New-York tribune., 1898-12-25
ENGLISH ROMANlES.
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE RACE-Ah hr'
EXTINCTION OF THE OLD
TONGUE.

EXTINCTION OF THE OLD
TONGUE
From The London Globe.
The real Romantics have always been io0ke' ''
upon as mysterious people Lea i.ea'"u nuestion OF
the origin and less instructed folk naVe "'
nately feared and despised them. Iney aa aaI, ,r
even now among the most superstitious ra'es =. =,
the world and yet they are, Tor the MOS, pa .
a rare without a religion. The one aim ana Op on
iect of their lives has always DeeIi 10 se' .'o
better OF every one they meet VINO - ~.
cffnrts is proof Of their shrewdness and Keen III
sight into character Except When they nav
some end to serve they are prouu anu =.
served people. holding themselves aioot eve,
from other "rnen Of the road" very le" vi
them can read or write. and yet they are ca
pable of imposing upon people VINO make consIu
/ erable pretensions to WISDOM Anions u,cn
selves they are strictly honoraple III t; al;, an
ings: one never hears Of gypsy cheating an
other member of his tribe. The conStahcy VI
the women to the men has oiten Deen eoln en,.
mented upon, and is the more surpris,hs Il ,ron ,
the fact that the women often have 10 90 ali 'ii'
hard work and earn money for the men, "n,i'
the latter spend their days in ldleness. 1et 'n'
men look upon the women as being superior II
many respects. to themselves ana some VI 'nen zen
have n measure Of belief In their wives aho
mothers assumed supernatural powers
Intermarriage with the house -dwellers has
made II difficult to distinguish the real Romahs
lilies which preserve their racial distinction.
pure-bred Romany "chal" is generally hand
some fellow, and among the Romany chies
are girls Of great beauty and gracefui bearing
Such "chals" and "chies" are usually founc
among the better class Of gypsies. known ainont
themselves as "griengrOes. or horse-dealers
These "griengroes" are the gyrsy aristocracy
they are often well-tO-dO wanderers living II
smart, comfortably furnished travelling vans
and carrying OH extensive dealings at countr,
markets ard horse fairs. To this class belonged
the Jasper Petulengro Of Borrow5 "Lavensro'
and P$nuel and Snf Lowell Of Mr.. Watts-Dun
toms "Aylwin."
LIKE BORROWS ROVERS.
At the present time some Of the Lees stan
leys. Hernes and Greys are "Griengroes. ana i
is among the and women of these familie'
that the best specimens OF the genuine gypsy
to be found. Fault was found with borro"
because he described the Romantics as being
superior type of rovers than they were generaliS
supposed to bc-he was charged with idealiziht
a people who were no better than common
yagrants 1t must be remembered. however
and the fact has already been urged in Bor
rows defence-that it was among the grien
groes" that he spent the time he devoted to the
study Of gypsy life. Descendants OF one or 1--WE
OF the families from which he drew his RomanJ
characters are still wandering about the Eastern
counties. and they may sometimes be seen en-
camped on a common near the site OF ms Ole
home. They have no recollections OF the LaVen
gro (wcrd-master) who used to visit theil
fathers tents: but if Borrow could meet some o
them he would not find them very different to the
men whom he encountered many years ago a
Norman Cross and Norwich Castle Hill.
one can quite understand the attitude for
merly adopted by country folk toward the Ro
many. 1T one of hostility. resulting from
frequent occasions on which the gypsy had go
the better of them in bargaining, and fear
owing to the swarthy rOver's reputation as
formidable fighting man. At the beginning OF
the present century some of the most noted
pugilists were gypses. and their descendants
have inherited much OF their skill at fisticuffs
The life the Rom my leads renders him alert ano
active and when a quarrel ends In tussle be
tween a gypsy and a "gorgO." as the ROmany
calls any one who is not gypsy. it is generally
the "gorgio' who goes under Almost all the
Romany "chals" are admirable horsemen. and
some of the older patrons of our horse fairs car
remember the days when 1t was no uncommon
thing to see a gypsy riding about fair ground
standing erect on the back of horse. They
are nimble dancers. too though gypsy balls are
seldom heard of. One of the Greys. well
known in East Anglia. is a skilled clog dancer
and has carried off prizes In districts where
most people are familiar with the "clang Of the
wooden shOon."
GYPSY WOMEN
or the gypsy women much might be written
but Borrow has given us in Mrs Herne mas
terly description of the wrinkled fortune-tell-
ing sibyl that Is convincing in It's aDSo-
lutte trueness to life. and now Mr. Watts-Dun-
ton in writing the story OF Sim Lovel
has shown us what the best type or Ro-
many girls Is like. From the moment when
Aylwin encounters her in the alehouse in the
course Of his search for Winifred. Sinh casts a
spell upon us. and the fascination of her char
acter increases come to know her better
She charms even more than does Isope
Berners. whom LavengrO taught Haik in the
dinele; but Isopel Berners though nomadic
woman" was not real Romany There Is
every probability that Sinf Lowell will remain
the one really living gypsy girl OF English fc-
tion. for although in her Mr.. Watts-Dunton has
portrayed a ROmany "chi" well known in Bo-
heman circles some years ago. he has embodied
in her all that ia characteristic OF the genuine