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THE new era which the series
of splendid works, called the Waverly Novels, created in literature,
produced, among other effects, that of directing attention to that singular
anomaly in civilization—the existence of a race of men scattered over the
world, and known, wherever the English language is spoken, as Gipsies; a
class as distinct, in some respects, from the people among whom they live,
as the Jews at the present (lay. The first of the series in which their
singular character?, habits, and modes of life were illustrated, was that of
Guy Mannering; proving one of the few happy instances in which a work of
fiction has been found to serve the end of specially stirring up the
feelings of the human mind, in its various phases, toward a subject with
which it has a common sympathy. The peasant and the farmer at once felt
attracted by it, from the dread of personal danger which they had always
entertained for the race, and the uncertainty under which they had lived,
for the safety of their property from. fire and robbery, and the desire
which they had invariably shown to propitiate them by the payment of a
species of blackmail, under the form of kind treatment, and a manner of
hospitality when occasion called for it. The work at the same time struck a
chord in the religious and humane sentiments of others, and the result, but
a very tardily manifested one, was the springing up of associations for
their reformation; with comparatively little success, however, for it was
found, as a general thing, that while some of time race allowed their
children, very indifferently, even precariously, to attend school, yet to
cure them of their naturally wandering and other peculiar dispositions, was
nearly as hopeless as the converting of the American Indians to some of the
ways of civilized life. That general class was, also interested, which
consist of the; more or less educated, moral, or refined, to whom anything
exciting comes with relish. To the historical student, the subject was
fraught with matter for curious investigation, owing to the race having been
ignored, for a length of time, as being in no respect different from a class
to be found in all countries; and, whatever their origin, as having had
their nationality extinguished in that general process which has been found
to level every distinction of race in our country. The antiquary and
philologist, in their respective pursuits, found also a sphere which they
were unlikely to leave unexplored, considering that they are often so
untiring in their researches in such matters as sometimes to draw upon
themselves a smile from the rest of mankind: and while the latter was
thinking that he had exhausted the languages of his native land, and was
contemplating others elsewhere, he struck accidentally upon a mine under his
feet, and at once turned up a specimen of virgin ore; coming all the more
acceptably to him, from those in possession of it keeping it as secret as if
their existence depended on its being concealed from others around them.
All, indeed, but especially those brought up in rural places, knew from
childhood more or less of the Gipsies, and dreaded them by day or night, in
frequented or in lonely places, knowing well that, if insulted, they would
threaten vengeance, if they could not execute it then; which they in no way
doubted, with the terror of doomed men.
Among others, I felt
interested in the subject, from having been brought up in the pastoral
district of Tweed-dale, the resort of many Gipsies, who were treated with
great favour by the inhabitants, for many reasons, the most important of
which were the desire of securing their good-will, for their own benefit,
and the use which they were to them in selling them articles in request, and
the various mechanical turns which they possessed; and often from the
natural generosity of people so circumstanced. My curiosity was excited, and
having various sources of information at command, I proceeded to write a few
short articles for Blackwood's Magazine, which were well received, as the
following letters from Mr. William Blackwood will show:
"I now send a proof of No. 2
Gipsy article. I hope you are pleased, and will return it with your
corrections on Monday or Tuesday. We shall be glad to hear you are going on
with the continuation, for I assure you your former article has been as
popular as anything almost we ever had in the magazine."
Again,
"Your magazine was sent this
morning by the coach, but I had not time to write you last night. Mr. Walter
Scott is quite delighted with the Gipsies."
Again,
"I am this moment favoured
with your interesting packet. Your Gipsies, from the slight glance I have
given them, seem to be as amusing as ever."
And again,
"It was not in my power to
get your number sent off. It is a very interesting one. You will be much
pleased with Mr. Scott's little article on Buckhaven, in which he pays you
some very just compliments."
