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BALKAN HOME-LIFE

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A ri'KKISH l,Ali\ IN oriDdOK |)kl-

BALKAN HOME-LIFE

BY

LUCY M. J. GARNETT

AUTHOR OF "the TURKISH PEOPLE"

WITH lO ILLUSTRATIONS

NEW YORK
DODD, MEAD & COMPANY

/ 2-

First Published in igij

Printed in Creat Britain

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PACK

I. The Albanians — Their Social Usages . i

II. Albanian Manners and Morals . . i8

III. Albanian Family Ceremonies . . 33

IV. Albanian Beliefs and Superstitions . 57

V. The Balkan Greeks — Their Domestic

Usages . . . . -83

VI. Greek Family Ceremonies . . . 102

VII. Greek Beliefs and Superstitions . . 128

VIII. The Wallachs— Their Customs and Beliefs 154

IX. The Bulgarians — Their Social Usages . 175

X. Bulgarian Family Ceremonies

XI. Bulgarian Beliefs and Superstitions

XIL The Osmanlis — Their Homes and Harems

XIII. Osmanli Home-Life .

XIV. Osmanli Family Ceremonies

XV. Osmanli Beliefs and Superstitions
Index ....

192
206
219

237
257

287

307

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

A Turkish Lady in Outdoor Dress Frontispiece

From a photograph by Sebah, Constantinople.

FACING PAGB

UsKUP, Macedonia . . . i8

From a photograph by P. Zepdji, Salonica.

Old Stone Bridge at Uskup . . i8

From a photograph by P. Zepdji, Salonica.

Albanian Cavasses . . ... 26

From a photograph by P. Zepdji, Salonica.

Albani.an Peasant Woman in Gala Dress . . . 26

From a photograph by P. Zepdji, Salonica.

Moslem Albanians at Salonica . . . 58

From a photograph by P, Zepdji, Salonica.

Salonica, from the East . . ... 96

From a photograph by P. Zepdji, Salonica.

A Bulgarian Cavass or Orderly . . . 176

From a photograph by Sebah, Constantinople.

Bulgarian Peasants of Kiretz Keui, Macedonia. 180

From a photograph by P. Zepdji, Salonica.

Osmanli Ladies Going to a Picnic . 234

From a photograph by Sebati, Constantinople.

BALKAN HOME-LIFE

CHAPTER I
THE ALBANIANS— THEIR SOCIAL USAGES

A

LB AN I A, as its native name of Schyiperi —
the ' Land of Rocks ' — signifies, is one of
the most mountainous divisions of Turkey.
The principal chain runs north and south parallel
with the Adriatic, and from it jut innumerable
spurs which ramify in every direction. And as
many of these are composed of mountains as lofty
as the main range, almost the whole surface of the
country is covered with rugged hills and deep
valleys. The coast also is often grandly moun-
tainous, the spurs here and there terminating in
abrupt precipices whose rock-strewn bases are
eternally beaten by the waves of the Adriatic.

Almost every variety of climate is found within
the limits of Albania. In the south, and near the
coast, the temperature is as mild as at Naples,
and oranges, citrons, pomegranates, figs, and
other fruits grow in abundance. But the cold
increases with the distance from the sea, and only
twenty miles inland the snowfalls are heavy, and

2 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

the frosts severe, the higher and more northern
summits being clad in eternal snows. At lower
elevations stretch vast forests of pine and other
trees, interspersed with the rich pasturages over
which great flocks of sheep and herds of cattle
roam in summer. The land is cultivated to any
considerable extent only in the south, where the
climate is more suited to the production of crops
and the character of the people to the pursuit of
agriculture.

Albania, under Turkish rule, was divided into
two vilayets, or provinces, designated by the
names of their chief towns, Scutari and loannina,
the residences of the Ottoman Governors. The
former division, which is also called Northern
Albania, is inhabited chiefly by the Ghegs and
Miridites, and the latter by the Tosks, Khams,
and Liaps, all of whom, however, are proud to
call themselves by the national name of Schyipetar.

Though nominally brought under the Turkish
yoke and partially converted to Islam in the
fifteenth century, after a desperate struggle of
twenty-five years' duration under the heroic
Skanderbeg,! the Albanians long maintained a sort
of semi-independence. As Moslems, they fought
under their own chieftains in the armies of the
Sultans, who esteemed them among their bravest
soldiers and rewarded their services with
numerous privileges and grants of property. The

^ Iskender Beg — ' the Lord Alexander.'

THE ALBANIANS 8

warlike Albanians were consequently never in
spirit a conquered race, and the old feudal social
system which they were still able to maintain,
aided by the nature of their country, made it
occasionally possible for their chieftains to throw
off, for a time at least, the authority of the
Sublime Porte. The most famous of these
chieftains were Kara — * Black ' — Mohammed of
Scutari, and Ali Pasha of loannina. The former,
at the end of the eighteenth century, aimed at an
independent sovereignty which his son, Mustapha
Pasha, asserted in open rebellion in 1831 ; and the
latter, notwithstanding the frightful cruelties of
which he was guilty, still lives in national tale and
song as the mighty upholder of Albanian indepen-
dence against Ottoman tyranny. Subsequent
risings, however, resulted only in the death or
banishment of the most influential members of
leading families, th e last coup d'etat of this descrip-
tion having been carried out at Prisrend and Uskup
in 1881. The great landholders are now all
Moslems, the property of which the Christian
proprietors were, at the end of last century, des-
poiled by Ali Pasha having, on his death, been
appropriated by the Sultan.

But whether Christian or Moslem, each section
of the Albanian nation has its own special tradi-
tional laws and usages, and by these alone is its
social life regulated ; the Miridite tribes claiming
to have received theirs from the Dukadjini princes.

4 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

who are held to have been the ancestors of their
own chieftains. The internal government of
these Highlanders may perhaps be best described
as a species of aristocratic republic, all matters
affecting the community being decided in council
by the chiefs, the elders, and other hereditary
functionaries.

The dwellings of the Albanians are quite in
keeping with the character and mode of life of
their occupants. Even at loannina, where Al-
banian domestic and social customs have much
in common with those of the Greeks of Epirus,
their dwellings present externally a gloomy appear-
ance, being shut in by high walls and courtyard
gates, and having no windows to the street on the
lower floor ; while, in the more remote towns, the
narrow and ill-paved streets look dreary and
deserted, and the bazaars and shops are the reverse
of attractive. In common with Oriental urban
dwellings generally, the houses consist of a ground
floor and one upper story only, the latter being
usually reached by an outside staircase of un-
painted wood covered by the broad pent of the
roof which shelters also the landing, or gallery,
giving access to these upper rooms. The lime-
washed walls of the principal rooms are often
decorated with a frieze representing a landscape,
executed in monochrome in the crudest possible
style ; and between this and the narrow shelf
which serves to hold the copper ihriks, or coffee-

THE ALBANIANS 5

pots, and other small miscellaneous articles, are
usually hung the rich assortment of guns and
small arms which constitute the cherished heir-
looms of every Albanian family. The rest of the
furniture will consist of low divans with very hard
and uncompromising cushions, a number of cotton-
stuffed mattresses and quilts, a few common chairs
and a mirror.

In the mountain districts the houses of the Beys
or chieftains are complete fortresses, being sur-
rounded by high walls pierced with loopholes for
musketry. Only in times of open hostility, how-
ever, is it necessary to take any precautions against
possible foes, as an Albanian's notion of honour
does not allow him to slay a man in his own house,
deadly as may be his feud with him. The villages
of these districts are generally remote from each
other, perched in high and inaccessible situations.
The cottages of which they are composed are of
one story only, and contain but two rooms, one
of which is used as a storehouse for the produce of
the little farmstead, the other serving as general
living and sleeping apartment. The fire is made
on the floor, the smoke escaping through a hole
in the roof, the furniture being limited to a few
mats and rugs, a sofra — the low stand on which
meals are served in Turkish fashion, a well-scoured
copper pan to mix the meal in, a wooden bowl or
two, a few horn spoons, a copper ibrik and a brass
lamp. Each dwelling has, however, its garden,

6 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

well stocked with fruit and vegetables, and its
tobacco plot, the whole surrounded by a high loop-
holed wall. In the vicinity of every village may
also be seen the green, or common, with its paved
threshing-floor, on which the golden corn is spread
in autumn to be trodden by the hoofs of a pair of
horses till the grain is separated from the chaff.

The physical characteristics of the Albanians
vary considerably according to the district they
inhabit, the tribe to which they belong, and the
conditions under which they live. The Schyipetars
of the Drin, and the Ghcgs and Miridites of North
Albania generally are tall, handsome, and well-
made folk, their women having good complexions
and not infrequently fair hair, which, as the
following verse from one of their folk-songs shows,
is much admired : —

O maiden so tender.

No pipe of Vizier
Was ever so slender

As thou art, my dear !
The soft silken tresses

Of thy yellow hair,
The glad breeze caresses,

Like flax threads are fair.

They are also dignified in demeanour, capable of
undergoing fatigue and hardship, and are exceed-
ingly courageous. The Tosks also have frequently
blonde or chestnut hair, blue eyes, and refined
features, and are extremely elegant in figure and

THE ALBANIANS 7

deportment. The Khams, on the other hand,
rather resemble the Greeks in complexion and
feature, having black eyes and hair, and darker
skins than the Ghegs. The least handsome of all
the Albanians are the Liaps, and the laborious
out-of-door life led by their women soon destroys
any degree of beauty they may have possessed in
youth. Both men and women are, however,
expert swimmers and divers, this pastime affording
almost their only distraction.

The national costumes of the Albanians are
extremely varied and picturesque, and are still
rigidly adhered to by all classes. The dress of a
Schyipetar lady of rank is extremely rich and
costly. Her under-garments will consist of a
sleeved gown of striped white gauze, with very full
Turkish trousers of red silk drawn in at the ankle,
where they are finished off with a revers of heavy
needlework ; while over these are worn a sleeve-
less vest and coat reaching to the knees, both of
crimson velvet handsomely trimmed round the
borders with elaborate gold embroidery. Her
hair is divided into three tresses, one of which
hangs loosely, the other two being twisted round
the little red fez worn on the head, and kept in
place by a kerchief of silk ; the dark blue fez-
tassel, which is very full and long, and droops on
the left shoulder, being ornamented with tiny
discs of gold or with seed-pearls. The Miridite
tribeswomen wear a coat of thick white woollen

8 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

stuff, red trousers, an embroidered apron with
fringe half a yard long, and on the head a blue
kerchief. The veil and cloak of the Turkish
women is worn out of doors by the Moslem women
in the towns, and also, w^hen they live in close prox-
imity to Moslems, by the Christian women. The
cloak worn by the latter is, however, of a different
shape and of a light red colour, with a cross em-
broidered in front. This distinctive dress is said to
have been imposed by a native pasha, who being
attracted by a Christian girl, not knowing her to
be such, asked her in marriage and was refused.

The country women, however, both of mountain
and plain, and whether Christian or Moslem, go
abroad unveiled. Their costumes vary extremely
in detail, but are generally of stout homespun and
felt, and in form resemble those of the Greek and
Bulgarian peasants of Macedonia, the leading
features of which are two aprons worn under a
coat. In the villages of the plains, however, a
blue petticoat, trimmed wdtli red bands, is worn
over an embroidered linen gown, confined at the
waist by a bodice of white cloth embroidered with
quaint designs in black silk thread.

Albanian ladies appear to be even more addicted
than Osmanlis to the use of cosmetics. For no
sooner are they married than they begin to dye
their hair with a decoction made from gall-nuts
and palm oil, stain their eyelashes with antimony,
and extend their eyebrows till they meet over the

THE ALBANIANS 9

nose. For their skins they use a ' wash ' in
which various deleterious ingredients enter ; for
their Hps and cheeks cochineal or carmine, while
their nails and the palms of their hands are
liberally stained of a deep orange hue with henna.
The social status of Albanian women varies
according to district and creed, the Liaps and
the Christians of Southern Albania and Epirus
generally occupying the least enviable position, as
all the hard out-of-door work devolves upon them.
The Northern Albanians, on the other hand, as
also the Tosks, treat their wives with much
greater consideration, consult them willingly in
their affairs, both public and private, and accord
them a position in the family almost equal to their
own. And well do they merit the respect of their
husbands and brothers, for full often have they
proved themselves to be fit companions for men,
unmindful of fatigue, danger, and even death in
the cause of liberty. When the armies of the
Sultan menaced the privileges of which the people
of Scutari had always been proud, it was the
women who were the first to give the alarm and
urge their men to resist to the death, them-
selves following to aid in the combat. Restraining
the tears natural to their sex, they would carry
the mutilated bodies of their loved ones among
the combatants in order to excite them to avenge
their deaths ; and they are said to have refused
to receive back into their homes the husbands and

10 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

sons who had for a moment turned their backs
upon the enemy.

Albanian women, too, are often entrusted with
negotiations for truce or peace. For so great is
the respect with which Albanians regard their
women that they may traverse the camps of
belligerents with greater safety than men. The
terms of such treaties of peace, too, are often
discussed in the privacy of the harems of the
chieftains by the women belonging to the hostile
parties before being settled in the camps of the
belligerents. More ready are they, however, as a
rule, to espouse and take part in the quarrels of
their male relatives than to act as peacemakers;
and, owing to their practice of carrying arms,
they are always ready for a fray. Miss Mackenzie
relates that, when traversing the Pass of Kat-
chanik, her attention was directed by her escort
to two Albanian women whom they chanced to
meet. ' Look at them,' he cried ; ' they are
women worth looking at, fur well do they know
how to handle a gun ! '

' Are they Moslems ? ' asked the traveller.

' Assuredly.'

' But they do not wear the veil.'

* Not they, indeed,' was the reply. * They have
never worn it, and why should they ? — for they
are fiercer and more unapproachable than men ! '

Such being the character of the Albanian
women, it is not surprising that they have played

THE ALBANIANS U

a considerable part in the history of their country.
It was, indeed, to the indomitable energy and
courageous spirit of his mother, Khamko, that
Ali Pasha, the * Lion of loannina,' owed the
earlier successes that paved the way for his sub-
sequent brilliant career. Ali, who had during his
father's lifetime been a wild and intractable boy,
appears at his death to have submitted with the
utmost docility to the authority of his mother.
This lady, who was the daughter of a Bey of
Konitza, and connected with some of the best
Tosk families, had not, until the death of her
husband placed the responsibility for the well-
being of the family in her hands, given any signs of
the extraordinary strength of character and readi-
ness of resource which afterwards distinguished her,
qualities which were, however, sullied by an im-
placability which only too nearly resembled that
displayed by Olympias, the mother of Alexander,
herself a native of the same province of Epirus.

' To my mother,' said the tyrant of loannina,
on one occasion, to the French Consul-General —
* to my mother I owe everything, for my father
left me but a mere hovel and a few fields. My
imagination, fired by the counsels of her who had
twice given me birth— for she has made me both a
man and a vizier> — revealed to me the secret of my
destiny.' The hereditary enemies of the family
having taken advantage of its head being a minor
by seizing upon some of his lands, Khamko

12 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

suddenly exchanged the distaff for the sword, and
gathering around her the partisans of her house,
with those among her late husband's vassals who
still remained faithful, she tried in various
skirmishes her strength against that of the enemies
of her family. In these raids she was accompanied
by her young son, to whom she pointed out the
lands of which he had been despoiled, and the
estates of the despoilers. Braving every danger,
the Aghadina, as Khamko was called by her
followers, continued to harass her enemies by open
hostility or secret intrigue until she was finally
taken in an ambuscade by the men of Gardiki and
Tchormovo, together with Ali and her only
daughter, Shainitza. After having been subjected
to every indignity and outrage by their captors,
Khamko and her children had finally the good for-
tune to be ransomed by the generosity of a Greek
merchant for the sum of 22,800 piastres G£3,70o).
Hatred of those who had thus humiliated her
had now taken entire possession of the Aghadina's
soul, and her one idea thenceforward was to train
up her son as the avenger of her wrongs. With
this object she commenced to instil into his mind
those pernicious principles which he was only too
well disposed to receive, and which may be
summed up in the words ' Might is Right ' — an
adage sufficiently popular among the turbulent
Albanian clans. All's first attempt to vindicate
his rights in the field proved, however, a complete
failure. Having met with a more vigorous

THE ALBANIANS 13

resistance than he expected, he fled from the fight,
and was one of the first to re-enter Tepeleni.
Khamko, furious at finding all her hopes frustrated
by what she deemed her son's cowardice, loaded
him with reproaches, and thrusting her distaff
into his hand, added, * Go, coward, and spin with
the women in the harem ; thou art fitter for that
than for the career of arms ! ' Ali's fortunes
indeed, at that period, fluctuated for some time
between success and failure. While he was absent
on a campaign, Khamko found herself on her
death-bed, and, though repeated and urgent
messages were despatched to him, the Aghadina's
turbulent spirit had passed away before he could
arrive. In her will she bequeathed to her son and
daughter the task of immolating to her manes the
inhabitants of Gardiki and Tchormovo, at whose
hands the family had suffered such unpardonable
indignities ; and over their mother's dead body
the brother and sister swore to exterminate her
enemies to the last man.

Some years later Shainitza was grieving for the
death of her favourite son, Aden Bey ; and so wild
was her sorrow that she smashed with a hammer
all his and her own diamond ornaments, burnt all
her cashmeres and valuable furs, and forced his
young widow to sleep on the hard straw mats of
the floor. The mirrors and ornaments of her
serail were also destroyed, its doors and shutters
were painted black, and ever3rthing which in
any way recalled joy or happiness was banished

14 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

from the palace. Roused at length from this
abandonment of grief by the news of the fall of
Gardiki, she wrote to her brother reminding him
of the oath they had sworn together over their
mother's corpse, and of her wrongs and theirs,
and urged him to have no mercy on the inhabitants
of that town. * As for me,' she added in con-
clusion, * it is only on cushions stuffed with the
hair of the women of Gardiki that Shainitza will
henceforward repose ! '

Faithfully was the terrible oath, sworn to the
dead, kept both by brother and sister. The chief
men of Gardiki, to the number of some three
hundred, induced by fair promises to meet Ali at
the Khan of Valiere, were there ruthlessly mas-
sacred by the Christian troops under his Greek
lieutenant, Thanase Vaghia, not one escaping.
Shainitza then caused the town to be razed to the
ground; and, after cutting off the hair of the
women with every insult which she could heap
upon them, this tigress in human form drove them
forth with their children to the mountains, menac-
ing with a like doom any who should venture to
give food or shelter to the objects of her wrath.
And the traveller, passing through the valley of
Drynopolis, may to this day see in the wall of the
khan the tablet which records, in letters of gold,
the number of the dead and the date of their
sacrifice to the manes of the mother and the fury
of the sister of the Vizier of loannina.

THE ALBANIANS 15

In a codicil to her will, Khamko had directed
that a hadji, or pilgrim, should be despatched on
her part to lay offerings on the tomb of the Prophet,
and pray there for the repose of her soul. Such
pilgrimages and offerings may, however, only be
made when the expenses are defrayed with money
lawfully and honestly acquired. And as it was
found on inquiry into the estate of the late Veli
Bey, All's ancestor, that the property to be sold
for this purpose had been taken by force or fraud
from a Christian, this proposed pilgrimage was
disallowed by the local religious authorities.

Such extreme ferocity of disposition as that
manifested by Khamko and Shainitza is, however,
happily exceptional among Albanian women, and
even in Ali Pasha's own household was one whose
character stands out in striking contrast to theirs.
This was the Vizier's favourite wife, Emineh, the
daughter of the Pasha of Delvino, a chieftain
whose ruthless cruelty had gained for him the
surname of ' the Tiger,' but who had fallen a
victim to All's ambition. In the dirges sung by
the Liaps on the death of the latter this lady is
described as * the gentle hind of Mount Pelagos ' ;
and her sympathy for the victims of the Vizier's
rancour brought about her own untimely and
tragical end.

For when the news arrived at loannina of the
fall of Souli, Emineh, touched with the story of
the heroism of its defenders, fell at the Vizier's

16 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

feet imploring his clemency on their behalf.
* O Effendi ! ' she cried, clasping his knees,
' deign to listen to thy most devoted slave, and
be not insensible to her tears ! Thy Fate has
warned me in a dream that it will be well for thee
to spare the Souhotes ! '

* The Souliotes ! ' exclaimed the Vizier, in a
voice of thunder — * the Souliotes ! Barest thou
intercede for my worst enemies and not tremble
for thyself ? '

* Effendi,' replied the brave woman, rising
with dignified firmness — ' Effendi, remember that
I am the daughter of a Pasha. Yea, I dare inter-
cede for them, and, moreover, dare to tell thee
that their blood, and the blood of my unhappy
father, which thou didst shed whilst I was yet a
child, will be upon thy head ! '

* And upon thine also,' repUed the Vizier,
beside himself with fury. Drawing from his girdle
a pistol, he discharged it at his wife, who, falling
in a swoon, was carried by her slaves into the
haremlik. Ali, believing that he had killed her,
and overcome with grief and remorse, shut him-
self up in his most private apartments until he was
informed by his physician that Emineh was not
even wounded, but had merely fainted from
emotion. His mind thus relieved, the tyrant shed
tears, and, with all his tenderness for his favourite
wife revived, proceeded to her apartment, which —
admittance being from fear refused him — he

THE ALBANIANS 17

entered by force. But this further shock proved
fatal to the tender Emineh, who expired during
the night in a state of deUrium.

The death of Emineh proved a terrible blow
to her murderer. Her memory perpetually
haunted him, whether seated at the festal board
or presiding in the council chamber, and, above all,
during the silent watches of the night. He feared
to be left alone, and was frequently heard by his
pages to start up, and exclaim : ' Emineh ! — it
is she ! — it is she ! Save me from her vengeance ! '
And when, some years later, a Dervish, Sheikh
Youssouf, boldly reproving the Vizier for his
crimes and cruelties, pointed out from the
window the tomb of the murdered Emineh, he was
interrupted by Ali, who exclaimed, with tears :
' Stop, stop, my father ! Thou hast named the
name of Emineh ! Let that suffice and overwhelm
me not with the weight of thy maledictions ! '

A

CHAPTER II

ALBANIAN MANNERS AND MORALS

N account of the Albanians would hardly
be complete without some mention of the
terrible blood-feuds which, though often
originating in the most trifling causes, not in-
frequently result in great loss of life, and are
occasionally handed down from generation to
generation. Sometimes such feuds exist between
individuals or families only ; at others, whole
villages, or clans, are concerned in them. In
carrying them on certain traditional rules are,
however, punctiliously adhered to, and occasion-
ally those concerned, finding the state of continual
hostility irksome, may agree to a bessa, or truce,
for a stipulated period. When entire clans take
part in the feud, each keeps strictly to its own
wells or fountains, its public ovens and its
markets. These internecine dissensions, however,
rarely interrupt the usual occupations of a district,
the land being tilled and the flocks pastured as
usual in the daytime, the combatants assembling
for the fray at evening on the common, or in the
market-place of the town or village. When a few
men have bitten the dust, the hostile parties with-

USKL r. MA^ l.liuMA

OLD SIONK l:kllP(;K Al I'SKUP

ALBANIAN MANNERS AND MORALS 19

draw in order to bury their dead, and the battle
is over for the time being.

Though women are not the principals in these
vendetta, it is no uncommon thing for them to take
part in the bloody frays to which they give rise,
and for which their custom of carrying arms makes
them always ready. Lady Blunt describes^ a
combat of this description which took place in the
neighbourhood of Uskup (Skopia), the cause of
contention being merely a hare, to which two
sportsmen laid equal claim. As neither would
give in, it was decided that the case should be tried
by combat on the village green. The duel, how-
ever, soon became a general melee, relatives and
friends joining the principals, and women fighting
by the side of their husbands and brothers. One
girl of seventeen, the sister of one of the sports-
men, fought, it is said, with a desperation and
success worthy of a better cause, and fourteen
victims fell in the affray, thus perpetuating the
feud among the survivors.

On another occasion, the breaking of a girl's
pitcher at the fountain by two mischievous boys
resulted in such a desperate quarrel between her
friends and theirs that some sixty persons perished
in the ensuing feud. It is said, however, that even
on such occasions as these the men refrain, as far
as possible, from striking or wounding their
adversaries of the other sex, the Albanian code of

^ The People of Turkey, Vol. i. p. 8i.

20 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

honour making it impossible to attack a woman,
whether armed or unarmed. And the sacredness
attached to their persons extends also to those
whom they take under their protection. For,
escorted by a girl only, travellers may safely pass
through the wildest parts of the country, and a
man may cross, without fear, the lands of one with
whom he is at feud, if he have the safe-conduct
of a woman belonging to his enemy's family. To
such an extent, indeed, is respect for women
carried by the Albanians, that it is contrary to
their notions of propriety ever to make women the
subject of jokes or humorous stories ; and insult or
annoyance offered to a girl, or the carrying off of
one without the consent of her parents, almost in-
variably results in bitter feuds between families,
or fierce battles between tribes. And, as with most
mountain people, the moral code is with the
Schyipetars exceedingly strict. Among many of
the tribes any lapse from virtue on the part of a
woman is punished with death, a subsequent
marriage not being allowed to condone the fault,
while the penalty of adultery is of equally Draconic
severity. The unfaithful wife is placed up to her
shoulders in a pit, and then literally buried under
a heap of stones, which are piled upon and around
her ; and her husband has a right to slay the
partner of her guilt wherever he may find him.
Such cases are, however, of extremely rare
occurrence.

ALBANIAN MANNERS AND MORALS 21

Considering this rigidity of morals it is a rather
curious fact that two clans, or tribes — the Clementi
and the Castrati — ascribe their origin to irregular
connections between the daughters of shepherds
and strangers from other countries. The stories
are almost identical. That of the Clementi is as
follows : —

A young man named Clement, clerk to a priest
of Moratcha, a district of Montenegro, weary of
the tyranny of his superior, ran away, and, not
knowing which way to go, made for the road
leading from Seize to Scutari. Arriving at a place
called Tamara, he came upon a fiockmaster of
Triepsei, who, astonished to see a youth dressed
as he was in such a place, inquired his business
there. Without disclosing whence he came,
Clement related his misfortunes, and declared his
intention of going to Scutari in order to seek
service with some family of position. Touched
with pity, and fearing for him the dangers of the
way, the shepherd invited the stranger to stay
with him and help him to keep his flocks. Clement
accepted the offer ; and when the number of sheep
he was to receive as wages was settled, he followed
his new master home.

The shepherd was rich in flocks and lands,
possessed of a second wife with a young family,
and also of a grown-up daughter, Bubce, who was
both plain of feature and lame. Clement, being
young and active and also attentive to his new

22 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

duties, soon gained the affections of his master,
and, at the same time, those of his daughter, who,
seeing no chance of ever being asked in marriage
by her equal, took it into her head to make the
shepherd lad fall in love with her. Clement long
resisted the allurements of the uncomely Bubcc,
and on his pointing out to her the danger they
would both run should any understanding between
them come to her father's ears, and also the misery
that would follow a union with a penniless man,
the shrewd Bubce would reply : 'It is not our
danger, but my deformity that thou fearcst,'
and her devotion finally touching the heart of
Clement, the lovers began to meet frequently in
secret. Finding herself compelled to take her step-
mother into her confidence, the latter, fearing that
her husband's pride would impel him to some act
of violence were the state of affairs to come sud-
denly to his knowledge, tried to prepare him for
the news, and made him swear by St. .' " "^^olas
not to do harm to any one. The angry faxner,
in spite of his oath, at first threatened to kill both
his daughter and her lover, and reproached them
bitterly for the dishonour they had brought
upon his house. Bubce, however, took all the
blame upon herself ; and her tears and prayers,
joined to those of his wife, who reminded him of
the oath he had sworn 'by St. Nicholas ' —
of all oaths the most binding on an Albanian
— finally prevailed with him. Clement might

ALBANIAN MANNERS AND MORALS 23

marry the girl, but on condition that neither
of them ever again should appear before
him. So the couple retired to the pasturages of
Beston, which the shepherd gave to his daughter,
taking with him the sheep which constituted
Clement's wages. Here they settled down and
prospered, leaving behind them great wealth in
flocks and numerous descendants ; and at the
present day the tribe of the Clementi number
five hundred families.

It is, however, among the Miridite highlanders
that social morality is pushed to its extremest
limit. Though their women enjoy the greatest
freedom, an unmarried girl may not, out of doors,
speak to a man unrelated to her family without
risking the loss of her reputation, a calamity
which few would care to survive. M. Hecquard^
cites a case in point, related to him by a local
ahhe, which well illustrates the value that an
Albanian girl sets on her honour. A man hap-
pened to remark in joke to a girl, the sister of one
of his friends, and before several other persons,
that he had seen her in conversation with a young
man, whose name he mentioned. On the following
Easter Sunday, when all the tribe were congre-
gated, the girl, who was under fifteen, on leaving
the church after partaking, as is customary on
that day, of the Eucharist, called God to witness
to her innocence, and seizing a pistol from one of

^ La Haute Alhanie.

24 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

her relatives, shot herself through the heart ; and
two days afterwards, the man whose careless
words had been the cause of the tragedy fell by
the hand of the victim's brother.

Among the Albanians exogamy, or marriage
outside the tribe, is the general rule, which is
occasionally carried out by the Miridite chieftains
to the extent of carrying off by force a woman
from one of the neighbouring Moslem tribes. The
wives of the principal inhabitants of Oroshi have,
it is said, all been acquired in this way ; and far
from resenting or being ashamed of the circum-
stance, they are on the contrary proud of it, and
their relatives accept the situation on payment
of the usual dowry. And although these stolen
brides may not embrace with enthusiasm the
faith into which they are generally baptized as
a preliminary to marriage, they, nevertheless,
scrupulously observe its external forms, are much
devoted to their husbands, of whose reputation
and honour they are so jealous that, should
occasion require, they are found ready either to
defend or avenge it.

Among these exogamous tribes, succession is,
as a rule, in the male line. If, however, there are
no surviving sons, and a daughter chooses to
remain single, she may enjoy the usufruct of her
father's property, which on her death reverts to
her nearest male relatives. If a man die childless,
his property is divided among his male relatives

ALBANIAN MANNERS AND MORALS 25

who pay to his widow a pension, she having the
option of remaining in his house or returning to
her family, and retaining all that she has received
from her parents either before or after her mar-
riage. If the deceased husband has an unmarried
brother, the latter has a right to marry the widow.
In such an event she receives from him on the
wedding-day the present of an ox, or its equiva-
lent— four goats. If, however, a widow returns
home and marries into another family, her father
pays to her first husband's heirs, or to her son if
she have one, half the dowry promised at her
second betrothal. With the exception of her
deceased husband's brother, a woman may not,
however, re-marry in the same village without the
consent of his relatives. In the mountains of
Pulati this is never given, and should it be dis-
pensed with a vendetta inevitably follows. If the
betrothed man die, his brother has also the right
to marry the betrothed maiden, but must pay to
her parents, in addition to the dowry already
promised, a hundred and fifty piastres.

An Albanian has a legal right to beat his wife if
she misconducts herself, but this right is little
exercised except among the Liaps, who are the
rudest and most brutal of all the Albanian tribes.
He must, however, be careful not to draw blood
even in the most trifling degree ; for if a wife
receive even a mere scratch in the course of a
castigation, she complains to her parents, who

26 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

cite the husband before the authorities. The
penalty consists chiefly in the payment of a con-
siderable fine, which becomes the private property
of the woman abused.

Divorce is not uncommon among the Moslem
Albanians, who follow in this respect the customs
of the Ottomans, the husband giving to the dis-
carded wife the sum specified in the marriage
contract in view of such a contingency. The
divorce generally takes place at the instance of the
husband, but the wife may also claim it for a
limited number of reasons. If, for instance, a man
has left his native town or village, and does not
return within the period fixed b}^ the Kadi, his
wife may claim to be released from her vows to
him. Other sufficient causes for divorce are ill-
treatment, aberration of mind, and excessive
corpulence on the part of the husband.

The Moslem Albanian, when he marries, is,
like the Osmanli, bound to provide his wife with
food, clothes, and shelter in keeping with his
position and means, and cannot, like his Christian
neighbour, require her to earn money for herself
or for him by her labour. She, on her side, is
required to obey her husband in all things, and
never oppose his wishes, to abstain from anything
likely to annoy or vex him, and to watch over the
interests of the family. If he be poor she must do
the work of the house, cook the food, do the dairy
work, and spin the wool and flax necessary for the

ALBANIAN MANNERS AND MORALS 27

family use. The Albanian peasant generally has
no fondness for field labour, which he usually
leaves to the women, children, and old men, and,
when he does not follow the calling of a soldier or
trader, prefers wood-cutting, attending to his
vineyard, or, still more, tending sheep on the
mountains, a pursuit which combines laziness with
a possibility of exciting adventure.

Besides the considerable number of Albanians
who have hitherto entered the military service of
Turkey as volunteers, a very considerable section
of the population have been in the habit of seeking
fortune in the large towns of Turkey, as traders,
artisans, cavasses,^ etc. As soon as they have
amassed sufficient money to enable them to do so,
they return home and marry, in order to prove
themselves respectable members of society. After
a brief sojourn in the bosom of their families they
return to their employment, leaving their young
wives in charge of their parents. For with the
Schyipetars, as with the majority of Oriental
peoples, patriarchal customs still survive, and all
the sons bring home their brides to the paternal roof,
there to remain in subjection to the parents-in-law
until they shall themselves be heads of families.

The highest aspiration of an Albanian wife is
to be the mother of boys, and she is less proud of

1 A kind of orderly attached to Embassies, Consulates, banks,
and other public offices, in which capacity they are much esteemed
for their devotion to their employers.

28 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

her own beauty and the rank of her family than
of the number of her sons and of their valour. The
mother of many boys is sure of the lasting affection
of her husband, enjoys the respect and considera-
tion of the rest of his family, and wields great
authority in the household to which she has come
as a stranger ; and as her sons never permanently
leave the paternal roof, she may look forward to
their support and affection in her old age, and to
see their children growing up around her. When
her husband leaves the paternal home for a sojourn
at a distance, custom requires that a young wife
should manifest no grief at his departure. Instead
of accompanying him to the threshold, and watch-
ing his familiar figure disappear in the distance, or
going to meet him on his return, she hides herself
both at the moment of his arrival and of his
departure. * A woman's tears must not/ say the
elders, * soften a man's heart when his duty lies
before him.' Neither must they ask for news of
their husbands at any time during their absence.
Yet in the depth of their hearts no wives more
regret the absence of their young spouses, as the
touching little superstitious observances with
which they console themselves testify. Unknown
to their partners, they sew in their clothes small
objects which they themselves have worn, as
talismans to ensure their safe return ; and during
their often protracted absences they resort to
various methods of divination, either with or

ALBANIAN MANNERS AND MORALS 29

without the aid of a professional wise woman, in
order to discover how their beloved husbands fare,
where they sojourn, and how they are occupied.

The men on their side are not free from home-
sickness, and many are the pathetic little exile-
songs in which their longings for their native
mountains and for the beloved ones from whom
they are, for a time, separated, find expression.
One may serve as a specimen : —

Now in Bender, now in Buda,

Bide we lone and desolate,
Patience, heart ! What boots complaining ? —

So it hath been willed by Fate.

Yet this grievous bitter exile

Cannot longer still be borne ;
Is't naught that we like felons wander

From Fatherland as outlaws lorn ?

Who the exile's griefs can number ?

Say whose woes can equal mine ?
E'en the viper, should she sting me,

Poisoned by my blood would pine !

The amusements of Albanian women are, for
the most part, limited to birth and wedding
festivities, at which singing and dancing are the
principal features. Albanian dances are of two
kinds : the Pyrrhic, as it is called by travellers,
which is usually indulged in by the men, and a
kind of * kerchief dance,' which is affected by the
women, for the sexes always perform separately.
The women dance in couples, holding each other
with one hand while they execute a step not

30 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

particularly graceful, composed of shuffles and
leaps, waving at the same time over their heads
a kerchief, or scarf, with their disengaged hand.
Another dance of a pantomimic character is some-
times performed at weddings for the amusement
of the company. Three masked men, in the
characters of a man, his wife, and his servant,
perform a burlesque representing the weakness of
man and the unfaithfulness of woman. The
husband expresses by gesture his despair at seeing
his wife make eyes at the wedding guests, while
her servant, armed with a broom in lieu of a gun,
threatens to shoot her mistress's lovers.

The Albanian nation has been described as
* without a literature, without art, and almost
without a history. '1 Their language, which is
difficult to learn and difficult to pronounce, is a
complete mosaic of fragments borrowed from
many sources, though a native element naturally
predominates. Greek and Turkish words abound,
and many of Slav and Latin origin have become
part of the vernacular. The language of the
Schyipetars is also divided between the two
dialects spoken respectively by the Tosks and the
Ghegs, though there is no well-defined line of
demarcation between them. The purest Albanian
is said to be spoken at Elbassan, the inhabitants
of which, according to the native saying : —

Turk of Stambolhit (Constantinople),
Schyipe of Elbassanit,

^ Dozon, Manuel de la Langue Chkipe.

ALBANIAN MANNERS AND MORALS 31

are looked upon as representative Schyipetars.
The total neglect of the mother tongue has been due
in great measure to the profession of three creeds
by the Albanian people, Turkish only being taught
in the Moslem schools, Italian in the Roman
Catholic, and in the Orthodox Christian, Greek.
The only section of the Albanians who can boast
of any degree of culture are the Khams, and even
this is not indigenous, but is borrowed entirely
from the Epirote Greeks of loannina and its
neighbourhood.

The education of the vast majority of Albanian
girls, whether Moslem or Christian, is still of a
purely domestic character, and, with the exception
of a small number of Gheg and Tosk maidens of
the better class, who are taught a little reading
and writing and a great deal of etiquette by old
lady hodjas, they are entirely unlettered. From
the age of twelve to the time of their marriage,
which generally takes place before they are six-
teen, both Moslem and Christian girls are con-
demned to complete seclusion from the outer
world. The customs of the Christian townsfolk in
this respect are, indeed, more rigid than those of the
Moslems, for their daughters are not, during this
interval, even allowed to present themselves before
visitors of their own sex. Time is not, however,
allowed to hang heavily upon the hands of a
maiden, whatever her position and prospects.
For in addition to taking an active part in all

32 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

household duties, there is the important task to
accomplish of getting ready her trousseau, and
this involves first the spinning and weaving of the
various stuffs, cotton, linen, woollen, and silken,
of which it is to be composed, and, subsequently,
their conversion into a multitude of elaborately
embroidered garments and household gear.

The peasant and country girls generally, both
of the mountains and of the plains, enjoy, as has
been seen, much greater liberty than their sisters
of the towns. With the exception of the Miridites,
a certain amount of social intercourse with
members of the other sex is also not denied to
them, and, like the Greek and Wallachian maidens,
they tend the flocks on the hills, fetch water from
the fountain, and lead generally a life of healthy
industry.

CHAPTER III

ALBANIAN FAMILY CEREMONIES

THE domestic usages of the Albanians
vary but slightly, according to locality
and religion, and are, in their main
features, identical ; and although the customs
surrounding such family ceremonies as births,
marriages, and deaths belong naturally more to
the domain of women than of men, the latter
are not less scrupulous in the fulfilment of the
part in these observances which falls to their
share.

Tribal and family pride being, as has been al-
ready seen, the leading feature of Albanian char-
acter, the desire of offspring, and especially of
male offspring, is naturally very strong with them.
A childless man is designated by an expression
which signifies ' without a root,' and is looked
upon as a most unlucky being. The wish, * May
you be childless ! ' is also considered the most
weighty curse that can be launched against a man
by his enemy. As mentioned in the previous
chapter, the aspiration of every woman's heart is,
consequently, to be the mother of a numerous

3 33

34 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

family of boys, both for the sake of the future
prosperity of the tribe and for the present social
consideration which their birth ensures to her.
Wlien the fact that an Albanian woman is about
to become a mother is announced to her husband's
family, she becomes thenceforward the object of
the most devoted attention on their part, the
slightest wish or preference she may express being
immediately gratified. Custom, however, forbids
her eating certain things, such as pomegranates
and snails, and she must not dye her hair more
than three times before her baby is born, or some
unlucky accident would be sure to happen either
to her or to the infant.

As soon as the baby is bom it is washed, and a
sickle, with which straw has just been cut, is laid
for a few seconds on its stomach — to prevent
colics. The maternal grandmother, whose privi-
lege it is to perform this office for the baby, then
proceeds to swathe its little body tightly in broad
swaddling bands of white woollen stuff, and finally
deposits it in a narrow wooden cradle. A jar of
water is taken to the Hodja or the Papas — accord-
ing to the creed of the mother — to be blessed, and
with a part of its contents all the women who
officiated at the birth wash their hands. The rest
of the water is placed near the mother's couch,
and all the women who visit her during the five
ensuing days dip their fingers in it and sprinkle
her, expressing at the same time a wish that she

ALBANIAN FAMILY CEREMONIES 35

may have a plentiful supply of milk for the baby,
Albanian women making a point of nursing their
own children. The relatives are now admitted to
felicitate the mother and admire the baby, with
the exception of its father, whom custom obliges
to keep out of the way and refrain from seeing his
child until it is eight days old. The mother is
presently placed on a state bed, over which a
magnificently embroidered silk coverlet is spread,
the national head-dress, ornamented with sequins,
being placed on her head, and all her necklaces
hung round her neck. She is now ready to receive
the friends and acquaintances who at once arrive
in crowds to offer their congratulations. In some
parts of Albania, and especially among the
Moslems, it was formerly customary to bring
handsome and costly presents to the infant. As
each visitor did her best to outshine her neighbour
in the value of her gift, this usage became at
length, among the Roman Catholic Miridites, so
ruinously expensive that the ban of the Church
was finally laid upon it. The visitors to the
mother and baby consequently now bring with
them only an egg, with which they rub the face
of the new arrival, saying, ' Pashi bar — May it
be always white ! ' i.e. never have cause to blush
for its actions.

When the baby is three days old the Fates are
believed to arrive and decide what its fortune is
to be. When two of the Weird Sisters have had

36 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

their say, the third speaks, and her decision is final.
On the evening of this day — which is called the
child's Poganik—all the relatives of the family
assemble uninvited, each bringing a small loaf, a
girdle cake, and a wooden flask of wine. On these
simple viands they feast and drink healths to the
mother and child, the formula addressed to the
latter being : ' May he have strong legs ! ' The
women then set to work to make a large cake, all
present touching—' for luck '—the sieve used to
sift the flour. As the dough is being kneaded coins
are put into it, and when baked it is broken in
pieces over the infant. In the case of a boy all now
touch the cradle while they sing :—

Poganik ./—When the boy grows a man,
A weaver we'll make him,
And money he'll bring us ! ^

And for a girl : —

Poganik ./—When our girl grows up tall.
She shall go to the valley.
And bring us much water !

The company now separate, each person carrying
home with her a piece of the Poganik cake,
which is beheved to possess beneficial qualities,
and distributes it among the members of her house-
hold. When all have left, honey, milk and other

1 Weaving was formerly a trade in high repute with the
artisan class of Albanians, who left their homes to work m the
towns where it was carried on.

ALBANIAN FAMILY CEREMONIES 37

delicacies are laid out for the refection of the
Fateful Three, the dogs are shut up, and the
courtyard gate left open.

Until the baby is forty days old neither mother
nor child must leave the house, nor, after sunset,
the room, for fear of " Those Without." During
this period the fire is carefully kept up, and an
ember of it must on no account be given to a
neighbour, or all kinds of evil will ensue; and
whoever has occasion to enter the house after
nightfall must leap over a firebrand laid on the
threshold. Music and singing are also rigidly
refrained from for fear of attracting these dreaded
Powers of the Air.

The ceremony of naming the child is performed
by the Christian Albanians according to the
baptismal rite of the churches to which they
respectively belong. With the Moslems no reli-
gious character is attached to giving the baby a
name, the eldest male relative of the family ful-
filling this duty for its youngest member. If, how-
ever, the child is a boy, the curious and interesting
ceremony of cutting its hair is performed when it
is a week old. The father invites to fulfil this
office for his child the man he most esteems, be he
Moslem or Christian, and a bond of friendship is
thus formed, called ' the St. Nikolo,' similar in
its character to the pohratim of the Slavs, or the
' brotherhood-bond ' of the Greeks, and also
partaking in its assumed relationship of the nature

38 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

of the tie between a Greek Nono and the family
of his godchild. This substitute for a godfather —
who is considered a near relative, and may enter
the women's apartments — cuts off with a pair of
scissors some of the baby's hair in the form of a
tonsure, and puts the lock, together with some
coins, in a purse which is kept closed for three
days. At the end of that period the money is
taken out, and the hair is thrown into the fire.

A similar practice is observed by the Roman
Catholic Miridites on the first anniversary of a
boy's birth, with the difference that it is performed
under the auspices of St. John, instead of those of
St. Nicholas.

Although the Albanian Beys, or chieftains, have
neither written charters, nor armorial bearings
and insignia, matrimonial alliances between their
famiUes are regulated with the most rigid observ-
ance of rank and precedence. Their wives and
mothers, like women generally, are well up in all
the degrees of kinship and descent, and the pre-
liminaries of betrothals are usually settled by
them in the harem before they are submitted to
the head of the family and communicated to the
parties most nearly interested. Children are
frequently betrothed before they are ten years of
age, and occasionally while still in the cradle. In
such cases, however, the arrangement is kept
secret from the couple until the young man is in a

ALBANIAN FAMILY CEREMONIES 39

position to marry, this usage being intended to
prevent Albanian youths marrying in the towns
to which they resort for employment. A refusal
on the part of a young man to fulfil an engage-
ment made for him by his parents would inevitably
result not only in a vendetta with the relatives of
the rejected bride, but also in social ostracism ;
but such cases are extremely rare. For, as a
bridegroom elect has, as a rule, never beheld the
bride chosen for him, he can have no reason for
refusing to marry her.

