The Romani — the Sinti, Manouche, Bohemians, Roma, Gitano, Gypsies — were a well-known presence in Europe during the Regency. They would have been a familiar sight, travelling the road or camping in woodlands, from Scotland to Hungary.
We meet them from time to time in Regency Romances, sheltering the runaway heroine in their wagons, being colorful as they dance around the campfire, or welcoming the hero, who owns the land they're allowed to camp on.
As a people, they originated in northern India. Educated Regency folks might well be aware of this. The idea would have been floating around scholarly circles.
with dog
The German scholar Grellmann published a ground-breaking linguistic study in 1783 that demonstrated similarities between the spoken language of the Romani and Sanskrit.
For those of you who do not have the information just at your fingertips, Sanskrit is an ancient language of India in which classical Indian epic poems, like the Rigveda, are written and from which many northern Indian languages are derived.
Modern genetic studies suggest the Roma originated from a single group in northwestern India. Rom living today are closely related throughout Europe. Over seventy percent of males belong to a single genetic lineage that is unique to the Rom.
They seem to have left India about 1500 years ago and spread both east and west. That's 500 CE more or less.
Vauxhall 1750
500 CE is the time of the fall of Rome, the old empire given its final push by invading Huns. The Huns stopped off to invade northern India on their way west, making this a good time for north Indian locals to get out of Dodge.
Whether the ancestors of the Rom were your average refugee peasants, defeated soldiers, or travelling groups of musicians and performers who were already itinerant in India … this is when the proto-Romani seem to have hit the road.
Basically. I would have left too.
What path did they take?
There are scattered references to "foreign" wandering groups in the Middle East between CE 500 and CE 1000. Some of these may well be the Romani people.
Going at the question linguistically, borrowed words and grammatical structures from Persian, Armenian, and Greek show up in modern Romany dialects across Europe. That's likely the path the Rom took from India.
Written records show them in Eastern Europe in the early C14.
… a 1378 law passed in the Greek Peloponnese confirming privileges for the "atsingani" is "the first documented record of Romany Gypsies in Europe". Similar documents record them reaching Transylvania in 1416; Hamburg in 1418; and Paris in 1427. A chronicler for a Parisian journal described them as dressed in a manner that the Parisians considered shabby, and reports that the Church had them leave town because they practiced palm reading and fortune telling.
(paraphrased from Wikipedia, but that's okay because I contribute money to them every year)
In Scotland, in April 1505, a payment of £20 is authorized from King James IV to the "King of Rowmais". And in 1530, a group of Romanies danced before the Scottish king at Holyrood Palace and a Romani herbalist called Baptista cured the king of an ailment.There's evidence of continual migration into Scotland by Romany through the 1500s and 1600s. Romani people in the south of Scotland enjoyed the protection of the Roslyn family and made an encampment within the Roslyn castle grounds.
And Gypsies in England?
"One of the earliest indicators of Gypsies in England appears in Thomas More's Dialogue concerning heresies, published in 1529. More refers back to the notorious scandal fifteen years earlier when the anti-clericalist Richard Hunne was found dead in the Lollards' Tower in London. Amid much speculation about how Hunne came to die, More introduces the character of a gentleman who claimed to know a neighbour who in turn knew a remarkable woman who was able to ‘tell many marvelous things…and therefore I think she could as well tell who killed Hunne as stole a horse’. The wise woman's insights evidently came from palmistry – the Gypsy style of fortune-telling – though one party to the dialogue suggests that her powers came from the devil. Though never identified by name, the fortune-teller was said to be ‘an Egyptian’, lodged at Lambeth, who had recently ‘gone over sea’ Most accounts of Gypsies in England cite this dialogue to mark 1514 as the foundational year of their presence."
Trouble with Gypsies in Early Modern England, David Cressy, The Historical Journal, 25 November 2015, pp. 45-70.
The arrival of the Roma in most countries of Europe was followed in short order by statues to control, imprison, evict, expel or execute them.
In 1530, Parliament, under Henry XVIII, passed the Egyptian Act:
"an outlandish people, calling themselves Egyptians, using no craft nor feat of merchandise, who have come into this realm, and gone from shire to shire, and place to place, in great company; and used great subtlety and crafty means to deceive the people–bearing them in hand that they, by palmistry, could tell men's and women's fortunes; and so, many times, by craft and subtlety, have deceived the people for their money; and also have committed many heinous felonies and robberies, to the great hurt and deceit of the people that they have come among….
