Her father’s Parish was in the very heart of the plum picking district and Ula had known and talked to the gypsies ever since she was a small child.
It was typical that Daniel Forde should befriend the people who were scorned or feared by the rest of the community.
Those who did not accuse the gypsies of thieving were afraid that they would cast an ‘evil eye’ on them or perhaps steal their children.
Ula’s father had laughed at their fears.
“They are people without a land and yet are a part of the English countryside. I have always found them completely honest except with regard to the wild animals and birds which they think God created for every man.”
However, few people listened to him and the local landowners refused to have the gypsies on their estates although they used them not o
