Chapter I: Front Matter

[Picture: Book cover]

“Can you rokra Romany?
Can you play the bosh?
Can you jal adrey the staripen?
Can you chin the cost?”

“Can you speak the Roman tongue?
Can you play the fiddle?
Can you eat the prison-loaf?
Can you cut and whittle?”

ROMANO LAVO-LIL

WORD-BOOK OF THE ROMANY
OR, ENGLISH GYPSY LANGUAGE
WITH SPECIMENS OF GYPSY POETRY, AND AN
ACCOUNT OF CERTAIN GYPSYRIES OR
PLACES INHABITED BY THEM, AND
OF VARIOUS THINGS RELATING TO
GYPSY LIFE IN ENGLAND

BY GEORGE BORROW

* * * * *

LONDON
JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET, W.
1905

* * * * *

PRINTED BY
HAZELL, WATSON AND VINEY, LD.,
LONDON AND AYLESBURY.

* * * * *

THE Author of the present work wishes to state that the Vocabulary, which forms part of it, has existed in manuscript for many years. It is one of several vocabularies of various dialects of the Gypsy tongue, made by him in different countries. The most considerable—that of the dialect of the Zincali or Rumijelies (Romany Chals) of Spain—was published in the year 1841. Amongst those which remain unpublished is one of the Transylvanian Gypsy, made principally at Kolosvār in the year 1844.

_December_ 1, 1873.

CONTENTS

PAGE
THE ENGLISH GYPSY LANGUAGE 3
ROMANO LAVO-LIL: WORD-BOOK OF THE ROMANY 15
RHYMED LIST OF GYPSY VERBS 71
BETIE ROKRAPENES: LITTLE SAYINGS 76
COTORRES OF MI-DIBBLE’S LIL CHIV’D ADREY ROMANES: PIECES OF 85
SCRIPTURE CAST INTO ROMANY
THE LORD’S PRAYER IN THE GYPSY DIALECT OF TRANSYLVANIA 92
LIL OF ROMANO JINNYPEN: BOOK OF THE WISDOM OF THE EGYPTIANS 96
ROMANE NAVIOR OF TEMES AND GAVIOR: GYPSY NAMES OF COUNTRIES 112
AND TOWNS
THOMAS ROSSAR-MESCRO, OR THOMAS HERNE 118
KOKKODUS ARTARUS 129
MANG, PRALA: BEG ON, BROTHER 132
ENGLISH GYPSY SONGS:—
WELLING KATTANEY: THE GYPSY MEETING 132
LELLING CAPPI: MAKING A FORTUNE 136
THE DUI CHALOR: THE TWO GYPSIES 138
MIRO ROMANY CHI: MY ROMAN LASS 142
AVA, CHI: YES, MY GIRL 146
THE TEMESKOE RYE: THE YOUTHFUL EARL 146
CAMO-GILLIE: LOVE-SONG 148
TUGNIS AMANDE: WOE IS ME 150
THE RYE AND THE RAWNE: THE SQUIRE AND LADY 152
ROMANY SUTTUR GILLIE: GYPSY LULLABY 154
SHARRAFI KRALYISSA: OUR BLESSED QUEEN 156
PLASTRA LESTI: RUN FOR IT! 156
FOREIGN GYPSY SONGS:—
THE ROMANY SONGSTRESS 161
L’ERAJAI: THE FRAIR 162
MALBRUN: MALBROUK 164
THE ENGLISH GYPSIES:—
TUGNEY BESHOR: SORROWFUL YEARS 172
THEIR HISTORY 174
GYPSY NAMES 185
FORTUNE-TELLING 197
THE HUKNI 201
CAURING 202
METROPOLITAN GYPSYRIES:—
WANDSWORTH 207
THE POTTERIES 228
THE MOUNT 235
RYLEY BOSVIL 241
KIRK YETHOLM 253

THE ENGLISH GYPSY LANGUAGE

THE Gypsies of England call their language, as the Gypsies of many other countries call theirs, _Romany_ or _Romanes_, a word either derived from the Indian _Ram_ or _Rama_, which signifies a husband, or from the town Rome, which took its name either from the Indian _Ram_, or from the Gaulic word, _Rom_, which is nearly tantamount to husband or man, for as the Indian _Ram_ means a husband or man, so does the Gaulic _Pom_ signify that which constitutes a man and enables him to become a husband.

