Born on a Somerset pea-field in 1941 the second of eight children in a Romani family Maggie Smith-Bendell has lived through the years of greatest change in the travelling communitys long history. As a child Maggie rode & slept in a horse-drawn wagon picked hops & flowers & sat beside her fathers campfire on ancient verges poor but free to roam. As the twentieth century progressed common land was fenced off & the traditional ways disappeared. Eventually Maggie married a house-dweller & tried to settle for bricks & mortar but she never lost the restless spirit the deep love of the land & the gift for storytelling that were her Romani inheritance. Maggies story is one of hardship & prejudice but also unforgettably it recalls the glories of the travelling life in the absolute safety of a loyal & loving family.