Gypsies

Image courtesy of Documentary Educational Resources

We are reading a great deal about Roma Gypsies these days and not without some concern. These people were a tortured group throughout history and Hitler slaughtered over half a million along with the Jews, gays and "imperfect people" who offended his concept of a master race.

I don't really know if my knowledge of the true Gypsies in my home in Cape Breton is all factual by actually observing these people or a combination of seeing and hearing about them blended into a memory which is real to me. As a young boy Gypsies frequented our part of the country.They appeared on the commons in our town several times a year. They drifted in at night time and set up camp. Horse drawn houses on wheels, pulled by two or four draft animals was an impressive sight. Their little homes were ornate and decorated with carvings and embossed with shiny metal and brightly coloured spokes in the wheels. Reds, yellows and blues were the dominant colours used and they made a most engaging sight.

When the Gypsies came to town my mother told us to stay away from their camps where open fires brightened the evening sky and music from the violin, guitar and the lute made it impossible to conform to that demand. The commons was a short distance from our home and right close to the poor house. A blind pig operated openly at the crossing and was frequented by the elite of our town. A good setting for the Gypsies.

To my knowledge the Gypsies were demonized as thieves, fortune tellers and people who could not be trusted. I never found this to be true but I was young and taken in by the excitement of sneaking up close to their camp and watching with big eyes the feast of colourful going on's. They were tinkers and made silver jewellery and repaired pots and pans and sold a variety of goods to anyone who came by.

It seemed they left our town as they came, in the middle of the night and silently. There were many tales of missing children, not to say horses and livestock after they departed. All this was part of the lore surrounding these hapless folk without a home and offered a place in various towns for a limited time with restricted movements. I shall tell of a visit to a real Gypsy camp in a later blog. Gypsies are one of the most persecuted groups of people in the world and should hold our attention.