Women in Albania being, as in the Balkans
generally, less numerous than men, it is not
customary to require a portion with the bride,
who, on the contrary, as among the Wallachs and
Bulgarians, is practically purchased from her
father or brothers for a sum of money varying
according to the wealth and standing of the
respective families. The parents of the maiden,
however, besides providing the materials for her
trousseau, supply her with various articles of
jewellery and a certain amount of household
plenishing, the bridegroom supplying the rest.

With the exception of the nuptial benediction,
the marriage customs of the Christian and Moslem
Albanians are similar, and there is very little
difference in the songs by which they are accom-
panied. Among the Moslems the betrothal takes
place in the presence of the Kadi. This legal func-
tionary receives the declaration of mutual consent.

40 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

made on the part of the maiden by her natural
guardians as her proxies, who undertake to prove
it by the mouth of two Moslem witnesses. After
a prayer for the benediction of Allah on the union,
a contract is drawn up enumerating the articles
to be given to the bride by her parents, and
stipulating the sum to be paid to her by the
husband in the event of his divorcing her. To
this document the Kadi and the witnesses affix
their seals, and this ceremony constitutes the legal
marriage.

As with the Osmanlis, the bride remains, how-
ever, in the house of her parents until the wedding
festivities have taken place, the interval ranging
in duration from a few weeks to a year, according
to the convenience of the bridegroom's family.
As the ceremonies observed in Epirus present so
many points of similarity with those of the Greeks,
I will here describe only those belonging to Upper
Albania which present features peculiar to them-
selves.

The festivities invariably begin on Thursday
with a sending of the dunti by the bridegroom.
This is the decorated box containing the presents
to the bride of various articles of dress and orna-
ment, including boots and shoes of yellow leather
embroidered with gold, together with a loaf of
sugar, some coffee, and other customary trifles.
The dunti is carried by two boys belonging to the
bridegroom's family, neither of whom must be

ALBANIAN FAMILY CEREMONIES 41

orphans. As they arrive at the house the women
and girls sing a song beginning : —

O flaxen one, far whiter,
Than foam on Drin's wave-crest,

sends to thee the dunti.

Within a golden chest !

The boys are received at the foot of the staircase
by the assembled family and conducted with
every mark of respect to the reception-room on
the upper floor, where the dunti is placed on a
coffer, while all present cry, ' Per heir ' — * Good
luck ! ' The hosts remain standing until the envoys
have been seated in the place of honour, when re-
freshments, consisting of liqueurs and bonbons, are
served twice in succession, complimentary speeches
being exchanged meanwhile ; and after about
an hour of polite attentions, the envoys depart.
On the same day a youth is despatched by the
bridegroom's parents to invite the wedding guests
for the following Monday. The formula he makes
use of is — ' So-and-so is to be married, and begs
you to come on next Monday to the wedding with
your family, or, if you prefer it, let the head of the
family come alone.' At each house he receives
in return for his invitation a present of a few
piastres. The number of persons invited from
each family is fixed according to the degree of
kinship or friendship existing between them and
the bridegroom's family.

42 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

The bride's family send out their invitations in
the same way on the Friday. On this day, too,
the matrons assemble to help in the preparations
for the ceremony. Wliile some busy themselves
with putting finishing touches to the trousseau,
or helping in the kitchen, the others take the bride
in hand and commence to ' busk ' her for the
occasion. Compelled by custom to submit silently
to whatever operation they may, in their zeal to
make her as beautiful as possible, subject her,
the poor bride is bathed, scrubbed, * massaged,'
and depilee, her hair and eyebrows are dyed black,
and her feet and hands stained red with henna.

On Sunday evening the bride, wearing her
wedding-dress and decked in all her ornaments,
is presented to the women of the family. If she
is of a humble station, jewels are borrowed for her
to wear for the occasion, so that, on this day at
least, she may lack nothing. The work of the
matrons who have dressed her is then freely and
openly criticized, no word, however, being uttered
which could possibly hurt the feelings of the bride ;
for — according to the good ladies of Scutari — a
bride can never be otherwise than beautiful.
Later on the father and brothers enter, and the
maiden, throwing herself at their feet, asks their
pardon with tears for all the faults she has com-
mitted during her childhood. Hardly has the
father raised her than a chorus of sobs and cries is
heard from all the company, who thus testify their

ALBANIAN FAMILY CEREMONIES 43

sorrow at the approaching separation of the girl
from her family. The situation is, however,
speedily relieved by the youngest matron present,
who now raises her voice in song.

Early on Monday, the homes of both bride and
bridegroom are thronged with guests, sometimes
to the number of several hundreds, the head of
each family contributing an oka^ of coffee and
another of sugar for the benefit of the house.
Each matron as she is ushered into the reception-
room presents a gold coin to the bride who,
arrayed in all her wedding finery, stands in a
comer, motionless and speechless, with downcast
eyes and hands crossed on her breast. These coins,
the value of which varies with the degree of
relationship of the giver, are subsequently strung
into necklaces, and constitute part of the personal
property of a married woman.

A couple of matrons posted on either side of the
maiden now keep watch and ward over her, and
the rest of the female guests, seated round the
room on the divans, stare at the poor girl as if
she were the idol of their worship. At meal-times,
on this and the following days, the bride eats alone,
covered with a veil, though if desirous of making
a good impression she will partake of food only if
compelled to do so, in order to show how great is
her regret at leaving the paternal roof. Her
behaviour, indeed, throughout the various stages

^ About 2j lbs. avoirdupois.

44 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

of the wedding ceremonies is intended to typify
her reluctance to exchange the single for the
married state. Meantime the guests divert them-
selves with liqueurs, coffee, and sweets, and the
performances of the professional musicians hired
for the occasion.

About ten o'clock a cart leaves the bridegroom's
abode to fetch the bride's baggage, which is packed
in a large wooden box ornamented with designs
of flowers rudely executed. As it starts all the
assembled company cry ' Per heir ! ' — * Good
luck ! ' and among the Christian Albanians
several women follow the vehicle into the road,
sprinkling both it and the wedding-chest with
holy water as a protection from ' Those With-
out.' A few minutes afterwards, all the male
guests invited by the bridegroom's friends set
out, preceded by his father, who leads a richly
caparisoned horse on which the bride will ride
home. As they leave the house the women sing : —

Happy may thy journey be.
Patriarch of our family !
Holy sign of Cross now make,
To the right thy way then take.
H to us thou bring fair bride,
May the sugar-plums taste sweet.
If a foul one by thy side,
That they bitter taste were meet.

Arrived at their destination, the party range
themselves around the courtyard, where glasses

ALBANIAN FAMILY CEREMONIES 45

of cognac and water, and sweets and sugar-plums
of various kinds are handed round by men-
servants. During this ceremony, which every one
endeavours to prolong, the bride, enveloped in a
long cloak and covered with a veil, is led down-
stairs. She walks as slowly as possible, supported
on either hand by an attendant as if infirm, and
is hidden from all eyes by silken draperies held on
either side of her path until she has been seated
on her horse. The procession then starts. The
husband's guests walk first, then comes the bride,
her horse led by a servant, guarded on either side
by her brothers. Behind follow the musicians and
singers, and the rear is brought up by a great
concourse of relatives and friends. On leaving the
door of her childhood's home, and at every street
corner she passes, the bride inclines her head
three times in token of farewell to the places she
will never again, as a maiden, behold. ^

Arrived at the bridegroom's home, the same
precautions are taken in dismounting the bride
as were observed in placing her upon her horse.
The women of the house come down to receive her,
and, pushing her gently, lead her, as if against her
will, into the nuptial chamber, where she is seated
on cushions. Wlien coffee has been served and

^ This observance may possibly have its origin in the pro-
pitiatory farewells paid by a bride, among the ancient Slavs, to
her father's household gods. Compare Kovalevsky, Modern
Customs . . . of Russia, pp. 33-4.

46 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

partaken of, the bride's friends take their leave,
the eldest among them saying in a loud voice : —

' Until now she belonged to God and to us,
now and henceforward she belongs to you and to
God, who will protect her ! '

As they retire, the last message of the bride
to her mother is sung : —

Stay, stay, O dearest brothers, stay !
A word to you the bride would say.
Stay, stay, O dearest brothers, stay !
My greetings to my mother bear,
My greetings to my sisters fair.
Tell them my heart will love them e'er.
Stay, stay, O dearest brothers, stay !
Each day, when comes the even glow.
My prayers, on winds that softl}- blow.
For them to God on high shall go —
Sta^s stay, O dearest brothers, stay !

As soon as the bride's relatives have left, the
women raise her veil with the silver handle of a
dagger, or some other object made of the same
metal, to which magical properties are attributed,
and whether she comes up to their expectations
or not, they are in duty bound to join in a song
extolling her charms. And however plain the
bride when unveiled may prove to be, no sign of
disgust or annoyance is manifested, though should
she be afflicted with any definite physical de-
formity such as lameness, blindness, or a humped
back, the husband may claim an indemnity from
her parents, or — if prepared to abide the con-

ALBANIAN FAMILY CEREMONIES 47

sequences of such an insult — send her back to
them.

Among the Christian Albanians, the religious
ceremony is now performed in the nuptial chamber
itself, where an altar is specially dressed for the
occasion. The nearest relatives of the bridegroom
only are present, and he, like the bride, simulates
great unwillingness to enter the apartment. The
mass performed, the priest asks the bride three
times if she willingly accepts the man kneeling at
her side for her husband. Convention, however,
forbids her to reply, and at the third interrogation
the women in attendance force her to bow her
head in token of assent. The bridegroom, on the
contrary, pronounces his consent in a loud voice.

The ceremony terminated, the bridegroom
leaves the room and the female guests re-enter,
extolling in song the graces and virtues with which,
according to them, every bride is endowed. The
feast is then served, the men sitting down by them-
selves in one room, and the women in another,
and the two parties amuse themselves separately
for the rest of the evening. An hour before mid-
night, the women conduct the bride to the nuptial
chamber, and, having taken off her bridal finery,
cover her face with a veil, and leave her. When
the bridegroom enters, he simulates astonishment
at finding a maiden there. Lifting the veil from
her head, he declares himself to be enraptured
with her beauty, and asks her a hundred questions.

48 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

The bride feigns sleep and pretends not to hear
him. He offers her sweets which have been left
there purposely, but still she heeds him not. This
comedy may — if the bridegroom be timid and the
bride reserved — be prolonged until the third
evening after the marriage, in which case the
courage and virtue of the bride are extolled
by the women in song. On the third evening,
however, custom requiras the bride to respond to
her husband's advances. On the three days
following the wedding the bride, dressed as before,
stands like a statue in the reception-room to
receive the women visitors who flock to the house
in crowds.

The ceremonies attending the nuptials of the
mountain people are almost precisely similar to
those customary in the towns, with the exception
that the bride is not veiled when conducted to her
husband's home. A romantic reserve, however,
surrounds the interviews between the young
couple, who, especially if the husband be one of a
numerous family and have no private apartments,
can only meet in secret until they have children of
their own. The mountaineers cherish this custom,
which, they contend, by surrounding with a halo
of romance and mystery the relations of the young
couple, tends to keep their love for each other
fresh and warm. The wedding processions of
Moslem and Christian Albanians are only to be
distinguished by the more picturesque effect of

ALBANIAN FAMILY CEREMONIES 49

those of the former. Many of the company,
dressed in rich apparel ghttering with gold em-
broidery, accompany the bride on horseback,
indulging as they go — whenever they arrive at a
spot sufficiently spacious — in the manly old
Osmanli game of throwing the djerid, or spear.
Pistols are fired incessantly, and the strains of
wild music echoing from the surrounding hills
add to the animation of the scene.

The wedding ceremonies observed in Southern
Albania, in so far as they differ from those of the
Northern Albanians, resemble very closely the
Greek country customs described in another
chapter.^

The funeral observances of the Albanians also
resemble in some degree those of the Greeks.
Family ties are equally strong in both races, and
the death of a relative is always a source of poign-
ant grief to the survivors, the demonstrations of
sorrow being loudest and most heartrending when
a man or woman dies in the prime of life. The
women watching round the moribund give utter-
ance to frightfully piercing cries and shrieks, upon
hearing which the friends hasten to the house of
mourning in order to take part in the death
chorus. When the last breath is drawn, all the
near female relatives of the deceased who are not
past middle age — wife, sisters, sisters-in-law, and

^ See pp. 106-119.
4

50 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

daughters — testify their grief by beating their
breasts, scratching their faces until the blood
flows, and tearing out or cutting off their hair.
In their utter abandonment of sorrow they also
beat their heads against the walls of the room,
calling wildly upon the deceased by his or her
name, often exhausting themselves to such a
degree as to lose for the time the use of their
voices. With the weaker among them these
frenzies of sorrow generally terminate in a fainting
fit, while others have frequently to be restrained
by their friends from doing themselves grievous
bodily harm in their excitement.

The men of the family receive visits of condol-
ence from those of their own sex, who are received
in the courtyard of the house of mourning. The
formula in which sympathy is usually expressed
is — * May you continue to enjoy good health ! '
the speaker at the same time putting his right
hand on the shoulder of the mourner, who re-
sponds— ' May our friends also be well ! ' and the
visitor enters the house to express in the same way
his sympathy to the women of the family. The
corpse is washed and laid out according to the
usages of the faith. Christian or Moslem, professed
during lifetime, and is dressed in its best clothes,
which are, however, taken off before burial. And
now begins the formal wailing round the body,
in which the women of the family are assisted by
their neighbours.

ALBANIAN FAMILY CEREMONIES 51

The majority of the dirges used are, like those
of the Greeks, conventional, every woman having
her memory well stored with a repertory, from
which she selects those suited to the occasion.
They are sung antiphonically, a verse or couplet
being first chanted as a solo, and then repeated
by the rest in chorus. The nearest relatives first
lead the chant, and continue without interruption
until either their voices or their memories are
exhausted. It is then the turn of the other
women, who, when they consider that one has
had the lead long enough, stop her with a sign,
and another lifts up her voice. Among the dirges
sung for a youth killed in battle the following,
which is in the Tosk dialect, is one of the oldest
and best known. The ideas expressed in it may
also be found in Greek and Roumanian folk-
song : —

Kyabese's bridge hard by,

Slain by treach'rous foes I lie !

Comrades, greet my mother well,

Bid her my two oxen sell.

Asks she what doth me betide —

Say, I have wedded here a bride.

Asks she who holds me with her charms —

Tell her, three bullets in my breast,

Six in my legs and in my arms.

Asks she who came as bidden guests.

And at my wedding feast were seen —

The crows and ravens, say, were there ;

They have the friends and neighbours been,

'Twas they enjoyed the wedding fare !

52 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

Sometimes animals and inanimate objects with
which the deceased has been associated in his
Hfetime are poetically represented as missing him
and mourning his loss, as in this lament for a Tosk
chieftain who has met with a violent death : —

Derven Agha, foully slain

With th}' followers on the plain ! —

Hear thy sword cry from the wall,

' Where's my lord ? ' in sorrow's thrall —

' Where's my lord, that he no more

Draws and wields nie as of yore ? '

Hear thy charger from his stall,

' Where's my lord ? ' complain and call —

' Where's my lord, to fill my rack,

Girth the saddle on my back ?

Where's my lord, that he bestride me,

Once more through the mountains ride me ? '

As I have already had occasion to mention,
the women of South Albania especially manifest
an excessive degree of grief for the death of
children, and often refuse, when left childless, to
survive them. Sometimes, too, as among the
Greek w^omen, a mourner finds no adequate outlet
for her grief in the conventional dirges, and,
inspired by sorrow, bursts into an improvised
lament for the lost son, brother, or husband,
extolling his virtues and bewailing his fate.

It is said that when an Albanian of the moun-
tains is led to execution by the authorities for any
crime but that of theft — which is by these people
alone considered disgraceful — he walks to his doom

ALBANIAN FAMILY CEREMONIES 53

with head erect and dignified bearing, improvising
as he goes his own dirge, in which he relates the
circumstances that have led to his premature
departure from this world. His mother and
sisters follow him to the place of execution, their
hearts devoured with grief, but wearing smiles on
their lips, in order that their relative may, on his
side, show no sign of weakness. Intently they
listen to his death-song, the words of which they
treasure in their memories, and hand down to
their posterity.^

An Albanian funeral, in conformity with the
usual Eastern custom, takes place within four-
and-twenty hours after death. Before the corpse
leaves the house, it is measured with a string,
which is then thrown up into the open rafters of
the roof. If the deceased has not a silver ring on
his finger, a coin is placed, as among the Greeks,
on the mouth ; and one of the relatives seats him-
self three times on that part of the floor on which
he breathed his last. On the way to the burial-
ground, the men surround the bier, the women

* This recalls Bums' spirited song, ' MacPherson's Lament,'
the words of which might fittingly be used by an Albanian bravo :
I've lived a life of sturt and strife ;

I die by treacherie !
It burns m^- heart, I must depart.
And not avenged be !

Sae rantingly, sae wantonly,

Sae dauntingly gaed he ;
He played a spring, and danced it round.
Beneath the gallows tree !

54 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

follow behind, and resume their wailings as the
procession leaves the house. Arrived at the
mosque, or church, the men enter, but the women
remain without, weeping, shrieking, and lamenting
continually. Before leaving the church, the men
salute the dead with a last kiss, the women doing
the same at the grave. The body is laid in the
bare earth, and a stone slab is placed over it, on
which the soil is cast. At this stage of the pro-
ceedings, the cries of the women become quite
heartrending ; they crowd round the grave, and
can with difficulty be prevented from throwing
themselves into it, and even the men are frequently
heard to sob aloud. As soon as it is filled up, how-
ever, a sudden silence prevails, for now the kokiete,
the Greek kdlyva, is handed round, and it is
accounted sinful to mourn whilst eating it. As
each person takes a handful of this funeral dish,
he says, ' May he (or she) be forgiven ! '

On this and the two following days, the house
of mourning is filled with a succession of condoling
friends, who bring with them all the food necessary
for the family, as no cooking is done in it during
this period. Others send presents of wine or
spirits, the bearer of which delivers them with the
greeting : ' May I have come for your good ! '
On the third day the wailing at the grave is re-
peated, and in the house of mourning continued
for forty days, being performed by the women of
the house and those who visit them for this

ALBANIAN FAMILY CEREMONIES 55

purpose, either early on the morning of each day,
or on Sundays and feast days only.

The grief of relatives is, however, as a rule, less
demonstrative for the death of a woman ; and
for a man well stricken in years no wailing takes
place. In the latter case, the deceased has usually
set aside one or more sheep to be sacrificed on his
death as an atonement for his sins, the flesh of
which serves for the funeral feast. At this feast,
the guests drink ' To the forgiveness ' of the
departed, and sing funeral songs in his honour.

When, as often happens, a man dies at a distance
from his home, on the arrival of the tidings of his
death, the funeral ceremonies are, with the excep-
tion of the actual interment, performed as above
described. The women lament, friends hasten to
comfort them, and the procession goes to church,
the place of the bier being occupied by the youth
who carries the dish of kolyva, on which is placed
a cake for the priest.

Only slight changes are generally made in their
dress by the Albanian women on the death of a
relative. The chief mourners cut their hair short,
turn their coats inside out, so that the fur lining
alone is seen, and lay aside all ornaments. The
nieces of the deceased allow their hair to hang
loose for some months, or cut off a lock, and wear
on their heads a black kerchief. A similar head-
dress is assumed by the widow, who, if she has
arrived at middle age, wears it for the rest of her

56 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

life. If, however, she is still young, and intends
to return to her father's house with the expectation
of finding another husband, she wears at the same
time her bridal apparel, and refrains from mani-
festing such an exaggerated degree of grief.
Sometimes, too, as illustrated in the history of
Shainitza and also very frequently in folk-tale,
the grief of the women finds expression in giving
to their dwellings the most dismal and funereal
appearance, by painting black either the whole
of the outside of the house, or the shutters only,
and covering up or removing from their usual
places the mirrors and other ornaments.

CHAPTER IV

ALBANIAN BELIEFS AND SUPERSTITIONS

THOUGH speaking the same language,
observing the same customs, and cherish-
ing the same traditions and aspirations,
the Albanians, as may have been seen from the
foregoing chapter, are, in matters of religious
belief, divided by three Creeds, the Moslem,
Orthodox Greek, and Roman Catholic. The
Moslems constitute about one-half of the popula-
tion, and of the remaining half the majority follow
the rites of the Eastern Church.

After the loss of their independence the Al-
banians began by degrees to abandon the faith of
their forefathers for that of their conquerors.
Islam, however, made but slow progress among
them until towards the close of the sixteenth
century, when the Porte promulgated a law
assuring the possession of their property to those
Albanian families who would allow one of their
sons to be brought up as a Moslem. As the Tosk
proverb says — ' Where the sword is, there is the
Faith,' and the advantages which a nation of
mercenary soldiers could not fail to find in belong-
ing to the religion of the dominant race soon made

57

58 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

conversion so general that the populations of
whole villages, towns, and even districts, would
simultaneously apostatize to Islam. Wholesale
perversions such as these were not infrequent
even in the nineteenth century ; and the prevail-
ing tendency on the part of the highlanders to
become Moslems, and of the Orthodox Christian
agriculturists to emigrate to Greece and elsewhere,
makes it probable that in course of time the
country may become entirely Moslem.

Like the Kurds, however, the Moslem Albanians
have among the Turks the reputation of being
but indifferent followers of the Prophet, and the
same opinion is entertained by their Greek neigh-
bours of the Albanians who call themselves
members of the Orthodox Church. Christian men
marry Moslem women, and vice versa ; the sons
being brought up in the faith of Mohammed, and
the daughters in that of Christ ; Moslems revere
the Virgin Mary and the Christian saints, and
make pilgrimages to their shrines ; while Chris-
tians reciprocally resort to the tombs of Moslem
saints for the cure of ailments or in fulfilment of
vows. And Christians and Moslems alike cherish
innumerable ancient rites and superstitious usages,
which both creeds have proved powerless to eradi-
cate. The Miridites and some tribes of Ghegs on
the coast adopted the Roman Catholic creed about
the end of the eighteenth century, and follow the
Latin rite with some Oriental differences — as,

.\IOSI,EM ALBANIANS AT SALONIC A

BELIEFS AND SUPERSTITIONS 59

for instance, the administration of the Eucharist
in both kinds to the laity.

The celebration of the Festival of Our Lady of
Skodra (or Scutari), which is held in the Latin
church on the anniversary of the departure of her
image from that town, and in which Christians
and Moslems participate, is a striking example of
the half-hearted belief of the Schyipetars. The
story goes that in the olden time, when all the
country was Christian, there stood in the city of
Scutari a beautiful image of the Virgin Mary, to
whose shrine thousands flocked every year from
all parts of the country to offer their gifts, perform
their devotions, and be healed of their infirmities.
Such, indeed, was the healing power of this
Madonna that no sick person was ever known to
kiss in faith her white feet and not depart com-
pletely cured.

For some cause or other, however, it fell out
that there arose dissension between the priest and
the people, and one day the latter came to the
church in great crowds declaring that unless the
priest yielded to them they would then and there
abjure the faith of Christ and embrace in its stead
that of Mohammed. The priest, whether right or
wrong, still remaining firm, his congregation tore
the rosaries and crosses from their necks, trampled
them under their feet, and, going to the nearest
mosque, were received by the Mollah into the fold
of the True Believers. Grieved and displeased at

60 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

this wholesale desertion of those who had received
nothing but benefits at her hands, Our Lady of
Skodra disappeared during the night from that
ungrateful land. What new shrine the beautiful
image had hallowed with its presence was, for a
time, unknown. Some months later, however,
tidings were brought that, on the night of her
departure from Scutari, an image of the Madonna
had miraculously entered the church of a remote
village in Italy, and had there taken up its abode.
A voice was also, it is said, heard crying over
Scutari that not till the last Turki (Moslem) had left
the land of Schyiperi would Our Lady of Scutari
forgive her children, and return to her ancient
shrine. The scene on the anniversary of this day
in the great square building which, with its bare
walls and absence of ornament, bears little re-
semblance to a Romish church, is most striking
and strange. The mass performed on the occasion
is listened to by a congregation whose waist-belts —
bristling as they do with pistols and yataghans of
every shape and pattern — are perfect arsenals.
Among them may be seen wild-looking, fierce-
moustached Highlanders, white-kilted Mussul-
mans, chieftains blazing with gold embroidery,
and milder citizens in more homely garb, all
assembled in honour of the Madonna, before whose
shrine their ancestors had worshipped.

Yet, notwithstanding their participation in the
religious rites of their neighbours, the Albanians

BELIEFS AND SUPERSTITIONS 61

are not less tenacious of their own honour than of
that of the creed they profess, any insult offered
to a Christian church being promptly retaliated
upon a Moslem mosque, and vice versa. Of this
the following incident, which occurred in the
latter half of last century, offers a striking illustra-
tion.

A certain Tahir Mala of Bugna, belonging to the
Moslem tribe of the Gascii, having married his son
to a maiden of the Christian Schialla, set out to
bring the bride home, accompanied according to
national custom by a numerous train, and pre-
ceded by the tribal banners. On the return
journey, they stopped, as usual, every now and
then to fire volleys into the air. Their way,
however, lying past a Christian cemetery, the
cross over its gateway offered a mark for their
pistols too tempting to be resisted, and was soon
riddled with balls. The tribe of the Schialla,
having heard of this insult to their religion,
prepared to take vengeance for it ; but, the
offenders being out of reach, they made the family
of Bobi, to which the bride belonged, responsible.
The Bobi engaged to obtain satisfaction within a
week, or pay the penalty, and on the moiTow the
3/oung men of the family set off for Bugna, where
they killed two nephews of Tahir Mala. Not
content, however, with this retribution, they
entered the mosque, where they killed a pig,
rubbed the doors with its blood, and placed the

62 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

head on the ledge of the pulpit. The Moslems,
at tliis profanation of their mosque, hastened to
complain to Mustapha Pasha, of Skodra, who
prepared to send a military expedition against the
Bobi. The latter, with the rest of the Schialla
tribe, then placed themselves under the protection
of the Miridite Prince, Prenk Doda, who threatened
the Pasha that, if troops were sent against the
Schialla, he would not only support them, but
call all the Christian highlanders to arms. The
Pasha, alarmed at the prospect of a religious war
for which he would be held responsible, then
agreed to let the insulted cross atone for the
polluted mosque, and cry quits with the Christians.
The uncanny beings with which the Albanian
women terrify themselves and their children
appear to be for the most part, like those of the
Bulgarians, personifications of the powers of
Nature. Of these imaginary beings, some belong
exclusively to Albania, while others may also be
found among the superstitions of Slavs, Greeks, and
Turks. The Vilas would seem to resemble most
nearly our own fairies, though, like the Nereids of
the Greeks, they are of the full stature of mortals.
Like our fairies, too, it is unlucky to mention them
by name, and they are generally referred to as
'Those Without,' 'the Happy Ones,' 'the
Nymphs of May, 'or 'the Nymphs of the Mountain.'
As a rule they are harmless, if not offended, and
amuse themselves with elfish tricks, such as taking

BELIEFS AND SUPERSTITIONS 63

children up to the roof of the house to play with
and bringing them back safely. They, however,
take it very ill when mortals disturb them in their
haunts and interrupt their banquets ; and so
capricious are they that they will place them-
selves invisibly in spots where they are likely to
be disturbed, in order to have a little vent for their
pent-up malice. The unlucky wight who sets an
irreverent foot within their elfin rings is believed
to receive a stroke from an invisible hand from
which he will ere long sicken and die. In con-
sequence of this belief, it is said of one for whose
death no adequate cause can be assigned, * He
has received a blow.'

The favourite haunts of the Vilas are retired
and shady spots, but they also have a partiality
for the gutters on house-roofs, which it is a
rather risky matter to clean out, especially after
sunset. The Vilas are said, in North Albania,
to be of two kinds — well-disposed and beautiful
beings, who ride about on fleet horses ; and ill-
disposed and hideous creatures, whose heads are
covered with writhing serpents instead of hair.
To meet the former is considered a good
augury, but the appearance of the latter presages
certain misfortune. Another and similar class of
beings, known by the Turkish name of Djin,
attach themselves to dwellings, in which they
perform the role generally attributed to good
fairies, setting the house in order, grooming the

64 BALKAN HOMELIFE

horses in the stable, and plaiting their manes and
tails. Sometimes, too, like the Nereids and
Lamias of the Greeks and the Samodivas of the
Bulgarians, they form matrimonial alhances with
mortals.

The Ore is a being who constantly wanders
about in order to hear and carry into effect the
blessings and curses pronounced by men on each
other ; and in North Albania the usual formula
with which a beggar concludes his thanks and
blessings for alms received is, * May the Ore hear
and bring it to pass.'

Among the malevolent ' Outsiders ' are three
kinds of man-devouring female monsters — the
Koutchedra, the * Dogsuckler,' and the Liouvia.
The first figures frequently in folk-tale, and in
addition to her cannibalistic propensities is cred-
ited with the power of drying up the springs and
fountains at which she drinks ; the Dogsuckler
is endowed with four eyes, two in the front of her
head and two in the back ; while the Liouvia
is extremely partial to the flesh of little children.

The Dif, or Dev, is also a being possessed of
extraordinary physical strength. ' He is a regular
Dif ' is said of a remarkably strong man, as we
say, ' He is another Samson.' According to the
people of Elbassan, the Dif is an enormous giant
who lives underground and never comes to the
surface, and whose business is to keep the cauldrons
boiling which supply the hot and medicinal

BELIEFS AND SUPERSTITIONS 66

springs in the neighbourhood of that town. These
springs, in common with those found in other
parts of the country, are much resorted to for
curative purposes. Their waters are, however,
drunk indiscriminately for all kinds of ailments,
without regard to their various medicinal pro-
perties. The cures effected not being attributed
to the water itself so much as to the influence of
the magical beings who have their abodes in the
springs and wells, people go from one spring to
another in the hope of propitiating their various
tutelary deities.

In Albania, as in all the remoter parts of
Turkey, there is no Pelasgian ruin to which is
not attached some legend of a hidden treasure,
either ' guarded by word and by spell,' or placed
in the safe keeping of a gigantic Negro, Djin, or
other Supernal. Those who have concealed
treasure in such places have also, it is beHeved,
fixed the time at which it may be brought to hght,
and have left to their heirs a document containing
a description of the hiding-place, the formula of
the magic spell pronounced over it at the moment
of burial, together with the year, the day and the
hour, on which alone it can be recovered. At the
appointed time the heir goes to the spot indicated,
pronounces the mysterious words, and the treasure
is immediately brought to the surface by its
guardian genius. Sometimes, however, the
treasure is buried in such a way that, at the

5

66 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

appointed time, it rises spontaneously to the
surface, and anyone finding it may appropriate it.
The lucky person must, however, be careful to
keep his own counsel in the matter, or he will be
punished by finding the gold turned to charcoal,
and will not long survive the incident. When the
treasure is in the keeping of a Negro, he occasion-
ally spreads it out in the sunshine in order that it
may not be damaged by the damp, and, at the
appointed time, he never fails to bring it per-
manently to the surface.

The majority of the ailments which afflict man-
kind being believed by the Albanians to be caused
by magical influences, I will now proceed to give
some illustrations of their folk-remedies. These
arc usually accompanied by some form of incanta-
tion, the secret of which is possessed only by some
wise-woman who has inherited it from her mother,
and who will, in her turn, impart it to her daughter.
If, for instance, a person bcUevcd himself to have
received a blow from one of the invisible Vilas, or
some other 'Outsider,' he has recourse to the
witch-wife, who, after dressing the patient in white
garments, conducts him to an uninhabited house
in a retired situation. On arriving, she first
ceremoniously greets the mysterious powers whom
she believes to be invisibly present, and then plac-
ing her patient in a suppliant posture, she gives
him rose-water to drink, and both observe a
solemn silence for some ten minutes, during which

BELIEFS AND SUPERSTITIONS 67

she makes certain mysterious signs and motions.
After again saluting the Vilas, the witch-wife
leads her patient home by another road than that
by which the couple have arrived.

Sometimes a magic circle is drawn by the witch-
wife round a person so afflicted, in which he
remains seated three days, at the end of which
time he is washed with * unspoken-over ! ' water —
i.e. water drawn from a well or fountain in silence
and carried home without the bearer having
spoken, or been spoken to, on the way — such water
being held to possess highly salutary virtues.
Into the water some ' sweet ' or * heavy ' leaves
are thrown, the number and also the kind being
determined by fixed rules, according to the nature
of the malady. Among the * sweet ' leaves are
those of the pomegranate, apple, and rose trees,
and also, strange to say, of nettles ; among the
* heavy,' those of the laurel, cypress, ivy, and
other evergreens. Three days after such an ablu-
tion the patient is expected either to recover or to
die. Should he be able to indicate the spot on
which he received the blow, the earth is there
sprinkled with rose-water in order to appease the
offended beings, who are said to be extremely fond
of this scent ; or he there throws something, the
nature of which is known only to himself, in the
belief that the malady from which he suffers will
be transferred to the being who may chance to
tread upon it.

08 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

The effects of the ' evil eye ' are also removed
by sprinkling the patient with ' unspoken-over '
water, three nettle-stalks being dipped into it for
that purpose, and giving him to eat three mulberry
buds, the mulberry tree being one of the sovereign
antidotes for that much dreaded influence.

Rheumatism in the hands or feet is cured by
bathing the affected member three times in warm
water, rubbing it with salt, and finally passing
over it the blade of a knife with the words, * As
this salt melts, so may the evil milt ! ' The house
is then swept with a new broom, the sweeper
saying as the dust is swept out, ' So may all evil
be swept away ! '

Wlien an Albanian wife has no children, or is
the mother of girls only, she, like her Greek sister,
attributes her misfortune to some enemy of her
family having tied together a number of nettles
with this object, and has recourse to counter-spells
in order to remove the charm. If an Albanian,
having lost his first wife, marries the second in
what the relatives of the deceased may consider
indecent haste, they revenge themselves upon him
by pouring water upon the grave of his dead wife,
in the belief that this will liave tlie effect of causing
his second spouse to be childless.

Among the Christian Tosks, if two or more
children of a family have died in infancy, the next
born baby is passed three times through a kind of
iron tripod. If yet another child dies, the next

BELIEFS AND SUPERSTITIONS 69

baby is placed where four roads meet, a silver
cross, for which nine women who bare the name of
Maro have given the metal, is laid on its body,
and the first passer-by is asked to be godfather or
godmother to it.

In some places — the neighbom'hood of Dibra
for instance — black sheep are said to be sacrificed
by witch- wives for the benefit of sick persons.
Similar sacrifices appear to be now substituted for
those of human beings, who, in the popular tradi-
tions of the Albanians, as in those of other nations,
are said to have been formerly buried under the
foundations of important buildings.

Very numerous are the ceremonies observed
with the object of ensuring good, or averting bad,
luck. In Northern Albania, when a youth, or man,
is about to leave his home for a distant town a
curious ceremony is performed, which is believed
to ensure him a safe and successful journey. In
front of the house-door the women place a jar
filled with ' unspoken-over ' water, decorated
with foliage and hung with ear-rings of gold and
silver. The traveller touches the jar with his foot,
takes in his hand the ear-rings and some of the
foliage, and sets out, accompanied for a mile or
two by his relatives, to whom, when they finally
take leave of him, he returns the ear-rings. It is
considered a bad omen for the journey if the
traveller should for any reason turn or look back.
If he have left anything behind, he sends another

70 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

to fetch it ; and should a friend or stranger call
to him from behind, he will not turn back to meet
him, but remain standing where he is until the
other comes up, a practice which foreigners, not
understanding the reason for it, have put down to
discourtesy. If on the road the traveller meets a
fox, or a flock of sheep, he considers it a good
augury ; a flock of goats, however, or a hare
crossing the road, is held to signify ill-luck.

Omens and auguries, too, both good and evil,
are drawn from all the trifling occurrences of every-
day life, as well as from the observation of the
phenomena of Nature, besides being sought for in
the bones and entrails of slaughtered sheep and in
the flight of birds. Among the omens read in the
actions of the domestic animals arc the following :
When introducing a newly purchased cow into the
farmyard, some object, made of iron or silver, is
placed across the gateway through which the
animal is led. Should the cow step over the object
with the right hoof, it is considered a good augury,
but if with the left, the omen is unfavourable. If
a hen shake her feathers in the house, or if one of
her feathers hang askew without falling, it fore-
tells the arrival of a friend, or the receipt of news
from an absent relative. Should the hen crow
like a cock without turning her head to the east,
it signifies a death or other serious misfortune ;
while the crowing of a cock at an unusual hour of
the night is held to be either a sign of a change in

BELIEFS AND SUPERSTITIONS 71

the weather or that important news may be
expected in the morning. To an expectant mother,
however, the incident announces that her child
will be a boy ; while, on the other hand, the croak
of a raven or the hoot of an owl in the vicinity of
the house announces merely that the * little
stranger ' will be a girl. Should the dog howl
while looking away from the dwelling, it is a sign
of death ; and if the cat mew repeatedly, that a
member of the family will shortly fall ill. If, how-
ever, pussy should lick herself frequently, it is
merely a sign of rain.

Cats, I may here remark, are treated with great
kindness by the Albanians, who, it is said, are not
in the habit of laying to their charge the smashing
of crockery, or the disappearance of provisions.
According to a myth current among the Christian
highlanders, the cat was created by Jesus, who
produced one from the sleeve of His mantle when
dining in a house infested with mice, while a
Moslem legend relates that a cat having saved
Mohammed from snake-bite the Prophet's blessing
was conferred on the feline race generally. To
kill a cat is, consequently, considered a most
reprehensible action. When such a family pet dies,
the children of the house call in their friends to
assist in the obsequies, and, after the cat has been
carried in solemn procession to the grave, the little
party sit down to a funeral feast, for which the
mother willingly furnishes the necessary viands.

72 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

The cries of the wild beasts and birds, and also
the circumstances under which they are heard,
or the animals themselves met with, have also
their signification. If wolves howl in packs, it
betokens, in some districts, a death ; in others,
severe frost. To meet a snake before sunrise, or
about sunset, augurs the death of a relative. If
the turtle-dove, which in Middle Albania builds
in the towns and villages, sits on a roof and coos,
it announces to the inmates the return of a relative
from a foreign land. When a cuckoo, however,
sits there and sings, or an owl hoots, it betokens
a death in the house. Sparrows flying in large
flocks are held to be a sign of severe cold, while
various auguries are also drawn from the arrival
in spring of the birds of passage, and the circum-
stances under which they are first seen. To see,
for instance, the first swallow or turtle-dove
before breaking one's fast in the morning portends
sickness. Accordingly, about the time when these
birds are expected, and more particularly on May-
Day, the precaution is taken of placing by the
bedside a small piece of bread, which is eaten
immediately on awakening in order to avoid any
such risk. In Northern Albania, on the contrary,
it is considered lucky to see the first swallow while
fasting.

In addition to the everyday observances with
respect to auspicious and inauspicious actions and
events, so many are attached to certain seasons

BELIEFS AND SUPERSTITIONS 73

and days of the year as to form quite a Calendar
of Superstitions. Some tribes — the Ritza, for
example — celebrate their New Year's Day on the
first of September, and every incident that occurs
during its twelve hours is believed to presage the
events of the corresponding months of the coming
year, while the events of the first day of each
month foretell the character, lucky or unlucky,
of the other days generally. It is considered most
unlucky to work in the fields during the first week
of October, and no corn is sown this month,
as in that case the crop would be sure to fail.

The period between the 15th of November and
the 6th of January is, like the Greek Fishoti and
the Bulgarian Kulada, supposed to be the carnival
time of the Vilas and other supernal beings, who
are, at that season, not only more active, but
more powerful than at other seasons, and especi-
ally during the night. After sunset, consequently,
people refrain from going abroad, and from
drinking water, for fear of mischief, and give no
credence to their dreams. They are also careful
not to leave any article of wearing apparel out of
doors after nightfall ; and if, by some oversight,
a garment should be so left, it is washed before
being used, in order to get rid of any spell cast
upon it by ' Those Without.'

Christmas, which under its name of Kolend-
ravet is apparently connected with those by
which it is known among the Bulgarians and

74 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

Wallachians, is observed with ceremonies that
recall those of more Northern nations, as well as
with some similar to those of their last-mentioned
neighbours. On the 24th and 25th of December
the housewife bakes, besides other sweet cakes,
some in the shape of rings, which are called
Kolendhra. The one first made is termed * the
cake of the oxen,' and is hung up on the wall ' for
luck/ and left there until the farmer goes out with
his team to the fields. On this occasion the cake
is taken down and broken to pieces on the head
of one of the yoked oxen, and then divided between
the pair.

Fire-ceremonies also play a great part in the
Christmas observances of the Albanian high-
landers. As may have already been remarked in
connection with birth-ceremonies, a protective
and salutary character appears to attach to the
fire on the hearth, and not only on such occasions,
but likewise on the eve of every important festival,
even in summer-time, the Albanian peasants light
fires and keep them burning until sunset on the
following day ; and from the crackling, or explod-
ing noises emitted by the wood in burning, they
learn when the enemies of their house are con-
spiring against them, and whether the flocks will
thrive, or the contrary. On ordinary occasions
they consider it inauspicious when the thick end
of a log bums before the thin, and are careful not
to place one log across another. On Christmas

BELIEFS AND SUPERSTITIONS 75

Eve, however, all such precautions are considered
unnecessary, and the fire is piled up as high as the
safety of the house will permit, this being supposed
to neutralize all evil effects of the non-observance
of the foregoing precautions during the coming
year. The largest log that can be found is brought
home at sunset, when all the family, reunited for
the festival, rise to greet it with the words :
* Welcome, our log ! God has destined thee for
the fire ! Bring thou good luck to us and to our
flocks ! ' and before the family sit down to supper
a small quantity of food from every dish on the
table is placed upon the burning log. Some
branches of a cherry-tree are also thrown on the
fire, and when partially burnt are taken off again
and kept. Towards midnight the boys, in com-
panies of from ten to fifteen, go singing from house
to house, and receive, in reward for their carols,
a ring-cake from each housewife.

On the Eve of St. Basil (December 31) the fire is
also kept burning all night, and the half -burnt
cherry branches are again thrown on and with-
drawn, to be wholly consumed on the Eve of the
Epiphany, when the ashes are collected and strewn
in the vineyard of the homestead. The fire of
St. Basil's Eve is often watched by an expectant
mother, who thus hopes to ensure an easy confine-
ment. In the morning the Albanian peasant folk
wash themselves and their children with ' un-
spoken-over ' water, and draw omens from the

76 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

character, gay or sad, of the person who enters
the house as * first foot.' A cock is also sacrificed,
as it is considered auspicious to spill blood in the
house on St. Basil's Day.

On the Eve of the Epiphany the fire is also kept
alight all night, and in the morning the character
of the coming seasons is predicted from the set of
the wind. If a south wind blows, it indicates a
full harvest and sickness ; if the wind is from the
east, a scanty harvest and a healthy year are
expected, and if from the north, a late spring.
The Christian peasants, on the Feast of the Epi-
phany, sprinkle their vineyards with holy water
in the hope of ensuring a plentiful crop of grapes,
and place at the four corners of each plot four vine-
stems tied together with straw bands, over a piece
of a cake called a kophtopitc, made specially for
the purpose, wine being one of its ingredients. A
round loaf is rolled from the gate to the middle of
the vineyard, and then distributed to the ravens,
crows, and other birds which damage the grapes,
with this invitation, ' Assemble, O Crows and
Ravens, to your feast, and let us also eat and drink,
and do us no more harm in the days to come ! '

On the first day of February, St. Tryphon's Day,
it is considered lucky to work in the fields, but not
in the vineyards, and on the second day, when the
* Feast of the Purification ' is observed, all kinds
of small pulse and cereals are cooked together in a
pot, this mess, called karkasina, forming the staple

BELIEFS AND SUPERSTITIONS 77

food of the day. On the eve of the first of March
a kind of divination is performed by throwing
into the fire a particular leaf and pronouncing
at the same time the name of a member of the
family. If the leaf makes an explosive noise while
burning, it is held to be a good omen for the person
indicated, but if it burns quietly, the reverse. In
Southern Albania the women on this day twist
together a number of coloured threads and tie
them round the children's wrists and necks in order
to preserve them from sunburn or sunstroke, and
draw a similar thread along the threshold of the
house. They also roll up tightly little balls of rag,
at which they stitch assiduously with a needle and
thread ; and when asked what they are doing,
reply, * We are sewing up the plague, snake-bite,
and all other kinds of sickness.' On this day no
vegetables are eaten, the sweet cakes and dishes
which are alone indulged in being believed to
ensure a good summer. The whole of this month
is also a close time for the ravens, as to kill one
would bring bad luck to the vintage.

The people of North Albania celebrate their
New Year on the first of March (old style). On
this day the cattle are decked with garlands of
flowers, and the Ghegs not only tie threads of
many colours on the wrists and necks of their
children, but themselves also wear one of red silk
on the little finger of the right hand and the great
toe of the right foot. When the first swallow has

78 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

been seen, they take off these threads, and hang
them on the rose-bushes, in order that the swallows
may carry them to their nests. This graceful little
custom is not, however, apparently, indigenous,
and may indeed have been partly borrowed either
from the Bulgarians or, through the neighbouring
Wallachians, from the Roumanians, among whom
a similar usage exists. While I was at Salonica,
one of these parti-coloured bracelets, with the
tiny gold coin attached, was presented by the
Roumanian Consul-General on this date to each
lady of his acquaintance ; and I, for one, until
the month was out, religiously wore my charm
against the power of the March sun, which in the
East generally is said to ' blacken ' the complexion.
It was not, however, finall}^ thrown to the swallows,
but carried off as a curiosity by an English naval
officer.