[The following is the article
alluded to: "The following enquiries are addressed to the author of the
Gipsies in Fife, being suggested by the research and industry which he has
displayed in collecting memorials of that vagrant race. They relate to a
class of persons who, distinguished for honest industry in a laborious and
dangerous calling, have only this in common with the Egyptian tribes, that
they are not originally native of the country which they inhabit, and are
supposed still to exhibit traces of a foreign origin. . . . . I mean the
colony of fishermen in the village of Buckhaven, in Fife. . .. .
"I make no apology to your
respectable correspondent for engaging him in so troublesome a research. The
local antiquary, of all others, ought, in the zeal of his calling, to feel
the force of what Spencer wrote and Burke quoted: 'Love esteems no office
mean.'—'Entire affections corneth nicer hands.' The curious collector who
seeks for ancient reliques among the ruins of ancient Rome, often pays for
permission to trench or did over some particular piece of ground, in hopes
to discover some remnant of antiquity. Sometimes he gets only his labour,
and the ridicule of having wasted it, to pay for his pains; sometimes he
finds but old bricks and shattered potsherds; but sometimes also his toil is
rewarded by a valuable medal, cameo, bronze, or statue. And upon the same
principle it is, by investigating and comparing popular customs, often
trivial and foolish in themselves, that we often arrive at the means of
establishing curious and material facts in history."
This extract is given for the
benefit of the latter part of it, which applies admirably to the present
subject; yet falls as much short of it as the interest in the history of an
Egyptian mummy falls short of that of a living and universally scattered
race, that appears a riddle to our comprehension.]
At the same time I was much
encouraged, by the author of Guy Mannering, to prosecute my enquiries, by
receiving several communications from him, and conversing With him at
Abbotsford, on the subject.
I received a letter from Sir
Walter, in which he says:
"This letter has been by me
many weeks, waiting for a frank, and besides, our mutual friend, Mr. Laidlaw,
under whose charge my agricultural operations are now proceeding in great
style, gave inc some hope of seeing you in this part of the country. I
should like much to have asked you some questions about the Gipsies, and
particularly that great mystery—their language. I cannot determine, in my
own mind, whether it is likely to prove really a corrupt eastern dialect, or
whether it has degenerated into mere jargon."
About the same time I
received the following Ietter from Mr. William Laidlaw, the particular
friend of Sir Walter Scott, and manager of his estate at Abbotsford, as
mentioned in the foregoing letter; the author of "Lucy's Flittin," and a
contributor to Blackwood:
"I was very seriously
disappointed at not seeing you when you were in this (part of the) country,
and so was no less a person than the mighty minstrel himself. He charged me
to let him know whenever you arrived, for he was very anxious to see you.
What would it be to you to take the coach, and three days before you, and
again see your father and mother, come here on an evening, and call on Mr.
Scott next day? We would then get you full information upon the science of
defence in all its departments. Quarterstaff is now little practised; but it
was a sort of Iegerdemain way of fighting that I never had muckle broo of,
although I know somewhat of the method. It was a most unfortunate and stupid
trick of the man to blow you up with your kittle acquaintances. I hope they
will forgive and forget. I ain -very much interested about the language
(Gipsy). Mr. Scott has repeatedly said, that whatever you hear or see, you
should never let on to naebody, no doubt excepting himself. Be sure and come
well provided with specimens of the vocables, as lie says he might perhaps
have it in his power to assist you in your enquiries."
Shortly after this, Sir
Walter wrote me as follows:
"The inclosed letter has long
been written. I only now send it to show that I have not been ungrateful,
though late in expressing my thanks. The progress you have been able to make
in the Gipsy language is most extremely interesting. My acquaintance with
most European languages, and with slang words and expressions, enables me to
say positively, that the Gipsy words you have collected have no reference to
either, with the exception of three or four. [I sent him a specimen of
forty-six words. [Many words used in Scotland, in every-day life, are
evidently derived from the Gipsy, owing, doubtless, to the singularity of
the people who have used them, or the happy peculiarity of circumstances
under which they have been uttered; the original cause of such passing
current in a language, no less than that degree of personal authority which
sometimes occasions them to be adopted. Randy, a disreputable word for a
bold, scolding, and not over nicely worded woman, is evidently derived from
the Gipsy reunic, the chief of a tribe of viragos; so that the exceptions
spoken of are as likely to have been derived from the Gipsy as vice
versa.—Ea.]
