In no instance have they been subjected to
modification; and the English translation is, in general, very
faithful to the original, as will easily be perceived by referring
to the lexicon. To those who may feel disposed to find fault with
or criticise these songs, we have to observe, that the present work
has been written with no other view than to depict the Gitanos such
as they are, and to illustrate their character; and, on that
account, we have endeavoured, as much as possible, to bring them
before the reader, and to make them speak for themselves. They are
a half-civilised, unlettered people, proverbial for a species of
knavish acuteness, which serves them in lieu of wisdom. To place
in the mouth of such beings the high-flown sentiments of modern
poetry would not answer our purpose, though several authors have
not shrunk from such an absurdity.
These couplets have been collected in Estremadura and New Castile,
in Valencia and Andalusia; the four provinces where the Gitano race
most abounds. We wish, however, to remark, that they constitute
scarcely a tenth part of our original gleanings, from which we have
selected one hundred of the most remarkable and interesting.
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