HANDBOl nd
AT THE
UNIVERSITY OF
fO PRESS
PRINTED PRIVATELY FOR THE MEMBERS OF THE
GYPSY LORE SOCIETY, 6 HOPE PLACE, LIVERPOOL
BY T. & A. CONSTABLE, PRINTERS TO HIS MAJESTY
AT THE EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY PRESS
CONTENTS
I. MICHAEL JAN DE GOEJE. Par le Docteur A. Klutver .
II. GYP AS FORTUNE-TELLERS AND AS BLACKSMITHS.
By Professor Leo Wiener ......
III. WELSH GYPSV pm«
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IV. CHR]
V. THE
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PURCHASED FOR THE
UNIVERSITV OF TORONTO LIBRARY
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COUNCIL SPECIAL GRANT
Ion, S. W.
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mHE OLD
beginni
of April 1892
1888 to Octo
1891, six mi
numbers. Me
FOR
Linguistics
( AS ADA
18-1892,
h. that
[:, July
April
four
xiiovit! street, Edinburgh,
have still on sale several copies of Vol. III. at the original cost of £1,
and also most of the numbers of Vols. I. and II. at the original cost
of 5s. for each number.
The New Series of the Journal began with the number of July
1907, four numbers and a supplementary index-number making a
olume. Two such volumes have been issued, those of 1907-8 and
L908-9. A limited number of copies can still be obtained at the
Bubscnption price of £1 for each volume, but they are sold only to
members of the Gypsy Lore Society, and not to the general public.
JOURNAL OF THE
GYPSY LORE SOCIETY
NEW SERIES
JOURNAL OF THE
GYPSY LORE
SOCIETY
NEW SERIES
VOLUME III
{JULY 1909— APRIL 1910)
PRINTED PRIVATELY FOR THE MEMBERS OF THE
3YPSY LORE SOCIETY, 21 A ALFRED STREET, LIVERPOOL
BY T. & A. CONSTABLE, PRINTERS TO HIS MAJESTY
AT THE EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY PRESS
v-3
CONTENTS1
PAGE
List of Plates ........ vii
List of Members ........ ix
Accounts for the Year ending June 30, 1910 . . . xvii
Errata ......... xx
NO. 1.— JULY 1909.
i. Michael-Jan de Goeje. Par M. le Docteur A. Kluyver , 1
ii. Gypsies as Fortune-Tellers and as Blacksmiths, By Pro-
fessor Leo Wiener ....... 4
in. Welsh Gypsy Folk-Tales. No. 9. O Dinilo T Bakar^nsa.
By John Sampson, D.Litt. . . . . .17
iv. Christmas Eve and After. By Thomas William Thompson . 19
v. The Word ' Rom.' By Albert Thomas Sinclair . . 33
vi. Gli Zingari nel Modenese. Del Cavaliere Alessandro
Giuseppe Spinelli ...... 42
vii. The Gypsies of Modon and the ' Wyne of Romeney.' By Eric
Otto Winstedt, M.A., B.Litt. . . . .57
Review ........ 70
Notes and Queries ...... 71
NO. 2.— OCTOBER 1909.
I. A New World Gypsy Camp. By William MacLeod . 81
ii. Gli Zingari nel Modenese. Del Cavaliere Alessandro
Giuseppe Spinelli (Continuazione) . . . .88
in. Swedish Tsiganologues. By Harald Ehrenborg . . Ill
iv. C und J. Von Professor Dr. Jacob Wackernagel . . 119
v, A Grammar and Vocabulary of the Language of the Nawar
or Zutt, the Nomad Smiths of Palestine. By Professor
R. A. Stewart Macalister, M.A., F.S.A. . . .120
vi. Nuri Stories. Collected by Professor R. A. Stewart Mac-
alister, M.A., F.S.A. 127
Reviews ........ 149
Notes and Queries . . . . • .150
1 Complete Lists of the Reviews and of the Notes and Queries will be found
in the Index under these headings.
v
VI
CONTEXTS
NO. 3.— JANUAEY 1910.
i. Jasper's Family ...••••
ii. Borrow's GvrsiES. By Thomas William Thompson
hi. Gypsy Forms and Ceremonies. By Dr. William Crooke
iv. A Bulgarian Gypsy Folk-Tale : 0 Cordilendzis. Recorded
by Bernard Gilliat-S.mitii .....
RomanjS Gilja. Line Komendar katar o Romano Gav andi Dis
Sofia Bernard Gilliat-Petaleijgrestar . ...
A Contribution to French Gypsy History. By Frederick
Christian Wellstood, M.A., ....
vn. A Pilgrim's Progress. By Lady Arthur Grosvenor .
Notes and Queries ......
v.
VI.
PAGI-;
161
162
174
182
198
201
204
225
NO. 4.— APRIL 1910.
i. The Gypsy Blanket .....
ii. La Bella Chiavina : A French or Piedmont Gypsy Tale
By Eric Otto Winstedt, M.A., B.Litt.
in. Gypsies as Fortune-Tellers and as Blacksmiths (Continued)
By Professor Leo Wiener ....
iv. Affairs of Egypt, 1908. By Henry Thomas Crofton
v. A Grammar and Vocabulary of the Language of the Nawar
or Zutt, the Nomad Smiths of Palestine (Continued)
By Professor R. A. Stewart Macalister, M.A., F.S.A.
Reviews .......
Notes and Queries .....
241
242
253
276
298
318
320
Index
321
LIST OF PLATES
MICHAEL-JAN DE GOEJE . .... to face p. 1
MODON IN THE MORE A, WITH GYPSY SETTLEMENT.
(Drawn in 1483 by Eberhard Reuwich for Breydenbach's
Peregrinatio, Mainz, 1486) . • • • • >>
BRAZILIAN GYPSIES AT BOSTON, U.S.A. . . . „ 81
JASPER PETULENGRO'S FAMILY (1878) . Hil
ARREST DE LA COUR DE PARLEMENT, LYON, 1012.
(Facsimile of Title) . . . . • • ,.202
LA BOHEMIENNE. By Fbanqois Boucher . . • ,,241
The Gypsy Lore Society
21a ALFRED STREET, LIVERPOOL
President — Theodore Watts-Dunton.
/Charles Godfrey Leland, 1888-92.
Past Presidents— \ David MacRitchie, 1907-8.
IHenry Thomas Crofton, 1908-9.
LIST OF MEMBEES1
Year ending 30th June 1910
LIBRARIES AND SOCIETIES
[219] Aberdeen, Scotland, The University Library, King's College.
[148] Berlin, Germany, Anthropologische Gesellschaft, Koniggratzer
strasse 120.
[18] Berlin, Germany, Konigliche Bibliothek, Behrenstrasse 40, W. 64.
[26] Birmingham, England, Free Reference Library, Ratcliffe Place.
[162] Boston, Mass., U.S.A., The Athenaeum, care of Kegan Paul, Trench,
Triibner & Co., Ltd., Dryden House, 43 Gerrard Street,
Soho, London, W.
[39] Boston, Mass., U.S.A., The Public Library, care of G. E. Stechert
& Co., 2 Star Yard, Carey Street, Chancery Lane, London,
W.C.
[200] Brooklyn, N.Y., U.S.A., The Public Library, 197 Montague Street.
[284] Brussels, Belgium, Bibliotheque Royale de Belgique, care of
Misch et Thron, 126 rue Royale, Brussels.
[260] Budapest, Hungary, Magyar Nemzeti Muzeum, Szechenyi orsz.
Konyvtara, care of Ranschburg Gusztav, Budapest iv, Feren-
cziek-tere 2 szam (Kiraly-Bazar).
[181] Calcutta, India, The Asiatic Society of Bengal (57 Park Street),
care of Bernard Quaritch, 1 1 Grafton Street, New Bond Street,
London, W.
[239] Cambridge, England, The Union Society, care of W. H. Smith
& Son, 7 Rose Crescent, Cambridge.
[251] Cambridge, England, The University Library.
1 The numbers printed in brackets before the names indicate the order in which
members joined the Society, as determined by the dates of the receipts for their
first subscriptions. The first new member who joined after the revival of the
Gypsy Lore Society in the spring of 1907 was No. 92, and lower numbers, of which
there are thirty-two, distinguish those who were members during the first period
of the Society's activity, which ended on June 30, 1892.
LIST OF MEMBERS
[27] Cambridge, Mass., U.S.A., Harvard University Library, care of
Edward G. Allen & Son, Ltd., 14 Grape Street, Shaftesbury
Avenue, London, W.C.
[151
[161
[145
[265
[163
[205
[261
[252
[268
[256
[203
[204
[89
[156
[49
[141
[212
[255
[236
[285
[146
[269
[43
[283
[214
[243
[232
[279
[28
Cardiff, South Wales, Central Public Library.
Chicago, 111., U.S.A., The Newberry Library, care of B. F. Stevens
Brown, 4 Trafalgar Square, Charing Cross, London, W.C.
Chicago, 111., U.S.A., The University Library, care of B. F. Stevens
& Brown, 1 Trafalgar Square, Charing Cross, London, W.C.
Christiania, Norway, Universitets-Bibliotheket, care of. Cammer-
meyers Boghandel (Sigurd Pedersen og Eistein Raabe), Karl
Johans Gade, 41 og 43, Kristiania, Norway.
Copenhagen, Denmark, The Royal Library, care of Francis
Edwards, 83 High Street, Marylebone, London, W.
Detroit, Michigan, U.S.A., The Public Library, care of B. F. Stevens
& Brown, 4 Trafalgar Square, Charing Cross, London, W.C.
Dresden, Germany, Konigliche Offentliche Bibliothek, Kaiser
WilhelmPlatz 11.
Dublin, Ireland, The Library of Trinity College.
Dublin, Ireland, The National Library of Ireland, care of Hodges,
Figgis & Co., Ltd., 104 Grafton Street, Dublin.
Durham, England, The University Library, Palace Green.
Edinburgh, Scotland, The Advocates' Library.
Edinburgh, Scotland, The Philosophical Institution, 4 Queen Street.
Edinburgh, Scotland, The Public Library, George IV. Bridge.
Edinburgh, Scotland, The Royal Scottish Museum, care of James
Thin, 54 South Bridge, Edinburgh.
Edinburgh, Scotland, The Signet Library, care of George P.
Johnston, 37 George Street, Edinburgh.
Frankfurt am Main, Germany, Freiherrlich Carl von Roth-
schild'sche offentliche Bibliothek, Untermainkai 15.
Glasgow, Scotland, The Mitchell Library, 21 Miller Street.
Glasgow, Scotland, The University Library, care of James
MacLehose & Sons, 61 St. Vincent Street.
Hamburg, Germany, Museum fur Volkerkunde.
Harrisburg, Pa., U.S.A., The State Library of Pennsylvania.
Ithaca, N.Y., U.S.A., Cornell University Library, care of Edward
G. Allen & Son, Ltd., 14 Grape Street, Shaftesbury Avenue,
London, W.C.
Leeds, England, The Central Free Public Library.
Leiden, The Netherlands, The University Library (Legaat Warner),
care of S. C. van Doesburgh, Breetstraat 14, Leiden.
Leipzig, Germany, Universitats-bibliothek, care of Carl Beck,
Inselstrasse 18, Leipzig, Germany.
Liverpool, England, The Public Library, William Brown Street.
London, England, The British Museum, Department of Printed
Books.
London, England, The London Library, St. James's Square, S.W.
Manchester, England, The John Rylands Library, Deansgate.
Manchester, England, Public Free Reference Library, King Street.
LIST OF MEMBERS XI
[216] Milan, Italy, Reale Biblioteca Nazionale di Brera, care of Asher
& Co., 14 Bedford Street, Covent Garden, London, W.C.
[59] Miinchen, Bavaria, Konigl. Bayer. Hof- und Staats-Bibliothek.
[147] New Haven, Conn., U.S.A., Yale University Library, care of
Edward G. Allen & Son, Ltd., 14 Grape Street, Shaftesbury
Avenue, London, W.C.
[275] New York, U.S.A., Columbia University Library, care of G. E.
Stechert & Co., 2 Star Yard, Carey Street, Chancery Lane,
London, W.C.
[135] New York, U.S.A., The Public Library, care of B. F. Stevens &
Brown, 4 Trafalgar Square, Charing Cross, London, W.C.
[244] Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England, The Public Library, New Bridge
Street.
[143] Northampton, Mass., U.S.A., The Forbes Library, care of Henry
Sotheran & Co., 140 Strand, London, W.C.
[13] Oxford, England, The Bodleian Library.
[171] Oxford, England, The Meyrick Library, Jesus College.
[218] Paris, France, Bibliotheque Nationale, care of Simpkin, Marshall,
Hamilton, Kent & Co., Ltd., 2, 4, 6, 8 Orange Street, Hay-
market, London, W.C.
[277] Philadelphia, Pa., U.S.A., The Free Library, 1217-1221 Chestnut
Street.
[133] St. Louis, Mo., U.S.A., The Mercantile Library, care of G. E.
Stechert & Co., 2 Star Yard, Carey Street, Chancery Lane,
London, W.C.
[272] St. Petersburg, Eussia, Imperial Public Library (per Joseph Baer
& Co., Hochstrasse 6, Frankfurt am Main, Germany), care of
Asher & Co., 14 Bedford Street, Covent Garden, London, W.C.
[209] Stockholm, Sweden, The Royal Library, care of William Wesley
& Son, 28 Essex Street, Strand, London, W.C.
[266] Strassburg, i. Els., Germany, Kaiserliche Universities- und Landes-
bibliothek.
[286] Uppsala, Sweden, Kungl. Universitetets Bibliotek.
[270] Vienna, Austria, K. K. Hofbibliothek, Josef splatz 1, care of Asher
& Co., 14 Bedford Street, Covent Garden, London, W.C.
[155] Washington, U.S.A., The Public Library of the District of Columbia.
[273] Weimar, Germany, Grossherzogliche Bibliothek.
[46] Worcester, Mass., U.S.A., The Free Public Library, care of Kegan
Paul, Trench, Triibner & Co., Ltd., Dryden House, 43 Gerrard
Street, Soho, London, W.
INDIVIDUALS
[119] Ackerley, The Rev. Frederick George, Grindleton Vicarage, near
Clitheroe, Lancashire.
[157] Adams, Alfred, 493 and 495 Collins Street, Melbourne, Victoria,
Australia.
[115] Aldersey, Hugh, of Aldersey, near Chester.
[259] Atkinson, Frank Stanley, Queen's College, Oxford.
xji LIST OF MEMBERS
34] Bartlett, The Rev. Donald Mackenzie Maynard, St. Mark's
Vicarage, Woodhonse, Leeds.
[190] Bathgate, Herbert J., Industrial School, Burnham, Christchurch,
New Zealand.
[210] Bax, Clifford, Ivy Bank, Hampstead, London, N.W.
[263] Behrens, Walter L., The Acorns, Fallowfield, Manchester.
[167] Bil g rami, Syed Ilossain, Nawab Imad-nl-Mulk Bahadur, Hyderabad,
Dcccan, India.
[110] Black, George F., Ph.D., New York Public Library, Lenox Library
Building, New York, U.S.A.
[139] Blaikie, Walter Biggar, F.R.S.E., 11 Thistle Street, Edinburgh.
[224] Borenius, C. Einar, Ph.D., Agence consulaire de France, Wiborg,
Finland.
[276] Borthwick, the Honble. Miss Gabrielle Margaret Ariana, Raven-
stone, Whithorn, Wigtownshire, Scotland.
[274] Bramley-Moore, Miss Eva, May Bank, Aigburth, Liverpool.
[282] Brepohl, Friedrich Wilhelm, Philippsbergstrasse 7, Wiesbaden,
Germany.
[271] Brew, Miss Frances Violet, Stanley House, 40 Upper Parliament
Street, Liverpool.
[175] Broadwood, Miss Lucy Etheldred, 84 Carlisle Mansions, Victoria
Street, London, S.W.
[154] Bulwer, Sir Henry Ernest Gascoyne, G.C.M.G., 17a South Audley
Street, London, W.
[222] Burr, Malcolm, D.Sc, Castle Hill House, Dover.
| L85] Butterworth, Charles F., Waterloo, Poynton, Cheshire.
[132] Carlheim-Gyllenskold, Dr. V., 4 Villagatan, Stockholm, Sweden.
[196] Chorley, Herbert K, J.P., The Pyghtle, East Bergholt, Suffolk.
[215] Clugnet, Leon, Licencie es lettres, Le Belvedere, Fresnes-les-
Rungis, Seine, France.
[248] Cole, Francis Joseph, University College, Reading.
[23] Colocci, The Marquis Adriano, Piazza Colocci, Jesi, Italy.
[17] Constable, Archibald, LL.D., F.R.S.E., Berwick Lodge, Clevedon,
Somerset.
[7] Crofton, Henry Thomas, 36 Brazenose Street, Manchester.
[100] Dalglish, Miss J. Dorothy, B.Sc, Dunrowan, Meols Drive, West
Kirby, Cheshire.
[221] Dawkins, Richard McGillivray, M.A., British Archaeological School,
Athens, Greece.
[245] Dickson, Mrs. J. Geale, Hollybrook House, Shirley, Southampton.
[104] Dinwiddie, Robert, Overton, Moffat Road, Dumfries.
1 101] Ehrenborg, Harald, 1 Domkyrkogatan, Linkoping, Sweden.
[118] Eve, The Honourable Mr. Justice Harry Trelawney, Royal Courts
of Justice, Strand, London, W.C.
[207] Farrell, Frank James, M.Sc., Lakenheath, 54 Wellesley Road,
Great Yarmouth.
[44] Ferguson, Professor John, LL.D., The University, Glasgow.
[176] Ferguson, William, Manor House, Tytherington, near Maccles-
field.
LIST OF MEMBERS Xlli
[102] Finck, The late Professor Franz Nikolaus, Ph.D., Bahnstrasse 8,
Siidende bei Berlin, Germany.
Fisher, Charles Dennis, M.A., Christ Church, Oxford.
Fletcher, H. G., 90 Holland Street, West Somerville, Mass., U.S.A.
Forbes, Henry Ogg, LL.D., F.R.G.S., The Museums, William
Brown Street, Liverpool.
Foster, Thomas S., M.A., Cashel Street, Christchurch, New
Zealand.
Fraser, Thomas, J.P., Maxwellknowe, Dalbeattie, Scotland.
Fyffe, Colin C. H., 1406 New York Life Building, Chicago, 111.,
U.S.A.
Gilliat-Smith, Bernard Joseph, His Britannic Majesty's Consulate-
General, Beirut, Syria.
Gillington, Miss Alice E., Bath Road, Bitterne, Southampton.
Goddard, Miss Amelia, Lark's Gate, Thorney Hill, Bransgore,
Hants.
Gray, The Rev. John, St. Peter's, Falcon Avenue, Morningside,
Edinburgh.
Greene, Herbert Wilson, M.A., B.C.L., 4 Stone Buildings, Lincoln's
Inn, London, W.C.
Grosvenor, Lady Arthur, Broxton Lower Hall, Handley, near
Chester.
Hall, The Rev. George, Ruckland Rectory, Louth, Lincolnshire.
Hewlett, John H., Parkside, Harrow-on-the-Hill.
Hinuber, Miss Etheldred T., Ferniehurst, Shelley Road, Worthing.
Homan, Ernest van, 19 Davigdor Road, Brighton, Sussex.
Humphreys, A. L., York Lodge, Baker Street, Reading.
Huth, Captain Frederick H., Beckford House, 20 Lansdown
Crescent, Bath.
Huth, Sydney Francis, 144 Sinclair Road, Kensington, London, W.
Imlach, Miss G. M., B.A., care of Miss M. Eileen Lyster, 8 Grove
Park, Liverpool.
Jackson, Miss Enid, 12 Forest Road, Birkenhead.
John, Augustus E., 153 Church Street, Chelsea, London, S.W.
Kendal, Richard P. J., Brandreth House, Parbold, Southport.
Kershaw, Philip, Shobley, Ringwood.
Kuhn, Geheimrat Professor Ernst, Ph.D., Hess-Strasse 5, Munich,
Germany.
Lothian, Maurice John, Hotel Russell, Russell Square, London, W.C.
Lovell, Miss Fenella, Rippl-R6nai Czimen, Kelenhegyi ut 12,
Budapest, Hungary.
Lyster, Miss M. Eileen, 8 Grove Park, Liverpool.
MacAlister, Principal Sir Donald, K.C.B., M. A., M.D., D.C.L., LL.D.,
The University, Glasgow.
Macalister, Professor Robert Alexander Stewart, M.A., F.S.A.,
Newlands, Clonskeagh, Co. Dublin.
McCarthy, Justin Huntly, 67 Cheriton Road, Folkestone.
McCormick, Provost Andrew, 60 Victoria Street, Newton-Stewart,
Wigtownshire.
xiv LIST OF MEMBERS
[138] Macdonald, Tho Honble. Mrs. Godfrey, Ostaig, Broadford, Isle
of Skye.
[183] M'Evoy, Charles Alfred, Wcstcott, Sparsholt, Wantage, Berks.
[223 | Macfie, Miss Alison Bland Scott, Rowton Hall, Chester.
[158] Macfie, Charles Wahab Scott, Rock Mount, 13 Liverpool Road
Chester.
[112] Macfie, John William Scott, B.A., B.Sc, M.B., Ch.B., Rowton
Hall, Chester.
[108] Macfie, Robert AndreAv Scott, M.A., B.Sc. (Eon. Secretary),
21a Alfred Street, Liverpool.
[262] MacGilp, The Rev. John D., M.A., The Crown Manse, Inverness,
Scotland.
[125] McKie, Norman James, M.D., 14 Arthur Street, Newton-Stewart,
Wigtownshire.
[206] Maclaren, J. Stewart, Hartfell House, Moffat, Scotland.
[240] MacLeod, William, 10 Rhode Island Avenue, Newport, Rhode
Hand, U.S.A.
[1] MacRitchie, David, F.S.A.Scot., 4 Archibald Place, Edinburgh.
[136] McWhir, James, M.B., Ch.B., Swinton, Duns, Berwickshire.
[95] Maitland, Mrs. Ella Fuller, 131 Sloane Street, London, S.W.
[97] Malleson, The Rev. Herbert Harry, Manston Vicarage, Crossgates,
near Leeds.
[153] Marston, Miss Agnes, B.A., 13 Denman Drive, Newsham Park,
Liverpool.
[123] Marston, Miss F., M.A., 9 Stanford Road, Lydney, Gloucestershire.
[113] Merrick, William Percy, Elvetham, Shepperton, Middlesex.
[188] Mitchell, William, 14 Forbesfield Road, Aberdeen.
[172] Moreton, The Lord, Sarsden House, Chipping Norton, Oxon.
[247] Moriarty, J. R., 119 Mecklenburg Street, St. John, New Bruns-
wick, Canada.
[217] Muir, Professor John Ramsay Bryce, M.A., The University, Liver-
pool.
[105] Myers, John, 24 Coldra Road, Newport, Monmouth.
[179] Myres, Professor John Linton, M.A., F.S.A., 101 Banbury Road,
Oxford.
[134] Oliphant, Stuart, 24 Castle Street, Edinburgh.
[211] Owen, David Charles Lloyd, M.D., Vrondeg, Four Oaks, Sutton
Cold field, Warwickshire.
[76] Owen, Miss Mary Alicia, 306 North 9th Street, St. Joseph, Mo.,
U.S.A.
[150] Parker, The late Rev. John, 11 Monteith Row, Glasgow.
[11] Pennell, Mrs. Elizabeth Robins, 3 Adelphi Terrace House, Robert
Street, Strand, London, W.C.
[238] Perkins, Mrs. E., Tomchaldon, Aberfeldy, Perthshire.
[94] Perkins, Sidney W., Tomchaldon, Aberfeldy, Perthshire.
[80] Prideaux, Colonel W. F., C.S.I., Hopeville, St. Peter's-in-Thanet,
Kent.
[201] Prince, Professor John Dyneley, Sterlington, New York,
U.S.A.
LIST OF MEMBERS XV
[227] Quevedo, Seiior Professor Don Samuel A. Lafone (391 San Martin,
Argentine Republic), care of Henry Young & Sons, 12 South
Castle Street, Liverpool.
Quinn, John, 31 Nassau Street, New York, U.S.A.
Rae, Mrs. John, Glenelly, Chislehurst, Kent.
Raffalovich, Marc Andre, 9 Whitehouse Terrace, Edinburgh.
Ranking, Devey Fearon de l'Hoste, L.L.D., 9 Overstrand Mansions,
Battersea Park, London, S.W.
Ranking, Colonel G. S. A., Beech Lawn, Parktown, Oxford.
Reynolds, Llywarch, B.A., Old Church Place, Merthyr Tydfil,
Wales.
Robertson, Donald Struan, Trinity College, Cambridge.
Rothenstein, William, 11 Oak Hill Park, Frognal, London,
N.W.
Roxby, Percy Maude, The University, Liverpool.
Russell, Alexander, M.A., Dundas Street, Stromness, Orkney.
Saltus, J. Sanford, Salmagundi Club, 14 West 12th Street, New
York, U.S.A.
Sampson, John, D.Litt., M.A., Caegwyn, Bettws-Gwerfil-Goch,
Merionethshire.
Sandeman, Fleetwood, Whytecroft, Frensham, Surrey.
Sandy, Fred. J., 18 Terrace Road, Mount Pleasant, Swansea.
Scarre, Miss Annie M., 87 Galgate, Barnard Castle.
Scott, Charles Payson Gurley, 49 Arthur Street, Yonkers, New
York, U.S.A.
Sharman, Mrs. E. A., 30 Hailsham Avenue, Streatham Hill,
London, S.W.
Shaw, Fred., 20 Bellevue Road, Friern Barnet, London, N.
Sheppard, The late C. W., Dennis, Redcar.
Simpson, Mrs. W. F., The Wray, Grasmere, R.S.O., West-
morland.
Sinclair, Albert Thomas, 37 North Beacon Street, Allston (Boston),
Mass., U.S.A.
Slade, C. F., The Rookery, Briston, Melton Constable, Norfolk.
Slade, Edgar A., Maisonette, Stock, Essex.
Smith, The late Andrew, 28 India Street, Edinburgh.
Smith-Stanier, Hubert, Brooklynne, Willes Road, Leamington
Spa, Warwickshire.
Spalding, Dr. James A., 627 Congress Street, Portland, Maine,
U.S.A.
Stewart, Ian Lindsay, W.S., 28 India Street, Edinburgh.
Strachey, Charles, 33 Carlyle Square, Chelsea, London, S.W.
Sykes, Major P. Molesworth, C.M.G., His Britannic Majesty's
Consulate-General, Meshed, Persia, via Berlin and Askhabad.
Thesleff, Arthur, Bellmansgatan 18, Stockholm, Sweden.
Thompson, Thomas William, The Grammar School, Faversham,
Kent.
Torr, Miss Dona Ruth, Carlett Park, Eastham, Cheshire.
Tyler, Royall, 8 rue Barouilliere, Paris.
xvi LIST OF MEMBERS
[9] Valentine. Mil ward, 9 Mannering Road, Sefton Park, Liverpool.
I u| Wackernagel, Professor Jacob, Ph.D., Hoher Weg 12, Gottingen,
( S-ermany.
[229] Walling, K, A. J., 9 Brunswick Terrace, Plymouth.
[160] Ward, Lauriston, 1346 First National Bank Building, Chicago,
111., U.S.A.
[33] Watts-Dunton, Walter Theodore {President), The Pines, 11 Putney
Hill, London, S.W.
[225] Wellstood, Frederick Christian, M.A., Shakespeare's Birthplace,
Stratford-upon-Avon.
[230] White, John G. (Williamson Building, Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.A.),
care of Bernard Quaritch, 1 1 Grafton Street, New Bond Street,
London, W.
[ 1^1 ] Winstedt, Eric Otto, M.A., B.Litt., 230 Abingdon Road, Oxford.
[149] Woolner, Professor Alfred C, M.A., Principal of the Oriental
College, Lahore, India.
[117] Yates, Miss Dora Esther, M.A., 9 Belvidere Road, Princes Park,
Liverpool.
[109] Yoxall, Sir James Henry, M.P., Springfield, 20 Kew Gardens Road,
Kew.
Honorary Secretary : R. A. Scott Macfie,
21a Alfred Street, Liverpool.
ACCOUNTS
For Year ending June 30, 1910
INCOME
3 subscriptions for the year 1908-9,
175 „ „ „ 1909-10,
20 „ „ „ 1910-11, .
Copies and parts of Volume I. sold to Members,
„ Volume II.
Parts of Volume III. sold to Members,
Donation from Mr. David MacRitchie,
Sale of Gaudcamus Igitur,
Collected for Engelbert Wittich,
Balance, expenditure over income, .
£3 0 0
175 0 0
20 0 0
12 12 6
9 9 0
0 5 3
1 0 0
0 12 6
14 17 0
23 11 2
£260 7 5
EXPENDITURE
Discounts for the year 1909-10,
„ 1910-11, .
Management and Correspondence —
Receipt Book, ,
Stationery,
Printed Notices,
Postages,
Auditor's Fee,
Journal and Publications —
No. 1. Letterpress, . £32 15 0
Illustrations, . 5 2 8
No. 2. Letterpress, . 33 18 0
Illustration, . 2 6 5
Carry forward,
£1 19 3
0 14 6
£0 8 0
5 6 6
3 10 0
6 18 0
0 10 6
£37 17 8
36 4 5
£2 13 9
16 13 0
£74 2 1 £19 6 9
XVll
xviii ACCOUNTS
Brought forward, . . £74 2 1 £19 6 9
No. .'5. Letterpress, . £36 3 6
Illustrations, . 3 14 5
39 17 11
No. I. Letterpress, . 35 G 0
Illustration, . 2 17
37 7 7
No. 5. Letterpress (estimate), . 22 10 0
Advertising and Reviews —
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Envelopes and labels, . . . 0 9 9
AdditionalJournals printed for review, 6 11 10
Postages, . . . . 2 10 0
173 17 7
11 18 1
Dispatch of Journal to Members, . . . 10 8 5
Separate offprints for the authors of papers, . . 15 0 1
Cutting and casting special type during past three years, . 13 10
Excess actual cost of Vol. II., No. 5, over estimate in last
year's accounts, . . • • • 118 6
Remitted to Geheimrat Professor Dr. E. Kuhn for Engelbert
Wittich, 14 17 0
£260 7 5
BALANCE SHEET
Liabilities.
To Creditors —
T. and A. Constable £181 16 2
E. O. Winstedt, . 25 0 0
The Honorary Secre-
tary, . . . •'!■") 0 0
J. Summerskill, . 0 10 6
£2 12 6 8
Assets.
By Cash in Bank, .£11
12
7
Excess expenditure
over income,
1907-8, . . 129
5
4
Do., 1908-9, . . 77
17
7
Do., 1909-10, . 23
11
2
£242
6
8
I have audited the Books and Accounts of The Gypsy Lore Society, and
examined the Vouchers relating thereto, for the year ending June 30, 1910, and
hereby certify the above statement to be a true and correct one as shown thereby.
[Signed] J. Summerskill,
Certified Accountant.
21 Victoria Street, Liverpool,
April 24, 1911.
ACCOUNTS XIX
Note. — The Society owns the following property —
Stock of Journals unsold (at cost) :
Volume I., .....
Volume II., .....
Volume III.,
Subscriptions in arrears, ....
Dr. George F. Black's Gypsy Bibliography, provisional
issue, standing in type, ....
£55
12
11
69
3
5
59
17
5
22
0
0
not valued
£206
13
9
M
n
))
))
))
))
i)
ERRATA
Page 17, line 23, for '8ide read Gide.
18, „ 15, „ 'Cas „ 'Gas.
44, „ 15, „ dopo un „ dopo in un.
51, „ 26, „ sotigliezze „ sottigliezze.
53, „ 16, „ Commune „ Comune.
57, „ 16, „ Consiglio „ Conciglio.
57, „ 16, „ diocesiani „ diocesani.
76, „ 45, „ forcera „ foncera.
129, (iv., Trans., line 6), for We made farther, for read We
reached again.
129, (iv., Trans., line 9), „ made read reached.
130, (v., Trans., line 6), „ took horsemen for read sent
horsemen to.
137, (xv., line 10), „ bcttimlce read baMmM.
140, (xix., line 21), „ ndndek # „ n&ndeTc.
141, (xix., Trans., line 4), for the heads of our wives were
hroken read they broke the
heads of our wives.
142, (xxi., Trans., line 7), for fled read flee.
144, (xxiv., Trans., line 2), for He went read They went,
144, (xxiv., Trans., line 3), for He did and He descended
read They did and They
descended.
14 1, (xxiv., Trans., line"4), for cities read villages.
146, (xxvi., Trans., line 22), for brought read left,
159, line 6, for Gypsy read Gipsy.
»
183, line 38, for £ read £j
213, line 22, for inqusitive read inquisitive.
248, line 12, for Sinti. Pucias read Sinti, pucias.
248, footnote 9, for construction of read construction or.
<f.
J,
OCT^OC^j
V^^^^^A
JOURNAL OF THE
GYPSY LORE
SOCIETY ^^f^s.
NEW SERIES ( SEP 1319S7
tf^lTY OF J0&
Vol. Ill JULY 1909 ~"No.;r
I.— MICHAEL-JAN DE GOEJE
Par A. Kluyver
MDE GOEJE, l'illustre arabisant de Leyde, vient d'etre
• enleve a la science. II est mort le 17 Mai 1909 a lage de
soixante-douze ans, apres avoir occupe la chaire d'arabe a notre
Universite de 1866 jusqu'en 1906.
Ses diverses qualites constituaient im ensemble des plus
heureux. Chez lui une grande puissance de travail etait au
service d'un esprit pondere. Ses manieres etaient charmantes. II
aiinait a encourager tous ceux qu'il croyait etre dans la bonne voie,
sa bibliotheque etait a leur disposition et il les recevait volontiers
dans son cabinet detude, grande piece bien eclairee, donnant sur
un beau jardin. Bien qu'il prit interet a beaucoup de choses, il se
mefiait de cette curiosite universelle qui a egare tant de bons
esprits. II delimitait avec soin le champ de ses etudes, quelque vaste
qu'il fut, tout en jetant des regards sur le terrain des sciences avoisi-
nantes, qui sollicitaient son attention sans la captiver.
Mais pas de regie sans exception, et c'est comme une exception
qu'il faut considerer ses efforts pour mettre en lumiere l'histoire
des Tsiganes. Par ses etudes preferees d'histoire et de geographic
onentales M. de Goeje avait ete amene a porter ses regards vers les
origines de ces bohemiens dont l'apparition en Europe a so\ileve
tant de problemes. En 1875 il fit paraitre dans les travaux de
l'Academie d' Amsterdam un memoire intitule Bijdrage tot de
VOL. III. — NO. I. A
•2 MICHAEL-JAN DE GOEJE
geachiedenis der Zigeuners (Contribution a l'histoire des Tsiganes),
dont M. Macliitchie publia une traduction anglaise en 1886.
M. dc Goeje y etudie l'histoire de cette peuplade qui chez les
Arabes a le nom collectif de Zott, norn par lequel on designe
encore aujourd'hui les Tsiganes en quelques contrees de l'Orient.
Est-ce qu'il faut voir dans les Zott les ancetres des Tsiganes
europeens ? D'autres savants l'avaient affirme, et sans connaitre
les observations de tous ses devanciers, M. de Goeje erut devoir
adherer a cette these. Or les Zott ont leur origine dans le peuple
indien des Djat : ainsi e'est d'une forme ancienne de la langue de
ce peuple qu'il faudrait pouvoir deliver le systeme phonetique de
la langue tsigane. D 'autre part, si nos Tsiganes sont issus des
Zott, habitants de pays ou l'arabe etait parle, on s'attend a trouver
des mots arabes dans les dialectes des Tsiganes europeens.
Quoique le meinoire de M. de Goeje fut accueilli par le monde
savant avec tous les egards auxquels son illustre auteur put
pretendre, l'assentiment ne fut pas unanime. On a pu lire ici-
meme1 la traduction d'un article que M. Pischel publia en 1883 et
dans lequel il releva les arguments contraires contenus dans les
travaux de M. Miklosich. En 1878 celui-ci avait demontre 2 la
ressemblance de la langue tsigane avec un groupe de dialectes du
nord-ouest de l'lnde, appartenant a une contree bien loin de la
patrie des Djat; en 1876 il avait critique3 quelques etymologies
que M. de Goeje avait proposees pour demontrer l'influence directe
de l'arabe sur la langue des bohemiens. Ce n'est qu'en 1903 que
M. de Goeje eut l'occasion de repondre a ces critiques, dans son
Memoirs sur les migrations des Tsiganes a travers I'Asie. II
reconnut de bon cceur que, l'etude des dialectes indiens netant
pas de sa competence, il n'avait qua s'incliner devant l'opinion de
M. Pischel, qui approuvait les vues de Miklosich sur la parente
entre la langue tsigane et les dialectes de l'Hindoukouch ; toute-
fois il se demanda si la difference d'avec la langue des Djat
etablie des 1881 pour l'epoque actuelle fut la preuve d'un dis-
accord egal a une epoque beaucoup plus ancienne.
II avait plus de peine a agreer les observations etymologiques
de Miklosich, quoiqu'il fut tout dispose a retirer quelques-uns de
ses exemples dont Miklosich avait conteste la valeur. Mais il ne
croyait sa these generale refutee ni par ces critiques de Miklosich,
1 Voir le numero d'Avril 1909, ii. 292.
2 Voir les Sitzungsberichte de l'Academie de Vienne, T. xc.
3 Ufhtr die Mundarten und die Wanderungen der Zigeuner Europa's, vi.
MICHAEL-JAN DE GOEJE 3
ni par quelques etymologies donnees par M. Pischel dans ses
Beitrdge zur Kenntnis der deutsehen Zigeuner (1894). II s'efforca
de reunir un plus grand nombre de mots bohemiens dont l'origine
arabe ne fut pas douteuse, et il conclut ainsi: 'je crois que ces
exemples suffisent a prouver ma these que les ancetres des
Tsiganes, du moins la majorite, ont passe un certain temps dans
un pays arabe.' C'est ce que les deux autres savants ne croyaient
pas. Comment expliquer cette divergence d'opinions ? La forme
tres succincte dans laquelle Miklosich presente ses raisonne-
ments manque parfois de clarte; evidemment M. de Goeje ne
s'etait pas familiarise tout a fait avec ce style. Lorsque M. de
Goeje rapproche par exemple les mots handuk et handako de
khandaq, il croit que ce rapprochement ne cadre pas avec les vues
de son aclversaire. En ceci il se trompait : ce rapprochement etait
aussi legitime pour Miklosich que pour M. de Goeje lui-meme ;
seulement Miklosich n'y voyait pas un argument a l'appui de la
these que M. de Goeje soutenait. Car on pouvait deriver ces
formes tsiganes de formes neo-grecques, dont l'origine ulterieure
etait dans ce debat sans importance. Ainsi le persan, l'armenien,
le grec, plus tard le turc et d'autres langues balkaniques, pouvaient
avoir donne" a la langue des Tsiganes europeens des mots d'origine
arabe, sans que pour cela les ancetres des bohemiens eussent
habite des pays ou l'arabe fiit la langue du peuple. Le meme
principe dirigeait le raisonnement etymologique de M. Pischel qui,
d'accord avec Miklosich, supposait une route de migration par
l'Armenie. Tel mot qui pour M. de Goeje vient attester le sejour
des Tsiganes en pays de langue arabe est considere par M. Pischel
comme emprunte au persan.
Je ne sais si M. Pischel a donne quelque part un compte rendu
du M&moire de 1903, mais a son tour M. Sampson a reconnu
l'extreme difficulte du probleme des migrations. II voudrait bien
croire que Miklosich accorde une trop grande favour aux argu-
ments tires de l'armenien, mais il hesite beaucoup a adopter
l'opinion de M. de Goeje.1 De son cote M. Finck etablit pour la
langue des Tsiganes armeniens des particularites phonetiques tres
importantes, qui la separent nettement de tous les autres dialectes
tant asiatiques qu'europeens.2 C'est ce qui rend la question encore
plus compliquee.
1 /. G. L. S., New Series, i. 10 et 14.
2 Voir son memoire intitule Die Sprache der armenischen Zigeuner (1907), p. 59 ;
puis J. G. L. S., New Series, i. 38.
I QYP8IES AS FORTUNE-TELLERS AND AS BLACKSMITHS
Si done ['argumentation de M. de Goeje n'a pas convaincu tout
Le monde, son autorite' n'en a pas souffert. Car il etait un maitre
de la philologie arabe, et l'analyse dc la langue des bohemiens
appartient en premier lieu a d'autres chercheurs. M. de Goeje ne
le niait pus, il supportait la contradiction, bien satisfait d'avoir
donnu sea erudites observations sur l'histoire des Zott, que
pcrsonne n'avait encore exposee avec une telle exactitude. C'etait-
l.i son domaine a lui, il n'aimait pas a le quitter, mais l'histoire
des Tsiganes resta pourtant parmi les objets de son attention. II
s'interessait aux travaux de la Gypsy Lore Society, et il entre-
benait dos relations amicales avec plusieurs de ses membres,
no tarn men t avec M. MacRitchie et avec M. Colocci.
Comme tous les hommes eminents il inspirait le courage et la
bonne volonte a ses disciples et meme a d'autres personnes qui,
n'etant pas absolument etrangers aux sujets de ses etudes, savaient
apprecier quelque peu sa haute valeur. II a eu les honneurs que
le monde accorde aux grands erudits, il a illustre le nom de sa
patrie qui lui etait bien chere.
IL— GYPSIES AS FORTUNE-TELLERS AND AS
BLACKSMITHS 1
By Leo Wiener
THE first recorded appearance of the Gypsies in the north was
in the year 1417, when they were seen at Liineburg.2 From
this place they roamed through northern Germany and, turning
south, passed through Switzerland to France and Italy. Shortly
afterwards they became known all over Europe. As they brought
with them letters of recommendation from the King of Hungary,
they had obviously travelled through that country, and thus their
first appearance in Germany must have preceded the year 1417 ;
and, when we consider that their 'dukes' bore good Christian
names, such as Michael, Andrew, and Thomas, we must further
conclude that they had long sojourned in Christian lands. This
small band of scarcely three hundred men, which soon split up
and died out, cannot possibly be considered as the ancestors of all
the thousands of Gypsies now living in Europe. Either there
1 Based on my article ' Die Geschichte des Wortes " Zigeuneiy" in A rchiv fur
ip) "hen, cix. pp. 280-304, and corrected.
• oome, Gypsy Folk-tale*. London, 1899, p. x. ./. G. L. S., Old Series, i. 272.
GYPSIES AS FORTUNE-TELLERS AND AS BLACKSMITHS 5
were many new accessions later, or others had come before them.
That they represented but a small fraction of their race is also
evidenced by the fact that they are not mentioned as tinkers
or blacksmiths, in which capacities they have otherwise been best
known. We learn most of their customary occupations in the
second half of the fifteenth century by following up the informa-
tion given us by travellers and pilgrims in Greece.
The port of Modon was situated on the south-west coast of
the Morea. In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries it belonged
to Venice, and offered refuge to the many nationalities that then
overran the Balkan peninsula. The harbour lay conveniently
half-way from Venice to Jaffa, and was a welcome stopping-place
for all pilgrims who journeyed by this the most popular route to
the Holy Land. Few of the itineraries and accounts of journeys by
the way of Modon fail to mention the Gypsy suburb which their
writers saw there.1 Konrad Griinemberg2 voyaged to the Holy
Land in 1486. He made a drawing of the town of Modon, in
which he located a Gypsy encampment of about three hundred
reed huts. The same number is mentioned by Bernhard von
Breitenbach3 and Le Huen,4 but ten years later Alexander
Pfalzgraf bei Rhein5 knows of only two hundred houses, while
Arnold von Harff 6 reduces them further to one hundred. Twenty
years later still, Tschudi 7 found only thirty houses there. When
Frescobaldi,8 in the fourteenth century, asserted that in the
lower part of the town there were many hermits (Ro7niti)Q doing
penance for their sins, he undoubtedly confused the Gypsies with
penitents, a confusion which, as we shall see, prevailed in the
fifteenth century.
1 Cf. Rohricht and Meisner, Deutsche Pilgerfahrten nach dem heiligen Lande,
Berlin, 1880, and L. Conrady, Vier Bheinische Paldstina-Pilgerschriften, Wiesbaden,
1882, under Modon.
2 Ruhricht and Meisner, I.e. , p. 153.
3 Peregrinatio ad Terrain Sanctam, ex Bernhardt) Breitenbach Ecclesiae Magun-
tinae decano et camerario, p. 5. Vittenbergae, 1536.
4 In G. Meniglaise, Voyage de Georges Lencheraud, mayeur de Mons en Hay-
naut, p. 224. Mons, 1861.
5 In Beyszbuch desz heyligen Lands, p. 37. Frankfurt, a. M. , 1584.
6 E. von Groote, Die Pilgerfahrt des Bitters Arnold von Harff, pp. 66-8.
Kuln, 1860.
7 Beysz und Bilgerfahrt zum Heyligen Grab desz Edlen vnd Bestrengtn Herren
Lndwigen Tschudis, p. 68. S. Gallen, 1606.
8 Viaggio di Lionardo di Niccold Frescobaldi Fiorentino in Egitto e in Terra
Santa, Roma, 1818, p. 73 : ' Ha nel pioggio della Sapienza molti Romiti a fare
penitenza de' loro peccati.'
9 Balsamon (see p. 15 of this article) identifies the (py/urai with fortune-tellers
and Gypsies.
(i GYPSIES AS FORTUNE-TELLERS AXD AS BLACKSMITHS
The primitive methods of Gypsy smith-craft are described by
Loncheraud1 and Arnold von Harff,2 and we also have a good
account of Gypsy smiths at Zante 3 at the same time. A hundred
years later smith-craft still constituted their chief occupation in the
Balkan peninsula, as we learn from an account of the celebration
that took place at the circumcision of Sultan Mehemet's son
in loS2.4 In the various processions there were Gypsy broom-
makers, chimney-sweeps, musicians, dancers, bear-leaders and,
above all, smiths. On a certain day there were not less than
sixty smiths who pulled along a carriage in which three sat and
worked at their forges.5 On another day four hundred of them
seated themselves under the Sultan's window and plied their
trade. The Sultan was so pleased that he ordered several
thousands of aspres to be distributed among them.0 Thus, what
they excel in to-day, they practised four hundred }rears ago, and
must have practised long before. The pilgrims know these
Gypsies by a variety of names : they call them Saracens, heathens,
Egyptians, Albanians.7 They occasionally try to explain the false
pretensions of the Gypsies as to their coming from Egypt by
declaring that they really emigrated from a place Gyppe, which
they variously locate close by Modon or at a distance of forty
leagues. Gyppe is, however, nothing but the Greek rW-ro?, and so,
apparently, even in Greece they were popularly connected with
1 ' Et oultre ce dit bourg, il y a de tous costez de la dicte terre ferme tygu-
rions en grand nombre qui aemblent logis de bien povres gens. Touttefois
la pluspart des hommes sont sauldoyers a la ville de Modon a cheval ; et en
iceulx tigurions et en aultres villages assez pres y avoit, comme nous fut dit,
mil sauldoyers a cheval, et desquelz chevaulx j'en veys aucuns bons. Esquelz
tigurions il y a grand partie de gens Egipeiens telz que ceulx que autresfois j'ay
veu en nostre pays, et desquelz Egipeiens en y a la pluspart marricheaulx et
euvrent d'icellui mestier eulx estans assiz a la terre et leurs souffletz sont de
peaulx de chievre. . . .' In G. Muniglaise, I.e., p. 98 el seq. 2 Ibid.
3 ' Dont vismes oprime merveille, car les forgeux de cloux et de fer de
chevaulx sont forgeans emmy les rues, et sont assis sur la terre, comme ung
cousturier est en nostre pais ; ont lesdis forgeux une petite pierre de quoy ils
mont du carbon contre, et font la du feu. Ladite pierre a environ deux pied de
loing et ung pied de hault. C'est leur contrecceur elle e3t trauee au milieu, et
ont une petite buise de fer et deux peaux de cuir litie a ladite buise sans estre
couzue a ladite peau, dont il y a quelque valton ou bacelette qui tiennent lesdites
peaux par le boult et les haulcent et abaissent et du vent font ardoir ledit
cirbon, qui est le plus estraingue chose a regarder que ne s9aroit escripte. Car
ils sont tant de ce mestier et si dru que il samble que on soit en faire. ' — Voyage
ili .I'lctpn v ii Srn'ij<, par II. R. Duthillceul, p. 78. Douai, 1851.
4 Xeuwe Chronica Tiirckischer nation . . ., von Hans Lewenklaw von Amel-
beurn, p. 468 et -seq. Frankfurt a. M., 1590.
5 Ibid., p. 491. ,; Ibid., p. 508.
7 It is interesting to observe that in Albanian a\3avi means ' smith who
shoes horse
GYPSIES AS FORTUNE-TELLERS AND AS BLACKSMITHS 7
Egypt, a fact that is recorded by a pilgrim as early as 1350.1
The new-comers in 1417 asserted that they originated in Egypt
or Little Egypt. It may, of course, be that they actually occupied
some territory which was known as Little Egypt, and some have
identified this with Epirus,2 which is supposed to have borne that
name in the title of the Turkish Sultan. But this identification
is nugatory in the face of the statement of 1350, that is, of more
than one hundred and fifty years before, in which the reference was
directly to Egypt. If, then, they came from Little Egypt, such a
place merely reflected an old tradition, and may have been any
region where they sojourned in large numbers. The claim which
they put forward was a very old one, and they obviously expected
or wished it to be believed. There must have been some reason
why they chose that country rather than one through which
they had passed as their original abode, and it is not difficult to
show that an Egypt legend with which they were connected had
long preceded them in Central Europe.
The first thing that strikes us as very strange is the protection
which the band of roving Gypsies enjoyed at the hand of Church
and State, especially when we consider that they were not believed
to be good Christians. Not less striking is the oft-repeated legend
of their seven years' wandering. According to Aventinus3 they
were condemned to travel about for seven years because their
ancestors had refused to receive the Virgin and the Christ-child,
This obviously points to a periodic wandering. The same is
stated in Trausch's Manuscript Strassburg Chronicle.4 Tschudi,5
writing in the middle of the sixteenth century, said that they
claimed to have come from Little Egypt, or from Greece, and had
1 ' Jfandopolini sive Mandindes ; isti legem nullam defendunt, sed sunt Egvptii
dicentes, se esse de genere Pharaonis ; fures optimi, de loco ad locum cum uxori-
bus navigantes, crebra et varia artificia operantes, solis ardorem non curantes.
Cum Grecis Greci, cum Sarracenis Sarraceni et sic cum aliis ; et si alicpiis cum
uxore sua comprebenditur, non irascitur, sed [cum] primo potest, similem vicem
sibi reddit.' — Ludolpbus de Sudheini, De Itinere Tare Sancte, in Archives de
V Orient Latin, Tome n., Documents, p. 375. Paris, 1884.
2 See M. J. de Goeje, Memoire sur les migrations des Tsiganes a trovers VAsie,
p. 80. Leide, 1903.
3 In Johannes Turmair's Samtliche Werke, vol. iii. p. 518. Miinchen, 1883.
4 ' Sie sagten es musste all 7 Jahr em Rott ausziehen vnd Buss tbun, dieweil
sie vnsser liebe Fraw nicht haben herbergen wollen.' — Trausch, Handschr.
Strasxburger Chronik, ii. 36 b.
5 ' Und seit dasselb Volck si wiirind usz dem Land Zingri, usz dem kleinern
Egypten, und hette si der Soltan und der Tiirck vertriben, und miisztind 7 Jahr
uszfaren; etlich sprachen si wiirind von Igritz.' — Aegidii Tschudii Chronicon
Helveticum, vol. ii. p. 116, Basel, 1736.
8 GYPSIES AS FORTUNE-TELLERS AND AS BLACKSMITHS
to wander for seven years. Similar accounts are given by Corner,1
Krantz,2 Minister,3 and Stumpf.4
At Bologna r> the 'duke' pretended that he had forfeited his
lands and possessions to the King of Hungary for having renounced
his Christian faith, and that he was obliged to wander for seven
years before seeing the Pope in Rome ; meanwhile the Gypsies had
permission from the Emperor to steal to their heart's content. At
Paris' it was said that they had confessed to the Pope, and that
their penance consisted in travelling about for seven years without
sleeping in a bed. Varying as these reports are, they all point to
a legendary relation of the Gypsies to Christianity and to a
periodic migration.
Although generally known as thieves, the Gypsies were not so
1 ' Causa aiitem hujus divagationis eorum & peregrinationis dicebatur fuisse
aversio a fide & recidivatio post conversionem suam ad Paganismum. Quam
quidem peregrinationem continuare tenebantur ex injuncta eis poanitentia ab
Kpiscopis suis ad septennium.' — Hermanni Corner Chronicon, in Eccard's Corpus
historicum medio tevi, ii. 1225. Lipsias, 1723.
2 ' Ferunt ipsi ex iniuncta sibi pujnitemtia mundum peregrinantes eircuire :
sed fabellae sunt . . . per aliquot annorum interualla redit.' — Krantz, Saxonia,
lib. xi. cap. ii. Koln, 1520.
3 Copies Krantz and expands him. Seb. Miinster, Cosmographia, p. 267 et seq.
Basel, 1554.
4 ' In disem 1418. jar kamen erstlich die Zyginer, so man nennet die Heiden,
in Helvetien, gen Ziirych vnd andere ort, die waren mengklichen seltzam, vnd
hievor in disem land nit mehr gesehen : deren waren itiann, weyb vnd kinder
auff 14,000. personen geschiitzt, doch nit an einem hauffen, sonder hin vnd wider
zerstrbwet. .Si gaben fiir, wie sie ausz Egypten verstossen weren, vnd miiszten
also im ellend 7 jar biisz wiircken. Sie liielten christliche ordnung, triigen vil
gold vnd silber, doch darneben arme kleider. Sie wurden von den jhren ausz
jhrem vatterland heniber mit Gelt verlegt vnd besbldet, hatten keinen mangel an
zeerung, bezalten jhr essen vnd trincken, vnd nach siben jaren fiiren sie widerumb
heim. Das vnniitze Biibenvolck, so bey vnseren tagen herumb zeiicht, hat sich
seidhero erhebt, deren ist der frommest ein Dieb, dann sie allein sich stalens
ernehren.' — H. J. Stumpf, Schweytzer Chronik, f. 731 a. Zurich, 1606.
5 ' II qual Duca avea rinegata la Fede Cristiana. E il Re di Ungheria prese la
sua Terra, e lui. Esso Duca disse al detto Re di voler tornare alia Fede Cristiana, e
cosi si battezzo con alquanti di quel Popolo, e furono circa 4000 uomini. Que' che
non si vollero battezzare, furono morti. Dappoiche il Re di Ungheria gli ebbe presi, e
ribattezzati, voile che andassero per lo mondo sette anni, et che dovessero andare a
Roma al Papa, e poscia tornassero in loro paese. . . . Aveano un decreto del Re di
Ungheria, che era Imperadore, per vigore di cui essi poteano rubare per tutti que'
sette anni per tutto dove andassero, e che non potesse essere fatta loro giustizia.' —
Scriptort s rerum italicarum, vol. xviii. p. 611. Mediolani, 1731.
' L' Empereur, & les autres Seigneurs, par grande deliberation de conseil, dirent
que jamais nc tenroient terre en leur pays, si le Pape ne le consentoit, et qu'il
convenoit que la allassent au sainct Pere a Rome : & la allerent tous petits &
grands a moult grand peine pour les enfans. Quand la furent, ils confesserent en
general leurs pechez. Quand le Pape ot oiiye leur confession, par grande delibera-
fcion de conseil, leur ordonna en penitence d'aller sept ans ensuyvant parmy le
monde, sanscoucher en lit.'— In Les (Euvres oVEstienne Pasquier, vol. i. p. 407. Am-
sterdam, 1723,
GYPSIES AS FORTUNE-TELLERS AND AS BLACKSMITHS 9
considered universally by the early writers. The Parisian reporter
does not know of their depredations from personal experience, and
Stumpf even quotes the Gypsies as models when compared with
the vagabonds of his time. In literature they fare even better.
In the Fastnachtspiele x and in Hans Sachs 2 and, later, in Lope de
Vega,3 they are not represented at all as bad men, and elsewhere 4
they are considered as honourable people. The Italian Zingaresche5
mention them as good Christians who foretell the future to Mary
and the Christ-child. The Italian authorities know of the
Zingaresca from the sixteenth century on, but it can be shown
that it must have existed in Italy before. The golden age of
Servian literature in Ragusa on the Adriatic began some time
before the year 1500, and in many ways is a reflex of the
contemporary Italian literature. Even the lighter masquerading
songs of their Romance neighbours were imitated by them, as they
v
also celebrated their masquerades. Cubranovic, who wrote about
1525, treated the subject of the fortune-telling Gypsy woman in
his famous drama, Jegjupha6 ('the Egyptian woman'). This
became so popular that no less than three poets elaborated and
expanded it after his death. This contemporaneous interest in
the Zingaresca in Ragusa and Italy and its fuller development in
the Servian language presupposes a previous more extended use of
the same subject in Italy. But in distinct contradiction to this
obviously traditional conception of the Gypsies in literature we find
persistent police regulations7 against these vagabonds, who were
terribly persecuted from the end of the fifteenth century on. This
was partly due to the enormous prevalence of vagabondage at the
time, when many beggars, imitating the Gypsies in manner and
appearance, disturbed the countryside with their depredations.8
1 Fastnachtspiele aus dem fiinfzehnten Jahrkundert, p. 823 et seq. Stuttgart, 1853.
2 Hans Sachs, herausgegeben von Keller und Goetze, vol. xiv. p. 29 et seq.
Tubingen.
3 Obras de Lope de Vega, Madrid, 1890. Vol. ii. p. 365 et seq. ('La vuelta de
Egipto'). p. 467 et seq. ('Eltirano castigado'). vol. iii. p. 351 et seq. ('La madre
de la mejor '). p. 453 et seq. (' La corona deribada y vara de Moises ').
4 The following book is interesting: Tarchenpuechlein, 1522, of which the
second title runs : Gesprech oder Vnderrede : so ein Einsidel, ein Hunger, Tiirck, vnd
Zigt iiner newlich mittinder gehabt, zih den sweren leilffen dieser vnstr zeit dienstlich.
5 See E. Lovarini, Nota, in Menghini's Ganzoni antiche del popolo italiano, vol. i.
p. 117 et seq. Roma, 1890. The oldest datable Zingaresca is of the year 1520.
6 In Stari pisci hrvatski, vol. viii. Zagreb, 1876.
7 See cap. iii. (' Persecuzione degli Zingari') in Colocci, Gli Zingari. Torino,
1889.
8 Minsheu, in the first edition of his dictionary, London, 1617, p. 215, writes as
follows : —
' Gipson or Gypson, a counterfet rogue, one that speaketh gibbrish or gibblegabble,'
](> GYPSIES AS FORTUNE-TELLERS AND AS BLACKSMITIIS
But the old traditional conception prevailed in literature until
Cervantes in his Jitanilla laid the foundation for a picaresque
treatment of the Gypsies.
From the views expressed by the writers in the fifteenth and
sixteenth centuries it appears that the Gypsies were known in
three capacities. Wherever they were settled, they plied, above
all, the trade of blacksmiths; again, in their role of fortune-
tellers, they are connected with a legend bearing on the childhood
of Christ, as in the Zingareschr, ; as strolling vagabonds they are
still associated with this legend, but also the curse of the
' Wandering Jew ' * is upon them. All future investigation in this
line of Gypsy lore should hold strictly to this threefold division,
which is destined yet to yield important discoveries for the period
preceding their first appearance, if, instead of indulging in abstract
speculations as to the meaning of Gypsy appellations, we content
ourselves with tracing backwards the legends connected with their
threefold capacities. I shall here make an attempt to apply this
method to the elucidation of the group of words of which the
German correspondent is Zigeimer, etc. I am sure the explana-
tion offered here, which, though upholding in the main my
previous view, as expressed in my German article, completely
departs in its final source from my previous assumption, for ever
settles this moot point, and brilliantly illustrates de Goeje's tenta-
tive explanation of the origin of the European Gypsies.
An unknown clerical writer of Cologne,2 who travelled to the
Orient about the year 1340, has left a description of the various
nations seen by him. Among them are the peculiar Mandopolos
who neither summer nor winter live in houses and never remain in
one place longer than three days. They are jugglers and thieves,
and profess the religion of those among whom they happen to be.
They speak a language of their own, which is not understood by
others.3 We here have a fine description of Greek Gypsies, of
p. 168 ' Egyptians (Egyptiani) are in our Statutes and Lawes of England, a counter-
let kinde of roagues, that being English or Welsh people, accompanie themselues
together, disguising themselues in strange roabes, blacking their faces and bodies,
and framing to themselues an vnknowen language, wander vp and downe, and vnder
pretense of telling of fortunes, curing diseases, and such like, abuse the ignorant
common people, by stealing all that is not too hot, or too heauie for their carriage.'
1 Simrock long ago pointed out the relation of the Gypsies to the legend of the
Wandering Jew (Zeitschri/t fiir deutsche Mythologie unci Sittenkunde, vol. i. p. 432
et seq.) ; also P. Cassel in Ahasuerus, p. 41 et seq. Berlin, 1885.
2 Zeitschrifi fur deutsche Philologie, vol. xix. p. 1-86, Halle, 18S6, and, before
that, in Benfey's Orient unci Occident, Bd. i. pp. 446-80, 627-46. Gottingen, 1862.
3 Zeitschri/t, pp. 23-4. ' Vort sint da andere snoide kirsten indemelande, inddye
heisehent da Mandopolos, dye steynt ind 3trygentind geynt ouch zosamen mit wyven
GYPSIES AS FORTUNE-TELLERS AND AS BLACKSMITHS 11
whom, on the island of Crete, we have a still older one from the
pen of Symon Simeonis : x
' Ibidem et vidimus gentem extra civitatem ritu grrecorum
utentem, et de genere Chaym se esse asserentem, quae raro vel
nunquam in loco aliquo moratur ultra xxx dies, sed semper velut
a deo maledicta vaga et profuga post xxxm diem de campo in
campum cum tentoriis parvis oblongis nigris et humilibus ad
modum Arabum, et de caverna in cavernam discurrit; quia locus
ab eis inhabitatus post dictum terminum efficitur plenus vermibus
et aliis immunditiis, cum quibus impossibile est cohabitare.'
Long before that, in the tenth century, Leo Diaconus 2 speaks
of the Cretans as given to fortune-telling and roving; he may
have transferred what he had heard about the Gypsies to the
whole people of the island. Here the Gypsies are represented
apparently as good Christians, which is not at all surprising, for
they are frequently described later as taking part in church
festivals. Thus Martin del Rio3 tells of those who danced at
ind mit kinden [zo samen], ind koment winter noch sommer nummer yn huys, ind gaint
ouch mit groissen sehairen van eyme dorpe zo deme andern, ind machent dinck, da
sy af sich generent, noch ere wyfen brengent kint in den huysen. Ind blyventonch
nyet langer dan dry dage up eynre stat, ind wurden sy yrgent laneger gehalden, so
sturven sy, ind weren ouch dry dage in deme huysse, dar sy sturven. Ind dese lude
haint under sich eyn eynige sprache, dye nyeman en kan verstain, dan sy onder
sich ; mer sy verstaint doch wail andre lude spraiche, ind nummer en kyvent sy
onder sich. In vynt eyn wyf yren man by eyme andern wyve of ein wyf yren man
by eyme andern manne, mer kan he dat gedoen, he doet erne dat selve widerumb
ind nyet mer wort dar na. Ind so geent sy zo samen wynters ind somers van eynre
stede zo der andere, ind lygent zo velde mit groisser scharen dages ind nachtes mit
pyfen ind mit bougen as vur eyme slosse, ind stelent zo maile sere, wat sy essen of
dryncken. Ind war sy koment vur eyn grois dorp, ind da machent sy eyn kaffende
spill, so dat alle dye lude uyss louffent, ind dar under stelent sy, wat man essen ind
dryncken sail. Vort dise lude by so wat lude sy koment, sy syn kirsten of heyden,
we lange dat sy by eyn sint, so lange haldent sy sich ouch na yrme seden an essen
ind an drincken, an vasten ind an vure, ind en haint geynen hern noch priester ; mer
under wat kirsten yre wyf kinder brengent, na yrme seden laissent sy dye douft'e
intfain, mer under wat kirste sy synt des sondages, geynt sy alle zosamen zo kirchen
mit pyfen ind mit bougen, ind haldent eyne misse van den heiligen dryn konincgen,
dat sy got umb eren wille geleyde ind behoede, wair sy hien varent durch berge ind
woystenye. Vort under wat kirstenen dise lude sterven na yrme gelouven, laissent
sj' sich berichten ind begraven.'
1 Itinerarium Symonis Simeonis, et Hugonis Illuminatoris ad Terram Scmctam,
p. 17. Cambridge, 1778. The passage in point refers to the year 1322.
2 Xeyerai yap Karoxovs dvai Kp^ras ixavrelais Kal j3wfj.o\oxia.is Kal TrXdvais, irpbs twv
~yia.vixa.iuv Kal rod ~Mua.fj.e9 TrapetXijcpoTas dreKaOtv. — In Corjius Scriplorum Iliatoriae
Byzantinae, Pars, xi., p. 24.
3 Borrow (The Zincali, vol. i. cap. ii.) quotes the passage : ' When, in the year
15S4, I was marching in Spain with the regiment, a multitude of these wretches
were infesting the fields. It happened that the feast of Corpus Domini was being
celebrated, and they requested to be admitted into the town, that they might dance
jp honour of the sacrifice, as was customary.'
\2 GYPSIES AS FORTUNE-TELLERS AND AS BLACKSMITHS
the feast of Corpus Domini, while Vaillant1 makes them take
part in the Easter celebration. Much more to the point is what
Noe Bianco 2 has to say of their reverence of the Virgin :
'Sono di questa medesima osservanza i Zingari, benche non
siano battezati ; i quali oltra niodo riueriscono la vergine bene-
detta: e piu tosto si lascerebbono amazzare, che indurre a dis-
honorarla.'
The above-mentioned Mandopolos appear occasionally as Man-
di (polos in all the scores of editions of the Three Kings of Cologne
that were in the fifteenth century current in various languages.
Obviously Mandopolos3 is nothing more than Greek ixavTiiroko^,
given in Stephanus, which means 'telling fortunes,' just as man-
dindes, mentioned before as equivalent to mandopolos, is a Vulgar
Greek feminine plural /xaimSe? of /auvtis, ' fortune-teller.' They
are, then, of the type of Gypsies with which we become acquainted
after 1417.
In the fourteenth century the Greek historian Mazaris 4 men-
tions the Egyptians among the seven nations inhabiting Greece.
It is generally assumed that the Gypsies are meant, but that
cannot be proved with certainty, because much earlier Egyptian
acrobats were mentioned by Nicephorus Gregoras,5 and as early as
the tenth century Joannes Cameniata0 spoke of Syrian Ismaelites
and Ethiopians landed by the hostile Arabs in Thessalonica. It
is not impossible that even these were Gypsies, especially the
acrobats, in which capacity Gypsies are mentioned even in 1417.
In any case it is interesting to read in Gregoras that Egyptian
acrobats travelled over Greece, Thrace, and Macedonia, and went as
far as Spain. The presence of such dark-skinned people would
naturally have aided in transferring the name of Ethiopian and
Egyptian to the Gypsies. Indeed, we have a distinct mention of
Ethiopians in Central Europe. Roger Bacon7 explains their sojourn
there on the ground that they were addicted to magic arts and
1 Colocci, I.e., p. 310.
2 I 'iayyio del Rever. J'. F. Xoe Bianco, della congregation de' servi, f . 72 b. Yinetia,
1566.
Sow absurd various Gypsy etymologies have been, we can learn from the
treatment of this word by Ennen in Orient mid Occident, I.e., p. 451 : ' Ihr Namen
Mandopolos erinnert an den zigeunerischen Bettelspruch " Mong poolu mong," bei
Pott, ii. 445 . . . von dem zigeunerischen verbum manyawa, manyalen betteln.'
4 Groome, I.e., p. xx. J. G. L. S., Old Series, i. 268.
5 Corpus Scriptorum Historiae Byzantinae, Pars xix. p. 348 et seq.
G lb., Theophanes eontinuatns, p. 512.
7 The ' Opus Majus' of Boyer Bacon, vol. ii. p. 211. Oxford, 1897. J. O. L. 8.,
\Yu Series, i. 3G3.
GYPSIES AS FORTUNE-TELLERS AND AS BLACKSMITHS 13
were searching for dragons. The passage is interesting and runs
as follows :
' Repens quod est esca Aethiopum est draco, secundum quod
David dicit in psalmo, Dedisti earn escam populis Aethiopum.
Nam certum est quod Aethiopes sapientes venerunt in Italiam et
Hispaniam et Franciam et Angliam, et in istas terras Cristianorum
in quibus sunt dracones boni volantes, et per artem occultam quam
habent excitant dracones de cavernis suis, et habent sellas et
froena in promptu, et equitant super eos et agitant in aere volatu
fortissimo, ut dometur rigiditas carnium et temperetur durities,
sicut apri et ursi et tauri agitantur canibus et variis percussionibus
flagellantur, antequam occidantur pro comestione. Cum ergo sic
domesticaverint eos, habent artem praeparandi carnes eorum, sicut
est ars praeparandi carnes tyri, et utuntur eis contra accidentia
senectutis, et vitam prolongant et intellectum subtiliant ultra
omnem aestimationem. Nam nulla doctrina quae per hominem
fieri potest tantam sapientiam inducere valet sicut esus istarum
carnium, secundum quod per homines probatae fidei didicimus
sine mendacio et dubitatione.'
If these were not Gypsies, we have an inexplicable riddle before
us, for certainly, except for the acrobats mentioned before, no
Ethiopians are known to have been in Italy, France, and Spain in
the thirteenth century. It has been assumed that twenty-four
years before that date Gypsies had reached the Rhine. At least so
a passage in Dalimil's rhymed Bohemian Chronicle1 has been
interpreted, but the case is too problematic, the distinct Gypsy
characteristics being absent from the account of the roving band
described there. But there can be no doubt whatsoever about the
Gypsies being described a century earlier in the much-quoted
German Bible paraphrase : 2
' Awir f'ewan ein chint
uon dem whsen chaltsmide sint.
Als Agar daz chint gewan
Ismahel gap si im den nam :
danne chomen Ismahelite
die narent in dem lande wite
daz wir da heizzen chaltsmide.
We gescheh ir lide
wan alliz daz si habent ueile
daz ist mit grozzem meile.
1 Fontes Rerum Bohemicarum, vol. iii. p. 171 et seq.
- J. Diemer, Genesis und Exodus nach der Mils'dter Handschrift, vol. i. p. 36.
Wien, 1862.
I I GYPSIES AS FORTUNE-TELLERS AND AS BLACKSMITHS
Er cliiif wed oder ubele
er wil ie etwaz dar ubere.
Dei lote si bestitfffent
mit div und si uerchoffent,
sine habent hd"s noch heimut,
alle glet dunchent si gut,
daz lant si durchstrichent,
daz livt si beswichent.
Alsus betriegent si daz livt,
si robent nieman ubirlot,
ach gescheh in und ach,
we gescheh ir chinnebach.'
These Gypsies are called Kaltschmiede from their occupation
as smiths. It is generally assumed that the word means ' cold-
smith,' that is, 'hammerer of cold metal/ but this is not very
certain. It is far more likely that the first part of the word is
identical with German Icalte, a ' tumbler ' or ' dish ' of some kind,
or Italian caldaia a ' vase' or ' pot,' and that thus the whole means
' tinker.' As these smiths were strangers and possibly non-
Christians, they are characterised by the word Ismaelites. In
another place x we are told of the Ismaelites : ' Er uuas Ismahelis
sun, uon demo Ismahelitae cuman sint, die der huser nehabent,
sunter okkeret uilzhus unte andera unuuatliche hereberga.' Here
we have the additional information that the Ismaelites, the
cheating 'cold-smiths' of the previous passage, lived in tents.
Since Joseph was sold to Ismaelites and these took him to
Egypt, Ave find elsewhere 2 again that Joseph was sold to smiths.
There is something peculiar about these Kaltschmiede of the
Middle Ages. They were both considered almost as outlaws 3 and at
the same time enjoyed privileges4 unlike those of any other guild.
As early as the thirteenth century the Kessler or KaltscJimiede
of Germany could show letters-patent, and as late as the end of
the fifteenth we hear of Kesslertage, ' smith diets,' and the election
of Kessler kings.5 I shall try later to broach the subject of their
privileges. So much is certain, these Gypsies are again so called
from their occupation. In my German article I insisted upon
looking here for a solution of the vexed question of the etymology
1 Ih., vol. ii. p. 25 (from Williram, in Quellen u. Forschuiujen z. Sjwach- u.
Gulturgeschichte, vol. xxviii. p. 4. Strassburg, 1878).
2 lb., vol. i. p. 100.
:1 Zeitschrift des dcidschen Altertums, vol. ix. p. 545.
4 Sattler, Vom Kessler und Kaltschmiedschutze, Tubingen, 1781 ; Alone in
Anzeigerfihr Kunde des deutschtn Mittelalters, vol. viii. p. 457 et seq., and Zeitschrift
Jilr die Oeschichte des Oberrhems, vol. ii. p. 4 et seq. ; xiii. p. 160 et seq. ; xvii. p. 32.
5 0. Henne am Rhyn, Kulturgeschichte des deutschen Volkes, vol. i. p. 300.
Berlin, 18S6.
GYPSIES AS FORTUNE-TELLERS AND AS BLACKSMITHS 15
of Zigeuner, and I tried to prove that it meant 'blacksmith.'
However, I could not find the exact prototype of the word. I am
now more fortunate. I had purposely omitted any reference to
Miklosich's explanation of the word Zigeuner,1 because I con-
sidered it inconclusive and incorrect, but was unable to rectify it.
Now, in the light of my additional material, the rectification will
be self-evident.
Miklosich adduced all the references he could find in Byzantine
authors to the sect of Melchisedecans that flourished in Phrygia
in the ninth century and were known under the name of
'Adlyyavoi, and claimed that the one mention of 'Adlyyavoi
in Balsamon (ob. 1204) had distinct reference to Gypsies. This
passage in Balsamon is a commentary to the 61st and 65th canons
of the Trullan Council, and runs as follows : "AaAch 8e rovs 6<f)€i<;
eyKoXirL^o/jbevoL ol /cal dOiyyavot \eyop,evot tov fxev (pacri yevvqdrjvai
els rjfiepav kclkottolov, tov 8' avrojv aarepa dya06v, evTv%la<; /cal
Svaru^la1; yevrjaopbevas aTrayyeWovai, ical ak\a rtva (f)\vapovo~L, fxrjSe
ypacpy TTapahoOrjvai a£ta. — 'FiyyacTTpip.vOoi 8e ical yvwarat \eyovrai
Trdvres ol o-cltclvikw^ evOovo-iwvres, /cal irpoXiyovre^ 8y6ev rd
dyvwara: ft)? al /cptrpiat, ol dOlyyavoi, ol \jrev8orrpocf)rjTat, eprnxlrai
ical erepot.2 It is obvious that these snake-charmers, fortune-
tellers, and ventriloquists who are called 'AOlyyavoi. can be no
other than Gypsies, but when Miklosich insisted that the name of
the sectarians was transferred to the Gypsies, I had to part from
him, because it was inconceivable that the name of a local sect
which died out in the middle of the ninth century, and was not
known as practising magic arts any more than any other heretical
sect, should have been chosen from scores of possible appellations
to be applied to the Gypsies. Furthermore, a Georgian writer of
the eleventh century knew the magicians in Constantinople under
the name of Atsinkan, and in the fourteenth century Gypsies are
mentioned in Hungarian and Rumanian records as acingani and
acigani respectively. The change of 6 to ts and c is quite unusual.
The name of the sect of Kadapol has become cathari, catari
everywhere except in Germany, where it is Ketzer, and in Greece,
where it has remained KaOapoL Why, then, should such a change
have taken place with ' 'AOlyyavoi in Greece ?
Before proceeding any further, I must quote a passage from
1 Tiber die Mundarten und die Wanderungtn der Zigeuner Euro2>a,n, vi. p. 57-64.
Wien, 1876.
2 Migue, Pafroloijla Graeca, vol. 137, coll. 7^0-1, 741.
Ill GYPSIES AS FORTUNE-TELLERS AND AS BLACKSMITHS
Zonaras1 in tho beginning of the twelfth century which has been
completely overlooked. Speaking of Nicephorus, he says :
' MavixatOL? Se koI rots /ca\ovfievoi<; 'Adtyydvoa ev ^prjafioU re /cal
olwina/jiaat teal reXeraU diropprjTOis i/cexprjTo. /cdvrevOev et? rd<;
vropa? Ta? 'Pw/iai'/ca? elaecpOdprjcrav, ical 7roX\ol rcov d^eXripwv eh
tt)v iriaTcv vit avrmv Siecfrddprjaav.' So Zonaras knew that the
Manichaeans and those who were called 'AOiyyavoi were then
scattered among the 'Romaic,' i.e. Latin, nations. The Mani-
chaeans were then to be found everywhere, the sect of the Athin-
gani had been long extinct, consequently he, like Balsamon nearly
a century later, considered the Gypsies as in some way related to
the older sectarians. Like Balsamon, he is cautious : he does not
say they 'are' the Athingani, but that they 'are called' the
Athingani. Now, if de Goeje has proved anything, it is that the
Zotts or Jats who were settled in Persia were not the Gypsies, but
that, in all likelihood, the Gypsies followed them as blacksmiths.
Blacksmith in the Pehlevi language, that is, the language of
Persia before the tenth century, is dsinkar, literally ' ironworker,'
from dsln ' iron '+ -Mr a suffix meaning ' maker,' ' worker.' This
word still exists in Persian and Turkish as dhingar. What, then,
happened is this. When the Gypsies arrived in Greece from
Persia, their name dsinkar came with them, and this was by the
scholastic writers understood as identical with 'AOLyyavos. We have
numerous such pseudo-classical transformations. One of these is the
word for monkey, which de Goeje wrongly gives in the form of
maimun 2 as a native Arabic word. This Arabic word was borrowed
from the Greek pifioo, which itself is a pseudo-classical adapta-
tion of the older fioppiw, ' the Gorgonhead,' to a root /xcfieladat, ' to
imitate.' Of this I treat in another article. This dsinkar became
in the Georgian version atsinkan, and is the antecedent of early
Modern Greek drZiyfcavos ' Gypsy ' 3 and Hungarian acingani,
Rumanian acigani. An apocopated form of dsinkar appears in
Greece at a very early date. Ducange gives T&yapas, ' incantator,'
r^vyapca-fio'i, ' incantatio,' and this rtyiyapas is identical in meaning
with the previously mentioned rnandopolos. These words are all
from imprinted manuscripts, but Crusius 4 has proved that one of
these, De A moribus Lybistri et Rltodamnes, was written about the
1 Corpus Scriptorwm Historiae Byzantinae, Joannes Zonaras, Tom. iii., p. 308.
2 I.e., p. 49.
1709
3 Alessio da Somavera, Ttsoro della linyua italiana e greca-volgare. Parigi,
)9.
■ A. Ch. Gidel, titudes sur la lilUrature yrecque moderne, p. 170. Paris, 1866.
WELSH GYPSY FOLK-TALES 17
year 1200. The Italian Zingaro is nearer to the Pehlevi dsinkdr
than any other, but all the European related forms are easily
deducible from this or the apocopated word.
(To be continued.)
Ill— WELSH GYPSY FOLK-TALES
Collected and Edited by -John Sampson
No. 9. O Dinilo I Bakar^nsa
An early tale from Matthew Wood at Tal-y-Llyn. Variants of this wide-
spread little story from Ireland. Norway, Iceland, Burgundy, Sicily, Greece, and
India are cited in Groome's Gypsy Folk-Tales, p. 262, and Margaret Hunt's
Grimm, vol. i. pp. 264, 422. There is also a very close parallel in the pleasant
version told to a young son of a governor of Jamaica by his nurse, a Mulatto
woman, born in Antigua, which is printed in the Folk-Lore Record, vol. 3, pt. I.,
p. 51.
0 Dinilo i Bakari^nsa
'Ddi sas bita giveskb Jeer, id kusi guruvd, id trin paid.
Dinilo sas yelc pal, id alcdla dui paid wontasenas te mdr'na 1 les.
Junenas kek so te ken. Xoc' b puredir pal, " Jak, av akdi. Alee
'me jasa ki mo dir devel." "Sdrjava me 'dot?" " Av 'mensa."
" Aua me ! "
Gili te len gono. " Jd 're 'kdi." Are b gono g'as. Ak'o dui
paid pandena gono. Ake jana peni 6 dui id rigerenas 5 gono.
'Vili ke kircima. 'Gidi b gono tali, id gili are % kircima te len
dropa lovina.
Ak'o gdjo 'vela id bakarL Akavd 2 sas 're b gono. Hupisds 3 top
The Fool with the Sheep
There was a little farm-house, and a few cows and three brothers. One of the
brothers was a fool, and the other two wanted to get rid of him. They could not
think what to do. Said the eldest brother, " Jack, come here. See ! we are going
to heaven." " How can I go there ? " " Come with us." " Ay, that will I ! "
They went to fetch a sack. " Get in here." He got into the sack. The two
brothers fastened it. The two set off bearing the sack. They came to an inn.
They put down the sack and went inside for a drop of ale.
Now a stranger comes by with sheep. Our fellow in the sack shouted to him.
1 mdr'na]. Accent of rapid speech. Cp. later mer'n for merena, mer'las for
merilas.
2 Akavd]. The demonstr. pronouns take oxytone accent when used substanti-
vally, paroxytone when used adjectivally ; e.g. ok&va mars, but okord si 0 mars :
akdia rani, but akaid sas I rani.
3 Hupisds]. From Eng. " whoop."
VOL. III. — NO. I. B
IS WELSH GYPSY FOLK-TALES
lestl. "So si?" x°Z'd gdjo. "Alee mur$ jala kl mo dlr devel."
" Sdr man 1 Java me oddl." " Pird 2 tu akdva gond."
Piradds d murs o gond. Ak'o vavir 'vela 'vrl o gond. Cidds I
vavir mursis anri o gond ta pandlds les. Ak'o vavir jala %
bakarensa keri.
Vaver dul 'vena avri ta len o gond, tdjana peyl k'o dorlav.
Ucerde les are o dorlav. Ak'o dul paid 'vena pale. 'Vile po$
6 ker 'ddi-kdi 3 jivenas, ta xoc'° pureder pal I vaverhkl " Kerdsa
'kand."
Bike o vavir pal ta traZade te dikin les I bakarensa. " Kdi
'yan odula bakardn, JakV " Are 0 dorlav, dinildia!" " Av
'mensa, Jak, te sikavSs o tan kdi 'yan len."
Cidds 6 Jak o bakaren 'tre puvidtl. Ak'o trin jana peyl. " Kdi
so tan Jak ? " 'Vile o trin k'o dorlav. " Ac top akdi," x°c '° ^a^
I pureder paleskl. 'Gas kdi 4 pendds leskl, t'o Jak ucerdds les are 6
dorlav. Merlas 're o panl, ta o pdnl keradds? " So kela 'kand ? '
Xoc'o tdrneder pal. Kedelas 6 o tuleder bakaren. " Ucer man tale
manke tela tule bakaren sdr."
"What's the matter?" quoth the stranger. "Here's a man going to heaven."
"How can I go there myself?" "Open this sack." The man opened the sack.
Out comes Jack. He put the other man into the sack and fastened it up. Here
he is, going home with the sheep.
The other two came out, and they took the sack and went off to the sea. They
llung it into the water. The two brothers were coming back. They reached the
house where they lived. And said the eldest brother to the other, "We shall
manage now."
They beheld the youngest brother, and they were amazed to see him there with
the sheep. "Where didst thou get those sheep, Jack?" "In the sea, you fool."
" ( !ome with us, Jack, and show us the place where thou didst get them."
Jack put the sheep into a held. Now the three set off. " Where is the place,
Jack?" They came to the sea. "Stand here," said Jack to the eldest brother.
He stood where he was told, and Jack flung him into the sea. He was drowning
and the water was boiling around him. "What is he doing now?" said the
younger brother. " He is picking out the fattest sheep." " Throw me down before
he gets all the fat ones."
1 Man]. Ethical dative ; lit. " how to me [that] I go there."
2 Pird]. Verbs in -av commonly drop the -v in the Imperative.
s 'Doi-kdi]. The W. Gypsies generally use ddi-kdi (less often kdi, as below) to
render " where " in the sense of "at the place in which."
4 Kdi]. Cp. above, note 3.
5 Keradds]. From keravdva, 'to boil,' 'to cook.' The W. Gypsies have pre-
served part of the now disused Passive Voice of the same verb in the phrase keriola,
"it is boiling," used of a pot or kettle. Cp. Pott, i. 42S (from Bischoff) " i pyri
kerjohla Der T.[opf] kocht."
6 Kedtlas]. Read as if "[pendds 6 Jak te] keddas" etc, " [Jack replied that] he
was picking out," etc., though I translate as if " kedela."
CHRISTMAS EVE AND AFTER 19
Paldl-so ucerdds o dui paid te mern are o pani, Icere glds 6 Jak
'hand.
Oke sd !
After he had thrown his two brothers into the water to drown, Jack betook
himself home.
That is all !
IV.— CHRISTMAS EVE AND AFTER
By Thomas William Thompson
IT had rained nearly every day for a month, and no one could
remember the streets in Kendal being dirtier. ' Ay dear
me ! but isn't it mucky ? I nivver did see nowt like it i' aw
me born days ! ' was what the farmers' wives had been saying to
one another all day as they hurried about buying cards and
presents, for it was Christmas Eve. Towards evening my
friend Frank S. Atkinson and I went to visit the Gypsies who
were staying just outside the town, and it was only after a
considerable amount of floundering — ruinous alike to boots
and temper — that we eventually reached the vardos. 'Buller'
barked vigorously, but was silenced; then the chavis clustered
round us, and were leading us off to the tent, when Lavinia
looked out of her waggon, and invited us to come up and sit down.
Our hostess needs a word of introduction. She is no posh-rat, but
a real tatchi Romani chai, with the blood of the old Hemes,
Boswells, and Lovells in her veins. She is as dignified as any
queen, and as proud of her ancestors (especially her grandfather,
old Wester of famous memory) as the most poverty-stricken
aristocrat in the land. She was married at a very early age, at
least according to her own account. When she was a girl of
sixteen she had her fortune told by an old Gypsy woman — ' a real
howld witch.' This chovihani told her that in a few days she
was going to meet her tamo young mush, that his name would be
Shandres , that they would be married secretly in less than
three months, and that they would have a big family of children.
Everv item of this came true, the last no less than the others.
Meera, the eldest child, is now married, and her waggon stands
alongside her parents'. In addition, there are seven more children
20
I HRISTMAS EVE AND AFTER
Living— Hubert, Vensalena, Starkey, Diddles, Lulu, Nomas, and
Frccda— and at least one dead. This family had made a long stay
at Kendal, and consequently we had become very intimate with
them : they were our Gypsies, and we were their rais.
But ' this loitering profiteth nothing,' so let me hasten to add
that Shandres was at home, and was mending his fiddle. When
this had been successfully accomplished he very kindly consented
to play for us, and, once begun, he played on and on, passed from
one tune to another, dance-music and Christmas-carols, songs and
hymns all coming alike to him. As he remembered some almost
forgotten melody a beaming smile lit up his still handsome face,
and never Avas he more pleased than when he played and sang
a beautiful and pathetic old folk-song : —
As I passed by a willow tree, a leaf fell down and followed me ; I
kzu£n=jd
¥
^3t
j£=J.
picked itup.it would not break ; ray love passed by, he would not speak.
^:
IS
±#i±*-^—#-
=^
2. Speak, youngman, and don't be shy, You are the only one for me ; If you
±=A
— i-
r
= :
:*:
*■
jgZEjgg
*=*
can't love one you can'tlovetwo ; Never change the old one for the new.
As I passed by a willow tree,
A leaf fell down and followed me ;
I picked it up, it would not break ;
My love passed by, he would not speak.
' Speak, young man, and don't be shy,
You are the only one for me :
If you can't love one, you can't love two ;
Never change the old one for the new.
' I wish my heart was made of glass,
That you might view it through and through,
Might view the secret of my heart —
How dearly, dearly I love you.'
CHRISTMAS EVE AND AFTER 21
Then give me back that one I love,
0 ! give, 0 ! give him back to me ;
If I only had that one I love,
How happy, happy should I be.1
After Vensa (a most entrancing girl, age ' sweet seventeen and
never had a kiss,' according to her own account) had presented each
of us with a large apple as a Christmas present, we began discuss-
ing the superstitions and customs connected with the season.
They were unacquainted with the custom of burning ash wood on
Christmas Day, and we were equally ignorant of what Lavinia had
to tell us.
' I 've heard my mammy tell us many a time,' she began, ' and
we used to laugh at it when we was girls, but I 've heard her
say many a time as all the cows, and horses, and Christians
as well, goes down onto their knees on Christmas Eve. Many
a time since then, young fellow, I 've went across a field on
Christmas Eve, and seen all the hanimals a-eating with one knee
onto the ground and the hother up. And one Christmas Eve —
s' help me God ! it 's as true as that there 's into my hand — I was
a-going across a field to fetch some water, and I hadn't gone far
when down I corned onto my two flat knees. The field, sir, was as
smooth as a bowling green — but I couldn't help myself no more
nor any Christian could. The dear Lord was born then, wasn't
he ? or something like that ? '
We assured her that people said that He was born then, after
which she continued : —
' And some of the howld Romanichals used to say that you
shouldn't wash your face on Good Friday.'
' So you don't wash your faces on Good Friday ? ' we asked.
' O ! yes, we does, but that 's what they used to say, d' ye see ? '
'They used to think it was wafadi bok to wash on Good
Friday.'
As they could not think of anything else just at the time, I
began telling them various superstitions that I had heard from
one of the Gypsy Welshes who travels Cambridgeshire and Hert-
fordshire.
'You knows Aunt Lucy, old Rodney Shaw's wife,' she said.
1 There are a large number of variants of this song, which was a favourite with
the old Gypsies. It is still remembered by the Gypsies of the Eastern Counties as
well as by those of the North Country. The tune was recorded by the Misses M.
and N. Dixon of Kendal. The third and fourth verses are sung to the same tune as
verse two.
22 CHRISTMAS EVE AND AFTER
Well, she is the most superstitious owld woman as you ever set
eyes on : O my ! she is superstitious. If she was to meet a sweep
when she was going out hawking in the morning she would stop
him, shake hands with him, and then kick him as hard as ever
she could. Once she fair shamed me when I was out with her
and she did this. The sweep as well got angry with her, so she
told him all about it, how she would have good luck now.
" Well, you can kick me again if it '11 do you any good," he says to
her. " No, my dear," she says, " once is quite enough."
' Then there 's another thing about the Shaws. Years ago one
of them was going along a road, and a crow flew down and settled
just in front ; that meant that he was going to hear some news
about the Gypsies. Well, he went on a bit further, and met a
empty cart tied behind another, so now he knew that he was
going to hear that one of his relations was in prison, or going to
be put in prison. When he got home, sir, the first thing they
towld him was that Jimmy had got lel'd on suspicion for stealing
something. They kept him in prison for three days, and then the
trial came on, and he got off. Now this is something else what you
mayn't have heard of, sir. When the owld Grays used to be
travelling they always sewed a piece of bread into the inside of
their horses' collars to prevent 'em being 'witched. At one time
their horses was doing very badly, so they went to see a owld
cunning man what lived at Trapston [Thrapston] in Northampton-
shire. They axed him what they should do, and he towld 'em to
sew a bit of bread into the inside of their horses' collars. They
tried this with a owld horse what was going to die, and bit by bit
it picked up, and got well again, and ever since then they've
always sewn a bit of bread in their horses' collars.1
' And there 's another thing the owld Grays used to do when
they was travelling. If ever they passed a blacksmith's shop they
used to go in, and pick up bits of broken nails, as they thought
this would keep the mulos away.2 These cunning men, sir, was
1 It is interesting to notice that in an old book entitled ^1 Werlce for Householders,
published in London in 1537, the following passage occurs : — ■' The charmer taketh a
peee of whyt brede, and sayeth over that breade the Pater Noster, and niaketh a
crosse upon the breade ; then doth he ley that piece of breade unto the toth that
aketh, or unto any sore ; tournynge the orosse unto the sore or dysease, and so is
the person healed.' This is quoted as a footnote in Brand's Popular Antiquities.
In Westmoreland the old inhabitants regard a piece of bread as a cure for toothache.
2 Iron is almost universally regarded as all-powerful to keep away ghosts and
malignant spirits or to destroy their influence. Sir John Rhys, in Celtic Folklore
(pp. 296-7), tells how a woman living in Peel, and suffering from a swelling in the
neck, had it charmed away by an old woman, who 'brought with her no less than
CHRISTMAS EVE AND AFTER 23
queer people. They 'd sowld themselves to the devil, so as they
could do what they liked as long as they were alive. There used
to be one at Norwich, what kept a black rod, and the Gypsies used
to go once every year to get a bit of this so that they could make
any one buy from them, or give them money. But the real owld
Romanies used to carry little efts about with 'em in a bottle of
spirits to make people give them money, or buy from them.' x
Lavinia was unacquainted with most of these superstitions, but
she told us that any one carrying a piece of wheat in his pocket
could obtain anything that he wished for. Since then she has
told my friend that she sprinkled bread over Meera when she was
ill in order to bring a blessing on her.
' I was going out to a farm t'is morning,' Starkey began, ' and
the' was a frog corned and jumped right at me. I knowed as I
wasn't going to have no luck when I saw it, and I didn't neither.'
' They say it is bad luck to see a stoat running across the road
in front of you,' I added ; ' or to meet a sweep unless he is cock-
eyed— if he isn't, spit at him. Then none of the Lincolnshire
Grays will put the saddle onto a horse before the bridle, as they
think it is bad luck. One of them used to keep a tame hedgehog,
and this hedgehog learned to laugh. Every morning, as soon as
they got up, it would come and look up into their faces. Some-
times it would laugh, and sometimes it wouldn't ; if it did the}'
always had good luck that day.
' Some of them also believe that if you take a toad, stick three
pins into it, and then wish, you can do any one any harm that you
like. If you burned pins and salt, and wished, that would do just
the same.' 2
My friend now went up into Meera's waggon, whilst I wrote a
letter for Shandres to his ' dear sister and brother.' ' He hoped
that they would have a good Christmas dinner, as he would if he
possibly could, as he was going to have a hedgehog and plenty of
potatoes.'
As soon as this was finished he went out to look after the
nine pieces of iron, consisting of old pokers and old nails, and other odds and ends
of the same metal, making in all nine pieces. After invoking the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Ghost, she began to rub the girl's neck with the old irons ; nor was
she satisfied with that, for she rubbed the doors, the walls, and the furniture like-
wise, with the metal. The result, I was assured, was highly satisfactory, as she has
never been troubled with a swelling in the throat since that day.'
1 On p. 9 of In Gipsy Tents Grooine records a superstition which resembles in
some ways the one given above about the power of efts to bring money.
2 See Groome, In Gipsy Tents, pp. 13-14.
24 CHRISTMAS EVE AND AFTEB
hor es, and Lavinia, Vensa, and myself had a long talk about
fairies.
* D' ye know wli.it a fairy pipe is, young fellow ? ' Lavinia asked.
No I don't, dai, but tell me all about them.'
• Well, often as you's going along a howld footpath, or across a
ploughed field, you'll see a pipe with a dear little dotty stem onto
it. The first time I ever seen one was when I was a little girl, and
I remember my mammy brought one of these home. " Dear
mammy," I said, laughing at her like, "where did you get that
little pipe from? You can't smoke that, mammy, it'll burn your
nose." " I ain't a-going to smoke it, my dear," she says, so I towld
her to chuck it away. "You let it alone, my dear," she says.
" That 's a fairy's pipe that is, and it's got a dear little bit of
'bacca into the bottom, what the fairies has been smoking." She
wouldn't give it to me, so I axed her what she was a-going to do
with it. " Carry it about into my pocket," she says, " and then
it '11 bring me good luck." God strike me dead if th' wasn't one
of these dear little fairies' pipes into her pocket when she died, and
my sister broked it up, and dropped it into the canal along with
the bother things what belonged to her.' *
A doubt now seemed to cross her mind, and she asked :
' You know what a fairy is, don't you, young fellow ? '
I assured her that I did, and then she continued :
'Well, you know, sir, some people laughs at you, and says:
"The' is no such thing as fairies," but they're only a pack o'
1 '. . . The following story ... I find cited in Welsh by one of the Liverpool
Eisteddfod competitors : — There is in the parish of Yspythy Ifan, in Carnarvonshire,
a farm called Trwyn Swch, where eighty years ago lived a man and his wife, who
were both young and had twins born to them. Now the mother went one day to
milk, leaving the twins alone in the cradle — the husband was not at home — and who
should enter the house but one of the Tylwyth Teg. He took the twins away and
left two of his own breed in the cradle in their stead. Thereupon the mother
returned home and saw what had come to pass; she then, in her excitement,
snatched the Tylwyth Teg twins and took them to the bridge that crosses the huge
gorge of the river Conway not very far from the house, and she cast them into the
whirlpool below. By this time the Tylwyth Teg had come on the spot, some trying
to save the children, and some making for the woman. " Seize the old hag " {Crap
ar yr hen wrach!) said one of the chiefs of the Tylwyth Teg. " Too late ! " cried the
woman on the edge of the bank ; and many of them ran after her to the house. As
they ran three or four of them lost their pipes in the field. They are pipes
ingeniously made of the bluestoue (carreg las) of the gully. They measure three or
four inches long, and from time to time several of them have been found near the
cave of Trwyn Swch. This is the first indication which I have discovered that the
fairies are addicted to smoking.'— Celtic Folklore, by Sir J. Rhys.
!t is interesting to note that Lavinia was born at Mold in North Wales, and so
was Meera her eldest child. A large part of her girlhood was passed in Lancashire
and Cheshire, but she has not been in Wales now for about twenty years.
CHRISTMAS EVE AND AFTER 25
hignerant fools. The's fairies just as much as the's Christians.
. . . D' ye know what fairy butter is, sir ? '
'No.'
Well, it sticks onto howld trees such as black thorn in lumps
about as big as the knob what 's onto that stove there, and it has a
shell onto it like a hegg shell'
4 No, mammy, it 's not that shape,' Vensa interrupted.
' Hush, Solomon, you always knows everything, and you knows
nothing,' her dai replied very much annoyed. 'It's more like a
mushroom stalk than anything else, sir, only it's thicker, d'ye
see ? The hend is round like a ball, and into the inside of the
shell the's some stuff what just looks like butter.'
' Can you eat it, mammy ? ' Lulu chimed in.
' What stuff you are talking, boy ! In course you can't eat it.'
' Can fairies eat it, mammy ? ' he persisted.
' Yes, Isaac, fairies eats it.'
'Oh these little bengal' Vensa ejaculated. ' Lulu, s' help me
God ! I '11 mor leste. Go on, mammy, and tell the rai about it.'
' Well, young fellow, I 've heard my dear mammy say many a
time as this fairies' butter was the luckiest thing into the world,
and often and often I 've had bits into my pocket, or into the
vardo to bring us good luck.' 1
Lavinia stopped as she saw that I was busy writing, politely
waited until I had finished, and then continued : —
' And they says, young fellow, as if you puts little babies'
napkins out onto the grass, the fairies comes and walks over them,
and makes them all roughy.'
We paid the penalty for discussing such troublesome things as
babies, for Freeda wakened up shortly afterwards, and engrossed
her dais attention, so that all serious business for the evening was
at an end. Presently we took our leave, Vensa accompanying us
down the field, and telling us a delightful little story on the way.
' Once the' was a Gypsy man called Lee staying by the side of
the road, and he was just cooking some snails when up comes a
policeman.
' " What you doing here ? " he axes very roughly.
' " Nothing, sir," says the Gypsyman very politely.
1 '. . . In Northumberland the common people call a certain fungous excres-
cence, sometimes found about the roots of old trees "Fairy Butter." After great
rains, and in a certain degree of putrefaction, it is reduced to a consistency which,
together with its colour, makes it not unlike butter, and hence its name.' — ttrand's
Popular Antiquities, chap, on Fairy Mythology.
26 CHRISTMAS EVE AND AFTER
'" What 's them you've got in that pan?"
'" Bauris, sir."
■ ■• Wliut the devil's bavwisV
' " Snails, sir."
'"To hell with you and your snails. Just get a move on at
once, d'ye hear '. "
"'The dear Lord forgive you, sir, for cursing his dear wittles."
II
Durine all the rough weather which followed Christmas we
visited our friends regularly and frequently. They seemed to bear
the cold remarkably well, and although the tent was blown over
one night in a snow-blizzard, they did not complain, but regarded
it as one of the best jokes in the world. The next really memor-
able visit (to me) was on January 11, when I went alone. I had
been out in the country all day since breakfast, and consequently
was very hungry when I turned up at the Romany tan at about
4 P.M., so I asked Miss Vensa to make me a 'dear little drop of
tea.' Nothing could have pleased her better, and soon she was
bustling about with surprising energy.
' Lulu, go and ax Meera if she 's got any milk ; Ave 've used all
ours, tell her. Oh ! Will, the' isn't a bit of butter either. Here,
you there, Nomas, go and ax Meera if she can let us have a bit of
butter till to-night. Where 's daddy's big cup at, mammy ? '
' Under the bed, my dear, tied up into a howld curtain,' her
dai answered. A beautiful large cup was produced.
' What a fine cup that is, Vensa ! '
' Yes, they costs four and six each at Southport. We used to
have a lot of 'em, but these children broked 'em all. Now then,
you little bengs, go down into the tent a bit till the rai has his tea.
Dear mammy, send 'em down into the tent, (They go reluctantly.)
Here, my dear 'pal, your tea's ready now.'
1 was hungry, and ate away steadily, but I wanted to talk at
the same time. However, Lavinia would have none of it. ' Go on,
young fellow, and get your tea, and never mind talking,' was her
constant advice, or command. Vensa, too, was kept unnaturally
quiet, and she heaved a sigh of relief as she saw me lighting my
pipe. ' Have you finished your wittles,' she asked. The mention
of the word ' wittles' reminded me of Lee, the policeman, and the
CHRISTMAS EVE AND AFTER 27
snails. This in turn reminded me that Fennimore Shaw — one of
old Rodney's sons — had told me that the Gypsies regarded snails
as an infallible cure for consumption. I asked Lavinia about this.
• Yes, that 's quite right, my dear ; they 're the best thing into
the world,' she answered.
' Finny also told me about a relation of his — a dear little
boy — who was suffering from whooping-cough. They brought
the doctor to him, but he couldn't do him any good, so what
do you think they did ? They caught a dormouse, cooked it,
and then gave it to the little boy, telling him that it was a piece
of bird, because he would not have eaten it if he had known
what it really was. He ate some of this " bird," got better and
better, and was soon quite well again. Finny said that nearly all
the old Gypsies used dormice to cure whooping-cough, but some
of them use fried mice instead.' 1
' Well, we don't use dormice for whooping-cough, young fellow ;
we uses them if a chave will muter adre the wudrus, d' ye under-
stand ? We just give it the back legs, but in course we don't let
on what it is.'
' What do you use for whooping-cough, da i 1 '
' Watercress is a very good thing, sir, with a little bit of that
brown sugar what you uses to put onto bacon, and some honey
mixed with it. And I '11 tell you what 's a good thing for croup
but riesty bacon fat fried down, and afore it resolves add some
pepper and vinegar ; it opens the pipes of the lungs, d' ye see.'
I next told them a story which originated with old Lucy
Shaw.
' Once the' was a poor dear little Gypsy girl in a big hospital,
and her mammy went to see her. The little girl said she would
like a bit of hotchi to eat, as she thought it would make her
better. So her mammy went home, roasted a hedgehog, put the
back legs in a little basket, and covered it with a nice white
cloth. Then she went to the hospital. She rang a bell, and a
nurse corned to the door, and axed her what she wanted.
'" I 've brought something for my little girl," she says.
' " Well, what is it you 've got ? "
' " A bit of hotel ki-witchi, ma'am."
1 Pliny, in his Natural History, viii. § 223, mentions a censorial law prohibiting
the eating of dormice ; he also says (/. c. xxx. § 86) that a decoction of the fat of
dormice and shrewmice was held to be most useful for those who feared paralysis.
In Scotland, in the eighteenth century, dormice were eaten as a cure for whooping-
cough.
28 (il IMS! MAS EVE AND AFTER
1 " Whatever 'a that?"
' " Oh ! it's a kind of bird, ma'am ? "
' " Yes, but what 's its proper name ? "
'" I couldn't say rightly what you would call it, ma-am, but we
always calls it hotchi-witchi. Just taste it, my dear, and see if it
isn't good."
' So the nurse, she takes it out of the basket, tastes it, and
likes it. After that she gives it to the little girl, and she gets
better again.'
' Yes, hedgehogs is very nice things when you 're ill, young
fellow, but they don't do you no good, and I '11 tell you for why.
They're too much like your ordinary wittles, d'ye see? and when
you 're ill you wants something quite different.'
' What about squirrels, dai ? When one of the Shaws was
very ill they gave him roast squirrels, and he got better after the
doctors had given him up. He had some kind of fever.'
' Well, squirrels would be better 'an hedgehogs, but we never
uses them. The Gypsies does use hedgehogs' fat though to put
in their ears if they have earache, or can't hear well.'
•' And around Cambridge many of them use it to make their
hair dark and soft.'
' What you should use for that, young fellow, is rum and beef
marrow, and lard. That keeps your hair clean, makes it glossy,
and turns any grey hairs black again, but it mustn't have no salt
into it. Then the 's another thing, young fellow ; if you wants to
make anybody grow fat — say a boy or a girl as won't thrive —
d' ye know what to do with them ? You would get some linseed ;
then buy a pennyworth of black Spanish, resolve it in water, and
take half; then buy a penny lemon, and put the juice to the
linseed and the Spanish; give them one wine glass at a time,
and if that doesn't make them fat, nothing will.' 1
' What 's that stuff what 's into a paper behind that picture,
mammy ?' Vensa asked.
' Just get it down, my dear. That there, young fellow, brought
me alive again when I was dead — the doctors couldn't do nothing
for me. It 's the dear God's truth what I 'm a-telling you, sir,
and I '11 tell you what it is but the buds of the flowers what
1 Adelaide Lee gave me the following recipe to make me grow fat : Take eight
young oysters, cover them with a red cloth, and sprinkle flour on the cloth. Leave
these for two or three days, and then swallow three of them each morning, taking
care not to chew them. Always keep eight oysters under the cloth by replacing
thosr which have been eaten by others.
CHRISTMAS EVE AND AFTER 29
grows onto helderberry trees. You picks them, and dries them,
and then steeps them in boiling water, and they're very good
for pains in your chest, or your back. Here, Vensa, just give
me a bit of paper, and I '11 give him some into his pocket. And
d'ye know what " Robin-under-the-hedge " is ? — " Mouse's ears "
we sometimes calls it.'
' It grows with a dear little dotty flower onto a long stem, and
has a three-cornered leaf with a little white dot in the middle.'
Vensa added.
' Well, that 's a very good thing for a cowld, sir,' Lavinia con-
tinued. ' And another thing as 11 cure a cowld or a sore throat is
a piece of brown paper tied round your neck, and covered with
fat from a cow's kidneys, and snuff.'
Next Vensa held out a very suspicious-looking bottle towards
me, and remarked : ' Here, my dear pal, you just taste this.' I
read the label: 'Martell's Three Star Brandy,' and then tasted.
' Ugh ! ! Do you mean to drab me ? What in the name of all
that 's nasty is this ? '
' It 's something my daddy is taking to make him eat. What
is it, dear mammy ; I can't remember.'
' Well, young fellow, the 's wormwood into it — that 's to make
him eat; and camomile flowers and buckbean — them's for his
kidneys.'
1 You do knoAV a lot about flowers and herbs, dai ! '
' Well, you know, my dear, the' isn't a flower or a herb what
grows what isn't good for something, and in summer I spends
many an hour looking into the bottom of the hedges, and into the
banks. The 's them brooms, sir, what grows onto the roadside with
bright yellow flowers— they 're a good thing for the dropsy. The's
two kinds of 'em — maidens' brooms and gentlemen's brooms — but
it doesn't matter which you gets.'
' And there 's ragweed, dai, that grows in poor pasture fields ;
it has a yellow flower, and a very nasty smell. The Gypsies in
the eastern counties collect this, and make it into an ointment for
dressing wounds, or taking down swellings.1
' Do you know how to make your hand stop bleeding when
you cut it?' Vensa asked, and, as I said that I did not, she con-
tinued : 'you get one of those big plantain leaves, make it hot in
front of the fire, and then clap it hard onto the place what's
bleeding. And when my daddy cuts himself when he 's shaving he
uses those fuzz-balls what grows into fields like mushrooms ; they
30 CHRISTMAS EVE AND AFTER
go brown when they gets owld, and it's that brown poAvder stuff
like snuff what he uses.'
'You knows what " tarment " is, young fellow?' Lavinia
asked. Ii grows onto commons and places like that; it has a
little yellow flower growing onto a long stalk, and it runs along
the ground like a straAvberry.'
' Yes, I know what you mean, dai ; " tormentil " we call it.'
' Well, that 's a splendid thing for pains in your kidneys, or
swelling in your legs. Raspberry leaves and strawberry leaves,
they 're a good thing for a woman what 's been confined.'
1 How would you cure toothache ? ' I asked.
1 Well,' Vensa answered, ' you would get some poppy heads,
some camomile flowers, some sage, and some thyme, and put some
hot water onto them, and then steam your face.'
' Did you ever eat poppy heads ? ' Lavinia asked. ' We often
does — just the dried seeds out of 'em, d'ye see? and they're a
good thing for sending babies to sleep with too.'
I asked how they would cure warts, and Lavinia answered :
' The 's two ways of curing them, sir. One way is to boil
'taters with their skins on, and howld your hand into the brown
froth what 's onto the top. The hother is to get a piece of raw
meat, put it onto the wart, and leave it there a good time. Then
put it in a damp place, and leave it to rot, and as it rots your
warts will go away.'
' A poslt-rat told me another way of curing them, dai. You
get a piece of string, and tie as many knots in it as you have
warts. Then take your string and burn it, watching it as it burns,
and as each knot disappears, one wart will disappear, until they
are all gone.'
Lavinia went on to tell us that when they cut the back legs off
frogs in France two more grew at once ; and that there were no
froars in Ireland because St. Patrick had banished them all.
' Now that 'minds me of something else,' she continued. ' It 's
years and years ago since it happened, as I was only a little girl
;a the time. We was staying near Wigan, and the' was some more
people staying along with my daddy's lot. One of these hother
people wus very bad with phlegm onto his chest, and into his
throat. One day he goes and catches a dear little dotty frog, no
bigger nor what would go into a thimble, and he ties a bit of
strong thread onto one of its back legs, and keeps on letting it go
down his throat and pulling it up again. It's the dear God's
CHRISTMAS EVE AND AFTER 31
truth he did, young fellow, and it cleared the phlegm out of his
throat bootiful, but we wouldn't do such a thing as that.'
Soon after this Vensa and I went down into the tent to
Starkey and the chavis, and a rare noise we made. I was very
loath to tear myself away from them, but as Starkey very kindly
offered to go part of the way with me I managed to get away by
nine o'clock. I had four miles to go, but as the weather had
cleared up a little we quite enjoyed our walk. After Starkey had
asked me if I thought that there was such a thing as the devil, we
began discussing horse-doctoring as practised by the Romanichals.
' Say you had a howld horse as was going grey,' he began, in
answer to my question as to how he would ' fake ' an old horse so
as to make it look like a stag, 'you would clean its teeth first
with plenty of salt and water, or if they was very brown you
might use some soot; perhaps you might just touch them up a
bit with a file. Next you would brush it well all over, and then
clip it. Then you would get some stuff" of the right colour — a
kind of paint it is — and a little paint-brush, and paint every white
hair you could see. Then give it a lot of turnips and wet grass to
make it nice and big, d'ye dik ? plait its tail and mane with clean
straw, put it a new halter on, and then it would be ready for the
fair.'
' What 's the stuff' you use to colour its hair, Starkey ? '
' I don't know, Will, but my father does — he 's got it written
down onto a piece of paper.'
( The Gypsies round Cambridge use Potassium Permanganate
if they have a horse with grey eyebrows, or anything like that.
They have a very simple way, too, of making an old thin horse
look nice and fat. A day or two before the fair they make it
swallow a lot of salt, which makes it so thirsty that it drinks
gallons of water, and swells itself out beautifully. Then to make
them look sprightly they have all kinds of tricks. Sometimes
they rub their hamstrings with half a brick, and then rub in
turpentine — that 's a grand thing for a lazy horse. Again, some
of them pour a bottle of soda-water into the horse's ears, both to
get it up if it lies down, and to make it prick up its ears and
look smart. If a horse is frightened of noises they put balls of
lead in its ears, and tie them there with a piece of ribbon which is
the same colour as the horse's hair.'
I then told him of the trick, mentioned in Romany Rye
of making a horse swallow a small live eel. Like all Gypsies
;;_> CHRISTMAS EVE AND AFTER
to whom L have mentioned the trick, he was unacquainted with
it. None of them look upon it with favour, and two or three
have ex [tressed the opinion that the eel would eat out the horse's
inside, and kill it in a day or two.
' If you had a mad horse what kicked and bited, what would
you do with it ? ' Starkey asked.
' Give it a gallon of ale.'
' That is a good thing, but laudanum 's far better ; x it '11 make
the maddest kicker as quiet as a lamb. And if you had a big,
ugly white horse, what you wanted to sell for a lot of money, you
would clip it well first ; then get some walnuts, and press them
down against the horse's hair, and screw them round so that they
left a lot of brown spots onto it about as big as half-crowns, but
not all the same shape, d'ye see ? Then you would sell it for a
dappled horse, and get a lot of money for it.'
' And what about a pogado bavolengro, Starkey ? '
' Well, for one of them you gets a lot of that thin paper they,
puts lard into, and makes it up into little balls — not round ones,
but longish ones like sausages. You would make the horse
swallow these, and then turn it out for all night into a field where
the' was plenty of long wet grass. If you gived it anything in
the morning you should make it all wet first. And another thing
what '11 set a horse is them big golden beans. You puts them into
a bucket of water for all night, and then gives them to the horse
in the morning. At one fair we sometimes goes to — Rosley Hill,
I think it is — the 's a field where they let us put our horses
and a broken-winded horse 11 set of itself if you put it into this
field. The's hardly any more grass onto the field than the' is
onto the middle of the road here ; but we can't find the herb that
makes them set, although we've looked for hours every time
we 've sfone.'
I interrupted him to say that many of the Gypsies used starch
and paragone (?) for broken- winded horses, after which he con-
tinued :
' If you had a horse what had got a lame leg or lame foot, and
you didn't want nobody to know, you would put a little stone
into the tother foot just beside the frog — not into the one what 's
lame, d'ye dik ? That would make it lame of both feet, and it
1 One of Isaac Heron's descendants has since told me that yew leaves are some-
times used in place of laudanum. Two leaves, well dried and crumbled in the hands,
arc administered in a large double-handful of best oats.
THE WORD 'ROM' 33
would walk as if it wasn't lame at all. The worst thing though
that you can have is a nokengro. The' is no real cure for them.
The best thing is to put some bran into a bag, with some hot
water onto it, and then put the horse's head into the bag, and
let it steam.1 You know them vets, when they has a horse
what 's got the strangles, they uses a thing like a hedgehog onto
a stick.'
He finished his account of horse-doctoring by telling me that
the sovereign remedy for a swelling caused by a kick, or any-
thing like that, was to put on a hot water bandage, and then a
cold water bandage over. ' Tom Young, he has a horse 'at 's just
like a crocerdile when it walks, it's got such a big lump onto
its leg. Well, I towld him to try this, but he wouldn't ; he only
tied a bit of straw around, and now the lump 's twice as big as
it was.'
V.— THE WORD 'ROM'
By Albert Thomas Sinclair
THE Gypsies in Europe and America universally call themselves
Rom, or Rum. This word, however, is not so used by Gypsies
in Asia, nor in Africa, except by some who have wandered over from
Europe. In Armenia and the Kaukasus some, comparatively few
in numbers, call themselves Bum, Dom, Lorn, the same word as
Rom. Gypsiologists have taken it for granted that the Romane
brought this word with them from their original home in the east,
and a volume would hardly contain all that has been written in
endeavouring to trace its origin.
Professor Ferdinand Justi once began a letter to me with these
words : ' Die Folgerungen, welche man aus sprachlichen Beobach-
tungen fur ethnographischen Verhaltnisse ziehen kann, haben sich
schon oft als unsicher, oder tauschend ergeben, so dass man hier
sehr vorsichtig sein muss. Besonders scheint es mir misslich, die
Zigeunersprache, fur solche Untersuchungen oder Schlusse zu
benutzen, weil die Zigeuner iiberall wo sie gewandert sind ihren
Sprachschatz bereichert haben, und weil in vielen Fallen nicht
1 Dr. Ranking tells me that the usual Gypsy remedy for glanders is to fill the
horse's nostrils with nettles. These are removed the next morning, and after the
phlegm has been washed out the animal may safely be guaranteed as sound — for
tweuty-four hours.
VOL. III. — NO. I. C
:; I THE WORD ' ROM '
soglcich deutlich ist, ob ein Wort echt indisch-zigeunerisch, oder
aus einer mit den indischen verwandten arischen, oder indo-
germanischen Sprachen entlehnt ist.' This admonition should be
borne in mind in discussing the word Rom. One must be cautious
and consider whether it may not have been borrowed on the way,
and never brought from the east. For an important fact has been
generally overlooked. There are to-day in European and Asiatic
Turkey millions of people, not Gypsies, who call themselves by
this same word, and to whom it is applied by all Arabs, Turks,
Persians, Hindus, and others, and this has been the case for two
thousand years.
The Byzantine Empire, also styled the East Roman, Eastern,
or Greek Empire, was founded in 395 a.d., and was brought to a
close on May the 29th, 1453, when Mohammed n. captured
Constantinople. During this period the Greeks called themselves
' Romans,' 'Pw/xatot (Lat. Romdnl)} At first its territory included
Syria, Asia Minor and Pontus, Egypt, Thrace, Moesia (now Bul-
garia), Macedonia, Greece, and Crete, but it varied in extent at
different periods. The whole empire during much of its existence
was rich, populous, and filled with large cities and a pleasure-
loving people.2 Among the population were many millions of
Greeks, calling themselves ' Romans.'
Persian and Arabic writers, even Firdusi and Tabari, used Rum
as a general designation for the Byzantine Empire,3 and the word
appears everywhere, not only in large lexicons, but also in
colloquial phrase-books.4
1 Dictionary of Roman and Byzantine. Greek, 146 B.C. to A.D. 1100. By E. A.
Sophocles. 1870. Introduction p. 10.
2 The magnificence of the Greek civilisation in Asia Minor is shown by the
immense ruins scattered all over the district. In one of the wildest regions now
found in Kurdistan, the Bohtan, are seen such ruins, each several square miles in
extent. In one, houses and a church were dug out of the solid rock in the side of
a mountain. The inscriptions are Greek, and show themselves to be since the
Christian era. One of the ruins is at Hazru, another at Maya Tarkin, or Farkin,
and there are others in the region.
3 See Prof. A. W. Williams Jackson, Zoroaster, pp. 88, 157, 216. De Goeje,
Mtmoire sur lea migration* des Tsiganes a travers VAaie, p. 31. Leide, 1903.
4 Steingass, Pers.-Eng. Diet., rami ^, . ' Roman,' ' Greek,' ' Turkish ' ; rami,
'Greek'; rum ^,. 'Greece'; rumluzangl, 'Greek and Ethiopian.' Wollaston,
Eng.-Pcrs. Diet. (p. 1479), 'a Greek,' yandnl JU»J > rami ,~**j I 'Greece,'
yundn ^Ij »J > rum + ^ ; 'Turkey' (p. 1483), mrdk-i-rum *.. CLXL< (land of
Turks); 'a Roman' (p. 1102), ahl-i-rum *. , J^l (a native of Rum), adj. rumi,
^..5 'Romish' (p. 1103), adj. rami ,«, , , ramdni jU. . ; 'Greek'
THE WORD ' ROM ' 35
During the Byzantine period, and for some centuries after, it
was considered an honour, even by the Turks, to be called a Rum,
and all the people in what is now European Turkey and a large
part of Asia Minor were so termed. The Turkish Admiral, Sidi
Ali Rei's, who visited India, Afghanistan, Central Asia, and Persia
in the sixteenth century, called himself Rum with pride.
' Wherever he goes,' said his translator, ' and whatever he sees,
Rum (Turkey) always remains in his eyes the most beautiful, the
richest, and the most cultured land of the whole world.' l He was
known under the fictitious name of Kiatibi Rum, or ' Turkish
writer.' One day the Emperor (in Hindustan) asked him whether
Turkey was larger than India, and he said, ' If by Turkey your
Majesty means Rum proper (i.e. the province of Sivas2), then
India is decidedly the larger. But if by Turkey you mean all the
lands subject to the ruler of Rum, India is not by a tenth part as
large.'
To-day the word Rum, Rom (since in Turkish, Arabic, Persian,
and Hindustani the same letter , represents u and 6) is used
generally in a more restricted sense than formerly. It is applied
by Orientals to all Greeks, about two million in number, who are
not natives of Greece, and in a still narrower sense to members of
(p! 499), sub. and adj., yunanl ,jlj»J » rfandnl ^jLc , . Shakespeare, Hindustani
Diet. (p. 2310), 'Greece,' yilnan, rum ; ' Grecian,' sub. or adj., rfiml ; A. *« , rum,
'Rome,' 'the Turkish Empire,' 'Greece,' ' Romelia,' 'Asia Minor' (p. 1199);
A. .\j ».< yuncln, ' Ionia,' ' Greece ' (p. 2223) ; A. j\j ^ yunanl, adj., ' Grecian,'
sub. m., 'a Grecian'; 'Turkey' (the country), "rum; 'Turkish Empire,' rum
(p. 2399). Cameron, Egypt. -Arab. -Eng. Diet., rum, pi. arwam J\,j\ , ^
'a Greek Christian,' also ruml ^c. , ; 'Romish,' 'Greek Church,' Rum ^, , ;
Rum ,4, ' Byzantium,' ' the Roman Empire of the East,' ' Asia Minor,' ' a part
, of Asia Minor' (p. 109); Yoncln ^UjJ 'Greek Ionia,' 'Greece,' 'the Greeks'
(p. 319). Belot, Arab.-French Diet., 'Byzantine,' 'Greek,' rum, pi. arwam
*\* j) , a. j (p- 280) ; so ruml, rumlydh &.f..<,j , ij^JJ ' ^^ Ynndn ^V ' uV.
'the Greek nation'; Yuncini C3U».' ' a Greek,' 'a Hellen.' Meyer, Conv. Diet-
Arab.-Ge.rm., ' Orthodox Greek,'' rum ; ' a Greek, ruml, yunanl, etc. Rosen, Colloq.
Pers.-Gr. (p. 392), ' Turkey,' Khak-l-Rum *». cJU- (laud of Turks).
1 Travels and Adventures of the Turkish Admiral, Sidi AH Reis, in India, Afghan-
istan, Central Asia, and Persia, 1553 to 1556 A.D. Translated from the Turkish
by A. Vambery. London : Luzac and Co., 1899.
2 ' Our author means by Sivas, the old seat of the Osmans ; but ia India and
Central Asia Rum is generally understood to stand for the west, and more particularly
for the Ottoman Empire. ' (Quoted from Vambery, Note e. )
36 THE WORD 'ROM '
the Orthodox Greek Church in European Turkey, Africa, and
Asia, but not to those in Greece. In Greek the words Rom&os
t ' I Vo/xato?), Romlds ('Pcu/^o?), which mean ' Roman,' are applied to
Turkish Greeks. For an inhabitant of Greece proper different
words are employed. The Turks use Yundnl, Yunanli, and the
Greeks "EWrjv, vulgar Greek "EWrjvas (Hellin, Hellinas); for the
country 'Greece' they say Yundn y \j •_> and 'EWds (Hellas),
respectively.1 Yundn is from the Arabic and means ' Ionia.' The
Turkish Government also styles all Christians, and even Pro-
testants, Rum in their travelling Teskere. I have myself asked a
hundred Syrian Arabs ' Int Rum,' and the answer has come back
'And Ram' ('Are you a RumV — 'I am a Rum'). They were
Greek Catholics, of whom there are 60,000 or more in Syria.
Very often also have I heard the same word used in conversation
for a Turkish Greek.
Only the Gypsies of European Turkey and those derived from
them call themselves Rum. The name is not applied to them-
selves in Asia or Africa by the Gypsies.2 De Goeje quotes two
cases which seem to be exceptions to this statement.3 One, Doum
(Doumdn), was given by Captain Newbold as used by Aleppo
Gypsies. The word was not collected by Captain Newbold himself,
but by another, and was Doumdn not Doum. The Captain
expressly states that he himself never heard or found this word,
nor Rom, used by or for any Oriental Gypsies. Sir Richard
Burton, who has incorporated this fact in his book on the Gypsies,
makes the same assertion. Burton also states ' that Nawar,
Rumeli, and Chinganeh are all the same Gypsies.'4 The word
1 Youssouf, Turk. -French Diet., Bum ^, . ' Roman," Byzantine Greek,' ' Modern
Greek of Turkey ' (p. 485) ; Yundn A... 'Greece'; Yunani \> ^ 'a Greek of
Greece'; Yunanli, Ajljy 'an inhabitant of Greece' (p. 629); Roma l.<t , 'Rome
(p. 484); Rmni, adj., ^, , 'what appertains to the Romans, to the Byzantine
i i reeks, or to the Modern Greeks of Turkey ' (p. 486). Ruzicka-Ostoic, Turk. -Germ.
Diet., Rum, Rumlii, Urum, 'a Greek'; Rum, Roma, Rama, 'Rome' (p. 369);
Yundn, 'Old Greece' (p. 180). Karl Wied, Turk. Gram. (p. 168), 'a Greek of
Greece,' Yunanli ; 'a Greek who is a Turkish subject,' rum. Petraris, Neiv Greek-
Germ. Diet., Germ. -Greek part, 'a Greek,' "EXX^, vulg. "EXX^p as ; ' a New Greek,'
"Pw/xwds ; ' Greece,' 'EXXds : Greek-Germ, part (p. 429), Pu/icuos, ' a Roman ' (p. 430) ;
Pci/xr;, ' Rome,' vul. 'Pufinos, 'a New Greek.' See also p. 314. Paspati, 'Pw/xaioi,
' the Byzantines,' p. 21. In conversation Greeks say for a Turkish Greek, Romeos,
Romiikos, sometimes Romeds ; and for one from Greece, Hellin, Hellinda ; and for
Greece, HUlds.
- MacRitchie, The Gypsies of India, p. 43. London, 1886.
'J De Goeje, M6moire sur les migrations des Tsiganes, p. 69. Leide, 1903.
4 Burton, The Jew, the Gypsy, and El Islam, p. 217. London, 1898.
THE WORD ' ROM ' 37
Rumeli is simply Turkish Greek (Ruz.-Os. Diet., p. 369, Rum
' Rumlii, etc.). Burton also gives Rumeh as a word for Gypsies :
! ' Kurbat, Rumeh, Jinganeh.' Rumeh is ' Rome ' in Arabic.1 In
i the same book it is stated (p. 231) that 'Consul E. T. Rogers of
Damascus, during two years' residence and long travelling, never
heard any such word as Dumi. Neither did Captain Newbold nor
Sir Richard himself,' though he was at one time consul in
1 Damascus. Extensive enquiries by myself, verbally and by letter,
from native and European residents of Aleppo, Damascus, Bagdad,
and many other cities and towns in Asiatic Turkey, as well as in
'■ Egypt and Persia, have led without exception to the same con-
clusion. No Gypsies out of Europe and America call themselves
1 Rom or Ram, except European Gypsies who have wandered from
their home.2 Armenian and Kaukasian Gypsies often use the
I word Dilm or Lorn, formed by the common interchange of r and I
or I and d, as in Luli and Luri, or Das, ' ten,' which in Afghan
is las.
Another explanation of de Goeje's word is not improbable.
There is a city Douma (Duma) of about 4000 inhabitants, distant
one day's ride from Beirut. Many Gypsies, I am informed by a
native, winter there, and, in their summer circuit, would probably
visit Aleppo and call themselves Douman (Dumdni), as does
every inhabitant of Douma. Two or three bands of Turkish
Gypsies from Europe camp outside the city every year and give
shows and musical performances.
In Turkestan, Persia, and Beluchistan, Gypsies do not call
themselves Rom or any variation of the word.
The mere similarity or even identity of words cannot, however,
settle the origin of the word Rom, Rum. The Rumanians call
their country Romania, and themselves Romanl, which is
' Romans.' There are thousands of Gypsies there now, and if it
were a fact that the Gypsies originated there (but it is not), we
1 Belot, French-Arabic Dictionary, p. 654, ' Rome,' Rumeh A,«.j , Roman,'
Rumdnl jb«',.
2 In Syria the Rev. Harvey Porter, D.D., Professor in the Syrian Protestant
College, Beirut, for some years studied the Gypsies there for me, many of his
students assisting him. On May the 14th, 1900, he wrote : ' The word Rum or Rami,
by which you think they call themselves, is the word used in Arabic for ' Modern
Greek,' and conies from ' Rome' ; since, when the Arabs came in contact with the
Greeks, the Roman Empire still existed in the East. The word can have no
significance as indicating the origin of the Gypsies.' He also states that Syrian
Gypsies do not apply this word to themselves so far as he can learn.
38 THE WORD ' ROM '
should bo sure that the Gypsy word Roman6 was simply ' Romans.'
We must, however, consider all the facts and conditions which
environ the word.
That the Gypsies had ample opportunities for picking up the
word Rom, if they did not bring it with them, is evident from the
fact that their language has a large number of Greek words,
and must therefore have been subjected for a long time to the
influence of a Greek community.1 This, however, does not
necessarily mean Greece; indeed, probably not, but rather the
whole Byzantine empire, not only in Europe, but in much of Asia
Minor, which contained millions of Greeks. The whole district
of Byzantine influence in Asia was rich, and likely to favour the
presence of people like the Gypsies. Such considerations have
not been generally, if at all, taken into consideration. Long
before the Christian era this territory had a large Greek-speaking
population, particularly on the coasts. Gypsy could as well have
been subjected to Greek influences here as in Europe.
When the Gypsies first came to these regions history does not
tell us. We can only judge and infer. If it be true that the
Gypsy word Rom is the same as, and came from, Romani,
' Romans,' such a fact would perhaps tend to show a greater
antiquity for them in Byzantine Asia than has been supposed.
And this is the view which occurs at once to those on the
spot. They say that Rom is a word used in European Turkey
for the Greeks there now, and during many centuries for all the
inhabitants of that district. ' The Gypsies were there too, and
naturally applied the same name to themselves. Why go to India
for the word ? ' they ask. I have never been able to give an
answer which satisfied any of them.2 One English officer took a
1 It is to be noticed that in the Constitution of Catalonia, 1512 a. d., Gypsies
are mentioned as 'Bohemians and fools, styled Bohemians, Greeks, and Egyptians'
(J.G.L.S., Old Series, i. 37). Bataillard also says that in 1512 some Gypsies
alleged they were Greeks.
2 The Rev. J. Henry House, D.D., an American Missionary in Salonika, sug-
gested in a letter of August the 19th, 1901, that ' the name "Rome" (Bom), which
they give themselves, would indicate that they thought they were of Roman origin.'
The Rev. Lewis Bond, American Missionary in Monastir, wrote on October the
8th, 1901, 'The Gypsies here call themselves Borne pronounced Bom. My opinion
is this Rom is the same as Boom, which is the word always used by the Turks for
a Christian subject. The Turks call Greeks Boom, and in making out a travel-
ling Teskere for any Christian he is entitled as a Boom, that is, as a Greek
Orthodox. Even Protestants are thus entered.' The Rev. Robert Thomson, an
American Missionary in Samokov, Bulgaria, wrote to me on August the 24th, 1901,
that 'the Gypsies of Bulgaria and Rumelia call themselves Bumi, or Boml, an
abbreviation of Bomani, which is just "Romans."' That 'they call the TurkB
THE WORD 'ROM' 39
facetious view of my insistence that the Gypsies brought Rum
with them from their original home. He told me, and also wrote
that he felt confident, that if I considered the matter enough I
should find that word had exactly the same origin as the Arabic
dik Rnml (a turkey).
A possible connection between the Gypsy Rom and Rome has
of course, been entertained not infrequently.1 Whiter suggested
it ; and Borrow evidently regarded it as possible. In the introduc-
tion to his Zincali he says, indeed, ' there is no reason for
supposing that the word Roma or Rommany is derived from the
Arabic word which signifies Greece or Grecians, as some people
not much acquainted with the language of the race in question
have imagined.' But in the introduction to Lavengro he main-
tains that ' The meaning of Romany Chals is lads of Rome or
Rama; Romany signifying that which belongs to Rama or
Rome : ' and he frequently translated Gypsy Romano by ' Roman.'
Groome quoted Lucretia Boswell, who regarded Romani as
equivalent to 'Roman woman,' and Crofton asked, 'Does Romani
signify Roumanian ? ' 2
Are there any Indian words from which our word Rom could
be descended ? A few suggestions have been made, and much has
been written on this question. Childers's Pali Dictionary gives
words similar in form whose meaning might be supposed to be
appropriate, for instance, Ramano, ' pleasing,' ' charming,' Ramanl,
' a woman.' And when we find also so many clear Gypsy words, —
chirus, time ; choro, thief ; chapo, child ; baro, great ; aggi, fire ;
qkki, eye ; angaro, charcoal ; attlia, eight (Gyp. ota) ; taruno,
young (Gyp. tamo); tulo, fat; tilcno, sharp, small; daso, slave
(Gyp. Das, Dacian Slave) ; divaso, day ; dukklto, painful ; duro,
Horahdl, or Orhdi, from Orhan, the first of the Turks to pass into Europe.' Orhan
(1326-1359) gained a footing in Europe by the taking of Gallipuli and other fort-
resses on the coast. This use of Orh.Cn may be significant of the early presence of
Gypsies there. These letters sufficiently illustrate the views of many people living
in the Orient, who have written and told me the same thing. They are familiar
with the East, its people, its history, its languages. They hear the word used in
conversation every day, as a term applied to millions of people there now, or
formerly there.
1 For various discussions of the word see Pott, i. pp. 35-43 ; MacRitchie,
Gypsies of India, Note N, pp. 91-108; Paspati, pp. 19-21 ; and Ascoli, Zigeune-
risches, p. 56. Some extraordinary speculations will be found in Lucas, The Yetholm
History of the Gypsies, pp. 66-8. Kelso, 1882. The last author, in his article
' Petty Romany ' (Nineteenth Century, vol. viii. pp. 579-80, October 1880), argues
that they picked up the name in Rumania.
2 Journal of the Gypsy Lore Society, Old Series, i. 50.
40 THE WORD ' ROM '
far; chive, doi, two; eva, just (Gyp. ava); gajo, elephant; gulo,
sugar; halo, black; and very many others ; it seems at first as if
Gypsy were Pali. For Pali was a common spoken dialect of the
people long before the Christian era. We find a word, moreover,
similar to Lull, and very appropriate for one class of Persian
Gypsies and the Kabul Luli. A careful study shows, however,
that Gypsy never could have originated from Pali. Phonetics and
so many things settle the contrary.
I have had interesting discussions with several learned Hindu
Pandits about the words Rom, Rum, Romani, Bom, Bum, Boms,
etc. None could suggest any parallel word in Sanskrit, nor in any
Hindu dialect, except possibly Rtimana, ' a lovely man,' and
Ramanl, ' a charming woman,' — evidently the same idea as
Paspati's conjecture, Skr. Rama, 'beautiful,' which was rejected
with an emphatic ! by Ascoli. I have been unable to find any
probable word myself except perhaps Bom, Bum, and, what is
phonetically the same, Rom, — the exact word used by Gypsies for
themselves in Europe or Armenia. To whom are they applied in
India? The Pandits knew the Dom well, but did not believe the
Gypsy word Rom came from them, and they gave as their reason
that although there are Doms nearly all over India, they are of
different kinds.
That the word Dom does not indicate in India any well-defined
race is shown by Crooke,1 who describes many different varieties
among the 298,923 enumerated in the census of 1891. Some have
Gypsy-like habits, occupations, and modes of life, but not more
Gypsy-like than those of many other Indian nomads. Some are
the very dregs of impurity, the Helots of all, shameless vagrants,
eaters of carrion, beggars and thieves : but others are fairly respect-
able farmers and artisans. Their face is of a low type, and they
are generally described as Dravidians, although sometimes they are
supposed to be remnants of the aboriginal Mongolo-Negroides ; 2
and those between Gandaki and Gilgit are a mixed tribe of
Thibetans and Hindus.3 Some are priests of evil spirits and pre-
serve the pure demonism of the aborigines, and in some districts
1 Crooke, The North-West Provinces of India, 1897. Passim.
2 Caldwell, quoted by Crooke, loc. cit., p. 498; Drew, The Jurnmoo, p. 56>
London, 1S75 ; Pischel, ' Heimath der Zigeuner,' Deutsche. Rundschau, vol. 36,
p. 353 (Sept. 1883), and J.G.L.S., New Series, ii., 312-3; Biddulph, Tribes of
Hindu Koosh, p. 39 ; Ujfalvy, Les Aryens au Nord et au Sud de V Hindou-Kouch,
pp. 256-8, Paris, 1896.
3 Franz von Schwartz, Die Sindfluth, p. 210, 1894.
THE WORD ' ROM ' 41
they admit outcasts and so increase. In one district, Baltistan,
the Chins call themselves Rom.1
Moreover, the title Dom is quite unlike the Gypsy Rom in that
it is one of which the bearer is not and could not be proud. Mr.
H. H. Risley wrote to me that it ' is probably a tribal name, of the
same type as Kol, Ho, etc., meaning "man."' But in Pashto, as
Dr. Grierson informs me, it is used for ' a native of India who is a
professional singer and reciter,' and a Moslem belonging to Atek
eight miles west of Peshawur, asserts that in the Punjab it signifies
' comedian,' ' a man to make fun,' and that they are of different
races in different districts, but have the same trade or profession.
