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Taken from the Gorse and the Briar by Patrick.A. McEvoy 1940
Chapter XV Page 184
Elias Ayres led us down the hedge to the back of the tent,where he banged the canvas with his hand and shouted:"Open up there,will you!"
A small hand emerged and pulled back a piece of sacking,making a gap just large enough for us to enter.We followed Elias into the tent,where we found the women sitting brooding over a great,smoke-blackened stew -pot,hanging on an iron above the fire. The auburn-haired girl who had minded the horse looked up and smiled,but her grandmother and her mother kept their eyes on the black pot,from which came an appetizing smell of Irish stew.
The interior of the tent was big and roomy, and when the gap had been covered by the sackcloth the smoke went straight up in a column . The canvas had become blackened by the smoke, and the place was illuminated more by the fire than by the little daylight that came in through the smoke-hole in the middle of the roof.
This centre dome or roof was built in a circle,about eleven feet in diameter,and was supported on a framework of young ash -poles,the thick ends of which were driven into the ground and the thin ends drawn to-gether at the top.
In the centre, directly below the smoke-hole, was the fire.The dome, standing at kleast twelve feet high, acted as a chimney, and when the draught was good the smoke was carried straight out of the tent .the atmosphere was surprisingly clear.
On either side of the dome,parallel with the hedge, were two rod tents that could be curtained off from the main
living-quarteres.These were the sleeping booths, and on one of the beds a little girl of about three years slept peacefully,her small brown arms spread out on either side. the rest of the children sat beside the fire,playing with a white cat and four kittens; they were exceptionally quiet for Gypsy children,but before I had been in the tent long I noticed the twinkle in their dark eyes.
beneath the great black pot the fire, fuelled with dry ash wood,burnt cheerfully and steadily. Despite the cold outside it was almost too warm inside the tent,and the light from the blazing wood gave the place an atmosphere
of winter cosiness. It was a strange interior scene-I think the strangest an Englishman could find in his own country.
Elias raked out two stools and a log of wood,which he placed beside the fire,before inviting us to sit down and warm ourselves. He was clearly annoyed at the inhospitable attitude of his women folk, and stirring the fire he
demanded roughly whether or no the dinner was ready.
no one answered, so he took of the lid of the pot and peered inside.
"The hobben (Victuals) is ready, gal !" he said, addressing the girl of the auburn hair and the green eyes."get up and fetch the covels(things), you lazy little mare!"*The girl rose and dragged a hamper across the tent to her mother, who, rousing herself, opened it and took out a loaf of bread and a dozen or m ore dinner-plates and spoons.
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Extract from "The Gipsies" published in 1882"By Charles.G.Leland :-
The following list gives the names of the principal gypsy families in England, with their characteristics. It was prepared for me by an old, well-known Romany, of full blood. Those which have (a) appended to them are known to have representatives in America. For myself, I believe that gypsies bearing all these names are to be found in both countries. I would also state that the personal characteristics attributed to certain families are by no means very strictly applicable, neither do any of them confine themselves rigidly to any particular part of England. I have met, for instance, with Bosvilles, Lees, Coopers, Smiths, Bucklands, etc., in every part of England as well as Wales. I am aware that the list is imperfect in all respects.
Ayres.
Bailey (a). Half-bloods. Also called rich. Roam in Sussex.
Barton. Lower Wiltshire.
Black. Hampshire.
Bosville (a). Generally spread, but are specially to be found in Devonshire. I have found several fine specimens of real Romanys among the American Bosvilles. In Romany, Chumomishto, that is, Buss (or Kiss) well.
Broadway (a). Somerset.
Buckland. In Gloucestershire, but abounding over England. Sometimes called Chokamengro, that is Tailor.
p. 305Burton (a). Wiltshire.
Chapman (a). Half-blood, and are commonly spoken of as a rich clan. Travel all over England.
Chilcott (vul. Chilcock).
Clarke. Half-blood. Portsmouth.
Cooper (a). Chiefly found in Berkshire and Windsor. In Romany, Vardo mescro.
Davies.
Dickens. Half-blood.
Dighton. Blackheath.
Draper. Hertfordshire.
Finch.
Fuller. Hardly half-blood, but talk Romany.
Gray. Essex. In Romany, Gry, or horse.
Hare (a). Chiefly in Hampshire.
Hazard. Half-blood. Windsor.
Herne. Oxfordshire and London. “Of this name there are,” says Borrow (Romano Lavo-Lil), “two gypsy renderings: (1.) Rosar-mescro or Ratzie-mescro, that is, duck-fellow; the duck being substituted for the heron, for which there is no word in Romany, this being done because there is a resemblance in the sound of Heron and Herne. (2.) Balor-engre, or Hairy People, the translator having confounded Herne with Haaren, Old English for hairs.”
