148 



MR. BORRO W ON THE GIPSIES. 



of the Gipsies is rather more applicable 

 to their ideas of their social position. 

 Being a small body in comparison with 

 the general population of the country, 

 they entertain a very exclusive, and con- 

 sequently a very aristocratic idea of 

 themselves, whatever others may think 

 of them ; and therefore scorn the preju- 

 dice of the very lowest order of the com- 

 mon natives (Ed., p. 367). 



Many of the Gipsies, following the 

 various occupations enumerated, are not 

 now to be distinguished from others of 

 the community, except by the most min- 

 ute observation ; yet they appear a dis- 

 tinct and separate people ; seldom con- 

 tracting marriage out of their own tribe. 

 A tradesman of Gipsy blood will sooner 

 give his hand to a lady's maid of his 

 own race, than marry the highest female 

 in the land ; while the Gipsy lady's maid 

 will take a Gipsy shoemaker, in prefer- 

 ence to any one out of her tribe. A 

 Gipsy woman will far rather prefer, in 

 marriage, a man of her own blood who 

 has escaped the gallows, to the most 

 industrious and best -behaved trades- 

 man in the kingdom. Like the Jews, 

 almost all those in good circumstances 

 marry among themselves, and, I believe, 

 employ their poorer brethren as ser- 

 vants. I have known Gipsies most sol- 

 emnly declare, that no consideration 

 would induce them to marry out of their 

 own tribe ; and I am informed, and con- 

 vinced, that almost every one of them 

 marries in that way. One of them stated 

 to me that, let the'm be in whatever sit- 

 uation of life they may, they all " stick 

 to each other " (p. 369). 



In the Disquisition on the Gipsies 

 I said that, " It is beyond doubt 

 that there cannot be less than a 

 quarter of a million of Gipsies in 

 the British Isles, who are living 

 under a grinding despotism of 

 caste ; a despotism so absolute and 

 odious, that the people upon whom 

 it bears cannot, as in Scotland, were it 

 almost to save their lives, even say who 

 they are !" (p. 440): and that, " This 

 peculiar family of mankind has been 

 fully three centuries and a half in 

 the country, and it is high time that 

 it should be acknowledged, in some 

 form or other ; high time, certainly, 

 that we should know something 

 about it " (p. 529). In dealing with 



a question like this, the main thing 

 to be done is to establish a principle, 

 such as will be explained in ihe fol- 

 lowing article on the Social Emanci- 

 pation of the Gipsies. Here I will 

 add some extracts from the Disqui- 

 sition on the Gipsies on the improve- 

 ment of the race generally. 



As regards the improvement of the 

 Gipsies, I would make the following 

 suggestions : The facts and principles 

 of the present work should be thorough- 

 ly canvassed and imprinted on the pub- 

 lic mind, and an effort made to bring, 

 if possible, our high-class Gipsies to 

 acknowledge themselves to be Gipsies. 

 The fact of these Gipsies being received 

 into society, and respected as Gipsies 

 (as it is with 'them at present, as men), 

 could not fail to have a wonderful effect 

 upon many of the humble, ignorant, or 

 wild ones. They would perceive, at 

 once, that the objections which the 

 community had to them proceeded, not 

 from their being Gipsies, but from their 

 habits only. What is the feeling which 

 Gipsies, who are known to be Gipsies, 

 have for the public at large ? The white 

 race, as a race, is simply odious to 

 them, for they know well the dreadful 

 prejudice which it bears towards them. 

 But let some of their own race, however 

 mixed the blood might be, be respected 

 as Gipsies, and it would, in a great 

 measure, break down, at least in feel- 

 ing, the wall of caste which separates 

 them from the community at large. This 

 is the first, the most important, step to 

 be taken to improve the Gipsies, what- 

 ever may be the class to which they be- 

 long. Let the prejudice be removed, 

 and it is impossible to say what might 

 not follow. Before attempting to reform 

 the Gipsies, we ought to reform, or at 

 least inform, mankind in regard to 

 them ; and endeavour to reconcile the 

 world to them before we attempt to re- 

 concile them to the world ; and treat 

 them as men before we try to make 

 them Christians. The poor Gipsies 

 know well that there are many of their 

 race occupying respectable positions in 

 life ; perhaps they do not know many, 

 or even any, of them personally, but 

 they believe in it thoroughly. Still they 

 will deny it, at least hide it from stran- 

 gers, for this reason, among others, that 

 it is a state to which their children, or 

 even they themselves, look forward, as 

 ultimately awaiting them, in which they 



