Part 35

“Forasmuch as before this time, divers and many outlandish people calling themselves Egyptians, using no craft nor feat of merchandize, have come into this realm, and gone from shire to shire, and place to place, in great company, and used great subtil and crafty means to deceive the people; bearing them in mind that they, by palmistry, could tell men’s and women’s fortunes; and so many times, by craft and subtilty, have deceived the people of their money; and also have committed many heinous felonies and robberies, to the great hurt and deceit of the people they have come among,” &c.

This is the preamble to an act, by which the Gipsies were ordered to quit the realm under heavy penalties. Two subsequent acts, passed in 1555 and 1565, made it death for them to remain in the kingdom; and it is still on record, that thirteen were executed under these acts, in the county of Suffolk, a few years before the restoration. It was not till about the year 1783, that they were repealed.

The Gipsies were expelled France in 1560, and Spain in 1591: but it does not appear they have been extirpated in any country. Their collective numbers, in every quarter of the globe, have been calculated at 7 or 800,000. They are most numerous in Asia, and in the northern parts of Europe. Various have been the opinion relative to their origin. That they came from Egypt, has been the most prevalent. This opinion (which has procured them here the name of Gipsies, and in Spain that of Gittanos) arose from some of the first who arrived in Europe, pretending that they came from that country; which they did, perhaps, to heighten their reputation for skill in palmistry and the occult sciences. It is now we believe pretty generally agreed, that they came originally from Hindostan; since their language so far coincides with the Hindostanic, that even now, after a lapse of nearly four centuries, during which they have been dispersed in various foreign countries, nearly one half of their words are precisely those of Hindostan; and scarcely any variation is to be found in vocabularies procured from the Gipsies in Turkey, Hungary, Germany, and those in England. Their manners, for the most part, coincide, as well as the language, in every quarter of the globe where they are found; being the same idle wandering set of beings, and seldom professing any mode of acquiring a livelihood, except that of fortune-telling. Their religion is always that of the country in which they reside; and though they are no great frequenters either of mosques or churches, they generally conform to rites and ceremonies as they find them established.

Grellman says that, in Germany, they seldom think of any marriage ceremony; but their children are baptized and the mothers churched. In England their children are baptized, and their dead buried, according to the rites of the church; perhaps the marriage ceremony is not more regarded than in Germany; but it is certain they are sometimes married in churches. Upon the whole, as Grellman observes, we may certainly regard the Gipsies as a singular phenomenon in Europe. For the space of between three and four hundred years they have gone wandering about like pilgrims and strangers, yet neither time nor example has made in them any alteration: they remain ever and every where what their fathers were: Africa makes them no blacker, nor does Europe make them whiter.

Few of the descendants of the aboriginal Gipsies are to be found any where in Europe, and in England less than any where else. The severity of the police against this description of the degenerate vagabonds existing at the present day, have considerably thinned their phalanxes, and brought them to something like a due sense of the laws and expectations of civilized society. What remains of them, nevertheless, contrive one way or other to elude the vigilance of the laws by different masked callings, under which they ostensibly appear to carry on their usual traffic.

The modern Gipsies pretend that they derive their origin from the ancient Egyptians, who were famous for their knowledge in astronomy and other sciences; and, under the pretence of fortune-telling, find means to rob or defraud the ignorant and superstitious. To colour their impostures, they artificially discolour their faces, and speak a kind of gibberish or cant peculiar to themselves. They rove up and down the country in large companies, to the great terror of the farmers, from whose geese, turkeys, and fowls, they take considerable contributions.

When a fresh recruit is admitted into the fraternity, he is to take the following oath, administered by the principal marauder, after going through the annexed forms:—

First, a new name is given to him, by which he is ever after to be called; then standing up in the middle of the assembly, and directing his face to the dimber damber, or principal man of the gang, he repeats the following oath, which is dictated to him by some experienced member of the fraternity; namely, “I, Crank Cuffin, do swear to be a true brother, and that I will, in all things, obey the commands of the great tawny prince, and keep his counsel, and not divulge the secrets of my brethren.

“I will never leave nor forsake the company, but observe and keep all the times of appointment, either by day or by night, in every place whatever.

“I will not teach any one to cant, nor will I disclose any of our mysteries to them.