Hicks. Half-blood. Berkshire.
Hughes. Wiltshire.
Ingraham (a). Wales and Birmingham, or in the Kálo tem or Black Country.
James. Half-blood.
Jenkins. Wiltshire.
Jones. Half-blood. Headquarters at Battersea, near London.
Lee (a). The same in most respects as the Smiths, but are even more widely extended. I have met with several of the most decided type of pure-blooded, old-fashioned gypsies among Lees in America. They are sometimes p. 306among themselves called purum, a lee-k, from the fancied resemblance of the words.
Lewis. Hampshire.
Locke. Somerset and Gloucestershire.
Lovel. Known in Romany as Kamlo, or Kamescro, that is, lover. London, but are found everywhere.
Loveridge. Travel in Oxfordshire; are in London at Shepherd’s Bush.
Marshall. As much Scotch as English, especially in Dumfriesshire and Galloway, in which latter region, in Saint Cuthbert’s church-yard, lies buried the “old man” of the race, who died at the age of one hundred and seven. In Romany Makkado-tan-engree, that is, Fellows of the Marshes. Also known as Bungoror, cork-fellows and Chikkenemengree, china or earthenware (lit. dirt or clay) men, from their cutting corks, and peddling pottery, or mending china.
Matthews. Half-blood. Surrey.
North.
Petulengro, or Smith. The Romany name Petulengro means Master of the Horseshoe; that is, Smith. The gypsy who made this list declared that he had been acquainted with Jasper Petulengro, of Borrow’s Lavengro, and that he died near Norwich about sixty years ago. The Smiths are general as travelers, but are chiefly to be found in the East of England.
Pike. Berkshire.
Pinfold, or Penfold. Half and quarter blood. Widely extended, but most at home in London.
Róllin (Roland?). Half-blood. Chiefly about London.
Scamp. Chiefly in Kent. A small clan. Mr. Borrow derives this name from the Sanskrit Ksump, to go. I trust that it has not a more recent and purely English derivation.
Shaw.
Small (a). Found in West England, chiefly in Somerset and Devonshire.
p. 307Stanley (a). One of the most extended clans, but said to be chiefly found in Devonshire. They sometimes call themselves in joke Beshalay, that is, Sit-Down, from the word stan, suggesting standing up in connection with lay. Also Bangor, or Baromescre, that is, Stone (stan) people. Thus “Stony-lea” was probably their first name. Also called Kashtengrees, Woodmen, from the New Forest.
Taylor. A clan described as diddikai, or half-bloods. Chiefly in London. This clan should be the only one known as Chokamengro.
Turner.
Walker. Half-blood. Travel about Surrey.
Wells (a). Half-blood. Somerset.
Wharton. Worton. I have only met the Whartons in America.
Wheeler. Pure and half-blood. Battersea.
White.
“Adré o Lavines tem o Romanies see Woods, Roberts, Williams, and Jones. In Wales the gypsies are Woods, Roberts, Williams, and Jones.” [307a]
CHARACTERISTICS. [307b]
Of these gypsies the Bailies are fair.
The Birds are in Norfolk and Suffolk.
The Blacks are dark, stout, and strong.
The Bosvilles are rather short, fair, stout, and heavy.
The Broadways are fair, of medium height and good figures.
The Bucklands are thin, dark, and tallish.
The Bunces travel in the South of England.
The Burtons are short, dark, and very active.
The Chapmans are fair.
p. 308The Clarkes are fair and well-sized men.
The Coopers are short, dark, and very active.
The Dightons are very dark and stout.
The Drapers are very tall and large and dark.
The Faas are at Kirk Yetholm, in Scotland.
The Grays are very large and fair.
The Greenes are small and dark.
The Gregories range from Surrey to Suffolk.
The Hares are large, stout, and dark.
The Hazards are tall and fair.
The Hernes (Herons) are very large and dark.
The Hicks are very large, strong, and fair.
The Hughes are short, stubby, and dark.
The Ingrahams are fair and all of medium height.
The Jenkins are dark, not large, and active.
The Jones are fair and of middling height.
The Lanes are fair and of medium height.
The Lees are dark, tall, and stout.
The Lewis are dark and of medium height.
The Lights are half-bloods, and travel in Middlesex.
The Lockes are shortish, dark, and large.
The Lovells are dark and large.
The Maces are about Norwich.
The Matthews are thick, short, and stout, fair, and good fighters.
The Millers are at Battersea.
North. Are to be found at Shepherd’s Bush.
The Olivers are in Kent.
The Pikes are light and very tall.
The Pinfolds are light, rather tall, not heavy. (Are really a Norfolk family. F. Groome.)
The Rolands are rather large and dark.
The Scamps are very dark and stout.
The Shaws travel in Middlesex.
The Smalls are tall, stout, and fair.
