New Forest Romany Gypsies
Although first officially recorded in Scotland, it may be likely that the New Forest area was the ‘first landing site’ for many Gypsies travelling across from the continent, first recorded in the area in 1556.
The Romanies called the New Forest Nevi-Wesh (Romani for ‘New Forest’). Although renowned for their nomadic nature, the Gypsies of the New Forest found themselves much at home here, the isolation of the woods and moors giving the New Forest Romanies freedom, resources, and privacy. Sites were chosen strategically for supplies, but there was perhaps a little more to it than that. The witch and author Doreen Valiente wrote that certain sites were important in a spiritual way, the ‘feel’ of the land – a sense that particular places in the Forest were significant, or fortuitous places to live.
As well as selling their wares, Romany women offered fortune telling door to door and at the old Forest gates before the introduction of cattle grids in the1960’s. Many fortune-telling Romanies were also considered as having the power to curse and cure, the chovihanic (witch).
– Vikki Bramshaw, author of the book ‘New Forest Folklore, Traditions & Charms’
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