Are Travellers Gypsies?

[Danllan]

as a paddy
can i ask
traveller as in irish traveller
or is there a uk variety as well?

There are a relatively small number originating from the UK, but most of the worst are, I am sorry to write, Irish or the children of Irish - my family from Ireland call them 'the Knackers' and everybody I've spoken to over there hates them! (Cork may not represent the rest of the country, but I've a chum in the Guards from Dublin who also loathes them)

I've been involved in their prosecution and their defence - for which I was been told that I was owed many favours... and I once had a very attractive - in an Essexy sort of way - young woman attempt to physically 'thank' me in a Court side-room, following her brother's acquittal... yes, I did think about it; no, I was too sensible for anything to happen.

That aside, I can say without the slightest doubt that I would place less trust in them than I would a crack-head who mugs grannies on pension day, and that is considered opinion not hyperbole. Every single one I have met has been an awful person.

 

[Werzle]

Alot of the irish pikeys are from rathkeel, they own houses but only hold up there during winter. They travel all over europe before descending on the uk , they drive off without paying for fuel or food and like to pull in on your land and ask for a few thousand to leave. They also sell fake chinese made chainsaws , pressure washers and grinders etc that burnout after a few starts. Anybody buying kit off them or paying them to leave just encourages them. Our own home grown gypsies have been spoilt by the dole and social housing and now favour tracksuits and trainers over dealer boots and hard graft.

 

[Cowgirl]

When we moved to Northamptonshire in the early nineties there were a few “true gypsies” with horse drawn painted wagons - they were tidy and no trouble. I was quite ambivalent towards them then. However in the eleven years we lived there they were gradually replaced by “criminals in caravans” who frequently parked in the lay-by opposite our house for a few days and then left huge amounts of rubbish for the council to clear up. Despite this Northampton Council developed a reputation for being sympathetic to “ethnic minorities” and numbers kept increasing, thefts and burglaries rose exponentially and the police seemed not to care (or didn’t want to - presumably felt they could do nothing about it as they always disappeared after). It got to the stage that people (farmers mainly, or anyone with large machinery) were starting to take things into their own hands to defend their property. We often felt threatened and that we were being spied on, and had many things stolen. It wasn’t the main reason we moved to Scotland but it was a contributing factor. I hate them now. I gather things have improved in Northamptonshire now - is that the case, anyone who lives there? In answer to Jpd’s question, many had Irish accents but I don’t think all.

 

[Agrivator]

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...wollen-by-the-proceeds-of-crime-a6904141.html

And here's us worrying and arguing about a bit of honest trade over the Border between the Republic and NI.

 

[farmerm]

On a recent night ferry crossing from Ireland my vehicle was accompanied on the car deck by at least 20 travellers caravans and assortment of towing vehicles... of the 20+ I noted just 1 which had plates on the caravan matching its towing vehicle... real law abiding folk... Would have been a great little earner for the police but there were none at Hollyhead that night... almost as if the police had been tipped off and decided it was perhaps the best time to go take a coffee break...

 

[Pond digger]

There are a relatively small number originating from the UK, but most of the worst are, I am sorry to write, Irish or the children of Irish - my family from Ireland call them 'the Knackers' and everybody I've spoken to over there hates them! (Cork may not represent the rest of the country, but I've a chum in the Guards from Dublin who also loathes them)

I've been involved in their prosecution and their defence - for which I was been told that I was owed many favours... and I once had a very attractive - in an Essexy sort of way - young woman attempt to physically 'thank' me in a Court side-room, following her brother's acquittal... yes, I did think about it; no, I was too sensible for anything to happen.

That aside, I can say without the slightest doubt that I would place less trust in them than I would a crack-head who mugs grannies on pension day, and that is considered opinion not hyperbole. Every single one I have met has been an awful person.

I guess in your line of work, you’re going to see the worst examples.

 

[Danllan]

I guess in your line of work, you’re going to see the worst examples.

Haven't done anything for over a decade but, from friends who still practise, I am given to understand that nothing has changed. My friends and family who farm in Herts / Beds & Bucks back up my own experience. I have yet to meet anyone who has had any involvement with these people who has anything positive to say about them - and that includes usually touchy-feely PC social workers and their like.

 

[Man_in_black]

I'm probably going to get a load of agro for saying this, but....

To be fair, not all the "travellers" are bad - it seems that there's a relatively high proportion that are. You don't hear much about the decent ones because they mostly get on with life & don't cause problems, whereas we obviously are aware of what the bad ones get up to & they tend to be the ones being very vocal about being oppressed.

We tend to judge the pikeys in much the same way that England is judged by the behaviour of our football hooligans or the young folks going drinking in Magaluff, but they only represent a small proportion of our society.

For me, Gypsies are those of typically Romany descent, Travellers are the more modern breed tending to have Irish accents & Pikeys are the scum...

Fine line between ,tinkers, travellers, new age travellers ,Romanians and rest alledgedly?
All like to detract from each other???

Unfortunately and I know it's wrong but I am always cautious dealing with anyone with an irish accent.
The genuine irish people who I have dealt with have been excellent. I wouldn't trust a pikey an inch though. The on3s coming round selling stuff I think mainly are just checking out the farms and pass on suitable addresses to the theiving scum.

