“ These same Stabülers never leave off begging, nor do their children, from their infancy to the day of their death—for the beggar’s staff keeps the fingers (GRIFFLING) warm—and they neither will nor can work, and their children (GATZAM) grow up to be harlots and harlotmongers (GLIDEN und GLIDESVETZER) , hangmen and flayers (ZWICKMEN und KAVELLER) . Also, whithersoever these Stabülers come, in town or country, they beg; at one house for God’s sake, at another for St. Valentine’s sake, at a third for St. Kürine’s, sic de aliis, according to the disposition of the people from whom they seek alms. ”

“ DERLING, a die (plural dice) . DIERLING, the eye. Possibly a diminutive of the German, THÜR, a door, or entrance,—not inappropriately applied to the eye, as the little door out of which all things are seen. DIERN, to see. DIFTEL, a church. Probably a corruption of the German, STIFTEL,—a diminutive of STIFT, a cathedral. Stiftung is a foundation, establishment; STIFTER, a founder. DIPPEN, to give. German, GEBEN. DOLMAN, the gallows. The German, DOLMAN, properly signifies a pelisse,—the tight-fitting nature of which may have given rise to the cant application to a gallows. ”

“ Then poetry (as everything in human life gradually descends) began to ally herself with beggars and vagrants. That which formerly had been misfortune and misery became soon a sort of free art, which only retained the mask of misery in order to pursue its course more safely and undisturbed. ”

“ OLD GERMAN CANT WORDS ITH regard to the Rothwelsch Sprache, or cant language used by these vagrants, it appears, like nearly all similar systems of speech, to be founded on allegory. Many of the terms, as in the case of the ancient cant of this country, appear to be compound corruptions,—two or more words, in ordinary use, twisted and pronounced in such a way as to hide their original meaning. As Luther states, in his preface, the Hebrew appears to be a principal element. Occasionally a term from a neighbouring country, or from a dead language may be observed, but not frequently. ”

“ These beggars are for the most part women, who allow themselves to be led in chains as if they were raving mad; they tear their shifts from their bodies, in order that they may deceive people. There are also some that do both, VOPPERY and DUTZING, together. This is VOPPING, viz. when one begs for his wife’s or any other person’s sake and says she has been possessed of a devil (tho’ there is no truth in it) , and he has vowed to some Saint (whom he names) , and must have xij pounds of wax or other things whereby the person will be delivered from the power of the devil. ”

“ These are beggars who have neither the signs of the saints about them, nor other good qualities, but they come plainly and simply to people and ask an alms for God’s, or the Holy Virgin’s sake:—perchance honest paupers with young children, who are known in the town or village wherein they beg, and who would, I doubtPg 9 not, leave off begging if they could only thrive by their handicraft or other honest means, for there is many a godly man who begs unwillingly, and feels ashamed before those who knew him formerly when he was better off, and before he was compelled to beg. ”

“ I said, ‘father, it is knavery.’ My father told me to give it to him, but I gave it him not. And since that hour I have been afflicted with the falling-sickness, and I have made a vow to St. Valentine of iij pounds of wax and a High Mass, and I beg and pray pious folks to help me, because I have made this vow; otherwise I should have substance enough for myself. Therefore I ask of you an offering and help that the dear holy St. Valentine may guard and protect you evermore.” Nota: what he says is all lies. ”

“ The begging system of the Friars, perhaps more than any other cause, contributed to swell the ranks of vagabonds. These religious mendicants, who had long been increasing in number and dissoluteness, gavePg x to beggars sundry lessons in hypocrisy, and taught them, in their tales of fictitious distress, how to blend the troubles of the soul with the infirmities of the body. Numerous systems of religious imposture were soon contrived, and mendicants of a hundred orders swarmed through the land. ”

“ Item, the hangmen (Platschierers) also before the DIFTEL door (church-door) will take their clothes off till they are stark-naked, and lash themselves with whips and sticks for the sake of their sins, and they do this VOPPERY to cheat mankind, as thou hast just heard in the previous chapter; and this is called PLATSCHIERING. Also those who stand on stools, and lash themselves with stones and other things, and talk about the saints, usually become hangmen and slayers. ”

“ And when they have nought more left, they learn begging, and KAMMESIERING, and to cheat the farmers (HANZEN-BESEFLEN) ; and they KAMESIER as follows: Item, that they come from Rome (id est, from the brothel [SONNENBOSS] ) , studying to become priests (on the gallows, i.e. DOLMAN) ; item, one is acolitus, another is epistolarius, the third evangelicus, and a fourth clericus (GALCH) ; item, they have nought on earth but the alms wherewith people help them, and all their friends and family have long been called away by death’s song. ”

“ These are beggars who have been ill for a long time, as they say, and have promised a difficult pilgrimage to this or that Saint (ut supra in precedenti capitulo) for three whole and entire alms every day, that they, thereby, must go each day from door to door until they find three pious men who will give them three entire alms. Thus speaketh a pious man unto them: “What is an entire alms?” ”

“ They formed entire tribes of wanderers, as free as the birds in the air, now dispersing themselves, now reuniting, resting whereever forests or moors pleased, or stupidity and superstition allured them, possessing nothing, but appropriating to themselves the property of everybody, by stratagem or rude force. ”

“ Item, there are also some Questionerers (persons who ask alms) who make evil use of the holy goods which they receive, be it flax, linen-cloth, broken silver plate, or other things; they are easily detected by those who are knowing, but the common man will soon be cheated. ”

“ Luther’s statement as to his own experience with these rogues is very naïve—“I have myself of late years,” he remarks, “been cheated and slandered by such tramps and liars more than I care to confess.”
Both priests and beggars regarded him with a peculiar aversion, and many were the nicknames andPg xxiii vulgar terms applied to him. The slang language of the day, therefore, was not unknown to Luther. ”

