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Thirty​-​Foot Trailer

from Freeborn Man by Ewan MacColl & Peggy Seeger

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about

When I first came to England, you could see Gypsies and Travellers camped on the sides of most of the main roads around London. You saw them in the countryside, in lay-bys, copses and fields and on ‘waste’ ground in the cities and towns. Many of these sites were traditional way-stations upon which their ancestors had stopped since time immemorial. In the late 1950s, many local English, Scottish and Welsh councils passed laws which were then implemented by routine evictions. Gorgios have always had an irrational fear (and an understandable envy?) of Gypsies and Travellers, so little was done to stop these actions, many of which were callous and brutal. Lives were lost, people were hospitalised, horses and dogs were injured, caravans were irreparably damaged, communities were broken up and the “reclaimed” land itself was planted out in trees or covered with piles of gravel. Roads were widened, thus removing the lay-bys and verges. The slow-moving horse-and-caravan is a hazard on Britain’s fast-moving roads, many of which legally forbid such conveyances. The traditional crafts of basket-making, tinsmithing and horse-coping have given way to hawking, dealing in scrap and rags and breaking up cars. There is still massive prejudice and discrimination against itinerants of any kind. Contradictions abound: for instance, the Department of Education decreed that Traveller children should go to school - but the judicial system often makes sure that they can stay no more than twenty-four hours in one place without official permission! Many have now been moved onto official permanent camps provided with running water, electricity and garbage removal services. The bulk of these sites are bleak places where caravans stand on tarmac or concrete and are often surrounded by high chain-link fencing topped with barbed wire. The freedom to come and go at will, that characterised the Gypsy and the Traveller, has virtually disappeared.


alternative title: “Goodbye to the Thirty-Foot Trailer”, “Song of Change”
words and music: Ewan MacColl

lyrics

The old ways are changing, you cannot deny,
The day of the traveller is over;
There's nowhere to go and there's nowhere to bide,
So farewell to the life of the rover.

Chorus:
Farewell to the tent and the old caravan,
To the tinker, the Gypsy, the travelling man
And farewell to the thirty-foot trailer.

Farewell to the cant and the travelling tongue,
Farewell to the Romany talking,
The buying and selling, the old fortune telling,
The knock on the door and the hawking. (Chorus)

You've got to move fast to keep up with the times
For these days a man cannot dander;
It's a bylaw to say you must be on your way
And another to say you can't wander. (Chorus)

Farewell to the besoms of heather and broom,
Farewell to the creel and the basket,
For the folks of today they would far sooner pay
For a thing that's been made out of plastic. (Chorus)

Farewell to the pony, the cob, and the mare
Where the reins and the harness are idle;
You don't need a strap when you're breaking up scrap
So farewell to the bit and the bridle. (Chorus)

Farewell to the fields where we've sweated and toiled
At pulling and shoving and lifting,
They'll soon have machines and the travelling queens
And their menfolk had better be shifting. (Chorus)

credits

from Freeborn Man, released September 20, 1983
Ewan MacColl - vocals
Peggy Seeger - concertina, backing vocals
Neill MacColl - mandolin
Calum MacColl - whistle
Kirsty MacColl - backing vocals

Produced by Neill MacColl
Engineered by Nick Godwin
Recorded at Pathway Studios, London

license

all rights reserved

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Ewan MacColl London, UK

This site is maintained by the MacColl family, aiming to make Ewan's catalogue available to download.
Ewan MacColl is known to most as a songwriter and singer, but he was also of significant influence in the worlds of theatre and radio broadcasting. His art reached huge numbers through the folk clubs, greater numbers through his recordings and untold millions through the radio. ... more

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