The Zincali: An Account of the Gypsies of Spain
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Title: The Zincali: An Account of the Gypsies of Spain
Author: George Borrow
Release date: June 1, 1996 [eBook #565]
Most recently updated: August 15, 2019
Language: English
Other information and formats: www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/565
Credits: Transcribed from the 1901 John Murray edition by David Price
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[Picture: Book cover]
THE ZINCALI
* * * * *
AN ACCOUNT OF THE
GYPSIES OF SPAIN
BY GEORGE BORROW
AUTHOR OF
‘THE BIBLE IN SPAIN’
‘LAVENGRO’
ETC.
* * * * *
‘_For that which is unclean by nature_,
_thou canst entertain no hope_; _no washing_
_will turn the Gypsy white_.’—FERDOUSI
* * * * *
NEW IMPRESSION
* * * * *
LONDON
JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET
1901
* * * * *
Edinburgh: T. and A. CONSTABLE, Printers to Her Majesty
TO
THE RIGHT HONOURABLE
THE EARL OF CLARENDON, G.C.B.
KEEPER OF HER MAJESTY’S PRIVY SEAL
ETC., ETC., ETC.
MY LORD,
_I feel it not only a gratification but an honour to be permitted to
dedicate these volumes_ {0} _to your Lordship_, _the more particularly as
they are connected with Spain_, _a country in which it was so frequently
my fortune to experience such prompt and salutary aid from your Lordship
in the high capacity of representative of our Gracious British
Sovereign_.
_The remembrance of the many obligations under which your Lordship has
placed me_, _by your energetic and effectual interference in time of
need_, _will ever in heartfelt gratitude cause me to remain_, _with
unfeigned sentiments of respect_,
_My Lord_,
_Your most devoted Servant_,
GEORGE BORROW.
PREFACE
IT is with some diffidence that the author ventures to offer the present
work to the public.
The greater part of it has been written under very peculiar
circumstances, such as are not in general deemed at all favourable for
literary composition: at considerable intervals, during a period of
nearly five years passed in Spain—in moments snatched from more important
pursuits—chiefly in ventas and posádas, whilst wandering through the
country in the arduous and unthankful task of distributing the Gospel
among its children.
Owing to the causes above stated, he is aware that his work must not
unfrequently appear somewhat disjointed and unconnected, and the style
rude and unpolished: he has, nevertheless, permitted the tree to remain
where he felled it, having, indeed, subsequently enjoyed too little
leisure to make much effectual alteration.
At the same time he flatters himself that the work is not destitute of
certain qualifications to entitle it to approbation. The author’s
acquaintance with the Gypsy race in general dates from a very early
period of his life, which considerably facilitated his intercourse with
the Peninsular portion, to the elucidation of whose history and character
the present volumes are more particularly devoted. Whatever he has
asserted, is less the result of reading than of close observation, he
having long since come to the conclusion that the Gypsies are not a
people to be studied in books, or at least in such books as he believes
have hitherto been written concerning them.
Throughout he has dealt more in facts than in theories, of which he is in
general no friend. True it is, that no race in the world affords, in
many points, a more extensive field for theory and conjecture than the
Gypsies, who are certainly a very mysterious people come from some
distant land, no mortal knows why, and who made their first appearance in
Europe at a dark period, when events were not so accurately recorded as
at the present time.
But if he has avoided as much as possible touching upon subjects which
must always, to a certain extent, remain shrouded in obscurity; for
example, the original state and condition of the Gypsies, and the causes
which first brought them into Europe; he has stated what they are at the
present day, what he knows them to be from a close scrutiny of their ways
and habits, for which, perhaps, no one ever enjoyed better opportunities;
and he has, moreover, given—not a few words culled expressly for the
purpose of supporting a theory, but one entire dialect of their language,
collected with much trouble and difficulty; and to this he humbly calls
the attention of the learned, who, by comparing it with certain
languages, may decide as to the countries in which the Gypsies have lived
or travelled.
With respect to the Gypsy rhymes in the second volume, he wishes to make
one observation which cannot be too frequently repeated, and which he
entreats the reader to bear in mind: they are _Gypsy compositions_, and
have little merit save so far as they throw light on the manner of
thinking and speaking of the Gypsy people, or rather a portion of them,
and as to what they are capable of effecting in the way of poetry. It
will, doubtless, be said that the rhymes are _trash_;—even were it so,
they are original, and on that account, in a philosophic point of view,
are more valuable than the most brilliant compositions pretending to
describe Gypsy life, but written by persons who are not of the Gypsy
sect. Such compositions, however replete with fiery sentiments, and
allusions to freedom and independence, are certain to be tainted with
affectation. Now in the Gypsy rhymes there is no affectation, and on
that very account they are different in every respect from the poetry of
those interesting personages who figure, under the names of Gypsies,
Gitános, Bohemians, etc., in novels and on the boards of the theatre.
It will, perhaps, be objected to the present work, that it contains
little that is edifying in a moral or Christian point of view: to such an
objection the author would reply, that the Gypsies are not a Christian
people, and that their morality is of a peculiar kind, not calculated to
afford much edification to what is generally termed the respectable
portion of society. Should it be urged that certain individuals have
found them very different from what they are represented in these
volumes, he would frankly say that he yields no credit to the presumed
fact, and at the same time he would refer to the vocabulary contained in
the second volume, whence it will appear that the words _hoax_ and
_hocus_ have been immediately derived from the language of the Gypsies,
who, there is good reason to believe, first introduced the system into
Europe, to which those words belong.
The author entertains no ill-will towards the Gypsies; why should he,
were he a mere carnal reasoner? He has known them for upwards of twenty
years, in various countries, and they never injured a hair of his head,
or deprived him of a shred of his raiment; but he is not deceived as to
the motive of their forbearance: they thought him a _Rom_, and on this
supposition they hurt him not, their love of ‘the blood’ being their most
distinguishing characteristic. He derived considerable assistance from
them in Spain, as in various instances they officiated as colporteurs in
the distribution of the Gospel: but on that account he is not prepared to
say that they entertained any love for the Gospel or that they circulated
it for the honour of Tebléque the Saviour. Whatever they did for the
Gospel in Spain, was done in the hope that he whom they conceived to be
their brother had some purpose in view which was to contribute to the
profit of the Calés, or Gypsies, and to terminate in the confusion and
plunder of the Busné, or Gentiles. Convinced of this, he is too little
of an enthusiast to rear, on such a foundation, any fantastic edifice of
hope which would soon tumble to the ground.
The cause of truth can scarcely be forwarded by enthusiasm, which is
almost invariably the child of ignorance and error. The author is
anxious to direct the attention of the public towards the Gypsies; but he
hopes to be able to do so without any romantic appeals in their behalf,
by concealing the truth, or by warping the truth until it becomes
falsehood. In the following pages he has depicted the Gypsies as he has
found them, neither aggravating their crimes nor gilding them with
imaginary virtues. He has not expatiated on ‘their gratitude towards
good people, who treat them kindly and take an interest in their
welfare’; for he believes that of all beings in the world they are the
least susceptible of such a feeling. Nor has he ever done them injustice
by attributing to them licentious habits, from which they are, perhaps,
more free than any race in the creation.
PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION
I CANNOT permit the second edition of this work to go to press without
premising it with a few words.
When some two years ago I first gave _The Zincali_ to the world, it was,
as I stated at the time, with considerable hesitation and diffidence: the
composition of it and the collecting of Gypsy words had served as a kind
of relaxation to me whilst engaged in the circulation of the Gospel in
Spain. After the completion of the work, I had not the slightest idea
that it possessed any peculiar merit, or was calculated to make the
slightest impression upon the reading world. Nevertheless, as every one
who writes feels a kind of affection, greater or less, for the
productions of his pen, I was averse, since the book was written, to
suffer it to perish of damp in a lumber closet, or by friction in my
travelling wallet. I committed it therefore to the press, with a
friendly ‘Farewell, little book; I have done for you all I can, and much
more than you deserve.’
My expectations at this time were widely different from those of my
namesake George in the _Vicar of Wakefield_ when he published his
paradoxes. I took it as a matter of course that the world, whether
learned or unlearned, would say to my book what they said to his
paradoxes, as the event showed,—nothing at all. To my utter
astonishment, however, I had no sooner returned to my humble retreat,
where I hoped to find the repose of which I was very much in need, than I
was followed by the voice not only of England but of the greater part of
Europe, informing me that I had achieved a feat—a work in the nineteenth
century with some pretensions to originality. The book was speedily
reprinted in America, portions of it were translated into French and
Russian, and a fresh edition demanded.
In the midst of all this there sounded upon my ears a voice which I
recognised as that of the Mæcenas of British literature: ‘Borromeo, don’t
believe all you hear, nor think that you have accomplished anything so
very extraordinary: a great portion of your book is very sorry trash
indeed—Gypsy poetry, dry laws, and compilations from dull Spanish
authors: it has good points, however, which show that you are capable of
something much better: try your hand again—avoid your besetting sins; and
when you have accomplished something which will really do credit to —
Street, it will be time enough to think of another delivery of these
_Gypsies_.’
Mistos amande: ‘I am content,’ I replied; and sitting down I commenced
the _Bible in Spain_. At first I proceeded slowly—sickness was in the
land, and the face of nature was overcast—heavy rain-clouds swam in the
heavens,—the blast howled amid the pines which nearly surround my lonely
dwelling, and the waters of the lake which lies before it, so quiet in
general and tranquil, were fearfully agitated. ‘Bring lights hither, O
Hayim Ben Attar, son of the miracle!’ And the Jew of Fez brought in the
lights, for though it was midday I could scarcely see in the little room
where I was writing. . . .
A dreary summer and autumn passed by, and were succeeded by as gloomy a
winter. I still proceeded with the _Bible in Spain_. The winter passed,
and spring came with cold dry winds and occasional sunshine, whereupon I
arose, shouted, and mounting my horse, even Sidi Habismilk, I scoured all
the surrounding district, and thought but little of the _Bible in Spain_.
So I rode about the country, over the heaths, and through the green lanes
of my native land, occasionally visiting friends at a distance, and
sometimes, for variety’s sake, I stayed at home and amused myself by
catching huge pike, which lie perdue in certain deep ponds skirted with
lofty reeds, upon my land, and to which there is a communication from the
lagoon by a deep and narrow watercourse.—I had almost forgotten the
_Bible in Spain_.
Then came the summer with much heat and sunshine, and then I would lie
for hours in the sun and recall the sunny days I had spent in Andalusia,
and my thoughts were continually reverting to Spain, and at last I
remembered that the _Bible in Spain_ was still unfinished; whereupon I
arose and said: ‘This loitering profiteth nothing’—and I hastened to my
summer-house by the side of the lake, and there I thought and wrote, and
every day I repaired to the same place, and thought and wrote until I had
finished the _Bible in Spain_.
And at the proper season the _Bible in Spain_ was given to the world; and
the world, both learned and unlearned, was delighted with the _Bible in
Spain_, and the highest authority {1} said, ‘This is a much better book
than the _Gypsies_’; and the next great authority {2} said, ‘something
betwixt Le Sage and Bunyan.’ ‘A far more entertaining work than _Don
Quixote_,’ exclaimed a literary lady. ‘Another _Gil Blas_,’ said the
cleverest writer in Europe. {3} ‘Yes,’ exclaimed the cool sensible
_Spectator_, {4} ‘a _Gil Blas_ in water-colours.’
And when I heard the last sentence, I laughed, and shouted, ‘_Kosko
pennese pal_!’ {5} It pleased me better than all the rest. Is there not
a text in a certain old book which says: Woe unto you when all men shall
speak well of you! Those are awful words, brothers; woe is me!
‘Revenons à nos Bohémiens!’ Now the _Bible in Spain_ is off my hands, I
return to ‘these _Gypsies_’; and here you have, most kind, lenient, and
courteous public, a fresh delivery of them. In the present edition, I
have attended as much as possible to the suggestions of certain
individuals, for whose opinion I cannot but entertain the highest
respect. I have omitted various passages from Spanish authors, which the
world has objected to as being quite out of place, and serving for no
other purpose than to swell out the work. In lieu thereof, I have
introduced some original matter relative to the Gypsies, which is,
perhaps, more calculated to fling light over their peculiar habits than
anything which has yet appeared. To remodel the work, however, I have
neither time nor inclination, and must therefore again commend it, with
all the imperfections which still cling to it, to the generosity of the
public.
A few words in conclusion. Since the publication of the first edition, I
have received more than one letter, in which the writers complain that I,
who seem to know so much of what has been written concerning the Gypsies,
{6} should have taken no notice of a theory entertained by many, namely,
that they are of Jewish origin, and that they are neither more nor less
than the descendants of the two lost tribes of Israel. Now I am not
going to enter into a discussion upon this point, for I know by
experience, that the public cares nothing for discussions, however
learned and edifying, but will take the present opportunity to relate a
little adventure of mine, which bears not a little upon this matter.
So it came to pass, that one day I was scampering over a heath, at some
distance from my present home: I was mounted upon the good horse Sidi
Habismilk, and the Jew of Fez, swifter than the wind, ran by the side of
the good horse Habismilk, when what should I see at a corner of the heath
but the encampment of certain friends of mine; and the chief of that
camp, even Mr. Petulengro, stood before the encampment, and his adopted
daughter, Miss Pinfold, stood beside him.
_Myself_.—‘Kosko divvus {7}, Mr. Petulengro! I am glad to see you: how
are you getting on?’
_Mr. Petulengro_.—‘How am I getting on? as well as I can. What will you
have for that nokengro {8}?’
Thereupon I dismounted, and delivering the reins of the good horse to
Miss Pinfold, I took the Jew of Fez, even Hayim Ben Attar, by the hand,
and went up to Mr. Petulengro, exclaiming, ‘Sure ye are two brothers.’
Anon the Gypsy passed his hand over the Jew’s face, and stared him in the
eyes: then turning to me he said, ‘We are not dui palor {9}; this man is
no Roman; I believe him to be a Jew; he has the face of one; besides, if
he were a Rom, even from Jericho, he could rokra a few words in Rommany.’
Now the Gypsy had been in the habit of seeing German and English Jews,
who must have been separated from their African brethren for a term of at
least 1700 years; yet he recognised the Jew of Fez for what he was—a Jew,
and without hesitation declared that he was ‘no Roman.’ The Jews,
therefore, and the Gypsies have each their peculiar and distinctive
countenance, which, to say nothing of the difference of language,
precludes the possibility of their having ever been the same people.
_March_ 1, 1843.
NOTICE TO THE FOURTH EDITION
THIS edition has been carefully revised by the author, and some few
insertions have been made. In order, however, to give to the work a more
popular character, the elaborate vocabulary of the Gypsy tongue, and
other parts relating to the Gypsy language and literature, have been
omitted. Those who take an interest in these subjects are referred to
the larger edition in two vols. {10}
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
On the Gypsies in general—Name and Language—The Russian 1
Gypsies—Gypsies at Moscow—Hungarian Gypsies—Wallachia and
Moldavia—English Gypsies, or Rommany—Gypsy
Fortune-tellers—Gypsy Jockeys—Gypsy Will—Thurtell—Gypsy
Clans—Names of Families—Gypsy Law—Pazorrhus—The
Patteran—Baptismal Papers—Gypsies of the East—Artifice of
Timour—Bishop of Forli
THE ZINCALI
PART I
CHAPTER I
Of the Spanish Gypsies in general—Names—Arrival—Egyptian 41
Penitents—Peculiarities of Spain—Provinces which the Gypsies
principally frequented
CHAPTER II
Manner of Life—Predatory Habits—The Traveller—Jews and 48
Gypsies—The Forge—The Sparks—Gypsy Counts—Martin del
Rio—Facility in speaking Languages—Proverbs
CHAPTER III
Excesses of the Gitános—The Bookseller of Logroño 61
CHAPTER IV
Gypsy Colonies in various Towns of Spain 71
CHAPTER V
Cannibalism—The Forest—Anecdotes—Food of the 76
Gypsies—Child-stealing—Connection of the Gitános with the
Moors of Barbary
CHAPTER VI
Barbary and its Tribes—Beni Aros—Sidi Hamed au Muza—The 85
Children of the Dar-Bushi-Fal, a Sect of Thieves and
Sorcerers, probably of Gypsy Origin
CHAPTER VII
Chiromancy—Torreblanca—Gitánas—The Gitána of Seville—La 98
Buena Ventura—The Dance—The Song—Tricks of the Gitánas—The
Widow—Occult Powers
CHAPTER VIII
The Evil Eye—Credulity of Eastern Nations on this 115
subject—Remedies for the Evil Eye—The Talmud—Superstitions
of the North
CHAPTER IX
Exodus of the Jews: that of the Gypsies—Indifference of the 122
Gitános with respect to Religion—Ezekiel—Tale of Egyptian
Descent—Quiñones—Melchior of Guelama—Religious Tolerance—The
Inquisitor of Cordova—Gitános and Moriscos
CHAPTER X
The Expulsion of the Gitános; a Discourse addressed by Dr. 137
Sancho de Moncada to Philip the Third
CHAPTER XI
Various Laws issued against the Spanish Gypsies, from the 151
time of Ferdinand and Isabella to the latter part of the
Eighteenth Century, embracing a period of nearly Three
Hundred Years
CHAPTER XII
Carlos Tercero—His Law respecting the Gitános 166
PART II
CHAPTER I
Badajoz—The Gypsies—The Withered Arm—Gypsy Law—Trimming and 177
Shearing—Metempsychosis—Paco and Antonio—Antonio and the
Magyar—The Chai—Pharaoh—The Steeds of the Egyptians
CHAPTER II
Madrid—Gypsy Women—Granada—Gypsy Smiths—Pepe 194
Conde—Seville—Triana—Cordova—Horses—The
Esquilador—Characteristic Epistle—Catalonia, etc.
CHAPTER III
General Remarks on the Present State of the 207
Gitános—Inefficiency of the Old Laws—Prospects of the
Gitános—Partial Reformation—Decline of the Gypsy Sect—Fair
of Leon—Love of Race—Gypsy executed—Numerical Decrease
CHAPTER IV
Illustrations of Gypsy Character—The Gypsy Innkeeper of 221
Tarifa—The Gypsy Soldier of Valdepeñas
CHAPTER V
Various Points connected with the Gitános—Dress—Physical 243
Characteristics—The Gypsy Glance—Extracts from a Spanish
work
CHAPTER VI
Certain Tricks and Practices of the Gypsy Females—The 252
Bahi—Hokkano Baro—Ustilar Pastésas—Shoplifting—Drao—The
Loadstone—The Root of the Good Baron
CHAPTER VII
The Marriage Festival—Eastern Jews—Their Weddings 266
CHAPTER VIII
Attempts made to enlighten the Gitános—The Inward 274
Monitor—The One-eyed Gitána—Pépa and Chicharóna—The Gypsy
Congregation
PART III
CHAPTER I
The Poetry of the Gitános 287
CHAPTER II
Spurious Gypsy Poetry of Andalusia 298
Brijindope.—The Deluge 304
The Pestilence 310
On the Language of the Gitános 313
Robber Language 335
The Term ‘Busno’ 354
Specimens of Gypsy Dialects 357
Vocabulary of their Language 365
APPENDIX
Miscellanies in the Gitáno Language 415
The English Dialect of the Rommany 428
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Gypsy’s Marriage Dance (_photogravure_) _Frontispiece_
The Rearguard of the Marching Gypsies _To face page_ 50
Travellers attacked by the Gitános 52
A Song of Egypt 108
The Gypsy Smith of Granada 196
The Murder of Pindamonas by Pepe Conde 198
Roasting Chestnuts by the side of the 200
Guadalquiver
A Gypsy Family 222
THE GYPSIES
INTRODUCTION
THROUGHOUT my life the Gypsy race has always had a peculiar interest for
me. Indeed I can remember no period when the mere mention of the name of
Gypsy did not awaken within me feelings hard to be described. I cannot
account for this—I merely state a fact.
