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Title: Dissertation on the Gipseys
Author: Grellmann, Heinrich Moritz Gottlieb
Language: English
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*** Start of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Dissertation on the Gipseys" ***
Transcribed from the William Ballintine 1807 edition by David Price,
email ccx074@pglaf.org, using scans from the British Library.
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DISSERTATION
ON THE
GIPSEYS:
REPRESENTING THEIR
_MANNER OF LIFE_, _SICKNESS_, _DEATH_, _& BURIAL_,
_FAMILY ECONOMY_, _RELIGION_,
_OCCUPATIONS & TRADES_, _LANGUAGE_,
_MARRIAGES & EDUCATION_, _SCIENCES & ARTS_, _&c._ _&c._
_&c._
WITH
AN HISTORICAL ENQUIRY
CONCERNING THEIR
_ORIGIN & FIRST APPEARANCE IN EUROPE_.
* * * * *
* * * * *
FROM THE GERMAN OF
H. M. G. GRELLMANN.
* * * * *
* * * * *
LONDON:
PRINTED BY WILLIAM BALLINTINE,
_Duke-street_, _Adelphi_, _Strand_:
SOLD BY EFFINGHAM WILSON,
OPPOSITE THE CHAPTER COFFEE-HOUSE, ST. PAUL’S.
1807.
ADVERTISEMENT.
THE following Dissertation has already appeared in an English dress,
having been, some years since, translated by the late M. Raper, Esq.
F.R.S. and A.S. for the purpose, as he states in his preface, of
affording “such of his countrymen as were unacquainted with the German
language an opportunity of learning from what part of the world it is
probable the Gipseys came among us.” The original work, and Mr. Raper’s
translation, are burthened with many notes—Greek, Latin, French, German,
English—shewing the sources whence the information was derived, most of
which, for obvious reasons, are omitted in the present edition; such only
being retained as were thought indispensable, or particularly
interesting.
_July_, 1807.
CONTENTS.
INTRODUCTION P. 1
SECTION THE FIRST.
DESCRIPTION OF THE GIPSEYS, THEIR MANNER OF LIFE, THEIR CUSTOMS, AND
PROPERTIES.
CHAPTER I.
Page
_Various Appellations of these People_ 1
CHAPTER II.
_On the Dispersion of the Gipseys_, _and their Numbers in 3
Europe_
CHAPTER III.
_The Properties of their Bodies_ 10
CHAPTER IV.
_On their Food and Beverage_ 15
CHAPTER V.
_On the Dress of the Gipseys_ 25
CHAPTER VI.
_On the Family Economy of the Gipseys_ 31
CHAPTER VII.
_Their Occupations and Trades_ 38
CHAPTER VIII.
_On their Marriages and Education_ 61
CHAPTER IX.
_On their Sickness_, _Death_, _and Burial_ 68
CHAPTER X.
_Political Regulations peculiar to the Gipseys_ 72
CHAPTER XI.
_On the Religion of the Gipseys_ 79
CHAPTER XII.
_Their Language_, _Sciences_, _and Arts_ 83
CHAPTER XIII.
_Character and Capacities of the Gipseys_; _whether they 89
are an Advantage or a Detriment to States_
CHAPTER XIV.
_Concerning the Toleration of the Gipseys by the different 93
States of Europe_
CHAPTER XV.
_Essay on the Improvement of the Gipseys_ 102
SECTION THE SECOND.
ON THE ORIGIN OF THE GIPSEYS.
CHAPTER I.
_The first Appearance of Gipseys in Europe_ 109
CHAPTER II.
_On the Sanctity_, _Passports_, _and Difference of the 117
former from the latter Gipseys_
CHAPTER III.
_Presumed Origin of the Gipseys_ 137
CHAPTER IV.
_On the Egyptian Descent of the Gipseys_ 147
CHAPTER V.
_The Gipseys come from Hindostan_ 170
CHAPTER VI.
_The Gipseys are of the Caste called Suders_ 199
SUPPLEMENT 209
INTRODUCTION.
THE Gipseys are a singular phenomenon in Europe; whether we contemplate
their habitations, attend at their meals, or merely look in their faces,
they always appear particular, and we are each moment struck with
something new and extraordinary.
What appears most worthy of remark is, that neither time, climate, nor
example, has, in general, hitherto, made any alteration. For the space
of between three and four hundred years, they have gone wandering about,
like pilgrims and strangers: they are found in eastern and western
countries, as well among the rude as civilised, the indolent as active,
people: yet they remain ever, and in all places, what their fathers
were—Gipseys. Africa makes them no blacker, nor Europe whiter: they
neither learn to be lazy in Spain, nor diligent in Germany: in Turkey,
Mahomet, and among Christians, Christ, remain equally without adoration.
Around, on every side, they see fixed dwellings, with settled
inhabitants; they, nevertheless, proceed in their own way, and continue,
for the most part, unsocial wandering robbers.
When we search for similar cases, among all the different people who have
quitted their mother country, and inhabited a foreign one, we do not meet
with a single instance that exactly agrees with that of the Gipseys.
History certainly does record accounts of people that have migrated, and
remained the same in a strange country; but then this constancy has been
on account of religion, either permitted by the regents, or maintained by
their victorious arms: though this last circumstance has existed much
less frequently than might be imagined. Many instances have occurred in
which, the people subdued being more enlightened than their conquerors,
the latter have adopted the manners of the former. The Romans became
Greeks on the conquest of Greece; and the Franks assumed the manners of
the Gauls when in possession of their country: the Mantcheous vanquished
the Chinese; but Chinese customs prevailed over those of the Mantcheous.
How, then, does it happen that the Gipseys, who never either established
their manners and customs by force, or obtained any toleration from
governments under which they lived, remain unchanged, and resemble each
other exactly, in every place? There are two causes, to which this
coincidence is principally owing: one is the place whence they originate,
with their consequent mode of thinking; the other arises from the
circumstances which have hitherto attended their situation.
The Gipseys are unquestionably of eastern origin, and have eastern
notions. There is a principle inherent in uncivilised people,
particularly those of Oriental countries, which occasions them to be
strongly attached to their own habits: hence every custom, every
conception, which has once been current among them, be it ever so
pernicious or ridiculous, is invariably preserved; or any affection which
has once predominated in their minds, retains its dominion even for ages.
Innovations do not easily succeed with people living in a state bordering
on that of nature; the least deviation from custom is observed, and often
resented with impetuosity. For any new thing to take root it must either
be introduced by cunning and force, or be attended with the most
favourable circumstances. This latter was the case with Christianity.
Providence had called Greeks and Romans into the east, and, by
innumerable vicissitudes, had rendered that country ripe for further
instruction: then came the great Sower—CHRIST scattered the seed, and it
prospered. Mahomet, on the contrary, before he became strong enough to
enforce conviction with the sword, brought about his purpose by art:
knowing that the weak side of his countrymen was their veneration for
every thing handed down from their forefathers, he gave his new religion
the colouring of antiquity.
Mahomet says, “We have swerved from the religion of our founder Abraham,
and have introduced novelties among us. Abraham worshipped only one God;
we have many Gods. I am sent to retrench these novelties, and to bring
you back to the religion of your forefathers.” This was the first ground
on which he went. When the Ishmaelite would not acquiesce in the charge
of having fallen off from Abraham’s religion, Mahomet proceeded: “Ye are
illiterate people; ye have no books: the inhabitants of the neighbouring
countries have books, which contain the religion of Abraham.” The
Arabians applied to the Jews and Christians, for information on this
head; and as the event turned in favour of the pretended prophet, they
yielded without contradiction. Mahomet proceeded in teaching, and again
appealed to the people with books: the Arabians, too, continued asking
questions, being more tractable whenever his assertions were confirmed;
but when the contrary happened, a dispute arose, in which the prophet
could only get the better by defending the antiquity of his madness at
the expence of truth, accusing both the Jews and Christians with having
falsified their books.
The same means that helped Mahomet with the Arabians, have been, in
latter times, very serviceable to the Jesuits, in China. How would these
cunning fathers have obtained admission for their religion among the
Chinese, had they not referred to Confucius, in aid of their doctrines?
These are only instances of changes in religion; but the case is
precisely the same in other things. In the eastern nations, no
improvement is adopted, be it of what kind it may, merely because it is
an improvement. The Chinese are acquainted with the use of glass; yet
their mirrors are always made of metal, and their windows of
oyster-shells. Mechanical watches have been for ages used at the court
of Pekin; but the bulk of the nation depend upon fire and water. {v}
It is evident from the above, that the Gipseys, by reason of their
eastern origin, and consequent way of thinking, are not easily made to
change their principles and habits. When we further consider the
circumstances under which these people have hitherto existed, we want
nothing more to make us comprehend why they have remained, to the present
time, what they were at their first arrival in Europe.
Figure to yourself a person, in whom custom, and deep-rooted affections,
are the only, and at the same time strong, impulses to action; in whose
soul no new unwonted thoughts arise, in consequence of his own
reflections, nor find easy admittance when proposed by others:—leave this
man entirely to himself; do not permit any of those means to be used
which are requisite to give a new turn to his ideas, and deep-rooted
prejudices:—he must necessarily remain the same; and his latest posterity
will continue like him: this is exactly the case with the Gipseys.
Unused to reflect, fettered by habits, they arrived in our quarter of the
globe. No state has, hitherto, done any thing for the express purpose of
instructing or reforming them; except the Empress Theresa, by her
regulations, which were never put in execution. On their first arrival,
they procured passports, and free quarters, by their holy lies. They
dispersed, begged, deceived the common people, by fortune telling: they
stole: and for a long time no attention was paid to them. At last the
evil grew too enormous; the complaints against them became so loud, that
government was constrained to take official notice of them. Exemplary
punishments were judged necessary: hanging and beheading were not
sufficiently efficacious; and it was then thought expedient to banish
them;—a proceeding more likely to render them worse than better, and even
in other respects liable to many objections; still the custom has
prevailed, down to the latest times. The neighbour, to whom these
unpolished guests were sent, sooner or later, followed the same method of
disengaging the evil, till, in the end, they were persecuted by almost
all kingdoms and governments. Many states afterwards relaxing in their
severity, the Gipseys were suffered to creep in, a few at a time, and
were permitted to remain quiet: yet every one of them stood in fear,
innocent or guilty, lest he might be taken unawares, merely because he
was Gipsey, and delivered over to the executioner. They had been
accustomed, in their own country, to live remote from cities and towns:
now they became still more uniformly inhabitants of the forests, and
outcasts; as, in consequence of the search which was made after them, or
at least threatened to be made, they judged themselves to be more secure
in deserts and concealment, than they would have been if frequenting
places of established abode, and having free intercourse with the
civilised inhabitants: whereby they were divested of the most, perhaps
only, probable means of inducing them to change their manners. And yet,
had they not sequestered themselves from other people, or had they been
more inclined to mix in society, it is not likely, without some direct
interference of government, that they would have been rendered better.
There were two great obstacles to be surmounted:—first, by mere
intercourse, it would have been, generally speaking, difficult to
eradicate the prejudices and customs from their Oriental minds: secondly,
being Gipseys, people would not willingly have established any
correspondence with them. Let us reflect how different they are from
Europeans: the one is white, the other black;—this clothes himself, the
other goes half naked;—this shudders at the thought of eating carrion,
the other regales on it as a dainty. Moreover these people are famed,
and were even from their first appearance in Europe, for being
plunderers, thieves, and incendiaries: the European, in consequence, not
merely dislikes, but hates them. For the reasons above stated, the
Gipseys have been, at different periods, driven from all the countries of
Europe; and only a few simple people occasionally made a nearer
acquaintance, in order to consult them on matters of superstition.
Such is the state of what has been done, and attempted, for the
improvement of the Gipseys; whereas, so soon as it was discovered that
they were strangers, who thought of nothing less than of returning into
their own country, if any plan had been acted upon for their reformation,
and only half the wise regulations left behind by the Empress Theresa in
her states for the management of these people been adopted, and duly
enforced, they would long ago have been divested of the rude nature of
their ancestors, and have ceased to be the uncultivated branches of a
wild stock. On the contrary, having always been either left to
themselves or persecuted, it could not be otherwise, but that they must
remain for ever, and in all places, the same.
Perhaps it is reserved for our age, in which so much has been attempted
for the benefit of mankind, to humanise a people who, for centuries, have
wandered in error and neglect: and it may be hoped, that while we are
endeavouring to ameliorate the condition of our African brethren, the
civilisation of the Gipseys, who form so large a portion of humanity,
will not be overlooked. It cannot be denied, that, considering the
multitude of them, their reform must be an object of very serious
consideration to many states. Suppose, according to a rough estimate,
that the Gipseys in Hungary and Transylvania, including the Banat, amount
to upwards of one hundred thousand; what a difference would it not make,
in those countries, if one hundred thousand inhabitants, mostly loungers,
beggars, cheats, and thieves, who now reap where they have not sown,
consuming the fruits of others’ labour, were to become industrious useful
subjects! Their reformation would be a difficult task, as the attempts
made by the Empress Theresa evinced:—a boy (for you must begin with
children, and not meddle with the old stock, on whom no efforts will have
effect) would frequently seem in the most promising train to
civilisation; on a sudden his wild nature would appear, a relapse follow,
and he became a perfect Gipsey again. But the measure is not, therefore,
impossible: Was not the case precisely the same with the Saxons, whom
Charles the Great converted to Christianity? Let the state resolving to
appropriate the Gipsey tribe only persevere in its endeavours; some
effect will be gained on the second generation, and with the third or
fourth, the end will certainly be accomplished.
By an attentive observation, we may perceive that the Gipseys are endued
with very good capacities, which promise to make a profitable return, for
much trouble bestowed upon them. In the first Section one attempt, made
on this speculation, is produced, and it is hoped it will be found
sufficiently complete, to exhibit the leading features of their
character.
The origin of the Gipseys has remained a perfect philosopher’s stone till
a late period. For more than two hundred years, people have been anxious
to discover who these guests were, that, under the name of Gipseys, came,
unknown and uninvited, into Europe, in the fifteenth century, and have
chosen to remain here ever since. No enquirer ever broached an opinion
that met with his successor’s approbation; a fourth scarcely heard what a
third had said, before he passed sentence and advanced something new. We
have no reason to wonder at the miscarriage of these enquiries, which
were neither more nor less than a collection of conjectures founded on
imaginary proofs and partial speculation.—An author set to work, to
discover a country whence the Gipseys came, or a people to whom they
could belong; he found out a place which had been named, for instance,
Zeugitana, or a people who bore some faint resemblance to the Gipseys.
As one coal lights another, so these two similarities became perfectly
applicable to the people whose origin he was seeking; he stopped here,
and published his discovery.
Several investigators laid their foundation on hearsay, and
unauthenticated evidence; they then endeavoured to assist this testimony
by modelling the extraneous circumstances which could not be passed over,
in order to make them coincide; if, notwithstanding all this,
difficulties still occurred, they borrowed Alexander’s sword, and cut the
knot which no milder means could undo.
That this has been the mode of proceeding hitherto, will be frequently
proved in the course of the work. Even had the imagination not magnified
any thing, nor modelled circumstances agreeably to its own fancy, yet the
following, which is taken for granted, “_that two people resembling each
other in one or two particulars_, _must be descended from the same
stock_,” is an over-hasty conclusion. In the first place, reject that
the most different nations may agree in some points; further, make the
allowance for various parts of the world producing inhabitants of similar
shape and colour;—What, then, remains to prove that the Gipseys are
descended from any one of the people from whom they have been traced?
There are no records, or historical sources, leading to a direct
discovery of the origin of the Gipseys; those which have been thought so,
are not genuine. Nothing, therefore, remains, but to seek the truth,
through circuitous tracks; by this means, it may certainly be found. A
man must not go to tombstones, recently erected, in German church-yards,
nor adduce a single custom, or the name of a country bearing a
resemblance to that of Gipsey, as grounds of proof; and, on the other
hand, overlook a hundred difficulties, or even positive contradictions.
But if _the language of the Gipseys_, _their name_, _the conformation of
their bodies and minds_, _their customs and religious principles_, _mark
a country where it is possible for them to have been indigenous_; _when
History and Chronology corroborate the supposition_, _and there is not
any other country in the world to which the Gipseys_, _all these
particulars taken together_, _could belong_; then the country, where
these circumstances meet, must, in all probability, be their true mother
country.
Whether their Hindostan origin has so much in its favour, is more than we
dare venture to affirm; as it is very possible for the judgment to be so
deceived, that we may believe what does not, in fact, exist. However, on
perusing the subsequent pages, our readers will judge if, like our
predecessors, we have erred, or have discovered the truth.
SECTION I.
DESCRIPTION OF THE GIPSEYS, THEIR MANNER OF LIFE, THEIR CUSTOMS AND
PROPERTIES.
CHAPTER I.
_Various Appellations of these People_.
IT is not uncommon for the same people to be called by different names,
in different nations; such is the case with the Gipseys. The French
received their first accounts of them from Bohemia; which occasioned
their giving them the name of Bohemians (_Bohémiens_); the Dutch,
supposing they came from Egypt, called them Heathens (_Heydens_). In
Denmark, Sweden, and some parts of Germany, Tartars were thought of: the
Moors and Arabians, perceiving the propensity the Gipseys have to
thieving, adopted the name _Charami_ (robbers) for them. In Hungary,
they were formerly called Pharaohites (_Pharaoh nepek_, Pharaoh’s
people); and the vulgar, in Transylvania, continue that name for them.
The English do not differ much from these latter (calling them
Egyptians—Gipseys); any more than the Portuguese and Spaniards
(_Gitanos_). The Clementines, in Smyrnia, use the appellation _Madjub_;
and the inhabitants of the lesser Bucharia, that of _Diajii_. The name
of Zigeuner has obtained the most general adoption: the Gipseys are so
called not only in all Germany, Italy, and Hungary (_Tzigany_), but
frequently in Transylvania, Wallachia, and Moldavia (_Cyganis_).
Moreover the Turks, and other eastern nations, have no other than this
name for them (_Tschingenés_); and perhaps the before-cited Diajii of the
Bucharians may be the very same. It has been said, they call themselves
Moors; but that is false; Moor is only an adjunct, not the name of any
people: it is really a pity, since this name would have been so fair a
pretence to make Amorites of them, as some writers have done! It is not
by any means proved, that the modern Greeks called them _Athingans_; this
opinion is supported more by the arbitrary assertions of some learned
men, than by real facts: which is also the case with the rest of the
catalogue of names that have been dispersed, in various treatises on the
origin of the Gipseys; as will be hereafter demonstrated.
CHAPTER II.
_On the Dispersion of the Gipseys_, _and their Numbers in Europe_.
THE numerous hordes of Gipseys, widely dispersed over the face of the
earth, are incredible. They wander about in Asia; in the interior part
of Africa, they plunder the merchants of Agades; {3} and, like locusts,
have overrun most of the countries of Europe. America seems to be the
only part of the world where they are not known; no mention appearing to
be made of them by authors who have written on that quarter of the globe.
It would be superfluous to dilate on the history of those in Asia and
Africa, as we have no minute accounts of them; we shall therefore confine
ourselves to those in Europe.
There are but few countries, here, which are entirely free from Gipseys;
although, for centuries, every state has been endeavouring to rid itself
of them. Under King Henry VIII, and in the reign of Queen Elizabeth,
they suffered a general persecution in England: there are, nevertheless,
great numbers still to be found there. About thirty years ago, they even
threatened to set the town of Northampton on fire, because the
magistrates had arrested some of their young people, whose release they
solicited in vain: several of the ringleaders were hanged: they had in
the mean time shewn plainly, that their race was very far from being
annihilated. It is not uncommon, in the county of Bedford particularly,
to see them lying in byplaces, to the number of forty or fifty together:
but they are cautious how they travel about in companies, and are rarely
seen in towns or villages but by one at a time.
Spain, especially the southern provinces, contains so many of these
people, that they rove about in large troops, threatening to plunder and
murder travellers whom they happen to meet in lonely places: at a
distance from the cities, and where no place of refuge is near, danger is
always to be apprehended. Swinburne rates their number very high; he
asserts, that the loss of the Gipseys would immediately be perceived by
the apparent diminution of population. Now as Spain contains eleven
millions of people, how considerable a draft must there be to render it
perceptible! Twiss also mentions a great many, but sums up a determinate
number, 40,000; which is certainly considerable, but probably twice
twenty, or even twice forty, thousand too few;—unless we charge
Swinburne, and others, with having greatly exaggerated;—even admitting,
that he means to be understood as speaking of the southern provinces
only.
In France, before the revolution, there were but few, for the obvious
reason, that every Gipsey who could be apprehended, fell a sacrifice to
the police. Lorrain and Alsatia were indeed exceptions; they being very
numerous there, especially in the forests of Lorrain. Here they seem to
have met with milder treatment; yet, according to the assurances of a
traveller, many of them were to be found in the gaols of Lorrain. They
increased the more in this district, in consequence of their having been
very assiduously looked after, and driven from the dominions of a late
Duke of Deuxponts, whither his successor would not suffer them to return.
They were universally to be found in Italy, insomuch that even Sicily and
Sardinia were not free. But they were most numerous in the dominions of
the church; probably because _there_ was the worst police, with much
superstition: by the former they were left undisturbed, and the latter
enticed them to deceive the ignorant, as it afforded them an opportunity
of obtaining a plentiful contribution by their fortune-telling, and
enchanted amulets. There was a general law throughout Italy, that no
Gipsey should remain more than two nights in any one place: by this
regulation, it is true, no place retained its guest long; but no sooner
was one gone, than another came in his room: it was a continual circle,
and quite as convenient to them as a perfect toleration would have been.
Italy rather suffered than benefited by this law; as, by keeping these
people in constant motion, they would do more mischief there than in
places where they were permitted to remain stationary.
They are very scarce in many parts of Germany; as well as in Switzerland
and the Low-countries. A person may live many years in Upper Saxony, or
in the districts of Hanover and Brunswic, without seeing a single Gipsey:
when one happens to stray into a village, or town, he occasions as much
disturbance as if the black gentleman with his cloven foot had appeared;
he frights children from their play, and draws the attention of the older
people; till the police officers get hold of him, and make him again
invisible. In other provinces, on the contrary, particularly on the
Rhine, a Gipsey is a very common sight. Some years ago there were such
numbers of them in the dutchy of Wirtemburg, that they seen lying about
every where: but as, according to custom, they either lived by thieving,
by fortune-telling or other tricks, plundering the illiterate people of
their money, the government ordered detachments of soldiers to drive them
from their holes and lurking-places throughout the country; and then
transported the congregated swarm, in the same manner as they were
treated by the Duke of Deuxponts, as before related.
In Poland and Lithuania, as well as in Courland, there is an amazing
number of Gipseys. Their wayvode in Courland is distinguished from the
principals of hordes in other countries; being not only very much
respected by his own people, but, even by the Courland nobility, is
esteemed a man of high rank, and is frequently to be met with at
entertainments and card parties in the first families, where he is always
a welcome guest. His dress is uncommonly rich, in comparison with others
of his tribe; generally silk in summer, and constantly velvet in winter.
The common Gipseys, on the contrary, are, in every particular, exactly
like their brethren in other countries: even with regard to religion,
they shew the same levity and indifference;—they suffer their children to
be several times baptised; now they profess themselves to be Catholics,
then Lutherans, and presently after nothing at all.
That they are to be found in Denmark, and Sweden, is certain, but how
numerous they are in those countries we cannot affirm; and therefore
proceed to the south-east of Europe.
The countries in this part seem to be the general rendezvous of the
Gipseys: their number amounts in Hungary, according to a probable
statement, to upwards of 50,000; and in the districts of the Banat,
Grisellini assures us, that when Count Clary occupied the situation of
president, they were reckoned at 5500: yet they appear to be still more
numerous in Transylvania. It is not only Mr. Benko, a German writer, who
says they swarm upon the land like locusts, but we have also certain
calculation, wherein their numbers are estimated at between 35 and
36,000.
Cantemir says, the Gipseys are dispersed all over Moldavia, where every
baron has several families of them subject to him: in Wallachia, and the
Sclavonian countries, they are quite as numerous. In Wallachia and
Moldavia they are divided into two classes—the princely, and bojarish:
the former, according to Sulzer, amounts to many thousands; but that is
trifling, in comparison with the latter, as there is not a single bojar
in Wallachia who has not at least three or four of them for slaves; the
rich have often some hundreds each, under their command.
Bessarabia, all Tartary, Bulgaria, Greece, and Romania, swarm with them;
even in Constantinople they are innumerable. In Romania, a large tract
of Mount Hæmus, which they inhabit has acquired from them the name
_Tschenghe Valkan_ (Gipsey Mountain). This district extends from the
city Aydos, quite to Philippopolis, and contains more Gipseys than any
other province in the Turkish empire.
From what has been advanced, the reader will be enabled to form some
conception, how considerable a class of people the Gipseys are in Europe;
independent of their numbers in Egypt, and some parts of Asia.
If we could obtain an exact estimate of them in the different countries,
or if the unsettled life of these people did not render it extremely
difficult, perhaps impossible, to procure such information, the immense
number would probably greatly exceed what we have any idea of. At a
moderate calculation, without being extravagant, they might be reckoned
at between 7 and 800,000. What a serious matter of consideration when we
reflect, that the greatest part of these people are idlers, cheats, and
thieves! What a field does this open for the contemplation of
governments!—But more of this in another place.
CHAPTER III.
_The Properties of their Bodies_.
HAD the Gipseys made but a temporary appearance, and we could only be
acquainted with them from the publications of former centuries, it would
be difficult to entertain any other idea than that they were a herd of
monsters and beelzebubs. We find in those books frequent mention of a
_savage people_, _black horrid men_. But now that they have continued to
our time, and we have an opportunity of seeing, with our own eyes, how
they are formed, and what appearance they make, they are so fortunate as
to have authors who commend their beauty, and take great pains to set
forth their advantages; though many, indeed most of the moderns, their
colour and looks being the same, perfectly agree with the writers of past
centuries, in their accounts of them. Both parties may be in the right,
when we consider, that what appears beautiful in the eyes of one person,
is possibly ugly and deformed in the eyes of another: this depends
entirely upon habit and familiarity. For this reason, the dark brown, or
olive coloured, skin of the Gipseys, with their white teeth appearing
between their red lips, may be a disgusting sight to an European,
unaccustomed to such objects. Let us only ask, As children, have we not,
at some time or other, run affrighted from a Gipsey? The case will be
entirely altered, if we divest ourselves of the idea that a black skin is
disagreeable. Their white teeth; their long black hair, on which they
pride themselves very highly, and will not suffer to be cut off; their
lively black rolling eyes;—are, without dispute, properties which must be
ranked among the list of beauties, even by the modern civilised European
world. They are neither overgrown giants, nor diminutive dwarfs: their
limbs are formed in the justest proportion. Large bellies are, among
them, as uncommon as hump-backs, blindness, or other corporeal defects.
When Grisellini asserts that the breasts of the Gipsey women, at the time
of their nursing, increase to a larger size than the child they support,
it is an assertion destitute of proof, and parallel with many other
arguments he adduces to prove the Gipseys are Egyptians. Probably he may
have confounded himself, by thinking of the Hottentots; the circumstance
above mentioned being true of them, though not of the Gipseys. Every
Gipsey is naturally endued with agility, great suppleness in, and the
free use of, his limbs: these qualities are perceptible in his whole
deportment, but in an extraordinary degree whenever he happens to be
surprised in an improper place: in the act of thieving, with a stolen
goose or fowl in his hand, he runs off so nimbly, that, unless his
pursuer be on horseback, the Gipsey is sure to escape. These people are
blessed with an astonishingly good state of health. Neither wet nor dry
weather, heat nor cold, let the extremes follow each other never so
quickly, seems to have any effect on them. Gipseys are fond of a great
degree of heat; their supreme luxury is, to lie day and night so near the
fire, as to be in danger of burning: at the same time they can bear to
travel in the severest cold bareheaded, with no other covering than a
torn shirt, or some old rags carelessly thrown over them, without fear of
catching cold, cough, or any other disorder.
By endeavouring to discover the causes of these bodily qualities of the
Gipseys, we find them, or at least some of them, very evidently arising
from their education and manner of life. They are lean; but how should
they be corpulent? as they are seldom guilty of excess in eating or
drinking; for if they get a full meal to-day, they must not repine should
they be under the necessity of keeping fast to-morrow and the next day.
They have iron constitutions, because they have been brought up hardily.
The pitiless mother takes her three-months-old child upon her back, and
wanders about in fair or foul weather, in heat or cold, without troubling
her head what may happen to it. When a boy attains the age of three
years, his lot becomes still harder. While an infant, and his age
reckoned by weeks and months, he was at least wrapped up closely in rags;
but now, deprived even of these, he is, equally with his parents, exposed
to the rigour of the elements, for want of covering: he is now put to
trial how far his legs will carry him, and must be content to travel
about, with, at most, no other defence for his feet than thin socks.
Thus he grows up, and acquires his good health by hardship and misery.
We may as easily account for the colour of the Gipsey’s skin. The
Laplanders, Samoieds, as well as the Siberians, likewise, have brown
yellow-coloured skins, in consequence of living, from their childhood, in
smoke and dirt, in the same manner as the Gipseys: these would, long ago,
have been divested of their swarthy complexions, if they had discontinued
their filthy mode of living. Only observe a Gipsey from his birth, till
he reaches man’s estate; and you must be convinced that their colour is
not so much owing to their descent, as to the nastiness of their bodies.
In summer, the child is exposed to the scorching sun; in winter, it is
shut up in a smoky hut. It is not uncommon for mothers to smear their
children over with a black ointment, and leave them to fry in the sun or
near the fire. They seldom trouble themselves about washing, or other
modes of cleaning themselves. Experience also shews us, that the dark
colour of the Gipseys, which is continued from generation to generation,
is more the effect of education, and manner of life, than descent. Among
those who profess music in Hungary, or serve in the Imperial army, where
they have learnt to pay more attention to order and cleanliness, there
are many to be found whose extraction is not at all discernible in their
colour; though they had, probably, remained to the age of twelve or
fourteen years under the care of their filthy parents; and must
necessarily, when they first adopted a different mode of life, have borne
the marks of the dirt contracted during this period. How much less,
then, should we be able to distinguish a Gipsey if taken when a child
from its sluttish mother, and brought up under some cleanly person! By
the same reasoning we may account for their white teeth and sound limbs;
namely, from their manner of life. The former are evidences of their
spare diet: the latter prove them to have been reared more according to
the dictates of nature, than those of art and tenderness.
CHAPTER IV.
_On their Food and Beverage_.
THOSE Gipseys who are more connected with civilised people are not
remarkable in their diet; though it is to be observed of them, that they
are by no means particular in their cookery. The others, on the
contrary, have their table furnished in a very irregular and
extraordinary way. Sometimes they fast, or at best have only bread and
water to subsist upon: at other times they regale on fowls and geese.
