_170 THE NATURAL HISTORY OF SELBORNE, 
LETTER XXV. 
SELBORNE, Oct. 2nd, 1775. 
We have two gangs or hordes of gypsies which infest the 
south and west of England, and come round in their circuit 
two or three times in the year. One of these tribes calls itself 
by the noble name of Stanley, of which I have nothing par- 
ticular to say; but the other is distinguished by an appellative 
somewhat remarkable. As far as their harsh gibberish can 
be understood, they seem to say that the name of their clan 
is Curleople ; now the termination of this word is apparently 
Grecian, and as Mezeray and the gravest historians all agree 
that these vagrants did certainly migrate from Egypt and the 
East 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 
intelligent 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, etc. It is pos- 
sible 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 gypsies, one thing 
is very remarkable, and 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 
in the open air the whole year round. Last September was as 
wet a month as ever was known; and yet during those deluges 
did a young gypsy girl lie in the midst of one of our hop-gar- 
dens, 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 