Some of the Gypsies, to whom I have stated this circumstance, have
accounted for it on the supposition that the soul which at present
animates my body has at some former period tenanted that of one of their
people; for many among them are believers in metempsychosis, and, like
the followers of Bouddha, imagine that their souls, by passing through an
infinite number of bodies, attain at length sufficient purity to be
admitted to a state of perfect rest and quietude, which is the only idea
of heaven they can form.
Having in various and distant countries lived in habits of intimacy with
these people, I have come to the following conclusions respecting them:
that wherever they are found, their manners and customs are virtually the
same, though somewhat modified by circumstances, and that the language
they speak amongst themselves, and of which they are particularly anxious
to keep others in ignorance, is in all countries one and the same, but
has been subjected more or less to modification; and lastly, that their
countenances exhibit a decided family resemblance, but are darker or
fairer according to the temperature of the climate, but invariably
darker, at least in Europe, than those of the natives of the countries in
which they dwell, for example, England and Russia, Germany and Spain.
The names by which they are known differ with the country, though, with
one or two exceptions, not materially for example, they are styled in
Russia, Zigáni; in Turkey and Persia, Zingarri; and in Germany, Zigeuner;
all which words apparently spring from the same etymon, which there is no
improbability in supposing to be ‘Zincali,’ a term by which these people,
especially those of Spain, sometimes designate themselves, and the
meaning of which is believed to be, _The black men of Zend or Ind_. In
England and Spain they are commonly known as Gypsies and Gitános, from a
general belief that they were originally Egyptians, to which the two
words are tantamount; and in France as Bohemians, from the circumstance
that Bohemia was one of the first countries in civilised Europe where
they made their appearance.
But they generally style themselves and the language which they speak,
Rommany. This word, of which I shall ultimately have more to say, is of
Sanscrit origin, and signifies, The Husbands, or that which pertaineth
unto them. From whatever motive this appellation may have originated, it
is perhaps more applicable than any other to a sect or caste like them,
who have no love and no affection beyond their own race; who are capable
of making great sacrifices for each other, and who gladly prey upon all
the rest of the human species, whom they detest, and by whom they are
hated and despised. It will perhaps not be out of place to observe here,
that there is no reason for supposing that the word Roma or Rommany is
derived from the Arabic word which signifies Greece or Grecians, as some
people not much acquainted with the language of the race in question have
imagined.
I have no intention at present to say anything about their origin.
Scholars have asserted that the language which they speak proves them to
be of Indian stock, and undoubtedly a great number of their words are
Sanscrit. My own opinion upon this subject will be found in a subsequent
article. I shall here content myself with observing that from whatever
country they come, whether from India or Egypt, there can be no doubt
that they are human beings and have immortal souls; and it is in the
humble hope of drawing the attention of the Christian philanthropist
towards them, especially that degraded and unhappy portion of them, the
Gitános of Spain, that the present little work has been undertaken. But
before proceeding to speak of the latter, it will perhaps not be amiss to
afford some account of the Rommany as I have seen them in other
countries; for there is scarcely a part of the habitable world where they
are not to be found: their tents are alike pitched on the heaths of
Brazil and the ridges of the Himalayan hills, and their language is heard
at Moscow and Madrid, in the streets of London and Stamboul.
THE ZIGÁNI, OR RUSSIAN GYPSIES
They are found in all parts of Russia, with the exception of the
government of St. Petersburg, from which they have been banished. In
most of the provincial towns they are to be found in a state of
half-civilisation, supporting themselves by trafficking in horses, or by
curing the disorders incidental to those animals; but the vast majority
reject this manner of life, and traverse the country in bands, like the
ancient Hamaxobioi; the immense grassy plains of Russia affording
pasturage for their herds of cattle, on which, and the produce of the
chase, they chiefly depend for subsistence. They are, however, not
destitute of money, which they obtain by various means, but principally
by curing diseases amongst the cattle of the mujíks or peasantry, and by
telling fortunes, and not unfrequently by theft and brigandage.
Their power of resisting cold is truly wonderful, as it is not uncommon
to find them encamped in the midst of the snow, in slight canvas tents,
when the temperature is twenty-five or thirty degrees below the
freezing-point according to Réaumur; but in the winter they generally
seek the shelter of the forests, which afford fuel for their fires, and
abound in game.
The race of the Rommany is by nature perhaps the most beautiful in the
world; and amongst the children of the Russian Zigáni are frequently to
be found countenances to do justice to which would require the pencil of
a second Murillo; but exposure to the rays of the burning sun, the biting
of the frost, and the pelting of the pitiless sleet and snow, destroys
their beauty at a very early age; and if in infancy their personal
advantages are remarkable, their ugliness at an advanced age is no less
so, for then it is loathsome, and even appalling.
A hundred years, could I live so long, would not efface from my mind the
appearance of an aged Ziganskie Attaman, or Captain of Zigáni, and his
grandson, who approached me on the meadow before Novo Gorod, where stood
the encampment of a numerous horde. The boy was of a form and face which
might have entitled him to represent Astyanax, and Hector of Troy might
have pressed him to his bosom, and called him his pride; but the old man
was, perhaps, such a shape as Milton has alluded to, but could only
describe as execrable—he wanted but the dart and kingly crown to have
represented the monster who opposed the progress of Lucifer, whilst
careering in burning arms and infernal glory to the outlet of his hellish
prison.
But in speaking of the Russian Gypsies, those of Moscow must not be
passed over in silence. The station to which they have attained in
society in that most remarkable of cities is so far above the sphere in
which the remainder of their race pass their lives, that it may be
considered as a phenomenon in Gypsy history, and on that account is
entitled to particular notice.
Those who have been accustomed to consider the Gypsy as a wandering
outcast, incapable of appreciating the blessings of a settled and
civilised life, or—if abandoning vagabond propensities, and becoming
stationary—as one who never ascends higher than the condition of a low
trafficker, will be surprised to learn, that amongst the Gypsies of
Moscow there are not a few who inhabit stately houses, go abroad in
elegant equipages, and are behind the higher orders of the Russians
neither in appearance nor mental acquirements. To the power of song
alone this phenomenon is to be attributed. From time immemorial the
female Gypsies of Moscow have been much addicted to the vocal art, and
bands or quires of them have sung for pay in the halls of the nobility or
upon the boards of the theatre. Some first-rate songsters have been
produced among them, whose merits have been acknowledged, not only by the
Russian public, but by the most fastidious foreign critics. Perhaps the
highest compliment ever paid to a songster was paid by Catalani herself
to one of these daughters of Roma. It is well known throughout Russia
that the celebrated Italian was so enchanted with the voice of a Moscow
Gypsy (who, after the former had displayed her noble talent before a
splendid audience in the old Russian capital, stepped forward and poured
forth one of her national strains), that she tore from her own shoulders
a shawl of cashmire, which had been presented to her by the Pope, and,
embracing the Gypsy, insisted on her acceptance of the splendid gift,
saying, that it had been intended for the matchless songster, which she
now perceived she herself was not.
The sums obtained by many of these females by the exercise of their art
enable them to support their relatives in affluence and luxury: some are
married to Russians, and no one who has visited Russia can but be aware
that a lovely and accomplished countess, of the noble and numerous family
of Tolstoy, is by birth a Zigána, and was originally one of the principal
attractions of a Rommany choir at Moscow.
But it is not to be supposed that the whole of the Gypsy females at
Moscow are of this high and talented description; the majority of them
are of far lower quality, and obtain their livelihood by singing and
dancing at taverns, whilst their husbands in general follow the
occupation of horse-dealing.
Their favourite place of resort in the summer time is Marina Rotze, a
species of sylvan garden about two versts from Moscow, and thither,
tempted by curiosity, I drove one fine evening. On my arrival the
Zigánas came flocking out from their little tents, and from the tractir
or inn which has been erected for the accommodation of the public.
Standing on the seat of the calash, I addressed them in a loud voice in
the English dialect of the Rommany, of which I have some knowledge. A
shrill scream of wonder was instantly raised, and welcomes and blessings
were poured forth in floods of musical Rommany, above all of which
predominated the cry of _Kak camenna tute prala_—or, How we love you,
brother!—for at first they mistook me for one of their wandering brethren
from the distant lands, come over the great panee or ocean to visit them.
After some conversation they commenced singing, and favoured me with many
songs, both in Russian and Rommany: the former were modern popular
pieces, such as are accustomed to be sung on the boards of the theatre;
but the latter were evidently of great antiquity, exhibiting the
strongest marks of originality, the metaphors bold and sublime, and the
metre differing from anything of the kind which it has been my fortune to
observe in Oriental or European prosody.
One of the most remarkable, and which commences thus:
‘Za mateia rosherroro odolata
Bravintata,’
(or, Her head is aching with grief, as if she had tasted wine) describes
the anguish of a maiden separated from her lover, and who calls for her
steed:
‘Tedjav manga gurraoro’—
that she may depart in quest of the lord of her bosom, and share his joys
and pleasures.
A collection of these songs, with a translation and vocabulary, would be
no slight accession to literature, and would probably throw more light on
the history of this race than anything which has yet appeared; and, as
there is no want of zeal and talent in Russia amongst the cultivators of
every branch of literature, and especially philology, it is only
surprising that such a collection still remains a desideratum.
The religion which these singular females externally professed was the
Greek, and they mostly wore crosses of copper or gold; but when I
questioned them on this subject in their native language, they laughed,
and said it was only to please the Russians. Their names for God and his
adversary are Deval and Bengel, which differ little from the Spanish
Un-debel and Bengi, which signify the same. I will now say something of
THE HUNGARIAN GYPSIES, OR CZIGÁNY
Hungary, though a country not a tenth part so extensive as the huge
colossus of the Russian empire, whose tzar reigns over a hundred lands,
contains perhaps as many Gypsies, it not being uncommon to find whole
villages inhabited by this race; they likewise abound in the suburbs of
the towns. In Hungary the feudal system still exists in all its pristine
barbarity; in no country does the hard hand of this oppression bear so
heavy upon the lower classes—not even in Russia. The peasants of Russia
are serfs, it is true, but their condition is enviable compared with that
of the same class in the other country; they have certain rights and
privileges, and are, upon the whole, happy and contented, whilst the
Hungarians are ground to powder. Two classes are free in Hungary to do
almost what they please—the nobility and—the Gypsies; the former are
above the law—the latter below it: a toll is wrung from the hands of the
hard-working labourers, that most meritorious class, in passing over a
bridge, for example at Pesth, which is not demanded from a well-dressed
person—nor from the Czigány, who have frequently no dress at all—and
whose insouciance stands in striking contrast with the trembling
submission of the peasants. The Gypsy, wherever you find him, is an
incomprehensible being, but nowhere more than in Hungary, where, in the
midst of slavery, he is free, though apparently one step lower than the
lowest slave. The habits of the Hungarian Gypsies are abominable; their
hovels appear sinks of the vilest poverty and filth, their dress is at
best rags, their food frequently the vilest carrion, and occasionally, if
report be true, still worse—on which point, when speaking of the Spanish
Gitános, we shall have subsequently more to say: thus they live in filth,
in rags, in nakedness, and in merriness of heart, for nowhere is there
more of song and dance than in an Hungarian Gypsy village. They are very
fond of music, and some of them are heard to touch the violin in a manner
wild, but of peculiar excellence. Parties of them have been known to
exhibit even at Paris.
In Hungary, as in all parts, they are addicted to horse-dealing; they are
likewise tinkers, and smiths in a small way. The women are
fortune-tellers, of course—both sexes thieves of the first water. They
roam where they list—in a country where all other people are held under
strict surveillance, no one seems to care about these Parias. The most
remarkable feature, however, connected with the habits of the Czigány,
consists in their foreign excursions, having plunder in view, which
frequently endure for three or four years, when, if no mischance has
befallen them, they return to their native land—rich; where they squander
the proceeds of their dexterity in mad festivals. They wander in bands
of twelve and fourteen through France, even to Rome. Once, during my own
wanderings in Italy, I rested at nightfall by the side of a kiln, the air
being piercingly cold; it was about four leagues from Genoa. Presently
arrived three individuals to take advantage of the warmth—a man, a woman,
and a lad. They soon began to discourse—and I found that they were
Hungarian Gypsies; they spoke of what they had been doing, and what they
had amassed—I think they mentioned nine hundred crowns. They had
companions in the neighbourhood, some of whom they were expecting; they
took no notice of me, and conversed in their own dialect; I did not
approve of their propinquity, and rising, hastened away.
When Napoleon invaded Spain there were not a few Hungarian Gypsies in his
armies; some strange encounters occurred on the field of battle between
these people and the Spanish Gitános, one of which is related in the
second part of the present work. When quartered in the Spanish towns,
the Czigány invariably sought out their peninsular brethren, to whom they
revealed themselves, kissing and embracing most affectionately; the
Gitános were astonished at the proficiency of the strangers in thievish
arts, and looked upon them almost in the light of superior beings: ‘They
knew the whole reckoning,’ is still a common expression amongst them.
There was a Czigánian soldier for some time at Cordoba, of whom the
Gitános of the place still frequently discourse, whilst smoking their
cigars during winter nights over their braséros.
The Hungarian Gypsies have a peculiar accent when speaking the language
of the country, by which they can be instantly distinguished; the same
thing is applicable to the Gitános of Spain when speaking Spanish. In no
part of the world is the Gypsy language preserved better than in Hungary.
The following short prayer to the Virgin, which I have frequently heard
amongst the Gypsies of Hungary and Transylvania, will serve as a specimen
of their language:—
Gula Devla, da me saschipo. Swuntuna Devla, da me bacht t’ aldaschis
cari me jav; te ferin man, Devla, sila ta niapaschiata, chungalé
manuschendar, ke me jav andé drom ca hin man traba; ferin man, Devia;
ma mek man Devla, ke manga man tre Devies-key.
Sweet Goddess, give me health. Holy Goddess, give me luck and grace
wherever I go; and help me, Goddess, powerful and immaculate, from
ugly men, that I may go in the road to the place I purpose: help me,
Goddess; forsake me not, Goddess, for I pray for God’s sake.
WALLACHIA AND MOLDAVIA
In Wallachia and Moldavia, two of the eastern-most regions of Europe, are
to be found seven millions of people calling themselves Roumouni, and
speaking a dialect of the Latin tongue much corrupted by barbarous terms,
so called. They are supposed to be in part descendants of Roman
soldiers, Rome in the days of her grandeur having established immense
military colonies in these parts. In the midst of these people exist
vast numbers of Gypsies, amounting, I am disposed to think, to at least
two hundred thousand. The land of the Roumouni, indeed, seems to have
been the hive from which the West of Europe derived the Gypsy part of its
population. Far be it from me to say that the Gypsies sprang originally
from Roumouni-land. All I mean is, that it was their grand resting-place
after crossing the Danube. They entered Roumouni-land from Bulgaria,
crossing the great river, and from thence some went to the north-east,
overrunning Russia, others to the west of Europe, as far as Spain and
England. That the early Gypsies of the West, and also those of Russia,
came from Roumouni-land, is easily proved, as in all the western Gypsy
dialects, and also in the Russian, are to be found words belonging to the
Roumouni speech; for example, primavera, spring; cheros, heaven; chorab,
stocking; chismey, boots;—Roum—primivari, cherul, chorapul, chismé. One
might almost be tempted to suppose that the term Rommany, by which the
Gypsies of Russia and the West call themselves, was derived from
Roumouni, were it not for one fact, which is, that Romanus in the Latin
tongue merely means a native of Rome, whilst the specific meaning of Rome
still remains in the dark; whereas in Gypsy Rom means a husband, Rommany
the sect of the husbands; Romanesti if married. Whether both words were
derived originally from the same source, as I believe some people have
supposed, is a question which, with my present lights, I cannot pretend
to determine.
THE ENGLISH GYPSIES
No country appears less adapted for that wandering life, which seems so
natural to these people, than England. Those wildernesses and forests,
which they are so attached to, are not to be found there; every inch of
land is cultivated, and its produce watched with a jealous eye; and as
the laws against trampers, without the visible means of supporting
themselves, are exceedingly severe, the possibility of the Gypsies
existing as a distinct race, and retaining their original free and
independent habits, might naturally be called in question by those who
had not satisfactorily verified the fact. Yet it is a truth that, amidst
all these seeming disadvantages, they not only exist there, but in no
part of the world is their life more in accordance with the general idea
that the Gypsy is like Cain, a wanderer of the earth; for in England the
covered cart and the little tent are the houses of the Gypsy, and he
seldom remains more than three days in the same place.
At present they are considered in some degree as a privileged people;
for, though their way of life is unlawful, it is connived at; the law of
England having discovered by experience, that its utmost fury is
inefficient to reclaim them from their inveterate habits.
Shortly after their first arrival in England, which is upwards of three
centuries since, a dreadful persecution was raised against them, the aim
of which was their utter extermination; the being a Gypsy was esteemed a
crime worthy of death, and the gibbets of England groaned and creaked
beneath the weight of Gypsy carcases, and the miserable survivors were
literally obliged to creep into the earth in order to preserve their
lives. But these days passed by; their persecutors became weary of
pursuing them; they showed their heads from the holes and caves where
they had hidden themselves, they ventured forth, increased in numbers,
and, each tribe or family choosing a particular circuit, they fairly
divided the land amongst them.
In England, the male Gypsies are all dealers in horses, and sometimes
employ their idle time in mending the tin and copper utensils of the
peasantry; the females tell fortunes. They generally pitch their tents
in the vicinity of a village or small town by the road side, under the
shelter of the hedges and trees. The climate of England is well known to
be favourable to beauty, and in no part of the world is the appearance of
the Gypsies so prepossessing as in that country; their complexion is
dark, but not disagreeably so; their faces are oval, their features
regular, their foreheads rather low, and their hands and feet small. The
men are taller than the English peasantry, and far more active. They all
speak the English language with fluency, and in their gait and demeanour
are easy and graceful; in both points standing in striking contrast with
the peasantry, who in speech are slow and uncouth, and in manner dogged
and brutal.
The dialect of the Rommany, which they speak, though mixed with English
words, may be considered as tolerably pure, from the fact that it is
intelligible to the Gypsy race in the heart of Russia. Whatever crimes
they may commit, their vices are few, for the men are not drunkards, nor
are the women harlots; there are no two characters which they hold in so
much abhorrence, nor do any words when applied by them convey so much
execration as these two.
The crimes of which these people were originally accused were various,
but the principal were theft, sorcery, and causing disease among the
cattle; and there is every reason for supposing that in none of these
points they were altogether guiltless.
With respect to sorcery, a thing in itself impossible, not only the
English Gypsies, but the whole race, have ever professed it; therefore,
whatever misery they may have suffered on that account, they may be
considered as having called it down upon their own heads.
Dabbling in sorcery is in some degree the province of the female Gypsy.
She affects to tell the future, and to prepare philtres by means of which
love can be awakened in any individual towards any particular object; and
such is the credulity of the human race, even in the most enlightened
countries, that the profits arising from these practices are great. The
following is a case in point: two females, neighbours and friends, were
tried some years since, in England, for the murder of their husbands. It
appeared that they were in love with the same individual, and had
conjointly, at various times, paid sums of money to a Gypsy woman to work
charms to captivate his affections. Whatever little effect the charms
might produce, they were successful in their principal object, for the
person in question carried on for some time a criminal intercourse with
both. The matter came to the knowledge of the husbands, who, taking
means to break off this connection, were respectively poisoned by their
wives. Till the moment of conviction these wretched females betrayed
neither emotion nor fear, but then their consternation was indescribable;
and they afterwards confessed that the Gypsy, who had visited them in
prison, had promised to shield them from conviction by means of her art.
It is therefore not surprising that in the fifteenth and sixteenth
centuries, when a belief in sorcery was supported by the laws of all
Europe, these people were regarded as practisers of sorcery, and punished
as such, when, even in the nineteenth, they still find people weak enough
to place confidence in their claims to supernatural power.
