THE TZIGANE IN ROUMANIA.

Bruce Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 97, 16 December 1902, Page 7

THE TZIGANE IN ROUMANIA.

They are always gay, and brin^ merriment wherever they go, ahd therofore, in spite of their somewhat evil reputation, are generally welcome. Hostel ries and fairs are often thronged by thosi gaudy visitors, wh©3e nudity is barely covered by their bright coloured rags, whose j )kes are loud and spirited, and whoEe recklessness is unequalled. Tee Tzigane women are versed in the secrets of witchoraft and magnetism. Oral tradition ban had much to do with their success, and they appear to practice in en uncouth way many of the rites attributed to fchi Thessalian magicians, which, coming primarily from Egypt and India, played a conspicuous part in Greek mythology, says the ' Contemporary Review.' When they desire to call down a. curse on anyone they fear or dislike, they hang a long red rag at the door of their huts, a survival probably of the famous red mantle huug by the priests of Samothncia at the door of the temple when the god was angry •with the city and its inhabitants. They bewitch the waters of wells and rivers, and like the dark sorceresses ol the Middle Ages, whom Michelet so eloquently describes, they mix their love philters of the blood of animals and birds, and persuade some rude Tristam to pursue, or forget, his Isolde. Th*y pietend to influence the elements and to sow death among the cattle. While they are casting their spells and bewitching the neighbours, the men and the children penetrate into the yard of the rich farmer and steal his poultry. Thus the Tzigane are a double curse to the existence of the Eoumanian peasant ; while th 9 man rob 3 him, the woman gains a stroag influence over him through his imagination and superstitious fancies, which no "reasonings of ruligion can combat.