Almost every Albanian tribe has a more or less
mythical tradition of its origin, which is generally
traced to some single ancestor. Of these I have
already mentioned two, the legends of the Miridite
clans of the Clementi and the Castrati. Another
tradition, however, traces the descent of the entire
tribe of the Miridites from one man, who, like the
favourite hero of fairy tales generally, was the
youngest of three sons. His father, according to
the story, lived on Mount Pastrik, near Diakova,
and at his death the three brothers divided their
poor inheritance, the eldest taking the saddle
(Shalla), the second the sieve (Shosh), the third

BELIEFS AND SUPERSTITIONS 79

receiving only the salutation of ' Good-day ' (Mir
did). As is, however, always the case in this class of
story, the prosperity of the portionless one greatly
excelled that of his brothers. For while they
became the founders of the clans called Shialla
and Shoshi, in remembrance of the saddle and
sieve they had respectively inherited, he who had
been dismissed with an ironical salutation be-
queathed it as a name to a far more numerous and
powerful tribe — the Miridites.

Though the Albanians cannot be called a
musical people, singing is the favourite pastime
of both men and women. Their airs have little
variety, being for the most part monotonous
recitatives, and the singer's merit depends upon
his success in rivalling the violin, mandolin, or
flute, by which his song is accompanied, in pro-
longing the last note. The songs are generally
long ballads, which recount the victories of the
tribe, the doughty deeds of ancestors of the family,
or the exploits of some national hero. For in the
songs of the Schyipetars the later history of the
country is preserved ; and in those of the Ghegs
more particularly may be found the record of how
they obstinately resisted, yard by yard, the
Turkish advance into their mountains, and were
only subdued at last by the overwhelming numbers
and equal pertinacity of the foe. The record, too,
of every insurrection — and they have been many —
has thus from 1572 downwards been orally trans-
mitted from generation to generation, keeping

80 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

alive in the memory of the Albanians the heroism
of their ancestors, and inciting them in their turn
to similar deeds of heroism. The songs vary
greatly in literary merit. Poetical talent seems
now to have died out in the country, though
formerly Albania had her national poets, the last
of them (so far as I can ascertain), Hussein Mollah,
having flourished in the eighteenth century. The
old ballads are consequently far superior to those
of more recent date, which consist chiefly of de-
tached couplets, and are very episodic, though
they describe with sufficient accuracy the events
they profess to record. It is said that in the more
remote highlands some very ancient historical
ballads are preserved, but unfortunately none of
these have yet been collected.

One of the most striking songs of the Schyipe-
tars commemorates the revolution of 1572 under
Ibrahim Pasha of Scutari. The result of this in-
surrection was the recognition by the Porte of its
leader as Pasha of Scutari, he being the first
Albanian since the Turkish conquest who had
been allowed to assume that title. The song is,
unfortunately, too long to give in full, but the
following opening and concluding lines may give
some idea of its spirit : —

No ! no ! our country only must we ' Mother * call,

For on her breast she us has nourished all.

She is the Wife we to our bosoms press,

Who wakes within our hearts love's tenderness.

BELIEFS AND SUPERSTITIONS 81

Where is the man, love of such Mother, Wife,
Who holds within his heart, counts not his life
As naught, as naught whatever he
May sacrifice, to keep his loved one free ?

Come ! Oh, ye loyal sons, brave children, come !
And you, ye cherished husbands, hasten home !
Come to the arms of those who, with your faU,
Would have lost loved ones, country, home, and all !
Come back and rest from war's dread strife and din.
And teach your sons a hero's name to win !

The national songs, as well as the folk-tales,
of the land of their forefathers are also sacredly
cherished by those exiled Albanians who have
for centuries past been settled in Southern Italy
and Sicily. There, too, the exploits of the valiant
Scanderbeg are still celebrated, and at their
feasts they sing how the hero of Croia

Of hares and capons ate the flesh.
Of partridges the heads ate ;

and how

His cups and forks were all of gold.
And of fine silk his napkins.

The women, too, in their Easter dances, relate
how, as he went forth to battle. Death met him
on the road, and revealed to him the secrets of the
Book of Destiny ; how he called to him his young
son and bade him tether his horse to a cypress on
the seashore, plant his banner beside it, and on it

6

82 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

hang his sword, stained with the blood of the
Turk :—

Within its blade Death yet shall sleep,

And, 'neath that sombre tree,
The arms of their erst dreaded foe,

Shall they now silent be ?

Nay ! When the wind shall furious blow.

And waves my flag around.
When whinnies my good charger there,

My sword makes clanking sound,

The Turk will hear, and, tremblingly.

Will flee, with bated breath,
With visage blanched, and hear behind

Ride, swiftly following. Death !

CHAPTER V

THE BALKAN GREEKS-THEIR DOMESTIC
USAGES

THE degree of seclusion observed by the
women of the Christian races inhabiting
the Balkan provinces has always varied
according to external circumstances, and would
appear to be due rather to considerations for their
safety necessitated by their peculiar position
among peoples of alien race and creed than to any
desire on the part of their male relatives for their
subjection. The social position of the women of a
country being chiefly determined by the law of
marriage of the established religion, the status of
the Greek women, as of those belonging to all the
other Christian nationahties of these Balkan
regions, is primarily determined by that Christian
law of marriage which abolished the old rights
and privileges enjoyed by the women of the
Roman Empire, and introduced the subjection of
the wife to the husband in an indissoluble marriage.
By the Greek Church, however, this general
Christian law was modified so long ago as the
eleventh century, when the Patriarch Alexius
permitted the clergy to solemnize the second
marriage of a divorced woman if the conduct of
her first husband had occasioned the divorce.

83

84 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

And at the present day little difficulty is experi-
enced in dissolving an incompatible union without
misconduct on either side, and whether the suit is
brought by husband or wife, the case being tried
by a Council of Elders presided over by the Arch-
bishop of the diocese, who hears all the evidence
in camera, thus avoiding the scandal attaching to
divorce cases in the West.

It must, however, be said that the privilege of
divorce among the Greeks is rarely made use of
without good and serious reasons, both social
opinion and pecuniary considerations weighing
strongly against it, and in all my long acquaintance
with persons of this nation, not more than half a
dozen cases have come to my personal know-
ledge. For though Greek matches are, to a great
extent, mariages dc convenancc, marital dissensions
are extremely rare, especially among the upper and
middle classes, Greek men, besides being good
sons and brothers, being exemplary husbands,
and the women in their turn the most devoted of
wives. There exist, too, as will appear elsewhere,
considerable remains of patriarchal customs, even
among the wealthy and educated classes. One of
these is that the sons, on marrying, often bring
their wives to the paternal home. The mother,
on the death of her husband, is not banished to
' the dower house,' but retains the place of honour
in the household, and receives every mark of
attention and respect, not only from her sons.

THE BALKAN GREEKS 85

but from their wives, who consider it no indignity
to kiss her hand, or that of their father-in-law,
when receiving their morning greeting or evening
benediction. And in these irreverent days it is
very refreshing, on visiting a Greek family, to see
the widowed mother at the head of the table, and
remark the deference paid to her by her son and
her daughter-in-law.

Though widely dispersed throughout the various
Balkan provinces, the Greek peasants seldom
occupy the same villages with those of other races.
Some of the Greek villages, with the lands adjoin-
ing, are owned and tilled by peasant proprietors.
These are called * Head-villages,' or * Free-
villages,' and many of them are tolerably wealthy
and prosperous. The majority of the Greek
agricultural population in these regions are, how-
ever, tenants on the metayer system, who receive
the seed grain from the landlord, for whom they
cultivate the land, and share with him the produce
of the fields. These yeradjis, as they are termed,
labour under great disadvantages, and are, as a
class, poor and much oppressed. Their dwellings
present a pitiable aspect, being usually miserable
one-storied huts, constructed of wattle, plastered
with mud inside and out, and consisting at most
of two rooms, with holes for windows. A fence
encloses the small farmyard, with its granary and
cattle-shed. The houses of the * Head ' or * Free '
villages are, however, often built of stone, some-

86 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

times of two stories, enclosed in a courtyard, and,
when the locality is not subject to the attacks of
brigands and other similar dangers, they may have
shuttered glass windows. Tables, chairs, and even
bedsteads, are not unknown luxuries among the
more prosperous peasant farmers ; a few pictures
hang on their whitewashed walls, and there is
usually a rude cikon, or picture of the Virgin and
Child, before which hangs a small oil-lamp. The
kitchen is furnished with well-burnished copper
pans, and the kiler, or storeroom, contains an ample
supply of native wine, oil, and winter provisions.

Greek peasant women are not employed to any
great extent in fieldwork, though they usually
take an active part in much of the labour con-
nected with the farm, and their household and
dairy duties are many and varied. In Roumelia
and Macedonia the girls and young women hire
themselves out for the June harvest, and assist
in the reaping and threshing. Agricultural
machinery has found little favour in the East,
being quite unsuited for the method of farming
followed by the natives, and the implements of
husbandry used are of the most rude and primitive
description, entailing a great deal of hand-labour
and involving a considerable amount of waste.
Threshing is performed by the girls with the aid
of an instrument which must surely have been
used in Pelasgian times. It is composed of two
pieces of wood joined together in something like

THE BALKAN GREEKS 87

the form of a horseshoe, and studded on the under-
side with a number of flints. A couple of ponies
are attached to the curved end of this implement,
on which a girl stands, and are driven over the
grain spread out on the threshing-floor. Un-
scientific as this method may be, the scene pre-
sented is very picturesque, when the presiding
Kore is a lithe and lissome lass. The corn is
winnowed by being thrown up in the air with
wooden shovels, the chaff being carried away by
the breeze. In some parts of Macedonia the
process of threshing is even more primitive. A
team of horses or oxen is driven round and round
the threshing-floor, the women and children beat-
ing out the remainder of the grain with sticks.

To the Greek peasant girl also is committed
the care of her father's flock, which she must lead
every day to the pasture, and fold at night. The
voskopotila, or shepherdess, is one of the most
prominent characters in rural folk-song, and many
a charming idyll has been composed in her honour
by amorous swains. But she has little time for
sylvan dallying, for the sheep and goats must be
milked, and the milk must be converted into
cheese and yiaourti, a delicious and wholesome
sour curd, which is in great demand in the towns.
When the sheep have been shorn, the wool is
bleached and spun, and then knitted and woven
into garments for the family, or into cloth for sale.
The cotton and flax grown on the farm must also

88 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

be gathered in their seasons, and prepared for use.
The cotton pods are put through a small hand-
machine called the mangano, which turns two
rollers different ways, and separates the fibre from
the seed. The instrument next used is the toxe-
vein, a large bow made from a curved piece of wood
five or more feet long, the two ends of which are
connected by a stout string. The cotton is placed
loosely on the string, which is made to vibrate by
being struck with a stick, producing a not
unmusical sound. This process detaches the
particles of cotton, and it is now ready to use as
wadding for the large quilts, which, with a sheet
tacked to the underside, form all the winter bed-
covering used by the lower orders of natives of
every race. The mattresses arc also usually
stuffed with cotton, and the palliasses with the
husks of Indian corn.

If, however, the cotton is to be converted into
yarn for weaving, it is twisted as it leaves the
toxevein into a loose rope, wound round the distaff,
and spun. When the yarn has been dyed or
bleached, according to the use that is to be made
of it, the women or girls set to work at the hand-
looms which form an important part of the
furniture of every cottage, and weave it into strong
durable calico, or brightly striped stuff for dresses
and household purposes. A certain proportion
of the cotton and wool is reserved for knitting,
and it is most pleasing to watch the graceful

THE BALKAN GREEKS 89

motions and picturesque poses of the women and
girls as, standing on their balconies or terraced
roofs, they send the spindle whirling down into
courtyard or street while twisting the thread
for this purpose. The knitting is done with five
curved needles, having ends like crochet-hooks,
and the stocking is always worked inside out, a
method which produces a close, even stitch, and
the work is extremely durable. The old women
usually undertake this household duty, and with
needles in hand and the * feed ' of the .yarn
regulated by a pin fastened to their bodices, they
sit in their doorways for hours together, gossiping
with neighbours, or telling fairy tales and crooning
old songs to the little ones.

In many districts the silkworm industry keeps
the women fully occupied during the spring
months. The long switch-like branches of the
pollarded mulberry-trees are gathered every morn-
ing, and their fresh leaves given to the cater-
pillars ; and all the tedious and laborious details
connected with the silkworm nurseries are care-
fully performed in order to keep the worms in
good health, and thus secure a successful crop.

Laborious as the lives of these thrifty country-
folk may appear, Sunday and Saints' Days are
holidays duly observed and thoroughly enjoyed.
The working-dress of plain homespun is now laid
aside, and the picturesque gala costume donned.
That of the women consists of a skirt, woven in

90 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

stripes of silk and woollen, reaching to the ankles,
with a tight-fitting bodice of the same, a cloth
jacket braided or embroidered round the borders
in gold thread, and in some districts a bright -
coloured apron ornamented with needlework.
The Greek maiden's carefully combed hair is
plaited into innumerable little tails, and sur-
mounted with a small cap of red felt, decorated
with silver and gold coins similar to those she
wears as a necklace. Thus adorned, she accom-
panies her parents to the early Mass in the little
whitewashed church, summoned by the sound of
the primitive symandro — a board struck with a
mallet — in lieu of bell. Returning home, the
simple morning meal is soon despatched, the
cattle and poultry are fed, and the rest of the day
is given up to wfll-earned repose and amusement.
In the afternoon the peasants resort en masse
to the village green. The middle-aged and elderly
men take their places in the background under the
rustic vine-embowered verandah of the coffee-
house ; the matrons with their little ones gather
under the trees to gossip, while their elder sons
and daughters perform the syrtbs, the * long-drawn '
classic dance. Each youth produces his handker-
chief, which he holds by one corner, presenting
the other to his partner. She, in her turn, extends
her own to the dancer next to her. The line thus
formed, * Romaika's dull round,' as Lord Byron
termed it, is danced to the rhythm of a song

THE BALKAN GREEKS 91

chanted in dialogue form, with or without the
accompaniment of pipe and viol, until the
lengthening shadows of evening send the villagers
home to their sunset meal. The kerchiefs of the
youths are frequently love-tokens from their sweet-
hearts, as sung by the love-sick swain in the
following dancing song : —

Whoever did green tree behold —
Thine eyes are black, thy hair is gold —
That with silver leaves was set ? —
Jet black eyes, and brows of jet—

And on whose bosom there was gold —
O eyes that so much weeping hold ! — •
At its foot a fountain flowing —
Who can right from wrong be knowing ?

There I bent, the fount above,
To quench the burning flame of love ;
There I drank that I might fill me.
That my heart I thus might cool me.

But my kerchief I let slip —

O what burning has my lip ! —
Gold embroidered for my pleasure,
'Twas a gift to me, the treasure !

That one it was they broidered me.
While sweetly they did sing for me ! —

Little maids so young and gay.

Cherries of the Month of May !

The music with which these rural dances are
sometimes accompanied is supplied by a three-
stringed viol, a primitive variety of mandolin,
with the reed-pipe and drum ; but when girls and
women dance by themselves it is usually to the

92 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

accompaniment of their voices alone. The dancing
songs then used are often of a humorous character
deahng with the romantic side of rural life, yet at
the same time full of the rich imagery of flowers,
fruits, gold, silver and jewels characteristic of
Greek love-songs generally.

The majority of these dancing songs are sung
antiphonically by two sets of voices. Sometimes,
as in the above, one set begins the song and the
other adds to each line in turn a kind of paren-
thesis extending it. In the following song, and in
many others, the end of the line is repeated,
or altered, by the second set of voices : —

A youngster me an apple sent, he sent a braid of scarlet —

He sent a braid of scarlet.
The apple I did cat anon, and kept the braid of scarlet —

And kept the braid of scarlet.
I wove it in my tresses fair, and in my hair so golden —

And in my hair so golden ;
And to the sea-beach I went down, and to the shore of ocean —

And to the shore of ocean.
And there the women dancing were, and drew me in among
them —

And drew me in among them.
The youngster's mother there I found, and there too was
his sister —

There was his eldest sister ;
And as I leapt and danced amain, and as I skipped and
strutted —

And as I skipped and strutted —
My cap fell off, and ev'ry one could see my braid of scarlet —

Could see my braid of scarlet.
' Hallo ! the braid you're wearing there was to my son
belonging —

My dearest son belonging ! '

THE BALKAN GREEKS 93

' And if the braid that now I wear was to your son belonging —

Your dearest son belonging —
He sent an apple which I ate, my hair the braid I wound
through ;

And I will soon be crowned^ too ! '

The Greek peasant women are, on the whole,
honest and industrious, affectionate mothers, and
devoted and virtuous wives ; and a striking proof
of their moraUty is afforded by the long absences
from home which their husbands are often com-
pelled to make in the pursuit of their avocations —
absences often extending over many years. Dur-
ing this time the care and education of the children
and the local interests of the family are left entirely
in the hands of the wife, who generally proves
herself equal to the occasion, and worthy of the
trust reposed in her. There are many touching
folk-songs describing the wife's grief and loneliness
during her husband's absence, and the return of
the husband so changed after long years of absence
that his faithful wife fails to recognize him, and
requires of him proofs before she can admit him
within the house as her husband : —

' If thou art he, my husband dear, himself and not another, —
Tell me the fashion of our house, and then I may believe thee.'
' An apple-tree grows at the gate, another in the courtyard ;
And there's a golden candlestick that stands within thy

chamber.'
' That's known in all the neighbourhood, so all the world

may know it ! —
Tell me the marks my body bears, and then I may believe

thee ? '

1 i.e. Crowned in marriage.

94 BALKx\N HOME-LIFE

' Thou hast a mole upon thy chest, another in thine armpit ;
There lies between thy soft white breasts a grain that's white

and pearl-like.'
' Ah, now I know thou art my man ! — O welcome home, my

husband ! '

As girls of the peasant class can usually find
plenty of occupation at home, they seldom go out
to service, except when there happen to be more
daughters in a family than the father can afford
to portion. There is also a general prejudice
against allowing girls to leave the paternal roof
until they are married, and a reproach is implied
in the expression, * Su-and-so has gone to
strangers.' There are, however, districts which
form an exception to this rule, and some of the
Greek islands are famous f«»r their women cooks,
who can always command good wages in the
towns of the mainland. From the islands, too,
come the good old nurses, bringing with them
their antiquated costumes and charming lullabies
and folk-lore. The girls who enter dc^mestic
service save their wages carefully for a marriage
dowry, and, in the country towns, wear the coins
strung together round their necks, a fashion
formerly common to all classes, when Venetian
sequins were in great demand for this purpose.
As the folk-song says :

I'll a lady to thee bring.

Who has sequins by the string !

The amount of a girl's dowry is thus easily ascer-
tained by pallikars on the look-out for a ' weel

THE BALKAN GREEKS 95

tochered ' bride. In the maritime cities, however,
the national costume has, unfortunately, been
quite discarded by the women, and the collar of
coins has also been laid aside. Many girls, and
especially orphans, are taken when still quite
young into wealthy families, and adopted as
psychopaidid, or * soul children.' Until the age
of thirteen or fourteen they attend the public
schools, are clothed by the family, and assist in
the lighter household duties, receiving presents
at the New Year and other festivals ; and,
after a dozen years or so of faithful service, a
trousseau and small dowry are provided, and a
husband found for them, generally a small shop-
keeper or artisan. As there are in these Balkan
provinces no savings banks, or other convenient
methods of safely investing small sums, servants
often allow their earnings to accumulate in their
employers' hands until they marry or return to
their homes. A laundry-maid in the house of one
of my friends had upwards of ;fioo to receive
when she left after a long period of service.

No social intercourse exists between the Greeks
and their Turkish neighbours, although they usually
live amicably enough together when fanatical
feeling is not excited by war or other circum-
stances. The prejudice against mixed marriages
is naturally very great, and no alliance of the kind
can take place without perversion on one side or
the other. Such perversion must, however, be on

96 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

the side of the Christians, for apostasy is a crime
in Islam. The laws, too, regulating the sexual
relations of Christians and Moslems are exceed-
ingly severe, and the probable fate of a Giaour
hardy enough to fall in love with a fair Moslem
is thus illustrated in Greek folk-song : —

Demos and the Turkish Maiden

They caught him, and they bound his arms, and to be

hanged they led him ;
A thousand went in front of him, five hunilrcd walked

behind him ;
And Demos walked amid them there, and mournful was

hi-7 asjiect.

Though one seldom hears of a Christian man
who has embraced Islam for the sake of a Moslem
love, it has been by no means of rare occurrence
that a Christian peasant girl, prompted by vanity
or ambition, has renounced the faith of her fathers
in order that she might marry a Turk who had
flattered her by his attentions. She may not,
however, do this hurriedly or without due con-
sideration, and her renunciation of Christianity
must be made before competent witnesses, both
Christian and Moslem.

The opposition displayed by a Christian com-
munity to the perversion of one of its members,
from such a motive, generally produces great ill-
feeling between them and their Moslem neighbours,
and sometimes leads to fatal results. Such was
the case in 1876, when the apostasy of a village
girl of doubtful reputation resulted in an out-

»~^

B^^

THE BALKAN GREEKS 97

break of fanaticism at Salonica, during which the
French and German Consuls were cruelly mas-
sacred. And another such catastrophe, arising
from a similar love affair, was narrowly escaped
at Larissa in 1880.

Townswomen of the middle classes present a
curious medley of homeliness and pretension.
They are good wives and devoted mothers, and
often, though their education is but slight, are
not without great good sense and intelligence.
The great majority, however, while retaining
the customs they dare not to throw aside with-
out scandalizing the mahalla, seem possessed
with a frantic desire to be considered in other
respects 'Franks,' or foreigners. Having seldom
any outside interests or occupations, their lives
are passed for the most part in a dull routine of
household duties, varied only by gossip at their
doors in warm weather, occasional attendance at
church, and a walk on the pubHc promenade on
some great holiday. Some of the girls and young
women earn their living by doing needlework and
embroidery, or by lace-making ; and in districts
where the culture of silk is carried on on a large
scale, Greek girls and women find employment in
the silk factories, this being especially the case at
Broussa, where they work side by side with
Armenian and Turkish women. But girls even of
:he working-class cannot with propriety go out
mless attended either by a relative or some elderly
voman, so strict is national prejudice on this point.

98 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

Dress is a passion with girls of this class. On the
rare occasions on which they are seen in public,
their toilettes are wonderful — though, as I have
said, they go hatless, and often gloveless — the
great object of their ambition being to rival their
wealthier neighbours, whose dresses, in the large
towns, are sure to be copied by the carpenters',
shoemakers', and boatmen's daughters.

Notwithstanding, however, these feminine
weaknesses of petty vanity and love of display,
tlie Greek women, besides being, as before-
mentioned, faithful and affectionate wives, are
also the most tender — if not always the most
judicious — mothers to be found in any country.
And well is their devotion usually repaid by the
dutiful and affectionate regard shown them by
their sons and daughters. Indeed, it would be
difficult to find a people in whom family affection
is more strongly developed, or with whom the ties
of kindred are held more sacred. The young men
who leave their native towns or villages to seek
fortune in a distant town or foreign land, generally
return home to marry the wives chosen for them
by their parents, and, when they retire from
commercial or professional pursuits, endeavour to
spend the rest of their days in the midst of their
kindred. When a youth is leaving for the first
time the bosom of his family, it is customary for
his relatives and friends to accompany him some
distance on the road. Before taking her final

THE BALKAN GREEKS 99

leave of her son, the mother laments his departure
in song, to which the youth responds, bewailing
the hard fate which drives him forth from his home.
These Songs of Exile are sometimes extempore
effusions called forth by the circumstances which
induce or compel the youth to leave his home.
Others, more conventional, describe the condition
of the stranger in a foreign land, without mother,
wife, or sister to minister to his wants, or cheer
him in sickness or sorrow. In one of these, which
is entitled * The Last Farewell,' is depicted the
evil augury of excessive sorrow at a son's de-
parture : and in the following a husband thus
addresses his young wife : —

Now's the hour of my departure, yearns and fails my heart

o'erflowing ;
Shall I e'er return — who knoweth ? — To a stranger land

I'm going.
Hill and valley must I traverse, rocky wild and desert

dreary,
Where the timid game his haunt has, where the eagle builds

his eyrie.
Now has come the hour despairful, hour which tears me

from my home ;
Now has come the sentence fateful, which abroad doth

bid me roam !
Lassie like the gladsome dawning, gentle lassie, kind and true,
Burns my heart with bitter anguish, now I'm bidding

thee ' Adieu ' !

The benefits of education have never been
undervalued by the Greeks even in the darkest
period of their enslavement ; and the excellent
Greek schools at Salonica are by no means insti-

100 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

tutions of modern foundation, for it is to the
public-spirited munificence of a lady of the
sixteenth century that these schools chiefly owe
their origin. This was the K3Tia Kastrissio, a
native of loannina, the widow of a Greek of
Salonica, who, at her death, bequeathed the whole
of her large fortune to the schools of those two
cities. The memory of this munificent lady,
together with that of a later benefactor, Demetrius
Roggt)ti, is annually honoured with a Mnemosynon,
or Commemoration ceremony, by the Greek com-
munity of Salonica, when the chief families of the
city, together with all the officials, native and
foreign, are invited to the school examination held
on the occasion. It was always an interesting
ceremony, and I never failed to avail myself of the
kind invitation of the ' Ephors,' as the Managers
are termed. The ceremony began with the bring-
ing in of the Kolyva, or Funeral Dish of boiled
wheat, decorated on the top with designs in
coloured sugar, almonds and raisins, and other
dried fruits, of crosses, coffins, leaves and flowers,
monograms and inscriptions. A hymn was then
sung by the pupils, followed by a song, ' Rejoice
in Life,' which, though its words were translated
from German, was in spirit truly classic ; this
being followed by the * Ode to the Fatherland ' : —

Long as the universe shall last,
Long as the sphere shall circling roll,
Thy glory, O my Fatherland,
And name thv sons shall still extol !

THE BALKAN GREEKS 101

And after an eloquent discourse on the great
Macedonian philosopher, Aristotle, delivered by
the Director of the Schools, questions were put on
a variety of subjects, and answered with great
intelligence and readiness by the Macedonian
maidens, who also read passages from Homer and
iEschylos with the soft, musical pronunciation
which only modern Hellenes know how to give to
the tongue of the ancient Greeks.

The women belonging to the remarkable little
aristocratic community known by the name of
' Phanariots ' are worthy of special mention. These
survivors of the noble Greek families of Byzantium
take their distinctive name from the locality
called the Fanar, or * Beacon,' allotted to them by
Sultan Mohammed H at the conquest of Con-
stantinople. At the present day they are repre-
sented among others by the well-known names of
Ypsilante, Karat heodory, Mavrogordatos, Mav-
royenni, and Karadjas. The daughters of these
ancient houses have long been as distinguished for
the elegance of their appearance and manners as
for their culture and accomplishments, and to
many the language of Homer, Pindar, and the
tragic poets is as familiar as the vernacular. Some
of these able women, organized in societies, also
devote much of their time to the management of
schools, and to the supervision of hospitals and
asylums.

A

CHAPTER VI

GREEK FAMILY CEREMONIES

GOODLY number of pagan beliefs and
practices may still be found among the
Greek populace generally, urban as well
as rural, these remnants of an ancient cult lingering
especially round such fateful domestic events as
birth, marriage and death. In Southern Mace-
donia the arrival of a ' little stranger ' is awaited
in solemn silence by the mamme — as the Greek
midwife is termed — and a group of elderly rela-
tives, whose presence and prayers keep away
* all things harmful.' As soon as the glad news
of the baby's arrival has been circulated all the
members of the family and household flock into
the sick chamber to offer their congratulations,
which are addressed to the unconscious infant as
well as to the happy mother. Both parent and
child must now be carefully watched over, and
are never left alone, as the Nereids of the fountains
and springs are sure to be hovering near a house
in which a birth has recently taken place, on the
look-out for an opportunity of exchanging one of
their own fractious offspring for a mortal babe ;
and during the next forty days the house-door

GREEK FAMILY CEREMONIES 103

is kept closely shut between sunset and sunrise,
lest perchance one of these greatly dreaded
Beings should find her way into the dwelling.

On the third day the mother leaves her bed
round which she walks in a stream of water,
poured by the mamme from a jar in her path.
The meaning of this custom is not very clear.
Taken in connection, however, with the other
superstitious rites, and also with the similar
custom observed on wedding-days, it would
appear rather to be either a libation to the earth,
or a tribute to the elemental deities. The Fates,
who are expected to arrive during the coming night
to decide the infant's future, must also be pro-
pitiated. If the new-born babe is a boy, coins of
gold and silver, a sword, and a cake of bread are
placed beneath its pillow to remind the ' Dealers
out of Destinies ' that fortune, valour, and
abundance are the best gifts ; if it is a girl, a
distaff or spindle is substituted for the sword.

A Greek christening generally takes place before
the infant is a week old, and is made the occasion
of much display. The groomsman and first brides-
maid who have officiated at the wedding of the
parents now become sponsors for the children
under the names of Nond and Nona, and synte-
knoi^ to their father and mother. For, among
members of the Greek Church, the terms ' god-
father ' and * godmother ' are by no means the

^ i.e. God-sib, or ' Gossip.'

104 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

empty titles into which they have degenerated
with us ; the responsibihties undertaken by
baptismal sponsors are religiously fulfilled, and
they are treated by their godchildren with an
affectionate respect little less than that shown to
their parents according to the flesh. The children
of both families are considered brothers and
sisters, and a conventional relationship is created
which forms as complete a bar to intermarriage
as the closest consanguinity. A man could not,
for instance, wed a widow if he had acted as ' best
man ' at her wedding or stood sponsor to her
children at the baptismal font, and a Greek would
as soon think of marrying his own sister as the
daughter of his Nono. In some localities it has
indeed become difficult for young people, and more
especially those of the better classes, to find spouses,
so closely are their families already connected by
intermarriages and conventional relationships.

The expenses of the christening are borne by
the Nono, who pays the priest's fees, buys the
baptismal robe, and furnishes the customary
refreshments of liqueurs, bonbons, etc. As the
Greek Church prides itself — and not without
reason — on keeping up primitive forms more
strictl}^ than even the Roman Catholic, baptism
is performed, not by any conventional sprinkling,
but by trine immersion. The baby, carried by the
mamme and escorted by a long irregular procession
of sponsors, relatives and friends, is met at the

GREEK FAMILY CEREMONIES 105

church door by the officiating priest, when the
Nona, taking it from the nurse, holds his godchild
in his arms while the preliminary prayers, to
which he makes the usual responses, are read.
He then delivers the infant to the papas who,
turning to the East, makes with its little body
the sign of the Cross. The party then enter the
church and while the preparations for the sacred
rite are being completed the candidate is laid,
according to its sex, before an eikon of Christ or
the Virgin. When all is ready the naked child is
handed to the priest who dips it three times in the
font to the water of which has been added a few
drops of * holy oil.' Three tiny locks of hair are
then cut from the baby's head and thrown into
the font ' in the Name of the Father, Son and
Holy Ghost.' This dedication of hair was, no
doubt, originally an offering to the elementary
spirits, the water from the font being emptied
into a pit or well under the floor of the church.^

Then follows the * Confirmation ' of the infant,
which consists in anointing the head and certain
parts of the body with consecrated oil. After being
dressed it is carried three times round the font,
prayers being meanwhile intoned, and then taken
before the Holy Gates, where it receives the

1 This supposition, though questioned when first advanced some
years ago, has been more than confirmed by Mr. Paton in his paper
on 'The Holy Names of the Eleusinian Mysteries,' published in
the Proceedings of the International Folklore Congress of 1891.

106 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

Eucharist in both kinds, administered, according
to the practice of the Eastern Church, in a spoon.
The christening party then return to the baby's
home to congratulate the mother and partake of
the customary refreshments, each guest receiving
on taking leave a tiny cross attached to a white
rosette as a souvenir of the happy event.

Marriage being looked forward to as a matter
of course, the preparation of a girl's trousseau is
often, especially among the working and peasant
classes, begun by the careful mother while her
daughter is still a child. The daughter of a well-
to-do peasant will receive as her portion a sum
ranging from £30 to £100, a good stock of house-
linen and home-made carpets and rugs, several
articles of furniture, and two or three outfits of
clothing, including a gala costume for Sundays
and holidays. This varies according to locality.
In Lower Macedonia a full skirt and short-waisted
bodice are worn over a long gown of native linen
crepe, this costume in some districts not being
considered complete without a brightly coloured
apron, thickly embroidered on the lower edge,
and a belt or girdle. For out-of-door wear a jacket
is added, fitting tightly to the figure, and reaching
below the knees. This is usually of fine cloth,
ornamented round the borders and sleeves with
gold thread or coloured silks, and is invariably
lined with fur. Among the middle classes of the

GREEK FAMILY CEREMONIES 107

towns from £300 to £500 is the average dowry,
and the trousseau will be for the most part of
European fashion and materials. As a portionless
girl, however comely, has little chance of finding
a husband, a Greek father will, consequently,
make it his first duty to save a dot for his daughters ;
and brothers, in a father's place, consider it in-
cumbent on them to see their sisters satisfactorily
settled in life before taking wives themselves.
Social opinion is very strong on this point among
the Greeks, with whom fraternal affection is
apparently allowed to cover a multitude of sins.
In the matter of marriage, national etiquette
decrees that the principals should ostensibly take
no part in the preliminary arrangements, which
are carried out by the parents of the contracting
parties with the help of a professional female go-
between, known as the proxenetra. This agent is
commissioned by the parents of a marriageable
girl to find a suitable husband for her ; or, it may
be, to open negotiations with the parents of a
young man whom they have themselves selected
among the eligible partis of their acquaintance.
When all the preliminary negotiations have been
arranged to the satisfaction of the two contract-
ing famihes, and the go-between arrives to inform
the maiden's parents that the other party are
satisfied with the amount of her dowry, a stick of
cinnamon is produced and broken between the
girl's mother and the proxenetra, who consume in

108 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

silence this symbolic spice. The amount of dowry
the maiden will bring is then formally agreed
upon in the presence of witnesses, and the
first of the three betrothals is concluded. As
soon as it is made public, the accepted suitor
accompanied by his relatives pays a ceremonial
visit to the family of his future wife. The party
are received with great formality, the maiden
standing in a posture of affected humility and
modesty, with hands crossed on her breast and
downcast eyes, to receive the felicitations of the
visitors, a custom which has given rise to the
Greek saying, ' as affected as a bride.' When all
the customary compliments have been inter-
changed, the inevitable glyco — preserves served
with glasses of cold water — is handed round,
followed after an interval by coffee and cigarettes,
and the party then take their leave. The be-
trothed maiden accompanies them to the head of
the staircase, kisses the hands of her future spouse
and his relatives and receives from them in return
a gift of gold coins and a bunch of the symbohc
sweet basil.

Some of the most interesting old customs in
connection with the marriage ceremony may still
be found lingering in Southern Macedonia, and
especially at, and in the neighbourhood of, its
ancient capital, Edessa — now called by the Slav
name of Vodhena, ' the Waters,' from its magni-
ficent cascades. Here a week or more is devoted

GREEK FAMILY CEREMONIES 109

to the preparatory nuptial observances and festivi-
ties. On the Sunday, a copy of the marriage
contract is formally delivered at the house of the
bridegroom, who sends in return a present to the
bride, consisting of sugar-plums, henna, rouge,
soap, etc., and a large jar of wine for her parents.
On Monday, the maiden friends of the bride arrive
to assist her in sifting and otherwise preparing the
grain, which they subsequently carry to the mill.
On the morning of Wednesday, they again assemble
to fetch home the fiour, and in the evening a
number of female relatives and friends come in to
help in the making of the wedding-cakes. The
long wooden kneading trough is brought in and
filled with the yellow flour. A boy, armed with a
sword, seats himself at one extremity, and at the
other is placed a little girl, who, as she pretends
to mix the dough with her tiny hands, hides in it
the wedding-ring and some coins. Bright and
joyful must the lives of these little ones have been,
and unclouded by any family bereavement. The
boy with his weapon evidently signifies that the
husband is the natural guardian of the home, and
the kneading girl that domestic duties are woman's
sphere. The bread-making is then performed in
earnest by experienced hands amid songs and
laughter — for these occasions are red-letter days
in the monotonous lives of the Greek women of
the interior — and then left till the morrow to
* rise.'

110 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

On Thursday the kncadcrs again assemble and
divide the dough into portions, each girl and
woman searching in her portion for the ring and
coins, the bridegroom being in honour bound to
redeem the ring with a present from the one who
has been lucky enough to find it. The dough is
then returned to the kneading-trough, and made
into a variety of cakes, among them a large one,
called the propkasto. On the afternoon of Thurs-
day, the bridegroom arrives with his bachelor
friends ; the propkasto is placed over a bowl of
water, and round it the assembled youths and
maidens dance three times, singing the ' Song of
the Wedding Cake.' The cake is then broken into
small pieces, which arc showered over the heads of
the young couple, interspersed with figs and other
fruits, for which the children delightedly scramble.

On Friday, the bride and bridegroom exchange
presents. The bearers of the bridegroom's gifts
set out, preceded by music, for the abode of the
bride, who awaits their arrival with eager expecta-
tion. The envoys, after having been warmly
welcomed, thanked, and refreshed with wine and
special nuptial viands, are in turn entrusted with
the bride's presents to her betrothed, these being
carefully wrapped in embroidered hoktchas, or
bundle wraps, tied up with strands of tinsel thread.
If the bridegroom's home is in the same neighbour-
hood as that of the bride, parties of the near
relatives of the couple go from house to house

GREEK FAMILY CEREMONIES 111

bearing invitations to all the guests who are to
take part in the festivities of that evening and the
following day, a ceremony also extended to the
happy pair, who invite one another. The koum-
baros and koumbara, groomsman and head brides-
maid, are the last called upon, and, accompanied
by the band, proceed to the house of rejoicing.
Music, dancing and feasting occupy the time until
the evening, when the maidens carry off the bride
to perform part of her toilette for the morrow.
After washing, perfuming, and perhaps dyeing
her long hair, they plait it in a multitude of long
braids, amid jokes and merry laughter, one after
another bursting into hymeneal song of a highly
complimentary character, such as the following : —

Dress thee, and busk thee, winsome one,

Dress thee, and busk thee, lassie!
That to the bridegroom thou appe ar

As flowery field and garden !
The nightingales all envy thee,

They fly in flocks before thee,
Singing and saying in their song,

' Joy we all in thy beauty ! '
So brightly shine the golden locks

Rippling upon thy shoulders ;
Angels have surely combed them out.

With combs of silver smoothed them.

Or this :—

Thou didst but sit upon the chair,
When, lo ! its wood, all hfeless.

Thy beauty quickened into leaf.
And flushed all o'er with blossom.

112 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

The very deer made holiday

The day thy mother bore thee !
For dowry the Apostles twche

Bestowed on thee thy beauty.
Of all the stars of heaven so bright,

One only thee resembles,
The star that shines at early dawn

When sweet the morn is breaking.
From out of hea\'en the Angels came

The Saviour's orders bearing ;
The brightest radiance of the sun

They brought thee on descending.
Thou hast the hair of Absalom,

The comeliness of Joseph ;
He'll lucky be and prosperous,

The }outh who thee shall marr}'.
Hail to the bridegroom's mother dear.

Hail to the bride's new mother !
Who such a noble son has borne.

Fit mate for such a maiden !
What proxenelra made the match.

Who cinnamon has eaten, ^
\\'hen such a partridge was betrothed,

And pledged to such an eagle ?

The bridegroom has, in the meantime, been con-
ducted by his friends to another room, where the
local barber proceeds to shave him carefully, a
considerable time being devoted to the operation,
as is usual in the East, this ceremony being also
enlivened with music and complimentary songs.

As there are ' lucky ' and ' unlucky ' days for
every incident of domestic life, Sunday is con-
sidered the most propitious for the termination

^ Alluding to the little ceremony described on pp. 107-8.

GREEK FAMILY CEREMONIES 113

of the wedding festivities. On the morning of this

day, accordingly, friends and relatives assemble

at the house of the bridegroom, embrace and

congratulate him on the auspicious event, and

escort him to the home of the bride. As they

leave the house, his mother, in accordance with

ancient custom, pours a libation of water before

him at the gate, and lays across his path a girdle,

over which he steps. If the parties are well-to-do,

or the distance is long, he may ride to the

ceremony ; but most frequently the procession

takes its way on foot, calling on the way for the

koumbdros and koumbdra, and singing as they

go:—

Set out, my tree, start gaily,
Set out, set out, my cypress.
Set forth to seek the poplar.
With long and slender branches.
Beside thee shalt thou plant it,
And tenderly bedew it ;
And when the breezes bend thee,
Thou'lt stoop, and kiss it sweetly !

Arrived at the home of the bride, the ceremony
commences with the exchange of the documents
containing the marriage contracts, which are
presented by the priest to the respective parents
of the bride and bridegroom. The amount of the
dowry is then paid in cash to the bridegroom,
some of whose friends convey it forthwith to
his residence, and the second betrothal, a cere-
mony similar to that observed in classical times,
8

114 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

takes place, the father of the bride, or, faihng him,
her nearest male relative, offering to the corre-
sponding relative of the bridegroom some sweet
basil on a plate, thrice repeating the words :
' Accept the betrothal of my daughter to your
son ! ' When the same ceremony has been per-
formed by the bridegroom's nearest of kin, a male
relative of the bride — who has not previously made
his appearance — presents on her part to her future
spouse a glass of wine, a konhi/ra, or ring-shaped
cake, and a spoon. After drinking the wine, he
drops some coins into the glass for the bride, eats
half the cake, and gives the remainder, with the
spoon, into the keeping of the koumhdros. Another
envoy from the bride then comes up to gird the
bridegroom, and while doing this he essays to lift
him from the ground, the happy man resisting to
the best of his ability. And now the bride, garbed
in all her wedding finery, her rouged and spangled
cheeks partl}^ hidden by a gauze veil, over which
hang long streamers of tinsel thread, is led in to be
shod by the best man with the embroidered slippers
provided by her bridegroom. Conducted to the
courtyard gate, she steps over the threshold into
the street across a libation of water poured before
her by her mother, wedding marches and hymeneal
songs enlivening the procession as it takes its way
in leisurely fashion to the church. The bridal pair,
carrying tapers decorated with flowers and knots
of white ribbon, take their places before the Holy

GREEK FAMILY CEREMONIES 115

Table, the bride standing to the left of the bride-
groom, and the third arrhavon is now performed by
the priest. When the first part of the ritual has
been read, the papas makes the sign of the Cross
three times with the rings over the heads of the
couple, and then places them on their respective
hands, saying, ' Give thy troth, servant of God
(adding the man's name), to the servant of God
(adding the woman's name), in the name of the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.' The
priest then takes the wedding wreaths — construc-
tions of white artificial flowers and ribbons — from
the hand of the kotimbdros — and places them on
the heads of the bride and bridegroom with the
words, ' Crown thyself, servant of God,' etc.,
as above. The groomsman, standing behind the
couple, changes the wreaths three times, while the
priest repeats these words. The bride, bride-
groom, and koumbdros then drink from a glass of
wine which has been blessed by the papas ; and
the pair, holding each other's hands, are led
three times round the Holy Table, the best man
following, with his hands on the * crowns.' The
remainder of the liturgy chanted — with nasal in-
tonation, and many repetitions of Kyrie eleison —
the priest removes first the wreath of the bride-
groom, and then that of the bride, pronouncing
at the same time a blessing upon them in scriptural
language.

The koumbdros having set the example by kissing

116 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

the bride and bridegroom, the assembled friends
now crowd round to offer their felicitations. On
the return of the procession to the bride's home,
her mother places a loaf on the heads of the newly
wedded pair, while comfits are showered over them
by the rest of the company. The bridal feast
follows, and is prolonged until it is time for tlie
departure of the wedded couple. After drinking
healths the glasses are thrown away over the
shoulder, and if they do not break it is considered
a bad omen. And then comes the farewell to the
paternal home, which is expressed in many a
touching folk-song, sung while the bride is weeping
in her mother's arms : —

Fare thee well, father dear, farewell !

Good-bye, my sweet kind mother,
Fare ye well, loving brothers all !

And you, my friends and kinsfolk !
For to my mother-in-law's I go,

To my new home I'm going ;
And letters there I'm going to learn,

To write down all my treasures.
Farewell ! adieu ! my neighbours all,

And you my neighbours' daughters,
For to my mother-in-law's I go, etc.

As the bride leaves the house, a loaf is divided,
one-half of which she takes with her to her new
home. The guests now escort the pair to the
village green, where the bride and bridegroom will
open the dance. As they go, they sing : —

To-day the heavens are decked in white,
This is the day right gladsome ;

GREEK FAMILY CEREMONIES 117

To-day we have in marriage joined

An eagle and a partridge ;
A little spotted partridge here

Has come to us a stranger ;
Her little claws are coloured red.

And finely marked her feathers.
She in her claws has water ta'en.

And oil upon her feathers,
That she may wash her ladyship,

That she may preen her beauty.
To-day it is a worthy day,

With sequins in its pocket ;
For we two birds have wedded now,

And we a pair have made them.

Fierce shone the sun, and down swooped an eagle,
Seized he a birdling, far off with her flew ;

White-skinned and lovely was she, yea, and black-eyed.
Tiny as partridge that crouches in dew.

The syrtbs danced, the procession re-forms, and
the happy pair are conducted with songs and
music to the paternal roof of the bridegroom.
Some of the songs sung on this occasion are in
dialogue form, and, like the foregoing, which
comes from loannina, express the bride's regret
at leaving the home of her youth : —

' O wand'ring nightingale, and exiled birdie,

Where wert yestre'en, and where wilt be this even ? *

' Ah, yesternight I slept all safely with my parents, i

Now father-in-law's and husband's roof must shield me j

Yea, 'neath my husband's roof shall I abide at even ! '

' O wand'ring nightingale, O exiled swallow.

