Folklore & Tradition - Relation Between People and Place

Another element concerning place and the relation between a physical space and its inhabitants is the culture and tradition that develop within an area. This can be based on the geographical and topographical nature of its place and the relation between this nature and those existing within it. Tradition is the amalgamation of routines, much of which consist of a relation between the land and the survival of the people upon it. England's rich history of farming and religion combined with the dependency on the land and the superstition of folklore has produced a wide array of traditions inherently linking the space and the people.

Sir John Benjamin Stone (1836-1914) photographed such folklore and traditions in an attempt to preserve what he considered to be an aspect of our culture that was gradually being forgot ton. These pictures depict age old traditions linked to harvest and superstition that are largely extinct today.


The 'Horn Dance' at Abbots Bromley, Staffordshire - visit to the vicarage, September 1899


Farm Workers at Perry Barr, circa 1990



The 'Kern Bride'

Historically gypsies and travellers would move from place to place in accordance with such traditions of harvest in order to work on the land. This benefited both the farms and the travelling communities. Today however many farms have suffered from international trade and large chain supermarkets and the demand for labour is much lower. Travellers therefore are forced to adopt other methods of work in order to survive and maintain their way of life.

Folklore & Tradition - Tar Barrel Rolling

In my attempt to uncover age old traditions as part of our culture I attended the annual tar barrel rolling in Ottery St Mary. This tradition dates back to the 17th Century and occurs every bonfire night to commemorate Guy Fawkes and burn the spirits of evil. It consists of setting alight wooden barrels containing tar, wood scrapings and paraffin. Once alight the barrels are carried through the streets of the town on the backs of the local men, who pass the barrel between them until it burns out. The event attracts thousands of people each year who fill the streets and square of the town creating a thick crowd that then have to avoid the burning barrels as they dart through the streets. This adrenaline filled event is reminiscent of Spanish bull running due to the collective fear and excitement of the crowd. When partaking in this event the herd like behaviour of the crowd seemed of another time, one that belonged far back in the zeitgeist of history resurrected each year.





The final barrel upon being dropped and becoming mass of embers and smoke is surrounded by the local barrel men who lock arms and sing songs. The smog covered faces and clothing of each man lit only by the red glow of the embers and surrounded by the noise of the crowd connoted some old age ceremony. The men look almost satanic in this moment, separate from the outside world. The hoards of cameras and tourists surrounding them become indifferent to the event. It is in this space that the tradition really lives on.

Nomadism

"Nomadism is more than just traveling from A to B. It is everything about Travellers. I live in a house and have done so for a long time but that doesn't make me a settled person. Many country people, who call themselves "settled", may in fact travel more than some Travellers, but this does not make them nomadic. Nomadism is your whole outlook on life… Just as settled people remain settled when they travel, Travellers remain Travellers even when they are not traveling. Travellers who are not moving can, and do, retain the mindset of a nomad." -- Michael McDonagh


Nomads - what is a nomad
'....a member of a people who have no permanent home but move about according to the seasons'.... wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn


Nomadic people, also known as nomads, are communities of people that move from one place to another, rather than settling down in one location. There are an estimated 30-40 million nomads in the world.





'The politics of place are made manifest through different groups' territorial claims. Often people fight to maintain divided or to dissolve them completely. Others try simply to slip through them undetected.. These are the marks of ideology upon the earth. Some artists reflect and reflect upon these territorial battles; others explore the absurdities that can occur in the demarcation of such places. But what of those who choose to live on the land nomadically, without making a claim on it? ' (Dean/.Millar 2005:133)


Tuareg People





www.africaguide.com/culture/tibes/tuareg

The Tuareg people are predominantly nomadic people of the Sahara desert. Because of their blue robes they are often referred to as the 'Blue men of the desert'. They live in small tribes of between 30 and 100 family members and have animals like goats, cattle, chickens and camels.They are a proud race of people and live mostly in the northern reaches of Mali near Timbuktu and Kidal where they tend to do most of their trading.

Each of the family members plays an important role with the women making milk, butter and clothing etc from the animals and collecting firewood. The men drive the animals and take responsibility for trading. They sell camels and buy millet for bread making.

Drought and government policy has impacted on their way of life and increasingly many are living a more sedentary lifestyle.


Many cultures have been traditionally nomadic, but traditional nomadic behavior is increasingly rare in industrialized countries. http://www.answers.com/

Mongolian Nomads


'The nomad moves, but he is always at the centre of the desert, at the centre of the steppe.' Gaston Bacheland (Dean/Millar 2005:147)

These images were taken of Mongolian Gers and Mongloian people by Mette Tronvoll in 2003. He undertook a documentary expedition over a period of six weeks where he travelled across Mongolia from the Gobi Desert in the south to Khenti region in the north photographing the landscape, the nomads in and outside of their Gers (Yurts) and images of the Gers themselves. The name Ger comes from the turkish word jurte and is a round white tent and is the home of the nomades living on the steppes in Mongolia. The shape and function of this tent has stayed the same.
(Dean/millar 2005:146)

