A S a picture of the manners and customs of the Vagabond population of Central Europe before the Reformation, I think this little book, the earliest of its kind, will be found interesting. The fact of Luther writing a Preface and editing it gives it at once some degree of importance, and excites the curiosity of the student. In this country the Liber Vagatorum is almost unknown, and in Germany only a few scholars and antiquaries are acquainted with the book. In translating it I have endeavoured

T HE Liber Vagatorum , or The Book of Vagabonds , was probably written shortly after 1509, that year being mentioned in the work; it is the earliest book on beggars and their secret language of which we have any record,—preceding by half a century any similar work issued in this country. Nothing is known of the author other than that it was written by one who styled himself a “Reverend Magister, nomine expertus in truffis,”—which proficiency in roguery, as Luther remarks, “the little book very w

T HAT Luther should have written a Preface to so undignified a little work as The Book of Vagabonds seems remarkable. At this period (1528-9) he was in the midst of his labours, surrounded with difficulties and cares, and with every moment of his time fully occupied. The Protest of Spires had just been signed by the first Protestants. Melancthon, in great affliction at the turbulent state of affairs, was running from city to city; and all Germany was alarmed to hear that the dreaded Turks were p

I MUST now say something about the little books on vagabonds which appeared in this country fifty years after the Liber Vagatorum had become popular in Germany. The first and principal of these was edited by Thomas Harman, a gentleman who lived in the days of Queen Elizabeth, and who appears to have spent a considerable portion of his time in ascertaining the artifices and manœuvres of rogues and beggars. From a close comparison of his work with the Liber Vagatorum , I have little hesitation in

A MONGST those passages which refer to the customs and tricks of beggars, in the Liber Vagatorum , there are few which receive illustration by a reference to the early laws and statutes of this country. The licenses, or “letters with seals,” so frequently alluded to, and which were granted to deserving poor people by the civil authorities, are mentioned as customary in this country in the Act for the ordering of Vagrants, passed in the reign of Henry VIII. (1531). It appears that the parish offi

I 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 found amongst the arts to deceive thoughtless persons adopted by rogues and tramps at the present day. The stroller, or “Master of the Black Art,” described at page 19 , is yet occasionally heard of in our rural districts. The simple farmer believes him to be weather and cattle

W 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 cou

HIS little book about the knaveries of beggars was first printed by one who called himself Expertus in Truffis, that is, a fellow right expert in roguery,—which the little work very well proves, even though he had not given himself such a name. But I have thought it a good thing that such a book should not only be printed, but that it should become known everywhere, in order that men may see and understand how mightily the devil rules in this world; and I have also thought how such a book may he

HE xxvij th chapter is about the Burkhart . These are they who thrust their hands into gauntlets, and tie them with kerchiefs to their throats, and say they have Saint Anthony’s penance, or that of any other Saint. Yet it is not true, and Pg 42 they cheat people therewith. This is called going on the Burkhart . HE xxviij th chapter is about the Platschierers . These are the blind men who sit before the churches on chairs, and play on the lute, and sing various songs of foreign lands whither they

This is the Second Part of this Book, which speaketh of several Notabilia that relate to the afore-mentioned customs and methods of getting a living, given in a few words. xxxx I TEM , there are some of the afore-mentioned who neither ask before a house nor at the door, but step right into the house, or into the chamber, whether any body be within or no. It is from no good reason. These thou knowest thyself. Item , there are also some that go up and down the aisles of churches, and carry a cup i

Nothing without Reason. 1 Taschenbuch für Geschichte und Alterthum in Sud-Deutschland, von Heinrich Schreiber , Fribourg, 1839, p. 333. The Basle MSS. are here reprinted without any alteration. 2 These Trials are also recorded in an old MS. of Hieron. Wilh. Ebner , printed in Joh. Heumanni Exercitationes iuris universi , vol. I. (Altdorfi, 1749, 4 o .) No. XIII. Observatio de lingua occulta, pp. 174-180. Both Knebel and Ebner’s accounts differ merely in style and dialect; in all essential points