At most gatherings of this nature will be found good Romany types, half-breeds and nondescripts, and it is a fact worthy of noting that usually one hears the best and fullest Romany spoken by the best types of the race, while the language of the half-and-half and mongrels is not infrequently fearful jargon combining Romany jib of a sort, slang and profanity, mixed in different proportions by different individuals, and used with scant regard to either grammar or propriety. Perhaps one would not be surprised at this if the conditions under which their early life is passed be taken into consideration, for the low, nondescript wanderers—from whom the Romanies for the most part keep aloof—constitute an appreciable proportion of the entertainers at most fairs and the like, and provide a school for the apt pupils of the rising generation, in which they graduate in most of the unholy attainments of the class. However, fairs change as does all else in a changing world. I recall a visit I paid to a fair in north Hertfordshire years ago, and a brief description of some of the units in its composition will be interesting in comparison with those of to-day. In this particular instance Romany folk were well represented, the women at the stalls and shooting galleries being as usual dressed in black; in their ears were gold earrings, and nearly all wore black hats having ostrich feather adornments. At one stall, presided over by a voluble “Egyptian,” was a large brass arrow pivoted at the centre, like the needle of a large compass; around this was ranged a tempting display of rock,—that sweetstuff beloved of the juvenile who could even eat it after he had “peeked” at the process of manufacture behind the van,—and this was disposed in such a manner that no matter in what direction the arrow pointed when it came to rest after being set spinning by the expectant youngster, the proprietress was always able to see that it pointed to a small piece of rock, so that the speculator received about the value of a farthing in return for his penny; but let us entertain the charitable supposition that this was done to create disgust for games of chance and suppress an incipient taste for gambling. “Yes, my dear,” I can imagine I now hear her saying, “it’s quite fair, we never cheat,—now, young man, have another try.” Nowadays, these polished brass arrows are seldom or never seen on the stalls of sweet-stuff, for the law has looked into the matter.