Scottish Romani and Traveller groups

From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia

Part of a series on
Romani people
Flag of the Romani people
Romani people by sub-group
Romani diaspora by country

Scottish Travellers (Scottish Gaelic: Luchd-siubhail Albannach), or the people in Scotland loosely termed Romani persons or travellers, consist of a number of diverse, unrelated communities that speak a variety of different languages and dialects that pertain to distinct customs, histories, and traditions.[1]

The distinct communities that identify themselves as Roma/Travellers in Scotland include the following: Indigenous Highland Travellers, Romani Lowland Travellers, Scottish Border Romanichal Travellers (Border Gypsies) and Showmen (Funfair Travellers). Scottish Romanis and Traveller groups are considered part of the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller (GRT) community.[2]

General terminology[edit]

The most common overarching modern terms in English for these groups are Scottish Travellers or Travelling Folk, though various specific groups have more particular names in English and otherwise (see below). The Scots language equivalents are Traivellers or Traivellin Fowk. The Scottish Gaelic term is Luchd Siubhail or Luchd-siubhail ('Travelling Folk', literally 'People [of] Travel'), or more specifically Scottish Gaelic: Luchd-siubhail Albannach ('Scottish Traveling Folk').

The settled British (and Irish) population have often referred to all such populations in the British Isles as Tinkers (originally meaning an itinerant tinsmith), a name now often considered pejorative, with more contemptuous derivates such as Tinks and Tinkies.[3] This English and Scots term has a cognate in Gaelic Tincearan (singular Tincear[d]), and equivalent terms have been used throughout Western Europe to refer locally to similar populations, owing to their historically frequent work in repairing household objects. Another generally dismissive term throughout Britain is Pikeys (also Pikies, Pykies; popularized widely even beyond the UK by the 2000 film Snatch). The also-pejorative Knackers (a reference to livestock rendering, a low-desire form of work often foisted on Travellers) has become uncommon. Over the last few generations, the common generic term Gypsies (derived from an old folk belief that the Romani originated in Egypt) is also sometimes seen as pejorative.

Lowland Travellers and Border Romanichal Travellers (Romani groups)[edit]

Lowland Scottish Gypsies/Travellers[edit]

Romani people in Scotland
Ròmanaich
Total population
≈ 20,000[4]
Languages
Scottish Cant

The ethnic origins of Scottish Lowland Travellers are not clear, but can be categorised into two main theories:

  • They are Romani in origin and have a common ancestry with the English Romanichal,[5] and their language and culture simply diverged from the language and culture of the Romanichal as happened with the Welsh Kale.
  • They are a fusion or mix of Romani and an indigenous Lowland Scottish Traveller group, and their roots are just as Romani as they are Scottish.

Regardless of the origin theories, Lowland Gypsies are still viewed as a Romani group, with Romani culture being a part of Scottish Lowland Gypsy culture.

Lowland Scottish Romani Travellers share many cultural features with English Romanichal Travellers and Welsh Kale Travellers, such as a belief in the importance of family and family descent, a strong valuing and involvement with extended family and family events, a preference for self-employment, purity taboos — part of the Romanipen — and a strong commitment to an itinerant lifestyle.

They are closely related to the Romani groups of England, Wales, Norway, Sweden, and Finland. They speak Scottish Cant, a para-Romani language-mix of Scots and Romani, similar to Angloromani and Scandoromani.[6]

History[edit]

There is written evidence for the presence of Roma travellers in the Scottish Lowlands as early as 1505, when – during the reign of James IV – an entry in a book kept by the Lord High Treasurer records a payment of four shillings to a Peter Ker to take a letter from the king at Hunthall, to the "King of Rowmais". Two days later, the King authorised a payment of £20 to a messenger from the "King of Rowmais".[7][8] In 1530, a group of Romanies danced before the Scottish king at the Holyrood Palace and a Romani herbalist called Baptista cured the king of an ailment.[8] However, James V sent letters to his regional officials and clergy to expel the "Egiptianes" in July 1541[9]

