Arrans Forgotten Visitors:: The Tinkers

Year after year,  so-called Tinkers visited Arran to work for farmers in a range of labouring jobs. Their tents and strange talk could cause fear but these people carried with them the genes of the 1745 rebellion,  the Highland Clearances and intermarriage with Gypsies. They faced continual persecution and the removal of their children yet their culture contained hundreds of long forgotten Scottish ballads and folk songs, a mass of folk tales and a language which reflected their history.

This booklet explains their extraordinary contribution to life on Arran, examples of a folk tale, culture, crafts and language and is illustrated with 50 pictures.