Part 16 (1/2)
LA BAR LACHI, OR THE LOADSTONE. - If the Gitanos in general be addicted to any one superst.i.tion, it is certainly with respect to this stone, to which they attribute all kinds of miraculous powers.
There can be no doubt, that the singular property which it possesses of attracting steel, by filling their untutored minds with amazement, first gave rise to this veneration, which is carried beyond all reasonable bounds.
They believe that he who is in possession of it has nothing to fear from steel or lead, from fire or water, and that death itself has no power over him. The Gypsy contrabandistas are particularly anxious to procure this stone, which they carry upon their persons in their expeditions; they say, that in the event of being pursued by the jaraca.n.a.llis, or revenue officers, whirlwinds of dust will arise, and conceal them from the view of their enemies; the horse- stealers say much the same thing, and a.s.sert that they are uniformly successful, when they bear about them the precious stone.
But it is said to be able to effect much more. Extraordinary things are related of its power in exciting the amorous pa.s.sions, and, on this account, it is in great request amongst the Gypsy hags; all these women are procuresses, and find persons of both s.e.xes weak and wicked enough to make use of their pretended knowledge in the composition of love-draughts and decoctions.
In the case of the loadstone, however, there is no pretence, the Gitanas believing all they say respecting it, and still more; this is proved by the eagerness with which they seek to obtain the stone in its natural state, which is somewhat difficult to accomplish.
In the museum of natural curiosities at Madrid there is a large piece of loadstone originally extracted from the American mines.
There is scarcely a Gitana in Madrid who is not acquainted with this circ.u.mstance, and who does not long to obtain the stone, or a part of it; its being placed in a royal museum serving to augment, in their opinion, its real value. Several attempts have been made to steal it, all of which, however, have been unsuccessful. The Gypsies seem not to be the only people who envy royalty the possession of this stone. Pepita, the old Gitana of whose talent at telling fortunes such honourable mention has already been made, informed me that a priest, who was muy enamorado (in love), proposed to her to steal the loadstone, offering her all his sacerdotal garments in the event of success: whether the singular reward that was promised had but slight temptations for her, or whether she feared that her dexterity was not equal to the accomplishment of the task, we know not, but she appears to have declined attempting it. According to the Gypsy account, the person in love, if he wish to excite a corresponding pa.s.sion in another quarter by means of the loadstone, must swallow, IN AGUARDIENTE, a small portion of the stone pulverised, at the time of going to rest, repeating to himself the following magic rhyme:-
'To the Mountain of Olives one morning I hied, Three little black goats before me I spied, Those three little goats on three cars I laid, Black cheeses three from their milk I made; The one I bestow on the loadstone of power, That save me it may from all ills that lower; The second to Mary Padilla I give, And to all the witch hags about her that live; The third I reserve for Asmodeus lame, That fetch me he may whatever I name.'
LA RAIZ DEL BUEN BARON, OR THE ROOT OF THE GOOD BARON. - On this subject we cannot be very explicit. It is customary with the Gitanas to sell, under this t.i.tle, various roots and herbs, to unfortunate females who are desirous of producing a certain result; these roots are boiled in white wine, and the abominable decoction is taken fasting. I was once shown the root of the good baron, which, in this instance, appeared to be parsley root. By the good baron is meant his Satanic majesty, on whom the root is very appropriately fathered.
CHAPTER VII
IT is impossible to dismiss the subject of the Spanish Gypsies without offering some remarks on their marriage festivals. There is nothing which they retain connected with their primitive rites and principles, more characteristic perhaps of the sect of the Rommany, of the sect of the HUSBANDS AND WIVES, than what relates to the marriage ceremony, which gives the female a protector, and the man a helpmate, a sharer of his joys and sorrows. The Gypsies are almost entirely ignorant of the grand points of morality; they have never had sufficient sense to perceive that to lie, to steal, and to shed human blood violently, are crimes which are sure, eventually, to yield bitter fruits to those who perpetrate them; but on one point, and that one of no little importance as far as temporal happiness is concerned, they are in general wiser than those who have had far better opportunities than such unfortunate outcasts, of regulating their steps, and distinguis.h.i.+ng good from evil. They know that chast.i.ty is a jewel of high price, and that conjugal fidelity is capable of occasionally flinging a suns.h.i.+ne even over the dreary hours of a life pa.s.sed in the contempt of almost all laws, whether human or divine.
