Show AGE OLD CUSTOMS OF ROMANY PEOPLE little change in centuries of wandering for all his placid virtues john bull bill I 1 still has a touch of 0 gypsy blood there are about gypsies in england who practice the age old rites of the romany people and their caravans bright and gay are a familiar feature of the countryside recently at taunton charms and amulets were found buried with a babas body and a police officer at the inquest testified that it Is a romany custom to bury charms and coins with a body for good luck and farewell tle the gypsies have stranger customs than these an authority on their customs says many are married in a blood union A sort of wedding cake is made of flour mixed with blood taken from the wrists of the bride and bridegroom both of whom eat a piece another marriage form Is that of jumping over a flowering broom plant but in the most generally used rite the bridegroom knocks thrice on the door of his belov eds caravan her father opens the door and the suitor must then produce evidence of his sult suitability ability a halter to show he possesses horses a ring to indicate money and a whip signifying his possession of a wagon when the fattier leads forth the bride the happy couple kiss and vow eternal faith and the groom kisses his bride on the forehead an act which means devot devotion lon then the bride helps her husband to food from the stewpot or carries fuel to n his caravan to signify obedience thus they are wedded not many divorces take place among gypsies nowadays in days gone by a womans comans guilt or innocence was decided by a horse which was let loose if it was caught ogain again without trouble it was held that the womans comans guilt was small if hon however evex it resisted capture this was taken as a sign of very great guilt the horse was killed and over its dead body the man and woman vowed never to met again another form of divorce was by causing blood to flow between husband and wife this he be did by chopping off the fourth finger of his left hand he preserved the finger and carried it about with him when he married again he gave the finger to his new wifel when a man dies hla his clothes are burled buried with him his caravan and other belongings are burned and DO one to Is allowed to touch them or to mention the dead mans name romany laws are very strict there are no judges or juries settlement or of any dispute usually be bing left to the old women |