General Chat

I've had 'experience' of both travelling gipsies and 'settled' gipsies.
the travelling gipsies we met were in Dumfries and Galloway, in the late 1970's, where ex & I were renting a 'fairground' caravan on a site.
Travellers were welcome. The ones we met there - the young girls occasionally wore outlandish dresses, but the parent were very strict.
I had a tame female blackbird (not caged) who would come when I called.
I was feeding her one day when the children appeared and deliberately scared her. I shouted at them.
They ran back to their trailer and complained to their dad - who immediately asked what they had done. They told him. Next moment, the children were back, with their dad, apologising.
In revenge,they hit our trailer one morning. I told their dad, who made them apologise, and he explained that we were in a worse situation than them - we didn't own our trailer!! We became very close friends to that family - even met them at Appleby a few years later.

When I lived on the edge of the New Forest, a large part of the estate was occupied by gipsies who had been 'removed' from the New Forest.
When I first moved in, I had 'hassle' from 2 children. Realising they would 'go' for 'incomers'- and giorgios at that, I knew what I had to do.

By the time I lived there, they were 2nd generation 'settled' gipsies - many of the men well known and friends of my brother in law (but they didn't know I was his sister in law!).
My main problem with these 2 children was trying to get past their mothers - in whose eyes they did no wrong!! LOL
Their fathers all had jobs at Fawley refinery, so I had to time my complaint at the right time!! Once I had told their fathers, the problem stopped - even before I had admitted who my BIL was! (after which I was an honorary 'settled' traveller)
On - and apart from funerals (the 'matriarch' of the 'tribe' lived in my road - and died when I was there), there wasn't much ostentation, and the gorls were certainly not allowed to 'cavort'outside the house!!!

Which brings me to a moot point - we only hear the mothers/grandmothers speaking on this programme don't we?
Where are the men?
As they too are 'settled' travellers, I presume the men have 'normal' jobs.

Fair enough.

Let's hope that British Airways' staff problems have been settled by then & the Underground unions decide not to strike on the auspicious day after all.

The last royal wedding was a very muted occasion.

As i understand it most of the cost of the wedding is being met by the Royal Family and Kate's family are giving a large amount too. The security costs will be met by the taxpayers, it's true, but not the whole amount.!

Negative comments here because it's a travellers' church celebration.

Shortly, we will have a royal wedding with equal over-the-top dressing up.

In the first instance, the family foot the cost. In the second, the state (us) will settle the bill.

Even handed - what do you think?

Hi Sharron & All - We must have been on the same wavelength during the programme! - I sat there wondering what on earth they did with the dresses after the wedding!
The other thought that I had (re. the spray tanning) Was that the true Romany gypsies we knew as children wouldn't have needed spray tans. They had lovely brown Mediterranean skin naturally!
The 'travellers' shown on this programme are definitely a different tribe!

I don't know much about Romany gypsies but I do know a bit about Fairground showmen, some of whom were extremely helpful with something I was doing.

A lot of the things that look like strange customs are actually very practical.One example being that travellers children are not allowed to put their fingers in their mouths.This is not to harden them up or deprive them of comfort.Living in a trailer means that beds and everything else need to be packed away when they are not in use.Dirty fingers can make you ill and the last thing you need when you are travelling is somebody in bed in your living space.It can stop the whole family from earning for some days.
This is why travellers never say rat.Superstition is a bit of a belt and braces thing for them and nobody wants to tempt a rat.

Aw thanks BC :-)) can I have big flappy butterflies on it please, to fan my brevered frow?
Run one up for IGP while you're at it doll, I wouldn't want him to miss a treat LOL

We only saw the trailers and chose not to watch as it wasn't our cup of tea. However, if that's what turns them on then the very best of luck to them all.

*starts running up a fluffy pink sequin studded meringue shaped frock for Island...to cheer her up! lol BCXX

Hi Sharron

I'm not well so sorry if I seemed a bit snippy. I didn't mean anyone in particular just generally. I'm just trying to be positive on this gloomy day.

I wouldn't be surprised if the dressmaker either bought the dresses back or made them for a big fat hire fee then recycled them for the next bash.
Costumiers custom make to hire then put it into future hire stock so it is likely this is what happens with the gypsy gowns.

Chris, I think you,ll find they are "Irish Tinkers/Travelers" the true Romanies would,nt allow What they are doing.**M**.

I honestly just wondered what they did with the dresses.They are huge and travellers are the original minimalists.Although you often see wedding dresses in charity shops,I have never seen a real travellers dress anywhere in the flesh.

There was a gypsy funeral here a few years ago.It closed the roads and all the pubs in town. He was buried in a country churchyard and most of us went up there to see the flowers in the following days.

There were all the usual tributes depicting his likes in life, several floral glasses of Guinness and 1664, a couple of horses and mobile phones and,of course, his name. The one I liked best was the board that was decorated with flowers and, stuck firmly to it, were two Fray Bentos pies.

You'd be surprised how well tulle squashes into a small space.

Splash, it was First Communion not Confirmation but I guess that's by the by unless one is a practising RC.
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There's a lot of negativity here, does it matter how they pay for the dresses or how they store them?
Love them or hate them, does no -one think the workmanship in those dresses is admirable?

I watched it for the first time this week and like some of you ,wondrered where they got the money to pay for these over the top dresses as wives don't work. Certainly don't have attic space in caravans for storage and how on earth would the bride even get through the door of her caravan. As for the conformation dresses, what a joke. My neighbours wee girl had her conformation recently and she too was dressed like a bride. (It's a Catholic thing)

You can be sure they are being well paid. Whatever else they can or cannot do,they know how to turn a couple of bob.

In the past they have always been the ones to turn scrap and we have all benefitted from that.In fact they have provided a vital service there.Recycling before anybody thought about it.

As an art form Ithink the dresses are fabulous and very well constructed.

Human meringues LOL

Thanks Rita,
i will watch it ..
Hazelx

Hi ,
is this on every week, or is it a one off.
Hazelx

I don't believe these are real Gypsy's more Irish Travellers, I saw that Nico's (the dress makers) dresses can cost £15,000! . The girls all really looked ridiculous, the girl in the pink confirmation dress last week couldn't even walk in the dress and the tiara falling over her eyes.

In one of the papers this morning there seems to be
complaints about the six year old getting a fake tan etc.
One Romany gypsy said "Spray tanning kids and covering
them in make-up is not part of tradition. It's a load of nonsense"

Emmax