Atching Tan Song (II), The

DESCRIPTION: Travellers arrive at a likely camping spot; a policeman arrives and tells them to move on. Although it's the middle of the night, they do
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1962 or 1966 (collected from Caroline Hughes)
KEYWORDS: hardheartedness travel police Gypsy migrant
FOUND IN: Britain(England)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
MacColl/Seeger-TravellersSongsFromEnglandAndScotland 130, "The Atching Tan Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #1732
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Atching Tan Song (I)"
NOTES [79 words]: This shares some lyrics (references to "tent-rods, ridge-poles, and kittles") in the first verse with "The Atching Tan Song (I)" [causing Roud to lump them - RBW], but they seem otherwise separate.
An "atching tan" was a stopping place; it was common practice for Travellers to camp in an unauthorized place, then let their horses into a farmer's field after dark with the intention of retrieving them before dawn. Often as not, they were caught and the horses impounded. - PJS
Last updated in version 5.0
File: McCST130

Go to the Ballad Search form
Go to the Ballad Index Song List

Go to the Ballad Index Instructions
Go to the Ballad Index Bibliography or Discography