[genefromjersey]

From what I know, they are a curious people: descendants of the Tinker "Freeborn Men", who travelled Ireland in caravans: stealing, telling fortunes, etc. - much like their "true Gypsy" ( Romany ) counterparts.

They are typically a fair skinned, light-haired , round-headed Celtic people, who practice a variation of Catholicism - it includes more than a little of the ancient Goddess worship of the British Isles.

They tend to settle in clusters: setting up their own communities as much as possible. On cluster is is South Carolina; others in Texas and other midwest states.

Their specialty is theft: by deception, when possible; by more direct means when necessary. They sometimes use force. It is fairly common for a team to approach senior citizens and distract whoever answers the door, while other members of the team slip inside and steal whatever they can.

I was surprised to see the woman beat up on her daughter like that: daughters are usually treated with great "honor", taught how to please men at an early age, and more-or-less auctioned off to the highest (Traveler ) bidder. Bride prices are extremely high, and marriage occurs at the verge of puberty : all ideas we find apalling, but they take for granted.

I would guess the mother is an addict.It's the only reason I can see for risking the child's future value as a bride.

[Conservababe]

From what I have learned so far in research is that the Travellers who have become settled instead of nomadic (the settled men still travel for work or scams much of the year) became concerned that the daughters would marry "country men", those outside of the clan, bacause of close proximity. So, they began to encourage engagements between very young members of the clan. The custom is that the future groom works for the father of the future bride for some time to show his worth. So, at the time of the wedding, the family of the bride gives monetary gifts to make up for the loss of the son's contributions to his family's loss of income.

I have no idea if any of this is true, but it is interesting.