I have little doubt, from the
sound and appearance, that they are Oriental, probably Hindostanee. When I
go to Edinburgh, I shall endeavour to find a copy of Grellmann, to compare
the language of the German Gipsies with that of the Scottish tribes. As you
have already done so much, I pray you to proceed in your enquiries, but by
no means to make anything public, as it might spread a premature alarm, and
obstruct your future enquiries. It would be important to get the same words
from different individuals ; and in order to verify the collection, I would
recommend you to set down the names of the persons by whom they were
communicated. It would be important to know whether they have a real
language, with the usual parts of speech, or whether they have a collection
of nouns, combined by our own language. I suspect the former to be the case,
from the specimens I have had. I should like much to see the article you
proposed for the magazine. I am not squeamish about delicacies, where
knowledge is to be sifted out and acquired. I like Ebony's [[The name by
which Mr. Blackwood was known in the celebrated Cbaldee manuscript,
published in his magazine.] idea of a history of the Gipsies very much, and
I wish you would undertake it. I gave all my scraps to the magazine at its
commencement, but I think myself entitled to say that you are welcome to the
use of them, should you choose to incorporate them into such a work. Do not
be in too great a hurry, but get as many materials as you can." [Previous to
this, Mr. Blackwood wrote me as follows: "I received your packet some days
ago, and immediately gave it to the editor. He desires me to say that your
No. 6, though very curious, would not answer, from the nature of the
details, to be printed in the magazine. In a regular history of the Gipsies,
they would, of course, find a place." This was what suggested the idea of
the present work.]
And again as follows:
"An authentic list of Gipsy
words, as used in Scotland, especially if in such numbers as may afford any
reasonable or probable conjecture as to the structure of the Ianguage, is a
desideratum in Scottish literature which would be very acceptable to the
philologist, as well as an addition to general history. I am not aware that
any such exists, though there is a German publication on the subject, which
it would be very necessary to consult. [Grellmann. I am not aware that lie
ever compared the words I sent him with those in this publication, as he
wrote he would do, in the previous letter quoted.] That the language exists,
I have no doubt, though I should rather think the number to which it is
known is somewhat exaggerated. I need not point out to you the difference
between the cant language, or slang, used by thieves or flash men in
general, and the peculiar dialect said to be spoken by the Gipsies.
[Throughout the whole of his works there does not appear, I believe, a
single word of the proper Scottish Gipsy; although slang and cant
expressions are to be found in considerable numbers. (Some of these are of
Gipsy extraction.—En.)] The difference ought to be very carefully noticed,
to ascertain what sort of language they exactly talk; whether it is an
original tongue, having its own mode of construction, or a speech made up of
cant expressions, having an English or Scotch ground-work, and only patched
up so as to be unintelligible to the common hearer. There is nothing else
occurs to me by which I. can be of service to your enquiry. My own opinion
leads me to think that the Gipsies have a distinct and proper language, but
I do not consider it is extensive enough to form any settled conclusion. If
there occur any facts which I can be supposed to know, on which you desire
information, I will be willing to give them, in illustration of so curious
an enquiry. I have found them, in general, civil and amenable to reason; I
must, nevertheless, add that they are vindictive, and that, as the knowledge
of their language is the secret which their habits and ignorance make them
tenacious of, I think your researches, unless conducted with great prudence,
may possibly expose you to personal danger. For the same reason, you ought
to complete all the information you can collect, before alarming them by a
premature publication,. as, after you have published, there will be great
obstructions to future communications on the subject."
