Origin of the Word Pikey

Nowadays we use this word in a pejorative way to refer to Irish travelers, gypsies or people of low social class. But this word is centuries old and comes from the noun "piker", from the 16th century, when it referred to a tramp or vagrant. The original pikeys were vagrants who travelled the roads of 16th century England. And still retains the sense of traveller or gypsy.