Click on the link below to go to Tronvolls archive page showing his 2005 exhibition of the Nomads of Mongolia in Stockholm.

www.nordenhake.com/php/exhibition.php?id=55&year=2005




Mongolian Yurts

The yurt (mongolian: Ger) is the traditional dwelling of the nomads in Mongolia, as well as in the neighboring countries, over to as far as in Turkey. It is a tent-like structure made from a wooden frame and covered by wool felt. A traditional yurt is very easy to collapse and assemble again, and it can be transported on no more than three animals (horses, camels, yaks). Today it will fit nicely on a small all-terrain vehicle. http://www.mongolyurt.com/




Vietnamese Floating Houses

Central Viet Nam(Mid-1800s - today)



These houses are built on rafts so that the nomadic people who live in the Annam Mountains of central Viet Nam can move about freely from one side of the lake to the other. The houses are built from hardwood trees that grow slowly in the mountains. This hard wood takes a long time to rot, so it's perfect for building a house that sits in the water.
http://www.architectstudio3d.org/AS3d/people_annamese.html

Empty

Romani gypsies

I set out to try to find some real Romany Gypsies but this task proved to difficult soI have had to resort to found imagery of this nomadic race of people.


Although the Romani people are often referred to as "Gypsies" (and prefer to be called by their more proper designation, Roma), not all "gypsies" or nomadic peoples are Roma. The Roma are descendants of the ancient warrior classes of Northern India, particularly the Punjab, and they are identifiable by their language, religion, and customs, which can be directly linked to those of the Punjabi in northern India.http://www.romani.org/

Link to photos of gypsies in Romania
http://www.leafpile.com/TravelLog/Romania/Roma/Roma.htm




link to home made video of gypsy camps

http://hubpages.com/hub/Romanian-Gypsies
These lines were written by Queen Victoria in 1836: -
I know too well its truth, from experience, that whenever any poor Gipsies are encamped anywhere and crimes and robberies, etc, occur, it is invariably laid to their account, which is shocking; and if they are always looked upon as vagabonds, how can they become good people? I trust in Heaven that the day may come when I may do something for these poor people.
—
http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/the_way_we_live/article6611276.ece

Irish Travellers

There are about 25,000 Irish Travellers in Ireland and 1,300 in Northern Ireland.

Following link will take you to an article about Irish Travellers.
http://www.essortment.com/all/irishtravellers_ryjv.htm




It is estimated there are between 200,000 and 300,000 Gypsy and Irish Travellers in the UK. (English Heritage Online)

I went along to the encampment at laira bridge to ask the travellers if i could interview them and take some photographs. These travellers had cut through a fence and are illegally camped on a site just outside of Plymouth city centre. My interpretor and I walked into the camp and approached a couple of men who immediately demanded my reason for being there, upon explaining my project and asking whether they would mind if I took a few photographs more people arrived. Although not overtly threatening there was an aggressive edge to their behaviour and they became rather hostile and persuasive once they understood my request. They decided we would have to pay £100 in order to take photographs of the site, which we could only haggle down to £50. What became clear was their drive for money, as soon as the prospect of getting some cash became viable we were surrounded and told to go to the cash point immediately and asked to confirm what time we would be coming back in an attempt to secure a deal... Even the children were asking us for our cameras and wallets. It was as if some ideology of gleaning money off every person who stumbles across you is engrained at an early age.


illegal camp of Irish travellers - photographed secretly - Harry Hilliar




The interesting thing for me about this type of travellers is that they live in contradiction to the romantic notion of romani gypsies living off the land and travelling from place to place offering aggricultural labour in return for a piece of land to settle for a while. These travellers all owned brand new expensive cars and caravans, preferred concrete settlements to grass ones and had sought out an inner city dwelling as opposed to a rural one. Instead of opposing the capitalist society and seeking an alternative existance their ideals and behaviour would suggest that they are infact wholesale subscribers to the capitalist machine, driven by the lust for cash. I do not know whether these cars and caravans are the majority of their possessions or whether or not they pay taxes. I continue to try and maintain a objective opinion of each traveller I come across however the danger of calling these type of travellers untrustworthy and dishonest is ever present and exemlified in this short clip below.

Irish Travellers - Media Representations

video clip taken from 'Snatch' highlighting travelers attitude experienced at laira bridge

The following links will take you to This is Plymouth website pages with regrd to other illegal gypsy encampments in Plymouth.





http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/environment/Travellers-return-Estover-field/article-1428057-detail/article.html

http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/news/Ridge-Road-Gypsy-families-given-months-leave/article-1524288-detail/article.html

http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/news/Travellers-set-camp-city/article-1163828-detail/article.html

Image below and article in Sun Newspaper about illegal traveller settlements.


Spreading misery ... huge camp of 1,000 Irish travellers at Crays Hill, Essex

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article104007.ece

THE Sun today launches a campaign to STOP John Prescott giving the green light to illegal gypsy camps across Britain. The Deputy Prime Minister has ordered local councils to go soft on travellers camps and turn a blind eye to the shocking problems they create.But The Sun, on behalf of our ten million readers, is determined to fight him all the way.