The English Gipsies and their Language

The English Gipsies and their Language is a book by Charles G. Leland, first published in 1873. This pioneering work of Victorian anthropology and folklore offers a detailed cultural and linguistic study of the Romani communities living in England. Drawing on firsthand encounters, conversations, and field research, Leland documents Romani customs, traditions, superstitions, songs, and especially the structure and vocabulary of the Anglo-Romani language. His aim was both scholarly and preservational: to record a way of life he believed was rapidly disappearing under the pressures of modern society.

Blending travel narrative, social commentary, and linguistic analysis, the book explores the everyday lives of English Gipsies, their nomadic heritage, their craft traditions, and their complex relationship with settled society. Leland includes anecdotes from individuals he befriended, offering readers rare 19th-century insights into Romani identity, oral storytelling, and community values. His study of the Gipsy language — its grammar, idioms, and vocabulary — remains one of the earliest substantial attempts to document Anglo-Romani speech in detail.

Rich in ethnographic observation and Victorian-era folklore scholarship, this work appeals to readers interested in Romani history, British social history, linguistic studies, and cultural anthropology. Both a historical document and a linguistic resource, The English Gipsies and their Language preserves voices and traditions that might otherwise have been lost to time.