By the time 'Gypsies' appeared on the pages of Jane Austen, Sir Walter Scott and Maria Edgeworth, Romani people had been in England for centuries. Sidebar: Believing the copper-skinned migrants to hail from Egypt, the Europeans had coined the term "Gypsies" for these migrants. Some consider this pejorative and prefer Rom/Roma or Traveler. However studies of genetics, culture, and language show distinct differences in heritage between the communities of Eastern Europe (predominately Roma), the Travelers (almost entirely Irish), and English and Welsh Gypsies (Romani). To avoid geographic confusion, the broader 'Gypsies' is used in this post. [...]