Palóc

Women in traditional palóc costume

The Palóc [ˈpɒloːt͡s] are a subgroup of Hungarians in Northern Hungary and southern Slovakia. While the Palóc have retained distinctive traditions, including a very divergent dialect of Hungarian, the Palóc are also ethnic Hungarians by general consensus. Although their origins are unclear, the Palóc seem to have some sort of connections with the Khazar, Kabar, Pechenegs, Cuman and especially with the Avar tribes. The writings of Kálmán Mikszáth gave new prominence to the people in 1882 with his work The Good People of Palóc. The Palóc village of Hollókő was proclaimed a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987 because of its preservation of traditional Palóc architecture and land use. Two branches of the Palócs can be distinguished based on their place of residence and customs: the western and the eastern (Barkó) Palócs, although the folk customs of both branches are mixed with remnants of ancient inner Asian beliefs and Christianity. They can be further grouped based on their dialect. The residence of the Palócs extends to the often-mentioned Palócföld (Palócland), which used to belong to Hont and Gömör and Kishont counties, and today it covers partly Slovakian and partly Hungarian areas (Pest, Nógrád, Heves, and Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén counties): Cserhát, Mátra, Bükk mountains and north of these horizontal basin and the Ipoly Valley - nearly 150 settlements.

The Palócs never had special rights, so their first written mention dates only from 1656, when the notary from Nagykőrös recorded the following in his account book: "I bought ten pairs of mother of pearl knives from the Palócs". Their own specific ancient name is "had", which is the name of all the Palócs living in the same community who bear the same surname, even if they are form a separate family.

Avar Origin

According to Bakó Ferenc, ethnographer and museologist, the Palóc people are the direct descendants of the Pannonian Avars and some Székely and Khazar fractions.

In his four-volume monograph A Palócok ("The Palóc People"), from 1989, he paid a lot of attention to the pre-Hungarian Conquest origin of the Palóc people. His theory is supported by the Palóc folk legend, the "Palóc Herceg" ("Palóc Prince") and the traditions of the people from the Göcsej region. He found evidence for this theory in late Avar cemeteries, and many place name which has Avar origin also support his theory.

According to Magyar Adorján, historian and ethnographer, the Avars and early Palócs have identical folk symbolism with the same central elements as the “sun cross” or the circle “variga” or “vár”, which had the same meaning in both folklore. He thinks that these symbols are the most interesting because in this region there was/is no other population which used these motives except the Avars. In his books (Books: Ázsiából jöttünk-e vagy európai ősnép vagyunk? and Ős Magyar Rovásírás) he brings evidences from the Avar and Palóc folklore for the Avar/Palóc continuity.

According to ethnographer Fáy Elek, the famous Palóc tradition, the Májfa installation, has an Avar origin as well. He found evidence that the Avars had a very similar ritual with similar meaning, on the other hand, a similar tradition cannot be found among other ethnic groups in the region, till the early 16th century when it has become popular all over the region.

Pintér Sándor, ethnically Palóc lawyer and ethnographer, did a lot of research on the presence of the Palóc people in the Carpathian Basin before the Hungarian Conquest, and in his book ( A Palócokról / About the Palócs), he argues for the Avar, Palóc continuity, and he writes about the remnant elements of the Palóc paganism in the Palóc traditions, which he believes that these fragments of traditions are from the Avar or Hunnic religion, these superstitions, folk motifs and traditions mostly about the Sun or the Fire, which were both very important symbols in the Avar religion as well. He highlights that these folk motives cannot be observed either in the ancient religions of the surrounding peoples or in the ancient Hungarian paganism, so he claims that the only logical explanation is that these elements are from the Avar or Hunnic paganism.

Dialect specificities

The Palóc people are instantly recognisable by their peculiar way of speaking. Linguists proclaim that the Palóc people, isolated around the Mátra, have preserved the most memories of the language of the prehistoric Hungarians. The Palóc people cannot get away from the a- formed from the long á. The -val, -vel vowels have remained unchanged, they are not similar to the consonants at the end of the word: windowval, botval, kinval, knife, menyemvel. The vowels á, é, ó, ő are pronounced like this: uá, ié, üő: laó (horse), haó (snow), aólom (dream), vuáros (city), iédes (sweet), üőrzöm (guard), miérges (poison), kiéreg (bark). The Palóc faithfully preserve the original open, long e sound: leven, tehen. The short a is pronounced with a little open mouth. It is very interesting that the letter t before the letter ű is changed to ty: tyükör, tyűz. Instead of d, gy is pronounced gy: gyisznuó (pig), gyiuó (nut), gyiuák (student). Instead of ti, tyi: szeretyi, Katyi, Petyi is pronounced. A very interesting feature of their sentence structure is that they can talk for hours without conjunctions: and, that, etc. In the Palóc villages, one can often get confused because the outsider does not understand several words. For example, carpenters: child's stall; puppeteer: kappan; bakkanó: bumpy road; satyva: loom; kapacs: turtle-shaped iron tool; sap: plough-side; gyük: root; gyükör v. tyükör: mirror.

