A History of the Gipsies Part 6

King James V, as he was travelling through part of his dominions, disguised under the character of the Gaberlunzie-man, or Guid-man of Ballangiegh, prosecuting, as was his custom, his low and vague amours, fell in with a band of Gipsies, in the midst of their carousals, in a cave, near Wemyss, in Fifes.h.i.+re. His majesty heartily joined in their revels, but it was not long before a scuffle ensued, wherein the king was very roughly handled, being in danger of his life.[59] The Gipsies, perceiving at last that he was none of their people, and considering him a spy, treated him with great indignity. Among other humiliating insults, they compelled his royal majesty, as an humble servant of a Tinkler, to carry their budgets and wallets on his back, for several miles, until he was exhausted; and being unable to proceed a step further, he sank under his load. He was then dismissed with scorn and contempt by the merciless Gipsies. Being exasperated at their cruel and contemptuous treatment of his sacred person, and having seen a fair specimen of their licentious manner of life, the king caused an order in council immediately to be issued, declaring that, if _three_ Gipsies were found together, one of the three was instantly to be seized, and forthwith hanged or shot, by any one of his majesty's subjects that chose to put the order in execution.

[59] The Gipsies a.s.sert that, on this occasion, the king attempted to take liberties with one of their women: and that one of the male Gipsies "came crack over his head with a bottle."--ED.

This tradition is noticed by the Rev. Andrew Small, in his antiquities of Fife, in the following words. His book came into my hands after I had written down my account of the tradition.

"But, surely, this would be the last tinker that ever he would dub (a knight). If we may judge from what happened, one might imagine he, (James V,) would be heartily sick of them, (tinkers,) being taken prisoner by three of them, and compelled to stay with them several days, so that his n.o.bles lost all trace of him, and being also forced, not only to lead their a.s.s, but likewise to a.s.sist it in carrying part of the panniers! At length he got an opportunity, when they were bousing in a house at the east end of the village of Milnathort, where there is now a new meeting-house built, when he was left on the green with the a.s.s.

He contrived to write, some way, on a slip of paper, and gave a boy half-a-crown to run with it to Falkland, and give it to his n.o.bles, intimating that the guid-man of Ballangiegh was in a state of captivity.

After they got it, and knew where he was, they were not long in being with him, although it was fully ten miles they had to ride. Whenever he got a.s.sistance, he caused two of the tinkers, that were most harsh and severe to him, to be hanged immediately, and let the third one, that was most favourable to him, go free. They were hanged a little south-west of the village, at a place which, from the circ.u.mstance, is called the Gallow-hill to this day. The two skeletons were lately found after the division of the commonty that recently took place. He also, after this time, made a law, that whenever three tinkers, or Gipsies, were found going together, two of them should be hanged, and the third set at liberty."[60]

[60] Small's Roman Antiquities of Fife, pages 285 and 286. Small also records a song composed on James V dubbing a Tinker a knight.

The following order in council is, perhaps, the one to which this tradition alludes:

"Act of the lords of council respecting John Faw, &c., June 6, 1541. The which day anent the complaint given by John Faw and his brother, and Sebastiane Lalow, Egyptians, to the King's grace, ilk ane plenizeand ... . upon other and divers faults and injuries; and that it is agreed among them to pa.s.s home, and have the same decided before the Duke of Egypt.[61] The lords of council, being advised with the points of the said complaints, and understanding perfectly the great thefts and _skaiths_ (hurts) done by the said Egyptians upon our sovereign lord's lieges, wherever they come or resort, ordain letters to be directed to the provosts and baillies of Edinburgh, St. Johnstown (Perth), Dundee, Montrose, Aberdeen, St. Andrews, Elgin, Forres, and Inverness; and to the sheriffs of Edinburgh, Fife, Perth, Forfar, Kincardine, Aberdeen, Elgin and Forres, Banff, Cromarty, Inverness, and all other sheriffs, stewarts, provosts and baillies, where it happens the said Egyptians to resort.[62] To command and charge them, by open proclamation, at the market crosses of the head burghs of the sheriffdoms, to depart forth of this realm, with their wives, children, and companies, within x.x.x days after they be charged thereto, under the pain of death; notwithstanding any other letters or privileges granted to them by the king's grace, because his grace, with the advice of the lords, has discharged the same for the causes aforesaid: with certification that if they be found in this realm, the said x.x.x days being past, they shall be taken and put to death."[63]

