Another Romany production is a portrait taken in 1864 by a man travelling Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, etc. It is a carte de visite portrait on the old albumenized paper, and is first-rate work, its rich purple tones being as fresh and strong as when just finished. Doubtless, there are to-day many treasured portraits—all there is left to recall the features of loved ones—which are the work of gypsy artists who travelled the country at the time when photography was still young and few other opportunities existed of obtaining photographic portraits. CHAPTER V Beyond an allusion now and again, I have not hitherto had occasion to say anything of gypsy jewellery or personal adornment, but as these subjects have an intimate connection with the Romany life and are in many respects notably characteristic of the people, they demand more than passing mention. Gypsies undoubtedly inherit from their Oriental forbears a love of jewellery, brilliantly coloured fabrics, and the use of ornaments of various kinds for the adornment of their persons, and, in common with Orientals generally, they not only have this predilection but possess the ability to use these things in the most artistic fashion,—perhaps it would not be wrong to call it instinct, for they appear to be as incapable of doing otherwise as they are of moving or posing ungracefully. Ear-rings, beads, and the hair are the three things that will leave the most lasting impression on the memory after a casual meeting with Romany women and girls. Ear-rings are very generally worn and as a study are quite interesting,—many being very old, having been handed down from one generation to another, others are quaint in design, curiously massive, or otherwise striking in appearance. I was once engaged in conversation with a Romany woman who was wearing rather curious large gold ear-rings, and upon my remarking that they appeared to be of good workmanship, she obligingly removed them from her ears and placed them in my hand in order that I might examine them more closely and estimate their weight. There could be no doubt they were, as she suggested, old Indian work. By far the greater number are of crescentic design, consisting of either a single crescent or a combination of crescents. I have not been able to discover a reason for the partiality to this design, but as gypsies regard many things as “lucky” and others as “unlucky” it is probable that this form has acquired among them the reputation of being lucky. Some early Egyptian ear-rings were of this form, and the crescent is also used as a religious symbol, but the real origin of its use is obscure; the following account is, however, ingenious and interesting if not accurate. We read that:—