There are a number of myths about the nomadic life in Australia. Bruce Pascoe in his books including Convincing Ground and Dark Emu has addressed the myth about first nations, showing clearly the existence of stone huts, farming and other signs of permanent occupation. In our multicultural society we have some sensitivity about the use of such terms as gypsy, Rom and itinerant. We might well understand that socio-economic and political forces can create an underclass of itinerant workers, but probably still attach negative connotations to terms such as ‘tinker’.

Ireland has confronted the tensions that arise when a subculture of nomadic people is determined to maintain its identity. Laws protect Travellers against prejudiced reactions by broader society - the ‘country people’ or ‘settlers’. Travellers say they are not descended from Romany stock but are Indigenous Irish. They have no desire to be seen as yet more invaders. Although most do not dwell on their ancestry, some think that they are victims of the dark stranger Cromwell or of the famine.

They have spread to Britain and America and their unique lifestyles are under pressure. They have been romantically associated with wagons, fairs and horses. At ‘Puck Fair’ for example, the tensions over Travellers have been clear (see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D28USz2D0-I).

The name ‘tinker’ acknowledges that they traditionally did tinsmithing jobs. The name ‘Smith’ is commonly associated with Travellers and is a likely name they give inquisitive strangers. Smith could also reflect Travellers’ mythical origins in the man who made nails for the cross. Wandering might then have initially been a punishment. Some names predominate in local areas. In County Clare for example, Sherlock, Douglas and McDonagh are common while in Wexford there are many Donovans and Cashes. Around the west of Ireland generally are to be found Joyces, Wards and Mongans.

Travellers have provided a pool of seasonal agricultural workers. As the call for horse trading has diminished travellers have taken to scrap dealing and tar making, jobs shunned by settlers. The rough lifestyles could explain why their life expectancy is lower than the rest of the Irish population. Nationally, some 11% make 70 years of age, but only 1% of Travellers do. Health and education are issues which the Traveller centre Pavee Point tries to address (see: https://www.paveepoint.ie/). Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights addresses the rights of nomadic peoples.

Travellers have their own culture, reflected in mores and language. Many can speak ‘Shelta’. Regional branches of the language include ‘Cant’ and Gammon’. ‘Cant is a language designed to exclude outsiders. In ‘Bernie Reilly’s Cant Song’, a Traveller has a dispute with the landlady and says he ‘corribed in her grinjy’ which translates as ‘broke her window’.

Most are Catholic, described in J.M. Synge’s play The Tinkers’ Wedding. The Pecker says that Travellers are not treated well in the north of Ireland where Presbyterianism dominates and thinks this is partly because of religious discrimination. In the north laws restrict where Travellers can stay.
 

Traveller music

Traveller identity is complex. It involves ethnicity, occupations, culture and attitudes. One common occupation is that of musician, especially busker. Musicians acknowledging Traveller ancestry include Finbar Fury and uilleann pipers such as the Dorans, Paddy Keenan and Blackie O’Connell. The pipes and the fiddle are the main instruments and of course Travellers also sing.

A couple of famous performers are the Pecker Dunne and Margaret Barry. Both favoured the banjo. Barry was a renowned performer on British radio. Her most famous song was ‘The Blarney Stone’ while Dunne told personal stories such as the ‘Tinker’s Lullaby’ and ‘Last of the Travelling People’. But other songs such as ‘Wexford’ and ‘Portlaoise Jail’ are imbued with his tales (songs by Barry and Dunne can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxzSVtZekXM).

The Dunne family is very musical. The Pecker (Padraig) sings of his fiddler father Stephan in ‘Wexford/. The Pecker plays banjo and guitar while his son Stephan plays banjo, guitar and fiddle, son Tommy the pipes, daughter Sarah concertina and fiddle and daughter Madeline accordion and banjo.

A list produced by the Song Collectors’ Collective shows that Travellers had their own songs with little overlap with the traditional repertoire (see: https://songcollectors.org/portfolio-type/irish-traveller/). Travellers tended to rely on selling broadsheets of ballads. To do this they needed to demonstrate how they might sound. In a noisy bar, they adopted a high, somewhat nasal style which enabled their singing to cut through the hubbub. According to one anecdote, Traveller children tore apart a book of pub songs to sell the sheets separately because they made more that way.

A number of articles have been written about the influence of Irish music on the development of Australian folk music. Many Australians have Irish ancestry. There has been however, little speculation about the possibility that Irish Travellers have influenced Australian lifestyles or music. On the other hand, there can be no doubt that many Australian players and singers admire Irish Traveller musicians. The tradition might influence subtly, but its influence is strong.

Sources on Irish Travellers’ Music:
Motherway, S. Globalisation of Irish Traditional Song Performance
Gmelch, S. Tinkers and Travellers
Hayes, M. Irish Travellers: Representations and Realities
Lalor, B. ed The Encyclopaedia of Ireland
McCann, M. ed Irish Travellers: Culture and Ethnicity
Rehfisch, F. ed Gypsies, Tinkers and Other Travellers. B Barnes ‘Irish Travelling People’
Vallely, F. ed Companion to irish Traditional Music

2019 © Tony Smith

A former academic, Tony Smith has written extensively on a wide range of subjects as diverse as folk music and foreign policy issues in the Australian Review of Public Affairs, the Journal of Australian Studies Review of Books, Overland, the Australian Quarterly, Eureka Street, Online Opinion and Unleashed.