We accordingly passed through a gate, and ascending a street found ourselves before the mosque where I had stood in the morning; in another minute or two we were at the door of Joanna Correa. I now offered my kind guide a piece of silver as a remuneration for his trouble, whereupon he drew himself up and said—
“The silver of my sultan I will not take, for I consider that I have done nothing to deserve it. We have not yet visited all the wonderful things of this blessed town. On a future day I will conduct my sultan to the castle of the governor, and to other places which my sultan will be glad to see; and when we have seen all we can, and my sultan is content with me, if at any time he see me in the soc of a morning, with my basket in my hand, and he see nothing in that basket, then is my sultan at liberty as a friend to put grapes in my basket, or bread in my basket, or fish or meat in my basket. That will I not refuse of my sultan, when I shall have done more for him than I have now. But the silver of my sultan will I not take now nor at any time.” He then waved his hand gently, and departed.
Strange Trio—The Mulatto—The Peace-offering—Moors of Granada—Vive la Guadeloupe—The Moors—Pascual Fava—Blind Algerine—The Retreat.
Three men were seated in the wustuddur of Joanna Correa, when I entered; singular-looking men they all were, though perhaps three were never gathered together more unlike to each other in all points. The first on whom I cast my eye was a man about sixty, dressed in a grey kerseymere coat with short lappets, yellow waistcoat, and wide coarse canvas trousers; upon his head was a very broad dirty straw hat, and in his hand he held a thick cane with ivory handle; his eyes were bleared and squinting, his face rubicund, and his nose much carbuncled. Beside him sat a good-looking black, who perhaps appeared more negro than he really was, from the circumstance of his being dressed in spotless white jean—jerkin, waistcoat, and pantaloons being all of that material: his head gear consisted of a blue montero cap. His eyes sparkled like diamonds, and there was an indescribable expression of good humour and fun upon his countenance. The third man was a Mulatto, and by far the most remarkable personage of the group: he might be between thirty and forty; his body was very long, and, though uncouthly put together, exhibited every mark of strength and vigour; it was cased in a ferioul of red wool, a kind of garment which descends below the hips. His long, muscular, and hairy arms were naked from the elbow, where the sleeves of the ferioul terminate; his under limbs were short in comparison with his body and arms; his legs were bare, but he wore blue kandrisa as far as the knee; every feature of his face was ugly, exceedingly and bitterly ugly, and one of his eyes was sightless, being covered with a white film. By his side on the ground was a large barrel, seemingly a water-cask, which he occasionally seized with a finger and thumb, and waved over his head as if it had been a quart pot. Such was the trio who now occupied the wustuddur of Joanna Correa: and I had scarcely time to remark what I have just recorded, when that good lady entered from a back court with her handmaid Johár, or the pearl, an ugly fat Jewish girl with an immense mole on her cheek.
“Que Dios remate tu nombre,” exclaimed the Mulatto; “may Allah blot out your name, Joanna, and may he likewise blot out that of your maid Johár. It is more than fifteen minutes that I have been seated here, after having poured out into the tinaja the water which I brought from the fountain, and during all that time I have waited in vain for one single word of civility from yourself or from Johár. Usted no tiene modo, you have no manner with you, nor more has Johár. This is the only house in Tangier where I am not received with fitting love and respect, and yet I have done more for you than for any other person. Have I not filled your tinaja with water when other people have gone without a drop? When even the consul and the interpreter of the consul had no water to slake their thirst, have you not had enough to wash your wustuddur? And what is my return? When I arrive in the heat of the day, I have not one kind word spoken to me, nor so much as a glass of makhiah offered to me; must I tell you all that I do for you, Joanna? Truly I must, for you have no manner with you. Do I not come every morning just at the third hour; and do I not knock at your door; and do you not arise and let me in, and then do I not knead your bread in your presence, whilst you lie in bed, and because I knead it is not yours the best bread in Tangier? For am I not the strongest man in Tangier, and the most noble also?” Here he brandished his barrel over his head, and his face looked almost demoniacal. “Hear me, Joanna,” he continued, “you know that I am the strongest man in Tangier, and I tell you again for the thousandth time, that I am the most noble. Who are the consuls? Who is the Pasha? They are Pashas and consuls now, but who were their fathers? I know not, nor do they. But do I not know who my fathers; were? Were they not Moors of Garnata (Granada), [375] and is it not on that account that I am the strongest man in Tangier? Yes, I am of the old Moors of Garnata, and my family has lived here, as is well known, since Garnata was lost to the Nazarenes, and now I am the only one of my family of the blood of the old Moors in all this land, and on that account I am of nobler blood than the sultan, for the sultan is not of the blood of the Moors of Garnata. Do you laugh, Joanna? Does your maid Johár laugh? Am I not Hammin Widdir, el hombre mas valido de Tanger? [376a] And is it not true that I am of the blood of the Moors of Garnata? Deny it, and I will kill you both, you and your maid Johár.”
“You have been eating hsheesh and majoon, Hammin,” said Joanna Correa, “and the Shaitán has entered into you, as he but too frequently does. I have been busy, and so has Johár, or we should have spoken to you before; however, ma ydoorshee, [376b] I know how to pacify you now and at all times; will you take some gin-bitters, or a glass of common makhiah?”