Romany migration to Scotland continued during the 16th century and several groups of Romanies were accepted there after being expelled from England.[10][11] Records in Dundee from 1651 note the migrations of small groups of people called "Egyptians" in the Highlands, and are noted to be of the same nature as the English Gypsies.[12] By 1612, communities of Romanies were recorded to exist as far north as Scalloway in the Shetland Islands.[10][13]

The Finnish Kale, a Romani group in Finland, maintain that their ancestors were originally a Romani group who travelled to Finland from Scotland;[14] this is because Finnish Kale and Norwegian and Swedish Romanisæl Travellers are distantly related to present-day Scottish Lowland Romani Travellers, English Romanichal Travellers, and Welsh Kale, with all of these groups having common ancestry, being descended from the Romani who arrived in Britain in the sixteenth century.

Romani people in the south of Scotland enjoyed the protection of the Roslyn family and made an encampment within the Roslyn castle grounds. However, as with its neighbour England, the Scottish parliament passed an act in 1609 against Romani groups known as the “Act against the Egyptians”;[11] which made it lawful to condemn, detain and execute Gypsies if they were known or reputed to be ethnically Romani.[10]

Scotland has had a Romani population for at least 500 years; they are a distinct group from the Highland Travellers. Lowland Gypsies Romani Travellers share a common heritage with English Romanichal Gypsies and Welsh Kale. They enjoyed a privileged place in Scottish society until the Reformation, when their wandering lifestyle and exotic culture brought severe persecution upon them.

Travelling groups from other parts of Britain often travel in Scotland. These include English Romanichal Travellers, and Irish Travellers as well as Scottish showpeople or showmen (a group of multigenerational fair/circus occupational families not an ethnic group). English Romanichal Gypsies/Travellers from the north of England mainly in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne and Cumbria commonly travel into the Scottish Borders. The annual gathering at Appleby Horse Fair could be considered part of the common culture that Lowland Scottish Travellers living in the Lowlands and Romanichal Border Gypsies living in the Scottish Borders share with the UK's other Travelling groups.

Scottish Romanichal Travellers (Scottish Border Gypsies)[edit]

Romanichal Traveller communities known as Border Gypsies exist in the Scottish borders. Speaking Northern Angloromani and following Romanichal traditions and customs, they are linguistically and culturally identical to the Romanichal Traveller communities in Northern England. They live in separate and distinct communities from Scottish Lowland Travellers.

Scottish Romanichal traders were upwardly mobile. By 1830, they travelled to the potteries in Staffordshire, buying china and other goods and selling the items chiefly in Northumberland while based in Kirk Yetholm in Roxburghshire.[15]

By 1874, these Gypsies were commented on as "Having physical markers in their dusky complexion that is characteristically Gypsy ... and ... a language that is clearly Romani".[16]

Some Scottish Romanichal Travellers from the Scottish Borders are members of Romani organisations based in England.[5] Scottish Romanichal Travellers are known locally as Border Gypsies.[5][17][18]

Scottish Cant, Scots-Romani, or Scotch-Romani[edit]

Main article: Scottish Cant

The Lowland Gypsies speak a mixed language of Scots and Romani called Scottish Cant (also known as Scots-Romani or Scotch-Romani) which includes up to 50% words of Romani origin, mostly Angloromani origin words.[20]

Non-Romani groups[edit]

Indigenous Highland Travellers[edit]

Highland Travellers are a distinct ethnic group, and not ancestrally related to the Romani groups in Scotland, though these subcultures do interact at various events and through other means. A poetic English name for them is the Summer Travellers. In Scottish Gaelic, they may be called the Ceàrdannan ('Craftsmen'), related to the Tinkers usage.[21] Any of the overarching terms for Scottish Travelling Folk in English, Gaelic, or Scots are sometimes also applied to them, along with the rather pejorative term Black Tinkers.[21]

