A GYPSY girl has revealed the real reason why travellers often have fancy plates on display in their homes.
Heidi McDonagh Clee, an Irish traveller and mum-of-two, shared that she has Crown Derby in her kitchen, but it’s not just for looks.
According to this mother, these china plates, bowls and ornaments are actually intended to be gifted to her daughter as a future wedding present.
Heidi claimed that such sets are often passed down in the gypsy community, and whilst on display, they don’t actually get used.
Posting on social media, Heidi shared a clip as she cleaned her Crown Derby set.
Following this, Heidi shared a follow-up clip, as she responded to a comment that read: “Beautiful tea set, but do you use it too? Or is it for looks?”
Read more real life stories
To this, Heidi said: “Any of the plates, cups, tea set. Absolutely any of it, it doesn't actually get used.
“They are just genuine ornaments. Traveller and gypsy people collect a lot of it.”
Heidi then revealed that she will passing on her impressive Crown Derby set to her daughter, as she explained: “All my pieces that I have, I'll be passing on to my daughter.
“And then one day she will pass it on to her daughter.
“Some of the pieces I have in there are actually from my husband's grandmother.”
The traveller woman explained that when her daughter is older, she will have the choice of having her mother’s set, or a new set.
But Heidi added: “Don't get me wrong, when she gets older, I will ask her, ‘what set do you want? Do you want this one, or do you want something different?’
“She might ask for something different. Crown Derby comes in different designs.
“Whatever she wants, we'll buy her. And then she can start collecting that.
“Now if she's smart enough, and I'm hoping she will be, when the time comes around and we say to her, ‘What do you want then? What's your wedding present?’, what she should say is, ‘No, I don't like it actually, I want something different from my home’ and then pick something completely different.
“And then we would buy her that set and the stuff that goes with it.”
Differences between a gypsy and a traveller
Typically, Gypsies is a term used to describe Romani people, who migrated to Europe from India.
Meanwhile, traveller refers to a group of people who usually have either Irish, Scottish or English heritage.
While many English gypsy girls are allowed to drink alcohol and go on holiday with their friends before they get married, many Irish traveller girls are not allowed to do this.
Generally, both gypsies and travellers will share the same morals.
Heidi then expressed: “And then one day, she would inherit my set - the cigar pattern we call it.
“And then that way, she'll end up with two complete sets of Crown Derby.”
Concluding the short clip, Heidi shared: “We don't use it. We generally just have it to pass on and for display.”
'SPECIAL TRADITION'
The TikTok clip, which was posted under the username @h.mccc, has clearly left many open-mouthed, as it has quickly racked up 17,500 views.
Social media users were impressed with the traveller tradition and many took to the comments to express this.
It’s an Irish thing too to have stuff like this...One does not touch, one just looks.
TikTok user
One person said: “Love Crown Derby. Beautiful pieces to pass on!”
Another added: “What a special tradition.”
READ MORE SUN STORIES
A third commented: “It’s an Irish thing too to have stuff like this. My mum has sets too, and Waterford Crystal all for display that were passed down and then will go to us. One does not touch, one just looks.”
Fabulous will pay for your exclusive stories. Just email: fabulousdigital@the-sun.co.uk and pop EXCLUSIVE in the subject line.