SMGC - Scott Macfie Gypsy Collections - 1888-1973
The Scott Macfie Gypsy Collections comprise the personal collections of Robert Andrew Scott Macfie, and many other members of the Gypsy Lore Society, bequeathed to the Society, and other material gathered for the purpose of publication in the JGLS. The printed materials (books, pamphlets, and period...
| Archive level description: | Sub-sub fonds |
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| Physical Description: | 52 boxes; 3 volumes; 3 oversize folders |
| Summary: | The Scott Macfie Gypsy Collections comprise the personal collections of Robert Andrew Scott Macfie, and many other members of the Gypsy Lore Society, bequeathed to the Society, and other material gathered for the purpose of publication in the JGLS. The printed materials (books, pamphlets, and periodicals) and audio-visual materials (gramophone records, video recordings, CDs and DVDs) are catalogued separately as Scott Macfie A-H in the Library catalogue. The group Audio-visual material consists primarily of sound recordings in various formats. This includes sound discs, sound cassettes and sound tape reels. Most of this material consists of Gypsy music from Britain, Spain, and Eastern Europe, and there are also a number of items relating to the Romani language. |
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| Date: | 1888-1973 |
| Reference Number: | SMGC |
| Access Conditions: | There are no access restrictions on this collection |
| Arrangement: | Scott Macfie book collections are described in the online Library catalogue, including records for audio-visual material (Scott Macfie G2) |
| Custodial History: | The Scott Macfie Gypsy Collection was donated to the Honorary Secretary of the Gypsy Lore Society, Dr Dora Yates, on the death of Scott Macfie in 1935, by his sister and executrix Marion Sheila Scott Macfie. Dora Yates in turn presented the Collection to the University of Liverpool Library on the 4th November 1935 "to be kept intact for all time as a reference library for gypsy students throughout the world". The collection also contains much material collected by other members of the Gypsy Lore Society. |
| Related Material: | Records for the Scott Macfie book collection, incorporating the libraries of several Gypsy Lore Society members, may be found in the catalogue of Liverpool University Library and the records can be searched as a group under the local call number SPEC Scott Macfie. |
| Access Restrictions: | Most of the Press cuttings volumes at SMGC 5 have been microfilmed to preserve the fragile originals, and readers requesting this material will be routinely asked to use the microfilms. |
| Biographical/Administrative Information: | Robert Andrew Scott Macfie (1868-1935) was Honorary Secretary of the Gypsy Lore Society 1907-1914, and editor of the Journal of the Gypsy Lore Society 1907-1914 and 1933-1935. He was educated at Cambridge, Edinburgh and Göttingen Universities before joining Messrs. Macfie and Sons sugar refining business, which his family had owned and operated in Liverpool since 1838. Macfie spent a short while abroad when serving in the Army but returned to Liverpool to become one of the first members of the distinguished University Club. Macfie's association with the Club brought him into contact with the group of brilliant scholars who were at the time building up the University College, a number of whom were also keen Gypsiologists. In 1907 John Sampson and David MacRitchie persuaded Macfie to revive the Gypsy Lore Society. For the next 30 years Macfie was the inspiration for the Society and acted as Secretary and editor for many years. He became one of England's leading authorities on Gypsies and their language, recording vast quantities of dialect, folk tales and songs from various bands of Gypsies in Britain, including the Lovari (or 'German') Gypsies who visited England in 1906 and the 'Coppersmith Gypsies' who came into the country in 1912. In the summer of 1913 Macfie travelled through Bulgaria in the company of a band of gypsy horse-dealers and subsequently wrote a lively account of this adventure for the Gypsy Lore Society entitled "With Gypsies in Bulgaria". During the First World War, Scott Macfie joined the Liverpool Scottish Regiment as Quartermaster-Sergeant, serving in the trenches as a member of the British Expeditionary Force, and was awarded the Military Medal. After his return from the war, ill-health forced Macfie to retire to the Yorkshire Dales and in June 1935 he died. On his death Macfie's library was bequeathed to the Gypsy Lore Society and was presented to the University of Liverpool. |