Palóc folk costume

A cultural feature of the Palóc people is their folk costume.

Within the Palóc region, there are several costume groups have been formed on the basis of women's hair, the colour and decoration of their bonnets, the number and length of their skirts, the embroidery of the shirt shoulders, the shape of the apron, the pruslik (sleeved coat), the way the breast and head scarf are tied, the men's hats, the embroidery of their shirts, the length and width of the fringed trousers, etc. The costume, by village and by group, expressed the age and wealth of the wearer, but could also refer to the occasion. The bonnet of the new daughters-in-law was typical. The weavings were mostly used to decorate aprons, cloaks and towels. The embroidery of holes in black and white was followed by blue and red and then multicoloured.

In the 1850s, white postal screening was common in men's clothing. A bachelor could not think of proposing until he could buy a filter for himself. The jewel of their wedding dress was the chiffre, which they wore on festive occasions until they were old. They wore a black sheepskin bodice, a short-waisted linen shawl with red, blue and green cross-stitching, long, tight trousers and a baggy linen trousers, and they also wore a mist mantle. Some of the larger farmers also wore a round bunda (suba). On feast days, they wore long boots.

The Palóc women's dress could be classified as short-skirted. Their underclothes and outer garments were made of shawl linen, and on weekdays they wore a shawl, apron and shirt-shirt, over the latter a neck-clasping shawl made of blue-dyed silk, clot, cashmere and brightly coloured silk with fringed edges. The girls' hair was braided into a 'hen' or 'wag' plait, the women's into a bun. The headdress, which was a bonnet decorated with lace, ribbons, beads and embroidery, was perhaps the most varied in and around Kazar. As the women grew older, the silk shawls were at first no longer fringed, and then the bright colours of the headscarves and bonnets were gradually replaced by dull colours.

On festive occasions, the big girls wore 12 to 15 heavily starched petticoats. The number of petticoats decreased as the age progressed.

Palóc customs

In many places, family life is still based on the old patriarchal order. When a Palóc lad gets married, he takes his new daughter-in-law home to his parents' house. As a result of this custom, more than one Palóc father lived with three or four married sons and their children under the same roof.

The family is headed by the farmer and the farmer's wife. The oldest male or female member of the family (or the head) holds both positions. They are held in absolute respect and esteem. The farmer is the lord of the manor, the guardian of the property and the steward of the fields. The farmer's wife is the head of the household; she does the cooking and baking, while the other women can only help with the bread. No woman under a farmer's wife is allowed to interfere in cooking, which is why the Palóc woman learns to cook only in late maidenhood. The younger women of the family may weave, sew, wash or help with the lighter field work, if the farmer allows it. If something disrupts extended family life and bread is broken, the wealth is divided up and an "arrow is drawn."

Their food is nutritious. Poultry are not kept for sale, but for their own household. Few places see as many geese in one place as the Palóc. In winter there are always one or two fatteners in the barn. The men sit around the table and the women stand behind their husbands and spoon from the common big bowl. The corner seat next to the table is the main seat, where the farmer sits and the more deserving guest is also seated. According to the ancient custom, the host always drinks from the brandy or wine bottle first and only then offers it to the others, saying: 'I give it with honour', to which the guest replies: 'Thank you, I'll take it with honour'. When toasting, the host says: 'Powerful God', to which the guest replies: 'I will never leave you', or 'Our Father God', 'Praise be to you all'.

They have retained many of the old features of their marital customs. Most marriages are contracted in love, but if the interests of the child require it, parents may marry at a very early age, around 14. The Palóc lad chooses his life partner in advance, but he never marries a stranger, another villager or even another street person, because it would be a great shame. If his parents do not object, the girl and the boy exchange shawls, followed on the appointed day by a formal engagement called the "shawl-house". The wedding takes place in the third week after the "shawl-house". The wedding guests are invited by groomsmen in straps and bows. The wedding is held in autumn or carnival, preferably on a Monday. The night before the wedding, the 'wedding officers', 'bridesmaids or bridesmaids' are called out and the bride's bed, linen and tulip chest are brought to the groom's house. On the morning of the wedding, the bride sends the groom a wedding gift. The betrothed couple go separately to their "god's house", each with their own bridesmaids. The bride in a carriage and in complete silence, the groom on foot, with dancing lads and a band of horsemen waving national flags to the sound of music. The 'wedding queen' is brought to the groom's house only in the evening, after the 'sun sacrifice'. She is picked up in a carriage and on horseback by a brilliant entourage. The "spokesman" first asks the girl to leave her parents, then they put her in a carriage and the wedding procession begins. At the front, the groom and his companions ride on horses, carrying burning torches, followed by the bride's four-horse carriage with bell-ringing harness.

