Book: The Gipsies\' Advocate

J >> James Crabb >> The Gipsies\' Advocate



THE GIPSIES' ADVOCATE;
OR,
OBSERVATIONS
ON THE
ORIGIN, CHARACTER, MANNERS, AND HABITS
OF
The English Gipsies:


TO WHICH ARE ADDED,
MANY INTERESTING ANECDOTES,
ON THE
SUCCESS THAT HAS ATTENDED THE PLANS OF SEVERAL
BENEVOLENT INDIVIDUALS, WHO ANXIOUSLY
DESIRE THEIR CONVERSION TO GOD.

BY JAMES CRABB,

AUTHOR OF "THE PENITENT MAGDALEN."

"The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which is lost."
"Let that mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus."

LONDON:

SEELEY, FLEET STREET; WESTLEY AND DAVIS, AVE-MARIA-LANE; HATCHARD,
PICCADILLY; LINDSAY AND CO., SOUTH STREET, ANDREW STREET, EDINBURGH;
COLLINS, GLASGOW; WAKEMAN, DUBLIN, WILSON AND SON, YORK.

1831.

BAKER AND SON, PRINTERS, SOUTHAMPTON.

TO
THE JUDGES, MAGISTRATES,
AND
Ministers of Christ,
AS THE
ORGANS OF PUBLIC JUSTICE, AND REVEALED TRUTH,
THE GIPSIES' ADVOCATE
IS MOST
RESPECTFULLY AND SINCERELY DEDICATED
BY
THE AUTHOR.




PREFACE.


The Author of the following pages has been urged by numerous friends, and
more particularly by his own conscience, to present to the Christian
Public a brief account of the people called Gipsies, now wandering in
Britain. This, to many readers, may appear inexpedient; as Grellman and
Hoyland have written largely on this neglected part of the human family.
But it should be recollected, that there are thousands of respectable and
intelligent christians, who never have read, and never may read either of
the above authors. The writer of the present work is partly indebted for
the sympathies he feels, and which he wishes to awaken in others toward
these miserable wanderers, to various authors who have written on them,
but more particularly to Grellman and Hoyland, who, in addition to the
facts which came under their own immediate notice, have published the
observations of travellers and others interested in the history of this
people. A list of these authors may be seen in the Appendix.

But his knowledge of this people does not entirely depend on the
testimony of others, having had the opportunity of closely examining for
himself their habits and character in familiar visits to their tents, and
by allowing his door to be free of access to all those encamped near
Southampton, when they have needed his help and advice. Thus has he
gained a general knowledge of their vicious habits, their comparative
virtues, and their unhappy modes of life, which he hopes the following
pages will fully prove, and be the means of placing their character in
the light of truth, and of correcting various mistakes respecting them,
which have given rise to many unjust and injurious prejudices against
them.

The Author could have enlarged the present work very considerably, had he
detailed all the facts with which he is well acquainted.

His object, however, was to furnish a work which should be concise and
cheap, that he might be the means of exciting among his countrymen an
energetic benevolence toward this despised people; for it cannot be
denied that many thousands of them have never given the condition of the
Gipsies a single thought.

Such a work is now presented to the public. Whether the author has
succeeded, will be best known to those persons who have the most correct
and extensive information relative to the unhappy race in question.
Should he be the honoured instrument of exciting in any breasts the same
feelings of pity, mercy, love and zeal for these poor English heathens,
as is felt and carried into useful plans for the heathens abroad, by
christians of all denominations; he will then be certain that, by the
blessing of the Redeemer, the confidence of the Gipsies will be gained,
and, that they will be led to that Saviour, who has said, _Whosoever
cometh unto me_, _I will in no wise cast him out_.




CHAP. I. On the Origin of the Gipsies.