Before entering on the subject of the English Gypsy, I may perhaps be expected to say something about the original Gypsy tongue. It is, however, very difficult to say with certainty anything on the subject. There can be no doubt that a veritable Gypsy tongue at one time existed, but that it at present exists there is great doubt indeed. The probability is that the Gypsy at present exists only in dialects more or less like the language originally spoken by the Gypsy or Zingaro race. Several dialects of the Gypsy are to be found which still preserve along with a considerable number of seemingly original words certain curious grammatical forms, quite distinct from those of any other speech. Others are little more than jargons, in which a certain number of Gypsy words are accommodated to the grammatical forms of the languages of particular countries. In the foremost class of the purer Gypsy dialects, I have no hesitation in placing those of Russia, Wallachia, Bulgaria, and Transylvania. They are so alike, that he who speaks one of them can make himself very well understood by those who speak any of the rest; from whence it may reasonably be inferred that none of them can differ much from the original Gypsy speech; so that when speaking of Gypsy language, any one of these may be taken as a standard. One of them—I shall not mention which—I have selected for that purpose, more from fancy than any particular reason.

The Gypsy language, then, or what with some qualification I may call such, may consist of some three thousand words, the greater part of which are decidedly of Indian origin, being connected with the Sanscrit or some other Indian dialect; the rest consist of words picked up by the Gypsies from various languages in their wanderings from the East. It has two genders, masculine and feminine; _o_ represents the masculine and _i_ the feminine: for example, _boro rye_, a great gentleman; _bori rani_, a great lady. There is properly no indefinite article: _gajo_ or _gorgio_, a man or gentile; _o gajo_, the man. The noun has two numbers, the singular and the plural. It has various cases formed by postpositions, but has, strictly speaking, no genitive. It has prepositions as well as postpositions; sometimes the preposition is used with the noun and sometimes the postposition: for example, _cad o gav_, from the town; _chungale mannochendar_, evil men from, _i.e._ from evil men. The verb has no infinitive; in lieu thereof, the conjunction ‘that’ is placed before some person of some tense. ‘I wish to go’ is expressed in Gypsy by _camov te jaw_, literally, I wish that I go; thou wishest to go, _caumes te jas_, thou wishest that thou goest; _caumen te jallan_, they wish that they go. Necessity is expressed by the impersonal verb and the conjunction ‘that’: _hom te jay_, I must go; lit. I am that I go; _shan te jallan_, they are that they go; and so on. There are words to denote the numbers from one up to a thousand. For the number nine there are two words, _nu_ and _ennyo_. Almost all the Gypsy numbers are decidedly connected with the Sanscrit.

After these observations on what may be called the best preserved kind of Gypsy, I proceed to a lower kind, that of England. The English Gypsy speech is very scanty, amounting probably to not more than fourteen hundred words, the greater part of which seem to be of Indian origin. The rest form a strange medley taken by the Gypsies from various Eastern and Western languages: some few are Arabic, many are Persian; some are Sclavo-Wallachian, others genuine Sclavonian. Here and there a Modern Greek or Hungarian word is discoverable; but in the whole English Gypsy tongue I have never noted but one French word—namely, _tass_ or _dass_, by which some of the very old Gypsies occasionally call a cup.

