A Nyíregyházi Jósa András Múzeum évkönyve 3. - 1960 (Nyíregyháza, 1963)

Nyárády Mihály: The Grave posts from the Cevetery in Szatmárcseke

THE GRAVE-POSTS FROM THE Calvinist CEMETERY IN SZATMÁRCSEKE The village Szatmárcseke lies in the eastern part of the county Szabolcs-Szatmár. Its area; 6241 cadastral yoke ( = 8862) acres. Number of inhabitants; 2173. They all are Hungarian. The majority of them belongs to the Reformed-Presbyterian-Church. In the churchyard of this denomination there are peculiar wooden grave-posts to see. They catch the eye even by their mere thickness, yet much more by their bizarre shapes. It was in the years 1956 and 1958 that the author visited the churchyard. He did not do trying to solve the peculiarity of the grave-posts there without much ado that is on the strength of his impressions then and there. He put inquiries to the population of the village about the strange objects. He was asking for analogies too, in the neighbouring villages and putting inquiries also to them. He made all this even in some villages moreout of the way. On the other hand, also libraries was he seeing about the grave-posts. The research of him resulted as follows: 1. The grave-posts in the churchyard of Szatmárcseke were not conform in all to one another. The greater part of them was one metre and a half long. There occurred, however, such ones too, the length of which did not touch even one metre, respectively, surpassed two metres too. The ones of one metre as well as of one and a half, as to their shapes, were congruent on the whole. The morner ones—i.e. those of one metre — were likewise of one and a half originally. When, however, their feet became mouldy, the caretakers of them (that is of the graves) disjoined the rotten parts and did not replace to the graves but the intact rests. In detail, the posts were carved in their parts above the surface of the earth. Their tops were sharpcut. Their edges ran from the front backwards. Trough a deep indent on the front-stretch — the so-called ,,cut of eaves" — there was every of them divided in two parts. In the part above the eaves there ran six edges and in the part below the eaves five ones along. One of the edges on the upper part ran in the middle of the front to the eaves and there were cuts in file on it. On the face of post below the eaves there were particulars of the dead person cut in. From the front-indents of the grave-posts (- and it is just they I was allowed and compelled to call the posts selves bizarre for -) I had instanty to imagine two human tongues in contrasting position or, with regard to the rises separating such two tongues, the remains of two petals of pistil, similarly in contrasting position, of a plucked flower. The lowest indent of edge at the same time, I could have compared to a pendulous human lip. Occurring, however, such grave-posts, the edges of which are missing these lower (liplike?) indents, having found cenversely also such one, on which, above the cut of edge compared to tongues and petals, there is an indent suggesting of the lower (liplike) indent: I was allowed to be sure of saying that the number and form of cuts can't be held as invariable in Szatmárcseke. Putting aside this extremely difficult question for the present, I did not want more to determine but the forms of the grave-posts. They were a little like to the prow of a boat. Their perpendicular back-edges and horizontal top-edges ran counter to such a supposition that the postcarver of Szatmárcseke would have intended to imitate by them the prow and the bottom of some fishing boat. Such a kind of fishing boats there did not exist either in this village or in other Hungarian settlings. Further, since among the mouldy posts there occurred such a one too, whose top had to be sheltered from rain and snow by tin, I was compelled to regard the wedge-shaped tops of the grave-posts as an important structural element for carrying off any water and defence from mouldering. The mode of carving on the posts of about 2 m. was by and large concordant with that on the 1,5 m long ones. On the big posts, however, we find occasionaly a rhymed epitaph too, fit to case and person. The posts of small size were made in the years 1900—1950 and the big ones in the years 1920—1958. In those earlier parts of the churchyard, however, which again are now put to use for burying, I found posts of other kinds of carving too. There occurred among them such a one whose frontedge was not indidented. Another had five edges also on the flat above the eaves. (The front face of this was missing any edge.) Its top was spiked. This posts were of newer making. 215