language, and it is thus that the great Gypsy groups which exist in Europe have been formed, and the dialects of the Gypsy tongue, which correspond at the same

WESTERN EUROPE IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 211

time to these groups and to the geographical distribution of tlie various languages. Now the German language, with which the Gypsies of the south-east must have familiarised themselves in the archduchy of Austria and elsewhere, had long before 1417 been ex- tended (with dialectic differences which were not sufficient to arrest them) as far as the North Sea, Alsace, and certain Swiss cantons. It is, then, in this direction that Gypsy families of an adventurous disposition would prefer turning their steps,^ and it is in these parts more especially that we may hope to make some discoveries. As the Italian language had extended itself before the end of the middle ages over several isles of the eastern waters of the Mediterranean, this circumstance must have been an additional reason ^ for early attracting the eastern Gypsies to Italy.

I must add two final remarks.

It will now be easily understood why I liave changed the original title of my work : Dc VaiJiKtrition et cle la dis2}ersion des Bohemiens en Europe. Besides its being no longer a question of the whole of Europe, the apparition of the Gypsies, even in the west in the fifteenth century, has not now in my eyes any other than a relative meaning, and, so to say, official, as I have already pointed out. As to tlie word disjjersion, it lias never been satisfactory, and I should have changed it even in 1844 to diffusion, had it not been objected, and very justly, that in Frencli tliis word, when used in the sense of "spreading," is little employed except in physics, and can scarcely be applied correctly, even by extension, otherwise than to tilings such as light, riches, etc. Both are advan- tageously superseded by immigration, which, besides, lends itself to the modifications that the division of the subject into various periods admits of.

Secondly, several of the clironiclers whom I shall have to quote in the First Period add, in recording the presence of Gypsies in such or such a place, or even country, that it was the first time that they had been seen there. I am always careful to reproduce this statement, which may have its interest ; but I wish to add that I do not attach more importance to it than it merits. Without speaking of what may have occurred at periods placed by me under tlie head of Antecedents and Preludes, and without going further back than the First Period, such a statement may be subject

1 It was, perhaps, the same motive that contributed to decide tlie first Gypsies of the immigration of 1417 to go first to the Hanseatic Towns, and to commence by tiavelling over the countries where the German tongue is spoken.

' See above, p. 194.

212 IMMIGRATION OF THE GYPSIES IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY.

to revision. A chronicler, even contemporary, may be mistaken in this respect, especially if he extends his remark to the whole of a country. But it must be observed that it is generally writers who are not contemporary who add this statement to the fact revealed to them by such or such a document : it is the first they are acquainted with, but it may not in reality have the signification they attribute to it. "We have already seen (p. 206) that Calvisius, not satisfied with changing the date given by Fabricius, also impairs the sense of it by adding these words : " primum in his regionibus visum." Others may have erred more innocently. We shall meet with several proofs or several tokens of errors of this kind. But, even there, where motives for rectification or suspicion are wanting, the expression fo7' the first time should never be con- sidered as infallible. I have here spoken only of the Chronicles, because the Town Accounts, always confining themselves with much precision to the actual fact, never employ such a form ; but, if it be a document of this nature which has served as guide to a chronicler, he may all the more easily have taken for a first mention such or such an entry in these accounts which may perhaps have been preceded, at a date more or less distant, by one or two other entries which have escaped liis notice.

In concluding this preliminary chapter, I acknowledge that it is not rich in facts; but in speaking, in 1844, of that which concerned the Gypsies in Eastern Europe, I remarked {De Vaiiparition, etc., p. 5) that it was an outline but slightly filled in. It has already gained something since then ; and I hope it will gain still more. Conclusive documents will be still more difficult to discover and discern, as I have shown superabundantly and perhaps tediously ; but time, and the labour of scholars more learned than myself, will, no doubt, do their work, and perhaps my successors will give a thought to him who has opened up these two questions.

Paul Bataillaed.

I

II.— AN ITALIAN GYPSY SONG.

OBTAINED the following song from a woman in Florence who is a fortune-teller. She assured me that it is actually a Gypsy lyric, and in fact the realism in it is very striking. There are very few ballads in existence which are so simply descriptive of hard life, and with so little conventional " poetry " in them. A remark-

AN ITALIAN GYPSY SONG.

213

able feature in this ballad is its resemblance and almost identity with old Spanish songs of a similar type.

Canzone della Zingara. Translation.

lo son Zingara clie passegio I villagi e la citta, Con dei ferri clie io vendo Per la calza lavora'. E lavoro delle calze E un lavoro poveretto, Peverina io lo smetto Non avendo da mangiar. Quest! ferri e proccaciato Per andare a dispensare, Per un un soldo guardonare, Per pigliarlo un' po' di pan. Neppur questo non mi giova, La miseria e sempre grande, Si un organetto posso farmi Quello andero suonar. Sotto le finestre dei Signori, E dei principi, dei conti, E dei niarchesi, Fin che questi un soldarello Me lo passino a me buttar. E allor sempre ripetando, " 0 di ferri a dispensar ! " CM lo sa, un biondetto 0 un moretto, purche sia, Non si possa inamorar. E allor' sempre cantaro : Ba la la la — ra la la, E de' ferri non vo, piu, Io dispensar — ra la la !

I'm a Gypsy girl who wanders By the villages or town, Selling iron-ware, knitting stockings. Walking, working up and down.

But this ever knitting stockings Does me very little good. Poor me ! I 'd so gladly leave it, For I often want for food.

And the iron ware I purchase Just to make a little trade. Just to get a penny profit, And to buy a bit of bread.

But 1 've very little pleasure, Sufiering 's always in my way, Could I buy a small hand organ, Then I 'd go about and play,

Neath the windows of the nobles. Counts and lords — whate'er they be, Till some marquis from the window Throws a penny out to me.

Then you 'd always hear me singing : " Iron ware I 'd let it be ! " Who knows but some fair young fellow- Or a dark — may follow me !

Then I always would be singing : Ra la la la — ra la la. Then adieu to all the iron, With a lal lal lal de ra!

It is almost needless to say that I have given the song verbatim as it was sung, and have made no attempt to correct the Italian. The air accompanying it is very pretty, simple and original.

Charles G. Leland.

Florence, Feb. 25, 1889,

III.— THE GYPSIES IX THE MAP.CHES OF AXCONA DUPtlNG THE 16th, 17th, and 18th CENTUPJES.

THE eminent Professor Antonio Gianandrea has lately discovered among the municipal archives of Senigaglia (Marches of An- cona), ten documents relating to the Gypsies, of which the earliest bears the date of 1550 and the most recent that of 1742. These are

214 THE GYPSIES IN THE MARCHES OF ANCONA

of considerable importance in the history of the ItaHan Gypsies, and I believe that I shall be giving pleasure to the readers of our Journal in now bringing under their notice these hitherto unpublished documents.

Senigaglia is a small town of The Marches, built upon the shores of the Adriatic, and is the birth-place of the late Pope Pius the Ninth. At the date of the first of the following documents — that is to say in 1550 — this town was under the rule of the Dukes of Urbino, powerful feudal nobles, who there retained a Lieutenant (Luogotenente). But, besides this representative of the ducal government, the town main- tained its municipal powers, like all the other free towns of Italy at that period.

The two first of these documents relate to a decree of expulsion against the Gypsies, who are ordered to quit the territory within four days, under pain of suffering fortliwith, three trcdti di cordci} after which they were to be sent to the galleys, their goods falling to any of the citizens who chose to appropriate them.

Eiform. 1550-57, c. 7. -verso.

1550, 5 August. Consiglio, etc. Il luogotenente ducale D. Hieronymus Egidius — Presentavit litteras ducales d.no locumtenenti directas ad instantiam hujus Comunitatis de propellendis omnibus Egiptiacis seu Zingaris, et quod nullus Zingarus valeat in futurum morari in curte Senogalliae. Et sic expeditum con- silium.

Decreti, Lib. A, c. 75 e Lib. E, c. 85.

1552, 10 April. A tergo : Locumtenenti nostro civitatis Senogal- liae. Intiis : II Duca d'Urhino — Luogotenente, Per liberare i nostri siulditi dai continui latrocinii, che fanno i Zingari nel nostro stato prohibirete per pubblico bando nei luoghi soliti, che in termine di quattro giorni se par- tano con le loro famiglie e robbe dal nostro Stato sotto pena de tre tratti de corda da darseli immediate, si verranno in pntere de' nostri offitiali, e di essere mandati alia galera a nostro beneplacito : Concedendo che a ciascuno sia lecito svaligiarli, se vi saranno trovati da quel in poi : non obstante alcuna cosa in contrario. E farete registrare la j^resente a perpetua memoria, notificandola a tutti i luoghi della vostra giurisdi- tione et medesimamente al Vicariato.^ Di Pesaro il di xdAprile 1552.

In the third document, that of 19th July 1553, the Duke of Urbino orders his Lieutenant at Senigaglia again to expel the Gypsies

1 The tratto di corda may be thus described : "The victim's hands were tied behind his back, and fastened to a rope running through a pulley fixed overhead. He was then hoisted by means of this pulley to a height of six or eight feet from the ground, so that, the whole weight of his body hanging from his wrists thus tied, all the articulations of the shoulders were thereby dislocated or broken. A prisoner was sentenced to undergo this torture three, four or five times — even oftener — after which he was unbound."

" The Vicarage of Mondavio.

DURING THE 16X11, 17X11, AND 18X11 CENTUPJES, 215

from that territory, under pain of being despoiled and sent to the gallows. It would seem, however, from this document, that the Duke had granted a patent to several Gypsies, allowing them a per- manent residence, probably on the condition that they would change their way of living and forsake the Gypsy dress. TJiis decree of banishment, therefore, did not strike at those Gypsies who possessed this patent. They, however, were notified that they must live honestly, without giving cause for complaint; otherwise they for- feited this privilege, and if any one of these sedentary Gypsies abused this favour, the Lieutenant was authorised to have him arrested and punished. The text is as follows : —

Ibid. Lib. E. c. 87 et Lib. A. cc. 76, verm 77.

1553. 19 July. A tergo : Locumtenenti nostro, etc. Intus : II Duca d'Urbino — Luogotenente, Farete per pubHco bando notificare a tutti i luochi solliti, et prohibirete che nisciun zingano di qualsivoglia sorte, che non habbia patente, possi o debba stare o praticare nel nostro State sotto pena de esser svaligiati et della forca, et quelli che non havessero patente, e non le presentino e gli monerete (sic) debbano viver bene e di maniera che non se ne senta querela alcuna, che alia prima se gli revocheranno ; e quando vi constara o constasse al presente che le havessero abusato, subbito provvederete alia loro retentione, et avisarete che vi si ordinara il gastigo che se gli havera a dare. Di Urbino il di 19 de Lugiio 1553.

SxEPHANUS de mandato Ill.mi.

SaJvator

Vincentius.

Eleven years later, the citizens lament anew their woes and sufferings through the annoyances and thefts of the Gypsies, who are again expelled and are ordered to go away with God, and never again to set foot in the Duchy, under the penalty of the galleys and the gibbet. The licences, in the exceptional case referred to previouslv, were to be presented and renewed, and any not thus confirmed afresh or found to be of past date, would be held to have become null and void :

Decreti, Lib. A. c. 182.

1564. 29 July. A tergo: ut s. Intus : II Duca d'Urbino — Luogotenente, I continui richiami e querele, che ne sonno fatte da' nostri popoli degli inso})ortabili danni e latrocinj, che fauno continuamente i zingari e loro famiglie nel nostro Stato u' ban fatto risolvere de non gli tollerare piu in modo alcuno. Per6 al havuta de questa farete per publico bando bandire in tutti i luoglii solliti, che senza interporvi tempo alcuno in mezzo se vadino con Dio, et che piii non ardischino starvi, tornarvi e praticarvi senza nuova nostra deter- minatione, alia pena della galera e della forca, come a Noi parera, e, pub- blicato che sia tal bando, lo farete registrare : Notificando, che se alcuu

216 THE GYPSIES IN THE MARCHES OF ANCONA

pretencle haver licenza per nostra patente, data sotto il presente anno, di starvi, che subbito venghino a jiresentarla all' udientia, die non mostrando confirmatione o nuova concessione, non intendemo habbia piii luogo. D'Urbino li 29 de Luglio 1564.

Jacobus mandate Ill.mi.

1564, 3 August — Bando che i zingani non ardischino stare, praticare o i>assare in Senigaglia et suo territorio, ut infra

Per parte e commessione del Mag. Sig. Luogotenenti per ordine di S. E. si fa publico bando, et expressamente se prohibisce e comanda, che per r avvenire non sia zingaro alcuno, tanto in compagnia quanto solo, o sotto alcun altro quesito colore o sotto pretesto de licenza o patente ch' havessino havuto avanti il presente bando da S. E. che non ardiscano praticare, stare o passare per la citta de Senigaglia o suo territorio e distretto, senza nuova determinatione di sua Eccellenza 111. ma et Ecc.ma sotto pena della galera o forca ad arbitrio di sua Eccellenza. Notificando, che se alcuni de essi pretende haver licentia o patente da sua Eccellenza, data sotto il presente anno 1564, di potervi stare, che subbito la debbano presentare in odientia, che non mostrando confirmatione o nuova con- cessione, non s' intendera habbino piii luogo, et non gli se menera buoua. — Die 3 Augusti 1564. {Here follous the declaration, in Latin, of theimhlic proscriher, certifying that he had published this decree of hanishment.)

There is no further mention of Gypsies during the next sixteen years. But in 1580 Duke Francesco-Maria issues a new decree. From this it would appear that the Gypsies increased in number and in audacity — no longer confined themselves to petty thefts committed in country districts, but entered the citizens' houses by force during the night-time, bound them, robbed them, and dishonoured their women. By this decree the Gypsies are expelled without distinction, whether or not they possess those patents, which are hereby abolished and revoked, and without caring whether or not they have relin- quished the Gypsy dress. Those who resist are doomed to the gallows, with forfeiture of their goods. The sbirri and the citizens, as soon as they see a Gypsy, male or female, are charged to call him to a halt, to fall upon him, and to try every means to take him alive. And if the fugitive faces round and resists, he may be killed with impunity.

Decreti. Lib. A. c. 328.

1580. 20 July. Francesco Maria Felirio della Eovere ii., duca vi. d'Urbino, Signor di Pesaro et di Senigaglia, conte di Montefeltro e di Durante, Prefetto di Eoma.

Se bene da' nostri Antecessori sono state fatte provisioni penali, perche li zingari non habbino pratica di sorte alcuna nel stato nostro, Nondimeno, essendo cresciuta tanto la malignita loro, che ardiscouo non solo di commettere furti et rubberie, ma di andare anco la notte alle case d' alcuni, ligarli et torglili con violenza la robba et 1' honore ; Habbiamo determinato di accrescere li freni ancora et i Eemedij. Pero prohibiamo a tutti li zingari, maschi et femiiie, che per 1' avenire non ardischino anco,

DURINC TIIK IGTII, 1 TTII, AND }>^TU f'RNTUlMKR. 217

con pretesto di licenza o concessioiii per 1' aJclietro ottenute, quali tuttc revochiamo o d' haver lasciato 1' abito zingaresco et essercitio o d' altro qual si sia colore, andare, stare, couversare, passare o in altro modo l)raticare in luogo alcuno dello stato nostro, sotto pena della forca et confiscation! de' beni; Commandando a ciascun nostro suddito, alia pena imposta da nostri Decreti, a quelli che ne persegnitano li Banditi capital- mente, clie vedra zingaro o zingara nel nostro Stato, che li debba levar la grida et rumore dietro, et fare ogiii opera d' hav'erli vivi nelle niani per poterli dare il debito castigo, voleiido che a ciascun sia lecito di svali- giarli, et guadagnera tutti li beni che li levera, non si trovando li padroni, et trovandosi guadagni quella recognitione dalli padroni, che sara giudi- cata honesta da' nostri uditori ; et quando li zingari facessero resistenza in modo che non si potessero havei- vivi, voliamo che sia lecito a ciascuno, perche non fuggano, ammazzarli senza incorso de pena alcana. Di Pesaro li XX. di Luglio 1580. (ProsrriJier's (h'cl(irati(ni, as ii) former instance, dated nth August.)

From the era of the preceding document to that of the following there is a lapse of about eighty years. The town of Senigaglia no longer finds itself under the dominion of tlie Dukes of Urbino. The power of the Eoman Pontiffs has stretched throughout the Marches of Aucona. The Pontifical authority is represented by a Cardinal- Legate, who also has his Lieutenant. But the manners and the time have now become more humane; the gibbet and mob-law are no longer spoken off, but merely the prison.

Lettere d' udienza, vol 7. c. 1 69. 16.59. 26 June. // Cardinal Doici legato di Sinigaglia — Luogotenente, Vi trasmetto niemoriale di Gio. j\Laria Beliardi di codesta citta con ordine che quando haverete notitia, che si trovino o capitino costi zingari, facciate loro in- tendere che se ne partino subito, et essendo negligenti ad ubbedire li facciate carcerare, e me ne diate poi avviso in confurmita di die dispongoiio i Bandi generali in questo proposito. Urbino, 26 Giugno 1659.

II Carijle. Dolci. During the eighteenth century the plague of the Gypsies con- tinued to afflict the Italian littoral. In 1720 some measures are taken against this scourge : —

• Ibidem, vol. 76, c. 246,

1720. 26 November. Alamanno Salviati, Presidente — Luogotenente, Per discacciare i zingari, che vanno infestando estesto territorio e sue vicinanze, secondo il nostro avviso voi procederete contro di essi giusta la disposizione espressa nella CoUettanea Astelli a carte 215 ; al qual fine ve 1' intenderete con i giudici vicini per havere il braccio della loro Corte, e credendo necessaria in tempo proprio quella ancora di campagna, datecene il rincontro, che ve la mandei'emo, acci6 sia rimosso tale inconveniente e resti provveduto opportunamente alia quiete di cotesti Popoli, Tanto esequirete. Pesaro, 26 Novembre 1720.

V. Santichi. A. Salviati, Presidente.

VOL. I. — NO. IV. P

218 THE GYPSIES IN THE MARCHES OF ANCONA

But, twenty- two years later the public peace is seriously menaced by the Gypsies. The ninth document is a detailed petition of the citizens of Senigaglia, Scapezzano, Eoncitelli, Tomba, Brugnetto, Yallone, and other localities, demanding the support of the authorities against a troop of 200 Gypsies, divided into several companies, who scour the country, making havoc, robbing, and burning the crops. According to this petition, these Gypsies imposed themselves by force on a village, claiming the right to remain there for some weeks. They camped at the side of churches or under the verandas of houses, and publicly committed all kinds of filthiness, indecencies, and offences. They prowled about the country threatening to burn and plunder the peasants' houses. They made forced requisitions of straw and forage for their horses and other animals. They stole poultry and animals, and, entering houses while the peasants were working in the fields, they stole rings, clothes, linen, and household effects. Then they cooked and ate the stolen fowls, living Wee Sarclanapalus.

M'^ith them* were some like-minded rogues, who feasted and regaled themselves with them. Other people, even of decent con- dition, came about the Gypsies, for the purpose of buying at a very cheap rate, fowls, rings, buckles, corals, clotlies, and other stolen goods, giving in exchange oil, vinegar, salt, and other things, which the Gypsies required in cooking. Others among these protectors or adherents also gave the Gypsies blankets or mattresses, or allowed them a lodging, so as to be in their good graces. And if, at times, the poor Italian peasants sought to resent this brigandage and resisted the Gypsies, the local justices, corrupted by gifts from the Gypsies, upheld them and punished the peasants. If one band took up its departure, another immediately came into into its place.

Accordingly, the petitioners besought the Archbishop, loith tears in their eyes, to send soldiers and to make the tocsin sound throughout the parishes, calling upon the people to fall upon the Gypsies and free their lands and their fields from these brigands.

Eccellenza, Li popoli del territorio di Senigallia, di Scapezzano, Roncitelli, Tomba, Brugnetto, Yallone et d' altri Eistretti (s/c), servi e sudditi umilissimi di V. E. con ogni ossequio Le rappresentano, clie nelli Territori suddetti si ritrova una ciurma di quasi duecento zingari tra Uomini, Donne e Ragazzi, divisi in piii compagnie, che vanno era in un luogo era nell' altro, facendo notabilissimi danni e Rubbarie, insino a dar fuoco a pagliari, per lo che piu d' una volta sono incolpati e castigati ingiustamente h vicini o innocenti Passagieri, volendo stare nelli sud.' Luoghi per forza, non solamente per un giorno solo, ma per piu giorni et intere settimane, prendendo luogo vicino alle Chiese e nelle Loggie delle med.™'= o nelle Loggie delle case, et in Luoghi piu publici, e nelli Borghi

DURING THE 1 (jTH, 1 7tIT, AND 18TII CENTURIES. 219

medesimi clelli sud.' Peasi, et ivi commettendo publicamente spoicizie, indecenze e scandali, nel qual tempo girando per le campagne vogliono per forza, perche con minacce di abrugiare e svaligiare le case vogliono, replicasi, Paglia per dormirvi e Strami e Fieni per li loro Bestiami, rubando polli, animali, et anco arivando nelle case campestri, trovatele sproviste dagli abitatori, cbe stanno alia coltura delle campagne, rubbano anelli, liabiti, biancherie e massarizie, facendo cosi piangere e stridere piu poveretti e contadini, osservandosi poi condiir una vita da Sardanapali in cucinare e mangiare polli rubbati a poveri villani, e, quel che piii e da notarsi, si ritrovano delli sudd.' Luoghi gentaglie, che facendo con essi loro compagnia, mangiano e bevono con essi loro in publico e privato, godendo insieme la robba rubata, e ritrovandosi ancora altre genti, anco benestanti, che tirati dal vil mercato comprano da loro polli, anelli, fibbie, coralli, abiti et altre cose, che hanno rubbato in altri luoghi, e di piu soministrando per il proprio interesse aceto, oglio, sale, massarizie et altro che li bisogna per cucinare, che non praticarebbero e non pratti- cano con li veri Poveri di Giesii Christo, dandoli ancora piu d'una volta r alogio nelle proprie case, o imprestandoli stuore o coperte da ripararc il freddo ; dovendo li poveri sui^plicanti sogiacere a continui danni, senza poterli discacciare, mentre se talvolta per riparare i furti e custodire la robba propria gli fanno fuga, o in qualche nianiera mossi dal furore gli oltraggiano, sono subito castigati da' giudici locali e penati (.sic) mentre talluni di questi, e specialmente li sbirri piu tosto proteggono li sud.' zingari per 1' interesse di qualche vantaggio e regalo, che da essi ne ripor- tano ; e perche non possono gli oratori jdIu sofrire tanti incommodi e danni, mentre, partendo da un luogo una compagnia, subito ne giunge un' altra, in modo che quasi continuamente sono da quelli molestati et oppressi, percio con lagrime agli occhi supplicano la Bonta e Giustizia di. V. E. a darvi 1' opportuno remedio o con farli discacciare dallo Stato o ordinare che in tutti li Luoghi vi sia una compagnia de soldati, che abbiano a discacciarli con suonar le campane all' armi ; o che siano fatti prigioni per dargli un continue esilio, e che non possa somministrarsegli il vitto, se non che per passaggio, e non si possa da loro comprar robba rubata sotto qualche pena, o come pareni e piacera alia somma prudenza di V.E. — Che della gratia, qua Deus ecc.

(Verso : Scribatur ex Opjf. Locumtenenti Sevogalliae ad mentem domini Advocati Fiscalis.)

The Archbishop then writes to his Lieutenant, transmitting to him the said petition.

But it becomes evident that the Pontifical authorities were afraid of the Gypsies, and were not provided with sufficient means to make them respect the law. For in this letter the Archbishop recommends the Lieutenant not to compromise the small detachment of sbirri, and counsels him rather to act tcith prudence, addressing himself j^olitehj to the chiefs of the Gypsies, and begging them to go elsewhere, hinting to them the danger of a military expedition being sent against them if they did not go away peaceably.

220 GYPSIES IN THE MARCHES OF ANCONA.

Lettere d'Udienza. Vol. 101, c. 95.

Federko Lanti, Preside. — Luogotenente, Dal memoriale, che vi acclu- diamo, sentirete li gravi inconvenienti, disturb! e pregiudizi, die appor- tano li zingari, li quali vanno vagando per codeste vicinanze. E pero quando realmente vi siano, per non porre in pericolo codesta squadra de' Birri si poco numerosa, con buona maniera farete intendere a' capi de' medesimi Zingari, che, se quanti egli siano di Uomini e Donne non pai- tiranno e slontanaranno da codesti contorni, li niandarete contro li soldati, e farete dar la campana all' armi per farli inseguire, carcerare e punire, conforme richiedera il dovere : Regolandovi con tale maniera e prudenza che serva per incuterli timore, accin si slontanino ; e che in- sieme non possa apportare maggiori disordini. Tanto eseguirete. — Pesaro, 15 Decembre 1742.

V. Agostini. F. Arciv. di. . . .1

These documents, found by Professor Gianandrea, throw a curious light upon Italian provincial life in former times ; and I hope to find other such documents in the municipal archives of The Marches, which, of all the provinces of Itnly, is the one best adapted for the study of the Gypsy mig-rations.

Adpjano Colocci.

D

IV.— CENTPtAL AFRICAN GYPSIES.

20 Alva Strekt, Edixiburgh, Feb. lo, 1889.

EAR Mr. MacRitchie, — I will at last try and fulfil my pro- mise to write you a short note on the few Gypsies I met with in Central Africa, or, perhaps I should more correctly say, in Darfur and Kordofan. The note will not be as long as I at first hoped, for a notebook containing my entries concerning them is apparently lost. I have, therefore, to trust greatly to memory.

As is well known, Gypsies are fairly numerous in the Nile Delta, where they follow their usual occupations as pedlars, menders of pots and pans, horse-dealers, the young women as dancers, and the older women as fortune-tellers. I understand that it is considered probable that these Gypsies came to Egypt from West Africa. It is strange, therefore, to remark that they are only met with in diminish- ing numbers the further one goes south ; and, to the best of my belief, Dara in Darfur may be said to be the apex of a triangle of Gypsy distribution in the Egyptian Soudan. But it should be noticed that Dara forms as well the apex of a triangle of a westerly distribution of Gypsies towards Wadai and Bornu ; where the base of this triangle

CENTRAL AFRICAN GYPSIES. 221

is I have failed to asceilaiii, but it probably exteiiels i'lom Tripolis to Lake Chad.

As in Cairo, so in Kordofan and JJari'ur, the Gypsies apparently exercise the same callings as elsewhere, but as far as I could make out, they appear to keep themselves more isolated the more southerly and limited the area of their rovings. They seem, too, to avoid contiicts, and in times of disturbances they decamp to a peaceful locality. They are noted as being sharp dealers, but I cannot say that they have the reputation of being light-fingered. They appear to be on friendly terms with the natives of the country, and, curiously enough, they are said to have introduced the art of filigree work and gold-beating into Darfur.

It is impossible to say liow many Gypsies are to be found in Darfur. I was told that they were very numerous at El Fascher ; at JJara I saw some thirty or forty ; at Obeid there were some sixty or seventy, and when travelling between these two places I passed by two Gypsy villages and met one small Gypsy caravan wending its way to the south. The Gypsies I met with formed a marked contrast to the natives, both Aral >s and Negroes. They were tall, agile, muscular, but thin. They were well proportioned ; their hair was black, not very coarse, and, when uncultivated, straight. The heads were dolichocephalic, the faces long and oval, with prominent cheekbones, the foreheads high and narrow, the noses low and straight, and, as a rule, slightly prognathous. The black flashing Gypsy eye was well marked ; the eyebrows and long eye-lashes were black and beautiful. Though much lighter in colour than the natives of Darfur, they were yet deeply bronzed by exposure. Their hands were shapely, and, 1 thought, smaller than those of the Arabs ; but what struck me most were the very shapely leg and foot, which 1 probal)ly noticed more than I might have done, on account of the ungainly Negro leg to which I had so long been accustomed.

With regard to dress, the Gypsies seem to adapt themselves to native costume. The men wore the ordinary fez, sometimes with a turban, the " tob " or sheet, as worn so commonly in Darfur, or the Kuftan, i.e. lonu' shirt, with waist-belt of coloured cotton, while short white pants and sandals completed their attire. The women, as a rule, dressed simply, either in a long white or dark blue shift, or else partially veiled by the " tob " of white or blue, gracefully draped over the shoulders, or tightly wound under the armpits. Some of the young girls wore little else than " Eahad," a waist-belt of leather with a deep fringe of leathern thongs — the common dress of Soudanese

222 CENTEAL AFRICAN GYPSIES.

unmarried girls. I fancy the married women do not wear this. On festive occasions the women and dancing-girls are finely decked out in variously coloured garments, their ears (and noses sometimes), being hung with gaudy rings, whilst around their necks, arms, and ankles jingle numerous bangles of beads, silver, or copper- wire. The women never wear veils. Many were tattooed with blue punctiform patterns on the chin and forehead, and the nails were sometimes stained ; this I noticed especially on the younger dancing-girls. As above mentioned, their hair was straight when undressed, but I often saw it dressed in a peculiar way. In a photo of a reputed Gypsy taken at Khartoum (before me as I write), the hair is firmly and closely plaited over the vertex, but ends in a bushy mass of consider- able dimensions. Much oil or butter is used in dressing the hair, as I have good reason to remember, for on one occasion, when witnessing a performance given at a Pasha's house, the following custom was observed ; whether original or adopted from the Soudanese I do not know. After dancing, and if expecting a handsome backsheesh, the girl dances up to a guest, and makes a deep obeisance. If, however, a stranger is present whom she thinks the host wishes especially to honour, she makes a spring forward towards him, and suddenly strikes him on the chest with her mass of hair. This leaves an oily mark and smell, which may be pleasant to some, but which I did not care to experience twice.

The Arabs in Darfur call the Gypsies " Ghajar," which term includes them all, but the fortune-tellers they call " Fehemi," and the dancers " Gewhassi." They appear to welcome them to their feasts, and to employ them freely in doing odd jobs. As elsewhere, the men profess great knowledge of horses, mules, donkeys and camels,- and are, I understand, of some repute as dealers and horse-doctors. I did not see any of their performances in Darfur, nor have I any notes of their dialect. I heard them speak an unknown jargon, but their Arabic did not seem to me to differ from the Soudan dialect.

The married women have a very high character for chastity, in marked contrast to that of the unmarried dancing Gypsy girls. The music sung by the Gypsies is very weird but pleasant ; they employ harps, flutes, and drums to accompany their songs and dances. Many of the dances are graceful, but they have adopted some of the doubt- ful dances comraon to the Soudan.

If I should ever find my notes, I will write to you again on this subject. They contained a few stories, and some account of two or three conversations I had with Gypsies in Darfur.

E. W. iELKlN.

THK ORIOIN OV THE GYPSIES. 223

v.— THE ORIGIN OF THE GYPSIES.

ACTING upon a suggestion made by our fellow-member, Captain E. C. Temple, who is at present on duty in Upper Burma, I have been looking up a passage in the Gazetteer of Bombay Presidency referring to the probable origin of the European Gypsies, and the course of their early migrations. This passage occurs as a note to an Article on the early Indian settlements in Eastern Africa (vol. xiii. part ii. Tlu'uia District, foot-note on pp. 711-715). It contains so much that is entirely novel to me, and will, I have no doubt, prove so interesting to all our members, that I have ventured to reproduce it verbatim for the Journal, with all the sub-notes and references to authorities.

According to Captain Temple, the Article is due to the learned editor of the Gazetteer, Dr. James Campbell, whose great reputation is an ample guarantee of the authenticity of the facts, and the reason- ableness of the deductions drawn from them. W. J, Ibbetson.

"Another section of the people of Africa whose language un- doubtedly points to an Indian origin are the Gypsy tribes of Egypt.^ In 1799 {As. Bcs. iii. 7) Sir William Jones suggested that the famous pirates, the Sanghars or Sanganians of Sindh, Cutch and Kiithiiiwar, had settled on the shores of the Pied Sea and passed through Egypt into South-Eastern Europe as the Zingani or Zingari — that is, the Gypsies. There are two difficulties in the way of this theory. The present Gypsies of Egypt seem to have no trace (Newbold in Journ. B. As. S. XVI. 285-300) of the word Sanghiir or Zingari, and, except the Helebi who may have come from Yemen, their language points to a passage from India through Persia, Turkey, and Arabia. The second difficulty is that, though the earliest form of the name by which the Gypsies were known in Europe, At-sykanoi or Asikanoi, seems connected with Sanghar, the form Tchingani or Zingeneh is known in Turkey, Syria, and Persia, and may have passed from Asia Minor into Greece."^ In spite of these difficulties the following cvi-

1 Among English Gypsies the words for water, fire, liair, and eye, are j^jawt, yoy, bal, yak ; among Norwegian Gypsies pdni, jag, bal, jak ; among Persian Gypsies ^j(i/ii, aik, hdl, aki ; and among Egyptian Gypsies ^;dHt, d(/, bal, ankhi. The correspon<ling Gujarali wonls SXQ iKini, dg, vdl, dnkh.

~ The chief modem forms of the name are in Spain Zincali, in Italy Zingari, in Germany Zigeuner, in Russia Ziganeh, in Turkey Tchinghian, in Syria Jinganih, and in Persia Zingar. In the fifteenth century the name appears as Sekanae in Germany, and in the thirteenth and perhaps as early as the ninth in Turkey in Europe and in Greece as Asigkanoior At-Sigkanoi. Between the tenth and eleventh centuries they appear in Persia as Sagan. Besides from the Sanganians or Sanghars these names may have been derived from the Changars, a Panjab tribe (Trumpp in J'^diti. Rev. CXLVIII. 142 ; from Sakan, that is Skythian, Piawlinson I'voc. R. G. a. I. 40; from Zung (Persian) negro, Burton in Acudcmi/, "iZtli .March lb75 : from

224 THE ORIGIN OF THE GYPSIES.

dence may be offered in support of Sir AYilliam Jones' suggestion that part of the Gypsies passed west by sea through Egypt to Europe. " The Saughars are still widely spread in India. Besides in Cutch and Kathiawar, under the names of Sangi'ir and Singhar, they seem to occur to the south-east of Agra, in Umarkot, the Gangetic pro- vinces, and Eastern India (Elliot's Eaccs, N.-W. Provinces, i. 332; Elliot's Supplcmentarij Glossary, ol ; Bomhay Gazetteer, v. 95, 96, Cutch). Perhaps also they are the same as the Changars, a low-class Panjcib tribe, whose similarity in habits has already led to their pro- posed identification with the Zingari or Gypsies (Trunipp in Edin. Bev. CXLVIII. 142). So famous were the Sanghars or Sanganians in the seventeenth century that in Ogilby's Atlas (1670) Cutch is referred to (p. 293) as Sanga. Sanghars or Sengars appear in the list of Eajput tribes, but according to Tod (Bdjasthdii, Madras ed. i. 75- 107) they were never famous. Ibn Batuta (1340), Marco Polo (1290), and Masudi (920) mention Sokotra as a centre of Hindu piracy (Masudi's Prairies d'Or, iii. 37 ; Yule's 3Iarco Polo, li. 328, 344, 345). That the Sokotra pirates were the Sanghars, Jtits or Jats, and Kerks who from Sindh, Cutch and Kathiawar ruled the Indian seas, is made probable by Masudi's statement (ill. 37) that Sokotra was a station for the Indian baiudrij, a name which Al Baruni (1020) applies to the pirates of Cutch and Somnath, and which he derives from baira or 66Ta, the name of their boat. (Al Biruni, in Elliot and Dowson, i. 65, 539.) It curiously supports the connection between the Sanghars and the Zingari or Gypsies that bcra, the name for the Cutch pirate craft, is also the Eomani or Gypsy word for boat {Eiicye. Brit. 9tli ed., X. 614; Borrow's Eomany Word Boole, 22). In the eighth century the Sanghcirs seem to appear as the Tang;imeras or Sangameras, whom the Arab writers associate in piracy with the Meds, Kerks, and Jats (Elliot and Dowson, i. 376, 508). According to Arab writers, these tribes, taking their wives and children, went in mighty fleets, moving long distances as far as Jidda on the Bed Sea, and occasionally settling in great strength." In the sixth century their piracies and

Zang (Persian) rust (or ruddy), Captain King ; from Zingar, a saddler, Captain Newbold Journ. Jl. As. S. xvi. .310; from the Kurd tribe Zengeneli, Balfour's C'l/clojxecUa ir. 324; and from two Gypsy -words, chen moon, and kam sun, by Leland The Oypsies, p. 341.

3 Their settlements and raids on the Persian Gulf in the eighth and ninth centuries were on so great a scale that the whole .strength (if the Khalifs was brought against them, and when defeated they were transported to Asia Minor (Rawlinson in Proc. E. O'. S. I. 40 ; Encyc. Brit. X. 617). According to Ibn:al-Atir (a.d. 768) the Kerks made descents as far uj) the Red Sea as Jidda (Reinaud's Memoircs sur Vlmle, 181, note 3). The resemblance be- tween some of Masudi's Abyssinian tribes and these associated pirates, the Zagmvah with the Sanghars, the Karkamh with the Kerks or Karaks, the MediUeh with the Meds, and the Maris with the Mers, seems worthy of notice (compare Prairies d'Or, in. 38, and Elliot and Dowson,!. 506, 530).

TIIK ORIGIN OF THK GYPSIES. 22.')

raids are said to have made aSTausliirvau the Sassaiiiaii insist on tlie cession of the Beluchistan coast {Lid. Antiq. viil. 335). In iriucli earlier times the Sanghars perhaps again appear in the Sangadas or Sangaras whom Alexander's Greeks (b.c. 325) found to the AVest of the Indus, and between its Eastern and Western mouths (M'Crindle's Commerce and Navirjation of the Erythrwan Sea, 177 : Vincent's Com- merce of the Ancients, i. 198). Apart from this douljtful mention in Alexander's times, the evidence seems sufficient to support Sir William Jones' suggestion that from early times the Sangh;irs or Sanganians cjf Cutch and Kdthi;Lw;ir were in a position to make settlements on the shores of the Eed Sea. Sir W. Jones' theory that the Gypsies of Europe passed from India through Egypt seems to have been accepted for a time. A fuller knowledge of the Eomani or European Gypsy tongue proved the correctness of his main contention that the Gypsies came from North-west India. At the same time tlie traces of Persian and Armenian in Eomani and the absence of traces of Coptic or Arabic discredited the view that the Gypsies entered Europe from Egypt.

" That some, perhaps most, European Gypsies passed west through Persia and Asia Minor to Eastern Europe seems beyond doubt. Besides the evidence of language, within the last 2000 years there are traces or records of at least six westerly movements among the frontier tribes of North-west India which may be included under the general term J;it.^ The last movement seems to have been caused by Taimur's conquests (1398-1420), and the wanderers seem to have picked up and carried with them into Europe a number of the earlier Indian settlers in Persia and Western Asia. At the same time, it seems probable that under the name of At Sigkanoi or Asi- kani an earlier horde entered Europe from Egypt, Tlie argument that because Eomani has no Coptic or Arabic words the Gypsies never passed through Egypt loses its force when it is remembered that there is no trace of Arabic, Syrian, or Turkish in Iiomani, though some of the Gypsies are known to have settled in Asia Minor on their way westward (Fdin. Eev. CXLVIII. 111). Therefore, even

1 These six iiiovenients are— (1) a doiibtlul transplanting of Kerl<s, Sindis, Kolis, Meils, and other West Indian trilies some time before the Cliristiau era (Elliot and Dowson, i. .509-512) ; (2) the bringing of the Luris or Indian musicians to Persia by Belirani Gor about A.D. 450, and their subsequent dispersion (Rawlinson in Proc. 11.0'. S. i. 40); (3) tlie de- porting of Kerks, Sanghars, and Jats in the eighth and ninth centuries from the Persian Gulf to Asia Minor (Ptawlinson in Proc. R.U.S. i. 40, and Knc;/<-. Jlril. x. 617); (4) a doubtful migration of Jats westward after their defeat in India by Mahmud of Ghazni in 1025 ; (5) a displacement of the Indian element in Persia and Asia Minor during the con- <iuests of the Sel.juki (twelfth century) and Osmanli Turks (fourteenth century) ; (6) a final westward motion at tlie close of the lourteeiitli century, the result of Taimur's ravages.

226 THE ORIGIN OF THE GYPSIES.

though it left no trace in their language, the Asikani or Singani may- have passed through Egypt on their way to Europe. But is it the case that thelre are no traces of Egypt in the Eomani tongue ? The earliest Greek form of their name At Sigkanoi, and a later form Asigani, suggest that the initial At or A is the Arabic Al ' the/ and that the Al was changed into At because, like the modern Turkish, the old Arab form of the name was Tchingani. Next to Sangani or Zingari, the best known name for the Gypsies is Rom. Eom, besides a Gypsy, means in their speech a man and a husband, and Rom also means a man and a husband in modern Coptic {Udin. Rev. CXLVIII. 140). Again the Gypsies use 'Guphtos' {Edin. Rev. CXLVIII. 142), apparently Egyptian or Copt, as a term of reproach. That they came from Egypt to Europe is supported by the fact that the At Sigkanoi are first noticed (fourteenth century) in Crete, the part of Europe nearest Egypt, and that they are there described as of the race of Ham {Encyc. Brit. 2th ed. x. 612). In the beginning of the fifteenth century (1417-1438), when they seem to have been joined by a second horde from Armenia and Asia Minor, the Secanee, Zingari, or Sanghcirs stated that they came from Egypt, and their statement was accepted all over Europe. Besides the name of Egyptian, which has been shortened into Guphtos in Crreece, Gitano in Sj)ain, and Gypsy in England, the Sekanse or Zingari were in Cyprus, and per- haps also in Austria, called Agariens, or the children of Hagar, Nubians in some parts, Farawni in Turkey, and Pharaoh-nepek, or children of Pharaoh, in Magyar or Hungary. A curious trace of the belief in the Gypsy connection with Egypt remained till lately in the oath administered to Gypsies in Hungarian courts of justice : — ' As King Pharaoh was engulfed in the Red Sea, may I be if I speak not the truth' {Edin. Rev. CXLVIII. 120, 121, 122; Encyc. Brit., X. 612). Again their leaders' titles mark the first Gypsies as belong- ing to South-eastern Europe and Egypt. In 1417 the first band of Secana) who appeared in Germany were led by the duke of Little Egypt, and in Scotland in 1500 the 'Egyptians' were led by the earls of Cyprus and Greece, and by the count of Little Egypt {Encyc. Brit. X. 612; Edin. Rev. cXLViii. 117). Some of the earliest bands (1420) knew that they originally came from India {Encyc. Brit. x. 613), and others of the same horde seem (the passage is doubtful) to have said that they came from India through Ethiopia {Edin. Rev. CXLVIII. 121). Their knowledge of their Indian origin seems a reason for holding that the Sicanie or Sanghars were correct in stating that they were settled in Egypt before they came to Europe. Whether

THE ORIGIN OF THE GYPSIES. 227

any of the Sauglu'irs or Ziiigaii passed along North Africa to Spaiu is doubtful. Gypsies were very early in Spain (1447), but the pre- sence of Greek in the Spanish Roniani seems to show that they came overland from Eastern Europe {Encyc. Brit. x. 613-615). Of the Gypsies of North Africa, some were deported from the South of France in 1802 (Encyc. Brit. x. 613), others have apparently come from Spain, and a third doubtful clement seems to be passing west across Africa."

VI.— TALE OF A WISE YOUNG JEW AND A GOLDEN HEN.i

THEEE was once a rich nobleman who had lived with his wife for ten years without having any children. One time he dreamt that he would have a very warlike son. Another night he dreamt again that a Jewess was going to be confined on the same day as his lady. (This was true !) Next morning this lord arose and said to lus wife, " Wife, I have dreamt that we are going to have a child." " That may really come to pass," replied she. He further told her of the Jewess : he said to her that she should be brought to bed at the same hour as her ladyship.

The good God ordained that she should be delivered of a child : the good God gave them a son. The boy's father was very joyful, as were also the mother and that Jewess, who was brought to bed at the very same hour as this lady. The nobleman said to his wife, " My lady, we must go to this Jewess, in order that our child may be brought up with hers." " Very well, husband." They brought thither the Jewess, and she made her home there, near this nobleman's dwelling.

He begins to grow up, this son of tlie nobleman : he is very wise : yet the son of the Jewess is still wiser. He is now ten years old, and he is eager to go to school ; he learns there to perfection. His father and mother are filled with delight.

One time the Jew l)oy said to the lord's son, " Look here, now, why not request your father to have some beautiful batlis made for you in the fields ? " Tlie nobleman's son approached liis father, kissed his hand, as also his mother's. " Father," said he, " I beg that you will build me some fine baths in the fields." .... Who should it happen to be that set themselves to this work ? Two old retainers. They had seen in a town, on a former occasion, a very lovely princess.

1 This al&o was uarrated ))y Jolin Coroii, the Gypsy prisoner of Cracow.

228 TALE OF A WISE YOUNG JKAV

Well, what have they gone and done, these two servitors ? They have caused the portrait of this princess to be painted upon the walls of the baths. These two servants came back and announced to their lord, " We have done everything we were ordered to do." " Very good ; how much now do you ask for that ? " " We shall be satisfied with whatever your grace deigns to give us." The nobleman gave them four thousand florins. They accorded to their lord their best thanks.

Then the Jew boy called to the nobleman's son, " Come ! the baths are now built, let us see what there is to be seen ! " They went thither, but this young Jew was always wiser than the nobleman's son. They entered the first hall, there they saw painted upon the walls various kinds of birds, wolves, — all which delighted the son of the lord. Then, all by himself, he enters the other apartment, and what does he behold there? The portrait of this lovely princess painted upon one of the walls. He gazes at the likeness of the princess, and he is so yrcatly enchanted icith it that he swoons away.^ The young Jew sees him (faint), he resuscitates him with vinegar,- and he asks the nobleman's son, " What is the matter with you ? " " 0 brother ! if I do not have this princess to wife I will kill my- self." " Hush ! for the love of God," replied tlie young Jew, " do not cry so loud, for you shall perhaps have her indeed, although not so speedily as you wish." He returned home very sick, this nobleman's son. " What ails him ? " asks his father ; but the young Jew was ashamed to avow what had happened. Orders were given to fetch doctors with all speed ; various remedies ^ are given to him, but he has nothing the matter with him, for he is quite well, only he is quite overcome ■* on account of this princess. " What 's to be made of him ? " asks this lord of himself. He sends the mother in order that she may question her son, and that he may reveal to her what it is that has happened. The mother comes to him, " What is the matter, my child ? Do not be ashamed to tell it all to me." " Ah, mother • " he responded, " even when I had told you all you would not be able to give me any advice." " On the contrary, my son, I will give you very good advice." Then he said to her, " Mother, I have seen the likeness of a beautiful princess in these fine baths ; if I do not have her to wife, I will kill myself." The mother hears this with delight. " That is

1 {menylisail'as.) The heroes of Gypsy tales frequently fall into a swoon. This strongly recalls the scenes of the Pantchatantra. — i. k.

2 The Gypsy having for the moment forgotten the proper word {niU), improvised very cleverly, as usual, the name for vinegar: Suiii pani, i.e. acrid water. — T. K.

3 The Gypsy word for remedy, or medicine, is drab, i.e. grass. — I. K.

^ The Gypsy verb is very expressive : .siikiarel pes, i.e. he withers away.— ;. K.

AND A GOLDKN HEX. 229

well, my son. In the meantime, where am 1 to find lier ] " But the Jew lad said to the nobleman, " My lord, 1 will go with him to seek the princess : I make myself responsible for his person, and if any harm befalls him let me be punished." " Very well, then, get ready, and set out with the help of God." They set out and, on the further side of a large town, the young Jew saw a beautiful wand on the road and a little key beside it. " I shall dismount and pick up that wand," said he. But the nobleman's son said to him, " What good will that wand do to you ? You can buy yourself a Hne sword in any town." But the young Jew replied, " I do not want a sword ; I wish to take that wand." ^Yell, he got down from his horse, he picked up this wand and the little key. He_ got into the saddle again, and they went on their way with the help of God.

They came to a great forest, where night surprised them. They saw a light shining in this forest. " See ! " said the lord's son, " there 's a light shining over there." They came up to this light ; they went into the room ; there was no one within. There they see a beautiful bed, Ijut unoccupied. They see that there is food for them. There is a golden goblet on the side next to the nobleman's son ; and beside the young Jew there is a goblet of silver. The nobleman's son would have seated himself beside the silver goblet, but the young Jew said to him, " Listen to me, brother : you are the son of a wealthy sire, and I am a poor man's son; the place for you, therefore, is beside the goblet of gold, and I shall seat myself beside the silver goblet." Thereafter, he disrobed him deftly, and made him lie down on the couch. " Come you to bed, brother," said the nobleman's son. " I do not feel sleepy," replied the young Jew. " Well, I 'm going to sleep, at any rate." He placed himself beside the table, this young Jew, and pretended to fall asleep. Two ladies approached the young Jew; but they were not really ladies — they were fairies.^ These ladies spoke thus to one another : " Oh ! this young Jew and this nobleman's son are going to a capital, where they wish to carry away the king's daughter. But," said they, " the young Jew did well to pick up that wand with the little key ; for there will be a door of iron which, with that key, he will be able to open."' These ladies went away with the help of God. The young Jew un- dressed himself and went to bed. They arose next morning : the}' came to that iron door: the young Jew dismounted and opened it. They see that this is the capital, wherein dwells the princess.

They went into this town : they see a gentleman passing. The

1 The Oypsy word is worthy of note : rasani, i.e. ■priestess. — i. k.

230 TALE OF A WISE YOUNG JF:W

young Jew asks of him, "Where is there a first-rate inn in this place ? " The gentleman indicated such a one to them, and guided them to it. He paid him for his trouble. They ate until they were satisfied. The nobleman's son remained in the inn, and the young Jew sallied out into the town. He saw a gentleman passing. " Stay, sir, I have something to ask of you." This gentleman stopped, and the young- Jew asked of him : " Where is the principal goldsmith's in this town 1 " He directed him there. The young Jew went to this gold- smith. " Will you make me an old hen and her chickens of gold ? The old hen must have eyes of diamonds and the young chickens also." " Very well." " But I further stipulate that she be aUve." The goldsmith, who was a great wizard, replied, " Very well, sir, I will do that if you will pay me." " I will pay you as much as ten thousand." Three days later, he returned to get what he had ordered. He chose a Sunday, at the time when the princess was going to church. It was then that he proposed exhibiting this golden hen and her chickens, in such a way that the princess should see them. Well ! he went to the goldsmith's : he took the golden hen with her young chickens. On the following Sunday he went near to the church, this young Jew : he placed a table there, and on it he exposed his golden hen with the young chicks. Nobody who passed that way cared more about going to church, but all stopped to gaze with wonder at tliis golden hen with her young chickens. A throng of people from all parts of the town is gathered to see this hen and her chickens. Even the priest does not go into the church, but stops before the hen and her chickens: he looks at them so greedily that his eyes are nearly starting out of his head. At last the king's daughter comes to the church. She looks to see what is going on there. A crowd of people, gentle and simple, all gathered together. She had four lackeys with her. " Go," she said to one of them, "see what is going on there." He went thither, and did not return. She sent a second one; no more did he come back, so much was he enchanted} She despatched a third ; neitlier did that one return, — he was charmed. She sent the fourth, and he returned not either, heinc/ enchanted lihe the others. " What can it be that has happened there?" she asked of herself, — "Is there somebody killed?" She sent her maid, who made her way with ditficulty among the

J The phrases liere italicised (and also that on p. 228 aiite, line 17) illusti'ate the Polish-Gypsy use of the word dzeka, to which I have drawn attention in our Notes and Queries, vol. i. No. 2, p. 120. In the present tale, the word occurs thus : po les andre dxeka peVa ; po leslr pre dzeka pel' as ; p>o lake 'pre dzek-a peVas, etc. The "enchantment" referred to was, of coiirse, nothing more than intense delight at the spectacle. — i. K.

AND A GOLDEN IIEN. 231

people, but she too came not back, so much did this golden lien delight her. Another was sent, who with great difficulty forced a passage through the crowd, but she too returned not, so charmed was she. . She despatched her third maid-servant, who also penetrated the throng, but, heing charmed, did not return. Finally she said to the fourth one : " I am sending you to see what it is that is happening there ; but if you do not come back to tell me, I will have you put to death." This one also went. She forced her way, after much difficulty, through the crowd, but she came not back out of it, so greatly had that golden hen charmed her. Tlie princess then said to herself — " What can it be that is going on there ? Here are eight persons that I have sent, and not one of them has come back to tell me what the matter is ! " Then she went herself to see what had happened. Peasants and gentlemen gave way before her. She draws near and sees — a golden hen with her young chickens. The Jew lad perceives her, and he asks of her : " Does this give pleasure to your royal highness ? " " Greatly though it pleases me, sir," replied she, " you will not give it to me." He took this hen and presented it to the princess ; and then, with the help of the good God, he went away. But the princess called after him, and invited him to dine at her father's. The young Jew returned to the inn, where the nobleman's son was asleep. He knew nothing of what the 3'oung Jew had done. The king sent a very fine carriage to convey the young Jew to him ; he got into it and drove off. The princess was amusing herself with the hen and its young golden chickens. The king proposed to him that he should live with his daughter.^ " Very well," said the young Jew to him, " I will live with lier." Well, they eat, they drink, and at length towards night the young Jew sent some one to fetch the nobleman's son. Wlien he arrived, the whole three went out to walk in the garden. Then the young Jew said to the princess, " Will you go away with us IVom here ? " " Yes, I will go away," she replied. They set out with her and hurried away, with tlie help of the good God. The father of the princess knew not where she had gone to ; neither did he know from whence the young Jew and the nobleman's son liad come. The nobleman's son arrived at his father's liouse. The father and mother are well satisfied that he has been so successful in bringing home the princess. " And now, my son," said his father to him, " you must marry her." So he married her, and they live together with the help of God. The young Jew has also married a wife, and tlie}' live together with the help of God. Isidore Kopernicki.

1 That is, after having married her. — i.k.

232 BRAZILIAN AND SHETLAND OYPSIES.

VII.— BEAZILIAN AND SHETLAND GYPSIES.

aEOEGE BOEKOW, in The Zincali, or Gypsies of Spain (1841), stated that Gypsy " tents are alike pitched on the heaths of Brazil and the ridges of the Himalayan Hills," but one may question whether he could have verified either statement. How little was known in 1844 of the existence of Gypsies in any part of the New World may be gathered from the foot-note on p. 55 of Pott's Zigeuner. Indeed, I believe the first certain indication of their presence in South America was pointed out by myself in an article contributed to the Uneyclopccdia Britannica (vol. x., 1879), where I referred to a passage in Koster's Travels in Brazil, as clearly establishing the fact that Ciganos in Brazil were nothing nev/ in 1816. And now we have Os Ciganos no Brazil: contribuigdo ethnograijhica (Eio de Janeiro, 1886) of Mello Moraes, — a work already partly utilised by our esteemed colleague. Dr. von Sowa {Gypsy Lore Journal, Oct. 1888). To his linguistic study I would add a few historical jottings, such as scant leisure and a very imperfect knowledge of Portuguese have allowed me to glean from Sr. Moraes' pages.

The present Brazilian Gypsies seem to be the descendants of Gypsies transported from Portugal towards the close of the seventeenth and the commencement of the eighteenth century. Thus, by a decree of 27th August 1685, the transportation of the Gypsies was commuted from Africa to Maranhao ; and in 1718, by a decree of 11th April, the Gypsies were banished from the kingdom to the city of Bahia, special orders being issued to the Governor to be diligent in the pro- hibition of the language and ' cant ' {giria), not permitting them to teach it to their children, that so it might become extinct. It was about this time, according to " Sr. Pinto Noites, an estimable and venerable Gypsy of 89 years," that his ancestors and kinsfolk arrived at Eio de Janeiro — nine families transported hither by reason of a robbery ascribed to the Gypsies. The heads of these nine families were Joao da Costa Eamos, surnamed Joao do Eeino, with his son, Fernando da Costa Eamos, and his wife, Dona Eugenia ; Luis Eabello de Aragao ; one Eicardo Erago, who went to Minas ; Antonio La(jo, with his wife, Jacintha La^o ; the count of Cantanhede ; Manoel Cabral and Antonio Curto, who settled in Bahia, accompanied by daughters-in-law, sons-in-law, and grandchildren, as well as by wife and sons. They applied themselves to metallurgy — were tinkers, farriers, braziers, and goldsmiths : the women gave charms to avert the evil eye, and read fortunes. In the first half of the present

EKAZILIAX AND SHETLAND GYPSIES. 233

century, the Brazilian Gypsies seem to have been great slave-dealers, just as their brethren on this side of the Atlantic have always been great doctors in horses and asses. We read, on p. 40, of "M . . ., afterwards Marquis of B . . ., belonging to the Bohemian race, whose immense fortune proceeded from his acting as middleman in the purchase of slaA'es for Minas." There are several more indica- tions, scattered through the work, that the Brazilian nation, from highest to lowest, must be strongly tinctured with Eoniani blood; but I hope to have said enough to direct the attention of some of our members, better furnished than myself in the knowledge of Portu- guese, to this interesting little volume. Or might not Dr. Luiz de Castro, to whom it is dedicated, and who, it seems, has translated several English works into Portuguese, be prevailed on to furnish us with first-hand information ?

'Tis a far cry from Brazil to the Shetland Isles ; of Gypsies in Shetland (a most unlikely place for them) even less is known than of Brazilian Ciganos. But on p. 117 of The Orhict/s and Shetland (London, 1883), by Mr. John Tudor, I have come on the following interesting passage : —

" On Earl Patrick's imprisonment, Bishop Law, for a short time, held sway in the islands, not only in his episcopal capacity, but also as holding the King's commission as Sheriff, and held his first court at Scalloway on the 22d day of August 1612, at which many acts for ' good neighbourhood,' as they were long termed in Shetland, were passed, which acts in the main were similar to those we have already seen as having been in force in Orkney. At this court ' Johne Faw elder callit mckill [great] Jolme Faw, Joline Faw younger calit Littill Johne Faw, Katherin Faw, spous to umquhill [the late] Murdo Brown, Agnes Faw, sister to the said Litill Johne, were indicted ' for the murder of the said Murdo Brown, and Littill Johne for incest with his wife's sister and her daughter, and for adultery with Katherin Faw, and all for theft, sorcery, and fortune- telling, ' and that they can help or hinder in the j)roffeit of the milk of bestiale.' Katherin, who pleaded guilty to having slain her hus- band with ' a lang braig knife,' was sentenced ' to be tane [taken] to the bulwark and cassen [cast] over the same in the sey, to be droonit to the death, and dome [sentence] given thairupone, and decerns the remanent persones to be quyt [acquitted] of the crymes aboue written.' Walter Piitchie, who seems to have appeared as counsel for the accused, pleaded that it was not usual to take cognisance of murder amongst the Egyptians. This clearly proved tlicm to have been VOL. I. — NO. IV. Q

234 BRAZILIAN AND SHETLAND GYPSIES.

Gypsies, and the name to have been, probably, Fea [Faa]. Query : " Can the Orcadian Feas have been of Gypsy descent?" On p. 466, we are further informed that " the pier [of Blackness, Scalloway] is said to be built over the bulwark from which Katherine Faw was ' cassen in the sey.' " Now, at the risk of seeming paradoxical, it is worth while pointing out that in this passage we, perhaps, have an explanation of a standing puzzle of antiquaries — the discovery of Cufic coins in Orkney, in Sweden, and in Lancashire. In March 1858, in the links of Skaill, Sandwick parish, Orkney, a boy found a hoard — personal ornaments (brooches, neck rings, and arm rings, all of silver), ingots of silver, and a few coins — the aggregate weight 16 lbs. avoird. One of the coins was a St. Peter's penny, struck at York in the 10th century; one was a penny of King Athelstan, struck at Leicester in 926 ; and the rest were Asiatic, of the time when the sect of the Mohammedan Caliphate was at Cufa or Bagdad. Three of these Cufic coins belong to the Abbaside Caliphs, and seven to the Sassanian dynasty. They range in date between 887 and 945 ; and the places of mintage, still legible, are Al-shash, Bagdad, and Samarcand. Upwards of 20,000 Cufic coins and 15,000 Anglo- Saxon coins have been enumerated from hoards of this period in Sweden alone; and in 1840 Cufic coins were discovered near Preston, in Lancashire, seemingly of a date subsequent to the 10th century (Dr. Joseph Anderson's Scotland in Pagan Times: The Iron Age, Edinb. 1883, pp. 78, scq) Now, till 1883 nothing was known of the Faws' visit to Shetland, 271 years before; it is at least not im- possible that six centuries before that date there may have been a similarly unknown visit to Orkney of a Gypsy silversmith, who, coming from the East, brought with him Eastern coins. One thing, at least, is shown by the presence of these Cufic coins, that there has been communication between Orkney and the East — whether through Gypsies or not is another matter — within the historic period. Yet Mr. Lang has declared it "most unlikely ih^t folk-tales which originated in India could have reached the Hebrides by oral tradition, and within the historical period." Where coins could come, so too could folk-tales.

Lastly, to end this very discursive paper, what is the ultimate decision of our Orientalists as to the presence or the absence of Arabic words in Komani ? According to Prof, de Goeje there are ten such words ; according to Dr. Miklosich there are none. Neither, however, of the two scholars seems to me to have perceived the possible importance of the presence or the absence (especially the

BRAZILIAN AND SHETLAND GYPSIES. 235

absence) of Arabic elements. Komani undoubtedly contains Persian words ; would it not have certainly contained also Arabic words if the ancestors of our modern European Gypsies had sojourned in Persia, or even passed through Persia, at a date later than the Arab conquest of Persia. If Dr. Miklosich is right iu his contention that there are no Arabic words in Punnani, does it not follow almost inevitably that the Gypsies must have passed through Persia on their way to Europe at some date prior to the middle of the seventh century A.D. For, surely, since that conquest no Gypsy could tarry for any period in Persia without ])icking up some Arabic words. This is a point on which 1 am very anxious for information.

Francis Hindes Groome.

AaiL— A VOCABUPAPY OF THE SLOVAK- GYPSY DIALECT.

By p. von Sowa. {Continued.)

EREATA

In the "A " portion of this vocabulary (ante, No. 3),

. P. IGl, line 12, instead of " solna," read " Zsolna."

P. 162, line 8, instead of " once only once occurring," read "occurring only once. P. 104, line 4 a, instead oi ahjarav, read akydrac. „ line 49 a, instead of ah'ho, read al'eho. „ line 24 h, instead of aid susie, etc., read ani tuke, mri 2nrdni, basaviben

n-anavas — I should not even serenade thee, my beloved. K. „ line 52 b, instead of ad'ais, read avl'as. P. 165, line 16 a, before M, W. insert " forenoon." P. 166, line 30 b, insert averjciio before "'a., S., adj."

B.

Baba, S., s. f. (Slov. baba), old woman. Bahhrano, M. W., adj. (prob. bahrdno ;

/>a6o, *K., s. m. (Gr. io?n ; Hng. boho ; Gr., Hng. = SI., Bhni. not found in

Bhm. wanting), bean. my materials), of or belonging to a

Bachas, S., s. in. (Slov. buni), shepherd. sheep.

Baxt, M. W. S., basht ; *K., s. f. (Gr. Bal, M. W., K., s. m. (Gr., Hng., Bhm.

Bhm. = SI. Hng. bast), fortune. =S1.), hair ; of. s. zhuto.

Bai, S., s. f. (Gr., Hng., Blim.=Sl.), Bali, M. W., s. f. (Gr., SI. ; Hng. not

sleeve. found in my materials ; ]jhui. bull),

Bakri, M. W., S., baJchri, M. S., s. f. sow, hog.

(Gr., Bhm., Hng. bakri), sheep. Bdlo, S., balo, M. W., s . ((Jr., Hug.,

Bakro, S., s. m. (Gr., Blim. = S1., Hng. balo; Hng., Bhm, /)a?o), boar. Bdro

bakhro and bakro), v,ct]iev. bdlo, S., is said to mean "hedge-

Bakrori, S., s. f. (dim. of bakri), sheej). hog."^

1 It is worth noting that the Slovak Gypsies have no original word in their dialect for "hedgehog" ; cf. what Mr. MacRitchie (p. 44 of this volume of the Journal) notes regarding the dialect of the Catalouian Gypsies.

236

A VOCABULARY OF THE SLOVAK-GYPSY DIALECT.

BaUro, K. haloro, M. W., s. m. (dim. of the former), swine.

Baloro, *K., s. m. (dim. of hal), hair.

Bdlos, S., s. m. (Slov. hal), ball (a festival).

Balovas, a., S., balevas, M. W., *K. (a compound of balo and mas, q. v. ; cf. M. W., vii. 15), bacon. The vocable is proved by the only instance : De man panp garashenge balovas — give me five groschens' worth of bacon, G.

Balval, *M., *K., S., bavlal, M. W. (Gr., Hng. balval ; Bhm. barval), wind,

Banda, *S., s. f. (Slov. banda, from the Germ. Bande, Musilcbande), band of musicians.

Banknota, a., *S., s. f. (Slov. banhnota, from the Germ. Banknote), bank bill, bank-note.

Bar, S., bar, bar, M. W., s. f. (Gr. bari, pari. Pa. 162 ; Hng., Bhm. bar), garden. It is said to mean also hedge, enclosure, as in the Gr.

Bar, K., S., bar, M. W., s. m. (Gr., Hng., Bhm. = SI., Hng. bdr), stone, rock. M. W. even renders it cavern ; 2)ar K., stone wall. My Gypsies said that it means also gravel. Pr-oda isto bar, hai has o drakos — upon that rock, where was (lived) the dragon.

Baravav man, a., M. W., vb. refl. (prob. barydrau man, cf. Gr. baryarava, Hng. bardrav, to make great ; Hng. bardl'av, to boast), to be proud, to boast (prop, to magnify one's seK).

Bdrkai, S., adv. (the first part of the compound is supposed to be the Slov. bdr, used even in Slov., indefinite adv. e.g. bdrkedy vlg. ; cf. varekai), any- where, somewhere. So diknas bdrkai, odova has lengro — what they saw any where, that was theirs.

Bdrkana, S. barkana, K., adv. (a com- pound with the same element, cf, varekana), ever, at any time.

Bdrkana, S., pron. ind. (with the same, cf. varekdno), any one, whosoever, some. Mro devel leslce phend'as, hoi kai feske te kedel bdrkana love — my God said to him, that he might take {i.e. pocket) some money.

Bdrko, S., pron. ind. (of the same, cf. vareko), somebody.

