| Description | Evan MacColl and Peggy Seeger record a group of travellers in Scotland singing and playing music. Some of the women, including members of the Stewart family, sing solo and in duet, and a man sings a solo. Other travellers play bagpipes and accordion. The group also discuss aspects of their lives.
Track 1: silence 0.30 mins
Track 2: instrumental music played on the accordion 1.16 mins
Track 3: silence 0.27 mins
Track 4: instrumental music played on the accordion 1.24 mins
Track 5: instrumental music played on the accordion 1.59 mins
Track 6: background conversation and silence 0.26 mins
Track 7: a woman sings a song beginning 'I am tired of always having to shift when the council decides to move us on' 3.07 mins
Track 8: she begins the same song again 3.29 mins
Track 9: background conversation and silence 0.24 mins
Track 10: she sings the same song again 1.15 mins
Track 11: background conversation and silence 0.20 mins
Track 12: instrumental accordion music 0.51 mins
Track 13: a woman sings a song beginning 'For as I went out walking one evening in June' 3.53 mins
Track 14: a woman sings 'Banks of Primrose' 4.44 mins
Track 15: the women, including Belle Stewart, discuss where they learned the songs 0.33 mins
Track 16: a woman sings 'For it's my wee dog learnt me a trade ' 4.12 mins
Track 17: the woman discusses the previous song, and where she learnt it 0.28 mins
Track 18: a woman sings 'Derry on the banks of the Foyle' 3.35 mins
Track 19: the women sing a song together 2.49 mins
Track 20: a woman sings a song beginning 'For it's (inaudible) bonny lassie, will you come a walk wi' me' 2.51 mins
Track 21: the women discuss learning songs from their parents 0.18 mins
Track 22: 'Drunken Piper' bagpipe music 5.11 mins
Track 23: one of the men discusses the 'Hendersons' song book and talks about being able to 'cant' 0.55 mins
Track 24: he sings a song called 'The Sheep Wife' in the 'canting' style 2.39 mins
Track 25: he explains the names of the songs 0.15 mins
Track 26: unidentified bagpipe music 3.26 mins
Ewan MacColl interviews another group of travellers in a different area of the country, possibly Cobham in Kent.
Track 27: a group of men talk about shelters for animals 0.46 mins
Track 28: a man talks about being a 'proper gypsy boy' and being born in a tent. He talks about making and selling clothes pegs and baskets and the decline of these traditional trades. One of the women joins the conversation to confirm that there is a decline in hawking because of the availability of spring pegs and plastic flowers in Woolworths 1.50 mins
Track 29: one of the men explains how he makes pegs and the difficulty of making much money from making his goods. He discusses some of the other work he does, such making baskets from willow 2.04 mins
Tracks 30-32: he talks about the decline in hop picking work because of the mechanisation of the business, his lack of education, and the situation for his children. He discusses the extent of intolerance towards travellers in Cobham, shown by the local authorities and the people in the town, and the harrassment they have received from the police.
Track 33: one of the women discusses being given notice to leave, the need to have smaller camps to avoid the risk of fighting, and the importance of being free to move on frequently. She explains the antagonism between her group and other groups of travellers, some of whom are not 'real gypsies' 2.47 mins
Track 34: she and her husband talk about being born in Epsom in Surrey, and her desire to go back to Surrey 1.26 mins
Track 35: one of the men gives his opinion that the authorities should allow travellers to camp on the commons and on waste land so that they can stay in one place, live their own lives without being fenced in, and can send their children to school 2.26 mins
Total: 1.08.02 mins
Dubber's reference number: PLA KF549C0336280 |