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
“By this time that young girl goes in her Tent and pull down the
front, and presently out she comes butyfully dressed, which bewitched
the young gentleman, and he said that they were welcome to come there
to stop as long as they had a mind so as they would not tear the
Headges. He goes and leaves them highly delighted towards hime, and
he should pay them another visit. This camping ground belonged to
the young gentleman’s father, and is situated in a butyfull part of
Derbyshire. One of the little girls sees two young ladys coming a
little sideways across the common from a gentleman’s house which is
very near, which turns out to be the gentleman’s two sisters. The
little girl, Mamey, mamey, der is doi Rawngas avelin accai atch a
pray. The young ladys comes to the tents and smiles, when the old
woman says to one of them, Good day, meyam, it’s a very fine day,
meyam; shall I tell you a few words, meyam? The old woman takes them
on one side and tells them something just to please them, now and
then a word of truth, the rest a good lot of lies.
“The old man goes off for a stroll with a couple of dogs.
“One of the young boys asks his mother for some money, and she
refuses him, or says she has got none. The boy says, Where is the
£000 tooteys sold froom those doi Rawngas maw did accai I held now
from them they pend them not appopolar? One of the other brothers
says to him, Hear, Abraham, ile lend you 5s. Will you, my blessed
brother. Yes, I will; hear it is. Now we will boath of us go to the
gav togeather. One gets his fiddle ready and the other the Tamareen.
The harp is too heavy to carry. They go to call at the post office
for a chinginargery—they boath come home rather wary.
“The next day the Boys go a fishing again and bring home a good lot
(as the day was not near so hot as the day before) and comes home in
good time to play the harp and violin (and sometimes the Tambureen)
for the county gouges [green horns], as a good many comes to have a
dance on the green—the collection would be the boys pocket money.
“There is a great deal of amusement found by those that us to follow
Barns. The have many country people coming them to hear there music
and to dance on the green, or sometimes in the barn, but most oftener
in the house in a big kitchen, and the country people would be
staring at the collays, Gipsies, with all there eyes, and the Gipsies
would stare at the people to see them such Dinalays [fools].
“Those who followed Barns, us to call gentlemen’s houses with the
Harps, and us to be called in and make a good thing of it.
“Dear Mr.—With your permission I will leave of now, and let you know
a little more when I come. Hoping that I have not trespased on your
time to read such follishness. All that I have written has happened.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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