The contrast between Doms and Gypsies is very striking. The
Gypsies are the same race, the same Romane, everywhere they are
found, and are so recognised in different countries by everybody
who meets them ; and they all have the same secret Romani chib.
But the Dum of India are not all the same. There are several
kinds of Dum widely differing in life, habits, customs, personal
appearance, and language. There is no one secret Dum tongue.
Where the Gypsies wander there are no other castes similar in
character and life. In India there are many other nomad tribes
and castes, not Dums or so called, but certainly as Gypsy-like.
Indeed some are more Gypsy-like than most, if not all, Dums.
Nobody in India uses Dum as a word for Gypsies, or the nomad
Gypsy-like classes.2
To sum up, we have the fact that the Byzantines before the
Christian era called themselves Rom, and that the Oriental word
for the Latin ' Romani,' Rum, was and is applied to them, and to
the modern Greeks, by all western Orientals even the Afghans.
The Greeks to-day, everywhere except in Greece, apply the same
name to themselves.
The Romans were proud to be Romans.3 A Roman citizen
felt himself the equal of Kings. The Byzantines, with equal pride,
claimed to be Romans. So do the European Gypsies. The African
1 Ujfalvy, loc. cit., p. 313. Drew also mentions a caste called Rom in a village
in Dardistan. He could not identify it with any other, and did not meet the name
elsewhere.
2 Under the word ' Gypsy ' in Hindi dictionaries are found kanjar, khdna-ba
dosh, natni (fern.), thagni (fern.). Shakespeare, p. 2308, gives 'Gypsy, khdna-ba-
dosh (dakh) gurguri-wdld ; p. 975, /Ji.Ju &j\S- khdna-ba-dosh, a traveller, a
pilgrim, a gipsy, rover, sojourner (house on the shoulder).' The word khdna-ba-
dosh is perhaps the Hindu word which would best translate our word Gypsy, and
the one most commonly used for all Gypsydike nomads. Dum is not so used.
3 Cf. Acts xvi. 37-8.
42 GLI ZINGARI NEL MODENESE
and Asiatic Gypsies do not use the word Rom. Between Europe
and India there is a wide expanse of territory full of Gypsies,
practically none of whom call themselves Rom. Despised by
everybody, and despising everybody in turn, the Gypsies of Europe
still proudly call themselves Rum. Very likely it is simply the
native pride which most people feel for their race. But negroes
and many other races and peoples do not exhibit such a racial
self-satisfaction, and certainly the Dom of India is not proud of
his title. The meanings and uses of the words Rom and Dom are
as different as the races which bear them.
On the other hand, the language of the European Gypsies has
plainly been affected greatly by Greek, in some district where
Greek was spoken, whether in the European or Asiatic portion of
Byzant, one or both ; and they are to-day most numerous in that
part of Byzant which now is European Turkey. It would have
been difficult for them to avoid picking up the word Rom during
their long sojourn in this district, and they use it in the sense
which would be expected were this the case.
L
GLI ZINGARI NEL MODENESE
Di A. G. Spinelli
Premessa
A societa promotrice di questo giornale ha diretto, a 400 delle
piu grandi biblioteche di Europa, ed in conseguenza anche
all' Estense di Modena, un volumetto dal titolo A Gypsy Biblio-
graphy, frutto di ricerche vastissime condotte dal dottor George F.
Black, edito con molta eleganza in bianco, a larghi margini, e con
questo mezzo molto pratico, ha chiesto la cooperazione delle colte
persone le quali indubbiamente intenderanno il valore di una
indagine scientifica tanto estesa quanto importante e per giunta
avvolta nell' incertezza quando si risale alle sue origini.
II bibliotecario dell' Estense, sapendo che mi ero occupato
dell' argomento,1 mi propose di assumere 1' incarico di scorrere detta
1 GliZingari mi hanno sempre interessato, e sorvolando alle qualita negative che
li aceompagnano, fui compreso di ammirazione per i caratteri etnografici, per le
strane singolarita del loro temperamento, che tenacemente conservarono attraverso
i secoli e le persecuzioni atrocissime peregrinando pel mondo.
E questa stessa ammirazione mi condusse a raccogliere dati sul martirio, ultra
millenario, eroicamente sostenuto per la loro fede dal popolo ebreo, e mi consiglio a
GLI ZINGARI NEL MODENESE 43
bibliografia e di apporvi le giunte, che egli manderebbe prima del
prossimo luglio, a New York alio stesso Sig. Dott. Black, che si
propone di curare 1' edizione definitiva, con le giunte che indubbia-
mente gli arriveranno da ogni parte.
Accettai la piacevole ofterta, ed ora mentre aduno le poche
note bibliografiche a me note da aggiungere al ricco saggio di
Liverpool, ho pensato di dare un po' di forma, di ordinare e
pubblicare le notizie che da tempo avevo adunate (mentre atten-
devo ad altri studi per gli archivi e biblioteche nostre), sul popolo
nomade, la di cui storia e buia perche gli Zingari, spregianti
pressoche tutto cio che sa di civilta, non la scrissero e chi tento di
conoscerla e fissarla, troppo spesso dove urtare contro difficolta
veramente enormi e notissime, che qui sarebbe ozioso voler ridire.
Manifestai il concetto di questo lavoro al segretario della Gypsy
Lore Society, il quale non solo si compiacque di approvarlo, ma
voile offrirmi di stamparlo nel loro giornale. Non mi nascosi che
l'offerta era troppo superiore all' importanza della cosa, nulladi-
meno accettai con animo grato.
Ora premetto che la cronologia mi guidera nell' ordinamento
delle mie schede, che raccolsi non perche io mirassi a condurre
questa ricerca, ma perche 1' argomento mi interessava e le notizie
che mi si presentavano durante le mie indagini, spettanti unica-
mente al modenese, risultavano con qualche nesso.
Per questo io confido che ne possano uscire particolarita le
quali forse ad alcuno sembraranno di nessun conto, ma credo
che se unite ad altre in buon numero ed avvicinate logica-
mente, non potranno piu risultare inutili e forse daranno la con-
ferma o la negazione di punti oscuri al ricercatore delle cose
zingaresche ; e per questo saranno accette benche manchi a queste
povere pagine 1' appoggio di una qualsiasi erudizione e di carattere
scientifico. Sutor ne ultra crepidam.
Secolo XV
£ notissima la prima comparsa degli Zingari in Italia, fissata
da una cronaca pubblicata dal Muratori.1
II 18 luglio 1422 essi giunsero a Bologna dall' Ungheria,
condotti da un Duca Andrea ' dell' Egitto minore,' che lui e il suo
scrivere Del ghetto e degli israeliti in Modena, nel giornale II Panaro della Domenica
del 4 e 11 giugno 1893, articoli poi interrotti avendo il giornale stesso, per ragioni
politiche, sospesa la rubrica fino allora riservata alia parte letteraria e storica,
proprio con 1' 11 giugno di quell' anno.
1 Rerum Italicarum Scriptures, vol. xviii. col. 611.
44 GLI ZINGARI NEL MODENESE
popolo, avcndo rinnegato la fede peregrinavano in penitenza.
Ksibirono a loro tutela patenti Imperiali, mostrarono pure di aver
molto denaro, predicevano la sorte, facevano molti furti, dicevano
e commettevano giunterie e percio provocarono pubbliche rappre-
s;iL,rlio e una grida che li costrinse a lasciar la citta dopo quindici
giorni di sosta, avviandosi verso Roma per la via Emilia.
Passo dunque la banda per le Romagne, ma dove certamente
lasciare qualche sbandato a ponente della citta che trovo torna-
conto a fermarsi nell' Emilia, perche non si spiegherebbe altri-
menti la nota del Catasto Censuario di Carpi x compilata nel 1448
che porta un Nicolo Zingaro il quale possedeva sei biolche di terra
e case, accanto a Carpi, ai Sozzi.
Sicuramente non tutti, fin da allora, questi nomadi marciavano
ao-^lomerati in bande fortissime come quella del Duca Andrea,
perche venti anni dopo un Registro di spese 2 del Duca di Ferrara
Borso d' Este relativo all' anno 1469, 4 febbraio, si trova scritto ' et
per Sua Signoria in done ad uno Cingano che sonava una citola
[citara ?] denanzi a Sua Signoria L. 0, 6.' Fin d' allora la musica
accompagnava il popolo vagante.
Queste sono constatazioni di fatti slegati che si allacciano pero a
condizioni generali sugli Zingari e li caratterizzano di gia con una
di quelle fisionomie che furono da loro inscindibili per sempre.
Ma da fatti minimi passando ai grandi riguardanti il famoso
movimento etnograflco che verso in Europa questo popolo, due
documenti di valore ho potuto raccogliere.
Nel Tomo 1° degli Atti spettanti agli Arcipreti di Carpi uniti
dall' Abbate Paolo Guaitoli, trovasi registrata una ' Littera Passus
pro Cingalis,' in data 147...
La comitiva, dice il documento, era condotta dal Nobile Conte
Michele dell'Egitto minore, che si fermava in Carpi per alcuni
giorni e poi intendeva recarsi in altre terre, che non sono indicate.
Onde favorirlo, il Signore di Carpi, pregava con essa i suoi amici
di accogliere lui e la sua comitiva di cavalli e di fanti e gli
uomini e le donne che vagavano peregrinando con lui in peni-
tenza, permettendo ad essi di liberamente passare e stare nelle
loro terre ed anche di intromettersi fra loro ove sorgesse qualche
litigio.
La presente escursione del sedicente Duca Michele, che forse
veniva da Roma, e segnata negli itinerari del Colocci, ma con
1 Archivio Municipale di Carpi, c. 301 v.
J Arch, di State- in Modena, c. 60 v.
GLI ZINGARI NEL MODENESE 45
un' altra percorrenza, che nella valle del Po e fissata piu a set-
tentrione. Sarebbe stato ad ogni modo interessante di conoscere,
per quali ragioni il principe di Carpi Marco Pio, concedeva
questa sosta nel suo dominio ai nomadi ; cioe se questa fosse
stata accordata perche si trovasse impotente a far rispettare un
suo divieto, o se fosse stabilito in seguito a trattative corse;
giacche pare ragionevole il credere che qualche negozio o con-
venzione fosse stata conclusa almeno verbalmente fra loro, se
dopo un soggiorno di cui e ignota la durata, il Principe rila-
sciava una lettera di passo, la quale dava col nome suo conosciu-
tissimo, un credito al vagante che non si potrebbe giustificare.
Forse cio era stato dettato al Pio dal bisogno di scongiurare un
danno inaggiore al suo dominio ? Forse perche il soggiorno
venisse ben compensato ? O perche il ' Conte ' fosse munito, di
una patente Imperiale o Pontificia che ponesse in evidenza il
suo pellegrinaggio, come presentavano allora tanti condottieri
di Zingari ? Cosi sarebbe tutto spiegato, ma in tal caso le patenti
sarebbero anche state ricordate nella lettera di passo.
Tutto qui e buio, e il silenzio dei cronisti modenesi e reg-
giani sul passaggio del Conte Michele sorprende e lascia alia
fantasia immaginare disparatissime riflessioni, onde spiegare il
motivo per cui sia rimasta ignorata la via tenuta da questa
truppa di Zingari, comparsa a Carpi senza che se ne trovino
vestigie altrove ; almeno per quanto consta a me. Conviene pero
riflettere che furono tante le arsioni e i sacchesfgfi con cui
1' Italia sconto la colpa di avere incivilito il mondo, che e gran
merce sian rimasti i documenti trascritti dall'Abbate Guaitoli,
a conservarci una memoria, la quale essendo importante per la
storia zingaresca, la inserisco qui ad litteram :
Excerpta ex ms. Ioannis Lazari de Sigisniundis Carpensis a Secretis Marci
Pii.1
LlTTERA PASSUS PRO ClNGALIS, 147...
Marcus Pius, etc. Cum vir nobilis Comes Michael de Egypto minori paten-
tium ostensor steterit allogiatus cum ejus comitiva aliquibus diebus in hac nostra
terra Carpi, et in presentiarum alio transferre se intend at, requisitioni sue annuere
volentes harum nostrarum sic Illustrissimos quoscumcpie Principes et dominos
tarn ecclesiasticos quam seculares, nee non presentes fratres Capitaneos, Potestates,
Vicarios, Offitiales, et amicos nostros ex corde rogamus quatenus Comitem
1 Spinelli, A. G., Catalogo sommario dell' Archivio Guaitoli per la Storia Car-
pense. Carpi, Rossi, 1897, pag. 126, n°. 230, ' Atti degli Arcipreti della chiesa di
Carpi.' Questo documento e nel suddetto ms. nella carta 15 prima dell' ultima
pag. del vol. 1°. di questi atti.
46 GLI ZINGARI NEL MODENESE
Michaolem cum ejus comitiva tarn equestrem quam pedestrem utriusque sexus sic
ragantem, et in Penitentiam sic peregrinantem cum omnibus et singulis bonis
suis cujusvis maneriei sint per omnes eorum terras, portus, passus, pontes, et loca,
libera et absque solutione alicujus datii, pedatii, fundi navis et bolletarum, ire,
transire et morari permittant, ac sibi vellint Pio Opere providere de alogiamentis
juxta solitum, quodque casu aliquo inter ipsos Egyptianos diferentia aliqua, vel
ipiando oriri contingat medio asistere velint, et pro viribus operari eos omnes
Concordes reddere, ac eis providere velint de guidis choortis et salvis conductis,
ul>i opus fuerit, et duxerit requirendum, quod nobis gratissimum, et ad singularem
complacentiam adscribemus. In quorum . . .
Notai in principio di questo capitolo come uno Zingaro
avesse stabilito dimora e possedesse terre nel Carpigiano fino dal
1448, ed ora non lasciero inosservato che il nome di Cingaro
fosse gia, poco dopo, entrato nell' uso, o per stabilire 1' origine di
una persona che si nominava, o perche fosse veramente tale ; ma
qui mi giova 1' osservazione per indicare che uno designato con
questo nome, fin dagli ultimi anni del sec. xv., occupava 1' opera
sua in ufficio che esigeva nomina sovrana.
Infatti 1' 8 gennaio 1484, il Duca di Ferrara Ercole 1°. accordava
a Pietro Giovanni detto Cingaro, di porre una nave nel fiume
Secchia fra il Modenese e il Reggiano all' altezza di Toano e
Montefiorino, e di esercitarvi il passo.1
Queste sono notizie di scarso valore viste cosi isolate, ma non
rimarranno tali quando si pensi che potranno essere coordinate ad
altre che anche sole rivestano il carrattere di importanza assoluta.
Come sarebbe un' altra lettera di passo concessa dal predetto
Marco Pio il 28 maggio 1485 al ' Conte ' Giovanni del Piccolo
Egitto, che colla sua banda arrivava in Carpi nelle medesime
condizioni presentate nel 147... dall' altro Conte. ottenendo gli
stessi favori, come le stesse condizioni di fatto che accompagna-
vano il Conte Michele, cioe di un completo silenzio su di lui da
parte degli storici nostri.
Percio trascrivo anche questa Littera i^assus, rogata al mede-
simo notaio dell' antecedente.
Littera Passus, 1485.
Marcus Pius, etc. Cum nobis vir Ioannes Comes de Egypto parvo patentium
ostensor peterit allodiatus cum ejus comitiva aliquibus diebus in Castro nostro
Carpi in presentiarumque alio se transferre intendit cui petitioni annuere volentes,
harum nostrarum serie Illmos quoscumque Principes et Dominos tarn Ecclesias-
ticos quam seculares Excellentiasque Dominationes, et comunitates, nee non
Magnificos Dominos, patres, fratres, Capitaneos, Vicarios, Potestates et Offitiales
spectabilesque et Nobiles Amicos et benevolos omnes nostros ex corde rogamus,
Officialibus et subditis nostris quibuscumque stricte percipiendo mandamus quate-
1 Arch, di Stato in Modena, Reg. Dime, di Ercole P. T. Vc. n°. 8.
GLI ZINGARI NEL MODENESE 47
nus prenominatum Comitem Ioannem tam equestrem quam pedestrem cum tota ejus
comitiva utriusque sexus sic vagantern et in penitentiam ibi iirvictam, ut asserit,
peregrinantem cum carriagiis et bonis suis cujuscumque conditionis aut maneriei
existant per quascunque eorum Civitates, terras, Castra et loca, passus, portas et
pontes ire, transire, morari, pernoctare et redire permittant libere absque ulla
solutione datii, pedagii, fundi navis, vel gabelle, eidem providendo de guidis, cohor-
tibus, libero transitu et securo, salvi conductu semel et pluries quotiens duxerit
ipse requirendi omni penitus molestia et arrestatione cessante, providentes eidem
de alogiamentis juxta eorum consuetudinem. Et que si aliquo casu inter ipsos
Egyptiacos differentia aliqua seu quando oriri contingerit, pro viribus operentur eos
Concordes fieri, quod nobis pergratum erit. Et que seipse comes Ioannes aut
aliquis de ejus comitiva damnum aliquod subditis nostris, aut possessionibus et
proprietatibus nostris inferret, presentes nostre patentes littera nequaquam sibi
valeant, nee ejus prodesse possint nee ipsis ullo pacto serventur, ad nostri benepla-
citum valiture.
Datum Carpi sub impressione sigilli nostri magni. In fidem omnium premis-
sorum. Die xxvm. Maj. 1485. Inditione in.1
Per ultimo aggiungero che in un libro di appunti fiscali dei
primi anni della signoria di Alberto Pio in Carpi (tine sec. xv.), si
legge una condanna contro Giovan Maria da Brandola, perche
aveva dato rnolte ferite, in Carpi stessa, ad un Cingaro ; 2 il che
proverebbe che anche gli Zingari erano allora ritenuti esseri del
genere umano, e tutelati dalla giustizia comune, sentimento di
carita che in pratica si dimentico troppo spesso di poi.
E chiudero la narrazione di quanto mi e noto riguardare gli
Zingari, tra noi, nella seconda meta del sec. xv. primo della loro
comparsa in Italia e nel Modenese ; non omettero di riflettere che
leggi statutarie che li riguardassero, non ne ho trovato ; forse
perche non esisteva la cosa da colpire per comune salvaguardia
essendo la loro una dimora fra noi di transito ; benche sia molto
inverosimile che alia presenza di Zingari non andassero congiunti,
malefizi, e non si opponessero subito gride a pubblica difesa, come
avvenne a Bologna ; e lo Zingaro nemmeno e ricordato nell' altra
grida contro i delinquenti dello Stato, pubblicata a Ferrara il 22
febbraio 1457, che riguardava anche Modena e Reggio.
Comunque fosse e ben sicuro che statuti di Modena e del
modenese, i quali abbiano disposizioni riguardanti gli Zingari,
fino a tutto il sec. xv., non ne ho trovato. Dico cio che mi
e risultato e non azzardo possibility, perche si tratta di uno studio
che attende informazioni certe da ogni parte onde potere stabil-
mente affermarsi.
Sarebbe stato, nel modenese, ricordo di questo primo passaggio
di Zingari, 1' importazione di una specie di columbi, ora perduta,
1 Arch, di Stato in Modena, Reg. Due. di Ercole 1°., c. 10-10.
2 Arch. Guaitoli, cit. filza 107, num. 6.
48 GLI ZINGARI NEL MODENESE
della quale dice Carlo Malmusi 1 ' Questa razza piu non esiste, e
tradizione che fosse introdotta dai Zingari d' Ungheria nel secolo
xv., donde furono detti Zingarini e Zinganini.'
Secolo XVI
Lettere corse nel 1507, fra Angelo Villa Capitano di Modena, il
Duca Alfonso 1°. d' Este e il Cardinale Ippolito, suo fratello, ci
provano che gli Zingari erano assunti dagli Estensi a prestar 1' opera
loro ove giovasse. Era cio tenuto per fatto normale, non essendo
ancora gli Zingari nel Modenese, fuor dalla legge. Trovo che il
7 agosto di quell' anno il Capitano suddetto informava la corte
che manderebbe a Ferrara il Cingaro ' cavalcatore di vaglia ' che
essendo ' un gran furfante ' era in prigione e percio lo instradava
incatenato ai piedi.2 Tre mesi dopo, la scuderia ducale sentiva
ancora il bisogno di avere questo Zingaro, ed il Villa rimandandolo
avvertiva che lo toglieva ancora di prigione, ove era detenuto per
avere insultato i suoi balestrieri.3
Poco dopo rilevasi nei registri ducali del 1511 4 che si sono
pagate L. 10, 13, 8, per fatture e robe somministrate alia fabbrica
della Bastia di Zanolio al ' cingaro magnano.' Nota che la Lira
marchesana equivaleva a circa 20,00 delle nostre.
Finora pubblici manifesti contro gli Zingari non ne trovai e
percio non meraviglia se prestassero 1' opera loro agli Estensi.
Ma presto, anche nel Modenese, vengono editti ad indicare gli
Zingari come dannosi e incompatibili colla vita civile, a percio
furono banditi.
£ necessario rinettere che i passaggi delle grandi carovane, che
ho notato nella seconda meta del sec. xv., dovettero, per forza dell'
indole loro, lasciar molti sbandati che formarono lungo il loro
percorso gruppi autonomi, i quali furono rafforzati da coloro, e non
eran pochi, che in ogni tempo e paese vagavano nomadi. Su
questi il fatto sorprendente, nuovo, delle forti bande condotte dai
sedicenti Conti Michele e Giovanni, deve aver esercitato una
decisa attrazione che costitui fra noi, e forse anche altrove, una
popolazione girovaga, composta di indigeni che uniti a famiglie di
Zingari veri, vivevano ex lege a carico del paese. Cosi ebbe vita
1 Dei Triqanieri [Addestratori di colombi al volo], cenni storici, Modena 1851,
Moneti e Pelloni, in-16°, pp. 34. Estr. dall' Indicatore Modenese, An. I., Ni. 5 e 6.
2 Arch, di Stato in Modena, Rettori all' anno.
3 Arch, di Stato in Modena, Famiglia Villa.
4 Arch, di Stato in Modena, Causa segreta vecchia, N. 55.
GLI ZINGARI NEL MODENESE 49
la massa ibrida, amorfa che si mantiene tuttodi, avendo se non
ragione di essere, almeno tanta forza di elementi vitali, da resistere
e perpetuarsi, fra una campagine sociale che non li vuole distrutti,
soltanto perche ha sperato da cinque secoli, e spera ancora di
ridurli tutti a fissa dimora civile.
Ed e 1'8 aprile 1524, che il Comune di Modena ordina 'quod
expellantur Cingani quare niultum damnificantur et ad sacco-
mannum vadunt.' Ma il Podesta mitigo la misura, forse di rap-
presaglia chiesta dal Comune, perche seguono queste parole : ' Illus.
Potestas Mutinae dixit quod expellantur.' x
Questa disposizione, che seguiva di circa quattro anni, 1' altra
bandita in Germania alio stesso effetto, a sua volta viene ribadita
da altra del Comune di Modena la quale conferma che i danni
inflitti al paese dagli Zingari dovevano essere molto gravi, perche
leggesi nei Partiti Comunali del 26 aprile 1527 che i Conservatori
' commiserunt notificari capitaneo plate ut curet cum effectu ut
Cingani seu .E^yptiaci se disedant extra agro mutinense, alias
operabunt quod milites existentes in civitate eos depopulabuntur.'2
Conviene credere che queste gravi misure riguardassero soltanto
gli Zingari nomadi, non quelli che erano diventati cittadini
fissandosi nel comune, ed a questa supposizione darebbe appoggio
una deliberazione del Consiglio Comunale del Finale, il quale
radunatosi nel 1527 nel 'salotto delle balle' aveva tra i convocati
Bartolomeo cins:ano.3
I bandi che miravano a far sloggiare gli Zingari dal paese non
dovevano proprio restare sine effectu immediato. Se ne saranno
andati, perche la rassegnazione contro il piu forte e un carattere
spiccato degli Zingari, ma poi saranno anche ritornati, perche in
terra c' erano anch' essi e doveva pure la terra alimentarli. E poi e
probabile che qualche servizio rendessero a lor volta a chi avrebbe
dovuto far osservare i bandi che li espellevano : e quando il 28 di
agosto 1533 Alberto Pio tolse Novi al Duca di Ferrara, furono
Zingari che accampavano sulle fosse di quel castello che ne re-
carono 1' avviso a Giacomo Altoviti Governatore di Modena, che li
mando subito 1' avviso per staffetta al Duca di Ferrara con un cito
cito che diceva tutta l'importanza della notizia ricevuta.4
Intanto in Germania, come ho notato, erano usciti bandi contro
1 Arch. Com. di Modena, Partiti Comunali all' anno.
2 Ibid.
3 Arch, di Stato in Modena, Cass, segreta vecchia, N. 120.
4 Arch, di Stato in Modena, Lett, di G. Altoviti.
VOL. III. — NO. I. D
50 QLl ZINGAR] NEL MODENESE
gli Zingari, che furono tosto imitati anche in Italia di egual tenore
c tbrocia, colla differenza che qui uscivano con qualche ritardo. 0
perche le enormita commcsse da questi sfortunati senza patria
non fosscro rivoltanti come oltremonte, o perche i governi qui
fossero pin umani, o piu avveduti e se ne sapessero guardare.
Un ventennio piu tardi, cioe il 5 dicembre 1541 trovo a Modena
nuovi reclami contro loro.1 In quel giorno Giovanni Codebo, uno
dei conservatori, domandava in Consiglio che fosse provveduto a
rnisure che tutelassero i cittadini dagli Zingari che abitavano in
Modena e vi commettevano in gran numero ogni specie di furti.
Franca il notare che essi rubavano, e vero, ma anche prendevan
parte alle feste della citta e Luigi Maini, nel suo scritto Le corse al
pallio in Modena ci informa2 che il 24 giugno del 1542 essi tene-
vano la gara con i loro cavalli, e tale partecipazione per parte di
banditi sembra una anormalita che spunta 1' acutezza alle espulsioni
e da ad esse un carattere assai blando.
L' ordine di espulsione provocato dal Codebo non ottenne quindi
l'esito voluto, e trovo che fu ripubblicato l'anno seguente il 7 di
luglio 1542, e Tommasino Lancilotto ai 14 dello stesso mese scri-
veva.3 ' Molti Cingani sono nel modenese et al presente nel borgo
di Saliceta [accanto alia citta] fanno grandissimo danno e ognuno
grida e nessuno provvede perche, perche. . . .' Questa sospensione,
che esattamente figura nel testo ms. dice chiaro che il cronista si
trovava imbarazzato a dime i motivi pei quali non si provvedeva
alio sfratto dei Zingari, che sarebbe stato utile a me e ad altri
sapere.
Le cose rimanevano tali anche nell' anno seguente e percio fu
rinnovato il bando per 1' espulsione del rapace ospite dalla citta,
forse con egual risultato, essendo impossibile alia citta stessa di
libcrarsi da quella servitu dannosa ed odiosa, la quale non poteva
essere tolta se non colla violenta soppressione e con una carneficina
superiore ad ogni follia barbarica. Qualunque tentativo di porre
un argine a queste invasioni riusciva inefficace, malgrado che in
qualcuno dei nostri statuti si cominciassero dai giuristi ad intro-
duce anche pene corporali.
Lo studiosissimo delle cose nostre, Dottore e Cavaliere Ferdi-
nando Jacoli, mi indica una rubrica degli Statuta et ordinamenta
terrae TurriceUae nel Frignano, ossia di Pavullo,4 dove si tenevano
1 Arch. Com. , Partiti Comnnali.
2 Le corse al Pallio in Modena, Genni storici, Ivi 1853, Cappelli in 8° p. 20.
3 De Bianchi Thomasino detto Lancillotto, Cronaca di Modena all' anno.
4 Statuti editi poi a Modena del Soliani, nel 1785.
GLI ZINGARI NEL MODENESE 51
mercati e fiere di importanza massima alia vita economica della
montagna inodenese, in aperto mercato; e dico aperto perche
altrove nel raodenese il punto ove si mercanteggiava era cintato
come a Bruino nel Mirandolano dove si teneva l'antichissima fiera di
Modena. II Prof. Jacoli mi indico la rubrica 23 di quegli Statuti,
in data 1° gennaio 1547, riguardanti i Cingari, che suona cosi. Era
proibito alloggiarli sotto pena di Lire 5 estesa anche agli alber-
gatori, ' e per ciascheduna compagnia di Cingari che li alloggiasse
da una sera in su sia condannato in Lire 10 per ogni giorno.'
Questa notizia ha importanza per me, essendo la prima in materia
di Zingari che trovo negli statuti modenesi.
Le grida seguivano dunque alle grida, ma non ottenevano
alcun frutto. Di queste io citero soltanto quelle che contengono
qualche particolarita che io non avessi notato nelle antecedenti.1
II 19 maggio 1548 una grida tratta di Zingari, venuti da un po'
di tempo ad abitare il dominio del JJuca di Ferrara, ed intima loro
il bando entro tre giorni, perche rei di frodi, inganni e truffe,
minacciando corda agli uomini e frusta alle donne.2
Che la legislazione generale (allora riassunta in queste grida)
considerasse gli Zingari come malfattori di professione molto
tardi, si potrebbe ritenere come provato, se resultasse esatto, come
lo fu a me, che il nome di Zingaro compare stampato per la prima
volta solo in questa grida. Ma la sostanza nulla variava, prima
saranno stati compresi nei nomi generici di tristi, malfattori,
vagabondi, ladri, banditi, stregoni, furfanti . . . sinonimi nel lin-
guaggio penale d' allora, non saprei se nelle sotigliezze dell' attuale ;
ma, ripeto, il crisma fosco che li colpiva rimaneva inesorabilmente
lo stesso.
Un' altra grida fu lanciata contro di essi il 17 maggio 1548, e
la ricorda Tommasino che ho gia citato e forse citero ancora. Per
essa ai Cingani non potevano valere le patenti cui si negava
qualunque autenticita, e li colpiva con minaccia di corda e di
svaligiamento, e questo rigore perche ' potrieno menare qualche
trattato [accordo] e non se ne intende il suo parlare,' e si espellevano
perche i contadini potessero venire ai lavori della fortezza di
Modena che allora si costruiva, senza tema che le case loro fossero
saccheggiate.
La vita degli Zingari non avendo nulla di normale, era sempre
1 Ommetto le citazioui archiviali delle singole gride, perche sono cronologica-
mente couservate in riparti del R. Arch, di Sfcato in Modena.
2 Arch, di State- in Modena, Cane. Due. Gride MSS.
52 GLI ZIXGARI NEL MODENESE
accompagnata dalle minaccie della societa, che non riconoscono se
non perche ci vivono in mezzo per insidiarla, mentre che essa
compie, come ha sempre compiuto, un lavoro continuo per di-
fendersi da loro.
Ma consoliamoci per onore del nostro nome, questa difesa tra
noi, fu mai si barbara ed inumana come altrove. Pur tanto era
forza armarsi di tutto cio che i tempi e 1' indole nostra davano in
mano alle citta, ai reggenti dei comuni rurali, per tener lontano
lo Zingaro quando come un nemico sempre vigile, tenace ed
affamato, entrava nei confini, e percio valersi di nuove grida, di
nuove sanzioni per cacciarlo.
II Comune di Modena si valse ancora di questo mezzo, il 1°
luglio 1550, per espellerli dalla citta e dal distretto che era allora
vasto pressoche quanto la provincia. E cosi, pare, che per un
decennio stessero lontani, giacche non si trovano nuovi bandi in
proposito, per quanto io conosco. E giova credere che guai forti
per causa di questi molestissimi ospiti, su noi non abbiano
gravato allora.
Ma poi troviamo che nulla era mutato, perche il 16 luglio 1560
i Conservatori del Comune si dolgono col Duca e chiedono prov-
vedimenti contro una compagnia ' di Cingani che si trova nei
luochi delli signori feudatari del ducato di Modena e fanno
latrocini, e depredamenti,' ed avendone imprigionati tre doman-
dano la loro espulsione secondo le gride.
Cio avra avuto sicuramente luogo, e ovvio il crederlo, ma in
proposito par facile notare, e non sara presunzione maligna ed
arbitraria il pensare, che questo asilo dato alle bande dei Zingari
dai feudatari, si effettuasse in corrisponsione o di denaro, o di
altri servizi, che resi da uomini di simile natura, senza scrupoli,
ben si pud immaginare di quale enormita fossero.
Per due lustri non ho trovato notizie sull' argomento, ma i
partiti comunali del modenese, quando si entra nella seconda
meta del secolo xvi., mostrano che la nostra provincia non era
menomamente salva dal flagello delle bande girovaghe, perche
il 24 luglio 1561 Alfonso Naselli in consiglio ' espose ai signori
conservatori che i Cingani si trovavano al presente nei modenese
la attorno da S. Martino di Secchia e alia Pioppa et facevano
dei grandissimi malanni dando anche occasione alle brigate di
qualche scandalo.' Noi non abbiamo una serie ordinata dei pro-
cessi del secolo xvi. e nemmeno dei seguenti e percio non e facile
rilevare come la giustizia avesse il suo corso e i particolari delle
GLI ZINGARI NEL MODENESE 53
condanne inflitte ma certamente quando essa riusciva ad avere
nelle mani qualche Zingaro era energica e i Podesta comandavano
assai facilinente il capestro.
E come poteva essere altrimenti se le bande degii Zingari
assalivano nelle compagne case isolate, e grassavano sulle vie
uomini inermi ? Pur tanto non tutti erano degni di forca, e fra
noi nel 1562 Mastro Giacomo Zingaro, eseguiva lavori da fabbro
ferraio nel Castello di Modena ai tempi in cui era massaro Antonio
Montecatini ; x e Carlo Egitiaco, naturalmente Zingaro, ottiene di
poter dimorare nel modenese colla sua compagnia, al patto che se
facesse danno sarebbe punito a norma delle grida che sop-
primevano.
E che proprio non fossero sempre cosi dannosi i passaggi fra
noi di questa razza, generalmente abbrutita, e che si confondes-
sero le violenze loro con le comuni dell' indole del tempo, pare
doversi ammettere, quando sappiasi che il Commune di Modena 2 si
rivolgeva, il 1° febbraio 1563, al Governatore perche cacciasse gli
Zingari dal distretto, e come nella lettera relativa, i conservatori
non domandavano applicazioni di pene quali erano comminate
nelle grida, ma usassero la frase ' che quegli Zingari se ne andassero
con Dio' il che porterebbe a pensare, o che non vi fosse motivo di
chiedere rigore di pene eccessive, o che si temessero le rappres-
saglie di quei liberi vaganti.
D' altra parte il bisogno di non vivere sempre collo spauracchio
del capestro, e quello di soggiornare tra noi da buoni cristiani,
come dicevasi allora, adattandosi alia vita socievole, risulterebbe
sentito da quest' altra nota dei nostri Partiti Comunali del 1° luglio
1563, ove si narra che ' Francesco Cingano entrato in consiglio
prego i signori che fossero contenti di fargli fare per mano dei
suoi cancellieri una fede dei suoi buoni portamenti mentre egli e
stato nel modenese, intendendo ora di andarsene nel ferrarese.
Forse questo Francesco era lo stesso che col titolo di capitano
otteneva dal Duca Alfonso n. I'll agosto seguente di potersi
stabilire nello Stato, ' attesoche si portera modestissimamente e
non dara causa ad alcuno di dolersi di lui.'3
Una seconda lettera testimoniale dei suoi buoni portamenti
domando Francesco al Comune di Modena il 21 gennaio 1564 e
licenza di permanere nel paese, che gli fu accordata. Questa
1 Arch, di Stato in Modena, Gassa Segreta Vtcchia, 929.
2 Arch. Com. di Modena, Partiti.
3 Arch, di Stato in Modena, Reg. Dec, cit. 202 v.
., I CI. I ZINGARI NEL MODENESE
licenza pero il Comune non voile fosse rispettata dipoi, quando
chiese deroga da tutte le concessioni date, allorche bandi 1' espul-
sione de' Zingari nel 1574. Nella richiesta lo Zingaro viene detto
ancora Capitano forse perche soldato di ventura che seppe guada-
gnarsi il grado durante le guerre di quel battagliero Estense. £
noto come molti Zingari, a guisa di corvi, seguissero gli eserciti di
quei tempi, o Alfonso n. desse sovente a questi facolta di stabilirsi
nello Stato ; il 29 maggio 1564 1' accordava per lui e per la famiglia
a un Conte figlio di Spadazino.1
L' anno seguente una banda di Zingari traversata la Romagna,
fra le ostilita delle popolazioni, era entrata negli Stati Estensi, e in
causa ' delle frodi inganni e infamie che commettevano ' un bando
loro fissava il termine di tre giorni ad uscire dallo stato sotto pena
della corda, della frusta, della perdita dei bagagli, delle armi e dei
cavalli.2 Altre prove si rinvengono in questi anni a dimostrare
Zingari stanziati nel modenese. Ercole Pio Signore di Sassuolo
rispondendo il 21 settembre 1567, a Cesare Gonzaga, che mandava
in traccia di una sua cavalla statagli rubata e riteneva da Zingari,
rispondeva che nel suo stato di questi non ve ne erano ' eccetto
uno che e qui, sono gia piu di quattro anni, tiene casa sua propria
nella terra, ne attende a simili pratiche.' 3
Bramava pure di poter abitare in Modena un Giovanni Zingaro,
fabbro ferraio ; ma questi son fatti isolati e se mostrano una ten-
denza evolutiva verso la civilta, non scemano il tristo nome a questi
vagabondi i quali buttavano lo sgomento dovunque fosse loro
possibile di riuscire ad esercitare rapina a man salva.
II 4 gennaio 1569 Gian Battista Gozo, Podesta di Guiglia,
scriveva al Duca che egli aveva fatto impiccare lo Zingaro che gia
teneva in prigione ' con ordine che fosse lasciato cosl sulle forche
per esempio de' suoi compagni che minacciavano, per quanto
intende, voler venir per dispetto ad abbruciare il paese.' 4 Gli
Zingari rintanati cola negli anfratti dei Sassi delle Rocche de'
Malatigni, e facile intendere, come si ridessero del Podesta di
Guiglia, e come poco curassero per durezza naturale di senti-
mento le sue minaccie ed esecuzioni e scorrazzassero i monti piu
sicuri che non lo fossero in aperta pianura.
11 Govematore del Frignano li perseguitava da Sestola con
1 Arch, di Stato in Modena, Reg. Dec. cit. 202 v.
- Arch, di Stato in Modena, Gride, filza i.
:: Bibl. Estense, Autograft Campori.
4 Arch, di Stato in Modena, Rettori.
GLI ZINGARI NEL MODENESE 55
quest' altra grida uscita il 24 agosto 1570, che qui trascrivo, perche
entro nel corpo degli statuti locali : —
' Oltre 1' altre previsioni fatte intorno a Cingari, quali per esser
gente scandalosa non intende per rnodo alcuno pratichino in
questa Provincia di Frignano, per questa sua nuova deterrnina-
tione ordina, comanda, et bandisce sotto pena della Galera tutti li
Cingari grandi et piccoli, che si troveranno essere, o nello avvenire
verranno nel Frignano, concedendo et comandando a ciascuno, che
possi senza pena fargli prigioni, svaligiarli et darli nelle mani alia
ragione, che guadagneranno quel tutto che si troveranno. Et in
oltre, se in mercato o fiera saranno trovati, o ivi vicini in giorno di
fiera, o di mercato haveranno subito tre strappate di corda, et
saranno ancor per ogni minimo furto puniti in quella maggior pena
che comportera la giustitia ; et le donne oltre che saranno svali-
giate saranno ancora frustate, se verranno in detta Provincia o sue
pertinentie. Comandando ad ognuno che non li debba dar ricetto,
ne vivere, ne aiuto, ne favore di sorte alcuna sotto la stessa pena
et quella maggiore che parera a S. Ecc.1 . . . Die 24 Augusti 1570
Pubblicatum fuit suprascriptum Proclama in foro Padulli, etc'
Queste sanzioni non valsero sicuramente ad allontanare un
male, che altri mali rendevano incurabile, benche entrasse in linea
una nuova penalita che io non trovai ancora ; quella che minacciava
la galera, forse perche eransi trovate impotenti la corda, la frusta
ecc.
Per raccogliere altri dati sulla dirnora e naturalizzazione degli
Zingari nel modenese, notero come trovisi registrata fra le spese
fatte da Ippolito Rocca Massaro ducale di Modena nel 1570, quella
pagata a Galatino Zingaro per ristauri fatti nel castello della citta
in attesa di un Farnese di Parma.
E serve anche all' argomento il notare che Silvio Bertolaja
podesta del Finale, il 2 giugno 1572, informava il Duca come
fossero comparsi nel mercato del mercoledi due Zingari, l'uno di 18
e l'altro di 14 anni, e tosto ad uno fosse levata la borsa e ad un
altro il fazzoletto con 50 bolognini. Egli li fece porre in prigione
ma non fu trovato ad essi alcun indizio del furto ; gli venne pero
detto che avevano con loro una Cingana, vestita alia nostrana, alia
quale potevano aver passato gli oggetti. Anche qui 1' abito non
faceva il monaco e gli Zingari indossavano il costume del paese
dove si trovavano.
1 Dal volume manoscritto ' Registro delle Gride, Ordini e Provisioni per 1' Ufficio
di Sebtola e Provincia del Friguano,' a 17 v,
56 GLI ZINGARI NEL MODENESE
Nel 1572 si ha una grida di Ferrante Estense-Tassoni gover-
aatore di Modena, che proibisce il passo agli Zingari ed a tutti i
vagabond! onde sottrarre il modenese dalla peste; la qual grida
per6 n< 11 1 imped} il fatto loro ad essi e nemmeno al male di grassare
il paesc.
Alt re pene minaccio due anni dopo Ercole Contrari, signore
di Montefestino,1 con una grida per liberarsi di una banda di
Zingari, che eran scappati dal ferrarese in seguito ad una grida del
10 maeerio 1574 e cercavano terre che li tenesse e non la trovavano
qui ; giacche anche Modena aveva supplicato il Duca ' a voler
conceder che il Governatore possa, (dice il testo), far caciare i
Zingari dalla citta e distretto suo per le ruberie grandissime che
fanno a questo paese sicche tutto il di se ne odano ruinore, gridi e
querele di niolti.' La supplica aggiunge, che cio sia accordato
nonostante il privilegio concesso da S. E. ad un capitano Francesco
Cingano per poter stare andare e abitare in questa citta e suo
distretto. Le molestie e i danni dagli recati Zingari dovevano
esser ben forti se un privilegio del Sovrano si chiedeva non fosse
mantenuto.
Passan gli anni e vediamo che anche ad un ordine ducale, in
fatto di Zingari, non si voleva obbedire. Nel 1586 il Duca voleva
che fosse consegnato al Governatore di Modena un Zingaro
chiamato Orazio caduto nelle mani degli Ufficiali di Guiglia, e ne
scriveva al marchese Ercole Aldrovandi feudatario del luogo, il
quale vi si rifiuto.2 II carteggio e tronco rna si puo credere che
questa ripulsa avesse causa fiscale.
Un altro fatto, sebbene un po' confuso, interessa i rapporti che
correvano tra gli Zingari e gli abitanti dei luoghi da essi percorsi,
certo per ritornarvi. Don Orazio Ferrari curato di S. Martino di
Secchia il 6 marzo 1586, in Carpi, depone alia presenza del
Canonico Bartolomeo Grillenzoni Vicario dell' Arciprete, intorno
a fatti che si riferivano all' anno precedente, cioe al 15 febbraio
1585, nel qual giorno, die' egli ' venne alia Canipagnola sul
modenese messer Lauro Grillenzoni per parlare con certi Zingari
che erano cola. Ivi trovo Alessandro, proprio padre, che lo con-
dusse a dimorare in casa sua, ove udi i discorsi fatti da Lauro
suddetto e i Zingari nonche tra questi ed alcuni della Bastia ivi
convenuti. Lauro aveva un credito coi Zingari i quali gli rilascia-
rono una carta scritta da Lodovico Molza.' 3
1 Bibl. Estense MSS. Campori, 7, 2, 17. 2 Arch, di Stato in Modena, Guiglia.
3 Arch, di Stato in Modena, Carteggio Governatori,
THE GYPSIES OF MODON AND THE ' WYNE OF ROMENEY ' 57
Le deduzioni che escono da questo racconto sono uiolte, ma a
me preme di rilevare che qui si trattava di Zingari italiauizzati o
italiani veri, ai quali fu sempre grande rifugio il bosco del Lovoleto
oggi detto della Saliceta.
Prima di ultimare la narrazione di cio che riguarda il secolo
xvi. diro, che nel 1578 Antonio Trombato barbiere (chirurgo)
denunciava al Podesta del Finale di aver curato di una ferita
Alessandro Cingano che 1' aveva riportata da Santo Duntino pure
Zingaro ; x e come Ercole Zingaro fosse fra i birri esecutori a San
Felice,2 e grida per l'espulsione di essi fossero publicate nel 1588,
ed un' altra nel 1598 regis tra lo Spaccini nella sua cronaca di
Modena.3
Entrerebbe pure nel nostro argomento il ricercare minutamen-
te se la legislatura ecclesiastica abbia considerato lo Zingaro in
questi tempi, ma nel 400 e nel 500 non appare, nemmeno dopo il
Consiglio di Trento nei Sinodi diocesiani di Modena e di Nonan-
tola, e l'occuparsi di essi spettera al seguente secolo con una
armonia assoluta colle leggi civili.
(Continuazione nel prossimo numero.)
THE GYPSIES OF MODON AND THE 'WYNE OF
ROMENEY '
By Eric Otto Winstedt
IT is a mistake to suppose that sackcloth and ashes were the lot
of the mediaeval pilgrim : featherbeds form part of the kit
advised by a fifteenth century Baedeker,4 and Boorde's travel-
song —
Nos vagabunduli,
Laeti, jocund uli,
Tara, tantara, taino !
Bibimus libere,
Canimus lepide,
Tara, tantara, taino !
would have been no inappropriate motto for many of them.
Consequently few of those whose travels are recorded passed by
the town of Modon in the Peloponnese, lying in the course from
Venice to Jaffa, without mentioning the Runmey wine which grew
1 Arch, di Stato in Modena, Finale, fil. 4.
2 Arch, di Stato in Modena, S. Felice, fil. 2.
3 Spaccini, G. B. , Cronaca di Modena.
4 Cf. Duff's edition of the fifteenth-century Information for Pilgrims, London,
1893, p. xiii,
58 THE GYPSIES OF MODON AND THE "WYNE OF ROMENEY '
there, though they do not all linger over it with the longing
regret with which the 'Odcombian Legge-stretcher ' dilates on the
wine and the women of Venice. Rumney is on his list of wines
commended, without special praise. ' Some of these wines are
singular good, as their Liatico, which is a very cordiall and
generose liquor ; their Romania, their Muscadine, and their Lagryme
di Christo, which is so toothsome and delectable to the taste,
that a certaine stranger being newly come to the citie, and tast-
ing of this pleasant wine, was so affected therewith, that 1 heard
ho uttered this speech out of a passionate humour: O Domine
Domino, cur non lachrymasti in regionibus nostris ? that is, 0
Lord 0 Lord, why hast thou not distilled these kinde of teares
into our countries ? ' l But Rumney was not of native Venetian
growth : it came from Modon in the Peloponnese, a seaport
then under the suzerainty of Venice.2 Niccolo Frescobaldi,
who visited the town on the 19th of September 1384, describes
it as ' a fair fortress and well walled in the land of Romania,' and
mentions the vintage which he calls in the plural le Romanie,
the point which struck him most being that there was no old
wine to be had. The wine was, he explains, so rich that when
making it the casks had to be smeared inside with resin to pre-
vent it from going mouldy.3 ' At the Venetian town of Modon
in Greece grows the Romenye,' says Porner : 4 William Wey, one
of the earliest of the English pilgrims, bears his testimony to ' a
wine called Rumney,'5 and Sir Richard Guildford6 to 'moche
1 Coryat's Crudities, London, 1611, p. 288, or Glasgow, 1905, i. 424-5.
- Later pilgrims speak of it as in the hands of the Turks, e.g. The Pylgrymage of
Sir Richard Guylforde, ed. by Sir H. Ellis, Camden Society, 1851, p. 12, ' It was but
late Uenycyans, but nowe the Turke hath it.' So too Torkington, Ye Oldest Diarie
of Englysshe Travett, ed. by W. J. Loftie, London, [1884], pp. 18-19. Guildford
travelled in 1506 ; Torkington in 1517. The Venetians lost Modon in 1500.
3 Viaggio di Lionardo di Niccolo Frescobaldi Fiorentino in Egitto e in Terra Santa,
Roma, 181 S, p. 72. ' Ed a di 19. del detto mese di Settembre giugnemmo a Modona.
11 quale e bello castello, e bene murato, ed e nelle parti di Romania. . . . E quivi
giugnemo di vendemia, dove non trovando niuno vino vecchio, e le Romanie
nuove che fanno imbrattano tutta )a botte drento di ragia a niodo d'intonico,
e se cosi non facessono per la grassezza del vino, tutto diventerebbe verminoso e
guasto.' The Honorary Secretary informs me from personal experience that wine-
casks are still smeared with resin in the Morea, and that in consequence much of
the wine tastes like varnish.
4 ' To modon der Venedier dar wesset de romenye in Greken,' quoted in Conrady,
Vier rheinische Palaestina-Pilgerschriflen, Wiesbaden, 1882, p. 99, note 122. Porner
travelled in 1418.
5 William YVey's Itinerarhim of his second voyage in 1462 (MS. Bodl. 565,
fol. 58r) ' xxvii0 die Junii venim0 ad ad (sic!) Motiii ubi creaoit vinil vocatu
Rumney.'
Pylgrymage, p. 12. He is copied by Torkington.
THE GYPSIES OF MODON AND THE ' WYNE OF ROMENEY ' 59
Romney and Malvesey.' In the anonymous Information for
Pilgrims, published about 1498 by Wynkyn de Worde,1 we read
that Modon 'is a grete yle & a plenteuo9. It is .III. C. myles
from Corphu. And there growyth wyne of Romeney ' : and a
similar German work2 lays stress on the size of the grapes which
grew there, though it does not mention the wine by name.
But it was not for its wine alone that Modon was famous. As
Hopf and Wiener have shown, it was the headquarters of the
Greek Gypsies in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Fresco-
baldi3 mentions a number of Romiti outside the walls of the
city, whom he thought to be penitents doing penance for their
sins ; but the testimony of subsequent travellers proves that they
were Gypsies and that, though their sins were plenty, their
penitence was but small. Experience had taught the later
visitors wisdom, since the band of Gypsy ' penitents ' who visited
western Europe in 1417 had opened people's eyes to the meaning
of their pilgrim guise. But Frescobaldi lived before that invasion,
and it is interesting to find that they conveyed to his mind the
impression which they took much pains to force on the rest of
Europe later. Perhaps it was their acquaintance with pilgrims at
such places as Modon which led them to adopt that guise.
Pilgrims were not the only persons with whom they were
confused. One German travel-book writes of them as fugi-
tive Albanese;4 though the author identifies them with the
wanderers who ' come to Germany and are called Egyptians.' Like
others he condemns them as beggars who gain a livelihood by
betraying Christians to Turks. Modon he describes as 'one of
the chief towns of Romania'; and he mentions the 'Romenie
1 Duffs ed. sig. c. iiir.
2 Der Pilgerfiihrer des Miltenberrjer Handschriftenbandes, Conrady, p. 48.
'Item Madinj est ciuitas regni monea [ = Morea]. Ibidem crescunt botri habentes
vuas in quantitate capitis hominis.' The MS. was written in the fifteenth century.
a P. 73. 'Dirimpetto al porto di Modona si e un grandissimo poggio, il quale
si chiama il poggio della Sapienza. ... Ha nel poggio della Sapienza molti Romiti a
fare penitenza de' loro peccati.' He seems to have made a mistake about the name,
as Guildford says, ' There is a lytell yle also before Modona, called Sapiencia ' (p. 12),
and according to a note by Conrady on a passage in the Niederrheinische Pilyerschrift
(p. 173), where it is mentioned as lying south of Modon, it was one of the three islands
anciently called Oenussae.
4 Niederrheinische Pilyerschrift in Conrady, p. 99. ' Van desen lande [Modon]
compt de romenie daer vaste by, als vors [cruen] is ; mar moeden is eyn houftstat
van romenien ; vnd bleuen daer des soendaechs alden dach. Item buten modon
wanen vele versochte lude, die albanese heiten vnd hueden sich vnd coment in
duytsche lande daer heyden aber egiptiers vnd hebben anders nicht, wan sy vp den
turck aber heimelich van den kristen connen gerouven.' The book was probably
written about the middle of the fifteenth century.
60 THE GYPSIES OF MODON AND THE ' WYNE OF ROMENEY '
which grows hard by.' Even here, however, they are identified
with the Gypsies ; and other travellers are unanimous in the
identification. Indeed Harff's description, which will be quoted
later, is sufficient alone to settle their identity. We are therefore
very fortunate in having not only several descriptions, but at least
one picture of the colony. Bernhard von Breydenbach journeyed
to Jerusalem in 1483, and found outside Modon ' the Gippenn who
are called Gypsies,' whom he condemns as ' nothing but spies and
thieves, who claim to come from Egypt when they are in Ger-
many; but it is all a lie, as you yourselves well know. ... At
Modon grows the genuine Komanie and nowhere else in the
world.' x But Breydenbach did not travel alone ; he took with
him Eberhard Reilwich as his draughtsman, to illustrate the book
in which he described his travels, and it is to the latter's pencil
that we owe a large plate of Modon with the Gypsy quarter
behind it. Such pictures are of course always suspicious, as the
artist may have drawn them from memory ; but if the huge five-
foot picture of Venice, the only one which I can judge from
personal observation, can be taken as a criterion for the accuracy
of the rest, the Modon plate ought to be a tolerably good likeness.
In it we see a fortified town with a long jetty running out so as to
form one side of a harbour ; and behind the town a hill, which is
doubtless Frescobaldi's Poggio delta Sapienza, and the Mount
Gyppe of other accounts. At the foot of the hill, just outside the
town walls, are a number of huts of various shapes and sizes.
Some of them might be intended for tents, but probably they
are all huts, as Harff speaks only of ' reed-covered huts/ and
Breydenbach in his Peregrinatio calls them tuguria. He there
gives the number at ' about three hundred in which dwell certain
poor folk like Ethiopians, black and unshapely,' adding the infor-
mation that they were called Saracens in Germany, and claimed
falsely to come from Egypt. In reality they Avere natives of
Gyppe, near Modon, and spies and traitors.2 He does not state
1 Reiseinsti'uction in Riihrieht u. Meisner, Deutsche Pilgerreisen, p. 135. ' Und
ussvennick der selbeun staidt do woynenn die gippenn, die mann nent die zoiguner,
itell verretter und dibe und sprechenn, sy koment usser Egipptenn landt, wann sy
inn dutze lant komenn, und ist alless erlogenn, alss er [ir] selber woill vernemenn
werdent . . . Zu Modoyn weclist der reclite romanie und in der welt niergent mer.'
'-' Peregrinatio, Mainz, 14Xt*>, fol. 181'. 'Nam ibidem aliud no habetur vinu nisi
malmasetum. Sut quoqs plurima ante ipam ciuitate tuguria numero quasi treeenta
in quibus pauperes quida instar ethiopu nigri et difformes habitant quos ncs du
nostras veniut in terras vulgato vocabulo sarracenos appellam0 qui se falso asserut
ex egipto esse que tamen p longissiinos ab loco illo distat tractus sed reuera sunt de
gippe terra quada illi loco vicina. traditores ut comuniter et proditores xpiano^.'
MODON IN THE MOREA
With Gypsy Settlement
{Drawn in 1483 by Eberhard Reilwichfor Breydenbach's < Peregrinatio,' Mainz, i486)
THE GYPSIES OP MODON AND THE ' WYNE OF ROMENEY ' 61
explicitly that the mountain behind Modem was called Gyppe,
but many other travellers do. Alexander Pfalzgraf bei Rhein
(1495), for instance, after rather strangely expressing surprise at
the number of Greeks and Jews he saw in the Greek town Modon,
continues : ' Near Modon lies a hill called Gype, and there are
about two hundred little houses or huts inhabited by the
Egyptians called Heathen. Some people call this hill and its
appurtenances Little Egypt.' 1
Much doubt has been thrown on the names Gyppe and Little
Egypt, and the latter, from which some of the early lifteenth-cen-
tury invaders of western Europe claimed to come, has been sought
far and wide. But there seems no reasonable doubt that the
pilgrims are correct in their account, and that the two names were
temporarily applied to the camping-place of the colony of Gypsies
behind Modon. The name Little Egypt is sufficiently paralleled
by the ' Little Jewry ' of some English towns ; and the mistake of
those who have sought for it elsewhere has lain in supposing that
it contained the clue to the legend of Egyptian origin, whereas the
name was merely derived from that legend.
Certainly, even if Modon is Little Egypt, that is no reason for
asserting with Grunemberg2 that all Gypsies had ' their origin
thence, and their home there.' He visited Modon in 1486, and not
only bears witness to the Gypsies, but like Breydenbach gives
a picture of Modon. The illustration in the MS. of his travels
at Gotha is stated by Rohricht and Meisner to show the Gypsy
quarter consisting of about three hundred ' Hauser aus Rohr ' ; but,
unfortunately, information kindly supplied me by the librarian,
Dr. Ehwald, proves that it is only too like Breydenbach's plate,
being in fact nothing more than a copy of it. The plate in the
other surviving MS. of Grunemberg, now at Karlsruhe, shows the
town from another side, and is useless for our purposes, since it
excludes the Gypsy quarter. Grunemberg also mentions the
1 In FeyrabencTs Reypbuch dtp heyligen Lands, Franckfort, 1584, p. 37. ' Modon
ist ein fast starcke Stadt / nicht sehr hubsch/ist ein Bistumb/ vnd sind zu Modon
viel Jiiden vnd Griechen / vnd wenig Christen leut / vnd neben Modon ligt ein Berg
genant Gype /vnd seind wol bey 200. kleine Heu^lin / oder Hutten/da ligen die
Egyptianer genant Heyden / vnnd etlich leut heissen dieselben Berg mit jhrer
zugehorde/klein Egypten.'
2 MS. St. Peter, pap. 32, in the Grossherzogliche Hof- und Landesbibliothek at
Karlsruhe, foil. 17v-18r. ' Morea ist gar ain Edle Insel, dar In habend al Ziginer
oder Haiden In Vnsern landen gehaisen Irn Vrsprung vri sind alda da haim . . .
Item ze modon wachst der Romanyger, der ist also stark, dj ineteim zwen tail
wassers darunder sin mus, es mocht Inn sust on schadri niemans geniessen, vor
sterk.'
62 THE GYPSIES OF MODON AND THE ' VVYXE OP ROMENEY '
Romany wine, stating that it was so strong that it had to be mixed
with twice its volume of water before it could be drunk. And
considering the mass of evidence accumulated for the existence
both of the Romany wine and the Romanichels at Modon, it is
very tempting to connect the two, especially when one finds that
the same wine existed at Nauplion where, as Hopf has proved,
there was a Gypsy colony at least as early as the middle of the
fourteenth century, and in Crete, where Philipp van Hagen in his
Hodoporika (1528) * states ' many Jews and Gypsies dwell among
the Christians.' Peter Fassbender, whose pilgrimage was under-
taken in 1492, bears witness to the existence of the wine both at
Modon and in Crete, though he elects to call it Malvasia Romany.
He adds that it is a cheap wine, but, as we learned also from
Frescobaldi, will not keep for more than a year.2 Now Johann
Graf zu Solms (1483) states that the only wine of Modon is Mal-
vasia : 3 and several other pilgrims mention Malvasia in Crete,
but none, so far as I can find, except Fassbender, mention
Rumney ; so that apparently the two names were occasionally
confused. In any case the wines were probably closely alike, as
one originated in and took its name from Napoli di Malvasia or
Monembasia, and the other from Napoli di Romania, the modern
Nauplion, both in the Peloponnese. Napoli di Romania was so
called because it was situated in the land which at that time
bore the name Romania, a name which once embraced the whole
Byzantine Empire, but had come to be confined roughly to
modern Greece. Whether the Gypsies too took their name from
the old Byzantine designation or not is a moot point ; but though
the Gypsies of Corfu early became agriculturists, their presence
in the special wine-growing districts can only be regarded as a
1 In Conrady, p. 241, ' fil iuden vnd ziginer wonen do vnder den cristen.' The
Cretan Gypsies do not appear to have improved since Symon Simeonis saw
them. Hagen continues, ' Ich hab do geseheu wie ellenclich daz folck do halber
nacket gen von wiben vnd kinden sunderlich ; hand kein schu an, kein girtel vmb
vnd hencken die wiber ire brist blosz harusz on scham. Der mertel sind heszlich,
ligen vff der erden wie daz tie, hand kein bet, weder hey noch stro ist nit do, daz
man druff ligen kan ; man zerhackt ir stro als vnnd gibts irem fie zessen.'
[There saw I how pitifully the folk go half naked, especially the women and
children ; they are neither shod nor girt, and the women shamelessly expose their
breasts. Most of them are ugly, and they lie on the ground like cattle, having no
beds, for there is neither hay nor straw there that they can lie upon ; they chop
up their straw in order to give it to their beasts to eat.]
2 In Rohricht u. Meisner, p. 251. 'Da weyst koestlyche Malvesyer Romani
und ist goitz kouffs wyn und frucht, want idtenhelt sich nyet boven eyn jair.'
;i In Feyrabend's Reyfibuch, p. 54v, • Man schenket kein andern Wein zu Modon
derm Malvasier.'
THE GYPSIES OF MODON AND THE ' WYNE OF ROMENEY ' 63
coincidence. Perhaps, indeed, the existence of the wine drew
them thither ; but on the evidence of the travellers who mention
them, there is nothing to connect them with the production or
the sale of it ; which indeed was quite as well. They are thirsty
souls that dwell in tents, and not over energetic. Had they had
a hand in its making, there would probably have been little to
export; whereas there must have been a considerable export
trade in it. 'Romeney' and ' Malvesey ' are mentioned together
in an English document of 1418,1 ' rumney and malmesyne ' in
the Squire of Low Degre (circ. 1475), and in 1531-2 Henry
viii. passed a law regarding the price of ' malmeseis Romaneis
sackes ' and ' other swete wynes.' The name attained such
celebrity that there was even a 'vinum hispanense romenye.'
Possibly it is through the latter that two of the rarest of
Burgundies bear the names Romanee St. Vivant and Romanee
Conti.'
Whether the use of Romanie in the sense of ' brandy ' or ' rum '
among the Tinklers is in any way connected with its use as a word
for Greek wine, or whether it is rather derived from the old cant
term ' rum booze ' for any good drink, it would be idle to discuss.3
But what this large colony of Gypsies did at Modon, if they were
not connected with what was apparently its chief industry, is
more worth consideration. The simplest explanation would be
that they were drawn thither by the knowledge of the frequent
visits of pilgrims, on whose credulity they hoped to impose.
Where the carcase is, there will the birds be gathered together ;
and the Gypsies are very carrion-crows for scenting out an
opening for their many arts, as visitors to the sands of Blackpool
have good reason to know. But, if it was so, the pilgrims care-
fully conceal the fact. Fassbender says that ' they live in great
poverty, and practise nothing but smithcraft, which they perforin
1 J. Delpit, Collection generate des documents francais qui se trouvent en Angleterre,
tome i. p. 225. Other early authorities are J. Russell's Boke of Nurture (circ. 1450),
who calls the wine ' rompney,' ' romney modoun,' and ' Rompney of Modoh ' (Early
Eng. Text Soc, xxxii., London, 1868, pp. 124-5). In his note (p. 205) the editor
cpaotes Henderson's Ancient and Modern Wines for the spellings Romenay, Rumney,
Romaine or Romagnia. In Wynkyn de Worde's Boke of Keruynge (dated mccccxiii !)
it is also called ' romney modon ' as well as ' romney ' ; while Andrew Boorde in his
Breuyary (Early Eng. Text Soc, Extra Ser. 9, London, 1S69, p. 75) appears to
distinguish between Romney and Romaniske wyne : but what the difference was is
not known.
2 Cf. C. Redding, A History and Description of Modem Wines, 3rd ed. London,
1860, p. 120.
s Cf. MacRitchie, Gypsies of India. London, 1886, p. 9(5-7, footnote.
64 THE GYPSIES OF MODON AND THE ' WYNE OF EOMENEY '
in a bI range manner of their own,' ' and the only two pilgrims who
give a description of the colony at any length speak of them too
as mainly smiths. Their description of the Gypsies' method of
working is worth quoting for comparison with Lencheraud's notes
on the Gypsy smiths of Xante, which has been cited by Wiener.
I EarfFs account, which refers to the years 1496-9, is the fullest: —
'Item we went out to the outskirts, where dwell many poor, black, naked
people called Suyginer in little huts covered with reeds, about a hundred house-
holds, whom, when they travel in these lands, we call heathen from Egypt. This
people practises there all kinds of trades, such as shoemaking and cobbling, and
also smithcraft, which was very strange to see, as the worker's anvil stood on the
ground and he sat by it like a tailor in this country. By him sat his wife also on
the ground and span. Between the two lay the fire. By it were placed two small
leather sacks like bagpipes, which were half buried in the earth by the fire,- so
that the woman, as she sat and span, now and again lifted one sack from the
ground and then put it down again. That gave the fire air through the ground
so that he could work. Item this people is from a land called Gyppe which lies
about forty miles3 from the city of Modon. This district was taken by the Turkish
king within the last sixty years,4 and some of the gentry and counts would not
submit to the king and fled to our country, to Rome to our Holy Father the Pope
seeking consolation and assistance from him. Wherefore he gave them intro-
ductory letters to the Roman Emperor and all princes of the realm, asking them
to further them on their way and assist them, since they were expelled for
Christ's sake. They showed the letters to all princes, and none would assist them.
So they perished in misery leaving the letters to their servants and children, who
still to this day abide in these lands and claim to be from Little Egypt. But this
is false, since their elders were natives of the land of Gyppe, called Suginien, whicli
lies not half way from here at Kdln to Egypt. Wherefore these wanderers are
knaves and spyers-out of the land. . . . Item in this country grows no other wine
but Romennije, which is very strong and good.'5
1 Rohricht u. Meisner, p. 251. ' Item vur der stat an den muyren wonnent vyll
heyden, dye gelich pleigent [gleich (?) pflegen] in unnse landt zo komen, und
vernympt man nyet, wae sy me [mehr] woynnen, dan dae, und leben in groissem
armoyt und sy doynt anders nyet, dan smeden, dae van haynt sy eyn sunderlich
wonderlich manyere. '
2 These half-buried bellows are either the prototype or perhaps the exact
facsimile of those still used by the Gypsies of Belgium ; cf. the description and
illustration by Van Elwen (./. G. L. S., Old Series, iii. 139, 140). For Gypsy
smiths working in a sitting position cf. Pennell's picture in the /. G. L. S., New
Series, i. 293.
3 Harff puts Gyppe further from Modon than most travellers ; but, as Bataillard
(Etat de la Question, Paris, 1877, p. 14) says, it is uncertain whether he means
German miles or Greek miles, which are much shorter.
4 Hopf denies this statement. But perhaps Harff is referring to the reduction of
the Peloponnese to a tributary vassal state by Turakhan, the vizier of Murad n., in
1423, or the devastation of the Morea by Turkish troops in 145S.
5 Die Pilgerfahrt des Hitters Arnold von Harff, edited by Dr. E. von Groote,
Coin 1860, pp. 67-68. 'Item voert gyngen wir vur die vurstat, dae wonen vil
armer swarttzer nackedicher hide in kleynen huser mit rijet gedeckt, wTael vmb
trynt hundert huyssgesyns, Suyginer genant, die wir hie noemen heyden vss
Egipten, die in desen landen vmb tzeynt. dit volck drijfft dae allerlye ambocht as
schoemaichen schoelappen ind ouch smeden, dat gar selsen was zo seyne, as sijn
anveltz off der erden stundt, dae by he sass as eyn snijder in desen landen. dae
THE GYPSIES OF MODON AND THE ' WYNE OF ROMENEY ' 65
Dietrich von Schachten, who visited Modon in 1491, writes:—
Item at Modon outside the city on the hill by the wall there are many
miserable little huts, where the Gypsies, so-called in Germany, dwell, very poor
people and generally all smiths. They sit clown on the ground for their work and
have a pit made in the earth in which they keep the fire and if the man or woman
has a pair of bellows in his hand, they are quite contented, and blow with the
bellows, a miserably poor thing that is beyond description : and make a great
number of nails and very well.1
The pilgrims' evidence then proves nothing except that they
were smiths, cobblers, and spies, and, though it is unsatisfactory in
supplying no reason for their choice of Modon as a place of settle-
ment, it is at least good evidence that we have real Gypsies to deal
with. Smithcraft is universal among them ; and according to the
Montenegrian legend 2 they have dealt in nails since the crucifixion ;
cobbling the Gypsies of Kronstadt3 still practise seated in the
market-place : and spies they have always been held to be. Indeed,
their habits and trades, their vices and virtues, their appearance
and nature, are immutable so far back as we can trace them ; and
we may be sure that the Modon colony could no more resist the
temptation of dukkering the pilgrims than any modern dai. It is
therefore probable that the pilgrims were a little unwilling to confess
bij sass sijn huysfrauwe ouch off der erden ind span, so laich tusschen yen beyden
dat fuyr. dae bij waren gemaicht tzweyn kleyn lederen secke wie an eyner sack-
pijffen, die halff in der erden bij dem fuyre gemaicht waeren, soe as dan die vrauwe
sas ind span, so hoeffsij bij wijlen eynen sack van der erden off ind steys yen dan
weder neder. dat gaeff durch die erde dem fuyre wynt, dae bij he smeden moechte.
item dit volck sijnt visser eyme lande Gyppe genant, dat vmbtrynt veirtzich mijlie
van der stat Modon lijcht, wylche lantschafft der turcksche keyser in seesstzich
jaeren gewonnen hait, soe dat sich etzliche heren ind grauen vnder den turcksclien
keyser neyt geuen en wolden ind sijnt geflouwen in vnse lant zo Rome nae vnsem
geystlichen vader dem payse, troyst ind bijstant van yeme begerende, durch dat
he inne forderynghs brieue gaeff an den roemschen keyser ind an alle fursten des
rijchs, dat sij yen geleyde ind bijstendich weulden sijn, wie sij vmb des cristen
gelouues wyllen verdreuen weren, hant sij die brieue alien fursten getzount,
nyemantz in bijgestanden ist. sij sijnt in der elleynde gestoruen, die brieue yeren
dieneren ind kynderen voert oeuer gelaissen, die noch huden disdaiches in desen
landen vmb tzeynt ind noemen sich van kleynem Egyppten, dat geloegen ist, want
yere alderen vss der lantschaff Gyppe geboeren waeren, Suginien genant, dat nyet
off haluem wege van hynne zo Colne in Egypten en lijcht. dar vmb sijnt dese vmb
tzeyner bouuen ind verspeyr der lande . . . item in deser lantschafft weyst geyn
ander wijn dan Romennije die gar stark ind guet is.'
1 Rohrichtund Meisner, p. 180. ' Item zu Modan fur der Stadt am Berge zuriick
ann der Riengmaur, da hatt es viel kleiner elender hausslein nieder, da wohnenn
Ziegienner ihnnen, die mann nennt also ihnn deutschenn landtenn, fast arm Volk
undt gewonnlichenn alle schmiett, sietzenn nieder auff der Erdenn ann ihrer Arbeitt
undt habenn eine grubenn ihnn die Erdenn gemachtt, da sie das feur halttenn, undt
hatt der Mann oder die fraw ein pfar blaassbelge ihnn der handt, siendt gantze heude
undt endtpfahntt also die lufft in die blaasbelge, das elendeste undt armbste dieng,
dasnichtt darvon zuschreibenn ist, undt machenn fast viel nagel undt gutte Arbeitt.'
2 Cf. Groome, Gypsy Folk Tales, London 1899, p. xxvii.
3 Wlislocki, Vom wandernden Zigeunervolkc, Hamburg, 1890, p. 202.
VOL. III. — NO. I. E
66 THE GYPSIES OF MODON AND THE ' WYNE OF ROMENEY '
their follies, and that it was their presence and the chance of turn-
ing an honest, semi-honest, or frankly dishonest penny out of them,
which mainly attracted the Gypsies to Modon. For it was not only
at Modon that they were found, but at several other important
pilgrim stations as well. At Nauplion the Venetian governor
renewed their privileges in 1494 : in Crete Symon Simeonis l found
them as early as the fourteenth century ; and there is evidence of
their presence at Jaffa. Herzog Heinrich von Sachsen and his
fellow-pilgrims were imprisoned in a khan and only freed by
liberal bribery, and the Gypsies were credited with having betrayed
the duke, who was travelling incognito, to the Turks.2 Thirty
years earlier Graf Eberhard von Wtirtemberg had a similar ex-
perience, from which he did not escape so easily. But whether
his took place at Jaffa is not certain ; it may have been further
inland, since Steffan von Gumpenberg (1449-50) claims to have met
Gypsies by the Sea of Galilee : ' AVhen we had ridden about eight
miles we came to a deserted inn, lying on a flowing stream ; and
there came a whole host of Gypsies, carrying their houses on camels,
and having all their cattle with them ; and the oxen and cows carried
their goods and children.' 3 If this is really a description of a band
of Syrian Gypsies, then they must in the fifteenth century have
been in very comfortable circumstances, as they owned camels and
cattle. But it is possible that he confused Gypsies with Arabs,
like Felix Schmid (1483) in his Evagatorium.* There he tells us
in one passage that the desert of Syria and Arabia is peopled by
Zigari, and in another that these Zigari are identical with the
Zigineri ' who in our day have traversed Europe with their wives
and children, and are not permitted to enter towns since they
are expert thieves.' He adds that he had questioned one who
admitted that he was a Chaldaean and spoke Chaldee, which he
quotes as proof positive of the falsity of their claim to Egyptian
origin.5 Yet in the first passage he admits that some held the
1 Itineraria, ed, J. Nasmith, Cambridge, 177S, p. 17.
2 Rohricht und Mei.sner, p. 519.
3 Feyrabend's Reyfihuch, p. 242v. ' Da wir wol bey acht meileu geritten / da
kamen wir zu einer wusten Herberg / die lag an einem rliessenden Bach / da kamen
der Zigeuner ein gantzes Heer / vnnd fuhreten jhre Hauser auff Kamelen / vnnd
alles Vieh mit jn / vnnd die Ochsen vnd Kuh trugen Hau/9rath vnnd Kinder.'
4 Vol. ii. p. 398-400. Stuttgart, 1843-9.
8 Evagatorium, vol. n. p. 472. ' Ex hac regione, ut supra Fol. 25 dictum est,
Zigari populi, quos nos Zigineros nominamus, exierunt, qui aetate nostra cum
liberis et uxoribus Europam omnem pervagantur et, cum fures subtilissimi sunt, in
oppida ingredi non permittuntur. Hos Veneti ab omni suo excluserunt regno, turn
propter f urta, turn etiani propter explorationem, [de] qua suspecti habentur. Eodem
THE GYPSIES OF MODON AND THE ' WYNE OF ROMENEY ' 67
dwellers in the desert, and among them presumably the Zigari, to
be genuinely of Egyptian origin, being the descendants of the
Egyptian thieves expelled according to Diodorus Siculus by King
vEtisanes from Egypt.
But in defence of those particular Gypsies it may be noted that
Steffan von Gumpenberg had previously made acquaintance with
wild Arabs in Bethlehem, and did not call them Gypsies but
Heathen : ' On Thursday, while we were hearing mass by the manger,
there came heathen into the churches with their wives and
children ; they were black, bearded, and shaggy, and looked like
the Devil. And they behaved so abominably towards us that the
brethren thought they would never see us again. They were some
of the wild heathen and wanted to return to the desert.' x It would
modo dominus Eberhardus de Wurtemberg, dux, eos ingredi suum dominium non
permittit, quia eorum dolos in propria persona expertus est adversitates passus in
terra sancta, proditus Sarracenis ab eis. Ut autem humanius a ndelibus tracten-
tur, mentiendo dicunt, se esse de superiori Aegypto et in poenitentiam agendam
emissos, pro eo, quod beatam Virginem cum puero Jesu et Joseph nolebant hos-
pitio suscipere, quando fugerunt in Aegyptum. Quod fictitium est. Sic etiam
tingunt se Ghristianoa et baptizantur et rebaptizantur et derisores sacramentorum
sunt. Nos eorum quendam sciscitati fuimus, qua ex patria esset ? Respondit, se
Chaldaeum cum omnibus, linguaque chaldaea semper eos uti consuevisse.' The
statement about the Venetians is strange considering that Modon was a Venetian
possession. Both this statement and the passage about the conversation with
a Gypsy who claimed to be of Chaldaean origin are, like many of the statements of
the early historians, plagiarisms. I am much indebted to Mr. Ehrenborg for pointing
out to me an earlier author who tells the same tale in almost identical words, Jacobus
Philippus Bergomensis (=:Giacomo Filippo Foresti) in his Supplementum Chroni-
carum (Venetia, 1483), lib. iv. p. 55 : * Ex hac regione [Chaldaea] Zigari populi
exierut qui etate nostra cu liberis & vxoribus Europa omne peruagatur. Et cii fures
subtilissimi sint in oppidis permanere : nisi tantu tres dies pmittunt. Hos Ueneti
ab omni suo excluserut regno : turn ppter furta : turn etia ppter exploration^ : qua
suspecti habet. Nos ipo^z queda sciscitati fuim9: qua ex patria essent. Qui respondit
se caldeum cum omnibus esse: linguaq5 caldea eos vti semper consueuisse.' Now
Foresti wrote in 1483 and Fabri in 1484. Besides, Fabri in the earlier passage
(pp. 399-400), referring to the Gypsies, quotes his authority. There, speaking of the
desert Arabs, lie says : ' Si quando autem praedam invenire non possunt, furtis
vitam sustentarequaerunt.cujus gratia suum deseruntdesertum,et non solum orientis
regioues pervagantur, sed in extremas occidentis partes se diffundunt, ubi nescio
qua causa non Arabes nee Chaldaei, sed Zigari vocantur, quos vulgus noster vocant
Ziginer, qui primo orti e Chaldaea, ut dicitur primo Phys. in supplemento Chron.
L. iv., in eius conterminam Arabiam desertam descenderunt et inde per regiones
diffunduntur.'
As no author whose name begins with 'Phys.' appears to have written a
chronicle or a supplement thereto, there is little doubt that those mystic letters
hide a reference to Foresti. Probably some abbreviation of Philippus has been
misread by the editor of Fabri.
1 Feyrabend, p. 241. 'Am Donnerstag da wir Mes£ gehort hetten bey der
Krippen / da kamen Heyden in die Kirchen mit Weib vnd Kinder / die waren
Schwartz bartig / zottig / vnd sahen wie der Teuffel / vn theten so scheu/3lich gegen vns
/da/3 die Bruder meynten /sie hetten vns nie mehr gesehen/ waren der wilden Hey-
den/die wolten wider in die Wiisten.'
68 THE GYPSIES OF MODON AND THE ' WYNE OF ROMENEY '
seem as though there must have been some difference in the
appearance of the two bands to account for the difference of
denomination, since Heiden is clearly not used here as synonymous
with Gypsies.
Schmid's, or rather Foresti's, assertion that the Gypsies are
Chaldaeans is directly at variance with the views of the other
pilgrims who, as we have seen, in most cases regard them as
natives of the Peloponnese. The Niederrheinische Pilger-
schrift's confusion of them with the Albanese, supported by the
mention of the two together at Modon by Hans Werli,1 is
of more interest, as it was doubtless the basis of Hopf's theory
that the Gypsies emigrated from Wallachia and Rumania to
Greece with the fugitive Albanese about the middle of the
fourteenth century. But, though the theory is attractive, there
are several weak points in it. By Hopf's own showing there
were homines Vageniti, who after his careful investigation can
hardly be denied to be Gypsies, in Epirus before 1346, since in that
year Catherine of Valois extended the privilege of adopting new
Gypsy vassals to the feudal lords in Corfu. And Symon Simeonis'
Cretan Gypsies, who in spite of Hopf's doubts may be reasonably
claimed as such, must in all probability have passed through
Greece. Besides, his theory leaves little time for the adoption of
the many Greek loan-words in the Gypsy language, seeing that
the great movement into western Europe began in 1417 ; though
that difficulty may be got over, if we accept Sinclair's theory
that the Gypsies learned their Greek not in Greece, but in Asia
Minor. Certainly Hopf would seem to be wrong in arguing that
it was those who remained behind in Wallachia who sent out the
1417 band, since one of their leaders was Andrew, count of Little
Egypt, which was in all probability Modon itself.
Hopf's argument, like most of the theories about the comings
and goings of the Gypsies, is based on the supposition that their
movements are influenced by external historical events. But
surely such a supposition is quite unnecessary and indeed errone-
ous as a general rule, though instances may be found to support
it. For example, it seems as though the conquest of Modon by
the Turks in 1500 caused most of the Gypsies there to desert their
1 In Feyrabend's Reyfibiich, p. 125v : ' Es wohnen auch da viel Zigeuner/vn vil
vertriebner Albaniesiger/gar elend arm Volck/die haben vmb die Statt gehauset.'
Other foreigners were there too, according to Walther (1482) : ' In eadeni civitate
vidimus Grecos, Zigineros, Mauros, paganos et Christianoa ' (Itinerarium, heraus-
gegebeu von M. Sollweck, Stuttgart, 1892, p. 82).
THE GYPSIES OF MODON AND THE ' WYNE OF ROMENEY ' 69
quarters, since Tschudi J in 1519 found only thirty houses left.
Probably the decrease in trade owing to the cessation of pilgrim-
traffic largely accounted for their departure. But even before
the actual advent of the Turks, there must have been a con-
siderable migration, since the colony had decreased from three
hundred huts to one hundred between the visit of Breydenbach
in 1483 and that of Harff in 1496-9. That such large numbers
could pass unmentioned shows that the chroniclers' and historians'
notices of Gypsy migrations did not by any means embrace all the
large movements which took place. The adventures of these
particular nomads are quite unrecorded ; but it is not perhaps too
rash to recognise our Modon friends in the ' Bohemians and fools
styled Bohemians, Greeks, and Egyptians ' of the Constitution of
Catalonia (a.d. 1512), and the Greek-speaking Spanish Gypsies
who were seen in 1540. If they were mere descendants of the
1417 band they would hardly have kept up their Greek for a
hundred years. Most probably the early invaders of Spain were
a mixed band, consisting partly of descendants of the 1417 band,
reinforced by later arrivals from Modon, since some of those spoken
to in 1540 knew Greek and others did not.2 Again no great historical
event heralded the extensive movement of Gypsies which took
place all over western Europe in 1907 ; and this certainly suggests
a doubt as to whether any cataclysm need have preceded their
arrival in Greece, or anywhere else. And surely one would not
expect it. Gorgio politics, save when aimed directly at himself,
have little or nothing to do with the Gypsy ; and to changes of
dynasty he is as impervious as the Vicar of Bray. But to the
Wanderlust he bows his head ; and the Wanderlust is irresponsible.
The man who would sit calmly through an earthquake will
shoulder his pack in feverish haste and stride out towards the
blue hills, when
' He must go — go — go — away from here
On the other side the world he 's overdue :
'Send your road is clear before you when the old
Spring fret comes o'er you
And the Red Gods call for you ! '
1 Beysz unci Bilgerfahrt, S. Gallen, 1606, p. 68.
2 Borrow, The Zincali, 1841, ii. 110-111.
70 REVIEW
REVIEW
Gipsies of the New Forest and other Tales. By Hexry E. J. Gibbins. Bourne-
mouth, Lymington, etc., W. Mate and Sons, Ltd., 1909. Pp. 126, 36 Illus-
trations. 2s. 6d. net, or 2s. lOd. post free.
The New Forest is no longer a Gypsy paradise where an abundance of food
and firewood can be had for the taking, and smuggled liquor almost for the asking.
Fortunate thieves who have already stolen half its area are diligent to curtail the
privileges of the less fortunate, squadrons of trippers infest its glades throughout
the summer months, its deer have been destroyed by Act of Parliament, and its
wild inhabitants are being compelled to quit a manner of life which the Gajo has
made illegal. But the Gajo has not thought fit to provide for them an honest
means of livelihood which they can adopt without violence to their instincts.
And so the Gypsies have decayed, and Mr. H. E. J. Gibbins in his little book has
to retell the old sad story of the misery which results when an unsuitable form of
civilisation is thrust upon natures unfitted to receive it. Their numbers are not
one-fourth part of what they were ten or twelve years ago, and their racial purity
is lost. The tent-dwelling Stanleys and Lees have vanished, and the most
common ' Gypsy ' surnames are now Barnes, Blake, Cooper, Doe, Green, Lakey,
Miles, Pateman, Pearce, Peters, Rose, Sherrard, Sherred, Sherwin, Sherwood,
Stone, Wareham, Wells and White, to which might be added James and Penfold.
' Even the language of the Rommany has quite died out ; ' according to Mr. Gibbins,
' it is absolutely unknown to any of them now ; ' and, ' they do not appear to pick
up any folk-lore or legends of other parts or people they meet with worthy of
remark.' But we think he is mistaken, and that these statements indicate nothing
more than that the author has failed to win the complete confidence of his
Gypsies.
Very harmless are the ' New Forest Royalty.' They are abjectly poor, yet vice
and immorality are as far from their camps as is religion. ' Emotional but not
intellectual'— such is Mr. Gibbins' description— amenable to kindness, affec-
tionate, 'civil and polite, most inoffensive, and never known to commit crimes
of robbery or violence.' — ' A little poaching in the Forest and pilfering are their
worst offences.'
One Gypsy characteristic they have retained — the one of all others which,
under the circumstances, they could best do without. ' Privations, afflictions, dis-
comfort, and extreme poverty, wet, cold or hunger, sickness and distress, all seem
as nothing to them ; but Freedom, absolute freedom, with semi-starvation, is
Everything.' And so they refuse regular work on the farms, desert the cottages in
which philanthropists have placed them, spurn the offers of the emigration agent,
and cling blindly to a forest which no longer affords the means of subsistence nor
even a market for their clothes-pegs and fortune-telling.
And if we doubt whether Mr. Gibbins' cure — compulsory house-dwelling — is
likely to prove efficacious to mend the ills of people whose restless instincts have
survived every other racial trait, we can at least thank him for a picture of Gypsy
decadence drawn with some sympathetic insight into Gypsy character, and with
much humour and common-sense. As proof whereof we quote in conclusion the
following anecdote : — ' Colonel , whose name was well known in the Forest
years ago, was very strong in his ideas of orthodox marriages with these nomads,
and to further his views in this direction would gladly give a gold wedding ring
to any Gipsy girl he thought was shortly to be " spliced," and many were the tricks
played upon his credulity. Several girls had two rings each, and one — more
artful, perhaps, than the rest — made her boast that she had secured three from
him, and yet was not married, nor likely to be.'
NOTES AND QUERIES 71
NOTES AND QUERIES ,
I. — The Boswells : Two Gypsy Kings
Here are two traces of the so-called ' royal ' tribe. The first is to be found in
Mr. John Potter Briscoe's Gleanings from God's Acre. From it we learn that in
Jelston Churchyard, Notts, lies buried old Dan Boswell, the head of a well-known
party of Gypsies. His epitaph is : —
' I 've lodged in many a town,
I 've travelled many a year,
But Death at length has brought me down
To my last lodging here.'
The second item is to be found in that odd miscellany of Southey's to which he
gave the name of The Doctor. Like a large part of that remarkable book, it is a
quotation, and forms the note to p. 679 in the edition of 1848 : —
' The Parish of Kossington in the union and soke of Doncaster was for many
generations the seat of the Fossard and Manley families. In the reign of Henry
vii., it was granted by that monarch to the corporation of Doncaster.
' The following extract is from Mr. John Wainwright's History and Antiquities
of Doncaster and Conisbro.
" Connected with the history of this village, is a singular and curious specimen
of Egyptian manners, as practised by the itinerant gipsies of the British Empire.
In a letter, which we had the pleasure of receiving from the Bev. James Stoven,
D.D., the worthy and learned rector of this place, it is remarked, that about one
hundred and twenty years ago, the gipsies commenced here a curious custom
which they practised once in almost every year, occasioned by the interment, in
the churchyard of this place, (of) one of their principal leaders, Mr. Charles
Bosville, on the 30th June 1708 or 9. ' Having, from a boy, been much acquainted
with the village, I have often heard of their (the gipsies) abode here, and with
them Mr. James Bosville, their king, under whose authority they conducted them-
selves with great propriety and decorum, never committing the least theft or
offence. They generally slept in the farmer's barns, who, at those periods, con-
sidered their property to be more safely protected than in their absence. Mr.
Charles Bosville (but how related to the king does not appear) was much beloved
in this neighbourhood, having a knowledge of medicine, was very attentive
to the sick, well bred in manners, and comely in person. After his death, the
gipsies for many years came to visit his tomb, and poured upon it hot ale ; but by
degrees they deserted the place.' — (These circumstances must yet hang on their
remembrance ; as, only a year ago, 1821, an ill-drest set of them encamped in our
lanes calling themselves Boswell's.) — These words in the parentheses came within
my own knowledge."
'It is added in a note — "Boswell's Gang, is an appellation very generally
applied to a collection of beggar*, or other idle itinerants, which are often seen
encamped in groups in the lanes and ditches of this part of England."
'In quoting this,' says Southey, ' I by no means assent to the statement that
Gypsies are Egyptians. — They are of Hindostanee origin.'
I have verified Southey's quotation. It will be found at p. 137 of a large
quarto of which the full title is Yorkshire: An Historical and Topographical
Introduction to a Knowledge of the Ancient State of the Wapentake of Strafford and
TickhiU, with ample account of Doncaster and Conisborough . . . . By John Wain-
wright. . . . Sheffield : John Blackwell, 1829. It is now a somewhat rare book.
We are so accustomed to think of Boswell as a Gypsy surname that it is worth
while noting that the Bosvilles were an ancient Yorkshire family of whom
"Wainwright has several notices (cf. pp. 90, 219). Their arms — Arg., five fusils in
72 NOTES AND QUERIES
fess gu., in chief three heads erased sa — are stated to be on the south high window
of Conisborough church. Southey'3 only omission is a reference to Miller's History
of Doncasti r, which I have also verified. Miller in describing the churchyard of
Rossington says : ' On the right hand side of the choir was a stone, the two ends
of which are now remaining where was interred the body of James Bosvill, the
Kinc of the Gipsies, who died Jan. 30, 1708. It is remarkable that his is the
first name mentioned in the present parish register of deaths, etc. For a number
of years it was the custom of Gypsies, from the south, to visit his tomb annually,
and there perform some of their accustomed rites, one of which was to pour a
flaggon of ale on the grave.'— History of Doncaster, by Edward Miller,
(Doncaster, [1804], p. 237.) '
It is satisfactory to find that on the history of the Gypsies Southey held the
true faith. William E. A. Axon.
2. — Gypsies in Corfu and the Morea
In The Latins in the Levant: A History of Fromhish Greece (1204-1566), by
William Miller, M.A., London, John Murray, 1908, there are several interesting
references to the Greek Gypsies of the later Middle Ages. These are as follows :—
It is stated that when, in the year 1386, Venice acquired Corfu, — 'the feudal
system continued to form the basis of Corfiote society, and became the bulwark of
Venetian rule. The new masters of the island confirmed the Angevin barons in
their fiefs, but created few more. ... By far the most interesting of the fiefs was
that of the 'Adlyyavot or gypsies, who were about a hundred [? families] in
number, and were subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the baron upon whom
their fief had been bestowed— "an office," as Marmora says, "of not a little gain
and of very great honour." Their feudal lord could inflict on them any punish-
ment short of death — a privilege denied to all his peers ; they were his men and
not those of the Government, which could not compel them to serve in the galleys
or render the usual feudal services of the other peasants. They had their own
military commander, similar to the drungarms of the gypsies at Nauplia, and
every May-day they marched, under his leadership, to the sounds of drums and
fifes, bearing aloft their baron's banner, and carrying a May-pole decked with
flowers, to the square in front of the house where the great man lived. There they
set up their pole and sang a curious song in honour of their lord, who provided
them with refreshment, and on the morrow received from them their dues. [The
author states in a footnote that "the words of the Gypsy song are quoted in the
'08r]y6s t?)s Kep/cvpar (ed. 1902)." It is probably the Papa-rouda described by
Professor Kopernicki in J. G. L. S., Old Series, iii. 70-71, sung by Gypsy children
to-day in Rumania, Servia, and Bulgaria, on the advent of spring ; but a fuller
examination of this detail is necessary.] Originally granted to the family of
Abitabuli, whose name perhaps came from the habitactda, or encampments of
those vagrants, and then held by the house of Goth, the fief of the gypsies was
conferred in 1540 [being at that time vacant], after the great siege of Corfu, upon
Antonios Eparchos, a versatile genius, at once poet, Hellenist, and soldier, as com-
pensation for his losses and as the reward of his talents. By a curious anomaly,
the jurisdiction of the gypsy baron extended over the peasants of the continental
dependencies of Corfu. It is therefore possible that the serfs called vaginiti, whom
we found under the Angevins [the lords of Corfu of the house of Anjou], and who
emigrated from the mainland, and paid a registration fee on their arrival, were
gypsies.'
1 Hunter in his History of South Yorkshire calls him Charles Bosvile. See
/. G. L. S., New Series, ii. 190, and Groome, In Gypsy Tents, p. 110.
NOTES AND QUERIES 73
The foregoing extract (op. cit, pp. 538-540) gives us another illustration of the
fact that Gypsy nobles were not, as a rule, of Gypsy blood. And yet this dis-
tinction seems to have been only recognised in a partial degree. When Antonios
Eparchos was made Giudice e Capita/no delli Aringani, the Venetians who appointed
him to that post cpiite understood his position. Nevertheless, if he and a party
of his vassals visited Western Europe, he would be referred to in municipal records
as 'Antony, a count or earl of Little Egypt,' apparently without any hint of
racial difference between him and his followers. It is interesting, further, to note
that Marmora, whose Historia di Corfu was published in 1672, speaks of the
Gypsy barony as ' an office of not a little gain and of very great honour.'
On a previous page of his book (p. 522), Mr. Miller had already referred to
the Corfu Gypsies, in these words : — ' According to some authorities, it was
during this reign [the reign of Philip n. of Taranto, 1364-73] that the fief of the
gypsies was first created. At any rate, the gypsies, of whom we have seen traces
in other parts of Greece, where the various "Gyphtokastra" still preserve their
name, seem to have crossed over to Corfu from the mainland during the Angevin
domination. These may have been the oft-mentioned " men from Vagenetia " in
Epiros, who first found refuge at the courts of the Corfiote barons in the reigns of
Charles n. and of Philip i. of Taranto,'— from 1285 to 1331.
With reference to the Morea, Mr. Miller states (p. 461) that 'a band of
gypsies had been encamped at Nauplia as far back as the end of the fourteenth
century under a chief, or drungarius, to whom special privileges were granted.
He also quotes (at p. 383) the statement made by the Byzantine satirist Mazaris,
in a pamphlet written in the year 1416. 'Mazaris tells us that there are in
the peninsula seven races, " Lacedaemonians, Italians, Peloponnesians, Slavonians,
Illyrians, Egyptians, and Jews, and among them are not a few half-castes." These
are precisely the races which we should have expected to find there,' observes Mr.
Miller. . . . 'The "Egyptians" are the gypsies, whose name, like that of the
Jews, is still preserved in the various "Gyphtokastra" and "Ebraiokastra" of
Greece.' This statement by Mazaris was first pointed out by Carl Hopf (Die
Einwanderung der Zigeuner, Gotha, 1870, p. 12), and was commented upon by
Paul Bataillard in J. G. L. S., Old Series, i. 268-269.
David MacRitchie.
3. — Gypsies as Inn-Signs
The following extract may be worth reading among the Notes and Queries of
our Journal : —
'The Gipsies Tent occurs at Hagley, Stourbridge ; the Gipsy Queen at High-
bury and other places ; and the Queen of the Gipsies was the sign of the so-called
gipsy house near Norwood. The queen alluded to was Margaret Finch, who died
at the great age of 109 years ; Norwood was her residence during the last years of
her life, and there she told fortunes to the credulous. She was buried October
24, 1760, in a deep square box, as from her constant habit of sitting with her chin
resting on her knees, her muscles had become so contracted that she could not at
last alter her position. This woman, when a girl of seventeen, may have been one
of the dusky gang pretty Mrs. Pepys and her companions went to consult, August
11, 1668, which her lord duly chronicled in the evening : "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." A granddaughter of
Margaret Finch, also a so-styled queen, was living in an adjoining cottage in the
year 1800.'— The History of Signboards, Larwood and Hotten, seventh edition,
p. 508. London : Chatto and Windus. John Myers.
74 NOTES AND QUERIES
4. — One of the Aficion
' I like not when a 'oman has a great peard.'
Mistress Anne Page of world-wide fume was 'pretty virginity' ere she was
married ; and then two of her three would-be spouses found she had turned into
a " great lubberly boy.' She had, however, a less-known, but no less ingenious, half-
namesake, Bet Page, who started life as a lubberly boy, and later contrived to
ilfvelope virginity. The registers of the parish of Streatham record his or her
death in the following words according to Lysons : 1 ' Russel, buried April 14,
1772. N.B. — This person wits always known under the guise or habit of a
woman, and answered to the name of Elizabeth, as registered in this parish, Nov.
21, 1669, but at death proved to be a man.' Lysons' curiosity was piqued by
this notice, and he collected information about the mysterious person, which
proves among other things that he (or she) had some dealings with Bampfylde
Moore Oarew, and possibly with Gypsies. 'The various adventures of his life,
had they been collected by a contemporary, would have formed a volume as enter-
taining as those of the celebrated Bampfylde Moore Carew, whom he accompanied
in many of his rambles, and from whom probably he first took the hint of dis-
guising his sex to answer some temporary purpose. Upon examining the parish
register, I find that John Russel had three daughters, and two sons ; William,
born in 1668, and Thomas, in 1672 ; there is little doubt therefore that the per-
son here recorded was one of the two ; and that when he assumed the female
dress, he assumed also the name of his sister Elizabeth, who probably either died
in her infancy,2 or settled in some remote part of the country ; under this name,
in the year 1770, he applied for a certificate of his baptism. He attached himself
at an early period of life to the gypsies, and being of a rambling disposition
visited most parts of the continent as a stroller or vagabond. When advanced in
years he settled at Chipsted in Kent, where he kept a large shop. Sometimes he
travelled the country with goods, in the character of a married woman, having
changed his maiden name for that of his husband who carried the pack, and to his
death was his reputed widow, being known by the familiar appellation of Bet Page.
In the course of his travels he attached himself much to itinerant physicians,
learned their nostrums, and practised their art. His long experience gained him
the character of a most infallible doctress, to which profession he added that of
an astrologer, and practised both with great profit ; yet such was his extravagance,
that he died worth six shillings only. It was a common custom with him to spend
whatever he had in his pocket at an alehouse, where he usually treated his com-
panions. About twelve months before his death he came to reside at his native
place. His extraordinary age procured him the notice of many of the most
respectable families in the neighbourhood, particularly that of Mr. Thrale, in
whose kitchen he was frequently entertained. Dr. Johnson, who found him a
shrewd sensible person, with a good memory, was very fond of conversing with
him. His faculties indeed were so little impaired by age, that a few days before
he died, he had planned another ramble, in which his landlord's son was to have
accompanied him. His death was very sudden : the surprise of the neighbours
may be well imagined, upon finding that the person, who, as long as the memory
of any one then living could reach, had been always esteemed and reputed to be a
woman, was discovered to be a man ; and the wonder was the greater as he had lived
much among women, and had frequently been his landlady's bedfellow when an un-
lected Lodger came to the house. Among other precautions, to prevent the dis-
covery of his sex, he constantly wore a cloth tied under his chin ; and his neighbours
not having the penetration of Sir Hugh Evans, who spied Falstaffs beard through
1 The Environ* of London, i. 4b(.) (London, 1792).
: If so, the rest of the village would surely have known the fact.
NOTES AND QUERIES 75
his muffler, the motive was unsuspected. After his death a large pair of nippers was
found in his pocket, with which, it is supposed, he endeavoured to remove by
degrees all tokens of manhood from his face. It may be observed that, supposing
him to be the younger son of John Russel, he would have been 100 years of
age ; if we suppose him to have been the elder, his age would have been 104. He
himself used to aver that he was 108. He had a mixture of the habits and em-
ployments of both sexes ; for though he would drink hard with men, whose com-
pany indeed he chiefly affected, yet he was an excellent sempstress, and celebrated
for making a good shirt. There was a wildness and eccentricity iu his general
conduct which frequently bordered on insanity ; and, at least, we may fairly con-
clude, to use a favourite expression of Antony Wood the Oxford biographer, that
he had " a rambling head and a crazy pate." '
What is more to the point is that he had a rambling body : but whether it
actually rambled with the Gypsies is not so certain. The mention of Bampfylde
Moore Carew is no good credential. His knowledge of simples might have
counted more in his favour, if it were not combined with astrology, which is hardly
a Gypsy science. But, at any rate, he had the true vagrant spirit ; and his amiable
way of spending his evenings and his pence would have won him a hearty enough
welcome in the tents of Egypt. E. 0. Winstedt.
5. — La' Vie G£n£reuse
In the dearth of information which prevails about the French Gypsies, even a
suspicious source is worth drawing on, especially if it can claim antiquity.
Suspicion as to the extent of his knowledge of Gypsies must, I fear, attach to
Maistre Pechon de Ruby (' The Leary Kid '), who in his little work La vie
generevse des Mercelots, Gvevx et Boesmiens, first published in 1596,1 lays claim
to experiences similar to those of the author of The English Rogue, or Bampfylde
Moore Carew ; but he has at least the merit which those authors lack, of dis-
tinguishing between mumpers and Gypsies. He left home, he tells us, ' Ayant
l'aage de neuf a, dix ans, craignant que mon pere me donnast le fouet pour quelque
faute commise, comme aduient a gens de cest aage,' and joined a travelling mercer.
When his companion fell ill, he attached himself to other ' Pechons, Blesches, and
Coesmelotiers hurez,' and in their company assisted at a beggar's parliament near
Fontenay le Comte, at which the king of the beggars— le grand Coesre — delivered
an harangue in 'langage Blesquien,' which is duly reported. Tiring of their
company after a while he joined a party of Gypsies, whose manner of life he
proceeds to describe : —
'Lors ie quitay mes gueux, & allay trouuer vn Capitaine d'Egyptiens qui
estoit dans le fauxbourg de Nantes, qui auoit vne belle trouppe d'Egypties ou
Boismiens, & me donnay a luy : II me receut a bras ouuerts, promettant m'appren-
dre du bien, done ie fus tres-joyeux il me n omnia a fourette.2
Maximes des Boismiens.
' QVand ils veulent partir du lieu 6u ils ont loge, ils s'acheminent to9 a l'opposite,
& font demie lieue au contraire, puis se jettent en leur chemin : Ils ont des rneil-
leures cartes & les plus seures, dans lesquelles sont representees toutes les villes &
villages, riuieres maisons de Gentils hommes & autres, & s'entrent— donnent vn
rendez vous de dix iours en dix iours, a vingt lieues du lieu d'ou ils sont partis.
1 There was an edition at Lyons in 1596, reprinted at Paris in 1612 and 1618.
My quotations are taken from an undated— but early— reprint ' Iouxte la copie
Imprimee a Lyon ' in the Bodleian Library.
2 This mysterious phrase, on which the vocabulary at the end of the book throws
no light, is perhaps a misprint, as Techener's reprint of the 1618 ed. (Par. 1839)
reads ' il me nomma Fourette.'
76 NOTES AND QUERIES
1 Le Capitaine bailie aux pi' vieux chacun trois ou quatre mesnageres a conduire,
prenncnt leur trauerse, & se trouuerent au rendez vous : Et ce qui reste de bien
montez & arraez, il les enuoye avec un bon Alinunach, ou sont toutes les foires
du monde, changeans d'accoustremens de cheuaux.
Forme de logement.
' Q V;uid ils loget en quelque bourgade, c'est tousiours auec la permission des
Seigneurs du pays, ou des plus apparens des lieux : Leur departement est en quel-
que grange, ou logis inhabite.
' La le Capitaine leur donne quartier, & a chacun inesnage en son coing a part.
' Ils prennent fort peu aupres du lieu oil ils sont logez, mais au prochaines pa-
roisses, ils font rage de desrober & crocheter les fermetures, & s'ils y trouuent
quelque some d'argent, ils donnet l'aduertissement au Capitaine & s'essoignet
promptement a dix lieiies de la. Ils font la fausse monnoye, & la mettent auec
industrie : Ils ioiient a toutes sortes de ieux, il achettent toutes sortes de cheuaux
quelque vice qu'ils ayent, pourueu q'ils mettent de leur argent.
' Quand ils prennent des viures ils baillent gages de bon argent pour la premiere
fois, sur la defiance que l'on a d'eux, mais quand ils sont prests a desloger ils
prennet encor quelque chose, dont ils baillent pour gaige quelque fausse piece, &
retirent de bon argent & adieu.
' Au temps de la moisson ils trouuent les portes fermees, & auec leurs crochets
ils ouurent tout, & desrobent linges, manteaux, poisles argent & tout autre meuble :
& de tout rendent compte a leur Capitaine qui y prend son droict : De tout ce qu'ils
gaignent au ieu ils redent aussi compte, fors ce qu'ils gaignent a dire la bonne
aduenture.
' Ils hardent font heureusement, & couurent fort bien le vice d'vn cheual.
' Quand ils sgauent quelque bon marchand qui passe pays, ils se desguisent &
l'attrapent, & font ordinairement cela pres de quelque Noblesse, faignans d'y faire
leur retraicte, puis changent d'accoustremens, & font ferrer leurs cheuaux a rebours,
& couurent les fers de fustres, craignans qu'on les entende marcher.'
Then he recounts a robbery executed by Captain Charles's band at a wedding
at Moulins ; and describes how, in the retreat from the fight which ensued, the
astute captain made so heartrending a display of the few wounded Gypsies as to
turn the wrath of the soldiery sent after them on the pursuing countrymen rather
than the pursued.
He ends with a marriage song of the beggars, which I quote, not for its
intelligibility — judging from the little which is intelligible, further intelligibility
would be highly undesirable — but as a specimen of the ' langage Blesquien ' con-
tained in the vocabulary which is appended to the book.
' LE DAVLVAGE BIANT a l'Anticle, au rivage hur^ & violante la hurette,
& pelant la mille au Coesre, C'est le mariage des gueux & gueuzes quand ils vont
espouzer a la Messe, & comme ils disent ceste chanson en ceremonie.
HAuriuage trutage,
Gourt a biart a noz is,
Lime gourne riuage
Son yme forcera le bis.
Ne le fouque aux Coesmes
Ny hurez Gagouz a tris
Fouque aux gourt Coesres
Qui le riueront fermis.'
In the vocabulary I fail to find any Romany words ; but again it is to the
author's credit that he does not try to pass it off as Gypsy ; and, even if he had no
actual dealings with the Gypsies themselves, his remarks have some value, as they
no doubt represent either personal knowledge or at least the received ideas about
Gypsies prevalent among the class which would have the best opportunities of
observing them and mixing with them, E. 0- Winstedt.
NOTES AND QUERIES 77
t>. — Spelman on Gypsies
Egyptiani, & rectiiis per JE diphthong.] Erronum impostorumq; genus
nequissimum ; in Continente ortum sed & Britanias nostras, vt Europam
reliquam peruolans. Italis, Giani & Cingari ; Germanis, EttnQttur, vulgo
Tartari & Gentiles quibusdam Saraceni : nostratibus, JEgyptii & Gypsies
nuncupati. Apparuere (vt mihi Author est Munsterus) primiim in Germania,
An. gra. 1417, nigredine deformes, excocti sole, immundi veste, & vsu rerum
omnium fedi. Furtis in primis dediti, prsesertim fceminae, quae viris inde
victum perhibent, Ducem, Comites, Milites, inter se honorant, veste prsestantes.
Venaticos canes pro more Nobilium alunt, sed vbi venentur, nisi furtim non
habent. Equos saepe mutant, maior tamen pars graditur pedibus. Fceminae
cum stratis & paruulis, iumento inuehuntur. Literas circumferunt Sigis-
mundi Regis, & aliorum Principum, vt innoxius illis permittatur transitus.
Ferunt ipsi ex iniuncta sibi pcenitentia, mundum peragrantes circumire, atque e
minori _<Egypto primiim migrasse. Sed fabellae haec, vt notat Munsterus, apud
quern plura vide Geograph. lib. 3. ca. 5. Oriuntur quippe & in nostra, & in
omni regione, spurci huiusmodi nebulones, qui sui similes in gymnasium sceleris
adsciscentes ; vultum, cultum, moresque supradictos sibi inducunt. Linguam (vt
exotici magis videantur) fictitiam blaterant : provinciasq; vicatim peruagantes,
augurijs et furtis, imposturis et technarum millibus plebeculam rodunt et illudunt,
lingua hanc Germani |fiottoelch, quasi rubrum Wallicum, id est barbarismum ;
Angli Planting nuncupat. Puer vidi numerosam istorum multitudinem, licet
capitale iam turn esset (Statutis 1. & 2. Phil. & Mar. ca. 4. & 7. Eliz. c. 10) per
spacium mensis in hac versari conditione. Exinde sensim disparuere.
Sir Henry Spelman, Archceologus. In modum Glossarii, p. 239. fol. London :
John Beale, 1626. E. Gordon Duff.
7. — Gypsy Prayers
The". Gypsies have found many a friend among the clergy, but none more
devoted than the Rev. Charles L. Marson of Hambridge Parsonage, near Taunton,
author of The English Jerusalem, an historical guide to Glastonbury, and an
enthusiastic collector of folk-songs. He has been kind enough to send the follow-
ing Gypsy prayers, but was unfortunately unable to get other verses, including
pre-reformation invocations of saints, which a Gypsy boy repeated to a friend
of his.
Prayers taught by Mrs. Patience Davis, a pure Romany woman,
to her grandson.
Little children is so wise,
Speak the truth and tell no lies,
Liars' portion is to dwell
For ever in the like of burnin' Hell. (lake)
Little bird of Sparidise (Paradise)
Do the work of Jesu Chrise.
Go by sea, go by Ian',
Go by Goddes holy han'.
God make me a branch and flower,
May the Lord send us all a happy hour.
Lay me down upon my side,
And if I die before I wake,
I trust in God my soul to take.
Hambridge, 1908.
78 NOTES AND QUERIES
8. — Various References
Professor lv Hoffmarm-Krayer has with the greatest kindness collected and
senl to the Gypsy Lore Society the following references to Gypsies. Most are
new ; but a few which have already been quoted elsewhere are nevertheless
reprinted here, because it is convenient to have easily accessible copies of such
important documents.
a. Aus dem ' Landtgebott ' des Eerzogs Maximilian in Bayern. Miinchen, 1611.
Xr. 2. 'Bestimmung und satzung der straffen wider die abschewliche ver-
bundnusz und geineinschafft mit dem bdsen feindt, zauberey, hexerey und
aberglauben. . . .'
' VII. articul. Der oder die jenige, welche nicht in ernst, sonder allein aus
furwitz, schimpfweisz [scherzweise] und kurtzweil halben (wie es sich etwan zu
zeiten begibt) zigeuner, wahrsager, zauberer und andere fragen, jhnen die hande
biotten, darein sehen, und wahrsagen lassen, . . . sollen ein gantzes monat in der
gefencknusz mit wasser und brodt abgestrafft . . . werden.' (Nach Fr. Panzer,
Bcitrag zur dt titsch n Mgthologie, II. [Miinchen, 1855], S. 288.)
b. Aus Bartholomseus Anhorn, Magiologia. Basel, 1674.
S. 230. ' Dieses eytele vnd aberwizige Warsagen ausz den Linien der Handen /
fcreiben sonderbar [besonders] die so genennte Heyden / Egyptier oder Zigeuner /
welche erst vmb das Jahr Christi 1417. zu erst in Teutschland gesehen worden /
ein schwarzes von der Sonnen verbrenntes Volk / vnflatig vnd vnsauber / wie in
der Kleidung / also auch in allem jhrem ubrigen Thun vnd Lassen : Sie verlassen
sich furnemlich auf das stahlen vnd Wahrsagen. Von dieses losen Gsindlins
Vrsprung / Ankunfft / Leben / Bschaffenheit / vnd Keiserlichen Gebotten sie zu
"edulden / schreibet weitleufig Albertus Cranzius in seiner Saxonia libro II.
cap. 2. pay. m. 779. 780. .1 ontiinis, libro 7. Annal. Bav. Camerarms in mcdit.
Hi dor. part. I. c. Yl.pag. m. 95. 96. vnd Part. 2. c. 75. pag. m. 296. Majolus
Dier. Canic. torn. 3. Colloq. 2. pag. m. 708. 709. Bartholomews Kekermannus
Dispnt. 33. Curs. Philos. pag. m. 917. &c>
S. 399. ' Der Zigeuneren Fewrkunst / welche in den Schewren [Scheunen] /
Stadlen [Stallen] / kublen vnd Gelten [Holzgefassen] / bey Hew vnd Stroh / Fewer
anzunden / welche doch nichts als die zubrennen angelegte Materi Material] ver-
brennen ; wird von jhnen der sonderbaren natmiichen Kraft einer Fewr-Wurzd
:oschrieben / deren sie jahrlich eine zimliche Quantitet vnd Viele / ausz klein
Egypten / da solche auf einem hohen Berg wachsen sollen / zuempfahen sich ruhrnen.
Wer aljer alle Vmbstiind recht erwigt / kan leichtlich sehen / dasz mehr Zauberey
vnd Teufelskunst / als natiirliche Wiirkung einer selbsgewachsenen Wurzel mit
vnderlauffe.'
c. Aus Eduard Osenbruggen, Das Alamannische Strafrecht. Schaffhausen, 1860.
S. 208. ' Im Jahr 1571 wurde in Graubiinden eine Verordnung gegen dieses
braune Volk gegeben, nach welcher sie alle sollten gefangen genommen und auf die
Galeeren verkauft werden ; noch im Jahre 1765 wurden sie, wenn die Nachricht
wahr ist, fur vogelfrei erklart und dem, der einen bewaffneten Zigeuner erlegen
wurde, noch 10 Kronen versprochen.' J
d. In dem Luzerner Fastnachtsspiel Der Kluge Knecht aus dem Ende des
xv. Jahrhunderts wird ein Zigeuner durch den Bauern Riiedi um die Zukunft
gefragt. (s. F. J. Mone, Schauspiele des MittelaMers, II. [Karlsruhe, 1846].
S. 381 et sqg.).
1 Lchmann, Patriotisches Magazin/ilr Bundten, Bern, 1790, S. 271.
NOTES AND QUERIES 79
e. Aus David von Moos, Astronomisch- politisch- historisch- und kirchlicher
Kalender far Zurich, Bd. III. Zurich, 1777. S. 124.
' Ao. 1418 kame ein grosser Haufe Zigeuner,1 deren Anzahl sich auf 4000.
oder nach anderen, auf 14000. belaufen, auf Zurich, und sollen sich 6. Tage
lang auf dem Schiizenplatz gelageret haben. Sie gaben sich aus fur Christen,
welche aus Egypten gekommen, den en diese Reise zu Abbussung ihrer Siinden
auferlegt worden : Sie zehrten aus eigenem Gelt, und beobachteten gute Ordnung.
' Der gelehrte Wagenseil will, die ersten Zigeuner seyen aus Teutschland
gebiirtige Juden gewesen, welche, nachdem die Christen das jiidische Geschlecht
auszureuten sich entschlossen, sich in die Walder und Einbden verstekt ; nach
Verfiiessung mehr als eines Jahrhunderts aber, als fast ganz Teutschland durch die
Hussische Unruhe verwirret ware, hervor gekrochen : weil man nun nicht gewuszt,
wie man sie nennen sollte, seyen sie vom herumziehen Zigeuner genennt worden ;
sie haben sich aber nie fur Christen ausgegeben ; wol aber habe sich allerley
Lumpengesind aus den Christen an sie gehanget.
' Von der Zigeuner Ankunft und Ursprung, sagt der beriihmte Herr Ludolf, ist
gar nichts gewiisses zu melden. Was sie von sich selbst erzahlen, ist lauter
Fabelwerk ; dann, ob sie gleich an Gestalt und Haaren den Tartaren, oder
Egyptiern nicht ungleich sehen, so ist doch ihre Sprache- keiner von beyden
gleich : Es linden sich auch Worte derselben in keiner andern noch zur Zeit
bekannten Sprache ; ob man gleich deren iiber 80. zahlen kann : Woraus zu
schliessen, dasz sie kein zusammengelaufenes Gesind, Europaischer Nation, welche
etwann eine eigene Sprache unter sich gemachet, sondern gar ein eigen Volk
sind.'
/. Aus F. X. Bronner, Der Kanton Aargau. St. Gallen und Bern, 1844. S. 426.
' Ein alter Rest der einst zahlreichen Zigeuner pflanzte sich noch immer auf
absele^enen Weilern fort. Im Winter suchten solche Landfahrer einen namlichen
Aufenthalt in Dorfern, wo sie friiher bekannt waren, und brachten ihre Nahrung
durch Betteln in etwas entfernten Gegenden zusammen. Am Ende Marzens
verliessen sie, wie die Fliegen, ihre Schlupfwinkel und traten ihre Wanderung an.
Sie zogen von einem Wallfahrtsorte zum andern, sammelten in den Dorfern Lebens-
mittel : Brod, Erdapfel, Mehl, Anken [Butter], Milch. Wenn der Bettel ergiebig
ausfiel, waren die Weiber zuweilen, z. B. auf dem Fliigelberge, so muthwillig,
dass sie an ihren Lagerplatzen Zweige der Haseln in die Pfanne bogen und
Kiichlein daran bucken, die sie aufschnellen liessen, so dass die Landleute, welche
die hangenden Kiichlein fanden, sie entweder fur Zauberspeise hielten oder den
Muthwillen der Prasser erriethen. So gewohnten sie sich und ihre Kinder an ein
lockeres, zuweilen lustiges, Leben, konnten aber doch mancherlei Verfolgungen
nicht entgehen.'
g. Chronik der Stadt Zurich. Hrg. v. Joh. Dierauer (Quetten zur Schrveizer-
geschichte, Bd. XVIII. Basel, 1900). S. 183.
'A. d. 1418 jar, an dem hindresten tag ougsten, kamen in dis land vil swarzer
hit, baid frowen und ouch man und kind. Und do si komen gen Baden, do
tailten si sich von ainander und fftr ir ain tail iiber den berg, und kam ouch ir
etwe vil her gen Zurich. Und kam mit inen 2 herzogen und 2 ritter, und laiten
sich die selben hit fur das tor an den Platz zfi des Bamsers wisen. Und sait man,
das selb volk das war von dem klainen Egyptenland.
1 Homines nigredine informes, excocti Sole, immundi veste, & usu rerum omnium
foedi, furtis imprimis intenti, praasertim foeminae ejus gentis, nam viris ex furtis
foeminarum victus est. Colluvies hominum mirabilis, omnium perita linguarum
[Krantz].
2 In dem Buch, betitelt : Mithridates Gessneri, findet sich ein kurzes Worterbuch
aua der Zigeunerspraohe zusammengehaugen[not in the 1555 but in the 1610 edition].
80 NOTES AND QUERIES
Var. i : ' I" dem 1 8. jar, an sant Frenen aubent [31. August], do kament zu unser
,,,,!, Zurich ein s61tich wunderlich volk, das hie ze land nie mer als vil gesechen
ward, and leitenl Bich vor der stattufden Platz und lagent da unz [bis] an dem sechs-
ten taur bi <ler Lindniag [Limmatfluss]. Und warent schwarz an hut und an har und
., kristenlichen tauf ii niiw geboren kinden und mitbegrepten [Begrabnissen]
and sprachend sich [si '.] ouch, si werind von demkleinen Egypten und hettint si die
I' irgen vertriben und miistind ... us faren. Etlich sprachent, si werint von Ih.
. Der war wol 40 tusent (!) niit ir herzogen und ir herschaft und trfigent gold und
silber und armi kleider.
Var. 2 : 'Im 19. (!) jar an sant Frenen aubent kam fur unser statt Zurich ein
wunderlichs volke, das vormals nie me gesechen wart, und lagen vor der statt uf
dem Platz bi der Lint magt, und lagen da 6 tage. Und das waren swarz hit mit
hut und har und taten christenliche ding. Si sprachent, si werint von dem kleinen
Efdpten und werent vertriben von dem Thiirgken und muosten also wol 7 jar varen
in den landen. Und etliche die sprachent, si werint von Igritz. Und dero
warent wol 40 mit iren herzogen und herschaften. Und die trfigent gold und
silber und trfigent aber arme schlachte kleider, und stalent den liiten, was inen
werden mochte, man must vor inen goumen [huten] in den husren.'
h. Conrad Justinger, Bemer-Chronik. Hrsg. v. G. Studer. Bern, 1871. S. 286.
'1419(1). In dem vorgenanten jare kamen gen basel, gen ziirich, gen berne,
gen solottorn wol zweyhundert getoufter heiden ; warent von egyptenlant,
um'eschaffen, swartz, ellend liite mit wiben und kinden, und lagen vor den stetten uf
dem velde, untz [bis] daz si fiirbaz kamen, won si bi den liiten unlidenlich warent von
stelens wegen, won [denn] si stalen waz inen werden mocht. Sy hatten under inen
hertzocen und grafen, die warent etzwaz erziiget mit guten silbern giirtel und
warent ze ross. Die andern warent arm ungeraten liite und wandloten von einem
lande in daz ander und hatten dez rbmschen kiinges gleitzbriefe bi inen.'
i. Die dlteste deutsche Chronik von Colmar. Herausgegeben v. August Bernoulli.
Colmar, 1888. S. 24.
In dem jore do man zalt 1418 jor, an sant Laurencien tag [10. August], do
koment gen Colmer wol 30 Heiden mit wip und kinden. Darnoch, do die enweg
koment, do komen iiber drire tage darnoch wol hundert Heiden, man und wip
und kint. Und warent unschaffen swarcze liite, und truogent silberni vingerlin
[Ptinge] in den oren, daz man solte sehen, wele [welche] edel weren, und sprochent, sii
werent von Egipeten. Und truogent die frouwen unwege hoczen [hassliche Lumpen]
an, als werent es kuteren [Decken] ; und hiengent an als ungesintten [?], und noment
sich an sii kdnden den liiten in den henden sehen, was in zuo handen solte gon,
und stulent den liiten ir gelt us den seckelen, und was in werden mohte, das was
verloren. Und do sii enweg koment, do kam der groste sterbat [Epidemie] zuo
Colmar, daz do sturbent me wenne 20 menschen ; und was der sterbat niit allein
zuo Colmar : er was ouch in alien landen, daz wol das driitteil der welte umb
und umb abegieng.'
9. — Staining Counterfeit Egyptians
A Brief e Description of the whole World. 6th edition. London, 1624.
Sig. L2V : 'Although this Country of Mgypt doth stand in the selfe same
Climate that Mawriiania doth, yet the inhabitants there are not black, but rather
dun or tawnie. Of which colour Cleopatra was obserued to be ; who by intisenient,
so won the loue of Julius Ccesar and Anionic: And of that colour doe those
runnagats (by deuises make themselues to be) who goe vp and down the world
vnder the name of /Egyptians, being indeed, but counterfets and the refuse or
rascality of many nations.' E. 0. Winstedt.
So
JOURNAL OF THE
GYPSY LORE
SOCIETY
<f\BRA£^
\
( SFI131967
NEW SERIES
Vol. Ill
OCTOBER 1909
No. 2
I.— A NEW WORLD GYPSY CAMP1
By William MacLeod
ON the 15th of August 1908 the Boston papers heralded the
advent of a band of Brazilian Gypsies about three hundred
strong. They were reported as being ignorant of Romani, speak-
ing only Portuguese and broken English. They presumably came
from Chicago, where they worked as copper-smiths during the
winter, and first attracted public notice through the Board of
Health, which warned them to leave their camp because of its
insanitary location, and also took charge of a starving, neglected
baby, from all indications the child of some unfortunate Gctji.
Later, we gathered that they were really from south-eastern
Europe, principally Russia and Servia, and a few from Spain : that
most of them had lived in Brazil ; that some of them came to this
country by way of Mexico ; that while the majority of the band
had been in the United States for several years, some had just
arrived;2 that some were American born, and not Romane, but
that their common language was Romani not Portuguese. This
1 The illustration opposite, procured through the kindness of Dr. James A.
Spalding, is by the Boston Herald photographer, and appeared in that paper on
August 18, 1908. It was called ' I don't want no picture taken,' and the half-
hidden girl is Kosa Steve, the thirteen-year-old bride.
2 The Boston Journal on August 20, 1908, reported that Steve John carried
papers showing that he was naturalized at Cleveland in 1904, when he was described
as a native of Brazil. He owned house-property in Chicago.
VOL. III. — NO. II. F
82 A NEW WORLD GYPSY CAMP
was found partly by Mr. A. T. Sinclair's investigations, partly by
studying their dress, language, coins, etc., and (least reliable of all)
by their own statements. They were peculiarly secretive, and the
slightest questioning was apt to arouse suspicions that the inquirer
belonged to the police.
They were encamped in an unsettled part of West Roxbury,
a suburb of Boston, in a clearing amid thinly wooded hills. As
one approached the camp from the road there was a sharp rise, on
the top of which was an ellipse formed of tents and carts placed
alternately. Both tents and carts were of every possible character.
From this group one could look down upon another ellipse of
similar tents and carts in the hollow, about a hundred yards away.
When I went out to the camp one Saturday morning I knew
nothing about them, except what I had read in the newspapers, so
that I had no idea whether they were real Romane or not. Hardly
had I caught a glimpse of the tents when two girls came down the
hill to intercept me, and thus get the first chance to fleece the
' innocent youth.' They opened with ' What time is it ? ' ' You
give me a match ? ' And when the latter was produced, the
prettier of the two, a finely-featured, gazelle-like creature of
eighteen or thereabouts, insisted on telling my fortune.
' Do you know how to tell fortunes ? I thought only Gypsies
told fortunes.'
' Me tell you fortune.'
' What ! are you a Gypsy ? '
' No, me no Gypsy, me Catholic,' showing a little silver cross
she had about her neck.
' Oh, well then, I don't care to have my fortune told unless
you 're a Gypsy.'
' Oh, yes, me Gypsy, me Romany.'
' Well, do you speak Romani i '
' Yes, you see,' taking my hand and counting off my fingers,
' Yeh, &n, trin, stor, pan§, so, efta, o^a, nua, des,' as she pro-
nounced them.
That was better than any of my American-Gypsy friends could
do, so I knew that they were surely real Romane. I therefore let
her tell my fortune. Her procedure was very simple. She made
me hold the coin in my hand, and then with one of her hands on
my wrist she made crosses on my forehead, repeating at the same
time, ' Go away bad luck, go away bad friends ; come good luck,
come good friends,' with a few easily forgotten predictions about
A NEW WORLD GYPSY CAMP 83
a dark lady and such usual patter. By this time we had attracted
the attention of a younger girl, who seemed disgusted at the
artless method employed by the other. She finally rushed in,
seized me by the wrist, and dragged me away from the rest, in-
sisting on showing me, willy-nilly, the proper art of fortune-telling.
Her art, I confess, was astounding.
' Take all you' money in you' pocket.' I took a few coppers.
' No, not good luck ; silver give you good luck.' After one or two
trials I managed to satisfy her idea of the right amount of silver
to give good luck. I may mention in passing that she was clothed
in a single-piece dress alone, and that it was not sufficient to cover
her decently. She took my hand, placed it against her body
and held it firmly there with both hands; then with half-closed
lids she looked at me dreamily, and swaying to and fro, half
chanted, ' Good luck come to you ; you travel in one week ; you
pretty man; nice girls like you; me like you. . . .' 'Here,' I said,
drawing away, ' this isn't a Romany fortune ; I don't care for that
sort of thing.' She then took my hand and started to count my
fingers again, but I said, ' Oh, there 's no need of that ; I know your
yek, dui, etc' Her eyes widened, she took a step nearer, and
exclaimed, ' Tu Rom ? ' My non-committal answer and red hair
did not seem to reassure her, for she commenced, ' You know what
oul is — mine?' Something betrayed me, for she cried, 'Where
you learn that langwidge ? '
' Why, I 've always spoken it ' (poet's license).
' Who learn you ? '
' Mro papus.' (0, shade of the presiding elder of the Free
Kirk !)
' Now me tell you real Romany fortune.'
Again she pressed my hand against her body, and saying, ' Now,
you say like me,' she began to repeat what sounded like a combina-
tion of strange forgotten Romani and utterly unintelligible gibberish,
which I tried to copy. At each phrase she leaned nearer to me,
and as I repeated it after her, she would press my hand closer
to her, and give a convulsive movement, as in the clause du ventre.
At the last words, with her face almost against mine, her eyes
rolling wildly, and with a more prolonged convulsion and shiver,
she leaned against me and whispered in my ear. I jumped about
six feet. But it was doubtless just another case of the sensuous
appeal, as with the Spanish dancers, and no indication that the
Gypsy maidens are less moral than they used to be.
84 A NEW WORLD GYPSY CAMP
With some difficulty I extricated myself from this embarrassing
position, for the other Romany girls were interested spectators all
the time, and started up the hill to the first group of tents and
wagons, pursued by ragged urchins who spied me coming. The
girls shouted continuously, ' Tell you' fortune,' while the boys
begged for 'five cent.' They did not scruple to grab at my hands
and my coat, and one little girl tried to swing along with me,
using my necktie as a support. At last I shook them off, except
the necktie-swinger, whom I deposited in the lap of one of the old
crones who were sitting around a small open fire. About twenty
women, ranging from seventeen to seventy years of age, all smok-
ing (the older ones pipes, the younger cigarettes) were in this
circle. The varied cries of ' Five cent,' ' Tell fortune.' ' Tabac,'
' Moneys,' finally resulted in a grand chorus of ' Tabac ' when they
saw me lighting a cigarillo, and the taking of the box from my
pocket was like the starting pistol-shot for a hundred yards -
dash.
For their sakes I carefully protected the little cigars from
injury while I was pushed, pulled, and pivotted about by forty
not over-clean hands. Some sort of order was restored, and out of
deference to old age I was about to hand one to the most wrinkled
dame, when their eagerness could no longer be restrained, and the
scrimmage began again. At last I was able to pass them round
until almost all were provided for, and then, my supply ostensibly
failing, they left me, and once more squatted contentedly by
the fire.
Now comes the wrinkled dame, followed by the necktie-swinger,
leads me out of sight of the rest of the smokers and shows me her
cigarillo, which had become broken in the melee.
' Me nice old lady, you give me nice smoke, see ! '
' But I 've given away all I had.'
' No, you have 'nother box here,' pointing to my back pocket.
This was the time for my eyes to widen, as I thought to keep
hidden a box of cigarettes to help me to collect my thoughts on
the way home.
There may have been method in the scrimmage after all,
because this same old woman was also aware, as I discovered later,
that I had sonic pennies in a little pocket inside my side coat-
pocket. Moreover, the young charmer, who so artfully told my
fortune on the road below, knew that I had some bills in my
trouser's pockets, and showed no scruples against telling me that
A NEW WORLD GYPSY CAMP 85
she had felt them there, when I told her that I had all my money
in my hand.
As a reward for their diligence, I gave the old lady and the
necktie-swinger each a cigarette ; and, to compare older methods
with new, invited the dame to tell my fortune. Instead she made
me the willing victim of the usual handkerchief-trick. She swore
' By God I give you back the money in your hand, an' when I
swear by God I tell true. I nice old lady. Now I tie the money
in the handkerchief, and in two, free day you have lots of money,'
— at the same time slipping the money in her waist-band. But
new methods led to exactly the same finale as the old, for when
I allowed her to take the pennies, she offered me a Romani
pireni !
I left her then, and started down the hill towards the second
group of about fifty tents and wagons, where all the men of the
camp were gathered round a large open fire and three beer-kegs
at the end of the oval. I passed a diminutive ' Carmen ' sitting
in the bushes before a bright tin pail, alternately licking her dirty
hands and pressing down her already glossy, well-plastered black
hair, pausing every now and then to cock her bird-like head on
one side or the other to admire the progress of her toilet. Half
way down I met Pedro, the merriest, handsomest, brightest
Romano cavo that ever wore rags. ' Hello,' said I. ' Hello,' said
he, grinning. ' Kusto bale,' said I. ' Tu Rom?' said he, his black
eyes snapping. ' Almost,' said I. ' You know this ? ' ' Bal,' said
I. ' And this ? ' ' Nak,' and so on, till I forgot the Romani for
cap. ' Stddji,' said Pedro. ' Oh, stddi, stddi, stddi ; surely, I
remember now ! ' ' Hee, hee ! Stadi, stadi, stadi,' he mimicked,
doubling up in glee, ' No, stddji.' ' All right, stddji let it be.'
And he continued his catechism till he was convinced that I was
a true Rom, though a queer one. He became my escort, and
exhibited me as a strange find.
Whenever we met any one, he would point at me and yell,
' San Rom.' ' Nai Gdjo,' they 'd say. ' Nai, Rom : au adai,' he
would answer. Then he would plant himself squarely in front of
me, and pointing out the things, watch their astonished faces as
I named them correctly in Romani.
Every time we came to ' cap,' and I said ' stddji,' he just beamed
with delight. Then he took me to Steve John, the leader of the
gang, and after I had recited my lesson to Pedro, the chief shook
hands with me, and asked, ' Kai beses tu ? JCatdr dves tu ? '
86 A NEW WORLD GYPSY CAMP
When ho was convinced that I was a Romanichal he led me
towards the beer-kegs, saying, ' Au adai, mora, piav livin<i.'
Suiting his actions to his words he took a courtesy-drink, rinsed
the cup with the beer-foam, and refilling it, passed it to me with
a Romany salutation which I did not understand. Then he drank
to me as one who had, as Pedro remarked, lollo bal but halo dzil.
They were getting ready for a wedding which was to take
place on the next three days, and some of them were already in
a wedding mood, which, however, exhibited itself not in brawling,
but in a stately grandiloquent manner of talking, and an excessive
politeness. When I asked if the groom was there, his mother
shouted ' Loyala, kai san Loyala,' but failed to produce him. On
asking for the bride, they said that Poppa was not to be seen
again till the wedding.
By the men I was not troubled with begging, and when I
passed the cigarettes to the older among them there was no
scramble, or teasing for more. They talked a great deal among
themselves in Romani, but there was little of their rapid conver-
sation that I could understand. It was only when they spoke
directly to me that they were intelligible, as then they spoke
slowly, and were very patient in repeating their sentences.
One Gypsy, much taller than the average, and wearing a
Russian sheepskin cap, told me that he had been in this country
only a few months, having come direct from Russia. Later, this
man, under the name of Gregory Raduslavitch, was arrested for
abducting from Russia Irene Babruva, who claimed to be a Russian,
not a Gypsy. Early in October he was tried and sentenced to
serve eighteen months in the House of Correction. The jury
believed the girl's story that she had been brought to America
against her will, and had been cruelly treated by the Gypsies, and
were so moved by her sad tale and by her unusual beauty, that
they presented her with a purse of thirty-nine dollars which, in
addition to the legal witness fees of forty dollars awarded by the
Court, would supply her with comforts on the trip back to Russia.
Since then Mr. A. T. Sinclair has investigated the case, and is
convinced that the girl was the wife of Gregory's son, is a true
Romani cai, was anxious to return to Russia, was of a ' flighty '
disposition, and invented the story in order to get a free passage
to Russia. She must be a veritable cove-^ani to outwit so com-
pletely her own people.
Some of the names given in the newspapers were : — for two of
A NEW WORLD GYPSY CAMP 87
the other chiefs, Leath Ristig and Emil Mitchell; for girls, Bersie
Stanner, Rosa Megg or Steve, Poppa Pettegie, or Princess Sara ;
for boys, Charles Bubble, Daraitro Kaslo, or Prince John Mitchell,
who was the one that was called Loyala by those in the camp.
Most of the men were dressed in ordinary clothes, which were
comparatively free from patches or tatters. Many of them wore
knee-boots. The women had dresses made of cheap cloth with
large light-coloured patterns of pink or red flowers, and usually a
gay sash and kerchief. As necklaces, and fastened in their braids,
were gold coins, mostly Brazilian.
When I left the hollow where the men were, I climbed the
hill to the first oval, and was greeted with ' An adai mora ' by a
young matron seated on a pile of clothing in one of the wagons.
With her were four children, besides a baby at the breast, all of
whom she said were hers, and yet she seemed not a day over
twenty-two years old. She said she wished that she had not so
many, and startled me by suggesting that I should buy one of
them. She said her husband had gone to New York to bring on
about fifty newly-arrived Russian Gypsies, who were still there in
quarantine.
An American child, about thirteen years old, called Wallier
Mary, was a member of this family, and must have been with the
Gypsies since she was very young. She spoke Romani like the
rest of the band ; and her English, though without foreign accent,
was ungrammatical in the same respects as was the English the
Gypsies used. She volunteered the information that she knew an
American song, and after some urging, perpetrated this : —
' R. I. Romany Rai
H. A. R. spells Harrigan,'
the melody of which had a haunting suggestion of an old music-
hall ditty. When I asked for a Romani song, she began to sway
from side to side, clapped her hands, and sang a queer, sweet
melody in the quick Romany measure.
One of the other children had the hiccough, and when I asked
her what was the matter, she said after a pause it was ' sigo dzil.'
I resist the temptation to add a new word to the Romani
vocabulary : — ' zigozil, " hiccough " (probably onomatopoeic).'
In the next tent Pedro was taking lessons on the accordion,
but I am sorry to say that he was trying to play one of our popular
songs of the slightest character, and not a Romani gili. I started
down the hill to the road again, and turning back, yelled ' Stddi.'
88 . GLI ZINGARI NEL MODENESE
The play stopped, and Pedro sprang up and shouted back ' Ho !
sfmli, s/ii<li, stadi, nai, nai — strldji.'
At the bottom of the hill was the ever present, persistent,
begging necktie-swinger, so in desperation I gave her a dime, and
left her standing there showering me with ' Kusto bale ! ' 1
I was exceedingly sorry that I was unable to see the camp
again, and especially so to miss the wedding ceremony.2 The
papers described it as a 'great orgy, ending in a general fight
which required the aid of the police to subdue.' The ceremony
itself was simply carrying a gaily-coloured handkerchief, a remnant
of the ' diklo,' before the bride as she marched up to the groom,
who put his hand on her shoulder without speaking, and thereby
became married.
