122 



MR. BORRO W ON THE GIPSIES. 



many of whom, as is customary with 

 Oriental people, rose to as high a posi- 

 tion in the tribe as any of themselves. 

 Then again, it was very necessary to have 

 people of fair complexion among them, 

 to enable them the more easily to carry 

 on their operations upon the community, 

 as well as to contribute to their support 

 during times of persecution. Owing to 

 these causes, and the occasional occur- 

 rence of white people being, by more le- 

 gitimate means, received into their body, 

 which would be more often the case in 

 their palmy days, the half, at least, of 

 the Scottish Gipsies are of fair hair and 

 blue eyes (Ed., p. 9). 



Mr. Borrow labours under a very se- 

 rious mistake w r hen he asserts that 

 " The unfounded idea, that Gipsies steal 

 children, to bring them up as Gipsies, 

 has been the besetting sin of authors, 

 who have attempted to found works of 

 fiction on the way of life of this most 

 singular people." The only argument 

 which he advances to refute this belief 

 in regard to Gipsies, which is universal, 

 is the following : " They have plenty 

 of children of their own, whom they can 

 scarcely support ; and they would smile 

 at the idea of encumbering themselves 

 with the children of others." This is 

 rather inconsistent with his own words, 

 when he says : " I have dealt more in 

 facts than theories, of which I am, in 

 general, no friend." As a matter of 

 fact, children have been stolen and 

 brought up as Gipsies, and incorporated 

 with the tribe (Ed., p. 9). There was 

 no occasion for such children being 

 either " squalling infants," or of such an 

 age as was likely to lead them to " be- 

 tray the Gipsies," as Mr. Borrow sup- 

 poses would be -the case, when he says 

 that Gipsies have never stolen children, 

 to bring them up as Gipsies (Ed., p. 342). 



This is the only continental writer, 

 [Wiessenburch] that I am aware of, who 

 mentions the circumstance of the Gip- 

 sies having districts to themselves, from 

 which others of their race were ex- 

 cluded. This author also speaks of the 

 German Gipsies stealing children. John 

 Bunyan admits the same practice in 

 England, when he compares his feel- 

 ings, as a sinner, to those of a child car- 

 ried off by Gipsies. He gives the Gip- 

 sy women credit for this practice (Ed., 

 p. 80). 



Mr. Borrow says : 

 " A yet more extraordinary charge was, 



likewise, brought against them of run- 

 ning away with wenches. Now, the 

 idea of Gipsy women running away with 

 wenches ! [A most likely thing indeed, 

 when the Spanish Gipsy women have 

 been described by him as the greatest 

 of procuresses, and the English ones as 

 ' living in almost continual violation of 

 the laws intended for the protection of 

 society ' (p. 219.)] Where were they to 

 stow them in the event of running away 

 with them ? [Aye, where indeed ? Why, 

 anywhere ; for if they could run them, 

 they would surely have no difficulty in 

 stowing them.] And what were they to 

 do with them in the event of being able 

 to stow them ? " (p. 217.) [Why, make 

 money by them.] 



It is difficult to see how this idea 

 of " running away with wenches," 

 could have found its way into this 

 work of Mr. Borrow, when he had 

 no means of refuting it beyond the 

 funny remarks he makes on the 

 subject. The circumstance is high- 

 ly characteristic of his erratic 

 genius. He says : " For nearly a 

 century and a half after the death 

 of Elizabeth the Gipsies seem to 

 have been left tolerably to them- 

 selves, for the laws are almost silent 

 respecting them" (p. 216), for the 

 reason that there was no necessity to 

 pass laws against them while those 

 of Henry VIII. and Elizabeth were 

 on the Statute Book. These were 

 sufficiently severe and comprehen- 

 sive to make others unnecessary. 

 How they were sometimes put in 

 force is illustrated by the execution 

 of thirteen Gipsies " at one Suffolk 

 assize," a few years before the resto- 

 ration of Charles II.* Mr. Borrow 

 says that for one hundred and fifty 

 years after the death of Elizabeth, 

 " but next to nothing is known re- 

 specting them " [the Gipsies] (p. 

 216); which is a good reason why 

 he should not have so dogmatically 

 asserted that the Gipsies never har- 

 boured disguised priests (no moral 



* This appears to have been the last 

 instance of inflicting the penalty of death 

 on these unfortunate people in England, 

 merely because they were Gipsies (p. 92). 