Bdro, S., K., bharo, M., barg, *K., adj. (Gr., Hng. baro ; Hng., Bhm. bdro), grand, great. Particular expressions with bdro are : bdre love, bank-bills ; bdro rai, gentleman ; bdri rani, lady ; bdro hdlo, hedgehog ; bdro chiriklo, eagle ; bdro xas, plough, etc. Bdri I'iudra means a deep sleep. Bdro drom is the long, endless road of the Gypsy nomad. Adt, lare devlcha, ic me jau bdre dromeha — farewell, and I (shall) go the long Avay ( = to continue my wandering). The superlative often marks the chief, the supreme, Avle kit peskro rai, naibdreder hadnad'ts jja lendc — they came to their master, the chieftain (over them). Bhdre- yakhengero, having large eyes.

Bdres, S,, very much. " You igen bares rovl'drlas pal piesko p)hral6ro" — he wept very much for his brother.

Baronos, S., s, m, (Slov. baron, from the Germ, baron), baron.

Bardri, K. ; barori, M. W. ; baloro, ISI. W. (incoi-rect), s. f. (dim. of bar, f.), hedge, garden, stone wall, K.

Barovau, a., S., bluirovav, M. W., vb. itr. (Gr. baryovara ; Hng, baryovav ; Bhm. bdrovav), to become greater, to increase (itr.) Ola cJidvo ehi tikno, al'e bdrola — the boy is little, but he will grow bigger.

Bdrso, S., pron. ind. (with the Slov, bar, cf. vareso), something, what- ever,

Baruno, a., S., baruno, M. W. (Gr., Hng. wanting, Bhm. barnno), made of stone, stony.

Barvalo, S., adj. (Gr. baravalo ; Gr., Hng. = SI., Bhm. barvdlo), rich. You hi barvalo hire — his family is a rich one (lit. he is rich at home).

Basinav, M. W., vb tr., to execrate, to curse.

Bashau, S., vb. itr. (Gr. bashava means only "to cry," "to bark" ; Hng. bashav, " to bark " ; Bhm. wanting), to play, to sound (an instrument). Shukdrcs bashava pr-e lavuta — I shall play well on the lute.

Bashavau, M. W., S., vb. itr., (Gr., bashavava ; Hng., Bhm., bashavav), to play, to sound (an instrument). Shukdrcs mange bashavna — they will play well for me.

A VOCA.BULAliY OF TlIK SLOVAK-GYPSY DIALECT.

237

Btuhavibcn, :S\. \\'., S., bamvihen ; K.,

s. ni. (Gr. wanting, Hng. hashavipe,

Blun. hashavibm), mn^ic, ci. vichinau.

Bashno, M. W., S., s. u). (Gr., Bhm.,=

SI. Gr. busno, Hng. wanting), cock. Bashovau, M. W., S., (Gr., Hng., want- ing, of. baskau ; Bhui. bashovav), to bark, to bay. Bavlnav, a., :\I. ^^^, vb. tr., (Slov. bavif

to amuse. Befel'is, a., >S., s. ni. (Germ. Befehl), petition, nieniorial Kana diJchh o sasiMne raya, dine hi-o samo klsaris befel'is, hoi nashchi oda phtlro sasos sliixhba te zastavinel — when the mili- tary officers saw (that) they sent a memorial to the emperor himself, that the old soldier is not able to discharge his duties. Beng, M. W., K., ,S., (Gr., Hng., Bhm. = SI. Hng. beago) devil. It may be remarked, that in the SI. G. folk-lore the devil is only once spoken of, viz., in the tale 0 Drakos, where it is said that the w^anderer's dog would scuffle even Avith the devil {he le bengeha pes xudiuahas). All the other passages refer to sevcrdl devils ; in the tale B trill rdJdd, three devils take the three princesses to hell ; in the tale 0 Phuro Sasos God orders the devils to catch the old soldier, to dilacerate and to fry him. Bereno, a., S., adj. (Slov. vereny, pt. pf. of verii' " to thrust ; " regarding the change of v and b cf. SI. bildgos, vild- gros), committed ; Slazhba mange has bereno — the service was committed to me. The speaker himself translated the sentence thus : sluzba nine bola verend. Berse ? a., S. The word must have been heard badly ; Akanah tn chi auka, har me chid'om. 0 rom xudel beisc, xudinas, kana hi Idki kashtuni ror- I'dri. I cannot translate this passage. Uersh, S., blirsh, M., s. m., pi. bersh ; S. bijrsh, M. bersha, S. (Gr., Hng., Bhm. bersh), year ; boi'sh bbrshestar, from year to year, M.W. The pi., is proved by uzJtdrlas dui bersh — he waited two years. Me somas bish bersha lukesto — I was five years a soldier. Beshau mange, S., bcshar, K., vb. refl.

(Gr. heshava ; Hng., Bhm. bcshav), to down ; Me mange odoi beshava — I shall sit down there ; Som beshto — I am sitting ; Somas bcshchi pash e yag — I was seated near the fire, K, Bharvalipen, a., M. W. (Gr. baravalipe ; Hng. barvalipe ; Bhm. barvalipen), richness. Bi— K, S., prefi.\-. (Gr., Hng., Bhm. = SI., Hng., even used separately, I\I. W., vii. 20), without. This particle can be prefixed to almost all substantives. My materials afford : bidandengcro, without teeth, S. ; bidiloskero, w. dinner, M. W. ; bimanresko (?), w. bread, M. W. ; biyakhengero, blind (w. eyes), M. W. ; and even bihngcro, alone (without them), M. W. Bibold'i, M. W., s. f. (cf. the following),

Jewess.

Biboldo, M. W. ; btboldo, M. W., s. m.

Gr., Hng., Bhm. = SI., (Gr. it is used

as an adjective, " not baptized "), Jew.

Bichar, K., vb. tr. (Gr., Bhm. wanting ;

Hug. bichhav), to send. Biehavau, S. ; bichavav, K., vb. tr. (Gr. bicJtavava ; Hng. hichhavav ; Bhm. bichavav), to send. Biknau, M. W., S., vb. tr. imp. ; bikin, pl. pf , bikindo (Gr. biknava ; Hng. biknav ; Bhm. bikcnav), to sell. Bildcho, a., S., adj. (Gr., Hng. wanting ; Bhm., but meaning "bad"), unlucky. The meaning of the word is proved by: Bildchi rdkl'i, te tn {man) shnneha mre lava — unlucky girl, if thou wilt hear my words. So says the witch to the ravished girl in the tale 0 Tchora. (Jes., 106, gives : Bildchi lovina, bad beer). Bildgos, s. vildgos.

Birinau, S., vb. tr. (the word could be derived from the Slov. beru, "I take," but the difference of the meaning leaves that in doubt), to bear, to drag. Akakanak mange deha, so me kanuiva love ketsi me birinava — now thou wilt give me what I desire, as much money as I shall (be able to) bear. Fdlc peskc kcdind'as ketsi shai birin- d'as — then he dragged as much as he could bear. The meaning of the fol- lowing is not very clear : The biri- nau but bilagoha — And I drag myself through the whole world (many

238

A VOCABULAUY OF THE SLOVAK-GYPSY DIALECT,

countries) ? ; berinav man, M. W. (Slov. hem sa, Mikl.), I betake myself. Bish, M. K. S., num. card. (Gr., Hng., Bhra. = S1.), twenty; Duvar hish, forty ; bishvar, K. S., twenty times.

Bishto, K. S., num. ord. (Gr., Hng., Blim. = SI.), twentieth.

Biyau, M. W. S., hiyav, M. W., biao, K., s. m. (Gr. biav, bav ; Hng. biav, biyav ; Bhm. hiyav), nuptials ; pal biyaveskero, a., M. W., is said to mean afternoon, evidently by a mistuke.

Bizo, S., adv. (Mag. bizony) ; surely, cer- tainly, indeed.

Bledo, adj., (SI. biddy) pale, concluded from hledone-moskeri, M. W., adj. (cf. imd) W'ith a pale face (f.)

BlisMnd, M. W., vb. imp. (Slov. bly'ska sa), it lightens.

BoM'i, M. W., S., s.f. (Gr., Bhm. bololi, Hng. bukcli, hukeri), cake, whcaten- bread.

Bokos, M. W., (Slov. hok), side (of the body).

Bokh, S., bok, K., s.f. (Gr. hok, Hng., Bhm. bokh), hunger.

Bokhdlo, M. W., S. bokdlo, K., adj. (Gr. bokalo ; Hng., Bhm. hokhdlo) ; hungry.

Bokhal'ovar, (mange), M, W., vb. itr. (Gr. bokal'ovava, Hng. bokhayovav, Bhm. bokdlav, Jes. 3), to be (or to be- come) hungry.

Bo'ri, K., S., s.f. (Gr. bori, bride, young wife, daughter-in-law ; Bhm. hdri, the same ; Hng. hori) ; daughter-in-law, (so in all instances, viz. :) Leskrc nd- rodi la na kamnas borake — his parents would not have her as a daughter-in- law. Prav dayko, yo vudar, anav tuke bora, anav tuke hura, u Tnange romniora — open the door, mother, I bring thee a daughter, I bring thee a daughter, and for myself a wife. K.

Boruovos, a., M. W., s. m. (Mag. borju, hornyu, calf), ox.

Bosorka, a., S., s.f. (Slov. bosorka, cf. Mag. bossorkdny), witch.

Bou, a., S. bov, a., M. W., s. m. (Gr., Bhm. bov, Hng. bof, hov), stove.

Brad'i, M. W. (Gr, wanting ; Hng., Em. = Sl., Bhm. brdd'i) ; tub, vat, can, tankard.

Brdna, a., S., s.f. (Slov. hrdna), door.

Brdt'elis, a., S., s. m. (a dim. from the Slov. hraf), brother.

Brishind, M. W., S., hroshin, K. (Gr. hrishin, brishindo ; Hng. brishind, brishin ; Bhm. brishind), rain ; bri- shind del, M. W., S., hroshindav, K., it rains.

Britva, a., S., s.f. (Slov. hritva), razor.

Bruntsl'ikos, S., prop, noun, m. (Slov. bruncUk means : a sort of pigeon, Burzel tauhe) : the name of the hero of the tale "jB trindraki." Pah yekh bruntsl'ikos pes rakl'as aso god'aver, brunfxl'ikos pes vichinlas. Then there was found a B., such a wise one, B. he called himself. The speaker trans- lated the word B. by mtidry (a wise man) probably misled by the word god'aver. The hero of several Mora- vian folk-tales is called Bruncvik.

Brusnaris, hrusndris, S., s. m. (could be a slang word derived from the Slov. brus, " to grind," but cf. Cat. Gypsy bruxi, r(5al). Kreutzer (an Austrian coin). Nisht les na kosht'i- ncla aui brusnaris — it will cost him nothing, not even a kreutzer.

Brusndrkos, a., s. m. (dim. of the fore- going), kreutzer.

Buxlo, M. W., adj. (Gr. buglo ; Hng. bulho ; Bhm. = SI.), wide, broad. Buxles, M, W., adv., widely.

Bujando, 1 a., *K, (Not to be under- stood). 0 chave bujande, shelentsa probatne — the boys are well known (they have been brought to the proof a hundred times), Kal.

Buko, M. W., S.,s. m. (Gr., Bhm. = Sl., Hng. hukko, bhuko), the entrails of an animal, a., S., the liver (pi.), M. W.

Bukos, M. W., s. m. (Slov. btik), beech- tree.

Bui, M. W., S., s. m. f. (Gr, vul, hul : Hng., Bhm. = S1.), posteriors.

Burkos, M. W., S. ; purkos, S., s, m. (Germ, harg), castle, cavern {I) In the Sl.-G. tales the dragons either reside in a burkos, or in a xeu, q.v.

Burnek, M. W., s. m. (Gr., Bhm. = S1., Hng. bur7iik, hornck, the palm), hand- ful.

Biiro, K., s.- m. (Gr. wanting, Hng., Bhm. = SI.), bush, shrub, brier.

Buroro, *K. ; buroro, M. W, (dim. of the same), id.

But, M., K., S. ; but, M. W., adj. adv. (Gr., Hng., Bhm.=Sl.). 1. Much,

A VOCABULARY OF TflE SLOVAK-GYPSY DIALECT.

239

many ; Nane man but love — I have not much money. 2. Very ; Mind'ar lesJce 0 shcre desh u lydtnah Ule chicVas, chah oda mashlcaruno hut tirinlas, nashchik les te chinlas tele — immedi- ately he cut him up the fifteen heads ; but the middle held very fast, he could not cut it down. The com- parative butcr, M. W., S., butter, M. W., means : further, beyond that. Buter tumen na dilcava — I shall not see you further. Les bxiter nane chdve, chah oda yelch rdJd'i — he has no children except that girl. The superlative sometimes means : par- ticularly. Yon has odoi fdnch bersh, oJa tovari&ha ; yon naibuter ehas chah vash oda rdhl'i — they were there five years, those journeyman ; they were (there) specially for the sake of that

girl. Butterjcne, a., M. (cf. jene), means the same as buter.

Bdfi, *M., S. ; buti, M. W. ; buti, K. (Gr. buti, buhi ; Hng. buti ; Bhiii. buti. 1. Labour ; You shoha na kerelas zhddno but'i — he never did any work. 2. Commonly the labours of a blacksmith ; 0 rom herel but'i, leske mind'ar o sviri pel'as angal o vast — the Gypsy is working (at the forge) ; immediately the hammer fell out of his hand. But'i hercs ? — Buti ! Are you forging ? — Yes, I am.

Buyahos, a., M. W., s. m. (SI. bujak), ox.

Buzex, a., M. W., s. f. (Gr. wanting ; Rm. bu::exa, pi. ; Hng. bu:xha, pi. ; Bhm. = Sl.), spor.

Buzini, s. zubunis.

Bzencal a., S., s. f. (very uncertain'), millet that has been ground.

.On.

Chachihen, a., S. ; chachipen, K., s. m. (Gr. cliachipe ; Bhm. chachipen; Hng. chachipc, chachipo, chachipe, means : fiiith, justice), truth, verity. Peatu mange chachipen — tell me the truth, K.

Chdcho, S. ; cliacho, M. W., adj. (Gr. wanting ; Hng. chacho, chachho ; Bhm. chdcho ; Grm. chacho means genuine, pure). 1. True ; Ax dade mro, nane chdcho, me somas korkori pashl'i andr-o her — Oh my father, that is not true. I lay alone in the house. 2. Right ; Le tut akada angrust'i pal mro vast he thd tuke la pre tro angusht chdcho — take this ring from my hand and put it on thy right finger. 3. Well, all right ; Kcraha shuhdr bii/av, h-auka hi chdcho — we shall make fine nuptials, and so (all) will be right.

Chachuno, M. W., adj. (Gr., Bhm. = SI., l)ut its meaning in Gr. is : true, right ; in Bhm. own, proper), just.

Chai, M. W., K., S., s. f. obl. sg. ; cha S. (Gr., Hng., Bhm. = SI., Gr. chei ; Hng. chhai). 1. Girl; Xudinomyehha cha, trival laha keld'om — I got hold of a ixirl and danced with her three times. 2. Daughter ; E rdhl'i lot'il'as ;

dikl'as pr-e chavdro o dad : ax uzhdr,

mri chai — the girl was delivered of a

son. The father looked at the child :

Oh, wait 2, my daughter ! Chaiko, a., S., s.f. voc. (to the SI. chai

the Slov. dim. suft*. ka being adjoined) ;

Vzhdr chaiko p>r-o pdui — wait, girl, by

the water. Chak, M. S., K. ; dak, K. ; cha, *K.

{cha ker avava = chak kere av), adv.

conj. (Mag. csak). 1. Adv. only, but

as in Mag. 2. When (Lat. ubi, ut)

Cha ker (r. chah kere) avava, mas, ma-

roro xava —when I get home I shall

eat meat and rolls. K. Chalav, K., vb. tr. (Gr., Bhm. Avanting ;

Hng. = 81.) ; to strike. Chalavav, *K., vb. tr. (Gr. chalavava,

Hng., Bhm., SL), to strike (as in : the

clock strikes). Chdl'ovau, S. ; chalavav, M. W., K. ;

chdl'avav, M. W., vb. itr. (Gr. chdl'o-

vava, Hng. chal'ovav, Bhm. wanting),

to become satiated, to feed to the full.

Le marestar chal'ola — she surfeited

herself on good rolls. K. Cham, K., s.f. (Gr. = S1. meaning cheek,

Hng. chham, Bhm. == SI.), face. Chang, INI. W., S., s. m. (Gr., Hng.,

1 1 once heard this word from Jloravian Gypsies, but could not find out its meaning. I afterwards put it to my SI. Gyp.sies who translated it bytlie Slov. ^'•vewo ; Ij^t, probably, they were induced to do so only by the similarity of sound between the two words.

- A. threatening expression ; like the Germ. Warte nur ! and the Slov. Lea cakaj !

240

A VOCABULARY OF THE SLOVAK-GYPSY DIALECT.

Bhm. = SI, in Gr. meaning leg), knee, ja7ig ? M. W. (ix. 9).

Char, M.S.; char, M. W., K, s.f. (Gr. Bh.m. char; Kng., char); grass. Shu- har char is said to mean flower, S.

Charav, K., vb. tr. (Gr. charava, Hng. = S1., Bhm. charrav) ; to lick.

Churo, M. S., s. m. (Gr., Hng. charo ; Bhm. = SI.) ; plate (M. W., also pot).

Charori, chdrori, K. S., s. f. (dim. of chdr), grass, K.

Charoro, M. W., s, m. (dim. of chdro), plate ; (M. W., also pot).

Chdvo, S., chavo, M. K., .s. m., obi. sg. chas, S.; 1 son ; Me som barvalo cla- deshro chdvo — I am a rich (father's) son, cf. in the Grm., Westphal. G. dial, me horn ye chachi dadeski romni. 2. Lad, boy, Dosta chdve pirde, melc latar na chinde; chdvo oda yekavl'as, mindiar latar chind'as — Many lads have come, they have not gathered it ; this single lad has come, he has gathered it at once. K. 3. Child (pi.). Les buter nane chdve, chak oda, ychh rdkl'i — He has no (other) children except this one girl.

Chdvoro, S., chavdro, M. W. K., s. chha- voro, M. W., s. m. (dim of chdvo), ( hild. E rdkl'i Idt'il'as ; ax diklas pr-o chav&ro o dad — The girl was de- livered of a son ; the father looked at the child. 2. Lad, boy (even when adult) ; Ax mre chavdre, ushdren cMdo Oh my boys, wait a little (says John to his comrades in the tale 0 Biholdo).

Chayori, M. W., K. S., chayori, M. W., s. f. (dim of chai), girl.

Chekant, S., chekan, a., K., s. m. (Gr. chikat ; Hng., Bhm., chekat) ; fore- head. Chekan yakhengre, a., eyebrows, K.

Clierxen, S., cherxen, M. W., M., s.f. (Gr. cherxan, cherxeni ; Hng. cherheni, cherhan ; Bhm. cherxen), star.

Cherxendri, S., s. f. (dim. of cherxen), star.

Chi, K., S., Slov. ci), if, (in interi'ogative sentences), its use is the same as in Slov.

Chiamav, a., K., vb. itr., to walk, to go, K. ; not confirmed by my Gypsies.

Chib, M. W., S., s.f. (Gr., Hug., Bhm.= SI., Gr., Hng. chip), tongue (never language).

Chibdlo, S. ; chibhdro, ]\I. W., s. m. (Gr. adj. loquacious ; Hng. chibalo, id. and blacksmith, judge ; Bhm. chibdlo, as in SI. : in other dialects still it has various meanings), judge.

Chik, M. W., s. f. Gr., Hug., Bhm. = SI), dirt, mud.

Chil, s., butter.

Chilau, a., S., s. m. (Gr. kilav ; Hng. wanting ; Bhm. t'hilav), prune, damson ; cf. t'ilavin.

Chinau, M. W., S. ; chinav, K. (Gr. chinava, to cut, to j^erceive, to kill, to immolate ; Hug. chinav, chhinav, to cut, to strike, to write ; Bhm. chinav, to cut, to rend, to write). 1. To cut, to cleave ; Chind'as yepashende oda angrust'i — he cut in two that ring. 2. To strike, to beat ; Chin ten rano- raha — beat them with a rod. 3. To write ; Chinava here ke tute, ke tro dad — I shall write (a letter) to thy family (lit. home to thee), to thy father. 4. To hang, M. ; Yon les ligede thel yekha shibenitsate, th-odoi visinlas yek chinch — they brought him to the foot of a gibbet, and on it was suspended a hanged man. M.

Chinav freko, to change (money), a., S. ; Ase manusha, kai dikhnas sovnakune love te chinen preko — such men, who would be seen changing golden coins,

Chinau, a., S., v. tr. (Gr., Bhm. wanting ; Rm., Hng. chinav) ; to shake. La e, ddr chind'as, hoi kai pes il'as leha md- nush — She shook with fear (for she saw) whither (her) husband had re- sorted with him,

Chinavav, * M., M. W., K., vb. tr. (Gr. chinavava, to cause to cut ; Hng., Bhm. wanting ?). 1. To rend. 2. To tug or irall about. K.

vhingerau, M. W., S., chingerav, K., (Gr. chingerava, to perforate ; Hng. chhingeravav, to cut ; Bhm. chingerav, as in SI.); 1. to rend ; Pale mind'ar oda top)dnki cJiingerde — then they im- mediately rent the shoes. 2. To cut up ; Chingerd'as leske savore oda shere — he cut him up all the heads. 3. To knock down, M. W. 4. To break, M. W. 5. To throw, to cast or dart, K. Chingerav yakcntsa, to survey with a look, to cast glances at, K.

Chingerdo, M. W., s. m. (Gr. chinkardo

A VOCABULAllY OF THE SLOVAK-GYPSY DIALECT. 241

an iron instrument ; Hng. wanting ; Be silent, for I bring you immediately

Bhm. = SI. borer, bore) ; hatchet. into the paradise.

(Jhiriklo, M. W., S., s. ni. (Gr., Hung., Chivau, M. W.,chiav, K., imp. chi, S.,

Bhm. = SI.), bird. JJaro Ivlo chiriJdu, chiv, M. W., pi. pf. chidu ((Jr. chivava,

eagle ; aso buro cliirildo, hawk ; shu- pt. pf. chivdo, to draw ; Hng., Bhm.

Jcar chiriklo, lark; chirildo so phirel c/t-irctr, tosow, to throw); 1. To throw.

rdt'i, bat or rearmouse. Aso svtri chid' as so ehas phures aspon

Chirihl'i, S., s. f. (Gr., Hng., Bhm. chir- desk u pa'nch tsenti — Such a hammer

ikli), bird ; pa'rni chirild'i, magpie ; he threw, the weight of which was al-

even a butterfly is sometimes called most fifteen quintals. •!. To stick?

chirihl'i. cf. Uzhdr chivau inro hur tra dahe —

Chirla, K., S., adv. (cf. Km. shiro, Hng. (In the tale (J lioin th-o drakos ii.),

tsiro, Bhm. chiro, time); long ago. c/u'ac ao-i, to pour out, K.

nachirhf, K., S., not long since. Chivos, S., s. m. (Mag. cso'^.) tobacco,

Chisto, a., S., adv. (Slov. cisto, purely), pip^) stem.

straight on, directly ? T'icho achcn Chi'Juna, M. W., s. f. i^Slov. rirjun, cf.

I'cho tumea I'ijau and-o rayos chisto — Mag. csizma), shoe.

REVIEWS.

Gli Zingari : Storia d'un jfopolo errantc. By ADitLVNO CoLOCci. Ermanno Loescher : Turin, 1889.

Expected for some months previously, this interesting book has made its appearance with the beginning of 1889. As it is intended, in a great measure, for the general public of Italy — to whom any serious work upon this subject, and in their own language, is quite a novelty — there is much within the 420 pages of Gli Zingari that has long been known to the world of Gypsiologists. This could not be avoided in a book which addresses itself to the public, and not to specialists alone, and, no doubt, this is the explanation of a fact which might otherwise demand criticism — the occasional absence of refer- ences to the sources of the author's statements. But M. Colocci was not writing chiefly for his fellow-members of this Society, although all of these cannot fail to derive much pleasure and a considerable amount of profit from the perusal of his book.

The ten chapters, which form three-fourths of the work, deal with the origin, advent, dispersion, persecution, and emancipation of the Gypsies, with their character and religion, their customs and language, their dances, songs, and music. Tliere is a map — a novel and instructive feature — which shows the "Itinerary of the CJreat Band of 1417," and the localities in Middle and Western Europe where the presence of Gypsies in the fifteenth century has been recorded. There is also a very good Bibliograpliy, from wldch other compilers may each glean something ; and this is followed by two

242 REVIEWS.

appendices — the first consisting of about twenty pages of words and phrases in the Italian dialect of Eoniani, and the second being an " Italian-Tchinghiane " lexicon. By " Tchinghiane " M. Colocci in- dicates the speech of the Gypsies inhabiting Eastern Eunielia and the Balkan Peninsula generally, where he has himself studied the people and their language. Both of these vocabularies have, therefore, the value of original compilations. The first is peculiarly ]\I. Colocci's. That relating to the Tchinghiane's is his also, but the learned Paspati had previously gone over most of the same ground. (It is pleasant to observe, in passing, that our author, during his stay in Athens, enjoyed the friendship of this eminent Tsiganologue, to whom, indeed, he submitted many of the words now published.) The book, which is enlivened by many interesting woodcuts — some second-hand and rather conventional, others extremely valuable — closes with a highly poetical apostrojDhe to the source of the author's inspiration.

Among the examples of Gypsy poetry are (pp. 270 and 280) a few short songs which M. Colocci has himself gathered during his travels in Eastern liumelia. Moreover, to one of these —

Kamalav tut m'angaliate Kasoav ani dakdr,

he has added the music, also an original contribution, and by which he illustrates a special characteristic of Gypsy melody. The greater part, however, of his poetical specimens are admittedly taken from well-recognised sources.

While Gli Zingari does not, therefore, assert itself as containing throughout its pages a mass of fresh information, it yet brings under the notice of even the scientific reader much that is of distinct importance. Weightier and more learned books have, of course, been written upon the subject ; but no previous writer has repre- sented the Gypsies from so many points of view, nor is there any other book of the kind which places so much solid information before the reader in such a light, varied, and attractive manner. It must certainly awaken an interest in Gypsy matters among many who were previously indifferent, and it will give a great impetus to Gypsy study throughout the whole of Italy.

Zur Volkskunde dcr TranssilvaniscUeii Zigeuner. Von Dii. Heineich V. Wlislocki. Hamburg: Verlag von J. F. Ptichter, 1887.

This is an admirable example of vulgarisation, in the best and most legitimate sense of that word, being a short and singularly lucid

REVIKWS. 243

survey of a subject upon vvhich its author could more easily have written, out of the fulness of his knowledge, a treatise of five hundred pages, Dr. von Wlislocki has given us in but forty pages a masterly summary of his knowledge of the manners, customs, superstitions, and popular life of the Gypsies of Transylvania, who are found in that mountainous region as early as 1415, and have worked themselves there into a kind of settled citizenship. No part of Europe contains a more mixed population than Transylvania. The whole number of the inhabitants is not much over two millions (1880), yet here are found Hungarians — descendants of the original Magyar conquerors and Szeklers — together numbering over 600,000 ; Saxons, descendants of the German immigrants in the twelfth century, to the number of over 200,000 ; more than a million Walachians ; and as many as 46,000 Gypsies. These are commonly called in Transylvania by the Hungarian names of Pharao nepc (" Pharaoh's folk "), Purdc (" naked "), and Czigdny : the Eumanians call them C'ujdiiu, while they themselves prefer the name Rom. Their tents are termed Kortrasch by their Saxon fellow-citizens. Their language divides itself into three dialects, which are mainly differ- entiated by the greater or less infusion of foreign words : (1) the Hungarian-Gypsy, (2) the Walachian-Gypsy, and (3) the Saxon- Gypsy, of which the first is the purest, and indeed the richest dialect of the Gypsy language in the world. The Transylvanian Kortorar fall into four main tribes, each under a hereditary chief : the Leila, Kukuya, Aschani, and Tschale.

Dr. von Wlislocki rather suggests than draws upon the extra- ordinary wealth of popular poetry of the Transylvanian Gypsies, hut what he does say is enough to convince folk-lorists that herein there is an inexhaustible store of treasures of the richest quality and preserved, moreover, in the most primitive forms. The glamour of Egypt has not blinded the author to the drawbacks of his heroes, but through all their squalor and lack of principle, and spite of the many unamiable circmnstances in their environment, he can discern the romance that redeems them from baseness and glorifies their brown tents with the halo of poetry.

Til O.MAS Davidson.

Notices and aiticlcs on the Gypsy question (which were largely evoked by the publication of Gli Zingari) have recently appeared in the following journals of Italy : — La Gazzetta Piemohtcse of Turin (30th Nov. 1888); II Popolo Romano (5th Dec. 1888); La Trihuna

244 NOTES AND QUERIES.

of Eome (from the pen of Evangelist!, 25th Dec. 1888) ; // Diritto of Rome (31st Dec. 1888, contributed by Bertola) ; La Favilla of Perugia (31st Dec. 1888), by G. B. Miliani, who also wrote on the same subject in the Bibliofilo of Bologna in Jan, 1889 ; in the Corriere della Sera of Mitan (by Barattani; 5-6 Jan. 1889); La Bilancia oi Jesi (3rd Feb. 1889) ; Z' Lllustrazione Italiana of Milan (by Ugo Pesci, on 10th Feb. 1889) ; the CiLore e Critica of Bergamo (20th Feb. 1889, by Dr. N. Colajanni), and in La Gazzctta del Popolo della Domenica, Turin, 17th March 1889. The Gazzetta Musicale of Milan, (10th March 1889), also contains the first of an interesting series of studies on " The Music of the Gypsies," by Dr. A. G. Corrieri.

But of the many recent items upon this subject, which have appeared not only in the journals of Italy, but in those of Austro- Hungary and of other continental countries, we have not space to speak particularly. It is impossible, however, to conclude without referring to the graceful and sympathetic notice of our Society, which the pen of Madame CopMarlet (authoress of the Gypsy novel Gold- Jano), communicated to the columns of the Bevue de I'Oricnt of Buda- pest, on 20th January last. Herself an enthusiastic lover of the Gypsies, as well as a most charming writer, her article glows with a feeling of genuine appreciation of this Society, which may well con- gratulate itself upon having such an advocate.

NOTES AND QUEPJES.

King John of England and the Tinkers.

The anecdote of King James v. of Scotland (a.d. 1513-1542) and the tinkers may be contrasted with the similar adventure of King John of England (a d. 1199- 1216), told at length in Lonsdale Magazine, 1822, vol. iii., p. 312, and repeated in Hampson's Meclii JEv'i Kalendarium, 1841, vol. i., p. 224. King John was staying at Alnwick Castle, and dressed himself as a palmer (pilgrim) to visit the peasants and learn news of himself. Upon St. Mark's Day (April 25) he followed a footpath to a well, where he found three tinkers, who desired him to sit down and tell them the news. They made themselves merry with mocking him, and led him to a boggy bottom, and caused the king to travel to and fro until, bedaubed with dirt from head to foot, they suffered him to depart. As he passed home through Aln- wick street the i^eople crowded about him. He testily told them all their posterity should tread in his footsteps. He reached the Castle, and sent an armed party after the tinkers. Two were hanged ; the third, who interfered on the king's behalf, was presented with his liberty and a sum of money. King John then made a law that if three tinkers were ever in future found travelling in company, two of them should be hanged ; and in consequence of the people's laughing at him, the king made a further decree that no man should enjoy the freedom of Alnwick until he had travelled through the same slough. H. T. Crofton.

NOTES AND QUERIES. 245

The Scotch anecdote vefevied to by Mr. Crofton is (luoted by Siiuson in his History of t/if Grjimes, ^^. 104-5. And the similarity between the two stories is very striking — so striking that it is evident there is more than siinilarity. The Scottish king goes through exactly the same kind of experience as King John of England (with some fe^v and unimportant difterenccs of detail), and, like him, he made a law, as the result of this ill-treatment, "that whenever three men tinkers, or gipseys, were found going together, two of them should be hanged and the third set at liberty."

Now the Scotch story relates to the county of Fife, and the first half of the six- teenth century. The English story relates to the northern part of Northumberland, and the beginning of the titirtecnth century. Obviously, therefore, the English story is the true one, of which the Scotch version is only an echo.

That such an anecdote, if previously existing, should become associated with James v. of Scotland — a very Harun-al-Rashid, and of whom innumerable such stories were told — was an exceedingly natural event. But how did the Northumberland tale of the twelfth centurj' become cuirent in Fifeshire in the sixteenth ? If the English tale had been a couple of centuries earlier still, the explanation would not have been ditRcult. For, until the battle of Carham, in 1018, the country lying between the Tweed and the Firth of Forth was not Scottish but English {i.e. Northumbrian) ; and as the people of south-eastern Scotland were practically the same as those of Northumberland, an Alnwick incident would be a* well known on the southern shores of the Firth of Forth as on the River Tyne. And if current on the southern shores of the Firth, it could easily pass across to the northern shores when the people on either side became politically one.

This explanation, however, would insinuate that even the King John version was not the original. Be that as it may, it is clear that the Scotch story is a mere copy. And one very interesting circumstance is that, if the Scotch version be correct in speaking of the three as "tinkers or gij^seys" and if the English tradi- tion really dates from the days of King John, then the latter would indicate the presence of Gijijsies in Northumbria in the thirteenth century.

David MacRitciiie.

The Words " Gurko " and " Simo."

With reference to Mr. Pincherle's query (No. 3 of the Jonrnal, p. 1C9) con- cerninfi- the etymology of Giirho — which in Spain is kurlo, and in Italy kurhara — I am of opinion that the Greek KvpiaKrj is the probable source of all these forms. As a matter of cui'iosity, 1 would add that two other interpretations were offered to me : one that the word was derived from the Turkish-Gypsy fjorko (bad, wicked), as though the Gypsies, when Christianity was imposed upon them, had wished to show their contempt for the day of religion — well aware that the Christians would not have understood the significance of the term. The other derivation was from the Indian g'hur (house), either because it was used to denote the day when one remained in the house, without going out to work, or because one went to church, the " house of God." These two interpretations of gurkoro dives have been given to me, but I cannot say I have much confidence in them.

Simo comes from sinar, as Mr. Greene (No. 3, p. 170) correctly remarks. The Gitcino verb sinar, however, seems to me the old Latin form altered, and not of Gypsy origin. In the Neapolitan dialect one finds these forms : Simo accd (we are here) ; Ce simmo nasciuti 'nsema (I was born with him). [Latin sim, subj.]

AURIANO Ci>I/K'CI.

246 NOTES AND QUERIES.

3-

Notes on the Three Magi.

Florence, Jan. 4, 1889.

Dear Mr. MacEitchie, — Just about the time when I received No. 3 of TJie Journal of the Gypsy Lore Society, and read your remarks on the Three Kings of Cologne, I was interested in the same subject from a very different point of view, yet one which bears on it. I am much occupied here in Florence in collecting Witch-lore, my assistant-general being a fortune-teller, apparently of Romany blood, who is possessed of a gi-eat store of charms and incantations, all of the " old faith," i.e. not Catholic Christian.

She had frequently spoken to me of what are called medaglie chile streghe, or witch-medals, worn as a counter-charm against sorcery and other evils. Finally she obtained some of them for me. They are small brass counters, bearing on one side the Three Kings of Cologne Avorshipping tlie child Christ, on the other,

S. s. reges Gasp. Mel. Bald. Orate pro nobis Nunc et in iiora .

Mortis nostrae Amen !

On my remarking that this was " Christian," I was told that the believers in witchcraft, or those who have recourse to it, make an exception in its favour. They formerly used only old Roman coins for witch-medals. The priests, to prevent this, substituted the medals of the Three Kings, and " as we found that these were as powerful, they were accepted." I have lately learned that this compromise with sorcery made trouble among the orthodox believers. And I have been told by my collector, " Certainly we receive the medals, because the Three Kings were Streg- hone " (or wizards). But wizard here implies also " heathen," or not-Christian.

Why, indeed, were these medals accepted by the believers in ancient sorcery, if there was not a deeply seated faith that the Wise Men of the East were sorcerers, and belonged in some way to the great army of dealers in dark lore ? It certainly showed great shrewdness in selection to so exactly match the witches' medals with the Three Kings', who were none the less wizards or warlocks because they were " holy " men. As for their connection with Gypsies, it is plain enough. Gypsies were from the East ; Rome and the world abounded in wandering Chaldean magi-priests, and the researches which I am making have led me to a firm conclusion that the Gypsy lore of Hungary and South Slavonia (of which I have large collections) has a very original character as being, firstly, tliough derived from India, not Aryan, but " Shamanic" that is, of an Altaic or Tartar, or " Turanian " stock, such as con- stitutes the real latent religion of the majority of the country people in India to-day. Secondly, this was the old Chaldean = A ccadian "wisdom" or sorcery. Thirdly — and this deserves serious examination — it was also the old Etruscan religion whose magic formulas were transmitted to the Romans. Now I find that the Florentine witch-lore is derived from the Tuscan Romagna, Avhere it still has such infiuence that two persons, one a very learned Italian, and the other, one of the people, both independently remarked to me that there is ten times as much faith in heathenism or witchcraft there as in Christianity.

Tlie gift of gold, myrrh, and frankincense is very little understood. Not long ago a professional witch in the Romagna made, and sent to me as a kindly token, " the great charm." It consists of several very ancient Roman and one purely Gypsy ingredient (the magnet), and was prepared with ceremonies and rhymes. But the chief component was frankincense, and I was warned that to perfect it I nmst add a small gold coin. This is not derived from the New Testament, for everything among these Tuscan sorceries is world-old. The gift by the Magi is explained as that of the charm or amulet which is given with a prophecy. Its

NOTES AND QUERIES. 247

object is to insure its completion, and to keep away evil influences, or malignant sorcery, and secure prosperity. According to my informant, the Magi " dukkered " the Infant, and gave him the usual gift. It is certainly true that this was the real meaning of such a gift under sucli circumstances.

The Venetian witchcraft, as set forth by Bernoni, is evidently of Sclavic = Greek origin. That of the Eoraagna is Etruscan, agreeing very strangely and closely with the (Uialdean magic of Lenormant, and marvellously like the Gypsies'. It does not, when carefully sifted, seem to be like tJuit of the Aryans, though tliese latter at an early date got hold of a great deal of it, nor is it Semitic. To what degree some idea of all this, and of Gypsy connection with it, penetrated among the people and filtered down, even into tlie Middle Ages, no one can say. But it is very piobable that through the centuries there came together some report of the conunon origin of Gypsy and " Eastern " or Chaldean lore, for since it was the same, there is no reason why a knowledge of the truth should not have been disseminated in a time of tradi- tions and earnest study in " occultism." The more I investigate it, the more I am convinced that we know very little indeed about the real or social condition of witchcraft and sorcery of yore.

I think that I have proved all I have here asserted in a book which I am writ- ing on Gypsy Sorcery. If not, I have at least brought together a mass of curious lore which possibly proves it. A great proportion of this has been gathered by me in strange ways among very strange people ; so strange that few cultivated men would believe such beings existed, or that such remains of primaeval religion are actually "living and breathing" in Europe. It dies very hard, this old faith in the fetish and "possession" and incantations, and it is probable that here in Italy, while the medals of the Magi are sold, and benedictions and exorcisms of another kind are dealt out, there will be found even among the peasants many who conjecture their true origin, and who, when a good strong cure is needed, go to it by preference. Charles G. Leland.

The idea that Gypsies were regarded as " wandering Chaldean magi-priests," in comparatively modern times, seems quite borne out by the following entry, whjcli occurs in the Accounts of the Burgh of Aberdeen, 1593-1650: — "Item, to twa strangers — the ane ane Grecian, the uther ane Caldean — remanent in this burgli, be the Counsall . . . £10." (,£10 Scots, it may be remarked, was only 16s. 8d.). This "Caldean" can hardly have been anything else tlian a Gypsy. Probably the "Grecian" was also one ; like those "Greeks " of 1512, referred to in the Consti- tutions of Catalonia.

Note also these lines in Butler's Hudibras (Part ii. Canto iii.) : — " He played the saltinbancho's part, Transformed t' a Frenchman by my art ; He stole your cloak, and picked your pocket, Cliowsed and aildesed j'ou like a blockhead." Warburton says that this is " a word of his [Butler's] own coining, and signifies putting the fortune-teller upon you, called Chaldeans, or Egyptians."

Whether Butler invented the verb "to caldese" or not, it seems evident that, during the seventeenth century, and from one end of Great Britain to the other, the term " Chaldean " was not infrequently applied to Gypsy fortune-tellers. Therefore, as the Three Magi were believed to be Chaldeans, their representatives on the stage were naturally identified witli the existing fortune-tellers "called Chaldeans, or Egyptitms."

The following extract from the- January number of the Revue des Traditions 2)opulaires (1889, p. 39) may here be given as supplementing similar statements on pp. 142-3 of our Journal (No. 3) : — "In Normandy, the Feast of the Kings is celebrated on the Sunday following the 6th of January, and also the three Sundays following that date, that of the third Sunday being called the Feast of the Moorish Kings (Fete des Hois Maures)." David MacKitchie.

248 NOTES AND QUERIES.

Italian Tinkers and their Habits.

The following is from a Trieste newspaper (II Piccolo, evening edition), 7th February 1889 :—

" We would draw the attention of our readers to various incidents which have recently occurred at Bergamo, where, on the ramparts near the gate of San Alessandro, a troup of Gypsies was encamped.

" Numberless disputes remained to be settled between the tinker-Gypsies {Zingari-calderai) and their customers, who had entrusted to them their kitchen utensils, for the repairing of which the Gypsies were asking exorbitant prices ; but the police authorities cut short the difficulty by having all the utensils conveyed to the police-station, and inviting all parties thither for an equitable settlement. And, indeed, they arrived at a more or less spontaneous agreement, although several utensils are still lying at the police-station.

" Now, while the Gypsies were striking their tents, there arrived another caravan of them, who desired to pitch their tents in that place. This the police absolutely prohibited them from doing ; and thus the two caravans, united together, moved do^vn into the plain and betook themselves to Balicco's stable-yard, in the Campo di Marte.

" Yesterday the preliminaries of a strange contract appear to have been com- pleted between the Gypsies and a landlord there. The latter, who bears the sobriquet of Facia, took temporarily into his service, during the Gypsies' stay on the Campo di Marte, one of their boys, with whom he was so much pleased that he asked the Gypsies whether they would agree to leave him altogether with him. To this the Gypsies did not show themselves averse, but on the understanding that they should be recompensed. Pacio desired to learn the amount of such recom- pense. ' Five lire for every kilo the boy weighs,' replied the Gypsies. We do not know the lad's weight, but he is strongly built and stout, so that Pacio saw at a glance that the compensation was a little too serious. However, he ventured to offer two lire for every kilo. And the bargain broke off.

" A contract of another sort was afterwards entered into between the tw^o Gypsy caravans. A lovely girl belonged to one of the companies ; to the other a sturdy young fellow, Mastro Nicola. Mastro Nicola fell in love with the girl and, ipso facto, asked her in marriage. The match was at once arranged by the chiefs of the caravan. Everything seemed definitely settled, when, late in the evening, discus- sions arose concerning the Wedding Prize : the caravan that had ceded the girl claimed 1000 lire ; the other party would not give nearly so much. As a conse- quence, abusive language and menaces were freely exchanged, and an endless squabble got up, causing a curious crowd to gather round Balicco's stable-yard. The aiiair threatened to become serious, for the disputants had begun to exchange cuffs and blows. Fortunately the marshal, De Martino, with a dozen guards, came up in the nick of time. He had, however, much trouble before peace could be restored. Finally, seeing themselves threatened with severer measures, the two Gypsy caravans, with all their baggage, moved off to a very considerable distance from the neicchbourhood of the town."

Volume I. of the Journal will consist of the first six numbers, on the comple- tion of which a cloth cover will be issued to those who have previously intimated their desire to have it.

NOTICE. — All Contributions must he legibly ivritten on one side only of the imper ; must hear the sender'' s name and address, though not necessarily for jmhlica- tion; and must he sent to David MacEitchie, Esq., 4 Archibald Place,

Edinburgh.

JOUENAL OF THE

GYPSY LORE

SOCIETY.

Vol. I. JULY 1889. No.

I._THE GYPSIES OF ASIA MINOR.

THE Gypsies are as well entitled as the Circassians, and even as the Tartars and the Noffais, to be reckoned amono; the in- habitants of Asia Minor, where they appeared probably as early as the first century of the Christian era, and certainly sooner than they did in Europe. To judge from the accounts of the learned Baki Zade Chusni, of the kaimakams in Antioch, who occupied himself in archaeological research, one finds indications in the Arabic chronicles of the seventh century of the presence there of Gypsies. There came from the East many people calling themselves Bitri (compare Luri and Ljuli — Gypsies of Central Asia), and these spread themselves over the whole country lying on the other side of the Euphrates. They lived in tents, understood smith- work, and how to treat horses, which they loved better than their own children. The dance and the song embellished their wild and irregular life. It cannot be denied that this description is strikingly applicable to the Gypsies who are yet to be found in great numbers in Asia Minor ; who often, with the Turkomans and the Juruken (mistaken for Gypsy bands) wander over the inner Anatolian plateau without any evidence of possessing a settled ^bode. On my way to Siwas I met three or four bands one after another, which probably migrated to the south. On no account do they go beyond the Euphrates in Mesopotamia, for there they are opposed by the wild nomadic Bedaween. I met no Gypsies in Syria and Palestine, nor in the Sinaitic peninsula, although I not VOL. L — NO. V. i'

250 THE GYPSIES OF ASIA MINOR.

infrequently encountered Gypsy bands when in Egypt. The nearer one finds oneself to the eastern boundary of Asia Minor — i.e. the nearer the Persian frontier — the more numerous are the Gypsies ; and this also is the case on the Eussian-Caucasian frontier.

Of the thirty-four Gypsies whom I investigated from the anthro- pological standpoint during my journey through Asia Minor, twenty- eight belonged to the so-called common type, and had not the fine features and clear profile so often found among our Gypsies. Moreover, many of those whom I have measured were prognathous. Their average height was about n feet 2 inches (1-58 m.) ; their cephalic index 7 7 '6 — 80-0. In general the common type among those Anatolian* Gypsies recalls the Gypsies or Ljuri of Central Asia ; on the other hand, the Gypsies or Chingars whom I met on the other side of Charput belong to the Persian type of the Susmani Gypsies. Their fine profile, the oblong face, the fine aquiline nose, the small but expressive black eyes, the curly, black hair, and the insignificant prognathism, reminded me of the type of the greater part of the South Russian and Wallachian Gypsies. Their cephalic index is from 75*4 — 78-0 ; their average height is about 5 feet 3 inches (1-60 m.); they are also taller than those groups of Gypsies previously mentioned. One can sometimes maintain this type to be genuinely Semitic, whereas those Gypsies who belong to the common type have in general a Mongolian cast of features.

The Gypsies of Asia Minor are horse-dealers and farriers, and they also occupy themselves in telling fortunes and in stealing. Musicians, singers, and dancers are more frequently met with among the Susmani than the real Anatolian Gypsies. The Persian Gypsies who frequent the frontiers of Armenia and Persia, and who are also found in Kurdistan, are notorious for their moral degeneration ; the Gypsies of Asia Minor, on the contrary, are eminent for their high morality. It is even said that crimes against honour and against their individual property are of very rare occurrence in their camps. The Gypsies frequently pitch their tents at the entrances of towns, and, uniting themselves with the Juruken and the Turkomans, wander together on the Jaila (the pasture-land of the Anti-Taurus). In the habits of the Lycian and Pamphylian Gypsies one can see the step between the nomadic and the sedentary life. They take the same resting- places for years at a time, and busily engage in cattle-rearing ; the women even spin and weave. I have been told, moreover, that some Gypsy settlements are to be found on the way to Tosgad, but I have seen nothing of them. A. Elysseeff.

THE LITHUANIAN GYPSIES AND THEIK LANGUAGE. 251

II.— THE LITHUANIAN GYPSIES AND THEIE

LANGUAGE.

SOME ten years ago, a tribe of Gypsies quartered themselves in my forests. Pushed by curiosity, I frequently asked them to explain to me the meaning of certain words I had picked up among them, and the information so obtained led me to compile the present small vocabulary.

Gypsies have, of late, appeared more rarely in these regions. They are in the habit of settling down for good in the places most congenial to them, where they amalgamate, by degrees, with the native population ; hence, in a hundred years hence, and perhaps even long before then, they may disappear altogether, and those who now have opportunities for writing down the information obtained with regard to the Cygani language, will contribute towards enlarging our knowledge on this subject and enable linguists to institute further comparison with the cognate languages.

As even now Gypsies are met here very rarely, I have not been able to fall in with another of their settlements for the last ten years. Those who pitch their tents in these regions are known to visit also other more or less contiguous governments (provinces).

Some of them may be met also at the annual fairs, but not regu- larly. As they are great adepts in the art of stealing, most of the frequenters of those periodical meetings are anxious to give them a wide berth. They usually occupy themselves with fortune-telling, cheating, horse-dealing.

In winter time they rarely camp out in the open air, but take up their quarters in the village inns, where they seek to ingratiate themselves with those who seem to sympathise with them. Their favourite dance is the " Eed Cosak," a kind of Russian peasants' dance, accompanied by monotonous songs or instrumental music.

The women usually wear, like the Kurpi ^ peasant women, a large shawl, by way of a cloak, which affords them not only sufficient protection against the cold, but also a convenient receptacle for stolen goods. In begging, they display considerable astuteness and knowledge of character. Thus, for instance, when a Gypsy woman asks at a peasant's hut for the gift of a piece of lard or some otlier similar article, a second Gypsy will, of course accidentally, turn up at the same moment and apostrophise her somewhat in the following style : " How stupid you are ! Why do you beg ? Do you not know

1 Kurpi, a Polish family, inhabiting the provinces of Lomsha and Plock.

252 THE LITHUANIAN GYPSIES AND THEIR LANGUAGE.

liow good the lady is, and that she will give you more than you have asked for ? . . . " and so forth.

All of the Gypsies visiting these parts are Eoman Catholics, and recite their prayers in the Lithuanian language ; they are baptised, married, and buried according to the ritual of the Eoman Catholic Church.

In reply to some questions of mine, they stated that they pos- sessed no books written in their own language. Like their Lithu- anian kindred, the Gypsies of Curland are Eoman Catholics, and follow the usages of the Catholic Church. It is, however, their practice to conform, as much as possible, with the creed of their hosts, no matter what persuasion they may belong to. Thus I remember seeing, at Llittau, in Curland, some twenty years ago, some Gypsies going to confession at Easter time. They conform with all sacred rites merely in a most superficial manner, and after having partaken of the Communion, they leave the church in the greatest haste. A priest told me once, in a jocular way, that they only come to the confessional when their conscience is oppressed by excessive horse- stealing.

Sometimes we are visited also by Hungarian, Servian, and Eoumanian Gypsies. These last consider themselves to belong to the true (i.e. the Eussian) Church. They are mostly tinkers, repairing copper cooking utensils ; but of these they are very apt to steal the copper bottoms, substituting an imitation of j^'^^l^'icr-mdcM. They differ greatly from our own Gypsies, whom they excel in an incredible amount of obtrusiveness ; moreover they attack and rob wayfarers, and when asked what they are, they say : " We are not Gypsies, Sir ; we are Magyars." A pretty story is told of these same " Mag- yar" gentry, as practised upon a gentleman in the district of Marianpol, in the pro\dnce of Suwalki. This is what happened : — Some Gypsies had cured the horses on that nobleman's estate of glanders, for which service they demanded a very large sum, amounting to several hun- dred roubles, which the nobleman refused to pay, as it was greatly excessive. When the Gypsies had left, the horses began to neigh in an extraordinary manner, louder and louder, becoming perfectly wild ; and, eventually, falling down in convulsions. A veterinary surgeon was sent for, but could do nothing, and he was not even able to name the disease from which the horses were suffering. When the surgeon dissected one of the dead horses, he found every part of the body to be in a perfectly normal condition ; but, on opening the head, it was found that a number of rags had been pushed up the poor animal's

THE LITHUANIAN GYPSIES AND THEIR LANGUAGE. 253

nostrils, which, of course, brought on suffocation. Sucli and similar innocent little games are now and then practised by these amiable visitors, and no one need therefore wonder why their room is, as a rule, preferred to their company.

The Gypsy women always carry a quantity of corn in tlicir poclcets, for the purpose of attracting and catching poultry, which they quickly kill, and adroitly hide underneath their ample shawls. They also dispense certain philtres, which they call "sympathetic nostrums," supposed to have the effect of making people fall in love with each other. They are also suspected of child-stealing.

I once came across a fair-complexioned Gypsy, with light blond hair ; he was the son of a noble lady, who had eloped witli his father. By such and similar instances of cross-breeding, the race of the Gypsies becomes refined and altered. They usually speak several languages, and are not a little proud of their own, which, they say, is a mixtum compositum, consisting of three times nine languages ; that is to say, probably, Ijy an admixture of Lithuanian — Trins devineres Kalhas, as they name it.

With regard to their genealogy, they say that they come from Egypt, and that, at the time the Jews were slaves in that country, building towers and treasure-cities, their ancestors were set over them by the Piiaraohs as taskmasters, armed with knouts to whip them on. . Stealing, they say, has been permitted in their favour by the crucified Jesus, because the Gypsies, being present at the Crucifixion, stole one of the four nails, by the aid of which the Saviour was nailed to the cross ; hence it is that, when the hands had been nailed fast there was only one nail left for the feet, and therefore God allowed them to steal, and it is not accounted a sin to them.

Gypsies have, generally, a dusky complexion, and curly black hair, and black eyes, by which, and their peculiar features, the descen- dants of this tribe are easily recognised.

In summer time the children are often allowed to go about naked. They smoke pipes, and when they are short of tobacco, they are satisfied to smoke hay or other vegetable matter.

Half a century ago the nobility practised the barbarous sport of hunting Gypsies out of their forests, often killing or crippling them. It certainly had the effect, if not of expelling them entirely, at least of making their visits few and far between.

When telling people's fortunes from their hands, they gratify them usually with a string of set, flattering phrases ; for instance : " Girls will surround you, good sir, like flies around a milk-pot. If

254

THE LITHUANIAN GYPSIES AND THEIR LANGUAGE.

you marry, you will have no fewer than ten children ; men do not look after the bread basket " (meaning, you need not trouble about having to keep them), et ccetera ad infinitum.

CYGANI-ENGLISH VOCABULARY.

The Polish orthograjDhy of the author is here followed, with a few modifications. The italicised "1" {I) is substituted for the Polish symbol, which has the force of "U" in English. Italicised o and e represent a nasal sound equivalent to French on and in in the words hon and vin. The letter " ii " is here used as in Spanish. Cz = Eng. ch ; sz = Eng. sh ; z = Fr. g, as in gitc ; c = Eng. ts ; and ch = Germ. ch.

Cygani.	English.	Remarks. (Those marked thus * are by the Editors).
Angrusti,	Ring, ....
Bibo, .	Aunt, ....	Bibi.*
Ba/a, .	Hair, ....
Breza, .	Birchwood, .	Rus. Berioza ; Lit. Berzas.
BoZybe,	Heaven,
Brydo, .	Ugly, ....	Pol. brzydki.
Bori, .	Daughter-in-law, .	Pol. brae' ; Rus. baroZ.
Brainta,	Brandy (Schnapps — Eau-de-vie).	Germ. Branntwein.
Bing, .	Devil, ....	Lit. Bangputis, an idol. Beng.*
Boczano,	Stork, ....	Pol. bocian ; Lit. bacenas ; Rus. bot'ka.
Bar, .	Stone, ....	Lettish, bars, a heap.
Czaj, .	Daughter,
Czupny,	Whip, cat-o' -nine-tails.	Lit. cziupti, to seize.
C'zomut,	Horse-collar,	Pol. chomot.
Czaro, .	Large dish, .	Pol. czara.
Clio^u,	Trousers,	Pol. cholewa, the leg of a boot. Wlislocki, cholo, stockings. *
Cocha,	Greatcoat,
Czon, .	Moon, ....
Czerlienia, ,	Stars, ....
Czyna, .	Ear-rings,	Pol. cyna ; Lit. cina (because they are made of tin — Germ. Zinn).
Czar, ,	Grass, ....	Used by the Gypsies for making charms ; Pol.
Cha, ,	To eat, ....	czary, sorcery, a love-philtre.
Cholinakro, .	Angry, ....
CheZada,	A Russian, .	Rus. choZodnyj, cold ; coming from a cold region — (north).
Czavo, .	Son, ....	Kirch. -Slav, czado = child.
Czisawo,	Chestnut colour, .	Pol. cisawy.
CzirikZo,	Bird, ....	Lit. cirulus, lark.
Dziuly,	Woman (female), .	Eng.-Gyp., djiivel ; Paspati, djuvel.*
Daj, .	Mother,
Dad, .	Father, ....	Pol. dziad ; Rus. ded, grandfather ; Lit. dedis; Rus. diada, uncle.
Danda,	Teeth, ....	Lit. dantis ; Lat. dens.
DukaZ, .	Pain, ....	Eng.-Gyp., duka.*
Deve?, .	God, ....	Lat. Dens ; Lit. Dievas (and Dievelis, dear God).
Dzo,	Oats, ....	Eng.-Gyp., djob.*
DzivTkel,	Dog, ....
Drum, .	Way (road and street), .	Pol. droga.
Draba, .	Medicine,	Pol. drobic, crumbs.
Dikmengepa	Show me your hand (for
*ast !	telling your fortune).	Look me on the hand.*
De p.szatoro	Give oats to my horse,
mire greske dzo! Fur, .	brother ! .	Pol. daj, give; Germ. niir.
Sheep, ....
Foro, .	Town, .- .
Filaczyn,	Country residence (Vil-	Eng.-Gyp., filisin;* Liebich, filezzin;* Lit.
	leggiatura).	pile, town.
Felda, .	Field, ....	Germ. leld.
Graj, .	Horse, ....
Grazki,	Mare, ....	Grazni. *
Gad, ,	Shirt, ....	Pol. galki, gacie, drawers.

THE LITHUANIAN GYPSIES AND THEIR LANGUAGE.

255

Cygani.	English.	Remarks.
Gadzo, .	Inhabitant of Zmudz	Rus., Lit. Gudas. (Eastern Russia). Gadzo =
	(Samogitia),	Non-Gypsy.*
Gruszka,	Pear-tree, .	Pol. gi-uszk.
Gniado,	Dun, or chestnut (colour).	Pol. gniady.
GudZo,	Sweet, ....	Lit. godus, godlivas, to long for sweetmeats.
Gau, .	Small village,	Germ. haus.
Giu, .	Rve, ....
Hera, .	Feet	Lit. greitas, swift; Pol. (vulg.) giry, feet.
Hanyiiv,	Well, ....
Hiri^;.	Peas, ....	Esthon. hern ; Lit. zirnei,peas ; Slav, zerno, grains.
Jag,	Fire, ....	Lit. uguis ; Lat. ignis ; Sansc. agni ; Lettish, uguns.
Jaka, .	Eyes, . . . .	Lit. al^is ; Let. acis ; Pol. Russ. oko.
Jegla, .	Fir, ....	Lit. egle, agle ;' Lettish, egle ; Pol. jodZa.
■Tudii, .	Jew, ....	Germ. Jude. '
Jencznienie, .	Barley, ....	Pol. jeczmien ; Rus. jaczmien.
Indarako,	Petticoat,	Germ, imterrock ; Lit. indarokas.
Kachni,	Poultry,	Esth. kanna.
Kuroro,	Foal
Kak, .	Uncle, ....
Korszy,	Trunk, ....	Polish, karcz.
Kcham,	Sun. • . . . .
Kangiery, .	Church,
Knizki,	Book, ....	Eus. kniga, knizka ; Lit. kniga.
Kas, .	Hay, ....	Esth. kask, kassa, birch ?
Kana, .	Ear, ....	Esth. kan, kand.
Kar, .	Flesh (meat),	Rus. karowa ; Lit. karwe ; Pol. krowan, cow.
Kaszta, Kaszt,	Wood, ....	Pol. kasztan, a chestnut tree.
Kiral, .	Salt, adj., .	? A quid x^ro quo (kiral = cheese).*
Kirko, .	Bitter, ....	Lit. kartus ; Rus. gorkij.
Kalu, .	Black, ....	Germ. kohl.
Kotka,.	Cat, ....	Pol. kotka ; Lit. kate.
Laska, .	Stick (cane), .	Pol. laska.
Lye, .	To carry,
LaUzu,	Good, ....
Lovina,	Beer, ....
Mursz, .	Man {i.e. mensch), _ .	Pol. monz ; Rus. muz; Lit. muziks ; Esth. mees.
Mocho,	Moss, ....	Rus. nioch.
Muj, .	Body, . . . .
Meribe,	Death, ....	Lit. mii-ibe, death ; mirti, to die.
Mas, .	Flesh, . . . .	Lit. mensa ; Pol. mienso ; Lit., misti, to nourish
		oneself.
Mirikle,	Corals, . . . .
Matszlim,	A fly, . . . .
Nasz, .	To move.	Lit. neszti ; Pol. nieszc', to draw.
Nasze^o pani,	The water runs (flows), .	Naszel o pani.*
Naswalo,	Sick, . . . .
Okolisto, .	To ride — on horseback, .	[ 0 kolisto(/. P. the horseman). Cf. Scotch-Gypsy klistic, soldier.*
Pani, .	Water, . . . .	Lit. pienas (mleko), milk.
Pode ! .	Demand — Beg '.	Pol. podaj ! Lit. poduk !
Piri, .	Kettle, . . . .
Pchu, .	Earth, . . . .	Rus. pachat, to plough, to till the ground.
Perio, .	An Egg,	Lit. peras, a brood of chickens.
Pora, .	Pen, ....	Pol. pioro ; Rus. piero.
Pchaba. j ,	Apple, ....
Parno,	White, ....	Pol. pardwa, white partridge.
Postin,	Sheep's fleece.	Lit. postees, to clothe one's-self.
Pchuro,	Old . .■ . .
Papin, . Pogrobo,	Goose, . . . . Burial, ....	Pol. pogrzeb. ; Rus. pogrcb ; Lit. pagrebas.
Puruma,	Onion, . . . .	Lit. j)urai — wheat.
Palca ,	Finger, ....	Pol. Palec.
Rak^y, .	Girl, . . . .
Roj, . . Roto, .	Spoon, . . . . Wheel (of a carriage or	■ Germ, rad ; Lit. ratas, a wheel ; Saus. rata, a
	cart).	caiTiage.
Reka, .	River, . . . .	Rus. rieka.
Raszaj,	Parson (priest).
Raj. . Rajny .	Gentleman (Seigneur). . Lady, . . . -	|Pol. (vulg.) Rajny, to woo; courtship.
Renkano,	Pole, . . . .	Lit. lenkas.
Rom, .	Gypsy, . . . .

266

THE LITHUANIAN GYPSIES AND THEIR LANGUAGE.

Cygani.	English.	Remarks.
Romni,	Wife ; female Gypsy, .
Ri,	To cook		Lit. riti ; Let. riht, to eat.
Reca, .	Duck, .
Sztetus,	Camp (Military),			Germ, stadt ; Lit. stoti, to stand.
Saste, or
Sasto,	Healthy,
Szwar, .	A liridle.			Paspati, shuvar, bridle.*
Sawaris,	A small bridle,			Lit. suverti, to bind together.
Stad, .	Cap, .			Eng.-Gyp. staadi.*
Sosna, .	Piue (fir),			Pol. and Rus. sosna.
Stremieii,	Stirniji,			Pol. strzemieu ; Rus. stremien.
SmoZa,	Tar,			Lit. smaZa. Pol. smoZa.
Shiga, .	Servant,			Pol., Rus., and Lit. shiga.
Saso, .	German,			Esth. Saks. German ; Pol. Sas. Saxon.
Sal, .	Salt,			Esth. .sool. The Gypsy word for "salt" is Ion.*
Smaru,	Bread, .			?Maru.*
Szukar,	Beautiful,
SzutZo,	Sour,
Sado, .	Garden,			Pol. sad ; Lit. sodas.
Szino, .	Blue, .			Pol. siny ; Rus. sinij.
Sivo, .	Grey (horse).			Pol. siwy.
Szvagro,	Brother-in-law,			Pol. szwagier ; Germ, schwieger.
Szvencono, .	Holy (sacred),			Lit. szventas, holy ; Pol. swiencony, consecrated.
Smentano, .	Cream, .			Lit. smetona ; Pol. smietana.
Szeranduni, .	Pillow, .
Troszero,	Head, .			Tro szero, thy head. *
Tyracho,	Boot, .
Tchu, .	Smoke, .
TchujaZy,	Pipe, .			Tchuvalo=tobacco, in various Gypsy dialects.*
Trifil'is,	Clover, .			Fr. trefle, Lat. trifolium.*
Tchora,	Beard, .
Tchut, .	Milk, .
Tchera,	House, .			? Kchera.*
Terno, .	Young, .			Lit. tarnas, a servant.
Uszta, .	Mouth, .			Pol. usta ; Lit. ustai, moustache.
Vurdo,	Carriage or cart,			Eng.-Gyp. vardo and wardo.*
Vedro,	A measure (for liquids).	Pol. wiadro ; Rus. wedro ; Lit. wedras, a capacious skin.
Vasta, .	Hands, ....	Lit. westi ; Esth. wasto.
Volcha,	Alder-tree, .			Pol. and Rus. olcha.
Vimcy,	Moustache, .			Pol. wosy ; Rus. usy.
Zen,	Saddle, .
Zeleno,.	Green, .			Rus. zelenij. Eng.-Gyp. selno.*
Zifto, .	Yellow,			Lit. geltas. Eng.-Gyp. yelto.*
Zwero, .	Animal (wild).			Rus. zwer ; Lit. zweris.

1. jek.

2. duj.

3. trin.

4. sztar.

5. pancz.

6. szau.

7. efta.

8. ochta.

9. enia.

10. desz.

11. desz jek.

12. deszo duj. 13.

14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19.

CYGANI NUMERALS.

20. bisz.

21. bisztejek.

22. biszte duj. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29.

30. trindesza. 40. sztardesza. 50. panczdesza. 60. szaudesza.

TOO. szel. 200. duj szeia. 300. triu szeZa.

1000. tysiouc (Pol. tysiouc)

THE LITHUANIAN GYPSIES AND THEIR LANGUAGE,

257

Not being quite sure about the correct signification of some words, I took care to inquire further of other Gypsies in the Polish and Lithuanian languages, and thus ascertained that the expressions used were correct. I am, therefore, quite sure, and have no Linger any doubt about it, without venturing in any way upon believing in my own infallibility, having made a compilation of a language which I have not mastered at all.^

In an article published in 1881, in the Warsmv Illustrated Gazette, No. 311, page 381, there appeared a synopsis of some words of the Cygani language as spoken in Galicia, which proves the diversity existing in the various Cygani dialects, although the author of the said article declares that the Cygani language of Galicia is absolutely the same as that of Lithuania. From ■ the following Synopsis it will, however, be seen what difference there exists really between the two dialects. However, the language of the Gypsies in Lithuania is quite the same as that of the inhabitants of Samogitia (Zmujdz), the tribes in question being in the habit of frequently interchanging their camping grounds.