Why art thou now so sad? Why is thy face o'erclouded?

Behold thy bridegroomtdear, how he upon thee gazes !

See how for joy he leaps and with his eyes devours thee ! '

118 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

Red and white cherry' on a branch, in newly planted orchard,

She hangs like tassel on the horse, like saddle rayed with
sunshine.

Happy will be he who may kiss the winter and the summer ;

The summer rosy red who'll kiss, who'll kiss the winter snow-
white !

When the party approach their destination,
the bridegroom's mother is thus addressed : —

Dame and mother-in-law, forth come.
Welcome now the partridge home !
Take the bird to your abode,
Lightly trips she o'er the road.

Receive her now,

Receive her now.
Both sun and moon command thee now !

O see her as she walks along,
She's like an angel 'mid the throng !
O rise, go forth and thou shalt see
Both sun and moon appear to thee !

Dame and mother-in-law, forth come,
Welcome now the }>artridge home !
Within the cage thou her must bring,
As nightingale to thee she'll sing !

On the following morning, friends assemble
before the house to greet the young couple with
songs and music. The koumbdros arrives to break-
fast, bringing with him the half cake and the spoon
\:onfided to his care on the preceding day. The
bride uses the spoon in commencing her meal, and
eats the cake. The meal concluded, she proceeds,
accompanied by the women and girls who have
serenaded her,to the well from which her husband's
family draw their supply of water, in order to

GREEK FAMILY CEREMONIES 119

perform the ceremony, observed from time im-
memorial, of propitiating the Nereid of the
spring or well with the gift of a coin dropped
into it from her lips. She then draws a pailful of
water and pours it into one of those classically
shaped earthern jars still in common use in
Eastern lands, which she carries home on her
shoulder. On entering the house, the bride pours
some of the water over the hands of her husband,
and presents him with a towel on which to dry
them, receiving in return a little present. Feasting
and dancing occupy the rest of the day, after
which the young wife settles down quietly m her
new home, reheving her mother-in-law of many
of the household duties.

On the following Friday, however, the bride,
accompanied by her husband, returns to spend
twenty-four hours under the paternal roof, and
pays her mother another visit on the subsequent
Wednesday, when she takes with her a bottle of
the native spirit called raki, or mastic, bringing
back with her an equal quantity from the family
store The nuptial observances are finally termi-
nated three days later by a feast given by the
bride's father to all the relatives of the couple.

The ceremonies observed by the Greeks in
connection with death and burial are almost
everywhere identical, and include many archaic
customs and time-honoured traditions curiously
associated with the rites of the Eastern Church.

120 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

After the first burst of natural grief is ex-
hausted, the body is left to the ministrations
of the * washers of the dead.' The customary
ablutions performed, the corpse is anointed with
oil and wine, and sprinkled with earth. A clean
mattress and bed-linen are spread on a long table,
and the dead person, dressed in his holiday
garments, is laid out on it, with his feet pointing
towards the door and his hands crossed on his
breast. The bier is decked with fresh flowers and
green branches, and three large wax tapers,
ranged at the foot, are kept burning the night
through. The female relatives of the deceased, with
dishevelled hair and disordered dress, now enter
the death chamber to perform the duty of watchers.
Seated round the room on the floor, they take it
in turn to chant dirges for the departed, lamenting
his loss, extolling his virtues, and, in some cases,
describing the cause of his death. Greek women
have in all times played a conspicuous part in
funeral observances, and from the days of Anti-
gone onward the fulfilment of the rites of sepulture
has been observed by them as one of their most
sacred duties. Homer describes how Andromache
chanted a dirge to her dead husband and her son
Astyanax, how the mother and sister-in-law took
up the lament, the burden of which was repeated
by a chorus of other women, and at the present
day similar scenes may be witnessed in many a
Greek home on the death of one of its inmates.

GREEK FAMILY CEREMONIES 121

These myriologia are essentially pagan in senti-
ment ; they contain no assurance that the dead
are in a state of bliss, and no hope of a happy
meeting in Paradise, the lost ones being usually
mourned as carried off by the vindictive and
remorseless Charon from home and friends and all
the joys and pursuits of the upper cosmos to his
dreary realm of Hades. This * lower world ' is
often in folk fancy pictured as a tent, green or red
outside but black within, under which are held
dismal banquets on the bodies of the dead.
Charon goes out hunting on his black horse, and
returns laden with human spoil of both sexes
and all ages :

The young men he before him drives, and drags the old

behind hin^i,
While ranged upon the saddle sit with him the young and

lovely.

Crudely expressed though they often are in the
mixed and ill-pronounced dialects of the various
localities to which they belong, these death-ballads
are by no means devoid of finely imaginative and
poetic ideas. Many are, no doubt, of considerable
antiquity, and have been transmitted as heirlooms
from mother to daughter through countless
generations. Every woman knows by heart a
considerable number, suited to all occasions ; and
if these are found insufficient to express the over-
wrought feelings of a bereaved mother, daughter,
wife, or sister, her grief will find vent in an im-

122 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

proviscd myriologos, less measured and rhythmical
perhaps, than the conventional dirge, but equall}
marked by touching pathos and poetic imagery
The following are a few representative pieces ir
the metre and rhythm of the originals, which ma}
give some idea of the style of lamentation usee
on these occasions.

Dirge for a Father

Now sit around iiie, children mine, and let us see who's

absent :
The glory of the house has gone, the family's sujjporter,
Who to the house a banner was, and in the church a lantern
The banner's staff is broke in twain, the lantern is extin-
guished !

Why stand ye, orphaned children there, like wayfarers and

strangers ?
Why from your lips conies forth no wail like nightingale's sad

singing ?
Your eyes, why weep they not amain, and stream like flowing

rivers ? —
Your tears should s|)read as spreads a mere, should flow a

cooling fountain,
To bathe the weary traveller, and give the thirsty water !

Dirge for a House-Mistress

What is this noise falls on our ears, and what is this loud

tumult ? —
Say, can it for a wedding be, or is it for a feast-day ?
The goodwife now is setting forth, to Hades she's departing ;
She hangs her ke3'S upon the wall, and sets her house in order,
A yellow taper in her hand. The mourners chant sad dirges ;
And all the neighbours gather around, all those whom death

has stricken.

GREEK FAMILY CEREMONIES 123

Whoso would now a message send, a letter let him give her.
She who a son unarmed mourns, now let her send his weapons :
Write, mothers, to your children dear, and ye, wives, to your

husbands,
Your bitter grief, your suffering, and all your weight of sorrow !

Dirge for a Daughter

' O tell me, tell me, daughter mine, how long shall I await
thee ?—

Say, six months shall I wait for thee, or in a year expect thee ?

Six months — it is a weary time ; a year — it is unending ! '

' My mother, were it but six months, or were it but a twelve-
month—

Then would the evil be but small, the time would fly full
quickly.

Now will I tell thee, mother mine, when to expect my coming :

When thou shalt see the ocean dry, and in its bed a garden ;

When thou shalt see a dead tree sprout, and put forth leaves
and branches ;

When thou shalt see the raven black, white-feathered like a
pigeon ! '

The interment usually takes place on the day
after the death. The invited guests assemble at
the house of mourning, bringing with them flowers
to lay on the occupant of the coffin. In some
localities the coin to pay his passage across the
Styx — the ndvlon for Charon — is still, as in
classical times, placed between the lips of the
corpse. In others the coin is placed in the hand,
or a fragment of tile on which the priest has
drawn the mystic sign of the pentacle and the
words ' Christ has conquered ' is placed on the
mouth of the dead, in order to prevent his
returning to earth as a vampire. Wine and

124 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

funeral cakes are then handed round, and the
company, as they partake of these funeral cakes,
murmur reverentially, ' God rest him ! ' After
the preliminary prayers have been offered, the
corpse is taken up by the bearers, and the pro-
cession follows it to the church. In front walk
the priests, carrying crosses and chanting the
prayers for the dead ; behinrl them are the chief
mourners on either side of the open coffin, holding
the ends of black streamers attached to it. In
some inland towns the relatives continue to chant
myriologia all the way to church, and afterwards
to the burial ground. On arriving at the church
the body is placed on a bier in the nave and the
funeral Mass follows. The relatives are then
invited to give the deceased the farewell kiss, and
the procession sets out for the cemetery. Anived
here, the coffin is placed by the side of the grave,
the concluding prayers are offered, and the lid is
then nailed down. \Vlien the body has been
lowered into the grave, the priest throws on the
coffin a spadeful of earth in the form of a cross,
and then hands the spade to the relatives, who do
the same in turn, saying * God rest his soul,' or
simply, 'God rest him.' The grave is then
filled up, and the funeral party return to the house
of sorrow, where, after performing a ceremonial
ablution, they sit down to a repast at which fish,
eggs, and vegetables alone are served. The house
must not be swept for three days after the dead

GREEK FAMILY CEREMONIES 125

has been carried out of it, and the broom used on
this occasion is immediately afterwards burnt.

The mourning worn by Greeks of both sexes is
of a most austere character. Ornaments are
rigidly set aside, and all articles of dress are of the
plainest black materials, cotton or woollen, and
made in the simplest fashion possible. In some
districts the Greeks, on the death of a near
relative, send all their wardrobes, not excepting
underlinen and pocket-handkerchiefs, to the dyers,
the result, as may be supposed, being funereal in
the extreme. Women, too, frequently cut off
their hair at the death of their husbands and bury
it with them ; men, on the other hand, allow their
beards to grow as a sign of sorrow. Mourning is
also worn for a considerable period. Girls, after
their fathers' death, usually retain it until they
marry, and widows and elderly women as their
permanent attire. For in many country districts
custom does not allow a widow to enter a second
time into wedlock, and one who ventured thus to
violate public opinion would receive but scant re-
spect from her neighbours for the rest of her days.

On the eve of the third, the ninth, the twentieth,
and the fortieth days after burial, Masses are per-
formed for the soul of the departed. These func-
tions are termed kolyva ; and on the fortieth
kolyva two sacks of flour are converted into bread,
a loaf of which is sent to each family of friends by
way of invitation to the commemoration service to

126 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

be held in tlie church. One of the large circular
copper trays used for baking, which are surrounded
by a rim about two inches high, is filled with
boiled wheat, ornamented, as already described,^
with elaborate patterns in almonds and raisins,
sesame seeds, cinnamon, sugar-plums, sprigs of
sweet basil, etc., and, accompanied by a bottle of
wine for the priests, sent to the church to be
blessed. The kolyva is said to be symbolical of the
death and rebirth of Nature, like the myth of
Demeter and her daughter ; and also to typify,
according to the Christian doctrine, that man is
* sown in corruption, and raised in incorruption.'
When the company have assembled each person
present takes a handful of the kolyva, with the
words : * God rest him,' and in silence consumes
his portion of this funcTal dish. On the following
day the ceremony is repeated ; and after eating
a frugal meal together, the mourners and their
friends proceed to the cemetery, accompanied by
the priest, to erect a tombstone over the grave.
The poor of the neighbourhood are in the evening
regaled with a supper, during which their good
wishes for the welfare of the soul of the departed
are repeatedly expressed, the plates and other
articles of pottery used at these funeral feasts
being afterwards broken and left at the grave.

During the forty days following, tapers are kept
burning in the house, and, on the fortieth, the

^ Page loo.

GREEK FAMILY CEREMONIES 127

genealogy of the deceased is read before the
assembled company, prayers being offered for the
repose of the souls of all his ancestors. These
ceremonies are repeated at intervals during the
space of three years, at the expiration of which
the grave is opened, and the body exhumed. If
it is found to be sufficiently decomposed, the bones
are collected in a linen cloth, and conveyed in a
basket, adorned with flowers, to the church,
where they remain for nine days. The relatives
visit the remains every evening, taking with them
more kolyva, and, if the deceased has been a
person of some standing in the neighbourhood,
twelve priests and a bishop take part in the solemn
Mass performed on the ninth day. The bones are
then either put in a box and replaced in the grave,
or added to the other ghastly heaps in the charnel-
house of the church.

If the body is not found at the end of the three
years to be satisfactorily decomposed, grave fears
are entertained that the spirit is not at rest, and
has not entirely abandoned the body. The most
terrible curse that can be pronounced against a
Greek is couched in the words : * May the earth
not eat you ! ' For, if this curse take effect, the
object of it will after death, it is believed, become
that most dreaded of all spectres, a vampire. In
order, therefore, to induce the body to ' dissolve,'
the same ceremonies and prayers are repeated
during another three years.

CHAPTER VII

GREEK BELIEFS AND SUPERSTITIONS

THE essential points in which the Orthodox
Greek differs from the Roman Catholic
Church are : (i) the Holy Ghost being
held to proceed from the Father only ; (2) the
administration of the Eucharist in both kinds to
the laity ; and (3) the substitution of pictures for
images of the Virgin and Saints. Celibacy is
required of the higher clergy, but not of the papas
or secular priests, though they are forbidden to
contract a second marriage. The former are
drawn chiefly from the better classes, and in their
capacities of Bishops and Archbishops wield a
temporal as well as a spiritual authority over their
flocks, the Ottoman Government having never
interfered in the internal affairs of its Christian
subjects, which are regulated in each diocese by a
council of the chief inhabitants, presided over by
the Bishop or Archbishop. These Primates also
act as intermediaries between the Cliristians and
Turkish civil authorities when they have any
disagreement with Moslems.

Regular attendance at the services of the Greek
Church is not required of women, especially before

128

BELIEFS AND SUPERSTITIONS 129

marriage. Girls, as a rule, go to Mass only on
great festivals and special occasions, when they
sit — or rather stand, for seats are almost unknown
in Eastern churches — apart from the men in a
gallery called the gynaikonitis, which extends to the
hema, or chancel, and is approached by an external
staircase. It is recorded that St. Basil, having
once detected a woman making signs to the
officiating assistant-deacon during the celebration
of the Mass, made it a rule that the eastern-
most part of the gynaikonitis should be fitted with
a curtain. The elderly women are the most
assiduous church-goers, as they are less occupied
with household duties, and their frequent appear-
ance out of doors is not calculated to give rise to
gossip. The churches are, however, open on week-
days, and the younger women may then frequently
be seen making their obeisances before the * Holy
Gates,' or lighting a taper in honour of an eikon
of the Virgin-Mother or a favourite saint. Greek
women and girls are also the most scrupulous
observers of all the formulas prescribed by the
Church and by custom with respect to fasts and
feasts and the events of the ecclesiastical year
generally. Like the Roman Catholics, they make
the sign of the Cross before and after meals, and
before their morning and evening prayers, which
they repeat standing before the picture of the
Panaghia, the * All Holy ' Virgin Mother, which
is always illuminated by a tiny lamp.

9

130 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

Although Greek monasteries arc to be found in
every part of the Empire inhabited by members
of the Orthodox Church, testifying to the popu-
larity among men of a conventual life — at least
in the past — few nunneries exist at the present
day, and the number of inmates in those which
still survive is very small. A cloistered life natur-
ally offers but few attractions to women with whom
marriage is the rule, and in whom family sentiment
is so strongly developed. The nuns, who are
popularly termed kaloyerai — * good old women,'
are generally elderly and childless widows, or
plain and portionless spinsters who, being without
family ties or means of support, are glad of the
asylum offered by the nunneries. The com-
munities are, as a rule, very small, consisting
sometimes of not more than six members, and the
discipline is by no means very strict. The morals
of the nuns generally at the present day would
seem to be fairly good — so far, at least, as I have
been able to ascertain. If, however, folk-poesy is
any authority, this does not appear always to
have been the case, for the humorous songs and
stories of the Greeks contain, perhaps, as many
allusions to the shortcomings of the ' good old
women ' as they do to those of the ' good old
men.'

The Greek year may be said, roughly speaking,
to be divided pretty equally between fast days and
feast days, both being observed with equal fidelity.

BELIEFS AND SUPERSTITIONS 131

The long and frequent periods of abstinence
ordained by the Church are indeed most rigorously
kept, it being, apparently, accounted a greater sin
to eat of forbidden food than to break one of the
Ten Commandments. The women and girls of
the lower orders especially often incapacitate
themselves for work during Lent by living ex-
clusively on bread and vegetables ; and to house-
wives in the Levant this period and the subsequent
Easter feasting are a yearly trial, as all the native
servants are more or less unfit for their duties.
Even when seriously ill, no nourishing food will be
taken, the patient deeming it * better to fast and
die than to eat and sin.' For no ' indulgences '
are granted by the clergy in this respect, though,
if representations are made to them by a doctor,
they will promise absolution to the sufferer for
infringing the commands of the Church.

Besides Lent, there are three other great fasts —
that of the Holy Apostles, which begins a week
after Pentecost and terminates on the 29th of
June ; that preparatory to the Feast of the
Assumption, from the ist to the 15th of August,
when women and girls abstain even from oil ; and
the forty days of Advent ; while Wednesdays and
Fridays are, all the year round, days of abstinence.
All sorts of strange beliefs and odd customs are
found connected with these fasts and festivals,
the origin and meaning of many of which it is
impossible to discover ; the usual reply received

132 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

to inquiries being merely : ' Eh — wc have it so,'
accompanied by a shrug of the shoulders, indi-
cating the superior position and privileges of the
Orthodox.

In common with all the other Eastern Christians
the Greeks adhere to the Old or Julian Calendar,
and their year begins twelve days later than ours.
The 1st of January is dedicated to St. Basil, who,
in common with St. George, appears to have been
a native of Caesarea — or, as it is locally called,
Kaisariyeh, in Cappadocia ; and on this day,
children go from house to house singing odes in
honour of the Saint, which invariably conclude
with some complimentary lines to the occupants,
wishing them * a good year,' and requesting
largesse. St. Basil is always described in these
songs as a schoolboy, whose touch quickens
inanimate objects into renewed life : —

The month's first day, the year's first day, the first of January,

The circumcision day of Christ, the feast-day of St. Basil !

St. Basil, see, is coming here, from Cajjpadocia coming ;

A paper in his hands he holds, and carries pen and ink-
horn.

With pen and inkhorn dotli he write, and reads he from the
paper.

' Say, Basil, say, whence comest thou, and whither art thou
wending ? '

' I from my home have now come forth, and I to school am
going.'

' Sit down and eat, sit down and drink, sit down and sing
thou for us ! '

' 'Tis only letters that I learn, of singing I know nothing.'

BELIEFS AND SUPERSTITIONS 133

' O, then, if you your letters know, say us your Alpha,

Beta I '
He leant him there upon his staff, to say his Alpha, Beta ;
And though the staff was dry and dead, it put forth freshest

branches.
And on the topmost branch of all there perched and sang a

partridge.

The Eve of Epiphany is in some locahties
observed by the Greeks as a Day of the Dead ; and,
according to popular beUef, a stream of gold is
to be found in running water during a few minutes
of this night. The country people accordingly
hasten about midnight with their pitchers to the
fountains and brooks, in order to catch, if possible,
some of the precious fluid. Another superstition
says that the plants bend their stems, and the
trees bow their summits in adoration of Jesus
Christ, on this Eve of the ' Feast of the Lights.'
Popular tradition relates that a certain pious poor
woman witnessed this miracle several times ; and
one night she succeeded in tying her kerchief to
the topmost branch of a tall poplar at the
moment the tree was making its obeisance. Next
day the kerchief was found flying from the crest,
a proof of the miracle which could not fail to
convince the hitherto incredulous. On this
festival also the Papas goes round his parish
to * bless ' each house in turn with holy water,
using as aspergilhis a bunch of sweet basil ; and

134 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

towards niglitlall C(_)mpanics of boys with lanterns
parade the streets singing before the houses of the
wealthier citizens ' Odes ' dramatically describing
the Baptism of Christ. These ditties end with a
couplet expressing the singers' good wishes for
the morrow's festival and are acknowledged by
the inmates with a handful of sweet biscuits and
some small coins.

The Greek observance of the Carnival varies
according to locality, but it is only hi large towns
that it at all partakes of the popular character of
the Roman Catholic Carnival which precedes it.
It is, however, chiefly to the Greek women of the
better classes that the Carnival furnishes much
amusement in the shape of fancy balls and
masqued parties, the women of the lower orders
being, as a rule, content with listening to the pass-
ing music — generally of a very primitive kmd —
and occasionally exchanging a little badinage
through their grated windows with the young
men of the quarter, who roam the streets after
sunset in various disguises. On the last Sunday
of the festal season this species of amusement
begins in the afternoon, and is kept up till nine or
ten o'clock. Then the shutters are closed, the
Carnival is over, and a hard-boiled egg is handed
to each person before going to bed, which * shuts
the mouth to flesh ' until Easter Day, when it is
* opened ' with another egg.

The Eve of Palm Sunday is sacred to Lazarus.

BELIEFS AND SUPERSTITIONS 135

Most of the songs sung in the streets on this
occasion are a curious medley of dialogue between
Christ, Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, and compli-
mentary speeches and good wishes to the neigh-
bours. On the following day, which is called Vaia,
similar songs are sung. On Holy Thursday every
housewife boils a number of eggs with cochineal
for the approaching Easter festival, and also bakes
a quantity of cakes and sweet biscuits. At the
hour when the Gospels are read in the churches
she takes eggs to the number of the household,
including the servants, and one over, places them
in a napkin, and carries them to church, where she
leaves them until Sunday. The supplementary
egg is laid before the Eikonostasion, or Place of the
Holy Pictures, and is afterwards kept as a remedy
against all kinds of ills. Many of these eggs have
traced upon them in elegant characters texts of
Scripture and other sacred words.

Late in the evening of Good Friday, a solemn
service is held in the churches. I was present on
one of these occasions at the Metropolitan Church
at Salonica, and was much impressed by the
ceremonial. On entering we were conducted to
stalls facing the archiepiscopal throne where sat
the Archbishop in his resplendent sacerdotal robes
and mitre, glittering with gold and gems. Near us,
supported on trestles, was the epitdphios — a full-
length picture of the Christ, to which all the
Orthodox worshippers, as they entered the sacred

i;i6 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

building, advanced, and then reverently kissed
the semblance of the dead Saviour. Every class
of the Orthodox community was represented in
the congregation, from the polished Russian and
Roumanian diplomat and Greek archon of name
and lineage, to the ragged and barefooted urchin,
who, unreproved by pompous verger or beadle,
pushed his way through the throng to take the
place to which, as a son of the Church, he had an
equal right with every other worshipper. When
the ritual of chant and prayer had been performed,
lighted tapers were distributed, the dead Christ
was taken up by the clergy and carried outside
and round the church, followed by the whole
congregation.

The Resurrection is commemorated by the
Eastern Church strictly ' in the end of the
Sabbath, as it began to dawTi towards the first
day of the week ' — ^that is, about one o'clock on
the morning of Easter Sunday — when a ceremony
takes place of the same character as that performed
in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem.
On the stroke of midnight the Archbishop, or
chief officiating priest, presents to the congregation
a lighted taper with the words : * Arise, and take
the flame from the Eternal Light, and praise
Christ, who is risen from the dead ! ' Those
nearest to him light their tapers from his, and then
pass on the flame to those behind them, until all
the tapers are kmdled. And then arises from a

BELIEFS AND SUPERSTITIONS 137

thousand throats the triumphant Resurrection-
Song of the Eastern Church : —

Christ has arisen from the dead,

By death He death hath trampled on ;

To those laid in the graves Life having given !

At its conclusion, the Easter greeting, 'Christ
is risen ! ' accompanied by a kiss on the cheek, is
given by one friend to another, which is responded
to by another kiss and the words : * Truly He is
risen ! ' On emerging into the open air, shots are
discharged from fire-arms in honour of the event,
an old custom which is still adhered to, in spite of
the prohibitions annually issued by the authorities.

At the hour of early Mass the churches are
again crowded with the worshippers who have
been shriven on the previous day, and now partake
of the Communion. At its conclusion more salu-
tations of ' Christ is risen ! ' are exchanged as
they wend their way homewards to breakfast on
red eggs, Easter cakes, and coffee ; and then, as
an old writer says, * they run into such excesses
of mirth and riot, agreeable to the light and vain
humour of that people, that they seem to be
revenged of their sobriety, and to make compensa-
tion to the devil for their late temperance and
mortification towards God.' The rest of the day
is given up to relaxation and feasting, the most
important event for the women and girls especially
being the public promenade in the afternoon, for
which they don their new summer dresses, the

138 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

preparation of which has, it may well be supposed,
much occupied their minds during the season of
mortification.

The changes of the seasons are still popularly
celebrated by the Greeks, and more especially the
coming of the spring and the rebirth of Nature.
In April the swallows are welcomed with songs,
which recall the Khelidonisma of the ancients ;
while on May-Day wreaths of flowers and branches
are twined and hung over courtyard gateways in
honour of the season, and children go from house
to house chanting their May-day songs.

An interesting custom called the * Klithona '
is observed in Thessaly at the Feast of the Summer
Solstice, or the * Eve of St. John.' It is, however,
as a rule, performed only in the family circle, and
many people long resident in the country are
ignorant of it. At sunset, a large jar is filled with
water and placed in the garden. Round it the
family assemble, each with a leaf or flower, which
he or she throws in, a wild dance and chant being
kept up all the time. The jar is then carefully
covered with a linen cloth, and the youngest of the
party goes through the ceremony of * locking ' it
with the house-key. It is finally set aside until
the following day at noon, when the family
assemble for the ' unlocking.' The cloth is
removed, and each looks anxiously to see if his or
her leaf or flower is floating on the water, as that
foretells a long life, while an immersed leaf or

BELIEFS AND SUPERSTITIONS 139

flower portends an early death. A general sprink-
ling then ensues. The young people chase each
other with glasses of water from the jar, and
consider a thorough drenching lucky. Singing is
kept up all the time, and an occasional improvised
couplet containing a sly personal allusion adds to
the general merriment.

In Macedonia the ceremony differs a little, and
is generally observed only by young girls and un-
married women, who often make up little parties
for the occasion. One of the number is sent to fill
a large jar of water at the well or fountain, with
the injunction not to open her lips until she
returns, no matter who may accost her. Into this
jar each maiden drops some small object, such as
a ring, bead, or glass bracelet, which is called the
klithona. A cloth is then carefully tied over the
mouth of the jar, which is left out all night under
the stars. The youths of the neighbourhood are
not unfrequently on the alert to discover the
hiding-place of the jar, which, if found, they rob
of its contents, which the owners recover only by
paying a forfeit. If all, however, goes well, the
jar is uncovered on the following evening at
sunset, and one of the maidens, blindfolded,
plunges her bared arm into the water, and, draw-
ing out the objects one by one, recites over each
a distich, which is received as an augury propitious
or the reverse of the matrimonial prospects of its
owner. After supper the bonfire of St. John is

140 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

lighted before the courtyard gate ; and after
taking down and casting into it the now faded gar-
lands hung over the doors on May-Day, the young
people leap through the flames, fully persuaded
that * the fire of St. John will not burn them.'

In Thessaly and Macedonia it is customary in
times of prolonged drought to send a procession
of children round to all the wells and springs of
the neighbourhood. At their head walks a girl
adorned with flowers, whom they drench with
water at each halting-place while singing tliis
invocation : —

Perperia, all fresh bedewed,
Freshen all the neighbourhood ;
By the woods, on the highway.
As thou goest, to God now pray :
' O my God, upon the plain,
Send thou us a still, small rain ;
That the fields may fruitful be,
And vines in blossom we may see ;
That the grain be full and sound.
And wealthy grow the folks around ;
Wheat and barley,
Ripen early.

Maize and cotton now take root,
Rice and rye and currant shoot ;
Gladness fill our gardens all,
For the drought may fresh dews fall ;
Water send us by the pail,
Grain in heaps beneath the flail ;
Bushels grow from every ear.
Each vine-stem a burden bear !
Out with drought and poverty —
/ Rain and plenty let us see ! '

BELIEFS AND SUPERSTITIONS 141

The Greeks would seem to have assimilated, to
a greater extent than any other Christian nation,
the heathen festivals and observances of their
ancestors ; and the classical genii loci have only
slightly changed their names. At sanctuaries, for
instance, formerly dedicated to the Sun, homage
is now paid to the Prophet — or rather * Saint ' —
Elias, and almost every high hill and promontory
is now, as of old, sacred to him. Power over rain
is also attributed to this Saint ; and, in time of
drought, people flock to his churches and monas-
teries to supplicate the Sun-god in his other
character of * The Rainy Zeus.' Athena, the
divine Virgin, is now the Panaghia, the * All Holy '
Virgin Mother, and she has also supplanted
Eos, the Dawn, the Mother of the Sun, who opens
the gates of the East through which her Son will
pass. The Christian celebrations of the annual
festivals of these Saints are, consequently, merely
survivals of pagan anniversaries, held at the church
or monastery of the Saint who has replaced the
heathen divinity. At the more celebrated of these
Paneghyria a kind of fair is held, which is resorted
to by crowds of pilgrims from the country round
and the adjacent towns. Caravans may be seen
wending their way along the mountain-paths
leading to the monastery, men and women
mounted on mules or donkeys, or leading horses
laden with panniers full of little ones. On arriving,
the devotees at once repair to the church, and,

142 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

after lighting the customary taper, their first care
will be to lay on the shrine of the tutelar Saint any
offering which they may have vowed during the
past year in earnest of benefits asked or received
through his mediation. These offerings often take
the shape of a gold or silver aureole for his eikon,
or perhaps a hand or arm, which is fastened on
that part of the painting. Gold coins, too, are
often stuck on the cheek of the Panaghia, and
napkins, embroidered with a representation in
gold thread of the Queen of Heaven, are presented
to her shrine in return for favours granted.

As the accommodation afforded by the neigh-
bouring villages is generally quite inadequate for
the number of pilgrims, they are allowed to sleep
in the church, and the votive offerings which the
visitors leave behind in return for this indulgence
constitute quite a little revenue for the monks or
priests who guard the shrine. Their pious duties
accomplished, the pilgrims turn their attention to
feasting and merry-making. For at mealtimes
the whole company, throwing off for the time
being their ordinary exclusiveness, unite in a
gigantic picnic on the greensward, feasting on the
good things they have brought with them, supple-
mented by purchases from the numerous hawkers
of fruits, sweets, and cakes whom such an event is
sure to attract to the neighbourhood. Dealers in
other wares, too, are not lacking, who find plenty
of customers among the female portion of the

BELIEFS AND SUPERSTITIONS 143

assembly for their gum-mastic, combs, pocket
mirrors, rouge, antimony, and other trifles. Music,
singing, dancing, and story-teUing are the chief
amusements, which are kept up to what is con-
sidered in the East a late hour. At dawn, however,
all are again astir for the early Mass, to which they
are summoned by the convent bell, or more
primitive symandro.

There are also many sacred springs which are
honoured by yearly festivals, held on the day
dedicated to the Saint who has supplanted the
local divinity, a romantic and solitary situation
in the neighbourhood of a cavern or grotto being
the usual characteristic of an Aghiasma. On the
occasion of these festivals, multitudes flock to the
fountains, bringing with them their sick to drink
the waters, which, however, do not as a rule
possess any medicinal qualities, but owe their
healing virtues solely to belief in the patronage
of the tutelar saint. The shrubs and bushes in the
vicinity are usually found decorated with tufts of
hair and scraps of clothing, affixed as votive offer-
ings by grateful recipients of the Saint's favours.

And yet, transformed as so many of these pagan
divinities have been into Madonnas and Christian
Saints, a goodly number still retain their ancient
forms and attributes. Milton's ' genius ' still haunts

spring and vale
Edged with poplar pale,

144 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

and is often both heard and seen by lonely shepherd,
belated traveller, or maiden who has put off till
sunset her daily task of fetching water from the
fountain. To the first he may appear as a man-
eating monster ; but the last he invites in seduc-
tive language to visit the beautiful palace in which
he resides l^eneath the water of his well or fountain.
Some of these Stoicheia also, like the hamadryads
of old, dwell in the trees, but have the same pro-
pensities as their brethren inhabiting the moun-
tains, rocks, and waters, and can only be slain by
that popular hero of Greek folk-song, * The
Widow's Son,' or by the youngest of three brothers,
and many accounts of these contests are to be met
with both in folk-ballad and folk-tale.

The classical Nereid, Lamia, and Siren have
also survived, and display very much the same
propensities as their prototypes. The first,
though they occupy in the popular imagination
of the Greeks a place similar to the Fairies of more
northern countries, and like them are proverbial
for their beauty, differ from them in being always
of the full stature of mortals, and also in being
almost universally malevolent. Like the Stoicheia,
they haunt fountains, wells, rivers, mountains,
sea-caves, and other lonely places, and generally
shun human society. They are, as a rule, held to
be solitary in their habits ; but may occasionally
be seen, clad in gleaming white, dancing in com-
panies, through moonlit glades or on the glistening

BELIEFS AND SUPERSTITIONS 145

sands of lonely isles and promontories.^ It is fatal
to see them when crossing a river, unless a priest
be at hand to exorcise them by reading certain
passages of Scripture, which are believed to
counteract the spells of the * Devil's Daughters,'
as they are also termed. It is usually, how-
ever, sought to propitiate them by some compli-
mentary epithet, such as * the Beautiful,' or ' the
Good Ladies,' in the same way as the Furies were
formerly termed the Eumenides, and as the ill-
omened owl is, at the present day, euphemistically
named the * Bird of Joy.' They are said to
possess the power of banefully affecting women
of whose beauty they are jealous, and to
be in the habit of carrying off young children
should they chance to approach their haunts
unprotected. The fancy of the Nereides for
newborn infants is, as I have already noted in
the chapter dealing with Family-ceremonies,
a source of great anxiety to mothers and
nurses.

All kinds of maladies are attributed to the
malevolence of the ' Beautiful Ladies,' and the
women and children thus afflicted are termed
' possessed,' and can only be cured by residence
in a church or convent, or by pilgrimage to

^ The Greek inhabitants of a coast village near Salonica
relate that companies of Nereids may often be seen dancing in
the moonlight on the adjacent seashore, and are careful to
give a wide berth to the haunts of these ' Outlanders,' as
all such uncanny visitants are collectively termed.
lo

146 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

some holy shrine. These nymphs also occasionally
fall in love with mortal men, whom they reward
with great prosperity if they return their affection
and prove faithful. But woe to the unlucky wight
who ventures to slight their advances, for the
Nereids are certain to revenge themselves for the
slight by afflicting him with some dire calamity.
They are said to exercise this power chiefly at the
noontide hour, when they rest under the shade of
trees, usually planes and poplars, and near springs
and streams ; and the war}^ peasant, fearful of tlie
consequences of annoying these capricious beings,
will carefully abstain from disturbing their repose.
Phenomena of nature, such as whirlwinds and
storms, are popularly ascribed to the agency of
the Nereids, and it is customary to crouch down
when they are supposed to be passing overhead ;
for if this precaution be not taken, the Nereids
seize the too irreverent individual, and carry him
or her off to the mountains. Offerings of milk,
honey, and cakes are made to them, and placed in
certain spots which they are beheved to frequent ;
and the country-women, when they see the wind-
driven clouds scudding overhead, mutter ' milk
and honey ' to avert all evil from themselves.
Storms are, indeed, among Eastern races generally
connected in folk fancy with demons, whose
wild flights from place to place cause, or
rather constitute, these elemental disturbances,
and the church bells are rung to frighten them

BELIEFS AND SUPERSTITIONS 147

away.i Tempestuous weather is also sometimes
attributed to the festivities attendant upon a
wedding among the Nereids.

The Httle waterspouts formed of gathered
wreaths of spray so often seen in the iEgean Sea,
are looked upon with great awe by the dwellers
in the islands and on the seaboard. * The Lamia
of the Sea is abroad,' say the peasants and fisher-
folk, when they see the wind-driven spray wreaths ;
and having recourse to Christian aid when fright-
ened by pagan superstitions, and vice versa, they
cross themselves repeatedly and mutter prayers
to the Panaghia for protection against these
demons of the air and water. The Lamise are
generally described as ill-favoured and evilly
disposed women who haunt desert places and sea-
shores. Sometimes, however, they assume the
forms of beautiful women, who, like the Sirens,
lure men to destruction by their sweet voices and
graceful dancing, or, as recorded in this Salonica
folk-song, lay wagers with them in which the
mortal is sure to be the loser : —

Then from, the sea the Lamia came, the Lamia of the ocean —
' O play to me, my Yanni, play, make with thy pipe sweet

music !
If I should weary of the dance, thou for thy wife shalt have

me ;

* As at Malta, where during the severe thunderstorms to which
that island is subject, to the pandemonium of the elements is
added that of the discordant clanging of church bells.

148 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

If thou shouldst weary of thy pipe, I'll take away thy sheep-
cotes.'

And all day long, three days he piped, three days and nights
he whistled ;

Till Yanni was quite wearied out, and sorely worn with piping.

His flocks of sheep she then drove off, of all his goats she
robbed him ;

And now perforce he works for hire, and labours for a master.

Numerous Greek and Bulgarian songs and
stories also relate the adventures of mortal men
who have wedded Lami?e and have had children
by them. But woe to the man who has such a
helpmate ! For she can neither spin, weave, knit,
nor sew, and is equally incapable of sweeping,
cooking, baking, or taking care of the domestic
animals. And so firm a hold has this belief on the
popular mind, that the expression * a Lamia's
sweepings ' exists as a domestic proverb, frequently
quoted by indignant housewives to their maid-
servants.

The Fates of the modern Greeks closely
resemble their classical prototypes. They are
popularly regarded as permanently occupied in
spinning the thread symbolical of the life of man,
and preside more especially over the three great
events of his existence, birth, marriage, and
death — the * Three Evils of Destiny. '* Although
the Fates are held to be perpetually roaming
about in the fulfilment of their arduous labours,
the peaks of the Thessalian Olympus rising beyond
the wide gulf of Salonica would appear to con-

BELIEFS AND SUPERSTITIONS 149

stitute their special abode ; and it is to this
Mountain of the classic Greek Gods that those who
desire their assistance turn to utter the invocation :

O ! from the summit of Olympus high.
From the three hmits of the sky,
Where dwell the Dealers out of Destinies,
O ! may my own Fate hear me.
And, hearing, hover near me !

There are in the East no laws interfering with
the calling of Witches, and not only in Thcssaly —
of old famous for its mdyissas — but also in all the
Balkan provinces and principalities, they and
their powers are held in great estimation by
members of all creeds. To the Witch- wife repair
love-sick maidens and jealous wives, childless
women and mothers with ailing children, seekers
of lost or stolen property, and for each and all of
her clients the Wise Woman has a specific. Like
the witch of Theocritus, she makes use of the
magic power of moonlight to compose her spells
and potions ; or, crouching hag-like over her
charcoal brazier, throws on the glowing embers
laurel-leaves, salt, flour, cloves, and what not,
muttering strange words meanwhile, or droning
mystic incantations. Fortune-telling is also
largely practised by the mdyissas, and is per-
formed by means of cards, or a tray of beans,
coins, and other small objects, manipulated
according to some form of calculation. Some
years ago I formed one of a party of resident

150 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

Europeans at a Witch's fortune-telling in the
Greek quarter of Salonica. The abode of the

* spaywife ' was a spacious but gloomy apartment,
with a tiny barred window and cavernous chimney
place. Amid the darkness of the unceiled rafters
flitted ghostly white pigeons, and when, after a
little while, our eyes had become accustomed to
the dimness, we descried the typical black cat,
whose green eyes regarded us suspiciously from
one of the smoke-blackened cross-beams over-
head.

If ' the oracles are dumb,' dreams now serve as
a very good substitute for them, and the woman
who is not fortunate enough to possess a * Dream-
book ' of her own has recourse to the skill of the
Wise Woman, who interprets her dream by
means of certain formulas handed down, no doubt,
from the remotest antiquity. For magical secrets
are generally hereditary in famiUes, and the
daughter will, as a rule, succeed the mother as
village mdyissa. In addition to her power of

* spaying fortunes,' the Witch is also able to aid a
person who has been the victim of a robbery to
discover the thief. A not inconsiderable branch
of her trade consists in providing love-spells and
potions, and — it may occasionally be — spells of a
less innocent character. Faithless lovers had need
beware, and furnish themselves with counter-
spells, when deserted maidens have recourse to
the aid of the mdyissa, by whose aid a * wasting

BELIEFS AND SUPERSTITIONS 151

curse ' may be laid on the offender. Some of these
curses are thus expressed : * Mayst thou [naming
the person] become attenuated as a thread, and
pass through a needle's eye ! ' * Mayst thou
shrink to the size of my finger ! ' while others are
in the form of a distich, as for instance : —

Be, who will not love this maid,
Five years on a sick-bed laid !

Persons believing themselves to be sufferers from
the effects of such a spell — for a hint is generally
conveyed to its subject — must naturally have
recourse to the Witch for its removal. Her
skill, too, is often in request to exorcise that most
dreaded of all mysterious powers, the * evil eye.'
For, notwithstanding the innumerable domestic
preventives and antidotes used, both children
and adults are often found to be suffering from
the effects of the enviously malignant gaze of
some evilly disposed neighbour. Fumigations of
various kinds are usually resorted to in order to
dispel the baneful influence, and the wood of the
olive-tree, the palm-branches blessed by the priest
on Palm Sunday, or, if it can be procured, a scrap
of the suspected person's dress, will be burnt for
this purpose.

It would, however, be difficult to enumerate all
the means to which recourse is had for dissipating
the effects of the ' evil eye,' as they are about as
numerous as the preservatives against it. Among

152 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

the latter I may mention the bunches of charms,
consisting of gold coins, pointed bits of coral and
blue glass, cloves of garlic, blood-stones, cornelians,
and crosses, which are worn on the person, or
fastened to the caps of children and the headstalls
of horses, mules, and donkeys ; and the horse-
shoes, boars' tusks, and hares' heads hung on the
walls of houses and other buildings to preserve
them from this baneful and mysterious influence.

Some people are quite notorious for their power
of * casting the evil eye,' and, though the pro-
pensity is much dreaded, they on the other hand
enjoy a certain amount of consideration, as their
neighbours are naturally careful not to offend
them in any way. Red-haired persons are
particularly suspected, and blue or grey eyes,
being comparatively rare in the East, are con-
sidered especially baleful. The ' evil eye ' may,
however, also be cast unwittingly, and without
malice prepense, and seems in this instance to be a
survival of the notion of the ' envy of the gods ' ;
and it is impossible in the Levant to speak admir-
ingly or approvingly of any person or thing without
being met with the exclamation : * O, I beg of you !
— don't give it the evil eye ! '

It would, however, prove a stupendous if not
an impossible task to collect all the folk-beliefs
and customs of the Balkan Greeks and their
neighbours, so connected are they with every
detail of domestic life, and with such varied

BELIEFS AND SUPERSTITIONS 153

circumstances ; and one generally learns them
only by transgressing them. I once got into
terrible trouble by taking into my room a soft,
fluffy, bewildered little owlet which I found one
night between the shutter and the window, and
thought of keeping as a pet. Great was the dismay,
however, of the old Greek nurse when I showed
her my prize next morning. ' It was a sign of
death,' she cried, and some terrible calamity was
sure to happen in the family. By a strange co-
incidence, a pet kid which was kept in the garden
was on that morning found dead ; and after this
fatality there was no gainsaying the superstition.
The most trivial circumstances, too, connected
with the birth of a child are considered good and
bad omens, according to the interpretation given
to them. Trifling accidents happening on a
wedding-day take on a gloomy signification, as,
also, the breaking of a looking-glass, the accidental
spilling of oil (to spill wine, however, is lucky),
sweeping the house after the master has departed
on a journey, meeting the funeral of a priest, a
hare crossing the path, and a thousand other little
everyday occurrences. Tuesdays as well as Fridays
are for the Greeks days of evil augury, while on
Saturday it is considered unlucky either to begin or
finish any kind of work, and no money must
be paid away on a Monday or Saturday will find
your purse empty. Things lucky and things
unlucky, things to be done and things not to
be done, would indeed make an interminable list.

CHAPTER VIII

THE VVALLACHS, THEIR CUSTOMS AND BELIEFS

WHILE the highlands of Asia Minor are
peopled by a variety of nomadic tribes,
the Vlachs or Wallachs are, with the
exception of the Gipsies, the only nomads found
in the Balkan provinces ; and so essentially
pastoral are they that among the various races
with whom they come into daily contact their
very name is a synonym for * shepherd.'

These nomads pass the winter months in the low-
lands, where they set up afresh every year their cir-
cular huts of wattled reeds and branches, which
they line snugly within with hangings of home-
woven goat's-hair cloth, the floor being spread with
thick native matting and brightly coloured home-
woven rugs. Mattresses and cushions, covered
with stout home-made stuffs, are also ranged
round the walls, forming seats by day and couches
at night. At Eastertide the lambs in their
thousands are taken to the neighbouring towns
for sale, and these disposed of, the communities
break up their winter camp and prepare for their
summer migrations. These are carried out in
leisurely fashion, the high mountain pasturages

154

WALLACH CUSTOMS AND BELIEFS 155

being reached only when the summer heats have
set in. On the way from one pasturage to another
the animals are marshalled into a solid phalanx,
the goats in front, the sheep next, and then the
mules and donkeys laden with the tents and tent
furniture, together with the great saddlebags
packed with dairy utensils and household goods
and chattels generally, while the male nomads,
garbed in fustanellas and shaggy cloaks of hue
equally grimy, with gun on shoulder and attended
by their fierce Molossian dogs, guard the company
on either hand from the perils of the way.

A Wallach encampment at its various halting-
places when on the road forms a picturesque and
interesting spectacle, the spot chosen for it being
generally the common, or * green,' found on the
outskirts of every Balkan town and village. And
I was some years ago fortunate enough to have an
opportunity of visiting such an encampment on
the wide meidan just outside the Vardar Gate of
Salonica, under the picturesque towers and battle-
ments of those ancient walls which have withstood
many a siege. As soon as the halt is called, the
pack animals are relieved of their burdens, the
sheepfolds set up and the black tents pitched by
the men, while the boys and dogs round up the
flocks, and the women and girls do the milking,
prepare the evening meal, or nurse the babies.