The greatest luxury to them is, when they can procure a roast of cattle
that have died of any distemper. It is the same to them, whether it be
the carrion of a sheep, hog, cow, or other beast, horse-flesh only
excepted: they are so far from being disgusted with it, that to eat their
fill of such a meal is to them the height of epicurism. When any person
censures their taste, or shews surprise at it, they answer, “The flesh of
a beast which God kills, must be better than that of one killed by the
hand of man:” they therefore embrace every opportunity of getting such
dainties. That they take carrion from the laystalls, as is affirmed of
the Gipseys in Hungary, is not probable, any more than that they eat
horse flesh. But if a beast out of a herd die, and they find it before
it become rotten and putrefied; or if a farmer give them notice of a cow
dead in the stable; they proceed, without hesitation, to get possession
of the booty. They are particularly fond of animals that have been
destroyed by fire; therefore, whenever a conflagration has happened,
either in town or country, the next day the Gipseys, from every
neighbouring quarter, assemble, and draw the suffocated, half consumed,
beasts out of the ashes. Men, women, and children, in troops, are
extremely busy, joyfully carrying the flesh home to their dwellings: they
return several times, provide themselves plentifully with this roast
meat, and gluttonise in their huts as long as their noble fare lasts.
Their manner of dressing this delicious food is curious:—they boil or
roast what is intended for the first day; if they have more than they can
devour at once, the remainder is either dried in the sun, or smoked in
their huts, and eaten without any further preparation.
Something might here be introduced concerning their relish for human
flesh, and the instances which some years ago happened in Hungary might
be adduced as proofs, {16} were it not likely to be objected, that these
examples are at variance with common experience, as well as with the old
accounts handed down to us concerning these people. We shall, therefore,
not insist on this accusation: but entirely give up the point of Gipseys
being men-eaters, except just hinting, that it would be expedient for
governments to be watchful. But the instances in Hungary do not appear,
by any means, so casual and uncommon as people may imagine.—What,
according to the strictest examination, has been done, not by _one_, but
_many_; not by _ten_, but even _two hundred_, and perhaps by _thousands_;
not _yesterday_ and _to-day_, but _many years back_; finally, not _by the
whole body together_, but _single parties by themselves_, _in different
places_: Shall these things be deemed only casual excesses? Should it be
asserted, in addition to this, that eating human flesh is in practice and
allowed, in the country whence they originate; we might with greater
probability mention this shocking fact, of feeding on human flesh, as a
prevailing custom among the Gipseys. This circumstance is expressly
mentioned in histories: which assure us, that among the particular class
of people from whom the Gipseys sprung, it is a long-established custom
for the nearest relations and friends to kill and eat each other. It is
unnecessary to bring proof of it in this place, as it belongs to the
second section: let it suffice just to have hinted the matter, in order
that it may be known towards what people we are to look for the origin of
the Gipseys. As to the objection, that among all the crimes with which
they have been charged, in the older writings, _eating human flesh_ is
not positively alledged against them, it may be obviated by more than one
answer. In the first place, let it be observed, history relates, and the
event in Hungary confirms, that they murder one another; further,
consider their wandering mode of life; lastly, that they generally abide
in byplaces: and all may be easily accounted for. A hundred fathers may
sacrifice their children to their voluptuousness, and the crime still
remain concealed. The absent person is not missed; as nobody watches
over a family continually in motion, and every-where a stranger. Just as
unlikely is it, that information should be given to government. There is
no reason to suppose any of their own people would think it their duty to
inform; as, not being contrary to their usual practice, they do not
esteem it wrong. It is very possible for them to have destroyed many
other people, without the circumstances being recorded in the courts of
justice, or noticed in the annual publications. Who ever thought to
enquire of them after any traveller that, far distant from his own
country, might have fallen into their hands and been cut off? Or how are
the remains of the poor victim to be traced, if they devour what is
eatable, and burn the bones? {19}
Those Hungarian wretches have, according to their own account, for twelve
years gratified their horrid cravings, undiscovered by the magistrates,
in a country where the police is by no means bad: perhaps they might have
continued unsuspected for ever, had they not laid their unlucky hands on
the people of the country, thereby bringing on a strict enquiry, and
rendering the discovery more easy. Nor do the older writings seem to be
entirely silent on this head; at least there is an appearance of
something of the kind in them. Many authors mention the Gipseys stealing
people, and accuse them particularly of lying in wait for young children.
Others again deny this, saying, that the Gipseys have brats enough of
their own, and therefore have not the least reason to covet strange
children. How does the matter look, if we suppose they did not want to
rear these children, but to sacrifice them to their inordinate
appetite?—and the Hungarian intelligence expressly says, they were
particularly fond of young subjects. What renders the truth of this
accusation in the old writings suspicious, is, that before even a single
Gipsey had set his foot in Europe, the Jews lay under the same
imputation. Perhaps in this, as in many other instances, the calumny
invented against the Jews might be afterwards transferred to the Gipseys.
This alone considered, the imputation of kidnapping children might become
doubtful; but then occurs the weighty circumstance, that it has been
judicially proved in England; and, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, an
act of parliament was passed on the occasion. Enough of this; let people
reason upon the cannibal appetite of the Gipseys as they please, there
will always remain ground for suspicion.
After having shewn how little delicate they are in satisfying their
appetites, we should scarcely expect to find them squeamish with regard
to articles of diet that are highly esteemed among civilised people. But
Griselini gives a long catalogue of things which, he says, are
disagreeable to a Gipsey’s palate; among which, he particularly mentions
beans and onions, red bream, pearch, lampreys, with every kind of
wild-fowl. Whereas the fact is, Gipseys not only eat beans and onions,
but are very fond of them; and as for the red bream, pearch and lampreys,
pheasants, partridges, &c. their only reason for abstaining from them is,
the difficulty of procuring them: in which they are not singular; many
other people being in the same predicament.
The Gipseys are not much accustomed to baking of bread; that is an
article which they usually buy, beg or steal, or go entirely without. If
by chance they do bake, the business is performed quite in the eastern
method:—a wood fire is made on the ground, which soon becomes embers; in
the mean time the mother kneads her dough, forms it into small cakes,
lays them on the hot ashes, and thus they are baked.
To eat with a knife and fork, is no part of a Gipsey’s politeness; nor is
a table or plate thought necessary: even a dish is frequently dispensed
with. The whole kitchen and table apparatus consists of an earthen pot,
an iron pan (which is also used as a dish), a knife, and a spoon. When
the meal is ready, all the family sit around the pot or pan, the boiled
or roast is divided into pieces, on which they fall-to; their teeth and
fingers serving them for knives and forks, as does the ground for table
and plates.
The common beverage of the Gipseys is water; now and then beer, when it
costs them nothing. Wine is too expensive, nor is it particularly
grateful to them. The case is very different when brandy comes in
question, of which they are immoderately fond. They feel great pleasure
in intoxicating themselves; which being easiest and soonest effected with
brandy, it is in their esteem the only liquor worth purchasing: all they
can earn goes that way: and whenever by chance they become possessed of a
penny, it is expended at the first house where brandy is to be met with.
Every christening, wedding, or other occasion of rejoicing, is solemnised
with brandy: if they have plenty of it, they, as it were, drive the world
before them; each trying, by screaming or holloing, to express his
felicity and consummate happiness.
But, however great the thirst the Gipseys have for brandy, it is even
exceeded by their immoderate love of tobacco. This is not, as might be
supposed, peculiar to the men; for the women sometimes exceed them in it:
and they not only smoke it, but chew and swallow the very leaves and
stalks, with great avidity. That it may sooner reach its place of
destination, and stimulate the gums and tongue more forcibly, they use a
pipe not longer than ones finger: this pipe is made of wood, for
economical reasons—as it absorbs the moisture, and thereby becomes a very
great Gipsey delicacy; for having smoked it as long as they choose, they
gnaw it with astonishing greediness, till not a splinter remains. It is
immaterial, whether the pipe be smoked by the person himself or another,
to bring it to the proper degree of perfection: he accepts it, as a
valuable present, from any body; and is so chary of it, that it
frequently lasts him many days. The Gipsey will abstain from food for
more than a day, when he can procure a leaf of tobacco, or a piece of his
pungent pipe, which he chews, drinks a little water, and is happy. This
surely exceeds every thing that has been related of the most famous
smoker!
CHAPTER V.
_On the Dress of the Gipseys_.
IT cannot be expected that the description of the dress of a set of
people whose whole economy belongs to the class of beggars, should
exhibit any thing but poverty and want. The first of them that came to
Europe appeared ragged and miserable—unless we perhaps allow their
leaders to have been an exception;—in like manner their descendants have
continued for hundreds of years, and still remain. This is particularly
remarkable in the countries about the mouth of the Danube, which abound
with Gipseys; namely, Transylvania, Hungary, and Turkey in Europe, where
they dress even more negligently than in other parts.
The Gipseys consider a covering for the head as perfectly useless: the
wind will not easily blow his hat off, who never wears any thing of the
kind, excepting when he has a mind to make a figure, and even then a
rough cap usually supplies its place. During the winter, if the female
Gipseys do not knit socks, which those in Moldavia and Wallachia do, with
wooden needles, he winds a couple of rags round his feet, which in summer
are laid aside as unnecessary. He is not better furnished with linen, as
the women neither spin, sew, nor wash. For want of change, what he once
puts on his body, remains till it falls off of itself. His whole dress
often consists of only a pair of breeches and a torn shirt.
We are not to suppose, from what is said above, that the Gipseys are
indifferent about dress; on the contrary, they love fine clothes to an
extravagant degree: the want proceeds from necessity, which is become
with them a second nature, forgetting that labour and care are the means
to procure clothes, as well as nourishment. Whenever an opportunity
offers of acquiring a good coat, either by gift, purchase, or theft, the
Gipsey immediately bestirs himself to become master of it: possessed of
the prize, he puts it on directly, without considering in the least,
whether it suits the rest of his apparel. If his dirty shirt had holes
in it as big as a barn door, or his breeches were so out of condition
that one might perceive their antiquity at the first glance; were he
unprovided with shoes, stockings, or a covering for the head; neither of
these defects would prevent his strutting about in a laced coat, feeling
himself of still greater consequence in case it happened to be a red one.
Martin Kelpius therefore says, that the Gipseys in Transylvania spend all
their earnings in alehouses and in clothes. It would excite laughter in
the sternest philosopher, to see a Gipsey parading about, with a beaver
hat, a silk or red cloth coat, at the same time his breeches torn, and
his shoes or boots, if perchance he have either, covered with patches.
Benko, also, assures us, that this kind of state is common in
Transylvania; and adds, the Gipseys are particularly fond of clothes made
after the Hungarian fashion, or which had been worn by people of
distinction. The habits and properties of the Gipseys in Hungary are
precisely the same. The following passage, which appeared in the
Imperial Gazettes, is very much to the purpose: “Notwithstanding these
people are so wretched, that they have nothing but rags to cover them,
which do not at all fit, and are scarcely sufficient to hide their
nakedness, yet they betray their foolish taste and vain ostentation
whenever they have an opportunity.”
In Transylvania, some of them wear the Wallachian dress; but in Hungary
they are so attached to the habits of the country, that a Gipsey had
rather go half naked, or wrap himself up in a sack, than he would
condescend to wear a foreign garb, even though a very good one were given
to him. Green is a favourite colour with the Gipseys; but scarlet is
held in so great esteem by them, that a man cannot appear abroad in a red
habit, though worn out, without being surrounded by a crowd old and
young, who, in the open street, are solicitous to purchase of him, be it
coat, pellisse, or breeches. Unless severely pinched by the cold, or in
case of the greatest necessity, they will not deign to put on a boor’s
coat: they rather choose to buy for their own use cast-off clothes; and
if they happen to be ornamented with lace or loops, they strut about in
such dresses, as proudly as if they were not merely lords of the
district, but of the whole creation. Thus all the money they can spare,
is expended in obtaining a sort of clothes not at all becoming their
station, and which answer no other purpose, but to betray their weak
silly notions, and expose them to the ridicule of the more sensible part
of mankind. They do not pay the least regard to symmetry, nor care what
reasonable people think of their dress: provided they can only get
something shining to put on, that will catch the eye, they give
themselves no concern if the rest of their clothing be very bad, or
though they be nearly in a state of nudity. It is no uncommon spectacle
to see a Gipsey parading the streets in an embroidered pellisse, or laced
coat decorated with silver buttons, with a dirty ragged shirt,
barefooted, and without a hat; or with a pair of embroidered scarlet
breeches on, and perhaps no other covering but half a shirt.
Nothing pleases Hungarian Gipseys more than a pair of yellow
(_tschischmen_) boots, and spurs: no sooner do the latter glitter on his
feet, but he bridles up, and marches consequentially about, often eying
his fine boots, at the same time totally regardless of his breeches,
which may have lost a portion before or behind, or be in some other
respects quite shabby.
The usual dress of the women is no better than that of the men; indeed
they have generally been thought rather to go beyond them in filth and
nastiness. Their appearance is truly disgusting to any civilised person:
their whole covering consists of, either a piece of linen thrown over the
head and wound round the thighs, or an old shift hung over them, through
which their smoky hides appear in numberless places. Sometimes, in
winter, they wrap themselves in a piece of woollen stuff like a cloak.
Occasionally, their dress partakes of the other sex; as they do not
hesitate to wear breeches, or other male habilament. They use the same
covering for the feet as the men;—either a pair of coarse socks, knit
with wooden needles, which is commonly done in Moldavia and Wallachia; or
they sew them up in rags, which remain on till the stuff perishes and
falls off, or till spring arrives, at which season both men and women go
barefooted. {29}
The women are as fond of dress as the men, and equally ridiculous in
their choice of it; they are often seen in a _dress cap_, while their
rotten linen jacket scarcely serves to cover their nakedness. In Spain,
they plaster their temples with great patches of black silk; and hang all
sorts of trumpery in their ears, besides a number of baubles about the
neck.
The Gipseys were at very little trouble respecting the dress of their
children; these ran about naked, in the true Calmuc style, till ten years
of age, when the boys got breeches, and the girls aprons. But this
nuisance is at an end in the Imperial dominions, both in Germany and
Hungary, where an order to suppress it was issued out by the emperor
Joseph.
Before we dismiss the subject of dress, we may mention a laudable custom
established among the Gipseys, in order to save their clothes when they
have quarreled, and mean to fight. Before they proceed to action, a
truce takes place for a minute or two, to give the combatants time to
strip to their shirts, that their apparel may not suffer in the fray:
then the storm breaks loose, and each lays on the other as hard as he
can. The custom has this use in it, that whenever any body appears in a
ragged coat, he may affirm, on his honour, that it was not rendered so in
a Gipsey brawl.
CHAPTER VI.
_On the Family Economy of the Gipseys_.
THAT these people are still the rude unpolished creatures that nature
formed them, or, at most, have only advanced one degree towards humanity,
is evinced, with other circumstances, by their family economy.
Many of the Gipseys are stationary, having regular habitations, according
to their situation in life. To this class belong those who keep
public-houses in Spain; and others in Transylvania and Hungary, who
follow some regular business; which latter have their own miserable huts
near Hermanstadt, Cronstadt, Bistritz, Grosswaradein, Debrezin, Eperies,
Karchau, and other places. There are also many slaves, to particular
bojars, in Moldavia and Wallachia, who do not wander any more than the
others. But by far the greatest number of these people lead a very
different kind of life: ignorant of the comforts attending a fixed place
of residence, they rove from one district to another in hordes, having no
habitations but tents, holes in the rocks, or caves; the former shade
them in summer, the latter screen them in winter. Many of these savage
people, particularly in Germany and Spain, do not even carry tents with
them, but shelter themselves, from the heat of the sun, in forests shaded
by the rocks, or behind hedges: they are very partial to willows, under
which they erect their sleeping place, at the close of the evening. Some
live in their tents (in their language called _tschater_) during both
summer and winter; which indeed the Gipseys generally prefer. In
Hungary, even those who have discontinued their rambling way of life, and
built houses for themselves, seldom let a spring pass, without taking
advantage of the first settled weather, to set up a tent for their summer
residence; under this each one enjoys himself, with his family, nor
thinks of his house till the winter returns, and the frost and snow drive
him back to it again.
The wandering Gipsey, in Hungary and Transylvania, endeavours to procure
a horse; in Turkey, an ass serves to carry his wife, a couple of
children, with his tent. When he arrives at a place he likes, near a
village or city, he unpacks, pitches his tent, ties his animal to a stake
to graze, and remains some weeks there: or if he do not find his station
convenient, he breaks up in a day or two, loads his beast, and looks out
for a more agreeable situation, near some other town. Indeed, it is not
always in his power to determine how long he will remain in the same
place; for the boors are apt to trouble him, on account of fowls and
geese he has made free with: it sometimes happens, when he is very much
at his ease, they sally out with bludgeons or hedge-stakes, making use of
such forcible arguments, that he does not hesitate a moment to set up his
staff a little farther off: though, in general, the Gipseys are cunning
enough, when they have purloined any thing, or done mischief, to make off
in time before the villagers begin to suspect them.
For their winter huts, they dig holes in the ground, ten or twelve feet
deep; the roof is composed of rafters laid across, which are covered with
straw and sods: the stable, for the beast which carried the tent in
summer, is a shed built at the entrance of the hollow, and closed up with
dung and straw. This shed, and a little opening rising above the roof of
their subterranean residence, to let out the smoke, are the only marks by
which a traveller can distinguish their dwellings. Both in summer and
winter, they contrive to have their habitation in the neighbourhood of
some village, or city. Their favourite mode of building is against a
hillock: the holes in the level ground being only used in cases of
necessity, when there is no rising ground near the spot they have chosen
to pass the winter on. A Hungarian writer thus describes their method of
constructing the second sort of huts: “They first dig a hollow, about a
fathom broad, far enough into the hillock to bring their floor on a level
with the rest of the plain, in order to form a firm upright wall, for the
back of the building. Into the wall they fix a beam, about six feet
from, and parallel to, the floor; this beam reaches as far as the
intended depth of the house, seldom exceeding seven or eight feet. One
end being fast in the wall, the other rests on, and is fixed to, a pillar
or post driven into the ground. When that is done, they lay boards,
balks, or such other wood as they can find, against it on each side, in
form of a pointed roof, which, viewed from a distance, exhibits a front
in the shape of an equilateral triangle. The business is finished by
covering the whole building with straw, sods, and earth, to secure its
inhabitants from the rain, snow, and cold. They always contrive, when
they can, to place their edifice so as to front either the rising or
mid-day sun; this being the side where the opening is left for a door to
go in and out at, which is closed at night, either with a coarse woollen
cloth or a few boards.”
Imagination will easily conceive how dismal and horrid the inside of such
Gipsey huts must be to civilised humanity. Air and daylight excluded,
very damp, and full of filth, they have more the appearance of wild
beasts’ dens, that of the habitations of intelligent beings. Rooms or
separate apartments are not even thought of; all is one open space: in
the middle is the fire, serving both for the purpose of cooking and
warmth; the father and mother lie half naked, the children entirely so,
round it. Chairs, tables, beds or bedsteads, find no place here; they
sit, eat, sleep, on the bare ground, or at most spread an old blanket,
or, in the Banat, a sheep-skin, under them. Every fine day the door is
set open for the sun to shine in, which they continue watching so long as
it is above the horizon; when the day closes, they shut their door and
consign themselves over to rest. When the weather is cold, or the snow
prevents them opening the door, they make up the fire, and sit round it
till they fall asleep, without any more light than it affords.
The furniture and property of the Gipseys have been already described;
they consist of an earthen pot, an iron pan, a spoon, a jug, and a knife;
when it happens that every thing is complete, they sometimes add a dish:
these serve for the whole family. When the master of the house is a
smith by trade, as will be hereafter mentioned, he has a pair of bellows
to blow up his fire, a small stone anvil, a pair of tongs, and perhaps a
couple of hammers; add to these a few old tatters in which he dresses
himself, his knapsack, some pieces of torn bed-clothes, his tent, with
his antiquated jade, and you have a complete catalogue of a nomadic
Gipsey’s estate.
Very little can be said respecting the domestic employment of the women.
The care of their children is the most trifling concern: they neither
wash, mend their clothes, nor clean their utensils: they seldom bake: the
whole of their business, then, is reduced to—dressing their food and
eating it, smoking tobacco, prating, and sleeping. They continue during
the whole winter in their hut; but at the first croaking of the frogs,
they pull down their house, and decamp.
Such is the condition of the Gipseys who wander about in Hungary, Turkey,
and other countries; being no-where, or rather every-where, at home. The
remainder of these people who have reconciled themselves to a settled
mode of living, are in much better circumstances, and infinitely more
rational, than those just described. It will be expected, that those
Spanish Gipseys who are innkeepers, and entertain strangers, are more
civilised; and it also holds good with regard to those in Hungary and
Transylvania who have different ways of gaining a livelihood. Their
habitations are conveniently divided into chambers; and are furnished
with tables, benches, decent kitchen furniture, and other necessaries.
The few who farm, or breed cattle, have a plough and other implements of
husbandry; the others, what is necessary for carrying on their trade;
though even here you are not to expect superfluity: habitations, clothes,
every thing, indicate that their owners belong to the class of poor.
They are very partial to gold and silver plate, particularly silver cups;
which is a disposition they have in common with the wandering Gipseys:
they let slip no opportunity of acquiring something of the kind; and will
even starve themselves to procure it. Though they seem little anxious to
heap up riches for their children, yet these frequently inherit a
treasure of this sort, and are obliged in their turn to preserve it as a
sacred inheritance. The ordinary, travelling Gipseys when in possession
of such a piece of plate, commonly bury it under the hearth of their
dwelling, in order to secure it. This inclination to deprive themselves
of necessaries, that they may possess a superfluity, as well as many
other of their customs, is curious, yet appears to be ancient; and it was
probably inherent in them when they were first seen by Europeans.
CHAPTER VII.
_Their Occupations and Trades_.
ON considering the means to which the Gipseys have recourse to maintain
themselves, we shall perceive the reason why poverty and want are so
generally their lot; namely, their excessive indolence, and aversion from
industry. They abhor every kind of employment which is laborious or
requires application; and had rather suffer even hunger and nakedness,
than obviate these privations on such hard terms. They therefore either
choose some profession which requires little exertion, allowing them many
idle hours; or addict themselves to unlawful courses, and vicious habits.
Working in iron, is the most usual occupation of the Gipseys. In Spain,
very few follow any regular business; but among these few, some are
smiths: on the contrary, in Hungary this profession is so common among
them, that there is a proverb—‘So many Gipseys, so many smiths:’ the same
might be said of those in Transylvania, Wallachia, Moldavia, and all
Turkey in Europe; at least such workers in fire are very numerous in all
those countries. This occupation seems to have been a favourite with
them from the most distant periods, as appears not only by Bellonius’s
account, but by an older record, of an Hungarian king Uladislaus, in the
year 1496, mentioned by the Abbé Pray, in his Annals, and Friedwaldsky,
in his Mineralogy, wherein it is ordered, _that every officer and
subject_, _of whatever rank or condition_, _do allow to Thomas Polgar_,
_leader of twenty-five tents of wandering Gipseys_, _free residence
everywhere_, _and on no account to molest either him or his people_;
_because they had prepared musket bullets_, _and other military stores_,
_for the Bishop Sigismund_, _at Fünfkirchen_. Another instance occurred
in the year 1565, when Mustapha, Turkish regent of Bosnia, besieged
Crupa; the Turks having expended their powder and cannon balls, Gipseys
were employed to make the latter, part of iron, the rest of stone cased
with lead.
The Gipseys of our time are not willing to undertake heavy work; they
seldom go beyond a pair of light horse-shoes: in general, they confine
themselves to small articles, such as rings, jews-harps, and small nails:
they mend old pots and kettles, make knives, seals, needles, and
sometimes work trifles in tin or brass.
Their materials, tools, apparatus, all are bad, and of the most inferior
kind. Their common method of proceeding is, to collect some pieces of
rusty iron, old nails, broken horse-shoes, and such-like, which they fuse
and shape to their purpose. The anvil is a stone; the other implements
are, a pair of hand-bellows, a pair of pincers, a hammer, a vice, and a
file: these are the tools which a nomadic Gipsey carries with him in his
perambulations. Whenever he is disposed to work, he is at no loss for
fuel: on his arrival at a station where he purposes remaining a few days,
or perhaps weeks, he takes his beast, loads him with wood, builds a small
kiln, and prepares his own coals. In favourable weather, his work is
carried on in the open air; when it is stormy, or the sun too powerful,
he retires under his tent. He does not stand, but sits down on the
ground, cross-legged, to his work; which position is rendered necessary,
not only by custom, but by the quality of his tools. The wife sits by to
work the bellows, in which operation she is sometimes relieved by the
elder children; the little ones sit, naked as they were born, round the
fire. The Gipseys are generally praised for their dexterity and
quickness, notwithstanding the wretched tools they have to operate with.
When any piece of work requires much time to finish, they are apt to lose
their patience, and in that case become indifferent whether it be well
executed or not. They never submit to labour so long as they have got a
dry crust, or any thing else to satisfy their hunger. They frequently
receive orders to fabricate different articles; but if not, no sooner are
a few nails, or some other trifles, manufactured, than man, woman, and
children, dislodge, to convey their merchandise, from house to house, for
sale, in the neighbouring villages: their traffick is carried on
sometimes for ready money, sometimes by barter for eatables or other
necessaries.
Another branch of commerce much followed by the Gipseys is horse dealing,
to which they seem to have been attached from the earliest period of
their history. In those parts of Hungary where the climate is so mild
that horses may lie out all the year, the Gipseys avail themselves of
this circumstance to breed, as well as deal in, those animals; by which
they sometimes not only procure a competence, but grow rich. Instances
have been known on the Continent of Gipseys keeping from fifty to seventy
horses each, and those the best bred horses of the country; some of which
they let out for hire, others they sold or exchanged, as occasion
offered. But this description of Gipsey horse-dealers is not very
numerous; for the greatest number of them deal only in blind worn-out
jades, which they drive about to different markets, to sell or barter.
When the dealer is not fortunate enough to find a chap for his nag, he
leads him to the collar-maker, who values the hide, and takes him off his
hands for a few groschens. In order to prevent being reduced to this
necessity, the slyest tricks are practised to conceal the animal’s
defects. In Spain, therefore, _Gitano_ and _Gitaneria_ (Gipsey and
Gipseyism) are become familiar expressions to imply a cheater in horses,
with the deceptions he makes use of. In the year 1727 they had become so
infamous in Sweden, that the subject was thought of sufficient
consequence for the consideration of the diet, and their total expulsion
was voted to be a necessary measure. The following trick is frequently
played in Hungary, and the adjacent country, to make a horse appear brisk
and active:—the rider alights at a small distance from the place where he
means to offer his horse for sale, and belabours him till he has put the
whole muscular system in motion with fright; he then mounts again, and
proceeds. The poor beast remembering the blows he has received, jumps
about, or sets out full speed, at the least signal; the buyer, entirely
ignorant of the preparatory discipline the animal has undergone, supposes
this to be natural vivacity, and in hopes that good feeding, with care,
will render him still more lively, strikes a bargain: but the next day he
has the mortification to discover that he has bought a jade, on which all
his care will be thrown away, as the beast has not a leg to stand upon.
In Suabia, and on the Rhine, they have another device:—they make an
incision in some hidden part of the skin, through which they blow the
creature up, till he looks fleshy and plump; they then apply a strong
sticking-plaster, to prevent the air from returning. If what Wolfgang
Franz assures us be true, they sometimes make use of a trick with a live
eel, to this blown-up horse, that he may not only appear in good
condition, but spirited and lively. It might be thought, that, on
account of these and such-like roguish proceedings, nobody would ever
venture to deal with a Gipsey for a horse, were not the possibility
proved by the fact itself. But we see instances of this infatuation in
other transactions: it is well known that every Jew will cheat, whenever
he has an opportunity; yet these people have lived by trade, ever since
their dispersion from Babel. Then, these frauds do not always happen:
the Gipseys too sell their horses cheap; and as poor people cannot afford
to pay dear for them, they must buy where they can; and thus the Gipseys
are enabled to continue their traffick.
To the two professions before mentioned as commonly followed by the men,
may be added, those of carpenters and turners: the former make
watering-troughs and chests; the latter turn trenchers, dishes, make
spoons and other trifling articles, which they hawk about. There are
others who make sieves, or maintain themselves by cobbling shoes. Many
of these, as well as the blacksmiths and whitesmiths, find constant
employment in the houses of the better sort of people, for whom they work
the year round. They are not paid in money; but, beside other
advantages, find a certain subsistence. Those who are not thus
circumstanced, do not wait at home for customers, but, with their
implements in a sack thrown over their shoulders, seek business in the
cities or villages: when any one calls, they throw down the bundle, and
prepare the apparatus for work, before the door of their employer.
The Gipseys have a fixed dislike to agriculture; and had rather suffer
hunger, or any privation, than follow the plough, to earn a decent
livelihood. But, as there is no general rule without an exception, so,
beside the slaves to the bojars in Moldavia and Wallachia, who are
constrained to apply to it, there are some in Hungary who are cultivators
by choice. Since the year 1768, the Empress Theresa has commanded that
the Hungarian and Transylvanian Gipseys should be instructed in
husbandry; but these orders have been very little regarded. At this time
there are so few of them farmers, in those parts, that they are
undeserving of notice; though in Spain, and other European countries,
they are still more scarce, as it would be difficult to find one who had
ever made a furrow in his life.
Formerly, Gipseys were commonly employed in Hungary, and in Transylvania
almost universally, for hangmen and executioners. They still perform the
business of flayers in Hungary, and of executioners in different parts of
Transylvania. Their assiduity in torturing, their cruel invention in
tormenting, are described by Toppeltin to be so shocking, that the
Gipseys seem eminently calculated for works of barbarity. They do not
follow flaying as a regular profession any-where; it is merely a casual
occupation, in addition to their usual employment. Whenever a beast dies
near where they happen to be, it is a fortunate circumstance if there be
no skinner in the place; not because they can make much of the skin,
which they always leave with the owner for a trifling consideration, but
they are thus enabled to procure a plentiful provision of flesh for the
family.
Such are the employments of the men. We shall now proceed to shew the
particular methods the women have of obtaining support. It was formerly,
and still is, the custom, among the wandering Gipseys, especially in
winter, not for the man to maintain the wife, but the wife the husband.
This is not precisely the fact in summer, when the men have the
before-recited occupations; nor among those who have a regular
settlement; but the women always endeavour to contribute their share
towards the maintenance of the family: some deal in old clothes; others
frequent brothels, which is commonly the case in Spain, and still more so
in Constantinople, and all over Turkey. There are others, in
Constantinople, who make and sell brooms; but this trade is followed by
those chiefly who are too old to get a livelihood by their debauchery.
Dancing is another means they have of obtaining contributions: they
generally practise this when begging, particularly of men, in the
streets; or when they enter houses, to ask charity. Their dancing is the
most disgusting that can be conceived, always ending with fulsome
grimaces, or the most lascivious attitudes and gestures: nor is this
indecency confined to the married women, but is rather more practised by
young girls, travelling with their fathers, who are also musicians, and
who, for a trifling acknowledgement, will exhibit their dexterity to any
body who is pleased with these unseemly dances. They are trained up to
this impudence from their earliest years, never suffering a passenger to
pass their parents’ hut, without endeavouring to obtain something by
frisking about naked before him.
Respecting fortune telling, with which the female Gipseys impose on
people’s credulity, in every district and corner of Europe, little need
be said. Yet it is extraordinary, that _women_, generally too not till
they become old, should be so sharpsighted as to discover, in every
person’s hand they are permitted to inspect, the events of futurity!
