A History of the Gipsies: with Specimens of the Gipsy LanguageSimson, Walter
History
A History of the Gipsies: with Specimens of the Gipsy Language
Simson, Walter
Romanies; Romanies -- Languages
This Gipsy potter was a thick-set, stout man, above the middle size. He
was dressed in an old dark-blue frock coat, with a profusion of black,
greasy hair, which covered the upper part of his broad shoulders. He
wore a high-crowned, narrow-brimmed, old hat, with a lock of his black
hair hanging down before each ear, in the same manner as the Spanish
Gipsies are described by Swinburn. He also wore a pair of old
full-topped boots, pressed half way down his legs, and wrinkled about
his ankles, like buskins. His visage was remarkably dark and gloomy. He
walked up and down the market alone, without speaking to any one, with a
peculiar air of independence about him, as he twirled in his hand, in
the Gipsy manner, by way of amusement, a strong bludgeon, about three
feet long, which he held by the centre. I happened to be speaking to a
surgeon in the fair, at the time the Gipsy passed me, when I observed to
him that that strange-looking man was a Gipsy; at which the surgeon only
laughed, and said he did not believe any such thing. To satisfy him, I
followed the Gipsy, at a little distance, till he led me straight to his
tents at the Jedburgh road already mentioned.
This Gipsy band had none of their wares unpacked, nor were they selling
anything in the market. They were cooking a lamb's head and pluck, in a
pan suspended from a triangle of rods of iron, while beside it lay an
abundance of small potatoes, in a wooden dish. The females wore black
Gipsy bonnets. The visage of the oldest one was remarkably long, her
chin resting on her breast. These three old Gipsies were, altogether, so
dark, grim, and outlandish-looking, that they had little or no
appearance of being natives of Britain. On enquiring if they were
Gipsies, and could speak the language, the oldest female gave me the
following answer: "We are potters, and strangers in this land. The
people are civil unto us. I say, God bless the people; God bless them
all." She spoke these words in a decided, emphatic, and solemn tone, as
if she believed herself possessed of the power to curse or bless at
pleasure. On turning my back, to leave them, I observed them burst out a
laughing; making merry, as I supposed, at the idea of having deceived me
as to the tribe to which they belonged.
The following anecdote will give some idea of the manner of life of the
Gipsies in England.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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