Their vocabulary being so limited, the Gypsies have of course words of their own only for the most common objects and ideas; as soon as they wish to express something beyond these they must have recourse to English, and even to express some very common objects, ideas, and feelings, they are quite at a loss in their own tongue, and must either employ English words or very vague terms indeed. They have words for the sun and the moon, but they have no word for the stars, and when they wish to name them in Gypsy, they use a word answering to ‘lights.’ They have a word for a horse and for a mare, but they have no word for a colt, which in some other dialects of the Gypsy is called _kuro_; and to express a colt they make use of the words _tawno gry_, a little horse, which after all may mean a pony. They have words for black, white, and red, but none for the less positive colours—none for grey, green, and yellow. They have no definite word either for hare or rabbit; _shoshoi_, by which they generally designate a rabbit, signifies a hare as well, and _kaun-engro_, a word invented to distinguish a hare, and which signifies ear-fellow, is no more applicable to a hare than to a rabbit, as both have long ears. They have no certain word either for to-morrow or yesterday, _collico_ signifying both indifferently. A remarkable coincidence must here be mentioned, as it serves to show how closely related are Sanscrit and Gypsy. _Shoshoi_ and _collico_ are nearly of the same sound as the Sanscrit _sasa_ and _kalya_, and exactly of the same import; for as the Gypsy _shoshoi_ signifies both hare and rabbit, and _collico_ to-morrow as well as yesterday, so does the Sanscrit _sasa_ signify both hare and rabbit, and _kalya_ to-morrow as well as yesterday.

The poverty of their language in nouns the Gypsies endeavour to remedy by the frequent use of the word _engro_. This word affixed to a noun or verb turns it into something figurative, by which they designate, seldom very appropriately, some object for which they have no positive name. _Engro_ properly means a fellow, and _engri_, which is the feminine or neuter modification, a thing. When the noun or verb terminates in a vowel, _engro_ is turned into _mengro_, and _engri_ into _mengri_. I have already shown how, by affixing _engro_ to _kaun_, the Gypsies have invented a word to express a hare. In like manner, by affixing _engro_ to _pov_, earth, they have coined a word for a potato, which they call _pov-engro_ or _pov-engri_, earth-fellow or thing; and by adding _engro_ to _rukh_, or _mengro_ to _rooko_, they have really a very pretty figurative name for a squirrel, which they call _rukh-engro_ or _rooko-mengro_, literally a fellow of the tree. _Poggra-mengri_, a breaking thing, and _pea-mengri_, a drinking thing, by which they express, respectively, a mill and a teapot, will serve as examples of the manner by which they turn verbs into substantives. This method of finding names for objects, for which there are properly no terms in Gypsy, might be carried to a great length—much farther, indeed, than the Gypsies are in the habit of carrying it: a slack-rope dancer might be termed _bittitardranoshellokellimengro_, or slightly-drawn-rope-dancing fellow; a drum, _duicoshtcurenomengri_, or a thing beaten by two sticks; a tambourine, _angustrecurenimengri_, or a thing beaten by the fingers; and a fife, _muipudenimengri_, or thing blown by the mouth. All these compound words, however, would be more or less indefinite, and far beyond the comprehension of the Gypsies in general.

The verbs are very few, and with two or three exceptions expressive only of that which springs from what is physical and bodily, totally unconnected with the mind, for which, indeed, the English Gypsy has no word; the term used for mind, _zi_—which is a modification of the Hungarian _sziv_—meaning heart. There are such verbs in this dialect as to eat, drink, walk, run, hear, see, live, die; but there are no such verbs as to hope, mean, hinder, prove, forbid, teaze, soothe. There is the verb _apasavello_, I believe; but that word, which is Wallachian, properly means being trusted, and was incorporated in the Gypsy language from the Gypsies obtaining goods on trust from the Wallachians, which they never intended to pay for. There is the verb for love, _camova_; but that word is expressive of physical desire, and is connected with the Sanscrit _Cama_, or Cupid. Here, however, the English must not triumph over the Gypsies, as their own verb ‘love’ is connected with a Sanscrit word signifying ‘lust.’ One pure and abstract metaphysical verb the English Gypsy must be allowed to possess—namely, _penchava_, I think, a word of illustrious origin, being derived from the Persian _pendashtan_.