There are some instances of men being thus gifted; but so few, that they
are only exceptions to a general rule. It is, therefore, to be ascribed
to the Gipsey women alone, that faith in divination still exists in the
minds of millions of people. It is true, Europe was not originally
beholden to the Gipseys for this faith, it being deeply rooted in the
ignorance of the middle age, when they arrived and brought it with them
also. The science of divination here, was already brought to a much
greater degree of perfection than among them: rules were invented to tell
lies from the inspection of the hand; whereas these poor wretches were
esteemed mere bunglers. During the seventeenth and beginning of the
eighteenth century the Gipseys were considered as only a supernumerary
party; there being men of great learning, who not only read lectures in
college on the divine art of chiromancy, but wrote many books, vilifying
these people, and endeavouring to spoil their market by exposing their
ignorance. But those enlightened men are no more; their knowledge is
deposited in the dead archives of literature: and probably, if there were
no Gipseys, with them would also have died the belief in chiromancy, as
has happened in regard to astrology, necromancy, oneirocritica, and the
other offsprings of imbecile fancy. By the Gipseys alone will this
deceit be kept alive, till every Gipsey is constrained to acknowledge
some country, and to have some ostensible mode of gaining a livelihood.
We can only pity the poor weak deluded beings, who pay their groschen or
kreutzer, their shilling or sixpence, for a few unmeaning words!—as if it
were possible for people to instruct us concerning our future fortune in
life, who are ignorant of their own; being unable to determine whether a
day or two hence, they may still be telling fortunes, or be taken before
the magistrates, and hanged for theft.
In addition to the chiromantic deception of the Gipsey women, they
also—though not exclusively, as the men likewise often profess the same
talent—cure bewitched cattle, discover thefts, and possess nostrums of
various kinds, to which they ascribe great virtues. These nostrums
consist principally of roots, and amulets made of unfermented dough,
marked with strange figures, and dried in the air. Griselini says, that,
in the Banat of Temeswar, they sell certain small stones, chiefly a kind
of scoriæ, which they say possess the quality of rendering the wearer
fortunate in love, play, &c. Were that true, why deliver to others what
they have so much occasion for themselves? Why do they beg and steal,
when, with the assistance of these stones, they might honourably acquire
riches, and good fortune? Yet these stones are purchased with avidity,
not only in the Banat, but in Germany. People use their quack medicines;
call the Gipsey woman into the stable, to exorcise their bewitched
cattle, without suspecting any trick or deception. So the open-hearted
farmer, in Suabia and Bavaria, has recourse to the Gipseys on many
occasions, employing them as doctors for man and beast; and constantly,
in cases of supposed enchantment, flies to the Gipsey: this circumstance
happens most frequently among those of the common people who pretend to
have the least belief in witches and witchcraft. Whenever a cow does not
feed kindly, something is immediately suspected; and the Gipsey woman is
called, who is often so successful as to remove the impediment. She goes
into the stable, orders the cow to be shewn to her, and, after desiring
every one else to go out, remains a few minutes alone with it: having
finished her operations, she calls in the master, acquaints him with the
beast’s recovery, and behold it eats heartily! How happens this? Was it
not a piece of enchantment, wherein the Gipsey really acted the magician?
Certainly not. The fraud is this:—When the cattle are feeding abroad,
the Gipsey woman takes advantage of the keepers absence to entice some of
them, with a handful of fodder, to follow her; she then smears them, over
the nose and mouth, with some filthy composition, which she has ready in
the other hand. From that moment the creature loaths all kinds of food
and drink. When the Gipsey is called in to apply a remedy, the whole
skill required, is to cleanse the animal’s nose and mouth from the stuff
she had put on a day or two before: by this means the true smell is
restored, and the cow being hungry, it is not surprising she should
fall-to greedily. From this single instance, a judgment may be formed of
other cases.
The more common Gipsey occupations, wherein the men and women take an
equal share, are—in Spain, keeping inns; principally music in Hungary and
Turkey; and gold-washing in Transylvania, the Banat, Moldavia, and
Wallachia. The Gipseys, formerly, were concerned in smuggling; and
probably still are, although it is not mentioned by late writers.
Both male and female Gipseys attend at entertainments with their music,
and often shew great proficiency in the art: besides some wind
instrument, they have generally a violin; and many of them have attained
so great perfection on that instrument, as to be employed in the chapels
of the nobility, and admired as great masters. _Barna Mihaly_, in the
country of Zips, who distinguished himself, about the middle of the last
century, in the chapel of the cardinal Count _Emerick von Cschaky_, was
an Orpheus of this kind. The cardinal, who was a judge of music himself,
had so great a regard for him, that he had his likeness taken by one of
the most capital painters. Instances of the kind are not wanting in the
other sex: it is well known that a Gipsey girl, at fourteen years of age,
was so famous as a fidler, that the greatest and most fashionable people
in Hungary were accustomed to send twenty or thirty miles for her, to
play at their balls. There are likewise very many _scrapers_; these are
generally such as have learned of other scrapers, at their own expense.
This kind of musicians travel about, with the dancers before mentioned;
or play to the peasants, who, not having much taste, always make them
welcome at their weddings, or dances. They scratch away on an old
patched violin, or rumble on a broken base, neither caring about better
instruments, nor minding to stop in tune; being what they are, more for
want of application than capacity. Others practise vocal music; and some
have acquired considerable fortunes, particularly in Spain, by singing.
Goldwashing, in the rivers, is another occupation, by which many thousand
Gipseys, of both sexes, procure a livelihood, in the Banat, Transylvania,
Wallachia, and Moldavia. As this is only a summer employment, they are
under the necessity of finding some other means of supporting themselves
during the winter. It is not permitted for every one, without exception,
to be a goldwasher: in Transylvania, such only can follow the employment,
who have leave from the office of Mons; {51} and these only enjoy the
privilege under certain restrictions. In Wallachia and Moldavia, none of
the bojars’ slaves, thence called _bojaresk_ (bojar Gipseys), are
suffered to meddle with goldwashing; that being a liberty granted only to
those who, like other subjects, are immediately under the prince,
denominated _domnesk_ (princely Gipseys): which are also subdivided into
three classes; the first named _Rudar_; the second _Ursar_; and the third
_Lajaschen_. The _Radars_ alone have the licence above mentioned; the
others are obliged to seek a different means of obtaining support. Each
person is forced to pay a certain tribute to government. The goldwashers
in Transylvania and the Banat pay four guilders annually, which is
discharged in gold-dust: the same sum is due from every Gipsey, though
many evade the contribution. When the time for payment approaches; they
contrive to keep out of the way, particularly the Hungarian Gipseys. The
tribute collected in Wallachia and Moldavia does not go into the public
treasury, but belongs to the princesses for pin-money. In Cantemir’s
time, that in Moldavia produced yearly one thousand six hundred drachms:
and the consort of the Wallachian hospodar Stephen Rakowitza, in the year
1764, received from her Rudars, two hundred and forty in number, twelve
hundred and fifty-four drachms;—a sum, according to General von Bauer and
Sulzer, amounting to one thousand and three drachms, fine gold. What the
Gipseys in Wallachia and Moldavia get more than their head-money, goes to
the grand armasch, at two lion-guilders the drachm: this he afterwards
sells again, at a higher price, according with its real value; as General
von Bauer believes, for his own profit, not for that of the prince. The
goldwashers in the Banat and Transylvania dispose of their share at the
royal redemption-office, in Zalatnya. The earnings of these people vary
with time and at different places; during heavy rains and floods they are
usually most successful: besides, their profit is more or less, according
to the quality of the river they wash in. At the most favourable times,
viz. at the floods, Griselini calculates their daily gain not to exceed
three groschens. If we understand, as we certainly ought, that this sum
is not earned by each person, but by a whole family, the statement will
agree, pretty nearly, with Mr. Dembscher’s account: he says, “In the year
1770 there were, in the districts of Uj-Palanka, Orsova, and Caransebes,
upwards of eighty goldwashers, all of whom had families, and followed the
business, with their wives and children; yet this number of hands
delivered in only six or seven hundred ducats worth of gold.” Take half
of the doubtful seventh hundred; deduct three hundred and twenty
guilders, head money, from the gross sum; divide the remainder among
eighty families, and each will receive yearly thirty-two guilders: allot
to each day, in the summer half-year, its proportion, and it will be
found very little more or less than three groschens. As before stated,
the labour of two hundred Rudars produced, in the year 1764, twelve
hundred fifty-four drachms: General von Bauer adds, this sum was exactly
the half of what was collected, over the whole country, in the same year.
Now as these Gipseys were under the necessity of parting with their
twelve or thirteen hundred drachms, which remained after the capitation
tax was paid, to the grand-armasch, at the rate of two lion-guilders per
drachm, they earned still less than those in the Banat; although the
rivers in Wallachia contain a sufficient plenty of gold to have enabled
them to make ten times that advantage, did not their laziness prevent
them. The Transylvanian rivers yield the most gold: there are annually,
from eight to ten hundred weight separated from their sand, which are
brought to Zalatnya, to be disposed of. As this quantity is not obtained
by Gipseys only, but together with the Wallachians, and we have no
account of the gross number of goldwashers, how many of them are Gipseys,
nor what proportion they have of these eight hundred weight, it is
impossible to ascertain the profits of the Transylvanian Gipsey
goldwashers. That they are better off than those in the Banat and other
places, is certain, from the circumstance of the rivers abounding more
with gold, than elsewhere.
It may not be uninteresting in this place to give the process of
goldwashing, in the words of those who, as mineralogists, have
superintended the work. The account communicated by the Councellor von
Kotzian, concerning the goldwashing in the Banat, is as follows: “The
operation consists in, first, providing a board of lime-wood, about one
fathom long, and half a fathom broad; being hollowed at the upper end, in
the form of a dish, from which are cut ten or twelve channels, in an
oblique direction. This board is fixed in an inclined position so as to
form an angle of forty-five degrees with the horizon. The sand
containing the gold, being laid in the hollow at the top of the board, a
quantity of water is then poured upon it, which carries off the lighter
parts; such as are more heavy they shove down by hand: what remains in
the channels, or furrows, is discharged into an oblong tray, carried to
the straining-trough, and the gold which remains picked clean out. The
whole of this work is performed in so careless a manner, that much pure
gold is lost: it is, moreover, to be lamented, that the Gipseys get only
the gold which is perfectly separated from the sand, but by no means any
that sticks to the ore, which they throw away, though there is gold in
it.”
As it seems evident, from the foregoing statement, that this method is
very inadequate to the purpose, and that consequently much gold must be
wasted, we are the more surprised when another author, in the following
words, assures us of the contrary:—“So negligent and careless as the work
of the Gipseys appears at first sight, just as effectual it is proved
when put to the test. Daily practice gives to these people a degree of
discernment, without which another person would think they must lose a
great deal. I convinced myself in the following manner: When they had
finished their washing on the board—for which they commonly used from
fifteen to twenty troughs of coarse stuff—I divided the washed stuff into
three parcels; the ten or fifteen uppermost furrows always contained the
most gold, the second division not more than an eighth part as much, but
the last fifteen to twenty furrows scarcely three grains. I have also
narrowly examined the refuse, and very seldom found any traces of gold in
it.”
The art of goldwashing is brought to much greater perfection in
Transylvania. In the description of the process adopted in that country,
it is said that all the rivers, brooks, and even the pools which the rain
forms, produce gold: of these the river Aranyosch is the richest,
insomuch that the historians have compared it to the Tagus and Pactolus.
Excepting the Wallachians, who live by the rivers, the goldwashers
consist chiefly of Gipseys. They can judge with the greatest certitude
where to wash to advantage. The apparatus used by them for this work is
a crooked board, four or five feet long, by two or three broad, generally
provided with a wooden rim on each side; over this board they spread a
woollen cloth, and scatter the gold-sand, mixed with water, upon it: the
small grains of the metal remain sticking to the cloth, which they
afterwards wash in a vessel of water, and then separate the gold by means
of the trough. When larger particles of sand are found in their washing,
they make deeper channels in the middle of their crooked boards, to stop
the small pieces as they roll down: they closely examine these small
stones, and some are frequently found to have solid gold fixed in them.
Those we have mentioned are the customary professions and occupations of
Gipseys, in the different countries and states of Europe. But people
must not imagine that their smiths’ shops are continually resounding with
the hammer; nor that those of other professions are so attentive to their
callings, as to provide even a daily subsistence, not to think of a
comfortable maintenance. Their consummate laziness, on the contrary, as
before observed, occasions so many idle hours in the day, that their
family is often reduced to the greatest distress; for which reason,
begging or stealing is by far a more common method, than diligence or
assiduous application to business, for quieting the cravings of hunger.
If we except soldiers, who are kept in order by the discipline of the
corporal, with some of the Transylvanian goldwashers, who apply to
music—and, living separate from their own caste, in constant habits of
intercourse with people of a better sort, have thereby acquired more
civilised manners, and learned the distinction, if not between right and
wrong, at least between social honour and disgrace—the remainder are, in
the most unlimited sense, arrant thieves. In fact, working at any trade,
or employment, seems to be merely a disguise, in order the better to
enable them to carry on their thieving practices; as the articles which
they prepare for sale in the cities and villages, furnish an excellent
excuse for sneaking into houses, to pry where there is any thing which
they may appropriate to themselves. This kind of artifice is
particularly the province of the women, who have always been reckoned
more dextrous than the men in the art of stealing. They commonly take
children with them, who are tutored to remain behind, in the outer part
of the house, to purloin what they can, while the mother is negotiating
in the chamber. It is generally the women’s office to make away with the
boor’s geese and fowls, when they are to be found in a convenient place.
Should the creature make a noise when seized, it is killed and dressed
for the consumption of the family; but if, by chance, it have strayed so
far from the village, that its crying cannot give any alarm, they keep it
alive to sell at the next market town. Winter is the time when the women
generally are most called upon to try their skill in this way: during
that season, many of the men remain in their huts, sending the women
abroad to forage. They go about in the guise of beggars—a character they
well know how to support—and commonly carry with them a couple of
children, miserably exposed to the cold and frost; one of these is led by
the hand, the other tied in a cloth to the woman’s back, in order to
excite compassion in well-disposed people. Whole troops of these Gipsey
beggars are met with in Spain; and the encounter is by no means pleasant,
as they ask alms in a manner, and with such importunity, as if they
thought you could not deny them. They also tell fortunes; and impose on
the credulous with amulets. Besides all this, they seldom return to
their husbands without some pilfered booty. Many writers confine the
thefts of the Gipseys to small maters, and will not allow that they are
ever guilty of violence. This is not only denied by the testimony of
others, but absolutely contradicted by some recent instances. It is true
that, on account of their natural timidity, they do hesitate to commit a
robbery which appears to be attended with great danger, nor do they often
break open houses by night: they rather confine themselves to petty
depredations, than, as they think, rush voluntarily into destruction by a
great and dangerous action. Yet we have more than one proof, that they
make no scruple to murder a traveller, or plunder cities and villages.
CHAPTER VIII.
_On their Marriages and Education_.
THERE are not, perhaps, any other people among whom marriages are
contracted with so little consideration, or solemnised with so little
ceremony, as among the Gipseys. No sooner has a boy attained the age of
fourteen or fifteen years, than he begins to perceive that something more
than mere eating and drinking is necessary to him. Having no fear of
consequences, nor being under any restraint from his parents, he forms a
connection with the girl he most fancies, of twelve, or at most thirteen,
years old, without any scruple of conscience, whether she be his nearest
relation, or an entire stranger; but it is to be observed, that a Gipsey
never marries a person who is not of the true Gipsey breed. God’s
commandments are unknown to him; and human laws cannot have much
influence over one who lives in a desert, remote from the observation of
any ruling power. The term of courtship is very short, often only long
enough for the parties to communicate their mutual inclination. They do
not wait for any marriage ceremony, as it is a matter of no consequence
to them, whether it be performed afterwards, or not at all. Yet they do
not seem to be entirely indifferent about matrimony, not on account of
conforming to any institution, but from a pride they have in imitating
what is done by other people, lest they should appear to be inferior to
them. As the very early age of the parties, or some other irregularity,
might meet with objections from a regular clergyman, they frequently get
one of their own people to act the priest, and tack the decent couple
together. A marriage being thus accomplished, the man provides a stone
for an anvil, a pair of pincers, a file, and hammers away as a smith; or
works at some other trade, he may have just learned from his father: then
begins his peregrination. Should his wife commit a fault at a future
time, he gives her half a dozen boxes on the ear; or very likely, for
some trifling cause, turns her off entirely. Her conduct must, in
general, be very much regulated by his will; and she is obliged to be
more attentive to him than to herself. When the woman lies-in, which
happens frequently, these people being remarkably prolific, 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 up with cold water, and the new-born child washed in it.
This being done, it is wrapped up in some old rags, which the motherly
foresight has taken care to provide. Next comes the christening, at
which ceremony they prefer strangers, for witnesses, rather than their
own caste: but what kind of folks their guests are, may be collected from
the mode of entertaining them. When the christening is over, the father
takes the sponsors to an alehouse, or if none be near, to some other
house, where he treats them with cakes and brandy. If he is a little
above the lowest state of misery, and has a mind to be generous, other
things are provided; but he does not join the company, being employed in
serving his guests. Thus the affair ends. The lying-in woman passes her
short time of confinement, seldom exceeding eight days, with her child,
in the hut, or under a tent, in the smoke by the fire. Refreshments are
often sent from the godfathers and godmothers; yet they are sometimes so
uncivil, that they do not hesitate to quarrel with them or even to
discharge them from the trust, if they think the present too small, or do
not like the provisions. When this happens, they have another
christening, in some other place; nay, sometimes even a third.
Gipsey women, as already mentioned, frequently smear their children over
with a particular kind of ointment, and then lay them in the sun, or
before the fire, in order that the skin may be more completely parched,
and their black beauty thereby increased. They never use a cradle, nor
even possess such a piece of furniture; the child sleeps in its mother’s
arms, or on the ground. When the lying-in is over, the Gipsey woman goes
to church, and thence, immediately, either to begging or stealing. While
the child remains in her arms, perhaps imagining that people will be less
severe in their chastisements, she is more rapacious than at other times,
and takes whatever she can lay her hands on. If she cannot escape
without a beating, she endeavours to screen herself by holding up the
child to receive the blows, till she finds an opportunity of retiring
imperceptibly, and running away.
When the child gets a little stronger, and has attained the age of three
or four months, the mother seldom carries it on the arm, but at her back;
there it sits, winter and summer, in a linen rag, with its head over her
shoulder. If she have more children, in course of time, which is
generally the case, as this race of beings is so prolifick, she leads one
or two by the hand, while such as are older run by her side; and thus
attended, she strolls through the villages and into houses.
Notwithstanding their dark complexion, and bad nursing, writers are
unanimous in stating, that these children are good-looking, well shaped,
lively, clever, and have fine eyes. The mother plaits their black hair
on the crown of the head, partly to keep it out of their face, and partly
for ornament. This is all she ever does towards decorating her
offspring; for in summer the children wear no clothes till ten years of
age, and in winter they are forced to be content with a few old rags hung
about them.
No sooner is the child, whether boy or girl, capable of running about,
than it is taught to dance; which talent consists in jumping on one foot,
and constantly striking behind with the other. As the young Gipsey grows
up, all kinds of postures are added, in hopes of diverting, and thereby
to obtain a reward from persons who happen to pass the parents’
habitation. What the children are further taught, especially by their
mothers, is the art of stealing, which they often put in practice, as
before related. Instruction or school is never thought of; nor do they
learn any business, except perhaps to blow the fire when the father
forges, or to assist in goldwashing.
By the twelfth or thirteenth year, a boy acquires some knowledge of his
father’s trade; and then becomes emancipated from parental authority; as
he now begins to think of forming his own separate connections. The
Gipseys, in common with uncivilised people, entertain unbounded love for
their children: this is a source of the most unpardonable neglect.
Gipsey children never feel the rod; they fly into the most violent
passion, and at the same time hear nothing from their parents but
flattery and coaxing. In return, they act, as is commonly the
consequence of such education, with the greatest ingratitude. This
excessive fondness for their children is, however, attended with one
advantage:—when they are indebted to any person, which is frequently the
case in Hungary and Transylvania, the creditor seizes a child, and by
that means obtains a settlement of his demand; as the Gipsey will
immediately exert every method to discharge the debt, and procure the
release of his darling offspring.
To the beforegoing account of Gipsey marriages, and education, there are
but few exceptions; comprised in a small proportion of them who have
fixed habitations. The character of people being formed by the
instruction they receive in their early years, can it then be thought
surprising that Gipseys should be idlers, thieves, murderers, and
incendiaries? Is it probable, _that_ man should become diligent, who has
been educated in laziness? Can it be expected those should leave every
person in possession of his own property, whose father and mother have
taught them to steal, from their earliest infancy? Who can have a
general idea of fair dealing, that knows not right from wrong, nor has
ever learned the distinction between good and evil, virtue and vice?
Punishments inflicted on others, for their crimes, have no effect upon
one who is not sufficiently attentive to take warning by the examples of
strangers: and when, by his own experience, he is taught not to lay hands
on the property of others, he is become so hardened, that the milder
punishments leave no lasting impression; while the more severe ones,
which reach the life, cannot have any effect on him, and are, as before
observed, totally disregarded by his fellows. So long therefore as the
education of the Gipseys continues to be what it is, we cannot hope that
they should leave off their vile practices and filthy habits.
CHAPTER IX.
_On their Sickness_, _Death_, _and Burial_.
WE have before had occasion to mention the constant good health of these
people; and it is fact, that they do enjoy it more uninterruptedly, and
perfectly, than persons of the most regular habits, and who pay the
greatest attention to themselves. They get no cold nor defluxions, from
the inclemency of the air. They are not subject to rashes; even poisons,
or epidemical disorders, have no effect upon them. Any prevailing
sickness penetrates sooner into ten habitations of civilised people, than
it finds its way under a Gipsey’s tent, or into his hut. They are
equally liable to the small-pox and measles with other people, though
with infinitely less danger; and they are subject to a disorder in the
eyes, occasioned by the continual smoke and steam in their huts, during
the winter season: excepting these complaints, the Gipseys, in general,
experience little inconvenience till the time comes that Nature demands
her own back again, and entirely destroys the machine. Though this be
not always at a great age, it is generally at an advanced period; it
being very uncommon for a Gipsey to die early in life, or during his
childhood. Their love of life is excessive; yet they hardly ever take
the advice of a physician, or use medicines, even in the most dangerous
maladies. They generally leave every thing to nature, or good fortune:
if they do _any_ thing, it is, to mix a little saffron in their soup, or
bleed and scarify themselves; having observed that their horses use
bleeding, as a remedy for disorders. When the sickness indicates danger,
and that the universal enemy to life is really in earnest, the Gipsey
breaks out into sighs and lamentations, on account of his departure; till
at last he gives up the ghost, in his usual place of residence—under a
tree, or in his tent.
The preparations for death are usually regulated according to a person’s
religious principles; but the Gipsey, who neither knows nor believes any
thing concerning the immortality of the soul, or of rewards and
punishments beyond this life, for the most part dies like a
beast—ignorant of himself and his Creator, as well as utterly incapable
of forming any opinion respecting a higher destination.
The Gipsey’s decease is instantly succeeded by the most frantic
lamentations: parents, in particular, who have lost their children,
appear inconsolable. Little can be said of their burials; only, that on
those occasions the cries and bewailings are redoubled, and become very
violent. When the leader of a horde dies, things are conducted more
quietly. His own people carry him, with great respect, to the grave,
where each one appears earnest and attentive; although at the same time
employed in a manner to excite laughter.
This is the mode of proceeding when a Gipsey dies a natural death. But
it often happens that he loses his life by violent means—not by his own
hands for self-murder and infanticide are equally unheard of among them.
No Gipsey ever puts a period to his own existence on account of vexation,
anxiety, or despair; as, besides his unbounded love of life, care or
despair is totally unknown to him.
Even in the greatest distress, the Gipsey is never troubled with low
spirits; ever merry and blythe, he dies not till he cannot help it: this
often happens on the gallows, attended with scenes ridiculous as the most
ludicrous imagination could invent. One man requested, as a particular
act of grace, that he might not be hanged with his face towards the high
road; saying, “Many of his acquaintance passed that way, and he should be
very much ashamed to be seen by them hanging on a gallows.” At another
time the relations of a Gipsey who was leading to execution, perceiving,
by the discourse and gestures of the criminal, how unwillingly he
advanced, not having the least inclination to be hanged, addressed
themselves to the magistrates and officers of justice, with the following
wise remonstrance: “Gentlemen, pray do not compel a man to a thing for
which you see he has no desire nor inclination.” Such scenes happen at
almost every Gipsey execution, which are proofs that these people are
quite deficient in thought or consideration.
CHAPTER X.
_Political Regulations peculiar to the Gipseys_.
WHEN the Gipseys first arrived in Europe, they had leaders and chiefs, to
conduct the various tribes in their migrations. This was necessary, not
only to facilitate their progress through different countries and
quarters of the globe, but to unite their force if necessary, and thereby
enable them to make a more formidable resistance when opposed: and
likewise to carry any plan, they might have formed, more readily into
execution. We accordingly find, in old books, mention made of knights,
counts, dukes, and kings. Krantz and Munster mention counts, and
knights, in general terms, among the Gipseys; other people give us the
very names of these dignified men: Crusius cites a duke MICHAEL; Muratori
a duke ANDREAS; and Aventinus records a king ZINDELO: not to speak of
inscriptions on monuments, erected in different places, to the memories
of duke PANUEL, count JOHANNIS; and a noble knight PETRUS, in the
fifteenth century. But no comment is requisite to shew how improperly
these appellations were applied. Though the Gipsey chiefs might be
gratified with these titles, and their dependants probably esteemed them
people of rank, it was merely a ridiculous imitation of what they had
seen and admired among civilised people. Nevertheless, the custom of
having leaders and chiefs over them prevails to this time, at least in
Hungary and Transylvania; probably it may also still exist in Turkey, and
other countries where these people live together in great numbers.
Their chiefs—or waywodes, as they proudly call them—were formerly of two
degrees in Hungary. Each petty tribe had its own leader; beside which,
there were four superior waywodes, of their own caste, on both sides the
Danube and Teisse, whose usual residences were at Raab, Lewentz,
Szathmar, and Kaschau: to these the smaller waywodes were accountable.
It would appear extraordinary that any well-regulated state should allow
these people a distinct establishment in the heart of the country, did
not the Hungarian writers assign a reason: viz. that in the commotions
and troubles, occasioned by the Turkish wars, in former centuries, they
were, by means of their waywodes, more easily summoned, when occasion
required, and rendered useful to the community. But the Gipseys in
Hungary and Transylvania were permitted to choose, from their own people,
only the small waywodes of each tribe. The superior waywodes, to whom
the Gipseys, in many districts, were subject, have existed till within a
few years; but they were appointed by the court, and always selected from
the Hungarian nobility. The appointment was by no means despicable; as
each Gipsey was bound to pay the superintendent under whom his tribe was
classed, a guilder annually, of which one half was demanded at Easter,
the other half at Michaelmas. In order to render the levying this tax
more certain, the magistrates, in all towns, cities, and villages, were
ordered to be assisting to the collectors, where necessary; to protect
them also from any violence that might be offered by the Gipseys. These
superior waywodes are now no longer appointed, except a single one in
Transylvania, who has authority over the goldwashers in those parts. But
the Gipseys still continue the custom, among themselves, of dignifying
certain persons, whom they make heads over them, and call by the exalted
Sclavonian title—waywode. To choose their waywode, the Gipseys take the
opportunity when a great number of them are assembled in one place,
commonly in the open field. The elected person is lifted up three times,
amidst the loudest acclamations, and confirmed in his dignity by
presents; his wife undergoes the same ceremony. When this solemnity is
performed, they separate with great conceit, imagining themselves people
of more consequence than electors returning from the choice of an
emperor. Every one who is of a family descended from a former waywode is
eligible; but those who are best clothed, not very poor, of large
stature, and about the middle age, have generally the preference.
Understanding or wise conduct is of no consideration: therefore it is
easy to distinguish the waywode from the multitude, by observing his size
and clothing. The particular distinguishing mark of dignity, is a large
whip, hanging over the shoulder. His outward deportment, his walk and
air, also plainly shew his head to be filled with notions of authority.
It is uncertain how far the waywode’s sway over his subjects extends. A
distinction must here be made, whether the state gives him any power, and
what he assumes or derives by custom from his caste. It were ridiculous
to suppose that the state should, on any occasion, appoint this sort of
illustrious personage a judge. In Transylvania, indeed, the magistrates
do interfere with regard to the fellow whom this or that horde has
elected chief, and impose an obligation on him; but it is only that he
should be careful to prevent his nimble subjects from absconding, when
the time arrives for them to discharge their annual tribute at the
land-regent’s chamber. He has no right to interfere in disputes or
quarrels which the Gipseys have among themselves, or with other people,
further than to give notice of them to the regular courts of the district
where they happen to be. In this point of view, what Toppeltin and
others after him assert, that the waywodes have little or no power over
their own people, is perfectly correct: but if we attend to their
actions, the affair carries a very different appearance. Whenever a
complaint is made, that any of their people have been guilty of theft,
the waywode not only orders a general search to be made, in every tent or
hut, and returns the stolen goods to the owner, if they can be found, but
punishes the thief, in presence of the complainant, with his whip.
Certainly it is not by any written contract that he acquires his right
over the people, for no such thing exists among them, but custom gives
him this judicial power. Moreover he does not punish the aggressor from
any regard to justice, but rather to quiet the plaintiff, and at the same
time to make his people more wary in their thefts, as well as more
dextrous in concealing their plunder. These discoveries materially
concern him, since by every detection his income suffers; as the whole
profit of his office arises from his share of the articles that are
stolen. Every time a Gipsey brings in a booty, he is obliged to give
information to the arch-Gipsey of his successful enterprise; and then
render a just account of what and how much he has stolen, in order that
the proper division may be made. In this proceeding the Gipsey considers
himself bound to give a fair and true detail; though in every other
instance he does not hesitate to commit the grossest perjury. We may
therefore judge how precarious success is likely to be, when a waywode is
applied to for the recovery of stolen goods. The Gipseys are cunning
enough to hide what they have pilfered, in such a manner, that out of a
hundred searches the complainer hardly once accomplishes his desire. It
does not at all forward the cause, that the waywode knows who the thief
is: his interest requires him to dissemble. Thus, though he does not
steal himself, the Spanish proverb is a very true one: “The Count and the
Gipsey are rogues alike.” For which reason people seldom apply to so
suspicious a judge. If a thief is caught in the fact, the owner takes
his property, and gives the offender his proper reward, or else delivers
him over to the civil power for correction. Here ensues a truly
laughable scene: As soon as the officer seizes on, and forces away the
culprit, he is surrounded by a swarm of Gipseys, who take unspeakable
pains to procure the release of the prisoner. They endeavour to cajole
him with kind words, desiring him to consider this, that, and the other,
or admonish him not to be so uncivil. When it comes to the infliction of
punishment, and the malefactor receives a good number of lashes, well
laid on, in the public market-place, an universal lamentation commences
among the vile crew; each stretches his throat, to cry over the agony his
dear associate is constrained to suffer. This is oftener the fate of the
women than of the men; for, as the maintenance of the family depends most
upon them, they more frequently go out for plunder.
CHAPTER XI.
_On the Religion of the Gipseys_.