SYNOPSIS OF SOME WORDS IN USE WITH THE GYPSIES OF GALICIA. LITHUANIA.

Cygani.	English.	Cygani.	English.
MrodeZ.	God. (My God.)*	Bevel.	God.
Gadziu.	A male.	Gadzo, Mursz.	A male.
Rakloro.	Lad.	Gadzo .	An inhabitant of Samo- gitia (i.e., a non-Gypsy).*
Rakli.	Gixl.	RakZy.	Girl (lass).
Akaraj.	Gentleman. (This gentle- man.)*	Raj.	Gentleman.
Dani.	Father.	Dad.	Father.
Cher.	House.	■Tchero(/kchero)*	House.
Rykono.v^	Dog.	Dziukiel.	Dog.
Kaszt.	Wood.	Kaszt.	Wood.
Szero.	Head.	Troszero.	Head ; (troszero, thy head).*
Vast.	Hand.	Vasta.	Hand.
Pindro.	Foot.	Hera.	Foot.
Xowe.	IMoney.	1	■i
Rom.	t^yp^y-	Rom.	Gypsy.
	§ Paspati, rukon6, or rikond, a 1	ittle dog.*

1 While it is evident that, in some instances, M. Dowojno has Iieard or noted down im- perfectly the words given to him by his Gypsies, we have thought it expedient to leave his list in its original state, believing that a vocabulary thus untouched jiossesses certain advantages of accent which would otherwise be lost. Wliere it has seemed advisable, we have made some additions to M. Dov/ojuo's " Remarks. "—[Eu.]

258 THE LITHUANIAN GYPSIES AND THEIR LANGUAGE.

In Kraszewski's novels, Oksana and The Hut near the Villayc, a great many Cygani words have been introduced.

As the Russian authorities desire the complete supervision of the Gypsies, they are commanded to settle themselves in certain selected localities. In this district there has been formed the Gypsy village of Szimsza, near Szavli, in the province of Kovno ; and other Gypsies reside in the neighbourhood of Balberiszki and Preni, in the province of Suvalki, regarding whom I shall say more on a future occasion.

MiECZYSLAW Doavojno-Sylwestkowicz.

III._6* MINARIS: A SLOVAK-GYPSY TALE.

0 JIINARIS.^ THE MILLER.

Uhas yekh minaris ; ehas les There was a miller ; he had a

shukdr rdkli, has lake hish hersli, beautiful daughter; she was twenty

nashchi pes talindyas lake rom. years old, and could not find a

You has igen, lakro dad, aiul-e husband. Her father was much

hdri lach, kana hi igen larvalo, he ashamed, that, though he is very

nashchi pes lake rom talinel. i-ich, she cannot get a husband.

Lidch hi rdklya jungdleder h-o " In other cases," he said, " girls

romes len. Ax tizhdr, one dava te are uglier,andyetsecure husbands.

kerel yekh hdlos he dava and-o tsclo Oh ! I shall give a ball, and send

hraJina heslos, kai t-aven pra hdlos, an invitation througli the whole

(hoi me kerava shukdr hdlos), nisht land, that they may come to the

les na koshtyinelcc anyi hrusny- ball (that I shall give a fine ball),

aris; ketsi kamla sako mdnush, and it will cost him (who comes

atsi shai khelel the shai xal the shai to the ball) nothing, not even a

piyel. Me chak ijrohdlinau, chi kreuzer ; every man may dance,

pes mra rdklyake talinla vare-savo and eat and drink as much as he

pirdno. likes. Only I shall try if a lover

for my daughter may be obtained."

Laches — ke rdtyi desh ore He o Well, at ten o'clock at night, the

roriia te hashavel. 0 raya, o Gypsies began to play. The gentle-

2)rintsi, vsheliyaka manusha auk- men, the princes, men of all kinds,

har so has pra svetos, savore avle ; whosoever were in the world, they

na has para ole svetoske, kai atsi all came ; there was not a pair

toulehas atsi vildgos, nashchi pteskc [left] in the world [outside].

dinyas o minaris anyi rada. You When such people bustled in such

1 The orthograpliy is the same in general as iu my Slovak-Gypsy Vocabulary, except that for the signs t', d', n', I' there used, I have here substituted fi/, dy, ny, I (before i), ly (before other vowels), in order to facilitate the work of the printer.

0 MINARIS: A SLOVAK-GYPSY TALE,

259

has igcn rado hoi chak pes talinla varesavo jnrdno ola rdklyakc he Irkea hiyau.

Lyeho ndne nyiko man chak oda yekh rdkli. Me som xvala devles- ke harvalo auk-har grdfo.s. Kana merava, kaske me odova m^ikava ? ndne man rdklo anyi rdkli, chak sal tu kokori.

Alyc Idches — He tc hashavcn o lavutdra yekh shukdr verhunkos, c rdkli gdyas the khelcl the yekhe manusheha, you has masdrsko to- varishis alye Jias igcn shukdr the cha.s harvalo. Mindyar e rdkli pes leske zalyuhindyas he c rdkli leske ; xudine pes soduij6ne chumi- diiule pes yekhetdne he dine pcske o vast.

Tu sal mri romnyi, me som tro rom I Akanak jas ke tro dad, pheneha leske, hoi amen sovla- o:draha he keraha hiyau. Ldchcs — phiLch tre dadestar, so man tuha dela.

Ax dadka, phen ale mre romeske, so les mantsa dehcc.

Pcd mri smertya savuro leske he tuke poruchinava.

Te na mi'dyas, ehi pr-o scetos he peskra romnyaha.

a manner, the miller did not know what to do. He was much pleased that probably a husband for the girl would be found, and she would make a marriage.

" For," said he, " I have none besides this one child. I am, God be praised, rich as a lord. When I shall die, to whom shall I leave that [money] ? I have neither a son nor a daughter except yourself."

Well then, the fiddlers began to play a fine dance ; the girl went to dance with a man ; he was a butcher's boy, but he was very fine and rich. Immediately the girl fell in love with him and the lad with her ; they embraced and kissed one another, and gave the hand to one another.

You are my wife, and I am your husband ! Xow go to your father ; you will tell him that we will espouse one another and make a marriage. Well, ask your father what he will give me with you [as a dow^ry].

O father, tell my husband [bridegroom ?] what you will give him with me.

After my death I shall bequeath all [that I have] to him and to you.

If he is not dead, he is in the world [alive] with his wife.

Notes.

This story has been written down from the lips of a Gypsy lad (Andreas Facsuna, called Yauko by his comrades), in 1884, at

260 THE IMMIGKATION OF THE GYPSIES INTO

Tapolcza. In publishing it, I do not imagine that its contents will be found interesting. It is intended only to give to English readers a sliort specimen of the speech itself, and of the childlike style of Slovak-Gypsy tales.

To some passages of the Gypsy text, which I left uncorrected itself, I ought to add the following remarks : — Ax uzhdr, me dava tc kerel, etc. Cf. German : Warte, ich werde etc.

Hoi me kerava shuJcdr bcUos. This is a mere repetition of the fore- going : me dava te kerel yekh hdlos.

Nisht les out kosMijinela. We might expect Icn instead of les.

He 0 roma tc hashavel. " 0 roma" Translated by " The Gypsies " ; the different meanings of that word will be explained in my Vocabu- lary.

Na has para ole svetoske. I am doubtful whether this passage is connected with the foregoing or with the succeeding sentence. We could also render it : " There was no pair of men in the world who would bustle so much, there was no such abundance of light (else- where)." ^

Nashchi peske dinyas o minaris anyi rada. Cf. German : cr tmisstc sich gar keinen Bath.

Mindyar e rdkli p)cs leske zalyubindyas. Instead of the immedi- ately following he e rdkli leske, the narrator of the story should say ; h-o rdklo lake. Rudolf von Sowa.

IV.— IMMIGRATION OF THE GYPSIES INTO WESTERN EUROPE IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY.

{Continued.)

FIRST period, 1417 — 1438.

AT the end of the year 1417, a band of Gypsies appeared all at once in the neighbourhood of the North Sea, not far from the mouth of the Elbe. They came most probably, or at least the greater number, from those parts of the Byzantine Empire which were invaded or threatened by the Turks ; ^ and wo may conclude from

1 The following reading is also permissible : — Kui atsi tuidehas . . . anyi rada, "There was such a bustle aud such a blaze of lamps, the miller did not know what to do."— [Ed.]

■- This is what I conclude from the statements they made, as will be seen further on, which were received as true by the Emperor Sigisniund, as is proved by the contents of the letters of protection. I do not doubt that there were then in Hungary other Gypsies who had inhabited the country for a space of time more or less long ; but it was evidently not they who could have made these statements to the Emperor, nor, above all, who could have induced him to believe them.

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the indications which are about to follow that they must have made a halt in Hungary, and afterwards stopped near the Lake of Constance. During this long journey, from the Balkan Peninsula to the North Sea, no chronicler, no document known up to the present time, has noticed their passage ; from which we may conjecture that it was rapid and direct.

We will here notice a well-attested fact, and a valuable testi- mony, which throw some light on these early times. The above- named Gypsies were, as we are about to see, bearers of letters of protection from the Emperor Sigismund.^ Where had they been obtained ? It has been generally supposed that it was in Hungary ; and at first sight this supposition appears natural enough, these Gyp- sies having come from the east, and Sigismund being King of Hun- gary at the same time that he was King of Bohemia. But there is a small objection to this supposition ; which is, that the Emperor did not go to Hungary during this period. So far as I have been able to follow his movements, during the whole of the time that the Council was sitting (Nov. 1414 — April 1418), Sigismund was in Western Germany, at Constance, in France, and in England, from whence he returned by Calais, the Low Countries, Alsace, and Savoy, and re- entered Constance on the 27th January 1417, where he remained till the end of the Council. Where then could our Gypsies have met him or gone to find him ? A valuable piece of information furnished by Munster^ will find its place here. This author states that, being at Heidelberg (about 1525?), he met some Gypsies of quality, who

1 I will here notice a double falsehood committed by these Gypsies, and which has a certain critical interest for us. In 1422, at Bologna, they say that they have been wandering for five years, and they show letters of protection from the emperor. Now their arrival in the West dated precisely from 1417. In 1427, at Paris, they say again tliat they have been wandering for five years, and at the same time they show letters of protection from the Pope. Now it was precisely in 1422 that they had been in Rome, and, before this journey, they had never spoken of pontifical safe-conducts. The concordance of these circumstances and, in general, of all those concerning the letters of protection from the Emperor and the Pojie would confirm, if necessary, the authenticity of these documents. If they had been false, the Gypsies, who in all their statements carried back the date of the commencement of their pilgrimage as far as possible, would not have failed to fabricate others.

2 Cosniographie universdle. Not having been able to consult the best German or Latin editions of tliis work containing the chapter relative to the Gyjisies (it is not to be found in the former, and it is disfigured in the latter), I have been obliged to rely upon the French translation of 1552-1.555 (Bi'de, in large-fol. p. 287), and upon tliat of Belleforest, Paris, 157.5 (2 vols, in 3 parts in fob). In the whole of this chapter, wliich possesses some interest, although the commencement is simply an unacknowledged reproduction of a passage in Albert Krantz, the two differ only in several equivalent expressions and by two gross faults of impression, whicli each of the two translations may serve to correct in the other. In following these two French ti-anslations, which in the whole of this chapter I have reason to believe are conformable to the best original editions, I remark, liowever, in my short and very important (|uotation, two difl'erent readings furnished by the German edition of Biile, 1669, which, allliough abridged and disfigured, may have retained on these two points some- thing of the right reading : It is at Ederhach, near Heidelberg, that Munster met these

262 THE IMMIGRATION OF THE GYPSIES INTO

showed him copies of some letters they had formerly obtained from the Emperor Sigismiind at Lindau ; " in which letters it was told how their ancestors had formerly abandoned for a time in Lower Egypt the Christian religion, and had returned to the errors of the pagans, and that, after their repentance, it had been enjoined them that, during as many years as their predecessors had remained in the errors of the pagans, so long should some members of all these families travel about the world, in order that, by such banishment and exile, they should obtain remission of their sin." It is evidently the town of Lindau, situated on the Lake of Constance, at eight leagues from the town where the Council was sitting, that is spoken of here. Unhap- pily, Munster has not transmitted to us the date of this document which passed under his eyes ; but the summary that he gives of it is so much in accordance with the essential data of the accounts which the Gypsies, bearers of the Imperial letter, are about to give during several years, that one can scarcely doubt the identity of the latter with the one of wdiich Munster saw the copy.^ I adopt in conse- quence this conclusion ; and as, in addition, it is most unlikely that our Gypsies should have remained long without making use of this document in a manner sufficiently notable for the mention of it to have come down to us, I will in future call this letter the Imperial letter granted in 1417 at Lindau. This date of 1417 also agrees well with the chronological indications I have noted above as to the movements of Sigismund at this period; and it is still more plausible, because it is only toivards the end o/ 1417 that we find the Gypsies bearers of this letter from Sigismund.

One will no doubt be astonished that an Emperor of Germany should have accorded his protection to the people we are about to see

Gypsies ; and it is a " vidimus . . . that they had obtained from the Emperor Siyismand at Lindau." The first reading must be the true one; the second is almost certainly faulty, except perhaps for the word vidimus (instead of copy), which it would be worth while to substantiate with the aid of the best original editions. — As to the time when Munster met these GjT)sies, all the editions or translations I have been able to consult— all those, at least, which give a date — repeat : " It is about twenty -six years ago that I, Munster, who write these things, being at Heidelberg . . ." In order to know to about what year this date carries us back, it would be necessary to be acquainted with the first edition in which this indication is given. I will only say that Mxinster died at Bale in 1552 at the age of 63. that the first German edition of his Cosmographie is of 1541, the first Latin edition of 1550, and that I think his chapter on the Gypsies is slightly posterior to this latter date.

A last remark on the subject of the expression letters, or even some letters, employed in the French translation of Munster : — this plural, which derives from the Latin littercr, qua- dam littercri, and which has been used in French, and probably in other languages, to design certain ofiicial documents, does not usually imply several letters, and I shall employ it often myself without giving it the plural significance,

1 Another letter granted, as we shall afterwards see, at Zips (in Hungary) in 1423, by the same Sigismund to other emigrant Gypsies, further confirms this very probable identification ; for this last, granted no doubt to Gypsies who had been long settled in Hungary, does not contain anything similar to what Munster has noted in the letter from Lindau.

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at work, and above all that lie should have believed the tales of which Munster has given us the substance, and which we shall find repro- duced, sometimes developed, and without doubt amplified, by the bearers of the Imperial letter. I myself could not be sure, in 1844, that the Gypsies were sufficiently well known in Hungary, in 1417, for Sigismund to be aware with what sort of people he had to do, and it was natural enongh then to suppose that the Imperial letters of 1417 had been obtained by a sort of surprise. The surprise still remains possible, and even probable to a certain extent, as I will point out by and by ; but I am now convinced that at this period Gypsies had long existed in Hungary, as well as in the neighbouring countries,^ and that Sigismund, who it is true was not a Hungarian, but who had been King of Hungary since 1386,- could not have failed to know them in 1417 ; and the letter of protection granted by him in 1423 to another Gypsy chief and his band,^ proves that although he knew them, and although very probably he even knew certain amongst them nnder not very favourable colours (for he could scarcely be ignorant of the way in which the first he had patronised had conducted themselves in the West during four years), that fact did not prevent his protecting them on occasion. As a general rule, the public acts of protection granted to Gypsies in Hungary, and more generally in the south-east of Europe, where a great number of them have known how to make themselves useful by their nomadic trades, or agreeable by their musical talent, and where one was already accustomed to tolerate the others, are less surprising than those they sometimes obtained from different Western Princes in times when their tricks were known, and when the populations had become very hostile to them. But the first who came westward in the fifteenth century, although they evidently proceeded from the

1 The direct proofs are still wanting as regards Hungary, unless any should be found in the Archduke Joseph's book, the French translation of which I am impatient]}- awaiting ; but the indirect proofs are already sufficiently conclusive. I will not insist upon them here.— As for the Gingari of Ludwig, an. 1260 (see Nnuv. recherches, 1849, p. 23-25), I still think that it is a word that has been badly read (instead of Bulgari) ; but in the same document (see ■ibid.) there are some Hismahelitc who are very probably Gypsies, taking into consideration the Ishmaelites, certainly Gypsies, of the Genesis written towards 1122 by an Austrian monk (see Etat de la question . . . 1876-1877, pp. 23-29).

- It may also be remarked that Sigismund had warred in Moldo-Wallachia in 1392, and afterwards in 1396, when he was vanquished and a fugitive ; a favourable condition for making acquaintance with the Gypsies who, we know, then existed in that country. We will add that Sigismund became, in 1419, King of Bohemia, where he went at that time and engaged in a war against the Hussites. We know that the Gypsies existed in Bohemia previous to 1416 (see the passage, already cited, of the Annals in the Bohemian language, reproduced by Miklosich, m., Mem., 1873, pp. 22-23). This was a further occasion for his knowing the Gypsies before he granted them the second letter of protection, that of 1423.

2 See note on preceding page ; see especially, further on, under the date of Ratisbon, 1424.

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Balkan Peninsula, where there are now many honest Gypsies, even amongst the nomads,^ were, as we shall see, most skilful knaves ; and, unless it can be supposed that Sigismund desired to employ them as spies,^ which is not absolutely impossible on the part of a Prince as cunning as he was intriguing and disloyal, we must admit that, although acquainted with the Gypsies in general, he was mistaken concerning these ones in particular. It is, however, important to remark that it was far easier to fall into a mistake concerning them than at first sight it now appears to be.

The provinces of the Byzantine Empire were then devastated by the Ottoman conquests, which had already been preceded by long wars between Christians and Infidels. Weary of so much disorder, a part, and probably not the best part, of the Gypsy population of these countries, which was not attached to the soil as the other in- habitants of the land, nor sustained by any national interests, was naturally disposed to seek out calmer regions ; and this was no doubt the cause of the movement which, by its propagation from place to place, brought about the immigration of the Gypsies into the West during the course of the fifteenth century and in the century following.

Those who emigrated from the countries that had been the theatre of these events had been necessarily mixed up in the religious conflicts between Christians and Infidels,^ for it was not possible to remain neutral between the two religions in arms against each other. The accounts of the first Gypsies concerning the religious pressure to

1 As far as regards the probity, at least relative, of modern Gypsies in the regions called not long ago Turkey in Europe, I could invoke very competent testimony, to begin with that of Paspati. But I must not forget that we are speaking of the fifteenth centurj-, a period for which we have not sufficiently numerous documents to allow of our forming general apprecia- tions of the Gypsies of these countries.

2 The Gypsies have especially been accused of serving as spies to the Turks against the Christians, and this accusation is clearly set forth in an imperial edict of 1500 proclaimed by the Diet of Augsburg (see Grellmann, edition of 1787, p. 179 ; Fr. trans., p. 184). But, if divers testimonies are to be believed, they had equally been employed as spies by diflerent Christian personages (see Grellmann, pp. 170-173 ; Fr. trans., pp. 176-178). And, as regards more particularly certain Gypsies protected by Sigismund, we shall see further on that the people of Eatisbon in 1424 looked upon them as spies. But I do not insist upon such allega- tions which for the most part are entirely without proof.

3 According to the remarks of M. Paspati, which more especially concern the Gypsies of Roumelia, the nomads, much more numerous than the sedentary Gypsies, are for the most part Mahometans {Les Tchinghianes, Constantinople, 1870, p. 11) : now "the study of the Tchiughiano-Christian terms shows that the Mahometan Tchinghiaues had been familiar with the Christian religion " (ibid. p. 26), which causes our author to say, a few lines previously, that all must have been Christians before the Mahometan conquest. Already in a former writing {Memoir on the Language of the Gyjpsies . . . in the Turkish Empire, 1860, p. 17, M. Paspati had remarked that certain Mahometan Gjqisies (those, it appears, who are at once sedentary and Mahometan) lose their language because "they consider it as part and parcel of the Christian heresy." In my Derniers travaux relatifs aux Bohemiens clans V Europe orientale (1870-1872, p. 33 et 44), I had already noted these observations of M. Paspati, as having, in default of contemporary testimony, a great retrospective interest.

WESTEEN EUROPE IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 265

which they had been alternately subjected (see especially the recital of Paris, 1427) was then perfectly credible, so much the more so that it was conformable to the well-known religious frailty of this race ; and it was quite natural that their misfortunes, true or false, and their intentions of repentance, more or less sincere, should at once touch the Christians of those times.^ What was a stroke of genius on the part of these penitents, more attentive to take advantage of the situation than to win paradise, or even to deserve the kindness of the inhabitants of the new countries into which they w^ere entering, was to make pretence of being pilgrims, a condition which accorded so well with their usual manner of life, which in addition dispensed them from all labour, — for the true pilgrim should live on public charity — and which finally permitted them, even when in rags, to assert certain pretensions to nobility. One may be surprised that they should have been able to play this part for so long a time in certain countries ; unfortunately for them, it was destined to come everywhere to an end, and this end was a lamentable one.

As to the titles of dukes, earls, and knights assumed by their chiefs, these were not much more than the equivalents of those of Vaivods and others granted them in various countries of the East ; and these titles are often to be found consigned in official documents in the West, without the mention " soi-disant " which, later on, gene- rally accompanied them. In reality, almost everywhere one was glad to have to deal with chiefs who were held to be more or less responsible for the doings of their bands. What proves besides that these titles were considered as serious by those who bore them and by their surroundings, are the epitaphs, with the armorial bearings of a duke and an earl of Little Egypt, who died in 1445 and 1498, in Swabia, and which Crusius has noticed in his Annalcs Snetici (Francof. 1594- 1595, in fob, vol. ii., pp. 384 and 510), to say nothing of the epitaph and coat-of-arms of an Earl Peter of the Small Shield, whom Crusius suspects (ibid. p. 401), and with some appearance of probability, of

1 It must not be tliouglit, however, that these infidels did not occasionally play their part of converted Christians very seriouslj\ Such singular compromises are sometimes made by these uncultivated natures ! I may he allowed to refer here to what I have said else- where of certain pseudo-Christian Gypsy legends, in which the most artless faith and the most shocking impiety are mixed up in a truly prodigious manner {Les derniers travaux rdatifs mix Bohemiens, 1870-1871, tirage d part, 1872, pp. 67-68 ; see also a few words on the Legende des trois clous du cradfieiaent in the Bulletins de la Societe d'anthropoloijie, 3d April 1884, p. 208.)— I have, moreover, T^nown a young married Gypsy couple, who were in reality as little Christian and even as little Catholic as possible, but who nevertheless, the young woman having long suflered from languor, undertook a long "journey" to the shrine of I know not what saint (journey is the i)opular name for pilf/rimage), in-order to obtain a cure. It is true that this last trait, and others similar to it, belong to that category of which examples may be found elsewhere than amongst the Gypsies.

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266 THE IMMIGRATION OF THE GYPSIES INTO

having been also a Gypsy chief. I shall perhaps again recur to these curious documents in the last part of my work (second period of immigration).

As to the title of King assumed by one of the chiefs in the beginning of the second period (commencing from 1438), it appears more gro- tesque, and it is allowable to lend but small belief to the saying of the Gypsies (in Paris, 1427), "that they had a king and a queen in their own country." However, the title of Kmg of the Cygans appears to have received a sort of official consecration in Poland and in part of Lithuania, but we are only acquainted with it after the beginning of the eighteenth century,^ and it would be interesting to know whether this title was in use ah antiquo amongst the Gypsies of these countries. The Queen of the Gypsies at Yetholm, on the borders of England and Scotland, may invoke, on her side, in favour of her title, an already ancient tradition. Excepting these, I think that the pre- tended kings and queens of the Gypsies, who from time to time make their appearance in divers countries, may be considered as having an essentially fictitious existence.

In short, what appears at first sight to be the most strange in the imperial letter, and in the sayings of the Gypsies themselves, is easily to be explained, except on one point, which remains very surprising, namely, that a penitence so well adapted to their habits of life, also to their evil inclination and to their secret designs, (that of becoming pilgrims), should have been assigned to them. I shall not attempt an explanation which the state of my information does not allow of. I will simply remark one circumstance which may have rendered Sigismund more accommodating on this point and for all the rest.

The Gypsies who came from countries invaded or threatened by the Turks no doubt commenced by abounding particularly in Hungary, for two reasons : first, because their like were not ill-treated there, whilst in Wallachia and in jMoldavia they were already reduced to bondage ; secondly, and above all, because Hungary was then the chief appanage of the Christian Emperor himself, whose pro- tection could, and no doubt would, be so valuable. Now this affluence of the Gypsies must have pre-occupied Sigismund and the personages who surrounded him, or who administered the country during his absence, and disposed them to accord more easily a sort of recommendation which might contribute to deliver the country from the over-abundance of these strangers. It may perhaps be

1 Concemiiig the chiefs of the Gypsies in Poland and Lithuania, see Historical Sketch 0/ the Cygaii people (in Polish), by Theodore Narbutt, Wilua, 1830, in 8vo., pp. 127-138.

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objected that, if such were really the idea of Sigismund and his counsellors, it was not only one or two of these letters that he would have granted them. ... It is indeed very possible that they were in reality more numerous. It must be noticed that it is due to two remarkable accidents that we are acquainted with the two imperial letters, — the substance of one through Munster, the text of the other through the priest Andrew of Eatisbon : may there not also have been many others ? ^ At all events, those which we know, and which remain at least as specimens of two different types, were copies — authentic copies, no doubt — when one of them fell under the eyes of Munster, as we have already seen, the other, as we shall see by-and-by, under the eyes of the priest of Eatisbon (1424) ; and, if these copies emanated from the imperial chancery (of which we are ignorant), they would prove the facility with which this chancery multiplied the copies of these acts.

I have endeavoured in the preceding pages somewhat to en- lighten the reader about the often strange facts that are about to pass under his eyes, and concerning which he would, no doubt, have asked himself what he ought to think. But it will often be neces- sary to add to these explanations the skilfulness of the Gypsies, their persistence, and sometimes their talent in soliciting, the surprising ability with which certain of these uncultivated and shallow people, who appear strangers to all our habits, know how to insinuate themselves into the favour of those who can be of use to them, and even purchase (when the object in view is worth the price) the subordinates through whom the ear of the powerful is gained. Certainly, the " Dukes " Andrew and Michael, who directed all this first expedition, and who knew how to group under their command hundreds of Gypsies disseminated throughout such extensive spaces, were skilful men. But, in reality, these first emigrants rendered a very poor service to their successors, in leaving a tradition of idleness, imposture, and rapine, which the greater number of those who fol- lowed have but too well imitated.

To end this long digression, which I have however abridged as much as possible, it would be necessary to make some comments upon the Egyptian origin which the Gypsies then attributed to themselves, and which they continue to attribute to themselves up to the present day. But, as this complex and so to say unstable

^ I acknowledge that this remark diminishes somewhat the value of the identification established above between the imperial letter of which the first Gj-psies were bearers and that which was shown to Munster ; but this identification does not the less remain very likely.

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question would carry me too far, I will confine myself to saying that we must certainly neither accept too literally this confused tradition, nor entirely despise it ; for it appears to be anterior to the migration of the fifteenth century, and, for my own part, I think it contains some truth.

The existence of this Egyptian tradition, either among the Gypsies, or around them, in the south-east of Europe before 1417 is the historical point which it would be interesting to establish here. This is the place to examine a Byzantine document of the beginning of the fiftenth century, of which Carl Hopf (who died towards the beginning of the year 1874) had given the substance in his pamphlet, Die Eiiiwanderung der Zigeuner, Gotha, 1870, p. 12, and of which I had pointed out the probable importance inEtat dc la Question, p. 16, but which I had then been unable to consult ; for Hopf had been pleased to quote this document without any indication, excepting the author's name and the title of his principal writing. Here is what I have learnt since : the work in question is a satirical writing, entitled, The Descent into the Infernal Begions ('ETrcSrjixLa ev aSov) whose author, Mazaris or Mazari, in imitation of the Dialogues of the Dead of Lucian, places the scene in the infernal regions, with this difference, that, instead of making his characters speak, it is he himself who makes his descent into the lower regions the su])ject of a discourse. This account, which is rather long, is followed in the manuscript existing in the National Library of Paris by three other short treatises by the same author which are connected with it, and of which I must make mention ; for it is in the first of these treatises, and not in the principal piece, that the passage which interests us is to be found. All this has been analysed by Hase in Notices et extraits des manuscrits de la hihliotheque du roi, in 4to, t. ix., part ii., an. 1813, pp. 131-141. Hase had extracted at the same time from these writings all the useful references that he could find in them, as well concerning the life of the author as concerning the manners of the Byzantine court; but the passage I sought for had not at- tracted his attention. Happily the Descent into the Infernal Regions, with its annexed treatises, has been published integrally, as I have since learnt, by Boissonnade in his Aneedota grmca, large 8vo, vol. iii., 1831, pp. 112-186; and I have at last found in it, p. 174, the passage Hopf had in view, and of which a finished Hellenist, M. Tardieu, of the Library of the Institute, has had the kindness to make a literal translation for me. This passage, then, is to be found in the first of the three parts which follow the Descent into the In-

WESTERN EUROrE IN THE FIETEKNTII CENTURY. 269

fcrnal Regions; which part (pp. 163-182), much longer than the two following, is entitled, " The Dream ajfer the Resurrection. " ("Oi/eipo? fiera rrjv dva^iwatv, etc.), and ends (pp. 173-182) with a letter, which is the only one of all the writings of Mazaris that is dated, and this date, placed at the head of the letter, corresponds, as Boissonnade remarks, to the year 1416 of tlie Christian era.^ At the sixth line of this letter begins (p. 174) the following passage : —

" In Peloponnesus, as thou knowest thyself, 0 my host, live pell mell numerous nations of which it is not easy nor very interesting to retrace the boundaries, but here is what tradition says as being evident to all and notable : Lacedemonians — Italians — Peleponnesians — Sclavonians — lUyrians — Egyptians (AlyvTrTiot), and Jews (with- out counting a good number of other people interspersed in the midst of these) — in all, seven principal nations."

Hopf, after having alluded to this passage which he had indi- cated so badly, adds (p. 12) : " It has been shown long ago that we are not to see in these Egyptians a Moorish colony from Egypt as had been at first supposed," and he does not doubt that it is a question here of Gypsies. If, indeed, the idea of a real Egyptian colony may be put aside witli certainty^ — which Hopf, well versed in the knowledge of Greece in the jNIiddle Ages, was well able to decide — we cannot doubt that these " Egyptians " were Gypsies. It is a conclusion which forces itself upon one, when the passage from Mazaris is compared with all that we already know from Hopf and other sources of the existence of Gypsies in various parts of Greece in the fourteenth centurv, and at the beainnincj of the fifteenth (see £tat de la Question, pp. 11-23), without forgetting the deductions which Miklosich has drawn from the study of the Gypsy dialects, relative to their long stay in this country before the fifteenth century. It is necessary, in fine, to note that Guphtui is still at the present day one of the names given to the Gypsies in Greece, where certain ruins are known under the name of Guphto-Kastron.

I think, then, that we may consider the Egyptians of Mazaris as real Gypsies ; and, to say nothing of tlic importance of this document in other respects, it results from it that the name of Egyptians was applied to the Gypsies in Greece long before their immigration in the fifteenth century into the West, for it is clear that the name thus applied did not date from the day on which Mazaris remarked it.

1 Hopf, without of course any explauatiou, gives the date of 1414. The difTorence is of small iniiiortance.

• This is indeed the whole (piestion ; and, althoup;li for the present I follow Hopf, I should be glad to have on this point the opinion, coin formal )le or not, of any competent reader.

270 THE IMMIGRATION OF THE GYPSIES INTO

As to the name of " Little Egypt" very ingeniously adopted by the immigrants, it may have originated in some special locality, such as the country of Gyppe,^ in the Peloponnesus ; but this name, no doubt, took an uncertain and varied signification in the mouth of the Gypsies, some of them meaning under this name the country, wher- ever it might be, whence they had really come, others intentionally oiving it a more or less fanciful signification for the benefit of stran- gers, but all or the greater number of them believing, I make no doubt, the tradition which made their forefathers come from Egypt ; only, as it may well be supposed, those who repeated this tradition, especially after a long residence in the West, would have been puzzled to say where Egypt was situated.

There is a curious remark to be made here : on their first arrival in the West (Hanseatic Towns, 1417), if we can rely on the texts of Corner and Rufus, who, although contemporary, do not appear to have written until some time afterwards, the immigrants gave themselves the name of Tsigans (Secanos se mmciqjccntes), a name by which they were then well-known in the south-east of Europe (as we know positively at the present day), and by which they were probably designated in the imperial letter of 1417, as they are in that of 1423 ; but, as soon as they had quitted the Hanseatic towns, they carefully concealed this name which had not brought them good luck, and no longer represent themselves except as people " from Little Egypt." -

Eegarding the various names given to the Gypsies from this period and later on in different countries, it is not necessary for me to speak ; this subject would demand a special study even after that of the learned and lamented Pott in his Zigcuncr (vol. i., 1844, pp. 26- 51). In tlie meanwhile, every reader in the least familiar with the matter will easily recognise the Gypsies under the various names that we may meet witli. I have taken care to reproduce all these names with precision, in order that my work may be consulted on this matter as safely as the original documents.

There still remain in the accounts given of our Gypsies, and col- lected by the Bourgeois dc Paris (1427), divers details concerning which I have said nothino; ; and this other ill-accordinu; detail fur- iiished by Corner (1417) may be added, which is that it was "their bishops " who had imposed upon them as a penitence to wander dur-

1 See Etat de la questiun de Vancl'iinete dcs Tsigancs en Europe, 1876, pp. 14-15.

- The chroniclers frequently substitute for this name that of Loiver Egypt, which no doubt appears to them a more correct equivalent ; Imt in the official acts, public accounts of towns, etc., where the titles assumed by the Gypsies are more exactly reprodiiced, we always, or almost always, find "Little Egypt."

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ing seven years. But although in some of these accounts, which it is impossible to verify, there may be a small part of truth, we risk little in attributing them on the whole to the imagination of the par- ties interested.

After these explanations I return, or rather I at length come, to my recital ; and first of all it appears to me that the following is the way in which we may conjectui-e that the events took place: —

Our Gypsies started evidently from some province of the Byzan- tine Empire, and amongst them there may have been some who came from Asia and even from Africa. They arrived first in Hungary, already provided, no doubt, with letters of recommendation (for these people always found means of procuring some ^), in which mention was made of the misery the Turks had inflicted upon them. By aid of these letters, they managed to gain the interest of some of the personages who governed Hungary in the absence of King Sigismund, and who in their turn confirmed by some document, addressed or not to their King and Emperor, the recital, already no doubt amplified, of these pretended pilgrims. These, seeing their plan of campaign so well prepared in the countries of the West, were then desirous of having letters from the Emperor himself, as, later on, they were desirous of having letters from the Pope, and they marched straight towards Constance. The most sedate of the band composed their countenance as they approached the grave abode where the great Council of Christendom was holding its sittings ; they were not sorry to find Sigismund taking some relaxation from his overpowering pre- occupations in the free and imperial town of Lindau, which has deserved the surname of Littk Venice. There they presented them- selves in as godly a manner as possible to the very Christian Emperor, spoke of Hungary to the King of Hungary, of the Turks to him who was continually warring against them, and ended by telling a skilful tale which everything seemed to confirm, to begin with the papers whicli, no doubt, they already held from some high personage in Hungary, such, perhaps, as the son of Peter the Macedonian, that Nicholas in whom the Emperor placed all his confidence, and whom he had invested with the absolute command of liis troops against the Turks. How indeed suspect of imposture true Orientals coming from so far, people who, with the exception of tlieir chiefs, wore such poor clothing, and who had gold chinking in their pockets ? When they

1 Besides, Comer tells us positively that, as far back as 1417, tbey had letters from princes, and more especially from Sigismund.

272 THE IMMIGRATION OF THE GYPSIES INTO

left the Emperor they carried away letters signed by his own hand, and containing all their story in full.

The next thing was to make use of these letters as much as pos- sible, but as far as might be from the Emperor. Certainly no country could better secure this double advantage than all those free towns belonging to the Empire, and standing along the shores of the North and Baltic seas, towards the point where these two seas meet. Lindau had been for them an agreeable sample of these little imperial republics. The band went then direct towards the Teutonic Hansa, crossed without stopping the space which separated them from it, and only joined each other on entering it. Thus, unnoticed, they traced the road that we shall soon see them follow in another direction.

Towards the end of 1417^ our band of Gypsies arrived at the northern extremity of Germany, and began to visit the Hanseatic towns which were at this time at the height of their power. They commenced at Liineburg; then crossed the Elbe, and reached Hamburg, which had not yet attained its independence ; at last, following the shores of the Baltic from west to east, they made acquaintance with the free cities of Llibeck, Wismar, Eostock, Stralsuud, and Greifswald.

These Gypsies are signalised to us by three chroniclers, Corner, liUFUS, and Albert Krantz, but the two first only are contem- poraries of the event. Both were well situated for accurate informa- tion. Corner was from Liibeck,^ and I presume that Eufus, less known, was likewise from thence, for he has written a chronicle of this town, and he mentions in this work the event which interests us.^ But Corner, though rather concise, is much more complete, and,

1 The maimer in which Corner has dated the passage in his chronicle, indicated further on, allows of our arriving at the apjiroximate precision : quarto anno Sigisvmndi qui est Domini \i\T. Tliis date concerning Sigismund can only relate to the period wlien as Emperor he received the silver crown, that is to say, on the 8th November 1414. Now the day usually adopted in the fifteenth century, by the Germans as well as by the Church of Rome, as the beginning of the year, was the 25th December or the 1st January. The apparition of the Gypsies on the shores of the North Sea took place then between the 8th of November 1417 and the 25th of December or 1st of January following (according to the Julian calendar ; for the Gregorian calendar dates only from 1582, and was only adopted suc- cessively, at very different dates, in tlie various countries of the West. This must not be lost sight of in the course of the pi'esent work).

' M. Herm. Cornerii Chronica novella, usque ad annum 1435 dedticta, in the Corpus hist, viedii cevi of Eccard, Lipsiae, 1723, in fob, vol. ii., p. 1225. Hermann Korner, Corner, or Cornerius, monk of the order of preaching friars of St. Dominic, assisted at the provincial synod of Hamburg as early as 1406 ; he must have been very young at this time (see Corpus hist, of Eccard, i. ii., No. III., Preface). I do not think that his chronicle was printed before it was inserted in the above-named collection.

3 It is only through Mr. F. Dyrlund's Tatare og Natmandsfolk i Danmarh (Copenhagen, 1872, in 8vo, p. 360) that I am acquainted with the passage that RUFUS, in his Chronicle of

WESTERN EUIIOPE IN TIIK FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 273

as Riifus adds nothing very important to his compatriot's account, I sliall follow Corner.

With regard to Krantz, who belonged also by his birth, life, and death to one of the towns then visited by our Gypsies, I had formerly added one or two features of his recital to that of Corner ; luit on a closer examination I perceive that all the details given by him refer to the Gypsies of his own time, ^ and would consequently be more appropriate to a description of these strangers towards the end of the fifteenth century. I will, therefore, confine myself princi- pally to the information furnished by Corner. But the three chroniclers are perfectly agreed concerning the date of the year, and, thanks to Corner, we have even been able to be more precise.

These Gypsies, seen for the first time in the countries now called Hanover, Holstein, and Mecklenburg, numbered about three hun- dred, men and women, not including the children : this circumstance must have carried their number to four or five hundred, for no doubt amongst these Gypsies, as amongst those of the present day, children abounded.'^ If we rightly interpret the text of Corner, they already frequently broke up into several bands,^ but they all looked up to the same chief, they marched in concert and followed each other closely ; in a word, they formed a whole in which the total number of individuals was appreciable, and to all appearance it was the whole of the band which travelled over all the places through which we have followed it. These people were very ugly,^ and black as

Lubeck {L>jhst Kronnike) of 1400 to 1430 (Grantoff : Die Liibeckischen Chroniken in nieder- deutscher Sprache, vol. ii., p. 496), devotes to our travellers, under the year 1417. The complete translation will be found further on, following the text from Corner.

Mr. F. Dyrlnnd mentions also (////(/. p. 289, note 2) the following line of Lambertus Alakdus (who (lied in 1672) in Westplialcns Moiiumenta, vol. i., 1831, under the year 1416: "Anno eodem, Tartari prinio in Holsatiam venerunt." But it appears that this author is not always exact in his chronolo{,'y, and I am very much disposed to tliink, with Mr. Dyrlund, that this aiiparition of the Cypsies in Holstein must be referred to 1417, and that tlie information comes directly or indirectly from Korner. However, as we have traces of the presence of the Gyjisies in Germany, in the north or in the centre, before 1417, it is not quite impossible that there should be here some fact belonging to the Preludes of the immigration.

1 See Albert Krantzii Saxonia; Francfort, 1621, in folio, lib. xi., cli. 2, jip. 285-286. Mr. Dyrland gives also the text of the passage. Albert Krantz, born at Hamburg towards the middle of the fifteenth century, died there, Dean of the Chapter of the Cathedral, on the 7th December 1517. His Saxon Chronicle ai)peared for tlie first time at Cologne in 1530. Krantz is much better known than Corner and Rufus. Munster, in his Cosmographic, has reproduced entirely the passage from Krantz, giving it as his own, and the learned Conrad Gesner, in his Mithridates, has copied it from Munster without knowing that the real author was Krantz.

- Cf. Kufus, who estimates their total number at 400.

3 " Turmatim autem incedebat (multitudo), et extra urbes in campis pernoctabat, eo quod furtis nimium vacaret, et in civitatibus comprehendi timeret." — CoKNER.

■* Forma twrpissiml, Corner ; Black and Ugly, lUifus ; Nigredinc infonnes, Krantz. I, who find them very handsome, cannot help remarking that the copper complexion, and also the uncleanliness, of our adventurers, appear to have had a great influence in the aversion of

274 THE IMMIGRATION OF THE GYPSIES INTO

Tartars.^ The people of these countries so named them, and in some places they still retain the name. As to themselves, they called themselves Secani- (that is to say, Tsigani). They had amongst them chiefs, that is to say a duke and an earl, who judged them, and whose orders they obeyed. Some ^vere on horseback, others on foot. Their infidelity to the Christian faith, and their relapse to Paganism after a first conversion, was, it was said, the cause of their wandering life: their bishops had imposed upon them as a penance the con- tinuation of their adventurous course during seven years. They were bearers of and exhibited letters of protection {litteras promotorias) from several princes, amongst others Sigismund, King of the Eomans, which caused them to be well received by the episcopal towns, by princes, castellans, fortified towns {oppidis), by bishops and other mitred dignitaries.

But they showed themselves little worthy of this friendly recep- tion. The shrewd Germans of these mercantile towns open to strangers of all nations did not long suffer themselves to be imposed on by the recitals, the diplomas, and the chivalrous equipage of these strange adventurers. Corner and Rufus say that the troop camped at night in the fields because of their frequent thefts, which made them fear to be arrested in the towns. They were, indeed, great thieves, especially the women ; and in consequence several of them were in various places captured and killed.^

our two Germans, accustomed to white and clean faces, and tliat, after the first impression had passed away, Krantz, wlio still finds them hideoudij black, no longer dares to call them ugly inform and feature. I must not however quarrel too sharply with our chi'oniclers beyond the Rhine on this account : those of France, and even those of Italy, will say the same.

1 Rufus makes them even come from Tartary.

2 Secanos se nuncupantes, Corner and Rufus. This detail is very peculiar and very curious, as I have remarked above (p. 270), providing it be not the result of ulterior general information obtained by Corner, who could only have written the passage in his chronicle relative to the Gypsies, after having made inquiry, as he follows them in five towns. — Krantz, who wrote towards the end of the fifteenth century, says: Tarta,ros vulgus appellcit; ill Italia vacant Cianos.

3 Corner. Here is the complete text of this chronicler, who remains up to the present time the most important original authority for the fact which has engaged our attention : —

"(Quarto anno Sigismundi, qui est Domini 1417°), quaedam extranea et previe non visa vagabundaque multitudo hominum de Orieutalibus partibus venit in Alemaniam, peraiii- bulans totam illam plagam usque ad regiones maritimas. Fuit etiam in urbibus stagiialibus, incipieus ab urbe Luneburgensi, et perveniens in Prutziam peragravit civitates Hamme- burgensem, Lubicensem, Wismaiiensem, Rostoccensem, Sundensem et Grispeswaldensem. Turmatim autem iucedebat, et extra urbes in campis pernoctabat, eo quod furtis nimium vacaret, et in civitatibus coiuprelieLdi timeret. Ei"ant autem uumero ccc homines utriusque sexus, demtis parvulis et infantibus, forma turpissimi, nigri ut Tartari, Secanos se nuncu- pantes. Habebant etiam inter se Principes suos, Ducem scilicet et Comitem, qui eos judicabant et quorum mandatis parebant. Fures axitem ei'aut magni, et praecipue mulieres eorum ; et plures de eis in diversis locis sunt deprehensi et iuterfecti. Litteras quoque pro- motorias Principum et praesertim Sigismundi regis Romanorum apud se ferebant, propter quas a civitatibus, priucipibus, castris, oppidis, episcopis et prelatis, ad quos declinabant,

WESTEliN EUROPE IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 275

These misadventures must have induced them to forsake the shores of the Baltic ; and, in fact, we find them in the first half of the year 1418 at Leipzig/ and at Frankfort-on-the-Main.''^ But the details concerning their passage in these two places are wanting, and the time of the year is even unknown for Leipzig.

The Gypsies now come to Switzerland. Sprecher pretends that they appeared in the Grisons (in lihsetia), and in the surrounding countries so early as 1417.^ It is true that all the other chroniclers attribute to the year 1418 the first arrival of the Gypsies into the countries which now form Switzerland ; and Grellmann has relied solely on their testimony/ although he was acquainted with the pas- sage in Sprecher. At first sight, however, the real disagreement

admissi sunt et humaniter tractati. Eorum auteni quidain equitabant, quidam vero pedes [pedites] gradiebantur. Causa auteni hujus divagatiouis eorum et peregriuationis dicebatur fuisse aversio a fide et recidivatio post conversioueni suam ad Paganismum. Quam quideni peregriuationem continuare tenebautur ex iujuncta eis poeuiteutia ab Episcopis suis ad septennium."

It is not uninteresting to compare this text of Corner with that of Rufcs, who was also a contemporary of the fact. The following is a literal translation, with the exception of a few- words which I reproduce in the original language because they demand a special knowledge of Low German: — "At the same time (lil?), a band of strangers wandered through the country, who came from Tartary : they were black and ugly, and they had with them women and children. They passed through the towns and camped in the fields, for the townspeople could not tolerate them becaiise they stole. They were about four hundred in number, and gave themselves the name of Secanes (Seca?ien). They had amongst them chiefs, a count and a duke, by whom they were judged when they had committed any fault. The chiefs of the country had given them safe conducts dat se velich togen, icor se loolden. Some of them travelled on horseback, but most went on foot. The reason they went from one country to another was, it was said, because they had relapsed to Paganism, and it was for this that this penance had been inflicted on them, and they were to undergo it for seven years."

The resemblance is so great between this text and that of Corner, that one of the two chroniclers appears to have been acquainted with the other.

1 Anno 1418 : " The Zigeunei-, a malicious people of thieves and sorcerers appeared for the first time at Leiiizig." LeijJ-igische Chronike, by Tobie Hendenreich, doctor of law at Leipzig. Leipzig, 1G35, in 4to. I place this appearance before that of Frankfort, which is better dated, because Leipzig is less removed from the Hanseatic towns ; but this circumstance only furnishes a faint probability ; and in the absence of any indication respecting the month, one cannot even be certain that what took place at Leipzig was not subsequent to the meeting of the bands of Gypsies in Switzerland, nor that what took place at Strasbourg, whicli will be found placed after this grand rendezvous, was not anterior to it.

- "Mention is first made of them at Frankfort in the month of June 1418, where one finds in the book of accounts of the town {Slddtische Rechenhiicher, fol. 38'') that 4 pounds and 4 shillings were spent for the bread and the meat given to the strange people from Little Egypt (den eleudigen luden vsz cleynen Egypten) ..." Deutsches Biirfjerlham im MUtdaltcr, etc. (particularly at Frankfort-on-the-Main) by Dr. G. L. Kriegk, archivist of the town of Fiankfort. Frankfurt-a-M., 1868, in 8vo. vol. i., p. 149. At the end of this extract, pp. 150-152, and in the corresponding notes, p. 541, Mr. Kriegk gives some fifteen extracts relative to the Gypsies at Frankfort, from 1334 to 1497i all taken from the Bools of Accounts or the Registers of tits Burgomasters of the town, besides an interesting decree of the Council of Frankfort, of 1571. '

3 "Eodem anno, in Rhietia et circumvicinis regionibus primo conspecti sunt Xubiaiii, etc." Pallas Rhatica, etc., or Rhcetia, etc., or C'hrouicon Rhatuc, auUwre Fort. Sprechero at Berneck, etc., Basel, in 4to, 1617, p. 91 ; or edit Elzevir, 1633, sm. 12°, p. 139.

* Grell., 1787, p. 201 ; trad, fr., p. 202.

276 THE IMMIGRATION OF THE GYPSIES INTO

appears to be only between Spreeher and Guler/ these two chroni- clers being the only ones, amongst our own, who specify the Grisons. If we consider indeed that the wild country of the ancient Eheetians had still at this period quite a separate existence from Helvetia, of which a part had become confederate in 1315, taking the name of one of its cantons, the Canton of Schwitz, we should be inclined to suppose that the Gypsies may have visited it in 1417, without the knowledge of the chroniclers of Helvetia, or, at all events, without their having paid attention to it. The date given by Spreeher is not then without some appearance of worth, and I could not lightly reject it. I do reject it however, because the comparative examination of the passage of Guler, and of all the passages which interest us in the other Swiss chronicles, shows me clearly that Spreeher, no more than Guler indeed, was acquainted with any original document special to the Grisons.

What at first sitiht strikes the collector of texts concerning the apparition of the Gypsies is the great number of tliose offered by Switzerland ; but one soon perceives that this unusual abundance is more apparent than real. Nearly all our Swiss chroniclers have copied and re-copied each other. We should then, in making use of them, neglect no means of critical supervision, and attend especially to the chronological order in which they succeed each other.^ We

1 "Towards the same time (1418) were seen for the first time in the Rhetian countries the Ziegeiner, vulgarly called Jlciden (pagans.)" Bhctia, that is to say, detaihd and true description of the three honourable Grisons and other lihetic countries (in Gemian), by Guler de Veineck, etc., 1616, in fol., p. 156 verso.

- Here is the complete list of these chronicler.s. I include Wurstisen in it, whose testi- mony only regards Bale in 1422, but who must have been known to some of the after chroniclers ; and Specklin, whose testimony regards Strasbourg in 1418, and who was cer- tainly acquainted with some earlier Swiss chronicler : —

John StU-MPF, who died in 1558, signalises the appearance of the Gypsies in Helvetia, and especially at Ziirich in 1418; Schweitzer Chronic, etc. (Swiss chronicle, that is to say, description of all the honourable confederation — edit, revised, augmented, and continued by John Rudolpj Stumpf, Tiguri : 1606, in fol., p. 731). The first edition of this chronicle is of 1546 at the latest. Among the ancient authors who have quoted Stunqif, 1 will name Spondanus {Anncd. ecclcsiast. continuation in 3 vols., iu-fol. Lutet. 1641, vol. ii. p. 237), who read 1400 where Stumpf says 1418.

Giles TscHUDi, magistrate at Glaris, an esteemed historian, was born at Glaris in 1505, and died in 1572. It is he who gives us the most precise details concerning the march of the Gypsies in Switzerland in 1418, ^gid. Tschudii Chronicon helveticum, etc. (in German, — edit, of 1736 in 2 vols, in-fol., vol. ii. p. 116). This chronicle was only printed for the first time in 1/34.

Christian Wurstisen (in Latin Urtisius), a scholar of Bale, liorn in 1544, died in 1588, published in 1580 his Bale Chronicle (Easier Chronick, etc., oder Easier Eistumbs Historien) in four books, dated at the end. We shall only make use of this te.xt, which regards exclu- sively the territory of Bale and a neighbouring district in 1422, further on.

Daniel Spiccklin (or Speckel), Architect of the town of Strasbourg, and one of the greatest engineers of his time, wrote also at the end of the sixteenth century, I do not know exactly at what period. I owe the knowledge of his Collectanea (in two vols., in-fol. iiss. of the time, conserved in the library of Strasbourg) to the kindness of M. Strobel, professor at the mixed college of Strasbourg, and author of a good History of Alsace, and who has

WESTERN EUROPE IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURV. 277

shall thus be broimht to recognise that there are but three who can pass for original : Stumpf, Tschudi, and Wurstisen ; none however are contemporary. (When this was written, I was not acquainted

also given me some other documents (M. Strobe! died suddenly in 1850). It is in this col- lection, valuable for its history of Alsace, that Siiecklin, 1st vol., fol. .340, ad mi. 1418, mentions the arrival of the first Zeyginer at Strasbourg ; he adds, unfortunately, " and in every country " (of Europe, no doubt), and that makes me already fear that his assertion rests only on this reasoning, unworthy no doubt of a man of eriidition if even the premises had been less inexact : the Gypsies showed themselves for the hrst time in all the countries of the centre of Europe in 1418, consequently at Strasbourg. This basis would be all the worse because the Gypsies only spread themselves perhaps over that part of Switzerland which is near to Alsace, in 1422 (see Wurstisen). What is certain is that, except tliat Strasbourg takes the place of Ziirich, the passage in Specklin is scarcely anything else than a second edition of the passage of Stumpf, — some phrases are transposed, some details are suppressed: Specklin even takes upon himself to add the name oi Epirus to that of Little Egypt, and to fix at fifty years the interval which, according to the author he copies, sepa- rated the. real Gypsies from the new ; but his originality ends there. What is especially un- fortunate for him is that he has the hardihood to repeat the whole number of 14,000, when Tschudi, whom no doubt he was not acquainted with, says jjositively that on leaving Switzerland the band divided into two sections, which took dift'erent routes. — Tliese observa- tions do not absolutely prove that the capital fact, i.e. that of the coming of the Gypsies to Strasbourg in 1418, is false ; but it must be allowed that, under such a cover, it becomes doubtful.

John GULER de Weinech and Fortunat Sprecher of Berneck, who filled important functions either in the army or in the magistrature and politics of their country, were both born at Davos, in the Grisons, the first in 1.562, the second in 1585. Sprecher wrote a biography of Guler, and the title alone of this ojmsculum seems to prove that they were bound together by friendship. Their works, quoted in the preceding notes, appeared at an interval of one year : that of Guler in Itiltt, at Ziirich, where the author for some time resided ; that of Sprecher at Bale, in 1617, whilst the author was governor of the county of Chiavenne (in the Milanese). The work of Guler is far more extensive than that of Sprecher, but it presents deficiencies, the second part promised by the author having perished by fire.

The rather long passage in Guler may be divided into two parts. — In the first part, devoted to the first Zigeuners, the only ones who were authentic in the eyes of Guler and in those of the other Swiss chroniclers, he copies Stumpf, putting however, in the place of the number of 14,000 that of 1400, perhaps from Crusius {Aiinales Suevici), and adding details which are not to be found in Tschudi ; thus he develops the saying of the Gypsies on the cause of tlieir exile, and he speaks of their passports and of Duke Michael, of whom, in Switzerland, Wur.stisen alone had spoken before him. Where has Guler found these details? He has taken them from Munster (CWho^t. univ.), who had already appropriated to himself tlie interesting passage from Krantz, joining to it, however, some curious observa- tions, by which Guler in his turn profited. The phrase concerning the passports is taken textually from Krantz, save that Guler has added the Pope to the Emperor, doubtless following Wurstisen. As to the recital of the Gypsies concerning the cause of their exile, it is copied from Munster, who had already taken it I know not whence, perhaps out of the Chronicle of Bologna, from which several other of his details appear also to have been bor- rowed.— In the second part of his passage, Guler makes us acquainted with the counterfeit Gypsies whom he thinks to have followed the first, and whom Stumpf already distinguishes from them, but less clearly. Here are to be found textually the details given by Krantz on the Gypsies of his time, enriched by those that Munster had joined to his plagiarism, con- cerning the pretended attempt of the Gypsies to return into Africa, iheiv fortime-tellintj, and Va^xv pilfering s, etc. Finally, a word of Guler's indicates tliat he was also acquainted with some of the authors who make the Gypsies come fiom Zengitania — Niger, Ortelius, Vulcanius, or others. — On the whole, in all the passage by Guler, 1 only find one line to notice : Guler says, in ending, that the Gypsies are now driven out of many countries, and, that when tliey are found there, they are thrown into prison or beheaded as they deserve ; and he adds : " Several princes, however, accommodate themselves willingly enough wth this heap of pickpockets."

The passage in Sprecher is only a short and feeble summary of the proceeding, especially, it would seem, of Guler, He was also acquainted with Vulcanius or Ortelius, from whom he

278 THE IMMIGKATION OF THE GYPSIES INTO

with a Swiss contemporary chronicler, Justinger, who will be found further on).

Our authors, whilst they copy each other, have nevertheless found means to disagree on several important points. Their principal divergence bears on the number of the Gypsies who visited Switzer- land. The question is important, as we are about to see ; it is no longer a question of some hundreds of individuals, but of thousands, many thousands.

Tschudi estimates the number of these Gypsies at forty thousand ; Stumpf, and, in accordance with him, Specklin, and Walser, who, however, copy Guler for all the rest, make it fourteen thousand.^ How comes it then that Guler, who steals from Stumpf, should have replaced this number by that of fourteen hundred? Is it from Crusius - that he has borrowed this different reading ? But what reason had Crusius for giving it ? Is it on his part a rectification or an error in copying ? If his work were recent, I should have no hesitation in saying that it was an error of copying ; for, in our times, it would not be allowed to reproduce or analyse a text, naming its author, when at the same time, even for the best reasons in the world, an important modification is introduced. But the annalists of those times had not the same ideas as ourselves on this point,^ and I am disposed to think that it is a rectification. At all events, the number of fourteen hundred is to be retained and examined ; for one can only hesitate for a moment between this number and that of fourteen thousand, the forty thousand Gypsies of Tschudi exceeding

borrows the name of JVubiani. The only difference between him and the other Swiss chroniclers is in the date of 1417 ; and if it is not the result of a lapsus, it is probably because, finding the source of Guler in some of the copyists of Krantz (Munster, Gesner, or others), Sijrecher has thought that he was acting as a highly jiidicious critic in adopting the date furnished by a more original document.

John Grossids, whose Little Chronicle of Bd,le (in German) appeared for the first time, I think, in 1624 (Basel, in small 8vo, p. 70, sub an. 1422), only abridges the passage from Wurstisen.

Finally, Gabriel Walser, whom I know to be posterior to the above, does no more than reproduce the passage from Guler, abridging it a little in the second part, and applying it without further ceremony to the canton of Appenzell. Only he takes up again in Stumpf the number of 14,000 that Guler had replaced by 1400 ; and as to the date, he substitutes, no doubt by negligence, 1419 for 1418 (see, however, further on, the passage from Justinger). He ends by adding a few noteworthy statements regarding the measures taken against the Gj'psies in various countries, and the small number of them that wei'e still to be met with in the canton. See New Chronicle of Appenzell, or Description of the Canton of Appenzell. interior and exterior rodes (in German), S. Gallen, 1740, in 8vo, ^jp. 266-267.

1 As to Sprecher, whose testimony is null, he does not give any number ; and, as Wurstisen and Cirossius speak of another arrival of Gypsies four years later, we need take no account of it here.

- Annates Suevici, ah. an. 1213 ad ayi. 1594. Francof. 1595, 2 vols, in fol. 3d part, 2a vol. p. 345.

3 Witness Calvisius, rectifjdng Fabricius in the way we have seen above.

WESTEKN EUROPE IN THE FIFTEENTH GENTUllY. 279

all bounds of probability.^ Now I say even of the fourteen thousand what jNIiiller- says of the forty thousand, which is that such a multitude would have alarmed all the princes and towns, and that one does not find any trace of such an agitation. And, whilst Miiller hesitates between these numbers of fourteen thousand and fourteen hundred, under pretext that the latter would not have attracted the attention of all the chroniclers, I am astonished on the contrary to see the Gypsies, to tlie already enormous number of fourteen hundred, pass not only through Switzerland, but at a few leagues from Bale, without anything being known about it at Bale.^ Fourteen hundred Gypsies ! it is double the number contained in the Basque provinces in France, where the inhabitants demand yearly in the " Conseil general " for the Lower Pyrenees, and even in the legislative assemblies, measures of repression against these wretched renmants of half-civilised nomads.-^ I add with Grellmann ^ that everything we have seen up to the present moment, and every- thing we know about the composition of the Gypsy bands, is opposed to the number of fourteen thousand. That of fourteen hun- dred is, on the contrary, sufficiently probable, and we will adopt it for the present. I say for the present, for it is already very high ; and if later, when we cast a glance over the whole of the facts, and on calculating the number of Gypsies who travelled over Europe during this period, we experience a difficulty, it will be that of arriving at such a total.

However it may be, this multitude entered Switzerland by the country of the Grisons,^ crossed the canton of Appenzell," and pene- trated into the canton of Zurich. A great number came to Ziirich ; ^ they arrived there the last day of August, camped before the gate of the town, on the place of Baunser's mead and on the banks of the Liniath.

1 Miiller, in his Histoire de la Confederation Suisse (French trans, by MM. Monnard and Wulliemin, vol. iv. p. 277, note 299), also rejects this number. As for Grellmann, he was not acquainted with the passage of Tschudi, and he was already, with good reason, alarmed at the number of 14,000. See Grellmann, p. 209-211 ; French trans. i)p. 212-214.

2 At the passage quoted.

3 They were also known at Bale in 1422, according to Wurstisen ; but see Justinger further on.

■* This was written in 1844. Since then the Gypsy population in tlie French Basque provinces has passed through various phases, the explanation of which would be too long for us to enter upon here.

5 Edition of 1787, pp. 209-211 ; French trans, of 1810, pp. 212-214,

6 Unless they at once went through the countries of St. Gall and Appenzell below the Lake of Constance. I have chosen the Grisons on account of the passages in Guler and Sprecher. I do not, however, attach any importance to their testimony, no more than to that of Walser, and I should not follow them if they had not appeared to be in accordance with the ulturior itinerary of the Gypsies compared with their anterior itinerary.

7 Walser. See the preceding note.

8 Tschudi and Stumpf.

280 THE IMMIGKATION OF THE GYPSIES INTO

They remained there six days. Then they went as far as Baden in Argovia, and there they separated into two bands.^ This multitude did not march in close columns ; they dispersed themselves over the country, ^ and, according to Stumpf, it was not the whole horde who camped before the gate of Zurich. There must, however, have been a close connection in this horde, and a visible unity in the march of the different bands composing it, before Tschudi could have remarked its breaking up on quitting Switzerland.

These people who had never before been seen in the country, and whom all our chroniclers represent as strange and singular, were generally black,^ the chiklren as well as the men and women.* They had their dukes, earls, and lords ; and two dukes and two knights were especially remarked amongst them."^ Guler and, copy- ing him, Walser add that the principal chief was Duke Michael of Egypt; but we know what to think of Guler's originality, and although I have not sufficient proof that he was acquainted witli Wurstisen, I fear he has borrowed this detail from liim : it is, how- ever, probable. — These Gypsies said that they were from Little Egypt.*^ They related that they had been driven out by the Sultan and the Turks, and that they were condemned to do penance in poverty during seven years. They were, besides, very honest people; followed the Christian customs as concerned the baptism of the newly-born children, the burials, and all the rest. They wore poor garments, but they had a great deal of gold and silver provided by their own country ; ate well, drank well, and paid well.^ Stumpf adds that, faithful to their word, at the end of seven years these Gypsies returned home; and he is careful not to confound them with the vagabonds who, under the same name, have since so much in- creased in number, and amongst whom, he adds, the most honest is a rogue, seeing that they live exclusively on theft. '^ This strange

1 Tcshudi.

2 Stumpf. Tscluuli, who carried their number to 40,000, certainly did not think that these forty thousand souls remained motionless and comimct during theli- six days' sojourn before the gate of Ziirich.

3 Tschudi ; Sprecher. The latter says : gens atra. •* Tschudi. ^ Ibid.

fi Stumpf only says from Egypt. Tschudi is more explicit : according to him they said they wei'e from the country of Zingri (?) in Little Egypt ; some also said that they came from Igritz (?).

7 All these details are taken from Stumpf and from Tschudi.

8 Guler has taken possession of this idea, and has developed it as a transition between his plagiarism of Stumpf and that of Munster, already enriched by that of Krantz : "After the departure of the Zigeuner," says he, "a lost and savage rout of thieves gathered together, took their place, and dared to make themselves black like them by means of an ointment. When they had become sufficiently disorderly, dissolute, and dirty, they also assumed the garb of the strange Zigeuners, and endeavoured thus to persuade the world that they were tlie above-mentioned Egyptians, and that they had endeavoured to go by sea to Africa, but

WESTERN EUROPE IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 281

testimony seems at least to indicate that the numerous Gypsies who first came into Switzerland behaved themselves there with some decency; and there is reason to suppose that they were tolerably well received there.^

What we have just seen to have taken place in Switzerland was evidently a complete rendezvous ; and I am persuaded that this rendezvous was not the simple effect of chance. \Vlien indeed one considers the first Gypsy peregrinations, one is struck by their promptitude. In all the countries where one can, by aid of authentic testimony, follow the Gypsies during some time, one sees them marching, marching continually, not only as nomads who like a change of place, but as travellers in haste to see. Such journeys must have had for object the exploration of the new part of the world into which they had bravely ventured ; and, in order that this exploration should be more extensive, and nevertheless profitable to the whole band, it was necessary to separate often, and re-assemble sometimes ; above all it was natural to meet again completely at some place far advanced of the journey, such as this. In these meetings, the inferior chiefs related to tlie superior what they had seen ; the head chief numbered his men and issued fresh orders.

The somewhat alarming number of Gypsies gathered together in Switzerland contributed, no doubt, to make them prudent and reserved. They owed besides some respect to the country on the borders of which they had been so well treated by the Emperor, and which the Emperor had lived in scarcely four months previously ; -

had been prevented from landing, etc. ..." The Gj'psies have, it is true, given this last reason to explain theii' stay in Europe after the expiration of the seven years : see Munster. As to the masquerade wliich gave rise to the hundreds of thousands of Gypsies spread over Europe, it will deceive no one.