“May you burst, O Joanna,” said the Mulatto, “and may Johár also burst; I mean, may you both live many years, and know neither pain nor sorrow. I will take the gin-bitters, O Joanna, because they are stronger than the makhiah, which always appears to me like water; and I like not water, though I carry it. Many thanks to you, Joanna; here is health to you, Joanna, and to this good company.”
She had handed him a large tumbler filled to the brim; he put it to his nostrils, snuffed in the flavour, and then, applying it to his mouth, removed it not whilst one drop of the fluid remained. His features gradually relaxed from their former angry expression, and looking particularly amiable at Joanna, he at last said—
“I hope that within a little time, O Joanna, you will be persuaded that I am the strongest man in Tangier, and that I am sprung from the blood of the Moors of Garnata, as then you will no longer refuse to take me for a husband, you and your maid Johár, and to become Moors. What a glory to you, after having been married to a Genoui, and given birth to Genouillos, to receive for husband a Moor like me, and to bear him children of the blood of Garnata! What a glory, too, for Johár!—how much better than to marry a vile Jew, even like Hayim Ben Attar, or your cook Sabia, both of whom I could strangle with two fingers, for am I not Hammin Widdir, Moro de Garnata, el hombre mas valido de Tanger?” He then shouldered his barrel and departed.
“Is that Mulatto really what he pretends to be?” said I to Joanna; “is he a descendant of the Moors of Granada?”
“He always talks about the Moors of Granada, when he is mad with majoon or aguardiente,” interrupted, in bad French, the old man whom I have before described, and in the same croaking voice which I had heard chanting in the morning. “Nevertheless it may be true, and if he had not heard something of the kind from his parents, he would never have imagined such a thing, for he is too stupid. As I said before, it is by no means impossible: many of the families of Granada settled down here when their town was taken by the Christians, but the greater part went to Tunis. When I was there, I lodged in the house of a Moor who called himself Zegri, [378] and was always talking of Granada and the things which his forefathers had done there. He would moreover sit for hours singing romances of which I understood not one word, praised be the Mother of God, but which he said all related to his family: there were hundreds of that name in Tunis, therefore why should not this Hammin, this drunken water-carrier, be a Moor of Granada also? He is ugly enough to be emperor of all the Moors. Oh, the accursed canaille! I have lived amongst them for my sins these eight years, at Oran and here. Monsieur, do you not consider it to be a hard case for an old man like myself, who am a Christian, to live amongst a race who know not God, nor Christ, nor anything holy?”
“What do you mean?” said I, “by asserting that the Moors know not God? There is no people in the world who entertain sublimer notions of the uncreated eternal God than the Moors, and no people have ever shown themselves more zealous for His honour and glory: their very zeal for the glory of God has been and is the chief obstacle to their becoming Christians. They are afraid of compromising His dignity by supposing that He ever condescended to become man. And with respect to Christ, their ideas even of Him are much more just than those of the Papists; they say He is a mighty prophet, whilst, according to the others, He is either a piece of bread, or a helpless infant. In many points of religion the Moors are wrong, dreadfully wrong; but are the Papists less so? And one of their practices sets them immeasurably below the Moors in the eyes of any unprejudiced person: they bow down to idols, Christian idols if you like, but idols still, things graven of wood, and stone, and brass; and from these things, which can neither hear, nor speak, nor feel, they ask and expect to obtain favours.”
“Vive la France, Vive la Guadeloupe!” said the black, with a good French accent. “In France and in Guadeloupe there is no superstition, and they pay as much regard to the Bible as to the Koran; I am now learning to read, in order that I may understand the writings of Voltaire, who, as I am told, has proved that both the one and the other were written with the sole intention of deceiving mankind. O, vive la France! where will you find such an enlightened country as France; and where will you find such a plentiful country as France? Only one in the world, and that is Guadeloupe. Is it not so, Monsieur Pascual? Were you ever at Marseilles? Ah quel bon pays est celui-là pour les vivres, pour les petits poulets, pour les poulardes, pour les perdrix, pour les perdreaux, pour les alouettes, pour les bécasses, pour les bécassines, enfin, pour tout.”
“Pray, sir, are you a cook?” demanded I.
“Monsieur, je le suis pour vous rendre service, mon nom c’est Gérard, et j’ai l’honneur d’être chef de cuisine chez monsieur le consul Hollandois. A present je prie permission de vous saluer; il faut que j’aille à la maison pour faire le diner de mon maître.”
At four I went to dine with the British consul. Two other English gentlemen were present, who had arrived at Tangier from Gibraltar about ten days previously for a short excursion, and were now detained longer than they wished by the Levant wind. They had already visited the principal towns in Spain, and proposed spending the winter either at Cadiz or Seville. One of them, Mr. ---, struck me as being one of the most remarkable men I had ever conversed with: he travelled not for diversion nor instigated by curiosity, but merely with the hope of doing spiritual good, chiefly by conversation. The consul soon asked me what I thought of the Moors and their country. I told him that what I had hitherto seen of both highly pleased me. He said that were I to live amongst them ten years, as he had done, he believed I should entertain a very different opinion; that no people in the world were more false and cruel; that their government was one of the vilest description, with which it was next to an impossibility for any foreign power to hold amicable relations, as it invariably acted with bad faith, and set at nought the most solemn treaties. That British property and interests were every day subjected to ruin and spoliation, and British subjects exposed to unheard-of vexations, without the slightest hope of redress being offered, save recourse was had to force, the only argument to which the Moors were accessible. He added, that towards the end of the preceding year an atrocious murder had been perpetrated in Tangier: a Genoese family of three individuals had perished, all of whom were British subjects, and entitled to the protection of the British flag. The murderers were known, and the principal one was even now in prison for the fact; yet all attempts to bring him to condign punishment had hitherto proved abortive, as he was a Moor, and his victims Christians. Finally, he cautioned me not to take walks beyond the wall unaccompanied by a soldier, whom he offered to provide for me should I desire it, as otherwise I incurred great risk of being ill-treated by the Moors of the interior, whom I might meet, or perhaps murdered; and he instanced the case of a British officer who not long since had been murdered on the beach for no other reason than being a Nazarene, and appearing in a Nazarene dress. He at length introduced the subject of the Gospel, and I was pleased to learn that, during his residence in Tangier, he had distributed a considerable quantity of Bibles amongst the natives in the Arabic language, and that many of the learned men, or talibs, had read the holy volume with great interest, and that by this distribution, which, it is true, was effected with much caution, no angry or unpleasant feeling had been excited. He finally asked whether I had come with the intention of circulating the Scripture amongst the Moors.