THESE people did not bring any particular religion with them from their
native country, by which, as the Jews, they could be distinguished among
other persons; but regulate themselves, in religious matters, according
to the country where they live. Being very inconstant in their choice of
residence, they are likewise so in respect to religion. No Gipsey has an
idea of submission to any fixed profession of faith: it is as easy for
him to change his religion at every new village, as for another person to
shift his coat. They suffer themselves to be baptised in Christian
countries; among Mahometans to be circumcised. They are Greeks with
Greeks, Catholics with Catholics, and again profess themselves to be
Protestants, whenever they happen to reside where protestantism prevails.
From this mutability, we may conceive what ideas they have, and thence
deduce their general opinions of religion. As parents suffer their
children to grow up without education or instruction, and were reared in
the same manner themselves, so neither have any knowledge of God or
morality. Few of them will attend to any discourse on religion: they
hear what is said with indifference, nay rather with impatience and
repugnance; despising all remonstrance, believing nothing, they live
without the least solicitude concerning what shall become of them after
this life. An instance, quoted by Toppeltin, will fully illustrate this
matter: One of the more civilised Gipseys in Transylvania took the
resolution of sending his son to school: leave being obtained from the
government, the lad was admitted, and was going on very well, under his
teachers’ hands. The child died; whereupon the relations applied to the
magistrates and clergy for permission to give the young man Christian
burial, he being a student at the time of his death. On this occasion
the priest asked, whether they believed the deceased would rise again at
the last day?—“_Strange idea_!” they answered; “_to believe that a
carcase_, _a lifeless corpse_, _should be reanimated_, _and rise
again_!—_In our opinion_, _it would be no more likely to happen to him_,
_than to the horse we flayed a few days ago_.” Such are the opinions of
the greatest part of these people with regard to religion; it naturally
follows, that their conduct should be conformable to such ideas and
conceptions. Every duty is neglected, no prayer ever passes their lips:
as little are they to be found in any assembly of public worship; whence
the Wallachian adage—“The Gipsey’s church was built with bacon, and the
dogs ate it.” The religious party from which a Gipsey apostatises, as
little loses a brother believer, as the one into which he goes acquires
one. He is neither Mahometan nor Christian; for the doctrines of Mahomet
and of Christ are alike unknown or indifferent to him, producing no other
effect than that in Turkey his child is circumcised, and baptised in
Christendom. The Turks are so fully convinced of the little sincerity
the Gipseys entertain in regard to religion, that although a Jew, by
becoming a Mahometan, is freed from the payment of the charadsch, the
Gipseys are not, at least in the neighbourhood of Constantinople. They
are compelled to pay this polltax even though their ancestors, for
centuries back, had been Mahometans; or though they should actually have
been a pilgrimage to Mecca: the privilege of wearing a white turban is
the only advantage their conversion gives them over unbelieving Jews and
Gipseys.
Such is the respect paid by the Gipseys to moral institutions, in every
country where they are found. It is true that in this, as well as in
other things, there may be exceptions, but they are very rare; by much
the greatest part of them are as above described. Wherefore the more
ancient, as well as the more modern, writers agree, in positively denying
that the Gipseys have any religion; placing them even below the heathens.
This sentence cannot be contradicted; since, so far from having a respect
for religion, they are adverse to every thing which in the least relates
to it.
CHAPTER XII.
_Their Language_, _Sciences_, _and Arts_.
BESIDES that the Gipseys understand and speak the language of the country
where they live, they have a general language of their own, in which they
always converse with each other. Writers differ in opinion concerning
this language, being undecided whether it be really that of any country,
and who are the people from whom it originates. Some pronounce it a mere
jargon, others say it is gibberish. We can by no means agree with the
supporters of the first opinion, as the only ground for the assertion is
barely, that they do not know any other language correspondent to that of
the Gipseys. But they do not seem to have considered how extravagant a
surmise it is, to believe a whole language an invention; that too of
people rude, uncivilised, and hundreds of miles distant from each other.
This opinion is too absurd to employ more time to controvert it. Neither
can the Gipsey language be admitted for gibberish; unless by those who
know nothing of the former, or are totally ignorant of the latter, which
is corrupt German; whereas the former has neither German words,
inflexions, nor the least affinity in sound. No German, were he to
listen a whole day to a Gipsey conversation, would comprehend a single
expression. A third party allow that the language of the original
Gipseys was really vernacular, and that of some country; but assert it to
be so disguised and falsified, partly by design of the Gipseys
themselves, partly by adventitious events, through length of time, and
the continual wandering of these people, that it is entirely new formed,
and now used by the Gipseys only. This opinion contains much truth; but
carries the matter too far, in not allowing that any traces remain to
prove any particular dialect to be the Gipseys’ mother tongue. Perhaps
the great Büsching means the same thing, when he says, “the Gipsey
language is a mixture of corrupt words from the Wallachian, Sclavonian,
Hungarian, and other nations.” Among these, the best-founded notion may
be, that it is the dialect of some particular country, though no longer
so pure as in the country whence it originated. This opinion meets the
greatest concurrence of the learned: and will, we hope, be fully proved
in another part of this book, where the subject will be again discussed,
more fully, in order to corroborate the other proofs of the origin of
this people. It will then be certified, in what country this is the
native mother tongue. This is a point concerning which most writers
think differently. Sometimes the Gipseys are Hebrews, then Nubians,
Egyptians, Phrygians, Vandals, Sclavonians, or, as opinions vary, perhaps
some other nation.
It appears extraordinary, that the language of a people who have lived
for centuries among us, and has been matter of enquiry almost ever since,
should still remain an affair of so much uncertainty. Gipseys are to be
found every-where, and might be very easily examined, as closely and
often as any body pleased, about their language. It would have been
attended with no great trouble, to have made so near an acquaintance as
to bring them to converse with variety of people, and thereby, by means
of comparison, to have attained some degree of certainty. This
observation sounds plausibly; but on a closer examination the case is
found to be very different. First, it is not so easy as people may
imagine, to gain much information from the Gipseys concerning their
language. They are suspicious, apprehending an explanation might be
attended with danger to themselves; and are therefore not very
communicative. To this must be added, their natural levity, and
consequent seeming inattention to the questions put to them. A writer,
who had frequent experience of this behaviour, expresses himself to the
following effect: “Suppose any person had an inclination to learn the
Gipsey language, he would find it very difficult to accomplish his
purpose. Intercourse with these people is almost insufferable; and very
few of them have sense enough to teach any thing, or even to give a
proper answer to a question. If you ask about a single word, they
chatter a great many, which nobody can understand. Others have equally
failed of success, not being able, by any means whatever, to obtain from
them the paternoster in their own language.” Secondly, suppose the
language of the Gipseys had been perfectly understood soon after their
arrival in Europe, variety of opinions would nevertheless have been
maintained among the learned. It would still have been necessary, in
order to ascertain truth, to have revised the original languages of all
the inhabitants both in and out of Europe, or at least a general sketch
of them. By such a review, the Gipseys’ mother tongue might easily have
been discovered. But many there are, as Büttner, Schlözer, Gibelin, and
Bachmeister, who have taken great pains in the minute investigation of
the languages, as well as manners, of different people, and reckon those
they have learned by dozens. How was it, indeed, possible for the
learned of former centuries to be competent to the enquiry, as they had
not the aids which now so copiously occur to the historical etymologist?
Many dialects have been discovered, and our knowledge of others greatly
increased, within the last fifty or sixty years. During that term, the
treasures of the farthest north have been opened; and the most eastern
idioms become more familiar to us: we even know how the Otaheitian
expresses himself. All this information did not exist before; knowledge
in this science was much more confined than at this period: nor was it
possible for the most learned man, so circumstanced, to point out the
country in which the Gipsey language was spoken.
The Gipseys have no writing, peculiar to them, in which to express their
language. {87} Writing, or reading, is, in general, a very uncommon
accomplishment with any of them; nor must either of these attainments be
at all expected among the wandering sort. Sciences and the refined arts
are never to be looked for amongst people whose manner of living and
education are so irregular. Twiss does, indeed, mention, that the
Spanish Gipseys have some knowledge of medicine and surgery; but woe
betide the person who confides in their skill! It is absurd to suppose
that they are possessed of any secret for extinguishing fire:
superstition formerly gave the Jews credit for this art; in process of
time, the Gipseys also were believed to be gifted with it. Music is the
only science in which the Gipseys participate, in any considerable
degree: they likewise compose, but it is after the manner of the eastern
people, extempore. In Wallachia, no other people possess this talent;
and, like the Italian _improvisatori_, they always accompany their verses
with singing and music. The quality of the poetry of these ready
composers may be appreciated, when it is known that the rhyme is the part
most considered: to accomplish this, they are frequently guilty of the
most glaring solecisms in grammar; besides their ideas are usually of the
most obscene kind, and these expressed in the gross style of rude
unpolished people. It is not necessary, therefore, to be a master, to
hold their art in the greatest contempt. {88}
CHAPTER XIII.
_Character and Capacities of the Gipseys_; _whether they are an Advantage
or a Detriment to States_.
IMAGINE a people of childish thoughts, whose minds are filled with raw
indigested conceptions, guided more by sense than reason, and using
understanding and reflection only so far as they promote the
gratification of any particular appetite;—and you have a perfect sketch
of the general character of the Gipseys.
They are lively; uncommonly loquacious; fickle to an extreme,
consequently inconstant in their pursuits; faithless to every body, even
of their own caste; void of the least emotion of gratitude, frequently
returning benefits with the most insidious malice. Fear makes them
slavishly compliant {89} when under subjection; but having nothing to
apprehend, like other timorous people, they are cruel. A desire of
revenge often causes them to take the most desperate resolutions. Thus
they vowed no less than death against a respectable German prince who
died not many years ago, because, on account of their misdeeds, he had
persecuted and driven them from his territories. They even went so far
as to offer a reward among themselves (probably something considerable)
to whoever would deliver him to them, either alive or dead. Nor did they
give up this insolent design, till some of them, who talked too openly
about it in the Darmstadt dominions, were taken, and being delivered up
to the parties concerned, paid the forfeit of their lives for their good
intentions.
To such a degree of violence is their fury sometimes excited, that a
mother has been known, in the excess of passion, to take her small infant
by the feet, when no other instrument has readily presented, and
therewith strike the object of her anger. They are so addicted to
drinking, as to sacrifice what is most necessary to them, that they may
gratify their taste for spirituous liquors. They have likewise, what one
would little expect, an enormous share of vanity, which is evidenced in
their fondness for fine clothes, and their gait and deportment when
dressed in them. It might be supposed that this pride would have the
good effect of rendering the Gipsey cautious not to be guilty of such
crimes as subject him to public shame: but here his levity of character
is rendered conspicuous, for he never looks either to the right or to the
left in his transactions; and though his conceit and pride are somewhat
humbled during the time of punishment, and while the consequent pain
lasts, these being over, he no longer remembers his disgrace, but
entertains quite as good an opinion of himself as before. The Gipseys
are loquacious and quarrelsome in the highest degree, though they seldom
make much noise in their huts, in which they generally keep quiet enough:
but in the public markets, and before alehouses, where they are
surrounded by a number of spectators, they bawl, spit at each other—catch
up sticks and cudgels, vapour and brandish them over their heads—throw
dust and dirt—now run from each other, then back again, with furious
gestures and threats. The women scream, drag their husbands by force
from the scene of action; these break from them again, and return to it:
the children, too, howl piteously. After a short time, without any
person’s interference, when they have cried and made a noise till they
are tired, and without either party having received any personal injury,
the affair finishes itself, and they separate, with as much ostentation
as if they had performed the most heroic feats.
_Thus_ the Gipsey seeks honour! of which his ideas seldom coincide with
those of other people, and sometimes deviate entirely from propriety: we
may therefore assert, what all, who have made observations on these
people agree in, that honour and shame are to them totally indifferent.
We establish this decision by comparing Gipsey notions with our own:
trying their dealings and conduct by this standard, they will often
appear ridiculous, frequently even infamous.
Nothing can exceed the unrestrained depravity of manners existing among
these people, particularly the softer sex. Unchecked by any idea of
shame, they give way to every desire. The mother endeavours, by the most
scandalous arts, to train her daughter for an offering to sensuality; and
the latter is scarcely grown up, before she becomes the seducer of
others. Let the dance, formerly mentioned, be called to mind; it will
then be unnecessary to adduce fresh examples, of which regard for decency
will not permit a detail.
Their indolence has been already quoted. Laziness is so natural to them,
that were they to subsist by their own labour only, they would hardly
have bread for two of the seven days in the week. This disposition
increases their propensity to stealing and cheating—the common attendants
on idleness. They seek and avail themselves of every opportunity to
satisfy their lawless desires. Thomasius endeavours to propagate a
notion, that this habit has grown upon the latter Gipseys by degrees, in
opposition to the practice of those who first arrived, quoting Stumpf for
his authority, who talks of Christian discipline and order among the
original Gipseys; he assures us, too, that they paid ready money for all
they wanted; but this testimony does not deserve attention: the Gipseys
in Stumpf’s time were the same as they are at this day, nor are they
differently described by any of the old writers.
This is a lamentable enumeration of evil and ruinous properties in the
Gipsey’s character, which applies not only to a few individuals, but to
by far the greatest number of these people. Scarcely any virtue could
exist in a soul so replete with vices. What at first sight appears less
censurable, or perhaps even amiable, in them is, their habitual content
in their situation. They have no care about futurity; they are
unacquainted either with anxiety or solicitude: and pass through every
day lively and satisfied. But this, in itself commendable resignation,
is as little to be accounted a virtue among the Gipseys as among the
Iroquois, and proceeds from the excessive levity of their dispositions.
Let us now take a view of the natural qualities, and capacities, of the
Gipseys. Here they will appear to advantage. Observe them at whatever
employment you may, there always appear sparks of genius. It is well
known, and no writer omits to remark, what artful curious devices they
have recourse to in perpetrating any cheat or robbery: but this is not
the only particular in which they shew brains and capacity. The
following extract from an Hungarian author, who was an attentive observer
of these people, contains corroborating instances:
“The Gipseys,” he says, “have a fertile imagination in their way, and
are quick and ready at expedients, so that in many serious doubtful
cases they soon recollect how to act, in order to extricate
themselves. We cannot, indeed, help wondering, when we attend to and
consider the skill they display in preparing and bringing their works
to perfection, which is the more necessary, from the scarcity of
proper tools and apparatus. They are very acute and cunning in
cheating or thieving: and when called to account, for any fraud or
robbery, fruitful in invention and persuasive in their arguments to
defend themselves.”
At Debrezin, as well as at other schools in Hungary and Transylvania,
there have been several lads admitted for instruction. Cleverness is
observable in all, with no despicable talents for study. If another
proof should be wanting, let us advert to their skill in music. That no
Gipsey has ever signalised himself in literature, notwithstanding,
according to the foregoing accounts, many of them have partaken of the
instruction to be obtained at public schools, is no contradiction to the
point in question. Their volatile disposition and unsteadiness will not
allow them to complete any thing which requires perseverance or
application. Frequently the bud perishes before it blows; or if it
proceed so far that fruit appears, it commonly falls off and rots ere it
attains maturity. In the midst of his career of learning, the
recollection of his origin seizes him; a desire arises to return to, what
he thinks, a more happy manner of life; this solicitude increases; he
gives up all at once, turns back again, and consigns over his knowledge
to oblivion. Such is the reason why the Gipsey race has never produced a
learned man, nor ever will so long as these principles are retained.
It appears certain that the Gipseys are not deficient in capacity; and it
seems equally decided that they have throughout a wicked depraved turn of
mind. Their skill and ingenuity might render them very profitable
subjects to the state, but their disposition makes them the most useless
pernicious beings. They are not fit for agriculture, nor any other art
which requires industry; on the contrary, they are burthensome from their
begging, they do mischief by their various impositions, besides, being
thieves and robbers, they destroy the security of a state. The
goldwashers, in Transylvania and the Banat, are the only considerable
exceptions; these Gipseys are considered the best of the caste; they have
no intercourse with those of their own nation, nor do they like to be
called Gipseys, but Bräschen, and in the Hungarian language _Aranyasz_
(gold collectors). Their employment not being profitable, they are
generally poor and necessitous; yet seldom beg, and it is still more rare
for them to steal. Content with their scanty subsistence, they sift gold
sand in summer; in winter they make trays and troughs, which they sell in
an honest way. These properties render them, not only harmless, but
serviceable to government; as they annually produce large sums, which,
but for them, would remain in the earth. What pity it is, that so small
a part should be well inclined, in proportion to the multitude, in
Transylvania and elsewhere, who live in the manner above described!
There remains perhaps one more profession, in which a state might reap
advantage from the Gipseys, viz. that of a military life. This seems to
be doubted in Spain, as no Gipsey there, even were he so inclined, can
become a soldier. In other countries, people think differently. For
example, in the two Hungarian regiments, the Orosaish and the Julaish,
nearly every eighth man is a Gipsey. In order to prevent either them or
any other persons from remembering their descent, it is ordered by
government, that as soon as a Gipsey joins the regiment, he is no longer
to be called by that appellation. Here he is placed, promiscuously with
other men; and by this wise regulation, may be systematically rendered
useful. But whether he would be adequate to a soldier’s station, unmixed
with strangers, in the company of his equals only, is very doubtful. His
healthy robust body, active on every occasion; at the same time so inured
to hardship, that he can defy hunger, thirst, heat, cold, and other
inconveniences; makes him extremely well qualified for a military life:
on the other hand, his innate properties seem incompatible with his
profession, and he has little of the essential requisite for a
serviceable soldier. How could a regiment composed of people without
heart or courage, who would be overcome with fear and dismay on the least
appearance of danger, who would give up every thing, and only think of
saving themselves by flight, ever perform any great action? Or how could
we expect, from their levity, and unspeakable want of foresight, that
they should avail themselves to the utmost of any advantage with proper
precaution and judgment? The following incident, taken from the
Hungarian annals, may serve as proof, whether this suspicion be or be not
well founded.—In the year 1557, during the troubles in Zapoly, the castle
of Nagy Ida, in the county of Abauywar, was in danger of being besieged
and taken by the imperial troops. Francis von Perenyi, who had the
command, being short of men, was obliged to have recourse to the Gipseys,
of whom he collected a thousand; these he furnished with proper means of
defence, and stationed them in the outworks, keeping his own small
compliment of men to garrison the citadel. The Gipseys imagined that
they should be perfectly free from annoyance behind their entrenchments,
and therefore went courageously to their posts. Every thing was in order
when the enemy arrived, and the storm commenced. The Gipseys, behind
their fortifications, supported the attack with so much more resolution
than was expected, returning the enemy’s fire with such alacrity, that
the assailants, little suspecting who were the defendants, were actually
retreating. They had hardly quitted their ground, when the conquerors,
elated with joy on their victory, crept out of their holes, crying after
them, “Go and be hanged, you rascals! Thank God we had no more powder
and shot, or we would have played the very devil with you!”—“What!”
replied the retiring besiegers, as they turned about, and, to their great
astonishment, instead of regular troops, discovered a motley Gipsey
tribe, “are you the heroes! is it so with you!” immediately wheeling
about to the left, sword in hand, they drove the black crew back to their
works, forced their way after, and in a few minutes totally subdued them.
Thus the affair ended. In this manner Gipseys would frequently trifle
away by heedlessness, what they might have secured by good fortune and
alacrity, if they were permitted to act in separate corps.
There are many instances recorded in the annals of former centuries,
{89a} of Gipseys having been employed in military expeditions: but
seldom, or rather never, were they thought of as solders. At Crupa,
1565, they prepared cannon balls for the Turks: still earlier, in 1496,
they served Bishop Sigismund at Fünfkirchen in the same manner. In the
thirty-years war, the Swedes likewise had a body of Gipseys in their
army. And when, in 1686, Hamburgh was besieged by the Danes, there were
three companies of them in the Danish army. Their destination was not so
much to stand to their arms, as to perform other services; they were
chiefly employed in flying parties, to burn, plunder, or lay waste, the
enemy’s country. As these are the operations most suitable to their
genius, they are now by the Turks destined to such purposes, and
incorporated with the Sains Serdenjesti, and Nephers.
Such is the assistance which has hitherto been derived from the Gipseys
in war; whence we experience the possibility of their being rendered
serviceable, although the strict watch necessary to be kept over them, on
account of their propensity to be guilty of excesses and irregularities,
would be exceedingly troublesome.
But, in order to bring the advantages and disadvantages attending them to
a fair discussion, it must not be forgotten, that at the very time one
part of these people might be rendered beneficial, viz. in time of war,
another part would have it in their power to do more mischief; by reason
of the disorder which then prevails, when the relaxed attention of the
magistrates makes them more daring in their depredations. Besides, what
is still worse, they are very convenient for the enemy to use as machines
for treachery. What they were in former times accustomed to practise
very commonly, they still continue whenever they have an opportunity.
They have been generally decried, in early ages, as traitors and spies:
perhaps this accusation may be too far extended, but it is not without
foundation. A Gipsey possesses all the properties required to render him
a fit agent to be employed in traitorous undertakings. Being
necessitous, he is easily corrupted; and his misconceived ambition and
pride persuade him that he thus becomes a person of consequence: he is at
the same time too inconsiderate to reflect on danger; and, artful to the
greatest degree, works his way under the most difficult circumstances.
This accusation may be proved by more than one instance.—Count Eberhard,
of Wirtemberg, with a train of forty people, made a pilgrimage to
Palestine in the year 1468: and, as Crusius says, fell into the hands of
the Sultan of Egypt, through the treachery of the Gipseys. Further,
during the troubles excited by John Zapolya, in Hungary, in the sixteenth
century, sundry spies and delegated incendiaries were taken, which proved
to be Gipseys. In 1602 Count Basta, the imperial general, who besieged
the city of Bistritz in Transylvania, when he wanted to circulate a
letter among the besieged, effected it by means of a Gipsey.
They have been sometimes still more dangerous to a country, by harbouring
other spies, who, under the disguise of Gipseys, made excursions,
surveying cities and countries, without being noticed. An example of
this kind is recited in the Adventures of a certain French engineer,
Peter Durois; which is a circumstance, in the records of Louis XIV.
perhaps as much unknown as it is remarkable. It relates, that at Padock
(Patak), in Upper Hungary, a great fire happened, through the
carelessness of the Gipseys; by which not only the little city adjoining
the fort was burnt, but the beautiful Bruderhoff was also reduced to
ashes: on which occasion seven supposed Gipseys were taken into custody,
one of whom was the French engineer above mentioned. This person had
travelled about with them during nine years: he had sketches of all the
principal fortifications in the whole Roman empire, and the imperial
hereditary dominions, taken in the most concise manner, with remarks
where each place was least defensible.—This affair has still another
voucher, who says, “in the month of June of the year 1676, the Gipseys
fired this little city (Patak), together with the church. With these
Gipseys was found a French engineer, named Peter Durois, who had been
nine years in this disguise, and received considerable remittances from
France. He was taken by the imperialists, and there were found upon him
plans of almost all the cities of Upper Hungary, and the German empire.”
Thus these people, in whatever point of view they are considered, are
found to cause incalculable damage and mischief, without, in general,
returning the smallest profit or benefit to the state in which they
reside.
CHAPTER XIV.
_Concerning the Toleration of the Gipseys by the different States of
Europe_.
FROM the inherent bad and pernicious qualities of the Gipseys, the
question arises, What a government can do with them? The evil they
occasion has long been a subject of serious consideration, and various
means of security have been devised. As banishment was a mode punishing
formerly often resorted to, nothing could be more natural than that it
should likewise be exercised against the Gipseys. The clergy and
politicians inveighed strongly against the toleration of these people;
and their exile was actually resolved upon in most countries of Europe.
About the end of the fifteenth century, their persecution commenced in
Spain. King Ferdinand, who esteemed it a good work to expatriate useful
and profitable subjects—Jews, and even Moorish families—could much less
be guilty of an impropriety in laying hands on the mischievous progeny of
the Gipseys. The edict for their extermination was published in the year
1492. But, instead of passing the boundaries, they slunk into
hiding-places, and shortly after appeared every-where in as great numbers
as before. The emperor Charles V. persecuted them afresh; as did Philip
II. also. Since that time they have nestled in again, and were left
unmolested till about twenty years ago, when they were threatened with
another storm; but it blew over, without taking effect.
In France, Francis I. passed an edict for their expulsion; and at the
assembly of the States of Orleans, in 1561, all governors of cities
received orders to drive them away with fire and sword. Nevertheless, in
process of time they had collected again, and increased to such a degree,
that in 1612 a new order came out for their extermination.
In Italy, their situation has been equally precarious. In the year 1572
they were compelled to retire from the territories of Milan and Parma;
and at a period somewhat earlier they were chased beyond the Venetian
jurisdiction.
England first endeavoured to disburthen itself of them in the year 1531,
under Henry VIII: but as the act passed for that purpose fell into
disregard, a new one was published in the reign of Elizabeth.
They were not allowed the privilege of remaining unmolested in Denmark,
as the code of Danish laws specifies: “The Tartars (Gipseys) who wander
about every-where, doing great damage to the people, by their lies,
thefts, and witchcraft, shall be taken into custody by every magistrate.”
Sweden has not been more favourable, having at three different times
attacked them. A very sharp order for their explusion came out in the
year 1662. The diet of 1723 published a second: and that of 1727
repeated the foregoing, with additional severity.
They were excluded from the Netherlands under pain of death, partly by
Charles V. and partly afterwards by the United Provinces in 1582.
Finally, the greatest number of sentences of exile have been pronounced
against them in Germany. As well imperial decrees, as those of
particular princes, have been repeatedly issued, for removing these
people. The beginning was made, under Maximilian I. at the Augsburgh
diet in 1500; where the following article was drawn up: “Respecting those
people who call themselves Gipseys, roving up and down the country—By
public edict, to all ranks of the empire, according to the obligations
under which they are bound to Us and the Holy Empire, it is strictly
ordered, that in future they do not permit the said Gipseys (since there
is authentic evidence of their being spies, scouts, and conveyers of
intelligence, betraying the Christians to the Turks) to pass or remain
within their territories, nor to trade or traffic; neither to grant them
protection nor convoy. And that the said Gipseys do withdraw themselves,
before Easter next ensuing, from the German dominions, entirely quit
them, nor suffer themselves to be found therein: as in case they should
transgress after that time, and receive injury from any person, they
shall have no redress, nor shall such person be thought to have committed
any crime.” The same business occupied the attention of the diet in
1530, 1544–48–51; and was also again enforced in the improved police
regulation of Frankfort in 1577.
Several princes were however so little attentive to these orders of the
empire, that, instead of endeavouring to drive out the Gipseys, they, on
the other hand, furnished them with passports and safe-conducts: others,
on the contrary, and by far the greatest number, exerted themselves to
the utmost to clear their states of this vermin, and some still continue
the same watchfulness.
Hence it appears how universally the opinion was adopted, that banishing
the Gipseys was the only method to be secure from their malignity.
Perhaps there is not one civilised state, Hungary and Transylvania
excepted, where this remedy has not been tried: but whether it be as
expedient as it has been hitherto general, is much to be doubted.
In the first place, it had very little effect, and that little was only
temporary. Even if every civilised nation had driven out the Gipseys at
the same time, Europe could not have been entirely cleared of them, so
long as they preserved an asylum in Turkey. Now, as experience evinces
there is no country in which a constant equal attention is paid to the
execution of the laws, they would, in more or less time, have again
insinuated themselves into the neighbouring countries; from these into
others; and recommenced where they had left off. But a general
extermination never did happen: for the law for banishing them passed in
one state before it was thought of in the next, or when a like order had
long become obsolete and sunk into oblivion. These desirable guests
were, therefore, merely compelled to shift their quarters to an adjoining
state, where they remained till the government began to clear them away;
upon which the fugitives either retired back whence they came, or went on
progressively to a third place, thus making a continual revolution.
Secondly, this remedy was premature: endeavouring to exterminate was the
same as if a surgeon should proceed directly to the amputation of a
diseased limb, because it created inconvenience to the rest of the body.
Whereas the first enquiry ought to be, Whether the disorder were of such
a nature, as not to be removed but by entire separation? This is a
desperate course, and should only be adopted when no other can be
efficacious. Though it be proved that the Gipseys had occasioned ever so
much mischief, it was not impossible that they might cease to be such
pernicious beings: at least there had never been any trial made, by which
this impossibility could be ascertained. Men may be formed to any thing.
Had proper means been used for their civilisation, it is highly probable
the event would have proved that they were not incapable of becoming
better. If several Gipseys, at different times, have voluntarily emerged
from their savageness, how much more likely is it that the remainder
might have been altered, had they received such aids as their necessities
required?—But expelling the Gipseys entirely was not merely a premature
step; it was,
Thirdly, a wasteful one. This may perhaps appear strange, but is
indisputable, so long as the state maxim holds good—that a numerous
population is the most advantageous. It is allowed that a state would
not lose any thing by the Gipseys, as Gipseys; on the contrary, it would
be a gainer, because an obstacle to the general welfare would be removed:
but this is not the matter in question. If the Gipsey do not know how to
make use of the faculties with which nature has endowed him; let the
state teach him, and keep him in leading-strings till the end is
attained. And though the root of this depravity lie so deep, that it
cannot be removed in the first generation, a continuation of the same
care will, in the second and third descent, be sure of meeting its
reward. Now let us reflect on a Gipsey when he has discontinued his
vagrant mode of living—consider him with his fecundity and numerous
family, who by being reformed are made useful citizens—and we shall
perceive how great a want of economy it was to throw him away as dross.
Nearly the same idea has occurred to other authors; at least they so far
agree in what has been advanced, that they advise rendering the Gipseys
useful: only the means they recommend are liable to powerful objections.
They think the state might make public slaves, or penitentiaries, of
these people, and put them to all kinds of work. But such dependants,
even supposing them to be employed in the most beneficial way, are always
a nuisance and burthen to a state. Besides, in the above scheme, there
is no proposal made for the bettering these people: they must, therefore,
remain under the restraint of convicts, from generation to generation.
And, if allowed to increase, what could be done at last with this
multitude and their brood? Would not whole districts be required, merely
to turn the thousands of these wretches into? Moreover, what an expense
and inconvenience to superintend them! Plausible, therefore, as that
proposal appears at the first glance, little will it stand the test of a
closer examination.
Banishment was not the proper method to be adopted; nor would it have
been adviseable to make them penitentiaries or galley-slaves: but care
should have been taken to enlighten their understandings, and to mend
their hearts.
However, what has been hitherto omitted, there is still time enough to
execute. Few, or scarcely any, of the larger states are so entirely
cleared of Gipseys, that these people may not here and there be found by
hundreds, in most countries by thousands. The periods when the first
sentences of banishment were pronounced, were too unphilosophical for any
preferable mode of punishment to be suggested: but it may be expected,
from a more informed age, that better maxims will be adopted. We send
apostles to the East and West, to the most distant parts of the earth,
and, as will be hereafter shewn, into the very country whence the Gipseys
migrated, in order to instruct the people who know not God. Is it not
inconsistent for men to be solicitous for the welfare of their
fellow-creatures in distant regions, and to throw off and leave to chance
those who, equally wretched, have brought their errors home to us? If it
be a good work, to teach religion and virtue to such as are ignorant of
their Creator, why not begin with those nearest to us? especially as
neglect, in this particular, is attended with detriment to society in
general. The Gipseys have been long enough among civilised people, to
prove that they will not be allured, by the mere example of others, to
free themselves from the fetters of old customs and vices. In order to
accomplish that end, foreign and more effectual help is requisite. It
were vain to hope for any considerable progress with those who are grown
up; it would be sufficient, by compulsion, to make them quit their
unsettled manner of life, and, by instruction and teaching, to convey a
glimmering of light to their understanding, and produce some amelioration
of the heart. Proper care being taken of the education of the children,
society would be more likely to have its endeavours crowned with success.
