Tinkers Heart

Acrylic on board, Dimensions unknown, Private Collection

“Travellers” are Romanichals in the British Isles who live in traditional modes of transport, such as caravans or trailers. Sometimes these caravans are stationary. This painting depicts a woman reading another's palm at Tinkers Heart, a Scottish Traveller monument consisting of 26 quartz stones. There is a tradition within the Travelling community that it was constructed as a memorial to the local tinkers who joined the Jacobite Rising of 1745, making it the Highlands’ only physical monument to the tinker community. In 2015, after advocacy by the Scottish Traveller community, it was added to Scotland’s Schedule of Monuments as a nationally important site. Visitors continue to place coins next to its central stone. In the distance, you can see Loch Fyne.