GLOSSARY

£5 / £5 in those days was many times the Family Allowance – a lot of money that a poor family could ill afford
BOB / Shilling in old money – 5p

BURNT

/ See WAGON

CALLING

/ Door-to-door selling
CART/OPEN LOT / A cart with low sides of less than half a metre – this may have a canvas cover – see TILDY VAN
CETCH / Colloquial form of caught
CHAVVIES / Romani word for children (singular – CHAVVY)
CLORTH / Cloth
CLUMPS / A way of marking their route. The Romani word for this is ‘Patteran’
CRANKY / Silly – the Romani word is ‘Divvi’
DIKS / Romney Marsh has many drainage ditches or dykes because it is below sea level – Suzie’s family use this term more widely to denote any water channel or stream
EPSOM DOWNS / Traveller horse fair in May/June
GRINDING / Knife sharpening
HOP HUT / Temporary accommodation for seasonal hop pickers – for many Londoners hop picking was their summer holiday
KNOCKED OFF / Finished work
LITTL’UNS / Younger children
MANGELS / A root crop like a swede or a turnip
NIGH ON / Old english word for near – ‘nigh on’ means ‘nearly’
PRAM / It was the pram wheels and the frame that were used to carry water or ‘swag’
PULL / Travelled/parked – this is a term from coaching days when the driver pulled on the reins – we still use this word in the motor age – eg; pull up, pull over etc.
PUV / Romani word for farmer’s field
READING TYPE / There were 3 types of gypsy traveller wagon:
  1. Bow Top – a tent (originally) or canvas covering an open cart stretched over a wooden frame forming an arch
  2. Reading – the sides of the wagon lean out slightly and it has a curved canvas covered wooden roof
  3. Ledge – the sides are stepped or extended out over the wagon wheels and then rise up straight to the curved canvas covered roof (fair wagons are of different design)

SHELBOURNE / A town 60 miles west of Tunbridge Wells, near Alton
SLING / Cloth slung crosswise in front to carry a baby or younger child
STUMPCHAINS / A chain/rope from the horse to an iron stake driven into the ground – length is determined by the size of the grazing site and the amount or richness of the grass
SUB / An advance payment of money – bearing in mind that mum had 15 to feed, £2 over a week on top of what the family could earn was not much
TATERS / Potatoes – RONIES and PUVERS are two Romani words for potatoes
TILDY VANS / A small decorated cart used for baggage or sleeping – it has a square wooden frame covered with a canvas sheet called a ‘Tilt’ – hence ‘Tildy Van’. The word comes from a medieval english word ‘Tild’ – a covering of coarse cloth as an awning over a cart or wagon – another example of travellers retaining an old english word in their vocabulary
TURNOUT / Suitable grazing for the horse – a verge, common or field
WAGON / It was traditional for travellers to burn their wagon and other belongings when someone died – the Romani word for wagon is ‘Vardo’