CHAPTER XV.
_Essay on the Improvement of the Gipseys_.
IT would be a lamentable case, if the before-mentioned regulations were
merely pious wishes. Let us hope something better! The work has been
commenced;—a great empress, Theresa, laid down a plan to win over these
poor unfortunate people to virtue and the state. But it is to be
regretted, that the execution of her wise dispositions, respecting the
Gipseys in Hungary, seems to have been entrusted to people inadequate to
the task.
What was done, in her time, towards the accomplishment of this work, may
be seen by the following article, extracted from the Newspaper already
often quoted, called _Anzeigen aus den Kayserl_. _Königl_. _Erbländern_
(Intelligence from the Hereditary Imperial Royal Dominions): “Since the
year 1768, several decrees regarding these people have been published in
the country (Hungary), and the strictest orders dispatched to the several
districts in consequence. They were prohibited from dwelling in huts or
tents; from wandering up and down the country; from dealing in horses;
from eating animals which died naturally, and carrion; and from electing
their own wayda or judge. It was intended to extirpate the very name and
language of these folks, out of the country. They were no longer to be
called Gipseys, but New Boors (Uj Magyar); not to converse any longer
with each other in their own language, but in that of any of the
countries in which they had chosen to reside. Some months were to be
allowed, after which time they were to quit their Gipsey manner of life,
and settle, like the other inhabitants, in cities or villages; to build
decent houses, and follow some reputable business. They were to procure
boors’ clothing, to commit themselves to the protection of some
territorial superior, and live regularly. Such as were fit for soldiers,
to be enlisted into regiments.” Nevertheless, although these regulations
were calculated entirely for the good of these people and the state, the
greatest part were not in the smallest degree benefited by them. The
effect which was produced gave occasion, in the year 1773, for these
orders not only to be repeated, but made more rigid; and as even this
measure would not answer the end, it was then thought necessary to
proceed to extremity with them. Wherefore it was ordered, That no Gipsey
should have permission to marry, who could not prove himself in condition
to support a wife and children: that from such Gipseys who had families,
the children should be taken away by force, removed from their parents,
relations, and intercourse with the Gipsey race, to have a better
education given them. A beginning was made in some places; and where
they would not comply voluntarily, they were compelled to submit to the
decree. At Fahlendorf in Schütt, and in the district of Pressburg, all
the children of the New Boors (Gipseys) above five years old, were
carried away in waggons during the night of the 21st of December, 1773,
by overseers appointed for that purpose; in order that, at a distance
from their parents or relations, they might be more usefully educated,
and become accustomed to work. Those boors who were willing to receive
and bring up these children, were paid eighteen guilders yearly from
government. On the 24th of April, 1774, between five and six o’clock in
the morning, the children of the Gipseys, which had been growing up from
December of the foregoing year, were again removed from Fahlendorf in
Schütt and Hideghid, for the purpose of being put under the same course
of discipline as the others. Among the children taken away on this
occasion, was a girl fourteen years old, who was forced to submit to be
carried off in her bridal state. She tore her hair for grief and rage,
and was quite beside herself with agitation: but she recovered a composed
state of mind; and, in 1776, in Fasching, obtained permission to
accomplish her marriage.
So far our intelligence quoted from the Gazettes; by which we may see how
prudently every thing was concerted. It is true, the means here used are
compulsory; but such measures were necessary, and the only ones capable
of insuring success. Moreover, it may at the same time be observed,
although the publisher of this information endeavours to conceal it, how
little these salutary regulations were put in force: there were scarcely
two places in the kingdom, where even an endeavour was made to give them
proper effect. This supineness must have been unknown to the emperor
Joseph, or he would certainly have again enforced them, to all chiefs and
governors, at the same time that he gave orders for their being observed
in Transylvania.
The tenor of the decree just mentioned, which was published in the year
1782, was consonant with the intention of Theresa with regard to the
Hungarian Gipseys, namely, that those also in Transylvania should become
better men, and more useful inhabitants. For the accomplishment of
which, it prohibits their wandering about and living under tents;
requires that they become settled, and put themselves under some
territorial chief. In order to strike immediately at the root of the
evil, necessary and minute directions are given for the improvement of
their religious ideas and opinions, and, by correcting their vicious
habits, for rendering them good citizens. First, with respect to
religion, they must
1. Not only be taught the principles of religion themselves, but send
their children early to school:
2. Prevent, as much as possible, their children from running about
naked, in the house, the roads, and streets, thereby giving offense and
disgust to other people:
3. In their dwellings, not permit their children to sleep
promiscuously by each other, without distinction of sex:
4. Diligently attend at church, particularly on Sundays and holidays,
to give proof of their Christian disposition:
5. Put themselves under the guidance of spiritual teachers, and
conduct themselves conformably to the rules laid down by them.
Secondly, with regard to their temporal conduct and better mode of
living, they are bound
1. To conform to the custom of the country, in diet, dress, and
language: consequently to abstain from feeding on cattle which have
died of distempers; not to go about in such unseemly dresses; and to
discontinue the use of their own particular language:
2. Not to appear any more in large cloaks, which are chiefly useful to
hide things that have been stolen.
3. No Gipsey, except he be a goldwasher, shall keep a horse: also the
goldwashers
4. Must refrain from all kinds of bartering at the annual fairs.
5. The magistrates of every place must be very attentive, that no
Gipsey waste his time in idleness: but at those seasons when they have
no employment, either for themselves or any landholder, recommend them
to some other person, with whom they shall be compelled to work for
hire.
6. They are to be kept, particularly, to agriculture; therefore
7. It is to be observed, where possible, that every territorial lord
who takes any Gipseys under his jurisdiction, do allot them a certain
piece of ground to cultivate:
8. Whoever is remiss in his husbandry, shall be liable to corporal
punishment:
9. They shall only be permitted to amuse themselves with music, or
other things, when there is no field work to be done.
Such were the regulations wisely adopted by the emperor Joseph, for the
purpose of civilising, and rendering good and profitable citizens,
upwards of eighty thousand miserable wretches, ignorant of God and
virtue. It must be regretted that similar measures have not been used in
the other countries of Europe, where these people still remain wandering
in error, and scarcely deserving to be considered as human beings.
SECTION II.
ON THE ORIGIN OF THE GIPSEYS.
CHAPTER I.
_The first Appearance of Gipseys in Europe_.
NO record is to be found, stating in what year, or in what part of
Europe, Gipseys made their first appearance. But it is to be premised,
what will afterwards be investigated, that they did not originate in our
quarter of the globe; on the contrary, that they strayed hither, as
oriental strangers, either from Egypt, Asia Minor, or some other part: we
shall then examine, whether it be not possible, by means of what is
related in old writings concerning the first observance of them in
different countries, to follow the track so as to ascertain where and
when they first set foot on European ground.
Mention is made of them in Germany so early as the year 1417, when they
appeared in the vicinity of the North Sea. A year afterwards we find
them also in Switzerland and the country of the Grisons. In 1422 they
likewise appeared in Italy. It is unknown what was the earliest period
at which they were observed in France and Spain: but their appearance in
these countries must have been of later date than in Germany, as is
proved in respect to France, by the name Bohemians, which they bear
there. In regard to Spain, Cordova, in order to contradict some surmises
about the Gipseys’ mother country, uses the argument, that they were
known in Germany prior to either Spain or Italy. The French make the
first mention of them in 1427, when they straggled about Paris, having
arrived there on the 17th day of August in that year.
From what country did they come into Germany?—Muratori thinks, from
Italy: but how unfounded this opinion is, appears clearly from their
coming to that country after they had been in Germany. The Bologna
Chronicle ascertains the time when Italy became acquainted with these
people. The horde therein mentioned, which arrived in that city on the
18th of July, 1422, consisted of about a hundred men; whose leader’s, or
(as they called him) duke’s, name, was Andreas. They travelled from
Bologna to Forli, intending to proceed to pay the Pope a visit at Rome.
Muratori founds his judgment on this chronicle, not knowing that Gipseys
are spoken of in the German prints five years earlier.
Still less true is what Majolus asserts, that they came from Spain, and
first entered the German territories in the year 1492, when they were
driven out of Spain by Ferdinand the Catholic. Hungary is certainly the
country whence they came into Germany. Not only the time confirms this
conjecture, as we find them in Hungary in 1417, the very same year in
which they were first observed in Germany, but Aventin expressly mentions
Hungary among the countries from which he supposes them to come.
In this state our examination rests, in regard to whether they came
immediately into Germany, or first appeared stationary in some other
place.
That Poland should be the country which harboured the first Gipseys, and
that they spread thence into Wallachia, Transylvania, and other
countries, is a mere arbitrary surmise. The writer (J. G. Eccard) who
advances this opinion, appeals to Münster’s intelligence, but that does
not contain a syllable in confirmation of it. Others, with the greatest
confidence, maintain that Wallachia and Moldavia, where they also
wandered about in 1417, are the places in which they made their first
appearance in Europe. Cantemir, on the contrary, is very undecided,
saying, “Whence, or at what time, this nation arrived in Moldavia,
neither do they know themselves nor is there any mention made in our
annual publications.” However, the second opinion seems to approach very
near the truth, but does not point out the particular province in which
the Gipseys were first observed;—Of what use would that be? But one
information, compared with other circumstances, is of so much assistance
here, that we may, without hesitation, pronounce Turkey to be the country
whence these eastern guests found their way to us. This is
probable—First, because Aventin expressly makes Turkey their original
place of rendezvous: secondly, as this explains why the south-east parts
of Europe are most crowded with Gipseys, as before stated (vide p. 7).
It happened in Turkey, as in every other place through which they passed,
that many of these wanderers remained behind; now, as all that came to
Europe passed by this route, whether at once or in different divisions,
it was possible, indeed a necessary consequence, that a greater number
should continue here, than in the different countries where their hordes
were much divided and diminished.
The time when they arrived, has been as little certified, as the
particular place where they landed. Perhaps, the before-quoted chronicle
of Bologna may afford some insight into this matter. It relates, as
appears by the context, from the mouth of the leader of the horde which
it describes, that these people had been five years wandering about in
the world, previously to their arrival at Bologna. Now, if this account
is to be depended on, they cannot have arrived in Europe earlier than the
year 1417. But before attaching credit to this relation, we are to
consider, whether the author of it be deserving of credit. To place any
confidence in Gipsey narrations, in general, would be very imprudent; as
there are too many proofs that their sayings are mere nonsense, and
contradictory prattle: but the case in question seems to be an exception.
All the inconsistency and falshoods which the Gipseys reported,
concerning whence they came, with the reasons for their wandering, have
an end in view. But with regard to time, if they knew, they are more to
be trusted, as no injury could be expected to result from the knowledge
of a mere date. Now, the inference to be drawn is, that the leader of a
horde might not only know how long he had retired from Egypt, or Asia
Minor, and travelled about in Europe, as the time had been short; but it
may also be supposed, that he said what he knew. In the mean time, we
will compare this cited term, of five years, with other circumstances,
and see whether they make for or against our argument. The first enquiry
would be, Whether there are any earlier authentic accounts of their
appearance in Europe, than 1417? But we do not find such any-where.
{113} The second question to be decided is, Whether, if they were not
seen towards the Black Sea before 1417, they could in one year’s time
have reached the North Sea? This doubt requires little consideration. A
year was quite sufficient for people like the Gipseys, who never tarried
long in a place, to have migrated even far beyond where they were found.
Again, if they were not in Moldavia and Wallachia earlier than the year
1417, and yet appeared during the same year in the neighbourhood of the
North Sea, what great difference would it make if they came from a
province next beyond Moldavia or Wallachia, travelling a few miles
further to arrive at the same place? It is therefore very credible that
1417 was the period of their arrival.
Although, immediately after their coming into Germany, they spread so
rapidly, that in 1418 their names were recorded in the annual
publications of almost every part of the country, yet particular places
seem to have been favoured by them. Thus, in Bavaria they were not
noticed till 1433; and they must have very quickly withdrawn themselves
from these parts, as six years afterwards it was remarked, as somewhat
new and extraordinary, that in this year (1439) the Gipseys, a pack of
scoundrels, a vagrant gang, were come into that country, with their king,
whose name was Zundl.
They did not travel together, but in different hordes, each having its
leader, sometimes called count: at other times their leaders were
dignified with the titles of dukes or kings of Lesser Egypt. One horde
which arrived at Augsburgh in 1419, although it consisted of only seventy
men, had even two of these dukes, beside some counts, with them. But
what sort of creatures these great men among the Gipseys were, has been
explained in another place. (Vide p. 72, _& seq._)
If Stumpf be right, the number of these people must have been very
considerable. Those alone who came into Switzerland in 1718, women and
children included, were estimated at 14000. But here he, or his
authority, seems to have greatly miscounted. It is true, that he
likewise remarks, they did not keep all together, but went about in
separate parties; notwithstanding this, his account is much to be
doubted. By what is to be found concerning particular hordes, there were
none which exceeded one or at most two hundred. That which went to
Augsburgh in 1419 consisted of but seventy men: therefore if they had
been so numerous as Stumpf asserts, there must have been at least a
hundred such hordes dispersed through Switzerland. It was at this time
(1418) that Gipseys were first seen at Zurich; they were a swarm, whose
leader’s name was Michael. Four years had elapsed before they were known
at Basil—part of the very horde of this Michael. Would not some other
tribe have got to Basil before these, if they had been so numerous?
Thomasius adopts this number of 14000 without suspicion, and understands
it to comprehend the whole multitude all over Germany; but then he does
not appear to have quoted Stumpf’s testimony in the sense it was meant.
Many hordes of them must certainly have arrived, as they spread
every-where so prodigiously; but to persist in any nearer investigation
of their numbers, would be only useless trouble.
Their possessions were, as at present, small, and their whole arrangement
singular; besides which, according to the Eastern custom, they hung
ragged clothes about them, instead of other garments. Their leaders only
were exceptions. Several had horses, asses, or mules, with them, on
which they loaded their tents, and effects, with the whole family into
the bargain. They had also dogs in their train, with which Kranz asserts
they used illegally to destroy game: but probably the dogs were kept not
so much for that purpose, as to take fowls and geese.
CHAPTER II.
_On the Sanctity_, _Passports_, _and Difference_, _of the former from the
latter Gipseys_.
AT the first arrival of the Gipseys in Europe, it was generally believed
that they were Egyptians and pilgrims, constrained to wander on account
of religion. This mistake originated from their own relation; but when
required to give a more circumstantial detail of the reasons for their
pilgrimage, they varied very much from each other. Some of them declared
that they were compelled to make this emigration as an atonement for
their forefathers having, for some time, apostatised from the Christian
faith: others asserted that the king of Hungary had seized their country,
and imposed on them this penance of wandering. A third party represented
that God had signified to them the necessity of this pilgrimage, by an
universal sterility in their country. They supposed this punishment to
have been inflicted on account of sin committed by their ancestors, in
refusing to receive the infant Jesus, when carried by his Mother and
Joseph to Egypt, as an asylum from the persecution of Herod. The term of
their pilgrimage was to be seven years.
No evidence is necessary to determine that these were mere fables; and it
is astonishing that men should be found to adduce long-winded proofs of
the origin of these people, grounded on no better authority than such
idle tales. We have not now any positive grounds remaining, to shew how
these legends were invented, or what gave rise to them; but the real
truth seems to be merely, that upon being asked whence they came, they
answered from Egypt; and there is no reason existing to deny their having
come from that country. Now priests, monks, or perhaps other people,
might wonder why they should quit a place to which the holy family had
fled for refuge, unless their forefathers had been guilty of some
transgression on that occasion; but, be this as it may, all that could be
said, with regard to the origin of their legends, would be only mere
conjecture. Let it therefore suffice to say, they chose to be considered
everywhere as pilgrims; and this profession met with the more ready
belief, as it coincided with the infatuation of the times.
The credulity with which people cherished the idea that the Gipseys were
real pilgrims and holy persons was attended with the consequence, that
they were not only tolerated, but, if the information on this head may be
relied on, they everywhere received assistance, with express
safe-conducts. These safe-conducts are mentioned in several old
writings. Münster declares, not merely, in general terms, that they
carried about with them passports and seals from the Emperor Sigismund
and other princes, by means of which they had free passage through
different countries and cities, but that he had himself seen an attested
copy of such a letter, in the possession of some Gipseys at Eberbach.
Besides Kranz, Stumpf, and Guler, Laurentius Palmirenus also agrees in
this statement; but the latter writer is guilty of a mistake, in
confounding the Emperor Sigismund with Sigismund king of Poland. The
Gipseys at Bologna, likewise, shewed an instrument from Sigismund; but he
appears to have granted this to them, not as emperor, and in Germany, but
in Hungary, and as king of Hungary. A pass of another king of Hungary,
Uladislaus II. which the Gipseys obtained chiefly on account of their
supposed sanctity and pilgrimage, might be quoted. They were not
destitute in Transylvania, if it be true, as asserted, that they received
this sort of letters of protection from the princes of the house of
Bathory. Wehner says, that the Gipseys in France likewise quoted ancient
privileges, granted to them by the former kings of that country.
Crusius, Wurstisen, and Guler, mention papal permissions, which these
people acquired, for wandering, unmolested, through all Christian
countries, so long as the time of their pilgrimage lasted.
This is the information we find, dispersed here and there, concerning the
privileges and passes of the Gipseys. To how much, or how little, are we
to give credit? Thomasius believes every thing as it stands. Ahasuerus
Fritsch, on the contrary, declares all to be lies, and the Gipseys’ own
invention. Appearances are certainly equivocal, as none of these
instruments are even verbally handed down to us, so that they can be
properly proved; except that of Uladislaus II. which does not belong to
this question. Moreover, it has been frequently experienced, that the
Gipseys, using the pretence of such safe-conducts, have committed all
manner of excesses, and when desired to produce them, had either nothing
to shew, or such kind of papers as did not at all resemble what are
usually given from a public office. It cannot be denied that they have
practised deceit, but it is impossible to assert, with certainty, that
the whole was fallacy. If the contents of that passport to be found in
Muratori is conceived in such terms as to allow the horde which possessed
it to wander about seven years, to rob and steal every-where, without any
person being permitted to bring them to justice, such a letter seems to
carry falshood on the very face of it, as no sensible prince could ever
grant such a one. But what shall we say, if it be found that these words
do not so much convey the sense of the instrument, as a crafty
explanation of the author, on recollecting the many irregularities
practised by the Gipseys, who availed themselves of this freedom to
travel about every-where unmolested. Further, with respect to the
passport which Münster perused at Eberbach, although every person must
look upon the reasons given by the Gipseys for their emigration as
fictions, yet we cannot entirely reject it. How could it benefit them,
being old and having lost its validity many years ago? Why did not the
horde to which it belonged carry with them some writing that might afford
them present protection? If they had been guilty of any knavery about
this letter, why was it just of that kind as could only serve,
incontrovertibly, to prove they were cheats? These documents would
certainly not have been found among them, had they not been transmitted,
from their parents and ancestors, as things of value. Supposing this
matter to have been invented by themselves, it is difficult to conceive
why they should confine their privileges to seven years, and not rather
leave them unlimited. But there are other proofs of the authenticity of
such letters. First, they were looked upon as pilgrims; and it was quite
conformable to the custom of those superstitious times to grant to
pilgrims, as holy people, all sorts of passes, and safe-conducts.
Secondly, we must believe that this did happen with the Gipseys, when we
read with what chagrin Aventin mentions their thefts and excesses,
concluding thus: “Robbing and stealing are prohibited to others, under
pain of hanging or beheading, but these people have licence for them.”
When, thirdly, in the decree of the diet at Augsburgh anno 1500, all
ranks of people in the empire are strictly enjoined, in future, not to
permit the people called Gipseys to travel through their countries and
districts, nor to grant them any further ‘protection and convoy,’ it
certainly implies that people had formerly granted them such protection
and convoy. Whoever has still any doubts remaining, may read, fourthly,
in a decree of the empire of fifty years later date, a regular complaint
preferred on account of the passports granted by various princes to the
Gipseys, and which are, by that diet, declared to be null and void. All
these circumstances together will not, it may be presumed, allow the
shadow of a doubt to remain, that such letters of convoy have been really
granted to the Gipseys. {132}
The Gipseys’ golden age lasted a considerable time; but when about half a
century had elapsed, and people began to look at them with a watchful
eye, the old prejudices gave way. They endeavoured to prolong the term,
by asserting, that their return home was prevented by soldiers stationed
to intercept them, and by wishing to have it believed that new parties of
pilgrims were to leave their country every year, otherwise their land
would be rendered totally barren. All this was of no avail; people saw
too clearly, that, instead of holy pilgrims, they were the mere refuse of
humanity: upon which followed the sentences of banishment, we have before
mentioned.
Before we proceed to other matters, it will be proper to say a few words
respecting an assertion in some writings, that the latter Gipseys differ
very widely from those who went about during the first seven years, both
with respect to their conduct and descent. Stumpf, for instance, and
others after him, relate, that these first Gipseys were very orderly and
decent, did no harm to any one, but paid ready money for what they
consumed; for which purpose they received fresh remittances constantly:
and at the expiration of seven years they returned home. Afterwards an
idle desperate crew united, who, when the Gipseys were withdrawn, took
their place; and, by blackening their faces, at the same time using the
like outlandish garments, endeavoured to persuade the world that they
were the identical Egyptians.
This is all related with so much appearance of veracity, that, at the
first view, no doubt would seem to remain of its truth; wherefore
Thomasius readily adopted the whole, and founded his system about the
Gipseys upon it: but upon closer examination, we shall find that the
statement is totally void of foundation.
This proceeding, we acknowledge, is recorded in four different annual
publications; but all the four amount to only a single testimony, which
rests entirely upon Stumpf, from whom the other three have drawn their
assertions. Let it remain, as Thomasius will have it, an old manuscript
account or chronicle; it is still evident that the favourable description
of the ancient Gipseys originates from the same prejudice as first
produced their passports. And even these passports may have contributed
to recommend the first Gipseys. They have had so much effect on
Thomasius, that all the good he has given the above-mentioned primitive
Gipseys credit for, has been principally owing to them.
When Stumpf, or rather his authority, mentions, with other circumstances,
that the earlier Gipseys received remittances from time to time out of
their own country, it was a necessary addition, to support the editor’s
opinion: as the reader, who was to believe that these people did not
steal, but paid money for every thing they wanted, would have been
sceptical had he not been informed beforehand where the money came from,
in order to provide for their necessities, in an honest way, during the
term of seven years.
With regard to the latter Gipseys, they were certainly lineal descendants
from the former: who were undoubtedly, equally with these, thieves,
cheats, and vagrants. The uprightness and honesty falsely allowed to the
Gipseys, in the manuscript chronicle which Stumpf copied, might, even
before Stumpf’s time, have induced the continuator of this chronicle to
believe, on finding his cotemporary Gipseys lived very differently from
what had been represented of their predecessors, that the former were not
the true Egyptians: he accordingly wrote down his surmise, not by way of
conjecture, but as positive truth, and Stumpf, in his Annual Register,
afterwards quoted it as such. Whoever does not allow this, but considers
the latter Gipseys in the light that Stumpf represents them, must be
ready to answer, when called upon to solve, the following doubt:—How was
it possible that a collection of rascals assembled in Europe, supposing
that with respect to complexion and clothing they should be able to
transform themselves into real Gipseys, could at once acquire foreign
countenances, speak a foreign language, and, both in constitution and
turn of mind, become perfectly oriental; and at the same time contract a
taste and desire for carrion, which remain with them to this day? It
cannot be denied but that some depraved people have associated themselves
with the Gipseys: but particular instances are not proofs of general
maxims.
CHAPTER III.
_Presumed Origin of the Gipseys_.
IT would be equally useless, prolix, and revolting, to reconsider the
multitude of conjectures which the questions—“What race of people are the
Gipseys?” and—“Where are we to look for their true mother country?” have
occasioned. The greatest part of them are of such a nature, that they
need only be heard to be totally rejected. We shall nevertheless produce
some examples, as an excuse for passing over the rest in silence.
Various conjectures have been formed, and coincidences have been searched
for, to obtain a solution of these queries. Some persons adverted to
this or that name only of the Gipseys, without attending to other
circumstances. Because they were likewise called Gipseys (_Cingani_),
they must immediately derive their origin from the Grecian heretics,
called Athingans: then again they must have wandered from the African
province formerly called Zeugitana. {137} Another time they are supposed
to be the fugitives driven from the city Singara, in Mesopotamia, by
Julian the Apostate: others again transplanted them to Mount Caucasus,
and made them Zochori; or to the Palus Mæotis, making them descendants
from the Ziches. {138} Some people imagined that instead of Zigeuner,
they should be called Zigarener, which they thought a corruption of
Saracener, and they must certainly be Saracens. Another writer (to
return to Africa) conducts them from the Mauritanian province Tingitane,
and supposes them to be the Canaanites, who, being driven out by Joshua,
settled here. Still another brings them from Mauritania, and, to
corroborate his opinion by the name, calls them descendants of Chus; as
he thinks nothing can have a greater affinity in sound, than Zigeuner and
Chusener. Herbelot judges the coast of Zengebar to be their mother
country. Bellonius, on the contrary, looks for them in Bulgaria and
Wallachia, where their ancestors are said to have lived, under the name
Sigynner. Cordova stumbled on Zigere, formerly a city of Thrace, which
he assigns as their native soil. Some people fancied they had heard that
the Gipseys called themselves More, and often used the name _amori_ among
one another (not _amori_, but _Discha more_—Get out, fellow!) and now
they are Amorites!
Another party, besides this or that appellation for the Gipseys,
considered their unsettled way of life, or selected some particular
circumstance from their manners, by which they decided concerning their
origin. Wherefore they were sometimes torlaques, faquirs, or kalendars;
{139} sometimes the remains of Attila’s Huns, at other times the Avari,
who were vanquished by Charles the Great: then again Petschenegers, who
played their last stake in the twelfth century; or perhaps a mixture of
all kinds of rascally people gathered together, having collectively no
certain country, as their name _Zigeuner_ indicates, signifying, ‘to
wander up and down;’—for which reason, it is said, our German ancestors
denominated every strolling vagrant Zichegan. By several writers they
have been thought inhabitants of the Alps and Pyrenées; others suppose
them to be Cain’s descendants, who, on account of the curse denounced
against their stock, have been compelled to lead a wandering vagrant
life. Because they pretend to tell fortunes, some have supposed them to
be Chaldeans, or some Syrian religious sect. Brodæus formed his judgment
from their clothes, in which he thought he discovered a resemblance to
the Roman toga; and thence he imagined they were natives of Wallachia,
descendants from the colony sent by Trajan into Dacia to keep this
newly-conquered country steady in its allegiance. And, according to his
assertion, people in Germany do really call them _Wahlen_ (he writes
_Walachen_), that is to say, _Italians_.
All these opinions are merely conjecture; it would therefore be useless
to proceed with the list of them: but it may be proper to cite a few
which seem to have a greater appearance of probability. Let us begin
with Wagenseil. He considers the Gipseys to be German Jews; who about
the middle of the fourteenth century, to escape the dreadful persecution
which raged against them all over Europe, especially in Germany, secreted
themselves in forests, {141} deserts, and subterraneous caverns. In
these hiding-places they remained above half a century, not making their
appearance again till the period of the Hussites: as the Hussish heresy
then engrossed the public attention, with regard to the Jews all was
safe. But not daring to declare themselves, they fell on the device of
saying, that their respect for the Mosaic law would not permit them to
become Christians, at the same time styling themselves, in general terms,
Egyptian pilgrims. Those who did not yet know what they were, nor whence
they came, from their wandering about (_einherzichen_) called them
Gipseys (_Zigeuner_). To establish this supposition respecting the
origin of the Gipseys, he refers to their language, which he says is a
mixture of German and Hebrew, quoting, in proof of his assertion, near
fifty words, which are evidently Hebrew. He then asks, Whence should the
Gipseys have gotten so many Hebrew words into their language, if they
were not Jews; at a time too when Hebrew was unknown to all other
nations?—This opinion bears infinitely more the appearance of truth, than
any one of those before cited. It must also have been deemed
incontrovertible by the learned author, as he mentions it, in the
introduction to his treatise, with great confidence, and as much
self-congratulation as if he had discovered the philosopher’s-stone.
Notwithstanding all this, the confutation is so short and easy, that very
few words are sufficient to overturn the whole system; which rests
entirely on the language:—the words quoted are taken from a gibberish
vocabulary; but gibberish is not the Gipsey language. . . . What relates
to the Jewish persecution is very just; but all the rest are mere, and
frequently inconsistent, conjectures, founded on it by the learned
writer.
A later opinion is, that the Gipseys are a horde of Tartars, which
separated from the multitude under Timur, when he invaded western Asia,
about the year 1401. The supposed proofs are:—First, because the Mongols
(Mongols and Tartars are here reckoned one and the same people) are just
as nomadic as the Gipseys. Secondly, because these have sometimes
declared themselves to be Tartars. Thirdly, because the Gipsey king
mentioned by Aventin, whose name was Zundel or Zindelo, a Mongol chan,
was a descendant from the great Zingis: as Zindelo is a very easy change
from Zingis. Fourthly, because among the several states into which the
Mongol empire was divided after the death of Zingis, one was called
Dsongar, and the members of it Dsongari, which agrees perfectly with
Zingari. Fifthly, because the Tartar and Gipsey languages have a great
affinity to each other; for during a late war between Russia and the
Porte, a commander of Crim Tartars, by name Devlet Gueray, signalised
himself very much; and this Devlet is perhaps derived from Devla, the
Gipsey appellation for the Deity, and may be a name under which the
Tartars reverence any thing respectable. Sixthly, and lastly, because
the time of Timur’s expedition agrees very well with the first appearance
of the Gipseys.—This is an opinion founded on six points; and one might
add, in further conformation of it, that this hypothesis will reasonably
determine how the Gipseys, such poor wretches in general, came to be so
well stored with gold and silver at their first arrival in Europe, as
Stumpf and others assert. If they were part of Timur’s followers, it was
very likely to be plunder taken from the people they had conquered.
Of all these grounds, that adduced from the favourable concurrence of
chronological events has the most weight, but proves neither more nor
less than the bare possibility of the thing. With respect to the first
point, it is not so clearly established. The Tartars are herdsmen, and
the quality of the pasture for their cattle implies a fixed residence.
Gipseys, on the contrary, are ignorant as to tending cattle, nor have
they the smallest idea about breeding them. Further, whether they are
Tartars, because they represent themselves as such, or have been declared
such by other people; whether Zindelo is a Mongol chan, because his name
is easily derived from Zingis; whether the language of the Tartars bears
a near affinity to that of the Gipseys, because a native of Tartary was
found whose name, Devlet, is perhaps derived from the Gipsey word Devla,
and as that word among the Gipseys signifies God, it may possibly among
the Tartars signify something like it;—all this must be left to the
reader’s discretion. If such assertions are admitted for proofs, then
the Gipseys must be Bohemians, because they are called so in France.
