They can go anywhere in the world but they stick with the traditional outfit which makes them instantly identifiable. The idea of this is to gather worldly experience, meeting different people. They wear the clothes by which they can be identified and the apprenticeship lasts for 3 years. It takes some courage to go out into the world in this manner. It could obviously open you to ridicule. On the other hand it’s a wonderful tradition and I wonder how things would work for other trades people in this way. In the old days, in the States, you had ‘shade tree mechanics’ for example. These were traveling automobile mechanics who would move from town to town and set up shop literally under a shade tree in the town square and work on peoples cars. These folks, like the Zimmermen were sources of news and information and often, as with the early traveling bluesmen, were made very welcome by the townfolk, since they enriched their lives. Ah the romance of it all – I guess what we have now in the U.K. are ‘travellers’ (you can spot 'em on street corners along with their dreads and dogs and such) but they always seem a little scary and feral to my way of thinking. I like the happy smiling Zimmermen.
~ A.P.
