NATURAL HISTORY OF SELBORNE. 189 
eee ee eR: ae ES 
TO THE SAME. 
SELBORNE, Oct. 22d, 1775. 
DEAR SirR,—We have two gangs or hordes of gypsies which 
infest the south and west of England, and come round in their 
circuit two or three times in the year. One of these tribes calls 
itself by the noble name of Stanley, of which I have nothing 
particular to say; but the other is distinguished by an appellative 
somewhat remarkable. As far as their harsh gibberish can be 
understood, they seem to say that the name of their clan is 
Curleople; now the termination of this word is apparently 
Grecian, and as Mezeray and the gravest historians all agree 
that these vagrants did certainly migrate from Egypt and the 
East, two or three centuries ago, and so spread by degrees 
over Europe, may not this family-name, a little corrupted, be the 
very name they brought with them from the Levant? It would be 
matter of some curiosity, could one meet with an intelligent person - 
among them, to inquire whether, in their jargon, they still retain 
any Greek words; the Greek radicals will appear in hand, foot, 
head, water, earth, &c. It is possible that amidst their cant and 
corrupted dialect many mutilated remains of their native language 
might still be discovered. 
With regard to those peculiar people, the gypsies, one thing is 
very remarkable, and especially as they came from warmer 
climates ; and that is, that while other beggars lodge in barns, 
stables, and cow-houses, these sturdy savages seem to pride 
themselves in braving the severities of winter, and in living s«d dro 
the whole year round. Last September was as wet a month as 
ever was known ; and yet during those deluges did a young gypsy 
girl lie in the midst of one of our hop-gardens, on the cold ground, 
with nothing over her but a piece of a blanket extended on a few 
hazel-rods bent hoop-fashion, and stuck into the earth at each end, 
in circumstances too trying for a cow in the same condition ; yet 
within this garden there was a large hop-kiln, into the chambers of 