Thus Chiflet must have been of Gipsey or Tartar descent, because his name
may possibly be derived from Devla or Devlet. The Franks, too, are
probably derived from the Trojans, because Pharamond, their king’s name,
may be formed from Priamus. Dsongari and Zingari compared with each
other do coincide, except that the latter is only the Latin termination
given by the learned. But, besides all this, if the Gipseys must be
Tartars at all events, where are the Tartars’ broad faces?—Where is their
courage?—Where are the zealous religious principles with which the
Tartars honour the Deity, and, upon occasion, fight for him? Finally,
with regard to language, this contradicts rather than supports the
opinion we are discussing. The language of the Tartars is Turkish; that
of the Gipseys is quite different, as will be hereafter proved.
As these and the like arguments rather controvert the Tartar origin of
the Gipseys, so can we as little agree with Mr. Pray, in supposing them
to be [Tartars] of Asia Minor, from the Countries of the ancient Zichen,
whose name the Gipseys are said to bear; nor with an older writer,
Ekhard, who contends that they are Circassians, terrified from their
habitations by Timur’s Mongols. Mr. Pray brings nothing further in
support of his surmise, than the similarity of sound in the names
Zigianer (Zichen or properly Zygier) and Zigeuner; together with the
circumstance, that the latter appeared among us soon after Timur’s
expedition into Asia Minor. Ekhard, on the contrary, who in like manner
unites the names Zigeuner and Circassier—by endeavouring to prove that
these, as possessors of the countries belonging to the Zichen, were by
authors indifferently styled Circassier, Zygier, and Zichen—adds
moreover, that the Circassian complexion was a brown yellow, exactly like
that of the Gipseys; that they both suffer their hair to hang loose over
the shoulders; that in their diet and clothes they are both equally
dirty; and lastly, that among the Circassians, you meet with astrology,
and all kinds of witchcraft, precisely the same as among the Gipseys.
But this comparison, were it even better founded than it is, would only
prove that you may make what you please of the Gipseys. Upon the same
ground, they might just as well be supposed to be allied to the people of
Otaheite, or any other uncivilised nation in any quarter of the globe.
And yet the author draws this conclusion from it, that one egg is not
more like another than the Circassian and the Gipsey; and he may
confidently assert, that all who before his time have been of a different
opinion, were mistaken.
We ought long ago to have spoken of the reputed Egyptian descent of the
Gipseys; but as that has been a very current, and almost universally
received, opinion, it merits a chapter by itself.
CHAPTER IV.
_On the Egyptian Descent of the Gipseys_.
THE belief that Gipseys are of Egyptian origin, is parallel with the
existence of these people in Europe. It arose from the report circulated
by the first of them who arrived here that they were pilgrims from Egypt;
and this statement has not only been universally adopted by the common
people, but has also, here and there, obtained credit among men of
learning. Had this opinion not been received at a time when every thing
was taken upon trust without examination; had it not been propagated
every-where by the first Gipseys, and obtained the sanction of time in
following ages; it would have been impossible for it to have gained such
general acceptation, or to have maintained itself even to the latest
times.
Till the seventeenth century, the Egyptian descent of the Gipseys rested
entirely on tradition. Thomasius was the first who endeavoured to
establish this matter on satisfactory evidence. Those who, since him,
have supported the same opinion, are principally the Englishman Salmon;
and, lately, Signor Griselini. Before their vouchers are produced, it
will be proper to mention that Thomasius speaks only of the Gipseys who
travelled about Europe during the first seven years after their arrival;
for he thinks that, after seven years were elapsed, these, excepting a
very few, returned home again, and after their retreat the present set
was produced, as has been already described. In this particular, he
differs entirely from the other two writers, making the latter Gipseys a
distinct race of people from those who first arrived. On the contrary,
Salmon, as well as Griselini, consider the Gipseys that are now wandering
in Europe, and with truth, as lineal descendants of the former,
consequently bring them all from Egypt.
Thomasius says: “The first Gipseys never would allow themselves to be any
people but Egyptians; asserting always, that the Lesser Egypt was their
mother country: and they deserve credit, as they were an honourable
worthy set of people.” One observation will be sufficient in
reply:—Among the oldest writers who, prior to Stumpf, mention the
Gipseys, not one seems to be acquainted with their worth. But Thomasius
himself discovered the weakness of his first argument, and therefore
hastens to another. “Be this as it may,” he proceeds, “they were in the
earliest times, when doubtless something more certain was extant, always
looked upon as Egyptians: so that it does not become us, who live two
hundred years later, positively to reject what was at that time generally
assented to.” Our author was not aware that this kind of reasoning
proves too much; for by the same mode of arguing, every antiquated error,
every ridiculous superstition, may be defended. If this be admitted,
Satan gets his cloven foot again, of which modern unbelief had bereft
him. Thus, Christian Thomasius acted unjustifiably when he laid violent
hands on witches and sorcerers, and put an end to their existence, though
credited from the highest antiquity. Thomasius imagines there were other
proofs, beside the Gipseys’ own assertions, that they were Egyptians;
this supposition, however, not only has nothing to support it, but is
openly contradicted by Aventin, Kranz, and Münster. It is not
authenticated because the chronicles universally mention it as a saying
of the Gipseys, whenever they speak of their coming from Egypt. It is
confuted by Aventin, who rejects their Egyptian descent; at the same time
he alledges, that they wished to be thought from that country. In his
time, nothing was known concerning them, but what came from their own
mouths: and those who thought them Egyptians, rested their belief
entirely on the veracity of their informants. This is collected with
greater certainty from Kranz and Münster; for these declare expressly,
that every thing which could be discovered, by any other means than their
own assertions, contradicted rather than confirmed their Egyptian
descent. Yet Thomasius has more proofs; he cites the resemblance between
the Gipseys and the inhabitants of the Lesser Egypt, whence they say they
came. But many people lay this difficulty in his way, that the name of
Lesser Egypt is not to be found in any system of geography, but is a mere
invention of the Gipseys. He rests his opinion on that of Vulcanius, who
looks upon Nubia to be the Lesser Egypt, and thinks, for what reason does
not appear, that the Nubians themselves called their country by that
name. These are the similarities:—Nubians, as well as Gipseys, confess
themselves Christians; both lead a wandering life, and both are of a dark
brown complexion: to which some resemblances in shape between the Gipseys
and Egyptians are introduced in general terms. Whether there be any
affinity in their languages he leaves undetermined, because, he says, he
knows nothing about it. That the name of Zigeuner is the same as
Egyptian, and the former is derived from the latter, he proves in the
following ingenious manner: “The Spaniards—who, instead of Egyptaner,
call them Gitanos—have cut off the first syllable. Our forefathers, who
exceeded the Spaniards in the art of mangling names, have rejected two
syllables, and, instead of Egyptianer, first called them Cianer,
afterwards, in order to fill up the chasm between _i_ and _a_, Ciganer.
Further, as we, instead of Italianer, say Italiener, we have also changed
Ciganer into Cigener; and at last, as people in Upper Germany are very
fond of diphthongs, Cigeuner, or Zigeuner, has been produced.” Now, if
any thing can be proved by all this, in the same manner the several
opinions quoted in the former chapter are likewise established. And yet,
after all, who will say, that, instead of Egyptier, Egyptianer, whence
Cianer, Ciganer, and thus progressively through all the changes, Zigeuner
may be produced? With regard to the denomination of Lesser Egypt, ranked
under the list of Gipsey fables, and brought as evidence to overset
Thomasius’s system, because Egypt never was divided into Greater and
Smaller, it is nevertheless a true geographical name, though certainly
not to be found in the treatises on geography: it however appears in the
title of a Turkish emperor. A declaration of war, made by Achmet IV.
against John Casimir, king of Poland, in 1652, begins with the following
words: “I sultan, a king and son of the Turkish emperor, a soldier of the
God of the Greeks and Babylonians—_king of the Greater and Lesser
Egypt_.” The Gipseys have therefore, in this instance, been falsely
accused of a fiction: but whether by this Lesser Egypt, Lower Egypt be
understood, cannot be determined.
Salmon believes the Gipseys to be Mamelukes, who were obliged to quit
Egypt in 1517, when the Turkish emperor conquered this country, and
thereby put an end to the Circassian government. They are reputed to
have acquired the name of Zigeuner, or in the Turkish language Zinganies,
from a Captain Zinganeus, who was very active in opposing the Turks. How
all this is proved, will best appear from his own words: “They had no
occasion for any testimony to shew they were of Egyptian descent. The
blackness of their skin clearly indicated from what part they came. What
confirms me, in my belief of this intelligence, concerning the origin of
the Gipseys, is an act of Parliament, passed in the twenty-seventh year
of the reign of Henry VIII.—that is, fourteen years after the victory
obtained by Selim emperor of the Turks over Egypt—in which are the
following words: _Whereas certain outlandish people_, _who do not profess
any craft or trade_, _whereby to maintain themselves_; _but go about_,
_in great numbers_, _from place to place_, _using insidious underhand
means to impose on his Majesty’s subjects_, _making them believe that
they understand the art of foretelling to men and women their good or ill
fortune_, _by looking in their hands_, _whereby they frequently defraud
people of their money_; _likewise are guilty of thefts and highway
robberies_: _it is hereby ordered_, _that __the said vagrants_, _commonly
called Egyptians_, _in case they remain one month in the kingdom_, _shall
be proceeded against as thieves and rascals_, _and on the importation of
any such Egyptian_, _he_ (_the importer_) _shall forfeit_ 40_l._ . . .
_for every trespass_.” He then quotes another act, passed during the
reign of Queen Elizabeth, wherein the Gipseys are also called Egyptians.
From the blackness of their skins, therefore, with the official use of
the name Egyptian, Salmon first draws the inference that they were really
Egyptians: then, because the first decree published against the Gipseys
in England was fourteen years after Selim’s conquest of Egypt, that they
were Mamelukes. There is not any connection to be discovered in either
conclusion. The Parliament used in the act the word Egyptian, because it
was universally current in England. Whether the Gipseys were Egyptians
or not, was a question of learning, totally irrelevant with the intention
of the order; nor could it be determined by any juridical decree.
There is still less reason for supposing them Mamelukes who had travelled
from Egypt on its being taken by Selim in 1517, and tracing their name
from one of their leaders: as both they and their name were known in
Europe at least a hundred years preceding the fall of Gäwry; or before
Tumanbai, the latest hope of the Mamelukes, was hanged. {154}
Griselini advances numerous reasons in support of his opinion, and would
certainly go a great way towards determining the Egyptian origin of the
Gipseys, if, as in most investigations, more did not depend upon the
quality than the number of the proofs. Yet he does not suppose them to
be genuine Egyptians; and for this reason, because the greatest number of
those resemblances which he has sought between Egyptians and Gipseys,
intended to prove the latter descended from the former, are not
applicable to the question. Besides, he finds himself under the
necessity of looking for foreign helps; and what he cannot make coincide
with the Egyptians, he meets with among the Ethiopians and Troglodytes:
these he introduces promiscuously, kneads the whole together, and
determines the Gipseys to be a mixture of Ethiopians, Egyptians, and
Troglodytes. This very circumstance, even before his reasons are
considered, renders the matter very suspicious. By the same means, it
would not be very difficult to shew that the Italians are, in part, on
account of their nastiness, Ostiacks; in part, because of their
superstition, and admiration of magnificent edifices, Egyptians; and
lastly, in part, for their dastardly treacherous revenge, Chinese.
Griselini begins his comparisons with the disposition of the Gipseys. He
says,—
“They are inclined to melancholy, and are desperate in the first
emotions of their anger:—Ammianus Marcellinus describes the
Egyptians, of his time, in nearly the same terms.
“With regard to religion,” he proceeds, “the Gipseys of the Banat
always conform to that which prevails in the village, be it the
Roman-catholic or the Illyrian Greek. They have not the least
comprehension of either; in which ignorance they perfectly resemble
the Wallachians—except that they observe the strict fasts of the
Greek church with more exactness. The Wallachians separate from
their wives only during the last days of the great fasts: the
Gipseys, on the contrary, avoid their society from the beginning to
the end; also on the Ascension of the Blessed Virgin, in Advent, and
especially all vigils.—Apuleius, and other writers of antiquity, take
particular notice of the Egyptian fasts, whose strictness consisted
chiefly in this, that the man held himself obliged to refrain from
his consort’s bed.
“But, beside these solemn fasts, the Gipseys of the Banat observe a
degree of temperance, and a choice in their diet, even on those days
when all kinds of food are permitted. They abstain from frogs and
tortoises; wherein they accord with the Wallachians, Räizes, and
other Christians of the Greek church. Moreover, they refrain from
some kinds of river fish, viz. the red-scaled bream, perch, and
lampreys; of which it is known that, among the Egyptians, the race of
Likopolis and Tagaroriopolis refused to taste. The Gipseys are
adverse to all feathered game, and particularly to birds of prey.
The stork, when he deigns to build on their wretched huts, is highly
esteemed by them:—one of these birds, like its relation ibis, was an
object of worship, with other symbolical Egyptian deities.
“Of four-footed animals, the Gipseys are most fond of swine’s flesh,
particularly salted.—The Egyptians likewise consumed a great number
of these creatures, though they looked upon their herds and keepers
to be unclean.
“The Gipseys hang up large onions in their dwellings, but do not eat
them.—Besides that the Egyptians honoured them, as well as many other
vegetables, we are informed by Diodorus Siculus, that by the
regulations relating to diet, observed in the different Egyptian
provinces, onions were prohibited in some, but allowed in others.
“Like the old Egyptians, the Gipseys cannot bear the smell of beans;
although their neighbours, the Wallachians, eat them with pleasure.
“When I was at Denta, in the district of Csakowa, curiosity led me
into a Gipsey hut. The first object which arrested my attention was
a young man covered with the itch, whose mother was feeding him with
the boiled flesh of a small snake, on a dirty earthen plate.—In the
same manner the Egyptians used the flesh of snakes, as the mildest
and most effectual remedy for the elephantiasis.
“It is well known that, even to this day, fowls and others of the
feathered tribe are hatched by art in Egypt.—I must confess I was not
a little surprised when, in July, 1775, I went into a Gipsey hut
before Karansebes, to find an old woman engaged in hatching geese and
ducks eggs, in horse-dung. This was exactly the method of the old
Egyptians.
“From all which has hitherto been produced, as well as that the
Gipseys of the Banat, and others dispersed over the rest of Europe,
declare themselves to be from Egypt, it is highly probable that they
are of Egyptian origin. But see a nearer resemblance. So long ago
as in Ælian’s time, the Egyptians were famous for their patience in
enduring all kinds of torture; and would rather expire on the rack,
than be brought to confession; which is a striking trait in the
character of the Gipseys. When this equivocal means of learning the
truth, the torture, was practised in the imperial royal hereditary
dominions, several instances may be remembered of the Gipseys
suffering themselves to be torn to pieces sooner than acknowledge
crimes, even when the magistrates had the most indisputable proofs of
them.”
Thus far has been to prove the Egyptian descent of the Gipseys. What
follows is against it; and, from the similarity of their condition, is to
convince us that they are of Æthiopian and Troglodytish origin.
“According to the most authentic writers, the Egyptians were
solicitous to build themselves convenient habitations. They lived
decently; and their attention to cleanliness, in the observance of
certain rules of health, was so general, that even the peasants, and
the lowest classes of people in the nation, were no exception to
it.—The residences of the Gipseys in the Banat present a very
different picture. . . . Miserable dwellings, consisting, partly of
thorns and straw packed together, and partly of holes, ten or twelve
feet deep, dug in the earth. Taken in this point of view, the
Gipseys have more the appearance of being related to the hordes of
Æthiopians and Troglodytes.
“Among the ancient Egyptians, agriculture was in high esteem; as it
still is among the present Copts, their true descendants.—The
Gipseys, on the contrary, are the worst, and most careless farmers:
another argument for their being Ethiopians and Troglodytes.
“These and other African hordes, employ themselves in collecting gold
out of the river sand;—in like manner, the Marosch, Nera, and other
streams, have induced the Gipseys to become goldwashers.
“An inclination for strolling, to which the Egyptians were so very
adverse, is the particular propensity of the Gipseys in general; nor
are those of the Banat exempt from it.
“The more artful, particularly of the other sex, go about from house
to house, where they tell fortunes, cast nativities, discover thefts,
and pretend they possess remedies, to which they ascribe wonders and
infallible cures. These nostrums consist, chiefly, of roots,
amulets, certain small stones . . . mostly a kind of scoriæ.—Among
the Egyptians, likewise, such impostors rambled up and down. These
were Ethiopians by descent, who carried on a similar trade.
“From the last considerations, compared with the former, one would be
inclined rather to deduce the origin of the Gipseys from the
Ethiopians and Troglodytes, than from the Egyptians. But what I am
going to add, will make it more probable that they are a mixture of
all the three nations. {161}
“It is well known that people of both sexes, calling themselves
Egyptian priests and priestesses, were, in ancient times, scattered
through Italy, Greece, and all the provinces of the Roman empire:
where they not only introduced the worship of the goddess Isis, but
wandered from place to place, begged, and professed the same kinds of
ingenuity in which the Gipseys of the Banat, and the rest of their
brethren dispersed over Europe, are so thoroughly versed. These said
priests and priestesses, which Apuleius ironically calls _magnæ
religionis sidera_, not only knocked at people’s doors, in Rome, with
their sistris, but even had the skill to persuade the common people,
that to refuse them alms and to commit sacrilege were equally
heinous. They even went so far as to threaten those who slighted
them, in the name of their goddess Isis, to strike them with
blindness, or the tympany (_hydrops tympanites_).—Aventin says, the
Gipseys could so terrify the people in Bavaria, with the like
threats, that they suffered themselves to be robbed by them with
impunity. Likewise in the Banat, the women, particularly, are heard
to vent the most horrid curses and imprecations if they are
reprimanded, or not paid for their calculations of nativities,
singing, or fortune-telling.
“The licentiousness and immorality of the Gipseys are extreme. In
early youth, when yet young girls, they exhibit themselves, with
their dances, before every person from whom they expect any present;
and these dances always end in lascivious attitudes and shameful
gestures. In like manner, the ordinary women in Egypt used to dance
at their orgies, especially at the feast of Bubostes, and the
procession of Canopus. The like scenes appeared at Rome, among the
wives, daughters, and sponsors of the priests of Isis, agreeably to
the mysteries of that goddess.”
Griselini now comes to the point:—To what nation did these priests and
priestesses belong? And when did their emigration happen?
“It was after the time of Augustus,” he says, “that they began to
wander through the different parts of Europe; in every district of
which, they endeavoured to disseminate the worship of Isis.
“They practised astrology, and other kinds of superstitious
impositions, with all sorts of vagrants’ tricks, in nearly the same
manner as the Gipseys of our age deceive people.
“Now it is known that the Egyptian priests had stated incomes, from
appropriated lands; which circumstance attached them to their native
country: and hence they hated an unsettled life. Neither did they
desire to make proselytes; and strangers, who wished to be initiated
into the rites and mysteries of Isis, were obliged to submit to be
circumcised;—this ceremony was indispensable: on the contrary, the
before-mentioned priests of Isis wandering about the Roman provinces,
never mentioned a word of circumcision to their new converts. Very
sensible critics have produced palpable evidence that they were
Ethiopians and Troglodytes, who could the more easily pass for
Egyptians, as their features, persons, customs, and religion, were
the same.
“Of all the writers who mention these emigrations, from Egypt, into
Italy, Greece, and every part of the globe which was known in the
time of the Romans, I shall refer only to Heliodorus. It was very
possible that, sometimes, real Egyptians who had been driven by
misfortunes from their native country, or perhaps some of the very
lowest rank of people who had nothing to lose, might be mixed with
these wanderers. From this mixture of Ethiopians, Troglodytes, and
Egyptians, then, sprang a distinct wandering race, which partakes, in
some measure, of all the three nations; and from which, according to
the foregoing observations, we may reasonably conclude the Gipseys of
our time to be descended; as in all of them we discover, sometimes
the Troglodyte, sometimes the Ethiopian, and sometimes the Egyptian.
“That no mention is made of them in the Hungarian yearly publications
before the year 1417, is by no means a proof that they were not known
long before, both in that kingdom and the Banat. If we admit the
Roman coins which are dug out of the earth as proof that the Romans
have been inhabitants of any place, without the concurrent testimony
of any historian; we are equally authorised to admit the little
Egyptian idols, of bronze, which are dug up near them in the Banat,
as proof for the Gipseys. Being dispersed all over the Roman
conquest, why might they not as well, when Dacia became a province,
have gone there likewise, and propagated the worship of Isis, Anubis,
and other Egyptian deities, the same as in Italy?”
Such are Mr. Griselini’s arguments, stated very diffusely, as they may be
found in his works: but it will be evident, that what he adduces in
support of his opinion, is a direct proof that it cannot be established.
Supposing any person charitable enough to allow there is good argument in
his far-fetched similarities; yet the circumstance, that neither in the
Hungarian nor in any other Journals, is the least notice taken of Gipseys
before the year 1417, would overset the whole again. Griselini felt this
himself; but what he urges in reply, is no answer to the objection. Nor
is it just, that the Roman coins found in the Banat should be esteemed,
without concurrent testimony, a proof of the Romans having formerly dwelt
there. German crowns are, as Mr. Niebuhr informs us, the chief current
coin in Yemen (Arabia Felix), and great numbers are yearly sent thither
for coffee. If some centuries hence, when revolutions may have
occasioned great changes, the said German money should be dug up, would
any historical writer venture to assert as a truth, that Arabia Felix had
formerly been inhabited by Germans! But it is unnecessary to enter into
a laboured confutation of Mr. Griselini’s arguments; yet a few hints,
with respect to his mode of proceeding, strike so forcibly, that we
cannot forbear to notice them.
He relies chiefly upon certain similarities between the Gipseys,
Egyptians, and Ethiopians, without reflecting whether they are
distinctions peculiar to these people. Of this description the following
are examples:—he thinks the Gipseys must be Troglodytes and Ethiopians,
because they follow the employment of goldwashing; these latter, as well
as some of the African hordes, do the same in their rivers which produce
gold: he makes them Egyptians, because they eat swine’s flesh: again, he
concludes they must be priests of Isis, because they exclaim against the
hard-hearted, who refuse the boon they ask. Are these, then,
distinctions which none but Egyptians and Ethiopians have in common with
the Gipseys? Is it necessary to recur to the Egyptians, to find people,
beside Gipseys, who eat pork?—Or to the priests of Isis, for sturdy
beggars? And, with regard to goldwashers, how came he not to recollect
that the Wallachians also follow this employment?—And that near
Strasburgh, beside other places, hundreds of people who have not a drop
of Gipsey blood in their veins get their living by it?
Further, the said Mr. Griselini, in order to render his system the more
plausible, has made use of certain expedients at the expense of truth;
and, in spite of all experience to the contrary, so modelled the
properties of the Gipseys, as to give them the appearance of complete
Egyptians. He makes them by nature inclined to melancholy; whereas their
dispositions have not the least tincture of it: they are described as
most conscientiously, nay rather superstitiously, attached to religious
customs; and yet, according to the universal testimony of other observers
of these people, they are totally indifferent as to every thing connected
with religion. He says, they are adverse to eating onions; and as for
beans, they abhor them: whereas Sulzer was a witness how much they liked
the flavour of both. By proceeding in this manner, every thing may be
made to answer all purposes. But woe to the records and histories which
are used in this manner!
It will be seen, from what has been said on the subject, that the
supposed Egyptian descent of the Gipseys is very far from being proved;
notwithstanding it was formerly so generally credited, and even is to
this day. Arguing on the supposition that they originated from Egypt,
care was taken to inform us what kind of people they had been in that
country. It is very confidently related, and to our great edification,
that their forefathers were the same sorcerers who, in the presence of
Pharaoh, imitated Moses’s miracles: moreover, that the Egyptian king set
these people as taskmasters over the children of Israel, in order to
render their labour the more grievous: and finally, that these were the
very murderers employed by the inhuman Herod, to carry into effect his
cruel decree respecting the children of Bethlehem. This kind of dreaming
has been carried still further; it having been calculated to what degree
of indolence these people had accustomed themselves in Egypt, living by
the labour and sweat of others. Afterwards, when, contrary to
expectation, the Children of Israel escaped from their servitude, the
lucrative employment of these overseers, of course, had an end: instead
of reconciling themselves to any kind of labour, they rather chose to
decamp, with goods, wives, and children, from Egypt, in hopes, by cunning
and fraud, to procure an easier subsistence in foreign countries. They
pursued this shameful course of life through the following centuries; and
have, at last, pushed their excursions into our territories.
But it is not sufficient that the Egyptian descent of these people is
entirely destitute of proof; on the other side, the most positive proof
is to be found to contradict it. Their language differs entirely from
the Coptic; and their customs, as Ahasuerus Fritsch has remarked, are
diametrically opposite to the Egyptian. To these facts must be added
that weighty circumstance, of their wandering about like strangers in
Egypt, where they form a distinct people; as not only Bellonius, but many
later writers assure us. Muratori, therefore, is not in the wrong, when
he thinks it ridiculous to account them Egyptians—people having no better
authority for this belief, than their own unsupported opinion.
Thus, then, stands the argument, as well with respect to the derivation
of the Gipseys in general, as in regard to the Egyptian descent of them
in particular. While many men, and among these some very respectable for
their learning, declare the origin of these people to remain an unsolved
riddle, the opinion that they were not originally from Egypt, will, it is
thought, by the contents of this and the foregoing chapter, be thoroughly
confirmed. Notwithstanding the innumerable researches, the Gipseys still
remain unacknowledged inmates in Europe.
It may nevertheless be doubted whether Swinburne is quite right, in
asserting it to be impossible ever to find out the real home of these
strangers. After so many unsuccessful endeavours, it is not without
apprehension, though with the best-founded hope, we venture on another
trial.
CHAPTER V.
_The Gipseys come from Hindostan_.
IT is justly asserted, that one of the most infallible methods of
determining the origin of these people with certainty, would be the
discovery of a country where their language was in common use. The first
and most necessary examination here, therefore, will be, to find out the
part of the globe in which the Gipseys’ language is that of the natives:
and this country is no other than Hindostan. But before we endeavour to
prove this assertion, by a comparison of the Hindostan and Gipsey
languages, it will be proper to premise something, which will serve as an
introduction of considerable weight. It is an article of intelligence,
to be found in the Vienna Gazette, and comes from a Captain Szekely von
Doba, a man who was thinking of nothing less than of searching for the
Gipseys and their language in the East Indies.
“In the year 1763, on the 6th of November,” says Captain Szekely, “a
printer, whose name was Stephen Pap Szathmar Nemethi, came to see me.
Talking upon various subjects, we at last fell upon that of the
Gipseys; and my guest related to me the following anecdote, from the
mouth of a preacher of the reformed church, Stephen Vali, at Almasch
in the county of Komora.—When the said Vali studied at the university
of Leyden, he was intimately acquainted with some young Malabars, of
whom three are obliged constantly to study there, nor can they return
home till relieved by three others. Having observed that their
native language bore a great affinity to that spoken by the Gipseys,
he availed himself of the opportunity to note down, from themselves,
upwards of one thousand words, together with their significations.
They assured him, at the same time, that upon their island was a
tract of land, or province, called Czigania (but it is not laid down
on the map). After Vali was returned from the university, he
informed himself, among the Raber Gipseys, concerning the meaning of
his Malabar words, which they explained without trouble or
hesitation.”
In this anecdote, every thing seems to happen by chance; even to the
learned man who published it in the Gazette, it appeared as if fallen
from the clouds, and entirely oversets his system; for he was the person,
mentioned above, who broached the opinion of the Gipseys being Mongol
Tartars. So much more weighty, therefore, and unexceptionable, are the
hints it throws out, for the discovery of the Gipseys’ mother country, by
means of their language.
The consideration that, according to this anecdote, the Gipsey language
is declared to be Malabar, and we have pronounced it Hindostan, does not
create any difficulty, although they are very different from each other.
Probably the three young men, from whom Vali took down his words, were
Bramins’ sons, whose language was that proper to the learned Bramins, or
the Shanscritt. But the affinity between this and the common language
spoken by the people of Hindostan, is the same as between pure Latin and
modern Italian. It was therefore very natural that the Raber Gipseys
should understand, if not all, at least the greatest part of the words
which Vali repeated to them.
However, we do not want this come-off. The difficulty will subside
without it, when we examine the connection between the Gipsey and
Hindostan languages. The next thing, therefore, is to give a list of
words from both.
NUMERALS.
Gipsey. Hindostan. English.
_Ick_; _Ek_ _Ek_ One
_Duj_; _Doj_ _Du_ Two
_Trin_; _Tri_ _Tin_ Three
_Schtar_; _Star_ _Tschar_ Four
_Pantsch_; _Pansch_ _Pansch_ Five
_Tschowe_; _Schow_; _Sof_ _Tscho_ Six
_Efta_ _Hefta_; Sat Seven
Ochto Aute Eight
Enja; Eija Now Nine
_Desch_; _Des_ _Dos_; _Des_ Ten
_Besch_; _Bisch_; _Bis_ _Bjs_ Twenty
Trianda; Tranda Tjs Thirty
Starweldesch; Saranda Tschaljs Forty
Pantschwerdesch; Panda Petschass Fifty
Pontsandis
Tschowerdesch; Schoandis Sytt Sixty
Estawerdesch Syttr Seventy
Ochtowerdesch Asseh Eighty
Eijawerdesch; Enjandis Nubbeh Ninety
Tschèl; Schèl; Sel Souw Hundred
Deschwerschel; _Ekezeros_ _Ekhazar_; _Hazar_ Thousand
O Gluno; a Jékto Pajla The First
O _Duito_; a _Duito_ _Dusera_ The Second
O _Trito_ _Tjssera_ The Third
_O Schtarto_ _Tscharta_ The Fourth
NOUNS SUBSTANTIVE.
Gipsey. Hindustan. English.
