A Herman Ottó Múzeum Évkönyve 46. (2007)

Alabán Péter: Adatok Borsodszentgyörgy történeti földrajzához és palóc társadalmához

REMARKS ON THE HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY OF BORSODSZENTGYÖRGY AND ITS PALÓC SOCIETY The area of the Barkóság, an ethnic micro-region settled by the eastern branch of the Palóc, is not easily defined. One of the central villages in the ethnographically studied area is Borsodszentgyörgy, lying somé 10 km from Ózd. The settlement lies near the bordér with Slovakia and is administratively part of County Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén. According to the census taken in 2001, its population totalled 1365 (this figure has since declined slightly, being 1294 on January 1,2005). The settlement is first mentioned in the 14th century, when its name was Disznósd, perhaps after the boars in the woods or the pigs masted in the oak forests. The village's name appears in the form of Szentgyörgyfalu in a 17th century document, probably after St. George, the church's patron saint. The population grcw gradually after the devastation caused by the Turkish occupation, but - similarly to other settlements around Ózd - it only rose above 1000 in the 20th century. Profound changes occurred in the social sphere: a part of the agrarian population became industrial workers owing to the proximity of the Ózd irón foundry, active from the later 19th century, whilc another part madc a livelihood as miners. The name of the settlement was changed to Borsodszentgyörgy on April 1, 1935, which can be traced to the name usage of the 17th century. The social structure of the village can be deseribed through the distinctive traits of the Barkó ethnic group. Following ethnographer Attila Paládi-Kovács, eight main points can be distinguished: (1) Borsodszentgyörgy lies in the southern part of the region known as Erdőhát, bordered by the Sajó and Rima rivers and the Gortva and Hangony streams. It is covered by brown forest soils and the extent of the forest cover still totals 60 per cent. This environment obviously influenced the economy and the lifcways of the rural population living in this region (stockbreeding, forestry, arable farming). (2) The region's demography is characterised by the fact that the continuity of settlement was principally endangered by depopulation (e.g. during the Turkish wars and the Turkish occupation) and migration (e.g. by moving to nearby industrial centres from the last third of the 20th century). (3) The settlement was inhabited by the middle and lesser nobility and had a unique social order, elements of which included communal land use and the extended family of the nobility. (4) Marriage patterns were characterised by social (nobility) and religious endogamy. The proportion of Román Catholics was over 90 per cent in somé periods. (5) The sense of cohesion and of a common identity, a major characteristic of Barkó villages, was especially strong at Borsodszentgyörgy. (6) In contrast to the settlements lying along the blurred ethnic boundary, the village can be unequivocally assigned to the Barkó villages as shown by popular attitudes. (7) The area is characterised by an archaic Palóc dialect: of the seven Palóc dialects, the variant spoken by the local population can be assigned to the eastern group of the Middle Palóc dialect. (8) A belated embourgeoisement, industrial employment and the appearance of an industrial working class parallel to the decline of the peasant world in the later 20th century were the main factors behind the decline of traditional folk culture. Péter Alabán 368