The accusation of producing disease and death amongst the cattle was far
from groundless. Indeed, however strange and incredible it may sound in
the present day to those who are unacquainted with this caste, and the
peculiar habits of the Rommanees, the practice is still occasionally
pursued in England and many other countries where they are found. From
this practice, when they are not detected, they derive considerable
advantage. Poisoning cattle is exercised by them in two ways: by one,
they merely cause disease in the animals, with the view of receiving
money for curing them upon offering their services; the poison is
generally administered by powders cast at night into the mangers of the
animals: this way is only practised upon the larger cattle, such as
horses and cows. By the other, which they practise chiefly on swine,
speedy death is almost invariably produced, the drug administered being
of a highly intoxicating nature, and affecting the brain. They then
apply at the house or farm where the disaster has occurred for the
carcase of the animal, which is generally given them without suspicion,
and then they feast on the flesh, which is not injured by the poison,
which only affects the head.
The English Gypsies are constant attendants at the racecourse; what
jockey is not? Perhaps jockeyism originated with them, and even racing,
at least in England. Jockeyism properly implies _the management of a
whip_, and the word jockey is neither more nor less than the term
slightly modified, by which they designate the formidable whips which
they usually carry, and which are at present in general use amongst
horse-traffickers, under the title of jockey whips. They are likewise
fond of resorting to the prize-ring, and have occasionally even attained
some eminence, as principals, in those disgraceful and brutalising
exhibitions called pugilistic combats. I believe a great deal has been
written on the subject of the English Gypsies, but the writers have dwelt
too much in generalities; they have been afraid to take the Gypsy by the
hand, lead him forth from the crowd, and exhibit him in the area; he is
well worth observing. When a boy of fourteen, I was present at a
prize-fight; why should I hide the truth? It took place on a green
meadow, beside a running stream, close by the old church of E-, and
within a league of the ancient town of N-, the capital of one of the
eastern counties. The terrible Thurtell was present, lord of the
concourse; for wherever he moved he was master, and whenever he spoke,
even when in chains, every other voice was silent. He stood on the mead,
grim and pale as usual, with his bruisers around. He it was, indeed, who
_got up_ the fight, as he had previously done twenty others; it being his
frequent boast that he had first introduced bruising and bloodshed amidst
rural scenes, and transformed a quiet slumbering town into a den of Jews
and metropolitan thieves. Some time before the commencement of the
combat, three men, mounted on wild-looking horses, came dashing down the
road in the direction of the meadow, in the midst of which they presently
showed themselves, their horses clearing the deep ditches with wonderful
alacrity. ‘That’s Gypsy Will and his gang,’ lisped a Hebrew pickpocket;
‘we shall have another fight.’ The word Gypsy was always sufficient to
excite my curiosity, and I looked attentively at the newcomers.
I have seen Gypsies of various lands, Russian, Hungarian, and Turkish;
and I have also seen the legitimate children of most countries of the
world; but I never saw, upon the whole, three more remarkable
individuals, as far as personal appearance was concerned, than the three
English Gypsies who now presented themselves to my eyes on that spot.
Two of them had dismounted, and were holding their horses by the reins.
The tallest, and, at the first glance, the most interesting of the two,
was almost a giant, for his height could not have been less than six feet
three. It is impossible for the imagination to conceive anything more
perfectly beautiful than were the features of this man, and the most
skilful sculptor of Greece might have taken them as his model for a hero
and a god. The forehead was exceedingly lofty,—a rare thing in a Gypsy;
the nose less Roman than Grecian,—fine yet delicate; the eyes large,
overhung with long drooping lashes, giving them almost a melancholy
expression; it was only when the lashes were elevated that the Gypsy
glance was seen, if that can be called a glance which is a strange stare,
like nothing else in this world. His complexion was a beautiful olive;
and his teeth were of a brilliancy uncommon even amongst these people,
who have all fine teeth. He was dressed in a coarse waggoner’s slop,
which, however, was unable to conceal altogether the proportions of his
noble and Herculean figure. He might be about twenty-eight. His
companion and his captain, Gypsy Will, was, I think, fifty when he was
hanged, ten years subsequently (for I never afterwards lost sight of
him), in the front of the jail of Bury St. Edmunds. I have still present
before me his bushy black hair, his black face, and his big black eyes
fixed and staring. His dress consisted of a loose blue jockey coat,
jockey boots and breeches; in his hand was a huge jockey whip, and on his
head (it struck me at the time for its singularity) a broad-brimmed,
high-peaked Andalusian hat, or at least one very much resembling those
generally worn in that province. In stature he was shorter than his more
youthful companion, yet he must have measured six feet at least, and was
stronger built, if possible. What brawn!—what bone!—what legs!—what
thighs! The third Gypsy, who remained on horseback, looked more like a
phantom than any thing human. His complexion was the colour of pale
dust, and of that same colour was all that pertained to him, hat and
clothes. His boots were dusty of course, for it was midsummer, and his
very horse was of a dusty dun. His features were whimsically ugly, most
of his teeth were gone, and as to his age, he might be thirty or sixty.
He was somewhat lame and halt, but an unequalled rider when once upon his
steed, which he was naturally not very solicitous to quit. I
subsequently discovered that he was considered the wizard of the gang.
I have been already prolix with respect to these Gypsies, but I will not
leave them quite yet. The intended combatants at length arrived; it was
necessary to clear the ring,—always a troublesome and difficult task.
Thurtell went up to the two Gypsies, with whom he seemed to be
acquainted, and with his surly smile, said two or three words, which I,
who was standing by, did not understand. The Gypsies smiled in return,
and giving the reins of their animals to their mounted companion,
immediately set about the task which the king of the flash-men had, as I
conjecture, imposed upon them; this they soon accomplished. Who could
stand against such fellows and such whips? The fight was soon over—then
there was a pause. Once more Thurtell came up to the Gypsies and said
something—the Gypsies looked at each other and conversed; but their words
then had no meaning for my ears. The tall Gypsy shook his head—‘Very
well,’ said the other, in English. ‘I will—that’s all.’
Then pushing the people aside, he strode to the ropes, over which he
bounded into the ring, flinging his Spanish hat high into the air.
_Gypsy Will_.—‘The best man in England for twenty pounds!’
_Thurtell_.—‘I am backer!’
Twenty pounds is a tempting sum, and there men that day upon the green
meadow who would have shed the blood of their own fathers for the fifth
of the price. But the Gypsy was not an unknown man, his prowess and
strength were notorious, and no one cared to encounter him. Some of the
Jews looked eager for a moment; but their sharp eyes quailed quickly
before his savage glances, as he towered in the ring, his huge form
dilating, and his black features convulsed with excitement. The
Westminster bravoes eyed the Gypsy askance; but the comparison, if they
made any, seemed by no means favourable to themselves. ‘Gypsy! rum
chap.—Ugly customer,—always in training.’ Such were the exclamations
which I heard, some of which at that period of my life I did not
understand.
No man would fight the Gypsy.—Yes! a strong country fellow wished to win
the stakes, and was about to fling up his hat in defiance, but he was
prevented by his friends, with—‘Fool! he’ll kill you!’
As the Gypsies were mounting their horses, I heard the dusty phantom
exclaim—
‘Brother, you are an arrant ring-maker and a horse-breaker; you’ll make a
hempen ring to break your own neck of a horse one of these days.’
They pressed their horses’ flanks, again leaped over the ditches, and
speedily vanished, amidst the whirlwinds of dust which they raised upon
the road.
The words of the phantom Gypsy were ominous. Gypsy Will was eventually
executed for a murder committed in his early youth, in company with two
English labourers, one of whom confessed the fact on his death-bed. He
was the head of the clan Young, which, with the clan Smith, still haunts
two of the eastern counties.
SOME FURTHER PARTICULARS RESPECTING THE ENGLISH GYPSIES
It is difficult to say at what period the Gypsies or Rommany made their
first appearance in England. They had become, however, such a nuisance
in the time of Henry the Eighth, Philip and Mary, and Elizabeth, that
Gypsyism was denounced by various royal statutes, and, if persisted in,
was to be punished as felony without benefit of clergy; it is probable,
however, that they had overrun England long before the period of the
earliest of these monarchs. The Gypsies penetrate into all countries,
save poor ones, and it is hardly to be supposed that a few leagues of
intervening salt water would have kept a race so enterprising any
considerable length of time, after their arrival on the continent of
Europe, from obtaining a footing in the fairest and richest country of
the West.
It is easy enough to conceive the manner in which the Gypsies lived in
England for a long time subsequent to their arrival: doubtless in a
half-savage state, wandering about from place to place, encamping on the
uninhabited spots, of which there were then so many in England, feared
and hated by the population, who looked upon them as thieves and foreign
sorcerers, occasionally committing acts of brigandage, but depending
chiefly for subsistence on the practice of the ‘arts of Egypt,’ in which
cunning and dexterity were far more necessary than courage or strength of
hand.
It would appear that they were always divided into clans or tribes, each
bearing a particular name, and to which a particular district more
especially belonged, though occasionally they would exchange districts
for a period, and, incited by their characteristic love of wandering,
would travel far and wide. Of these families each had a sher-engro, or
head man, but that they were ever united under one Rommany Krallis, or
Gypsy King, as some people have insisted, there is not the slightest
ground for supposing.
It is possible that many of the original Gypsy tribes are no longer in
existence: disease or the law may have made sad havoc among them, and the
few survivors have incorporated themselves with other families, whose
name they have adopted. Two or three instances of this description have
occurred within the sphere of my own knowledge: the heads of small
families have been cut off, and the subordinate members, too young and
inexperienced to continue Gypsying as independent wanderers, have been
adopted by other tribes.
The principal Gypsy tribes at present in existence are the Stanleys,
whose grand haunt is the New Forest; the Lovells, who are fond of London
and its vicinity; the Coopers, who call Windsor Castle their home; the
Hernes, to whom the north country, more especially Yorkshire, belongeth;
and lastly, my brethren, the Smiths,—to whom East Anglia appears to have
been allotted from the beginning.
All these families have Gypsy names, which seem, however, to be little
more than attempts at translation of the English ones:—thus the Stanleys
are called Bar-engres {25}, which means stony-fellows, or stony-hearts;
the Coopers, Wardo-engres, or wheelwrights; the Lovells, Camo-mescres, or
amorous fellows the Hernes (German Haaren) Balors, hairs, or hairy men;
while the Smiths are called Petul-engres, signifying horseshoe fellows,
or blacksmiths.
It is not very easy to determine how the Gypsies became possessed of some
of these names: the reader, however, will have observed that two of them,
Stanley and Lovell, are the names of two highly aristocratic English
families; the Gypsies who bear them perhaps adopted them from having, at
their first arrival, established themselves on the estates of those great
people; or it is possible that they translated their original Gypsy
appellations by these names, which they deemed synonymous. Much the same
may be said with respect to Herne, an ancient English name; they probably
sometimes officiated as coopers or wheelwrights, whence the
cognomination. Of the term Petul-engro, or Smith, however, I wish to say
something in particular.
There is every reason for believing that this last is a genuine Gypsy
name, brought with them from the country from which they originally came;
it is compounded of two words, signifying, as has been already observed,
horseshoe fellows, or people whose trade is to manufacture horseshoes, a
trade which the Gypsies ply in various parts of the world,—for example,
in Russia and Hungary, and more particularly about Granada in Spain, as
will subsequently be shown. True it is, that at present there are none
amongst the English Gypsies who manufacture horseshoes; all the men,
however, are tinkers more or less, and the word Petul-engro is applied to
the tinker also, though the proper meaning of it is undoubtedly what I
have already stated above. In other dialects of the Gypsy tongue, this
cognomen exists, though not exactly with the same signification; for
example, in the Hungarian dialect, _Pindoro_, which is evidently a
modification of Petul-engro, is applied to a Gypsy in general, whilst in
Spanish Pepindorio is the Gypsy word for Antonio. In some parts of
Northern Asia, the Gypsies call themselves Wattul {26}, which seems to be
one and the same as Petul.
Besides the above-named Gypsy clans, there are other smaller ones, some
of which do not comprise more than a dozen individuals, children
included. For example, the Bosviles, the Browns, the Chilcotts, the
Grays, Lees, Taylors, and Whites; of these the principal is the Bosvile
tribe.
After the days of the great persecution in England against the Gypsies,
there can be little doubt that they lived a right merry and tranquil
life, wandering about and pitching their tents wherever inclination led
them: indeed, I can scarcely conceive any human condition more enviable
than Gypsy life must have been in England during the latter part of the
seventeenth, and the whole of the eighteenth century, which were likewise
the happy days for Englishmen in general; there was peace and plenty in
the land, a contented population, and everything went well. Yes, those
were brave times for the Rommany chals, to which the old people often
revert with a sigh: the poor Gypsies, say they, were then allowed to
_sove abri_ (sleep abroad) where they listed, to heat their kettles at
the foot of the oaks, and no people grudged the poor persons one night’s
use of a meadow to feed their cattle in. _Tugnis amande_, our heart is
heavy, brother,—there is no longer Gypsy law in the land,—our people have
become negligent,—they are but half Rommany,—they are divided and care
for nothing,—they do not even fear Pazorrhus, brother.
Much the same complaints are at present made by the Spanish Gypsies.
Gypsyism is certainly on the decline in both countries. In England, a
superabundant population, and, of late, a very vigilant police, have done
much to modify Gypsy life; whilst in Spain, causes widely different have
produced a still greater change, as will be seen further on.
Gypsy law does not flourish at present in England, and still less in
Spain, nor does Gypsyism. I need not explain here what Gypsyism is, but
the reader may be excused for asking what is Gypsy law. Gypsy law
divides itself into the three following heads or precepts:—
Separate not from _the husbands_.
Be faithful to _the husbands_.
Pay your debts to _the husbands_.
By the first section the Rom or Gypsy is enjoined to live with his
brethren, the husbands, and not with the gorgios {28} or gentiles; he is
to live in a tent, as is befitting a Rom and a wanderer, and not in a
house, which ties him to one spot; in a word, he is in every respect to
conform to the ways of his own people, and to eschew those of gorgios,
with whom he is not to mix, save to tell them _hoquepenes_ (lies), and to
chore them.
The second section, in which fidelity is enjoined, was more particularly
intended for the women: be faithful to the _Roms_, ye _juwas_, and take
not up with the gorgios, whether they be _raior_ or _bauor_ (gentlemen or
fellows). This was a very important injunction, so much so, indeed, that
upon the observance of it depended the very existence of the Rommany
sect,—for if the female Gypsy admitted the gorgio to the privilege of the
Rom, the race of the Rommany would quickly disappear. How well this
injunction has been observed needs scarcely be said; for the Rommany have
been roving about England for three centuries at least, and are still to
be distinguished from the gorgios in feature and complexion, which
assuredly would not have been the case if the juwas had not been faithful
to the Roms. The gorgio says that the juwa is at his disposal in all
things, because she tells him fortunes and endures his free discourse;
but the Rom, when he hears the boast, laughs within his sleeve, and
whispers to himself, _Let him try_.
The third section, which relates to the paying of debts, is highly
curious. In the Gypsy language, the state of being in debt is called
_Pazorrhus_, and the Rom who did not seek to extricate himself from that
state was deemed infamous, and eventually turned out of the society. It
has been asserted, I believe, by various gorgio writers, that the Roms
have everything in common, and that there is a common stock out of which
every one takes what he needs; this is quite a mistake, however: a Gypsy
tribe is an epitome of the world; every one keeps his own purse and
maintains himself and children to the best of his ability, and every tent
is independent of the other. True it is that one Gypsy will lend to
another in the expectation of being repaid, and until that happen the
borrower is pazorrhus, or indebted. Even at the present time, a Gypsy
will make the greatest sacrifices rather than remain pazorrhus to one of
his brethren, even though he be of another clan; though perhaps the
feeling is not so strong as of old, for time modifies everything; even
Jews and Gypsies are affected by it. In the old time, indeed, the Gypsy
law was so strong against the debtor, that provided he could not repay
his brother husband, he was delivered over to him as his slave for a year
and a day, and compelled to serve him as a hewer of wood, a drawer of
water, or a beast of burden; but those times are past, the Gypsies are no
longer the independent people they were of yore,—dark, mysterious, and
dreaded wanderers, living apart in the deserts and heaths with which
England at one time abounded. Gypsy law has given place to common law;
but the principle of honour is still recognised amongst them, and base
indeed must the Gypsy be who would continue pazorrhus because Gypsy law
has become too weak to force him to liquidate a debt by money or by
service.
Such was Gypsy law in England, and there is every probability that it is
much the same in all parts of the world where the Gypsy race is to be
found. About the peculiar practices of the Gypsies I need not say much
here; the reader will find in the account of the Spanish Gypsies much
that will afford him an idea of Gypsy arts in England. I have already
alluded to _chiving drav_, or poisoning, which is still much practised by
the English Gypsies, though it has almost entirely ceased in Spain; then
there is _chiving luvvu adrey puvo_, or putting money within the earth, a
trick by which the females deceive the gorgios, and which will be more
particularly described in the affairs of Spain: the men are adepts at
cheating the gorgios by means of _nok-engroes_ and _poggado-bavengroes_
(glandered and broken-winded horses). But, leaving the subject of their
tricks and Rommany arts, by no means an agreeable one, I will take the
present opportunity of saying a few words about a practice of theirs,
highly characteristic of a wandering people, and which is only extant
amongst those of the race who still continue to wander much; for example,
the Russian Gypsies and those of the Hungarian family, who stroll through
Italy on plundering expeditions: I allude to the _patteran_ or _trail_.
It is very possible that the reader during his country walks or rides has
observed, on coming to four cross-roads, two or three handfuls of grass
lying at a small distance from each other down one of these roads;
perhaps he may have supposed that this grass was recently plucked from
the roadside by frolicsome children, and flung upon the ground in sport,
and this may possibly have been the case; it is ten chances to one,
however, that no children’s hands plucked them, but that they were
strewed in this manner by Gypsies, for the purpose of informing any of
their companions, who might be straggling behind, the route which they
had taken; this is one form of the patteran or trail. It is likely, too,
that the gorgio reader may have seen a cross drawn at the entrance of a
road, the long part or stem of it pointing down that particular road, and
he may have thought nothing of it, or have supposed that some sauntering
individual like himself had made the mark with his stick: not so,
courteous gorgio; ley tiro solloholomus opré lesti, _you may take your
oath upon it_ that it was drawn by a Gypsy finger, for that mark is
another of the Rommany trails; there is no mistake in this. Once in the
south of France, when I was weary, hungry, and penniless, I observed one
of these last patterans, and following the direction pointed out, arrived
at the resting-place of ‘certain Bohemians,’ by whom I was received with
kindness and hospitality, on the faith of no other word of recommendation
than patteran. There is also another kind of patteran, which is more
particularly adapted for the night; it is a cleft stick stuck at the side
of the road, close by the hedge, with a little arm in the cleft pointing
down the road which the band have taken, in the manner of a signpost; any
stragglers who may arrive at night where cross-roads occur search for
this patteran on the left-hand side, and speedily rejoin their
companions.
By following these patterans, or trails, the first Gypsies on their way
to Europe never lost each other, though wandering amidst horrid
wildernesses and dreary defiles. Rommany matters have always had a
peculiar interest for me; nothing, however, connected with Gypsy life
ever more captivated my imagination than this patteran system: many
thanks to the Gypsies for it; it has more than once been of service to
me.
The English Gypsies at the present day are far from being a numerous
race; I consider their aggregate number, from the opportunities which I
have had of judging, to be considerably under ten thousand: it is
probable that, ere the conclusion of the present century, they will have
entirely disappeared. They are in general quite strangers to the
commonest rudiments of education; few even of the most wealthy can either
read or write. With respect to religion, they call themselves members of
the Established Church, and are generally anxious to have their children
baptized, and to obtain a copy of the register. Some of their baptismal
papers, which they carry about with them, are highly curious, going back
for a period of upwards of two hundred years. With respect to the
essential points of religion, they are quite careless and ignorant; if
they believe in a future state they dread it not, and if they manifest
when dying any anxiety, it is not for the soul, but the body: a handsome
coffin, and a grave in a quiet country churchyard, are invariably the
objects of their last thoughts; and it is probable that, in their
observance of the rite of baptism, they are principally influenced by a
desire to enjoy the privilege of burial in consecrated ground. A Gypsy
family never speak of their dead save with regret and affection, and any
request of the dying individual is attended to, especially with regard to
interment; so much so, that I have known a corpse conveyed a distance of
nearly one hundred miles, because the deceased expressed a wish to be
buried in a particular spot.