The band left Boston a few days after I saw them,3 -were ordered
out of every city and town they came to, until finally at Providence
they took the boat for New York, where I lost track of their move-
ments.
II.— GLI ZINGARI NEL MODENESE
Del Fu A. G. Spinelli
(Continuazione dalla pagina 57)
Secolo XVII
L governo del Duca Cesare che fu tanto debole contro il Papa
che lo spogliava di Ferrara e di Comacchio, ebbe invece un feroce
ardimento per sbarazzare dagli Zingari il suo dominio. I^noro la
I
1 KuZto. The Gypsies used laco invariably, except that some of the younger
ones understood Icu&to when I used it, and, whether from former experience or in
imitation of my speech, thereafter used kus'to when addressing me.
2 The Gypsies made such a ' show' of the wedding that a suspicion arose that
the ceremony was a bogus one designed to attract to the camp visitors from whom
small payments were exacted at every step. 'It's just a big advertisement'
declared one pressman to the Boston Herald reporter, ' By George, I bet they do
this in every town. ' Charges were made for admission to the field, for the privilege
of remaining there after admission, for fortune-telling, for taking photographs, for
pointing out (generally falsely) the young couple, and even the bridegroom when
addressed replied, < I talk for twenty -five cent.' The boys offered, for a considera-
tion, to reserve good places at the spectacle and explain the ritual, but when their
patrons arrived they only grinned and scampered off to join the fun.
3 They displayed ingenuity in their efforts to remain at West Roxbury after the
Board of Health had ordered them to leave the district, alleging that there had
been a robbery, and demanding leave to stay for another week in order to search for
the stolen property.
GLI ZINGARI NEL MODENESE 89
data precisa di una grida la quale tra le solite minaccie, diffide e
pene per coloro di essi che fossero sorpresi in terra del ducato,
vuole ' che anche per gli Zingari che fossero trovati lungo le strade
e non dessero danno ad alcun, debbasi dare la campana a martello,
seguitarli, svaligiarli e costringere alia fuga quando non si potessero
imprigionare ' ; x e anche previsto il caso che essi opponessero
resistenza colle armi, allora si era autorizzati ad ucciderli.
Delitti enormi dovevano pesare sugli Zingari, ma le pene
ininacciate non lo erano minori, ed oggi sembrano assolutamente
prive di un senso di giustizia, e dettate invece da uno spirito di
rappresaglia e di vendetta. Cosi era il sentimento della legislazione
in quei tempi religiosissimi ! Ma quasi in compenso, gli Zingari
non ispiravano soltanto ripugnanza, in tutti, perche ovunque il
popolo nonche i letterati-poeti e gli artisti, specialmente i pittori,
trovarono qualche cosa che colpiva la loro immaginazione in quella
vita randagia e perseguitata, e lo Spaccini cronista modenese,
descrivendo una mascherata che animo la citta il 4 gennaio 1600
narra che vi preser parte ' otto Cingane bene adornate che andavano
dagando la buona ventura.'
Accennai ad una grida feroce di Cesare d' Este che se, forse,
avra allontanato per un momento le bande, non estirpo il furto
zing-aresco che da oltre un secolo era indigeno e si confondeva
furbescamente coi malfattori locali. II Conte Brusantini notissimo
Governatore di Sassuolo, in una sua lettera del 31 ottobre 1600 al
Segretario Ducale Laderchi, parla di cavalli rubati cola e condotti
nel modenese e dice che sa di un Francesco Moreni che ne compro
diversi da Zingari, ma che poi gli furono rubati dai venditori
stessi.2
Circa le bande, che scorazzavano le borgate, il Comune di
Modena il 2 novembre 1601 presentava doglianza al Duca pei
molti danni che causavano attorno ad un casello del Ponte Alto,
non lungi dalla citta, chiedendo che fossero costretti a levarsi
dal paese;3 e il 21 giugno 1603 sappiamo da un rapporto del
Podesta Flaminio Puglia, che ai Molini Nuovi accanto a Modena,
era sostata una compagnia di Zingari, e che egli ne aveva fatto
arrestare 17 di essi, fra uomini e donne con bambini lattanti.4 II
capo della comitiva era Francesco Galantino e li conduceva dal
Bresciano, ove, strada facendo, aveva rubato agli Orci Vecchi due
1 Arch, di Stato in Modena, Gride.
2 Arch, di Stato in Modena, Sassuolo f. 1 .
3 Arch. Municipale di Modena, Partiti cons.
4 Arch, di Stato in Modena, Rettori i. 4.
00 GLI ZINGARI NET, MODENESE
cavaUe ad Antonio Crescini che li avova inseguiti e raggiunti poi
ai detti Molini. 11 Podesta nota chc per avere contravvenuto alle
grida le donne dovevano essere punite di frusta e gli uomini colla
galera; osservazione che provcrcbbe non essere le sanzioni penal i
applicate illico et immediate, ma invece dopo un secondo esarae.
Nel 1G05 si avrebbe, infatti, un'altra prova di questa tolleranza
neir applicare il rigore delle grida; perch e il 21 di febbraio si lesse ai
Conservatori del Comune di Modena, un memoriale contro alcuni
Zingari annidati da molti mesi nel Bosco della Saliceta, in Cam-
posanto e ville finitime. Essi ' rubano e danneggiano il paese e fu
ordinato al Sindaco generate che procuri col sig. Imola et ancora
con Sua Altezza, se sara necessario, che siano scacciati.' l Nulla di
pin si chiedeva alia giustizia pei danni ; forse 1' indigenza loro non
lusingava la speranza di poter avere un compenso, mentre la
naturale dolcezza dei costumi non esigeva pene inutili.
In quest' anno 1605, cade un'altra notizia la quale conferma
nella certezza che questi Zingari vaganti per i nostri paesi, se
non erano tutti indigeni lo erano almeno in gran parte e per
nome.
II Capitano Ferrante Forni, di chiara famiglia modenese che
possedeva vastissime terre di attorno al Lovoleto o Saliceta in
Camposanto, si dolse che certi Zingari si fossero nascosti cola in un
bosco dei suoi pupilli. Mandati gli esecutori trovarono uno di essi
chiamato Rodomonte Bianco con moglie e quattro figli e lo
catturarono. Esaminato confesso che due giorni prima era arrivato
da una devozione dalla Madonna di Reggio, e che per la pioggia si
era fermato nel modenese, ove ben sapeva non poter restare. In
seguito all' esame si venne a scoprire che il Rodomonte, malgrado
la sua devozione, aveva subito la corda sulla piazza di Modena per
furti, e percio Vincenzo Arlotti,2 magistrate che inquisiva, opinava
che gli si potrebbero infliggere altri tre strappi di corda poi
rilasciarlo. Anche qui si passava per altro giudizio, altre approva-
zioni, prima di colpire lo Zingaro con esecuzioni immediate che
pare fossero ammesse soltanto nei casi di flagranza. E forza
riconoscere che si usava loro un trattamento da uomini e non da
bestie, come avveniva in Germania ed altrove, e siccome ci6 che si
praticava in Modena era sempre osservato nei luoghi dei feudatari,
cosi piacc ritenere che eguale umanita sara stata legge nelle terre
loro ; e lo Statuto di Vignola, pubblicato da Gregorio Boncompagni
1 Arch. Mimic, di Modena, Partiti Comunali.
2 Arch, di Stato in Modena, Rtttori, fil. 4.
GLI ZINGARI NEL MODENESE 91
nel 1616 che comminava galera agli uomini e frusta alio donne,
sara stato applicato cum grano salis : come per motivi facilmente
intuibili, al rigore, alia durezza degli statuti e dei bandi erano
spesso compagne eccezioni che li distruggevano o mitigavano.
Nei decreti dell' anno se ne legge infatti uno rilasciato al Capitano
Francesco Almoro Zingaro, in cui gli si da permesso di dimorare
colla sua famiglia, per un rnese, nel territorio del Finale, ' purche
non diano molestie e fastidio ne facciano contratti ne baratti di
sorta veruna di cavalli.' 1
Questa proibizione contrasta pero col fatto che essi erano
ammessi a correre al pallio a Modena, e lo saranno stati dovunque.
Ometto cose di minor conto, e come lo Stato desse salva-
condotti a Zingari per riuscire a catturarne altri di loro che erano
famosi delinquenti, e come nelF agosto del 1618 si frustasse, nel
mercato di Pazzano, una Zingara perche dirigeva un manipolo di
ragazzi che rapinavano attorno a Monfestino.
Bande di Zingari si fermavano, con una consuetudine che
merita attenzione, sui confini di Ferrara con Finale, e ve ne erano
nel maggio 1620. Un giorno, essendo lontani gli uomini, alcuni
mascalzoni finalesi sruidati da un certo Annibale Parmesano, detto
il ' dottorino ' sorpresero in un fienile le zingare Giulia, Imperia e
Celidonia e violentemente ne abusarono. La cosa fece rumore e
giunse fino agli orecchi del Cardinale Legato di Ferrara, che
assunte le parti delle Zingare, diede la caccia al finalese condottiero
di quella vile impresa. Mi e ignoto come continuassero le ricerche
del prelato e a qual fine giungessero, ma so che gli Zingari ricove-
rati sul confine assalirono allora e saccheggiarono, per 200 lire, la
casa di Domenico Battocchi al Canal Bianco.2
II Podesta del Finale dava parte a Modena, sulla fine del detto
mese e condannava Alberto Lusenti ' per aver dato percosse ad
una Zingara ' ed Ottavio Raschini perche aveva menato le mani su
Zingari e Francesco Sedazzari fu imprigionato il 3 novembre 1620
' per aver fatto certo insulto ad una Zingara e cacciatele le mani
contro offendendola con un pugnale.' Forse conviene credere che
questi non fossero Zingari ma cittadini noti e viventi in comitiva
con una banda di veri Zingari oltramontani.
E sul modo con cui si eseguiva la legge su di essi, fa menzione
la podesteria di San Felice che pare avesse a capo persona cruda.
II 10 marzo 1622 il Governatore di Modena comanda a quel
1 Arch, di Stato in Modena, Decreti.
2 Arch, di Stato in Modena, Rettori Finale.
92 GLI ZINGARI NEL MODENESE
Podest£ di 'liberare senza spesa trc donno Cingarc essendoche
\innero da Lui per riavere una scrittura sua e che stanno di
stanza su quel di S. Felice ' * e il giorno 11 seguente si rilascia a
Modena un salvacondotto a Giulia e Maria Sforza Cingare abitanti
pur esse su quel di S. Felice, e forse le stesse gia ricordate, ' perche
possano andare a Montecchio, a prender robe spettanti ad una
figlia di Giulia e di Sforza Trombetta,' e il 1° ottobre 1G22, si
concede a Giulia, Maria ed Eleonora Zingare pure di S. Felice, di
poter passare per Modena c suo distretto cosi nell' andare che nel
tornare da Reggio e da Montecchio a S. Felice per riportarvi
robe dell' eredita del suddetto Sforza.2 Questi eran Zingari
sedentari.
L' Inquisizione si occupava spesso degli Zingari, ed io di questo
punto d' osservazione che e molto importante, purtroppo non ho
potuto occuparmene ex professo, perche questa mia ricerca era
fatica da potersi esaurire da un giovane, non da chi numera 66
auni. Pure siccorae ha tratto a stregherie in cui le Zingare
avevano ed hanno larga nomea, ricordero come il 6 maggio 1623
comparisse davanti all' Inquisitore di Modena Pietro Gaspari del
Finale e deponesse come ' essendo in luoco denominato il Dosso
ove faceva legare il fruinento, vi venne a spigolare una Cingana
chiamata Giulia che sta sempre su quel del Finale e gli disse che
Madonna Alessandra, moglie di Giovanni Nicolo Roinei suo
parente, lo voleva far guastare e che andasse riguardato che non
gli levassero la pedega,' cioe 1' impronta che il piede lascia nel
camminare, la quale allora si credeva servisse a sortilegi. Questa
Giulia era fisdia di Antonio Mori di S. Felice e vedova di un Orazio
Zingaro che abitava al Finale nella Via dei Frati. Erano dunque
Zingari locali.3
E indigeni erano egualmente quelli che costituivano la banda
condotta da un Santo Campana chiamato il Cingano Bolognese
ladro famoso arrestato il 19 giugno alia Pioppa di Sorbara.
Pure in quest' anno si legge nella corrispondenza fra il Duca
Cesare e il Cardinale Alessandro suo fratello (30 settembre del
1023): 'Si trovano in Carpi due Zingani i quali si ha qualche
intentione che abbiano narrato ad un nominato Magnanino, che
essi furono con uno che aveva la barba longa in questi giardini
per offendervi'; percio ha ordinato a Carpi che li mandino a
1 Arch, di Stato in Modena, Partimento, 1°.
2 Arch, di Stato in Modena, Decreti dell' anno.
3 Arch, di Stato in Modena, Atti Inquisizione, all' anno.
GLI ZINGARI NEL MODENESE 93
Modena. Si puo iinmaginare che qualche cosa di brutale ne avra
seguito.
Passando al 1624 trovo negli Atti della Inquisizione di
Modena un cenno che tocca al matrimonio fra gli Zingari, che ben
si sa non professare religione alcuna, e questo bisogno da essi sia
soltanto provato per opportunity ; come ben si sa che non hanno
alcun bisogno di ammettere 1' esistenza di Dio, idea che si intro-
dusse fra loro colla lunga percorrenza in paesi civili. Questo
accenno e importante in materia, perche data ad un tribunale
severissimo come quello dell' Inquisizione. Al quale, il 15 maggio
dell' anno predetto D. Iacopo Galliani Rettore di S. Maria di Tole
dichiarava di non aver uniti in matrimonio due Zingari di nome
Laura e Donnino. E non e da meravigliare perche le sanzioni del
Consiglio di Trento non erano ancora imposte rigorosamente.
Ma piu minuti particolari sul matrimonio degli Zingari, si
rilevano da altre dichiarazioni. Gabrielle Paolucci di Sillano
depone devanti al rettore della Pieve di Castello in Garfagnana di
aver 'incontrato Laura che andava vagando cola, ma era moglie di
Donnino Zingaro, sopra ricordato, e chiestole perche non stesse
con suo marito che la cercava, rispose: perche aveva un altro
uomo che era un birro in una pattuglia che sopragiunse. La
donna pareva gravida, era figlia di Zingari di Tole ed abitava a
Modena e suo marito, che era birro, si chiamava Santino.' Laura
portata alle prigioni dell' Inquisizione (il tribunale giudicava
anche in materia di matrimoni) disse che si era maritata 1' anno
prima, in presenza di due Zingari di Tole i quali furono ammaz-
zati, e il marito le fu imposto a forza da suo fratello : disse inoltre
' che il marito le dava delle botte e il di lei fratello glielo tolse,
volendo dire che divise 1' unione e percio vagava cosi con un altro
uomo.'
Questa donna che non aveva piu di 20 anni, aggiungeva che
' tra gli Zingari non vi era altro matrimonio senonche mio marito
mi ha tolto cosi e mio fratello me li ha dato.' Essendole con-
testata qualche deposizione, ribatte ' io non dissi mi ha sposata, ma
mi ha tolto nella chiesa di Tole, giurando alia presenza di mio
barba e di mio fratello e di altre persone di non abbandonarmi
mai. Vi era presente il rettore di Tole il quale dette il giuramento
sopra un libro che non dovessimo mai abbandonarci. Vi sono
altre donne in Tole che fanno come faccio io,' e conviene credere
che fra girovaghi sara stato cosi pressoche dapertutto.1 Deduzioni
1 Arch, di Stato in Modena, Atti Inquisizione.
04 GLI ZINGARI NEL MODENESE
importanti, da questa deposizione, ne trarra lo studio delle credenze
religiose tra gli Zingari. Nell' anno seguente ai 27 di agosto 1625,
per furti e fattucchierie furono querelate Imperia e Maria Zingare;
da Francesco Mussato di Nirano davanti al governatore di
Sassuolo conte Alfonso Malaguzzi.1 Le cose rubate erano 'una
collana d'oro e molte velctte da naso,' che furon poi trovate a
Monteforco sulla Rassenna, in mano di Lodovico suocero di
Imperia e di Signorino, birbante famigerato, che ritroveremo di
nuovo subito, ma passando dalle montagne sulle rive del Secchin,
a levante del Panaro, pure fra i monti, ove oltre a furti e
violenze ladresche troveremo superstizioni sortilegi e ribalderie
affini.
A Savigno, Don Bartolomeo rettore del luogo, udi per bocca di
Madonna Fiora Zagnoni, che Signorino 'aveva una calamita cosita
nel gippone, che Maddalena di Mariano da Sassone, pure di
Savigno, amante di Signorino teneva una calamita battezzata, e
che la Maddalena stessa era stata menata via dagli Zingari perche
Signorino gli aveva cosita della calamita nella vesta che quando
1' aveva indosso le bisognava andare dove era esso Zingaro.' Cor-
reva voce, inoltre, che Signorino si chiamasse Ercole Pallavicino e
che sul suo conto dicesse : ' La mia patria io non la sio essendo
Cingaro, sono nato pero nella Rocca di Guia e sono stato battez-
zato da Don Giovanni a Guia, io non sio la mia eta, il mio esercizio
e di Cingaro e di sbirro, ho praticato in diversi paesi di qua e di
la dai monti, perche noi altri poveri Cingani sempre siamo in
viaggio e tutti ci voglion male.' 2
£ ben contornato il ritratto di questo Zingaro volontario, ma
tra poco altre notizie completeranno la triste figura.
Don Alessandro Micheli, prete di Savigno, raccontava infatti
come una sera andando a veglia per giuocare, si incontrasse con
Signorino che gli propose di insegnargli un segreto per farsi voler
bene dalle donne, e soggiungesse che avendo veduto nella chiesa
di S. Biagio la pila dell' acqua santa fuori dalla porta per la quale
entrava il popolo, egli aveva il modo di insegnargli il segreto. E
cosi andarono insieme alia chiesa. Quivi Signorino levo il pugnale
e fece un circolo nel pavimento sotto la pila, poi sfondo il ghiaccio
dell' acqua santa, cavo fuori dalla bisaccia uno scaitolno ' involto
e coperto tutto attorno di capelli di donna' lo pose in mezzo a
quel circolo, vi mise un anello sopra e butto tutto nell' acqua santa
1 Arch, di Stato in Modena, Sassvolo, filza 14.
2 Arch, di Stato in Modena, Anno 1625, filza 3.
GL1 ZINGARI NEL MODENESE 95
morinorando alcune parole delle quali il prete non intese che
noliter e politer. Presagli poi la mano destra la tuftb nell' acqua,
ponendogli la sinistra sopra gli occhi e ordinandogli che pescasse
lo scatolino ripetendo : ' opera e fa quello che vuole e comanda
Signorino.' Dipoi gli diede di quei capelli, sparo due archibugiate
e prese la via. Al prete, andato a letto e addormentatosi, fu
strappata la coperta, e terrorizzato si raccomandb a Dio recitando
il ' Te lucis ante terminum,'1 ina insistendo il fenoineno brucio i
capelli avuti da Signorino e pote riprendere il sonno.
Queste giunterie che vengono detti sortilegi, sono nei processi
dell' Inquisizione, nell' Archivio di Stato a Modena e io le ho
desunte come frettolosamente ho saputo e potuto.
Abbandoniamo i sortilegi e rientriamo ad occuparci del furto
inseparabile dallo Zingaro.
II 24 maggio 1627 il Podesta di Monfestino, Annibale Mat-
tarelli, avvertiva il Duca che 'li Cingani in conventicola di 16 e
piu, armati, non tanto per loro natura quanto per sdegno di aver io
posto in berlina alcune donne trovate in questa podesteria contro
le grida marchionali, si sono dati a saccheggiare questa giurisdi-
zione e per loro asilo si servono di un luogo detto Degagna da
dove di notte escono a depredare questo povero paese,' 2 e doman-
dava forza per cacciarli.
Ma il cacciarli non era sempre possibile, per quanto assai di
rado opponessero resistenza colle armi, non potendosi ricorrere a
mezzi estremi, se non in caso di resistenza. A prova si puo
citare il caso avvenuto al Finale sui primi del marzo 1628.3
Quel Governatore voile liberare il paese da una loro banda e ne
diede ordine al bargello, ma questi non pote eseguirlo perche
i soldati della milizia si rifiutarono di aiutarlo quando non venisse
concesso il permesso di ammazzare i Zingari. II permesso fu
chiesto al Duca, ma per quanto fosse accordato, era sempre super-
fluo perche gli Zingari non sfidavano il pericolo, ma cercavano,
come cercarono sempre, di mettersi in salvo senza resistere :
sarebbe una prova di coraggio inutile data la maniera del viver
loro.
Nei Partiti Comuncdi di Modena del 1627 trovo il 3 gennaio,
un nome che ritengo non sia da ommettere perche forse
riguarda un personaggio celebre. Cornelio Malvasia di Bologna,
1 Hymnus ad Gompletorium.
2 Arch, di Stato in Modena, Vi'jnola, Podesth di Monfestino.
3 Arch, di Stato in Modena, Partinunto 1°.
96 GLI ZINGARI NEL MODENESE
aveva ucciso anni prima, davanti all' osteria della Campana in
Modena, un tale G. Francesco Cappelli sbirro Zingano, perche tra
altro gli aveva rubato un cavallo a Panzano. II Malvasia domando
orazia al Duca avendo ottenuta la remissione dell' omicidio dai
parenti dell' ucciso. Questo Malvasia sarebbe il Conte Cornelio
che fu poi Senatore di Bologna, Generale ed Astronomo ed ebbe il
merito di innalzaro due Osservatori a Modena ed a Panzano nel
secolo di Galileo.
E ritornando ai birri citero un Ludovico Vecchi dell' origine del
Cigani clie aveva un figlio a Rubiera pure birro e domandava
licenza di fissarsi nello Stato nel 1625; nonche la cacciata di
Galeazzo Cingano avvenuta per opera del governatore di Rubiera
nel o-ennaio 1626 per le sue ribalderie e per aver puntato una
pistola al petto di un frate francescano.1
Nel 1630, durante la peste, une forte banda di Zingari tutti
nativi della provincia trovo largo e facile campo ai suoi istinti
rapaci, e tra essi vi ricomparve alia testa il noto Ercole Palla-
vicino. Proveniente da Pescia si riverso nel inodenese ove
trovava favore in un Giovan Nicola Borghi che abitava alle
Grotte di Monchio, feudo dei Molza. Questi briganti entravano
nelle case, murate perche rimaste vuote pei morti dalla peste,
vi toglievano tutto, e saccheggiavano pei monti di Saltino
rovinando, tagliando, assassinando, senza che alcuno ardisse
parlare per le ininaccia di morte che lanciavano. Essi erano i
seguenti :
Tommaso d'anni 15, nato a Guia.
Lodovico di 17, a Messano.
Giovanno di 18, a Marano.
Lucia di anni 7, nata alia torre di Gorzano.
Degna di 2, di Garfagnana nei boschi.
Diamanta di 4 e Antonia di 9 anni nata a Bologna.
Poi vi erano :
La sorella di Signorino, Leandra.
Certa Iacorna moglie di Cesare.
Maddalena da Montetortore che stava con Signorino, di
anni 30.
Una figlia di Cesare nata a Montecchio per noine Maria, e
infine
Un' altra ra<?azza di 14 anni nativa del Finale.
Arch, di Stato in Modena, Partimento 1°.
GLI ZINGARI NEL MODENESE 97
Questi Zingari uiodenesi J che sono dati dal Conte Valdrighi in
un suo scritto sulla peste bubbonica a Formigine2 ci offrono la
prova evidente della formazione di una banda di malfattori senza
che alia sua costituzione fosse abbisognata la presenza di un solo
Zingaro autentico per aumentare col suo temuto norne il valore
produttivo della masnada. La quale inseguita dai soldati della
rnilizia pei monti di Prignano e Santa Julia fu tutto presa il 31
gennaio 1631 e chiusa nella rocca del Pigneto.
Zingari, di questa natura, sbandati nel territorio di Sassuolo
ne rimanevano ancora, e quel governatore, conte Ippolito Estense
Tassoni il 7 giugno 1631 lamentava ancora che . . . 'il male fosse
cagionato piuttosto da ricettatori e dai fautori loro, che sono stati
un Paolo dalla Campagna del territorio di Monchio, un Martino
Rossello bandito di Gombola abitante a Dignatico, giurisdizione di
Saltino e Virgilio Dallara pure di Saltino. Questi erano coloro
che fattisi Zingari assai piu dei veri, insegnavano i luoghi, li
assicuravano e poi svaligiavano le case, come quella di Don
Vincenzo Dallara rettore di Saltino e 1' osteria della Volta. Bisosrna
credere che una compagnia cosi numerosa, che dal settembre
fino adesso, e vissuta cosi grassamente, abbia consumato molta
roba e abbia ammazzato gran quantita di castrati, pecore, capre, e
anche buona parte vendutane. Qua, sempre si e detto che, il male
del contagio che principio a Saltino, vi fosse portato da questi
Zingari, come quelli che rubando nel paese dove era 1' infezione ve
lo portassero seco . . . Questi Zingari imprigionati non hanno
modo di mantenersi da loro, sono ora alle spese della Camera in
ragione di bolognini 10 per testa.'
La narrazione e abbastanza importante, ma lo diviene anche
di piu in una lettera seguente nelle quale il governatore osserva
che questa banda era ben armata, si era difesa a fucilate dalla
milizia e dai birri nel lucchese, nel fiorentino e nel bolognese, il
che cio non pote aver luogo nel modenese, perche non ebbe tempo
di farlo, quando fu sorpresa.
Le birbanterie della masnada di Signorino sono estesamente
1 Non ho dati siouri per stahilire che matrimoni siansi contratti da noi tra
nazionali e veri Zingari. Restano soltanto fatti nsionornicamente eloquenti a
testimoniare che unioni avvennero, certo ex lege, ma a nie preme e constato il fatto,
e cito tra altri, non rari, questi che ho potuto fotografare : una donna a Camurana,
accanto alia Mirandola, altra a Montegibio nelle colline di Sassuolo, e un professore
di Liceo. Tutti presentano stupendi tipi di razza zingaresca sotto il sole di
Modena.
2 Valdrighi, Contagio di pestilenza bubbonica in Formigine durante il sec. X VII
(1630-31). Modena, 1897, Soc. Tip., in 8°, p. 351.
VOL. III. — NO. li. G
OS GLI ZINGARI NEL MODENESE
narrate in una lettera del 25 di gennaio di quest' anno, dello stesso
governatore Tassoni ai Fattori Gcnerali, che riassumo perche molti
dati di valore riescono utili a far risaltare le gesta di questi furfanti
che mantcnnero il terrore nel paese, malgrade i bandi, gli statuti
le forche, le fruste, le galere. . . .
' II Commissario si era trasferito al Pigneto dove si trovano gli
Zingari, ed esso avendoli esaminati per scoprire i furti, non meno
che i delitti commessi, i complici e i ricettatori, seppe che erano
nello Stato dall' ultimo di maggio e venivano da Pescia pel
Lucchese, ove all' osteria di Rocca Pelago fu loro tolta [ossia : data]
fede di sanita. Erano in 15 e andarono a Miceno e vi soggior-
narono quaranta giorni con licenza di quel Podesta Orazio
Manzieri, passarono a Saltino mangiando e bevendo con molti
particolari [abitanti] e poi ritornarono a Miceno assicurati dal
Capitano Andrea Venturelli che come la prima, come la seconda
volta, ottenne dal Podesta la licenza di fermarsi. Passarono poi a
Monchio giurisdizione di Rancidoro e vi si fermarono frnche furono
presi, benche avessero licenza [di sor/giornarvi]. Quivi e fama che
commettessero molti furti e avessero fail tori, fra i quali Giovanni
Beccamonti e uno detto Tamburlano, quali entravano nelle case
appestate e desolate dal contagio rubando tutto e si godevano
allegramente il furto. II Commissario si inoltro a Moncerato per
prendere informazioni e gli si presento Paolo Telleri querelandosi
che l'anno antecedente gli Zingari, e tra essi Cesare Signorino,
avevano ammazzato Giovanni Rossignoli di Monte Forco, nel
Comune di Monfestino, ducato di Sora, e che un altro omicidio
avevano compiuto a Sestolo al molino di Magnavacca seppellendo
il morto in riva alio Scoltenna.' Si davano testimoni e si ripeteva
che rubavano sulla via i mercanti diretti alia riera di Pavullo.
' Questi si trovarono, altresi, di concerto alia morte di Antonio Bal-
daccini bandito, la testa di cui fu portata a Monfestino. Vivevano
di rapina. erano tutti banditi e sapevano di dover essere impiccati;
all' osteria della Volta di Saltino si fermarono perche non vi
trovarono che tre putti, essendo tutti morti di contagio.'
II Governatore, narrata ai Fattori Generali tutta questa
sequela di fatti, ognuno dei quali avrebbe meritato la forca, mesta-
mente rifletteva : ' e perche si trovano molte difficolta in scacciar
dallo Stato questi Zingari avendo cinque figliuolini seco, perche
nello Stato confinante ove entreranno saranno presi e ammazzati,
per non aver fede di sanita e come sospetti di contagio, se
ne replica una parola alle Sig. Loro IUme a ci6 restino servite
GLI ZINGARI NEL MODENESE 99
(li avvisare il modo piu facile e se si devono mandare verso
Modena o altrove.' *
Alia pieta del Governatore di Sassuolo ho cercato di vedere
se corresse una consonanza colle parole della religione ; ma trovai
che non avevano altra idealita, e che non si elevavano sulle
sanzioni delle leggi civili. Nelle costituzioni diocesane del 1637
queste poche parole li riguardano e dicono che carita cristiana
non esisteva per loro. ' I Cingari vagabonda gente e data ad ogni
empieta, se non vivranno cristianainente, quando lo si possa, siano
respinti dalla diocesi."2
Al disgusto che sollevano queste narrazioni di tristezze afflig-
genti il nostro paese, mentre era fiagellato da altre sciagure che lo
spopolavano, seguono alcuni anni che degli Zingari non si trovan
notizie, astrazione fatta dalle solite gride intese piu a intimorire
o da far sembrare anormale cio che era quotidiano. Ma quando
arriviamo al 1657 troviamo, per la prima volta, un documento che
rialza lo spirito dalla solita persecazione e dalla continua minaccia
del capestro, esso e finalmente un atto di clemenza.
Fra le lettere di Jacopo Spaccini che fu Segretario dei Duchi
Alfonso iv° e Francesco i°, e del Cardinale Alessandro, stampate
a Bologna nel 57, evvene una che essendo insolita in tanta
brutalita di giustizia umana qui la traserivo. £ senza data, e la
do qui nella sua forma gentile :
' Al signor Governatore di Brescello. — Le Zingare che 1' altro
giorno raccomandai in nome della Signora Principessa Giulia, mia
sorella, e mio ancora, se ne sono tornate qui riferendo che poco
abbian loro giovate le nostre intercessioni. Non ho potuto credere
perche ho moltissime prove che V. S. e solito di commettere
piuttosto eccesso che difetto nel soddisfare alle nostre domande
. . . tuttavia ho stimato bene di venire a questo nuovo ricordo,
il quale mostrera tanto meglio il desiderio nostro che dette povere
donne restino consolate e 1' obbligo suo di consolarle in cosa per se
stessa giusta e per la promessa di V. S. necessaria.' 3
Non so a nome di quale dei due Sovrani fosse stesa questa
lettera, ma se spettasse a Francesco i°, ben mostrerebbe come la
mente che si rese celebre nelle storie militari e in quella delle
belle arti italiane sentisse umanamente la sua missione sovrana.
1 Tutte queste notizie sono nell' Arch, di Stato in Modena, Sassuolo, fil. 14.
2 Constitutiones et decreta in Synodo Mutince, 1635, Cassiani, pag. 7.
3 Lettere del Sig. Giacomo Spacini \dedicate] all' III"'0 Sig. Conte Lelio Roverella.
In Bologna, 1657, per Giac. Monti, in-16°, p. 87.
100 GLI ZINGARI NEL MODENESE
Ma passato questo caso, per mo unico di clemenza, nel quale
1' animo di sfuggita si e riposato, continuo la narrazione sempre
tristissima.
Compare, circa nel 1660, uno Zingaro nazionale, Giovanni
Bianchi, cremonese, capitano di Zingari che domanda, ' di poter
abitaro tre giorni per ogni luogo dello Stato con sette uomini e
donne e famiglie con le loro armi.' Questa richiesta che si
risolveva in una autorizzazione perpetua di scorazzare il modenese
e agli abitanti di fargli le spese, per fas aut per ne fas gli venne
accordato per 15 giorni in tutto. Cio non gli impedi di continuare
a lungo la sua vita randagia e gia vecchissimo guidava ancora una
compagnia di Cingani del Monferrato, ed ebbe a ridomandare nel
1693 un' altra licenza di sosta nel modenese, ' promettendo di vivere
da buoni cristiani e di non molestare alcuno.' x II governo pero,
questa volta, non fidandosi di chi non poteva vivere che di furto,
non accordo.
Una lettera di Guglielmo Botti, Podesta di Brescello, del 28
dicembre 1564 ci presenta una informazione, assai interessante,
sui modi violenti coi quali, sotto 1' influenza delle gride, i contadini
si buttavano adosso agli Zingari.
' Alia fine di Giugno, in campo Rainero, nella giurisdizione di
Brescello, vennero certi Cingari e quivi si fermarono coi loro
bagagli. Mentre appiccavano li fuochi sopragiunsero molti di
Castelnovo armati di spade, picche et archibugi, che subito corsero
adosso alii prefati Cingani, che se non si fossero rifugiati in quel
di Re<?ffio, e salvati in una osteria, avrebbero anco ricevuto delle
ferite, ma li svaligiarono assai robe di rame, una tazza d' argento e
un cavallo di pelamo rosso, con le quali robe si tornarono a
Castelnovo.'2
E giacche siamo a Brescello noteru che una grida ivi pubblicata,
il 1° ottobre di quest' anno, vietava in causa di difesa dalla peste,
'di alloggiare i questuari, furfanti, mendicanti, forestieri, canta in
banco, herbolatti, bagatellieri, commedianti et cingani.' Curioso
accostamento di nomi.
Che risse tra gli Zingari dovessero sovente destarsene, lo dice
il tenore della loro vita e la Littera Passus fin dalle prime pagine
di questo scialbo scritto, ma io non ho trovato fin ora denuncia
di un fatto positivo che esca dall' ambito di pure risse. Ma adesso
riscontro che nel 2 agosto 1677 il Massaro del Cavezzo informava
1 Arch, di Stato in Modena, Particolari'at nome.
'-' Arch, di Stato in Modeua, Brescello Ufficiali.
GLI ZINGARI NEL MODENESE 101
il Giudice di Modena, che ' i Cingani erano venuti fra loro a
contesa in quelle campagne, si eran sparati contro e che sulla
strada uno era rimasto morto.' x
Che avranno fatto di quel misero corpo il parroco e il rnassaro ?
Lo avranno sicuramente abbandonato ai corvi e ai lupi, obbedendo
ai criteri che allora stabilivano i sinodi diocesiani. Difatti in
quelle- dell' Abbazia di Nonantola, nella cui giurisdizione e posto il
Cavezzo, in rapporto ai Zingari leggesi al Capo II, De Haereticis,
de Haeresi suspectis Iudeis, Sortilegis, aliisque damnatis artibus
incumbentibus.
' xEgyptii, vulgo Cingari nuncupati per nostrani Dioecesim ultra
tres dies vagari non possint, et interim nostri Vicarii Generales et
Foranei curent ne hoc vagum et fallax hominum genus Sortilegii
operarn tribuat, et ne vanis divinationibus rudes personas seducat ;
Parochi quoque sollicite inquirant an Ecclesiae Catholicae prae-
cepta, ritus et instituta observent, cibisque vescantur vetitis, et
delinquentes ad nos illico deferant, graviter puniendos juxta
Canones et Pontificias Sanctiones ; si viri cum foeminis fuerint,
ab illis postulentur litterae testimoniales de contracto matrimonio
in faciem Ecclesiae, nee non de suscepto Baptismo, quas si non
habeant authenticas, et legitimas, illico expellantur. Si quis vero
ex eis interim diem suum clauserit extremum, nisi constet de fide,
suscepti Baptismi, seu de Communione in Paschate, seu de alio
signo vitae Christianae, sepultura Ecclesiastica privetur.' 2
Ripeto : Le crudezze di queste disposizioni ecclesiastiche erano
all' unissono con le leggi civili, in tutta la loro manifestazione
di violenze continuate contro uno stato di fatto dannosissimo,
generale, che solo disposizioni comuni ovunque prese, avrebbero
potuto sanare o mitigare, dato che cio fosse possibile. Una di
queste manifestazioni della legge civile, sullo scorcio del sec. xvn.
(e del 1690) si ha dagli ordini, provvisioni e gride pel Marchionato
di Guiglia del Marchese Raimondo Montecuccoli. II capitolo 23,
virtualmente copiato dalle grida di Modena, suona testualmente
cosi ' Si proibisce a tutti i Cingani il potere in qualsivoglia modo
habitare ne fermarsi nelle Giurisdittioni di S. S. Illnia, se non
quanclo portava il bisogno di transitare, sotto pena rispetto alii
maschi di tre tratti di corda in pubblico, e rispetto alle femmine,
1 Arch, di Stato in Modena, Giud.
2 Sinodus diocesana Augusta; Abbatim S. Sylveslri de Nonantula . . . ab Emo
a Revo Dono Iacobo . . . Card. De Angelis ejusdem Abbatiae Abbate ac perpetuo
Commendatario, celebrata in Gathedrali Ecrt. S. Sylvestri die 8 sept. 1688, — Bononiae
1691, Petrus Maria de Monti. — in f°. pag. 4.
102 GLI ZINGARI NEE MODENESE
d'esser frustatc, e chi li ricettasse senza licenza incorrera in pena
di scudi 10 per ogni volta che contrafaranno.'
Eran gia due secoli che la legge continuava ad iinporre agli
Zingari quel moto continuo, cui essendo gia istintivo, fini per
mao-oriormcnte pervertirli e renderli inconciliabili colla vita civile.
Secolo XVIII.
Per le risultanze dei fatti esposti nei due capitoli precedenti,
gli Zingari che gra^avano sul modenese non erano piu tali da
forse due secoli, ma sibbene indigeni in grande maggioranza,
oppure italiani di colonie d' altre provincie vaganti per le nostre
regioni. Tra questa accozzaglia ibrida e probabile vi fosse ancora
qualche Zingaro autentico, ma senza che di esso, a preferenza degli
altri, sian rimasti fatti caratteristici per determinare 1' origine di
razza asiatica o slava soltanto. Restava il crisma comune del
vagabondaggio, del ladrocinio, della divinazione : ma tali elementi
non sono sufficenti a precisare etnologicamente le bande infestanti
con saltuaria costanza il modenese, le quali non erano piu di
Zingari originari, ma si appropriavano di quelli il costume nomade,
gli usi malvagi e lo storico nome eccettato dal popolo nostro che
cosi li chiamava tutti indistintamente.
Comunque fosse cio, esso non mi interessa, perche non ricerco
memorie dei ladri e dei banditi che turbarono per secoli il
modenese, ma bensi quelle soltanto che si riferiscono al vero
popolo errante, che apparve fra noi nel secolo xv. Purtanto
ricordero qui alcune schede che sull' argomento mi fu dato
raccogliere ; sono fila sottili di una grande trama dalla quale
potrebbero aver luce studi generali.
Nel 1714 e segnalata al Governatore di Modena una compagnia
di quaranta Zingari che si era fissata fra Mirandola e San Felice,
alia Galleazza. Essa impressionava molto perche assai forte e
molestava non solo dando la caccia al pollame, ma rubando quanto
poteva afterrare. I contadini alto gridavano reclamando difesa,
ma, cio che era grave, si e che qualcuno vi pareva interessato a
quei furti nei luoghi stessi, impedento che si desse colla campana
1' allarme. Si mandarono birri infatti, ma probabilmente quando
le ruberie erano finite e gli Zingari avevan passato il confine.1
II Mirandolano e il Finalese nella loro parte valliva, allora.
paludosa, ma solcata da grandi strade, era battuta dalle bande dei
nomadi, e ne e rimasto il ricordo dal nome di certe case dette
1 Arch, di Stato in Modena, Partimenti.
GLI ZINGARI NEL MODENESE 103
ancora la Zingara, la Zingaretta, poste ad 8 km. al riord del
Finale, notate in una carta dell' anno 1711 spettante all' Archivio
di Stato modenese.
Francesco Ignazio Papotti negli Annali Delia Mirandola,1
scrive che nel 1740 'una lega di birbanti assassinava i viandanti e
assaliva le case nella campagna di Mirandola onde teneva tutti in
agitazione. Si suborno poi che fosse una truppa di Zingari
capitanata da Luciana Bianchi e spalleggiata da alcuni caporioni
che tenevano agitato il paese.' Ne segui un fatto che assai di raro
si verificava, come pure nuova era la particolarita che una band a
fosse capitanata da una donna ; ' il popolo di S. Martino in Spino
si mise in armi, prese Olimpia figlia di Luciana e fu giustiziata
alia Mirandola; gli altri lasciarono il paese.'2
Questa esecuzione prova che le grida esistevano ancora e se
non risultano applicate con inumana frequenza, e il risultato dei
tempi mutati e perche gli Zingari non erano piu quel flagello che
reclamasse provvedimenti immediati da parte dei Governi. Questo
lo direbbe anche il silenzio che su di essi mantiene 1' alta e serena
voce di Lodovico Antonio Muratori, il quale appunto scrivendo
sulla Pabblica Felicitd,3 che deve essere cura speciale di un buon
Principe, non avrebbe certamente ommesso, fra i tanti mali cui esso
deve porre rimedio, gli Zingari, qualora avessero tuttora costituito
una piaga palpitante di quei tempi. Essi non erano scomparsi, ma
si eran fatti piu rari, la legislazione degli Stati Slavo-tedeschi
aveva tentato di fissarli al suolo e di conseguenza il male, per noi,
non era piu cosi acuto come prima, ne la frequenza minacciosa.
Frattanto usciva da Modena, nel 1755,4 il primo codice penale,
diciamo cosi, di Francesco iii°, il quale elimino tutte le sanzioni
spietate della giustizia punitiva, e percio anche quelle che toccavano
gli Zingari e lo stesso nome di Zingaro si cercherebbe invano in esso.
Queste disposizioni saggiamente informate furono poi incluse
nell' altro codice5 delle leggi pubblicate nel 1771. Ma pur troppo
tale legge, che era dello Stato, non venne applicata anche alia
montagna, e negli Statuti e Privilegi di Pavullo e Torricella,
stampati nel 1785, trovansi ancora sanzioni penali per gli Zingari.
1 Vol. ii. p. 232.
2 Ricordero che Cesare Cantii nel suo scritto : L 'abate Parini e la Lombardia,
(Milano, 1854, Gnocchi, in-S°) p. 12'J riporta una grida del 7 sett. 1739 che proibisce
il giuoco della Cingarella Indovina.
3 Lucca, 1749.
4 Provvisioni-gride, decreti da osservarsl negli Stati di S.A.S.
5 Codice delle leggi e costituzioni per gli Stati di S.A.S. — Modena, Soc. Tip., 1771.
104 GLI ZINGARI NEL MODENESE
1 1 cui tristc nome sempro li accompagno, giacche essi rimasero inerti
c insoflerenti d'ogni lcgge anche quando esse vennero a loro per
elevarli a dignity di uoraini. Ripetero qui, a tale riguardo, un brano
che tolgo dalle Memorie Storiche delta terra di Guiglia1 scritto
inedito del sacerdote Anselmo Ginotti, circa del 1796, che al Capo
X XI ' Pregiudizi popolari ' cosi si esprime circa gli Zingari :
' Agli Zingari, dal basso popolo si presta assai fede. Costoro altro
non sono che ladri e ingannatori nati credo nella Valachia.' Cita
poi il Muratori e dopo aver ricordato bandi usciti in Guiglia contro
di essi nel 1623 e nel 1696 colle solite minaccie di corda, frusta e
impiccagioni, conchiude : ' ma con poco frutto, mentre fino ad oggi
qucsti birboni fanno le loro scorrerie e il peggio si e che trovano
degli sciocchi che li circondano e porgon loro le palme per esser
strologati. . . .'
Non trovo piu notizie sul mio tenia, ma coll' invasione del 1796
(spiace dirlo) nel modenese, il triste compito dello Zingaro pare lo
assumessero i francesi. Le gesta loro (argomento d' altre ricerche)
durante il passaggio per la montagna modenese del corpo di
Macdonald, segnano una triste pagina di saccheggi e di violenze, che
continuarono anche nel secolo seguente e alle quali non poterono
mancare come gregari gli Zingari.
Secolo XIX
Piu ci accostiamo ai tempi che volgono, piu si fanno rari i dati
sui quali fondare considerazioni intorno agli Zingari, perche col
progredire della civilta diminuirono di nuraero e fors' anche di
rozzezza, e le leggi di polizia li obbligarono bensi ad un moto con-
tinuo, ma non li irritavano piu.
Ma questi dati, siano pur rari, come si afferrano ? Statistiche
di confine e di costa, le quali chiariscano e guidino alia ricerca del
vero Zingaro, che e nomade per fato, non ve ne sono, od io non le
ho saputo trovarle, anche perche queste avvolgono la fattispecie
Zingaro, nella enorme folia dei vagabondi, dei mendicanti e peggio,
mentre da altra parte accresce il buio la stampa politica che ha
tanta importanza nella vita contemporanea. Essa non se ne
occupa, se non in quanto ciu che riguarda le carovane dei Zingari,
dessero motivo di interessare la pubblica quiete o contravvengano
1 MS. della Estense di Modena. A Guiglia, per chi sale la strada che viene dal
Panaro, trovasi presso Lavachiello la Cd de' Zinyari, che su queste colline abbiamo
tante volte trovati. A Spilamberto nel 1621, ed anche prima, esisteva un ubicazione,
presso la chiesa di S. Maria degli Angeli, riconosciuta volgarmente sotto il titolo
di Guasto dei Zimjari, denominazione scomparsa in tempi non lontani.
GLI ZINGARI NEL MODENESE 105
alle leggi in modo clamoroso, e questa non e tendenza che sia
nell' indole dello Zingaro.
Mancandomi dunque questi appoggi importantissimi, ho cercato
di raccogliere notizie in proposito da persone che potessero essere
in grado di possederne de visu. Ma non trovai molta accoglienza,
purtanto, qualche risposta ottenni. II signor Cav. Alessandro
Rebucci, Dottore chimico, dimorante al Cavezzo, ricco Comune del
Modenese, cosi rispondeva ad una mia, il 24 marzo di quest' anno.
' Zingari ?
' Io non ti posso dire che poche cose. Dalla gente credula si
diceva ai tempi della mia fanciullezza, che erano ladri capaci delle
piu nere azioni, ed appunto rubavano ragazzi. Io credo che ci6
non fosse che una fiaba: ho visto qualche volta di passaggio di
questi che si dicevano Zingari che facevano i calderai, avevano
carri coperti e nell' interno donne e bambini luridi straccioni, per
solito in comitive di tre o quattro carri, a cui avevano attaccati
buonissimi cavalli. Erano ubbidienti al capo e qualche volta
questi era una donna, il quale capo non partiva dalla tenda che
con un lungo bastone segnale del comando. Erano tipi magri,
asciutti, dagli occhi neri, vivaci, capelli corvini abbondanti, eran
rissosi. Credevo fossero Italiani e venissero dal Friuli. Ora pero
che ci penso, e facile fossero Dalmati e forse anche Montenegrini.'
A proposito di informatori, mi piace notare, che il M.R. Sig.
Don Alfonso Pigioli, Priore di Montegibio, ottantenne, scendeva
apposta a Modena per esprimermi il suo interessamento pel mio
studio. Mi narro alcune cosucce relative ai Zingari e concludeva
che la religione e il governo doveva interessarsi per spegnere tale
abbiezione. Qaesto interessamento del modesto vecchio ottuage-
nario compensa l'indifferenza d'altri.
Pel nostro argomento ha qualche importanza il seguente brano
della relazione di un viaggio sull' Appennino Modenese, fatto da
Galdino Gardini, il quale nel 1851, x salendo a S. Pellegrino incontro
alcuni ruderi ' e il piano erboso che li circonda era occupato da
gente la piu nuova; chi distend eva par terra un candido drappo e
poneavi sopra in assetto semplice imbandigione, chi dopo il cibo
cantava, chi stava sdraiato sotto un albero, come stanco da fatica.
Gente sana e vigorosa al vederla, di vestito bianco e uniforme, con
un far disinvolto ed altero. Al nostro approssimarsi udimmo un
fischio dopo il quale tutti si alzarono in piedi. La guida li saluto
1 Galdino Gardini: Rimembranze di un Viaggio all' Alpe di S. Pellegrino e al
Monte Orientah o Cimone. . . . Bologna, 1852, tip. alia Volpe in-16°, pag. 24.
106 GLI ZINGARI NEL MODENESE
con rispetto levandosi il cappcllo e passando oltre. Interrogata
poscia la guida da noi che gente fosse e come la si trovasse, disse,
e un drappello di Zingari, e buon per voi che siete capitati nell' ora
del mangiare, poiche in altro tempo avreste dovuto senza dubbio
pagare tributo d'alcun danaro a l'arte industriosa che essi hanno
di trarne ai viandanti colle loro profezie e coi loro incantesimi.'
Viene a proposito un ricordo zingaresco in questi monti.
Poco lungi da qui, sul confine bolognese, e Monte Acuto dell'
Alpi i cui abitanti hanno bisogno di intraprendere lunghi viaggi
in cerca dei luoghi ove esercitare le loro professioni o per far
prowiste, e siccome prima di partire si uniscono in grosse carovane
e poi si avviano, cosi i vicini dei circostanti paesi hanno dato loro
il nome di Zingari. Agli abitanti di Monte Acuto non resterebbe
che a scegliere per stemma del loro Comune, la curetola o
motacilla alba, allegro uccelletto che si crede predica 1' arrivo dei
Zingari svolazzando vivace e leggero al sole lungo le grand i vie.
Sulle quali, ai nostri di, abbronziva uno Zingaro eletto di cui ebbe
la ventura che mi si favorissero dati per le mie ricerche ; dati rari
e assai importanti, che io trascrivo in questi fogli con animo
riconoscente verso chi me li comunico, lieto di poter concorrere a
render tributo di lode ad un Zingaro benemerito, la memoria del
quale sicuramente si perderebbe.
Modena, 30 aprile 1909.
Pregmo. Sig. Cav. Spinelli, — Notizie bibliografiche sugli Zingari
io non ne ho. Ma, se pud farle piacere e tornarle utile, avrei da
offrirle uno Zingaro autentico, un tipo interessante e non volgare
della grande famiglia dei nomadi, una vera e propria personality
zingaresca.
Ecco. In illo tempore, (s'invecchia ! e la locuzione bibblica,
dovendo riandare i ricordi del mio passato remoto, non mi pare
fuor di proposito), in illo tempore, e cioe una grossa ventina d' anni
sono (1889), conobbi 1'uomo alia biblioteca estense di Modena, ove
io ero venuto da poco, da Roma. Si chiamava Sigismondo Cac-
cini : ma nome e cognome, celati fra le pieghe del sudicio passa-
porto, non dovevano servire che alia molesta e cavillosa curiosita
delle questure internazionali. Egli si firmava su le schede di
biblioteca col suo nome Zingaresco di Ui Falusci, che in quella
lingua significa : ' Nuovo Paese,' e voleva che lo chiamassimo
sempre cosi ; e io e Isnardo Astolfi, che era il suo piu valido aiuto
nell' ardua ricerca di quanto 1' Estense possedeva di storia e di
GLI ZINGARI NEL MODENESE 107
letteratura Zingaresca, lo accontentavamo anche in questa bizzarria,
con tutto il piacere. Naturalmente non era un frequentatore della
Biblioteca. Faceva le sue apparizioni a larghi intervalli, arrivando
con una valigetta di tela unta e lacera ove erano . . . i mano-
scritti del suo lessico italo-zingaresco e qualche lurido cencio. La
valigetta, per ragioni . . . diremo cosi, di prudenza, noi gliela
facevamo lasciare sera pre nel vestibolo ; perche avevamo il
fondato sospetto che potesse essere, oltre che 1' area della sapienza
filologica del suo proprietario, anche una specie di succursale dell'
area di Noe, per i piccoli insetti. Si tratteneva a Modena per
alcuni giorni e nel frattempo restava in Biblioteca dalle 9 alle 5
di ciascun giorno, tutto 1' orario, consultando grammatiche, con-
frontando vocabolari, meditando su libri di storia, di archeologia,
e via dicendo. E la colazione ? . . . Un' abitudine da gran signori
e da stomachini delicati ! Una raffinatezza di questa povera razza
frolla ! . . . Che bisogno e'era di colazione, di pranzo, di cena, di
questo convenzionale frazionamento della nutrizione regolata col
cronometro, in nome dell' igiene ? Miserie ... da ricchi ! . . . Egli,
Ui Falusci, era arrivato a volte a Modena, in Biblioteca, alia mattina
alle 9 precise, dopo un giorno e una notte di marcia forzata e di piu
forzato digiuno, senza il piu piccolo segno di sofferenza sul volto
abbronzato e fiero ; dominato, sorretto, spronato solo da un pensiero,
solo da una aspirazione : potere fraalmente consultare i libri di cui
aveva sentito di lontano, tra i bagordi di una flera villereccia, la raan-
canza e la necessita. E quando io, dopo i primi saluti e le prime
domande, porgendogli alcuni soldi che egli accettava con un bellis-
simo gesto di dignitosa e disinvolta noncuranza, lo pregavo di
andare a sdigiunarsi, egli, il fortissimo uomo, usciva infatti di
Biblioteca ; ma per ritornarvi dopo 5 minuti . . . bello, pettinato,
sbarbato, incipriato, coi baffi tirati in su e con una grande aria
di soddisfazione e di benessere. I soldi erano finiti dal barbiere ! —
' Ma . . . e mangiare ? ' — chiedevo io ; e lui : — ' C e tempo, c' e
serapre tempo. Oggi trovero qualche carovana che mi dara la
minestra; oppure faro fuori di una porta qualche gioco di pre-
stigio o qualche capriola, e cosi mangero. Ora avevo solo bisogno
di ripulirmi.' — Strana illusione, invero ! poiche, per ripulirsi a
dovere, non gli sarebbe forse bastata una settimana di permanenza
nelle celle della sterilizzatrice comunale ! . . .
Del resto, era un uomo garbato e di maniere quasi signorili.
Parlava adagio, con voce limpida e dolce, accompagnando il suo
dire con una mimica espressiva ma non mai sguaiata. Eramagro,
108 GLI ZINGARI NEL MODENESE
alto, arso dal sole, coi capelli e i baffi color dell' ebano ; gli occhi
pure erano nerissimi e pieni di arguta vivacita : solo, di quando in
(jiiando, avevano degli strani baleni, dei fuggevoli lampi selvaggi,
che tradivano 1' uomo della macchia e della ventura.
Ul Falusci era un solitario. Non aveva mai voluto far parte di
carovane, viaggiava sempre solo, non aveva parenti, non aveva e
non avrebbe mai tollerato padroni o legami di sorta. Ci diceva
che gli studi suoi erano tutti destinati al Marchese Adriano
Colocci, di cui ci mostrava le lettere che conservava con orgoglio
e con compiacenza.
Nel 1896 io lasciai Modena per Lucca. Passarono alcuni
anni ; e un giorno mi vidi capitare in Biblioteca, proprio a Lucca,
il fedele amico che Astolfi mi mandava da Modena. Stette in
Lucca un solo giorno ; si fece radere, pettinare, impomatare come
il solito coi pochi soldi che io gli diedi : poi spari, e da allora non
lo vidi mai piii.
Sara vivo ? sara morto ? sara . . . ? ma ! chi lo sa . . .
E ho finito. Ora pregiatissimo Cav. Spinelli, accolga il mio
amichevole saluto e m' abbia pel suo — Devmo.
AUGUSTO BOSELLI.
Una donna gentile ha pure voluto cooperare al mio intento con
questa interessante graziosa lettera.
Carpi, 11 luglio 1909.
Egregio amico, — Corrispondo alia di lei richiesta come meglio
so e posso riguardo alia sosta degli Zingari a Carpi.
Or sono due anni, 1' alba tiepida di un bel giorno di maggio
sorprese nella nostra cittadina nuovi ospiti. Era una carovana di
Zingari che aveva posto le tende a levante della citta, e precisa-
mente nell' area delle demolite mura, di fronte al molino Sacerdoti.
L' avvenimento sollevo grande curiosita negli abitanti, che a gruppi
si recarono a vedere gli strani individui.
L' accampamento era formato da tre lunghi cariaggi, disposti
in semicircolo, e coperti da larghe tele cerate. Interessanti i
componenti la tribu che stranamente somigliavano alle razze
nomadi dell' Arabia.
Erano circa una ventina tra uomini, donne e fanciulli ; i primi
tipi fortissimi dall' alta statura, dal largo petto, avevano i capelli
neri, folti e cresputi come pure la barba ; la pelle color di rame
sfolgoranti gli occhi, energiche e risolute le linee del volto.1
1 II capo della carovana era Cristo Giorgio di Trifone di Corfu, e fu in Carpi nel
maggio 1907.
GLI ZINGARI NEL MODENESE 109
Le loro vesti attiravano in modo speciale la curiosita. Lunghi
giubboni di grosso panno con artistici e grossi bottoni d'argento in
forma di frutti e larefhi calzoni di velluto bleu stretti con nose, nell'
alta calzatura di cuoio.
Le donne di color olivastro, coi ricciuti e folti capelli foggiati
a treccie scendenti sulle spalle ; belli avevano gli ocelli dai
riflessi verdastri. Di altezza media vestivano con corsetti e
sottanelle di colore e stoffa indefinibile causa il lungo uso ;
tutte sudicie.
Gli uomini, sotto una larga tenda cerata, lavoravano il rame,
dimostrando nel loro mestiere grande precisione ed abilita ; delle
donne parte accudiva all' allestimento dei cibi, parte sedute in
terra lavorando la maglia ed aggiustando abiti cantavano canzoni.
Questi canti avevano una cadenza strana, monotona, malinconica,
e ricordavano gli incantatori egiziani.
Sudici e cenciosi i fanciulli che ruzzavano con diletto nella
polvere, mandando grida gutturali e parole in un dialetto in-
comprensibile a noi.
Cominciava gia Carpi a vedere con indifferenza gli Zingari
quando di nuovo la generale curiosita fu eccitata dalla strana
cerimonia che ebbe luogo in questa tribu.
Due giovani fidanzati, giunti al termine dei loro voti si univano
in matrimonio. Per 1' occasione 1' accampamento fu trasformato,
sgombrato dalle fucine e dagli arnesi del loro mestiere, il terreno
appianato, battuto e bagnato. Furono tese delle lunghe corde
attorno ai carriaggi sulle quali furono stesi ricchi tappeti a colori
vivacissimi a disegno orientale. Nelle prime ore della notte furono
accese parecchie torcie a vento ed a questa luce tremolante e
fumigginosa un rabbino, giunto appositaraente da ignoto paese,
abbigliato con ricchi indumenti sacerdotali uni in matrimonio i
due giovani.
Celebrati gli sponsali, tutti gli Zingari che per la circostanza
avevano indossato ricchi abiti, formarono circolo e tenendosi per
le mani cominciarono a danzare, danze che assunsero un carattere
assolutamente strano, fantastico, vorticoso accompagnate dal
suono di tamburelli e da canto.
Terminato la cerimonia fra abbracci e baci tutti si porta-
rono ad un caffe libando a piu non posso birra e liquori tanto
da ridursi un po' alticci. Ritornati all' accampamento nuove
danze e canto ; poi salutarono i novelli sposi sulla soglia della
felicita.
110 GLI ZINGAR] NET, MODENESE
Era desiderio di Piero J conservare ricordo dell' accamparnento
e del recinto nuziale, ma sfortunatamente quando la mattina dopo
egli si reco sul luogo colla sua Kodak, gli Zingari eran tutti partiti
coi loro carriaggi, colla loro sudicia prole, col loro amore, accom-
pagnati dal destino misterioso ed infallibile dello Zingaro che par
non possa ferraare a lungo il nomade e randagio istinto suo.
Ecco quanto io so a proposito della sosta a Carpi degli Zingari
due anni or sono allorche una tiepida alba di maggio li sorprese
nostri ospiti.
Gradisca egregio Cavaliere ed Amico i iniei cordiali e distinti
saluti. — Con affetto sua, Emilia Foresti,
nata Pederzoli.
Alcuno forse ineravigliera che io non mi fermi susfli Zino-ari
odierni, prima di chiudere la narrazione; ma qui piu forte che
mai, si fa sentire il bisogno di cognizioni da scienziato, che io non
ho, e poi anche piu forte il bisogno di precisare a quali razze
appartengano i manipoli dei nomadi, che su carri e pedibus, solcano
la regione; cioe se debbono ritenersi Zingari per razza o non
piuttosto nomadi spettanti a stirpi diverse coi caratteri negativi
comuni ad essi ed allarmanti la pubblica quiete. A porre un
argine, a sorvegliare questi varchi umani, provvedono le disposi-
zioni politiche e di pubblica sicurezza, che furono compendiate
dal dott. Sebastiano Tringali,2 in apposito volume. Io dunque
lascio 1' argomento, perche mi mancano i materiali pratici per
dime con persuasione di essere nel vero.
Conclusione
Con Ui Falusci e col matrimonio zingaresco brillantemente
finisce questa scialba e sconnessa narrazione; non potendo io,
per incompetenza, rilevare i caratteri scientifici coi quali i dotti
considerano e studiano gli Zingari, sottraendoli cosi all' empirico,
al romanziere, che va in caccia di lettori e ne fa un oofcretto
di ricerche a sensazioni e non di indagini storico-filosofiche ed
etnoerafiche.
o
1 II Cav. Pietro Foresti suo marito, Regio Ispettore dei Monument] e Scavi,
raccoglitore d'arte notissimo ed intelligente, che gia mi invogliu a stendere memorie
sull' arte del truciolo, che in Carpi fiorisce e sulla musica in questa ridente
cittadina.
2 Dizionario politico e di pubblica sicurezza : Milano, 1903. Tip. Poligrafica, in-8,
gr. pp. 1054.
SWEDISH TSIGANOLOGUES 111
Che se io nel cornpilare queste notizie avessi tenuto un metodo
troppo elementare, ma se poi risultasse utile a chi si occupa della
materia, e potesse consigliare e confortare lo studio tendente a
procurare 1' acceleramento della scomparsa degli Zingari nel
grernbo della societa, allora la mia non sara certamente considerata
come fatica perduta.
La quale fatica se ora vede la luce per le stampe lo si deve, come
ho detto, all' on. Gypsy Lore Society, ma ancora al Capitano aw.
Cesare Cesari, del 36° Fanteria, il quale mi coadiuvo, durante le
indisposizioni che mi affligono, in modo tanto intelligente quanto
colmo di fine abnegazione, cosiche se oggi essa viene alia luce lo
si deve anche a lui. E mi e doveroso altresi rivolgere un grato
pensiero, ai miei colleghi nella Estense, Signori Isnardo Astolfi ed
Augusto Boselli, per la preziosa e paziente assistenza prestatami
nelle investigazioni bibliografiche le quali sono 1' anima di queste
indagini.
IH._SWEDISH TSIGANOLOGUES
By Harald Ehrenborg
Olavus Petri: Soensk Kronika [written about 1534], ed. by G. E. Klemming.
Stockholm, 1860.
Johan Messenius : Scondia Blustrata [written 1620-1624], ed. by Peringskiold.
Stockholm, 1700.
Erik Palmskold : Kronologiskt Register, 1219-1685, manuscript. [1685].
Johan Hadorph : Bjarkoa Ratten [Some Mediaeval Laws and Statutes]. Stock-
holm, 1687.
Samuel P. Bjorckman : Dissertatio Academica de Cingaris. Upsala, 1730.
Lars Georg Kabenius : Obsevvationes Historiam Zigueunorum Illustrantes. Up-
sala, 1791.
Djos Per Andersson : Glossary, manuscript, 1849 (Life of—, En Lifdbmds Be-
traktilscr. Upsala, 1849).
Eilert Sundt : Beretning om Fante-eller Landstrygerfolket i Norge (1850), 2nd. ed.
Christiania, 1852.
A. Th. Lysander: 'Zigenare,' in Nu, monthly review, ed. by Johan Gronstedt.
Stockholm, May, 1875.
A. G. Ahlqvist : ' Anteckningar om svenska Zigenare under 16de Seklet,' in Ny
Illustrerad Tidning. Stockholm, 3 Juni 1876.
Arthur Thesleff: Zigenare, Nordiska Museets Fo'rlag. Stockholm, 1904.
Viktor Rydberg : Singoalla, a mediwval legend. London : Walter Scott. 1904.
HE first-recorded Swedish Romano Rai was Samuel P. Bjorck-
man, who was born in 1704, ordained in 1730, became as-
sistant-rector of the city of Wexio in 1735, rector of Karlstorp in
1740, and died in 1747. He chose the Gypsies for the subject
T
112
SWEDISH TSIOANOLOGUES
of tlio degree-thesis Avhich he 'publicas ventilationi modeste sistit'
at Upsala during the forenoon of May 30, 1730. His Dissertatio
Academica de Cingaris, printed at Upsala in the same year, is
a tract of great rarity, and shows very complete knowledge of
previous writings on the same subject. What gives it peculiar
interest is, however, that Bjorckman took the trouble to confirm
Scaliger's vocabulary 1 by visiting a Gypsy, Jakob Helsing, who
was then in prison, and made some slight changes in the words, of
wiiU/JJ iiu lupimiuu tiiu luiiuvviij^ iuii
y-suvcii . —
Achan vol jaka [V. Achan]
oculus
Bal
capillus
Bar
lapis
Being [V. Beinck] ....
Diabolus
Buchos ......
liber
Chiro 1. cheron [V. Cheron]
caput
Chiral
. caseus
Chor
fBarba hie ch. pronuntiandum ut
[ Hispanice
Churi [V. Chouri] ....
culter. [V. ch. Hispanicum.]
Dade
Pater.
Dajo [V. Daio] ....
Mater.
Deuel
Deus. [V. Caelum, Deus.]
Erani
nobilis matrona
For
f penna ; [V. Penna, Calamus scrip-
1. torius.]
Foros
( urbs (popus vulgare idioma Grae-
l coram.
Gad
camisia.
Gagi
mulier.
Hanro ......
ensis. H. fortis aspiratio.
Hanui ......
thorax. [V. h. fortis aspiratio.]
Juket [V. Iuket] ....
canis.
Kan
auris.
Kangheri
ecclesia.
Krali
Rex. [V. Bohemicum est.]
Loue
argentum.
Manosch
vir.
Manro [V. Manron] ....
panis.
Moi
os, oris. [V. Os, oris, ord/io.]
Mol
vinum.
Mucia
brachium.
Nak
nasus.
Nay
unguis.
Panin ......
aqua.
Piassa ......
nos bibimus.
Piela
ille bibit.
Piava [V. Piaua] ....
ego bibo.
Piessakan [Piessa kan]
vos bibitis.
Rai
nobilis.
Published in Vulcanius, De Littris et Lingua Getarum, 1597.
SWEDISH TSIGANOLOGUES
113
Sonakai .
aurum.
Thouchan
[V.
Thuochan] .
. vestis.
Troupos
corpus.
Vast
.
manus.
Vodros
.
lectus.
Xai .
filia.
Xauca [V.
Xauea]
(films X pronuntiandum
\ Hispanice.
est
ut
Yago
ignis.
Yangustri
. annulus.
Yanre
•
ova.
' Qnse omnia, Cii
igar
us, r
torn
me Jacobus Helsing,
carceri j.
am
inclusus Upsaliensi, vera esse, professus est : quippe qui ante
hebdomadam, vel quod excurrit, in prsesentia testium, quos turn
adduxi, Svetice a me interrogatus, quo nomine pater ; quo mater ;
quo denique ignis, etc., lingua ipsi propria veniret ? confestim &
in instanti, ad interrogationem successive a me factam, singula
protulit supra haec allata vocabula, quae adserente Vuleanio,
Nubiani esse idiomatis, creduntur.
Scarcely less rare and even more interesting is the second
Swedish contribution to Gypsy literature. It is also an academical
dissertation submitted at Upsala on June 8, 1791, by Laurentius
G. Rabenius (1771-1846 ; Prof. Juris at Upsala, 1807, nobil. 1834)
then in his twentieth year, and was printed as a small quarto of
fourteen pages with the title ObservationesHistoriamZigueunorum
Illustrantes. In it Rabenius gives an admirably succinct account of
Swedish Gypsy legislation, and criticises Grellinann's Suder theory,
arguing that though the Gypsies and Suders may be of the same
tribe yet they have been separate since the early days of the
human race. The document on which this theory was founded,
and on which he based his conjecture that the Gypsies entered
Sweden in the thirteenth century in consequence of Tartar suc-
cesses in Russia, is an edict of King Birger dated ' Anno Domini
M.CCC.III. in. Idus martii.' »
This statute orders certain masterless men, clientes & cursores
ac garciones vagos dictos sculuara,2 mainly foreigners, who had
disturbed Sweden with murders, robberies, and thefts, to take
1 The full text is given by Rabenius, and was reprinted from his tract by
Colocci. See Gli Zingari, Torino, 1889, pp. 42-3, footnote. The whole law is
quoted also by Graberg von Hemso in an essay on the first appearance of the Gypsies
in Europe, which was published in the Memoirs of the Turin Academy (1813, xxi.
append.).
2 Rabenius explains garciones in a footnote : ' Garciones, Ganeones, uebulones,
homines nihili, quos vulgo Mauvais Garcons appellamus, vid. Du Fresne ad voc'
Sculuara has not to my knowledge been explained etymologically. Good authorities
see no connection between this word and Zigenare or secant, nor with skojare (cheat),
VOL. III. — NO. II.
H
114 SWEDISH TSIGANOLOGUES
service within a month or suffer the loss of their property, scourg-
ing of their bodies, and mutilation of their ears. It has been
taken by others besides Rabenius as evidence that Gypsies were
present in northern Europe at a very early date ; and it is there-
fore worth while to consider the reasons which led him to assume
that it was directed against the Gypsies.
The edict itself makes no mention of Tartare or Gypsies, but
in Hadorph's * collection of statutes from the time of Magnus
Ladulas to that of Gustavus I. (Bidrkoa Ratten, . . . Konunga
Stadgar, Stockholm, 1687) Rabenius found, together with the full
text of the edict, a rubric which, he admitted, was probably more
recent than the statute itself, but which he thought interpreted its
meaning correctly, — 'Rubrum hujus statuti . . . recentius ipso
statuto videtur, comprobat tamen, anno 1687, quando typis man-
dabatur, fuisse opinionem vulgarem in illo de Zigueunis seu
Tartaris agi.' This rubric refers directly to Gypsies and reads as
follows : —
' Birgeri Regis Statutum de Relegatione Vagorum Garcionum
(Tartare och fremmande Landzstrykare) sub pcena amissionis
rerum omnium quas habuerint & corporis flagellatione, auriumque
mutilatione, &c. Dat. Anno MCCCIII. 3. Idus Martii.'
There can be no doubt about the genuineness of the statute,
although the original was burned with the Royal Castle at Stock-
holm in 1697. But Hadorph's rubric is not original. The four
Swedish words within brackets are not in old Swedish, but in
modern Swedish ; and the addition was probably made some 350
years after the statute was written.2
which, moreover, is applicable to all sorts of cheating dealers. The edict shows
plainly enough that Scuhiara means disbanded, masterless, serving-men ' mainly
foreigners,' and therefore not all of foreign nationality. Sculuara, as the text of
the edict points out, seems to be the latinized form of a Swedish word then com-
monly known. It should be read sknl-vara, which is, no doubt, the genitive plural
of skul-var, agreeing with ' Garcionum vagorum, etc./ and meaning ' skulking-men.'
(Norn. Sing., skul-var; Norn. PL, skul-varar; Gen. PL, skul-vara.) Skul or Sad,
probably from 0. Swed. Skiul, 'hiding place,1 and related to O. Swed. Skuld,
Skiold, 'shield,' and to Engl, skulk; Dan. Skulke, 'save one's self; Swed. Skolka,
' play the truant ' ; Icl. SkoUi, ' the sculker,' ' the fox ' (' the Fiend '). Var or ver
= Lat. vir, as in Romvare, Heofonvare, vergild, etc. I appeal to our eminent veteran
Lavengro Professor Esaias Tegner to approve or disprove this conjecture :- -to be
noticed by him would be an honour, even if the notice were a correction. Cliens,
cursor, and garcio are, in mediaeval Latin, all military servants.
1 Johan Hadorph, 1630-1693, Secretary to the Record Office, 1669, held in
addition a leading position in the Antiquarian Office from 1666, and finally became
Director of the Antiquarian College, 1692.
2 Compare A. G. Ahlqvist, ' Anteckningar om svenska zigenare under 16^
seklet' in Ny Illustrerad Tidning, Stockholm, 3 Juni 1876, p. 222.
SWEDISH TSIGANOLOGUES 115
In all probability Hadorph was not to blame for this mistaken
identification, but rather his senior contemporary Erik Palmskold
(1608-86), who wrote a most careful ' Chronological Register
1219-1685,' comprising a great number of documents which were
lost in the conflagration of 1697. In this record, in his own clear
hand, stands a sentence which may be translated literally * : —
' Concerning Tartare [margin] — 1303. King Birger's edict about
Tartare and other foreigners who without passport or letters tramp
about the country and practise all sorts of insolentia, that they
depart from the country. Dat. 3 Idus Martij 1303.' This Palm-
skold was a child of his time, when Swedes were somewhat intoxi-
cated with their own importance, acquired in the first half of the
seventeenth century. Hadorph stands almost alone in recording
documents and facts soberly. Leading thinkers and antiquarians
of the period tried to prove that Sweden was the cradle of nations
and Swedish the mother of tongues. Antedating on the most slender
warranty Avas epidemic like a disease ; and Palmskold, or perhaps
some earlier scholar, seems to have thought it worth while to claim
that Sweden possessed Gypsies a century before the date generally
accepted for their first appearance in western Europe.
That the claim to this questionable honour was ill-founded has
been shown by Professor A. Th. Lysander of Lund University in
his admirable essay on the Gypsies.2 ' Who these gargons were is
hard to say, but, in the royal statute, the whole connection gives
them the appearance of being escaped or dismissed servants. In
that case they were probably for the most part Danes and
Germans who had been brought into the country. The Gypsies
have a native horror of taking service. Moreover Birger's edict
mentions male persons exclusively : there is not a word to be read
in it about women. But gangs of Gypsies without wives and
children are unthinkable.'
The accepted date for the first appearance of Gypsies in
Sweden is 1512. Dr. Arthur TheslefT quotes3 from Stockholms
Stads tdnkebocker [notebooks for memorable events] for that year :
4 The Tattere came here, into the town, who were said to be of
1 Erik Palmskold: KronologisH Register, 1219-1685, MS. :-'Om Tartare. 1303
Kon. Birgers bref ora Tartare och andre fremmande som uthan pass ock bevijs
stryka kring Landet och ofva allehanda insolentier att dhe wika af Landet. Dat.
3 Idus Martij 1303. Orig. F.O. pag. 2.'
2 See his 'Zigenarne' in Nu, M&nadsskrift utgifven af ' Johan Gronstedt, Stock-
holm, May 1875, p. 231.
3 Arthur Thesleff, Zigenare, Nordiska muaeets Forlag, Stockholm, 1904, pag. 11.
116 SWEDISH TSIGANOLOGUES
Klene Etjitf'fi. land.' Their 'chief was named Herr Antonius, a
count with his countess.' They were lodged in the guild house of
St. Laurentius.
The bearing of this contemporary evidence is further illustrated
by Olavus Petri (1493-1552) who, as secretary of the town of Stock-
holm, 1524-1531, actually wrote the continuation of those note-
books from 1524 to 1529. Some time between 1530 and 1540 he
wrote our first reliable Swedish history,1 which is the ' first original
literary work in new Swedish,' and takes, in the opinion of modern
historians and authorities upon literature, a foremost rank for
accuracy, sobriety, and style. In it he states (p. 305): 'In the
same year that Herr Steen became regent [1512], a part of that
people who fare about from one country to another, whom we call
Tartare, came here into this country, and to Stockholm ; formerly
they had never been here.' 2
As to the appellation Tartare or Tatar e it came undoubtedly
from North Germany into the Scandinavian countries, and it is
probably not older than the invasion of the Gypsies into western
Europe. Hermann Corner says in his chronicle, almost contem-
porary with the invasion, that they were ' in appearance exceed-
ingly ugly and black as tartars, they called themselves secani'
(. . . forma turpissimi, nigri ut Tartari, Secanos se nuncupantes).
Rums, who wrote his chronicle probably a few years later, goes
so far as to say that the strangers actually ' came from Tartary '
(desse quemen ute tartarien).
We have, moreover, a corroborating statement by Messenius
(1579-1636 or 7) a reliable historian and one of the most learned
Swedes of his day, professor at Upsala and thereafter archivist in
the capital, but imprisoned from 1616 to 1635 on the charge of
treasonable converse with papists. During his confinement he
wrote, between the years 1620 and 1624, a history 3 in which the
following account is given of the invasion. It is apparently a
copy and paraphrase from Olavus Petri, who mentions the vain
prediction without connecting it with the Gypsies.
'Anno MDXII . . . Itaque Steno Sture, XXIII Julii die,
1 Olai Petri Srt.nxka KrOnika, ed. by G. E. Klemming, Stockholm, 1S60. It
existed only in numerous manuscripts until 1818.
2 ' Samma aar her Steen war hoffuitzman worden, kom en part aff thet folket som
fara omkring ifra thet ena landet til thet andra, them man kallar Tatare, hijt i
Landet, och til Stocholm, fiirra hadhe the aldrigh her want.'
3 Johannes Messenius, Scondia Illnrtraia seu Chronologia de rebus Scondice. , . .
a mundi Cataclysmo, usque annum Chr. MDCXII, Stockholm (Peringskiold) 1700,
p. 72.
SWEDISH TSIGANOLOGUES 117
habenas Regni adeptus, Ordines in acropoli magnifico excipit
convivio, & deinceps regit prudentissime per sequens septennium.
Sub cujus regimine illi Sueciam agyrtse ac circumforanei primum
ingressi Zigani, vulgo Tartari hodierno nuncupati. Quorum vanis-
simas jemulati vaticinationes Dominicani, Stocholmia?, principio
Septembris, ex suggesto urbis preedicunt submersionem, die
horaque designatis. Unde his imminentibus, plurimi civium ad
montes & insulas secedunt finitimas, & tempore citra periculum
aliquod civitatis evoluto, cum pudore redeunt, pseudovatibus
indignantes.'
Messenius makes no mention of the 1303 edict which was as
accessible, and probably as well known, to him as to Palmskold
and Hadorph. Messenius is known to have worked from a vast
material of original documents and copies which he was allowed
to have with him while a prisoner.
Among other Swedish writings on the Gypsies the essays of
Lysander and Ahlqvist, to which I have already referred, need
only be mentioned, since they contain no original observations, and
the pastoral letter of Archbishop Laurentius Petri (1573) is well
known. But it would be wrong to omit Djos Per Andersson, the
compiler of our first vocabulary, though he will here find himself
in somewhat unaccustomed society. He was a well-known and
dangerous criminal master-thief and prison-breaker, executed at
last in 1849 for murdering a warder at Upsala. He was not a
Gypsy, but in his repeated incarcerations he had learnt Romani,
and used it for purposes other than philological, as the follow-
ing words, addressed to his clergyman during his last moments,
show : * —
' I might mention that my fellow-sufferers are already conceiv-
ing a language called Tdnke sprdket (Thought-language) which
will set at naught even the soundless walls of the prison-cells.
The rigorous silence which, according to the Auburn system, is
observed while prisoners work together, is no guarantee against
their being able to communicate with one another under the very
eyes of the warder. Besides the copious and developed tongue
called Romani, a mere glance, a gesture, is enough to make the
prisoners understood among themselves : and I am convinced that,
whatsoever human ingenuity can devise to prevent this com-
1 En LifdGmds Betraktelser . . . jemte en kort tccknimj qfver Djos Per Andersson
(Dal-Pelles) sista dager. [An account of the last days of Djos Per Andersson],
Upsala, 1849.
I I 8 SWEDISH TSIGANOLOGUES
munication between the prisoners, there is a counteracting force
in the human mind striving to elude the endeavours of vigilance,
and that in the end it will succeed.'
On the same page the author of the pamphlet has added a
note: 'The convict has made a lexicon of this [the Romani]
language. According to what the prisoner has stated to me, he
received, on account of this act of treason against his fellows, and
in their name, a sanguinary retribution from another convict.'
Sundt used this glossary l and, in his vocabulary, Andersson's words
are marked And., but where the original manuscript now is I have
been unable to discover. There are good reasons for believing
that the vocabulary was taken down by the eminent scholar
C. F. Bergstedt, a member of the staff of Upsala University, and
well versed in Sanskrit.
A most reliable authority upon Swedish Gypsies is Dr. Arthur
Thesleff, well known to serious students of Gypsy Philology and
Lore. He rejects Sundt's conclusion that the Gypsies entered
Sweden via Russia and Finland, and states that there is reason to
think that they came from Scotland.2 ' For centuries the Gypsies
continued roaming about in Sweden, molesting the population.
By degrees most of them transmigrated into Norway and Finland.
Finland received her Gypsies from Sweden. The Gypsies who are
at present still to be found in Sweden have been denationalised to
a great extent. Of the old-time Tattare there are still remnants,
for instance in Halland. . . . But the main Gypsy tribe of Sweden
has by no means died out, nor has it been absorbed into the
population; it continues to exist, vigorous and numerous— in
Finland. . . . From Scandinavia the Gypsies of Finland took their
family names. Out of 110 families 101 have Swedish patronymics
. . . From linguistic evidence one might call the Gypsies of
Finland Swedish not Finnish. The loan words in their language
show their former migrations. There are in the Finnish Gypsy
dialect loan words which have been adopted in the north of
Sweden, as well as others from the middle and south of Sweden,
and we may go further and trace in the language their earlier
wanderings, by the presence of Danish, Low German, Slavonic,
Greek, and Armenian elements. The sojourn of the Gypsies in
Sweden did not pass without leaving traces behind it. In the
1 Eilert Sundt, Beretning om Fante-eller Landstrygerfolket i Norge, Andet Oplag,
Christiania, 1852, p. 364 et seqq.
2 Zigenarc, p. 13 et seqq.
6 UND J 119
slang of Swedish thieves, for instance, there are numerous Gypsy
words, which have in that way penetrated into the language of
the street boys.'
In conclusion, let me draw the attention of British readers to
a charming Swedish novel which has been translated into English
— Viktor Rydberg's Singoalla. He has committed the anachron-
isms of placing the first appearance of the Gypsies in Sweden as
early as the middle of the fourteenth century and connecting them
with the introduction of the ' Black Death ' into the country ;
but such sins will be readily overlooked in consideration of the
masterly way in which the mediaeval spirit has been described.
There are competent students of the subject in Sweden, and I
look forward to emendations, corrections, and possibly blame from
them for venturing forth on new ground, less well equipped than
I wish I were.
IV.— C UND J.
Von Jacob Wackernagel.
MIKLOSICH (Mundarten unci Wanderungen der Zigeuner, ix.
38), lehrt, dass indischem J im Zigeunerischen ausser dz auch 6
entsprechen ktinne und bringt als Belege cang 'Bein': aind. jail gha-,
— 6ib ' Zunge,' ' Sprache ' : aind. jihvd-, — cukel ' Hund ' : aind.
jakuta-, jukuta-, — i6, jic ' gestern ' : aind. hyah, prakr. hijjo. Von
diesen ist 6ukel zu streichen : die herrschende Form, auch in den-
jenigen Zigeunersprachen, die in den andern angeftihrten Wortern
c haben, ist Jukel ; die Form mit 6 findet sich nur bei sol-
chen, die auch sonst jf durch 6 ersetzen, wie bei den deutschen und
besonders den spanischen Zigeunern. Dagegen ist noch bei-
zufiigen 6am ' Wange,' ' Kinn.' Miklosich (vii. 28) bringt es mit
hind, cabnd ' kauen ' zusammen. Aber richtig fiihrt es bereits Pott
(ii. 193) auf aind. jambha- ' Gebiss,' ' Kinnbacken ' zurlick ; vgl. lat.
gena, cymr. gen ' Wange,' aind. hanu-, gr. yews ' Kinnbacken/
armen. cnaut ' Wange,' ' Kinnbacken.'
Dieses 6 fur j ist sehr verwunderlich, weil in sehr vielen andern
Wortern anlautendes J des Indischen im Zigeunerischen erhalten
bleibt und diesem iiberhaupt derartige Verschiebung der Artikula-
tionsart fremd ist. Das Gemeinsame der vier Worter mit 6 ist,
dass die indischen Grundworter teils in der folgenden Silbe teils
wie bei ( j)ic im Anlaut eine Aspirata bezw. h haben, wahrend die
120 THE LANGUAGE OF THE NAWAB OR ZUTT
Worter, in denen j erhalten ist, keine solche aufweisen. Nun ist
lilngst bekannt, dass in den europaischen Zigeunersprachen vielfach
Verschiebung der Aspiration, namentlich solche auf den Anlaut,
stattgefunden hat (Miklosich, Beitrage, ii. [1874] 782 ff, 776), z
B. phuc ' fragen ' : prakr. pucchai ; dass zweitens diese neuen gerade
wie die ererbten Aspiraten durchgehend stiminlos sind z. B.
Jchabni ' schwanger ' : prakr. gabbhini ; thud ' Milch ' : prakr. dudd-
ham; phand, 'binden': aind. prakr. bandh- ; dass endlicli fur £h
durchweg 6 eingetreten ist z. B. fad ' vomieren ' : prakr. chadd- ;
din 'schneiden': prakr. chind-. Demgemass musste J, wenn
aspiriert, durch jh — ch hindurch zu 6 werden, und jenes c ist also
gesetzmassig.
Leider ist keines der besprochenen Worter bei den armenischen
Zigeunern zu treffen. Sie mussten bei diesen anders aussehen,
weil diese zwar an der Stirnmlosigkeit samtlicher Aspiraten, nicht
aber an dem ZurUckwerfen der Aspiration auf den Anlaut noch an
dem Ubergang von ch in 6 teilnehmen, vgl. arm.-zig. luth aus
duth ' Milch ' ; banth ' binden ' ; viclleicht auch gian ' Gestank '
gegeniiber europ.-zig. khan(d) : aind. gcmdha ; sowie chin
' schneiden ' u. s. w. bei Finck, Die Sprache der armenischen
Zigeuner, 87 f. Filr europ.-zig. ic heisst es in Asien hi], aij.
V.— A GRAMMAR AND VOCABULARY OF THE LANGUAGE
OF THE NAWAR OR ZUTT, THE NOMAD SMITHS
OF PALESTINE.
By R. A. Stewart Macalister, F.S.A.
I CONTRIBUTED a short article on ' The Grammatical Struc-
ture of the Nuri Language,' to the Quarterly Statement of the
Palestine Exploration Fund for January 1908. That article was,
however, based on inaccurate and imperfectly understood materials,
and short though it was, it contained several errors. The material
I had collected at the time I have since revised, and considerably
augmented.
The greater part of the following grammar and vocabulary
is founded upon an analysis of a collection of anecdotes, related
to me by an intelligent young Nuri named Shakir Mahsin;
established with his brethren in the well-known settlement of
Nawar, a short distance north of the Damascus Gate of Jeru-
salem. I give them elsewhere in this Journal as I noted
THE LANGUAGE OF THE NAWAR OR ZUTT 121
them down, making no apology for their incoherence or for their
disregard of the unities of time and person, which the reader
will easily observe for himself.1 Some of them are personal
reminiscences — and if these appear monotonous, it may be remem-
bered that the life of nomads is itself monotonous.2 Others of
them are folklore. A few (marked with an asterisk) are stories
which I dictated to Shakir, in Arabic, to be translated by him into
his own tongue. These were generally chosen or prepared in order
to entrap, so to speak, some word or grammatical rule about which
I needed information, and they do not in general claim any other
merit. It may be as well to remark that, in the same way and for
the same reason, some of the illustrative sentences in the grammar
and vocabulary were originally given by me, in Arabic, to Shakir.
These were often suggested by similar sentences which I found
in Paspati's Etudes sur les Tchinghiane's ou Bohemiens de
V empire ottoman, or in Mr. Sampson's Welsh Romani stories in
the Journal of the Gypsy Lore Society. It is, therefore, not to be
inferred that such sentences indicate the existence of similar
sayings or stories among the Nawar.
The stories are here published with the consent of the com-
mittee of the Palestine Exploration Fund, for which society they
were originally collected. The collection has been made in the
intervals of other and absorbing work, and I cannot claim that I
have exhausted all the language, though probably most of its
vocabulary will be found in the stories and glossary.
I. Symbols and Sounds
1. The following are the alphabetic characters here used for
the representation of the sounds of the Nuri language : —
a a a b c d d e e f g g h h h i I j k k I m n o o p r s
Stttuuuwyzz
c o
1 Evidently the narrator has a short memory — but possibly the unwonted
experience of telling a story sentence by sentence, to allow of its being written
down, has disturbed his continuity of thought. Thus, story No. xxviii is
obviously a confusion of two marriage- tales, one of them a purchase-transaction of
the ordinary kind, the other an elopement : the end of one being fitted, or rather
misfitted, to the beginning of the other. This, however, does not impair the value
of the stories as specimens of the language, which is the principal purpose they are
here intended to serve.
2 In some points the narrator has probably drawn on his imagination— as, for
instance, the frequent murders in which he glories, and the large sums of money
with which from time to time he deals. The presence of ghuls in otherwise sober
narratives need not arouse undue scepticism : ghuls to these people are as real
as hyaenas aud jackals, and it is highly probable that the apparition was that of a
real creature falsely identified by the person who saw it.
122 THE LANGUAGE OF THE NAWAR OR ZUTT
oh.-;. The order of the Roman alphabet is retained in preference to a strict
phonological classification of the sounds, as the former is the more generally con-
venient. The hamza (°) is disregarded in assigning a word to its alphabetic order.
2. The vowels and diphthongs are to be pronounced as follows :
<t as in 'fat': a as in 'father': a as e in French 'pere,' or ai in
' pair ' : e as in ' pen ' : e as ai in ' pain ' : i as in ' pin ' : I as in
' machine ' : o as in ' pot ' : o as in ' mote ' : u as in ' but ' : u as oo
in ' foot ' : u as in ' booth ' : d% as i in ' pine ' : aw as ow in ' power ' :
{a as ya : vk as wee. With regard to the last four symbols, see
§ 10 (3).
3. After long accented vowels (especially %), a repetition of the
same vowel, pronounced short, is frequently heard. Thus w&ifs,
' with him/ is often pronounced wdit'is or almost like watsiyis.
4. Unaccented short vowels, especially when final, are pro-
nounced obscurely, approximating to the neutral sound 9. Careful
attention is required to distinguish between inflexions differing by
an unaccented short vowel, as laherda', ' he saw,' l&lierdi, ' she
saw,' Idherde, ' they saw.'
5. There are distinct traces of a law of vowel assonance, such
as regulates the vocalisation of inflexions in Turkish. This is
O
particularly noticeable in the vocalisation of the pronominal
suffixes. It also affects the vowels of other inflexions and muta-
tions. Thus, kl&ra, 'a (male) Bedawi,' kUri,' a (female) Bedawi.'
This law has, however, become irregular in its application and is
falling into disuse.
6. Of the consonants, b, d, f, h, j, m, n, p, s, t, w, y, z, are to be
pronounced as in English : g is always to be pronounced hard : j
has always the English dj sound, as in 'June,' not the French
zh sound as in ' jeune ' ; for the latter the symbol i is used.
7. The letter c is always to be pronounced as ch in ' church '
{tcli, c) : § and z denote sh and zh respectively.
8. The following sounds as a rule are confined to words
borrowed from Arabic, being seldom or never found in native Nuri
words : d, t, the gingival ^ U (dad, ta), not heard in English, but
frequent in the ' brogue ' of Ireland : h, h, represent the emphatic
and guttural _, ^ (ha, ha) of Arabic (hh, kh) respectively : k is the
velar s Qoaf) : t is the ordinary sound of th in ' this,' but as in
Arabic it frequently passes into a simple t : f is the fricative 'ain,
Arabic c : <J represents the sound of git, Arabic c (gain).
Obs. Unless expressly stated to the contrary, by 'Arabic' is always to be
understood the colloquial of Palestine, not literary Arabic or any other dialect.
THE LANGUAGE OF THE NAVVAR OR ZUTT 123
9. There are two sounds of I, one pronounced much as in
English, the other rather farther back in the throat. I have not
attempted to differentiate these in writing : so far as I could detect,
the difference is not very consistently observed in speaking. The
first is heard in tilla, 'great': the second in bol, 'much,' 'very.'
The sound of r is always more trilled than in English.
10. The other symbols used in these pages are the following : —
(1) The sign °, to denote an abrupt closure of the glottis, cutting
short the preceding vowel, which is always strongly accented
(except in the word dme°, ' we '). This symbol we shall call by the
name of the corresponding Arabic character (hamza): and the
phonetic process for which it stands we shall term hamzation.
Occasionally, but rarely, the hamza follows a consonant whose
sound is capable of prolongation (such as m). In this case the
syllable is to be accented and the consonantal sound cut short
exactly like the vowel in ordinary cases.
(2) An acute accent, indicating the stressed syllables. Un-
accented syllables are rapidly pronounced, and are rather apt to
be slurred : before the ear gets accustomed to the speech it is not
easy to distinguish all of them. As the accent is always implied
by the hamza, it is not expressed in writing on hamzated syllables.
(3) Diphthongs are indicated by a curve or circumflex, as in
dl, cm, %a, u%. In other cases of two vowels coming together they
are to be pronounced as two syllables.
(4) Unaccented words are either enclitic or proclitic, and it
will sometimes be convenient to connect such, by means of a
hyphen, with the word upon which they cast their accent.
11. Double letters are to be pronounced double if possible, as
in parddssan, 'he took them,' pronounced par-dds-sdn. If it be
impossible to double them, they are to be emphasized and prolonged :
as in bagdnndsi, ' they broke it.' A double j (as in kdjja, ' a man
not a Nuri,' ' a Gentile ' — the gdjo of Gypsies) is pronounced like
jz (kdj-za).
12. Modifications of pronunciation, such as metathesis, are
not uncommon. Thus one frequently hears prdnct for pndra,
' white,' while erhdna and hrdncl are used indifferently for ' there.'
One letter or combination is sometimes substituted for another
more difficult to pronounce : as in brdri, krdrd, for bldri, ' cat,'
JddrcX, ' Bedawi.' The sound of $ is very unstable, being liable to
pass into s or else into c (tch). Thus mnessdn is often heard for
mnttsan, 'with them,' as also is mniscdn, where there is meta-
124 THE LANGUAGE OF THE NAWAR OR ZUTT
thesis as well as the transformation. The reverse corruption
appears in the optative of ndstir, ' to flee,' in which ndscan becomes
ndSt&n. I have an interesting example of metathesis in my notes,
which illustrates the possibilities of corruption in the language.
This is kdrkek minji,' ' what business is it of yours ? ' Evidently
this is a modification of ha kerek minji, literally ' what will you do
with it ? ' The unaccented vowel of the first syllable of the verb
has disappeared, in accordance with § 17, and the first two words
have then fused into one, and by a transposition of consonants
become inextricably united.
13. The treatment of Arabic words, which are freely borrowed
to supply deficiencies in the vocabulary, is an important subject.
Very often the words are used without modification : but a large
number have become naturalised in Nuri, and have submitted to
changes adapting them to the genius of the language. Such
changes are, in some cases, perhaps ' fossils ' of a time when the
Nawar had newly arrived among an Arabic-speaking population,
and had not acquired a mastery of the latter language. Others may
possibly be wilful modifications, introduced for purposes of secrecy.
The changes that have been noticed may be thus classified : —
(1) Modifications of difficult or peculiar sounds, either by total
loss or by substitution of easier sounds. Thus Arabic subh,
' morning,' is often (not always, and never in speaking Arabic)
pronounced stibct. Again, though the Nawar can without difficulty
pronounce the difficult velar and gingival sounds in Arabic
hlddiim, ' an adze,' they call it in their own speech kdzma, though
in speaking Arabic they pronounce the word correctly. In elgdm,
1 a bridle,' which represents the Arabic lizm, there is metathesis
of the vowel and consonant in the first syllable, and a bold modi-
fication of the consonant in the second.
(2) Change of the accent or quantity of a syllable : as in bdra,
'outside,' for Arabic hurra: bdhri, 'incense,' for Arabic balfir.
This modification of accent is specially to be observed in Arabic
verbal nouns compounded with the enclitic auxiliary verb kerar,
' to make,' ' do.' In the majority of this large class of verbs the
accent is on the last syllable of the verbal noun, irrespective of its
accent in Arabic : and the vowel of the first syllable as a rule
disappears, in accordance with § 17. Thus from Arabic kettif,
' a binding,' is formed ktt'f-kerar, ' to bind.'
(3) Arabic roots with Nuri inflexions are common: such
hybrids are rdwdh/rd, 'he went,' from rdwtih, the Arabic for 'he
THE LANGUAGE OF THE NAWAR OR ZUTT 125
went,' with -ra, the Nuri termination of the third person singular
of the preterite: saddfra, ' he came up with,' is similar. In the
latter word the s should be the Arabic letter sad : but I cannot
detect a distinction between this letter and the ordinary sibilant
sin in words adopted into Nuri : the distinction is, therefore, here
ignored.
(4) Addition of extra syllables. This is rare, but a few cases
may be found, as biirdkdnkat, ' an orange ' (Arabic, burdkan).
Common, however, is the addition of a final i to Arabic words and
proper names, as Hdsani for the common man's name Hasan.
(5) Neglect of Arabic inflexions. Thus in Arabic kal means
he said,' kult means ' I said ' ; but in Nuri one hears pdnji kal,
1 he said,' and dmd kal, ' I said,' although in speaking Arabic the
distinction is always correctly observed. This solecism is con-
stantly committed by Europeans whose Arabic is imperfect ; it is
therefore the more likely that the erroneous form was adopted
at an early stage of the intercourse of the Nawar with Arabs,
and stereotyped before the correct expression had been learnt.
(6) Inaccurate use of the Arabic pronominal suffixes, although
Nuri possesses a system of suffixes of its own. Thus winni, which
in Arabic means ' and that I,' is often used simply for ' and,' with-
out special reference to the first person. A remarkable case is the
word kwllmdnhwm, which in Arabic x means ' all of them.' This
word is often used in Nuri in the sense ' every one,' even with the
first or second person. Thus, pdrda kullmdnhum mnesmdn
bdwos, 'each one of us took his share.' Even kidlmdn, which
literally means ' each one of ,' is sometimes treated as a
separate word, and actually declined as a substantive: thus, in
Ex. xii., min kullmtindski, ' from every one.'
14. The influence of Arabic syntax upon that of Nuri is pro-
found: but this side of the subject belongs to the later sections of
the grammar. The extent to which Arabic and Nuri words can
be mixed up together is well illustrated by such a sentence as
Mssna-ker tilli sukf ak min uhu guza kmdsiKi, ' cut a large
piece of that fine cloth,' where the words in italics are Arabic,
words and inflexions in capitals are Nuri, and the word gtiza
printed in ordinary type is a corruption of the Turkish guzil,
' fine,' ' handsome.'
15. On the other hand, though Arabic is so freely used, there
1 The vowel in the second syllable is in colloquial Arabic i, but in Nuri seems
always to be pronounced a.
126 THE LANGUAGE OF THE NAWAR OR ZUTT
are certain words and expressions native to Nuri, used where we
should with the greatest confidence have expected Arabic. This
is especially the case with geographical and ethnic names, for
some of which the Nawar have native equivalents. It is possible
that these may have been carried by them from a previous home,
and given new applications in their new surroundings. • The
following names are worthy of special note : —
Tat, A Fellah, or peasant agriculturist.
KldrcX, A Bedawi or Arab nomad.
Ddm, A Nuri (the latter is the Arabic name only).
ProtkilflL, A Jew.
Ktlr, A Christian, a monk, or, generally, a European.
C4j&, Egypt.
Besides these names they have descriptive names for certain
large towns and other places. These are
Till-uydrd, erhena, The big city here (Jerusalem).
Tdl-uydra erhdna, The big city there (Damascus).
Till-uydrd illi tilla-tmdli minj, The big city in which is the
Sultan (Constantinople).
Pdnidk-uydrd, The water-city (Beirut).
Guld-uydrd, The sweet city (Jaffa, referring to the orange-
groves surrounding the town).
Gdnild-de illi ahdri, The flower- village down there (Jericho).
There are one or two corruptions which are not wholly confined to
the Nawar, as 'Ammdl for 'Ammdn.
16. There are certain sounds that survive in the European
dialects of Romani which the Nawar have lost. Such are the
explosive aspirates after t, k, p (like the English combinations
' pothook,' ' inkhorn,' ' haphazard '). These are very conspicuous in
Mr. Sampson's Welsh Romani stories, but I could not detect a trace
of them in Nuri. Again, the nasal sound of ng (y) is foreign to
the language : the collision of n and g, never very common, is
always pronounced like the ng in ' finger,' even at the ends of
words : as dfang, ' a bullet,' pronounced like the similar syllable in
' new-/a/n(/-led,' not as English ' fang.'
17. In words of two or more syllables in which the accent is
on the second syllable, the vowel of the first often disappears
altogether, as in rn/rek, ' he is dead,' for marik. When the loss of
the vowel produces a difficult combination of consonants, an
auxiliary vowel is sometimes prefixed. Thus the same word
occasionally is pronounced imrelc.
(To be continued.)
NURI STORIES 127
VI.— NURI STORIES.
Collected by R. A. Stewart Macaljster, F.S.A.
i
Aste diisni, bareni. Gave. Mindindsdn pdnddsmd tmdlie.
Cirde tmdlie " Kcuiteni hresi." Cirde "Ame° la/d kdldeni hreni0 ;
gdren td-ndnand hmmemdn!' Mindendsdn tmdlie, ktif-ker-
dendsdn, u ndndindsan pmibaginyetd. Ldherddssan tilla-tmdli.
Cirda " Mikrdn aresi dime ? " Cirde dbuska " Ame° dminkdra
kcmmeni lidesasmd, garini dbsinkd td-ndndnsdn. Ldherdendmdn
ehe tmdlie td - lahdnd wdsman pie. N't - laherde0 wdhndn.
Garncmrdendman dburkd, yd tilld-tmdli, u dine0 hd agrer hreni ;
mitl-md Jcerek inker, u dme° hdtetd wesrini." Cirda tilla-tmdli
" Kiktitd ndndssdn drdn ? " K&i cirde gordndele ? " He kcfuteni."
Cirda tilla-tmdli " 'nhe° famtini hrende0." Wdrt-kerdendsdn.
Rdwdhre dhlisintd. Hdrdf-kerdc inni " Mindendman tmdlie u
gdrnmtrdendmdn tilld-tmalieskd, u tilla-tmdli tvdrt-kerdosmdn,
u minden hdlemdn u dren u laherdiran, yd kdumemdn, u hat
dren, u stds waUmdn. Hdlli jdn deimintd. Hdddttd, IdgU-kerde
waitiman uhu-kdjje." Minde hdlesdn u dre wdSsdn deisintd.
LdgU-kerde ba'desdnsan. Marire tdrdn kdjjd. Are tmdli',
pdrdindsan to gdre minjisan tilld-tmdlie'std. Gd-kerda tilla-
tmdli " Keki IdgiS-kerdes dime u marire tdrdn kdjjd? Pdrus
drdn u drdn u tdssdn inhirikdldsma u cnis dtsiintd tdrdn dds
wars."
Translation
There were two who were brothers. They went. Soldiers took them on the
road. The soldiers said 'Ye are thieves.' They said 'We are not thieves; we
went to fetch our relatives.' The soldiers took them, bound them, and brought
them to the court-house. The governor saw them. He said, ' Whence have you
come ? ' They said to him ' We have relatives in this place, we went to them to
fetch them. These soldiers saw us to see [if we had] with us money. They saw
none with us. They made us come to thee, 0 Governor, and here we are before thee :
as thou wilt do, do, and we are here sitting.' Said the Governor, ' Why did you
bring these men here 1 ' What said the horsemen ? ' They are thieves.' Said the
Governor, ' They are not thieves.' They loosened them. They went to their
people. They told how 'The soldiers took us and made us return to the governor,
and the governor loosed us, and we betook ourselves and came and saw you, 0 our
people, and behold we have come, and rise with us. Let us go to our own village.
There, those gentiles made a quarrel with us.' They betook themselves and came
with them to their village. They quarrelled one with another. Three men were
killed. The soldiers came and took them and went with them to the governor.
Said the governor, ' Why did you quarrel and three men were slain 1 Take ye
these ones, and those, and put them in the condemned cell, and keep them in
prison thirty years.'
12S NURI STORIES
II
Minda holds grvwurdmdn u gdra. PSndd tmdliak u gdrd
wdtts Ddmdntd. Gdrd ndndr mnescan pU Ddmdnki u inder
tilld-tmalieskd. Ndsre Dome. Gdra, ncmcdr dtsuntd, ni-ldher-
ddssdn. Ard tmalieskd, cirdd obits, " Ndsre Dome, ni-ldher-
ddmsdn." Kii cirdd tilld-tmdli ? Inni beldsis td-nter plen Mi
dtustini. Gdri balds greiudrdski tilld-tmalieskd. Rdri tilld-
t malieskd u cirdi " Yd tilld-tmdli, Ddme ndsre, u kekd bdndtir
/xnurn? BizdWc, inhe" wali Iciy&Jc. Kol pd/bdm." Imcirdi tilla-
tmalieski hdstos. Koldusis tilld-tmdli. Minde hdUsoAi u gdre
kdridsinto p&nj u balds. Ldherde Dumdn arinde kuridmd.
Pdrddssdn u nirddssdn tilld-tmalieskd. Bdnddssdn tilld-tmdli u
tirdd kull-yikd tdrdn zerd tdrdn zerd. Pardd mnescan Domdnki
beddl-md ndsre nim sat zerd, u minde hdlisdn u koldre. Are
grewdrds-kiiridmd u intendis kull-yikd nim zerd nim zerd.
Mhidd hdlisdn it gdre kuridsintd.
Our sheikh betook himself and went. A soldier took [him] and went with him
to the Nawar. He went to take the money of the Nawar from them and to give it
to the governor. The Nawar fled. He went to seek them and did not find them.
He came to the governor, said to him, ' The Nawar have fled, I did not see them.'
What said the governor ? That he imprison him till he give the moneys which he
owed. The wife of the sheikh went to the governor. She wept to the governor,
and said, ' 0 Governor, the Nawar have fled, and why have you imprisoned my
husband ? He is poor, he has nothing. Loose my husband.' She kissed the hand
of the governor. The governor loosened him. They betook themselves and went,
he and his wife, to their tent. They saw the Nawar coming to the tent. He
took them and conducted them to the governor. The governor imprisoned them
and each one paid three pounds apiece. He took from them, from the Nawar, in
requital for their fleeing, fifty pounds, and they betook themselves, and were
loosened. They came into the tent of the sheikh and gave him each one half a
pound.1 They betook themselves and went to their tents.
Ill
Bidcli jdm mnicdm wydrma potremkd. Par dm mono [sic]
pdrdm dbsun kill, u jdn IdJuim kuridmintd. Ldherddm kurid-
minmd inhe0 mat. Ziridte kelindi, u bdkom risrik bul,ds
I:nri<1md. Gdrdm dbitskd td-gdrn<fii[r]dmis. Ni-dri wdUm.
Ldgis-kerddm boidssdn it Hdlddmis jiiri min hdstdski it nirddmis
kilridmintd. Are potres. Kenaurddssan mono u ke§ u siwirdi
kelan potriski it wdra-kerdensdn, it minden hdlemdn u raurden.
Gdren uhn difd. Are kdjje, ni-mdndindmdn hl<Mtdn. Minden
1 I have translated zerd as ' pound ' : it denotes a gold piece— generally a French
20 franc piece, which is at present the commonest gold coin in the Turkish Empire.
Nrtmi stories 129
hulemdn, gdriren uydrtd, cirden grewdrdskd " Tdte ni-mdndind-
mdn hlauan deinmd. Minden hdUmdn, hat dren." Wesrin[d]-
mdn 1 uydrtd, la hrdsmdn la jdn wdld pcmdn, u wisren.
I would go to seek in the market [things] for my children. I buy bread, I buy
for them clothes, and we went with them to our tent. I found in our tent there
was nobody. The children are playing and my wife was sulking in her father's
tent. I went to him to make her come back. She would not come with me. I
quarrelled with her father, and dragged the woman from his hand and brought her
to our tent. Her children came. She fed them with bread and meat, and sewed
the clothes of her children, and we clothed them, and we betook ourselves and
departed. We went to yonder village. The Gentiles came, they did not suffer us to
pitch. We betook ourselves, we returned to the city, we said to the sheikh, ' The
fellahin did not suffer us to pitch in the villages. We betook ourselves, here
we have come.' They made us stay in the city, he did not permit us to go or to
come, and we stayed.
IV
Gdren dmd u bcVwm u zdro, pitrom. Kustotek. Gdren
H<mrindtd td-'aisucdn. Siten pdnddsmd. Ara uhu kcaitdr,
pdrdd zdres. RorSn done, dmd u dciius. Gdren, dfin-kerdenis
zdres u mdndinis, u gdren fidesdstd. Siten didkdmd. Are haute,
pdrde kiydkemdn u ndsre. Ni-mdndd wdsmdn kiydki, u m/rd
zdro, u mdnden min gair kiydki. Rdsren 'dd fidesds, Idherden
mmimom. Rmird mmcmdm aminni, laherdosmdn ihdlismd.
" Kindd gdrindi kiydkirdn u potrnrdn ? " " Gdre kdldirdendsdn
kiydkdn tdte, zdres pdrddsis kcmtdr, wd-dmmd mdnden, iva
rasrenir." Intdsmdn kiydki [sic] u pie, 'ma rddni zdristd.
Mindln hdlemdn u dren min ndesdski. Rdwdhren disimintd.
Ara nucumdm wasimdn. Ni-biydni0 pdnddski 'dd. Rdivdhren
disimintd bi-sdldmi.
We went, I and my wife and the boy, my son. He was little. We went to
the Hauran to seek a living. We slept on the road. There came a hyaena, took
the boy. We wept, I and his mother. We went, buried the boy and left him,
and went to yonder place. We slept in a village. There carte thieves, took our
things and fled. Not a thing remained with us, and the boy was dead, and we
remained without anything. We made farther, for yonder place, and saw my
uncle. My uncle went with us and saw us in that state. 'Where have your
things and your son gone ? ' ' The fellahin went and stole the things, a hyaena
took the boy, but we remained and we have made for thee.' He gave us things
and money, but we weep for the boy. We betook ourselves and came from yonder
place. We went to our place. My uncle came with us. We have no more fear
from the road. We went to our place in peace.
1 This peculiar transitive use of the verb I have not found elsewhere : but it
is probably an error of transcription, not noticed in the haste of writing, for
wesrin ame, ' we stayed.'
VOL. III. — NO. II. I
1,'30 NURI STORIES
Gdrorn Rihy&ta. Ldherdom klarini pdnddismd. Mindendim,
fertndim, pdrde kiydkim u pdrde mnSHm tdrdn zerd. Bdgerde
sfoiom hm md ldherdom kdjjeni drindi pdnddsmd. Laker-
dendsdn kldre, ndsre. Staldindom tdte Mrtista, pdrdinddm,
nirdendom dhlimkd. Pdrdindom dhlom, gdrd minjim tmaliestd.
Ktib-kerdd hdtdk tilld-tmalieskd. Pinda gordndele [sic] kldr-
ankd: ktif-kerdendsuAi u ndndendsdn, u tirdossdn tilld-tmdli
elhdsmd. Ndnde 'dd kiydkom u plen.
I went to Jericho. I saw that there were hedawin on the way. They seized
me, beat me, took my things and took from me three pounds. They would have
broken my head if I had not seen that there were Gentiles coming on the road.
The bodawin saw them and fled. The fellahin lifted me on a donkey, took me,
conveyed me to my people. My people took me, and went with me to the mudir.1
He wrote a writing to the governor. He took horsemen for the bedawin ; they
bound them and brought them, and the governor put them in prison. They
returned my things and the moneys.
VI
Ard barom unkiim. Mdngdri bestCui-kerdmis mtfiimus-diri.
Mdngdrden mnesiis Idcid. Cirdd dminkdrd "Ndnis pie." Tirden
minji w% zerd. Nlrddhrd bolos indiris, mdngdrd mnismdn tdrdn
das zerd, dmmd inhe° wdsimdn pie. Pdrdosis mmim-ds-pitr u
ndsrd, minji. Rdsrdsis bolus, ni-minddsis, dmmd tirdom wl zerd
barom-diridtd boluska, u ndnden dl kali, u mdrdinsdn, u
ndndinsdn sal u kes u kdra bain's u doZlUs u bdrits, u ibsiitre, td-
'dd inhe° kiydk. Minddi hdlos laci u zdro illi pdrdosis, gar ire.
Imcirdd mcmmus-siri, u mdmyisk hdstosis siriiis, u wisre
iinkisdn pdnj u bd/cUs.
My brother came to me. He wants me to marry him to his uncle's daughter.
We asked the girl from him. He said to us, ' Bring the money.' We paid for her
twenty pounds. Her father did not wish to give her, he wanted from us thirty
pounds, but we had not the money. Her uncle's son took her and ran off with
her. Her father followed him and did not catch him, but I offered twenty pounds
in the place of my brother to her father, and we brought two goats and slaughtered
them and set rice and meat, and her father and mother and brother ate and were
satisfied, till nothing more was left. The girl and the boy who took her betook
themselves, and returned. He kissed his uncle's head and his wife's mother's hand
and head and he and his wife remained with them.
1 A sub-governor of a district.
NURI STORIES 131
VII
Gdren dmd u miRcmUm-pitr. Ndnden kdrdk. Mindind/m&n
pdnddsmd sanies kardslci. Ferindman, cirde aminka "KoVtuttrdes
kdrds." Gdmcmrdindmdn ditd : ferindman u tlrwmirdindmdn
kdrds 'imliis, tar an zerd, u pdrde mnismdn kiyakimdn u kdrds, u
ferindman u nlrdendmdn grewdrdsta u cirde " Ehe kalitinini,
pdrussdn tilla-tmaliestd, hdlli belersdn u laher mikrini." Sdyil-
kerdd dtsiintd tilla-tmdli. Cirden "Dome-hreni, dme 'n kcmteni0."
Cirdd tilla-tmdli " Uhu kdr, illi mlndindis wasiran tdte, mikrini?"
Cirden " Ha karomani." Cirdd tmdli " Yi'kba tdte kacinini I "
" U dme Dome-hreni, ikamas-stme nl hreni0. Ame Dome-hreni,
bizdta-hreni. Pdrde mnisman tdte tdran zerd u kiyakimdn, u
pinde dminta tibare Idmmd pdrde kiyakimdn u plimdm." Nddi-
kerda tdtan tmdli, u pdrda mnesisdn kiydkdn u plen u pdrdossdn
u tossdn dminkdrd u cirdd "Jds min linen " ; u ndsrin dme.
I and my uncle's son went. We took a donkey. The owners of the donkey
seized us on the road. They beat us, and said to us, ' You have stolen the donkey.'
They made us return to the village : they beat us and made us pay the price of the
donkey, three pounds, and took from us our things and the donkey, and beat us
and conveyed us to the sheikh, and said, ' These men are thieves, take them to the
governor, let him imprison them and see whence they are.' The governor asked
for them.1 We said 'We are Nawar, we are not thieves.' Said the governor,
' That donkey, which the fellahin took with you, whence is it ? ' We said, ' It is
our donkey.' Said the governor, ' Then are the fellahin liars ! ' ' And we are
Nawar, we are not masters in that business.2 We are Nawar, we are poor. The
fellahin took from us three pounds and our things, and brought on us these troubles
when they took our things and our money.' The governor called the fellahin, and
took from them the things and the money, and took them and gave them to us and
said ' Go hence ' ; and we fled.
VIII
Stirdd grewaroman. Mdngera mnisi zdrdk tmdlik. Nasrik
zdro, Hcmranimik. Ndnde mcittmus, bdndosis elhdsmd, wisrd
das u star dis elhdsmd. Ydssdk-kerdd atusta tmdli "Ndnek barur-
pitrds, wold wisek elhdsmd tdmelli." Cirdd dbuskdrd "Inkolem,
ndnansi." Ard grewdrd. Kefil-hrosis, u koldosis elhdski. Rmird
[sic] min hrina dma u pdnji u gdren Hmtrdndtd. Cindd
H(mrdndta. Ncuiren atsuntd, laherdinsdn didkdmd. Tindman
star zerd ; nirdahre0 cmdr wasimdn. Minden hdlimdn u gdriren
min ndesdski. Ard wdsmdn zdro. Intdsman §tar zerd mnessan
tmaliiskd. Minden hdlimdn u dren. Ard hrina grewdrd, Idgis-
1 i.e. inquired, on their behalf, whence were the prisoners.
- i.e. we know nothing about it.
132 NURI STORIES
kerdti watiman. "Keka no, ndndes zdres wdSr&n ? " Ame cirden
" Nirdahra0 dkuar wdUmdn. Intosmdn star zerd, u hat dren."
I '<n-< la (/reward stdmd zerddn u gcira, intdssdn tmalieskd u cirdd.
"Ni Idherde zdres, u mdivmus-zdreski illi baniriyd hrind mdndd
uhu disdsmd."
Our sheikh arose. A boy was wanted from] him as a soldier. The boy had
fled, he was in the Hauran. They took his uncle, bound him in prison, he stayed
fourteen days in prison. The governor forbade him, ' Bring your brother's son, if
not, you will stay in prison for ever.' He said to him, ' If you loosen me, we will
bring him.' The sheikh came. He made him surety, and he loosened him from
prison. I and he went from here and we came to the Hauran. He crossed to the
Hauran. We followed them,1 we saw them in a village. They gave us four
pounds ; 2 they did not wish to come with us. We betook ourselves, and returned
from that place. The boy came with us. He gave us four pounds from them for the
governor.3 We betook ourselves and came. The sheikh came here, and quarrelled
with us. ' Why did you not bring the boy with you ? ' We said ' He did.not wish
to come with us. He gave us four pounds, and here we have come.' The sheikh
took the four pounds, and went, gave them to the governor and said ' They did not
see the boy, and the boy's uncle who was imprisoned here stayed in yonder place.'
IX
Ari hdlydm min Ofijaki. Nawri aminta. Aren, laherdinis
kldrdntd tirdik. N&nde dminka d% bdkri. Mdrddss&n, u ndnde
sdli a kerde dminka. Kdren. Sdbdhtdn ndnden dme dl bdkri n
TYhdrdensdn abuskd. Rcmrden [min]-hnond. Ard dhlus u mdrdi
dbsunkdrd bdkrdk. Are mdngerde diris td-besani-kocer. BesfRd-
kerdi diris mttkimus-pitrdska bi-nim sd~i zerd. Parddssdn beddl-
diriski u gdri. Besind-kerdi potrus h&lus-diri. Minde hdlisan,
n Horde wdsimdn. Aren nvmm&nka, ndnd' dminka kes, u kdren.
Fluid' uydrtd. Par da dl ddwai to gar a Ottjetd td-kunirsdn.
Ktondussdn u ndndd diris gind u kiyakes u dra. Mindd holds,
inta pdtrak beniskd n jozdk bal.de. Minde hdlisan u rtmrden.
Gdren wdsls Ctijetd ; Idherdi bards mrek erhdnd, u bdrus-diri
tidesdsmd bdUrni. Mdndossdn, rawdhri desdsdntd u dri. Batil-
ihre jdnd Ciijetd u ni-gdre° ; wisre uh'd disdsmd.
My maternal aunt came from Egypt. She searched for us. We came, saw
her encamped with bedawin. They brought for us two sheep. They slaughtered
them and brought rice and prepared for us. We ate. In the morning we brought
two sheep and slaughtered them for her. We went from there. Her people came
and she slaughtered for them a sheep. They came and desired her danghter to
1 This change from singular to plural number is an example of the inconsistencies
remarked upon in the prefatory note to the ' Grammar.'
2 A bribe to leave them behind.
3 Another bribe, to persuade the governor not to follow up the case.
NURI STORIES 133
marry her. She married her daughter to her uncle's son for fifty pounds. She
took them [i.e. the money] instead of her daughter and went. She married her
son to his maternal uncle's daughter. They betook themselves, and departed with
us. We came to our uncle, he set before us food, and we ate. He went down to
the city. He took two camels and went to Egypt to sell them. He sold them
and fetched his other daughter and his things and came. He betook himself, gave a
veil to his sister and a pair of bracelets. They betook themselves and we departed.1
We went with her to Egypt : she saw that her brother was dead there, and her
brother's daughter married in that place. She left them, went to their place and
came. They stopped going to Egypt and went not ; they stayed in this place. >j
X
Stirdom dmd. Gdrom, huldom dhdr fuydrtd. Pdrddm
ddwdkdk. Pdnddsmd Jddlddmsi. Are kdjje, mdnindsi kdkdisi,
gdre pdrindi ddwdi mnUim. Gdrirom min pdnddski uydrtd.
DikndAirddmsdn Icdjjds illi pdrdom ddwdl mnesis. Cirdd Jcdjjd
" Uh/it ddwdi pdrdosis mneMim." Tirdom dmd tmalieskd zerddk
td-kdldom [? kuldom] ddwdi min-kdjjdnki. Mindom hdlom,
rdwdhrom, Stirdom min hnond. Kaldird ddwd~i min unkiim.
Ntmrom dtustd gis disds. Mindom hdlom, rdwdhrom kuridmintd.
Kdjjdk kal "Kei dimi td-dikncmmir ddwdkur ? " "D&mri tdrdn
zerd." Gdrom wdsis, cdrdindsdn kuridkdmd. Tirdom aurdski
Star zerd illi unkisi ddwcu ; u illi drd 'mdkd tdrdn zerd, u
ndndom ddwcu u gar from kibridmintd. Ari baiom, Idgis-kerdi
wdsiim. "Kikd 'ntweye° pewindi ddivdkmd ? Ardtdn swek, td-
gdrd ddwd%. Tirden dtustd hot zerd ! " Cirdom dmd " Yd bdkos,
[bcuom] dhdk el-ihra."
I arose. I went, I descended down to the city. I took [bought] a camel. I led
it on the road. There came Gentiles, thought it was stolen, they were going to take
the camel from me. I returned from the road to the city. I showed them the
man from whom I had taken the camel. The man said ' He took that camel from
me.' I gave the governor a pound so that I released the camel from the men. I
betook myself and went. I rose from there. The camel was stolen from me. I
searched the whole place for it. I betook myself and went to our tent. A man
said ' What wilt thou give me to show thee thy camel 1 ' ' I will give thee three
pounds.' I went with him, they had hidden it in a house. I gave four pounds to
that man with whom was the camel; and he who went with me three pounds;
and I took the camel and returned to our tent. My wife came, quarrelled with me.
' Why do you not put the shackle on the camel ? In the night you sleep, so that
the camel went. We have paid seven pounds for it ! ' I said ' Wife, thus it
happened.'
XI
Gdren Ciijetd dmd u baiom u ddkom. Qdriri [read -ren] min-
hnun'. Mistd-hri daiom hnond : w&sri tdrdn mds, pdnjl mistik.
1 Read probably ranirde, ' they departed.'
134 NURI STORIES
Boiom nirddsis disimintd ; mri° erhind. Stirdd boiom, rdrd dtustd,
ujdldd pdci bmmiska ddiimki. Wisra tdrdn dis, u pdnji mrik
Unkimdnni. Ldmmd are kdltmis dirde kildn, rdre ; ddiiardinis,
wdrd-kenuirdindis kiydkis. Stirde min hndn, kdlde dbuskd
mdlkddd, moldindis. Mindd hdlos boiom, gdrird Ctijeta. Pdn-
dtemd kdjje gdre, mindsd u fdndsd. Ard tilld-tmdli; ni
minddssdn. Ndsre kdjje ; gdrd Ciijeta, wisra dl wars erhdnd.
BesfRui-'hrd mmimus-diri u kU-kerdd dtustd, pdrddsis ; drd tihti
disdstd. Stirdd min hndnd, Idherdindis bdres. Mdrde dbuskd dl
bdkrd. Ndnde dl bdtmd sal, a ndnde mondk ; tirde dhdr saluskd
u kdrd. Sdbdhtdn gdrd boiom uydrtd ; ndndd dbsunkd bdkrdk, u
kerddsis bMdl kdkusdnki u kdre. Intd bo loan jdlawidk baruskd u
pdrtdldk u muzdk, u minde hdlisdn, rcmre. Gdre Pdnuik-uydrtd
u gdrfre min-hndna Guld-uydrtd.
We went to Egypt, I and my father and my mother. We returned from there.
My mother became sick there : she stayed three months and she was sick. My
father conveyed her to our place ; she died here. My father arose, wept over
her, and sent after my mother's people. He waited three days, and she was dead
with us. When her people came they rent (their) clothes, and wept ; we washed
her and they 'let clothe her' J in [grave] clothes. They rose from there, dug her a
grave, buried her. My father betook himself and returned to Egypt. On the way
men came, they seize him and beat him. The governor came ; he did not seize
them. The men tied : he went to Egypt, stayed two years there. He married his
uncle's daughter and he - prepared food for him, he took it ; he came to this placp.
He arose from there, his brethren saw him. They slaughtered for him two sheep.
They brought two roth 3 of rice and brought a loaf ; they put [it] under the rice and
he ate. In the morning my father went to the town ; he bought for them a sheep,
and prepared it in the place of what had been theirs, and they ate. My father
gave a cloak to his brother and a kambaz 4 and shoes 5 and they betook themselves
and departed. They went to Beirut and returned from there to Jaffa.
XII
Biddi jdm dmd kuridmintd. Ldhdm kei-'hra erhdnd ; Dome
ldgi§-kerdindi u fire ba'disdn, bdgire siriisdn. Huldd grewdrd,
ndndd tm&lidn. "Kdnd kildis?" "Ldgis-kerdd dhdk u dhdk."
Pdrddssdn tmdli. Hulda elJtdsta minjisdn ; btuisdn roiindi u
potrisdn bizdte roiindi. Minde hdlisdn, tirddssdn tmdli elhdsmd,
mdnde des dis elhdsmd. Minde hdlisdn; pdrdd greivdrd Star
zerd, u gdrd tmaliiskd td-derisdn. Nirdahra0 tmdli: mdngdri
kull-yikdkdski pihnj zerd. Gdrd grewdrd. Cirdd "Mdngdri tilld-
1 This archaism is the most concise rendering for the rare causative of k&rar that
I can think of.
2 i.e. the uncle. 3 A measure of weight between 5 and 6 lbs.
4 A garment reaching to the feet. 5 Lit. a shoe.
NURI STORIES 135
tmdli kull-mdniski pitnj zerd." Gdrd mdndd pitnj zerd kull-yikd.
Intendsdn tmalidska u koldre. Minde hdlesan, rawdhre d&sdsdntd
u gdrire.
I would go to our house. I see what happened there ; the Nawar are quarrelling
and have beaten one another, their heads have been broken. The sheikh went
down, brought soldiers. ' Who began it 1 ' ' That one and that disputed.' The
governor took them. He went down to prison with them ; their wives were weep-
ing and their poor children weeping. They betook themselves, the governor put
them in prison ; they remained ten days in prison. They betook themselves ; the
sheikh took four pounds and went to the governor to give them to him. The
governor would not have them : he demands from every one five pounds. The
sheikh went. He said ' The governor demands from every one five pounds.' Each
one went and left five pounds. They gave them to the governor and were loosed.
They betook themselves, went to their place, and returned.
XIII
Gdren min hnSn' td-ndnen bdlcri [sic]. N% Idherden. Pdrden
kdlie kdla Hurkdlanki. Gdriren minjisdn. Pdrde mnUman
kdjje des kali. Ferindmdn tdrdn dfang. Ndsren kdlidmmd
mdnde wdsman. Aren diika, fazd-kerden kdjjdn pacisan, nl
rasrensdn. Gdriren, ski-kerden diak mdtdsta. Cirde " Aminkd
mnUmdn ni-hrende°, he garibne." Gdren, ndnden tilld-tmalieski
tdrdn gordndeld. Minde hdlesdn, hauwil-ihrd, dedtd. Nadi-kerde
grewdrdn. "Ke kdlies ekdjjdnki ? " x "Ame n' hren° illi pdrdend-
sdn, he min tdni desdski, mils min desimintd." Pdrde grewdrdn
tmalie pdrindsan tilld-tmaliiskd. Mindd hdlos tilld-tmdli. "Ke
kdlies ikdjjdnki illi pdrdindsdn dedrdn ? " Cirde "Ame hrene°."
Cirdd tmdli "Atme hresi." Mindossdn, bdndossdn. Tirde tmali-
eskd wl zerd u ndAide disind kalian ; u kdlddsdn tmdli u sellim-
kerdossdn mirunkd kdliisdn. Ujdldd waHsan star tmdli.
Ldmmdn rdsnmtrddssan nimiska p&ndaski, minde hal&sdn,
rawdhre diisinta ; u minde hdlisdn, ndnde uydrtd kalian u
kundindsdn. Kull-maneska kuird bdwds, des zerd.
We went from here to get sheep. We saw none. We took black goats from
the Druzes. We returned with them. Men took from us ten goats. They fired
three times at us. We tied with the goats that remained to us. We came to the
village, made the men chase after them ; we did not find them. We returned, com-
plained to the people of the village. They said ' They do not belong to us, they are
strangers.' We went, we brought from the governor three horsemen. They betook
themselves, surrounded the village. They called the sheikhs. ' Where are the goats of
these men 1 ' ' We are not those who took them, they are from another place, not
1 Note in this sentence (i) the singular pronominal suffix referring to a plural
word, and (ii) the expression kajjd applied to Nawar.
136 NURI STORTES
from our place.' The soldiers took the sheikhs, and bring them to the governor.
The governor betook himself. ' Where are the goats of these men which your
village took;" Said they 'We are not (those who took them).' Said the
governor ' You are.1 lie took them, bound them. They paid the governor twenty
pounds and brought ten goafs ; and the governor loosed them and send their goats
to those men. He sent with them four soldiers. When he had conducted them to
half the way they 1 betook themselves and went to their village ; and they 2 betook
themselves and brought to the town the goats and sold them. To every one fell
his share, ten pounds.
XIV
A&te di bdre, yikdk mdfdlik, yikdk 'aklilik. Mufdld cirdd
hartiskd " Sti td-naucan aminka kdmdlc." Minde halesdn u gave.
Ldherde emixgdri, kdlieni minj. Ldherde gulek-kaki. Minde
hdlisan. Mlndossdn guli u sdkirdi, bdndi kdpia, ujdldi mufdlus
kaliinsan. Bdrus gdra wa§is. Cirda mufdld bartiskd " Ja, nan
aminka mond, u dma mdnydmi kdlienka!' Mindd hdlos u drd
bdrus guleka. Intusis mond u dnd. Ard wisrd dhdr sdzdrik.
Mindd hdlos mdfdld, kildd sdzretd. Cirda kdlienka, " Manas
bardmkd bdwos." N% mdnde 'buskdrd bdivos. Huldd absunkd,
mdrdossdn gis. Ard, bdros illi 'akili. "KSkd mardurdn kdlien ?
Kardsmdn guli ! Sti ta-ndstan." Minde hdlSsdn, ndsre. Ari
gfili, Idherdi kdlien mdrlrinde. Rvri, sdwut-kerdi ; unkul-ker-
dussan mugdriina u karossdm gis. Ard drdtdn mdfdld, kcmtirdd
cmdridn u ndsra. Rdwdhra disdstd mtifdld, u ndndd kdrak
dbuskd u hdmil-kerdos sandiik hdldwi, u minda hdlos, drd guleka
u sar kuneri hdldwi. Nirdahra0 kuneris ; gdl-kerdd " Hulci
sdnd'ikmd, kemd." Mindi hdlos, huldi minji sdndiikma. Bdnda
dtustd, u pdrdos kdrastd, u gdra. K6rdd dgi u tirdos manjeskd
dgik. Mindd hdlos u garira mfdgdretd, u pdrda kiydkan u
ze'rddn. Mindd hdlos, rdwdhra barusta. " Sndlirdom §41%,
mindom hdlbm, ndndom kiydkes u pies u hat drom dburkd ; u
mdrden kdliesi u mdrden guli ! "
There were two brothers, one a fool, one a sage. The foolish one said to his
brother, ' Rise, let us seek some work for ourselves.' They betook themselves and
went. They saw the cave, that there were goats in it. They saw [that it was] a
ghul's property. They betook themselves. The ghul took them and shut
[them up], she locked the door, she sent the fool with the goats. His brother
went with him. Said the fool to his brother, ' Go, bring for us bread and I will
stay with the goats.' His brother betook himself, and went to the ghul. She
gave him a loaf and an egg. He came and sat under a tree. The fool betook
himself, climbed up the tree. He said to the goats, 'Leave his share for my
1 The Villagers, - The Nawar,
NURI STORIES 137
brother.' They did not leave his share for him.1 He went down to them,
and killed them all. His brother who was wise came. ' Why didst thou
kill the goats ? The ghul will eat us ! 2 Eise, let us flee.' They betook
themselves and fled. The ghul came, and saw the goats killed. She wept and
screamed ; she carried them to the cave and ate them all. In the night the fool
came, stole the chickens and fled. The fool went to his village and got him a
donkey and loaded it with a box of kal&wi 3 and betook himself, he came to the
ghul and began to sell kal&wi. He would not sell it ; he said, ' Go down in
the box, eat.' She betook herself, and went down with him into the box. He
shut [it] upon her, and took her on the donkey and went. He made a fire and put
her in the middle of the fire.4 He betook himself and returned to the cave, and
took the thing's and the gold. He betook himself and went to his brother. ' I
have burnt the ghul, I betook myself, I took her things and her money, and here I
have come to thee ; and we have slaughtered her goats and slain the ghul ! '
XV
Amd mtnddm hdlom, gdrom bolomkd. Gdrom ta-ldhom ivd£is
pie. Nl-t6sim. Gdrirom, pdrdom balom u gdrom. Gdrom
mdlimumkd. Cirdom, " Mcmmu, nihe0 ivasir pie? Pdrdn
dminkd kdrdk u jan wdsfr lidesdstd. Jan waMr ivesani."
Intdsmdn dl zerd u gdren wdsi. Pdrden kdrdk, tirden kiydkdn
dtustd %i gdren ivdsis, winni bolom rdsrdsmdn. Ldgis-kerdd
miPamumsdn. "Kikdtd 'ntes pie potrom ? Injare0 ivasir." Intos
bolom dii zerdan mmtmiimka. Mindd holds ; 'dwddren botom-
sd[n]. Ddtlom rori. Minden hdUmdn. Rcmrden uycirtd dmd u
bolom, pdrdd 'minkd kiydki, pdrdd bdl'imke kiydki gind, u pdrdd
'minkdrd ziridtdnki kiydki. Minden hdlimdn u rdlirden.
Gdren boiomsan desdstd u drindmdn min desdski u hldlcrden
deimdmmd.
I betook myself, I went to my father. I went to see money with him
[if he had any money]. He gave me none. I returned, took my wife, and went.
I went to my uncle. I said, ' Uncle, hast thou no money ? We will take us a
donkey and we will go with thee to yonder place. We will go to stay with thee.'
He gave us two pounds and we went with him. We took a donkey, put the
things on it, and went with him, but my father followed us. He quarrelled with
my uncle. ' Why did you give money to my son ? He will not go with thee.'
My father gave two pounds to my uncle. He betook himself ; we returned with
my father. My mother 5 wept. We betook ourselves. We departed to the city
1 As the longer version of this tale explains, the fool threw locust-pods from the
tree to the goats, which the latter ate.
2 Lit. 'has eaten us' : This is an Arabic construction, whereby the preterite is
used for a future event which is certain to occur.
3 A favourite sweetmeat.
4 Note that burning is the orthodox treatment to mete out to ghiils. This detail
of folk-lore recurs several times in the course of the stories. Note also the enormous
appetites of these creatures. 5 Read perhaps baiom, ' my wife.'
138 NURI STORIES
I and my father, he got something for ourselves, got something else for my wife,
and got something for our1 children. We betook ourselves and departed. We
went with my father to his place, and we come from his place and pitched in
our town.
XVI
Are mmcmilm-pitre unkiim. Mdrdom dbsunkd kdlidk u
kencmrdumsdn, u sit1 unkiim, d% drat. Pdrdendim tudSisdn
dlrl-desdstd. Rmtren di drdt. Pdndasmd sdbdhtd rcmren li
'd-doher.2 Mindendmdn kdjjeni3 pdndasmd. Pdrde mniSman
pieman u ferendmdn u pdrde kiydkemdn. Bdgdrde siriimdn.
Minden Udlemdn, wdzdren. Htirden min hnon'. Ldherden
kidreni 4 pdndasmd koldendi goreni* Tnubren dtsuntd. " Ekaj-
jeni pdrde kiydkemdn u pieman : rdstdssdn." Minde hdlisdn,
rdsrindsdn. Mlndendsdn. Ndnde kiydkdn u ndnde plen u
bdnde pdlesdn u gdrnalcrdendsdn. Nirdendsdn grewdresdnkd.
" Atu, yd grewdrd, wdrt-kerdori drdn pdnddmmd ; mdrdnd
mdtdn u pdrdndi kiydkesdn ; winni hib-kerensdn u ndndnsdn
tmalie'skd erhond." Tmalieskd pdrdussdn Mara, nirddssdn tilla-
tmalieskd, bdnddssdn u ndndd grewdresdnkd des haiydl, u
ndndesdn kdtdfne pdndasmd, u tlrdendsdn inhirikdldsmd. U
stirde deikmat pdrde dl sd~i zerd ; nlrdahra0 tmdli pdrossdn, gear
tdrdn sd~% zerd. Gdre, ndnde tdrdn sal zerd u koldre. U mdrde
fesiki kdjjdn illi windirde pdnddstd, u Mldh-kerde kdjjdn. U
tdwdbre Skdmdstd.
