“PASSING GLEAMS OF RESTLESS MIRTH” ” ” 204 THE POST-PRANDIAL HALF-HOUR ” ” 206 “TATCHEY ROMANIES” ” ” 208 “DUI KUSHTI KAULO YOCKS” ” ” 212 “MANDE’S GRY” ” ” 218 A “RINKENY CHI” ” ” 220 “NO PLACE LIKE HOME” ” ” 222 “LIFE’S EVENTIDE” ” ” 230 HOME-MADE ARTICLES ” ” 262 BUNCHING “DAFFIES” ” ” 266 THE “DARK ROOM” ” ” 268 OFF TO THE “OPPIN” ” ” 274 ROMANY LIFE CHAPTER I The terms “gypsy” and “tramp” are by many considered synonymous. It is not, however, by any means the case, for while gypsies may be, and sometimes are, mistaken for tramps, the genuine professional tramp and the Tachey Romany, or true gypsy, have very little in common. The tramp may perhaps be described as one who is dominated by the early instincts of our race,—instincts which in every one of us are but just below the veneer of civilization,—for we know that in the infancy of the human race man was perforce of a roving, restless and predatory disposition, driven by circumstances to wander in search of food, and, as in the case of plants which have been improved,—civilized, if you will, by cultivation,—there is always the tendency to return to the primitive state, so every civilized man is more or less insistently urged by Nature to disregard the conventions of Society, to live in the open air and to wander. We may then take it that the professional tramp demonstrates this instinct combined with a detestation of honest toil. Such men sometimes depart from the ways of their kind and adopt the manner of life of the gypsy, and, when living under such conditions, they are, in some districts, designated “Mumpers.” Sometimes these mumpers intermarry with the gypsies, adopt their mode of living and assimilate many of their customs and portions of their language, with the result that their progeny exhibit many of the true Romany characteristics. Sometimes such half-caste gypsies are called “diddecoys,” but one also hears the term loosely applied to the true gypsy. I have heard it most frequently by the people of Hampshire, and occasionally by the gypsies themselves. A man once said to me, “I ain’t an old diddecoy like my missus; I was born in a house, but she’s always been a travelling lady.”