Of the language of the English Gypsies, some specimens will be given in
the sequel; it is much more pure and copious than the Spanish dialect.
It has been asserted that the English Gypsies are not possessed of any
poetry in their own tongue; but this is a gross error; they possess a
great many songs and ballads upon ordinary subjects, without any
particular merit, however, and seemingly of a very modern date.
THE GYPSIES OF THE EAST, OR ZINGARRI
What has been said of the Gypsies of Europe is, to a considerable extent,
applicable to their brethren in the East, or, as they are called,
Zingarri; they are either found wandering amongst the deserts or
mountains, or settled in towns, supporting themselves by horse-dealing or
jugglery, by music and song. In no part of the East are they more
numerous than in Turkey, especially in Constantinople, where the females
frequently enter the harems of the great, pretending to cure children of
‘the evil eye,’ and to interpret the dreams of the women. They are not
unfrequently seen in the coffee-houses, exhibiting their figures in
lascivious dances to the tune of various instruments; yet these females
are by no means unchaste, however their manners and appearance may denote
the contrary, and either Turk or Christian who, stimulated by their songs
and voluptuous movements, should address them with proposals of a
dishonourable nature, would, in all probability, meet with a decided
repulse.
Among the Zingarri are not a few who deal in precious stones, and some
who vend poisons; and the most remarkable individual whom it has been my
fortune to encounter amongst the Gypsies, whether of the Eastern or
Western world, was a person who dealt in both these articles. He was a
native of Constantinople, and in the pursuit of his trade had visited the
most remote and remarkable portions of the world. He had traversed alone
and on foot the greatest part of India; he spoke several dialects of the
Malay, and understood the original language of Java, that isle more
fertile in poisons than even ‘far Iolchos and Spain.’ From what I could
learn from him, it appeared that his jewels were in less request than his
drugs, though he assured me that there was scarcely a Bey or Satrap in
Persia or Turkey whom he had not supplied with both. I have seen this
individual in more countries than one, for he flits over the world like
the shadow of a cloud; the last time at Granada in Spain, whither he had
come after paying a visit to his Gitáno brethren in the presidio of
Ceuta.
Few Eastern authors have spoken of the Zingarri, notwithstanding they
have been known in the East for many centuries; amongst the few, none has
made more curious mention of them than Arabschah, in a chapter of his
life of Timour or Tamerlane, which is deservedly considered as one of the
three classic works of Arabian literature. This passage, which, while it
serves to illustrate the craft, if not the valour of the conqueror of
half the world, offers some curious particulars as to Gypsy life in the
East at a remote period, will scarcely be considered out of place if
reproduced here, and the following is as close a translation of it as the
metaphorical style of the original will allow.
‘There were in Samarcand numerous families of Zingarri of various
descriptions: some were wrestlers, others gladiators, others
pugilists. These people were much at variance, so that hostilities
and battling were continually arising amongst them. Each band had
its chief and subordinate officers; and it came to pass that Timour
and the power which he possessed filled them with dread, for they
knew that he was aware of their crimes and disorderly way of life.
Now it was the custom of Timour, on departing upon his expeditions,
to leave a viceroy in Samarcand; but no sooner had he left the city,
than forth marched these bands, and giving battle to the viceroy,
deposed him and took possession of the government, so that on the
return of Timour he found order broken, confusion reigning, and his
throne overturned, and then he had much to do in restoring things to
their former state, and in punishing or pardoning the guilty; but no
sooner did he depart again to his wars, and to his various other
concerns, than they broke out into the same excesses, and this they
repeated no less than three times, and he at length laid a plan for
their utter extermination, and it was the following:—He commenced
building a wall, and he summoned unto him the people small and great,
and he allotted to every man his place, and to every workman his
duty, and he stationed the Zingarri and their chieftains apart; and
in one particular spot he placed a band of soldiers, and he commanded
them to kill whomsoever he should send to them; and having done so,
he called to him the heads of the people, and he filled the cup for
them and clothed them in splendid vests; and when the turn came to
the Zingarri, he likewise pledged one of them, and bestowed a vest
upon him, and sent him with a message to the soldiers, who, as soon
as he arrived, tore from him his vest, and stabbed him, pouring forth
the gold of his heart into the pan of destruction, {36} and in this
way they continued until the last of them was destroyed; and by that
blow he exterminated their race, and their traces, and from that time
forward there were no more rebellions in Samarcand.’
It has of late years been one of the favourite theories of the learned,
that Timour’s invasion of Hindostan, and the cruelties committed by his
savage hordes in that part of the world, caused a vast number of Hindoos
to abandon their native land, and that the Gypsies of the present day are
the descendants of those exiles who wended their weary way to the West.
Now, provided the above passage in the work of Arabschah be entitled to
credence, the opinion that Timour was the cause of the expatriation and
subsequent wandering life of these people, must be abandoned as
untenable. At the time he is stated by the Arabian writer to have
annihilated the Gypsy hordes of Samarcand, he had but just commenced his
career of conquest and devastation, and had not even directed his
thoughts to the invasion of India; yet at this early period of the
history of his life, we find families of Zingarri established at
Samarcand, living much in the same manner as others of the race have
subsequently done in various towns of Europe and the East; but supposing
the event here narrated to be a fable, or at best a floating legend, it
appears singular that, if they left their native land to escape from
Timour, they should never have mentioned in the Western world the name of
that scourge of the human race, nor detailed the history of their flight
and sufferings, which assuredly would have procured them sympathy; the
ravages of Timour being already but too well known in Europe. That they
came from India is much easier to prove than that they fled before the
fierce Mongol.
Such people as the Gypsies, whom the Bishop of Forli in the year 1422,
only sixteen years subsequent to the invasion of India, describes as a
‘raging rabble, of brutal and animal propensities,’ {37} are not such as
generally abandon their country on foreign invasion.
THE ZINCALI
PART I
CHAPTER I
GITÁNOS, or Egyptians, is the name by which the Gypsies have been most
generally known in Spain, in the ancient as well as in the modern period,
but various other names have been and still are applied to them; for
example, New Castilians, Germans, and Flemings; the first of which titles
probably originated after the name of Gitáno had begun to be considered a
term of reproach and infamy. They may have thus designated themselves
from an unwillingness to utter, when speaking of themselves, the detested
expression ‘Gitáno,’ a word which seldom escapes their mouths; or it may
have been applied to them first by the Spaniards, in their mutual
dealings and communication, as a term less calculated to wound their
feelings and to beget a spirit of animosity than the other; but, however
it might have originated, New Castilian, in course of time, became a term
of little less infamy than Gitáno; for, by the law of Philip the Fourth,
both terms are forbidden to be applied to them under severe penalties.
That they were called Germans, may be accounted for, either by the
supposition that their generic name of Rommany was misunderstood and
mispronounced by the Spaniards amongst whom they came, or from the fact
of their having passed through Germany in their way to the south, and
bearing passports and letters of safety from the various German states.
The title of Flemings, by which at the present day they are known in
various parts of Spain, would probably never have been bestowed upon them
but from the circumstance of their having been designated or believed to
be Germans,—as German and Fleming are considered by the ignorant as
synonymous terms.
Amongst themselves they have three words to distinguish them and their
race in general: Zíncalo, Romanó, and Chai; of the first two of which
something has been already said.
They likewise call themselves ‘Cales,’ by which appellation indeed they
are tolerably well known by the Spaniards, and which is merely the plural
termination of the compound word Zíncalo, and signifies, The black men.
Chai is a modification of the word Chal, which, by the Gitános of
Estremadura, is applied to Egypt, and in many parts of Spain is
equivalent to ‘Heaven,’ and which is perhaps a modification of ‘Cheros,’
the word for heaven in other dialects of the Gypsy language. Thus Chai
may denote, The men of Egypt, or, The sons of Heaven. It is, however,
right to observe, that amongst the Gitános, the word Chai has frequently
no other signification than the simple one of ‘children.’
It is impossible to state for certainty the exact year of their first
appearance in Spain; but it is reasonable to presume that it was early in
the fifteenth century; as in the year 1417 numerous bands entered France
from the north-east of Europe, and speedily spread themselves over the
greatest part of that country. Of these wanderers a French author has
left the following graphic description: {43}
‘On the 17th of April 1427, appeared in Paris twelve penitents of
Egypt, driven from thence by the Saracens; they brought in their
company one hundred and twenty persons; they took up their quarters
in La Chapelle, whither the people flocked in crowds to visit them.
They had their ears pierced, from which depended a ring of silver;
their hair was black and crispy, and their women were filthy to a
degree, and were sorceresses who told fortunes.’
Such were the people who, after traversing France and scaling the sides
of the Pyrenees, poured down in various bands upon the sunburnt plains of
Spain. Wherever they had appeared they had been looked upon as a curse
and a pestilence, and with much reason. Either unwilling or unable to
devote themselves to any laborious or useful occupation, they came like
flights of wasps to prey upon the fruits which their more industrious
fellow-beings amassed by the toil of their hands and the sweat of their
foreheads; the natural result being, that wherever they arrived, their
fellow-creatures banded themselves against them. Terrible laws were
enacted soon after their appearance in France, calculated to put a stop
to their frauds and dishonest propensities; wherever their hordes were
found, they were attacked by the incensed rustics or by the armed hand of
justice, and those who were not massacred on the spot, or could not
escape by flight, were, without a shadow of a trial, either hanged on the
next tree, or sent to serve for life in the galleys; or if females or
children, either scourged or mutilated.
The consequence of this severity, which, considering the manners and
spirit of the time, is scarcely to be wondered at, was the speedy
disappearance of the Gypsies from the soil of France.
Many returned by the way they came, to Germany, Hungary, and the woods
and forests of Bohemia; but there is little doubt that by far the greater
portion found a refuge in the Peninsula, a country which, though by no
means so rich and fertile as the one they had quitted, nor offering so
wide and ready a field for the exercise of those fraudulent arts for
which their race had become so infamously notorious, was, nevertheless,
in many respects, suitable and congenial to them. If there were less
gold and silver in the purses of the citizens to reward the dexterous
handler of the knife and scissors amidst the crowd in the market-place;
if fewer sides of fatted swine graced the ample chimney of the labourer
in Spain than in the neighbouring country; if fewer beeves bellowed in
the plains, and fewer sheep bleated upon the hills, there were far better
opportunities afforded of indulging in wild independence. Should the
halberded bands of the city be ordered out to quell, seize, or
exterminate them; should the alcalde of the village cause the tocsin to
be rung, gathering together the villanos for a similar purpose, the wild
sierra was generally at hand, which, with its winding paths, its caves,
its frowning precipices, and ragged thickets, would offer to them a
secure refuge where they might laugh to scorn the rage of their baffled
pursuers, and from which they might emerge either to fresh districts or
to those which they had left, to repeat their ravages when opportunity
served.
After crossing the Pyrenees, a very short time elapsed before the Gypsy
hordes had bivouacked in the principal provinces of Spain. There can
indeed be little doubt, that shortly after their arrival they made
themselves perfectly acquainted with all the secrets of the land, and
that there was scarcely a nook or retired corner within Spain, from which
the smoke of their fires had not arisen, or where their cattle had not
grazed. People, however, so acute as they have always proverbially been,
would scarcely be slow in distinguishing the provinces most adapted to
their manner of life, and most calculated to afford them opportunities of
practising those arts to which they were mainly indebted for their
subsistence; the savage hills of Biscay, of Galicia, and the Asturias,
whose inhabitants were almost as poor as themselves, which possessed no
superior breed of horses or mules from amongst which they might pick and
purloin many a gallant beast, and having transformed by their dexterous
scissors, impose him again upon his rightful master for a high
price,—such provinces, where, moreover, provisions were hard to be
obtained, even by pilfering hands, could scarcely be supposed to offer
strong temptations to these roving visitors to settle down in, or to vex
and harass by a long sojourn.
Valencia and Murcia found far more favour in their eyes; a far more
fertile soil, and wealthier inhabitants, were better calculated to entice
them; there was a prospect of plunder, and likewise a prospect of safety
and refuge, should the dogs of justice be roused against them. If there
were the populous town and village in those lands, there was likewise the
lone waste, and uncultivated spot, to which they could retire when danger
threatened them. Still more suitable to them must have been La Mancha, a
land of tillage, of horses, and of mules, skirted by its brown sierra,
ever eager to afford its shelter to their dusky race. Equally suitable,
Estremadura and New Castile; but far, far more, Andalusia, with its three
kingdoms, Jaen, Granada, and Seville, one of which was still possessed by
the swarthy Moor,—Andalusia, the land of the proud steed and the stubborn
mule, the land of the savage sierra and the fruitful and cultivated
plain: to Andalusia they hied, in bands of thirties and sixties; the
hoofs of their asses might be heard clattering in the passes of the stony
hills; the girls might be seen bounding in lascivious dance in the
streets of many a town, and the beldames standing beneath the eaves
telling the ‘buena ventura’ to many a credulous female dupe; the men the
while chaffered in the fair and market-place with the labourers and
chalanes, casting significant glances on each other, or exchanging a word
or two in Rommany, whilst they placed some uncouth animal in a particular
posture which served to conceal its ugliness from the eyes of the
chapman. Yes, of all provinces of Spain, Andalusia was the most
frequented by the Gitáno race, and in Andalusia they most abound at the
present day, though no longer as restless independent wanderers of the
fields and hills, but as residents in villages and towns, especially in
Seville.
CHAPTER II
HAVING already stated to the reader at what period and by what means
these wanderers introduced themselves into Spain, we shall now say
something concerning their manner of life.
It would appear that, for many years after their arrival in the
Peninsula, their manners and habits underwent no change; they were
wanderers, in the strictest sense of the word, and lived much in the same
way as their brethren exist in the present day in England, Russia, and
Bessarabia, with the exception perhaps of being more reckless,
mischievous, and having less respect for the laws; it is true that their
superiority in wickedness in these points may have been more the effect
of the moral state of the country in which they were, than of any other
operating cause.
Arriving in Spain with a predisposition to every species of crime and
villainy, they were not likely to be improved or reclaimed by the example
of the people with whom they were about to mix; nor was it probable that
they would entertain much respect for laws which, from time immemorial,
have principally served, not to protect the honest and useful members of
society, but to enrich those entrusted with the administration of them.
Thus, if they came thieves, it is not probable that they would become
ashamed of the title of thief in Spain, where the officers of justice
were ever willing to shield an offender on receiving the largest portion
of the booty obtained. If on their arrival they held the lives of others
in very low estimation, could it be expected that they would become
gentle as lambs in a land where blood had its price, and the shedder was
seldom executed unless he was poor and friendless, and unable to cram
with ounces of yellow gold the greedy hands of the pursuers of blood,—the
alguazil and escribano? therefore, if the Spanish Gypsies have been more
bloody and more wolfishly eager in the pursuit of booty than those of
their race in most other regions, the cause must be attributed to their
residence in a country unsound in every branch of its civil polity, where
right has ever been in less esteem, and wrong in less disrepute, than in
any other part of the world.
However, if the moral state of Spain was not calculated to have a
favourable effect on the habits and pursuits of the Gypsies, their
manners were as little calculated to operate beneficially, in any point
of view, on the country where they had lately arrived. Divided into
numerous bodies, frequently formidable in point of number, their presence
was an evil and a curse in whatever quarter they directed their steps.
As might be expected, the labourers, who in all countries are the most
honest, most useful, and meritorious class, were the principal sufferers;
their mules and horses were stolen, carried away to distant fairs, and
there disposed of, perhaps, to individuals destined to be deprived of
them in a similar manner; whilst their flocks of sheep and goats were
laid under requisition to assuage the hungry cravings of these thievish
cormorants.
[Picture: The Rearguard of the Marching Gypsies]
It was not uncommon for a large band or tribe to encamp in the vicinity
of a remote village scantily peopled, and to remain there until, like a
flight of locusts, they had consumed everything which the inhabitants
possessed for their support; or until they were scared away by the
approach of justice, or by an army of rustics assembled from the
surrounding country. Then would ensue the hurried march; the women and
children, mounted on lean but spirited asses, would scour along the
plains fleeter than the wind; ragged and savage-looking men, wielding the
scourge and goad, would scamper by their side or close behind, whilst
perhaps a small party on strong horses, armed with rusty matchlocks or
sabres, would bring up the rear, threatening the distant foe, and now and
then saluting them with a hoarse blast from the Gypsy horn:—
‘O, when I sit my courser bold,
My bantling in my rear,
And in my hand my musket hold—
O how they quake with fear!’
Let us for a moment suppose some unfortunate traveller, mounted on a
handsome mule or beast of some value, meeting, unarmed and alone, such a
rabble rout at the close of eve, in the wildest part, for example, of La
Mancha; we will suppose that he is journeying from Seville to Madrid, and
that he has left at a considerable distance behind him the gloomy and
horrible passes of the Sierra Morena; his bosom, which for some time past
has been contracted with dreadful forebodings, is beginning to expand;
his blood, which has been congealed in his veins, is beginning to
circulate warmly and freely; he is fondly anticipating the still distant
posada and savoury omelet. The sun is sinking rapidly behind the savage
and uncouth hills in his rear; he has reached the bottom of a small
valley, where runs a rivulet at which he allows his tired animal to
drink; he is about to ascend the side of the hill; his eyes are turned
upwards; suddenly he beholds strange and uncouth forms at the top of the
ascent—the sun descending slants its rays upon red cloaks, with here and
there a turbaned head, or long streaming hair. The traveller hesitates,
but reflecting that he is no longer in the mountains, and that in the
open road there is no danger of banditti, he advances. In a moment he is
in the midst of the Gypsy group, in a moment there is a general halt;
fiery eyes are turned upon him replete with an expression which only the
eyes of the Roma possess, then ensues a jabber in a language or jargon
which is strange to the ears of the traveller; at last an ugly urchin
springs from the crupper of a halting mule, and in a lisping accent
entreats charity in the name of the Virgin and the Majoro. The
traveller, with a faltering hand, produces his purse, and is proceeding
to loosen its strings, but he accomplishes not his purpose, for, struck
violently by a huge knotted club in an unseen hand, he tumbles headlong
from his mule. Next morning a naked corse, besmeared with brains and
blood, is found by an arriéro; and within a week a simple cross records
the event, according to the custom of Spain.
‘Below there in the dusky pass
Was wrought a murder dread;
The murdered fell upon the grass,
Away the murderer fled.’
To many, such a scene, as above described, will appear purely imaginary,
or at least a mass of exaggeration, but many such anecdotes are related
by old Spanish writers of these people; they traversed the country in
gangs; they were what the Spanish law has styled Abigeos and Salteadores
de Camino, cattle-stealers and highwaymen; though, in the latter
character, they never rose to any considerable eminence. True it is that
they would not hesitate to attack or even murder the unarmed and
defenceless traveller, when they felt assured of obtaining booty with
little or no risk to themselves; but they were not by constitution
adapted to rival those bold and daring banditti of whom so many terrible
anecdotes are related in Spain and Italy, and who have acquired their
renown by the dauntless daring which they have invariably displayed in
the pursuit of plunder.
[Picture: Travellers attacked by the Gitános]
Besides trafficking in horses and mules, and now and then attacking and
plundering travellers upon the highway, the Gypsies of Spain appear, from
a very early period, to have plied occasionally the trade of the
blacksmith, and to have worked in iron, forming rude implements of
domestic and agricultural use, which they disposed of, either for
provisions or money, in the neighbourhood of those places where they had
taken up their temporary residence. As their bands were composed of
numerous individuals, there is no improbability in assuming that to every
member was allotted that branch of labour in which he was most calculated
to excel. The most important, and that which required the greatest share
of cunning and address, was undoubtedly that of the chalan or jockey, who
frequented the fairs with the beasts which he had obtained by various
means, but generally by theft. Highway robbery, though occasionally
committed by all jointly or severally, was probably the peculiar
department of the boldest spirits of the gang; whilst wielding the hammer
and tongs was abandoned to those who, though possessed of athletic forms,
were perhaps, like Vulcan, lame, or from some particular cause, moral or
physical, unsuited for the other two very respectable avocations. The
forge was generally placed in the heart of some mountain abounding in
wood; the gaunt smiths felled a tree, perhaps with the very axes which
their own sturdy hands had hammered at a former period; with the wood
thus procured they prepared the charcoal which their labour demanded.
