Almost Home The Capital Campaign for the New Irish Arts Center
By Memory Inspired: Mick Moloney's Songbook | "The Life of the Rover" ("The Thirty Foot Trailer")
Mick plumbs the history and context of a 1960s song depicting the plight of Travellers across England, and performs a rendition with special guests Lucy Johnston, Brenda Castles, and Haley Richardson. Note: Folk musician Ewan MacColl wrote "The Forty Foot Trailer," with Peggy Seeger more than 50 years ago as part of a series of radio ballads, after having spent some time with Traveller communities across England. It romanticizes the lives and culture of this historically marginalized people. Today, the name "tinker," which is also used in the song, is understood as both a profession but can also be understood as a slur in contemporary society.