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
those they are brought into contact with, and a great deal of this may
lay at the door of flattery, twaddle, petting, and fear.
“The plan I would adopt to remedy this sad state of things is to apply
the principles of the Canal Boats Act of 1877 to all movable
habitations—_i.e._, I would have all tents, shows, caravans, auctioneers’
vans, and like places used as dwellings registered and numbered, and
under proper sanitary arrangements and supervision of the sanitary
inspectors and School Board officers in every town and village. With
regard to the education of the children when once the tent or van is
registered and numbered, the children, whether travelling as Gipsies,
auctioneers, &c., are mostly idle during the day; consequently, a book
similar to the half-time book, in which their names and attendance at
school could be entered, they could take from place to place as they
travel about, and it could be endorsed by the schoolmaster showing that
the child was attending school. The education obtained in this way would
not be of the highest order; but through the kindness of the
schoolmaster—for which extra trouble he should be compensated, as he
ought to be under the Canal Boats Act—and the vigilance of the School
Board visitor, a plain, practical, and sound education could be imparted
to, and obtained by, these poor little Gipsy children and roadside arabs,
who, if we do our duty, will be qualified to fill the places of those of
our best artisans who are leaving the country to seek their fortunes
abroad.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account