Adam Smith, the economist and philosopher, was reportedly kidnapped by Highland Travellers at a young age before quickly being freed.[22][23]

Language[edit]

Main article: Beurla Reagaird

The Highland Travellers' speech includes a dialect called Beurla Reagaird or Beurla-reagaird. It is related to the Irish Traveller Shelta as a creole of the Gaelic language group. It has been used as a cultural identifier, just as Romani groups used the Romani language. Like the Highland Travellers themselves, the language is not related to Romani.[24]

Origins and customs[edit]

The Highland Traveller community has a long history in Scotland going back, at least in record, to the 12th century as a form of employment and one of the first records of that name states a "James the Tinker" held land in the town of Perth from 1165 to 1214.[16][25] Highland Travellers share a similar heritage, although are distinct from, the Irish Travellers. As with their Irish counterparts, there are several theories regarding the origin of Scottish Highland Travellers; some that have been claimed at different times are that they are descended from the Picts,[25] originated as excommunicated clergy,[25] were families fleeing the Highland potato famine, or represent a population displaced by the Norman Invasion or prior socio-political disruptions.[25] Highland Travellers are distinct both culturally and linguistically from other Gypsy groups like the Romani (including the British and Scandinavia Romanichal, Lowland Scottish Gypsies, Eastern European Roma, and Welsh Kale groups). Several other European groups are also non-Romani, namely the Yeniches, Woonwagenbewoners in the Netherlands (who may be related to the Yeniche), indigenous Norwegian Travellers, and Landfahrer in Germany. As with indigenous Norwegian Travellers, Highland Travellers' origins may be more complex and difficult to ascertain, as they left no early written records of their own.

As an indigenous group, Highland Travellers have played an essential role in the preservation of traditional Gaelic culture.[26] It is estimated that as few as 2,000 Highland Travellers continue to lead their traditional lifestyle on the roads.

Notable Highland travellers[edit]

  • Andy M. Stewart, Scottish folk-singer and songwriter. Lead singer of the band Silly Wizard
  • Lizzie Higgins, Scottish folk singer (daughter of Jeannie Robertson).
  • Jeannie Robertson, Scottish folk singer.
  • Belle Stewart, Scottish traditional singer.
  • Sheila Stewart, daughter of Belle Stewart, who was awarded the British Empire Medal for services to her country's cultural oral tradition in Scots and Gaelic.
  • Duncan Williamson, author / storyteller who wrote down the oral history, stories and ancient tales of the Highland Traveller. He recorded over 3,000 stories over his lifetime.[27]
  • Stanley Robertson, master storyteller, ballad singer and author of several books of Lowland Traveller tales. (Nephew of Jeannie Robertson)
  • Jamie Macpherson, 17th century Highland outlaw, fiddler and composer of 'Macpherson's Lament'

Fairground travellers[edit]

Main article: Travelling funfair

Travelling funfair showmen (sometimes referred to as carnies) are a community of occupational travellers, who do not form an ethnic group but an occupational and organisational subculture, which can be categorised broadly as a business community of travelling shows, circus and carnival communities, and fairground families. Occupational travellers travel for work across Scotland, the rest of the UK, and into continental Europe. The show/fairground community is close knit, with ties often existing between them and the older Romanichal families, although showmen families are a distinct, multi-ethnic group and have a vibrant social scene organised around both the summer fairs and the various sites and yards used as winter quarters. Many Scottish show and fairground families live in winter communities based mainly in the east end of Glasgow. Housing an estimated 80% of all British show families, Glasgow is believed to have the largest concentration of showmen quarters in Europe, mostly in Shettleston, Whiteinch, and Carntyne.[28]

Showmen families have a strong cultural identity as British showmen, dating back to 1889 and the formation of the Showmen's Guild of Great Britain and Ireland. Those in Scotland are known within the broader showmen tradition in the UK as the "Scottish section".[29] As with other showmen communities, they call non-travellers (but not other distinct travelling groups including Romanichal, Roma, Scottish Lowland Travellers, Highland Travellers, or Irish Travellers) as flatties in their own Polari language.[30] The label of flattie-traveller can include showmen who have left the community to settle down and lead a sedentary lifestyle.

