NEW FOREST GYPSIES (Continued)

Page Four

Written by Irene Soper

The forest gypsies have always worked on the land either in the market gardens or the strawberry fields.  Villagers remember hearing gypsies singing whilst working in the fields around Abbots Well.  In the summer it is common sight to see half a dozen women with colourful aprons and headscarves hoeing between the lettuces and strawberry plants in a market garden at Gorley.

The love of horses and ponies still survives in the Romany families of today and forest gypsies now settled in the area who live in cottages and drive pickups; deal in ponies and attend all the New Forest sales.

Until recently, in the small New Forest town of Ringwood, there was a covered livestock market where you could bid for anything from a rabbit to a horse.  It was here that the gypsies gathered to buy and sell their horses.  Not the big horses at one time associated with the Romanies for pulling their vans but New Forest ponies.

Some years ago there was a dealer in the Abbots Well area called Gypsy Peters.  During hard weather he could be seen daily coming up the lane with sacks full of gorse.  This furze he would later pound with a mallet to make a forage for the ponies.

As Fordingbridge and Ringwood still have many Romany families living in the area there is naturally from time to time a gypsy funeral.  It is not unusual for the traffic on the route to be halted as it is the custom for the funeral cortege to follow the hearse to the church on foot.  It is a moving sight to see the procession of mourners with everyone dressed entirely in black – a mark of respect which is still strictly adhered to by this unique race of people.

Fordingbridge will always remain associated with the New Forest Romanies for it was here that their champion and friend Augustus John lived.  The famous painter, known to the gypsies as Sir Gustus, was looked upon by many of them as their King.   As President of the Gypsy Lore Society he fought hard for these people to retain their rights to travel and settle where they liked in the Forest.  However, bureaucracy ensured that these ancient rights would not continue despite other traditional uses that were allowed to continue.

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