Persona History of Yee

My name was Reynalda Arianedale.  I was born in 1310.  My marriage and subsequent widowhood took a toll on my happiness.  My dear sister by marriage Isolde begged of me to accompany her on her pilgrimage to pray for the salvation of her husband’s soul.  I cannot lie before God and my people.  Like my daughter Tsura (Scarlett) I fretted at the constraints of our society. The bonds of headdress and widow’s weeds -- a veil to cover my face, to never again feel the wind on my cheeks or the sun on my face, these chains enslaved me.   I felt at times smothered in all the protocols of Holy Mother Church and my community.  The liberty offered by a pilgrimage was irresistible. 

We met with misfortune on our travels; an ambush of fierce fighting and the clash of arms in the night.  Isolde and I escaped silently into the dark bringing with us nothing but the clothes we were wearing. A weary week of travel caused us to become weakened by hunger and thirst.  We fell asleep at a roadside near the plains crossing, certain we would not rise again.  In the purple of the evening I heard them, their laughter and voices joined in song.  The men cursed the mules that pulled the wagons of gear.  We called weakly to them for aid.

The dusk sets across the plains of Hungary as we wend our way to Connacht and the creak of wagon wheels echo on the wind.  We follow the wagons walking behind in dust and stars.  The Chergari band has been kind to us. More than kind, they have made us family.  To be free, finally free is more than I had hoped.  Gladly do I take my gypsy name Yee Chergari.  To live the nomadic life, new worlds, new names, new beginnings await us.  I hope the people of Connacht will find it in their hearts to accept this humble gypsy encampment at their gathering places.