Tziro Wakht Time
_Bersch_ _Burz_; Sal A Year
_Manet_; _Meina_ A Month
Tschon
_Diwes_ _Diw_; Rase Day
_Ratti_; _Rateh_ Night
_Rattgin_;
_Rat_
_Feizrile_ _Fazir_; Nur Morning
Kurko Etwar Sunday
Doga Tschis An Affair; a Thing
Kak Tulad; Rykem The Sex
Arti Zatt The Sort
_Goswro_ _Gustur_; Moffikj The Manner
Jek; Otter Tschan; Tukra A Piece
Gin Adadah The Number
_Dewe_; Khoda; Allah God
_Dewel_;
_Dewol_;
_Dewla_
_Deuw_ _Deuw_; Muret An Idol
Bollopen; Boliben Dune The World
Mulro Dumm The Spirit
Sie; Wode Jan The Soul
Trupo; Teschta Dhj; Ang; Hal The Body
Shweto; Tscherosz Behescht; Asman Heaven
Tserhenje; Tscherhenja Tara A Star
_Cham_; _Cam_; _Okam_ _Kam_; Surez The Sun
_Schon_; Tschemut; Mrascha _Tschand_ The Moon
Prabal Howah The Air
_Jag_; _Jak_; _Jago_ _Ag_ Fire
_Panj_; _Pango_ _Panj_ Water
Pu; Bhu; Pube; Epebu Zemin The Earth
Balwal, _Bear_ _Beiar_; Batas The Wind
Felhoeschnodi Baddel A Cloud
Felheschine Bjdschelj Lightening
Tschetogasch Meg Thunder
_Brischint_; _Brechindo_ _Birrsat_ Rain
Mrascha; _Osch_ Kohassa; _Osh_ The Dew
Koeddo Kohassa; Kohol Fog
Temm Muluk The Soil
Akra Moidan The Field
Hedjo _Pahr_ A Mountain
_Bar_ Pytter; Kaja A Hillock
_Gere_; Wermo _Gerrah_ A Pit
Wesch Djp An Island
Baro Pani Deriauw The Ocean
Sero Dschjl The Sea
_Kunara_; Parra _Kinerj_ The Shore
_Tato_ Panj; Poschi _Tschata_ Morass;
Slough
Hani; Foljasi Pohara A Spring
_Hanj_; _Hanik_ _Huah_; Koka A Well
_Tallo_ _Tallauw_ A Dike
Flammus Tjm; Lu Flame
Jangar; Angar Koyla Coal
Mommli; Mumeli Batthj Light
Schik Moil Mud
Tschar; Djiplo Rag; Bowus Ashes
Mescho Tscuna Chalk
_Balu_ _Bull_; Rith Sand
_Bàre_; _Bar_ Sanka; Pytter Stone
_Wahlin_; Tcheklo _Belun_ Glass
Jegekoro bar Patter Flint-stone
_Sonnai_; _Sonnikey_; _Suna_ Gold
_Schomnakai_
_Rùp_ _Ruppa_ Silver
Tzaster; Trascht Luha Iron
Tschino Kelley Tin
_Molliwo_ _Mulwa_; Sjscha Lead
Tzindo rup Parrat Quicksilver
_Lohn_; _Lon_ _Nun_ Salt
Lonkeren Sura Saltpetre
_Kandini_ momelli _Genden_ Sulphur
_Char_; _Tschar_; Wira _Gas_ Grass
_Jiv_ _Giuw_ Wheat
_Gib_; Arpa _Jou_ Barley
Tzirja: Pura Ljsun Garlic
Purum; Lolipurum Peiaz Onion
Schach Kubj Cabbage
Hirhil Mytter Peas
Dudum Hulla A Gourd
_Herbuzho_ _Terbus_ A Melon
_Boborka_ _Birka_ A Cucumber
Rùk Garsch A Tree
_Pabuj_ _Pawug_; Sjuw An Apple
_Brohl_ _Prohlo_ A Pear
Télel Januwr A Beast
Kirmo Kentschuwa A Worm Silk
_Rezh_ _Rissem_ Silk
Birlin Mumukkj; Schehetkj A Bee
Jerni Mum Wax
Gwju; Mescho Schahed Honey
_Kirja_ _Kiro_; Tschontj An Ant
_Jua_; _Tzua_ _Juj_ A Louse
_Puzhum_; _Puschan_ _Pjsche_ A Flea
_Matschu_; _Matscho_; _Mulo_ _Mutschli_ Fish
Alo Bam An Eel
_Tschirikli_; _Tschiriklo_ _Tschuri_ A Bird
Bischothilo Ghido The Eagle
Papin; Papim; Papi Hans A Goose
Hiretza; Retschori Buttugh A Duck
_Tovadei_ _Tubbuter_; Tschetschlj A Dove
Jaros; Garum Unnda An Egg
_Baro_ peng; Oroschlana Sjr; Sing The Lion
Ru _Bira_; Hundar A Wolf
Jùkel; Tzùkel; Juket; Kuttha A Dog
Tschokel; Schokel; Tschikel
_Schoschi_; _Tschoschai_ _Sassa_; Khurr A Hare
_Papinori_ _Baner_ An Ape
_Gra_; _Grea_; _Krej_ _Gorra_; Ghassi A Horse
_Gratsch_; _Grast_ _Gorra_ A Stallion
_Grasnj_; _Graschni_ _Gorrj_ A Mare
Dernagresch Batscheru A Foal
_Gurrub_; _Guru_; _Gurni_ _Gorna_; Boil An Ox
_Guruni_; Kircumni; _Gaj_; Borjuko A Cow
Gurongatsch
Warjuhilo Batschera A Calf
_Bàkera_: _Bakra_; _Bakro_ _Bhjra_; _Bhjri_; Mendha; A Sheep
Mendhi
Bakero; _Bhara_ dohilo Mendhj batscha A Lamb
Jeschingingri; Ketschka _Bukkrj_ A Goat
_Balo_; _Bala_ _Pala_; Sur A Swine
Bikarisch krohilo Sur A Boar
Balóra Surbatscha A Pig
Djanba Beng; Mendowk A Frog
_Tsap_ _Sarap_ A Snake
_Beng_ Guddj A Dragon
Kazht; Karscht Lakerj Wood
_Tschjlka_; Borka _Tschal_ The Bark
_Patrin_ _Pat_ A Leaf
Pèperi Mirritz Pepper
_Bàl_; _Pàl_ _Bàl_ The Hair
Puzhum Ojr Wool
Pori Dum The Tail
Rat Lohu Blood
_Tud_ _Dhud_ Milk
_Kjl_ _Kel_; Mukken Butter
Kiral; Chiral; Kiras Panjr Cheese
_Tulo_ _Tschjli_ Fat
_Swa_ _Ansu_ A Tear
Mas; Masz Ghost Flesh
_Tschero_; _Schero_; _Cheru_ _Ser_ The Head
_Aok_; _Jaok_; _Jaka_; Po; _Awk_ The Eye
Aran
_Kan_ _Kawn_ The Ear
_Nàk_ _Nakk_ The Nose
_Tscham_ Gal The Cheek
_Tchammedini_ Thori A Slap on the
Face
_Tschor_ _Dharri_ The Beard
_Mui_; _Moi_ _Mu_ The Mouth
_Dant_ _Dant_ A Tooth
_Tschib_; _Tscheb_ _Jibb_ The Tongue
Men Gerdhen; Gulla The Neck
Dummo Piteh The Back
_Andririk_ _Terrik_ The Side
Gew; Buhl Tschutter The Behind
Kelin Tschatti The Breast
Per Piteh The Belly
Mossin; Mucia Bhan; Hateh The Arm
Wast; Wass Hateh The Hand
Kuzhilo; Guzhdo; Gusto Awngli A Finger
Ghazdo; Paltzo Anguta The Thumb
Heroi Tingeri The Leg
_Piro_ _Par_; Pauw The Foot
_Tschangu_ _Gunga_ The Knee
_Naj_ _Nouh_ A Finger Nail
Sie; Si Djl The Heart
Buko Sjiger The Liver
Buchlipen Jagga A Place
Rundo Nala A District
_Geb_ _Gibah_; Tsched A Hole
_But_; Behjr _Pot_ A Multitude
Pisla Toro A Scarcity
Lowe; Löwe Peyssa Money
Libra Sere A Pound
Jemia; Miga Koss A Mile
_Buda_; _Purana_ _Potdjna_ Age
_Tschiwawa_ _Tiuw_; Ratbhah Life
Rikewela Ehad The Memory
_Sunjo_ _Sunnj_ The Hearing
Sung _Sunkh_ The smell
Sik _Tschik_ The Taste
Rakerpen; Rakriben; Tschip Bat; Juvanj The Speech
Lab; Alo Bat; Kelam A Word
_Nao_; Lawe _Nom_ A Name
Liel Khutt An Epistle
Buchos Ketab A Book
Schin Rengeh Colour
_Pul_; _Pos_ _Pual_ Straw
_Baxt_ _Bukhtj_ Fortune
Dromnazhedum Aheb; Tiffauti Error
Sik Minet Diligence
Merla Mordanj; Mot Death
_Bkò_ _Buk_ Hunger
Truzhilo Peas Thirst
Sentinella Para; Tschokkj Watching
Sowawa Njn; Khab Sleep
_Dùk_ _Dirk_ Smart
Dòko Dumm The Breath
_Ghas_ _Kassj_ A Cough
Butin Kar; Kam Labour
Muskatella Mekljm Balsam
Tschinneben Zukhmj; Gatel A Wound
_Ker_ _Gurr_; Havelj A House
_Tschater_; Chör _Tschater_ A Tent; Roof
_Gadsi_ _Kassi_; Juru A Wife
Tschowo; Tschabo Lirrka A Child
_Tsche_; _Tschaj_ _Tschuknj_ A Girl
_Tschabe_; _Tschawo_ _Tschokna_ A Boy
_Tschek_ _Tschekerin_ A Virgin
_Dade_; _Dadi_ Bab A Father
Daj; Daju; Dajo _Ma_ A Mother
_Mami_ A Grandmother
Tschawo; Schave Beth A Son
Tschaj; Schaj Bethj A Daughter
Tschakrorum Jamwatsch Son-in-law
Kako Tsche-tscherabhais Cousin
Dades Krupral Tschatscha Father’s
Brother
Dades Kripen Tschatschi Father’s
Sister
Pewli Rhenduj; Rand A Widow
Velèto Noker; Tschaker Man Servant
Rakli Tschakerin Maid Servant
Wirthus Gurkka-Suheb A Landlord
Werda Seratsch; Kham An Inn
Sikerwawa Talima Instruction
Putzjum Sowal A Question
_Pen_ _Bjn_; Jivab An Answer
Mangawa Urrizi A Petition
_Schegari_; Sidah The Chase
Wezheskro _Scheggar_ A Huntsman
_Kellipen_ _Kele_; Notsch A Game
Schetra Serinda A Violin
_Tschorori_ _Tscherjfi_; Konkatj Poverty
Drum Musafferj A Voyage;
Journey
_Jangustri_; _Gostring_; _Angutri_ A Ring
_Gusderin_
Tower; Tober Kulhari An Ax; A Bill
Pàl Mes; Tukhta A Board
Bechari Piala; Tschasj A Cup
_Tschupni_ _Tschabukk_ A Whip
_Tschor_ _Tschur_ A Thief
_Tschordas_ _Tschurj_ A Theft
_Goro_; Chadum _Dhoro_; Krjs A Sword;
Dagger
Pleisserdum Masuri A Reward
Tschatscho Jnsaf; Sjera Right
_Paro_; _Birda_ _Bharr_; _Birz_ Weight;
Burthen
_Tchumoben_ _Tschuma_ A Kiss
Dori Sutlj; Fjtha A Band
Manru; Maro Rutj Bread
_Jaro_; _Aro_ _Atà_; Moidda Meal
Gabèn Konna Food;
Eatables
Kjl Mukken Butter
_Raja_; Rajah _Raja_ The Prince
_Ranj_ _Roji_ The Princess
_Raz_ _Raz_; Surdari The
Principality
Buklo Koluff A Castle
Kuroben Jungro War
Kutwnaskro Gardj; Tscholdar A Warrior
Harmi Hattiar A Breastplate
Puschka; _Banduk_ _Sanduk_ A Musket
_Gaue_; Gal; Jegag _Gauw_; Busti A Village
_Tombun_ _Tumbur_ A Drum
_Kandini_ momelli _Genden_ Brimstone
_Thu_ _Dhuah_ Smoke
Paka Bosu The Wing
Palmande Musaka The Rear
Romm; Manusch Murd; Manusch Man, Mankind
Jammadar Surrdar Commander
Klusturi Takkor bar A Cloister
Kangri; Kangheri Musizam A Church
_Isba_ _Ischba_; Kuterj Apartment
Skaurnin Tschukire A Chair
Kambana Guntha Ghittal A Bell
_Gowr_ _Kibr_ The Grave
Doga Tschjs The Matter
Nani kek Quotsch-netsch Nobody
Schut Sirrka Vinegar
Ker; Baua Havelj; Emarat An Edifice
Klidin Tschabj; Kili A Key
Schoste Petschamma Drawers
_Koro_ _Kurti_ A Coat
_Kuni_ Map; Kejasa A Measure
_Kutschahu_ _Kitseh_ Potter’s Clay
_Goji_ _Goig_ A Sausage
Mol Angur; Schrab Wine
Gereta Karamitti Chalk
_Sapuni_ _Savin_ Soap
Kammawa _Guna_ Accusation;
Debt
_Gono_ Kissa A Knapsack
_Por_; _For_ _Purr_; _Por_ A Feather
_Madjho_; Matzlin _Mudkj_ A Fly
ADJECTIVES.
Gipsey. Hindostan. English.
Schoker Jssekta; Hakabat Respectable
_Puro_ _Purana_; Buda Old
Dumino Pagla Simple
Prinjerdo Tschinta Known
_Nango_ _Nenga_ Bare
Nanilalsch; Erio Budd; Khrab Wicked
Bulhàila Tschaura Broad
_Duber_; _Aduito_ _Duara_ Double
_Sana_ _Schano_; Pittla Thin
Tschori ropen Kambukht Miserable
_Ajecto_ _Ekara_ Single
Tschimaster Netko; Kerned Eternal
Latschila; Wingro Juta False
Tamlo Nerassa Dark
Piro Kalasch Free
Zelo Sumutscha Entire
_Baro_ _Burra_ Great
Latscho Bala Good
_Tschorero_ Budd-_suret_ Ugly, Hateful
Pral Unscha High
_Boko_ _Buka_ Hungry
_Baugo_ _Benka_; Tera Crooked
_Tikno_; _Tigno_ _Tengna_ Short
Bango Lingra; Aftara Lame
Lokes; Betschuker Djla; Derrtschka Slow
_Sorlo_ Jeura Powerful
_Kindo_ _Binga_ Wet
_Nevo_ _Naia_ New
Barwello Matwir; Talivirr Rich
_Kalo_; _Kala_; Sjah Black
_Kala_
Mitschach Tik Severe
_Bharahilo_ _Barri_ Heavy
Gudlo Mitha Sweet
_Gor_ _Gehera_ Deep
Merla; _Mua_; Whakka Dead
_Mojas_
_Schukrohilo_ _Sukka_ Dry
Gojemen Kuffa Arrogant
_But_ _Bot_; Fatta Much
_Perdo_ _Purra_; _Bharra_ Full
Massob Kaberdar Watchful
_Tscha_ _Sutscha_ True
Tatto; Tatip Gorm Warm
Parna Saffed; Vjela White
_Dur_ _Tschaura_ Far
Naneleskeksi Tschimmero Tough
VERBS.
Gipsey. Hindostan. English.
Riokerwawa Mul-kurrna To esteem
Wias Pontschna To arrive
Kovokardas Luggauna To entice
_Tschindas_ _Schina_-kurrna To charge
_Pekgum_ Tamburine-_pukkauna_ To bake
_Tschjl_ _Hjlna_ To shake
_Mongawa_ _Mangna_ To beg
Gohena Bjramet-kurrna To cheat
Pàkjum Turauna To break
_Bandopen_ _Bandna_ To bind
Lubekirdaspas Zanakari-kurrna To commit adultery
Pral Derkarhuna To be poor
Pratterdum Dantna To threaten
_Tscherodia_ stele _Sir_-katna To behead
_Perdo_ _Bhurrna_ To accomplish
Stildum Pukkerna; Bojena To seize
_Gana_; _Kha_ _Kauna_ To eat
Androssaster kordo Zinjir; Luggauna To fetter
_Nasch_ _Tschuna_ To flow
_Jarawe_ I fear
_Jirrna_; _Dirrhuna_ To fear
_Muterwawa_ _Mutna_ To make water
Bango Lingra huna To halt (go lame)
Getschaha Jauna To go any-where
_Ghas_ _Kassi_-kurrna To cough
Nazh Schegar-kurrna To hunt
Kindjelle Mul-lena To buy
_Tschumauna_ To kiss
_Tschumedele_ She kisses
Savva Hussna To laugh
_Muk_ _Mukhset_-kurrna To leave
Schiwawa Jjna To live
Tscharawa Tschatna To lick
Deletschedoman Sulah-huna To lie down
Gochoben Jut bolena To lye
_Kerla_ _Kurrna_ To make
_Siwawa_ _Siwena_ To sew
_Lawa_ _Lena_; Pukkerna To take
_Nabe_ _Nomdena_ To name
_Tschi_-kurrna To sneeze
_Tschikatele_ He sneezes
_Barreskro_ _Barretsch_-karrna To boast
Sennelowisa Djwana huna To be mad; to rave
_Birrsna_ To rain
Dias _brischendo_ It did rain
_Zhinawa_ _Ginna_; Tikna To reckon
Tsatschoben Jnsaf dena To right one
_Songawa_; _Sung_ _Sunkhna_; Bokurrna To smell
Pennawa Kabena; Bolena To say
Tschinnawa Karat-kurrna To saw
_Giuwawa_ _Guwena_ To sing
Limmaugi Kurrauna To provide
Zamander Judda-kurrna To divide
Zhinger Galljdena To scold
Kàrj Urauna To shoot
Kuroben Kassa-kurrna To slay
_Bezhawna_; _Bezh_ _Bahetna_ To sit
_Tschor_ _Tschure_-kurrna To steal
_Mujas_; Mulo _Muena_ To die
_Mongna_ _Duntena_ To seek
_Lejauna_ _Lena_ To carry
Luno Zumma-kurrna To marry
Kuroben Marna To meet
_Piava_; _Pi_ _Piena_ To drink
_Puro_ _Purana_ To grow obsolete
Latsakerjl Benschna To sell
_Tschinna_ To know
Me _tschana_ I know
Tzawari Jadu-kurrna To bewitch
_Dekkna_ To see
Me _dikkaha_ I saw
_Sana_ To hear
Ne _schunele_ I do not hear
Example how the two Languages decline.
1. Without being joined to an Adjective.
SINGULAR NUMBER.
Gadzo Adami A Man
Gad_zeskero_ Adam_ika_ Of the Man
Gad_zsko_ Adam_iko_ To the Man
Gadzo Adami; Adam_iko_ The Man
O Gadzo O Adami O Man
Gad_zestar_; Adam_ise_ from, with the Man
Gad_zese_
PLURAL NUMBER.
Gadze Adamj_on_ Men
Gadzen_gero_ Adamj_onka_ Of the Men
Gadzen_go_ Adamj_onko_ To the Men
Gadze Adamj_on_; The Men
Adamj_onko_
O Gadze O Adamj_on_ O Men
Gadzen_dar_; Adamj_onse_ from, with the Men
Gad_zense_
SINGULAR NUMBER.
Kafidi Mes The Table
Kafidj_akero_ Mes_ka_ Of the Table
Kafid_jake_ Mes_ko_ To the Table
Kafidi Mes; Mes_ko_ The Table
O Kafidi O Mes O Table
Kafidj_ater_; Mes_se_ from, with the Table
Kafid_jse_
PLURAL NUMBER.
Kafidja Mese The Tables
Kafidja_kero_ Mese_ka_ Of the Tables
Kafidjen_ge_ Mese_ko_ To the Tables
Kafidja Mese The Tables
O Kafidja O Me_se_ O Tables
Kafidjen_dar_; Mese_se_ from, with the Tables
Kafidja_se_
2. With an Adjective.
SINGULAR NUMBER.
Baru balo Burra sur The great Hog
Bari balis Buna sur_ka_ Of the great Hog
Bari balis Burra sur_ko_ To the great Hog
Baru balis Buna sur The great Hog
O Baru bails O Burra sur O great Hog
Bari balis_ter_; Burra sur_se_ from, with the great Hog
balis_se_
PLURAL NUMBER.
Baru balen Burre sure The great Hogs
Bari balen Burre sure_ka_ Of the great Hogs
Bari balen Burre sure_ko_ To the great Hogs
Baru balen Burre sure The great Hogs
O Baru balen O Burre sure O great Hogs
Bar balen_der_; Burre sure_se_ from, with the great Hogs
balen_se_
REMARK I. Those syllables which, in the oblique cases, are printed in
Italics, are the article. In the Gipsey, as well as in the Hindustan
language, the article is not placed before the noun, but affixed behind
it, and that is the sole indication of the case of a noun. In the Gipsey
tongue, the article of the nominative case is _o_ or _i_; in the
Hindostan, _a_ or _i_.
REMARK II. The Gipsey language, as well as the Hindostan, has only two
genders, the masculine and feminine. Those nouns which end in i, are, in
both languages, feminine, and all the rest masculine. Both languages
change the masculine into the feminine gender, by putting a _j_ or an _i_
for the termination. For Example,
_Gipsey_, Raja, the Prince, Ranj, the Princess
_Hindostan_, Raja, Raji
SOME PRONOUNS.
1. I: Me; Me, Mo.
SINGULAR NUMBER.
Me Me; Mo I
Mrohi; Man Merra; Meika Of me
Mange; Man Mejko To me
Mange; Man Mejko Me
Mander Mejse from Me
PLURAL NUMBER.
Amen; Men Humra We
Amerohi Hummarra; Huraka Of us
Amenge; Men Hummko To us
Amen; Men Hummare; Humko Us
Amendar; Amense Hummse from, with Us
2. Thou: Tu; Tu.
SINGULAR NUMBER.
Tu Tu Thou
Trohi; Tute Terra Of Thee
Tuke; Tute Tuko To Thee
Tutte; Tut Tusko Thee
O Tu O Tu O Thou
Tutarhi; Tuter Tuse from Thee
PLURAL NUMBER.
Tumen; Tume Tum You
Tumarohi; Tumende Tumarra Of You
Tumengole; Tamen Tumko To You
Tumen; Tume Tumarre; Tumko You
O Tume O Tum O You
Tumendar; Tumense Tumse from, with You
3. a. He: Job; Uweh.
SINGULAR NUMBER.
Uweh He
Leste Jssika Of Him
Las Jssiko To Him
Les Jssiko Him
Lester; Leha Jssise from, with Him
3. b. She: Joi; Uwehi
SINGULAR NUMBER.
Joi Uwehi She
Lati Uska Of Her
La Usko To Her
La Usko Her
Later; Laha Usise from, with Her
PLURAL NUMBER, common to both Genders.
Jole Jnne They
Lente Jnneka Of them
Len Jnneko To Them
Lea Jnne Them
Lender Jnnese from Them
4. My: Maro; Merra
Mari; Merri
_Masculine_, _Feminine_. _Masculine_. _Feminine_.
Miro Miri Merra Merri My
Meri Merraka Merrika Of My
Merige Merrako Merriko To My
Merige Merra Merri My
O Miro O Miri O Merra O Merri O My
Merider Merrase Merrse from My
5. Our: Maro; Hummarra
Mari; Hummarri
SINGULAR NUMBER.
Maro Miri Hummarra Hummarri Our
Mari Hummarraka Hummarrika Of Our
Marige Miro Hummarrako Hummarriko To Our
Marige Hummarra Hummarri Our
O Maro O Mari O Hummarra O Hummarri O Our
Marider Hummarrase Hummarrise from Our
6. Thy: Tiro; Terra
Tiri; Terri
SINGULAR NUMBER.
_Masculine_. _Feminine_. _Masculine_. _Feminine_.
Tiro Tiri Terra Terri Thy
Teri Terraka Terrika Of Thy
Terige Terrako Terriko To Thy
Terige Terra Terri Thy
O Tiro O Tiri O Terra O Terri O Thy
Terider Terrase Terrise from, with
Thy
Terise
7. Your: Tumaro; Tummarra
Tumari; Tummarri
SINGULAR NUMBER.
Tumaro Tumari Tummarra Tummarri Your
Tumari Tummaraka Tummarrika Of Your
Tumarige Tummarrako Tummarriko To Your
Tumarige Tummarra Tummarri Your
O Tumaro O Tumari O Tummarra O Tummarri O Your
Tamarider; Tummarrase Tummarrise from, with
Tumarise You
8. Who? Kohn? _Gipsey_; Koun? _Hindostan_.
Examples of the conjugation of both Languages.
I am: Me Hom; Me Hej
PRESENT.—SINGULAR NUMBER.
Gipsey. Hindostan. English.
_Masculine_. _Feminine_. _Masculine_. _Feminine_.
Me Hom; Kom Sinjom He Hej; Mem Hoti I am
Hu; Hota
Tu Hal Sinjel Ty Hej; Tem Hoti Thou art
Hae; Hota
Job Hi Si Vweh Hej; Wo Hoti He is
Hae; Hota
PLURAL NUMBER.
Men Ham Sinjam Hum Hei; Ham Hotia We are
Haem; Hote
Tume Ham Sinjan Tum Hej; Tom Hotia Ye are
Ho; Hote
Jole Hi Sinja Jnne Hei; We Hotia They are
Haem; Hote
IMPERFECT.—SINGULAR NUMBER.
Me Hames Me Hua; Mem Tha Thi I was
Tu Hales Tu Hua; Tem Tha Thi Thou wast
Job Has Uweh Hua; Woh Tha Thi He was
PLURAL NUMBER.
Men Hames Hum Hue; Ham The Thia We were
Tume Hames Tum Hue; Tom The Thia Ye were
Jole Has Inne Hue; We The Thia They were
PERFECT.—SINGULAR NUMBER.
Me Sinjomahi Me Huatha I have been
Tu Sinjalahi Tu Huatha Thou hast been
Job Sinja Uweh Huatha He hath been
PLURAL NUMBER.
Men Sinjamahi Hum Huathe We have been
Tume Sinjanahi Tum Huathe Ye have been
Jole Sinje Jnne Huathe They have been
FUTURE.—SINGULAR NUMBER.
Gipsey. Hindostan. English.
Me Owa Me Huga I shall be
Du Oweha Tu Huga Thou shalt be
Job Ula Uweh Huga He shall be
PLURAL NUMBER.
Men Owaha Hum Huge We shall be
Tume Una Tum Huge Ye shall be
Jole Owena Jnne Huge They shall be
INFINITIVE.
Huna To be
To make; do: Kerja; Kurrna.
PRESENT.—SINGULAR NUMBER.
Me Kerel Me Kurrta I make
Tu Kerech Tu Kurrta Thou makest
Job Kerel Uweh Kurrta He maketh
PLURAL NUMBER.
Scho Kerjem Hum Kurrte We make
Tumen Kerjen Tum Kurrte Ye make
Ou Kerde Jnne Kurrte They make
IMPERFECT.—SINGULAR NUMBER.
Me Kerjom Me Kurrtatha I did make
Tu Kerjel Tu Kurrtatha Thou didst make
O Kerje Uweh Kurrtatha He did make
PLURAL NUMBER.
Scho Kerjom Hum Kurrtathe We did make
Tumen Kerjen Tum Kurrtathe Ye did make
On Kerde Jnne Kurrtathe They did make
The comparison thus far will, it is presumed, be sufficient to convince
every person of the truth of the position, that the Gipsey language is
really that of Hindostan. Let the reader look over the catalogue once
more, and it will appear, on the average, that every third Gipsey word is
likewise an Hindostan one; or still more, out of thirty Gipsey words,
eleven or twelve are constantly of Hindostan. This agreement is
uncommonly great: it must at the same time be remembered, that the words
above communicated have been learned from the Gipseys within a few years;
consequently, at a time when they had been nearly four complete centuries
away from Hindostan, their native country (as we may now assert it to
be), among people who spoke languages totally different, and in which the
Gipseys themselves conversed. Under the constant, and so long continued,
influx of these languages, their own must necessarily have suffered great
alteration; more especially as they are a people entirely ignorant,
without either writing or literature. One foreign word after another
must have crept into their language; consequently, by the frequent use of
such words, the Gipsey word of the same signification was more rarely
used, and by degrees lost from their recollection: by which circumstance
the original composition of their language became completely deranged;
{190} which is the reason why, as any person may convince himself by
inspection, various languages and idioms—Turkish, Grecian, Latin,
Wallachian, Hungarian, Sclavonian, German, and others—make part of the
foregoing vocabulary. The word _rome_, _man_, is Coptic; with, perhaps,
a few more. It does not appear that there is so much Persian in the
Gipsey language, as has been generally imagined; and even what there is
of it they may have brought with them from their native country, as many
Persian words are current in Hindostan.
After all these reflections, we ought rather to wonder that the number of
Hindostan words in the Gipsey language is so considerable, than to
require it should be greater, in order to furnish sufficient proof of the
Hindostan language being the Gipseys’ mother tongue.
But we have a right, from the agreement which appears in the catalogue
published, to conclude the affinity is much more intimate. The idea
hitherto adopted has been that, among the Gipsey words quoted, all those
of the Hindostan language, answering to the annexed meaning, appear,
which are still extant in the Gipsey language. But this is certainly by
no means the case. It will be recollected, from the first part, how
great a secret the Gipseys make of their language, and how suspicious
they appear when any person wishes to learn a few words of it. Even if
the Gipsey is not perverse, he is very inattentive; and is consequently
likely to answer some other rather than the true Gipsey word. Under such
circumstances, it is very possible, nay even probable, that in the
foregoing catalogue there may many words be inserted, for which true
Gipsey, of course Hindostan, words might be found; but that the Gipseys
when enquired of, either from levity or by design, did not declare them.
Further, it is not all absurd to pronounce, that there remain more, or at
least different, true Gipsey words among those residing in one country
than another. And if, at a future period, some person should, as an
experiment on the above catalogue, examine a second or third time parties
of Gipseys in different countries, and compare the words obtained with
those already delivered, the catalogue would certainly receive a
considerable augmentation in favour of our hypothesis.
Finally, we must consider the Hindostan language itself. This, it is
true, is fundamentally the same all over Hindostan; but, like every other
language in the world, has different dialects in the various provinces.
The eastern dialect, spoken about the Ganges, has different names for
some things, and different inflexions of some words, from the western one
spoken about the Indus. There is, besides, a third, varying from both
these, viz. the Surat dialect, which has a number of Malabar and other
words mixed with it. To this must be added, that in the Hindostan, as
well as in every other language, there are often several names for the
same thing. The particular dialect bearing the closest affinity to the
Gipsey language, as will appear hereafter, is the western, and perhaps
more especially that of Surat. Had this therefore, or the western one in
general, been the standard of the above comparison; and had we not, for
want of words in these dialects, been obliged frequently to have recourse
to the eastern one, spoken in Bengal; or had we, even in the latter, been
able to obtain so many words, that where the Gipsey, from not knowing any
more, could only give us a single expression, we might have produced, not
one or two as at present, but all, or at least the greater part, of the
synonymous appellations: we should infallibly in this manner recover, in
the Hindostan language, many a Gipsey word, which even the learned are
unable to derive from the European or any other language, and yet have as
little appearance of being Hindostan. With respect to the construction
and inflexions of the two languages, they are evidently the same. That
of Hindostan has only two genders; the Gipsey the same. In the former
every word ended in _j_ is feminine, all the rest masculine; in the
latter the same rule is observed. That makes the inflections entirely by
the article, adding it at the end of the word; the Gipsey language
proceeds exactly in the same manner. Finally, likewise, bating a
trifling variation, this identical similarity is evident in the pronouns.
So much for the language of the Gipseys. As this is indubitably
Hindostan, it would be sufficient of itself to prove the descent of those
people from Hindostan. But we shall now proceed to other grounds, which,
united with the proofs from the language, will leave us less reason to
doubt concerning this matter.
That the Gipseys, and natives of Hindostan, resemble each other in
complexion and shape, and are equally timorous and cowardly, is
undeniable. But we shall pass over these, together with some other
circumstances; as, perhaps, neither the one nor the other are such
distinguishing marks as not to be met with among other Oriental people.
