A Debreceni Déri Múzeum Évkönyve 1948-1956 (Debrecen, 1957)

Béres András: Nyíradonyi betlehemesek, csillagosok

„Creche-bearers and „Star-heralds" at Nyiradony Andrew Béres The popular games of „creche-bearing" and „star-heralding" in Christmas eve have been in practice since the nineties at Nyiradony, a village which belonged formerly to the county of Hajdú-Bihar and now to Szabolcs-Szatmár. The games became implanted on the initiative of the local Greek Catholic parish choirmaster, Béla Veikéi. It is a custom that lads of about age go about the village with a creche in their hands while children go about holding stars. As a rule, lads respectively children who live in the same part or street of the village form a „gang". The participants in „crechebearing" are of an age of 16 —20, while the „star-heralds" are children below fourteen. The oldest of the participants is usually committed to the chief of the „gang". Under his leadership they gather together by evenings to learn their allotted parts, to rehearse. The creche has the shape of a church and made by a joiner, cartwright or like, often pieced together by the members of the gang. The church model has one, often two steeples. The sides and the roof are covered with fancy papers, and decorated with the sun, moon and stars cut out of fancy papers. It is decorated inside with moss and the creche is surrounded by animals moulded of gypsum. Most of the participants wear splendid helmets of paper, it is only the shepherds who wear fur-caps and moustache and beard made of hemp-oakum. There are six participants in all in the game of „crechebearing". Herod, and the Three Kings are dressed in white robes and wear helmets on their heads, the two old shepherds wear wide sheepskin coats, chained sticks in their hands, sheepskin caps oh their heads, moustache and beard on their faces and in addition a mask. (PI. IX. 2.) The garment of the „star-heralds" is similar to that of the Three Kings of the „creche-bearers". (PI. IX. 1.) The songs they sing are of religious character though the inserted droll pieces deprive the game of its solemnity. The „stickdance" of the two shepherd is of particular interest. They perform it in front of the church model with their chained sticks. The gang goes about the village on Christmas eve from nightfall to late night calling on the houses one by one collecting money in the money-box which is attached to the little church. At midnight the gang goes to the church to attend the night mass and that means the end of the game. The church model will be then carefully preserved for the next Christmas. Words and tunes of the two games were fully recorded in magnetophone on the spot by the author of the article, without the participants' noticing it. The custom of „creche-bearing" and „star-heralding ' is still going on in Nyiradony. The motives of the participants in their effort to keep it up lie, as they say, not so much in their greediness for money as in their trying to conserve a tradition, renewing it from Christmas to Christmas and passing it over from father to son. 5 65