Balmoral Hall School - Optima Anni Yearbook (Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada)

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. aa -aaa ca- ...csc - ll About Gipsies Gipsies are a nomadic race who are supposed to be descended from some East Indian tribe. They first appeared in England at the beginning of the sixteenth century. Although they are descendants of the East, they are more commonly seen in Europe. They do, however, show evidence of their Eastern origin. They are dark skinned, they have black hair, black or dark eyes, and pearly white teeth. A large percentage of the people have the power to hypnotize people, and have been known to offer and use remedies by using herbs in cases of sickness. They dress quite raggedly and many of them wear no shoes. They live in caravans and move around from place to place in tribes. They live from the land but many times the police have had to chase them away. The gipsies earn their living by small occupations, such as tinkering and basket-making. They pick heather and wild flowers and arrange them neatly in baskets and sell them. Their chief occupation in England, though, is the making of clothes pegs. They strip the bark from the trees, shape it into pegs, wind tin around it, and then hang it up to dry. You will often see them in market places selling these, and it is amazing, sometimes, how quickly they sell them. The old women specialize in fortune-telling while the men usually pick the customer's pockets. The men are also very clever horse-dealers. The gipsies are known for their lovely gruel. It is similar to a stew and is made from meat, bones and many other ingredients. The language of the gipsies is Romany, the speech of the Roma or Zincoli, It is debased Hindu dialect with a large addition of Persian, Armenian and European words. Romany is from the Gipsy word ran meaning a man or a hus- band. A Romany rye is one who enters into the gipsy world which means a gentleman. The gipsies have no religion, although they allow themselves to be baptized in the Christian faith. There is a legend that the gipsies are strays on the earth because they refused to shelter the Virgin and her Child when they were escaping to Egypt. Many people have wondered about the truth of this saying, because many gipsies are wealthy enough to settle down in a house instead of moving from one place to another around the countryside. The gipsies never stay in one place too long, partly because of their unpopularity. They are quite cunning and sly and often camp on a far- mer's land until, gradually, the farmer begins to notice that his ducks, chickens and geese are dis- appearing. The name of the largest group of gipsies in Europe is Atzigang in Turkey and Greece they are called Tshingiang in the Balkans and Rumania Tsigang in Hungary Ziganyg in Germany Zige- norerg in Italy Zigarig in Portugal Ciganog and in Spain Gitano. The French call the gipsies cagoux, which means unsociable. Although many people do not approve of the gipsies' way of living, I would like to be a gipsy because I love their carefree life. Beryl Hoare, Grade X. The Lucky Charm Raoul entered the swamp from the south-east pasture, never again to return home. He had lived in the sprawling shack behind him for all of his seventeen years and was sad at leaving it. But now was the time to strike out - he was too old to live with his family. His parents would be sad at first, but they would soon forget. There were eight other mouths to feed and the celery crop was going to be poor. All his life, Raoul had been a more thoughtful child than the others and had been discontented with farm life. He was independent. Earlier in the afternoon after weeding the celery trenches, Raoul had packed a greasy slab of bacon and a big portion of cornpone into ri sack, whistled to Tigre, and had left. As he trudged through the coarse cane grass he began to doubt his own ability to live alone. However, the charm on the rawhide around his neck reassured him. Nothing short of success could ever cross his path while he was wearing his charm. The charm was a yellowed alligator's tooth. Old Guan had given it to the boy. The tooth had belonged to the alligator who had taken three hngers from Guan's right hand. He had killed the beast and kept a tooth as a charm. That had happened eighty years before. Guan had been a trapper all his life - had lived in the swamp and had finally died there. When he was ten Raoul had met the old trapper and from that time on, they were friends. The old man knew all the swamp lore and the young, inquisitive boy proved to be an ardent listener. Guan trapped opossum for a living and sold the hides to a factory for a small price. During this friendship, Raoul had matured considerably. Then suddenly, the old man died. Guan had known the end was coming and had given the charm to Raoul. This charm was a symbol of the boy's future life - swamp life. Raoul knew his would be a hard life, but he was prepared for it. Boy and dog scrambled through the thicket, lurching over the uneven ground under low- hanging branches. This thicket was the barrier

