Romnichal
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Romnichal or Romanichal is a neologism by which groups of Roma people (often known as Gypsies) found in some parts of the United Kingdom, notably England, refer to themselves in their own language, Anglo-Romany. The name is not universally accepted by English Roma, who will often call themselves "Romany Folk". They are thought to have arrived in Britain in the 16th century and were descendants of the Illes clan of Eastern Hungary.
Roma people were abandoned on the coast of Norway from British ships from 1544 onwards.[1]
The word "Romnichal" derives from "Romani chal", where "chal" is Anglo-romani for "fellow".[2] It is pronounced with the "ch" being equivalent to that in "church".
It is not clear how they are related to the other main Roma people in the UK, the Welsh Kale, or to other Roma groups.
They (and their descendants) are also to be found throughout the United States and also in Australia.[3]
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[edit] Language
The Roma people in England are thought to have spoken the Romani language until the 19th century, when it was replaced by English and Anglo-Romani, a creole language that combines the syntax and grammar of English with the Roma Lexicon.[4] Most Romnichals also speak English.
Many Anglo-Romani words have been incorporated into English, particularly in the form of British slang.
[edit] History
The first groups of Romani people arrived in Great Britain by the end of the 15th century, running from the conflicts in Southeastern Europe (the Ottoman conquest of the Balkans). In 1505, there are recorded Roma persons in Scotland, probably arrived from Spain. As in the rest of Western Europe they were received with suspicion by a local monocultural population unaccustomed to foreigners. Soon the leadership passed laws aiming at stopping the Roma immigration and at the assimilation of those already settled. Under the Reign of Henry VIII, the Egyptians Act 1530 banned Roma from entering the country and required those living in the country to leave within 16 days. Failure to do so could result in confiscation of property, imprisonment and deportation. The act was amended, under the reign of Queen Mary I Tudor, with the Egyptians Act 1554, which removed the threat of punishment to Roma if they abandoned their "naughty, idle and ungodly life and company" and adopted a settled lifestyle. However, for those who failed to adhere to a sedentary existence, the punishment was upped to execution. A new law, in 1562, offers the possibility of becoming citizens for the Roma born in England and Wales, if they assimilate in the local population. Despite this legislation, the Roma population managed to survive, but was forced to a marginal lifestyle and subjected to continuous discrimination from the state authorities and many of the local non-Roma. In one event, in 1596, 106 men and women were condemned to death at York just for being Roma, but only nine were executed. The others were able to prove that they were born in England. From the years 1780s, gradually, the anti-Roma laws were repealed, although not all.
During the 17th and 18th centuries, after England acquired the first colonies, Roma were periodically rounded up and deported, first to Caribbean, then also to North America and Australia. Many times, those deported in this manner did not survive as an ethnic group, because of the separations after the round up, the sea passage and the subsequent settlement as slaves, all destroying the social fabric. At the same time, voluntary emigration began to the English colonies. Roma groups that survived, continued the expression of the Roma culture there.
The identity of the Romnichals was formed in the years 1660-1800, as a Roma group living in Britain. In the 1830s, the first wooden horse-drawn covered waggons used by them were reported.
In the first phase of the Second World War, the Nazis drew up lists of Roma individuals (many of them Romnichals) and persons with Roma ascendency from the United Kingdom to be interned and subjected to Porajmos in the eventuality of this country's occupation.
The crisis of the 1960s decade, caused by the Caravan Sites Act (stopping new private sites being built until 1972), determines the appearance of the British Gypsy Council to fight for the rights of the Romnichals.[5]
[edit] Romnichal Lifestyle
Traditionally, Romnichals earned a living doing agricultural work and would move to the edges of towns for the winter months. There was casual work available on farms throughout the spring, summer and autumn months, and would start with seed sowing, planting potatoes and fruit trees in the spring, weeding in early summer, and there would be a succession of harvests of crops from summer to late autumn.
Of particular significance was the hop industry, which employed thousands of Romnichals both in spring for vine training and for the harvest in early autumn.
Winter months were often spent doing casual labour in towns or selling goods or services door to door.
Mass industrialisation of agriculture in the 1960s led to the disappearance of many of the casual farm jobs Romnichals had traditionally carried out. This, and legislation aimed at stopping travellers camping on common land and roadsides, has forced large numbers of Romnichals to abandon their nomadic lifestyle and take on a sedentary existence[6].
Originally, Romnichals would travel on foot, or with light, horse-drawn carts, and they would build "bender" tents where they settled for a time. A bender is type of tent constructed from a frame of bent hazel branches (hazel is chosen for its straightness and flexibility), covered with canvas or tarpaulin. These tents are still favoured by New Age Traveller groups.
Around the mid to late-nineteenth century, Romnichals started using wagons that incorporated living spaces on the inside. These they called "Vardos" and were often brightly and colourfully decorated on the inside and outside.
In the present day, Romnichals are more likely to live in caravans.
The Inclosure Act 1857 created the offence of injury or damage to village greens and interruption to its use or enjoyment as a place of exercise and recreation. The Commons Act 1876 makes encroachment or inclosure of a village green, and interference with or occupation of the soil unlawful unless it is with the aim of improving enjoyment of the green.
Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960 states that no occupier of land shall cause or permit the land to be used as a caravan site unless he is the holder of a site licence. It also enables a district council to make an order prohibiting the stationing of caravans on common land, or a town or village green.
These acts had the overall effect of preventing travellers using the vast majority of their traditional stopping places.
The Caravan Sites Act 1968 required local authorities to provide caravan sites for travellers if there were a demonstrated need. This was resisted by many councils who would claim that there were no Gypsies living in their areas.[citation needed] The result was that insufficient pitches were provided for travellers, leading to the situation whereby holders of a pitch could no longer travel, for fear of losing it.
The Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 removed the duty of local councils to provide authorised pitches and gave the Council and Police powers to move travellers on, subject to certain welfare issues. The official response of the government was that travellers should buy land and apply for planning permission to occupy it. However, those that did so found it extremely difficult to get planning permission, with more than 90% of applications by travellers refused.[citation needed]
[edit] Notes
- ^ Ethnologue report for language code:rmg
- ^ Manfri Frederick Wood. Romanichal Word List.
- ^ http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=rme Areas of Angloromani's use
- ^ University of Manchester Romani Project. The Anglo-Romani project.
- ^ The Patrin Web Journal - Timeline of Romani (Gypsy) History
- ^ BBC Kent Romany Roots. Romany History.
[edit] References
- 'Gypsies' in the United States
- Salo, M., 'Romnichel economic and social organization in urban New England, 1850-1930,' in Salo, M. ed. Urban Gypsies, special issue of Urban Anthropology, 2.3/4 (1982), 273-313
- Places in London associated with Romany Gypsies
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