Present state the Gypsies in England.

It has been already stated, in the Introduction to this work, that the author visited an encampment of Gypsies. It consisted of five tents, situated near Rushden, within two miles of the pleasant town of Higham Ferrers. He did not reconnoitre the camp till about mid-day, having been informed that by this time, it was probable, the able-bodied persons of both sexes would be drawn off to a feast and a fair, in different situations, not very distant. It proved so; there were only two women, three children, and an infant remaining in the tents; which were the residence of several branches of the numerous families of Smith, and Loversedge, names well known in the county of Northampton.

The head of the former, has been many years a dealer in asses, or donkies; and is reputed to be possessed of some property. His wife, more than eighty years of age, was seated at the entrance of one of the tents, weaving a cabbage net. The other woman, who was middle aged, was nursing an infant; and the eldest of the children, about twelve years of age, was making preparation for washing; a pan was suspended from three poles, under which she had kindled a fire, to boil water. The very tattered and squalid appearance of this poor girl was truly affecting.

On conversing with the old woman, she said she had forty grand-children; some gone to the feast, others to the fair; and she signified, that both men and women were musical performers.

On being asked whether any of them had learned to read, she shook her head, and, with apparent regret, acknowledged they had not. This indication of concern excited an idea, that some impression had been made on the minds even of Gypsies, of the disadvantages their children were under.

Considering how generally education had been extended, to the lowest description of every other class of British subjects; how many schools had been opened in villages, as well as in the different towns of the kingdom, it was not improbable, that information of movements so extraordinary, might have reached the ears, if not impressed the minds of these neglected fellow-creatures. The activity which had been subsequently displayed in the distribution of the Scriptures, and the zeal excited among the most ignorant to receive them, might also come to their knowledge.

Resuming conversation with the female head of the Smith family, she said they endured great hardships in winter, having no shelter but their tents, in the worst of weather.

She was then asked, if they did not experience great difficulty in obtaining the means of subsistence, during the inclement seasons; and whether they were not, at times, reduced to the necessity of taking up with any kind of sustenance, even if it consisted of animals they might find dead upon the road.

To this she immediately replied: “Those that have died by the hand of God, are better than those that have died by the hand of man.”

This reply, corresponding so exactly with that of the Continental Gypsies, presents a remarkable trait of their mutual descent from the Suder caste.

Some of the peculiarities in Gypsey habits to which we have just now adverted, had not escaped the observation of that accurate delineator of men and manners, our celebrated poet, Cowper; as will appear by the following sketch:

“I see a column of slow rising smoke,
O’er-top the lofty wood, that skirts the wild.
A vagabond and useless tribe, there eat
Their miserable meal. A Kettle
Slung between two poles, upon a stick transverse,
Receives the morsel: flesh obscene of hog,
Or vermin; or, at best, of cock purloined
From his accustom’d perch. Hard faring race,
They pick their fuel out of every hedge,
Which kindled with dry leaves, and wood, just saves
The spark of life. The sportive wind blows wide
Their fluttering rags, and shows a tawney skin,
The vellum of the pedigree they claim.”

Before the Gypsey’s acknowledgment, of preferring the flesh of animals which have died by disease, or what is called a natural death, the writer of this section, knew not how to credit the general testimony of the farmers and inhabitants of Northamptonshire, that they did not find the Gypsies committed any depredations on their property, unless it was in pilfering wood from the fences. He now thinks it probable, that others, who were unacquainted with this singular idea of the Gypsies, respecting animal food, may have imagined they were guilty of many more thefts for subsistence, than is really the case.

In the further progress of his inquiries, the writer has met with various instances in which confidence reposed in Gypsies, has not been disappointed. He will mention a remarkable one at Feringbury, near Coggeshall, in Essex, on a farm which had been occupied by three generations of the family of Corders; during which time, not the least loss had been sustained, by accommodating Gypsies with lodgings in their barns and out-houses during inclement weather; but, on the contrary, the family have considered them a protection to their property.

