CENTURIES OF CONTRIBUTION
A Collection of Family History Photos
Throughout #GRTHM22, photos from the Centuries of Contribution collection will be shared daily on social media.
In-Person Exhibit sharing story boards and postcards from the Centuries of Contribution collection: Tuesday 21st June – Friday 15th July at AK Bell Library, Perth. Please see https://www.culturepk.org.uk/your-local-library/ak-bell-library/ for address and opening hours.
As part of the finale for #GRTHM22, the full collection will be shared on this website.
Centuries of Contributions from Scotland’s Gypsy and Traveller Communities
Whether from the many centuries old indigenous Scottish Traveller communities, recorded as far back as the 12th century as skilled craftsmen; or descended from the first Romany Gypsies to be recorded in Scotland around 1505; or indeed from the communities of travelling Showmen (funfair travellers) and circus families; the contributions made to ‘settled’ society from each community have been rich and varied.
These many contributions range from the old tinsmiths (then known as Tinkers/Tinklers, from the sound of their tools making essential household and industrial items from tin); basket weavers, horn spoon makers, cane chair bottomers, and knife/blade sharpeners, to name but a few; preserving old Scottish folk-songs, music, poetry and stories, carried down through the generations; providing food across the UK by gathering whelks and cockles by the sack load from beaches, and picking fruit and vegetables in the many fields of Britain; sacrificing loved ones, horses, and equipment to the war effort; and entertaining villages, towns and cities far and wide, with fortune-telling, and providing fairs, shows, and circus acts. The travelling communities would traditionally meet-up and trade horses, vehicles, and essential household items at some of the old Fairs in Scotland and England, some marrying into the other communities. Boxing booths and cinematograph booths at the Fairs were the introduction to this sport and the cinema to many villages and towns before being permanently introduced to towns and cities.
These very hard working and industrious Scottish Traveller and Gypsy communities are also thought to be the first to recycle, upcycle, and repurpose – rag and bone men; mending and hawking old clothes & rags; whittling wood into clothes pegs & flowers; and fixing up or scrapping old vehicles. Over many decades several laws have stopped these traditional trades, making them illegal, or almost impossible to continue with.
(Source: McPhee, S. Gypsy Traveller history in Scotland: A pictorial timeline. https://www.iriss.org.uk/resources/reports/gypsy-traveller-history-scotland)