Transcribed from the J. B. Lippincott edition ,
THE
GYPSY’S PARSON
HIS EXPERIENCES AND ADVENTURES
BY
The Rev.GEORGE HALL
RECTOR OFRUCKLAND, LINCOLNSHIRE
ILLUSTRATED
PHILADELPHIA
J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY
London:SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON & CO. LTD.
p. vTO
MY WIFE
MY COMPANION
ON MANY A GYPSY-JAUNT
“You must forgiveus. We are barbarians. . . . We are ruffians of thesun . . . and we must be forgiven everything.”
“It is easy to forgive in the sun,” Dominisaid.
“Madame, it is impossible to be anything but lenient inthe sun. That is my experience. . . . But, as I wassaying, the sun teaches one a lesson of charity. When Ifirst came to live in Africa in the midst of thesand-rascals—eh, Madame, I suppose as a priest I ought tohave been shocked by their goings-on. And, indeed I triedto be, I conscientiously did my best, but it was no good. Icouldn’t be shocked. The sunshine drove it all out ofme. I could only say, ‘It is not for me to questionle bon Dieu, and le bon Dieu has created these people and setthem here in the sand to behave as they do. What is mybusiness? I can’t convert them. I can’tchange their morals—I must just be a friend to them, cheerthem up in their sorrows, give them a bit if they’restarving, doctor them a little—I’m a first-rate handat making an Arab take a pill or a powder—when they areill, and I make them at home with the whitemarabout.’ That’s what the sun has taught me,and every sand-rascal and sand-rascal’s child in Amara is afriend of mine.”
“You are fond of the Arabs, then?” she said.
“Of course I am, Madame. I can speak theirlanguage, and I’m as much at home in their tents, and more,than I ever should be at the Vatican—with all respect tothe Holy Father.”
(Conversation between Domini and Father Beret in The Gardenof Allah, quoted here by the kind permission of Mr. RobertHichens.)
p.viiPREFACE
Not a few writers have essayed tostudy the Gypsies in dusty libraries. I have companionedwith them on fell and common, racecourse and fairground, on theturfy wayside and in the city’s heart. In my book,which is a record of actual experiences, I have tried to presentthe Gypsies just as I have found them, without minimising theirfaults or magnifying their virtues. Most of the Gypsiesmentioned in the following pages have now passed away, and ofthose who remain, many have, for obvious reasons, b