Of the Origin of these wanderers of the human race, the learned are not
agreed; for we have no authentic records of their first emigrations.
Some suppose them to be the descendants of Israel, and many others, that
they are of Egyptian origin. But the evidence adduced in confirmation of
these opinions appears very inconclusive. We cannot discover more than
fifty Hebrew words in the language they speak, and they have not a
ceremony peculiar to the Hebrew nation. They have not a word of Coptic,
and but few of Persian derivation. And they are deemed as strangers in
Egypt at the present time. They are now found in many countries of
Europe, Asia, and Africa, in all of which they speak a language _peculiar
to themselves_. On the continent of America alone are there none of them
found. Grellman informs us that there were great numbers in Lorraine,
and that they dwelt in its forests, before the French Revolution of 1790.
He supposes that there are no less than 700,000 in the world, and that
the greatest numbers are found in Europe. Throughout the countries they
inhabit, they have kept themselves a distinct race of people in every
possible way.

They never visit the Norman Isles; and it is said by the natives of
Ireland, that their numbers are small in that country. Hoyland informs
us, that many counties in Scotland are free of them, while they wander
about in other districts of that country, as in England. He has also
informed us, sec. 6, of a colony which resides during the winter months
at Kirk Yetholm in the county of Roxburgh. {10}

Sir Thomas Brown, in his work entitled "VULGAR ERRORS," says, that they
were seen first in Germany, in the year 1409. In 1418, they were found
in Switzerland; and in 1422, in Italy. They appeared in France, on the
17th August, 1427. It is remarkable that, when they first came into
Europe, they were black, and that the women were still blacker than the
men. From Grellman we learn, that "in Hungary, there are 50,000; in
Spain, 60,000; and that they are innumerable in Constantinople."

It appears from the statute of the 22nd of Henry VIII, made against this
people, that they must at that time have been in England some years, and
must have increased much in number, and in crime. In the 27th of that
reign, a law was made against the importation of such persons, subjecting
the importer to 40_l_ penalty. In that reign also they were considered
so dangerous to the morals and comfort of the country, that many of them
were sent back to Calais. Yet in the reign of Elizabeth, they were
estimated at 10,000. {11a}

Dr Walsh says, that the Gipsies in Turkey, like the Jews, are
distinguishable by indelible personal marks, dark eyes, brown complexion,
and black hair; and by unalterable moral qualities, an aversion to
labour, and a propensity to petty thefts. {11b}

The celebrated traveller, Dr Daniel Clarke, speaks of great numbers of
Gipsies in Persia, who are much encouraged by the Tartars. Formerly, and
particularly on the Continent, they had their counts, lords, and dukes;
but these were titles without either power or riches.

The English Gipsies were formerly accustomed to denominate an aged man
and woman among them, as their king and queen; but this is a political
distinction which has not been recognized by them for many years.

If we suppose the Gipsies to have been heathens before they came into
this country, their separation from pagan degradation and cruelty, has
been attended with many advantages to themselves. They have seen neither
the superstitions of idolatry, nor the unnatural cruelties of heathenism.
They are not destitute of those sympathies and attachments which would
adorn the most polished circles. In demonstration of this, we have only
to make ourselves acquainted with the fervour and tenderness of their
conjugal, parental, and filial sensibilities,--and the great care they
take of all who are aged, infirm, and blind, among them. Were these
highly interesting qualities sanctified by pure religion, they would
exhibit much of the beauty and loveliness of the christian character. I
am aware that an opinion is general, that they are cruel to their
children; but it may be questioned if ebullitions of passion are more
frequent among them, in reference to their children, than among other
classes of society; and when these ebullitions, which are not lasting,
are over--their conduct toward their children is most affectionate. The
attachment of Gipsy children to their parents is equally vivid and
admirable; it grows with their years, and strengthens even as their
connections increase. {12} And indeed the affection that sisters and
brothers have one for the other is very great. A short time since, the
little sister of a Gipsy youth seventeen years of age, was taken ill with
a fever, when his mind became exceedingly distressed, and he gave way to
excessive grief and weeping.

Those who suppose these wanderers of mankind to be of Hindostanee or
Suder origin, have much the best proof on their side. A real Gipsy has a
countenance, eye, mouth, hands, ancle, and quickness of manners, strongly
indicative of Hindoo origin. This is more particularly the case with the
females. Nor is the above mere assertion. The testimony of the most
intelligent travellers, many of whom have long resided in India, fully
supports this opinion. And, indeed, persons who have not travelled on
the Asiatic Continent, but who have seen natives of Hindostan, have been
surprised at the similarity of manners and features existing between them
and the Gipsies. The Author of this work once met with a Hindoo woman,
and was astonished at the great resemblance she bore in countenance and
manners to the female Gipsy of his own country.

