The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1890-08-24
KING OF BRITISH GYPSIES.
FAMOUS KING CAReW, ACLERGY.
MANS SON.
His Adventures and the Code of Morals
He Adopted--As to Gypsies In Gem
eral-Their Origin and Remarkable
Traits.


; Traits.
The origin OF the gypsies is one of the un
solved problems Of enthnology, and appears
likely te remain So says the London specta
tor, but "there is no difficulty about thu
name. IL is obviously a corruption Of Egyp
tian,' name by which the rowing race il
known all over Europe. There is a tradition
among the gypsies that they are cross be
tween Arabs and Jews, and left Egypt il
the train Of the Egyptians. We certainl,
read in the Biblical account Of the Egyptian
exodus that "A mixed multitude went
up also with the Israelites.' This
mixed multitude were evidently moi
Jews. IIengstenberg supposes them t.
have been an inferior order 81
wOrkmen, employed. like the Jews. as
slaves in building the Pyramids and treas
IRE cities of Egypt. What became OF that
mixed multitude! We never hear Of them
| again. They could hardly have been alb
| sorJed by proselytism into the Hebrew ma.
ton without some notice Of the event; and
ii seems scarcely possible for them TO have
serted the forty years wanderings and en-
tered into Canaan with the lsraeites with.
out any mention being made Of il in the
records Of that people. 1t spr0bahle, there
FORE that these nOndescript fugutlves sep
arated themselves from the lsraelites alter
the passage Of the Red sea.
Nv hat became of them: simson, i'm his
| interesting 'lIistory of the Gypsies,' thinks
that they must have gone to Iiindustan.
| All other routes beng closed against them,
their only alternative was to proceed east
through Arabia Petrea, along the Gulf of Per
| sa, through the Persian desert into Northern
| IIindustan. where they founded the gypsy
| caste, and whence they ISSUED. after lapse
OF riany centuries, i'm possession Of the Ian
guage Of the lIindustan, and thence spread
| themselves over the earth. To speak OF
the language Of llindustan' is, however an
| unmeaning expression. Scholars are agreed
| that the gypsy language is language OF
| Iiindustan, and that, II is agreed, stands
| toward The seven principal languages In
| the relation Of a sister rather than daughter.
Their common generic name is Europe, be-
sides gypsles or Egyptians, is a word
| which means wanderers, and which in
| German appears as '/igeuner,' in Czech as
| 'Cingan.' in Italian as '/inganO' or 'Iinga-
| rO,' i'm Magyar as 'Cingany.' in bulgarian
as 'Atzigan,i in Greek ~ 'AtzIganOs,' in
Scotch as Tinker
The unity Of the gypsies is a more won
derful fact than the unity Of the Jews.
+! They have no religion to bind them To-
| gether. Sometimes they profess Christi
anity i'm its various forms, sometimes Mo-
| hammedanism. But they have no litera-
ture. no national history. M giOn Of their
own; nothing in common but language
which. with dialectical variations, Il COM
mon to them ali over Europe. Asia, North
| America and the northern coast Of Africa;
| a physiognOmy as marked IS the Jewish; an
ideal Of life which is perfectly distinct. and
| a general attitude Of lawlessness toward all
| other races, together with fixed standards
Of morality anu honor among the Roman
race. They intcrmarry with other races
more than the Jews, and possess the same
power Of perpetuating their type.
Gypsy blood, like Jewish, persists
through generations Of Gentle existence IN
distinct type of features, especially in the
lustrous dark eve. II would be curious to
trace the gypsy strain in some of our best
known names aud families. The wife OF
Carlyle had gypsy blood. and gloried In 1t.
several Of our noble families can boast OF
the same distinction, and bear the evidence
OF it in their features. The gypsies have an
INFORM love of music, and are, indeed,
the creators of much Of the Wild pa
thetic music Of Hungary. as well rs It's prin-
cipal instrumental opponents. But what Is
less known is that some OF the best Nelsh
ha.pists have been Of the Roman race.
How many Of those who have been charmed
by the concerts of the Roberts family have
known that they have been listening to
gypsy musicians: I'm Hungary they are nu-
merous and powerful. and the well-known
statesman, Andrassy, is said TO have been
a gypsy. When they first appear on the
page Of European history. we find them I'M
der the leadership Of dukes, counts, ana
knights Of Little Egypt, who rode on
GOOD horses gaily caparisoned. In
more recent times the gypsies Of Europe
nave been under the rule Of Kings and
Queens, f)r they have no >alic law.
zone Of the most famous Kings OF the
British gypsies was Bamfi ldf -Moore-C arcw,
The History and Curious Adventures OF
Bamfy lde- MOOrc-Carew, King Of the Mendl-
cants.' London, Robert Davies, the son Of
"A Deyonshre clergyman of good family.
lie Joined band Of gypsies in consequence
of an e,capade at school, ana became so
enamOred of the life that he was formally
initiated into the ROmani commonwealth,
aud was elected King on the nrst vacancy.
His principal recommendation was his SIN
gular deXierity in mendlcancy ny the cleNer
assumption Of various characters. some
times he appeared as "A shipwrecked mar
| liner. sometimes rs "A paralytic old man,
| sometimes as gypsy crone, sometimes II
smugguler who had escaped from his
band and revealed 10 the customs Olhcers
| the hiding place of valuable booty. In the
course of few days, on one occasion he set
All the customs officers through a large part
OF Devon and Dorsetshire o. "A wild-goose
| chase after Struggled goods, receiving
| handsome rewards for his information and
| then escaping.
But he pursued his calling W th consld-
| cable risk. At that tme-that il, during
| the first half of the eighteenth century,
| mendicant gypsy was, 10y law, an outlaw.
| lie was liable 10 be Transported 10 I've
| American colonies and sold as slave.
| And Bimfylde-MoOre-C arew was, in fact,
| twice transported, and on each occasion
| managed TO escape and return to England.
Those were also the days Of the press gang,
| and the gypsy King was pressed lhtO the
| British navy. 10 which he likewise managed
| To give the Slip in the Baltic. and found his
way back to England after a series OF anus
| ING adventures. His adventures in Amer
| lea are also exciting. But his presence Of
| mind. and ready wit. and resource never
failed him. The most amusing part OF his
life is undoubtedly his adventures in Eng
| land. exhibiting "A prOtean power OF as
| gIse.
But he once met his match. One day
as he was begging in the town OF Marder
| Brady, from door to door, as shpwrecked
seaman, he saw on the other side OF thi
road mendicant brother seaman, in q
habit as forlorn as his own, begging FOL
Gods sake just like himself The stranger
crossed the street and accOsted tarew IN TN
thieves slang. They compared notes an'
agreed to beg together, which they dc
through various towns and villages 10
some days, arriving at last at Lord Wey
mouths mansion. Ii was reed tina
Carew was 10 he spokesman. The servant
however, babe them BECOME unless the.
could give an accurate account OF the coun
tries they had travelled through, for shoul'
Lord Weymouth come and detect them II
any falsehood, he would certainly horse
whip them, according 10 his custom. The
cot some money and food. and pursued thei
vocation toward Frome, where they sepa
! rated.
; "Carew's mendicant companion turne
: ont to be no other than Lord Weymouth
himself. who occasionally adopted TIL
r method of discovering the character OF hi
2 neighbOrs Of all classes. Lord Weymout
= hurried back to Longleat. and dofng hi
p Disguise (Which was known only 10 IA cont
| DENTAL yalet he had Carew fetched bac