[61] It would seem that John Faw had become frightened at the mishap of one of his folk "coming crack over the king's head with a bottle,"

and that, to pacify his majesty, he had at once gone before him, and informed him that he had prevailed on his "rebellious subjects" to _pa.s.s home_, and have the matter in dispute decided by the _Duke of Egypt_. This would, so far, satisfy the king; but to make sure of getting rid of his troublesome visitors, he issued his commands to the various authorities to see that they really did leave the country.--ED.

[62] It would appear, from the mention that is made here of the authorities of so many towns and counties, "where it happens the said Egyptians to resort," that the race was scattered over all Scotland at this time, and that it must have been numerous.--ED.

[63] M. S. Act. Dom. Con. vol 15, fol. 155.--_Blackwood's Magazine._

This sharp order in council seems to have been the first edict banis.h.i.+ng the Gipsies as a whole people--men, women, and children--from Scotland.

But the king, whom, according to tradition, they had personally so deeply offended, dying in the following year, (1542) a new reign brought new prospects to the denounced wanderers.[64] They seem to have had the address to recover their credit with the succeeding government; for, in 1553, the writ which pa.s.sed the privy seal in 1540, forming a sort of league with "John Faw, Lord and Earl of Little Egypt," was renewed by Hamilton, Earl of Arran, then Regent during the minority of Queen Mary.

McLaurin, in his criminal trials, when speaking of John Faw, gravely calls him "this peer." "There is a writ," says he, "of the same tenor in favour of this peer from Queen Mary, same record, 25 April, 1553; and 8 April, 1554, he gets remission for the slaughter of Ninian Small." In Blackwood's Magazine it is mentioned that "Andro Faw, Captain of the Egyptians,[65] and twelve of his gang specified by name, obtained a remission for the slaughter of Ninian Small, committed within the town of Linton, in the month of March last by past upon suddenly." This appears to be the slaughter to which McLaurin alludes. The following are the names of these thirteen Gipsies: "Andro Faw, captain of the Egyptians, George Faw, Robert Faw, and Anthony Faw, his sons, Johnne Faw, Andrew George Nichoah, George Sebastiane Colyne, George Colyne, Julie Colyne, Johnne Colyne, James Haw, Johnne Browne, and George Browne, Egyptians."

[64] It is perfectly evident that the severe decree of James V against the Gipsies arose from the personal insult alluded to, owing to the circ.u.mstance of its falling to the ground after his death, and the Gipsies recovering their position with his successor. Apart from what the Gipsies themselves say on this subject, the ordinary tradition may be a.s.sumed to be well founded. If the Gipsies were spoken to on the subject of the insult offered to the king, they would naturally reply, that they did not know, from his having been dressed like a beggar, that it was the king; an excuse which the court, knowing his majesty's vagabond habits, would probably receive. But it is very likely that John Faw would declare that the guilty parties were those rebels whom he was desirous to catch, and take home with him to Egypt! This Gipsy king seems to have been a master of diplomacy.--ED.

[65] The Gipsy chiefs were partial to the t.i.tle of Captain; arising, I suppose, from their being leaders of large bands of young men employed in theft and robbery. [In Spain, such Gipsy chiefs, according to Mr.

Borrow, a.s.sumed the name of Counts.--ED.]

From the edict above mentioned, it is evident that the Gipsies in Scotland, at that time, were allowed to punish the criminal members of their own tribe, according to their own peculiar laws, customs and usages, without molestation. And it cannot be supposed that the ministers of three or four succeeding monarchs would have suffered their sovereigns to be so much imposed on, as to allow them to put their names to public doc.u.ments, styling poor and miserable wretches, as we at the present day imagine them to have been, "Lords and Earls of Little Egypt." Judging from the accounts which tradition has handed down to us, of the gay and fas.h.i.+onable appearance of the princ.i.p.al Gipsies, as late as about the beginning of the eighteenth century, as will be seen in my account of the Tweed-dale bands, I am disposed to believe that Anthonius Gawino, in 1506, and John Faw, in 1540, would personally, as individuals, that is, as Gipsy Rajahs,[66] have a very respectable and imposing appearance in the eyes of the officers of the crown. And besides, John Faw appears to have been possessed of "divers sums of money, jewels, clothes and other goods, to the quant.i.ty of a great sum of money;" and it would seem that some of the officers of high rank in the household of our kings had fingered the cash of the Gipsy pilgrims.