My uncle's sons came to me. I slaughtered for them a goat and fed them, and
they slept with me two nights. They took me with them to a distant place. We
departed two nights. On the road we walked from morning till noon. Gentiles
seized us on the road. They took from us our money and beat us and took our
things. They broke our heads. We betook ourselves, we fled. We rose from
there. We saw bedawin on the road riding mares. We put ourselves under their
protection. ' Those men took our things and our money : follow them.' They
betook themselves and followed them. They seized them. They took the things
and took the money and bound their arms and made them return. They conducted
them to their sheikhs. ' Thou, 0 sheikh, hast set loose these men on the roads ;
they kill people and take their things ; and we have prevented them and we will
bring them to the nnnJlr there.' The bedawin took them to the mudlr ■ he sent
1 Noteworthy here is the exceptional use of the directive case of the personal
pronoun to serve as a possessive.
2 The prefixed 'd is the Arabic article el, assimilated to the following initial
consonant according to rule.
3 An example of the predicative sutfix used as the plural termination in the
nominative.
4 Ditto, in the accusative.
NURI STORIES 139
them to the governor, he bound them and sent to their sheikhs ten horsemen and
they brought them bound on the road, and put them in the condemned cell. And
the people of the village arose, and took two hundred pounds ; the governor would
not take them, only three hundred pounds. They went, brought three hundred
pounds and they were loosened. And they killed the men who were standing
on the road with blows ' and stripped the men. And they ceased from that work.
* XVII
Zdresk wdlos dirgek hot. Koldd kdrdstd. Ningrd kdr min
dluir sdzdriki. 'Alldlrd zdres ivdl sdzdremd. Zdro mdndd mu-
'dlldka u kdr gdrd.
The boy's hair was too long. He rode a donkey. The donkey entered
under a tree. The boy's hair hung in the tree. The boy remained hung and
the donkey _went.2
XVIII
Are unMimdn kdjj&ni tdrdnesne. Mdrden dbsunkd kdlidk.
Kdre, pire, u sdbdhtdn ndnden dbsunkd fees. Minde hdlesdn, gdre
uydrtd. Kcmtirdindi kldrdnki di kdr u gdridk. Minde hdlesdn,
ndldnde dtsuntd scmiisdn. Ar' unkiimdn. Cirde dminkd kldre
"Ni Idherdes dminkd ididnd kdrdn tv' egtirid? Derini d% zerd.
Ldherdessdn kom pdrddssdn?" Ante jdnden tdrdni kdjje illi
'dnkiim.anni sitendi, n% pdrde kdrdn u gorid gair pdnjdn.
Cirden kldrdntd "Ndnds diy&ni zerddn tdn-diknuTardn kunik illi
pdrddssdn." Ndnde diyeni zirdan kldre u tirdendsdn midas-
hdstdsmd, bdiumki. Stirdd biridm ; nlrdossdn timet u tfis, u
gdren ndiiren tdrdni kdjjdntd, u niintmrdinsdn kldrdnka.
Stirde kldre, mindindsdn. " Ndnas did kdrimdn u goriosmdn."
Cirde dbsunkd tdrdni kdjje " Ndnas tdrdn zerd td-ndndnsdn
dbrdnkd." Tindsdn tdrdni zerddn kldre u gdre, ndnde did kdrdn
u gorid. Minde hdlesdn kldre, fere kdjjdn, u pdrde mnescan
tdrdni zdrddn. " Atme " cirde " kdldasi kdrimdn u ptirasi
goriomdn, u pdras mnismdn tdrdn zerd gind ? Tivas tdrdni
zerddn ! " Pdrde kldrd tdrdni zirddn u kdrSsan, u minde hdlesdn
u rdivdhre kuriisdnta.
There came three men to us. We slaughtered for them a goat. They ate,
drank, and in the morning we set food before them. They betook themselves
and went to the city. They steal from the bedawin two donkeys and a mare.
Their masters betook themselves, and search for them. They CMme to us. The
1 i.e. beat them severely.
- An adaptation of the story of Absalom which I propounded for translation in
order to get some words I wished to learn.
140 NURI STORIES
bedawin said to us ' Have you not seen those two donkeys and that mare of ours?
We will give two pounds. Have you seen the people who took them V We know
that the three men who slept with us— no one but they took the donkeys and the
mare. We said to the bedawin, ' Bring the two pounds that we may show who it is
that took them.' The bedawin brought two pounds, and they put them in the hand
of the old man my father. My father arose ; I and he conducted them, and we
went, we sought for the three men and caused the bedawin to take them. The
bedawin arosej took them. ' Give our two donkeys and our mare.' Said the three
men to them ' Give three pounds that we may give you them.' The Arabs gave
the three pounds, and they went and brought the two donkeys and the mare.
The Arabs betook themselves, beat the men, and took from them the three pounds.
1 You,' they said, ' have stolen our donkeys and taken our mare, and you take from
us three pounds beside ? Pay the three pounds ! ' The Arabs took the three pounds
and their donkeys and betook themselves and departed to their tents.
XIX
Ar nnkiimdn kajjiini. Wisre Unkiimdn. Cinde sales
kwiiminki. LdgU-kerden w&sscin. Feri yikdk mnisman.
Bdgiri sirius. Gdrd tilld-tmalieskd grewa/rdman. "Konuski ithU
Idyls?" cirdd tilld-tmdli grewdrvmdnkd. Grewdrdmdn kal
" Jilrini bddisdmmd, bdgirde sirios bdiiminki." Cirdd tilld-
tmdli, "Hejurini! Ariiri kdddmkd dmdkd Skiak jurdmma ? Ehe
jurini, uhliisindi badisdmmd, u din ka k'rek ha kdmdsmd ?
Ahdk kam, kamtir inhe°. Atu mln hdliir, u ja ktirnirta." Siten
drdtos. Ard ptiiisdn kdjjidnki, kautirde kahryiman u kdremdn,
xi fere ndmimdnki d% nclrnd. Uktendsdn. Rdsrinscm name,
mindinsdm, nirdensdn kujjdn tilld-tmalieskd. Cirdd tilla-tmdli
"Kei kerdend minjirdnV "Arindemdn drdtdn, fere dl ndrnd
mnisman u kijurendi." " Jas, ndndssdn l&hamsa/n dia° ndrndn
illi ktiirendi." Gdre ndnde ndrnen, u Idherdossdn tilld-tmdli,
u Idherdd fiirindi bol. Mindd hdlos tilld-tmdli, mimdd kdjjdn u
tlrddssdn eUidsmd, bdndossdn bdninnesmd u cindd dtsunta wis
wars. Dii ziridti illi fiirindi, yikdk mra u yikdk gdrdd mdndd.
Pdrden mdrdndis u gdren uktenis paubcLginyitd. Minden
hdlemdn, stdldinis, dcmrdinis u ndndd1 dbuskdrd, kiydki, u
tirda1 atusta u kdldd1 mdlkddd u mdldenis. Minden hdlimdn,
rawdhren kuriimintd ; kdjja illi mdrdd ndndek nlm sal zerd,
tirddssdn greivdrumdn hdstdsmd. Grewdrdmdn cirda dbuskd " Ja,
nan gind des zerd u dru." Mdrde dl kdli u nan[de] das batman
sdl u dru, u ni lira0 kiydk.
There came women to us. They stayed with us. They cut the ropes of our
1 These three verbs should probably be in the first person plural, but the
narrator used the third singular by some slip of the tongue.
NURI STORIES 141
tents. We quarrelled with them. One [woman] of us was struck. Her head was
broken. Our sheikh went to the governor. ' Whence was that quarrel V said the
governor to our sheikh. Our sheikh said 'It was the women one with another,
the heads of our wives were broken.' Said the governor, ' They are women !
Hast thou come to bring before me a quarrel - among women '! They are women,
they will make peace together, and thou, what hast thou to do v ith that business ?
That business is no business of thine. Betake thyself, thou, and go to thy tent.'
We slept that night. There came the husbands of the women, and stole our
cooking-pots and donkeys, and struck of our people two men. They knocked
them down. We men followed them, took them, conducted the Gentiles ' to the
governor. Said the governor, ' What did they do to you ? ' ' They came to us by
night, beat two men of ours, and they are lying prostrate.' 'Go, bring them, let
me see the two men who are lying prostrate.' They went and brought the men,
and the governor saw them, and he saw that they were badly wounded [lit. much
struck]. The governor betook himself, took the men and put them in prison
bound them in bonds and condemned them to twenty years. The two youths who
were struck, one died and one survived [lit. remained good]. We took the dead one
and went and laid him down in the courthouse. We betook ourselves, bore him,
washed him, and got [grave] clothes for him and put them on him and dug a grave
and buried him. We betook ourselves, and went to our tents ; the man who slew,
bringing fifty pounds, put them in the hand of our sheikh. Our sheikh said to
him, ' Go, bring other ten pounds, and come.' They slaughtered two goats and set
ten roth of rice and came, and nothing [more] happened.
XX
Odren kdhasta. Ldherden Domini hnona. Wesren unkiisdn.
Piren kirwi u tirde dhariman drdtdn u atn&man dl cars. Siten
Unldisan. Sdbdhtdn pdnjan rdlcrde, u dme mdnden erhona.
Ardtan ndnden kdre' kdjjdnka, hot kdnild hull kar. Kdlden
ardtan, rdsren kurian nim-arat. Ldherden nimos Domdnki
sitinde, nimosan wesrinde. Ldherden tilld - manus wisrek.
Kerdd dminkd kirwi u guldi. Piren. W&sren cindk winni dis
kildd ; stirden, siten.
We went to the mosque. We saw that there were Nawar there. We sat with
them. We drank coffee and they spread under us by night, and over us, two
coverlets. We slept with them. In the morning they departed and we stayed
there. By night we fetched donkeys for the ' Gentiles ' [for] seven piastres each
donkey.2 We mounted by night, found the tents at? midnight. We saw half the
Nawar asleep and half sitting up. We saw the sheikh sitting. He made coffee,
bitter and sweet, for us. We drank. We sat a little and the day rose ; we rose
up and went to lie down [lit. we rose, we slept].
XXI
Stirde min hnon dliwal hujoti, ningrindi min hnona
1 Note the distinction of name for ' men of the Nawar ' and kajje for ' Gentiles.'
2 i.e. acted as donkey-drivers for hire.
I 42 NURI STORIES
pdnddisTnd Domini w&zrSTidi Hdurdmlttf,. Girdd aminka kdjjdk
" Ldherdom Domini p&nd&smd wdzrinde, nl ar wnkiiran ? "
Cirden dme°, " nl'r wnkiiman." Stirde min hnon, hulde, site
Rili yd\t&\ min Rlhydiki site Sriydti ; stirde klarini, kilde
dtsiintd, fertndscm u pdrde kiyakis&n u pdrde kdrisdn, u nl
mdndd wi&san wdld kiydlcdk. Jdndi tmdlie, are dtsiintd,;
sdbdhtdn ehe Ddmdn ndsrindi. Bdnde hdstisdn pdcisdn u
bdndindsdn goriind x n gdrmmrddssdn grewd,rdminka. " Ehe
Dome ndsrindi mnisir, yd grewdrd ? " Stirdd, min hnon grewd-
rdmdm, flrddssdn elhdsmd,. Mindd hdlos u mdnddssdn u tirdd,
kull-mdnhum mniscdn zerda zerdd. Pdnjdn dasisni, tirde das
zerd. Grewdrd intd tmaliiskd pun] is, u pdnji pdrda pdnjis u
koldre.
Nawar arose from there the day before yesterday, they enter on the road from
there, they escape to the Hsuiran. A Gentile said to us ' I saw Nawar fleeing
on the road, did they not come to you ? ' We said ' they did not come to us.'
They arose from there, went down, slept at Jericho, from Jericho they slept at the
Jordan. Bedawin arose, fell on them, beat them, and took their things and took
their asses and not a thing remained with them. Soldiers go, they came to them ;
in the morning those Nawar fled. They bound their hands behind them, and
bound them on mares, and made them return to our sheikh. ' Are these fleeing
Nawar from you, 0 Sheikh ? ' Our sheikh rose from there, he put them in prison.
He betook himself and left them, and every one of them paid a pound apiece.
They were ten men, they paid ten pounds. The sheikh gave five to the soldier and
he took five, and they were loosened.
XXII
Are U/nkiimam Domini, grewdrini. Grewdrdmdn mdrd'
dbsitnkdrd tdrdn bdkrd u ndndd nlm hifdj sal, nlm kdmdwi gir,
u kerd' dbsunkd, u hire u pire ; u ndndd sdbdhtdn kinuid. Dome
iiningdrde Idcid bescnti-kerdnis dbsunkdrd. Stirdd, min hnon
bolus Idcidk, mdngdrda minjiis nlm sdi zerd, u dl zerd
m<nimuskd, u zdrddk haluskd, u star zerd kes ; ehe tirde gis ijJiu
kdmas u pdrdindis. Mind.e hdlisdn rdiirde. Gdren wdscdn
IVrm?il:-v ydrtd. Wisren ivdsisdn dl wars. Ehe Dome nl mdn-
gerdindmdn. KmUlrdin Idcid, u dren minjis Till-uydrtd Erhind.
Are pdcimdn. Ncrddj gr&wardmd u, tirddssdn elhdsmd u bdndos-
sa/n. Wdrt-kerdd Idcia. Pdrde min nlm sou zerdonki,2 des zerd
u gdrd. Wdrt-kerde Idcid,. Mlnde hdldsdn, rdwdhre disdsantd.
1 Probably an error for goriemma.
- An exceptional use of the plural after a numeral.
NURI STORIES 143
There came to us Nawar, who were sheikhs. Our sheikh slaughtered for them
three sheep and brought half a basket of rice, half a jar of butter, and prepared for
them and they ate and drank ; and he brought coffee in the morning. The Nawar
wanted a girl whom we should marry to them. The father of the girl arose from
there, and wanted for her fifty pounds, and two pounds for her paternal uncle and
a pound for her maternal uncle, and four pounds [worth of] food : those paid all
that amount [lit. business] and they took her. They betook themselves and
departed. We went with them to Beirut. We stayed with them two years. Those
Nawar did not like us. We stole the girl and came with her to Jerusalem. They
came behind us. Our sheikh arose, put them in irons and bound them. He
loosened the girl. They took from the fifty pounds ten pounds and went. They
freed the girl. They betook themselves, and went to their own place.
XXIII
Gdrom miii hnen'. Ldgis-kerdom dmd u bdlom. Mindom
hdlom, gdrom uydrtd, ndndom pie, tdmtis. Gdrom uhu detd
kdrSmdn td-ndnamsdn. Kautirend. Gdrom pdcisdn, Idherdom
pdrddssanni dosdrdk, u gdrik minjisdn. Gdrirom kuridmintd,
pdrdom tdrdn ndrnd, u gdrd. Rdsrdmus, Idherdom dlr-ihrdj
dosdrd. Mlndenis, gammer dinis deik mdtdskd. Ldherddssdn
[read -dsis] grewdrd. Pdrdd mnisi dfdngils, u pdrdosis. Bdndd
kolis, iktdsdn pads, u tirdd pewindi pauSsmd. Sdbdhtdn
pdrdosis, gdrd minjl tmaliestd. Cirdd " Uhu dosdrd kcmtinnik,
yd tmdli." Cirdd, tmdli "Kei kcmtirdd ? " Cirda grewdrd
" KiMiMrdd kdres Domdnki ; mdndendsdn min nlmiski pdnddski
u ndndindis dmdkdrd, u dmd ndndomis dburkdrd yd tilld-tmdli,
wa dtu, keka kdrik minjis ? Hdtitd ben hdstirki, mitl-md kdrik
inker." Ogrewdrd cirda " dmd ha gdromi." U tmdli tirda
dosdrds elhdsmd u mdnddsis.
I went from here. I and my wife cpiarrelled. I betook myself, went to the
city, brought money, gave it her. I went to yonder village to bring our asses.
They were stolen. I went after them, saw that a negro had taken them and
gone with them. I returned to our tents, took three men, and went. I followed
him, saw that the negro had gone far. We took him, caused him to return to the
people of the village. The sheikh saw him. He took the gun from him and took
him. He bound his arms, tied them behind him, and put a shackle on his feet.
In the morning he took him, went with him to the governor. He said ' This negro
is a thief, O governor.' Said the governor ' What has he stolen ? ' Said the sheikh
' He has stolen the donkeys of the Nawar ; they took him half way and brought
him to me and I have brought him to thee, 0 governor, and thou, what wilt thou
do with him I Here he is between thy hands, as thou wilt do, do.' Said the
sheikh, ' I have come here.' And the governor put the negro in prison and left
him there.
XXIV
Gdrd grewdrdmdn ddesdstd, td-ndndr Ddmdn. Mindd hdlos
pdnjl, kcmmis gdrd, ivasiis niminde ; des narnSk koldende
144 NURI STORIES
kdr&ntd. Gd/rtiL uydrtd ta-ldhdndsdn. Ni-ldherdindsdn. Hulde
min hndnd ddeyintd ta-ld[ha]ndsdn. Kildd pactsdn des kdjjek 1
u punj td-mdrdndsdn pdnddsmd. Raure wdsisdn Jcdjje. Stirde
min hndnd. Kildi pdnddsmd uhu2 sap. Kdjje ndsre u Dome
ndsre. Htirde min hndnd. Kdjje leyikd-lcerde " Ingdl-kerna°
wdsirdn yd ehe Ddme, dime jas min hn&nd w'dme jdni min hrena."
Dome ndsre, rdure min hnina mUwdrak mitl Gnld-uydrik. Site
Domdnkd, laherdensan. " Atme yd Ddme kekd nasrisi ? " " Ame
gdren mdridni pdnddsmd, u dme nduani dtrdntd ; gair kull-yikd
tare das punj imhila tmalihkd." Tlrde das punj imhila grewd-
rdskdra u pdrddssdn. Rdwdhra minjisdn. Tirdd nlmdsan
tmalieskd u nlmdsan abuskdra.
Our sheikh went to yonder place to fetch the Nawar. He betook himself, his
people went behind him seeking ; they were ten men, riding donkeys. He went
to the city to see them. He did not see them. He descended from there to
yonder cities to see them. Fifteen Gentiles arose behind them to kill them on
the road. The Gentiles went with them. They arose from there. A snake
rose up in that road. The Gentiles fled, and the Nawar fled. They arose from
there. The men swore ' We will not speak to you, 0 ye Nawar, you go from here
and we will go from here [i.e. you go this way and we will go that].' The
Nawar fled, went from here, a journey like [the same length as] from Jaffa [to
here in Jerusalem]. They slept with the Nawar [i.e. in our encampment] : we
saw them. ' You, 0 Nawar, why do you flee 1 ' ' We were going to be killed on
the way, and we seek for you ; each one must give fifteen majidis 3 to the
governor.' They gave fifteen majidis to the sheikh and he took them. He went
with them. He gave half of them to the governor and half to himself.4
XXV
Aren HdMldta td-hadrdcan \tidas erhdnd. Siten tdrdn drat
minjls. Minden hdleman, gdren ta-pdrdn bdkrak. Pdrden
bdkrdk u mardinis drdtos. Stirden min hndnd. KSS-kerden u
mdndd fees kdhryimd—u kdhri kdjjdnkdki: mindinis ta-kSs-
kerdn minjis. Ardtdn kdutiri u gdri kesismd. Sdbdhtdn ndure
dtiistd daiom u boiom — ni-ldherd&ndis kdhrimdnus? Ktmtirik.
1 The use of the predicative suffix is here quite irregular.
2 It is rare for the demonstrative to follow the substantive, as here.
3 A Turkish dollar, worth in Jerusalem 2.3 piastres (about 3s. 4d.).
4 The meaning of this confused story seems to be that the governor had
demanded seven and a half dollars per head as an extortion from the sheikh of the
Nawar : the sheikh went to look for his people, who were wandering about, and
did not find them where he expected them. The matter of the Gentiles and the
snake was an irrelevant wayside incident. Ultimately he found his people, and
communicated to them the governor's message, with the slight modification that he
doubled the extortion and pocketed the difference.
' It is unusual to find a word with the pronominal suffixes declined other than
as a neuter substantive.
NURI STORIES 145
Inte stavieska nim zerd kdhrydki. Nduren atusta, kahryetd ; auari
Star dis, wa dme naudni atusta. Ldgis-kerde boiom u Ddme sciua.
" Atme saknaurdes amdtd td-gdri kdhryos kdjjdski : gair jam
tilld-tmalieskd ndndmis abrdnkdrd, dtme sdkndlvrdes dmdtd."
» ■a
Gdrd boiom tilld-tmalieskd, ndnddsis Ddmdnkd, kal "Atme yd
Ddme sakndurdisa kdlttis edomdstd." Lekd-kerde Ddme "Ame°ni-
sakiuttirde0 " Ara sd/hMska kdhrydk ; kdjjd intds boiom nlm zerd
u star kicild.
We came to Hebron to be present at the feast there. We slept three nights
in it. We betook ourselves, we went to take a sheep. We took a sheep and
slaughtered it that night. We rose from there. We prepared food, and the food
remained in the cooking-pot ; and the cooking-pot belonged to Gentiles : we
took it in order to prepare food in it. By night it was stolen and went with its
food. In the morning my mother and my father searched for it — they did not
find our cooking-pot. It was stolen. They had given its owner half a pound for
the cooking-pot. We searched for it, for the cooking-pot ; it was gone four days,
and we were searching for it. My father and the Nawar quarrelled together.
' You have ^iven assistance against me,1 so that the cooking-pot of the Gentile
is gone ; [nothing will satisfy me] but I will go to the governor and bring him
to you ; you have given assistance against me.' My father went to the governor,
brought him to the Nawar, he said ' You, 0 Nawar, have helped a thief against
that Nuri.' The Nawar swore ' We have given no assistance.' He came to the
owner of the pot ; my father gave the Gentile half a pound and four beshliks.2
XXVI
Gdren min hndna, pdrden kaliini u gdren, mind[en]sdn
Cujetd. Min Cnjdki pdnddsmd tdtik bdli, rdmli pdnddsmd:
kalian nimos mre pdndasma. Stirden min hndna, nl Idherden
pdni. Rauren min disimdnki Ciijaka, dtidri das pilnj dis, ta-
rdsren hrdna: minden hdUmdn, kvunden kalian u gariren
desimintd. Bdgiren kdliimmd. SitAii&s kdlianki pdrde yUsdn bi-
td.mdm, u gdre. Kullmdndska kvkrd wUman tdrdn zerd tdran
zerd. Pdrden kdre, ivis kdr, u gdren Cujetd. Rdsren erHdnd,
voesren (Ridri nim sal, drat Cujima u gdren min hndna gtirbdstd
disdstd, kunden bakfyos kdrdnki, rawdhre waHman dlidri, tdran
sdi zerd. U kdlden pdnidk-dengizmd. Minden hdlimdn, rawdh-
ren kuriamintd. Stirdd min hndnd kullmanhum, pdrdd
bdwos. Mistd-hren pdnyiski ndesaski. Diyis mne&mdn mre.
Tdlydsman mUt&ni, mdndd kull-mdnhum dl mas, u pdnjl mUtSk.
Gdrdd-hren, gdren liTill-uydrld u dren. Pdrdd kullmanhum
tdran siri gdrini. Di <mdek wasman. Mre pdndasma; dren
1 i.e. have helped thieves who have stolen from me.
2 A coin worth three piastres.
VOL. III. — NO. II. K
Ill, NURI STORIES
didkdkd td-molSnsdn. Ni-mdndendmdn. Gdren tdni deta, nl-
mdndendmdn. Cirden bademdntd " 'nhore0 gair mole[n]sdn
deimma halematassan." Knlden abs&nka mdlkdda' hdlimd,
moldSnsdn. Ard drdtan ktmtdr, kolda dtsdntd mdlkdddn, pdrda
diy&n duddn u gdra minjisdn. Rdsrensdn td-rdstdnsdm, pdrdos-
sdnni /yn/ih'ir u gdrik ; ni-ldJierdinis. Ndndinsdn, rawdhren
disimintd, wd-dmmd dren.
We went from there, we took goats and went, we took them to Egypt. From
Egypt on the road there was great heat, and sand on the road : half the goats
died on the way. We rose from there, we did not see water. We went from our
place to Egypt, a journey of fifteen days, till we reached there : we betook our-
selves, sold the goats and returned to our place. We lost [lit. broke] on the
goats. The owners of the goats took their money to the full, and went. To
every one of us there fell three pounds apiece. We bought donkeys, twenty
donkeys, and went to Egypt. We arrived there, we stayed a space of fifty
nights in Egypt, and we went thence to a place in the west. We sold the
rest of the donkeys that went the journey with us for three hundred pounds.
And we embarked on a ship. We betook ourselves and went to our tents. Each
of us rose from there, and took bis share. We were sick from the water of that
place. Two of us died. The rest of us were sick, each one of us stayed two
months, and he was sick. We recovered, we went to Jerusalem [or Damascus],
and we came. Each one took three mares. There were two old men with us.
They died on the road ; we came to a village to bury them. They did not permit
us. We went to another village, they did not permit us. We said one to the
other ' It is only possible to bury them in some place in the wilderness.' ' We
dug for them a grave in the wilderness, we buried them. By night there came
a hyaena, dug the graves upon them, took the two old men and went away with
them. We followed to reach them, the hyaena had taken them and gone : we did
not see it. We brought them, went to our place, and came.
XXVII
Gdren ju/mdtd td-mdjfumndn. Pdnddsmd kidre. Koldeni
ddwaidntd. Cinde rdhlus dawdlaki pdndcismd, u pdrde mnesmdn
das punj zerd u fere ondnsds sibriydk, u ferindis di dfang.
Yikdk dra pawiismd u yilcdk dra kolusmd ; winni ferdsis ciria
ben pdlesJci. Ndsre kidre, mdnus kiVirik. Gdrfren abuska,
laherdinis kuirik. Stdldenis ddwaita hidmci rdsrd Tilla-jdmi'
td-mdjfrimndr. Sita ardtiyos. Sabdhtdn mra. TirdSnis
/■ ilidsmd ,• uhto zdro Mi ivdsiis pdrda, ddwai u kolddsis u gdrfra
Mdbhm&lsan. Mlndd hdlos, rdwdhra ahlista. Cirde abuska " Ka
mdnus Mi gdra wasiir ?" Cirda dbsdnka inni mdrlrd pdnddstd
" u Staldinis ; gdrdik ,• bad ma rdsra hmas sita drdtos. Sabdhtdn
mra. Dmiardomis u ndndom dbus kiydki u moldomis."
We went to the Mosque [i.e. to Mecca] to pray. On the road [were] bedawin.
1 Lit. : in villages with the people of the wilderness.
NURI STORIES 147
We were riding camels. They cut the trappings 'of a camel on the way, and
took from us fifteen pounds, and struck a man with a dagger, and fired two shots
at him. One came in his foot and one came in his arm ; and [some one] struck him
with a knife between his shoulders. Tlie bedawin ran off : the man had fallen. We
returned to him, saw that he had fallen. We put him on a camel till he reached
Mecca to pray. He slept the night. In the morning he died. We put him in
the mosque : that boy who was with him took the camel and rode it and returned
with the Mafym&U He betook himself, went to his people. They said to him,
' Where is the man who went with thee ? ' He said to them that he died on the
road, ' and we lifted him : he was alive ; after he reached Mecca he slept the
night. In the morning he died. I washed him and got for him [gravejclothes
and buried him.' ,,
XXVIII
Hujdti dre Domini unkiimdn dlsd ; mdngerde lucid, greivdrds
diri. Girdd bdlos " Td-pcmdnd bares ; bdres kdm-kerende. Ardt
UAidndi bdres ; cmas, mdnsas." Mangerdendis : Urdu, minjis des
u star zerd. Kdl mi& nihra0 bows, mdngdri wl zerd. KSi cirda
Mi mdngerdos ? "Kiinek mama 2 ukc&man (a-sdn dl zerd. Hddi
dldnd zerdan, pdrzsdn ; Hire wi zerd." Tendis abuskdrd u pdrdd
plen bedl.os Idcidki u tdssan ddiisha. Stirdi ddlos, inti nimosdn
boluska u nimosdn dd~iiiska. Gdrd min hndnd, pardd Idcid poios
u gdrd minji Cujdk-disdsta, u ddkos rdri dirlsta. Cirdi " Kon
jdri wdHim ? " Ama cdmi " Jam wdsiir." Intdsim tdrdn zerd
biddl rdAiMmki, u minden hdleman u gdren. Ldherdensdn
deakama Ciijak-desasmd. Mar den polos u kdiitirden Idcid u
dren. Kdlden dengizmd - pdnwbhdhmd taraneman. Minden
hdleman, rawdhren kiirieminta. Fere Idcia boios dl tdrdn
Iduri. Cirda abiiska " Kekd jak wasls?" Cirde abUs "Ksdlddsim
u ndsrd minjlm. Gdrd Cujeta, mdrddsam feiiki pdnddstd."
Now the Nawar came to us yesterday ; they wanted a girl, the sheikh's
daughter. Said her father '[Wait] till her brothers come: her brothers are at
work. At night her brothers will come : Come, [then, and] demand.' They
asked for her : they offered for her eighteen pounds. Her father said he did not
want it, he asked twenty pounds. What did he who asked for her say 1
' Father-in-law, you will sell our beard for two pounds ? 3 Here are two pounds,
take them : they have become twenty pounds.' He gave it to him and the girl's
father took the moneys and gave them to her mother. Her mother rose, gave
half of them to her father and half to her mother. The husband went from there,
took the girl and went with her to the land of Egypt, and her mother wept for
her daughter.4 She said 'Who will go with me V I said ' I will go with thee.'
1 The sacred carpet. 2 Note the rare vocative.
3 A sarcasm, I suppose, but the meaning is obscure.
* From this point onwards the narrator has gone off at a tangent into another
story.
I IS NURI STORIES
She gave me three pounds that 1 might go with her, and we betook ourselves and
went. We saw them in a village in the land of Egypt. We killed her husband,
and we stole the girl and came. We mounted a ship, we three. We betook our-
selves and departed to our tents. Her father struck the girl two or three [blows
of a] stick. He said to her, 'Why didst thou go with him?' She said to him,
' He dragged me and fled with me. He went to Egypt, killed ' me with blows on
the way.'
XXIX
Ari min hndn min nnkiimdn mdmydm, ujaldusim uyartd.
Tusim imltildk. "Hdna, ja, nan dminkd uydriki kes'-kerdn, b&kla
n mdsi u gir." Ndndom dbsdnkd mond. Mdndd wdsiim
imhildski star kanila. Cirdi dmdkd "Nan minjisdn kust min-San
hencmdn kesds, u liana, nan diana kanilemd di nugi kirwi u
nugiyak sakr, u min hdhir, dcms, garici fi-sa a, dmintd mihmane
wesrende carusta." Gdrom dmd fl-saa, u gdrirom.
My wife's mother came from there from among us ; she sent me to the town.
She gave me a majidi. ' Take, go, bring us from the town food-stuffs, beans and
meat and butter.' I brought to them a loaf. There remained with me from the
majidi four piastres. She said to me ' Bring for them firewood to cook the food,
and take, bring for two piastres two okiyes 2 of coffee and one okiye of sugar, and
betake thyself, hurry, return in an hour, we have guests, sitting on the bed.' I
went in an hour and returned.
(To be continued.)
1 See the similar expression in Ex. xvi.
2 A weight, roughly about half a pound.
REVIEWS 149
REVIEWS
Gitanos y Castellanos \ Diccionario | Gitano-EspaTwl \ y | Espanol-Gitano \
Modelos de conjugacidn de verbos auxiliares y regulares en cal6 | Cuentos
Gitanos y Castellanos | Historia de los gitanos desde su origen hasta nuestros
dias | por j Tineo Rebolledo | Barcelona | Casa Editorial Maucci | Mallorca,
166 | Buenos Aires | Maucci Hermanos | Cuyo, 1070 | 1909.
This is a reprint of a book published at Granada in 1900, under the title
' A Chipicalli ' (La lengua Gitana) etc., the only difference being that the
Cuentos y chascarrillos of the earlier edition have been replaced by some stories
which have not much to do with the Gypsies or their language. A ' History of
the Gypsies from their origin to our days,' which only fills some dozen pages, and
depends upon the authority of ' Ludolf, Richardson, Grellman, Marsden y otros
eruditos filsiologos,' must, I fear, be pronounced both antiquated and inadequate.
As to the Dictionary, it would appear from a comparison of the two books that
the author has worked upon the Vocabulario del Dialecto Jitano of Jimenez,
which he has practically incorporated in his own book. A column chosen at
random from the earlier work, and containing thirty words, has been found re-
produced in the later one with only the following variations : — Bale = cabello,
becomes Bal ; Flachoso = cenizoso, is replaced by Flachoy — ceniciento, while where
J. gives Cenidor — Yustique, Culebra (i.e. a belt), R. has Cenidor = Sustigui,
while translating yustique by cerca (enclosure), tapia (mud-wall). That R. is
right in omitting culebra, an obviously slang word, will appear from a reference
to the Romances de Germania of Juan Hidalgo, s.v. Senor Rebolledo has,
however, added much of his own, for not only have the 3000 words of the Spanish-
Gypsy vocabulary of Jimenez become 9000, but he has also given a Gypsy-Spanish
vocabulary which the earlier writer did not. I have noted one word with special
interest, because it goes to support the accuracy of Borrow. In chapter ix. of The
Bible in Spain Antonio talks of the jara canallis, and in the vocabulary at the
end of The Zincali Borrow gives ' Jaracaiiales, s. pi. Guards, officers of the
revenue : Guardas, carabineros.' In 1896 I failed to find any other authority for
this word, but Rebolledo gives ' Jaracambraro = Becaudador, fiel de puertasj i.e. a
custom-house official. It is difficult to appraise the value of this work, as no hint
is given of how it has been compiled, or what authorities have been consulted. It
may be added, however, that it agrees pretty closely with such specimens of the
Gitano tongue as are given in The Bible in Spain. H. W. Greene.
Zigeunererzahlungen und Volksdichtungen in Versen. Uebersetzt und eingeleitet
von Dr. Marcel Arpad. (Bibliothek der Gesamtliteratur des In- und
Auslandes, Nr. 2117), Halle a S., Otto Hendel [1909], xii + 84 pp.
This little book contains some old friends of students of Wlislocki's works,
though Dr. Arpad does not mention his predecessor. But there is much that is
new in it; and, though the folk-tales are a little disappointing, from their
shortness and their ephemeral character, that is compensated by the rather un-
usual number of .ballads as distinct from mere couplets. One of those ballads
(Der Tod als Buhle, p. 26) is identical with the folk-tale which Groome
thought the most suspicious of his collection. But unfortunately the confirma-
tion is no sure evidence of Gypsy origin, as Dr. Arpad admits Gypsy and
national songs have often been interchanged. This admission tends to make one
look with suspicion on some of the songs as too prettily conceived and too neatly
expressed ; for example, the Loblied on p. 64, which reminds one of Heine. But
there is such a thing as being over suspicious. ' Kummer ist der Seele Zahnweh,'
says one of the proverbs at the end of the book : and Heine too suffered from
'Zahnweh im Herzen,' and thought of curing it with a leaden stopping and
Berthold Schwarz's tooth-powder. Perhaps it is merely the like disease which
produces the like effect. E. 0. Winstedt.
L50 NOTES AND QUERIES
NOTES AND QUERIES
10. — Alessandro Giuseppe Spinelli
We regret to report that Cavaliere A. G. Spinelli died suddenly on September
10. lie was born at Modena on February 15, 1843, the son of the advocate
Nicola Spinelli, and of his wife, the Marchesa Eloisa Bellincini-Bagnesi. During
his university education he assisted in indexing Muratori's Berum Italicarum
Sci-iptores, and thereafter devoted himself specially to studies connected with that
great scholar, and particularly to collecting his letters, 4097 of which, including
both published and unpublished, he gave to the Marquis Matteo Campori for use
in the edition which he was preparing. Cavaliere Spinelli fought in the campaigns
of 1866 and 1870, and took an active part both in national and local politics.
But his life was that of a literary man, and, although he printed 'Frustra
Laboravi1 at the head of his note-paper, the bibliography of his publications,
including more than 300 titles, is eloquent evidence of his versatility and
industry. His writings deal with an immense variety of subjects, but generally
from an antiquarian, historical, or bibliographical point of view ; and he did im-
portant work in cataloguing, arranging, or indexing libraries and collections of
records, notably the library of the Ministry of Public Instruction, and the
archives of the Sola-Busca family in Milan.
His ' Gli Zingari nel Modenese ' is probably the most complete account ever
published of the Gypsy history of a district, and it is pleasant to record that he
took an almost boyish delight in watching its progress through the press, complain-
ing only that his infirmities made the correction of proofs difficult, and excusing
any errors that might escape by quoting Aldus Manutius' ' Stampa correcta opus
quasi divinum.' Pleasing also that he regarded the hospitality of our journal
almost as an international courtesy, and wrote, on the appearance of the July
number, 'Mi e giunto questa mane il vostro Giornale che onora la eultura
mondiale del vostro Paese. Io vi sono grato di avere ospitato in esso il mio povero
scritto, e di aver condotto la cosa in modo che non poteva essere piu cortesamente
grazioso.' In the same letter he wrote cheerfully that he took courage for the
coming winter ; but only three days later, on August 26, writing almost
impatiently about his tirages a part, he described himself as obsessed by the demon
of haste, and in constant fear that he would be struck down by apoplexy before
they arrived — a fear that was unhappily realized, for they reached Modena the day
after his death.
11. — Drab.
When a unique book fetches a high price at auction, it often ceases to be
unique. When the last possessor of a secret divulges his knowledge, a dozen
others appear who also knew it. And thus the publication of Mr. John Myers'
article 'Drab' has caused Gypsies to 'blow the gaff' in other districts besides
South Wales. The revelation of Cornelius Buckland to Mr. E. 0. Winstedt indi-
cated that mustard was the poison of his choice. ' You take the middle out of a
potato, insert your mustard, and chuck it into the sty. The pig mouths it — here
Cornelius stuck his head up and rolled his jaws with a slobbering sound to imitate
the beast — and, apparently, the job is done at once.' When Mr. T. W. Thompson
was dining with the Smiths at an inaccessible camp in Westmorland, Lulu, a boy
of seven years, seeing mustard on the table, recited in a loud, sing-song way, as
if he were saying something he had learned by heart : ' If you wants to mor a
hokenSi make a hole in a puvengri and fill it with mustard, and put it into the
NOTES AND QUERIES 151
pig's sty and the bdlo will eat it, and choke like that 'n.' — Whereupon he made a
horrible gurgling noise in his throat. Guest and hosts alike stared at the innocent
child ; but, — eloquent testimonial to the confidence which subsists between Mr.
Thompson and his Gypsies, — there was no awkward pause, and it was at once
explained that this method is used for both sheep and swine.
Mr. Thompson has also secured (whether honestly, I know not) an actual speci-
men of the mineral — galena — which some of his northern Gypsy friends obtained
in Durham and kept concealed in their van, and in the efficacy of which they
evidently believed. ' They broke off a piece of the drab about as big as your little
finger-nail, more or less ; then made a hole in a potato or piece of bread and con-
cealed the drab in it by covering it up with the stuff they had cut out. This was
given to the pig, and soon caused acute pain in the stomach. The pig ran up and
down, lay down and got up again, and did not know where to put itself. An hour
or two was sufficient to kill it. The flesh was quite good to eat as the poison only
affected the stomach.'
A description of the last act of the drama was given to Mr. Thompson by the
Shaws of Cambridgeshire : — ' Two or three days after, the monisms would go up
selling to the house, and they would ax the kind lady if she had an old miilo Jcani
to give them.
" No," she would say.
" Well, have you got a dead sheep or a dead pig, lady 1 " they would ax.
" We had a pig died a day or two since, but it died so sudden we think it must
have got something."
" Oh ! that doesn't matter, lady, if you would only give us it. We 've had many
a one like that, an' it never did us no harm."
"But we buried it day before yesterday."
" Well, we can dig it up again, lady."
" But it won't be fit to eat."
" Yes it will, lady, we likes them like th it."
'At last they would get the pig and the men would go and dig it up, and then
they would eat it.'
The taste for mitlo mas is far from extinct. It was Aaron Jakes (Aaron Shaw)
who christened the great Gypsy evangelist's father and grandfather ' the Igg-pig
Smiths ' on account of their fondness for food prepared in this way. Even the
great evangelist himself may still hanker secretly after the flesh-pots of Egypt, for
the craving is by no means confined to our older Gypsies.
But apparently it is only the veterans, and not all of them, who understand the
complete art of pig-poisoning. Mustard is evidently the recognised drab of the
Buckland pharmacopoeia, for, some thirty years ago, Plato Buckland recommended
Dr. Ranking to use it in an apple, and declared that the hog would choke itself
and die.1 But it is difficult to believe that so slow a poison as lead would produce the
required result in a reasonable time, and galena is quite insoluble in acids as dilute
as the gastric juice. Probably, as Mr. Myers suggests, most Gypsies know by
hearsay about the drab, the manner of its use, the localities of its occurrence, and
even the appearance of the ore with which barium carbonate is associated ; but
have not the all-important knowledge of how to identify barium carbonate
itself.
Complete certainty can only be reached by experiment. Will no member of
the Gypsy Lore Society prove his devotion to science by testing these claimants
1 According toLeland's ' Gudlo xxxix' (The English Gyjysies and their Language,
pp. 248-50) the toxicological action of kris(l) is different. 'Now, sir, you must
know that if you give a pig mustard in an apple, he can't cry out or squeal for his
life, and you can carry him away, or throw him on a waggon, and get away, and
nobody will know it.'
152 NOTES AND QUERIES
to pig-killing power on his own, or his neighbour's swine? Mr. Myers has set a
noble example by himself taking the risk of tasting a cake made according to
Mrs. Heme's recipe and reporting as follows : — ' In order to ascertain if a
poisonous quantity of water-spar might be administered in cake without detection
by the palate, a cake weighing two ounces and containing six grams of the poison
was made. With the exception of a very slight grittiness nothing abnormal was
noticed on subjecting a portion of the cake to mastication. To prove that the
mass was fairly homogeneous the barium in five grams was determined and showed
a total content of 4"86 grams of pure barium carbonate. It has been placed on
record that 3"8 grams proved fatal to an adult.'
From such experiments it will be well to omit the drastic method suggested by
Israel Smith, when bivouacking with Messrs. Thompson, Wellstood, and Winstedt
at Stratford this summer. He asserted that he should use an ounce of strychnine :
but, as his bruised and knotted hands showed, Israel was a man of action and
disposed to be summary in his execution. Moreover veracity was not a foible of
his, and perhaps he counted it sufficient to add the indisputable truth that the
same quantity would dispose of a horse. Certainly it is hard to believe that any
Gypsy, who happened by means best known to himself to come into possession of
such an unusual quantity of that unmarketable poison, ever wasted it on a pig :
and harder still to credit that a Gypsy not far from Stratford had made a mint of
money by drab'mg grain and selling the carcases.
Lest the reference to a German work for the use of a mysterious poison called
drei by the Gypsies should create a false impression that the word and the prac-
tice were ascribed to German Gypsies, it may perhaps be worth mentioning that
the original authority for both is apparently a letter to the Times (Feb. 21, 1862),
of which the relevant part will be found in Groome's Kriegspiel (p. 241). As there
stated, the letter was called forth by the prosecution of a Gypsy who was suspected
of an attempt at poisoning ; but Groome has altered the name of the gdji who was
accessory to the act. The case is odd and perhaps worth summarizing.
Selina Smith, a young Gypsy woman of twenty years of age, was accused of
obtaining money by false pretences from a lady named King, of Wandsworth, and
her servants ; but, though she was not definitely charged with it, the real grievance
against her was that she supplied the lady with a bottle of so-called poison to
dispose of her husband. Selina apparently called at the house, complimented the
servants on their lucky faces, told their fortunes, prophesying that they were going
to marry gentlemen, and, while so doing, got to hear that Mrs. King was not over-
devoted to her lord and master. One of the servants, who boasted of a set of
names which would have delighted a Gypsy, Priscilla Webber Jennings, admitted
having given Selina the straight tip to talk to her mistress about her unhappy
life with her husband. Armed with this tip, Selina tackled the lady and prophe-
sied that her husband would die in a month's time. The lady had doubts ; but
Selina persuaded her that if she would follow her advice it could be managed, and
within a year she would be happily married and have a child. Whereupon Mrs.
King sent her away with a two-shilling piece and an old dress, and a promise of a
pound if she would bring her "something that would do her good."
Selina repaired to her mother on Barnes Common, and returned in a day or
two with a powder, which with true Gypsy thrift she mixed in a bottle borrowed
from the servants. They supposed it was to kill their master at the end of the
month, but did their best to further that laudable object, and promised their
mistress not to tell anybody. Selina only asked ten shillings for her mixture, but
even that Mrs. King refused to pay until she had tried its efficacy, and after a
squabble Selina was hustled out. Outside she fell into the hands of the police
summoned by Mr. King, who had had his suspicions aroused by the poisoning of
two of his dogs, and had caught scraps of the mysterious conversation between
Selina and his wife.
NOTES AND QUERIES 153
Though she was not indicted for poisoning, the bottle of mixture naturally
came into the evidence, and at the first hearing Selina was remanded pending its
analysis. But about the analysis there was an unaccountable hitch. The Pro-
fessor at Guy's Hospital, to whom the stuff was sent, struck for his money before
he analysed it ; the court said it was too much bother to apply to the proper
persons to authorize an analysis, and suggested that Mr. King should get a
' chymical friend ' to do it. Mr. King's chymical friend was slow and inefficient ;
and finally Mr. King appeared, saying that he had examined it himself, and come
to the sapient conclusion that a brown liquid was composed of chalk. That
strange conclusion and Selina's repeated offers to drink the bottleful satisfied all
parties, and the poisoning element was allowed to drop.
An attempt on the part of the police to prove that she had just come out of
prison for the same offence, and was wanted in Lincolnshire to answer a similar
charge, fell through too, the guilty party being proved to be a relative of hers ; and
Selina escaped with three months' hard labour and a threat of severer punishment
if poison was discovered in the medicine. The servant girls were severely repri-
manded ; but the worst culprit escaped without even being brought into court as
a witness. Yet with characteristic feminine disregard for male chivalry she was
apparently discontented. At any rate, a gentleman — we will hope it was her
brother — rose and complained that Mrs. King had not been represented, 'that
she had a complete answer, and that the whole affair had been a most unpleasant
one for her.' Doubtless it is a little annoying for a wife to be prevented from
poisoning her husband ; but it seems more than a little ungrateful for her and
her male friends to grumble because he does not put her in the dock when he
discovers her attempts.1
12. — Leal as a Gypsy
Monsieur H. Gaidoz has most kindly sent the following disquisition which is
attached to the proverb ' Leale come un Zingaro,' in chapter cxxvii. (p. 240) of
a book, Modi di dire Toscani ricercati nella loro origine (In Venezia, appresso
Simone Occhi, con licenza de' Superiori, e privilegio. mdccxl. 4to). Although the
author did not print his name on the title-page, he has signed the dedication
' Sebastiano Pauli ' : —
' Leale come un Zingaro : ' Dicesi de' Ladri. Alessandro Tassoni ne' suoi pen-
sieri diversi Lib. 8. cap. 3. ' Foroneo, che a' Popoli di Egitto diede Leggi, non
proibi loro il latrocinio. Lo scrisse Teodoreto, e lo conferma Agellio nell' undecimo
Libro. Ne paja cosa nuova, leggendosi parimente, che i Fanciulli Spartani per
concessione di Licurgo si esercitavano alle volte a rubare, e quando con destrezza
veniva loro fatto, ne riportavano lode. Ora i Zingani, che secondo la comune
opinione sono Egiziani, non e da maravigliarsi, se per la continua strettezza in cui
vivono, tuttavia conservano l'uso antico rubando, purcke possano, senza scrupolo
alcuno. II Card. Baronio nel 4. Tomo de' suoi Annali, fondato sul 25. libro di
Ammiano, ove parlando dell' ignominioso accordo di Giustiniano Imperadore fatto
co' Persi, disse : difficile hoc adeptus ; ut nisi Nisibis, & Sangara sine incolis tran-
sient in jura Persarum; a munimentis vero alienandis reverti ad nostra prcesidi a,
& romana perinitterentur ; si mosse a credere, che quegli abitatori di Sangara, che
1 The case may be found in the Times for February 17, 21, 22, 24, and March 1,
1862, and there is a summary of it in Groome's In Gipsy Tents, p. 381 and foot-
note. A Selina Smith, youngest daughter of old Launcelot Smith of Barnstaple,
and wife of Charlie Hicks of Plymouth is mentioned in Way's No. 74? (p. 1G) ; but
whether the names in that book are to be taken literally one cannot tell.
154 NOTES AND QUERIES
allora furono costretti ad abbandonare la Citta, lasciandola vota a' Persiani,
possano essere quelli stessi, che a' tempi nostri co' nomi di Zingani vanno sparsi
pe '1 Mondo. Ma protestando i medesimi Zingani d'essere di Egitto, e venendo essi
in alcune Provincie vicino all' Affrica, e particolarmente in Ispagna, con nome di
Egiziani chiamansi ; e significando di piu il Leoni, che in Affrica tuttavia sono
chiamati, o Zingani, o Zingari, e che vivono essi ancora di ruberie, alcuni de'
quali abitano tra i Regni di Cano, e Borno, ed altri ne' deserti di Egitto a' confini
di Arabia, dove non e possibile mai, che passassero gli abitatori di Sangara, che
Sangariti, o Sangareni, e non Zingani dovettero chiamarsi ; per questo io non
istimo che la prima opinione abbia ad abbandonarsi. II Valeriani tenne nel suo
Libro de' Geroglifichi, che i Zingari sieno cosi detti da Cinile Uccello, che Noi
chiamiamo Cutrdtola, o Goditremola, colla quale gli Antichi signiticavano la
poverta ; per essere, come dicono, uccello che non ha nido proprio, e si va negli
altrui a ricoverare. Ma l'addurre etimologie latine, e greche ne' nomi Egiziani io
l'ho per un
" Saettare alia Luna." II Volaterrano sente, che i " Zingani fossero discendenti
dagli Ussi Popoli Persiani, de' quali scrive Scilace, Scrittore delle cose di Constan-
tinopoli, che essendo venuti sotto l'Imperio di Michele Traulo, si sparsero per
1'Europa, e andavano predicendo a tutti le cose avvenire. Ma tra gli Ussi, e
Zingani vi e un gran divario di nome."' Fin qui il Tassoni. Altri dicono, che
Zlngano viene dal Tedesco Ziegeuner, che significa lo stesso, ed e voce originata
da Ziehen, che vale far viaggio. Vedasi il Covarruvias V. Cingero ; Samuele
Bocarto delle Colonie de' Fenicj Lib. I., Capit. 4., c. 774. Lelio Bisc. Hone subsc.
Lib. 20., Capit. 24., Andrea Alciato, Parerg., Lib. 5., Capit. 3. Osservisi di piu col
Dati presso il Menagio, se Singara, Citta della Mesopotamia sul Tigri, ed i Popoli
Singareni, possano aver dato nome a si fatta gente, mutato lo S, in Z : come osser-
varono essere familiarissimo Esechiele Spanhemio nel suo dottissimo Libro sopra
l'uso delle Medaglie ; e l'Abbate Piero Seguino nella scelta elegantissima delle
Medaglie antiche Capit. 4. Si puo ancora aggiugnere qui cio che ne dice il lodato
Bocarto Lib. i. Capit. 5. il quale inclina a credere, che la detta Citta di Singara sia
la stessa, che Sinar, cioe Babilonia : Sinhar efferetur Singar, si littera ayn mutetv/r
in g, quomodo in Segur, Gaza, & Gomorra. Unde multis 2>ersuastbm est Sinhar esse
Singaram, & Singarenam. Singara urbis in Mesopotamia mcminere Plinius,
Eutropius, Ptolomceus, Ammiawus, Athanasius in Epistola ad solitariam vitam
agentes, Geographus Nubiensis Sext. Part. Climat. 4. Singarenam regionis, sextus
Bufus, & Pomponius Letus. Occurrit & Mons Singeras in Ptolomceo. Singara
urbs a Nubiensi describitur ad occidentem oppidi Balad ad Milliare XXVIL, &
Balad ad Tygrim XX. m. p. Itaque verisimile est ad, Sangarenam, pertinuisse
propter Babylonis agrum, omnem oram Tigridis occidentem usque ad Montana
Armenia;. Questa Citta, qualunque ella fossesi, e celebre per la battaglia fra'
Persiani, e Romani al tempo di Costanzo, e Costante Imperadori.
13. — Russian Gypsies in Lithuania, July 1908
It was towards the end of a very strange stay of three weeks in a charming
Russian country house, built on rising ground, surrounded by countless lakes, pine
woods, birch trees and solemn storks, who stood fearlessly on one leg watching us,
that we made our way on horseback for the last time to the village of Novoalex-
androvsk, about two hours distant. I had been hitherto disappointed in my
search for Gypsies. True it is I had met a whole camp-full on the night of my
arrival. That was during a drive of three hours, from the Jewish town of
Dunaberg, the nearest station. It was about midnight when a dzukel rushed out
upon us and scared the horses. It never gets dark during fine weather at that
NOTES AND QUERIES 155
time of the year, and I could clearly see five or six low black tents pitched on the
left side of the road under some birches. I would fain have stopped, waked the
Baro Dar, and then and there collected material of interest for the Gypsy Lore
Society, but my host drew his revolver on guard ' against the scoundrels,' and . . .
que voulez-vous ? I was his guest — and on we drove.
Since then they had not been heard of, and so it was with little hope of seeing
them' that we set out for the last time, three of us, on grais that were more used
to pulling a hintdva with a petdlo over their heads than to feeling a rider on their
backs. It was on our return from the village, where a bibdldo had made us fairly
mato on t&ihitso lovlna, that we met them, a large camp-full, strolling about, their
hands in their pockets, pipes in their mouths, some with a few ragged horses
following them slowly along the highroad to Dunaberg. We were in the near
vicinity of the camp, and soon crowds of children poured down upon the road from
tents hidden from the gaze of wayfarers behind a grassy hillock, and began to
surround our horses, seizing the bridles and begging for money. The usual scene
ensued. I made known to them my knowledge of their language. They showed
some surprise. We dismounted. Two Gypsy lads had immediately taken charge
of our horses, and were leading them up the bank to the camp, while we followed
with one who appeared to be a chief. We entered the biggest tent, and a p'v/ri
dai insisted upon telling us our fortunes. I had mine told in Romani, ' po-rdmani'
as they said. Unfortunately I cannot remember the text. It was all delivered at
a furious rate, but I gathered that I was to marry ' kotar amende.'
The Romani they used seemed fairly pure. I was unable to record any peculiar-
ities. When, however, upon our leaving, wishing to put a stop to the ^begging,
I held up two roubles and called out what first came to my mind : 'Sarenge!'
several repeated after me, ' De mende, po-sarende.' When we were already on
our horses and out again on the highroad we met a crowd of Romani tsais
returning from Novoalexandrovsk. One of them came up to the horses and,
after having listened to a hubbub of voices, cried out to me, ' Katar aves ? Dur
dzivcs ? ' Then coming nearer to me and resting her arm on my horse's neck :
' Sukdr temo rai, ta barvalo.' (I do not remember whether she oxytonised the last
word.) I soon explained to her that I wasn't anything of the sort. But the horses
were getting restive : little children were pulling their tails, running in and out
underneath them, while the two teme roma who had first taken charge of them
were endeavouring to soothe them, at the same time examining and feeling them
all over. It was time to be off. 'jYm, kudd? DamdiV asked the p'v/ri dai who
had told our fortunes. ' Ava, lecre,' I answered, not |wishing her to speak to me
in Russian. Whereat she laughed a croaking old laugh : ' Vsjo kamel te vakerel
po-romani! ' she said, half to herself ; and we left them with a hearty ' Ats Devlesa,'
followed till out of hearing by the oft-repeated God speed, ' Dza Devlesa.'
They knew all the usual words for cooking utensils, could count as well as any
I have ever met, but were not sure whether it was the month of June or July that
was coining to its close. They translated the word ' gddzo ' by ' a Pole.'
Bernard Gilliat-Smith.
14. — A Little Soxg
During a tramp in the Province of the Rhine in September 1908, which took
the form of a pilgrimage to my old haunts of 1902-3, I was much disappointed in
not meeting with any of my old friends of six years gone by. A small detach-
ment of Posh-Bats, among whom was a lad of some seventeen years, of remarkable
Gypsy beauty, were the only gentlemen of the road it was our fortune to find, and
from the tukar raklo I got the following song, my pal Raglan Somerset retaining
156
NOTES AND QUERIES
tin' air and eventually putting it on paper. The Raklo was not a Posh-Rat, but
he refused to give up his secret, and who he was I know not.
I
w-
i
:h:
~-K*l
DZa* men ■ <je fris
ko
3«rJ
te
kras
M^3E
ve
IP-
la
d
pir
ve
la
i
1*=±
-=1
rat po drom.
Bernard Gilltat-Smith.
15. — Borrow's Creed and Paternoster
The following passage from the Eev. T. W. Norwood's Gypsy note-book,
written apparently in October 1858, illustrates how Borrow vacillated in his
versions of the creed and paternoster. (See Lavo-Lil, 1005, pp. 88-9 and Zincali,
1901, pp. 431-2). Similar variations occur in his Spanish-Gypsy renderings.
Professor Knapp has contrasted those in Lucas (Madrid, 1837), the MS. of
Zincali (1839), Zincali (London, 1841),) Pott. n. 472, Jiminez Vocabulario
(Sevilla, 1853), Lucas (London, 1872), and Zincali (London, 1901).
Helen Grosvenor.
' I copied the following Gipsy versions of the Creed and Lord's Prayer from a
MS. in the handwriting of Mr. Borrow, which he had given to Mr. Goddard
Johnson after he had seen the latter's collection and vocabulary. His hand-
writing is vastly like Dr. Wright's but not so good : there is a certain feebleness
about the stroke : it is large, clear, and thrown backwards.
THE BELIEF
' Man apasavella drey Mi-doovel Dad soro ruslo, savo kel o praio tern ta cav
ocoi tuley : apasavella drey olescro yek chavo miro aranno sas Christos, lias by
rnidoveleskoe Mulo, beano of wendror of midoveleskoe gairy Mary, kurredo tuley
wast of Pokinies Pontius Pilatos, nashko pre rukh, ivas moved, chived advey o hev ;
chal yov tuley o kalo dvon to wafedo tan, bengeskoe stariben : o trito devas chat yov
opre to tatcho tan Midovels her: beste knaw odoi, pre Midovels tacho xvast, Dad soro
boro: avella canasig to lei shoonaben opve mestipen and meripen: apasavella in
Midoveleskoe Mulo, Boro Midoveleskoe Cangri, the midoveleskoe pias of sore tat
folky ketteney, sovov wafodu penes fovdias, soror mulor jongorellaj kek merella
apopli asovlus. Avail, Tachipen.
THE PATER NOSTER
iMiry divy Dad, odoi opve advay tivo tacho tan, midoveleskoe si tiro nav, awel
tiro tern, be kel tiro lav acoi drey pov, sar adoi drey charous. Dey mande todevus
minj dvry mow, ta for del sau to man pazzorhus atute, sar man fovdel sau so waviov
mushov pazzorhus amande : ma viggev man advey adrey kek dosch: lei man abri
sau wafodu: tiro se o tern, tiro or zoozlivast, tiro or corauni, knaw ta ever-komi.
Avali.'
NOTES AND QUERIES 157
16. — Anglo-Romani Songs
The English Gypsies do not, as a rule, possess Romani songs, and it is there-
fore the more interesting to find in England verifications of Pischel's statement
' that Norway is not the only country where Gypsies are found who sing old songs,
whose words, it is true, they still remember, but whose meaning they can no
longer clearly explain.' Mr. T. W. Thompson has obtained from two Norfolk
Gypsies, grand-daughters of Ambrose Smith or Reynolds (Jasper Petulengro), the
tattered remnants of two of Borrow's songs. The first is Ursula's ' Song of the
Broken Chastity ' and with regard to it Mr. Thompson says, ' It is rather typical
that the Gypsies who dictated it had entirely lost its meaning, although they
knew what many of the words meant ' : —
Romani cai befmg adre the tan.
Pen'd laki dai : ' Miri diri cai,
Md romer the rai, the gdjo rai,
KisVring astut a pireno grai.1
You bdri wafadi lubani,
Jal avre miri tan and be kdmbri ;
Sun 2 the wafadi lubani
With gdjesko rat to be kdmbri.
A translation of Borrow's version has already been published by Dr. John
Sampson (Borrow, The Romany Rye, London, Methuen and Co., 1903, chap. vii.
p. 46) : nevertheless the following rendering from one of Mr. Norwood's note-
books, now in the possession of Lady Arthur Grosvenor, may have interest :—
Song of the Broken Chastity
The Gipsy girl to her mother said —
' My dearest Mammy, I am betray'd.' —
' And who was he thy faith beguil'd,
My deary child, my Romany child ? '
' Oh Mammy o' mine, a Gentleman fine,
Who came on his horse in the sweet moonshine,
On his bonny good horse to the shadowy glade,
'Twas he thy Romany child betray'd.' —
' Away, thou little sot (slut) defil'd ;
Away from my tent, no more my child !
Had a Gipsy man entic'd (seduced) thy will,
Then had I call'd thee daughter still ;
But now in thy shame and grief begone,
And the white blood swell thy Gypsy zone.'
Translated, 18th August 1857.
Mr. Thompson's second song is the 'vulgar ditty' which Mr. Petulengro
quoted, and Mrs. Petulengro interrupted, on the occasion of their visit of ceremony
to the dingle. (The Romany Rye, chap. vi.). Knapp prints the whole from
Borrow's MSS., and Mr. Thompson's version runs as follows :—
The covahdni and the covahdno,
The nav si lendi is Petulengro ;
Sd the foki adre the tan,
Every yek of lendi si lubanid.
1 Pireno grai they translated as ' swift horse.'
2 For Sun read ban.
158 VOTES AND QUERIES
From Lavini.i Mr. Thompson obtained also a mysterious fragment which,
though even less coherent and intelligible than those already given, looks as though
it were the ill-remembered beginning of a more considerable ballad : —
So did you muk my cv.ri old dai
Jd with the rafrai, sd adre the drum,
Sd so kdlo and ciklo 1
Nas the cavis from the dram.
Till the rasrai jds out of the drum.
Garav the cavis so hxlo and misto.
Does it commemorate the visit of some uuwelcomely benevolent Crabb or Baird
to a camp ? Or is the parson playing a less creditable part and eloping incognito
' sd kdlo and ciklo ' with the old lady ? It is hardly possible to guess at the
meaning of so corrupt a fragment until a better text can be procured. Even in
the case of less corrupt songs, of which several versions have been preserved, it is
difficult to arrive at anything like the original form of the song. The variants
differ so widely that the Gypsies would appear to have either singularly bad
memories, or else a faculty for improvisation which causes them to alter the words
wilfully to suit their momentary thoughts. Take, for example, the following
three versions of the song printed by Miss Gillington in the first number of the
Journal (New Series, i. 64). The nearest to her version is one told by Mrs. Curtis
(nee Lucy Smith) of Cowley to Mr. Wellstood and Mr. Winstedt in January 1908.
It is here printed as a specimen of Romany orthography from a copy which she, or
one of her family, wrote down for another Romano Bai : —
Mandy went to puv some griys
all round the pany side
up come the gabmtish
to lei mandy griys
mandy deld him in the moiy
todi todi todi cant mandy cour.
Here little is changed, though the whole is shortened. But in a far superior
version, obtained recently by Mr. Atkinson from Leonard Buckland's wife (nee
Esther Smith), the offence leading to arrest is theft of hay, not puv'mg grais : —
Jal down to the stdgus
To lei a bit o' kas.
Up veled the gavengro
To lei me opre.
Keker be atras, cavi,
Keker praster away,
Del 'im in the mui, cavi,
Del 'im in the pur.
And mi diri duvel dacen
He can kur well.
Possibly the very corrupt version which Mr. Thompson obtained from Charlie
Webb, who derives his Romani from his mother, a Shaw, is intended to combine
both offences ; but again it is difficult to follow the meaning : —
Mandi 's jain' to stariben
For lel'm' a bit o koSt.
The muskrd 's praster 'd,
Mandi will get lel'd.
NOTES AND QUERIES 159
Mandi 's jam' across a puv.
Del him advr his perinob
And it 's s' help mi diri dacen
I can kur well.
Of the end of this song three other versions have been published, one by Groome
(In Gypsy Tents, p. 50), another by George Smith of Coalville (cf. L. A. Smith,
Through Romany Songland, 1889, p. 149) — a most unusual aberration for that
worthy man, — and a third by Sampson (J. G. L. S., Old Series, n. 81). In the
last instance it was combined with the familiar ' Can you jas to stariben 1 ' : but,
though it may fairly lay claim to share with that gili the honour of being the most
popular song in the tents of Egypt, Sampson's informant, Alice Gray, can hardly
have been right in combining them. The connection is, as Sampson remarks, 'not
very obvious,' and the consensus of other versions implies that it was part of a
song of luriben and coriben, of which the rest is less well remembered. With the
same theme deals a gilimengri, as he called it, which Cornelius Buckland (alias
Fenner or Fender) repeated to Mr. Winstedt : —
Da, dabla, dddi 1
Tacikend lac stardi
For cinin' ale the rania kosl
And corin mulo ball,
and considering the amount of variation which occurs in the last song, this may
perhaps be a variant of another of the songs heard by Sampson from Lolly Lally,
for the first line of which he claims considerable antiquity : —
Aai-dddi, da dubeld, dd-de!
Jal to kasengri, ai-dddi !
Or tuti '11 be lino apre;
Mandi 's been choring some ghiv,
Now tuti '11 be klisn 'd apre.1
If so, the 'process of bringing down to date,' which Sampson detects in the
rest of his version, has been applied in the first line too by Cornelius. Yet
another song of luriben was heard by Mr. Atkinson from Esther Buckland : —
When I jas a-coring,
I '11 jd by my kukeriy
Then there '11 be no rumbling nor grumbling,
And no one lei 'd but my kukeri.
But this appears to be quite a modern invention ; and so presumably was the
rather unusually rhythmical vers d' occasion hummed by Liberty Buckland when
Mr. Wellstood visited him at Kingston Blount some weeks ago : —
We shall Id some luva
From the tamo rai,
Balovas and yoris
From the tamo rai.
Another song, the opening of which has a fine swing, was obtained by Messrs.
] J.G.L.S., Old Series, ii. 83.
lf,0 NOTES AND QUERIES
Win itedt, Wellstood, and Thompson from Israel Smith at Stratibrd-on-Avon when
they were on the drom in their RomanicaVs vardo this summer :—
It :s a TcuSti bright rati,
We '11 sd jal avri,
We'll lei out omjukels,
And beS our raklis avri.
The rati 's very ptro ; !
Kvlti rati, mi ralcli,
For we 're jal-in' a hoci-in'.
I '11 lei pale a few puvengris,
And I want you to lei avri
And M a drop o' pdni,
And JcoSt I will bring ;
Then while the yog is burning,
I '11 lei adre wudrus,
And suv you again.
17. — Turkish Gypsies in 1635
'Tels ils etaient il y a plusieurs siecles, tels ils sont aujourd'hui,' said Paul
Limours of the Gypsies in an article entitled ' Un Peril errant,' of which the sub-
headings were 'Vagabonds,' 'Pillards,' ' Propagateurs d'epidemies,' ' Voleurs,'
' Meurtriers,' ' Empoisonneurs,' ' Insaisissables ' and ' Hors la loi' (Le Matin,
Paris 4th March 1907). Scarcely less abusive is the account which H. Blount
"■ave of the sedentary Turkish Gypsies in A Voyage into the Levant (London,
[1635 ?]). Yet one cannot ascribe his prejudice entirely to Gdjo blindness when
one remembers Paspati's verdict : ' II est vrai que plusieurs Tcuinghianes se sont
fixes dans les villages, et meme dans la ville de Constantinople ; mais ils se sont
abrutis par leurs liaisons avec les Strangers ; faux Chretiens et faux Musulmans,
ils sont aussi pauvres et aussi miserables que leurs freres les Nomades, et infini-
ment plus adonnes qu'eux, au vol et a la ruse, dans leur commerce avec les gens du
pays.'
Pp. 1 23-4 : ' Now there remaines a word, or two of the Zinganaes : they are
right such as our Gypsies : I yeeld not to those, who hold them a peculiar cursed
stocke : sloath and nastinesse single them out from other men ; so as they are the
dregs of the people, rather then of severall descent : wallowing in the dirt, and
Sunne makes them more swarthy then others ; they abound in all cities of Turhj,
but steale not like ours, for feare of the cruell severitie, they tell fortunes as
cheatingly as ours, and enjoy as little ; their true use is for sordid offices, as
Broomen, Smithes, Coblers, Tinkers, and the like, whereby the naturall Turke is
reserved for more noble employments : few of them are circumcised, none
Christned : they weare their rags affectedly, but wander not : their habitation is
hovels, and poore houses in the suburbs : contempt secures them, and with that, I
leave them :
P. 93 : ' Some of them as the Zinganaes, doe not so much as pretend too any
God.' E. 0. WlNSTEDT.
18. — Stage Romani
In Stolze's ' Die grosse Unbekannte ' one of the characters, though not one of
importance, is a Zigenner. His only speech is lDibsky, ganfky, strentzky, stibitzki? '
(See Gedichte in Frankfurter Mnndart, von Friedrich Stolze, 17te Auflage,
Frankfurt am Main, 1895, Band I. S. 293.) William E. A. Axon.
1 Ptro he translated aa ' moonlight.'
Wishing You a Happy New Year
THE GYPSY GAUDEAMUS
JOHN SAMPSONESTAR
pn?- % r*Ttt
*e2*
I
1 . Ke - sa Pa?i - as ka - na 'men Tar-ni-ben a - ce - la ;
**
§
s
> »
:ps
-S-*-» f—T-
» S i^_
Pa - la gud - lo Tar-ni-ben, Pa - la Sut - lo P'n - ri-ben
(4. / Bai-e - yiBruk'-ri-bcn, I Cdl-c - yi Pi-ri-vi-ben)
fL—*
Sig 5 Cik'men le - la: Sig 6 Cik 'men le - la.
1 . K esa Pmas kana 'men
Tdmiben acela;
Pala gudlo Tdmiben,
Pala sutlo P'uriben
Sig 6 Cik 'men lela.
2. Kdi si-le, te mankeder
Lenas Brom te lasa?
'Re % rdik'ni P'uv opral,
Pose tatl Yog talal,
'Dol 'dolen dikasa.
3. Knsl Or I si kl 'me
'Mare K'elimasti ;
' Vela Mosk'ro garadcs,
Lela sdr 'men basaves,
Ar'i Starimasti.
4. Bayt te 'vel t'a Bayt- te 'eel
Rom'ne Juvlensa ,
I Bdieyi Druk'riben ,
I Cdieyi Piriviben
Peye Pirinensa !
5. Be 'men, Bubla, 'kdi t'a 'kdi
So Kale rodena —
I Gdjen te %oxavas,
I Bdlen te drabyeras,
Gren te corde 'vena.
6. 'Men te del mo Blr Bevel
Lolo Mas t'a kdlo,
Bosta t'ule Kanid,
Bosta, bare Sosdia,
Bosta Mulo Bdlo !
7. Bey te lei Pokonyi sdr,
Bey te lei Veseyre,
Bey te lei 6 Bicimos,
Bey te lei 6 Siarimos,
Bey te lei Gaveyre!
Copies of this song printed on cardboard are to be obtained at 3d. each, post free,
by application to the Gypsy Lore Society, 6 Hope Place, Liverpool.
JOURNAL OF THE
GYPSY LORE
Vol. Ill
SOCIETY
NEW SERIES
JANUARY 1910
L— JASPER'S FAMILY
nnHE two groups opposite are parts of photographs taken by the
-*- late Mr. Andrew Innes of Dunbar in August 1878 on the
occasion of Queen Victoria's visit to the camp at Knockenhair
Park (see pp. 172-3, footnote). It is much to be regretted that
Jasper himself (Ambrose Smith) is not included, nor is his son
Alfred. The first picture represents Sanspirella (who is sitting and
holding Dona Mace), Bldi, and Tommy. In the second Sanspi
and Dona appear again, with Delaia Mace carrying a child, her
husband Poley Mace in a silk hat, and Tommy lying down. The
originals have been retouched and coloured by hand, and the
artist has even been at the pains to add a tripod of picturesquely
crooked sticks over the perforated iron fire-basket. But although
he has added to the glory of the raiment, he has fortunately not
tampered with the faces, nor has he touched the tent and covered
cart. These originals were very kindly lent for reproduction by
Miss J. J. and Mr. William Innes, in whose possession their
father's photographs now are. They have been copied for the
Sirdar, General Sir Richard Wingate (who has recently built a
house at Knockenhair Park), by Mr. Charles Spence, Station Road,
Dunbar, from whom prints may be obtained.
VOL. III. — NO. Ill i.
162
sorrow's gypsies
II._BORRO\V'S GYPSIES
By Thomas, William Thompson
THE RELATIONS OF JASPER PETULENGRO.
"A." 1. Ambrose Smith: son of Con-
stance : transported with his
sons Randle, Tommy, and
Saunders for stealing har-
ness:
= Mirelli Draper.
probably bur. at Coggeshall.
'B. 1.
B. 2.
B. 3.
Moll Smith :
= Wester Boswell ( first to.) : no
issue.
Honor :
= Frank Smith.
B. 4.
Phoebe or Femi :
= (1) Sampson Robinson (/. of
Eros).
(2) Neli Shaw (/. of Rabi).
(3) Jimmy Taylor (/. of Lemen-
teni).
Rachel :
= Nixi Lovell (a tinker): (issue
Nixi and Dora).
B. 5. Randle. ,
B. 6. Tommy.
- Transported
B. 7. Saunders.,
2. Faden John : son of Con-
-t a nee : brother of Ambrose :
= Mirelli Smith: d. Grun-
disburgh, Woodbridge, Suf-
folk.—
Note : Mirelli Smith's
mother (also called Mirelli
Smith) afterwards married
a Chilcot and became the
mother of John Chilcot, who
married Liti Ruth Lovell
(d. 18G6, age 78 : bur. Bir-
kenhead). Of their children
Charles d. 18G5, age 58,
bur. Birkenhead ; Florence
became third w. of Wester
Boswell, and Union (d.
1883, age 69 : bur. Birken-
head) married Charlie Lee
(see C. 12).
"B. 8. Ambrose or Amerus Smith (JASPER
PETULENGRO ; :
= (1) Treli Smith, sist. of Frank
Smith (see B. 2).-
= (2) Sanspirella Herne, sist. of
Bkli, Esau, Richard, Abi, Eli, and,
Femi, issue of Reynolds H. (br.
of Niabai, Miller, Sophia, etc.)
and Martha Boss, ' Old Peggy.' —
B. 9. Elizabeth : d. 1883, age 76 : bur.
Birkenhead :
= Elijah Buckley.
B. 10. Faden John :
= Alice Penden, a London gdji.
B. 11. Prudence: went mad :
= Mat Barker : no issue.
B. 12. Laini or Phoebe : d. Thorpe, Nor-
wich :
= Tom Cooper.
B. 13. Lydia or Liti: d. Yarmouth :
= Boi Brown: d. Fakenham, Nor-
folk : no issue.
sorrow's gypsies
163
_0. 1. Ada Smith:
= Iza Hkrne, s. of Isaac.
C. 2. Adolphus : d. Blackpool :
= (I) Delaia Gray : (issue
Mandra).
— (2) Sibi Boswell, dr. of
Josiah Boswell and Betsy
Boss.
0. 3. Walter : living :
= Tilda Gaskin :
C. 4. Agnes : d. Gloucester : no issue.
C. 5. Sarah :
— Johnny Franklin : drowned,
1 909.
C. 6. Adelaide :
= James Whatnell or Wat-
land.
"C. 7. Lovinia Smith :
= (1) Oti Smith (0. 13).
= (2) Kenza Boswell.—
= (3) George Lee.
~C. 8. Delaia or Pinki Smith : died
in U.S.A.:
= Poley Mace, s. of Barney,
nephew of Jem : in U.S.A.
C. 9. BIdi : living in U.S.A.
= (1) a doctor.
= (2) Poley Mace.
C. 10. Alfred or Olfred Reynolds : d. in
Belfast Hospital.
— gdji : one child.
JO. 11. Tommy Reynolds : unm.
"C. 12. George Smith: 6. 1833, Mouse-
hold Heath : living : author of
'Incidents in a Gipsy's Life ' :
= KerlendaLee, dr. of Charlie
Lee and Union Chilcot, sist.
of Sarah, Eepriona, Leondra,
and Caroline (w. of Noah
Young).
C. 13. Oti : re-chris. William at Bray :
d. Dublin, c. 1899 :
= Lovinia Smith (C. 7): d.
Norwich.
C. 14. Lavaithen: d. Glasgow: bur.
Cathcart :
= John Lee.
"C. 15. Bertram Smith.
C. 16. Herbert.
C. 17. Beatrice.
C. 18. Norah.
_C. 19. Ambrose.
"C. 20. Trenit Cooper : d. Norwich.
C. 21. John: b. 1832: d. 1879.
= Sarah (gdji) : three children.
C. 22. Lydia : burned to death at
Lakenham, Norwich, 1908 :
= Tom Brown, br. of Bui ; d.
Norfolk.
"D. 1. Erica or Walter Heme. D. 2. Guster.
. D. 3. Bertie.
~D. 4. Arthur Smith. D. 5. Eros. )D. 6.
Walter. D. 7. Frank. D. 8. Adelaide.
D. 9. Ada. D. 10. SQbi. D. 11. Betsy.
D. 12. Tilly.
~D. 13. Adolphus Smith. D. 14. Albert.
D. 15. Nathaniel. D. 16. Rabi. D. 17.
Frank. D. 18. Leo. D. 19. Laura. D. 20.
. Pamela.
~D. 21. Algar Franklin. D. 22. Arthur.
- D. 23. Fred. D. 24. Willy.
"D. 25. Athalia Whatnell ( = Algar Bos-
well). D. 26. Ada. D. 27. Eli. D. 28.
Hamelen. D. 29. Alice. D. 30. Walter.
. D. 31. Herbert.
"D. 32. Katie or Maresko Smith : 6. 1849 :
living : unm.
D. 33. Tommy Lee : b. c. 1867 : living :
= ' Barley ' Pinfold, niece of Emily
and Tilda : no issue.
~D. 34. Adelaide : b. c. 1869 : living :
= Henry Garratt : three children.
-I). 35. Melbourn Mace : b. c. 1879 :
= Ida Hathaway.
D. 36. Dona :
= Gus Gray, grands, of Oseri and
Eliza Gray.
_D. 37. Others.
-J). 38. MidSra Smith : b. Plaistow Marsh,
London : chris. Kirkley, Lowes-
toft : living.
- gdjo : two children.
Alice : b. Mousehold Heath : chris.
Catton, Norwich : living : unm.
Charles Henry : b. Sparkbrook, Bir-
mingham, 1864 : chris. Dewsbury :
d. 1897 : bur. Birkenhead.
gdji : no issue.
Frederick : b. Salismore, Manches-
ter : chris. Dewsbury : d. Douglas,
I. of M., 1889, age 23 : bur. Birk-
enhead.
Margaret : b. and chris. Long Kirk-
caldy, Fife : dead.
Algar Franklin (D. 21) : six
children.
Cecilia: b. Hanley: chris. Stafford :
living.
gdjo : four children.
Ernest: b. Weston-super-Mare:
chris. Stafford : dead.
Patrick Arthur: b. Ballsbridge, Dub-
lin : chris. Bray : d. in infirmary.
Logan Lee: b. 1861: d. 1873: bur.
Cathcart.
Nathan : d. Musselburgh, 1909.
: Ada Whatnell (D. 26).
Johnny Brown : living :
: gdji : has issue.
Eadllia : living :
: gdjo (now mad) : has issue.
D. 39.
D. 40.
D. 41.
D. 42.
D. 43.
D.
44.
D.
45.
D.
46.
D.
47.
D.
48.
D.
49.
164 sorrow's gypsies
""jVTOllWICH Musel, for so the Gypsies call Household Heath, is
-^ a large, breezy, gorse-covered common, broken up into in-
numerable little hills and hollows. Some of the hollows are partially
cleared of gorse, and in these, about the middle of the last century,
mieht have been seen the tilted carts and brown tents of the
Smiths and Hemes and Bos wells and Grays, for Norfolk was then
one of the favourite resorts of the Gypsies. The Smiths were
a numerous and well-to-do family, descendants of those two
old 'daughters of Rome,' Constance and Mirelli. Constance
lived to the patriarchal age of one hundred and ten,1 and
invariably washed in a hole dug in the ground, being as primitive
in this respect as Grellmann's Hungarian Gypsies.2 Mirelli met
her death in a strange manner. At a time when she had already
grown old and infirm she left home with the object of staying
away for a week, after the custom of the old Romanicals,3 in
order to win a wager. She collapsed on a stone-heap, however,
and was carried to Shipmeadow Workhouse, Halesworth, Suffolk,
where she died. Ambrose (A. I)4, the son of Constance, was trans-
ported along with his three sons for stealing harness, but it is
very improbable that his brother, Faden John (A. 2), crossed the
bdro lun pani ' for his country's good,' and it is quite certain that
the latter's wife died peaceably in Suffolk, so that Borrow had no
1 Compare Borrow, Romano Lavo-Lil (London, John Murray, 1908), p. 107.
2 ' When the woman lyes in . . . the child is brought forth, either in their
miserable hut, or, according to circumstances, it may be in the open air, but
always easily and fortunately, a woman of the same kind performs the office of
midwife. True Gipsey like, for want of some vessel, they dig a hole in the ground,
which is filled with cold water, and the newborn child washed in it.' — Raper's
Translation (1787), p. 46.
3 So says George Smith (C. 12). He has probably omitted some details.
4 The numbers within the brackets refer to the preceding pedigree. Every
care has been taken to make this as accurate as possible, but errors may have
crept in owing to the frequent changes of names amongst the Romanicals who
are mentioned in it. Desertions from the Army, the desire to appear uncon-
nected with notorious relatives or to break old associations, and the assuming
at any period of their lives of the mother's name instead of the father's, have
been the chief causes of this. Some of them have been as troublesome genea-
logically as a Gypsy whom I recently visited at Southport. His name was Young,
he said, but the Youngs were really Hemes; his father was a Brown, but the
Browns were really Bakers ; and he did not know who the Bakers originally were,
except that they were not Bakers. And to make my grievance worse, they will not
allow me, in some cases, to print all the names by which they have been known.
'In the Gypsy language the state of being in debt is called Pazorrhus, and the
Rom who did not seek to extricate himself from that state was deemed infamous,
and eventually turned out of the society' (Borrow, The Zincali, London, John
Murray, 1908, p. 29). I must remain Pazorrhus to many kind friends, Romany
Rais and Romanicals and gdjos, who have supplied me with information ; but I trust
that I may not be 'deemed infamous.' Dr. Ranking sent an interesting letter on
BORROW'S GYPSIES 165
grounds for stating that Jasper Petulengro's l father and mother
were biSado pddel.2 Whatever his fate, Faden John was now
dead, and his son, Ambrose (B. 8), was head of the family ; a
shrewd, but merry, middle-aged man, whose long black locks were
still untinged with grey. Years and years before, shortly after
the birth of a daughter (C. 7) by Treli Smith, he had married
Sanspirel or Sanspirella Heme,3 the daughter of Keynolds Heme
and Martha Boss,4 in her day the handsomest Gypsy in England,
with her dusky curls enclosing a delicately cut face, fine
Roman nose, and eyes 'as big as saucers.' In point of beauty
Sanspi would have been better matched had she married Am-
brose's brother Faden (B. 10), who was as big and tall and hand-
some as Tawno Chikno, than whom he was better off, however, and
enjoyed greater success in his ' trafficking^ in horseflesh,' although
he could not compare in this respect with his brother.5 Ambrose's
sisters were particularly unfortunate. Betsy's husband, Elijah
Buckley (B. 9), met with an untimely end through being too fond
of the wife of ' Gypsy ' Stephens,0 a pas-rat who at one time kept a
dancing booth called the ' Crown and Anchor ' in Norwich, and
was afterwards landlord of a public house near Epping. Stephens
behaved like a low-bred gdjo throughout the affair. He was
bitterly jealous from the first, and eventually he tore a plank from
the floor, brutally murdered his rival, bribed the doctors, and
escaped the punishment he richly deserved. This was at High
Beech, Epping, in the year 1833. Prudence (B. 11) was as fiercely
the punishment of unchastity amongst the Gypsies, and I should especially like to
acknowledge the courtesy and kindness of the parish minister of Dunbar, and the
skilfully directed energy of Mr. John Myers and the Rev. George Hall, through
which I have been able to confirm, and add to, the information already collected
from Katie Smith (D. 32), Adelaide Lee (D. 34), Kadilia Brown (D. 49), Genti
Gray, and many other Gypsies. There are references to Ambrose Smith and his
relations in Groome's In Gipsy Tents ; these have also been used.
1 Cf. Knapp, Life, Writings, and Correspondence of George Borroiv, vol. i. p. 34.
2 Cf. Borrow, Lavengro (London, John Murray, 1908), pp. 102, 103, and 164.
3 Compare Borrow' s description of Pakomovna in Lavengro, p. 108, and The
Romany Rye (London, John Murray, 1908), p. 32. Consult also Borrow's list of
Gypsy names in The Romany Rye, p. 46, and Knapp's comment on Sanpriel, on
p. 381.
4 Martha Boss was presumably the old Mrs. Heme who nearly poisoned Borrow
(Lavengro, chap. lxxi.).
5 Cf. Lavengro, chaps, xvi. and xvii. Jem Mace (Fifty Years a Fighter,
chap, v.), speaking of 'Farden' Smith, says, 'He was known as the King of the
Gipsies, and was a regular giant, standing 6 ft. 2 ins. in his stocking feet, and
broad in proportion.'
6 Morwood, in Our Gipsies in City, Tent, and Van, pp. 77-8, mentions the origin
of the pufrat family of Stephens.
1()G RORROW'S GYPSIES
jealous of her husband as Mikailia, and as bitterly disappointed
because she had no children.1 She eventually went mad, and died
in Burntwood Asylum. Phoebe's husband, Tom Cooper (B. 12),
was transported, and that through no fault of his own. He accom-
panied his brother, ' Fighting Jack,' 2 to a ball, but did not stay
very long. During the evening Jack stole a silver snuff-box, and on
returning home he unmaliciously put it in his brother's coat-
pocket. Unfortunately he had been followed by the police, who
watched carefully where the box was deposited, and early next
morning, so early that Jack was still asleep, the hated muskros
appeared at the camp. They were very affable, and offered Tom a
pinch of snuff, of which he was uncommonly fond. He pulled out
his handkerchief, and out fell the snuff-box. Then, in a flash, he
was safely handcuffed, and in spite of Jack's confessions at the
trial, he was sentenced to transportation.
It is almost a relief to turn from Ambrose's nearer relations,
and their melancholy fate, to one who was not so closely allied, but
who was an inseparable friend — Sinfai Heme, commonly called
' the crow,' 3 a particular favourite of Borrow's, of whom he was
thinking no doubt when he wrote, ' How blank and inanimate is
the countenance of the Gypsy man, even when trying to pass off a
floundered donkey as a flying dromedary, in comparison with that
of the female Romany, peering over the wall of a par-yard at a
jolly hog!:—
Sar shan Sinfye ?
Koshto divvus Romany chi !
So shan tute kairing acoi ? ' 4
Passing off floundered donkeys as flying dromedaries was the
regular occupation of the Smiths, and this, combined with a little
honest horse-dealing, provided them with an easy means of gain-
ing a livelihood. Ambrose and Faden were both dealers of con-
siderable repute, and were familiar figures, not only on Norwich
Hill, but also at most of the lame horse fairs from Horncastle
southwards and westwards. The old Hemes, on the other hand,
were nearly all tinkers by trade. The women of both families
told fortunes, and, in general, acquired money readily enough by
1 Cf. The Romany Rye, pp. 31 and 58.
s Cf. Romano Lavo-Lil, pp. 211-213.
3 Sinfai ' the crow,' ne'e Buckland, was the second wife of ' No Name ' or Edward
Heme, and the mother of Sarah, Eliza, and Milly. She afterwards married
Sanspi's uncle, Niabai Heme, and became the mother of Isaac.
4 Romano Lavo-Lil, p. 175.
BORROW's GYPSIES 167
defrauding the silly and superstitious gdjos in some altogether
charming and delightful manner. But the Gypsy's life was not
one of continuous toil, and Ambrose and his people spent a large
amount of time each summer at the fairs and feasts, where the
Grays and Shaws — the Gypsy entertainers of East Anglia — seated
on raised platforms, and elaborately dressed in long, black coats,
brightly coloured plush waistcoasts, velvet knee-breeches, and
smart top-boots, fiddled for the dancing from early morning until
dark, whilst the tarni dais in their feast-day attire — turban felt hats
with long, amber feathers, gorgeous multi-coloured shawls, red, or
blue, or white satin dresses, and black, high-heeled, brogue shoes —
collected the money in the tambourines which they occasionally
played, and the puri dais, in scarlet cloaks and queer little black
bonnets, told the fortunes of the simple country people. Our
Gypsies were not present for the purpose of making money, and
so they held themselves aloof from the gdjos, and gathered on the
outskirts of the crowd, where they could be seen in knots eagerly
discussing the ' affairs of Egypt,' or the doings of the ' bruisers of
England.' They loved fighting, and many a famous battle was
fought at these village fetes, none more famous perhaps than that
between Piramus Gray1 and Jonathan Brinkley, usually known
as ' The Devil Untied,' or ' The Mulo Uncovered.' 2 True, bruising
in England was on the decline, and no longer wore the ' bold and
vigorous aspect ' that it did when Borrow witnessed the fight
between Ned Painter and Tom Oliver,3 but the Gypsies — the most
conservative of all people — still regarded a fight as something
of national importance. Witness the concourse that gathered
1 Piramus Gray was the son of Oseri Gray, and the brother of Jack and Oseri.
He married the Milly Heme mentioned above, and was the father of Isaac Heme's
wife. The Rev. George Hall sends the following account of him: — ' Wikki Elliot
{nee Gray) tells me that her uncle Piramus was both a good shot and a good fiddler
— " by far the best fiddler," she says, "that the Romanwals ever had." It seems
that Piramus had several tunes of his own composing. In his later days he was a
kerengro at Louth, and played at local dances, village feasts, and in kicemas. When
his brother Jack was bicado jmclel for cfioi-in' a grai he inherited his riddle. He was
buried in Louth cemetery. '
In The Romany Rye (chap, vii.) mention is made of 'a dial of the name of
Piramus, who, besides being a good shot, was celebrated for his skill in playing on
the fiddle. ' Then later, in the same chapter : — '. . . Piramus was playing on the
fiddle a tune of his own composing, to which lie has given his own name, Piramus
of Rome, and which is much celebrated amongst our people, and from which I
have been told that one of the grand gorgio composers, who once heard it, has
taken several hints.' And again: — 'For though Piramus weighs but ten stone he
shall nog a Scotchman of twenty.' The identity seems complete.
- Described in T.P.'s Weekly, April 9, 1909.
3 Cf. Lavengro, chap, xxvi,
168 SORROW'S GYPSIES
together when Eaden Smith fought Jem Mace, then a young man
of twenty-one, on Norwich Hill in the early fifties.1 And who is
this stopping into the ring? Can it be the man who years
before put on the gloves with Borrow to try and make him feel
what a sweet thing it was to be alive?2 No; it is some years
since Ambrose retired, but the resemblance is remarkable, truly re-
markable. Jt must be his nephew, Oti (C. 13), now one of the best
men in East Anglia, thanks to his early education on that famous
patch of sward on Mousehold Heath, where night by night the
Gypsies congregated, and those who had grown old and wise in
ring-craft instructed the raw but sinewy and eager youngsters.
They led a full-blooded life in those days, did the Romanicals.
But it was not so much the occupations of the old Norfolk
Smiths and Hemes that would excite Borrow's interest as their
inner, their secret life — their traditions, language and customs.
There are difficulties, but the theory is that the Gypsies reached
England as the result of several invasions at widely different
times. Most of the English Romanies have no idea how or when
they arrived here, or whence they came, but Ambrose Smith's
descendants firmly believe that their ancestors all came to England
in a boat from Italy at no very distant date. Their language
shows no trace of this, for it contains no continental characteristics
which would separate it from the dialect of the other English
Gypsies. But it was to some of the more or less peculiar
customs of their ancestors that my informants appealed as
a proof of their recent arrival. The gdjos they half feared,
half despised, and thoroughly hated. They chose the wildest
and loneliest camping places, and would never pitch their
tents near a house, because they feared and disliked that gdjos
should be continually looking at them. They were so afraid
of mulos that they would go miles round rather than pass a
churchyard, and they would never drink a drop of beer in
a public-house if they could recollect that a death had taken
place there. The Jack-o'-Lantern, the mulo mumli, was a terror
to them, and good-natured Faden got up many a night to try
and appease the fears of the women folk of the camp. Some
things they would not steal, not because the muskro, but because
the puro beng his kokeru protected them ; ' Ma jal adri the buba
puv to chor the bubas 'cos the puro beng 11 lei you ' was
1 This is the light mentioned in chap. v. of Jem Mace's Fifty Years a Fighter.
2 Cf. Lavengro, p. 165,
BORROW'S GYPSIES 169
frequently heard. Fear, too, was the root cause of their un-
usual manner of disposal of the dead. As a general rule the
English Gypsies buried their dead in consecrated ground, large
numbers of relatives gathering together at the funeral, but with
the old Smiths the death was kept a secret, frequently even from
the deceased's relatives, until the body had been secretly buried,
fully clothed, but uncoffined, in some ditch or on some lonely
heath. Compare this, reader, with that much discussed descrip-
tion of the burial of old Mrs. Heme given in Lavengro.1 ' The
body was placed not in a coffin but on a bier, and carried not to a
churchyard but to a deep dell close by ; and there it was buried
beneath a rock, dressed just as I have told you [in a red cloak
and big bonnet of black beaver] ; and this was done by the bid-
ding of Leonora, who had heard her bebee say that she wished to
be buried, not in gorgeous fashion, but like a Roman woman of
the old blood, " the kosko puro rati, brother." The custom has
also been mentioned by John E. Cussans,2 and the authors of
English-Gipsy Songs,3 but they, like Borrow, have suggested no
reason for it. Burial in a churchyard, however, meant dealings
with benighted gdjos, and the possibility of their mauling the
poor dead Romanical, or seeing his naked skin ; and these latter,
say my informants, were two things that the old Gypsies devoutly
dreaded. The dread, which was father of the custom, remained,
long after burial in wild and unfrequented places had become almost
an impossibility. It is said that when Ambrose's brother-in-law,
Bui Brown (B. 13), was dying not so very many years ago, he
struggled into his best suit, and expressed the wish that he should
be buried in it, doing this because he was afraid that some one
else might clothe him in it after he was dead, and perhaps see,
handle, or wash his naked body. The custom has never been
very prevalent in England during the last two hundred years, as
Groome has amply proved,4 and the one or two recorded in-
stances all relate to Gypsies who travelled the eastern counties.
Turning from death customs to those which are connected
with marriage, it will be found that Borrows Gypsies were not
only wise enough to know that the existence of their race de-
pended largely on the chastity and faithfulness of the women,
1 P. 434. 2 Notes and Queries, 15th May 1S69.
3 English-Gipsy Songs, by Charles G. Leland, E. H. Palmer, and Janet Tuckey
(1875), p. 31.
4 Jn Gipsy Tents (1881), chap. v.
170 BORROW's GYPSIES
but also to act up to their knowledge.1 Wives were chosen
amongst the old Hemes in a most careful manner. If one of
them was courting a girl, another young man was selected, whose
business it was to court her as well. If she gave him the least
encouragement, then she was cast aside as useless ; if not, there
was a general conference of relatives to decide whether she would
make a suitable wife. If they decided in her favour, then the
young couple were united by taking each other's hands in the
presence of the assembled relatives, and vowing to be true to one
another. Marriages performed in this way were considered more
binding than those which took place in a church. The men
frequently treated their wives rather roughly, but the latter,
almost without exception, stuck to them through life, and
mourned for them when they died. When ' No Name ' Heme and
Taiso Boswell were killed by lightning at Tetford, near Horn-
castle, on August 5th, 1831,2 their wives went and brought their
blankets, and lay beside the dead bodies all night. Unfaithful-
ness, when it did occur, was punished with great severity. Bury-
ing alive was the ancient form of punishment,3 and as recently as
1875, an old Suffolk Gypsy pointed out to Dr. Ranking the place
where he had seen a Romani cai undergo this punishment.4
One old Heme cut off his wife's ears because she had not been
true to him, and another made his run naked round a large field
1 As Kedflia Brown once remarked : ' The owld Komanicals was the prudentest
people what ever lived.'
2 This is the date given by Smart and Crofton {Dialect of the English Gypsies,
p. 253), and also in Sylvester Boswell's 'Famaley Memberandum Book' (./. G. L. S.,
Old Series, iii. 245), but the Rev. George Hall writes : 'Taiso Boswell and Edward
otherwise "No Name " Heme were killed by lightning at Tetford, six miles from
Horncastle, on August 5, 1830, at least that is the date given on the tombstone.
On the stone Edward's surname was first spelled Heex, but a later hand has cut an
a over the E. His age was given as 52, which a correcting hand has altered to
76. The registers of the Parish of Tetford contain no entry of these Gypsy
burials. The grave lies near the north-east corner of the chancel. The headstone
is in good condition, and bears traces of a recent cleansing from moss and lichen.
There is living at Alford in Lincolnshire a Gypsy named Lucy Brown (ne'e Smith),
age about 100, who remembers the deaths of Taiso Boswell and Edward Heme.
" We were camping atop of Tetford Hill, just above Ruckland valley, when the
lightning struck the poor fellows. We were on our way to Horncastle Fair. I
mind it all, rai, as if it had happened yesterday."' Their wives were Sinfai 'the
crow' and Sophia Heme.
3 Borrow mentions this custom in The Romany Bye, pp. 06, 67, 71.
4 Dr. Ranking kindly sends the following particulars: 'I cannot remember
from whom I had the story ; but one of the old men told me that the ancient
punishment for unchastity was burying alive. He also professed to have himself
seen the punishment inflicted when he was a boy ; and showed me the spot where
he said the grave was. It was a few miles out of Ipswich, near a village the name
BORROW'S GYPSIES 171
every morning. It is very probable that both of these were sur-
vivals of Gypsy customs practised on the Continent, where un-
faithfulness was punished by gashing, or tying naked to a tree.1
Any licence that there was was only permitted to the men, who,
whatever their faults, were true to one another, and true to
their race. This was when the Gypsies in England lived ' right
Romanly.'
Meanwhile, I have been paying scanty attention to the worldly
history of Ambrose and his pals. For some years now they had
been in that state at which most Gypsies arrive during the
course of their lives — acute dissatisfaction with their present lot,
and a strange disinclination, that almost amounted to inability, to
remedy it. As early as 1842, on the occasion of a visit to Borrow
at Oulton, Ambrose had complained : ' There is no living for the
poor people, brother, the chokengres (police) pursue us from
place to place, and the gorgios are become either so poor or
miserly, that they grudge our cattle a bite of grass by the way-
side, and ourselves a yard of ground to light a fire upon.' 2 Since
then times had not improved, and many Gypsies had migrated
to the North Country, which, in the fifties and sixties, was a
Romany El Dorado. More and more went, and at last the
exigencies of trade, and the insatiable Wanderlust, compelled
Ambrose to say good-bye to his old haunts, and follow them,
never to return. In a few years his fallen fortunes were resusci-
tated. He went to Ireland with his brother, Faden, who
eventually died there, visited the Isle of Man, and then, about
1868, he and his family entered Scotland in company ' wi' thae
ither Romanies wha went aboot gie'in the Gipsy balls.'3 They
changed their name to Reynolds, the Christian name of Sanspi's
father. They were badly ' bitten by that mad puppy they calls
gentility,' and became ultra-respectable. ' Eh ! but they were
mighty fine folk the Reynolds, wi' their braw camps, and
of which I cannot remember ; I only know that there was an inn there called the
Angel. The spot itself was a place where three roads met. There was a good-
sized, triangular piece of grassy ground where they met, and this he said was at
one time a favourite camping place ; the burial-place was, he asserted, in the middle
of this plot.'
1 Cf. ' Forms and Ceremonies,' by E. 0. Winstedt, J.G.L.S., New Series, vol. ii.
pp. 355, 356.
2 The Zincali, p. 359.
3 In Gipsy Tents, p. 17. These were probably George (C. 12), William (C. 13),
and Lavaithen Smith (married to;Johu Lee). See also Gypsy Folk-Tales, pp. 2S2 and
2U.~> ; and Incidents in a Gipsy's Life, by George Smith (Liverpool, 1886).
172 sorrow's gypsies
caravans, and brakes. Freemasons,1 too, the young men were,
and awfu' golf-players. And horses ! why, I ken last Hallowe'en
Fair, Alfred (C. 10) himsel' had sixteen horses, and that wad be
ower twa hundred pound and mair. The gdrgies 11 jeest mak 'em
pay, though, where 'er they 're campit ; a guinea a week I
think it was at Musselburgh, and hardly a bite o' grass for the
puir beasties. And the scavengers wad come to the camps to
clean awa' the ashes and siclike, jeest the same as if it was some
grand gentleman's house; and I've seen the high-fliers and puir
poverty Tinklers come beggin' up to them ; ay ! and get mair than
they 'd get fra the haill o' Musselburgh.' 2 They never crossed the
Border again, but wandered leisurely up and down Scotland,
respected wherever they went. In 1878 they were camped at
Knockenhair Park, situated at the foot of a green rocky hill
overlooking the Firth of Forth, and about a mile west from
Dunbar. The late Queen was staying at the time at Broxmouth
Park with the Dowager Duchess of Roxburghe, and as Ambrose's
family had more than once visited Balmoral, and aroused her
interest and sympathy, she went over to visit them. ' Eh !
mon, there was a perfect ceremony. . . . The papers was jeest
full o' the Gipsy queen (that's Poley's wife [C. 8], ye ken)
and his gude-mither and her ither dochter. They were a'
of them dressed in purple and velvets, and the men in their
scarlet coats.'3 Ambrose was now getting an old man, and
was not in good health. He was destined never to leave
Dunbar again, for although he survived through the summer,
the fall of the year carried him away. He died on the 22nd
1 There is a masonic mark on the stone in Birkenhead cemetery erected in
memory of Ambrose's sister, Elizabeth Smith, and her grandsons Frederick and
Charles Henry Smith, who were probably among the young men referred to.
Other Gypsy Freemasons were Ambrose's brother Faden (London), Nathan Lee
(Belfast), and Kenza Boswell (Scotch).
2 In Gipsy Tents, pp. 17, 18.
3 In Gipsy Tents, p. 17. The late Queen herself writes (More Leaves from the
Journal of a Life in the Highlands, Smith, Elder & Co., 1884, p. 370) under the
date Monday, August 26th : ' At half-past three started with Beatrice, Leopold,
and the Duchess in the landau and four, the Duke, Lady Ely, General Ponsonby,
and Mr. Yorke going in the second carriage, and Lord Haddington riding the whole
way. We drove through the west part of Dunbar, which was very full, and where we
were literally pelted with small nosegays, till the carriage was full of them ; then for
some distance past the village of Belhaven, Knockindale Hill [Knockenhair Park],
where were stationed in their best attire the queen of the gipsies, an oldish woman
with a yellow handkerchief on her head, and a youngish, very dark, and truly
gipsy-like woman in velvet and a red shawl, and another woman. The queen is a
thorough gipsy, with a scarlet cloak and a yellow handkerchief around her head.
sorrow's GYPSIES 173
of October, at the age of seventy-four years, and was buried in
Christian fashion in Dunbar cemetery. The Queen sent a sym-
pathetic message to Sanspi, who travelled up to Balmoral, being
unable to stay in the place where everything reminded her of
Ambrose. During their stay there, Tommy (C. 11), who
had been ill for some time, contracted galloping consumption.
They tried to reach Dunbar, as he wished to be buried
there, but he died on the way, at Dalkeith, on the 28th of May
1879. The body, however, was carried to Dunbar, and he was
buried in the same grave as his father. Before most of the
mourners left for America, whence none of them have returned,
they erected a stone which bears this inscription : —
IN MEMORY OF
AMBROSE SMITH, who died 22nd
October 1878, aged 74 years.
Also
THOMAS, his son,
who died 28th May 1879, aged 48 years.1
' Nearer my Father's House
Where the many mansions be ;
Nearer the Great White Throne,
Nearer the Jasper Sea.
Nearer the bound of life
Where we lay our burdens down ;
Nearer leaving the Cross,
Nearer gaining the crown.
Feel thee near me when my feet
Are slipping over the brink ;
For it may be I 'm nearer home,
Nearer now than I think.' 'l
Such were the Gypsies whom Borrow made his particular
friends, both during his early life and after his return from
Spain, and some of whom he has immortalized in his books.
Very little is known amongst the present-day Gypsies about his
Men in red hunting- coats, all very dark, and all standing on a platform here,
bowed and waved their handkerchiefs.' George Smith told Mr. Myers that 'the
queen' was Sanspirella, that the 'gipsy-like woman in velvet and a red shawl'
was Bidi, and the other woman Delaia. The men were Ambrose, Tommy (C. 11),
and Alfred (C. 10). Two large coloured photographs of the camp at the time of
the Queen's visit are now in the possession of Mr. Innes of Dunbar, son of the
original photographer. The groups consist of Sanspi, Tommy, Bidi, Delaia, Foley
Mace, and two children of the Maces.
1 Compare these dates and ages with Laveiujro, pp. 34, 103, and 105 ; and The
Romany Rye, pp. 28-30.
2 These verses occur in a slightly better literary form in ' Nearer Home,' pp. 33,
34 of The Changed Gross, New Edition (London, 1886). This book was Grst
published in New York in 1865.
174 GYPSY FORMS AND CEREMONIES
young days; they have only heard by tradition that he led a wild
and unsettled life. In later years he frequently went over from
Lowestoft to see his old friends on Norwich Musel, especially to
see Sinfai ' the crow,' or Ambrose. He would come striding up to
Sinfai, and greet her in the most cordial tones.
' Mornin', my kdlo chirikel !'
' Mornin', my rai ! '
' Lei a bit o' tuvalo ? '
' I'araJco tut I.'
And then they would sit and discuss ' the old, poor Roman
language ' for hours. They were great friends, Sinfai and Borrow.
Or perhaps he would say to Jasper : ' Come on, brother, let 's go
on to the cdnga,' and they would spend nearly the whole day
there amongst the horses. He chiefly confined himself to his old
friends, and spoke little to the newcomers on the Heath. The
Gypsies in those days used also to camp on the marsh near Oulton,
and he spent many a long winter's night with them there, singing
wild songs which they only half understood, or telling them of
the life the Gypsies used to lead years before. They half-feared,
half-reverenced this strange giant, who had ' been into every
country into the world ' as they thought, and as he no doubt liked
them to believe. All the Gypsies who remember him speak of
his intense, passionate love for their race, and his queer, uncertain
temper, which he showed especially in dealing with gdjos. Before
his death he became sulky and morose, and would scarcely speak
to a Romanical, and when he did, he was not particularly agree-
able. Still, I have never heard a Gypsy say worse of him than
that ' he was the biggest old hukaben what ever lived.'
III.— GYPSY FORMS AND CERExMONIES
By William Crooke
(See J. G. L. S., New Series, vol. ii. p. 338 et seqq.)
TIIHE paper by Mr. E. 0. Winstedt, entitled 'Forms and Cere-
-*- monies,' is a valuable contribution not only to our knowledge
of the Gypsies but to general ethnography and folk-lore. The
question naturally arises: Does a study of these materials help
to settle the problem of Gypsy origins ? For instance, if it be
assumed that India was the original home of the race, it might
GYPSY FORMS AND CEREMONIES 175
naturally be expected that a large number of analogies between
Gypsy birth, marriage, and death rites, and those of the people of
India, could be traced. It is with the object of discussing Mr.
Winstedt's paper from this point of view that I venture to offer
the following comments upon it.
To begin with birth rites — I suggest that the custom of hold-
ing the child over an open fire (p. 340) cannot be regarded as a
survival of fire-worship. It seems rather to be connected with
the customs of leaping over fires and driving cattle through them,
which have been interpreted by Professor J. G. Frazer1 to be
intended ' to secure for man and beast a share of the vital energy
of the sun, and, on the other hand, to purge them of all evil
influences.' In other words, the object of the rite is cathartic.
Thus when disease, owing to the commission of adultery, attacks
Negrito children in the Malay Peninsula, the transgressor swings
the child through the fire to avert the evil.2 The habit of roast-
ing the mother (p. 341) with the intention of destroying the birth
pollution is common among the savage Malays and among most
of the Indian races ; but it is not sufficiently specialised in the
East to make it a test of Gypsy origins. Children in Bengal and
in most other parts of India are rubbed with mustard oil and laid
on a plank in the sun — a treatment which is supposed to make
them in later years able to stand the heat of the sun bareheaded,
to dry up the juices, and harden the bones.3
In the second fire ceremony, that of the Hungarian Gypsies
(p. 340), Mr. Winstedt's summary of the account by Wlislocki
omits some facts which make the rite intelligible. The brandy
is mixed with magical herbs; three drops are sprinkled on the
child's bed ; three pieces of bread are laid out for the goddesses of
fate, with an invocation that they will confer beauty and happi-
ness upon the child. When the child is laid on the ground, he
tells us that the object is to give it strength; and he adds that
while the child is taking the breast, the mother lays it on the
ground whenever it thunders, in order that the child may grow
and thrive. All this reminds us of the classical legend of Antaeus,
the wrestler, who was invincible so long as he kept touch with
earth. It was probably with a similar object that the Romans
laid the child on the ground ; 4 and there are Indian parallels in
1 Golden Bough2, iii. 312.
2 Skeat-Blagden, Pagan Races, ii. 59 f., 15, 20.
3 Lai Behari Day, Bengal Peasant Life, p. 40.
4 Pliny, Hist. Nat., vii. 1.
17li GYPSY FORMS AND CEREMONTES
the belief that the student, the parturient mother, and the dying
man are protected from the influence of evil spirits by being laid
upon the ground.1 But these customs are not peculiar to India.
The same is the case with the custom of drawing a circle with
charcoal dust or snake powder round the child (p. 340). This
magic circle forms a part of the birth rites in the Panjab;2 but
the belief in the efficacy of the circle as a protective against
dangerous spirit-influence is very widely distributed; as, for
instance, when Meles led the lion which his leman bare him
round the walls of Sardis.3 The charcoal, according to Wlislocki,
preserves the child from the Evil Eye, an idea current in India.
But this substance is used for the same purpose in Scotland,
where a careful mother puts charcoal into the water in which she
bathes her baby.4 Smearing with charcoal seems sometimes to
act as a disguise against the powers of evil, as when the Karens of
Burma powder a sick man with charcoal dust.5
Wlislocki, again, states that the snake powder is believed to
protect the child against the spirits of disease, an idea possibly
based on the widespread belief that the house snake is occupied
by the kindly spirits of the ancestral dead.
He also explains the custom of the relatives after the birth
rite throwing nuts into the bushes by the statement that the nuts
are an offering to God, probably rather to the wood sprites, who
are generally supposed to be hostile to, and envious of, new-born
babies.
His account also explains the custom of burning a piece of
the child's navel-string over the child and under the joined hands
of the oldest person present and of the medicine-man. It is a
piece of mimetic magic. The string being manipulated in this
way is supposed to bind the hostile spirits. This is helped out
by the widely spread belief of the close connection between the
child and its navel-string.6
The rite in which women go to the riverside and throw millet
seed into the water is possibly intended either as an offering to the
water spirits, or, as millet is noted for its productiveness, it is
often used in fertility charms; and this may be the object in the
1 Oldenberg, Religion des Veda, 417 ; Crooke, Popular Religion and Folk-lore2,
'• 2?- 2 Journal Royal Anthroj)ological Institute, xxxvii. 225.
3 Herodotus, i. 84.
4 Gregor, Folk-lore of N.E. Scotland, p. 7 ; Rogers, Social Life in Scotland, i. 135.
0 Journal Asiatic Society, Bengal, xxxiv. pt. ii. 204.
6 Hartland, Legend of Perseus, ii. 31 f. ; Skeat-Blagden, I.e., ii. 23.
GYPSY FORMS AND CEREMONIES 177
present case. Water spirits are specially propitiated at childbirth.
In Greece it is believed that the Nereids carry off children ; hence
they are appeased with offerings of milk and honey, a practice
which extends as far east as Borneo.1
We have another set of customs, probably based upon mimetic
magic, in the sprinkling of bits of bread, meat, and drops of brandy
at the place where the family takes its meals, the intention being
to secure that the child has plenty to eat and drink in after life
(p. 341).
In Hungary the father of the child lets fall some drops of his
own blood on the fire or on the swaddling clothes of the child
(p. 341). This is probably intended to establish the mystic bond
of the blood covenant between his child and himself. Gypsy
thieves in Servia drop their blood into the food of one who they
suspect knows of some offence committed by them, the intention
being to make him a brother by blood, and therefore incapable of
betraying them.2
Passing on to the marriage rites (pp. 341 et seqq.) — the
exchange of rings is intended to mark the adoption of the bride
into the kin of her husband.3 The custom of the chief touching
the lips of the pair with wine, spilling a few drops upon their
heads, and drinking the remainder himself, is one of the group of
customs resembling the Roman confarreatio, which imply union
of the pair and recognition by the kin, or, as Mr. Crawley
suggests,4 breaks the sexual taboo against eating together. The
vessel or glass is broken (p. 342), either as a device to propitiate
the powers of evil, or to prevent others making magical use of
the vessel to the injury of those who have drunk from it.5
The throwing of fragments of the wedding cake over the
spectators, or breaking a cheese or a plate over the heads of the
wedded pair, is one of a class of rites, the normal type of which is
the throwing of rice or other grain. This is explained by Professor
J. G. Frazer 6 as a device to prevent the soul of the bridegroom or
bride taking flight at the dangerous crisis of marriage. Mr. Sidney
Hartland 7 connects the ritual distribution of the cake with the
confarreatio custom, marking the creation by the common eating
1 Frazer, Pmisanias, iii. 13, v. 20, 159; Ling Roth, Natives of Saraivak,
i. 166 n. , 353.
2 Crawley, Mystic Rose, 234, quoting Am. Urquell, iii. 64.
3 Crawley, I.e., 373 f. 4 Ibid., 375. B Ibid., 366, 383.
6 Golden Boiujh2, i. 253 f. 7 Legend of Perseus, ii. 351.
VOL. III. — NO. III. M
178 GYPSY FORMS AND CEREMONIES
of food of a link between the wedded pair and the members of
the kin.
The rite of jumping over the broomstick (p. 343), probably
originally the branch of a sacred tree, appears to be intended to
promote the fertility of the bride, which is the object of similar
rites of which I have elsewhere collected examples.1 Possibly the
Gypsy custom of lifting the bride over the doorstep (p. 344),
which is the abode of the kindly spirits of the family, one of
whom it is hoped may be incarnated in the newly married woman,
may be explained on the same principle.
The rule that the bride is compelled to fetch a pail of water
to her husband's tent is possibly, as Mr. Winstedt suggests, a
symbol of her wifely subjection, a view corroborated by the
Russian custom of the bridegroom inflicting a nominal chastise-
ment upon her.2 On the other hand, in some cases it may imply
a propitiation of the water spirits. Among some of the southern
Slavs, a bride soon after her marriage is conducted with much
ceremony to the village well to draw water ; she carries in her
mouth an old gold coin, which she must spit into the well before
she draws the water.3 A similar offering at marriage is made on
the river bank by the Dayaks of Sarawak.4
The assertion that a dead horse was at one time used by the
Scottish Gypsies in their marriage rites (p. 345) is too vague to
render it possible to explain with certainty the purport of the rite.
It may be suggested that it is connected with the belief that the
horse is a source of fertilising energy. In the Indian epic, the
Ramayana, queen Kaucalya touches the stallion in order to
acquire fertility, and the king and queen smell the odour of the
marrow or fat of a horse with the same intention.5
The most remarkable marriage rite described by Mr. Win-
stedt is what may be called ' the urine covenant ' (p. 346). Urine
here seems to be regarded as one of the bodily secretions, like
blood or saliva, by the mixture of which by both the parties to
the marriage a form of mutual covenant is created. I am unable
to quote an exact parallel to the custom in this particular form.
Possibly an analogy to it may be traced in the Hottentot custom
in which the priest discharges his secretion over the bridegroom
1 Folk-lore, xiii. 237 ff.
-' Westermarck, Origin and Development of the Moral Ideas, i. 515 f.
3 Krauss, Sitte und Branch der Siid-Slaven, 451, quoted by Frazer, Pausanias,
ii. 475. * Ling Roth, I.e., i. 123.
5 De Gubernatis, Zoological Mythology, i. 332.
GYPSY FORMS AND CEREMONIES 179
and bride successively.1 Here he, as representing the tribe, unites
them to it and to each other.
The provenance of the tests of the virginity of the bride
(p. 347) is much too extensive to justify it being regarded as a
specially Gypsy custom.2
The practice of the Spanish bridegroom hiding himself on the
eve of marriage (p. 348) is interesting ; but this, again, is not
peculiar to the Gypsies. Mr. Crawley 3 cites ' various customs by
which the young people hide, from vague evil or from each other,
passing into various kinds of seclusion, concealment, and veiling ;
sexual shyness not only in woman but in man being intensified at
marriage, and forming a chief feature of the dangerous sexual
properties mutually feared.'
The statement (p. 349) that the bridegroom carries a hazel
wand through fear of water spirits is one of a group of customs
which, according to Professor J. G. Frazer,4 explain the danger of
looking at the shadow in water, as it is found in the story of
Narcissus. The use of the hazel, which is a sacred tree in Germany
and other parts of northern Europe, suggests that this part of the
custom may have originated in that region.5
The case of mock marriage by capture among some of the
Turkish Gypsies (p. 350) must be accepted with some caution.
The idea that this form of marriage was a stage in the evolution
of the institution is now generally rejected.6 The mock combats
which so often appear in the marriage ritual are probably a means
of expelling the evil spirits which menace the safety of the
wedded pair.7
The right of the bride to choose her husband (p. 351) is, again,
not peculiar to Gypsies. Professor Westermarck has collected
numerous examples of the assertion of this right from various
parts of the world.8 The same authority, with perhaps less success,
has endeavoured to show that the custom of assigning fixed dates
for the marriage rite (p. 351) suggests a human pairing time in
primitive ages.9
The unseemly performance of the old woman at Gypsy
marriages in eastern Europe (p. 352) is a piece of mimetic magic
1 Kolben, Present Stale of the Cape of Good Hope (1731), p. 152; cf. Crawley,
I.e., 100. " Westermarck, History of Human Marriage, 123 f.
3 L.c, 328. 4 i; olden Bough'1, i. 293.
5 Grimm, Teutonic Mythology, ii. 651 ; Black, Folk Medicine, 122, 193.
6 Crawley, I.e., 367 ff. 7 Frazer, Pausanias, iii. 267.
8L.c.,215ff. 9 ibid., 25 S.
180 GYPSY FORMS AND CEREMONIES
intended to ensure fertility ; and this perhaps also explains the
habit of girls donning the clothes of the bridegroom.
The smearing of the gate-posts with honey by the bride
(p. 353) is also probably a piece of mimetic magic intended to
secure the future happiness of the pair.
The ceremonial bathing of the bridegroom (p. 353) is, accord-
ing to Mr. Crawley,1 one of the varieties of ' lustration and purifica-
tion, the meaning of which is to neutralise the mutual dangers
of contact.'
The form of modified polyandry, in which the father takes a
wife for his infant son and then cohabits with her, is interest-
ing if it really prevails among Servian Gypsies. As Mr. Winstedt
points out, perhaps the best example of this custom is found
among the Velalahs of Coimbatore (not ' Coimbore '). Mr.
Thurston2 quotes a similar practice among the Malaialis of the
Salem district, who seem to be kinsfolk of the Velalahs. It is not
necessary, however, to suppose that a custom prevailing among
two rather obscure tribes in southern India was brought with
them by the Gypsies, particularly because, as Mr. Winstedt
remarks, Professor Westermarck has quoted instances of a similar
custom among Russian peasants, Ostyaks, and Ossetes.
The custom of punishing a faithless wife by mutilation of the
nose or some other member (p. 356) is common in India.3 But it
occurs also in other parts of the world, and cannot be held to be
a specially Gypsy custom.
The ceremony, in cases of divorce, of perambulating a horse
is really a form of ordeal, and cannot, as Simson suggests, have
any connection with the Asvamedha rite in India. In the Vedic
age this was a fertility charm ; in the Epic period a claim on the
part of a raja to universal sovereignty. In neither case has it
any analogy to this form of Gypsy ordeal.
The suggestion of the origin of the custom of burning the
effects of the dead, ascribed to a writer in the Yorkshire Post, has
been made long ago by Professor Tylor 4 and other anthropologists.
The question of ' soul-catching,' which perhaps accounts for the
Gypsy rite in which the services of a white dog are employed,
has been exhaustively discussed by Professor J. G. Frazer.5
1 L.c, 325. 2 Ethnographical Notes in S. India, 49 f.
3 Chevers, Medical Jurisprudence of India, 487 ff.
4 Primitive Culture", i. 485.
Golden Bowjh*, i. 277 ff. ; cf. 4th Series, Notes and Queries, x. 266 f., for a
similar custom among French Gypsies.
GYPSY FORMS AND CEREMONIES 181
The Gypsy explanation of the custom of corpse dismember-
ment is interesting, but hardly convincing. The custom may
primarily have arisen from a desire to keep the skull, with the
spirit occupying it, as a relic, as is done by the Australian
aborigines and the Andamanese. When it was no longer felt
necessary to preserve the skull, dismemberment, accompanied by
burial, may have survived. It cannot in this case be connected
with the familiar custom of mutilating the corpse to prevent the
ghost from ' walking.'
The danger believed to result from an animal jumping over
a corpse (p. 363) is not peculiar to Gypsies. The peasantry of
northern England did, or do, kill a cat or dog which passes over
a corpse; and the same prejudice is felt in other parts of this
country, Ireland, China, and the Malay Peninsula.1
Disposal of the corpse, or of the bones after cremation, in water
(p. 364) is, of course, common in India. But it seems very
doubtful if it was ever a habit of the Gypsies, or if it was, that
they brought it with them from India.
The taboo against naming the dead is common in many parts
of the world. Professor Frazer,2 who has collected numerous
instances, believes that it is ultimately based on the fear of recall-
ing the ghost, ' though the natural unwillingness to revive past
sorrows undoubtedly operates also to draw the veil of oblivion
over the names of the dead.'
The Gypsy custom, quoted from Schwicker (p. 364, n. 3), of
leaving holes in the cloth placed over the mouth of the dead, said
to be intended to allow the vampire to escape, is more usually
explained by the intention to give free egress to the departing
soul, the early departure of which to its place of final rest is
usually desired by the survivors.3
Fasting for the dead (p. 365) is an almost universal practice,
and is probably based upon the intention to purify the body for
the reception of the funeral feast, in which the ghost and the
spirits of the family dead share with the surviving relatives.4
These desultory notes on a very valuable paper, which suggests
many interesting problems, are not intended to be in any way a
1 Henderson, Folk-lore of the N. Countries, 59 ; Brand, Popular Antiquities
(1849), ii. 322 ; Folk-lore, vii. 151 ; De Groot, Religious System of China, i. 43 ;
Skeat, Malay Magic, 191, 398.
2 Journal Anthropological Institute, xv. 73; Tylor, Early History of Mankind,
142 f. 3 Frazer, Journal Anthropological Institute, xv. 64, 83.
4 Robertson Smith, Religion of the Semites2, 434.
182 A BULGARIAN GYPSY FOLK-TALE
systematic review of a very wide and difficult subject. What I
have attempted to show is that the theory of the Indian origin of
the Gypsies does not appear to be supported to any important
extent from the rites and customs collected by Mr. Winstedt.
With the other evidence from general ethnography or philology I
have not attempted to deal. There are analogies from India to
some of these customs and beliefs. But in many cases these are
not peculiar either to the Gypsies or to the people of India. Even
if any substratum of Gypsy custom can eventually be traced to
India, it must have been greatly worn down and contaminated by
admixture with the beliefs of other lands, Syria, Asia Minor, the
Balkan Peninsula, and other regions in which the Gypsy race
seems to have been for a long period domiciled. The strange
variety of custom shown in the different branches of this people is
only what might naturally result from their nomadic habits of life
and their varied environment. I venture to suggest that a com-
parison of these beliefs and customs, with those to be found in
their later settlements, is more likely to be fruitful than an attempt
to trace them to India or the countries bordering upon it.
IV.— A BULGARIAN GYPSY FOLK-TALE
Recorded by Bernard Gilliat-Smith
Introduction
I arrived in Constantinople on February 6th, 1909, and lived in the seventh
Hell until the spring came, and the two revolutions, and the nomads of Paspati's
immortal work pitched their tents along the road to Therapia (kai, Terabiate, beSela
0 Gadzikanipe), and one family of kamU gadze, and several families of the Kalb-
Ciygjane, adopted and fed me. I held discourse but once with the Katuneygere
Roma, the great prototype of the race, Paspati's nomads. They were encamped
above the heights of Arnaout Kjoy, in which village they had been busy all day.
1 entered the tents at sunset, just as all the teme raJde ta term' caid were collecting
round the fire for their evening meal.
The reader will doubtless want to know more of these wanderers of classic speech,
these fathers of the race. Alas ! I never met another band of nomads during my
stay in Turkey ; but if Fate is kind, I shall yet return and do some work among
them.
I was almost as slow in making the acquaintance of the sedentary Gypsies
within Constantinople. I found many who had entirely forgotten Romani, but
those who did speak it, used the language of Paspati's nomads. Many things must
have changed since Paspati wrote. The small settlement at Kasim Pasha is now
a considerable colony. The village is overlooked by a regular mountain of refuse
and offal, into the sides of which paths and ledges have been cut. Seated on one
A BULGARIAN GYPSY FOLK-TALE 183
of the latter I twice dined with one who said he was the Tcheribashi of the colony.
In fact I was on the highway to being elected their Bard myself, when He-otkotkd !
Tcrabjdtar avild jekh phenipe, and I migrated to Sofia. In a fortnight I was amaro
Bard to the large colony of sedentary Gypsies of this capital.
This is by far the largest colony it has yet been my lot to encounter. They are
Mohammedans by religion and everything imaginable by trade. The chief occupa-
tions of the men are horse-dealing and tinkering. All the town porters (hammals)
are Gypsies. The women excel in basketmaking. Some years ago there was a
large immigration of Rumanian Gypsies to Sofia. They did not succeed in frater-
nizing with their brethren of the Dis, as they call the capital, and nearly all of them
returned. They have, however, left their mark upon the dialect. One of the chief
reasons why they could not live together was probably the great difference between
the two dialects. ' Their language is not at all clear, not at all pure,' said my
teacher to me one day, ' they are lalorS ! ! ' I could not help expressing my surprise
at his using this term. ' Yes,' he said, ' lalore, like the dumb boy you saw in the
village yesterday.' There can be no doubt now as to the meaning of Ldlere Sinte,
as used by the Gypsies of the Rhine Province.
It is a little early yet for me to write a detailed account of the Sofia settlement.
This I hope to do in time, and at leisure. Meanwhile a Rom comes to my Khcr
every Saturday, and my collection of fairy-tales is ever growing, and every new
tale seems better than the last. Thai akand, o amald kacetinen piske.
Symbols Used
Stress is indicated by the acute accent, ellipses by an apostrophe. The English
alphabet is used with certain additions, and omitting c, q, w, and y.
Consonants : —
The following are pronounced approximately as in English : — b, d, f, h, k, I,
m, n, p, t, z: g as in ' good ' ; s is always voiceless as in ' sit ' ; the r is slightly
rolled ; and v is the voiced labial dental, or, sometimes, bi-labial.
I have written the aspirated consonants kh, ph, th and ch : they are strongly
aspirated stops (like those in Danish or Irish), with a very strong stressed breath
off-glide. In the past tenses the sound which has been evolved from the nomads' d,
by some such process as d > d' > dj > gj, is so elusive, being at times almost
dz, that I have decided to use Paspati's ghj everywhere. I hope on some future
occasion to give an exact description of this sound.
c is a single sound, a voiceless front^stop, and not the English ch in ' chalk ' ;
s the sh in ' shout ' ; ;j the French j or the s in ' pleasure ' ; and dz is not the Eng-
lish j in 'joke,' but the single voiced sound corresponding to the voiceless c.
g is the Arabic ^ : x the voiceless back open consonant, as in Modern Greek,
ecprivalent to ch in German ' Ach.'
The sound y, as in ' singer,' occurs in Bulgarian Romani only in the combina-
tion yg as in English ' finger.'
T represents a sound which is exceedingly difficult to pronounce, and may be
described as between an I and an r. It is mostly derived from an older nd, and is
perhaps equivalent to the Norwegian ' thick ' I or ' flap ' r.
Vowels : —
With the exception of exclamations there are no long vowels in Bulgarian
Romani. Consecutive vowels are to be pronounced separately except in the case
of ai, the only diphthong which occurs. When i following a is to be pronounced
separately the two letters are printed ai.
184 A BULGARIAN GYPSY FOLK-TALE
a is a middling short sound as in French ' chat ' : e approximately as in English
' met ' : e as in German ' geben,' but inclines to i at times : i approximately-
equivalent to the French i in 'fils' : t is the Turkish 'hard' i : j is the front
open consonant as in the y in English ' year ' : o is the French short o as in ' mot,'
but inclines sometimes towards u (perhaps mid-back-tense, over-rounded) : u as
in English ' full ' : u is the Turkish u, and nearly the same as the French u :
5 is the Bulgarian o, approximately Rumanian a or e, English u in ' but.'^
O C6RDILENDZIS
1 . Sine' jek thagdr, isi-de odolki thagare's trin rakljd thai trin
rakljd. Aid vdkti te merd. Prokletia mukljds pe thavdyge: ko
kamaygdl e phenjen, te den len, te na poerinen. Peld o thagdr
muld. 0 trin phrald phendd : ' Hdti ikdlas po jekhe grasUs, tha
t'lkljovas ovi ame, gurbecelekjeste.' 0 tsikneder plural pher/ghjds :
' Te prandinas amare phenjen, tha togdi t'ikljovas.'
2. Aid e phureder phenjdke jek ruv. 0 phureder phral
pherjghjds: ' Me na dav la.' 0 streno phral pJteyghjds: 'Me-da na dav
la.' 0 tsikneder phral phenghjds : ' Phraldlan-be, mo dat prokletia
mukljds, me nai erinav la.' 0 tsikneder dinjds pe phenjd. Aid
o strenondke jek mecka. 0 phureder phral na dinjds. 0 strino
phral na dinjds. 0 tsinkneder (phral) dinjds. E tsiknedere
phenjdke aid jek drlos — kai urjdl — . 0 phureder phral na dinjds.
0 streno phral na dinjds, o tsikneddr phral dinjds. ' Akand old
£iras (redos) ha te ukljds po jekhe grasUs t'ikljas gurbecelekjeste.'
3. 0 phureddr phral pheyghjds : ' Phrdlabe, ha t'ikljovas;
mozebi mo phral te sikildinjds.' UJdistile pe grastin, gele kai geU
The C6rdilendzis.
1. There was a king, and that king had three sons and three daughters. The
time came for him to die. He left a command to his children : they were to give
their sisters in marriage to whomsoever should ask for them, and they were not to
refuse them. The king fell dead. The three brothers said : ' Let us each lead
out a horse, and we too will go a- wandering.' The youngest brother said : ' Let
us marry our sisters, and then we will go.'
2. For the eldest sister there came a wolf. The eldest brother said: 'I will
not give her.' The second brother said : 'I too will not give her.' The youngest
brother said : ' 0 Brothers ! My father left a command ; I will not break it.'
The youngest brother gave his sister. For the second sister there came a
bear. The eldest brother gave not, the second brother gave not, the youngest
brother gave. For the youngest sister there came an eagle, — he who flies. The
eldest brother gave not, the second brother gave not, the youngest brother gave.
'Now the time has come for us to mount each of us a horse and to go out
a- wandering.'
3. The eldest brother said : ' 0 Brothers ! Let us go ; perhaps my [youngest]
brother is annoyed.' They mounted their horses, they went and they went until
A BULGARIAN GYPSY FOLK-TALE 185
andi jekhi livddia. Uyistile otJii, jek dzend inzaril o katuni,
(tsidel), jek phral kidel -\ilXuc^a kaStofi, ta te pijin po jek leave's
(kaljardi). BeUi te %an mar 6. Aid jek idrdilendzis. Pheyghjds:
'Amain, phraldlen, mo dat t'ovin mo phral t'ovin. De man e
kotdr mard ; trin dijis thai trim ratjd na xaljdm? 0 phuredir
phral pheyghjds: 'Me ikistiljom gurbecelekjiste. Ayghjdm kiti
mdrjge te %av.' 0 strino phral, dv-da na dinjds. 0 tsikneder
phral : ' Phraldlan-be ! den mo %ises adikardt ; me nandi te xav-'
4. Blevelilo. Karakjen nebeti. 0 phureder phral thoghjds i
mdsa aygldl pes, tharghjds po feneri pe isereste, zakacir/ghjds les
(te tsvetinel). Thoghjds i churi aygldl piste, thoghjds o ketdpi aygldl
piste, cetinel-peske. Avel okotdr jek %dla (gddos). Plienel: ' TJyti
ta vdkjer mdrfge savo si akavkd drom, kai nasdvghjiljom.' 0
chavd vakjerel : 'Me-da na dzandv akavkd drom thai akikd planina
savi si. Sar peljdm anddr me deidkere mindzdtar, me ikistiljom
gurbecelekjeste.' 0 vakjerghjds : ' Uyti, sikdv mdyge, zer kaydv tut.'
0 pher/ghjds : ' Ja ^a.s, ja nasti.' Tsidinghjds kdrig Iss te ^al les.
Tsidir/ghjds o kilici, liljds i men. Lei o dui kand, thovel dndi
phuygia. Disilo. Geld pe phralende vszdinjds len; amd na
vakjerel kai ali Uske ydla.
5. Blevelilo. BeUd te yan maro. Avel okotdr o cordilendzis :
' Amdn, phraldlen, trin dijis na yalidm mard, de man adikd-da
blel tha te xav-' 0 phureder phral na dinjds, o stri.no phral na
dinjds, o tsikno phral pher/ghjds: 'Ben adikdablel, mo ^-ises; me
they came to a meadow. They alighted there, one of them put up the tent, one
brother collects bits of halfdmrnt wood that they may each drink coffee. They
sat down to eat their evening meal. A certain Cordilendzis came. He said :
' Aman, 0 Brothers ! Become my father and my brother ! Give me a piece of
bread. Three days and three nights I have not eaten.' The eldest brother said :
' I have come out on a journey. I have brought only enough for myself to eat.'
The second brother, he too gave not. The youngest brother : ' Give my share
to-night, I will not eat.'
4. Evening came. They will keep watch. The eldest brother placed the table
before him, he lit the lantern at his head, and hung it up to light him. He placed
the knife in front of him, he placed the book in front of him, and he is reading.
There comes from yonder a monster. It says : ' Arise, and tell me what is this road,
for I have lost my way.' The boy says : ' I too do not know this road and this
mountain, what they are. Since I fell from my mother's womb I set out a- wandering.'
He [the monster] said : ' Arise, show me, or I will eat you.' He said : ' Either you
will eat me, or you will not be able to ;' and the monster hurled himself at him, to
eat him. The boy drew his knife and cut off the monster's head. He takes the two
ears and puts them into his sack. Day broke. He went to his brothers and woke
them ; but he does not tell them that a monster came to him.
5. Night came. They sat down to eat their evening meal. Yonder comes the
Cordilendzis : ' Aman, Brothers ! Three days I have not eaten. Give me also
this evening to eat.' The eldest brother gave not, the second brother gave not, the
186 A BULGARIAN GYPSY FOLK-TALE
hcmdi te yav! 0 phureder phral pheygJtjds: ' Be-phrdla-be, te
des ada Ike's to mar 6, kakerd amdyge beygipe.' 0 tsiknedSr phral
pheyghjds ; ' 0-%610/ri-be, kaddv les yek kofedini (Samdr), kabayg-
jardv o mui Uskoro.'
6. Blevdilo. Karakje% nebeti o streno phral ; dvda thoghjds i
mdsa aygldl pes, tharghjds po feneri pe kreste, zakaciyghjds ;
liljds i churi aygldl piste, thoghjds o ketdpi aygldl peste, (o HI),
ktinel-peske. Avdl okotdr dokrSygeri ydla. Phenyl Uske : ' Uyti
tha sikdv mdyge akavkd drom ta akikd planina, savi si; kai
naZdvghjiljom.' ' Te girimi kirimi ! Sar peljom anddr me
daiakere mindzdte ikistiljom gurbecelekjeste. Me-da na dzandv
akavkd drom thai akikd planina, savi si, mamui mdnde.' I yala
I '1' ('Vf/J'Jas •' ' Ja uyti, vdkjer mdygeja kaydv tut! 0 clto pheyghjds :
' Ja %as, ja na$ti.' Tsidinjds adikd kdrig Iss, tsidel o kilici, lei o
dui sere1. Lei o Star kand, thovel an pe phuygia. Bisilo. Geld
paS pe phralen, vszdinjds len, yoratinen-peske.
7. Blevdilo. Beste te yan mafd. Hop okothdr o cordilendzis
■paid aid. 0 phureder phral ndna dinjds, o streno phral ndna
dinjds, o tsikno phral pheyghjds : l Phraldlan-be, den adikardt,
mo yises ; me nandi te xav- Ov ne ka^al.' 0 phrald phende :
' Be-phrdla-be, tu des adalkes to mafd, amd kakerel ameyge jek
beygipe! 0 tsikneder phral pheyghjds : ' Ai-yoldn / kaddv les
jek koredini, kabaygjardv o mui!
