Panny to us is someone stupid, or mental. Penneum is bread, from the French "pen," no doubt. We have the same with clean basin, dirty basin, dish towels never got washed, or hung up with other washing, but it's all changed over the last thirty/forty years as the young people mix more with settled people. I'm a settled traveller,born in a house, brought up in a house, we only travelled for short periods in the summer when I was a kid, I'm in my sixties now. But you don't forget where you come from, here's the lyrics for my song, The Travelling Kind. Not in cant, but Scots.


The Traivellin Kind
Copyright: R. Knight, July 2009.

There's nithin much left noo but stories,
O' the aul days and the wye that things were.
And the aul folk's memories are fadin sae fast,
Soon they'll be lost, jist a thing o' the past.
Chorus
It's nae traivellin that maks ye a traiveller,
It's jist something that's bred in yer bones.
And even in hooses, it's still in oor minds,
For we ken whit we are, we're the traivellin kind.

Twa wars put an end tae the rovin,
As the years merched on and life changed.
And little by little the femilies took root,
Settled in hooses, stopped traivellin aboot.
Chorus
Nae campfires tae sit roon wi aul friens,
Tae hear the aul stories and sangs.
And hae a wee dram and a bit spit and crack,
It's faded awa and it's nae coming back.
Chorus
The young folk hae a merriet scaldies,
And the cant scarcely touches their tongues.
And though some wid forget o' the place whaur they came,
Maist are still prood o' their folk and their name.
Chorus