If there is any truth in the popular and uniform tradition that, in the seventeenth century, a Countess of Ca.s.silis was seduced from her duty to her lord, and carried off by a Gipsy, of the name of John Faa, and his band, it cannot be imagined, that the seducer would be a poor, wretched, beggarly Tinkler, such as many of the tribe are at this day. If a handsome person, elegant apparel, a lively disposition, much mirth and glee, and a constant boasting of extraordinary prowess, would in any way contribute to make an impression on the heart of the frail countess, these qualities, I am disposed to think, would not be wanting in the "Gipsy Laddie." And, moreover, John Faw bore, on paper at least, as high a t.i.tle as her husband, Lord Ca.s.silis, from whom she absconded. It is said the individual who seduced the fair lady was a Sir John Faw, of Dunbar, her former sweetheart, and not a Gipsy; but tradition gives no account of a Sir John Faw, of Dunbar.[67] The Falls, merchants, at Dunbar, were descended from the Gipsy Faas of Yetholm.

[66] _Rajah_--The Scottish Gipsy word for a chief, governor, or prince.

[67] The author, (Mr. Finlay,) who claims a Sir John Faw, of Dunbar, to have been the person who carried off the Countess of Ca.s.silis, gives no authority, as a writer in Blackwood says, in support of his a.s.sertion. Nor does he account for a person of that name being any other than a Gipsy. Indeed, this is but an instance of the ignorance and prejudice of people generally in regard to the Gipsies. The tradition of the hero being a Gipsy, I have met with among the English Gipsies, who even gave me the name of the lady. John Faw, in all probability the king of the Gipsies, who carried off the countess, might reasonably be a.s.sumed to have been, in point of education, on a par with her, who, in that respect, would not, in all probability, rise above the most humble Scotch cow-milker at the present day, whatever her personal bearing might have been.--ED.

It is pretty clear that the Gipsies remained in Scotland, with little molestation, from 1506 till 1579--the year in which James VI took the government into his own hands, being a period of about seventy-three years, during which time these wanderers roamed up and down the kingdom, without receiving any check of consequence, excepting the short period--probably about one year--in which the severe order of James V remained in force, and which, in all probability, expired with the king.[68]

[68] During these seventy-three years of peace, the Gipsies in Scotland must have multiplied prodigiously, and, in all probability, drawn much of the native blood into their body. Not being, at that time, a proscribed race, but, on the contrary, honoured by leagues and covenants with the king himself, the ignorant public generally would have few of those objections to intermarry with them, which they have had in subsequent times. The thieving habits of the Gipsies would prove no bar to such connections, as the Scottish people were accustomed to thieving of all kinds.--ED.

The civil and religious contests in which the nation had been long engaged, particularly during the reign of Queen Mary, produced numerous swarms of banditti, who committed outrages in every part of the country.

The slighter depredations of the Gipsy bands, in the midst of the fierce and b.l.o.o.d.y quarrels of the different factions that generally prevailed throughout the kingdom, would attract but little attention, and the Gipsies would thereby escape the punishment which their actions merited.

But the government being more firmly established, by the union of the different parties who distracted the country, and the king a.s.suming the supreme authority, which all acknowledged, vigorous measures were adopted for suppressing the excess of strolling vagabonds of every description. In the very year the king was placed at the head of affairs, a law was pa.s.sed, "For punishment of strong and idle beggars, and relief of the poor and impotent."