1 This appears also to have been the case from a short passage in Joh. Jakob Hottinger, who, in his Swiss Ecclesiastical History, after having spoken of the benevolence of the town of Boleure towards several localities and divers persons, adds : "The same charity was ex- perienced at the same period by the homeless Zigeuners." See Ilelvetische Kirchengeschichte, recast after the ancient work of Joh. Jakob Hottinger, and other sources, by Louis Wirz, pastor at Monch-Altorf, Ziirich, 1808-1810, in 8vo, vol. iii. p. 22.3. —I quote this work in default of the original by J. J. Hottinger, which I have not been able to find in tlie Paris libraries ; and it is impossible that this passage should be taken from Wirz (which, however, is of small importance). Hottinger does not specify the time more than tlie facts ; but, according to the date which precedes and that which follows, his observation would refer only to the middle of the fifteenth century, which is too recent, if it concerns, as I think it does, the first Gypsies who travelled through Switzerland.

- Perhaps even the Emperor was still quite near, which would be very significant. • After the Council (which closed on the 22d April 1418) Sigismund continued travelling for some time in the Rhine countries ; afterwards he went into Hungary. . . ." — Hist, des Alle?nands, by Schmidt, translated (by J. C. de Laveaux), in Svo, t. v., 1786, p. 134.

^.B. — It will be seen further on that all the preceding remarks on the good behaviour of the Gypsies in Switzerland in 1418, remarks justified in 1844 by the unanimous testimony of the non-contemporary chroniclers belonging to this country, appear now to be reduced to nothing by the testimony of Justinger.

VOL. I. — NO. V. T

282 THE IMMIGRATION OF THE GYPSIES INTO

and besides it entered into their plans to re- visit it. They did not therefore stay long there. Their passage appears to have been very rapid and very direct : they certainly did not travel through all the countries of the confederation, as AValser pretends ; ^ according to all probability, they only crossed the north-eastern extremity of Switzer- land, and they crossed it with such an unanimity that their passage must have left for the moment but small traces.^

All that we have just seen concerning the Gypsies in Switzerland (including the notes) was written in 1844. Since then I have become acquainted with a passage from Justinger, the only Swiss chronicler known up to the present time who is contemporary with the fact.^ I translate literally this passage, which is placed under the year 1419 : —

" Of the baptized Heiden. In the said year came to Bale, to Zurich, to Berne, and to Soleure more than two hundred baptized pagans (Heiden) ; they were from Egypt, pitiful, black, miserable, with women and children ; and they camped before the town (of Berne *) in the fields, until there came a prohibition (from the autho- rities), because they had become unbearable to the inhabitants on account of their tliefts, for they stole all they could. They had among them dukes and earls, who were provided wdth good silver belts,^ and who rode on horseback ; the others were poor and pitiful. They wandered from one country to another : and they had a safe- conduct (Geleitbrief) from the King of the Eomans."

Several important facts in this testimony which, I repeat, is con- temporary, disagree with those I had previously collected, and which certainly were not borrowed from him.

First the date : but, contemporary as he was, Justinger, if he wrote this passage some years after the fact, may have been mistaken

1 Walser, copying Guler, aud wishing absolutely to jjlace in his chronicle of Appenzell the passage of the chronicle of Helvetia, substitutes this trivial fact for the coming of the Gypsies to Zurich.

- I have already remarked, as being an astonishing fact, that this great horde should have passed at fifteen leagues from Basle, without making itself known at least by some detach- ments.

3 Conrad Justinger : Berner Chronik, published by Stierlin and Wysz in 1819, p. 381. The passage in old German is entirely reproduced by M. F. Dyrlund (op. cit., p. 362), where I see that Justinger, who died in 1426, was recorder of the town of Berne from 1411, and that his chronicle goes as far as 1421. I should have wished to see in the original publica- tion how the date presents itself; but I have not found the volume in the National Library of Paris.

■* Justinger was from Berne, and his chronicle being that of Berne, there can be no doubt as to the place.

5 I wondered for a moment whether these were not receptacles for containing money worn roun the body and generally underneath the garments, but the German expression {silhria Gurteln) does not permit a doubt but that they were real belts, baldricks or ornaments of some kind.

WESTERN EUROPE IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 283

on this point. Now it is certain that he cannot have written it at tlie very moment, because he speaks at the same time of the visit of the Gypsies in several of the Swiss cantons. Besides, a passage of the chronicle which commences by these words : " In the same year, . . ." does not present the same chronological certainty as if the date of the year had been expressed : in addition to the month being omitted, which appears to indicate a rather vague remembrance, it may happen that a fragment thus dated may slip from one year to another. If, however, the date of 1419 were exact, it would be pos- sible that it applies exclusively to Berne, where the author lived, and perhaps to Soleure, and even to Bale, three places of which Tschudi does not speak, and where a band of " more than two hundred " Gyp- sies may have come in the year which followed the great rendezvous in Switzerland. For, as far as concerns Ziirich, where Tschudi says positively that the great band arrived on the 31 st of August 1418, and even Baden in Argovia, which is not far, and where Tschudi relates that it separated into two portions, it appears to me impos- sible to admit that this chronicler has not had some precise docu- ment under his eyes.

It may be replied perhaps that Tschudi, to whom belongs the regrettable honour of having fixed the legend of William Tell,^ Tschudi, who has given us the fantastic number of forty thousand Gypsies, does not merit much confidence. I answer that, as regards estimates which are often uncertain and variable, such as the number of combatants in a battle - or the number of individuals in a Gypsy horde, legend has full scope, and that, in this instance, Tschudi has evidently followed and perhaps enlarged upon the legend, but that a date so precise as that of the 31st August 1418 is of a very different nature. I will add that Stumpf, another Swiss chronicler, original in this passage, also gives the year 1418 as that of the appearance of the Gypsies in Switzerland, and particularly at Ziirich.

My conclusion, which can only be provisional, is then that two alternatives are possible : either Justinger has made a mistake of a year, or else this date of 1419 applies to another arrival of Gypsies at Berne and probably at Soleure, perhaps at Bille. In the first case, I should be inclined to tliiidc that the " two hundred" Gypsies,

1 See the Revue Critique of the lltli July 1868, p. 29, in the article by Rod. Keuss on the work of M. Albert Rilliet, Les Origincs de la Confederation Suisse.

- See in the Revue Critiq\ie of the 6th February 1888, p. 108, the analysis (by 51. Am. Hauvette) of the work of M. Hans Delbriick, Die Perserkriege und die Burgunderkriege, Berlin, 1887, upon the preposterous numbers attributed by the Swiss to the Burgundian armies vanquished by them at Granson and at Morat (1476).

284 THE IMMIGRATION OF THE GYPSIES INTO

or a few more, with whom Justinger was acquainted in the last- named places and particularly at Berne, where he lived, were but a detachment of the great band of Zurich. For, whilst making a large allowance for the legend, I can with difficulty persuade myself that the 40,000 of Tschudi, the 14,000 of Stumpf, Specklin, and Walser, the 1,400 of Crusius and of Guler, an estimate which appeared to me to be perhaps acceptable, should finally be reduced to "more than two hundred," that is to say, to a number notably inferior to that which we found at the outset in the Hanseatic towns.^

In one or other of these alternatives, not only Berne and Soleure, which did not figure in our first Swiss documents, would be added under the date of 1418 or 1419, but even Bale also, where the testi- mony of Wurstisen, without doubt applicable to the year 1422, signalises the presence of the Gypsies at that period as occurring for the first time. But Wurstisen was not a contemporary, and he may easily have been unacquainted with a document anterior to that of which he made use. I had already experienced some astonishment (in 1844, p. 30 and p. 34, note 2 ; see above, p. 279 and p. 282, note 2) that the great band of 1418 should have passed so near Bale unknown to the inhabitants of this town. It now seems probable that they came there in 1418 or 1419, and most probably in 1418.

A last point upon which Justinger is wholly at variance with the non-contemporaneous chroniclers, is the manner in which the Gypsies behaved in Switzerland on their first appearance, in numbers more or less considerable, in this country. Here, I think, his testi- mony may be received without reserve : the pretended nobility of the first Gypsies is founded on the distinction, purely chimerical, established by the other chroniclers between these and their succes- sors ; it is in contradiction with all that we know of other countries ; and, if I allow what I have said on this subject to remain, it is simply as a legendary testimony.

The itinerary that I have endeavoured to trace (p. 31 of the tirage a 'part; see above, pp. 279-280) for the entrance of the Gypsies into Switzerland may also have to be modified when better information is obtained. What appears clear to me up to the present moment is that the order in which Justinger mentions the towns and the cantons

1 As to the numbers that we shall meet with ulteriorly, they are in general reduced to about 100 or 120 (excepting at Forli, 1422, where they are 200, and perhaps in some other places, Augsburg in 1418, Bale in 1422, etc., where their number is ill determined). But we have reason to think that they separated on leaving Switzerland, and it would seem that afterwards their meeting was never complete.

WESTERN EUROPE IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 285

visited by tlieni (Bale, Zurich, Berne, and Soleure), is quite fortuitous, and does not represent an itinerary.

As to tlie description of their departv,re from Switzerland {ibidem and below), it is founded on the precise testimony of Tschudi, whom one cannot refute without very positive proofs. But the return by circuitous routes, like the previous appearances at such or such a point, are always possible, especially in a country composed of independent cantons. And it is thus that the passage through Switzerland of the great horde (if there be a great horde, as I am still inclined to think), or of the detachments which composed it, may also not have been so rapid as I supposed it to have been (pp. 33-34 of the former tirar/e a part, p. 282 ante).

In short, the testimony, very valuable notwithstanding, of the contemporary Justinger, far from throwing light upon the history of the first appearance of the Gypsies in Switzerland, leaves much in obscurity. It is an historical point which most likely will only be elucidated by the Eegisters of the municipal accounts of the towns through which the Gypsies have passed, and in which they may have received subsidies,^ as we shall see that they have received elsewhere.

What actually contributes to the uncertainty of the Swiss itinerary is that documents sometimes bear the date of the year only; we have met with such examples not only in Switzerland, but, before or after the passage of the Gypsies in this country, at Leipzig, at Strasbourg.

For the present, however, it is after the departure from Switzer- land that I place the arrival of the Gypsies at Strasbourg, as I have also temporarily placed their passage at Leipzig before their entrance into Switzerland. We have, indeed, left the great band breaking up near Baden in Argovia. A part of the horde, adds Tschudi, then

1 I call the attention of the Switss scholars of Zurich, Baden in Argovia, Berne, Soleure, Bale, and in general of all the Swiss tovms that have kept their ancient A ccounts, to this point : for the first question is the knowledge of the tovi^ns in Switzerland possessing A ccounts going back as far as the beginning of the fifteenth century ; and upon this point, information, even negative, would have a solid interest. Wherever these accounts exist, it would be neces- sary more particularly to explore those between 1416 and 1420, and better still up to 1438 ; but, this exploration once commenced, it would be interesting to pursue it as far as possible in order to extract from these Registers all that they contain about the Gypsies (Zigeuner, Ileiden, etc., etc.) ; and even to go further back than 1417 to see if perchance people resem- bling the Gypsies may not have existed, under other names, in Switzerland before 1417. These extracts published in some collection of the country (of which I should be glad to receive the exact indication— rue de rOdeon, 12, Paris) would form the beginning of a docu- mentary History of the Gypsies in Switzerland, like that which M. Dirks has collected for Holland. It is scarcely necessary for me to add that what I have requested for Switzerland on the occasion of an obscure fact, upon which it would be particularly interesting to throw some light, would be equally desirable for all the countries of Europe, and that, if I only speak here of the Registers of Towns, it is not with any intention of excluding fhe Chronicles and such other sources of information as may present themselves.

286 IMMIGRATION OF THE GYPSIES IN THK FIFTEENTH CENTURY.

passed the Boetzberg, that is to say, the north-west end of the chain of the Jura. Tschudi does not follow them further, and does not say what direction the others took. But it is natural to think that a good number of Gypsies must then have penetrated either into the present grand duchy of Baden, or directly into Alsace, and it is thus that some may have arrived at Strasbourg in the same year.

Now, the presence of the Gypsies at Strasbourg in 1418, which left some doubts on my mind when it was mentioned only by Specklin ^ and by Hermann, '^ appears better attested by an (un- published ?) Chronicle of Strasbourg, which, however, I only know through a quotation,^ and wliich does not specify the time of year.

Paul Bataillard.

{To he continued.)

D

v.— THE GITANOS OF TO-DAY.

UEIiSrG the autumn of the past year (1888), I travelled over a considerable part of Spain, and the conclusion I have come to regarding the Gitanos is, that one is much mistaken if one believes that the pure type of the traditional Gitano is still to be found there.

I have visited the famous suburb of Triana (Calle de la Cava) at Seville ; there is there a population which does not differ much from the populations of the other quarters of Seville. Even in t\iQ fctbrica de tahaeos of Seville, where there are many thousands of work- people, the workshops of the Gitanos do not strike one as very different from those of the Andalusians. Here and there only (and especially among the old people), one sees a rare type, presenting some trace of the true Gypsy physiognomy.'*

1 See my long note on Specklin, pp. 27-28 of my former memoir ; and above, pp. 276-277.

" In a note of my former memoir (p. 34), I said : " I find besides in a collection of small scattered facts, placed at the end of Notices historiques, statistiques et litteraires sur Stras- bourg, by Hermami (Strasbourg, 1819, 2 vols, in Svo., vol. 2, p. 432) tlie following sentence : ' In 1418, some Gypsies, called in German Zigeuner, and in some countries Heiden, pagans, came for the first time into Alsace and the neighbourhood of Strasbourg.' But the author having dispensed himself from indicating his authorities, 1 think the indication is drawn from the Collectanea of Specklin and to be received with the same distrust."

3 In a short article upon the Zigeuner, by Auguste Stober, inserted in the Anzeiger fur Kunde der deutschen Vorzeit, an. 1856, t. i., Niiruberg, 1863, p. 173, I find the following note concerning the apparition of tlie Gypsies in Germany: "They came from Epiro (sic), which tlie vulgar call 'Little Egypt.' Trausch, handsch. Strasburgische Chronik, ir. 366. According to Trausch, the ' Zetjgincr' made their first appearance at Strasbourg ml418." M. Stober does not say to what epoch this chronicle belongs ; but what makes me believe in its originality— at least relative— is that the detail given by Specklin, that "they came from Epirus, called also \'ulgarly Little Egypt " (see again above, p. 277, in the long note on Specklin reproduced from my former memoir), is certainly borrowed from him.

•* With these statements of the Marquis Colocci, compare the " Sketclies at Seville " in our A'^otes and Queries (p. ZQ^ post). — [Ed.]

THE GITANOS OF TO-DAY. 287

The Gitanos of Seville emigrate to America without the least disinclination ; once there, they employ themselves as herdsmen in the ganaclcrias, or enlist in the military service of Cuba or the ' Philippine Islands.

In the Sierra Morena I found Gitanos, whose special occupation was the making of baskets and cliairs. These spoke a better cald.

At Saragossa I found a small Gitano colony.

There are also some at Cordova. And we know of the adventure which happened there to an English tourist (a Dr. Middleton, I believe), who shot a Gitano on the tower of the Cathedral to save himself from being robbed by him.^

At Santa Fe there is a numerous colony of Gitanos, who have preserved the racial type better than others. They are proud of it, and they say of themselves without any hesitation : Nosotros semos caUs de siete costillas y media (" We are Gitanos on seven sides and a half "), meaning that they are of the genuine stock.

There are also Gitano localities in Granada. Some live in the St. Nicholas quarter {Barrio dc la Cava de San Nicola) ; but the greatest number live in the Sacro Monte quarter above the Albaycin, in caves cut out of the rock, formerly grottoes of the Moors. This Barrio de los Gitanos, everywhere pierced with these caverns, presents the ap- pearance of a huge hive of bees. Zigzag footpaths lead from one grotto to another. The sides of the Sacro Monte are tufted with the aloe and the cactus. Below, amid the ruins of ancient Arab walls, flows the Darro.

The Gitanos of Granada are smiths, sheep-shearers, small traders at the fairs, and, above all, they beg from tourists. The women tell fortunes, or perform Flamenco, dances before strangers.

There are nearly two hundred Gitanos in Granada. They are said to be thieves, and I am inclined to believe it ; but I must admit that with me they were very honest, and they laughed fit to split them- selves when I spoke to them in cal6, for that seemed something wonderful to them. They took me for one of themselves, belonging to a foreign country, but of their race. The good people of Granada were amazed to see me always in such company, and they said to me with a reproachful air : " Sefior, los jitanos son fjente muy fea ! " (" The Gitanos are very dirty people, Senor ! ")

1 In this connection I may state that my experiences, when at Granada, did not at all coincide with the opinions expressed by the writer of the letter " Spanish Gypsies and British Tourists," comnumicated to the Edinburgh Scotsman (and quoted in our Journal, No. 3, p. 178). I was at Granada in the month of November, and the tspanish police did not take the precautions referred to in that letter. I have been with the Gitanos, alone, day and night, in tlieir caves, and I found them very good fellows.

288 THE GITANOS OF TO-DAY.

Their morality is not worth much ; especially iu the matter of virtue. I have known several Jitanillos, thirteen or fourteen years old, who posed as city guides, but who in reality conducted strangers to houses of evil fame. With regard to the alleafed chastitv of the Gitanas, extolled by Borrow, Enault, Quindale and Liszt, I would make some reservations.

At Seville, at Cadiz, at Granada, I have known real Gitanas who were anything but prudes. I have even spoken, at Cadiz, to a poor and rather pretty Jitanilla, who had been seduced by her lover, a Gitano, and deserted by him when with child. Eepulsed by her family, the poor young creature turned courtesan. At Granada, I knew a Gitana who accepted an invitation to dinner which I gave to her and to her husband. After dinner, she found an excuse for sending away her Othello, and, being then left alone with me, she made such advances to me as no virtuous Desdemona would have made. At Cadiz, several Gitanas follow the occupation of go-between in love intrigues.^ These are generally neither young nor beautiful. And I always think with shame of a scandalous speech made to me at Cadiz by two very young Gitanas, of ten or eleven, which they accompanied by gestures of an indescribably licentious nature.

At Granada there is a prince of the Gypsies, a grotesque being ; he remains nearly the whole day at the gate of the Alhambra awaiting strangers, and clad in the old Spanish muleteer costume, wearing a large peaked hat on his head. His coat, with its gold lace and velvet, must have been very grand in its day; but now it is very ragged through the effects of time. This personage sells his own photograph to visitors, and one learns from the back of it that it is the portrait of Mariano Hernandez, Frinc%]i€, de los Gitanos, modelo del immortcd Fortuny. He really was a model, and sat to this famous painter.

It is a sight to see this pedicular prince attire himself proudly, grand in his garments and his authority ! He conducts you to the Barrio de los Gitanos; he organises Gypsy concerts and Flamenca dances for the amusement of strangers. I had myself a good deal of intercourse with him, in order to acquaint myself better with certain details about the Gitanos, and to practise the Cedd, which he speaks much better than the others.

Through him I was still better enabled to remark the simplicity

1 Compare the remark made by Mepliistopheles to Faust, with reference to Martha ;— " Das ist ein Weib wie auserlesen, Zum Kupider- und Zigeunerwesen !" — [Ed.]

GYPSY SONGS OF MOURNING.

289

with which the good Borrow judged of the morality of the Gitanas. This prince will, indeed, procure Gitana models for you, if you are anything of a painter, or even if you are not one at all. And if you should occupy yourself with the original instead of the copy, his Highness the Prince of the Gitanos will not, you may be sure, raise any diplomatic question about this exploit touching one of his subjects !

As to their language, the greater part of the Gitanos at the present day speak Spanish, and employ the Spanish phraseology, only substituting some Calo words, and modifying some Spanish words with the terminations saro — sara and une — una. For example :

saro-a

Pelisara. -Frcntisara. Carissara. Lenguisarx. Unisaro. Doisaro. Treisaro. Cincueiitisaro.

une-a. Cahonazo (Trousers), Cravate (Fr.), . . Dcdo (Finger), . . Jaqueta (Jacket), . Chaleco (Waistcoat), Oreja (Ear), . . . etc.

Cahonziine.

Cravatund.

Deduna.

Chequetuna.

Chalequne.

Orejuna.

Pelo (Hair), . .

Frentc (Forehead),

Carrillo (Cheek),

Lengua (Tongue),

Uno (One), . .

Dos (Two), . .

Tres (Three), . .

Gincuenta (Fifty),

etc.

The true Calo language still exists, in the precise sense of the word. But only a limited number of these words are now used ; the rest is Castilian. Each individual Gitano only knows a small portion of it. Nevertheless, in my conversations with Gitanos, above all with those of the Sierra Morena, and, in particular, with their old people, I have collected — here or there — some hundreds of words, which, perhaps, I shall one day publish.

I have also collected many of their Cantos Flamencos, similar to those published by Professor Machado y Alvarez, some sayings and proverbs, riddles, etc., etc. Adkiano Colocci.

VI.— GYPSY SONGS OF MOUENING.

I. — PRISONEllS' LAMENTS.

IN the course of my visits to prisons, and specially in Transylvania when in quest of folk-lore, I often had an easy and safe oppor- tunity of making a study of the Gypsies.

These people, who are either, generally speaking, as sliy as a roe or as intrusive as a bug, are always very slow to furnish any informa- tion regarding their poetry and national customs ; but in prison I found them dispirited by the loss of their freedom, and much fretted by the confinement which they probably feel more keenly than any one else. Here, after having won their good-will by talking to them

290 GYPSY SONGS OF MOURNING.

in their own tongue, they would open their hearts to me, protesting, as a rule, their innocence, but occasionally when severely cross- examined as to the cause of their incarceration, they would, in a shamefaced fashion, admit their guilt. It would be worth while, I think, if some of the officials of criminal departments in Hungary, where there is no lack of people who study the Gypsy tongue for their pleasure merely, were to study the language and national customs of the Gypsies from a judiciary standpoint, as is done in other countries. Some of the Gypsies condemned to a rather longer term of imprison- ment begged me to intercede on their behalf to have their condition mitigated (although their well-being in prison is incomparably greater than it is in freedom), or even to obtain their release. Once, some recently incarcerated members of a Gypsy band, with whom I had but a short time before been tramping the country, in a prisoner's dress and on very familiar terms, stared with their eyes wide open on seeing me on intimate terms with the all-powerful public prosecutor.

On such occasions the Gypsies were fond of singing to me their improvised laments (or rather dirges), which they spin out indefinitely, and which I had to stop when they began to weary me. These Jeremiads they whined out in a drawling and very sing-song tone, of a decided Eoumanian type. A specimen of these chants was published in the second number of our Journal (page 101, No. 7, Burzenland) ; being one which was sung to me by Mojsa Curar in the prison of Brasso (Kronstadt), in the summer of 1886. I wrote down more than 100 verses of his words, if one may apply the term " verse " to a series of disconnected sentences, extremely primitive alike in rhythm and in rhyme.

I shall quote the text as a curiosity (not on account of its poetical value), making use of the same system of transcription as that employed iu the translation of the epoch-making Gypsy work of our august fellow-student, the Archduke Josef.

The text was taken down very hurriedly, and in many places is

doubtful. One asterisk denotes that the word is borrowed from the

Eoumanian, two from the Magyar.

Vaj,* Devla-le, na maj* marme, Ah, God! afflict me no more,

Ke man, Devla, d'ekin* mard'as, For, since thou, 0 God, hast afflicted me,

Cin misto na kerd'as. Nothing good hast thou done.

Vaj*- JJcvlica, vaj* Devlica, Ah, dear God! ah, dear God,

Ke man ci maj* mares! That me no more thou strikest!

Avrete gindu* kerd'as, To others trouble hast thou made,

Del, mar-le te pJiabar-le, God, strike and burn,

Ke mail ci maj* marcs ! But me no more strike !

Tai zatar, Devla, iatar, And I will go, U God, I will go,

GYPSY SONGS OF MOURNING.

291

Pala mandi ci maj * dikhau. Devla, Vevla, the avau Tai zav the ^mla leste Ci maj * akarav-le palpate, Te sal, zikaj se lumi, *

Kaj kerdela o pai kanali.

Core, core serke o dad barvalo,

Taj ci loat* (?) kosno

01 cokaja maravau

Taj tne but'i kerau

Taj me kosno tuke lau.

Ale Devla, me saj zasa,

Te pala man ci dikhau,

Ale, ale, Devla, me saj kisa;

Pala mande na diklem,

Ci folosti * na kerdem.

Jare * De via, dikhau,

Ek baro folosu * kerau.

Zatar tuke, zatar,

Zatar -le Devlica !

Ale Devla, but pherdem,

Taj sar keti * ci pelem,

Ale Devla, biit inrau,

Taj kade ci maj * pecisarau.

Zatar mange za kija mre gctzi,

Taj m,ire saore.

Vaj, * but Devla, bid

Dekind* avilem,

Mure saoren ci diklem.

Te kamela o Del,

Mure saoren inhe * dikhau,

Kamela svuntu * Del, the cumidau-le ;

0 Del e lacu, th' avau

Taj pirau,

Te kereni chavau

Mure saorensa.

Zatar, zatar, mure romiii,

Taj anau kotorna,

Ek kotorna manro ;

Anau so trehul, *

Le saoren so trebul. *

Zikaj barval'on ol saora,

Apoj * atunci * milulel * o Del

Gindinela * |j?-o lenge.

But core ande lume *

Te ziden ande d'es,

Ad'es te taisa.

Vaj*^ Devla-le, vaj Devla,

Kaj me but kamau.

Mar en, the j>ot'inau,

Taj zilta nasci kerau;

ASunen man, 2^chraleya,

Hajda,* the corau, Kaj me bid kamati,

Beliiiul me no more will I look.

0 God, 0 God, I come

And follow lifter her,

No more call I her back again,

And go, the length and breadth of the

earth. And make the waters [our] grave. O poor, poor one, thy father is rich, But has not bought thee a neckercliief ; Tlic hammers will I beat, And much [smith-work] will I do, And I will buy to take to thee Oh, God ! I shall be able to depart, And behind me never look. Ah, God, ah, God, I shall be able to go, Behind me I have not looked. Nothing praiseworthy have I done. To God will I look, A great, praiseworthy deed will I do. I will go from thee, I will go away, I will go away with God ! (?) Ah, God, much have I travelled, And nothing has gone well with me. Ah, God, nmch do I travel, And that no more shall I survive. I am going to go away to my wife, And to my children. Ah, long, God, long is it That I have come \}. here]. My children not have I seen. But, if God will, My children again shall I see, The holy God grant that I kiss them ; God is good, so that I come And go,

And at home eat Along with my chUdren. I go, I go, my wife. And I bring a piece, A piece of bread ; I bring what is needed. To the children, what is needed. How the children will grow. And then will God bless them [And] take care of them. Many poor [are] in the world And live from day to day. To-day and to-morrow. Alas, b God ! alas, 0 God ! For I owe nuich. They beat me, tliat I pay. And money none can I make Hearken to me, my brothers, Come, that I may steal, For I owe mucb.

292

GYPSY SONGS OF MOURNING.

Hajda* the corau,

Kai the pot'inau.

? hersh ci potHndom.

Ane te kamel o Del,

The pot'inasa,

Zanel o Del, sar pot'inasa,

The kerel, the kojel, amensa e mila.*

Te maj * Devla del vares,

Te kerd'el sar kamel ;

Leske e putere*

Apoj* the meraha, inulo aveha,

Ci maj * pot'inasa.

Te sa perd'om,

Te ci maj * ^^loi'-inrfoin.

Ale, onre male, vire onale,

Asen te helgedun / * *

So Del amen del, pot'iriasa

Me ci mul'om, de nekazu * som ;

0 Del e lacu, majd * * del,

Majd * * zasa, majd * * zasa,

Te majd * * pihirasa

The palpala zas.

0 Del del amen,

Amen taj tumen,

0 Del e lacu the kerel,

So kamel.

So horn me but saori

Trebu * sar dav chaben,

0 Devla svuntu,* de man !

Me lau, the cin lau,

Cin misto ci kerdem.

Daje, daje, mire daj,

Tu sa rod'al andro mende,

Andro lestar saori.

Daje, daje, the kamel o Del,

Ke saori kere ink' * avena,

0 Del bin laco,

Devla, da me sast'ino,

Ke sal laco,

Tute hin putere.*

Da rusa mure dajake,

Taj ferina la

Nasvalipneha.

Amen, Devla, ci zand'am,

Ke per as andre kide comma,

Taj ci zand'am, k'avas kathe,

Taj . . . (?) andre kade kera,

Kade kera vest'ake.

The kamel o Del, ci maj * avasa,

Zikaj avela ek bahi jk pchuv.

Sostar ci avil'al romhi,

Te men anes chaben ?

Nasci . . . (1) the avau.

The vilena avena tumen.

Come, that I may steal,

Wherewith I shall pay.

1 A year nothing have I paid.

I God \Yill to bring it to pass,

I shall pay.

God knows, I will pay all.

He will take pity on us.

God, give ns something,

He has done as he willed ;

To him is the power.

When we are dead, we shall be corpses,

Nothing more to pay.

Always have I gone.

Nothing at all have I paid.

0 my comrades, my comrades. Be silent and play the fiddle ! What God gives to us, we will pay,

1 am not dead, in misfortune am I ; God is good, soon will he give. Soon shall I come and go

Soon shall walk

And again come.

God gives to us.

To us and to you,

God is good and does

What he willeth.

I have many children

It is necessary I give [them] to eat,

0 holy God, give to me !

1 take, and do not take. Nothing good have I done.

0 mother, 0 mother, my mother. Thou hast ever wept for me, And for thy children. 0 mother, 0 mother, would to God That the children home again come. God is good,

0 God, give me health, For thou art good,

To thee is the power.

Give a gift to my mothei",

And keep her

From illness.

We, 0 God, have not known.

That we should fall into this misery,

And have not known, that we should

come here, And ...(?) in these houses. These houses are notorious. If God will, no more come we here. So long as one pig goes upon the ground. Wherefore have you not come, wife, And to me brought food ?

1 could not come,

And soon you will come,

GYPSY SONGS OF MOURNING.

293

The kamel o Del. Naj tumen hut, Numaj* trill con Taj deh d'es. Sa gind'om* sar th'aves, Taj azulcerd'em tut. Andaliode ci kerel chanci, 0 Del milidel * me Anhala man kathar, O Del naj sar o mamis.

If God will.

Not is to you much [spare time]

Only three montlis,

And ten days.

Always thought I, that you would come,

And I awaited you.

But that does not matter,

God will have compassion upon us

Will release us from here,

God is not like man.

A. Herrmann.

II. — Laments for the Dead : In the Popular Poetry of the Trausylvaniaii and South-Hungarian Teut- Gypsies.

(The following are extracted from an Article contributed by our fellow-mem- ber, Dr. Heinrich v. Wlislocki, to the Dresden " INIagazin fiir die Litteratur des In- und Auslandes," of 9th March last. Dr. Wlislocki has only given the Romani text in the two specimens of the Bocilye which are here reproduced. He does not furnish the original Romani in the other specimens of Bovilye, or in any of the Kaiddve. The latter are therefore translated here solely from Dr. Wlislocki's Ger- man versions. — Ed.).

Just as the so-called Rauda {" lament ") forms a stepping-stone to the Lithuanian folk-song proper (knorwn to the world of literature, since Lessing's time, by the national name of Daina), so does the Eovilye, or song of lamentation \l.it. of iveeping'], of the Tent-Gypsies of Transylvania and the South of Hungary lead the way to the true lyric poetry of these people. The Rovilye is a kind of elegy, witliout either rhyme or verse, and is rather an unstudied address to the dead than a true song of lamentation, although it is "crooned" by the mournincj-women in a half-murmured, half-chanted monotone. It does not even resolve itself into proper strophes and verse-lines, but rather into longer or shorter numbers, at the end of which the woman who is chanting it makes a longer or a shorter pause, according to the requirements of the leading idea.

Akin to the Rovilye is the Kaiddve, the song of lamentation proper, which, like the other songs of the Tent-Gypsies, is of regularly- constructed verse, rhyming in couplets. These Kaiddve, which may be heard, though not often, among the Transylvanian Tent- Gypsies, are, like the Rovilye, recited by regular mourning-women shortly before the burial. "While the Rovilye always specially addresses itself to a certain person {e.g. a son to his father, a husband to his wife), the Kaiddve is more general in character and may be employed as a universal farewell to the dead, for which reason it is chanted immediately before the burial, whereas the singing of the Rovilye commences with the laying of the body upon the bier.

I shall now give two of these laments in the original text, as I have noted them down in the course of my frequent expeditions with

294 GYPSY SONGS OF MOUENING.

bands of the Tent-Gypsies, and the others as rendered literally into German; they testify that in the world of feeling men are everywhere alike, whether uncivilised or civilised.

EOVILYE.

(In the Eomani text here given c = Germ. tsch, a: = Germ, ch, y=Germ. dsch, n is as in Spanish, sh and y as in English.)

I. — The Daughter to her Mother.

1. Gule day, gule, nd man tu, the 1. Sweet mother, sweet, would that Icerdyelds^InMbyeMbdrUithekerdyelds/ thou hadst not borne me, Would rather E hdr nd jdncl, kdnd Idkro ddy merdyds, that thou hadst borne a stone ! The Uvd me core pdcirtd silydbdvpdl bdrvdl, stone knows not when its mother is Silydbdv pAld Mm meriben gule ddydTcri. dead. But I, poor hxrk, sing in the

breeze, Sing in the sunshine the death of my sweet little mother.

2. Niko man dkdnd tdtydrel, Kdnd 2. Noonenowwill warnime,WhenIam me shilydvdv ; Niko mdn ushdlyin del, cold ; No one will shade me, When I am Kdnd me tdte som / Te ko mdnge x>ddd oppressed with the heat ! And who will kerel, Kdnd sovdles som ? Bdrvdl nd hin prepare my couch. When I am sleepy ? mindig, 0 Mm nd hin mindig, Uvd me The wind blows not ever. The sun shines core rovdv cdk mindig. not ever, But I, poor one, shall ever

weej}.

3. Andro bes me jidv, Kdnd hin bar- 3. Into the wood will I go, When the vdld, Te tut me dkdrdv, oh gule ddy ; wind blows. And to thee will I call, oh Uvd tu nd dves, Mire dpsd na telckoses, sweet mother ; But thou comest not, M're vodyi nd sdscdres. Cores me cdk Thou dost not wipe away my tears, My jidv, Yekd core Keshdlyi^, Bcshdv me heart thou dost not heal. Lonely shall dkdnd, Upro epustd bdr, Kdy ciriklo nd I wander, A poor Kcshalyi ^, Henceforth silydbel, Kdy cdr nd bdrvdlyol, Odoy me will I sit me down. On barren rocks, beshdv te rovdv. Where sings no bird, Where grows no

grass. There will I sit and sorrow.

II. — Another Version.

1. Oh ddy, tire muy hin p)dndles, 1. Oh mother, thy mouth is closed,

Tre luludyi nd cumides ; T're punrd Thou dost not kiss thy little flower ;

nd jdn pro selene mdl, T're vdstd hin Thy feet go no more over the green

inules te Tiikdnd yon keren/ Oh ddy, heath, Thy hands are dead and work

1 "A hill-fairy, who Bits on the high mountain peaks, and lets her mile-long hair blow down through the valleys, which causes the mist."

In explanation of several other allusions in these laments, Dr. Wlislocki subjoins the following fragments of Gypsy folk-lore : —

" The ' White Hoimd ' is the warder stationed at the portals of the Kingdom of Death, far up among the summits of the mountains. See my Volkskunde der transsilvanischen Zigeuiier ; " (which is reviewed in the G. L. Soc. Jmirjud, ante, pp. 242-3). From the allusions in the Rovilye, it would seem that as each newcomer reaches the gates of death, the bay of the White Hound is heard.

"Before one attains the actual Kingdom of the Dead, one must wander through a waste place, where blows an icy wind 'that cuts the skin like a knife.'

"According to a pojDular belief among the Gypsies, whoever plucks a flower from a grave dies soon after.

" The Gypsies believe to a certain extent in the transmigration of souls, and therefore they bury in the highway at an early hour those little children who were not yet able to walk, so that ' the soul may journey on in an onward-faring pregnant woman.' "

GYPSY SONGS OF MOURNING.

295

t're ycilchd nd dilclen seleno hcs, T'rc hand nd dshunen cir Helen, Te fu nd jdnes, Kdnd Vre luludiji mere! /

2. E ruled vmyd meren, Te jnile selinen, Uvd rri're vodyi somores hin, Te somores mindig cdk hin ! E pdTii ndcol Te pal vreme thdvdel ; M're djysd mindig thdv- den, Te Tiikdnd ndcen ; Cirikld hin blindes, Te ishmet silydben; Asdvihen nd hin mdnge, Te vil;o ishmet dnhnnel.

3. Bdkrori rdciye here . jidl, Cirikli here urdl ; Uvd me core, hay the jidv ? Kdnro beshel cores upro jyrn mdl, Te cores me beshdv upro pro bdv.

4. Oh day, sostdr man cord tu muk- lydl ? Jiukiyi me jidv yevende pal yiv, Te nildye pdl hrtshind; Pxdres me p)dshhjovdv Upro p>ro tro probos, oh ddy / Asukdrdv, dsuhdrdv, Cin tu dvea dndrdl mulengre them.

no more ! Oh mother, thine eyes see not the green wood, Thy ears licar not the birds, And thou knowest not, Tiiat thy little flower is fading !

2. The trees fade quickly. And grow green again, But my heart is sad, And sad for ever ! The brook becomes dry, And in the spring-time it flows again ; My tears are ever flowing, And they never dry ; The birds cease their sing- ing, And then again they sing ; Gone is my laughter. And no one hears the sound of my laugh any more.

3. At evening the little lamb returns to the fold. And home flies the bird; But ah, poor me, whither shall I go ? The thistle stands solitary upon the field. And all alone upon the heath am I.

4. Ah mother, why hast thou left poor me ? As a poor hound do I wander in winter through the snow, And in summer through the rain ; Then I lay myself wearied Upon thy grave, oh mother! And I wait and wait, Until thou comest back from the country of the dead.

To a Child. Thou, my child, my only one. Ah ! how soon from me thou 'rt gone ! Lovely rosebud, fair to see. Death, alas ! has gathered thee ! E'en the grave will treat thee kind, For indeed thou 'rt gold refined ! Purest gold, dear child, art thou, Rest in sweetest slumber now !

To a Maid. Beauteous dove, with golden sheen. Thou to Death a prey hast been ! Once like graceful hemp-stalk thou. Bruised, alas ! and broken now ! As the stately tree on high, Wert thou in thy comrades' eye ! . Ah ! that in thy sweet embrace Lover ne'er found resting-place ! That on thy lips, so soft and red, Lover's kiss was never laid ! Joy and Love thou here must leave Eest at morn in peaceful grave !

AIDAVE.

To a Young Woman. In the wind the trees loud moan. Sister, thou hast left us soon ! Sister, on the other shore, 'Tis thine to greet those gone before ! Thirty years long was thy quest. For the heart, the body, rest ! Thou hast found it now. Soon revive wilt thou, Freed from pain and sorrow's sway — But ah ! so far, so far away !

To a Man Highly Esteemed. Lofty tree in forest high, In the ground thou soon must lie ! Though the golden sun is shining, Sad thy branches all are pining I Ah, thou wouldst to rest lie down, Followed by our prayers alone ! Few the men now left on earth Like to thee in good and worth ; Henceforth, without sun or star, Leaderless, we wander far ; Since of thee we are forlorn. Lofty tree, in glory born !

296

A VOCABULARY OF THE SLOVAK-GYPSY DIALECT.

VII.— A VOCABULAEY OF THE SLOVAK-GYPSY DIALECT.

By R von Sowa. (Contimied.)

Cho, s., nacho.

Cholaxdni, a., M. W., s. f. (Gr. chovexani,

ghost, phantom ; Hng. chohani ; Bhm.

wanting), witch. Chon, *M., M. W., S., s. m. (Gr., Bhm.

= SI., Hng., chhon, chhom). 1. Moon,

*M., M. W. 2. Month, S>.—Yav

adarde yekhe choneste — come here in

a month. Chondro, chonoro, M. W., s. m, (dim. of

the foregoing), moon. Chor, S., chor, *K., s. m. (Gr., Hng.,

Bhm. chor), thief, robber. Choral, M. W., adv. (Gr. choryal ; Hng.

wanting ; Bhm. choral), secretly.

Po choral, M. W., id. Ghorau, S., chorav, M. W., vb. tr. (Gr.

chorava; Hng., Bhm. chorav), to steal,

to ravish, S., a.

Chorau avri, to pkinder. Chori, M. W., s. f. (Gr., Hng., Bhm.

wanting), robbery. Geijasfr-e chori —

he went to rob, M. W. Choripen, M. W., s. m. (Gr. chorihe ;

Hng. choripe ; Bhm. choriben), theft,

robbery.

Po choripen, a., secretly, M, W. Choro, S., choro, K., chorro, shorro, M. W.,

adj. ((Gr., Hng. choro ; Bhm. chorro).

1. Poor; Ax Devla, so tut dava?

Me som choro sasos — 0 God, what

shall I give thee? I am a poor

soldier. 2. Unlucky ; Ax Devla

mreya, har me choro manushoro atar

dendshava ? — Oh my God, how shall I,

unlucky man, fly hence ? 3. Orphan,

M. W. ; Devleskri chori — orphan,

K. Chorroro, shorroro, M. W., adj. (dim. of

choro), poor, orphan. amchi, M. W., s. f. (Gr., Hng. = SI.

Bhm. chuchi), breast (of a woman), pi.

teats. Chudinav man, a., M. W., vb. refl. (Slov.

cudovat'), to wonder. Chulavau, 1 a., vb. tr. (Gr., Hng., Bhm.

wanting ; SI., a mistake 1), to sweep Kai pes chulavel, said a Gypsy, when asked what he would say for "a broom."

amlo, M. W., K., adj. adv. (Gr., Hng. wanting; Bhm. = SI.), few, a little. Nane man but Idve chak chulo — I have not much money, but just a little. Pale leslce phend'as : " uzhdr chulo " — then he said to him, " wait a little."

Chid'avav, M., vb. itr. (s. chul'ova^i); to flow, to drop. The word is proved by : You oda rdldo, vichind'as, hoy vzhdi chul'ala o pdni ; fale has o gdje igen rada, hoy oda pdni chul'alas — he, that boy, exclaimed that the water is always flowing ; then the men were very glad because that water was flowing, M.

ChuVinlca, S., chulinka, M. W., adv. (dim. of chulo, formed in the way of the Slavonian ; Gr., Hng. wanting ; Bhm. = Sl.), a little.

Chul'ovau, M. W., S., vb. itr. (Gr. wanting; Hng., chuyovav ; Bhm.= SI.), to drop, to splash, M. W. ■ Chumi, a., K., s. 1 (Gr. chumi. In the other dialects it is found, but in com- position with the verb dau. I am myself of opinion that even in SI. it is never found as a separate noun) ; kiss.

Chumidau, S. chumidav, K., vb. tr. (Gr. chumidava ; Hng. Bhm. chumi- dav), to kiss. Xtidinas j)eskre phrales he igen Us chumidelas — he embraced his brother, and kissed him much. Chumi dinas chamatar — he kissed (her) on the face, K.

Chupni, S., s. f. (Gr. chtipni, chukni means a tobacco pipe ; Hng. chumnih; Bhm. = SI.), whip.

Churdau, S., churdav; M. W., K., vb. tr. (a contracted form of chivr-dau, the SI. v before consonants being a semi-vocal ; Bhm. chivrdav, which is

A VOCABULARY OF THE SLOVAK-GYPSY I)L\LECT.

297

to be referred to Gr. chiv-dava ; Hng. chidav), to throw. You kana avna, pre tute o yag churdena — when they come, they will throw tire upon thee. Churi, S., chnri, "SI. W., s. f. (Gr. churi,

chorl ; Hng. churi ; Bhni, churi),

knife. Churori, ]M. W., s. f. (dim. of churi),

knife. Chvrtkos, S., s. m. (Slov. ctvrtoJc),

Thursdav.

D.

Dad, M., K., S., s. m. (Gr. Hng. Bhm.=

SI), father.

Dadeshro chdvo : See chdvo. Dadives : See adadives. Dndka, a., S., s. m. voc. (cf. chaiko), 0

father. This form is proved by : Ax

dadka, phcn oh mre romeske — oh

fiither, say to my husband. Dadoro, *M. S., dadoro, M. W. (dim.

of dad), father. Dai, K., S., s. f. obi. sg. da; instr. daha

(Gr., Hng., Bhm. = Sl. ; Gr. dn, tai),

mother. Daiko, K., S., s. f. voc. (dim of dai,

cf. chaiko), 0 mother. Dand, M. W., S., s. m. pi. danda ; S.

dand, M. W, (Gr. dant; Hng., Bhm.

= S1.), tooth. Dandcrau, S., vb. tr. (Gr. danfelava,

dantarava ; Hng., Bhm. dauderav),

to bite. Dar, M. ^\., S., s. f. (Gr., Hng , Bhm.

= S1.), fear. Darandufno, 'M. W., adj. (Gr.. Hng..

Bhm. wanting), afraid, terrified. Danmd'ovau, M. W., vb. itr. (Gr.

daranovava ; Hng., Bhm. wanting),

to be afraid. Darav, S., dnrav, a., K. (a misprint?),

vb. tr., pi. pf. darand'ilo, from the

foregoing (Gr. darava; Hng. darar;

Bhm. ddrav), to fear. Me iutar na

darau — I am not afraid of tliee. Daravau, ISI. W., S., vb. (dr., Hng.,

Bhm. The corresponding forms mean

'■ to frighten "), to fear. JS^'ikaMar na

daralas — he did not fear anybody. Dau, M., S., dav, K., pf. dinom (Gr.

dava ; Hng., Bhm. dav). 1. To give ;

De man varcso — give me something.

2. To order (Slavism) ; You dinus

banda te vichincl hashaviben — he

ordered a band (of musicians) to make

music. 3. To let, to permit ; The

tuke deha yek yak avri te lei — if thou

permittest thyself to take away one

VOL. I. — NO. V.

eye, M. Dau niaH, to engage (in). Pes dine and o rovibcn — they began to weep (were engaged in weeping). Dau man — to commend one's self. £' fhilri manushi'ii dinas peske nira Devles — the old woman commended herself to God. Dau fnle, a., to un- button, M. W.

Daydri, M. W., K., S. (dim. of dai), mother.

Dejinau, a., S., vb. itr. (Mag. d'ufni, to sting, to thrust; Hng. wanting; Bhm. dejinac, to elicit, Jes., 57). 1. To thrust ; Man igen dukal, me man igen dijind'om — I feel a great jmin ; I have thrust me much (? pricked or stabbed myself). 2. The verb seems to have a different meaning in the sentence Kana ijou kapl'as, mind'ar lake and-o vusht defind'as oda yepash angrust'i. In the tale O Trin Druki a girl had given the half of a ring to the Bruntsl'ikos. When he metwithher again,she offered him a glass of wine. AYhen drinking it, he found in it the other half of the ring, which she had thrown into it (that is the explanation of the quoted sentence). 3. To splash out ; Aukao drakos uumind'as pordd, azh leske le vastestar a rat defind'as— so the dragon pressed (the stone) continually, until the blood splashed out from his hand.

Dennshau, S., denashav, M. W., K. (Gr.. Hng. wanting; Bhm. dendshav, a com- posite of da + ndshav, Mikl., M. W. viii. 23, cf. Km. de nashibe, ib.), to run, to Hy.

Deti, *M., s. m. (Slov. den), day ; occurs only in dobri den. See DobrL

Desh, K., S., num. card. (Gr., Hng., Bhm. = SI.), ten; deshvar, K. S., ten times.

Deshto, K., S., num. ord. (Gr., Hng., Bhm. = Sl.), tentii.

Deiel, M. W., *K., S., del., *M., s. m. (Gr., Hng., Bhm. devel ; Gr.dd; Hng.

U

298

A VOCABULARY OF THE SLOVAK-GYPSY DIALECT.

del), God. The SI. Gypsy always says, mro Devel (my God), or mro sovna- kuno Devel (my golden God), and very seldom uses the single noun, cf. even in Hng. bastdh somniakiine Devla ! Ml. I. ; 151. Idche somniahune Devla ! ib. 181, etc. I could not find instances of this use in any other dialect. In the tale, 0 phuro sasos, God gives orders to St. Peter. In the same tale God appears in the shape of a beggar to the poor soldier, and saj's hifu- self : Me som mro sovnahuno Devel — I am my golden God. And in the tale, E trill rcildya, God reveals him- self in the shape of an old man.

Develoro, S., s. ra. (dim. of Devel, Bhm. Devldro), God.

Devl'ikdno, a., S., adj. (Gr. Devlikano ; Hng., Bhm. wanting), divine ; occur- ring only in Mri Dcvl'ihmi dai — my God's mother (the Virgin Mary).

Diesara, a., K. (cf. dosdra ; I am doubt- ful of diesara), morning, K.

Dikhau, M. W., S., dikav, K. dikxan, *M., vb. tr., pi. pf. diklo (Gr. dikava, dikhara ; Hng., Bhm. dikhav), to see ; dikliau pre — to look at.

Dilos, M. W., S., dilos, M. W., s. m. (Mag. del ; Hng. wanting, Bhm. = SI.). 1. Midday, noon ; 2. Dinner. Yoi amenge tdvla o dilos — she will cook the dinner for us. Diloskero, at noon, M. W. ; zhi diloskero, till noon, M. W.

Dil'ino, S., dilino, M. W., K., adj. (Gr., Hng., Bhm. dilino ; Gr. diiiiln), fool- ish, silly.

Dil'ovar, a., M. W., vb. itr. (Gr. dikyo- vava ; Hng. dit'hovav ; Bhm. wanting), to appear (prop., to be seen).

Dives, K., S., d'ives, M. W., S., d'es, M. W., s. m. pi. d'ives, d'ivesa ; M. W., dives, s. f. ; (Gr., Hng. dives ; Gr., Bhm. d'ives, pi. d'ivesa, Jes. 11 ; Gr. dies, dis), day.

Divesal'ol, S., d'ivcsalol, iSI. W., divesul'o, K., vb. imp. (Gr. disl'ol ; Hng. dislol, it glows ; Bhm. d'ivesal'ol), it dawns.

Divesdro, K., s. m. (dim. of dives), the dawn, K.

Divizjd7io, a., S., s. m. (Germ. Division), division (milit.).

Divo, a., M. W. adj. (Slavon. divij, Mikl.), wild.

Diz, S., s. f. (Gr., Hng. wanting ; Bhm. = S1., cf. Ptt. ir. 318), castle'; Phdn diz — prison, gaol (cf. Germ. Schwerer Kerker).

Dldzhofsi, a., S., s. pi. (certainly bor- rowed from Slov., but I could not find its equivalent in the Slov. dictionary), silver coins ; so my Gypsy explained it. The only passage in which it occurs (in the tale 0 Rom th-o drakos !), runs : So kames mandar akanak? love? I'eho kames mandar dldzhohi, I'eho hdre dukdii ? Vai ka- mes bdre love? (cf. Zeitschr. d. d. morg. Ges. Vol. xxxix. p. 513),

Do, ,S., prep. (Slov. do), to, till : only in azh do rdna, till the morning.

Dohri, *M., adj. (Slov. dobri), good ; only in the Slov. phrase, dobri den, good day !

Dohouinau, _ M. W., vb. tr. (Slov. dohonit'), to overreach. Slov. A^erbs compounded with do are frequently borrowed. The materials further aff'ord :

Doxdzinau, S., vb. itr., to reach. Dostainau, M. W., vb. tr., to receive. DoydHnau, S., doydinar, M. "W., vl).

tr., to arrive. Doved'inaii, S., vb. tr., to bring to. Dozvjed'inau man, S., vb. refl., to con- vince one's self, from the Slov. vbs. : dochddzat', dostaf, dojst', doviest', dozvedet'sa.

Dorik, M. W., S., s. f.. (Gr., Bhm. dori; Hng. = SI.), band (string-band).

Dosdra, a., K., adv. (cf Slov. zora, dawn, rose, morn ?) near the morning, K.

Doska, a., M. W., s. f. (Slov. doska). board, plank.

Dost, dosta, K., S. (Slavon. dosijti,'M.\k\. M. W. vii. 45 ; Rm., Hng., dosta), enough.

Dostatkos, S., s. m. (Slov. dostatek, plenty, provision, stock, store.

Dovart'inav, a., M. ^Y., vb. (Slov. rartovat', to keep guard. Cf, for another etymology, M. W., xii. 76.) The meaning is not given in M. W.

Drdgo, S., adj. (Serb, drag, the Slov. form being drahy), dear. Mro drdgo mdnush — My dear man !

Drakos, M. S. (Slov. drak), dragon. In three of my Sl.-G. stories a dragon is mentioned. In the tales, 0 Bom

A VOCABULARY OF THE SLOVAK-GYPSY DIALECT.

299

th-o drakos, i. and ii., the dragon dwells in a cave (yasldna) with his blind mother. He steals sheep, a great number of which he eats. He possesses plenty of money ; he is able to fly through the air. In this, as in other tales, the dragon converses with men. In the tale, 0 Trin DroJd, three dratrons have ravished girls, with whom they dwell on inaccessible peaks or in deep abysses. They are cannibals, and they can scent the flesh of men from afar. One of them eats leaden dumplings at dinner. One of them has a dozen heads. These dragons are possessors of treasnres. In the tale, 0 Drakos, the dragon is said to have twenty-four heads. Every day a girl must be offered to him as food by the inhabitants of the town. This dragon also resides in a cavern, and has a blind mother like that in B.D. i. All the dragons mentioned in the tales have immense strength of body ; they throw sticks up to the sky ; with their hands they squeeze stones until water splashes out from them (0 Bom th-o Dr.) ; they throw ham- mers weighincj from fifteen to fiftv quintals to a distance of foui'teen or even fifty miles (0 Trin Dr.), etc.

Drom, M. W., K., S., s. m. (Gr., Hng., Bhm. = S1.). 1. Way, road, see Wro. 2. Journey. Dava tut trin mare pr-o drom — I .shall give thee three loaves of bread on the journey.

Dromaskro, a., K., adj. (from the fore- going), wandering. Trin ase dro- maskrc mannsha — three travellers, K.

Druid, a., S., num. ord. (Slov. druhy), second; occurs only in drnhl ra~, second time.

Dtsera, a., M. W., s. f. (Slov. dcera), daughter.

Duhos, M. W., s. m. (Slov. duh), oak.

Dmjo, M., adj.^ (Slavon. dlugu, ISIikl., M. W., VII. *vb., Hng., Bhm. = SI.), long. Dagos, M. W., adv., a long time, for a long time.

Dui, K., S., duy, M., num. card. (Gr., Hng., Bhm. = SI.), two. Donde, a., Gr. (duyende), in two, K. Me le donde cldnd'omas — I shall have cut him in two, K. ; diiljenc, dujene, M.,

(s. jdne), two, both, soduijene, see so ; duvar, M. W., *K., S., duar, K. (s. var), two times, twice. In the Obi. the first jiart also of the composite changes its form ; e.g., dwje-jme7i, ace. m., duye-jetientsa, inst. f.

Dukal, M. W., S., vb. imp. and tr. (Gr. dukava, to feel a pain ; Rm. = SI., Hng., Bhm. dukhal. In SI. it is not always used impersonally, but never other- wise than in the 3d pers. sing pres.), to ache, to pain. Man igen dukal — I feel a great pain ; Man dukal o sMro — my head aches.

Dukdtos, S., dukatisi a., M. W., s. m. (the nom. sing, being inferred from \A. dukati, S., and dukdta, M. W. (Slov. dukdt), an Austrian ducat.

Dukerau, S., vb. itr. (do Slov. +kerau'':) The meaning of this verb is not clear. It occurs only in the tale, 0 Trin Draki, in the following passages : (a.) Kaitutadaiil'oX,mro drugo mdnush? Adai tro vod'i aclilaf — Me na darauf — Adai chirikleske na dukerel u tu adarde avl'al ! This last sentence might be translated : A bird does not succeed [not even a bird succeeds] in coming here, and thou camest here I That is to say : The i^eak on which we dwell is so high that not even a bird is able to reach it. (b.) Latar phuch- el oda drakos : (me som) mange adai manushdlo mas khandel. — Al'e kai tuke mro drdgo rom, manushdlo mas khaudelas, kana adai chirikle {■ — klo ?) chirikleske na dukerel ? The chronicler himself translated the last sentence : Ptdk kn ptdkn ncdolctl (bird does not come to bird), cf. Mikl. M. W., xii. 90 : Chiriklo chirikleske na doydinel — A bird does not come to the bird.

Dukrutna 1 a., S. (This must be a mis- understood Slov. word. — I cannot explain it). Imdr you prinjdrd'as, o Yankos, peskra da : mro Devel asi dukrutna diiias, ta jirinjdrd'as akvrdt (0 Dui Chdvore).

Dtcma, a., S., s. f. (Bulg. dnma, Mikl. M. W., vii. 117; Rm. Bhm. = Sl.), speech, answer? advice? Vhak mri duma shun, har tuke- phenava, auka most te keres — Only hearken to my advice (words ?) ; as I say to thee so

300

A VOCABULARY OF THE SLOVAK-GYPSY DIALECT.

must thou do. Po trtral lestar pMichl'as, na kaml'as te vaJcerel leha e duma — three times he asked him, (but) he would not si^eak (give) to him an answer (?)■

Duma dav, a., M. W. (Rm. Bhni. =

fSl., but means, to speak), to consult,

to deliberate.

Dumo, M. W., S., s. m. (Gr., Hng.,

Bhm. = SI.), back. A Gr}'psy rendered

" crook-backed " by Nane Idcho dumo

(not having a good back). Dumdro, a., M. W., s. m. (dim. of

dumo), the first slice of a loaf. Dilr, S., dur, M. W., K., adv. (Gr.,

Bhm. dur, adj. adv., Hng. dxir adv.),

far ; dtlroder (comp), further. Duvar. See vudar. DvokhJii, S., s. m., pi. (Slov. dvojicky),

twins ; droirhlci chavore, id.

D'

D'akinav, a., M. W., vb. tr. (Slov. D'iv, M. W., (Gr. giv, ic ; Hng. '//<• d'akovat'), to thank. wheat ; Bhm. = SI., corn), grain.

DVwuih/ovo, S., adj. (Slov. di'imantov)'i), D'ives. Hee Dives.

of diamond, dianiantine. D'ivesal'ol. Sec divesalul.

D'es. See Dives. D'ivinau man, S., vb. refl. (.Slov.

D'ilos, See Dilos. divit'sa), to wonder.

Dz.

Dzdr, S., d~ar, M. W., K., s. f. (Gr. jar ; Dzarulo, a., S., adj. (Gr. jaryalo ; Hng.

Hng. dzdr ; Bhm. d~a?-), moustaches, dzarvalo ; Bhm. = Si.), nioustacliioed,

shag, filament, hair : dr.dra, pi., eye- shaggy, brows, S.

E.

Efta, K., S., dfta, M., num. card. (Gr., Hng., Bhm. = S1.), seven ; eftavar, K., S., seven times.

EftatOf K., S., num. ord. (Gr., Hng., Bhm. = SI.), seventh.

enea, enia, iniya ; Hng., Bhui. = Sl.) nine ; enarar, S., ennyavar, K., nine times. Enato, S., ennyato, K., num. ord. (Gr. \ Hng., Bhm. = SI.), ninth.

Ekstra (Slov. vulg. and Germ, extra), E'lyen, S., intj. (Mag. djeyi), long live

separately. he I (in drinking one's health).

Ena, S., ennya, K., num. card. (Gr. Eskche, S., adv. (Slov. e.ite), still, yet.

F.

Feder. See Idcho.

Fektinau, a., S., vb. itr. (Germ, fechteii),

to fight. Fel'eblos, a., S., s. m. (Germ. Feldwebel),

sergeant. Figl'aris, M. W., s. ni. (Slov. ficjliar),

juggler. Firshtos, S., s. m. (Germ. Flbst), prince. Flinta, M. W., s. f. (Slov. vulg. flinta,

from the Germ. Flinte), gun, rifle. Forgovos, a., M. W., s. m. (Mag. forgo,

bunch of feathers), red cap (as tlie

Turkish fez). Forikos, M. W., s. m. (dim. of the

following ; cf. Bhm. forichkos), town. Foros, M., S., Joros, K. (Gr., Bhm.

faros ; Hng. foro), town. Frchkos, S., s. m. (Slov. cvrcek, cricket,

frcat', to rattle, to whiz ; but the Sl.-G.

word may be borrowed rather from

another Slav, language), cricket. Furt, S., adv. (Germ. forO, coutinually.

REVIEWS. 301

PtE VIEWS.

Ohscrvacioncs Criticas a las Et inwlogias dc la Real Academia Espafiola. By Professor A. Fernandez Merino. (Extracted from the Revista Contempordnca, ]\Iadrid, 1889.)

These observations, which our learned colleague has brought forward with a view of rendering more accurate the next edition of the Eeal Academia's Diccionario, are in many respects beyond our scope. But of the 187 pages of this pamphlet, a large portion (pp. 63-111) directly concerns itself with the Gitanos and their language; while, in the detailed etymological criticisms which follow, various Eomani derivations are set forth.

The objections which the critic urges so strongly against the Bic- cionario (too strongly, perhaps, to suit the taste of the lexicographers) are that, whereas it omits many important v/ords, on the ground that they are too technical or special, it includes a great many terms that have nothing to justify their presence in so important a work, being mere slang, or else Spanish-Americanisms. {Sec pp. G7, Q^, and 110.) Moreover, while these slang words are so often introduced, the Gitano words — of which many {see p. 110) are in constant use in Spain, and not among Gypsies only — are ignored altogether. Fur- ther, the Gitanos and their language are entirely confounded and identified with the ladroncs, picaros, and other scamps, most of whom know nothing of Romanes, but employ this Icrc/a, Germania, or slang, which the Diccionario ignorantly believes to be the language of the Gypsies. With Professor Merino's righteous indignation against this recognition of a jar<ioii, to the exclusion of a genuine kingua(je, we have of course every sympathy ; but it is to be feared that he will iind few Gypsiologists who will agree with him in regarding the occu- pants of prisons as a class totally distinct from the Gypsies.

Among those words to which Professor Merino assigns a Gitano origin are — chtfjuendc ( = Eng. Gyp, diVc), chacJio, gao, pillo, camelar, lacayo, lacha, and ^jiw/70.^ A¥ith regard to rJtacho, which occurs in Spanish as a term of endearment, and which Professor INIerino is inclined to believe comes (through the Gypsies) from the Hindustani chctcha, " uncle " (cf. Gyp. h/Jc, Ivko), we would suggest that it has a nmch closer affinity with the Gypsy adjective chacho, "true" or

" genuine."

And if a Gitano origin has not been assigned to the word

1 See pp. 126, 127, 157, 160, 163, 167, 174, 179. 180, and 181.

302 EEVIEWS.

gaita, "a bagpipe," we beg to point out that it belongs to the Greek dialect of Romani (see Paspati, s. v. Gdldci). It can scarcely be maintained that Spain gave this word to the Gypsies of the Ottoman Empire. On the other hand, those Greek Gypsies, whose presence in Spain in the year 1512 is testified by the Constituciones de CataluTM (see De Rochas, p. 269), must certainly have employed the word, if the bagpipe, still used by the juglars of Catalonia, was as much associated with the Gitanos as it formerly was with the Gypsies of England and Scotland.

Professor Merino's survey of the various accounts relating to the advent of the Gypsies in Europe, which occupies many pages, calls for no special mention here. Of the importance of his etymological " observations " there can be no question.

Die Zigeuner unter den Siidslaven : Contributed by Madame Maklet (Mara Cop) to No. 3 of the Mhnologische Mitteilnngen aus Ungarn.

In this article, IMadame Marlet, content to act the part of " chorus," has placed before her readers an alternating series of state- ments, by two highly competent authorities, regarding the South- Slavic Gypsy family. Professor J. H. Kuhac, eminent as a collector of Slavic ballads, and whose valuable work, Jugodavenske piesme (South-Slavic songs), is devoted to the melodies, folk-lore, and customs of the Gypsies, as well as of the Slavs and Slovaks of Hungary, has from time to time expressed liimself upon Gypsy matters, in the course of his correspondence with Madame Marlet. These letters Madame Marlet has since submitted to our esteemed fellow-member, the Archduke Joseph of Austria- Hungary, with the request that he would jot down such marginal comments as might suggest themselves to His Highness while perusing Professor Kuhac's statements. Informal as the notes accordingly are, in either case, they are thus obviously none the less valuable.

Many interesting statements are made with regard to the organi- sation of the Gypsy community, and the system of government by " woiwodes," who in turn acknowledge a supreme "great woiwode." This dignitary, and the " species of ' Peter's pence,' ". exigible by him, at once recalls to an English reader the " Grand Eogue," who once received a similar tribute in England, according to earlier writers.

REVIEWS. 303

Other remarks are made on such subjects as marriage by purchase ; and the temporary connection which a Bomani chai does not scruple to form with a gadjo, and which, indeed, receives the formal sanction of the woiwode. And the Archduke states that it is not unusual to see a fair-liaired child at play with his swarthy half-brothers and sisters.

That these Gypsies are good linguists, and generally able to speak in three languages (sometimes in more), is distinctly asserted. Professor Kuhac, indeed, has formed a high opinion of the Gypsy's abilities. Kot only are we told that every member of a Gypsy family has his or her special daily work to do, contrary to the common belief that they are idle people, but that as a race they are distinguished by great talent and perseverance. Whatever they engage in they excel in ; and this applies not only to music, as European history testifies, but also to many other arts, such as gold and silver filigree-work, smith-work, and wood-carving. It is cer- tainly noteworthy that, as we are here informed, the Gypsies of Mon- tenegro are called Majstori (" Meister "), because even yet they are the only artificers of that country. The Montenegrins, it appears, are only in a very slight degree agriculturists, and to engage in any handicraft would be quite beneath their dignity, according to the inherited ideas of that warrior caste. Now, it is equally notable that the Gypsies of Scotland must at one time have occupied a precisely similar position to those of Montenegro. For the Gypsies of the Highlands of Scotland, if not those of the whole country, were known as caircls ; which term has exactly the signification of Majstori, \\z. " artificers." Both of these terms testify that the Gypsies were once pre-eminently a caste of artificers ; and this is very suggestive.

These various notes and commentaries are extremely interesting, and, having all the weight of authority, they are equally important. It is gratifying to notice that this paper will be followed by a subse- quent series of observations by these two eminent Gypsiologists.

Ueber den Zauber iiiit vienscJilichen Korperteilen bei den transsilvan- ischen Zigeunern. Contributed to No, 3 of the Ethnologische MiUeilungen aus Ungarn^ by Dk. Heinkich von Wlislocki.