Arrived at the pasturages, which are rented
from the villagers collectively, or, in the case of

156 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

Crown lands, from the Forest Inspectors, the
shepherds build summer quarters of pine branches
and brushwood for the women and children, who
remain in these little settlements while the men
and boys wander with their flocks and fierce dogs
over the high grassy alps, sleeping with them in
the open wrapped in their shaggy capas of thick
home-made felt-like cloth.

The social organization of these nomadic shep-
herds is quite patriarchal in character. For the
most part they are grouped into small commun-
ities called stania or ' sheep-folds,' comprising a
score or so of families under the headship of an
hereditary chieftain, who governs his little clan on
quite aristocratic principles and himself conducts
all its business transactions with the outside world.
In his own family, too, the tsellinga — as such a Wal-
lacliian patriarch is termed — is an absolute auto-
crat, for his younger brothers and his sons may not
sit down to table with him, but must wait upon the
head of the clan and his guests. Many of these
chieftains are men of substance and possess valu-
able and interesting heirlooms in the shape of
silver cups, powder-flasks, etc., which are verit-
able works of art ; while their womenkind wear
with their native costumes on high-days and holi-
days, a variety of belt-clasps, bracelets, neck-
laces and other ornaments of silver which, if
somewhat ponderous, are of beautiful design and
workmanship.

WALLACH CUSTOMS AND BELIEFS 157

The Wallachs also of the burgher class who are not
flockmasters are mostly engaged in pursuits which
require them to lead a more or less nomadic life.
The wealthier class consists of merchants who
trade in Italy and Spain, Austria and Russia, and
who are often absent for periods extending over
many years — a mode of life which they seldom
renounce until obliged by age to do so. The inferior
class of traders do not, as a rule, leave the Ottoman
Empire, but travel with goods of all kinds for sale
from one town or village to another, like the
peddlers in England in the Feudal Period, when,
as in the East at the present day, drapers' shops
were few in provincial towns and non-existent in
the country. And there is also another industrial
class of Wallachs who go to the towns for the
greater part of the year to work as tailors, em-
broiderers, furriers, gold- and silver-smiths, etc.

The homes to which these nomadic shepherds
and wandering traders return are now in the
mountains, though previously to the Ottoman
conquest, the Wallachs occupied the plains of
Thessaly in such numbers that the province
acquired the name of ' Great Wallachia,' while
iEtolia and Acarnania were called * Little Wal-
lachia.' But with the true Aryan hatred of servi-
tude and passion for self-government, this people
preferred a life of hardship, with freedom, in the
mountains, to one of comfort, with subjection, in
the plains ; and, retiring before the Turkish armies.

158 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

they took up their abode in the lofty mountain
ranges of Olympus and Pindus, where they founded
numerous large villages or townships. The most
considerable of these are Vlacho-livadia — ' The
Meadows of the Vlachs/ on the west of Mount
Olympus, and Mezzovo — * Mid-mountain,' in the
heart of the Pindus range, another important
centre being Voskopoli — 'the Shepherd's Town.'
A large number of Wallachs are also to be found in
Albania between Antivari and Dulcigno, in the
mountainous districts near Elbassan and Berat,
and throughout Macedonia ; while in northern
and central Greece they are constantly to be met
with. The township of Vlacho-livadia contains
some four hundred houses and five handsome
churches presided over by a bishop ; while,
grouped around on the neighbouring hills, are
four other Wallach villages, surrounded by fields
and vineyards. Mezzovo is the most picturesquely
situated town it is possible to imagine, clinging
as it does to both sides of a sublime ravine, over-
hung by the highest crests of Pindus. These crests
tower so perpendicularly on cither liand that not till
long after sunrise is the Proselion, or * sunny side '
of the town, out of shadow, the opposite
side being appropriately termed the Anelion, or
* sunless.' Mezzovo is also surrounded by Wallach
villages, the most remarkable of these being
Kalyarites, which is built on a hillside so steep
that the highest houses are five hundred feet above

WALLACH CUSTOMS AND BELIEFS 159

the lowest, and the ahnost vertical streets are
mere zigzag paths cut into steps. In these elevated
situations the snow lies for five months of the year,
and the villages are inhabited in winter almost
exclusively by priests, old men, women, and
children. Under these circumstances, there is
little communication with the surrounding
country, and it is customary for each family to
lay in ample supplies of oil, rice, flour, and other
provisions, as also a good stack of firewood.

Conspicuous in these mountain homes are,
however, the industry and thrift of the Wallach
villagers. Cornfields and vineyards clothe the steep
hillsides, and numerous fruits and vegetables flour-
ish in the terraced gardens surrounding every dwell-
ing. Well watered, too, are these gardens by stream-
lets issuing from the numerous mountain springs
which supply every part of the village with pure
and delicious water. The houses are chiefly one-
storied, and, like those of the Greek mountain
villages, are roofed with broad slabs of limestone
which require, in addition to their other fastenings,
heavy stones to prevent their being displaced by
the furious wind-storms to which these elevated
regions are exposed, storms which, as they sweep
through the hills, not infrequently, in spite of
these precautions, carry away the cottage roofs.

Hospitality is a marked characteristic of the Wal-
lachs. But as it is seldom that an English traveller
has an opportunity of seeing anything of tlie

160 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

family life of these interesting people, I have been
allowed by a friend to make use of the following
description of the household of a burgher of
Mezzovo : —

* Most snugly furnished, in Eastern fashion,
was the room in which I was installed by my
kindly Wallachian hosts. There was neither chair
nor table ; but the floor was covered with thick,
richly coloured rugs, the handiwork of the house-
hold ; and along the wall on either side of the
hearth and extending under the windows, was a
range of comfortable cushions. The whole of the
wall opposite the hearth was occupied by a most
artistically designed and elaborately carved ward-
robe, also of native workmanship ; and thence
the additional rugs, etc., were produced with
which at night my bed was made up. . . . While
supper was being prepared, the usual Turkish
service of coffee and cigarettes was preceded by
the Grseco-Slav service of preserves and a glass of
cold water. For my evening meal, a Turkish
sojra, or low round table, was brought in, and an
excellent repast of various courses served, of
which I partook seated on my cushion on the floor
in the warmly coloured, brightly lighted chamber.
Like the Wallachs generally, my hosts were hand-
some, pleasant, courteous people with innumerable
pretty children. Among the bairns, particularly,
the arrival of the stranger from the West appeared
to cause great excitement and curiosity. But

WALLACH CUSTOMS AND BELIEFS 161

when their mother tried to put them out of the
room, and away from the room-door, I begged
that they might be allowed to remain. So, after
a time, one after another they mustered up
courage to approach, take my hand, kiss it, and
press it to their little foreheads ; and I kissed
their fair little faces in return/

The frequent and protracted absence of the
men of the family to which I have just referred,
naturally throws great responsibility and various
duties on the women, who consequently occupy a
degree of social independence and influence un-
usual among the Christian races of the Balkans.
Far away as the men of the family may be, the
little field, vineyard and garden of the homestead
must be cultivated, their harvests reaped, and the
produce converted into winter provisions. The
domestic animals have to be tended, the sheep
shorn, and the wool prepared for the loom which
occupies a corner of every dwelling. The Wallach
women excel in the manufacture of the thick cloth
called skouti, largely used for clothing and domes-
tic purposes, and they also weave the carpets and
rugs of which the furniture of their houses chiefly
consists.

Cheerfully content with their laborious life, the
wives of the traders willingly add to their many
duties that of waiting on their husbands with the
most assiduous attention during the short and
rare periods they spend in the bosom of the

162 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

families. Their daughters are from an early age
accustomed to both domestic and out-of-door
labour, and in their capacity of shepherdesses
figure frequently in the folk-songs of their Greek
neighbours. The Vlachopotila may often be seen
returning from the fountain or the riverside,
bearing on her back, besides a water-cask, the
load of wet linen which she has washed, with a
metal basin poised on her head, and her untiring
hands occupied in twisting thread with the
spindle. Nor does she neglect to embroider in
bright wools and silks, dyed with her own hands,
her picturesque native costume, or to knit and
stitch with coloured wools the socks she sells to the
shepherds. No stranger, however, can command
her services, for the Wallach women manifest an
invincible repugnance to leaving their mountain
homes, to which they are devotedly attached.

Wallach women are, as a rule, exceedingly hand-
some, with regular features, dark hair and eyes,
and small hands and feet. The inhabitants of
Voskopolis and Monastir, and those living in the
neighbourhood of Lake Ochrida, are considered
the most elegant and refined of all the Southern
Wallachs, the Voskopolitissas, as the women of the
former town are termed, being distinguished by
the fairness of their skins and their lighter-coloured
hair. Their countenances are fine and open, their
gestures and movements most graceful, and their
demeanour is particularly affable and obliging,

WALLACH CUSTOMS AND BELIEFS 163

while their menkind make use of elegant phrases
and refined language to every one, * even to their
wives/ as one writer on this people quaintly
remarks. The women, however, notwithstanding
their greater refinement, are as industrious as the
other women of their race, and do not disdain to
work in the fields, tend the flocks, and fulfil all the
other multifarious duties which fall to their share.
The women belonging to the more sedentary
portion of the Wallach communities may be said to
be equally well educated with the Greek women of
the country towns and villages ; but their nomadic
sisters naturally receive little or no education.
Previous to the union of the Principalities, in 1861,
under the name of Roumania, the Greek language
was alone taught in their schools and used in the
services of the Church. Close contact and every-
day intercourse with the surrounding Greek
population had also Hellenised the men of certain
villages, and caused them to a great extent to
abandon the use of their mother tongue. But as
Plato wisely said : * It is the women who retain the
old forms of speech ' ; and the Wallach women,
though conversant with Greek, still clung to their
nationality and continued to use their soft
Roumanian tongue. The Roumanian author
Bolintineanu, who was greatly struck by this
conservatism — as other travellers have also been
— wrote half a century ago : * If ever this people
should escape from servitude, if ever it should

164 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

possess a cultivated language, a literature, a
history — in a word, a name — it will owe it to
the women.' The language spoken by the Wal-
lachs of Southern Turkey still differs little from
that used in Roumania proper, save for a cer-
tain admixture of Greek words referring more
particularly to modern civilized life. And within
a year of the creation of the Principality of
Roumania, a propaganda was organized with the
object of substituting the Roumanian for the
Greek language in the churches and schools of
their settlements south of the Danube. The
leader of this movement was Mr. Apostolu
Margaritu, a Macedonian Wallach educated at
Bucharest, who, despite Greek opposition and
intrigue, succeeded in many localities in exciting a
national feeling in his fellow-countrymen, whom
he soon induced to employ Roumanian instead of
Greek teachers in their schools. On the elevation
of Roumania to a kingdom in 1877, this propa-
ganda received a fresh impulse by the appointment
of a Roumanian Consul-General at Salonica,
which city immediately became the headquarters
of an active rivalry between the two nationalities.
The customs of the Wallachs at the birth of a
child do not differ materially from those of the
Greeks. The Nereids feared by the latter on these
occasions are merely replaced by the Stringae,
who, like them, are wicked spirits bearing ill-will
especially to newborn infants. It is usual for those

WALLACH CUSTOMS AND BELIEFS 165

in attendance to cast a stone behind them with
the words : ' I cast this in the mouth of the
Stringae ! ' Baptism is also performed according
to the rites of the Orthodox Church, above
described.

Although the Wallach communities maintain, as
I have already mentioned, various social relations
with the Greeks, they do not to any great extent
intermarry with them. Indeed, it is said that
while Wallach men occasionally take Greek brides,
no Wallach girl ever marries out of her own
community. But the customs connected with
marriage among the Wallachs — with the exception,
of course, of the religious rite — differ materially
from those observed by the Greeks, and bear a
considerable resemblance to the ceremonies of the
ancient Romans. A young villager, wishing to
marry, employs no go-between, but presenting
himself in person to the father of the maiden of his
choice, asks his permission to wed his daughter.
If he is considered an eligible match, the father
assents, and the suitor ratifies the contract by
opening his purse and placing some pieces of gold
in the hand of his future father-in-law. A similar
sum is also paid on the wedding-day, and recalls
the coemptio customary among the ancient
Romans. The bride brings no dowry to her
husband, but only a trousseau and * plenishing,'
which she has herself manufactured from the
raw material supplied by the flocks and fields,

166 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

dyed in brilliant and lasting colours, and em-
bellished with heavy embroidery.

The preliminaries settled, the betrothal is
publicly announced in the stani, or village sheep-
fold. A week before the day fixed for the com-
mencement of the marriage festivities, the girls of
the village go in a troop to the forest to cut fire-
wood for the use of the young couple. They
choose at the same time a branch having at its
extremity five twigs. On one they fasten an
apple, and on the other four, tufts of red wool,
the apple being an emblem of love and maternity,
and the wool symbolical of the household thrift
and industry which are the glory of every Wallach
woman. This flamboro, as it is termed, is carried in
triumph back to the village, accompanied by
shouts of * Troe, flamboro ! Troe, cokkclla ! '
when it is fixed on the roof of the bride's abode.
The home ceremonies attendant upon a wedding
occupy several days, and — as with the provincial
Greeks, are made the occasion of great merry-
making by the village maidens, who are invited
to dress and adorn the bride for the ceremony,
and to assist in the various domestic preparations
for the important event.

On the Sunday of the wedding week the bride-
groom, accompanied by his friends, goes to fetch
home the bride to his father's house. On the
morning of this day, while some of the girls are
busy ' busking the bride,' others assemble, dressed

WALLACH CUSTOMS AND BELIEFS 167

in their holiday costumes, at the bridegroom's
home, and while he is being carefully shaved for
the auspicious occasion, they dance round him,
singing wedding songs. The marriage which, so
far, has taken rather the form of a sale, is now
transformed in fancy by the singers into something
like a wedding by capture :

He found the maiden all alone,

Beneath a willow-tree ;
And lightly took her 'neath his arm,

And with her far did flee.

The bridegroom's toilet completed, he sets out
on horseback, escorted by a number of friends on
foot, for the abode of his betrothed. The arrival
of the procession is announced by one of the party,
who starts a little in advance of the rest. In
return for his news the herald receives at the
cottage door a large ring-shaped cake, for pieces
of which a struggle ensues as soon as the other
young men come up, the original possessor doing
his best to retain his property. The bride, be-
dizened in all her wedding finery, is led forth and
mounted on a horse, and accompanied by her own
friends in addition to those of the bridegroom, is
now conducted to her new home. On the arrival
of the procession at its destination, a similar
struggle takes place for a cake presented by the
bridegroom's mother to the messenger who an-
nounces the approach of the bridal party.

168 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

A singular rite of purely Latin origin is now per-
formed by the bride. As she is lifted from her
horse at the threshold, butter or honey is handed
to her, with which she proceeds to anoint the door,
signifying that she brings with her into the house
peace, plenty, and joy. The word uxor, originally
unxor, is derived from ungere, ' to anoint,' and a
commentator on Terence thus describes this
ceremony : ' Uxor dicitur . . . ad ungendis posti-
bus . . . hoc est quod, quum puellcB unhcrunt,
maritorum posies unguehant! The bride salutes
her future father- and mother-in-law by respect-
fully kissing their hands before the assembled
company, and is then conducted to the corner of
a divan on which she passes the night. On the
following day the marriage ceremony is performed
according to the rite of the Greek Church already
described. Feasting and dancing occupy the
remainder of the day, and are resumed at intervals
until Wednesday evening, when the wedded
couple are at last left to themselves. On the
following day the young wife may be already seen
busily spinning or working at her loom in the
open air, still dressed in her wedding costume.

Though as members of the * Orthodox ' Greek
Church, the Wallachs have assimilated all the
Christian, and many of the classical, observances
of the Greeks relating to death, they still retain
among their funeral customs some which would
appear to be survivals rather of Roman than of

WALLACH CUSTOMS AND BELIEFS 169

Greek pagan rites. The Lares, for instance, are
still honoured on the anniversary of the saint
under whose special protection each family is
placed. On the eve of such celebrations the
house undergoes a thorough cleaning and white-
washing, the furniture is scrubbed and polished,
the mats and rugs are shaken and beaten,
and everything that will bear washing is washed.
The day is observed as a festival, and the poorest
family will spread a table with dishes prepared
specially for the occasion. While these are being par-
taken of, allusion is made by name to deceased rela-
tives, to whom invocations are addressed. They
are prayed to seat themselves at the table, where
covers have been laid for them, and to take their
share of the good things prepared in their honour.
Another pagan festival which the Wallachs in
common with the inhabitants of Roumania
celebrate in honour of the dead, is the Rusalu or
Rosalia. This festival is held in summer, and on
every day of the six weeks during which it is pro-
longed, a tribute of fresh roses is laid on the graves
of departed relatives and friends.

The Christianity of the Wallachs, like that of the
Greeks, may be said to consist chiefly in keeping
fast and feast days, in the adoration of saints,
holy pictures, and relics, and in the observance
of all the legendary customs by which the events
of the ecclesiastical year are honoured. These
customs, though in the main similar to those of

170 BALKAN HOME LIFE

the neighbouring Greeks, differ somewhat in
their details, and others are identical with the
religious folk-customs of the Trans-Danubian
Roumanians.

On New Year's Day the children take olive-
branches and go from house to house to compli-
ment the neighbours with their good wishes, in
return for which they receive little presents. On
the second day of the year, every stranger who
may enter a house is required to throw on the fire
small quantities of salt, which are placed in cups
on the table for that purpose. He must then go to
the hen-house and place an egg in the nest for the
hen to sit upon. H the hen comes and does her
duty, the guest is considered an auspicious person,
and is feted in that house until evening. This
custom is called ' the lucky foot.'

' The Feast of the Kings ' is celebrated at
Epiphany, and even all through the Carnival,
by boys and youths who stroll through the towns
and villages performing a Scriptural play, some-
thing in the style of the ' Miracle plays ' of the Middle
Ages. These players, who are called Vikliemi,
or ' Bethlehems,' personate Herod and the * Three
Kings,' or * Wise Men,' under the names of
Melchior, Balthazar, and Caspar. Bedecked with
all kinds of frippery, and crowned with gilt paper,
they present an absurd travesty of the poetical
old legend of the Adoration of the Magi, all the
original sacred character of the custom having

WALLACH CUSTOMS AND BELIEFS 171

disappeared in the ludicrous extravagance which
now accompanies its observance. The following
is a literal translation of one of the verses sung by
Herod : —

I am the Emperor Herod,

Who have mounted on horseback.

I have taken my sword in my hand,

And have entered into Bethlehem,

I have cut to pieces thousands of children.

And made the whole world to tremble !

Other bands, called Stea, or * Stars,' make the
round of the neighbourhood, carrying a great
paper star with a rude representation of a cradle,
and singing songs describing the apparition of the
Star of Bethlehem.

Thursday and Friday are still to a certain
extent, as among the ancient Romans, sacred to
Jupiter and Venus. During part of the spring of
every year Thursday is observed as a holiday, in
order to guard against hail and stormy weather,
which would damage the young crops. Tuesday
and Friday are both considered unlucky days by
the women. A vindictive female spirit, called the
Marz Sara, or 'Sprite of Tuesday Even,' is parti-
cularly active on the former day, and must be
guarded against ; and on the latter day women
and girls avoid, if possible, working with sharp
instruments, such as scissors or needles.

The procession of the Perperuda, already

172 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

described, is also an institution among the
Wallach women, who, however, have their children
drenched by proxy in the persons of Gipsy girls.
The third Thursday after Easter is the day chosen
for this propitiation of the Water Deities. Crowned
with flowers, the Gipsies go from house to house,
dancing and singing the invocation, and every
housewife, after throwing over them a jar of water
or milk, rewards their exertions with a cake,
some flour, or a small coin.

The ceremony of the Klithona, observed by the
Greeks on St. John's Eve, is also performed by the
Wallach youths and maidens under the same name,
but with slight differences* of detail. While the
articles are being taken out of the jar, little
snatches of song are sung by the girls, and good
or bad luck is predicted according to whether the
object has been withdrawn to a gay, or to a
melancholy air.

The custom called the Craciunu, observed on
the Eve of Christmas, would seem to be, like our
baking of mincepies, a survival of the Feast of the
Winter Solstice. On the night of the 23rd or
24th of December, circular cakes with a hole in the
centre are made in every house, and in the morning
the children come round singing this Christian
salutation : —

Good morrow, the advent of the feast !
Good morrow, the advent of the Craciunu.

WALLACH CUSTOMS AND BELIEFS 173

Then, changing their tune, they recall the pagan
character of the custom by adding these words : —

Give to me a ring-cake,
For I am dying of cold !

A relic of ancient serpent -worship would seem to
survive in the consideration paid by the Wallachs
to that reptile. If one of the harmless white
snakes common in the country happens to enter a
cottage, it is allowed to remain unmolested and
supplied with food, its arrival being considered a
good augury. When it has again gone forth, snake
dainties are placed outside the door, and finding
itself so well treated, it not unfrequently gets into
the habit of paying a daily visit, when it finally
comes to be welcomed as the Serpa di Casa, or
' house serpent.'

In the folk-poesy of these communities, as
in their folk-customs, the influence of long
contact with Slavs and Hellenes is seen in
the large admixture of Slav and Greek my-
thology with that which they have in common
with the ancient Romans. Under the names
of Babu and Stringa we have the malevolent
Nereid of the Greeks and the Strouga of the
Bulgarians, the Zmok being directly borrowed from
the Slav demonology, in which he appears as an
elemental demon of the same character as the
Greek Stoicheion. He is also the jealous guar-
dian of hidden treasures, and wily and daring

174 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

indeed is the mortal who succeeds in outwitting
him. Sometimes, as in the Bulgarian folk-songs,
he appears as a winged dragon and carries off
young maidens into the clouds with which he is
also identified. Many of the doinas, as the
Roumanian popular ballads are termed, are purely
idyllic, and full of the graceful personalizing of
Nature so often found also in Greek folk-song ;
while others, like those of the Greeks and Bul-
garians, contain an element of rugged savagery,
though here accompanied, and also in a degree
modified, by the poetic grace characteristic of
Roumanian folk-literature. The well-known
ballad of the * Monastery of Argis,' while illus-
trating the widespread custom of offering a human
sacrifice at the foundation of every important
building, at the same time presents us with two
types of men — the ruthless and capricious tyrant
Negru Voda, the Boyard who founded the princi-
pality of Moldavia in the thirteenth century ; and
Manoli, the master-mason, the man of strong
affections, who is yet prepared to sacrifice his
nearest and dearest in order to fulfil the task
he has undertaken.

CHAPTER IX

THE BULGARIANS— THEIR SOCIAL USAGES

THE Bulgarians not only constitute the
bulk of the population of the kingdom of
Bulgaria, but are found scattered in
communities throughout the whole of Macedonia
and Thrace, occupying in some places isolated
villages, in others forming the majority of the
population of a district, and constituting an
important element in many provincial towns.
This nationality comprises two distinct types,
the Tartar and the Slavo-Greek, the former iDeing
distinguished by the high cheekbones, broad flat
faces, small sunken eyes, nose flat at the top and
inclined to be globular at the end, eyebrows thick
and prominent, and the dark complexion usually
found in members of this race, while the latter type
resembles in its general characteristics the rest
of the mixed Christian population of these
provinces.

The habitations and mode of life of the Bul-
garian townspeople differ in no way from those
of the Greeks ; and, as the religious marriage law
and surrounding circumstances are identical, the
social status of the townswomen at least is also

175

176 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

the same. Foreign influence has, as yet, affected
the towns of the interior in a very small degree,
and the lives of the Bulgarian women of the well-
to-do class are still very simple and monotonous.
They take an active part in all domestic matters,
^o all their own needlework, and amuse them-
selves by promenading and paying and receiving
calls on feast-days, and now and then attending a
christening or a wedding. On rare occasions an
evening party, or even a ball, may be given, if one
can correctly so term the meeting of a number of
people of both sexes who display on their persons
every gradation of garment from native costume to
bona fide evening dress in which every style that has
been in vogue for the previous twenty years may,
however, be recognised. The deportment and
manners of the company at these gatherings usually
prove to be as amusingly unsophisticated and varied
as their attire, their terpsichorean performances
also being often diverting in the highest degree.
Such parties are generally given on the ' name-
day ' of some member of the family, that is to say,
the day of the Saint whose name he or she bears,
and on which it is de rigueur for all friends to call
and offer their felicitations. If dancing is not to
form part of the evening's entertainment, native
games of cards, vocal music, and similar diver-
sions are substituted. Light refreshments, such
as wine, lemonade and fiuit sherbets, fruit and
cakes, are handed round from time to time, as well

A )3UI.(;akian cavass, ok orderly

THE BULGARIANS 177

as the inevitable coffee and slafko, or preserves,
which are offered to every guest on arrival.
Entertainments of this nature, even among the
working-classes, usually conclude in an orderly
manner, for though some of the younger men may
drink to excess on the occasion of a great feast or
fair, it is the exception and not the rule, and the
women of all classes and creeds are most ab-
stemious. Among the educated classes, many of
whose members have either travelled abroad or
visited the capital, the amusements will be directly
copied from those of Western Europe, and music,
conversation, and theatricals occupy the evenings,
though deficiencies in dress, etiquette, and other
details are often noticeable. There is very little
social intercourse with Greek or other neighbours,
each nationality keeping exclusively to its own
circle, a practice which naturally confines the
ideas of the women especially within a very narrow
horizon.

The Bulgarian women of the peasant class, how-
ever, having no opportunities for copying the
manners of more * civilized ' neighbours, adhere
rigidly to their own national customs, and various
circumstances combine to give them a much more
independent position and a life of greater freedom
than that led either by the Bulgarian townswomen,
or by the generality of Greek peasant women.
For the Bulgarian countrywomen, taking, as they
do, an equal share with the men of the family in

178 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

the field and farm work, are naturally accorded a
certain degree of co-equality with their husbands
and brothers. Added to this, the women marry
comparatively much later in life than the gener-
ality of Orientals, and — subject to the approval of
their fathers — themselves select their husbands.
For a Bulgarian peasant is in no hurry to get rid
of the daughters who take such an active part in
all that concerns the welfare of the home, and
requires from the youth who would transfer the
services of any one of them to himself a certain
equivalent in money according to the position of
the parties. But though the young husband does
not always take his wife home to his father's roof,
but sometimes builds a cottage for himself, he yet
remains associated with his father in the farm, and
is, consequently, more or less subject to the pater-
nal rule ; and his wife will in future work for her
father-in-law instead of, as formerly, for her father.
In Bulgarian folk-song we find incidents graphic-
ally recorded which illustrate every phase of social
life, tragic and comic, to which the above-noted
circumstances would naturally give rise. But
though one sister-in-law may tyrannize over
another, and a virago of a mother-in-law make
the life of her son's too submissive wife a burden
to her, an esprit de corps is occasionally manifested,
and the authority of the paterfamilias made light
of by the women of a household, as, for instance,
in the song of * The Three Reapers,' the eldest of

THE BULGARIANS 179

whom addresses her husband's father as * You
worn-out donkey ! '^ We also find here de-
picted the better side of feminine nature, the
brother's wife full of helpful counsel to the maiden
whose lover has been beguiled away from her ; and
the matron who teaches her daughter-in-law how
she may regain her husband's wandering affec-
tions. For though, as before-mentioned in the
case of the Greeks, divorce is permitted by the
Eastern Church, its practice gives rise to social
scandal ; and when a mother has already a
daughter-in-law whose character pleases her, she
is naturally unwilling to exchange her for another
of whose disposition she has not made proof.

The houses of the better class of peasant farmers
are solidly constructed of stone, and sufficiently
comfortable. The cottages of the poorer class,
however, are of the most primitive style of archi-
tecture. A number of poles mark out the extent
to be given to the edifice, the spaces between them
being filled up with wattles of osier, plastered
thickly within and without with clay and cow-
dung mixed with straw. When dry, the walls are
whitewashed and the dome-shaped roof is covered
with tiles or thatch. The interior of an average
cottage is divided into three rooms — the common
living-room, the family bedroom, and the store-
room. The floor is of earth, beaten hard, and is

^ Examples ol these Songs may be found in my The Women
of Turkey, Vol. i

180 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

covered with coarse matting and thick home-
made rugs. The furniture consists chiefly of
cushions covered with thick woven tissues, which
also serve the family as beds. On the walls are a
few of the engravings in very odd perspective
which, though produced in Russia, are distributed
to pilgrims by the monks of Mount Athos, and
there is also, perhaps, a picture of some Saint with
a tiny oil lamp suspended before it. The shelves
contain some articles of crockery, the brightly
burnished copper cooking-pans found in the
poorest house in the East, and various odd articles.
The bedding, rolled up, is tidily piled in one
corner, in another is the housewife's spinning-
wheel, and in the inner apartment will be found
the loom on which she manufactures the tissues
used for the furniture of the house and the clothing
of the family. Outside are sheds for the cattle,
pig and sheep pens, poultry-house, the oven,
and perhaps a well, all enclosed by a wall or fence,
and guarded by dogs.

Like all the peasants of Turkey, the Bulgarians
are most economical and even frugal in their
habits. They are content with very little, and live
generally on rye bread and maize porridge, or
beans seasoned with vinegar and pepper, supple-
mented by the produce of the dairy. On great
festivals a young pig or lamb is added to the usual
fare, with home-made wine and a heavy kind of
cake or pastry called a hanitza.

1;U1,I,.\R1AN 1KA.--ANI> ()!■ KlRKI/KKUl. .MACKlKiMA

THE BULGARIANS 181

The clothing of the peasant women is warm and
comfortable for winter wear, but must be found
intolerably hot and heavy in summer. Only the
sturdy frame of a Bulgarian could, I believe,
easily support the weight of the full gala costume,
with all the ponderous silver ornaments worn on
head, neck, waist, and wrists. Indeed, I never
found it possible to wear for more than half an hour
at a time the costume I had obtained at Salonica
with the object of using it as a fancy ball dress.
All the materials of the various garments which
compose the dress are home-made, and of the
most durable character. The costume varies
somewhat according to district ; that worn in the
neighbourhood of Salonica is, I think, one of the
most picturesque in style, and pleasing in colour.
It consists of a gown of unbleached linen or cotton,
reaching from the neck to the ankles, and decor-
ated round the borders, and especially on the wide
sleeves, with elaborate embroidery and drawn-
work in hnen, silk and wool. Another gown with-
out sleeves, similarly decorated, and open at the
sides, is sometimes worn over this, and, over all,
a sleeveless coat of white felt, finely braided in
artistic patterns and colours round the borders
and seams. A sash several yards long and about
two inches in width, curiously woven by hand
from coloured worsted, is twisted round the waist,
and the costume is completed by an apron which
is sometimes entirely covered with elaborate

182 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

needlework. On the head is worn a little round
skull-cap covered with gold and silk braid, from
which hangs over the shoulders and below the
waist an ample fringe of braided scarlet wool, or
gold and black silk ; while over all is thrown a
large white kerchief, embroidered round the
borders with silk, and fastened to the cap with
innumerable silver ornaments and strings of coins.
The working dress is of the same cut, but of
plainer make and more sober colour ; and two or
three such costumes last a woman from her
wedding-day to the day of her death. Peasant
women usually go barefoot when about their daily
avocations, and don their shoes and embroidered
socks only on great occasions.

The frequent holidays observed by the Bul-
garians as members of the Orthodox Church make
it necessary for them to work doubly hard on
other days in order to accomplish the year's work
in twelve months. The whole family are, conse-
quently, during the spring, summer, and winter,
hard at work from sunrise to sunset, the women
and girls, as soon as their household duties are
finished, going out to assist the men and boys in
the fields. The spinning, weaving, and other
home manufactures are carried on chiefly in the
winter, when the female portion of the family
is less called upon for outdoor work than at other
seasons.

The work of cutting the grain in autumn is

THE BULGARIANS 183

accompanied by these simple people with observ-
ances and rejoicings quite Arcadian, enlivened
by the sound of the bagpipe, accompanied by
song. The whole family, from the old grand-
parents down to the babies, picnic in the fields
from morning till night, and the women work as
hard as — or, according to some travellers, harder
than — the men till all the corn is bound in golden
sheaves. Not even the old women past field-work
are idle, for, while * minding the babies,' they are
still busy with distaff, spindle, or knitting-needles.
When the village threshing-floor is not available
the earth of the hurdle-fenced enclosure before
each Cottage is beaten and stamped until it
acquires the necessary solidity for the purpose,
when the process is carried on in much the
same manner as described in a previous chapter.
The winnowing and sifting of the grain is
done entirely by the girls, who then house it in
the quaint wooden granaries which are a feature
of every farmstead.

After the corn harvest comes the vintage, when
the grapes are gathered in the same light-hearted
fashion. Besides wine and the spirit called raki,
or mastica, a kind of treacle, called petmaiz, is
made from the juice of the grape, and stored up for
winter use with the oil, grain, and other provisions.
Large quantities of plums are also dried and ex-
ported, a considerable proportion of which, after
passing through some mysterious process in France,

184 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

find their way into the European market as
* French plums.'

In some districts the culture of the rose-trees
from the blossoms of which the famous attar of
roses is made forms an important branch of
industry. The flowers, which arc of the species
Rosa moscata, and have very few petals, are grown
in plots or gardens of considerable extent, im-
mense quantities being required to yield one ounce
of the precious oil. Not having myself been
fortunate enough to witness the picturesque scene
presented at the gathering of this fragrant crop,
I cannot do better than quote the following
description of it by an eye-witness : —

* At dawn, a tap at my door announced that
it was time to rise and witness the rose-gathering,
which I had expressed a wish to see. The roses
begin to be collected before sunrise, in order to
keep in them all the richness of their perfume.
The work requires expedition and many hands ;
so large bands of young men and maidens, adding
pleasure to toil, while gathering the roses, amuse
themselves by carrying on flirtations and love-
makings. The large garden to which I was con-
ducted belonged to the wealthy Tchorbadji in
whose house I was staying. It was at some
distance from the town, and by the time we reached
it the bright rays of a lovely spring morning were
fast spreading over the horizon. The field was
thickly planted with rose-bushes, bearing a rich

THE BULGARIANS 185

harvest of half-open dew-laden buds. The night-
ingales, in flights, still hovered over them, as if
disputing their possession with the light-hearted
harvesters, and chorused with their rich notes
the gay songs of the scattered company, who,
dressed in their Prasnik (feast-day) clothes — the
youths in snow-white shirts and gaudy sleeveless
vests, the girls in their picturesque costume, the
coloured kerchiefs on their heads floating in the
breeze — had the appearance of a host of butter-
flies flitting over the flowers. The girls were
actively employed in stripping off the buds and
throwing them into the baskets slung on their left
arms. The youths helped them in the task, and
each was rewarded with a bud from his sweetheart,
which he placed in his cap. The children ran to
and fro, emptying the baskets into larger recep-
tacles, presided over by the matrons, who sat
under the shade of the trees and sorted the roses.
The whole picture was so bright and happy, and
in such perfect harmony with the luxuriant beauty
surrounding it, that it completely fascinated me,
and I felt almost envious of those happy beings —
the careless, simple children of nature. '^

Bulgarian women also occupy themselves to a
considerable extent in silkworm rearing, and in
tending and gathering the tobacco crops ; and,
when they have no land of their own to till, will
hire themselves out for field and other outdoor

^ Lady Blunt, The People of Turkey.

186 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

work. Half a dozen of these women labourers
were employed at the Consulate at Salonica
when part of the garden was being transformed
into a lawn tennis court. They were all of the
Tartar type, their faces tanned by sun and wind
to a rich brown, and, though not one of them
exceeded five feet in height, their broad and
sturdy frames seemed incapable of fatigue. Great
was their amusement when a naval officer,
anxious for a little healthy exercise, took the
spade from one of them and worked with a will
for half an hour — that any one should work for
amusement was past their comprehension ! And
the drawing-rooms, especially, of the Consulate,
which they were shown one day, were to these
simple peasant women as the apartments of an
enchanted palace. They did not attempt to enter
them, but stood, as if spellbound, in the corridor
outside.

A small number of Bulgarian townswomen
belonging to the poorer class become domestic
servants, and, when once they attach themselves
to a family, prove most devoted and faithful to
their employers. Some friends of mine had the
good fortune to possess an old servant of this
description, who had lived for some thirty years
in their family. This Kyra, or * Dame,' Maria,
as she was called, after being superannuated as
cook, had been retained in the capacity of house-
keeper. She was short, stout, and Tartar-faced,

THE BULGARIANS 187

with a * wooden ' countenance, and a capacity for
wearing several stones weight of clothes on the
hottest summer day, though, being a towns-
woman, her costume consisted chiefly of skirts
and jackets one over the other, and for outdoor
wear a long fur-lined pelisse of dark-coloured
cloth. Truly dragon-like was her watchfulness
over her employers' interests, and the zeal of
* the Circumference,' as we irreverently dubbed
her, led her sometimes to the length of almost
refusing her mistress the key of the storeroom,
for fear that she would be too generous with its
contents. It was indeed her firm conviction —
which she occasionally expressed — that, were it
not for her stewardship, the Madama would, by
her generosity, long ago have ruined herself. Like
the generality of Eastern servants, she was clothed
by her mistress, and she allowed her wages, during
all these long years of service, to accumulate, and
at her death bequeathed her little fortune to a
young fellow-servant who had been rescued from
slavery in a Turkish harem. Kyra Maria was
exceedingly pious, and religiously made herself ill
every Lent. Though she could, I believe, neither
read nor write, she spoke Bulgarian and Turkish
equally well, but her broken Greek was chiefly
exercised for my benefit. Some of her expressions
in this language became quite proverbial with us,
as, besides being always very much to the point,
they were often most laconically put. Any slight

188 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

indisposition of mine she always attributed to my
disregard of her continual injunction to wear a
shawl. 'Eh,' she would grunt in her curious
Greek, as she came into my room with a tisane,
' not well, Mam'zell ? Why would you not
put on a shawl ? '

The Bulgarian, like the Greek peasant women,
have no amusement but the song and the dance.
Unlike the Greeks, however, who dance only at
appointed times and seasons, the Bulgarians are
always ready for this innocent national pastime.
The married women do not, as a rule, take part
in the village dances, though occasionally one of
more independent spirit will insist upon continuing
this favourite pastime of her maiden days. On
unimportant festivals, the girls form themselves
into small parties in the immediate neighbourhood
of their homes ; while on great feast-days, such as
Easter, St. George's Day, etc., they assemble on
the village common, or in some communal orchard
or vineyard. The youths join them with the piper,
and the dancers form a long chain with the hdro-
vodka, or * dance-leader,' at one extremity. This
damsel commences the song, in which she is
accompanied by half the performers, the other
half repeating the verses after them. The song
finished, the next in the line becomes in her turn
the leader, and so on until all have officiated. In
some places, however, the maiden endowed by
nature with the best voice and the most retentive

THE BULGARIANS 189

memory retains the position of conductress ; and
each village and parish is generally found to
possess one or two thus specially gifted. Dancing
also plays a great part in wedding rejoicings,
when nuptial songs are substituted for those used
on other occasions.

Another amusement in which the Bulgarians
occasionally indulge is the * bear-dance.' This
dance, which is chiefly pantomimic, is performed
by a man dressed in a bearskin, and led by a girl
who makes him perform all kinds of pranks and
buffooneries for the entertainment of the spec-
tators. Sometimes the company join in the dance,
and the performance concludes with a general
chase of the bear.

The brigands of the Balkans played almost as
great a role in the recent history of the Bulgarians
prior to their emancipation from Turkish rule as
did the brigands of Olympus and Pindus in the
struggle for Greek independence. The wives of
the haidouts often, it would seem, accompanied
their husbands to the mountains in men's attire,
fared like the rest of the outlaws, and often also
shared their fate. Love of adventure, however,
seems also occasionally to have led numerous
young women to adopt this calling, which is by no
means in more disrepute among the Bulgarian
than among the Greek peasants. After a few
years, if they escaped capture or death in their
encounters with the Turkish troops, the haidoiit

190 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

women returned home, married, and settled down
to domestic life, like Penka in the folk-song.
M. Miladinov, the Bulgarian folk-lorist, relates
that he once met in his wanderings a ci-devant
brigandess, Sirma, then a woman of eighty,
who is the heroine of a song beginning : —

Say, who has ever seen a maid
Of seventy-seven the captain ?

The morals of Bulgarian women would seem
to be, on the whole, very good. In the towns,
manners are very much the same as among the
Greeks ; but the peasant women, as has been
already described, enjoy much greater freedom,
and few restrictions are placed upon intercourse
between the sexes. Even Messrs. St. Clair and
Brophy, whose rabid Turcophilism would not
allow them to see any good in the male Bulgar,
admit that their * morality is tolerably good for a
people with whom religion has no real force,'
but ascribe the superiority of morals found among
this nation, as compared with the Servians and
Roumanians, to the fact of their having Turkish
neighbours, whose example * shames ' the Bulgars
* into morality.' Turkish peasants are, no doubt,
most virtuous people ; but Oriental Christians
do not, as a rule, copy the manners of their Moslem
neighbours in other respects. And I venture to
think that the reason of this comparatively higher
morality is to be found rather in national tempera-

THE BULGARIANS 191

ment and in social conditions. As among the
Greeks, considerable facilities for divorce exist,
but they are naturally seldom abused by people
whose leading characteristics are industry, thrift,
and solid good sense.

A

CHAPTER X

BULGARIAN FAMILY CEREMONIES

NCIENT customs connected with domes-
tic events are fast dying out in the towns
of Free Bulgaria, where the people are
with every succeeding year coming more and more
into contact with Western civilization. But in
the country districts, and more especially perhaps
in Macedonia and Thrace, they still generally sur-
vive, and will, no doubt, long continue to be
observed. The hardy peasant woman makes very
light of the troubles of maternity, but the baby
has at first a very hard time of it. The Bulgarian
Wise-woman who unites the professions of Mrs.
Gamp and village witch, or the matron who may
replace her, brings into the room, as soon as the
baby is born, a reaping-hook, which she places in
a corner in order to keep off an}^ malevolent beings,
Youdas, Stroiigas, or Vilas, who may be lurking
about. She then proceeds to bathe and salt the
baby all over, and, after dressing it, lays it by
the side of the mother, while she makes a kind of
omelette with eggs, oil, and pepper, as a poultice
for the infant's head. It appears to be a popular
belief that if a child is not thus salted, its feet or

192

BULGARIAN FAMILY CEREMONIES 193

some other part of its body will become malo-
dorous, and the poultice is intended to solidify
the skull and render it proof against sunstroke.
While the baby is screaming its loudest in pro-
test against this treatment, the nurse proceeds to
fumigate the room for fear that the presence of
the reaping-hook should not have all the effect
desired, and the Powers of the Air be attracted
by the child's cries, a clove of garlic and some of
the charms before mentioned as used by the
Greeks for the purpose, being fastened to the
baby's cap against the Evil Eye. The mother,
though she may be up and about her numerous
household duties in a day or so, is not supposed to
leave the precincts of her house until forty days
after the birth of the child, and, consequently,
like the Greek mother, is not present at its bap-
tism, which takes place on the eighth day, and is
conducted in a fashion precisely similar to that of
the Greeks. On the occasion of her first going
abroad, namely, when she goes to be * churched,'
she uses as a walking-stick the shovel with which
the bread is put into, and withdrawn from, the
oven.

The upper classes of the Bulgarians follow the
customs of their Greek neighbours in matrimonial
affairs, the first advance being made by the girl's
parents who commission a professional match-
maker— called, in Upper Macedonia, stroinikote,
13

194 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

or, if a woman, stroinikitza ; and, in Bulgaria,
swaty — to procure a suitable husband. Of late
years, too, the custom of receiving a dowry with
the wife has been gaining ground. The betrothal
is a formal religious ceremony, which takes place
before witnesses, when the documents containing
the wedding contract are exchanged. Among the
better class of townsfolk, however, native ob-
servances are being gradually laid aside, and an
attempt is made to conform to European usages.
The bride's trousseau is ordered from Vienna, as
are also the wedding-dress, wreath, and veil,
which it is customary for the bridegroom to
present to her. The fond mother, too, generally
adds to her daughter's ' tocher ' a number of
articles for household use of home or native
manufacture, such as embroidered towels, bed-
and table-linen, and various charming fabrics
woven of rick raw and floss silk, or silk and linen.

But with the Bulgarians as with the Greeks,
old customs must be sought for among the
peasantry, and the observances connected with
marriage are not the least curious and interesting.
A young peasant cannot marry until his parents,
for whom he has hitherto laboured, can afford to
give him a sum of money sufficient to buy a
wife. The price ranges from £50 to £300, accord-
ing to the position of the contracting parties, and
is settled by the svatobi, or proxies, while another
and smaller sum, designated by the Turkish term

BULGARIAN FAMILY CEREMONIES 195

hash parasi, or 'head-money,' is paid to the
mother. The gody, or betrothal, then takes place,
a Wednesday or Thursday evening being con-
sidered the most auspicious time for the ceremony,
which consists of the exchange of documents
certifying, on the one hand, the sum of money to
be paid by the bridegroom, and, on the other, the
quantity and quality of the trousseau, or rather
' plenishing,' promised by the maiden's parents.
Rings are also interchanged by the couple after
being blessed by the priest, who acts the part of
notary on such occasions. After the recital of a
prayer by the priest, the maiden kisses the hands
of the assembled company and then retires with
her friends to feast apart, una wed by the presence
of the elders, for whom a table is spread in the
principal room. The word table is, however, a
misnomer, for such articles of furniture are found
only in the dwellings of the wealthier farmers, and
the cloth is generally spread on the floor, or
perhaps for the elder and more distinguished guests
on the low, broad tray-stools used also by the
Turks. The young people afterwards dance out-
side the house, and sing songs at intervals. The
affianced youth then produces his presents, which
consist of various articles of feminine apparel,
including several pairs of native shoes, a head-
dress and necklace of gold and silver coins, a
silver belt, bracelets, ear-rings, and other orna-
ments. The value of these gifts is freely criticized

196 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

by the girl's father, and a certain amount of
chaffering may ensue, the suitor adding to the
necklace or head-dress coin after coin until the
goodman is content. All these various treasures
are then bestowed in the tekneh, the wooden
trough which serves equally for kneading the bread
and cradling the little ones, and the festivities are
resumed. On the following day the young woman
proudly dons all this finery, and parades herself
in the village as * engaged.'