Against the Gipsies this sweeping statute is particularly directed, for they are named, and some of their practices pointed out, in the following pa.s.sage: "And that it may be known what manner of persons are meant to be strong and idle beggars and vagabonds, and worthy of the punishment before specified, it is declared that all idle persons going about the country of this realm, using subtle, crafty and unlawful plays--as jugglery, fast-and-loose, and such others, the idle people calling themselves Egyptians, or any other that fancy themselves to have knowledge of prophecy, charming, or other abused sciences, whereby they persuade the people that they can tell their weirds, deaths, and fortunes, and such other fantastical imaginations."[69] And the following is the mode prescribed for punis.h.i.+ng the Gipsies, and the other offenders a.s.sociated with them in this act of parliament: "That such as make themselves fools and are _bairds_, (strolling rhymers,) or other such like runners about, being apprehended, shall be put in the king's ward, or irons, so long as they have any goods of their own to live on, and if they have not whereupon to live of their own, that their ears be nailed to the tron or other tree, and cut off, and (themselves) banished the country; and if thereafter they be found again, that they be hanged."[70]

[69] In this act of parliament are denounced, along with the Gipsies, "all minstrels, songsters, and tale-tellers, not avowed by special licence of some of the lords of parliament or great barons, or by the high burghs and cities, for their common minstrels." "All _vagabond scholars_(_!_) of the universities of St Andrews, Glasgow, and Aberdeen, not licenced by the rector and dean of faculty to _ask alms_." It would seem, from this last extract, that the Scottish Universities granted diplomas to their students to beg! The Gipsies were a.s.sociated or cla.s.sed with good company at this time. But beggar students, or student-beggars, were common in other parts of Europe during that age.--ED.

[70] Glendook's Scots Acts, James VI, 6th Par. cap. 74--20th Oct.

1579.

This statute was ratified and confirmed in the 12th parliament of James VI, cap. 147, 5th June, 1592, wherein the incorrigible Gipsies are again referred to: "And for the better trial of common _sorners_ (forcible obtruders,) vagabonds, and masterful beggars, fancied fools, and counterfeit Egyptians, and to the effect that they may be still preserved till they be compelled to settle at some certain dwelling, or be expelled forth of the country, &c." The next law in which the Gipsies are mentioned, with other vagabonds, was pa.s.sed in the 15th parliament of the same reign, 19th December, 1597, ent.i.tled, "Strong beggars, vagabonds, and Egyptians should be punished." The statute itself reads as follows: "Our sovereign lord and estates of parliament ratify and approve the acts of parliament made before, against strong and idle beggars, vagabonds, and Egyptians," with this addition: "That strong beggars and their children be employed in common works, and their service mentioned in the said act of parliament, in the year of G.o.d, 1579, to be prorogate in during their life times, &c."[71]

[71] By the above, and subsequent statutes, in the reign of James VI, "Coal and salt-masters might apprehend, and put to labour, all vagabonds and st.u.r.dy beggars." The truth is, these kidnapped individuals and their children were made slaves of to these masters.

The colliers were emanc.i.p.ated only within these fifty years. It has been stated to me that some of the colliers in the Lothians are of Gipsy extraction. [Our author might have said _Gipsies_; for being "of Gipsy extraction," and "Gipsies," are expressions quite synonymous, notwithstanding the application by the public of the latter term to the more original kind of Gipsies only.--ED.]

All the foregoing laws were again ratified and enforced by another act, in the same reign, 15th November, 1600. The following extract will serve to give some explanation how these statutes were neglected, and seldom put in force: "And how the said acts have received little or no effect or execution, by the oversight and negligence of the persons who were nominated justices and commissioners, for putting of the said acts to full and due execution, so that the strong and idle beggars, being for the most part thieves, _bairds_, (strolling rhymers,) and counterfeit _limmers_, (scoundrels,) living most insolently and unG.o.dly, without marriage or baptism, are suffered to _vaig_ and wander throughout the whole country."[72] "But," says Baron Hume, "all ordinary means having proved insufficient to restrain so numerous and so st.u.r.dy a crew, the privy council at length, in June, 1603, were induced to venture on the more effectual expedient, (recommended by the example of some other realm,) of at once ordering the whole race to leave the kingdom by a certain day, and never to return under the pain of death.[73] A few years after, this proclamation was converted into perpetual law, by statute 1609, cap. 13, with this farther convenient, but very severe, provision toward the more effectual execution of the order, that it should be lawful to condemn and execute them to the death, upon proof made of the single fact 'that they are called, known, repute and holden Egyptians'!" As this is the only statute exclusively relating to, and denouncing, the Gipsies, I shall give it at length.