"… the Egyptians now being in this realm, have monition to depart within sixteen days…. from henceforth no such person be suffered to come within this the King's realm and if they do, then they and every of them so doing, shall forfeit to the King our Sovereign Lord all their goods and titles and then to be commanded to avoid the realm within fifteen days under pain of imprisonment…."
And always, everywhere they went, the Romani would be subject to the general laws against vagabondage, begging, and just generally annoying the powers that be.
Fortunately, by the Regency period most laws on the books in Britain aimed at the Roma were poorly enforced. We have any amount of contemporary paintings that show Gypsies camping in the countryside. They're represented as romantic and exotic folk, maybe a bit raffish, but a familiar part of the English landscape.
So the Rom have a place in our Regency books.
The iconic, gaily painted, Romani wagons?
Not so much.
These are called vardos, the word originating from the Ossetic or Eastern Iranian word for cart, vurdon. Obviously one of the words the Rom picked up on their long wandering to the British Isles.
The lovely vardo would come late in the Regency period,if at all. The painted-wood, curved-top, live-in gypsy wagon evolved roughly between 1810 and 1830.
Dickens describes one in 1840
One half of it…was carpeted, and so partitioned off at the further end as to accommodate a sleeping-place, constructed after the fashion of a berth on board ship, which was shaded, like the windows, with fair white curtains… The other half served for a kitchen, and was fitted up with a stove whose small chimney passed through the roof. It also held a closet or larder, several chests, a great pitcher of water, and a few cooking-utensils and articles of crockery. These latter necessaries hung upon the walls, which in that portion of the establishment devoted to the lady of the caravan, were ornamented with such gayer and lighter decorations as a triangle and a couple of well-thumbed tambourines.'
In the Regency, near as I can tell, the Rom mostly travelled with their goods carried on pack horses or in a cart or wagon not much different from the ordinary farm carts of the era. These could be open carts like the ones in the frontispiece of Guy Mannering, above, or carts covered with canvas like the one in this Van Gogh painting to the right.
Some of the tents they slept in were set up with a pole in the middle and looked very much like the tents I slept in as a Girl Scout.
I want to go live in a vardo. I want to take it and my trusty horse and my dog and my cat and travel the highways and byways of the world.
Who's with me?
Personally, Jo, I’d prefer living–with dog and cat–in your cozy mountain top cabin with all mod cons and nice fireplace for long winter nights! A vardo is awfully cute, though.
Personally, Jo, I’d prefer living–with dog and cat–in your cozy mountain top cabin with all mod cons and nice fireplace for long winter nights! A vardo is awfully cute, though.
Personally, Jo, I’d prefer living–with dog and cat–in your cozy mountain top cabin with all mod cons and nice fireplace for long winter nights! A vardo is awfully cute, though.
Personally, Jo, I’d prefer living–with dog and cat–in your cozy mountain top cabin with all mod cons and nice fireplace for long winter nights! A vardo is awfully cute, though.
Personally, Jo, I’d prefer living–with dog and cat–in your cozy mountain top cabin with all mod cons and nice fireplace for long winter nights! A vardo is awfully cute, though.
My modern day equivalent is a Winnebago Travato. It’s not as colorful, but they let you take it on highways, which does make it a bit easier to go distances. And it mostly includes all mod cons — AC, heater, fridge, stove, convection oven, bathroom. The thing I miss most, though, is consistent running water. It’s the luxury that people forget about!
My modern day equivalent is a Winnebago Travato. It’s not as colorful, but they let you take it on highways, which does make it a bit easier to go distances. And it mostly includes all mod cons — AC, heater, fridge, stove, convection oven, bathroom. The thing I miss most, though, is consistent running water. It’s the luxury that people forget about!
My modern day equivalent is a Winnebago Travato. It’s not as colorful, but they let you take it on highways, which does make it a bit easier to go distances. And it mostly includes all mod cons — AC, heater, fridge, stove, convection oven, bathroom. The thing I miss most, though, is consistent running water. It’s the luxury that people forget about!
My modern day equivalent is a Winnebago Travato. It’s not as colorful, but they let you take it on highways, which does make it a bit easier to go distances. And it mostly includes all mod cons — AC, heater, fridge, stove, convection oven, bathroom. The thing I miss most, though, is consistent running water. It’s the luxury that people forget about!