This treatise forms a supplement to the previous .studies in Gypsy Lore undertaken by this zealous and most thorough Gypsiologist. Here Dr. Wlislocki restricts himself, as the title indicates, to the

304 REVIEWS.

" magic " that is associated with the various parts of the human body. The opening section of his article, that now before us, is chietly taken up with a detailed account of the witchcraft of the Fingers, which form the text of five separate descriptions. The Hair, Teeth, and Nails are also dealt witli. The whole article will greatly interest those who desire to study this subject; and it not only forms a valu- able addition to Dr. Wlislocki's previously published studies in Gypsy Witchcraft, Ijut it is also a characteristic item in this the latest number of Professor Herrmann's admirable Journal.

Besides the three publications above-named, we have also to record the recent appearance of various books, pamphlets, and news- paper notices (some of these last of no great value, it is true, but still useful as illustrating Gypsy ways.) In No. 11 of Das Macjazin filr die Litteratur dcs In- und Auslandes, (Dresden, 9th March 1889), appeared Dr. Von Wlislocki's beautiful TotenJclagen, copious extracts from wluch are given in our present number. Pastor J. Jesina has issued another sflries of Gypsy-Bohemian Tales {Cikdnsko-ccshe poliddky a jpovidky: Nos. 4 and 5, Kuttenberg, 1889). The Italian newspaper, La Sentinella (Osimo, 24th April 1889), is enriched with nearly two columns on Gli Ziiujari in Africa, by the Marquis Colocci. And in his new and elegant edition of the famed Breitmann Ballads, Mr. C. G. Leland has succeeded in introducing / Gili Bomaneskro and the moving ballad of The Gypsy Lover. Other items, chiefly relating to English Gypsies, are these : — Fortune-telling at Darwen, near Black- burn, by a Gypsy hawker, Jane Matilda Boswell (18), who was fined 2s. 6d. therefor, {Preston Guardian, 16th March 1889); Fortune-tell- ing at Hanley, by Kosannah Price, Gypsy, fourteen days' imprison- ment, {Derly Be^Mrter 22d March 1889); Zachariah Smith, George Smith (his son) and Nathaniel Smith, Gypsies, fined £5 for assault on police at Collingham, near Wetherby, {Leeds Mercury, 26th April 1889) ; The Gypsies of Ceylon, {The Times, 23d April 1889); notices of the " Gypsy Heirloom," mentioned on page 176 of our Journal, {The Gra-phic, 4th May, and the Newcastle Daily Chronicle, 16th May 1889); Carnathia Clayton, aged five, accidentally burnt at camp at IMerryhill, near Handsworth, {Manchester Guardian, 4th May 1889) ; Andrew Dighton, Gypsy, elopement with Caroline Smith, wood mer- chant's daughter at Eastbourne {Manchester City News, 4th May 1889) ; Yetholm Gypsies— three paragraphs, {Tlic Globe, 10th May 1889); George and Boye Burton, Gypsies, sons of Selina Burton, imprisoned

NOTES AND QUERIES. 305

one month for assault on farmer at Bodenham {Hereford Times, 11th May 1889); "A King's Nephew: how Owen Stanleigh was crowned years ago in Enghmd." A very long and excellent article, with illustrations, containing valuable information as to American Gyjosies (by Artliur Kegan, in the Globe-Democrat, St. Louis, Missouri, U.S., 26th May 1889). The Marquis Colocci's recent work, Gli Zingari, was also reviewed by Mr. W. E. A. Axon in The Academy of 1st June 1889. And we may mention that The Portfolio (London : Seeley & Co.) reproduces in its June number a line head of a Gypsy, by Sir Frederick Leighton, P.E.A.

XOTES AND QUERIES. I.

Hungarian Gypsy offering to prove that he descends from

"King Pharaoh."

The French newspaper, Le Temps, contained in its number of the 10th September 1888, under the head " Aufrichc-Ho7igrie," the following paragraph, which I re-translate into English : —

"A correspondent from Vienna to the Daily News says that an old Gypsy named Raphael has addressed a request to the Emperor Francis-Joseph, in which he begs him to proclaim him ^ King of the Gypsies, because he can prove his direct descent from ' King Pharaoh.' The subscriber of the address promises on liis part to put an end to the vagrant habits of the Gypsies, and so enable them to furnish good soldiers to the Austrian army."

The Emperor of Austria has certainly not taken the request of the old Gypsy as seriousj for the fact belongs much more to folk-lore than to the domain of govern- ment ; but this request was all the more interesting to the Gypsiologist because its author evidently made it seriously, and because it has an evident connection with the old tradition which makes the Gypsies come from Egypt,— a tradition pro- pagated all over Europe for centuries past by the Gyi).sies themselves, and which has procured them, especially in Hungary, the name of the '''^ people of Pharaoh."

An ecclesiastic residing in Hungary, Mr. Eeuss, pointed out sonie time ago to his former master, Pott, a Gypsy song, " known by the name of \\\c famous Song of Pharaoh (beriihmte Pharaonslied), which seems to have an epic character," and which the Gypsy who had been heard to sing it accomiwnied with bitter tears. Unfortunately it had not been possible to gather more than a fragment of it, and that perhaps an incorrect one, or composed in an ancient Gypsy dialect (which miidit even be Asiatic or African ?) ; for Pott had not been able to translate it, but he nevertheless reproduced the fragment, in the hope of calling the attention of some investigator who might collect the whole of the song and give a translation <>f it. (See Pott, Uehcr die Zirjcuner, in ZeitscJirift dcr Dcutschcn morgcnldndischcn Gesellschaft, 3d vol., 1849, p. 327. Cf. Bataillard, Les Verniers Travaux ... p. 27).

If there yet remains any chance of recovering and throwing some light on this precious song, it would no doubt be furnished by some old Hungarian Gypsy, imbued, like Kaphael, with the Pharaouic traditions concerning his race and con- cerning his OAvn family.

' Le Temps writes, "de se proclaiiier," which is evidently a nn'stake.

306 . NOTES AND QUERIES.

At all events, it would be curious to learn the proofs that this Gypsy asserted he was able to furnish of his Pharaonic descent ; and no one could be better situated than the eminent Gypsiologist, the Archduke Joseph, to find the petition addressed to his Imperial cousin, and the old Gypsy Eaphael himself, and to obtain from the latter the documents and the explanations by which he pretended to justify his petition. This request we ourselves now respectfully address to his Imperial and Royal Highness. P. B.

The Chixoaneros of Venezuela.

I have recently been reading again a l:)ook written with much ability, and giving a bright and interesting account of some very varied scenes. No authors name is given on the title-page, which reads : —

" Campaigns and Cruises in Venezuela and New Grenada and in the Pacific Ocean from 1817 to 1830 ; with the Narrative of a March from the River Orinoco to San Buenaventura on the Coast of ('hoco ; and Sketches of the West Coast of South America from the Gulf of California to the Archi- pelago of Chiloe. Also Tales of Venezuela : illustrative of Revolutionary Men, Manners, and Incidents. (London, Longman and Co. Printed by H. E. Carrington, Chronicle Office, Bath, 1831.)" 3 vols.

My present object, however, is chiefly to call attention to the account given of a race bearing very striking analogies to that mysterious Romany race which has pro- vided so many puzzles for ethnologists of the Old World : —

" He was one of that class of Mestizo natives who are called, in many parts of South America, Gitanos and Chinganeros, in allusion most probably to the wander- ing, vagabond way of life they have adopted ; for there would seem to be no reason to believe that they really belong to that singular race of outcasts from whom they derive their name, and who are supposed to be as yet confined to the Eastern quarters of the globe. These people are held in utter contempt and abhorrence by all true Indians ; and not even the meanest tribes among them will hold any intercourse with the Chinganeros, whom they consider degraded by their buffoonery to the level of monkeys. Their agility and humour, nevertheless, rendered tlieir occasional visits always welcome to the light-hearted Criollos ; and even the super- cilious Spaniards deigned at times to relax from their haughty gravity, and to smile at their unpolished gambols. At the hottest periods of the guerra d la muerte the Chinganeros were considered as privileged exceptions to the general rule, which admitted of no sort of neutrality in the sanguinary contest, and were freely per- mitted to visit the encampments of both patriots and royalists, for the diversion of the soldiery. As they belonged to no party, so they could scarcely be looked on as spies ; and although they had not the least scrujjle in conveying such intelligence as lay in their way, or even occasionally becoming bearers of private messages from one side to the other, still they atoned for this conduct, or rather neutralised its eS"ects, by the perfect impartiality of their communications. In a word, they were considered too despicable and insignificant a race for anger, or even for serious attention." — vol. iii. p. 162.

In another place he says : —

" The Chinganeros are a peculiar race of wandering CrioUo minstrels, whose habits, and even whose appellation, strikingly resemble those of the Zinganees, or Eastern Gypsies. They claim for themselves pure [American] Indian descent ; but this is denied by the aborigines. They are all good dancers and musicians, and, above all, fortune-tellers, supposed sorcerers, and improvisatori." — vol. ii. p. 324.

NOTES AND QUERIES.

307

Of their power as minstrels he gives two examples, with tranalations : —

Montanora soy, seuoras ! Yo no niego mi nacion, — Mas vale ser Montanera Que no Porteuo pintor : Montanera en Buenos Ayres Por las Pampas he pasado ; Montanera por las nieves De las Andes he baxado. En su curso por el cielo Quien atajara al Lucero ? Mas atreve quien pretende Atajar al iSIontanera. Libres vuelan los condores Por la caiia Cordillera ; Y no menos por los valles Libre va la Montanera.

"Za Montanera.

A Montanera's life I lead,

I '11 ne'er disown the name,

Though village maids and city dames

May lightly hold our fame.

From Buenos Ayres' boundless plain

The Montanera comes,

And o'er the mighty Andes' heights

In liberty she roams.

What hand e'er tried in empty space

To arrest the morning star ?

The Montanera's free-l)orn mind

To enslave is harder far.

Free o'er the Cordillera's peaks

The lordly condor stalks ;

As freely through her native wilds

The Montanera walks."

" La Zamhullidu

ra.

Nino ! toiiiad este anillo,

Y Uevadlo a la niuralla,

Y dile a la centinela, — Este nino va de guardia. Vamo'nos, Chinas del alma ! Varao'nos a zambuUir ;

El que zambulli se muere, — Yo tambien quiero morir !

Huid la pompa del poblado, Niiio, huid a la savanna ; All gozareis quieto, En salud, hasta manana. Vamo'nos, Chinas del alma I Vamo'nos li la caleta, Para ver los guacamallos Con fusil y bayoneta.

Piensan luego en dispertarse Los temblores ya dormidos ; Volvad niiio a la muralla, Salgad, 6 serais perdido. Vamo'nos, Chinas del alma ! Vamo'nos a la laguna, A ver si en la, zambullfda Encontrenios una plunia, Con que escriba la chata mia Las cartas de Montezuma.

Youth ! this magic ring receive, The Chinganera's fairy spell ; Swift the city ramparts leave. Nor heed the wakeful sentinel. Come ! beloved of my soul, — To the dejjths of ocean fly ; Where the dark blue billows roll Fearless plunge, nor fear to die.

To the wild savanna fly ! Empty pomp of cities scorning ; There, beneath the vault of sky, Rest in safety till the morning. Come ! beloved of my soul, — To the sands of ocean come ; There no sounds shall meet thine ear Save curlew's jiipe or bittern's drum.

Hark ! the wakening eartlupiake's cry

Echoes on the startled ear ;

To the city ramparts fly,

Youth ! for death awaits thee here.

Come ! beloved of my soul, —

Fly we to the desert waste ;

There, where the lake's blue watei-s roll,

A fairy pen, by wizards placed,

Lies for thee to write a scroll

Such as Montezuma traced."

Whether these wandering minstrels are really Gypsies or not, the resemblance between the Montaneros and the Gitanos is sutticiently striking to be worthy of notice, and of fuller investigation l)y those having the ojiportunity for making further inquiries. {Originally contributed to Notes and Queries, Hh Jahj 1883.]

William E. A. Axon.

308 NOTES AND QUERIES.

Two Italiax Books of the Eighteenth Century.

While residing at Venice, I observed in the " Querini-Stampaglia " Library a book bearing this title, La Zingana, memoric Egiziane di Madonna N. N. scrittt infrancese da se' medesima, e pubblicate dalV abate Pielro Chiari, poeta di S. A. S. il Sigr. Duca di Modena, Tomi II. Parma 1762 : con Vignetta litografata ; la Zingana. From the pages of this book I made the following extract (page 254),

" Historical Origin of the Gypsies, styled Egyptians.

" The Avorld has always been tenacious in its prejudices. By the name of ' Gypsies,' it understands nothing more than gangs of mere vagabonds, without fatherland or home, living ixpon the proceeds of imposture, and even the credulity of the ignorant crowd.

" To judge them rightly, however, one ought to have read something of the ancient history of the East. At the present day they are, I do not deny, a crew of outlaws, who may not inaptly be termed the dregs of society ; but the time was when they were the glorious and memorable remnant of a renowned people, who held sway in the East, and, like other famous races, at length suffered the vicissi- tudes of fortune and of time. This nation, subjugated and dispersed more than a thousand years ago, sought shelter and safety in Egypt. But even there it did not long enjoy tranquillity ; and, finding no peace with fellow-man, it was forced to seek for safety among the ■wild beasts of the forest. There, amid the most desolate wildernesses, did these people withdraw themselves almost wholly out of sight of other men. Time, the disposer of all things, chiefly exercises its tyranny over the human inclinations. A wild and rude climate generally renders the manners of the inhabitants also wild and rude. (Even so may the most pellucid stream grow turbid.) Thus did the residue of a highly-cultured nation gradually degenerate into a horde of rough vagabonds. The most contemptible of their occupations was originally most laudable, and replete with inventive genius. The art of foretelling good or bad fortune — which now-a-days is so associated with the Gypsies — was at one time the science of astronomy, so assiduously and comj^rehensively studied by them that they professed to be able to foretell all human vicissitudes by the aid of the heavenly bodies. The songs with which they are wont to accompany their predictions are but a survival from the golden days of their ancient poetical incantations, then wonderfully embellished by the accompaniment of various musical instruments. The industry which they applied to the cultivation of the soil and the uses of commerce degenerated in later times into the incredible ability they display in theft and rapine, whereby they almost solely exist. Great travellers and explorers have placed them before us in an honourable and favourable light, but now they are spoken of with contempt. They shift their dwelling every third day, and the place of their birth is never the place of their death, for a longer stay is not permitted to them. Are they to be doomed for ever to this unsettled, Avild, and wandering life V

My Venetian note-book contains also a few extracts from I Zingani : Storiella piacecolie ; Venezia, 1710, nella Tipografia del Dal Fabbro : —

" Capitolo I. — In a low haunt in the outermost principality (Principato ulteriore), that forms part of the great province of ' Terra di Lavoro,' in the king- dom of Naples, was born Corradino Anicllo, whose stoi-y we are going to relate. He descended in a direct line from that famous Tommaso Aniello, called Masaniello d'AniulJi. . . . He has been a great impostor."

On page 21 it is stated ; — " Corradino dressed, after the Gypsies' fashion, in green garments {vestito di color verde), with large shining metal buttons, his black

NOTES AND QUERIES. 309

hair falling in curls by each ear. His head was covered with a silken network, above which he woi-e a large coarse hat (cappeUacio), trimmed with gold. In complexion he approached so nearly to olive (his complexion is styled olivastro), that he looked like a real Gypsy."

So far as I remember, this book — being a mere romance — contains nothing else worthy of quotation. However, the extracts which I have made from both books, although they are of (|uestionable value, seem to throw some light upon the Italian Gypsies of last century. J. Pixcherle.

4.

Sketches at Seville.

1. From a balcony at the Fonda de Madrid.

" A group of Gypsies passed one day : a man with a blue fez-shaped cap, a loose gray jacket, and full blue Turkish trousers, reaching only to the calf of the leg, followed by a woman so tall and muscular, so dark and fierce, so majestic and sibylline, that she might have passed fur ]Meg iNIerrilies had it been possible to imagine her in English-speaking parts; but in ^a dark-red woollen petticoat and striped blanket for a cloak, she was the true Ziugara. A lithe lad of twelve or fourteen brought up the rear, in bright rags dulled by dirt : he was bronze-colour, with M-ild black eyes and elf locks, and looked like a half-tamed animal. They did not speak to each other, nor look at each other, but marched along in single file, bound together only by their isolation from everybody else.''

2. At La Triana.

"I found the Gypsy quarter very diiferent from the huddle of picturesque squalor which I had exj^ected. It is more like a neat village, the houses being white, and low like cottages. The few shop doors and windows are given up to the gay appurtenances of the Andalusian horseman, and to coarse pottery of the most beautiful antique Eastern forms. Before one of the saddlers' shops stood a drove of patient-faced donkeys. Their driver . . . was bargaining for a pair of purple and orange saddle-bags. My errand was for earthenware, and I entered a small shop where great bulging oil-jars of dark shining green, Avith a deep project- ing rim and three curved handles, stood in rows. The walls were lined with shelves bearing dark red terra-cotta water-cruses, with taper necks and trefoil lips, others of a delicious cream-colour, covered witli a graceful incised design, and others delicately beaded over with a raised pattern ; some had one arm akimbo, or a long eccentric spout. ... I lost my head over this display, and recklessly ordered big pieces by the pair and smaller ones by the dozen. . . . The Gypsy merchant, only a degree more brown, stately, and silent than tlip ordinary Andalusian, betrayed no emotion at my prodigalitj', altliough I am persuaded that he had never made such a sale before, for the bill amounted to several hundred reah."

(From "A Cook's Tourist in Sixain"; Atlantic Monfldij, August 1884.)

Of a Tinker Bereax axd of a Highwayman.

There are two or three facts in the Life of the Corn-law Ehymer, Ebenezer Elliott (1781-1849), that may have an interest for members of our Society. He was the grandson of Eobert Elliott, a whitesmith, of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, whose ancestors, I have been told, and have the honour to believe, were thieves, neither

310 NOTES AND QUERIES.

Scotch nor English, but lived on the cattle they stole from both. " My father," he continues, " being a Dissenter, baptized me himself, or employed his friend, and brother Berean, Tommy Wright, the Barnsley tinker, to baptize me." Here surely are crypto-Egyptians for Mr. Simson !

In 1849 the Rhymer received a visit from Mr. Watkins, his future biographer, at Great Houghton, near Barnsley, in Yorkshire. They walked out to "Wind- gap Oak, which stands on an eminence, commanding views on all sides. Elliott told me how once another oak stood near, in whose hollow trunk Nevison, the highwayman, is reported to have been hid when he was taken. In revenge of this it had been burnt down by some Giipsies'^ (Watkins' Life of Elliott, 1850, p. 258). There is a somewhat conflicting account in the smaller Memoir of Elliott (1850) by "January Searle" (George S. Phillips) :— "He spoke of two great oaks, about a mile from his house, where the Wapentake assembled in ancient times ; and where, in the hollow of one of them, Nevison, the celebrated highwayman, had to secrete himself when in danger. He likewise related the history of Nevison, who was born at Wortley in Charles the Second's time, and knew the site of the ])ublic-house, where he was at last captured. 'A heart-break- ing story, I have no doubt,' said Elliott, 'for-tlie daughter of the innkeeper was Nevison's sweetheart.' " F. H. Groome.

6.

The Arabian Jugglers.

Among those words, occurring in Romani, which Professor De Goeje regards as Arabic, is "the Arabian jugglers' word mosjtun [moshtdn]" = viochton, a box. If this means that the word is peculiar to Arabian jugglers, and is therefore not Arabic, the inference is that the jugglers of Arabia, like those of many other lands, are really Gypsies, and that they obtain the word moshtdn from their mother- tongue. David MacRitchie.

7.

" Egyptian " Days.

In John Major's Historia Maioris Britannia', tarn Angliai quam Scotia', etc., of which the hrst edition was published "ex ofBcina Ascensiana" in 1521, I find a mention of a " dies infaustus et ^gyptiacus." I should be grateful to any of my fellow-members of the Gypsy Lore Society who could furnish me with parallel passages, or indicate the probable meaning of the word "^gyptiacus " in Major's use of it. The passage occurs near the beginning of the eleventh chapter of the Fourth Book of the History, in connection with the accession of Alexander iii. to the throne of Scotland, and is as follows : — " Post Alexandri secundi obitum, filius eius Alexander tertius octo annos natus puellus in regem ordinatur : veruni in eius coronatione inter regni primores lis orta est, aliquibus dicentibus quod prius debebat eques auratus sen miles quam rex insigniri : aliis oppositum asserentibus. Aliqui utrisqiie contradixerunt, dicentes nihil illo die debere fieri : quia dies erat infaustus d yEgy2)tiacns." I may add that Major did not consider that the party of delay had reason on their side — adducing several reasons of no present relevancy ; but he brings forward as a " Secunda propositio, Nulla est dies JEgyptiaea plus infausta pro regum coronationilms quam alia." This looks as if there were a considerable choice of " Egyptian " days. Archibald Constable.

NOTES AND QUERIES. 311

8.

Further Accounts of Mr. Smith's Mystical Box. See our Notes and Queries, p. 176 ante.) The London Graphic of 4th jNIny 1889 contains an engraving of this alleged " Gypsy heirloom, ■' with the following remarks : —

"This box has been presented, or rather sold for a merely nominal sum, to Mr. George Smith, of Coalville, by a number of leading Gypsies, in gratitude for his efforts to improve the condition of the Gypsies and van children. Tlie presentation took place last November, at a large gathering of Gypsies on Plaistow Marshes, and a memorandum was drawn up and signed by its then possessor, David Lee, stating that the small symbolical and mystical copper and brass box, bearing the name ' Riidit Door Lee,' engraved and dated 1182, had been an heirloom in his family, the Gypsy Lees, and had been lield by his father's ancestor back to the date engraved upon it. The box is stated to have brought thousands of ])oands to the Lee family, and fortunes — so the Gypsies themselves would say — to those who climbed the ' Ladder of Life,' or the ' Golden Ladder ' (which is engraved on the side of the box not shown in our engraving), read the mystical numbers, and had their ' planets ruled.' Mr. Smith thinks that the box was engraved abroad, and that Right Door Lee either means an officer of the sacred army of Gypsies who were wont to march about Europe some centuries since, with counts and earls at their head, or else ' Eight through the Sea.' The box is jirobably one of the pass- ports granted by Pope Sixtus iv. to the Gypsies to admit them to the kings and rulers of Europe, and of the countries through which they travelled, soliciting alms on their pious pilgrimage. This also agrees with Mr. Smith's views expressed in his works on Gypsy life as to their first appearance in Europe and England at the end of the fifteenth and beginning of the sixteenth centuries. Consequently, he con- siders that time and wear have tui'ned the 1482 into 1182, and the date 1497 (on the side not shown in our illustration) into 1197. Mr. Smith is well known for his strenuous and successful efforts to improve the condition of the brickyard and canal-boat children. He is now working hard to induce Pai'liament to educate and protect 130,000 English and Scotch Gypsy and van children, and his jiroposed measures have the good wishes of the Gypsies and van-dwellers themselves."

As a result of the above account, the Newcastle Daily Chronicle of 23d May 1889 contained the following : —

" I mentioned last week that a box given by the Gypsies to Mr. Geo. Smith of Coalville had been illustrated in the Graphic, and that an identically similar one had been found to be in the possession of a Newcastle gentleman. The only difference was this : the Gypsies claimed that the box given to Mr. Smith bore the date 1182, Mr. Smith believed the right date to have been 1482, and the Newcastle box had for its date 1582. Since last week's note appeared, Mr. W. J. Carr, of Ebchester, has left at the Chronicle office for my inspection a similar l)ox which he jjossesses, and which he bought at a second-hand shop about twenty years ago. It is of brass, about 8 inches long and Ig inches deep, has on it the exact inscription which appeared in the Graphic, and bears the date 1482. The characters appear to me to be Dutch, and there is clearly an almanac engraved on the box. Two other old boxes, belonging to INIr. Crawhall, Newcastle, have turned up during the week, and have been inspected by Aid. Barkas of the Art Galleiy. Where, it may be asked, have these five curious boxes, all going back so many centuries, come from { and what was their intended use at the time of manufacture ? One of the series certainly looks more like an ancient mariner's spectacle case than anything else."

Mv. H. T. Crofton, to whom we are indebted for these extracts, points out that the date upon this l)ox, as shown in the Graphic engraving,, is unmistakably 1765." And a gentleman who has made a study of such things, and to whom the engraving was therefore submitted, states his opinion thus : —

((

312 NOTES AND QUERIES.

"It is a simple almanack for 1765. The months are arranged according to the day of the week on which the first day of the month falls, but are in this order — Tues : Mon : Sun : Satur : Fri : Thurs : Wednes.

" The numbers over the total number of days in each month have been probably misread in the engraving from the box. They should denote the order of succes- sion of the months — March 1, April 2, May 3, June 4, July 5, August 6, Sept. 7, Oct. 8, Nov. 9, Dec. 10, Jan. 11, Feb. 12 (the Roman order). The figures in the circles at the ends are probably the Virgin and the Pope (?)."

In explanation of the fact that these boxes have been variously assigned to the years 115,?, 14S3, and 155^, it ought to be stated that, under the figure assumed to represent a Pope, there are certain indistinct characters, of which the two last are pretty plainly " 82." What the two first are (? the initials of said " Pope ") it is impossible to say. But the actual date, 1765, which is in its proper place, is perfectly legible.

The Gypsies of Ceylox. A recent report on the destruction of game in Ceylon by a committee of sports- men belonging to the island refers to wandering bands of Gypsies as being amonc the culprits. A Colombo newspaper states that these so-called Gypsies of Ceylon are known among the Cingalese as Telugus, and are met with in most parts of the island, engaged in the occupations of exhibiting tame cobras or monkeys, and per- forming jugglery, and from their appearance are not to be distinguished from ordinary Tamil coolies from Southern India, so that in a recent census report they appear to have been classed as Tamils. They are, however, careful to call them- selves Telugus, though apparently unable to speak Telugu, — Cingalese and Tamil being used indiscriminately by them. The two classes of snake-charmers and monkey-dancers are, according to their own account, quite distinct, the former being much more numerous ; they belong to different castes, and each professes to consider the other's occupation as degrading. The women of the monkey-dancers also practise palmistry. Their religion appears to partake very much of that of the locality in which they appear ; sometimes they are Buddhists, sometimes Sivites. They are perfectly illiterate, and have no desire that their children should be edu- cated. A camp of snake-charmers met with in the southern province of Ceylon spoke Cingalese fluently and well, though with a foreign accent. They could not speak Telugu, though they said it was their proper language, but spoke Tamil. They asserted " that their ancestors came over in the time of Buddha," and they professed to be Buddhists. These people never settle down, but spend their lives wandering over the island ; their wagon-shaped talipot huts packed up and carried on donkeys' backs. They abhor work of all kinds, but do not appear to be addicted to serious crime. Unlike their brethren in Europe, they are not much given to plunder, though at times having many opportunities ; but occasionally a crop has been found to have sensibly diminished after their departure fiom the neigliljour- hood. They are quite distinct from the class of wandering Moormen. As to their claim to a Telugu origin, it is curious to note that the wandering castes of the Dec- can, snake-charmers and others, lay claim to Telugu descent. It is not known whether these Gypsies have any affinity with the wanderers going by that name in Europe and elsewhere, or whether thej' owe that name merely to their nomadic hahits.— The Times, 23d April 1889.

Members are reminded that their Subscriptions for the year ending 20th June 1890

are nov) due.

NOTICE. — All Contributions must be legibly tcritten on one side only of the paper; nuLst bear the sender's name and address, though not necessarily for publica- tion; and must be sent to David MacEitciiie, Esq., 4 Archibald Place,

Edinburgh.

JOUENAL OF THE

GYPSY LORE

SOCIETY.

Vol. I. OCTOBEE 1889. No. 6

I.— THE OEIGIN OF THE HUNGAEIAN MUSIC.

LISZT tried in all good faith to prove the Hungarian Music to be a mere Gypsy invention. The great paper-war excited by the publication of his views was severely contested, but was by no means so sterile of results as is maintained by Liszt's followers. One important result of it was the discovery of many particulars hitherto unknown ; still, the result of it shows that Liszt found no one of mark to adopt his opinion in Hungary. It is a pity this important result is not known outside our own country. The assailants of Liszt's theory employed the most inexorable logic, wliilst its defenders contented themselves with declaring that Liszt has been misunderstood, that the mistake is not in his book itself, but merely in its title, wliich ought to have run, " Of the Gypsies, and the manner they handle the Music in Hungary." (See an article in the Ncmzet of October 23, 1886.) Still, the whole book contradicts this idea. Only a few passages, especially chapter cxvii., seem to corroborate it, and even that only seems to do so : as all that we read there is advanced hypothetically. If Liszt had wished merely to represent the Gypsies as clever performers, the designation of our music could not have been to him matter of ([uestion.

VOL. L — NO. VL X

314 THE OKIGIN OF THE HUNGARIAN MUSIC.

According to him the Gypsies created their art for their own sake, in order to commune one with another, to sing to themselves, to paint their own joys and griefs {Des BoMmiens, pp. 221, 248, 249); they created it without taking any pattern from the " Giorgios " or non- Gypsies (59). Moreover, in those centuries during which their musical epos was gradually developed by the rhapsodisation of very many fragments, they did not so much as guess that there existed any other music in the world (251).

They had their own scale and their genuine language, and it was solely to the maintenance of these two things that they always bestow a conscientious and sincere attention (221).

The three main peculiarities of the Gypsy music, from which are derived all its other originalities, are : their own intervals, which differ from those of European music ; the genuine Gypsy rhythms ; the luxuriant, essentially Oriental, ornamentation (223).

In a word, tliis music is of Gypsy origin to the core. It formerly was never called Hungarian Music, but Gypsy Music. From the report given on p. 14 of vol. vi. of the Anzeigcn one would con- clude, following Liszt's opinion, that the Hungarians did not in last century, to wit in the year 1775, so much as dream {ne son- geaient point encore) that the Gypsy Music was their own (278).

It was not till the present century that the Gypsy Music became an object of pride to the Hungarians, and was declared a national property by being called, instead of Gypsy Music, Hungarian Music (322). Cf. "the so-called Hungarian Music" (339), "The Gypsy musicians founded the three principal elements, i.e. the melody, the rhythm, and the ornamentation, in a mould that is conventionally called Hungarian Music" (235).

Liszt himself called his rhapsodies Hungarian ones, because it would be unfair thereafter to separate from each other what has been united in the past. The Hungarians adopted the Gypsies as their own musicians; they identified themselves, etc. (346-7).

The art of the Gypsies developed only on Hungarian soil. The Hungarians were appreciative listeners (219, 248, 287) ; solely to their protection does this music owe its fortunate development, and so far, and so far only, have the Hungarians any share tlierein.

The development of the Gypsy Music in our country shows no trace of having been influenced by the Hungarian Music ; quite on the contrary : the Hungarians adapted their national dances to the division and the measure of the Gypsy airs (269), and (instead of their own national songs) sung melodies of Gypsy origin with

THE ORIGIN OF THE HUNGARIAN MUSIC. 315

Hungarian words, and these melodies remained in perfect purity among the inhabitants of villages and heaths, and struck there so deep a root that there they were finally appropriated (272).

Even those who still cling to the notion tliat the Hunejarians taught their own songs and dance-airs to the Gypsies cannot deny that they have to thank the Gypsies for preserving their poor frag- ments from destruction (281).

That the Gypsies are not able to identify themselves with the sentiments of any other race is plainly asserted on p. 218. This music therefore is, not only with regard to its form, but with regard to its contents also, not Hungarian, but Gypsy. National enthusiasm, the very essence of a nation, is enshrined in this music. "That this nation is that of the pariahs — well, what has it to do with the art?" (347, etc.)

The foregoing assertions of Liszt's have been refuted by many authorities. See in this respect the communications of Brassai, Bartalus, Simonffy Kalnuin, Adelburg, Czeke Sandor, and Scudo. It was Brassai who did so most fervently. He combated not only the musical but the ethnographical section of Liszt's book, and con- demned it with inexorable logic.

As for us, we wish briefly to sum up the following arguments concerning this problem of the Gypsies.

Before our Gypsies entered Hungary, they certainly were acquainted witii at least the Greek and Wallachian popular music. In our country they made acquaintance with the Hungarian j\Iusic, of which mention occurs in several historical sources, notably in a passage of the biogi'aphy of St. Gerard. The Hungarian Music seemed peculiar but agreeable to the ears of the strangers. Besides the Hungarian, they found Servian, Slovak, and German airs.

The musical faculty of the Gypsies entered into the services of the music of every people ; moreover, they play all those foreign songs and dance-airs which are adopted by fashion.

That this was the case in tlie very beginning of their era of lustre is proved beyond any doubt by Czinka Panna, who played not only the Hungarian dance-airs, but Styrian, German, and French as well. Liszt himself knew from a letter of M;itray {Des BoMm. p. 306) that Bihari played " Kalnmaykas," French quadrilles, Ecossaises, and minuets.

The Hungarian Music was always called Hungariau, and never Gypsy. The Gypsy musician himself, when asking what he shall play, suggests a Hungarian air, never a Gypsy one.

316 THE ORIGIN OF THE HUNGAEIAN MUSIC.

Liszt's belief that the name of Hungariau Music originated only in the beginning of the present century is strikingly refuted by the following Latin lines, which were written in 1772, on the occasion of the death of Czinka Panna : —

" Nam seu Styriacos malles, seu Teutonis orbes Seu quibus Francus, prompta, superbit, erat. Praecipue Hungaricos (vah nunc quoque . . . stupesco) Tors prorsus magica moverat arte choros."

Nor is it true (as Liszt asserts on p. 24.5) that the violin and the czimbalom (dulcimer) formed in every time the basis of their orchestra. The so-called Polish violin was unknown, or at least not in use with us, even in the first half of the sixteenth century (see above, p. 323 ; see also Brassai, pp. 27, 42-3).

According to Liszt, the Gypsies did not even invent the music which is now called Hungarian in Hungary, but brought it with them (267). If this were true, the traces of the essential peculiari- ties of the music in question would necessarily be found in the songs and dance-music of the Gypsies of other countries. But experience shows the very opposite (see 196, 198).

The most important and decisive argument which proves the genuine Hungarian origin of the Hungarian music is the rhythm.

The very pulsation of the rhythm is the accent. The law of accent of the Hungarian music is the same as that of the Hungarian language. This is the reason why Hungarian songs cannot be sung to German, French, Italian, etc., words, without accentuating the words in the Hungarian manner.

The Hungarian accent is the very opposite of that met with in the most ancient dialect of the European Gypsy language. Hungarian accentuates the first syllable, the Greek Gypsy, with few exceptions, the last (see above, p. 3).

As the Gypsies, before their settling in Hungary, did not know the accent which is pulsing in the same manner as well in the Hun- garian language as in the Hungarian music, but first became acquainted with it there, and accustomed themselves to it in such a measure that they forgot their own genuine accent, and accentuate at present their own language in the Hungarian manner, it is clear they could not bring with them the Hungarian music, which shows the very genuine Hungarian rhythms, but that they must liave learned it in Hungary.

Liszt, learning this refutation (January 13th, 1873), declared

THE ORIGIN OF THE HUNGARIAN MUSIC. 317

orally, ''I am thoroughly a practical musician. I have my own rhythms." He said he was not able to teach anybody the theory of rhythms.

He recognised the decisive value of the argument of rhythm, but insisted that "the Gypsies brought something with them." Thus in the course of conversation he maintained that the harmony, how- ever, was introduced into the Hungarian music by the Gypsies. Tliis can be conceded ; for, without doubt, the Gypsy orchestras have had a great share in the development of the peculiar accompaniment.

Yet, if Liszt was wrong concerning the origin of our music, still he earned an immortal fame as the earliest interpreter of this national treasure of ours to all the world, as well by his peerless art as by his brilliant pen. Emil Thewrewk de Ponor.

Budapest.

II.— THE PAEIS CONGEESS OE POPULAK TRADITIONS.

StocJchohn, Aug. 20, 1889.

THE life of an English Gypsy during the season of fairs, cockshies, races, hopping, pivlioi te dukkerin, te ijiaben, "cocoa-nuts and fortune- telling and drinking beer," is about as confused and bewilder- ing an existence as can be imagined, and that of the President of the Gypsy Lore Society at the French Exposition was like unto it. Perhaps it was the immense quantity of coloured windows in the show, with the piles of glittering variegated glass-work and the bands of music, which created a feeling as if I had been a factor in a vast kaleidoscope which was turned round and round to orchestral accom- paniment. ■ It began with the first sight of the great iron scaffolding or trestle-work, the Eiffel Tower of Babel, which rises appropriately over the true modern Babylon, and ended as it grew smaller in the distance and vanished.

I dwelt very near the Exposition, and so went there at once after arriving in Paris. Within its limits there are to be found a company of Spanish Gypsy girl dancers in a small theatre, a very picturesque company of Roumanian Romanys, who both sing and play, and another of Hungarian Tziyanc from Szegediu, not inferior to tliem. I need not say that I speedily became acquainted with them, or that they welcomed such an extraordinary being as an Anglo-American Romany rye, avec effusion, volunteering to play for me such real Gypsy airs as the " Song of the Gorgios " and " Bird Song." The Roumanians knew very httle Romany. In fact there was only one

318 THE PARIS CONGliESS OF POPULAR TRADITIONS.

of them, an elderly man, who could really converse in it, but the Hungarians rejoiced greatly therein as well as in a knowledge of German. And when I marvelled thereat, since even in Buda-Pest the Gypsies are hard to find who know Nemetz, they assured me that it was nothing remarkable, inasmuch as they — the Szegedin Eoms — were as much beyond the Buda- Pesters in general intelligence as they were as musicians, and indeed intimated that in all moral qualities, good looks, and great virtues, they were as far superior to their compatriots as a dark night is to a small nigger. That they were indeed very remarkable Gypsies appeared from the fact that they said nothing about being rhori roms or poor devils, but manfully declared that they were making money, and revelling in wine, good food, and other carnal comforts of Paris to their hearts' content, being evidently the most to be envied individuals in town, and chiefly in this, that they knew it.

My object in visiting Paris was, however, not to see the Exposi- tion, climb the Eif-bab-el Tower, or listen to Gypsy music, but to attend the Comjres des Traditions populaires or iblk-lore, and which, considering the immensely rapid though recent growtli of this new branch of Wissenschaft, will be regarded some day as having formed a very great era in the history of learning. It is worth observing that this Congress was held " conformably to a Ministerial decision, dated Feb. 11, 1889," and that the French Government not only officially recognised the importance of such a study, but manifested its interest in many ways, as in courtesies extended to foreign members, such as the reception given to them by the Minister of Public Works. The opening of the Congress took place July 29, in a hall of the Trocadero. It was a matter of very great regret to all concerned that England was not more fully represented, as there was a very great desire indeed to secure English co-operation and interest. Great satisfaction was expressed that the English Gypsy Lore Society had sent a deputy, the proof being that I was elected honourable President for the first regular sitting, as a special compliment to our Association. Among those who attended were MM. Charles Plaix, S^billot, Prince Koland Bonaparte, Zinirgredzki, Stanislaus Prato, Henry Carnoy, Jean Fleury, Leon Vicaire, Tiersot, Kaarle Krohn of Finland, le Comte de Puyniargre, Mario Proth, Certeux (the treasurer and generally useful man of the Congress), H. Cordier, Jules Baillet, Charles Morelle, Kaoul Eosieres, Felix Kegamey, Michel Dragomanov, Krzyvicks, Lancy, Emile Bl^mont, and Michau. After the first day our meetings were held in the Mairie, opposite San Sulpice.

TIIK FAKIS COXGKKSS OF POl'ULAi; TKADITIONB. 319

I regret that I cannot find space for even a brief recital of the many admirable papers read by most of these gentlemen, and if I give a resum^ of my own it is at the request of our Editor, and because it directly refers to our Society. I remarked that : —

" It is not very long since even learned men began to understand the great importance of the affinities between folk-lore and history, according to the real meaning of the latter word. Now we are begin- ning to perceive that one is to the other as the colour of a picture is to its design. In fact as regards ' local colour,' be it in truthful narrative or romance, of all which is of general interest nine parts out of ten belong strictly to folk-lore.

" Thus far next to nothing has ever been published as to the relations between (lypsies and European popular traditions, or the influence which they have exercised on our folk-lore. 1 may here recall certain remarks translated by Mr. David MacKitchie from the Ethnologische Mitteilungen, and his comment thereon, in wdiich treatise the belief is advanced that leuend or folk-lore is strictly the gospel of a religion of consolation to the suffering, and that fairy tales and Gypsy predictions, and all the possible solaces of sorcery, are so many promises of hope. From this point of view — that popular tradition has been a religion — it may be declared that the folk-lorists or traditionists are writing its Bible, and that this our Congress has its place among other great synods and councils, since it is here that a first general effort has been made to arrange and co-ordinate the branches of this study of a great popular faith.

" Of this religion Gypsies have been, for thousands of years in the East, and for four hundred in the West, the chief priests. Wherever they abound, they are the story-tellers, or trouveurs, who spread songs and sorceries and traditions of every kind among the people, creating and keeping alive all folk-lore. Among the collections which I have made during the past ten years in Hungary and the Tuscan-Eomagna, I have been constantly astonished at the extra- ordinary influence which these humble beings have asserted wherever they have gone. Heine said of De Musset that he was a man with a great future behind him. The Gypsies, with their strange talents and gift of vitalite r acinic, and influence on millions of believers, are, after all, a feeble folk, with no hopes of a national life before them.

" Though they came from India, the real religion (of sorcery) of the Gypsies, as clearly shown iu Hungary and all South-Eastern P^urope,

320 THE PARIS CONGRESS OF POPULAR TRADITIONS.

is not Hindu, but pre- Aryan — that is to say, Sbamanic. As a theory which may at least serve as a scaffold to build on, I assume that this Shamanic sorcery was originally Turanian, Altaic, or Tartar ; that it spread to Babylon and Nineveh, as well as to the Etruscans, and in the north to the Finns, Laplanders, and Eskimo. It is a gross religion of man's wants and sufferings, incarnate as tormenting spirits, who are driven away by exorcisms and drum-beating and fumigation. It was the ancient religion of the peasantry in India, and always pre- served by them in secret, despite the Brahmins. Of late years, owing to religious toleration on the part of our Government, it has begun to creep out of its mysterious cavern, and shake off the dust of a thousand years, with which it was covered.

" I could give innumerable instances, did space permit, to prove that Shamanism lias been ' historically ' transmitted from race to race, and that it did not spring up spontaneously or sporadically under the influence of concurrent chances. Thus I may mention that two incantations, learned by me from a fortune-teller of Tuscany, were quite the same with others given by Lenormant in his Magie chalddienne. Of this faith the Gypsies are to-day indefatigable mis- sionaries. In a letter recently received from a person who collects magical lore for me in Italy, the writer tells me that she can do nothing at present, but that she expects in a few days to see an old Zingara or Gypsy woman, who is learned in all kinds of sorcery and witchcraft. And in the last song in the dialect of the Tuscan Eomagna a woman, whose lover it enchanted, goes to a Gypsy for relief.

" If Gypsies have thus since all time been going about like birds over many lands, leaving here and there the seeds or grains of tradi- tion of every kind, it will be cheerfully admitted that they deserve attention in our efforts to collect all that is important in popular beliefs. We are only beginning to recognise the vast value of all folk-lore or legends just as they are perishing with great rapidity — ct on 11 en fait j)as des nouvelles — no new ones are created. Therefore it is not too much to declare that the man or woman who collects a book among the people, even on the most insignificant subject, deserves a place in the annals of literature.

" We have had for more than a year in Great Britain a Society founded specially for the study of Gypsy lore. This Society, of which I have the honour to be President, and here represent, soon discovered that we, far from moving in a very restricted circle, had to deal with a subject whicli spread over half the globe, and was mingled with

THE PAEIS CONGRESS OF POPULAR TRADITIONS. 321

every kind of tradition. There is indeed an old Scotch song which declares that Gypsies form one-tliird of all folk-lore : —

Of fairies, witches, Gypsies

My nourrice sang to me ; Of Gypsies, witches, fairies

I'll sing again to thee.^

" My colleagues of the Hungarian Deputation will tell you that among the twenty-five committees of their Folk-lore Society, cacli devoted to a special language and race, there is one for the Gypsies, of which the Archduke Josef is chairman. I do not know how these Hungarian Eomanys discovered the magical virtues of the Maria Theresa dollar. (I have seen among them a sick infant, whose parents believed it would soon recover because they had hung three such coins round its neck.) But it is remarkable that over a great part of Eastern and inner Africa the blacks will take no other money, and it is in consequence still coined for them. We owe thanks to the Gypsies for at least this important aid to commerce.

" As the literature of proverbs has become so extensive that men are now beginning to publish volumes of special subjects in it, so it is already beginning to be evident that folk-lore must be subdivided to be thoroughly pursued. I trust that I have shown, tliough inaptly, that Gypsy lore has an important place in tradition, and I venture to say that my colleagues in our Society have pursued the subject with such ability as to fully demonstrate its value. Such is, gentlemen, the present condition of a study which has so many relations to the history and popular traditions of all Europe."

One of the most interesting dinners at which it has ever been my fortune to be present was that given by Prince Eoland Bonaparte to the members of the Society. As a traveller, a collector in many lands, and as a learned folk-lorist. Prince Bonaparte occupies a higli position. His hotel in the Gour de la Eeine would be called a very fine palazzo in Italy, and it is nifignificently adorned with arms and ethnological relics, or works of art, collected far and wide in every land. On this occasion our host had provided the lioumanian Gypsies, whom I have mentioned. Their music was soft and beautiful, and very remarkable in being the only band I ever heard at a dinner which did not disturb the conversation. The mcmv at this dinner was worth remark. It was a large and l^eautifully-executed etching,

1 Thus rendered iu the address : —

" Des fees, des Tsigaues et sorcieres, Ma nourrice me chantait ; A mon tour je chante les sorcieres, Les Tsiganes et les fees."

322 THK PARIS CONGKESS OF POPULAR TRADITIONS,

representing prehistoric men, and was specially designed as a compli- ment to the guests. It was a very polyglot company, and I had occasion to use all tlie scraps of languages which I have picked up in a life of wandering. But it was the first very " swell " party of any kind at which I ever was obliged to rdkker Bomanis.

Our next treat was to a concert of popular songs given by the Congress in the hall of Hotel des Soci^tes Savantes, sur Serpente. If any one had ever predicted to me during my Latin Quarter student days in 1847-1848, that a time would come when a body of ladies and gentlemen would assemble in what was then the proverbially dirtiest yard-wide little slum even on our side of the Seine, I should have been " a-smile." Sed tem^pora mutantur et nos do mutamur — astonish- ingly, in illis. This concert was also in many tongues, all uniting in the one celestial language of music, and was pronounced to be a great success.

It was a queer chance, but I had been put down as delegate on the Hungarian Deputation, and was the only one of them all who came. In this capacity as Magyar, I laid before the Congress a paper stating that our marvellously active friend, Professor Anton Herrmann, is about to publish a weekly Folk-Lore Journal in four languages, French, English, Hungarian, and German. Those who collect will thank me for stating that the price will be from 7 to 14 florins; but Folk-lore Societies mav subscribe for their members for one-fourth of this amount. Our final explosion of gaiety was at a dinner given at the Cafe Corazza in the Palais Eoyale by the Congress to the foreign delegates, I think that this will long be remembered as one of the jolliest assemblies which even the Frenchmen " in our midst " had ever attended. After the dinner came the toasts. Mr. Andrews, who represented America, being absent, when I was called on to answer as the President of the Gypsy Lore Society, and not wishing that America should remain unspoken for, I replied that I appeared for three countries, like Mrs. Malaprop's Cerberus, " three gentlemen in one." Then came singing of a curious and varied character. There was present the celebrated Desrousseaux, " chansonnier," an elderly man, but a still charming singer and reciter, whose volumes of ballads have circulated by the hundred thousand, and whose other works have given him the highest rank as a traditionalist. From him we had his best. Then came wonderful lays of many lands. I shall never forget an Ukraine Cossack song, which had the very expression of a wild wind wailing over the desolate steppe.

Among the papers read during the Congress, that by M. Ploix, on

THE PARIS CONGRESS OF POPULAK TRADITIONS. 323

the interpretation of mythical tales, will attract attention Avhen published. I can recall having been interested also by one from M. Carnoy on Esthonian traditions. M. Carnoy has published a valuable little work on the variants of the tales in Keyuard the Fox. Karle Krohn lectured on Finland traditions, and not only presented a full set of all the publications of his Society, which are very valuable, but promised to send any of them which individual members desired to them. A very curious communication on the Swastika, by M. Zmirgrodzki, excited much comment. I called attention to the fact that in China the Swastika, or cross with side ends, has been the basis of the Kou-a system of dualism, which has not only given birth to a library of mystical literature, but even greatly influenced, if it did not entirely create, the national system of decorative art, " a batons romjjus" by grouping on longs and shorts. There is a very learned paper on this subject by H. Cordier on Zcs SocUUs secretes de la Chine, originally published in the Bevue cV Ethnographic, edited b}' Dr. Hamy. To this latter gentleman I owe thanks for the courteous manner in which he led us through the Ethnographic department of the Trocadero, and for giving me permission to sketch in it.

There was a general hope that the next general meeting of the Folk-lorists may be in England, and I sincerely trust that it may be brought about. The cordiality of the reception of all foreigners at this meeting, the real kindness and hospitality shown them, were such as to deserve special gratitude, and I take great pleasure in expressing it. The acme of refinement and politeness is when scholars are cosmo-polite to one another. Kings among kings should be kingly, and friendly alliances and much intercourse between thinkers elevates them in every way. I have heard men ridicule these Congresses, and ask of them cui bono ? but I always shall believe that there is a great deal of bono in them, as much for the world as for the men who meet at them. That I am a sincere con- vert to this faith may indeed be drawn from the fact that I am now writing in Stockholm, waiting- for the Conoress of Oriental Scholars to begin — of which I will write anon, for there are to be " great doings " here — yea, and thereunto a cup of mead at the tomb of Odin, and other high jinks of a Norse character. ]\Ieanwhile I am wrest- ling manfully with Swedish. Truly it is a very Proteus of tongues. Sometimes I seem to grasp it in words like Scotch, such as myckel and bra, and then for half a sentence English, gradually gliding into delusive German, and ending with some horrible term, deducible from nothins; known to me. Au rcvoir in our next.

Charles G. Leland.

324 THE IMMIGRATION OF THE GYPSIES INTO

III.— IMMIGEATION OF THE GYPSIES INTO WESTEEN EUEOPE IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTUEY.

FIEST PERIOD, 1417 — 1438.

{Continued.)

TT7E have left the Gypsies divided into two bands on quitting ^^ Switzerland (towards the commencement of September 1418), and one of these bands most probably visiting Alsace.

What appears certain is that, on the 1st of November 1418, a troop of Gypsies came to Augsburg. It numbered only, it is true, fifty men, but they were followed by a legion of ugly women and dirty children. These vagabonds, of black complexion, as the chroni- cler says, had moreover at their head two dukes and several earls, as they called them. These circumstances induce me to compute their number at about a hundred and fifty individuals. They represented themselves as exiles from Little Egypt, and as people skilful in the art of divination. But, on closer examination, it was discovered that they were master thieves, and unmitigated rogues.^

It is difficult to say what fraction of the great horde was repre- sented by this band. However, as, whatever may have been the num- ber of Gypsies, we nowhere see more than two dukes appear at their head, and as we meet with these two chiefs at Augsburg (if this detail given by a non-contemporary chronicler may be relied on), I am disposed to think that the staff and central corps of the whole horde must have been there. It is then to be supposed that the Duke Andrew, whom we shall find named for the first time in the

1 "Porro currente adhuc liocce anno (1418), pervenerunt, Kalendis novembribus, ad banc primum civitatem ignoti et subnigri errones, numero quinquaginta, permagnam etiam turn deformium muliercularuni turn fcedoruni puernlorum catervam secum ductitantes. Quibus duo duces et, uti ferebaut, aliquot coniites praierant ; profitebanturque se niinori ^gypto exulare, et vaticinandi peritos esse. Verum, re penitus iutrospecta, meri trifures furciferique sunt depreheusi. Hodie uostris Zegineri, Italis Cingcmi, et Gallis Bohemi dicuntur ..." (Two different explanations of tlieir origin follow.) Annales Augsthurgenses, by Achil. Pirmin. Gassar (physician at Augsburg, born in 1505, died in 1577), in the Script, rer. Geim. prcrc'qme Saxon., de Joh. Bur. Menckeuius, Lipsias, 1728-1730, in fob, 3 vols., t. i., col. 1560-1561. Two Germ, authors. Mart. Crusius (^Annales Suev., Francof., 1595, in fol. t. ii., p. 346) and J. Ludolf (ad. suam Hist. uEthiop. Comvient, 1691, p. 214), have given extracts of the passage of Gassar which interests us. Ludolf appears even to have been acquainted with the manuscript : " MSS. extant in hibliot. Gotana," he says in a note. However, both have read 1419 where I read 1418. I cannot verify this difference, the edition, or the two editions, of the Annals Augs. which already existed in the times of Crusius and of Ludolf, and which are the only others remaining with the above, having become exceedingly scarce. But I ought to mention that the edition given by Mencken passes for having been made from the manuscript itself. Now here one might hesitate between 1418 and 1430, the annalist having encroached, in the year 1418, on the facts which belong to 1430 ; but, I repeat, it is impossible that it should be 1419. — In his extract, Crusius has put by mistake seventy men instead of fifty. Grellmann (1787, p. 210) and all the modern writers u^jon the Gypsies have been acquainted with this extract only, and have reproduced the error.

WESTERN EUROPE IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 325

followiug year near Macon, and whom we shall meet with later on, accompanied on this occasion the Duke Michael, whom we have most probably met with already in Switzerland, and whom we shall again meet with more certainty at Bale in 1422.

It will be remarked that the bands which remained visible during the following years were not very numerous ; and this fact agrees with the conjectures just expressed concerning the Augsburg band. On quitting Switzerland the horde, if really more numerous than anywhere else, did not break up into two troops only : it must soon have divided again. It seems indeed as though the greater part of this multitude melted away definitively, and that the nucleus alone, commanded by the two dukes, remained, sometimes united, sometimes divided into two detachments, conducted each by a duke.

On Friday, the 24th August 1419, "Andrew, Duke of Little Egypt," arrived at St. Laurent, near Macon,^ '•' with men, women, and children to the number of 120 persons, if not more (saul le plus)." Under this date, a first article of the Register of the deliberations of the town of Macon, mentions the order given to a farmer of the sixteenth of Macon,^ to deliver as alms to this personage and his com- pany, in the name of the said town, bread and wine to the amount of seventy " sous tournois."

Under the same date, a second article adds the following details concerning the presence of these strangers at St. Laurent : " They were men of terrible stature in person, in hair, as well as otherwise f

1 St. Laurent-lez-Macon is a parish distiuct from Macon (department of Saone-et-Loire), and which now is in the department of the Aiu ; but the Saone alone separates these departments, and a bridge connects St. Laurent (on tlie left bank) with Macon (on the right bank). If these Gypsies were, as is very probable, a part of those who had visited Switzerland, they had therefore already crossed the Saone before arriving at St. Laurent, and had most likely travelled over a part of Franclie-Comte. and of Burgundy.

2 "A farmer of the sixteenth" was one who had farmed a tax established on the sixteenth of the revenue, or the sixteenth of the sale of such or such a merchandise, or a tax increasing by one-sixteenth the tax already existing.

3 Here is the text of this strange iihrase, and which remains rather obscure : " Estoient gens de terriblie stature, tant en persenes, en chevelx, comme autrement." One might wonder that the scribe who had just written tvfice perso7ie andpersones (I have omitted one of the two passages, because they repeat each other) should now write pershies ; but Littrc gives the form ^;f)r5^nc as being Burgundian, and this form is still more irregular in its first syllable. As to the word chevelx, one might ask one's-self at first sight whether it means cheveux (hair), or chevaux (horses) ; but, besides its being a question here of ^'■people" I think the examples given by Littre concerning those two wor<ls suffice to show that it cannot be a question oi horses (I do not find a single form of the word cheval, chevaux where the letter a is wanting in the second syllable). Godefroi, in his Diet, de Vancicnne langue francaise, gives also the word chevei, plur. clievelx, with the signification of chief; adj. priyicipal ; but this signification appears to mc to be inapplicable here. In short, the sense of the passage seems to me to be : people of terrible aspect, as well by their stature (in person) and by their hair as otherwise. At all events, it appears that the people of tliis band, or some of them whom the writer of the Deliberations had remarked, were of very tall stature, which circumstance is not mentioned in any other document. As to the ainin- dant hair which might contribute to give a savage appearance to those who possessed it, I

326' THE IMMIORATION OF THE GYPSIES INTO

and they lay in the fields like beasts ; and some, the women as well as the men, practised evil arts (magic) such as palmistry and necro- mancy. And on this account they were summoned to the Castle of Macon by the justice of the King's officers, for certain deceits by evil art which they had practised in the said town (no doubt at Macon) on Anthony of Lyon, grocer, . . . and several others." ■' I remark that, in this second article, Andrew is no longer desionated as " the Duke of Little Egypt," but as " Andrew, who calls himself Duke of Little Egypt," a significative difference, and which is explained by the context. It is very probable that, at this moment of the same day, the magistrates of the town would not have sent him a gift of bread and wine.

As to the misdeeds of subtilty with which our Gypsies are reproached at Macon, they will be found fully described at Tournai (1422), and at Paris (1427); but this is the only time during the whole period between 1417 and 1438, so far as our present knowledge extends, that these misdeeds brought upon them a citation before jus- tice." I cannot help remarking on this occasion that in the present document no mention is made, as in most of the others, of the letters of the Emperor Sigismund, The same remark applies to the deliberation of the town of Sisteron, where we are about to meet anew with the same band, but not to a similar document, which brings the Duke Andrew to our notice at Deventer (Low Countries) in March 1420. In this last place he was bearer of "letters from the King of the liomans " (an authentic copy no doubt) : was not this Duke Andrew, who appears to us for the first time at Macon, in possession of these letters, either in this town or at Sisteron ?

However this may be, here are our travellers summoned to, and perhaps imprisoned in, the Castle of Macon by the King's officers of justice — not all of them doubtless (120 men, women, and chil- dren), but the principal and the most compromised among them, not

do not doubt but that it was the men of whom it is question here, either because it fell on their shoulders, as is usually the case with tlie Hungarian coppersmiths whom we have seen in the West within the last twenty years, or because it formed an enormous and entangled roll round their head, as is sometimes seen even amongst our Western Gypsies.

1 This double document is extracted from the arcliives of the town of Macon, Registers of the Deliberations, 1st vol. (BB. 12), folio 129, verso. It had been pointed out to me, so far back as 1855, by my excellent colleague of the Society of the Ecole des Chartes, Eugene de Stadler, then Inspector-General of the Archives (died 1875), who had given me a summary of it. I am indebted for the whole text to the kindness of anotlier and younger colleague, M. L. Lex, archivist for tlie department of Saoue-et-Loire.

2 Corner, spealcing of those who travelled through the Hauseatic towns (1417), says that "several, in divers places, were seized and put to death." But it is more tlian probable that tliese were victims to tlie vengeance of the people or peasants whom they had deceived or robbed. The autliorities would not have proceeded in so violent a manner.

WP:STERN EUROPE IN TIIK FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 327

excepting most probably the J)uke Andrew. One would like to know how they got out of their adventure; but M. Lex, the archivist already named, who has had the kindness at my request to go over the continuation of the D6liMrations up to the end of the year 1419, has not succeeded in finding anything further.

Those who are acquainted with the Gypsies can represent to them- selves in this circumstance the lamentations and supplications of the women, and the active and persevering steps taken by all those who, remaining at liberty (supposing some to be prisoners), were considered the most clever. One may be certain also that the chief, who bore the title of duke, was a man fertile in resources. At all events the whole band could not have long delayed the continuation of its pil- grimage.

In effect, five weeks later, we find the Gypsies in Provence, as we learn by the history of a town^ in this country, which did not then belong to the King of France. A troop of these strangers arrived, on the 1st of October 1419, at Sisteron in Provence, where they were named Saracens, the appellation given to all non-Christians, and which was particularly familiar to the inhabitants of the south of Prance on account of the recollections left by the invasions of th6 Arabs. " Their strange visit," says M. de Laplane, " was not without inspiring some fears. Tliey were refused admittance into the town ; they remained for two days in a field encamped like soldiers, in the quarter of the Baume, where food was sent to them. Tliey consumed at one meal a hundred loaves of the weight of twenty ounces, from which one can, in some measure, judge of their number. Those who appeared in Paris, in 1427, and who, being lodged at La Chapelle, e.\cited in so lively a manner the curiosity of the public, were scarcely more numerous, since Pasquier - does not carry their number beyond a hundred an<l thirty-two persons;'^ including women and children.

1 Histoire de Sisteron, tiree de ses Archives, etc., par Ed. de Laplane, in 8vo, tome 1, Digne 1843, pp. 261, 262.

" The true source is the Journal d'un Bourgeois de Paris, to which M. de La])lanc ouirht to have referred the reader, rather than to the imperfect extract which Estienne Pasquier had given in his Jlecherches de la France (1596) of the very interesting passage of tliis chronicle then unpublished (the passage will be found further on ; Paris, 1427) : for, not to mention the edition of 1729 (in Memoires de France et de Bnurgocjne), which edition has, it appears, served to establish those which I point out lower down, the Journal d'un Bourgeois de Paris had appeared in the Buchon collection (tome 40, 1827), and had been reproduced in two other collections previous to the Histoire de Sisteron.

^ The Bourgeois de Paris, after having mentioned the twelve horsemen who arrived (irst in Paris, then the other Egyptians who arrived ten days later, says that tliey "were not more in all '. . . than one hundred, or one hundred and twenty or thereabouts." Pasipiier, who gave the number of 132, has done wrong, I think, in having added u]) the two numbers.

328 THE IMMIGRATION OF THE GYPSIES INTO

Like the troop in Paris, these had horses,^ and as commander a duke, to whom the provisions were presented." ^

This estimate is very near the precise number ^ given us at St. Laurent-lez-Macon, and we must conclude from thence that it was the same band, and that the duke mentioned at Sisteron was, as near Macon, the Duke Andrew. During this interval the band had spread itself over Provence, and the reputation of these " Saracens, wlio were travelling over the world as a penance," had preceded them at Sis- teron. As soon as they had arrived, steps were taken to satisfy them immediately, in order that they might leave as soon as possible, for it was known beforehand " that they wrouglit evil " ; it was, however, found to be indispensable to support them for two days ; and in all respects " the example of the other towns in Provence where they had passed " was followed ; which indicates, by-the-by, that other archives of the country ought to contain notices analogous to this one, which is not without interest.

Six months go by, and we meet Duke Andrew, with the same band, in the Dutch Low Countries. Here is the literal translation of an article in the accounts (Kameraars-rekeniug) of the town of Deventer (Province of Overryssel), under the date of 1420 : —

" Out of charity, to the Lord Andreas, Duke of Little Egypt : on a Wednesday after rcminisccre (6th of March), to the saidlord, who had been driven out of his country on account of the Christian faith, and had come to our town with a hundred persons, men, women, and children, and about forty horses ; the same having letters from the King of the Ptomans, containing an invitation to give them alms, and to treat them with kindness in all the countries where they might go : given by order of our aldermen {scepenen), 25 florins (gulden). . . .

1 Direct mention of horses is not made in the Deliberation ; but Laplane naturally assumes that there were some in consequence of the " quatre emines d'avoine (quatuor eininas civate) " which formed part of the daily ration. — To the gifts of wine, bread, and oats must be added a sum of money, " quatuor lessi (Q mutonis."

2 Hist, de Sisteron, loco cit. Here is the text of the Registers quoted in this work : — "Quod, amore Dei, istis Sarracenis qui venerunt ad hanc civitatem Sistarici, et qui vagant per universum orbem, penitentia, ut de atteuto quod eleemosynam jiecierunt a dicta univer- sitate pro dando els discessum ab hac civitate, racione mali quod faciunt, dentur els de bonis universitatis ea que sequuntur, pro uno prandio, sic et alire universitates Provincia; in quibus fuerint fecerunt. Et jjrimo, duas cupas vini puri, que valent quinque grosses, ad racioiiem IIII°'' alborum, pro qualibet cupa, mouete albe, coniputando cavtum pro tribus denariis. Item, centiim panes, quenilibet unius piataci monete albe. Item, IIIlo"" lessi mutonis. Item, 1111°'' eminas civate, que valent, secundum quod nunc venduntur, unum flor. albe monete, ad racionem triuni denaviorum pro carto. Precipientes clavai'io (tresorier) dicte universitatis quatenus ita faciat crastino die in prandio, et ista omnia faciat apportari ultra ad pratuni Balme ubi sunt ipsi lochati more gencium armorum, et presententur quidam (sic) duci ipsorum qui est proceles (sic) inter eos, ex parte universitatis, amore Dei." (1419. — I"'' Octobre. Regist. des deliberations.)

3 It appears still nearer by the rectification made in note 3 of the preceding page.

WESTERN EUROPE IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 329

Item, to the same for 1 )read, beer, for straw, herrings and smoked her- rings, for cost of the carriage of the beer, for straw, for cleaning out the barn in wliich they slept, (paid) to Berend, who conducted them as far as Goor, etc., in all, 19 florins 10 plakken."^

It ought perhaps to be added that the Gypsies showed themselves also, in this same year, in Friesland, and in the north of Holland pro- perly so called,^ and also in the neighbourhood of Leyden, that is to say on the confines of northern and southern Holland,^ which might

1 Document published by Mr. P. C. Molliuyseu, De Ileidens in Ovcrijssel, in Overijs- selsche Almanak for the year 1840, Deventer, 1839, pp. 59, 60 ; and reproduced by J. DiKKS, Geschiedkundige Onderzoekingen . . . (Historical researches concerning the sojourn of the Heidens or Egyptians in the Low Countries of the North), Utrecht, 1850, in 8vo, p. 56. I shall more than once have to quote this volume of Mr. Dirks's (viii. and 160 compact pages), in which the author has collected all the original documents relative to the (iypsies that it had been possible to find up to that time in Holland, from the fifteenth century up to our times, and which has been followed by a sujiplement published in 1855 in the Bijdragen, etc., of Mr. Nijhofl', appearing at Arnliem, and by scattered contributions published by divers persons in the Navorschcr (the Seeker — Amsterdam) from vol. vii. (1857) to vol. xxxi. (1881). In two letters, dated 10th July 1874 and 8th July 1889, Mr. Dirks has kindly given me a summary list of the documents — most of theiu rather recent — published in the latter of the above-named collections (sinular to those which appear in France under the title of U Intermediaire and in England under that of Notes and Queries), which form eacli year a vol., in small fol., from 1852 to 1871,— in large 8vo subsequently. Although Mr. Dirks always indicates the authors who have published documents before him, I shall also indicate them first, whenever I may have been able to procure the original pul)lications. — A few last words upon the principal work of Mr. Dirks (1850). It consists of three parts. The 1st (pp. 4-38) comprises general notions concerning the Gypsies, where one naturally finds information already known ; the two pages, 8-10, concerning the arrival of the Gypsies in p]urope, are quite behindhand, even considering their date. The new and very important part is the 2d (pp. 39-137), full of Dutch documents, classed according to the provinces. In the 3d part (pp. 138-157) the author gives a general summary of the history of the Heidens in the Low Countries of the North from the documents contained in the second part. I remark (p. 139) one notion which it is useful to rectify : Mr. Dirks wrongly imagines that the titles of earl, duke, or king have been given to the Gypsy chiefs, and often to the same chiefs alternately, by the authorities of the countries through which they passed, according to the degree of consideration they consented to accord them : no— they repeated, with more or less confidence at first, with more or less suspicion afterwards, the titles which these chiefs gave themselves, and which were often attested by the official papers of which they were the bearers.

