GYPsIEs. 171 
that meeting, and an especially hearty vote of thanks to Mr and 
Mrs Sanders, for their kindness in entertaining the members. 
This was seconded by Mr Arnott, and also heartily awarded. 
With the kind permission of Mr Johnstone-Douglas, a num- 
ber of the Company paid a visit to the old Tower of Lockerbie, 
being shown round by Mr John Laidlaw, Arthur’s Place, but 
owing to the late hour at which the meeting broke up, many were 
unable to avail themselves of Mr Johnstone-Douglas’s invitation. 
end March, 1906. 
Chairman—The PRESIDENT, 
Gypsies. By A. M‘Cormicx, Newton-Stewart. 
Mr M‘Cormick commenced by stating that gypsiologists were 
all agreed that the gypsies must either have originated from 
Hindustan, or, at all events, spent many years in that country. 
Their appearance, similarity to natives of Hindustan, and the 
preponderance of Hindustani words in Romanes (gypsy language), 
all conspire to Prove that. But he added that there are many 
gypsiologists who, believing in the testimony of tradition, held 
that it was quite probable that there might be something in the 
gypsies’ own tradition that they originally hailed from Egypt, and 
wended their way across Arabia and Persia to Hindustan, where 
they spent many generations. He explained that, whereas there 
Were earlier references to blacksmiths (or the calderari) than 1417, 
that is the year on which the first authentic reference is made to 
Romani-speaking gypsies in Europe. 
He described in detail the appearance, manners, customs, 
and characteristics of these gypsies, and how they acted on their 
Progress throughout Europe, and also how they were received 
kindly at first and afterwards with undue severity by both muni- 
cipalities and governments. That part of the lecture was illus- 
trated with slides from Callot’s pictures of the gypsies, and also 
by illustrations showing various types of foreign gypsies. 
In a similar manner Mr M‘Cormick showed that the first 
authentic reference to gypsies in Scotland was in 1505, and in 