From what has been said, it
will be seen that the following investigation has had quite a different
object than a description of the manners and habits of the common vagrants
of the country; for no possible entertainment could have been derived from
such an undignified undertaking. And yet many of our youth, although
otherwise well informed, have never made this distinction; owing, no doubt,
to the encreased attention which those in power have, in late years,
bestowed on the internal affairs of the country, and the unseen, but no less
surely felt, pressure of the advancement of the general mass, and especially
of the lower classes of the community, forcing many of these people into
positions beyond the observation of those unacquainted with their Ianguage
and traits of character. When it is, therefore, considered, that the body
treated of, is originally an exotic. comprising, I am satisfied, no less
than five thousand souls in Scotland, [There cannot be less than 100,000
Gipsies in Scotland. See Disquisition on the Gipsies.—En.] speaking an
original and peculiar language, which is mysteriously used among themselves
with great secrecy, and differing so widely from the ordinary natives of the
soil, it may well claim some little portion of public attention. A further
importance attaches to the subject, when it is considered that a
proportionate number is to be found in the other divisions of the British
Isles, and large hordes in all parts of Europe, and more or less in every
other part of the world; in all places speaking the same language, with only
a slight difference in dialect, and manifesting the same peculiarities. In
using the language of Dr. Bright, it may be said, that the circumstance is
the most singular phenomenon in the history of man; much more striking,
indeed, than that of the Jews. For the Jews have been favoured with the most
splendid antecedents; a common parentage; a common history; a special and
exclusive revelation; a deeply rooted religious prejudice, and antipathy; a
common persecution; and whatever might appear necessary to preserve their
identity in the world, excepting an isolated territorial and political
existence. [The following is a description of the Jews, throughout the
world, as given by them, in their letters to, Voltaire: "A Jew. in London
bears as little resemblance to a Jew at Constantinople, as this last
resembles a Chinese Mandarin I A Portuguese Jew, of Bordeaux, and a German
Jew, of Metz, appear two beings of a different natureI It is, therefore,
impossible to speak of the manners of the Jews in general, without entering
into a very long detail, and into particular distinctions. The Jew is a
chamelion, that assumes all the colours of .the different climates he
inhabits, of the different people he frequents, and of the different
governments under which he lives." These words are much more applicable to
the Gipsy tribe, in consequence of their drawing into their body the blood
of other people.—Ed.] The Gipsies, on the other hand, have had none of these
advantages. But it is certain that the leaders of their bands, in addition
to their piteous representations, must have had something striking about
them, to recommend them to the favourable notice which they seem to have met
with, at the hands of some of the sovereigns of Europe, when they made their
appearance there, and spread over its surface. Still, their assumptions
might, and in all probability did, rest merely upon an amount of general
superiority of character, of a particular kind, without even the first
elements of education, which in that age would amount to something; a
leading feature of character which their chiefs have ever since maintained ;
and yet, although everything has been left by them to tradition, the Gipsies
speak their language much better than the Jews.
Gipsies and Jews have many
things in common. They are both strangers and sojourners, in a sense,
wherever they are to be found; "dwelling in tents," the one literally, the
other figuratively. They have each undergone many bloody persecutions; the
one for his stubborn blindness to the advent of the Messiah, the other for
being a heathen, and worse than a heathen—for being nothing at all, but
linked with the evil one, in all manner of witchcraft and sin. Such race has
had many crimes brought against it; the Gipsy, those of a positive, and the
Jew, those of a constructive and arbitrary nature. But in these respects
they differ: the Jew has been known and famed for doing; almost anything for
money; and the Gipsy for the mere gratification of his most innate
nature—that of appropriating to himself, when he needs it, that which is
claimed by any out of the circle of his consanguinity. The one's soul is
given to accumulating, and, if it is in his power, he becomes rich the other
more commonly aims at securing what meets his ordinary wants, and, perhaps,
some little thing additional; or, if he prove otherwise, he liberally spends
