The romantic lure written about nomadic gypsies has existed for centuries. These were tales of heroic magic, evil tricksters, conjuring spirits and humble wizards with light hands and nimble minds. Unfortunately, the human psyche has been embedded with deep fearful mysteries, and many parents kept their offspring in check by creating evil genies who could read minds, cards and crystal balls,thereby again, supposedly, capturing their wayward souls if they stepped out of cadence line. Superstition has always intrigued the alter ego and stirred the ever imaginative ID. Underling fear.
Gypsies were always nomadic. They could not, or would not, remain long enough to take root in any locale. This wandering spirit encouraged stories about thievery, alchemy, witches, baby and chicken snatchers.
Innate fears fed these foibles. Modern tales of darkness shivering the spine are the remnants of fear mongering evil placed like curses upon innocent nomadic people. No race is more widely scattered over the world. Gypsy thinkers traveled and worked their way across continents. Most believe that gypsies originated in India. The swirling saris, gold disked chains, and dancing dervish rhythms indicate a connection.
They were fluid of wit and quickly realized the superstitious gullibility of other uneducated, untrained, fearful innocents. They learned to utilize flair, wit and sleight of hand trickery. There are tales about gypsies in virtually all countries. These have been fed also by religious fanaticism which saw evil everywhere. When anything, or anyone does not fit the normal pattern, fears arise. It has always been easy to point a finger.
This history in tales and legends of known gypsies tugs at imagination and tweaks intellect. Francis Hines Grooms penned this collection in 1899. I suspect he had been collecting information for a long time previous to that. He claimed not to be a folklorist, but he skillfully extricated questions that arose pertaining to Egyptian studies which included philology, technology, archaeology, history and music. These overlap and one naturally inquisitive course was evidenced in this collective history. He was indeed a scholar from Edinburgh, Scotland. I enjoyed these tales.
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