Scottish Travellers
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Highland Travellers
Highland Travellers have been part of Scottish society and many families carry clan names like Macfie[1], Stewart, MacDonald, Cameron and Macmillan. In Scottish Gaelic they are known as the Ceardannan ("the Craftsmen," or "Black Tinkers"), or poetically as the Summer Walkers. The Highland Travellers' speech includes a 'Pidgin-Gaelic' called 'Beurla-reagaird'. It is related to the Irish Traveller dialect known as Shelta. It was used, just as Gypsies used the Romani language, as a way of keeping their business secret from strangers. In Scots they may be referred to as traivellers, traivellin fowk, tinkers or (usually regarded as pejorative and contemptuous) tinks or tinkies[2]. They are also colloquially known as "the gaun aboot fowk". Like the Romani, Highland Travellers followed a nomadic lifestyle; passing from village to village among the settled population. Although Romani blood is found in some Highland Traveller families, they are more strongly identified with the native Highland population.
They would pitch their bow-tents on rough ground on the edge of the village and earn money there as tinsmiths, hawkers, horse dealers and pearl-fishermen. Many found seasonal employment on farms, e.g. at the berry picking or during harvest. They also brought entertainment and news to the country folk. Since the 1950s, however, the majority of Travellers have settled down into organized campsites or regular houses. Scottish traveller Belle Stewart was awarded the British Empire Medal for services to her country's culture. It is estimated that only 2,000 Scottish Travellers continue to lead their traditional lifestyle on the roads.
Lowland Travellers
Scotland has had a Lowland traveller or Romanichal population for at least 500 years, they are a distinct group from the Highland traveller and share a common language and heritage with the English gypsies and Welsh Kale, who are also Roma. The first official mention of Travellers in Britain was in 1505, when it was recorded that seven pounds were paid to 'Egyptians' by King James IV at Stirling. They enjoyed a privileged place in Scottish society until the Reformation, when their wandering lifestyle and exotic culture brought severe persecution upon them.
Adam Smith, the renowned political economist and moral philosopher was kidnapped by Highland Travellers at a young age[5][6].
In popular culture
- Death Defying Acts
- Rob Roy — A 1995 film featuring Liam Neeson that details the exploits of the early 18th century Highland clan chieftain Rob Roy MacGregor. The film opens with MacGregor clansmen retrieving stolen cattle from robbers they call "Tinkers". Later on, the wife of Rob Roy, when commenting on potential economic misfortunes for their clan, dismisses any relationship between their status and that of "Tinkers",
See also
References
Resources
- "Scottish Clans & Tartans" (ISBN 0-600-31935-0), by Ian Grimble, 1973, 3rd (revised) impression 1982
- "Traveller's Joy: Songs of English and Scottish Travellers and Gypsies 1965-2005" by Mike Yates, Elaine Bradtke, Malcolm Taylor, and David Atkinson (2006)
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