My modern day equivalent is a Winnebago Travato. It’s not as colorful, but they let you take it on highways, which does make it a bit easier to go distances. And it mostly includes all mod cons — AC, heater, fridge, stove, convection oven, bathroom. The thing I miss most, though, is consistent running water. It’s the luxury that people forget about!
Enid Blyton stories when I was a child instilled this fantasy deep in me. It’s still there. A gypsy wagon for me, with a horse to pull it and a dog to keep me company.
Enid Blyton stories when I was a child instilled this fantasy deep in me. It’s still there. A gypsy wagon for me, with a horse to pull it and a dog to keep me company.
Enid Blyton stories when I was a child instilled this fantasy deep in me. It’s still there. A gypsy wagon for me, with a horse to pull it and a dog to keep me company.
Enid Blyton stories when I was a child instilled this fantasy deep in me. It’s still there. A gypsy wagon for me, with a horse to pull it and a dog to keep me company.
Enid Blyton stories when I was a child instilled this fantasy deep in me. It’s still there. A gypsy wagon for me, with a horse to pull it and a dog to keep me company.
I ALWAYS wanted an RV since I saw my first (Airstream?) trailer in a travelling exhibit at about 1939. Alas, I had to give up that dream about 12 years ago. On two different occasions we rented a bus-style RV. Both times the chemicals require to run the mod cons made me sick. I told my husband I would be practical and give up the idea and that he should NOT think was was complaining or second-guessing when I continued to wish we had one. I gave up the practical side; I don’t believe I can give up the dream.
As to the gypsies themselves: I like some of those I’ve met in stories, others not so much. In real life, I can’t say I find the modern gypsy in the U. S. to be very romantic.
I ALWAYS wanted an RV since I saw my first (Airstream?) trailer in a travelling exhibit at about 1939. Alas, I had to give up that dream about 12 years ago. On two different occasions we rented a bus-style RV. Both times the chemicals require to run the mod cons made me sick. I told my husband I would be practical and give up the idea and that he should NOT think was was complaining or second-guessing when I continued to wish we had one. I gave up the practical side; I don’t believe I can give up the dream.
As to the gypsies themselves: I like some of those I’ve met in stories, others not so much. In real life, I can’t say I find the modern gypsy in the U. S. to be very romantic.
I ALWAYS wanted an RV since I saw my first (Airstream?) trailer in a travelling exhibit at about 1939. Alas, I had to give up that dream about 12 years ago. On two different occasions we rented a bus-style RV. Both times the chemicals require to run the mod cons made me sick. I told my husband I would be practical and give up the idea and that he should NOT think was was complaining or second-guessing when I continued to wish we had one. I gave up the practical side; I don’t believe I can give up the dream.
As to the gypsies themselves: I like some of those I’ve met in stories, others not so much. In real life, I can’t say I find the modern gypsy in the U. S. to be very romantic.
I ALWAYS wanted an RV since I saw my first (Airstream?) trailer in a travelling exhibit at about 1939. Alas, I had to give up that dream about 12 years ago. On two different occasions we rented a bus-style RV. Both times the chemicals require to run the mod cons made me sick. I told my husband I would be practical and give up the idea and that he should NOT think was was complaining or second-guessing when I continued to wish we had one. I gave up the practical side; I don’t believe I can give up the dream.
As to the gypsies themselves: I like some of those I’ve met in stories, others not so much. In real life, I can’t say I find the modern gypsy in the U. S. to be very romantic.
I ALWAYS wanted an RV since I saw my first (Airstream?) trailer in a travelling exhibit at about 1939. Alas, I had to give up that dream about 12 years ago. On two different occasions we rented a bus-style RV. Both times the chemicals require to run the mod cons made me sick. I told my husband I would be practical and give up the idea and that he should NOT think was was complaining or second-guessing when I continued to wish we had one. I gave up the practical side; I don’t believe I can give up the dream.
As to the gypsies themselves: I like some of those I’ve met in stories, others not so much. In real life, I can’t say I find the modern gypsy in the U. S. to be very romantic.
Gypsies do make interesting characters in stories, but I don’t think I would find them as charming in real life. And as for traveling in a vardo, I think I’ll pass on that. I like my creature comforts too well. I don’t even want to go camping unless there is a cabin with a real bed involved. Loved this informative post Joanna.
Gypsies do make interesting characters in stories, but I don’t think I would find them as charming in real life. And as for traveling in a vardo, I think I’ll pass on that. I like my creature comforts too well. I don’t even want to go camping unless there is a cabin with a real bed involved. Loved this informative post Joanna.
