But, great as it may be, those who will make it must derive their summary of facts or bases of observation from the past, and therefore I urge the importance of every man who can write doing what he can to collect all that illustrates Humanity as it is and as it was in by-gone ages. It hath not entered into the heart of man to conceive what a Folk-lore or ethnological society in ancient Greece, Rome, or Egypt might not have collected and preserved for the delight of every civilized human being of the present day. It is very true that the number of persons, as yet, who understand this—still less of those who take a real interest in it—is extremely limited, and they do not extend in England, America, or any other country, to more than a few hundreds. To the vast multitude, even of learned men, Folk-lore is only a “craze” for small literary bric-à-brac, a “fancy” which will have its run, and nothing more. To its earnest devotees it is the last great development of the art of learning and writing history, and a timely provision for future social science. It sets forth the most intimate inner life of people as they were, and the origins of our life as it is. In Folk-lore, Philology, Ethnology, and the study of Mythology or Religion find their greatest aid.
The amount of Red Indian Folk-lore which has been suffered to perish in the United States without exciting the least interest is beyond all belief. Thoreau could find in the Algonkin legends of New England nothing but matter for feeble-minded ridicule. But there are men coming, or a generation rising, to whom every record of the past will be of value, for they are beginning to perceive that while the collector is doing work of value the mere theorist, who generally undervalues if he does not actually oppose the collector, will with his rubbish be swept away “down the back-entry of time,” to be utterly forgotten.
Gypsy sorcery-lore is of great value because all over the Aryan world gypsies have in ancient or modern times been, so to speak, the wandering priests of that form of popular religion which consists of a faith in fortune-telling. This is really a very important part in every cult; the most remarkable thing connected with it; as with charms, fetishes, incantations and protective spells, being the extraordinary success with which the more respectable magi have succeeded in convincing their followers that their own sorcery was not “magic” at all, and that the world-old heathen rites, which are substantially the same, are mere modern thieveries from the “established religion.” Prediction and prophecy were the cornerstones of the classic mythology and of the Jewish law; they were equally dear to the Celtic races, and all men seem from the earliest times to have believed that coming events cast their shadows before. How this began and grew requires no deep study. Many disorders are prefaced by uneasy dreams or unaccountable melancholy, even as the greatest disaster which befel the gods of Valhalla was preceded by the troubled dreams of Balder. Sometimes the first symptom of gout is a previous irritability. But if diseases are believed to be caused by the literal occupation of the body by evil spirits these presages will be ascribed to occult spiritual influences. A man in excellent health feels gay—he goes hunting and has luck—of course his guardian spirit is believed to have inspired him to go. Then comes the priest or the gypsy to predict, and the hits are recorded and the misses are promptly forgotten.
The following instance has been related to me in good faith by a learned friend, whose books are well known to all Folk-lorists:—
“I can quote from my own experience a strange event founded on a prediction made to me by a gypsy in 1863. This was before I had learned the language of the Romany or had begun to take any interest in them. At the time of which I speak, I met one day here, in T——, one or two gypsy women bearing as usual babies on their shoulders, when the oldest as I was passing by pointed me out to the bystanders, saying in German, ‘Der Herr hat viel Kummer gehabt’ (‘That gentleman has had much trouble’—or sorrow).
“This was true enough, as I was suffering greatly at the time from a previous bereavement, though I was no longer in mourning, nor was there at the instant any indication of gloom in my looks, for I was in a cheerful humour. So I stopped to ask her why she had made her remark. She replied, ‘Ja, geben Sie mir die linke Hand und legen Sie drei Silbermünze darauf, wenn Sie weiteres hören wollen’ (‘Yes, give me your hand, and put three silver coins on it, if you would hear more’). I did so, when she repeated her assertion as to my sorrow, and added, ‘Aber eine Gräfinn steht für Ihnen’ (‘But there is a countess awaiting you’).
“I laughed at myself for listening to this, and for the strange feeling of interest or faith which I felt in it, and which my common sense told me was ridiculous. And yet the prediction, strangely enough, was fulfilled, though not in the sense in which I suppose most people would have taken it. Soon after I lost another relative, and was overwhelmed with that and other troubles when Providence sent me a friend in that most amiable and remarkable woman the Countess B——, who, with that noble and gracious affability which distinguishes her, as well as her husband, Sir ——, relieved my mind and cheered my depressed spirits.
“I add to this a marvellous story of a gypsy prediction which was uttered here in T—— and published last year in a small biography, but which is worth consideration because I have heard it apparently well authenticated by trustworthy people. A very great disgrace to our town—I am happy to say he was the only one—was a Mr. M——, of very good family. This man kept a mistress named R. M——, who became acquainted with a young man who was employed as a clerk at the Credit Anstalt, and who always at night carried on his person its keys. This M—— learned, and formed the following plot: The victim was to be enticed by the woman to her room, where she proposed to cut his throat, take the keys, and with the aid of M—— to rob the bank and escape. It succeeded so far as that the young man was brought to her room, but when she began to attempt to kill him he struggled, and was overpowering her when M—— entered the room and shot him dead.
“The precious pair were subsequently arrested and tried, and in the report of the proceedings there appears the following curious statement:—
“ ‘It is a singular thing (cosa piu singolare) that to this woman (M——’s mistress, Miss R——), a gypsy woman who pretended to palmistry predicted that she would come to a bad end (ch’essa finirebbe assai male).’ Which she effectually did, being condemned to fourteen years’ hard labour, and would have been hung had not her “interesting state” inclined the judge to mercy.
“There is the following addition in the pamphlet to what has been quoted: ‘Being begged by the said Maria R—— to look more closely into the hand, the Zingara refused to do so, and went away muttering strange or foreign words.’ (Borbottanda strane parole).”
To this my informant adds:—
“I know of a more cheerful case of gypsy prediction, and of quite another kind, and which happened to a friend’s friend of mine, also here in T——. The ‘subject’ was a young lady, who was ‘intended’ or betrothed, to an Italian actor, who had gone to play at Madrid; but for two months she heard nothing from him, and, believing that he had neglected her, was in despair.
“One morning she was passing through one of the main streets, and was talking with my friend, when a dark gypsy girl going by, whispered to her in a hurried manner: ‘Domani avrai una lettera e sarai felice’ (‘To-morrow you will receive a letter and be happy’). Having said this and nothing more, without asking for money, she went away. The promised letter was in fact received, all went well, and the lady is now married to the gentleman. This is all simply true. I leave the comments on the case to investigators. Can it be that gypsies are sometimes clairvoyant?”
My own comment on the case is that, admitting that the gypsy knew beforehand all the circumstances or even the “parties” in the affair, she had divined or “intuited” a result, and risked, as some might call it, or else uttered from a real conviction, her prophecy. How the mind, without any miracle—as miracles are commonly regarded—often arrives quite unconsciously to such conclusions, I have already considered in another chapter. Making every allowance for unconscious exaggeration and the accretive power of transmission, I am willing to believe that the story is actually true.
The following is also perfectly authentic: An English lady of excellent family, meeting a gypsy, was told by the latter that in six months the most important event of her life would come to pass. At the end of the time she died. On her death-bed she said, “I thought the gypsy meant a marriage, but I feel that something far more important is coming, for death is the great end of life.”
The following was told me by a Hungarian gentleman of Szegedin:—