‘And would it clear you in their eyes?’
‘Would it not, brother? When they saw the blood running down from the fellow’s cracked poll on his greens and Lincolns, they would be quite satisfied; why the fellow would not be able to show his face at fair or merry-making for a year and three-quarters.’
‘Did you ever try it, Ursula?’
‘Can’t say I ever did, brother, but it would do.’
‘And how did you ever learn such a method of proceeding?’
‘Why ’t is advised by gypsy liri, [70] brother. It’s part of our way of settling difficulties amongst ourselves; for example, if a young Roman were to say the thing which is not respecting Ursula and himself, Ursula would call a great meeting of the people, who would all sit down in a ring, the young fellow amongst them; a coko would then put a stick in Ursula’s hand, who would then get up and go to the young fellow, and say, “Did I play the --- with you?” and were he to say “Yes,” she would crack his head before the eyes of all.’
‘Well,’ said I, ‘Ursula, I was bred an apprentice to gorgio law, and of course ought to stand up for it, whenever I conscientiously can, but I must say the gypsy manner of bringing an action for defamation is much less tedious, and far more satisfactory than the gorgiko one.
I wish you now to clear up a certain point which is rather mysterious to me. You say that for a Romany chi to do what is unseemly with a gorgio, is quite out of the question, yet only the other day I heard you singing a song in which a Romany chi confesses herself to be cambri [71a] by a grand gorgious gentleman.’
‘A sad let down,’ said Ursula.
‘Well,’ said I, ‘sad or not, there’s the song that speaks of the thing, which you give me to understand is not.’