The Arrival of the Gypsies

by Hattie Dyck

Nuttby is a small community between Truro and Tatamagouche and in the years before many cars there wasn’t a lot of movement of people between the two communities. So it was a huge event when one stormy winters day a group of people known as “”The Gypsies”” came to Nuttby.

  The story of this event was told to Harry Sullivan of Nuttby by his father, the late Merle Sullivan whose family owned the property they decided to camp on. 

  Harry, a retired journalist. refers to it like a black and white reel nearing the closing credits with one more story yet to be told.    “Well, what was I going to say…1933 or 1932 I’m not sure”, the 95 year old Merle related from his nursing home bed. “I was of course going to school and I remember that November night was one of the worst nights of winter.”

   About 13 of the gypsy came to the village with a wagon pulled by two horses and took refuge in an unused camp owned by the Sullivan family. It didn’t take long for word to spread that they were there and everyone was curious as to who they were. Some wanted the Sullivan family to put them out which they wouldn’t do. “Dad never put nobody out,” Merle Sullivan said.

   The gypsies stayed a few months and were helped by Merle’s family and others in the community. Grandma and Grandpa were called what they were. Buster gypsy was in his early 20’s Chubby was in his late teens a 10 year old went unnamed.

One morning Merle and his father stopped by the camp and were shocked at what they saw. “You talk about third world poverty,” Merle said. “They were sitting there cooking their breakfast by mixing flour and water together and frying it. Their dark eyes would be glaring right through you.”

  Merle always defended their existence in the village and his family, as did others, gave them food and helped as they could. At Christmas they gave them a special dinner. Merle contends they were good people, “Not thieves or people who do bad things.”

Spring came and they were gone. No one knew where they went but it was believed they went to Amherst.

  Merle died at 96, shortly after he told this story so it would not be lost. “It’s a nice little story to know and it should be passed on.” The Sullivan family, proud of their heritage want the story to be passed on.

   David Sullivan recently started a landscaping business and named it Gypsy Mountain Recreation, one way to remember the past and pay tribute to his grandfather. 

  The story of the Gypsies was originally in the Truro Daily News.