2 "Dirk Burger van Schorel, in his Chronyck van MedemUik (Hoorn, 1767, p. 93), says that when, in the year 1420, they came for the first time into Friesland, and into the northern quarters of Holland, they were made much of, but soon afterwards opinion changed regarding them. Whence has this writer gathered this? The archivist (? Chartcrmcester), J. A. van der Zwaan, has taken the trouble, on the subject of the Heidens or Egyptians, to verify a great number of accounts of Bailiwicks (Baljuwschappen) in the province of Holland in tlie fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries ; but he has only found oyie single note of 1491 and two of 1633 and 1635."— J. Dirks, Geschiedkundige Onderzoekingen, etc. (already quoted), p. 118. I am told, besides, that Dirk van Schorel deserves but little credit.

3 Mr. J. Dirks, in his very obliging letter of the 10th of July 1874, had given me, amongst many others, the following indication : At the end of extracts relative to the Heidens, taken from the accounts of the Abbey of Leeuwenhorst (from 1462), and published by Mr. Ramnielman Elzevier inthe vols. xii. and xiii. of the Navorscher, Mr. R. Elzevier .says (vol. xiii., 1863, p. 164) ;— " If one examines the accounts of the Abbeys of Leeuwenhorst and of Rhyns- burg (near Leyden), I think tliat earlier mention will be found there of the Gypsies, for ex- ample in the year 1420." I then wrote a long letter (15th July 1874) to Mr. Rauimelman Elzevier, archivist at Leyden, in order to ask him for some explanations upon this and several other points ; but I did not receive any answer.

VOL. I. — NO. VI. Y

330 THE IMMIGRATION OF THE GYPSIES INTO

have been their road for gaining Hainault, where we shall shortly meet them. But here our information is so uncertain that I do not dare to rely upon it.

What is more certain is the passage at Tournai (Hainault), at the end of September of the following year, of a group of Gypsies who, according to the context, do not appear to have been numerous.

"30th of September 1421. The ' co?isaMa; ' (consuls, aldermen of the town) charge Sir Jean Weltin to examine the request made on the suhjed of the Egyptians.

" It is again to the municipal accounts," says the editor of these documents,^ " that we must have recourse to complete the often too laconic information procured from the registers that we are analysing. Here is the account of 1421 ^ concerning what is called the suhjed of the Egyptians : —

" ' To Sir Miquiel, prince of Latinghem in Egypt, as [gift] ^ made to him out of pity and compassion, for the sustaining of him and several other men and women of his company who were driven out of their country by the Saracens because they had turned to the Christian faith : xii gold " moutons," worth xiii livres. Item, for a rasiere * of bread which was given in common to the said Egyptians, XXXV s. Item, for a barrel of " amhours " (a sort of beer) also given to them xviis. vid. The said portions amounting [to] xvil. xiis. vid.'"

Who is this new " Sir Miquiel, prince of Latinghem in Egypt " ? Is it the Duke Michael of Egypt, whom we have perhaps already met with in Switzerland in 1418, and whom we meet with more certainly at Bale in 1422 ? ^ It is possible ; but then, for some reason of which we are ignorant, he had adopted a new title which has a Flemish physiognomy much more than an Egyptian one.*^ It is possible also that it may have been a petty dissentient chief of some kind who had wished to receive the alms (those he obtained here were very liberal)

1 Extraits analyliques des anciens o-egistres des Consaux de la ville de Tournai (1385- 1422) . . . published by H. Vanderbroeck, archivist of the town of Tournai (in 2 vols. 8vo ; Tournai, 1861 aud 1863), tome i., p. 236.

2 The editor ought again to have given here the date of the month aud the day.

3 The word within brackets is wanting in the text.

4 The " rasiere" is generally a measure of capacity; it appears that at Tournai the rasiere represented also a certaiu weight or a certain quantity of articles of food, such as bread, which cannot be measured.

5 He is fouud again at Utrecht in 1439, but this date belongs to the Second Period.

6 M. Louis de Mas Latrie, whom I met at the Ecole des Chartes on the 30th January 1873, whilst I was occupied with these documents, told me that he had known a colonel of engineers, since dead, whose name was Lateignan de Ladinghem, who was a native of Flauders or of Artois, or of some neighbouring province. M. de Mas Latrie did not doubt that Latinghem or Ladinghem was the ntimc of some place in this region.

WESTEllN EUROPE IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTUUV. 331

for himself and his little group, and who, not daring to usurp the title of Duke i\Iichael, which might have drawn upon him the ill-will of him whose name he had usurped, took another less high-sounding title.i

The "Egyptians" returned to Tournai in the following year (1422).- Unfortunately the very valuable passage of the chronicle which describes this band (not very numerous, it appears) does not give us the name of the chief, and does not even make special mention of any chief. Here is this curious document : —

" And in the following year, which was one thousand four hundred and twenty-two, about the month of May, several people of strange nation, who said they came from Egypt, came for the first time to the town of Tournai and the country round about. And they said they could only lodge for the space of iii days in a town, because they were constrained to journey as pilgrims about the world for vii years before they might return into their said country. And these Egyptians had a king and lords w^hom they obeyed,^ and had privileges, so that none could punish them save themselves.

" And most of these lived by pilfering, especially the women, who were ill-clothed, and entered the houses, some asking alms and others bargaining for some sort of merchandise. And it was with difficulty that one could be upon one's guard against them without losing some- thins. And there were some who, the better to deceive foolish men and women, pretended to foretell the future, such as the having of children, or of being soon or well married, or of having good or bad luck, and many other such deceits. And whilst they were thus abusing the belief of many people, the children cut the purses of those who were too attentive to their charms, or they themselves, with the hand with which they seemed to hold a child (whicli they did not do, for the

1 See further on pp. 332-333, particularly the end of note 3, p. 333.

" Mr. Vauderbroeck, in (juoting this passage of the chronicle, appears to think that it applies to the same fact which had been signalised on the 30th of September 1421, at Tournai. It is no doubt the phrase, " came^rs^ to the to^vn of Tournai . . .," which induced him to make this supposition ; but the chroniclers are too much disposed to think that the first fact with which tbey become acquainted is the first of the same kind that has taken place. Supposing that this writer, who does not appear to have immediately d.ated the fact he has so well described, but which he has no doubt interpolated into his chronicle later on, should have been mistaken in the year, which is not very probable, his recollections would not have furnisbe.l him with "towards the month of May" instead of the 30th of September. On the whole I see no reason to doubt the approximate date given by the

chronicler.

3 This vague mention of "king and lords " is better specified by the Bourgeois de Pans (see Paris, 1427). That which here concerns the king refers no doubt to what these Egyptians then said of their own country. On the contrary, the privilege of which they boasted of being punished only by themselves evidently regards their actual chiefs ; cf. further on (Bologna, July 1422) my note concerning the pretended imperial decree which authorised them to steal.

332 THE IMMIGKATION OF THE GYPSIES INTO

child was supported by a band put on as a sling ^ covered over with a blanket (' Jlassart or lincJwel ' ^), and this hand was free), purloined artfully without its being perceived.

" And the men were sufficiently well dressed, the greater number of whom occupied themselves with the buying and selling of horses, and they were such skilful horsemen that a horse appeared very much better under them than under other men. And thus, by ' heu- delant ' ^ and deceiving, they often got a better horse than their own, and money into the bargain. And some of these men, when they bought some merchandise, gave a florin in payment, and in receiving their change, were so skilful with their hand, confusing and cheating the people, or asking for other money than that which was given them, that none escaped without loss. And often, when they had stolen what they could, they would not take the merchandise, pre- tending not to know the money that had been given them in exchange.

" And these folks were lodged in Tournai on the market-place, in the cloth-market, where many went to see them by day and by night. And they slept there by couples, one close to the other, and were not ashamed to do their necessities and natural works before every one.

" And folks gossiped about the allegation made by these people that they were from Egypt, but no doubt they were only, as was known afterwards, from a town in Germany named in Latin Ujn- polensis (sic), and in common parlance Maliode (or Mahone ?), situated between the town of Wilsenacque and liomme (sic), at vi days' journey from the said Vilsenacque ; and they abide there by tribute and servitude." ^

I have already quoted and remarked upon ^ this last paragraph which ends by so strange a geographical indication. I reproduce it here, however, not only to avoid cutting short this valuable passage of a chronicle, but also because this paragraph appears to me to be of

1 The text says "estoit soutenu de ung cha,mt d erquerpe." I think we ought to read, "d esquerjm," that is to say, en echarpe, in a sling.

2 This "_^assart or linchoel " (linceul — anciently a sheet, and by extension all sorts of covering) appears again at Bologna (July 1422) under the name of Schiavina (see p. 336), and is called at Paris (1427) a " fiaussoie" another form of the vfordjlussart.

3 Godefroy, in his Diet, de Vancienne langue Frangaise (in course of piiblication). men- tions the verb ^'heudeler" with a note of interrogation, and produces, as sole example, the self-same phrase in our text. The precise meaning of this word is then still unknown.

^ Recueil des Clironiqucs de Flandre, published imder the direction of the Pvoyal Com- mission of History by J. J. de Smet. Brussels, in 4to, vol. iii. 1856, p. 372, in the great Collection des Chroniqiies beiges. I need not say that the author of this chronicle is con- temporary with the event which he evidently relates de visu ; but his name is unknown. The editor (p. 113) thinks that this important chronicle was probably written at Tournai, and he makes some remarks on the incorrect French of the " Walloii" writers.

■'' In Antecedents end Pidvdes, pp. 207-210,

WESTERN EUROPE IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY, 333

a nature to throw perhaps some light upon the particular origin of such a little band as may present itself to us under an unusual aspect, like that which came first to Tournai (September 1421) under the conduct of " Miquiel, prince of Latinghem in Egypt."

Indeed, if, as I think, there existed, before 1417, in the bishopric of Wurtzburg (RerhijJolis), which must be the place intended in this strange document, Gypsies whom the Prince Bisliop forbade his subjects to harbour,! if some had been driven from Meissen in 1416, to say nothing of those who might have arrived in Hesse in 141 4,"^ it is quite natural to think that some of those, seeing the success obtained by the newly arrived Gypsies from the East, endeavoured to imitate them, and caused themselves to be equally well received by repeating the same tales, which it was probably not difficult to learn well enough. What they lacked, however, was necessarily the letters from the Emperor (afterwards from the Pope) in confirmation of their assertions. Now I remark precisely that, in the account of the liberal alms given on the 30th of September 1421 by the town of Tournai to " Miquiel, prince of Latinghem in Egypt," no mention is made, as is generally the case in the documents of a similar nature, of the imperial letters . . . : this circumstance alone proves nothing, for the greater number of these documents are too summary to contain invariably such an indication,^ but it is necessary to authorise, in presence of other more significative circumstances, a conjecture like that which I have just made, and which, besides, I only give as a conjecture.

This conjecture is inapplicable, whatever the chroniclers may say, and notwithstanding the absence of all mention of the imperial letters, to the band which has just been described to us by the Chronique de Flandre,^ for several of the curious details given by it concerning

1 See Antecedents and Preludes, pp. 207-210.

2 See ibid., pp. 205-207.

3 I have already remarked (p. 326) that there is no mention made of tlie imperial letters in the account of St. Laurent-lez-Macon (end of August 1419), nor in those of Sisteron (1st October 1419), to say notliing of certain Clironicles (see the following note) : this does not prevent me from considering the Gypsies signalised in these places as forming part of the group to whom these letters had been accorded. The shortness of the accounts is not, how- ever, without doubt the only cause of the omission which is sometimes remarked in them. It is very likely that the scribe, or the municipality itself, seeing wliat sort of people they had to deal with, may have more than once found it more suitable not to mention the imperial recommendation. At St. Laurent, precisely, the " Egyptians ' behaved themselves very ill, at Sisteron they are known beforehand. "But this consideration appears inapplicable to the first band which visited Tournai, for the " prince of Latinghem " and his followens, who were very well received there, gave no cause of complaint. They appear to have wished to dis- tinguish themselves advantageously in this respect from those whose steps they followed, according to my conjecture.

•* The chroniclers neglect too easily the official details, such as the name of the chief, the papers he possessed, things which are more interesting to the municipalities who grant alms.

334 THE IMMIGKATION OF THE GYPSIES INTO

this band are identical with those which the Journal d'un Bourgeois de Paris will give us concerning the Gypsies who visited us in 1427, and who were evidently one of the principal bands of this period.

The identity of the details furnished by the two chroniclers adds, besides, a great value to these two documents, for it proves the per- fect correctness of the observations collected on both sides. But the Ghronique de Flandre contains also no less curious details, which are met with in no other document of this first epoch, especially the subterfuge used by the women for thieving, the cunning of the horse- dealing men, the thefts in changing money practised by both men and women, and which are still at the present time one of the com- monest misdemeanours of the Gypsies, with this difference, that it is now almost always the exclusive business of the women.

Let us, however, pursue our researches and resume the itineraries of these indefatigable travellers, as far as the documents which have come to our knowledge will permit.

The letters of the Emperor began to get old, they must already have been dated five years before, and, as the Gypsies had said up to the present time that their pilgrimage was to last seven years} it was prudent to see what could be done. Besides, the credit enjoyed by the Emperor Sigismund was not the same in every country ; and these great pilgrims began to pass for unbelievers. It was clear that if, by the imperial letters, they could obtain others from the Pope, their situation throughout the whole of Christendom would be much benefited ; and truly as penitents it behoved them to go to Kome. . . . This is precisely the idea which entered the head of our adventurers. To go to Rome, to see the Pope, still better to extort from him letters of protection, what a strange thing, and apparently how difficult for Gypsies ! The strangeness was an additional reason for them to attempt it, and as for the difficulty, nothing is difficult to a Gypsy.

"The 18th of July 1422, a duke of Egypt, named Duke Andrew, arrived at Bologna with women, children, and men from liis own country. They might be about a hundred. This duke, having denied

We find the same regrettable omissions in the inestimable testimony of the Bourgeois de Paris, whose recital makes one, however, supi)ose that these Gypsies exhibited the jDapal letters obtained in 1422.

1 Their statement on this point, agreeing no doubt with wliat was contained in the imperial letter, had not varied. See above the Hanseatic towns (1417), Switzerland (1418), Tournai (May 1422), and, lower down, Bologna (July of the same year). According to the statement in the last-named place, it was the King of Hungary, i.e. the Emperor, wlio had fixed this duration to tbeir pilgrimage. — After the letters from the Pope were obtained, towards the end of August 1422, this latter year seems generally to serve as the point of departui-e for a new terra of seven years.

WESTERN EUROPE IN TUK FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 335

the Christian f.aith, the King of Hungary ^ had taken possession of his lands and person. Then he tokl the king that he wished to return to Christianity, and he had been baptized with about four thousand men ; - those wlio refused to be baptized were put to death. After the King of Hungary had thus taken them and re-baptized them, he ordered them to travel about the world for seven years, to go to Rome to see the Pope, and afterwards to return into their own country. When they arrived at Bologna, they had been journeying for five years,^ and more than half of them were dead. They had a decree from the King of Hungary, the Emperor, in virtue of which they were allowed to thieve, during these seven years, wherever they might go, witliout being amenable to justice.'

" When they arrived at Bologna, they lodged themselves inside and outside the gate of Galiera, and settled themselves under the porticoes (portici), with the exception of the duke, who lodged at the King's Inn (1^q\Y Albergo del Ee). They remained a fortnight at Bologna. During this time many people went to see them, on account of tlie duke's wife, who, it was said, could foretell what would happen to a person during his life, as well as what was interesting in the present, how many children would be born, whether such a woman was good or bad, and other things ; concerning all which she told truly. And, amongst those who wished to have their fortune told, few went to consult without having their purse stolen, and the women had pieces of their dress cut off. The women of the band wandered about the town, seven or eight together ; they entered the houses of the inhabitants, and, whilst they were telling idle tales, some of tliem laid hold of what was within their reach. In the same way they visited the shops under the pretext of buying something, but in reality to steal. Many thefts were committed in this way in Bologna. So it was

1 It was the Emperor Sigisiiiund who was King of Hungary since 1392.

2 ". . . e cosi sL battezzo con ahiuanti di quel popolo, e lurono circa 4000 iioniini." It will be seen that, ia Paris, in 1427, the Gypsies said that they had numbered one thousand or twelve hundred when they set out. I note these numbers without deducing anything from them.

3 I have said before what importance we may attach to this statement taken in its absolute signification, but I also point out all the value that this statement and that of the Gypsies in Paris in 1427 derived from their compai-ison with the dates of the safe-conducts of the Emperor and of tlie Pope ; they prove the authenticity of tliese safe-conducts, and these will serve to prove the identity of the band of Gypsies travelling over the west ut this epoch.

* It is more than doubtful whether the Emperor's letters contained any such clause, but they evidently contained anotlier which is in reality equivalent to it. The Tournai clironicler (May 1422) tells us that they had "privileges so that none might punish them but them- selves only," that is to say their chiefs. And we find this privilege drawn up by Sigisraund himself in the letter which he accorded, in 1423, to another Gypsy chief, the voivode Ladislas, to whom he reserves the right of justice over all the members of his band, to the exclusion of all the local authorities. See farther on, liatisbon, 1424.

336 THE IMMIGRATION OF THE GYPSIES INTO

cried throughout the town that no one should go to see them under a XDenalty of fifty pounds and excommunication ; for they were the most cunning thieves in all the world. It was even allowed to those who had been robbed by them to rob them in return to the amount of their losses [a strange expedient]. In consequence of which several of the inhabitants of Bologna slipped during the night into a stable where some of their horses were shut up, and stole the best of them. The others, wishing to get back their horse, agreed to restore a great number of the stolen objects. [This was accordingly done as it appears.] But, seeing that there was nothing more to gain there, they left Bologna and went off towards Kome.

" Observe," adds the chronicler, " that they were the ugliest brood ever seen in this country. They were thin and black, and they ate like swine ; their women went in smocks, and wore a ' schiavina ' ^ across the shoulder (ad armacollo), rings in their ears, and a long veil on their head. One of them gave birth to a child in the market-place, and, at the end of three days, she went on to rejoin her people."^

Forli was on the road to Rome (about five leagues from Bologna, which the Gypsies had quitted about the 2d of August), and we find them before this town on the 7th August. Their number had no doubt increased on the road, for the chronicler of Forli esteems it to be two hundred. These unaccommodating people, says he, went to and fro during two days like wild beasts and thieves.^ If one can judge by the expressions of the chronicler, they affected to treat the Italians on a footing of equality, and representing themselves as a people sent by the Emperor, they demanded a sort of alliance with the people of Forli. Fra Geronimo does not tell us anything more of them, except- ing that some of them said they were from India.^ He adds that

1 I find in the dictionary : " Garment of coai'se linen peculiar to slaves, and worn also by pilgrims and hermits. It is also used for bed-coverings made of the same tissue." Garment or covering for pilgrims, the two things are already much alike, for the Gypsies they are one and the same thing. I will not, therefore, decide. Old engravings show us the Gypsies, and especially the Gyi)sy women, wrapped in long and large cloaks in the form of blaukets, or vice-versd. Sometimes these blanket-cloaks are striped. See, amongst others, the engraving- given by Munster. As to the epithet ad armacollo, it means that the Gypsy women then wore the blanket, not as a cloak, as the engraving in question represents them, but as a drapery passed under the arm and fastened on the other shoulder. Le Bourgeois de Paris (see further on) tells us precisely that the women wore as sole garment a smock, and over it a very coarse old blanket fastened on the shoulder by a band of cloth or a cord. See also notes 1 and 2 of page 332, ante (Tournai, Mai 1422).

2 Chronica di Bologna in the great collection of Muratori, Rerum Hal. Scriptores, t. xviii., 1731, pp. 611, 612.

3 The text hea,rsfu7-entes, furious, but I think we ought to reaifurantes.

* " Eodem millesimo (1422) venerunt Forlivium quatdam geutes missaj ab Imperatore, cupientes recipere fidem nostram ; et fueruut in Forlivio die vii" Augusti. Et, ut audivi, aliqui dicebant quod erant de India. Et steterunt hinc inde per duos dies gentes nou niultum morigenatae, quae quasi bruta auimalia et furentes. Et fuerunt numero quasi ducenti, et

WESTERN EUROPE IN THE FIFTEKNTH CENTURY. 337

there was a great plague and a great mortality that year at Forli.i

On quitting Forli, as in quitting Bologna, the Gypsies said that they were going to Eome to the Pope ; and iu truth they were going there. It appears even that these crafty heathens found means to touch the sovereign pontiff : as was evidenced by the new letters of protection which they soon produced.

The object of the journey, as I have already given to understand, was these famous letters of protection. As soon as they had been obtained, the troop retraced its steps. We are about to find them again in Switzerland, in this centre of civilised nations, where the Gypsies had already once before given each other rendezvous, and which they no doubt liked on account of its division into more or less independent cantons, and also perhaps because they again met with the German tongue, with which they had been long familiar, as I have remarked in my first article, for it will be observed that it is again in a German-speaking canton that we meet them.

In the same year (1422) — we do not know the precise date, but the possession of the Pope's letters places it undoubtedly after the month of August — the cunning, lazy foreigners called Zigciner were known for the first time at Bale,^ and in the Wiesenthal.^ The chronicler of Bale ^ does not tell us the number of these travellers,

ibant versiis Romam ad Papam, scilicet viri et nmlieres et parvuli." Chronicon Foroliviense (1397-1433), auctore fratre Hieronymo foroliviensi, ordiuis Pra2dicatorum ; in Rerum italic. Scriptores, vol. xix. p. 890. — There is in this text a short sentence which has been more remarked than pei'haps it deserves to be : " aliqui dicebant quod erant de India." In the tirst place, this incorrect Latin allows of two different interpretations : was it some of the Gypsies who said that ? or some of the inhabitants of Forli who had this idea ? I had formerly aiiopted the first of these two interpretations : now, it appears to nie very doubtful. In either case it must be recollected that at this period the word India was sometimes made use of to indicate certain countries in Africa, particularly Ethiopia, as Pott has remarked in a passage of Die Zigeuner which I cannot put my hand on. Some authors, indeed, of the sixteenth century and of a later date have given the name of ^-Ethiopcs, JVubiani, etc., to the Gypsies.

1 Muratori makes the same oliservation in his Annali d' Italia, vol. ix. (1764), p. 89.

2 See, however, in my preceding article, pp. 282-284, the testimony of Justiuger, accord- ing to whom the Gypsies had already visited Bale in 1418 or 1419.

3 Wiesenthal (valley of the Wiese), Visentagiensis Comitatus, between the territory of Ulni and the county of Wurtemberg (became a duchy iu 1495).

•* Wurstisen Basler Chronik, Brde, 1580, in fol., p. 240, or John Grossius (who copies Wurstisen), Kurtze Bassler Chronick, Biile, 1624, in small 8vo, p. 70. Concerning tliese two clironiclers see my note relative to the Swiss chroniclers, pp. 276 and 278. Here is the literal translation of the passage in Wurstisen : "In 1422, came for the first time to Bale and into the Wiesenthal, a cunning and lazy strange people called Ziijeiner, with about fifty horses. They had a chief who calls himself the Duke Michael of Egypt. They were provided with safe-conducts (Paszioorte) from the Pope and from the King of the Romans. It was on this account that they were tolerated and allowed to pass, although it was to the displeasure of the peasants. They said they drew their origin from the Egyptians who refused hospitality to Joseph and Mary during their llight into Egypt with the newly-born Lord Jesus to escape the anger of Herod. It was for this reason that God cast them out into misery as orphans (vjeiszlosz). Since then this black, ugly, and savagely vagabond people, ..." etc.

338 THE IMMIGKATION OF THE GYPSIES INTO

but seeing that the baud was provided with fifty horses, it may be concluded that it was considerable.^ Wurstisen, however, mentions only one chief, and he does not bear the same name as the chief of Bologna ; he calls himself the Dvike Michael of Egypt. However, the band was provided with safe conducts (Paszvvorte) from the King of the Romans, with which we are acquainted, and also with those which they had just obtained from the, Pope. " It is on account of these letters," adds Wurstisen, " that these vagabonds were tolerated and allowed to pass, although it was to the displeasure of the country folks." It appears clear from this account that the two dukes had joined each other, as was natural, to go to Rome ; and it is very probable that this meeting took place between Bologna and Forli, for, during this short journey, Mdiich our travellers had accomplished in five days, their numbers had doubled, as we have seen above. Were the two dukes still together at Bale ? It is very possible, although Wurstisen, who wrote a century and a half after the event, has only found mentioned in the documents he lias no doubt consulted one duke bearing another name than the duke of Bologna. But it is also possible that the band had separated after the journey to Rome. It may be presumed, however, even in this last case, that the detach- ment signalised at Bfde was the principal nucleus of this band ; but the possession of the imperial and pontifical letters is no longer a proof of it to me as it formerly was ; ^ for I am now convinced that the Gypsy chiefs took care to provide themselves with authentic copies of these important documents, and the two dukes who were together in Rome had even perhaps obtained two original letters from the Pope. The possession of these documents, whether original or o»ly authentic copies, only proves that the Gypsies who possessed them depended on the two great chiefs with whom we are acquainted, and this is the important point.

But Wurstisen ends by a statement which it is impossible to admit. Up to the present moment, every time that we have been informed, in a more or less explicit, in a more or less summary manner, of the accounts of the Gypsies concerning their Egyptian origin and the cause of their pilgrimage, these accounts all turned upon the same theme, and it is still the same story we meet with in 1427 at Paris, where it w\as more fully developed than any-

1 I liad at first thought of several hundred, but I observe that tlie band which visited Deventer in 1420, and which owned about forty horses, was only estimated at a hundred souls. It must not be forgotten that these Gypsies already exercised the trade of horse- dealing (see especially "La Chronique de Flandre" Tournai, 1422).

2 See my memoir of 1844, p. 40.

WESTERN EUROPE IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY, 339

where else, and afterwards at Amiens, at Tournai (1429), etc. etc. Here, on the contrary — I mean at Bille — there is a totally different version : " They say that they drew their origin from those Egyptians who had refused hospitality to Joseph and Mary when they fled into Egypt with the Lord Jesus, and it was on this account that God had condemned them to wretchedness." I may here remark that we are about to meet with the same entirely novel version, but in a band of Gypsies, evidently Hungarian, who consequently could not have made the recital of their religious adventures among the Moham- medans, and who, moreover, had certainly not quitted Hungary before the end of April 1423 at the soonest; besides which they were only at Ratisbon in 1424 (towards the month of August?). Nothing can be more natural than that these should have given another explanation of the origin of their miserable and wandering existence. But those of Biile (1422), who were in possession of the pcqml letters, obtained in the same year, and which, it is evident, could only have been got by aid of the imperial letters, in which the statement we are acquainted with was consigned, and by presenting themselves to the Pope, in accordance with this statement, as repentant pilgrims, how could these, at such a moment, forsake the story which had answered them so well, and adopt an ancient legend which was con- trary to the imperial letter, and without doubt contrary also to the papal letter of which they were bearers ? This is not only highly improbable, but we also know positively by a document at Amiens (27th Sept. 1427, see further on) that this was not the case : for it is on the sight of the 'pontifical letters that the authorities at Amiens ascertain that the Holy Father certifies that Earl Thomas of Little Egypt (the chief of this detachment) and his followers have been driven from their country for not having consented to forsake the Christian faith. If, then, Wurstisen has really gathered from a reliable document the statement which he transmits to us, there must have been amongst the band at Bfde some Gypsy recently arrived from Hungary, to whom the recital with which we are acquainted was not yet familiar, and that the witness who sought for information must have had the bad luck to fall upon that one. . . . But it is far more probable that Wurstisen, who, after some lines devoted to the aj^pear- ance of the Gypsies in his country, speaks of those of his own time (not, as it may be guessed, to speak well of them), should have gathered this explanation from some of these vagabonds, and should have thought it was that which they had always given.

The chronological order which I have always endeavoured to

340 THE IMMIGRATION OF THE GYPSIES INTO

follow brings me now precisely to a document of very particular interest, and which is transmitted to us by a well-informed witness. This document carries us to Eatisbon in 1424, and there is certainly question here of a new band (scattered about and more or less numerous) which did not only come from, but was native (oriunda) to Hungary, that is to say, belonging to that category of Tsigans accustomed from times more or less ancient to circulate or move about within that country. This is proved by the statement of these people themselves, or by that of the very intelligent chronicler who has evidently visited them, and also by the context of the recent letters of Sigismund, of which they were bearers, and even by the name and title of the chief to whom they had been accorded. I shall revert to these last observations ; but it is right to reproduce first of all the valuable, but too concise, recital of the chronicler.

" Item, in those times (1424 ^) there came into our countries and wandered about in them a certain nation of Cingars,^ vulgarly called Cigawnar. They were seen near to Eatisbon, succeeding each other, sometimes to the number of thirty people, men, women, and children, sometimes in smaller numbers. They pitched their tents ^ in the fields, because they were not allowed to inhabit towns ; for they cunningly took what did not belong to them. These people were natives of Hungary, and they said that they were exiled on account or in remembrance of the flight of our Lord into Egypt,^ when He

1 The chronicler, although he has habits of precision, has not specified more particularly, no doubt because he was referring to an event, indefiuite in its nature and duration, to which it was not possible to assign a determined date. All that I can remark is that the passage which interests us comes after cei'tain facts relating to the year 1424, the three last to the 26th and 21st Jime and to the 15th August, and before other facts in the same year which bears the dates corresponding to the 1st, 21st, and 29th September.

2 Cingari (see also further on the word Zi7igari in another passage of the same chronicler referring to the year 1426). This is, as far as I can recollect, the oldest example known up to the present time of this particular form of the name of the Tsigani — the form charac- terised by the r in the last syllable— which has been often employed in after times by authors of different countries writing in Latin, and which has been adopted (but not at first) in Italian. It will be remarked that, although the letter from Sigismund, and other Hungarian acts of much later date, are written in Latin, the form therein employed is Cingani (some- times Czigani). Concerning the form Cingari there would be a special study to make, which I had formerly begun, and in which I should have to make use of a valuable unpub- lished note of the late Garrez.

3 We shall find the same mention of tents made in a few lines that the same chronicler devotes to another passage of Gypsies at Ratisbon in 1426. This detail is interesting ; perhaps even it may furnish an additional distinctive trait between the great baud which began to travel over the West in 1417 and these new-comers from Hungary ; but, as the question of tents calls for observations of some length, I shall place these and some others at the end of the First Period.

4 The same explanation, which is certainly wrongly attributed by Wurstisen to the Gypsies visiting Bale in 1422, but which was apparently current amongst the Gypsies in the west in the time of this chronicler (end of the sixteenth century), is rather more explicit : it was /or having refused hospitality to the Holy Family, flying into Egypt, that they had been condemned to a wandering and miserable life. These few additional words render the legend, not more likely, but clearer.

WESTERN EUliOPE IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 341

fled from Herod, who souQ-ht Him to slav Him. But the common people said that they were spies. These people had also letters from King Sigismuiid, and I have been careful to insert here, as being perhaps interesting to chroniclers (or to chronics ?), the tenor of one of these letters which they possessed written upon paper." ^

The imperial letter, which we give here, and which is dated the month of April of the preceding year (1423), is as follows : —

"Sigismund, by the grace of God King of the Romans, ever august, and King of Hungary, of Bohemia, of Dalmatia, of Croatia, etc., — To all our faithful nobles, knights, castellans, of&cers, vassals, to our free towns (civitatibus Hheris), to our fortified towns {opindis), and to their judges constituted and existing under our reign and dominion (dominio), greeting with love. Came in person into our presence our faithful Ladislas Wayvode (Way?ioda -) of the Cigani, with others of his tribe {ciim aliis ad ipsum spectantibus), who pre- sented their very humble supplications to us, here at Zips (wi Sepus) in our presence, with entreaty of supplications and prayers, in order that we might vouchsafe to gratify them with our most abundant grace. In consequence, we, being persuaded by their supplication, have thought proper to grant them this privilege (libertatem). Therefore each time that the said Ladislas and his people (sua gens) shall come into our said possessions, be it free cities, be it fortified towns {dominia, videlicet civitates vel oppida), from that time we send word and strictly order to your present fidelities, that you may favour and keep without any hindrance or trouble the said Wadislas (sic) Wayvode and the Cigani who are subject to him ; and even that it may please you to preserve them from all obstacles and offences. That if any variance or trouble occurred between themselves, then that neither you nor any other of you, but that the same Ladislas Waiwode, should have the power of judging and absolving. As to the present (letters), we order that, after their reading, they should

1 " Habebat quoque gens eadem litteras Sigismundi Regis quarum iinius tenorem, aquin in papyro habebant scriptam, hie pro Cronicis inserere curavi." Andreas Ratisponensis presbyteri Ord. Can. Reg. S. Aug. ad S. Magnum in pede pontis Ratisponensis Diarium seccennale, annum Christi mccccxxii. cum quinque sequentibus complectens, ex autograplio auctoris edidit Andreas Felix CEfelius, Bibliothecoe Bav. prrefectus ; in lierum Jioicarian Scriptores of CEfelius, Augusta Vindel. (Augsbourg), 1763, in 2 vols, fol., vol. i. p. 21. Notwithstanding the particular importance of this passage of the chronicle and of the imperial letter which follows it, as I have given a complete and as exact a translation as possible of them, I do not think it necessary to reproduce here these two texts (excepting the few lines above of Andrew of Ratisbon, which call for some observations), because the first has been reproduced by Mr. Dyrlund (always very exact) in his previously-named book, Tatere og Natmandsfolk i Danmark, Kopenhague, 1872, p. 365 ; and the second by Grellmann, 1787, p. 343.

- The word is thus written in the whole course of this document, and CEfelius, in order not to bear the responsibility of this inaccuracy, adds in a note " In codice Wayjioda."

342 THE IMMIGRATIOISr OF THE GYPSIES INTO

always be returned to him who shall have presented them. Given at Zips (in Sepus), the Sunday before the feast of St, George the Martyr (this feast-day falls on the 23d of April), the year of our Lord MCCGCXXIIL, and of our reigns, in Hungary xxxvi^^ ; as King of the Eomans, xn*^ ; in Bohemia the third."

It results from the indications furnished by the Priest of Eatis- bon, that in 1424, in Bavaria, especially round about Eatisbon, there was a small floating population of Gypsies, who had come from Hun- gary. They had, it appears, adopted certain places for encamping, and succeeded each other there in numbers sometimes greater, some- times smaller. And this circumstance explains, as I have already remarked in a note, that the chronicler has not given any precise date to the event. But it seems to us that he might have said when and how he had obtained not only the communication of the valu- able document which he has transmitted to us, but the means of transcribing it. One does not even learn by his recital whether the Waiwode Ladislas was at Eatisbon at the rather uncertain time which is in question, and still less, if it was he who communicated to the author the Imperial letter dated from the preceding year. But this author has been too happily inspired in transmitting this docu- ment to us for us to find fault with him for the rest. Who knows besides if he has not had some reason for not mentioning the means by which he had procured himself this copy ? "With the Gypsies on one hand, with the subaltern police agents on the other, it is often necessary to be cautious how one proceeds.

To end at once with these details, which remain secondary from the moment that no light can be thrown upon them, it is important to remark certain expressions in the last sentence of the chronicler. " They had," says he, " letters from Sigismund, . . .," and here, in opposition to the usual meaning of the word littercc, it is impossible not to see that it is a question of several letters. The sequel shows it : " quarum unius tenorem" etc. One can scarcely doubt the exactness of the statement, and the statement is curious. Besides, the letter of which the text has come down to us was written on 'paper (m papyro) : so then it was already a copy — for the original diploma, which came from the Imperial Chancery was necessarily on imrcliment — it was no doubt an authentic copy, otherwise the document would not have satisfied the very intelligent chronicler; but it appears interesting to me to find already in the Gypsies' possession the copy of an Act which could scarcely have had more than one year's date.

WESTEllN EUROPE IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 343

These remarks complete those which I have presented in my second article, pp. 266-267.

But the double document which precedes calls for more certain observations of particular importance.

Whilst the Gypsies who travelled over the West from 1417 Avere evidently Oriental Gypsies coming from countries occupied or threatened by the Turks, those wlio spread themselves, in small groups, in Bavaria during a certain part of the year 1424, were, on the contrar}^, Hungarian Gypsies. Not only did they say so them- selves, and are so considered by the chronicler, but everytliing proves it. There are no more Oriental accounts. The letter from the Emperor does not say a word of their exotic origin, it refers to them, on the contrary, as old and faithful subjects deserving of the favour of the sovereign who lends an ear to their request. On their side, these new immigrants do not pretend to explain their wandering life by more or less recent adventures which had happened in their Egyptian Jiome. No ; but as they believe, in common with all tlie Gypsies in Europe, in an ancient Egyptian descent, they repeat a legend which was probably current amongst them in Hungary and elsewhere, and which carries back their wandering life to the period of the flight into Egypt.^

I note lastly a detail which agrees well with all the other circum- stances to which I have called attention. The dukes Aiidrcni and Michael, to whom most likely the Imperial letter from Lindau was accorded in 1417, bore names which belong to the whole of Christen- dom, and that of Michael had been borne by eight Emperors of the East. They are names which are perfectly suitable to Gypsy chiefs coming from some unknown region of the Byzantine Empire. Quite different is the name of the Waiwode Ladislas. It is a name of Slavonian origin — Polish, I believe — which, imder the form ofWladis- las, has been borne by several dukes or kings of Poland, and by some dukes or kings of Bohemia, but which had been carried by Polisli princes into Hungary, where it had been naturalised from the eleventh century under the form of Ladislas. It had also passed into Wallachia (first as Vladislav, then as VJad) ; Imt I do not think it will be found further south, and it has certainly never been in use in the Byzantine Empire. The form Ladislas was finally a Hungarian

1 Several other legends in \vliich tlie Gypsies are connected with Jesus Christ, St. Peter, and the Crucilixion, are still current amongst the Gypsies of the present time, and some- times even amongst other people. But the fact of such a legend existing so far back as 1424 appears to me to be particularly interesting. If, at this period, the Gypsies had not already travelled about the world from a time immemorial, they would not have conceived such a legend.

344 THE IMIVIIGRATION OF THE GYPSIES INTO

name, and it is exceedingly probable that the Gypsy chief who bore it was born in Hungary. It must be added that the title of Wa'iivode or Woiwode, though it is also of Slavonian origin, is that which has always beeu given in Hungary and Transylvania to Gypsy chiefs, and even to tliose Hungarian personages who, from tlie middle of the sixteenth century up to about the middle of the eighteenth, as far as one can judge with regard to these dates from the documents furnished by Grellmann, filled the rather lucrative office of superior chief of the Gypsies in one or other of these two countries. (See Grellmann, 1787, p. 133, and following, and Nos. ii., III., iv. of the Appendix {Beylage).

I will not take leave of these new-comers without remarking that, according to the trustworthy testimony of the priest of Eatisbon, they were not to be preferred to the first protected by Sigismund. This Emperor was decidedly not very difficult in the choice of his proUg^s ; and when we see him so graciously admit into his presence his " faithful Ladislas, with others of his band," to listen to and grant their entreaties, I ask myself whether it was not rather to give them instructions as spies. I had formerly rejected this idea,^ but the Imperial relapse, and the opinion which the people of Eatisbon formed in this respect, bring me back to it, or rather awake my sus- picions on the subject.

It is not only in 1424 that the arrival and departure of the Gyp- sies at Eatisbon were remarked. The same chronicler, Andrew, priest of this town, signalises them again at Eatisbon in September 1426, saying that they pitched their tents in a place {inter Maiterias), which was without doubt outside the town. According to the terms of this very short document, which gives no indication of their number, it would appear that they remained there but one day.^ Was it a new band arriving from Hungary % Was it the return of a detachment of the little floating population which had been signalised in 1424? The laconicism of the chronicler does not allow of making a choice between these two alternatives, the only ones which present them-

1 See my second article, p. 264. To the second note of this page I might have added that Frederick the Great did not disdain to employ the Gypsies as spies. See Ernest Lavisse, Etudes sur Vhistoire de Prusse, Paris, Hachette, 1885, pp. 290-291. In these two small pages the eminent Professor gives an interesting sketch of the history of the Gypsies in Eastern Prussia and Lithuania under Frederick i. and Frederick ii (the Great). What is wanting here is the indications of sources which would allow us to refer to details which are without doubt valuable ; but the nature of M. Lavisse's works does not allow of any indications of this kind, even on a special subject like the present.

2 1426. "Hoc anno Gens Zingarorum iterum venit Ratisponam, lixitque tentoria sua et habitavit inter Maiterias feria secunda post Matthsei" (that is to say, the Monday after the feast of St. Matthew, which is on the 21st of September).— Andrre Ratis. presbyteri Diarium sexennale, in the collection already named (p. 341, note 1) of CEfelius, vol. i. p. 26.

WESTEKX EUROPE IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTUKY. 345

selves, for it is not possible to connect these new-comers of 1424 and of 1426 with the band with which we are acquainted since 1417.

Besides, as nothing, in the documents which the First Period is about to furnish us witli, will recall the distinctive characters of the new-comers of 1424 and 1426, we will set them aside, supposing for the moment, either that they have remained in Bavaria, or that in the other countries where they may have spread themselves they have drawn attention less than their predecessors, — which is not surprising, as they had no marvellous stories to recount, nor official alms to ask for as pilgrims.

Indeed it must not be forgotten that even the others — those who for us date from 1417 — leave, in general, no trace of their passage unless they are Milling to do so, that is to say, unless they ask for subsidies from the municipalities, as pilgrims driven out of Little Egypt, or unless they take pleasure at the same time (for the outward show did not in general exclude the demand for alms) in making a rumour in the towns, which will procure us the recital of some chronicler.

This remark adds so much the more value to the two statements made by the Priest of Ratisbon, who does not appear to have had to do with Gypsies very desirous of drawing attention upon themselves.

Paul Bataillard. {To he continued^

IV.— THE EED KING AND THE WITCH.

A ROUMANIAN GYPSY FOLK-TALE.

rpHlS story is ISTo. 10 in the Prohe de Limba si Literatura Tsigani- -L lor din Boumania (Bucharest, 1878) of Dr. Barbu Constan- tinescu, from which I have already translated " The Bad Mother " for the first number of our Journal, p. 25. The present story, which seems to me the very best Gipsy folk-tale that we liave, may be compared with Grimm's No. 57, Von Hahn's No. 65, and -'The Norka" on p. 73 of Mr. Ptalston's Ptussian collection.

It was the Eed King, and he bought ten ducats'-worth of victuals. He cooked them, and put them in a press. And he locked the press, and from night to night posted people to guard the victuals. In the morning, when he looked, he found the platters bare. He did not find anything in them. Then the king said : " I will give the half VOL. L — NO. VI. 2

346 THE RED KING AND THE WITCH.

of my kingdom to whoever shall be found to guard the press, that the victuals may not go arnissing from it."

The king had three sons. Then the eldest thouQ-ht within himself. " God ! what, give half the kingdom to a stranger ! It were better for me to watch. Be it unto me according to God's will." He went to his father. " Father, all hail ! , What, give the kingdom to a stranger ! It were better for me to watch." And his father said to him : " As God will, only don't be frightened by wliat you may see." Then he said : " Be it unto me according to God's will." And he went and lay down in the palace. And he put his head on the pillow, and re- mained with his head on the pillow till towards dawn. And a warm sleepy breeze came and lulled him to slumber. And his little sister arose. And she turned a somersault,^ and her nails became like an axe and her teeth like a shovel. And she opened [the cupboard], and ate up everything. Then she became a child again, and returned to her place in the cradle, for she was a child at the breast. The lad arose, and told his father that he had seen nothing. His father looked in the press, found the platters clean ; no victuals, no anything. His father said to him : " It would take a better man than you, and even he might do nothino."

His middle son also said : "Father, all hail ! I am eoino- to watch to-night," " Go, dear ; only play the man." " Be it unto me ac- cording to God's will." And he went into the palace, and put his head on a pillow. And at ten o'clock came a warm breeze, and sleep seized him. Up rose his sister, and unwound herself from her swaddling-bands, and turned a somersault, and her teeth became like a shovel, and her nails like an axe. And she went to the press and opened it, and ate off the platters what she found. She ate it all, and turned a somersault again, and went back to her place in the cradle. Day broke, and the lad arose, and his father asked him and said : " It would take a better man than you, and yet he might not do anything for me, if he were as poor a creature as you."

The youngest sou arose. " Father, all hail ! Give me also leave to watch the cupboard by night." " Go, dear ; only don't be frightened with what you see." " Be it unto me according to God's will," said the lad. And he went and took four needles, and lay down with his head on the pillow ; and he stuck the four needles in four places. When sleep seized him, he knocked his head against a needle, so he stayed awake until dawn. And his sister arose from her cradle, and

1 Da-pes pa sareste, literally, "gave herself on tlie head." A Roninni formula, almost invariably preceding every transformation.

THE RED KING AND THE WITCH. 347

he saw. And she turned a somersault, and he was watching lier. And her teeth became like a shovel, and her nails like an axe. And she went to the press, and ate up everything. She left the platters bare. And she turned a somersault, and became tiny again as she was ; went to her cradle. The lad, when he saw tliat, treml)led with fear ; it seemed to him ten years till daybreak.

And he arose, and went to his father. " Father, all hail ! " Then his father asked him : " Didst see anything, Peterkin ? " " What did I see ? what did I not see? Give me money and a horse, a horse fit to carry the money, for I am away to marry me." His father gave him ducats in abundance, and he put them on his horse. The lad went, and made a hole on the border of the city. He made a chest of stone, and placed all the money there, and buried it. He placed a stone cross above, and departed.

And he journeyed eiglit years, and came to the queen of all the birds that fly. And the queen of the birds asked him : " AVhither away, Peterkin ? " " Thither where there is neither death nor eld, to marry me." The queen said to him : " Here is neither death nor eld." Then Peterkin said to her : " How comes it that here is neither death nor eld ? " Then she said to him : " When I whittle away [hiyar;iua] the wood of all this forest, then death will come and take me, and old age." Then Peterkin said : " One day and one morning death will come and eld, and take me."

And he departed further, and journeyed on eight years, and arrived at a palace of copper. And a maiden came forth from tliat palace, and took him and kissed him. She said : " I have waited long for thee." She took the horse and put him in the stable, and he spent the night there. The lad arose in the morning, and placed his saddle on the horse. Then the maiden began to weep, and asked him. " Whither away, Peterkin ? " " Thither where there is neither death nor eld." Then the maiden said to him : " Here is neither death nor eld." Then he asked her : " How comes it that here is neither death nor eld ? " " Why, when these mountains are levelled, and these forests, then death will come." " This is no place for me," said the lad to her. And the lad departed further.

Then what said the horse to him ? " JNIaster, give four .... [bicea 1] in me, and two in yourself, and arrive in the plain of regret. And regret will seize you, and cast you down, horse and all, so spur your horse, and escape and tarry not." He came to a liut. In the hut he beholds a lad, as it were ten years old, who asked him : " What seekest thou, Peterkin, here ? " "I seek the place where there is

348 THE RED KING AND THE WITCH,

neither death nor eld." The lad said : " Here is neither death nor eld. I am the Wind." Then Peterkin said : " Never, never will I go from here." And he dwelt there a hundred years, and grew no older.

The lad dwelt there, and went out to hunt in the mountains of gold and silver, and he could hardly carry home the game. Then what said the Wind to him ? " Peterkin, go unto all the mountains of gold and unto the mountains of silver ; but go not to the mountain of regret or to the valley of grief." He heeded not, and went to the mountain of regret and the valley of grief And grief cast him down. He wept till his eyes were full. And he went to the Wind : " I am going home to my father, I will not longer stay." " Go not, for both your father is dead, and brothers you have no more left at home. A million years have come and gone since then. The spot is not known where your father's palace stood. They have planted melons on it ; it is but an hour since I passed that way."

But the lad departed thence, and arrived at the maiden's whose was the palace of copper. Only one stick remained, and she cut it and grew old. As he knocked at the door, the stick fell and she died. He buried her, and departed thence. And he came to the queen of the birds in the great forest. Only one branch remained, and that was all but through. AVhen she saw him, she said, " Peter- kin, thou art quite young." Then he said to her, " Dost thou re- member telling me to stay here ? " As she pressed and broke through the branch, she also fell and died.

He came where his father's palace stood and looked about him. There was no palace, no anything. And he fell to marvelling : " God, thou art mighty." He only recognised his father's well, and went to the well. His sister, the witch, when she saw him, said to him : " I have waited long for you, dog." She rushed at him, to devour him, and he made the sign of the cross, and she perished. And he departed thence, and arrived in a certain . . . [bozi ?], and came on an old man with his beard down to his waist. " Father, where is the palace of the Eed King ? for I am his son." Said the old man : " What is this thou tellest me, that thou art his son ? My father's father has told me of the Ked King. His very city is no more. Dost thou not see it is vanished ? And dost thou tell me that thou art the Eed King's son ? " " It is not twenty years, old man, since I departed from my father, and dost thou tell me that thou knowest not my father ? " It was a million years since he had left his home. " Follow me, if thou dost not believe me." And he went to the cross

THE RED KING AND THE WITCH.

349

of stone ; only a palm's breadth was above the ground. And it took him two days to get at the chest of money. When he had lifted out the chest, and opened it, Death sat in one corner groaning, and Old Age groaning in another corner. Then what said Old Age ? " Lay hold of him, Death." " Lay hold of him, yourself." Old Age laid hold of him in front, and Death laid hold of him behind. The old man took and buried him decently, and planted the cross near him. And the old man took the money and also the horse.

Francis Hindes Groome.

v.— A TKANSYLVANIAN-GYPSY BALLAD.

{Rdklo te Edklyi = Lad and Lass).^

Eaklo.

Brinsheniv me yelv rdlhjd,

Brinshevdv me shuJcdrd ! Ld veldv mdyide romFd, Yoy the lisperlds pdni I

Raklyi.

Lisperdv dndrdl pdTd Tide hdmdr ycF goni, Kdnd mdnge suv rodes, Ko dndre fdni perdyds.

Raklo. Roddv me dndre pdTd Tate e suv, vi're rdkliji, Kdnd hidos t'u kercs Angushtensd may Idces.

Raklyi.

Kerdv tute diu/ushtensd Ldce hidos upre pdTid, Kdnd lover fv. keres Andrdl pd^os may Idccs.

Raklo. Kerel tute ndrodos, Tover dndrdl a 2Jdgos, Kdnd pro kdm o tover Laces the kovelydrel.

Raklyi.

Uvd pro kdm na Idces Tu 0 tover kovlydres !

Raklo. Misei^es hin rdkldhd, Kdnd the dumddeld /

1 According to the ortliograpliy here employed, Spanish, aiuiy, sh, aud y as in English.

Lad. I know a maiden, I know a pretty one ! Her take I to wife, Could she spin water !

Lass. I spin from water Quickly a sack for thee, If you find me a needle That fell in the water.

Lad. I find in the water Your needle, my lassie, If you make a bridge Of fingers right well.

Lass.

I make thee of fingers

A good bridge o'er the water,

If you make an axe

Of ice right well.

Lad. For thee the friend make [i.e. " I An axe out of ice, make "]

If the axe in the sun He forges v.ell.

Lass.

But the axe in the sun Not well do you forge.

Lad. 'Tis ill with a maiden When one does strive.

c=English ch, p = Gemian ch, n is as in

350 a transylvanian-gypsy ballad.

Analysis.

lidklo = youth, lad; te = and; rdMyi = giY], raklijd accus. sing.; rdklyi = 'aoxn. for voc. ; brinsherdv = I know ; me=I, rtidnde {mange) dat. sing. ; shukdr= beautiful, shukdrd accus. sing. fern. ; i/o?/ = she, Za=acc. sing. fern. ; veldv = I take ; veldv romni = \ take to wife, I marry ; the = ii conjunction used with subjunctive ; lisperdv = I spin, lis])erlds = lisperdlds, 3 sing. impf. subj. ; jjd/Ji = water, j)dna = nom. pi.; dndrdl = oni of; <w = thou, itt^e = dat. sing. ; yek' = yekd, one; goni = sack ; Mjia. = wlien, or if ; s«'i! = needle ; roddv = I seek, rodes=2 sing. pres. ; perdv = 1 full, j}erdyds = Z sing. perf. ; dndre = in; m're= my; feidos = bridge (from the Hungarian hid) ; A:erav = l make, ke7'es = 2 sing, pres., JlereZ = 3 sing. pres. ; dngushto = &Tiger, dng^ns/ti(;?isd = instrumental plur. ; may^a prefix used in super- lative ; idces = well (adv.); Idco, ldce=good (adj.); upre, pro = u]pon, in, over; tover = iixe, hatchet ; ^Mf'os = ice ; Md?-o(ios = friend ; Mm = sun ; kovlydrdv=I forge kovelydrel=3 sing, pres., kovlydres = 2 sing, pres.; tivd = h\\t ; n« = not ; miseg=had, misepes = bad iy ; dumdddv = l strive, dumddeld^S sing. fut. (one shall or will strive).

This ballad of the Trausylvaiiiaii Gypsies is interesting in that the same subject, and treated in almost the same way, has already been found among other peoples; in Banish {MittJer, No. 1327-32) ; in German (Eosa Warrens, Germanische Volkslieder der Vorzeit, vii. 305); in Swedish (Arwidson, iii. 128); in Scottish (Child, i. 276, and Aytoun, ii. 15). There are ideas that are common to all man- kind, and not peculiar to one people. I heard this ballad from a Gypsy woman at Broos in 1887, and again in the spring of the present year from a Gypsy named Botar Peter, in Alvincz.

Heinkich von Wlislockl

VI.— lEISH TINKEKS AND THEIE LANGUAGE.

ALTHOUGH the caste of " Tinkers " cannot be regarded as identical with that of the Gypsies, yet it is undeniable that the two are closely associated, and that a great number of Gypsies are tinkers. " So many Gypsies, so many smiths," has long been a pro- verb in Transylvania, and so early as the year 1122 we find the Austrian Gypsies referred to as Chaltsmide, or " cold- smiths."^ The Castilian edict of 1499 was directed against "Egyptians and foreign tinkers (ccdderos extrangeros) " ; and similar edicts issued against " English Gypsies under the Tudors," and subsequently, yield a similar testimony. And the connection between the two castes still exists : to borrow the words of Mr. Leland, " He who catches a tinker has got hold of half a Gypsy."

1 "That here by Ghaltsviide . . . Gypsies are meant, scarcely admits of doubt," is Mr. Groome's remark in introducing this quotation {Encyc. Brit. art. "Gypsies "), and few will dispute the correctness of his inference.

IRISH TINKEHS AND TIIKII; LANGUAGE. 351

These remarks are necessary as introductory to a study of the Gypsies of Ireland. If one is to accept the testimony of an Enfjlish Gypsy wlio has visited most of the celebrated Irish horse-fairs, there are no Eomane to be found in Ireland at the present day, except those wlio have crossed from Great Britain in recent years. Nevertheless, the tinker caste in Ireland is certainly Gypsy to some extent. Simson, in his History, speaks of that caste as practically one with the Scotch nomads whom he styles " Gypsies " ; but that writer employs the term " Gypsy " in a much too comprehensive fashion. That there is, however, a distinct Gypsy element in tlie tinkers of Ireland may be seen from the following description, which is from the pen of an Irish lady, resident in the county of Limerick : — ^

" In an account of the Greek Gypsies, whose arrival and pro- tracted stay in England gave rise last year to a good deal of comment, I observed that the name by which they were designated in their continental passports was that of chaudronnicr, or ' tinker.' Now I have often heard that the Irish tinkers are a species of Gypsy ; and certainly they resemble the latter class in their wandering habits, for they seldom, if ever, stay for any length of time in one place. ]\Iore- over, they are all — in this neighbourhood, at any rate — dark-haired and of swarthy appearance, and they seldom marry out of their own caste. It has, therefore, occurred to me that a few remarks upon the habits of the Irish Gypsies or tinkers, based upon personal experience, may prove instructive, and perhaps amusing, to those who take an interest in the manners and customs of our liritish nomads — all the more interesting because these must gradually disappear under the pressure of modern law,

"Most of the country people in Ireland profess to believe that the only necessary marriage ceremony needed by the tinkers generally is for the man and woman to jump together, hand in hand, over the ' budget' — as the box containing the materials used by a tinsman is called.- Perhaps, on the same principle, but by jumping back again, a divorce may be obtained ! Certainly the following custom, and the instances — strictly true in each case — which accompany it, go far to suggest that tinkers are not very particular as to the means used to 'mate 'them. The village of B , in the south-west of Ireland,

1 This extract is taken from a longer article, contributed to the North Brithh Advertiser of 26th February 1887.

2 The word "budget" was so used in Shakespeare's time, as may be. seen from the lines in Autolycus's song ( Winters Tale, iv. 2) : -

" If tinkers may have leave to live, And bear the sow-skin budget."

352 IRISH TINKERS AND THEIR LANGUAGE.

has for many, many years been made a rendezvous by tinkers for the furthering of a very curious custom — namely, tliat of exchanging wives. Incredible as this may appear, it is nevertheless a fact, and though the instances of it do not occur so frequently now as formerly seldom does a fair day pass without one exchange at least being effected. The tinkers seem to think very little of the matter, which they designate by the somewhat vulgar term of a ' swap.' To the following ' swap,' or exchange, a friend of mine was an unseen wit- ness. Tinkers are great horse-dealers, and the one in question was no exception to the rule. Seeing a promising young foal in the posses- sion of a fellow-tinsman, he longed to become its owner. How to do so was the question, for tinker Number Two refused to part with the animal. Some months later the two men met at the villafie fair in question. Number Two had a very ugly old wife, with only one eye, whom he longed to ' swap ' ; while Number One was the possessor of a young and pretty one, whom, so far, he had no wish to dispose of in the usual way. But business was business, and so good an oppor- tunity was not to be lost, so he offered the pretty young wife for the old one with the one eye, provided the coveted foal was given too, so as to make the exchange equal. Tinker Number Two demurred, but over a few friendly glasses the bargain was concluded. He got the young wife, and gave in exchange the foal and the ' old woman ' — as he called her. In all these ' swaps ' horses, money, so nmch whisky, perhaps a new ' budget,' or a suit of clothes, form part of the exchancje."

Apart from all other resemblances, this custom of wife-exchange would of itself suggest Gypsy affinity. In describing the Gypsies of Spain, George Borrow quotes freely from " Don Juan de Quinones, who, in a small volume published in 1632, has written some details respecting their way of life," wherein this passage occurs : — " Friar Melchior of Guelama states that he heard asserted of two Gitanos what was never yet heard of any barbarous nation, namely, that they exchanged their wives ; and that as one was more comely- looking than the other, he who took the handsome woman gave a certain sum of money to him who took the ugly one." ^ Whether or not the system of wife-exchange was peculiar to Gypsies, we have here a visible link between the Spanish Gypsy and the semi-Gypsy of Ireland ; and the statement made by the Spanish writer of the seventeenth century is unconsciously confirmed with a remarkable exactness by our lady writer of modern Ireland.

^ The Zincali, vol. i. chap. x. (1811 ed.).

IRISH TTNKEUS AND THEIR LANGUAGE. 353

We get glimpses of those Irish tinkers in at least two modern books, whose writers have more than a casual acquaintanceship with similar nomads. For example, a certain well-known sojourner " in Gypsy tents" relates how, as he and some young Eomani lads strolled along a Welsh lane, they encountered a Romimo chiriJclo, or " Gypsy magpie" (otherwise known as the water-wagtail), which, as it scarcely hopped aside to let them pass, proclaimed to tliem that they would soon see strange Gypsies — according to a settled article of Gypsy belief. " And lo ! a turn in the lane brought us in sight of . . . two tattered, low, smoked tents, pitched in a hollow by the wayside. But ' tink, tink, tink ' came the sound of a white- smith's hammer, announcing that these were no gentle Komane, but Irish Crinks. ... At least the wielder of the liammer was black enough, though whether from innate swarthiness or ingrained grime it were hard to determine. 1 could but hazard a remark in Komanes, ' Sor shau, pala ? rinkeno saulo si ' (How d 'ye do, brother ? a beauti- ful morning). He paused a moment with uplifted hannner, shot a mistrusting glance at us, and curtly answering, ' I dunna jon your cant,' went on with the milk-pail he was fashioning." ^

Now, although that " Crink " was not a Eomanochal, yet, as j\Ir. Groome points out, one of the words he used, Jon, signifying " know," is good Eomanes ; and indeed the Crink's pronunciation of the word is nearer the continental forms than the Anglo-Eomany Ji7i. In fact, that one sentence, " I dunna jon your cant," seems to put in a nutshell the chief characteristics of the Irish tinkers' lanfijua<Te, or jargon. For " cant " is there used in the ordinary Gaelic sense of " speech." And, whatever its original form, the language of the Irish tinkers seems to be a compound of English, Eomanes, and Gaelic.

The study of this form of speech is as yet in its infancy. Until lately it has been taken for granted that when Shakespeare made Prince Henry boast that he could " drink with any tinker in his own language," the language referred to was Eomanes. And the same inference has been drawn from the allusion to " the beo^gars' tonQ[ue " in the ballad of The Gaherlunyie Man (ascribed to James v. of Scot- land). But Mr. Leland relates how, in the year 1876, he first learned of the existence of a dialect peculiar to tinkers, with which dialect he subsequently made a closer acquaintance. This form of speech, he tells us, is known as Minkhrs' Thari, Shelia Thari, or " Shclta," otherwise " Tinkers' T;dk." And, after due consideration, he has been

1 See pp. '25-"26 of ilr. Groome's /« Gypsy Tents.

354 IRISH TINKERS AND THEIR LANGUAGE.

led to remark : " I have always supposed that the tinkers' language spoken of by Shakespeare was Eomany, but I now incline to think it may have been Shelta."

As the discoverer of Shelta gives several pages of words in that language, in an easily accessible form, ^ it is unnecessary to repeat them here. But on looking at these examples, one is ready to agree with the explanation given by a decayed vagabond, who furnished him with much information on this subject : — " As for the language, I believe it 's mostly Gaelic, but it 's mixed up with Eomanes and canting or thieves' slang. Once it was the common language of all the old tinkers. But of late years the old tinkers' families are mostly broken up, and the language is perishing."

One remarkable feature of Shelta is that, while it undoubtedly is a form of Gaelic, it is not confined to those districts where Gaelic is still spoken, but is employed by tinkers and tramps throughout the British Islands ; of whom it is to be presumed that a great number have never been outside the borders of England.-

Some of those, however, who are otherwise connected with the Gaelic language are to be met with in the late Mr. Campbell's Popular Tales of the West Highlands ; and it was from one of them, a certain John M'Donald, that he obtained the stories of The Broion Bear of the Green Glen, The Tale of the Soldier, and another, " of which one scene," says Mr. Campbell, "represented an incantation more vividly to me than anything I have ever read or heard." With regard to this John M'Donald, we have the following information : — " He wanders all over the Highlands, and lives in a tent with his family. He can neither read nor write. He repeats some of his stories by heart fluently, and almost in the same words." " He is about fifty years of age^; his father, an old soldier, is alive, and about eighty ; and there are numerous younger branches ; and they were all encamped under the root of a tree in a quarry close to Inveraray, at Easter 1859. The father tells many stories, but his memory is failing. The son told me several, and I have a good many of them written down. They both recite. They do not simply tell the story, but act it witli changing voice and gesture, as if they took an interest in it, and entered into the spirit and fun of the tale.

1 The Gypsies, Boston, 1882 ; coucluding chapter, "Shelta, the Tinkers' Talk." " In the November and December numbers of The Academy of 1886 will be found examples of Shelta, not only collected by Mr. Leland, but also by Mr. H. T. Crofton. In each of these cases the words were frequently obtained from people who do not appear to have had any known connection, by birth or ancestry, with Ireland or the Highlands of Scotland.

3 This was in 1860.

IRISH TINKERS AND THEIR LANGUAGE. 355

They belong to the race of ' Cairds,' and are as much nomads as the Gypsies are." " There is a similar race in Spain, and though they are not all Gypsies, they are classed with them."

This word " Caird," or " Ccard;' is defined by Mr. Campbell thus: — "Oeard, any kind of smith; . . . Gypsies and travelling tinkers are pre-eminently ceardan or smiths, because they work in a great variety of metals." ^ In the Irish - or Gaelic dictionaries of Scotland, ceard is rendered " a tinker," — and one less flattering defini- tion given is "a blackguard." Of course those dictionaries also interpret the word ceard in the wider sense referred to by Mr. Campbell. But all over Scotland ccard or caird has long been a recognised equivalent of "tinker" ; and that its meaning is even more special in Gaelic may be inferred from the fact that the Gaelic dic- tionaries not only regard " tinker " and " ceard " as synonyms, but they define the word " GyjDsy " as ceard-Jiosachd (a fortune-telling or wizard-tinker), and " a Gypsy woman " is not only han-fhiosaichc (a sorceress), but also ban-cheard (a tinkeress).^

A consideration of this word ccard, in this aspect, suggests a very great deal. " In our own Highland glens," says a Scottish writer,'* " 1 have heard more legends of supernatural smith-work than ever I could gather of Ossiau." Were these " supernatural smiths " the same as the " wizard-tinkers " we are speaking of ? If they were not, wherein did they differ ? Certainly the antiquity of ceards in the British Islands has never yet been disputed. And, in view of the opinion held by a Tsiganologuc such as M. Bataillard, that the Gypsies have been pre-eminently worlcers in bronze, if they did not introduce it into Europe, it is interesting to quote the following remarks of a modern archaeologist ^ regarding ancient bronze sword-sheaths found in Ireland : — " Then came the discovery [within recent years], amongst a quantity of fragmentary paalstaves, socketed celts, and minor articles, of the greater portion of what liad been a fine sheath

1 For these various references in the West Highland Tales, see vol. i. xcv.-.xcvi., anrl 164- 175 ; vol. ii. 276-285 ; and vol. ill. 387, note 5.

