“Yes,” went on my Romany friend, “this old language seems to interest a good many of the clever men. I have known some of them come to our tents and vans and write down the words and their meaning as we told them. I did not mind their doing it; but some of my people did not like it, and told them lies, and put them off with all sorts of queer stories. They were afraid the men should put the words into their books, and then it might be awkward for the gipsies when they wished to have a little talk amongst themselves on matters that were nobody’s business but their own. Very few of the gipsies can read, so they did not learn the language in that way; most of us who know anything of it picked it up from our fathers and mothers when we were young. My father used to teach me certain sayings about horses that were very useful when we were dealing at the fairs. Now, however, some people who are not gipsies know more about these things than we do ourselves.” _Printed by_ BALLANTYNE, HANSON & CO. _London and Edinburgh_ Footnotes: {41} “The Zincali; or, An Account of the Gipsies of Spain,” issued in two volumes in 1841. {45} This is the name that was given to a small inlet during Borrows residence at Oulton. To-day it is sometimes called Burrough’s Ham. {77} _Athenæum_, March 28, 1896.