I replied that I had no opportunity of doing so, as I had not one single copy either in the Arabic language or character. That the few Testaments which were in my possession were in the Spanish language, and were intended for circulation amongst the Christians of Tangier, to whom they might be serviceable, as they all understood the language.
It was night, and I was seated in the wustuddur of Joanna Correa, in company with Pascual Fava, the Genoese. The old man’s favourite subject of discourse appeared to be religion, and he professed unbounded love for the Saviour, and the deepest sense of gratitude for his miraculous atonement for the sins of mankind. I should have listened to him with pleasure had he not smelt very strongly of liquor, and by certain incoherences of language and wildness of manner given indications of being in some degree the worse for it. Suddenly two figures appeared beneath the doorway; one was that of a bareheaded and bare-legged Moorish boy of about ten years of age, dressed in a gelaba. He guided by the hand an old man, whom I at once recognized as one of the Algerines, the good Moslems of whom the old mahasni had spoken in terms of praise in the morning whilst we ascended the street of the Siarrin. He was very short of stature and dirty in his dress; the lower part of his face was covered with a stubbly white beard; before his eyes he wore a large pair of spectacles, from which he evidently received but little benefit, as he required the assistance of the guide at every step. The two advanced a little way into the wustuddur, and there stopped. Pascual Fava no sooner beheld them, than assuming a jovial air he started nimbly up, and leaning on his stick, for he had a bent leg, limped to a cupboard, out of which he took a bottle and poured out a glass of wine, singing in the broken kind of Spanish used by the Moors of the coast—
“Argelino,
Moro fino,
No beber vino,
Ni comer tocino.” [382]
He then handed the wine to the old Moor, who drank it off, and then, led by the boy, made for the door without saying a word.
“Hade mushe halal,” [383a] said I to him with a loud voice.
“Cul shee halal,” [383b] said the old Moor, turning his sightless and spectacled eyes in the direction from which my voice reached him. “Of everything which God has given, it is lawful for the children of God to partake.”
“Who is that old man?” said I to Pascual Fava, after the blind and the leader of the blind had departed. “Who is he!” said Pascual; “who is he! He is a merchant now, and keeps a shop in the Siarrin, but there was a time when no bloodier pirate sailed out of Algier. That old blind wretch has cut more throats than he has hairs in his beard. Before the French took the place he was the rais or captain of a frigate, and many was the poor Sardinian vessel which fell into his hands. After that affair he fled to Tangier, and it is said that he brought with him a great part of the booty which he had amassed in former times. Many other Algerines came hither also, or to Tetuan, but he is the strangest guest of them all. He keeps occasionally very extraordinary company for a Moor, and is rather over-intimate with the Jews. Well, that’s no business of mine; only let him look to himself. If the Moors should once suspect him, it were all over with him. Moors and Jews, Jews and Moors! Oh my poor sins, my poor sins, that brought me to live amongst them!—
“‘Ave maris stella,
Dei Mater alma,
Atque semper virgo,
Felix cœli porta!’” [383c]
He was proceeding in this manner when I was startled by the sound of a musket.
“That is the retreat,” said Pascual Fava. “It is fired every night in the soc at half-past eight, and it is the signal for suspending all business, and shutting up. I am now going to close the doors, and whosoever knocks, I shall not admit them till I know their voice. Since the murder of the poor Genoese last year, we have all been particularly cautious.”
Thus had passed Friday, the sacred day of the Moslems, and the first which I had spent in Tangier. I observed that the Moors followed their occupations as if the day had nothing particular in it. Between twelve and one, the hour of prayer in the mosque, the gates of the town were closed, and no one permitted either to enter or go out. There is a tradition current amongst them, that on this day, and at this hour, their eternal enemies, the Nazarenes, will arrive to take possession of their country; on which account they hold themselves prepared against a surprisal.
In the following pages a translation only has been given, as a rule, of the Romany words, but references have been added which will enable los del aficion to acquire fuller knowledge elsewhere. It is only right to state that for any philological theories advanced in this part of the Glossary the late Mr. Burke is not responsible.—H. W. G.
List of Abbreviations.
