Scottish traveller tales : lives shaped through stories / Donald Braid.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Braid, Donald.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Tales--Scotland.

Tales.

Scottish Travellers (Nomadic people).

Scotland.

Scottish Travellers (Nomadic people)--Folklore.

Genre:

Folklore.

Physical Description:

xiii, 313 pages : illustrations, music ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Jackson : University Press of Mississippi, [2002]

Summary:

The "Travelling People" of Scotland are the traditionally nomadic minority group known also by the derogatory term "tinkers." Using fifteen years of field research, author Donald Braid takes readers into the special world of the Travelling People through words, stories, and songs. Traveling along the high roads and byways of Scotland, they have established a distinct identity and mode of life for themselves that preserves centuries-old cultural beliefs. Oral storytelling is one of their outstanding cultural contributions, and it is centrally important in their lives. For their skill as storytellers, as well as ballad singers, Travellers are internationally recognized as having one of the richest storytelling traditions of the world.

Duncan Williamson, one of their best-known storytellers, was fascinated by this art from an early age and dedicated himself to maintaining the wisdom of Traveller culture by learning as many stories as possible. While this book focuses on a number of individuals, both Williamson's skill as a storyteller and his extensive knowledge of Traveller storytelling traditions are prominently featured through a series of performance transcriptions and interview excerpts. Although their oral tales have been compiled and collected in other volumes, this book is the only full-length study that analyzes the stories of the Travelling People. Through an examination of their words, narratives, and songs, it brings readers close to Travellers' own voices and to their distinctive practice of storytelling.

Indeed, this analytical appreciation of the culture shows how the story performances, besides entertaining, preserve the history of the Travelling People and reveal the shape and substance of the storytellers' own lives. It renders too the rich variety of stories, the interrelationship of stories and the community, the construction of the teller's identity within the story, and the story's way of understanding and shaping human experience. Although concentrated on these Scottish storytellers, this book imparts insights into the process of storytelling in general and contributes understanding of the place of stories in human communities and to human identity.

Contents:

Introduction: "Let's Have a Cup of Tea and I'll Tell You a Story" 3

1. "That's Not a Crack; That's a Story": An Overview of Traveller Storytelling Traditions 51

2. "It Could Have Happened": Storytelling, Identity, and Worldview 104

3. "I Never Met My Grandfather, But I Heard Stories about Him": Storytelling and Community 144

4. "You'll Have to Change Your Ways": The Negotiation of Identity in Storytelling Performance 202

5. "Did It Happen or Did It Not?": Creativity, Worldview, and Narrative Knowing 250

Conclusion: Lives and Stories

Stories and Lives 283.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 301-310) and index.

ISBN:

1578064503

OCLC:

49936225