The English Gypsies can count up to six, and have the numerals for ten and twenty, but with those for seven, eight, and nine, perhaps not three Gypsies in England are acquainted. When they wish to express those numerals in their own language, they have recourse to very uncouth and roundabout methods, saying for seven, _dui trins ta yeck_, two threes and one; for eight, _dui stors_, or two fours; and for nine, _desh sore but yeck_, or ten all but one. Yet at one time the English Gypsies possessed all the numerals as their Transylvanian, Wallachian, and Russian brethren still do; even within the last fifty years there were Gypsies who could count up to a hundred. These were _tatchey Romany_, real Gypsies, of the old sacred black race, who never slept in a house, never entered a church, and who, on their death-beds, used to threaten their children with a curse, provided they buried them in a churchyard. The two last of them rest, it is believed, some six feet deep beneath the moss of a wild, hilly heath,—called in Gypsy the _Heviskey Tan_, or place of holes; in English, Mousehold,—near an ancient city, which the Gentiles call Norwich, and the Romans the _Chong Gav_, or the town of the hill.

With respect to Grammar, the English Gypsy is perhaps in a worse condition than with respect to words. Attention is seldom paid to gender; _boro rye_ and _boro rawnie_ being said, though as _rawnie_ is feminine, _bori_ and not _boro_ should be employed. The proper Gypsy plural terminations are retained in nouns, but in declension prepositions are generally substituted for postpositions, and those prepositions English. The proper way of conjugating verbs is seldom or never observed, and the English method is followed. They say, I _dick_, I see, instead of _dico_; I _dick’d_, I saw, instead of _dikiom_; if I had _dick’d_, instead of _dikiomis_. Some of the peculiar features of Gypsy grammar yet retained by the English Gypsies will be found noted in the Dictionary.

I have dwelt at some length on the deficiencies and shattered condition of the English Gypsy tongue; justice, however, compels me to say that it is far purer and less deficient than several of the continental Gypsy dialects. It preserves far more of original Gypsy peculiarities than the French, Italian, and Spanish dialects, and its words retain more of the original Gypsy form than the words of those three; moreover, however scanty it may be, it is far more copious than the French or the Italian Gypsy, though it must be owned that in respect to copiousness it is inferior to the Spanish Gypsy, which is probably the richest in words of all the Gypsy dialects in the world, having names for very many of the various beasts, birds, and creeping things, for most of the plants and fruits, for all the days of the week, and all the months in the year; whereas most other Gypsy dialects, the English amongst them, have names for only a few common animals and insects, for a few common fruits and natural productions, none for the months, and only a name for a single day—the Sabbath—which name is a modification of the Modern Greek _κυριακηὴ_.

Though the English Gypsy is generally spoken with a considerable alloy of English words and English grammatical forms, enough of its proper words and features remain to form genuine Gypsy sentences, which shall be understood not only by the Gypsies of England, but by those of Russia, Hungary, Wallachia, and even of Turkey; for example:—

Kek man camov te jib bolli-mengreskoenæs,
Man camov te jib weshenjugalogonæs.

I do not wish to live like a baptized person. {11a}
I wish to live like a dog of the wood. {11b}

It is clear-sounding and melodious, and well adapted to the purposes of poetry. Let him who doubts peruse attentively the following lines:—

Coin si deya, coin se dado?
Pukker mande drey Romanes,
Ta mande pukkeravava tute.

Rossar-mescri minri deya!
Wardo-mescro minro dado!
Coin se dado, coin si deya?
Mande’s pukker’d tute drey Romanes;
Knau pukker tute mande.

Petulengro minro dado,
Purana minri deya!
Tatchey Romany si men—
Mande’s pukker’d tute drey Romanes,
Ta tute’s pukker’d mande.

The first three lines of the above ballad are perhaps the oldest specimen of English Gypsy at present extant, and perhaps the purest. They are at least as old as the time of Elizabeth, and can pass among the Zigany in the heart of Russia for Ziganskie. The other lines are not so ancient. The piece is composed in a metre something like that of the ancient Sclavonian songs, and contains the questions which two strange Gypsies, who suddenly meet, put to each other, and the answers which they return.

