The Portland daily press., 1881-09-03

London Standard.
The gypsy is thorough and irreclaimable
yagabond, but he has many good points about
him. His notions Of honesty, especially when
a fowl or horse is in the question, do not ex-
actly correspond with our owa, and he cannon
be brought to understand the game laws; but
he compares favorsby in most of these re-
spects with the tramps and bsggars, and even
with the rustic laborers and the lower classes
10 towns. The road is literally his walk IN
life, aud he practices such trades as tinkerihg'
chair-mending, cutting clothes pegs, ana tne
Ike, with assiduity an industry. when the
weather makes out-of-door life unbearaDle
The gypsies settle down after o fashion; those
who ha We covered wagons, with the sight OF
which we are so familiar, halt with them IL
.ome convenient spot and live in small COM
munities, others hire an empty cottage and
simply camp Down in 1t, requiring no furnl-
ture but the few articles of bedding and cook
lag utensils which served them in their tents.
But the English Romantics do not affect a
town life; they keep strictly to their old nomad
traditions. Kirk Yethom, in Scotland, is the
only place In the British Isles where settted
colony of ~ psies exists, for even their haunts
In the West OF London are deserted as the
summer comes and the country holds forth It's
irresistible charms Elsewhere, especially III
Turkey and the Danubian princlpalities'
there are many villages inhabited entirely by
gypsies. IN.
Strange to say, these people are very little
understood, and, among other ictions in vogue
concerning them, the most popular one, that
they have king is totally without founaatlon.
A member OF the tribe who has reached an al
vanced age, ana become the head OF numer.
Gus family of children, grandchildren and
great grandchildren, Is, of course, visited by
them at any spot where he or she may have
settled down; and as the travels OF the clan
are regulated by the seasons, fairs, markets,
and 40 on, the gatherings naturally become pc
fiodical, and greatly exercise the GENTLE
mind OF the curiosity thus excited the gyp-
sizes themselves are not slow to take advantage,
and the ancient one is dubbed a Gypsy King
or Queen for no other purpose than to attract
visits and offerings from the gorgios:
Gypsies ara not by any means the outcasts OF
society; they lead rowing life because their
instincts and traditions all induce them 70 &c
%. The sternest laws have been promulgated
against them without bringing about the least
siru of reform in their habits, and they are
now only slowly yielding to the influence oil
the enclosure acts, which crowd them out and
force them not to become AFFORDED In the rest
Of the population, but to seek for tree space
and fresh air In the far West. Since Mr..
Borrow first told how interesting race they
were, with language, traditions and customs
OF their own differing so entirely from the
pexxantry among whom they live, may nave
made them their study, and some very anus
ing and learned works have been written upon
their habits and speech; among the most re-
cent OF such books those of Hans Breitmann
and DR.. Bath Smart are the best. The gypsy
language Is very quaint and expressive, and
although, in this country, at least, they have
but limited vocabulary left, they manage BY
ingenious compounds, to say all they want In
it, The origin of the gypsies is problem
which has never been entirely solved.
The appearance of the gypsies in Western
Europe was in the year 1417, when band Of
500, under tho guidance of three shrewd and
intelligent leaders, asked and obtained from
the Emperor Sigismund, the Pope, and other
sovcriRns. leave TO travel in their domains
They gave out that they were emigrants from
Little Egypt" that they had relapsed from
Christianity into heathenism, and had been
conquered by the King of Hungary, who inn,
Posed upon them penance OF nfty years
wandering as pilgrims before returning to theli
native land. II is needless to say that the
story had NOS q word Of truth in it, but tbs
name Egyptian" has chung to them ever
since In this country, though they are else
where known to Gentiles as Tobingiane, Ain-
sari, or some modification of the name. They
6rst made an appearance in England about the
year 1880 in bands consisting of from ~ TO lUt
families, travelling in light carts and camping
BY night wherever convenient spot presented
itself The women told fortunes, pilfered
coins from tradesmen's counters, and "drab
bed baulor," (that is poisoned pigs, Just at
they do at the present day. While the mel
worked at tinkering, discriminating, and the
like, and occasionally varied the monotony OF
their existence by stealing horse and taking
TO the highway. Their lawless, nomad life
soon brought them under the suspicion OF the
authorities, and they were accused OF and pun
ished for these crimes, and for many otheIi
which they never thought of committing
During the reign Of Elizabeth they were per
secuted with exceptional rigor, and nothing
but their persistent nationality and health.
vagrsnt habits could have saved them from
determination.