Despite not originating from Gypsy background, I spent most of my formative years with Gypsy families & in bow-top camps.
There are still plenty of real Gypsies. Not unemployed scroungers who live in plastic white caravans & leave orange calor gas bottles in the hedge. Not people who case a joint as talking to you, not people who steal or cheat.
If you ever have the privilege to meet,let alone work with a genuine Gypsy man, you'll learn ways of the world. The epitome of living from the land, living in harmony with nature. Hard working, tough, & honest to a fault.
Never ever use pikey & Gypsy in same context. As insulting as grouping modern day Germans & nazis.

 

[CornishTone]

Don’t suppose you’ll see any where you are now.

Wouldn’t have thought so!![emoji6]

 

[CornishTone]

I thought the antipodes was a holiday destination of choice for some travelling families now.
A sort of 'working overseas' thing. (reports are, er, 'not glowing')

Fortunately they seem to prefer New Zealand!

 

[Steevo]

This was announced recently. Not holding my breath on it though-the government have been there many times before and done nothing.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-announces-plans-to-tackle-illegal-traveller-sites

 

[Steevo]

Previous article from 2005 (14 years ago!).....shows how slow the government are at doing anything.

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/uk/2005/mar/21/race.conservatives

 

[Paddington]

Although the European gypsy is generally accepted to come from Romania, there is a train of thought which suggests that originally they derived from parts of India, hence the darker skin colour. (I'm not making this up).
So when Mr Pikey offers to paint your barn with stuff left over from doing the farm up the road, at a really good price, remember you are not dealing with cowboys but Indians.

 

[Dry Rot]

Travellers, gipsies, tinkers, first o'mayers, etc. come in all shapes and sizes in my experience. There are some really polite and decent gipsies, then the scum at the other end of the spectrum. I always treat people as they treat me and don't generally make up my mind about people quickly.

When I lived on Speyside, we used to get the pearl fishers during the summer. There were bands of scum who came out of the housing estates of the big cities (First of May). Sheep would go missing and they'd live in squalor and leave their mess. There were others that left no mark, just the flattened grass as mentioned about. I remember one family who came in a van and lived in a bender (tent made from bent hazel or willow rods) all summer, they even had a hen in a small pen for fresh eggs! Everything was spick and span and when they left, there was no trace where they'd been.

I have also dealt with settled travellers. Wanting pheasant eggs one year I was advised to try a certain game farm. The owner was a charming man with a beautiful and much younger wife. The penny didn't drop until I realised she bred coloured ponies, then I worked out their origins from our conversations. When he heard I wanted pheasants for dog training, he refused to sell me eggs but said to come back in July. I did so and got a couple of hundred eggs. My payment was refused but he asked for a couple of signed books which cost me nothing. This was repeated every year until I gave up rearing birds. I was never asked for money.

Yes, travellers tried to steal my new For Williams tipper and I've had them here trying to sell gates. But mostly I think I've had fewer problems with the "tinks" than the Gorgios! At least I expect to be cheated by the travellers and I'm ready for it! And they really don't like big dogs!

 

[Steevo]

My payment was refused but he asked for a couple of signed books which cost me nothing.

Didn’t realise we had a celeb on here...!

 

[caveman]

Although the European gypsy is generally accepted to come from Romania, there is a train of thought which suggests that originally they derived from parts of India, hence the darker skin colour. (I'm not making this up).
So when Mr Pikey offers to paint your barn with stuff left over from doing the farm up the road, at a really good price, remember you are not dealing with cowboys but Indians.

You are correct re the India connection.
One of my grandmothers was a gypsy, who's skin seemed to get darker and her face seemed to exhibited more of the classic Indian facial features, the older she got. Her partner was an ex Eastender "barrow boy" and they settled here in Sussex, as did many of their rellies, between the two world wars.
He was gassed in the trenches in the great war and took up totting around with his pony and trolley and developed a quite substantial rag recycling business.
They used to take the whole family hop picking to Goudhurst in Kent every year and went on their own well into their latter years. I remember visiting them in the gardens as a child. Happy days.
Many of my cousins, both their and their rellies descendants, are still in the recycling trade and even more are business/ trades/men/women.
I don't know any who still travel.

 

[unlacedgecko]

My wife rented a house to some travellers once. I’d rather let one stand empty than go through that again.

 

[Cowcorn]

There are a relatively small number originating from the UK, but most of the worst are, I am sorry to write, Irish or the children of Irish - my family from Ireland call them 'the Knackers' and everybody I've spoken to over there hates them! (Cork may not represent the rest of the country, but I've a chum in the Guards from Dublin who also loathes them)

I've been involved in their prosecution and their defence - for which I was been told that I was owed many favours... and I once had a very attractive - in an Essexy sort of way - young woman attempt to physically 'thank' me in a Court side-room, following her brother's acquittal... yes, I did think about it; no, I was too sensible for anything to happen.

That aside, I can say without the slightest doubt that I would place less trust in them than I would a crack-head who mugs grannies on pension day, and that is considered opinion not hyperbole. Every single one I have met has been an awful person.

Go on ya hoor, admit it you were flattered and probably regret not getting your leg over !!! .

 

[Danllan]

Go on ya hoor, admit it you were flattered and probably regret not getting your leg over !!! .

Regret carnally, yes. But, professionally, morally and - most probably - medically*, no...




*

 

[Dry Rot]

Didn’t realise we had a celeb on here...!

I didn't say I'd written them!