After the success of an experiment like the above, it would be superfluous to ask, if it is not sounder policy to excite the good, than the bad dispositions of human nature.

Must not the torrent of invective and abuse, almost universally poured upon this people, tend to disaffect and indispose them to civil association! Despised and ill-treated as they often are, have they not reason to imagine the hand of every man to be against them? Who then can wonder at their eluding, as much as possible, the inquiries of strangers!

Looking at their condition among the various inhabitants of Europe, dignified with the Christian name, the writer has often been reminded of the universality of the Gospel call, as illustrated in the parable of the great supper. After the invitation had been given throughout the streets and lanes of the cities, the command to the servants was: “Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in.” Here is a description that may have been intended specially to apply to this people, so exactly and even literally adapted to their condition, in all countries, is the language: “Go ye into the highways and hedges.” And the distinction in their case is rendered still more remarkable by the very pressing injunction, “Compel them to come in.”

Does it not admit of the inference, that as outcasts of society, being under greater disadvantages than the other incited classes, their situation requited a more powerful stimulus to be applied?

The account of the sufferings of Gypsies in winter, having been confirmed by many concurring testimonies, from the inhabitants of Northamptonshire, the following Circular was sent into most of the Counties of England, with a view to ascertain their state in other parts of the nation.

CIRCULAR.

When it is considered how much the exertions of the wise, the philanthropic, and the good, in all parts of the nation, have been directed to advancing the morals and religious instruction of the lower orders of the community, it appears almost incredible that one description of British subjects, and of all others the most abject and depraved, should have been either entirely overlooked or neglected. The Gypsies, to whom this applies, are a people which, more than any other, it might have been considered the interest of society to reclaim, because of the depredations they commit upon it.

The efforts of the good, and of the great, have not been confined to meliorating the condition of the inhabitants of this country only, they have been directed to the alleviation of human misery in various other nations, and even to the augmentation of funds for civilizing the natives of distant regions of the globe. Can we manifest our solicitude for the improvement of our fellow-creatures separated from us thousands of miles, whose faces we never saw, and conclude that numbers of persons in our own country, whose situation is more desperate, have not a peculiar claim on our consideration?

To reclaim the Indians of North America from their wild and roving course of life, associations have been formed to give them instructions in agriculture, and to supply them with implements of husbandry; plans of education adapted to their untutored state have been arranged, and persons qualified to carry them into effect, in the establishment of schools, have gone to their assistance.

Do the numerous Gypsey tribes of England possess any of these advantages?

In the summer of 1814, when the writer of this circular, visited a number of Gypsey tents in Northamptonshire, as already stated, a woman about 80 years of age, who had forty grand-children, acknowledged, that not one of them had been taught to read. In this land of Christian benevolence, can we pronounce a certain proportion of its inhabitants to be wretchedly depraved, and even a wicked set of people; advertise them as rogues and vagabonds, and offer a reward for their apprehension, without devising any means of remedying the defects of their habits, or holding out encouragement to reformation, in any of them who are disposed to relinquish their vicious courses?

The associations formed and forming in different parts of the nation for the prosecution of felons, render the condition of Gypsies every day more and more deplorable, by their being hunted like beasts of prey from township to township.

The last winter but one, a company of these houseless wanderers were dug out of the snow in Ditchford Lane, near Irchester, Northamptonshire, when it appeared one woman had been lying in, and that an old man was dying.

If those who have been zealous in driving them from their accustomed haunts, were to place themselves, if but ideally in their situation, can we believe, that instead of augmenting their sufferings, they would not be disposed to commiserate their case, and even attend to the precept of the Christian Legislator: “Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them?” It is worse than useless and unavailing to harrass them from place to place, when no retreat or shelter is provided for their refuge.