Everything is in readiness; the bellows puff until the coal is excited to
a furious glow; the metal, hot, pliant, and ductile, is laid on the
anvil, round which stands the Cyclop group, their hammers upraised; down
they descend successively, one, two, three, the sparks are scattered on
every side. The sparks—
‘More than a hundred lovely daughters I see produced at one time,
fiery as roses: in one moment they expire gracefully circumvolving.’
{54}
The anvil rings beneath the thundering stroke, hour succeeds hour,
and still endures the hard sullen toil.
One of the most remarkable features in the history of Gypsies is the
striking similarity of their pursuits in every region of the globe to
which they have penetrated; they are not merely alike in limb and in
feature, in the cast and expression of the eye, in the colour of the
hair, in their walk and gait, but everywhere they seem to exhibit the
same tendencies, and to hunt for their bread by the same means, as if
they were not of the human but rather of the animal species, and in lieu
of reason were endowed with a kind of instinct which assists them to a
very limited extent and no farther.
In no part of the world are they found engaged in the cultivation of the
earth, or in the service of a regular master; but in all lands they are
jockeys, or thieves, or cheats; and if ever they devote themselves to any
toil or trade, it is assuredly in every material point one and the same.
We have found them above, in the heart of a wild mountain, hammering
iron, and manufacturing from it instruments either for their own use or
that of the neighbouring towns and villages. They may be seen employed
in a similar manner in the plains of Russia, or in the bosom of its
eternal forests; and whoever inspects the site where a horde of Gypsies
has encamped, in the grassy lanes beneath the hazel bushes of merry
England, is generally sure to find relics of tin and other metal,
avouching that they have there been exercising the arts of the tinker or
smith. Perhaps nothing speaks more forcibly for the antiquity of this
sect or caste than the tenacity with which they have uniformly preserved
their peculiar customs since the period of their becoming generally
known; for, unless their habits had become a part of their nature, which
could only have been effected by a strict devotion to them through a long
succession of generations, it is not to be supposed that after their
arrival in civilised Europe they would have retained and cherished them
precisely in the same manner in the various countries where they found an
asylum.
Each band or family of the Spanish Gypsies had its Captain, or, as he was
generally designated, its Count. Don Juan de Quiñones, who, in a small
volume published in 1632, has written some details respecting their way
of life, says: ‘They roam about, divided into families and troops, each
of which has its head or Count; and to fill this office they choose the
most valiant and courageous individual amongst them, and the one endowed
with the greatest strength. He must at the same time be crafty and
sagacious, and adapted in every respect to govern them. It is he who
settles their differences and disputes, even when they are residing in a
place where there is a regular justice. He heads them at night when they
go out to plunder the flocks, or to rob travellers on the highway; and
whatever they steal or plunder they divide amongst them, always allowing
the captain a third part of the whole.’
These Counts, being elected for such qualities as promised to be useful
to their troop or family, were consequently liable to be deposed if at
any time their conduct was not calculated to afford satisfaction to their
subjects. The office was not hereditary, and though it carried along
with it partial privileges, was both toilsome and dangerous. Should the
plans for plunder, which it was the duty of the Count to form, miscarry
in the attempt to execute them; should individuals of the gang fall into
the hand of justice, and the Count be unable to devise a method to save
their lives or obtain their liberty, the blame was cast at the Count’s
door, and he was in considerable danger of being deprived of his insignia
of authority, which consisted not so much in ornaments or in dress, as in
hawks and hounds with which the Señor Count took the diversion of hunting
when he thought proper. As the ground which he hunted over was not his
own, he incurred some danger of coming in contact with the lord of the
soil, attended, perhaps, by his armed followers. There is a tradition
(rather apocryphal, it is true), that a Gitáno chief, once pursuing this
amusement, was encountered by a real Count, who is styled Count Pepe. An
engagement ensued between the two parties, which ended in the Gypsies
being worsted, and their chief left dying on the field. The slain chief
leaves a son, who, at the instigation of his mother, steals the infant
heir of his father’s enemy, who, reared up amongst the Gypsies, becomes a
chief, and, in process of time, hunting over the same ground, slays Count
Pepe in the very spot where the blood of the Gypsy had been poured out.
This tradition is alluded to in the following stanza:—
‘I have a gallant mare in stall;
My mother gave that mare
That I might seek Count Pepe’s hall
And steal his son and heir.’
Martin Del Rio, in his _Tractatus de Magia_, speaks of the Gypsies and
their Counts to the following effect: ‘When, in the year 1584, I was
marching in Spain with the regiment, a multitude of these wretches were
infesting the fields. It happened that the feast of Corpus Domini was
being celebrated, and they requested to be admitted into the town, that
they might dance in honour of the sacrifice, as was customary; they did
so, but about midday a great tumult arose owing to the many thefts which
the women committed, whereupon they fled out of the suburbs, and
assembled about St. Mark’s, the magnificent mansion and hospital of the
knights of St. James, where the ministers of justice attempting to seize
them were repulsed by force of arms; nevertheless, all of a sudden, and I
know not how, everything was hushed up. At this time they had a Count, a
fellow who spoke the Castilian idiom with as much purity as if he had
been a native of Toledo; he was acquainted with all the ports of Spain,
and all the difficult and broken ground of the provinces. He knew the
exact strength of every city, and who were the principal people in each,
and the exact amount of their property; there was nothing relating to the
state, however secret, that he was not acquainted with; nor did he make a
mystery of his knowledge, but publicly boasted of it.’
From the passage quoted above, we learn that the Gitános in the ancient
times were considered as foreigners who prowled about the country;
indeed, in many of the laws which at various times have been promulgated
against them, they are spoken of as Egyptians, and as such commanded to
leave Spain, and return to their native country; at one time they
undoubtedly were foreigners in Spain, foreigners by birth, foreigners by
language but at the time they are mentioned by the worthy Del Rio, they
were certainly not entitled to the appellation. True it is that they
spoke a language amongst themselves, unintelligible to the rest of the
Spaniards, from whom they differed considerably in feature and
complexion, as they still do; but if being born in a country, and being
bred there, constitute a right to be considered a native of that country,
they had as much claim to the appellation of Spaniards as the worthy
author himself. Del Rio mentions, as a remarkable circumstance, the fact
of the Gypsy Count speaking Castilian with as much purity as a native of
Toledo, whereas it is by no means improbable that the individual in
question was a native of that town; but the truth is, at the time we are
speaking of, they were generally believed to be not only foreigners, but
by means of sorcery to have acquired the power of speaking all languages
with equal facility; and Del Rio, who was a believer in magic, and wrote
one of the most curious and erudite treatises on the subject ever penned,
had perhaps adopted that idea, which possibly originated from their
speaking most of the languages and dialects of the Peninsula, which they
picked up in their wanderings. That the Gypsy chief was so well
acquainted with every town of Spain, and the broken and difficult ground,
can cause but little surprise, when we reflect that the life which the
Gypsies led was one above all others calculated to afford them that
knowledge. They were continually at variance with justice; they were
frequently obliged to seek shelter in the inmost recesses of the hills;
and when their thievish pursuits led them to the cities, they naturally
made themselves acquainted with the names of the principal individuals,
in hopes of plundering them. Doubtless the chief possessed all this
species of knowledge in a superior degree, as it was his courage,
acuteness, and experience alone which placed him at the head of his
tribe, though Del Rio from this circumstance wishes to infer that the
Gitános were spies sent by foreign foes, and with some simplicity
inquires, ‘Quo ant cui rei hæc curiosa exploratio? nonne compescenda
vagamundorum hæc curiositas, etiam si solum peregrini et inculpatæ vitæ.’
With the Counts rested the management and direction of these remarkable
societies; it was they who determined their marches, counter-marches,
advances, and retreats; what was to be attempted or avoided; what
individuals were to be admitted into the fellowship and privileges of the
Gitános, or who were to be excluded from their society; they settled
disputes and sat in judgment over offences. The greatest crimes,
according to the Gypsy code, were a quarrelsome disposition, and
revealing the secrets of the brotherhood. By this code the members were
forbidden to eat, drink, or sleep in the house of a Busno, which
signifies any person who is not of the sect of the Gypsies, or to marry
out of that sect; they were likewise not to teach the language of Roma to
any but those who, by birth or inauguration, belonged to that sect; they
were enjoined to relieve their brethren in distress at any expense or
peril; they were to use a peculiar dress, which is frequently alluded to
in the Spanish laws, but the particulars of which are not stated; and
they were to cultivate the gift of speech to the utmost possible extent,
and never to lose anything which might be obtained by a loose and
deceiving tongue, to encourage which they had many excellent proverbs,
for example—
‘The poor fool who closes his mouth never winneth a dollar.’
‘The river which runneth with sound bears along with it stones and
water.’
CHAPTER III
THE Gitános not unfrequently made their appearance in considerable
numbers, so as to be able to bid defiance to any force which could be
assembled against them on a sudden; whole districts thus became a prey to
them, and were plundered and devastated.
It is said that, in the year 1618, more than eight hundred of these
wretches scoured the country between Castile and Aragon, committing the
most enormous crimes. The royal council despatched regular troops
against them, who experienced some difficulty in dispersing them.
But we now proceed to touch upon an event which forms an era in the
history of the Gitános of Spain, and which for wildness and singularity
throws all other events connected with them and their race, wherever
found, entirely into the shade.
THE BOOKSELLER OF LOGROÑO
About the middle of the sixteenth century, there resided one Francisco
Alvarez in the city of Logroño, the chief town of Rioja, a province which
borders on Aragon. He was a man above the middle age, sober, reserved,
and in general absorbed in thought; he lived near the great church, and
obtained a livelihood by selling printed books and manuscripts in a small
shop. He was a very learned man, and was continually reading in the
books which he was in the habit of selling, and some of these books were
in foreign tongues and characters, so foreign, indeed, that none but
himself and some of his friends, the canons, could understand them; he
was much visited by the clergy, who were his principal customers, and
took much pleasure in listening to his discourse.
He had been a considerable traveller in his youth, and had wandered
through all Spain, visiting the various provinces and the most remarkable
cities. It was likewise said that he had visited Italy and Barbary. He
was, however, invariably silent with respect to his travels, and whenever
the subject was mentioned to him, the gloom and melancholy increased
which usually clouded his features.
One day, in the commencement of autumn, he was visited by a priest with
whom he had long been intimate, and for whom he had always displayed a
greater respect and liking than for any other acquaintance. The
ecclesiastic found him even more sad than usual, and there was a haggard
paleness upon his countenance which alarmed his visitor. The good priest
made affectionate inquiries respecting the health of his friend, and
whether anything had of late occurred to give him uneasiness; adding at
the same time, that he had long suspected that some secret lay heavy upon
his mind, which he now conjured him to reveal, as life was uncertain, and
it was very possible that he might be quickly summoned from earth into
the presence of his Maker.
The bookseller continued for some time in gloomy meditation, till at last
he broke silence in these words:—‘It is true I have a secret which weighs
heavy upon my mind, and which I am still loth to reveal; but I have a
presentiment that my end is approaching, and that a heavy misfortune is
about to fall upon this city: I will therefore unburden myself, for it
were now a sin to remain silent.
‘I am, as you are aware, a native of this town, which I first left when I
went to acquire an education at Salamanca; I continued there until I
became a licentiate, when I quitted the university and strolled through
Spain, supporting myself in general by touching the guitar, according to
the practice of penniless students; my adventures were numerous, and I
frequently experienced great poverty. Once, whilst making my way from
Toledo to Andalusia through the wild mountains, I fell in with and was
made captive by a band of the people called Gitános, or wandering
Egyptians; they in general lived amongst these wilds, and plundered or
murdered every person whom they met. I should probably have been
assassinated by them, but my skill in music perhaps saved my life. I
continued with them a considerable time, till at last they persuaded me
to become one of them, whereupon I was inaugurated into their society
with many strange and horrid ceremonies, and having thus become a Gitáno,
I went with them to plunder and assassinate upon the roads.
‘The Count or head man of these Gitános had an only daughter, about my
own age; she was very beautiful, but, at the same time, exceedingly
strong and robust; this Gitána was given to me as a wife or cadjee, and I
lived with her several years, and she bore me children.
‘My wife was an arrant Gitána, and in her all the wickedness of her race
seemed to be concentrated. At last her father was killed in an affray
with the troopers of the Hermandad, whereupon my wife and myself
succeeded to the authority which he had formerly exercised in the tribe.
We had at first loved each other, but at last the Gitáno life, with its
accompanying wickedness, becoming hateful to my eyes, my wife, who was
not slow in perceiving my altered disposition, conceived for me the most
deadly hatred; apprehending that I meditated withdrawing myself from the
society, and perhaps betraying the secrets of the band, she formed a
conspiracy against me, and, at one time, being opposite the Moorish
coast, I was seized and bound by the other Gitános, conveyed across the
sea, and delivered as a slave into the hands of the Moors.
‘I continued for a long time in slavery in various parts of Morocco and
Fez, until I was at length redeemed from my state of bondage by a
missionary friar who paid my ransom. With him I shortly after departed
for Italy, of which he was a native. In that country I remained some
years, until a longing to revisit my native land seized me, when I
returned to Spain and established myself here, where I have since lived
by vending books, many of which I brought from the strange lands which I
visited. I kept my history, however, a profound secret, being afraid of
exposing myself to the laws in force against the Gitános, to which I
should instantly become amenable, were it once known that I had at any
time been a member of this detestable sect.
‘My present wretchedness, of which you have demanded the cause, dates
from yesterday; I had been on a short journey to the Augustine convent,
which stands on the plain in the direction of Saragossa, carrying with me
an Arabian book, which a learned monk was desirous of seeing. Night
overtook me ere I could return. I speedily lost my way, and wandered
about until I came near a dilapidated edifice with which I was
acquainted; I was about to proceed in the direction of the town, when I
heard voices within the ruined walls; I listened, and recognised the
language of the abhorred Gitános; I was about to fly, when a word
arrested me. It was Drao, which in their tongue signifies the horrid
poison with which this race are in the habit of destroying the cattle;
they now said that the men of Logroño should rue the Drao which they had
been casting. I heard no more, but fled. What increased my fear was,
that in the words spoken, I thought I recognised the peculiar jargon of
my own tribe; I repeat, that I believe some horrible misfortune is
overhanging this city, and that my own days are numbered.’
The priest, having conversed with him for some time upon particular
points of the history that he had related, took his leave, advising him
to compose his spirits, as he saw no reason why he should indulge in such
gloomy forebodings.
The very next day a sickness broke out in the town of Logroño. It was
one of a peculiar kind; unlike most others, it did not arise by slow and
gradual degrees, but at once appeared in full violence, in the shape of a
terrific epidemic. Dizziness in the head was the first symptom: then
convulsive retchings, followed by a dreadful struggle between life and
death, which generally terminated in favour of the grim destroyer. The
bodies, after the spirit which animated them had taken flight, were
frightfully swollen, and exhibited a dark blue colour, checkered with
crimson spots. Nothing was heard within the houses or the streets, but
groans of agony; no remedy was at hand, and the powers of medicine were
exhausted in vain upon this terrible pest; so that within a few days the
greatest part of the inhabitants of Logroño had perished. The bookseller
had not been seen since the commencement of this frightful visitation.
Once, at the dead of night, a knock was heard at the door of the priest,
of whom we have already spoken; the priest himself staggered to the door,
and opened it,—he was the only one who remained alive in the house, and
was himself slowly recovering from the malady which had destroyed all the
other inmates; a wild spectral-looking figure presented itself to his
eye—it was his friend Alvarez. Both went into the house, when the
bookseller, glancing gloomily on the wasted features of the priest,
exclaimed, ‘You too, I see, amongst others, have cause to rue the Drao
which the Gitános have cast. Know,’ he continued, ‘that in order to
accomplish a detestable plan, the fountains of Logroño have been poisoned
by emissaries of the roving bands, who are now assembled in the
neighbourhood. On the first appearance of the disorder, from which I
happily escaped by tasting the water of a private fountain, which I
possess in my own house, I instantly recognised the effects of the poison
of the Gitános, brought by their ancestors from the isles of the Indian
sea; and suspecting their intentions, I disguised myself as a Gitáno, and
went forth in the hope of being able to act as a spy upon their actions.
I have been successful, and am at present thoroughly acquainted with
their designs. They intended, from the first, to sack the town, as soon
as it should have been emptied of its defenders.
‘Midday, to-morrow, is the hour in which they have determined to make the
attempt. There is no time to be lost; let us, therefore, warn those of
our townsmen who still survive, in order that they may make preparations
for their defence.’
Whereupon the two friends proceeded to the chief magistrate, who had been
but slightly affected by the disorder; he heard the tale of the
bookseller with horror and astonishment, and instantly took the best
measures possible for frustrating the designs of the Gitános; all the men
capable of bearing arms in Logroño were assembled, and weapons of every
description put in their hands. By the advice of the bookseller all the
gates of the town were shut, with the exception of the principal one; and
the little band of defenders, which barely amounted to sixty men, was
stationed in the great square, to which, he said, it was the intention of
the Gitános to penetrate in the first instance, and then, dividing
themselves into various parties, to sack the place. The bookseller was,
by general desire, constituted leader of the guardians of the town.
It was considerably past noon; the sky was overcast, and tempest clouds,
fraught with lightning and thunder, were hanging black and horrid over
the town of Logroño. The little troop, resting on their arms, stood
awaiting the arrival of their unnatural enemies; rage fired their minds
as they thought of the deaths of their fathers, their sons, and their
dearest relatives, who had perished, not by the hand of God, but, like
infected cattle, by the hellish arts of Egyptian sorcerers. They longed
for their appearance, determined to wreak upon them a bloody revenge; not
a word was uttered, and profound silence reigned around, only interrupted
by the occasional muttering of the thunder-clouds. Suddenly, Alvarez,
who had been intently listening, raised his hand with a significant
gesture; presently, a sound was heard—a rustling like the waving of
trees, or the rushing of distant water; it gradually increased, and
seemed to proceed from the narrow street which led from the principal
gate into the square. All eyes were turned in that direction. . . .
That night there was repique or ringing of bells in the towers of
Logroño, and the few priests who had escaped from the pestilence sang
litanies to God and the Virgin for the salvation of the town from the
hands of the heathen. The attempt of the Gitános had been most signally
defeated, and the great square and the street were strewn with their
corpses. Oh! what frightful objects: there lay grim men more black than
mulattos, with fury and rage in their stiffened features; wild women in
extraordinary dresses, their hair, black and long as the tail of the
horse, spread all dishevelled upon the ground; and gaunt and naked
children grasping knives and daggers in their tiny hands. Of the
patriotic troop not one appeared to have fallen; and when, after their
enemies had retreated with howlings of fiendish despair, they told their
numbers, only one man was missing, who was never seen again, and that man
was Alvarez.
In the midst of the combat, the tempest, which had for a long time been
gathering, burst over Logroño, in lightning, thunder, darkness, and
vehement hail.
A man of the town asserted that the last time he had seen Alvarez, the
latter was far in advance of his companions, defending himself
desperately against three powerful young heathen, who seemed to be acting
under the direction of a tall woman who stood nigh, covered with barbaric
ornaments, and wearing on her head a rude silver crown. {69}
Such is the tale of the Bookseller of Logroño, and such is the narrative
of the attempt of the Gitános to sack the town in the time of pestilence,
which is alluded to by many Spanish authors, but more particularly by the
learned Francisco de Cordova, in his _Didascalia_, one of the most
curious and instructive books within the circle of universal literature.
CHAPTER IV
THE Moors, after their subjugation, and previous to their expulsion from
Spain, generally resided apart, principally in the suburbs of the towns,
where they kept each other in countenance, being hated and despised by
the Spaniards, and persecuted on all occasions. By this means they
preserved, to a certain extent, the Arabic language, though the use of it
was strictly forbidden, and encouraged each other in the secret exercise
of the rites of the Mohammedan religion, so that, until the moment of
their final expulsion, they continued Moors in almost every sense of the
word. Such places were called Morerias, or quarters of the Moors.
