Paper short abstract:

This paper explores social relationships between a group of horse-drawn Travellers and the larger host society. Travellers and Gypsies are usually met with antipathy, however the group of Travellers studied here instead elicited a favourable response. I suggest that this is due to their possession of horses and decorated wagons which denote them to be 'traditional' and therefore, 'real' Travellers.

Paper long abstract:

This paper examines social relationships between a group of horse-drawn Travellers known as the 'Horse-drawn', and Britain's sedentary population. The occurrence of hatred and hostility directed towards Travellers and Gypsies from the larger host society has been well documented by social scientists. However, the response the 'Horse-drawn' evoke from the settled population, rather than being one of hostility, is often one of acceptance and even admiration. I argue that this response happens due to the 'Horse-drawn' being re-imagined by those who encounter them. The way the social imagination is constructed and communicated, resulting in concrete social effects, is of particular interest here. The 'Horse-drawn' originate from New Age Travellers, a group ascribed with the status of being inauthentic and undesirable. However, rather than being thought of in this way, the 'Horse-drawn' are accepted and admired, as they are imagined to be 'traditional', and therefore 'real', Travellers. This is because the decorated horse-drawn wagon is synonymous with the mythological notion of the 'real' Gypsy in the British cultural imagination. Therefore when outsiders encounter the 'Horse-drawn', the horse and wagon act as symbols which denote the 'Horse-drawn' to be concrete manifestations of the mythological notion of the 'real' Gypsy. It is due to this projection that the 'Horse-drawn' are extended greater acceptance from many of Britain's sedentary population than other Traveller groups.