The English Gipsies and Their Language

ortune Telling.-Cock Shys.-"Hatch 'em pauli, or he

f Gipsy life and character, as shown in a letter, which is

y to the Gipsy, who has an imagination so lively as to be at times almost ungovernable; considering which I was much surprised that, so far as I know, the whole

licitly that he once asked his father whether he and his relatives were of the race of the Israelites-he having then never seen a Jew-and when he carefully informs his readers that his descent was of a low and inconsiderable generation, "my father's house being of that rank that is meanest and most despised of all the families of the land," there remains n

d as I found amusement in his so doing, it proved to be an easy matter to induce him to wander off into scenes of gipsy life, which, however edifying they might be to my reader, would certainly not have the charm of novelty to the black-eyed lady to whom they were supposed to

ter. A translation wil

GAV, Dec

cooricus, we're doin' very wafro and couldn't lel no wongur. Your dui pals are kairin kúshto, pràsturin 'bout the tem, bickinin covvas

ker tute! Del it apré!" But the waver rākli penned "kek," and so they bitchered for the prastramengro. He lelled the juva to the wardo, and just bef

or staramangro might be used for gr

y kāko, waver divvus adrée a lot o Rommany chals, saw a p?in'. There was the juvas a koorin adói and the mushis a koorin an' there was a boro chingarée, some with kāli yākkas

bikened it for 9 bar, to a rye that you jins kushto. Lotti was at the wellgooro dukkerin the rānis. She lelled some kushti habben, an' her jellico was saw porder, when she dicked her mush and shelled. "Hāvac?i! I've got some fine habben!" She penned to a rakli, "Pet your wonger adrée tu

ned: "Is dovo, noko gry?" "āvali." Well, a Rommany chul del him desh bar for the gry an' bikined it for twelve bar to a boro rye. It was a fino kaulo gry with a b

lelled a koshter an' we had pange collos for trin dozenos. The rye kaired paiass kushto and lelled pange cocoanuts, and lelled us to h

d?i, don't well adoorer or he'll lel saw the covvos! Chiv 'em pauli!" A chi rakkered

SLAT

ILLAGE, Dec

ck this here week, we're doing very badly and could not get any money. Your two brothers are doing well, running about the countr

on't hurt you." But the other girl said "No," and so they sent for the constable. He took the girl to the station (or carriage), and

my uncle the other day among a lot of Gipsies, all drinking. There were the women fighting there, and the men fighting, and there was a great shindy, some with black ey

o the fair in --- with a broken-winded horse and a glandered. You could have killed that horse and nobody said a wor

victuals!" She said to a girl: "Put you money in your hand and I'll tell you your fortune." And she took half a sovereign from the lady. She told her: "You love a gentleman who is fa

Gipsy gave him ten pounds for the horse, and sold it for twelve pounds to a great gentleman. It was a good black horse, with a (handsome) strong leg (literally large), but it had a bad foot; it was the

a stick, and we had five shillings for three dozen throws! The gentleman played well, and got five cocoanuts, and took us to his carr

ther or he'll get all the things! Set 'em back!" A Gipsy girl talked to the gentlemen (i.e., pers

*

y poor Gipsies during the summer. And I may add that the language in which it is written, though not the "deep" or grammatical Gipsy, in which no English words occur-as for instance in the Lord's Pra

after "Sarishan!" or "how are you?" the common greeting among Gipsies. The fight is from life and to the life; and the "two or three pounds to pay in the mornin

ipsy paused at the word "broken-winded horse," whe

ard and starch)-long

you sell a gl

manage the horse-an art in which Gipsies excel all the world over-and which,

op the running. How wo

n't k

d stop the glanders in the worst case, long enough to sell the horse. I once knew an old horse-dea

miration. About a week afterwards I

more than anybody. He can cheat any man

w horse by the brother. In this case it bears a decided family-likeness to the following letter in the German-Gipsy dialect, which originally appeared in a book entitled, Beytrag zur Rottwe

AN G

penge. O flachso te hanfa te wulla te schwigarizakri te stifftshakri ho spinderde gotshias nina. Lopennawa, wium ke tshorero te wiam hallauter nange Denkerdum tschingerwam mangi kasht te mre wastiengri butin, oder hunte di kaw te kinnaw tschommoni pre te bikkewaw pale,

SLAT

way. The flax and hemp and wool [which] the sister-in-law and step-daughter spun are also burned. In short, I say I became so poor that we all went naked. I thought of cutting wood and working by hand, or I should go into business and sell something. I think

*

shindy; in the German they have a tshinger, which is nearly the same word, and means the same. It may be remarked as cu

t the g

ios roun

o take m

ripon

enstein-in fact, a rather lofty local magistrate. Before this terrible title Charles appeared, and swore stoutly that he was no more a Rommany chal than he was one of the Apostles-for be it remembered, reader, that in Germany at the present day, the mere fact of being a Gipsy is still treated as a crime. Suddenly the judge attacked him with the words-"Tu hal ro

oyed him in small jobs (in America we should say chores, but the word would be frightfully significant, if applied to a Gipsy)

AN G

E DESCHE OCHDAD

ende, naste pennene jon gar wawer. Brinscherdo lowe hi an i Gissig, o baro godder lolo paro, trin Chairingere de jeg dschildo gotter sinagro lowe. Man weas mr lowe gar gobe dschanel o Baro Dewel ani Bolebin. Miro baaro bargerbin vaschge demare Ladschebin bennawe. O baro Dewel de pleisserwel de maro ladscho sii i pure sasde Tschiwaha demende demaro zelo

S AUGU

SLAT

RG, Januar

hich I had given up. They said they had got none from me. That I gave them my money they cannot deny. The said (literally, known) money is in a purse, a great piece, red (and) old, three kreutzers, and a yellow piece of good-for-nothing money. I did not get my money, as the great God in heaven knows. My great thanks for your goodness, I

S AUGU

a perfect language; in fact, Pott has by incredible industry, actually restored it to its primitive complete form; and its orthography is now settled.

of blessings. "She's the blessing-est old woman I ever came across," was very well said of an old Rommany dame in