[72] If Fletcher of Saltoun be correct, when he states that, in his time, which was about the end of the 17th century, there were two hundred thousand people, (about one-fifth of the whole population,) begging from door to door in Scotland, it would be a task of no little difficulty, for those in power, to put in force the laws against the Gipsies, and vagabonds generally. The editor of Dr. Pennicuick's history of Tweed-dale, thinks Fletcher's is an over-charged picture.

Some are of opinion that, when he made his statement, he included the greater part of the inhabitants of the Scottish Border, and also those in the north of Scotland; for, he said, the Highlands "was an inexhaustible source of beggars," and wished these banditti transplanted to the low country, and to people the Highlands from hence.

[73] The records in which this order is contained are lost.

"13. Act anent the Egyptians. Our sovereign lord and estates of parliament ratify, approve, and perpetually confirm the act of secret council, made in the month of June or thereby, 1603 years, and proclamation following thereupon, commanding the vagabonds, _sorners_ (forcible obtruders), and common thieves, commonly called Egyptians, to pa.s.s forth of this kingdom, and remain perpetually forth thereof, and never to return within the same, under pain of death; and that the same have force and execution after the first day of August next to come.

After the which time, if any of the said vagabonds, called Egyptians, as well women as men, shall be found within this kingdom, or any part thereof, it shall be lawful to all his majesty's good subjects, or any one of them, to cause take, apprehend, imprison, and execute to death the said Egyptians, either men or women, as common, notorious, and condemned thieves, by one a.s.size only to be tried, that they are called, known, repute and holden Egyptians: In the which cause, whosoever of the a.s.size happen to _clenge_ (exculpate) any of the aforesaid Egyptians pannelled, as said is, shall be pursued, handled and censured as committers of wilful error: And whoever shall, any time thereafter, reset, receive, supply, or entertain any of the said Egyptians, either men or women, shall lose their escheat, and be warded at the judge's will: And that the sheriffs and magistrates, in whose bounds they shall publicly and avowedly resort and remain, be called before the lords of his highness' secret council, and severely censured and punished for their negligence in execution of this act: Discharging all letters, protections, and warrants whatsoever, purchased by the said Egyptians, or any of them, from his majesty or lords of secret council, for their remaining within this realm, as surrept.i.tiously and deceitfully obtained by their knowledge: Annulling also all warrants purchased, or hereafter to be purchased, by any subject of whatsoever rank within this kingdom, for their reset, entertaining, or doing any manner of favour to the said Egyptians, at any time after the said first day of August next to come, for now and ever."[74] In a subsequent enactment, in 1617, appointing justices of the peace and constables, the destruction of the proscribed Egyptians is particularly enjoined, in defining the different duties of the magistrates and their peace officers.[75]

[74] Glendook's Scots Act.

[75] Ib.

But so little respected was the authority of the government, that in 1612, three years after the pa.s.sing of the Gipsy act, his majesty was under the humiliating necessity of entering into a contract with the clan Scott, and their friends, by which the clan bound themselves "to give up all bands of friends.h.i.+p, kindness, oversight, maintenance or a.s.surance, if any we have, with common thieves and broken clans, &c." It is certain there would be many bonds of the same nature with other turbulent clans throughout the kingdom. That Scotchmen of respectability and influence protected the Gipsies, and afforded them shelter on their lands, after the promulgation of the cruel statute of 1609, is manifest from the following pa.s.sages, which I extract from Blackwood's Magazine, for 1817; the conductor of which seems to have been careful in examining the public records for the doc.u.ments quoted by him; having been guided in his researches, I believe, by Sir Walter Scott.

"In February, 1615, we find a remission under the privy seal, granted to William Auchterlony, of Cayrine, for resetting of John Faw and his followers.[76] On the 14th July, 1616, the sheriff of Forfar is severely reprimanded for delaying to execute some Gipsies, who had been taken within his jurisdiction, and for troubling the council with pet.i.tions in their behalf. In November following appears a proclamation against Egyptians and their resetters. In December, 1619, we find another proclamation against resetters of them; in April, 1620, another proclamation of the same kind, and in July, 1620, a commission against resetters, all with very severe penalties. The nature of these acts will be better understood from the following extract from that of the 4th July, 1616, which also very well explains the way in which the Gipsies contrived to maintain their footing in the country, in defiance of all the efforts of the legislature to extirpate them." "It is of truth that the thieves and _limmers_ (scoundrels), aforesaid, having for some short s.p.a.ce after the said act of parliament, (1609,) ... dispersed themselves in certain secret and obscure places of the country ...

