How does the traveller move toward the town?
Answers
When traveling abroad, the odds favor a safe and incident-free trip, however, travelers can be subject to difficulties, crime and violence.
Answer:
There are several different groups of Gypsies and Travellers living in England, including
Romany Gypsies, Irish Travellers and New Travellers, and Circus and Fairground families.
Some cultural values and traditions are shared, including a nomadic lifestyle or heritage.
Gypsies are Romany ethnic groups whose ancestors migrated from India from the 10
th
Century and then mixed with European and other groups. Irish Travellers are a nomadic
group with a distinctive way of life who have been part of Irish society for centuries. „Roma‟ is
used to describe European Romany speaking groups who have come to England from
Eastern and Central Europe, and is sometimes used to refer more generally to Gypsies and
Travellers. New Travellers are people of settled background who adopted a travelling lifestyle
in the more recent past, although some are now in their third or fourth generation of travelling.
Circus and fairground families are another group who travel for their work.
Romany Gypsies and Irish Travellers are legally protected from discrimination as minority
ethnic groups under the Race Relations Acts. Under the Race Relations (Amendment) Act all
public bodies have a duty to promote equality for Gypsies and Travellers.
There is also a non-ethnic definition of a „Gypsy‟ in planning law, which is applicable to all
Travelling people. Because it refers to people of nomadic habits, this definition caused
problems for Gypsies and Travellers who had stopped travelling for health reasons. So the
Government introduced a new definition for planning guidance purposes:
“Persons of nomadic habit of life whatever their race or origin, including such persons
who on grounds only of their own or their family‟s or dependents educational or health
needs or old age have ceased to travel temporarily or permanently, but excluding
members of an organised group of travelling show people or circus people travelling
as such…”
It is also important that individual Gypsy and Traveller families are able to decide themselves
whether they self-define as „Gypsy‟, „Traveller‟ or some other definition.
In addition to some common cultural values and traditions, the different groups of Gypsies
and Travellers also share a high level of discrimination and prejudice in their daily lives, and
great difficulty in maintaining their lifestyle and heritage. They are disadvantaged in many
different ways including access to health care, education and secure accommodation. The
British Medical Association considers the Gypsy Traveller community to be the most „at risk‟,
with the lowest life expectancy and highest child mortality rate.
How long have there been Gypsies and Travellers in Britain?
Gypsy and Traveller groups have been in Britain for at least 500 years and probably much
longer. The first written record of Romany Gypsies is at the Scottish court of King James in
1505. Within 50 years of that inaugural date, three Acts were passed in England expelling and
discriminating against Romany Gypsies.
Irish Travellers have been migrating to Britain alongside other Irish people since the early 19
th
Century.
What is Gypsy and Traveller culture?
Many British people, including famous household names, have Gypsy or Traveller ancestry,
yet few people really understand their culture. Like other minority ethnic groups, Gypsies and
Travellers have their own languages, traditions and customs that guide their way of life.
These are passed down through the generations, but are also adapted to new conditions.
Cultural values are very strong, though like other groups, each family and individual may have
their own special ways of putting them into practice.
Traditional Romany Gypsy Homes (inside and out)
The family is extremely important to Gypsies and Travellers and a source of great pride.
Extended families support and look after one another. Older members of the community are
respected and cared for within the family. Practically, for example, Gypsies and Travellers
would not contemplate putting elderly relatives into homes. Children are central to the lives of
Gypsy and Traveller families.
The public perception of Gypsies and Travellers can be the opposite of the real situation. For
example, there are myths and rhymes about Gypsies stealing children, but in fact there are
many examples in Europe of Gypsies having their own children taken away to try and stop
them being Gypsies. In Switzerland, the children‟s state-run Charity „Pro Juventute‟ between
1923 and 1973 removed 619 Gypsy Children from their parents and placed them with new
Swiss parents or in institutions. The project‟s intention was to destroy the Romany way of life.
In a poem about her people, Irish Traveller Kit Gaffey wrote:
“Yet so often they‟re talked of, as ruffians and rogues, Thieves and stealers, Child beaters and hogs.
Yet they‟re so close to each other, it‟s hard to believe That their love exists to all their creed.