Gypsy history celebration aims to undo 'centuries of mistrust'

Gyspy Roma Traveller History Month (GRTHM) is being held throughout June to ‘shine a light’ on the community that remains largely on the fringes of Scottish society. This weekend, Perth Bridge is being lit up in yellow to mark GRTHM and the time of year when Gypsy/Travellers went out on the road again following the winter when the ‘yellow was on the broom’. With the annual event moving online amid the current pandemic, organisers hope that its virtual celebration will open up information on the heritage, customs and culture of the Gypsy Traveller Community to a wider audience. Dr Lynne Tammi, Interim National Co-ordinator of Article 12, an organisation which works to secure the rights of marginalised young people, set up the history month in 2016. Dr Tammi said: “Gypsy and travellers have been in Scotland for centuries but the majority of people don’t know about the culture and traditions. “There is a lack of understanding of what the Gypsy/Traveller community is in Scotland and how long it has been a community. “There has been some change in attitudes about the Gypsy/Traveller community and people are starting to go and look and find out about it. “But I still think that the Gypsy Traveller Community are still considered fair play when it comes to prejudicial commentary. I see it all the time and people feel they can use disgusting terminology with impunity. “There is still a lot of misrepresentation of the community and alot of that is around people not knowing or understanding its value.” As part of GRTHM, a ‘dispelling myths’ guide has been published and tackles some of the common views of gypsies and travellers such as ‘you can't be a gypsy/traveller and live in a house’ and ‘gypsy/travellers don’t pay tax’. Around 4,500 people are officially part of Scotland gypsy/traveller community, according to the most recent 2011 census. However, Dr Tammi said it was believed the true figure was somewhere around 20,000 with the number then swelling again during the summer months. She said that around 10 per cent of the travelling community in Scotland were still ‘constantly out on the road’ but that most now lived in permanent housing. Dr Tammi , who is of Irish and French traveller heritage, added: “The majority of people live in what the community calls ‘bricks and mortar’ housing and that can be permanently because illness has made it to difficult to live on the road, for example. “But there is still a sizeable population that are shifting around for work or moving around in the summer because it is part of the culture to meet up with members of your extended family and celebrate events like birthdays and marriages. “In general, that figure of 20,000 doubles during the summer when people are on the road. Scottish travellers are scattered across the UK and further afield and in the summer family are coming back to Scotland to follow the traditional routes. “It is these traditional routes that connect the travellers to the roads and the land that has been important over time.” As part of Gyspy Roma Traveller History Month, Shamus McPhee, a traveller from Pitlochry, has mapped the traditional routes and stopping places used over generations by the travellers in Highland Perthshire. They show the lay-bys, quiet country roads, the dells and woods where travellers used to stop with many of the sites now having their access blocked off. Meanwhile, a tribute has been paid to the late Alec Williamson, one of the last old-style Highland travellers who came with a huge bank of stories, songs riddles, jokes and anecdotes. He took a roadtrip from Strathpeffer to Ullapool, along part of the seasonal routes his family once travelled, with a film of the journey now released. Dr Tammi said: “The community is still an oral community and gypsies and travellers were described by Hamish Henderson as the ‘keepers of tradition, of stories, of song and of music. It is important that the culture is seen as part of the whole cultural mix of Scotland.” Dr Tammi said there were now very few of the traditional halting or stopping sites left for travellers, with most of them now blocked with boulders to block access. She added: “This is a real issue for us.” She highlighted the case of an industrial estate in Dundee where travellers had accessed and stopped with their vans and caravans. “There has been a real hue and cry about it. What people don’t realise is that site used to be a wood where travellers stopped for generations. There were people in there and nobody knew there was anyone there. This was a place where people once lived. “The big issue is finding places on the traditional routes where the travelling community feel safe and comfortable and where the settled community is happy . “It is also important to understand why people are on the road. It is that constant urge to shift and that is a similar urge for all nomadic communites, from the Bedouin to Scottish travellers.” Dr Tammi said she believed it was partly the responsibility of the traveller community to help change attitudes towards it. She said: “I think it is everybody’s responsibility. There have been centuries of mistrust. What Gypsy Roma Traveller History Month does is shine a light on the community, their traditions and their culture . People of course can make up their own minds, but its time peope started to make informed decisions before making up their minds.” A message from the Editor:Thank you for reading this story on our website. 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