Many Bulgarian marriages are, no doubt, love
matches ; though more practical considerations
often influence Petko and Yanko in the choice of
their helpmates. And a helpmate in every sense
of the word a Bulgarian peasant's wife must be ;
for, as already described, a very large share of the
labour of the farm devolves upon her, until the
children grow up to take part in it. Petko, there-
fore, will probably choose his wife, as he would a
team of oxen, for her muscular strength and prob-
able working powers, the more so as, like his oxen
and buffaloes, he must purchase her with a con-
siderable sum of money ; and, consequently,
the most physically powerful wife is considered
the best investment.

The marriage does not take place until at least
six months after the gody, and is sometimes
deferred for years by selfish parents who wish to
retain the services of their daughter as long as
possible. Sometimes, indeed, the couple find it

BULGARIAN FAMILY CEREMONIES 197

necessary to take matters into their own hands,
and elope to the papas of some neighbouring
village, who unites them in holy matrimony.
Some sympathetic married relative or friend will
then hide the runaway in her own house until the
wrath of her father is somewhat appeased, and he
consents to receive her back and give the indis-
pensable wedding feast. The bridegroom in the
meantime builds himself a house, and furnishes it
according to Bulgarian ideas of what is fitting.
Certain domestic animals will also be purchased —
a pair of oxen or buffaloes for ploughing and
draught work being considered indispensable,
and a cow and sometimes poultry will be installed
in the farmyard ; and when all is in readiness, the
young man sends his parents or the swaty to
announce to his future father-in-law that he
wishes the wedding to take place in the course of
a few weeks. The swadba or wedding-day decided
upon, the domestic preparations begin in both
homes. Weddings are generally celebrated in the
season when little work is going on in the fields,
in order that more time may be devoted to the
festivities ; for feast-days, on which idleness is
imperative, are so numerous that the peasants
can ill afford to make holiday on working-days.

During the week preceding the marriage, the
respective parents of the couple complete the
furnishing of the new home, and, this finally
accomplished to her satisfaction, the girl's mother

198 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

turns her attention to preparing her own house
for the auspicious event. The walls, ceiling, and
floor are cleaned and limewashed, the copper pots,
pans, and dishes, and all the articles of Austrian
china and glass that adorn the shelves of the
better-class cottages are taken down, thoroughly
washed, scrubbed, polished, and returned to their
places. A store of carpets and rugs is then pro-
duced from the walnut-wood chests, to be spread
on the mattress-sofas and on the floors of the
rooms and verandah ; and lastly, the wedding-
cakes are made, the fatted calf is killed, and the
wine-jars are brought up from the cellar. Some
of these cakes are sent round to friends in lieu of
invitation cards to request the pleasure of the
recipients' company on the wedding-day, Sunday,
and also, in the case of the women and girls, to
view the trousseau. All the articles composing
this are on Friday hung up on a cord stretched
across the room for the inspection of the matrons,
who freely criticize the quality of the materials
and the handiwork bestowed upon the various
garments in the way of embroidery, braiding,
and other decorations. The maidens meanwhile
assist the bride to add any finishing touches which
may be necessary, or dance and sing before the
door.

Two of the girls, who act as bridesmaids, come
again on the following day to help the bride with
her toilet. After washing her from head to foot,

BULGARIAN FAMILY CEREMONIES 199

they proceed to plait her hair into a multitude of
minute tresses, which will not be again undone for
several days at least. While this task, which
takes some time, is proceeding, the village maidens
arrive with offerings Of sweetmeats and flowers,
and at its conclusion they all sit down together —
on the floor — to a vegetarian meal, after which
singing and dancing are the order of the day.

On the morrow, in the early afternoon, the
wedding guests arrive, the matrons with their
daughters dressed in their gayest, decked with
silver ornaments, and garlanded with flowers.
The bride is vSeated in state, her face dotted with
spangles, and perhaps concealed by a scarlet veil.
The upper part of her elaborately embroidered
costume is almost equally hidden by the quantity
of silver ornaments and coins which hang over it.
When picnicking one day with a party of friends
at the Bulgarian village of Neokhori, a few miles
from Salonica, we were fortunate enough to find
a peasant bride thus on view. It happened to be
a feast day, and the groups of women and girls
standing about their doorways all dressed in their
gaily embroidered scarlet and white costumes
produced a most picturesque effect, and as we
passed up the street and approached a cottage,
a mere hovel of one story constructed of rough
stones, round which a number of persons were
gathered, we, being strangers and * Franks,'
were courteously invited in * to see the bride.'

200 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

It was, however, some minutes before our eyes
became sufficiently accustomed to the gloom of
the interior to be able to distinguish this much-
bedizened damsel. And as soon as we had in turn
saluted and sufficiently admired her, we gladly
escaped from the crowded, stuffy, and windowless
apartment to the fresh and sunny outer air.

The religious ceremony — which is with the
Bulgarians the same as with the Greeks — may take
place either in the church, or in the house of the
bridegroom's father, but in either case, if both
parties belong to the same village the wedding
party return after the service to the house of the
bride's parents. Corn, the emblem of plenty, is
showered over the happy pair on their arrival,
and as soon as the guests are seated the bride
makes the round of the room, kissing the hands
of all the matrons, from each of whom she receives
in return a dried fig. The wedding feast is then
held, when the male portion at least of the
company apparently endeavour to rival their
legendary ancestral heroes in their gastronomic
feats. Singing and dancing then fill up the time
for the younger members of the party until the
hour has arrived for them to escort the bride
to her new home.

Taking home the bride is performed in ex-
tremely picturesque fashion by the Bulgarian
communities in some parts of Macedonia, especially
when the home of the husband is at some distance ;

BULGARIAN FAMILY CEREMONIES 201

and the ceremony has something in common with
that attending the Wallach weddings already de-
scribed. The bride is conducted to the gate of the
homestead by her father, who assists her to mount
the horse prepared for her, and the guests,
also mounted, form a procession, the leader of
which carries a flag surmounted by an apple.
With their garlands of flowers and vine-leaves,
their songs and strains of wild music, their gleeful
shouts and gay laughter, this wedding procession
might well be taken for an ancient chorus of
Bacchanals wending their way by mountain-path
and ravine to some old shrine of the vinous god.
On entering the village for which they are bound,
the company are met by the Nunco, or * best man,'
with other functionaries called respectively Mal-
dever and Stardever, all of whom, like the Kane-
phoroi in the Dionysiaka, carry baskets of fruit
and cakes and flasks of wine, provided by the
Nunco, who himself bears the bridal crowns and
leads a goat with gilded horns.

On arriving at the gate of the bridegroom's
dwelling, the standard-bearer enters, followed by
the bride, who reins up her steed in front of the
flag, now set up in the centre of the courtyard,
and a couplet is sung which may be thus trans-
lated : —

O Maldever, O Stardever, why linger ye outside ?
Dismount, dismount, and enter now thy husband's house,
O Bride !

202 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

The song concluded, the bride bows three times
to the company before being Hfted from her horse
by the bridegroom's father. After kissing her
steed on the forehead, she takes hold of one corner
of a handkerchief extended to her by the patriarch,
and is thus led into the lower story of the house,
used generally as granary and storeroom, and
lighted only by narrow slits in the walls. The
centre of this apartment is occupied by a wine
barrel crowned with the wedding-cake, on which
stands a glass of wine. The priests, in their
gorgeous sacerdotal robes and tall black hats,
range themselves around, holding crosses, and
over this Bacchanalian altar the Christian mar-
riage rite is performed. After having tasted the
wine, the principals walk three times round the
barrel, while cakes, fruits, and comfits are showered
over them.

Newly married couples are required to observe
a week of seclusion in their home, during which
time they may neither go out nor receive visits.
At the termination of this solitude a deux, the
village matrons arrive to escort the bride to the
well, fountain, or spring from which the household
is accustomed to draw its supplies of water, in order
that she may propitiate the water nymphs who
have their abode in its depths. Bearing a couple
of pails slung yoke-fashion from her shoulders,
she is conducted in formal procession to the spot,
and after throwing into the water her offering to

BULGARIAN FAMILY CEREMONIES 203

the genii loci — usually a coin or small silver
trinket — draws up water and fills her pails, which
are forthwith emptied over her * for luck ' by her
companions. In return for this kind attention
the bride now kisses hands all round receiving as
she does so a fig — the emblem of plenty — from
each matron. Later in the day the young wife,
still similarly escorted, pays a formal visit to her
mother.

Notwithstanding the similarity of the religious
rite, the funeral customs of the Bulgarians differ
much more from those of the Greeks than do those
connected with birth and marriage. The Bul-
garian views the approach of death with a fatal-
istic indifference almost equal to that displayed
by the Moslem. Doctors are few and far between
in the country districts, and if the simples pre-
scribed by the Wise-woman do not cure the
patient, it is evident that he, or she, has no longer
' life to live.' When the end is deemed to be nigh,
the priest administers the last sacrament, and the
moribund, if conscious, sets his affairs in order,
the room being meanwhile crowded with female
relatives, who give expression to their grief in the
most demonstrative fashion. As soon as the soul
has departed from the body, all the pots, pans,
kettles, and vessels of every kind are turned up-
side down in order to prevent its taking refuge in
one of them, and subsequently troubling the
family. The corpse is laid upon a double mattress

204 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

between sheets, and completely dressed in its
holiday costume, including shoes and stockings.
A pillow of homespun linen or cotton is filled with
handfuls of earth by all the persons present, and
placed under the head. The head is decked with
fresh flowers, an eikon is laid on the breast, and
also a plate with flowers and candles, placed there
by persons who wish the dead to carry, by these
means, messages to relatives or friends who have
gone before.

When all the preparations are complete, the
priest arrives to read the first part of the burial
service, after which the women watching round
the body chant dirges until the clergy arrive on
the following morning to conduct the dead to his
last resting-place. An ox or buffalo cart is brought
to the door, and in this primitive hearse the corpse
is conveyed to the church where the funeral Mass
is to be performed. At the grave a barrel of wine
is broached, and boiled wheat and small loaves
are distributed to all present, who, as they receive
these funeral cates, ejaculate Bogda prosti {' God
have mercy '). The gala costume is then taken off,
oil and wine are sprinkled on the body, which,
wrapped in a shroud, is finally replaced in the
coffin, and lowered into the grave.

Returning to the house of mourning, the
company wash their hands over the fire, and three
days afterwards every article in the house is
washed, or sprinkled with water, and exposed to

BULGARIAN FAMILY CEREMONIES 205

the air for the three following days, any household
goods which cannot be so purified being sold or
given away. On the evening following the funeral,
the relatives and friends of the deceased assemble
at a great Death Feast, a similar ceremony being
repeated ten days later. A widow visits the grave
of her husband every day for forty days after
burial, and throws water on it in order that he
* may not die of thirst.' And, notwithstanding
centuries of professed Christianity, so ineradicable
are old pagan beliefs that, after feasting on Palm
Sunday at the grave, the relatives leave there
some of the food and wine, in the belief that the
dead will partake of them during the night, and
on Easter Monday it is customary to place a red
egg on every grave. Ceremonies similar to the
kdlyva of the Greeks, and called by the Bulgarians
Pominki, or Commemorations, are held at the
grave at intervals of three years, at the end of
which time the body, if found to be sufficiently
decomposed, is disinterred, with the same formal-
ities as those observed by the Greeks.

CHAPTER XI
BULGARIAN BELIEFS AND SUPERSTITIONS

THE Bulgarian Church, originally a
branch of the Orthodox Greek Church,
had, in the thirteenth century, thrown off
the supremacy of the Patriarch of Constantinople,
and continued to exist independently until 1767,
when it was once more brought under the juris-
diction of that See. The Bulgarian bishops were
immediately replaced by Greeks, their monks
sent adrift, and the revenues of the monasteries
appropriated by the new clergy, the Greek
language being also substituted for the Bul-
garian in the services of the Church and in the
schools, with a view to extinguishing the Pan-
slavist spirit and substituting for it Pan-Hellenism.
Such high-handed action, though perforce sub-
mitted to for a time, was none the less resented
by the Bulgarian nation ; and in 1858, a struggle
for a free Church was commenced which, after
being maintained for fourteen years, finally re-
sulted in the issue of a decree by the Sublime
Porte releasing the Bulgarians from the spiritual
supremacy of the Greek Patriarch, and empower-
ing them to elect a religious chief of their own.

206

BULGARIAN BELIEFS 207

The dogmas of the Bulgarian Church are conse-
quently precisely similar to those of the Greek,
and its fast and feast days identical.

The dogmas and precepts of Christianity are,
however, things not dreamed of in the philosophy
of the lower classes ; and to the Bulgarians, as to
the members of the sister Church, religion is not
a spiritual, but a practical matter, and consists
in the superstitious observances connected with
periods of penance, festivals of Saints, and the
other outward forms ordained by the Church and
by custom. And all these various events of the
ecclesiastical year are so inextricably mixed up
with fragments and relics of old pagan beliefs and
customs, that the lower clergy, being as ignorant
as their parishioners, cannot distinguish between
adets, as these customary observances are called,
and the religious beliefs actually professed by the
National Church. The vaguest possible notions
exist as to the immortality of the soul, and the
life beyond the grave ; Heaven, Hell, and
Gehenna — the purgatory of the Eastern Church —
present no very distinct notions to their minds ;
and though a peasant woman may describe the
first as the abode of the Saints and Angels, and
the second as the abode of the Demons, she will,
in following the pagan custom of leaving food and
drink for her departed relatives upon their tombs,
deny all practical belief that their souls are
either in bliss or in torture. The long connection

208 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

of the Bulgarian with the Greek Church naturally
led also to the assimilation of many of its super-
stitious beliefs and customs, but the paganism of
the Bulgarians has remained, in its leading features,
distinct from that of the Greeks. It is, in fact,
a survival of the pantheistic worship of the
ancient Slavs, which the invading Bulgarians
adopted together with the language of the
conquered people among whom they settled,
and it teems with wild cosmogonic myths.

The festivals of the Bulgarians are, consequently,
a curious fusion of old heathen rites with super-
stitious Christian observances. Owing to the
great number of holidays enforced by the Eastern
Church, the Saints' Days which have replaced
the Festivals of Nature and of the ancient heathen
gods often coincide with them in date, and are
simultaneously celebrated with a strange ad-
mixture of Christian and heathen ceremonies.

The year opens during the feast of the winter
solstice, called by the Bulgarians Kulada. Like
the Hallowe'en of Scotland, it is a great time
among the girls for all kinds of divinatory rites
respecting their future spouses, and to every line
or verse of the songs sung during this festive
period is added the refrain of Hey Kulada, moy
Kulada ! The elementary spirits or demons are,
at this season, supposed to be especially alert
and powerful against mankind, and the Bul-
garians, in common with their Christian and

BULGARIAN BELIEFS 209

Moslem neighbours, consider it necessary to take
every precaution against the malevolence of these
Powers of the Air. A log of wood is carefully left
in every cart, and some water in every pitcher, in
order to prevent any demon's taking possession
of them, and by his baneful presence rendering
them too heavy to draw, or lift.

On the feast of St. Demetrios, these supernatural
beings threaten the domestic animals, and are
exorcised by the placing of lighted tapers in the
stables and cattle-sheds, and in the place where
firewood is chopped.

The 13th of January is called the Baboudien,
or * Matron's Day,' when the married women
celebrate a kind of saturnalia, and, according to
some accounts, indulge pretty freely in wine
on the occasion.

Lent is most rigorously observed by the Bul-
garians, who pursue their usual avocations on a
meagre diet of bread, onions, garlic, and vegetable
soup. The first day of the second week of this
period of penance is observed as the Day of the
Dead, or All Souls' Day, when the women go from
house to house carrying lighted candles.

The month of March, called by the Bulgarians
Baba Mart, or ' Mother March,' is the only ' female '
month of the year, and during this period the
women are allowed to assert a kind of temporary
supremacy over their husbands, and be as idle
as they choose. They accordingly, in order to
14

210 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

propitiate Baha Mart, abstain from washing,
weaving, and spinning, and even from * pipe-
claying ' the floors of their houses, a task usually
performed once a week ; for, were they to perform
any of these domestic duties, the goddess would
give no rain during the rest of the year, but send
instead lightning to destroy the house and the
crops. The 25th day of March, on which the
* Mother ' is specially honoured, is called the
Blagostina, and its observance and that of
St. Constantino's Day, with which it coincides,
are curiously mixed up. It is most probably
a survival of the feast of the Vernal Equinox.

Though this festival occurs during Lent, when
both fish and oil are forbidden by the Greek
Church, the Bulgarians partake of both ; and
they explain the exception in favour of the former
by the following well-known legend, in which the
titular saint seems to be curiously confounded
with Constantine Palseologos. According to the
Bulgarian version of the story, the Byzantine
Emperor was, on the last day of the siege of
Constantinople, frying fish in his palace, in front
of which was a pond, when terrified messengers
came to announce that the Turks were mounting
the breach, and that the city would soon be taken.
The Emperor refused to admit the possibility of
such an event. ' The Turks,' said he, * will no
more take the city than these fried fish will jump
into the pond ! ' As he spoke, the fish leapt from

BULGARIAN ^BELIEFS 211

the pan into the water, all cooked as they were,
and have swum in the pond ever since. Why this
should entitle the Bulgarians to an * indulgence ' on
this day is, however, not very clear. But, according
to the peasants, the Blagostina is a great festival
and holiday for all creation, and on it even the
swallows and bees abstain from labour in the
celebration of the re-birth of Nature. It is also
the Feast of Serpents, which now come out of their
holes, and are sure to bite during the coming year
any who profane their festal day with manual
toil. In the evening three large bonfires are
lighted in every village. Round one dance the
young people, the matrons form a circle round the
second, while round the third the men gather for
their potations ; and all three parties enliven
their proceedings with song.

On St. George's Day, the Bulgarians make a
sacrifice of lambs, and relate as their reason for
this practice the following curious legend, which
seems to be of Moslem origin, and is evidently
a compound of the story of Abraham's sacrifice
and a legend concerning a Dervish Saint named
Sari Saltik.

One day the Almighty entered the house of
a very poor man, and asked for some food.
The man had neither lamb nor kid to set
before him, but, in order to fulfil the sacred
duty of hospitality, he took his little son, cut
his throat, and put him into the oven. Presently

212 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

the Lord, being hungry, asked if the food was
cooked.

* It will soon be ready,' replied the host.

' Open the door of the oven, and see if it be not
now ready.'

The father opened the oven, and saw with
astonishment that his son, instead of being roasted,
was comfortably seated, and engaged in writing
upon his knee in the Turkish fashion. The
Almighty then commanded him in future to
sacrifice a lamb on the anniversary of that
day.

A Bulgarian folk-song, on the other hand, which
is sung on St. George's Day, refers to Abraham
by name. Unfortunately, I have not yet been
able to procure this song, save in a fragmentary
form.

St. John's Eve is observed in Bulgaria with the
customary bonfires and other nocturnal com-
memorations of that universal solar festival.

On the Feast of the Assumption of the Virgin,
sacrifices of lambs and kids are made, accompanied
with offerings of wine, honey, cakes, etc., to one
of the Saints. The Saint who is to be thus honoured
is chosen by lot. Candles are lighted in front of
three eikons, and the candle first touched by a
little child brought in for the purpose decides
which Saint is to preside at the festival. Wine is
then served and each person present as he drinks
cries, addressing the chosen eikon — ' Sphete (Saint)

BULGARIAN BELIEFS 213

So-and-so, to thee be the offering ! ' The lambs
or kids are now killed ; if honey forms part of the
offering, the bees are smothered and their hives
rifled ; and at eventide all the inhabitants of the
village assemble to partake of the various sacrificial
meats provided for the occasion.

As will have been evident from the foregoing,
Bulgarian mythology presents a considerable
survival of the Nature-worship which was no
doubt the primitive religion of this, as of the
Greek and other neighbouring races. The powers
of Nature are, however, regarded in two different
ways. For while animals, plants, mountains, and
rivers are regarded as actuated by sentiments of
sympathy with mankind, the Youdas, Vilas, and
other nature-deities, who haunt the mountains,
valleys, rivers, and springs are regarded for the
most part as malevolently disposed, and must
either be propitiated or guarded against. The
direct personification of natural objects appears,
however, to occupy but a small place in Bulgarian
folk-fancy, and chiefly occurs with reference to
the exploits of the Sun, who occasionally falls in
love with a mortal maiden, and seeks to wed her.
Though he is, in the Greek poems, represented
as the ideal of manly beauty, he is by no means
considered a desirable spouse. It would indeed
appear, from popular expressions among all the
Christian peoples of the East, that his glance is
considered particularly pernicious to the beauty

214 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

of maidens, and — as already mentioned in con-
nection with the Wallachs — precautions are taken
against it, especially about the time of the Vernal
Equinox. The expression, * a maiden whom the
Sun has never seen,' is also frequently met with in
Greek folk-song and tale.

But besides the many imaginary beings which the
Bulgarians borrowed from Slavs and Greeks in by-
gone days, the country-folk terrify themselves with
a host of others. Most curious among these are
the demons to whose touch such maladies as ague,
paralysis, or even the nightmare, are attributed ;
and to exorcise them recourse is had to all kinds
of spells and charms. Ghosts, however, as we
understand the term, are, so far as I have been
able to ascertain, non-existent, though, here and
there, apparitions may be met with which partake
more or less of their shadowy character.

Among the many superstitions adopted by the
Bulgarians from their Turkish neighbours is the
belief in buried treasure guarded by gigantic
negroes or statuesque women, called tellestims, or
* talismans.' The tellcstim is also a spirit created
by the act of building or making. For, according
to an Oriental belief, every object or building is
possessed by such a spirit, which dies when its
habitation is destroyed. The disposition of a
tellestim also varies, it is believed, according to the
character of the being whose shadow has fallen
upon the foundation stone of the edifice, and a

BULGARIAN BELIEFS 215

lamb is sometimes sacrificed upon it in order that
the tellestim may be mild and gentle in disposition.
A story is told of a stingy Bulgar who, having
sacrificed a kid instead of a lamb, produced a
jumping tellestim vAio^Q antics rendering the house
uninhabitable, it had to be abandoned. The djins
which haunt ancient ruins are also no doubt
analogous to the tellestims which came into exist-
ence at the time of their erection.

In every Bulgarian, as in every Greek village
and town, there is some old women learned in all
ancient customs and ceremonies of divination,
and in the worship of the Nature-deities — whether
anathematized, or winked at by the parish
clergy. She is also the possessor of an unlimited
number of marifets, or charms, for all kinds of
purposes, from that which will bring rain when
the papas prayers prove unavailing, to that which
will drive away the demon of fever. This sorceress
is able to cast spells which will cause the person
against whom they are aimed to die the Hngering
death of the bewitched, or cure him of the bite he
has received from a Vila of the Fountain, under
the form of a cat. The Witch is, indeed, the most
important person in the village . She assists the Bul-
garian at his entrance into and exit from the world ;
is not only doctress and sorceress, but also high
priestess of the pagan festivals above described ;
and, while forming the complement of the papas,
occasionally poaches even on his preserves.

216 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

When a Witch is had recourse to in her
capacity of doctress, she hrst proceeds to ascertain
the gravity of the disease, its nature being ap-
parently of httle importance. Producing a scarf
or girdle several yards long in which a knot has
been tied, she, after some preliminary words of
incantation, proceeds to measure it on the patient's
arm, from the elbow to the finger-tip. If the knot
falls on the hand, the malady is but slight, or
merely imaginary ; if midway, it is serious ; but
if on, or near the elbow, it will prove fatal. As the
Wise-woman has probably acquired, from long
experience, a certain practical knowledge of
diseases, she no doubt occasionally succeeds in
correctly diagnosing the case, and her wide
acquaintance with the use of simples often enables
her to prescribe an effectual remedy, the real
efficacy of which is disguised under some accom-
panying incantation or other form of deception.
For a Spay-wife is naturally not disposed to be
communicative on the subject of her pharma-
copoeia ; and, as she and her patients invariably
attribute the malady to spells, or demons, she
attributes its cure to the magical practices
resorted to for its removal.

While many of the antidotes used by the Bul-
garians against the Evil Eye are similar to those
used by their Christian and Moslem neighbours,
the following are, I believe, peculiar to this
nation. ' Take six grains of salt, place them on

BULGARIAN BELIEFS 217

the eyes of the afflicted person, and then cast them
into the fire with a malediction against the person
suspected of having caused the evil.' ' Take
three pieces of red-hot charcoal, place them in a
green dish, and pour water over them with one
hand while making over them with the other the
sign of the Cross. Drink some of the water, wash
your hands with the rest, and then throw it on
the ground outside the house.'

Among the other folk observances and beliefs
affecting everyday life are the numerous adets,
or customs, non-compliance with which is con-
sidered unlucky, or even sinful. These would
form a very long list, but the following may serve
as specimens : It is unlucky to give a child a
spoon to play with ; to give away or sell a loaf
without first breaking off a piece ; to bathe a
child under seven years of age ; to sell a sack of
flour without first making a loaf from it ; to clean
a stable, sell milk, or fetch water after dusk, etc.
etc. Flour must be fumigated with incense when
it is brought from the mill — more especially if the
miller be a Turk — in order to drive away any
demon which may have entered into the sack ;
and before bringing into the house water from the
fountain a small quantity from each jar or pail
must be spilt on the ground, as some elementary
spirit might otherwise be floating on the surface,
and, not being thus thrown out, take up his abode
in the house, or enter into the body of a person

218 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

drinking the water. It is also a sin to give alms
to a Gipsy, Jew, or other * infidel,' or to allow
a dog to sleep on the roof of a house, as this is
calculated to disturb the repose of deceased
members of the family !

CHAPTER XII

THE OSMANLIS— THEIR HOMES AND HAREMS

A

PREDOMINATING instinct of the Os-
manli Turks has ever been a passion for
the picturesque in nature, a love of
splendid sites, sparkling seas, leafy shades, cool
fountains, and wide horizons ; and this instinct
has led them, wherever they have settled, to
choose for their abodes the most charming situa-
tions, commanding views unrivalled in grandeur
and beauty.

The streets of a Turkish quarter are consequently,
owing to their elevated situation, often steep,
and also for the most part winding and narrow,
and the pavement, if any there be, is of cobble-
stones sloping towards a gutter in the centre of
the roadway, which is usually ankle deep in dust
in dry weather, and a rushing torrent after rain.
In other respects, however, the streets are, gener-
ally speaking, cleaner than those of the Christian
and Jewish mahalldhs, partly owing to the natural
drainage consequent on their elevated situation,
partly to the greater space available in their
courtyards and gardens for the bestowal of refuse,
and also largely due to the presence in their streets

219

220 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

of the pariah dogs who act as scavengers, and,
though considered unclean animals and not
admitted to the houses of Moslems, are protected
and treated with kindness by them.* Kindness
to animals, I may here remark, is a leading trait
in Turkish character ; and one may often see in
the streets, sheltered under a house wall, rude
little temporary shelters constructed of boards
and carpeted with straw for the accommodation
of a canine mother and her brood of delightful
woolly pups, who speedily become the pets and
proteges of the whole mahalldh.

Almost every Turkish dwelling, palatial or
lowly, has its enclosed courtyard, and often a
garden with overshadowing mulberry, acacia,
cypress, and plane tree. Each house, too, is com-
pletely detached, so that a considerable space of
ground may be occupied, even within city walls,
by a somewhat sparse population. The houses
of rich and poor alike are chiefly wooden or half-
timbered constructions, and to this fact are mainly
due the disastrous conflagrations that have from
time to time devastated the cities of the iEgean.
Latticed blinds of unpainted wood invariably
cover the lower half of the streetward windows of
the haremlik, as the women's apartments are

1 This once familiar feature of the streets of a Turkish town
is now — in Constantinople at least — a thing of the past, the
street dogs having some years ago been exiled in their thou-
sands by the reforming zeal of the ' Young Turkey ' party.

OSMANLI HOMES AND HAREMS 221

termed, thus distinguishing Moslem abodes from
those of their Christian neighbours. A middle-
class Turkish dwelling is generally surrounded on
three sides by garden and courtyard, the fourth
abutting on the street over which the upper story
projects a couple of feet or so. The plastered
walls are coloured a deep ochre or terra-cotta,
which contrasts warmly and pleasantly with the
unpainted woodwork of the window-sashes and
lattices. Within the high, tile-topped walls of
the courtyard, vines and creepers clothe the sup-
ports of the outside staircase and landing leading
to the living-rooms above, and in the garden
beyond bloom in a luxuriant confusion little
troubled by the unmethodic mind of an Oriental
gardener, the rose and jasmine, tuberose and
carnation, orange and pomegranate, side by side
with the leek, bringal, tomato, and egg-plant,
melon, cabbage, and parsley.

Turkish konaks, and yahlis, as the mansions
and villas of families of position are respectively
termed, vary, however, considerably according to
the taste, wealth, and rank of their owners ;
according to whether situated in, or near the
capital, or in the provinces ; and also to the date
of their construction. Those which are at all of
ancient date are, in common with the humbler
abodes above described, built entirely of wood,
with the exception of the marble pillars of the
fagade, which have probably been appropriated

222 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

from the ruins of some ancient edifice. Many of
these old Osmanli homes on tlie shores of the
winding Bosphorus, with their projecting upper
stories and irregular outlines, their elegant kiosks
and terraces, bright colouring and verdant setting,
are most picturesque in appearance. The lattices
of unpainted wood screening the windows of the
harcmlik are constructed with circular openings
through which the hanums, themselves unseen,
may gaze from their cushioned divans on the
ever-changing scene below — kaiks, steamers, and
sailing craft of all nations, borne on the rapid
current flowing between the Euxine and the Sea
of Marmora. In many cases a towing-path only
a few yards wide separates the houses from this
wonderful waterway, and is here and there raised,
bridgewise, to form a Watergate through which
the kaiks have access to a staircase in the base-
ment of the house.

Generally speaking, however, a Turkish man-
sion, whether situated in the capital or in the
provinces, is an irregularly built, rambling edifice
of two stories, divided internally into two estab-
lishments— the haremlik and the selamlik. The
former and larger division contains the private
apartments of the family, and in the latter are
the rooms used by its male members for the
transaction of business, for formal receptions,
and for the exercise of general hospitality. An
apartment termed the maheyn — an Arabic word

OSMANLI HOMES AND HAREMS 223

signifying 'a space between two objects' — serves
to connect the two divisions of the mansion, the
keys of the communicating doors being naturally
kept by the master ; but a kind of buttery-hatch
in the form of a revolving cupboard, called the
dulap, serves for all verbal communication be-
tween the two departments, and also for the
transmission of provisions into, and of dishes
from, the haremlik kitchen when a meal has to be
served in the selamlik. When, however, a man
cook is employed, the kitchen will be in the selam-
Uk and only the cakes and sweets be prepared
by the harem folk. The haremlik has its en-
trance through a separate courtyard, or garden,
the front door opening into a large hall which
gives access to rooms on each side, and occupies
the whole depth of the building. One of these
rooms is the kahveh odjak, or * coffee hearth,'
where an old woman may always be found pre-
siding over a wide, low charcoal brazier, ready to
prepare at a moment's notice the fragrant bever-
age so beloved of Orientals ; the others being used
as laundries, storerooms and sleeping apartments
for the inferior slaves. The kitchen, which is
very spacious, is usually an outbuilding. One
side of it is occupied by the great arched cooking
stove, with its rows of little grates, on which the
contents of the brightly burnished copper pans
simmer over charcoal fires, fanned with a turkey's
wing by the negress cook.

224 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

A wide, uncarpeted, but well-scrubbed stair-
case leads from the entrance hall to the upper
floor, the centre of which is generally occupied by
a spacious ante-room, on which all the other rooms
open. In some of the older houses the divan-
khane, or state reception-room, contains at one
end a recess, the floor of which is raised, dais-wise,
a foot or more above the level of the rest of the
apartment. A low divan furnishes its three sides,
and in the most comfortable corner, which is the
habitual seat of the house-mistress, is a pile of flat
rectangular cushions, and here may also be found
her circular silver hand-mirror and inlaid jewel-
box. If the divan-khane has not such a recess,
one end and half the two adjoining sides are
usually occupied by a continuous sofa, the fourth
wall being furnished with a marble-topped * con-
sole ' table surmounted by a mirror and candel-
abra, and flanked on either side by shelves of inlaid
walnut wood fitted into niches on which stand
porcelain or silver rose-water sprinklers, crystal
sherbet goblets, and other objects both useful and
ornamental. A few common Austrian chairs stand
stiffly against the wall in every space left vacant,
one or two inlaid walnut-wood tray-stools being
placed here and there near the divan to hold
cigarette-boxes, ash-trays, and other trifles. The
walls are usually whitewashed, those of the princi-
pal rooms having, perhaps, a frieze painted in
distemper, with designs of foliage and animals,

OSMANLI HOMES AND HAREMS 225

representations of the human form being forbidden
by the Koran. The ceiHngs, which are uniformly
of wood, are often ornamented with arabesque
work in intricate and dehcate patterns.

Bedsteads are not used by the Turks, save in
the homes of wealthy and advanced families. The
bedding, which consists chiefly of mattresses and
quilts, is stowed away by day in large wall-cup-
boards, and the couches are spread at night on
the divans or on the carpeted floor of each room.
Such bedroom furniture as washstands, dressing-
tables, and wardrobes are dispensed with in old-
fashioned dwellings. Turks prefer to wash in
running water, and every haremlik is furnished
with a small washing-room with a hole in the
marble floor to carry off the waste. Should the
hanum desire to wash her hands and face only, a
slave brings to her a brass jug and basin, and
pours the water from the former over her hands ;
and for ablutions on a larger scale she will resort
either to the public baths or to her private hammam,
the small Turkish bath which constitutes an
indispensable adjunct of a Moslem house of any
importance. Bathing accommodation of some
kind may, indeed, be found in the most modest
dwelling, even if but a tiny cabinet furnished with
a drain for carrying off the water after use. The
ladies of the family * do their hair/ or have it
done for them by their slave-maids, as they sit
cross-legged on the divan ; and as to their * frocks
15

226 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

and frills,' the old carved and inlaid walnut-wood
chests and coffers in the treasure-room suffice to
store their gauzes and brocades, silks and embroi-
deries. Here, also, may often be found priceless
treasures in metal, porcelain, glass, and gems,
which, were they displa3^ed in the reception-
rooms, would greatly add to their cheerfulness.
Such, however, save in dwellings into which
European ideas and customs have penetrated, is
not the practice of the Osmanlis.

Though open fireplaces are not unknown, the
warming apparatus most commonly used, especi-
ally in the provinces, is the niangal, a wide,
shallow brass or copper pan containing charcoal
embedded in wood ashes. This is placed on an
octagonal or circular stand of wrought metal or
polished wood, from two to three feet in diameter
and a few inches high, which occupies the centre of
the room.

From the description above given of Osmanli
homes it will, however, I trust, be suificiently
evident that a harem — or rather haremlik — far
from meriting the epithets of a ' detestable prison '
and * place of degradation,' often applied to such
abodes by superficial travellers, is, as a rule, the
most cheerful and commodious division of a house.
For the term harem (in Arabic haram) simply
means ' a sacred enclosure,' the same term being
applied to the sanctuaries of Islam. The haremlik
is consequently the sanctum sanctorum, the place

OSMANLI HOMES AND HAREMS 227

safe from all intrusion, into which even the hus-
band refrains from entering if the presence of
one or more pairs of overshoes at the door of the
divan-khane announces that his wife has guests
whom he knows to be divested, according to
custom, of their outdoor garments. And I will
now attempt to give some account of the daily
life led by the denizens of these, to many, mysteri-
ous abodes.

As with Oriental nations generally, the mother
occupies the most honourable position among a
man's female relatives. Osmanli women are most
indulgent mothers, especially to their sons, who
naturally in early youth take advantage of their
devotion. Arrived, however, at years of discre-
tion, a young Osmanli, realizing the Prophet's
symbolical saying that * Paradise is under the
feet of the mother,' becomes in his turn her
devoted slave. Debarred by custom from inter-
course with all women not closely connected with
him by ties of blood, a man's mother and grand-
mother, sisters and aunts, are consequently his
only female friends ; and to this fact may, no
doubt, be traced the strong affection which exists
between mother and son, brother and sister.
The harem has, indeed, been termed, and perhaps
not without truth, * the sanctuary of family
happiness.' For the wife and daughters, having
no outside interests, use their utmost efforts to
make home pleasant to their male relatives.

228 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

The relations subsisting between the various
members of an OsmanH household, and the defer-
ence from younger people towards their seniors
required by custom, may appear somewhat curious
to Europeans. They are, however, the necessary
outcome of the patriarchal system which has
obtained among all the Balkan nationalities,
and has only of recent years been to a certain
extent abandoned by the Christian element in
the seaboard towns of the ^Egean. According to
the customary laws of this ancient social system,
if a man's widowed mother reside permanently
under his roof, which is not unusual, his wife's
position in the house is but secondary, and she is
required to defer to her mother-in-law in all
things. Hand-kissing being the usual mode of
respectful greeting, the wife kisses the hand of
her kain valide, as? also that of her husband, on
the occasion of any family event, or any anniver-
sary, and also on special Moslem holidays, such as
the opening of the Bairam festival. The wife may
not seat herself at table before her husband's
mother has taken her place, nor be the first to
help herself to the dishes, nor may she smoke a
cigarette in the presence of ' the first lady ' until
invited by her to do so. It no doubt often happens
that a good deal of friction exists between two
women occupying these relative positions. But
the prescribed etiquette is none the less observed,
and the young hanum probably consoles herself

OSMANLI HOMES AND HAREMS 229

with the reflection that at some future date their
observance will be to her own advantage. In all
matters of etiquette indeed, whether family or
social, precedence depends on seniority. If, for
example, a married Turk has a sister residing in
his harem, she will, if the elder, enjoy precedence
over his wife ; and similarly if he has three chil-
dren, the eldest and the youngest being boys and
the second a girl, the girl must defer to her elder
brother, while the younger boy, spoilt and indulged
though he may be, must give way to his sister in
everything that affects their common interests.
Nor do the youthful members of a family presume
to sit cross-legged before their elders. In the
selamlik, too, similar etiquette is required of boys
in their intercourse with male relatives ; and in
the presence of guests they speak only when
specially addressed.

According to Islamic law, the care and main-
tenance of indigent parents, and especially of
mothers and grandmothers, is incumbent on
Moslems ; and it would, I venture to think, be
difficult to find among the labouring classes of
Moslem lands a parallel to cases of not uncommon
occurrence in England, in which the progenitor of
a family numbering perhaps from fifty to a hun-
dred souls, is dependent for his or her subsistence
on public or private charity.

As above remarked, the only persons of the male
sex besides the husband who are permitted to

230 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

enter the hareynlik are his father, his sons, his wife's
father, and her brothers. In the large cities, how-
ever, some members of the * advanced ' class of
society also admit their own brothers and, possibly,
even more distant relations ; while a few may intro-
duce to their wives and daughters, in addition to
the above, their more intimate male friends. But
in households belonging to the old regime, which
constitute the bulk of the population, no male
relation of the master is allowed access to the harem
after attaining puberty if outside the prohibited
degrees of consanguinity, a restriction which in-
exorably and eternally separates first cousins of
different sexes, however close their childish intim-
acy may have been — unless, of course, a marriage
between them should subsequently be arranged.
An Osmanli, it may here be remarked, never,
under any circumstances, goes abroad in company
with his harem, though little girls, before adopting
the yashmak, may constantly be seen in public
with their fathers, and are allowed free access to
the selamlik. But the veil once donned, a girl
enters the ranks of womanhood, and is thence-
forward subjected to all the restrictions of the
harem. And the reason of this separation of the
sexes out of doors is sufficiently obvious. For a
father or brother could not frequent the public
promenades in company with the female members
of his family without bringing them directly under
the notice of his friends and acquaintances, and

OSMANLI HOMES AND HAREMS 231

thus infringing the fundamental principle of the
harem.

The Law, social, rather than religious, which
lies at the root of the harem system enjoins that
no free woman or girl over twelve years of age
must appear unveiled before a man who is outside
the prohibited degrees of relationship. As among
the Osmanlis first cousins may marry, the circle
of male relatives possessing the privilege of access
to a harem is thus strictly limited to the father
and grandfather, the brothers and uncles of its
female inmates. Inseparable, therefore, from the
harem system is the institution of domestic
slavery, for to slave women, who are the absolute
property of their owners, the above restrictions
do not apply. The demand for slaves for the ser-
vice of Turkish households is practically perennial,
seeing that, instead of forming a permanent class
or caste in the country, the vast majority of those
who have entered it as bondmen and women
obtain, in a few years, their freedom.

In former centuries the slaves, both male and
female, brought into the Turkish slave-market
were drawn from a great variety of races and
nationalities, European and Asiatic ; but at the
present day the white slaves are brought chiefly
from Circassia, the rest being Yezidis from
Kurdistan, or Georgians — though, since the occu-
pation by Russia of that former happy hunting-
ground of the slave-dealer, this traffic has only

232 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

been carried on clandestinely. The traffic in white
male slaves has of late years become compara-
tively insignificant, free men, both Moslem and
Christian, being now employed in the service of
the selamlik in the capacities of cook, pipe-bearer,
coffee-maker, and body-servant, as well as in
the stables as coachmen and grooms, A consider-
able number of negroes, as also of Abyssinians and
other Africans of both sexes, are, however, still
annually smuggled into the country.

Slavery, however, as now practised in Turkey,
is in direct contravention of the law of Islam,
which only recognizes as legitimate property non-
Moslems who have fallen as spoils of war into the
power of the True Believers. For, though young
girls belonging to various Asiatic races are fre-
quently kidnapped by the slave-dealers, the great
majority of the slaves brought in recent years
to Turkey are drawn from the Circassian race,
who profess the creed of Islam, and their purchase
and sale are, consequently, illegal acts which the
Sheikh-ul-Islam himself would have some difficulty
in justifying. Purchasers, however, get over this
difficulty by asking no questions as to the proven-
ance of the girls and children offered for sale by
the dealers, and absolve their consciences with the
convenient formula, ' Theirs be the sin.' The
public slave-market at Constantinople was, in
deference to European opinion, abolished about
the middle of last century, and though the

OSMANLI HOMES AND HAREMS 233

demand for female slaves at least remained un-
diminished, the supply has of late years become
more and more limited, with the result that
wealthy Osmanli families are at the present day
glad to engage Greek and other European maids
for the service of the haremlik.

After the abolition of the slave-market, private
trade in slaves became much more general than
formerly, this traffic being often carried on by
ladies of high rank, themselves in many cases
emancipated slaves. On being informed of the
arrival in the capital of a fresh batch of girls, these
ladies either drive to the slave-dealer's establish-
ment, or have the human chattels brought to their
konaks for inspection. Children of from six to ten
years of age are most sought after, consider-
able sums being paid for promising specimens in
the expectation of realizing a large profit when
the girls are grown up. The selection made, and
the bargain concluded, the girl is taken to her
new home and placed under the care of a kalfa,
or head servant, who carefully trains her for the
position she will probably be called upon to occupy.
Should she be endowed with personal charms, this
may be that of odalisk, or even wife, of some gran-
dee, or she may be presented to the Sultan by her
mistress, or sold for that purpose to some other
person anxious to acquire Palace influence. Many
of these amateur slave-dealers are the wives of
Ministers and other State or Palace functionaries.

234 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

who vie with each other in having the most beauti-
ful and expensively dressed girls in their harems.
For a lady with slaves to dispose of naturally
dresses them well and otherwise makes the most
of their personal charms to attract customers.

When the mistress and her daughters go out walk-
ing, driving, or shopping, calling, picnicking, or to
the public baths, a number of slaves invariably
share the treat. And it is no doubt greatly owing
to this custom of including some of the slaves of
the household in every pleasure party, or outdoor
excursion, that misconceptions have arisen in the
minds of foreigners as to the general practice of
polygamy. A carriage or carriages filled with
smartly dressed Turkish hanums — or what appear
to the experienced eye as such — are by the tourist
put down as the wives or odalisks of one Pasha,
while, as a matter of fact, they are his wife's
private property, over whom he, consequently,
has no rights whatever. I remember, indeed, in
the early days of my residence in Turkey being
myself considerably puzzled as to the status of
the half-dozen or so richly dressed young women
who arrived with a Pasha's lady to pay an after-
noon call — or rather a three hours' visitation —
and who, on arriving, divested themselves, accord-
ing to custom, of their outdoor cloaks and veils.

Domestic slavery, accordingly, as practised in
Moslem Turkey, it need hardly be said, differs
widely from the same institution as it existed

OSMANLI HOMES AND HAREMS 235

until recently in Christian America. In Islam,
slaves are protected by humane laws ; they are,
on the whole, treated quite paternally ; and not
being looked down upon as a class apart, are
speedily absorbed into the free and native popula-
tion. Food of an inferior quality is not deemed
by Moslems ' good enough for servants ' ; but,
according to the command of the Prophet, a slave
fares as well as her owners. Whatever her faults
and shortcomings, she may not be sent adrift into
the wide world, her owner being responsible for
her maintenance. And at the end of seven years'
servitude she can claim her liberty, and generally
obtains with it a trousseau and a husband.

