BOOK OF THE WEEK

Taranaki Daily News, 2 September 1933, Page 13 (Supplement)

BOOK OF THE WEEK

RAMBLES IN GYPSY-LAND

CBy

U.S.)

"Raggle-Taggle, Adventures with a Fiddle in Hungary and Rouinania," by Professor Walter Starkie, University of Dublin. John Murray. London, per A. J. Fyfe Ltd., New Plymouth. Price 12s.

“Raggle-Taggle” is the story of a ramble made by a Professor of languages in that little-known country shared between Hungary and Roumania that the •gypsies claim as their homeland. Professor Starkie conceived the idea of making for himself an unusual holiday by living for a few weeks the vagabond life of a gypsy in his own country who has to rely for his livelihood on his fiddle. The author has obviously enjoyed writing the book, and as. a “good companion” wishes to share with others some of the interest, some of the humour and some of the -knowledge he gained in his excursion into the haunts of the gypsies.

It would be difficult to find any European race of which less is known in New Zealand than the gypsy. Like the Jew, he retains nationality, tradition, religion and social life that is at one and the same time part of and yet distinct from the community life of the peoples among whom the gypsy wanders. Like our own Maori, the gypsy is proud of his tribe and of his traditions. His code of honour is unique, his treatment of his womenkind ruthless and yet full of passion, he responds to music in ali bis moods and finds in it exaltation of spirit that overcomes the sordid circumstance in which he so often finds himself. The gypsy has not the Maori’s genius for fighting,., but he has a finer appreciation of. rhythm; the gypsy woman can express in elaborate embroideries some of the artistry that is in the blood, but for men and women it is the call of music that fires their spirit. Over and over again Professor Starkie tells of intoxication following the playing of gypsy tunes, an intoxication as overwhelming as that caused by the wine drinking that so often became the aftermath of a feast of music.

“Raggle-Taggle” is a book quite out of the ordinary. The psychologist and the moralist have little part in its construction. It is chiefly unhurried delineation of scenes and characters with sometimes a deeper touch of philosophy. The volume reveals a wide knowledge of gypsydom mingled with much compassion, and if sometimes the journey is better than the arrival who shall complain? Men, women and scenery appear vividly before the reader, but through vision that is selective as well as sympathetic. The author is. good company all the time. In addition to showing a good example of craftsmanship—whether it is important as a. contribution to the study of the gypsy race only an expert could say—the “vagabond” odyssey makes of human contacts with a race little known and still less understood a gracious and moving entertainment. For the book is not only lively, shrewd and humorous, it has touches of sadness, of speculation as to the future of the gypsy race, and it deals with difficult post-war history in the Danubian countries without controversy but with observation that will set the student thinking.

No conventions could serve the making of such a book as “Raggle-Taggle. The author’s sometimes ironic but usually agreeable entertainment must rely upon the simplicity of truth and the sincerity of life as he saw it in order to establish contact between his readers and the mystery people of whom he writes. He writes wittily about casinos; the science of begging; beer gardens; gypsy “quarters” mostly constructed of old packing cases and scrap iron, aliye with vermin, dens out of which come odours that leap abroad; of the mixture of lasciviousness and passionate jealousy that makes up the marital and sexual relationships of gypsy folk; of the thieving, lying and profligacy he found on every hand; and yet the author contrives to remember that all these are but the husk round a kernel. The heart of the story is the tragedy as well as the loveableness of a race that is passing, that is losing not only what little hold it ever had upon the people among whom it wandered, but is losing in the present-day struggle for existence the finer qualities it once possessed in full measure.

Most peoole feel from timp to time the “call of the wild,” but it needed an extraordinary personality to see enjoyment in vagabondage in Hungary and Roumania. Professor Starkie makes no apology for following his own desires. A sense of humour and his fiddle were his weapons against the attacks of the flesh and the spirit, and rarely does weariness of either appear. He absorbs gypsy music and story as a sponge water.. The vampire story told, him .in a graveyard bivouac is a study in weird superstition. His claim for music as the only real international language is made with the fervour of a devotee. His descriptions of the country inns, of the cheap hotels of the larger towns, of life in a circus company, of the “play girls” of the inns and their sad and noisome careers, of the music that proved the “open sesame” to farmers’ homes; of gypsy profligacy, of gypsy violin players and the influence they still wield, of gypsy wedding ceremonies and the raronsaTs and promiscuity that accompany them, of Roumania s well-meant and - not unsuccessful efforts to win over the former Magyar towns to loyalty to their new Government; of the adventures which the third-class railway passenger can meet; all these and much more in “Raggle-Taggle” needed not only the “seeing eye,” but the skill and the sincerity to bring it also before the readers’ eyes. The book could so easily have been a temper’s record. Instead it is a series of palpitating adventures linked together by sympathy and compassion.

For those who like to leave the beaten track, in mind if not in body, “RaggleTaggle” will make a strong appeal. It is not a book for the conventional, nor, indeed, for those who consider plain speaking improper. It gives the impress of truth remembered with compassionate sincerity. It leaves the reader assured that humour, peace of mind, music or any other thoroughly well-ridden hobby can still outweigh sadness. That is, of course, assuming each one of us had the wit to assess life aright and walk truly among its common days.

A series of Mr. Dorm Byrne’s famous novels at 4/6 each. “The Golden Goat,” “An Untitled Story,” “Brother Saul,” “Hangman’s House,” “Destiny Bay,” “Crusade,” “The Foolish Matrons.” All these and hundreds of other interesting and remarkable books obtainable from A. J. Fyfe Ltd., “The Bookshop,” Devon Street, New Plymouth.*