The record-union., 1894-05-12
TRAMPS IN BYG0NE AGES.
They Could Give Points to the
Modern Mendicants.
In England Their, Right Ears Were
Topped OF. and on Third offense
They Were Put to Death.

] LoppeQ OIs ana on ~ 4ulru OAcuSS
They We're Put to Death.
The tramp is not a modern institution.
He is older than civilization itself. Prob
ably the original ancestor of the Coxey
type ofroying ne'er-do-wells was Esau,
the eldest son of Isaac. He was wild
and rough-cut son of the desert-"a man
OF the tield''-here to-day and there to-
morrow. adevil-may care young Bedouin
who earned an Indifferent living by pre-
datory methods.
In ancient civilizations begging was
unknown, the laws Of slavery and the
simplicity of life generally having much
to do with it's absence. The laws of the
Pharaohs forbade begging in Egypt under
any pretense, and death threatened all
who were capable but unwilling to work.
All able-bodied laborers were employed
upon those huge monuments that are to-
day the wonder of the world. Greece,
too, insisted upon the importance fwork,
and established laws against mendicity,
which, at first, was punishable by death
drastic remedy. subsequently super
seded by judicial logging.
Rome IN her early days was free from
the evil, but at the hight of her power
and riches professional mendicants made
their appearance, and under the En-
perors they existed as plague through
out the whole of Italy. These miscreantS
added child-stealing to their misdeeds,
| manning little ones who fell into their
clutches in a most pitiful manner, and
then turning them loose in the streets
and on the bridges to beg. Valentinian
,n1r l..vx- IL
evil, and stringent legislation followed,
the offenders being employed on the pub
lie works, sent to the galleys or banished.
During the Middle Ages all kinds of
roguery tiourished, and beggars abounded
throughout Europe. France, Italy and
Spain were the countries III which this
netarious business attained the dignity of
profession, from which condition sprung
one of the strangest Kingdoms known TO
history, kingdom presided over by an
elected monarch, himself beggar and
ruling over his beggar subjects. They
made themselves so much disliked that
they were hunted down like beasts and
their tribes broken.
The beggar kingdom was organized for
the advancement of roguery, and showed
its gypsy origin by the peculiar dialect
spoken by its subjects, their jargon being
the parent of the argot used by thieves in
France at the present day. The monarch,
who usually resided in Paris, ruled over
this unique kingdom by virtue OF univer-
sal suffrage, and was subject to deposition
if unfaithful. Stated councils were held
at regular meeting places, taxes were
paid and lieutenantS appointed who rep
resented the king in different parts of
the country.
The duty of the latter was not only to
collect tribute, but to teach members how
to beg successfully. AS result of this
regime of imposture the French beggar
became masterof his art, each individ-
ual being specialist, and, with the ex-
ception of a few tricks peculiar to Italy,
the methods of the French beggar in
cluded all the impositions practiced in
European countries.
Many of these methods were possible
only under the peculiar social conditions
of that time. For instance, the "Hubinsu
pretended to have been bitten by mad
dog, and, armed with bogus certificate,
implored aims that they might Journey
to the shrine of st. Hubert, in Lege,
which pilgrimage was considered sure
cure for hydrophobia in those days.
Another set OF impostors simulated cpl
lepsy, By means of a small piece of
soap concealed in their teeth, they
frothed copiously at the mouth. One
class of rogues would tie cord about
their upper arms so as to stop the circu-
lation, and then fall in the street, as if
stricken with dread disease. Fake mer-
chants, ruined by hypothetical ship
wreck or stripped by imaginary robbers,
begged on the highways, and pseudo
travelling journeymen who never worked
wandered about with implements of
their prcfessed trade on their backs, i'm
ploring aid to help them on their way.
Cripples and deformed wretches used
their misfortunes as stock in trade, while
many simulated deformity or painted
disgusting looking sores on their bodies.
Another class went half naked in the
cold of winter and scratched their ankles
to make them bleed.
In Italy set of mendicants pretended
to know the whereabouts of hidden
treasures, promising to disclose the place
to those who helped them, while another
set of rascals pretended deadly sickness
and the ownership of property which
they vowed to leave to those helping
them in their extremity.
Under Louis XIII. in France tavern
keepers were forbidden to harbor beg
CARS. while mendicity was punished by
law prohibited all persons giving aims to
beggars the donor being fined, if caught.
In England during the reign of Henry
Will a law provided that all professional
mendicants be whipped for the first
offense, have the lower part of their right
ears cut OH lOE tu6 SecOlu, ana De I'M
prisoned and put to death if found guilty
on the third committal. This was super
seded in l547 by a law which condemned
the mendicant to slavery for two years.
Should the convict attempt to escape he
was whipped branded on the forehead
and condemned to slavery for life.
During Elizabeth's time the country
beggars tiocked to the suburbs of Lon
don, and a crowd of Irish mendicants
took up their abode in st. Giles. These
rogues solicited aims. during the day and
committed robberies and outrages at
night.
In the eighteenth century the beggars
of st. Giles were poor only in rags. A
favorite dodge of these rogues was to go
barefoot and beg for shoes, which they
sold at a good profit to secondhand deal
ers. These men had divisions allotted to
them and changed their routes daily.
Many of them made as much as eight
shillings day. and if one got more than
the others he shared with the rest. They
had their clubs, where they planned
their schemes and recited their adven-
lures. Some of these professionals, when
overcome by their mighty potations,
hired cabs to carry them to their homes.
The American beggar of the present
day is fully up to date; he has not parted
with the traditions of his ancestors and