The name of Polgar, likewise, carries some weight with it, which we find
among the Gipseys in the earliest times, before they began to change the
names they brought with them for those used in Europe. Polgar, as we may
remember, was the name of the leader who, in the year 1496, obtained a
safe-conduct from the Hungarian king Uladislaus II. by virtue of which
he, with his horde, consisting of twenty-five tents or families, had the
liberty of travelling about where he pleased. This name Polgar
originates in India, where it is the appellation of a deity presiding
over marriages and matrimonial concerns: the Indians are very fond of
bearing this name, as well as the names of their other deities.
In reciting the employments of the Gipseys, their smith’s business was
mentioned; when it was remarked, that their anvil is a stone, and what
more implements they use consist in a pair of hand-bellows, a pair of
tongs, a hammer, a vise, and a file. With such a portable apparatus, the
travelling Gipsey wanders from place to place. We will compare this
account with what Sonnerat relates of the Indian smiths: the following
are his own words: “The smith carries his tools, his shop, and his forge,
about with him, and works in any place where he can find employment: he
erects his shop before the house of his employer, raising a low wall with
beaten earth, before which he places his hearth; behind this wall he
fixes two leathern bellows, which his apprentice blows alternately, to
keep up the fire. He has a stone instead of an anvil, and his whole
apparatus is a pair of tongs, a hammer, a beetle, and a file.” The most
striking circumstance relating to this coincidence is, that both Gipsey
and Indian should use the same kind of hand-bellows, and both have
exactly two. As the apprentice works these for the Indian, so does the
wife or one of the children for the Gipsey.
What is asserted of the young Gipsey girls, rambling about with their
fathers who are musicians, dancing with all kinds of indecent and
lascivious attitudes and gestures, to divert any person who is willing to
give them a small gratuity for so acting, is likewise perfectly Indian.
Sonnerat confirms this also.—“Surat is,” he says, “famous for its dancing
girls. These young women devote themselves entirely to the worship of
the Gods, whom they attend in the processions, dancing and singing before
the representations of them. The handycraftsmen generally destine the
youngest of their daughters to this service, and send them to the pagoda
before they come to the age of puberty. There they have dancing and
music masters, with persons to teach them to sing. The Bramins form
their young minds, and deflower them; in the end, they become common
prostitutes. They then join in companies, take musicians with them, to
entertain any-body who chooses to engage them, with music and dancing.”
Sonnerat speaks here likewise of the wanton gestures of these dancing
girls, of which he has given a drawing; and ends his description thus:
“The blinking of their eyes—half open, half shut—and the negligent
sinking of their bodies, to the most languishing music, shew that their
whole frame breathes nothing but lasciviousness.”
Fortune-telling is practised all over the east; but the peculiar kind
professed by the Gipseys, viz. _chiromancy_—constantly referring to
whether the parties shall be rich or poor, fortunate or unhappy in
marriage; whether they shall have many or few children, &c.—is no-where
met with but in India. The following instance will evince, how perfectly
Gipseyish it is: “It once happened,” says Baldæus, “that the Rajah Khans
made his appearance before the inhabitants; when being given to
understand that an experienced Bramin was arrived, he ordered him to be
brought before him, and said—‘Narret (that was his name), look at my
daughter’s hand, and inform me whether she will be happy or unfortunate,
poor or rich; whether she will have many or few children; if her life
will be long or short: speak out freely, and conceal nothing.’ The
Bramin having looked at her hand, replied, ‘May it please your Majesty,
according to the indication of these lines, I read thus—She shall bear
seven children, viz. six sons and a daughter; the youngest of whom shall
not only deprive you of your crown and empire, but likewise of your head
and life, and afterwards place himself in your seat.’” This method,
Baldæus adds, of looking in the hands, is very common among the heathens.
The excessive loquacity of the Gipseys, as well as their very
advantageous natural qualities, which have been before noticed, are
likewise distinguishing characteristics of the Indian; besides, the very
name Zigeuner, or, according to a broader way of pronunciation, Ciganen
and Tchingenen, is the appellation of an Indian people, living at the
mouth of the Indus, as mentioned by Thevenot.
Another striking intimation of the Indian descent of the Gipseys, is the
partiality of the latter for red colours, or saffron: in like manner the
Bramin performs all his religious duties in a white dress, without the
least mixture of any other colour. On his return home from these
functions, he changes his white turban for a red one. The common Indians
also prefer this colour for their little round caps: and these last,
especially on holidays, make a double deep yellow stripe on their
foreheads with fat, saffron, and sacred cow-dung. The Bramins make the
same stripe with _red_, as a mark of pre-eminence. Again, the Gipseys as
Twiss assures us of those in Spain, never intermarry with any people who
are not, like themselves, of Gipsey extraction; which puts us strongly in
mind of the Indian castes.
CHAPTER VI.
_The Gipseys are of the Caste called Suders_.
WE come now to the position we hoped to substantiate, viz. that the
Gipseys are of the lowest class of Indians, namely, _Parias_; or, as they
are called in Hindostan, _Suders_.
The whole great nation of Indians is known to be divided into four ranks
or stocks, which are called by a Portuguese name, castes, each of which
has its own particular subdivisions. Of these castes, the _Bramin_ is
the first: the second contains the _Tschechteries_ or _Setreas_: the
third consists of the _Beis_ or _Wasziers_: the fourth is the caste of
the just-mentioned _Suders_; who upon the Peninsula of Malabar, where
their condition is the same as in Hindostan, are called _Parias_ or
_Parier_.
The relative situation of these four castes, and the grounds of their
difference, rest on the Indian fable of the Creation. This relates, that
the God who created Bruma, ordained that the Bramin should proceed out of
Bruma’s mouth; the Tschechterie out of his arms; the Beis out of his
legs; and the Suder from his feet. As Bruma afterwards allotted the
employments of each of these stocks, he appointed the first to seek after
knowledge, to give instruction, and to take care of religion; the second
was to serve in war; the third was, as well as the Bramin, to cultivate
science, but to attend particularly to the breeding of cattle and
agriculture: the caste of Suders was destined to be subservient to the
Bramins, the Tschechteries, and the Beis. These Suders are held in the
greatest contempt: they are considered infamous and unclean, from their
occupations; and they are abhorred because they eat flesh, the three
other castes living entirely on vegetables.
Of this very caste, as will appear by the following comparison, our
Gipseys are composed.
We have seen that the Gipseys are in the highest degree filthy, and
disgusting; and with regard to character, of the most depraved hearts:
that they are thievish, liars, and fraudulent to excess:—and these are
exactly the qualities of the Suders. Baldæus says, “The Pareas are a
filthy race, in a word, a contemptible stinking people; a wicked crew,
who in winter steal much cattle, kill them, and sell the hides.” It is
again related in the Danish Mission Intelligence, “Nobody can deny that
the Bareier are the dregs and refuse of all the Indians: they have wicked
dispositions, are thievish, arrant liars, are intractable with good
usage, require to be kept in order by fear and blows, and held under
continual restraint.” Moreover, Neuhof assures us, “The Parruas are full
of every kind of dishonesty; they do not consider lying and cheating to
be sinful, as they have no other maxim or custom among them.” The
Gipsey’s solicitude to conceal his language, is likewise a striking
Indian trait. “Custom,” says Pallas, of the Indians round Astrakan, “has
rendered them to the greatest degree suspicious about their language,
insomuch that I never was able to obtain a small vocabulary from them.”
In addition to the foregoing, the Gipseys love to intoxicate themselves;
they are particularly fond of brandy, because it more speedily answers
their purpose than any other liquor. Among the Suders we find this
inclination is universal; though other Indians do not commit such excess,
or very seldom, and then privately.
What has been further said with respect to the immoral life of the
Gipseys, agrees perfectly with the Suders. “Their wives and daughters,”
says Neuhof, “make no difficulty of yielding up their persons, for money,
to any sort of people, be they of what country or religion soever; as the
inclination of this tribe tends more to voluptuousness, than towards
diligence or industry.”
With regard to Gipsey marriages, it has been asserted, that it is a
matter of indifference to them whether the party be the nearest relation
or an utter stranger, or, as Salmon expresses himself, the nearest
relations cohabit like beasts with each other; and as to education, that
their children grow up in the most shameful neglect, without either
discipline or instruction. All this is precisely the case with the
Pariars. In the Journals of the Missionaries already quoted, it is said,
“With respect to matrimony, they act like the beasts; and their children
are brought up without restraint or information.”
Gipseys are fond of being about horses; so are the Suders in India, for
which reason they are commonly employed as horsekeepers by the Europeans
resident in that country.
The Gipseys were formerly employed as flayers, hangmen, and executioners,
all over Hungary and Transylvania; and they still readily perform those
offices whenever called upon. In like manner, in India, no one who is
not of the caste of Suders will on any account transact that kind of
business.
We have seen that the Gipseys hunt after cattle which have died of
distempers, in order to feed on them; and where they can provide more of
the flesh than is sufficient for one day’s consumption, dry it in the
sun: such is likewise a constant custom with the Pariars in India. It
“is their office,” according to the accounts we have of them, “to remove
carrion, which they cut up; part they boil fresh and eat, other parts
they dry in pieces, by the heat of the sun, for their future provision.”
Hitherto the accounts of the Gipseys and Suders perfectly coincide. Even
the before-mentioned smiths and dancing girls are of this caste: and as
they before shewed, in general, from the similarity of their make, that
they were of Indian extraction, so in this instance they give particular
evidence, that they are descendants from the lowest class.
But there are still some further traits relating to the Gipseys; we shall
now examine whether they also are to be found among the Suders. Of these
the first is, that the Gipseys always choose their place of residence
near some village or city; very seldom within the village or city, even
though there may be no order to prevent it: as is the case in Moldavia,
Wallachia, and all parts of Turkey. Even the more improved Gipseys, as
those in Transylvania, who have long since discontinued their wandering
mode of life, and might, with permission from government, reside within
the cities, yet rather choose to build their huts in some bye-place,
without their limits. This custom seems to be a remnant of their
original Suder education; it being usual, all over India, for the Suders
to have their huts without the villages of the other castes, and in
retired places near their cities.
Further, with regard to the Gipseys’ religion, we may recollect, from
what has been said, that their sense of it is very confined, and that
they have not the least degree of steadiness in it. To the Gipseys,
every persuasion is the same; as often as he meets with a different one,
he changes his opinions. To-day he receives the sacrament as a Lutheran;
next Sunday, from a Roman-catholic; and perhaps before the end of the
week partakes of the communion in a Reformed church. Yet the greater
part of them do not even go so far as this, but live without any religion
at all, and are, as Tollius says, worse than heathens. The more
wonderful such an appearance is—of a whole people being so void of and
indifferent about religion—the more weight it carries with it to confirm
their Indian origin, when all this is found to be literally true of the
Suders. “This race,” says Rogerius, of the Suders in the kingdom of
Surat, “seems to be neither heathens nor Mahometans; they live on in
their own way, without any religion, or worshipping of God. There are
some, it is true, who imitate the other castes in an outward shew of
religion, and appoint priests for themselves; but they neither frequent
the pagodas of the higher castes, nor have any of their own: and as to
the choice of their deities, every one conforms to the custom of the
place where he lives, or happens to remain a short time, exactly the same
as the Gipseys.”
If people, in reflecting on the emigration of the Gipseys, are not
determined to imagine that they were actuated by a blind impulse, to
break up at once, and quit their native country; no cause can be assigned
for their retreat from thence so plausible as the war of Timur Beg in
India. The date of their arrival marks it very plainly. It was in the
years 1408 and 1409 that this conqueror ravaged India; and having
persuaded himself, as well as his followers, that he had undertaken the
expedition against India for the purpose of disseminating the Mahometan
religion, his war was oppressive enough to occasion such an emigration.
Not only every one who made any resistance was destroyed, and such as
fell into the enemy’s hands, though quite defenceless, were made slaves,
but in a short time these very slaves, to the number of a hundred
thousand, were put to death. As in consequence an universal panic took
place, nobody being secure that it might not be his own fate in a short
time, what could be more natural than that a great number of terrified
inhabitants should endeavour to save themselves by flight?
An objection naturally occurs, that when this supposed flight took place,
had it been true, not Gipseys only, or the lowest class of people, but
with them all sorts of Indians, of superior rank, would have come among
us. But this argument will fall of itself, when we reflect on the
prepossession which the three higher castes of Indians entertain for
their country. They ascribe an extraordinary degree of holiness to it,
and believe it to be the only country thought, by the Creator of the
universe, worthy for such sanctified people as the Bramins,
Tschechteries, and Beis, to dwell in. They would rather suffer torture
and death, than quit this land, chosen by the Almighty himself for their
residence, to go and dwell any-where else. Moreover a Suder is, in their
estimation, the most execrable being in the world; and the least
intercourse with him would be defiling and degrading their high
characters, which, to them, would be more dreadful than death. Wherefore
it was a moral impossibility for those of a higher caste to have any
thing in common with a Suder, or that they should have made an united
retreat. Finally, by putting themselves into the power of the Suders,
with whom they live constantly in a state of discord and inveteracy, they
would have hazarded a greater danger, than by patiently risking their
fate from the hands of their common enemy. If any of the higher ranks of
Indians did withdraw themselves, on account of the troubles, it is
probable they retired southwards, to people of their own sort, the
Mahrattas.
As every part to the northward and eastward was beset by the enemy, and
no passage left in those directions for escaping, it seems most probable
that the countries below Multan, to the mouth of the Indus, were the
first asylum and rendezvous of the fugitive Suders. Here they were safe;
and so remained, till Timur returned from his victories on the Ganges.
Then it was that they first entirely quitted the country; and, probably,
with them a considerable number of the proper inhabitants about the
Indus, which will explain the meaning of their original name, Ciganen,
or, according to the German mode of speaking, Zigeuner. For if it was in
the country of the Zinganen that these terrified fugitives collected; and
they afterwards drew a considerable number of the Zinganen themselves
along with them, nothing could be more easy or natural than that the
people who had assembled from the general wreck should take the name of
the greater number.
By what route they came to us, cannot be ascertained: if they went
straight through the southern Persian deserts of Sigistan, Makran, and
Kirman, along the Persian Gulph to the mouth of the Euphrates, thence
they might get, by Bassora, into the great deserts of Arabia, afterwards
into Arabia Petræa, and so arrive in Egypt, by the isthmus of Suez. They
must certainly have been in Egypt before they reached us; otherwise we
cannot account for the report that they were Egyptians. In what manner
they were afterwards transported to Europe is also an obscure research:
perhaps it was effected by means of the Turks, who, being at that time
fully employed with the Grecian empire, might permit the Gipseys to
travel about with the rabble of Serdenjesti and Nephers, who were
appointed to go on ravaging parties. However, all that can be said upon
that subject is mere surmise. The chief aim in this Dissertation was, to
prove that the Gipseys came from Hindostan, and that they were Suders,
which it is hoped has been accomplished. When every thing, even the most
fortuitous concomitant circumstances, but particularly that most decisive
one—the similarity of their language to that of Hindostan, uniformly
point out that extraction, we cannot believe them to belong to a
different country, and to be descended from another people.
SUPPLEMENT.
To invalidate, if possible, the charge of cannibalism—apparently so well
founded—brought against the Gipsey tribe, it is thought proper in this
place to mention circumstances, relative to the proceedings in Hungary,
which at least render the justice of the sentence pronounced against
these devoted people doubtful.
In the year 1534, as recorded in the Hungarian history, the Gipseys were
suspected of traitorously assisting John Zapolya; in consequence of which
the governor of Leutschau, _Tsernabo_, sent some horsemen to arrest a
company of them, near Iglo: the greatest part escaped by flight; only a
few old men and boys were taken, who were brought into Leutschau. These
confessed circumstantially (which certainly appears improbable, that men
should lye to effect their own ruin), as well before, as upon the rack,
the following falsities—That a hundred of them had been sent by Zapolya
since the middle of Lent, and had agreed for a sum of money to set fire
to the five chief cities, Kaschau, Leutschau, Bartfeld, Eperies, and
Zeben: that the preceding Saturday several of them had privately entered
Leutschau, disguised like Wallachians and shepherds, under the pretence
of selling skins: that they laid fire in various places; and moreover,
that they had murdered several people: and finally, that they had letters
from Zapolya to thirteen different cities, with orders to afford them
shelter and protection within their districts, as long as they chose to
remain. In consequence of this confession they were impaled, “but
whether justly or not,” adds the Chronicle, “that, let him answer for who
condemned them:” for on being conducted about the town, to shew in what
places they had laid the fire, they could not specify them; besides, they
denied every thing when they came to execution.
Except the circumstance of retracting, of which nothing is mentioned in
the sentence of death, the above case seems to be exactly similar to that
of the men-eaters executed in Hungary in 1782. These were taken upon
suspicion of theft; in the course of their examination something escaped
them which gave occasion to think they had committed murder, and the
criminals being interrogated on this point, perhaps on account of the
severity used, or probably from an idea of heroism (a very common trait
in their character), they confessed the fact, and chattered away till
they had filled the paper, without considering consequences. When
desired to state where they had deposited the bodies, they promised to
shew, but on being brought to the spot nothing was found, and they
endeavoured to run off. Nevertheless, having once confessed, they were
put on the rack. As the persons said to have been murdered could not be
found, the judge imagined they must have eaten them, which, though denied
by the poor miserable wretches, decided their fate.
(A)
How much the Gipsey language has altered by time, may be seen, in a
striking manner, from the following translations of the Lord’s Prayer,
obtained from Hungarian Gipseys at different periods.
1. Lord’s Prayer, according to the old translation.
Dade! gula dela dicha mengi, Czaoreng hogodoleden tavel, ogoledêl
hogoladhem, te a felpesz, trogolo anao Czarchode, ta vela mengi sztre
kedapu, maro mandro kata agjesz igiertiszara a more beszecha, male dsame,
andro vo lyata, enkala megula, dela enchala zimata. Seszkesz kisztrio
oothem banisztri, putyere feriszamarme, à kana andre vecsi, ale Va kosz.
Piho.
2. The same, according to a more modern translation.
Muro Dad, kolim andro therosz; Ta weltro szentanao; Ta weltro t’him; Ta
weltri olya, szarthin andro therosz kethjn t’he pre p’hu: sze kogyesz
damande mandro agyesz a mingi; Ertitza amare bezecha, szar, t’hamin te
ertingiszama rebezecha; Mali zsa men andre bezna, nicka men le dsungalin
mansáár, Ke tirino t’hin, tiro hino baribo szekovari. Amen.
3. Another, with the Latin.
Amàro Noster
del Deus
Szavo qui
hal es
othé ibi
opre super
óndro in
csérász cœlo,
avel veniat
szinton sanctum
tro tuum
nav, nomen,
te ut
avel veniat
tri tuum
lume regnum
te ut
khergyol fiat
tri tua
voje voluntas
szàr sicut
andro in
csérósz cœlo
chidé sicque
te ut
phé in
phu. terra.
ámáro nostrum
mandro panem
ogyéuszuno quotidianum
dé da
áméngé nobis
ágyèsz hodie,
értiné remitte
amenge nobis
ámáro nostrum
vitsigosz peccatum
te ut
ámén nos
kidé ita
értináha remittimus
ámáréngé, nostris,
palidschá ne inducas
ámén nos
ándro in
dschungalo periculosam
tsaszosz, horam,
támi sed
unkáv sume
ámen nos
ávri ex
ándral e
ó
dschungalo periculo
tiri tuum
hin est
é
lume regnum
tiri tua
hin est
ezor potentia,
te ut
akana-szekcvar. nunc-semper.
Amen.
FINIS.
* * * * *
BALLINTINE, TYP. _Duke-st._ _Adelphi_.
FOOTNOTES.
{v} The instruments used by the Chinese for marking time, act either by
fire or water. Those that act by water, somewhat resemble our large
hour-glasses: those by fire, are composed of sweet smelling powder, made
up into a sort of match.
{3} Leo Africanus, in his _Histoire Naturelle des Indes_, _&c._ p. 327,
says of the merchants of Agades, that they kept great numbers of armed
slaves for their security, and mentions that their caravans—“sont tous
vexéz de divers peuples du desert, comme de ceux qu’on appelle
communément _Bohémiens_, ou Egyptiens.”
{16} _Beytrage zum Reichs Postreuter_, St. 71. 1782. “On the 21st of
August there was a dreadful execution at Frauenmark in the Hortenser
country. Thirteen delinquents, Gipseys, who had existed twelve years by
robbing on the highway, and were accustomed to eat the bodies of those
they had murdered, were brought to punishment. Four of them were women,
who were beheaded; of the remaining nine men, six were hanged, two were
broken on the wheel, and the leader of this inhuman gang was quartered
alive. It is said that one hundred and fifteen more, of these European
cannibals, remain in the county gaols.” See APPENDIX.
{19} _Hamburgh_. _Neue Zeitung_, 151. St. 1782. “_Hungary_, 4th of
September.—The following is to be added concerning the murderers and
man-eaters. Forty of these miscreants have already undergone their
deserved punishment, in three separate places. Some, as lately
communicated, were broken upon the wheel from below upwards; two of the
most atrocious were quartered alive; and the remainder, one hundred and
fifteen in number, will shortly be proceeded against in the same manner.
This band has existed twenty-one years, and in the course of that time
sacrificed eighty-four people to their cruelty. Every feeling mind must
be struck with horror at the infernal rage of these European cannibals,
on hearing their confession—that once at a wedding they killed three
people, whom they ate with their guests, in the greatest festivity and
joy! They prefer the flesh of a young person from sixteen to eighteen
years old. They burnt the bones, which, according to their account, make
excellent coals. A life-guard man of the country undertook to secure and
succeeded in taking their _harumpascha_ or leader. This cannibal hero
was magnificently dressed, and wore ornaments in his cap to the value of
six thousand guilders.”
_Frankfurter Staats Ristretto_, Nr. 157. 1782. “_Donau Strohm_, 29th
September.—We mention with horror, that besides those inhuman wretches
who have already been put to the sword in Hungary, there are one hundred
and fifty still in chains; and some thousands more are, with good
foundation, suspected. They are all Gipseys. Maria Theresa had given
orders that all these human vermin should be driven from their holes, and
compelled to live in villages: but that wise regulation was not enforced,
and the evil is now grown to such a height as scarcely to be remedied
without a total extirpation of them.”
_Hamburgh_. _Unpartheiisch_. _Correspondent_. Nr. 159. 1782.
“_Hungary_, 22d September.—Besides those Gipsey cannibals which were
executed on the 22d of August, at Fraumark, there were fifteen of these
barbarians put to death on the twenty-fourth at Kameza; and on the
twenty-sixth, thirteen more at Esabrag. In the former place were seven
women beheaded, five men hanged, two broken alive on the wheel, and one
quartered alive. At the latter place seven women were beheaded, four men
hanged and two broken on the wheel. Many still remain in confinement;
among whom is one who acted as priest, and married people for two
groschens a time. Their _harumpascha_, who, as we lately advised, was
taken by a very simple stratagem, cannot yet be brought to any confession
of his crimes.”
_Frankfurter Staats Ristretto_, Nr. 207. 1782. “_Donau Strohm_, 24th
December.—Not long ago it was published, that forty-five of the
men-eaters had been executed in Hungary. One hundred and fifty still
remain in prison, whose sentence has, by express orders from court, been
respited. Her majesty, not thinking it possible that the people in
confinement could have been guilty of such enormous crimes, sent a
commissary thither from court to examine minutely into the affair. On
his return it was confirmed that they were really men-eaters; and that
there are actually among them sons who have killed and eaten their own
fathers.”
{29} About sixty years ago, ladies of the first quality in Petersburgh
used to be guilty of somewhat the same kind of irregularity. They had
begun to adopt the French modes in dress; but, as Salmon says, did not
well know how to manage them. “Wherefore,” he continues, “one must not
be surprised, notwithstanding all the state of a Petersburgh lady, to
meet one of them in summer, at which season they use the English straw
hats, magnificently dressed in damask, ornamented with gold, silver,
lace, and ribbands, walking barefooted, carrying her slippers in her
hand.”
{51} The college of Mons was established in 1748, by the Empress
Theresa. In the seventh article of the Instructions granted, the Gipseys
were allowed the privilege of washing for gold.
{87} It is reported in Hungary, that a Gipsey alphabet is somewhere
preserved; but nobody ever has seen or ever will see it, for it probably
never existed: as these people did not bring the art of writing from
their own country; where they belong to a class of people who, by express
laws, are prohibited from receiving any kind of instruction.
{88} Poetry and Music are in equal esteem among the Transalpine
Wallachians, who have consigned over these two amiable sisters to the
licentiousness of slaves—Gipseys. These alone sing, play, rhyme—for we
cannot allow the appellation of poems to obscene hobbling verses, put
together at the moment. By way of sample take the following couplet:
_Mitidika_, _Mitidika_, _wién üng quátsch_!
_Ba nu_, _Ba nu_, _n’ am tsche fátsch_.
This _tsche fátsch_, which should be _tsche se fak_, is a monstrous
perversion of language. But the Gipsey wanted a rhyme for _quatsch_; so
directly, with a bold poetical licence, he changes the first person of
the conjunctive for the third of the indicative mood. Thus this little
composition, in question and answer, which should be,
Little one, Little one, come from thence!
No, no, no, no, _I have nothing to do_ (_there_).
he changes to, _I have nothing_, _what do you_?
{89} Sulzer, with respect to their timidity, says: “A Gipsey requires to
have been a long time in the army before he can meet an enemy’s balls
with decent soldier’s resolution; or to be an experienced robber, before
he can take a traveller’s purse, without having first, from a bush,
either killed or disabled him.” There is a proverb in Transylvania, that
“You may drive fifty Gipseys before you with a wet rag.” Thicknesse
found the Gipseys exactly the same in Spain.
{89a} There are a number of serious pagination errors in the book.
Pages 1–98 are numbered correctly, but what should be page 99 is numbered
89, with the numbering continuing 89–121. Following this the page number
changes to 132 and continues 132–179, when it changes to 182, 183, 182
(again), 183, 186, 187, 186 (again), 187 (again), 190, 191, 190 (again),
191 (again), 194 and then normally to the end of the book. In this
transcription the page numbers are as per the book.—DP.
{113} _Wilhelm Dilick_, in his _Heszischen Chronik._ Seit 229. beyn Jahr
1414, certainly does say that they arrived during the same year in the
Hessian territories; and Fabricius, in _Annalibb. Misn._ says they were
driven from Meissen in 1416. But Calvisius contradicts Fabricius, and
has corrected his date, putting 1418 for 1416. And with regard to
Dilich, there must either have been a mistake in the manuscript from
which he composed, or he must have read wrong; there being no mention
made of Gipseys in any of the public prints till three years afterwards,
viz. 1417. It is absurd to suppose they should remain invisible to every
other person both in and out of Germany, at the same time they appeared
to the editor of Dilich’s intelligence.
{132} But we have more than circumstantial proof of the existence of
these safe-conducts, as besides a later, but here very pertinent, order
of the former great Hungarian count Thurzo, given in the year 1616,
remarkable for its serious and humane contents, an older one, granted in
the earliest age of the Gipseys, is still extant. It is written on
paper, and was brought by those who were at Regenspurgh in 1423. Andreas
Presbyter copied it into his six-years Journal, which was in the
possession of Oefelius.
{137} The eastern division of the present kingdom of Tunis.
{138} Zichen, Zigier, or Zincher, among the ancients, called in the
earliest times Achæans, dwelt in the country now inhabited by the
Circassians.
{139} The torlaques are Mahometan monks, who, under the pretence of
holiness, are guilty of the most flagrant excesses. Bajazet the Second
banished them from the Turkish empire in 1494. The kalendars, who are
likewise monks, wander about in Heathen, as the Gipsy’s do in Christian,
countries. Faquirs are religious fanatics, and rove about in Mahometan
and Heathen countries, like the most atrocious robbers and villains.
Anquetil says, the Faquirs in India go pilgrimages to Jagrenat, to the
amount of several thousand. On their return from Jagrenat they plunder
such villages and cities as lie in their way. They form considerable
bodies about a mile from Jagrenat, where they choose themselves a leader,
to whom they pay all the honours due to a general. With regard to
strolling and thieving, the Faquirs and Gipseys agree exactly. But this
proves nothing concerning the extraction of the latter.
{141} The cause of this persecution was a dreadful plague, which, in the
year 1348, raged all over Europe. This calamity was attributed to the
Jews, who were accused of having poisoned the wells and water-springs, in
order to exterminate the Christians. Never did any description of people
experience greater oppression and misery than what were suffered by the
Jews of that time. All the gaols and prisons were crowded with them;
they were put to the rack in every judicial court. The day was scarcely
long enough for the execution of the poor condemned wretches; nor were
the nights ever dark, by reason of the continual fires which were kept
burning every-where, to consume them at the stake. Vast numbers, who had
escaped the rigour of the tribunals, fell a sacrifice to popular fury.
They were suffocated in bogs, slaughtered like flies, and destroyed by
other summary means. There was no distinction made of age or sex: the
same unrelenting fate pursued men and women, children and grey-headed,
without exception. To all this was added the plague, which attacked the
Jews as well as the Christians. Under such circumstances, it is no
wonder if such as could escape from a persecution so dreadful, and
unmerited, really did secret themselves in the most retired corners.
{154} Sultan Selim had drawn out his troops against Persia, with the
determination, if not to conquer the country entirely, at least to do
them all the mischief he could; for which reason his tremendous army was
already, in 1517, encamped near Aleppo. Gäwri, the Circassian Sultan in
Egypt, when he heard of this enterprise, being fearful that after Selim
had accomplished his intentions respecting Persia, he might attack him,
sent ambassadors, to offer his assistance against the Persians. Selim
accepted it, and Gäwri immediately collected his forces. As the two
armies lay near each other, it so happened that some Circassians
attacked, and plundered, some loaded camels, which were going to Selim’s
camp. Selim, who looked upon this as an affront, instantly resolved to
leave the Persians quiet for the present, and to draw his sword against
his ally. This he accordingly did, and Gäwri, being betrayed by two of
his generals, was defeated, and fell in the action. Those who escaped
from the battle fled to Kahire, where they related what had passed; and a
general assembly being convened, they immediately proceeded to the
election of a new king, Tumanbey. He marched to attack Selim once more,
was defeated, and having experienced various reverses of fortune, at last
fell into his hands. Selim was so charmed with his understanding, that
he not only granted him his freedom, but intended to appoint him viceroy
over Egypt. However, before this event took place, people began to talk
freely concerning their hopes, that when Selim should have withdrawn,
Tumanbey, with the remaining Circassians and Arabians, might be able to
drive his troops out of Egypt, and reinstate the Circassians in their
former dominion. These reports came to Selim’s knowledge; yet his
confidence was so great, that he at first did not entertain any suspicion
of Tumanbey. But at length, when they continued, and even increased, he
ordered the unhappy man to be arrested, and hanged under one of the gates
of Kahire. On which occasion, like a true barbarian, he made use of the
following words: “How great my favour was towards him, I have
sufficiently proved; the effects of his partisans’ conversation, let the
wretch himself experience.” With him not only ended the government of
the Circassians in Egypt, after it had continued 286 years, but, by
command of Selim, they were for several days left to the mercy of their
conquerors, who treated them with the greatest cruelty.
{161} Griselini always mistakes Troglodytes for a particular national
appellation, which is just as if we were to suppose Nomades to be the
name of a people.
{190} For a comparison of the Gipsey language at different periods, see
(A), Appendix.
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