A. |
Ascoli, Zigeunerisches. 1865. |
F. |
Francisque-Michel, Le Pays Basque. 1857. |
G. |
Journal of the Gypsy Lore Society. 1888–1892. |
Gr. |
Groome, In Gipsy Tents. 1880. |
H. |
Hidalgo, Romances de Germanía. 1779. |
J. |
Jimenez, Vocabulario del Dialecto Jitano. 1853. |
Lel. |
Leland, The Gypsies. |
LL. |
Borrow, Romano Lavo-Lil. 1888. |
M. |
Miklosich, Ueber die Mundarten und die Wanderungen der Zigeuner Europa’s. 1872–1880. |
McR. |
MacRitchie, The Gypsies of India. 1886. |
P. |
Pott, Die Zigeuner in Europa und Asien. 1844–5. |
Pp. |
Paspati, Etudes sur les Tchinghianés ou Bohémiens de l’Empire Ottoman. 1870. |
R. |
De Rochas, Les Parias de France et d’Espagne. 1876. |
S. |
Smith, Tent Life with English Gypsies in Norway. 1873. |
SC. |
Smart and Crofton, The Dialect of the English Gypsies. |
W. |
Wlislocki, Die Sprache der transsilvanischen Zigeuner. 1884. |
Z. |
Borrow, The Zincali, 3rd edit. 1843. |
A. Arab. O! A sidi, “O my lord!”
Á. Span. and Port. To.
Abajar. Span. To descend.
Acána. Rom. Now. P. ii. 124; A. 21; W. 70.
Aduana. Span. The custom-house. Fr. la douane, from Arab. diwán; either as a council or as an account-book.
Adun. Hebr. Lord; Adon.
Aficion. Span. Affection. Los del aficion, “those of the predilection,” persons addicted to the gypsies and their language. Z. ii. 58.
Afrancesado. Span. Frenchified.
Agoa. Port. Water. Span. agua.
Aguador. Span. A water-carrier.
Aguardiente. Span. Agua ardiente, fire-water; coarse native spirit; Spanish brandy.
Alameda. Span. A public promenade in or near a town, planted with trees. Lit. a place of poplars, from Span. álamo, a poplar.
Alcahuete. Span. A spy; a pimp. Arab. al ḳawwād.
Alcalá. Span. The fort. Arab, al-ḳal‘ah.
Alcalde. Span. The mayor or chief magistrate of a town or village. Arab. al ḳádi, the judge.
Alcalde mayor. The chief magistrate of a district.
Alcayde. Span. A governor of a castle or fortress. Arab. al ḳáid, the general. In more modern parlance, the governor of a prison, a jailer.
Alcazar. Span. A castle; palace; a fortress. Arab. al ḳaṣr.
Alcornoque. Span. The cork tree, Quercus suber.
Aldea. Span. and Port. A village.
Alecrim. Port. Rosemary. A word said to be of Arabic origin, perhaps al karím, a precious thing. The Spanish romero, or pilgrim flower (see note, i. 47). The English word is said to be derived from ros marinus, dew of the sea.
Alem. Port. Beyond. Alemtejo, the district beyond the Tagus.
Alfandega. Port. Custom-house. The Arab. funduḳ, a large house.
Alforjas, las. Span. Saddle-bags. Arab. al khurj.
Algibe. Span. A vaulted subterranean cistern for storing water. Arab. jubb, a reservoir.
Alguacil or Alguazil. Span. A constable, or peace-officer. Arab. al wazir, the vizier, governor, deputy, or minister.
Alhaja. Span. Any precious article, a jewel. Probably from the Arab, al-hadja.
Alhama. Stated by Borrow (i. 394) to be a Moorish word, meaning “warm baths.” Apparently the Arab, al ḥammām.
Alkheir. Arab. Of good.
Alma. Span. and Port. Soul.
Almocreves. Port. Muleteers or carriers. A word of Arabic origin, al mukāri, like the Spanish arriero.
Alquilador. Span. and Port. A letter on hire of anything, especially of horses. Alquilar, in Spanish, signifies to give or lend on hire. Alquiler, to take or borrow for reward. The converse, inquiler.
Alto. Span. and Port. High.
Amiga. Span. and Port. A mistress, or concubine. Lit. a female friend.
Amigo. Span. and Port. A friend.
Anciña Anciñaco. Basque. The ancient of the ancient.
Andalou. Rom. An Andalusian.
André. Rom. In. P. ii. 56.
Anise-brandy. Eng. A cordial, something like the French anisette. The anise (Pimpinella anisum) is largely cultivated in Spain, where it is known as anis. The seed is dried and exported, the aniseed of the English cake-makers.
Aoud. Arab. According to Borrow, a stallion. It is the Moorish ‘aud = horse.
Aquel. Span. That.
Arco. Span. and Port. A bow, an arch.
Ardoa. Guipuzcoan and Biscayan for arno, arnoa, wine, the final a being the definite article.
Argelino. Span. A native of Algiers.
Armada. Span. and Port. A fleet, or navy.
Aromáli. Rom. Truly. Arromales = caramba. J.
Arriero. Span. Muleteer; one who cries arrhé or harré, Arabic “Gee up!” The older form of Harriero, given in the Dictionary of the Spanish Academy, more clearly preserves this etymology.
Arroba. Span. and Port. A weight equal to about 25 lbs. English. Arab, ar ruba‘, a quarter.
Arroyo. Span. A brook, stream.
Artesano. Span. Artisan, workman.
Ashor. Hebr. Jewish feast of the tenth (day), ‘āsor. It is really the Arabic ‘ashūrā.
Atajo. Span. A short cut, material or moral; an expedient of any kind. Lit. a tying; atar, to tie.