The Smiths are dark, rather tall, slender, and active.
The Stanleys are tall, dark, and handsome.
p. 309The Taylors are short, stout, and dark.
The Turners are also in Norfolk and Suffolk.
The Walkers are stout and fair.
The Wells are very light and tall.
The Wheelers are thin and fair.
The Whites are short and light.
The Youngs are very dark. They travel in the northern counties, and belong both to Scotland and England.
* * * * *
The following is a collection of the more remarkable “fore” or Christian names of Romanys:—
MASCULINE NAMES.
Opi Boswell.
Wanselo, or Anselo. I was once of the opinion that this name was originally Lancelot, but as Mr. Borrow has found Wentzlow, i.e., Wenceslas, in England, the latter is probably the original. I have found it changed to Onslow, as the name painted on a Romany van in Aberystwith, but it was pronounced Anselo.
Pastor-rumis.
Spico.
Jineral, i.e., General Cooper.
Horferus and Horfer. Either Arthur or Orpheus. His name was then changed to Wacker-doll, and finally settled into Wacker.
Plato or Platos Buckland.
Wine-Vinegar Cooper. The original name of the child bearing this extraordinary name was Owen. He died soon after birth, and was in consequence always spoken of as Wine-Vinegar,—Wine for the joy which his parents had at his birth, and Vinegar to signify their grief at his loss.
Gilderoy Buckland. Silvanus Boswell.
Lancelot Cooper. Sylvester, Vester, Wester, Westarus and ’Starus.
Oscar Buckland.
Dimiti Buckland. Liberty.
Piramus Boswell. Goliath.
p. 310Reconcile. Octavius.
Justerinus. Render Smith.
Faunio.
Shek-ésu. I am assured on good authority that a gypsy had a child baptized by this name.
Artaros. Sacki.
Culvato (Claude). Spysell.
Divervus. Spico.
Lasho, i.e., Louis.
Vesuvius. I do not know whether any child was actually called by this burning cognomen, but I remember that a gypsy, hearing two gentlemen talking about Mount Vesuvius, was greatly impressed by the name, and consulted with them as to the propriety of giving it to his little boy.
Wisdom. Loverin.
Inverto. Mantis.
Studaveres Lovel. Happy Boswell.
FEMININE NAMES.
Selinda, Slinda, Linda, Slindi. Delilah.
Mia. Prudence.
Mizelia, Mizelli, Mizela. Providence.
Lina. Eve.
Pendivella. Athaliah.
Jewránum, i.e., Geranium. Gentilla, Gentie.
Virginia. Synfie. Probably Cynthia.
Suby, Azuba. Sybie. Probably from Sibyl.
Isaia.
Richenda. Canairis.
Kiomi. Fenella.
Liberina. Floure, Flower, Flora.
Malindi. Kisaiya.
Otchamé. Orlenda.
Renée. Reyora, Regina.
Sinaminta. Syeira. Probably Cyra.
Y-yra or Yeira. Truffeni.
Delīra, Deleera. Ocean Solis.
p. 311Marili Stanley. Penelli. Possibly from Fenella.
Britannia.
Glani. Ségel Buckland.
Zuba. Morella Knightly.
Sybarini Cooper. Eza.
Esmeralda Locke. Lenda.
Penti. Collia.
Reservi. This extraordinary name was derived from a reservoir, by which some gypsies were camped, and where a child was born.
Lementina. Casello (Celia).
Rodi. Catseye.
Alabïna. Trainette.
Dosia. Perpinia.
Lavi. Dora.
Silvina. Starlina.
Richenda. Bazena.
Marbelenni. Bena.
Ashena. Ewri.
Vashti. Koket.
Youregh. Lusho.
Chapter XV Page 184
Elias Ayres led us down the hedge to the back of the tent,where he banged the canvas with his hand and shouted:"Open up there,will you!"
A small hand emerged and pulled back a piece of sacking,making a gap just large enough for us to enter.We followed Elias into the tent,where we found the women sitting brooding over a great,smoke-blackened stew -pot,hanging on an iron above the fire. The auburn-haired girl who had minded the horse looked up and smiled,but her grandmother and her mother kept their eyes on the black pot,from which came an appetizing smell of Irish stew.
The interior of the tent was big and roomy, and when the gap had been covered by the sackcloth the smoke went straight up in a column . The canvas had become blackened by the smoke, and the place was illuminated more by the fire than by the little daylight that came in through the smoke-hole in the middle of the roof.
This centre dome or roof was built in a circle,about eleven feet in diameter,and was supported on a framework of young ash -poles,the thick ends of which were driven into the ground and the thin ends drawn to-gether at the top.
In the centre, directly below the smoke-hole, was the fire.The dome, standing at kleast twelve feet high, acted as a chimney, and when the draught was good the smoke was carried straight out of the tent .the atmosphere was surprisingly clear.
