These are the timeless memoirs of traveller Betsy Whyte, offering a poignant insight into a largely vanished way of life. It is an inspiring tale of strength, tradition and community, often against great hardship and intolerance.
The Yellow on the Broom is the fi rst part of Betsy Whyte's autobiography. Not only is it a fascinating insight into the life and customs of traveller people in the 1920s and 1930s, it is also a thought-provoking account of human strength and weakness, courage and cowardice, understanding and prejudice by a sensitive and entertaining writer.
Betsy Whyte was born into a traveller family in 1919 and brought up in the age-old tradition of the 'mist people'--constantly moving around the country and settling down in one place only during the winter. It was while the family were 'housed up' at this time of year that she received her education, attending a number of village schools before winning a scholarship to Brechin High school, where she was the only traveller child. She gave up the traveller life when she married in 1939 and started writing about her childhood in the 1970s.