Atalaya. Span. A watch-tower. Port. atalaia. A word of Arabic origin; aṭ-ṭalí‘ah, a view.
Attar. Arab. Essence. More correctly, ‘aṭar. Frequently in combination. The Eng. otto.
Auslandra. Milan. The meaning of this word is given by Borrow himself as “to roam about in a dissipated manner.” It is obviously the Germ. Ausland, “a foreign country,” made into an Italian verb. On the authority of the native of Como, whom Borrow met at Cerrig y Drudion, it was considered a vulgar word, even in the gergo of the Milanese, and that it is so may be proved by a reference to Cherubini, Vocabolario Milanese-Italiano, s.v. Slándra, Slandrà.
Auto da fé. Port. Span. auto de fé. Execution of persons condemned by the Inquisition.
Avellana. Span. A filbert.
Ayana. Arab. According to Borrow, a locust. It is not an ordinary Arabic word, possibly of some North African dialect.
Azabache. Span. Jet. The Arab, as-sabaj.
Azabacheria. Span. Jet-market.
Azinheira. Port. The holm-oak.
Azumbre. Span. A measure for liquids, the eighth of an arroba, equal to about half a gallon. From the Arab. ath-thumn = the eighth.
Bab. Arab. Gate. Bab del Faz, gate of Fez.
Bacalhão. Port. (In Span. Bacallao or Abadejo). Salt cod, commonly imported from the Newfoundland coast.
Bahar. Arab. Sea.
Bahi or Baji. Rom. Fortune. Penar baji, decir la buena ventura, to tell fortunes. According to Borrow, the Sanscrit and Persian baḥkt.
Bakh, Bok. Rom. Luck. Kosko bakh, “Good luck to you!” P. ii. 398; A. 47; M. vii. 14.
Balad. Arab. Land. Also beled.
Balichó. Rom. A hog. P. ii. 420; A. 54; M. vii. 15.
Bar. Aram. Son.
Bar. Rom. A stone. P. ii. 409; M. vii. 16.
Bar Lachí. Rom. The loadstone; a gypsy charm or talisman. Lit. “the good stone.” See Lachó.
Baria. Rom. Used by Borrow in ch. x., and given in Z. ii. 147, as Germanía, or thieves’ slang, for a gold onza (q.v.). Cf. varia = weight. A. 12. It is also the plural of bar, used by English gypsies for a sovereign. The correct Gitano for onza is jara.
Baribú, Baributre, Baribustre. Rom. Plenty, much. P. ii. 400; M. vii. 17.
Baro. Rom. Great. Len Baro = the great river, the Guadalquivir. Hokkano Baro = the great trick. See Hok. P. ii. 411; A. 59; M. vii. 17.
Barra. Arab. Outside; out of the town. See Soc.
Barraganeria. Span. Concubinage. See note, i. 157.
Barranco, Barranca. Span. A fissure in a hill, a deep cleft, made by the action of water; a precipice.
Barrete. Span. A helmet, cap.
Barrio. Span. One of the quarters or districts into which a large town is divided. Fr. quartier.
Batu, Bato. Rom. Father. Perhaps from the Russ. batuschca, q.v. In thieves’ slang, a prison governor or jailer. P. ii. 430; F. 145; G. i. 61; J.
Batuschca, Batushka. Russ. Little father. A term of endearment or familiar address, something like the Span. tio, uncle.
Beber. Span. and Port. To drink.
Becoresh. Hebr. I.e. Epikores = Epicurus, selected by Jewish writers as a type of insolent atheism.
Bedeya. Arab. An open waistcoat. More correctly, bad‘iyya.
Belad. Hebr. In the power of.
Beled. Arab. Country. Also balad.
Bellota. Span. An acorn. The Portuguese bolota; Arab, balūt.
Ben, plur. Beni. Hebr. and Arab. Son.
Bendito. Span. and Port. Blessed, praised.
Beng, Bengue, Bengui. Rom. The devil; also any demon, or evil spirit. P. ii. 407; M. vii. 19. As to the meaning, frog or toad, see G. i. 118.
Beraka. Hebr. A blessing.
Besti, Bestis. Rom. A seat, chair, or saddle. P. ii. 428; M. vii. 20. Borrow, however, seems to use it as a slang form of the following.
Bestia. Span. An animal. “You brute!”
Birdoche. Rom. Used by Borrow in ch. ix. for a stage-coach or galera, q.v. It is probably connected with bedo, berdo, a cart. Z. ii. * 17. Eng. Rom. vardo. See P. ii. 80; A. 68; M. viii. 96.
Boca. Span. and Port. Mouth.
Boda, Bodas. Span. and Port. Marriage, a wedding.
Bogamante, Bogavante. Span. The slang name for a large lobster; orig. the stroke-oar of a galley; bogar = to row, avante = in front.
Bohémien. Fr. A gypsy.
Bolota. Port. (Span. Bellota.) An acorn.
Bolsa. Span. and Port. (1) A purse. (2) The Exchange.
Bombardó. Rom. A lion. Used also of the gulf usually called the Gulf of Lyons, but in French La Golfe du Lion, or “Gulf of the Lion,” from its stormy water. Lyons on the Rhone may have given the English, but certainly not the French, name to the bay. P. ii. 432.
Bonanza. Span. Fair weather. See note, ii. 273.
Bonito. Span. and Port. Pretty.
Borracho. Span. and Port. A drunkard. Borracha is a wine-skin, or leathern bottle. Hence Shakespeare’s Borachio.