On either side of the dome,parallel with the hedge, were two rod tents that could be curtained off from the main
living-quarteres.These were the sleeping booths, and on one of the beds a little girl of about three years slept peacefully,her small brown arms spread out on either side. the rest of the children sat beside the fire,playing with a white cat and four kittens; they were exceptionally quiet for Gypsy children,but before I had been in the tent long I noticed the twinkle in their dark eyes.
beneath the great black pot the fire, fuelled with dry ash wood,burnt cheerfully and steadily. Despite the cold outside it was almost too warm inside the tent,and the light from the blazing wood gave the place an atmosphere
of winter cosiness. It was a strange interior scene-I think the strangest an Englishman could find in his own country.
Elias raked out two stools and a log of wood,which he placed beside the fire,before inviting us to sit down and warm ourselves. He was clearly annoyed at the inhospitable attitude of his women folk, and stirring the fire he
demanded roughly whether or no the dinner was ready.
no one answered, so he took of the lid of the pot and peered inside.
"The hobben (Victuals) is ready, gal !" he said, addressing the girl of the auburn hair and the green eyes."get up and fetch the covels(things), you lazy little mare!"*The girl rose and dragged a hamper across the tent to her mother, who, rousing herself, opened it and took out a loaf of bread and a dozen or m ore dinner-plates and spoons.
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Taken from Wanderers In the New Forest by Juliette de Bairacli Levy Published*1958
The dark faces thronging,the women and men singing, perfect Gypsy singing when it was the deep mannish voices of the handsome Lamb sisters, with their father the dark Jimmy as a Romany choirmaster, helping his daughters with the words when they forgot them. Sometimes Christopher Charman came with his guitar and country songs.
Such scenes, with the dark people wearing their finery, there being no racial secrecy evident in those gatherings, looked like a place in a foreign land more than a small English inn; there was a strange pulse beat in the air, always exciting to experience, and I have never met with the like, at least not in Europe, except in the company of the Bohemians.
New Year's Eve spent that way, with the foresters holding hands with the Gypsies when the midnight hour came, and all singing Auld Lang Syne, and everyone then kissing everyone!
One evening at The Crown I became acquainted with Gypsy Granny WaIters. She spoke to me of the time at Epsom races when she and her sisters were asked by King Edward VII himself to dance beneath the grandstand where he had his party. Shaking tambourines, and dressed 'all colors of the rainbow', the Gypsy girls danced beneath a shower of coins, including many sovereigns flung down to them by the royal party. Granny Walters remembered the past happy days when she and her sisters would take fifty pounds a day dancing at the race meetings.
The old Gypsy concluded our conversation by dancing some steps for me, inspired then by Christopher's guitar playing and he singing Green Broom, a song always close to the Romanies.
She wore a rusty black hat with curls of wiry grey hair pressing beneath, and big pins ornamenting the crown, brass ear-rings glinting amongst her hair, an old riding habit type of coat and long skirts. Lifting up the skirts as she danced an old step-dance, she showed the legs which had once delighted a king.
The singing of the English Gypsy men is usually a disappointment, especially when contrasted to the romantic beauty of Spanish, Portuguese, Turkish and many French Gypsy singers. I found the English mostly raucous and bawdy and I never wanted to hear much of it.
In contrast many of the English Gypsy women sing with the lilting sweetness of the wood larks-of which the New Forest is a stronghold of those melodious birds who sing on the wing -and I loved to hear the women
singing into the night over the hatches of their van doors or from the doorways of their shacks.
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From "My Gypsy Day's" (Recollections of a Romani Rawnie) By Dora.E.Yates
The Gypsies of Wales
By THIS DATE the Rai had gained sufficient confidence in his disciples to send them on a double mission of some importance, for it was now suggested to Kish and me that we might spend our holidays in \Vales searching for the burial-place of the Gypsy patriarch Abraham Wood: at the same time we were to try to rediscover the whereabouts of Matthew Wood the story-teller, who since 1896 seemed to have disappeared from the face of the earth.
Now Abraham, or Abram, Wood, a reputed King of the Gypsies, had always been regarded by the Welsh Gypsies themselves as the first of their family to have entered the principality, though it has recently been discovered that there was actually an earlier Abraham, who had come from Frome in Somerset, and was hanged for highway robbery at Gloucester in 1737, to whom this royal title ought properly to be applied. But in 1907 this discovery had not been made, and in any case it was the centenarian Abraham Wood, the founder of the chief Welsh Romani clan and ancestor of the , teulu Abram W d' (clan of Abram Wood), whose grave we were asked to seek. He was described by the harpist John Roberts, in September 1876, as having come into Wales about 'two hundred years' ago or thereabouts as an old man with his wife, three sons, and a daughter. 'He brought with him a violin and he is supposed to be the first one that ever played upon one in Wales ... and the first place they took a liking to, on account of rivers and other things, was near Llanidloes, Llanbrynmair, and in the neighborhood of Machynlleth.'