2 Until comi)aratively recent times the Gaelic of Scotlanti was known to the English- speaking ])eople of Scotland as " Irish," which word being pronounced (as it even yet is in some districts) as " Earish," or, still earlier, as " Earis," eventually occasioned tlie barbaric spelling " Erse," now almost obsolete. This detail is noted here in order to emphasise the fact that the "Irish Tinkers" under notice are not confined to Ireland, but belong equally to the " Irish" districts of Scotland— (not to mention other parts of the British Islands where Irish is not a local form of speech).

3 See the dictionaries of Armstrong, M'Alpine, and M'Leod & Dewar.

•* The late Mr. Cosmo Innes (as quoted at p. 354 of the Proceedings of the Society of Antii/iuo'ii's of Scotland, 1880-81).

5 Mr. W. F. Wakeman, in the Journal of the Royal Historical and Archaeological Associa- tion of Ireland, April- July 1889, pp. 98-99.

356 IRISH TINKERS AND THEIR LANGUAGE.

of bronze. Like the specimens found with it, it had been broken up, probably by some ancient ceard, or worker in bronze, whose aim was to use the metal in the manufacture of new weapons, instruments, or ornaments. ... It is well perhaps here to remark that at Lagore, Ballinderry, and other lacustrine retreats in Ireland, objects in a half-finished state, composed of bronze, bone, or other material, have not uni'requently been turned up, as also crucibles in which metal, or probably vitreous paste of some kind, had in all likelihood been melted. Indeed, there is abundant reason to believe that many of our crannogs [lake-dwellings] were at times in the occupation of ceards, or workers in brass, or bronze, as well as in iron, bone, flint, wood, and even glass."

To turn to the Slielta language, the speech of existing cairds. The name " Shelta" is, in the opinion of one leading Gypsiologist, very likely nothing else than a variant of " Celtic," or " Keltic." And another, who has been the first to introduce this speech to public notice, says with regard to it : — " Of Celtic origin it surely is. . . . The question which I cannot solve is, On which of the Celtic lan- guages is this jargon based ? j\Iy informant declares that it is quite independent of Old Irish, Welsh, or Gaelic. In pronunciation it appears to be almost identical with the latter ; but while there are Gaelic words in it, it is certain that much examination and inquiry have failed to show that it is contained in that language.^ That it is ' the talk of the ould Picts — thim that built the stone houses like bee-hives ' — is, I confess, too conjectural for a philologist. I have no doubt that when the Picts were suppressed thousands of them must have become wandering outlaws, like the Eomany, and that their lan- guage in time became a secret tongue of vagabonds on the roads. This is the history of many such lingoes ; but unfortunately Owen's ^ opinion, even if it be legendary, will not prove that the Painted People spoke the Shelta tongue. I must call attention, however, to one or two curious points. I have spoken of Shelta as a jargon ; but it is, in fact, a language, for it can be spoken grammatically, and without using English or Romany. And again, there is a corrupt method of pronouncing it, according to English, while correctly enun- ciated it is purely Celtic in sound. More than this I have naught to say." 3

1 This statement requires to be qualified. The numerals given by Mr. Leland are exclu- sively Gaelic (save for a slight Roniani turn iu " trin-yedh " for "tri-deug," or " -dheug "). And a slight knowledge of Gaelic enables one to see that Gaelic predominates in Shelta. But this is a question which only Gaelic scholars are competent to deal with.

2 The Irish tinker, who furnished many of the words.

3 Mr. Leland's Gi/psies (Boston, 1882), pp. 369-371.

IRISH TIXKHKS AND THEIR LANGUAGE. 357

Whatever be the truth regarding the Irish tinkers and their lan- guage, it is evident that much may yet be learned from a study of both. "Whether Ireland has had, or even yet retains, a caste of verit- able Eomane, appears to be unknown at present. There seems no reason for believing that Ireland was not as much a home of the Gypsies as any other part of the British Islands. Indeed, the Scot- tish liistorian of tlie Gypsies, Mr. Walter Simson, indicates that Scot- land received its Gypsy population froin Ireland.^ Be this correct or not, one would think that State documents and parish records, relat- ing to Ireland, would yield quite as many Gypsy items as those relating to England and Scotland. Such a reference as this, for example, provokes further inquiry : — " Long ago, when the sturdy beggars were whipped out of Duljlin, by order of the Lord Mayor and the Corporation, they made a halt on the top of Tallagh Hill, which overlooks the city. Here they might safely shake their fists at the Lord Mayor, and defy the power of liim and his myrmidons, as they were far beyond his jurisdiction and hearing." ^ Were these " sturdy beggars " akin to those who in Great Britain underwent similar tribu- lation, along with the " rogues and vagabonds " " commonly called Egyptians"? And if they too spoke "the beggars' tongue," was it the language of the Eomane, or that Shelta dialect which appears to be peculiarly associated with Irish nomads ?

David MacPiItchie.

1 Mr. Simson states that " before the year 1460 " the south-west of Scotland was ravaged by a band of Gj^psies from Ireland ; and these are, in point of date, his earliest "Scottish Gypsies." He also refers to a large immigration of Irish Gyi^sies in nineteenth-centnry Scotland. " It is only about twenty-five years," he says, writing about thirty or forty years ago, "since the Irish Gypsies, in bands, made their appearance in Scotland. Many severe confiicts they had with our Scottish tribes before they obtained a footing in the country. But there is a new swarm of Irish Gypsies at present scattei'ed, in bands, over Scotland, all acquainted with the Gypsy language. "

However it may conflict with the belief that Shelta, rather than Romanes, is the special language of Irish tinkers, it is clear that if all those to whom Mr. Simson refers spoke the dialect employed by the Irish Gypsies whom he met in Fife (of which dialect he gives speci- mens at p. 328 of his book), then they certainly spoke Romanes. But this may be explained by the fact that tinkers, such as the "Owen," who supplied so much Shelta to Mr. Leland, could also speak Romanes. That writer particularly says of Shelta, "I class it with the Gypsy, hecaiise all vjho speak it are also acquainted with Romany " ; and one is led to infer from his remarks that Shelta has been preserved from the knowledge of the outer world with much greater care than Romanes itself. Consequently, Mr. Simson's tinkers may have known both languages, but have refrained from imparting to him any words of the more secret " Shelta."

- Journal of the Royal Historical and Archmological Association of Ireland, April-July 1889, p. 138.

358

VENETIAN EDICTS RELATING TO THE GYPSIES OF

VII.— VENETIAN EDICTS relating to the Gypsies of the Sixteenth, Seventeenth, and Eighteenth Centuries. (Extracted from the Archivio dci Frari, at Venice.)

Parte presa nell' Eccellentiss. Consefjlio di Pregadi 1558- 15 Liiglio, e 1588-24 Set- tembre, In Materia di Cingani. Stampata per Antonio Pinelli Stampatore Ducale.

1558 — 15 Luglio, In Pregadi. — Con.siderando la mala qualita dei Cingani, e la molestia danni e molti disturbi, die ricevono li fedeli nos- tri dalla loro practica, fu preso in questo Conseglio a' 21 Settembre 1549, che fossero niandati fuori delli Territori nostri e che nell' avvenir non se gli potesse dar licen- za di venir nel Stato Nostro senza deliberazione di esso Conseglio ; il qual Ordine cosi buono e lodevole, al presente non si osserva, essendo introdotto, che li detti Cingani co'l mezo di Lettere Patent! da loro impetrate da alcuni Rettori Nostri di poter transitar per tre giorni sotto la sua giurisdizione vanno vagando per li luogi Nostri, contro la forma del Decreto predetto con danno di molti, & universal mor- morazione, Al che dovendosi pro- veder per satisfazione, e benefizio delli Popoli nostri, I'andera Parte, che le predette Lettere Patent! siano revocate & anuullate ; come fatte contro li Ordini nostri, ne de cae- tero possino essere piii fatte, sotto pena alii Cancellieri, 6 altr! Minis- tri, che le facessero, de immediate privazion! della Cancelleria, o altro Officio, che havessero, e d! non poter in perpetuo piu esercitar alcun Officio del Dominio Nostro ; e sia commesso a tutti ! Rettori Nostri di Terra Ferma, che debbano far uscir detti Cingari subito e im- mediate dell! luogh! Nostri, li qual! non possono piu essere ad-

Eesolution taken in the Most Excellent Council of the Pre- gadi, 15th July 1558, and 24th September 1588, concerning the Gypsies. Printed by Antonio Pinelli, Ducal Printer.

1558 — 15th July, In Pregadi. — Considering the evil disposition of the Gypsies, and the annoyance, damages, and manifold troubles that our faithful subjects sustain from their intercourse, it was enacted in this Council on the 2 1 st September 1549, that they should be sent out from our territories, and that hence- forward no licence would be given to them to come into our State with- out a consultation of said Council ; which Decree so good and laudable is not observed at present, owing to the circumstance that the aforesaid Gypsies, by means of Letters Patent obtained by them from some of our Rectors Avith power to pass for three days, under his jurisdiction, are wandering about our lands, contrary to the manner of the aforesaid decree, causing damage to many, and a universal complaint. Wherefore, it being our duty to take measures for the satisfaction and benefit of our people, it is en- acted that the above-named Letters Patent be revoked and made void, as made against our orders, and that they be never made again, under penalty to the Chancellors or other officers who would so do of the immediate forfeiture of their office or other charge that they have, and their subsequent disability ever after to exercise any other office of our dominion ; and be it ordered to all the Rectors of the main- land that they are to expel, at once

THE SIXTEENTH, SEVENTEENTH, AND EIGHTEENTH CENTURIES. 359

messi, ne per tre giorni, ne altvi- and immediately, the said Gypsies

menti a niodo alcuno senza licenza from our lands, into which they are

di questo Conseglio, e se contro le no more to be admitted, either f(ir

forme dell' Ordine presente nell' three days, or otherwise, in no

avvenir si conferiranno in alcun manner whatsoever, without a li-

luogo Nostro, cosi con Patenti cence by this Council, and if contrary

delli Eettori, come senza, siano, i^' to the statutes of the present order,

esser s'intendano incorsi alia pena they should in future betake them-

di esser posti a Eemo nelle Galee selves to any places of ours, with

Nosti-e de' Condennati. ove habbino ]\atents from the Kectoi's or not,

a servir alia Catena per Anni diese they shall be held to have incurred

continui ; Haver debbano quelli che the ])enalty of being put to the

l)renderanno alcuni di essi Cingani Oar, in our convict galleys, where

Contrafacenti, ut supra, e consegne- they shall serve at the Chain for ten

ranno in le forze della Giustizia da consecutive years ; Those who will

esser mandate in questa Citta per apprehend any of the counterfeit

i'effetto predetto Ducati diese delli Gypsies above referred to and deliver

Danari delleTaglie. Possiendo etiam them into the hands of justice, to be

li detti Cingani, cosi huomini come sent into this city for the aforesaid

femine, che saranno ritrovati uelli effect, will be paid ten ducats out

Teritori Nostri, esser impune am- of the fund for such captives. It

mazzati, si che li Interfettori per is also permitted that the said

tali homicidij non habbino ad in- Gypsies, both men and women,

correr in alcuna pena. Et la pre- found in our territories, may be

sente Parte sia fatta pubblicar dalli with impunity slain, without the

detti Eettori in li luoghi soliti per jierpetrators of such murders having

intelligenza d'ogni uno, e registrar to incur any penalty whatever,

in Atti delle loro Caucellerie, a And let this Decree be made publicly

memoria delli successor!, e sia posta known by the said Eectors in the

nelle Commissioni di essi Eettori. usual places for the intelligence of

every one, and let it be registered in Acts of their Chancellories, to remind their successors, and be placed in the records of said Eectors.

1588-24 Settembre, In Pre- 15 88-2 4th September, fn Pre-

gadi. — Se bene per Parte di questo gadi. — Although by order of this

Conseglio 21 Decembre 1549, e 15 Council, 21st December 1549, and

Luglio 1558, e stato provisto, che loth July 1558, it has been pro-

li Cingani per li molti danni e vided that the Gypsies, owing

disturbi che inferivano alii Terri- to the several injuries and dis-

tori dello Stato Nostro, non potes- turbances caused to the territories of

sero haver ricetto in alcun luogo, our State, were to be received no-

sotto pena di Bando, Galea, & anco where, under penalty of banishment

di poter esser impune ammazzati. and the galley, and also to be

Nondimeno si vede, che tuttavia slain with impunity : Nevertheless

& stanno in molto inimero con it is seen that they are yet, in great

danno grandissimo di detti Terri- numbers, and greatly to the detri-

torij, ai quali vien anco dato recapito ment of these territories, still living

da molti, che tengono poco conto there, to whom also shelter is being

della Giustizia, & che partecipano afforded by many who make light

360

VENETIAN EDICTS RELATINCx TO THE GYPSIES OF

delli loro latrocinij, con mala sodis- fattione delli poveri Contadini, & altri, clie ricevono da loro molti danni, al die dovendosi proveder. L'Aiidera parte, die salue, & ri- servate le sopradette leggi, sia a quelle aggiuiito che.tutti li Eettori di Terra Ferma, debbano una volta air anno far publicar tutte le sopra- dette parti ; & oltre di ci6 faccino proclamare, die se alcuno dara recapito, o allogiara li predetti Cingani incorrera in pena di seruir per anni tre in Galea alia Catena 6 altra pena die parera ai Eettori, secondo la qualita della persona. Et subito die detti Cingani capite- ranno in alcun luoco siano obligati i Merighi delle Ville sotto le medesime pene, andar a darli in nota alii Eettori piii vicini, acdo possano essere cacciati del tutto dello Stato Nostro & castigati quelli die gli hauessero dato re- capito. Non potendo li Eettori predetti concedere a detti Cingani a modo alcuno, iie in voce ne con lettere patenti, o passaporti di alcuna sorte, ne jier transito ne altraniente di jjoter stare o passare per lo Stato Nostro, senza licenza di questo Conseglio ; e le sia mede- simamente e sopratutto prohibito di poter venire in questa Citta nostra. Et la presente Parte sia registrata nelle Cancellarie delli Eettori di Terra ferma, e posta nelle Commissioni loro per la sua debita esecuzione.

1767-29 Luglio.— In Consiglio di Dieci. Sebbene per le Parti del Senato 21 Decembre 1549, e 15 Luglio 1558, e per quelle aiicora del Consiglio di Dieci 21 Agosto 1690, 6 8 Eebbrajo 1692 sia stato proveduto con risolute ordinazioni e Leggi onde sia assolutamente proibita I'introduzione e perman- enza de' Cingani cosi di LTomini die di Donne, nelle Citta della

of justice, and who share in their plunder, greatly to the dissatisfac- tion of the i:)oor peasants and others who receive much harm at their hands : To obviate Avliich, be it en- acted that in addition to the afore- said laws, it be also decreed that all the Eectors of the mainland are once a year to have all the abovenained laws published, and further, that they proclaim that any one affording shelter, or lodging the aforesaid Gyp- sies, will incur the penalty of serving for three years in the Galleys at the Chain, or such other punishment as shall seem fit to the Eectors accord- ing to the quality of the person. And as soon as said Gypsies happen to appear in any place, the Merighi delle Ville\oY rural magistratesjsliall, under the same penalties, be obliged to denounce them to the nearest Eectors, that they may be entirely driven out from our State, and those ])unished who had afforded them shelter. The aforesaid Eectors not ■ being allowed to grant to said Gyp- sies, in any manner whatsoever, either verbally or with letters patent, and passports of any sort whatever, neither by way of passage or other- wise, to stay or pass through our State, without a licence from this Council, and it being likewise specially prohibited to permit them to come into this our city. And be the present Decree registered in the Offices of the Eectors of the mainland, and intrusted to their provision for its due execution.

1 7 6 7—2 9 th July.— In the Council of the Ten. Although by Decree of the Senate 21st December 154-9, and 15th July 1558, and by those also of the Council of the Ten 21st August 1690, and 8tli February 1 692, it has been provided, by strict ordinances and laws, that the in- troduction of the Gypsies, both of men and women, into the cities of the mainland and their territorifes,

Till': SIXTEENTH, SEVENTEENTH, AND EIGHTEENTH CENTURIES. .3G1

Terra Ferma i> loro Territorj, sotto le rigorose pene espresse in esse Leggi, e Decrcti; con tutto ci6 essendo pervenuto a Cognizione del Cousiglio medesimo, e ])iii iiidi- vidualincnte per la relazione, die ha avanzata il Podesta e Capitano di Treviso nelle sue Letterc 24 Luglio cadente, clie una Truppa di essi, sin al numero di 30, parte a piedi e parti a Cavallo tutti d'armi muniti siano comparsi in alcune Ville di quel Territorio con terrore e spavento di quei villici, e con quelle moleste, e dannose con- segnenze die ne derivano dalla loro introduzione, e stazione nello Stato Nostro per le sopraffazioni, e rapine, clie vengono da essi praticate.

Per6 volendosi dall' autorita di questo Consiglio nei modi piii forti, ed efficaci rimediare a cosi gravi molestie, e disturbi, si fa noto die non possa per qualunque immagin- abile colore, o pretesto esser per- messo ne tollerata I'introduzione e permaneuza di detti Cingari si di Uomini die di Donne, soto le pene rigorose espresse in esse Leggi, di Prigione, e Galea, e anche di essere impunemente ammazzati secondo le quality delle transgressioni. In consonanza delle medesime Leggi dovranno li Contestabili, Capitanj di Campagna ed altri Ministri de' Reggimenti non die li Comuni delle Ville inseguirli a tutto potere, e farli ridurre nelle pubbliclie forze. Per preniio poi del fermo, captura e consegna di essi Cingari, con- seguiranno Ducati venticinquo per cadauno, da esigersi o dal Canier- lens-o alia cassa del Consiirlio di Died, o da qualunque altra Camera della Terra Ferma a piacere ed arbitrio del Detentore. E se contro la forma del presente Ordinc Nos- tro fosse da alcuiio contra vvenuto, dando a costoro ricetto, ed alloggio, incorrer debba nelle dette pene, ed altre die ])areraiiuo alii Pettori, secondo la qualita della persona, e

VOL. I. — NO, VI.

and their continued residence there, be absolutely forbidden, under the rigorous penalties imposed in the said laws and decrees, nevertheless, it having come to the cognisance of the same Council, and, more particularly, through the relation forwarded by the Mayor and Cap- tain of Treviso in his letters of the 24th of the present month July, that a gang of them amounting to thirty in number, partly on foot and partly on horseback, all of them supplied with arms, appeared at some country-houses of that territory to the terror and fright of those villagers, and with those disturbing and injurious conse- quences that proceed from their introduction and stay in our State, through the acts of oppression and rapine perpetrated by them :

Wherefore, the authorities of this Council, wishing to remedy, in a more efficient and more forcible manner, so great a mischief and trouble, it is hereby made known that it is forbidden, under any imaginable idea or pretext, to allow or tolerate the introduction or permanence of said Gypsies, either of men or women, under the rigorous penalties imposed in the said laws of prison or galleys, and also to be slain with impunity, according to the nature of the transgressions. In accordance with the said laws, the Constables, country officers, and other Government officials, as well as the communal authorities of the country, must pursue them most strenuously, and have them handed to the police. And as a reward for the apprehension, capture, and delivery of such Gypsies, they will receive twenty-five ducats a head, to be exacted either of the Chamberlain of the Council of the Ten's funds, or of any other bank of the mainland, at the pleasure or option of the arresters. And if, contrary to the terms of the present

2 A

362

VENETIAN EDICTS.

clella delinqueuza, onde da per tutto purgato resti lo Stato da cosi malnata e daniiosa infezione di Gente.

E la presente sia stampata e man data alii Rettori principali della Terra Ferma con Ordine di farla pubblicare nelle loro Citta, e trasmetterli agli altri Rettori delle Fortezze, Terre, e Castelli e a tiitti i Giurisdicenti clie si attrovano nel loro Territorio, onde resa universal- mente patente ad ognuno riporti I'intiera inviolabile obbedienza ed osservanza.

Decree of ours, it should be con- travened by any one, by giving to those people shelter and lodging, he is liable to the said penalties and such others as may be deemed fit by the Rectors, according to the quality of the person or of the delinquency, that everywhere the State may thus be purged of so ill-born and accursed a plague of people.

And let the jiresent be printed and sent to the principal Rectors of the mainland, with the order to have it published in their towns, and transmitted by them to the governors of the fortresses, lands, and castles, and to all the counsel- lors of the law within their terri- tory, in order that it be universally made known to every one for the entire and inviolable observance and obedience thereof.

VIII.— A VOCABULARY OF THE SLOVAK-GYPSY DIALECT.

By R. von Sowa. (Continued.)

G.

Gad, M. W., S., s. lu. (Gr., Hng., Bhm. = S1.), shirt.

Gadoro, K., s. m. (dim. oi gad), a pretty little shirt or chemise.

Gaji, S. gaji, K., s. f. (Gr., Hng. gaji, Bhm. gaji), country-woman, peasant's wife.

Gajikano, M. W., adj. (Gr., Hng., Bhm. wanting, — the Gr. forming gajano, the Hng. gajeno, the Bhm. gajiino), human.

Gdjo, M., S. gajo, K., s. m. (Gr., Hng. gajo., Bhm. gajo *), country-man, non- Gypsy.

Gdjoro, S., s. m. (dim. of gdjo), country- man, a man of small figure.

Garuvau, M. W., S., vb. tr. (Gr. gera-

vava, Hng. = SI, Bhm. ganivav), to

hide. Gatichka, a., K., s. f. (dim. from Mag.

gatya ; Slov. gate, drawers), pretty

trousers. Gau, M. AV., *K., S., gdv, M. W. (Gr.,

Hng., Bhm. gav), village. Gazdo, M. W., s. m. (Mag., Slov. gazda),

landlord, inn-keeper. Gazdovstvo, M. W., s. m. (Slov. gaz-

dovstvo), economy, inn-keeping. Gcro, M. W., S., gcro, M. W., adj.,

M. W. ; but SI. never combined with

a noun (Gr. wanting ; Bhm. means :

deceased, late), miserable, wretched,

1 While in Hng. sometimes even a Gypsy is called cfdjo, Mikl, M. IF., vii. 53 ; there is no instance of that use in SI.

A VOCABULARY OF THE SLOVAK-GYPSY DIALECT.

363

unlucky. Yoi, gdri mosi te has t'ixo auka sar mdt'hi — she, the unlucky (girl) mustjiave been silent like a fly, S.

Gilavau, M. W., S., gil'avau, (/Waul (M. W., VII. 56, the prt. gil'adas may be referred to a pres. gil'avau), vb. itr. (Gr. gU'ahava ; Hng. d'ilazinav, jilabav ; Bhm. gilavav), to sing.

Oiloi, a., S., s. f., obi. sg., gil'a, M. W. (Gr. gili; Hng. d'ili, d'i'li, ; Bhn;. giloi, Jes. 61), song.

Oinau, M. W., S., vb. tr. (Gr. gmava ; Hng. genav, jinav ; Bhiu. ginav ; Gr. to count, to reckon ; Hng. Bhm. even, to read), to read. A Si. Gypsy, when asked how he would call a book, said : kai pes ginel (lit. what is read, or where is read) and kai ins andre chinel (lit. in which is written).

Giiii 1 a., S., s. pi. (a mistake ? Cf. Slov. dyua, melon), gourd, pumpkin.

Gizdavo, a., S., adj. (Rum. ghiy.davu, pretty, elegant ; Bhm. wanting; Hng. = SI. ; (jenn. giscvo, giveso; Hug. Germ, proud, supercilious), fine? Kana gele, mukle lake havoro dostatkos gizdavo, hoi lenge te tdvel. The chronicler translated it : naipeknejsi (most beau- tiful).

Godav'er, M. W., S., godiaver, K. god'- avo, M. W. (Gr. Hng. god'aver ; Bhm. god'avd), intelligent.

Gdd'i, S., godi, K., s. m. (Gr. godi, gudi, m. f, ; Hng. Bhm. gdd'i ; cf. vdd'i), 1. Mind, intellect. 2. One's self ; Me mange kerava har me gdd'i kamava — I ' shall do what I shall wish (to do) ray- self. A variant of these verses affords Kai. : me mange kerava har me gddi ja7iava.

Gondolav, K., vb. tr., and

Gondulinav, K., vb. tr. (^Slag. gondolni, Hng. = SI.), to prove, to experience.

Gduo, gono, S., s. m. (Gr., Hng. go7w ; Hng., Bhm, gdno), sack.

Gondro, M. W., S., s. m. (dim. of gono).

small sack, or bag. Goreder, a., M. W., adv. com p. (Slavon.

gorij ; Mikl. M. W., i. 12) ; worse.

Odoleha ehas meg goreder — With the

other it was even worse. Goshvardo, M. W., adj. (from gdd'il),

intelligent. Granaris, M. W., S., s. m. (probably of

Slavonian origin. Correspondents

are not found in other dialects except

that of the Span. G. The dictionaries

of Sales Mayo (Quindale) and D. A.

de C. give : granar, enriquecer, grane,

ducado, 1?. 36, resp. 107. The first

remarks that granar belongs to the

" Germania " slang), kreutzer. Grasf, S., s. m. (Gr., Hng., Bhm. = SI.),

horse (cf. s. j)drno). Grastdro, M. W., S., grastoro, 'M. W.

s. m. (dim. of grast), horse. A Sl.-G.,

when asked for the word for " mare,"

gave grastdro. Grashis, S.j's. m. (Mag. garas ; hardily,

from the Slov. form gros ; Hng.

garashi ; Blim. garashis), groat. Grdfos, S., s. m. (Mag. grdf), count. Grijeshno, S., adj. (cf. Slavon. greh, sin,

Mikl. M., W. I. 13), sinful. Gulo, M. W., K., S., adj. (Gr. gudlo,

guglo ; Hng. guUo ; Bhm. = SI), sweet;

hither belongs also gulohav {gulo

xau 1), to become sweet, K.

Gules, M. W., adv., sweet. Guruv, M. W., S., guru, M. W., s. m.

(Gr., Hng., Bhm. guruv), ox. Guruvano, M. W., adj. (Gr. = Sl., Hng.

gurvano ; Bhm. wanting), of an ox,

only in guruvano-mas, beef. Guruvni, guruni, M. W., gurumni, K.,

s. f. (Gr., Hng. guruvni, gurumni ;

Bhm. guruvni), cow. Guruvudri, guruvnori, M. W., s. f.

(dim. of guruvni), cow.

H.1

Hadnad'is, S., s. m. (Mag. hadnagy),

chief, chieftain. 2ZafZ'os,K.,*K.,s.m. (from theMag.?), bed.

Halasha, a., S., s. pi. (Slov. ? I do not know the Slov. or Tchk. original), the meaning is not known. Cf. Yo7i

jalas and o hare halasha, and o bare

vesha (in the tale 0 dil'ino rdklo). Halushko, *K., s. m., ? pi. halushki, K.

(Slov. haluska, f.), dumpling. Hal'enlca, the name of a- female genius

in the tale, E trin raid' a.

1 Many words which Kai. writes with initial h will be found under x.

364

A VOCABULARY OF THE SLOVAK-GYPSY DIALECT.

Sandri, M. W., s. f. pi. (Slov. handra, rags, from the Germ, hadern), clothes.

Haninav, M. W., vb. tr. (Slov. hanit'), to blame.

Har, K., S., sar, K., S., adv. conj. (Gr. sar ; Hug., Bhm., sar, har) ; 1. As, like. Auha has yon harvaU sar raya — They were as rich as gentlemen. Alcana tu chi, har me chid'om — Now throw thou as I threw ; 2. than ; Le romcske has buter har oxto shel rup — The Gypsy possessed more than eight hundred florins. K. harpes, how, or thus, consists of the two words harpes, q. v., harlco auka (?), even as, just as, K. ; 3. When ; Sar yekha ranilcoraha shluhind'as oda bar, mindydr e bare- star achlo pdiii — When he with a rod struck that rock, immediately out from the rock came water. M. Sar les tsidelas tses oda Icdre, auha leshe odd kdro shi pixnil'as anda lestc — When he drew him through the thorns, that thorn pierced into his body (lit. him).

Harangos, harango, K., s. m. (Mag. harang), bell.

Harangozinau, S., -nav., K., vb. (Mag. harangozni) ; 1. to ring (a bell) ; 2. to sound (bell). Nitranska harangi harang ozinena — The bells of Nitra will ring, K.

Hart'as, hdrt'as, S. (Gr. not noted, Hng. hart' a ; Bhm. hart'as, cf. Ptt. ii. 168), blacksmith.

Have, K., S., savo, M. W., S., pron. interr. rel. (Gr., Hng., savo ; Bhm. havo). 1. Who ? K. ' 2. Who, which (seldom). Bare svireha, savo tsidel triandafunti — With a large hammer, which weighs thirty pounds.

Havoro, S., saro, M. W., savor o, M. W., S., s., adj. (Gr., Hng., Bhm. savoro), all ; havorejene, a., S., all. Viberind'as havore jenendar — He chose from all (of them).

Hay, a., *M., intj. (Slov. haj), why ! hey!

Haydukos, M. W., s. m. (Slov. hajduch ; Mag. hajdu, pi. hajdtlk), watch-man.

Haynav. M. W., vb. itr. ? (Serb, hajav, Mikl.), to care.

Hazclau, S., vb.. tr. jDt. pf. hazdindo (Gr. lazdava, pi. pf., lazdino ; Hng. vazdau ; Bhm. hadav), to lift, to raise.

Hazika, harika, K. (a misprint ? Slov.

hazuka ; Bhm. hazika, Jes. 62. I supposed therefore that the SI. word might be hazika), vest.

He, K., S., the (seldom), S., conj. adv. 1. And : Xudinas peskre phrales he igen les chumidelas — He embraced his Ijrother and kissed him much. 2, Also, even; He me Java tuha — I also shall go with thee. Me tut akanak prohdlinau he tra kora daha — Imme- diately T (shall) try thee even Mith thy blind mother. Yo^i he Je bengeha pes xndinahas — He would scuffle even with the devil.

Hegedushis, M. W., s. m., pi. hcgcdusha (Mag. heged'ds, fiddler), musician.

Helos, K., s. m. (Mag. hely ; Hng. helo ; Bhm. hclos, Jes. 62, place, spot), place.

Hem, M., S., intj. (In my grammar, quoted in the introduction, as also in my texts, I have always written hem ; but now I think that I ought to write hen, for that intj. seems to be the Slov. hen, here ! there I), here !

Heslos, a., S., s, m. (Slov. heslo, device, motto), advertisement.

Hintova, S., s. f. (Mag. hinto ; Hng., Bhm. hintova, hlintova, Jes. 62), coach, carriage.

Hiyaba, S., ydbahi, a., S., adv. (Mag. hijaban, hidban ; Hng. hijdba ; Bhm. hiaba), in vain.

Hl'el a., S., intj. (Slov.'/iZ'a), Hl'e dade, yepash shel! — Look father, fifty florins !

Hnoyos, S., s. m. (Slov. hnoj), dung, dunghill.

Hodno, M. W., adj. (Slov. hodny), worthy.

Hod'ina, S., s. f. (Slov. hodina), hour.

Hoi, M., S., heu, K. hogy (pron. hod'), *M., conj. (Mag. hogy ; 1. that ; 2. so that ; 3. because, for ; 4. that (final), in order to (1-4 as in Mag.) ; 5. in- troducing the speech of another, not to be translated (like the Greek on), 0 chdvo phend'as, hoi n-avla feder mange — The boy said : It will not go better with me (I shall not succeed better than now) ; hoi ka, hoi kai, S., so that ; Pes yon auka kerde, hoi k-o drakos les andre chivlas — They so did that the dragon threw him in ; hoi te, hoi kai te, S., that (final) ; Auka les mol'inlas ^'re mro sovnakuno

A VOCABULARY OF THE SLOVAK-GYPSY DIALECT.

365

devel, hoi te na bashavcl — So (much) he begged him, for the sake of (my golden) God, that lie may not play. Yoi Icske phcnd'as, oda 2}rinfse::no, hoi hai Icske mashkdre and o shcro te chinel — She said to him, that princess, that he may strike him on the middle of the head.

Holuhos, M. W., s. m. (Slov. hohib), dove, pigeon.

Homolka, S., s. f. (Slov. homol'ka), whey, cheese.

Hordris, M. W., s. ni. (Slov. hordi-), forester, woodman.

Horniatsko, a., K., adj. (Slov. liorniucky). of the hiiihlands. Homiatsht romdre — the Gypsy lads of the mountains.

Hoske, soske, K., S., hoskc, M., adv. (Gr., Hng. soske; Bhm. = S1.) why? how? Soske, inhend'as, na rovavas iml mro Idcho phrcd — how, he said, should I not bewail my good brother ?

Host'iiitsa, S., s. f., and

Host'iiitsos, a., S., .s. m. (Slov. hostinec) inn.

Hrabinav, K., vb. itr. tr. (Slov. hrahat'), to rake.

Hrabli, K., s. f. pi. (Slov. hrable), rake ; cf. s., tsidau.

Hraxos, a., S., s. m. (Slov. hrach), pea.

Hrainau, S., hrayinav, M. W., vb. itr. (Slov. hrat'), to play (at cards). 0 karti hrainenas — They played at cards.

Hrminel, M. W. (Jirmilas, ]\I. W.= hrminlas), vb. imp. (Slov. hrmet'), it thunders.

Hromada, M. W., s. f. (Slov. hromada), heap.

Hruda, S., s. f. (Slov. hruda), cheese- pudding.

Hrusios, S., s. m. (Slov. chrust, may- bug), beetle.

Huseiiitsos, a., S., s. m. (Slov. husenica), caterpillar.

HiistOj'M. W., adj. (Slov. husty), dense.

X.

Xdben, S., xaben, M. W., s. m. (Gr.

xabe ; Hng. xdbc ; Bhm. = SI.), food. Xachovav, M. W. (Kal. 107, writes hac-

hav), vb. itr. (Gr., Hng. wanting ;

Bhm. only the tr. xachdrav is known),

to burn. Savorc jande, heu mar

hachil'as — All thought that he had

already perished, K. Xal'ovau, M., S.,vb. tr. itr. (Gr. aghal'o-

vava, axal'ovava, Pa. 128 ; Hng. hay-

ovav ; Bhm. xal'dvav, Jes. 62), to

understand. Xaiiati, a., M., S. hanav, K., vb. itr.

(Gr. xandava ; Hng. haiiavav ; Bhm.

xanav, Jes. 62), to dig, cf. s. vidt'hi. Xatiig, M. W., S., xanik, xanik, xaning,

S., s. f. (Gr. xaning, oxiing ; Hng.

hanik, hdnik; Bhm. = SI.), fountain,

spring. Xauigori, xangori, M. W., s. f. (dim. of

xanig), fountain. Xanoi-i, M. W., s. f. (dim. of xani),

fountain. Xarkorn, ]\I. W., s. m. (Gr. xarkoma,

kitchen utensils ; Hng. harkum ;

Bhm. = SI.), brass, copper. Xarkomdlo, a., M. W., adj. (Gr., Hng.,

Bhm. wanting, there being formed Gr.

xarkomako, xarkmio ; Bhm. xarkdno), brazen, copper (adj.).

Xaro, M. W., s. m. (Gr. xando,' xanro ; Hng. hdro : Bhm. xdro), sabre.

Xau, M., S., hav, K., vb. tr. pt. pf. xalo (Gr. xava ; Hng. liav ; Bhm. xav), to eat.

Xeroi, (ceroi, S., xero, M. W., s. f. obi. sg. xera, S. (Gr., ger, thigh ; Hng. hero, foot ; Bhm. = SI.), leg.

Xeu, M. W., S., xev ; M. ^\'., hev K. (Gr., Bhm. xev ; Hng. hev) ; 1. hole, abyss ; 2. cavern. Thus in the tale 0 Drakos is said : Odoi has ande yekh yaskina (q. v.), bdro dra- kos ; and afterwards : Kana avlas ki- oda isto xeu, fordd phend' as: drako na! ja mange atar arri/ — When lie went to that cavern, he continually said : Drason, come out from there : 3. window, K., S., Phand), e xeu andrc, shut the window I S., cf. s. mnrvano.

Xiba, a., S., s. f. (Slov. chyba), loss, damage.

Xinav, M. W., ob. itr. (Gr. xi7iava, xiava ; Hng. hiyav, Bhm. = SI.), ca- care.

Xoxavau, M. W., S., vb. tr. (Gr. xoxa-

366

A VOCABULARY OF THE SLOVAK-GYPSY DIALECT.

vava ; Hng. hohavav ; Bhm. xoxavav), to lie, to deceive. Xoxad'as tut, hoi you tut tela — He deceived thee (when saying) tliat he will take (marry) thee.

Xolov, K.,9^., s. m. (Slav. orig. of. Mikl. M. W., I. 14, VII. 64 ; Hng. holav ; Bhm. xolov), trousers.

Xol'amen, S., adj. (Gr., Hng., Bhm, wanting), angry.

Xoli, a. (r. xol'i), M. W., s. f. (Gr. xoli7i ; Hng. holi, hull ; Bhm. xoli), anger.

Xolisal'ovav, a., (r. xol'is — ), M. W., vb. itr. (Gr. xolasarava ; Hng., Bhm. wanting), to fret.

Xol'ovav, M. W., vb. itr. (Gr. wanting ; Hng. holovav ; Bhm. only the tr. ol'avav is known), to fret.

Xorusis, S., s. m. (Germ. Char), choir.

Xrixil, S., s. m. (Slavon. of. Ptt. ii. 167 ; Bhm. xrrixil), pea.

Xrobdkos, S., s. m. (Slov. chrobdk), beetle.

XropisaVovav, M. W., vb. itr. (Rum. hrdpire, to be torn asunder), to be in- attentive ?

Xudmi, M. W., S., hudav, K., vb. tr., pi. pf. xudino, S. (Gr., Hng. want- ing ; Bhm. xudav). 1. (a) To seize to apprehend, to ravish, to embrace : Xuden les sh'erestar — They take him by the head, M. W. ; Yon phende mashhar peslce ( — te 1), hoi yon la xudena — They concerted, that they would ravish her ; Xudinas peshre phrales he igm les chumidelas — He embraced his brother and kissed him much, (b) (with the reflective pro- noun) To wrestle : You he le bengeha pes xudinahas — He would wrestle even with the devil. 2. To hire :

Xudava mange shtdren mursha {1 — en) he phirava lentsa and -o them — I shall hire (for me) four lads, and wander Avith them in the country. 3. To obtain (to buy) : 2Ve dadestar chudinom love — From tiiy father I obtained money ; K-aver rai xudava lo'keder than — At another merchant's I shall buy cloth at a more reasonable price.

Xudipen, a., M. W. (not yet stated in another dialect), gaol, prison.

Xudoba, S., s. f. (Slov. chudoba), poor people.

Xumer, S., s. m. (Gr. xomer ; Hng. humer ; Bhm. = Sl.), dough, paste.

Xiirdo, S., adj. (Gr , Bhm. xurdo, but Bhm. meaning : mellow ; Hng. hurdo), little, young, only in xurde chdvore, little children.

Xurdes, S., adv., seldom. Tsuza ma- nusha aulta xurdes p"^^ sikl'on ro- manes — Strange people so seldom learn the Gypsy language.

Xutilav, a., M. W. (Gr., Hng., Bhm. wanting ; Rm. xutilau), to seize.

Xutno, adj. (Slov. chtdny), savoury ; inferred from xutnones, M. W., adv. id.

Xutrinau, a., S., vb. itr., to scrape (a horse with its hoof) ; Mind'ar la xera- ha xutrind'as — At that moment it scraped with its foot.

Xut'au, S., hutav, xutav, M. W., huiav, K., vb. itr. p. t. p. f. xut'il'om, S., hutil'om K. (Gr. wanting; Em. xutau, xutau ; Hng., Bhm. xut'au), to jump.

Xvala, S., s. f. (Slov. chvdla), praise, only in the phrase : xvala devleshe ! — God be praised ! Thank God ! Slov- Chvdla Bohu!

I / K. intj., ah ! oh !

Id'a, M. W., S., s. m. ? (cf. Ptt. ii. 65), clothes.

Igen, M., S., adv. (Mag. igen, yes), very.

Iherau, M. W., *M., S., inkerav, M. W., vb. tr. (Gr. wanting ; Hng. = SL, Bhm. ikerav) ; 1. to hold. Tker chaye le ketova — Hold, girl, the apron ; *M., 2. to keep. Java and-o vildgos he tre bakren na-y-ikerava — I shall go

into the world, and will not keep thy

sheep ; cf. s. avri. Uav, s. Imi. Ilo, s. yilo. Imdr, S., mar, K. adv. (Mag. immdr),

already. Inach, S., adv. (Slov. indc, otherwise),

else, otherwise. Indra, s. I'indra. Indral'ovaVf s. lindral'ovav.

A VOCABULARY OF THE SLOVAK-GYPSY DIALECT.

367

Inke, M., adv. (cf. Mag. inkdbb, ratlior ;

Bhm. = S1.), yet, still. Irimen, a., M. W., adj. (cf. the follow- ing), turned. Irinau, M. W., S., vb. tr. (cf. Ptt. ii.

65 ; Hng., Bhin. irinav), to turn ;

irinau upre, to subvert, to destroy.

You amcnge havoro foros irinlus npre

.cerentsa — He would us overthrow the

whole town with his feet.

Irinau man, to be transmuted. Irinde pes pre chiriklende — They

were transformed into birds, M. W. Ispidau, M. W., vb. tr., to thrust, to

stick. Isto, M., S., pron. deui. ace. sg., istones,

S. (Slov. is((/}, certain (of which men-

tion has been made already). It is never used without the def. article or the den), pron. oda. Kai pes il'as o isto zhchrdkos ki-o sasos — When that beggar betook himself to the soldier. Fdle yov, gel' as oh raske te phenel, ole istone raske — Then he went to say (that) to the gentleman (mentioned above).

Itsiya, M. W., itsia, SI., etsiya K. (Mag. itc'X ; Bhm. itd, Jes. in. 82), a half pot of beer or wine (Germ. Ilalbe).

lu, s. u.

Ldrav, M. W., ob. itr, (Gr. lisdrava ; Hng., Bhm. wanting), to tremble.

J.

Jdnau, ^., janav, M, W., K., dchanav, K., vb. tr, pt. pf. jdnlo, jando, M. W., S. (Gr. janava ; Hng., Bhm. janav) ; 1. to know ; 2. jdnau mange, to mean. Me mange jdnd'om hoi hi chdcho — I meant that it is true.

Jang, s. chang.

Jau, M., a.yjav, K. vb. itr., pt. pf. gclo, S., pf. gel' am, S., gdyoin, M. W., yal'om, *K. — to go, to fly. Har so naifeder chiriklo kana jal and-o luftos — Like the best bird, when it flies through the air.

Jcno,jeno, M., K., pi. m. jene, f. jena, S. (Gr. je7W, s. m. person ; Hng., Bhm. = SI.), only in aver-jeno (s, s. aver) used sg. elsewhere, only pi. forming collectives — viz. dui-jenc, dujene, trinjene, (q. v.), hish the shtdr- jene — All the twenty-four together ; ostatnajcne — The rest, all the others.

Jido, S., jido, M. W., ?.hido, M. W. (Gr. jivdo, pt. pf. of jivava ; Hng. jivdo, zhivdo, Bhm. = SI.), alive; som

jido, to live. 2'c na mi'ile, pochiUai hi jide — If they did not die, ihcy live (are alive) now.

Jid'drau, S., zhid'drav, M. W., vb. tr. (Gr. not noted ; Hng. jivd'drau, to incend ; Bhm. jid'drav, to feed), to vivify, to animate.

Jid'ovau, S., jid'ovav, M. W., vb. itr. (Gr. jivd'ovava; Hng., Bhm. not noted), to revive.

Jil, s. T'hil.

Jukel, S., s. m. (Gr., Bhm. = SI. Gr. zhiilcel ; Hng. jukal, juklo), dog.

Jukloro, M. W., K., jukloro, M. W., s. m. (dim. of jukel), dog.

Jungdlo, M. W., S., jungalo, M. W., adj. (Gr., chungalo, zungalo, bad, miserable ; Hng. = SI. dirty, ugly, Bhm. = SI.), ugly. Indch hi rdkl'a jungdleder h-o romes len — In other cases girls are uglier and marry never- theless.

J^w, M. W., s. m. (Gr., Bhm. = SI. Hng. ju), louse.

REVIEWS. Die Zigeuner. By Dr. A. Weisbach. Vienna, 1889.

This treatise, originally contributed to tlic Anthropological Society of Vienna, appeals specially to those whose interest in the Gypsies is that of the anthropologist. Selecting fifty-two Gypsy soldiers from a

368 REVIEWS.

Hungarian regiment, Dr. Weisbacli has, witli the greatest precision and minuteness, applied to each individual the same method of mea- surement and observation, the results of which may be seen at a glance in the tabular record appended to his pamphlet. Of the 52 Gypsies, 39 were Hungarian, and the remaining 13 were from Transylvania ; but this does not seem to imply any marked physical difference. The table shows that of the whole number 33 were black-haired, 16 had hair of a dark brown, and 3 were brown-haired. The colour of the skin was in this proportion : — brown, 1 8 ; inclined to brown, .20 ; light brown, 8 ; inclined to yellow, 6 ; while the hue of the eyes was as follows : — dark brown, 28; brown, 15 ; light brown, 5 ; greyish brown, 2 ; and grey, 2, — from which it will be seen that the darkest type prevailed. The men, who were all young, were of medium height. Dr. Weisbach sums up generally the result of his observations to this effect : " These Gypsies are of middling bulk and weight. . . . Their distinctly mesocephalic head is small and moderately contracted towards its base. . . . The short neck, of average thickness, is placed upon a short, tapering body. . . . They have very short arms, with the upper part short and slen- der. . . . Their legs are long, much longer than their arms." Such, briefly, are some of the leading characteristics. But a perusal of the pamphlet itself is necessary for a proper appreciation both of the results obtained from these measurements, as well as of the care and precision therein displayed. Such work as Dr. Weisbach has here undertaken helps much towards a proper estimate of the ethnological position of the Gypsies.

Uihnologische MitUilungcn cms Ungarn, I, Jahrgang, 1887-89; III. Heft. Budapest, 1889.

Notice has already been taken in our Journal (July number, pp. 302-4), of the Gypsy contributions to the first section of this part of the Ethnologische Mitteilungen, and these are followed up, in the instalment which completes the Part, with otliers equally interesting. Dr. Wlislocki's Beitrdge zu den Stavwiesverhdltnissen der siehenhurgischeoi Zigeuncr, which supplements his previous article in Globus, 1888, contains, along with much kindred information, the oath taken by the Woiwode of the Kukuya tribe ; which is as fol- lows : —

Sat'arav tumengc pale hacht te pale libacht, sat'arar fiimenge pale

REVIEWS. 369

naJvcdipen te falc sasciiJen, sat'arav tumenge kere te sakotancstc ! Ku tumen akamcl, man akcancl ; ko man kamel, tumen kamel ! Odoj me som, odoj tumen san ; odoj tumen san, odoj me som ! 0 kam sat'ar man, cumut avel mange / (I will help you in good fortune and in ill fortune, I will help you in sickness and in health, I will help you at home and abroad ! Who ofiends you, offends me ; who befriends me, befriends you ! Where I am, there shall you be ; where you are, there will I be ! May the Sun help me, may the Moon go with me !)

Under Hewiische Volkerstimmcn there are twelve Gypsy examples from Dr. Wlislocki's collection, delightfully rendered into German b}- Professor Herrmann. In the bibliographical section there is a pre- liminary list of Gypsy publications ; and we are promised a critical survey of Zigeunerphilologie in Hungary. Dr. Herrmann has also a very full and instructive note on the term " Little Egypt," in which he states the various localisations, by various writers, of that name. Lastly, there is a complete account of the newly formed Ethnogra- phical Society of Hungary, its aims, and its organisation. As this Society will publish, under the name Folk-lore, a journal in which the Mhnologische Mitteilungen aus Ungarn will be incorporated, the latter will cease to exist as a separate publication. That it will practically be continued, however, may he seen from the fact that Folk-lore will be edited by Dr. Herrmann conjointly with Dr. Louis Katona. The new journal will be very wide in its scope, taking in everything that relates to ethnology, folk-lore, and kindred themes ; and, as it is thoroughly international, it invites articles written in any of the chief languages of Europe. Its Gypsy section, which ought to be the most interesting to members of our Society, will be presided over by His Imperial Highness the Archduke Joseph.

Les Mysth-es du Nouvcl-An a Gcnhe: par Aaron Manass^. Geneva.

Curiously contrasting with either of the preceding publications is this unpretending little brochure, which offers itself to tlie reader for the modest sum of 15 centimes. But since it was transmitted through the post by the President of the Gypsy Lore Society, one naturally expects it to explain why it has been so distinguished. And this it does, for it devotes itself to a description of the various kinds of vagabonds who assemble at the chief Swiss fairs. And, of course, among these are Les Eomanitchels. Under the heading Les Banquistes is comprised, we learn, "all those nomads, of doubtful occupation,

370 EEVIEWS.

who travel from village to Yi\\a.ge pour 7vustir les 2Jantes (shn-pletons)." And, in proceeding to classify those Bmiqidstes, M. Manasse begins with the mountebanks, from whom he very naturally passes to the Eomanitchels. These he refers to as " birds of prey," " tarantulas," and as being in general thoroughpaced scamps. It is interesting to note that they are chiefly remarkable, in the eyes of this gentleman, as mesmerists ; although their alleged clairvoyance is, he states, the merest trickery. But this feature is noteworthy, as Gypsies have long been associated with mesmerism,^ It is, moreover, interesting to compare this description of the clairvoyante, " Mademoiselle Irma (ou tel autre nom de fantaisie)," with that of an American Gypsy woman, whose circular (sent to us by a lady-member of Outre-Mer, and which nothing but want of space prevents us quoting) sets forth her prophetic powers and her accomplishments in terms almost identical. Our author, who shows a remarkable intimacy with the various forms of trickery he describes, then passes on to the card- sharpers, and other gamesters, and after them the charlatans, or quack- doctors, the itinerant ballad-singers, and the pedlars. As in other cases, it is difficult to decide as to the exact degree in which Gypsies ought to be identified with such people ; but they cannot be disso- ciated from them. The kind of life here described is said to be fast disappearing at Geneva, as elsewhere, but the glimpses obtained in these " flying leaves " have a decided value ; and the picture there sketched suggests to one's mental vision the great fairs of the Middle Ages, when such people were in all their glory.

Among other notices of recent Gypsy publications, we have the following (somewhat belated) items from Italy : — Gli Zingari, article in the Rivista di Filosofia Scientifica, by Professor Morselli (Turin, Feb, No., 1889); Gli Zingari, in the Guore e Gritica, by G. Eosa (Bergamo, 31st March 1889); Gli Zingari, in the Nuava Antologia, by Ernesto Mancini (Rome, 16th May 1889); and an article by Eomeo Lovera in the Guorc e Gritica (Bergamo, 5th No. of current year), entitled, Mbrei e Zingari in Bunicnia. Professor von Sowa has con- tributed to the Zeitschrift fur Volkerpsycliologic unci Sprachwissen- schaft, vol. xix., an article on the Dialect of the Westphalian Gypsies, which, as may be seen from the reprint with which we have been favoured, is characterised by the same admirable qualities as his Slovak vocabulary, presently appearing in our pages. The Bulletin 1 See references to this in our Journal of July 1888, p. 42.

REVIEWS. 371

de la SocUte iV Anthropolorjic (t. xii. 2) contains a French version of M. Bataillard's " Gypsy Immigration." No. 3 of Pastor Jesina's Slovnih cesJco-cikdnsky has recently appeared : also Miss Laura A. Smith's Through Romany Songland (London, D. Stott), a miscellane- ous collection of verses and music attributed, not always correctly, to Gypsies. La France of July 15, 1889, contained an article on Les Gitanos (evoked by the presence of Spanish Gypsies at the Paris Exhibition), by M. Henry Girard ; and^ simiharly, M. Piene de Pont- Jest, in writing upon Lcs Fenwics cxotiqucs a V Exi^osition in Figaro, devoted his instalment of 3d August 1889 to Les Gitanas.

The following scraps of " Gypsy Lore " have also been chronicled during the past quarter: — The Manehestcr Courier of 13th July relates how Jane Penfold, at Dalston, was convicted of telling the fortune of Mary Aldows, cook, and was sentenced to one month's imprisonment. " She had told Aldows that she had a lucky face, and if she lent Penfold a watch she should have next day ' a full descrip- tion of her planet.'" "Hunting for Gypsies" {TJie Graijliic, 13th July) describes a visit to Ellen Eaa, at Yetholm, " a decent, grey- haired, dingy-looking woman of about sixty." The same tribe is indicated in the "Yetholm Gypsy Komance " {Scottish Ljeadcr, 10th August), referring to Florence Blythe's claim to the large fortune left by her father, Thomas H. Blythe, of San Francisco. In this article mention is made of " the Blythes of Kentucky." The Oldham Standard of 10th August records the "blocking" of Mr. George Smith of Coalville's Bill for educational facilities for Gypsy and van- dwellins; children. Mr. Pdtchie stated in the House of Commons that the number of these children returned in the Census in 1881, as sleeping in canvas tents and in the open air, on April 1, 1881, was ■1658 males and 3901 females. In the Daily Telcgrajjh of 15th August there is a full account of a recent Gypsy M'cdding in the Viennese suburb of Nuszdorf The Star of 20th August has a para- graph giving a special instance of " How some Gypsies live." And both the Manehestcr Courier of 19th August and the Manchester Guardian of 17th September refer to a recent communication by INIr. Edgar L. Wakeman, on the subject of " American Gypsies."

It is with much regret that we here record the death, on 21st August 1889, of the eminent Gypsy scholar. Pastor Josef Jesina. Born at 2itnoves, in Bohemia, on 17th August 1824, he was ordained on 25th July 1850, and he has long been known to his brother

372 REVIEWS.

students as pastor of Golden-Oels, in Bohemia, where he died. He was, writes a correspondent, " a warm friend of the Gypsies, by whom he was much trusted. He had a most thoroudi knowledoe of the

o o

Gypsy language (in which it was his great delight to correspond, as he could do with complete facility). His works are the valuable and now very rare book Romani Cih (in Bohemian, 1880 ; 3d ed. in German, 1886), and a great many supplementary treatises recently composed and published. He followed literature with entire disin- terestedness, for the publication of his books not only brought him in nothing, but caused him much outlay. It is well known that one of his vforks(Gh/2ysi/-BoJiemianTcdes) is in course of appearing; but only the first five numbers of this had been issued at the time of his death."

NOTES AND QUEEIES.

I.

"Egyptian Days."

On the article '" Egyptian Days " in the Journal of the Gyjjsy Lore Society, vol. i. p. 310, 1 beg leave to remark that the naming of the disastrous days Egyptian days is explained by lines 5-6 of the Versus de diehus JEgyptiacis, which are to be found in the Poet(e Latini Minores, v. page 354, edited by Baehrens.

The lines in question are these —

" Si tenebrse j3Egyptus Gr£eco sermone vocantur, Inde dies mortis tenebrosos iure vocamus."

But I think the real reason of it -was found out by Mommsen, who enumerates those days in the Corpus Inscri2)t. Let. i. p. 374, and says the origin of the superstition was as follows: — "Superstitio hsec ab j^gyptiis nomen tradit non aliam ob causam opinor, quam quod mathematicam doctrinam omnem bonam malam ^gyptiis acceptam referre solebant veteres ; hoc certissimuni est ortam esse in ipsa urhe neqae ante cetatem imperatoriam, cum mirum in modum dico ^gyptiaci senatus legitimi ab Augusto demum ordinatos sequantur," etc.

Eecently Dr. Wilhelm Schmitz and Jules Soiseleur occupied themselves with this matter. The latter did so in the Memoires de la Socictc Rationale des Anti- quaires de France, Paris, 1872, xxxiii. pp. 198-253, and Schmitz in the volumes 1867 xxii., 1868 xxiii., 1874 xxix., 1876 xxxi., of the Ehcin. Mus., and again in the Beitrdge zur lateinischen Sprache und Literatur Kunde, von Dr. Wilhelm Schmitz, Leipzig, 1877, pp. 307-320.

I myself published a list of the Dies ^gyptiaci that I found in the Codex Vossianus, jST. 116, in the Eg^jptemes Philologiai Kbzlony (Universal Philological Advertiser), 1879, iii. p. Ill and foil.

The Egyptian days were, according to the Codex Paris, N. 1338, the following : —January 1 and 25, February 4 and 26, March 1 and 28, April 10 and 20, May 3 and 25, June 10 and 16, July 13 and 22, August 1 and 30, September 3 and 21, October 3 and 31, November 5 and 28, December 12 and 15.

It were needless to demonstrate, after what has been said, that the Gypsies have nothing at all to do with the naming of these days. Budapest. Emil Thewrewk de Ponor.

NOTES AND QUERIES. 373

Mr. Archibald Constable's question, concerning the inauspicious days called "Egyptian Days" (Number of July, p. 310), has at once called to my mind an article that I had formerly seen on this subject in the great Glossariiuu of Du Cange. I have consequently had recourse to this admirable collection (consult in preference Didot's edition in 7 vols, in 4to, 1840-1850 ; or the editions of Favre, more recent, published at Niort in 1 0 vols, in 4to). The article is to be found at the vrord Dies (Dies ^gyptiaci), and it comprises nearly two columns of quota- tions and of references, which furnish very valuable elements concerning the his- tory of this superstition, but which do not throw much light on its origin. This origin is naturally attributed to the Egyptians, which is not unlikely, Egypt and Chaldea having had much to do with Grecian astrology, which afterwards spread itself over the whole of the Roman world (see Histoirc de la divination dans VAntiquite, par Bouche-Leclercq, Paris, 1879-1882, vol. iii. et iv. passim). But this is a very vague indication. It may be more particularly asked whether this superstition may not have been inqjorted into Greece at the epoch, dating from Alexander (332 ans B.C.), when the Macedonians, the Greeks, the Romans succes- sively reigned in Egypt. I observe that, even before 333, the Egyptians had built a temple to Isis in the Pirjeus, and that the worship of Isis was introduced in the same manner into Corinth, etc. (Bouche-Leclercq, work quoted, vol. iii. p. 388). At all events, it does not appear at first sight that the superstition is connected Tfith the Gypsies ; but better information would be necessary to be certain that they had nothing to do with it.

There are assuredly other collections than that of Du Cange to be consulted on this subject. I have neither looked into the Thesaurus of Henri Estienne, nor into the Glossarium medice et infimci? Gro'citatis of the same Du Cange, nor into the Bihliothhque Orientale of D'Herbelot, etc. But I can refer to a passage of the Dis- sertation of Muratori upon super.stitions, in the Antiquitates italica' medii a>vi vol. v., Mediolani, 1741, in. fol., col. 71, a passage in which the learned Italian him- self refers to one of his previous publications. P. Bataillaud.

2.

The Chingan^ros.

With reference to the two songs given in the Notes and Queries of our last number (p. 307), " The Chingancros of Venezuela," a correspondent writes : —

Some thirty years ago I passed a winter in Montevideo, and made what inquiries I could about the Indian and native tribes of the region. I was happy in meeting some of those who were best informed on these subjects : one wlio kindly helped me was the executor of Bonpland, the companion of Humboldt, and the possessor of his papers. He believed, and it was believed by others, that at certain seasons parties of Indians from Peru and Ecuador crossed the Andes, traversed the Gran Chaco, passed through Paraguay, Corricntes, and Entre Rios to the Atlantic at the northern embouchure of La Plata, seeking herbs and simples, and returning by almost the same route.

Is there any indication in the work whence these songs are extracted as to wliere they were really heard and taken down \ If they were sung by wandering Indians north or west of the Andes, they would be some corroboration of the opinion above stated, for they contain unmistakable allusions to Buenos Ayres and to ISIontevideo. In La Montanera the term " Porteiio " is the usual name for an inhabitant of Buenos Ayres, as " Oriental " is of those of the Banda Oriental (Montevideo). In La Zambidlidura China, Chinita, is a term of endearment applied to children in La Plata. It is taken from the Chino or China Indians, who inhabited the extreme south-east of the Banda Oriental, and who were favourite servants and

374 NOTES AND QUERIES.

nurses to the earlier Spaniards. I was told that no perfectly pure-blooded Indians of that race were now to be found, only mixed breeds and mestizos. A lad, whose mother was said to be one of the purest of these Indians left, was a servant in the family whom I was visiting. The translator has certainly misunderstood this song ; and I do not pretend to explain it all. " ZambuUida " does not only mean the act of diving, but is also a term for a fatal stroke in fencing, and may perhaps be used in a more general sense, as fighting. I see nothing of " Chinganero's fairy spells" in the original. " Guacamayo " is the " red macaw," and is often applied to the scarlet-clad English soldiers ; thus "Para ver los guacamillos con fusil y bayon^ta" might refer to General Whitelock's expedition against Buenos Ayres, or to General Auchmuty's occupation of Montevideo. Anecdotes of both were current in the country when I was there. "La caleta" might be the shore of the Bay of Monte- video. "Los temblores ya dormidos " may be merely a drum or trumpet call, the reveille. "La chata mia," "my snub-nosed darling," or " my female monkey," is a term of endearment. " Las cartas de Montezuma " is, I believe, a slang term, but for what I cannot now explain. The whole song seems to be simply that of one called from his mistress's side to go on guard in some beleaguered town. The style of the translation is singularly like the poetical translations, from many languages, done by Miss Louisa Stuart-Costello.

If the periodical journeying of parties of Indians or other tribes from the north- western almost to the south-eastern extremity of South America can be proved, the fact would be of capital importance in the diffusion or transmission of folk-lore. I cannot see that such a journey involves less physical difficulties than a journey across the more temperate regions of the Old World, and consequently folk-lore and tales might have been thus transmitted from one end of the Old-World continent to the other, in ages when the condition of its inhabitants was not very unlike that of the Indians of the New World ; and certainly more probable in later times when emphatically " all roads led to Eome."

Perhaps some of your readers can throw more light on this point, as well as on the origin and meaning of the two songs mentioned above.

3.

Gypsy Coloities in Carniola.

I have been informed by a gentleman who has visited Carniola that he met with Gypsies when staying at Groj^jh '^^ the foot of the Teloiic forest, on the banks of the small river Fodnart{l). He was there told that there is a rather large colony of Gypsies, who are nail-smiths. He was also told that there is another Gypsy colony in Althammer, at the base of the Tricjiav mountain, near the Worheiner lake. It would be interesting to learn whence those Gypsies came, and whicli dialect they speak. Eudolf vox Sowa.

4.

The Seven Languages.

I lately paid a visit to an encampment at Leith of Gypsies, and non-Gypsies, when the following conversation took jjlace : — ■

Franifton Bosivdl (desirous, apparently, of parading our joint erudition). — Now, what might you call that, Mr. Groome ? (Pointing to the kettle-prop.)

Myself. — That ? Oh ! a saster, I suppose.

NOTES AND QUERIES. 37")

Framjyfon. — H'm ! well, yes I that's not so bad, but kekavisko saster would be properer.

Mrs. Cunningham (a brush and basket hawker). — There, now ! Mr. Boswell, and I ain't no Gypsy woman, but I've know'd saster for a kettle-stick since I weren't no hijTher than one.

Frampton. — There's plenty Gypsies don't know it, INIrs. Cuniiinf;ham, but, Gypsy or no Gypsy, you 're a very old-fashioned sort of a traveller, I'm thinking.

Old Eennj Cunningham (philosoiihically).— It's just like this, you see. There's the Romany caint, and there's the Gaelic caint [cant], and they're both on 'em no better than a jibberidge.

Myself. — Well, I'm not cpiite so certain of that. Gaelic, of course that's gib- berish ; but wouldn't you say, Frampton, Romani was a kind of a language ?

Frampton (authoritatively). — No, I shouldn't, Mr. Groome. Leastwise, it isn't one of the Seven Languages.

So said Frampton ; but what he meant thereby, Goodness alone knows.

Francis Hindes Groome.

5.

The Sin of " Consultation with Witches " and its Punishment, in Sixteenth-Century Scotland.

The following is one of several " Extracts from the Records of the Kirk-Session and Presbytery of Aberdeen from 1562 to 1657," quoted in Turreif's Antiquarian Gleanings from Ahcnhenshire Records (Aberdeen, 1859, p. 28) : —

" Patrick Bodie, tailor, confessed that he made enquiry at the Egyptians for a gentlewoman's gown which was stolen out of his booth ; and therefore, in respect of his consultation with witches, the bishop and session ordain him to compear before the pulpit on Sunday next, and there, immediately after sermon, before noon, sit down on his knees before the pulpit, and confess his oft'ence in presence of the con- gregation, and crave God and his congregation pardon."

In this we have one of many evidences showing how the Gypsies have been identified with the practice of what has become known as "witchcraft."

David MacRitchie.

6.

The Gypsy in the Moon.

The Athenaeum of September 14, 1889, quotes from ^Illusion of Dr. Henry Cazalis (Paris, 1885, re-issued in 1888 under the pseudonym of Jean Labor), the following poem : —

Le Tsigane dans la Lune.

C'est un vieux conte de Bohenie :

Sur un violon, a minuit, Dans la lune un Tsigane bleme

Joue. en faisant si peu de bruit,

Que cette musique tres tendre,

Parmi les silences du bois, Jusqu'ici ne s'est fait entendre

Qu'aux amoureux baissant la voix.

376 NOTES AND QUERIES.

Mon amour, I'heure est opportune ;

La lune eclaire le bois noir ; Viens ecouter si dans la lune

Le violon chante se soir !

This bit of Gypsy folk-lore may be thus roughly rendered : —

'Tis a Romany tale

That up in the moon, Each midnight a Gypsy

Is playing a tune.

The melodies sweet

From his fiddle that flow, Are heard but by lovers

As silent they go.

Then, love, let us try,

While the moonlight is clear,

Amid the dark forest

That fiddle to hear.— William E. A. Axox.

NOTICES.

The Second Volume of the Journal will commence with the January number 1890. With that number Members will receive the Index, Title-page, and Errata of the first volume.

Owing to the increasing scarcity of the back numbers of the Journal, the price of each number of Volume I. will be raised to 7s. 6d. (instead of 5s., as at present) after 31st December 1889.

All Contributions must be legibly uritten on one side only of the j^ftper; must bear the sender's name and address, though not necessarily for jmblica- tion; and m^ist be sent to David MacRitchie, Esq., 4 Archibald Place, Edinburgh.

INDEX.

The separate articles are printed in italics under their author's name, G. = Gypsy; and Gs. = Gypsies.

Aberdeexshire, Gs. iu, 375. Accent, G., 62, 96. Adriatic, Gypsying by the, 132. Afghan Gs., 171. African Gs., 54, 220. American-G. Letter, 174.

Gs., South, 57, 232, 306, 373.

