A Gypsy legend relates that God fashioned the first man from a sour lime and baked him in an oven, but He misjudged the baking-time and burned the man quite black.

It was this man that became the ancestor of the Negroes, and then God made another man and though he took care with his cooking he miscalculated the ingredients and this became the first white man in the world. But third time lucky, and the Lord baked a perfectly brown man that became the ancestor of the Gypsies.

Another less pleasant legend that explores the origin of these nomadic people and that is that they are the descendants of Cain who was outlawed by God to be a 'wanderer, a fugitive on earth' for murdering his brother Abel.

A third story is that as the bodyguards of Christ the Gypsies drank far too much and were thus unable to defend him, and a Gypsy blacksmith is said to have made the nails for the Crucifixion.

The Gypsies are also accused of not giving shelter to the Virgin Mary and Her Child as they fled out of Egypt, and for all these stories the Gypsies are doomed to be the waifs and strays of the earth.

The Gypsy people have roamed the earth since time immemorial and though modern research has shown that they originated from the north of India it was once believed that they had come out of Egypt and were known as 'Egyptians' from which the word Gypsy is derived. In Europe they were known as the 'Lords of Little Egypt' and the word for men of their own race is Rom and from this word  Romany has become a name for all Gypsies.

It is not know when they settled in Britain but during the 15th century they had established themselves in Scotland and may have arrived here much earlier.

The Gypsies were nomadic and hence gathered food and hunted for small game, and became experts in the ways of animals and also herbal medicine. The forests of England were the favourite haunts of these people and the New Forest was for many hundreds of years a well loved home, mainly due to it being abundant in herbs and other medicinal plants, its wild game and also its springs of fresh water. The forest also gave them some protection from the local people who feared and despised these dark eyed people, and persecuted them for many years. The English found their language mysterious and the fact that they used herbs and plants for medicine considered them magicians. There dress was also considered strange, the women like bright colours and wore heavy jewellery and gold-hooped ear-rings which contrasted against their jet black hair, the men also wore ear-rings and had gaudy neckerchiefs.

But above all the English was awed by the nomadic life of these people and the extravagant taboos and rituals that were observed at births, marriages and death in particular, as the gypsy people would smash their tents and wagons into small pieces and set fire to them. Today though these rituals and dress are things of the past and it is difficult to visualize the life of the Gypsy a hundred years ago when most of the families spoke their own language and roamed the countryside in family's. In Hampshire most of the Gypsies have settled in to permanent housing supplied by the local council.

But at the end of the 19th century they could be found still living in tents and wagons at Shave Green, Godshill, Copythorne, Longdown, Thorney Hill, Bransgore and other places deep in the Forest. There were also a few places outside the forest which were popular with the Gypsies, Bournemouth, Blackhill near Wellow and also near the railway town of Eastleigh. It was quite a common site to see them camping in their traditional ways with their tents and carts and the occasional yard, which was a from of wagon.

Today the onslaught of economic pressure and the coming of the petrol engine has taken over from the horse drawn transport, and the Gypsies now use large trailers and trucks as well as modern caravans with all mod cons inside. A true Gypsy caravan is a rare site, though there is one standing in Sandy Balls wood at Godshill which has been lovingly restored. There is a tale that goes with this particular yardo however.

It relates how a young Gypsy lad fell in love with a girl and wanted to marry her. His bride said she wanted a real caravan that was gaily painted with carvings of intricate designs, so he painted the caravan in chrome yellow and merged it into the browns and olive greens of the Forest and painted the shutters and panels in red and blue. Inside there was all the comforts of home and it was said to be one of the most beautiful yardoes in the land and worthy of a true Romany bride.

But sadly the girl died from sickness and it may be then that he carved the two small faces which can be found at the corners of the door lintel, depicting a dark skinned man on one side and a fair haired girl on the other, to remind future generations that this caravan was made especially for two young Gypsy lovers.

It was the right of the wife that the Gypsy husband should provide the living quarters and this was normally a bell shaped tent that had a hole in the top for a chimney. 'Benders' were the traditional type of New Forest Gypsy dwelling and the name came from the fact that they were supported by a semi-circle of green saplings bent over and tied and then covered with leaves or brushwood. Most couples had their own pony and cart but the yardo was normally for the better off Gypsy.

These travellers also took pride in their colour schemes, and bright yellows, reds and blues were painted on their wagons, and a belief among them was that black is unlucky for a caravan and normally meant that somebody in the family would die before the next new moon. Though it is thought that black was used by the didkais, a mixed breed of Gypsies, but the true Romany classed black as taboo.

