Part 49

"Yes, sorr, all av thim."

"All but one?"

"An' what's that wan, sorr?"

"Can you thari shelta, subli?"

No tinker was ever yet astonished at anything. If he could be he would not be a tinker. If the coals in his stove were to turn to lumps of gold in a twinkle, he would proceed with leisurely action to rake them out and prepare them for sale, and never indicate by a word or a wink that anything remarkable had occurred. But Owen the tinker looked steadily at me for an instant, as if to see what manner of man I might be, and then said,--

"Shelta, is it? An' I can talk it. An' there's not six min livin' as can talk it as I do."

"Do you know, I think it's very remarkable that you can talk Shelta."

"An' begorra, I think it's very remarkable, sorr, that ye should know there is such a language."

"Will you give me a lesson?"

"Troth I will."

I went into the house and brought out a note-book. One of the servants brought me a chair. Owen went on soldering a tin dish, and I proceeded to take down from him the following list of words in Shelta:

Theddy Fire (theinne. Irish). Strawn Tin. Blyhunka Horse. Leicheen Girl. Soobli Male, man. Binny soobli Boy. Binny Small. Chimmel Stick. Gh'ratha, grata Hat. Griffin, or gruffin Coat. Respes Trousers. Gullemnocks Shoes. Grascot Waistcoat. Skoich, or skoi Button. Numpa Sovereign, one pound. Gorhead, or godhed Money. Merrih Nose (?). Nyock Head. Graigh Hair. Kaine, or kyni Ears (Romany, kan). Melthog Inner shirt. Medthel Black. Cunnels Potatoes. Faihe, or feye Meat (feoil. Gaelic). Muogh Pig (muck. Irish). Miesli, misli To go (origin of "mizzle"?) Mailyas, or moillhas Fingers (meirleach, stealers Gaelic). Shaidyog Policeman. Respun To steal. Shoich Water, blood, liquid. Alemnoch Milk. Raglan, or reglan Hammer. Goppa Furnace, smith (gobha, a smith. Gaelic). Terry A heating-iron. Khoi Pincers. Chimmes (compare chimmel) Wood or stick. Mailyas Arms. Koras Legs (cos, leg. Gaelic). Skoihopa Whisky. Bulla (ull as in gull) A letter. Thari Word, language. Mush Umbrella (slang). Lyesken cherps Telling fortunes. Loshools Flowers (lus, erb or flower? Gaelic). Dainoch To lose. Chaldroch Knife (caldock, sharply pointed. Gaelic). Bog To get. Masheen Cat. Cambra Dog. Laprogh Goose, duck. Kaldthog Hen. Rumogh Egg. Kiena House (ken, old gypsy and modern cant). Rawg Wagon. Gullemnoch Shoes. Analt To sweep, to broom. Analken To wash. D'erri Bread. R'ghoglin (gogh'leen) To laugh. Kradyin To stop, stay, sit, lodge, remain. Oura Town. Lashool Nice (lachool. Irish). Moinni, or moryeni Good (min, pleasant. Gaelic). Moryenni yook Good man. Gyami Bad (cam. Gaelic). Probably the origin of the common canting term gammy, bad. Ishkimmisk Drunk (misgeach. Gaelic) Roglan A four-wheeled vehicle. Lorch A two-wheeled vehicle. Smuggle Anvil. Granya Nail. Riaglon Iron. Gushuk Vessel of any kind. Tedhi, thedi Coal; fuel of any kind. Grawder Solder. Tanyok Halfpenny. (Query tani, little, Romany, and nyok, a head.) Chlorhin To hear. Sunain To see. Salkaneoch To taste, take. Mailyen To feel (cumail, to hold. Gaelic). Crowder String. Sobye (?) Mislain Raining (mizzle?). Goo-ope, guop Cold. Skoichen Rain. Thomyok Magistrate. Shadyog Police. Bladhunk Prison. Bogh To get. Salt Arrested, taken. Straihmed A year. Gotherna, guttema Policeman. [A very rare old word.] Dyukas, or Jukas Gorgio, Gentile; one not of the class. Misli Coming, to come, to send. To my-deal To me. Lychyen People. Grannis Know. Skolaia To write. Skolaiyami A good scholar. Nyok Head. Lurk Eye. Menoch Nose. Glorhoch Ear. Koris Feet. Tashi shingomai To read the newspaper. Gorheid Money. Tomgarheid (i.e. big money) Gold. Skawfer, skawper Silver. Tomnumpa Bank-note. Terri Coal. Ghoi Put. Nyadas Table. Kradyin Being, lying. Tarryin Rope. Kor'heh Box. Miseli Quick. Krad'hyi Slow. Th-mddusk Door. Khaihed Chair (khahir. Irish). Bord Table. Grainyog Window. Rumog Egg. Aidh Butter. Okonneh A priest. Thus explained in a very Irish manner: "Okonneh, or Koony, is a sacred man, and kuni in Romany means secret. An' sacret and sacred, sure, are all the same." Shliema Smoke, pipe. Munches Tobacco. Khadyogs Stones. Yiesk Fish (iasg. Gaelic). Cab Cabbage. Cherpin Book. This appears to be vulgar. Llyower was on second thought declared to be the right word. (Leabhar, Gaelic.) Misli dainoch To write a letter; to write; that is, send or go. Misli to my bewr Write to my woman. Gritche Dinner. Gruppa Supper. Goihed To leave, lay down. Lurks Eyes. Ainoch Thing. Clisp To fall, let fall. Clishpen To break by letting fall. Guth, gut Black. Gothni, gachlin Child. Styemon Rat. Krepoch Cat. Grannien With child. Loshub Sweet. Shum To own. L'yogh To lose. Crimum Sheep. Khadyog Stone. Nglou Nail. Gial Yellow, red. Talosk Weather. Laprogh Bird. Madel Tail. Carob To cut. Lubran, luber To hit. Thom Violently. Mish it thom Hit it hard. Subli, or soobli Man (siublach, a vagrant. Gaelic).