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Another Extract From MY GYPSY DAYS By Dora.E.Yates
English Gypsies in Lancashire
IT WAS Christmas Eve and a snowy day-not the Christmas-card type with the trees glittering in the sunshine, but a typically gloomy Liverpool afternoon with a blizzard of snow obliterating all the landscape-when the Rai first took Kishli and me to see the Gypsies. He had hired an old musty four-wheeled cab known as a 'growler', and the grumpy driver looked anything but pleased when he heard our destination· was somewhere near the Black Bull, Aintree; his grumpiness increased when the Rai flung into the vehicle a pile of picturesque but worn-out garments of his own and an enormous unplucked turkey whose neck hung wryly and bloodily over the cushioned seats. Armed, however, with this fine bird, black twist tobacco and cigarettes for the men, silk kerchiefs for the girls, and sweets for the children, we felt confident of breaking through the reserve of any Gypsy camp in the world.
So when we alighted from the cab on a desolate piece of waste ~ground, and could just pick out some faint lights and a few murky figures through the snowstorm, we felt almost the thrill of a novitiate who first beholds with his own eyes the object of his worship.Dogs barked and children ran forward with excited cries of 'The hi! the Rail' -and we were well and truly landed in a Gypsy encampment. As far as we could see in that gloom, there were two caravans and three tents on the ground.
'Dere now! chavies [children], where's your manners, pulling of he Rai like that, and him bringing two young Rawnies to see ·yous, too! Av adray [come in), man, out of the snow and tell the young leddies to besh telay [sit down]', said a gruff voice, coming from an odd-looking Gypsy of small stature.
This was no less a personage than 'Kenza, or Mackenzie, Boswell, son of the 'consequential' Sylvester ('Wester) Boswell and Florence Chilcott, who boasted that he had been born on Ascot racecourse in 1842. According to old 'Wester's 'famaley memberandum' Book-for 'Wester was an exceptional Gypsy in being able to write-his father, Taiso Boswell, together with his cousin, No-Name Heron, had been' in one second slayen by thunder and lightning and a fire ball at Tetford in Lincolnshire on 5 August 1831, and his son Mackenzie was now the head of the important Boswell clan in Lanncashire. 'Kenza, a small, wiry old man with a tiny, narrow head abnormally developed at the back, and a huge, beaky nose between two eagle eyes, seemed to me at that first introduction the drollest figure of a man I had ever met.
He welcomed us warmly, and ushered us into his tent, one of those rounded, hooped tans covered with blankets known as 'beehive' tents. This cosy dwelling of the old-fashioned Boswells was constructed from hazel-wood rods covered with brown, ventilative but weatherproof felts secured to the framework by pin-thorns. It was luxuriously furnished with a good carpet and comfortable cushions and heated by a glowing charcoal brazier near the mouth of the tent protected by a 'balk', or wind-screen.
'And who may these handsome young Rawnies be, my Rai?' enquired 'Kenza. 'And dere to goodness! Mr Sampson, I hope dis time as you've brought some gals along with you for me to duker [tell fortunes to],' grumbled 'Kenza's wife Lureni, a rather spare wizened old Gypsy woman seated on the ground, smoking furiously at her foul-smelling clay pipe, 'instead of dose tiresome dried-up old fellers always plaguing us old 'uns for words or stories.'
So we were formally introduced as 'Dora' and' Kishli " and shyly presented our offerings to our hostess, whose coral beads and dangling ear-rings glittered in the firelight. At sight of the turkey, however, her eyes lit up and she felt it appraisingly with her skinny fingers.
'Dordi ! Rai, you knows a good bird when you see it, though I 'spects it was dis young Rawnie with the big nose who choosed it for you, wasn't it now?' 'He's a scholard, you diks [see], Rawnie,'
she continued, turning to me, 'and knows better what to put into dat great head of his than into his poor belly. And do you tell his romni [wife] from me, Rawnie'~'yous'll both know he's romered [married] and has three children?' interpolated Alamina mischievvously-' dat she don't give de man enough to eat!'
