Paládi-Kovács Attila: A Barkóság és népe (Borsodi Kismonográfiák 15. Miskolc, 1982)

is followed by Lent, until Easter. At Easter the men and boys sprinkle the women. One characteristic spring custom is that on the first of May the boys take green trees to the girls. At Pentecost the girls select a Whitsun Queen among themselves. On the eve of St. John's Day (June 24th) the lighting of a ritual fire was a custom until the 1930s. The boys lit fires at the outskirts of the village or on the streets and then jumped over them together with the girls. The biggest local holiday for every village was the day of the patron saint of the local church when a big street celebration was held. Pilgrimages to distant holy places are also significant events (Fig. 72). There are a number of noteworthy pilgrimage sites in Northern Hungary, e.g. Szentkút (Mátraverebély, Nógrád County) where the religious ones assemble on August 15th and September 8th. In addition to the nation-wide Mary cult, there is a characteristically strong Saint Ann cult in this region. The pastoral holidays of autumn (St. Michael, Dimitri and Wendelin Days) affect only one occupational group. But all classes and strata respect All Saint's Day and All Soul's Day (Fig. 73). On these days many many candles are lighted on the graves as the manifestation of the cult of the dead. 10. The historical and local legends are closely linked to the Barkóság. The oldest group of them maintains the memory of the escape of King Béla IV, of Hungary from the Tartars at the time of the Tartar invasion of the country (early 13th Century). One special group of historical legends tell about the Bohemian Hussite robber horsemen and King Matthias who drove them from the country (15th Century). These people deeply respect the figure of Matthias Corvinus. In the 16th and 17th centuries the people of the Barkóság fought against the conquerors of the Ottoman Empire. At that time they lived in the border zone between the Ottoman Empire and the Hapsburg Empire. Most of their legends from the 18th and 19th centuries no longer deal with national history (there are no legends of Rákóczi or Kossuth) but of the outlaws rising up against the rulers of the land, who were the heroes of the tales and ballads. The most famous of their outlaws is Vidróczky. The folk beliefs of the region specialize in tales of treasure and spirit of the mine, and dwarf in the mine. The folk belief includes mythical figures which characterize the Barkó ethnic group and the northern Hungarian region. One is Markoláb who ate the moon, while another is Barboncás the Wandering scholar who rode a dragon. The shepherd who turned into a wolf, the miller who chased away the rats with incantation, the chief-shepherd who signed a pact with the devil (bacso) and the coach driver who did the same are all figures of Barkó mythology sung in innumerable tales. We can even find traces of the snake cult in the shape of the „white snake". This snake lies 13* 195