“I will take my prince’s part against all that shall oppose him, or any of us, according to the utmost of my ability; nor will I suffer him, or any one belonging to us, to be abused by any strange Abrams, Rufflers, Hookers, Paillards, Swaddlers, Irish Toyles, Swigmen, Whip Jacks, Jackmen, Bawdy Baskets, Dommerars, Clapper Dogeons, Patricoes, or Curtals; but will defend him, or them, as much as I can, against all other outliers whatever. I will not conceal aught I win out of Libkins, or pun the Ruffmans, but will preserve it for the use of the company. Lastly, I will cleave to my Doxy-wap, stifly, and will bring her Duds, Margery Prators, Goblers, Grunting Cheats, or Tibs of the Buttery, or any thing else I can come at, as winning for her wappings.”

The canters, it would appear, have a tradition, that from the three first articles of this oath, the first founders of a certain boastful, worshipful fraternity, (who pretend to derive their origin from the earliest times) borrowed both the hint and the form of their establishment; and that their pretended derivation of the first word Adam is a forgery, it being only from the first Adam Tyler. At the admission of a new brother, a general stock is raised for booze or drink, to make themselves merry on the occasion. As for peckage or eatables, this they can procure without money, for while some are sent to break the ruffmans, or woods and bushes, for firing, others are detached to filch geese, chickens, hens, ducks, or mallards, and pigs. Their morts, or women, are their butchers, who presently make bloody work with what living things are brought to them; and having made holes in the ground under some remote hedge, in an obscure place, they make a fire, and boil or broil their food; and when it is done enough, fall to work tooth and nail; and having eaten more like beasts than human beings, they drink more like swine than men, entertaining each other during the time with songs in the canting dialect. As they live, so they lie together, promiscuously, and know not how to claim a property either in their goods or children; and this general interest ties them more firmly together, than if all their rags were twisted into ropes, to bind them indissolubly from a separation, which detestable union is farther consolidated by the preceding oath.

They stroll up and down all summer-time in droves, and dexterously pick pockets while they are telling fortunes; and the money, rings, silver thimbles, &c. which they get, are instantly conveyed from one hand to another, till the remotest person of the gang (who is not suspected, because they come not near the person robbed) gets possession of it; so that in the strictest search, it is impossible to recover it, while the wretches, with imprecations, oaths, and protestations, disclaim the thievery.

That by which they were said to get the most money, was, when young gentlewomen of good families and reputation, have happened to be with child before marriage, a round sum is often bestowed among Gipsies, for some mort to take the child; and, as in these cases it was never heard of more by the true mother and family, so the disgrace was kept concealed from the world; and, in the event of the child surviving, its parents are never known.

The following account of these wandering beings, is taken from Evelyn’s Journal, which throws some light on their degeneracy from the primitive tribes.

“In our statutes they are called Egyptians, which implies a counterfeit kind of rogues, who ‘being English or Welsh people,’ disguise themselves in uncouth habits, smearing their faces and bodies, and framing to themselves an unknown, canting language, wander up and down; and under pretence of telling fortunes, curing diseases, &c. abuse the common people, trick them of their money, and steal all that is not too hot or too heavy for them. See several statutes made against them, 28 Henry VIII. c. 10. 1 & 2. Philip and Mary, c. 4 & 5. Eliz. c. 20.

“The origin of this tribe of vagabonds called Egyptians, and popularly Gipsies, is somewhat obscure; at least the reason of the denomination is so. It is certain, the ancient Egyptians had the name of great cheats, and were famous for the subtilty of their impostures, whence the name might afterwards pass proverbially into other languages, as is pretty certain it did into the Greek and Latin, or else the ancient Egyptians, being much versed in astronomy, which in those days was little better than Astrology, the name was on that score assumed by these diseurs de bonne avanture, as the French call them, or tellers of good fortune. Be this as it may, there is scarce any country in Europe, even at the present day, but has its Egyptians, though not all of them under this denomination: the Latins called them Egyptii; the Italians, Cingani, and Cingari; the Germans, Zigeuna; the French, Bohemiens; others Saracens, and others Tartars, &c.