Gypsies do make interesting characters in stories, but I don’t think I would find them as charming in real life. And as for traveling in a vardo, I think I’ll pass on that. I like my creature comforts too well. I don’t even want to go camping unless there is a cabin with a real bed involved. Loved this informative post Joanna.
Gypsies do make interesting characters in stories, but I don’t think I would find them as charming in real life. And as for traveling in a vardo, I think I’ll pass on that. I like my creature comforts too well. I don’t even want to go camping unless there is a cabin with a real bed involved. Loved this informative post Joanna.
Gypsies do make interesting characters in stories, but I don’t think I would find them as charming in real life. And as for traveling in a vardo, I think I’ll pass on that. I like my creature comforts too well. I don’t even want to go camping unless there is a cabin with a real bed involved. Loved this informative post Joanna.
Me! Me! Me! I’ve always been drawn to tales of the Rom and their lifestyle, and have been known to feel jealous of Regency-era British spies who, according to some of my favorite novels, traveled with them.
I even have an enormous digital file folder of all kinds if time homes, including ones that look like that outrageously gaudy, fun red one in your article.
Of course Mary Jo’s comment brought me back to reality with a thump…but a mountain cabin would be lovely and probably more doable.
But, just in case, please do let me know when you’re ready to embark, Joanna. You never know… 😉
Me! Me! Me! I’ve always been drawn to tales of the Rom and their lifestyle, and have been known to feel jealous of Regency-era British spies who, according to some of my favorite novels, traveled with them.
I even have an enormous digital file folder of all kinds if time homes, including ones that look like that outrageously gaudy, fun red one in your article.
Of course Mary Jo’s comment brought me back to reality with a thump…but a mountain cabin would be lovely and probably more doable.
But, just in case, please do let me know when you’re ready to embark, Joanna. You never know… 😉
Me! Me! Me! I’ve always been drawn to tales of the Rom and their lifestyle, and have been known to feel jealous of Regency-era British spies who, according to some of my favorite novels, traveled with them.
I even have an enormous digital file folder of all kinds if time homes, including ones that look like that outrageously gaudy, fun red one in your article.
Of course Mary Jo’s comment brought me back to reality with a thump…but a mountain cabin would be lovely and probably more doable.
But, just in case, please do let me know when you’re ready to embark, Joanna. You never know… 😉
Me! Me! Me! I’ve always been drawn to tales of the Rom and their lifestyle, and have been known to feel jealous of Regency-era British spies who, according to some of my favorite novels, traveled with them.
I even have an enormous digital file folder of all kinds if time homes, including ones that look like that outrageously gaudy, fun red one in your article.
Of course Mary Jo’s comment brought me back to reality with a thump…but a mountain cabin would be lovely and probably more doable.
But, just in case, please do let me know when you’re ready to embark, Joanna. You never know… 😉
Me! Me! Me! I’ve always been drawn to tales of the Rom and their lifestyle, and have been known to feel jealous of Regency-era British spies who, according to some of my favorite novels, traveled with them.
I even have an enormous digital file folder of all kinds if time homes, including ones that look like that outrageously gaudy, fun red one in your article.
Of course Mary Jo’s comment brought me back to reality with a thump…but a mountain cabin would be lovely and probably more doable.
But, just in case, please do let me know when you’re ready to embark, Joanna. You never know… 😉
I meant TINY homes! Sorry ‘bout that…
I meant TINY homes! Sorry ‘bout that…
I meant TINY homes! Sorry ‘bout that…
I meant TINY homes! Sorry ‘bout that…
I meant TINY homes! Sorry ‘bout that…
Ah, my oldest fantasy! I have always wanted to run away from home and join the gypsies. And move to those dances played on the violin or the balalaika. I think I’ll go listen to my record of Russian Gypsy Songs.
Ah, my oldest fantasy! I have always wanted to run away from home and join the gypsies. And move to those dances played on the violin or the balalaika. I think I’ll go listen to my record of Russian Gypsy Songs.
Ah, my oldest fantasy! I have always wanted to run away from home and join the gypsies. And move to those dances played on the violin or the balalaika. I think I’ll go listen to my record of Russian Gypsy Songs.
Ah, my oldest fantasy! I have always wanted to run away from home and join the gypsies. And move to those dances played on the violin or the balalaika. I think I’ll go listen to my record of Russian Gypsy Songs.