8. Rdtilo. Karakjel nebeti o chavo. Tharghjds po feneri,
youngest brother said : ' Give also this evening rny share ; I will not eat.' The
eldest brother said : ' 0, my Brother ! If you give this fellow of your bread, he
will do us some devilry.' The youngest brother said : ' Eholla ! I will give him
a blow, and close his mouth.'
6. Evening came. The second brother will keep watch. He too placed the
table before him, lit his lantern at his head, hung it up, put his knife before him,
placed the book in front of him, and he is reading. Yonder comes a two-headed
monster. It says to him : ' Arise, and show me this road and this mountain, what
one it is, for I have lost my way.' ' Te girimi kirimi ! Since I fell from my
mother's womb I set out a-wandering ; I too do not know this road and this
mountain, what they are in front of me.' The monster said : ' Either arise and tell
me, or I will eat you.' The youth said : ' Either you will eat me, or you will be
unable to.' The monster cast himself against him ; he draws his knife and cuts off
the two heads. He takes the four ears and places them in his sack. Day broke.
He went near his brothers, he woke them, they converse together.
7. Evening came. They sat down to eat their evening meal. Behold yonder
came the Cordilendzis once more. The eldest brother gave not, the second brother
gave not, the youngest brother said : ' 0, Brothers ! Give to-night my share. I
will not eat. Let him eat.' The brothers said: '0 Brother mine! You intend
to give this fellow of your bread, but he will do us some devilry.' The youngest
brother said : ' Eholla ! I will give him a blow, and close his mouth.'
8. Night came. The boy will keep watch. He lit his lantern, he hung it up
A BULGARIAN GYPSY FOLK-TALE 187
zakatiyghjds pe ' Sereste, thoghjds i mdsa angldl peste, thoghjds i
churi aygldl peste, thoghjds o ketdpi angldl peste, cetinel-peske. Hop
okotdr jek ydla trinesereygeri. Pheyghjds leske: ' Uyti, silcd-
mange akavkd drom thai akikd planina. ' 0 phetjghjds : ' Te girimi
kirimi ! Sar peljom anddr me deidkere mindzdte me-da ikistiljom
gurbehlekjeste. Me-da na dzandv savo si akavkd drom, thai akikd
planina.' I ydla phenghjds : ' Ja uyti,ja sikd-mange, ja ka^dv
tut.' 0 clio pheyghjds: ' Ja yas, ja natsti.' Saldinel (tsidel)
kdrig Iss, te yal les. Tsidel o MUSi o 6ho, lei o trin Sere, lei o £ov
kand, thovel dnde phurjgia. Sar te tsidel o kiliU, Zhirjghjds e
feneskeri dori. Pelo o feneri, mulo. Akand mislinel : ' Aj ana-
sini ! te dzav te lav o kibriti, kadzangdljovel mo phral, kaphenel :
1 Tsikneder di-mi-si ; dikhljds dar, dardnilo, mudarghjds o feneri.'
CJdtjds pe jakhd, mamui, svetinel jak, liljds o feneri, tsidinjds kdrig
i jak te tharel po feneri.
9. Restjds jekhe phurjd. PJieyghjds phurjdke : ' Pliurije, so
keres athe ? ' / phuri phenghjds : ' Ake Sinko, o kalo motinav, o
parno mukdv.' ' Mtik-ta phurije o kalo, motin o parno.' Mukljds
i phuri o kalo, motinjds o parno jak jakhdsa na dikhjdl. Phanljds
e phurjd jekhe kasteste, ' Ake phurije, me tut kaphanddv dzi kai
te dzav te thardv mo feneri.' Gelo adavkd te tharel po feneri.
10. So te dikhel? Sardnda-u-jek 6ord pdMjon turjdl i jag.
Odolke jagdte jek kazdni, thai sardnda-u-jek kocos, bakre, kerghjon.
at his head, he placed the table in front of him, he placed the knife in front of
him, he placed the book in front of him, he is reading. Behold yonder a three-
headed monster. It said to him : 'Arise, show me this road and this mountain.'
He said : ' Te girimi kirimi ! Since I fell from my mother's womb I have been a-
wandering ; I too do not know what is this road and this mountain.' The monster
said : 'Either arise and show me, or I will eat you.' The boy said : 'Either you
will eat me, or you will be unable to.' He hurls himself at him, to eat him ; the
youth draws the knife, cuts off the three heads, takes the six ears, places them in
his sack. In drawing the knife he cut the lantern-rope. The lantern fell, and went
out. Now he thinks : ' Dear me ! If I go to fetch a match, my brother will wake
and he will say " Is it not the little one who has seen something to frighten him,
and has become afraid, and extinguished the lantern ?"' He cast his eyes around.
In front of him a fire is shining. He took the lantern and made his way towards
the fire.
9. He came upon an old woman. He said to the old woman : ' 0 Old Woman !
What are you doing here?' The old woman said : 'See, Sinko, I am drawing in
the night and spinning out the light.' ' Spin out the night, old woman, and draw
in the light.' The old woman spun out the night and drew in the light so that
' one eye could not be seen by the other.' He bound the old woman to a tree.
' There, old woman, I will bind you to a tree while I go and light my lantern.' He
went to light his lantern.
10. What does he see ? Forty-one thieves are lying around the fire, and on
that fire a cauldron, and forty-one rams cooking in it. He lit his lantern, and
188 A BULGARIAN GYPSY FOLK-TALE
Thardjds adavkd po feneri, tsidinjds tha avel ; aid kai aid dzi
epkds* o drom. ' Aj anasini ! mdyge si xaTam^ akikd jak.' Del
phudibd, o feneri mudarel. Geld othe vszdinjds len sarore.
Dikhel les o ford, ' Alld athe tu so rddes? Athe niko na avel.
Tu so mur&njdntha aljdnV 'Alld mo mur&be dke.' Vszdel
donajentsa o Icazdni katdr o sdzaki, uyliavel les phujdte,
vszdel les donajentsa. Thovel les pale ko sdzaki. OSordphende:
1 Ee ! Akand ame murSd, tu-da murl Ame mards amen jekhe
perikizlarjeyge. Sardnda ber§ natti te las la ; akand tu-da athdr,
murs, ame-da akatdr, micrS, akand kalds la.'
11. Akand tsidinde adalkd, te dzan. Oele kai gele dzi jekhe
zddnia. Akand o cord phucenpes : ' Sar kalds laV ' Sdr-li kalds
len ? Me kavakjerdv. Anentha mange sardnda enserja.' Calaghjds
adavkd o enserja sa na-pered, dzi upre. tHdda! Akand me
k'uxlidv tels ; tume mdnge kaphanden jekhe ku&ikdsa, jek po jek
kamukhena tels.' Mukljejekhes ; chiyghjds. Yekpo yek e sardnda
sar or en chiyghjds, asli i voivoda. Chinel Id-da.
12. Geld adavkd, phuterghjds o vuddr, dikhel andre. Sovel
jek perikizldr. Piljds o pani, %a^'d.s o lukumi. Ikraladinjds la
pe phureder phraleske. Geld okolo vudareste, phuterghjds ki streno
phen, xak)^s ° lukumi, piljds o pani, ikraladinjds la pe strenone
phraleske. Geld ki tsikneder phen, phuterghjds o vuddr, dinjds
andre, piljds o Serbeti, Zumidinjds la ma§kdr ophovd, ikraladinjds
la peske. Akand i phureder phen phetjghjds: ' Aid tu so rddes
started to come back ; he came and he came until he had covered half the distance,
[when he bethought him] : ' Heavens ! This fire is unlawful for me ! ' He blows
and extinguishes the lantern. He went back there, and woke them all. The
thieves see him. ' What are you looking for here ? No one comes here ! How
were you brave enough to come ? ' ' Behold my bravery ! ' And he lifts with
his two little fingers the cauldron from the tripod, sets it down on the ground,
lifts it with his two little fingers, and places it back on the tripod. The thieves
said : ' Heigh ! Now we are men, and you are a man. We are fighting to obtain
three beautiful girls. For forty years we have been unable to get them. Now
you have appeared, a man, and here are we, men ; now we will take them.'
11. Now they made ready to go. They went and they went till they came to
a large building. Now the thieves ask one another : ' How shall we take them ? '
' How shall we take them ? I will tell you. Bring me forty nails.' He hammered
the nails all into the wall, up to the top. 'Come now ! I will descend [inside] ;
you will bind me with a rope, and let yourselves down one by one.' They let down
one ; he killed him. One by one he killed the whole forty. Remained the chief.
He kills him too.
12. He went, opened the door, looks inside. One of the girls is sleeping. He
drank water,"ate Turkish delight, and took her for his eldest brother. He went
round to [another] door, and opened upon the second sister. He ate Turkish
delight, drank water, and took her for his second brother. He went to the
youngest sister, opened the door, entered, drank sherbet, kissed her between the
A BULGARIAN GYPSY FOLK-TALE 189
athe ? Niko nan' avel ; ami te dikhel mi tetka, ka%dl tut.' Thai
phende o trin phenjd : ' Tu po-sigo te dikMs t'ikales amen, soske
kavel amari tetka, zer ka^dl tut' 0 cho ptheyghjds : ' Haide, Trie
kadzdv te vizdav me phralen, tume po-sigo t'urjen tumen, me
kavdv.'
1 3. Gelo adavkd, lei pes othdr prdvo ki phuri. I phuri dikhljds
les ; ' Po-sigo, Sinkole, soske sildliljom, kamerdv.' ' Me tut kaphu-
terdv, amd tu sa po~xari te motines o halo, te mukes o pamo,
hemen motinjdn po-sigo o kalo ta mukljdn o pamo, amd sa po-
%aW, te dzav ; zer te disljares, kdte te dzas, karakhdv tut, kachindv
tut:
14. Gelo pa§ pe phralen, vszdinjds len : ' Ha phraldlen ! Kiden
o sexjd tha t'ukljds amare grasten, te dzas ekhethane, arakljom
trine phenjen, tha te las len, ameyge.' Gele kai gele dzi ko phenja.
Ukljel o tsikneder phral, lei e phuredere phenjd, chivel paldl po
phureder phral, lei e strenone phenjd, chivel paldl po streno phral,
lei pe le dzuvljd, (e tsiknedere phenjd,) Chivel paldl pes, — tsidinde.
15. Gele kai gele. Hop okothdr o cordilendzis grabinel e tsik-
nedereskere dzuvljd. 0 phureder phral pher/ghjds : ' Me, di-mi,
phrdla, pheijghjom tuke kai kakerel ametjge ber/gipe ? Ami tu so
pheyghjdn ? " E ^6la,jek kofedini kaddv les, kabaygjardv o mui." '
0 tsikneder phenel : ' Hade, phraldlen, sastipndsa, ha dzan tume,
me kerinav napdlpale.' Geld adavkd pas pe phuredere phenjd.
eyebrows and took her for himself. Now the eldest sister said : ' What are you
looking for here ? No one conies here ; but if my aunt sees you, she will eat you.'
And the three sisters said : ' See that you get us out of here as quickly as possible,
for our aunt will come and will eat you.' The boy said : ' Haide ! I will go and
wake my brothers ; dress yourselves as quickly as possible ; I will return.'
13. He went and betook himself straightway to the old woman. The old
woman saw him. ' Be quick, Sinko, for I am freezing ; I shall die.' 'I will untie
you, but you are to draw in the night very slowly, and spin out the light, for you
were drawing in the night too quickly, and spinning out the light ; but do it very
gradually, and I will go. Should you make broad daylight come, wherever you go,
1 will find you and kill you.'
14. He went to his brothers and woke them. ' Ha, Brothers ! Collect the
things, let us mount our horses and go off together : I have found three sisters, and
we will take them for ourselves. They went and they went until they came to the
sisters. The youngest brother alighted. He takes the eldest girl, throws her
behind his eldest brother ; he takes the second girl, throws her behind his second
brother ; he takes his own maiden, the youngest, and throws her behind himself — and
they start afresh.
15. They went and they went. Behold the Cordilendzis seizes the youngest
brother's maiden. The eldest brother said : ' Did I not tell you, Brother, he will do
us some devilry ? But you, what did you say ? " Eholla ! I will give him a blow,
I will close his mouth." ' The youngest brother says : ' Haide, Brothers ! May you
remain in health ! Now go, I am going to turn back.' He went to his eldest sister.
190 A BULGARIAN GYPSY FOLK-TALE
16. DikhI/}&8 iphen: ' Ti, phrdlal Dinjdn ma/n> ruveste, kavel
aJecmd te %"i tut.' Del les jek koredini, kerel les suvdl, chivel les
rigdte. A vel okothdr o ruv. ' Uu, romnije ! Kh andel mange mas ! '
1 E xolau,' i romni phenyl. ' Xari ^as mursd, ta tu te dildies,
mdn-da te xas-' Akand phenel leske: ' T'avel mo phureder phral,
so kakeres ? ' ' Akathdr kaydv les, paldl Jca^ilidv les.' '.Ami o
streno pliralV ' Lez-da ka^dv.' ' Ami otsikneder?' ' BoMmd-
kaddr jeri var ! ' ('Me Oereste than isif) Del les, suvdl, i pJten,
jek kofedini, kerel les manuk 0 ruv : ' Tu, so rodes tha aljdn ? '
0 cho : ' Ake acokd atokd, o tordilendzis liljds vie dzuvljd.' ' El,
ame mards amen leske i dijes-i rat ; t'arakhdv, ka-^dv les. Tu
kadzds, te strenone pkenjdte, ko orlos.'
17. Geld otJie, dikJdjds les i phen, liljds te rovel. ' 0 phraldbe,
dinjdn man orloste, tJta t'aavel, te klivinel tha t'ikdlel te jakhd.'
Del les jek kofedini, i phen, kerel les suv, iliovel les pe bsrkeste.
Avel o orlos : ' Uu, romni} e ! Adam eti kokajor bana.' I dzuvli :
' E 'xplan, xari klii'iitjd'u manusen, ta aljdn, te dikMs, mdn-da te
klevines. Th'aavel mo 'phureder phral, so kakeres leske V ' Bi-
klivinavas leskere dui jakhd, tha thovdvas dndo vastd.' 'Ami
th'aavel mo streno phral ? ' ' Leskere-da kerdvas adzukd.' ' Ami
t'aavel mo tsikneder 'phral?' 'Leske si me sereste-da than!'
Dinljds les jek koredini, kerghjds les manuUs. ' Abe, tu, sar aljdn V
' Ake voka coka, o cordilendzis liljds me dzuvljd.' ' Ee, tu lesa ma
16. His sister saw him: ' Heee Brother! You gave me to a wolf; he will
come now and eat you.' She gives him a blow, and turns him into a broom, and
throws him on one side. The wolf comes along : ' Oooo Wife ! I smell meat ! '
' Eholla ! ' The wife answers, ' you have just been eating men, and the moment
you see me you want to eat me too ! ' Now she says : ' If my eldest brother comes,
what will you do to him ? ' ' First I will eat him, then I will void him.' ' But
my second brother ? ' ' Him too will I eat ! ' ' But the youngest V ' Up to my
head I have room for him' [i.e. he is always welcome]. She gives the broom a blow
and turns it into a man again. The wolf : ' What do you want, that you have
come ? ' The boy : ' Behold it is thus : the Cordilenzis has taken my maiden.'
' Heigh ! We will fight him day and night, and, if I find him, I will eat him. You
will now go to your second sister, to the eagle.'
17. He went there. His sister saw him and began to cry. ' 0 Brother ! You
gave me to an eagle, and if he comes he will claw and tear out your eyes.' She
gives him a blow, and turns him into a needle and pins him to her breast. The
eagle comes : ' Oooo, wife ! I smell man's flesh.' The girl : ' Eholla ! You have
just been clawing men, and, the moment you come and see me, you want to tear
and claw me also. If my eldest brother comes, what will you do to him V 'I would
tear out his two eyes and place them in your hands.' ' But if my second brother
comes V 'To him I would do the same also.' ' But if my youngest brother comes ? '
' For him I have room up to my head ! ' She gave the needle a blow, and turned
it into a man again. ' But you, how have you come ? ' ' Behold, it is just thus :
the Cordilendzis has taken my wife.' ' Heigh ! Don't you have anything to do
A BULGARIAN GYPSY FOLK- TALE 191
thov tut, zerre kakerel tut zidn. Me Jciti urjdv o mdndar dui
leak] a po-but urjdl. Me t'arakhdv les, bi-klivinavas o dui jakhd, ta
kerdvas les koro t'achol.'
18. Pale dzal dzi te tsiknedere phenjdte. Oi-da : ' II, phraldbe !
Dinjdn man meckdte, ta t'aavel, te yal tut! Bel les jek koredini,
kerel les phabdi, thovel la ko rdfi. All i mecka. ' Olelii ! murSd
khandel mdyge.' I romni phenel : ' E yola, yari yas mursd, tha
aljdn, mar/ges man-da te yas. T'aavel mo phureder phral, so bi-
ker sas leske ? ' ' Akathdr ydvas les, paldl yilidvas les.' ' Ami o
streno ? ' ' Liz-da kaydv, paldl kayilidv.' ' Ami o tsikneder ? '
' Basimd-kaddr jeri var ! ' Del les jek koredini i phen, kerel les
manus. I mecka phucel les : ' Amd, tu, sar aljdn ? ' ' Ake coka
coka, o tordilendzis me dzuvljd liljds.' ' Ee ! ame leske i dijes-i
rat mards amen ; t'arakJtds-bi, pardm-parcd kerdsas les. Ami tu
dzanes-li so kakeres ? Te les tut tukleste grastes, hee otkotkd bare
portes si. Te des jek yens te grasteske, po-sigo te nakjes, zerre som
phanlile o portes, kachinen tut e grastesa beraber. Isi othe ki desno
rik jek aysri, isi othe jek gemi ; te otkacines les, te vszdes te vastd
'no 'pre, tha th' ikeres o gemi, savo gras kaavel, te thovel po sero, tu
leske te zakacines o gemi.' —
19. Dikhel les i dzuvli, kerel lake adavkd seresa, oi-da ali, ukljel
ko gras, chivel la paldl pes, lei pe dzuvljd. Gele kai gele. Xremitinel
o gras : ' Aga dga ! Hatunj gitdi I ' O-da : ' Kac sa'dt ? ' ' Bes
sa'dt ! ' 0 cordilendzis phenel : ' Ko gitsen, alti sa'dt ! ' Ukljel
with him, or he will do you harm. He can fly twice as fast as I can. If I found
him I would tear out his two eyes, and make him remain blind.'
18. He then goes to his youngest sister. And she : ' Heee, Brother ! You
gave me to a bear, and, if he comes, he will eat you.' She gives him a blow, and
turns him into an apple, and places it on the shelf. The bear came : ' Holelay ! I
smell men ! ' The wife says : 'Eholla ! You have just been eating men, and now
you come and want to eat me too ! Should my eldest brother come, what would
you do to him1?' 'First I would eat him, then I would void him.1 'But the
second 1 ' ' Him too will I eat, and then void.' ' But the youngest ? ' ' Up to my
head there is room ! ' The sister gives him a blow, and turns him into a man.
The bear asks him : ' But you, how have you come ? ' ' It is just thus : the Cordi-
lendzis has taken my wife.' ' Heigh ! We will fight him day and night. And if
we find him, we will break him all in pieees. But you, do you know what you
will do ? You will take your horse — see yonder, there are big gates. You will
spur on your horse, and pass through as quickly as possible, for as soon as the
doors are closed they will kill you together with the horse. There, on the right
hand side, there is a stable, and there is there a collai\ Take it off its hook, and
hold your hands on high, and hold the collar. Whatever horse will come and place
his head (through it), on him you will hang the collar.'
19. His maiden sees him ; he makes a sign to her with his head, and she came.
He mounts the horse, throws her behind him, takes his maiden. They went and they
went. The horse neighs : ' Master, master ! The lady has gone ! ' And he :
192 A BULGARIAN GYPSY FOLK-TALE
pe grasnid o cordilendzis, jek vika del lake, thai resel la. 'Sun
mdnde, me yaljdm to maro, trin ratjd adltaghjom tut bokhalo.
Me Wee prostinav. Po ftomo som aljdn kachindv tut' Liljds e
dzuvljd, igalghjds la pale peske.
20. Geld alcana o chavo pas' i mecka, phenel : ' Me geljom othe,
liljom me dzuvljd, resel men adavkd, phenel mdyge : " Me yaljom
to maro, trin ratjd, t'afhaghjom tut bokhalo ; po ftomo, som aves,
Jcachindv tut." ' I mecka phenel : ' Ma dza akand jeklte dzuvljdke te
%08 to hro ! ' 0 phenghjds, o cltavo : ' Me kadzdv, te isterse, ne
thinel man.' ' Tu kadzds, amd som des andre dndo portes, isi jek
khuro, te asti, doles les. Aver turlis nandi so te keres.'
21. Dolghjds adavkd, o cho, e kJtures, tltoghjds i $uvdr, ukistilo
les, liljds e dzuvljd chitjds paldl pes. Del jek vika e grasteske.
Xrimitinel i grasni, e khureskeri dai : ' Aga aga, hatunj gitdi ! '
' Ka6sa'dt ? ' ' Sa'at mat kdlmadi.' « Bre xoldn, sa'i-mi ? (caces-li ?) '
Ukljel o cordilendzis pe grasnjd. Ha akdte ha okote te resel len,
nasti resel, Xrimitinel i grasni pe khureske. ' Ee, Sinko, ydrami
kakerdv me tuke, mo thud so piljdn les, te na tsrsinsa tut tha te
peraves les, e Shaves, te keres les pardm-parces ! ' Sunel o khuro
tsrsinel pes, kerel les pardm-parces. Lei les o cordilendzis, kidel o
kotord leskere, thovel dndo ^ebedes (dndo disddja), lei leskere grastes,
chivel les uprdl les, liljds pes o gras prdvo ki phen, ko orlos.
' What o'clock ? ' ' Five o'clock.5 The #6rdilenzis says : ' Let him go [even if
'twere] six o'clock.' The Cordilenzis mounts his mare, gives her one shout, and
overtakes her [i.e. the lady J. ' Listen to me,' [to the boy]. ' I have eaten of your
bread ; three nights I caused you to remain hungry. I forgive you. But a second
time, as soon as you have come, I will kill you.' He took the girl, carried her
back to his home.
20. Now the boy went to the bear and said : ' I went there and took my maiden ;
the (^ordilenzis overtakes me and says to me : "I ate your bread three nights and
caused you to remain hungry. A second time, as soon as you come, I will kill
you."' The bear said : 'Do not go now and sacrifice your head for the sake of a
girl ! ' He, the boy, said : ' I shall go, and if he chooses he can kill me.' ' You
will go, but as soon as you enter the gates you will find a colt, and, if you can, seize
it, otherwise you can do nothing.'
21. The boy seized the colt, he put on the bridle, mounted it, took the girl
and threw her behind him. He gives one shout to the horse. The mare [in the
stable] neighs, the mother of the colt : ' Master, master ! The lady has gone ! '
' What time V 'No time remains ! ' ' Breholla ! Is it true ? : The Cordilenzis
mounts his mare. Now here, now there, he tries to overtake them, but cannot
overtake them. The mare neighs to her colt : ' Heigh, Sinko ! I will impose
upon you an obligation. How is it you drank my milk and you do not shake
yourself and cause him to fall, the boy, and make mincemeat of him ? ' The
colt hears, shakes itself, makes mince-meat of him. The Cordilenzis takes him,
collects the pieces, places them in his saddle-bags, takes the boy's horse and
throws him [the pieces of the boy in the saddle-bags] across the horse, and the
horse betakes itself straightway to the sister, to the eagle.
A BULGARIAN GYPSY FOLK-TALE 193
22. Dikhel les i phen, rovel. Del na&ibd o orlos, isi jekhe thane
zemzen-suju. Sar te teljol, le grabinel cupi %ari pani, thai del,
phagjel pi pahh. Avel olhdr o orlos, zemzen-suju rosinel uprdl o
cliauo. 'Acini,' phenghjds o chavd, ' amd sutjom, ah!' 'Laces
sutjdn, dinjdsas bulje te daid o Zordilendzis I Te yas, te pies
mdyge, kai geljom thai liljom zemzen-suju ta dke dke kai phagljom
mi pakh asdl tuke ! '
ORADA MASAL, BURADA 8ALIK!
(Othe paramisi, athe sastipe !)
22. The sister sees him, and weeps. The eagle starts running [sic!]. There is
in a certain place some holy water from a well near Mecca. As he stoops to get a
little water he knocks and breaks his wing. He returns, sprinkles the water over
the boy. ' Acchoo ! ' said the boy, ' I have been sleeping.' ' Well you have slept
indeed ! The (5ordilendzis has been cohabiting with your mother ! Eat and drink
to me, for I went and I took water of life, and see, see how I have broken my
wing for the sake of you ! '
There is the tale— Here is your health.
NOTES
General
Miklosich distinguished thirteen dialects of Romani spoken in Europe. Since
the discovery of Welsh Romani by Groome and the publication of Welsh Gypsy
Folk-Tales by Dr. Sampson, it has become necessary to recognise fourteen. Von
Sowa rightly considered the language spoken by the Slovak Gypsies as a sub-division
of the Moravian-Bohemian dialect, or, perhaps still better, as a cross between this
dialect and the Hungarian dialect. The dialect of the Servian Gypsies is not yet
sufficiently well known to enable us to proceed to its classification.
Meanwhile the results of my investigation of the dialect spoken by a large
colony of sedentary Gypsies inhabiting at present the extreme west end of Sofia, a
suburb known as Konjvitsa, would seem to have raised the number of European
dialects to fifteen. The dialect of the Sofia Gypsies (I have not yet come across
Gypsies living in Philippopolis or other towns and therefore cannot speak of a
Bulgarian dialect) is of remarkable purity. There is nothing like the number of loan-
words in it that are to be found, for example, in the Rumanian dialect and in its
sub-division, the language of the Gypsies of Bukovina. The principle of Oxi-
tonierung is still predominant, although there are signs of its beginning to give way
to another principle, perhaps that of modern Bulgarian. But modern Bulgarian
itself is, in this respect, in a period of very marked transition, the new tendency
being to bring the tonic accent to the beginning of the word, v6da for vodd, both
being heard.
The Sofia dialect is pre-eminently that of sedentary Gypsies, as defined by
Paspati : the d of the past tense has evolved itself into ghj. (See explanations
of the script used, p. 183.) On the other hand, another characteristic of Paspati's
Sedentaries is wholly absent : there is no trace whatsoever of the verb terdva,
the circumlocution with the verb ' to be ' and the dative being exclusively used in
its stead.
Von Sowa's remark concerning the preservation by the Slovak Gypsies of the
ancient aspirated ph, th, ch, where the Turkish prototype dialect has supplanted
them in many instances by simple p, t, c, applies also in the case of the Sofia
dialect ; indeed, they have adopted it where it is doubtful whether it has any right
VOL. III.— NO. III. N
194 A BULGARIAN GYPSY FOLK-TALE
from a historical point of view : they say dhavo, dhai. Miklosich was very sceptical
about the existence of ch in any Romani dialet. I take this opportunity of noting
that it invariably occurs in chivav, 'to throw,' achav, 'to remain,' i.e. where the
Bound in question is generally supposed to correspond to Sanskrit hi, Il8.
In their conjugation of loan-verbs, the Sofia Gypsies take the root of the verb in
tion, be it of Bulgarian or Turkish origin, and add a stem -in from which to
proceed to tin- conjugation of the verb in all its tenses. Examples: — Bulgarian
root mot, Romani motlnav, past tense motinjdm ; Turkish root man, infinitive
inanmak, Romani inandinav. I can only explain the presence of the d as due to
analogy. In the present tense and in those formed from it, the accent is on the
stem in. In the past it is regular. The Sotia Gypsies do not regularly use a sar
stem. (See Miklosich, Mundarten, x. pp. 90-1, and ii. p. 5.) Only in the past
tense, third person singular and plural, is this form usual along with the regular
formation : cudisdjlo along with cudinilo. I fancy it is due to Rumanian Romani
inlluence. (See Introduction, p. 183.) Another Rumanian Gypsy form is aUo, for
acild, achilO. In forming the future they use k and ka in the usual way, but
rarely kam.
The prepositions differ both in form and use from the corresponding ones of the
Turkish Gypsies : undo veS would be, in Paspati's dialect, andrt ko vex.
At the time of writing, I am in the possession of six tales of considerable length,
almost sufficient material, in fact, to enable me to write a grammar of the dialect.
Before proceeding to an examination of the above text, I should like to draw atten-
tion to the remarkably good state of preservation of the verb, and the frequent use
of causative and passive forms, one of which, in any case, appears to have been
unknown to Paspati, the form achavdv, 'to cause to remain.' The passive of the
same verb was likewise unknown to him : here it is the only form used to render
'to remain.' Strange to say, the words ruk and cupni, cuknl are totally unknown
to Sofia Gypsies. They use kaSt and kamdiia respectively.
A variation of this tale, with some sentences almost identical, is found in
Gjorgjevid's Dit Zigeuner in Serbien, p. 92, ' Das Vaterliche Vermachtnis.'
Notes to the Text.
§1. sine" jek thagdr .-. . Cf. Paspati, p. 163. BarvalO isine", 'he is rich.'
Miklosich is often too hasty in his desire to correct Paspati. Nearly all my tales
begin thus.
§ 1. odolke thagare's ... Of the innumerable forms in use for the demonstrative
and adjectival pronouns in Paspati's dialect, and still more in the Rumanian
dialect (Mikl., Mund., xi. p. 18), the Sofia Gypsies appear to confine themselves to
formations of which akavkd is the type, feminine akikd, plural akalkd, oblique cases
akalke. Other forms I have not yet heard.
§ 1. trin raklj6 thai trin rakljd . . . The Mouillirung in this masculine plural
was sufficiently strong to warrant the insertion of a ;', which has, however, no
affinity with the j in the fern. plur. rakljd.
§ 1. vdkti . . . Arab-Turk., wakt.
§ 1. prokletla . . . Bulgarian.
§1. poeHnen . . . Po- is a Bulgarian verbal prefix, and erinav is Modern
Greek yvpifa (See Mikl., Mund., x. p. 90, ' Sar-titdmme.') The meaning is origin-
ally, in Greek, and in its use further on in this tale, 'to return.' In Paspati's
dialect the verb is jirisardv, perf. jirisdjlom. See General Notes above, and
compare Von Sowa:s Mundart der slovakischen Zigeuner (Gottingen, 1887), p. 171 :
• Irind'a - p< /■"/< /.< rt ,' where it is formed in the same way as in Sofia.
§ 1. hdti ikdlas . . . Sometimes ikalds. The verb gave me much trouble.
There is, however, ample reason for believing it to be none other than a causative
of nikdva, 'to go out'; nikavdva, 'to bring out.' For this, the regular so-called
'nomad form' Mould be inkavdva. Modifications of this 'nomad form' are pre-
dominant in the dialect in question (cf. below), and such modifications take the form
of dropping out the n, thus ikuvdva. Finally, in the Sofia dialect, the first v of
A BULGARIAN GYPSY FOLK-TALE 195
causative verbs formed by adding an a stem (Mild., MmuL, x. p. 79), which v
according to Miklosich is ' ein den Hiatus aufhebender Einschub,' often changes into
I ; cf. bickaldv for Paspati's bitckavdva. Thus we have ikaldv. The older accentuation
is, of course, ikalds.
§ 1. tha flkljovas . . . For inkljova.s, Paspati's nikliovava.
§ 2. Htri.no . . . Bulgarian root sred, sr being pronounced by the people str ;
e.g. strffla, 'Thursday,' for are" da.
§ 2. jek 6rlos . . . With extraordinary regularity they add -os to any foreign
word in order to turn it into 'gentle Romany.' There are many examples in the
text, and cf. ponede'lnikos, Bulgarian poneddnik, ' Monday.'
§2. ukljds po jekM grastis . . . ' To mount.' There are various forms of this
verb in the Turkish dialect. See Paspati.
§ 2. ikljas . . . Contracted for ikljovas, as iklj6s from ikljoves.
§ 3. uklistile pe grant6n . . . Paspati's sedentary Gypsies would say uklist6, his
nomads ukiistine'.
§3. uxlstile otM . . . From uxljdv, 'to descend.' The guttural, in the case of
Paspati's Gypsies, is voiced.
§3. jek dzen6 . . . They strangely enough often use dzene" (plur.) with jekh,
followed by a plural verb.
§3. bestt te x«« mar6 ... In besti, phende", etc., there is not the slightest
trace of the Mouillirung which has brought about pheyyhjds. ' To eat bread ' is
merely an expression meaning the evening meal, the principal one of the day, about
sunset. When I first accepted their invitation ' to eat bread 'they gave rne stewed
meat in a rich broth, with French beans and a lot of paprika.
§ 3. alOjek cordilendzis ... A cordilend2is seems to be a species of bogey-
man, who is all-powerful. He presumably appears in this tale in the shape of an
old man. I cannot discover the origin of the word. My Gypsy says it is a name,
jek aldv. As a specimen of rather Borrovian etymology, yet perhaps after all not
very far from the truth, I wonld point out that cur is a thief in Romani and dilenzi
a beggar in Turkish. Gypsies and Greeks add an s to the Turkish ending dzi. The
old rascal appears in the tale at first as a beggar. But the explanation is rather
lame.
§ 3. amcin, 2^raldlen . . . Sometimes amdn. The interjection is common
among the Turks, generally repeated twice, without a comma : amdn amdn ! The
other interjections used in these tales are mostly Bulgarian or variations thereof.
Te girimi kirimi (see further on) is an exclamation to frighten the monster.
§ 3. mo dat fovhi, mo phralfove'n . . . This is the uvdva of Paspati's Gypsies.
I have also heard, in conversation, t'ov6l, ' be it so.'
§ 3. e kot6r mar6 . . . E for ek, jek.
§ 3. ayyhjdm kill mdyge te x«w • . • This construction is worthy of note, as it
is, as far as I can ascertain, pure Romany, and not copied from Bulgarian or
Turkish. Cf. paragraph 17, me kiti urjdvo mdndar did kakjd p6-but urjdl, i.e., 'he
flies twice as fast as I can.'
§ 4. tharghjds po fen&ri pe seriste . . . Thardv was heard by Paspati only among
the Zaparis. Here it is the regular word for ' to light.'
§ 4. zakaciyghjds les . . 'Hung it up.' Bulgarian zakdcam, 'I suspend ' (transi-
tive). Regular conjugation from a stem in (see general notes, p. 194). In future I
shall make no special note of such verbs.
§ 4. ketdpi . . . Arab-Turk., kitdb.
§ 4. xi^a ... A monster, ogre. Bulgarian x^a-
§ 4. gddos ... A reptile, monster. Bulg., gad.
§ 4. nakivghjiliom . . . NakivyJijovava, ' to be lost,' from na.savdva, ' to lose,'
from nasdva, ' to run away.'
§ 4. sar pelj6m anddr me deidkere mindidtar .... One would expect mindzdte
as below.
§ 4. uxtl, sikdv mdyge . . . Uxti imperative of uxtjdva, 'to arise.' Uiti,
from uUjdva, is also heard. It is said to be akin to ukljdva. Sikdv, imperative
of causative, sikavdva, from sikdva, ' to show.' It has lost its causative meaning.
§ 5. avil okothdr o idrdilendzis . . . The idea of motion from appears to be
196 A BULGARIAN GYPSY FOLK-TALE
ever present to the Gypsy mind. They say also av6l athdr. I take this oppor-
tunity of pointing out that the particle -tar, so common in other dialects, is
unknown in this dialect, or, at least, I have hitherto not met with it.
§ 5. nandi te \av • • • Nanui is the sonorous but quite usual negative, and
means ' no,' 'not,' 'there isn't any,' etc. Bulg., nima.
§ 6. o cho pheyghjds ... My liom was very proud of this word cho, for chav6 ;
it does not occur in their conversation regularly, and was peculiar to Paspati's
nomads. In the paramisi, the Gypsy pointed out to me, avil p6-hikar, i.e. 'it
sounds better.'
§ 6. tsidinjds adikd kdrig Iss . . . i.e. adikd x(^a> fern, of adoxkd.
§ 7. ov ne ka\di . . . Perhaps it would have been more correct to have
written ov nika x^, Bulg., neka, ' let him (her, us, etc.)' I have not yet heard the
pure Romany me, from mek.
§ 8. kadzaygdljovel mo phral . . . Diaygdljovava, for dzaygdnjovava, from
dzaygavdva, from dzaygdva.
§ 8. mudarghjds ofeniri ... In Turkish Gypsy the word is murdardva. Loan
words in i are masculine, of. o napoleoni, o tele/dni in subsequent tales.
§ 9. miik-ta phurijt . . . Ta is a very frequent particle added to the imperative ;
it often receives the accent, cf . below, an-td mdyge, etc.
§ 10. sardnda-u-jek cord pdMjon turjdl i jag . . . Pdsljovav I have as yet only
heard twice, once here and once in conversation with a Romni at two o'clock one
morning. In Constantinople it is their regular word for 'to goto bed.' Turjdl
(English and Welsh Gypsy, trustdl, German Gypsy, trujdl), of doubtful origin, is
one of the words unknown to Paspati's Gypsies.
§ 10. jagdte . . . Jag and jak are often pronounced the same in the nominative.
In oblique cases they are invariably distinguished ; jagdte, but jakhdsa.
§ 10. sardnda-u-jek , . . bakri, kerghjdn . . . Kerghjdn for ke"rjoven : kdrjovav is
another true Romani word unknown to Paspati's Gypsies.
§ 10. epkdS . . . A transposition not unknown to Rumanian Gypsies, for jek-paS.
Here it is the rule. They also say jefkdr i or jek-var.
§ 10. del phudibd . . . This must be a form of accusative, cf. del nasibd, below.
Only in Scandinavian and Finnish Romani is it the regular ending {-ba, -pa) of
abstract nouns.
§ 10. tu so murSinjdn tha aljdn . . . Mursinjdn is a rare example of verbs that
h e formed themselves from their own nouns, and they have done so as if the verb
were a loan-word, and added the stem -in. The abstract noun murSipe', however,
was known to Paspati.
§ 10. u\ljav6l les phujdte . . . Uxljavdv, causative of uxlidv, 'to descend.'
§ 10. ame" mards am6n jekhe perikizlarje'yge . . . I am not sure about the origin
of this word. Is peri Modern Greek ? Kiz is Turkish for ' a girl.' Lar is Turkish
plural. The word appears to be used in the plural (Romani dat. plur.), but to be
felt as a collective noun in the singular, with jekh before it. The meaning is clear,
' three beautiful girls, sisters.'
§ 10. sardnda bersnaUi te las la . . . La again shows that the noun is felt to be
singular. Note the Romani exaggeration ; forty years. What were the beautiful
like by then ? But so runs the tale : forty years, forty-one thieves, forty nails
(cf. below), etc. etc.
§ 10. akand tti-da athdr, murs, ami-da akathdr, murs . . . Notice athdr and
akathdr, and cf. above.
§ 11. sdr-li kalds len ? . . . The boy, who has got to do the job, thinks of them as
being several, and says len. Li is the Bulgarian interrogative particle. They not
infrequently use the Turkish particle mi.
§ 11. asli i voivdda . . . Voivdda is always treated as a feminine noun.
§ 12. dinjds andr6 . . . Ddva is the regular word for ' to enter.' Cf. Paspati.
§ 13. zer te disljaHs ... A good example of a causative verb. Disjovela,
disjola, for day to break, disljardva, ' to cause daylight to come,' and used as a
personal verb.
§ 14. arakljum trine" phenjin . . . Numbers are always declined as adjectives ;
cf. jekhi grast&s, doni chavin, etc.
A BULGARIAN GYPSY FOLK-TALE 197
§ 14. lei pe le dZuvljd (e tsiknedere' phenjd) ... I could not make my Gypsy repeat
this. He laughed, and said it was not good Romani. It is Rumanian-Romani (lei
pe le dzuvljd), which they affect to despise. (See Introduction, p. 183.) Notice that
comparative adjectives in -er are declined as any others.
§ 15. sastipndsa . . . This is the usual form of wishing farewell. They use also
Dza DevUsa, and T'dchos Devlesa, the contracted form of the second person singular
of the passive form unknown to Paspati of the verb achdva, the Ac Devlesa of most
other dialects. Other usual forms of greeting are Sar keres, literally, ' How do you
do?' Barjos-li? ' Are you nourishing? ' literally, 'Are you growing big?' (Note
the accent, attracted by the particle -li) ; and Te brirjos, ' May you flourish ! ' ; Te
phurjos, ' May you attain a great age ! '
§ 15. me kerlnav napdlpale . . . Here the verb is used in its first meaning of
' to go back,' cf. above, te na poerinen.
§ 16. akathdr Icaxdv les, paid/, kaxiljdv les . . . Here it is possible to translate
akathdr by ' first,' paldl by ' then.' Cf. above.
§ 16. keril les manils . . . The accusative would be unusual here : (however, see
below). The meaning is kerM les t'ove'l manuS.
§ 17. tha t'aavtl . . . For te av4l. These conjunctions tha have really no right to their
aspiration. (See General Notes, p. 193-4.) P>ut it is just this aspiration that makes
one recognise Romani at a distance, before individual words can be distinguished. In
one of my tales the reader will find constantly repeated, Thagdra, the thagarilmdsa,
' 0 King, by your Dynasty ! ' where the aspirates give a most weird effect.
§ 17. bi-klivtnavas ttskere did jakhd, tha thovdvas dndo vasld . . . Deliberate
rhyming. Cf . Paspati's ' Te khan mc m indjdkeri djar, te pere"l tumare" dandengeri tar! '
Bi- is Bulgarian conditional, reduced here to an inconjugable particle, as in Russian.
In these and other imperfect tenses used below, my Gypsy showed great pride.
They are used rarely in conversation, I infer.
§ 1 8. .so bi-kirsas . . . For keresas ; but, as my Gypsy told me, kirsas avil p6-
interesno (sic !), ' more interesting ' !
§ IS. hee, otkotkd, bare" partes si . . . They most frequently use a Greek plural
in -es for loan-words. Cf. Paspati.
§ 18. po-sigo te nakjes . . . The j is strong Mouillirung. Nakdv is the usual
word for ' to pass,' transitive and intransitive : participle nakl6. It also means
'to come to pass,' 'to happen.' In later Sofia fairy-tales which I hope to publish,
the reader will get accustomed to the expression: naklo so nakld ; e.g., naklri so
naklo, i rakli biayghjds jekhe ra/des, ' there happened what happened, and the girl
gave birth to a male child.'
§ 18. zerre som phanlile o pdrtes ... Som, ' as soon as,' from the Bulgarian
stom.
§ 18. e grastesa beraber . . . Btraber is Turkish, for Romany ekhethane", or kupdte.
§ 19. kerel hike adavkd serosa. . . . Kerdr n» n'sa means 'to nod.'
§ 19. trin ratjd acliaghjdm tut bokhald . . . From achavdva, ' to cause to remain ' ;
I have not yet heard achdva, always dchjovava.
§ 19. liljds e dzuvljd, igalghjds la paUpeske . . . Igalghjds. See the explanation
of ikalds, p. 194. It seems to me to be the same word.
§ 20. ma dza akand jekM dzuvljdh te xas to Herd! . . . Jekh6 dzuvljdke is ' for the
sake of a girl.' Te %«* to Herd is ' to ruin yourself.'
§ 20. te istdrse, ne chinM man . .. Here te ist6rse refers to the cdrdilendzis. It often
has no expressed subject, God, or Fate, being understood. Te is Romani, istirse is
Turkish, imperfect subjunctive of istet/iek, ' to wish to.' Ne chinil man, is due to
Bulgarian influence. Pure Romani would be me chivAl man.
§ 20. av6r ttirlis . . . 'Any other way or method.' A Turkish word with the
usual 8 of the Romani loan-word affixed to an ending pronounced i. The Turks
say durlu.
§ 21. dolghjds adavkd . . . Doldv, dole's, etc. , is the regular word here for 'to catch,'
'seize.' It may be lav, 'to take,' with the Bulgarian prefix do; thus, doldv,
'to attain.'
§ 21 . te na tSrsinsa tut . . . Torsinsa for tsrsinisa, and the usual in stem for the
conjugation of foreign verbs.
L98 ROMANS GILJA
* 2 1, /ha le peravis les . . . Peravdva is ' to make fall,' from perdva.
§ 22. delnaMbd . . . Compare above, del phudibd.
3 22 kht tharu ujti . . . ' There is in a certain place some miraculous
water. ' Zemze'n sujti is Turkish, ' water from the well of Zemzem,' a well in the
court of the Cubical ll> al Mecca. The first meaning of zemzem, an Arabic word,
appears to be 'copious,' 'abundant,' or ' a little brackish,' said of water. In these
tales zetnzen iujH corresponds to the pal iudd, i.e. pant dzivdd, of Rumanian Gypsy
folk-tales. JelcM thani is an example of the locative case which is still in constant
use in this dialect ; cf. snha/onr', 'on Saturday,' otherwise sdbatos.
§ 22. 'adhti,,' pheyghjds o chavd, 'amdsutjdm!' ... In these tales all persons
who come to life again say a/hti, ! The Romani reader will bear this in mind on the
day of the Resurrection.
§ 22. dhijdms bvlj& le daid o cdrdilendzia . . . This somewhat forcible expres-
sion is constantly recurring in their tales. It must not be taken literally, but
simply to mean : ' the cordilendz'is has outwitted you all along the line.'
V.-^OMANE GILJA
Line Romendar katar o Romano Gav andi Dis Sofia
» »
Bernard Gilliat-Petalet)Grestar
Akalka gilja linile katar o R,oma andi Dis Sofia maskar o maseka Juli thai
Avgostos 1909. I R.omani chib but interesno si, kai sikavel p6-laces so ul6 e
c'hibasa. kana all athe Vla^frjkane J^oma, kai vakjeren pavasko. Jon sas, hiS te
n' ovel, 'Kalb Tchirjgjane,' thai, sar phejjghjom avre thaneste, nasti besenas
ba^tales Sofiate ^ora^ane phralensa (hie te n' ovel Xristianlar sas), thai si'go sigo
gele-peske. Dzi akana nasti dzanav, irisajle-li khereste, besle-li avre thaneste.
Xiiri xari panda ac'hile athe, thai, sar mislmav, si lenge urjaipe thai adeti sar e
xora^ane Romende.
I.
Phayglo isdm zandanidte,
Me cor ore ucaripS,
Mi pecega (bald) buliaribe.
An-ta mdrfge mo gavalji,
le bamldv dzaygld gili,
Te sunen anldr bejler.
' Phider-mmjge vudaroro,
Balvdl liljds mo d/u/mord.'
' Soske aridt sutd umaljdte ? '
1 Civ to serd pendzardte,
Te dikhdv tut. Tu-li sinjdn ? '
Ki musi isi tsikno Savord,
Miirs, paldl late romord.
Ust ilos, riygarglijds Idkre romes ;
Zakacivjghjds les kastende.
' Ela, cavki, %an mas, mas eftina.'
ROMANS GILJA 199
II
Jek Suno
Ana sun 6 dikhljdm me pirende kale cizmes.
Astdv-mayge, Bog -me, mi makrdvdi,
Te dzav mange, Bog-me, plainende, thai do dromende.
Dzi kai drom si §udri cizma. Dzi kai 6ezma temi bori.
Voi phenel, Dobrd itro, mlad nevesto.
Voi ni avli bori, avli cuma.
Ko serd lold gilli . . .
. . . ternd borjd pai te pien,
Phure luludzd te cinen.
Te dza-mayge me khereste,
. . . kale kotsos kacinds.
I dai sundds, pe bal Hndds ;
0 phei Swnd&s, di/dMi;
0 dad sundds, vo-da dildilo.
Kurkes, o duito (phuro stil) Avgostos, o bers 1909.
Ill
A borije tu ternije,
TJyti mdnge but javine,
Te sulave's, Kali Vigna, mo rastiri.
Gjeyghjdm, gjewghjdm,, mo dumo dukhdl,
Hem o manzin geld, hem mi bori geli,
Esnafldr.
IV
Thai geli sas, Mistdna, and' o Kurko,
Thai liljds sardnda dzoren sa suvarentsa ;
Thai geli sas and' o bezesten,
Thai kiyghjds sardnda kunid po^tdn.
Thai geli sas, Mistdna, and' o kujundzU,
Thai liljds sardnda rojd sa rupune ;
Thai geli sas, Mistdna, pas' pe romeste,
Thai pheyglhjds sas pe romeske : —
' Ma dard, Sejo, ma dard ;
1 guruvani mortji epkasdli hai bivosko biastardi.'
Aver Nandi,
200 KoMAN^ gilja
V
Thai geld sas d ade bare lomtiste,
Thai kinghjds sas Zuri kasapuske,
Thai avild dndeprdvo kherd,
Thai /"'/"' sas prdvo kai prdgos.
Mr in ry.ri morulas, fa in perigd vardjilas.
'Avdih, None, te yas mar<>.'
' Me ni-x" Tnaro.'
' Katd ni-yds maro, tu man ka-Hyghjare's.'
' Kas ciyghjarghjom dzi akand, i tut te Hyghjard?'
Tlmi 6alavghjds la, Ddde Begd, des-u-du thanende,
' Aveu, dikhen, Komsular, so kerghjom la, le Mira.
Trin grus kilos pares bikndv, Koms'uldr,
Bari kisi vsrtinav.'
Aver Nandi.
0 bisto (nev<5 stil) Juli, o bers 1909.
The above songs were taken from the sedentary I Sofia Gypsies during the
months of July and August 1909. Linguistically they are interesting as showing
in a more marked degree than the fairy tales the influence of the invasion, some
years ago, of a considerable horde of Rumanian Gypsies, probably sedentary ones,
who, as I have elsewhere stated, were unable to live happily with their Mohamme-
dan brethren of Sofia (they were probably Christians), and were not long in
leaving. Whether they returned whence they came, or settled elsewhere, I have
been unable to discover. Those who remain conform in dress and custom, as far as
I can judge, with the bulk of the Mussulman Sofia colony.
The music is a species of Turkish recitative drawl, which I have so far been
unable to put on paper.
In the first song, the Gypsy, a prisoner, calls for a gavalji (a species of shep-
herd's pipe, well known all over S.E. Europe), in order that he may sing to the
friends who are visiting him. He then sings: 'Open the door, the wind has
struck my back ; ' and she who is inside answers, ' Why did you sleep last night
out in the fields V ' Come to the window, that I may see it is really you.' On her
arm was a male child, and behind her her husband. The singer goes on to say
that she arose, slew her husband, hung him on a tree, and called to jackdaws to
come and eat meat, cheap meat.
The second song is a weird jumble of a nightmare. A rough translation
follows : 'In my sleep I saw at my feet a black fountain. My God ! I arise, seize
my staff and wander over mountains and roads, my God ! — near the road is a cool
fountain, and near the fountain a young bride who hails me as her young betrothed.
As I approach, lo ! she is a monster. On her head is a red flower . . . young girls
are drinking at the fountain, old women are plucking flowers. I will go home . . .
and slay a black ram. My mother heard, and tore her hair : my sister heard, and
went mad : and my father, too, heard and went mad.'
Notice such forms as Sindds for Bulgarian Romany chinghjds, dilailo for denililo,
and avli for all — one might have hoped for uli. Further, the c often unaspirated.
A CONTRIBUTION TO FRENCH GYPSY HISTORY 201
The third song is as follows : ' 0 young bride, arise very early to sweep out
my smithy, 0 my Black Grapes ! I have counted, counted, till my back aches ;
now see, 0 my people, my wealth has come, and my bride.'
The fourth song runs thus : ' And she went, Mistana, on a Sunday, and took
forty mules all with their bridles ; and she went to the Brocade Mart and bought
forty yards of cloth. And she went, Mistana, to the goldsmith and bought forty
spoons, all of silver ; and she went, Mistana, to her husband, and said to him :
" Fear not, Sejo, fear not ; the leather bag is half full, and the pouch has not been
tampered with,'"
Biastardi is literally ' untouched,' ' unseized.'
My teacher tells me (I give the information on his authority) that the'custom
of adding sas to the third person singular of the past tense is peculiar 'to the
Gypsies of the Rumanian invasion.
The fifth and last song of this little collection may thus be rendered : 'And he
went into the great town, and he bought a slaughtering knife, and he came straight-
way home, and sat down by the hearth. He sharpened the knife and at the same
time looked over his shoulder : " Come, Kone, to eat bread ! " "I will not eat
bread." " If you will not, then you wish to slay me." " Whom have I slain till
now, that I should slay you ? " And he struck her, D;(de Bego, into twelve pieces.
"Come, see, neighbours, what I have done to her, to Mira. Three kilos of groats
in money will I buy, neighbours ; I will turn out a great purse." '
VI.— A CONTRIBUTION TO FRENCH GYPSY HISTORY
By Frederick Christian Wellstood
Although it is to a Frenchman — the Bourgeois de Paris (quoted by Pasquier) J
— that we are indebted for the fullest account of the band of Gypsies who visited
western Europe at the beginning of the fifteenth century, yet the subsequent
history of the Gypsies in France has been more neglected than their history in any
other country. Indeed, practically all we know about them is that frequent
edicts were passed pronouncing their banishment (e.g. in the years 1539, 1561,
1612, 1660, 1682), and' the repetition of the laws proves their ineffectiveness. In
this respect France did not differ from the rest of Europe ; and, from the quaint
account given by Master Pechon de Ruby in 1597,2 those Gypsies seem to have led,
as one would exjiect, much the same lives as elsewhere at the time. His account,
however, is open to suspicion, as it occurs in a tract devoted chiefly to other native
vagrants ; but his statement that the Gypsies travelled in bands of ' trois ou quatre
mesnageres' is strikingly confirmed by a rare French pamphlet which records
the sentence passed in 1612 on Jean Hierosme, ' soy disant Capitaine de quatre
mesnages d'Egyptiens,' and some of his band for the murder of a Gypsy woman.
The names of these offenders are worthy of special mention, as we know so little of
the names of French Gypsies. They are : — Captain Jean Hierosme, Antoine Anthoin-
ette, his wife, Roze Raqui, Valeriane Jeanne, Jeanne Bellenas alias Baroca, Jeanne
Piry ' dite la Gascone,' and the murdered woman — Franchise ' dite la Doudon.'
But one could hardly infer from the pamphlet here reprinted that the circum-
stances of the case were somewhat unusually romantic ; for, though the main literary
use of the Gypsy is to introduce him in the most improbably romantic circum-
stances, it is but seldom that we find him appearing in such a position in real
life. This tract merely states that a murder had been committed on a woman of
1 Les Jiecherches de la France, Paris, 1596, Lib. iv. ch. 17.
2 See </. G. L. S., New Series, vol. iii. pp. 75-6,
202 A CONTRIBUTION TO FRENCH GYPSY HISTORY
the troop; but, fortunately, there is another and fuller contemporary account
pre erved by Thuanus in his Historia/rv/m sni temporis rontinuatin} From that
we learn that the Captain's wife, Antoinc Anthoinette, held stricter views than
Pakamovna on tin- subject of male and female constancy. The murder was
tpparently due to jealousy on her part, because her husband had paid undue
attention to another lady of the same band : accompanied by two other Gypsy
women she decoyed her victim away from the tents, wreaked her vengeance on
her in a manner not stated, and then threw the corpse into the Seine.
Thuanus's account is as follows : —
' [oannes Hieronymus, qui se ducem cateruse eon"! profitebatur, qui vulgo
^Egyptii seu Boemi appellantur, & per Galliam ex vna prouincia in aliam, nullis
certis sedibus, vagabantur, <|ui^; ex inspectione manuum bonam vel aduersam
fort una. vnicuiq; praedicebant, ex furtis & rapinis tantum viuentes, hac hyeme in
suburbio S. Germani nidulari coepit, vbi vxor ipsius tanta zelotypia in ipsum
incensa est, propterea quod cu alia iBgyptia iuuencula re haberet, vt cum aliis
duabus frminis iEgyptiis in caput pellicis conspiraret. itaq; sub specie deambula-
tionis ea interfecta in Sequanam prsecipitant. q, ciim euulgatum fuisset, tres ilia?
fcerninse cum To. TTioronymo & duabus aliis iEgyptiis in abbatia S. Germani
captiuse ducuntur. caussa ante cogriita, ex quinq; mulieribus iEgyptiis quatuor ad
fnrca da.mna.ntur : quinta cu Hieronymo suppliciu spectare iubetur, atq; ille cu
vniuersa sua caterua ex territorio & dominio abbatia? S. Germani proscribitur.
facta appellatione, tres iEgyptiae, quae csede perpetrauerant, vn. Kal. Mart, ad
ponte S. Michaelis patibulo affixae fuerunt. de Io. Hieronymo & duabus aliis
./Egyptiis, quoniam appellauerant, Senatus huiusmodi sententiam tulit : '
Then follows a word for word translation of the French tract which is here
reprinted.
[Title-page] Arreft de la Cour de | Parlement, portant in-
jon&ion a | toutes perfonnes foy difans Egy- | ptiens, de fortir hors
le Royaume | de France, dans deux mois apres la | publication du
prefent Arreft. j [block] | A LYON, | Par Nicolas Ivllieron,
Imprimeur | ordinaire du Roy. | m. dc. xii. | Auec Privilege du
Roy. |
[p. 2 blank]
[3] ExtraicT: des Regiftres
de Parlement.
Vev par la Cour le proces criniinel faict par le Bailly de fainct
Germain des Prez ou fon Lieutenant, a la requefte du Procureur
Fifcal audit Bailliage, demandeur a l'econtre de lean Hierofme, foy
difant Capitaine de quatre mefnages d'Egyptiens, Antoine Anthoi-
[4] nette femme dudit Capitaine Hierofme, Roze Raqui, Valeriane
Ieanne, Ieane Bellenas autrement Baroca, Ieanne Piry dite la
1 Francof., 1628, Lib. v. pp. 259-260.
Arreftde la Gourde
fr<f~ Parlement , portant injondion a
routes perl onnes foy difans EgV-
pcicns , de fortir hors le Royaumc
de FrancCjdans deux mois aprcs la
publication du prefent Arrcft.
toruY %y6 t '*-*
K
mm*
2
m
A LYON,
ParNicoLAs Iyllieron, Imprimeiu
ordinaire du Roy.
M. DC. XII.
Ant c rrwikge (iff Roj.
A CONTRIBUTION TO FRENCH GYPSY HISTORY -203
Gascone, toutes foy difans Egyptiennes de la trouppe dudit
Capitaine Hierofme, accufez ladite Roze Raqui, Valeriane Ieane, &
Antoine Anthoinette n'aguieres executees a mort par Arreft d'icelle
Cour, & les autres prifonnieres en la Cociergerie du Palais, appellans
de la fentence cotre eux donnee, par laquelle pour reparatio du [5]
raeurtre & affafsinat commis en la perfonne de Fracoife dite la
Doudon aufsi Egyptienne, ladite Baroca auroit efte condanee auec
lefdites Raqui & Valeriane, eftre pendues & eftranglees a vne
potance croifee, qui feroit dreffee au bout du pont faincl: Michel,
lieu de la Iuftiee dudit S. Germain des Prez, fes biens acquis &
confifquez a qu'il appartiendroit, fur iceux prins la fomme de
cinquante liures d'amende enuers le fieur Abbe. A laquelle execu-
[6] tion afsifteroit ledit Capitaine Hierofme & Ieanne Piry dite la
Gafcone, laquelle auroit efte pareillement condamnee en cinquante
liures d'amende, & ledit Capitaine Hierofme en trois cens liures,
applicables moitie a la reparation des prifons & auditoire dudit
fain<5t Germain, & encores ledit Capitaine auec fa trouppe bannis
pour neuf ans des terres & Seigneuries dudit faincl; Germain, a eux
enioinct garder leur ban fur peine de la hard. Ouys & interrogez
[7] par ladite Cour lefdits Capitaine Hierofme, Ieanne Bellenas dite
Baroque, & Ieanne Piry fur les caufes d'appel & cas cotenus audit
procez, & confrontez a aucuns tefmoins ouys en icelle Cour. Ouy
aufsi le Procureur general du Roy en fes conclufions, procez verbal
d'executio de mort defdites Roze Raquy, Valeriane Ieanne, &
Antoine Anthoinette du 23. du prefent mois. Tovt considere,
Diet a efte que ladite Cour entat que touche les appellations def- [8]
dits Capitaine Hierofme, Baroca, & Piry, a mis & met lefdites
appellations & fentence pour le regard de ladite Baroca, au neant
fans amende, & faifant droicl sur les conclufions dudit Procureur
General du Roy, & appel a minima par lui interiette : A mis & met
ladicte fentence au neant, & pour les cas contenus audit procez,
ladite Cour a banny & bannit lefdits Capitaine Hierofme, Baroca,
& Piry, du Royaume de France a perpetuite, leur enioint gar- [9]
der leur ban, fur peine ou ils fe trouueront auoir iceluy enfraint
d'eftre pendus & eftranglez. Enioint aufsi a tous autres foy difans
Egyptiens, fortir du Royaume dans deux mois apres la publication
du prefent Arreft, & ou ils s'y treuueront apres ledit temps, Ordonne
que tant les homines, femmes que filles, feront razez, & les hommes
menez & conduits aux Galeres du Roy, pour y eftre detenus &
feruir ledit Seigneur comme [10] forcaires a perpetuite. Fait
defenfes a tous Seigneurs hauts Iufticiers & autres de les retirer
204 A pilgrim's progress
en leurs terres & Seigneuries, a peine d'arnende arbitraire &
priuatioD de leur Tuftico. Enioin6l au\ Subftituts du Procureur
general du Roy au reffort du Parlement, tenir la main a la
publication & execution du prefent Arreft. Prononce aufdits
Capitaine Hierofuie, Bellenas, & Piry, pour ce attaints au guichet
defdites prifons, le vingt-hui- [ 1 1 | cliefme iour de Feburier, mil fix
cens douze.
Signe,
VOLSIN.
[p. 12 blank]
The pamphlet, which is very rare, is printed in duodecimo on six'leaves of
watermarked paper, and its pages measure 6j x Si inches, fr i- preserved in the
Bodleian Library at Oxford, and Mons. Clugnet informs me that the Bibliotheque
Nationale possesses a copy not only of this but also of another edition, identical
in every way except the imprint, printed at Paris in the same year by Federic
Morel.
VII.— A PILGRIM'S PROGRESS
By Lady Arthur Grosvenor.
'In remembrance of Edwin Buckland, aged 75 in 1803, born a peasant at
Charlbury in Oxfordshire. He lived in a house and worked till he was 27, and
then married a Gipsy woman and wandered. He was a sad Jewish-looking old
man, seeming honest and good in a remarkable degree, friendly and communicative,
and spoke "deep Romany" with great fluency. He paid me visits at 34 Park
Place, when he came rarely to Cheltenham.'
(Inscription on the back of the title of the Rev. T. W. Norwood's annotated
copy of Smart and Crofton's Dialect of the English Gypsies.)
rjIHE most interesting of the Rev. T. W. Norwood's Gypsy note-
-1- books is one in which he recorded not only additions to his
vocabulary but also the circumstances under which the words
were collected, short descriptions of his informants, and the mis-
cellaneous information which they gave him. With one excep-
tion each successive source was purer than its predecessors, and
the volume is thus a I'ihjrims Progress from the jargon of house-
dwelling half-castes to the inflected Romani which he found at
last in the mouth of Edwin Buckland.
I have already described l how, as a boy, Mr. Norwood became
interested in Gypsies, and in this notebook there is one reminis-
cence of his Yorkshire home :— ' The Bos'ell Gang often camped in
1 See /. G. L. S., New Series, i. 388.
a pilgrim's progress 205
good numbers in the wide reaches of the Brigg Lane, near the
High Causey between Gambles forth and Drax, among the line of
ponds, and along the old reine 1 of oaks, with horses, asses, and
tents (not carts), and weird old hags (1840 to 1850, and till the
enclosure). There I first saw them and Mordecai B. the fiddler.
They were the terror of the village constables and pinders. The
place was good for pheasants and hedgehogs.' But he seems to
have learned no Romani from them, and though he lectured on
Gypsies at Bollington Cross on March 20, 1854, it was not until
he went as curate to Cheltenham that he began to collect the
language.2
He was unfortunate in the choice of his first teachers, ' the
Mustoes of 36 Stanhope Street, Cheltenham, who wander in the
summer and speak Romany,' 3 and of whom he wrote, ' So far as I
can collect from him [Mustoe], these people "hereabouts" are
" but half Romany." They intermarry with any other tramps very
often. But some keep up their " caste," and won't acknowledge
Mustoe a Gipsy. His boy, my protege, has much of the blood,
however, of the Zincalo.' He visited them on December the 8th
and 13th, 1856, and on January 21, 1857, and collected nearly two
hundred words and phrases. The greater number are Romani,
often corrupt, sometimes interesting — for example : —
buUngries, breeches. 6tshi or otclitme, I said.
grds, horse. [Paspati, grast, gras, gra.] pansch kullcrs, five shillings.
h&tshi kootslti, stop a little longer. peerdu's, white vagrants.
hooter, a £. pdpingdrju, gamekeeper.
mdtchticove, cat. troopers, breeches.
mawr plaster, don't run away. yak, clock or watch.
mol divvus, Christmas.
But Mustoe, like Flatterer, who was also ' a man black of flesh,'
1 Mr. H. B. Thorp, who is familiar with the district, informs me that ' the
High Causey (causeway) was a high footpath, known locally as a "rampart,"
running alongside the Brigg Lane, which was, and is, the only highway to Drax.
The line of ponds, now enclosed, was a line of "retting" (i.e. rotting) ponds along
the roadside for steeping flax to rot the husk, which was then beaten or "scutched "
from the linen fibre. A "reine " is a narrow belt of wood or spinney, often forming
the boundary between estates or townships.' Cf. German Rain, ' boundary.'
2 Mr. Norwood may also have come into contact with Hemes, for there are two
notes in his copy of Smart and Crofton's Dialect of the English Gypsies, one of which
refers to them as 'descended from King Pharaoh, a never-to-be-forgotten gang,'
and the other describes them as 'formerly a handsome, clean, picturesque gang.'
3 For Musto as a Gypsy surname see F. W. Carew's [A. E. G. Way's] A~o. 747,
p. 81, where it is stated that Annabel Musto, ' an out-and-out bad lot,' married
Tenny Klisin, or Tenant Lock (see p. 71), son of Greeuleaf Klism, afterwards
leaving him for Jasper Lee, King of the Ratcatchers. Big Tom Musto is mentioned
on p. 120, and Mr. Archibald Constable tells me that travellers of this name are
still to be found in Somerset.
2oi ;
A PILGRIMS PROGRESS
guided the pilgrim into a way ' which by degrees turned, and
burned him so from the city he desired to go to, that, in little
lime, he led him within the compass of a net' of cant and slang
words : x —
bl&ckie, tin vessel.
bl&tsh/y, coal.
bosh-crees, saddle.
clapper, gate.
crab-shells, shoes. [Grose, 1785.]
dibnnux, eow. [Of. dunuker, ' cattle-
lifter,' c. 1650.]
failc, play [a fiddle].
finnif, £5. [Yiddish for fan/.]
molson, ;iss.
mdrghen, rabbit. [? malkin, maukin,
mawkin, ' hare ' or ' eat.']
mort, daughter. [B. E., Gent., 1690,
'yeoman's daughter.']
plimnn r, stone.
pdplars, broth. [Dekker, 1608, poplars
of yurum, ' milk porridge ' : Har-
nian, 1567, poppelurs, 'porridge.']
gutter, rain. [Maginn's Vidocq Versified, prud, horse. [Potter, 1795.]
1818, gutter, ' beer,' ' liquor.']
gist i,mer, magistrate.
graft, work.
grunnum, barn. [Harman, 1567, gran-
num, ' corn.']
half-a-bool, half-a-crown. [bull's eye,
B. E., Gent., 1690: bull, Vaux,
1812.]
hattum-duy, Sunday. [Harman, 1567,
aatein, ' church.']
It amhlebdinp, hay-rick.
jigger, door. [Harman, 1567, gygger.]
jilt the jigger, shut the door.
kain or ken, house. [Harman, 1567,
ken.]
kephyl, horse. [B. E., Gent,, 1690,
keffel : Welsh, ceffyl]
kessig, mare. [Welsh, caseg.]
kroker, doctor. [Grose, 1785, crocus.]
lugprut, fish. [Harman, 1567, lug,
' water.']
mill-togs, shirt. [Grose, 1823, mill-tog :
Haggart's Life, 1821, milltuig.]
schufel finnif, bad £5. [Hebrew
schdfdl.]
sdoper, clock, watch. [Vance, c. 1866,
supe or super.]
spreadum, butter. [Grose, 1785 : Vaux,
1812.]
stump-drawers, stockings. [Haggart's
Life, 1821. Harman, 1567, has
stampes, 'legs,' and druivers, 'hosen.']
stretcher, year. [Horsley's Jottings from
Jail, 1877, stretch.]
tcheev, knife. [R. Head, 1674, chive.]
tile, hat. [Haggart's Life, 1821 : and
Dickens' Pickwick, 1837.]
tinglers, onions.
tdmput, parson. [Potter, 1795.]
vyl, town, village. [Harman, 1567,
Romevyle, ' London.']
wedg, silver. [Grose, 1785, wedge.]
yirrum, milking a cow. [Harman, 1567,
yarum, 'milk' (noun). See pop-
lars.]
From Mustoe Mr. Norwood ' gathered that Gipsies are almost
without marriage ; living, in that respect, much like beasts — one
man with many women, who may be sisters, or aught else.
Among his friends, Mustoe knows many such cases; as a man
with two women, sisters, and each with many children. One of
these Avomen called on him this week. He spoke of it as nothing
but what was natural enousfh ; and said " not one in a hundred
Gipsies is married." Men and women so living often part and
meet no more. Thus they herd together like brutes. He said
1 Mr. Norwood seems to have thought not only that these words were Shelta,
but also that Shelta was the same thing as Borrow's ' Germania.' See his letter on
Tramps' Language in the Academy of January 1, 1887 (vol. xxxi. pp. 11-12).
a pilgrim's progress 207
that a " Gipsy Wedding " was held as a great curiosity, and merrily
kept. They are generally duly baptized and buried.'
On the same day as his last visit, Mr. Norwood made the
acquaintance of Mustoe's nephew, a ' handsome young Gipsy in
Worcester Street, named Stephens — old Jenny's grandson. . . .
But for old Jenny, Stephens had been a pure Gipsy ; as by the
other three sides he is so : Jenny was a " house-dweller." He
wanders in summer in Berkshire, Wiltshire, Hants, Middlesex,
Sussex, etc., has a wife, or woman, and one child. Like Mustoe,
he had no furniture in his room at all, and was making clothes-
pegs. He looked alarmed when I entered; but became freely
communicative. He agrees with Mustoe that Gipsies eat
squirrels ; 1 and things that in Mustoe's pictorial phraseology
" stink aloud." Can read a little.' Mr. Norwood made use of the
opportunity to verify part of his vocabulary, and it is noticeable
that Stephens did not corroborate any of the cant words.
The next contributor to the glossary was a man named
Holland, possibly the very Moses Holland of whom George
Smith of Coalville said that he had ' been a Gipsy nearly all his
life.' 2 If so, he may still be found living in a cottage at Orton
on the Hill, an old man of about ninety. Whether he is now a
Roinanichel or a gdjo I do not know, but Mr. Winstedt, who
visited him last summer, elicited the information that his mother
was a daughter of Absalom Smith, ' King ' of the Gypsies. At all
events the Hollands are scarcely so aristocratic a family as a
leader-writer in the Standard (August 15, 1879) would have us
believe — ' the Hollands are a Gipsy family almost as old as the
Lees or the Stanleys, and a Holland always holds high rank
among the " Romany " folk.' a Mr. Norwood at any rate did not
recognize their claim, for he described his new friend as a peerdu,
and the record of their first meeting is as follows : — ' 24 July
1857. Returning from calling on the Bishop of Jamaica at
Uckington, I chanced upon a family of travellers, not Gipsies, in
a lane at Swindon; and, sitting down with them for an hour,
learnt from them the following scraps of " Romanys." . . . This
1 The eating of squirrels was a subject which interested Mr. Norwood, and else-
where he notes ' At p. 83, vol. i. of The Romany Rye, Borrow allows, what in another
place he had wrongly denied, viz., that "Gipsies eat squirrels." They have told
me that they do.' See Zincali, part i. chap. v. ; Romany Rye, chap. vii. ; and
J. G. L. S., New Series, iii. 28. For the origin of the Stephens pds-rat family, see
Morwood, Our Gipsies, p. 77.
2 Gipsy Life, London, 1880, p. 51.
3 Ibid., p. 53.
208 a pilgrim's progress
family of chair-bottomers — a man, woman, and boy — seemed
cleun people and well on; but eould not read. The man alone
roHrrcA Ivmiany.' Moreover, Holland, with most un-Gypsylike
candour, at once described the Gypsies' livelihood as 'Drubbing
the bawlie (or bdwlo), tschuring Teas and the gry, and tasser'mg
the m&80.'
Mr. Norwood met him again on August 17 of the same year,
and wrote, 'I chanced, in the same place, upon the same man
Holland, his wife, and tschavvy, and gry, and masengro-jukal.
He was but just come, having been absent near a month in
several parts of Worcestershire. I had, in my Borrow's two fore-
going songs [" Poisoning the Porker," and the " Song of the
Broken Chastity"], which were in my pocket, a ready subject of
Romany talk.' In spite of this somewhat indelicate conver-
sational opening, Mr. Norwood not only obtained a list of nearly
two hundred Gypsy words during his two visits, and a few
sentences in broken Romany, but also verified the whole of his
older vocabulary and discussed with Holland the words in
Borrow's verses.
Most of Holland's words are good Romani, but a few have
curious forms or meanings. The following possess some
interest : —
atta/m, church. [Cant. Harman, 1567, mas, pi. mds-o, sheep.
autem.] obengsas, devil, [6 beng sets, 'it was
bistdw, well. [< !f. J. G. L. S., Old Series, the devil/]
i. 40, bisto.] ofe, ' ecce,' look.
cl&rris, kino-. p&trom, trail, handful of grass.
doast, damage. [S. & C, doosh.] pdggerpoovamdngry, plough.
doust, to milk. [( Paspati doshdva. pdshnee, delivered of a child. [S. & C.
Mik. vii. 45.] pdsldi.]
dtirralee, garden. [? S. & C's duril, skipsy, basket. [Wright, Dictionary of
'gooseberry.'] Obsolete and Provincial English,
fdros, fair. skip, ' basket.']
hiirry, wheeled cart. [heroi, 'leg,' tdwber, lane. [Cant.]
'wheel.'] vendi, gut, stomach.
I.inir, boil. year, watch.
r, singing. [But List ring, 'running,'
Icester, 'run,' and leister, 'ride.']
The next Gypsy interview recorded was on July 9, 1858.
' Arthur Blunt and 1 walked to a place in Elmstone Hardwick,
where we saw two " pure " Gipsy boys of the name of " Locke,"
aged about fourteen and thirteen, of whom the eldest was a
" rank " Gipsy with the " glazed eye," and thorough Gypsy dress
and manner. Their names were George and Frederick Locke.
A pilgrim's progress 209
. . . N.B. — The old grandfather of these boys, one Myrack Locke,1
is said to speak Gipsy so purely that not one word in twenty is
English, and that his own daughter does not understand his
speech.' As usual, Mr. Norwood improved the occasion by test-
ing his vocabulary, but he set down from them only eighteen
words, of which eevasikoovus, ' will you sit down ? ' and roopereller,
' leg,' are worth quoting as puzzles.
In September 1858, Mr. Norwood read a paper ' On the Race
and Language of the Gipsies' before the British Association at
Leeds, the manuscript of which is now in my possession. It
contains, of course, no original work of importance, but there are
eloquent passages. ' A Gipsy vocabulary,' he said, ' is a list of the
Gipsy's ideas and a clue to the Gipsy's thoughts. I have often
learnt from the words that he has taught me traits of his
character, which he would have wished to conceal. In this way
I have learnt his petty crimes, and private vices, and by what
means he procures a livelihood. By observing what words he has
not, I can form an opinion as to the extent of his ignorance. He
speaks to me out of the abundance of his heart, the words which
reveal his most common thoughts.' He concluded with the
following appeal, ' I will ask the British Association to consider
whether it is worth while to collect and fix the words and forms
of this fast perishing language, before the Gipsies become quite
extinct in England, which must be at no distant time. The
enclosure of commons and tyranny of policemen have done more
for this end than the edicts of sovereign princes. And the
English Gipsies are melting away before our modern civilisation,
like snow before the sun. — I will ask this audience not to per-
secute them. They are now almost a harmless people, and are
never guilty of great crimes; and they endure hardships in
winter which it would make you shudder to hear of. They are
not a tenth part so bad as the rogues and vagabonds of our own
nation.' Sir Henry Rawlinson, who was in the chair, Mr. Cull
and Mr. Crawfurd discussed the paper, and Mr. Norwood was
urged to print a grammar, for which Mr. Thomas Wright said he
thought the Association would pay.
The grammar was never written, but one result of Mr.
Norwood's paper was that Goddard Johnson 2 sent him as a gift
1 For ' Myrick Lock,' see Morwood, Our Gipsies, London, 1885, pp. 77 and 166 ;
and F. W. Carew's [A. E. G. Way's] No. 747, p. 120.
2 The following information about Goddard Johnson was collected and has been
most kindly placed at my disposal by Mr. W. A. Dutt. Although he lived at
VOL. III. — NO. III. O
210 A PILGRIMS PROGRESS
his Norfolk Gypsy collections, and thus preserved from destruc-
tion the important vocabularies of Whiter, which have already
been published in this journal. Goddard Johnson's own words
and phrases were less valuable, and although they are headed
'Vocabulary, sentences, and notes, contributed, almost wholly
from oral intercourse, on the 29th of October 1858, by Goddard
Johnson, Esq., of East Dereham, in Norfolk,' Mr. Norwood com-
plained that a great number of the words seemed to have been
taken from books. He therefore studied the material, copied a
large part of it, and restored the original to its author.
The possession of this new material had, however, an unfor-
tunate effect, for Mr. Norwood, who had hitherto collected inde-
pendently and held himself aloof from books, became anxious
to corroborate Goddard Johnson's glossary, and therefore ran the
risk of suggesting rare words to his Gypsy friends.1 His next
interview with Gypsies is recorded thus : — ' Swindon Drom, 22nd
March, 1859. I sat two hours in the tent of a Gipsy, Matthew
Cooper, the darkest man that I have seen here, and he corrected
Mr. Johnson's glossary as follows.' 2 And an excellent two hours'
work it was, for this heading is followed by a list of no less than
five hundred words, including duplicates.
Dereham, where the Johnsons related to Cowper lived, he belonged to a family
residing in or near Bury St. Edmunds. A lengthy obituary notice appeared in the
Norwich Mercury of April 14, 1860, and was partly quoted in the Annual Report of
the Norfolk and Norwich Archaeological Society, on the Committee of which he
served for many years, and for which he wrote numerous valuable articles. He
was, in his day, one of the best known antiquaries in the county, and almost every-
thing of note that was found was sent to him for his opinion, — it is reported that he
often showed his enthusiasm by refusing to return articles which had been sent for
his inspection. In his younger days he would travel long distances to see anything
in which he was interested, and it is not unlikely that during these journeys he
sometimes came in touch with Gypsies, though no mention of his Romani studies is
made in the report of the Archaeological Society. He died at East Dereham on
April 10, 1860, aged eighty-three.
Mr. Winstedt tells me that he compiled from Norfolk deeds, and printed at
Yarmouth in 1845, a pamphlet of fifteen pages called Illustrations of the . . .
history . . . customs . . . expenses . . . of the English people in former times, and
that ' the principal part of the valuable library of Goddard JohnsoD,' comprising
nearly a thousand volumes, was sold by Sotheby on May 17, 1843. No Gypsy
books are mentioned in the catalogue.
1 In order to show that Mr. Norwood avoided this danger with success, such of
Goddard Johnson's words as are to be found in the same note-book, and have forms
or meanings similar to those in the Coopers' list, are printed within square brackets.
A number of words from Leland's The English Gipsies and their Language, London,
1873, are also added.
2 This Matthew Cooper was possibly — perhaps even probably — the very man
who, some ten years later, taught Leland Romani at half-a-crown a lesson. If so,
and judging from The English Gipsies, p. 49, Mrs. Cooper must have died in 1S63.
She evidently spoke better Romani than her husband.
A PILGRIMS PROGRESS
211
The Coopers, for Mrs. Cooper took a share in the task of
instruction, used a few inflections, but as a rule the verbs are
given in the imperative, and the longest sentences are : — Tcheene
penov, but adrdy geum, 'I said nothing, but in I went,' and
Tlilnltisovva mdndys tchdvvtj was ctdrdy odoi, ' I thought my boy
was in there.'
The following are specimens of their speech : —
dngotdrah, angoterra, the world. [G.
J. anglotarah, 'England': Leland,
Eng. Gs., 49, anglaterra.]
azee, heart. [Leland, Eng. Gs., 105-6,
see.]
bdvvin (bivvin), raw.
bitchdom, I sent.
bitche, send thou.
bivly, rich.
bokrii-tchokkol, sheep - fold. [' cote ' =
'coat' = co&a.]
bdngo, crooked. [G. J. bongo.]
bdngosy', offences. [? bongo zi, ' wicked
heart.']
bugny (buggonos), small-pox. [Leland,
Eng. Gs., 51, bugni]
burk, breast.
deshto hdry, eighteen pence.
dikken, to look.
divyu, crazy. [G. J. deviai.]
don, string, stay-lace, navel. [G. J.
dori.]
dosh, harm. [Leland, Eng. Gs., 51, 257,
dnsh, dush.]
durralc, garden.
trrahs, legs : vardo's erraws, cart-
wheels. |[Leland, Eng. Gs., 67,
herree. ]
gdddo, shirt.
hirrov it, boil (thou) it.
kcttandy, alone.
kindo, wet.
kdosa, a little.
koshnij (French j), basket.
krdllas, king. [Leland, Eng. Gs., 50,
243, k'allis, krallis.]
krdlldsie, queen.
kredh, ant. [G. J. creah.]
kurro, quart. [G. J. stor hurry, 'gal-
lon.']
kushine, basket.
Idkko, greedy.
mooshint/ tchdvvy, male child.
mulliny mukto, coffin. [Leland, Eng.
Gs., 58, rmdlo mokto.]
mutzc, skin.
neahs, finger-nails.
mikkys kair, your house.
jmpiners, geese. [Leland, Eng. Gs.,
239-40, 2)appni.~\
p&tran, bit of grass for sign. [Leland,
Eng. Gs., 180, 230, patteran.]
pendv, say you.
pishum, bee. [Leland, Eng. Gs., 106,
223, 232, pishom.]
pldeldahs, sheets. [Leland, Eng. Gs.,
219, pldchta.]
pobbiko tan, orchard.
geldny, guinea-fowl. [Wright, Die- poodj, bridge, stairs. [G. J. poodga.
tionary of Obsolete and Provincial
English, gelany Suffolk dialect.]
huff (e), woman's cap. [G. J. hoovah.]
jinelo, cunning. [G. J. genella dustah.]
joovii) tchy, female child. [G. J. juve-
kenna, ' female.']
juvahs, lice.
hairdo mass, cooked meat.
kandu mas, stinking meat. [Leland,
Eng. Gs., 229, kaun, kannelo.]
kdnnos, ears. [G. J. kannau.]
kdsstg, quick. [? ker sig.]
kdyj (French j), silk. [Leland, Eng.
Gs., 228, 258, kdshno, kuslini,
' silken.']
Leland, Eng. Gs., 50, 67, purge,
purgis, 'road.']
pdokertgmydhs, guinea-fowls : because
they say ' Put me into your
bag.'
puldn, tinder.
poydhs, feathers. [G. J. povah.]
prastelld, [it] runs.
prdngle, fork. [Cf. J. G. L. S., New
Series, ii. 178.]
sap, snake. [Leland, Eng. Gs., 230,
sap.]
sdrler, morning.
savilld, he laughs.
shello, string, rope, halter.
212
A PILGRIMS PROGRESS
slim, small. [Orofton, J. G. L. S., Old
Series, i. 47, shim, 'small,' 'in-
ferior.' De Rochas, tcino ; Baudri-
mont, tino ; Borrow, chinorb (Pott,
ii. 204), 'small.' For sin = cin, see
Mik., vii. 33.]
shinde livino, small beer. [Cf. shindo,
' wet,' in Leland, Palmer and
Tuckey's English-Gipsy Songs.]
shild, vinegar.
soom, smell. [G. J. soong. Leland,
Eng. Gs., 229, soom.]
sponks, matches. [Cant. Crofton,
J. G. L. S., Old Series, i. 47,
spdngo.]
stdggUs, stack. [S. & C, stughi.
Leland, Eng. Gs., 102, stoggus.]
tallino tchdkkers or tdnld tchdkker,
flannel petticoats. [See J. G. L. S.,
New Series, i. 95.]
tar, to tear. [? tarder, ' pull.']
tduno rduny, turkey (from its gait).
[Leland, Eng. Gs., 208, 239, rani
chillico.]
tchellose, whole. [tchclld
tchitche pendv, say nothing.
tchitche saslo, nothing was.
tdog, tftg, trouble. [Leland, Eng. Gs.,
214, toob, 'amazement.']
trushne, faggot. [Leland, Eng. Gs., 25,
trushni, 'faggot,' 'basket.']
tschillokd, bird. [G. J. charklar.
Leland, Eng. Gs., 19, 175, 203,
213, 218, 227, 231, 255, chilliko.]
tschumber, hill.
unlo, vexed. [Leland, Eng. Gs., 107,
144, 176, 215, 242, 254, 256,
hunnalo.]
vallan, bottle. [G. J. vallin, pi. val-
lah.]
vartp, to watch.
vik, side.
wendyahs, bowels.
yorko, rich : ydrke jiival, money-making
woman. [Cf. Borrow's ' Yocky
Shuri' and yokki juva, both in
Lavolil.]
yiigers (French j), flowers. [G. J.
rushaw. Leland, Eng. Gs., 106, 123,
223, roozhers, ruzhers, ruzhas.]
whole.']
This was considerably better than anything Mr. Norwood had
collected previously, and the quality of the Coopers' words is
illustrated by the following list of genitival nouns. The forms
are mostly good, but the beginning of the modern tendency to
misuse suffixes is seen in the renderings of ' returned transport '
(i.e. ' convict '), ' moon,' and ' hops ' : —
bavvalesgro, broken-winded horse. [G. kellu mcskcr, dancer.
se, ' it is
J. bevalengro, 'fan.']
bearengro, ship-man.
bltsher'd pardel engro, returned trans-
port.
boshamingry, fiddle. [G. J. bosha
mangra.]
dandybulmgry, pepper.
delamangro, kicking horse.
dooddmcsgri/, moon. [Roberts, duddra-
mangru, ' lanthern.']
drabengro, doctor. [G. J. dravingro.]
farengro, faggot. [G. J. cosh faringo.
1 ivca-engro.]
indytcmdngro, Ireland - man. [G. J.
hingdo, 'Ireland.']
jlinid-mengry, letter, epistle.
/.''I.avingru, tinker. [G. J. cacavingra,
' brewing-copper.']
kan-dngro, hare.
kan-mgrys, ear-rings.
kistermdngry, cart, coach. [G. J. kista
mangra.]
kobbinengro, cook.
kdoro mengro, soldier, i [G. J. coro
musgro or misgro, ' flail.']
livvany mesgra, hops.
mootdmcngry, tea.
nokcngrd, snuff, glandered horse.
piameskro, drink.
prasUrmAngro, policeman : vardo's pras-
termengros, cart-wheels.
sikker dmdngry, show.
stdrramdngru, prisoner. [G. J. staral-
misgro, ' gaoler.' Leland, Eng. Gs.,
65, staramangro, ' prison.']
tchinndmmgry, letter, epistle.
tovdmesgro, washing-tub.
vardengro mush, miller.
vastengrds, gloves, handcuffs.
yogengro, gun-keeper.
a pilgrim's progress 213
The next accessions to the vocabulary were obtained ' From a
talk with George Bluett (so he gave his name), a Yorkshire Gipsy,
born under Scarbro' Castle, " a real thorough-bred-un " as he
looked and described himself — in Stanhope Street, 22nd October
I860.' 1 From him Mr. Norwood ' seemed scarcely to learn . . .
any new words ; but set down these -scraps of talk, as follows.'
These scraps of talk throw a little light on the character and
history of the man. ' /Mooring sent him to Beverley Stdrrapan ' ;
but he learned his lesson from experience, and declared ' Mancti
corns to keep my vdstys to my kokkero, and then my mood's open
to sord mush.' ' Bluett was thirty-four, a drabengro (physician),
rat-catcher, dog-stealer, umbrella -mender, scissors - grinder : he
named " drabengro " in a low whisper. He said his great-grand-
father came from Egypt in King Pharaoh's time.' It was inevit-
able that a man of such lineage and such talents should traffic in
magic arts, and it is therefore without surprise that we find him
explaining to his reverend pupil that ' The " Key to Agrippy "...
pens tdtshopen. He says it can be bought in London for thirty-
five shillings ; and, if he had it, his fortune were made. It can
ensure the love of women, and bring back transported persons.
It is the only book that tells tdtshopen ; the rest are hokkdnos.'
Doubtless he explained to the inqusitive rami that he was tem-
porarily in need of a little pecuniary accommodation to enable him
to purchase this wealth-producing work : and doubtless the rasai,
deeply regretting that, at the moment, he was unable to oblige him,
suggested an application to some benevolent friend ; for at the end
of the interview, Bluett remarked, ' regarding his intended visit to
Mrs. and Miss Blunt,' ' I can't jaw without tute dels mdndi a
bitti covvah out of tutys vast to del to them rdwnyahs.'
' If he says true,' wrote Mr. Norwood, ' there is no " deeper
Romany " than his ; and I find it quite familiar and intelligible.'
But Mr. Vain-confidence did not say true. In fact he occasionally
said things that were deliberately false, as when he gave bebby for
' sister,' pen for 'aunt,' bibengro for 'brother,' rdshdl for 'gentle-
man,' tchong for ' arm,' and declared that Anglotdra was ' a lubny
on the gav.' Some of his words he admitted to be cant, his
Romani was not deep enough to drown a mouse, and, to use his
own expression, he ' rokker'd like a gry.'
1 Simson describes a family of English Gypsy potters named Blewett, from the
neighbourhood of Darlington, whom he met at St. Boswell's fair (History of the
Gipsies, p. 93).
214 A pilgrim's progress
The following may be taken as samples of his vocabulary : —
besMngry, year. Mter, pound [money].
bivli, rich. marly, farthing.
caph'i/l, horse. molson, ass.
c6ngree-ry, clergyman. mul, wine.
darr, to sting. mash, umbrella (Cant.).
ddrrSmengro, snake. nam, nine (?).
ddoriik, tell fortunes. octo, eight (?).
ddoshopin, hurt, damage. pdppin, duck.
gdddd, shirt. /"'"''"'".'/, onion.
kdrrimiis, doom (doing). rokengry, letter.
kessick, mare. simmameskr!), pawn-shop.
krees, saddle. with, nineteen.
This trafficking with the Yorkshire Gypsy was distinctly a
declension from grace, a backsliding, a wandering into By-path
Meadow from the strait road which led to Roinani undefiled.
But our pilgrim quickly set bis heart toward the high-way
and recovered the path from which he had strayed. The
next five pages of his note-book record interviews with Mrs.
Cooper, presumably his old friend. ' 7 November 1860. The
Romani By, Mrs. Cooper veiled to mandy's kir to-divvus, to
rokker Romani, te lei a curru o' livno. Yoi dell'd mandi covvah
IdvvSs aky.' ' 13 November 1860. Yoi veiled a/p&pVt covvah
sdwlS ta penned covyah tachd lavyaw to mdnd%, jolling diXr
avrciy kdlldko.' At the end of these lists are some words and
phrases ' From Mrs. Cooper in March I860,' copied perhaps from
another note-book.
If it be true that Gypsies always consider their own relations
the best surviving professors of the ancient tongue, then Mrs.
Cooper must have been born among the Lockes and Smiths, —
Pe'ddle-engrds, ' from peddle- engr 8, a worker in iron,' — for she called
them poortne RomanZ fdlkerti, ' real Gipsy people,' and described
them ' as speaking the best Romany and living in Oxfordshire.' She
used correctly a few inflected verbs — dikovvd, jinovva, penovva,
rokkeressa, shtindssa, and dikilla — and, not always correctly, a few
pronouns : mdndt, niansa (in shttne'ssd mansa ? l ' do you hear
me ? ' ), tuke, tute, yoi, yov, lesti, lesto, len, and lengi. But her idiom
was curiously inconsistent, and she was evidently trying to talk
deeper Romani than was her custom. Three times in these
vocabularies ndsser is recorded for ' find,' yet she gave ndsher'd bok
for ' lost luck.' She seems to have translated the four consecutive
numerals which begin with seven by efta, okto, ndm, and dealt ;
1 The termination -sa may, however, be here nothing more than English 'sir.'
A pilgrim's progress 215
yet she thought shtiv meant ' twenty.' Her longest sentence was
' Holclci see the meilors adri the drilm ; mandi must jol patter
'em ; mandi can track their peerds, and we could peer 'em ; ' she
improvised the following circumlocution for ' umbrella ' — brishneW
her pardel mandi's sherrii ; used such expressions as jas tuke,
' go you away,' and hatsh a wongish, ' stop a minute ' ; 1 called her
husband's family, the Coopers, ' gryds' kistermengros ([inroBafioi)' ;
and gave an interesting little list of seven place-names : B&wlti-
tem, ' Ham-p-shire ' ; Koshni-tem, ' Bark-shire ' ; LulU-gdv, ' Read-
ing ' (red-town) ; L&n-g&v, ' Bristol ' (salt-water-town) ; Lundra
and Londres, ' London ' ; Stdrrabdn-gdv, ' Gloucester ' ; We'shnd-
tem, ' Dean Forest.' She also described a wife's duties as stivving
and tooving, ' sewing and washing ' ; and, as was proper, repeated
to the rakii her nightly prayer : — Ml deerl Duvvulestl, hair sig
sliune'ssa mandi ; day mandi zee ddray tutl's tern, ' My dear God,
make haste, hear me ; give me heart (life) in your kingdom.'
Of the words which Mr. Norwood obtained during these
interviews, the following are examples : —
adr&l, along. Siivvmg adral the baw, kilnser, corner. [Leland, Eng. Gs., 106,
'sleeping [along the hedge]' : also kunsus, 'end.']
rendered ' to,' ' towards,' ' before ' ; ladj, shame.
adr&l the tamaiv jtivt/ciiv, ' before lajello, ashamed.
the little girls.' lullt, farthing.
apdllo the baiv, under the hedge [cf. meeri, my.
J. G. L. S., Old Series, i. 47,paWov, nuggii, our.
pallova, ' after,' ' behind.'] patter, after.
beshamcngrp, saddle. pdndcrmengro, pinder.
boshdmengrp, fiddle. pdndermcngrp, pinfold. [Leland, Eng.
bdrrddir, more. Gs., 66, pandamum, pandapenn.']
drUvvdn, loud. [Leland, Eng. Gs., 41, puordpcn, purroben, funeral.
drovdn, ' loud.'] riizlo, strong. [Leland, Eng. Gs., 245,
ferrader, better. 246, riizli, ruzlo : but 29, 31, 177,
hokki, yokki, see, look [exclamation]. 243, 254, surrelo.]
hUfer, cap (man's or woman's). sav, laugh.
j&ddafer, apron. [Leland, Eng. Gs., 66, se, is.
jellico.] shukdh, shdx&h, gently, gentle.
jinndmingro, postmaster. spenton, cream. [S. and 0., smcnting.']
jinnamengry, letter. suvvdldy, swear. [Leland, Eng. Gs., 29,
kdnnd sig, presently (kdnaw ' now ' and sovahalled.]
sig ' soon '). tdtscMno miish, true man.
kerrov, do thou (imperative). tshong, curtsey.
kokkel, bone. vdrrdgdws, [? chains].
komme, more. yekkeras, once.
koorinc, blisters.
At this point despondency seems to have overtaken Mr. Nor-
1 Cf. Leland, Eng. Gs., 20, 205, hatch a wongish; and F. W. Carew [A. E. G.
Way], No. 747, p. 65, hatch a vongish.
210
a pilgrim's progress
wood; Giant Despair held him captive. He realized that the
Anglo-Romani vocabulary was small, the grammar lost, and the
dialect corrupt. It seemed that he had obtained all that he could
reasonably expect from English Gypsies ; that nothing further of
any importance was likely to be gained by persevering in his
search ; that his pilgrimage was ended. So he wrote : ' This
vocabulary probably contains, up to this point, close upon five
hundred separate words, more or less, which I have myself
collected orally at the tents of the Romany, mostly from the
Cooper family, who do not seem to use many more than these/
signed his name, and closed his Gypsy note-book.
Probably the book would never again have been opened, unless
to abstract material for use in one of the Gypsy lectures Mr.
Norwood occasionally delivered, and he might have continued to
wander blindly among the tombs of dead vocabularies, had it not
been for a chance meeting * at " Aunt Sally " on the racecourse
at Cheltenham, 15 April 1863.' There, attracted by some words
of Romani which he overheard, he made the acquaintance of
Edwin Buckland, an ' old Jewish-looking man [who had] lived in
a house to 27 Mt. : born at Charlbury in Oxfordshire : no Gypsy
blood : x m.[arried].' The interview was the event of Mr. Norwood's
life, for Buckland spoke an inflected Gypsy dialect immeasurably
more perfect than anything he had previously found, the dialect of
his dreams, the dialect he had sought vainly for many years. His
gratitude was unbounded, and found dignified expression on every
opportunity. He dedicated his annotated copy of Smart and
Crofton's Dialect of the English Gypsies to him, and illustrated it
with examples of his conversation :— ' Kekko kerdum javro kSvvdw
'dr& mderi mtrripen : E. B. (A most dear old man !).'—' Romd-
dilm Romani jiival boot beshaw ago. Yek Boswellundi. Comdum
la misto, said dear old Edwin Buckland to me at Cheltenham, April
16th, 1863, in my garden in Park Place. He was then seventy-five, a
good and sad old man, not born a Gipsy, but speaking Romani very
1 This statement seems to be based on a misunderstanding of Buckland's asser-
tion, ' I was not a Gipsy all my life.' He may not have lived a Gypsy life in his
young days, but the evidence of his baptismal register will convince most people that
he was born a Gypsy :— 'Edward, son of Edward and Paradice Buckland, Travellers,
Aug. 1, 1790.' The Rev. Julius D. Payne, who most obligingly sought out and sent
this extract from the Charlbury registers, also tells me that ' the outlying parts of this
parish were, and are still, largely of Gypsy origin. Finstock, Leafield, and Ramsden
all have migrants of this kind : and Charlbury in a less degree.' Groome (In Gipsy
Tents, p. 119) mentions a gravestone at Belbroughton, Worcestershire, ' Erected to
the memory of Paradise Buckler, who died Sth January 1815, aged 13 years,' and
describes her funeral.
A PILGRIM S PROGRESS
217
deeply and easily. I think of him with great respect and regret.'
' Kekke sliiimmus dru starraban drU m% merripen. Poor old Buck-
land, in 1863.' Among the notes of an interview in the same year
he records, ' This poor old man has much fine feeling and right
principle — no savage he ! It distressed him that I had not saved
him old clothes as I promised.' But most touching of all, and
most significant testimony of Mr. Norwood's love for the children
of Little Egypt and his enthusiasm for their mysterious tongue, is
the simple and beautiful entry at the end of his first conversation :
' Thank God for such a measure of good fortune as this was.'
Deep Anglo-Romani is so rare that the whole of Buckland's
words and phrases are here reproduced and indexed. His dialect
was not as perfect as the Welsh. The pilgrim had not reached
the kingdom for which he was bound ; but he had entered ' the
country of Beulah, whose air was very sweet and pleasant,' ' met
with abundance of what he had sought for in all his pilgrimage,'
could even ' hear voices from out of the city,' and, drawing nearer,
obtain ' yet a more perfect view thereof.' As he wrote himself,
Buckland spoke ' by far the purest Gipsy that I have ever heard,
as this will prove.'
I. From Edwin Buckland, JEt. 75, not a Gipsy. [15 April 1863.]
1. dnnig ; a well. 20. gry jdlla drtivvon ; the horse goes
2. rrv&ssur ; a manger (milssoor). fast.
3. tdltaldrdeils ; a crow. 21. they are rvmadee kctness ; married
4. kawlo tchirroclo ; a blackbird. together.
5. kooromagro ; a soldier. ) 22. the dinle gorje dikenna ajdw ; the
6. kooromaigro ; a pugilist. 5 foolish fellows stare so.
[omitted] the sun. 23. okku 6 gry ochtas yn-dcl y bawr,
7. skill ; the moon. dray y poov ; Jul lei 0 gry avree
8. Icata dtivvo tan ; at that place. y pooiriartp ; look, the horse has
9. sar shan paid, ; how are you, brother? jumped over the hedge into the
10. mishto dusto parakaw tut ; very ground ; go fetch the horse out
well, I thank you. of the ground (field).
11. bish ; twenty. 24. dinlee foM jinenna tchttshee ; the
12. desk ; ten. fond folks know nothing.
13. pooru gorjH ; 100 (an old man). 25. grdsny ; a mare.
14. Ldrvanu tern ; Wales. 26. mdndi jindvvd ; I know.
15. day (da) man shock hory ; give me 27. jdssd ketty congree ; you go to
sixpence. church.
16. I used to kerrob booty ; do work. 28. kckku shumrniis Romano sor meer
17. kdnna shumrniis tamo, I used to merriben ; I was not a Gipsy all
jiv . . . kerrasty ; when I was my life.
young, I used to live in a house. 29. kadj poij (Fr. j) nikktis ; a silk
18. adoi veum kdllakdiv ; I came there neckerchief.
yesterday. 30. diivvo gdrjih se ndshado ; that man
19. geum kety Lundra, vium pdulee ; I is hanged.
went to London and came back. 31. i) prdstermengry (or gry aw prdster-
21 K
A pilgrim's progress
32
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
41.
42.
43.
44.
45.
46.
47.
48.
49.
mtngry) venn dpdpli next besh ; 50.
the races will come again next 51.
year. 52.
penndhdw ; nuts.
dikdas ; he saw. 53.
kinnd ; tired. 54.
diledwm boot divviisdiv ; I have seen
many days. 55.
boot mUshdw v&nna motU kerdte ; 56.
many men will be drunk to-night.
sar jivhma ; how do they live 1 57.
ddokvdum man ; I have hurt my-
self. 58.
doosh ; hurt. 59.
mdngdmixs ; begging. 60.
Idordmiis ; picking pockets. 61.
I shall ddokdvd man ; I shall hurt 62.
myself. 63.
mishtd dikella d tern : ddosto pdbbd
cdvvo besh ; the country looks 64.
well : plenty of apples this year. 65.
I Icekfin&w ; I don't know. 66.
dikennd se(-i) dlnnaldy (-la) ; they
look as fools.
jinessa so se ' soov ' ; do you know 67,
what is ' needle ' ? 68,
tehdwrd ; a plate. 69,
pdssermingry ; a fork. 70,
kek plas (pronounced pious) ; no
fun (play).
pdssdvvd ; I think.
loor putzydw ; to pick pockets.
d n ily kdshto dprdy ; bring the stick[s]
up.
dinje mdndi duvvo ; reach me that.
vdvva kdll&kd ; I will come to-
morrow.
tchdord ; poor.
dhj shummus last bSsh ; I was here
last year.
p prdstcrmdngrp se pardel ; the race
is over.
miilldv ; tin.
durriik ; to tell fortunes.
kdorake ; Sunday.
Mr sig ; make haste.
dpray se lino ; he is taken up.
kek o pdggdd tchitsche ; he has
broken nothing.
jinessa Jcy ; you know where.
keddn ; done.
I shall vaiv to teero Mr kdllakaw ; I
shall come to your house to-
morrow.
kek dids Us ; he did not strike it.
del ; to strike.
I will dov lis ; strike it.
wusserdurn te deum Us avree ; I
threw and struck it out (at Aunt
Sally).
II. Edwin Buckland apopli, Mt.
71.
72.
73.
74.
75.
76.
77.
78.
79.
80.
81.
82.
83.
84.
85.
tschiv dprdy stdrdee, shunno (?)
sherrii, villa sh ilrd ; put your
hat on, . . . your head will be
cold.
tchiv d skdmnun to beshdv acl&y ;
put the chair to sit down on.
mtsdlly ; a table.
burradcr ; more, greater.
goorane ; a cow. ^
gdorancdiv ; cows./
drtiwon tamo ; very young.
stdwr kurrakdy ; four weeks, a
month.
vend ; winter.
d kdm ; the sun.
door pardel u bitto gdv ; far beyond
the little village (Prestbury).
dlvryd ; craked [sic], insane.
UsM n dv ; his name.
kekkd kirdv.m jdvro lord in my
merriben ; I never did such a
thing in my life.
Mkko dikdum ; I never saw.
75, 16 April 1863.
to wear.
86. ruvver .
87. ruvveress ; you wear.
88. pdoranee kiilldws ; old things
(clothes).
89. jovva (a jol) ; I shall go. Buck-
land says ' I shall jov.'
90. miuUvvul lei tfit ; God take care
of you.
91. I shan't vdv h'rry till rate ; I shan't
come home till [night].
92. rfrmaddm Rdmane jural boot be-
shaw ago ; I married a Gipsy
woman many years ago.
93. yek BdswelMndp ; one of the Bos-
wells.
94. romddds kerdknee rdklce ; he mar-
ried a house-woman.
95. commuAv let mistd ; I love her well.
96. les, him.
97. leti, them.
98. vedn katar mandi kdnna rdkkerduw,
ddoy trin lavvdw, as soon as you
shitndn, to shundv saw pendvva ;
A pilgrim's progress
219
you came to me ■when I spoke
two or three words, as soon as
you heard, to hear what I said.
99. to vel muclclo till vdvvd pdlla lesti ;
to be left till I come after it.
100. peerdvdvva la ; he courts her.
101. peerinnd Mtncss ; they walk to-
gether.
102. pdrrdvcn ; to exchange.
103. porrostd ; buried.
104. kdoshkd Romano rokkerpen ; good
Gipsy talk.
105. rokkerpen, rdkkermiis ; conversa-
tion.
106. Angotcrrd ; England.
107. lei lis ; take it.
108. tcheev 6 soil 'crvahr its oprdy gruskd
sherril, te tcheev y bdshto oprdy
gruskd dumd, may (ma) jdvva
avree ; put the bridle on the
horse's head, and put the saddle
on the horse's back, I will go
out.
109. kekko shummtis drti, stdrrdbdn dril
my merripen ; I was not in
prison in my life.
1 10. kdnna vhsd ketti, tan ; when do
you come to the tent ?
111. we shall jdssa kallakd ; we shall go
to-morrow.
112. mtstd silttiim ; I slept well.
113. shilro divviis ; cold day.
114. bdvvdl pudi'dliis ; the wind blows
about.
115. ken slg to jdn dclru Mr avree bish-
dnesty ; make haste to go into the
house out of the rain.
116. else kindce dvenna ; else you will
get wet (plural).
117. Idkkd clad te Idkkp dae (die) sis
Romane ; her father and mother
were Gipsies.
118. lakko dad se gdrjii, te Idkky dae sis
Romane ; [her father] is [a non-
Gypsy, and her mother] is [a
_ Gypsy].
119. jdvra covdw ; anything.
120. riggcrlds pdwli te kerru (?) same
tan apopli ke landas (or lussas)
away ; carry it back to the same
place again where you took it
away.
121. mookdds boot tchdvvy pdlla lestt
kdnna sis moolee ; she left many
children after her when she was
dead.
122. sor dilvvd se tdtschd ke pdnddn
mongc ; all that is right which
you told me.
123. shilree vennd tat (1) dtshdn avrie ;
they will be cold if they stand
out.
1 24. kckly pyd w kek livvino ; I never
drink any beer.
125. soree rydw rilvennd dullo (?) stdr-
didw ajdw ; all the gentlemen
wear those (round) hats ; but
126. kekly ruvvdw len mdi (ma) ; I wear
them not.
127. pennd dilvvdiv lav apopli ; (for)
kek jindw mai saw penessd ; [say
that word again for] I [do not
know what you say].
III. Edwin Buckland called 26 October, 1863.
128. okkU, tti pcedpen ; your health (the 136.
expression in pledging a health). 137.
129. sdr kcddn this bdivro herrig ; how 138.
have you done this great while ?
130. ky gean, kanad gedn avree ? where 139.
did you go, when you went out ? 140.
131. vessa mdnsa ; will you go with
me ? 141.
132. shum to jaiv to pirrov avree ; lam 142.
going to walk out.
133. avree shUm to jdvva ; I am going 143.
out. 144.
134. will you pirrds mdnsa ; will you 145.
walk with me ? 146.
135. ky shan since dikdum tilt ? where 147.
are you since I saw you ? 148.
hochovelld yov ; he lies.
Ulldvengro gdv ; Leicester.
diivvd se tdtschd lav ; that is the
right word.
door ; far.
kdnna jdssa avree ; when do you
go out ?
boot drummdto ; a long way.
ky kishtdsd ; where shall you
ride?
koshkmo ; wooden.
jaw shilkdr ; go gently.
lay ; take (imperative).
eev ; frost.
d shul ; the moon.
o kdm ; the sun.
220
A PILGRIMS PROGRESS
149. boot biih no ri'Viunini (to us) ; we
shall have much rain.
150. druvvdn skill sis Mrsdwl5, y bdvval
pdoddas mlstd ; it was very cold
this morning, the wind Mew-
much.
151. skill sc ; it is cold.
152. Mlckb krrd'ilm javru cdvdw dril
mieri merripcn ; I never did such
a thing in my life.
153. trm deshdw tckdvvidw ; (I have)
thirty (grand-) children.
IV. Edwin Buckland, 2 June 1864.
154. man ; me. 169.
155. men (?) ; us. 170.
156. may; I. 171.
157. mdiord ; our. 172.
158. kdppd ; blanket. 173.
159. ta ; and. 174.
160. mauro tan ; our tent.
161. rdrvits ; heaven. 175.
162. mil dSvviil ; my God (mil = meerd). 176.
163. HindKtem; Ireland (h very guttural). 177.
164. Hinditemige gorgee ; Irishmen (ch.). 178.
165. O Ldrvdno tern ; AVales. 179.
166. talldl ; below. 180.
167. palldl ; behind. 181.
168. pids ; fun (pye-as).
jdssd ; so as. ^
ajdw ; so. /
Xngvtdrd ; England.
con shdn til ; who are you ?
leek jmdvvd tilt ; I don't know you.
dUvvo sis teero dad ; that is your
father.
jindvva lis ; I know him.
se divvils ; it is daylight.
duvvfdestu ; godly.
kerdd ; done.
shan ; you are.
jassa ; you go.
comessa ; you bike.
Alphabetical Index.
acl&y, down : 72.
addi, there : 18.
ddrn, in : 115.
dril : 109, 152.
dray, into : 23.
ajdw, so : 22, 125, 170.
dky, here : 56.
amen, to us (in vclldmen) : 149.
men, us : 155.
[and-, to bring.]
dndy (imperative) : 52.
dngoterrd, England : 106.
angotdrd, 171.
dnnig, a well : 1.
dpdpli, again : 31.
apopli : 120.
dpdpli: 127.
[dtsh-, to stand.]
dtshdn, they stand : 123.
[av-, to come, become.]
vdvvd, I shall come : 54, 99.
vaw : 66.
vov : 91.
vdssa, thou comest, or wilt come : 110,
131.
villa, it will come or become : 71, 149.
vtt: 99.
avenna, you will become : 116.
vennd, they will become : 36, 123.
venn, they will come : 31.
veum, I came: 18, 19.
vedn, thou earnest : 98.
dvree, out, out of : 23, 70, 108, 115, 123,
130, 132, 133, 140.
bdvval, wind : 114, 150.
bawr, hedge : 23.
bdwrd, great : 129.
bilrrdder, more, greater : 74.
besk, year : 31, 43, 56.
beshdw, years : 92.
[besh-, to sit.]
beshdv : 72.
bdshtu, saddle : 108.
bish, twenty : 11.
bishend, rain : 149.
bishdnesty (prepositional) : 115.
bittd, little : 81.
boot, many : 35, 36, 121 ; rendered
'long': 141.
boot, many : 92 ; much : 149.
booty, work : 16.
bdsivelhlndy, of the Boswells (ablative) :
93.
[com-, to love.]
commdiv, I love : 95.
comessa, thou likest : 181.
A pilgrim's progress
221
con, who : 172.
congree, church : 27.
[da-, to give, strike.]
dov : 69.
del: 68.
deum, I struck : 70.
dids, he struck : 67.
day (da), give (imperative) : 15.
dad, father: 117, 118.
dad, 174.
dae (die), mother : 117.
doe: 118.
desk, ten : 12.
trin deshdio, thirty : 153.
devvill, God : 90, 162.
duvvUlesto, godly : 177.
[dik-, to see.]
dikelld, it looks : 43.
dikcnnd, they stare : 22.
dikcnnd, they look : 45.
dikdum, I have seen : 35.
dikdum, I saw : 85.
dikdum, I saw : 135.
dikdas, he saw : 33.
[dinj-, reach.] [Of. Jesina dind'drav (man
ovri), ich strecke mich aus.]
dinje, reach (imperative) : 53.
dinndldy, fools : 45.
dinlee, fond : 24.
dinle, foolish : 22.
divviis, day : 113 ; daylight : 176.
divvilsdw, days : 35.
divvyo, insane : 82.
[dook-, to hurt.]
ddokdvd, I shall hurt : 42.
dookudum, I have hurt : 38.
door, far : 81, 139.
doosh, hurt : 39.
doosto, plenty : 43.
dostu, very : 10.
dooy trin, two or three : 98.
drummdw, roads : 141.
drtivvon, fast : 20 ; very : 77, 150.
dumo, back : 108.
[durruk-, to tell fortunes.]
durruk : 59.
duvvo, that : 8, 30, 53.
duvv6 : 122, 138, 174.
adUvvdw : (in pennd duvvdiv lav) : 127.
dullo, those : 125.
ee, the (plural article) : (in sorce rydw)
125.
y (plural article) : 31, 57, 52 (in dndy).
y (oblique article) : 23, 108.
p (fern, article) : 1 50.
eev, frost : 146.
foki, folks : 24.
gdv, village, town : 81, 137.
gdordne, cow : 75.
goordncdw, cows : 76.
gorjti, man: 13, 30; non-Gypsy : 118.
gorje, fellows : 22.
gorgce, men : 164.
grdsny, mare : 25.
gry, horse : 20, 23.
gry, 23.
grusko (genitive) : 108.
grydw, horses : 31.
herrig, while (in bdwrd herrig, great
while): '129 [really 'leg': cart's
legs are ' wheels ' : whence ' while.']
[hin-, cacare.]
hindi (participle) in hindttcm, Ireland :
163.
hinditemige, Irish : 164.
[hochov-, to lie.]
hochovelld, he lies : 136.
hdry, pence : 15.
[is-, verb substantive.]
shum, I am : 132, 133.
shdn, thou art : 9, 135, 172.
shan, you are : 179.
se, is (singular) : 30, 118, 122, 138,
151, 176.
se : 46, 57, 62.
se (~i), are : 45.
shummiis, I was : 17, 28, 56, 109.
sis, was : 118, 121.
sis : 150, 174.
sis, were : 117.
[ja-, to go.]
jovvd, I go or shall go : 108, 133.
jovva : 89.
jov: 89.
jaw : 132.
jdssd, you go : 27, 140.
jassa : 180.
jdlld, it goes : 20.
jol (for imperative) : 23.
jol: 89.
jdssd, we shall go : 111.
jdn, you go : 115.
geum, I went : 19.
gedn, you went : 130.
jaw (imperative) : 144.
jdssd, so as : 169.
jdvro, such : 84, 152.
jdvrd, any : 119.
\jin-, to know.]
jinovvd, I know : 173, 175.
222
A PILGRIM S PROGRESS
jindvva : 26.
• ir : 44.
jindw : 127.
jvnis8&, thou knowest: 46, 64.
jinennd, they know : 24.
[jiv-, to live.]
jiv : 17.
jivennd, they live : 37.
jiival, woman : 92.
fcadj, silk : 29.
kall&M, to-morrow : 54,'IH.
billiiblm : 66.
kdlldkdw, yesterday : 18.
Mm, sun : 80, 148.
Unna, when: 17, 98, 110, 121, 130,
140.
kdtdr, to : 98.
kdtd, tit : 8.
kitty : 27.
H$: 19.
TcetU: 110.
kawlo, black : 4.
/ce [=a&a], this.
MruM, to-night : 36.
Mrsdwlo, this morning : 150.
he, which : 122.
kek, no, not: 44, 49, 63, 67, 124,
173.
kek: 127.
Mkly, never : 124.
Mkly, not : 126.
kekko, never : 84, 85, 109, 152 ; not :
28.
Mr, house : 66, 115.
Mrry (locative) : 91.
Mrrdsty (prepositional) : 17.
Mraknee, house-dwelling : 94.
[Mr-, to do, make.]
Mrrob : 16.
Mrdum, I did : 84.
Mrdum : 152.
keddn, you have done : 65, 129.
Mr (imperative) : 61.
ken (imper. plural) : 115.
kerdo, done : 1 78.
kinno, tired : 34.
Mrru, ? : 120.
Mtness, together : 101.
ketness : 21.
kindk, wet (plural) : 116.
\lcisht-, to ride.]
Msht&sd, you shall ride : 142.
\lcoor-, to tight.]
kooromagro, soldier : 5.
kooromengro, pugilist : 6.
MordM, Sunday : 60.
kurrakdy, weeks : 78.
kdoshko, good : 104.
Mppa, blanket : 158.
bUhtij (plural), sticks : 52.
Mshki/no, wooden : 143.
kuvd, thing : 84.
covdw : 119, 152.
c6vv6, this : 43.
kUlldws, things : 88.
by, where : 130, 135, 142.
ky : 64.
M: 120.
la. See yoi.
lav, word : 127, 138.
lavvaw, words : 98.
Idrvanu tern, Wales : 14.
Idrvdno tern : 165.
[le-, to take.]
lei, may he take : 90.
lei (for imperative) : 23, 107.
lussas, you took : 120.
landas, you took : 120.
lay (imperative) : 145.
lino, taken : 62.
les. See yov.
livvino, beer : 1 24.
\loor-, to steal.]
loor : 51.
Idoromus, picking pockets : 41.
lundra, London : 19.
mai, 1 : 127.
rndi (ma) : 126.
may (ma) : 108.
may, 156.
man, me : 38, 42, 154.
man, to me : 15.
mdndi, to me : 53 ; for nominative
26.
tndndi (prepositional) : 98.
monge, to me : 122.
mdnsd, with me : 131, 134.
mauro, our : 160.
mdwru, our : 157.
mien, my (oblique case) : 152.
meer : 28.
mil ( = meero) : 162.
mu (in mudevvul) : 90, 162.
mcrriben, life : 28, 84.
mcrripm : 109, 152.
misdlly, table : 73.
mishto, well : 10.
mishto : 43.
misto : 95.
misto : 112, 150.
A PILGRIMS PROGRESS
223
[mong-, to beg.]
mdngdmus, begging : 40.
[mook-, to leave.]
mookdds, she left : 121.
mucklo, left : 99.
mooUe, dead (fern.) : 121.
mottc, drunk (plural) : 36.
miilldv, tin : 58.
miishdw, men : 36.
mussur (mUssdor), manger : 2 [cf. De
Rochas, Les Parias de France, p.
296, Ecurie, Musur. ?Lat. mcmsura
> masura > Fr. masure, ' ruin,'
' hovel,' ' hut ' ; Ital. masseria, ' casa
di lavoratori ' ; Sp. maseria, masade.
There is also a Spanish word
masera meaning ' kneading trough.']
[nash-, to hang.]
ndshddo, hanged : 30.
ndv, name : 83.
6, the : 23, 43, 72, 80, 81, 108, 147, 148.
o : 165. See also ee.
[odder-, to jump.]
ochtds, it has jumped : 23.
dkku, look, behold : 23, 128.
opray, up, on : 52, 71, 108.
opray : 62.
paid,, brother (vocative) : 9.
pdlldl, behind : 167.
pdlld, after : 99, 121.
[parak-, to thank.]
par died w, I thank : 10.
pdrdel, over, beyond : 23, 81.
par del : 57.
[pass-, to think.] [i.e. patser-, to be-
lieve.]
pdssdvvd, I think : 50.
pdulie, back : 19.
pdwli : 120.
[pen-, to say.]
pendvvd, I say : 98.
penissd, thou sayest : 127.
pdnddn, you told : 122.
pinn (in pinna duvvdw lav), say (im-
perative) : 127.
penndhdw, nuts : 32.
[peerov-, to woo.]
pierovdvvd, he courts [I am courting] :
100.
[pi-, to drink.]
pydw, I drink : 124.
piedpen, drink : 128.
pias (pious), fun : 49.
pids (pye-as) : 168.
[pir-, to walk.]
pirrov, I will walk : 132.
pirrds, will you walk : 134.
peerinnd, they walk : 101.
pobbd, apples : 43.
[pogger-, to break.]
pdggdd [=pdggd'd], broken : 63,
poij nikkus, neckerchief : 29.
pdoro, old : 13.
pdordnee, old : 88.
poov, field : 23.
pdovidrty (prepositional), 23.
[porrov-, to bury.]
porrostd, buried : 103.
[2)drrov-, to exchange.]
pdrrdven, to exchange : 102.
[posser-, to prick.]
pdssermengry, fork : 48.
[praster-, to run.]
prdstermengry, race : 57.
prdstermengry, races : 31.
[pud-, blow.]
pitdulliis, it blows : 114.
pdoddas, it blew : 150.
ptitzydw, pockets : 51.
rdklee, woman : 94.
rdrvus, heaven : 161.
rate, night : 91.
kerdte, to-night : 36.
[rigger-, to carry.]
rigger (imperative) : 120.
[rokker-, to talk.]
rdkkerdum, I spoke : 98.
rdkkerpen, talk, conversation : 104,
105.
rdkkermus, conversation : 105.
rdrndnd, a Gypsy : 28.
rdmdne, a Gypsy woman : 118.
romane, Gypsies : 117.
rdrndnd, Gypsy (masc. adj.) : 104.
rdmdne, Gypsy (fem. adj.) : 92.
[romer-, to marry.]
rdmddum, I married : 92.
romddds, he married : 94.
romddee, married (plural) : 21.
[ruv-, to wear.]
ruvver : 86.
rtivvdw, I wear : 126.
ruvver ess, you wear : 87.
ruvennd, they wear : 125.
rydw, gentlemen : 125.
sar, how : 9, 37.
sdr : 129.
sdwld, morning (in kcrsdivlo) : 150.
shirr u, head : 71, 108.
shill, cold : 150.
224
A PILGRIMS PROGRESS
98.
61.
skill : 151.
shilro, cold : 71.
shilro : 113.
shiMe (plural) : 123.
shoch, six : 15.
shilkdr, gently : 144.
skill, moon : 7, 147.
shiim. See is.
[shun-, to hear.]
shundv : 98.
shitndn, you heard
shilnno, ? : 71.
siy, haste (in Mr sig) :
s?j7 : 115.
sk&mmin, chair : 72.
so, what : 46.
saw? : 98.
saw : 127.
sollervdhrus, bridle : 108.
soov, needle : 46.
sdr, all : 28, 122, (in soree rydiv)
125.
[sov-, to sleep.]
suttum, I slept : 112.
st&rdee, hat : 71.
stdrdidw, hats : 125.
[starr-, to confine.]
stdrrdban, prison : 109.
stdwr, four : 78.
tu, and : 159.
te, 70, 117.
te : 108, 118.
tailed, below : 166.
tan, place, tent : 8, 160.
tan : 110, 120.
tarno, young : 17, 77.
tat (?), if: 123. [in tat dtshan, read te
dtshan.]
tatscho, right : 122.
tdtscho : 138.
tchavvy, children : 121.
tchdvvtdw, children : 153.
tchdwrd, plate : 47.
tchirroclu, bird : 4.
tchitshee, nothing : 24.
tchitsche : 63.
[tchiv-, to put.]
tcheev : 108.
tcfew (imperative) : 72.
tschiv : 71.
tchdoro, poor : 55.
te = English 'to': 120.
teero, thy : 66, 174.
tu, thy : 128.
tern, country : 14, 43, 163, 164, 165.
to (Eng.), ?for te, ' that ' : 72, 98, 99, 115,
132, 133.
toltdldrdeils, crow : 3.
trin, three : 153.
trin : 98.
trin deshaw, thirty : 153.
tU, thou : 172.
tilt, thee: 90, 135, 173.
tut : 10.
ullavengro gdv, Leicester : 137.
vend, winter : 79.
[tousser-, to throw.]
wusscrdum, I threw : 70.
yek, one : 93.
[yoi, she.]
la, her (accusative) : 95, 100.
lalcko, her (gen. masc.) : 117.
lahho : 118.
IdJchp (gen. fern.) : 117.
Idkky : 118.
yov, he : 136.
o, he : 63.
Ms, him : 96.
lis, him, it : 69, 175.
Us, it : 67, 70, 107.
Ids (in riggerlds) : 120.
^aK, his : 83.
lesti (prepositional) : 99,121.
Zen, them: 97, 126.
NOTES AND QUERIES 225
NOTES AND QUERIES
19. — The Rev. John Parker
The Gypsy Lore Society lost an enthusiastic member by the death, on
November the 14th 1909, of the Rev. John Parker, Minister of St. James's Parish
Church in Glasgow. He collected Anglo-Romani, the Scottish Tinklers' Cant,
and Shelta, and had translated the parable of the Prodigal Son and the Lord's
Prayer into the first of these dialects for the use of his Gypsy friends. It is not
only in his professional capacity that he will be missed by the Glasgow colony, for
he acted as their friend and adviser, and was ever ready to champion their cause
by writing letters to the newspapers.
20. — Borrow's Gypsies — Addenda
During the Christmas vacation I had the good fortune to be able to discuss
my article on Borrow's Gypsy friends with such ancient and well-informed
Romanicals as Iza Heme, Esau Young (Heme), Oscar Boswell, Joshua Gray, and
Lureni, widow of Kenza Boswell. They confirmed almost all my information,
and told me several things which I had not heard before. The following are a
few additions which could not be made in the article itself.
Sanspirella Herne, wife of Ambrose Smith (B. 8), went to America after her
husband's death. There she fell in with two of her brothers whom she had not
seen for fifty years, and travelled with them until her death.
Faden Smith (B. 10) married Alice Penden, a bdri rani from London, who fell
in love with his handsome person. He died in Dublin, where some of his children
may still be found. Sarah, the wife of Johnny Cooper (C. 21), was cousin to
Alice Penden.
Bui Brown, husband of Lydia Smith (B. 13), and Tom Brown, husband of
Lydia Cooper (C. 22), were really Hemes, grandsons of ' owld Dick ' Herne. The
mother of Poley Mace was their sister.
The children of Poley Mace and Delaia Smith (C. 8) were Dona (D. 36),
Melbourn (D. 35), and two more daughters. Dona married Gus Gray, a son of
Squire Middleton and Emily, daughter of Oseri Gray and Eliza Herne. The
other two girls married Charlie Mitchell the fighter and Eugene Stratton.
It appears that some of the Gypsies who lived in Borrow's day were such
excellent ' mare-breakers ' that they could live in comfort with two or three wives
at the same time. They generally preferred sisters or relatives of some kind. In
Romano Lavo-Lil there is a long account of Ryley Bosvil and his two wives,
Shuri and Lura, but Joshua Gray gave me the names of four — Shuri, Lui, and
Hagi Smith (who were three sisters), and Lucy Boswell the sister of Wester.1
Charlie Pinfold was also the husband of three sisters at the same time, and, in
addition to that, he had children by his own daughters. Nl'abai Herne lived at
the same time with ' Crowy ' and her sister Greenleaf ('Kidney'), whilst his father
Richard also had two wives at once, by whom he had eleven sons and a large
number of daughters.
This Richard Herne (' owld Dick ') had a relation called Newcombe, who made
laws for the Gypsies, and enforced them. They related to the behaviour of the
Romanicals amongst themselves, and were known as Newcombe's Laws. What
they were exactly I have not been able to ascertain, but they must have been more
1 See Smart and Crofton, Dialect of the English Gypsies, p. 253.
VOL. III. — NO. III. I'
226 NOTES AND QUERIES
or less complete, as they included a law regulating the behaviour of Gypsies whilst
playing cards.
Iza Heme remembered a few lines of a Romani gili ' Jal-m ' to Kdngri Kurki
Sdla' composed by Borrow, but it did not seem to be of much interest.
T. W. Thompson.
21. — W. L. Bowles and the Gypsies
The writings of William Lisle Bowles are very little read now, and his chief
claim to remembrance is that his verses awakened the divine fire in Coleridge.
In his Villager's Verse Booh there is a short description of
The Gipsy's Tent
When now cold winter's snows are fled,
And birds sing blithe again,
Look where the gipsy's tent is spread,
In the green village lane.
Oft by the old park pales, beneath
The branches of the oak,
The watchdog barks, when, in slow wreath,
Curls o'er the woods the smoke.
No home receives the wandering race ;
The panniered ass is nigh,
Which patient bears from place to place
Their infant progeny.
Lo ! houseless o'er the world they stray,
But I at home will dwell,
Where I may read my book and pray,
And hear the Sabbath-bell.
This poem is one of a series designed to be learned by heart by the poor children
of his parish, who were gathered on the parsonage lawn by the poet's wife in the
summer. A pleasant picture ! William E. A. Axon.
22.— Onions and Eggs
' There are in this country many faraons, or gypsies, supposed to be real
descendants of the antient Egyptians. They are said to resemble the antient
Egyptians in their features, in their propensity to melancholy, and in many of
their manners and customs : and it is asserted, that the lascivious dances of Isis,
the worship of onions, many famous Egyptian superstitions and specifics, and the
Egyptian method of hatching eggs by means of dung, are still in use among the
female gypsies in Temeswar.' (A new system of modern geography ... by William
Guthrie. A new edition. London, 1782, 4to. Chapter on Hungary, pp.
478-9.)
Curious customs certainly ! And I have never heard of them being ascribed
to the Gypsies before. With regard to the onions, Juvenal (xv. 9) says the
Egyptians were forbidden to eat them, (' Porrum et caepe nefas violare et frangere
morsu '), and they are reported to have been excluded from an Egyptian table.
The prohibition, however, seems only to have extended to the priests, who, accord-
ing to Plutarch (de Is. §§ 5 and 8), ' abstained from most kinds of pulse ' ; and the
NOTES AND QUERIES 227
abhorrence felt for onions, according to the same author (§ 8) was confined to
members of the sacerdotal order.
There is a description of the Egyptian method of hatching eggs in Wilkinson's
Topography of Thebes, pp. 245-9. Frederick C. Wellstood.
23. — The Egyptian Legend
The British Consul in Boston, Mr. Blunt, gave me an interesting account of
the Gypsies in the Salonika district. He was born in Salonika, and passed seven-
teen years of his life there, part of the time as Vice-Consul. He and the Consul
were greatly interested in the race, and often studied and talked with them, not
only in the city, but also on shooting expeditions, and when travelling about the
country. They had a Polish clerk, who made a special study of the Gypsies, and
used often to go for four to six weeks at a time to live with them. He had
written a large amount of manuscript for a book on the subject which he intended
to publish. Unfortunately, the Pole ultimately went off with them, and never
returned. Neither he nor his manuscript was ever seen afterwards.
Mr. Blunt had also lived in India, knew Hindustani, and found a great number
of Gypsy words he understood. They were like Hindustani. These three gentle-
men for years investigated the whole question on the spot where Gypsies are most
numerous. Some of their views will be interesting, and should not be brushed
aside without consideration.
They thought that just as Rum-elia in Turkish signifies ' Rum land/ so it was
Gypsy land, the Gypsies having been there so long that they regarded it as their
home. Hence they called themselves Rum.
The words Gupti, Gibti, Yiftl, G'ipti, by which Gypsies are designated by
others there, are simply ' Copts,' ' Egyptians.' The Gypsies' language, and most
of the Gypsies themselves, never came from Egypt. Why they were so-called
there, and there only, always puzzled Mr. Blunt. He had read up the history of
the region. The only account he could find of Egyptians ever coming there was
that of those with the army of Xerxes. According to Herodotus he had an army
of over two million fighting men, and as many camp-followers, men and women.
They were from Egypt, from the Indus, and from all parts of the immense Persian
empire, — settled people and nomads, — just the class to survive as outcasts when
left behind by Xerxes in his sudden retreat. Mr. Blunt often used to say when
gazing at Mount Athos near him, ' It must be that these beggars are the descend-
ants of the relics, the dregs, the "left overs," of the labourers who were brought
to dig that canal, and also of the camp followers of Xerxes' army.' What other
explanation can there be for the fact that this particular district has crowds of
Gypsies, more than anywhere else in the world 1 What other explanation is there
for the word ' Gypsies ' ? I was not prepared to admit that his theory was true ;
but, if true, it would clear up many things not yet explained.
Several other scholarly men living in Persia, Asiatic Turkey, and Egypt, who
have carefully considered the Gypsy question, have independently made the same
suggestion as to 'left overs' of Persian and other armies. Some suggest that,
when the Arabs devastated Persia in the seventh century, many thousands of
Gypsies must have been driven into the Byzantine Empire to earn a livelihood.
There was no business for them afterwards in Persia. They could no longer earn
their bread there by their trades, their arts, and their tricks. Some remained
behind, but most of them were practically compelled to leave the country. It is
true that large districts, at least, of Persia, from being a rich, luxurious, populous
empire, became a wilderness, and deserted ruins.
I do not wish it to be understood that I accede to any of these views or
theories, and they cannot now be discussed. They are all, however, entitled to
228 NOTES AND QUERIES
careful, respectful consideration as the opinions of scholarly men who have studied
the matter in the east, live there, and realise many things Europeans never think
of. And they all have a bearing on the word Rum, Rom ; whether it means
' Roman ' or came from some district east of Asia Minor.
It is a fact that the common tradition in Macedonia, Salonika, Albania, and
this whole district, is that the Gypsies there came from Egypt. Mr. Blunt, the
Rev. Messrs. House, Bond, and Thomson, and many others, so state. I have often
been told by Hungarians of south-west Hungary that people there call an in-
definite region 'down there ' ' Little Egypt,' — 'People go down into "Little
Egypt " to buy cattle and other animals, and there are crowds of Gypsies there.'
A. T. Sinclair.
24. — A Hungarian Gypsy Tzimbal-Player
A Romany Tzimbal-player called in April 1909 at my house in Allston (Mass.),
U.S.A., to see if I could assist him in securing an engagement. We spent four
pleasant hours together, and he was delighted to find some one in Boston who
could talk Romani with him. The dialect he spoke was somewhat different from
any I had heard, although we found no difficulty in conversing together. I jotted
down some words and phrases which may be of interest for comparison with other
dialects, and also in settling the derivation of some words. For example, he used
pirl (Eng. Gyp.) for ' feet.'
He was born in a Gypsy village near Eperyesh, Hungary, and lived there until
sixteen years old, when he came to New York. All the inhabitants of his village
were Gypsies, and all the men were musicians. Gypsy was the only language
spoken there. He knows a little Hungarian, still less English, and no German.
His wife, a non-Gypsy (g<yi) girl, whom he married here, was a Slovanian, so that
he now speaks that language. At home he knew only Gypsy. It is an interest-
ing case of a genuine Romano gav, where twenty years ago all were Gypsies who
spoke solely the Romani Chib, and were musicians. A particularly bright and
intelligent man, he was very precise about the exact sound of every letter, and
corrected me if I said Gdrjo, not Gdjo. ' Karr,' he broke in, ' was like the ai in
" hair," not e,' etc. Some words are plainly Slovanian and Hungarian, but it has
seemed to me best to give these, as they, or at least some of them, are used by
other Gypsies. His word for ' foot ' was pmdro, but he knew some Gypsies used
pfro, pro, and Servian Gypsies punro. In New York, where he lived for seven-
teen years, he met other Gypsy musicians from different sections ; and he had
references to show that he had performed, ' to their great delight,' before the
Astors and other aristocratic families. His list of words for musical instruments
is the most complete I have yet seen, but some of these have clearly a non-Gypsy
origin.
A few facts about his life are given in phrases which he used. There is an old
town, Eperies (pronounced Eperyesh), twenty miles north of Kaschau, and 187
miles north-east from Buda-Pest. Gypsy ideas of locality are often uncertain, and
I could not learn from him where his village was situated.1
Our conversation was carried on in Gypsy, since we had no other language
known to us both. I understand Slovanian, but cannot speak it, and Russian he
could not understand. He was very anxious to aid me in getting every sound and
word exactly correct, because he evidently enjoyed it, and also was anxious for
bUti ('work'). He varied the accents occasionally, and the forms of words, saying
that both forms were used. The local dialects in Syria and Egypt differ even in
1 The Gypsy ssttlenvjut at Eperies is mentioned by Grellraann. Historischer
Versuch uber die Zijeuner, Zweyte Auflage, Gottingen, 1787, pp. 56 and 70.
NOTES AND QUERIES
229
different parts of the same large city (see Meyer's Arabiseher Sprachfilhrer, p. x.),
yet all understand one another. So it is with the Gypsies of south-eastern Europe.
From a vocabulary of one district one might suppose it was very different from
that of another section. But, as a matter of fact, the Bomane in the whole region
converse easily, as I have often heard them do. They say themselves ' there is no
trouble ; only a little different.'
Musical Instruments, Etc.
biigovd, double bass.
bumbdrdd, tuba.
chokdnos, tzimbal-hammer. pi. -i.
clobd, drum.
dtivw, violin-back.
gdldd, bagpipe.
gitdrd, guitar or mandoline.
htlrd, violin-string, pi. hurl.
kldrnetd, clarinet.
kolkus, violin-peg. pi. Mlki.
Idvfdd, violin.
lavutdko per (peer), belly of violin.
Idvutdrd, musician, pi. lavutdri.
peddld, pedal.
ptldld, flute.
pdstdfkd, bridge of violin.
tdrtovus, tail-piece of violin.
trombftd, cornet.
tzikni pikUld, fife.
tzimbdlmd, tzimbal.
trMerd, zither.
vunos, fiddle-bow.
s&ra, hairs on bow.
At his home he had never seen a bagpipe, tambourine, castanets or kobza. He
insisted that the czardas was a genuine Gypsy dance.
