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exceedingly disagreeable voice; owing to a cold which I had had for some time; and which I had caught amongst the lakes of Loughmaben; whilst hunting after Gypsies whom I could not find; I exclaimed:
〃Sossi your nav? Pukker mande tute's nav! Shan tu a mumpli…mushi; or a tatchi Romany?〃
Which; interpreted into Gorgio; runs thus:
〃What is your name? Tell me your name! Are you a mumping woman; or a true Gypsy?〃
The woman appeared frightened; and for some time said nothing; but only stared at me。 At length; recovering herself; she exclaimed; in an angry tone; 〃Why do you talk to me in that manner; and in that gibberish? I don't understand a word of it。〃
〃Gibberish!〃 said I; 〃it is no gibberish; it is Zingarrijib; Romany rokrapen; real Gypsy of the old order。〃
〃Whatever it is;〃 said the woman; 〃it's of no use speaking it to me。 If you want to speak to me; you must speak English or Scotch。〃
〃Why; they told me as how you were a Gypsy;〃 said I。
〃And they told you the truth;〃 said the woman; 〃I am a Gypsy; and a real one; I am not ashamed of my blood。〃
〃If yer were a Gyptian;〃 said I; 〃yer would be able to speak Gyptian; but yer can't; not a word。〃
〃At any rate;〃 said the woman; 〃I can speak English; which is more than you can。 Why; your way of speaking is that of the lowest vagrants of the roads。〃
〃Oh; I have two or three ways of speaking English;〃 said I; 〃and when I speaks to low wagram folks; I speaks in a low wagram manner。〃
〃Not very civil;〃 said the woman。
〃A pretty Gypsy!〃 said I; 〃why; I'll be bound you don't know what a churi is!〃
The woman gave me a sharp look; but made no reply。
〃A pretty queen of the Gypsies!〃 said I; 〃why; she doesn't know the meaning of churi!〃
〃Doesn't she?〃 said the woman; evidently nettled; 〃doesn't she?〃
〃Why; do you mean to say that you know the meaning of churi?〃
〃Why; of course I do;〃 said the woman。
〃Hardly; my good lady;〃 said I; 〃hardly; a churi to you is merely a churi。〃
〃A churi is a knife;〃 said the woman; in a tone of defiance; 〃a churi is a knife。〃
〃Oh; it is;〃 said I; 〃and yet you tried to persuade me that you had no peculiar language of your own; and only knew English and Scotch: churi is a word of the language in which I spoke to you at first; Zingarrijib; or Gypsy language; and since you know that word; I make no doubt that you know others; and in fact can speak Gypsy。 Come; let us have a little confidential discourse together。〃
The woman stood for some time; as if in reflection; and at length said: 〃Sir; before having any particular discourse with you; I wish to put a few questions to you; in order to gather from your answers whether it is safe to talk to you on Gypsy matters。 You pretend to understand the Gypsy language: if I find you do not; I will hold no further discourse with you; and the sooner you take yourself off the better。 If I find you do; I will talk with you as long as you like。 What do you call that?〃and she pointed to the fire。
〃Speaking Gyptianly?〃 said I。
The woman nodded。
〃Whoy; I calls that yog。〃
〃Hm;〃 said the woman: 〃and the dog out there?〃
〃Gyptian…loike?〃 said I。
〃Yes。〃
〃Whoy; I calls that a juggal。〃
〃And the hat on your head?〃
〃Well; I have two words for that: a staury and a stadge。〃
〃Stadge;〃 said the woman; 〃we call it here。 Now what's a gun?〃
〃There is no Gypsy in England;〃 said I; 〃can tell you the word for a gun; at least the proper word; which is lost。 They have a wordyag… engrobut that is a made…up word signifying a fire…thing。〃
〃Then you don't know the word for a gun;〃 said the Gypsy。
〃Oh dear me! Yes;〃 said I; 〃the genuine Gypsy word for a gun is puschca。 But I did not pick up that word in England; but in Hungary; where the Gypsies retain their language better than in England: puschca is the proper word for a gun; and not yag…engro; which may mean a fire…shovel; tongs; poker; or anything connected with fire; quite as well as a gun。〃
〃Puschca is the word; sure enough;〃 said the Gypsy。 〃I thought I should have caught you there; and now I have but one more question to ask you; and when I have done so; you may as well go; for I am quite sure you cannot answer it。 What is Nokkum?〃
〃Nokkum;〃 said I; 〃nokkum?〃
〃Aye;〃 said the Gypsy; 〃what is Nokkum? Our people here; besides their common name of Romany; have a private name for themselves; which is Nokkum or Nokkums。 Why do the children of the Caungri Foros call themselves Nokkums?〃
〃Nokkum;〃 said I; 〃nokkum? The root of nokkum must be nok; which signifieth a nose。〃
〃A…h!〃 said the Gypsy; slowly drawing out the monosyllable; as if in astonishment。
〃Yes;〃 said I; 〃the root of nokkum is assuredly nok; and I have no doubt that your people call themselves Nokkum because they are in the habit of nosing the Gorgios。 Nokkums means Nosems。〃
〃Sit down; sir;〃 said the Gypsy; handing me a chair。 〃I am now ready to talk to you as much as you please about Nokkum words and matters; for I see there is no danger。 But I tell you frankly that had I not found that you knew as much as; or a great deal more than; myself; not a hundred pounds; nor indeed all the money in Berwick; should have induced me to hold discourse with you about the words and matters of the Brown children of Kirk Yetholm。〃
I sat down in the chair which she handed me; she sat down in another; and we were presently in deep discourse about matters Nokkum。 We first began to talk about words; and I soon found that her knowledge of Romany was anything but extensive; far less so; indeed; than that of the commonest English Gypsy woman; for whenever I addressed her in regular Gypsy sentences; and not in poggado jib; or broken language; she would giggle and say I was too deep for her。 I should say that the sum total of her vocabulary barely amounted to three hundred words。 Even of these there were several which were not pure Gypsy wordsthat is; belonging to the speech which the ancient Zingary brought with them to Britain。 Some of her bastard Gypsy words belonged to the cant or allegorical jargon of thieves; who; in order to disguise their real meaning; call one thing by the name of another。 For example; she called a shilling a 'hog;' a word belonging to the old English cant dialect; instead of calling it by the genuine Gypsy term tringurushi; the literal meaning of which is three groats。 Then she called a donkey 'asal;' and a stone 'cloch;' which words are neither cant nor Gypsy; but Irish or Gaelic。 I incurred her vehement indignation by saying they were Gaelic。 She contradicted me flatly; and said that whatever else I might know I was quite wrong there; for that neither she nor any one of her people would condescend to speak anything so low as Gaelic; or indeed; if they possibly could avoid it; to have anything to do with the poverty…stricken creatures who used it。 It is a singular fact that; though principally owing to the magic writings of Walter Scott; the Highland Gael and Gaelic have obtained the highest reputation in every other part of the world; they are held in the Lowlands in very considerable contempt。 There the Highlander; elsewhere 〃the bold Gael with sword and buckler;〃 is the type of poverty a