A writer on this subject, under the designation of Junius, in the Northampton Mercury of June 27th, 1814, observes: “When we consider the immense sums raised for every probable means of doing good, which have hitherto been made public, we cannot doubt, if a proper method should be proposed for the relief and ameliorating the state of these people, it would meet with deserved encouragement. Suppose that the Legislature should think them not unworthy its notice; and as a part of the great family, they ought not to be overlooked.” Another writer in the Northampton Mercury of July the 21st of the last year, on the necessity of some plan being adopted for their advantage, remarks, thereby “thousands of our fellow-creatures would be raised from depravity and wretchedness to a state of comfort; the private property of individuals be much more secure, and the public materially benefited.” In addition to these observations, it may be asked, Would not the providing of an education for their children, to which they should be induced to conform, and the apprenticing of them, at a proper age, to suitable trades, enable the rising generation to correct the errors of Gypsey habits?

With a view to ascertain more fully the extent in which this may be necessary, the friends of humanity, to whom this Circular may be addressed, are requested to co-operate with others of their friends in different parts of each county, for procuring answers from the best informed of the Gypsies, and others, to the subsequent questions. And should there be any person in their neighbourhood, who after being brought up among the Gypsies, hath quitted them for a more settled course of life, information from such is particularly desirable. Answers are requested in the course of the summer: to be sent to John Hoyland, Springfield, Sheffield.

QUESTIONS.

1. From whence is it said the Gypsies first came?

2. How many is it supposed there are in England?

3. What is your circuit in summer?

4. How many Gypsey families are supposed to be in it?

5. What are the names of them?

6. Have they any meetings with those of other circuits?

7. And for what purpose?

8. What number of Gypsies are there computed to be in the county?

9. What proportion of their number follow business, and what kind?

10. What do they bring their children up to?

11. What do the women employ themselves in?

12. From how many generations can they trace their descent?

13. Have they kept to one part of the country, or removed to distant parts?

14. How long have they lived in this part?

15. Have they any speech of their own, different to that used by other people?

16. What do they call it? Can any one write it?

17. Is there any writing of it to be seen any where?

18. Have they any rules of conduct which are general to their community?

19. What religion do they mostly profess?

20. Do they marry, and in what manner?

21. How do they teach their children religion?

22. Do any of them learn to read?

23. Who teaches them?

24. Have they any houses to go to in winter?

25. What proportion of them, is it supposed, live out of doors in winter, as in summer?

5_th_ Month, 16_th_, 1815.

THE REPORTS

Received from the Counties of England, are comprised in the following general Answers to the Queries of the Circular.

1. All Gypsies suppose the first of them came from Egypt.

2. They cannot form any idea of the number in England.

3. The Gypsies of Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, parts of Buckinghamshire, Cambridge, and Huntingdonshire, are continually making revolutions within the range of those counties.

4. They are either ignorant of the number of Gypsies in the counties through which they travel, or unwilling to disclose their knowledge.

5. The most common names are Smith, Cooper, Draper, Taylor, Bosswel, Lee, Lovell, Loversedge, Allen, Mansfield, Glover, Williams, Carew, Martin, Stanley, Buckley, Plunkett, Corrie.

6 & 7. The gangs in different towns have not any regular connection, or organization; but those who take up their winter quarters in the same city or town, appear to have some knowledge of the different routes each horde will pursue; probably with a design to prevent interference.

8. In the county of Herts, it is computed there may be sixty families, having many children. Whether they are quite so numerous in Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, and Northamptonshire, the answers are not sufficiently definite to determine. In Cambridgeshire, Oxfordshire, Warwickshire, Wiltshire, and Dorsetshire, greater numbers are calculated upon. In various counties, the attention has not been competent to procuring data for any estimate of families, or individuals.

9. More than half their number follow no business; others are dealers in horses and asses; farriers, smiths, tinkers, braziers, grinders of cutlery, basket-makers, chair-bottomers, and musicians.

10. Children are brought up in the habits of their parents, particularly to music and dancing, and are of dissolute conduct.

11. The women mostly carry baskets with trinkets and small wares; and tell fortunes.

12. Too indolent to have acquired accounts of genealogy, and perhaps indisposed to it by the irregularity of their habits.