Borrico. Span. Dimin. of Burro, an ass.
Bota. Span. A leather wine-bottle or bag; usually made of the skin of a pig for storing purposes, of goatskin for travelling. A glass bottle is called frasco or botella.
Brasero. Span. Brazier; brass or copper pan to hold live coals.
Bretima, Bretema, Bretoma. Gal. A low-lying mist or fog. When thick and damp it is called—also in Galician—mexona.
Bribon, Bribonazo. Span. A vagrant, vagabond, or impostor. The termination in bribonazo does not express action, as in such words as calmazo, q.v., but augmentation.
Briboneria. Span. Knavery, rascality.
Broa. Port. and Gal. Barona. Span. and Gal. Brona. Gal. A bread made of a mixture of maize (2 parts), rye (4), millet (1), and panic-grass (1).
Brotoboro. Rom. First. Grk. πρῶτος. Brotorbo, J.
Brujo or Bruxo. Span., Port., and Gal. A sorcerer, or wizard.
Buckra. Arab. Bikr, a virgin; used (ii. 357) for the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Bueno. Span. Good. Buenas noches, “good night.”
Bufa. Rom. A manger, crib. P. ii. 433.
Bul, Bulláti. Rom. The anus. P. ii. 422.
Burra. Span. and Port. Jackass; she-ass.
Busnó. Rom. A man who is not a gypsy, a Gentile. P. ii. 434; Pp. 172; M. vii. 26.
Ca. Span. An abbreviated form of Carajo, q.v.
Cabalgadura. Span. A sumpter horse or mule; beast of burden.
Caballejo, or Caballuelo. Span. Pony.
Caballeria. Span. Is used either of a single horse, mule, or ass used for riding, as the Fr. monture, or for a number of such beasts together. The word in the plural also signifies chivalry or knighthood.
Caballero. Span. Lit. a cavalier, but constantly used either as a mode of polite address, “Sir,” or in speaking of a gentleman, whether mounted or on foot.
Cabaña. Span. (1) A shepherd’s hut or cabin. (2) A flock, or assemblage of flocks, of sheep, under the charge of a mayoral, driven to and from the wild pasture lands of Estremadura. See note, i. 146.
Cacharro. Span. A coarse earthen pan or pot.
Cachas. Rom. Shears, scissors. Z. i. 244; P. ii. 99; cachais, R. 295.
Cachimani. Rom. A wine-shop, or tavern. Cachiman, J. See P. ii. 117; M. i. 19.
Caes. Port. A wharf.
Cafila, rather Ḳāfilah. Arab. A caravan.
Calabozo. Span. Dungeon or underground cell. Calabozero, the keeper thereof; turnkey.
Calash. Eng. A two-wheeled carriage with a hood; a buggy. Span. calesa; Port. caleça; Fr. calèche.
Caldas. Span. and Port. Warm Baths. Used most frequently in combination as a place name; e.g. Caldas de Reyes, called by Borrow (i. 394) Caldas de los Reyes, in Galicia.
Calés. Rom. Plur. of Caló, Caloró. A gypsy; lit. a black and dark man. See Caló.
Calesero. Span. (1) The driver of a calesa. (2) The driver of any carriage or cart.
Callar. Span. To be silent. Calla boca, “Hold your tongue!”
Callardó, Gallardó. Rom. A black man, mulatto. See Caló.
Calle. Span. A street.
Callee, Callí. Rom. Fem. of Caló, q.v.
Callicaste. Rom. (1) Yesterday. (2) Tomorrow. So in English Rom. cóllico, káliko. P. ii. 107; LL. 7.
Calmazo. Span. A calm at sea. Lit. an “attack” or “stroke” of calm, such being the force of the termination azo; as puñal, a poignard; puñalazo, the blow of a poignard.
Caló, Caloró. Rom. One of the kalo rat, or black blood; a gypsy. P. ii. 106; A. 44; M. vii. 71; G. i. 178.
Camarera. Span. A lady’s maid, chambermaid.
Campiña. Span. The open country, the fields. Dimin. of Campo.
Campo. Span. and Port. The country. In the mouths of English-speaking Argentines it has become “the camp,” conveying no idea whatever of the Anglo-Indian “camp,” or “marching” with tents, or “camping out.”
Campo Santo. Span., Port., and Ital. A churchyard, cemetery.
Canallis. See Jara Canallis.
Candory, plur. Candoré. Rom. Christian. P. ii. 125; McR. 46.
Canónigo. Span. A canon or prebendary of a cathedral.
Capataz. Span. and Port. Not capitaz. A head man; overseer; ganger; steward on a farm. From Lat. caput.
Capilla. Span. A chapel.
Capitular. Span. Belonging to the chapter. Sala capitular, chapter-house.
Carajo. Span. “The great oath of Spain, which ought never to be written or pronounced in full, practically forms the foundation of the language of the lower orders; it is a most ancient remnant of the phallic abjuration of the evil eye, the dreaded fascination which still perplexes the minds of Orientals, and is not banished from Spanish and Neapolitan superstitions. The word terminates in ajo, on which stress is laid; the j is pronounced with a most Arabic guttural aspiration. The word ajo means also garlic, which is quite as often in Spanish mouths, and is exactly what Hotspur liked—a ‘mouth-filling oath,’ energetic and Michael Angelesque.”—Ford’s Spain, Introd. p. 35. For “the evil eye,” see; Z. i. 138.
