The tinkler-gypsies . character of Meg Merrilies, Iimagine Madge must have sat to the unknownauthor as the representative of her person. Tosuch splendid female types Leydens lines couldmore fittingly be applied than to the Tinklerwomen of the present day : While scarce the cloak of tawdry red concealsThe fine turned limbs that every breeze reveals,Her bright, black eyes through silver lashes shine,Around her neck the raven tresses twine. Yea, the types have steadily degeneratedsince the days of such fine Gypsies as TheDuchess Jean, Madge Gordon, Matthew Baillie,Billy Marshall, Alexander Kenned
The tinkler-gypsies . character of Meg Merrilies, Iimagine Madge must have sat to the unknownauthor as the representative of her person. Tosuch splendid female types Leydens lines couldmore fittingly be applied than to the Tinklerwomen of the present day : While scarce the cloak of tawdry red concealsThe fine turned limbs that every breeze reveals,Her bright, black eyes through silver lashes shine,Around her neck the raven tresses twine. Yea, the types have steadily degeneratedsince the days of such fine Gypsies as TheDuchess Jean, Madge Gordon, Matthew Baillie,Billy Marshall, Alexander Kennedy, and JamesMacpherson. In those Tinkler battles we may see a con-tinuation of the old tribal warfare that ragedthroughout Scotland, and which to this day thevarious Tinkler tribes still perpetuate, thoughin a milder way. The contention that theTinkler element in the Tinkler appertains to adescent from the ancient Scotch races accountsalso for the varied complexions of of the Yetholm Gypsies, Mr Mac-. 42 2 The Tinkler-Gypsies. Ritchie, in his Scottish Gypsies under theStezvarts, quoting from a writer of the year1835, says:* The principal names of the Gypsies resid-ing at Yetholm are Faa, Young, Douglas, andBlythe. The two latter are most numerous,but they are evidently not of the same Douglases, Faas, and Youngs are gene-rally dark-complexioned with black hair, whilethe Blythes mostly are light-haired and of faircomplexion. Borrow describes a Yetholm Gypsy womanthus : She had a full, round, smooth face, andher complexion was brown or rather olive, a huewhich contrasted with that of her eyes, whichwere blue.^ The various Tinkler gangs all differ inappearance, and can be quite easily distin-guished. Borrows description of a YetholmGypsy corresponds with a Baillie of the presentday. The Kennedies were tall, handsome peoplewith swarthy complexions and black hair. TheMacMillans are tall, with fair to ruddy com-plexions and jdarkish hair. The Marshalls, ont
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