When they arrive at the groom's house, they sit at a long table and are treated to a series of dishes, accompanied by poetic toasts from the groomsmen. After dinner comes the 'bride dance', followed by the 'bride laying'. The bride and groom then celebrate the bride's bridal shower. The next morning, the bride is led to her "initiation" in her wedding dress. This is when most of the 'old bridal' part of the wedding begins. At this point the festivities continue for several days. A characteristic feature of the old Palóc weddings was that they lasted for more than a week.

The arrival of a newborn baby is accompanied by preparations. The daughter-in-law cherries, blesses, surrounds the "mushroom bridesmaid" with a "tent sheet" and ties a clove of garlic, a small bread crust and a pinch of salt to the end of the sheet to protect the unborn child from charms, from being struck in the eye and to prevent the "bad" ones from changing it at night. For the same purpose, the newborn is bathed in "clean grass" and a reader is placed in the bandage of the swaddling robe until the christening. The christening is always held in the morning, attended only by women, and is accompanied by the consumption of bread and brandy for the health of the newborn.

According to the Palóc belief, the death of every man is marked by a shooting star in the sky. A window is opened to the soul of the dying person to make it easier for him to escape. The dead person is washed, dressed in a festive costume, boots are put on his feet, but the horseshoe is removed so that when he goes home at night "to thank for his lodging" he will not knock. The women's hauberks are also removed and replaced with a piece of wood or a pen, saying that it is hard for the dead to wear iron. The dead are placed under the master beam on the side of the house facing the street, so that they lie lengthwise underneath. The burial is followed by the gate, where the dead are laid out. The knife, spoon and fork are laid crosswise on top of each other, the plate is turned downwards and the chair is left empty, because they believe that the dead person is also sitting on the tower.

Religious Culture

In the 17th and partly in the 18th century, a specific religious practice, the so-called "Licentiate religiosity", developed in Palócland: the Palace region became one of the most central areas for the activities of "holy men" and women. In the area of the Turkish occupation, the absence of a clerical presence made direct religious practice without ecclesiastical mediation even more developed. In the Palóc villages, a lively religiosity can still be found. The predominantly Catholic population of Palócland occupies a central place in the northern part of the region, bordering the Reformed population of Borsod-Gömör in the east and north-east. The influence of the medieval Franciscanism of Gyöngyös, Fülek, Szécsény and even Eger was also a very important factor. "Perhaps nowhere else is there such a fervent tradition of going to the fair, even today, as here among the Palóc". In Palócland, for example, the most visited places of pilgrimage were partly medieval, largely from the Baroque period (Mátraverebély-Szentkút, Hasznos, Máriabesnyő, Egerszalók, Eger, etc.). There were also miraculous springs in several places. Among the characteristic features of Palóc folk religion, the mystical nature of Palóc religion is emphasised in several ethnographic descriptions. Angel faces in Karancskesi; light phenomena and warmth at the chapel of Mary in Sanda; the small chapel of the dwelling in Matranovaki as a healing place, etc.

The temple is not seen as a mere architectural work, not only as a place of liturgy, but also as a dwelling place for the deity and patron saints themselves. Temple utensils were believed to have healing properties. Folk religion also extended to the residential and economic buildings of the settlement. When they were built, they were consecrated by the priest, the farmer or the farmer's wife.

Groups

1. Palócs (western, central and eastern group)

The territory of the Palócs covers the historical counties of Hont, Nógrád, Heves, Borsod, Gömör in Hungary and Slovakia, where they live in about half a hundred settlements. Their largest towns are Ipolyság, Rimaszombat, Tornalja, Fülek, Balassagyarmat, Eger, Miskolc, Gyöngyös, Salgótarján, Szécsény. On the basis of their dress, customs and dances, the Palóc can be divided into a western and an eastern group (according to many ethnographers, a central Palóc group should also be considered separately). The reason for this difference is that the central and eastern groups were not subject to significant foreign influences, as was the case with the western group.

2. Barkós

The Brakes live in the Ózd area, along the Rima-Hangony and Hódos streams, and are considered by some to be a separate Hungarian ethnic group, but their customs and dances make it more likely that they are a branch of the Palóc. Their present-day name first appears in 1833; some associate it with their beards, others with the first names Bertalan and Bertók, but some believe it to be the name of a hated Austrian general named Barco, whose cavalry regiment camped in the Barkó area.

3. Matyós

Matyós are the inhabitants of three villages (Matyóföld) in the Miskolc area - Mezőkövesd, Szentistván and Tard. Their distribution used to be larger than today. These populous villages can be grouped together in a common group in terms of dialect, costume, customs and characteristics. They took their name from King Matthias, who granted them several liberties, and even issued and signed a document in their favour at Mezőkövesd, from which they were called 'Sons of Matthias and finally Matyós'.

Etymology

The Cumans (and some other nomadic/Turkic people) were called Polovtsy (Polovci/Plavci in Slovak) in Slav sources. The Palóc word originates from the Slavic Polovets. Although similar to the Hungarians in origins and culture, they were considered distinct groups by the Turks.

See also

• Székelys
• Matyó
• Csángós
• Jasz people
• Iazyges
• Záh (gens)
• Amadeus Aba
• Pannonian Avars