Numerals
yek, one.
did, two.
drin, three.
shtdr, four.
pdnch, five.
shof, six.
eftd, seven.
uxtu, eight.
enia, nine.
desh, ten.
desh u yek, etc.
blsh, twenty.
blsh u yek, etc.
trfanda, thirty.
shtdr-vd (or vur)
shel, a hundred.
■desh, etc.
Vocabulary
add, this.
dddi, here.
akdnek, now.
dndrd, egg. pi. dndre.
dngdl, before.
dngdrd, coals.
dnggr/lsho, finger.
dro, flour.
dsdl, he laughs.
dsdv, I laugh.
dvtirdi, or dvd ddrdi, come here.
bdba, grandmother. (SI.)
bdehh, uncle. (SI. bdchlk.)
baiAjdzl, moustache.
bdkrd, sheep.
bdl, hair. PI. b<i.
bdlevds, pork, bacon.
bdlv, pig.
bar, garden.
bdru, a stone.
beng, devil.
bi-bdxtdld, unhappy.
buf, oven.
brishmt, rain.
brushlikos, vest.
bid, behind.
ch&md, cheek.
char, grass.
chdvori, girl.
rhardru, boy.
chekdt, forehead.
club (o), tongue (the).
chfkti, a sneeze.
chikdvdv, I sneeze.
cMngerdv, tear.
chtriklO, bird.
chivdv, throw, put.
chokdnus, hammer.
230
NOTES AND QUERIES
char, beard.
chSrdo, thief.
chtiro, poor, not rich.
rhi1m.il, a kiss.
chfimXdwv, I kiss.
chfinggd, saliva.
chtf/nggad&u, I spit.
rlnln, knife,
1/1", mother.
<?«?irf, tooth. PL ddndd.
i In', father.
del, God.
dfnclo, fool.
</('/y, rope.
rtYom, street.
fords, city.
fustlkl, stocking.
gdjo, fern. f/'(/7, a non-Gypsy.
</<xv, town.
gerekos, coat.
gorgoris, throat.
ffnw, horse.
grdsm, mare.
(J'lruf, ox.
g/lruvnl, cow.
/itJtfj/*, trousers.
hfiruv, leg.
X«7, eat.
xdrlcoma, copper.
xdsdv, cough.
Xinav, evacuate.
nulriivdv, doze, slumber.
yVf&e/, dog.
y'^vZi, woman.
Ic&xni, chicken, hen.
kdhltOs, rooster.
kdlo, black.
kamdshli, shoes.
lean, ear.
kandkes, now.
kdngli, comb.
kds, hay.
hdsht, wood, a stick. PI. kdshtd.
h lei, a dance.
M&o, bright green.
////", tired.
lcokSlos, bone, elbow.
A;oro, blind.
Ml, fasces.
/.v7w, thing.
l&chipen, truth.
lav, word.
lopdki, shoulder-blade.
mdrho, fish.
maVo, bread.
mas, meat.
mek, until. (Hung.)
m£n, neck.
mfro, mro, mi, my.
mUlo, dead.
mfdydv, die.
mumeli, candle.
mumtlo, candle.
mdter, urine.
mfderdv, urinate.
ndiyd, finger-nail. PI. ndiye.
'tuna, aunt. (SI.)
ort77, that.
(Idol, there.
23«6e, apple.
pdchdv, I believe.
pdpln, duck.
pdpros, pepper. (Hung.)
pdpus, grandfather. (SI.)
par, silk.
pdrldos, mountain, hill. (SI.)
pdrnv, white.
pdro, heavy.
pirdno, beau.
piskdlkd, knee.
pdgerdv, break.
prdrhds, ashes. (SI. prdrh.)
purt, bridge.
purum, onion.
pus, straw.
quttkd, flower. (SI.)
rdkll, girl.
rdklo, boy.
rat, blood.
rdtyi, night.
rdvav, cry.
ruchkd, handle. (SI.)
nljid, flower. (SI.)
rukono, dog.
rup, silver.
sdmdres, donkey. From Arabic through
Turkish or some other language.
sdsto, healthy.
shdrgo, blue.
sherd, head.
sh&klo, (? shutlo), sour.
shilnkd, ham. (SI.)
shut, vinegar.
skdmin, chair.
slugdrdyls, soldier. (SI.)
smdrus, cream. (SI.)
somndkdl, gold.
sovdv, I sleep.
sdvel, he sleeps.
stromas, tree. (SI.)
NOTES AND QUERIES
231
s/1ni>, a dream.
sthidjav, I dream.
suv, needle.
tdisa, to-morrow.
tiro, tro, tl, thy.
tdvdv, I wash.
trust, iron.
trdstuno, adj. iron.
tut, milk.
tzlfd, skin.
vdrdkdi, somewhere.
vdrekds, anybody.
vdreko, somebody.
me somas, I was.
tu solas, you were.
<5/ (or 6%) said (1), he (she) was.
dmen somas, we were.
tfimen sands, you were.
oclald, sds, they were.
me dvd, I will be.
fit dvehd, you will be.
o/ dveld or uu£«., he will be.
vdreso, or vdreso, something.
vast, the hand. Also, the whole arm.
vesh, wood.
volt, shoulder.
volnd, wool. (German Wolle.)
vusht, lip. PI. vushtd.
ydg, fire.
yak, eye. PI. j/aifca.
yedn&ki, same.
a<fra, eyebrows, also hair on arms.
zelcno, green. (SI.)
Mid, vein or sinew.
zliltd, yellow. (SI.)
Verbs
dmen dvdhd, we will be.
tame n dvend, you will be.
6dMa dvend, they will be.
ill yd m, I have been.
6lyal, you have been.
olyd, he has been.
dvlyom, I have come.
dvh/dl, you have come.
dvlyd, he has come.
dvle, they have come.
Phrases
me bdshdv yek chdrddshis. I play a czardas.
me jdndv te kelel. I know (how) to dance. The infinitive, he declared, always
ended in -el or -en, never in -dm or -es. Cf. Finck, Lehrbuch des Dialekts der
deutschen Zigeuner (Marburg, 1903), p. 9 ; and Gilliat-Smith, J. G. L. S., New
Series, i. 134.
sdvo ndv m die keleske ? What is the name for that dance 1
so in odd ? What is that ?
me dhdlyuvov odd. I understand that.
di mini tzikritzd dudnos. Give me a little tobacco.
te gllydvel vushte. To sing well.
chl (if) tu janes rom&nes dfimd te vdkerel ? Do you know how to talk Gypsy ?
Any infinitive can end either in -el or -en. He said that dumdddv = vdkerdv.
So I infer that du ma = rumd = romd = ' Gypsy.' Perhaps dumd = Slavic dumd,
idea, thought.
ml nl Idcho. It is not good.
of kdmcl romdne. He likes Gypsies.
siinG diklyom. I dreamed.
konti hdujdl mftsdl (SI.) te hdnjuvdv. When it itches, I must scratch.
o grdi rtlguijds Us chdvores. The horse kicked the boy.
ole chdid. The girls.
vdkcr lakes. Talk low.
dv sik. Come quick.
ach develehd. Kemain with God ! (Parting salutation.)
jas devlehd. Go with God ! (Parting salutation.)
Idcho dives (or jives). Good day !
del 6 del lache to sard. God give you good this (early) morning ! sard = Eng.
Gyp. sdld = Turkish and Kurd sdldm, a common word in salutation. I have
often heard Kurds pronounce it exactly sdld(m).
232 NOTES AND QUERIES
Idchi rdtyi. Good night.
dngluchdniko mdnush. An Englishman.
y,„. g /, ,/, ,i, if Do you know (how) to read ?
i injiji ih a niihiiji . Excuse me.
dvav pdle. f (will) conic back.
sdvdrl vdkerdt (also -e) romdnes. All talked (lypsy.
/.(/,/, and e ti/ngriko. At home in Eungary.
sdvorl liirn. All won Is.
urn ni ? What hour is it 1
m man shfikar plrdnl. I have a pretty lady-love.
me sSm amerikdte (or amerikdteste) bish b&rsh. I am in America twenty years.
janes vdrekds led dumddcl romdnes ? Do you know anybody who speaks Gypsy 1
me som Ir'/'iimhl shqf harsh. I am thirty-six years (old).
dngal hishe bdrshende. Twenty years ago.
aver harsh. Another year.
sd/vori lavutdri hie keri. All are musicians at home. m = ih,=hin = hi — si in
other dialects. He always used m or In for si, ' is.'
shtvdv suvdha. I sew with a needle.
keldv Hid. I play cards.
shundyUm vdreso. I have heard something.
ji'lelulv chi tu sal rumnddmo. I ask if you are married.
Icetsl chdve In tftk'c ? How many children have you 1
in mdnde drm chdve, yek dial. I have three boys and one girl.
me somas leh bostonoste. I was yesterday in Boston.
me dvds bdytdlo te bdshdvel vdrekdi. I should be happy to play somewhere.
jdndv tipr' e lavfitd te tztdel (draw, scrape). I know (how) to play on the violin.
janes npr' e tzimbdlmd te mdrel (strike). Do you know how to play on the tzimbal ?
so (and sd) vlcMnes odd rommies ? What do you call that in Gypsy ?
kompel tejdl avrf: dvd tele slk. I want (need) to go out : I come down quick.
pen mange chdchipen, sal tu rom ? Tell me the truth, are you a Gypsy 1
ketsl harsh sdl tu amerikdtate ? How many years are you in America 1 -ate is
properly locative, ' in a place ' : -este ' to a place.'
Ulydl tu dddl ? Were you born here %
me som amerikdno romdno rdi. I am an American Romano Rai.
ndnl rom. I am not a Gypsy.
sdvo ndv In tuke ? What is your name ?
stefdn tuleyd (Tuleja). me fdyom (ulyum) eperyeshtdtc dngal tridndd u shof harsh.
Stefan (Ishtwan) Tuleja. I was born in Eperyesh thirty-six years ago.
ml romnl in hostonoste. My wife is in Boston.
61 in slovdnkl gdjl. She is a Slovanian non-Gypsy.
pdlekerdv take, hare pdlekerdv. I thank you very much.
A. T. Sinclair.
25. — Gypsy Executioners
The Gypsies have played a little part in the affairs of Turkey. According to
an Armenian paper the three men employed to pull the ropes and kick away the
chairs at the public hanging of rebel soldiers last week, were Gypsies ; and they
each received an English sovereign for their services.
Bernard Gilliat-Smith.
May 8, 1909.
26. — The Pollution of Streams
In the beginning of May last year I went to pay a farewell visit to the family
of Smiths who had been for nine months in Kendal. They had already begun
NOTES AND QUERIES 233
their journey and were encamped four miles out of town in a charming lane called
Quakers' Lane, from a Friends' disused burial-place. It was haunted too, —
' There 's mulos to be seen here of a rati. Look at that there horse : he won't stay-
up the lane : they never will, and often they comes down with a gallop.' And I
had a lesson in Gypsy cleanliness, for although there was a clear stream of pure
water crossing the lane, I had to walk a good half-mile with one of the lads to
another stream for a bucket of water, because, forsooth ' when we was here three
years ago some cousins of ours washed their hands in it with soap, so, of course,
since then we haven't been able to drink of it.' F. Stanley Atkinson.
27. — A Testimonial for Tinklers
In his report for the year 1908, Mr. James Dawson, M.A., M.B., CM., D.P.H.,
Medical Officer of Health for the county of Wigtown, makes the following
statement : —
' Special inquiry was also made at the request of the Local Government Board
with reference to the following telegram received :— " Gang of tinkers encamped
at Sorhie Schoolhouse ; two medical men attending ; trouble there unknown.
Your immediate attention will oblige." On investigation it was found that a child
aged six years had fallen from the caravan, and was suffering from a fractured
skull. I found it well cared for, clean, and improving rapidly. The parents were
most grateful, and carried out any suggestions I offered as to their surroundings.
It was wrell known what was the matter, and I thought it was nothing short of
gross heartlessness that caused such a wire to be sent. Tinklers in their sphere
are most attentive and kind to their children, and an object lesson to many others.'
A. M'Cormick.
28. — Dr. William Dodd and the Gypsies
In Mr. PercyFitzgerald's excellent book, A Famous Forgery (London, 1865).
I find no mention of a remarkable incident which belongs — if indeed it ever
occurred — to the earlier part of the career of the Rev. William Dodd, who was
hung June 27, 1777, in the forty-ninth year of his age.
Dodd who was a ' man about town ' as well as a clergyman, had forged the
signature of Lord Chesterfield, whose tutor he had been, and George in., in one of
his many stupid fits refused to pardon him, for no other apparent reason than that
every one urged him to save the poor ' Macaroni Parson' from the gallows. It is
a little curious that in one of Dodd's sermons he argues that ' the frequency of
capital punishment' is 'inconsistent with justice, sound policy, and religion.'
William West in his Fifty Years Recollections of an Old Bookseller (Cork, 1836,
p. 27), makes the following statement : —
' Several years ago, the Doctor and Mrs. Dodd went on a pleasurable jaunt to
Bristol. Whilst they were there, it was usual with them to ride out in the morn-
ing for the benefit of the air, in the outskirts of the town. In one of these
excursions they met a flock of gypsies who surrounded them, and begged they
might lay open to them the future incidents of their lives.
'Mrs. Dodd was for complying to their humour, not through any reliance upon
their predictions, but merely to divert herself with a little harmless merriment.
Accordingly she told the Sybil that she might begin her prognostications. The
doctor, all this time, heard with silent disapprobation the researches of the old
hag, wTho was trumping up a long string of fortunate events that were to happen
to his wife. But when the dame had finished, and was going to proceed with a
solution of the Doctor's destiny, he could no longer keep his patience : but in very
234 NOTES AND QUERIES
severe terms reprehended the insolence of the woman in interrupting him, and
annoying his wife with a jargon of ridiculous stories. The gypsies, however, con-
tinued to entreat : the Doctor in a tone of anger, persisted in his refusal to hear a
word of the pretended disclosure.
' Mrs. Dodd paid the gypsies something ; the Doctor having had no considera-
tion, they consequently had no demand upon him. One of the gypsies, when the
chaise moved, bawled out, "since you will not give anything, I'll tell you your
fortune for nothing. You seem to carry your head very high now, but it will be
raised higher yet before you die, for you will be hanged." The Doctor was so far
from paying any serious attention to what the woman said, that the same day he
related the affair to Sir Richard Temple and his Lady, with whom he dined, in
such a vein of ridicule and pleasantry, that it created no small degree of mirth
among the company present.'
Apparently the incident did not pass out of his memory, for West also relates
that when Dodd and his wife were crossing from Dover to Calais in a storm, he
said to Mrs. Angelo and the other passengers, ' You may be assured that no harm
will arise ; for as I am to be hanged, you cannot be drowned.'
It is curious that Henry Angelo in his amusing Reminiscences has nothing to
say, so far as I can ascertain, of the two incidents mentioned by West. From this
we may suppose that the bookseller's account was derived from oral information.
Assuming its correctness, there is nothing very remarkable in the encounter be-
tween Dodd and the Gypsy. It was a method of annoying the gdjo parson that
might readily occur to a Romany prophetess disappointed in her endeavour to
extract money. A hundred unfulfilled prognostications go unnoticed, but the one
that is realised excites the wonder and attention of the world.
William E. A. Axon.
29. — An Epitaph
D'un Cingaro
Estinto giace in questa sepoltura
Un cingaro, che fece professione
D'indovinar, ma al Regno di Plutone
Non credo che si dica la ventura.
Epitafii giocosi e varii di Angelo Maria Del Priidi, Dedicati al Molt' Ilhistre
Sig. Alessandro Bonis, In Venetia, et in Bassano, sine anno [Sec. xvil] in-24, p. 9.
A. G. Spinelli.
30. — A Gypsy Settlement in Lorraine
Behrenthal is described as a ' village de l'ancienne province de Lorraine, situe*
sur le ruisseau de Zinselbach, . . . arr. de Sarreguemines, a 44 kil. S.-E. de cette
ville, canton de Bitche, a 14 kil. S.-E., et a 118 kil. S.-E. de Metz.' After giving
a list of its constituent hamlets and farms, and an account of its industries, the
Gazetteer adds : —
'Depuis tres-longtemps ce pays est peuple de Bohemiens. Sept d'entre eux
se sont fixes a Behrenthal, depuis que, poursuivis par les agents forestiers, ils ont
renonce a l'habitude d'errer dans les bois, oil ils se construisaient des baraques
tantot sur un point, tantot sur un autre, et toujours dans les lieux les plus
solitaires et les plus sauvages de ces immenses forets. En 1793, cette contree
£tant devenue le theatre de la guerre, beaucoup de Bohemiens s'en sont eloignes :
ils etaient braconniers, se livraient a la mendicite, jouaient de divers instruments
dans les auberges, dans les noces et dans les fetes de village ; ils dansaient meme
NOTES AND QUERIES 235
d'une maniere fort bizarre, et les femmes disaient la bonne aventure. lis ne se
mariaient point ; mais femmes, enfants, tout etait en commun. Leur chef avait
sur eux le droit de vie et de mort ; et si un Bohemien etait soupgonne d'un crime
dans le pays, ils n'attendaient pas que la justice le recherchat ; ils le fusillaient
eux-inemes : aussi jamais aucun d'eux n'a comparu devant les tribunaux. Mais
ayant ete obliges depuis 1803 de se choisir une demeure stable, le genre de vie de
la plupart d'entre eux est entierement change. L'un est devenu proprietaire, un
autre loue des terres et les cultive ; celui-la s'est fait coixlonnier, plusieurs autres
colporteurs de verres, de faience. Les Bohemiens sont agiles, robustes, infatig-
ables ; de grands yeux noirs et vifs animent leur physionomie, dont les traits sont
souvent nobles et reguliers ; leur peau est tres-basanee, parce que, des l'age le
plus tendre, ils s'enduisent tout le corps de lard et s'exposent ainsi a l'ardeur du
soleil. Les Bohemiens, connus aussi sous le nom d' Egyptiens, se nomment, en
allemand, Ziguener, vagabonds, qui n'ont ni feu ni lieu, et dans le peuple, Heiden,
pa'iens, infideles. Ils sont maintenant beaucoup plus nombreux dans le Bas-Khin
que dans le departement de la Moselle.'
Statistique historique, indiistvielh et ct>uim< reiuli du Depeirtemeirf de la Moselle,
. . . publiee sous les auspices de M. Germeau, Prefet de la Moselle, Officier de la
Legion- d' Honneur, par Verronuais, imprimeu r-libraire et lithographe a Metz.
Metz, 1844, 8vo. pp. 29-30. H. Gaidoz.
31. — Funeral Libations
Old Thorp, whom I met at St. Ives last April, camping near the cross-roads, is
only a pos-rat, but his wife is a real Romani — one of the Hedges who travel
London side, especially Kent and Essex. And Mrs. Thorp had an uncle who, as
she told me, was very fond of a glass of ale, and whenever he had half-a-crown
used to go and spend it in drink. This uncle died and was buried ; and at the
funeral one of his pals chucked a half-crown into the open grave : — ' Here, Jimmy,'
he said, ' here 's something for a drink on the way. And whenever I come this
way, Jimmy my lad, I '11 spill some ale on your grave to wet your whistle.'
Which promise, Mistress Thorp assured me, he kept religiously.
T. W. Thompson.
32. — Visions and Dreams
A good many years ago one of Thorp's children was ill. He was taking the
horse to the field when he saw a little black coffin dancing merrily along the road
in front of him. If he stood still, it stood still. If he ran, it ran. Do what he
would — shut his eyes, run away — he couldn't get rid of it. All the way to the
field, and all the way back, the little black coffin danced merrily in front of him.
When he reached the waggon they told him that his little boy had died just after
he left.
The Kendal Gypsies tell me that the sign of death in their family is to hear
two taps in their sleep, and then a sound like cockle-shells jingling. With the
Thorps to dream that they were lousy, or that they saw eggs, presaged bereave-
ment. To dream that their teeth were falling out was a sign of marriage.
T. W. Thompson.
33. — Signs and Omens
Before his marriage Thorp used to be very sceptical about omens, but experi-
ence has cured him of his heathenism. If there is one thing that he and his
family dread more than another it is to see frog-spawn in a pond. It is the
230 NOTES AND QUERIES
unluckiest thing in the world. Three weeks before his eldest girl had seen some,
and she had never taken a penny since. Two or three years ago he himself had
'the awfullest bad luck imaginable,' merely because he had looked into a pond
and seen frog-spawn. At last he h:ul to go back to the same place, walk past the
pond without looking, and so break the spell.
The stoat is a pernicious creature. If one runs across the road in front of
you, it means bad luck ; if it stops to stare at you, it will be something very
serious ; but if you can kill it, then your bad luck changes to good.
If a robin follows the wagon, it is a sign of death, but by no means kill it or
it will be one of your own family who will die. But the 'lonely old crow' is a
kindly bird : —
' Lonely old crow —
See some one you know.
Fly to your right —
Sure to be right ;
And if you are hawking,
Money afore night.'
T. W. Thompson.
34. — Gypsy Head-Dress
In 1G44, Boullaye Le Gouz, a Frenchman, traversed a great part of Ireland,
and recorded that 'the girls of Ireland, even those living in towns, have for
their head-dress only a riband, and if married they have a napkin on the head,
in the manner of the Egyptians' (see his Tour in Ireland, published in 1837,
by T. Crofton Croker ; quoted in Wood-Martin's History of Sligo, 1603-88, p. 28).
H. T. Crofton.
35. — Roots
Thomasius in his Dissertatio Philosophica de Cingaris (1671), § 67, describes
the Gypsies as ' incantatores, pra'cipue in compescendis magica, arte ignibus,' and
in note 8 (J. G. L. S., New Series, iii. 78), Professor Hoffmann-Krayer has
mentioned their power to kindle fires in the midst of inflammable material without
burning anything but what they wished to be burned. This power, according to
Anhorn (Magiologia, 1674), they attributed to the natural properties of a root
which they obtained from the mountains of Little Egypt. Another account of the
Feuerwurtzel is given by C. B. L. M. V. R. in the first of his Zwey nutzliche
Tractdtlein (1664) : —
' Sie verstehen sich audi sehr wol anff die Krafft der Kriiuter und Wurtzeln
/ brauchen aber darbey viel Aberglauben / Sonderlich mit ihrer Feuerwurtzel /
welche sie an einen besondern Tag fruhe vor Auffgang der Sonnen graben / durch
einen giilden Ring unter sich ziehen / nachmals in ein besonder darzu gehorig
Laplein wickeln / etliche AbergUiubische / zauberische Worter und Segen dariiber
protzeln / nachmals dieselbe an einen Ort stecken oder graben / und viel wunders
damit treiben / welches wegen desgemeinen Pbbels (so ofl't mehr Lust zu solchen
Aberglaubischen Sachen) denn zu guten ehrlichen und zulassigen Kiinsten triigt
/ sich nicht wol schreiben lasset.'
Possibly among the wonders wrought by the Feuerwurtzel was the cure of
diseases, for the above sentence is part of a paragraph which describes an oint-
ment against vermin which ' hat jdeichwol mancher Soldat und Handwercks
Gesell von ihnen erlanget, und ist ihm sehr wol bekommen,' and refers also to
Gypsy dentistry.1 And the Gypsies of the past practised the art of heabng even
1 See also quotation from Minsheu, ante, pp. 9 10, footnote 8.
NOTES AND QUERIES 237
on persons of high rank, as the following quotation from Thesleff's Zigenare (1904)
kindly translated by Mr. Ehrenborg, will prove : —
' The Duchess Elizabeth of Mecklenburg wrote to her brother, King Johan in.,
that her consort had been ailing in the same way as was the King at that time,
when some Gypsies came to the neighbourhood of the castle where the Duke
resided. A woman of the gang was permitted to apply her power of healing. She
took the roots of white lilies and the suet of a boar, made a mixture of these, and
rubbed the duke with it before a tire. The patient was cured. If Johan were
willing to try the same remedy, the Duchess offered to send a supply of the
root.'
36.— Gypsy Soldiers and Spies
To Mr. MacRitchie's collection of references to Gypsy soldiers (see J. G. L. S.,
Old Series, iii. 228-32), may be added the following, taken from one of the oldest
and rarest tracts on the Gypsies : Zivey niltzliche Tractdtlein Das Erste, : Wunder-
lichc und wahrhafftige Beschreihung der Cingaren oder Ziegeuner, so man an
eilichen Orten, aber unrecht Tatern oder Tartem nmnet, deren Ursprung, Herkom-
men, Leben und Wa7idel, Vermehrund Fortpflantzung bisz hicher. . . . Von
C. B. L. M. V. B. Gedrucht im Jahr, M. DC. LXIV. The author's remarks have
additional value because they are, at least in part, the result of personal
observation.
Sig. A.4.r.
Jedoch seynd sie zu zeiten in Kriegen gebraucht worden / als sonderlich Anno
1514. von den Weywoden in Siebenbiirgen. Der ihnen auch ein Landlein so an
Bosnia und Bulgaria griintzet eingegeben. Aus welchen die Ziegeuner so heutiges
Tages in Deutschland umbziehen / mehrentheils biirtig / welches Cuselio verur-
sachet / dz er in seinen Lexico Gcographico geschrieben / als ob sie giintzlich ihren
Ursprung daher hetten.
Zu unser Vater Zeiten sind sie von den Printzen von Gonde in Franckreich vor
Poictiers gebrauchet worden / wie Thuanus ein vornehmer Frantzosischer His-
toricus schreibet : In den vor wenig Jahren geendeten / und iiber die dreyssig
Jahr wehrenden Deutschen Kriege / so Anno 1648. zum Friede kommen / sind
sie (wie manniglich bekant) von den Schweden gebraucht worden / wie ich denn
sonderlich unter den Pfulischen Regiment derselben selbst viel gesehen. Achte
aber / dass sie nicht wegen ihrer Mannheit und Krieges Erfahrenheit gebraucht
worden 1 / sondern vielrnehr darumb / weil sie das Warsagen / Zauberey /
schwartze Kunst und ander Gauckelwerck ohn schew treiben / auch zum theil
darinnen sehr erfahren seyn / und alles was etwan an heimlichen Orten vor den
Soldaten und andern Mausern wol verborgen blieben were / sie durch ihre Kunst
erfahren / gefunden und offenbahret worden / denn man sehr viel Exempel weiss
/ dasz sie in Hausern und auff dem Felde / Schatze funden / so vor vielen Jahren
/ und weit iiber Mannes gedencken verborgen gelegen / also / dasz kein Mensch
jemals darvon horen / die Alten gedencken / zu geschweigen selbst darvon solte
■ gewust haben. Zum andern ists auch ohne zweiffel darumb geschehen / weil auff
der Welt kaum ein Volck zu finden / das bessere Kundschaffter abgiebt als die
Tatern und Ziegeuner.
1 Military service seems to have been a recognised Gypsy occupation in Sweden.
See Rabenius, Observationes Historiam Zigueunorum Illustrantes, Upsala, 1791,
p. 14: ' In Litt. Regg. d. 10. Febr. 1773. interdicitur eorum quoque Zigueunorum,
qui militias nomen dedere, uxoribus et liberis omnis per provincias pervagatio,
etiamsi a munere suo militari vacatione ipsi fruerentur patres eorum atque
mariti.'
238 NOTES AND QUERIES
Sig. A.4.v.
Es werde ilincn von den andern so daheime bleiben / Geld nachgeschickt / ist
gleichfala erlogea / es wird ihnen zwar Geld nachgeschickt / aber nicht von ihrer
Nation so daheini bleiben / sondern von Tiirckischen Hoff / denn einmal ist gewisz
und wahr dasz sie die grosten Landverriither und Kundschaffter seyn / daher sie
bey dem Tiirckischen Keyser in grossen Ansehen sind / und hoch gehalten werden
/ dieweil sie ihm aller Lander und deroselben Herrschafften / auch was sie an
einen und andern Ort erkundigen / dem Tiircken alles haarklein offenbaren und
verkund schafften / und daher wird ihnen auch das Geldt nachgeschickt / und
nicht von ihren Volck / wie sie falschlich vorgeben.
Sig. B.l.v.
Und wer wil daran zweiffeln / dasz auch die in abgewichenen 1663. Jahre /
in Diiringen iimbschweiffende Ziegeuner / so sich iiber zwey hundert beloffen /
sich in viel kleine Htiufflein zertheilet / und das Land Creutzweisz durchzogen /
es aus keiner andern Ursachen gethan / denn dasz sie von den Tiircken darzu
bestellet gewesen / auszzuspehen / zu erkundigen und zu erfahren / wie es im
Heil. Rbmischen Eeich bewandt / Ob die deutschen Fiirsten auch Volck in
Vorrath / ob sie sich auch etwan in eine Verfassung stelleten / damit sie darvon
wider Relation thun kondten / welches sie auch schlecht genug bestellet befunden
/ und derowegen ihren Principalen gute und annehmliche Zeitung bringen konnen.
The following passage, discovered by Mr. Frederick C Wellstood in De Thou's
Historiarum Continuatio (Tom. 4, Francofurti, 1628, p. 260), besides describing the
Gypsies as good soldiers, has additional interest since it adds one to the early
testimonials to their cleverness in doctoring horses, and gives a development of
the story of their Egyptian origin : —
'Postremis his bellis quidam eorft in Pictonibus & Andibus Principis Contii
castra sequebantur. inter eos boni milites erant, <J more Arabum viuebant. & pecus
secti ducebant. vafri erant impostores, insignes pr;edones, & subtiles equorum
mangones. equum strigosum & macilentft certis herbis, quas norant, & equo
vescendas dabant, breui tempore saginabant, & pristino nitori restituebant, que
postea in nundinis vicinorft locorum vendebant : sed emptor intra octiduft se
deceptum sentiebat, equo ad priorem maciem redacto nee din superstite. quida
ex illis interrogatus, quando primiim in Galliam venissent, respondit, cum. reges
Gallia:', & inter eos S. Ludouicus belluin in Oriente contra infideles gererent,
maiores suos, qui Christiani erant, & inter Arabiam & iEgyptum colebant, eft
Europreis se coniunxisse, & illis operam suam in bello contra Saracenos nauasse :
sed cum tractu temporis Saraceni Gallos & ( ,'hristianos omnes ex ^Egypto profli-
gassent, maiores suos patriam deserere coactos, permissu regum & Imperatorum in
Europa eodem modo, quo in Arabia & iEgypto solebant, hoc est, nullis certis
sedibus, vixisse. ca'teriim eos, qui primum in Galliam appulerint, semper appellatos
iEgyptios : sed eos, qui in Dalmatian! descendissent, eft per Mysiam, Hungariam
& Boemiam vagati essent, & inde in Galliam venissent, nomine Boemorum insignitos
fuisse. Ha?c ille, quorum fides esto penes auctore.5
To this passage Mr. Winstedt has kindly added the following comments : —
'St. Louis returned from the Crusade in which he took part in 1252 ; so, if
this Gypsy's word could be trusted, it would be of considerable importance, as
bringing evidence of the existence of Gypsies in France before the arrival of the
wanderers in 1419 and 1427. But it looks rather as though the statement were
due to judicious pumping on the part of some theorist who had constructed a
theory to account for the two names by which Gypsies were known in France ;
and, according to the Bourgeois de Paris, the 1427 band did not come calling
themselves " Bohemians," but natives of " la Basse Egypte." 1 On the other hand,
1 Cf. Pasquier, Les recherche* de la France (Paris, 1596), Lib. iv. ch. 17, p. 213,
and ./. O. L. S., Old Series, ii. 29. At S. Laurentdez-Macon in 141!) they were under
o
NOTES AND QUERIES 239
it is undeniably true that, if there were Gypsies in France before that date, the
name Bohemians would not have been applied to them, since it was undoubtedly
derived from Sigismund's letter. Also, that there were Gypsies in the Holy Land
in the fifteenth century, is proved by the evidence of several pilgrims ; 1 and there
is no reason why there should not have been some there in the thirteenth too, nor
yet why they should not have taken the opportunity of wandering farther west
with the returning Crusaders. It is noticeable that the Gypsy or his questioner
had an unusual knowledge of the wanderings of the Gypsies in Europe ; and there
is just a possibility that a tradition of their wanderings, and of their surprise at
finding Gypsies already settled in France, may have been handed down to their
descendants by the 1427 band. Certainly two centuries had elapsed ; but to a
race so long-lived as the Gyj)sies, two centuries means little more than two life-
times.'
37. — Gypsy Slavery in Spain
In Hugo de Celso's Las leyes de todos los reynos de Castilla, a sort of legal
dictionary published at Valladolid in 1538, there is a short notice of the Gypsies
under the word Egipcianos, which reads as follows : —
' Egipcianos no anden por estos reynos : y los que fueren saiga dellos o tomen
officios, o bivan co senores : sopena de cient azotes por la primera vez : y por la
segunda vez que le corten las orejas y esten sesenta dias en cadena : y por la
tercera que sean captivos para siempre d'los que los tomaren. Prematica de sus
altezas : dada en Madrid aiio. [mil] ccccxcix. y ley. ciiii. en las prematicas : la
qual fue confirmada y mandada guardar en las cortes que celebraron en toledo :
aiio (mil) dxxv. ley lviii. sin embargo de qualquier cedula que en contrario se
diesse : las quales su magestad mando que fuessen obedecidas y no cumplidas.'
TRANSLATION
Egyptians (Gypsies) are not to move about these kingdoms, and those that
may be there, are to leave them, or take trades, or live with their over-lords
under penalty of a hundred lashes for the first time, and for the second time that
their ears be cut off, and that they be chained for sixty days, and for the third
time that they remain captive for ever, to them who take them. Decree of their
highnesses given in Madrid in the year 1499, and law number 104 in the decrees ;
confirmed and ordered to be observed in the court which was celebrated in
Toledo in the year 1525, law 58, in spite of any clause which may have been
given to the contrary, which his majesty commanded to be obeyed, and (have not
been) not complied with. J. Stewart Maclaren.
38.— British Gypsy Crimes, 1908
In the Journal of the Gypsy Lore Society for April 1908 (New Series, vol. i.
p. 392), a table was printed analysing Gypsy crimes reported during the last nine
months of 1907. The comments there made apply equally to the following table,
which refers to the whole year 1908, and includes all the 467 charges against
' Gypsies ' which a press-cutting agency found and forwarded during the twelve
months. Attention may, however, be drawn again to the facts that these statistics
are tables of charges and not of convictions, and that the numbers are sometimes
a 'duke of Little Egypt ' (ib., i. 325) ; at Amiens in 1427 under an 'earl of Little
Egypt' (il>., ii. 32). But at Sisteron in 1419 they were called SaraceDs {ib. , i. 327).
This latter title, which is fairly commonly applied to them (cf. Bataillard, Bibl. de
VEcole des Charles, v. 530 et seqq.), may have given rise to the Crusader tale, or may
possibly have been derived from it.
1 Cf. /. G. L. S., New Series, iii. 66.
240
NOTES AND QUERIES
swelled in a misleading way by the appearance in court of a whole family or gang
tn answer fur what was virtually one offence.
Among remarkable names the following deserve to be recorded : — Lettia-
ceneter Annie Lee, Haddy Loveridge, Oceanic Loveridge, Arnica Odell, Goney
Robinson, Triante Eyles, Vanto Small, Pizinnia Smith, Mivaniel Smith, and
Rabbi Smith.
1. Damaging turf, etc., by camping,
. 27
( lamping on the highway,
. 35
Allowing horses to stray,
. 74
Obstructing road, van unattended, etc., . 6
Making tires within fifty feet of road
. 5
Want of water-supply or sanitary accommodation, . 13
Overcrowding,
. 4
164
2. Furious driving,
• ;i
Cart or van without lights, .
4
No name on cart or van,
1
Dog without licence, .
. 6
Dog at large during prohibited hours
• 1
Hawking without a licence, .
. 2
Damaging new-made road by driving
on it, ~ . 4
19
3. Poaching,
. 11
Taking wood, sticks, etc.,
. 26
Taking a little hay, fruit, or potatoes
. 7
Fortune-telling,
. 3
Hoaxing with fortune-telling,
. 12
Assisting at prize-fight, .
. 6
Damaging crops by trespassing,
. 10
Breaking the lock of a gate, .
2
77
4. Cruelty to horses,
. 15
Begging,
. 3
Cruelty to, or neglect of, children,
6
24
5. Assaults, vicious,
. 11
„ family quarrels,
. -29
Drunkenness, simple,
. 38
„ with horses,
. 9
,, with children,
1
Obstructing police,
3
Obscene language,
. 17
Using threats,
4
112
6. Thefts, value less than ten shillings,
. 33
„ value more than ten shilling.'
, . .21
Stealing by ruse (not fortune-telling)
• 7
Receiving stolen property,
. 3
64
7. Lunatic at large,
. 1
Attempted suicide, .
1
Libel, ....
. 2
Highway robbery (prisoner discharge
d), . .1
Abducting girl (prisoner discharged),
. 1
( Iriminal assault,
1
7
467
-**
**&
>?>* *<
"'
*
LA BOHEM1 l.\ M.
JOURNAL OF THE
GYPSY LORE
SOCIETY
NEW SERIES
Vol. Ill
APRIL 1910
L— THE GYPSY BLANKET
A TRUE representation of the Gypsy blanket is the last thing
one would have expected to find among the works of a
painter who worshipped ' une nature peinte, cartonnee, vernie,
parfumee, artificielle.' Yet here it is, worn like the Roman toga,
as Brodseus observed, and arranged, exactly as the Belgian chroni-
cler described in 1422, in such a way as to hide the sling which
supports the child, and leave the hand which appears to support
it free to ' purloin artfully without its being perceived.' Francois
Boucher (1703-1770), premier painter to Louis xv., was the
fashionable artist of his time. According to his own estimate,
he made ten thousand drawings and sketches, and produced a
thousand studies and pictures,— -he painted, as his biographer said,
every one, from the Virgin Mary to Madame de Pompadour, whose
friend and instructor he had the honour to be, and earned an
income, then considered enormous, of 50,000 francs. His renown
attracted engravers to Paris from all corners of Europe, and even
his slightest sketches were reproduced by the great masters of
the day. ' La Bohemienne ' was engraved by Demarteau, who, if
not the inventor, was at least the most skilful practitioner of
' crayon engraving,' a process which received the approbation of
the Academie in 1757, and was designed to imitate the effect of
chalk on coarse-grained paper.
VOL. III.— -NO. IV. Q
242 LA BELLA CHIAVINA
II. -LA BELLI CHIAVINA: A FRENCH OR PIEDMONT
GYPSY TALE
By Eric Otto Winstedt
POTT is said to have spoken with Gypsies only once in his
life, and readers of Bataillard's works might be inclined to
suppose that his personal acquaintance with the living Gypsy
was equally restricted, since, so far as I remember, he only once
mentions a Gypsy as an authority for a statement. But a hasty
glance at the appalling pile of his loose papers, which are now in the
Public Free Reference Library at Manchester,1 convinced me that,
though Bataillard's personal research among Gypsies was limited,
he was by no means blind to the value or the interest of such
work. There are letters from friends in various countries record-
ing their experiences in Gypsy camps, notes of visits paid by
himself or friends to Gypsies in Paris, records of an hour he spent
when in England in a camp of Stanleys and Lees at Yarmouth ;
and, what is far more important, there is a whole packet of notes
containing his own and his wife's journal of three tours he made in
France in 1848-1850, largely in search of Gypsies.
It was on September 21-24, 1848, that he met at Montfaucon
the Gypsy Michelet, who gave him the information about the
conservation of the diklo custom among the Gypsies of France,
Switzerland, and Piedmont, which he mentions in his Gitanos
d'Espagne:2 and there are full details of the conversations of
which that mention is a summary.
Michelet was a French Gypsy, whose maternal grandfather
(baro ba) owned the Chateau de la Tour in the Cevennes and was
captain (hautmano or haupmano) 3 of the Gypsies of that district ;
and, considering the little that is known about the French Gypsies
and their language, it is noticeable that the words for 'grand-
father ' and for ' captain ' are both words unrecorded in any other
dialect, save that ba is attributed to Persian Gypsies by Newbold.4
1 I have to thank Dr. Axon and his son Mr. E. Axon for their kindness in
assisting me in obtaining access to these papers.
2 Page 21 of the offprint. 3 - German Hauptmann.
4 Journal of the Asiatic Society, xvi. (London, 1854), p. 311, bd or bdhur-
father ; from the lists on p. 303 it appears that bdbur is also used by the Gypsies
of Egypt. Cf. the bato, batu, batoro of the Spanish Gypsies (Miklosich, Mund-
arlen, i. 43), the bato of the Basque Gypsies (Michel, Le Pays Basque, p. 145),
the babo of Paspati's Asiatic Gypsies, the bdb of Miss Everest's Syrian Gypsies
A FRENTCH OR PIEDMONT GYPSY TALE 243
Unfortunately, so far as I could see in the limited time at my
disposal, there was little other linguistic information of interest
in the notes taken from Michelet, except that ba was in general
use as ' father.' From another party of Gypsies, whom he met
at Perpignan, he collected a short vocabulary, as well as notes
on the diklo and other customs. But as those Gypsies claimed
to be Spanish or perhaps Basque Gypsies, and the vocabulary
looked uninteresting, I passed it over and proceeded to the notes
of his visit to a Gypsy camp at Cannes in 1850.
There I was surprised to find on some loose sheets in his wife's
journal, but in Bataillard's handwriting, an entire folk-tale or
' Vieille histoire bohemienne en langue romani que j'ai ecrite sous
la dictee d'une Bohemienne a Cannes, 27 avril 1850,' as he
entitles it. In his notes he explains that he got it from ' la
Debarre-Capel,' who, on referring to a list of the Gypsies in the
camp, proves to be one Jeanne Jacqueline Barre, born in the
second year of the Republic [1793-4], in the department of L'Ain.
We are further informed that she was the daughter of Louis Barre
of La Feniere in the Dauphine, the widow of one Lariviere and
wife of Jean Pierre Capel of Salins in the Jura. She was aided
by Dalmas, who is presumably Dalmas or Dimis des Barres or
Barri, a young man of about twenty-five, with an appearance
which was not characteristically Gypsy. He was at first put
down as son of Jeanne; but that entry is crossed out, and he is
recorded again on the list. So far, then, there is no hint that
these Gypsies were anything but purely French Gypsies, though the
proximity of some of the places mentioned to Switzerland makes
one suspect that they might also be related to the Swiss
Gypsies of whom Michelet had spoken. But one cannot be long
in a Gypsy camp without getting a surprise of some kind; and
a few pages farther on we learn that they gave Chamisso
i [? ChivassoJ, near Turin as their home. Cagne [? CagnesJ,
i where they expected to meet a brother, was their destination :
and in his wife's journal they are called Piedmont Gypsies.
The solution of the difficulty is no doubt that the French, Swiss,
1 and Piedmont Gypsies were one and the same ; and that Michelet
was drawing a distinction without a difference when he described
their various customs with regard to the diklo. And an examination
(/. O. L. S., Old Series, i. 25), and the baph of the BoSa (J. G. L. S., New Series, i.
250). The latter makes it look more like a collal
(bdbd) or i ?lt (bdp) than a misuse of bd, brother.
250). The latter makes it look more like a collateral form of the Hindustani i
244 LA BELLA CHIAVINA
of the language of the tale leads to the same conclusion : for while
these Gypsies use ba and hawptmano, which was characteristic of
the Michelets' band, the borrowed words are almost all Italian,
though one or two are German,1 while they were fluent enough in
French to give Bataillard a translation or rather paraphrase of the
tale in that language. Again, the fact that their grandfathers and
fathers were born or domiciled in France proves quite conclusively
that these Gypsies were no mere wanderers from eastern Europe,
but natives of the soil. And if any doubting Thomas should feel
disinclined to take a Gypsy's word for his grandfather's home,
there is proof positive that the family from which he obtained the
tale was a very old French Gypsy family, since Michel de la Barre
figures among a gang of Gypsies who visited La Chappe, near
Chalons-sur-Marne, on November 7, 1453.2
Besides, the language alone is sufficient to show that they
were a distinct family. As idiosyncrasies of their dialect one
may mention, besides ba and hauptmano, the strange use of.
Sinte3 in the sense of a family, when speaking of a Gypsy
family, and the extraordinary frequency of the affixed pronouns
-lo, -li, and -le. The latter are of course found in practically all
dialects in combination with the auxiliary verb {sl-lo, etc.). In
German Gypsy they seem to be occasionally used with other verbs
too,4 but only in this tale do they occur with such frequency that
they have almost ousted the regular yov, yoi, yon. The affinity of
this dialect to others is more difficult to decide. The occasional
h for s, and the words pero,5 'family,' schtilde and ningue6 are
reminiscent of German Gypsy, sasere 7 of South Italian, the use of
Sinte and feminines in -in instead of -i, such as panin, chiurin*
1 Virta ( Wirtkaus) is the only German word besides hautmano, and it occurs
also in Kogalnitchan's ( Wirthus) and Colocci's ( Vierta) vocabularies. Italian is far
more frequently, though rather strangely and ungrammatically, used ; e.g. da [in
avri da peskri sinti], forse, benediciouna , e pen [ = e poi], di, con, le nozze la [delta]
bella Kiavina, i matina [for nella mattina], feradas [from ferrare]. Probably as the
name of the chief character in the tale is Italian in form, the tale was heard from
Italians, though I cannot trace a parallel.
2 Cf . Bibliotheque de I' Nicole des Chartes, 1 . Ser. , v. 530- 1 .
3 Paspati has an instance, however, in which sundi practically = wife, 'so islnii
sundi? qu'y a-t-il, ma femme distinguee?' He takes it for the past participle
passive of Sun ; but it seems more probable that his shundo, sundo, is merely a
variant of the mysterious sinte.
* Cf. Finck, Lehrbuch, § 45 and p. 44, hater v&la li ; and Gilliat-Smith, J. G. L. S.,
Xew Series, i. 139, kerile-lo, 137, kamile-li ; iii. 19S (Bulg. Gyp.), irisdjle-li, beSli-li,
5 Cf . Liebich's bero and TheslefFs perhos.
8 J. G. L. S., New Series, i. 139, nina ; Von Sowa, Worterb. des Dialtkts der
deutuchen Zig., nina 'auch' ; Pott, i. 316. 7 Ascoli, p. 138.
8 Cf. Liebich's panin; Ascoli, p. 135, butin, panin; and Pott, i. 113. Sinte,
A FREXCH OR PIEDMONT GYPSY TALE 245
of both. But, on the other hand, the presence of one Rumanian
loan-word pipe-das} and the use of le for the oblique cases of the
article, point to some kinship with the Rumanian Gypsies.2
For the tale itself, it is but a poor thing, and obviously ill-
remembered, since the Romani and French versions differ con-
siderably. Bataillard states that he tried to get a literal version,
— and indeed a few lines of it are written opposite the beginning
of the tale, — but he failed, and had to be content with a para-
phrase. He also apologises for the incorrectness of his copy, but
therein he is rather hard on himself. From the frequent mis-
division of words, he was obviously quite unable to follow it while
he was taking it down ; but still, save in one or two puzzling
passages, he seems to have succeeded fairly well in copying it.
Hautmano leskro tchiavo 3 ghias pachiolo 4 telal i eroukeste pache
Hautmaneskro cavo gias paHolo telal ye rukeste pa£e
iek haning kate5 dium soune i kiavina6 vias7 lou tougano
yek xaningate. [Dikias ?] sone i Kiavina. ' Vias-lo tugano,
according to Colocci (L'origine des bohdmiens, Citta di Castello, 1905, p. 2), is used
by Gypsies of Piedmont, Lithuania, Scandinavia, Germany, and Italy.
1 Cf. Miklosich, Mundarten, v. 47, pipisar, 'tasten.'
a Ibid., xi. 29, 33; xii. 12.
3 Bechte and 0 are erased at the beginning, and leskro tchiavo is corrected from
scrotchia. Probably the narrator gave the beginning in various forms, e.g. 0
hautmaneskro cavo gias, etc., and Best? o Hautmaneskro cavo telal, etc., and leskro
may have been part of an explanatory comment.
* Pachiolo is doubtless from the passive verb which appears in Turkish Romani
as pdUiovava. For the loss of the I compare JeSina's paSdvav and the various forms
given by Miklosich, viii. 34.
8 Bataillard at first wrote heingate, then crossed this out and wrote haning
gate, and finally altered the gate to kate. Both hi's are very strangely shaped and
may be meant for k.
6 This phrase is very mysterious, and must be considered in relation to several pas-
sages which follow. Here Bataillard at first wrote dias, then apparently dikiasouane
li, and finally dium soune i ; but from the phrase below, mri pirani kadekioum soune, it
would seem as though one ought here to read Dikias soune le kiavina, soune being an
addition to the rare locatives (cf. Miklosich, Mundarten, xii. 31). Dium might
in that case be supposed to be a corruption for Tai ov or something similar ; but
again we find below kadiassoune le kiavina and kai dias la soune, where dias looks
like an alternative for dikias. Parallels for such a form are Borrow's Spanish
Gypsy diar, ' to see,' which is supported by Pott (ii. 305), and Paspati's statement
that many Turkish Gypsies pronounce the word as though written dikhdva, and
dihdva, didva (cf. Journal of the American-Oriental Society, vii. pp. 213-4 ; and Ascoli,
Zigeunerisches, p. 29). Possibly Bataillard crossed out the wrong word and meant the
dikia[s] to stand and the dium, which could only equal dikiom, to be erased. Even
so the article » should be le. In the last of the sentences mentioned dias could bear
its ordinary sense of 'gave' — kai dias la soune, 'who gave dreams' — since there are
parallels for the use of a redundant la in relative sentences in this tale. But it is
very difficult to give it that sense in the other sentences : and it seems better to
assume that these Gypsies sometimes pronounced the k of dikava so weakly as to be
practically inaudible. " The i of vias appears to be crossed out.
246 LA BELLA CHIAVINA
nina ^alas ninapieles. Le tougender1 kadiassoune le kiavina ta
nina yalas ninapielas, le tugendar ka dias sone le Kiavina. Ta
leskro ba poutchias2 lester sohitoute mro tchavo Mro ba dentou-
leshro ba puHas lester 'So hi tilti, mro tavo ? ' 'M'ro ba, den tu-
mari3 benediciouna kamama djia4 manque kamama latchav mri
mari benediziona. Kama ma j a mange, kama ma lacav. m'ri
pirani kadekioum soune6 to ba rouveles ti dai ningue lias pes
pirani ka dikium sone.' To ba rovelas t'i dai nine. Lias pes
apre lias peske koumpeskero grai leskro graic feradas
apre, gias [?] peske con peskro grai (leskro grai). Feradas
peskro grai petali roupoune Ghias lo pirdas bout chovtchon 7
peskro grai petali rnpune. Gias-lo, pirdas hut Zov con
avri dapeskeri Sinti Forsa8 kapirtas viasli9 kogav Taisas
avri da peskri Sinti. Forse ka pirdas, vias-li k'o gav tai sas
pcskri pirani kai dias la soune okoia Akana vias lo kibari-
peskri pirani kai dias la sone okoia. Akana vias-lo ki bari
virta. Poutchias leraster ketena si kek kadrukerina10 lelister n
virta. Pucias le raster ke te na si kek ka drukerena-le leste.
orai pendas kasilen12 Pengri bai 13 filatchin tchenak14 okoi
0 rai pendas ka si len. ' Pengri ba[r]i filaHn cenak okoi.'
Kaletcliia15 kakinele andrevirta. Penela keiavina peneladjas'
Kale 6a ka gine-le andre virta. Penela Kiavina, ipenela ' Jas,
1 For toucfender Bataillard gives a variant tougendra.
2 Poutchias lester is corrected from -poutheles (altered to poucheles) lestra.
3 Plural, addressed to both parents.
4 For kamama djia Bataillard at first read kalaman and dja. It might of course
stand for Jeamava, not kama ma.
5 After soune ' o dati o' is crossed out.
6 This sentence must be badly taken down. Lins jnske may be a mistake for
gias prxke, or simply a repetition of the preceding lias pes ; and leskro grai was
probably given as an alternative or explanation for peskro grai.
I Chov is corrected from rhon.
8 Forsa can hardly be anything but Italian forse, though that should mean
'perhaps' rather than ' perchance.'
9 A mintake for vias-lo. Cf. has-le HaxUmancskro cavo below.
10 Ketena was first written ketenea. The first three letters of kadrukerina have
been altered from something which is illegible, and the first r from a k. The i was
originally c.
II Or lelistes. 12 Kahile is crossed out before kasilen.
13 Bai would seem to stand either for bari or for ba (uninflected dative) At.
11 The ending of the word is a little uncertain. It may be either k or le.
5 If this is the right interpretation of this mysterious phrase, tchia must be an
abbreviated Nominative PI. of rai. The k of kale was originally written I. Kale
might mean ' those ' : and is deleted after Kaletchia.
A FRENCH OR PIEDMONT GYPSY TALE 247
das moui1 kate droukkavvas2 kolaras. I kiavina av-ance
das mui ka te drukavas kola ras.' I Kiavina (avance)
velali aki donzela Penela kiavina okova tevel tro rom. I
vela-li. Ak'i donzela penela ' Kiavina, okova te vel t'ro rom.' I
kiavina Penela mre kamle Pral3 tiro rom tevel tiro tevel.
Kiavina penela ' M're kamle pral, tiro rom te vel, tiro te vel.'
Oke dias 4 spindjari maske kahas ie sinto ' epeu atchnele
Oke dias [pe]s pindarimaske ka has ye Sinto. E poi a£ne-le
schotchion5 ke%an tatepiel 6 aperle Hautmane Skrepike epeu
sov Son ke xan ^a te piel apre[?]le Hautmaneskre pike. E poi
kerde7 o manguipen dikiavina nakamne tedenla akava
kerde o mangipen di Kiavina. Na kamne te den la. Akava
hautmano skrotcha 8 le^olignanter9 lias tepachiolo pache i
Hautmaneskro £a le yolinantar lias [pes'] te paSiolo pa§e i[e]
aninghate havias i kiavina avias li kompeskeri donzela talel
yaningate. Avians i Kiavina, avias-li con peskeri donzela ta lei
panin10 Pepeskiasles n kasoveles tai kiavina iastefarte12
panin. Pepeskias[?]les ka sovelas, ta i Kiavina gias te farte
panin apreleste Djangadas les taiov tchindas lakrebal tatchi-
panin apre leste. Jangadas les, ta yov cindas lakre bal, ta cu-
I Dr. Sampson, to' whom I am indebted for various suggestions and assistance,
informs me that this idiom is found in Welsh Romany too as an old euphemism for
fortune-telling (e.g. Dwm Id mM). - Or Jcarras.
3 For mre kamle pral there seems only a choice of two evils ; either to take it as
a Vocative addressed to the donzella, in the sense of ' comrade ' ; or as equivalent to
mro kamlo pral, and subject of te vel.
4 Pes seems to be required : cf. dias pes pidjarimaske below. Here Bataillard
wrote most, and crossed it out, before maske.
5 The t was at first written r.
6 What the ' captain's shoulders ' are doing here I cannot tell, nor yet why piel
is singular, when x«?i is plural, unless in this dialect, as in German Gypsy, the third
person singular was occasionally used as a ' stereotyped neuter form,' cf. Finck,
Lehrbuch, § 12, and J. G. L. 8., New Series, i. 134.
7 Apparently this should be kerdas. After kiavina ' ta ' is erased.
8 Here tcha seems to be a shortened form of ravo. Cf. *« for cdia, ■/. G. L. S.,
New Series, i. 118 and 137.
9 Xolignanter is corrected from xonirnanter. Cf. Miklosich, Mundarten, v. 25.
10 Bataillard at first wrote panim, a form which occurs in Pincherle's / Ghittn-
gheri Ghilia Salomune'skero.
II Pepeskias beats me, unless it is a variant of pipedas, which occurs below with
the meaning 'she felt.' That is evidently the Rumanian word, which is found in
Kirilowicz's tales (pipi, pipisar, 'tasten,' cf. Miklosich, Mnvdarten, v. 47). But
here pepeskias should mean 'she noticed.'
12 Cf. Liebich's ferdawa, ' werfen ' (p. 260), Pott, ii. 31)4, and Ascoli, p. 133.
248 LA BELLA CHIAVINA
midias le, okeiov i kiavina dias les deschevta tchiniben
midias le. Okeyov! I Kiavina dias les des-efta Ziniben
kournpeskri tchiurin diasles Diaskaipinkri l Sinti dikne
con peskri Eurin, dias les. Jas ki pengri Sinti. Dikne
lakresinti dikne kahas lakrebal tchinde kamnedjanen kon
lakre Sinti, dikne ka has lakre bal cinde. Kamne janen kon
tchinde lakrebal kamenadjanen penavales Okova Haut-
ri.nde lakre bal. * Kamena janen ? Penava les. Okova Haut-
mano tchavo kanchindas mre bal. Okeakava ghias pale
mano cavo [sas] kon cindas mre bal.' Oke akava gias pale
kaipeskri manousch 2 Odoi kavias kaipeskri Sinti. poutchias sar
ki peskri manuS. Odoi ka vias ki peskri Sinti. Pucias sar
ghias kanalias peskri pirani3 kiavina. oke ghine sasere4
gias kana lias peskri pirani Kiavina. Oke gine sasere
kouno pero odoi kavne lias i katouna 5 peskre pegnakeri eridas
< on o pero. Odoi k'avene, lias i katuna peskre penakeri, eridas
pes djouvli kanes okeghias kailengheri filatchin Peskri ti6 peskri
pes juvlikanes. Oke gias ki lengeri filaiin (peskri ti) peskri
piragna te kiri epeu kapendas lakri sinti kahas le sa schtilde.7
piranate kere, e poi ka pendas lakri Sinti ka has-le sa stilde.
Ta i kiavina kochelas8 kakamelas peskri malisouna ke.9 Epeu
Ta i Kiavina k'aSelas ka kamelas peskri malisonaki. E poi
1 Pinkri looks like pengri ; but there does not seem to be any reason for the plural.
2 For manousch, 'people,' cf. Paspati's ta o manUsh pendnas ' et les hommes (les
gens) disaient,' sard o manUsh 'tous les hommes'; and mare manush tshingerwenei
Ke.tte.ni of the Btytrag zur Rotwellischen Grammatik, 1755 (Pott, ii. 481).
* Pirani is corrected from piragna.
4 After gine, 'kos' is erased. With sasere cf. Ascoli, Zigeunerisches, p. 13$;
and with pero Liebich's hero and Thesleff 's perhos.
5 Katouna is properly a tent, but the Welsh Gypsies use it in the sense of cloth
and clothes. This use tends to support Ascoli's derivation of the word from the
Arabic ^Ja$ (qutun, 'cotton,') rather than DeGoeje's from .»kxj(qaltun, 'chamber,'
' camp ').
Peskri ti (or li with a stroke through it) is probably merely a mis-writing
of the following peskri pi- ; but I am not satisfied with my solution of piragna te
kiri. Before piragna, ' gia ' is erased.
7 SchtUde was at first written stilde.
Kochelas looks rather like the yoc of the English and Welsh dialects, and
' said would make excellent sense here, though it would upset the accepted deriva-
tion of the Welsh Gypsy word from ' quotha.'
9 For the construction of the meaning of this far from blessed word or words I
decline to be held responsible. As an alternative to the suggested translation I can
only offer 'golden friend,' sounake being a depraved form of sonakune, for which
compare Thesleff's Gypsies' use of sonako as an adjective.
A FRENCH OR PIEDMONT GYPSY TALE 249
ghinele andrivirta katesoven tchidepentekelen antekelen le
gine-le andre virta ka te soven ; cide pen te kelen. Ande kelen-le.
hine kelen ginesoven 1 pipedas andreskolechero pipedas
K'ine kelen, gine soven. Pipedas andre lesko Sero. Pipedas
andro chero latchias deschefta tchiniben. Oke dias pes pidjari
andro Sero, lafiias des-efta Hniben. Oke dias pes pindari-
raaske kahas le HStmano skrotchevo tchavo kahas lakro pirano.
maske ka, has-le Hautmaneskroijevo) fctvo, ka has lakro pirano.
I matina nikadas lakrogade a pral lakro chero. Takardas.2
I mattina nikadas lakro gad apral lakro sero ta kardas.
Ghias tekerel o manghipen (demande) la bella Khiavina
Gias te kerel o mangipen (demande) [del]la bella Kiavina.
O kela kroba di khiavina dias la leste ou schouker pativ
Oke lakro ba, di Kiavina, dias la leste, o Sukar pativ.
kerbelenose la bella khiavina.
Kerdt le nozze [del]la bella Kiavina.
A captain's son went to sleep beneath a tree near a fountain, and saw in a dream
Chiavina. He became sad, and would not eat nor drink from grief at seeing in a
dream Chiavina. And his father asked him, 'What ails you, my son?' 'My
father, give your blessing, I wish to go away. I wish to find my love, whom I saw
in a dream.' And his father wept and his mother too. He got up, he went [?]
with his horse (his horse) ; he shod his horse with shoes of silver. He went, he
wandered much six months away from his Gypsies. By chance, as he wandered,
he came to the town where was his love, whom he saw in a dream, that one. Now
he came to a great inn. He asked the gentleman, if there are not any who will
tell fortunes for him. The gentleman said that there were some. 'Their big
castle [is] near there.' Dark girls who went into the inn. Says 3 Chiavina, she
says : ' Let us go and tell this gentleman's fortune.' Chiavina comes. Behold the
1 I have translated this sentence as though ante were andre (cf. Miklosich's
ande, Mundarten, vii. 7), and the end were k'ine te kelen, gine te soven ; but I do not in
the least believe in the translation or in Bataillard's copy.
2 Why the lady placed her shirt, supposing she wore such a garment, in so
anomalous a position I cannot tell, unless it was a shameless sign of shame. [But
as Mr. Gilliat-Smith kindly points out, and as I, who daily pull a shirt over my head,
ought to have seen, this need not mean anything stranger than 'she put on her
shirt.'J If Takardas bears the sense I have given it, she was presumably guilty of a
piece of feminine hypocrisy, pretending that she had been unwittingly assaulted in
order to force her parents to marry her to the youth. But it is noticeable that
Bataillard puts a full stop before it, which indicates that takardas should belong to the
next sentence. As alternatives I give four equally improbable suggestions which
have occurred to, or have been suggested to, me : — (1) Ta kerdas [les te) gias — ' and she
caused him to go,' which would make good sense, but is very indifferent grammar as
it stands. (2) Ta kari dias, which, besides other objections, is open to an accusation
of tardiness. (3) Tachara des — ' early on the morrow ' or ' later in the day ' — com-
pare Borrow's Spanish Gypsy tasarden ' late,' and Pott, ii.*289. But this requires
further support. (4) Ta kerejas, 'and she went home.'
8 Or, '(The damsel) says "Chiavina," she says.'
250 LA BELLA CHTAVINA
damsel says : ' Chiavina, may he be thy husband.' Chiavina says : ' My dear
comrade,1 may he be thy husband, may he be thine.' Behold he gave himself for
recognition that ho was a Gypsy. And then they abode six months eating and
drinking on the captain's shoulders [?]. Then he asked for Chiavina. They did
not wish to give her. This captain's son in wrath betook himself to sleep
near a well. Chiavina came, she came with her damsel to get water. She espied
[?] him sleeping : and Chiavina threw water on him. She woke him, and he
nit her hair and kissed her. Behold him ! Chiavina gave him seventeen cuts
with his knife, she gave them to him. She went to her Gypsies. They saw, her
Gypsies saw, that her hair had been cut. They wished to know who had cut her
hair. 'You wish to know ? I will tell it. This captain's son it was who cut my
hair.' Behold! He went back to his people. When he came there to his Gypsies,
[his father] asked how he fared when he took his sweetheart Chiavina. Behold!
They all went with the family. When they arrive there, he took his sister's clothes
and dressed himself as a woman. Behold ! He went to their castle to his beloved
at home [?] : and then he said that all his Gypsies were imprisoned. And Chiavina
was waiting and wished him for her sleeping-companion [?]. And then they went
into the inn to sleep there. They set themselves to play. Within they play. Tired
of playing, they went to sleep. She felt his head. She felt [his] head, and she found
seventeen cuts. Behold he gave himself for recognition, that he was the captain's
son who was her lover. In the morning she drew her shirt over her head, and cried
aloud [?]. He went to ask for the fair Chiavina. Behold her father, Chiavina's
father, gave her to him, a delightful honour. They celebrated the marriage of the
fair Chiavina.'
ORIGINAL PARAPHRASE.
Le fils d'un Houpmano dormait sous un arbre aupres d'une fontaine. II lui
apparut en reve une belle jeune fille inconnue qui s'appelait la Chiavina. Ce reve
bailla dans son coeur un tel trouble qu'il ne mangeait plus et ne buvait plus.
Voyant leur fils si chagrine le pere et la mere s'inquieterent. Le pere lui dit :
Qu'as-tu, mon fils, je te prie de me le dire. Et le jeune homme leur dit son
amour, et qu'il devait sept fois ferrer en argent son cheval avant de trouver son
amante.2 II a demande" la sainte benediction — de son pere et de sa mere. II a
marche" six mois avant qu'il ait eu de ses nouvelles (de la Chiavina). Au bout de
six mois [il] est arrive" vers une ville : il a ete vers le grand hotel (auberge) : voila
que(il)3 pendant que le bourgeois lui prepare a manger, le jeune homme il
lui demande s'il n'y a pas des diseuses de bonne fortune et le monsieur lui r^pond :
II y en a qui ont leur chateau ici. Pendant qu'il est a table voila la Kiavina [qui]
arrive avec sa donzelle (sa servante) : sa servante lui dit. La kiavina, venez dire (?)
la bonne aventure a ce jeune homme. Celui-ci devrait etre ton mari, vois
quelle jolie personne : et elle repond : non, je n'en voudrais pas ; qu'il soitplutot le
tien. Pendant ce temps-la, ils se reconnaissent pour Romnitchel. II a reste" six mois
la, faisant manger toute la famille de la jeune personne. Au bout de six mois, il fait
la demande de la fille. Les parents n'ont pas voulu la lui donner. Alors le jeune
homme de la rage qu'il avait, s'en alia coucher sous un arbre pres d'une fontaine.
II e^ait comme moitie endormi et la Kiavina est alle vers la fontaine avec sa
servante pour chercher de 1'eau ; et elle a vu qu'il eHait endormi la, lui a
tire ses cheveux et jete de l'eau sur sa figure. Voila que le jeune homme se
reveille : il a pris son couteau et lui a coupe" les cheveux (a la Kiavina). Elle alors
lui a arrache" son couteau et lui a donne" 17 coups de couteau dans la tete. Le
1 Or ' May my dear comrade be thy husband.'
2 After this follows another version of the last few lines.
3 II should apparently he crossed out.
A FRENCH OR PIEDMONT GYPSY TALE
251
jeune homme alors va trouver ses parents. Ceux-ci lui disent : Tu as ^te pour
chercher ta maitresse et tu ne l'amenes pas (et nous ne savons rien du tout) et il
r^pond : Allons, mes parents, il faut aller toute la famille ensemble. Une fois la,
apres avoir marche six mois encore, il a cache" ses parents dans un[e] hotel et s'est
habille en fille et disait a tout le monde que ses parents etaient tous malades a
l'hopital. La Chiavina, le voyant arriver, dit, en voyant cette jeune fille affiig^e,
dit : je veux cette jeune fille pour ma camarade. II repond : Mais je suis loge" a
1'hotel, et je veux y coucher, et il l'amene. An soir ils couchent ensemble. Lui,
il dit a la Chiavina : cherche voir un peu dans ma tete pour l'ordonner. Elle
trouva les traces des 17 coups de couteau. Est-ce que tu ne te souviens pas quand
tu me les a faits 1 — A present je suis la tienne, demain vous irez faire la
demande. Ils font la demande ; les parents ont consenti ; et il epouse la belle
Kiavina.
By a happy coincidence the modern existence of this dialect
among French Gypsies has been verified by Mr. Augustus John,
who in March took down a short vocabulary from some Gypsies
of the Haute-Savoie, as they passed through Martigues. This he
has kindly allowed me to print here. As will be seen, it is
obviously in the same dialect as the Chiavina tale, though pro-
portionately much fuller of Italian and German loan-words.
Especially characteristic are the use of ba, father, and the plural
article le in le cerginye, le bumbunyi.
The Romany words are : —
[nr-, stay] : in acela na stilo, 'he won't
keep still '.
\av-, come] : in vesa te dikes mro ba,
[' you will come to see my father'].
ba, father : in vesa te dikes mro ba,
[' you will come to see my] father '.
avrin, out : in le cerginye que si la avrin,
[' the stars which are out ', or ' which
are there (far) away'. The form in
-n appears to be peculiar to German
Gypsy, cf. Liebich's wrin].
balkola, wind : in i balkola, 'the wind'.
[bink-, sell]: in binkavela, 'he sells'.
[By metathesis for bikin-].
brisindo, rain: in na dela brisindo, 'it
rains not '.
Sam, cheek.
cergin, star : as pi. Serginya, 'stars', and
in kerla hilar rat, si cerginya, [' it
will be a fine night, there are stars '] ;
also cerginye, in le cerginye que si la
avrin, ['the stars which are out.'
See s.v. avrin].
oik, dirt.
ciro, [weather] : in sukar ciro kaya rat,
[' fine weather to-night '].
cor, beard.
[du-, give]: in na, dela brisindo, 'it
rains not '.
[dilc-, see] : in vesa te dikes mro ba, [' you
will come to see my father'].
hailing, well.
holeb, trousers.
\eri>, ass.
[x"-i eat] : in x"^"')"^i opprobrious
term, [' he eats dog '].
i, feminine article: in i balkola, 'the
wind.'
[is-, to be] : si, 'they are' ; in na si-le
sukar, [' they are not nice '] ; kerla
Sukar rat, si cerginya, ['it will be a
fine night, there are stars '] ; and le
cerginye que si la avrin, ['the stars
which are out.' See s.v. avrin],
jeniiutro, son-in-law: in leskro jamidro,
' son gendre '.
jukel, dog: in x«la-jukel, opprobrious
term, [' he eats dog '].
kaisli, key : in kaislingeri, ' copper-
smiths',[= 'locksmiths '. Kaisli by
metathesis for klaisi. The form witli
s instead of d seems unexampled ex-
cept in England].
kaliko, to-morrow : also te vesa^kaliko,
252
LA BELLA CHIAVINA
' if you come to-morrow '. [Appar-
ently otherwise peculiar to English,
Spanish, Livonian, and Finnish Ro-
many ; cf. Pott, ii. 107].
lcangerin, church. [For the final -n cf.
Bischoff and the Waldheim list, and
Roberts' Congling, Pott, ii. 150].
Icaya, [this, fern.]: in hikar ciro Jcaya
rat, | 'tine \v i m (her to-night'].
[her-, to do, make] : in kerla sukar rat,
si cerginya, ['it will be {lit. make) a
fine night, there are stars '].
la. See le.
le : (1) plural article: le bumbunyi,
the dolls : le crrginye que si
laavrin, ['the stars which arc
out'. See s.v. avrin *].
(2) plural affix to verbs, = they :
na si-le Sukar, ['they are nut
nice '].
lil, book.
lim, mucus: in lim nakeskeri, 'dirty
nosed '.
m ijox, bad.
mro, my: in vesa te dikes mro ba, ['you
will come to see my father'].
na, not : in na si-le sukar, [' they are not
nice']: na dela briSindo, 'it rains
not ' : acela na Stilo, ' he won't keep
still '.
nai, nail.
nak, nose : in lim nakeskeri, ' dirty
nosed '.
nasdli, sick.
I /'"(•-, believe] : in pacen, 'they believe'.
rat, night : in kerla Sukar rat, si cer-
ginya, ['it will be a fine night, there
are stars'] ; and Sukar ciro kaya rat,
[' fine weather to-night'].
rtik, tree.
sostepen, health: as dative sostepaske,
' health ' ! [exclamation].
sukar, [nice, fine] : in na si-le Sukar,
[' they are not nice '] ; kerla Sukar rat,
si cerginye, ['it will be a fine night,
there are stars '] ; and Sukar ciro kaya
rat, ['fine weather to-night'].
te : (1) 'in order that': in vesa te
dikes mro ba, [' you will come
to see my father'].
(2) 'if : in te vesa kaliko, 'if you
come to-morrow '.
fir ax, boot.
hi, thou : as accusative in ringerSava /"',
' thank you '.
tusvi, bottle.
Of the loan-words the greater part, as in 'Chiavina,' are
German or Italian, while one or two may be French. Certainly
German are : —
lenepi, buttons ; [Knripfe : cf. Finckand Stibli, high boots; [Stiefel, or possibly
Liebich's knopis (Knospe)]. Ital. stivale, pi. -i.].
pussikleti, cat; [German Buse-Katzc, ^tilo, quiet ; in aSela na Stilo, ' he won't
Swiss Busi, Bussi, and Chatzli]. keep still' ; [still].
tiSe, table ; [Tisch].
Certainly Italian are : —
bumbunyi : in le bumbunyi, f the dolls ' ; ringerSava: in ringerSava tut, 'thank
[bambini ' children,' bambole ' dolls ']. you ' ; [ringraziare].
dende, tents ; [tenda, pi. tende]. strassi, rags ; [straccio, pi. stracci].
sucr'o, sugar ; [zucchero].
Four others have an Italian appearance, though I cannot
identify them : —
■'' "- policeman. possibly it is also used dialectically in
kor'o, coat ; [1 Ii. corio, 'hide']. the sense of a four-legged chair].
quadrega, chair ; [quadriga is used by sulietto sickle.
Italian poets in the sense of chariot ;
1 Possibly the la in le ct rginye que si la avrin is a mistake for le, since a redundant
le with relatives occurs in 'Chiavina ' ; but it may be French or Italian la, ' there.'
GYPSIES AS FORTUNE-TELLERS AND AS BLACKSMITHS 253
Several may be French or Italian : —
batoli, boat ; [Fr. bateau, It. batello]. la ; [possibly Fr. or It. ' la,' there, but
divinette, story ; [connected with divi- see le above].
nare, diviner, 'guess' ?]. que ; ['which.' Fr. que, or It. che].
Finally, there remains one very mysterious word ambruli,
' shoes.' Was there some confusion, as it is excellent Romany for
' pears ' ? Or is it connected with Italian ambulare, ' walk,' or
with Greek, dp{3v\t], ' shoe,' changed by metathesis into ' abruli,'
and further corrupted through likeness to the word ambroll
III— GYPSIES AS FORTUNE-TELLERS AND AS
BLACKSMITHS
By Leo Wiener
(Continued from page 17)
IN the year 789 Charlemagne issued at Aix-la-Chapelle a
general admonition to the clerical and secular authorities of
his realm, which was based chiefly on a collection of canons sent
to him by Pope Hadrian in 774. Among the several prohibitions
contained in it there is one1 for which no previous source has been
found, and which is of particular interest to our inquiry. It runs
as follows : —
'Item ut isti mangones et cotiones* qui sine omni lege
vagabundi vadunt per istam terrain, non sinantur vagare et
deceptiones hominibus agere, nee isti nudi cum ferro, qui dicunt
se data sibi poenitentia ire vagantes : melius videtur, ut si aliquid
inconsuetum et capitale crimen conmiserint, ut in uno loco
permaneant laborantes et servientes et paenitentiam agentes
secundum quod sibi canonice inpositum sit.'
Hefele3 thinks that this law was directed against a class of
cheats called mangones and cotiones, who were no longer to
1 MonumentaGermaniae llistorica, Leg. Sect. ii. (Alfredus Boretius, Capilularia
regum Francorum, Tomus Primus, Hannoverae, 1883), pp. 60, 61 ; F. Paulus
Canciani, Barbarorum leges antiquae cum notis et glossariis, vol. iii., Veuetiia,
1785, p. 209 et al.
2 Other readings are — cocciones, cottiones, scottones, Ibid.
3 Conciliengeschichte, 3. Band, 2. Ausgabe, Freiburg im Breisgau, 1877, p. 670 :
' Die Betriiger, welche mangones {mengue bei franzos. Dichtern = Betrug) und
cotiones (scottones ?) heissen. sollen nicht mehr frei umherschweifen diirfen ; ebenso
auch nicht jene Nackten mit Ketten, welche vorgeben, sie mussten zur Busse
umherziehen. Haben sie ein schweres Vergehen begangen, so sollen sie an einem
Ort bleiben und dort Busse thun.'
254 GYPSIES AS FORTUNE-TELLERS AND AS BLACKSMITHS
wander about freely, and that the naked people with chains,
who pretended to wander about for penance' sake, were to stay
in one place and there do penance, if they had committed a
grievous crime. Into this obviously inexact rendering of the
text Hefele was led by Boretius's annotations, in which mango is
explained as ' deceiver ' and cotio as ' rascal.' l Neither these two
writers nor any one after them have taken the trouble to
ascertain the precise meanings of those words in the eighth
century. To obtain them we must carefully follow up the
historical vicissitudes to which they have been subjected from
their earliest appearance until recent times, as in the early Middle
Ages many words of Latin or Vulgar Latin origin frequently
underwent violent changes of significance, and only the cumula-
tive evidence of living speech and of literary references can
determine their full connotations for that early period.
CociS, -onis, is a late Latin word2 of uncertain origin, and also
written coccio, coctio, cuctio, cotio, cogcio,3 which Gellius says was
a vulgar name for the older arilator, ' haggler.'4 But arilator is
itself of uncertain origin, and its precise meaning is not known.
There are several derivatives ^of this cocio. Quintilian used
cocionor in the sense of ' haggle,' and for a later date are recorded
the derivatives cociator, cocionatura, cocionaria. In the Middle
Ages Low Latin cocio 5 is several times given with the Greek
translation ixeTafiokos, [xeTairpdrrj^, ' huckster,' ' retail dealer ' ;
but these meanings reflect the older semi-classical conception
of the word, not its fuller current acceptation in the Romance
languages.
In old French cosson, cogon,0 has the meaning of ' itinerant
merchant,' as in Bible Guyot 7 of the beginning of the thirteenth
1 Loo. cit.,]). 60: ' mangones = fallaces, deceptores, etiam proxenetarum quoddam
genus; eo£io«eA' = francogall. coquins, vagi homines.'
2 Forcellini, Totius latinitatix lexicon, T. ii., Prati, 1861, sub cocio. Cf.
G. Loewe, Prodromm corporis glossariorum lalinorum, Lipsiae, 1S76, p. 285.
3 Georgius Goetz, Gorpvs glossariorum latinorvm, vol. iii. pars prior, Lipsiae,
189'J, sub cocio ; and Du Cange, Glonsarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, sub
cociones.
4 G. F. Hildebrand (Glosmrium latinum Bibliothecae Parisianae antiquissimmn,
Goettingae, 1854, p. 19) shows that it meant as much as 'fortune-teller,' 'sooth-
sayer,' but in this interpretation he stands alone.
5 Goetz, I.e.
6 On the irregularity of the French formation see G. Grober,' Vulgiirlateinische
Substrate romanischer Wbrter,' in Wolflin's Archiv fur laleinische Lezikograpkit
und Grammatik, vol. i. (1884), p. 549.
' Des Guiot von Provins bis jetzt bekannte Dichtungen,' by Joh. Friedr. Wol-
fartaud San Marte, in San Marte's Parcivalstudien, Erstes Heft, Halle, 1861, v.
1246, p. 68.
GYPSIES AS FORTUNE-TELLERS AND AS BLACKSMITHS 255
century : ' Mestre cogon et marcheant Sont-il certes et bien errant.'
It more particularly meant a horse-trader of some kind : *
' Marcheans et vendeurs de chevaus, soient cossous ou autres.'
It has survived in some localities as the name for a peddler:
Swiss-French2 cosson 'marchand de ble, homme qui va de maison
en maison acheter des graines de legumes pour les revendre ' ;
Vosges 3 cosson ' marchand de volaille, de beurre, d'oeufs ' ; la
Meuse i cousson 'marchand coquetier.' In Old Provencal cusso,
cusco are given by Raynouard5 as equivalent to 'goujat/ ' coquin,'
' vaurien,' but the trade plied by these rogues is not ascertainable
from the passages quoted by him. Old Catalan had cusson,
'horse-trader,' and this is obviously the same as the Proven9al
word.0 In Italian,7 cozzone is a ' horse-trader,' ' slave-trader,'
'jockey,' and in the latter sense the form scozzone, a derivative of
the first, is more popular. The word does not seem to have
existed in Spain or Portugal, and has died out to a great extent
in France itself, at least in its original form. It occurs in a
large number of forms and over a wide territory, but so reduced
by popular etymology as to be unrecognisable at first sight. The
Provencal cusso, which may have been of a wider distribution in ad-
joining countries, early suggested a derivation from Latin currere s
1 An undated quotation in La Curne de Sainte-Palaye's Dictionnaire historique
de I'ancien lanyaye j'rangais, vol. iv., Nort, Paris 1877, sub cosson, and in Du Cange
sub corratarius. Skeat (Transactions of the Philoloyical Society, London, 1888-90,
pp. 9-12) thinks that this is a misreading for cosson, but that is not necessarily so,
as the Provencal and Catalan forms show.
2 Doyen Bridel, Glossaire du patois de la Suisse romande, Lausanne, 1863, p. 84.
3 N. Haillant, Dictionnaire phonCtique et litymoloyique, Epinal, 1885, p. 162 :
' Ce mot est d'usage courant, meme en franc, du pays. Littre ne le donne pas, il
semblerait done provincial. L'abbe Petin a le verbe cosaena aller de maison en
maison pour acheter le beurre, les ceufs, etc. Hadol m'a donne le feminin cossen'-
rosse. Le Val d'Ajol a aussi le verbe cossena, qui sign, en autre promener ca et la.
Lambert.' This cossen' -rosse is apparently the same as Wallonian cossoneresse
' revendeuse de legumes,' in J. Sigart's Glossaire itymoloyxque montois, Bruxelles,
Paris, 1870.
4 H. Labourasse, Glossaire abre'ye' du 2^atois de la Meuse, Arcis-sur-Aube, 1887,
p. 218.
5 Lexique roman, Paris, 1838-44. EmilLevy (Provenz.alixdtes Supplement- Worter-
buck, Leipzig, 1894, sub case) thinks that cusco should read cusco.
6 Some Catalan dictionaries give the form cusso.
7 Vocabulario deyli Academici delta Crusca, Quinta impressione, sub cozzone.
Cf. A. Lattes, II diritto commerciale nella leyislazione statutaria de/le citta italiane,
Milano, 1884, p. 113, where cozoni, cuzones are given for Bologna and Verona in the
fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.
8 This derivation, as the real one, and not due to popular etymology, was first
broached by W. Roscher, A ' ationalbkonomik des Handels und Gewerbfieisses, 3.
Auflage, Stuttgart, 1882, p. 474, note 11, and propounded by A. Horning (Zeit-
schriftjur romanische Philoloyie, xiii. p. 325), who was criticised in the Romania
(xviii. p. 629) for adducing what might turn out to be a mere popular etymology.
256 GYPSIES AS FORTUNE-TELLERS AND AS BLACKSMITHS
' to run,' and produced the Latinised form cursor.1 The
earliest quotation for this in the sense of 'itinerant merchant,'
' mediator,' is from Aquitaine for the year 1199, though there is
a still earlier one, for the year 1067, as an adjective, cursorius.
A lengthened cursator is twice cited in Du Cange, and cursor
publicus was a kind of auctioneer in Aragon.2.
Strangely, the English derivatives of this group represent
more closely the forms which we have just found in the south of
France and Spain, due, possibly, to that old commercial inter-
course which has given a number of Provencal terms to the
English language. The English Dialect Dictionary records scorse,
scoarce, scorse, scoace, scoast, scoce, scoose, scose, scousse, scuoce,
scwoce, ' to barter.' The initial s may have been transferred from
the 8 of horse, as the commonest compound is horse-courser,
horse-scour cer, and need not be from the Italian scozzone. The
Dialect Dictionary also has coss, and, in Jamieson's Scottish
Dictionary, coss, cose, coiss have the same meaning. Cotgrave
gives barater ' to scourse,' ' to barter,' and Farmer and Henley 3
have horse-coser, -courser ' horse-dealer.' The earliest quotations
in Wiilcker 4 are for the fifteenth century, mango a cursure, and
hie mango a cosyr. But the Oxford English Dictionary records
fourteenth century corse, course, ' to exchange,' ' to barter ' ; corser,
' a jobber,' ' a horse-dealer' ; corserie, ' brokery,' 'jobbery,' ' barter.'
To this group unquestionably belongs Harman's 5 cursetors, ' vaga-
bonds.' Similarly the vagabond expression cozen, ' to cheat,' and
its derivatives cozener, cozenage, belong here. The oldest forms
1 For this aud the following words see Du Gauge. The transition from itinerant
merchant to vagabond is so natural a one, especially when the first is already
popularly connected with currere, that it becomes difficult to ascertain where one
ends and the other begins. Cursorius is also recorded in the sense of ' depredator,'
and from this it is not far to 'pirate,' 'corsair.' It is not impossible that corsair
should be included in this group. This is made probable not only by such forms
as Catalan cossari 'corsair,' Servian gu&ar, 'hussar' (see hussar in the Oxford
English Dictionary), but also by cusor (in Du Cange) given in a Graeco-Latin
gloss, as ' a thief of gold or other stuff.'
- So too, the Spanish corredor seems to have been more of an auctioneer than
a broker, to judge from the Siete Partidas, where there is also an attempt at
etymologising which is on a par with that of modern philologists : ' Corredores
son llamados aquellos que andan en las almonedas, e venden las cosas, pregonando,
quauto es lo que dan por ellas. E porque andan corriendo de la una parte a la
otra, mostrando las cosas que venden, por esso son llamados corredores ' (Ley
xxxiii. tit. ixvi. part 2).
3 Slang and its Analogues, vol. iii., London, 1893, sub horse-capper.
4 Anglo-Saxon and Old English Vocabularies, cols. 594 and 650.
5 A Oaueat of Warming for commen cursetors vulgarely called Vagabondts,
1567.
GYPSIES AS FORTUNE-TELLERS AND AS BLACKSMITHS 257
coosen, cossen, cussen, coson, couson, etc., at once relate it to
French cosson, and make it probable that, instead of assuming a
southern origin for scourse and its group, we have here an inde-
pendent development from an original French source, rather
than two separate sources of borrowing.1
Popular etymology did not stop at connecting the itinerant
merchant with currere, ' to run,' but went on to corrupt the word
j so as to bring it in line with curator,2 ' imposer of taxes and duties,'
j curatura,s ' a tax on eatables ' in some Italian cities. The con-
fusion was, however, only local, that is, only where curatura
preceded in the sense of a tax. Elsewhere in Italy and in France
the popular derivations from currere and curare overlapped and
produced a number of intermediate forms, in which the relation
to either root is frequently lost sight of. Du Cange gives for
, ' proxeneta, negotiator, broker,' the words courratarius (ann. 1243),
corraterius (1278), corratarius (1297), curritor (1333), curaterius
(1355), corretarius (1423), correctarius (1454). That this negoti-
ator chiefly attended to horse-dealing is obvious from a thirteenth-
century quotation which mentions a corratarius equorum,4 and
from a Provencal gloss corratier,5 ' mango equorum proprie, quod
equos manu agat.' A courratier de chevaux* is mentioned in
Paris in 1313. Corratagium? 'the emoluments of a broker,' is
found as early as 1114. In France a large variety of forms is
recorded from the thirteenth century on. In Godefroy we find
for the occupation of the broker, correterie, coureterie, courreterie,
cortrie, corraterie, couratrie, courratarie, coureterie, and the by
1 Since writing the above I have found a considerable number of cossouns in
England at the end of the thirteenth and the beginning of the fourteenth centuries.
In R. R. Sharpe's Calendar of Letter-books Preserved among the Archives of the City of
London, London, 1899— Book A, p. 31, we find a Robert le Marescal, cossun, and a
note : ' Robert de Kent, who is described in Letter-Book B (fo. 22 b) as " cosson "
is styled in Husting Roll 70 (140) "mercator equorum " ; and we find Robert le
Marescal himself owing money for a horse (fo. IS) ; ' p. 33, Roger Crok, cossun ;
p. 146, Hugh Pope, cossun ; in Book B we find William Priour (p. 5), John de
Kent (p. 17), John de Boseworth (p. 31), Robert le Sauser (p. 32) bound to
Gilbert Marescal, who in A (p. 51) is given as a horse-dealer, Robert, son of John
of Kent (pp. 35 and 255), John ' in the Lane,' cossour (p. 254) ; in Book D, p. 61,
Robert le Ryder, cossour.
2 Du Cange, sub curator.
3 Korting (Lateinisch-Bomanisches Wbrterbuch, 3. Ausg., Padeborn, 1907) accepts
Homing's etymology from currere for French courtier, etc., but assumes an approach
to Latin curare, 'to take care.'
4 Du Cange, sub corratarius. Ibid.
6 Livre de. la Taille de Paris en 1313, p. 81, mentioned in E. de Chambure's
Glossaire du Morvan (Paris, autun 1878), sub courandii.
7 Du Cange.
VOL. III. — NO. IV. R
258 GYPSIES AS FORTUNE-TELLERS AND AS BLACKSMITHS
no means rare coulterie.1 In modern French courtier still means
' broker,' but the dialectic forms prove more interesting in that
they have better preserved the original significance of itinerant
peddler. In the centre of France 2 we have couratier, ' a huckster,'
' factor,' ' vagabond ' ; courateux, ' an itinerant charlatan ' ; courater,
' to loaf,' and similar meanings prevail elsewhere.3 In Spain the
broker is called corrector, in Portugal corretor, with a closer
reminiscence of correr, ' to run.'
It thus appears that the various derivations from cocio extend
over nearly all the Romance languages, and that the English
has borrowed its group of words relating to horse-dealing from
one of them. Considering this wide dispersion, one would expect
to lind the same also in German and Dutch, the nearest neigh-
bours to the French. Unfortunately these words have reached
there in such a disguised form that their relationship has hereto-
fore not been suspected by philologists. But the various con-
notations of the derivatives are identical with those in the
Romance languages, and so there can be no doubt as to the
correctness of my assumption. We have 4 German tauschen, ' to
exchange,' Middle High German tuschen, Low German tusken,
tuschen, Dutch tuischen, Middle Dutch tuyschen, M.H.G. tuschen,
tiuschen, teuscJien, ' to joke one,' ' to deceive,' G. tauschen, ' to
deceive,' M.L.G. tuschen, tuschen, 'to jest,' 'deceive,' 'cheat,'
D. tuischen, ' play at dice,' M.D. tuyschen, ' to gamble,' ' play at
dice,' M. Flemish tuysschen, ' to gamble,' ' deceive,' Flem. tuischen,
tuschen, ' to gamble,' M.H.G. tiuschaere, tiuscher, ' cheat,' 'deceiver,'
D. tuischer, M.D. tuyscher, ' horse - dealer,' M.F. tuysscher,
' o-ambler,' pcert-tuysscher, ' horse-dealer,' M.L.G. tuscher, tuscher,
' cheat,' ' rogue.' Lexer 5 has observed that all these words are of
1 Additional old forms in France may be found in Archives de Bordeaux, vol. i.
{Bordeaux, 1867), p. 542, corratey, vol. iv. , offici de corrataria, p. 351, correter ;
Archives municipahs de Bayonne, Livre des fitablisstments, Bayonne, 1892, p. 319,
corretor, pp. 68 and 331, corrateirie, corrotcirie, etc.; Histoire de la ville d'Allais
(Nimcs, 1896), p. 76, corratarie ; Paul Laurent, Statuts et coutumes de Vechevinage
de Mezieres (Paris, 1889), p. 66, coulletage, p. 172, coultier ; Marcel Planiot, La tres
ancienne coutume de Breiagne (Rennes, 1896), p. 384, courrataille.
2 Jaubert, Glossaire du Centre de la France (Paris, 1864).
3 In Chainbure's Glossaire du Morvan is given : courandU, -ere coureur,
vagabond, vaurien ; Geneve, wallon, couratier avec le meme sens que courandii en
Morvan ; Berry, courandiere coureuse ; Normandie, courandier flaneur ; Maine,
couratier revendeur, courassier coureur. M. A. Eveille, Glossaire Saintongeais,
Paris (Bordeaux, 1887), has couratier coureur, vagabond, entremetteur.
4 In the enumeration I follow chiefly J. ten Doorkatt Koolman, Wbrterhuch der
cstfriesischen Sprache, 3. Band (Norden, 1884).
5 J. and W. Grimm, Deutsches Wbrterhuch, 11. Band (Leipzig, 1890), sub
tauschen, tauschen.
GYPSIES AS FORTUNE-TELLERS AND AS BLACKSMITHS 259
; comparatively late formation, not beyond the fourteenth or fifteenth
i century, and that they proceed from a Low German tusken. We
have had a Provencal cusso, cusco, ' horse-dealer,' etc., and as some
I such form has given English coss, cosyr, etc., so it has produced
German tusken, tusclier, etc. The very substitution of t for c, of
which there are several similar cases, stamps the group as a
borrowed one. The noun has above all else the meaning ' horse-
i dealer,' then, as we learn from the verbal forms, ' trader,' ' barterer,'
i then ' cheat,' absolutely the same as in the Romance group of
words.
It thus appears that the fundamental meaning of cocio at the
beginning of its distribution over the Romance and Germanic
I fields, approximately in Carolingian times, was that of an
I itinerant horse-dealer of ill repute. This is made certain by a
I reference to cocio in a letter by Archbishop Hincmar to Charles
the Bald : x ' in ipsas villas, in quibus non solum homines cabal-
larii, sed etiam ipsi cocciones rapinas faciunt ' (in the villages
where not only the horsemen but even the very cocciones commit
I ravages). Here the cocciones are represented as in some way
connected with horses and as a contemptible lot of people who,
I like the hostile horsemen, commit ravages.
The vicissitudes of the other word, mango, have been some-
what different. In Latin 2 it meant ' a dealer, monger in slaves
1 or wares, to which he tries to give an appearance of greater value
! by dressing them out and furbishing them up ' ; but a passage in
; Suetonius3 seems to indicate that it also meant ' a horse-dealer.'
! It is generally derived from or related to Greek4 /xayyoveveiv, 'to
I enchant,' ' deceive,' ' falsify.' The mediaeval Graeco-Latin glosses 5
i translate mango by a-w/jLare/x'Tropo';, /xeraftoXos ijroi per airparks
i avhpcnrohwv ' slave-dealer,' iinrofioaKos, horse-herder,' while a
; Latin gloss reads mango, 'negotiator,' 'trader.' These chiefly
\ reflect the classical acceptations and tell us little of its later
i significance. In England we have already seen mango translated
by ' cursure ' and ' cosyr,' while another fifteenth- century 6 gloss
I makes it equal to ' horse-mownger,' that is, in every case it is
I understood to mean ' horse-dealer.' In Du Cange we have one
1 Recueil des hixloritns des Gaules et de la France, tome septieme, p. 523.
2 E. A. Andrews, A Copious and Critical Latin-English Lexicon (London, 1870).
3 Forcellini, sub mango.
4 Alois Vanicek, Griechisch-lateinisches etymologisches Wbrterhuch, 2. Band
1 (Leipzig, 1877), p. 685.
6 Goetz, sub mango. 6 Wulcker, col. 650.
260 GYPSIES AS FORTUNE-TELLERS AND AS BLACKSMITHS
quotation each with the meanings ' simoniacus,' ' praedo,' ' fallax,'
which simply give the derogatory sense ; one each with the
meanings 'famulus,' ' discipulus,' which refer to a later period
about the fifteenth century, and, therefore, are unreliable as to
their earlier acceptations ; and one each for ' carnifex,' ' equiso '
(jockey), ' mercator equorum,' ' intermediator,' or almost identical
with cocio. We also find in Du Cange a number of derivatives
from mango — manganus, ' seductor,' ' a cheat,' mangonarius (from
a charter of the year 1155), ' huckster.'
The Germanic people borrowed the word from the Latin at an
early time. In Anglo-Saxon mangian had the respectable signi-
ficance of ' to trade,' ' to traffic,' and mangere was ' a merchant,'
' trader,' ' dealer.' The Oxford English Dictionary records Engl.
monger, as one who carries on a petty or disreputable traffic, only
from the sixteenth century ; but earlier quotations in compounds,
asheymonger (ann. 1297), mongers of fish (c. 1400), and still earlier
ones from the end of the tenth century, as fishmonger and cheese-
monger,1 show that the monger had in England always been a
dealer in food stuffs or provender, that is, in petty things, and the
before-mentioned horse-mownger indicates its use for a disreput-
able trade. One would not expect to find compounds like house-
monger, gold-monger, and one never does. Similarly Old Norse 2
knew mangari in the sense of trafficker of food stuffs, as in sldtr-
mangari, kjot-mangarl, ' butcher '; and the use of the verb manga
with the vile acceptation of ' higgle,' ' chaffer,' ' barter,' keeps the
meaning close to Latin mango. Old High German 3 mangare,
mengari, Old Hessian menge, ' petty trader,' German manger,
' peddler,' ' petty trader,' menge, ' itinerant trader,' ' peddler,'
menger, ' dealer,' testify to the universal use of the word in mean-
ings closely resembling the Latin.
In the Netherlands the fate of Latin mango has been a
peculiar one. As in High German, manger means ' a trader,' and
1 Aethelred, 978-1016: 'Qui ad pontem venisset cum uno bato, [ubi] piscis
inesset, ipse mango 1 obolum dabat in teloneum . . . smere mangestre, que man-
gonant in caseo et butiro.' In Hansisches Urkundenbuch, Halle, 1876, vol. i. p. 2.
2 Vigfusson, in his Icelandic- English Dictionarg, says : ' As manga is used in
Kormak, and even in a derived sense, it need not be borrowed from A.S., but may
be a genuine Norse word formed from margr (many) at a time when the n had not
as yet changed into r.' Similarly Skeat, in An Etymological Dictionary, derives it
from the same root as 'many,' and says : ' The relationship to the Lat. mango, a
dealer in slaves, is not clear, but the E. word does not seem to be borrowed from
it.' This desire to fall back on Germanic roots has only too often obscured the
early historical relations of Northern Europe to Rome and Greece.
3 J. and W. Grimm, sub manger, menger, menge.
GYPSIES AS FORTUNE-TELLERS AND AS BLACKSMITHS 261
the various compounds recorded for it in Dutch and Low German
again point to a trader in petty things. Kilian x records an old
magger, 'commutator mercium,' as identical with mangher, our
1 monger,' but the modern etymologists 2 wrongly separate this from
our group and relate it to makelare, ' broker,' which, as we shall
soon see, is any way the same as manger. When, in the twelfth
or thirteenth century, the Netherlands and the Hanseatic towns
expanded their commercial relations and evolved the occupation
of the broker, the factor, they unquestionably followed the pre-
cedent set them in this direction by the commercial centres of
the Mediterranean. Here the Italian corretario, or a similar form,
came out victorious over other words denoting the broker, such as
messeta, marosser, sensale, proseneta, cozzone,3 as is evidenced by
its widespread distribution in the other Latin countries and the
early appearance of courtier in France. That the establishment
of brokerage proceeded from Northern Italy is amply proved by
the history of the word broker. It is first mentioned early in the
eleventh century in a chartulary at Monte-Casino 4 as abbocatore,
where it has the meaning of ' intermediary.' This Italian word is
popularly derived from the verb abbocarsi, which, among other
meanings, has that of ' parley together,' ' come to an agreement,'
and which gives the noun abbocamento, ' parley,' ' agreement.' 5
Abbocatore may in Italy never have acquired the definite meaning
of ' broker,' but it appears in the fourteenth century as abocador,
abrocador, abrochador, as equivalent to corratey, ' broker,' in Bor-
deaux.6 It soon succumbed to the more popular corratey, and
1 Kilianus Auctus, Amstelodami, 1642.
2 E. Verwijs en J. Verdam, Middelmderlan.dsch Woordenboek, Vierde deel,
's-Gravenhage, 1S99, sub makelare.
3 Lattes, I.e.
4 D. Luigi Tosti, Storia della badia di Monte Cassino, Roma, 1S88, vol. i.
(doc. xxix.), p. 411 : 'ego enim erga mecum abendo Supponem Judicem de castra
Petra mellaria abbocatorem supradicti monasteri. . . .' ; p. 412 : ' tamen ille erga
secum abebad dictum abbocadorem pro parte supradicti monasterij.' Both forms
are frequently repeated.
5 This is, however, only a popular etymology, as abbocatore is identical with
advocator, advocatus(see both in Du Cange), in meaning ; in fact, we have a definite
statement to this effect in a Neapolitan source (I)u Cange, sub abocator) : ' Qui (tutor)
sic dictus, alias datus, secundum vulgarem usum loquendi Neapolis, dicitur
Abocator.' The earliest reference to advocator, 'a representative of a monaster}','
something like the abl>ocatore, in France is for the year 1053, in M. Gui'rard's
Cdrlulaire de Vabbaye de Saint Victor de Marseille, vol. i. p. 320.
6 Archives municipales de Bordeaux (Bordeaux, 1867), tome i. p. 542 : ' So es
la forme deu sagramentque deben far, cascun an, los corrateys, autrementz apperatz :
abrocadors de la bille et ciutat de Bonleu.' This, 'otherwise called the abrocador*
of the town and city of Bordeaux,' indicates that both terms are identical, and that,
at the same time, the latter term may have evolved from an older meaning, ' the
262 GYPSIES AS FORTUNE-TELLERS AND AS BLACKSMITHS
finally disappeared completely there. But it fared better in the
north, where for a long time it maintained itself by the side of the
more popular French courtier and Dutch makelare, so that it is
not always possible to determine whether a peculiar kind of broker
was meant, as has been assumed by some, or whether there
existed no material difference. In the thirteenth century we find
abrokeur, abrokieres, brokieres frequently in the statutes of St.
Omer,1 and in a statute of the year 1253, of Dieppe,2 the office of
the abrocatores is clearly described as that of brokers. From these
cities in the north of France the word broker found its way to
England.3 Cocio and its derivatives had not taken deep root in
the Netherlands, and tuischer, 'horse-dealer,' seems to have
entered the country at a late period. So, when the necessity
arose for creating words for the well-defined occupation of the
broker, manger suggested itself as the nearest equivalent. A
further proof of Italian influence on the Dutch may be found in the
derivatives from this stem, makade, makage, makelaerdie, mekeldie*
intermediaries, etc.,' just as is the case with the Italian abbocatore. In Tome v.
p. 300, we find the various writings abocadors, abrocadors, and on p. 318
abroc/iadors.
1 A. Giry, Histoire de la ville Saint-Omer et de ses institutions jusqu'au
XIVe siecle, Paris, 1877, p. 502, and often afterwards. Abrokeur is the accusative
of abrokieres, and it is this that has passed over to England. In the Oxford English
Dictionary there is a long, learned, and absurd derivation of the word from a broc,
1 at the tap,' as though the broker had evolved from an original tapster. In the first
place, the Registre aux bans municipaux of Saint-Omer just mentioned, which is of
the thirteenth century, speaks of brokers of wheat, as well as of wine, and wheat
was not sold at the tap. Then again, the same document mentions a dozen times
the selling of wine a broke, 'at retail,' not a single time connecting it with the
business of the broker. The only reason the broker in St. Omer is connected with
the commerce in wine is that it was the chief staple for this port. Cf. the Calendar
of Letter-Books, A. p. 207, D. pp. 9 and 219, where the oath administered to the
brokers will show at a glance how impossible the etymology of the Oxford English
Dictionary is.
2 Th. Bonnin, Regestrum visitationum archiepiscopi Rothomagensis, Rouen, 1847,
p. 787.
* The earliest quotation in the Oxford English Dictionary is from the year 1377,
whereas it may already be found in the Statutes of the City of London for the year
1285 (The Statutes of the Realm, i. p. 103), where it speaks of the riff-raff of the
foreign population turning brokers (abrocours), hostlers, and inn-keepers ; and in the
year 1370 the Commons complained of the Lombard brokers (brokours) and wished
them banished (ii. p. 332). The form abrokcator is found in 1287 and abroketor in
1291 {The Publications of the Sheldon Society, vol. xxiii., 1908, pp. 25, 40, 54). It is
not necessary to assume that the word reached England through the north of
France. Gascony was then an English possession, and the relations with Bor-
deaux were of the closest.
* Vervvijs en Verdam, sub makelaerdie : ' Een door analogie gevormden uitgang
-dij vindt men'ook in proostdij en kanunnikdij naast abdij ; voor makelaardij kan het
voorbeeld geweest zijn koopvardij,' under makade, maeckade, makage, maeckage :
'a an het Fra. ontleenden uitgang ade, maskerade, bravade, canonnade.' This
GYPSIES AS FORTUNE-TELLERS AND AS BLACKSMITHS 263
which in Middle Dutch denotes the office of the broker,
brokerage, broker's commission; and the puzzling endings of
which clearly point to their Italian prototype curtadia, curtada,
French courtage.1 It still remains to show that the root mat-
in all these is identical with the stem in manger. In one of the
Hanseatic documents2 for the year 1477, manghelaer is obviously
used in the sense of broker — ' de coopers, vercoopers, manghelaers
ende andere.' The editor of the document translates this word as
'small trader,' but that makes no sense here. 'Buyers, sellers,
and small traders' is anomalous, whereas 'buyers, sellers, and
brokers ' is naturally what one would expect, as a third party to a
buyer and seller cannot again be a seller, but the intermediary
between the two. Besides, the Middle Dutch Dictionary does not
even record the word manghelaer? which confirms the assumption
that it is but a variation of makelaer, ' broker,' and that, therefore,
makelen, ' to act as a broker,' is the same as mangelen, ' to trade,'
' barter,' and the derivation from maken, ' to make {i.e. a con-
tract),' is but a bit of popular etymology. This is again proved by
the rare form madder for makler in German dialects, which
should have been the universal one if the derivation from Dutch
maken, German machen, had been obvious from the start.
In the north of France makelare 4 was adopted from Flanders,
but it early became corrupted into maquerau, with a derogatory
sense, maquerelerie being recorded in the sense of keeping a house
of ill-repute. In Godefroy are quoted two glosses from the same
manuscript, lenocinium ' macquelerie,' lenocinior ' vivre de macque-
lerie,' which he, under the impression that they are not right,
corrects to macquerelerie, whereas the form as given in the
explanation of the endings is too forced. There is no valid reason why, if all these
words are, as the authors assume, of Germanic origin, the endings in each case
should be so queer.
1 See A. Schaube, Handelsgeschichte der romanischen Vblker des Mittelmeerge-
biets bis zum Ende der Kreuzziige, Miinchen und Berlin, 1906, in Index, sub cura-
tura. There is also an Italian rorretaggio.
2 Hansisches Urkundenbwh, X. Band (Leipzig, 1907), p. 375.
3 But in Hexam's A Copious Englisg [sic !] and N ether duyt&ch Dictionaries ,
Rotterdam, 1660, we find mangtlaer, 'an exchanger,' 'a trucker,' ' a swopper,' or
nearly in the sense of ' broker.'
4 A. Giry, I.e. The Registre aux bans municipaux seems to.be a compilation
from various sources and at various times, and thus the indiscriminate use of
abrokieres, makelare, and couretier in this document can be easily explained. I can
discover no material difference between these words as here used, and I assume
that the natural relations of Saint-Omer witli Flanders (see Giry, p. 311) since the
beginning of the twelfth century has led to the adoption of makelare, while its traffic
with the Mediterranean (p. 325) led to the adoption of abrokieres and courttier.
204 GYPSIES AS FORTUNE-TELLERS AND AS BLACKSMITHS
glossary and twice repeated puts it beyond doubt that it is
identical with Dutch makelaarie, ' the occupation of a broker, go-
between.' l Far more common in France is maquignon, ' broker '
(in a bad sense), generally ' horse-dealer,' which is apparently a
popular transformation of the Dutch word. There is, however, an
older word which points to a similar form, and which, if it be
necessary to posit a Vulgar Latin antecedent, comes from
ma[n]g[o}narius or ma\n^g\p\nanu8, as a derivative from mango,
and has preserved an extraordinary and highly interesting mean-
ing for our purpose. Under magninus, which, however, is not
proved by any quotation, Du Cange gives two French passages
where maignen is made the equal oichaudronnier, ' tinker ' : ' deux
Chauderonniers ou Maignens passans par le pays,' and ' Perrin
Lienart apporta au suppliant Maignen ou chauderonnier deux
poilliers.' Godefroy records the forms maignan, maagnan,
maignen, meignan, maignin, magnien, mengnien, mengnein,
mengnen, mengnem, mesgnen, for an itinerant tinker from the
thirteenth century on, and a large number of dialectic forms2 are
recorded with the same or similar meanings. That this group of
words is identical with Latin mango is proved by two facts : it
occurs in German vagabond slang 3 as meng, ' tinker,' and it is
recorded as mango in an eleventh-century gloss.4 Here we find :
'galiodromi, i.e. mangones discurrentes et fraude decipientes,'
vagabond mangones who deceive people, exactly as in Charle-
magne's capitulary, but galiodromi cannot be explained in any
other way than a corruption of French calderonnier, or Low Latin
calderarii, tinkers.5
1 Cf. Hexam, makelerye, 'bauderie, or match-making ' ; makelaerster , 'baud.'
2 Godefroy records : ' Dans le canton de Mesvres, on appelle maignins les ouvriers
de passage qui viennent au printemps raccommoder les souliers, les parapluies, la
faience . . . Neuchatel, magnin drouineur, chaudronnier ambulant . . . Nous disons
aussi dune personne sale ou au teint fonce : " Elle est noire comme un magnin." . . .
Neuchat. , Jura et Suisse rom., Vaud, magnin hongreur, Bas-Valais, Yiormaz magnen.'
In J. Corblet's Glossaire ilymologique, et comparatif du -patois picard, Paris, 1857, we
find : magniake, magnien, Lorrain magniake, Jurassien magnia, Normand magnan,
all with the meaning ' tinker.'
3 Grimm, sub menge: ' Es gehort auch der bettler- und gaunersprache an:
meng, mit der erklarung heszler, P. Gengenbach 369 als rotwelsch.'
4 Goetz, sub galiodromi.
5 Should it turn out that galiodromi is a corruption of Gr. Kwp.68pop.oi, of whom
Groome speaks in his Gypsy Folk-Tales, pp. xxiv-xxvi, we should still have a
reference to Gypsies, for some at least of these, as given by Du Cange, were
Gypsies. It is interesting to note that Constantinus Porphyrogenitus (vol. iii.,
Bonnae, 1840, p. 225) mentions among the various regiments transferred from one
place to another by Leo (ninth century) the ' vicarage of the Komodromos' : ' Kal
dwb tov 0(/j.cltos tCjv 'Ap/xePiaKw eh to tov Xapatavov 6epa p.eTeTe'drjaai' ravra to. fiavSa,
jfroi i] rod Kojxodpi/xov ToiroTvpvo-ia.'
GYPSIES AS FORTUNE-TELLERS AND AS BLACKSMITHS 265
Thus, summarising the evidence presented to us by the various
meanings of mango for the period nearest to the time of Charle-
magne, we are forced to assume that the mango was an itinerant
trader, frequently a horse-dealer,1 but more particularly a tinker
in the region of the Rhine, that is in France and Germany, where
the word has persisted for nearly ten centuries with that signific-
ance. We cannot, therefore, be far from the truth when we assume
that Charlemagne's prohibition was directed against a class of
vagrant people whose chief occupations were tinkering and horse-
trading, and who had a reputation for deceiving. This corroborates
the statements in the German Bible paraphrase 2 of the eleventh
century. There we were told that the tinkers, Kaltschmiede, roved
through the country, cheating people ; here the same is told of the
mangones, for whom we have the often repeated alternative,
' chaudronnier, calderarii (gallodromi).' This tends to strengthen
our supposition that the Kalt of Kaltschmiede is identical with
Italian caldaia, French chaudron, Engl, cauldron, and that the
Gypsies are meant. There is a still closer coincidence between
the Bible paraphrase and the law of Charlemagne, one that may
lead to some unexpected discoveries as to the origin of trade in
Central Europe during the early Middle Ages. We are told in the
paraphrase that the Kaltschmiede were never satisfied with the
price paid them in any transaction, and that they always asked
for something in addition, and the secondary meanings of both
mango and cocio indicate that these people were interested in
trading and higgling. The whole philological history of brokerage
has shown that it stood in direct relation to horse-dealing and
petty trading. In fact, two of the earliest statutes of cities in
Italy, at a time when brokerage had not yet evolved full-fledged
as an important part of commerce, pile together horse- shoers,
horse-traders, and mediators in business transactions.3 While
1 This is assured by a contemporary gloss, mango ' comitator (r.o doubt a mistake
for "commutator") equorum,' in A late Eighth Century Latin - Anglo - Saxon
Glossary, edited by J. H. Hessels (Cambridge, 1906), p. 4.
2 J. G. L. S., New Series, vol. iii. No. 1, pp. 13 and 14.
3 In Uu Cange, under messetus, ' Item quod omnes marescalchi, maroserii sive
Messeti dictte Riperi;e teneantur denuntiare seu manifestare dicto emptori omnes
et singulas bestias, quas scient esse venditas per aliquam personam in com muni tat e
prnedicta.' Statuti del Comune di Padova dal secolo xii. alV anno 1285, Pad ova,
1873, p. 283 : ' De ferratoribus equorum barufaldis et messetis : Statutum vetus
conditum ante millesimum ducentesimum trigesimum sextum. Nullus ferrator
equorum padue et paduani districtus debeat accipere ferratura ultra modum
inferius scriptum. . . . Qui equos vendi faciunt seu mediatores equorum habeant
tres denarios pro qualibet libra de precio equi venditi. . . . Missetus aliquis non
266 GYPSIES AS FORTUNE-TELLERS AND AS BLACKSMITHS
separate laws are passed for every class of trade, these three are
conceived as so nearly allied that they may be treated as one.
A fortunate circumstance enables me to trace the brokers of Italy
back to their original source. We have found the term messeta
for broker. It had been suggested that this was derived from
Gr. yu-eo-ir???, ' intermediary,' which, however, was not recorded in the
sense of intermediary in business, but only between men and God,
i.e. Christ. But fxeacrevco, in the sense of ' to act as a broker,' occurs
in an exceedingly interesting document on the trade of Constan-
tinople at the end of the ninth century, lately discovered and
published.1 There was then but one kind of a broker, the horse-
trader. He is named ftodpos, ' a sink,' and the preamble of the
chapter dealing with him - tells us that he is so called because he
does away with that which is, that is, he had as bad a reputation
then as he has now. A number of bothroi, each one marked by a
special number, had to attend to the sale of horses not disposed of
in the regular way. Knowing all about horses, they had to testify
to their real condition, and were fined for being caught at cheating.
Of course, the name is but a popular etymology of a word ill
understood by the Byzantines. It is Arab^lku, baitar, 'farrier,
blacksmith,' which is found in all the languages affected by Arabic,
and occurs in Old Spanish as albeitar, 'veterinary surgeon.' The
identity with Gr. fiodpos, is found in a quotation in Lane's Arabic
Dictionary, j^jW h\j ^e J^i>\, ' more commonly known than the
sign of the farrier,' where we have a reference to the number
worn by each bothros. Arab^ko is by Dozy supposed to be
derived from Gr. iir-irlaTpos, ' horse-doctor.' If so, the Byzantines
have borrowed the new term from the Arabs, who in all likelihood
were the first to employ Gypsies as intermediaries in the horse
trade. The discussion of this aspect of brokerage I must reserve
for some future time.3
debeat accipere ab aliqua persona, que mutuum accipiat. vel ab aliquo pro ea. a
decern libris inferius aliquid.'
1 Jules Nicole, ' Le livre du prefet ou l'edit de l'empereur Leon le Sage sur les
corporations de Constantinople,' in Memoires de VInstitut National Genevois.
Geneve, 1893-1900.
Ibid., pp. 57-60: ' ical p.ovu> toj deo^ari OLa<xr]fj,aiv€Tai. t/ tCiv (36dpuv tiridTrjixr),
IxeTavKeva^ovai yap to evdexo/xevov irpos to /jltj ov.'
3 I gave as the origin of broker the Low Latin advocator. Now, in the light of
later discoveries of mine, this, too, turns out to be a popular etymology. The
ultimate origin of the word is this very fibdpos here discussed. Stranger still,
English butcher is, etymologically the same word. Of this I shall treat in a special
monograph.
GYPSIES AS FORTUNE-TELLERS AND AS BLACKSMITHS 267
It now remains for us to prove that the mangones and cociones
of Charlemagne were identical with our Gypsies. There is some-
thing wrong in the wording of Charlemagne's prohibition. As it
stands, three different classes of people are mentioned, mangones,
cociones, and nudi cum ferro, of whom the first two are classed
together as mere vagrants and cheats, and the last are mentioned
as vagrant pilgrims. It is not clear why they should be classed
together in one statement. The confusion is still further
increased by a recapitulation x of the law in another place, where
it says that the mangones and cociones and naked people, who go
with iron, should not be permitted to wander about and deceive
people : ' Ut mangones et cociones et nudi homines qui cum ferro
vadunt non sinantur vagari et deceptiones hominibus agere.'
Here the nudi homines are no better than the mangones and the
cociones, for they, too, are cheats. Then again, in the collection
of laws 2 by Benedictus Levita, made by him in 845, this law is
given as follows : — ' Item ut isti mangones et isti cociones, qui sine
omni lege vagabundi vadunt per istam terram, non sinantur
vagare et deceptiones hominibus agere ; qui nudi cum ferro dicunt
alicubi datam sibi poenitentiam vagantes discurrunt. Melius
enim videtur,' etc. Qui nudi is here explanatory to mangones et
cociones, and we have only two kinds of vagrants classed together.
The sentence is ungrammatical, and, in the light of Charlemagne's
law, should read, ' qui nudi cum ferro dicunt se alicubi sibi data
poenitentia vagantes discurrere,' ' and these naked ones with iron
say that having somewhere made the vow of penance they are
running about as vagabonds.'
That the mangones, cociones, and nudi homines are all one is
proved by the epitomised words, Be vagis peregrinis? ' about the
vagrant pilgrims,' which are found in some of Charlemagne's
instructions, where one would otherwise expect to find the same
prohibition. An interesting addition to these epitomised words is
found in two manuscripts,4 where it says, ' qui propter Deum non
vadunt,' so that one may be sure that no real pilgrims were meant.
This addition is not a haphazard one, but is justified by Charle-
magne's laws, which expressly enjoin the people not to refuse
1 In Cajritulare missorum item speciale of, perhaps, the year 802, in Mon. Ger.
His., I.e., p. 104.
2 Canciani, I.e. , p. 299.
3 In Capitularc missorum aquisgranense primum, of the year 809, in Mon. Ger.
His., I.e., p. 150, and in Capitulare missorum aquisgranense alterum, of 809,
p. 152. 4 Ibid., p. 150.
268 GYPSIES AS FORTUNE-TELLERS AND AS BLACKSMITHS
hospitality to strangers and pilgrims.1 One-third of the income
of churches was to be used for their entertainment,2 and foreigners
and strangers doing pilgrimages to Rome or to any holy places
were under special protection.3 Still more numerous were the
laws for the protection of the poor.4 Nor did Charlemagne
direct this law against traders in general, for they were specifically
dealt with,5 be they Christians or Jews, and they were free to
travel even among the distant Slavs, Avars, and Saxons, so long as
they did not sell armour and weapons.
' Qui sine omni lege vagabundi vadunt per istam terram' does
not refer to any people of civil society, for there are numerous
provisions made for all kinds of natives and foreigners. They all
come under some law, Salic, Roman, Norman, or whatever other
law was recognised by the Franks. No member of the state
could be included under the classification ' sine omni lege,' that
is, bound even to his own horde by no specific law. Thus we are
forced to the conclusion that the mangones and cociones were a
foreign people, bound by no law, and that their claim of wander-
ing to holy places was a mere sham. But what are these nudi
cum ferro, these naked men with iron ? We have so far found
that the literal interpretation of all the words, without any
addition from without, has yielded the simplest and best meaning.
This is only natural. Charlemagne, as a writer of laws, did not
have recourse to literary and far-fetched connotations of words,
but to their every-day, common, well-understood meanings. When
Hefele translates ferrum by ' chains,' we at once ask ourselves
whether Charlemagne has anywhere else used this word in its
transferred sense. Wherever this word occurs in his laws,6 it
1 In Capitulare missorum aquisgranense primum, of the year 809, in Mon. Ger.
His., I.e., p. 150, and in Capitulare missorum aquisgranense alterum, of 809,
p. 96: ' Precipimusque ut in omni regno nostro neque divitibus neque pauperi-
bus neque peregrinis nemo hospitium denegare audeat, id est sive peregrinis
propter Deum perambulantibus terram sive cuilibet iteranti propter amorem
Dei et propter salutem animae suae tectum et focum et aquam illi nemo deneget.
Si autem amplius eis aliquid boni facere voluerit, a Deo sibi sciat retributionem
optimam, ut ipse dixit: "Qui autem susceperit nnum parvulum propter me, me
suscepit," et alibi : " Hospes fui et suscepistis me." '
2 Ibid., p. 106 : ' Etad ornamentum aecclesiae primam elegant partem, secundam
autem ad usum pauperum atque peregrinorum per eorum manus misericorditer
cum omni humilitate dispensent, tertiam vero partem semetipsis solis sacerdotes
reservent.
3 Ibid., p. 37: ' De peregrinis qui propter Deum vadunt, ut eis tolloneos non
tollant.'
4 Ibid., vol. ii. p. 676, where under pauper a very large number of references
are given. 6 Ibid., p. 667, sub negotiator. 6 Ibid., p. 631, sub ferrum.
GYPSIES AS FORTUNE-TELLERS AND AS BLACKSMITHS 269
means ' iron ' and nothing else, while for ' chain ' he uses the Latin
catena.1 Mabillon2 tried to explain this penancing with iron by
adducing two or three cases from the seventh century where men,
having committed murder on their relatives, took the vow of
penance by carrying bonds made of the iron with which the
crime had been committed upon their necks and arms until, by
a miracle, they burst open. Even assuming that these cases of
penancing for parricide are typical, they cannot have occurred in
such large numbers as to demand special and oft-repeated legisla-
tion. Besides, if this penance was sincere, why should those who
did penance wander about and deceive people ? Again, Charle-
magne strictly forbade criminals of any kind to enter his realm,3
and no law was more strictly enforced, whereas beggars and
mendicants4 were not permitted to wander about, but had to
be taken care of by the communes to which they belonged.
There is nowhere any mention of 'naked men' doing penance
with iron, and Canciani 5 uses this passage as a proof of such a
practice, just as Mabillon and others have adduced other cases of
penancing with iron in order to prove this passage. Thus the
argument loses all validity, and we are obliged to fall back upon
the literal interpretation, that naked, that is, ill-dressed, people,
carrying about iron or iron wares, were claiming that they were
wandering about for penance' sake. We are fortunate to find a
passage in a contemporary writer, which shows that the cociones
wore insufficient apparel, and that, therefore, the nudi and the
cociones were the same. A monk of St. Gallen, in his account of
Charlemagne,6 tells of an occasion when the emperor, returning
from an expedition against the Slavs, was in danger of being done
away with by a natural son of his, Pippin. This Pippin met a
number of confederates in the Church of St. Peter, and they there
took the oath that they would capture and depose Charlemagne.
Fearing that some uninitiated person might have been a witness
to their conspiracy, they made a thorough search through the
1 In Capitulare missorum aquisgranense primum, of the year 809, in Mon. Ger.
His., I.e., p. 150, and in Capitulare missorum aquisgranense alteram, of 809, sub
catena.
2 D. Joannis Mabillonii Praefationes, Venetiis, 1740, p. 69.
3 Mon. Otr. His., I.e. Tomus 2, 656, sub malefactor, p. 651, sub latro.
4 Ibid., vol. i. p. 132: ' De mendicis qui per patrias discurrunt volumus, ut
unusquisque fidelium nostrorum suum paupcrem de beneficio aut de propria familia
nutriat, et non permittat alicubi ire mendicando ; et ubi tales inventi fuerint, nisi
manibus laborent, nullus eis quicquam tribuere praesumat.'
5 L.c., p. 209.
6 Mon. Ger. His., Scriptores, vol. ii. pp. 755-756.
270 GYPSIES AS FORTUNE-TELLERS AND AS BLACKSMITHS
edifice, and they found a priest hidden behind the altar. This
priest, in his fright, swore allegiance to their cause, but consider-
ing their act an impious one, hurried to the emperor's palace, and,
making his way through seven gates, finally arrived at the room
where the emperor was sleeping, and knocked at his door.
Charlemagne sent the women of his wife's entourage to see who
was asking admission at such an unseasonable time. When the
women ascertained that it was a vile-looking individual, they
burst out laughing and tried to hide themselves in the vestibule.
But the sagacious emperor, from whom nothing under the sun
could escape, asked the women what the matter was, and who was
there at the door. They told him that an ill-shaven, stupid-
looking, crazy coctio, dressed in nothing but a shirt and si tort
breeclies, demanded to be admitted at once.1 Obviously the priest
with his scanty garments and dishevelled appearance was taken by
the women for some wild, dirty coctio. The complete coincidence
of the description of these people with those who more than six
centuries later overran Europe is most striking. There is no
alternative left but to recognise in them our Gypsies.
This discovery of Gypsies in the time of Charlemagne opens
up a new line of investigation which should be vigorously attacked.
One of the first tasks should be to determine the origin of the
legend about the penance which the Gypsies were doing, a legend
that must be older than the eighth centur}'. The Gypsies were
even then drawing upon the credulity of Christians, and had
resided in Europe before the promulgation of Charlemagne's law
against them. They Avere apparently then thought to have come
from some parts unknown, for Levita speaks of their vow of
penance having been taken somewhere else (alicuhi). I believe
that even then they were descended from Gypsies living in the
Peloponnesus, and that the claim which the later arrivals in the
fifteenth century put forth as to their origin from Little Egypt
could have been made even in the eighth century, and probably
much earlier. Stephen of Byzantium 2 wrote in the fifth century a
dictionary of names of places and nations, and there, after discuss-
ing Egypt, he said that there was also another, a Little Egypt : eari
Be Kal aWv Alyv7rTo<; yuKpa. There is no reference to the precise
1 Responsumque accipiens, quia cjuidam coctio derasus, insulsus et insaniens,
linea tantum et femoralibus indutus, se absque mora postularet alloqui.
2 There are a number of editions, but I refer the reader to the large annotated
edition of Dindorf, sub MyvvTos (Lipsiae, 1S25, vol. i. p. 29).
GYPSIES AS FORTUNE-TELLERS AND AS BLACKSMITHS 271
locality he had in mind, but in another place, where he speaks of
Elis, he says that it is near Egyptian Olympia. This passage has
been a puzzle to commentators, and the only explanation that has
been given x is that Stephanos connects Elis with Egyptians in
some such way as Pausanias in his eighth book refers to the
presence of Egyptians in Arcadia. If this be true, then Little
Egypt is in all likelihood some locality in the Morea. But there
were also Gypsy settlements in the Epirus. In 1204 the Greek
possessions were divided among the Emperor, the Venetians, and
the Crusaders. To the share of the Venetians fell, amons: other
provinces, the east coast of the Adriatic, from Lacedaemon to
Venice. In the enumeration of the lands2 ceded to them, we
find (vol. i. p. 472) prouintia Dirachii et Arbani, cum charto-
laratis de Glauiniza, de Bagenetia. Arbani is the modern Albania,
and Bagenetia is thus indicated as being in its neighbourhood. A
footnote gives the variants Bagenatia, Vagnetia, and quotes from
Anna Comnena, 5, 4 (ed. Bonn, T. i. p. 236), /carakafifidvet Bia rrj<;
Bayevrjrias rd 'lwdvviva, from Eustathius (op. cit, p. 282,20) e/c irodev
Bayevrias, from Chronicon Moreae (ed. Buchon, v. 7819) rd peprj
Tr/<; BayeverlcK;, rd rjcrav irpb<; rrjs OaXdacrrjs, and several Other
passages, one from Le livre de la conqueste (ed. Buchon, pp. 314,
324), where the form Vagenetie is given. From all this we con-
clude that Vagenetia was the strip of land opposite Corfu. In
the Greek text of the convention, the passage runs as follows
(p. 491): — To Oejxa Avppa^iou ical ' AX/3dvou, crvv rots ^aprovXapd-
roi? rrjs re TXa/3cvir^i]^ koI Bay ever ia<;. The next year the
Podesta of the Venetians in Romania clearly defined the terri-
torial division thus acquired (pp. 569-570) : ' In nomine domini
Dei et saluatoris nostri Jhesu Cristi. Anno domini millesimo
ducentesimo quinto, mense Octobris, indictione nona. Constanti-
nopoli. Cum aliquid a principibus terre communiter ordinatur,
oportet, ut scripture uinculo anodetur, qua possit ordo rei oportuno
tempore manifestius recognosci. Igitur nos Marinus Geno, Vene-
torum in Romania Potestas eiusdemque Imperij quarte partis et
dimidie dominator, cum judicibus et sapientibus conscilij et
populi conlaudacione, decreuimus, in scripturis publicis hoc esse
corroboratum : videlicet quod in diuisione iam dicte nostre quarte
1 There are a number of editions, but I refer the reader to the large annotated
edition of Dindorf, p. 198, subTHAis : "HAis tt6\is irpos rg kiyviiTlq. 'OXvfnriq..
2 Urkunden zur dlteren HandeU- und Staat^je-ichichte der Bejmblik Venedig,
herausgegeben von Dr. G. L. Fr. Tafel und Dr. G. M. Thomas. Wien, 1856.
272 GYPSIES AS FORTUNE-TELLERS AND AS BLACKSMITHS
partis et dimidie eiusdemque Imperij Romanie, que nobis nostro-
que comuni habere contingebat tempore, quo diuidebamus inter
nos Venetos et alios homines, qui uenerant in fidelitate et seruitio
domini Venecie Ducis, iam dictam quartam partem et dimidiam
tocius dicti Imperij — dimisimus comuni Venecie prouinciam
Dirrachij cum chartolarato Glauenizi, et prouinciam Vagenecie,
et Corfu cum tota eius insula. Hec sunt enim sub Dirrachio,
uidelicet Sfinarsa, [cum] chartolarato de Glauenitis, quod charto-
laratum potest esse cum tribus uel quatuor casalibus, et Ablona :
est catepanikium Vagenetie, et habet unum chartola[ra]tum de
Gliki cum alijs duabus uillis et duobus agridijs, idem (id est?)
paruis casalibus. Hec autem omnia suprascripta comuni Venecie
dimisimus, ut superius est denotatum, et uolumus, quod supra-
scriptum comune Venecie plenissimam imperpetuum habeat
potestatem ad faciendum de his suprascriptis omnibus, quicquid
sibi placuerit, et hec confirmatio carte maneat in sua nrmitate.'
What is a chartolaratum ? The editors of the text are not
sure about it. Proceeding from the assumption l that Macedonia,
Thessaly, and the Epirus were well fitted for the raising of horses
(seminaria equina), they assume that the chartolarata were
territories set aside for such a purpose. In another place 2 they
quote a gloss ' quae Constantinopolitani Imperi strategiae erant,'
and again assume that strategiae equorum were meant. It looks
as though they had merely been guessing at the context, but they
guessed well. In Ducange we find xaPTOV^api0s> among other
things, with the meaning of ' attendant upon horses.' The /leya?
XapTovkdpios was an important dignitary in the immediate
service of the Emperor,3 and ^ap-ro^A-apT?? is given as equivalent of
1 Urkunden zur dlteren Handeh- und Staatsgeschichte der Republik Venedig,
herausgegeben von Dr. G. L. Fr. Tafel und Dr. G. M. Thomas. Wien, 1856, p. 267.
2 Ibid., p. 472.
3 ' Me'7as xo-pTov^d-pios, Magnus Chartularius, Dignitas in Aula Constantino-
politana, apud Codinum cap. 2, num. 26, & cap. 4, num. 28, ubi ejus vestes
describit, munus vero cap. 5, num. 6 ; quo loco ait Imperatori peregre profecturo
Protostratorem postquam Imperator equum conscendit, apprehenso frseno equum
ducere usque ad quartam vel quintam palatii partem : postea subeuntem ejus locum
chartularium, fneno pariter ducere usque ad portam : idem porro facere cum
Imperator ex equo desilire paratus est, adducere enim equum usque ad locum ubi
Imperator descendere solet, turn ei succedere Protostratorem : quo absente, ea omnia
pnestare Magnum Chartularium. Ex quibus conficitur ejus munus circa Imperato-
ris equile potissimum versatum, proindeque eum esse que Nicetre in Isaacio lib. 3,
num. 2. xaPT0V^°-PL0S T^v i-Tiro(TTdd/j.wi> dicitur : and de quo Zonaras in Leone
Isauro pag. 83, IlaOXoe rbv twv (3acn\iKwi' 'Lttttwv eirKXTarovvTa (xapTovWdpiov t/
'Pw/j.ala olde tovtov \iyuv <puvr)) UarpiKiov Ttfxr)aas, &c. Ubi Theophanes an. 2,
ejusdem Augusti : 6 di /SacTtXei)! d7ro<7Te\\ei navXov rbv (5iov avrov xaPr°vX&p'-0V> ex
GYPSIES AS FORTUNE-TELLERS AND AS BLACKSMITHS 273
' equiso, groom.' In the long list of geographical names mentioned
in the above quoted documents chartolarata are given but three
times — once on the Adriatic coast, once in Thessaly, once in Mace-
donia. Now, we do know that Gypsies in the thirteenth or four-
teenth century migrated from Vagenetia to Corfu and were there
called Vageniti homines. These apparently came from the
chartularatum de Gliki in Vagenetia, where, if horses were raised
there, they would have naturally been employed. We are fortunate
to be able to show that there were also Gypsies in the chartularatum
de Glauenitis, near Dyrrhachium, the modern Durazzo, on the
Adriatic shore, and that they were known there as Egyptians.
There is a Life of St. Barbaros the Egyptian,1 in Greek and
in Bulgarian. St. Barbaros was an Egyptian of black colour. At
twenty years of age he lost his parents and joined a piratical band,
by which he was chosen leader on account of his bodily strength.
At one time he set out to Durazzo on a piratical expedition. A
storm broke out, and Barbaros, who was a Christian, began to
pray to God, and he vowed that in case of being saved he would
devote his life to the service of the Lord. The ship with all its
men was lost, but St. Barbaros was saved. With the phantastic
episodes in his life we are here not concerned. What is interest-
ing to us is the fact that the Bulgarian author of the Life says
that there were many Egyptians near Durazzo, and that by means
of them St. Barbaros made himself understood to others. In
the Greek version St. Barbaros was called an African, but the
Bulgarian author transferred the scene to Durazzo, where he knew
of the existence of Gypsies who, as Egyptians, were to him real
Africans. This was in the fourteenth century. But we have
evidence that the Gypsies were known as Egyptians as early as
the tenth century.
quibus elicitur Basilium Zizilucem, qui Nicetae in Manuele lib. 1, num. 1, &
lib. 3, num. 1, ejusdem Augusti xaPT0V^Pl0S dicitur banc obijsse & obtinuisse
dignitatem : ut & alterum apud Cinnamum lib. 2, n. 13, & Andronicum Lam-
pardam, lib. 6, num. 7, 6s xaPT0V^°-Pl0S BacrtAet ty. Meminit etiam hujusce digni-
; tatis Georgius Acropolita in Chron. c. 40, 6 HerpaXlcpas 6 p.eyas xaPT0V^d-P<-0s
| 6vo/j.aa/j.evos. Adde c. 45, meminit etiam Metaphrastes in S. Demetrio p.eya\o8o-
, ^ordrov Aovkos Qecraa\ovliii)s /cat xa-PT0V^aPL0V ^P1* Ba<rt\e/ou, sub Manuele Comneno
i Imp. Hinc bodiernis Grrecis, xaPT0V^Prl^> equiso, vel strator dicitur. Romanus
', Nicephorus in Grammatica MS. 6 ediKocrp-as 6 KapTovXdpns e/caKiirecrej' fTovrrjv tt\v vukto.,
i /cat 5td tovto rwpa 'ive tippotrros, noster curator equorum male cubavit hac node, et
I ideo mine est cegrotus.''
1 In tbe account of his life, and in tbe conclusions drawn from it, I follow K.
Radcenko, "Einige Bemerkungen zur neugefundenen Abschrift des Lebens des heil.
jBarbar in bulgarischer Uebersetzung," in Archiv fur slavische Philologie, vol. xxii.
! (1900), pp. 575-594.
VOL. III. — NO. IV. S
274 GYPSIES AS FORTUNE-TELLERS AND AS BLACKSMITHS
Suidas x tells in his Dictionary that Vulcan reigned in Egypt
at a time when the Egyptians could not count by years. He was
considered by them to be a god because he knew the mysteries
and was versed in war. It was he who taught the Egyptians to
live virtuously with their wives. Having by his mysterious
incantations received iron from the air, he taught the people how
to make weapons and agricultural implements from them. This
transference of Vulcan to Egypt is entirely post- classical. Dio-
dorus Siculus (about the beginning of our era) is the first to
mention Vulcan as an Egyptian King 2 who taught the use of the
fire, but it is only in the tenth century that we get the popular
story3 of the prophetic and mechanical gifts of Vulcan in Egypt.
Either the acquaintance with the Gypsies, who were then known
as Egyptians, has led to the attribution of their most prominent
art of ironworking to the ancient Egyptians, or else the legend
had developed independently out of such beginnings as are found
in Diodorus Siculus, and then there was nothing more natural than
to assume that the Gypsies, who were the best known ironworkers
and at the same time given to fortune-telling,4 were the very
1 Sub "H</>cu<7tos : ''Epfiov j3acnXevo~avTos eis Acywrov Kal Gavbvros, 'Hcpaicrros irapa-
Xap.fiavei rr\v ^aanXelav, ijLi.e'pas <fx7r\ d>s ylveadat 'tri) rio-aapa^p.r\vas (;', T)p.ipas ij* ovKrj'deicrav
yap rbre klyvirrioi iviavrovs LierpTJcrai, dXXd rr\v wepLobov rrjs rjfxipas eviavrbv ZXeyov. 7}v fik
uvctikos Kal TroXepuKbs. Sib Kal Oebv avrbv eKaXovv. tiaris iroXffiuiv eirXrfyT) rrp> irbb'a, Kal
ytyove x^^s. 'idnKe 52 Kal vbfiov rots AlyvTrriois o'cocppoavvys' ovk ydeio-av yap /jLovavbpeiv al
tovtwv yvvaiKes. inrb Se fj.variKrjs evxvs TVV bi;vXd(3vv dirb rov dipos ede^aro. SV fjs Kara-
axevao-ev dirb aiSrjpov tiwXa voXe/xiKa Kal yeupyiKa ipyaXeia' irpb yap avrov nerd ponaXuv
Kal XWwv ewoXip.ovv . '
2 Lib. 1. cap. xiii. 3 : '"Evtot 5£ rCiv iepiuv (jyaal wpCirov '"H.<paio-rov f3ao-iXev<rai, irvpbs
evperrjv yevbfievov Kal 81a rrjv evxpyo~Tiav Tavrrjv rvxbvra rrjs rjye/j.oi'las. yevop.e'vov yap ev
rols 6peai Kepavvo(3bXov dfrdpov Kal rrjs ttXtjgIov vX-qs Kao/xivvs, irpoaeXObvra rbv"Yi(paio~Tov
Kara tt)v xe^Pi0V &puv rjadrjuai 5ia<pepbvru}s eirl r-ij Oepfiaala, Xqyovros b~t rod irvpbs del
rrjs vXr/s tmpdXXeiv, Kal roirip ru> rpbir<p dtarypovvra rb irvp nrpoKaXe'iadai robs &XXovs
dvOpwwovs rrpbs rr\v e£ avrov yev oll^v tjv evxpricrriav.'
