I said, I will make thee my lawful wife, Because thou hast but two children; Methinks I will love thee until my death, If thou but say thou wilt come with me. Many other specimens of the English Gypsy muse might be here adduced; it is probable, however, that the above will have fully satisfied the curiosity of the reader. It has been inserted here for the purpose of showing that the Gypsies have songs in their own language, a fact which has been denied. In its metre it resembles the ancient Sclavonian ballads, with which it has another feature in common—the absence of rhyme. FOOTNOTES {0} Although the present edition is only in one volume, Borrow’s original references to the two volumes in the above Dedication and the Preface have been retained. {1} _Quarterly Review_, Dec. 1842 {2} _Edinburgh Review_, Feb. 1843. {3} _Examiner_, Dec. 17, 1842. {4} _Spectator_, Dec. 7, 1842. {5} Thou speakest well, brother! {6} This is quite a mistake: I know very little of what has been written concerning these people: even the work of Grellmann had not come beneath my perusal at the time of the publication of the first edition of _The Zincali_, which I certainly do not regret: for though I believe the learned German to be quite right in his theory with respect to the origin of the Gypsies, his acquaintance with their character, habits, and peculiarities, seems to have been extremely limited. {7} Good day. {8} Glandered horse. {9} Two brothers. {10} The edition here referred to has long since been out of print. {25} It may not be amiss to give the etymology of the word engro, which so frequently occurs in compound words in the English Gypsy tongue:—the _en_ properly belongs to the preceding noun, being one of the forms of the genitive case; for example, Elik-_en_ boro congry, the great Church or Cathedral of Ely; the _gro_ or _geiro_ (Spanish _guero_), is the Sanscrit _kar_, a particle much used in that language in the formation of compounds; I need scarcely add that _monger_ in the English words Costermonger, Ironmonger, etc., is derived from the same root. {26} For the knowledge of this fact I am indebted to the well-known and enterprising traveller, Mr. Vigne, whose highly interesting work on Cashmire and the Panjab requires no recommendation from me. {28} Gorgio (Spanish _gacho_), a man who is not a Gypsy: the Spanish Gypsies term the Gentiles Busne, the meaning of which word will be explained farther on. {36} An Eastern image tantamount to the taking away of life. {37} Gentes non multum morigeratæ, sed quasi bruta animalia et furentes. See vol. xxii. of the Supplement to the works of Muratori, p. 890. {43} As quoted by Hervas: _Catalogo de las Lenguas_, vol. iii. p. 306. {54} We have found this beautiful metaphor both in Gypsy and Spanish; it runs thus in the former language:— ‘LAS MUCHIS. (The Sparks.)