There is a word in the Gypsy language to which those who speak it attach ideas of peculiar reverence, far superior to that connected with the name of the Supreme Being, the creator of themselves and the universe. This word is LACHA, which with them is the corporeal chast.i.ty of the females; we say corporeal chast.i.ty, for no other do they hold in the slightest esteem; it is lawful amongst them, nay praiseworthy, to be obscene in look, gesture, and discourse, to be accessories to vice, and to stand by and laugh at the worst abominations of the Busne, provided their LACHA YE TRUPOS, or corporeal chast.i.ty, remains unblemished. The Gypsy child, from her earliest years, is told by her strange mother, that a good Calli need only dread one thing in this world, and that is the loss of Lacha, in comparison with which that of life is of little consequence, as in such an event she will be provided for, but what provision is there for a Gypsy who has lost her Lacha? 'Bear this in mind, my child,' she will say, 'and now eat this bread, and go forth and see what you can steal.'
A Gypsy girl is generally betrothed at the age of fourteen to the youth whom her parents deem a suitable match, and who is generally a few years older than herself. Marriage is invariably preceded by betrothment; and the couple must then wait two years before their union can take place, according to the law of the Cales. During this period it is expected that they treat each other as common acquaintance; they are permitted to converse, and even occasionally to exchange slight presents. One thing, however, is strictly forbidden, and if in this instance they prove contumacious, the betrothment is instantly broken and the pair are never united, and thenceforward bear an evil reputation amongst their sect. This one thing is, going into the campo in each other's company, or having any rendezvous beyond the gate of the city, town, or village, in which they dwell. Upon this point we can perhaps do no better than quote one of their own stanzas:-
'Thy sire and mother wrath and hate Have vowed against us, love!
The first, first night that from the gate We two together rove.'
With all the other Gypsies, however, and with the Busne or Gentiles, the betrothed female is allowed the freest intercourse, going whither she will, and returning at all times and seasons.
With respect to the Busne, indeed, the parents are invariably less cautious than with their own race, as they conceive it next to an impossibility that their child should lose her Lacha by any intercourse with THE WHITE BLOOD; and true it is that experience has proved that their confidence in this respect is not altogether idle. The Gitanas have in general a decided aversion to the white men; some few instances, however, to the contrary are said to have occurred.
A short time previous to the expiration of the term of the betrothment, preparations are made for the Gypsy bridal. The wedding-day is certainly an eventful period in the life of every individual, as he takes a partner for better or for worse, whom he is bound to cherish through riches and poverty; but to the Gypsy particularly the wedding festival is an important affair. If he is rich, he frequently becomes poor before it is terminated; and if he is poor, he loses the little which he possesses, and must borrow of his brethren; frequently involving himself throughout life, to procure the means of giving a festival; for without a festival, he could not become a Rom, that is, a husband, and would cease to belong to this sect of Rommany.
There is a great deal of what is wild and barbarous attached to these festivals. I shall never forget a particular one at which I was present. After much feasting, drinking, and yelling, in the Gypsy house, the bridal train sallied forth - a frantic spectacle.
First of all marched a villainous jockey-looking fellow, holding in his hands, uplifted, a long pole, at the top of which fluttered in the morning air a snow-white cambric handkerchief, emblem of the bride's purity. Then came the betrothed pair, followed by their nearest friends; then a rabble rout of Gypsies, screaming and shouting, and discharging guns and pistols, till all around rang with the din, and the village dogs barked. On arriving at the church gate, the fellow who bore the pole stuck it into the ground with a loud huzza, and the train, forming two ranks, defiled into the church on either side of the pole and its strange ornaments.
On the conclusion of the ceremony, they returned in the same manner in which they had come.
Throughout the day there was nothing going on but singing, drinking, feasting, and dancing; but the most singular part of the festival was reserved for the dark night. Nearly a ton weight of sweetmeats had been prepared, at an enormous expense, not for the gratification of the palate, but for a purpose purely Gypsy. These sweetmeats of all kinds, and of all forms, but princ.i.p.ally yemas, or yolks of eggs prepared with a crust of sugar (a delicious bonne- bouche), were strewn on the floor of a large room, at least to the depth of three inches. Into this room, at a given signal, tripped the bride and bridegroom DANCING ROMALIS, followed amain by all the Gitanos and Gitanas, DANCING ROMALIS. To convey a slight idea of the scene is almost beyond the power of words. In a few minutes the sweetmeats were reduced to a powder, or rather to a mud, the dancers were soiled to the knees with sugar, fruits, and yolks of eggs. Still more terrific became the lunatic merriment. The men sprang high into the air, neighed, brayed, and crowed; whilst the Gitanas snapped their fingers in their own fas.h.i.+on, louder than castanets, distorting their forms into all kinds of obscene att.i.tudes, and uttering words to repeat which were an abomination.
In a corner of the apartment capered the while Sebastianillo, a convict Gypsy from Melilla, strumming the guitar most furiously, and producing demoniacal sounds which had some resemblance to Malbrun (Malbrouk), and, as he strummed, repeating at intervals the Gypsy modification of the song:-
'Chala Malbrun chinguerar, Birandon, birandon, birandera - Chala Malbrun chinguerar, No se bus trutera - No se bus trutera.
No se bus trutera.