they were not known to wander abroad in troops and companies, according to their accustomed manner, yet, shortly thereafter, finding that the said act of parliament was neglected, and that no enquiry nor ... was made for them, they began to take new breath and courage, and ...

unite themselves in infamous companies and societies, under ...

commanders, and continually since then have remained within the country, committing as well open and avowed _rieffis_ (robberies) in all parts ... murders, ... _pleine stouthe_ (common theft) and pickery, where they may not be mastered; and they do shamefully and mischievously abuse the simple and ignorant people, by telling fortunes, and using charms, and a number of juggling tricks and falseties, unworthy to be heard of in a country subject to religion, law, and justice; and they are encouraged to remain within the country, and to continue in their thievish and juggling tricks and falseties, not only through default of the execution of the said act of parliament, but, what is worse, that great numbers of his majesty's subjects, of whom some outwardly pretend to be famous and unspotted gentlemen, have given and give open and avowed protection, reset, supply and maintainance, upon their grounds and lands, to the said vagabonds, _sorners_, (forcible obtruders,) and condemned thieves and _limmers_, (scoundrels,) and suffer them to remain days, weeks, and months together thereupon, without controulment, and with connivance and oversight, &c." "So they do leave a foul, infamous, and ignominious spot upon them, their houses, and posterity, that they are patrons to thieves and _limmers_, (scoundrels,)" &c.[77]

[76] The nature of this crime in Scotch law is fully explained in the following extract from the original, which also appears curious in other respects. The pardon is granted "pro receptione, supportatione, et detentione supra terra suas de Belmadie, et infra eius habitationis domium, aliaq. edificia eiusdem, _Joannis Fall_, _Ethiopis_, _lie Egiptian_, eiusq. uxoris, puerorum, servorum et a.s.sociatorum; Necnon pro ministrando ipsis cib.u.m, potum, pecunias, hospicium, aliaq.

necessaria, quocunq. tempore vel occasione preterita, contra acta nostri Parliamenti vel secreti concilii, vel contra quecunq. leges, alia acta, aut const.i.tutiones huius nostri regni Scotiae in contrarium facta." Regist. secreti sigilli vol. lx.x.xiii, fol. 291, _Blackwood's Magazine_.--ED.

[77] The same state of things existed in Spain. Charles II. pa.s.sed a law on the 12th June, 1695, the 16th article of which, as given by Mr.

Borrow, enacts: "And because we understand that the continuance of those who are called Gitanos has depended on the favour, protection, and a.s.sistance which they have experienced from persons of _different stations_, we do ordain that whosoever against whom shall be proved the fact of having, since the day of the publication hereof, favoured, received, or a.s.sisted the said Gitanos, in any manner whatever, whether _within their houses_ or without, _provided he is a n.o.ble_, shall be subjected to the fine of _six thousand ducats_, ... . and _if a plebeian_, to a _punishment of ten years in the galleys_." Such an enactment would surely prove that the Gipsies in Spain were _greatly_ favoured by the Spanish people generally, even two centuries after they entered the country.

The causes to which may be attributed this toleration, even encouragement, of the Gipsies, are various. Among these may be mentioned a fear of consequences to person and property, tinkering, trafficking and amus.e.m.e.nt, and corruption on the part of those in power. But in the character of the Gipsies itself may be found a general cause for their escaping the effects of the laws pa.s.sed against them, viz., _wheedling_. The term Gitano has been variously modified in the Spanish language, thus:

Gitano. _Gipsy_, _flatterer_; Gitanillo, _a little Gipsy_; Gitanismo, _the Gipsy tribe_; Gitanesco, _Gipsy-like_; Gitanear, _to flatter_, _entice_; Gitaneria, _wheedling_, _flattery_; Gitanamento, _in a sly, winning manner_; Gitanada, _blandishment_, _wheedling_, _flattery_.--ED.

