A short, easy-to-keep-up page for bulletins.
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I basically plan to add to this page from the top down and at a certain point start cutting
off from the bottom the number of lines that I've added to the top. There are worse systems. At
this point, however, I'm going to insert excerpts from an e-mail correspondence with a young Norwegian Romano Traveller
concerning the similarities and differences between his family and mine. The following was sent to me on 10/24/98
and the young man has asked that his name and e-mail address be kept confidential:
>I am a young
>Romano from Norway. I am proud to be a
>Romano, and love my people - the Romani
>- that are scattered ALL over the world. When
>I got Internet, I also learned about very similar
>peoples that have much in common with us,
>like your peopleThe Irish Travellers (What do
>you call yourself in Cant/Gammon?).
In Ireland, the Travellers call themselves "The Pavee" in their version of the Cant. In America, where our dialect of the Cant split off from theirs progressively between 1825 to 1880 A.D., we ordinarily just say "Irish Travellers" in English, or rarely "The Theeny" (The People) in Cant. I think "Gammon," by all indications a back-formation of "Ogham," was never known to us at all before we emigrated Ireland or was lost very early on.
Yes, our peoples seem to have much in common as far as life-styles go. And both are noted for musical talent; although I must say that I have been passed over in that regard personally.
Here in the USA "pavee" means "to sell" or, by extension, "merchants." It was used to define selling merchandise well above the level of peddling, which was called "shulking" instead.
I recognize your reference to "Minceir," in that I am aware of what we here would call a political action committee of and for Travellers in Ireland named, "Minceir Misli." "Misli" probably means "Going" or "Travelling" as it does here (mishli) and "min" is a common Gaelic root, meaning "smooth," but that is the extent of my knowledge of the word. If you have further info on either "Sowree" or "Minceir," I would appreciate your sharing it with me.
>
>I really like your web-site! It is nice, with lots
>of information and other interresting stuff!
Thank you.
>Do you live/have you lived as an Traveller
>yourself, or is it only in the blood?
I was raised as a "country person," but with very close ties to the Travellers. I probably spent only several weeks a year in their company usually, although I did live full-time with them for a while when I was a child. I have always spent at least a month a year "on the road" and when my first wife died I lived in a travel trailer for long stretches at a time in places like Newfoundland, Alaska and the Yukon, and Texas. But I did not actually make my living in one of the traditional Traveller ways, and that really makes all the difference in the world, I think.
I am half-Traveller by blood, and have lived with them, and know and understand them, but my survival has never depended on my Traveller skills, such as they are.
As you can see, Poetry on Humor is finished, although it will certainly be updated and otherwise modified from time to time, as will the many other pages. I may also add a page, Poetry of Social Relevance, that will hopefully not be as dry as dust.
You will also note that there has been no apparent progress on "Baby Rose and the Shajook" in the last two weeks. But I have done some additional plotting on that story and there will be some more scribbling soon.
This whole site was designed and coded with Design Shop Gold, a magnificent concept.
. . . magnificent like a glacier: hugely beautiful but awesomely slow and full of cataclysmic faults.
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If I can be of help, e-mail me at: Travellers' Rest