One Thousand Copies were printed.

The book was set up in type towards the end of 1873, and published early in 1874. Proof-sheets still exist bearing the earlier date upon the title-page.

A considerable amount of Verse by Borrow made its first appearance in the pages of Romano Lavo-Lil, as detailed in the following list:

Contents

page
Little Sayings:
1. [ Whatever ignorance men may show] 109
2. [What must I do, mother, to make you well?] 111
3. [I would rather hear him speak than hear Lally sing] 115
English Gypsy Songs:
1. The Gypsy Meeting. [Who’s your mother, who’s your father?] 175
2. Making a Fortune (1). [Come along, my little gypsy girl] 177
3. Making a Fortune (2). [Come along, my little gypsy girl] 179
The Two Gypsies. [Two gypsy lads were transported] 181
My Roman Lass. [As I to the town was going one day] This is the first stanza only of The English Gypsy. The complete Song will be found in Marsk Stig’s Daughters and Other Songs and Ballads, 1913, pp. 14–15. Here is the concluding stanza, omitted in Romano Lavo-Lil: As I to the town was going one day,
I met a young Roman upon the way.
Said he, “Young maid will you share my lot?”
Said I, “Another wife you’ve got.”
“No, no!” the handsome young Roman cried,
“No wife have I in the world so wide;
And you my wedded wife shall be,
If you will share my lot with me.” 		183
Yes, my Girl. [If to me you prove untrue] 185
The Youthful Earl. [Said the youthful earl to the Gypsy girl] 185
Love Song. [I’d choose as pillows for my head] 187
Woe is Me. [I’m sailing across the water] 189
The Squire and Lady. [The squire he roams the good greenwood] 191
Gypsy Lullaby. [Sleep thee, little tawny boy!] 193
Our Blessed Queen. [Coaches fine in London] 195
Run for it. [Up, up, brothers!] This is the first stanza only of the Gypsy Song, printed complete in Marsk Stig’s Daughters and other Songs and Ballads, 1913, p. 16. 195
The Romany Songstress. [Her temples they are aching] 199
The Friar. [A Friar Was preaching once with zeal and with fire] The Manuscript of these amusing verses, which were translated by Borrow from the dialect of the Spanish Gypsies, affords some curious variants from the published text. Here are the lines as they stand in the MS.: A Friar
Was preaching once with zeal and with fire;
And a butcher of the plain
Had lost a bonny swine;
And the friar did opine
That the Gypsies it had ta’en.
So, breaking off, he shouted, “Gypsy ho!
Hie home, and from the pot
Take the butcher’s porker out,
The porker good and fat,
And in its place throw
A clout, a dingy clout
Of thy brat, of thy brat;
A clout, a dingy clout,
of thy brat.” 		201
Malbrouk. From the Spanish Gypsy Version. [Malbrouk is gone to the wars] 205
Sorrowful Years. [The wit and the skill] 211
Fortune-Telling. [Late rather one morning] 240
The Fortune-Teller’s Song. [Britannia is my name] 243
Gypsy Stanza. [Can you speak the Roman tongue?] 254
Charlotte Cooper. [Old Charlotte I am called] 259
Epigram. [A beautiful face and a black wicked mind] 262
Lines. [Mickie, Huwie and Larry bold] 272
Lines. [What care we, though we be so small?] 280
Ryley Bosvil. [The Gorgios seek to hang me] 296
Ryley and the Gypsy. [Methinks I see a brother] 298
To Yocky Shuri. [Beneath the bright sun, there is none, there is none] 301
Lines. [Roman lads Before the door] 325

As I to the town was going one day,
I met a young Roman upon the way.
Said he, “Young maid will you share my lot?”
Said I, “Another wife you’ve got.”
“No, no!” the handsome young Roman cried,
“No wife have I in the world so wide;
And you my wedded wife shall be,
If you will share my lot with me.”

A Friar
Was preaching once with zeal and with fire;
And a butcher of the plain
Had lost a bonny swine;
And the friar did opine
That the Gypsies it had ta’en.
So, breaking off, he shouted, “Gypsy ho!
Hie home, and from the pot
Take the butcher’s porker out,
The porker good and fat,
And in its place throw
A clout, a dingy clout
Of thy brat, of thy brat;
A clout, a dingy clout,
of thy brat.”

Upon page 122 of Romano Lavo-Lil, is printed a version of The Lord’s Prayer cast into Romany by Borrow. The original Manuscript of this translation has survived, and its text presents some curious variations from the published version. A reduced facsimile of this Manuscript serves as Frontispiece to the present Bibliography.

Accompanying the Manuscript of The Lord’s Prayer in Romany, is the Manuscript of a translation made by Borrow into the dialect of the English Gypsies. This translation has never, so far as I am aware, appeared in print. It is an interesting document, and well worthy of preservation. A reduced facsimile of it will be found facing the present page.