Perhaps no more ridiculous statements have ever been made than those relating to the habits of gypsies; one such informs its readers that gypsies darken their hair to black by the “subtle use of certaine herbes,” but omits to state why gypsy women—whose hair is naturally as black and lustrous as possible—should desire, or endeavour to darken it by the application of absurd preparations.
The women are proud of their hair, and spend considerable time in attending to it. I once asked one of them how she managed to keep her hair in such perfect condition.
“If you are not in a hurry to go, I’ll show you,” she replied.
A child was forthwith despatched with a bucket to an adjacent spring for water; meanwhile the woman loosed her hair from its many tiny plaits, and, as she sat upon the ground, it fell around her like a black cascade, and was of such length that it lay upon the ground; she proceeded next to wet the hair thoroughly by the simple method of holding her head over the pail and plying the brush which was now and again plunged into the water.
STYLES OF HAIR-DRESSING.
After partly drying her hair by means of a towel, she allowed the breeze to play through it; grease was now rubbed well into it and as much as possible afterwards removed by brushing, etc. Any grease is used for this purpose, but in this instance I saw ordinary dripping applied, not the “fat of hedgehogs,” stated by writers to be so excellent and to be the grease used by the gypsies.
This brings us to the business of plaiting, and I must confess that this part of the procedure was a revelation to me by reason of the rapidity with which it was executed, reminding me of some gypsy girls whom I once saw plaiting straw basket-work; there was no secrecy or dodging about it, their fingers moved and the work grew, but the movements were so rapid that the process could not be followed. She made five plaits which began near each ear and met behind the head in a series of “door knockers,” to say nothing of several smaller ones; having done this she announced her intention of facing my camera; I would have much preferred her facing me—to use an Irishism—with the back of her head, to enable me to give the reader a better idea of those wonderful plaits than is possible by the pen of a mere man; on Plate 15, however, will be found photographs of styles of hair-dressing, all of which were taken from members of the Romany, or, as some prefer to call themselves, the travelling fraternity.
An article of dress which must not be overlooked is the neckerchief. It is used by both men and women and combines the functions of use and adornment; sometimes they are of silk of brilliant colouring, more often, however, they are composed of less costly material but are not less dazzling in colour, for in the matter of neckerchiefs and handkerchiefs the gypsy usually allows his love for colour full play, and it should occasion no surprise if he blossom out on Sundays in all the glory of a vivid scarlet or yellow neckerchief, which is relieved or ornamented, as the case may be, with spots of a contrasting colour or white as large as a shilling, but it is only just to say that most of the neckerchiefs worn by them are less terrible in their aggressiveness.