Carals. Catalan for Carajo, q.v.
Caramba. Span. A polite modification of the grosser Carajo, q.v.
Carbonero. Span. A charcoal-burner; also a collier.
Carcel. Span. A prison.
Carcelero, Carcelera. Span. A male or female jailer; or the latter may be merely the wife of a jailer.
Carlino, Carlista. Span. A partisan of Don Carlos.
Carlo. Rom. Heart. P. ii. 125. It also means “throat,” the only meaning in English Rom. P. ii. 96; A. 66; Pp. 299; SC. 91.
Carracho. Gal. A tick, or small parasite found on dogs and cattle. Carracha is a somewhat similar pest of the human body. The word, which is not Spanish, is used by Borrow as an expletive, instead of the coarser Carajo, q.v.
Carrascal. Span. and Port. A plantation or grove of the following.
Carrasco. Span. and Port. The ilex, or evergreen oak.
Carreta. Span. and Port. A long and narrow cart.
Carretera. Span. A high-road. Fr. voie carrossable.
Carronade. O. Eng. A short cannon of large bore, usually carried on board ship. The word has nothing to do with cannon, but is derived from the Scotch town of Carron, in Stirlingshire, where these pieces were first made in 1779. They were not used after 1852, and the name is obsolete.
Carta. Span. and Port. A letter.
Casa. Span. and Port. House.
Caspita. Span. “Wonderful!” Milder than Caramba, q.v.
Castellano. Span. A Castilian. Hablar Castellano, to talk Spanish.
Castumba. Rom. Castile.
Cavalgadura. Gal. See Cabalgadura.
Cavalheiro. Port. See Caballero.
Céad. Irish. A hundred.
Cerrada. Span. and Port. Closed, concealed, dark.
Cerro. Span. and Port. A hill, hillock.
Chabí. Rom. A girl. See Chabó.
Chabó, Chabé, Chaboró. Rom. A boy, youth, fellow. P. ii. 181; A. 51; Pp. 528; M. vii. 30; McR. 100. Possibly the origin of the English slang, “chap.”
Chachipé. Rom. The truth. P. i. 138; ii. 178; A. 29; Pp. 523; M. vii. 27.
Chai. Rom. Irreg. plur. of Chabó, q.v. Chaps; used commonly for gypsies.
Chal. Rom. A lad, boy, fellow; possibly the same as chiel, childe. Rómano-chal, a gypsy. McR. 98.
Chali del Bahar. Arab. Bahar is “the sea” in Arabic; shát is “the shore.” Chali is possibly a misprint for this.
Chalan. Span. A jockey or horse-dealer.
Chardí, Cháti. Rom. A fair. I cannot find this word except in Borrow (Z. ii. * 36), though J. gives chandí. Borrow derives it from Hind, chhetr = field. If so it is perhaps connected with char, chor = grass. P. ii. 198; Pp. 529; M. vii. 29. Can it be the Persian chatrí—canopy, tent?
Charipé, Cheripen. Rom. Bed, or bedstead. Hind. charpoy = that which has four feet or legs. Borrow (Z. ii.* 37) wrongly suggests the Grk. κρεββάτι, though giving, as elsewhere (LL. 100), the right derivation. P. ii. 203; M. vii. 32.
Chegar. Port. To arrive, land.
Chenourain. Synagogues. From shanūra, an Algerian or low Arabic word.
Chi, Chichí. Rom. Nothing. P. ii. 176; M. vii. 31.
Chibado. Rom. Put into. From chibar, a word used in many senses. P. ii. 184.
Chica. Span. Little girl. Properly the fem. of the adj. chico, which is also used commonly for a boy, especially as a mode of address, or to call attention, hé, chico!
Chicotito. Span. Dimin. of chico. A little fellow, dwarf.
Chim. Rom. Kingdom, country. P. ii. 295; M. viii. 82; Z. ii. * 38; and J.
Chindomar. Rom. A butcher. From chinar = to cut. P. ii. 208; Pp. 538; M. vii. 33.
Chinel. Rom. A man of official position or rank. Especially an alguacil. Russ. chin, rank. P. ii. 204.
Chinobaró. Rom. A head official. Compounded of Chin and Baro, q.v.
Chipe. Rom. Tongue, speech. P. ii. 216; M. vii. 31; SC. 64.
Chiria. Borrow gives this as Sanscrit for “bird,” but I cannot find his authority. The Rom. word is cziriklo, chiriclo. See P. ii. 199.
Chor. Rom. Subs. a thief; verb, to steal. P. ii. 200; A. 46; Pp. 545–6; M. vii. 36.
Choza. Span. A hut or small cottage. According to Dozy and Engelmann it is the Arab. khas.
Chulí, plur. Chulé. Rom. A dollar. Span. peso fuerte. Borrow uses the word in his gypsy St. Luke, xv. 8, etc. P. ii. 205, has “Chuli = Groschen,” and suggests a connexion with tchulo = thick. It is tempting to compare the English slang “a thick ’un” = a sovereign.
Chulí, Churí. Rom. A knife. Hind. churi. P. ii. 210; Pp. 550; M. vii. 39. The form with L is only found in Spanish. Pott suggests that it is a corruption of cuchillo. In Z. ii. 148 it is given as Germanía, or thieves’ slang, and is probably their alteration of the correct churí.
Chuquel. Rom. A dog. P. ii. 213; A. 64; Pp. 553; M. vii. 51; Z. ii. * 132.