There you are, readers! Make good cheer of it, as Panurge said of what was beyond him. For what this language really is passeth me and mine. Of Celtic origin it surely is, for Owen gave me every syllable so garnished with gutturals that I, being even less of one of the Celtes than a Chinaman, have not succeeded in writing a single word according to his pronunciation of it. Thus even Minklers sounds more like minkias, or pikias, as he gave it.

To the foregoing I add the numerals and a few phrases:--

Hain, or heen One. Do Two. Tri Three. Ch'air, or k'hair Four. Cood Five. She, or shay Six. Schaacht, or schach' Seven. Ocht Eight. Ayen, or nai Nine. Dy'ai, djai, or dai Ten. Hinniadh Eleven. Do yed'h Twelve. Trin yedh Thirteen. K'hair yedh, etc. Fourteen, etc. Tat 'th chesin ogomsa That belongs to me. Grannis to my deal It belongs to me. Dioch maa krady in in this nadas I am staying here. Tash emilesh He is staying there. Boghin the brass Cooking the food. My deal is mislin I am going. The nidias of the kiena don't The people of the house don't know granny what we're a tharyin what we're saying.

This was said within hearing of and in reference to a bevy of servants, of every hue save white, who were in full view in the kitchen, and who were manifestly deeply interested and delighted in our interview, as well as in the constant use of my note-book, and our conference in an unknown tongue, since Owen and I spoke frequently in Romany.

That bhoghd out yer mailya You let that fall from your hand.

I also obtained a verse of a ballad, which I may not literally render into pure English:--

"Cosson kailyah corrum me morro sari, Me gul ogalyach mir; Rahet manent trasha moroch Me tu sosti mo diele."

"Coming from Galway, tired and weary, I met a woman; I'll go bail by this time to-morrow, You'll have had enough of me."

Me tu sosti, "Thou shalt be (of) me," is Romany, which is freely used in Shelta.

The question which I cannot solve is, On which of the Celtic languages is this jargon based? My informant declares that it is quite independent of Old Irish, Welsh, or Gaelic. In pronunciation it appears to be almost identical with the latter; but while there are Gaelic words in it, it is certain that much examination and inquiry have failed to show that it is contained in that language. That it is "the talk of the ould Picts--thim that built the stone houses like beehives"--is, I confess, too conjectural for a philologist. I have no doubt that when the Picts were suppressed thousands of them must have become wandering outlaws, like the Romany, and that their language in time became a secret tongue of vagabonds on the roads. This is the history of many such lingoes; but unfortunately Owen's opinion, even if it be legendary, will not prove that the Painted People spoke the Shelta tongue. I must call attention, however, to one or two curious points. I have spoken of Shelta as a jargon; but it is, in fact, a language, for it can be spoken grammatically and without using English or Romany. And again, there is a corrupt method of pronouncing it, according to English, while correctly enunciated it is purely Celtic in sound. More than this I have naught to say.

Shelta is perhaps the last Old British dialect as yet existing which has thus far remained undiscovered. There is no hint of it in John Camden Hotten's Slang Dictionary, nor has it been recognized by the Dialect Society. Mr. Simson, had he known the "Tinklers" better, would have found that not Romany, but Shelta, was the really secret language which they employed, although Romany is also more or less familiar to them all. To me there is in it something very weird and strange. I cannot well say why; it seems as if it might be spoken by witches and talking toads, and uttered by the Druid stones, which are fabled to come down by moonlight to the water-side to drink, and who will, if surprised during their walk, answer any questions. Anent which I would fain ask my Spiritualist friends one which I have long yearned to put. Since you, my dear ghost-raisers, can call spirits from the vasty deep of the outside-most beyond, will you not--having many millions from which to call--raise up one of the Pictish race, and, having brought it in from the Ewigkeit, take down a vocabulary of the language? Let it be a lady par preference,--the fair being by far the more fluent in words. Moreover, it is probable that as the Picts were a painted race, woman among them must have been very much to the fore, and that Madame Rachels occupied a high position with rouge, enamels, and other appliances to make them young and beautiful forever. According to Southey, the British blue-stocking is descended from these woad-stained ancestresses, which assertion dimly hints at their having been literary. In which case, voila notre affaire! for then the business would be promptly done. Wizards of the secret spells, I adjure ye, raise me a Pictess for the sake of philology--and the picturesque!

Footnotes:

{19} From the observations of Frederic Drew (The Northern Barrier of India, London, 1877) there can be little doubt that the Dom, or Dum, belong to the pre-Aryan race or races of India. "They are described in the Shastras as Sopukh, or Dog-Eaters" (Types of India). I have somewhere met with the statement that the Dom was pre-Aryan, but allowed to rank as Hindoo on account of services rendered to the early conquerors.

{22} Up-stairs in this gentleman's dialect signified up or upon, like top Pidgin-English.

{23} Puccasa, Sanskrit. Low, inferior. Given by Pliny E. Chase in his Sanskrit Analogues as the root-word for several inferior animals.

{26} A Trip up the Volga to the Fair of Nijni-Novgovod. By H. A. Munro Butler Johnstone. 1875.