DIFFERENCE IN MIXED GIPSIES AND ORDINAR Y NA TIVES, 



143 



and that it is carefully kept up by both 

 classes of Gipsies. This information 

 agrees with our author's, in regard to 

 the settled Scottish Gipsies. There is 

 one very strong motive, among many, 

 for the Gipsies keeping up their lan- 

 guage, and that is, as I have already 

 said, their self-respect. The best of 

 them believe that it is altogether prob- 

 lematical how they would be received in 

 society, were they to make an avowal of 

 their being Gipsies, and lay bare the 

 history of their race to the world. The 

 prejudice that exists against the race, 

 and against them, they' imagine, were 

 they known to be Gipsies, drives them 

 back on that language which belongs 

 exclusively to themselves ; to say no- 

 thing of the dazzling hold which it takes 

 of their imagination, as they arrive at 

 years of reflection, and consider that the 

 people speaking it have been trans- 

 planted from some other clime. The 

 more intelligent the Gipsy, the more he 

 thinks of his speech, and the more care 

 he takes of it (Ed., p. 433). 



The difference between the Gip- 

 sies of mixed blood and the ordi- 

 nary natives of the country is thus 

 illustrated : 



Besides the difference just drawn be- 

 tween the Gipsy and ordinary native 

 that of recognizing and being recog- 

 nized by another Gipsy I may mention 

 the following general distinction be- 

 tween them. The ordinary Scot knows 

 that he is a Scot, and nothing more, un- 

 less it be something about his ancestors 

 of two or three generations. But the 

 Gipsy's idea of Scotland goes back to a 

 certain time, indefinite to him, as it may 

 be, beyond which his race had no exist- 

 ence in the country. Where his ances- 

 tors sojourned, immediately, or at any 

 time, before they entered Scotland, he 

 cannot tell ; but this much he knows of 

 them, that they are neither Scottish nor 

 European, but that they came from the 

 East. The fact of his blood being mix- 

 ed exercises little or no influence over 

 his feelings relative to his tribe, for, mix- 

 ed as it may be, he knows that he is one 

 of the tribe, and that the origin of his 

 tribe is his origin. In a word, he knows 

 that he has sprung from the tent. Sub- 

 stitute the word Scotch for Moor, as re- 

 lated of the black African Gipsies, at 

 page 429, and he may say of himself and 

 tribe, "We are not Scotch, but can give 



no account of ourselves." * It is a little 

 different, if the mixture of his blood is 

 of such recent date as to connect him 

 with native families ; in that case, he Jias 

 " various bloods " to contend for, should 

 they be assailed ; but his Gipsy blood, 

 as a matter of course, takes precedence. 

 By marrying into the tribe, the connex- 

 ion with such native families gradually 

 drops out of the memory of his descend- 

 ants, and leaves the sensation of tribe 

 exclusively Gipsy. Imagine, then, that 

 the Gipsy has been reared a Gipsy, in 

 the way so frequently described, and 

 that he "knows all about the Gipsies," 

 while the ordinary native knows really 

 nothing about them ; and we have a 

 general idea of what a Scottish Gipsy 

 is, as distinguished from an ordinary 

 Scotchman. If we admit that every native 

 Scot knows who he is, we may readily 

 assume that every Scottish Gipsy knows 

 who he is. But, to place the point of 

 difference in a more striking light, it 

 may be remarked, that the native Scot 

 will instinctively exclaim, that " the pres- 

 ent work has no earthly relation either 

 to him or his folk;" while the Scottish 

 Gipsy will as instinctively exclaim, " It's 

 us, there's no mistake about it ; " and 

 will doubtless accept it, in the main, 

 with a high degree of satisfaction, as 

 the history of his race, and give it to his 

 children as such (Ed., p. 461). 



A respectable, indeed, any kind of, 

 Scottish Gipsy does not contemplate his 

 ancestors the " Pilgrim Fathers," and 

 "Pilgrim Mothers," too as robbers, 

 although he could do that with as much 

 grace as any Highland or Border Scot, 

 but as a singular people, who doubtless 

 came from the Pyramids ; and their lan- 

 guage, as something about which he 

 really does not know what to think ; 

 whether it is Egyptian, Sanscrit, or what 

 it is. Still, he has part of it ; he loves 

 it ; and no human power can tear it out 

 of his heart. He knows that every in- 

 telligent being sticks to his own, and 

 clings to his descent'; and he considers 

 it his highest pride to be an Egyptian 

 a descendant of those swarthy kings 



* The tradition among the Scottish 

 Gipsies of being Ethiopians, whatever 

 weight the reader may attach to it, dates 

 as far back, at least, as the year 1615 ; for 

 it is mentioned in the remission under 

 the privy seal, granted to William Auch- 

 terlony, of Cayrine, for resetting John Faa 

 and his followers (Ed., p. 315). 