Female slaves have, consequently, on the whole,
little to complain of. The good fortune of those
gifted with personal attractions is assured from
the outset, as many Turks prefer, for various
reasons, to marry women who have been brought
up as slaves. For marriage with a free woman —
as will be seen in a subsequent chapter — is an
expensive matter for a young bridegroom and his
parents, owing to the lavish outlay in presents
and entertainments obligatory on such occasions.
Consequently, if a father cannot afford to marry
his son to a maiden of his own social standing, he
purchases for him a slave girl who has been brought
up in some great lady's harem, and no expense is
incurred beyond the purchase-money. A slave,
having no position of her own, is also more likely

236 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

to be submissive and obedient to, and anxious to
please her lord and master ; she has no trouble-
some pretensions or caprices, and no interfering
relatives to take her part against him should any
disagreement arise. A free woman, on the other
hand, is by no means always disposed to have,
according to her own expression, * neither mouth
nor tongue,' but is fully aware of her rights, and
capable of asserting them ; and the moral support
afforded by her family gives her an assurance
which her husband often finds extremely in-
convenient. Should a slave bear a child to her
master, she cannot be resold, but has the right to
bring up under its father's roof her offspring,
which is considered legitimate, and may inherit
the family property in equal shares with the chil-
dren of a free wife, should there be any. The
distinctive provisions of the Moslem Social and
Marriage Laws, indeed, ensure that there shall be
no relations whatever between men and women —
whether free women or slave women — in which the
latter, from the very fact of such relations, shall not
have enforceable legal rights for themselves and
their children. And, in course of time, set free
and married, the one-time slave assumes the social
status, and is invested with all the rights and
privileges of a free-born Osmanli matron.

CHAPTER XIII

OSMANLI HOME-LIFE

BY no means inconsiderable are the above-
mentioned rights and privileges enjoyed by
Osmanli women, and their legal status may
indeed be held to compare very favourably with
that of women generally in Christian Europe.
For, as a daughter, an Osmanli woman is entitled,
on the decease of her father, to inherit his property
in common with her brothers in a proportion
determined by law according to the number of his
children. As a wife, she retains the uncontrolled
possession both of the wealth which may have
been hers before marriage and of that which may
subsequently accrue to her. She can inherit
property without the intervention of trustees,
and dispose of it as she pleases during her lifetime
or by will. No doctrine of ' coverture ' exists for
her ; she can sue or be sued by her husband, and
plead her own cause personally in the Courts of
Justice. But whether a Turkish wife be or be not
an heiress, her husband is equally bound to support
her and her slaves according to her rank and his
means, and also * to provide a separate apartment
for his wife's habitation, to be solely and ex-

237

238 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

clusively appropriated by her, because this is
essentially necessary to her, and is therefore her
due, the same as her maintenance.'

As to the much-discussed question of the custody
of children, this was settled for Moslems at the
outset by Mohammed, who decreed that a son
must remain with his mother so long as her care
is necessary to his well-being, and a daughter
until she arrives at puberty. And in the case of a
child born after the separation of its parents,
should the mother nurse it, the father is required
to pay her for so doing, and also, if wealthy, * to
expend proportionately for the maintenance of the
mother and nurse out of his plenty.' On the
death of a mother the right of custody reverts to
her female relatives, the child's maternal grand-
mother having a prior right, and after her,
failing a sister of suitable age, its aunts.

A husband might appear, at first sight, to
possess great privileges in the matter of divorce,
for he has merely to say to his wife in a moment
of anger, ' Cover thy face, thy nekyah is in thine
hand ! ' and the separation is legally effected.
Women are, however, on the other hand, safe-
guarded against a too arbitrary exercise of this
prerogative by certain wise regulations which to
a great extent modify, in practice, such facilities.
In the first place, there is the religious restriction.
' The curse of Allah,' said the Prophet, ' rests
on him who, without just cause, repudiates his

OSMANLI HOME-LIFE 239

wife/ In the second place, there exists the social
restriction — for parents would naturally hesitate
to give their daughters to a man who had thus
acted. And thirdly, a serious obstacle to a hasty
divorce is offered by the nekyah — the settlement
upon the wife of a considerable sum of money,
varying naturally according to social position,
payable to her in the event of such dismissal from
her husband's roof. So essential, indeed, to a
Moslem marriage is such a dower considered, that
even were mention of it omitted from a marriage
contract, the law would presume it by virtue of
the contract itself. Being a civil act, consisting
of a proposal on one side and an acceptance on the
other, and rendered legal by the presence of two
witnesses, a Moslem marriage can also be dis-
solved by the contracting parties by three several
methods of procedure. If a couple, for instance,
are not on good terms, and all the attempts at
reconciliation made by their friends prove fruit-
less, a divorce by mutual consent is pronounced,
and the woman returns to her father's house,
taking with her, besides the nekyah, everything
she brought with her, or has become possessed of
since her marriage. If a man divorce his wife
without her consent, she leaves his house equally
well provided. And a hanum can, on her side,
obtain release from a distasteful union, with pay-
ment of the nekyah, for various reasons, among
which are the husband's desertion, cruelty, or

240 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

neglect to maintain her in the degree of comfort
to which she is by law and custom entitled. If,
however, a wife, without such adequate reason,
and contrary to the desire of her husband, quit
his roof and demand a divorce, she very properly
obtains it only by forfeiting the nekyah.

Divorce being thus a simple process for a
husband with money at his command for payment
of the nekyah, a conjugal quarrel may easily end
in a pronouncement of divorce, when the lady will
immediately leave the abode of her irate spouse.
Reflection, however, and the intervention of
relatives and friends, may lead him to regret his
hasty action, and a second marriage will follow
the reconciliation of the parties. But this privilege
has also its limitations. For after a third divorce,
the parties may not again contract marriage,
unless the lady has in the meantime entered into
a formal legal union with another man. And great
is the consternation and gossip in the harems of
the neighbourhood, when it is reported that quick-
tempered Achmet Bey has pronounced ' the three-
fold divorce,' and his pretty but provoking wife
has returned for the third time to the paternal
roof. The fact, however, that the words ' May I

divorce my wife if ' constitute for Moslems

the most solemn and binding of oaths, is sufficient
evidence of how repugnant to them is the use,
and still more the abuse, of their privileges in this
respect.

OSMANLI HOME-LIFE 241

Notwithstanding the fact that the law of Islam
allows a man to marry as many as four wives, and
to be the owner of an unlimited number of slave
women, an Osmanli household is by no means
composed — as is popularly supposed in the West —
of a large number of women, all of whom stand in
wifely relations to their lord and master. Indeed,
as a matter of fact, at the present day among Turks
of the industrial classes one wife is the rule, and
among those of the upper classes more than one
wife is the exception. And thus it has, apparently,
always more or less been among Moslems generally.
For in addition to the numerous other considera-
tions which render a plurality of wives undesirable,
there is the very serious obstacle of expense. A
second wife means an extra apartment, or suite of
apartments, an extra slave, or train of slaves,
according to her rank in life — for each wife must
have her own special attendants — and an extra
allowance of pin-money, as a Turkish bride rarely
brings a dowry to her husband. There is, besides,
no great superabundance of women in the country,
notwithstanding the continual influx of slaves,
and every mother of a marriageable girl naturally
prefers to see her daughter become a hash kadin,
or ' chief wife,' as she thus would take rank before
successive wives. Lack of progeny by the first
spouse is most frequently the reason of a Turk's in-
curring this expense together with the risk of having
his domestic peace disturbed by taking a second.

i6

242 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

He may, of course, if so disposed, divorce the first
wife ; but, as above remarked, divorce for such a
reason alone would not only entail social odium,
but he would in that case be obliged to pay to the
discarded wife the sum stipulated in the marriage
contract. Two wives, indeed, seem to be the
extreme limit nowadays ; and only unce during
my long residence in different parts of the Ottoman
Empire had I the opportunity of visiting a harem
containing even this number.

Slaves, however, whether male or female, are
by no means always compelled to wait seven years
before receiving their freedom and its attendant
advantages. For it being considered by Moslems
a pious and meritorious act to free a slave,
Osmanli men and women frequently bequeath
either by will, or verbally, their liberty to the
slaves of the household. A male slave thus
set free becomes, so far as civil rights are con-
cerned, the equal of his former owner, and may
aspire to the highest offices of State ; while his
wife, whatever her origin, acquires the status of
hanum. In former centuries, indeed, many an
officer of high rank and Minister of State has been
of slave origin. It is also a very common practice
for childless couples and widows to enfranchise
and adopt as their heirs slave children to whom
they have taken a fancy. I was some years ago
in the habit of meeting a lady, a Circassian by
birth, who, brought to Constantinople as a mere

OSMANLI HOME-LIFE 243

infant, had herself been purchased and adopted
by a lady of high rank ; and when left in middle
age a childless widow, she in her turn enfranchized
and adopted two little girls of her own race,
whom she brought up and found husbands for.

Daily life in the harem is no doubt somewhat
monotonous ; but it is quite erroneous to suppose
that an Osmanli woman of the better class has no
duties or occupations beyond a certain amount of
servile attendance on her husband, and that she
passes her days reclining on a divan, * eating
sweets and playing with her jewels.' For, having
so few interests outside her home, the Osmanli
hanum is very domesticated, and no accomplish-
ments are so much appreciated in a marriageable
maiden as proficiency in the domestic arts.
Needlework especially is held in great estimation,
and for many years before marriage a girl finds
occupation for her leisure hours in embroidering
the sheets, towels, quilts, napkins, and other
articles which will later on figure in her trousseau
and deck the bridal chamber. Like all Orientals,
the Osmanli matron is an early riser, and after
partaking of a cup of coffee and a cigarette, she is
ready to wait upon her husband. She places his
slippers by the side of his couch, and holds his
pelisse ready ; and as soon as he is comfortably
seated on the divan, after performing the first of
the namaz or five daily prayers previously men-
tioned, she pours out his coffee from the little ihrik

244 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

in which it has been brought in by a slave, places
the cup in its silver zarf, and hands it to him.
The hanum also fills his tchihoiik — should he
prefer one to the more fashionable cigarette —
hands him the amber mouthpiece, and then
proceeds to light the fragrant finely shredded
Latakia tobacco by placing on the bowl with a
tiny pair of tongs an ember of glowing charcoal,
remaining in attendance, seated on a cushion,
while the slaves roll up the bedding and stow it
away in the wall-cupboards. The children then
troop in, uncombed and unwashed, in their quaint
night gear — wide trousers and quilted jackets of
coloured cotton — to kiss the hand of their sire and
be caressed by both parents. No nursery break-
fast, however, awaits them ; and they presently
begin to clamour for pence with which to purchase
their morning meal. The ten and twenty para
pieces distributed, the children scamper down to
the courtyard gate, near which they are almost
sure to find the simitdji, or vendor of ring-shaped
cakes covered with sesame seeds ; or, if he is not
in sight, they make their way to the nearest
chandler's shop, where they have their choice of
cheese, fruit, or helvd — a sweetstuff made from
sesame seed and honey, as a relish to their bread.
After this irregular meal all boys and girls over
eight years old are tidied up and sent, escorted by
a male servant from the selamlik, to the mekteh,
or parish school, where the children of rich and

OSMANLI HOME-LIFE 245

poor meet on a common footing. The babies
meanwhile roam freely about the haremlik at-
tended by the dadi, a slave who performs, after a
fashion, the duties of nursemaid.

When the paterfamilias has completed his out-
door toilet and departed to his day's avocations,
his womenkind proceed to follow their own devices
for the rest of the day, a hanum being perfect
mistress of her time, as she is of her property.
She will, probably, first inspect with her negress
cook the provisions for the day brought in by the
ayvas, or purveyor — often an Armenian — and
passed into the haremlik through the dulap — the
revolving cupboard before mentioned. For the
domestic economy of the natives of Turkey
generally is of a somewhat * hand-to-mouth '
character, so far as fresh provisions are concerned ;
and accounts are settled daily between the mistress
and the ayvas, either at the dulap, or at the
kitchen door, behind which the lady sits with a
muslin kerchief thrown over her head, this trans-
action appearing usually to necessitate prolonged
argument often conducted — on one side, at least —
in language more forcible than polite, the hanum
being by no means reticent in her expressions of
disapproval. If any special culinary treat in the
way of pickling, cake-making, or preserving is in the
day's domestic programme, the hanum will remain
in the kitchen to superintend or assist in the
operation ; on washing and ironing days, too,

246 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

she and her daughters will take a more or less
active part with the slaves in the day's work. In
the capital, however, such domestic occupations
are being gradually abandoned by the younger
and more fashionable hanums and their daughters,
who, emulating the pursuits of the foreign ladies
with whom they now come more into contact,
prefer to occupy their time in learning foreign
languages and acquiring foreign accomplishments.

Paying and receiving calls, attending dughuns,
promenading, driving, shopping, and going to the
public baths are the chief outdoor amusements
of the general run of Osmanli women. Before
setting out with any of these objects, a wife must,
however, first obtain her husband's permission.
In the majority of households this is, however,
but a polite formality, and leave for an expedition
is granted as soon as requested. But whatever
the object of the outing may be — walk, drive,
or call, picnic or shopping expedition, the party
will not fail to reach home again before sunset and
in time to receive the men of the family on their
return from their daily avocations.

Going to the bath is made by Osmanli women
the occasion of great festivity and ceremony. A
complete outfit of garments for each lady is
carried by a slave tied up in a square boktchd,
or bundle-wrapper — the primitive and universal
portmanteau, made without of silk, and often
richly embroidered — these garments being donned

OSMANLI HOME-LIFE 247

after the bath, together with their possessor's
most handsome jewels, for the admiration^and,
perhaps, envy — of the other ladies they may meet
at this favourite rendezvous. Other slaves carry,
in addition to fruits and refreshments of all kinds,
a variety of rugs, bath-wraps, brass basins, and
the multitude of — to the unitiated — mysterious
articles considered necessary for the due per-
formance of this important ablutionary rite. And
at the hammam the ladies, with their children and
attendants, remain for the best part of the day,
eating and drinking, singing, frolicking, and
gossiping in the intervals of the oft-repeated
soapings, rinsings and rubbings, the applications to
the hair of crushed laurel-berries, and to the nails
of henna, and other toilet details too numerous,
if not too difficult, to describe.

The Osmanlis indulge in but two meals a day —
the karvaltb, which is eaten about eleven o'clock,
and the yemek, partaken of about sunset, and
varying accordingly between five o'clock in winter
and eight in summer. Men whose vocations take
them away from home rarely return for the early
meal; and it is therefore to the karvaltb that
ladies generally invite their friends, there being
also the additional reason that Moslem women
rarely go abroad after nightfall. Sometimes large
luncheon parties are given, at which the most rigid
etiquette is observed. The hostess leads the way
to the dining-room where, in old-fashioned house-

248 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

holds, the covers are laid on sofras — circular tables,
or rather tray stands, raised only about a foot
from the floor, and accommodating at the most
half a dozen persons. If the guests are numerous,
there will be several sofras, at which they are
distributed according to their rank. At a genuinely
Turkish table the covers consist merely of a spoon
and portion of bread. Round the raised leather
pad which occupies the centre are grouped small
saucers containing hors-cV oeiivrcs — olives, cubes of
water-melon or cucumber, radishes, anchovies,
etc. As the ladies seat themselves cross-legged
on the low cushions disposed around the sofra,
slaves approach bearing water, soap, and towels.
One holds the leyen, a basin made with a little
stand in the centre to hold the ball of soap, and a
* well ' into which the used water disappears
through perforations ; another pours water on the
hands from an elegantly shaped brass ibrik ; while
a third tenders the embroidered towel with which
to dry them. Other towels with ends embroidered
in coloured silks and gold thread — the chevrehs of
which the East has of late years been almost emptied
by the demand for them in the West — are then dis-
tributed as table napkins,and the repast commences.
A tureen of soup, very thick, rich, and nourish-
ing, is first placed on the sofra. With a wave of
her hand, and a polite ' Boyournu, Effendi ! ' the
hostess invites the principal guest to dip in her
spoon. If, however, all her guests are of inferior

OSMANLI HOME-LIFE 249

rank to herself, she takes precedence, and the first
spoonful. When the spoons have returned a few
times to the tureen, it is removed and followed by
a number of other dishes in succession. The
hors d'ceuvres, with various sweets and fruits, fill
up the intervals between the courses until the
pilaf — the national dish, composed chiefly of rice
and butter — is placed on the sofra. The last dish,
the hochdf, consists of stewed fruits cooled with
ice, and served in a crystal bowl, with long-handled
spoons of ivory. Water, and occasionally sherbet
— the latter, however, not an effervescing drink,
but made from fresh fruits — are the only beverages
partaken of in the haremlik, and these are not
placed on the table, but handed by the attendants
as required. At the conclusion of the repast the
leyen and ihrik are again carried round, and the
party adjourn to the divan-khane. After a short
interval, during which the ladies arrange them-
selves on the divan — still, however, observing the
rules of precedence — a kalfa, or head servant,
enters, bearing on a tray draped with a richly
embroidered crimson napkin the coffee-pot, tiny
porcelain cups, and zarfs, as the cupholders in gold
or silver are called. She is followed by a troop of
slave-girls, who advance in turn to the tray, pour
out a cup of coffee, place it in the zarf, and present
it to the guests according to their rank, which it is
their duty previously to ascertain, those of equal
rank being served simultaneously.

250 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

Tchibouk-smokin^ has now quite gone out of
fashion among OsmanU ladies, and with it, of
course, the ancient elaborate ceremonial of pipe
distributing and lighting. Cigarettes are now
handed on a tray to each lady separately, and
when she has adjusted one in her amber mouth-
piece, another slave approaches with a glowing
charcoal ember on a little brass dish from which
to light it. Wlien all the cigarettes are alight, the
slaves retire to the lower end of the apartment,
where, ranged in a line, they stand with arms
crossed on their bosoms and eyes modestly cast
down until their services are again required to
remove the coffee-cups. In the interval they are,
however, furtively taking mental notes of the
dress, conversation, and manners of the guests,
who — should the hostess have brought up in her
harem girls for sale — on their side submit this
galaxy of beauty to a critical inspection, and make
their remarks on the girls individually with an
outspokenness that would both astonish and
amuse more reserved Europeans. Some of the
hanums have, perhaps, been commissioned by
their brothers or sons to select wives or odalisks
for them during visits to the harems of friends —
such transactions naturally requiring the co-
operation of the ladies of the family — and may
return home with a favourable description of some
girl who has taken their fancy. An offer of pur-
chase may in that case be made for the damsel to

OSMANLI HOME-LIFE 251

her owner, who names her price ; and, this agreed
to, the slave is transferred to her new home,
probably as a kitahetU — that is, one sold with the
stipulation that she will in due course be set free
and married.

Should, however, the day's programme include
none of the above-mentioned distractions, the
monotony of harem life may, at any moment, be
broken by various incidents — as, for instance, the
arrival of a female broker with jewels, articles of
dress, or home-made cosmetics and perfumes for
sale, and gossip unlimited. These itinerant
vendors, who are chiefly old women, are quite an
institution in Moslem society, and, under the
cloak of their caUing, which gives them easy
access to harems, they act as agents not only in
affairs matrimonial, but also in clandestine in-
trigues of every description. In Turkish folk-
literature, indeed, an ' old woman ' invariably
appears as the deus ex machina of a romance or
tragedy. And should the family possess daughters
of a marriageable age, the portress may at any
moment announce the arrival of a party of
gucrudjzs, or ' viewers ' — ladies, who may be
strangers to the family, in search of a wife for a
son or brother — an occurrence calculated to cause
lively and more or less lasting excitement in the
breasts of the fair denizens of the haremlik. For
every Turkish girl, whether handsome or * homely,'
has a right to look forward to marriage as her

252 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

destiny ; and an ' old maid ' is hardly to be found
among the OsmanUs, so rarely does it happen that
a husband cannot be found for a girl of marriage-
able age. Good looks naturally add to their
owner's value in the marriage market ; but even
the most unprepossessing or deformed spinster, if
she belong to a family of position, need not despair,
as she will at the worst be bestowed on some im-
pecunious but aspiring youth, to the furtherance
of whose ambitious schemes the patronage of her
father is necessary ; and many a high official has
owed his success in life to the influential connexions
of an uncomely spouse.

With regard to the dress of Osmanli women,
the incongruities noticeable in the furniture of the
majority of the better-class houses prevail to an
even greater extent in the dress of the generality
of the ladies who inhabit them. Out of doors the
tchitcharf, a disguise which has of late years been
substituted for the more elegant yashmak and
feradjc — the veil and cloak — is almost universally
worn as full dress. This garment may perhaps be
best described as a scanty double petticoat — made
of a variety of materials from checked or striped
printed cotton to fine cloth or rich brocaded silk —
the upper one drawn hoodwise over the head, and
fastened under the chin, the face being completely
hidden by a small square of dark-coloured silk or
muslin. But with regard to indoor dress it would
be difficult to say what is, or is not, worn at the

OSMANLI HOME-LIFE 253

present day by Osmanli women of the upper and
wealthier classes, the majority having during the
past thirty years gradually discarded their graceful
and picturesque national costumes in favour of
what are not infrequently ludicrous and lament-
able travesties of Parisian fashions.

The ancient indoor dress of an Osmanli lady, which
may still occasionally be seen in the remoter pro-
vinces, is extremely handsome. It consists of a full-
sleeved gown of white silk gauze, edged with silk
point-lace, and full trousers of red silk, over which
is worn the yelek, a sort of long coat or robe, tight-
fitting above the waist, and buttoned from the
bosom to below the girdle, but open on each side
from the hip downwards, and trailing a few inches
on the floor. For full dress, an upper trailing robe,
wider and looser, is worn, also open at the sides,
the sleeves of both garments being rather tight-
fitting, but open for some six inches at the wrists,
where they are often shaped en sabot. This outer
robe is usually of some rich material worked round
the borders, or all over, with elaborate trailing
patterns in coloured silks, or in gold and silver
thread, to which pearls are sometimes added.
The head-dress is a little round flat cap, covered
with pearls and precious stones or with embroidery
and gold braid. The bridal dresses of women of
the middle and lower classes are still made on this
model, the materials depending on the wealth of
the bridegroom.

254 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

The everyday dress of women and children of
the middle and lower classes generally is of brightly
printed cottons, made up in winter into quilted
jackets and other garments, which are worn over
full trousers of the same material. Before going
abroad a Turkish woman tucks up her skirts about
her waist as high as possible, and secures them
there with one of the large squares of muslin that
serve her for so many purposes. Having thus
made a shapeless bundle of herself, she throws
over all her tchitcharf, puts on her yellow ba-
bouches and black overshoes, and sallies forth.
Owing to the disposition of her primitive * dress
suspender ' and heavy footwear, the gait, when in
her outdoor gear, of an Osmanli woman belonging
to the middle and lower classes is, as a rule,
the reverse of graceful.

In concluding this brief survey of the home life
and social status of Osmanli women, I may remark
that the seclusion of women which accompanies
the harem system is by no means, as generally
assumed, a proof of their supposed ' degraded
position,' but is, on the contrary, in great part the
outcome of the regard entertained for them by the
men of their nation. Surrounded as they have
always been by people of alien races and religions,
in no other way than by restricting them when at
home to the inviolable haremlik, and by hiding
their charms from the public gaze when abroad
under disguising veil and cloak, could they be

OSMANLI HOME-LIFE 255

shielded from the impertinent curiosity — to say
the least — of the mixed horde of Christians,
Moslems, and Jews who throng the streets of their
cities and towns. For the same reason similar
customs were formerly, and in some parts of the
Empire still are, observed by the women of the
Christian population, Armenian and Greek. And,
as a matter of fact, the outdoor disguise of an
Osmanli woman renders her perfectly safe from
insult or molestation, whether on foot in the
streets, in tram or train, or on the deck of the
Bosphorus steamboats, and whatever the provoca-
tion she may give. Few foreigners are probably
aware how important a part was played by
Osmanli ladies in the preparations for the late
revolution which resulted in the deposition of
Sultan Abdul Hamid. Taking full advantage of
the immunity from molestation or impertinent
curiosity which is the privilege of their race, and
also of the absolute anonymity conferred by their
disguising veils and cloaks, the wives, mothers,
and sisters of the leaders of the movement in
different parts of the Empire were able to act
freely as their emissaries and go-betweens, bearing
from harem to harem, and from city to city, com-
promising papers which husbands or brothers
could have carried only at the risk of their lives.
Very naturally, Osmanli women of the upper
classes soon after these events proceeded to
demand of the new Party of Reform the removal

256 BALICAN HOME-LIFE

of some at least of the more irksome restrictions
by which they considered themselves hampered ;
and a certain section of the more advanced
members of that party frankly declared themselves
in favour of according to the women of their nation
all the social and industrial freedom enjoyed by
their sisters in Western Europe. Serious diffi-
culties of all kinds were, however, soon found to
stand in the way of such sweeping social reforms ;
and at the present day the attitude of the Ottoman
Government towards this question would appear
to be the reverse of favourable.

CHAPTER XIV

OSMANLI FAMILY CEREMONIES

(i) Birth Ceremonies

THE Turks form no exception to the
general rule above-mentioned respecting the
publicity given to family events, all such
domestic happenings being made the occasion of
much display and large accompanying hospitality.
The anticipated arrival of an Osmanli * little
stranger ' is announced to the neighbourhood by
the arrival of the Ehe Kadin — the Turkish Wise-
woman— preceded by a hamal bearing on his
porter's saddle the emblems of her calling. As
soon as a baby is born its mother is placed on a
state bedstead, used only on such special occasions,
which is spread with elaborately embroidered and
fringed sheets of native gauze over which are
thrown quilts of satin encrusted with needlework
in gold and silver thread, while half a dozen
long narrow silken pillows enclosed in ' slips '
matching the sheets are piled at the head of
the bed. Round the lady's head is bound a
crimson kerchief to which is attached a bunch
of charms, a gauze veil of the same hue being

thrown loosely over them — the whole coiffure
17 257

258 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

being designed to keep the Peris at a distance.
For although these imaginary beings are not,
like the Nereids of modern Greek mythology,
credited with the propensity of purloining new-
born infants, their baleful influence is none the
less to be carefully guarded against, and the
mother and babe should never be left alone for a
minute until after the bath ceremony has taken
place. If, as among the poor, this is sometimes
unavoidable, a broom to which a head of garlic
has been tied is placed by the bedside to keep away
uncanny visitors.

In the meantime the baby has been dressed.
But no dainty layette, Hke that which awaits the
arrival of a * little stranger ' in the West, has been
prepared for the little Osmanli, however wealthy
his parents may be. His small body is at once
tightly bound in swaddhng bands under a libarde,
or gown of quilted cotton stuff ; and various
quilted wrappers bound one over another convert
the poor mite into a shapeless bundle, its head
being covered with a little cap of red silk from
which hangs a tassel of seed pearls and a bunch of
amulets — coral horns, turquoises, or pieces of blue
glass, etc. — to ward off, besides the Peris, the
* Evil Eye,' as much dreaded by the Osmanlis as
by their Christian neighbours. Its toilette com-
pleted, the baby is laid on a handsome quilt in its
walnut-wood cradle, and over all is spread a large
square of crimson gauze.

OSMANLI FAMILY CEREMONIES 259

When all these arrangements are complete, the
happy father enters to congratulate his wife,
and confer upon the baby the name by which it
is henceforth to be distinguished. Carrying the
infant outside the door of the natal chamber, its
sire repeats a prayer invoking the blessing of
Allah on his offspring, and then pronounces three
times in its ear the name chosen for it. Should he
be unacquainted with the formula, the parish
priest is called in to assist him in the performance
of this duty. The Moslem equivalent for the rite
of baptism is of course circumcision, but this may
be, and usually is, deferred for some years.

Among the many restrictions to which the
mother is subjected by custom, the Ehe, and
her female relatives generally, is that of re-
fraining from pure water either for drinking or
ablutionary purposes. If thirsty, she may par-
take of ' sherbet ' made from sugar-candy and
spices, or a tisane of lime flowers or maidenhair
fern. Little rest is, however, allowed her, for, as
soon as the interesting event is made publicly
known, her chamber is crowded with relatives
and friends who hasten to offer their felicitations,
and usually sit there for hours discussing the
sweets, coffee, and other refreshments which it is
customary to offer on these occasions. On the
third day a djemiet, or formal reception, is held
by the mother, for which invitations have been
issued on the preceding day conveyed verbally by

260 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

an old woman whose profession is that of musdadji,
or ' bringer of tidings/ and accompanied by
bottles of the above-described * sherbet.' Open
house is also kept on this day, and all visitors,
whether invited or not, are hospitably received,
but with this difference — the bidden guests sit
down to luncheon, while the unbidden are regaled
with light refreshments only. Hired Gipsy musi-
cians receive at the door of the haremlik and
escort upstairs the more distinguished guests, who
arrive in parties preceded by servants carrying
baskets of sweets prettily decorated with flowers,
enveloped in gauze, and tied with ribbons. If
the father holds an official post, it is customary
for his fellow-officials and subordinates to send
with the basket of sweets more or less valuable
presents. Among the poorer classes, however,
gifts of coffee, sugar, cakes, etc., are, on these
occasions, brought by the visitors in order to
lessen for the family the expense of the customary
hospitality. After divesting themselves of their
out-of-door veils and cloaks in an anteroom,
according to Turkish custom when paying calls,
the visitors are ushered with ceremonious formality
into the state bed-chamber.

* Mashallah — in the name of Allah — long-lived
and happy it may be ! ' exclaim the matrons in
turn to the happy mother, who kisses their hands
in acknowledgment of their good wishes. Little
or no notice is, however, taken of the infant

OSMANLI FAMILY CEREMONIES 261

personally, as its near relatives are best pleased
when its presence is altogether ignored, and so
spared the risk of the * Evil Eye ' being cast upon
it. Should, however, feminine curiosity and
interest in babies prove too strong to allow of the
new arrival being entirely ignored, the matrons,
after feigning to spit on it to avert the ' Evil Eye,'
conceal their private approval under such dis-
paraging remarks as ' Nasty ugly little thing ' — to
show their good-will. For, in the East, it is most
unadvisable openly to express admiration for
either persons or things, as any future accident or
misfortune is certain to be attributed to the malice
or ill-will underlying the honeyed words of com-
mendation.

But amulets, spittings, and abusive epithets
notwithstanding, it is considered expedient to
make doubly sure that no ill effects of the dreaded
* Evil Eye ' have been left behind. So no sooner
has the last guest departed than the Ehe, assisted
by the women of the household, proceeds to ascer-
tain this by the following process. A handful of
cloves are procured and thrown singly on the hot
embers of the charcoal brazier, one for each
visitor. If the clove explodes with a report, it is
held to be proof positive that the person named
with it has cast the nazar on mother or child — or,
it may be, on both. As an immediate exorcism,
snips of their hair are placed on the charcoal
embers, and the supposed sufferers are fumigated

262 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

with the smoke arising therefrom. This is followed
by spittings, blowings, prayers, and divers mysteri-
ous incantations which are persisted in until a fit
of yawning announces that the spell has been
removed. An old woman is, however, next
despatched on some pretext or other to the dwell-
ing of the person suspected, with the object of
surreptitiously obtaining possession of some scrap
of her clothing with which to make a further
fumigation ; and this successfully accomplished,
the minds of the mother and her friends are, for
the time being at least, set at rest.

Among the poorer classes, the bath ceremony
usually takes place on the fourth day after the
birth of a child, but with the wealthy it is often
deferred until the eighth day. On the occasion
of the birth of a first-born, great formality is
customary. If the ceremony is to take place in
the private hammam usually attached to the
haremlik division of a mansion, a number of
friends are invited to join in the ablutions, and
partake of luncheon and other refreshments.
If, however, the public baths are resorted to, the
invited matrons, accompanied by their attendants
bearing the bath requisites in bundle-wraps,
assemble at the house, and, preceded by the Wise
Woman carrying the baby, walk thither in pro-
cession. After being formally divested of her
garments in the saoukluk, or * cool room,' the
mother is enveloped in a silken bath-wrap, and.

OSMANLI FAMILY CEREMONIES 263

shod with a pair of high pattens of walnut-wood
inlaid with silver, is led into the hot chamber,
supported on one side by the Hammamdji Hanum,
or Head Bathwoman, and on the other side by a
relative, and followed by the rest of the company.
The baby is first taken in hand, and after it has
been well rubbed and scrubbed, the Wise-woman
turns her attention to the mother. Before com-
mencing operations, however, she throws a bunch
of keys into the marble basin, mutters a spell of a
religious character, and then blows three times
into the water, these preliminary precautions
being taken against the Peris who especially haunt
the waters. The usual ablutionary routine is then
proceeded with by the company generally. At its
conclusion the young mother is placed in a re-
clining position on the raised marble slab in the
centre of the hot chamber, and her body thickly
plastered over with a species of unguent composed
of honey and various aromatic condiments, held
to possess strengthening and recuperating pro-
perties. This is left on for about an hour, the
tedium of the process being enlivened by the ladies
of the company with songs and conversation, and
every now and again they transfer with their
forefingers some of the spicy compound to their
mouths, it being considered lucky to get a taste
of it. When what remains of the unguent after
the hanums have thus regaled themselves has
been washed off, the mother is wrapped in her

264 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

havlu, or robe of Turkey towelling, the fringed
borders of which are embroidered in gold thread,
and conducted back to the spacious * cool room.'
The guests seat themselves cross-legged on the
raised and cushioned platform surrounding this
apartment ; but before taking her own place the
hostess proceeds to kiss in turn the hands of all
the senior matrons present, the salute being
acknowledged with the good wish, * May it be to
your good health ! '

The circumcision of a boy is by Moslems made
the occasion of another important family cere-
mony called the sunnet dughun, the festivities
with which it is celebrated extending over a whole
week. Hospitable on all occasions, the Turks are
pre-eminently so on this, when it is held to be a
religious duty to show special attention and regard
to the poor and needy. Consequently, people of
the labouring class who cannot themselves afford
the expense of a sunnet dughun for their boys
defer the rite until they hear that the son of some
grandee in their neighbourhood is about to be
circumcised, when they send in the names of their
boys with the request that they may be allowed
to participate. The rich man, if a good Moslem,
will grant this permission to as many of the sons
of his poor neighbours as his means allow of, such
acts of piety being held to be well pleasing unto
Allah ; and when a circumcision ceremony takes
place in the Imperial Palace, custom requires that

OSMANLI FAMILY CEREMONIES 265

the Padishah should place no limit on the number
of participants. As the head of the house in which
a sunnet dughun is celebrated is in duty bound to
furnish each candidate for initiation with a com-
plete outfit of clothing and defray all other
attendant expenses, it is often an exceedingly
expensive affair for a man of rank ; and even
among the middle classes, who limit the festivities
to one day, the obligatory minimum expenditure
is seldom under ten pounds.

The first day of a Turkish child's school life is
considered so important an event that it is
celebrated with a little ceremony as interesting
as it is quaint. Dressed in his holiday suit and
bedecked with all the jewels and personal orna-
ments which his parents possess or can borrow
for the occasion, his little fez almost concealed
with strings of gold coins, pendants, and pearl
tassels, and various little objects worn as charms
against the ' Evil Eye,' and his finger-tips tinged
with henna, he is mounted on a superbly capari-
soned horse, and led in pompous procession
through the streets of the neighbourhood. In
front of him his future instructors walk backwards,
slowly and gravely, as if to prolong the ceremony.
Behind him an elder boy carries on a silken
cushion a copy of the Koran, to know which holy
book by heart entitles a youth or maiden to the
honourable title of Hafiz ; another bears his
folding bookstand of walnut wood inlaid with

266 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

mother-of-pearl, on which the sacred volume is
placed when open ; a third holds his chanta, or
writing-case of velvet, embroidered with stars and
crescents in gold thread. Behind these come all
his future schoolfellows, walking two and two,
and chanting verses said to have been composed
by the Prophet extolling the pleasures of know-
ledge, exhorting to love of one's neighbour, and
inciting to industry. These canticles conclude
with good wishes for their new companion,
eulogies of his parents and teachers, and finally,
glorification of the Sultan, all the bystanders
loyally joining in the refrain of Amin ! Amin!
On returning to the boy's home his father dis-
tributes coppers to his schoolfellows, and also to
the crowd of poor folk sure to be collected round
the gateway. This ceremony is repeated when
the boy passes his first examination, his hodja
being presented at the same time with a Turkish
lira (i8s.) and a suit of linen.

(2) Marriage Ceremonies

The Osmanlis, in common with all Moslems,
hold the estate of marriage in great esteem. For
it is related in the Hadith, or 'Traditions,' that
Mohammed said, * When the servant of Allah
marries he perfects the half of his religion.'
Early marriages are, consequently, for this as
well as for other reasons, the rule among the

OSMANLI FAMILY CEREMONIES 267

Osmanlis, the patriarchal customs alluded to in
a previous chapter making it unnecessary for a
youth to wait until he has a home of his own
before taking a wife. Formerly, youths of eighteen
were married to girls of from twelve to fifteen ;
but nowadays such very youthful couples are
seldom met with, though at a friend's house I once
saw a bride of twelve who was the wife of a Turkish
orderly in the service of the Pasha, my friend's
husband.

When, accordingly, it has been decided by the
family council that the time has arrived for a
youth to marry, his mother, if she has not already
chosen a bride for him, makes inquiries among
her friends and of the old women brokers — who
act also as ' go-betweens ' in matters matrimonial
— as to families having pretty and marriageable
daughters. This ascertained, she drives to each
harem in turn, accompanied by one or more near
relatives and the go-between. Introductions are
unnecessary, but the object of the visit is men-
tioned to the slaves who, on their entering, come
forward to remove, according to custom, the
outdoor garments of the visitors. The lady of the
house, informed of this, hastens to receive her
guests with all honour, and should there be more
than one daughter, the eldest proceeds to dress
and adorn herself for inspection — for among the
Turks, as with their Greek neighbours, daughters
are married according to seniority. The two

268 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

mothers meanwhile exchange conventional com-
pliments until the portiere is raised and the
mai ien enters and, after saluting the strangers by
kissing their hands, offers to each in turn a cup of
coffee from the tray which has been brought in at
the same time by a slave. While this is being
partaken of, she stands in modest attitude ; and,
after removing the empty cups, salaams and
vanishes.

* Mashalla ! What a beauty ! Your daughter,
Hanum Effendi, is like a full moon ! ' — so the
visitors, whatever their private opinion may be,
are required by etiquette to exclaim. Other
compliments follow, and then the chief Guerudji,
or * Viewer,' proceeds to expatiate on the good
qualities of the would-be bridegroom, mentions
the amount of the nekyah, or marriage settle-
ments he or his family are prepared to offer, makes
inquiries as to the girl's age and fortune, if any,
and finally departs with the conventional hope
that, * should Kismet have decreed it, they may
become better acquainted.' It is considered no
slight if nothing further comes of such a visit of
inspection, which is allowed to be, in legal phrase,
* without prejudice.' After some half-dozen harems
have been thus visited, the lady returns home to
describe the various damsels to her husband and
son; and, the selection made, intermediaries are
despatched to the family of the fortunate maiden
to settle the preliminaries.

OSMANLI FAMILY CEREMONIES 269

Meanwhile, though the youth may not, of course,
see the maiden unveiled, she, on her side, is natur-
ally anxious to see her future husband ; and an
opportunity for this is usually arranged by the
respective mothers in the course of a drive abroad,
when he will be found at some spot previously
agreed upon. Boy and girl friendships, however,
not infrequently survive the intervening years of
separation, and, developing into a warmer feeling,
end in happy marriages. For in the young,
romance is stronger than social and religious
conventionalities; and love can, and frequently
does, surmount even the barriers of harem re-
straint. When the parties to the contract are
mutually satisfied, the conventional betrothal
gifts — a silver jewel-box, hand-mirror, and other
toilet requisites — are sent to the bride, who in
her turn presents the bridegroom with a jewelled
snuff-box, cashmere shawl, etc. His mother
then visits the bride, taking with her some yards
of red silk and a basket of bonbons. The former
is spread on the floor in front of the divan, and on
it the bride stands when she approaches to kiss
the hand of her future mother-in-law, who pre-
sents her with the sweets and her blessing. Half
a bonbon bitten in two by the girl's pearly teeth
is conveyed back to the bridegroom, presumably
as a first love-token. A few days later the aghirlik,
a sum of money which is practically the bride-
groom's contribution to the expenses of the

270 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

wedding festivities, is sent to the maiden's father ;
and this betrothal is followed eight days later
by the legal marriage.

According to the law of Islam, marriage is not
a religious but a civil contract, the vahdity of
which consists in its being attested by at least
two witnesses. The ceremony takes place in the
house of the bride's father, in the selamlik of which
the amount of the nekyah — the before-mentioned
sum to be paid to the bride in the event of divorce
— is finally discussed and formally agreed to.
The contract drawn up and attested, the bride-
groom stands up and thrice proclaims his desire
to wed the daughter of Selim Effendi, or Ali Bey,
as the case may be. Thereupon the Imam, who
is present in his legal capacity, proceeds with the
maiden's father to the door of communication
with the women's apartments, and after declaring
the amount of the nekyah offered, asks the maiden
if she is willing to wed So-and-so. When the
question has been thrice asked and thrice affirma-
tively answered, the Imam returns to the selamlik,
the contract is formally signed and witnessed, and
the parties are legally man and wife.

But before the young couple may see or
hold any communication with each other, this
Legal Sanction must be supplemented by the
Social Sanction which is manifested by public
participation in the various ceremonies and
festivities which precede the transfer of a bride

OSMANLI FAMILY CEREMONIES 271

from her father's roof to her new home, such
festivities being termed collectively the dug-
hun. Some months may, however, pass before
the dughun can take place, as elaborate pre-
parations must be made for its due celebration,
according to the social position and wealth of the
contracting families. The wedding-dress, together
with sundry accessories which it is customary for
the bridegroom to furnish, are sent with great
ceremony to the home of the bride a week before
the date fixed for the commencement of the dug-
hun, the rest of her trousseau being provided by
her parents, as also is the * plenishing ' of house-
hold linen and bedding. To these are added a
supply of kitchen utensils, all of copper ; furniture
for two rooms covered with costly material, to-
gether with a handsome brass mangal, or brazier and
stand ; various articles of walnut-wood inlaid with
mother-of-pearl, ivory, or silver, such as dinner-
trays and stands, dustpans, bath-pattens, etc.

The wedding festivities extend over a week, and
however ill a father can afford the expenses in-
separable from their due celebration, custom
compels him to incur them. Such festivities are,
in fact, the delight of the general run of Osmanli
women, and it is a point of honour with a mother
to celebrate her daughter's dughun with as great
eclat as possible. The ceremonies begin on a
Monday, when a number of relatives and friends
assemble at the bride's home to escort the trous-

272 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

seau and plenishing to the bridegroom's abode.
The coffers containing the articles are carried on
the backs of porters under the supervision of the
ancient Koulavouz, or go-between, who is respon-
sible for its safe delivery, the former receiving at
the hands of the bridegroom's mother, in addition
to their fee, a chevreh, or embroidered napkin.

The ladies follow on foot or in carriages, accord-
ing to the distance, and after partaking of coffee
and sweets, proceed to decorate the apartments
destined for the bride's special occupation. Some
fasten strings along the walls, on which they
display the various articles of the trousseau,
together with the cashmere shawls and Persian
prayer-carpets, the embroidered sheets and pillow-
slips, towels and bundle-wraps, all disposed with
a view to artistic effect. In one corner of the
room a canopy is constructed of gauzes, embroi-
deries, and crape flowers, beneath which the jewels
and other objects of value are arranged on a table
under glass shades, while garlands of similar
flowers are suspended along the four walls. This
satisfactorily completed, the party turn their
attention to the second apartment, where they
set out the furniture and bedding, the stools of
inlaid wood, the hoshaf tray, with its service of
crystal bowl and ivory spoons, the candelabra,
and the household requisites before mentioned.

On Tuesday the bride is taken with great cere-
mony to the public bath, the fees for the whole

OSMANLI FAMILY CEREMONIES 273

party being, on this occasion, paid by the bride-
groom. When ready to leave the inner hot
chamber, the maiden, wearing of course only her
bath robe, is led by her mother round the central
platform on which the guests are seated, and
kisses the hand of each matron in acknowledgment
of the customary formula of congratulation and
good wishes. The clothes she dons after this
ablution, and wears until arrayed in her bridal
finery, should not, according to traditional
custom, belong to her, but be borrowed for the
occasion.^

Early in the afternoon of Wednesday the bride-
groom's lady relatives proceed in a body to the
home of the bride, preceded by the go-between,
who announces with great formality their arrival.
The bride's mother and all her assembled friends
hasten to the foot of the staircase, and forming a
double row in the entrance hall, the first couple
place each a hand under the arms of the bride-
groom's mother, supporting her as she ascends
the stairs, the rest following suit with the other
guests. The new arrivals, after having been di-
vested of their outdoor garb, are conducted to a
room set apart for their reception — it being

^ This recalls a somewhat similar usage in some parts of
Britain where a bride is advised to wear under her wedding
dress

Something old and something new.
Something borrowed and something blue.

i8

274 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

contrary to etiquette on this day for the two sets
of guests to mingle — around which they seat
themselves on the divan and are served with un-
sweetened coffee and cigarettes. An hour later
sweetened coffee is handed round ; and as soon as
the cups have been removed the bride enters,
still wearing her borrowed garments ; and sup-
ported on either side by a matron who has been
only once married, she makes the tour of the room,
kissing the hands of all present, beginning with
the bridegroom's mother and not omitting the
youngest girl present. A chair is then placed for
her close to this lady, on which she remains
seated for a few minutes during which the matron
transfers some sugar-stick from her mouth to
that of her daughter-in-law, a custom which,
together with the half sugar-plum sent to the
bridegroom at the betrothal, would seem to be
a survival of the ancient and widespread marriage-
rite of * food-sharing.' After having been enter-
tained for some time by the performances of the
musicians and dancing girls, the bridegroom's
mother and her party take their leave, receiving at
the same time an invitation to return in the
evening for the Khend ceremony. The bride then
again comes forward and conducts the guests to
the foot of the staircase, where they throw over
her a shower of small coins, which are forthwith
scrambled for by the beggars, children, and
hangers-on always to be found in great numbers

OSMANLI FAMILY CEREMONIES 275

at the door of a haremlik during the progress of a
dughun.