Ah, my oldest fantasy! I have always wanted to run away from home and join the gypsies. And move to those dances played on the violin or the balalaika. I think I’ll go listen to my record of Russian Gypsy Songs.
Thanks for an enjoyable and informative post, Joanna.
I’m afraid you’ll have to a-vardoing without me. (I’m rather fond of toilets that flush.) Perhaps we can meet up though at some predesignated spot.
Thanks for an enjoyable and informative post, Joanna.
I’m afraid you’ll have to a-vardoing without me. (I’m rather fond of toilets that flush.) Perhaps we can meet up though at some predesignated spot.
Thanks for an enjoyable and informative post, Joanna.
I’m afraid you’ll have to a-vardoing without me. (I’m rather fond of toilets that flush.) Perhaps we can meet up though at some predesignated spot.
Thanks for an enjoyable and informative post, Joanna.
I’m afraid you’ll have to a-vardoing without me. (I’m rather fond of toilets that flush.) Perhaps we can meet up though at some predesignated spot.
Thanks for an enjoyable and informative post, Joanna.
I’m afraid you’ll have to a-vardoing without me. (I’m rather fond of toilets that flush.) Perhaps we can meet up though at some predesignated spot.
Now Stevenson says:
I will make you brooches and toys for your delight
Of bird-song at morning and star-shine at night.
I will make a palace fit for you and me
Of green days in forests and blue days at sea.
I will make my kitchen, and you shall keep your room,
Where white flows the river and bright blows the broom,
And you shall wash your linen and keep your body white
In rainfall at morning and dewfall at night.
And this shall be for music when no one else is near,
The fine song for singing, the rare song to hear!
That only I remember, that only you admire,
Of the broad road that stretches and the roadside fire.
… which likely sounds like more fun that it would actually be.
Now Stevenson says:
I will make you brooches and toys for your delight
Of bird-song at morning and star-shine at night.
I will make a palace fit for you and me
Of green days in forests and blue days at sea.
I will make my kitchen, and you shall keep your room,
Where white flows the river and bright blows the broom,
And you shall wash your linen and keep your body white
In rainfall at morning and dewfall at night.
And this shall be for music when no one else is near,
The fine song for singing, the rare song to hear!
That only I remember, that only you admire,
Of the broad road that stretches and the roadside fire.
… which likely sounds like more fun that it would actually be.
Now Stevenson says:
I will make you brooches and toys for your delight
Of bird-song at morning and star-shine at night.
I will make a palace fit for you and me
Of green days in forests and blue days at sea.
I will make my kitchen, and you shall keep your room,
Where white flows the river and bright blows the broom,
And you shall wash your linen and keep your body white
In rainfall at morning and dewfall at night.
And this shall be for music when no one else is near,
The fine song for singing, the rare song to hear!
That only I remember, that only you admire,
Of the broad road that stretches and the roadside fire.
… which likely sounds like more fun that it would actually be.
Now Stevenson says:
I will make you brooches and toys for your delight
Of bird-song at morning and star-shine at night.
I will make a palace fit for you and me
Of green days in forests and blue days at sea.
I will make my kitchen, and you shall keep your room,
Where white flows the river and bright blows the broom,
And you shall wash your linen and keep your body white
In rainfall at morning and dewfall at night.
And this shall be for music when no one else is near,
The fine song for singing, the rare song to hear!
That only I remember, that only you admire,
Of the broad road that stretches and the roadside fire.
… which likely sounds like more fun that it would actually be.
Now Stevenson says:
I will make you brooches and toys for your delight
Of bird-song at morning and star-shine at night.
I will make a palace fit for you and me
Of green days in forests and blue days at sea.
I will make my kitchen, and you shall keep your room,
Where white flows the river and bright blows the broom,
And you shall wash your linen and keep your body white
In rainfall at morning and dewfall at night.
And this shall be for music when no one else is near,
The fine song for singing, the rare song to hear!
That only I remember, that only you admire,
Of the broad road that stretches and the roadside fire.
… which likely sounds like more fun that it would actually be.
I think those travel wagons are cool –though I don’t want one for myself because I’d be afraid to drive it.
Good way to see the countryside.
I think those travel wagons are cool –though I don’t want one for myself because I’d be afraid to drive it.
Good way to see the countryside.
I think those travel wagons are cool –though I don’t want one for myself because I’d be afraid to drive it.
Good way to see the countryside.
I think those travel wagons are cool –though I don’t want one for myself because I’d be afraid to drive it.
Good way to see the countryside.
