Page "Jumping the broom" Paragraph 5

According to scholar Alan Dundes, who wrote extensively on the topic, the custom originated among Romani Gypsies in Wales ( Welsh Kale Gypsies ) and England ( English Romanichal Gypsies ).

Scholar C. W.

Sullivan III, however, argued that the custom originated among the Welsh people themselves, since the custom was known in Wales prior to the 1700s when he believed Gypsies arrived there.

Historical records, however, show that Gypsies actually arrived in Wales earlier, in 1579.

A more serious problem with Sullivan ’ s claim is the complete lack of evidence that the custom even existed in Wales in the eighteenth century.

His source, the Welsh folklorist Gwenith Gwynn, assumed that the custom had once existed on the basis of conversations with elderly Welsh people during the 1920s, none of whom had ever seen such a practice.

One had claimed that: “ It must have disappeared before I was born, and I am seventy-three ”.

Others had heard of the practice, but all were unclear on the details, their evidence being peppered with phrases such as “ it must have ” and “ I should think ”.

Gwynn ’ s dating of the custom to the eighteenth century rested on the assumption that it must have disappeared before these elderly interviewees were born, and on his misreading of the baptism register of the parish of Llansanffraid Glyn Ceiriog.