Gipsies

a wandering folk. The time of their first appearance in Europe is in doubt. Bands are reported in the vicinity of Constantinople as early as the time of Charlemagne. It is a matter of history that, during the first half of the fifteenth century, hosts of gipsies numbering thousands traveled through central Europe as far westward as the gates of Paris. They were supposed to be Egyptians, of which gipsies is a corruption. They called themselves Rom, whence the adjective, Romany, applied to the people and their language. These tribes of vagrants were deemed a scourge. All sorts of idle tales were told to their prejudice. They were said to be heathens, sorcerers, and even cannibals. In England, Scotland, France, Spain, Italy, and Germany, severe laws were passed, forbidding their shelter or harborage. Chambers speaks of gipsies in the vicinity of Edinburgh condemned in 1636, "the men to be hangit," and "the weomen to be drowned." Their treatment throughout Europe was not unlike the New England treatment of witches. Walter Scott gives a vivid picture of the condition of the gipsies in France in his tale of Quentin Durward. Meg Merrilies, the strongest character in Guy Mannering, is a gipsy woman. Among the occupations ascribed to gipsies in various ages and countries are serpent training, fortune telling, acting as guides and messengers, basketmaking, mending of tinware, making of copper and silver jewelry, smuggling, kidnaping, making toys, dancing, playing at merry-makings, horse trading, and thieving. When the belief was no longer prevalent that they were leagued with the Evil One, they were considered lazy, dirty, and fond of smoking and drinking. Even after it ceased to be a Christian act to hang a gipsy to the nearest tree, it was considered prudent to lock the meathouse and guard the poultry roost when a band of gipsies was in the neighborhood. Their origin was long a disputed question and is not yet determined fully. Bands still wander through a vast extent of territory, including North America, Brazil, Europe, North Africa, Southern Asia, Western Asia, and of late they have made their appearance in Australia. Wherever they travel, the men, at least, assume the garb of the people about them. They learn the language in which they must transact their trades; yet, like the Hebrews, they preserve their own rites, language, and nationality. They are averse to agriculture and cannot endure restraint. In the United States and Europe, at least, they live an outdoor life in some respects like that of Indians. Instead of canoes, they own horses and wagons. They move from place to place with the season, spending the winter in mild southern regions, yet reappearing in the north with their wagons, horses, tents, and swarms of children as regularly as summer comes. The Romany, Roumania, or gypsy language resembles the Sanskrit, and is related to that spoken by the Hindus. To a Hindu vocabulary they have added Greek and Slavonic words as well as others. It is now pretty well agreed that the gipsies are a race native to India. Although they have exceedingly dark complexions, they belong to the white race. They are slender and agile. The hair is long, jet black, and sometimes wavy. One authority considers that there are about three-fourths of a million gipsies in Europe, with possibly as many more in other parts of the world. In 1908 the number of gipsies in some of the countries where they chiefly live was reported as follows: