Democratic Sentinel, Volume 15, Number 12, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 April 1891 — THE NOMADIC GYPSIES. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

THE NOMADIC GYPSIES.

THEIR FIRST APPEARANCE IN EUROPE. of the Wandering Tlace—Persecutions They Have Endured—A Nation Without Home or Habitation.

N the course of numerous wars which have rent the world into hostile factions, the dispersal of nations has been of not infrequent occurrence; but generally it has hap.oenod that when a nation was scattered the members lost their na-

tional identity, the men have forgotten to what nation they belonged and have become absorbed into other peoples. Two or three notable instances, however, have happened, but of the whole jnumber none is more singular than that of the gypsies, a people who once were a •race, and although now scattered bands 'of wanderers, nevertheless preserve many of those characteristics which are (generally considered to indicate nationality. Although their national identity 'was ages ago completely destroyed, and ,'by some national movement they were sent from their native land to become ! wanderers np and down this earth, still the families of vagrants retain much of their original language, together with <not a few peculiarities which completely separate them from all other peop'es. The first appearance of gypsies in Western Europe was in 1417. when a band numbering, according to different accounts, between 4(0 and 1,400, appeared in Germany. This little host of invaders soon found their way into every part of Germany. The first band was irapidly succeeded by others, and under -the influence of some unknown agency ‘the gypsies soon came in swarms, and found their way across the Alps into iltaly, across the Rhine into France, over the Pyrenees into Spain, across the Channel into the British Isles. A few of their leaders were richly dressed, and assumed ad the style of mediaeval noblemen; but the great part were poor, ill-clad and worse fed. A singular feature of this, the first invasion, lay in the fact that a gypsy band then seems from all accounts to have been precisely the same as the gypsy band to-day. The men were on horse-

back or on foot, the women and chi'drcn in wagons: the gypsies were noted for their fast driving, for their love of horses and dors. They called themselves the Sicani, and told various stories about their origin and the country whence they had come. Some said they were from India, others claim to be from Egypt, and endeavored to excite popular sympathy in their behalf by various talcs of their sufferings. In one town they detailed a pathetic narrative of having been driven out ot Egypt because they abjured Christianity; in another they claimed that the Saracens had expelled them from Asia because they refused to accept Mohammedanism. In still another they declared themselves to have been expelled from Asia by the monster Tamerlane. At first their stories were received v/ith «ome degree of credit, but the gypsies themselveb soon fell into disfavor. They were horse traders and horse thieves, they were tinkers, they were petty pil ferers of any small goeds that could conveniently be stolen and secreted. Their women were all fortune tellers, and inculcated among the people the belief that a gypsy woman could deal in the black art. In various countries the people soon arose against them, and, as wo are naively informed, “divers were slain for their evil deeds. ” This was their first appearance in Western Europe, but long before this they were known in the East, though how long is uncertain. Two hundred years before they appeared in Germany they were mentioned by an Austrian monk who saw them in Greece and Asia Minor. Writing a paraphrase on the book of Genesis he pauses to incorporate in the margin a bit of his experience concerning the gypsies, founding

his remarks on the versj mentioning the birth of Ishmael. “Tills Ishmael is the father of these accursed wanderers, wh» <o up and down the earth trading horses and stealing, working in Iron and making such employment a cover for their wickedness Buy nothing of thex, for

you are-certain to never get its full value." ■ It is oven believed that the abode of the gypsies in Eastern Europe long antedated this worthy father, and some writers on the subject do not scruple to state that among the wanderers and Vagrants expelled at almost regular intervals from Rome. Constantinople, and other large cities of the Roman Empire, we may recognize the gypsies by the description of “groups of men black as Tartars, who worked at the forge, were good dancers, were skilled in music, and were accompanied by thievish women who looked into the palms of credulous persons to' foretell their future.” The description is toerably true to nature, and makes it almost certain that th<\ gypsies came from the East, perhaps by the way of Egypt, a long time before they made their appearance in Western Europe, and also that they always exhibited the same character of feature, and practiced the same employments which have ever since distinguished them. On their first coming into Western Europe the wandering folk were almost

generally well received. They were clever people, generally more skillful at any craft than the native workmen at that time who practiced it. and what they did not know they soon learned Pleasant spoken, courteous, quick at acquiring the language of the country they adopted for their Own, they easily insinuated them-elves into good company. Early in the fifteenth century they were a'lowed to dan'e before the English king at Windsor, before the Scottish king at Holyrood, and acted plays at the French court. Early in the sixteenth century they became famous as fiddlers in Italy, as guitar players in Spain, as harpists in Wales and Ireland. They became painters, wood and iron workers, etchers or engravers on copper, soon learned to counterfeit, four of them being hanged for an attempt, to counterfeit the great seal of England in 1519; they made bowsand arrows, knives and swords. Sometimes they were even held in dist’netion. for more than one royal writ went out allowing their leaders to adm it Inter justice in their bands “according to the laws of Egypt. ” In several countries of Europe this confidence was soon abused, and then came retribution. L T p to the time of the general persecution the gypsies had been at worst merely petty thieves and swindlers, but finding themselves the objects of general detestation, they rapidly developed worse traits of characters. They were accused ot many heinous offenses. It was charged that tiiey were cannibals, that they robbed graves, that t ey stole children for the purpose of eating them, that tiiey murdered men to drink their blood. In Germany hundreds were arrested and put to the rack to make them confess. They did confess, but when asked where they had concealed the corpses they had stolen they could not tell and were again tortured. In France tiiey were put to death by wholesale . simply on suspicion

