THE SOCIAL EMANCIPATION OF THE GIPSIES. 



155 



with a warrant, or dispossess them 

 of their properties, as disturb them 

 in their ideas, however ill-founded.* 

 In one of his articles in Black- 

 wood's Magazine, the author, in re- 

 ference to the more original kind of 

 Gipsy, said : 



"What vexed me not a little was, 

 when I put questions on the subject to 

 sensible individuals, they generally burst 

 out a-laughing, and asked me, ' Who 

 would trouble themselves about tink- 

 lers ? ' Such is, and has been, the con- 

 duct and manners of the Gipsies, that 

 the very word tinkler excites merriment 

 whenever it is mentioned. 7 ' 



In Scotland to-day, most people 

 are surprised when the word Gipsy 

 is mentioned, and will ask, " Do you 

 mean thae tinkler bodies? Wha 

 would bother themselves wi' a 

 wheen tinklers ? " In the work, the 

 author wrote : 



" The fact is, the Gipsies have hitherto 

 been so completely despised, and held 

 * in such thorough contempt, that few 

 ever thought of, or would venture to 

 make inquiries of them relative to, their 

 ancient customs and manners ; and that, 

 when any of their ceremonies were 

 actually observed by the people at large, 

 they were looked upon as the mere 

 frolics, the unmeaning and extravagant 

 practices of a race of beggarly thieves 

 and vagabonds, unworthy of the slight- 

 est attention or credit." 



The apathy and contempt, and 

 unreflecting incredulity, here spoken 

 of, naturally blind people to facts 

 the most obvious and incontestable, 

 and become, under Providence, a 

 complete protection against any in- 



* It is hardly necessary for me to point 

 out the trifling fallacy in comparing the 

 idea of being a member of the Gipsy 

 tribe, that exists in Scotland and every 

 other country, with that of a person hav- 

 ing had a remote ancestor from one of 

 the tropical countries visited by Scotch- 

 men. And yet there is some of such 

 blood in the country. So accustomed 

 are people to be influenced by what is 

 conventional only, that few could attach 

 a meaning to the phrase " a Scotch Negro," 

 while that of "American Negro "would 

 pass current anywhere. 



quiry regarding the tribe, in the 

 singular position which it occupies 

 in the world. In the work, I have 

 said : 



" As the Jews, during their pilgrimage 

 in the Wilderness, were protected from 

 their enemies by a cloud, so have the 

 Gipsies, in their increase and develop- 

 ment, been shielded from theirs by a 

 mist of ignorance, which, it would 

 seem, requires no little trouble to dis- 

 pel." 



I think I have said enough to 

 create in your mind a curiosity and 

 interest towards the subject of the 

 Gipsies, and the more so by the 

 many narrow escapes the MS. had 

 from being lost, and the peculiar 

 way the work is now brought under 

 your notice. What, under Provi- 

 dence, may be its ultimate destiny 

 in Scotland, will depend greatly up- 

 on those to whom this communica- 

 tion is addressed. There is to be 

 encountered, in the first place, the 

 prejudice (I will not call it the hos- 

 tility) of centuries, that has become 

 a feeling of caste the most difficult 

 thing to grapple with. Yet no one 

 can be blamed for that feeling ; it is 

 but the result of preceding causes 

 or circumstances. It has had this 

 effect upon the tribe, that they are 

 " ashamed " to let it be known that 

 they are Gipsies, and (as it may be) 

 can speak the language ; and they 

 think they "would become odious" 

 to the world, and would be " looked 

 on with horror and contempt," in 

 consequence. The result is, that the 

 subject has become like a substance 

 hermetically sealed from the public, 

 which retains its inherent qualities 

 undiminished when kept in that po- 

 sition. 



It is unfortunate that there should 

 be such a feeling entertained for a 

 people that have lived in Scotland 

 for 365 years. It cannot be said 

 that it is applied to other Gipsies 

 than those of the old stock, for the 

 question has never been tested. 

 The organs of society do not seem 

 to have noticed the subject, perhaps 



