I2O 



MR. BORROW ON THE GIPSIES. 



blood remaining " (p. 309) ; and the 

 queen " said that a great number of 

 the Faas had come in the old time to 

 Yetholm, and settled down there, and 

 that her own forefathers had always 

 been the principal people among 

 them" (p. 322). Now, her great- 

 grandfather, old Will Faa, who died 

 in the year 1783, or 1784, was three 

 times married, and is described in 

 the History of the Gipsies as fol- 

 lows : 



On solemn occasions, Will Faa as- 

 sumed, in his way, all the stately deport- 

 ment of sovereignty. He had twenty- 

 four children, and at each of their chris- 

 tenings he appeared dressed in his 

 original wedding-robes. These chris- 

 tenings were celebrated with no small 

 parade. Twelve young hand-maidens 

 were always present as part of the 

 family retinue, and for the purpose of 

 waiting on the numerous guests, who 

 assembled to witness the ceremony, or 

 partake of the subsequent festivities. 

 Besides Will's Gipsy associates, several 

 of the neighbouring farmers and lairds, 

 with whom he was on terms of friendly 

 intercourse (among others, the Mur- 

 rays, of Cherry-trees), used to attend 

 these christenings. Blackiuood's Mag- 

 azine (Ed., p. 252). 



And her grandfather (old Will Faa 

 secundus), who died in 1847, and for 

 whom a fine " Lament " appeared 

 im the Scotsman newspaper, of the 

 2'Ofth October of that year, doubtless 

 left a family, and perhaps a large 

 one Sit that. I have alluded to one 

 of his brothers, John Faa, in the 

 History of the Gipsies, thus : 



Will Faa had a brother, a house- 

 carpenter in New York,who survived him 

 a few years. He was considered a fine 

 old man by those who knew him. He 

 left a family in an humble, but respect- 

 able, way of doing. The Scottish 

 Gipsy throne was occupied by another 

 family pf Gipsies, in consequence of this 

 family being " forth of Scotland." There 

 are a great many Faas, under one name 

 'or other, scattered over the world 

 (Ed., p. 255). 



The Gipsies in general are great 

 genea.lpgisjt.s, .and the queen in par- 



ticular must, doubtless, have been 

 aware of what had become of many 

 of this Faa clan, that was so numer- 

 ous about Yetholm, and in Scotland 

 generally. She could doubtless 

 have told Mr. Borrow a great deal 

 on the subject, had he asked her, 

 and found her communicative in 

 regard to it. But what becomes of 

 the Gipsies, is a question that can- 

 not be settled by reference to any 

 of Mr. Borrow's writings, although 

 these contain a few incidental re- 

 marks that throw some light on it, 

 when information of a positive and 

 circumstantial nature is added. The 

 account which he has given of his 

 visit to Yetholm confirms what is 

 set forth in the History of the Gip- 

 sies, as regards the secrecy of the 

 race in connection with their lan- 

 guage, and the greatly mixed state 

 of " the blood " in Scotland. In 

 the History of the Gipsies we find 

 the following : 



The Scottish Gipsies appear to be ex- 

 tremely tenacious of retaining their lan- 

 guage, as their principal secret, among 

 themselves, and seem, from what I have 

 read on the subject, to be much less com- 

 municative, on this and other matters 

 relative to their history, than those of 

 England and other countries. On speak- 

 ing to them of their speech, they exhibit 

 an extraordinary degree of fear, caution, 

 reluctance, distrust, and suspicion ; and, 

 rather than give any information on the 

 subject, will submit to any self-denial (p. 

 281), although the people themselves 

 have lived amongst us for three hundred 

 and fifty years, anct talked it every hour 

 of the day, but hardly ever in the hear- 

 ing of the other inhabitants, excepting, 

 occasionally, a word of it now and then, 

 to disguise their discourse from those 

 around them ; which, on being question- 

 ed, they have always passed off for cant, 

 to prevent the law taking hold of them, 

 and punishing them for being Gipsies. 

 These details will also show that our 

 Scottish Tinklers, or Gipsies, are sprung 

 from the common stock from which are 

 descended those that are to be found 

 in the other parts of Europe, as well as 

 those that are scattered over the world 

 generally ; what secrecy they observe in 

 all matters relative to their affairs ; what 



