The Setting of Our Faire
The History of Kumpania Wispersteppe
Cultural & Historical Information on the Roma (Gypsies)
Our Scene
For those of you unfamiliar with Scarborough Faire, it is set in the Year of Our Lord 1533, in the bustling northern English port
town of Scarborough. Henry VIII is King of England, and has just wed his lovely second bride, Anne Boleyn, the new Queen of England.
This being 1533, Gypsies have only been in England for fifty years at most, and thus we are still something of a novelty. Speculation, wonder and fear follow us wherever we go. Laws have already been passed making it illegal for us to enter the country and we have suffered much pain and prejudice in our time here, but this is still a more or less a prosperous time for us, unlike the dark days of persecution that lie ahead.
Our Players
For centuries our Kumpania (tribe) lived in Russia, traveling a circuit around the region surrounding Moscow. Despite turmoil there we made a good life for ourselves, and even hobnobbed with the Czar, Vasily III.
When we received an invitation from our cousin Anatasha Wispersteppe in faraway England to come and join her clan in traveling its profitable countryside, we were reluctant to leave. But destiny was pulling us here, and after two long years of travel across Europe and many misadventures, we arrived in September of 1529. Soon we were reunited with our long-lost family, and together formed the Kumpania of today.
In the spring of 1533, we have been in England only four years, but have adapted well, learning the strange English tongue, how to appear convincingly Catholic and other necessities of survival. Our "royal clan", the Vitsa of the Fiery Dawn, travels the north of England, while the other clans of our Kumpania travel other parts of England, Wales and Ireland.
Despite being an often feared and hated minority alone in a strange land, we make a very good living for ourselves, and it is at Scarborough's Spring Faire that we are all reunited for a short time, to share our company, news and vodka. It is here that we may let down our collective guard for a while and enjoy truly enjoy ourselves. And what a joyous time it is!
(For a complete history of our tribe, click on the link below).