3 Told in almost identical words in the Chronicon Pascale.
4 I have already, in my first article, indicated the close association of the two in
the minds of the Byzantine Greeks. I shall give here a few more facts on which I
shall elaborate at some future time : In Cyprus fxdvns means both ' fortune-teller '
and 'blacksmith,' 'parries [ivplfci, wie ein Schmied riechen, da daselbst Lidvris
sowohl den xaXfei'j ( = Schmied) als auch den pdvris ( = Wahrsager) bedeutet. (G. N,
Hatzidakis, "Zur Wortbildungslehre des Mittel- und Neugriechisehen," in Byzan-
tinische Zeitschrift, vol. ii. p. 266). XaXKevs is not merely smith, — it generally means
• Gypsy ' : ' xaX*ias, xaPKt*J> aidepas, dr£lyKavos, fabbro, ferraro ' (A. de Somavera,
Tesoro della lingua greca — volgare ed italiana, Parigi, 1709) ; in Chios the Gypsy
blacksmith is called xaprfas : ''E/tei xaPTt&s rovs diravrgi, xaPT£ia$ M-i Ta iraidid rov,
Xaprfas fie rr)v yvvaiKa rov kl 77 Lcavpocpa/xwXid rov '(A. T. ITao~Trdrr]s, To XtaKov YXwccdpiov,
ev 'AdTjvais, 1888, p. 383-4). I have pointed out the apparently strange coincidence
of the appellation Albanians for the Gypsies with Albanian aXpai'i, ' blacksmith who
shoes horses.' It is not a mere coincidence : In Croatian we find a similar name
for the Gypsies Alamanni, which has nothing whatsoever to do with the Germans,
but is a further corruption of the word which has produced Albanian aXpavi. It is
GYPSIES AS FORTUNE-TELLERS AND AS BLACKSMITHS 275
Egyptians of the mediaeval scholars. The latter supposition is
the more likely one. Possibly there is a direct relation of this
legend in Suidas with the statement of Stephen of Byzantium and
of Pausanias. In any case, it indicates the early use of the word
Egyptians for Gypsies.
Tentatively an answer to the question of the origin of the
appellation Rom may now be given. Mr. Sinclair has already
pointed out l that this name is coincident with Christian countries
only, with Europe and America, and with Armenia in Asia. This
cannot be accidental. From Charlemagne's law we learn, as we
already know from the later claims of the Gypsies, that their
pretended object in wandering about was to do penance. Thus
they hoped to get sympathy from the credulous and remain
unmolested. They wished to be the pilgrims, the romei, par
excellence. In all the European languages there are words
derived from Roma, ' Rome,' to designate pilgrims who travelled
to Rome. Wherever the Gypsies went, they obviously must have
spoken of themselves as romei, romarii, romerii, and similarly,
according to the corruption of the word in the various languages
in Europe, with Rom for its root, and they naturally must have
prided themselves on being such God-fearing people, hence the
appellation easily became an honorific term for themselves.
Ultimately, I believe, this romei is not derivable from Roma but
is identical with Greek ipr/filrtis, ' hermit,' which, as we have seen,
had assumed a doubtful meaning in Greece.2 In Italy it became
modified, apparently under the mistaken derivation from Roma,
into romiti? which was by Frescobaldi applied to the Gypsies.
Once popular etymology connected the hermits and pilgrims with
Rome, all the words denoting a pilgrim were so transformed as to
bring them in keeping with this new conception. But there are
a few Old French forms, such as remyvage, remitvage, for
the same as Turkish and Persian juuJjtJ ndlband ' smith, farrier, one who shoes a
horse,' from Arab. Aju ndl 'horseshoe,' and a Persian suffix of agent jj^
, band.
1 J. G. L. S., New Series, vol. iii. No. 1, p. 33.
2 J. G. L. S., New Series, I.e., p. 5. Most likely the aj^Lc . remddiyah of the
tenth to twelfth centuries, whom Quatremere (Histoire des sultans mamlouks de
! I'lZgypte, Paris, 1837, part ii. pp. 4-6) identifies with the Gypsies (see also P. A.
Dozy, Dictionnaire ditailli des noms des vetements chez les Arabes, Amsterdam, 1845,
p. 259), are one and the same with these ipvfUTai romiti. That there were Gypsies
in Africa in the fifteenth century is attested by Leo Africanus (Ramusio, Venetia
1563, vol. i.), who tells of them in Bornu (fol. 79a) and in the desert near Nubia
i (fol. 80b). 3 Ibid., pp. 5 and 15.
270 AFFAIRS OF EGYPT, 1908
pilgrimage, which still seem to point to an older derivation from
eremita, remita, ' hermit.' In any case, the Gypsies found it profit-
able and honourable to call themselves Rom, and their provenience
from Greece, the Romaic country, only strengthened them in
their pride.1
IV.— AFFAIRS OF EGYPT, 1908.2
By Henry Thomas Crofton
The following notes are derived, almost without exception, from a volume of
newspaper cuttings formed by the Society's Honorary Secretary, consisting of
297 double-columned folio pages. The notes supplement the Table of Offences
by Gypsies, which occurs in the Journal of the Gypsy Lore Society, voL iii.
pp. 239-240.
A perusal of this volume of Gypsy Miscellanea shows how widespread is the
popular idea that every one who lives in a van is a Gypsy, although in reality the
vast majority of van-dwellers are merely mumpers and show-folk ; not even pos-
rats but, as a Romanicel might very well say, 'a lot of ratvali kek-rats.'
Very few of the well-known real Gypsy names occur amongst the records
which form the basis for the above-mentioned Table of Offences. In these notes
only the most interesting of these records have been included.
ENGLAND.
The Kent Argus of January 2, 1908, reported a case against George Russell
and James Smith of the Gypsy camp at Reading Street [Margate] for allowing
horses to stray on the road, and the Poole Herald, Dorset, on same date reported
a charge against a New Forest Gypsy named Walter White, senior, staying at
Heavenly Bottom, Branksome, about a runaway horse : later in January nearly
fifty Gypsies were encamped in that celestial region. On January 3, T. P.'s Weekly
narrated from the Memoirs of the Comtesse de Boigne how a fellow- officer of her
father had his fortune told by a Gypsy woman, and how it was curiously fulfilled,
and the Western Daily Mercury reported a charge of cutting underwood against
Charles Small, a Gypsy, at Kingsteignton ; next day the East Anglican Daily Times
reported a charge against Matilda Lee, a Gypsy hawker of Aveley, for taking
without payment some bacon and cakes from a shop.
On January 7 the Midland Evening News stated that Jane Smith, a Gypsy,
and her son Cornelius, had taken coal from Lodge Hill Colliery.
A. Smith, Gypsy, of Tunbridge, had encamped on the highway, and Charles
Lee and John Smith, Gypsies, of Deadwater, had taken firewood (West Sussex
Gazette, January 9).
The Oldham Chronicle of 11th January complained of a Gypsy colony of ten to
fifteen vans opposite Oldham Parish Church, and called attention to the case of
1 With this I must abandon any further research in the history of the Gypsies,
even though I have accumulated a number of important notes, some of which I
have mentioned here summarily. To do justice to the subject, one would have to
ransack the archives and libraries of Europe, but gypsiological studies have not
yet attained the dignity where they may count on that financial support which
is sometimes vouchsafed to other well-established subjects.
2 For « Affairs of Egypt,' 1892-1906, see /. G. L. S., vol. i. pp. 358-384; for
'Affairs of Egypt,' 1907, see J. G. L. S., vol. ii. pp. 121-141.
AFFAIRS OF EGYPT, 1908 277
the Attorney General v. Stone, where an injunction was granted to the Heston and
Isleworth Council against a landowner who permitted dwellers in vans and tents to
camp on his ground.
On January 16 the Times of India quoted from The Globe ' A Romani
Christmas.' The camp was in a hollow where the vans and a couple of tents were
sheltered from the east wind by the rampart of an ancient earthwork on Dead
Man's Hill. In the larger tent, which was occupied by a tall slim horse-dealer,
his sturdy dark-haired wife and little daughter, Elvira, there were eight other
Gypsies, sitting or lounging round the fire, listening to an elderly Romany who
stood fiddling. He swayed to and fro to the merry measure of his music for half
an hour without pausing, connecting one tune with another by a series of runs,
like quickly executed scales. Then Elvira sang a ballad, relating how ' the ship
did sail away and never did return,' which the fiddler and the son of a Gypsy boxer
agreed was ' a good song well sung.' Elvira's mother next sang ' The Gay Young
Squire,' who loved a Gypsy maid ' with long black hair beyond compare,' but she
had ' a Gypsy lover true,' and would not marry the squire. The singer said that
her mother used to sing it, and that the Gypsy maid was one of the Hemes, and
the squire a Yorkshireman.
On January 18 the Sussex Daily Neivs reported a charge against William and
Fanny Smith, camping in Cocking Lane, near the Downs, for exposing their six
children, aged one to thirteen, ' only half-clad, and the ground hard with frost at the
time.' The tent had an opening at the top at one end, as an outlet for the smoke, and
a blacksmith had given them a bucket to hold the fire. The old woman would not
go into the workhouse, whither the children were taken, and the doctor there
gave evidence that the eldest girl was an imbecile and thin, but that ' they were
all clean and seemed to have enough to eat and to be very happy, as they had
always been used to that way of living.'
On January 18 the Daily Chronicle stated that a tribe of Kentish Gypsies
were travelling through the Midlands with vans, cutting gorse for walking sticks
and umbrella handles ; and that their children, numbering over twenty, had been
forced to go to school, as none of them knew the alphabet.
The same day the Dudley Herald reported a charge against Florrie Smith,
a Gypsy, living in a van at Lye, and having an infant in her arms, for ' ringing the
changes,' and the police explained that, seven years before, she had given valuable
help in convicting a burglar who attempted to murder an old lady.
On April 10 the Bedford Times reported the conviction of Gypsies named
Florence Smith, wife of Sidney Smith, and Clara Odley, who lived with Samuel
Smith, for conspiracy to defraud by inducing a purchase of a rug which they alleged
was made of bearskin. There was the usual prelude of a large party coming who
would give their trade to the victim.
On January 25 the Bournemouth Directory contained the tenth annual report
of the New Forest Good Samaritan Charity, which claimed to have diminished
the number of tent-dwelling Gypsies living in the Forest by more than three-
quarters, to have placed in cottages eighteen nomad families, clothed and put
to school ninety of their children ; eleven boys had joined the militia, and four
girls had gone into domestic service.
The Cleckheaton Guardian, January 31, had an article on 'Dialect of Gypsies,'
with acknowledgment of the work by Smart and Crofton on that subject, but
giving various other sentences in corruptly phonetic Romani.
The Beading Mercury, February 8, reported a charge against two Gypsy girls,
Agnes Lee and Eliza Cooper, for stealing trees, value five shillings, from a field
belonging to Broadmoor Asylum, Crowthorne.
At the East Ham Police Court two labourers of no fixed abode were charged
with stealing the pony of John Smith, Gypsy (Morning Advertiser, Feb-
ruary 11).
278 AFFAIRS OF EGYPT, 1908
The Sussex Daily Neivs, February 14, reported a case of stealing mangolds against
four Gypsies named Kay; it was said that the district of Trotton abounded with
Gypsies, and that Pollie, one of the prisoners, had eleven children.
The Daily Neios, February 17, noted that 'Gypsy Cooper' and his wife, of the
reputed ages of ninety-three and one hundred and one, lived in a caravan, and culti-
vated about three acres of land near the Thames between Marlow and Medmenham,
Bucks, but the Daily Mirror of February 18 called him James Buckland, and
said that he and his wife were both eighty years old, and had built a galvanised
iron house to live in. A view of them was given, and in the Shrewsbury Cltronicle,
February 21, another view appeared, showing both van and house, and the old
couple. [These cuttings refer to Jabez Buckland.]
The Evening Standard, February 26, reported the system practised by a gang
of Gypsies in the north of England, based on announcements of a large party
coming for a long stay in the neighbourhood, and borrowing money on a deposit of
a roll of carpet. A slight variation of this device was reported on April 3 in the
Bradford Telegraph as having occurred there. (See above, and the heading ' Wales.')
The Western Gazette and other newspapers, on February 27, narrated how Brit-
tannia Manley [? Stanley], a formidable looking Gypsy woman, told a girl's fortune,
which was fulfilled by her master taking her with him, as nurse to his two children,
when he ran away from his creditors.
The Bristol Echo, March 4, reported a charge against Ellen Davies, aged thirty-
nine, a Gypsy, and her son Edward Davies, aged twenty-three, arising out of
fortune-telling.
The Western Daily Mercury, March 5, reported a charge against Vanto Small,
a Gypsy pedlar.
The Christian Herald, March 5, contained an illustration from a photograph by
F. Wood of Werneth, showing a group of four generations, including ' Gypsy
Dawson ' and her mother, aged eighty-four, the former having helped the evangelist
Frank Penfold, at Oldham. There was also an account of a Gypsy girl having
her portrait sketched.
Lloyd's Weekly News, March 8, contained chapter xiv. of Lord George Sanger's
life, with views and accounts of ' the great Gypsy fight ' with police and showmen
at Moulsey Races, and a Gypsy gala at Fairlop Oak.
The Hampshire Independent, March 14, reported three cases concerning Gypsies
— (1) a quarrel between Caroline Doe and George Sheen, Eosina Wells and Rhoda
Wells ; (2) damaging trees in the New Forest by Josiah Wells and George Broad ;
(3) stealing a vermin trap by Walter and Charles Ayres, Gypsy lads.
The Morning Post and Sheffield Daily Telegraph, March 19, stated that, at
a meeting of the association of Municipal Corporations, the Mayor of Maiden-
head alleged that his town had ' suffered serious financial loss ' through Gypsy
encampments within the borough boundaries ; ' their disgusting indecencies, thiev-
ing propensities, and begging importunities constituted a great nuisance to the
whole community, and had driven away many prominent residents.' [The con-
clusion is absolute fiction. — H. T. C]
The Herts Advertiser, March 21, reported a charge at Hemel Hempstead, against
Lucas Parker and his niece Margaret Parker, of ill-treating Maria Parker, aged
thirteen, sister of Margaret, Avho had been 'hopping' with her aunt, Selina Parker.
The Sussex Daily News, March 25, contained a report of a case against
'Gypsies' named Alice Woolley, George Harber, Henry Cannon, and Ada
Headley, in which it was alleged that they kept pieces of tin with different names
painted on them, and changed them while their vans were on the road, after
leaving a plice where they had done anything wrong.
The Reading Mercury, March 28, in a case against Cornelius Williams, stated
that a witness had counted fifteen lots of Gypsies on Bucklebury Common, and more
than a hundred Gypsies had pitched their tents there during the past few weeks.
AFFAIRS OF EGYPT, 1908 279
In London Opinion, March 28, J. H. Yoxall stated that in his novel Smalilou
he had written of ' a pony dizened with gypsy symbols, the egg and snake and
new moon in brass.' A Gypsy driver once told him that they were to keep the
devil away.
T. P.'s Weekly, April 3, reviewed The Diary of a Looker-on, by C. Lewis Hind,
quoting a passage about an eighty-year-old Gypsy named Lovell, who, after
spending an evening at a Revivalist meeting, was asked if he and his wife would
not go into an almshouse. ' No, no. A man at my age doesn't take risks,' was
his reply, and he crossed the common to his tent through the rain and mud.
The same number contained 'A Talk with Gypsy (Latimer) Lee,' by J. C.
Bristow-Noble, telling how the Gypsy was found cutting the flesh from the carcase
of a ewe that had died when lambing, and how he fed his three lurcher dogs and
half a dozen ferrets with it. Lee then gave some of his reminiscences, as he and
his daughters Rhona and Sally sat in the van, after a good supper of baked hedge-
hog, rabbit, turnips, mead, and Gypsy cake. One tale was about his wife's wraith
appearing to him the night she died on Newmarket Heath. She was buried at
Diss in Norfolk. Another was about seeing a poacher of pheasants in the New
Forest being watched by a keeper, and how the poacher clubbed his gun and
killed the keeper, but in so doing made the gun go off and killed himself. A
third tale was about his horse finding the body of a female tramp and her newly-
born child in a snow-drift, close to where his own van had stuck fast. Lastly, he
told how Lillah Lee married a rich gorgio at Lancing, near Worthing, in Sussex,
and was fixed with the evil eye, had fourteen children in as many years, and died;
also how Bowley was cursed for selling his wife to Ben Cooper, and how Lee's
uncle Pharaoh was cursed for loving a gorgio maiden, the curse being that his
dead grandmother's cold spirit shared his bed with him every night.
The Newcastle Daily Chronicle, April 14, reported a Gypsy camp of six vans
and a red dome-shaped tent at Low Gosforth. Some of them had come from
Brighton, and they were ' far superior to the German Gypsies who were there in
1906.'
[Tom and Caroline Gray have been at Gosforth for some time now ; this
probably records their arrival.]
The Manchester Guardian, April 15, reported that Daisy Boswell, a Gypsy
from the camp at South Shore, Blackpool, had been fined for telling fortunes,
having obtained over £2 from a woman at whose house she called offering a rug
and doormat for sale. Daisy seized her hand, put sixpence into it, and told her to
wish. Then she asked for some of her money, and left with half a sovereign.
She returned in a few days with a crystal, and the woman gave her more money,
and was allowed to gaze through the crystal, and the accused promised to come
back for it, and said she would refund the money, but failed to do so.
The Leicester Daily Post reported an affray between Gypsies and two young
farmers who interfered with them when turning their horses into a field between
Kibworth and Burton Overy.
The Standard, April 17, reported that the Blackpool Corporation had decided,
by a majority of one, to dispense with the Gypsies who for fifty years had camped
at South Shore. The Lancashire Post, April 23, contained a protest, saying the
Gypsies had lived there over eighty years, and paid rent, rates, taxes, and con-
formed to the law, and attracted thousands of visitors ; the Corporation sought to
force the landowners to evict them, by refusing to pass plans for buildings on
other parts of the owners' property. The Blackpool Gazette, May 2, stated that
only members of the Boswell family would be allowed to remain on a corner
of the land enclosed by a palisade, and no newcomers would be permitted.
[All the Gypsies have now been moved from the South Shore, Alma Boswell
and his family being the last to leave.]
The Western Daily Mercury, May (5, reported that at Launceston Dick Lover-
280 AFFAIRS OF EGYPT, 1908
ing was fined for allowing two horses to stray on the road, and Joseph Penfold,
Gypsy, was lined for the like offence. He and his wife with six children and two
young men had pitched a tent at Pinhoe, and had allowed their six horses to
stray.
The Kent Messenger, May 9, reported that at the Tonbridge Police Court
Abraham Lee was charged with camping on the highway and allowing three
horses to stray.
The Hereford Times, May 9, reported the death at Aston Ingham of Boaz Locke,
a Gypsy, aged ninety.
The Daily Telegraph, May 15, reported a charge against Olive Collins, Louisa
Smith, and Henry Hares [Ayres ?], Gypsies, for camping on a common at Clare-
mont Woods, between Esher and Oxshott, with five or six caravans and as many
horses.
At a meeting of the Eeigate Rural Council, the sanitary inspector said that the
district was again infested with large numbers of Gypsies. As a remedy he sug-
gested that the East Surrey Water Company should persuade their customers not
to supply the Gypsies with water (Surrey Mirror, May 16).
The Thanet Times, May 20, gave a report of a typical case of fortune-telling
by cards at Margate, in which Eose Small, an elderly Gypsy widow, with a family
of six, was the defendant.
The West Sussex Gazette, May 21, reported a charge against four alleged
Gypsies for damaging Passfield Common by camping on it with five tents. Their
names were James and Thomas Green, Albert Kempster, and John Pearce, and
the same newspaper stated that at Copthorne complaints were made of the number
of Gypsies in the village, some of whom were alleged to have pulled down fences
for firewood.
The Midland Evening Neivs, May 22, contained an account of a disturbance at
Bilston by Albert and Maria Lock and Joseph Scarett.
The South Bucks Standard, May 29, contained a letter complaining of Gypsies
camping on commons at Gerrard's Cross, and allowing horses to stray.
The Western Chronicle, May 29, stated that Mary Ann Bull, a wizened old
Gypsy woman, when summoned by the police for using bad language, shook her
fist at the constable, and called him ' a nasty dirty man, to take away her life
innocent.'
The Hampsh ire Observer, May 30, reported a charge of assault against Gypsies
named Walter Leonard Frankham, aged sixty, basketmaker, and Moses and James
Frankham, aged twenty-three and eighteen, at Weston Common, Shalden.
The Devon Daily Gazette, May 30, reported a charge of fortune-telling against
Elizabeth Marks, a ' Gypsy,' at Holsworthy. She pleaded that she only said ' a
few words to make a deal ' for the goods she was hawking.
The Western Morning Neivs, June 2, stated that an injunction had been
granted against Mary White and John Essex for trespassing on Aylesbeare
Common, they having camped there for three months.
The Sheffield Daily Telegraph, June 2, reported a charge against Eichard
Elliott, a Gypsy, for poaching, when encamped at Threekingham, near Stanford ;
and John Clarke, also a Gypsy, for camping on the highway there. They
hurried away with the vans, and 'changed their name-boards, of which they
carried a stock.'
The Daily Mirror, June 2, contained views of Gypsies encamped on Epsom
Downs, and told how the King threw money to be scrambled for by some thirty
Gypsy children, who surrounded his carriage and cheered.
The Saturday lieview, June G, contained versified translations by Arthur
Symons, of seven Slovak Gypsy songs from Gli Zingari of the Marquis A.
Colocci.
The Standard and other newspapers on June 8 contained a report of a fierce
AFFAIRS OF EGYPT, 1908 281
fight amongst fifty or sixty Gypsies at Coulsdon, near Redhill, with thirty-four
casualties, but on investigation it was found by the Croydon Argus that beyond
a Gypsy man and woman having had a quarrel the police knew nothing about it.
The Liverpool Daily Post, June 10, reported a charge of assault against George
and Noah Bos well at St. Helens.
The Manchester City Neios, June 13, had an article headed ' Gypsies in Lan-
cashire,' by C. Fox-Smith, which was more literary than informing. It men-
tioned a camp betwixt Bolton and Eadcliffe, the occupants of which were perhaps
waiting to join 'the horde of Gypsy interlopers, who every New Year make a
veritable pandemonium of Bolton's principal square. The van and its dwellers
were alike dirty.' It also stated that Bolton and its neighbourhood seemed
much favoured by Gypsies, and that in Farnworth was a circuit of showmen,
itinerant vendors, basket-makers, chair-sellers, and the like, many of whom, while
partaking of Gypsy habits, were not Romany folk at all ; here, a year or two ago,
members of two leading showman families were married, and the presents in-
cluded a handsome caravan. Interesting Gypsy types were to be seen at Turton
Fair ; Gypsy horse-dealers and copers were in strong force there with strings of
half-broken colts. ' One may know the real thing by troops of horses, dogs, and
sometimes goats with the vans, the true touch of the nomad tribe. If a Gypsy
marries an outsider the offender is cast off, like some who lived in a kind of tent
near Bradley Fold, Bolton. ' Boswell, the Ashton van-dweller, was ' too stationary
to be quite genuine,' and had lived there six years, and had set up a hen-run.
The Daily Telegraph, June 23, reported a case of fortune-telling by Ellen Lee,
aged forty-two, and Ada Gamble, aged forty, at East Ham. The young woman,
whose fortune was told, was asked to put some gold on an envelope, and then
whatever was inside it would work magic, if left for twenty minutes. The girl
rode off on her bicycle, and Lee and Gamble walked away, and were later on
found on a tramcar, after the girl had returned and missed her money.
The Christian, June 25, gave an account of the life of Miss Alexander of
Epsom, who died on April 24, aged eighty-one, and whose funeral was attended
by ' many Gypsies, to whom she had, ever since 1858, been one of their best
friends when encamped on Epsom Downs.'
The Morning Post, June 26, contained a letter, which alleged that the Gypsies
round Rochford, Leigh, and Southend, in South-east Essex, were ' a thieving, lazy,
poaching, blasphemous lot, and a danger to the public on sanitary grounds.'
The Cornish Post, June 27, reported the death of Sarah Orchard, widow, a
Gypsy, aged seventy-one, at a camp near Manaton, in South Hill parish, and her
burial at Callington, attended by a dozen Gypsy relatives.
The Daily Dispatch, June 29, reported a charge of fortune-telling against
Sophia Smith, Gypsy, at Nuneaton. The servant had given her a sovereign, a
gold ring, and a number of things ' to make the globe work.'
The Daily Globe, July 5, stated that at Edmonton 375 Gypsies had been re-
moved, but kept returning, and that one had broken up a notice-board, and said
' it would just boil the kettle for tea.'
The Graphic, July 11, had an article by Hugh Aldersey, on the 'Art of Cara-
vanning,' containing a sprinkling of Romani lavs, and an illustration of a true
Gypsy van and its occupants, and advising caravanners to learn Romani, and take
a Gypsy with them, ' who will teach you as many tricks of the road in a few
weeks' time, as would take you as many years to learn from experience,' and also
recommending the Gypsy form of arched round-ended tent above all others.
The Paignton Western Guardian, July 16, reported the wedding at St. Mary's,
Collaton, of Phoebe, daughter of William Stanley, to James, son of kelson Buck-
land. Henry Stanley was ' best man,' and little bronze-coloured girls and curly-
haired boys were bridesmaids and pages.
The Hampshire Independent, July 20, reported a charge against Samson Light,
282 AFFAIRS OF EGYPT, 1908
Gypsy, fur stealing at Romsey. The camp was at Green Lane, Millbrook, in the
New Forest, where Noel Bowers and John Wright had their vans.
The Sheffield Daily Telegraph, July 24, reported a fallacious charge brought
by Mivaniel Smith at Retford against her nephew Rabbi Smith, for stealing a
horse which her husband had authorised him to take.
The Yorkshire Evening Post, July 28, contained an account of a camp of
Hemes at Manston, where the vicar, Mr. Malleson, talked Romany to them. The
leader (Isaac Heme) was reputed to be about ninety-eight, and it was said that
' his erreat-granddaushters have children who are married and have families.' One
of his grandsons was Harry Boswell, aged sixty. They claimed Norfolk as their
home. Another was Samuel Heme. They were the chief attraction at a garden
party at the vicarage.
The Norfolk Chronicle, August 1, reported a discussion by the Smallburgh
Rural Council, about Gypsies camping on Crostwight Common. The chairman
said they had always been there. They slept in tents and the open air, and it
would be difficult to say they were in an insanitary state. The lady of the manor
had fenced the common, and had put up notices against camping, but the Gypsies
persuaded the villagers to pull down the fences, and they hung their clothes when
washed over the notices.
The Chester Chronicle, August 1, reported a charge against Emma Lock, a
young married Gypsy, for fortune-telling. She was selling lace, and told the man,
aged forty, it was lucky to buy from a Gypsy, so he bought six yards. She then
told him to take his handkerchief, and cross it with the biggest piece of silver
that he had. She tied a knot in the handkerchief and folded it up, and then
they both held it, and pulled while he wished.
The Bristol Echo, August 7, reported charges against Gypsies for damaging
Felton Common, Long Ashton, by camping on it ; their names were John Musty
(who had been camping there about three years), William Griggs, Britannia Smith,
Emily Hughes, Edward Hughes, Henry Hughes, George Smith, and Phoebe
Bowers.
The West Sussex Gazette, August 7, reported a trial at Chichester for an assault
by a Gypsy named John Willett on a relative named Ellen Willett, and another
assault by Ellen's husband Horace on John Willett and his wife Amelia. John
Willett was also known as George, and had beaten Ellen with an iron bar.
The Reading Mercury, August 8, reported a charge against John Rose, Gypsy,
for damaging Bucklebury Common, which was ' visited by Gypsies in shoals.'
The Hampshire Independent, August 10, reported a charge by Kate Lee
against Mary Willett for an assault, by beating her very badly on the head with a
quart mug and her fists.
The Surrey Times, August 10, reported that at Woking, Jemima Hearn charged
Mary Ann Penfold with threatening to knock her head off. Both were Gypsies,
and Penfold said Hearn came and wanted her to fight.
The Daily Dispatch, August 13, stated that the colony of Gypsies on Hartle-
bury Common, Worcestershire, was being broken up, and that an old Gypsy named
Pizinnia Smith was summoned at Stourport for not removing. She said she had
been there over fifty years, had buried her husband there, and had neither horse
nor donkey to remove her things, but her grandson had just come from Hereford
to do so. When asked by the magistrate's clerk whence she got her name (which
she pronounced with great emphasis on the first i), she said she had it long before
bis head was as big as a button.
The Worcester Times, August 13, reported a charge against James Hodgkiss,
jun., a Gypsy. His wife Angelina and his uncle Thomas gave evidence, as well
as his father James, sen. The uncle mended umbrellas, and the accused made
hammer handles.
The Medical Press, August 15, reported the prosecution of a carter for selling
AFFAIRS OF EGYPT, 1908 283
without a licence a patent medicine, the recipe for which he had obtained from
Gypsy Sarah.
The Evesham Journal, August 15, reported a charge against William Smith,
Gypsy, and his brother Nathan gave evidence. William, his daughter, and two
men slept in a tent.
The Lancashire Post, August 17, reported a charge at Blackpool against Harry
Boswell, a Gypsy, who was stone deaf.
The Western Morning News, August 19, related how Valley Joles sued
William and Henry Stanley, Gypsies, for commission on selling horses. Joles said
that the Stanleys were his wife's brothers, that their father was dying, and they
were trying to ' injure' his wife out of £100 which her father had promised to her,
and that they were ' trying to hang him ' by what they said.
Pearson's Weekly, August 20, had an article on ' The Truth about Gypsies,'
based on a chat with the evangelist Gypsy Smith, who denied the four charges,
that Gypsies kidnap children, are dirty, are immoral, and steal. They needed no
more children ; his great-uncle had thirty-one, and his father's brother had twenty-
four. A young Gypsy was taught to honour and protect his women folk, and their
courting was in the day time. They had no marriage ceremony of their own.
Most now were married in church ; twenty or thirty years ago it was more the
custom to pledge themselves simply by promise. Gypsies drank beer, and when
there was a spree they liked it in buckets. They drank spirits sparingly. The
women were abstemious. They used bad language, and lied to gdjos, and told
fortunes, which was lying. They pilfered, taking a few potatoes, a feed for horses,
or underwood for clothes-pegs and baskets, but did not think it was wrong to do
so. They considered houses far too cold, compared with a waggon or tent.
The Isle of Thanet Gazette, August 22, reported that complaints were made
about the Gypsy encampment at Reading Street, St. Peters, and that Jane Smith
and three children had been prosecuted for hawking lavender without a licence. " l
The North Mail, August 22, contained three views of Gypsies camping at
Dunston.
The Western Giiardian, August 22, reported the funeral, at Harrington,
Somerset, of the ' Gypsy Queen ' Hughes, aged sixty-seven, at which forty-five of
her tribe attended. She was buried beside her husband, who was buried there
ten years previously. On returning to the camp at Priddy, everything belonging
to her was burnt, broken, or buried, however valuable.
The Sussex Daily News, August 24, reported a charge of drunkenness against
Mark and Walter Cooper ; and the Evening Chronicle of the same date con-
tained similar charges against Hirins, Alfred, and Fred Robinson, at South Shore,
Blackpool.
The Taller, August 26, stated that ' some years ago at Osborne,' the present
Queen of Spain was told by a Gypsy, who did not know who she was, ' You have
great good fortune in store. You will turn from cross towards cross, and make a
journey by sea to marry a dark man, and you will rule among rulers, and see
violent death, but live through it, and have a son, all before you are twenty.'
The Wimborne Herald and Western Morning Neivs, August 27, reported a
charge against Charlotte Penfold for camping on the highway at Ansty, and
charges of drunkenness against Edward Penfold and his wife Britannia, at Bodmin.
The Essex Weekly News, August 28, stated that a service had been conducted
at the Congregational Chapel, Rivenhall, by Mr., Mrs., and Miss Boswell [Algar,
Athalia, and Laura Boswell], 'converted Gypsies.'
The Cheltenham Examiner, August 28, reported a very noisy trial of charges
made by Norah and Triante Smith against Ada and Triante Kyles, all of them
Gypsies camping at Uckington, and the two Triantes were ' old.' They were very
vociferous, and glared and shouted at each other. In the end the parties were
taken out of Court by different doors.
2N4- AFFAIRS OF EGYPT, 1908
The Evening News, August 28, gave an account of Job Lee, aged eighty-four,
a Gypsy in Poplar "Workhouse. He stated that he had made 2000 skewers a day,
and he and his family could make 400 clothes-pegs in a day, earning twelve
shillings a week. He was one of fourteen or fifteen children, all by one mother.
They lived in tents, and wintered at Poplar. He had only missed two Derby days
since his father first took him to Epsom as a boy.
The Portsmouth Evening News, September 1, reported a charge against George
Lee and his son Sylvester, Gypsies, of stealing some plums from a garden at New-
port. The police said there were fifty-six convictions against the father and five
against the son.
The Star, September 2, described the wedding at a registry office of Frank
Mitchell, a Brazilian Gypsy, aged seventeen, son of the 'King of the Gypsies.'
The vans and horses were in Cable Street, St. George's in the East. The bride
was a seaman's daughter named Pengelly, and it was said the 'King' had given
her £300 as dowry. Pork stuffed with cabbage formed part of the wedding feast.
The Sussex Daily Nt ws, September 3, reported a charge of stealing fowls against
Kosina Mitchell, a Gypsy who was found at Beckley, in a camp consisting of ten
tents, three carts, and two vans. Jemima Mitchell gave evidence, and the accused
was said to be mother of sixteen children.
The Bradford Telegraph, September 3, reported a charge of fortune-telling
against Matilda Lee, a widow, aged twenty-four, who hawked lace at Halifax.
The Isle of Wight Advertiser, September 15, reported a charge of assault by
Minnie Smith on Kate Lee, both being Gypsies.
The Maidenhead Advertiser, September 16, described how three roughs had
tried to rob three boys of the blackberries they had been picking on Maidenhead
Thicket, and how a Gypsy rushed at them and chastised the three roughs, sending
the boys away, not only with their berries, but with some more which the roughs
had picked for themselves.
The Stafford Advertiser, September 19, reported a charge against Gilroy Smith,
a young Gypsy, for working a horse in an unfit state.
The Pall Mall Gazette, September 19, described the burial of an unnamed
Gypsy in an unnamed village churchyard, and the subsequent burning of his van
and all its contents.
The Hampshire Observer, September 26, reported several charges against Gypsies
which were tried at Alton Petty Sessions. Amelia Cooper, Gypsy, was acquitted
of a charge of larceny from James Stanley, hawker ; Eli Smith was a witness.
Amos Wells was fined for leaving a horse and cart unattended, and Charles Lee
for furious driving.
The Daily Mail, September 30, mentioned that Brough Hill Fair was in
progress, and that Gypsies from all parts of England were there. [Many Herons,
Bos wells, Smiths, etc., may be found there every year.]
The Surrey Times, October 3, stated that at Wood Common, Worplesden,
Gypsies often encamped, and that at one time there were fifty persons in camp.
The Saturday Review of the same date contained two sonnets by Theodore
Watts-Dunton from Idylls of Tent and Caravan.
The Lincoln Echo, October 7, reported a charge against Elias Boswell of taking
stakes from a fence at Stow, near Gainsborough.
The Wimbome Herald, October 8, reported a charge of poaching against Walter
Barnes alias Light, and Henry Keats, Gypsies, at Cranborne Common, West
Parley.
The Hereford Times, October 10, reported a charge against George Smith,
Gypsy, for taking part of a fence. Another Gypsy, named Masire [Messiah ?]
Hoskins, said he was the one who took the sticks, and he was fined one shilling.
The Shrewsbury Chronicle, October 10, reported a charge against Elijah Smith,
Gypsyr, for camping on the highway.
AFFAIRS OF EGYPT, 1908 285
The Nottingham Express, October 12, reported charges of drunkenness and
assault against Riley Smith, Gypsy hawker.
The Eastern Daily Press, October 13, reported the murder of Susan Wilson at
Feltwell. She was a Gypsy about seventy-three years old, daughter of old Daddy
Gray. She first married a Gypsy named Daniel Wilson, and for her third husband
married Charles Wilson, an umbrella mender, who had been married three times.
They lived in an old barn in a green lane, but years ago lived in a van.
The Bournemouth Directory, October 15, reported a charge of assault brought by
James White against Charles Smith, both being Gypsies from a camp at Heavenly
Bottom.
The Newcastle Daily Chronicle, October 20, gave a view of the fair ground at
Yarm, with two Gypsy vans.
The Methodist Recorder, October 22, had a view of a Gypsy van, and of a
number of Gypsies, who were cousins of Rodney Smith, the Gypsy Evangelist.
The Stirrey Times, October 24, reported a charge of drunkenness against
Jemima Hearne, a Gypsy, who pleaded for leniency, ' because she had had nine
children and twins twice.'
The Beading Mercury, October 31, reported a charge against Masey Chapman,
a Gypsy hawker, of stealing two £b notes.
The Bristol Echo, November 3, stated that about forty old and young Gypsies,
with eight or ten vans and several tents, were encamped in South Liberty Lane,
Bedminster.
The Lancashire Post, November 7, reported a case iu which Noah Young,
horse-dealer, and his wife Caroline, were sued by Flossie, wife of Charles Curl, all
the parties being from the Gypsy camp at South Shore, Blackpool. Flossie's sister,
Maud, wife of Herbert Young, and others gave evidence.
The West Sussex Gazette, November 12, reported the acquittal of Edward
Ayres, a Gypsy, aged twenty-four, on a charge of robbing a drunken man. A
labourer's wife said she heard Ayres say, ' Let 's dull him with a cosh,' and that
she had heard ' a great deal of Gypsy talk, and had a book about it.'
The East Anglian Daily Times, November 13, reported the dismissal of a
charge of 'telling the tale' against Sarah Stanley and Florence Hooper, Gypsies,
for whose appearance on remand two Gypsies had paid one hundred sovereigns into
Court. The ' tale ' was the usual one of offering a deposit, and buying a few things,
and promising future trade by the band, and then the sale of a rug for more than
its real value.
A charge against William John Franklin and Goney Robinson, 'two young
Gypsies,' of stealing a travelling- basket from a shooting-gallery tent, was dismissed
by the Blackpool magistrates, greatly to the annoyance of the chief constable
(Blackpool Gazette, November 27).
The Derry Standard, November 28, reported a charge at Bristol against
Patience Lee, ' a typical Gypsy,' of obtaining half-a-crown by ' ringing the changes.'
She said she was the mother of eight children, and she had a baby at her breast.
She was fifty-two !
The Smethwick Telephone, November 28, stated that Susannah Smith, aged
fifty, a Gypsy from the Black Patch, was i-emanded on a charge of receiving stolen
goods.
The Stafford Chronicle, November 28, reported charges against Gypsies named
Cornelius Smith (aged twenty-three), Cornelius Sheriff (twenty-five), and John
Sheriff (twenty), of stealing thirty-six rabbit snares.
The Wimborne Herald, December 3, reported a charge against John, Job, and
Georgina Cooper, Eli Hughes and David Wells, Gypsies, for camping on the high-
way at Lytchet.
The Wimborne Herald, December 10, reported a charge at Wimborne, Dorset,
against Nehemiah Cooper and his ' wife,' Harriet White, Gypsies, for neglecting
2-Sti AFFAIRS OF EGYPT, 1908
their live children, Lena, aged nine, Emily, eight, Eli, six, James, four, and Sidney,
who was six months old. They had a handtruck, and had encamped on the Downs.
Before that they had encamped on Woodcotes Common, and the four elder children
were running about outside the tent at ten o'clock at night. They had some
bread, sugar, and a candle, but the children were dressed in rags, had no shoes or
stockings, and were 'very dirty and verminous.' The woman said her name was
Smith. She was found 'sitting on a bank with the children standing round her
eating some bread.' Eli had ringworm. Cooper was a travelling chimney-sweep.
Nothing was known against either prisoner, but they were sent to prison for
a month each, with hard labour. [There was no evidence of any want of kindness,
food, or robust health. The facts showed the contrary. — H. T. C.].
The Daily Telegraph, December 12, reported an inquest on Fanny Smith, a
Gypsy aged eighty-eight, who lived in a caravan and went out hawking, and was
found drowned in the river Lea at Edmonton.
The Bournemouth Directory, December 17, reported a charge of nuisance against
Henry Crutcher, a Gypsy, for overcrowding a van and tents at Highcliff, near
Christchurch, Hants. The van was 9 feet long, 5 feet broad, and 6 feet high, con-
taining 270 cubic feet of air space. The tent was 18 feet long, 6 feet wide, and 4
feet high, ' semicircular,' and contained 410 cubic feet ; it was really two tents
joined together, ' with a hole at the top in the middle to let out the smoke, and an
umbrella on the top to keep out the rain ' ; it was better than the tents usually
used by Gypsies ; there were two beds in it and a fire between them. Four girls,
aged twenty-one to eleven, slept at one end of this long tent, and three boys, aged
eighteen to thirteen, at the other end. In the van Crutchley with his wife and
baby slept in one bed, and two children in another bed. They all looked healthy,
but ' the Local Government Board for Common Lodging Houses required 300
cubic feet for an adult and 150 for a child,' and it was alleged that this was such
overcrowding as to be dangerous to their health ! Evidence was given that there
wras plenty of ventilation in both van and tent, and that ten soldiers would sleep
in one tent. In spite of this, an order was made to abate the ' nuisance ' in two
days. [Comment is unnecessary. The Gypsies have lived so since before Shake-
speare amused the world with his Dogberry and Justice Shallow, and declared that
the Law is an ass. — H. T. C]
The Daily News, December 22, reported an inquest at Derby on a child aged
two, who had fallen into a ' dolly tub ' and so been drowned. The child was named
Lettiaceneter Annie Lee, and its grandmother said it was a real Gypsy name,
which her mother had copied from a gravestone in Bedfordshire.
The Richmond (Surrey) Herald, December 25, reported a charge against Eli
Baker, Gypsy, for allowing his twelve horses to stray onto the highway at Sheen
Park, from some waste ground, where they had been turned out to feed.
The Blackpool Gazette, December 11, contained a letter on the subject of
a resolution by the Corporation that the Gypsies must be removed from their camp
at South Shore. The writer had known ' old Sarah's family ' there for over forty
years, and stated that her ancestors had settled there in 1810. [Her husband was
well known there in the 'fifties' of the last century, but 1810 is hardly correct;
1840 would be nearer the mark, though even that is questionable. — H. T. C]
The Blackpool Gazette, December 25, reported that there were twenty-one sets
of tent-dwellers at South Shore ; that of these Alma Boswell was born there (in
1855) fifty-three years ago, and had lived there ever since ; Noah Young and his
wife had been there about forty-five years ; Oscar Young and his wife forty-three
years ; William Townsend and his wife forty years ; James Smith and his wife
thirty-nine years ; Bendigo Lee and his wife thirty-five years ; and Noah Townsend
was born there thirty-nine years ago, and had lived there ever since. Mrs. Sibby
Smith, widow, had been there twenty-four years ago, and the ages of her eight
children ranged from twenty-six to twelve years. Ten families paid from .£20 to
AFFAIRS OF EGYPT, 1908 287
.£25 for their ' pitches,' and 12s. 6d. for the water-supply. The lowest rents were
£4, and £2, 12s. for those farthest south. Some went away for the winter. Two
were scissor-grinders and ten were hawkers. Mr. and Mrs. Apollis Herrion
[? Poley Heron] kept seven cats. ' Most of the tents were very clean and in good
order, but only two had dust-bins.'
Invasion.
The East Anglian Daily Times, June 5, 1908, stated that a band of Servian
Gypsies, consisting of three men, three women, and a number of children, with
three caravans, four horses, three bears, and two monkeys, had landed at Fresh-
water Wharf, near London Bridge, and were making their way through Essex to
Edinburgh, passing through Romford to Brentfor-d, where they encamped the first
night, and continuing next day to Chelmsford. They could not speak English.
Other newspapers added that they wore their picturesque national garb, and
numbered seventeen. They produced ,£'150 to the immigration authorities. They
were making their way to Wanstead Flats for the Whitsun Fair.
The same newspaper on June 10 stated that the Servians had passed into West
Suffolk, and on June 13 that they had reached Bury St. Edmunds and gone on
towards Thetford. It was added that one of the families had been several years
in America, and subsequently had gone to France, and crossed from Calais to
England. According to the Eastern Evening News they were going to King's
Lynn, and some of them were said to have been travelling round Manchester and
Liverpool for more than two years separately, but had now united. The ' Queen '
was named ' Bosie.' The children went barefoot, and were scantily clothed. Two
of their horses had died, and one of the three vans was dragged along by them-
selves.
The Times, June 17, stated that the Servians had passed into Huntingdonshire,
but had been sent back by the police into Cambridgeshire, and were being kept on
the move. The Morning Leader, June 18, added that the Gypsies 'accepted the
situation with nonchalance.'
The Liverpool Football Echo, June 20, reported their arrival at King's Lynn
and their passage thence into Lincolnshire, and the Worksop Gazette, June 20,
chronicled their journey through Tuxford and Retford, one of the vans being
dragged by a small donkey, with a collar made of a twisted sack, and with rope
traces. They were on their way to Newcastle-on-Tyne.
The Nottingham Daily Express, June 22, noticed their arrival at Grantham,
where they ' gave no trouble,' and passed onwards to Newark.
The North-Eastern Daily Gazette, June 27, reported that the band had passed
through Northallerton, and had been escorted by the police to the northern
boundary of Yorkshire at Yarm Bridge, and were making for Scotland, having
travelled on the 25th twenty-eight miles, and next day twenty-nine miles. There
were four men and four women, and about twelve children, their three vehicles
being drawn by four ponies and a donkey. They had three bears and a monkey.
The Scotsman, July 3, reported their arrival at Coldstream from Akeld, on
their way to Edinburgh.
The Alnwick Gazette, July 4, noticed their arrival at Wooler, whence they were
moved on by the police.
The Edinburgh Evening News, July 6, announced their arrival at Selkirk,
where hundreds visited their camp at Deerview. 'They were much better
behaved than the German Gypsies,' and were evidently well-to-do.
The Hawick Advertiser, July 10, reported that they had camped in the
Common Haugh, and that their three bears and two monkeys performed for
crowds of delighted children. The Gypsies were very dark skinned, almost brown,
and were dressed after the style of their German predecessors, but were not such
persistent beggars. They left for Edinburgh.
288 AFFAIRS OF EGYPT, 1908
The Glasgow Evening Times, July 16, stated that the party passed through
Lanarkshire on their way to Glasgow, that one van bore the inscription ' Peterie
Showman Bossie,' and that not one possessed even a smattering of English.
The Morning Daily Advertiser, July 3, reported a case against two men and a
woman of swarthy appearance, part of a band of 'Macedonian Gypsies.' The
interpreter spoke in Russian. Their offence was ' ringing the changes ' at Bethnul
Green. They said they were on their way to Brazil ' where they had bought
land.' They showed occasionally that they understood some English, and kept
moaning, and bowed and bent to every word.
Wales.
On January 8, 1908, the Western Mail, Cardiff, stated that a young Gypsy
named William (otherwise David) Price, aged eighteen, who lived in a van at
Pontypridd, and made clothes-pegs, had been drowned. His body was found a
week later at Llandaff (South Wales Daily Neivs, January 16).
On January 14, the former paper contained a warning against the ' confidence
trick,' as played by Gypsies on innkeepers, bakers, and others. They pretended
that they were giving up van life and would start roundabouts, and wished to do
a large business with the shopkeeper, depositing ,£10 or .£15 against goods which
they might require. They took a few goods ' to go on with,' and then asked the
shopkeeper to buy some of their few remaining unsold wares, usually rugs, asking
35s. for one worth 12s. 6d., as 'they would be doing such a large business with
him.' Next morning they claimed a return of the deposit, as 'the police had
ordered them to remove their vans from the neighbourhood immediately.'
On January 15, the same paper contained a warning against ' ringing the
changes,' as tried by a Gypsy girl at a public-house.
On February 1, the North Wales Times reported the withdrawal of a charge
of taking firewood against Joseph Lock, a young Gypsy, who appeared with his
wife and children, at Denbigh.
The Western Mail, March 26, reported a charge against Manasseh Burton, a
Gypsy, at Abergavenny Fair.
The North Wales Times, April 3, reported a case in which Florrie Taylor, a
Gypsy, accused Benjamin, Kate, and Gertrude Taylor, Gypsies, of assaulting her
at Llanrhydd, near Ruthin.
The Lancashire Post, May 20, reported a charge at Conway against Solomon
Taylor, said to be a Gypsy, of stealing a ring. He wore two pairs of trousers,
and on removing one of them the ring dropped on the floor. There were twenty-
eight convictions for felony against him, besides minor offences.
The South Wales Daily Echo, June 24, reported the failure of a charge against
Thomas Lee, a Gypsy, aged thirty-eight, of abducting his sister-in-law, Annie
James, who lived with her father and mother in a van on a common near Swansea.
The South Wales Daily News, September 19, reported a charge of assault by
Rose Mochan on Charlotte Mochan, two Irish Gypsies, who dwelt in tents in
summer, and sheltered in winter in houses at Merthyr. Rose was of uncommonly
fine stature.
The Daily Mail, November 9, reported that at Coed Poeth, near Wrexham, a
family of ' Gypsies,' four men and one woman, had come with a shooting gallery,
and had offered a pig as a prize for climbing a greasy pole, but failing to produce
the pig, had been attacked by the crowd, and, in self-defence, had fired at their
assailants. Their names were James Cook, sen. and jun., George Cook and
his wife Betsy, and John Cook. They came from Warrington. [They were
evidently not Gypsies, but merely ' Show Folk.']
The Cardiff Times, November 11, reported that at Brynmawr, Mary Richards,
a Gypsy, was charged with stealing some things, including an apron, from a
AFFAIRS OF EGYPT, 1908 289
house, and that a few days later she had worn the apron when she called at the
same house, offering to sell boot-laces, and when telling the woman's fortune
mentioned that she had recently ' lost money's worth.' The charge was dismissed.
Scotland.
The Dundee Advertiser on January 25, 1908, reported a case of assault by
George Langlands, ' general dealer,' in which it was asserted that ' one of the
Gypsy marriage stipulations is that the women do all the work and keep their
husbands, and any money made by the husband is retained for his own use.'
In the Dundee Courier, February 11, an account was given of the funeral of
Hugh M'Laren, chief of a clan of tinkers frequenting the Sidlaw Hills, aged
seventy-five, who was buried at the Eastern Cemetery. A half-tone view was given
of three women and five children, two of the children being carried in shawls
at their mother's back.
The Weekly News, February 15, gave a fuller account, with two other views
and a description of his camp at Dronley Wood, where two tents sheltered two
families — four adults and about ten children. He came from Argyllshire, but his
wife, who died a few years earlier, came from Moray and Nairn. The farmers,
and even the policemen, had a good word for them. 'They fecht among themsels,
but dinna steal. When they 've been a whilie in ae place I gang up, an' move
them on.' Hughie and his sons were great pipers.
The Border Magazine for March (vol. xiii. No. 147) contained a note from
a letter written by Sir Walter Scott, April 16, 1819, about old Kennedy, a
tinker, who had been in the army, and who swam for his life at Jedburgh
when flying from justice, after killing a man in a fight between the Kennedys
and Irvings, arising out of a feud which began forty years before, when
the grandfathers of Kennedy and of the man he killed had fought a battle on
Hawick Green. Kennedy was saved from the gibbet by the evidence of a doctor,
and was sent to Botany Bay for fourteen years. Six of his brethren, and kith and
kin without end, were in Court.
The Galloway Gazette, March 21, contained a tale called 'Aaron Gow, the
Gypsy Blacksmith,' founded on traditions recorded at pages 110-112 of M'Cormick's
Tinkler Gypsies (2nd edition).
The Glasgow Herald, March 30, contained a letter from ' A Pal of the Romany-
chals,' animadverting on the Lord Advocate's confusion of Borrow 's Ronis with
Scottish tinkers, and against the Movable Dwellings Bill then before Parliament.
The letter pointed out sarcastically that the law, contemplating with equanimity
the ' rabbit warrens ' of our slums, in which thousands were crowded together
amid scenes of vice and debauchery which stagger humanity, must do its best to
drive the Gypsy into these dreadful places.
The Edinburgh Evening News, April 3, contained a notice of the annual
report of the medical officer of health for Airdrie, in which he attributed the cases
of cerebro-spinal meningitis to the visit of the German Gypsies, noting that those
people came from the home of spotted fever. They landed at Leith, marched
to Glasgow through Caldercruix, Plains, Airdrie, and Coatbridge ; all those
districts suffered, and Glasgow, where they stayed longest, suffered most. Some
went north to Dundee, which was also affected, but the disease hardly appeared at
all north or south of the places named.
The Orkney Herald of April 8 reported at length a lecture on Gypsies delivered
by Mr. A. Russell (Member, G. L. S.) before the Orkney Natural History Society,
at Stromness.
The Glasgow Evening Times on April 14, in a review of S. H. Turner's History
of Local Taxation in Scotland, noted that the chapter on parochial taxation for
poor relief threw much curious light on the early efforts to deal with vagrancy, by
VOL. III. — NO. IV.
i
2f>0 AFFAIRS OF EGYPT, 1908
the suppression of 'sorners, cairds, Egyptians, thiggers, and the like.' It also
extracted the anecdote of Adam Smith being captured by Gypsies when in his
fourth year.
The Dundee Evening Telegraph, April 24, stated that Gypsies were much in
evidence at Arbroath, and that two with children were charged with being
drunk.
The Stirling Journal, May 1, reported the burial at Stirling of Mrs. Home,
.,_-,-,] -event v-three, proprietress of shooting galleries, and one of the oldest members
of the Gypsy encampment on Springkerse showground. About sixty represen-
tatives attended from tribes at Liverpool, Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Alexandria.
The Glasgoio Weekly Mail, June 13, had a view of 'the Gypsy Palace' at
Yetholm.
T.P.'s Weekly, July 10, gave an account of James Macpherson, son of an In-
vereshie family by a Gypsy mother, and a Highland freebooter, the majority of
whose followers were Gypsies. He fell in love with a Gypsy girl, and with one
companion joined a band of Egyptians. At a fair at Keith, which he attended
with them, he was captured by the Macduff of Braco, and eight days after his
trial he played at the foot of the gallows the pibroch known as ' Macpherson's
Farewell,' and then offered his violin to any one who would promise to play the
same tune at his ' lykewake.' As no one accepted the offer, he broke the violin
over his knee, threw the fragments among the crowd, and then flung himself
from the gallows tree.
The Evening News, August 12, stated that at St. Andrews Fair the Gypsy
fortune-tellers did very well, some of the Fifeshire lassies having half-a-crown's
worth of fortunes, the offer made to them being a titled husband for every shilling
they paid.
The Scotsman, September 1, contained a letter from Alexander Kinloch,
supporting one from D. M. R., on the inoffensive character of the Gypsies,
muggers or tinkers, who used an old lane in East Linton, near Edinburgh, for
camping. A gamekeeper said that during twenty-nine years they had never
poached on his land, but more than once had told him of pheasant or partridge
nests, one of which was within ten yards of their tents.
The Dundee Weekly Neivs, September 12, gave a view of a Gypsy basket-
makers' camp at Motherwell, consisting of some of the Lee family from Newcastle.
The tall swarthy chief wore a crimson plush waistcoat.
The Scotsman, December 15, contained a letter stating that the Registers at
Dull recorded that 'on April 8, 1749, Donald Stewart, tinker, and Margrat
fferguson both in Moness, Dull paroch, gave their names to be proclaimed in order
to marriage — John Stewart and Neill McLean, witnesses.' The writer, John
Christie, stated that he had witnessed the baptisms of several children of tinkers,
and had been godfather once, and remembered a tinker's wedding at Kenmore
Manse in the early ' eighties.'
America.
The Weekly Record, U.S.A., on 31st January 1908, gave a half-tone view of —
(1) ' Gypsies in Winter Camp at Manhattan Crossing,' where they had been for
several months. They had four tents and two waggons. There were musicians
playing mandolin, accordion, and guitar. (2) ' A Gypsy Smith in Brooklyn,' who
was an Italian, and whom they called Chief.
Tlte World, February 10, gave a view of a Gypsy camp at Decker's Heights,
Port Richmond, Staten Island, showing a bdro vardo, and a portrait of Ellen
Bucklin ; the camp being that of King Kit Bucklin, reported to be 98 years old,
and his wife 78, and they had a son David. There were nine tents, and about
thirty persons : the children happy, healthy, and comfortable, though the ther-
mometer ' clung around zero.'
AFFAIRS OF EGYPT, 1908 291
The New York Herald, February 20, reported a charge of burglary and stealing
15,000 dollars in cash and jewellery from a tent against Richard, Mitchell, Maloney,
and Budd Stanley, aged thirty, twenty-eight, twenty, and fourteen. The money
was the dowry of 'Princess' Bessie Stanley, who was to marry a 'Bohemian
of the old Romany tribes,' and portraits were given of the four defendants, also
of Bessie Stanley, and Queen Pipa, or Papita, Maliva, otherwise Dora Pearse, and
of Peter Marion or Martin, aged eight, who saw a great knife slash the tent, and
Richard Stanley crawl in and grab the bag of money and hand it to Mitchell
Stanley.
The New Yorker Staats Zeitung, on January 15, 1908, reported the arrest of
Budd Stanley, aged 17, and his brother Malone, aged 20, at the camp of the
Stanley tribe in White Plains Avenue, Boston Road, on a charge of stealing things
worth 1500 (not 15,000) dollars, from the tent of Queen Dora.
The New York Sun, of same date, stated that the Pearses claimed to be
Russians born in Mexico, and Gregorio Demetrovitch was their king, and they
only spoke Italian and Romany. The Stanleys said they were Austrians, and had
been fifteen years in America, trading horses, and in summer camped at Coney
Island. Queen Dora had been with her tribe all over Europe, Rumania, Servia,
England, and Australia, and she wore three chains composed of coins from wher-
ever she had been. When she married, thirty years before, she had a dowry of
2000 dollars, which she had saved, and every member of the tribe was compelled
to add to the pile, till it amounted to 10,000 dollars, kept in one division of the
big bag, and gold and silver belts, cups and ornaments, kept in the other division
(some of the Stanleys had seen her counting the money the day before the robbery).
One of the Gypsies always watched the bag. On the day of the theft Tom
Pearse was left on guard, but Levi Stanley induced him to go to the theatre,
leaving a woman named Pipa and a boy, Petro Marion, eight years old, in the
tent. A gdji inveigled Pipa out to tell her fortune, and Petro wandered out,
leaving only two babies, one called Maria Louise, asleep in the tent, and when he
returned he witnessed the theft, and told the judge, ' If I tell a lie I go to Diabolo,
to hell.'
The Vancouver (British Columbia) Advertiser, February 21, said the offence
occurred in a field at Boston Road, The Bronx, New York, on December 26, when
the rival tribes of Stanley and Pearse were camped near each other in order to
celebrate a marriage, which would terminate a feud between them.
Other undated cuttings from American Jewish papers gave accounts in
Yiddish of the wholesale arrest of thirteen Gypsies for stealing 2500 dollars in
cash and 6000 dollars' worth of jewellery belonging to 'Queen' Dora Pearse. The
prisoners offered to deposit 45,000 dollars' worth of jewellery as bail but it was
refused, so they had to wait in gaol until the Sessions, as they had no 'real estate.'
The band had been encamped off White Plains Road, and belonged to ' King '
Stanley's tribe. A third tribe was under ' Queen ' Bess. They said they made
their money by fortune-telling.
Another paper, also in Yiddish, said the prisoners were English Gypsies,
and the theft was from some Bohemian Gypsies, one of whom was about to be
married.
Another cutting from a Jewish paper stated, in Yiddish, that Richard Stanley,
aged thirty, Mitchell Stanley, twenty-eight, Mahoney, twenty, and Budd, fourteen,
were accused of stealing 15,000 dollars from the camp of Princess Pipa Shiliva of
the Pearse tribe of Gypsies, who were camping near the Stanleys near Boston Post
Road on the way to White Plains. They occupied themselves with begging and
peddling all kinds of things, and between the two tribes there was always a secret
war. The money was stolen on Christmas Eve 1907, from under a mattress in the
tent of the Pearse tribe, where it was kept in a satchel, and formed the whole
fortune of the tribe. A Gypsy lad gave evidence that he was in the tent, and saw
2f)2 AFFAIRS OF EGYPT, 1908
two of the accused cut open the mattress with a sharp knife, and seize the bag
of fold. The Court was crowded with members of both the tribes, dressed in
their best clothes and wearing all their ornaments.
The New York Evening Post, April 7, reported that the Stanleys were con-
victed and the women, in bright-coloured skirts and headgear and black bodices,
moaned and wept till driven from the Court-room.
The Morning Leader, March 7, stated that application had been filed for the
incorporation of ' The National Gipsy Association of America,' which was to control
the various bands in the United States. Joe Adams was to be King, John Adams
' Brown Prince,' and Bill Adams ' Treasurer,' the objects of the Association being
to encourage greater harmony, more permanency of residence, and better education
of the children.
The Paterson (Neiv Jersey) Call, May 15, narrated how a woman was beguiled
by one of the Gypsies camped about the west end of that city. She parted with
two rings and other jewellery worth 230 dollars, which were to lie buried in the
woods for three days, in order to secure the owner's fortune. After three days
about fifteen tribes in Passaic and Bergen counties were visited and their tents and
vans searched, in vain, to find the missing Gypsy, and the money, etc.
The New York Times, early in June, reported that ' Gipsy Stanley and his
wife' were arrested at Fall River for luring from home a fifteen-year-old boy.
The New York Times, July 3, reported the case of a woman, whose husband
was an amusement booth runner, who had left his wife and three children, and
that the Gypsies had sheltered them, and had been entrusted by the woman with .
the two elder children, aged five and three.
A Jewish newspaper, published in the United States of America, on July 20
described in Yiddish how a beautiful Gypsy woman told the fortune of an
architect in return for his kindness in allowing her to use the telephone in his
office, and how she persuaded him first to have his eyes blindfolded with his own
handkerchief. When she had finished, she took off the bandage from his eyes,
and took herself off very quickly, and when he examined his satchel he missed
113 dollars.
An account was also given in Yiddish how two Gypsy women promised to tell
a shoeblack his fortune, if he would give their boots a ' shine ' ; but after he had
done so they declared that his hands were so thick with blacking that they could
not read his fortune from them.
The Boston Herald, August 18, gave two large half-tone views of Gypsies—
(1) making the wedding-dress of Rose, daughter of John Steave the chief ; a merry
group of five females squatting on the ground with a naked baby beside them and
a dog ; (2) the baby and its mother, with the bride-elect hiding behind her and
saying, ' I don't want no picture taken.' 1 The bridegroom was Charles Bubble,
and the band were encamped at West Roxbury. The bride was thirteen and the
bridegroom was fifteen, and they were only waiting for a sunny day, when he
would lay his hands on her shoulders and swear allegiance to her, and she would
be clad in bright robes, and would wear the quaint ornaments which the old
women treasured ; then there would be dancing and singing, and drinking Gypsy
wine from straw-bound bottles.
Enul Restig, one of the chiefs of the camp at Centre Street, West Roxbury,
was ordered by the Health Authority to quit within a week, because the camp
was insanitary, but he refused unless the landowner refunded the 100 dollars paid
for the camping ground.
The Boston Journal, August 20, gave portraits of Charlie Bubble, of a woman
who gammoned the reporter that she was Rosa Megg the bride, and of a bare-
footed Gypsy child carrying part of the wedding feast. It was said that there
1 See /. G. L. S., New Series, iii., frontispiece to No. 2, and pp. 81-88.
AFFAIRS OF EGYPT, 1908 293
were to be three weddings. The camp was in Trap Valley. There were tents
and waggons. The women smoked. The bride's hair was smoothed with lard
and braided ; and she was adorned with necklaces of pearl and gold, and beads of
ivory and silver. The wedding dress was crimson and spangled ; she wore a red
sash and scarlet veil ; and a wreath of flowers added to the brilliancy of her ap-
pearance. A band with fife, drum, horn, and fiddle playing weird music marched
to John Steve's tent, near which was a big waggon with several large beer kegs.
After much health toasting and slapping of shoulders, Steve led the procession
back, headed by a lad bearing aloft a tree branch, with a cluster of fluttering
handkerchiefs, ribbons, and garlands of all colours on it. They danced round
Charlie's tent, and then went to the tent where Rosa and her father were waiting.
The troth was plighted by the pair, with their hands on each other's shoulders,
and then came 'wild sweet music,' and the rest danced round them with tomtoms
beating time. Drinking and dancing led to quarrelling, but Steve restored peace
with his fist.
The feast included ten pigs, pans of macaroni, bowls of spaghetti, and other
viands, washed down with beer.
John Steve was a Brazilian, who was naturalised in 1904. He owned several
houses, was domiciled at Chicago, and displayed a big roll of ' greenbacks.'
The Boston Herald, August 20, gave three more views— (1) the wedding
ceremony ; (2) Rose in wedding dress, with other women ; (3) the oldest woman,
smoking, and sons of Romany saluting her.
The Boston Post, August 20, also gave three views— (1) Lily Silva, crown
bearer ; (2) Rose Megg, with bridal banner ; (3) John Mitchell, Frank Bubble,
and Harry Demartro, with another banner.
The Boston Sunday Herald, August 23, gave more views— (1) Gypsy father
taking his son to whip him ; (2) girls dressing for the wedding ; (3) John Steave
and two sons ; (4) dancing round the flag ; (5) four Gypsy youths ; (6) Wallier
Mary, an American girl brought up from infancy with Gypsies ; (7) Rye tribe
waggon, to hold ten. The reporter eloquently described how he was mobbed for
money and cigarettes ; youngsters clutched his arm, and clung to his clothes in a
shrieking ring around him ; and fortune- telling, in broken English, was also
vividly described. Then, all of a sudden, all the men able to stand (after much
beer drinking) began punching each other or kicking the dogs, and every baby
in the camp began to howl, but the women went on chopping wood and building
up the tires for the night. At the feast, men, women, and children scooped fist-
fuls of mush from platters, and crammed them into their mouths.
A Boston newspaper, August 24, stated that there had been a wedding on
the Sunday between Poppa Pettegie, otherwise 'Princess Sara,' aged fourteen,
and Damitro Kaslo, otherwise 'Prince John Mitchell,'' and that during the
uproar Irena Feudar, a fifteen-year-old Gypsy girl, had escaped, and been found
by the police, to whom she had said that she had been stolen by Servian Gypsies
from her home in Russia ; but she gave so many inconsistent versions that the
police regarded it as a ruse for prolonging the stay of the tribe where they were,
and this view was strengthened by a rumour of the murder of a policeman near
the camp, and of a robbery there.
The Hoboken Observer reported that the North Bergen Township Committee
had received complaints about forty families of Brazilian, Russian, and Hungarian
Gypsies under King Joseph, and had ordered them to quit their camp on the race-
track grounds.
A newspaper from St. John's, Nova Scotia, September 18, reported that an
English Gypsy, named Bridget t»>uigley (!), had been arrested for fortune-telling
at Newbury, New York, where she went into a house to sell lace, 'stolen from
Windsor Castle,' and made passes which hypnotised the woman, while the
' Gypsy ' took furs, a gold locket, seventeen dollars, and two sofa pillows.
294 AFFAIRS OF EGYPT, 1908
The Hoboken (New Jersey) newspaper in October reported that 'Princess'
Sara Maria of the Gypsy camp at Guttenberg race-track, who was fourteen, had
been hypnotised by her uncle Tom, who had joined the tribe six months before
with his wife and three children, and that under the hypnotic influence she had
shown him where a thousand dollars were hidden in a trunk which he made her
open, and that he then ran oft" with her and the money. He was thought to have
hidden the money on ' his brother's estate,' on the outskirts of Baltimore.
A New York paper in December described how a Gypsy woman named Sena
Olena told a cobbler's fortune at The Bronx. She sat by a fire in a cauldron and
stirred it. It turned yellow, pink, and then green. She said it meant much
money for him. Next she blew into a fish-globe of water, and it bubbled. That
meant a great fortune, but the spirits demanded how much money he had. The
cobbler confessed to having sixty dollars. ' Then tie it in your handkerchief,
place it next your heart, and put your hands in the globe, and keep them there
till I return.' When he got tired of waiting, he examined his money and found
that twenty dollars had disappeared, so he caused her arrest.
Croatia.
The Morning Leader and other newspapers, on February 26, stated that
peasants were charged with poisoning nineteen Gypsies nearTompokevac by giving
them part of a cow poisoned with arsenic, and that in a neighbouring district
sixteen other Gypsies had been killed by eating hares, which peasants had
poisoned and laid on the snow, where the Gypsies found them.
France.
In January, at Arles-sur-Tech, near Carcassonne, two 'gitanas,' who hawked
needles and thread, persuaded a woman to draw cards, and asserted that a large
sum was hidden in her house, and that, to find the spot, it was necessary to con-
sult the infernal spirits, which would cost twenty francs, and that after receiving
fourteen francs fifty centimes they left, saying they would return in three days
to point out where the treasure lay.
The Evening Standard on January 24 reported that in a Gypsy's van a
gendarme had found a valuable painting by Vandyk that had been taken from a
church at Courtrai in December 1907.
The Star on February 4 referred to the case of the Gypsy band camping at
Mont St. Martin, whither they had been brought by the Belgian gendarmes in
October, and for four months had been watched by French and Belgian gendarmes'
and maintained by the Mont St. Martin municipality at a considerable cost. The
family was composed of eight persons. According to the Daily Express, February
14, they had been expelled from the village of Aubange. Their van was said to be
stationed along the actual frontier line. On the 7th and 8th of April several news-
papers reported that the Gypsies had sold their horses and caravans, and had
decamped one night. It was believed that they had gone to Luxemburg.
The Morning Advertiser, February 27, stated that Gypsy camps at Boulogne-
sur-Seine and Pontin had been found to contain several deserters from the army,
and that others were criminals.
The South Wales Echo, March 28, told how Jean Marie Benard (which is a
common Gypsy name in France), who was fifteen, and was an errand boy at a Lyons
bank, fell in love with Elvira Gonzales, a Gypsy, who persuaded him to forge a
cheque for 50,000 francs (i,'2000;. This he cashed, and after spending £80 in
travelling necessaries, he handed the rest to the gitana, who ran off with it.
The World of Travel for April, p. 101, contained a half-tone view of a French
Gypsy caravan, consisting of a hand-cart, in which a Gypsy ai.d his wife lived.
The Daily Chronicle and other newspapers, April 22, reported that at Wissons,
AFFAIRS OF EGYPT, 1908 295
near Corbeil, twenty-one miles south of Paris, about fifty Gypsies encamped, and
on being refused money or food maltreated the inhabitants, and tried to set fire to
the houses. They drove the gendarmes into the Communal Town Hall, and
besieged it, until reinforcements came from Longjumeau, when about forty were
arrested, and the remainder escaped to the woods.
The Daily Express, May 7, and Morning Advertiser, May 8, reported the
arrest at Chalons-sur-Marne of forty sham cripples, mostly of Spanish origin, who
were travelling in twelve Gypsy caravans, under the leadership of a Spaniard
named Rubio y Alvares, thirty-five years old, who supplied the device for simulat-
ing deformities. Over „£60 was found in Rubio's van, with evidence that he had
sent £400 to correspondents.
The Porc%ipine, May 16, in ' Paris Chat,' told how a Gypsy woman called on a
lady doctor begging her to come and see her sick daughter in a caravan near Porte
Champeret, just outside the fortifications. She asked for a pot of pomade, for, she
said, ' It is our custom to anoint the body of the sufferer, and afterwards to place
to her feet some serpents, such as these that I carry in this basket.' She handed
over a bank note for one hundred francs, bidding the doctoress to deduct her fee
out of it, and then while change was being counted out, she emptied her basket of
serpents on to the floor. The doctoress screamed and fled. The Gypsy picked up
the purse and some things from the sideboard, and then secured her snakes, and
departed, and the police were unable to find her.
The Daily Telegraph, August 15, told how a Gypsy woman, who lived in a hut
on waste ground outside Paris, called on an Austrian actress in Paris, and persuaded
her to be blindfolded while her fortune was told. It was a wonderful fortune, but
after the Gypsy's departure the actress's jewels were missed, and were at last found
in the Gypsy's hut, with many others.
The Morning Daily Advertiser, August 21, narrated how a Gypsy woman named
Mercedes, from Perpignan, told fortunes at Paris, but declined to return jewellery
and money which were handed to her to hold whilst the cards were consulted.
The Morning Advertiser, September 12, stated that, at Berck-Plage, the police
arrested a pretended Moorish ' woman,' who proved to be a Spanish Gypsy named
Philip Fernandez, eighteen years old.
The Matin, December 27, contained an article on the projected legislation,
which would recpure nomads to have identity cards, and to have them checked at
each stopping-place. Outside the Choisy gate, near the fortifications, three Gypsy
vans were found by the reporter. One old woman held out her hand, begging in
Polish, 'Chamo, chamo, chamo.' A Gypsy man was found, who could
speak French, and the proposed laws were explained to him. He replied : ' But
I can't read and I can't write, and I don't know how old I am, nor where I was
born, and I don't remember the names of the places where my children were born,
nor their ages exactly. We don't bother ourselves about such things, and if they
put a number on the van we '11 take it off. We had better go somewhere else if
that happens.'
The Christian, December 31, contained an article headed 'Among French
Gypsies,' by S. H. Anderson, telling of the illness and consequent blindness of an
old French Gypsy named Renee, who attended the Paris Caravan Mission when
camping near Paris, and died near the Marche aux Puces, when ' a lighted candle,
stuck to a plate, near the head of the bed, and a sprig of box, in a saucer of water,
near the foot, were the only visible tokens of religious superstition.'
Germany.
On January 11, 1908, the Birmingham Daily Post contained an article on
' Germany's Treatment of Gypsies.' It was taken from the Neiv York Tribune,
and stated that the laws and police regulations of Prussia had now been extended
296 AFFAIRS OF EGYPT, 1908
to all the States of the Confederation, that at the instance of the Kaiser an organised
war was being instituted against these wandering tribes, and that magistrates and
police, urban and rural, had explicit directions for a campaign against the Gypsies.
The Kaiser's attitude was decidedly popular, for the bands of Gypsies ' in a
number of instances, in every year,' stole and kidnapped children, and Tziganes
were adepts at espionage.
The Daily Express, March 19, announced that the Countess Vilma Festetics
and her Gypsy musician husband Nyary were engaged at £60 a week to appear
every evening at the Cafe Splendid in Berlin, when Nyary with his wife by
his side was to conduct the Hungarian Gypsy band from seven in the evening till
two in the morning.
The New York American, April 3, repeated this, embellishing the article with
a large portrait of the Countess and a small one of Nyary.
Hungary.
The New York Evening Post, July 25, 1908, in the news from Budapest, stated
that a majority of the crimes in Hungary — murders, kidnapping, and robberies — are
committed by Gypsies, and that the perpetrators are seldom apprehended. A long
list of murders and other outrages recently committed by nomad Gypsy bands at
Puszta and elsewhere in Hungary had again brought up the subject of controlling
the Gypsies, of whom there were 50,000.
The Globe, August 25, 1908, gave an account of an attack by Gypsies on an
isolated farm on the Hungarian ' puzta,' where they had been refused food and
money. It was close to a railway, and a train was stopped when the tiring was
heard, and the passengers drove off and captured most of the Gypsies with their
vans and belongings. Many were wounded, but nobody was killed in the fight.
The Sphere, September 12, gave a page of eleven views of ' The Gypsies of
Europe and their Work,' with a statement that there were 90,000 Gypsies in
Hungary, where the men and women Gypsies were employed as labourers for
building, street paving, and the like : five of the views showed women working on
buildings or paving ; two were of women carrying bundles of straw ; one repairing
bedding ; one a band ferrying over the Danube ; the two largest views were
(1) a woman and six children, apparently tinkers, three having hammers ; (2) two
women at Bucharest.
Italy.
Ars et Labor, December 1908 (63rd year No. 12 : an illustrated monthly
review of music), contained (pp. 930-4) an account of a visit to a Gypsy camp out-
side one of the gates of Borne. It was headed ' Gli Zingari a Roma,' and was
accompanied by nine views from photographs :— (1) Gypsy's wife and her little
daughter ; (2) the chiefs wife and her little sons ; (3) interior of a Gypsy tent ;
(4) the chief, aged Gypsy woman, and little Gypsies ; (5) huts of country Gypsies ;
(6) a girl ; (7) a Roman Gypsy; (8) the chiefs daughter ; (9) the chief's daughter
and the eldest Gypsy woman. The reporter found it hard to understand them, as
they mixed up French, Slavonic, English, Arabic, and Italian. The chief asked
the reporter if he was ' polisiemann,' and when he found he represented a news-
paper, very politely asked him into his tent, which was something like a bell-
shaped military tent, but bigger, and as well furnished as many houses. He said
they had been in Europe, parts of America, and Asia, and when he was a boy he
had been in Africa. They went on foot there, they separated, and rejoined from
time to time, and he was once put into prison for several days, and the voyage by
sea disturbed them most. He had succeeded his father as chief. It was an
hereditary office. They were wishful to work, and once had a small circus of
horses. They were farriers and veterinaries, fortune-tellers, and iron-workers ;
AFFAIRS OF EGYPT, 1908 297
one was a shoemaker, and another a tailor. All earnings were handed to the chief,
who divided the funds for the wants of the band. When he was a child they were
a large band, but some had died, and some had been fallen in love with and been
married, and had left the wandering life. Tea was served from a large samovar.
' E il nostro saluto, signore, un povero saluto ma sincero.' The reporter had hardly
left the tent before he was mobbed by the children, crying, ' Soldo, soldo, soldo.'
The chief was a tall man, wearing a long loose coat with many large buttons on it.
His wife was very stout.
Palestine.
The January 1908 Quarterly Statement of the Palestine Exploration Fund con-
tained ' A Sketch of the Grammatical Structure of the Nuri Language,' by R. A.
Stewart Macalister, M.A., F.S.A., pp. 64-70.1
In the same Statement was an account by the Rev. J. E. Hanauer of a founda-
tion-sacrifice myth told by a Gypsy girl.
The Annual Report of the same society in December stated that at Gezer,
near a shrine, there was an artificial cave called the rock hollow of the Zutt or
Gypsies, and the Rev. G. E. White, in an account of ' Survivals of Primitive
Beliefs,' instanced the death of a Gypsy girl, which her father attributed to her
disappointed suitor having ' read ' over a flowing fountain at which she drank.
' The water clove to her breast-bone, and she sickened and died,' in spite of prayers
over her by a Christian priest and a Mohammedan imam.
Poland.
A New York paper, in Yiddish, stated that Petre-kow is the centre for all the
Gypsies that live in Poland under a leader (ataman) named Kaminski, who is
selected by the government to be their governor. Kaminski is very rich, and lives
like a bdrorai. All disputes between Gypsies in Poland are referred to him, and
every Gypsy marriage requires his sanction. In a recent case the ataman decreed
the payment of 3000 roubles by the bridegroom's father to the bride's father, on
account of the bride's celebrated beauty. The marriage took place in the Schtart
Wald, where the dancing and drinking were kept up for three days. The religious
ceremony took place in Lodz, where the Gypsies have 'a lovely cloister.' When
the Gypsies were about to disperse the ataman declared that some one had robbed
him of 200 roubles, and had robbed the lucky father, who had sold his daughter so
dearly, of the 3000 roubles paid for her. Suspicion of the robbery fell on a Gypsy,
who was caught in Lodz in possession of all the money.
Russia.
The Daily Star, September 18, 1908, said that Tolstoy in his early manhood
associated with Gypsies, and that a vivid account of the Russian Gypsy choirs was
given by him in Two Hiissars, in Constable's Sevastopol Edition of Tolstoy's
works.
Silesia.
The Daily Star and other newspapers, on July 31, contained an account, sent
from Vienna, of a quarrel between two bands of Gypsies at Friedeck, Silesia. It
began between two members of the bands. One shot the other. The rest joined
in with knives, daggers, and revolvers. Two more were killed, and several were
wounded. The rest then adjourned to an inn, where the conflict began afresh, and
six more were killed, five were mortally wounded, and of the whole thirty-four
only one was unhurt. The wounded included several women and children. Two
1 See J. G. L. S., New Series, vol. iii. pp. 120-148.
298 THE LANGUAGE OF THE NAWAR OR ZUTT
of the men were drowned in trying to cross the river Ostrovitza, to escape arrest.
Stolen goods, including some valuable jewels, were found in the waggons.
Spain.
The Boston Sunday Herald, July 5, 1 908, had an article by Mrs. Wyman, of
Boston, on the dances of the Spanish Gypsies, with five illustrations. At Granada
she visited Juan Amaya, chief of the Granada tribe.
The Petit Bleu, December 21, stated that three Gypsies, who had killed two
'gardes civils,' had been executed at Cordova, and two other Gypsies at Seville had
been condemned to death, for killing in a train two ' gardes civils,' who were taking
them to prison.
Switzerland.
At Geneva, on February 15, 1908, a programme was issued for the 'Ninth
International Geographical Congress,' to be held July 27 to August 6. The sec-
tion for anthropology and ethnography was to be addressed on the subject of
Gypsies by the Marquis A. Colocci, of Catania ; by Commander Guido Cora of
Rome ; and by Dr. Eug. Pittard of Geneva.
The Morning Leader (also the Star), on April 10, reported the arrest of a Gypsy
band in the forest of Qangetsholz, near Bulach, in Canton Zurich. They were
alleged to have roamed through the forests of Germany and Switzerland, and to
have become a terror in the land, on account of their robberies. Their leader was
Emil Haussman, who came from Wurtemburg, and he made a desperate struggle
to escape.
The Sta7idard, May 26, stated that on the northern and eastern frontiers of
Switzerland, and on the southern frontier of Germany, several Gypsy bands from
Bohemia, Silesia, and Hungary had been lately driven across the frontiers.
V.— A GRAMMAR AND VOCABULARY OF THE LAN-
GUAGE OF THE NAWAR OR ZUTT, THE NOMAD
SMITHS OF PALESTINE.
By R. A. Stewart Macalister, M.A., F.S.A.
(Continued from p. 126)
II. The Article
18. nnHERE are two articles in Nuri, the indefinite, and what
J- may be termed the emphatic or superdefinite article.
The absence of either article in the singular number implies the
ordinary definite article : as the indefinite article is used only in
the singular, it is impossible in the plural to express the distinc-
tion between definite and indefinite substantives.
19. The indefinite article is -k, -ak, or -ik, suffixed to the sub-
stantive— the first when the substantive ends in a vowel, the others
when it ends in a consonant. Thus, jiiri, ' the woman ' : jiirik, ' a
woman.'
Obs. I. An i is sometimes appended to the indefinite article. This appears to
THE LANGUAGE OF THE NAWAR OR ZUTT 299
be quite arbitrary, not depending on euphony, gender, or any other grammatical
distinction. Thus, conak or conaki, 'a boy.'
Obs. II. The indefinite article is sometimes 'piled up,' so to speak, superflu-
ously : thus, tfstii yikuki tmdlik, which literally means ' there was ... a one . . .
a soldier.'
20. The superdefinite article is ii-, 6-, I-, or sometimes cm, pre-
fixed to the substantive, which it usually robs of its accent, and of
the quantity of its long vowels. Thus the word jriri with this
article is pronounced ejtiri, almost rhyming with English
' plagiary.'
Obs. The superdefinite article is properly a contraction of the proclitic
demonstrative uhii, ihi, ehe, 'that,' 'those.' The distinctions of gender and num-
ber, which still survive in a measure between the various forms of the demonstra-
tive, have disappeared in the article.
21. The superdefinite article may be regarded as the equivalent
of the English ' the very,' or of ' tJte ' when printed in italics, as in
such a sentence as ' he saw the house,' meaning the important or
specially interesting house. But it is often used superfluously,
having so completely lost its demonstrative or emphatic sense
that it must be translated by the indefinite article. Thus, in Ex.
lxxx in the accompanying collection of stories, Idherdct egcizali
means no more than ' he saw a gazelle.'
06s. It is of course possible that in this example the sense is 'he saw the
gazelle with which this story is concerned,' but such an explanation is probably
too subtle.
22. The Arabic article el- is sometimes borrowed, but rarely for
use with native Nuri words, being almost confined to substantives
and adjectives taken from Arabic. It is most commonly used with
adjectives which define and limit the substantives to which they
are attached : as gcil-kerdi bardskci el-mUfalti, ' she said to her
brother — the foolish one.' On the other hand, the native articles
are freely used with Arabic substantives. The rules for the
assimilation of the I of the Arabic article with liquids, dentals,
and sibilants — the so-called ' solar letters ' — are followed as in
Arabic.
Obs. The use of the Arabic article is sometimes curiously extended beyond its
legitimate Arabic use. Thus it is possible to prefix it to the relative pronoun :
audi ndudri gdsastd min-sdn el-illi mistd hori, 'the old woman is searching for
a herb for the sake of the (person) who is sick.' In the remarkable passage in
Ex. x, ya baiom, ahdk el-ihra, 'wife, thus was the (thing which) happened,' it
appears to be prefixed to a verb ; but perhaps el is here a contraction of the rela-
tive pronoun Mi.
300 THE LANGUAGE OF THE NAWAR OR ZUTT
III. Substantives
[N.B. — The rules and the paradigms of Substantives and Verbs given in this
grammar have all been deduced from an analysis of the examples collected and
printed below. A certain number of exceptional and anomalous forms will be
discovered by the careful reader : these, so far as possible, are noticed in the
footnotes to the examples, or else in the Vocabulary.]
23. Substantives can be divided into three classes, according
to the termination of their nominative case. The first class con-
tains those that end in -i, the second those that end in -a or -6, the
third class those ending in a consonant.
Obs. Substantives of the third class are frequently transferred to the first by
the addition of a superfluous -i to the nominative. This seems to be purely
arbitrary. Thus mantis, 'a man,' is often pronounced mdnusi. This superfluous
•i is almost always added to the nominative case of Arabic proper names, whether
of persons or of places, as Hdsani, ' Hasan.' It is also very often added to Arabic
common nouns, as in wdsihi, Arabic wdsih, ' dirt.'
24. There are three genders, masculine, feminine, and neuter.
The last is now all but obsolete, being recognisable only by the
form of the accusative singular. As a general rule, nouns of the
first class appear to be feminine, those of the second masculine,
but there are many exceptions. There is no general rule for
determining the gender of substantives of the third class, each of
which must be considered separately. But in no case is the
determination of the gender of a substantive easy, unless its sense
involve some natural distinction of sex.
25. There are two numbers, singular and plural. Faint
traces are not wanting of the former existence of a dual, but this
is almost wholly obsolete.
26. There are nine cases, distinguished by suffixes, which in
general are added to the accusative form of the noun. The
distinctions of meaning between the several cases are breaking
down, the machinery of declension being too complicated for this
simple folk. The ambiguities that necessarily result are often
evaded by the use of prepositions, borrowed from Arabic.
27. The nine cases, which we shall now consider each in its
turn, will here be given the following names : — Nominative, Voca-
tive, Accusative, Dative, Locative, Instrumental, Associative,
Directive, Ablative.
28. The Nominative Singular, as we have seen, ends in -i, -a,
-o, or in a consonant. Any consonant may terminate a noun of the
third class, as the following examples will show : —
THE LANGUAGE OF THE NAWAR OR ZUTT 301
jib, tongue. ag, fire. dam, a Nuri. atos, flour.
cenc, side. tftirdg, sickle, ben, a sister. drat, night.
dad, grandmother, cokmak, tinder, sap, a snake. dirs, a furrow.
dif, tobacco. cat, a well. bar, a brother, hrez, a cock.
Some of these may have originally ended in a vowel, as they
often assume an -i at the end of the nominative singular. There
occasionally is a difference of meaning implied with the presence
or absence of this vowel, as in ag, ' fire,' agi also meaning ' fire,'
but sometimes ' hell.' But as a rule there is no such distinction :
pidz and pidzi both mean ' onion ' indifferently.
29. Very common are pairs of words ending in -a and in -i
respectively, which form the masculine and feminine complement
of each other, thus —
cond, a boy. cdni, a girl.
dosdrd, a negro. dosdri, a negress.
Somtimes, though rarely, there are similar groups not depending
on sex or gender distinctions : as mdkild, ' a sandfly ' ; mdhili, ' a
housefly.'
30. There are a few substantives Avith exceptional termina-
tions. Thus pie, ' money,' ends in e. Li°, ' iron,' and su°, ' a needle,'
are always pronounced with a hamza, which disappears in the
oblique cases. Some monosyllabic words denoting the nearer
relationships, and a very few others, end in diphthongs : such are
bol, ' father ' ; dal, ' mother ' ; bat, ' wife ' ; pal, ' husband.' Of
other words ending in a diphthong, the commonest, perhaps, is
ddwal, ' camel.'
Obs. Great care has to be observed, in compiling a vocabulary from the mouth
of a Nuri, to distinguish between simple and compound nouns. (The latter are
nouns with the various adventitious suffixes, such as the indefinite article, the pro-
nominal suffixes, etc.). If a Nuri be asked, for example, to give the word for
' horse,' he will be more likely than not to say yegrom, which means ' my horse,' or
yegror, ' thy horse,' or yegral; ' a horse,' or yegreh, ' it is a. horse,' instead of the
simple yegir. He may even say yegras nan, which means ' fetch the horse.'
Shakir told me that the word for 'jaw' is donder-deri, which obviously means 'the
place of thy teeth' : in the vocabulary I have accordingly changed this to dondan-
deri, which is what analogy shows the simple noun to be. In the Asiatic vocabu-
lary in Paspati's Tchinghianes (pp. 118-125) the words kharilc, 'bone,' and masak,
' month,' should not have the affixed -k, which is the indefinite article.
31. The Nominative Plural ends in a short and unaccented
-e. Thus, kdjjd, ' Gentile ' ; Plural, Mjje : laci, ' girl ' ; Plural, lacie
(trisyllable).
Obs. I. A few substantives form their plural irregularly : the commonest of
these is zdro, 'boy'; plural, ziriate.
.302
THE LANGUAGE OF THE NAWAR OR ZUTT
Obs. II. In conversation there is often confusion between the true plural, in -e,
and the predicative plural suffix -$ni, which will be more fully described in §§ 7(5
et seqq. Thus, instead of lacie, 'girls,' one may often hear lacieni, which properly
means ' THEY auk girls.' Similarly, ziriatmi, mansmi are often substituted for
zlridte, 'boys,' and maniise, 'men.' A Nuri, if asked for the word for 'brother,'
will be almost certain to say bar6mi (properly 'my brother'). If asked for the
plural, ho will likewise say bareni, literally 'they are brothers.'
32. The Vocative Singular is almost obsolete; and of a
Vocative Plural I have found no trace at all. The native
vocative survives, apparently, only in words denoting close
relationships : as b<Tid, ' 0 father ' ; maumd, ' O uncle.' Elsewhere
the Arabic vocative, which is formed by prefixing ya to the nomi-
native, has completely taken its place. Sometimes the super-
definite article (with a prefixed h for euphony) is interjected after
the ya : as in fumnesis, ya himati, ' Beat him, 0 people ! '
33. The Accusative Singular terminates in -a in the first
class of substantives, and in -(d)s in the second and third classes.
The Accusative Plural always ends in -n : in the first class the
termination is -en, in the second and third -an.
34. As in most Aryan languages, neuter substantives have no
accusative form different from the nominative. This is now the
only criterion for distinguishing neuter nouns. But even here
they appear to be in process of assimilation to the masculine or
feminine declension, and to be developing analogous accusative
forms.
35. The accusative case, singular and plural, is the stem
to ivhich the suffixes of the other oblique cases are appended.
36. The Dative case properly denotes ' that to which a thing
is given ' ; but the locative and directive are often used in the
same sense. Its distinguishing suffix is -td, added to the accusa-
tive singular or plural, in accordance with the last section. Thus
we have —
Nom. Sing.
Ace. Sing.
Dat. Sing.
Ace. Plur.
Dat. Plur.
mdnus (man)
Idci (girl)
cdnd (boy)
mdnsas
Idcid
cdnds
mdnsdstd
Idcidtd
cdndstd
mdnsdn
Idcien
cdnan
mdnsdntd
Idciintd
cdndntd
Obs. The following examples illustrate the irregular use of the dative where the
sense would require other cases : —
For the Locative : tirdom wi zerd barom-deriata, ' I paid 20 pounds in the
place of my brother.' [Properly deriamci.]
THE LANGUAGE OF THE NAWAR OR ZUTT 303
For the Directive : ndndendsan pdMhaginyeta, 'they brought them to the
court-house.' [It seems that the directive of this word, which would be of
unwieldy length, is never used] : galli jan deiminta [for deiminkara], ' let us go
to our village.'
For the Ablative : he rniis min desiminta [for desiminki], ' they are not
from our place'; sabdhtci rauren li-'d do/ier, 'we walked from morning till
37. The Locative and Instrumental cases differ in meaning
only, and not in external form. For convenience we shall always
speak of this form as the Locative, unless its instrumental signifi-
cance he in question. The characteristic termination is -ma,
added to the accusative in the same way as that illustrated in the
last section. In the plural, however, the n of the accusative
termination is always assimilated to the m of the case-ending, so
that nm becomes mm. The two m's are pronounced double,
according to rule, and the resulting emphasis produces a disturb-
ance of accent. The locative of the words given as examples in
the last section are thus — Singular, mansasmti, Idciama, conasma ;
Plural, mansdmma, laciimma. condmma. As a rule the locative
and instrumental cases, the uses of which are sufficiently expressed
by their names, trespass less on the province of other cases than
do the dative and directive ; but they are not wholly immune
from the prevailing confusion.
38. The Associative is dropping out of use, its place being
taken by prepositions. Its use is to express ' an object or person,
or group of objects or persons, with or among which the subject
of the sentence is.' Its characteristic termination is -sdnni,
sometimes abbreviated to sain (unaccented). Thus the associative
singular of md/tt/us is mdnsdssdnni (pronounce the double consonants
as double) or mansassan, and so for the other words used above
as examples. In certain expressions the associative gives place to
the locative. Thus the regular expression for ' in the army ' is
tmaliimmd, not tmaliensdnni, ' with the soldiers,' which we might
have expected.
39. The Directive case denotes ' something towards which a
person or thing is moving, or some one to whom a person is speak-
| ing.' It is thus a locative of motion, as the -ma case is a locative
I of rest. It is not unnatural that this case should be confused
i and interchanged, as it frequently is, with the dative, to which it
j evidently approximates in meaning. Its characteristic is -Mra,
I sometimes abbreviated to -ha (unaccented). Thus, the directive
I singular of mantis is mansaskdra, or sometimes mansaska. (The
304 THE LANGUAGE OF THE N AW Alt OR ZUTT
difference of accentuation in the longer and shorter forms of the
associative and directive cases is noteworthy).
40. The Ablative ends in -k or -hi indifferently, as mdnsdsk
or mdnsdsJci, etc. Properly this case denotes ' the thing or place
from which something else is taken.' It is also used in a causa-
tive sense, denoting that something takes place ' from ' or ' because
of ' something else.
Obs. A peculiar feature of this causative use of the ablative case is, that it is
almost always expressed in the plural, even when the substantive denotes a feeling
or emotion incapable of plurality : as ritzari biswdidnk, 'he trembled from fear'
(lit. from fears, i.e. from fearfulnesses or sensations of fear, not from several objects
of fear) : mraibhirianki, 'he died from hunger' (lit. 'from hungers').
41. The most important use of the ablative, however, is the
filling of the place of a genitive, which, as in other Romani
dialects, is entirely wanting. When the ablative is used for this
purpose, it almost always precedes the substantive on which it
depends, and the pronominal suffix suitable to the context is
added to the name of the thing possessed. Thus, ' the door of the
house ' is kuridk kdpius. Here kiiri is ' house ' : being a noun
of the first class, its accusative singular is kurid, and hence the
ablative is kuridk. Again, kdpi is ' door ' : -its is the third
person singular pronominal suffix, so that kdpius means ' its
door.'
42. The second of two words in genitive relationship, thus
expressed, tends in speaking to become an enclitic, the two words
being rapidly pronounced as one : thus, kuridk-kdpius.
43. There are sometimes irregularities or divergences in the
expression of the genitive. Among these may be mentioned : —
(1) The omission of the pronominal suffix, as in lacidk sirit
' the girl's head.' This is not very common.
(2) The omission of the ablative characteristic -k, thus reducing
the word to the form of the accusative, from which, however,
it must be carefully distinguished. Thus we find kdrds 'imliis for
kdrdsk 'imliis, ' the price of the donkey.' This becomes the more
confusing if, as sometimes happens, the pronominal suffix be
dropped at the same time : Thus I have heard ziridtdn sirie,
which is meant for ziridtdnk siriisdn, ' the boys' heads.' (The
plural pronominal suffix is -sdn). There are certain combinations
that have assumed a specific meaning : in these this abbreviated
construction is especially common. Thus donddn-mdsi, ' the flesh
of the teeth,' ' the gums,' and Hiiydis-sikd, ' God's voice,' ' thunder.'
THE LANGUAGE OF THE NAWAR OR ZUTT 305
(3) The expression of genitive relation by the Persian formula,
namely, the insertion of -i- between the two substantives, both in
the nominative case, the dependent coming first. Thus kdpi-i-
kuri, ' the door of the house.' This, in its pure form, is an uncom-
mon construction in Nuri ; but a contamination of the Persian
and the true Nuri construction is not infrequent. Thus I have
heard sirius-i-mdnsdsk for ' the man's head,' evidently a combina-
tion of siri-i-mdnus and the regular mdnsdski sirius. Similar is
mdza-i-ptiumki, ' the shoe of my foot.' The Nawar are, of course,
incapable of analysing the grammatical constructions of their
language, and (as we have seen already) are prone to give complex
forms when a simple form is required, as they are unable to
distinguish the one from the other.
44. An important series of derivative substantives, which
denote things that belong or appertain to something else, is
formed by affixing hdlci, ' a possession,' to the ablative of the
possessing thing or person. In such cases the k of the ablative
always disappears, and the affixed element is always enclitic.
Thus wdi, ' air,' ablative singular, wdldsk ; waidskdki, ' a thing
pertaining to air ' — a word used for either ' a window ' or ' a
winno wing-fork ' (!). The ablative plural is more frequently used
in this connection : ktir, ' a Christian,' ablative plural, ktirdnk ;
ktirdnkdki, ' a thing pertaining to Christians,' i.e. ' a church.'
Kdli, ' a goat,' ablative plural (irregular), kdlidnk ; kdlidnkdki, ' a
thing pertaining to goats,' i.e. ' a cave ' in which goats are penned.
45. Adjectives denoting ' fulness ' are in most other inflexional
languages followed by the genitive or ablative of the name of the
thing or substance filling. In Nuri, however, the noun is put in
the nominative. This is one of many cases in which the syntax
of colloquial Arabic has influenced that of the tongue of the Nawar.
Thus we have kdndwidk bdrdik ze'rdi, ' a jar which is full of gold '
(exactly analogous to the Arabic zvr mdldn dhdhdb) : tiUi-hdhdrd
bdrdik gdntld, ' a garden which is full of flowers.' This construction
is used even when the adjective is not expressed : as gonik pie
' a purse (full) of money.' On the other hand, in an expression
next to impossible for a stranger to pronounce, kotkdk kirwidk, ' a
cup of coffee,' it is clear that the second word is in the ablative,
not the nominative with the indefinite article, as the latter would
be unsuitable for the sense of the word kirwi (' coffee ')
46. In the following paradigms of declension the statements
of the preceding paragraphs are summarised.
VOL. III. — NO. iv. u
306
THE LANGUAGE OF THE NAWAR OR ZUTT
Class I. Substantives in i
Masculine
Feminine
Neuter
bUi, a friend
cdni, a girl pdni, water
Singular
Nom.
beli
cdni
pdni
Voc.
ya beli
ya cdni
ya pdni
Ace.
belid
cdnid
pdni (sometimes pdnid)
Dat.
belidtd
cdnidtd
pdnidtd (or pdnuttd, and so
for the other cases).
Loc.
belidmd
cdniama
pdnidmd
Assoc.
bilidsdnni
cdnidsdnni
pdnidsdnni
Direc.
belidkdrd
conidkdrd
pdnidkdrd
Abl.
belidk
conidk
Plural
pdnidk
Nom.
belie
cdnie
pdnie
Voc.
ya belie
ya cdnie
ya pdnie
Ace.
belien
conien
panien
Dat.
beliinta
coniSntd
panientd
Loc.
beliemmd
coniemma
paniemmd
Assoc.
beliensdnni
coniensdnni
paniensdnni
Direc.
belienkdrd
conienkdra
panienkdra
Abl.
belienk
coniink
panienk
Class II. Substantives in a, o
Singular
Plural
Nom.
cdnd, a boy
cdne
Voc.
ya cdnd
ya cdne
Ace
cdnds
cdndn
Dat.
cdndstd
cdndnta
Loc.
cdndsmd
condmmd,
Assoc.
cdndssdnni
condnsdnni
Direc.
condskdrd
condnkdrd
Abl.
cdndsk
cdndnk
Class III. Substantives Ending in a Consonant
]
Masc. and Fern.
Neuter.
mantis, a man
ag, fire
Nom.
mdntis
ag
Voc.
ya mdntis
yaag
Ace.
mAnsds
ag
Dat.
mdnsdstd
dgtd
Loc.
mdnsdsmd
dgmd
Assoc.
mdnsdssdnni
agsdnni
Direc.
mansdskdrd
agikdrd
Abl.
mdnsdsk
dgik
THE LANGUAGE OF THE NAWAR OR ZUTT
307
Plural
Nom.
mdnuse
Voc.
ya mdnuse
Ace.
mdnsdn
Dat.
mdnsdntd
Loc.
mansdmmd
Assoc.
mansdnsdnni
Direc.
mansdnkdrd
Abl.
mdnsdnk
age
ya dge
dgdn
dgdntd
agdmmd
agdnsdnni
agdnkdrd
dgdnk
Obs. I. It must not be forgotten that the associative, directive, and ablative
have the alternative endings -san, -ha, and -lei respectively.
Obs. II. I have not found any neuter nouns of the second class. There is no
difference in the declension of masculine and feminine nouns.
47. The following are specimens of irregular declension : —
Singular
jiiri, a woman li°, iron
jiiri elhds
jiidrtd elhdstd
jiidrmd elhdsmd
judrsdnni elhassdnni
juarkdrd elhasMrd
jiidrk elhdsk
Plural
Nom.
Ace.
Dat.
Loc.
Assoc
Direc,
Abl.
zdro, a boy
zaris
zaristd
zarismd
zaresdnni
zareskdrd
zarisk
Cnjd, Egypt
Gnjd
Cujimd
Cujdkdrd
Nom.
Ace.
Dat.
Loc.
Assoc.
Direc.
Abl.
ziridte
ziridtan
ziridtdntd
ziridtdmmd
jure
jiirin
jurSntd .
juremind
ziridtdnsdnni jdrensdnni
ziridtdnkdrd jurenkdra
ziridtdnk jurdnki
lihe
elhay&n
elhdntd
elhdmmd
elhansdnni
elhankdrd
elhdnk
Obs. For jdri in the nominative we often find jildr as an alternative. This is
perhaps the original form. The locative singular of li" (elhdsma) is the technical
expression for ' in prison.' The original form of this word is Uhi, which survives
in Ex. lxix.
48. Compound substantives — those to which the pronominal
suffixes are attached — are declined as though they were simple
substantives of the third class. Substantives with the indefinite
article are similarly declined, but of course in the singular
number only. It must be carefully noted, that in declension
compound substantives are normally neuter in form, whatever
the gender of the simple substantive may be : that is to say, the
accusative singular is identical with the nominative. Like most
of the rules of accidence, however, this is not strictly observed in
308 THE LANGUAGE OF THE NAWAR OR ZUTT
conversation. The following condensed paradigms sufficiently
illustrate the declension of compound substantives: the other
forms can easily be deduced from those given.
Singular
Simple Subst. Withlndef. Art. With 1st Sing. Suff. With 2nd Plur. Suff.
Norn, mond, loaf mondk, a loaf monam, my loaf monar an, your loaf
Ace. monds mdn&h monam mondrdn
Dat. mondstd mondktd mondmtd mondrdntd
Abl. m&n&sk morwkdk mondmdk (or mondrdnk
-dmki)
Nom. mone
Ace. mondn
Dat. mondnta
Abl. mondnki
Plural
monfan
monim
monimta
monBmki
moneran
mon&ran
monerdntd
monerdnki
Obs. I. The long -e before the pronominal suffix in the plural is almost invari-
able : this is the more noticeable, as otherwise there is a great irregularity in the
vocalisation of the pronominal suffixes. (The common expression, minde Mlesan
['they betook themselves'], often appears as minde Mlosan).
Obs. II. In the locative plural the n of the termination of the plural suffixes
assimilates with the m of the case-ending, thus monerdmmd, etc. As in the
locative plural of simple substantives, this assimilation disturbs the accent.
Obs. III. In the plural, the accusative termination merges with the plural
suffixes.
Obs. IV. The preservation of the neuter declension in the plural is found
nowhere in the language, except in compound substantives with the singular
pronominal suffixes. There is a practical reason for this ; as an Ace. Plur.
*moneman ('my loaves') would be indistinguishable in form from a Nom. Plur.
moneman (' our loaves ').
IV. Adjectives
49. Adjectives vary in respect of gender and number only,
being otherwise indeclinable. The terminations are, Singular,
masc. and neut. -a, fern, -i ; Plural, all genders -e. The latter is
not often used, the singular forms being usually substituted.
50. The range of inflexional variation in adjectives is thus as
shown in the following table : —
Masc. Sing, kustdtd zdro, the little boy.
Fern. Sing. kuStoti Idci, the little girl.
Masc. Plur. kUstote (more often kustotd) ziridte, little boys.
Fern. Plur. kustote (more often kustdti) Idcie, little girls.
51. As the foregoing examples illustrate, the adjective as a
rule precedes its substantive.
THE LANGUAGE OF THE NAWAR OR ZUTT 309
52. There is no native form for the comparison of adjectives.
This is most commonly expressed by the use of Arabic formulae,
as dhsan min (' better than '), kddd or kddd md (' as much as '),
dktdr min ('greater than'), and the like. The Arabic min is
generally used for the particle ' than ' after comparatives, though
the Nuri equivalent nines is not uncommon. The comparison of
adjectives cannot be expressed in pure Nuri except by the use of
the intensive adverb bol, ' much, very.' The following is a good
example of the way in which a Nuri would express comparison —
Ldci jdneri Tdtwdri guzel, bards jdneri guzel bol, boldsdn jdneri
kddd illi kuridmeni gU, ' the girl knows Arabic well, her brother
knows it better, and their father knows it best of all in the house '
{lit., ' as much as all that are in the house ').
Obs. Kuridmeni in this sentence is the locative singular with the predicative
suffix.
53. The predicative form of the adjective cannot be described
till we have given particulars regarding the predicative suffix, in
the chapter on the verb. This form is very commonly used to
take the place of the missing oblique cases of the adjective,
though the simple form is also common : as in kustdtd ziridtdnkd
ddwdleni, 'the little boys have camels' (lit, 'to the little boys
there are camels ').
54. There are very few, if any, adverbs that are not of the
same form as the corresponding adjectives, or that cannot be used
as adjectives without change.
V. Numerals
55. The Nuri language possesses cardinal numerals, but
draws on Arabic for ordinal and fractional expressions. The
following are the cardinal numbers : —
1. yikd, yikdk.
2. d%, dis, dies, diisni.
3. tdrdn, tdrdnis.
4. Star, stares.
5. punj, punjds.
6. sa§, §dsds, tdrdn- wd-tdr an.
7. hot, hotis, stdr-wd-tdrdn.
8. stdr-wd-stdr.
9. stdr-wa-stdr-ivd-yikdk, stdr-iva-punj.
10. das, des.
11. das-wa-yikdk.
18. das-wd-star-wd-sidr.
310 THE LANGUAGE OF THE X.VWAR OR ZUTT
19. wls-ild-yikdk.
20. wis, wistdne.
21. wls-a-yib'd,-.
29. wis-u-Star-u-star-wd-y ikdJc.
30. tdrdn das, wdt (?).
40. Star das, dl wis.
50. nlm sd~i.
60. kb§ das, tdrdn wis, dl wdt (?).
70. hot das.
80. star-wd-Star das, sta,r wis.
90. sai-ild-dds.
91. sd\-ild-star-u-star-u-yikdJc.
92. sdi-ild-$tar-u-st('i r.
95. sd\-ild-jjfnij.
99. sai-ildj-yiki'ih.
100. scu.
200. c2i sot.
900. star-u-star-u-yihik sal.
1000. 'ks sea, t£ZM sc£l.
O&s. I. As a rule the form yikak is used in preference to i///.«. The added h is
evidently the indefinite article. This sometime becomes yik&ki, in accordance
with § 19, Obs. I.
Obs. II. The longer forms of the numerals from 2 to 7, and the form wistdne
for 20, are as a rule used in counting, and the shorter forms in the enumeration of
specific objects : tdrdnes, stares, pUnjds, ' three, four, five ' : but tdrdn bldri, ' three
cats': star kuri, 'four tents': pitnj jitri, ' five women.' Numerals are regularly
constructed with the singular number, as in these examples. In dste dl bare (' there
were two brothers '), Ex. xiv, bare is best to be explained as a relic of a dual. The
predicative suffix of the plural number is sometimes used for a simple plural after
numerals, as will be explained in the section of the verb.
Obs. III. As in other Romani dialects, simple forms for 8, 9, do not exist in
Nuri. One of my informants knew only the compound forms for 6 and 7 that have
been given in the foregoing table. This, it need not be pointed out, is probably
reminiscent of a practice of counting on the fingers of one hand. But the late Herr
Josef Miklasiewics, sometime Consular Agent for Britain and Austria in Safed,
Palestine, obtained a short vocabulary from Nawar in (I believe) the Hauran. I
have a copy of this vocabulary, and find in it the first twelve numerals given thus —
yeki schtar haut desch
didi penez HOSCI1T deschyeki
tron shesh NAH deschdidi
which agrees with the haisht and neya or nu, given by Paspati (Tchinghianis,
p. 79) for the Asiatic equivalents of these numerals.
Obs. IV. It will be observed that 19, and 90 to 99, are expressed by subtrac-
tion from the following tea. This method of formation, so far as I know, is not
found in any other dialect of Romani, not even in the Asiatic dialect described by
Paspati. The use of the Arabic conjunctions, xvd or its short form v, ' and = plus,'
and ild, ' but = minus,' will be noticed.
THE LANGUAGE OF THE NAWAR OR ZUTT 311
Obs. V. The expression wat, for 'thirty,' must be indicated as doubtful. I got
dl wat for ' sixty ' from Muhammad Husain (or in the native formula MUhdmmad
Hiisamtis-pitr), a relative of my chief teacher Shakir. Muhammad corrected him-
self immediately to taran wis, so that the other expression may be a mere ghost-
word. Shakir had a very low opinion of his kinsman's knowledge of the language,
and several times expressed himself very forcibly with regard to sentences I had
obtained from him. ' Saving your presence, master,' he said on one occasion, ' my
cousin Muhammad is a liar and a [unprintable epithet], and you must never believe
a word he says.'
56. The only native Fractional numeral is nlm, ' half.'
Arabic supplies the rest, with occasional phonetic modifications.
Thus, rub' a, ' quarter,' loses its (ain, and becomes rubd.
57. Distributive numerals are expressed as in Arabic, by-
doubling the cardinal : thus tdran tdran means ' three apiece,'
' three by three.'
58. Frequentative numerals are expressed by the Arabic
hdtera, or kid, both meaning ' occasion.' Thus tdran hdtera, tdran
kus, ' thrice.'
59. There are traces of an obsolescent declension of the
numerals in some phrases. Thus dime tdrdne, ' you three,' has a
nominative plural form. There is an accusative plural in -na to be
found sometimes : as pdrdd grewdrd stdrnd zirddn, ' the sheikh
took the four pounds ' : ndnde disina kalian, ' they brought the
ten goats.' It is to be noted that this form is constructed with
the plural number.
VI. Pronouns
60. Personal Pronouns have no distinction of gender, even in
the third person singular. Properly speaking, they are indeclin-
able, except, to a certain extent, in the first person singular : the
place of the oblique cases is taken by certain special forms, or else
by suffixes, appended to substantives, verbs, or prepositions. The
following is a table of the personal pronouns, with the expressions
that supply their oblique cases.
Singular
1st Person.
2nd Person.
3rd Person.
Nom.
drnd
dtu
pdnji
Ace.
-m
-r
-s
Gen.
-m
-r
-s
Dat.
dmdtd
dturtd
atusta
Loc.
amdma (or
unkiin) Unfair
unkis
Assoc.
wdsim
waHr
wdHs
Direc.
dmdkdrd
dburkdrd
dbuskdrd
Abl.
mnSsim
mn&sir
mneSis
312 the language of the nawar or zutt
Plural
Nom.
dme, dme°
dtme
pdnjdn
Ace.
-man
-ran
-sdn
Gen.
-mdn
-ran
-sdn
Dat.
umintd
dtrdntd
dtsdntd
Loc.
unkimdnni
Unklrdnni
unkis&nni
Assoc.
wdSimdn
wdttrdn
wdMsan
Direc.
dminkdrd
dbrdnkdrd
dbsdmkdrd
Abl.
mnihndn
mnUrdn
mnissdn, mniscdn
Obs.
I. The locative is
often used in an associative
sense : fa, amuma, ' come
with me.'
Obs. II. There are a few variant forms. The abbreviated form of the directive
(amdka, etc.) is common. In the third person singular and plural there is a yet
shorter form of the directive, and also of the dative, sometimes to be found :
namely, abiis, atus, absun, citsi'in. The final -ni of the locative plural is often
omitted, in which case the vowel of the pronominal suffix is shortened. In Ex. iv
will be found an example of the very rare true associative of the first personal pro-
noun : raura mtiumom dminni (a contraction for amins&nni), ' my uncle went
with us.'
61. The pronominal suffixes, -m, -r, -s, -man, -ran, -sdn, are
appended to verbs to denote the accusative of the personal
pronouns ; to substantives to denote the genitive (the only trace
of a genitive construction in the language) ; and to prepositions to
denote other relationships. Thus to pact, ' behind,' as pdctrn,
pdeir, etc. ; to minj, ' in,' as minjim, minjir, etc. The inflexions
denoting the personal subjects of the verbs are similar, as will be
seen in the following chapter, though not absolutely identical.
62. The pronominal suffixes are also occasionally added to
numerals, in such sentences as tdranemdn jdni dme0, ' we three
will go.' Analogous is giUdnimdn, ' all of us.'
63. The vocalisation of the pronominal suffixes is all but
completely arbitrary. We have already seen (§ 48, Obs. I.) that
they are pronounced with e when they are affixed to a substantive
in the plural number. Otherwise there appears to be no fixed
rule, and the first personal suffix (for instance) is pronounced -im,
-mi, -om, -dm, -omi, -um, -um, -umi; and similarly for the rest.
The plural suffixes are pronounced -man, or -min, etc. : the dative
plural dtsdntd often appears in the examples as dtsuntd. Perhaps,
as has already been suggested, this confusion is due to a now
broken-down law of vowel assonance, whereby the dominating
vowel of a word regulated that of the appended suffixes.
Obs. I. When the suffixes are appended to a verb in one of the negative
tenses, the vowel follows the consonant, and is hamzated. Thus laherdosim, ' he
saw me ' : luherdosme0, ' he did not see me.' Occasionally, but rarely, the vowel
THE LANGUAGE OF THE NAWAR OR ZUTT 313
and consonant are inverted in other examples, if it should chance that the pro-
nunciation is thereby made easier.
Obs. II. An otiose syllable -ni, disturbing the natural accent of the word and
the quantity of the vowel in the suffix, is sometimes affixed to the plural suffixes :
as parddssdnni, for parddssan, 'he took them.' Possibly this was originally for
additional emphasis, but the emphatic sense has disappeared.
Obs. III. The pronominal suffixes are often used in the accusative pleonastically,
i.e. even though the object itself is named : as in k&utirdendsan kiydkan tdte,
zdres pardfisis kdutdr, literally 'the fellahin stole them — the things, the hyaena took
him — the boy.'
64. The usual expression for 'we' is time, with or without
hamzation ; but there is another way of expressing this pronoun,
used when the speaker wishes to discriminate between its two
possible senses. For ' we ' may mean either ' I and thou,' exclud-
ing him, or else ' I and he,' excluding thee. This distinction is
expressed in Nuri by the formula dma wa-ti-, the appropriate
pronoun being affixed to the last word. Thus —
dma wa-tir, I and thou — excluding him or tJiem
dma wd-tirdn, I and ye — excluding him or them
dma wa-tis, I and he — excluding thee or you
dma wd-tistin, I and they — excluding thee or you
A good example of this use is contained in the sentence dkidmi
iinkiran, gal-kerani dma wa-tir, ' I will go among you [pi.] and
thou and I [excluding thy companions] will converse.'
Obs. I. This formula is never used with any other pronoun than dma. In all
other combinations the ordinary personal pronouns are employed : as dtu wa pamyi
(not tis), ' thou and he ' : panji ica pdnji, ' he and he' (or she), ' they two.' Even
dtu wa amd, 'thou and I,' and dme wa pdnjan, ' we and they.'
06s. II. These expressions for 'we' are sometimes constructed with the third
person singular of the verb, as in Ex. xvm, dma wa-tis nirdossan, 'I and he con-
ducted them.'
Obs. III. The syllable tl- is in itself meaningless. It is not improbably etymo-
logically identical with the at- prefix of the dative case of the pronouns. Perhaps
the original expression was dma wa atir, the initial a being absorbed by the
preceding conjunction. The word tfr is often pronounced tfir, in accordance
with § 3.
65. There are no Possessive pronouns in Nuri, their place
being supplied by the pronominal suffixes. In Ex. xv there is
an unusual case of the use of the directive as a possessive.
Compare also nl laherdis aminka ediana fcdran, ' have you not
seen those two donkeys of ours ? ' (Ex. xvm.)
66. Neither are there any Reflexive pronouns, their place
being supplied by the pronominal suffixes attached to the Arabic
word hal, ' state,' ' condition ' : as in the very common expression
mfndom hdlom, ' I betook myself.' With the Arabic preposition
314 THE LANGUAGE OF THE NAWAR OR ZUTT
min, hal with the suffixes means ' by oneself : as min hdlom, ' by
myself.' Both these constructions are purely Arabic.
67. The Demonstrative pronouns are as follows : —
Masc. aha, Uhu ; Fern, ihi ; Plur. ehe, this (proclitic).
All genders and numbers ahdk, that.
„ „ aMh, that yonder.
These various forms are, however, confused in use : the distinction
of gender and number in the first is much neglected : thus in
Ex. i we find uhu kdjje, ' those Gentiles.' Uhu is often used
indifferently for ' this ' and ' that,' even when two things are
contrasted : as in uhu hori, Uhu 'nhdre°, ' this is possible, that
impossible.' In like manner ahdk and ahtik are often confused.
Obs. I. All the demonstratives are indeclinable.
Obs. II. We have already seen (§ 20, Obs.) that the superdefinite article is a
contraction of the demonstrative pronoun.
68. There are other demonstrative expressions as ha, ' this,'
' lo,' < behold,' < here he is ' : hadotkt, ' see,' ' behold ' : hatita, ' here
(is).' Others may be found in the vocabulary. They are partly
pronominal, partly adverbial in their use.
69. There are three Determinative pronouns, dra or dkird,
ausa, cmsdste. The first two of these mean indifferently 'this
one/ ' that one,' the third is plural, ' those ones.' They are
declined with the ordinarv case- terminations of substantives.
Obs. ' This one and that ' is expressed in Nuri by dra iva dra. Such duplica-
tion of pronouns is a characteristic of the language : compare p&nji wa punji
(§ 6-4, Obs. I.), uhu . . . uhto (§ 67).
70. There is no native Relative pronoun, the colloquial Arabic
illi taking its place. In Arabic this pronoun, when the object of
the relative clause, must be followed by the pronominal suffix
proper to the substantive referred to. The same peculiar Semitic
usage is often, though not always, adopted in Nuri. This is
illustrated by the following parallel renderings of the sentence,
' where is the loaf which you brought ? '
Arabic, wen er-rdgif illi zibt- U.
Nuri, ka mona illi ldndiir-U8.
English, where (is) the loaf which you brought it.
But in such a sentence as kiik Uhu illi piesi, dmd jdndome0,
' what is that which you are drinking, I do not know it ? ' the
pronominal suffix is omitted. This would be incorrect in Arabic,
but is quite regular in Nuri.
THE LANGUAGE OF THE NAWAR OR ZUTT 315
71. As will be seen more fully in the following chapter, the
predicative suffix often takes the place of the relative pronoun ;
probably this is the true native method of expression. Often the
relative is not expressed at all, as in Idherdessdn kom parddssdn,
' have you seen them, the people (who) took them ? '
72. The numeral yikd, yikdk, supplies the place of the In-
definite pronoun 'one,' 'a certain one,' 'somebody.' It is prob-
ably declined as a substantive, though I have found no certain
examples: compare, however, min kidl-yikdkdski, 'from every
one' (Ex. xn).
73. The Reciprocal pronouns are expressed by the Arabic
bad, or the Nuri kdlbdi, with the plural pronominal suffixes
appended : thus badimdn, ' each one of us ' : kdlbdldrdn, ' each
one of you ' — did something mutually. The compounds of bad
are declined like compound substantives : thus Ave have dative
ba'desdntd, associative bd ' desdnsdn.
74. The Interrogative pronouns are ka, ke : the latter is often
pronounced kii. The former is indeclinable, but the latter under-
goes a variety of inflexions. It may take the indefinite article with-
out change of meaning, as keik ndrmir, ' what is your name ? ' The
locative, kima, supplies the place of ' where ? ' The directive,
kikd, the dative with indefinite article kikdtd, and the ablative
kiki are all used for ' why ? ' For ' whither ? ' another particle,
krind, is used.
VII. Verbs
75. Reference has several times in the preceding sections
been made to the Predicative Suffix. Before discussing the
Nuri verb, this important and peculiar feature of the language
must be described.
76. The forms of the predicative suffix are — Masc. -ik, Fem.
-ik, Plur. -ini. The Neut. Sing, is the same as the Masc. The
feminine suffix is unaccented, and does not disturb the accentua-
tion of the word to which it is appended : the masculine and
plural suffixes are always strongly accented, and absorb the accent
of the word to which they are attached.
77. When appended to adjectives, as is most commonly the
case, the predicative suffix turns them from qualifications to
predications, as is implied by the name we have given it. Thus
kuHotd zdro, ' the little boy ' : but zdrd kustdtik, ' the boy is little.'
Similarly Idci kdstdtik, ' the girl is little ' : ziridte [Idcie] kuStotini,
' the boys [girls] are little.'
316 THE LANGUAGE OF THE NAWAR OR ZUTT
78. These suffixes are very often used with the relative Mi, to
supply the place of the missing oblique cases of the adjective:
as Idcidk siri Mi kMtutik, literally ' from the girl — the head —
which — is little,' used for ' the little girl's head.' Here the
relative and predicative suffix together make the ablative of the
adjective. So fimct ziridtdn Mi kustoteni, ' beat the little boys,'
gives an accusative plural constructed in the same way: inde
zdriskd Mi kustotik mondk, 'give a loaf to the little boy,' shows
a similar directive case — incidentally illustrating the common use
of the directive for the dative.
79. Attached to substantives, these suffixes qualify the sub-
ject of the sentence; as cUte diis bareni, ' there were two [who]
were brothers.' This should not be translated 'there were two
brothers,' the Nuri for which is tUte d% bare. Here notice not
only the different forms of the substantive, but also of the
numeral; diis being substantival, di adjectival. Again, toli
zebimmik means ' the handkerchief is in my pocket.' In zebimmik
we have quite a remarkable instance of polysynthesis. £eb is
Arabic for ' pocket,' turned by addition of -i to a Nuri substantive:
the first m is the pronominal suffix : the second m is the locative
case-ending : the ek is the predicative suffix.
Obs. I. It must, however, be noticed that the predicative suffix is often loosely
used as a mere plural case-ending. Hence, beside its legitimate use, we have such
expressions as kautini hresi in Ex. i, for 'ye are thieves.' This is a confusion of
the two possible correct expressions kmite hresi or iltme kduteni.
Obs. II. The feminine predicative suffix resembles the indefinite article in
form, but the sense generally is sufficient to distinguish them. Thus in kanawiak
bdrdik zerdi, ' a jar (which) is full of gold,' the -ok at the end of the first word is
evidently the article, the -ik in the second word the feminine predicative suffix.
The case-endings always inecede the predicative suffix, but follow the article.
Obs. III. An abbreviated form of the plural predicative suffix, -net or -ne, is
sometimes found. Thus he garibne, ' they are strangers,' in Ex. xm ; kdtafne,
' they are bound,' Ex. xvi ; tdranesne, ' they are three,' Ex. xvi. So also bhlna
'dsiis, ' great are his crimes.'
80. The example in the last section, Obs. II., well illustrates
the important use of the predicative suffix as a substitute for the
relative pronoun. As already mentioned (§ 71), this is not
improbably the original native form of the relative.
81. The predicative suffix is also attached to verbal stems to
form participles, with a variety of meanings that can best be
illustrated by examples.
Amd iv&srom hrdnd, panji arik, laherdosme0, u dmd laker-
domse0, sdddfrd ivdSiim gdjietd, ' I was sitting there, he, coming
THE LANGUAGE OF THE NAWAR OR ZUTT 317
did not see me, and I did not see him, he came on me by
chance.'
Bator jdndik gdrd-jdri, 'your father knows [lit., is the one
knowing] that he is about to go.'
Sdbdhtdn drdsmdn cdndh l&herdik Domini Jcdttdsmd, 'in the
morning there came to us a boy who had seen [lit., having been
the person seeing] Nawar in the mosque.'
Illi kuirik benisdn mdrlrik, 'he who fell between them was
killed ' [lit, the person who was the one falling between them was
the one being killed].
06s. In the third example Domini is an example of the loose use of the
predicative suffix as a simple plural case-ending : in this instance accusative.
82. The predicative suffix is independent of Person: dme,
dtme, pdnjdn wesrini, 'we, you, they are sitting.'
83. The predicative suffix is now independent also of Time:
in the following examples it is used in the past, present, and
future : —
Mihcdri nnin hujdti du-hrik, the candle has been lighted since
yesterday.
Mihcdri du-hrik, the candle is lighted.
Mihcdri du-hrik urdti, the candle will be lighted to-morrow.
84. There is, however, an obsolescent past predicative suffix ;
some examples of its use will be found in the stories. The
terminations are — Masc. and Neut. -iyd, Fern, -iyd, Plur. -ind. Thus
bdnlriyd, ' who was bound ' : zdro hreniyd hujdti, ' the boy was
here yesterday ' ; ehe hrenind hujdti, ' these were here yesterday.'
Obs. The past predicative suffix is uniform in its accentuation, the feminine
being treated like the other forms.
(To be continued).
318 REVIEWS
REVIEWS
Die Zigeuner nach Geschichte, Religion und Sitte. Von Friedrich Wilhelm
Brepohl. Gottingen, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1909. Pp. 14.
At first sight one is disposed to condemn this pamphlet as utterly worthless
and slipshod ; and the fact that the substance of it has already appeared in
two different periodicals,1 without revision of obvious and flagrant mistakes,
hardly tends to palliate the author's offences. When at the third attempt an
author is still incapable of distinguishing between a well-known writer on the
German Gypsies and a still more famous beef-extractor, when he frequently quotes
Wlislocki's works and persistently spells his name ' Wliskoki,' when he refers to
' Ave-Lallement ' as an authority and ' Gypsi Smith ' as an instance of Gypsy educa-
tion, it is needless to add that his work cannot claim sufficient carefulness or
erudition to be of any use to those who are acquainted with the Gypsies or the
literature about them. But in a country where a proposal is just being made to
resort to mediasval tortures in dealing with the Gypsies, and to brand them as
well as confiscating their vans and horses, one may be thankful for any voice crying
from the wilderness. Brepohl's circulation of extracts from Liebich and Wlis-
locki tending to prove the inoffensiveness of the Gypsies, and to awaken some
human feeling for them, is therefore well timed and well intended, though it may
be carelessly executed. And since he evidently does not lack enthusiasm, there
is hope of improvement.
Himself, he seems to be one of those who bow down before the fetish education,
especially religious education ; and he shows that when a recent attempt was made
at instituting a Gypsy school at Pankota, the Gypsies were not unwilling to send
their children. However, as he advocates leaving the children among their friends,
when their education is finished, instead of driving them into factories, there is
little harm in the suggestion. Whether there is much good in it is to my mind
more doubtful. Brepohl thinks they might missionize their relatives, and quotes
Gypsy Smith as an instance to the point — rather unfortunately, seeing that Rodney
has admitted his almost total lack of success among his brethren. One may doubt,
too, if the educational effect would be much greater than the religious. At Banbury
fair recently I fell in with an amiable posrat, who assured me, with all appearance
of sincerity, that he had been to school and won prizes : yet simultaneously he
applied to me to read a printed notice for him. He did not even take the trouble
to add any explanation of the seeming inconsistency : apparently he regarded it as
quite the natural thing to forget all that school had taught him : and certainly
he is not alone in taking that view of the subject. Since there are people in the
world to whom education means nothing and life everything, why cannot dead-
alive educationalists leave them in peace ?
Lasset Gelehrte sich zanken und streiten,
Streng und bedachtig die Lehrer auch sein !
Alle die Weisesten aller der Zeiten
Lacheln und winken und stimmen mit ein :
Thoricht, auf Bessrung der Thoren zu harren !
Kinder der Klugheit, o habet die Narren
Eben zum Narren auch, wie sich's gehdrt !
But keep your eyes open in a bargain with that fool if he happens to be a Gypsy.
E. 0. Winstedt.
1 Glaubenund Wissen, vi. Jahrgang, Heft 11 (Nov. 1908), pp. 418-428 ; Religion
und Geisteskultur, iii., 4 Hft.
REVIEWS 319
Aus dem Winterleben der Wanderzigeuner. Ethnologische Studie von Fr. Wilh.
Brepohl. Seegefeld, Verlag 'Das Havelland,' 1910. Pp. 16.
To those who try to read between the lines and learn something of an author
from his books, Brepohl offers an interesting puzzle. From the pamphlet reviewed
above one could only infer that he was the veriest beginner in the study of Gypsy
lore ; and now he comes before us claiming ' intimate association ' with Gypsies of
Croatia, Servia, and the Banat, as well as independent knowledge of German Gypsy
customs. Certainly he has lost no time in the interval between the two pamphlets,
as the second is immeasurably superior to the first : and he has chosen a useful
province of Gypsy lore in verifying Wlislocki's details. It is exceedingly inter-
esting to find support for the statement that a husband is counted to his wife's
tribe and not to his own, and for the various ceremonies performed during the
winter months. Brepohl's Gypsies apparently still preserve the custom of burning
a puppet and strewing its ashes in their huts or caves before settling in them ; they
still perform the marriage of the trees at Christmas, and even retain some memory
of the gruesome resurrection work on Christmas eve, for which some of their
ancestors suffered death in the eighteenth century, though they now deny the
practice of the custom and attribute it to other Gypsies. Doubtless this is a
custom they would deny even if they do practise it now ; but here and there one
derives an impression that Brepohl is perhaps too fond of tackling a Gypsy camp,
Wlislocki in hand, and wrestling with them until they render some account of
what he finds there written. Still, it is always easier to mistrust folklore collectors
than to collect folklore : and one should be thankful for an enei'getic collector and
let him choose his own methods. But I do not think it would detract from the
interest of his work in the eyes of the general public, and it would certainly assist
Gypsy-lorists, if Brepohl were to define a little more clearly the nationality of the
' Wandering Gypsies ' from whom he derived his facts. Generally he speaks of
them as German Gypsies ; but at the beginning he states that many of these
German Gypsies winter in Galicia, Bukovina, and Austria. Surely, if so, they
cannot strictly be termed German Gypsies at all, since it is more usual to assign a
person to the locality where he spends the settled part of his existence than
to that in which he wanders. No one else hints that the regular national German
Gypsies spend their winter outside the country, and it would therefore seem as
though Brepohl's friends were the Ldlere Sinte, who were counted foreigners by
Gilliat-Smith's German Gypsies. Possibly the customs which Brepohl does not
assign to any particular Gypsies apply to Gypsies of all the provinces mentioned ;
but one would feel surer if the fact were clearly stated.
His readers will be comforted to find that in this pamphlet Brepohl's spelling
of proper names has considerably improved ; but ' Gjorgjevic ' and ' Gipsy ' show
traces of the old Adam. E. 0. Winstedt.
320 NOTES AND QUERIES
NOTES AND QUERIES.
39. — Persian Jats
In connection with Pischel's statement that ' some of the Jats still live to-day
by camel-rearing, travel far into Persia and to Damascus, where they are still
called Zutt, and can be easily distinguished from the Gypsies, who are called
Nawar' (J.G.L.S., New Series, ii. 304), the following note by Khan Bahadur
Ahmed Din Khan will have interest :—
' The Jats referred to are a tribe of the Beluchis, and have no connection
whatever with the Gypsies, and are not menials like them. They are mostly to
be found in Indian Beluchistan. These Jats are specialists in treating camels,
horses, and other animals ; they act also as brokers for the purchase of these
animals, as they are the people supposed to know the best points about them.
In Sistan the Persians call " Jats " such people as are engaged in menial profes-
sions, such as barbers, bleeders, etc., and these men are generally of the Gypsy
stock. It is difficult to say whether the Jats of Beluchistan are enterprising
enough to travel as far as Damascus. Perhaps a branch of them settled in
Persia do this, but I am not sure of this, and cannot ascertain here. No one
knows anything here about the Nawar.'
I have never myself heard of their tracking across Persia to Damascus, but
I have lately heard that there are a good many stray Indians in Asia Minor.
About the Nawar I know nothing.
There is no doubt that the Jats live by camel-rearing. Indeed they are
specialists in treating animals : and they also act as brokers.
As to their ' travelling far into Persia,' I should much like to know the authority
for this statement. I can only say that, during the seventeen years I have spent
in Persia, I have never heard of or met Jats : and Khan Bahadur Ahmed Din Khan
also doubts the fact of their being so enterprising. As I have served almost
entirely in South-east, Eastern and North-eastern Persia, I think that I should
have known if Jats were acting as stated. At the same time, this is merely my
opinion and I give it for what it is worth : and it will be interesting to know on
what the statement rests. P. M. Stkes.
40. — Defilement by a Dog's Tongue
I had been taking tea with the Smiths, and after the meal Lavinia handed a
plate of potatoes to Starkey to give to the dogs. Starkey began fooling about as
usual, so she shouted out : ' Mind what yous is doing, Bdri Shero ; yous is a
regular monkey yous is — a ring-tailed one, a proper one. Mind that dog there
doesn't touch that plate with its dirty snout.' Then turning to me, she added :
' We never lets a dog lick off'n a plate ; that would make it vioxadi, and honfit
for Christians to heat off'n.' T. W. Thompson.
41. — Pl.sOTA.
I met a family of Russian Xarkari last year in France who used bellows of a
form exactly described by Arnold von Harff (1496-9) quoted by Groorne in his
Introduction to Gypsy Folk-Tales, viz. : an iron tube about two feet long laid just
under the surface of the ground, conducted the air to the charcoal fire placed in a
shallow pit, the air being blown through by means of two leather bags provided
with valves and handles, worked with both hands. When at work the woman
seated on the ground would hold the copper on the anvil, consisting of a heavy iron
bar standing upright, shifting the vessel regularly after each beat of the hammer
wielded by her Bom. These Gypsies would remain idle for days, and then one
morning apply themselves to work with a furious and unceasing energy until
nightfall. Gustavus Janik.
INDEX
By Alexander Russell
(Ft. note) = Footnote. G. =Gypsy. Gs. =Gypsies.
There are important sub-alphabets under ' Cures, G.', 'Folk-Tales, Incidents of,
'Names, G. Christian,' 'Names, G. Surnames,' 'Names, G. Tribal or Race,'
'Newspapers,' 'Notes and Queries,' ' Nuri Stories, Incidents of,' 'Occupa-
tions, G.' 'Superstitions, G.'
A borije tu teniije (song), 199.
A Chipicalli (La Lengua Gilana), Rebol-
ledo's, (rev.), by H. W. Greene, 149.
Adi-ddcU, da dubeld, dd-de ! (song),
159.
Abitabuli, holders of G. fief, 72.
Accent on pronouns in Welsh Romani,
17 (ft. note).
Acigani (Acingani). See 'AOiyyavoi.
Acrobats, Gs. as, 12.
Acts, decrees, and laws against Gs.,
(ref.) 9, 66, 77, 114, 201, 253.
Adjectives in Nuri Romani, 308-9.
Aetisanes, King, expels thieves from
Egypt, 67.
Affairs of Egypt, 190S, by H. T. Crofton,
276-98.
Africa, Gs. in, 275 (ft. note).
Age, great, attained by Gs., 73, 164.
Ahlqvist, A. G. , Swedish antiquary,
111, 117.
Ahmed Din Khan, Khan Bahadur, (quot. )
320.
Alamanni, G. race-name, 274 (ft. note).
Albanians, G. race-name, 6, 59, 68, 274
(ft.note).
