Table of Contents

bread-baking procedures

specific customs associated with the celebration of St. George's Day

personal reflections on the old days • agricultural practices

recipes for banitsa and "Bansko kapama" (stew) • slaughtering of a pig and making of sausages • personal narrative about the healing power of rendered pig fat • Christmas meals • details of weaving tasseled rugs

marking ownership of individual sheep 

discussion of where Torlak dialect is spoken 

threshing practices • sowing practices • different sorts of grain • baking of different breads

reminiscences of childhood and early days of marriage • wedding rituals • narrative of travels to Europe and hosting visitors from there • observation of cultural differences

christening a child • wedding customs • complaints about theft of grave adonrments

interpretation of the weather; work in the fields, threshing and winnowing

sheep-keeping in the days of collective farms • other animals kept • musical instruments played by shepherds • how sheepfolds are made, and how sheep are fed in the winter

seasonal work in the fields • merry-making on days of rest

composition of a wedding procession • organization of the wedding feast

gathering mushrooms • work in the fields • carrying loads

founding of collective farms and other socialist regime elements and their subsequent destruction; narration of the informant’s sister’s experience as a maid in Sofia and her own as a migrant field worker

wedding customs • birth customs • work bees

bread making • roasting lambs for celebrations

personal narrative of injury • old days vs. now • details of silkworm-keeping

personal narrative about the death of informant's mother, her father's remarriage, and the family's adjustment to life with a stepmother

schooling (or lack of) as a child • discussion of field work practices • herding animals as a child • problems of the current drought

herding animals as a child • details of bread-making

personal narrative of life with late husband • desire to join him in the other world

wedding customs • unsuccessful attempts to pass on dowry items to younger more modern girls

recollections of sheepherding as a child • differences between children then and now • humorous narrative about a visitor’s confusion due to dialect words (dried fruit vs. icicles)

sheepherding practices • personal narrative about summering in the village and wintering in Smoljan and a highly educated daughter’s attachment to the village

workbees and courtship in the old days • length of wedding celebration • corn-harvesting and sheep-keeping • Easter and village celebration

village priests then and now • christening practices • men’s and women’s work in the fields • maintenance of mowing implements

description of a woman’s work day

discussion of who in the village knows most about the old days • threshing practices

lament about old age

spinning practices • curiosity about field work • prayer in the old days vs. now • lively discussion between two village women about rain and rain-making prayers

complex narrative about the kidnapping of a group of Bulgarian workers in Libya and their liberation, and the ability of a local fortune teller to predict this liberation

how weddings were held in the old days, the foods served, the custom of gifting, and customs observed when a bride comes to her new home • customs of christening • discussion of other possible informants in the village

personal narrative of weaving for marriage dowry and not being able to finish for lack of wool, and of riding a mule into town for the first time

garden work • threshing practices • personal narrative about husband, children and grandchildren • sowing practices • animal husbandry

humorous narrative about another’s attempt to kidnap a child and the reasons why the attempt failed

hard times in the old days, including eating bread made from broom branches and going to school barefoot • the contrast of food then (simple but healthy) and now (chemically treated) • gardening practices

narrative about reactions of particular villagers to the imposition of collective farms

fasting practices • Easter customs • beliefs about why certain foods are avoided during fasts

milking sheep and making various products from the milk • "zaguveznite" customs (prior to beginning of Lent) • wedding customs

threshing practices

rich people vs. poor people • tobacco growing and processing • schooling in the old days

work bees and the types of recreation that followed them

threshing practices • description of a day’s work

reaping and threshing practices • invitation to members of field team to try for themselves

description of threshing practices and implements • showing a swaphook to the field team

bear trainers, how they capture and train up bears and use them to raise money in visits to various villages

animals raised in the old days • current price of eggs and difficulty of keeping even chickens.

construction of tasseled vests, from the time the sheep are shorn to the completely woven (and tasseled) vest.

making bread and banitsa • churning milk • differences between now and then, especially socializing and coffee drinking • keeping wine at home in particular barrels

personal narrative about caring for an elderly woman in the village, and discussion of the merits of welfare benefits

spinning practices • sources of natural dyes • shearing of sheep and carding of wool

high prices and cost of transport • personal narrative about life as a truck driver • high prices for food • roasting animals on the spit

detailed discussion of farming vocabulary • reaping and threshing practices • description of particular implements (grate, sickle, swaphook) • plowing practices • detailed discussion of the structure of a traditional plow and names of its parts

personal narrative about wood-carver’s craft: harvesting wood from different trees, loading it to bring back • churning milk • reaping practices • threshing practices • mowing practices • dancing as a young man • making staves for barrels

narrative of how the village was settled • good relations with Turks • personal narrative about father and grandfather • earlier name of the village • arrival of Pomaks after collectivization • work distribution among sexes in older days • sowing practices • raising and selling cotton • reaping practices • threshing practices • storing grain in the barn • bread baking • churning milk

