If boats aren’t your thing, and you like a more measured pace, keep your eyes open for Alice Francis, who is travelling with her horse and making a three-day trip to Wigtown from Auchencairn.
As they travel, Alice will be creating a standard that will form the head of the Wigtown Trading Journey’s procession that will take place on Saturday afternoon. She will also be recounting the story of Billy Marshall, who supposedly lived for 120 years in southern Scotland and always claimed to be the “King of the Gypsies.” He was also referred to as the “Caird of Barullion.” Caird refers to a skilled gypsy, and it originates from ceardon, meaning a skilled worker who practices some trade or handicraft. Barullion is the name of a range of hills in the county of Wigtownshire in the council area of Dumfries and Galloway in southern Scotland. Another so-called title of his was “King of the Randies.” The word “Randies” in this context may refer to a type of macho, virile man who despised all rule and authority.
The crossed spoons may possibly represent a wish for his people that they may never go hungry, while the coins at his gravesite might have been left with a good luck wish. Originally, they were left for a poor travelling gypsy to be able to buy another meal. The spoons probably represent horn spoons, which have been popular in Europe and Scandinavia as far back as medieval times and were also popular with the Vikings. Horn spoon making has been a tradition among gypsies since the 1600s and possibly had been a labour of love for Billy Marshall.
If you find that you have a hidden talent for spoon playing, bring that new talent along to Wigtown on Saturday; it’s bound to come in useful!
For more details on the Stove Network’s Trading Journeys, head across to our project page [here].
Trading Journeys has been created as part of the Wigtown Book Festival.
