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Decolonising the Collection: Romani and Traveller singers in the library of the English Folk Dance and Song Society

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Tiffany Hore – Vaughan Williams Memorial Library, English Folk Dance and Song Society, UK

�Hazel Marsh – University of East Anglia, UK

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Critical Approach to Libraries Conference,

13 May 2026

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‘GRT/GTRSB’ and diversity in UK

Traveller - Irish (Pavee/Mincéir) and Scottish (Nawken)

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Romani -

Welsh (Kalé) and English (Romanichal)

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Roma/Sinti

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Recognised as ethnic minority groups under the Equality Act (2010) in England, Wales, and Scotland.

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Showmen

Boaters

New Travellers

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‘Gypsy Music’ and the politics of representation�Sheet music: 1904, 1919, 1936

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The Travelling People�A radio ballad about Britain's nomadic people�by Ewan MacColl, Charles Parker and Peggy Seeger�BBC Home Service, first broadcast April 17, 1964

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‘Most of the repertoire is not specifically Gypsy. And it’s not easy listening’.

(Rough Guide to World Music. 1999: 158).

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�The Barbican, London, 2000��The 1000 year journey��https://www.barbican.org.uk/music/series.asp?ID=404

‘Get in touch with your inner gypsy ... Come and feel the heat of a Gypsy fire’.

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Big Fat Gypsy Weddings soundtrack

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�June 2015, Conservative MP Philip Hollobone: �

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‘… many of these supposed Travellers are self-declared Travellers; they are not from any kind of Gypsy heritage at all’. 

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Above: AG Crowe's Covent Garden promenade music waltz Gypsies. 1910.

Left: Gypsies On A Country Lane. James Edward Meadows, circa 1860

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The Vaughan Williams Memorial Library ��The library and archive of the English Folk Dance and Song Society

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Originally the Cecil Sharp Library, based in Cecil Sharp House, opened in 1930, housing Sharp’s personal book collection of over 1000 volumes.

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England’s national folk music and dance archive

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Caters for Folk enthusiasts, independent researchers, academics, students across a wide range of disciplines, musicians, dancers, and arts professionals

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Romani and Travellers in the VWML

  • Significant holdings of songs collected from Romani and Traveller people from the 1800s into the 2000s, including:
  • Recordings, ranging from wax cylinders to commercial productions
  • Original and copies of manuscripts from Cecil Sharp and other collectors in the first folk revival.
  • Books, including out of print and rare publications
  • Photographs
  • Split across library and archive holdings

�However, many holdings are not easily searchable and often overlooked

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Priscilla Cooper, photographed by Cecil Sharp in 1907

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  • ‘….(we met) Betsy Holland, aged 26, … (who) began a murder song that was just fascinating. Talk of folk-singing! It was the finest and most characteristic bit of singing I had ever heard. Fiendishly difficult to take down, both words and music, but we eventually managed it! I cannot give you any idea what it was all like, but it was one of the most wonderful adventures I have ever had.’

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  • Cecil Sharp letter to Constance Sharp, 12 August 1907 (VWML, CJS1/12/18/10/61)

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Why is ethnicity not recorded?

  • The VWML developed primarily as a library rather than an archive.�
  • Archive accessions treated like library materials – indexed for song and dance tunes, but no further traditional archival categories.�
  • The Full English – name and place authority files added, but not a subject thesaurus.�
  • Prior knowledge needed to find Romani and Traveller singers.�
  • We as library and archive professionals remain gatekeepers

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The ‘Singers and Songs’ resource

  • Funded by the University of East Anglia through an AHRC Impact Acceleration scheme.�
  • Aim to make it easier for Romani and Traveller people to find material about their relatives and contributions of these groups to folk music in England. �
  • An open recruitment process for someone with lived or other significant experience of Romani and/or Traveller culture. �
    • Careful to not break rules around recruitment based on ethnicity
    • Where to advertise?
    • What is a reasonable payment?
    • Wanted significant freedom for the person recruited to decide the structure and focus of the resource.

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Singers and Songs: work group

  • Commissioned Romani poet Dr Jo Clement (Northumbria University) to create the resource, supported by the library and academic team. �
  • Jo and the team were given input by a small focus group made up of Romani and Irish Traveller people with a personal interest in music and the project.�
  • After publication we worked with a Traveller-led arts and crafts fair in Norfolk to present the project to new people, from a range of backgrounds.

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Beyond Singers and Songs

  • A peer-reviewed article for Music and Minorities

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  • An article for The Conversation in relation to Gypsy, Roma and Traveller History Month.
  • An inventory Romani or Traveller singers named in the VWML archive catalogue (Funded by University of Sheffield).
  • Film screening and stage conversations with Irish Traveller singer Thomas McCarthy in Norwich.
  • Working with Romani film maker Lisa Smith

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A Basket full of Eggs (Patrin Films 2025)

A short film by Romani filmmaker Lisa Smith. Follows the Romani singer and activist Minty Smith’s great granddaughter Liza Mortimer on a journey to the VWML to explore how singers from her family have had an impact on folk music in England.

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https://www.rcm.ac.uk/events/details/?id=3682837

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Further screenings

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Thank you for listening!

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