Agria 43. (Az Egri Múzeum Évkönyve - Annales Musei Agriensis, 2007)

Paládi-Kovács Attila: A kiszehajtá szokásának földrajzi elterjedtsége

it has become possible to trace the geographical extent of the custom. The map shows that in the 19

th and 20

th centuries this folk custom was confined to a territory more restricted than was previously thought. In the 16

th and 17

th centuries, and then in the 20

th century, it was the church's dislike of the custom that caused the custom to disappear. In the 20

th century kiszehajtás was totally unknown in most parts of those northern territories where Hungarian was spoken. The Palm Sunday custom prevalent in the Catholic regions was the barkaszentelés, when some catkins were blessed by the incumbent. In present-day Slovakia and in other western Slavonic regions (Bohemia, Moravia, Poland) similar customs survive. There the symbolic figure is given the name Moréna, Hana, Smrt (Death), and carried in procession on Black Sunday, which falls a fortnight before Easter. The author provides comparative material from the bordering Slovak regions where the custom occurs, aided by the most recent Slovak literature on the subject. By doing so we are able to show that during the 18

th century the custom was brought into Komárom, Pest, Nógrád and Heves Counties by Slovak settlers , who were able to preserve a custom dating from heathen times, right up until the arrival of the 20

th century. 28