 | English-gipsy songs |  |
221
A HANGING MATTER.
One morning in Epping Forest,
Beside the alehouse door,
I talked with the Gipsy Rosa,
As I often had done before.
Beside the alehouse door,
I talked with the Gipsy Rosa,
As I often had done before.
When she whispered quick and softly:
“Don't speak in Rommany,
For there is a policeman,
Who can hear as well as see.”
“Don't speak in Rommany,
For there is a policeman,
Who can hear as well as see.”
“But if he hears us talking,
He will not understand:”—
“Why, don't you know, my master,
It's against the law of the land?
He will not understand:”—
“Why, don't you know, my master,
It's against the law of the land?
“I have heard it from my father,
It may not be spoken or writ;
And many have swung on the gallows
For nothing but talking it.
It may not be spoken or writ;
And many have swung on the gallows
For nothing but talking it.
222
“And it's still down in the law-book,
And was never struck out, d'ye see?
They may swing you off the cross-beam
For a talkin', much more for a writin'
A book in the Rómmany.
And was never struck out, d'ye see?
They may swing you off the cross-beam
For a talkin', much more for a writin'
A book in the Rómmany.
“And though you're a gentleman truly,
Don't go in the way to be hung;
For I say it's a hangin' matter,
This talkin' the Rommany tongue.”
Don't go in the way to be hung;
For I say it's a hangin' matter,
This talkin' the Rommany tongue.”
Charles G. Leland.
I do not know whether the laws passed in many European countries making it death to speak Rommany were also extended to England, or if so, whether they have been repealed. That the Gipsies themselves entertain the opinion that their language is forbidden, invariably manifests itself, even if talking it with gentlemen or ladies, when a policeman approaches. Many a time have I heard the rapidly spoken whispered warning: “Mā rākka Rómmanis, rýa—'dói vélla múscro! Don't talk Rommany, sir!—there comes a policeman!” More than once during my researches I have received such a kindly-meant warning.
| English-gipsy songs | |