Duncan Williamson talks about how his Traveller family got f...
Track Information
Original Track ID
SA1977.203.B2
Original Tape ID
Summary
Duncan Williamson talks about how his Traveller family got food when he was a child.
When Duncan Williamson was young his father had nine school-age children to feed and clothe, out of wages of £2 per week, when he was in work. Otherwise he made baskets and tin articles for Duncan's mother to sell round the doors. They occasionally went hungry. Usually they would have soup, potatoes from farms where they worked, and vegetables from a villager who had a big garden. Milk was hard to get because there were few dairy farms locally. In summer they caught fish in the sea and poached salmon in the rivers. Every house had barrels of salt herring. Every farm killed a pig at Christmas and Duncan's mother would be given some pork. They hunted rabbits by moonlight, and kept a good dog for the purpose. Sometimes Duncan would take vegetables from gardens, but it was only to get enough food to survive.
Item Location
County - Argyllshire
Language
Scots
Genre
Collection
Source Type
Reel to reel
Audio Quality
Good