In like manner there were Gitanerias, or quarters of the Gitános, in many
of the towns of Spain; and in more than one instance particular barrios
or districts are still known by this name, though the Gitános themselves
have long since disappeared. Even in the town of Oviedo, in the heart of
the Asturias, a province never famous for Gitános, there is a place
called the Gitaneria, though no Gitáno has been known to reside in the
town within the memory of man, nor indeed been seen, save, perhaps, as a
chance visitor at a fair.
The exact period when the Gitános first formed these colonies within the
towns is not known; the laws, however, which commanded them to abandon
their wandering life under penalty of banishment and death, and to become
stationary in towns, may have induced them first to take such a step. By
the first of these laws, which was made by Ferdinand and Isabella as far
back as the year 1499, they are commanded to seek out for themselves
masters. This injunction they utterly disregarded. Some of them for
fear of the law, or from the hope of bettering their condition, may have
settled down in the towns, cities, and villages for a time, but to expect
that a people, in whose bosoms was so deeply rooted the love of lawless
independence, would subject themselves to the yoke of servitude, from any
motive whatever, was going too far; as well might it have been expected,
according to the words of the great poet of Persia, _that they would have
washed their skins white_.
In these Gitanerias, therefore, many Gypsy families resided, but ever in
the Gypsy fashion, in filth and in misery, with little of the fear of
man, and nothing of the fear of God before their eyes. Here the swarthy
children basked naked in the sun before the doors; here the women
prepared love draughts, or told the buena ventura; and here the men plied
the trade of the blacksmith, a forbidden occupation, or prepared for
sale, by disguising them, animals stolen by themselves or their
accomplices. In these places were harboured the strange Gitános on their
arrival, and here were discussed in the Rommany language, which, like the
Arabic, was forbidden under severe penalties, plans of fraud and plunder,
which were perhaps intended to be carried into effect in a distant
province and a distant city.
The great body, however, of the Gypsy race in Spain continued independent
wanderers of the plains and the mountains, and indeed the denizens of the
Gitanerias were continually sallying forth, either for the purpose of
reuniting themselves with the wandering tribes, or of strolling about
from town to town, and from fair to fair. Hence the continual complaints
in the Spanish laws against the Gitános who have left their places of
domicile, from doing which they were interdicted, even as they were
interdicted from speaking their language and following the occupations of
the blacksmith and horse-dealer, in which they still persist even at the
present day.
The Gitanerias at evening fall were frequently resorted to by individuals
widely differing in station from the inmates of these places—we allude to
the young and dissolute nobility and hidalgos of Spain. This was
generally the time of mirth and festival, and the Gitános, male and
female, danced and sang in the Gypsy fashion beneath the smile of the
moon. The Gypsy women and girls were the principal attractions to these
visitors; wild and singular as these females are in their appearance,
there can be no doubt, for the fact has been frequently proved, that they
are capable of exciting passion of the most ardent description,
particularly in the bosoms of those who are not of their race, which
passion of course becomes the more violent when the almost utter
impossibility of gratifying it is known. No females in the world can be
more licentious in word and gesture, in dance and in song, than the
Gitánas; but there they stop: and so of old, if their titled visitors
presumed to seek for more, an unsheathed dagger or gleaming knife
speedily repulsed those who expected that the gem most dear amongst the
sect of the Roma was within the reach of a Busno.
Such visitors, however, were always encouraged to a certain point, and by
this and various other means the Gitános acquired connections which
frequently stood them in good stead in the hour of need. What availed it
to the honest labourers of the neighbourhood, or the citizens of the
town, to make complaints to the corregidor concerning the thefts and
frauds committed by the Gitános, when perhaps the sons of that very
corregidor frequented the nightly dances at the Gitaneria, and were
deeply enamoured with some of the dark-eyed singing-girls? What availed
making complaints, when perhaps a Gypsy sibyl, the mother of those very
girls, had free admission to the house of the corregidor at all times and
seasons, and spaed the good fortune to his daughters, promising them
counts and dukes, and Andalusian knights in marriage, or prepared
philtres for his lady by which she was always to reign supreme in the
affections of her husband? And, above all, what availed it to the
plundered party to complain that his mule or horse had been stolen, when
the Gitáno robber, perhaps the husband of the sibyl and the father of the
black-eyed Gitanillas, was at that moment actually in treaty with my lord
the corregidor himself for supplying him with some splendid thick-maned,
long-tailed steed at a small price, to be obtained, as the reader may
well suppose, by an infraction of the laws? The favour and protection
which the Gitános experienced from people of high rank is alluded to in
the Spanish laws, and can only be accounted for by the motives above
detailed.
The Gitanerias were soon considered as public nuisances, on which account
the Gitános were forbidden to live together in particular parts of the
town, to hold meetings, and even to intermarry with each other; yet it
does not appear that the Gitanerias were ever suppressed by the arm of
the law, as many still exist where these singular beings ‘marry and are
given in marriage,’ and meet together to discuss their affairs, which, in
their opinion, never flourish unless those of their fellow-creatures
suffer. So much for the Gitanerias, or Gypsy colonies in the towns of
Spain.
CHAPTER V
‘LOS Gitános son muy malos!—the Gypsies are very bad people,’ said the
Spaniards of old times. They are cheats; they are highwaymen; they
practise sorcery; and, lest the catalogue of their offences should be
incomplete, a formal charge of cannibalism was brought against them.
Cheats they have always been, and highwaymen, and if not sorcerers, they
have always done their best to merit that appellation, by arrogating to
themselves supernatural powers; but that they were addicted to
cannibalism is a matter not so easily proved.
Their principal accuser was Don Juan de Quiñones, who, in the work from
which we have already had occasion to quote, gives several anecdotes
illustrative of their cannibal propensities. Most of these anecdotes,
however, are so highly absurd, that none but the very credulous could
ever have vouchsafed them the slightest credit. This author is
particularly fond of speaking of a certain juez, or judge, called Don
Martin Fajardo, who seems to have been an arrant Gypsy-hunter, and was
probably a member of the ancient family of the Fajardos, which still
flourishes in Estremadura, and with individuals of which we are
acquainted. So it came to pass that this personage was, in the year
1629, at Jaraicejo, in Estremadura, or, as it is written in the little
book in question, Zaraizejo, in the capacity of judge; a zealous one he
undoubtedly was.
A very strange place is this same Jaraicejo, a small ruinous town or
village, situated on a rising ground, with a very wild country all about
it. The road from Badajoz to Madrid passes through it; and about two
leagues distant, in the direction of Madrid, is the famous mountain pass
of Mirabéte, from the top of which you enjoy a most picturesque view
across the Tagus, which flows below, as far as the huge mountains of
Plasencia, the tops of which are generally covered with snow.
So this Don Martin Fajardo, judge, being at Jaraicejo, laid his claw upon
four Gitános, and having nothing, as it appears, to accuse them of,
except being Gitános, put them to the torture, and made them accuse
themselves, which they did; for, on the first appeal which was made to
the rack, they confessed that they had murdered a female Gypsy in the
forest of Las Gamas, and had there eaten her. . . .
I am myself well acquainted with this same forest of Las Gamas, which
lies between Jaraicejo and Trujillo; it abounds with chestnut and cork
trees, and is a place very well suited either for the purpose of murder
or cannibalism. It will be as well to observe that I visited it in
company with a band of Gitános, who bivouacked there, and cooked their
supper, which however did not consist of human flesh, but of a puchéra,
the ingredients of which were beef, bacon, garbanzos, and berdolaga, or
field-pease and purslain,—therefore I myself can bear testimony that
there is such a forest as Las Gamas, and that it is frequented
occasionally by Gypsies, by which two points are established by far the
most important to the history in question, or so at least it would be
thought in Spain, for being sure of the forest and the Gypsies, few would
be incredulous enough to doubt the facts of the murder and cannibalism. . . .
On being put to the rack a second time, the Gitános confessed that they
had likewise murdered and eaten a female pilgrim in the forest aforesaid;
and on being tortured yet again, that they had served in the same manner,
and in the same forest, a friar of the order of San Francisco, whereupon
they were released from the rack and executed. This is one of the
anecdotes of Quiñones.
And it came to pass, moreover, that the said Fajardo, being in the town
of Montijo, was told by the alcalde, that a certain inhabitant of that
place had some time previous lost a mare; and wandering about the plains
in quest of her, he arrived at a place called Arroyo el Puerco, where
stood a ruined house, on entering which he found various Gitános employed
in preparing their dinner, which consisted of a quarter of a human body,
which was being roasted before a huge fire: the result, however, we are
not told; whether the Gypsies were angry at being disturbed in their
cookery, or whether the man of the mare departed unobserved.
Quiñones, in continuation, states in his book that he learned (he does
not say from whom, but probably from Fajardo) that there was a shepherd
of the city of Gaudix, who once lost his way in the wild sierra of Gadol:
night came on, and the wind blew cold: he wandered about until he
descried a light in the distance, towards which he bent his way,
supposing it to be a fire kindled by shepherds: on arriving at the spot,
however, he found a whole tribe of Gypsies, who were roasting the half of
a man, the other half being hung on a cork-tree: the Gypsies welcomed him
very heartily, and requested him to be seated at the fire and to sup with
them; but he presently heard them whisper to each other, ‘this is a fine
fat fellow,’ from which he suspected that they were meditating a design
upon his body: whereupon, feeling himself sleepy, he made as if he were
seeking a spot where to lie, and suddenly darted headlong down the
mountain-side, and escaped from their hands without breaking his neck.
These anecdotes scarcely deserve comment; first we have the statement of
Fajardo, the fool or knave who tortures wretches, and then puts them to
death for the crimes with which they have taxed themselves whilst
undergoing the agony of the rack, probably with the hope of obtaining a
moment’s respite; last comes the tale of the shepherd, who is invited by
Gypsies on a mountain at night to partake of a supper of human flesh, and
who runs away from them on hearing them talk of the fatness of his own
body, as if cannibal robbers detected in their orgies by a single
interloper would have afforded him a chance of escaping. Such tales
cannot be true. {79}
Cases of cannibalism are said to have occurred in Hungary amongst the
Gypsies; indeed, the whole race, in that country, has been accused of
cannibalism, to which we have alluded whilst speaking of the Chingany: it
is very probable, however, that they were quite innocent of this odious
practice, and that the accusation had its origin in popular prejudice, or
in the fact of their foul feeding, and their seldom rejecting carrion or
offal of any description.
The Gazette of Frankfort for the year 1782, Nos. 157 and 207, states that
one hundred and fifty Gypsies were imprisoned charged with this practice;
and that the Empress Teresa sent commissioners to inquire into the facts
of the accusation, who discovered that they were true; whereupon the
empress published a law to oblige all the Gypsies in her dominions to
become stationary, which, however, had no effect.
Upon this matter we can state nothing on our own knowledge.
After the above anecdotes, it will perhaps not be amiss to devote a few
lines to the subject of Gypsy food and diet. I believe that it has been
asserted that the Romas, in all parts of the world, are perfectly
indifferent as to what they eat, provided only that they can appease
their hunger; and that they have no objection to partake of the carcasses
of animals which have died a natural death, and have been left to putrefy
by the roadside; moreover, that they use for food all kinds of reptiles
and vermin which they can lay their hands upon.
In this there is a vast deal of exaggeration, but at the same time it
must be confessed that, in some instances, the habits of the Gypsies in
regard to food would seem, at the first glance, to favour the
supposition. This observation chiefly holds good with respect to those
of the Gypsy race who still continue in a wandering state, and who,
doubtless, retain more of the ways and customs of their forefathers than
those who have adopted a stationary life. There can be no doubt that the
wanderers amongst the Gypsy race are occasionally seen to feast upon
carcasses of cattle which have been abandoned to the birds of the air,
yet it would be wrong, from this fact, to conclude that the Gypsies were
habitual devourers of carrion. Carrion it is true they may occasionally
devour, from want of better food, but many of these carcasses are not in
reality the carrion which they appear, but are the bodies of animals
which the Gypsies have themselves killed by casting drao, in hope that
the flesh may eventually be abandoned to them. It is utterly useless to
write about the habits of the Gypsies, especially of the wandering
tribes, unless you have lived long and intimately with them; and
unhappily, up to the present time, all the books which have been
published concerning them have been written by those who have introduced
themselves into their society for a few hours, and from what they have
seen or heard consider themselves competent to give the world an idea of
the manners and customs of the mysterious Rommany: thus, because they
have been known to beg the carcass of a hog which they themselves have
poisoned, it has been asserted that they prefer carrion which has
perished of sickness to the meat of the shambles; and because they have
been seen to make a ragout of boror (_snails_), and to roast a
hotchiwitchu or hedgehog, it has been supposed that reptiles of every
description form a part of their cuisine. It is high time to undeceive
the Gentiles on these points. Know, then, O Gentile, whether thou be
from the land of the Gorgios {82a} or the Busné {82b}, that the very
Gypsies who consider a ragout of snails a delicious dish will not touch
an eel, because it bears resemblance to a _snake_; and that those who
will feast on a roasted hedgehog could be induced by no money to taste a
squirrel, a delicious and wholesome species of game, living on the purest
and most nutritious food which the fields and forests can supply. I
myself, while living among the Roms of England, have been regarded almost
in the light of a cannibal for cooking the latter animal and preferring
it to hotchiwitchu barbecued, or ragout of boror. ‘You are but half
Rommany, brother,’ they would say, ‘and you feed gorgiko-nes (_like a
Gentile_), even as you talk. Tchachipen (_in truth_), if we did not know
you to be of the Mecralliskoe rat (_royal blood_) of Pharaoh, we should
be justified in driving you forth as a juggel-mush (_dog man_), one more
fitted to keep company with wild beasts and Gorgios than gentle
Rommanys.’
No person can read the present volume without perceiving, at a glance,
that the Romas are in most points an anomalous people; in their morality
there is much of anomaly, and certainly not less in their cuisine.
‘Los Gitános son muy malos; llevan niños hurtados a Berberia. The
Gypsies are very bad people; they steal children and carry them to
Barbary, where they sell them to the Moors’—so said the Spaniards in old
times. There can be little doubt that even before the fall of the
kingdom of Granada, which occurred in the year 1492, the Gitános had
intercourse with the Moors of Spain. Andalusia, which has ever been the
province where the Gitáno race has most abounded since its arrival, was,
until the edict of Philip the Third, which banished more than a million
of Moriscos from Spain, principally peopled by Moors, who differed from
the Spaniards both in language and religion. By living even as wanderers
amongst these people, the Gitános naturally became acquainted with their
tongue, and with many of their customs, which of course much facilitated
any connection which they might subsequently form with the Barbaresques.
Between the Moors of Barbary and the Spaniards a deadly and continued war
raged for centuries, both before and after the expulsion of the Moriscos
from Spain. The Gitános, who cared probably as little for one nation as
the other, and who have no sympathy and affection beyond the pale of
their own sect, doubtless sided with either as their interest dictated,
officiating as spies for both parties and betraying both.
It is likely enough that they frequently passed over to Barbary with
stolen children of both sexes, whom they sold to the Moors, who traffic
in slaves, whether white or black, even at the present day; and perhaps
this kidnapping trade gave occasion to other relations. As they were
perfectly acquainted, from their wandering life, with the shores of the
Spanish Mediterranean, they must have been of considerable assistance to
the Barbary pirates in their marauding trips to the Spanish coasts, both
as guides and advisers; and as it was a far easier matter, and afforded a
better prospect of gain, to plunder the Spaniards than the Moors, a
people almost as wild as themselves, they were, on that account, and that
only, more Moors than Christians, and ever willing to assist the former
in their forays on the latter.
Quiñones observes: ‘The Moors, with whom they hold correspondence, let
them go and come without any let or obstacle: an instance of this was
seen in the year 1627, when two galleys from Spain were carrying
assistance to Marmora, which was then besieged by the Moors. These
galleys struck on a shoal, when the Moors seized all the people on board,
making captives of the Christians and setting at liberty all the Moors,
who were chained to the oar; as for the Gypsy galley-slaves whom they
found amongst these last, they did not make them slaves, but received
them as people friendly to them, and at their devotion; which matter was
public and notorious.’
Of the Moors and the Gitános we shall have occasion to say something in
the following chapter.
CHAPTER VI
THERE is no portion of the world so little known as Africa in general;
and perhaps of all Africa there is no corner with which Europeans are so
little acquainted as Barbary, which nevertheless is only separated from
the continent of Europe by a narrow strait of four leagues across.
China itself has, for upwards of a century, ceased to be a land of
mystery to the civilised portion of the world; the enterprising children
of Loyola having wandered about it in every direction making converts to
their doctrine and discipline, whilst the Russians possess better maps of
its vast regions than of their own country, and lately, owing to the
persevering labour and searching eye of my friend Hyacinth, Archimandrite
of Saint John Nefsky, are acquainted with the number of its military
force to a man, and also with the names and places of residence of its
civil servants. Yet who possesses a map of Fez and Morocco, or would
venture to form a conjecture as to how many fiery horsemen Abderrahman,
the mulatto emperor, could lead to the field, were his sandy dominions
threatened by the Nazarene? Yet Fez is scarcely two hundred leagues
distant from Madrid, whilst Maraks, the other great city of the Moors,
and which also has given its name to an empire, is scarcely farther
removed from Paris, the capital of civilisation: in a word, we scarcely
know anything of Barbary, the scanty information which we possess being
confined to a few towns on the sea-coast; the zeal of the Jesuit himself
being insufficient to induce him to confront the perils of the interior,
in the hopeless endeavour of making one single proselyte from amongst the
wildest fanatics of the creed of the Prophet Camel-driver.
Are wanderers of the Gypsy race to be found in Barbary? This is a
question which I have frequently asked myself. Several respectable
authors have, I believe, asserted the fact, amongst whom Adelung, who,
speaking of the Gypsies, says: ‘Four hundred years have passed away since
they departed from their native land. During this time, they have spread
themselves through the whole of Western Asia, Europe, and Northern
Africa.’ {86} But it is one thing to make an assertion, and another to
produce the grounds for making it. I believe it would require a far
greater stock of information than has hitherto been possessed by any one
who has written on the subject of the Gypsies, to justify him in
asserting positively that after traversing the west of Europe, they
spread themselves over Northern Africa, though true it is that to those
who take a superficial view of the matter, nothing appears easier and
more natural than to come to such a conclusion.
Tarifa, they will say, the most western part of Spain, is opposite to
Tangier, in Africa, a narrow sea only running between, less wide than
many rivers. Bands, therefore, of these wanderers, of course, on
reaching Tarifa, passed over into Africa, even as thousands crossed the
channel from France to England. They have at all times shown themselves
extravagantly fond of a roving life. What land is better adapted for
such a life than Africa and its wilds? What land, therefore, more likely
to entice them?
All this is very plausible. It was easy enough for the Gitános to pass
over to Tangier and Tetuan from the Spanish towns of Tarifa and
Algeziras. In the last chapter I have stated my belief of the fact, and
that moreover they formed certain connections with the Moors of the
coast, to whom it is likely that they occasionally sold children stolen
in Spain; yet such connection would by no means have opened them a
passage into the interior of Barbary, which is inhabited by wild and
fierce people, in comparison with whom the Moors of the coast, bad as
they always have been, are gentle and civilised.
To penetrate into Africa, the Gitános would have been compelled to pass
through the tribes who speak the Shilha language, and who are the
descendants of the ancient Numidians. These tribes are the most
untamable and warlike of mankind, and at the same time the most
suspicious, and those who entertain the greatest aversion to foreigners.
They are dreaded by the Moors themselves, and have always remained, to a
certain degree, independent of the emperors of Morocco. They are the
most terrible of robbers and murderers, and entertain far more reluctance
to spill water than the blood of their fellow-creatures: the Bedouins,
also, of the Arabian race, are warlike, suspicious, and cruel; and would
not have failed instantly to attack bands of foreign wanderers, wherever
they found them, and in all probability would have exterminated them.