-armcs, cryptic ending, 50. Ancona Gs., 213. Anglo-Romany Gleanings, 102. Arabian Jugglers, 310. Arabic Elements in Romani, 234. -asch\ cryptic ending, 50. Asia Minor, Gs. of, 249. Austrian Gs., 171.

Romanes, South, 33, 132.

Axon, W. E. A., reviewed, 167. Chingamros of Venezuela, 306,

373.

375.

La Tsifjane dans la Lune,

Bahram Gaur, 73.

Barbu Constantinescu, Dr., folk-tales,

25, 345. Basques and Gs., 76. Bataillard, Paul, The Immigration of the

Gs., 185, 260, 324.

" Egyptian Days," 373.

Bemische, 207.

Beng, "devil," 118.

Bibliography of English books on Gs.,

153. Borrow, George, 102, 150. Bosnian-G. Dialect, 125. Brazilian Gs., 57, 232. Bread and Salt, oath by, 173. Buffaloes, 3. Burial, 5, 54.

Cairds (Caird, John, the tinkler, etc).,

52, 303, 355-6. Caldarari, 203. Carniola, Gs. of, 374. Carols, Christmas, 135. Cascarrots, 76. Catalonian Gs., 35. Ceylon, Gs. of, 312.

VOL. I.

Charms, G., Ill, 118.

Chinganeros of Venezuela, 306, 373.

Churi, " knife," 105.

Ciboure, Cascarrots of, 76.

Colocci, Marquis, Gs. in the Marches of

Ancona, 213.

The Gitanos of To-Day, 286.

reviewed, 241.

Colour-sense of Gs., 167.

Constable, Archibald (Lucknow), Gs. of

Oudh, 170.

(Edinburgh), " Egyptian

Days," 310.

Corfu, 204. Coronation, G., 174.

Crofton, H. T., Early Annals of the Gs. in England, 5.

Additions to G. - English

Vocabulary, 46.

Orthography and Accent, 96.

Hand-list of English Boohs on

Gs., 153.

Cufic Coins, 234.

Dancing, G., 79-83.

Davidson, T., Mr. Groome's Theory of the

Diffusion of Folk-Tales by Gs., 113.

review of Wlislocki, 242.

Dayton, Ohio, 174.

Devil, G. word for, 118.

Dialects, G. See Language.

Djatts. See Jats.

Doms, 71.

Dowojno-Sylwestrowicz, The Lithuanian

Gs., 251. Dynamitters, 50. Dzfka, "pleasure," 120.

" Egypt" as European i)lace-name, 52. "Egyptian Days," 310, 372. "Egyptians," name, 201, 226, 253, 268. Elliott, Ebenezer, 309. Elysseeff, A., The Gs. of Asia Minor,

249. England, Early Annals of Gs. in, 5. English-G. dialect, 46, 102. -engro, -eskro, 97.

378

INDEX.

Felkin, R. W., Central African Gs., 220. Folk-lore, G., 105, 118, 120. Folk-tales, Diffusion of, by Gs., 113. G., from Roumania, 25, 345 ;

Poland, 84, 145, 227 ; Moravia, 89 ;

Slovak, 258. Fortuue-telling, 175, 253, 371. Funeral Rites, 5, 54.

Gambia, Lowbeys of, 54.

Genitive, G., 97.

German Gs., 29, 50, 134.

Gitanos, 286.

"Greek" Gs., 204.

Grierson, G. A., Doras, JAts, and Oriffln

ofGs.,11.

G. Genitive, 97.

Groome, F. H., The Bad Mother: A

Roumanian G. Folk-tale, 25. The Princess and the Forester's

Son : a Moravian G. Folk-tale, 89.

Amjlo - Romany Gleanin(js,

113.

102.

Diffusion of Folk-tales hy Gs.,

The Red King and the Witch:

a Roumanian G. Folk-talc, 345. Gurko, "Sunday," 169, 245. Gutturals, G., 45, 96.

Hair, colour of G., 368. Harpists, Welsh-G., 180. Hawick, G. fray at, 175. Hedgehog, how to cook, 177. Hermann, A., Transylvanian G. Hongs,

131.

G. Songs of Mourning, 289.

reviewed, 368.

Hungarian Gs., 105, 118, 121, 203, 305,

367, 368. Music, 313.

Ibbetson, W. J., Origin of the Gs., 223. Immigration of the Gs. into Western

Europe, 185, 260, 324. Indian Gs., 71, 170, 224. Irish Tinkers and their Language, 350, Italian Gs., 213, 248, 308, 358. Italian G. Song, 212.

Jats, 71, 191, 225. Jesina, J., death of, 371. John, King, and the Tinkers, 244. Joseph, Archduke, reviewed, 48. Jusserand, J. J., reviewed, 167.

Khorasan, Gs. of, 171.

Knapp, Professor, 174.

Kopernicki, I., A Foolish Brother and a Wonderful Bush : a Polish-G. Folk- tale, 84.

— Bosnian-G. Dialect, 125.

A Girl luho loas sold to the

Devil: a Polish G. Folk-tale, 145.

Kopei-nicki, I., A Wise Young Jeio and a Golden Hen : a Polish G. Folk-talc, 227.

on Uniformity of Ortho- graphy, 169.

Language, G. : Bosnian, 125.

• Brazilian, 57.

English, 46, 1 02.

Lithuanian, 251.

Slovak, 160, 235, 296, 362.

Spanish, 177, 289.

Leland, C. G., Revietv of Archduke

Josefs " Czigdny Nyelimtan," 48. Review of Her mannas '' Etlino-

logische Mitteilungen," 105.

G. Charms, 118.

A Letter from Hungary, 121.

All Itcdian G. Song, 212.

Notes on the Three Magi, 246.

Paris Congress of Popular

Traditions, 317. Lithuanian Gs., 251. Ljuli, 51. Luli, 51.

Luri, 51.

MacRitchie, D., Gs. of Caledonia, 35.

Review of Hermawi's " Ethno-

logische Mittcilimgen," 107. Christmas Carols: the Three

Magi, 135. Irish Tinkers and their Lan-

guage, 350. Magi, The Three, 135, 246. Manasse, Aaron, reviewed, 369. Marriage, G., 177, 179. Masaniello a G., 308. Mayadds, 170. Members, List of (as at 1st January

1889), 181. Mesmerism, 42, 370. Moor, Major, 104. Moraes, Mello, reviewed, 57, 232. Music, G., 173, 180. Transylvanian G., 100, 122, 313.

Nails of Crucifixion, 253. Norway, English Gs. shipped to, 11.

Oaths, G., 173, 368. Origin of Gs., 71, 223. Orthography, G., 62, 96, 161, 169. Oudh, Gs. of, 170.

Paspati, Dr. A. G., Turkish Gs., 1. Persian Gs., 51. Physique, G., 250, 367. Pincherle, J., South Austrian Romanes, 33.

Gypsying by the Adriatic, 132.

Italian Gs., 308.

INDEX.

"-9

■ > I

Polish G. Folk-tales, 84, 145, 2-27. Prostitutes, d., 4, 288.

Queen, American G., 174.

RoM.\Nr-CHAL, meaning of, .")(). Roumanian G. Folk-tales, 25, .S45. Roumelian Gs. , 4. Rovvmais or Rowmani.s, King of, 54.

Scottish G. Fray, 175.

Gs., 171», 233, 375.

John Banyan, A, 52.

Seven Languages, the, 374.

Shelta, 253.

Shetland, Gs. in, 233.

Sigismund, Emperor, 2G1.

Siino, 1 69, 245.

Slovak Gs. See Sowa.

Smith, G., of Coalville, his "heirloom,"

176, 311. Solf, Dr., on German Gs., 50. Songs, Gs., 131, 212, 289, 306. Sowa, R. von, Staiistkul Account of Weisbach, A., reviewed, 367.

Statistics, G., 29, 120, 134. Surrey G., 176. Switzerland, Gs. enter, 275.

Thewrewk be Poxor, ]•]., Oriijin of

Jfung<t7-ian MuhIc, 313. Tinkers, 52, 244, 309, 350. Transylvaaian Gs., 242.

G. Songs, 131, 349.

Tent-Os., Mdodtcn (f, 100.

Turkestan, Gs. in, 51. Turkish Gs., 3.

Vexetiax Gs., 358.

V^enezuela, Chinganc'ros of, 30(), 373.

Watts, Theodore, 120. Wealthy Gs.. 173, 177. Webster, Wentworth, Cascarrots of

Clbonre, 76. ChrUlmas Varoh : The, Three

Nagi, 135.

George Borrow in Spain, 150.

German Gs., 29, 134.

Dialect of Brazilian Gs., 57.

Slovak-G. Vocabulary, 160 ;

B-CM, 235 ; Cho-F, 296 ; G-J, 362. 0 Minaris ; a Slovak G. Tale,

258. Spanish-G. Vocabulary, 177.

Gs., 36, 178, 286, 309.

Spells, G., Ill, 118.

Welsh-G. Harpists, 180. Whiter, Walter, 102. Wlislocki, H. von, 106-112.

Laments for the Dead, 293.

Transylvaniun - G. Ballad,

349.

reviewed, 242.

ZOTTS,

ERRATA.

PAGE

30, 3d line from foot of p. For " liave shooting galleries," read "are rat-catchers."

37, note -. For " p, 3," read " p. 4."

40, line 1. Insert "the" at end of line.

67, line IG. The examples naqve,, naki, naqui .should be transferred to list at

foot of page, and be inserted after chibe, etc. 82, line 25. For " Maurique," read " Manrique." 92, line 16. For " prazki," read " przazki." 92, line 22. For " lie'as," read " lil'as." 92, line 25. For " cheroi," read " xeroi." 92, line 28. For " lelas," read " lel'as." 92, line 29. For "kaithar," read "kathar." 132, line 5. For "Roman," read "Romani."

134, line 28. For " Wirtemberg," read "Wiirtemberg."

135, line 31. Add as a note to " It was composed by le Sieur Nicolas Saboly" : — M. Mary Lafon in his Tableau Historique et Littdrature de la langue imrUe dans le Midi de la France, Paris, 1842, in the Append ire Bihlio- graphique, p. 308, under the name Puech, writes: "His noels have been joined to those of Saboly, and are better, as maybe judged by that of the Bohemians, which d'Argens and Lametrie used to sing, en petit comitc, at the court of Frederick the Great. Moreover, Puech translated this song of the Bohemians from the Spanisli of Lope de Vega." The author (Puech), Millin asserts was

380 EKRATA.

PAGE

a beneficier of the Cathedral of Aix, and that the wong was composed in 1680. I have only a few of the voluminous works of Lope de Vega, and cannot find mention of this song in any of these. — Wentworth Webster. 138, line 41. For " Seguro," read " Segarra."

138, footnote K Add — "No. 71 is also a pretended Gypsy ballad, too long to quote."

139, line 4. For "quier en," read "quieren." 139, line 8. For " el," read " al."

139, line 11. For "joyous," read "light."

139, line 12. " Y vaga de baile." This line ought not to be distinguished from

the three lines which follow it. 139, lines 16 and 17 ought also to be more closely united. 139, line 21. For " puestar," read " puestas." 139, line 24. For " alegrad," read " alegrad." 139, line 26 (both Span, and Eug.) ought not to be separated from the following

lines. 139, line 36. For '• y-a," read "ya." 139, line 39. For " soltar," read " saltar." 139, footnote. For "snapping," read "click."

161, line 12. For "solna," read "Zsolna."

162, line 8. For "once only once occurring," read " occurring only once." 164, line 4 a. For " ahjarav" read " ahjarav."

164, line 49 a. For " aU'bo," read " al'eho:'

164, line 24 6. For "a?ii susie," etc., read "ajii tuhc, mri 2}ii'((''>ii, basaviben n-anavas — I should not even serenade thee, my beloved. — K."

164, line 52 b. For " avl'ais," read " avl'as."

165, line 16 a. Insert " forenoon " before M.W.

166, line 30 b. Insert " averjeno " before " a., S., adj."

236, line 15 6. For ''pa," read "^mZ."

237, line 1 b. Insert " sit " after " to."

241, lines 14, 15 b. For " tobacco, pipe," read " tobacco-pipe."

259, line 3. For " Irkea," read " herla." ^

301, line 23. For " lerga," read " Jerga."

360, lines 4, 5. For " proveder. L'Andera parte," read " proveder da nostra parte."

372, lines 5, 6. For "the valuable," etc., substitute "the revision and republica- tion of the valuable and now very rare work, JRomani Vib of P. Puchmajer (Jesina's version appearing in Bohemian, 1880 ; 3d ed. in German, 1886)."

374, note 3. For " Telouc," read "■ Jdouc"

Printed by T. and A. Constable, Printers to Her Majesty, "( the Edinburgh University Press.

•Vol. I.		No. I.
G	JOURNAL OF THE YPSY T-OR S O C I E 1 Y JULY 1888.	K,
	Contents. I'AGIC PREFACE, ...... I I. TURKISH GYPSIES. By Dr. Alexander G. Paspati, Athens, ..... 3 II. EARLY ANXALS OF THE GYPSIES IN ENG- LAND. By Henry T. Crofton, . . .5 III. A ROUMANIAN- GYPSY FOLK-TALE. Trans- lated FROM THE Romany of Dr. Barbu Con- stantinescu. By Francis Hindes Groome, . 25 IV. ST.4TISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE GYPSIES LNI THE GERMAN EMPIRE. By Professor Rudolf von Sowa, Brunn, . 29 V. ILLUSTR.VTIONS OF SOUTH - AUSTRIAN - ROMANES. By J. Pinciierle, Trieste, . „ • 33 . VL THE GYPSIES OF CAT.ALONIA. P.v David Mac - Ritchie, ... . ;:, VII. ADDITIONS TO GYPSY - ENGLISH VOCABU- LARY. By Henry T. Crofton, , . .46 VIII. REVIEW OF THE ARCHDUKE JOSEF'S ' CZIGANY NYELVATAN.' By Charles G. Leland, . .48 NOTES AND QUERIES, . . .50
Prii	ited by T. & A. CONSTABLE, Printers to Her Maj at the Edinburgh University Press.	esty

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Now Ready, A NEW AND CHEAPER RE-ISSUE of the following Works of the late GEORGE BORROW. Post 8vo, 2s. 6d. each.

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II.

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SOCIETY

OCTOBER 1888.

I.	Conttnt0* PAGE THE DIALECT OF THE GYPSIES OF BRAZIL. By Professor Rudolf von Sowa, . , .57
II.	pOMS, J.ATS. AND THE ORIGIN OF THE GYPSIE.S. By G. A. Grierson,	71
III.	THE CASCARROTS OF CIBOURE. By the Rev. Wentworth Webster, ....	76
IV.	TWO GYPSY FOLK-TALES. By Professor Isidore KoPERNiCKi and Francis ^HiNDES Groome,	84
V.	ORTHOGRAPHY AND ACCENT. By II. T. Crofton, ......	96
VI.	THE GENITIVE IN GYPSY. By G. A. Grierson,	97
VII.	ORIGINAL POPULAR MELODIES OF THE TRANSYLVANIAN TENT-GYPSIES,	100
VIII.	ANGLO - ROMANY GLEANINGS. By FRANCIS HiNDES Groome, . . . ' .	102
	REVIEWS. By Charles G. Leland, David Mac- Ritchie, and Thomas Davidson, .	i<^5
	NOTES AND OT'ERIES, ....	118

riinted by T. & A. CONSTABLE, Printers to Her Majesty at the Edinburgh University Press. .

THE GYPSIES.

WITH SKETCHES OF THE ENGLISH, WELSH, EUSSIAN, AND

AUSTEIAX EOMANY.

Including Papers on the Gypsy Language. By CHAELES G. LELAND.

Crown 8vo, red top, $2.00.

" Since literature became a profession, there has been an increasing i-arity of those books which bear internal evidence of the fact that their writers enjoyed writing them, and that they were written for the sake of enjoyment ; but Mr. Leland's books do provide such evidence, and they are accordingly very refreshing. The book is crammed with interesting matter. . . . We have no hesitation in saying that this is tlie most delightful Gypsy book with which we are acquainted." — The Spectator, London.

" Mr. Leland thoroughly understands the love of the Gypsy for the free and pic- turesque life out-of-doors ; he feels it too ; his pages glow with it ; his fragments of description borrow from it an irresistible charm. He brings therefore to the writing of these fascinating chapters the rare qualifications of an exquisite sympathy with his sub- ject and a poetic intuition of its inner character. But his enthusiasm is tempered by his shrewdness, and saved from extravagance by his keen sense of humour. It is im- possible to read such a book without sharing the author's delight in the queer and not over reputable, but highly romantic company to which it introduces us ; and yet it is a great storehouse of serious and recondite information." — New York Tribune.

*^* For sale by all Booksellers. Sent by mail, j^ost paid, on receipt of price

by the Publishers,

HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN & CO., BOSTON, U.S.A.

SOClfiTfi DES TRADITIONS POPULAIRES

REVUE DES TRADITIONS POPULAIRES

(S^'"^ annee)

Eecueil mensuel paraissant par fascicules de 48 a 64 pages avec musique gravee et illustrations.

PUBLIEE PAR

M. PAUL SEBILLOT,

Secretaire general de la Societe.

Abonnement : 15 fr. pour la France, 17 fr. pour I'Union postale. (S'adresser a M. A. Certeux, tr^sorier, 167 rue de Jacques.)

La cotisation des Societaires est de 15 fr. sans distinction de nationalite : elle donne droit a I'euvoi gratuit de la Eevue et de I'Annuaire. Adresser les manuscrits a M. S^billot, 4 rue de I'Odeon.

EOIiOE BOFME^O MSI.

" The career and works of George Borrow are well worthy of study ; he may have been 'avagabond' t>y taste and haliit, bnt he was eminently a Christian and a gentleman, and many men have earned tireater name and fame without halt his claims to the gratitude of society." — Saturday Revieiv.

Now Ready, A NEW AND CHEAPER RE-ISSUE of the fcUowlng Works of the late GEORGE BORROW. Post 8vo, 2s. 6d. each.

I.

The Bible in Spain : Or, The Journe3's and Imprisonments of an Englishman in an attempt to circulate the Scriptures in the Peninsula. With Portrait.

II.

The Zincali : An Account of the Gypsies of Spain ; their Manners,

Customs, Religion, and Language.

III. Lavengro : The Scholar, the Gypsy, and the Priest.

IV. The Romany Rye : A Sequel to Lavengro,

V.

"Wild Wales : Its People, Language, and Scenery.

Also, uniform with the above. Post 8vo, 5s. Cloth.

Romano LavO-Lil : With Illustrations of English Gypsies, their

Poetry and Habitations.

LONDON: JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET.

Vol. I.

No. 3.

JOURNAL OF THE

GYPSY LORE

SOCIETY

JANUARY 1889,

Conttiit2>.

I. A LETTER FROM HUNGARY. By Charles G. Leland, ......

II. THE DIALECT OF THE BOSNIAN' GYPSIES. By Pkofkssor Isidore Kopernicki,

III. TRANSYLVANIAN GYPSY SONGS. By Professor

Anton Herrmann, .....

IV. GYPSYING BY THE ADRIATIC. ByJ. Pincherle,

V. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES ON THE GERMAN GYPSIES. By Professor Rudolf von Sovva,

VI. CHRISTMAS CAROLS: THE THREE MAGI. By THE Rev. Wentvvorth Webster and David MAcRnx;HiE, ......

VII. TALE OF A GIRL WHO W.AS SOLD TO THE DEVIL. By Professor Isidore Koperntcki,

VIII. GEORGE BORROW IN SPAIN. By the Rev Wentworth Webster,

IX. HAND-LIST OF ENGLISH BOOKS REL.ATING TO GYPSIES. Compiled by H. T. Crofton,

X. SLOVAK-GYPSY VOCABULARY. By Professor Rudolf von Sowa, .....

REVIEWS : NOTES AND QUERIES,

I'AGi:

134

135 145

153

160 167

Printed by T. & A. CONSTABLE, Printers to Her Majesty at the Eldinburgh University Press.

THE FOLK-LORE SOCIETY.

President — Andrew Lang.

Vice-Presidents— RiaUT'KoT^. TheEarlofStbafvord; W. R S. Ralston.M.A. ; E.B. Tylor, LL.D., F.R.S.

Director — G. Laurence Gomme. 2Vt<isKrer— Edward Clodd.

THIS Society was established in 1878, for the purpose of collecting and preserving the fast-pei'ishing relics of Folk-Lore amongst our own and other peoples. Under i his general tenn is included Folk-Tales; Hero-Tales; Traditional Ballads ami Songs ; Place Legends and Traditions ; Goblindom ; Witchcraft ; Astrology ; Superstitions con- nected witli material things ; Local Customs ; Festival Customs ; Ceremonial C'ustoms ; Games ; Jingles, Nursery Rhymes, Riddles, etc. ; Proverbs ; Old Saws, rhymed and unrhymed ; ^'icknames, Place-Rhymes and Sayings ; Folk-Etymology.

The first duty of the Societj' is to collect the remains of Folk-Lore still extant. There is much to be done in our own country, especially in the outlying parts of England and Scotland, the mountains of Wales, and the rural parts of Ireland. Mr. Campbell only a few years ago collected orally in the Highlands a very valuable group of stories, the ex- istence of wliich was quite unsuspected ; and the publications of the Society bear witness to the fact that in all parts of our land tlie mine has abundant rich ore remaining unworked.

In European countries for the most partlhere are native workers who are busy upon the collection of Folk-Lore ; but in India and other States und^r English dominion, l)esides savage lands not politically attached to this countiy, there is an enormous field, where the labourers are few.

The second, and, from a scientific stand -point, the most important duty of the Society, is that of classifying and comparing the various items of Folk-Lore gathered into its archives. A Special Committee has been appointed to take in hand the section of Folk- Lore devoted to Folk-Tales, and they have prepared a scheme of tabulation which is being extensively used both by workers in the Society and by other students. Another Com- mittee is dealing with customs and manners in tlie same way.

By these means the Society will doubtless be able to show more conclusively how mucli knowledge of early man has been lying hidden for centuries in popular traditions and customs, and this object will be quickened by the addition to its roll of all students in- terested in primitive culture. Those who cannot collect can help in the work of classification and comparison, and much might be thus accomplished by a few years of hearty co-operation.

The Annual Subscription is One Guinea, payable in advance on the first of January in each j'ear, which will entitle Members to receive the publications of the Society for such jear. Members joming during the present year, and desirous of subscribing for the publications of the Society already issued, several of which are becoming scarce, may do so by paying the subscriptions for the back years.

A. Ghan-oer Hutt, F.S.A., 8 Oxford Road. Kilburn, N.W.\ Hon. J. J. Foster, 36 Alma Square, St. John's Wood, X.W. j Sees.

M E L U S I N E

REVUE DE MYTHOLOGIE, LITTERATURE POPULAIRE, TRADITIONS ET USAGES

FONDEE PAR H. CAIDOZ & E. ROLLAND, I877-I887 DIRIGEE PAR HENRI CAIDOZ.

La Revue parait le 5 de chaque mois par livraisons de 12 pages in-4''. PRIX DE L'ABONNEMENT POUR UN AN, PORT COMPRIS

France et Union Postale : 12 francs.

On s'abonne pour la France en envoyant un mandat-poste (ou un mandat-carte) a M. Emile LECHEVALIER, 39, quai des Grands-Augustins, Paris. Le talon du mandat servira de recu.

On s'abonne pour I'etranger en envoyant un mandat-poste international ou par lin- termediaire d'un libraire.

Toutes les communications relatives a la redaction, lettres, livres pour compte rendu, etc., devront etre adressees, franc de port, a M. GAIDOZ, directeur de Melusine. a la librairie E. LECHEVALIER, 39, quai des Grands-Augustins, a Paris.

G E O R G E BO R R O W.

"The career and works of George Borrow are well worthy of study ; lie may have been 'a vagabond ' »py taste and haliit, but lie was eniineutly a Christian and a gentleman, and many men have earned vreater name and fame without halt" his claims to tlie gratitude of society." — Saturday litview.

Now Beady, A NEW AND CHEAPER RE-ISSUE of the following Works of the late

GEORGE BORROW. Post 8vo, 2s. 6d. each. I. — The Bible in Spain : Or, The Jomnevs an<l Imprisonments of an Englishman in an attempt to circulate the Scriptures in the Penin- sula. "With Portrait. II. — The Zincali: An Account of the Gypsies of Spain; their Manners, Customs, lieliirion, and Language. III. — Lavengro : The Scholar, the Gypsy, and the Priest. IV. — The Romany Rye: A Sequel to Lavengro. V. — Wild Wales : Its People, Language, and Scenery.

Also, uniform with the ahove, Post 8vo, 5s. Cloth. Romano LavO-Lil : With Illustrations of English Gypsies, their

Poetry and Habitations.

LOXDOX : JOHN MURRAY, ALBE^IARLE STREET.

THE GYPSIES.

WITH SKETCHES OF THE ENGLISH, WELSH, RUSSIAN, AND

AUSTRIAN ROMANY.

Inchtding Papers on the Gypsy Language.

By CHARLES G. LELAND.

Croum 8vo, ml top, $2.00.

" Since literature became a profession, there has been an increasing rarity of those books which hear internal evidence of the fact that their writers enjoyed writing thera, and that they were written for tlif sHke of enjoyment; but Mr Leland's books do provide such evidence, and they are accordingly veiy refreshing. The book is crammed with interesting matter. . . . We have no hesitation in saying that this is the most delightful Gypsy book witli which we are acquainted." — The S}'Cctator, Loudon.

" Mr. Leland thoroughly understands the love of the Gypsy for the free and picturesque life out-of- doors ; he feels it too ; his pages glow with it ; his fragments of description borrow from it an irresistible <-harm'. He brings therefore to the writing of th^'Se fascinating chai'ters the rare qualifications of an exquisite sympathy with his subject and a poetic intuition of its inner character. But his entluisiasm is tempered by his shrewdness, and saved from extravagance by his keen sense of liumonr. It is impossible to read such a book without sharing the author's delight in the queer and not over reputable, but highly romantic company to which it introduces us; and yet it is a gieat storehouse of serious and recondite information." — New York Tribtine.

For sale by all Booksellers. Sent by mail, post paid, on receipt of price

by the Publishers.

HOUGHTON, MIFFLIX Sc CO., BOSTON, U.S.A.

With Map and Two Illustrations.

ACCOUNTS OF THE GYPSIES OF INDIA

Collected and Edited by David Mac Ritchie, author of " Ancient and Modern Britons. '

Crown 8vo, doth, 3s. 6d.

" We welcome the ' Gypsies of India ' as a real contribution to Roniaui Literatui e. — Athe7iaum.

"Mr. M"cRitchie's knowledge of what we suppose we may call Gypsiology is pro- found."— Guardian.

" Mr. David MacRitchie has collected some valuable matter from various sources which throws considerable light upon the subject, and forms a very readable and enter raining book. . . . Mr. MacRitchie's book is one which commends itself to the careful attention and study of Englishmen."— J/o»-7t/Hi7 Post.

" A valuable and scholarly book on the subject."— ^'co^snzaH.

•LONDON . KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH & CO.

ETKNOLOGISGHE IV|ITTEILUNGEN AUS UNGARN:

Zeitsclirift fiir die Volkskunde der Bewohner Ungarns iind seiner Nebenlauder. Eedigiert und herausgegeben von Prof. Dr. Anton Herrmann, Budapest.

Of the two parts of this work which have already appeared, a detailed account is given in No. 2 of the present volume of the Gypsy Lore Society's Journal (p, 105 et seq. ), where the varied and interesting nature of its contents can be seen. The third part will appear this month. Tlie cost of each number is two marks (or two shillings) ; but the sum of five marks, paid in advance, secures the subscriber the first five numbers. The Editor will gladly exchange the Ethnoloijische Mitteihingen cms Ungarn with the publications of other similar Societies ; and, if requested, will send copies gratis to those desiring it. He also requests that all Authors and Societies dealing with this question will be good enough to send him review copies of their works.

Address —

Prof. Dr. Anton Herrmann, I. Attila-utcza 47, Budapest.

SOCIETE DES TRADITIONS POPULAIRES

REVUE DES TRADITIONS POPULAIRES

(3'^"^« annee)

Eecueil mensuel paraissant par fascicules de 48 a 64 pages avec miisique gravee et illustrations.

PUBLIEE PAR

M. PAUL SEBILLOT,

Secretaire general de la Societe.

Abonnement: 15 fr. pour la Prance, 17 fr. pour rUnion postale. (S'adresser a M. A. Ceeteux, tresorier, 167 rue de Jacques.)

La cotisation des Societaires est de 15 fr sans distinction de irationalite : elle donne droit a I'envoi gratuit de la Eevue et de TAnnuaire. Adresser les manuscrits a M. Sebiliot, 4 rue de I'Odeon.

ORIENTALISCHE BIBLIOGRAPHIE

nnter stiindiger Mitwiikung von Dr. Bezzenberger (Konigsberg). Dr. Gleiniger (Berlin), Dr. Gottheil (New York), Dr. Z. Miiller (Berlin), Dr. Strack (Berlin), Dr. VoUers (Cairo), Dr. Wijnmalen (Haag), und mit gelegentlichen Beitiiigen von Mag. Salemann (St. Petersburg), P. Kalemkiar (AYien), Schiikri Efendi (Constanti- nopel), und Anderen herausgegeben von Dr. A. Miiller (Konigsberg).

Jahrlich 4 Hefte zu je 5 Bogen ; Subscription, 6 M. p. A.

bei der Buchhandlung H. Reuther, Berlin, Charlottenstrassc, 2 ;

London, Messrs. Williams & Noegate ; New York, B. Westermaxn & Co.

Erschienen sind Vol. I. (1887) ; Vol. II. (1888), Heft 1, 2.

Vol. II. Heft 3 erscheint zum 1 Januar.

■ledes Heft enthalt einen Abschnitt iiber die auf die Zigeuner beziigliche Litteratnr ; die Bibliographie umfasst ausserdem die auf Ethuographie, Sprache, Geschichte, Kunst uiid Litteratur der asiatischen, australisclien und atrikanischeu Viilker beziiglichen Werke und Abhandlungen, welche zur Kenntnis der llerausgeber gekommen sind.

Zahl der angefiihrten Titel : Vol. I. : 46.35 Xummern ; Vol, II. , 1, 2 : 2929 Nummeni. die beigefiigten Angaben iiber Recensionen ungerechnet.

Vol. I.		No. 4.
G	JOURNAL OF THE YPSY LOR SOCIETY APRIL 1889.	1^:
	Contciud, I' AGE I. BEGINNING OF THE IMMIGRATION OF THE GYPSIES INTO WESTERN EUROPE IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. By Pall Bataillard, . . . . . . 1S5 II. AN ITALIAN GYPSY SONG. By Charlks G. Leland, . . . . .212 III. THE GYPSIES IN THE MARCHES OF ANCONA DURING THE i6th, 17TH, AND i8th CEN- TURIES. By the M.\RQUIS COLOCCI, . . 213 IV. CENTRAL AFRICAN GYPSIES. By Dr. R. \V. Felkin, ...... 220 V. THE ORIGIN OF THE GYPSIES. By W. J. Ibbetsox, ...... 223 VI. TALE OF A WISE YOUNG JEW AND A GOLDEN HEN. By Professor Isidore Koper- NICKI, . . . . . . .227 VII. BRAZILIAN AND SHETLAND GYPSIES. By Fr.\ncis Hindes Groome, .... 232 VUI. SLOVAK-GYPSY VOCABULARY: Z;.^5—CiV/. By Pkoi essor Rudolf von Sow a, . . . 235 REVIEWS : NOTES AND QUERIES, . . 241
Prii	ited by T. & A. CONSTABLE, Printers to Her Maj at the Edinburgh University Press.	est}-

THE FOLK-LORE SOCIETY.

President— AsDTi.T.w Lang.

Vice-Presidents— HigrtHot^. The Earl of Strafford; W. E. S. Ralston, M. A. ; E. B. Tylor, LL.D.,F.R.S.

Director — G. Laurence Gomme. Treasurer — Edward C>-odd.

THIS Society was established in 1878, for the purpose of collecting and preserving the fast-perishing relics of Folk-Lore amongst our own and other peoples. The Annual Subscription is One Guinea, payable in advance on the hrst of January in each year, Wliich will entitle Members to receive the publications of the Society for such year. Members joining during the present year, and desirous of subscribing for the publications of the Society already issued, several of which are becoming scarce, may do so by paying the subscriptions for the back years.

A. Granger Hutt, P.S.A., 8 Oxford Road, Kilburn, London, N.W, \/ro?i. J. J. Foster, 36 Alma Square, St. John's Wood, London, N.W. j.S'ecs.

M E L U S I N E

REVUE DE MYTHOLOGIE, LITTERATURE POPULAIRE, TRADITIONS ET USAGES

FONDEE PAR H. CAIDOZ & E. ROLLAND, 1877-1887 DIRICEE PAR HENRI GAIDOZ.

La Revue parait le 5 de chaque mois par livraisons de 12 pages in-4''. Prix tie I'abonnement pour un an, port compris France et Union Postale : 12 francs.

On s'abonne pour la France en envoyant un mandat-poste (ou un mandat-carte) a M. Emile LECHEVALIER, 39, quai des Grands-Augustins, Paris. Le talon du mandat servira de recu. On s'abonne pour I'etranger en envoyant un mandat-poste international ou par rintermediaire d'un libraire.

Toutes les communications relatives a la redaction, lettres, livres pour compte rendu, etc., devront etre adressees, franc de port, a M. GAIDOZ, directeur de M^lusine, k la librairie E. LECHEVALIER, 39, quai des Grands-Augustins, a Paris.

JOURNAL OF AMERICAN FOLK-LORE.

THIS JOURNAL, published for the AMERICAN FOLK-LORE SOCIETY, is designed for the collection and publication of the FOLK-LORE AND MyTHOLOGY OF THE AMERICAN CONTINENT.

The JOURNAL appears quarterly, in the months of February, May, August, and September.

The Contents of the JOURNAL for the quarter January — March 1889, are as follows : —

1. Introduction.

2. Death and Funeral Customs among the Omahas. — Francis La Flesche.

3. Current Superstitions:

I. Omens of Death. — Fanny D. Bergen and W. W. Neicell.

4. Folk-Lore of the Pennsylvania Germans (II.). — W. J. Hoffman.

5. Louisiana Nursery Tales (II.). — Alcee Fortier.

6. Reports of Voodoo Worship in Hayti and Louisiana.— If. W. Neivdl.

7. Popular Rimes from Mexico. — Albert S. Gatschtt.

8. Legends of the Cherokees.— //^. ten Kate..

9. European Folk-Lore in the United States. — Jeremiah Curtin.

10. English Folk -Tales in America (11. ),

11. Waste-Basket of Words.

12. Folk-Lore Scrap-Book.

13. Notes and Queries.

14. Records of American Folk-Lore.

15. Notices of the Folk-Lore of other Continents.

16. Bibliographical Notes.

The JOURNAL OF AMERICAN FOLK-LORE for 1888 forms a volume of 256 pages, 8vo. A limited number of copies are still to be obtained.

Subscribers desirous of becoming Members of the Society are requested to address the Secretary.

Annual Subscription, $3.00. In the British Isles, 12s. 6d.

The JOURNAL is pulalished for the Society by Houghton, Mifflin and Co., Boston and New York; London: Triibner and Co., 57 Ludgate Hill; who will receive subscriptions.

G E O R G E BO R R O W.

" The career ajul \\orl<s of George Borrow are well worthy of si iidy ; he may have been 'a vaiJiaboiid' by taste ami habit, but he was eniiiiejitly a Christian and a p^itleniaii, and many men have earned greater name and tame without half his claims to the j^ratitude of soeii'ty." — Saturdliij llcvkw.

Now Ready, A NEW AND CHEAPER RE-ISSUE of the foUowIng Works of the late GEORGE BORROW. Post 8vo, 2s. 6d. each.

I-— The Bible in Spain: Or, The Jomncys and Imprisonments of an Englishman in an attempt to circulate the Scriptures in the Penin- sula. With Portrait. n. — The Zincali: An Account of the Gypsies of Spain; their Manners, Customs, Religion, and Language. HI. — Lavengro : The Scholar, the Gypsy, and the Priest. IV.— The Romany Rye : A Sequel to Lavengro. V. — Wild Wales : its People, Language, and Scenery.

Also, uniform with the above, Post 8vo, 5s. Cloth. Romano LavO-Lil : With illustrations, of English Gypsies, their

Poetry and Habitations.

LONDOX: JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET.

THE GYPSIES.

WITH SKETCHES OF THE ENGLISH, WELSH, RUSSIAN, AND

AUSTRIAN ROMANY.

Including Papers on the Gypsy Language.

By CHARLES G. LELAND.

Grown Svo, red top, $2.00.

"Since literature became a profession, there has been an increasing rarity of those books which bear inteTnal evidence of the fact that their writers enjoyed writing tli-eni, and that tliey were written for the saiot! of enjoyment ; but Mr Leland's books do provide sueli evidence, and tliey are accordingly veiy refreshing. The book is crammed with interesting matter. . . . We have no hesitation iu saying that this is the most delightful Gypsy book with wlucli we are acquainted." — The Sjiectator, London.

"Mr. Leiand thoroughly understands the love of the Gyjisyfor the free and i]ictnresque life out-of- doors ; he feels it too ; his pages glow with it; his fragments of dt-scription borrow from it an iiresistible charm. He brings therefore to the writing of these fascinating chapters the rare qualifications of an exquisite sympathy with his subject and a poetic intuition of its inner character. But his enthusiasm is tempered by his shrewdness, and saved from extravagance by his keen sense of humour. It is impossible to read such a book without sharing the author's delight in the queer and not o\-ev imputable, but highly romantic company to which it introduces us; and yet it is a great storehouse of serious and reconditt- information." — Neiv York Tribune.

*

Fo7' sale by all Booksellers. Sent by tna'd, post paid, on receii'^t of price

by the Publishers^

HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN & CO., BOSTON, U.S.A.

JVith Maf and Two Illustrations.

ACCOUNTS OF THE GYPSIES OF INDIA

Collected aud Edited by David MacRitchie, author of " Ancient and Modern Britons. "

Cromi Svo, cloth, 35. M.

" We welcome the ' Gypsies of India ' as a real contribution to Roniani Literature. ' — Athenmum.

"Mr. MacRitchie's knowledge of what we suppose we may call Gypsiology is pro- found. ' ' — (yuardiaii.

•' Mr. David MacRitchie has collected some valuable matter from various sources which throws considerable light upon the subject, and forms a very readable and enter taining book. . . . Mr. MacRitchie's book is one wliioh commends itself to the carefuJ attention and study of Englishmen." — Morning PoM.

" A valuable and scholarly book on the subject." — Scotsman.

LONDON : KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH & CO.

ETHNOLOGISGKE IV|ITTEILUNGEN AUS UNGARN:

Zeitschrift fiir die Volkskunde der Bewohner Ungarns luid seiner ISTebenlander. Eedigiert und herausgegeben von Prof. Dr. Anton Herrmann, Budapest.

Of the two parts of this work which have already appeared, a detailed account is given in No. 2 of the present volume of the Gypsy Lore Society's Journal (p. lOo et seq.), where the varied and interesting nature of its contents can be seen. The third part will appear this month. The cost of each number is two marks (or two shillings) ; but the sum of live marks, paid in advance, secures the subscriber the first five numbers. The Editor will gladly exchange the Ethnoloyische Mitteilungen aus Ungarn with the publications of other similar Societies ; and, if requested, will send copies gratis to those desiring it. He also requests that all Authors and Societies dealing with this question will be good enough to send him review copies of their works.

Address — Prof. Dr. Anton Herrjiann, I. Attila-utcza 47, Budapest.

SOCIETE DES TRADITIONS POPULAIRES

REVUE DES TRADITIONS POPULAIRES

(3^"« annee)

Eecueil mensuel paraissant par fascicules de 48 a 64 pages avec musique gravee et illustrations.

publiee par M. PAUL SEBILLOT,

Secretaire general de la Societe.

Abonnement: 15 fr. pour la Prance, 17 fr. pour 1' Union postale. (S'adresser a M. A. Certeux, tresorier, 167 rue de Jacques.)

La cotisation des Societaires est de 15 fr. sans distinction de nationalite : elle donne droit a I'envoi gratuit de la Eevue 'et de I'Annuaire. Adresser les manuscrits a M. Sebillot, 4 rue de rOdeon, Paris.

ORIENTALISCHE BIBLIOGRAPHIE

iiuter standiger Mitwirkung von Dr. Bezzenberger (Konigsberg),

Dr. Gleiniger (Berlin), Dr. Gottheil (New York), Dr. Z. Miiller

(Berlin), Dr. Strack (Berlin), Dr. VoUers (Cairo), Dr. Wijnraalen

(Haag), und mit gelegeutlichen Beitragen von Mag. Salemann

(St. Petersburg), P. Kalemkiar (Wien), Schiikri Efendi (Constanti-

nopel), und Auderen herausgegeben von Dr. A. Miiller (Konigsberg).

Jahrlich 4 Hef te zu je 5 Bogen ; Subscription, 6 M. p. A.

bei der Buchhandlung H. Recther, Berlin, Charlottenstrasse, 2 ;

London, Messrs. Williams & Norgate ; New York, B. Westermaxn & Co.

Erschienen sind Vol. I. (1887); Vol. II. (1888-89).

.Jedes Heft enthalt einen Abschnitt iiber die auf die Zigeuner beziigliche Litteratur ; die Bibliographic umfasst ausserdem die auf Ethnographic, Sprache, Geschichte, Kunst und Litteratur der asiatischen, australischen und afnkanischen Volker beziiglichen Werke und Abhandlungen, welclie zur Kenntnis der Herausgeber gekommen sind.

Zahl der angefiihrten Titel : Vol. I. : 4635 Nummern ; Vol. IL, Ilefte 1,2: 2929 Numraern, die beigefiigten Angaben iiber Recensionen ungerechnet.

Vol. I.

No. 5.

JOURNAL OF THE

GYPSY LORE

SOCIETY

JULY 1889.

	Conttnt0,
	P.\GE 1
I.	THE GYPSIES OF ASI.\ MINOR. By Dr. A.
	Elysseeff, ......	249
II.	THE LITHUANIAN GYPSIES AND THEIR
	LANGUAGE. By M. Dowojno-Sylwestrowicz,	251
III.	0 MI MARIS: A SLOVAK -GYPSY TALE. By
	Professor Rudolf von Sovv.\,	258
IV.	THE IMMIGRATION OF THE GYPSIES INTO WESTERN EUROPE IN THE FIFTEENTH
	CENTURY— (0«/2>///^a'). By P.VUL Bataillard,	260
V.	THE GITANOS OF TO-DAY. By the Marquis
	COLOCCI, ......	286
VI.	GYPSY SONGS OF MOURNING— i. PRISONERS' LAMENTS. By Professor Anton Herrmann. 2. LAMENTS FOR THE DEAD. By Dr. Hei.n-
	KICH VON WLISLOCKI, ....	289
VII.	SLOVAK -GYPSY VOCABULARY: CI/O-F. By
	Professor Rudolf von Sowa,	296
	REVIEWS : NOTES AND QUERIES,	301

Printed by T. &■ A. CONSTABLE, Printers to Her Majesty at the Edinburgh University Press.

THE FOLK-LORE SOCIETY.

President^AnDnKw Lang.

Vice-Presidents — Right Hon. TheEarlofStbafford ; W. R. S. Ralston, M. A. ; E. B. Tylor, LL.D., F.R.S.

Director — G. Laurence Gomme. Treasurer — Edward Clodd.

THIS Society was established in 1878, for the purpose of collecting and presei'ving the fast-perishing relics of Folk- Lore amongst our own and other peoples. The Annual Subscription is One Guinea, payable in advance on the first of January in each year, which will entitle Members to receive the publications of the Society for such year. Members joinuig during the present year, and desirous of subscribing for the publications of the Society already issued, several of which are becoming scarce, may do BO by paying the subscriptions for the back years.

A. Graxoek Hutt, F. S.A., 8 Oxford Road, Kilburn, London, N.W. "\ Ho7i. J. J. Foster, 36 Alma Square, St. John's Wood, London, N.W. j Sexs.

M E L U S I N E

REVUE DE MYTHOLOGIE, LITTERATURE POPULAIRE, TRADITIONS ET USAGES

FONDEE PAR H. CAIDOZ & E. ROLLAND, 1877-1887 DIRICEE PAR HENRI CAIDOZ.

La Revue parait le 5 de chaque mois par livraisons de 12 pages in-4°. Prix de Tabonnement pour un an, port compris France et Union Postale : 12 francs.

On s'abonne pour la France en envoyant un mandat-poste (ou un mandat-carte) a M. Emile LECHEVALIER, 39, quai des Grands-Augustins, Paris. Le talon du mandat servira de recu. On s'abonne pour I'etrauger en envoyant un mandat-poste international ou par I'intermediaire d'un libraire.

Toutes les communications relatives a la redaction, lettres, livres pour compte rendu, etc., devront etre adressees, franc de port, a M. GAIDOZ, directeur de Melusine, A la librairie E. LECHEVALIEK, 39, quai des Grands-Augustins, a Paris.

JOURNAL OF AMERICAN FOLK-LORE.

THIS JOURNAL, published for the AMERICAN FOLK-LORE SOCIETY, is designed for the collection and publication of tlie FOLK-LORE AND MYTHOLOGY OF THE AMERICAN CONTINENT. It appears quarterly, in the months of February, May, August, and September.

The JOURNAL for 188S forms a volume of 256 pages, 8vo. A limited number of copies are still to be obtained.

Subscribers desirous of becoming Members of the Society are requested to address the Secretary.

Annual Subscription, $3.00. In the British Isles, 12s\ 6d.

The JOURNAL OF AMERICAN FOLK-LORE is published for the Society l)y Houghton. Mifttin and Co., Boston and New York ; London : Trubner and Co., 57 Ludgate Hill ; who will receive subscriptions.

LA TRAI3ITION.

INTERNATIONAL REVIEW FOR TALES, LEGENDS, SONGS, MUSIC,

ARTS, AND FOLK-LORE.

EDITORS:— \m. E. BLEMONT & HENRY CARNOY.

Monthli), 32 to 48 pp. in 8° ivith Music, Dimvings, Portraits, etc.

SuB.scRiPTiox : 12 Shillings.

Members of the Gypsy Lore Society vnll. receive ''La Tradition'^ for S sh., and the two first vols, for \2s. = £1 for years 1887-88-89.

All Letters, Essays, Money -orders, etc., to be addressed to M. Heney C.-vrnot, Editor of " La Tradition," 33 rue Vavin, Paris.

G E O R G E BO R R O W.

" Tlie career aiicl works of George Borrow are well wortliy of study ; lie may have l)ecii ' a vagaljoiKl ' by taste and lialiit. Iml lie was eminently a Christian and a gentleman, ami many men have earned greater name ami lame without hall his claims to the gratitude of society."--.S(^(ri/(((/ Utvinr.

Now Ready, A NEW AND CHEAPER RE-ISSUE of the fcUowlng Works of the late GEORGE BORROW. Post 8vo, 2s. 6d. each.

I. — The Bible in Spain : Or, The Journeys and Imprisonment.s of an Eii;^li.slniiaii in an attempt to circulate the Scriptures in tiie Penin- sula. With Portrait. II. — The Zincali: An Account of the Gj-psies of Spain; their Manners, Customs, Kelii^ion, and Language. III. — Lavengro : Tlu; Scholar, the Gypsy, and the Priest. iV. — The Romany Rye: A Sequel to Lavengro. V. — Wild Wales : its People, Language, and Scenery.

Also, uniform with the above, Post 8vo, 5s. Cloth. Romano LavO-Lil : With Ilhistrations of English Gypsies, their

Poetry and Habitations.

LOXDOX : JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMAELE STREET.

THE GYPSIES.

WITH SKETCHES OF THE ENGLISH, WELSH, RUSSIAN, AND

AUSTRIAN ROMANY.

Inchiding Papers on the Gypsy Language.

By CHARLES G. LELAND.

Crown 8vo, red top, $2.00.

" Since literature became a profession, there has been an increasing rarity of tliose books which bear internal evidence ot the fa<t that their uriteis enjojed writing them, and that they were written for the sake of enjoyment ; but Mr. Leland's books do provide such evidence, and they are accordingly vei y refreshing. The book is crammed with interesting matter. . . . We have no hesitation iu sajing that this is the most delightful Gypsy book with which we are acfjuainted." — The Spectator, London.

" Mr. Leland thoroughly understands the love of the Gyjisy for the free and picturesque life out-of- doors ; he feels it too ; his pages plow with it ; his fragments of diScri]ition borrow from it an irresistiMe charm. He brings therefore to the writing of these fascinating chapters the rare (lualilications of an exquisite sympathy with his subject and a ])oetic intuition of its inner character. Hut his eiithusiaMii is tempered by his shrewdness, and saved from extravagance by his keen sense of humour. It is impossible to read such a book without sharing the author's delight in the queer and not over reputable, but highly romantic company to which it introduces us ; and yet it is a great storehouse of serious and recondite information." — jNest' York Tribune.

* *

*

For sale by all Booksellers. Sent hi/ mail, post paid, on receipt of price

by the Publishtrs.

HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN & CO.. POSTON, U.S.A.

Wilh Map and Two Illustrations.

ACCOUNTS OF THE CYPSIES OF INDIA

Collected and Edited by David MacRitchie, author of " Ancient and Modern Britons.

Croicn 8vo, doth, 3s. Qd

" We welcome the ' Gypsies of India ' as a real contribution to Roinaui Literattii c — Athenaum.

" Mr. MacRitchie's knowledge of what we suppose we may call CJypsiology is pro- found."— Guardian.

"Mr. DaNad MacRitchie has collected some valuable matter from various sourct-s wliich throws considerable light upon the subject, and forms a very rcadalile and enter taining book. . . . Mr. MacRitchie"s book is one which comiiieuds itself to tlie careful attention and study of Englishmen." — Morning Post.

•' A valuable and scholarly book on the subject."— .9co/s7nan.

LONDON : KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH & CO.

ETHNOLOGISGKE IV|ITTEILUNGEN AUS UNGARN:

Zeitschrift flir die Volkskunde der Bewohner Ungarns iind seiner Nebenliinder. Redigiert und lierausgegeben von Prof. Dr. Anton Herrmann, Budapest.

Of the two first numbers of this work, a detailed account is given in No. 2 of the present vohime of the Gypsy Lore Society's Journal (pp. 105 et seq. ), where the varied and interesting nature of its contents can be seen. The third number, issued in separate parts, is now appearing. The cost of each number is two marks (or two shillings) ; but the sum of five marks, paid in advance, secures the subscriber the first five numbers. The Editor will gladly exchange the EthnoIiM/ische Mitteilungeji cms UngM-n with the publications of other similar Societies ; and, if requested, will send copies gratis to those desiring it. He also requests that all Authors and Societies dealing with ethndlogical and kindred matters will be good enough to send him review copies of their works.

Address —

Prof, Dr. Anton Herrmann, I. Attila-utcza 47, Budapest.

SOCIETE DES TRADITIONS POPULAIRES

REVUE DES TRADITIONS POPULAIRES

^3eme aNNEE)

Eecueil mensuel paraissant par fascicules de 48 a 64 pages avec musique gravee et illustrations.

publiee par M. PAUL SEBILLOT,

Secretaire general de la i<ociete.

Abonnement: 15 fr. pour la France, 17 fr. pour I'lJnion postale. (S'adresser a M. A. Certeux, tresorier, 167 rue de Jacques.)

La cotisation des Societaires est de 15 fr. sans distinction de nationalite : elle donne droit a I'envoi gratuit de la Revue et de lAnnuaire. Adresser les manuscrits a M. Sebillot, 4 rue de I'Odeon, Paris.

ORIENTALISCHE BIBLIOGRAPHIE

nnter stiindiger Mitwirkung von Dr. Bezzenberger (Konigsberg), Dr. Gleiniger (Berlin), Dr. Gottheil (New York), Dr. J. Miiller (Berlin), Dr. Strack (Berlin), Dr. Vollers (Cairo), Dr. WijnrDalen (Ilaag), und niit gelegentlichen Beitriigen von Mag. Salemann (St. Petersburg), P. Kalemkiar (Wien), Schiikri Efendi (Gonstanti- nopel), und Anderen lierausgegeben von Dr. A. Miiller (Konigsberg).

Jiihrlich 4 Hefte zu je 5 Bogen ; Subscription, 8 M. p. A.

bei der Buchhandlung H. Repther, Berlin, Charlottenstrasse, 2 ;

London, Messrs. Williams & Norgate ; New York, B. Westermann & Co.

Erschienen sind Vol. I. .(1887) ; Vol. II. (1888-89) ; Vol. III., Fasc. i. (1889).

Jedes Heft enthjilt einen Abschnitt iiber die anf die Zigenner beziigliche Litteratur ; die Bibliographic umfasst ausserdem die anf Ethnographic, Sprache, Geschichte, Kunst und Litteratur der asiatischen, australischen und afnkanischen Volker beziiglichen Werke und Abhandlungen, welche zur Kcnntnis der Herausgeber gekommen sind.

Zahl der angefiihrten Titel : Vol. I. : 4685 Kummern ; Vol. II. : —6.318 Nummem, die beigefiigteu Angaben iiber Kecensionen ungerechnet.

Vol. I.			No. 6.
r^	JOURSAL OF THK V P Q V T r^ t)	1/
KJ 4	1 r o 1 \ jKJ SOCIETY OCTOBER 1889.	lY	l\
	Content^. PAGE I. ORIGIN OF HUNGARIAN MUSIC. By Pkoi-essor Emil Thewrewk de Ponor, . . -313
	II. THE PARIS CONGRESS OF POPULAR TRADI- TIONS. By Charles G. Lei.and, .	317
	III. THE IMMIGRATION OF THE GYPSIES INTO WESTERN EUROPE IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY— (Continued). By Paul Bataillard,	324
	IV. THE RED KING AND THE WITCH : A ROUMA- NIAN GYPSY FOLK-TALE. Translated from the Romani of Dr. Barbu Constantinescu, by Francis Hindes Groome, ....	345
	V. A TRANSYLVANIAN-GYPSY BALLAD. By Dr. Heinrich vox Wlislocki, . . .	340
	VI. IRISH TINKERS AND THEIR LANGUAGE. By Daviu MacRitchie, . . . .	350
	VII. VENETIAN EDICTS RELATING TO THE GYPSIES OF THE SIXTEENTH. SEVEN- TEENTH, AND EIGHTEENTH CENTURIES,	358
	VIII. SLOVAK-GYPSY VOCABULARY: G—/. By Pro- fessor Rudolf von Sovva, ....	362
	REVIEWS : NOTES AND QUERIES.	367

Printed by T. & A. CONSTABLE, Printers to Her Maje.st\- at the h'dinburgh Uni\'cr.sity Press,

THE FOLK-LORE SOCIETY.

President — Andrew Lang.

Vice-Presidents — Right Hon. The Earl of Strafford ; W. R. S. Ralston, M.A. ; E. B. Tylor. LL.D., F.R.S.

Director — G. Laurence Gomme. Treasurer — Edward Clodd.

THIS Society was established in 1878, for the purpose of collecting and preserving the fast-perishiug relics of Folk-Lore amongst our own and other jieoples. The Annual Subscription is One Guinea, payable in advance on the first of January in each year, which will entitle. Members to I'eceive the pul)lications of the Society for such year. Members joining during the present year, and desirous of subscribing for the publications of the Society already issued, several of which are becoming scarce, may do so by paying the subscriptions for the back years.

A. Granger Hutt, F.S.A., 8 Oxford Road, Kilburn, London, N.W. ) Hon. J. J. Foster, 36 Alma Square, St; John's Wood, London, N.W. J Seen.

IV3 E L U S 1 N E

REVUE DE MYTHOLOGIE, LITTERATURE POPULAIRE, TRADITIONS ET USAGES

FONDEE PAR H. GAIDOZ & E. HOLLAND, 1877-1887 DIRIGEE PAR HENRI GAIDOZ.

La Revue parait le 5 de chacjue mois par livraisons de 12 pages in-4°. Prix de Tabonnement pour un an, port compris France et Union Postale : 12 francs.

On s'abonne pour la France en envoyant ud mandat-poste (ou un mandat-carte) a M. p]mile LECHEVALIER, 39, quai des Grands-Augustins, Paris. Le talon du mandat servira de recu. On s'abonne pour I'^tranger en envoyant un mandat-poste international ou par I'intermediaire d'un libraire.

Toutes les communications relatives a la redaction, lettres, livres pour compte rendu, etc., devront etre adressees, franc de port, a M. GAIDOZ, directeur de M^lusine, ii la librairie E. LECHEVALIER, 39, quai des Grands-Augustins, a Paris.

JOURNAL OF AMERICAN FOLK-LORE.

THIS JOURNAL, published for the AMERICAN FOLK-LORE SOCIETY, is designed for the collection and publication of the FOLK-LORE AND MYTHOLOGY OF THE AMERICAN CONTINENT. It appears quarterly, in the months of February, May, August, and Septem1)er.

The JOURNAL for 1888 forms a volume of 256 pages, 8vo. A limited number of copies are still to be obtained.

Subscribers desirous of becoming Members of the Society are requested to address the Secretary.

Annual Subscription, $3.00. In the British Isles, 12«. 6d.

The JOURNAL OF AMERICAN FOLK-LORE is published for the Society by Houghton. Mifflin and Co., Boston and New York; London : Triibner and Co., 57 Ludgate Hill ; who will receive subscriptions.

JuIL TRADITION.

INTERNATIONAL REVIEW FOR TALES, LEGENDS, SONGS, MUSIC,

ARTS, AND FOLK-LORE.

EDITORS :~-im. E. BLEMONT & HENRY GARNOY.

Monthly, 32 to 48 ^jp. in 8" with Music, Drawings, Portraits, etc.

Subscription : 12 Shillings.

Members of the Gypsy Lore Society will receive "La Tradition" for 8 sh., and the tiro first vols, for 12.5. = £1 for years 1887-88-89.

All Letters, Essays, Money-orders, etc., to be addressed to M. Henp.y Carnov, Editor of "La Tradition," 33 rue Vavin, Paris.

W ith many Illustrations, and a Map showing Gypsy Routes and Localities in Europe.

G L I Z I N G A R I

By ADlilANO COLOCCI.

(Ermanno Loescher, Turin, 1888. Svo, 420 pp. ; 7 fr. oO.)

" This book of Sig. Colocci's forms an excellent introduction to such a study ("a scientific studj- " of the Gypsies]. To personal investigation he adds a close knowledge of the already wide literature on tJie subject. . . . Colocci's book is so full of information that it has seemed more useful to describe it than to discuss its contents. Those who want to obtain the data for a discussion of the Eoniany problem Mill find the materials ready to their hand -in this well-printed and handsomely illustrated volume."— y/te Academy, June 1, 1889.

„ Gtnc Iitcrnnf(f)c 9Jcul)cit liou ^titfvcffe itV G7j Z//(;/aW (.©te 3incitiier '). -SVomi d\in popolo errauin (2iiriii, SofcJ)cr\i 25crlafl), et!i vet;;ctil'Ci? 2Bcrf bc^ riil;mltri) bcfainiten italtciufcf;en 9tetfcnt>en unt> @ri)riftftcl(cvj 2)?arcf)cfe 5lbriano Solocct. (fg ift ein 2Berf, «?e(cl)e^ fid) wcii anbcrcn bfffctbcii G)cnret? angcncf;m iinterfdtcibct bitrrf) c(c<iaiitcn ®ti(. ©ie ©prari)e ift fo ratuvliri; itiib iingcjuniiigcn, iuic fctc fiftftv^ode AUMU^crfattoii cineg »crncf;mcn Scltinannci^. SDJan mcrft e^ bem ^niri^e an, bafj bcr 3.?cvfaiTcr fciu Serf awi unrflidKiu Csi'td'cffc fiir btefcn ctiieiitt;iimlid)cn imb ijom ^^ci'immcr eiiico mi)fttWcn 3flubcri^ umfloffciicn inel^evlaftcvtcn 33otfk^Pamm nf^affen. Unb u\n" bcm SBerfe nod) cincn bcfonbercn 9iet5 acrldbt, ifi, baf if;m bcr Stcnipcf bcr '-IBal^rbctt auf gebriidt tft unb man aiiiS jcbcr ^iiU bcut(id) er!eiuit, bag ct? fctn Gonfllcnicrat trcrfcncr 2)aten, fonbern bie Stcbctiiabe von ©clbftcrlcbtcm ifl, unb tnM^ fcince gvajiofcn gtils^ tiefc^ ©tubiiim unb rci.tc^ Stffcn scrrcitb. 5}ic Slrbctt fiidt cine Siitfc auo, ja, irao bic SfJeic^baltigfeit bc»^ 2)?atcricil:^ bctrifft, gcbiibvt ibr i-ior anbcrcn SScrtcn bcr 35orrang. Sa^ gciftttoUe 'Qv.d) fci alien (^rcunben auf'^ Siirmfie cnipfo[;fen."— ^Ve«<e>- Dresdnn- TagrMatt, Xo. 6, January 0, 1880.

"II Colocci, nato nelle Marche, dove gli Zingari abbondano piu che in (pialuncjue altra regione italiaua, avendo poi molto viaggiato nell' Europa orieiitale dove si trovano le piu grandi agglomerazioni di tribu zingaresche, tra potuto studiare la loro lingua, impratichirsi nei loro costumi, e raccogliere poi le osservazioni proprie e quelle dei piu reputati zingaristi, in un libro attraentissimo nel quale I'erudizionc va di pari passo con I'osservazioue del vero." — JUustrazione Italiann,, 1889, N. 6.

" II libro del Colocci o uno di quclli che si leggono con pari interesse dagli eruditi e dai dilettanti di letture amine e ricreative. II volume, riccamente edito dal Loescher, contiene olti-e la storia degli zingari, numerose fine illustrazioui di tipi, di costumi, di ]«esaggi, di ritratti del popolo dcscritto. V'^ una raccolta di voci e frasi del dialetto zingaro-italiano ; un lessico italiano tsiganies, una cai-ta a colori della difl'usione del popolo zingaresco in Europa e perfiuo della nuisica di arie tzigane." — Corricre della Sera, 1889, N. 5.

" La bibliografia italiana molto scarsa di studi sulla origine, la lingua, i costumi degli zingari, si e arricohita a (juesti giorni di un pregevolissimo lavoio. (Jli eiementi ])er compilado, Tautore li tra raccolti in parte da una rieca erudiziouc, alia (juale puo dirsi che nulla sia sfuggito di quanto fu scritto intorno all' argomento in tutti gli idiomi. La sola Bibliograjia zinyarenca che h poeta in fine del volume e contiene non mcno di 643 citazioni, costituira di ])er se, un lavoro per il (juale gli studiosi di questa interessajite parte della storia naturale dell' umanita, dovrebbero essere grati all'autore. " — La Tribuna, 2.5th December 1888.

" L'opera che I'egregio autore olfre al pubblico italiano viene non solo a spargere hice su di un ai'gomento atto a pascere il desiderio e la curiosita dell' iguoto ; ma anche, e piu essenzialmente, a riempire una lacuna storica ed etnologica. Infatti si sono raccolte ed ordinate non solo le notizie piu accertate intorno a^qucsto ' strano jiopolo ' come il Colocci lo chiama ; ma per mezzo di opportuni rafironti e con logica serrata e stringente scaturiscono fucri dall' infinita ma morta suppellettile di una, vasta erudizione argo- menti efficacissimi a sliarazzare viete opinioni e pregiudizi sulla origine, sulla difFusione, sul casattere,sulle costiimaiize di un popolo disprezzato e maltrattato sempre, quantunque non sempre a ragione. '' — II isihlioflo, 1889, No. 1.

FOLK-LORE

THE Journal of the new " Ethnographical Society of Hungary " will be conducted by Professor Locis Katona and Professor Anton Herrmann (who will merge his Ethnolorjische Mitteilungen aus Ungarn in the new periodical). FOLK-LORE will be published at Budapest every month, and it will admit articles written in French, English, German, Italian, Spanish, Russian, and Hungarian. The yearly Subscription will be 7 florins =12 marks =14 francs =lls. 3d. ; but to members of all Societies devoted to Folk-lore, Ethnology, and kindred subjects the yearly subscription will only be about one-fourth of the above sum. (In all cases outside of Austria-Hungary the expense of transmission by post will form an additional charge. )

The Ethnographical Society of Hungary has been formed xmder the Presidency of M. Paul Hunfalvy of Budapest. For further inforn)ation with regard to it (or to Folk-lore) address the Secretary, —

Prof. Dr. Anton Herrmann, I. Attila-utcza 47, Budapest.

SOCIETE DES TRADITIONS POPULAIRES

REVUE DES TRADITIONS POPULAIRES

(3^»« annee)

Eecueil mensuel paraissant par fascicules de 48 a 64 pages avec inusique gravee et illustrations.

PUBLIEE par

M. PAUL SEBILLOT,

i<ecretaire general de la Societe.

Abonnement: 15 fr. pour la France, 17 fr. pour I'llnioii postale. (S'adresser a M. A. Ceeteux, tresorier, 167 rue de Jacques.)

La cotisation des Societaires est de 15 fr. sans distinction de nationalite : elle donne droit a I'envoi gratuit de la Kevue et de I'Annuaire. Adresser les nianuscrits a M. Se billot, 4 rue de I'Odeon, Paris.

ORIENTALISGHE BIBLIOGRAPHIE

unter standiger Mitwirkung von Dr. Bezzenberger (Kouigsberg),

Dr. Gleiniger (Berlin), Dr. Gottheil (New York), Dr. J. Miiller

(Berlin), Dr. Strack (Berlin), Dr. Vollers (Cairo), Dr. Wijninalen

(Haag), und mit gelegentlichen Beitragen von Mag. Salemann

(St. Petersburg), P. Kalemkiar (Wien), Schiikri Efendi (Constanti-

nopel), und Anderen herausgegeben von Dr. A. Miiller (Kouigsberg).

Jahrlich 8 Hefte zu je 2 Bogen ; Subscription, 8 M. p. A.

bei der Buchhandlung H. Reuther, Berlin, Charlottenstrasse, 2 ;

London, Messrs. Williams & Norgate ; New York, B. Westermann & Co.

Erschienen sind Vol. I. (1887); Vol. II. (1888-89); Vol. III., Fasc. i.-iv. (1889).

Jedes Heft enthalt einen Abschnitt iiber die auf die Zigeuner beziigliche Litteratur : die Bibliographic umfasst ausserdem die auf Ethnographic, Sprache, Geschichte, Kunst und Litteratur der asiatisclien, australischen und afrikanischen Volker beziiglichen Werke und Abhandlungen, welche znr Kcnntnis der Herausgeber gekommen sind.

Zahl der angefiihrten Titel : Vol. I. : 4635 Xummern ; Vol. II. : —6318 Nummern, die beigefiigten Angaben iiber Recensionen uugerechnet.

^

DX 101 G6	Gypsy Lore Society Joiimal
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