13. In most counties there are particular situations to which they are partial. In Berkshire is a marsh, near Newbury, much frequented by them; and Dr. Clarke states, that in Cambridgeshire, their principal rendezvous is near the western villages.

14. It cannot be ascertained, whether from their first coming into the nation, attachment to particular places has prevailed.

15, 16, & 17. When among strangers, they elude inquiries respecting their peculiar language, calling it gibberish. Don’t know of any person that can write it, or of any written specimen of it.

18. Their habits and customs in all places are peculiar.

19. Those who profess any religion, represent it to be that of the country in which they reside: but their description of it, seldom goes beyond repeating the Lord’s prayer; and only a few of them are capable of that. Instances of their attending any place for warship are very rare.

20. They marry for the most part by pledging to each other, without any ceremony. A few exceptions have occurred when money was plentiful.

21. They do not teach their children religion.

22 & 23. Not one in a thousand can read.

24 & 25. Some go into lodgings in London, Cambridge, &c. during winter; but it is calculated three-fourths of them live out of doors in winter, as in summer.

Most of the answers are confirmed by Riley Smith, who, during many years, was accounted the chief of the Gypsies in Northamptonshire. He being much in request by some of the principal inhabitants of that county, as a musician, had the address to marry the cook out of one of their families, and afterward obtained a farm near Bedford; but being unsuccessful in agriculture, he returned to his former occupation. John Forster and William Carrington, respectable merchants of Biggleswade, and neighbours to Riley Smith, procured answers from him to all the queries in the Circular; but they cannot be made the basis of any calculation of the number of Gypsies in the nation.

It has not come to the knowledge of the writer, what foundation there has been for the report commonly circulated, that a Member of Parliament had stated to the House of Commons, when speaking to some question relating to Ireland; that there were not less than 36,000 Gypsies in Great Britain.

To make up such an aggregate, the numerous hordes must have been included, who traverse most of the nation with carts and asses, for the sale of earthenware, and live out of doors great part of the year, after the manner of the Gypsies. These potters, as they are commonly called, acknowledge that Gypsies have intermingled with them, and their habits are very similar. They take their children along with them on travel, and, like the Gypsies, regret that they are without education.

It has already appeared in Baillie Smith’s report, that the Gypsies in Scotland, of late years, have had recourse to a similar occupation in the sale of earthenware, which, as they mostly attend fairs, is a mode of life remarkably adapted to their inclination.

Some pains have been taken among the potteries in Staffordshire, to procure information of the number of families of this description, which annually apply to purchase the refuse of their wares; but no return has been made.

The application to the Sheriffs of Scotland, procured from the counties prompt and decisive reports; and it is not probable that any measure, short of an order to the constables of every township, to take an account on the same day, throughout England, would be sufficient for ascertaining Gypsey population.

For this purpose a patrole might be necessary, on one and the same day, in each township, particularly in lanes and situations shaded in summer. If notice of the requisition were to be communicated to constables, a few days before, with directions not to disclose the object, further than the necessary provision for it required; it is probable, that a sufficiently correct estimate might be formed, of the aggregate number in the nation.

Such an account might extend also to the itinerant potters, and the number of their children: or if the potters take out a Hawker’s and Pedlar’s licence, a return of their numbers might be obtained from the proper office. There is reason to think that many of these dealers have acquired property, who, nevertheless take lodgings for the winter, instead of renting houses; whereby they, equally with Gypsies, evade all contributions to the service of the State, and parochial assessments.

On this subject, the writer is reminded of what has often occurred to him, when inspecting a low description of lodging-houses in the populous town of Sheffield, of which he is an inhabitant. Finding it difficult to obtain from the keepers of such houses, sufficient information respecting their guests; he has thought, that obliging all who lodge itinerants to take out a licence, would, by rendering them amenable to just authority, obviate this difficulty; and put it in the power of those respectable inhabitants, who wish the regulation of these receptacles, to exercise just discrimination, without infringing upon the liberty of the subject. He has reason to believe, if this were effected, it would operate as a considerable check on vagrancy, and save much trouble to magistrates.