what he acquires. The Gipsy is humane to a stranger, when lie has been
rightly appealed to; but when that circumstance is wanting, lie will never
hesitate to rob him, unless when lie stands indebted to him, or, it may be,
his immediate relations, for previous acts of kindness. To indulge his
hatred towards an enemy, a Jew will oppress him, if he is his debtor,
exacting his bond;" or if he is not his debtor, lie will often endeavour to
get him to become such, with the same motive or it may be, if his enemy
stands in need of accommodation, lie will not supply his wants; at other
times, if he is poor, he will ostentatiously make a display of his wealth,
to spite him; and, in carrying out his vengeance, will sometimes display the
malignity, barring, perhaps, the shedding of blood, of almost every other
race combined. In such a case, a Gipsy will rob, burn, maltreat, main, carry
off a child, and sometimes murder, but not often the two last at the present
day. [This, I need hardly say, is a description of what may be called a wild
Gipsy.—Ed.] The two races are to be found side by side, in countries
characterized by almost every degree of climate and stage of civilization,
each displaying its peculiar type of feature, but differing in this respect,
that the Gipsies readily adopt others into their tribe, at such a tender age
as to secure an infallible attachment to their race and habits. This
circumstance has produced, in many instances, a change in the colour of the
hair and eyes of the descendants of those adopted. In some such cases, it
requires an intimate knowledge of the body, to detect the peculiarity common
to all, and especially in those who have conformed to the ways of the other
inhabitants. In this they agree—that they despise and hate, and are despised
and hated by, those among whom they live. But in this they differ—that the
Jew entered Europe, as it were, singly and by stealth, pursuing pretty much
the avocations he yet follows ; but the Gipsies, in bands, and openly,
although they were forced to betake themselves to places of retreat, and
break up into smaller bands. It is true that the Jew was driven from his
home eighteen centuries ago, and that it is not yet five since the Gipsy
appeared in Europe. We know who the Jew is, and something of the providence
and circumstances under which he suffers, and what future awaits him; but
who is this singular and unfortunate exile, whose origin and cause of
banishment none can comprehend—who is this wandering Gipsy?
After the receipt of the
second of Sir Walter Scott's letters, already alluded to, I discontinued the
few short articles I had written for Blackwood, on the Fifeshire Gipsies ;
but I have incorporated the most interesting part of them into the work,
forming, however, only a small part of the whole. Since it was written, I
have seen Mr. Borrow on the Gipsies in Spain, and the short report of the
Rev. Mr. Baird, to the Scottish Church Society ; the latter printed in 1840,
and the former in 1841. The Gitanos in Spain and the Tinklers in Scotland
are, in almost every particular, the same people, while the Yetholm Gipsy
words in Mr. Baird's report and those collected by me, for the most part,
between the years 1817 and 1831, are word for word the same.
In submitting this work to
the public, I deem it necessary to say a word or two as to the authorities
upon which the facts contained in it rest. My authorities for those under
the heads of Fife and Linlithgowshire Gipsies, were aged and creditable
persons, who had been eye-witnesses to the greater part of the transactions;
in some cases, the particulars were quite current in their time. The details
under the head of Gipsies who frequented Tweed-dale, Ettrick Forest,
Annandale, and the upper ward of Lanarkshire, were chiefly derived from the
memories of some of my relatives, and other individuals of credit, who had
many opportunities of observing the manners of these wanderers, in the South
of Scotland, the greater number being confirmed by the Gipsies, on being
interrogated. The particulars under the head of the ceremonies of marriage
and divorce, and the sacrifice of horses, were related by Gipsies, and
confirmed by other undoubted testimony, as will appear in detail. Almost
every recent occurrence and matter relative to the present condition,
employment, and number of the body, is the result of my own personal
enquiries and observations, while the whole specimens of the language, and
the facts immediately connected therewith, were written down, with my own
hand, from the mouths of the Gipsies themselves, and confirmed, at
intervals, by others. Indeed, my chief object has been to produce facts from
an original source, in Scotland, as far as respects manners, customs, and
language, for the purpose of ascertaining the origin of this mysterious
race, and the country from which they have migrated; and the result, to my
mind, is a complete confirmation of Grellmann, Hoy land, and Bright, that
they are from Hindostan.