They were a fine-looking lot of Gypsy men arid women these Boswells, Youngs, and Robinsons who now crowded into the tent to join in the fun and greet their old friend Sampson, for they all came of an ancient pure-blooded stock. First there was 'Kenza himself, who, now that his elder brother Byron was dead, was the acknowledged head of the family, and had inherited something of the prestige paid to his famous father, from whom Crofton and the Rai himself had learned their English Romani. He had married his first cousin Lureni, whose lineage was as aristocratic as his own, she being a daughter of Taiso Young of the Heron-Young clan. Their eldest daughter, Alamina, was a very dark, lithe young woman with a venomous tongue but a distinguished manner and bearing. At this first meeting and on later occasions when I grew to know her better I could not help comparing her to a black panther, with the same grace, the same stealth, and the same pounce. She had married Eros Robinson, a tall, slim Gypsy, whose charming personality and ready wit were rather overshadowed by his wife's dominating character. He and his brother Lias, the sons of old Sampson Robinnson, had married into the Boswell clan, the former by choosing 'Kenza's daughter and the latter his sister Julia as their wives. Another of the Gypsies we saw that evening was' Bicki', a splendiddlooking Romani youth, whom Augustus John considered such a fine type of manly beauty that he egged him on to choose th{ handsomest ehai (girl) he could find for his mate, so that they migh produce the most beautiful children in the world. Then there wa:
Rabi Smith, Lias's half-brother, who was wedded to Lenda Young And at that date these husbands obeyed the matrimonial law still surviving among the English Gypsies of leaving their own clan an joining that of their wives, with whose families they thenceforward travelled from place to place. On this occasion Lias and his wife were 'awisiting other delations', we were told, but the talk soon touched on their doings and the good old days when the Rai and his professor friends had gone camping with Lias, and with Noah Young, another descendant of this Chilcott-Young colony which hibernated in and around Liverpool.
To the evident relief of the men Alamina soon inveigled kish and me into her van, the first Gypsy vardo we had ever entered,so that we climbed the steps with bated breath and were only to eager to see the treasures she offered to show us,for Gypsy wifes are even more "house"- proud than ordinary womenfolk .
Occupying the whole space at the back of this barrel-topped waggon was a wide feather bed covered with a silk eiderdown over the fleeciest blankets and fine lace- bordered linen sheets and pillow-cases.
There was a glazed corner cupboard full of delicate old china on the top shelf and a georgian silver teapot, hot-water jug, and cream-jug below, while every available nook on the stove and mantelshelf glittered with shining brass ornaments. "We Gypsies is very pertikler 'bout what we eats and drinks from,' explained Alamina`,noticing our admiring looks and exclamations.'yes,we must have everything of the very best,and what's more we won't take nothing else-none of your cheap mumply tinkers' trash for the likes of we. And my gals takes a pride in polishing of 'em up every day-and I sees they does it too! But you tarni(young) rawnies wants to be dukered (have fortunes told),I knows, so I'll start with the dark one first .
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Extract From* In Gypsy Tents by Francis Hindes Groome:-
America suggested one more epitaph, from the churchyard of St Kea, by Truro : —
"In Memory of MEZELLEY the daughter of
PLATO AND BETSY BUCKLAND
born in America and died 21st Nov. 1862
AGED ,2 YEARS.
Farewell, thou little blooming bud.
Just bursting into flower ;
We give thee up ; but oh, the pain
Of this last parting hour."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "In Memory of MEZELLEY the daughter of
PLATO AND BETSY BUCKLAND
born in America and died 21st Nov. 1862
AGED ,2 YEARS.
Farewell, thou little blooming bud.
Just bursting into flower ;
We give thee up ; but oh, the pain
Of this last parting hour."
Extract from "The Gipsies" published in 1882"By Charles.G.Leland :-
GYPSY NAMES AND FAMILY CHARACTERISTICS.
The following list gives the names of the principal gypsy families in England, with their characteristics. It was prepared for me by an old, well-known Romany, of full blood. Those which have (a) appended to them are known to have representatives in America. For myself, I believe that gypsies bearing all these names are to be found in both countries. I would also state that the personal characteristics attributed to certain families are by no means very strictly applicable, neither do any of them confine themselves rigidly to any particular part of England. I have met, for instance, with Bosvilles, Lees, Coopers, Smiths, Bucklands, etc., in every part of England as well as Wales. I am aware that the list is imperfect in all respects.
Ayres.
Bailey (a). Half-bloods. Also called rich. Roam in Sussex.
Barton. Lower Wiltshire.
Black. Hampshire.
Bosville (a). Generally spread, but are specially to be found in Devonshire. I have found several fine specimens of real Romanys among the American Bosvilles. In Romany, Chumomishto, that is, Buss (or Kiss) well.
Broadway (a). Somerset.
Buckland. In Gloucestershire, but abounding over England. Sometimes called Chokamengro, that is Tailor.
p. 305Burton (a). Wiltshire.
Chapman (a). Half-blood, and are commonly spoken of as a rich clan. Travel all over England.
Chilcott (vul. Chilcock).
Clarke. Half-blood. Portsmouth.
Cooper (a). Chiefly found in Berkshire and Windsor. In Romany, Vardo mescro.
Davies.
Dickens. Half-blood.
Dighton. Blackheath.
