Sound Recordings, Cornwall

Description

[Collector announcement]; Frank Gist, recorded at home in Kilkhampton on the 25 October 1958; talks about farm work on leaving school; the family carriers business; goods transported and for whom; training horses during the Boer War; distances travelled and loads carried as a carrier; church and chapel schools in the village, and rivalry between boys; church attendance; thoughts on past and present times; mischief as a boy; changes in the village; manners; wages; costs of living; local carnival - tableaux, Carnival Queen and attendants, parade; visiting other carnivals in the area; Club Day - church service, parade, dinner, programmes and information re. the Club and its members; being balloted into the Club; work/jobs around the village - farmwork, work on the roads, driving steamroller, carting; cottage (wall) construction; holidaymakers from London; beer; poaching; Gypsy Traveller communities. [Tr. 7]


[Collector announcement - repeated]; Thomas Stephens, recorded at home in Altarnun on the 10 November 1958; talks about schooling, teachers and schoolmasters; working from the age of sixteen; marriage; own farm; family; the farm and buttermaking; local mines; turf/peat cutting, drying and burning for cooking; John Wesley in the area, the building of the local chapel and the renovation of Wesley's cottage/chapel; Wesley Day (May 24th); changes in farming - mechanisation, tractors replacing horses, reference to subsidies, wages; troops stationed in the area during World War Two; describes his farm at the outbreak of war (crops and livestock); reflections on manners/attitudes past and present; children's behaviour and the role of the schoolmaster; Sunday School and declining attendances; rural depopulation; farming - working days, including Sundays; mowing with a scythe; the combine. [Tr. 8]

Access and usage

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Notes on terminology and spellings

 

Please note that there may be differences in the terms used to describe the particular communities represented in this collection, many of which have changed over time and may continue to change.

 

At the time this catalogue was created there are many definitions that identify different cultural and ethnic groups with their varied histories, traditions and associations with a travelling life.

 

These can include but are not limited to  those that have been recognised in UK law as ethnic groups; English and Welsh (Romany) Gypsies, Irish and Scottish Travellers; and non-ethnic groups that consider themselves distinct even if these have not been recognised in UK law, e.g. New Travellers, Showmen and Bargees. Outside of the UK 'Gypsy' may also be considered offensive  and ‘Roma’ is often used instead as the universally preferred term although this term also represents a wide range of distinct groups, (e.g. Sinti, Manouche).

 

It is our intention to respectfully and (where possible) accurately refer to these different communities in the catalogue. For this reason we ask you to note the following with regards to the descriptions in this catalogue that have been based on these current definitions:

 

1)  As many of these definitions have only come into being since the collection was created/1st catalogued, please be aware that original descriptions may not accurately reflect the group to which it refers, (e.g. the word 'Gypsy,' may have been used to describe those now recognised as Irish Travellers/Roma).  Therefore it is worth searching under various terms, e.g. 'Romany' and 'Traveller,' to broaden the scope of search results as well as using the alternative historical spellings, 'Gipsy,' 'Gipsie,' or ‘Romani.’

2) Where no original description exists and it is not possible to properly identify a distinct group they will be described as "Gypsy Traveller" (within UK setting), "Roma" for those living/recently originating outside the UK or "Gypsy, Traveller, Roma " for origin/locations unknown. References to any non - ethnic groups will similarly be capitalised to respectfully acknowledge all groups.

Users are advised that content in this section may include accounts of discrimination and the expression of opinions and/or terminology that would now be considered unacceptable.

View the Cultural Collections sensitivity policy

This material is in copyright. Photocopies or digital images can be supplied by the Library for research or private study. It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain the copyright holder's permission to reproduce for any other purpose. Guidance is available on tracing copyright status and ownership.

Physical and technical conditions

19cm/sec.

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