The Hindoo Suder delights in horses, tinkering, music, and fortune
telling; so does the Gipsy. The Suder tribes of the same part of the
Asiatic Continent, are wanderers, dwelling chiefly in wretched mud-huts.
When they remove from one place to another, they carry with them their
scanty property. The English Gipsies imitate these erratic tribes in
this particular. They wander from place to place, and carry their small
tents with them, which consist of a few bent sticks, and a blanket. {14}
The Suders in the East eat the flesh of nearly every unclean creature;
nor are they careful that the flesh of such creatures should not be
putrid. How exactly do the Gipsies imitate them in this abhorrent choice
of food! They have been in the habit of eating many kinds of brutes, not
even excepting dogs and cats; and when pressed by hunger, have sought
after the most putrid carrion. It has been a common saying among
them--_that which God kills_, _is better than that killed by man_. But
of late years, with a few exceptions, they have much improved in this
respect; for they now eat neither dogs nor cats, and but seldom seek
after carrion. But in winter they will dress and eat snails, hedge-hogs,
and other creatures not generally dressed for food.

But the strongest evidence of their Hindoo origin is the great
resemblance their own language bears to the Hindostanee. The following
Vocabulary is taken from Grellman, Hoyland, and Captain Richardson. The
first of these respectable authors declares, that twelve out of thirty
words of the Gipsies' language, are either purely Hindostanee, or nearly
related to it.

The following list of words are among those which bear the greatest
resemblance to that language.

_Gipsy_. _Hindostanee_. _English_.
Ick, Ek, Ek, One.
Duj, Doj, Du, Two.
Trin, Tri, Tin, Three.
Schtar, Star, Tschar, Four.
Pantsch, Pansch, Pansch, Five.
Tschowe, Sshow, Tscho, Six.
Efta, Hefta, Sat, Seven.
Ochto, Aute, Eight.
Desch, Des, Des, Ten.
Bisch, Bis, Bis Twenty.
Diwes, Diw, Day.
Ratti, Ratch, Night.
Cham, Cam, Tschanct The sun.
Panj, Panj, Water.
Sonnikey, Suna, Gold.
Rup, Ruppa, Silver.
Bal, Bal, The hair.
Aok, Awk, The eye.
Kan, Kawn, The ear.
Mui, Mu, The mouth.
Dant, Dant, A tooth.
Sunjo, Sunnj, The hearing.
Sunj, Sunkh, The smell.
Sik, Tschik, The taste.
Tschater, Tschater, A tent.
Rajah, Raja, The prince.
Baro, Bura, Great.
Kalo, Kala, Black.
Grea, Gorra, Horse.
Ker, Gurr, House.
Pawnee, Paniee, Brook, drink, water.
Bebee, Beebe, Aunt.
Bouropanee, Bura-panee, Ocean, wave.
Rattie, Rat, Dark night,
Dad, Dada, Father.
Mutchee, Muchee, Fish.

This language, called by themselves Slang, or Gibberish, invented, as
they think, by their forefathers for secret purposes, is not merely the
language of _one_, or a _few _of these wandering tribes, which are found
in the European Nations; but is adopted by the vast numbers who inhabit
the earth.

One of our reformed Gipsies, while in the army, was with his regiment at
Portsmouth, and being on garrison duty with an invalid soldier, he was
surprised to hear some words of the Gipsy language unintentionally
uttered by him, who was a German. On enquiring how he understood this
language, the German replied, that he was of Gipsy origin, and that it
was spoken by this race in every part of his native land, for purposes of
secrecy. {16}

A well known nobleman, who had resided many years in India, taking
shelter under a tree during a storm in this country, near a camp of
Gipsies, was astonished to hear them use several words he well knew were
Hindostanee; and going up to them, he found them able to converse with
him in that language.

Not long ago, a Missionary from India, who was well acquainted with the
language of Hindostan, was at the Author's house when a Gipsy was
present; and, after a conversation which he had with her, he declared,
that, her people must once have known the Hindostanee language _well_.
Indeed Gipsies have often expressed surprise when words have been read to
them out of the Hindostanee vocabulary.