ROMANO LAVO-LIL—WORD-BOOK OF THE ROMANY

In using the following Vocabulary the Continental manner of pronouncing certain vowels will have to be observed: thus _ava_ must be pronounced like _auva_, according to the English style; _ker_ like _kare_, _miro_ like _meero_, _zi_ like _zee_, and _puro_ as if it were written _pooro._

A

ABRI, _ad. prep._ Out, not within, abroad: soving abri, sleeping abroad, not in a house. _Celtic_, Aber (the mouth or outlet of a river).

Acai / Acoi, _ad._ Here.

Adje, _v. n._ To stay, stop. _See_ Atch, az.

Adrey, _prep._ Into.

Ajaw, _ad._ So. _Wallachian_, Asha.

Aladge, _a._ Ashamed. _Sans._ Latch, laj.

Aley, _ad._ Down: soving aley, lying down; to kin aley, to buy off, ransom. _Hun._ Ala, alat.

Amande, _pro. pers. dat._ To me.

An, _v. a. imp._ Bring: an lis opré, bring it up.

Ana, _v._ a. Bring. _Sans._ Ani.

Ando, _prep._ In.

Anglo, _prep._ Before.

Apasavello, _v. n._ I believe.

Apopli, _ad._ Again. _Spanish Gypsy_, Apala (after). _Wal._ Apoi (then, afterwards).

Apré, _ad. prep._ Up: kair lis apré, do it up. _Vid._ Opré.

Aranya / Araunya, _s._ Lady. _Hungarian Gypsy_, Aranya. _See_ Rawnie.

Artav / Artavello, _v. a._ To pardon, forgive. _Wal._ Ierta. _Span. Gyp._ Estomar.

Artapen, _s._ Pardon, forgiveness.

Artáros. Arthur.

Asā / Asau, _ad._ Also, likewise, too: meero pal asau, my brother also.

Asarlas, _ad._ At all, in no manner.

Asa. An affix used in forming the second person singular of the present tense; _e.g._ camasa, thou lovest.

Astis, _a._ Possible, it is possible: astis mangué, I can; astis lengué, they can.

Ashā / Ashaw, _ad._ So: ashaw sorlo, so early. _Wal._ Asha. _See_ Ajaw.

Atch, _v. n._ To stay, stop.

Atch opré. Keep up.

Atraish, _a. part._ Afraid. _Sans._ Tras (to fear), atrāsït (frightened). _See_ Traish.

Av, _imperat._ of Ava, to come: av abri, come out.

Ava, _ad._ Yes. _Sans._ Eva.

Ava, _v. a._ To come.

Avata acoi. Come thou here.

Avali, _ad._ Yes. _Wal._ Aieva (really).

Avava. An affix by which the future tense of a verb is formed, _e.g._ mor-avava, I will kill. _See_ Vava.

Aukko, _ad._ Here.

Az, _v. n._ To stay.

B

BAL, _s._ Hair. _Tibetian_, Bal (wool). _Sans._ Bala (hair).

Baleneskoe, _a._ Hairy.

Balormengro. A hairy fellow; Hearne, the name of a Gypsy tribe.

Balanser, _s._ The coin called a sovereign.

Ballivas, _s._ Bacon. _Span. Gyp._ Balibá.

Bangalo, _a._ Devilish. _See_ Beng, bengako.

Bango, _a._ Left, sinister, wrong, false: bango wast, the left hand; to saulohaul bango, like a plastra-mengro, to swear bodily like a Bow-street runner. _Sans._ Pangu (lame). _Hun._ Pang, pangó (stiff, lazy, paralysed).

Bar, _s._ A stone, a stoneweight, a pound sterling. _Span. Gyp._ Bar. _Hun. Gyp._ Bar. _Hindustani_, Puthur. _Wal._ Piatre. _Fr._ Pierre. _Gr. βάρος_ (weight).

