The sun., 1915-10-17
4 Gypsy Pa rsOn.


4 Gypsy Parson.
In his volume The Gypsps Parson
,LippincotD the Rev. GEORGE HALL
rector Of Buckland. Lincolnshire, says:
Are you seeking a recipe for youth?
Go a-Gypsying. Forth to the winding road
under the open sky. the Gypsies are calling
you. Scornlng our hurrying mode OF life.
these folk are content to loiter beneath
| the green beeches. or In the shadow OF
| some old Inn on the fringe of a windy
common. Like nature herself. these wild
lings o. hers overflow with the play spirit
and therefore remain youthful. To rub
shoulders with them. ! have found, Is to
acquire laughing Indifference to dull
care and all Its melancholy train. Who
ever then would grow liyhthear,ed and
become just happy child OF sun and star
and stream let him respond to the call Of
the road. let him go a-GypsyuN
The Rev. Mr.. Hall has sedulously
taken his own advice. and from his
constant frequentings Of the Romany
folk he gives us a volume full OF anec-
dote and folklore. blown through by
the free winds and having in it all the
sense OF the open sky and endless
winding roads. To be sure there is not
In the volume any Gypsy dialogue so
| purely poetic as the famous talk with
Jasper in "Lavengro." Blu; It is a
pleasant thing in itself to think OF "A
correct Lincolnshire parson turning
aside every now and then from the
duly regular and regulated duties Of
official position to sleep In the open
with the gypsies. to eat stewed hedge
hog and TO smoke. wrapped in a red
blanket. in front Of furze fire on the
| heath.
The Rev Mr.. Hall knew the gyps!es
apparently In earliest childhood:
| A tanEle OF seQuesiered streets lying
round a triple lowered cathedral. red roofs
| and gables massed under the ramparts of
| an ancient castle: a gray Roman arch 1T
up every springtime by the wall flowers
mimic gold AN Old World Bailxa;e over
whose tavern yards drfied the sleepy
| music o: the minister chimes: a crooked
| bylane leading down to wide common
| loved by the winds OF heaven-,hese were
| the surroundings Of my childhood home
| In that hilltop portion OF Lincoln which
| has never quite thrown off its medieval
drowsness
Near to this spot. within seeing dis
tance II his fathers doorstep. was a
narrow court called "Hangmans
ditch" where the gypsies camped In
| winter. Until his eleventh year Mr.
Hall tells us he knew only the outside
OF gypsydom, but at this time an Incl
dent drew him closer TO them. One az
ternoon in turning a corner sharply on
the way home from school he ran full
tilt into Romany lass, knocking the
apple she was eating from her hand
into the gutter. For this bit Of awk
wardness he received such "A slap on
the mouth as sent him sprawling full
length In the road snd with mouth and
nose bleeding. not the most advisable
way Of starting friendship. and yet
this gypsy girl was a "shapely lass.
with soft hazel eyes and wealth of
dark hair, l!ssome as whalebone and
dressed in tawny brown. with berries
and leaves In her hair" No wonder
the youth began to be interested In
gypsies.
II was this very girls brother.
Snakey Smith, who told the author. II
likes to sit afore fire on the ground.
You don't feel nothing like so lone
some as you keeps pushing sticks into
the fire and watching em burn away"
Yes. 1t is for pure pleasure that the
gypsy will light a small pile of dead
J sticks and gaze at the spiral of thin,
sweet smoke upcurling between the
trees of the lane.
, 1.-THE impression Of childhood are
enduring" writes Mr. Hall, "and just
as the smell OF the wall flowers after
a.. April shower will revive for YOU
dear fellow the vision Of garden
, walk under lichened wall. and the
, dainty step Of your lady love by your
side. so for me the wild scent Of with
, ering bracken in the red autumn
g,ades prompts my fancy TO envisage
anew the grewsome scene" OF a GER
tain gibbot tree where ballad singers
, gypsy fiddlers and fortune tellers con-
gregated,
: The chapters OF this book cover such
subjects as characters in the Court u
.. North Country Gypses," "A Romany
! BENSON" "A Gypsy Baptism" THE
!. Rlackpool Gypsyry," "A Trentsdt
Fair" An East Anglian Family
"Peterborough Fair" "On the Road.
THE Ghost Of the Haystack." THE
Gypsy of the Town" THE Yorkshire
Gypsies" thinkers and Grinders,
1.-THE Sweep of Lynn" "On Epson
0 Downs" Tales by the Fireside, :
. "Horncastle Fair" "A Gypsy Sepul.
! chre." "Ritshado Pawdel." "A Romany
i Munchausen," "Furzemoor,"
The book also contains an eXcellen
E Romany glossary. The Romany fore
= names are often peculiar and give foot
for thought. II Is difficult to trace
the origin Of such names as Malini
Mori, Shuri. Sir Richard Temple he,
: lieves these names derive from Indiai
forms. There are also such Anglo
Rcmany names as Tcnela, Slari
i Trcnct, A gypsy being told that {
y little match safe was made 90 alumni
mum, Immediately replied. what q
, beautiful pame for my gels baby.