Now the Gitános, such as they arrived in Barbary, could not have defended
themselves against such enemies, had they even arrived in large
divisions, instead of bands of twenties and thirties, as is their custom
to travel. They are not by nature nor by habit a warlike race, and would
have quailed before the Africans, who, unlike most other people, engage
in wars from what appears to be an innate love of the cruel and bloody
scenes attendant on war.
It may be said, that if the Gitános were able to make their way from the
north of India, from Multan, for example, the province which the learned
consider to be the original dwelling-place of the race, to such an
immense distance as the western part of Spain, passing necessarily
through many wild lands and tribes, why might they not have penetrated
into the heart of Barbary, and wherefore may not their descendants be
still there, following the same kind of life as the European Gypsies,
that is, wandering about from place to place, and maintaining themselves
by deceit and robbery?
But those who are acquainted but slightly with the condition of Barbary
are aware that it would be less difficult and dangerous for a company of
foreigners to proceed from Spain to Multan, than from the nearest seaport
in Barbary to Fez, an insignificant distance. True it is, that, from
their intercourse with the Moors of Spain, the Gypsies might have become
acquainted with the Arabic language, and might even have adopted the
Moorish dress, ere entering Barbary; and, moreover, might have professed
belief in the religion of Mahomet; still they would have been known as
foreigners, and, on that account, would have been assuredly attacked by
the people of the interior, had they gone amongst them, who, according to
the usual practice, would either have massacred them or made them slaves;
and as slaves, they would have been separated. The mulatto hue of their
countenances would probably have insured them the latter fate, as all
blacks and mulattos in the dominions of the Moor are properly slaves, and
can be bought and sold, unless by some means or other they become free,
in which event their colour is no obstacle to their elevation to the
highest employments and dignities, to their becoming pashas of cities and
provinces, or even to their ascending the throne. Several emperors of
Morocco have been mulattos.
Above I have pointed out all the difficulties and dangers which must have
attended the path of the Gitános, had they passed from Spain into
Barbary, and attempted to spread themselves over that region, as over
Europe and many parts of Asia. To these observations I have been led by
the assertion that they accomplished this, and no proof of the fact
having, as I am aware, ever been adduced; for who amongst those who have
made such a statement has seen or conversed with the Egyptians of
Barbary, or had sufficient intercourse with them to justify him in the
assertion that they are one and the same people as those of Europe, from
whom they differ about as much as the various tribes which inhabit
various European countries differ from each other? At the same time, I
wish it to be distinctly understood that I am far from denying the
existence of Gypsies in various parts of the interior of Barbary.
Indeed, I almost believe the fact, though the information which I possess
is by no means of a description which would justify me in speaking with
full certainty; I having myself never come in contact with any sect or
caste of people amongst the Moors, who not only tallied in their pursuits
with the Rommany, but who likewise spoke amongst themselves a dialect of
the language of Roma; nor am I aware that any individual worthy of credit
has ever presumed to say that he has been more fortunate in these
respects.
Nevertheless, I repeat that I am inclined to believe that Gypsies
virtually exist in Barbary, and my reasons I shall presently adduce; but
I will here observe, that if these strange outcasts did indeed contrive
to penetrate into the heart of that savage and inhospitable region, they
could only have succeeded after having become well acquainted with the
Moorish language, and when, after a considerable sojourn on the coast,
they had raised for themselves a name, and were regarded with
superstitious fear; in a word, if they walked this land of peril
untouched and unscathed, it was not that they were considered as harmless
and inoffensive people, which, indeed, would not have protected them, and
which assuredly they were not; it was not that they were mistaken for
wandering Moors and Bedouins, from whom they differed in feature and
complexion, but because, wherever they went, they were dreaded as the
possessors of supernatural powers, and as mighty sorcerers.
There is in Barbary more than one sect of wanderers, which, to the
cursory observer, might easily appear, and perhaps have appeared, in the
right of legitimate Gypsies. For example, there are the Beni Aros. The
proper home of these people is in certain high mountains in the
neighbourhood of Tetuan, but they are to be found roving about the whole
kingdom of Fez. Perhaps it would be impossible to find, in the whole of
Northern Africa, a more detestable caste. They are beggars by
profession, but are exceedingly addicted to robbery and murder; they are
notorious drunkards, and are infamous, even in Barbary, for their
unnatural lusts. They are, for the most part, well made and of comely
features. I have occasionally spoken with them; they are Moors, and
speak no language but the Arabic.
Then there is the sect of Sidi Hamed au Muza, a very roving people,
companies of whom are generally to be found in all the principal towns of
Barbary. The men are expert vaulters and tumblers, and perform wonderful
feats of address with swords and daggers, to the sound of wild music,
which the women, seated on the ground, produce from uncouth instruments;
by these means they obtain a livelihood. Their dress is picturesque,
scarlet vest and white drawers. In many respects they not a little
resemble the Gypsies; but they are not an evil people, and are looked
upon with much respect by the Moors, who call them Santons. Their patron
saint is Hamed au Muza, and from him they derive their name. Their
country is on the confines of the Sahara, or great desert, and their
language is the Shilhah, or a dialect thereof. They speak but little
Arabic. When I saw them for the first time, I believed them to be of the
Gypsy caste, but was soon undeceived. A more wandering race does not
exist than the children of Sidi Hamed au Muza. They have even visited
France, and exhibited their dexterity and agility at Paris and
Marseilles.
I will now say a few words concerning another sect which exists in
Barbary, and will here premise, that if those who compose it are not
Gypsies, such people are not to be found in North Africa, and the
assertion, hitherto believed, that they abound there, is devoid of
foundation. I allude to certain men and women, generally termed by the
Moors ‘Those of the Dar-bushi-fal,’ which word is equivalent to
prophesying or fortune-telling. They are great wanderers, but have also
their fixed dwellings or villages, and such a place is called ‘Char
Seharra,’ or witch-hamlet. Their manner of life, in every respect,
resembles that of the Gypsies of other countries; they are wanderers
during the greatest part of the year, and subsist principally by
pilfering and fortune-telling. They deal much in mules and donkeys, and
it is believed, in Barbary, that they can change the colour of any animal
by means of sorcery, and so disguise him as to sell him to his very
proprietor, without fear of his being recognised. This latter trait is
quite characteristic of the Gypsy race, by whom the same thing is
practised in most parts of the world. But the Moors assert, that the
children of the Dar-bushi-fal can not only change the colour of a horse
or a mule, but likewise of a human being, in one night, transforming a
white into a black, after which they sell him for a slave; on which
account the superstitious Moors regard them with the utmost dread, and in
general prefer passing the night in the open fields to sleeping in their
hamlets. They are said to possess a particular language, which is
neither Shilhah nor Arabic, and which none but themselves understand;
from all which circumstances I am led to believe, that the children of
the Dar-bushi-fal are legitimate Gypsies, descendants of those who passed
over to Barbary from Spain. Nevertheless, as it has never been my
fortune to meet or to converse with any of this caste, though they are
tolerably numerous in Barbary, I am far from asserting that they are of
Gypsy race. More enterprising individuals than myself may, perhaps,
establish the fact. Any particular language or jargon which they speak
amongst themselves will be the best criterion. The word which they
employ for ‘water’ would decide the point; for the Dar-bushi-fal are not
Gypsies, if, in their peculiar speech, they designate that blessed
element and article most necessary to human existence by aught else than
the Sanscrit term ‘Pani,’ a word brought by the race from sunny Ind, and
esteemed so holy that they have never even presumed to modify it.
The following is an account of the Dar-bushi-fal, given me by a Jew of
Fez, who had travelled much in Barbary, and which I insert almost
literally as I heard it from his mouth. Various other individuals,
Moors, have spoken of them in much the same manner.
‘In one of my journeys I passed the night in a place called Mulai-Jacub
Munsur.
‘Not far from this place is a Char Seharra, or witch-hamlet, where dwell
those of the Dar-bushi-fal. These are very evil people, and powerful
enchanters; for it is well known that if any traveller stop to sleep in
their Char, they will with their sorceries, if he be a white man, turn
him as black as a coal, and will afterwards sell him as a negro. Horses
and mules they serve in the same manner, for if they are black, they will
turn them red, or any other colour which best may please them; and
although the owners demand justice of the authorities, the sorcerers
always come off best. They have a language which they use among
themselves, very different from all other languages, so much so that it
is impossible to understand them. They are very swarthy, quite as much
so as mulattos, and their faces are exceedingly lean. As for their legs,
they are like reeds; and when they run, the devil himself cannot overtake
them. They tell Dar-bushi-fal with flour; they fill a plate, and then
they are able to tell you anything you ask them. They likewise tell it
with a shoe; they put it in their mouth, and then they will recall to
your memory every action of your life. They likewise tell Dar-bushi-fal
with oil; and indeed are, in every respect, most powerful sorcerers.
‘Two women, once on a time, came to Fez, bringing with them an
exceedingly white donkey, which they placed in the middle of the square
called Faz el Bali; they then killed it, and cut it into upwards of
thirty pieces. Upon the ground there was much of the donkey’s filth and
dung; some of this they took in their hands, when it straight assumed the
appearance of fresh dates. There were some people who were greedy enough
to put these dates into their mouths, and then they found that it was
dung. These women deceived me amongst the rest with a date; when I put
it into my mouth, lo and behold it was the donkey’s dung. After they had
collected much money from the spectators, one of them took a needle, and
ran it into the tail of the donkey, crying “Arrhe li dar” (Get home),
whereupon the donkey instantly rose up, and set off running, kicking
every now and then most furiously; and it was remarked, that not one
single trace of blood remained upon the ground, just as if they had done
nothing to it. Both these women were of the very same Char Seharra which
I have already mentioned. They likewise took paper, and cut it into the
shape of a peseta, and a dollar, and a half-dollar, until they had made
many pesetas and dollars, and then they put them into an earthen pan over
a fire, and when they took them out, they appeared just fresh from the
stamp, and with such money these people buy all they want.
‘There was a friend of my grandfather, who came frequently to our house,
who was in the habit of making this money. One day he took me with him
to buy white silk; and when they had shown him some, he took the silk in
his hand, and pressed it to his mouth, and then I saw that the silk,
which was before white, had become green, even as grass. The master of
the shop said, “Pay me for my silk.” “Of what colour was your silk?” he
demanded. “White,” said the man; whereupon, turning round, he cried,
“Good people, behold, the white silk is green”; and so he got a pound of
silk for nothing; and he also was of the Char Seharra.
‘They are very evil people indeed, and the emperor himself is afraid of
them. The poor wretch who falls into their hands has cause to rue; they
always go badly dressed, and exhibit every appearance of misery, though
they are far from being miserable. Such is the life they lead.’
There is, of course, some exaggeration in the above account of the
Dar-bushi-fal; yet there is little reason to doubt that there is a
foundation of truth in all the facts stated. The belief that they are
enabled, by sorcery, to change a white into a black man had its origin in
the great skill which they possess in altering the appearance of a horse
or a mule, and giving it another colour. Their changing white into green
silk is a very simple trick, and is accomplished by dexterously
substituting one thing for another. Had the man of the Dar-bushi-fal
been searched, the white silk would have been found upon him. The
Gypsies, wherever they are found, are fond of this species of fraud. In
Germany, for example, they go to the wine-shop with two pitchers exactly
similar, one in their hand empty, and the other beneath their cloaks
filled with water; when the empty pitcher is filled with wine they
pretend to be dissatisfied with the quality, or to have no money, but
contrive to substitute the pitcher of water in its stead, which the
wine-seller generally snatches up in anger, and pours the contents back,
as he thinks, into the butt—but it is not wine but water which he pours.
With respect to the donkey, which _appeared_ to be cut in pieces, but
which afterwards, being pricked in the tail, got up and ran home, I have
little to say, but that I have myself seen almost as strange things
without believing in sorcery.
As for the dates of dung, and the paper money, they are mere feats of
legerdemain.
I repeat, that if legitimate Gypsies really exist in Barbary, they are
the men and women of the Dar-bushi-fal.
CHAPTER VII
CHIROMANCY, or the divination of the hand, is, according to the orthodox
theory, the determining from certain lines upon the hand the quality of
the physical and intellectual powers of the possessor.
The whole science is based upon the five principal lines in the hand, and
the triangle which they form in the palm. These lines, which have all
their particular and appropriate names, and the principal of which is
called ‘the line of life,’ are, if we may believe those who have written
on the subject, connected with the heart, with the genitals, with the
brain, with the liver or stomach, and the head. Torreblanca, {98} in his
curious and learned book on magic, observes: ‘In judging these lines you
must pay attention to their substance, colour, and continuance, together
with the disposition of the correspondent member; for, if the line be
well and clearly described, and is of a vivid colour, without being
intermitted or _puncturis infecta_, it denotes the good complexion and
virtue of its member, according to Aristotle.
‘So that if the line of the heart be found sufficiently long and
reasonably deep, and not crossed by other accidental lines, it is an
infallible sign of the health of the heart and the great virtue of
the heart, and the abundance of spirits and good blood in the heart,
and accordingly denotes boldness and liberal genius for every work.’
In like manner, by means of the hepatal line, it is easy to form an
accurate judgment as to the state of a person’s liver, and of his powers
of digestion, and so on with respect to all the other organs of the body.
After having laid down all the rules of chiromancy with the utmost
possible clearness, the sage Torreblanca exclaims: ‘And with these
terminate the canons of true and catholic chiromancy; for as for the
other species by which people pretend to divine concerning the affairs of
life, either past or to come, dignities, fortunes, children, events,
chances, dangers, etc., such chiromancy is not only reprobated by
theologians, but by men of law and physic, as a foolish, false, vain,
scandalous, futile, superstitious practice, smelling much of divinery and
a pact with the devil.’
Then, after mentioning a number of erudite and enlightened men of the
three learned professions, who have written against such absurd
superstitions, amongst whom he cites Martin Del Rio, he falls foul of the
Gypsy wives in this manner: ‘A practice turned to profit by the wives of
that rabble of abandoned miscreants whom the Italians call Cingari, the
Latins Egyptians, and we Gitános, who, notwithstanding that they are sent
by the Turks into Spain for the purpose of acting as spies upon the
Christian religion, pretend that they are wandering over the world in
fulfilment of a penance enjoined upon them, part of which penance seems
to be the living by fraud and imposition.’ And shortly afterwards he
remarks: ‘Nor do they derive any authority for such a practice from those
words in Exodus, {100a} “et quasi signum in manu tua,” as that passage
does not treat of chiromancy, but of the festival of unleavened bread;
the observance of which, in order that it might be memorable to the
Hebrews, the sacred historian said should be as a sign upon the hand; a
metaphor derived from those who, when they wish to remember anything, tie
a thread round their finger, or put a ring upon it; and still less I ween
does that chapter of Job {100b} speak in their favour, where is written,
“Qui in manu hominis signat, ut norint omnes opera sua,” because the
divine power is meant thereby which is preached to those here below: for
the hand is intended for power and magnitude, Exod. chap. xiv., {100c} or
stands for free will, which is placed in a man’s hand, that is, in his
power. Wisdom, chap. xxxvi. “In manibus abscondit lucem,” {100d} etc.
etc. etc.
No, no, good Torreblanca, we know perfectly well that the witch-wives of
Multan, who for the last four hundred years have been running about Spain
and other countries, telling fortunes by the hand, and deriving good
profit from the same, are not countenanced in such a practice by the
sacred volume; we yield as little credit to their chiromancy as we do to
that which you call the true and catholic, and believe that the lines of
the hand have as little connection with the events of life as with the
liver and stomach, notwithstanding Aristotle, who you forget was a
heathen, and knew as little and cared as little for the Scriptures as the
Gitános, whether male or female, who little reck what sanction any of
their practices may receive from authority, whether divine or human, if
the pursuit enable them to provide sufficient for the existence, however
poor and miserable, of their families and themselves.
A very singular kind of women are the Gitánas, far more remarkable in
most points than their husbands, in whose pursuits of low cheating and
petty robbery there is little capable of exciting much interest; but if
there be one being in the world who, more than another, deserves the
title of sorceress (and where do you find a word of greater romance and
more thrilling interest?), it is the Gypsy female in the prime and vigour
of her age and ripeness of her understanding—the Gypsy wife, the mother
of two or three children. Mention to me a point of devilry with which
that woman is not acquainted. She can at any time, when it suits her,
show herself as expert a jockey as her husband, and he appears to
advantage in no other character, and is only eloquent when descanting on
the merits of some particular animal; but she can do much more: she is a
prophetess, though she believes not in prophecy; she is a physician,
though she will not taste her own philtres; she is a procuress, though
she is not to be procured; she is a singer of obscene songs, though she
will suffer no obscene hand to touch her; and though no one is more
tenacious of the little she possesses, she is a cutpurse and a
shop-lifter whenever opportunity shall offer.
In all times, since we have known anything of these women, they have been
addicted to and famous for fortune-telling; indeed, it is their only
ostensible means of livelihood, though they have various others which
they pursue more secretly. Where and how they first learned the practice
we know not; they may have brought it with them from the East, or they
may have adopted it, which is less likely, after their arrival in Europe.
Chiromancy, from the most remote periods, has been practised in all
countries. Neither do we know, whether in this practice they were ever
guided by fixed and certain rules; the probability, however, is, that
they were not, and that they never followed it but as a means of fraud
and robbery; certainly, amongst all the professors of this art that ever
existed, no people are more adapted by nature to turn it to account than
these females, call them by whatever name you will, Gitánas, Zigánas,
Gypsies, or Bohemians; their forms, their features, the expression of
their countenances are ever wild and Sibylline, frequently beautiful, but
never vulgar. Observe, for example, the Gitána, even her of Seville.
She is standing before the portal of a large house in one of the narrow
Moorish streets of the capital of Andalusia; through the grated iron
door, she looks in upon the court; it is paved with small marble slabs of
almost snowy whiteness; in the middle is a fountain distilling limpid
water, and all around there is a profusion of macetas, in which flowering
plants and aromatic shrubs are growing, and at each corner there is an
orange tree, and the perfume of the azahár may be distinguished; you hear
the melody of birds from a small aviary beneath the piazza which
surrounds the court, which is surmounted by a toldo or linen awning, for
it is the commencement of May, and the glorious sun of Andalusia is
burning with a splendour too intense for his rays to be borne with
impunity. It is a fairy scene such as nowhere meets the eye but at
Seville, or perhaps at Fez and Shiraz, in the palaces of the Sultan and
the Shah. The Gypsy looks through the iron-grated door, and beholds,
seated near the fountain, a richly dressed dame and two lovely delicate
maidens; they are busied at their morning’s occupation, intertwining with
their sharp needles the gold and silk on the tambour; several female
attendants are seated behind. The Gypsy pulls the bell, when is heard
the soft cry of ‘Quien es’; the door, unlocked by means of a string,
recedes upon its hinges, when in walks the Gitána, the witch-wife of
Multan, with a look such as the tiger-cat casts when she stealeth from
her jungle into the plain.
Yes, well may you exclaim ‘Ave Maria purissima,’ ye dames and maidens of
Seville, as she advances towards you; she is not of yourselves, she is
not of your blood, she or her fathers have walked to your climate from a
distance of three thousand leagues. She has come from the far East, like
the three enchanted kings, to Cologne; but, unlike them, she and her race
have come with hate and not with love. She comes to flatter, and to
deceive, and to rob, for she is a lying prophetess, and a she-Thug; she
will greet you with blessings which will make your hearts rejoice, but
your hearts’ blood would freeze, could you hear the curses which to
herself she murmurs against you; for she says, that in her children’s
veins flows the dark blood of the ‘husbands,’ whilst in those of yours
flows the pale tide of the ‘savages,’ and therefore she would gladly set
her foot on all your corses first poisoned by her hands. For all her
love—and she can love—is for the Romas; and all her hate—and who can hate
like her?—is for the Busnees; for she says that the world would be a fair
world if there were no Busnees, and if the Romamiks could heat their
kettles undisturbed at the foot of the olive-trees; and therefore she
would kill them all if she could and if she dared. She never seeks the
houses of the Busnees but for the purpose of prey; for the wild animals
of the sierra do not more abhor the sight of man than she abhors the
countenances of the Busnees. She now comes to prey upon you and to scoff
at you. Will you believe her words? Fools! do you think that the being
before ye has any sympathy for the like of you?