Bareskey, _a._ Stony.

Bark, _s._ Breast, woman’s breast.

Bas / Base, _s._ Pound sterling. _Wal._ Pes (a weight, burden).

Bas-engro, _s._ A shepherd. _Run._ Bacso.

Bashadi, _s._ A fiddle.

Bata, _s._ A bee. _Sans._ Pata.

Bau, _s._ Fellow, comrade. _See_ Baw.

Baul, _s._ Snail. _See_ Bowle.

Baulo, _s._ Pig, swine. The proper meaning of this word is anything swollen, anything big or bulky. It is connected with the English bowle or bole, the trunk of a tree; also with bowl, boll, and belly; also with whale, the largest of fish, and wale, a tumour; also with the Welsh _bol_, a belly, and _bala_, a place of springs and eruptions. It is worthy of remark that the English word pig, besides denoting the same animal as _baulo_, is of the same original import, being clearly derived from the same root as big, that which is bulky, and the Turkish _buyuk_, great, huge, vast.

Baulie-mas, _s._ Pork, swine’s flesh.

Bavano. Windy, broken-winded.

Bavol, _s._ Wind, air. _Sans._ Pavana. _See_ Beval.

Bavol-engro, _s._ A wind-fellow; figurative name for a ghost.

Baw, bau, _s._ Fellow, comrade: probably the same as the English country-word baw, bor. _Ger._ Bauer. Av acoi, baw, Come here, fellow. Boer, in Wallachian, signifies a boyard or lord.

Beano, _part. pass._ Born.

Beano abri. Born out of doors, like a Gypsy or vagrant.

Bebee, _s._ Aunt. _Rus._ Baba (grandmother, old woman, hag); Baba Yagā, the female demon of the Steppes.

Beng / Bengui, _s._ Devil. _Sans._ Pangka (mud). According to the Hindu mythology, there is a hell of mud; the bengues of the Gypsies seem to be its tenants.

Bengako tan, _s._ Hell. Lit. place belonging to devils.

Bengeskoe potan. Devil’s tinder, sulphur.

Bengeskoe / Benglo, _a._ Devilish.

Bengree, _s._ Waistcoat. _Span. Gyp._ Blani. _Wal._ (Blāni fur).

Berro, béro, _s._ A ship, a hulk for convicts. _Span. Gyp._ Bero, las galeras, the galleys; presidio, convict garrison.

Ber-engro, _s._ A sailor.

Bero-rukh, _s._ A mast.

Bersh / Besh, _s._ A year. _Sans._ Varsha. He could cour drey his besh, he could fight in his time.

Bershor, _pl._ Years.

Besh, _v. n._ To sit: beshel, he sits.

Beshaley / Beshly, Gypsy name of the Stanley tribe.

Besh-engri, _s._ A chair. _See_ Skammen.

Beti, _a._ Little, small.

Beval, _s._ Wind. _See_ Bavol.

Bi, _prep._ Without: bi luvvu, without money.

Bicunyie, _a._ Alone, undone: meklis _or_ mukalis bicunyie, let it alone.

Bikhin / Bin _v. a._ To sell. _Hin._ Bikna.

Bikhnipen, _s._ Sale.

Birk, _s._ Woman’s breast. _See_ Bark.

Bis, _a._ Twenty.

Bisheni, _s._ The ague.

Bitch / Bitcha, _v. a._ To send. _Sans._ Bis, bisa.

Bitched / Bitcheno, _part. pass._ Sent

Bitcheno pawdel. Sent across, transported.

Bitti, _s. a._ Small, piece, a little. This word is not true Gypsy.

Bloen / Blowing, A cant word, but of Gypsy origin, signifying a sister in debauchery, as Pal denotes a brother in villainy. It is the Plani and Beluñi of the Spanish Gypsies, by whom sometimes Beluñi is made to signify queen; _e.g._ Beluñi de o tarpe (tem opré), the Queen of Heaven, the Virgin. Blower is used by Lord Byron, in his ‘Don Juan.’ Speaking of the highwayman whom the Don shoots in the vicinity of London, he says that he used to go to such-and-such places of public resort with—his blowen.