Gypsies married at young ages and among the pure blooded courtship and marriage were bound strongly by custom. The man often giving his dikia or neckerchief to the girl of his choice who would then fasten it over her hair if she agreed to marry him. Most couples eloped and set up their own camp and live together for a while before returning back the family fold. Though this may seem a casual affair to some, it is a known fact that divorces among the Gypsy people were extremely rare for they believe in the fact that marriage is for life.

The wedding ceremony would vary from one family to another and a lot has been written about the custom of 'jumping the broomstick'. It is unlikley that the New Forest Gypsies observed this custom and it may have been a metaphor used to indicate that the marriage did not take place in a recognised place such as a church.

The simple ceremony of holding hands was probably observed though some complex variations were practised, At Bently in 1878 such a marriage took place between David Burton and Emmy White, and in front of witnesses the couple  held hands and pledged their love for one another. A loaf of bread was broken and a thorn was used to prick the thumbs of both persons and a drop of blood was dropped on each half of the loaf, this was then eaten by the couple, each one eating the half with the others blood on, the rest was them crumbled over their heads. The day after the couple returned to the camp and took part in feasting and drinking, and participating in the singing and dancing which was a part of Gypsy life that was enjoyed.

Birth also had its special customs. Women at this time were classed as mochardi, or unclean, in the ceremonial sense. And a woman that was pregnant was move from the living wagon so that it would not be defiled by the birth.

Records show that in the New Forest, Gypsy women would go alone to a certain holly tree along the Godshill Ridge to give birth, but normally a special tent was set aside and men were not allowed near the scene.

The woman would have her own set of crockery and would not prepare food for weeks before or after the birth. Once the baby was born and quarantine was ended , this could be two weeks or maybe two months, the special tent and everything inside was burnt. Like marriage, the Gypsies would often observe two levels of religious custom. The child would not be touched by its father until it had been christened, normally according to the rites of the Christian Church. These ancient rites have long since gone and Gypsy women have their babies in hospital with the husbands attending, normally in their best suits!

But the customs that were connected with death and burial have lived on and again the living wagon or tent plays an important role. If a member of the family died in it it was burnt. In harder times a special tent was erected for the dying and this was burned instead when the person had died. While the dead lay waiting for burial the Gypsies would fast and a vigil would be kept over the body, sometimes there were three who kept this vigil, which was set out to guard against the ghost of the dead arising to visit a lone person. These were quite common in the New Forest and one is recorded by Frank Cuttriss in 1915, where the watchers were changed at regular intervals. The Gypsy does not like to touch their own dead and a gorgio (non-Gypsy) was brought in to lay the corpse out for burial. The coffin was normally a lot larger than the occupant as they would be buried with their possessions. The body was dressed and buried in his best clothes and if it was a Gypsy woman, all her valuables were placed inside, unless she had full blooded Gypsy daughters to inherit them.

In Otterbourne in 1911, Alice Barney was buried with all her jewellery except a heavy gold ring which was handed to a relative and this is still around today worn by one of her descendants.

Often other things that were considered may be useful in the after life was also buried along with the body, knives, walking sticks, watches and money were all buried and a musician who was skilful would often be buried with his fiddle.

Hampshire Gypsies would often bury their dead with food to feed them on the long journey and to protect them against evil. The prepared body would be given a proper Christian burial and would normally be attended by a large number of people all come to pay their last respects.

When a former, King of the Hampshire Gypsies, Robert Cooper who was a brother of Nethemiah Cooper, was buried the local newspapers carried a report showing that nearly a hundred Gypsies attended.

Tradition says that whatever a Gypsy owned that had not been buried with him was ritually destroyed. The crockery was smashed and cooking implements and iron kettle rods would be hammered out of shape and buried, the living quarters would be bunt and reduced to ashes. Any horse or dogs would be slaughtered and buried and any horse brasses were battered and the harness cut to pieces. Nothing was to be used by the living in case the soul of the dead might return to claim what was rightfully theirs. This belief that the dead must be sent comfortably on to the next world is still around today but most of the rituals are no longer practised.

Some Gypsies however were not buried in consecrated g round and John Bairacli-Levy, who lived for a while in the New Forest found a secret Gypsy burial ground at Woodgreen, and also one at Blackwater near Farnborough may have been one as well. Often a Gypsy killed by accident was buried on the spot and his grave marked by a cross of stones. At Woodgreen there are two crosses pressed flat in the soil that are said to mark the graves of two Gypsies who died during a fight. A rose or thorn bush was often planted on the grave to prevent the ghost from emerging. But normally once the burial had taken place the grave was normally forgotten, though there are instances where an annual pilgrimage has been made to burial grounds, one notable one was or Gernaia Lee who was buried at Otterbourne, and here relatives came every year from Nottingham on the anniversary of her death to tie red ribbons on the thorn bush growing on the grave.    continued>>