When the company are again assembled in the
evening, a taper is handed to each of the younger
members of the party, who, led by the bride and
escorted by the musicians and dancing girls,
descend to the garden. Winding in a long and
wavy line, now between the fragrant flower-beds,
and now in the shadow of the trees and shrubs,
their rich dresses, bright jewels, fair faces, and
floating hair fitfully lighted by the flickering
tapers, their feet moving to the rhythm of the
tinkling castanets and wild strains of the dusky-
hued Gipsy girls, one might imagine these maidens
a troop of Peris engaged in their nocturnal revels.
Returning to the house, the bride, divested of her
gay attire, enters the reception-room, holding her
left arm across her brow, and seats herself on a
stool in the centre of the apartment. The finger-
tips of her right hand are then covered thickly
with henna paste, on which the bridegroom's
mother sticks a gold coin, the other guests follow-
ing suit. This hand, covered with a silken bag,
is now held across her face, while the left hand is
similarly plastered and decorated by the bride's
mother and friends. When the maiden's toes
have also been similarly treated, the ceremony is
terminated with a wild pantomimic dance by the
Gipsy performers, at the conclusion of which
these women fall into exaggerated postures before

276 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

the principal ladies in order to receive their
guerdon, which is looked for as much from the
guests as from the hostess.

A bride is usually conducted to her new home
on the morning of Thursday, accompanied by an
immense concourse, the women in carriages and
the men on horseback, and preceded by music.
But before leaving the paternal roof a touching
little ceremony takes place in private : the bride's
father, in the presence only of her mother and
sisters, girding his daughter with the ' wedding-
girdle.' While performing this traditional farewell
observance, the paterfamilias is, as a rule, deeply
affected, and weeps in company with his wife and
children. The departing bride falls at his feet and
kisses them and his hands. He raises and presses
her to his breast, and, after winding the girdle
about her waist, gives her his paternal blessing.
Arrived at her new home, the bride is received at
the haremlik entrance by the bridegroom, who
conducts her upstairs through the crowd of
guests there assembled — the ladies on this occa-
sion dispensing with their veils on the pretext that
the only man present is too preoccupied to look
at them ! — to the seat of honour in the bridal
chamber, and then rejoins his male guests in the
selamlik. The bride's veil is then raised, and she
and her trousseau remain for some hours on view,
not only to the invited guests, but to all the
women of the neighbourhood who now flock in to

OSMANLI FAMILY CEREMONIES 277

gaze on the poor girl, the festivities being continued
in both divisions of the house until evening.

After the customary evening prayers have been
performed in the selamlik, the Imam, or parish-
priest, who forms one of the company on such
occasions, invokes a benediction on the young
couple ; and at its conclusion the bridegroom
hurries towards the door leading to the haremlik,
followed by his friends, who administer smart
blows on his back and also throw at him with no
gentle hand the shoes of which a supply will
always be found in the entrance hall. The door
at last shut between the happy man and his
pursuers, he is led upstairs to the bridal chamber
by the old koulavouz, who on this occasion acts as
mistress of the ceremonies to the young couple.
The bride rises from her seat as he enters, steps
forward and kisses his hand. Her bridal veil of
crimson silk is spread on the floor, and on it the
husband kneels as he offers a brief prayer, the
wife standing meanwhile on its edge. Bride and
bridegroom are then seated side by side on the
divan, and the koulavouz shows them in a mirror
the reflection of their united faces, expressing at
the same time a pious wish for the continuance of
their present harmonious union. After serving
the couple with coffee, she withdraws to make
preparations for their supper. The hour of this
meal will, however, depend on the humour of the
bride, whose shyness, or obstinacy, must be over-

278 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

come to the extent at least of inducing her to
speak to the bridegroom — an indispensable pre-
liminary to his assuming any authority over her.
Oriental brides are recommended by experienced
matrons not to respond too readily to the advances
of their husbands, who are occasionally compelled
to have recourse to stratagem in order to obtain
their supper. Once a word has been vouchsafed,
however, the husband makes a signal, and the
meal is served.

On the following morning, the couple enter,
hand in hand, the principal reception-room of the
house, where all the bridegroom's family await
them, anxious to ascertain ' whether their stars
have met,' which the women at least have no
difficulty in discovering. Both salute the heads
of the family by kissing their hands, and receive
from them in return the customary presents. The
two subsequent days are also devoted to harem
festivities, during which the bride, in her wedding
array, sits in state to receive the congratulatory
visits of all the matrons included in the visiting
lists of both famiUes.

(3) Funeral Ceremonies

The divine calm of the Moslem spirit — the
spirit of profound and complete resignation to the
Will of Allah — is on no occasion more strongly
manifested by the Osmanlis than in the presence
of death. The pious Mohammedan may, indeed.

OSMANLI FAMILY CEREMONIES 279

be said to have ever present to his mind the
termination of earthly existence and the life
beyond, and he regards the joys and allurements
of this world as but illusions and shadows in
comparison with the everlasting delights which
await him in Paradise. While Kismet determines
the events of a person's life, his Edjel, or ' appointed
time,' has also been decreed for him by Allah who
has inscribed both in invisible characters on the
brow of every human being.

This unquestioning submission to the decrees
of Fate renders death terrible to Moslems only in
the abstract, and when viewed from a distance.
In polite society it is never alluded to save under
some poetical name, such as the * Cupbearer of
the Sphere,' * and prefaced by the words, ' Far
be it from you ! ' and the common people before
uttering the word invariably spit — an action
which has much the same signification. Such a
fatalistic view of life and death naturally causes
the Osmanli populace to regard the medical art
with scant respect. If a person believes himself
to have heard the call ' Return,' he will die,
doctors and ' charmers ' notwithstanding ; and
if the * appointed time ' has not yet arrived, he
will recover — so why trouble him with drugs ?
When the * Cupbearer of the Sphere ' is beHeved to
be at hand, the relations of the moribund gather
round the couch, weeping silently, or reciting

1 See also p. 293.

280 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

prayers to keep away the evil spirits believed to
be ever on the alert to harass and torment a
departing soul. If the dying person be conscious
and able to speak, helal, or free forgiveness of all
injuries, is requested and granted on both sides.
Pious bequests, too, are often made on death-
beds and slaves set free, charity of this kind
having been specially commended by the Prophet.
The wailing of the women commences as soon
as the last breath has been drawn. Those most
affected by the sad event beat their breasts and
tear their hair in a passionate outburst of genuine
grief. As soon, however, as this first expression
of sorrow has exhausted itself, preparations are
commenced for performing the last rites to the
dead, and invitations are at once issued for the
funeral, which takes place either on the same or on
the following day. When the eyes of the dead
have been closed and the chin has been bandaged,
the body is placed, covered only with a sheet,
on the rahat latak, or * Couch of Ease,' a kind of
stretcher on which, in the case of a man, it is
borne to the courtyard of the house to be washed
by the Imam and his subordinates. For a woman,
however, these last ablutions are performed in
private by ' washers ' of her own sex. As a peculiarly
sacred character is attached to this ablutionary
rite, great reverence is invariably observed in
carrying out every detail of the ceremony. The
body is kept covered as much as possible, and

OSMANLI FAMILY CEREMONIES 281

handled with great gentleness and care, as any
rough or disrespectful usage may, it is believed,
draw upon the offending washer the * wrath of
the dead.' For the ' Traditions ' of Mohammed, as
well as the works of Moslem doctors, teach that
a dead body is conscious of pain, and great care is
consequently taken to avoid undue pressure while
washing a corpse.

These observances concluded, and the hour
fixed for the funeral arrived, the door of the
chamber of death is thrown open, and the guests
enter, preceded by the Imam. The latter, ad-
dressing those present, says, * O congregation,
what do you consider this man's (or woman's)
life to have been ? ' ' Good,' is invariably the
response. * Then give helal to him.' The helal
given, the coffin — draped with rich shawls and
stuffs, and bearing, for a man, his turban or fez
on a projection at the head, and, for a woman, her
chimber, or coif — is raised on the shoulders of four
or more men, and borne to the cemetery, followed
by a long procession of male mourners, clad in
their ordinary attire. It being considered a
meritorious act to carry a dead body even for a
short distance, forty paces only absolving the
performer from a mortal sin, the bearers at a
Moslem funeral are consequently relieved at short
intervals by others desirous of obtaining the
benefits conferred by the performance of this
religious duty. No lugubrious chants, no noisy

282 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

demonstrations of woe, such as often attend the
obsequies of Eastern Christians and Jews, mark
the progress of the Moslem to his last resting-place.
In reverent silence the procession takes its way
to the mosque, where the first part of the burial
service — which is very beautiful and impressive —
is read.

* Earth to earth ' burial is customary with the
Turks, whose graves are orientated, like the holy
places of their mosques, in the direction of the
holy Kaaba at Mecca. On arriving at the ceme-
tery, the coffin is accordingly placed by the side
of the grave, the lid removed, and the body,
gently lifted out by six persons by means of the
bands before mentioned, is laid in the grave.
When the remainder of the prayers and passages
from the Koran constituting the burial service
have been recited, two or three boards are fixed
in the earth above the corpse, the grave is filled
in, and the mourners return home. The Imam,
however, remains for a time beside the grave, in
order, it is said, to prompt the deceased in his
replies to the * Questioners ' — the two angels
Mounkir and Nekir, who, according to Moslem
belief, enter the grave with the dead to interro-
gate him concerning his faith. ^ If the dead has

1 According to a belief common to many Oriental races, the
soul retains after death some mysterious connexion with the
body, which cannot be buried without it. This belief may be
illustrated by the following little Dervish story : As the corpse
of Kera Kadin, the saintly wife of the illustripus founder of the

OSMANLI FAMILY CEREMONIES 283

been a devout Moslem, his reply will be, * My
God is Allah ; my Prophet, Mohammed ; my
religion, Islam ; and my Kibla, the Kaaba/
If, however, he has been but an indifferent fol-
lower of the Prophet, he will not be able to remem-
ber the formula of his creed. In the former case
the angels give the dead a foretaste of the delights
of Paradise ; while in the latter they afflict him
with divers torments.

The aspect of the great cemeteries on the out-
skirts of the capital and the larger cities is indeed
calculated to inspire supernatural terrors. Groves
of tall, gloomy cypresses of incalculable age over-
shadow the vast areas occupied by the bodies of
the Faithful — for no two bodies are buried in one
grave — casting deep shadows even at noonday ;
and as far as the eye can reach in any direction is
an interminable array of grey headstones, stand-
ing erect, slanting or lying prone. If gloomy in
the brilliant Eastern noonday, it is in the twilight

Mevlevi Order of Dervishes, was being carried to the grave
followed by an immense concourse of the Brotherhood, the
bearers suddenly found themselves unable for a time to proceed
— an occurrence which greatly exercised the minds of the ' Breth-
ren of Love.' A holy man of the Order, however, received the
explanation that same night in a dream. At the spot at which
the procession had been brought to a standstill, a man and a
woman had, on the preceding day, been stoned to death for
adultery, and the lady's soul had left her body in order to inter-
cede for them with the All Merciful. Their forgiveness obtained,
her spirit had returned to earth and the bearers were then
enabled to proceed with her body. — The Acts of the Adepts,
in Redhouse's Translation of the Mesnevi.

284 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

weirdly uncanny, and by night a place of fearsome
horror, peopled with ghouls and vampires ; and
a Moslem would rather face death by knife,
pistol, or poison than put himself in the way of
encountering these gruesome denizens of the
cities of the dead.

The tombstones placed at the head of a grave
are usually four or five feet in height, either
cylindrical or fiat, and tapering towards the base,
which causes them after a time to lean in all
directions, giving to a cemetery a somewhat
fantastic appearance. Round the cylinder or on
the fiat surface is finely engraved a long inscrip-
tion, often touched up with gold, consisting of an
invocation to Allah or a passage from the Koran,
followed by a summary account of the life of the
deceased, prominence being given to the spiritual
side. The more ancient headstones of men's
graves are surmounted by carved representations
of turbans ; but since the use of the simpler fez
has become general, this has been substituted,
painted crimson, and with a dark blue tassel. The
headstones of women and girls are often finished
at the top with some conventional design of which
the sunflower forms a favourite example, and the
inscriptions which follow the invocation to the
* Abiding One ' are, with few exceptions, in
verse.

On the occasion of the death of a person in good
circumstances, gifts are made to the poor from

OSMANLI FAMILY CEREMONIES 285

among his or her personal effects, and money is
also distributed as alms to the needy of the
neighbourhood. Three days afterwards, a large
batch of loukmd — a kind of dough-nut or beignet
— is made, plates of which are sent round to the
houses of friends, the poor also receiving their
share of these funeral cates, in return for which
their prayers are requested for the soul of the
departed. This ceremony is repeated on the
seventh and fortieth days after the funeral, and
on the latter occasion a dole of loaves is added.
Prayer for the dead is, indeed, considered by
Moslems a religious duty of the highest import-
ance. On the tombstones in Turkish cemeteries
may often be found engraved appeals to the
passers-by to offer on behalf of the occupant of
the grave a Fatiha, or recitation of the opening
chapter of the Koran, a passage which may be
deemed the Moslem equivalent for the Christian
Paternoster — this pious act being customary with
all * True Believers ' on visiting the tombs of de-
parted friends or the shrines of the saintly dead.

No external signs of mourning are used, or
periods of seclusion observed by Osmanlis after
the death of a relative. Female friends pay visits
of condolence to the harem ; and the ladies, after
acknowledging the customary expressions of sym-
pathy and good wishes for their future exemption
from bereavement, speak calmly and resignedly
of the departed. Excessive sorrow for children is

1

286 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

considered by Moslems to be not only sinful, but
detrimental to the repose of their souls and their
happiness in Paradise. It is, however, on the other
hand, esteemed an act of filial duty to mourn
constantly for lost parents, and to pray unceas-
ingly for their forgiveness and acceptance with
Allah.

CHAPTER XV

OSMANLI BELIEFS AND SUPERSTITIONS

' X N what does the religion of Islam consist ? '
I Mohammed was one day asked by the
^ Angel Gabriel, who appeared to him in the
guise of a Bedouin.

* In professing,' replied the Prophet, 'that there
is but one God, and that I am His Prophet ;
in observing strictly the hours of prayer ; in
giving alms; in fasting during the month of
Ramazan ; and in making the pilgrimage to
Mecca.'

* It is so, in truth,' responded Gabriel, who
then made himself known.

These main tenets of Mohammedanism are
figuratively termed the * Five Pillars of Practice,'
and comprise all that is of supreme importance
in the religion of Islam. The term Moslem signifies
* resigned ' — resigned to the mysterious decrees
of an irresponsible Ruler who, though He has
revealed a certain moral law for the guidance of
His creatures, is Himself above all law and
morality. This view of the Almighty as * the only
potentate. Lord of Lords, and King of Kings,'
recurs all through the Koran, and is curiously

287

288 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

illustrated by the formula of devotion termed the
Namaz, instituted by Mohammed. In Islam
there is, properly speaking, no ritual, no sacrifice
of horned beasts as in Judaism, nor of the Mass
as in Christianism, nor do the Ulema^ constitute
a spiritual hierarchy ; for the Imam lays claim to
no priestly rank, but merely for convenience sake
leads the collective devotions of the congregation
in the mosque. The mosque itself is indeed merely
a convenience, for so long as the worshipper's face
is turned towards Mecca the Namaz may be
equally well recited elsewhere — in the privacy of
the harem, in the public thoroughfares, or in the
Council Chamber.

This obligatory form of devotion, which is
performed five times daily, consists merely of two
or more repetitions of a ceremony called the rikat,
or ' prostration,' which is little more than the
recitation, in various prescribed attitudes, of
certain formulae, such as ' God is most Great ! '
* We give praise unto Allah ! ' etc. This act of
worship is invariably preceded by ablution, as
prayer must be made in a state of * legal purity,'
and for this facilities are offered by the fountains

^ The important body of Moslem legists and theologians are
thus collectively termed. This Order consists of three classes :
(i) the Imams or parish priests, the Hodjas and other inferior
functionaries of the mosques ; (2) the Muftis, or Doctors of Law ;
and (3) the Mollahs and Kadis, the last two categories being sub-
divided into a number of intermediate ranks pertaining to the
special departments included in the Court of the Sheriat or
Ecclesiastical Law.

BELIEFS AND SUPERSTITIONS 289

with which the courtyard of every mosque is
suppHed. Such an ablution is termed the ablest,
and consists in washing the hands and forearms,
the face and feet in running water. When water
is not procurable, the abtest may be made with
sand, gravel, or dust. Prayer-carpets are used
when possible in order to guard against any im-
purity on the spot where the prayer is offered.
To say of a man that he performs his Namaz five
times daily is the highest praise that can be
awarded, and Moslems who are themselves care-
less in this matter, respect the punctiliousness of
the devout who, in the fulfilment of their religious
duties, disdain concealment, reck not of ridicule
or comment, and believe too utterly themselves
to care if others disbelieve.

The fatalistic notion of Kismet inculcated by
the Moslem doctrine of predestination importantly
influences Turkish thought and action — or in-
action— as it assumes that all events affecting
mankind are absolutely preordained by Allah,
who has written them down in * the Preserved
Tablets,' delivered to the Angels on the ' Night of
Destiny.' Many people besides Turks are fatalists ;
but when ill they usually consult a doctor, and
take other ordinary precautions against disaster.
In the opinion of old-fashioned Moslems, however,
all such precautions are vain ; if it is their Kismet
that calamity shall overtake them, overtake them
it will, and what, then, is the good of troubling
19

290 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

oneself with efforts to avert it ? That fortune
helps those who help themselves is a doctrine in-
comprehensible to Orientals. Wliatever energy
a man may display, Kismet will override his
endeavours, or crown his supineness with equally
unmerited and unexpected prosperity ; and many
are the folk-tales, some not without humour,
illustrating and confirming popular belief in this
great factor in human affairs. The effects of such
a mental attitude are naturally far-reaching. For
not only are lives constantly sacrificed and wealth
and happiness missed by this fatal principle of
passivity, but the whole character of the nation
is enfeebled. Neglect of all sanitary precautions —
not to say hostility towards them — is one im-
portant result of Kismet.

The religious laws by which men are ruled in
Moslem countries aimed at the establishment of a
certain degree of equality within a nation by
lessening the sufferings of the poor. Thus while
Christians merely pray for * Peace on earth and
goodwill among men,' Mohammed, being emi-
nently a practical reformer, made it incumbent
on his followers not merely to give of their super-
fluity to the poor, but to share with them a con-
siderable proportion of their worldly goods.
Salaam aleikoum — ' Peace be to thee,' is ever the
Moslem's greeting to his fellow Moslem ; and in no
more practical way than by such self-denying
alleviation of the miseries of the less fortunate can

BELIEFS AND SUPERSTITIONS 291

men be made brothers, and be literally ' at peace *
with each other. And that the merely secular
laws by which the West has been governed have
fallen lamentably short of such happy results is
abundantly proved by the growth in all European
countries of Socialism and Nihilism. Almsgiving,
which includes also hospitality, being thus one
of the * Pillars of Practice ' of the religion of Islam,
though more especially exercised during religious
festivals and on the occasion of family ceremonies,
is practised by Moslems whenever opportunity
occurs. For, as an Arabic proverb says, * Whoso
visits a living person and eats nothing at his house,
might as well visit the tomb of a dead man.'

Various European writers, from Montesquieu
downwards, have assumed and asserted — though
on what authority it would be difficult to ascer-
tain— that the religion of Islam denies to woman
the possession of a soul, and, consequently,
admission to Paradise. Although such an assertion
could not honestly be made by any one acquainted
either with Islamic religious books or religious
thought, this assumed Moslem debasement of
women has been eagerly seized upon by the
* Subjection of Women ' theorists ; and it may
not, therefore, be superfluous to point out briefly
how utterly at variance with facts is such an
assumption. In the first place, the Koran is most
explicit on this point, and numerous texts, of
which the following may serve as examples,

292 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

promise the joys of Paradise to all ' true Moslems '
irrespective of sex.

* God has promised to believers, men and
women, gardens beneath which rivers flow, to
dwell therein for ever, and goodly places in the
Garden of Eden.'*

* Verily men resigned and women resigned,
and believing men and believing women, and
devout men and devout women, and truthful men
and truthful women, and patient men and patient
women, and humble men and humble women,
and almsgiving men and almsgiving women, and
fasting men and fasting women . . . and men who
remember God much and women who remember
Him — God has prepared for them forgiveness
and a mighty reward. '^

The Hadith, or * Traditional Sayings ' of
Mohammed, also record that the Prophet of Islam
imparted to his followers his divinely acquired
knowledge that certain of their deceased friends
had been rewarded for their faith by admission to
Paradise. Among them, he said, was his departed
wife and first convert, Khadija, whom he had
been * commanded to gladden with the good
tidings of a chamber of hollow pearl in which is
no clamour and no fatigue ' — surely a delightful
vision of the * rest that remaineth for the people
of God.' And in the following little elegy on a
Sultana who died in the bloom of youth, the poet

^ Koran, chap. ix. v. 73. ^ ibid., chap, xxxiii. v. 35.

BELIEFS AND SUPERSTITIONS 293

Fazil admirably depicts the Oriental belief in
both physical and spiritual consciousness after
death : —

Ah ! thou'st laid her low, yet flushed with hfe, Cupbearer

of the Sphere !^
Scarce the cup of joy was tasted when the bowl of Fate

brimmed o'er.
Cradle her, O Earth ! full gently ; smile on her, O Trusted

One!^
For a wide world's King this Fair Pearl as his heart's own

darling wore !

If further evidences were necessary to prove
that the slavish subjection of women which is
generally assumed to be inseparable from Moham-
medanism was neither preached nor practised by
the Prophet, it may be found also in the honour
and regard paid by him to his wives, and especially
to Khadija and A'isha. A'isha lived in virtuous
and honourable widowhood for forty-eight years,
during which, having been the most intimate
confidante of the Prophet, she was consulted in all
difficulties that arose after his death in points of
religion and law. A large proportion of the
' Traditional Sayings ' were indeed, according to
the Moslem commentators, compiled from her
replies, which were based on the opinions she
had heard her late husband express. And after
uttering the names of A'isha and other saintly
women, Moslems invariably add : ' May they find
acceptance with Allah ! '

^ See p. 279. ^ The Prophet Mohammed.

294 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

Although regular attendance at public worship
on the Day of Rest is not required of Moslem,
any more than it is, in the East, of Christian or
Jewish women, all the usual ordinances of their
religion — performance of the five daily Namaz,
fasting, pilgrimage, and ' good works ' generally —
are as obligatory for Moslem women as they are
for Moslem men. Childien of both sexes are
taught their prayers at the age of seven ; and the
honourable title of Ha-fiz is conferred on any
Moslem who may have committed to memory
the whole of the Koran — a by no means unusual
feat, it would seem, if we are to credit the seven-
teenth-century traveller and author Evliya
Effendi, who records that the city of Angora at
the time of his visit to it contained no fewer than
two thousand boys and girls who were Hafiz.

The supernatural beings with whom the
Osmanlis terrify themselves and their children
have by no means the variety of those of their
neighbours belonging to other nationalities, and
fall, for the most part, under the denomination
either of Djins or Peris. Under this term are,
however, popularly classed supemals generally,
including the Tellestim which haunts ancient
buildings and guards buried treasure, besides other
uncanny beings whose propensities resemble those
of the goblins and pixies of Western Europe.
Some houses are believed to be haunted by Djins
of the last-named description, who are called Ev-

BELIEFS AND SUPERSTITIONS 295

Sahibi or ' Lords of the House.' If these are well-
disposed Djins, they bring all kinds of prosperity
to their hosts ; and no matter how idle or ex-
travagant the good-wife may be, everything pros-
pers with the household. The Ev-Sahibi are
popularly said to be clothed in bridal garments
edged with tiny bells, the tinkling of which an-
nounces their presence, and they sometimes allow
themselves to be perceived by those whom they
specially honour with their favour. The male-
volent Ev-Sahibi, on the other hand, are most
mischievous in disposition, and destroy the pro-
perty of the family, besides annoying its members
with intolerable nocturnal noises. In common
with other magical beings, these Djins have the
power of assuming any shape they please, from
that of a shadowy being of colossal proportions,
or a beautiful youth or maiden, down to that of a
cat or dog, or even a pitcher or broom. Both the
good Djins, or Peris, who serve Allah, and the
evil Djins, the followers of Ebhs, the Spirit of
Darkness, are believed to have been created before
man, Adam having, according to Oriental legend,
married as his second wife a woman belonging to
this race, whose name was Lilith. The evilly
disposed Djins were cast out from heaven with
Ebhs whose rebelhon against the Most High
consisted in his refusal to pay homage to the
newly created Adam, when so commanded by his
Creator. Djins are popularly held to be of both

296 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

sexes, and appear also to propagate their kind.
One of their propensities is to carry off by night
the clothes of humans — especially the gala dresses
of women — to wear at their nocturnal revels.
And if such a garment appears to its owner to be
rapidly losing its freshness, she concludes that the
Djins have taken a fancy to it, and regrets not
having had it ' blessed ' by some holy man before
wearing it — which precaution would have rendered
it safe from the depredations of these uncanny
folk.

The magical practices of the Osmanhs, though
derived in great part from legendary lore, are also
borrowed to a considerable extent from so-called
' Occult Science.' As sickness as well as every
other calamity is usually attributed to the in-
fluence of a magical spell, when any one falls ill
the women of the family — for it need hardly be
said that the firmest believers in this mode of
spiritual cure are of the female sex — send for some
saintly Sheikh in order that he may remove the
spell, or avert its maleficent influence. This holy
man, whose breath, sanctified by the constant
repetition of the name of the Deity, is believed
to have acquired a supernatural healing power,
proceeds to make a series of breathings on the
head and the afflicted parts of the sufferer, accom-
panied by the imposition of his hands. These
concluded, he produces a tiny scroll of paper
inscribed with some words from the Koran, and

BELIEFS AND SUPERSTITIONS 297

orders it either to be swallowed by the patient or
soaked in water and the liquid to be drunk, or
perhaps to be worn on the person for a given
number of days. But whatever the success, or
lack of success, of these strange remedies, nothing
shakes the faith in them of the meek-minded,
failure being attributed to want of faith on the part
of the recipient. The holy man in any case receives
a fee for his services either in coin or kind ; and if
a speedy recovery follow his visit this will be pro-
portionately liberal. The words used as exor-
cisms and counterspells are, for the most part,
taken from the two chapters of the Koran relating
to witchcraft and malevolence,^ of which the
following is the opening verse : —

* Say, I fly for refuge unto the Lord of the
Daybreak, that He may deliver me from the
mischief of these things which He hath created,
and from the mischief of the night when it cometh
on, and from the mischief of women blowing
on knots, and from the mischief of the envious,'^
etc.

The annual fasts observed by Moslems are
seven in number, the most important being the
month-long Fast of Ramazan. This period of
abstinence being held to be of divine institution.

Chapters cxiii. and cxiv.

Compare with this Shakespeare's Cymheline, Act ii. Scene 2 ;

To your protection I commend me, gods !

From fairies and the tempters of the night
Guard me, beseech ye !

298 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

its observance is therefore compulsory for all
True Believers over the age of fourteen, travellers
and the sick being alone exempt. Ramazan is
celebrated in the ninth month of the Mohammedan
year, during the whole of which food, drink, and
tobacco are rigidly abstained from between sun-
rise and sunset. The year consisting of twelve
lunar months only, the Fast makes in the course
of time the round of the seasons. To the wealthy
this annual period of abstinence offers no great
hardship, as they merely turn night into day, and
official duties are reduced to a minimum in the
departments of State. But to the labouring
section of the population, who are the most
punctilious in the performance of religious per-
formances, Ramazan — especially when it falls in
summer — constitutes a period of real penance and
mortification of the flesh. For Moslems generally
this Fast also constitutes a sort of revival time,
during which Western innovations, wherever
adopted, are for the time being abandoned, and
the simpler native customs reverted to. Services
are held every evening in the mosques, hospitality
is largely exercised, and the poor are loaded with
benefits in response to the exhortation of the
Muezzim, who during this season concludes the
usual call to prayer with the words : * Give food,
all ye Faithful, unto the orphan and the indigent,
the wayfarer and the bondsman, for His sake,
saying : '* We feed you for Allah's sake, and we

BELIEFS AND SUPERSTITIONS 299

desire no word of thanks from you, nor any
recompense." '

Much time is also devoted during this season to
reHgious observances and devotional acts, many
devout persons of both sexes habitually secluding
themselves for a part of each day, either at home
or in the mosques, and — especially during the last
ten days of the Fast — abstaining from all worldly
conversation. An hour or so before dawn the

* Awakeners ' — a Hodja, carrying a small hemi-
spherical drum, accompanied by a boy with a
lantern — go through the streets of the quarter to
warn those who sleep that it is time to partake of
the sahor, the last meal eaten before sunrise.
Stopping before every house occupied by Moslems,
the Hodja chants the following phrases : ' He
prospereth who saith — " There is no God save
Allah ! Mohammed, the Guide, is the Prophet of
Allah ! " ' preluded and followed by four rhyth-
mical taps on the drum ; after which he passes on
with the greeting : ' The happiest of nights unto
thee, O Ali ! ' or whatever may be the name of the
householder. The meal partaken of, coffee-
drinking and smoking fill up the brief interval
until the boom of cannon announces sunrise,
when the mouth is rinsed with water and again

* sealed ' against food until evening.

Shortly before sunset the last Namaz of the day
is performed, either in public or in private,
previously to which the women of the household

300 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

will have made preparations for the iftar, as the
evening meal eaten during Ramazan is termed.
It is usual to serve first a variety of hors-d' oeuvre
together with goblets of iced fruit sherbet, and
each person begins operations with the word
Bismillah — * In the name of Allah ' — uttered as
he helps himself to an olive, some special merit
attaching to breaking the fast with that edible.
After the mezaliks — as the Osmanlis term these
trifles collectively — have been sparingly partaken
of, the party sit down to the iftar, at which long,
flat, unleavened cakes, plentifully besprinkled
with sesame seed, are substituted for bread, and
the usual courses are supplemented by various
dainties prepared only at this season. It is also
customary to present plates of these Ramazan
dainties to Christian neighbours with whom a
Turkish family may be on visiting terms, as well
as to poor Moslem households. Shortly afterwards
the service of devotion known as the Terraweh is
performed either in private or in the mosque.

The conclusion of Ramazan is celebrated by the
three days' festival of Bairam, also called by names
signifying respectively the ' Breaking of the Fast '
and the * Feast of Alms,' during which no work
of any kind is done. On the first day of Bairam,
every well-to-do person makes a present to his
children, his slaves, and his subordinates, besides
giving liberally to the poor. In the mornings the
streets are thronged with people in holiday

BELIEFS AND SUPERSTITIONS 301

costume, who go from house to house paying
compHmentary visits to friends and official
superiors ; and after attending the midday Namaz
in the mosques, the whole Moslem population
abandons itself to decorous amusement.

A still more important festival than the * Break-
ing of the Fast ' is the Qurhan Bairam, or * Feast
of Sacrifice,' which takes place during the season
of the pilgrimage to Mecca, its observance forming
part of the rites of the pilgrims while at the Holy
City. It is commemorative of Abraham's sacrifice,
Ishmael being substituted for Isaac in the Moham-
medan version of the story. For a week or more
prior to this festival the market-place of every
town and Turkish village throughout the Empire
is occupied by flocks of sheep and lambs, and in
the capital the wide open space in front of the
beautiful mosque of Bayazid now presents a
particularly picturesque and interesting spectacle.
For here are gathered countless flocks, chiefly of
the broad-tailed Karamanian breed, prospective
victims for the traditional sacrifice, tended by a
variety of wild-looking nomads in shaggy sheepskin
coats — Wallachs from the Balkans, and Kurds,
Yuruks, and Turcomans from the hills and plains
of Asia Minor. Among them wander Moslem
townsmen of all ranks, each householder who can
afford the outlay purchasing a lamb for the
sacrifice ; and until its day of doom the poor
victim will be made a plaything of by his children,

302 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

who dye its fleece with henna or cochineal, and
cover its budding horns with goldleaf. When on
the morn of the festival the pet is no longer to be
found in courtyard or garden, the disconsolate
babies are told that it has * been sent to the hills
to eat grass, and get fat, and will come back again
in a year's time.'

The flesh of these victims is divided into three
portions, one of which is given to the poor, the
second to widowed or other relations, the remain-
ing third being eaten by the household. The
rejoicings connected with this festival last four
days. New garments are donned in its honour
by both sexes and all classes, and gifts and alms-
giving are the order of the day. These mild
festivals are also punctuated with the spasmodic
firing of volleys of small arms by the youth of the
quarter — this being the Oriental equivalent of
squibs and crackers — the sound of which seldom
fails to create a certain amount of uneasiness
among their Christian neighbours, varying in de-
gree according to the political atmosphere of the
moment. For in the history of their own times
many have had tragical experience of how oft
* great events from little causes spring.' Quanti-
ties of cheap toys are, during the three days of
Bairam, exhibited for sale in the public thorough-
fares, and every one calling on friends and neigh-
bours to wish them a * Happy Bairam ' will be
laden with such offerings for the children, whom

BELIEFS AND SUPERSTITIONS 303

they are sure to find with their fathers in the
selamlik on these occasions.

The Mevlud, or Birthday of the Prophet, and
the * Feast of the Holy Mantle,' are also important
Moslem festivals. On the latter occasion it is
customary for the Sultan to proceed in state to
what is known as the * Old Serai,' the former
Imperial residence, situated at the eastward point
of Stamboul, washed on one side by the waters of
the Sea of Marmora and on the other by those of
the Golden Horn. For in the private mosque
enclosed with other storied buildings within the
encircling walls of this ancient home of the dynasty
of Osman, is enshrined this sacred relic, which,
at the conclusion of the midday Namaz, the Padi-
shah, in his capacity of Khalif, or * Successor,'
unfolds with great solemnity from its forty silken
wrappers. The Prophet's Mantle, which is dis-
played to the select company of high officials who
have the honour of accompanying their Sovereign,
is said to be merely a small fragment of cloth of a
greenish colour. The day being reckoned by
Moslems, as by Orientals generally, from sunset
to sunset, the mosques and public buildings are
illuminated on the eve of all these festivals. Very
charming is the effect of the myriads of tiny oil-
lamps encircling the tall minarets, outlining the
domes and cupolas, and hanging in graceful
festoons from point to point of the walls of these
varied edifices.

304 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

As already mentioned, Pilgrimage to the Holy
Cities of Islam is one of the Five Pillars of Practice
of the Mohammedan religion. It is indeed con-
sidered the supreme act in the life of a True Be-
liever, its due performance entitling him to a variety
of spiritual blessings in the life to come, and for
the rest of his life on earth to the honourable
appellation of Hadji ; and to accomplish it the
pious shrink from no privation and fear no peril.

A complete pilgrimage includes, in addition to
Mecca, visits to the Prophet's tomb at Medina,
to the shrines of the Saints at Damascus and
Jerusalem, and also to the tombs of Mohammed's
grandsons, Hassan and Hussein, at Kerbeleh near
Bagdad. Only Dervishes and the most zealous,
however, aim at becoming such complete pilgrims,
the majority being satisfied with having accom-
plished this religious duty in the obligatory degree.
The three lunar months of Shawal, Dhulkaade, and
Dhtilhajja are dedicated to the pilgrimage which
culminates in the rites appointed for the tenth day
of the last-named month, after the performance
of which a pilgrim is entitled to style himself Hadji.
Previously to leaving home with this pious object,
a Moslem is required to set his worldly affairs in
order, pay any outstanding debts, and make
suitable provision for the maintenance of his family
during his absence.

This religious duty of pilgrimage, it may here
be remarked, is as binding on women as on men.

BELIEFS AND SUPERSTITIONS 305

An adult woman must, however, be at least
nominally married before setting out, and be
accompanied either by her husband or some near
male relative who has a right to see her unveiled,
while young girls can only go when accompanied
by both parents. When at a certain stage of the
journey their male companions don the * sacred
habit,' the women are even more hermetically
shrouded in their cloaks and veils than ordinarily,
it being lawful for the palms of their hands alone
to be visible to the other sex.

Should any person desirous of accomplishing
this religious duty be prevented by bodily in-
firmity, or other cause, from performing it in
his own person, as may not unfrequently happen,
it may be carried out by deputy. In order that
the full merit of the act may accrue to himself,
such a person must, however, defray all the
expenses incidental to the pilgrimage, and at the
same time satisfy the religious authorities who
sanction the transaction that the funds have been
honestly and honourably acquired — this being a
sine qua non for permission to set out on pilgrim-
age. Aged or dying persons who have not per-
formed the pilgrimage also repeatedly leave
testamentary instructions to the same effect.

In addition to this obligatory pilgrimage,
Moslems, and especially Moslem women, make
frequent visitations to the shrines of famous
Saints, who are for the most part the deceased

306 BALKAN HOME-LIFE

sheikhs of Dervish Orders. A Ziaret, as such
lesser pilgrimages are termed, is generally under-
taken in fulfilment of a vow, or for relief from
sickness or other distress, in obedience to the
traditional sayings of the Prophet, ' If thou art
perplexed in thine affairs, go seek assistance from
the inhabitants of the tombs,' and ' If thine
heart be oppressed with sorrow, go seek consola-
tion at the graves of holy men.' They are usually
made on the Mevlud, or annual feast day of the
Saint — should not the circumstances demand
immediate recourse to his good offices — when it is
customary for suppliants or visitors to bring with
them, in addition to gifts in coin or kind, a lamb
or fowl for sacrifice, the flesh of which constitutes
the perquisite of the guardian of the turbeh, who is
generally a Dervish. Benefits which are believed
to have resulted from the intercession of the Saint
are gratefully acknowledged by wealthy recipients
with gifts of rich shawls as coverings for the
catafalque which stands over the resting-place of
the holy dead.

INDEX

Ablest, the, 289

Aghirlik, the, 269

Albania, i

Albanian ballads, 79 et seq. ;
birth ceremonies, 34 ; blood
feuds, 18 ; characteristics, 6 ;
costumes, 7 ; dirges, 51 ;
dwellings, 4, 5, 8 ; funeral
customs, 49 ; language, 30 ;
laws and usages, 3-4 ; mourn-
ing, 13, 55 ; patriarchal
customs, 27 ; religious be-
liefs, 57 et seq. ; social
customs, 24 ; social morality,
20, 23 ; soldiers, 27 ; towns
and villages, 4-5 ; tribes, 2 ;
women, g, 19, 27 ; divorce
among the, 26 ; education
among the, 31 ; exogamy
among the, 24 ; Moslem, 26,
58 ; ' Orthodox,' 57 ; Roman
Catholic, 58

Ali Pasha of loannina, 3-17

Baba Mart, 209
Bairam, feast of, 300
Bath ceremony, the, 262-4
Bath, the Turkish, 246
Birth customs, Albanian, 33
et seq. ; Bulgarian, 192-3 ;
Greek, 102 et seq. ; Osmanli,
257 et seq. ; Wallachian,
164
Blagostina, festival of the, 210
Bulgarian amusements, 188 ;
brigands, 189; costume, 181 ;
family ceremonies, 192 ; fune-
ral customs, 203 ; peasant

folk, 177 ; rose-harvest, the,
184-5 ; social customs, 176 ;
social morality, 190 ; thrift
and industry, 182 et seq. ;
townsfolk, 186 ; tjrpes, 175 ;
village homes, 1 79 ; wedding
ceremonies, 192 et seq.
Bulgarians, the, 177

Carnival, the Greek, 134
Cat, the, created by Christ
71 ; fondness of Albanians
for, 71 ; saved prophet from
snakebite, ib.
Cemeteries, Turkish, 283, 285
Charon, 123

Christenings, Greek, 103
Christmas, the Albanian, 73
Church, the Bulgarian, 206 ;

the Orthodox Greek, 128
Circumcision ceremony, the

Moslem, 264
Clementi tribe, traditional

origin of the, 21
Conventional velatioxiships, 104
Costume, Albanian, 7 ; Bul-
garian, 181 ; Greek, 106 ;
Wallachian, 156, 162 ; Os-
manli, 252 et seq.

Dances, Albanian, 29 ; Bul-
garian, 188 ; Greek, 90

Dancing songs, Bulgarian, 188 ;
Greek, 91

Dif, or Dev, the, 64

Dirges, Albanian, 51-3 ; Greek,
120 et seq.

Divorce, 26, 81, 238 et seq.

308

BALKAN HOME-LIFE

Djemiet, the, 259

Djins, or genii, 63, 65, 294

Dughun, the, 271 et seq.

Easter observances, 135 et seq.

EbUs, 295

Education, Albanian, 48-9 ;

Greek, 99
Emineh, wife of Ah Pasha,

15-17
Epiphany, customs at, 76
Eve of St. John, the, 138-9,

212
' Evil Eye,' the, 151, 216, 256,

263
Ev-Sahihi, the, 295
Exile songs, Albanian, 29 ;

Greek, 99

Fasts, Bulgarian, 209 ; Greek,

131 ; Osmanli, 297 et seq.
Fatalism, 279, 289
Fates, the, 35, 103, 148
Feast of Alms, the, 300 ;

of ' the Holy Mantle,' 303 ;

of ' Sacrifice,' 301
Fire ceremonies, Albanian, 74,

76-7 ; Bulgarian, 211 ; Greek,

139
Funeral customs, Albanian, 49
ct seq. : Bulgarian, 203 ct
seq. I Greek, 119 et seq.;
Moslem, 279 et seq.

Ghegs, the, 2, 6, 79

Greek dances and dancing-
songs, 90 et seq. ; exile songs,
99 et seq. ; peasants, 85 et
seq. ; townsfolk, 97 ; villages,
85 ; women, 93 ; monas-
teries, 130 ; nuns, 130

Gynaikonitis, the, 129

Hafiz, 265, 294

Harem, derivation of word, 226

Ibrahim Pasha of Scutari,

revolt of, 80
Tftar, the, 300

Kalyaritis, town of, 158

Khamko, the Lady, 10-13

Khams, 2, 6

Khan of Valiere, the, 14

Khena, ceremony of the, 275

Kismet, 268, 279, 289

Klithona, the, 138

Kolyva, the, 100, 125 et seq. ;

205
Koutchedra, the, 64
Kulada, the, 208

Lamia, the, 64, 144, 147
Liaps, the, 2, 6, 25
Lilith, 295
Lioiivia, the, 64

' MacPherson's Lament,' 53 «.

Magical practices, Albanian,
66 et seq. ; Bulgarian, 215
et seq. ; Greek, 149 et seq. ;
Osmanli, 296 et seq.

Manly sports, 49

' Matron's Day,' 209

May-Day observances, Alba-
nian, 72 ; Greek, 138

Mekteb, the, 268, 270

Metayer system, the, 85

Mezzovo, town of, 158

Miridites, the, 2, 3, 6, 23, 35,

38, 58, 78
]\Iohammed Pasha of Scutari, 3

Namaz, the, 288
Nekyah, the, 268, 270

' Occult Science,' 296

Omens and auguries, Albanian,

70-3
Ore, the, 64
' Orthodox ' Church, the, 128

INDEX

309

Osmanli beliefs, 287 ; domestic

customs, 225, 243 et seq. ;

domestic slavery, 231, 242,

251 ; homes, 219 et seq. ;

kindness to animals, 220 ;

marriage customs, 266 et seq.;

meals, 247-9 ; mothers, 227
' Our Lady of Scutari,' Festival

of. 59

Pagan survivals, Bulgarian,
208 ; Greek, 102 ; Wal-
lachian, 140, 171, 201-3

Palm Sunday observances, 134

Peris, 294

Perperia, ceremony of the, 140,
172

Phanariots, the, loi

Pilgrimages, Moslem, 304

' Pillars of Practice,' 287, 291

Poganik, the, 36

Polygamy, 241

Qurban B air am, the, 301

Ramazan, fast of, 297 et seq.
Rosalia or Rosalu, Wallachian

festival of the, 169
Rose-culture, Bulgarian, 184

St. Basil's Day, 132
St. George's Day, 211
St. Nicholas, oath of, 22, 37
St. Tryphon's Day, 76
Samodivas, 64

Shainitza, the Lady, 12-14
Silk culture, 89, 185
Sirens, 144

Skanderbeg, George, 2
' Soul children,' 95
Stoicheion, the, 144
Sun, the, in folklore, 213

Tellestim, the, 294
Thanas6 Vaghia, 14

Ulema, the, 288

' Viewers,' the, 251, 258
Vilas, the, 63, 73
Vlacholivadia, 158

Wallachian ancestor-worship,
169 ; household, a, 160 ;
language, the, 164 ; shep-
herds, 154 et seq. ; traders,
161 ; villages, 158-9 ; wed-
ding customs, 165 et seq. ;
women, 161 et seq.

Wedding customs, Albanian,
39 et seq. ; Bulgarian, 194
et seq. ; Greek, 107 et seq. ;
Osmanli, 276 et seq. ; Wal-
lachian, 165 et seq.

Wedding songs, Albanian,
44-6; Greek, 111-18

Witches, Bulgarian, 203, 215 ;
Greek, 149 et seq.

Women, status of, under
Christianity, 83-4 ; under
Islam, 237 et seq.

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G7 Balkan home life