A History of the Gipsies Part 20

_Ch.o.a.r a chauvie_, rob that person.

_Ch.o.a.r a gaugie_, steal from that man.

_Cheeteromanie_, a dram of whiskey.

_Glowie a lowa_, pay him the money.

The first expression which the Gipsies use in saluting one another, when they first meet, anywhere, is "_Auteenie, auteenie_." Steedman, however, did not give me the English of this salutation. He stated to me that, at the present day, the Gipsies in Scotland, when by themselves, transact their business in their own language, and hold all their ordinary conversations in the same speech. In the course of a few minutes, Steedman's fears returned upon him. He appeared to regret what he had done. He now said he had forgotten the language, and referred me to his father, old Andrew Steedman, who, he said, would give me every information I might require. I imprudently sent him out, to bring the old man to me; for, when both returned, all further communication, with regard to their speech, was at an end. Both were now dead silent on the subject, denied all knowledge of the Gipsy language, and were evidently under great alarm. The old man would not face me at all; and when I went to him, he appeared to be shaking and trembling, while he stood at the head of his horses, in his own stable. Young Steedman entreated me to tell no one that he had given me any words, as the Tinklers, he said, would be exceedingly displeased with him for doing so. This man, however, by being kindly treated, and seeing no intention of doing him any harm, became, at an after period, communicative on various subjects relative to the Gipsies.

The following are the words which I obtained during an hour's interrogation of the woman that baffled me for seven years, and of whom I have said something already:

_Gaugie_, man.

_Chauvie_, child.

_Mort_, wife.

_Shan mort_, bad wife.

_Blawkie_, pot.

_Roys_, spoons.

_Snypers_, shears.

_Fluff_, tobacco-pipe.

_Baurie mort_, good wife.

_Nais mort_, grandmother.

_Nais gaugie_, grandfather.

_Been riah_, gentleman.

_Been raunie_, gentlewoman.

_Dill_, servant-maid.

_Loudnie_, wh.o.r.e.

_Chor_, thief.

_Gawvers_, pickpockets.

_Nawkens_, Tinklers.

_Rachlin_, hanged man.

_Klistie_, soldier.

_Paunie-col_, sailor.

_Femmel_, hand.

_Yak_, eye.

_Sherro_, head.

_Mooie_, mouth.

_Chatters_, teeth.

_Rat_, blood.

_Rat_, night.

_Moolie_, death, to die, kill.

_Shucha_, coat.

_Teeyakas_, shoes.

_Gawd_, s.h.i.+rt.

_Olivers_, stockings.

_Wiper_, napkin.

_Coories_, blankets.

_Grye_, horse.

_Aizel_, a.s.s.

_Jucal_, dog.

_Routler_, cow.

_Bakra_, sheep.

_Kair_, house.

_Blinker_, window.

_Kep_, bed.

_Fluffan_, tobacco.

_Lowie_, money.

_Roug_, silver.

_Leel_, bank notes.

_Casties_, trees.

_Quad_, prison.

_Harro_, sword.

_Chourie_, bayonet-knife.

_Ma.s.s_, meat, flesh.

_Guffie_, swine's flesh.

_Flatrins_, fish.

_Habben_, bread.

_Blaw_, meal.

_Neddies_, potatoes.

_Thood_, milk.

_Smout_, b.u.t.ter.

_Chizcazin_, cheese.

_Bobies_, peas.

_Pooklie_, pot-barley.

_Shaucha_, broth.

_Geeve_, corn, wheat, grain.

_Faizim_, hay.

_Stramel_, straw.

_Paunie_, water.

_Yak_, coal.

_Mouds_, peats.

_Shan drom_, bad road.

_Beenlightment_, daylight.

_Jaw vree_, go away.

_Aucheer mangan_, hold your tongue.

_Bing lee ma_, devil miss me.

_Ruffie f.e.c.k ma_, devil take me.

_Ruffie lee ma_, devil miss me.

I observed to this woman that her language would, in course of time, be lost. She replied, with great seriousness, "It will never be forgotten, sir; it is in our hearts, and as long as a single Tinkler exists, it will be remembered." I further enquired of her, how many of her tribe were in Scotland. Her answer was, "There are several thousand; and there are many respectable shop-keepers and house-holders in Scotland that are Gipsies." I requested of this woman the Gipsy word for G.o.d.[196] She said they had no corresponding word for G.o.d in their speech; adding, that she thought "it as well, as it prevented them having their Maker's name often unnecessarily and sinfully in their mouths." She acknowledged the justice, and highly approved of the punishment of death for murder; but she condemned, most bitterly, the law that took away the lives of human beings for stealing. She dwelt on the advantages which her secret speech gave her tribe in transacting business in markets. She said that she was descended from the first Gipsy family in Scotland. I was satisfied that she was sprung from the second, if not the first, family.

I could make out, with tolerable certainty, the links of her descent for four generations of Gipsies. I have already described the splendid style in which her ancestors travelled in Tweed-dale. Her mother, above eighty years of age, also called at my house. Both were fortune-tellers. It was evident, from this woman's manner, that she knew much she would not communicate. Like the Gipsy chief, in presence of Dr. Bright, at Csurgo, in Hungary, she, in a short time, became impatient; and, apparently, when a certain hour arrived, she insisted upon being allowed to depart.

She would not submit to be questioned any longer.

[196] Ponqueville, in his travels, says that the Gipsies in the Levant have no words in their language to express either G.o.d or the soul. Of ten words of the Greek Gipsy, given by him, five of them are in use in Scotland.--_Paris_, 1820.

[The Gipsy for G.o.d, according to Grellmann, is _Dewe_, _Dewel_, _Dewol_, _Dewla_.]--ED.

Owing to the nature of my enquiries, and more particularly the fears of the tribe, I could seldom venture to question the Gipsies regarding their speech, or their ancient customs, with any hope of receiving satisfactory answers, when a third party was present. The following, however, is an instance to the contrary; and the facts witnessed by the gentleman who was with me at the time, are, besides the testimony of the Gipsies themselves, convincing proofs that these people, at the present day, in Scotland, can converse among themselves, on any ordinary subject, in their own language, without making use of a single word of the English tongue.[197]

[197] Had a German listened a whole day to a Gipsy conversation, he would not have understood a single expression.--_Grellmann._

The dialect of the English Gipsies, though mixed with English, is tolerably pure, from the fact of its being intelligible to the race in the centre of Russia.--_Borrow._--ED.