The following interesting reference to ear-piercing is to be found in Exodus XXI. 5, 6:—
“And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free: Then his master shall bring him unto the judges; and shall also bring him to the door, or unto the door post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl; and he shall serve him for ever.”
Under these circumstances the boring of the ear evidently indicated servitude, and it has been suggested the inserting of rings was intended to prevent the holes closing, so that their value as a visible sign of bondage should be permanent; a state of affairs certainly not implied by the ear-ring habit of the present-day gypsy.
In a previous chapter reference was made to the persecution of the gypsies by Henry VIII, and we find that his laws affecting dress, made in 1532, were not of a nature to render life more endurable by people of their proclivities.
“Jewellery of every kind was forbidden below a certain degree, while the common people were not to wear even a silver button or any kind of ornament except a badge of service.” However, all laws regulating dress were repealed by statute in the first year of the reign of James I.
In Eastern countries much larger ear-rings are worn than is customary among ourselves, but even in this country—although a variety of comparatively small patterns, from the plain circle of gold wire to elaborate silver or gold drops, are in favour—very large ones may sometimes be seen in the ears of Romany women. Next to the plain circle in the scale of ornament is the simple crescent (Fig. 1) or a small plain drop, then ear-rings which are a combination of two or more crescents (Fig. 2), or of crescents and different drops, various composite designs, and lastly the very long, and more or less elaborate, pendulous drop patterns, many of these latter being much more striking in appearance than elaborate in design. The largest ear-rings I have yet seen were being worn by an olive-complexioned Romany woman; they were of silver, and consisted mainly of long, angular drops, between three and four inches in length, which were, of course, hollow, the only attempt at ornamentation being a sunk panel in each of the faces (Fig. 3); so long were they that they swung only comfortably clear of the woman’s shoulders, her fine features, dark complexion and black hair, with these outlandish silver ornaments presenting a tout ensemble at once striking and artistic.
JEWELLERY.
Many of the little girls wear ear-rings, mostly of silver but occasionally of gold; the design illustrated at Fig. 4 is a favourite with both adults and children; the originals of the illustration, however, were of gold, worn by a child. Fig. 5 consisted of a diamond-cut stone supporting an amber drop of rather quaint appearance, but whether of Oriental or Birmingham workmanship I cannot say; that illustrated by Fig. 6 was composed of malachite and silver.