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Famous for his venturesome spirit and advocacy of a self-supporting existence, John Seymour was thus a natural and sympathetic editor for this remarkable book, first published in 1970, which offers the authentic voice of a Romany gypsy (a scrap metal merchant and horse trader) describing the life he has led and the longer lineage of his family. Silvester Gordon Boswell speaks of himself as one of the Boswells who have been on the road in England for generations, traveling the length of the land in a manner largely unhindered. The book documents the Boswell family tree and the nomadic Romany lifestyle, and forms an invaluable document of a culture. Boswell died in 1977 and his scrap metal yard was later turned into the Gordon Boswell Romany Museum by his son.
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Gypsies and the British Imagination, 1807-1930, is the first book to explore fully the British obsession with Gypsies throughout the nineteenth century and into the twentieth. Deborah Epstein Nord traces various representations of Gypsies in the works of such well-known British authors John Clare, Walter Scott, William Wordsworth, George Eliot, Arthur Conan Doyle, and D. H. Lawrence. Nord also exhumes lesser-known literary, ethnographic, and historical texts, exploring the fascinating histories of nomadic writer George Borrow, the Gypsy Lore Society, Dora Yates, and other rarely examined figures and institutions. Gypsies were both idealized and reviled by Victorian and early-twentieth-centur...
Everyone knows what is feels like to be in pain. Scraped knees, toothaches, migraines, giving birth, cancer, heart attacks, and heartaches: pain permeates our entire lives. We also witness other people - loved ones - suffering, and we 'feel with' them. It is easy to assume this is the end of the story: 'pain-is-pain-is-pain', and that is all there is to say. But it is not. In fact, the way in which people respond to what they describe as 'painful' has changed considerably over time. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, for example, people believed that pain served a specific (and positive) function - it was a message from God or Nature; it would perfect the spirit. 'Suffer in this lif...
Gypsies have lived in England since the early sixteenth century, yet considerable confusion and disagreement remain over the precise identity of the group. The question 'Who are the Gypsies?' is still asked and the debates about the positioning and permanence of the boundary between Gypsy and non-Gypsy are contested as fiercely today as at any time before. This study locates these debates in their historical perspective, tracing the origins and reproduction of the various ways of defining and representing the Gypsy from the early sixteenth century to the present day. Starting with a consideration of the early modern description of Gypsies as Egyptians, land pirates and vagabonds, the volume goes on to examine the racial classification of the nineteenth century and the emergence of the ethnic Gypsy in the twentieth century. The book closes with an exploration of the long-lasting image of the group as vagrant and parasitic nuisances which spans the whole period from 1500 to 2000.
Nomadism as a way of life was a logical, valid and productive mode of existence. Pastoral nomads proved to be resistant to external forces. Their land, culture, lifestyle could not overrun by modern civilization. As the world economy is changing drastically, and pastoral nomads everywhere are facing the impact. The book contains interesting portraits of the life and livelihood of the various nomadic groups of the world. From marriage to religion, from animal husbandry to popular justice, all aspects of the culture and daily life of nomads are elaborately described. It also provides authentic information about the existing patterns of nomadic settlements and the challenges confronted by nomads from modern reforms.
The definitive history of how witchcraft and black magic have survived, through the modern era and into the present day Cursed Britain unveils the enduring power of witchcraft, curses and black magic in modern times. Few topics are so secretive or controversial. Yet, whether in the 1800s or the early 2000s, when disasters struck or personal misfortunes mounted, many Britons found themselves believing in things they had previously dismissed - dark supernatural forces. Historian Thomas Waters here explores the lives of cursed or bewitched people, along with the witches and witch-busters who helped and harmed them. Waters takes us on a fascinating journey from Scottish islands to the folklore-r...
This book critically examines the nature and source of Gypsy stereotypes.