History[edit]

Fairs in Scotland have been held from the early Middle Ages, and traditionally brought together the important elements of medieval trade and a festival. Many of the common markets and fairs are rooted in ancient times, from the medieval period or earlier, and are said to be "prescriptive fairs". Other fairs will have been granted a royal charter to cement their importance and secure their future, and these are known as charter fairs. In the middle ages, the royal charters gave the fairs legal status and developed their economic importance. The majority of fairs held in Scotland and the rest of the British Isles can trace their origins to charters granted in the medieval period. Traders would travel long distances to sell their goods, as did travelling musicians and entertainers who kept both the traders and customers entertained. In the thirteenth century, the creation of fairs by royal charter was widespread. Between 1199 and 1350, charters were issued granting the rights to hold markets or fairs. Kirkcaldy links market remains the longest-running funfair in Scotland, from a charter granted by Edward I in 1304. By the early 18th century, the livestock-market aspect of these Scottish charter fairs had diminished, with the focus shifting to amusement, and they evolved into the modern-day travelling fairs.[31]

The modern travelling showmen have as strong a family history and heritage as do their counterparts in Wales, England and Ireland. Fairs in Scotland are presented around the same time as they are in the rest of Great Britain and Ireland with a similar mixture of Charter, Prescriptive and private business fairs. The run of fairs include Buckie fair, Inverness, Kirkcaldy links market and the historic fairs held at Dundee and Arbroath. Annually a team of young showmen from both Scotland and England play an “international football match” known as the international,[32] where trophies and caps are held in high esteem. A Showman newspaper; World's Fair is in circulation and available to showmen and non showmen alike.[32]

Language[edit]