I think those travel wagons are cool –though I don’t want one for myself because I’d be afraid to drive it.
Good way to see the countryside.
I loved Enid Blyton. I’m sure her influence lurks somewhere in the back corners of my brain.
I don’t remember the Gypsy wagon though …
Not all her works made it to the US, I think.
I loved Enid Blyton. I’m sure her influence lurks somewhere in the back corners of my brain.
I don’t remember the Gypsy wagon though …
Not all her works made it to the US, I think.
I loved Enid Blyton. I’m sure her influence lurks somewhere in the back corners of my brain.
I don’t remember the Gypsy wagon though …
Not all her works made it to the US, I think.
I loved Enid Blyton. I’m sure her influence lurks somewhere in the back corners of my brain.
I don’t remember the Gypsy wagon though …
Not all her works made it to the US, I think.
I loved Enid Blyton. I’m sure her influence lurks somewhere in the back corners of my brain.
I don’t remember the Gypsy wagon though …
Not all her works made it to the US, I think.
I’m sorry your dreams came smack dab up against sad realities.
I think I’d be able to do without the mod cons reasonably well, really. I’ve done lots of camping travel and managed okay.
Basically, after a while, I miss hot showers when I can’t get them. I suspect I’m kinda sissy.
I’m sorry your dreams came smack dab up against sad realities.
I think I’d be able to do without the mod cons reasonably well, really. I’ve done lots of camping travel and managed okay.
Basically, after a while, I miss hot showers when I can’t get them. I suspect I’m kinda sissy.
I’m sorry your dreams came smack dab up against sad realities.
I think I’d be able to do without the mod cons reasonably well, really. I’ve done lots of camping travel and managed okay.
Basically, after a while, I miss hot showers when I can’t get them. I suspect I’m kinda sissy.
I’m sorry your dreams came smack dab up against sad realities.
I think I’d be able to do without the mod cons reasonably well, really. I’ve done lots of camping travel and managed okay.
Basically, after a while, I miss hot showers when I can’t get them. I suspect I’m kinda sissy.
I’m sorry your dreams came smack dab up against sad realities.
I think I’d be able to do without the mod cons reasonably well, really. I’ve done lots of camping travel and managed okay.
Basically, after a while, I miss hot showers when I can’t get them. I suspect I’m kinda sissy.
I’m getting a bit old for rough camping, I’m afraid. Sleeping in blankets on the ground would leave me stiff and aching. And I put on my wool sweater outside even when it’s only in the sixties.
But there was a time I enjoyed roughing it. The lure of being out under the sky with nothing but quiet around you is very great. It stays with you even when the time comes that “the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.”
I’m getting a bit old for rough camping, I’m afraid. Sleeping in blankets on the ground would leave me stiff and aching. And I put on my wool sweater outside even when it’s only in the sixties.
But there was a time I enjoyed roughing it. The lure of being out under the sky with nothing but quiet around you is very great. It stays with you even when the time comes that “the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.”
I’m getting a bit old for rough camping, I’m afraid. Sleeping in blankets on the ground would leave me stiff and aching. And I put on my wool sweater outside even when it’s only in the sixties.
But there was a time I enjoyed roughing it. The lure of being out under the sky with nothing but quiet around you is very great. It stays with you even when the time comes that “the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.”
I’m getting a bit old for rough camping, I’m afraid. Sleeping in blankets on the ground would leave me stiff and aching. And I put on my wool sweater outside even when it’s only in the sixties.
But there was a time I enjoyed roughing it. The lure of being out under the sky with nothing but quiet around you is very great. It stays with you even when the time comes that “the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.”
I’m getting a bit old for rough camping, I’m afraid. Sleeping in blankets on the ground would leave me stiff and aching. And I put on my wool sweater outside even when it’s only in the sixties.
But there was a time I enjoyed roughing it. The lure of being out under the sky with nothing but quiet around you is very great. It stays with you even when the time comes that “the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.”
I think it was Roald Dahl who put a vardo behind the house and used it for his writer’s cave.
Now THAT makes great sense.
I think it was Roald Dahl who put a vardo behind the house and used it for his writer’s cave.
Now THAT makes great sense.
I think it was Roald Dahl who put a vardo behind the house and used it for his writer’s cave.
Now THAT makes great sense.
I think it was Roald Dahl who put a vardo behind the house and used it for his writer’s cave.
Now THAT makes great sense.
I think it was Roald Dahl who put a vardo behind the house and used it for his writer’s cave.