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IO g gg gg gg gg g g ggg g Te? ' hull H IA l -fx VR -ff'- M f U'-bl nf What the Cat Saw The fire leaped and danced and spread a cheery glow through the room. The cat sat blink- ing in the warmth, tail curved neatly about him, eyes on the flames. Like an aged professor, he seemed to be reminiscing on past experiences. His thoughts went back and back . . . Egypt . . . The jewelled fingers of Cleopatra stroked her fui ry companion. Deftly, she slipped the deadly potion into her brother's goblet as he bent, laughing, to retrieve the fan she had let fall. Slowly, she stroked, and stroked. Suddenly the youth uttered a sharp cry and fell to the floor where he writhed for a moment, twitched, and grew still, She smiled, and stroked M who would know? Only the cat had seen. Rome . . . The agonized voice cried hoarsely, Et tu, Brute? as the knife plunged once more. His murderers watched as their emperor crumpled slowly to the floor, then fled silently. The cat, disinterestedly washing himself in a small square of sunlight, reflected: So, Caesar is dead. Britain . . . At the sound of the terror-stricken scream, the cat leaped into a doorway. Running footsteps approached, and presently a sobbing girl darted past. Her frightened eyes glanced wildly to left and right, as if in search of refuge in the cold, echoing rooms. All day her pitiful cries were heard. Then all sound ceased. Another English queen had met her death, swiftly, at the block. France , . . From his perch on the window sill, the cat had a perfect view of the screaming mob below. Through the crowd rumbled a cart filled with aristocrats -- their faces drawn and haggard. One stood out among the rest - her snowy hair and erect body hinted at former beauty. But soon the gracious head was mutilated, the proud body broken and lifeless. The guillotine had ended the life of Marie Antoinette. America . . . Savage screams broke the calm of the still night. One by one the family was dragged into the yard screaming . . , then the night grew still once more, The only sound was the crackling of the burning barn. After a long while, the cat crept from his hiding place and gingerly picked his way to the middle of the yard where lay a child. He sniffed her cold cheek, and then, as if summoning her to play, patted a dishevelled curl. There was no movement. He mewed plaintively several times, then began a long vigil beside his little mistress. Is it any wonder that the cat looks so wise, so mysterious? Perhaps many of our questions would be answered if we had seen what the cat saw, Lyn Stephen, Grade XI.

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12 as between the busy world and the peaceful swamp. Tigre jumped into the skiff by the shore, followed by Raoul who slowly poled in the direction of Guan's old cabin. There Raoul would make his headquarters. The skiff glided through the still, murky water. The swamp held no terrors for Raoul. It was a refuge for beast and man. Smooth- trunked trees rose out of mossy banks. The foliage blocked the sunlight, but here and there a stream of light would manage to sneak through onto a sandy bar. Here alligators and turtles lazed. The swamp was an endless grey-green world. Even the birds were grey - but how they could fill the swamp with music! The curacha bird was typical of the swamp - outwardly drab but so beautiful when analysed. Raoul had read about gaudy orioles, but the curachas seemed much more appeal- ing with their throaty calls. This was Raoul's domain. The skiff drifted along innumerable water- ways and channels, all similar in appearance. But Raoul knew where he was going and with deter- mination, poled more quickly. The cabin was leaning against two century-old trees at the end of a narrow secluded bay. The skiff bumped against the decayed dock. Raoul skilfully moored it to an eroded post and stood looking at the cabin. It would need a new door. Tigre bounded ahead and stood, barking, by the cabin. He felt at home already. Raoul closed the door behind him and pulled the curtains. The swamp was cold at night. He knelt by the hearth and lit a fire, then sat meditating. The dog lay beside him. His was a great undertaking. There was a look of wistfulness and homesickness on his face but it soon turned to one of independence and resolve. He was seventeen. He was going to be a trapper like Guan. With the aid of the charm, he would succeed. Gayle McLean, Grade XI. Autumn The oak tree stood in the garden, Splendid, stately and still, She had done her best, At Natures request Her summers work to fulfill. And now like children, Grown up and gay, fihe watched as her leaves go swirling away. joy McDiarmid, Grade XI. What the Cat Saw Thibeau the cat awoke as a shadow fell across him. It was only the Child, who was clambering precariously from a window on the second floor of the apartment onto the roof to join the cat. Thibeau hoped with a sniff of protest that the Child's Mother did not know what he was doingg or surely she would carry on for hours in her harsh, tired voice. However, it happened to be that lazy time in the afternoon when everyone but little boys grows idle, It was one of those roofs of a much older generation, generously indented with sloping gar- rets and caught with wooden eaves. The one pecu- liar feature was that the slope was so gentle, there were no doors or windows opening onto it, only a musty, unused trapdoor. By grasping the chimney corner where the rotten eave had broken away, the Child could pull himself up with a foothold on the clothes-line pole. The old building con- trasted strangely with the white, superior frame of the construction immediately adjacent. The Child crawled up the pitted roof towards the cat, dragging a mass of red and green wool after him, Thibeau's eyes narrowed sleepily, but his senses quickened to a keener sense of alertness. The Child chatted happily to the cat as he spun the wool around the corner of the brick chimney, See, kitty, I'm making a bed for you. Mom'll maybe get mad 'cause I took it out of her sewing basket, but it's such pretty colours. He picked up the animal and cradled it in the tangle of soft wool. Thibeau struggled and lashed out to free himself. The Child was disappointed as Thibeau backed away defensively. He glanced around for another source of amusement. The roof-top was one of the few places in the crowded city quarter that was exposed to sunlight and healthy surroundings. Every day the cat's master reached up and put him on the roof, where he could sleep in the sun, soaking in the warmth into his thin body. Because the roof was not flat, no one had ever thought of going up to sun-bathe. Modern expansion was now overflowing into the older section of the city. Witness the huge, in- complete construction upon which Peter's ffor so he was namedj eyes alighted with the pleasure of finding a new toy. Forgetting Thibeau and the wool, he edged his way along the ridge pole to the far side of the building. With a child's cunning he plotted as to how to cross to the new thing. Thibeau, surefooted, padded lightly behind to watch the progress, his grey fur ruffling in a sudden premonitory breeze. Peter was already over the edge, testing footholds on the extended planks. Frowning with concen- tration, he reached the boarded walls which were to encase the cement foundations. The cat started