Lord Teignmouth once said to a young Gipsy woman in Hindostanee, _Tue
burra tschur_, that is, _Thou a great thief_. She immediately replied;
No--_I am not a thief_--_I live by fortune telling_.

It can be no matter of surprise that this language, as spoken among this
people, is generally corrupted, when we consider, that, for many
centuries, they have known nothing of elementary science, and have been
strangers to books and letters. Perhaps the secrecy necessary to effect
many of their designs, has been the greatest means of preserving its
scanty remains among them. But an attempt to prove that they are _not_
of Hindoo origin, because they do not speak the Hindostanee with perfect
correctness, would be as absurd as to declare, that, our Gipsies are not
natives of England, because they speak very incorrect English. The few
words that follow, and which occurred in some conversations the Author
had with the most intelligent of the Gipsies he has met, prove how
incorrectly they speak _our_ language; and yet it would be worse than
folly to attempt to prove that they are not natives of England.

Expencival _for_ expensive.

Cide _for_ decide.

Device _for_ advice.

Dixen _for_ dictionary. {18}

Ealfully _for_ equally.

Indistructed _for_ instructed.

Gemmem _for_ gentleman.

Dauntment _for_ daunted.

Spiteliness _for_ spitefulness.

Hawcus Paccus _for_ Habeas Corpus.

Increach _for_ increase.

Commist _for_ submit.

Brand, in his observations on POPULAR ANTIQUITIES, is of opinion that the
first Gipsies fled from Asia, when the cruel Timur Beg ravaged India,
with a view to proselyte the heathen to the Mohammedan religion; at which
time about 500,000 human beings were butchered by him. Some suppose,
that, soon after this time, many who escaped the sword of this human
fury, came into Europe through Egypt; and on this account were called, in
English, GIPSIES.

Although there is not the least reason whatever to suppose the Gipsies to
have had an Egyptian origin, and although, as we have asserted in a
former page, they are strangers in that land of wonders to the present
day; yet it appears possible to me, that Egypt may have had something to
do with their present appellation. And allowing that the supposition is
well founded, which ascribes to them a passage through Egypt into
European nations, it is very likely they found their way to that place
under the following circumstances.

In the years 1408 and 1409, Timur Beg ravaged India, to make, as has
already been observed, proselytes to the Mohammedan delusion, when he put
hundreds of thousands of its inhabitants to the sword. It is very
rational to suppose, that numbers of those who had the happiness not to
be overtaken by an army so dreadful, on account of the cruelties it
perpetrated, should save their lives by flying from their native land, to
become wandering strangers in another. Now if we assert that the Gipsies
were of the Suder cast of Asiatic Indians, and that they found their way
from Hindostan into other and remote countries when Timur Beg spread
around him terrors so dreadful, it is natural to ask, why did not some of
the other casts of India accompany them? This objection has no weight at
all when we consider the hatred and contempt poured upon the Suder by all
the other casts of India. The Bramins, Tschechteries, and Beis, were as
safe, though menaced with destruction by Timur Beg, as they would have
been along with the Suder tribes, seeking a retreat from their enemy in
lands where he would not be likely to follow them. Besides, the other
casts, from time immemorial, have looked on their country as especially
given them of God; and they would as soon have suffered death, as leave
it. The Suders had not these prepossessions for their native soil. They
were a degraded people--a people looked on as the lowest of the human
race; and, with an army seeking their destruction, they had every motive
to leave, and none to stay in Hindostan.

It cannot be determined by what track the forefathers of the Gipsies
found their way from Hindostan to the countries of Europe. But it may be
presumed that they passed over the southern Persian deserts of Sigiston,
Makran and Kirman, along the Persian Gulph to the mouth of the Euphrates,
thence to Bassora into the deserts of Arabia, and thence into Egypt by
the Isthmus of Suez.

It is a fact not unworthy a place in these remarks on the origin of this
people, that they do not like to be called Gipsies, unless by those
persons whom they have reason to consider their real friends. This
probably arises from two causes of great distress to them--_Gipsies are
suspected and hated as the perpetrators of all crime_--_and they are
almost universally prosecuted as vagrants_. Is it to be wondered at,
that to strangers, they do not like to acknowledge themselves as Gipsies?
I think not.

