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peculiar fashion, and a long staff nearly as tall as herself. I remember her well;—every week she paid my father a visit for her almous, when I was a little boy, and I looked upon Madge with no common degree of awe and terror. When she spoke vehemently (for she had many complaints) she used to strike her staff upon the floor, and throw herself into an attitude which it was impossible to regard with indifference. She used to say that she could bring from the remotest parts of the island, friends to revenge her quarrel, while she sat motionless in her cottage; and she frequently boasted that there was a time when she was of considerable importance, for there were at her wedding fifty saddled asses, and unsaddled asses without number. If Jean Gordon was the prototype of the character of Meg Merrilies, I imagine Madge must have sat to the unknown author as the representative of her person.

"I have ever understood," says the same correspondent, speaking of the Yetholm gypsies, "that they are extremely superstitious—carefully noticing the formation of the clouds, the flight of particular birds, and the soughing of the winds, before attempting any enterprise. They have been known for several successive days to turn back with their loaded carts, asses, and children, upon meeting with persons whom they considered of unlucky aspect; nor do they ever proceed upon their summer peregrinations without some propitious omen of their fortunate return. They also burn the clothes of their dead, not so much from any apprehension of infection being communicated by them, as the conviction that the very circumstance of wearing them would shorten the days of the living. They likewise carefully watch the corpse by night and day till the time of interment, and conceive that 'the deil tinkles at the lykewake' of those who felt in their dead thraw the agonies and terrors of remorse.—I am rather uncertain about the nature of their separate language. They certainly do frequently converse in such a way as completely to conceal their meaning from other people; but it seems doubtful whether the jargon they use, on such occasions, be not a mere slang invented for very obvious purposes. I recollect of having heard them conversing in this manner—and whether it was an imaginary resemblance I know not—but the first time I listened to Hindhustanee spoken fluently, it reminded me of the colloquies of the Yetholm gypsies."

On the subject of the gypsey language, our readers will remark a curious coincidence between the observation just quoted, and the first of the following anecdotes, which we are enabled to state upon the authority and in the words of Mr Walter Scott—a gentleman to whose distinguished assistance and advice we have been on the present occasion very peculiarly indebted, and who has not only furnished us with many interesting particulars himself, but has also obligingly directed us to other sources of curious information:—

"Whether the Yetholm gypsies have a separate language or not, I imagine might be ascertained, though those vagrants always reckon this among their arcana majora. A lady who had been in India addressed some gypsies in the Hindhustanee language, from the received opinion that it is similar to their own. They did not apparently understand her, but were extremely incensed at what they conceived a mockery; so it is probable the sound of the language had an affinity to that of their own.

"Of the Highland gypsies I had the following account from a person of observation, and highly worthy of credit. There are many settled in Kintyre, who travel through the highlands and lowlands annually. They frequently take their route through the passes of Loch Katrine, where they are often to be met with. They certainly speak among themselves a language totally distinct from either Gaelic or Lowland Scotch. A family having settled near my informer for a few days, he wormed some of the words out of a boy of about twelve years old, who communicated them with the utmost reluctance, saying, his grandfather would kill him if he knew of his teaching any one their speech. One of the sentences my informer remembered—it sounded like no language I ever heard, and I am certain it has no affinity with any branch of the Gothic or Celtic dialects. I omitted to write the words down, but they signified, 'I will stick my knife into you, you black son of a devil'—a gypsey-like exclamation. My