Cierra! Span. “Close!” The war-cry of the Castilian chivalry; more fully, Santiago! y cierra España!
Cierto. Span. Sure, certain.
Ciervo. Span. A stag.
Cocal. Rom. A bone. P. ii. 92; A. 52; Pp. 289; M. vii. 85.
Coisa, Cousa. Port. A thing.
Colegio. Span. A college.
Comer. Span. and Port. To eat.
Comitiva. Span. and Port. Suite, following, company.
Commercio. Port. Commerce. Span. comercio.
Companheiro. Port. Companion, comrade.
Comprar. Span. and Port. To buy.
Comunero. Span. A member or partisan of the Communities of Castile. See Burke’s Hist. of Spain, ii. 316.
Con. Span. With.
Conciudadano. Span. A fellow-citizen.
Conde. Span. and Port. A count, or earl. Lat. comes. A title at one time greater than that of duke in Spain. See Burke’s Hist. of Spain, i. 148.
Condenado. Span. Condemned, damned.
Conquistar. Span. and Port. To conquer.
Constitucion. Span. Constitution; the constitution of 1812.
Contrabandista. Span and Port. A smuggler.
Conversacion. Span. Conversation. As an interjection, “Folly! rubbish!”
Copita. Span. A wine-glass, or small drinking-cup; dimin. of copa.
Copla. Span. and Port. A couplet, or a few lines of poetry. The original Spanish of the lines quoted ii. 62 is as follows—
“Un manco escribió una carta;
Un siego [395] la está mirando;
Un mudo la está leyendo;
Y un sordo la está escuchando.”(Rodriguez Marin, Cantos Populares Españoles, tom. iv. p. 364, No. 7434.)
Corahai or Corajai. Rom. The Moors of Northern Africa. P. ii. 127; A. 27; Pp. 320; M. vii. 64.
Corahanó, fem. Corahaní. Rom. A Moor. See Corahai.
Corchete. Span. and Port. A catchpoll. Lit. a clasp; corchetes are “hooks and eyes.”
Corço. Gal. A stag, or deer.
Cordoves. Span. Of or belonging to Cordova.
Corregidor. Span. A municipal magistrate. Orig. a co-regidor, or joint administrator of the law; not, as Midshipman Easy and the Boatswain decided, a corrector, though the word also has that signification in Spanish. As regards the magistrate, the second r is superfluous and etymologically deceptive.
Corrida. Span. and Port. A racecourse; bull-fight.
Cortamanga. The word is not given in any dictionary that I have consulted. Borrow evidently alludes to a vulgar and obscene gesture, usually called un corte de mangas. It is made by bringing down the right hand on the left forearm, and raising the left forearm, with the middle finger of the left hand raised and the other fingers bent. It is not under corte or manga either in Covarrubia or the 1730 edit. of the Dic. Acad. Esp., or more recent ones, probably on account of its indecent signification. I have never seen it written. The finger part of the business is of course as old as the Romans, and survives still in Italy.
Corte. Span. and Port. The king’s court; more particularly the city where the court resides—thus the capital. Applied colloquially and in commercial correspondence to Madrid, Lisbon, Rio Janeiro, etc.
Cortejo. Span. and Port. A lover. Orig. courtesy or homage. Cortejar = to do homage to.
Cortes. Span. and Port. The estates of the realm, parliament.
Cortijo. Span. Farmhouse.
Cosas. Span. Things. “Cosas de España,” “Cosas de Inglaterra,” “Cosas de los Ingleses.” Colloquially equivalent to our, “How Spanish!” “Quite English!”
Crallis. Rom. King. The Slavonian kral. P. ii. 123; Pp. 296; M. vii. 87.
Creer. Span. To believe. Yo lo creo, “I believe you, my boy!” “You bet!”
Cria. Span. and Port. A brood.
Criscote. Rom. A book. See Gabicote.
Cristiano. Span. Christian. Used in Spain for the Spanish language.
Cristino. Span. A partisan of Queen Christina.
Cruz. Span. and Port. A cross; also the withers of a horse or mule.
Cruzado. Span. and Port. A coin worth about six shillings. See Burke’s Hist. of Spain, ii. 286.
Cuadrilla. Span. A band.
Cuarto. Span. A copper coin of the value of four maravedis, or about one English farthing. Lit. the fourth part of anything.
Cuenta. Span. Bill, reckoning.
Cuesta. Span. A hill, or mount.
Cuidado. Span. and Port. Care, anxiety. The Andalusians and Gitanos say cuidao.
Cul. Arab. Every, all.
Cura. Span. and Port. Parish priest. Fr. curé; not a “curate.” The writer usually known as El Cura de Fruime (i. 401) was D. Diego Antonio Zernadas de Castro, born at Santiago in 1698. He wrote various works in verse and prose, a complete edition of which, in seven volumes, was published by Ibarra (Madrid, 1778–81), and was followed by another, in three volumes, in 1783–9–90. A biography of the author, by D. Fernando Fulgosio, appeared in the Revista de España, tomos 27, 28 (1872). There was another Cura de Fruime, D. Antonio Francisco de Castro, who was also a poet, and who died in 1836.
Curelar. Rom. To do business. P. ii. 111; Pp. 281; M. vii. 88.
Cureló. Rom. Trouble, pain. P. ii. 115. See Curelar.
Curioso. Span. and Port. Inquiring, curious.