Draper. Hertfordshire.
Finch.
Fuller. Hardly half-blood, but talk Romany.
Gray. Essex. In Romany, Gry, or horse.
Hare (a). Chiefly in Hampshire.
Hazard. Half-blood. Windsor.
Herne. Oxfordshire and London. “Of this name there are,” says Borrow (Romano Lavo-Lil), “two gypsy renderings: (1.) Rosar-mescro or Ratzie-mescro, that is, duck-fellow; the duck being substituted for the heron, for which there is no word in Romany, this being done because there is a resemblance in the sound of Heron and Herne. (2.) Balor-engre, or Hairy People, the translator having confounded Herne with Haaren, Old English for hairs.”
Hicks. Half-blood. Berkshire.
Hughes. Wiltshire.
Ingraham (a). Wales and Birmingham, or in the Kálo tem or Black Country.
James. Half-blood.
Jenkins. Wiltshire.
Jones. Half-blood. Headquarters at Battersea, near London.
Lee (a). The same in most respects as the Smiths, but are even more widely extended. I have met with several of the most decided type of pure-blooded, old-fashioned gypsies among Lees in America. They are sometimes p. 306among themselves called purum, a lee-k, from the fancied resemblance of the words.
Lewis. Hampshire.
Locke. Somerset and Gloucestershire.
Lovel. Known in Romany as Kamlo, or Kamescro, that is, lover. London, but are found everywhere.
Loveridge. Travel in Oxfordshire; are in London at Shepherd’s Bush.
Marshall. As much Scotch as English, especially in Dumfriesshire and Galloway, in which latter region, in Saint Cuthbert’s church-yard, lies buried the “old man” of the race, who died at the age of one hundred and seven. In Romany Makkado-tan-engree, that is, Fellows of the Marshes. Also known as Bungoror, cork-fellows and Chikkenemengree, china or earthenware (lit. dirt or clay) men, from their cutting corks, and peddling pottery, or mending china.
Matthews. Half-blood. Surrey.
North.
Petulengro, or Smith. The Romany name Petulengro means Master of the Horseshoe; that is, Smith. The gypsy who made this list declared that he had been acquainted with Jasper Petulengro, of Borrow’s Lavengro, and that he died near Norwich about sixty years ago. The Smiths are general as travelers, but are chiefly to be found in the East of England.
Pike. Berkshire.
Pinfold, or Penfold. Half and quarter blood. Widely extended, but most at home in London.
Róllin (Roland?). Half-blood. Chiefly about London.
Scamp. Chiefly in Kent. A small clan. Mr. Borrow derives this name from the Sanskrit Ksump, to go. I trust that it has not a more recent and purely English derivation.
Shaw.
Small (a). Found in West England, chiefly in Somerset and Devonshire.
p. 307Stanley (a). One of the most extended clans, but said to be chiefly found in Devonshire. They sometimes call themselves in joke Beshalay, that is, Sit-Down, from the word stan, suggesting standing up in connection with lay. Also Bangor, or Baromescre, that is, Stone (stan) people. Thus “Stony-lea” was probably their first name. Also called Kashtengrees, Woodmen, from the New Forest.
Taylor. A clan described as diddikai, or half-bloods. Chiefly in London. This clan should be the only one known as Chokamengro.
Turner.
Walker. Half-blood. Travel about Surrey.
Wells (a). Half-blood. Somerset.
Wharton. Worton. I have only met the Whartons in America.
Wheeler. Pure and half-blood. Battersea.
White.
“Adré o Lavines tem o Romanies see Woods, Roberts, Williams, and Jones. In Wales the gypsies are Woods, Roberts, Williams, and Jones.” [307a]
CHARACTERISTICS. [307b]
Of these gypsies the Bailies are fair.
The Birds are in Norfolk and Suffolk.
The Blacks are dark, stout, and strong.
The Bosvilles are rather short, fair, stout, and heavy.
The Broadways are fair, of medium height and good figures.
The Bucklands are thin, dark, and tallish.
The Bunces travel in the South of England.
The Burtons are short, dark, and very active.
The Chapmans are fair.
p. 308The Clarkes are fair and well-sized men.
The Coopers are short, dark, and very active.
The Dightons are very dark and stout.
The Drapers are very tall and large and dark.
The Faas are at Kirk Yetholm, in Scotland.
The Grays are very large and fair.
The Greenes are small and dark.
The Gregories range from Surrey to Suffolk.
The Hares are large, stout, and dark.
The Hazards are tall and fair.
The Hernes (Herons) are very large and dark.
The Hicks are very large, strong, and fair.
The Hughes are short, stubby, and dark.
The Ingrahams are fair and all of medium height.
The Jenkins are dark, not large, and active.
The Jones are fair and of middling height.
The Lanes are fair and of medium height.
