The Kale (also Kalé, Kalá, Valshanange; ) are a

Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnic groups * Romani people, or Roma, an ethnic group of Indo-Aryan origin ** Romani language, an Indo-Aryan macrolanguage of the Romani communities ** Romanichal, Romani subgroup in the United Kingdom * Romanians (Romanian ...

subgroup predominantly found in northwestern

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, specifically in the Welsh-speaking areas. Roma have been present in Wales since the 16th century. The Kale were traditionally renowned musicians, and are reported to have introduced the

fiddle A fiddle is a Bow (music), bowed String instrument, string musical instrument, most often a violin or a bass. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including European classical music, classical music. Althou ...

to Wales. They were also known for their distinctive styles of clothing, dance, poetry and storytelling. The Kale are closely related to the

Romanichal The Romanichal ( ; more commonly known as English Gypsies) are a Romani people, Romani subgroup in the United Kingdom. Many Romanichal speak Angloromani, a mixed language that blends Romani language, Romani vocabulary with English syntax. Roma ...

Romanisael The Romanisael (more commonly known as Swedish Roma and Norwegian Roma or Swedish Taters and Norwegian Taters; ; ; ), are a Romani subgroup who have been resident in Sweden and Norway for some 500 years. The estimated number of Romanisael in Sw ...

, Kaale and Scottish Lowland Roma. They are considered part of the Gypsy (Romani), Roma and Traveller (GRT) community. Romanichal are present in South Wales (in and around Cardiff, Swansea and Newport) and North East Wales (in and around Wrexham as well as in parts of Wales close to Liverpool and Chester). The Romani people can trace their origins to

South Asia South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...

, likely in the regions of present-day

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

and

Sindh Sindh ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind (caliphal province), Sind or Scinde) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, southeastern region of the country, Sindh is t ...

.Hübschmannová, Milena (1995). "Romaňi čhib – romština: Několik základních informací o romském jazyku". ''Bulletin Muzea Romské Kultury'' (April 1995). Romská lexika je bližší hindštině, marvárštině, pandžábštině atd., v gramatické sféře nacházíme mnoho shod s východoindickým jazykem, s bengálštinou. he Romani lexicon is closer to Hindi, Marwari, Punjabi, etc., in the grammatical sphere we find many similarities with the East Indian language, with Bengali./ref>

Language

The Kale spoke the traditional Welsh Romani language (''Kalá'') until at least the 1950s, when the language became a

mixed language A mixed language, also referred to as a hybrid language or fusion language, is a type of contact language that arises among a bilingual group combining aspects of two or more languages but not clearly deriving primarily from any single language. ...

. The traditional language was primarily composed of

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

words, but among others also had

Iranian Iranian () may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Iran ** Iranian diaspora, Iranians living outside Iran ** Iranian architecture, architecture of Iran and parts of the rest of West Asia ** Iranian cuisine, cooking traditions and practic ...

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

and French influences. Kalá is a variety of the

Romani language Romani ( ; also Romanes , Romany, Roma; ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan macrolanguage of the Romani people. The largest of these are Vlax Romani language, Vlax Romani (about 500,000 speakers), Balkan Romani (600,000), and Sinte Roma ...

closely related to

Angloromani Angloromani or Anglo-Romani (literally "English Romani"; also known as Angloromany, Rummaness, or ) is a Para-Romani dialect spoken by the Romanichal, a subgroup of the Romani people in the United Kingdom and other parts of the English-speaking w ...

Scottish Cant Scottish Cant, Scots Romani, Scotch Romani or the Scottish Romani language is a cant and variety of the Romani language spoken by Scottish Lowland Romani, who primarily live in the Scottish Lowlands.Kirk, J. & Ó Baoill, D. ''Travellers and th ...

, Kàlo and

Scandoromani Scandoromani is a Para-Romani dialect spoken by the Romanisæl, a subgroup of the Romani people in Norway (c. 100–150 elderly Scandoromani speakers), and Sweden. Subforms are referred to as: * The Norwegian Romani language or Traveller Norw ...

. Originally the Kalá and

variants constituted a common Romani dialect.Bakker (1997) Review of McGowan, ''The Winchester Confessions'', ''Journal of the Gypsy Lore Society'', Fifth series 7(1): 49-50.

Culture

Kale traditionally participated in regional and national eisteddfodau. John Robert Lewis, the husband of Abram Wood's granddaughter, would win prizes for harping in 1842, 1848, and 1850. Another descendant, (1816–1894), earned the sobriquet "Telynor Cymru", and taught his whole family various instruments. His illustrious career culminated in a performance before

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

at Palé Hall in

Llandderfel Llandderfel is a village and a sparsely populated community in Gwynedd, Wales, near Bala, formerly served by the Llandderfel railway station. The community also includes the settlements of Glan-yr-afon, Llanfor, Cefnddwysarn and Frongoch. ...

near Bala on 24 August 1889, on the occasion of the Royal Visit to Wales. John Roberts played with his nine sons, all of them on the harp. The Kale often adopted Welsh surnames. Traditionally, the Kale were

nomadic Nomads are communities without fixed habitation who regularly move to and from areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the population of nomadic pa ...

, living in wagons and tents. Each tribe was headed by a ''sero rom.'' Many Kale claim to be descendants of Abram Wood, who settled in Wales in the early 18th century.

Notes

References

*''The Welsh Gypsies: Children of Abram Wood'', Eldra Jarman, A. O. H. Jarman,

University of Wales Press The University of Wales Press () was founded in 1922 as a central service of the University of Wales. The press publishes academic journals and around seventy books a year in the English and Welsh languages on six general subjects: history, poli ...

, 2011, *

External links

Romani Cymru Project (Wales UK) - Archival Research initiative about Welsh Gypsy Culture
{{Romani diaspora Ethnic groups in Wales Romani groups Romani in Wales Welsh Romani people

Language

Culture

See also

Notes

References

External links