Gipsies in England.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLVII, Issue 26, 26 June 1912, Page 47

Gipsies in England.

There remain .in -England about 12,000 gipsies, nomad and ' sedentary, while Scotland and Wales have about 6000 of the same people. The gipsies of Wales and of the 'Northern English counties are noted as retaining more, of the ancient Romany than their kinsfolk of Southern England, who indulge in red hair, snub noses, and blue eyes, and speak such very corrupt Romany that the better class clans refuse to re-

cognise them. Even in the North, inquiring members of the Gipsy Lore Society must distinguish between the true Romanichel and those descendants of Scottish tinkers and degenerate English gipsies who at large horse fairs may be camping on the same ground with the superior Hernes and Boswells. Just now, of course, rural England is enriched by that host of splendid Continental nomads who scattered from their first camp at Birkenhead to test the charms of common and highway, and have not yet reassembled for the further trip to Canada or Brazil. But, still, gipsyism is declining, say observers; and the modern Romany, not to speak of the "posh-rat,” or halfbreed, seems to take more kindly than he should to the ways of city life. The poor gipsy drifts to the slums; the prosperous gipsy does not despise a suburban villa. Even in the countrv a Romany of unimpeachable wanderin' descent may be found settled down quite happily; within the limits of his farm. Between the attractions of , the town, the increasing tolerance of

mixed marriages and the sophistication of onee Arcadian lanes and roads, the lingering remnants of a mysterious race seem bound to be absorbed by degrees in the everyday’ life of the English people.