ineas,
and those of the collar and the wrists of his shirt were seven-shilling
gold-pieces. In this coat he would frequently make his appearance on a
magnificent horse, whose hoofs, like those of the steed of a Turkish
Sultan, were cased in shoes of silver. How did he support such expense?
it may be asked. Partly by driving a trade in "wafedo loovo,"
counterfeit coin, with which he was supplied by certain honest
tradespeople of Brummagem; partly and principally by large sums of money
which he received from his two wives, and which they obtained by the
practice of certain arts peculiar to Gipsy females. One of his wives was
a truly remarkable woman. She was of the Petalengro or Smith tribe. Her
Christian name, if Christian name it can be called, was Xuri or Shuri,
and from her exceeding smartness and cleverness she was generally called
by the Gipsies Yocky Shuri--that is, smart or clever Shuri, Yocky being a
Gipsy word signifying "clever." She could dukker--that is, tell
fortunes--to perfection, by which alone, during the racing season, she
could make a hundred pounds a month. She was good at the big hok--that
is, at inducing people to put money into her hands in the hope of it
being multiplied; and, oh, dear! how she could caur--that is, filch gold
rings and trinkets from jewellers' cases, the kind of thing which the
Spanish Gipsies call ustibar pastesas--filching with hands. Frequently
she would disappear and travel about England, and Scotland too,
dukkering, hokking, and cauring, and after the lapse of a month return
and deliver to her husband, like a true and faithful wife, the proceeds
of her industry. So no wonder that the Flying Tinker, as he was called,
was enabled to cut a grand appearance. He was very fond of hunting, and
would frequently join the field in regular hunting costume, save and
except that instead of the leather hunting cap he wore one of fur, with a
gold band round it, to denote that though he mixed with Gorgios he was
still a Romany chal. Thus equipped, and mounted on a capital hunter,
whenever he encountered a Gipsy encampment he would invariably dash
through it, doing all the harm he could, in order, as he said, to let the
juggals know that he was their king, and had a right to do what he
pleased with his own. Things went on swimmingly for a great many years,
but, as prosperity does not continue for ever, his dark hour came at
last. His wives got into trouble in one or two expedition