![]() ![]() When she was 15, her parents arranged for her to marry a boy from their village not far from the Savannah River. She left school in the eighth grade, as is the fate of most Traveler girls. ![]() They don't understand the traditions that have kept the culture intact. Outsiders don't understand the Travelers' language or their ways, Sherlock says. The older folks among them still speak a Gaelic-derived language called Cant that is unique to the Travelers' culture. We stay to ourselves."ĭescendants of nomadic Irish traders and tinsmiths known as the Tinkers who immigrated to the United States 150 years ago, the Irish Travelers have protected their archaic culture by keeping the outside world at bay. In the fast, clipped Deep South brogue that distinguishes her speech, she continues: "We're a close-knit society. She's talking to a reporter only because a trusted friend has come along. "We're like any other community, and in any other neighborhood there's good and bad," Sherlock says, her arched eyebrows raised high as if she's speaking a gospel truth. Glossy porcelain statues of Jesus, of the Madonna, stand watch from side tables as Sherlock, 46, is saying her culture isn't nearly as peculiar or lawless as some folks say. Suddenly, the Travelers felt their culture was on trial.Ī cocker spaniel named Spot scampers around the paneled sitting room inside Sherlock's trailer. ![]() Secrecy has ensured their survival for many years.īut that all changed last month with the rogue act of an Irish Traveler woman caught on videotape beating her child. Irish Travelers such as Sherlock are supposed to keep to themselves. She's breaking a long-standing taboo just by talking to a stranger. In a puzzling little community of trailer homes, Cadillacs, mini-mansions and kissing cousins, Rose Kathy Sherlock opens the front door of her double-wide. ![]()
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