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.