On the Cobbles: The Life of a Bare-Knuckle Gypsy Warrior

by Jimmy Stockin, Martin King, Martin Knight

This is the story of a gypsy man, Jimmy Stockin, born into a world where fighting is first nature. While football may be the chosen sport for most Britisn males, bare-knuckle fighting is a passion among gypsies both as participants and spectators. Jimmy was born into a fighting family. His father and grandfather before him both "trod the cobbles," and young Jimmy was being put up against other boys on gypsy camps from the age of five. He took on bare-knuckle challenges from wherever they came, and before long Jimmy was widely recognized as the champion of the bare-knuckle fighters. On the Cobbles is a rare insight into a community under threat, a community that treasures tradition, and a man who had little choice in becoming a fighter but was nevertheless determined to be the best.

208 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2000

Reviews

[Jovan Autonomašević · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. The autobiography of an illiterate English Romany in the latter half of the last century and the beginning of this.
The book describes first-hand the carefree, reckless, and often violent life of this little-understood, but widely despised community. The author, like his brother and father, was a champion bare-knuckle fighter, and relates some legendary bouts, often lasting well over an hour - or even two, until one of the combatants says he has had enough. Romanies have a fearsome reputation for fist-fighting, and after reading this book, I can well understand why.
But the book also allows a glimpse into the reality of life of this closed community, based around the South-East of England, but with many a trip up to the Midlands and the North. The community's life revolves around the various Romany get-togethers, which in turn are dependent on the horse-racing calendar.
It also describes the demise of the English Romany: after centuries of roaming the land in small family groups, increased repression by the police in the 1960s caused them to band together into larger groups. This in turn meant larger facilities were needed for their temporary accommodation, which only further aggravated relations with the local authorities. The solution envisaged by the authorities was to force them to settle in council houses. And as the author relates, the war has largely been lost, and the English Romany has largely disappeared from the landscape described so vividly in Lavengro. All that remains of the Romany language is a spattering of slang words interwoven into the English that has become their tongue after centuries of persecution in this country. The book concludes with a speech delivered by the president of the National Romany Rights Association in 1994, who states among other things:
"Certain segments of society have always from time to time had Draconian laws aimed at them, resulting in bloodshed, misery, and torment: witches, heretics and Jews spring readily to mind. [...] The Gypsies stand alone, unique as the only segment of society whereby such laws have not been repealed [...] As the law stands, you do not want him to settle (at least where he wants to be) and you do not want him to travel. What do you want? The answer is inescapable: you do not want Gypsies anywhere, at any costs".
As John Farebrother wrote: "Romanies have been walking a tightrope between assimilation and extermination for centuries". A sad loss. Opre Rromale!

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not a book I would have picked myself, but it was given to me by a friend to read. It turned out to be a fascinating insight into a world very few are familiar with, one where bare knuckle fighting is a way of life, mainly it seems as a way of settling disputes amongst men, and where there's a rather more liberal attitude to what's right and what's wrong than most of us have. But it also conveys a clearly felt, and I think justified, sense of injustice at how gypsies have been treated by those in power.

[suzanna lifton · Rating 5 out of 5]

True things on the cobbles.by Jimmy stockings

I no most of this in this book .very good read.places in this book are true.read about wot I grow up with.

[Tom Webster Webster · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really good insight into a normally secretive world