broom, and bent, and sell them at Kelso, and the neighbouring towns. After all, their employment can be considered little better than an apology for idleness and vagrancy.
"They are in general great adepts in hunting, shooting, and fishing; in which last they use the net and spear, as well as the rod; and often supply themselves with a hearty meal by their dexterity. They have no notion of being limited in their field sports, either to time, place, or mode of destruction.
"I do not see that the women are any otherwise employed, than attending the young children, and assisting to sell the pottery, when carried through the country."
"Query 3d.Have they any settled abode in winter, and where?
"C.Their residence, with the exception of a single family, who some years ago came to Kelso, is at Kirk-Yetholm, and chiefly confined to one row of houses, or street of that town, which goes by the name of Tinkler-Row. Most of them have leases of their possessions, granted for a term of nineteen times nineteen years, for payment of a small sum yearly; something of the nature of a quit-rent. There is no tradition in the neighbourhood concerning the time when the gypsies first took up their residence at that place, nor whence they came.
"Most of their leases, I believe, were granted by the family of the Bennets of Grubet; the last of whom was Sir David Bennet, who died about sixty years ago. The late Mr Nisbet of Dirleton then succeeded to the estate, comprehending the baronies of Kirk-Yetholm and Grubet. He died about the year 1783; and not long after, the property was acquired by the late Lord Tweeddale's trustees.
"During the latter part of the life of the late Mr Nisbet, he was less frequently at his estate in Roxburghshire than formerly. He was a great favourite of the gypsies, and was in use to call them his body guards, and often gave them money, &c.
"On the other hand, both the late and present Mr Wauchope were of opinion, that the example of these people had a bad effect upon the morals and industry of the neighbourhood; and seeing no prospect of their removal, and as little of their reformation, considered it as a duty to the public, to prevent the evil increasing, and never would consent to any of the colony taking up their residence in Town-Yetholm.
"They mostly remain at home during winter; but as soon as the weather becomes tolerably mild in spring, most of them, men, women, and children, set out on their peregrinations over the country, and live in a state of vagrancy, until again driven into their habitations by the approach of winter.
"Seeming to pride themselves as a separate tribe, they very seldom inter-marry out of the colony; and in rare instances where that happens, the gypsey, whether male or female, by influence and example, always induces the stranger husband or wife to adopt the manners of the colony, so that no improvement is ever obtained in that way. The progeny of such alliances have almost universally the tawny complexion and fine black eyes of the gypsey parent, whether father or mother.
"So strongly remarkable is the gypsey cast of countenance, that even a description of them to a stranger, who has had no opportunity of formerly seeing them, will enable him to know them wherever he meets with them. Some individuals, but very rarely, separate from the colony altogether; and when they do so early in life, and go to a distance, such as to London, or even Edinburgh, their acquaintances in the country get favourable accounts of them. A few betake themselves to regular and constant employments at home, but soon tire, and return to their old way of life.
"When any of them, especially a leader or man of influence, dies, they have full meetings, not only of the colony, but of the gypsies from a distance; and those meetings, or lyke wakes, are by no means conducted with sobriety or decency."
"Query 4th.Are any of their children taught to read, and what proportion of them? With any anecdotes respecting their customs and conduct.
"D.Education being obtained at a cheap rate, the gypsies in general give their male children as good a one as is bestowed on those of the labouring people and farm servants in the neighbourhood; such as reading, writing, and the first principles of arithmetic. They all apply to the clergy-