In writing the history of any
barbarous race, if history it can be called, the field for our observation
must necessarily be very limited. This may especially be said of a people
like the Gipsies ; for, having, as a people, neither literature, records,
nor education, [There are, comparatively speaking, few Gipsies in Scotland
that have not some education, in common with the ordinary natives of the
soil; but the same cannot be said of England. Ed] all that can be drawn
together of their history, from themselves, must be confined to that of the
present, or of such time as the freshness of their tradition may suffice to
illustrate; unless it he a few precarious notices of them, that may have
been elicited from their having come, it may be, in violent contact with
their civilized neighbours around them. In attempting such a work, in
connection with so singular a people, the difficulties in the way of
succeeding in it are extraordinarily great, as the reader may have
perceived, from what has already been written, and as the "blowing up,"
alluded to in Mr. Laidlaw's letter, will illustrate, and which was as
follows:
I had obtained some of the
Gipsy language from a principal family of the tribe, on condition of not
publishing names, or place of residence; and, at many miles distance, I had
also obtained some particulars relative to the customs and manners of the
race, from a highly respectable farmer, in the south of Scotland. At his
farm, the family alluded to always took up their quarters, in their
periodical journeys through the country. The farmer, -without ever thinking
of the consequences, told them that I was collecting materials for a
publication on the Tinklers, in Scotland, and that everything relative to
their tribe would he given to the world. The aged chief of the family was
thrown into the greatest distress, at the idea of the name and residence of
himself and family being made public. I received a letter from the family,
deeply lamenting that they had ever communicated a word to me relative to
their language, and stating that the old man was like to break his heart, at
his own imprudence, being in agony at the thought of his language being
published to the world. I assured them, however, that they had no cause for
fear, as I had never so much as mentioned their names to their friend, the
farmer, and that I would strictly adhere to the promise I had given them.
This was one of the many instances in which I was obstructed in my labours,
for, however cautious I might personally be others, who became in some way
or other acquainted with my object, were, from inconsiderate meddling, the
cause of many difficulties being thrown in my way, and the consequent loss
of much interestinb information. But for this unfortunate circumstance, I am
sanguine, from the method I took in managing the Gipsies, I would have been
able to collect songs, and sentences of their language, and much more
information than what has been procured, at whatever -value the reader may
estimate that; for the Gipsies are always more or less in communication with
each other, in their various divisions of the country, especially when
threatened with anything deemed dangerous, which they circulate among
themselves with astonishing celerity.
Professor Wilson, in a
poetical notice of Blackwood's Magazine, writes
"Few things more sweetly vary
civil life
Than a barbarian, savage Tickler tale;
Our friend, who on the Gipsies writes in Fife,
We verily believe promotes our sale."
And, in revising his works,
in 1831, Sir Walter Scott, in a note to Quentin Durward, says, relative to
the present work:
"It is natural to suppose,
the band, (Gipsy), as it now exists, is much mingled with Europeans; but
most of these have been brought up from childhood among them, and learned
all their practices. . . . When they are in closest contact with the
ordinary peasants around them, they still keep their language a mystery.
There is little doubt, however, that it is a dialect of the Hindostanee,
from the specimens produced by GrelImann, Hoyland, and others who have
written on the subject. But the author, (continues Sir Walter,) has, besides
their authority, personal occasion to know, that an individual, out of mere
curiosity, and availing himself, with patience and assiduity, of such
opportunities as offered, has made himself capable of conversing with any
Gipsy whom he meets, or can, like the royal Hal, drink with any tinker, in
his own language. [Allowance must be made for the enthusiasm of the
novelist.- Ed] The astonishment excited among these vagrants, on finding a
stranger participant of their mystery, occasions very ludicrous scenes. It
is to be hoped this gentleman will publish the knowledge he possesses on so
singular a topic. There are prudential reasons for postponing this
disclosure at present, for, although much more reconciled to society since
they have been less the objects of legal persecution, the Gipsies are still
a ferocious and vindictive people." [Abbotsford, 1st Dec., 1831.] |