and be ause of their nationality. A more serious charge titan any brought up to that time was made about the beginning of the sixteenth century, a charge which allied them to witches and associated them with witchcraft. This was quickly followed by an accusation that they had no religion. They may have had a national religion at the beginning of their wanderings, but seem to have lost it. for in whatever country they were, they adopted, or pretended to adopt, the religion of the people. N< twithslanding the fact that they pandered an apparent conformity to the re igious rites of those by whom they were surrounded, they mingled with the adopted religion many secret ceremonies of their own, which in time, being discovered, added to the heinousnesi of the offense. Thus, classed with vagrants, with heretics, with witches, a general crusade was begun against Them, and whatever faults they had were far more than punished by the cruelty with which they were treated. During the reign of Henry VIII. they were ordered out of England, and vessels were provided for their transportation, but a few years later- we read of fines being inflicted on shipowners who brought them back. Indeed, it was found impossible to get rid of them entirely, for the people stood in awe of them. The mystery of their origin, the tales as to whence i they came, their claim; to da' iu the

black art, their pretended gift of prophecy, all made them dreaded by the country people, who were afraid to complain of them to the authorities, and thus enabled them in many districts to enjoy a comparative immunity. Nor were they entirely without their uses, for they carried many, though humble, arts to secluded parts of the coun’rv. and for this reason, too, wore protected, or at least not persecuted in the remoter rural districts. Near the cities and towns, however, they suffered severe y. Hundreds were arrested, the men were han red. the women and children drowned, for no other crime than that of their birth, as in not a few instances the sole record is something like that made in Norwich in i 1532: “111 men were hanged and one woman and two children drowned for being Egyptians.” The severities passed upon them had the effect of driving them north, and in Scotland for a long time they found shelter. Even here, however, they at length fell into disgrace, presumably on account of a scandalous adventure of James V. This monarch was fond of prowling about at night among his sub-

jects, and chanced on one such excursion to come upon a gypsy encampment, where he became a boon companion of the wanderers in their carousals. Speaking with too much familiarity to a woman of the tribe, he was assaulted by one of the men. and forced, to save his life, to discover himself. The gypsies kept him prisoner for several days and finally released him only nnoer promise of immunity from punishment. In revenge, however, after his escape, he issued a royal proclamation declaring

that if three gypsies be found together any of his subjects might kill one of the three without incurring either reproach or punishment. At this time a wide tract of country across the island, known as the Debatable Land, separated England from Scotland. This territory was the home of refugees, ot out'aws, of desperadoes, who, in this district of uncertain jurisdiction, found immunity from the officers of justice of both England and Scotland. The Scottish gypsies, finding

themselves hard pushed, resorted to this tract as a refuge, and in considerable numbers banded themselves together, both for their own defense and for purposes of robbery. They formed for many years the wost class of outlaws, haying a regular organization, with chiefs, pass words, pickets, detectives, and series in all neighboring towns and villages. They even granted passes for travelers, who often secured immunity from foot-pads and highwaymen by cultivating an acquaintance with the gypsy chief and obtaining a written pass or some token which was at once respected. It was also a peculiarity of gypsy life that the wanderers adopted the manners and language of the people among whom they settled. This was the case in Scotland also, and manifested in a curious way, for while the Scottish gypsies spoke in the broad brogue of whatever country they lived in, they also adopted the Scottish clannishness, and the bands of rival chiefs soon became as hostile as any set of glans in the Highlands, so that their feuds and batties made them uncomfortable neighbors Many of the Scottish gvpsy. chiefs were men of undaunted courage, and with their thievish dispositions were also characterized by occasional curious fits of generosity. In their way they were notable characters, and in the annals of South Scotian! are many gypsy stories —of Will Faa, who was about to rob the minister of the parish, but on learni'.g

who was In his clutches, apologized and conducted tho reverend gentleman through “the bad bit of land;” of Macdonald and Jamison, the chiefs who long defied the law. but at length were taken and hanged together, and at whose execution all the military in the country were paraded for fear of a rescue; there was no rescue, and finding themselves doomed to certain death, they bribed the hangmen “to make a good job;” of Jean Gordon, who sheltered in her barn and preserved from all harm a gentleman who had once been kind to her; of Matt Baillie, who, reproved by a woman of his tribe for plundering a gentleman who had given her a sixpence, invited the injured person to his tent, placed twenty or thirty stolen purses before him and asked him to pick out his own, then counted the money to make sure the count was correct, remarking, “See among what, honest people you have fallen;” of Charley Graham, who gave a poor widow the money to pay her rent, and robbed her landlord of it as he was taking it home, and, returning, gave her a receipt in full for the money he had loaned her. We know the English and Scottish gypsies better than any other country, fqr, although the gypsies have no literature of their own, more attention has been given them in these two countries than elsewhere. The persistence of this remarkable people in their habits of life for 4CO years at least since they appeared in Europe is one of the strangest incidents in history. They are now found everywhere; it is believed that not less than 1,500,000 are in Europe alone, to say nothing of those in the United States, in Canada, South America, Africa, and Australia. They are abundant in all parts of Asia, are found even in China and Siam, and are everywhere the same. Wherever the climate permits they live in tents, are always wanderers, always outcasts, and the preservation of their language, of their habits, of what we may cad a certain national individuality, is nothing less than a sociological miracle.

A GYPSY FORTUNE-TELLER.

ON THE HOAD.

A STYLISH EQUIPAGE.

GETTING SUPPER.

READY TO DRIVE A BARGAIN.