From their first arrival in the country till 1579, the Gipsies, as already mentioned, appear to have been treated as a separate people, observing their own laws and customs. In the year 1587, such was the state of society in Scotland, that laws were pa.s.sed by James VI, compelling all the baronial proprietors of lands, chiefs and captains of clans, on the Borders and Highlands of Scotland, to find pledges and securities for the peaceable conduct of their retainers, tenants, clansmen, and other inhabitants of their respective estates and districts.[78] In the same parliament another act was pa.s.sed, allowing vagabonds and broken and unpledged men to produce pledges and securities for their good conduct. The Gipsies, under these statutes, would remain unmolested, as they would readily find protection by becoming, nominally, clansmen, and a.s.suming the surnames, of those chieftains and n.o.blemen who were willing and able to afford them protection.[79]

Indeed, the act allowing vagabonds to find sureties would include the Gipsy bands, for, about this period, they seem to have been only cla.s.sed with our own native vagabonds, moss-troopers, Border and Highland thieves, broken clans and masterless men. It appears by the act of 1609, that the Gipsies had even purchased their protection from the government. The inhabitants of Scotland being at this period still divided into clans, would greatly facilitate the escape of the Gipsies from the laws pa.s.sed against them. The clans on the Borders and Highlands were in a state of almost constant warfare with one another; and frequently several of the clans were united in opposition to the regular government of the country, to whose mandates they paid little or no regard. The Gipsies had no settled residence, but roamed from place to place over the whole country; and when they found themselves in danger in one place, they had no more to do but remove into the district inhabited by a hostile clan, where they would immediately find protection. Besides, the Borderers and Highlanders, themselves plunderers and thieves, would not be very active in apprehending their brother thieves, the Gipsies. Even, according to Holinshed, "the poison of theft and robbery pervaded almost all cla.s.ses of the Scottish community about this period."

[78] There were 17 clans on the Borders, and 34 clans in the Highlands, who appear to have had chiefs and captains over them. There were 22 baronial proprietors connected with the Borders, and 106 connected with the Highlands, named in a roll, who were likewise ordered to find pledges.--_Glendook's Scots Acts._

[79] It sometimes happened, when an internal quarrel took place in a clan, portions of the tribe left their chief, and united themselves to another, whose name they a.s.sumed and dropped their original one.

The excessive severity of the sanguinary statute of 1609, and the unrelenting manner in which it was often carried into effect, were calculated to produce a great outward change on the Scottish Gipsies.

Like stags selected from a herd of deer, and doomed to be hunted down by dogs, these wanderers were now singled out, and separated from the community, as objects to whom no mercy was to be shown.[80] The word Egyptian would never be allowed to escape their lips; not a syllable of their peculiar speech would be uttered, unless in the midst of their own tribe. It is also highly probable that every part of their dress by which their fraternity could be recognized, would be carefully discontinued. To deceive the public, they would also conform _externally_ to some of the religious rites, ceremonies, observances, and other customs of the natives of Scotland. I am further inclined to think that it would be about this period, and chiefly in consequence of these b.l.o.o.d.y enactments, the Gipsies would, in general, a.s.sume the ordinary christian and surnames common at that time in Scotland. And their usual sagacity pointed out to them the advantages arising from taking the cognomens of the most powerful families in the kingdom, whose influence would afford them ample protection, as adopted members of their respective clans. In support of my opinion of the origin of the surnames of the Gipsies of the present day, we find that the most prevailing names among them are those of the most influential of our n.o.ble families of Scotland; such as Stewart, Gordon, Douglas, Graham, Ruthven, Hamilton, Drummond, Kennedy, Cunningham, Montgomery, Kerr, Campbell, Maxwell, Johnstone, Ogilvie, McDonald, Robertson, Grant, Baillie, Shaw, Burnet, Brown, Keith, &c.[81] If, even at the present day, you enquire at the Gipsies respecting their descent, the greater part of them will tell you that they are sprung from a b.a.s.t.a.r.d son of this or that n.o.ble family, or other person of rank and influence, of their own surname.[82] This pretended connexion with families of high rank and power has saved some of the tribe from the gallows even in our own time. The names, however, of the two princ.i.p.al families, Faw, (now Faa,) and Bailyow, (now Baillie,) appear not to have been changed since the date of the order in council or league with James V, in the year 1540, as both of these names are inserted in that doc.u.ment.