Anybody who has had any dealing with Travellers will be well aware of the true nature of our boys in blue.
One of the singers we were recording settled for some time in a yard in East London, paying the owner a regular rent. We knew him for around thirty years and counted him and his family among our closest friends. I have no doubt whatever that those who were lucky enough to see him perform at the numerous folk clubs he attended would happily vouch for his being a quiet, well behaved and extemely friendly man. He was also regularly asked to tell some of his stories at local schools and library events.
Shortly after he moved onto the yard he received a visit from a couple of local bobbies who asked for donations (they didn't say what for) and, for a time, he obliged (for a quiet life, he said).
After a while, the amount he was asked to donate increased to such an extent that he finally decided that enough was enough and refused to pay any more.
There followed a period of harrasment, being picked up and taken to the local nick and questioned, always being released without charge. Dawn police raids and searches became a regular event, again without being charged.
The final straw came when his 14 year old son went missing.
It turned out that the boy had been picked up by a squad car, questioned about a burglary in Glasgow and driven there (none of this was in the presence of an adult, which, I understand, the law requires.
The boy was released without even having been questioned and left, without money, to make his own way back to London. Luckily he had the nouse to seek the help of local Travellers who helped him get back home.
The family moved off the site the following day.
And these are the people who we should allow to gather and hold our personal details - yeah, sure we should.
Jim Carroll