She is of the middle stature, neither strongly nor slightly built, and
yet her every movement denotes agility and vigour. As she stands erect
before you, she appears like a falcon about to soar, and you are almost
tempted to believe that the power of volition is hers; and were you to
stretch forth your hand to seize her, she would spring above the
house-tops like a bird. Her face is oval, and her features are regular
but somewhat hard and coarse, for she was born amongst rocks in a
thicket, and she has been wind-beaten and sun-scorched for many a year,
even like her parents before her; there is many a speck upon her cheek,
and perhaps a scar, but no dimples of love; and her brow is wrinkled
over, though she is yet young. Her complexion is more than dark, for it
is almost that of a mulatto; and her hair, which hangs in long locks on
either side of her face, is black as coal, and coarse as the tail of a
horse, from which it seems to have been gathered.
There is no female eye in Seville can support the glance of hers,—so
fierce and penetrating, and yet so artful and sly, is the expression of
their dark orbs; her mouth is fine and almost delicate, and there is not
a queen on the proudest throne between Madrid and Moscow who might not
and would not envy the white and even rows of teeth which adorn it, which
seem not of pearl but of the purest elephant’s bone of Multan. She comes
not alone; a swarthy two-year-old bantling clasps her neck with one arm,
its naked body half extant from the coarse blanket which, drawn round her
shoulders, is secured at her bosom by a skewer. Though tender of age, it
looks wicked and sly, like a veritable imp of Roma. Huge rings of false
gold dangle from wide slits in the lobes of her ears; her nether garments
are rags, and her feet are cased in hempen sandals. Such is the
wandering Gitána, such is the witch-wife of Multan, who has come to spae
the fortune of the Sevillian countess and her daughters.
‘O may the blessing of Egypt light upon your head, you high-born lady!
(May an evil end overtake your body, daughter of a Busnee harlot!) and
may the same blessing await the two fair roses of the Nile here flowering
by your side! (May evil Moors seize them and carry them across the
water!) O listen to the words of the poor woman who is come from a
distant country; she is of a wise people, though it has pleased the God
of the sky to punish them for their sins by sending them to wander
through the world. They denied shelter to the Majari, whom you call the
queen of heaven, and to the Son of God, when they flew to the land of
Egypt before the wrath of the wicked king; it is said that they even
refused them a draught of the sweet waters of the great river when the
blessed two were athirst. O you will say that it was a heavy crime; and
truly so it was, and heavily has the Lord punished the Egyptians. He has
sent us a-wandering, poor as you see, with scarcely a blanket to cover
us. O blessed lady, (Accursed be thy dead, as many as thou mayest have,)
we have no money to buy us bread; we have only our wisdom with which to
support ourselves and our poor hungry babes; when God took away their
silks from the Egyptians, and their gold from the Egyptians, he left them
their wisdom as a resource that they might not starve. O who can read
the stars like the Egyptians? and who can read the lines of the palm like
the Egyptians? The poor woman read in the stars that there was a rich
ventura for all of this goodly house, so she followed the bidding of the
stars and came to declare it. O blessed lady, (I defile thy dead corse,)
your husband is at Granada, fighting with king Ferdinand against the wild
Corahai! (May an evil ball smite him and split his head!) Within three
months he shall return with twenty captive Moors, round the neck of each
a chain of gold. (God grant that when he enter the house a beam may fall
upon him and crush him!) And within nine months after his return God
shall bless you with a fair chabo, the pledge for which you have sighed
so long. (Accursed be the salt placed in its mouth in the church when it
is baptized!) Your palm, blessed lady, your palm, and the palms of all I
see here, that I may tell you all the rich ventura which is hanging over
this good house; (May evil lightning fall upon it and consume it!) but
first let me sing you a song of Egypt, that the spirit of the Chowahanee
may descend more plenteously upon the poor woman.’
Her demeanour now instantly undergoes a change. Hitherto she has been
pouring forth a lying and wild harangue without much flurry or agitation
of manner. Her speech, it is true, has been rapid, but her voice has
never been raised to a very high key; but she now stamps on the ground,
and placing her hands on her hips, she moves quickly to the right and
left, advancing and retreating in a sidelong direction. Her glances
become more fierce and fiery, and her coarse hair stands erect on her
head, stiff as the prickles of the hedgehog; and now she commences
clapping her hands, and uttering words of an unknown tongue, to a strange
and uncouth tune. The tawny bantling seems inspired with the same fiend,
and, foaming at the mouth, utters wild sounds, in imitation of its dam.
Still more rapid become the sidelong movements of the Gitána. Movement!
she springs, she bounds, and at every bound she is a yard above the
ground. She no longer bears the child in her bosom; she plucks it from
thence, and fiercely brandishes it aloft, till at last, with a yell she
tosses it high into the air, like a ball, and then, with neck and head
thrown back, receives it, as it falls, on her hands and breast,
extracting a cry from the terrified beholders. Is it possible she can be
singing? Yes, in the wildest style of her people; and here is a snatch
of the song, in the language of Roma, which she occasionally screams—
‘En los sastos de yesque plai me diquélo,
Doscusañas de sonacai terélo,—
Corojai diquélo abillar,
Y ne asislo chapescar, chapescar.’
‘On the top of a mountain I stand,
With a crown of red gold in my hand,—
Wild Moors came trooping o’er the lea,
O how from their fury shall I flee, flee, flee?
O how from their fury shall I flee?’
Such was the Gitána in the days of Ferdinand and Isabella, and much the
same is she now in the days of Isabel and Christina.
[Picture: A Song of Egypt]
Of the Gitánas and their practices I shall have much to say on a future
occasion, when speaking of those of the present time, with many of whom I
have had no little intercourse. All the ancient Spanish authors who
mention these women speak of them in unmeasured terms of abhorrence,
employing against them every abusive word contained in the language in
which they wrote. Amongst other vile names, they have been called
harlots, though perhaps no females on earth are, and have ever been, more
chaste in their own persons, though at all times willing to encourage
licentiousness in others, from a hope of gain. It is one thing to be a
procuress, and another to be a harlot, though the former has assuredly no
reason to complain if she be confounded with the latter. ‘The Gitánas,’
says Doctor Sancho de Moncada, in his discourse concerning the Gypsies,
which I shall presently lay before the reader, ‘are public harlots,
common, as it is said, to all the Gitános, and with dances, demeanour,
and filthy songs, are the cause of infinite harm to the souls of the
vassals of your Majesty (Philip III.), as it is notorious what infinite
harm they have caused in many honourable houses. The married women whom
they have separated from their husbands, and the maidens whom they have
perverted; and finally, in the best of these Gitánas, any one may
recognise all the signs of a harlot given by the wise king: “they are
gadders about, whisperers, always unquiet in the places and corners.”’
{109a}
The author of Alonso, {109b} he who of all the old Spanish writers has
written most graphically concerning the Gitános, and I believe with most
correctness, puts the following account of the Gitánas, and their
fortune-telling practices, into the entertaining mouth of his hero:—
‘O how many times did these Gitánas carry me along with them, for
being, after all, women, even they have their fears, and were glad of
me as a protector: and so they went through the neighbouring
villages, and entered the houses a-begging, giving to understand
thereby their poverty and necessity, and then they would call aside
the girls, in order to tell them the buena ventura, and the young
fellows the good luck which they were to enjoy, never failing in the
first place to ask for a cuarto or real, in order to make the sign of
the cross; and with these flattering words, they got as much as they
could, although, it is true, not much in money, as their harvest in
that article was generally slight; but enough in bacon to afford
subsistence to their husbands and bantlings. I looked on and laughed
at the simplicity of those foolish people, who, especially such as
wished to be married, were as satisfied and content with what the
Gitána told them, as if an apostle had spoken it.’
The above description of Gitánas telling fortunes amongst the villages of
Navarre, and which was written by a Spanish author at the commencement of
the seventeenth century, is, in every respect, applicable, as the reader
will not fail to have observed, to the English Gypsy women of the present
day, engaged in the same occupation in the rural districts of England,
where the first demand of the sibyls is invariably a sixpence, in order
that they may cross their hands with silver, and where the same promises
are made, and as easily believed; all which, if it serves to confirm the
opinion that in all times the practices and habits of the Egyptian race
have been, in almost all respects, the same as at the present day, brings
us also to the following mortifying conclusion,—that mental illumination,
amongst the generality of mankind, has made no progress at all; as we
observe in the nineteenth century the same gross credulity manifested as
in the seventeenth, and the inhabitants of one of the countries most
celebrated for the arts of civilisation, imposed upon by the same stale
tricks which served to deceive two centuries before in Spain, a country
whose name has long and justly been considered as synonymous with every
species of ignorance and barbarism.
The same author, whilst speaking of these female Thugs, relates an
anecdote very characteristic of them; a device at which they are adepts,
which they love to employ, and which is generally attended with success.
It is the more deserving attention, as an instance of the same
description, attended with very similar circumstances, occurred within
the sphere of my own knowledge in my own country. This species of deceit
is styled, in the peculiar language of the Rommany, _hokkano baro_, or
the ‘great trick’; it being considered by the women as their most
fruitful source of plunder. The story, as related by Alonso, runs as
follows:—
‘A band of Gitános being in the neighbourhood of a village, one of
the women went to a house where lived a lady alone. This lady was a
young widow, rich, without children, and of very handsome person.
After having saluted her, the Gypsy repeated the harangue which she
had already studied, to the effect that there was neither bachelor,
widower, nor married man, nobleman, nor gallant, endowed with a
thousand graces, who was not dying for love of her; and then
continued: “Lady, I have contracted a great affection for you, and
since I know that you well merit the riches you possess,
notwithstanding you live heedless of your good fortune, I wish to
reveal to you a secret. You must know, then, that in your cellar you
have a vast treasure; nevertheless you will experience great
difficulty in arriving at it, as it is enchanted, and to remove it is
impossible, save alone on the eve of Saint John. We are now at the
eighteenth of June, and it wants five days to the twenty-third;
therefore, in the meanwhile, collect some jewels of gold and silver,
and likewise some money, whatever you please, provided it be not
copper, and provide six tapers, of white or yellow wax, for at the
time appointed I will come with a sister of mine, when we will
extract from the cellar such abundance of riches, that you will be
able to live in a style which will excite the envy of the whole
country.” The ignorant widow, hearing these words, put implicit
confidence in the deceiver, and imagined that she already possessed
all the gold of Arabia and the silver of Potosi.
‘The appointed day arrived, and not more punctual were the two
Gypsies, than anxiously expected by the lady. Being asked whether
she had prepared all as she had been desired, she replied in the
affirmative, when the Gypsy thus addressed her: “You must know, good
lady, that gold calls forth gold, and silver calls forth silver; let
us light these tapers, and descend to the cellar before it grows
late, in order that we may have time for our conjurations.”
Thereupon the trio, the widow and the two Gypsies, went down, and
having lighted the tapers and placed them in candlesticks in the
shape of a circle, they deposited in the midst a silver tankard, with
some pieces of eight, and some corals tipped with gold, and other
jewels of small value. They then told the lady, that it was
necessary for them all to return to the staircase by which they had
descended to the cellar, and there they uplifted their hands, and
remained for a short time as if engaged in prayer.
‘The two Gypsies then bade the widow wait for them, and descended
again, when they commenced holding a conversation, speaking and
answering alternately, and altering their voices in such a manner
that five or six people appeared to be in the cellar. “Blessed
little Saint John,” said one, “will it be possible to remove the
treasure which you keep hidden here?” “O yes, and with a little more
trouble it will be yours,” replied the Gypsy sister, altering her
voice to a thin treble, as if it proceeded from a child four or five
years old. In the meantime, the lady remained astonished, expecting
the promised riches, and the two Gitánas presently coming to her,
said, “Come up, lady, for our desire is upon the point of being
gratified. Bring down the best petticoat, gown, and mantle which you
have in your chest, that I may dress myself, and appear in other
guise to what I do now.” The simple woman, not perceiving the trick
they were playing upon her, ascended with them to the doorway, and
leaving them alone, went to fetch the things which they demanded.
Thereupon the two Gypsies, seeing themselves at liberty, and having
already pocketed the gold and silver which had been deposited for
their conjuration, opened the street door, and escaped with all the
speed they could.
‘The beguiled widow returned laden with the clothes, and not finding
those whom she had left waiting, descended into the cellar, when,
perceiving the trick which they had played her, and the robbery which
they had committed in stealing her jewels, she began to cry and weep,
but all in vain. All the neighbours hastened to her, and to them she
related her misfortune, which served more to raise laughter and jeers
at her expense than to excite pity; though the subtlety of the two
she-thieves was universally praised. These latter, as soon as they
had got out of the door, knew well how to conceal themselves, for
having once reached the mountain it was not possible to find them.
So much for their divination, their foreseeing things to come, their
power over the secrets of nature, and their knowledge of the stars.’
The Gitánas in the olden time appear to have not unfrequently been
subjected to punishment as sorceresses, and with great justice, as the
abominable trade which they drove in philtres and decoctions certainly
entitled them to that appellation, and to the pains and penalties
reserved for those who practised what was termed ‘witchcraft.’
Amongst the crimes laid to their charge, connected with the exercise of
occult powers, there is one, however, of which they were certainly not
capable, as it is a purely imaginary one, though if they were punished
for it, they had assuredly little right to complain, as the chastisement
they met was fully merited by practices equally malefic as the crime
imputed to them, provided that were possible. _It was casting the evil
eye_.
CHAPTER VIII
IN the Gitáno language, casting the evil eye is called _Querelar nasula_,
which simply means making sick, and which, according to the common
superstition, is accomplished by casting an evil look at people,
especially children, who, from the tenderness of their constitution, are
supposed to be more easily blighted than those of a more mature age.
After receiving the evil glance, they fall sick, and die in a few hours.
The Spaniards have very little to say respecting the evil eye, though the
belief in it is very prevalent, especially in Andalusia amongst the lower
orders. A stag’s horn is considered a good safeguard, and on that
account a small horn, tipped with silver, is frequently attached to the
children’s necks by means of a cord braided from the hair of a black
mare’s tail. Should the evil glance be cast, it is imagined that the
horn receives it, and instantly snaps asunder. Such horns may be
purchased in some of the silversmiths’ shops at Seville.
The Gitános have nothing more to say on this species of sorcery than the
Spaniards, which can cause but little surprise, when we consider that
they have no traditions, and can give no rational account of themselves,
nor of the country from which they come.
Some of the women, however, pretend to have the power of casting it,
though if questioned how they accomplish it, they can return no answer.
They will likewise sell remedies for the evil eye, which need not be
particularised, as they consist of any drugs which they happen to possess
or be acquainted with; the prescribers being perfectly reckless as to the
effect produced on the patient, provided they receive their paltry
reward.
I have known these beings offer to cure the glanders in a horse (an
incurable disorder) with the very same powders which they offer as a
specific for the evil eye.
Leaving, therefore, for a time, the Spaniards and Gitános, whose ideas on
this subject are very scanty and indistinct, let us turn to other nations
amongst whom this superstition exists, and endeavour to ascertain on what
it is founded, and in what it consists. The fear of the evil eye is
common amongst all oriental people, whether Turks, Arabs, or Hindoos. It
is dangerous in some parts to survey a person with a fixed glance, as he
instantly concludes that you are casting the evil eye upon him.
Children, particularly, are afraid of the evil eye from the superstitious
fear inculcated in their minds in the nursery. Parents in the East feel
no delight when strangers look at their children in admiration of their
loveliness; they consider that you merely look at them in order to blight
them. The attendants on the children of the great are enjoined never to
permit strangers to fix their glance upon them. I was once in the shop
of an Armenian at Constantinople, waiting to see a procession which was
expected to pass by; there was a Janisary there, holding by the hand a
little boy about six years of age, the son of some Bey; they also had
come to see the procession. I was struck with the remarkable loveliness
of the child, and fixed my glance upon it: presently it became uneasy,
and turning to the Janisary, said: ‘There are evil eyes upon me; drive
them away.’ ‘Take your eyes off the child, Frank,’ said the Janisary,
who had a long white beard, and wore a hanjar. ‘What harm can they do to
the child, efendijem?’ said I. ‘Are they not the eyes of a Frank?’
replied the Janisary; ‘but were they the eyes of Omar, they should not
rest on the child.’ ‘Omar,’ said I, ‘and why not Ali? Don’t you love
Ali?’ ‘What matters it to you whom I love,’ said the Turk in a rage;
‘look at the child again with your chesm fanar and I will smite you.’
‘Bad as my eyes are,’ said I, ‘they can see that you do not love Ali.’
‘Ya Ali, ya Mahoma, Alahhu!’ {117} said the Turk, drawing his hanjar.
All Franks, by which are meant Christians, are considered as casters of
the evil eye. I was lately at Janina in Albania, where a friend of mine,
a Greek gentleman, is established as physician. ‘I have been visiting
the child of a Jew that is sick,’ said he to me one day; ‘scarcely,
however, had I left the house, when the father came running after me.
“You have cast the evil eye on my child,” said he; “come back and spit in
its face.” And I assure you,’ continued my friend, ‘that notwithstanding
all I could say, he compelled me to go back and spit in the face of his
child.’
Perhaps there is no nation in the world amongst whom this belief is so
firmly rooted and from so ancient a period as the Jews; it being a
subject treated of, and in the gravest manner, by the old Rabbinical
writers themselves, which induces the conclusion that the superstition of
the evil eye is of an antiquity almost as remote as the origin of the
Hebrew race; (and can we go farther back?) as the oral traditions of the
Jews, contained and commented upon in what is called the Talmud, are
certainly not less ancient than the inspired writings of the Old
Testament, and have unhappily been at all times regarded by them with
equal if not greater reverence.
The evil eye is mentioned in Scripture, but of course not in the false
and superstitious sense; evil in the eye, which occurs in Prov. xxiii. v.
6, merely denoting niggardness and illiberality. The Hebrew words are
_ain ra_, and stand in contradistinction to _ain toub_, or the benignant
in eye, which denotes an inclination to bounty and liberality.
It is imagined that this blight is most easily inflicted when a person is
enjoying himself with little or no care for the future, when he is
reclining in the sun before the door, or when he is full of health and
spirits: it may be cast designedly or not; and the same effect may be
produced by an inadvertent word. It is deemed partially unlucky to say
to any person, ‘How well you look’; as the probabilities are that such an
individual will receive a sudden blight and pine away. We have however
no occasion to go to Hindoos, Turks, and Jews for this idea; we shall
find it nearer home, or something akin to it. Is there one of ourselves,
however enlightened and free from prejudice, who would not shrink, even
in the midst of his highest glee and enjoyment, from saying, ‘How happy I
am!’ or if the words inadvertently escaped him, would he not consider
them as ominous of approaching evil, and would he not endeavour to
qualify them by saying, ‘God preserve me!’—Ay, God preserve you, brother!
Who knows what the morrow will bring forth?
The common remedy for the evil eye, in the East, is the spittle of the
person who has cast it, provided it can be obtained. ‘Spit in the face
of my child,’ said the Jew of Janina to the Greek physician: recourse is
had to the same means in Barbary, where the superstition is universal.
In that country both Jews and Moors carry papers about with them scrawled
with hieroglyphics, which are prepared by their respective priests, and
sold. These papers, placed in a little bag, and hung about the person,
are deemed infallible preservatives from the ‘evil eye.’
Let us now see what the _Talmud_ itself says about the evil eye. The
passage which we are about to quote is curious, not so much from the
subject which it treats of, as in affording an example of the manner in
which the Rabbins are wont to interpret the Scripture, and the strange
and wonderful deductions which they draw from words and phrases
apparently of the greatest simplicity.
‘Whosoever when about to enter into a city is afraid of evil eyes,
let him grasp the thumb of his right hand with his left hand, and his
left-hand thumb with his right hand, and let him cry in this manner:
“I am such a one, son of such a one, sprung from the seed of Joseph”;
and the evil eyes shall not prevail against him. _Joseph is a
fruitful bough_, _a fruitful bough by a well_, {120a} etc. Now
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