Now THAT makes great sense.
You might like to read this book by Jan Yoors about travelling with the Gypsies. An armchair journey to fulfill old dreams, as it were.
https://www.amazon.com/Gypsies-Jan-Yoors-ebook-dp-B00HFZXHI0/dp/B00HFZXHI0/ref=mt_kindle?_encoding=UTF8&me=&qid=
You might like to read this book by Jan Yoors about travelling with the Gypsies. An armchair journey to fulfill old dreams, as it were.
https://www.amazon.com/Gypsies-Jan-Yoors-ebook-dp-B00HFZXHI0/dp/B00HFZXHI0/ref=mt_kindle?_encoding=UTF8&me=&qid=
You might like to read this book by Jan Yoors about travelling with the Gypsies. An armchair journey to fulfill old dreams, as it were.
https://www.amazon.com/Gypsies-Jan-Yoors-ebook-dp-B00HFZXHI0/dp/B00HFZXHI0/ref=mt_kindle?_encoding=UTF8&me=&qid=
You might like to read this book by Jan Yoors about travelling with the Gypsies. An armchair journey to fulfill old dreams, as it were.
https://www.amazon.com/Gypsies-Jan-Yoors-ebook-dp-B00HFZXHI0/dp/B00HFZXHI0/ref=mt_kindle?_encoding=UTF8&me=&qid=
You might like to read this book by Jan Yoors about travelling with the Gypsies. An armchair journey to fulfill old dreams, as it were.
https://www.amazon.com/Gypsies-Jan-Yoors-ebook-dp-B00HFZXHI0/dp/B00HFZXHI0/ref=mt_kindle?_encoding=UTF8&me=&qid=
Thank you. I’ve requested it. (I love interlibrary loan!)
Thank you. I’ve requested it. (I love interlibrary loan!)
Thank you. I’ve requested it. (I love interlibrary loan!)
Thank you. I’ve requested it. (I love interlibrary loan!)
Thank you. I’ve requested it. (I love interlibrary loan!)
I will jump on it like a duck on a June bug. Would love to live in a vardo with my dog – he is small. But, I would need a second vardo pulled behind to carry all my books. Even with a Kindle I have a ton of actual books. So, I reckon I would need a team of two Clydesdales.
My library vardo would need to have room for two statues of lions on the front side. Rather like a Carnegie library of days of yore.
I will jump on it like a duck on a June bug. Would love to live in a vardo with my dog – he is small. But, I would need a second vardo pulled behind to carry all my books. Even with a Kindle I have a ton of actual books. So, I reckon I would need a team of two Clydesdales.
My library vardo would need to have room for two statues of lions on the front side. Rather like a Carnegie library of days of yore.
I will jump on it like a duck on a June bug. Would love to live in a vardo with my dog – he is small. But, I would need a second vardo pulled behind to carry all my books. Even with a Kindle I have a ton of actual books. So, I reckon I would need a team of two Clydesdales.
My library vardo would need to have room for two statues of lions on the front side. Rather like a Carnegie library of days of yore.
I will jump on it like a duck on a June bug. Would love to live in a vardo with my dog – he is small. But, I would need a second vardo pulled behind to carry all my books. Even with a Kindle I have a ton of actual books. So, I reckon I would need a team of two Clydesdales.
My library vardo would need to have room for two statues of lions on the front side. Rather like a Carnegie library of days of yore.
I will jump on it like a duck on a June bug. Would love to live in a vardo with my dog – he is small. But, I would need a second vardo pulled behind to carry all my books. Even with a Kindle I have a ton of actual books. So, I reckon I would need a team of two Clydesdales.
My library vardo would need to have room for two statues of lions on the front side. Rather like a Carnegie library of days of yore.
Actually, my ex-mother-in-law was half Romany. She grew up in Vienna, but her maternal grandparents still kept to the old ways, traveling in their wagons, mostly in the area that is now Montenegro. She would spend her school summer vacations with them, and she told me that they used to keep chickens. While they traveled, they would put the chickens in a net that was slung under the wagon. And she had lots of other great stories too.
Actually, my ex-mother-in-law was half Romany. She grew up in Vienna, but her maternal grandparents still kept to the old ways, traveling in their wagons, mostly in the area that is now Montenegro. She would spend her school summer vacations with them, and she told me that they used to keep chickens. While they traveled, they would put the chickens in a net that was slung under the wagon. And she had lots of other great stories too.
