t, being sharply
looked after by everybody, and especially by the police, they cannot act
like their ancestors. Their crimes are not generally of a heinous
nature. _Chiving a gry_, or stealing a horse, is, I admit, looked upon
by them with Yorkshire leniency, nor do they regard stealing wood for
fuel as a great sin. In this matter they are subject to great
temptation. When the nights are cold--

"Could anything be more alluring
Than an old hedge?

"As for Gipsy lying, it is so peculiar that it would be hard to explain.
The American who appreciates the phrase 'to sit down and swap lies' would
not be taken in by a Romany _chal_, nor would an old salt who can spin
yarns. They enjoy hugely being lied unto, as do all Arabs or Hindus.
Like many naughty children, they like successful efforts of the
imagination. The old _dyes_, or mothers, are 'awful beggars,' as much by
habit as anything; but they will give as freely as they will take, and
their guest will always experience Oriental hospitality. They are very
fond of all gentlemen and ladies who take a real interest in them, who
understand them, and like them. To such people they are even more honest
than they are to one another. But it must be a real _aficion_, not a
merely amateur affectation of kindness. Owing to their entire ignorance
of ordinary house and home life, they are like children in many respects,
though so shrewd in others. Among the Welsh Gipsies, who are the most
unsophisticated and the most purely Romany, I have met with touching
instances of gratitude and honesty. The child-like ingenuity which some
of them manifested in contriving little gratifications for myself and for
Professor E. H. Palmer, who had been very kind to them, were as naive as
amiable. I have observed that some Gipsies of the more rustic sort loved
to listen to stories, but, like children, they preferred those which they
had heard several times and learned to like. They knew where the laugh
ought to come in. The Gipsy is both bad and good, but neither his faults
nor his virtues are exactly what they are supposed to be. He is
certainly something of a scamp--and, _nomen est omen_, there is a tribe
of Scamps among them--but he is not a bad scamp, and he is certainly a
most amusing and eccentric one.

"There is not the least use in trying to ameliorate the condition of the
Gipsy while he remains a traveller. He will tell you piteous stories,
but he will take care of h