personal narrative about construction and ownership of speaker’s house • life of young people in the old days • work bees and courtship during them • engagement practices, matchmaking

food preparation, especially banitsa

Bayram customs • religious beliefs

making, baking, and storing bread • plowing • transport of goods by mule-cart

wedding customs • humorous discussion of beards and shaving • birth customs and caring for babies • traditional women’s dress

kneading and baking bread • making quickbreads in the baking dish ("podnitsa") • hearths in older houses • two-floored older houses • sheep pasturing • cheese making • butter making

personal narrative of losing father in Balkan Wars • interpretation of Biblical prophecy as referring to Communism

making yogurt • shearing sheep • sowing and harvesting of lentils and beans

personal narrative about plowing lentils in the mountains, and difficulties when a boy fell from his mule and bad weather came up • yogurt making recipes • looking after livestock • reaping and threshing practices • preparation of hemp

St. George’s Day customs, preparation of breads and of roast lamb • communal celebrations outdoors by several families • blessing of the lamb before it is slaughtered

narrative about a woman who was able to tell of one’s past from the way a thread from clothing settled in a glass of water • lively personal narrative about riding a fractious horse as a child

personal history of life before and during collective ownership 

personal narrative about coming to settle in the region as migrant workers • humorous narrative of an how an outsider discovered that belief about Bulgarian Catholics – that they are cannibals – was mistaken • counting from one to ten • personal narrative about marriage and in-laws

preparing food for village celebrations • personal narrative about a strike when officials of a neighboring region were brought in to forcibly change the structure of traditional St. George’s Day celebrations

discussion of names of local rock formations and holes in them, and narrative about one villager’s mishap there

recollection of working the fields as children • courting at spinning bees • recitation of courting song text • mention of harvest songs • personal narrative about life as a new bride and mother

detailed overview of engagement and wedding customs

discussion of ducks in the yard and a carcass hung to dissuade magpies from taking eggs • detailed discussion of betrothal rituals

humorous personal narrative about a bus trip to the wrong destination, the way the speaker learned of the mixup, and the apology of the bus conductor

humorous personal narrative about how the speaker insists on speaking her own dialect when she goes to visit her grandchildren in another town, and how one of these children challenged his teacher to come up with a definition for a word from that dialect

washing, carding and spinning wool • preparation of thread for weaving • structure of the loom, and process of weaving

storing cheese in a whole animal skin • the difference between milk from cows, sheep, and goats

carolers at Christmas • fate of local mines and factories • old-time clothing • structure of home looms • dyes from local plants • composition of a bride’s dowry

lament about current poor economic situation and unemployment

gathering and exporting mushrooms • difference between grafted and ungrafted cherry trees • making fruit preserves • separating the herds on St. Dimitri’s Day

discussion with local resident about land taxes • discussion of whether to photograph speaker or not

Details of threshing and winnowing

reaping practices • recipe for Rhodope banitsa

discussion of how “democracy” has brought very high prices • personal recollections of wartime and forced labor building railway lines

lament over unemployment due to factory closures

work in the forest • washing wool after sheep are shorn • dyeing practices, and sources of natural dye colors • weaving of coarse homespun and taking it to the fuller • weighting the homespun afterwards to make it hang smooth

structure of old-time houses • the hearth as source of both light and heat • cooking in the hearth

sources of light inside houses prior to electricity • bedcovers brought as part of dowry

dress and footwear in the old days • work bees • grinding of flour • structure of ritual pre-wedding gatherings (“corn parties”) • betrothal customs • weaving and the parts of the loom • weaving of multicolored heavy rugs and of fabrics • details of spinning • dyeing of the spun thread

feeding a bull • keeping hens and livestock • plowing and threshing • types of mushrooms • structure of mousetraps

description of a traditional wedding

history of the village’s name; reaping and threshing 

description of a song sung during the First Balkan War • work bees • traditional Christmas breads * fortune-telling at New Year’s * customs at other holidays • growing corn and spreading the wealth among those less fortunate

village celebrations, family saints • cultivating vineyards • custom of “catching” a saint’s day for a child using a three-legged stool

description of women fishing in the river with woven fabric, and using polenta scraps in a pot for bait • names of fish and methods of cooking them • soup recipes • growing and harvesting of beans

reaping and threshing practices • storing of grain

sowing, harvesting and cooking lentils • cows and their young • plowing • personal narrative about baking bread for the municipality

founding of the village • sowing practices • plowing • reaping practices • threshing practices • work transporting cargo • sowing and harvesting lentils • use of barley as grain and as heating packs • sheep herding • customs when building • local trees as forage for animals • local celebrations • wedding customs

superstitions about local magic

how fences are made • threshing practices

gardening practices