Main article: Polari

The use of slang used by Showmen or Parlyaree, is based on a cant slang spoken throughout the UK by Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish showfamilies. It is a mixture of Mediterranean Lingua Franca, Romany, Yiddish, Cant London slang and backslang. The language has been spoken in fairgrounds and theatrical entertainment since at least the seventeenth century.[33] As theatrical booths, circus acts and menageries were once a common part of European fairs it is likely that the roots of Polari/Parlyaree lie in the period before both theatre and circus became independent of the fairgrounds. The Parlyaree spoken on fairgrounds tends to borrow much more from Romany, as well as other languages and argots spoken by other travelling groups, such as cant and backslang.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Choudry, Sameena (17 May 2021). Equitable Education. Critical Publishing. ISBN 978-1-914171-00-0. Retrieved 18 February 2024 – via Google Books.
  2. ^ Acton, Thomas; Acton, Jennifer; Cemlyn, Sara; Ryder, Andrew (2016). "Why we need to up our Numbers Game: A non-parametric approach to the methodology and politics of the demography of Roma, Gypsy, Traveller and other ethnic populations" (PDF). Radical Statistics (114). Retrieved 7 January 2024.
  3. ^ Robinson, Mairi, ed. (1985). The Concise Scots Dictionary. p. 723.
  4. ^ "Gypsies and Travellers in Scotland". Scottish Traveller Education Programme. 5 February 2007. Archived from the original on 11 August 2004. Retrieved 26 August 2007.
  5. ^ a b c Acton, Thomas Alan; Mundy, Gary, eds. (1997). Romani culture and Gypsy identity. Hatfield: University of Hertfordshire Press. ISBN 978-0-900458-76-7.
  6. ^ Liégeois, Jean-Pierre (1 January 1994). Roma, Gypsies, Travellers. Council of Europe. ISBN 978-92-871-2349-7. Retrieved 18 February 2024 – via Google Books.
  7. ^ "Gypsies in Scotland, The Gypsies". Scottishgypsies.co.uk. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
  8. ^ a b Fraser, Angus M. (1995). The Gypsies. The Peoples of Europe. Oxford, UK: Blackwell. ISBN 978-0-631-19605-1.
  9. ^ James Balfour Paul, Accounts of the Treasurer of Scotland, vol. 7 (Edinburgh, 1907), p. 457.
  10. ^ a b c d e Weyrauch, Walter Otto, ed. (2001). Gypsy Law: Romani legal traditions and culture. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-22186-4.
  11. ^ a b Winstedt, Eric Otto (1913). Early British Gypsies. Liverpool, UK: Gypsy Lore Society. OCLC 14408598. cited in: Weyrauch (2001).[10]
  12. ^ Firth, C.H., ed. (1895). Scotland and the Commonwealth. Edinburgh, UK: Scottish Historical Society. p. 29. OCLC 464777612 – via Internet Archive (archive.org).
  13. ^ Macritchie. Scottish Gypsies. cited in Weyrauch (2001)[10]
  14. ^ "Romani, Kalo Finnish". Ethnologue.
  15. ^ Mayall, David (1988). Gypsy-travellers in Nineteenth-century Society. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-32397-0.
  16. ^ a b "Scottish Gypsies under the Stewarts". Journal of the Gypsy Lore Society. 2. Gypsy Lore Society. Ch 6, p 175.
  17. ^ Thorburn, Gordon; Baxter, John (1996). The Appleby Rai: Travelling people on a thousand-year journey. Gordon Thorburn. ISBN 978-0-9527638-0-2.
  18. ^ Bhopal, Kalwant; Myers, Martin (2008). Insiders, Outsiders, and Others: Gypsies and Identity. Hatfield, UK: University of Hertfordshire Press. ISBN 978-1-902806-71-6.
  19. ^ Clark, Colin (2002). "'Not just lucky white heather and clothes pegs': Putting European Gypsy and Traveller economic niches in context". In Fenton, Steve; Bradley, Harriet (eds.). Ethnicity and Economy: Race and Class Revisited. Basingstoke, United Kingdom: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 183–98. ISBN 978-0-333-79301-5.
  20. ^ Wilde (1889) cited in Clark (2002).[19]
  21. ^ a b Douglas, Shelia (2006). The Last of the Tinsmiths: The Life of Willy MacPhee.
  22. ^ "What you should know about Adam Smith". BBC News. 13 March 2007. Retrieved 29 April 2010.
  23. ^ Grey Graham, Henry (1901). Scottish men of letters in the eighteenth century. A. and C. Black. p. 148. Retrieved 29 April 2010.
  24. ^ "Introduction – The Language of the Scottish Traveller: A Dictionary". Retrieved 18 February 2024.
  25. ^ a b c d Hancock, Ian (1986). "The cryptolectal speech of the American roads: Traveler Cant and American Angloromani". American Speech. 61 (3): 206–220. doi:10.2307/454664. JSTOR 454664.
  26. ^ "Travelling people — Highland Travellers". ambaile.org.uk.
  27. ^ "Betsy from Fife and other stories by Duncan Williamson". Travellers’ Times. 6 January 2022.
  28. ^ Scottish travellers bemis.org.uk
  29. ^ "Research and Articles - History of Fairs - Showmen's Guild - Sections :: National Fairground Archive". Nfa.dept.shef.ac.uk. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
  30. ^ "Voices - The Voices Recordings - Travelling showmen and women". BBC. 24 January 2005. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
  31. ^ Foster, Brian; Walker, Anne (24 August 2015). "Showmen or Fairground Travellers". Traveller Education in the Mainstream: The Litmus Test. Hopscotch / MA Education / Andrews UK. p. 12. ISBN 978-1-909102-19-4.
  32. ^ a b Worlds Fair.
  33. ^ Partridge, Eric (1937) Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English

Further reading[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Scottish_Romani_and_Traveller_groups&oldid=1218409865"