Alessandro Giuseppe Spinelli, (note), 150.
Alexander Pfalzgraf bei Rhein, travel-
ler, 5 ; (quot.) 61.
Alphabet, Bulgarian G., 183-4; Nuri,
121-3.
Alps, some natives of, called Gs., 106.
Ambruli, ' shoes,' derivation of, 253.
America, Gs. in, 81-8, 290-4.
Ana sund dikhljom me pirende kale
cizmes (song), 199.
Ancient and Modern Wines. (See Hender-
son.
Andersson, Djos Per, compiler of first
Swedish-G. vocabulary, (quot.), 117-8.
Andrew, Duke of Little Egypt, 43.
Andrews, E. A. : A Copious and Critical
Latin-English Lexicon, (ref.) 259 (ft.
note).
Anoelo, Henry, Reminiscences, (ref. )
234.
Anglo- Romani Songs, (note), 157-60.
Anhorn, Bartholomaeus, Magiolog'm,
(quot.) 78, (ref.) 236.
Annates Bojorum, Aventinus,' (ref.) 78.
VOL. III. — NO. V.
Antaeus, legend of, 175.
Antonios Eparchos, head of fief of
'AOiyyavoi, 72-3.
Apennines, G. camp in the, 105.
Arabic element in Nuri dialect, 124-6.
Archaeologies in modum Glossarii. See
Spelman.
Archives de Bayonne, (ref.) 258 (ft.note).
Archives de Bordeaux, (ref.) 258 (ft.note),
(quot.) 261-2 (ft.note).
Arnaout Kjoy, Gs. at, 182.
Arpad, Marcel, Zigeunererzahlungni,
(rev.), 149.
Arrest de la Cour de Parlement, 1612,
202-4.
Article in Nuri Romani, The, 298-9.
As I passed by a willow-tree, (song),
20.
Ascoli, Graziadio Isaia, 40 ; Zigeune-
risches, (refs.) 39 (ft.note), 245 ;( ft.
note), 247 (ft.note), 248 (ft.note).
Asinkar. See 'Adiyyavoi.
Assault on G. women punished, 91.
'Adiyyavoi, derivation of, 15, 16; fief of,
72.
Atkinson, F. Stanley, 158, 159; The
Pollution of Streams, (note), 232-3.
Atti spettanti agli Arcipreti di Carpi
[Deeds relating to the Abbots of
Carpi], (quot. ) 44.
A us dem Winterleben der Wanderziqeuner,
Brepohl's, (rev.), 319.
Aventinus (Thurnmayr von Abensburg),
7 ; Annates Bojorum, (ref.) 78.
Axon, Dr. W. E. A., 242 (ft. note) ; The
Boswells: Two G. Kings, (note), 71-2;
Stage Romani, (note), 160; II'. /..
Bowles and the Gs., (note), 226; Dr.
William Dodd and the Gs., (note),
233-4.
Axon, E., 242 (ft.note).
Bacon, Roger, Opus Majus, (quot.) 13.
Bacon fat, a G. medicine, 27.
Bailiffs, G., 57, 93.
Balkan peninsula, G. smiths in, 6.
Balsamon, (ref.) 5 (ft.note), (quot.) 15,
16.
Baptism, G., 80, 94; church law about,
in Italy, 101.
322
INDEX
Barium carbonate, a drab for pigs, 151.
BartOLOMEO, a ( '•. member of Council at
Einale 49.
Baskctm'akers, Gs. as, 183, 280, 2S1.
Bataillard, Paul, 38 (ft.note), 64 (ft.-
note) ; Bibl. de VEcole des Charles,
(ref. ) 239 ( ft.note) ; Gitanos d'Espaqne,
(ret.) 242; papers of, (refs.) 242, 243,
245 (and ft.notes), 246 (ft.note), 247
(ft.note).
Baitdrimont, Alexandre Edouard, (ref.)
212.
Bavarian laws against Gs., 78.
Bear-leaders, G., 6, 287.
Beggars, G., 59, 155, 295.
Belgian Chronicler, 1422, 241.
Bella Ckiavina, La: A French or Pied-
mont G. Tale, by E. 0. Winstedt,
242-53.
Bellows, G., 64 (and ft.note), 65, 320.
Belot, Arab. French Dictionary, (quot. )
35 (ft.note) ; French-Arabic Diction-
ary, (quot.) 37 (ft.note).
Bengal Peasant Life. See Day.
Berenthal, Gs. at, 234-5.
Beretning om Fante-eller. See .Sundt.
Bergstedt, C. F., transcriber of Ander-
sson's vocabulary, 118.
Bemer-Cronik, Justinger's, (quot.) 80.
Bernoulli, August, Die dlteste deutsche
Chronik von Golmar, (quot. ) 80.
Bianco, Noe, Viaggio, (quot.) 12.
Bibliography of Swedish Writers on Gs.,
111.
Bibliotheque de VEcole den Charles. See
Bataillard.
Biddulph, Major, Tribes of Hindu
Koosh, (ref.) 40 (ft.note).
Birger, King of Sweden, edict of, 113-
5.
Birth-rites of Gs. compared with those
of other tribes, 175-7.
Bjorckjian, S. P., first recorded Swedish
Romano Rai, 111-3; his Dissertatio
Academica de Cingaris, 112.
Black, Folk - Medicine, (ref.) 179 (ft.
note).
Blackpool, Gs. at, 279.
Blacksmiths, Gs. of 1417 not mentioned
as, 5. See Smiths.
Bleeding, G. cure for, 29.
Blount, H., A Voyage into the Levant,
(quot.) 160.
Blunt, Mr., Student of Gs., 227.
Boatman called Cingaro (1484), 46.
Bohemians (Boemi, Boismiens), G. race-
name, 69, 75, 202, 234.
Bologna, Gs. at, 8 ; in 1422 for 15 days,
43.
Bond, Rev. Lewis, (quot.) 38 (ft.note).
Bonnin, Th., Regestrum visitationum
archiepiscopi Rotliomagensis, (ref.) 262
(ft.note).
Book of Keruynge. See De Worde.
Book of Nurture. See Russell.
Boorde, Andrew, (quot.) 57, 63 (ft.note).
Boretius, 254.
Borrow, George, (refs.) 212, 245 (ft.
note), 249 ( ft.note) ; Lavengro, (quot.)
39; (refs.) 165 (ft.note), 167 (ft.note),
1(58 (ft.note); (quot.) 169, 173 (ft.
note); Lavo-lU, (refs.) 156, 164 ( //.
note, 166 (ft.note), 212 ; Lucas (ref.)
156; Romany Rye, (refs.) 31, 157, 165
(ft.note), 166 (ft. note), (quot.) 167(/<.
note), (refs.) 170 (ft.note), 173 (ft.
note), 207 ( ft.note) ; TheBible in Xpain,
(ref.) U9;Zincali, (quot.) 39, (refs.)
69 (ft.notes), 149, 156, (quot.) 164 (ft.
note), 171, (ref.) 207 (ft.note).
Borroitfs Creed and Paternoster, (note),
156.
Borroufs Gs. : The Relations oj Jasper
Petxdengro, by Thomas William
Thompson, 162-74.
Borrow' s Gs., Addenda, (note), 225-6.
Boselli, Augusto : letter to Spinelli,
(quot.) 106-8.
Boston, Gs. in, 81-2, 292-3.
Bosville, Charles, G. ceremonies at
tomb of, 71-2.
Boswell's gang, 71.
Bosivells, The : Two G. Kings, (note),
71-2.
flodpos, derivation of, 266.
Boucher, Francois (1703-70), painter to
Louis xv., 241 ; his La Bolihnienne,
241.
Bowles, W. L., The G.'s Tent, (quot.)
226 ; Villager's Verse Book, (ref.)
226.
Bowles, W. L., and the Gs., (note),
226.
Boy thieves led by a woman, 91.
Brand, John, Popular Antiquities,
(quot.) 22 (ft.note), 25 (ft.note), (ref.)
181 (ft.note).
Brazilian Gs., 81, 293.
Bread in horse's collar, G. superstition
about, 22.
Breaking a spell, G. method of, 236.
Breitenbacii. See Breydenbach.
Brepohl, F. W., Aus dem Winlerleben
der Wanderzigeuner, (rev.), 319; Die
Zigeuner nach Geschichte, Religion, und
Sitte, (rev.), 318.
Breuyary, Boorde's, (ref.) 63 (ft.note).
Breydenbach, Bernhard von, traveller,
5; Peregrinatio ad Terrain Sanctam,
(refs.) 5 (ft.note), 60 (and ft.notes), 69.
Bridel, Doyen, Glossaire du patois de
la Suisse romande, (ref.) 255 (ft.note).
Briscoe, John Potter, Gleanings from
God's Acre, (quot.) 71.
Bristow-Noble, J. C., A Talk with G.
(Latimer) Lee, (ref.) 279.
British G. Crimes, 1908, (note), 239-40.
Brodaeus, 241.
Broken Chastity, The Song of the, 157,
(ref. ) 208.
Broken nails, G. superstition about
22.
Bronner, F. X., Der Kanton Aargav,
(quot.) 79.
Broom, a G. medicine, 29.
Broomen, G., 160.
Broom-makers, G., 6.
Brown paper smeared with fat, a G.
medicine, 29.
Buckbean, a G. medicine, 29.
INDEX
323
Bulgarian G. Folk-Tale, 0 Cordilendzis,
recorded by Bernard Gilliat-Smith,
1S2-98.
Burial: Christian, refused to Gs., 101;
in the wilds, 169.
Burials, G., 173, 283, 2S9.
Burning a puppet, G. superstition about,
319 ; burning pins and salt, G. super-
stition about, 23.
Burtox, Sir Richard, 36 (and ft. note),
37.
Butter, fairy, G. superstition about, 25.
C und J, by Jacob Wackernagel, 119-
20.
Caccini, Sigismondo, or Uyfalussi,
106-8.
Cakes hung on hazel twigs by (is., 79.
Calderarii, G. race-name, 264.
Calendar of Letter-Books oj London.
See Sharpe.
Gam, derivation of, 119.
Camerarius, Philip, Meditationes His-
toricae, (ref.) 78.
Cameron", Egypt. - Arab. - Eng. Diet.,
(quot.) 35 (ft. note).
Camomile, a G. medicine, 29.
Camp-followers, G., 54.
Canoiani, (refs.) 253, (ft. note), 267
(ft. note)
Canting, 77.
Carew, Bampfylde Moore, 74, 75.
Carew, F. W. [ = A. E. G. Way], Xo.
747, (refs.) 153 (ft.note), 205 (ft. note),
209 (ft.note), 215 (ft.note).
Cart, empty, G. superstition about, 22.
Cartulaire de I'abbaye de Saint -Victor de
Marseille. See Guerard.
Cassel, P., Ahasuerus (ref.) 10 (ft. note).
Catalonia, Constitution of, 69.
Catasto Censuario di Carpi (1448), (ref.)
44.
Caveat of Warening for commen cursetors
mlgarehj called Vagabonded, A. See
Harm an.
Celtic Folklore. See Rhys.
Certificates of good behaviour given to
Gs. at Modena, 53.
Cervantes, Miguel de, Jitanilla, (ref.)
10.
Chair-bottomers, G.,208.
Ciiambure, Glossaire du Morvan, (ref.)
257 (ft.note), (quot.) 258 (ft.note).
Charlemagne's edict against mangones et
cotiones, (quot.) 253, (refs.) 267, 268,
275.
Chartolaratum, meaning of, 272 (and
ft.note).
Chest troubles, G. cure for, 29.
Chevers, Medical Jurisprudence of
India, (ref.) ISO (ft.note).
Childers, Pali Dictionary, (ref.) 39.
Chimney-sweeps, G., 6, 286.
Chinganeh, G. race-name, 36.
Christmas Eve and After, by Thomas
William Thompson, 19-33.
Christmas superstitions, G., 21, 319.
Chronicon, Corner's, (quot.) 8 (ft.note),
116.
Chronicon Helveticum. See Tschudi.
Chronicon Moreae, (ref.) 271.
Chronikder Stadt Zurich, (quot.) 79-80
Church denunciation of Gs., 99, 101.
Ciani, G. race-name, 77-
Cingano Bolognese, leader of a G.
band, 92.
Cingarella Indovina, prohibited play,
103 (ft.note).
Cingari, G. race-name, 77.
Cingaro, Pietre Giovanni called, 46.
Clothes-peg makers, G., 70, 207, 284.
Clugnet, Leon, 204.
Cobblers, G., 64, 65, 160, 297.
Cock-eyed sweep, G. superstition about,
23.
Cockle-shells jingling, an omen of death,
235.
Coffin, G, superstition about, 235.
Cold, G. cures for, 29.
Collection generate des documents fran-
fais qui se trouvent en Angleterre. See
Delpit.
Colmar, arrival of Gs. at, 80 ; oldest
German chronicle of, 80.
Colocci, Marquis, 298 ; 01 i Zingari,
(refs. ) 9 (ft.note), 244 (ft.note), 280 ;
Uorigine des Bohemiens, (ref.) 245
(ft.note).
Commena, Anna, (quot.) 271.
Conciliengeschichte. See Hefele.
Conrady, Vier rheinische Palaeslina-
Pilgerschriften, (quot.) 58 (ft.note).
Constable, Archibald, 205 (ft. note).
Constantinople, Gs. at, 160, 182.
C0XSTAXTINUSp0RPHYR0i;E.\lTrS,(quot.)
264 (ft. note).
Consumption, (t. cure for, 27.
Contribution to French G. History, A, by
Frederick Christian Wellstood, 201-4.
Copper-smiths, G., 81, 105, 109.
Copts, G. race-name, 227.
Cora, Guido, 298.
Corblet, J., Glossaire 61 ymologique et
comparatif du patois picard, (ref.)
264 (ft.note).
CnrdiUndiis, derivation of, 195.
Cordilendzis, O., Bulgarian G. Folk Tale,
182-98.
Corfu, Gs. in, 72; <!s. of, at Carpi,
108.
Corner, Chronicon, (quot. ) 8 (ft.note),
116.
Corpus glossariorum latinorum. See
< ioetz.
Corpus scriptorum hisloriac Byzantinae,
(quot.) 11 (ft.note).
Cortat : Crudities, (quot.) 58, (ref.) 58
(ft.note).
Cosmographia. See. Minister.
Costume, G., 87, 109, 167, 236, 241 ;
in 1572, 55.
Cotorave, (quot.) 256.
Cotio, derivation and meaning <>f, 254-9.
Corahani and the covahdno, The, (song),
157.
Craweurd, Mr., 209.
Crawley : Mystic Hose, (ref.) 177
(ft.note), 179 (ft.note), ISO (fi.noti ).
Crete, Gs. in, described by Symon
Sinieonis, 11, (refs.) 62 (ft.note), 68.
324
INDEX
Croatia, (Is. in, 294.
Croi •tun, H. T. : 39, 212; Affairs of Egypt,
190S, 276-98; G. Head-Dress, (note),
236. See also Smart.
Cronaca di Modena. See Lancilotto and
Spaccini.
Crooke, \\illiam : G. Forms and Cere-
monies, 174-82; Tin North-West Pro-
vinces of India, (ref.) 40 (ft.note).
Croup, ( .. cure for, 27.
Crow, G. superstition about, 22, 236.
Crucifixion, Legend of, 65.
Crudities. See Coryat.
Crusaders and Gs. , 238 [and ft.note).
Crushs, 16.
Cubranovit : Jegjupka, 9.
Cull, Mr., 209. '
Cures, G. —
Bacon fat for croup. 27.
Broom for dropsy, 29.
Brown paper covered with fat of
cow's kidneys and snuff for cold
or sore throat, 29.
Buckbean, camomile and wormwood
for the kidneys, 29.
Camomile. See Buckbean.
Dormice for whooping cough, 27.
Elderberry flowers for chest trouble,
29.
Fried mice for whooping cough, 27.
Frog, live, to remove phlegm, 31.
Hedgehog fat for earache, 28.
Hedgehogs, 27-8.
Honey, sugar, and watercress for
whooping cough,
(li-
Lemon, linseed, and ' Spanish'
quorice) to fatten, 28.
-Meat, raw, for Marts, 30.
Mice, fried, for whooping cough, 27.
' Mouse's ears' for cold, 29.
Plantain leaf, heated, to stop bleed-
ing, 29.
Poppy heads, camomile, sage, and
thyme for toothache, 30.
Potato water for warts, 30.
Ragweed ointment for wounds and
swellings, 29.
Raspberry and strawberry leaves
for women after confinement, 30.
Rum, beef marrow, and lard as
pomade, 28.
Snails for consumption, 27.
Squirrels for fever, 28.
String, burning knotted, for warts,
30.
Tormentil for pains in kidneys and
swellings in legs, 30.
Watercress, sugar, and honey for
whooping cough, 27.
Wormwood. See Buckbean.
Cuselius : Lexicon Geographicum, (ref.)
237.
Cussans, John E., writer on Gs. in. Not< s
and Queries, (ref.) 169 (and ft.note).
Da, dabla, dddi ! (song), 159.
Dali.mil: Bohemian Chronicle, (quot.)
13.
Dancers, <;., 6.
DAWSON, James, (quot.) 233.
Day, Lai Behari : Bengal Peasant Life,
(ref.) 175 (ft.note).
De Celso : Las leyes de todos los reynos
de Castilla, (quot.) 239.
De Goeje: 16, 36, 37, 248 " (ft.note) ;
character of, 1 ; death of, 1 ; his
Bijdrage tot de geschiedenis der Zi-
geuners, 1 ; his interest in G. L.S. , 4;
his M&moire stir les migrations des
Tsiganes a travers V Asie, 2, (refs. ) 7
(ft.note), 34 (ft.note) ; his view of Gs.
passing through Arabia, 3 ; his view
that Zott are Gs. , 2; his work in G.
lore, 1-4 ; Pischel and Miklosich's
criticism of, 2.
De Groot : Religious System of China,
(ref.) 181 (ft.note).
De Gubernatis : Zoological Mythology,
(ref.) 178 (ft.note).
De Itinere Terre Sancte. See Sudheim.
De Rochas, (ref.) 212.
De Thou : Historiarum Continuatio,
(quot.) 202, (ref.) 237, (quot.) 238.
De Worj)E, Wynkyn : Boke of Keruynge,
(ref.) 63 (ft.note).
Death, omens of, 235, 236.
Defilement by a Dog's Tongue, (note),
320.
Dei Triganieri, cenni storici, (ref.) 48
(ft.note).
Dekker, (ref.), 206.
Delpit, J., Collection generale des docu-
ments franrai* (ref.) 63 (ft.note).
Demarteau, engraver of La Bohemienne,
241.
Dentists, G., 236.
Deutsche Pilgerfahrten. See Rohricht.
Deutsche Pilgerreisen. See Rohricht.
Devil, symbols to keep away, 279.
Dialect of the English Gs. See Smart
and Crofton.
Dialect, Romani, of Sofia, 193 ; of Syria,
120-6, 29S-317.
Diary of a Looker-on, The, Hind's, (ref.)
279.
Diccionario Gitano-Espanol y Espaiiol-
Gitano, Rebolledo's, (rev.), 149.
Dictionaries, Glossaries, and Lexicons : —
Arabic :
Belot : Arabic-French Dictionary,
(quot.) 35 ( ft. 7iote) ; French- Arabic
Dictionary, (quot.) 37 (ft.note).
Cameron : Egyptian-Arabic-English
Dictionary, (quot.) 35 (ft.note).
Dozy : Dictionnaire ditailUdes noma
des vetements chez les Arubes, (ref.)
275 (ft.note).
Lane
(ref.):
Meyer
(ref.)
Germ
Dutch :
Hexam
A rabic-English Dictionary,
266.
: Arabischer Sprachfuhrer,
229 ; Com: Diet. Arab.
, (quot.) 35 (ft.note).
A Copious Englisg and
Netherduytsch Dictionariey, (ref.)
263 (ft.note), 264 (ft.note).
Vebwijs, E. and J. Verdam : Mid-
delnede rla n dsch Woorden boek,
(refs.) 261 ( ft.note), 262 (ft.note),
263.
INDEX
325
Glossaire du Morvan,
{ft. note), (quot.) 258
Dictionaries, etc. — continued.
English :
Hessels : A late Eighth Century
Latin- Anglo-Saxon Glossary, (ref. )
265 (ft.note).
MlNSHBU : Dictionary, (quot.) 9-10
{ft.note).
New English Dictionary, (refs. ) 256
[ft.note), 262 {ft.note).
Skeat : An Etymological Dictionary ,
(quot.) 260 {ft. -note) ; Transac-
tions of the Philological Society,
(ref .) 255 (ft.note).
Wright : Dictionary of Obsolete
and Provincial English, (ref. ) 20S,
211.
Wulcker : Anglo-Sa.con and old
English Vocabularies, (ref.) 256
(ft.note).
French :
Chambure :
(ref.) 257
(ft.note).
Corblet : Glossaire etymologique et
comparatif du patois picard, (ref.)
264 {ft.note).
Eveille : Glossaire Sainton geai*,
(ref.) 258 (ft.note).
Haillant : Dictionnaire phonMique
et etymologique, (quot.) 255 (ft.
note).
Jaubert : Glossaire du Centre de la
France, (ref.) 258 (ft.note).
Labourasse : Glossaire abre~g6 du
patois de la Jleuse, (ref.) 255
(ft.note).
Raynouard : Lexique roman, (ref.)
255 (ft.note).
Sainte-Palaye : Dictionnaire his-
torique de Vancien langage fran-
cais, (ref.) 255 (ft.note).
Sigart : Glossaire Uymologique mon-
tois, (ref.) 255 (ft.note).
German :
Grimm : Deutsches Worterbuch,
(refs.) 258 (ft.note), 260 (ft.note),
264 (ft.note).
Greek :
Paspates : To xlaK°v TXufftrdpLOv,
(quot.) 274 (ft.note).
Sophocles : Dictionary of Roman
and Byzantine Greek, (ref.) 34
(ft.note).
Vanicek : Griechisch - lateinisches
etymologisches Worterbuch, (ref. )
259 (ft.note).
Hindustani :
Shakespeare : Hindustani Dic-
tionary, (quot.) 35 (ft.note), 41
(ft.note).
Icelandic :
Vigfusson : Icelandic-English Dic-
tionary, (quot.) 260 (ft.note).
Italian :
Vocabtdario degli Academici della
Crusca, (ref.) 255 (ft.note).
Latin :
Andrews : A Copious and Critical
Latin- English Lexicon, (ref.) 259
(Jt.note).
Dictionaries, etc. — continued.
Du Cange : Glossarium mediae et
infimae latinitatis, (refs.) 254 (ft.
note), 255 (ft.note), 256 (and
ft.note), 257 (and ft.note), 259,
260, (quot, ) 261 (ft.note), (ref. ) 264,
(quot.) 265 (ft.note), 272-3 (ft.
note).
Forcellini : Totius latinitatis lexi-
con, (refs.) 254 (ft.note), 259 (ft.
note).
Goetz : Corpus glossarium latinorum ,
(refs.) 254 (ft.note), 259 (ft.note),
264 (ft.note).
Hildebkand : Glossarium latinum
Bibliothecae Parisianae antiquis-
simurn, (ref.) 254 (ft.note).
Routing : Lateinisches-Romanisches
WOrterbuch, (ref.) 257 (ft.note).
Loewe : Prodromus corporis glos-
sariorum latinorum, (ref.) 254 (ft.
note).
Vani&k. See adore under Greek.
WOLFIN : Archir fib- lateinische Lexi-
kographie und Grammatik, (ref.)
254 (ft.note).
Pali : Childeks : Pali Dictionary ,
(ref.) 39.
Persian :
Rosen : Colloquial Persian Gram-
mar, (quot. ) 35 (ft.note).
Steingass : Persian- English Dic-
tionary, (quot.) 34 (ft.note).
Romani :
Jimenez : Vocabulario del Dialecto
Jitano (refs.) 149, 156.
Rebolledo: Gitanos y Castellanos
Diccionario Gitano-Espahol y Es-
panol-Gitano (rev.), 149.
Smart and Crof ton : Dialect of the
English Gs., (refs.) 170 (ft.note),
204, 205 (ft.note), 208, 213, 216,
225, (ft.note), 277.
Von Sowa : Worterbuch des DiaUkts
der deidschen Zigeuner, (ref.) 244.
Scottish :
Jamieson : Scottish Dictionary, (ref.)
256.
Slang :
Farmer and Henley : Slang and its
Analogues, (ref.) 256 (ft.note).
Turkish :
Youssouf: Turkish - French Dic-
tionary, (quot.) 36 (ft.note).
Diemer : Genesis und Exodus nach <b r
Milstater Handschrift, (refs.) 13 (ft.-
note), 14 (ft.note).
Dierauer: Qui II i'u :ur Srhmeizerge-
schichfe, (quot.) 79-80.
Dinilo I Bakarcnsa, O, \Yelsh G. folk-
tale 17-9.
Diodo'rus Siculus, (ref.) 67, (quot.) 274
(ft.note).
Diritto commerciale nella legislation*, II.
See Lattes.
Disserlatio Academica de Cingaris. Sn
Bjorckman.
Dissertatio Philosophica de Cingaris. See
Thomasius.
Divorce ceremony, G., 93, (1624), 180.
326
INDEX
Dixon, Misses M. and N., 21 [ft.note).
Dizionario politico e dipubblica sicurezza,
(ref.) 110 (ft.note).
Doctor, The. See. Southey.
Dodd, Dr. William, and the G's., (note),
233-4.
Dog-stealer, G., 213.
Doldv, ' to catch,' derivation of, 107.
Doms, O. race name, 33, 37, 40-1.
Donkey-drivers, (J., 141.
Dookkatt Kooj.-max : Worterbuch, (ref.)
25S (ft.note).
Dormice, a (J. medicine, 27.
Douma (Duma), winter haunt of Gs., 37.
Dozy, P. A. : Dictionnaire detail/)- </, g
vetements chez leu Arabes, (ref.) 275
(ft.note).
Drab (note), 150-3.
Drabengros, G., 213.
Dreams, G. , superstitions about, 235.
Drew : The Jummoo, (ref.) 40 (ft.note).
Dropsy, G. cure for, 29.
Du Cange 16 ; Glossarium, (refs.) 254
(ft.note), 255 (ft.note), 256 (and ft.
note), 257 (and ft.note), 259, 260,
(quot.) 261 (ft.note), (ref.) 264, (quot.)
265 (ft.note), 272-3 (ft.note).
Duff, E. Gordon : Spelman on Gs., (note),
77.
Dukes, G., 4, 8, 14, 44, 45, 46, 48, 68,
116, 202,203.
Dukes of Little Egypt, 4, 44, 45, 46, 48.
Duringen, G. visit to in 1663, 238.
Dutt, W. A., 209 (ft.note).
Dzas menge frUsko, (song), 156.
Earache, G. cure for, 28.
Early History of Mankind. See Tylor.
Eberhard von Wurtemberg, Graf, 66.
Efts, G. superstition about, 23.
Egyptian Legend, The, (note), 227-8.
Egyptians (Gibti, Gipti, Gupti, Yifti),
<;. race name, 9, 38 (ft.note), 59, 61,
73, 77, 227, 235, 273, 275.
Ehrenborg, Harald : Swedish Tsigano-
logues, 111-9.
Einwanderung der Zigeuner, Die. See
^ Hopf.
Elderberry flowers, a G. medicine, 29.
Empty cart, ('•. superstition about, 22.
England, (Is. in, 276-88
English Dialect Dictionary, (ref. ) 256.
English Gs. and their Language. See
Leland.
English G. Songs. See Leland.
Environs oj London. See Lysons.
Eperies (Hungary), Gs. at. 228.
Epidemic, connection of Gs. with, 80,
2S9. See also Plague.
Epirus = Little Egypt, 7.
Epitafii giocosi e varii, (quot.) 234.
Epitaph, An, (note), 234.
Epitaphs of Gs., 71, 173, 216 (ft. note),
234.
Ethnographical Notes in S. India. Set
Thurston.
Etudt s sur Irs Tchinghiam's. See Pas-
pat i.
Etymologies, General —
' Adiyyauoi, 16 ; fiodpos, 266; cotio, (various
forms), 254-9 ; gallodromi, 264 (and
ft.note) ; Kaltschmiede, 14, 265 ; mango,
259-64 ; Mandopolos, 12 ; Sculuara,
114 (fl.-note).
Etymologies, Komani—
ambruli, 'shoes,' 253; cam, 119; cordi-
lendzis, 'bogey-man,' 195; doldv, 'to
catch,' 197 ; gddos, 'a monster,' 195;
handuh (handako, hliandaq), 3 ; hu-
pisds, 'shouted,' 17 (ft.note); iktilas,
'lead out,' 194; hatouna, 'tent,' 248
(ft.note); keradds, 'was boiling,' 18
(ft.note); Icetdpi, 'a book,' 195; nas-
(irghjiliom, 195 ; ne'ka, 'let him,' 196,
perikhlarj/ngge, 196; poerinen, 'to
return,' 194; ponedilnikos, 'Monday,'
195 ; Rom, Hum, 33-42, 275-6 ; x<U*
' a monster,' 195.
Eustathius, (ref.) 271.
Evagatorium. See Schmid.
Eveille, M. A. Glossaire Saint ongeais,
(ref.) 258 (ft.note).
Everest, Miss : list of Syrian G. words,
(ref.) 242 (ft.note).
Evil eye, (!. superstition about, 297.
Execution of G. woman, 103.
Executioners, G., (note), 232.
Executioners, G., 232.
Expulsion of Gs. by peasants, 100 ; from
Modena (1524), 49, 50, 52-3.
Eye. See Evil.
Fabri, (quot.) 67 (ft.note).
Fairs, Gs. forbidden at, 55.
Fairy butter, G. superstition about, 25
pipes, G. superstition about, 24.
False Gs. in Italy, 97, 102.
Famous Forgery, A. See Fitzgerald.
Faraons, G. race name, 226.
Farmer and Henley : Slang and its
Analogues, (ref.) 256 ( ft.note),
Farrier, G., 296.
Fassbender, Peter, at Modon in 1492,
62; (quot.) 63-4, 64 (ft.note).
Fastnachtspiele, (ref.) 9 (ft.note).
Fattening, G. recipe for, 28.
Ferrara, Duke of, his gifts to Cs. in
1469, 44.
Festivals, <;s. take part in, 6, 11, 50
TO
Feuerv:urtzel. See Fire-root.
Fever, G. cure for, 28, 281.
Fiddlers, <;., 167.
Fifty Years a Fighter. See Mace.
Fifty Fears' Recollections of 'an Old Book-
seller. See West.
Finch, Margaret, G. Queen, her burial,
73.
Finck, F. N*. 3, Die Sprache der armen-
ischen Zigeuner, (refs.) 120 ; Lehrbuch,
(refs.) 231, 244 (ft.note), 247 (ft.note).
Finland, Gs. in, 118.
Firdusi, 34.
Fire-root, 78, 236.
Fitzgerald, Percy : A Famous Forgery,
(ref. ) 233.
Folk- Lore of N.E. Scotland. SeeGregor.
Folk-Lore of the Northern Counties. See
Henderson.
Folk- Medicine. See Black.
INDEX
327
Folk-Tale, A Bulgarian G., 182-98 ; a
French G., 242-53; a Welsh Romani,
17-9.
Folk-Tales, Incidents of — See also Nuri
Stories — Incidents of.
Apple, boy changed into, 191.
Bear gives advice, 192 ; marries girl,
184.
Beauties, sleeping, 188.
Boy hailed as a hero by thieves, 188 ;
lifts cauldron with two fingers,
188 ; slain and restored to life,
192, 193 ; slays forty-one thieves,
188 ; transformed and retrans-
formed, 190, 191 ; wakes thieves,
188.
Broom, boy changed into, 190.
Brother, eldest, 184, 185 ; foolish,
17; second, 184, 185; youngest,
184, 185, 186, 189.
Brothers, drowning one's, 18 ; three,
17, 184, 1S9.
Cauldron, lifted with two fingers,
188 ; on a fire, 187.
Collar, magic, 191.
Colt, slays boy, 192 ; swift, 192.
Damsel seen in a dream, 249.
Damsel's hair cut, 250.
Dark girls, 249.
Daughters, three, 184.
Death of king, 184.
Drinking water, 188.
Eagle, breaks his wing, 193 ; brings
water from well of Zemzem, 193 ;
marries girl, 184.
Eating Turkish delight, 188.
Fire, 187.
Foolish brother, 17.
Fortune-telling, 249.
Forty-one rams, 187; thieves, 187.
Heaven, going to, in a sack, 17> IS.
Horse, magic, 191.
Horse-shoes of silver, 249.
Inn, great, 249.
King dies, 184.
Ladder of nails, 188.
Lantern, blown out, 188 ; goes out,
187.
Light, spinning of, 187, 189.
Lover, disguised as a woman, 250 ;
slashed with a knife, 250 ; water
thrown on sleeping, 250.
Maidens, three, 188 ; married by
brothers, 189.
Marriage of girl and bear, 184 ; girl
and eagle, 184; girl and wolf,
184 ; three sisters to three youths,
189.
Meadow, camping in, 185.
Monster asking the way, 1S5, ISO,
187 ; comes by night, 185, 186,
187; ears of, put in a sack, 185,
186, 187 ; one-headed, 185 ; slain,
185, 186, 187; three-headed, 187;
two-headed, 186.
Nails, ladder of, 188.
Needle, boy transformed into, 190.
Old woman bound to a tree, 187 ;
drawing in the night and spinning
out the light, 187. 189.
Folk-Tales, G., incidents of — continued.
Rams, forty-one, a-cooking, 187.
Sack, going to Heaven in a, 17, 18 ;
monster's ears in, 185, 186, 187.
Sheep from the sea, 18.
Silver horse-shoes, 249.
Sisters, three, 184.
Sleeping beauties, 188; lover, 250;
near a well, 250 ; under a tree,
249.
Sons, three, 17, 184.
Three beauties, 188; brothers, 17,
184 ; sisters, 184.
Transformations :
Apple into boy, 191.
Boy into apple, 190 ; broom,
190 ; needle, 190.
Broom into boy, 190.
Needle into boy, 190.
Turkish delight, eating, 1SS.
Wall scaled, 188.
Water, drinking, 188; from well
of Zemzem, 193; thrown on sleep-
ing lover, 250.
Wolf marries girl, 184.
Woman, old, 187, 189.
Youngest brother, adventures of,
186 - 93 ; consents to sisters'
marriages, 184 ; gives help to
Cordilenzis, 185.
Fontes Rerum Boheniicarum, (ref.) 13
(ft.note).
Footprint used for witchcraft, 92, 94.
Forcellini, Totius latinitatis lexicon,
(refs.) 254 {ft.note), 259 {ft.note).
Foresti, 67 {ft.note), 68.
Foresti, Emilia, letter to Spinelli,
(quot.) 108-10.
Forms of Greeting, G., 197, 231.
Fortress of Modena repaired by Gs. ,
55.
Fortune-tellers, G., 9, 10, 15, 70, 78-80,
82-5, 89, 155, 233-4, 280, 281, 282, 283,
284, 289, 290, 295, 296.
Fox-Smith, C, Gs. in Lancashire, (ref.)
281.
France, Gs. in, 201-4, 234-5, 242-5, 251,
294-5.
Fkazer, Prof. J. G. : Golden Bough,
(refs.) 175 (ft.note), 177 (ft.note), 179
(ft.note), 180 (ft.note); in Journal of
Anthropological Institute, (ref.) 181
(ft.note) ; Pausanias, (refs.) 177 (ft.-
note), 178 (ft.note), 179 (ft.note).
Freedom, G. love of, 70.
FRESCoiiALDT, 62, 275 ; Viaggio di Lio-
nardo in Ef/itto e in Terra Sunt a, (quot . )
5 (ft.note), 58 (ft.note), (ref.) 59 (ft.
note).
Friedeck (Silesia), Gs. at, 297.
Frog, G. superstition about, 2:1 ; used to
remove phlegm, 31.
Frog-spawn, G. superstition about, 235-
6.
Funeral Libations, (note), 23...
(Indus, derivation of, 195.
Gaidoz, Henri, 153, A. <!. Settlement in
Lorraine, (note). 234-5.
Galena, a drab for pigs, 151.
328
INDEX
Citllodromi, derivation of, 264 (and ft.
note).
Gardini, Galdino, Rimembranze di un
Viaggio all' Alpe, (ref.) 105 (ft.note).
Gavalji, ' shepherd's pipe,' 200.
Gay Young Squire, The, (song), (ref.)
277.
Gedichte in Frankfurten Mundart. See
Stolze.
Gellius, 254.
Genesis und Exodus nach der Milstdter
Handschrift. See Diemer.
(Jcrmany, Gs. in, 295-6.
Gesner, Conrad, Mithridates, (ref.) 79
(ft.note).
Gh.iUngh.eri Ghilia Salomuneskero. See
Pincherle.
Ghosts, 279 ; G. fear of, 168.
Chills, 121 (ft.note).
(iiLLi at- Smith, Bernard: (refs.) 231,
244 (ft.note), 249 (ft.note), 319 ; Russian
Gs. in Lithuania, July 1908, (note),
154-5 ; A Little Song, (note), 155-6 ;
A Bulgarian G. FolkTale, 182-98;
Romane Giljd, 198-201 ; G. Execu-
tioners, (note), 232.
Gillington, Miss, (ref.) 158.
<iiKY, A, Histoire de la ville Saint-Omer,
(refs.) 262 (ft.note), 263 (ft.note).
Gitano, 149.
Gitanos d' Espagne. See Bataillard.
Gitanos y Castellanos, (rev.), 149.
Giulia, Princess, intercedes for G.
women, 99.
Gjorg.tkyic, Die Zigeuner in Serbien,
(ref.) 194.
Gleaners, G., 92.
Gleanings from God's Acre. See Briscoe.
Godefkoy, (quot.) 264 (ft.note).
Goetz, Georgius, Corpus glossariorum
latinorum, (refs.) 254 (ft.note), 259
(ft.note).
Golden Bough, The. See Frazer.
Good Friday, G. superstition about, 21.
Grammar and Vocabidaryofthe Language
of the Nawtror Zutt, the Nomad Smiths
of Palestine, A, by R. A. Stewart Mac-
alister, 120-6, 298-317.
Greek loan-words in Romani probably
from Greek-speaking Asia, 38, 68.
Greeks, G. race name, 38 (jt.note), 68
(ft.note).
Greene, H. W., review of Rebolledo's
Diccionario Gitano- Espaiiol y Espanol
Gitano, 149.
Ghegor, Folk- Lore of N.E. Scotland,
(ref.) 176 (ft.note).
Gkellmann, 149 ; criticised by Ra-
benius, 113; Historisrher Versuch, (ref.)
228 (ft.note).
< Emerson, G. A., 41.
Grimm. See Hunt.
Grimm, Teutonic Mythology, (ref.) 179
(ft.note).
Grimm, J. and W., Deutsches Worter-
I'uch, (refs.) 258 (ft.note) 260 (ft.note),
264 (ft.note)
Groome, F. H. : 39, G. Folk-Tales, (refs.)
17, 65 (ft.note), 171 (ft.note), 264
(ft.note), 320; his discovery of Welsh
Romani, 193; In G. Tents, (refs.) 23
(ft.note), 72 (ft.note), 153 (ft.note),
159, 165 (ft.note), 169 (ft.note), 171
(ft.note), 172 (ft.note), 216 (ft.note);
Kritgspiel, (ref.) 152.
Grose, (ref.) 206.
Grosvesor, Lady Arthur, 157; Borroiv's
Greed and Paternoster, (note), 156 ;
A Pilgrim's Progress, 204-24.
Grunemberg, Konrad, His drawing of
Modon, 5, 61 (and ft.note).
Guerard, M., Cartidaire deVaiibagt de
Saint Victor de Marseille, (ref.) 261
(ft.note).
Guthrie, W., A new system of Modern
Geography, (quot. ) 226.
Gyppe, 6, 60-1.
G. Blanket, The, 241.
G. Executioners, (note). 232.
G. Folk-Tales. See Groome.
G. Forms and Ceremonies, by W. Crcoke,
174-82.
G. Head-Dress, (note), 236.
G. Prayers, (note), 77.
G. Settlement in Lorraine, A, (note),
234-5.
G. Slavery in Spain, (note), 239.
G. Soldiers and Spies, (note), 237-9.
Gs. as Fortune- Tellers and as Blacksmiths,
by Leo Weiner, 4-17; 253-76.
Gs. as Inn- Signs, (note), 73.
Gs. in Corfu and the Morea, (note),
72-3.
Gs. of India. See MacRitchie.
Gs. of Modon and the ' Wyne of Romeney,'
by E. O. Winstedt, 57-69.
Gs. of the New Forest and other Tales,
Gibbins', (rev.), 70.
Gypsyriesat — Arnaout Kjiiy, 182 ; Beh-
renthal, 234-5 ; Blackpool, 279 ; Bos-
ton (U.S.A.), 81-8, 292-3 ; Constanti-
nople, 160, 182; Eperyesh (Hungary),
228 ; Friedeck (Silesia), 297 ; Jerusa-
lem, 120 ; Kasim Pasha, 182 ; Kendal,
19, 232; Kronstadt, 65 ; Modena, 43-
57, 88-111 ; Modon, 5, 59-62, 65 ; Nau-
plion, 62, 66 ; Norwich, 164 ; Novo-
alexandrovsk, 154-5; Petre-kow, 297 ;
Puszta, 296 ; Zante, 6. In— Corfu, 72 ;
Crete, 11 ; Morea, 72 ; New Forest, 70 ;
Salonika, 227 ; Sofia, 183.
Hadorph, Swedish antiquary, 114-5;
his Bidrkoa Ratten, (quot.) 114.
Hadrian, Pope, 253.
Hagex, Philippvan, Hodoj/orika, (quot.)
62 (and ft.note).
Haggart, Life, (ref.) 206.
Haillant, N. , Dictionnaire phonttique
et 6tymologique, (quot.) 255 (ft.note).
Hair, female, used in witchcraft, 94.
Half-bloods, origin of G. , 48-9.
Hall, Rev. George, 165 (ft.note), (quot.)
167 (ft.note).
Hammer-shaft makers, G., 282.
Handuk (handako, khandaq), derivation
of, 3.
Hanging of aft., 54.
Hansisches Urkundenbuch, (quot.) 260
(ft.note), 263 (ft.note).
INDEX
329
Harff, Arnold von, traveller, 5, 6, 60,
(quot.) 64 (andft.note), 65 (ft.note), 320.
Harman, A Gaueat; (refs.), 206, 20S,
256 (ft.note).
Hartland, Legend of Perseus, (i-efs. )
176 (ft.note), 177 {ft.note).
Hawkers, G., 22, 277, 27S, 279, 280, 283,
284, 285.
Hazel-bushes, cakes hung on, 79.
Head, R., (1674), (ref.)206.
Heathen, G. race-name, 6, 61.
Hedgehog, a G. food and medicine, 27-8 ;
laughing. G. superstition about, 23.
Hefele, Conciliengeschichte, (refs.) 253
(ft.note), 254.
Heimath der Zigeuner. See Pischel.
Henderson, Ancient and Modern Wines,
(ref.) 63 {ft.note).
Henderson, Folk-Lore of the Northern
Counties, (ref.) 181 ( ft.note).
Herne, Mrs., her recipe tested, 152.
Herodotus, (refs.) 176 (ft.note), 227.
Hf.ssels, J. H., A late Eighth Century
Latin- Anglo-Saxon Glossary, (ref.) 265
(jt.note).
Hex am, A Copioxis Englisg and Nether-
duytsch Dictionaries, (refs.) 263
(ft.note), 264 (ft.note).
Hidalgo, Juan, Romances de Germania,
(ref.) 149.
Hildebrand, G. F., Glossarium latinum
Bibliothecae Parisianae antiquisshnum,
(ref.) 254 (ft.note).
Hinomar, Archbishop, his letter to
Charles the Bald, (quot.) 259.
Hind, C. Lewis, The Diary of a Looker-
on, (ref. ) 279.
Historia di Corfu. See Marmora.
History of the Gs. See Simson.
Hoefmann-Krayer, Prof. E., Various
References, (note), 78-80.
Homines vagen iti — Gs. , 68.
Honey, a G. medicine, 27.
Hopf, (refs.) 64 (ft.note), 68 ; Die Ein-
wanderung der Zigeuner ; (ref.) 73.
Horse saddled before bridled, G. super-
stition about, 23.
Horsedealers, G., 166, 1S3, 277, 280,
283; forbidden. 91.
Horse-doctoring, 31-3.
Horse-doctors, G., 238, 296.
Horses owned by Gs. , 46, 47, 50, 54,
116, 166, 183, 277, 280, 283;
stolen again by G. sellers, 89.
Horsley, Jottings from Jail , (ref.) 206.
House, Rev. J. Henry, (quot.) 38
(ft.note).
Housebreaking by Gs., 51, 91.
Houses called G., 103, 104 (ft.note).
Hungarian G. Tzimhal Player, A, by A.
T. Sinclair (note), 228-32.
Hungary, Gs. in, 228, 296.
Hint, Margaret, Grimm, (ref.) 17.
Hunter, History of South Yorkshire,
(ref.) 72 (ft.note).
Hupisds, derivation of, 17 (ft.note).
Ifymnus ad Completorium, (ref.) 95
(ft.note).
IGRITZ, professed home of Gs. in 141S, 80.
Ikalas, derivation of, 194.
Imperative in Bulgarian Romani, 195 ;
of verbs in -av, 18 (ft.note).
In G. Tents. See Groome.
Incidents in a G.'s Life. See Smith.
Infidelity, punishment of among Gs.,
170-1.
Innes, Andrew, photos Gs., 161.
Innes, MissT. T., 161.
Innes, William, 161.
Inn-keepers fined for lodging Gs. , 51.
Inquisition and Gs., 92.
Invasions, G., from Italy, into rCngland,
168 ; of Servian Gs., 287-8.
Iron-workers, G., 296.
It's a kusti bright rati, (song), 160.
Italian words in Romani, 244, 252,
absence of, in English dialect, 168.
Italy, Gs. in, 43-57, 88-111, 296-7 ; first
appearance of Gs. in, 43.
Itinerarium. See Symon Simeonis and
Wey.
J in Sanskrit becomes Romani c, 119-20.
Jackson, Prof. A. W. Williams, Zo-
roaster, (ref.) 34 (ft.note).
Jaffa, Gs. at, 66.
Jal down to the staguSj (song), 158.
Jal-in to Kangri Kurki Sdla, (sons),
(ref.) 226.
Jamieson, Scottish Dictionary, (ref.),
226.
•Tanik, Gustavus, [pseud. A.'E. John],
PiSota, (note), 320.
Jasper Family, 161.
Jaubert, Glossaire du Centre de la
France (ref.), 258 (ft.note).
Jegjupka, 9.
Jerusalem, Gs. at, 120.
Jesina, J., (ref.) 221.
Jimenez, Vocabulario del Dialecto Jitano,
(refs.) 149, 156.
Jinganeh, G. race-name, 37.
Joannes Cameniata. 12.
Johan hi., King, 237.
Johann, Graf zu Solms, 62, (ijuot.) 62
( ft.note).
John, Augustus, 251. PiSota (note), 320.
John, 'Count of Little Egypt,' 46-7.
Johnson, Goddard, friend of Borrow,
156; Illustrations . . . of the English
People, 209 ( andft.nott ), 210 (ft.note).
Johnson, Dr., 74.
Jottings from Jail. See Horsley.
Jugglers, <;., 10.
Jummoo, The. See Drew.
JuSTIj Prof. Ferdinand, (quot.) 33-4.
JUSTINGER, Conrad: l'» rn< r Chrouik,
(quot.) 80.
Juvenal, (quot.) 226.
Kaltschmiede, G. rare name, II, 265;
derivation of, 14.
Kasim Pasha, Gs. at, 182.
Katouna 'tent,' derivation of, 248
(ft.note).
Kekermannus, Bartholomaeus, (ref.)
78.
Kendal, Gs. at, 19,232.
Keradas, derivation of, is ( ft.note).
:J30
INDEX
Kessler, 14.
Kesslertage, 'smith diets,' 14.
Ketdpi, 'a book,' derivation of, 195.
Key to Agrippy, 213.
Kidnappers, < >., 290.
Kidney trouble, (!. cure for, 29, 30.
Kilianua Audits, (ref.)261 {ft. note).
KlRILOW ii/„ 247 (ft.note).
Klugt Knecht, l><r, xv. Century play,
(ref.)78.
Kluyvek, A. : Michael-Jan De Goeje,
1-4.
Knapp, Prof. W. I., 156, 157; Life of
Borrow, (ref. ) 165 (ft.note).
Kogalnitchan, 244 (ft.note).
Kolbkn : Present State of the Cape of
Good Hope, (ref.) 179 (ft.note).
Kopernicki, Prof., 72.
Kortino : Lateinisch-Romanisches War-
t* rbuch, (ref.) 257 (ft.note).
Kkantz, Albertus : Sa.coniei, (quot.) 8
(ft.note), (ref.) 78, (quot.) 79 (ft.note).
Kriegspiel. See Groome.
Kronstadt, Gs. at, 65.
Labourasse, H. : Glossaire abrigi'' du
patois de fa Meuse, (ref.) 255 (ft.note).
Labourers, G., 296.
Latere Sinte, 244 (ft.note), 319.
Lalore 'dumb,' 183.
Lancilotto, Tommasino, Cronaca di
Modena, (quot.), 50.
Lank: Arabic English Dictionary, (ref.)
266.
Language, unreliable evidence in eth-
nology, 33.
Larwood, and Hotten : The History of
Signboards, (quot.) 7-5.
Latins in the Levant, The. See Miller.
Lattes, A. : // diritto commerciale nella
legislazione (refs.) 255 (ft.note), 261
(ft.note).
Laurent, Paul : Stain is et coutumes de
Vecherinage de Mizieres, (ref.) 258
(ft. note).
Law against Gs. See Acts.
Le Gouz : Tour in Ire/and, (quot.) 236.
Le H/uen, traveller, 5.
Leal as a G., (note), 153-4.
Leeches, G., 10 (ft.note), 237.
Legend about nails of crucifixion, 05 ;
seven }Tears' wandering of Gs., 7.
Legend of Perseus. See Hartland.
Lehmann : Patriotisches Magazin, (ref.)
78 (ft.note).
Lehrbuch des Dialehts der Deutschen
Zigeuner. See Finck.
Leland, C. G. : The English Gs. and
their Language, (refs.) 151 (ft.note)
210 (ft.note), 211, 212, 215 [and
ft.note).
Leland, 1'almer, and Tuckey : English-
<!. Songs, (refs.), 169 (and ft.note), 212.
Lemon, a G. medicine, 28.
Lencheraud, 6, 64. .
Lengua Gitana, La. See Gitanos y Cas-
lellanos.
Leo Africanus, (ref.) 275 (ft.note).
LeoDiacontts apuel Corpus Scriptorum
Historiae Byzantinae, 11 (ft. -note).
Leo Isauricus, 272 (ft.note).
Levita, Penedictus, his collection of
laws, (quot.) 267, 270.
Lewenklaw, Hans von, Neuvxe Chronica
Tiirckisher nation, (ref.), 6 (ft.note).
Lexer, 258.
Licence for a G. to remain in district,
56, 91, 100.
Liebicii, Die Zigeuner, 244 (ft.note),
(refs.) 247 ( ft.note), 248 (ft.note), 251,
318.
Life of St. Barbaros the Egyptian, (ref.)
273.
Lily-roots, a G. medicine, 237.
Limours, Paul : Un Piril errant, (ref. )
160.
Linseed, a G. medicine, 28.
Little Egypt, 7, 228.
Little Song, A, (note), 155-6.
Livrede la Taille de Paris en 1313, (ref.)
257 (ft.note).
Loadstone, baptized, used for witch-
craft, 94.
Loan-words in Romani dialects, 38, US,
124, 193, 244, 251, 252.
Lodging forbidden to Gs. , 51.
Loewe, G. : Prodromns corporis glossari-
orum latinorum, (ref.) 254 (ft.note).
Lorn, G. race-name, 33, 37.
Lonely old crow, (song), 230.
Lope de Vega, (ref.) 9 (ft.note).
Love-spell, 94.
Lucas, Joseph, Petty Romany, (ref.) 39
(ft.note); The Yet holm History of the
Gs., (ref.) 39 (ft.note).
Lucas. See Borrow.
Ludole, Job, 149 ; on G. origin, 79.
Lysander, Prof. A. Th. : Zigenarne,
(quot.) 115.
Lysons : The Environs of London, (quot.)
74.
Mabtllonii's, D. J.: Praefationes,(veL)
269 (ft.note).
Macalister, R. A. Stewart : A Gram-
mar and Vocabulary of the Language
of the JVairar or Zutt, the Nomad
Smiths of Palestine, 120-6, 298-317;
Nuri Stories, 127-14S.
McCoRMlCK, A. : A Testimonial for
Tinklers, (note), 233.
Mace, Jem : Fifty years a Fighter, (refs.)
165 (ft.note), 16S (ft.note).
Maclaren, J. S. : G. Slavery in Spain,
(note), 239.
MacLeod, W. : A New World G. Camp,
81-8
MacRitchie, D. (refs.) 4, 237,290; Gs. in
Corfu and the Morea, (note), 72-3 ;
Gs. of India, (refs.) 39 (ft.note), 63
(ft.note).
Magic fire, 78, 236.
Maginn : Vidocq Versified, (ref.) 206.
Magiologia. See Anhorn.
Maidenhead, Mayor of, on Gs. , 27S.
Maiolus, (ref.) 78.
Malay Magic. See Skeat.
Mandi'sjdin 'to stariben, (song), 158-9.
Mandopolos, G. race name, 10, 12 ;
derivation of, 12.
INDEX
331
Mandy ivent to puv some griys, (song), 1 58.
Mango, derivation and meaning of, 259-
64.
Markets, Gs. forbidden at, 55.
Marmora, Historia di Corfu, (quot.),
72, 73.
Marriage, G. in 1624, 93 ; between Gs.
and Italians, 97 {ft. note); of Gs.,
church law about, 101 ; at Carpi in
1907, 109 ; custom among the Hemes,
170 ; rites of Gs. compared with those
of other tribes, 177.
Marriages, G., 88, 206-7, 281, 283, 2S4,
290, 292-3, 297.
Marson, Rev. Charles L.., friend of
Gs., 77.
Martin del Rio, (quot.) 11 (ft.note).
Maypole celebrations by Gs. of Corfu,
72.
Mazaris, Byzantine satirist, 12, (quot.)
73.
Meat, raw, a G. cure for warts, 30.
Mecklenburg, Elizabeth, Duchess of,
237.
Medicine practised by Gs., 236-7. See
also Leeches.
Medicines used by Gs. See Cures.
Mehemet, Sultan, Gs. in circumcision
procession of son of, 6.
Meisner. See Rohricht.
Meles and the lion, 176.
Mimoire sur les migrations des Tsiganes.
See De Goeje.
Memoirs of the Comtesse de Boigne, (ref.)
276.
Meniglaise, G., Voyage de Georges
Lencherand, (ref.) 5 (ft.note), (quot.)
6 (ft.note).
Meningitis attributed
2S9.
Messengers in war, Gs
Spies.
Messenius, Johannes, Scondia Illustrata,
(quot.) 116-7.
Metathesis in Nuri dialect, 123.
Mexico, Gs. pass thro', 81.
Meyer, Conv. Diet. Arab. Germ., (quot.)
35 (ft.note) ; Arabischer Sprachfuhrer,
(ref.) 229.
Mice, fried, a G. medicine, 27.
Michael, Count, 44-5.
Michael-Jan De Goeje, by A
1-4.
Michel, Le Pays Basque,
(ft.note).
Middle Dutch Dictionary, (ref. ) 263.
Miklasiewics, Josef, collects Romani
vocabulary in the Hauran, 310.
Miklosich, 2, 3, 15, Beitrdge, (refs.)120,
194, 195, 249 (ft.note) ; Ueber die
Mundarten, 2, (refs.) 15 (ft.note), 119,
193, 194, 20S, 212, 242 (ft.note), 245
(ft.note) ; 247 (ft.note).
Miller, History of Doncaster, (quot.)
72.
Miller, Latins in the Levant, Tlie: A
History of Frankish Greece, (quot.)
72-3.
Minsheu, John, Dictionary, (quot. 9-
10 (ft.note), 236 (ft.note).
to German *■*.,
as, 49. See al*o
Kluyver,
(ref.) 242
Mithridates. See Gesner.
.Modena, Gs. in, 43-57, 88-111.
Modon, a (i. haunt, 5, 57-69.
Mone, F. G. , Schausjnele des Mittelalters,
(ref.) 78.
Monkey-leaders, G., 287.
Moos, David von, Astronomisclt Kalen-
der fur Zurich, (quot.) 79.
More Leaves. See Victoria.
Morwood, Our Gs., (refs.) 165 (ft.note),
207 (ft.note).
Mousehold Heath, a G. haunt, 164, 168.
' .Mouse's ears,' a (4. medicine, 29.
Minster, Cosmographia, (ref.) 8 (ft.-
note), 77.
Muratori, Rerum Italicarum Scrip/ores,
(quot.) 8 (ft.note), (ref.) 43, 150.
Musical instruments, Romani names of,
229.
Musicians, (4., 6, 44, 87, 22S.
Mustard, a G. poison for pigs, 150-1.
Myers, J., 151, 165 (ft.note) ; Drab,
(ref.) 150; Gs. as Inn-Signs, (note),
73.
Mystic Hose. See Crawle}-.
Nails of Crucifixion, 65.
Name, change of among Gs., 164 (ft.
note), 171.
Names, geographical and ethnic in Nuri
dialect, 126 ; Romani, of musical in-
struments, 229 ; of places, 215.
Names, G., Christian : —
Aaron, 151, 289.
Am, 162.
Abraham, 280.
Absalom, 207.
Ada, 163, 278, 2S1, 283.
Adelaide, 28 (ft.note), 103, 165
(ft.note).
Adolphus, 163.
Agnes, 163, 277.
Albert, 1 63, 280.
Alessandra, 92.
Alessandro, 56, 57.
Alfred, 161, 163, 172, 283.
Algar, 163, 283.
Alice, 159, 163, 27s.
Alma, 279, 286.
Ambrose, 157, 161, 163, 161, 165,
166, 168, 171. 172, 173, 174.
Amelia, 282, 284.
Amiga, 240.
Amos, 284.
Andrew, ' Duke,' 4, 43, 1 1.
Angelina, 282.
Ann, 282.
Annabel, 205 (ft.note).
Annie, 240, 286, 288.
Antoine, 201, 202, 203.
Antonio, 149.
Antonius, Herr (G. chief), 116.
Arthur, 163.
Athalia, 163, 2s::.
Barley, 163.
Barney, 163.
b lrtolombo, 49.
Beatrice, 163.
Ben, 279.
Bendigo, 286.
332
JXDEX
Names, (!. : Christian — continued.
Benjamin, 288.
Bertie, 163.
Bertram, in::.
Bessie, 87, 291.
Betsy, L63, 165.
Bidi, 161, 162, 163.
Bill, 292.
Boaz, 280.
Bridget, 293.
Britannia, 282, 283.
Bhittannia, 278.
Budd, 291.
Bui, 162, 169, 225.
Cappelli, Francisco, 96.
Carlo, 53.
Caroline, 163, 278, 279, 285
Cecilia, 163.
Celidonia, 91.
Charles, 71, 72 (ft.note), 87, 158,
162, 276, 278, 285, 292.
Charles, ' Captain, ' 76.
Charles Henry, 163, 172 {ft.note).
Charlie, 153 (ft. note), 162,225, 276.
Charlotte, 283, 288.
Clara, 277.
Constance, 162, 164.
Cornelius, 150, 159, 276, 285.
Crowy, 225.
Daddy, 285.
Dade, 200, 201.
Daisy, 279.
Damitro, 87, 293.
Dan, 71.
Daniel, 2S5.
David, 285, 290.
Degna, 96.
Delaia, 161, 163, 173 (ft.note), 225.
Diamanta, 96.
Dick, 225, 279.
Dona, 161, 163, 225.
Donald, 290.
Donnino, 93.
Dora (Maliva), 291.
Edward, 166 (ft.note), 170 (and ft.-
note), 216 (ft.note), 278, 282, 283,
285.
Edwin, 204, 216 (and ft.note), 217,
218, 219, 220.
Eleonora, 92.
Eli, 162, 163, 284, 285, 286.
Elias, 284.
Elijah, 162, 165, 284.
Eliza, 163, 166 (ft.note), 225, 277,
282.
Elizabeth, 162, 172 (ft.note), 280.
Ellen, 278, 281, 290.
Elvira, 277, 294.
Emil, 87, 292, 298.
Emily, 125, 163, 2S2, 286.
Emma, 282.
Erica, 163.
Eriole, 57, 94, 96.
Ernest, 163.
Eros, 163.
Esau, 162, 225.
Esther, 158, 159.
Faden John, 162, 164, 166.
Fanny, 277, 286.
Femi, 162.
Names, G. : Christian— continued.
Fennimore, 27.
Florence, 162, 277, 285.
Florrie, 288.
Flossie, 285.
Francesco, 53, 56, 89, 91.
Francoise ('La Doudon'), 201, 202.
Frank, 162, 163, 278, 284, 293.
Fred, 163, 283.
Frederick, 163, 172 (ft.note), 208.
Freeda, 20, 25.
Galleazzo, 96.
Genti, 165 (ft.note).
George, 163, 164 (ft.note), 171 (ft.
note), 173 (ft.note), 208, 213, 276,
278, 281, 282, 284.
(iEOROINA, 285.
Gertrude, 288.
Giacomo, 53.
Gilroy, 284.
Giorgio, 108 (ft.note).
Giovan Maria, 47.
Giovanni, 'Conte,'46, 54.
Giovanni, 100.
Giovanni Nicolo, 92.
Giovanno, 96.
Ciulia, 91, 92.
Coney, 240, 285.
Greenleaf, 205 (ft.note), 225.
Gregorio, 291.
Gregory, 86.
Gus, 163, 225.
Duster, 163.
Haddy, 240.
Hagi, 225.
Hamelen, 163.
Harriet, 285.
Harry, 2S2, 283, 2S4.
Henry, 163, 172 (ft.note), 278, 280,
281, 282, 283, 286, 293.
Herbert, 163, 285.
Hirins, 283.
Honor, 162.
Horace, 282.
Hubert, 20.
Hugh, 289.
Imperia, 91, 94.
Irena, 293.
Irene, 86.
Isaac, 25, 32, 166 (ft.note), 167
(ft.note), 282.
Israel, 152, 160.
Iza, 163, 225, 226.
Jabez, 278.
Jack, 166, 167 (ft.note).
Jacoma, 96.
Jakob, 112, 113.
James, 71, 72, 163, 276, 280, 281,
282, 284, 285, 286, 290.
Jane, 276, 283.
Jasper, 205 ( ft.note).
Jean [John], 201, 202, 203, 204.
Jean Marie, 294.
Jean Pierre, 243.
Jeanne, 201, 202, 203, 204.
Jeanne-Jacqueline, 243.
Jem, 163, 165, 16S.
Jemima, 282, 284, 285.
Jenny, 205 (ft.note), 207.
Jimmy, 22, 162, 235.
INDEX
333
Names, G. : Christian — continued.
Joannes, ' count ' of Little Egypt,
46.
Job, 284, 285.
John, 81 (ft. note), 85, 86, 87, 162,
163, 164, 165 (and ft.note), 166,
168, 225, 276, 277, 280, 282, 285,
290, 292, 293.
John Lee, 171 (ft.note).
Johnny, 163, 225.
Joseph, 2S0, 288 ; ' King,' 293.
Joshua, 225.
Josiah, 163, 278.
Juan, 298.
Kadilia, 163, 165, (ft.note), 179
(ft.note).
Kate, 282, 284, 288.
Katie, 163, 165 (ft.note).
Kenza, 163, 172 (ft.note), 225.
Kerlenda, 163.
Kit, ' King,' 290.
Laini (Phcebe), 162.
Latimer, 279.
Launcelot, 153 (ft.note)
Laura, 93, 163, 283.
Lavinia, 19, 21, 23, 24 (and ft.note),
25, 26, 27, 30, 158, 320.
Leandra, 96.
Leath, 87.
Lena, 286.
Leo, 163.
Leonard, 159.
Leonora, 163.
Lettiaceneter Annie, 240, 286.
Levi, 291.
Liberty, 159.
Lillah, 279.
Lily, 293.
Liti Ruth, 162.
Logan, 163.
Lolly Lally, 159.
Louis, 243.
Louisa, 280.
Louise Marie, 291.
Lovinia, 163.
Loyala, 86.
Lucas, 278.
Lucia, 96.
Lucretia, 39.
Lucy, 21, 27, 225.
Ludovico, 94, 96.
Lui, 225.
Lulu, 20, 25, 26, 150.
Lureni, 225.
Lydia (Liti), 162, 163, 225.
Maddalena, 96.
Mahoney, 291.
Maliva, 291.
Maloney, 291.
Mannasseh, 280.
Maresko, 163, 165 (ft.note).
Margaret, 73, 163, 278.
Margrat, 290.
Maria, 92, 96, 94, 280 ; ' Princess
Sara,' 294.
Mark, 283.
Martha, 165 (and ft.note), 167, 169.
Mary, 280, 282, 288.
Mary Ann, 280, 282.
Masey, 285.
Names, G. : Christian — continued.
Masire, 284.
Mastro, 53.
Mat, 162.
Matilda, 276, 284.
Matthew, 17, 210 (and ft.note), 212,
215, 216.
Maud, 284.
Meera, 19, 23, 24 (ft.note).
Melbourne, 163, 225.
Mercedes, 295.
Michael, ' Duke,' 4, 44, 45, 46, 48.
Michel, 246.
Midora, 163.
Mikailia, 166.
Miller, 162.
Milly, 166 (ft.note), 167 (ft.note).
Minnie, 284.
Mira, 200, 201.
Mirelli, 162, 164.
Mistana, 199, 201.
Mitchell, 291.
Mivaniel, 240, 282.
Moll, 162.
Mordecai, 205.
Moses, 207, 208, 280.
Muhammad, 311.
Myrack (Myrick), 209 (and ft.note,).
Nathan, 163, 172 (ft.note), 283.
Nathaniel, 163.
Nehemiah, 285.
Neill, 290.
Neli, 162.
Nelson, 281.
Newcombe, 225.
Niabai, 162, 166 (ft.note), 225.
Nicolo, 44.
Nixi, 162.
Noah, 163, 2S1, 285, 286.
Noel, 282.
Norah, 163, 283,285,286.
Nornas, 20, 26.
Oceanic, 290.
Olimpia, 103.
Olive, 280.
Orazio, 56, 92.
Oscar, 225, 286.
Oseri, 163, 167 (ft.note), 22:..
Oti, 163, 168.
Pakomovna, 165, 202.
Pamela, 163.
Papita or Pipa, 'Queen,' 291.
Paradice, 216 (ft.note).
Patience, 77, 285.
Patrick Arthur, 163.
Pedro, 85, 87, 88.
Peterie, 288.
Petro, 291.
Pharaoh, 279.
Philip, 295.
PHCEBE, 162, 166,281,282.
PlXKI, 163.
Piramus, 167 (and ft. not').
Pizinnia, 240, 282.
Plato, 151.
Policy, 161, 163, 172, 173 (ft.iu
225, 2S7.
POLLIE, 278.
POPPA, 86, 87, 293.
Prudence, 162, 165.
334-
INDEX
Names, G. : Christian — continued.
Rabbi, 240, 282.
Raf.i, 163.
Rachel, 162.
Randle, 162.
Renee, 295.
Repriona, 163.
Reynolds, 162, 165.
Rhoda, 278.
Rhona, 279.
Richard, 162, 225, 280, 291.
Riley, 2S5.
Rodomonte, 90.
Rodney, 21, 285.
Rosa, 87, 292, 293.
Rose, 70, 81 (ft.note), 87, 280, 288,
292, 293.
Ro.sina, 278, 284.
Roze, 201, 202, 203.
Ryley, 225.
Sally, 279.
Sampson, 162.
Samson, 281.
Samuel, 277, 282.
Sanspirella, 161, 162, 165 {and
ft.note), 225.
Santino, 93.
Sarah, 163, 166 [ft.note), 281, 282,
285.
Saunders, 162.
Sejo, 199, 201.
Selina, 152, 153 (and ft.note), 278.
Sena, 294.
Shakir, 120, 121.
Shandres, 19, 20, 23.
Sihtri, 225.
Sibby, 286.
Sibi, 163.
Sidney, 277. 286.
Signorino, 94, 96, 97.
Sinfai, 166.
Sinko, 187, 1S9, 192.
Solomon, 25, 288.
Sophia, 162, 170 [ft.note), 2S1.
Starkey, 20, 23, 31, 32, 320.
Subi, 163.
Susan, 285.
Susannah, 2S5.
Taiso, 170 [and ft.note).
Tenant, 205.
Thomas, 282, 288 ; ' Duke,' 4.
Tilda, 163.
Tilly, 163.
Tom, 162, 163, 166, 225, 279, 291.
Tom mass, 96.
Tommy, 161, 162, 163, 173 [and ft.-
note).
Treli, 162, 165.
Trenit, 163.
Triante, 240, 283.
Trombetta, 92.
Union, 162.
Ursula, 157.
Valeriana, 201, 202, 203.
Valley, 2S3.
Vanto, 240, 278.
Vecchi, Ludovico, 96.
Vensa, 21, 24, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30,
31.
Vensalena, 20.
Names, G. : Christian — continued.
Walter, 163, 276, 278, 283, 284;
Leonard, 280.
'Wester, 162.
Wikki, 167 (ft.note).
William, 168, 171 (ft.note), 277,
281, 282, 283, 286.
William David, 288 ; John, 285.
Willy, 163.
Names, G. : Surnames —
Adams, Bill, 292.
Adams, Joe, 292.
Adams, John, 'Brown Prince,' 292.
Almoro, Francesco, 91.
Amaya, Juan, Spanish G. chief, 298.
Anthoinette, Antoine, 201, 202,
203.
Ayres, Charles, 27S.
Ayres, Edward, 285.
Ayres, Walter, 278.
Babruva, Irene, 86.
Baker, 164 (ft.note).
Baker, Eli, 286.
Barker, Mat, 162.
Barnes, 70.
Barnes, Walter, 284.
Barre, Jeanne Jacqueline, 243.
Barre, Louis, 243.
Barre, Michel de la, 246.
Bego, Dade, 200, 201.
Bellenas, Jeanne (Baroca), 201,
202.
Bianchi, Giovanni, 100.
Bianco, Rodomonte, 90.
Blake, 70.
Blewett, 213 (ft.note).
Bluett, George, 213.
Bosie, 287.
Boss, Betsy, 163.
Boss, Martha, ('old Peggv'), 165
(and ft.note), 167, 169.
Bossie, Peterie Showman, 288.
Bosvil, Hagi (ne'e Smith), 225.
Bosvil, Lui (ne'e Smith), 225.
Bosvil, Ryley (n6e Smith), 225.
Bosvil, Shuri (nde Smith), 225.
Bosvile, Charles, 72 (ft.note).
Bosville, Charles, 71.
Bosville, James, 71, 72.
Boswell, 19, 71, 164, 204, 279, 2S4.
Boswell, Algar, 283.
Boswell, Alma, 279, 286.
Boswell, Athalia, 283.
Boswell, Daisy, 279.
Boswell, Dan, 71.
Boswell, Elias, 284.
Boswell, George, 281.
Boswell, Harry, 282, 283.
Boswell, Josiah, 163.
Boswell, Kenza, 163, 172 ( ft.note),
225.
Boswell, Laura, 283.
Boswell, Lucretia, 39.
Boswell, Lucy, 225.
Boswell, Lureni, 225.
Boswell, Noah, 281.
Boswell, Oscar, 225.
Boswell, Sibi, 163.
Boswell, Taiso, 170 (and ft.note).
INDEX
335
Names, <>. : Surnames — continued.
Bos well, Wester, 162.
Bowers, Noel, 282.
Bowers, Phoebe, 282.
Bowley, 279.
Brandola, Giovan Maria de, 47.
Broad, George, 278.
Brown, 164 (ft.note).
Brows, Bui, 162, 169, 225.
Brown, Johnny, 163.
Brown, Kadilia, 163, 165 (ft.note),
179 (ft.note).
Brown, Tom, 163, 225.
Bubble, Charles, 87, 292.
Bubble, Frank, 293.
Buckland, Cornelius, 150, 159.
Buckland, Edward, 216 (ft.note).
Buckland, Edwin, 204, 216 (and
ft.note), 217, 218, 219, 220.
Buckland, Jabez, 278.
Bockland, James, 281.
Buckland, Leonard, 159.
Buckland, Liberty, 159.
Buckland, Mordecai, 205.
Buckland, Nelson, 281.
Buckland, Paradice, 216 (ft.note).
Buckland, Plato, 151.
Buckley, Betsy, 165.
Buckley, Elijah, 162, 165.
Bucklin, David, 290.
Bucklin, Ellen, 290.
Bucklin, King Kit, 290.
Bull, Mary Ann, 280.
Burton, Manasseh, 288.
Cannon, Henry, 278.
Capel, Jean Pierre, 243.
Cesare, Signorino, 98.
Chapman, Masey, 285.
Chilcot, Charles, 162.
Chilcot, Florence, 162.
Chilcot, John, 162.
Chilcot, Liti Ruth, 102.
Chilcot, Union, 162.
Clarke, John, 280.
Collins, Olive, 280.
Cooper, 70.
Cooper, Amelia, 284.
Cooper, Ben, 279.
Cooper, Eli, 286.
Cooper, Eliza, 277.
Cooper, Emily, 286.
Cooper, Georgina, 285.
Cooper, Jack ('Fighting Jack'),
166.
Cooper, James, 286.
Cooper, Job, 285.
Cooper, John, 163, 285.
Cooper, Johnny, 225.
Cooper, Lena, 286.
Cooper, Lydia, 163.
Cooper, Matthew, 210 (and ft.note),
212 215 216.
Cooper, Mark, 2S3.
Cooper, Mrs., 210 (ft.note), 211,
212, 214, 215, 216.
Cooper, Nehemiah, 285.
Cooper, Phoebe, 166.
Cooper, Sidney, 286.
Cooper, Tom, 162, 166.
Cooper, Trenit, 163.
Names, G. : Surnames — continued.
Cooper, Walter, 2S3.
Cristo, Giorgio, 10S (ft.note).
Ckutcher, Henry, 286.
Curl, Charles, 2S5.
Curl, Flossie, 2S5.
Curtis, Mrs. (nee Lucy Smith), 158.
Dalmas (des Barri), 243.
Davies, Edward, 278.
Davies, Ellen, 278.
Davis, Patience, 77.
Dawson, 278.
Demartro, Harry, 293.
Demetrovitch, Gregorio, 291.
Diddles, 20.
Doe, 70.
Doe, Caroline, 278.
Draper, Mirelli, 162.
Elliot, Wikki (nee Gray), 167 (ft.-
note).
Elliott, Richard, 2S0.
Essex, John, 280.
Fernandez, Philip, 295.
Feudar, Irena, 293.
Fferguson, Margrat, (tinker), 290.
Finch, Margaret, 73.
Frankham, James, 280.
Frankham, Moses, 280.
Frankham, Walter, Leonard, 280.
Franklin, Algar, 163.
Franklin, Arthur, 163.
Franklin, Fred., 163.
Franklin, Johnny, 163.
Franklin, William John, 285.
Franklin, Willy, 163.
(Ialantino, Francesco, 89.
Galatino, 55.
Gamble, Ada, 281.
(iARRATT, Henry, 163.
Gaskin, Tilda, 163.
Giacomo, Mastro, 53.
Gonzales, Elvira, 294.
Gow, Aaron, 289.
< ;kay, 22, 164, 167.
< Jkay, Alice, 159.
Gray, Caroline, 279.
Gray, Daddy, 2S5.
Gray, Delaia, 163.
Gray, Eliza, 163.
< iRAY, Emily, 125.
Gray, Genti, 165 (ft.note).
Gray, Gus, 163, 225.
Gray, Jack, 167 (ft.note).
Gray, Joshua, 225.
Gray, Oseri, 163, 167 (ft.note), 225.
Gray, Piramus, 167 (and ft.note).
Gray, Tom.
(iREEN, 70.
Green, James, 280.
Green, Thomas, 280.
Griggs, William, 282.
Harber, George, 278.
Hares, Henry, 280.
Hausmann, Emil, 29S.
Headley, Ada, 278.
Hearn, Jemima, 282.
Hearne, Jemima, 285.
Hedge, Jimmy, 235.
Hedge, (Mrs. Thorp), 235.
Helsing, Jakob, 112, 113.
336
INDEX
Names, • '. : Surnames — continued.
Hi. km:, 1!), 164 (and ft.note), 166,
His, 170, 205, J77, 290.
Eerne, AM, 162.
Hernk, Bertie, 163.
II erne, Bidi, L62.
Herne, Crowv, 225.
Herne, 'owld Dick," 225.
Hernk, Edward ('No name'), 166
(ft.note), 170 (and ft.note).
Herne, Eli, 162.
Herne, Eliza, 166 (ft.note), 225.
Herne, Erica or Walter, 163.
Herne, Esau, 102.
Hernk, Femi, 162.
Hernk, Greenleaf, 225.
Herne, Guster, 16.*!.
Herne, Isaac, 166 (ft.note), 167 (ft.-
note), 282.
Herne, Iza, 163. 225. 226.
Herne, Miller, 162.
Herne, Milly, 166 (ft.note), 167
(ft.note).
Herne, Mrs. 152, 160.
Herne, Newcombe (lawgiver), 225.
Hernk, Niabai, 162. l66(ft.note),225.
Herne, Reynolds, 162, 165.
Herne, Richard, 162, 225.
Herne, Samuel, 2S2.
Herne, Sanspirella, 162, 165 (and
ft.note), 225.
Herne, Sarah, 166 (ft.note).
Herne, Sinfai (nee Buekland), 166.
Herne, Sophia, 162, 170 (ft.note).
Heron, 284.
Heron, Isaac, 32.
Heron, Poley, 2S7.
Hicks, Charlie, 153 (ft.note).
HlEROSME, Captain Jean, 201, 202,
203, 204.
Hodgkiss, Angelina, 282.
Hodgkiss, James, 282.
Hodgkiss, Thomas, 2S2.
Holland, Moses, 207, 208.
Hooper, Florence, 285.
Hoskins, Masire, 284.
Hughes, Edward, 282.
Hughes, Eli. 285.
Hughes, Emily, 282.
Hughes, Henry, 282.
Hughes, Queen, 283.
Husain, Muhammad, 311.
James, Annie, 288.
Jeanne, Valeriana, 201, 202. 203.
Joles, Valley, 283.
Kaminski, 297.
Kaslo, Damitro, Prince John Mit-
chell, 87, 293.
Keats, Harry, 284.
Kempster, Albert, 280.
Kennedy, old (tinker), 28!).
Kllsm, Greenleaf. 205 (ft. vote).
Klism, Jenny, 205 (ft.note).
Kone, 200, 201.
Lakey, 70.
Larivikrk, 243.
Lee, 25, 26, 70, 207, 242, 290.
Lee, Abraham, 280.
Lee, Adelaide, 28 (ft.note), 163, 165
(ft.note).
Names, <'. : Surnames — continued.
Lee, Agnes, 277.
Lee, Bendigo, 286.
Lee, Caroline, 163.
Lee, Charles, 276.
Lee, Charlie, 162.
Lee, Ellen, 281.
Lee, George, 163, 284.
Lee, Jasper, 205 (ft.note).
Lee, Job, 284.
Lee, John, 163.
Lee, Kate, 282. 284.
Lee, Kerlenda, 163.
Lee, Latimer, 279.
Lee, Lettiaceneter Annie, 240, 286.
Lee, Leondra, 163.
Lee, Lilian, 279.
Lee, Logan, 163.
Lee, Matilda, 276, 284.
Lee, Nathan, 163, 172 (ft.note).
Lee, Patience, 285.
Lee, Repriona, 163.
Lee, Rhona, 279.
Lee, Sally, 279.
Lee, Sarah, 163.
Lee, Sylvester, 284.
Lee, Thomas, 288.
Lee, Tommy, 163.
Light, Samson, 281.
Lock, Albert, 280.
Lock, Emma, 282.
Lock, Joseph, 288.
Lock, Maria, 281 '.
Lock, Tenant, 205.
Locke, 214.
Locke, Boaz, 280.
Locke, Frederick, 208.
Locke, George, 208.
Locke, Myrack (Myrick), 209 (and
ft. note).
Lovell, 19, 279.
Lovell, Niki (tinker), 162.
Loveridge, Haddy, 240.
Loveridge, Oceanic, 240.
Lovering, Dick, 279.
Mace, Barney, 163.
Mace, Delaia, 161, 173 (ft.note),
225.
Mace, Dona, 161, 163, 225.
Mace, Jem, 163, 165, 168.
Mace, Melbourne, 163, 225.
Mace, Poley, 161, 163, 172, 173
(ft.note), 225.
M'Laren, Hugh (tinker), 289.
M'Lean, Neill, 290.
Macpherson, James, 290.
Manley, Brittannia, 27S.
Marion, Petro, (Peter Martin), 291.
Marks, Elizabeth, 2S0.
Megg, Rosa (or Steve), 87, 292, 293.
Michelet, 242.
Miles, 70.
Mitchell, Emil, G. chief, 87.
Mitchell, Frank, 284.
Mitchell, Jemima, 284.
Mitchell, John, 293.
Mitchell, Rosina, 284.
Mochan, Charlotte, 288.
Mochan, Rose, 288.
Mohsin, Shakir, 120, 121.
INDEX
337
Names, G. : Surnames — continued.
Mori, Antonio, 92.
Musto, Annabel, 205 (/(.note).
Mustoe, 205, 206, 207.
Musty, John, 282.
Nyary, 296.
Odell, Arnica, 240.
Odley, Clara, 277.
Oleria, Sena, 294.
Orazio, 56.
Orchard, Sarah, 281.
Pallavicino, Ercole, 94, 96.
Parker, Lucas, 27S.
Parker, Margaret, 278.
Parker, Maria, 278.
Parker, Selina, 278.
Pateman, 70.
Pearce, 70.
Pearce, John, 280.
Pearse, Dora (Maliva), 291.
Pearse, Tom, 291.
Penfold, Britannia, 283.
Penfold, Charlotte, 283.
Penfold, Edward, 283.
Penfold, Frank, 278.
Penfold, Joseph, 280.
Penfold, Mary Ann, 282.
Peters, 70.
Pettegie, Poppa, 'Princess Sara,'
87, 293.
Pietro, Giovanni, called Cingaro,
46.
Pinfold, Barley, 163.
Pinfold, Charlie, 225.
Pinfold, Emily, 163.
Pinfold, Tilda, 163.
Piry, Jeanne, 201, 202, 203. 204.
Price, William David, 2ss.
Quigley, Bridget, 293.
Raduslavitch, Gregory, 86.
Raqui, Roze, 201, 202, 203.
Ray, 278.
Ray, Pollie, 27S.
Renard, Jean Marie, 294.
Restig, Emil, 292.
Reynolds, 171.
Reynolds, Alfred, 163.
Reynolds, Tommy, 163.
Richards, Mary, 288.
Ristig, Leath, G. chief, 87.
Robinson, Alfred, 283.
Robinson, Fred, 283.
Robinson, Goney, 240, 285.
Robinson, Hirins, 283.
Robinson, Sampson, 162.
Romei, Giovanni Nicolo, 92.
Romei, Madonna Alessandra, 92.
Rose, John, 2S2.
Russell, George, 276.
Ryles, Ada, 2S3.
Ryles, Triante, 240, 283.
Scarett, Joseph, 2S0.
Sforza, Giulia, 92.
Sforza, Maria, 92.
Sforza, Trombetta, 92.
Shaw, 151, 158, 167.
Shaw, Aaron (' Aaron Jakes '),
151.
Shaw, Fennimore (Finny), 27.
Shaw, Lucy, 27.
VOL. ITT. — XO. V.
Names, G. : Surnames — continued.
Shaw, Neli, 162.
Shaw, Rodney, 21.
Sheen, George, 278.
Sheriff, Cornelius, 285.
Sheriff, John, 285.
Sherrard, 70.
Sherred, 70.
Sherwin, 70.
Sherwood, 70.
Shiliva, Princess Pipa, 291.
Silva, Lily, 293.
Small, Charles, 276.
Small, Rose, 280.
Small, Vanto, 240, 278.
Smith, 150, 164, 166, 168, 169, 214,
232, 284.
Smith, A., 276.
Smith, Absalom, 207.
Smith, Ada, 163.
Smith, Adelaide, 103.
Smith, Adolphus, 163.
Smith, Agnes, 163.
Smith, Albert, 163.
Smith, Alfred, 161, 172.
Smith, Alice, 163.
Smith, Ambrose, 157, 161, 163, 164,
165, 172, 173.
Smith, Arthur, 163.
Smith, Beatrice, 163.
Smith, Bertram, 163.
Smith, Betsy, 163.
Smith, Bidi, 161, 163.
Smith, Britannia, 282.
Smith, Cecilia, 163.
Smith, Charles, 285.
Smith, Charles Henry, 163, 172
(ft.note).
Smith, Constance, 162, 164.
Smith, Cornelius, 276, 285.
Smith, Delaia or Pinki, 163.
Smith, Eli, 284.
Smith, Elijah, 284.
Smith, Elizabeth, 162, 172 (ft.note).
Smith, Ernest, 163.
Smith, Eros, 163.
Smith, Esther, 158, 159.
Smith, Faden John, 162, 164, 165
(and ft.note), 166, 168, 225.
Smith, Fanny, 277, 286.
Smith, Florence, 277.
Smith, Frank, 162. 163.
Smith, Frederick, 163, 172 (ft.note).
Smith, 'G.', 283.
Smith, George, 163, 164 (ft.nott),
171 (ft.note), 173 (ft.note), 282,
284.
Smith, Gilroy, 284.
Smith, Herbert, 163.
Smith, Eonor, L62.
Smith, Israel, 152, 160.
Smith, James, 276, 286.
Smith, Jane, 276, 283.
Smith, John, 276, 277.
Smith, John Lee, 171 [ft.note).
Smith, Eatie (Maresko), 163, 165
(ft.note).
Smith, Laini ( Phoebe), L62.
Smith, Lancelot, 153 (ft.note).
Smith, Laura, 163.
Y
838
INDEX
Names, <!. : Surnames — continue//.
Smith, Lavaithen, 163, 171 (Jt.note).
Smith, Leo, 163.
Smith, Louisa, 280.
Smith, Lovinia, 163.
Smith, Lulu, 150.
Smith, Lydia (Liti), 162, 225.
Smith, Margaret, 163.
Smith, Midora, 163.
Smith, Minnie, 284.
Smith, Mirelli, 162, 164.
Smith, Mivaniel, 240, 282
Smith, Moll, 162.
Smith, Nathan, 283.
Smith, Nathaniel, 163.
Smith, Norah, 163, 283.
Smith, Oti, 163, 16S.
Smith, Pamela, 163.
Smith, Patrick Arthur, 163.
Smith, Phoebe or Femi, 162.
Smith, Pizinnia, 240, 282.
Smith, Prudence, 162, 165.
Smith, Rabbi, 240, 282.
Smith, Rabi, 163.
Smith, Rachel, 162.
Smith, Randle, 162.
Smith, Riley, 285.
Smith, Rodney, 285.
Smith, Samuel, 277.
Smith, Sanspirella, 161.
Smith, Sarah, 163.
Smith, Saunders, 162.
Smith, Selina, 152, 153 [and ft. note).
Smith, Sibby, 286.
Smith, Sidney, 277.
Smith, Sophia, 281.
Smith, Subi, 163.
Smith, Susannah, 285.
Smith, Tilly, 163.
Smith, Tommy, 162.
Smith, Treli, 162, 165.
Smith, Trianti, 283.
Smith, Walter, 163.
Smith, William, 168, 171 (ft.note),
277, 283.
Stanley, 70, 207, 242. _
Stanley, Princess Bessie, 291.
Stanley, Budd, 291.
Stanley, G., 292.
Stanley, Henry, 281, 283.
Stanley, James, 284.
Stanley, Levi, 291.
Stanley, Mahoney, 291.
Stanley, Maloney, 291.
Stanley, Mitchell, 291.
Stanley, Phoebe, 281.
Stanley, Richard, 291.
Stanley, Sarah, 285.
Stanley, William, 281, 283.
Stanner, Bessie, 87.
Steave (Steve), John, 81 {ft.note),
85, 86, 292, 293.
Steave (Steve), Rose, 81 (ft.note),
87, 292, 293.
Stephens, 207 (and ft. note).
Stephens, G., 165.
Stewart, Donald (tinker), 290.
Stewart, John, 290.
Stone, 70.
Taylor, Benjamin, 288.
Names, G. : Surnames — continued.
Taylor, Florrie, 288.
Taylor, Gertrude, 288.
Taylor, Jimmy, 162.
Taylor, Kate, 288.
Taylor, Solomon, 288.
Thorp, old, 235.
Townsend, Noah, 286.
Townsend, William, 2s6.
Wareham, 70.
Webb, Charles, 158.
Wells, 70.
Wells, Amos, 284.
Wells, David, 285.
Wells, Josiah, 278.
Wells, Rhoda, 278.
Wells, Rosina, 278.
Welsh, 21.
Whatnell, Ada, 163.
Whatnell, Alice, 163.
Whatnell, Athalia, 163.
Whatnell, Eli, 163.
Whatnell, Hamelen, 163.
Whatnell, Herbert, 163.
Whatnell, James, 163.
Whatnell, Walter, 163.
White, 70.
White, Harriet, 285.
White, James, 285.
White, Mary, 280.
White, Walter, 276.
Willett, Amelia, 282.
Willett, Ellen, 282.
Willett, Horace, 282.
Willett, John (George), 282.
Willett, Mary, 2S2.
Wilson, Charles, 285.
Wilson, Daniel, 285.
Wilson, Susan, 285.
Wood, Matthew, 17.
Woolley, Alice, 278.
Wright, John, 282.
Young, 164 (ft.note).
Young, Caroline, 285.
Young, Esau, 225.
Young, Herbert, 285.
Young, Maud, 285.
Young, Noah, 163, 285, 286.
Young, Oscar, 286.
Names, G. : Tribal or Race —
Acigani (Acingani). See 'AOiyyavoi.
Alamanni, 274 (ft.note).
Albanians, 6, 59, 68, 274 (ft.note).
Asinkar. See 'Adiyyavoi.
'Adiyyavoi (Acigani, Acingani, Asin-
kar, Atsinkan, dr'^iyKavos), 15, 16,
72.
Bohemians (Boismiens), 38 (ft.note),
69, 75, 234.
Calderarii, 264.
Chinganeh, 36.
Ciani, 77.
Cingari, 77.
Copts. 227.
Dom (Bum), 33, 37.
Egyptians (Gibti, Gipti, Gupti,
Yipti), 6, 38 (ft. note), 59, 61, 73,
77, 227, 235, 273, 275.
Faraons, 226.
Gentiles, 77.
INDEX
339
Names, G. : Race or Tribal — continued.
Greeks, 38 ( ft.note), 68 (ft. note).
Heathen, 6,61, 67.
Homines vageniti, 68, 273.
Jinganeh, 37.
Kaltschmiede, 14, 265.
Kurbac, 37.
Lalere Sinte, 319.
Lorn, 33, 37.
Mandopolos, 10, 12.
Nawar (Nuri), 36, 317, 320.
Nudi cumferro, 253, 267.
Rom (Rum), 33, 36,276.
Romei, (Romarii, Romerii), 275.
Rumeh, 37.
Rumeli, 36.
Saracens (Saraceni), 6, 60, 77, 239
(ft.note).
Secani, 116.
Suyginer, 64.
Tartari, (Tartare, Tattare), 77, 114,
115, 116, 117, 118.
Xarkari, 320.
Zigari, 66, 67.
Zigeuner, 235.
Zigineri, 66, 6S (ft.note).
Zunginer, 77.
Zott (Djat, Jat), 2, 4, 16, 320.
Narcissus, legend of, 179.
Nasdvghjiliom, derivation of, 195.
National G. Association of America,
The, 292.
Nationalokonomik des Ilandels. See
Roscher.
Natives of Sarawak. See Roth Ling.
Nauplion, G. colony at, 62, 66.
Nawar (Nuri), G. race name, 36, 317,
320.
N4ka, derivation of, 196.
New English Dictionary, (refs.), 256 (and
ft.note), 262 (ft.note).
New Forest, Gs. in, 70.
New System of Modern Geography, A,
See Guthrie.
New World G. Camp, A, by William
MacLeod, 81-8.
Newbold, Captain, 36, 37, 242.
Newspapers quoted or referred to —
Academy, 206 (ft.note).
Alnwick Gazette, 287.
Archiv fur neuere Sprachen, 4 (ft.-
note).
Archiv fur slavische Philologie, 273
(ft.note).
Ars et Labor, 296.
Bedford Times, 277.
Birmingham Daily Post, 295.
Blackpool Gazette, 279, 285, 2S6.
Border Magazine, 2S9.
(a)1 Boston Herald, 81 (ft.note), 88 (ft.-
note), 292, 293.
(a) Boston Journal, 81 (ft.note), 292.
(a) Boston Post, 293.
(a) Boston Sunday Herald, 293, 298.
Bournemouth Director?/, 277, 285,
286.
Bradford Telegraph, 278, 284.
Bristol Echo, 278, 282, 285.
Cardiff Times, 288.
i (a) prefixed denotes ' American.
Newspapers — continued.
Cheltenham Examiner, 283.
Chester Chronicle, 282.
Christian, 281, 295.
Christian Herald, 278.
Cleckheaton Guardian, 277.
Cornish Post, 281.
Croydon Argus, 281.
Daily Chronicle, 277, 294.
Daily Dispatch, 281, 282.
Daily Express, 295, 296.
Daily Globe, 281.
Daily Mail, 284, 28S.
Daily Mirror, 278, 280.
Daily News, 278, 286.
Daily Star, 297.
Daily Telegraph, 280, 281, 286, 295.
Derry Standard, 285.
Devon Daily Gazette, 280.
Dudley Herald, 277.
Dundee Advertiser, 289.
Dundee Courier, 289.
Dundee Evening Telegraph, 290.
Dundee Weekly News, 289, 290.
East Anglian Daily Times, 276,
285, 287.
Eastern Daily Press, 285.
Eastern Evening News, 287.
Edinburgh Evening News, 287, 289.
Essex Weekly News, 283.
Evening News, 284, 290.
Evening Standard, 278, 294.
Evesham Journal, 283.
Folk-Lore, 178 (ft.note).
Folk- Lore Record, 17.
Galloway Gazette, 289.
Glasgow Evening News, 288.
Glasgow Evening Times, 289.
Glasgow Herald, 289.
Glasgow Weekly Mail, 290.
Globe, 277, 296.
Graphic, 281.
Hampshire Independent, 278, 2S1,
282.
Hampshire Observer, 280, 284.
Hawick Advertiser, 287.
Hereford Times, 280, 284.
Herts Advertiser, 27*.
(a) Hoboken Observer, 293, 294,
Isle of Thanet Gazette, 283.
Isle of Wight Advertiser, 284.
(a) Journal American Oriental Society,
245 (ft.note).
Journal Anthropological Institute,
181 (ft.note).
Journal Asiatic Society, 1 76 (ft.note),
242 (ft.note).
J.G.L.S. New Series, 3 (ft.note),
12 (ft.note), 40 (ft.note), 64 {ft.-
note), 158, 171 (ft.note), 174, 201
(ft.note), 231, 2:19, 213 (ft.note),
244 (ft.note), 247 (.ft.note), 265
(ft.note), 275 (ft.not<), 276 (ft.-
note), 320.
J.G.L.S. Old Series, 4 (ft.note), 12
( ft.note), 39 (ft.note), 64 ( ft.nott ).
72,73, 159, 170 (ft.note).
Kent Argus, 276.
Kent Messenger, 280.
Lancashire Post, 279, 283, 285, 288.
:;!■()
INDEX
Newspapers — continued.
Leicester Daily Po8t,219.
Lincoln Echo, 284.
/.irerpool Daily Post, 281.
Liverpool Football Echo, 287.
Lloyd's Weekly News, 278.
London Opinion, 279.
Maidenhead Advertiser, 284.
Manchester City News, 28 1 .
Manchester Guardian, 279.
Matin, 160, 295.
Medical Press, 282.
Methodist Recorder, 2S5.
Midland Evening News, 270, 280.
Morning Daily Advertiser, 277, 288.
294, 295.
Morning Leader, 287, 292, 294,
298.
Morning Post, 278, 281.
(a) ^eto Fori American, 296.
(a) jVe?y Fori- Evening Post, 292, 296.
(a) New York Herald, 291.
(a) New York Sun, 291.
(a) A7(" }',>& 2'wtes, 292.
(a) New York Tribune, 295.
(a) New Yorker Stoats Zeitung, 291.
Newcastle Daily Chronicle, 279,
285.
Nineteenth Century, 39 (ft.note).
Norfolk Chronicle, 282.
JVortA JfaiZ, 283.
North Wales rimes, 288.
North-Eastern Daily Gazette, 287.
Norwich Mercury, 210 (ft.note).
Notes and Queries, 169 (ft.note),
ISO (ft.note).
Nottingham Express, 285, 287.
iV> Illuslrerad Tidning, 114 (/<.
Oldham Chronicle, 276.
Orkney Herald, 289.
Paignton Western Guardian, 281.
PaW jlfa« Gazette, 284.
(a) Paterson, (New Jersey) Call, 292.
Pearson's Weekly, 283.
/^ Pfcu, 298.
/We Herald, 276.
Porcupine, 295.
Portsmouth Evening News, 284.
Quarterly Statement of the Pedestine
Exploration Fund, 120, 297.
Reading Mercury, 277, 278, 282.
Richmond (Surrey) Herald, 286.
Saturday Review, 280, 284.
Scotsman, 287, 290.
Sheffield Daily Telegraph, 278, 280,
282.
Shrewsbury Chronicle, 278, 284.
Smethwick Telephone, 285.
<SWA PMcfe Standard, 280.
<SWA JFates Z>«% jEWjo, 288, 294.
/SWA JFaZes Z>ai7j/ iVewvi, 288.
Sphere, 296.
Stafford Advertiser, 284.
Stafford Chronicle, 285.
Standard, 207 (ft.note), 279, 2S0,
298.
Star, 284, 294, 298.
Stirling Journal, 290.
Surrey Mirror, 280.
Newspapers — continued.
Surrey Times, 282, 284, 285.
Sussex Daily News, 277, 278, 283
284.
7'. P.'s JPee%, 167 (ft.note), 276,
279, 290.
Ttafer, 283.
77Aa?je< 7'wje.v, 280.
Tatties, 153 (ft.note), 287.
Times of India, 277.
Vancouver Advertiser, 291.
(a) ffee% Record, 290.
Wes£ SWsea: Gazette, 276, 280, 282,
285.
Western Chronicle, 280.
Western Daily Mercury, 276, 278,
279.
Western Gazette, 278.
Western Guardian, 283.
Western Mail, 288.
Western Morning News, 280, 283.
Wimborne Herald, 283, 284, 285.
Worcester Times, 282.
Worksop Gazette, 287.
JForM, 290.
JForM o/ TVbmksJ, 294.
Yorkshire Evening Post, 2S2.
Zeitschrift far deutsche Philologie,
10 (ft.note).
Nicephorus Gregoras, 12.
Niccolo Zingaro, owner of lands (1448),
44.
Nicole, Jules : £e Ztwe d« prefet, (ref . )
266 (ft.note).
Niederrheinische Pilgerschrift, (quot. ) 59
(/C.note).
North-west Provinces oj India. See
Crooke.
Norwich, Gs. at, 164.
Norwood, Rev. T. W., (cpuot.) 156, 204,
205, 206, 207, 208, 209, 210, 213, 214,
216 ; On the Race and Language of
the Gs. , (ref. ) 209.
Notes and Queries —
Alessandro Giuseppe Spinelli, 150.
Anglo-Romani Songs, 157-60.
Sorrow's Creed and Paternoster,
156.
Borrow' s Gs. — Addenda, 225-6.
Boswells, The: Two G. Kings, 71-2.
Bowles, W. L., and the Gs., 226.
British G. Crimes, 1908, 239-40.
Defilement by a Dog's Tongue, 320.
Dodd, Dr. William and the Gs.,
233-4.
Drab, 150-3.
Egyptian Legend, The, 227-8.
Epitaph, An, 234.
Executioners, G, 232.
Funeral Libations, 235.
G. Head-Dress, 236.
G. Prayer 8, 77.
G. Settlement in Lorraine, A., 234-5.
G. Slavery in Spain, 239.
G. Soldiers and Spies, 237-9.
Gs. as Inn-Signs, 73.
Gs. in Corfu and the Morea, 72-3.
Hungarian G. Tzimbal- Player, A,
228-32.
Leal as a G., 153-4.
INDEX
341
Notes and Queries : — continued.
Little Song, A, 155-6.
One of the Aficion, 74-5.
Onions and Eggs, 226-7.
Parker, Rev. John, 225.
Persian Jats, 320.
Pisota, 320.
Pollution of Stream?, The, 232-3.
Roots, 236-7.
Signs and Omens, 235-6.
Spelman on 6s., 77.
Stage Romani, 160.
Staining Counterfeit Egyjjtians, 80.
Testimonial for Tinklers, A, 233.
Turkish Gs. in 1635, 160.
Various References, 78-80.
Vie 06nireuse, La, 75-6.
Visions and Dreams, 235.
Novoalexandrovsk, Gs. at, 154-5.
Nudi cumferro, synonym for Gs., 253,
267.
No. 747. See Carew.
Numerals, in Hungarian Romani, 229 ;
in Nuri dialect, 309-11.
Nuri. See Nawar.
Nuri Stories, collected by R. A. Stewart
Macalister, 127-48.
Nuri Stories, Incidents of —
Arabs rescue their property, 140.
Arrest by soldiers. 127.
Bedawin assist Nawar, 138 ; rob
Nuri, 130, 142, 147.
Beirut, journey to, 134, 143.
Boy slain by hyaena, 129 ; to serve
as soldier, 132.
Brother, foolish, 136 ; wise, 136.
Brothers, two, 127, 136.
Burial, Nuri, 134, 141, 146, 147.
Burning a ghul, 137.
Camel redeemed for seven pounds,
133 ; stolen, 133.
Camels, trade in, 146.
Cave of ghul, 137.
Chickens stolen by fool, 137.
Cloak, gift of, 134.
Cooking pot stolen and re-stolen,
145.
Donkey, stolen, 131, 139.
Donkey-drivers, Nawar, 141.
Donkeys, trade in, 148.
Dowries, 130, 133, 143, 147.
Druzes, goats from, 135.
Egypt, journey to, 133, 134, 146.
148 ; from, 132.
Feast, marriage, 130 ; of mutton and
rice, 132, 143.
Fine of five pounds, 135.
Fool steals chickens, 137.
Foolish brother, 17.
Four pounds in lieu of soldier boy,
132.
Gentiles attack Nawar by night,
141; oppose Nawar, 129; rob
Nawar, 138.
Ghul's cave with goats in it, 136.
Gift of cloak, humbaz, and shoes,
134.
Goats, from Druzes, 135 : of ghul
slain, 137 ; stolen and recovered,
135-6 ; trade in, 146.
Nuri Stories : — cotninued.
Governor despoils Nawar, 128, 144 ;
befriends Nawar, 131.
Halawi sold to a ghul, 137.
Hebron, journey to, 145.
Hyaena slays boy, 129.
Hyaenas rob a grave, 146.
Imprisonment for twenty years, 141 ;
for thirty years, 127.
Jaffa, journey to, 134.
Jericho, journey from, 142 ; journey
to, 130.
Loaf and egg, 136.
Mecca, journey to, 146.
Negro thief, 143.
Quarrel, among Nawar, 135; with
wife, 143.
Quarrelling women, 141.
Prisoners released for £10, 142 ; for
£300, 139.
Runaway wife, 129.
Theft, of wife, 143, 148; of two
donkeys and a mare, 139.
Trading with goats, donkeys, and
camels, 146.
Oath, taken at G. marriage, 93.
Observationes Historiam Zigueunorum
illustrantes. See Rabenius.
Occupations, G. —
Acrobats, 12.
Basketmakers, 183, 280, 281.
Bearleaders, 6, 287.
Beggars, 57, 155, 295.
Boatman (1484), 46.
'Broomen,' 160.
Broom-makers, 6.
Camp-followers, 54.
Chair-bottomers, 208.
Chimney-sweeps, 6, 286.
Clothes-peg-makers, 70, 207, 284.
Cobblers, 64, 65, 160, 297.
Copper-smiths, 81, 105, 109.
Dancers, 6.
Dentists, 236.
Dog-stealer, 213.
Donkey-drivers, 141.
Drabengro, 213.
Executioners, 232.
Farriers, 296.
Fiddlers, 167-
Fortune-tellers, 9, 10, 15, 70, 78-80,
82-5, 89, 155, 233-4, 2S0, 281,
2S2, 283, 284, 289, 290, 295, 296.
< deaners, 92.
Hammer-shaft-maker, 282.
Hawkers, 22, 277, 278, 279, 280,
283 284 285.
Horse'-dealers, 166, 183, 277, 280,
283.
Horse-doctors, 23S, 296.
Horse-thieves, 89, 96.
Iron-workers, 296.
Jugglers, 10.
Kidnappers, 296.
Labourers, 296.
Leeches, 10 (ft.nott), 236-7.
Messengers in war, 49.
Monkey-leaders, 287.
Musicians, 6, 37, 44 (1469), 87, 228.
342
INDEX
Occupations, G. : — continued.
Palmists, 78, 80. See Fortune-
tellers.
Pipers, 289.
Poisoners, 151-2.
Porters, 183.
Rat-catcher, 213.
Scissors-grinder, 213.
Shoemakers. See Cobblers.
Showmen, 37.
Skewer-makers, 284.
Smiths, 6, 10, 14, 48, 53, 54, G4, 65,
120, 160.
Snake-charmers, 15.
Soldiers, 54, 237-9.
Spies, 49, 60, 64, 65, 237-9, 296.
Strolling Vagabonds, 10.
Tailor, 297.
Thieves, 8, 10, 60, 66, 91, 166, 213,
293.
Umbrella-menders, 213, 282, 285.
Ventriloquists, 15.
Vets. See Horse-doctors.
(Euvres d'Estienne, Les. See Pasquier.
Oldenberg, Religion des Veda, (ref.)
176 (ft.note).
Oldest Diarie. See Torkington.
Omens of death, G., 235.
One of the Aficion, (note), 74-5.
Onions and Eggs, (note), 226-7.
Opta Majus. See Bacon.
Origin and Development of the Moral
Ideas. See Westermarck.
Origin of (is., theories about, 227.
Origine des BoMmiens. See Colocci.
Osenbruggen, Eduard, Das alaman-
nische Strafreeht, (quot.) 78.
Our Gs. See Morwood.
Pagan Races. See Skeat-Blagden.
Page, Bet, alias Russel, 74.
Palestine, Gs. in, 297.
Pali and Romani, common elements of,
39-40.
Palmistry, 78, 80. Ste Fortune-tellers.
Palmskold, Erik, Swedish antiquary,
(quot.) 115 {and ft.note).
Pwpa-rovda, G. spring-song, 72.
Parcivalstudien. See San Marte.
Paris, Gs. at, 8.
Parker, Rev. John, (note), 225.
Paspati, A. G., 40, 182, 193, 194, 195,
196, 208, 242 (ft.note), 244 ( ft.note),
245 {ft.note), 248 {ft.note) ; Etudes
sur les Trhinghianis, (ref.) 121 ; To
Chiakon Glossarion, (quot.) 274 {ft.-
note).
Pasqciku, LesQSuvres d'Estienne, (quot.)
8 ( ft.note) ; Les recherches de la France,
(refs.) 201 {ft.note), 238 {ft.note).
Passports, G., 45, 46.
Pauli, Sebastiano, Modi di dire Toseani
ricercati nella loro origine, (quot. ) 153-4.
Pausanias, (ref.) 271.
Pausanias. See Frazer.
Payne, Rev. J. D., (quot.) 216 {ft.note).
Pays Basque, Le. See Michel.
Pechon de Ruby, La vie ginireuse des
Mercelots, Queux, et Boesmiens, (quot. )
75, (ref.) 201.
Penitents, Gs. confused with, 5, 59.
Pbnnell, J., 64 {ft.note).
Pepys, (quot.) 73.
Peregrinatio ad Terrain Sanctam. See
Breydenbach.
/'< rikizlarj&iige, derivation of, 196.
Pdril Errant', Un, (ref.) 160.
Persian-English Dictionary. See Stein-
gass.
Persian Jals, (note), 320.
Pestilence. See Plague.
Petrakis, Neio Greek-German Diction-
ary, (quot.) 36 {ft.note).
Petre-kow, (is. at, 297.
Petri, Archbishop Laurentius, 117.
Petri, Olavus, Svenska Kronika, (quot.)
116.
Petty Romany. See Lucas.
Phanglo isom zandaniate, (song), 198.
Phlegm, live frog used to remove, 31.
Phonetic relations of Romani and Sans-
krit, 119-20.
Pickpockets, G. in 1572, 55.
Pictures and Photographs of Gs. referred
to or described, 81 {ft.note), 161,241,
278, 290, 292, 293, 296.
Pigeons, a species of, introduced into
Italy by Gs., 47-8.
Pilgerfuhrer des Miltenberger Hand-
schriftenbandes, (quot.) 59 {ft.note).
Pilgrim's Progress, A, by Lady Arthur
Grosvenor, 204-24.
Pincherle, / Ghilengheri Ghilia Salo-
muneskero, (ref.) 247 {ft.note).
Pins in toad, G. superstition about, 23.
Pipers, G., 289.
Pischel, 2, 3 ; Beitrage, (ref.) 3 ; Hei-
math der Zigeuner, (ref.) 40 {ft.note).
PiSota, (note), 320.
Pittard, Eugene, 298.
Place names, G., 126,215.
Plague, carried by Gs., 56, 80, 100, 2S9 ;
an opportunity for G. theft, 96, 98.
Planiot, Marcel, La tres ancienne cou-
tume de Bretagne, (ref.) 258 {ft.note).
Plantain leaf, heated, a G. medicine, 29.
Pliny, Hist. Nat., (refs.) 27 {ft.note),
175 {ft.note).
Plutarch, De Iside, (quot.) 226.
Podesta, Venetian, (quot. ) 271-2.
Poerlnen 'to return,' derivation of, 194.
Poisoners, G., 151-2.
Poisoning the Porker, (song), 20S.
Poland, Gs. in, 297.
Pollution of Str tains, The, by F. S. Atkin-
son, (note), 232-3.
Polygamy among Gs., 225.
Pomade G., recipe for, 28.
Ponedilnikos ' Monday,' derivation of,
195.
Poppy heads, a G. medicine, 30.
Popular Antiquities. See Brand.
PORXKR, (qUOt.) 58.
Porter, Rev. Harvey, (quot.) 37 {ft--
note).
Porters, G., 1S3.
Potato water, a G. cure for warts, 30.
Pott, A. F., (refs.) 39 {ft.note), 119,212,
242, 244 {ft.note), 245 {ft.note), 248
{ft.note), 249 {ft.note), 252 {ft note).
INDEX
343
Potter, (ref.) 206.
Poultry stealing by Gs., 102.
Present State of the Cape of Good Hope.
See Kolben.
Priest visits Gs. , 56.
Primitive Culture. See Tylor.
Prodromus corporis glossariorum latino-
ram. See Loewe.
Pronouns, affixed, in Romani, 244 ; in
Nuri dialect, 311-5.
Protectionof Gs. by feudalauthorities, 52.
Publications of the Sheldon Society, The,
(ref.) 262 (ft.note).
Punishment for Gs. 55 ; for wounding a
G., 47 ; see also Acts.
Puszta, Gs. at, 296.
Pylgrymage of Sir Richard G uylforde,
The, (quot.) 58 (ft. note).
Quatremere, Histoire des sultans mam-
louks de I'figypte, (ref.) 275 (ft.note).
Queens, G., 73, 172,291.
QdNTILIAN, 254.
R., C. B. L. M. V. Zwey niitzlicht
Tractdtlein, (quot.) 236, 237-8.
Rabenius, Laurentius G. , Swedish
Romano Rai, 113 ; criticizes Grell-
mann, 113; Observations Historiam
Zigueunorum Illustrantes, 113, (ref.)
237 (ft.note).
Radcenko, K., (ref.) 273 (ft.note).
Ragweed ointment, a G. medicine, 29.
Ranking, Dr., 151, 164, (quot.) 170
(ft.note).
Raspberry leaves, a G. medicine, 30.
Rat-catcher, G. , 213.
Rawlinson, Sir Henry, 209.
Raynouard : Lexique roman, (ref.) 255
(ft.note).
Rebolledo, Tineo : Gitanos y Ca*te-
llanos : Diccionario Gitano-Espanol
y Espanol-Gitano, (rev.), 149.
Recherches de la France, Les. See
Pasquier.
Recueil des historiens des Gaules et de la
France, (ref.) 259 (ft.note).
Reddinu, C. : A History and Descrip-
tion of Modern Wine, (ref.), 63 (ft.note).
Regestrum Visitationum. See Bonnin.
Reis, Sidi Ali : Travels and Adventures,
(quot. ) 35.
Religion des Veda, (ref.) 176 (ft.note).
Religion of the Semites. See Robertson
Smith.
Religion und Geisleskultur, (ref.) 318
(ft.note).
Religious Service attended by Gs. , 90.
Religious System of China. See De
Groot.
Reminiscences. See Angelo.
Reuwich, Eberhard, his picture of
Modon, 60.
Reviews of :
Arpad's Zigeunererzdhlungen und
Volksdichtungen in Versen by E.
O. Winstedt, 149.
Brepohl's Aus dem Winterleben der
Wanderzigeuner by E. O. Win-
stedt, 319'.
Brepohl's Die Zigeuner nach Ge-
schichte. Religion und Sitte by E.
O. Winstedt, 318.
Gibbins's Gs. of the New Forest and
other Tales, 70.
Rebolledo's Gitanos y Castellanos
by H. W. Greene, 149.
Reysz und Bilgerfahrt zum Heyligen Grab.
See Tschudi.
Reyszbuch desz heyligen Lands, (ref.) 5
(ft.note).
Rhys, Sir John: Celtic Folklore, (quot.)
22 (ft.note), 24 (ft.note).
Richardson, 149.
Rings worn in ears by early Gs., 80.
Risley, H. H., 41.
Roberts, Samuel, 212.
Robertson-Smith : Religion of the Sem-
ites, (ref.) 181 (ft.note).
Bobin a sign of death, 236.
Rogers : Social Life in Scotland, (ref. )
176 (ft.note).
Rogers, Consul E. T., 37.
Roguery, G. imprisoned for, in 1507, 48.
Rohricht and Meisner : Deutsche Pil-
gerfahrten nach dem heiligen Lande,
(ref.) 5 (ft.note), (quot.) 60 (jt.nole).
Rom (Rum), derivation of, 33-42, 275-6.
Rom (Rum, Rumeh, Rumeli) =G., 33,
36, 37, 276.
Romances de Germania. See Hidalgo.
Romani cai be$i7ig adr6 the tan, (song),
157.
Romani words worth noting —
Baro ba 'grandfather,' 242; Bias-
tardi 'untouched,' 201; Baiclo-
tem 'Hampshire,' 215; Ci'ija
' Egypt,' 126 ; disljardva 'to cause
daylight to come,' 190 ; 'doi-kdi
'where,' 18 (jt.note) ; Dorn 'a
Nuri,' 126 ; eevasikoovus ' will you
sit down?' 209; Ganila-de illi
ahari 'the flower- village down
there ' (Jericho) 126; Guld-xdyara
'the sweet city' (Jaffa), 126;
hautmano (haupmano), 'captain,'
242; Jaracambraro, 'a custom-
house-official,' 149; Kldrd, 'a
Bedawi,' 126; Koshni-tem ' Bark-
shire,' 215; Ktir 'a Christian,'
126; Liilli-gur, 'Reading,' 215;
J.undra (Londres) 'London,' 215 ;
Lun-gdv Bristol, 215; nandi,
'no,' 196; Pdniak - uyard ' the
water city,' (Beirut), 120; pdSljO-
vav ' to go to bed,' 196 ; pep> skias,
217 (ft.note); Prdtkila 'a Jew,'
126; roopereller ' leg,' 209; Star-
raban-gdv 'Gloucester,' 215;
sundi "'wife,' 211 {ft.note); Tat
•a fellah,' 126; thardv 'to light,'
195; Till-uyara erhena 'the big
city here ' (Jerusalem), 120; Till-
uyard erhond ' the big city t here '
(Damascus), 120 ; TUl-uydrA tlli
tilla-tmdli minj 'the l>i,u' city in
which is the Sultan ' (Constantin-
ople), 126.
Romania, (ref.) 255 (ft.note).
Romanic. See Kuimiey.
:;h
INDEX
Romei (romarii, romerli), 275.
Romenie. See Rumney.
Roots, (note). 236-7.
Roscher, W. : Nationalokonomik des
Eandels, (ref. ) 255 (ft.note).
Rosen : Colloquial Persian Grammar,
(quot.) 35 (ft.note).
Roth Lino : Natives of Saraioak, (refs.)
177 (ft.note), 178 (ft.note).
Rot welch, 77.
Rum, a G. pomade ingredient, 28.
Rumanian Gs. attempt to settle in Sofia,
1 98.
Rumney (Romanie, Romenie), 58, 59,
60, 63.
Russel alias Bet Page, 74.
Russell, J. : Boke of Nurture, (ref.) 63
(ft.note).
Russia, Gs. in, 297.
Russian Gs. in Boston, 81, 87.
Ruzicka-OstoiC : Turkish-German Dic-
tionary, (quot.) 36 (ft.note).
Rydbekg, Viktor : Singoalla, a G. novel,
119.
Sachsen, Herzog Heinrich von, 66.
Sainte-Palaye : Dictionnaire historique
deVancien langage francais, (ref.) 255
(ft.note).
Salonika, Gs., in, 227.
Sampson, Dr. John, 3, 157, 159, 193,
247 (ft.note); Welsh G. Folk-tales
No. 9. 0 Dinilo I Bakarensa, 17-9.
San Marte : Parcivalstudien, (ref. ) 254
(ft.note).
Sanskrit, its phonetic relations with
Romani, 119-20.
Saraceni, <i. race name, 7 (ft.note), 11.
Saracens, G. race name, 6, 60, 239 (ft.
note).
Saxonia. See Krantz.
Scaliglr : his G. vocabulary tested by
Bjcirckman, 112.
SCHACHTEN, Dietrich von,, (quot.) 65.
Schacbe, A. : Handelsgeschichte der
romanischen Volker, (ref.) 263 (ft.note).
Schmid, Felix, 68 ; Evagatorium, (quot.)
66-7 (ft. note).
Scholar G., a, 106-8.
Schooling and Gs., 318.
Schweytzer Chronik. See Stumpf.
Si'iiwicker (ref.) 181.
Scissors-grinder, G. , 213.
Scondia IUustrata. See Messenius.
Scotland, Gs. in, 289-90.
Scott, Sir Walter, 289.
Scottish Dictionary. See Jamieson.
Scriploresrerumitalicarum. See Muratori.
Sculuara, derivation of, 114 (ft.note).
Secani = Gs., 116.
Sedentary Gs. in 1469, 44; in 1586, 56.
Settlements, G. , forbidden by law, 102;
from among great nomad bands, 48,
See also Gypsyries.
Shakespeare : Hindustani Dictionary,
(quot.) 35 (ft.note), 41 (ft.note).
Sharps, R. R. : Calendar of Letter-
bookes preserved among the Archives of
the Ci/u of London, (quot.) 257 (ft.
note), 262 (ft.note).
Shoemakers, G. See Cobblers.
Showmen, (I., 37.
Siete Partidas, (quot.) 256 (ft.note).
Sigart, J. : Glossaire itymologiqut
montois, (ref.) 255 (ft.note).
Signs and Omens. By T. W. Thompson,
(note), 235-6.
Silesia, Gs. in, 297-8.
Simson: ISO; History of the Gs., (ref.)
213 (ft.note).
Sinclair, A. T., 68 ; The word ' Rom,1
33-42; The Egyptian legend, (note),
227-8 ; A Hungarian G. Tzimbal-
Player, (note), 228-32.
Singara, town in Mesopotamia, connec-
tion with name Zingara, 153-4.
Singoalla. See Rydberg.
Skeat, Malay Magic, (ref.) 181 (ft.-
note).
Skeat, An Etymological Dictionary,
(quot.) 260 (ft.note); Transactions of
the Philological Society, (ref.) 255
(ft.note).
Skeat-Blagden, Pagan Paces, (refs.)
175 (ft.note), 176 (ft.note).
Skewer-makers, G., 284.
String and its Analogues. See Farmer.
Smart, Bath, andCrofton, H. T., Dialect
of the English Gs., (refs.), 170 (ft.note),
204, 205 (ft.note), 208, 215, 216, 225
(ft.note), 277.
Smith, G., Incidents in a G.'s Life,
(refs.) 171 (ft.note), 207 (ft.note).
Smith, L. A., Through Romany Song-
land, (ref.) 159.
Smiths, G., 6, 10, 14, 48, 53, 54, 64, 65,
120, 160.
Snails, a (4. medicine, 27.
Snake-charmers, G., 15.
So did you muk my ruri old dai, (song),
158.
Social Life in Scotland. See Rogers.
Sofia, Gs. at, 183 ; Romani dialect of,
193 ; attempted settlement of Ruma-
nian Gs. in, 198.
Soldiers, G., 54, 237-9.
Somavera, A. da, Tesoro della lingua
ilaliana e greca-volgare, 16 (ft.note),
274 (ft.note).
Somerset, Raglan, 155.
Songs —
A borije fu ternije, 199.
Adi-dddi, da dubeld, dd-di!, 159.
Ana sun6 dikhljdm me pirinde kali
cizmes, 199.
As I passed by a willow tree, 20-1.
Broken Chastity, 157. 208.
Covahdni and the covahdno, The,
157.
Dd, dabla, dddi, 159.
Dzas mengefrixko, 156.
Gay Young Squire, The, (ref. ) 277.
It's a kuiti bright rati, 160.
Jal down to the stdgus, 158.
Jal-in to Kdngri Kurki Sdla (ref.)
226.
Lonely old crow, 236.
Afandi'sjd'in to stariben, 158-9.
Mandy vent to pur some grips, 158.
Phangld is6m zandanidte, 198.
INDEX
345
Songs — continued.
Poisoning the Porker, 208.
Romani cai beSing adre the tan, 157.
So did you muk my curt old dai,
158.
Thai geli sas, Mistdna, and' o Kurko,
199.
Thai gelo sas dnde bare" lomuste, 200.
Tod als Buhle, Der, (ref.), 149.
We shall lei some luva, 159.
When I jds a-coring, 159.
Sophocles, E. A. : Dictionary of Roman
and Byzantine Greek, (ref.) 34 (Jt.-
note).
Southey, R. : The Doctor, (quot.) 71.
Spaccini, G. B. : Cronaca di Modena, 57
(ft. note).
Spain, Gs. in, 298.
Spanish Gs., Greek-speaking, 69.
Spelman on Gs.,by E. G. Duff, (note),
77.
Spelman, Sir Henry, Archaeologus in
modum Glossarii, (quot. ) 77.
Spence, Charles, photographer, 161.
Spies, G., 49, 60, 64, 65, 237-9, 296.
Spinelli, A. G. : Gli Zingari nel Modenese,
42-57, 88-111 ; biographical note,
150; An Epitaph, (note), 234.
Sprache der armenischen Zigeuner, Die.
See Finek.
Squire of Low Degre, (ref.) 63.
Squirrels, eating of, by Gs., 207 {and
ft. note) ; used as medicine, 28.
Staff, official, of G. band, 105.
Stage Romani, by W. E. A. Axon,
(note), 160.
Staining Counterfeit Egyptians, by E.
O. Winstedt, (note), 80.
Statisfique du D&partement de la Moselle,
(quot. ) 234-5.
Statuti del Comune di Padova del secolo
xii, (quot.) 265 (ft.note).
Statuts et coutumes de I'dchevinage de
Mizieres, (ref.) 258 (ft.note).
Steffan von Gumpenberg, (quot.) 66, 67.
Steingass, Persian- English Dictionary,
(quot.) 34 {ft.note).
Stephanus, 12.
Stephen of Byzantium, (refs.) 270 {ft.
note), 271 {ft.note).
Stoat, G. superstition about, 23, 236.
Stockholms Stads tdnkebocker, (quot.)
115-6.
Stolze, Friedrich, Gedichte in Frank-
furter Mundart, (ref.) 160.
Storia della badia di Monte Cassino.
See Tosti.
Stoven, Rev. James, letter of, (quot.),
71.
String, burning knotted, a G. cure for
warts, 30.
Strolling vagabonds, G., 101, 235.
Strychnine known to a G., 152.
Studer, G., his edition of Justinger's
chronicle, 80.
Stumpf, H. J., Schweylr.tr Chronik,
(quot.) 8 {ft.note).
Substantives in Nuri dialect, 300-8.
Sudheim, Ludolphusde, De Itinere Terre
Sancte, (quot.) 7 (ft.note).
VOL. III. — NO. V.
Suetonius, (ref.) 259.
Sugar, a G. medicine, 27.
Suginien, home of Gs., 64.
Suidas, (quot.) 274 (ft.note).
Sundt, Eilert, Berelning om Fante-eller
Landstrygerfolket i Norge (ref.) 118
(and ft.note).
Supernatural manifestation after a spell,
95.
Superstitions, G. —
Bread in horse's collar, 22.
Breaking a spell, 236.
Broken nails to keep off mulos, 22.
Burning a puppet and strewing ashes
in new huts or caves, 319.
Burning pins and salt and wishing,
23.
Butter, fairy, 25.
Cart, empty, seeing, 22.
Christmas, marriage of trees at,
319.
Christmas Eve, men and animals
forced to kneel on, 21.
Cock-eyed sweep, 23.
Cockle-shells jingling, omen of death,
235.
Coffin, seeing a, 235.
Crow, 'lonely old,' 236; seeing a,
22.
Death, robin a sign of, 236.
Devil, symbols to keep away, 279.
Dreams of eggs, 235 ; of lice, 235 ;
of teeth falling out, 235.
Efts, 23.
Evil eye, 297.
Fairy, butter, 25 ; pipes, 24.
Frog, 23.
Frog-spawn, 235-6.
Hedgehog, laughing, 23.
Horse saddled before bridled, 23.
Pins in toad, 23.
Pipes, fairy, 24.
Robin a sign of death, 236.
Stoat, 23, 236.
Sweep, cock-eyed, 23 ; to kick a,
22.
Wheat in pocket, 23.
Suyginer = Cs. , 64.
Svenska Kronika. See Petri.
Sweden, Cs. in from 1512, 115 ; G.
soldiers in, 237 (and ft.note).
Swedish Tsiganologues. By Harald
Ehrenborg, 111-9.
Sweep, cock-eyed, G. superstition about,
23 ; kicking a, G. superstition about,
22.
Swellings, G. cure for, 29, 30.
Switzerland, Gs. in, 79-80, 298.
Sykes, P. M. : Persian Jats, (note), 320.
Symon Simeonis, 6S ; I'inerarium, (quot.)
11, (ref.) 66 (ft.note).
Symons, Arthur, 280.
Syria, Romani dialect of, 120-6, 298-317.
Tai'.ari, 34.
TAFEL, Dr. G. L. Fr. and Dr. <;. M.
Thomas, Urkundenzur dlteren Handels-
und StaatfH/txchir/itt d< r liepvblik
Venedig, (refs ) 271 (and ft.note), 272
(ft.note).
34tt
INDEX
Tailor, G.,297.
Tartari (Tartare, Tattare) = Gs., 77, 114,
115, 116, 117, 118.
Testimonial for Tinklers, A, by A.
M'Cormick, (note), 233.
Teutonic Mythology. See Grimm.
Thai geli sas, Mistdna, and' o Kurlco,
(song), 199.
Thai gelo su« <'nide bare lomilste, (song),
200.
Therapia, Gs. near, 182.
Thesleff, Dr. Arthur, 115-6, 118, 244
( i't.note),24S ( ft.note); Zigenare, (quot.)
115-6, 118-9, 237.
Thieves, G., 8, 10, 60, 66, 91, 166, 213,293.
Thomas. See Tafel.
Thomasics, Dissertatio Philosophica de
Cingaris, (ref. ) 236.
Thompson, T. W., 150, 151, 152, 157,
158, 160 ; Christina? Eve and After,
19-33; Borrow's Gs., 162-74; Borrow's
Gs. — Addenda, (note), 225-6 ; Funeral
Libation*, (note) 235 ; Visions and
Dreams, (note), 235 ; Signs and Omens,
(note) 235-6 ; Defilement by a Dog's
Tongue, (note), 320.
Thomson, Rev. Robert, (quot.) 38 (ft.
note).
TnoRP, H. B., 205 {ft.note).
Thrale, patron of Bet Page, 74.
Three Kings of Cologne, 12.
Throat, sore, G. cure for, 29.
Through Romany Songland. See Smith.
Thuanus. See De Thou.
Thurston, Ethnographical Notes in S.
India, (ref.) 180 (ft.note).
Tinkers, G., 160, 183, 320.
To x^kov TXwcrcrapiov. See Paspati.
Tod als Buhle, Der, (ref.) 149.
Tolstoy, Count Leo, Two Hussars, 297.
Toothache, G. cure for, 30.
Topography of Thebes. See Wilkinson.
Torkington, Ye Oldest Diarie of Eng-
lysshe Travell, 58 (ft.note).
Tormentil, a G. medicine, 30.
Tosti, Dr. Luigi, Storia della badia di
Monte Gassino, (quot.) 261 (ft.note).
Totius latinitatis lexicon. See Forcellini.
Tour in Ireland. See Le Gouz.
Trausch, Handschr. Slrassburger Chro-
nik, (quot.) 7 (ft.note).
Travels and Adventures. See Rei's.
Treasure, G. art of discovering, 237.
TsCHUDI, 5, 69 ; Reysz und Bilgerfahrt
(ref.) 5 (ft. -note); Chronicon Helveti-
cum, (quot.) 7 (ft.note).
Turkish Gs. in 1635, by E. O. Winstedt,
(note), 160.
Turkish- French Dictionary. See Yous-
souf.
Turks use Gs. as spies, 238.
Turn Kit, History of Local Taxation in
Scotland, (ref.) 289-90.
Two Hussars. See Tolstoy.
Tylor, Primitive Culture, (ref.) 180 (ft.
note) ; Early History of Mankind, (ref.)
181 (ft.note).
Types, G. , among Italians, 97 (ft.note).
X'V'i, derivation of, 195.
XoX«ys = G. 274 (ft.n.), derivation of, 195.
Xarkari, G. race-name, 320.
Ueber die Mundarten. See Miklosich.
Ujfalvy, Les Aryens au Nord et au Sud
de V Hindou- Kouch, (refs.) W(ft.note),
41 (ft.note).
Umbrella-menders, G., 213, 282, 285.
Urine covenant, 178.
Uyfalussi, a .Scholar G., 106-8.
Vaillant, 12.
Valdrighi, Contagio di pestilenza bub-
bonica, (ref.) 97 (ft.note).
Van Elwen, 64 (ft.note).
Vance, (ref. ) 206.
Vanicek, Alois, Griechisch-lateinisches
etymologisches Worterbuch, (ref.) 259
(ft.note).
Various References, by Prof. Hoffmann-
Krayer, (note), 78-80.
Vaux, (ref. ) 206.
Ventriloquists, G., 15.
Verbs, causative, 194, 195, 196, 197; in
Nuri dialect, 315-7.
Verwijs, E. and J. Verdam, Middel-
nederlandsch Woordenboek, (ref.) 261
(ft.note), (quot.) 262 (^ft.note)
Veterinary knowledge of Gs., 31-3, 238.
Viaggio, Bianco's, (quot.) 12.
Viaggio (di Leonardo) in Egitto e in
Terra Santa. See Frescobaldi.
Victoria : Queen, visit to Knockenhair
Park, 161, 172-3 (ft.note); More
Leaves, (quot.) 172-3 (ft.note).
Vidocq Versified. See Maginn.
Vie Gene1 reuse des Mercelots. See Pechon
de Ruby.
Vie Gene'reuse, La, by E. O. Winstedt,
(note), 75-6.
Vier rheinische Palaestina Pilgerschrif
ten. See Conrady.
Vigfusson, Icelandic- English Diction-
ary, (quot.) 260 (ft.note).
Visions and Dreams, by T. W. Thomp-
son, (note), 235.
Vocabularies : Anglo-Romani,205, 206,
208, 211-2, 214, 215, 217-24; French-
Romani, 251-3; Hungarian-Romani,
229-32; Swedish-Romani, 112-3.
Vocabulario degli Academici della Crusca.
(ref.) 255 (ft.note).
Vocabidario del Dialecto Jitano. See
Jimenez.
Vom ivandernden Zigeunervolke. See
Wlislocki.
Von Breydenbach. See Breydenbach.
Von Schwartz, Franz, Die Sindfiuth,
(ref.) 40 (ft.note).
Von Sowa, 193; Mundart, (ref.) 194;
IVirterbuch, (ref.) 244.
Vowel assonance in Nuri dialect, 122.
Voyage de Georges Lencheraud. See
Meniglaise.
Voyage into the Levant, A. See Blount.
Vulcanius. De Literiset LinguaGetarum,
(ref.), 112, 113.
Wackernagel, Jacob, CundJ., 119-20.
Wagenseil, Johann Christoph, his
theory of the Jewish origin of Gs., 79-
INDEX
347
Wagtail, the G. bird, 106.
Wainwright, John : History and An-
tiquities of Doncaster and Conisbro,
(quot.) 71.
Wales, Gs. in, 288.
Wallachia, supposed home of Italian
Gs., 104.
Walliek, Mary, non-G, with Gs., 87.
Wandering Jew, legend of, counected
with Gs., 10 {and ft. note).
Wanderings of Gs. in Europe in 1417, 4.
Warts, G. cures for, 30.
Watercress, a G. medicine, 27.
Way, A. E. G., No. 747. See Carew.
We shall lei some luva, (song), 159.
Wellstood, Frederick Christian : 152,
158, 159, 160, 23S ; A Contribution to
French G. History, 201-4; Onions and
■ Ems, (note), 226-7.
Welsh G. Folk-Tales, Collected by John
Sampson. No. 9. O Dinilo I Baka-
rinsa, 17-9.
Werke for Householders, A, (quot.) 22
(ft.note).
Werli, Hans, (quot.) 68 (ft. -note).
"West, William, Fifty Years' Recollec-
tions of an Old Bookseller, (quot.) 233-
4.
Westermarck, 180; History of Human
Marriage, (ref. ) 179 (ft.note) ; Origin
and Development of the Moral Ideas,
(ref.) 178 (ft.note).
Wey, William, Itinerarium, (quot.) 58
(ft.note).
Wheat in pocket, G. superstition about,
23.
When I jus a coring, (soug), 159.
Whipping of G. woman, 91.
Whiter, W., 39, 210.
Whooping-cough, G. cures for, 27.
Wied, Karl: Turkish Grammar, (quot.)
36 (ft.note).
Wiener, Leo, 64 ; Gs. as Fortune-
tellers and as Blacksmiths, 4-17, 253-
76.
Wilkinson, Topography of Thebes, (ref.)
227.
Winstedt, Eric Otto: 150, 152, 158, 159,
160, 171 (ft.note), 174, 175. 178, 182, 207,
210 (ft.note), (quot.) 238-9; The Gs.
of Modon and the ' Wyne of Romeney,'
57-69 ; One of the Aficion, (note), 74-
5 ; La Vie Ge'ne'reuse, (note), 75-6 ;
Staining Counterfeit Egyptians, (note),
80 ; rev. of Arpad's Zigeunererzdhlun-
gen, 149 ; Turkish Gs. in 1635, (note),
160; La Bella Chiavina: A French or
Piedmont G. Tale, 242-53 ; rev. of
Brepohl's Die Zigeuner, 318 ; rev. of
Brepohl's Aus dem Winterleben der
Wanderzigeuntr, 319.
Witchcraft, 92, 94.
Wlislocki, Heinrich von, 175, 176, 318,
319 ; Vom wandernden Zigeunervolke,
(ref.) 65 (ft.note).
Wolflin : Archie fiir laleinische Lexiko-
graphie unci Grammaiik, (ref.) 254
(ft.note).
Wollaston : English- Persian Diction-
ary (quot.) 34 (ft.note).
Woman leader of boy thieves, 91.
Women : in confinement, G. medicines
for, 30 ; leaders of G. band, 103.
Wood-Martin, History of Sligo, (ref.)
236.
Word 'Rom,' The, by A. T. Sinclair,
33-42.
Worde. See De Worde.
Wormwood, a G. medicine, 29.
Wounded G. treated by surgeon, 57.
Wounds, G. cure for, 29.
Wright : Dictionary of Obsolete and
Provincial English, (refs.) 208, 211.
Wright, Thomas, 209.
Wulcker, Anglo-Saxon and Old English
Vocabularies, (refs.) 256 (ft.note), 259
(ft.note).
Yetholm History of the Gs., The. See
Lucas.
Youssouf, Turkish-French Dictionary,
(quot.) 36 (ft.note).
Yoxall, Sir J. H. : Smalilou, (ref.) 279.
Zante, G. smiths at, 6, 64.
Zigari, G. race name, 66, 67.
Zigenare. See Thesleff.
Zigenarne. See Lysander.
Zigeuner, G. race name, 235.
Zigeuner in Serbien, Die. See Gjorgjevic.
Zigeuner nach Geschichte. See Brepohl.
Zigeunererzdhlungen. See Arpad.
Zigineri, G. race name, 66, 68 (ft.note).
Zingara, Zingaretta, name of house, 103,
104 (ft. -note).
Zingaresche, 9.
Zingari, Gli. See Colocci.
Zingari nel Modense, Gli, by A. G. Spi-
nelli, 42-57, 88-111.
Zinginer, G. race name, 77.
Zonaras, 16, (quot.) 272 (ft.note).
Zoological Mythology. See De Guber-
natis.
Zott (Djat, Jat), The, 2, 4, 16, 320;
rock hollow of, 297. See also Nawar.
Ziirich, arrival of Gs. at, 79-80.
Zwey nutzliche Tractdlkiu. See R., C.
B. L. M. V.
DX
101
G6
n.s.
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