1 86 



APPENDIX. 



my soul must needs be happy. Now, 

 again, I found within me a great long- 

 ing to be resolved about this question, 

 but could not tell how I should. At 

 last I asked my father of it, who told 

 me ; No, we [his father included] were 

 not." 



Language like this is pregnant 

 with meaning when used by a man 

 who 



" Was simpjy a Gipsy of mixed 

 blood, who must have spoken the Gipsy 

 language in great purity ; for consider- 

 ing tlje extent to which it is spoken in 

 England to-day, we can well believe 

 that it was very pure two centuries ago, 

 and that Bunyan might have written 

 works even in that language." Contri- 

 butions, p. 159. " It would be interest- 

 ing to have an argument in favour of 



the common native hypothesis 



In the face of what Bunyan said of him- 

 self, it is very unreasonable to hold that 

 he was not a Gipsy, but a common 

 native, when the assumption is all the 

 other way. Let neither, however, be 

 assumed, but let an argument in favour 

 of both be placed alongside of the other 

 to see how the case would look." Id., 

 p. 1 60. 



In the forthcoming Contributions 

 an effort is made to have the sub- 

 ject of the Gipsies placed on a 

 right foundation, and the race, in 

 its various mixtures of blood and 

 positions in life, openly acknowl- 

 edged by the world ; John Bunyan 

 taking his place " as the first (that 

 is known to the world) of eminent 

 Gipsies, the prince of allegorists, 

 and one of the most remarkable 

 of men and Christians. " 



The remarks I have made about 

 two writers in particular are not 

 altogether inapplicable to Mr. A. 

 Frgusson, United Service Club, 

 Edinburgh, who wrote thus, in 

 Notes and Queries, on igih Decem- 

 ber, 1874, on "Gipsy Christian 

 names and tombs" : 



" The ideas of most people, however, 

 on the subject, derived chiefly from sen- 

 sational novels and the mystified tales 

 of George Borrow, are, I imagine, still 

 rather hazy." 



However, I give him, as follows, 



in answer to his inquiry, copies of 

 inscriptions on two Gipsy tomb- 

 stones, in the cemetery of Grove 

 Church, in North Bergen township, 

 on the edge of Union Hill, in New 

 Jersey, opposite to New York : 



Neat upright marble tablet, with 

 a weeping willow, partly covering a 

 monument, carved on the surface : 



IN 



MEMORY OF 



NAOMI DAVIS, 



WHO DIED MARCH 4, 1855, 



AGED 22 YEARS. 



Farewell father, mother, husband and 



son, 



Don't weep for me although I am gone ; 

 Don't weep for me, nor neither cry, 

 I trust to meet my God on high. 

 " The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh 



away, 

 Blessed be the name of the Lord." 



On a smaller upright marble mon- 

 ument, within the enclosure, formed 

 by a chain and marble supports, a 

 little out of order, there is the follow- 

 ing, to the memory of her sister : 



VASHTI, WIFE OF T. WORTON, DIED 

 Nov. 26, 1851, M. 26 YR. 



This family and some of their 

 connections I was well acquainted 

 with. I found them of various 

 mixtures of blood; some with the 

 Gipsy features and colour strongly 

 marked, and others bearing no re- 

 semblance to the tribe. They all 

 spoke the language. One of the 

 sons-in-law was a half-caste Scotch 

 Hindoo from Bombay. They did 

 not have much education, but were 

 naturally intelligent, and smart and 

 'cute.* 



In addition to the investigations 

 made in church registers, I would 

 suggest that the records of the differ- 

 ent criminal courts in Bedfordshire, 

 (if they still exist) should be exam- 

 ined, to find if people of the name 

 of Bunyan (and how designated) 

 are found to have been on trial, and 

 for what offences. 



* This was an English Gipsy family. 



