ROMANY LIFE
ROMANY LIFE
EXPERIENCED AND OBSERVED DURING
MANY YEARS OF FRIENDLY INTERCOURSE
WITH THE GYPSIES
BY
FRANK CUTTRISS
ILLUSTRATED WITH A LARGE NUMBER OF UNIQUE
PHOTOGRAPHS AND OTHER PICTURES BY THE AUTHOR
MILLS & BOON LIMITED
49 RUPERT STREET
LONDON, W.
First published 1915
PREFACE
IT is a curious fact, that while very few canbe found nowadays to accept withoutquestion, fanciful or otherwise, unscientificstatements concerning natural objects or supernaturalhappenings, many time-worn, misleadingaccounts of gypsies and what they are supposedto do—but do not—are still implicitly creditedby a great majority of thinking people. Asolution of this may be looked for in one orother of the following surmises, perhaps—moreor less—in all:
That the widespread unacquaintance withthe real Romany character and gypsy life isdue to the dearth of reliable information,and to the fictional nature of much that hasbeen written on the subject.
That most writers have endeavoured tosatisfy the public interest in the subject bythe ever-available fiction, for the reasonthat the suspicious, reticent, and often unapproachableattitude of gypsies generallyviiirenders it difficult to provide material fromthe life.
That the prevailing unsympathetic attitudeof non-gypsies in general, and of manyof those who would approach the gypsiesfor literary purposes in particular, reactson them and increases the tenseness of thesituation.
Hearsay, in matters concerning the gypsies,even when emanating from presumably reliablesources, cannot altogether be relied upon. Unlessone lives among them and as one of them,goes freely to and fro, sees and hears for himself,understanding the while most of what maybe said in Romany, slang and English,—alingual conglomerate heard nowhere but amongthese people,—his accounts will be of littlevalue in depicting aspects of Romany life.
Just how much truth, if any, there may be inthe invariable assertion by gypsies, that I havea good deal of the true Romany in my composition,I am unable to say; there can, however,be no doubt whatever of their belief in it,nor that their tenacity on the point, coupledwith my adaptability to their manner of life,and my use of their tongue (which I cannot butixadmit seems to me a language I might haveused in a previous existence), have proved averitable “open sesame,” admitting me to theinnermost circle of friendship, and enabling me,while not breaking faith with them, to describetruthfully, customs and aspects of their lifewhich do not come within the ken of the gorgioor non-gypsy.
Although it might be considered by some, thatthe insertion of a certain amount of fiction wouldadd glitter to my narration, I have religiouslyrefrained from making any such addition, feelingthat th