I’m a traveller & yes we ate hedgehogs – now we eat Miller and Carter, my grandparents would be turning in their graves
A TRAVELLER woman has revealed exactly how the community has changed in the last half a century.
Tracey King, 50, from Medway, took to social media to share all – including why they used to eat hedgehogs.
In the clip, she replied to a question asking: “Do gypsies really eat hedgehogs?“
And Tracey revealed they did in fact do it.
She said: ” You’re going back 50 years there. Today we prefer Miller and Carter and all the restaurants we can go to.
“We ain’t no 1930s and forties.
“You know, they ate hedgehogs ’cause they caught what was on the land.
“So they couldn’t catch rabbit, pheasant, deer, whatever, sheep, whatever’s running about.”
But Tracey didn’t do this even if her grandparents did.
“Can you imagine getting the spines off of a flipping hedgehog?” she added.
“But no, we don’t eat hedgehogs. They used to eat hedgehogs back in my grandparents day.”
The mum of four added that she doesn’t think her grandparents would be happy seeing how the community acts today.
” If they came alive today and see how folk act today, I wouldn’t want to be there with them,” she joked.
But it’s not the only thing that has changed within the community.
Tracey said back in the day partners weren’t allowed to kiss or hold hands in public.
We was brought up to worry about what the next person thought about us.
Tracey King
She even claimed that they were not able to share a bedroom in their own home.
Differences between a gypsy and a traveller
Typically, Gypsies is a term used to describe Romani people, who migrated to Europe from India.
Meanwhile, traveller refers to a group of people who usually have either Irish, Scottish or English heritage.
While many English gypsy girls are allowed to drink alcohol and go on holiday with their friends before they get married, many Irish traveller girls are not allowed to do this.
Generally, both gypsies and travellers will share the same morals.
Even as an adult, she said you would never smoke in front of your parent’s either as morals and respect were big in the community.
“We was brought up to worry about what the next person thought about us,” she said, claiming it’s not as much of a big deal now.
The clip posted to her TikTok account @traceywinter1 and people were quick to share their thoughts and experiences in the comments.
One person wrote: “
Used to bake them in clay and when the clay was taken of the spines came with it.”
Another commented: “My granddad used to do this.”
“Yeah they wrapped them in clay and baked them on the fire, then when they pulled the clay off the spines came off, my Nan and granddad did it, personally yuck,” penned a third.
Meanwhile a fourth said: “My mum ate hedgehog , rabbits, squirrels the lot.”
“Both Irish travellers and gypsy used to live off the land I see a lot of people laugh but they had to survive some by,” claimed a fifth.
Someone else added: “My grandfather loved hedgehog.”
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