We will conclude our remarks on the origin of these erratic sons of Adam,
by adding the testimony of Col. Herriot, read before the Royal Asiatic
Society, Sir George Staunton in the chair. That gentleman, giving an
account of the Zingaree of India, says, that this class of people are
frequently met with in that part of Hindostan which is watered by the
Ganges, as well as the Malwa, Guzerat, and the Decan: they are called
Nath, or Benia; the first term signifying a _rogue_--and the second a
_dancer_, or _tumbler_. And the same gentleman cites various authorities
in demonstration of the resemblance between these Gipsies and their
neglected brethren in Europe. Nor does he think that the English Gipsies
are so degraded as is generally supposed; in support of which he mentions
some instances of good feeling displayed by them under his own
observation, while in Hampshire.




CHAP. II. Observations on the Character, Manners, and Habits of the
English Gipsies.


The origin of this people is by no means of so much importance as the
knowledge of their present character, manners and habits, with the view
to the devising of proper plans for the improvement of their condition,
and their conversion to christianity: for to any one who desires to love
his neigbour as himself, their origin will be but a secondary
consideration.

Fifty years ago the Gipsies had their regular journeys, and often
remained one or two months in a place, when they worked at their trades.
And as access to different towns was more difficult than at the present
day, partly from the badness of the roads and partly from the paucity of
carriers, they were considered by the peasantry, and by small farmers, of
whom there were great numbers in those days, as very useful branches of
the human family; I mean the industrious and better part of them. At
that period they usually encamped in the farmers' fields, or slept in
their barns; and not being subject to the _driving system_, as they now
are, they seldom robbed hedges; for their fires were replenished with
dead-wood procured, without any risk of fines or imprisonments, from
decayed trees and wooded banks. And it is proper to suppose, that, at
such a time, their outrages and depredations were very few.

It has already been stated that the Gipsies are very numerous, amounting
to about 700,000. It is supposed that there are about 18,000 in this
kingdom. But be they less or more, we ought never to forget--that they
are branches of the same family with ourselves--that they are capable of
being fitted for all the duties and enjoyments of life--and, what is
better than all, that they are redeemed by the same Saviour, may partake
of the same salvation, and be prepared for the same state of immortal
bliss, from whence flows to the universal church of Christ, that peace
which the world cannot take from her. Their condition, therefore, at
once commands our sympathies, energies, prayers, and benevolence.

Gipsies in general are of a tawny or brown colour; but this is not wholly
hereditary. The chief cause is probably the lowness of their habits; for
they very seldom wash their persons, or the clothes they wear, their
linen excepted. Their alternate exposures to cold and heat, and the
smoke surrounding their small camps, perpetually tend to increase those
characteristics of complexion and feature by which they are at present
distinguishable.

It is not often that a Gipsy is seen well-dressed, even when they possess
costly apparel; but their women are fond of finery. They are much
delighted with broad lace, large ear-drops, a variety of rings, and
glaring colours; and, when they possess the means, shew how great a share
they have of that foolish vanity, which is said to be inherent in
females, and which leads many, destitute of the faith, and hope, and
love, and humility of the gospel, into utter ruin.

A remarkable instance of the love of costly attire in a female Gipsy, is
well known to the writer. The woman alluded to, obtained _a very large
sum of money_ from three maiden ladies, pledging that it should be
doubled by her art in conjuration. She then decamped to another
district, where she bought a blood-horse, a black beaver hat, a new
side-saddle and bridle, a silver-mounted whip, and figured away in her
ill-obtained finery at the fairs. It is not easy to imagine the
disappointment and resentment of the covetous and credulous ladies, whom
she had so easily duped.

Nor indeed are the males of this people less addicted to the love of gay
clothing, if it suited their interests to exhibit it. An orphan, only
ten years of age, taken from actual starvation last winter, and who was
fed and clothed, and had every care taken of him, would not remain with
those who wished him well, and who had been his friends; but returned to
the camp from which he had been taken, saying, that he _would be a
Gipsy_, _and would wear silver buttons on his coat_, _and have topped
boots_; and when asked how he would get them, he replied--_by catching
rats_.

Copyright (c) 2007. knowncrafts.net. All rights reserved.