GIPSIES. 



two or three centuries ago, and so spread by 

 degrees over Europe, may not this family name, 

 a little corrupted, be the very name they brought 

 with them from the Levant ? It would be matter 

 of some curiosity, could one meet with an intelli- 

 gent person among them, to inquire whether, in 

 their jargon, they still retain any Greek words : 

 the Greek radicals will appear in hand, foot, 

 head, water, earth, &c. It is possible that amidst 

 their cant and corrupted dialect, many mutilated 

 remains of their native language might still be 

 discovered. 



With regard to those peculiar people, the gip- 

 sies, one thing is very remarkable, especially 

 as they came from warmer climates ; and that is, 

 that while other beggars lodge in barns, stables, 

 and cow-houses, these sturdy savages seem to 

 pride themselves in braving the severities of 

 winter, and in living sub dio the whole year 

 round. Last September was as wet a month as 

 ever was known; and yet during those deluges 

 did a young gipsy girl lie in the midst of one of 

 our hop-gardens, on the cold ground, with nothing 

 over her but a piece of a blanket extended on a 

 few hazel rods bent hoop-fashion, and stuck into 

 the earth at each end, in circumstances too trying 

 for a cow in the same condition : yet within this 

 garden there was a large hop-kiln, into the cham- 

 bers of which she might have retired, had she 

 thought shelter an object worthy her attention. 



Europe itself, it seems, cannot set bounds to the 

 rovings of these vagabonds ; for Mr. Bell, in his 

 return from Peking, met a gang of these people on 

 the confines of Tartary, who were endeavouring 

 to penetrate those deserts and try their fortune in 

 China 1 . 



1 See BELL'S Travels in China. 



