Home is the Heart (10 page)

Will took the steps two at a time up the outside stairs to the landing. Before he could reach out to open the door, it burst open, and there was Brock standing just inside. He had a smile on his face a mile wide. Will stepped into the warmth of the kitchen and carefully closed the door behind him. An instant later he had his arms wrapped around his lover.

Up on tip-toe, Brock took his face in his hands, and Will turned to place a kiss into his palm.

“
A ghrá mo chroí
,” Brock breathed, his breath warm and fragrant against Will’s cold skin.

Ah yes, here was his heart’s beloved. Will slipped his hands into Brock’s curls and kissed his smiling lips. Brock rested his slim-fingered right hand over Will’s heart.

Here in his arms was home.

Author’s Notes

Many a book has been written about the Traveller-Gypsies of Ireland, but even after reading a whole slew of them, I have to say I am sure I have barely scratched the surface. Still, I was able to gain some very interesting insight into the culture of this unique group of people. Here are a few of the salient points about the Traveller lifestyle (back when wooden waggons were used) that readers might find useful. Of course, I won’t swear I got it all right… all errors are mine and mine alone.

Sex and marriage
: The stereotype of the gypsy male as an exotic seducer is just that, a stereotype, perhaps rooted in fact, but not necessarily true. On the other hand, the idea of a gypsy woman being sexually arousing isn’t far from the truth, but she is also considered untouchable. Traveller women are expected to remain virgins prior to marrying. Therefore, to Travellers, marriage is extremely important. Children are highly valued, and a young couple is expected to produce a child within twelve to eighteen months of marriage. Fidelity and monogamy are the ideals. A marriage between a gypsy and a gorgio is not unheard of. However, if the outsider is to survive in the gypsy world, he or she must turn away from their origins and totally embrace gypsy ways.

Cleanliness, inside versus out
: The idea of cleanliness is fairly convoluted in the Traveller world. All waste water from body washing must be thrown away. It is kept well away from water for dishes and laundry. Clothes washing, and defecating and urinating, is done outside. No waste bin is kept inside a waggon. All cooking is done outside. Nothing cooked is saved, so no leftovers. Tidiness inside a waggon is extremely important. External tidiness is not. This is part of the reason many landowners do not want gypsies on their land. Also of note, birth and death take place on the edge of camp. Hospitals are where a gypsy goes to die. Possessions of the dead are burned. Children, not dead relatives or ancestors, are the focus of continuity.

Language
: Most gypsies adopt the language and names of the region where they do their travelling. In the past, Travellers of Ireland used a version of Gaelic called
Shelta
. Many gypsies with Roma backgrounds spoke the language often called
Romani
or
Romanes
. I chose to go with good old
Irish Gaelic
for the endearments in this story; so sue me. By the early 1900s, the use of
Gaelic
was on the wane in the United Kingdom. Similarly,
Shelta
is becoming less common in Traveller communities.

Homosexuality
: I found not one word about homo-sexuality in any book I read about Traveller-Gypsies. Thus, all ideas about it are my own extrapolation from things I gleaned about sex, sexual taboos, marriage, and childrearing among these people during the early 1900s. Looking at more recent material, it is fairly apparent that homosexuality is not condoned within the Traveller community as it is incompatible with long-held ideas of marriage and children. With kinship, mutual aid, and protection being paramount, and, as all decisions are a group concern, banishment is the ultimate punishment. One who is banished is considered to be dead, and his or her name is rarely, perhaps never, mentioned.

To learn more, I suggest these books:

Gypsies
by Thomas Acton

A Traveller’s History of Ireland
by Peter Neville

The Traveller-Gypsies
by Judith Okely

People of the Road, The Irish Travellers
by Matthias Oppensdorff

Also:

Selected Poems: “Roghá Danta” by Nuala Ni Dhomhnaill

—JM Gryffyn

Glossary

a chuisle mo chroí
(Irish Gaelic)—pulse of my heart

a dheartháir
(Irish Gaelic)—my brother (used when calling out to someone)

a ghrá
(Irish Gaelic)—my love

a ghrá mo chroí
(Irish Gaelic)—love of my heart, my heart’s beloved

auld
(Irish Gaelic)—also
ould
; old

bréa
(Irish Gaelic)—excellent, fine

Brüderlein
(German)—little brother

céadsearc
—first love

céilí
(Irish Gaelic)—a celebration of music and dancing

chal
(Romani)—man or fellow

codladh sámh
(Irish Gaelic)—sleep well

deartháir
(Irish Gaelic)—brother, actual sibling (as opposed to
braitháir
,
used for a religous brother)

gut
(German)—good

gorgio
(Romani)—also
gajes
; non-gypsy, outsider, stranger

kris
(Romani)—council of leaders, elders

loí le grá
(Irish Gaelic)—to be love sick

m’anamchara
(Irish Gaelic)—my soul mate

mo chroí
(Irish Gaelic)—also *
a chroí
; my heart

mo chuisle
(Irish Gaelic)—also *
a chuisle
; my pulse, my heartbeat

mo ghrá-sa
(Irish Gaelic)—also *
a ghrá-sa
; my own love

mo leannán
(Irish Gaelic)—also *
a leannán
; my love or my lover

mo roghá
(Irish Gaelic)—my favorite

mochadi
(Romani)—unclean, ritually impure

muirnin
(Irish Gaelic)—sweetheart

ó m’anam
(Irish Gaelic)—from my heart

Tinker
(Irish/Scottish)—perjorative term for gypsy

Traveller
(Irish/Scottish)—term for gypsy

*
a
is used when speaking directly to a person,
mo
is used when speaking about them

About the Author

A die-hard romantic,
JM G
RYFFYN
fell in love with words when she read Ray Bradbury’s
All Summer in a Day
at age twelve. After that, her goal was to write her own stories about people who don’t quite fit into the world at large. She believes in love at first sight but is quick to admit love forever is tougher to achieve. Still, she refuses to give up hope—and so she writes about just that. She lives in Texas with her two Australian Cattle Dogs, whom she spoils almost as much as she did her two amazing daughters back when they were little kids. JM wants to go on record thanking all the folks who encouraged her during her years as a fan writer. She is absolutely thrilled to join the Dreamspinner family.

Visit her LiveJournal at

http://jm-gryffyn.livejournal.com/
.

Also from
D
REAMSPINNER
P
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Copyright

Home Is the Heart ©Copyright JM Gryffyn, 2012

Published by

Dreamspinner Press

382 NE 191st Street #88329

Miami, FL 33179-3899, USA

http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the authors’ imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Cover Art by Catt Ford

This book is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication or distribution via any means is illegal and a violation of International Copyright Law, subject to criminal prosecution and upon conviction, fines, and/or imprisonment. This eBook cannot be legally loaned or given to others. No part of this eBook can be shared or reproduced without the express permission of the Publisher. To request permission and all other inquiries, contact Dreamspinner Press at: 382 NE 191st Street #88329, Miami, FL 33179-3899, USA
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Released in the United States of America
February 2012

eBook Edition
eBook ISBN: 978-1-61372-374-6