“ They wander about in the country and carry with them pictures of devils, and repairPg 29 to the churches, and pretend they had been at Rome, to Saint James, and other distant places, and speak of great signs and wonders that had taken place, but it is all lies and deception. Some of the blind men are called BROKEN WANDERERS (Bruch Umbgeen) . ”

“ Even the ‘Sons of the Muses,’ the Scholars, had become more prosaic, since there was so much to learn and so many universities to visit, and the masters could no longer wander from one country to another with thousands of pupils. ”

“ THE BOOK OF VAGABONDS AND BEGGARS.
ERE follows a pretty little book, called Liber Vagatorum, written by a high and worthy master, nomine Expertus in Truffis, to the praise and glory of God, sibi in refrigerium et solacium, for all persons’ instruction and benefit, and for the correction and conversion of those that practise such knaveries as are shown hereafter; which little book is divided into three parts. Part the first shows the several methods by which mendicants and tramps get theirPg 8 livelihood ”

“ I have many young children, and I want the wherewith to cook soup for them?” Item, for an egg (BETZAM) : “I have a child bedridden now these seven days.” Item, for a mouthful of wine, “for I have a sick wife,” et sic de aliis. This is called DUTZING.
Conclusio: Give nought whatsoever to those Dutzers who say that they have taken a vow not to gather more per diem than iij or iiij entire alms, ut supra. They are half good (HUNT) , and half bad (LÖTSCH) ; but the greater part bad.
Pg 26
Of Schleppers, or False Begging Priests. ”

“ Here is one holding a looking-glass, there one with a pair of scissors. Each has his playthings.... Ah! these are the palmer-worms, the locusts, the canker-worms, andPg xxi the caterpillars which, as Joel saith, have eaten up all the earth.”7
In this style Luther addressed his readers—scourging the Pope, his cardinals, and all their emissaries. But another class of “locusts” besides these appeared to him to require sweeping away,—these were the beggars and vagabonds who imitated the Mendicant Friars in wandering up and down the country, with lying tales of distress, either of mind or body. ”

“ Item, there are also some who borrow children upon All Souls’ or other Feast Day, and sit downPg 44 before the churches as tho’ they had many children, and they say “these children are motherless” or “fatherless,” but it is not true. This is done in order that people may give to them the more willingly for the sake of Adone (God) .
Exemplum: In a village in Switzerland, there is a statute whereby they give to every beggar vs. hellers on condition that he shall for a quarter of a year at least not beg in the same neighbourhood. Once a woman took these same vs. ”

“ Of the Gickisses, or Blind Beggars. HE xith chapter is of the Gickisses, or Blind Beggars. Mark: there are three kinds of blind men who wander about. Some are called BLOCHARTS, id est, blind men—made blind by the power of God,—they go on a pilgrimage, and when they come into a town they hide their round hats, and say to the people they have been stolen from them, or lost at the places where they had sheltered themselves, and one of them often collects ten or xx caps, and then sells them. Some are called blind who have lost their sight by evil-doings and wickednesses. ”

“ They wander over the country, and say that formerly they led a loose life, but that now they repent and would turn from their wickedness, and beg alms for the sake of Sancta Maria Magdalena, and cheat the people therewith. ”

“ GERMAN ORIGIN OF TRICS PRACTISED BY ENGLISH VAGABONDS T is remarkable that many of the tricks and manœuvres to obtain money from the unthinking but benevolent people of Luther’s time should have been practised in this country at an early date, and that they should still be foundPg xxxii amongst the arts to deceive thoughtless persons adopted by rogues and tramps at the present day. ”

“ The cant term JARKE is almost obsolete, but the powerful magic of a bigPg xxx seal is still remembered and made use of by the tribe of cadgers. When a number of them at the present day wait upon a farmer with a fictitious paper, authorizing them to collect subscriptions for the sufferers in some dreadful colliery accident, the document, covered with apparently genuine signatures, is generally garnished with a huge seal. ”

“ Borrowers of children, too,—those pretended fathers of numerous and starving families of urchins, now often heard howling in the streets on a wet day, the children being arranged right and left according to height,—existed in the olden time,—only then the loan was but for All Souls’, or other Feast Day, when the people were in a good humour. ”

“ These are beggars who carry rattles as though they were real lepers, and yet they are not. This is called going with the Virgin.
Of the Mümsen, or Spurious Beggars. HE xxth chapter treats of the Mümsen. These are beggars who go about under the pretence of begging; though it is not real, like that of the Capuchin Friars who are voluntarily poor. These same men have their women sitting in out-of-the-way corners also following the business. This is called going with the Mümsen.
Pg 38 ”

“ Item, there is yet another sort among the land-strollers. These are the tinkers who travel about the country. They have women (WEIBER) who go before them and sing and play; some go about full of mischief, and if thou givest them nothing, one of them mayhap will break a hole in thy kettle with a stick or a knife to give work to a multitude of others. ”

“ Could he but proceed without he would soon leave begging behind him.
Conclusio: To these beggars it is proper to give, for such alms are well laid out.
Of the Stabülers, or Bread Gatherers. The next chapter is about the Stabülers. These are vagrants who tramp through the country from one Saint to another, their wives (KRÖNERIN) and children (GATZAM) going (ALCHEN) with them. Their hats (WETTERHAN) and cloaks (WINTFANG) hang full of signs of all the saints,—the cloak (wintfang) being made (VETZEN) out of a hundred pieces. ”

“ These are vagrants or beggars who say they are of noble birth, and that they have suffered by war, fire, or captivity, or have been driven away and lost all they had. These clothe themselves prettily and with neatness, as though they were noble, though it is not so ”