School: Loch Rois (roll number 1751)

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1. Travelling Folk (continued)

   

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   The females of the band usually carry a basket in which are small articles such as, campher, laces, collar studs, cuff links, buttons, combs, hairpins, and shoe studs.
   The male members of the family (if they are of the tinker family) always carry tin cans, basins, kettles, porringers, and are always read to avail of a few shillings, by mending making tin vessels. There is always a ready sale for the tin ware, but trade is dull, for the other small articles.

   They buy their supplies from some wholesale dealer in a big town. They always stay for at least a week or a fortnight and if the remain longer they are removed by the civil authorities, at the request of the peasants. They sleep in canvas covered carts on a bed of hey or straw. The food which they have is sometimes better than that of the native peasants. so you pass by the camp you will notice at meal times, big chunks of meat, eggs, bacon, vegtibles, tea, stout, porridge and bread being devoured with relish.

   Milk, bread, tea, flour, potatoes, eggs,turnips are among the principal, alms accepted by them.
   They Travel in families.
   They move to and fro on spring carts, drawn by horses, sometimes they have caravans.
   They come mostly between April and October. They never tell any stories. The local people never associate or mingle with them while they are in the district

   

   Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.

   History Edit

   Topics

   1. agents (~1)
      1. people by social grouping
         1. travellers (~3,023)

   Language

   English

   Collector

   Terry Mc Hugh

   Gender

   Male

   Age

   16

   Address

   Glenfarne, Co. Leitrim

   Informant

   James Mc Loughlin

   Relation

   Unknown

   Gender

   Male