Gipsy Life: Being an account of our Gipsies and their children, with suggestions for their improvementSmith, George
History
Gipsy Life: Being an account of our Gipsies and their children, with suggestions for their improvement
Smith, George
Romanies -- Great Britain
The _Weekly Times_ again takes up the subject, and the following appears
on January 9th, 1880:—“We made a second expedition, with Mr. George
Smith, of Coalville, on Sunday, in search of a Gipsy encampment; and
though the way was long and tedious, and we were both lamed with walking
before we returned at night, yet we had not gone one step out of our way.
There is no encampment of these ancient and interesting people in the
neighbourhood of the hundred odd square miles which composes the site of
the metropolis, with which Mr. Smith is not acquainted, and to which we
verily believe he could lead a friend if he was blindfolded. The way we
went must remain somewhat of a secret, because the Gipsies do not care to
see many visitors on the only day of the week which is one of absolute
rest to them. All that we shall disclose about the way is, that we
skirted Mount Nod, and for a short distance looked upon the face of an
ancient river, then up-hill we clambered for many longish miles, until we
turned out of a certain lane into the encampment. There was a rude
picturesqueness in the gaping of the vans and tents. In the foreground
were the vans, to the rear the cloth kraals, with their smoky coverings
stretched over poles; from a hole in the centre the smoke ascended,
furnishing evidence that the open brazier was burning within. The vans
protected the approach to the camp, just in the same way that artillery
are planted to keep the road to a military encampment. Mr. Smith’s face
seemed to be well known to these strange people, and we no sooner
appeared in sight than the swinging door of every van was edged with
faces, and forth from the strange kraals there crept child and woman,
youth and dog, to say a kindly word, or bark a welcome to the visitors.
But for the Gipsies’ welcome we might have had an unpleasant reception
from the dogs. They were evidently dubious as to our character, their
training inclining them to bite, if they get a chance, any leg wearing
black cloth, but to give the ragged-trousered visitors a fawning welcome;
so they sniffed again and again, and growled, until driven away by the
voices of their owners. Perchance, during the remainder of the day, they
were revolving in their intelligent minds how it had come to pass that
the black cloth legs were received with evident marks of favour. Nor
were they able to settle the point easily, for whenever we happened to
look round the encampment during the afternoon, from the raised door-way
of a kraal where we happened to be couched, we noticed the eyes of one or
other of the four-footed guardians fixed intently on us. There were
about twenty vans and tents in all; and each paid one shilling a week to
the ground landlord. That money, with whatever else was required for
food, was obtained by hawking at this season of the year, and trade was
very bad. Winter must be a fearful experience for these children of the
air, and the field, the summer sun, the wild flowers, and the fruits of
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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