Bob, _s._ A bean. _Wal._ Bob: _pl._ bobbis, bobs.

Boccalo, _a._ Hungry: boccalé pers, hungry bellies.

Bokht, _s._ Luck, fortune: kosko bokht, good luck. _Sans._ Bhãgya. _Pers._ Bakht.

Bokra, _s._ A sheep. _Hun._ Birka.

Bokra-choring. Sheep-stealing.

Bokkar-engro, _s._ A shepherd: bokkar-engro drey, the dude, man in the moon.

Bokkari-gueri, _s._ Shepherdess.

Bokkeriskoe, _a._ Sheepish, belonging to a sheep: bokkeriskey piré, sheep’s feet.

Bolla, _v. a._ To baptize.

Bonnek, _s._ Hold: lel bonnek, to take hold.

Booko, _s._ Liver. _See_ Bucca.

Bolleskoe divvus. Christmas-day; _query_, baptismal day. _Wal._ Botez (baptism).

Bollimengreskoenaes. After the manner of a Christian.

Boogones, _s._ Smallpox, pimples. _See_ Bugnior.

Bor, _s._ A hedge.

Boona, _a._ Good. _Lat._ Bonus. _Wal._ Boun.

Booty, _s._ Work.

Bori, _a. fem._ Big with child, enceinte.

Booty, _v. a._ To work, labour.

Boro, _a._ Great, big. _Hin._ Bura. _Mod. Gr. βαρὺς_ (heavy).

Borobeshemeskeguero, _s._ Judge, _great-sitting-fellow_.

Boro Gav. London, big city. _See_ Lundra.

Boronashemeskrutan. Epsom race-course.

Bosh, _s._ Fiddle. _Pers._ [Persian which cannot be reproduced] Bazee, baz (play, joke), whence the English cant word ‘bosh.’ _See_ Bashadi.

Boshomengro, _s._ Fiddler.

Bosno / Boshno, _s._ A cock, male-bird. _Sans._ Puchchin. _Wal._ Bosh (testicle). _Gaelic_, Baois (libidinousness).

Boshta, _s._ A saddle.

Bostaris, _s._ A bastard.

Bovalo, _a._ Rich. _Sans._ Bala (strong).

Bowle, _s._ Snail. _See_ Baul.

Brishen / Brisheno, _s._ Rain. _Hun. Gyp._ Breshino. _Sans._ Vrish. _Mod. Gr. βρέξιμον_.

Brisheneskey, _a._ Rainy: brisheneskey rarde, a rainy night; brisheneskey chiros, a time of rain. _Mod. Gr. καιρὸς βροχερός_.

Bucca, _s._ Liver. _Sans._ Bucca (heart). _Wal._ Phikat.

Bucca naflipen, _s._ Liver-complaint.

Buchee, _s._ Work, labour. _See_ Butsi.

Buddigur, _s._ A shop. _Span._ Bodega.

Buddikur divvus, _s._ Shopping-day: Wednesday, Saturday.

Bugnes / Bugnior, _s. pl._ Smallpox, blisters. _Gael._ Boc (a pimple), bolg (a blister), bolgach (small-pox). _Wal._ Mougour (a bud). _Fr._ Bourgeon.

Buklo, _a._ Hungry: buklo tan, hungry spot, a common. _Hun. Gyp._ Buklo tan (a wilderness).

Bul, _s._ Rump, buttock.

Bungshoror / Bungyoror, _s. pl._ Corks.

Busnis / Busnior, _s. pl._ Spurs, prickles. _Mod. Gr. βάσανοω_ (pain, torment).

Buroder, _ad._ More: _ad._ ne buroder, no more.

Bute, _a. ad._ Much, very. _Hin._ Būt.

Butsi / Buty, _s._ Work, labour.

Butying. Working.