Actually, my ex-mother-in-law was half Romany. She grew up in Vienna, but her maternal grandparents still kept to the old ways, traveling in their wagons, mostly in the area that is now Montenegro. She would spend her school summer vacations with them, and she told me that they used to keep chickens. While they traveled, they would put the chickens in a net that was slung under the wagon. And she had lots of other great stories too.
Actually, my ex-mother-in-law was half Romany. She grew up in Vienna, but her maternal grandparents still kept to the old ways, traveling in their wagons, mostly in the area that is now Montenegro. She would spend her school summer vacations with them, and she told me that they used to keep chickens. While they traveled, they would put the chickens in a net that was slung under the wagon. And she had lots of other great stories too.
Actually, my ex-mother-in-law was half Romany. She grew up in Vienna, but her maternal grandparents still kept to the old ways, traveling in their wagons, mostly in the area that is now Montenegro. She would spend her school summer vacations with them, and she told me that they used to keep chickens. While they traveled, they would put the chickens in a net that was slung under the wagon. And she had lots of other great stories too.
I know folks go off walking with donkeys in Europe, town to town, or take horseback rides along the Rockies.
Maybe there’s someplace they do wagon-trailing with cozy cafes along the trailside to sit and meet friends and have a cuppa tea.
Or I can always invent the fantasy of these trails and the inns along the way.
I know folks go off walking with donkeys in Europe, town to town, or take horseback rides along the Rockies.
Maybe there’s someplace they do wagon-trailing with cozy cafes along the trailside to sit and meet friends and have a cuppa tea.
Or I can always invent the fantasy of these trails and the inns along the way.
I know folks go off walking with donkeys in Europe, town to town, or take horseback rides along the Rockies.
Maybe there’s someplace they do wagon-trailing with cozy cafes along the trailside to sit and meet friends and have a cuppa tea.
Or I can always invent the fantasy of these trails and the inns along the way.
I know folks go off walking with donkeys in Europe, town to town, or take horseback rides along the Rockies.
Maybe there’s someplace they do wagon-trailing with cozy cafes along the trailside to sit and meet friends and have a cuppa tea.
Or I can always invent the fantasy of these trails and the inns along the way.
I know folks go off walking with donkeys in Europe, town to town, or take horseback rides along the Rockies.
Maybe there’s someplace they do wagon-trailing with cozy cafes along the trailside to sit and meet friends and have a cuppa tea.
Or I can always invent the fantasy of these trails and the inns along the way.
True about the books. I’d have to cover all the walls of the vardo with books. And have pull-up racks under the floor. And some way to drop down shelves from the ceiling …
True about the books. I’d have to cover all the walls of the vardo with books. And have pull-up racks under the floor. And some way to drop down shelves from the ceiling …
True about the books. I’d have to cover all the walls of the vardo with books. And have pull-up racks under the floor. And some way to drop down shelves from the ceiling …
True about the books. I’d have to cover all the walls of the vardo with books. And have pull-up racks under the floor. And some way to drop down shelves from the ceiling …
True about the books. I’d have to cover all the walls of the vardo with books. And have pull-up racks under the floor. And some way to drop down shelves from the ceiling …
I see chickens in the old photos. Dogs too, of course. Once,a cat.
I had always wondered how they managed the chickens.
Nets under the wagon. Now I know.
I see chickens in the old photos. Dogs too, of course. Once,a cat.
I had always wondered how they managed the chickens.
Nets under the wagon. Now I know.
I see chickens in the old photos. Dogs too, of course. Once,a cat.
I had always wondered how they managed the chickens.
Nets under the wagon. Now I know.
I see chickens in the old photos. Dogs too, of course. Once,a cat.
I had always wondered how they managed the chickens.
Nets under the wagon. Now I know.
I see chickens in the old photos. Dogs too, of course. Once,a cat.
I had always wondered how they managed the chickens.
Nets under the wagon. Now I know.
I was just remembering my Enid Blyton as I was reading this, Anne! 😀 That’s where I fell in love with them too.
I was just remembering my Enid Blyton as I was reading this, Anne! 😀 That’s where I fell in love with them too.
I was just remembering my Enid Blyton as I was reading this, Anne! 😀 That’s where I fell in love with them too.
I was just remembering my Enid Blyton as I was reading this, Anne! 😀 That’s where I fell in love with them too.
I was just remembering my Enid Blyton as I was reading this, Anne! 😀 That’s where I fell in love with them too.