When Tommy was younger the other school children wouldn’t let him play basketball with them because they were scared they would “get germs”.
They called him names and left him feeling alone, hurt and angry, just because he was a gypsy traveller.
Now Tommy, 14, is one a group of young Scots gypsy travellers who have decided to speak out against the discrimination and exclusion they so often face.
Working with charity Save the Children they have compiled a website, packed with information about their culture, which they hope will help break down the hurtful stereotypes.
Called Time Travellers, the site was part funded by Heritage Lottery money and was launched at Edinburgh’s Dynamic Earth by the Princess Royal, Save the Children’s president.
Donna Lawrie, youth development worker for the charity, explained: “We’re hopeful that this initiative will go some way to promoting a positive self-image for young gypsy travellers.
“The young people have worked so hard putting this resource together to promote the history and cultural traditions of an ethnic group who have been discriminated against for centuries.”
Their long history dates back the to the 12th Century. Some believe they can trace their roots to pre-Celtic populations, others to the Roman slaves brought to Britain as armourers.
Today the Scottish Executive estimates there are between 1,628 and 2,077 people but this excludes the thousands who live in houses for all or part of the year. Others do not want to identity their ethnic origin because they fear discrimination.
Culture and history
Consequently gypsy travellers themselves estimate their community to include about 15,000 people.
The site - developed as part of an ongoing youth project - explores gypsy traveller life both past and present.
One section looks at gypsy traveller homes, from the bow tents and ornate wagons of the 19th Century to the modern caravans and permanent trailers in council-run sites where some travellers live today.
Traditional culture is also explored, from the origins of fortune telling and traditional fairs to gypsy traveller free online adult dating, such as the belief that it’s unlucky to cut your hair or your nails on a Sunday. Otherwise “there will be blood shed on Monday,” goes the saying.
Some of the boys in the group have investigated traveller boxing traditions, and have uploaded footage of recent matches.
There is an explanation of the Cant language, which many travellers use mixed with English, and a look at traditional occupations through the centuries including berry and daffodil picking, hawking, pearl fishing and collecting scrap metal and tin.
Some of the young people admire their work
|
The young people have also confronted racism, still a reality of all too many of them.
Tommy, who lives in a trailer in the summer and a house in winter, was inspired to “make a difference” to his own community by Rachel Hilton, a Scottish campaigner for gypsy traveller rights who died last May.
“There’s a lot of misunderstanding about gypsy travellers,” he said.
“In Iraq there might be some people who want to bomb the country, but that doesn’t mean they are all bad.
“That’s how it is with the gypsies too. One does a bad thing and then it seems like all of us get blamed for it.”
It was not just in playground basketball games that Tommy felt discriminated against.
“The minute you tell people you’re a gypsy their attitude completely changes,” he said.
“They start being really cheeky and don’t want to touch you or even go near you.”
As a result Tommy left secondary school, attends a gypsy traveller education project three days a week and goes out hawking with his dad on the other days.
 |
My culture is important to me and it makes me different in some ways. But in others I’m just like everyone else
|
Chantelle, 20, also faced racism at school.
“That’s why the site is important,” she explained. “We don’t want people to judge us.
“There’s some bad travellers out there, and when people hear about things that they’ve done, they blame every other traveller. We get accused of stealing. They just think, well, you’re a traveller so you must steal.”
She left secondary school after just six months, and though she too went to a gypsy traveller education project she does feel she was disadvantaged.
“I did miss out on a lot of things the kids at the high school do,” she admits.
“I didn’t get my standard grades so I’m hoping to go back to college and get qualifications.”
Brother and sister George, 14, and Justine, 16, who live on a council site in the Highlands, are happy with their schooling arrangements - one-to-one tuition at the local secondary school to help them catch up on what they missed when they were travelling.
But they would still like people to see past the dating ethnic and accept them more readily.
Lack of knowledge
“My culture is important to me and it makes me different in some ways,” says Justine, who wants to be a journalist when she is older. “But in others I’m just like everyone else.”
George, who speaks Cant and has a theory that it used to be widely spoken across Scotland, agrees.
“Most bad opinions of travellers are based on fears or a lack of knowledge. But if people know more than maybe they will change their opinion.”
The site is also an attempt to give other young Scots the information about gypsy traveller culture that will help them make up their own minds.
There are some aspects of gypsy traveller life that all the young people find hard - the lack of decent site facilities and chilly winter caravans feature amongst complaints.
But most feel lucky to have been born into such a rich tradition which is still passed down the generations.
As Tommy says: “Living in a trailer is good because you get to travel about a lot, you’re not tied down.
“In fact, I think if people knew more about the gypsy traveller lifestyle they might even be a little bit jealous.”
|