The Lees are dark, tall, and stout.
The Lewis are dark and of medium height.
The Lights are half-bloods, and travel in Middlesex.
The Lockes are shortish, dark, and large.
The Lovells are dark and large.
The Maces are about Norwich.
The Matthews are thick, short, and stout, fair, and good fighters.
The Millers are at Battersea.
North. Are to be found at Shepherd’s Bush.
The Olivers are in Kent.
The Pikes are light and very tall.
The Pinfolds are light, rather tall, not heavy. (Are really a Norfolk family. F. Groome.)
The Rolands are rather large and dark.
The Scamps are very dark and stout.
The Shaws travel in Middlesex.
The Smalls are tall, stout, and fair.
The Smiths are dark, rather tall, slender, and active.
The Stanleys are tall, dark, and handsome.
p. 309The Taylors are short, stout, and dark.
The Turners are also in Norfolk and Suffolk.
The Walkers are stout and fair.
The Wells are very light and tall.
The Wheelers are thin and fair.
The Whites are short and light.
The Youngs are very dark. They travel in the northern counties, and belong both to Scotland and England.
* * * * *
The following is a collection of the more remarkable “fore” or Christian names of Romanys:—
MASCULINE NAMES.
Opi Boswell.
Wanselo, or Anselo. I was once of the opinion that this name was originally Lancelot, but as Mr. Borrow has found Wentzlow, i.e., Wenceslas, in England, the latter is probably the original. I have found it changed to Onslow, as the name painted on a Romany van in Aberystwith, but it was pronounced Anselo.
Pastor-rumis.
Spico.
Jineral, i.e., General Cooper.
Horferus and Horfer. Either Arthur or Orpheus. His name was then changed to Wacker-doll, and finally settled into Wacker.
Plato or Platos Buckland.
Wine-Vinegar Cooper. The original name of the child bearing this extraordinary name was Owen. He died soon after birth, and was in consequence always spoken of as Wine-Vinegar,—Wine for the joy which his parents had at his birth, and Vinegar to signify their grief at his loss.
Gilderoy Buckland. Silvanus Boswell.
Lancelot Cooper. Sylvester, Vester, Wester, Westarus and ’Starus.
Oscar Buckland.
Dimiti Buckland. Liberty.
Piramus Boswell. Goliath.
p. 310Reconcile. Octavius.
Justerinus. Render Smith.
Faunio.
Shek-ésu. I am assured on good authority that a gypsy had a child baptized by this name.
Artaros. Sacki.
Culvato (Claude). Spysell.
Divervus. Spico.
Lasho, i.e., Louis.
Vesuvius. I do not know whether any child was actually called by this burning cognomen, but I remember that a gypsy, hearing two gentlemen talking about Mount Vesuvius, was greatly impressed by the name, and consulted with them as to the propriety of giving it to his little boy.
Wisdom. Loverin.
Inverto. Mantis.
Studaveres Lovel. Happy Boswell.
FEMININE NAMES.
Selinda, Slinda, Linda, Slindi. Delilah.
Mia. Prudence.
Mizelia, Mizelli, Mizela. Providence.
Lina. Eve.
Pendivella. Athaliah.
Jewránum, i.e., Geranium. Gentilla, Gentie.
Virginia. Synfie. Probably Cynthia.
Suby, Azuba. Sybie. Probably from Sibyl.
Isaia.
Richenda. Canairis.
Kiomi. Fenella.
Liberina. Floure, Flower, Flora.
Malindi. Kisaiya.
Otchamé. Orlenda.
Renée. Reyora, Regina.
Sinaminta. Syeira. Probably Cyra.
Y-yra or Yeira. Truffeni.
Delīra, Deleera. Ocean Solis.
p. 311Marili Stanley. Penelli. Possibly from Fenella.
Britannia.
Glani. Ségel Buckland.
Zuba. Morella Knightly.
Sybarini Cooper. Eza.
Esmeralda Locke. Lenda.
Penti. Collia.
Reservi. This extraordinary name was derived from a reservoir, by which some gypsies were camped, and where a child was born.
Lementina. Casello (Celia).
Rodi. Catseye.
Alabïna. Trainette.
Dosia. Perpinia.
Lavi. Dora.
Silvina. Starlina.
Richenda. Bazena.
Marbelenni. Bena.
Ashena. Ewri.
Vashti. Koket.
Youregh. Lusho.
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| Started By | Thread Subject | Replies | Last Post | ||
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| barishey | Gypsy Names | 0 | Nov 25 2011, 10:43 AM EST by barishey | ||
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Thread started: Nov 25 2011, 10:43 AM EST
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These are some more feminine names to add to the list,
Masalena, Pabuy, Cini, Matronitsa, Yana, Rieta, Pandora, Marlena, Nootsy, Lemona, Mara, |
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