"And none of his print sources mention Travellers at all."
Nor does anyty of them go mention farmers or fishermen or any particular social group
The 'fad' as you so intelligently put it' for Travelers goes back to the early Irish collectors y who filled notebooks from singers and storytellers like The like Delargy who filled notebooks from singers and storytellers like The Sherlock Family and made a point of notint their importance as song and tale carriers
English collectors like Charlotte Burne and Alice Gillinton were taking songs down from Travellers
One of the earliest albums by Topic was of The Willet Family sweet fuck all to do with macColl, Henderson (or anybody else you care to take a pop at)
If MacColl Henderson et al drew attention to the importance of Travellers as tradition carriers, they should be credited for drawing attention to an important aspect of a usually despised social group - not accused of "hyping" anything up
I'd be interested to know if you count Pat and my thirty years of work with Travellers, or that valuable stuff turned up by Mike Yates, is part of your "hyping up"
Illiterate and extremely impoverished Traveller John Reilly gave us about ten big ballads, including the long-disappeared Maid and the Palmer
I know damne well, as you should, that Sheila Douglas, Timothy Neat - and the School of Scottish Studies as a whole are proud of the contribution made by Travelers - The Journal 'Scottish Studies' is full of articles on and examples of Traveller culture
Books like those by Betsy Whyte, Sheila Stewart, Willie McPhee, Duncan Williamson and those on Jeannie Robertson by Gower and Porter are filling shelves on their contribution to Scots culture
I suggest a quick trip to 'Kist o' Riches' might benefit those who doubt this   

Thravellers may be of no interest to those folkies to whom folk "isn't really their thing", but to those of us who are involved. I casn assure everybody - they are major contributors to both our pleasure and our knowledge

I'm really not sure what is going on here

"God help his wife, I have often thought, if he is remotely like this at home. "
Can this abuse attempt to involve my home life be deleted please - it is personally offensive and totally uncalled for
Jim Carroll