Munster, Geogr. L. III. c. 5. relates, that they made their first appearance in Germany, in 1417, exceedingly tawny and sun-burnt, and in pitiful array, though they affected quality, and travelled with a train of hunting dogs after them, like nobles. He adds, that they had passports from King Sigismund of Bohemia, and other princes. Ten years afterwards they came into France, and thence passed into England.

Pasquier, in his Recherches, L. IV. c. 19, relates the origin of the Gipsies thus: On the 17th of April, 1427, there came to Paris twelve penitents, or persons, as they said, adjudged to penance; viz. one duke, one count, and ten cavaliers, or persons on horseback; they took on themselves the characters of Christians of the Lower Egypt, expelled by the Saracens; who having made application to the Pope, and confessed their sins, received for penance, that they should travel through the world for seven years, without ever lying in a bed. Their train consisted of 120 persons, men, women, and children, which were all that were left of 1200, who came together out of Egypt. They had lodgings assigned them in the chapel, and people went in crowds to see them. Their ears were perforated, and silver buckles hung to them. Their hair was exceedingly black and frizzled; their women were ugly, thieves, and pretenders to telling of fortunes. The bishop soon after obliged them to retire, and excommunicated such as had shewn them their hands.

By an ordinance of the estates of Orleans, in the year 1560, it was enjoined, that all these impostors under the name of Bohemians and Egyptians, do quit the kingdom on the penalty of the gallies. Upon this they dispersed into lesser companies, and spread themselves over Europe. The first time we hear of them in England was three years afterwards, viz. anno 1563.

Ralph Volaterranus, making mention of them, affirms, that they first proceeded or strolled from among the Uxii, a people of Persis or Persia. (See GIPSIES.)

The following characteristic sketch of one of the primitive gipsies, is ably delineated in the popular novel of Quentin Durward; with which we shall close this article:

Orleans, who could not love the match provided for him by the King, could love Isabelle, and follows her escort. Quentin, however, unhorses him, and sustains a noble combat with his companion the renowned Dunais; till a body of the archers ride up to his relief. The assailants are carried off prisoners, and our victorious Scot pursues his dangerous way, under uncertain guidance, as the following extract will shew:

“While he hesitated whether it would be better to send back one of his followers, he heard the blast of a horn, and looking in the direction from which the sound came, beheld a horseman riding very fast towards them. The low size, and wild, shaggy, untrained state of the animal, reminded Quentin of the mountain breed of horses in his own country; but this was much more finely limbed, and, with the same appearance of hardness, was more rapid in its movements. The head particularly, which, in the Scottish poney, is often lumpish and heavy, was small and well placed in the neck of this animal, with thin jaws, full sparkling eyes, and expanded nostrils.

“The rider was even more singular in his appearance than the horse which he rode, though that was extremely unlike the horses of France. Although he managed his palfrey with great dexterity, he sat with his feet in broad stirrups, something resembling a shovel, so short, that his knees were well nigh as high as the pommel of his saddle. His dress was a red turban of small size, in which he wore a sullied plume, secured by a clasp of silver; his tunic, which was shaped like those of the Estradiots, a sort of troops whom the Venetians at that time levied in the provinces, on the eastern side of their gulf, was green in colour, and tawdrily laced with gold; he wore very wide drawers or trowsers of white, though none of the cleanest, which gathered beneath the knee, and his swarthy legs were quite bare, unless for the complicated laces which bound a pair of sandals on his feet; he had no spurs, the edge of his large stirrups being so sharp as to serve to goad the horse in a very severe manner. In a crimson sash this singular horseman wore a dagger on the right side, and on the left a short crooked Moorish sword, and by a tarnished baldrick over the shoulder hung the horn which announced his approach. He had a swarthy and sun-burnt visage, with a thin beard, and piercing dark eyes, a well-formed mouth and nose, and other features which might have been pronounced handsome, but for the black elf-locks which hung around his face, and the air of wildness and emaciation, which rather seemed to indicate a savage than a civilized man.

“Quentin rode up to the Bohemian, and said to him, as he suddenly assumed his proper position on the horse, ‘Methinks, friend, you will prove but a blind guide, if you look at the tail of your horse rather than his ears.’

“‘And if I were actually blind,’ answered the Bohemian, ‘I could guide you through any county in this realm of France, or in those adjoining to it.’

“‘Yet you are no Frenchman born,’ said the Scot.