The etymology is thus explained by Borrow.
"Petulengro: A compound of the modern Greek [Greek text] and the Sanscrit _kara_; the literal meaning being lord of the horse-shoe (_i.e_.

maker), it is one of the private cognominations of 'the Smiths,' an English gypsy clan." Engro is apparently akin to the English suffix monger, and with it may be compared the Anglo-Saxon suffix smith, in such words as lore- smith or war-smith (warrior).

Thus we have sapengro, lavengro, and sherengro, head man.

Of the gypsy tribes in England, Borrow in his _Zincali_ (ed.

1846, Introd.) has the following: "The principal gypsy tribes at present in existence are the Stanleys, whose grand haunt is the New Forest; the Lovells, who are fond of London and its vicinity: the Coopers, who call Windsor Castle their home; the Hernes, to whom the north country, more especially Yorkshire, belongeth; and lastly my brethren the Smiths, to whom East Anglia appears to have been allotted from the beginning.