* '•U ' <* '','A'- 'i jiAfk^i^tlsAjii -fiiifM'A-^,':- Gr3] GYPSIES. The Land Beyond the J 287^ Forest. Facts, Figures, and Fancies from Transylvania. By E. Gerard. Illustrated. N. y.,. 1888. Svo, cloth ,...$1.75 Gypsy, Saxon, and Roumanian Superstitions, Man--' ners and Custo ms. fytmll Utiivmitg Cornell University Library DB 726.G37 The land beyond the forest :facts, figur 3 1924 011 921 420 The original of tiiis bool< is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924011921420 OLD TOWN GATE AT HERMAN8TADT (ELIZABETH THOR). THE LAND BEYOND THE FOREST FACTS, FIGUEES, AND FANCIES FROM TRANSYLVANIA By E. GERARD Avrnoa of 'KEATA" "njE WATERS OF HERCULES " "BEGGAR Mr NEIGHBOR" E'U WITJ-I MAI' AND ILLUSTRATIONS NEW YORK HARPER & BROTHERS, FRANKLIN SQTIARE 1888 •3. PREFACE. In the spring of 1883 m}' husband was appointed to the coininand of the cavah-y brigade in Transylvania, composed of two hussar regi- ments, stationed respectively at Hermanstadt and Kronstadt—a very welcome nomination, as gratifying a long-cherished wish of mine to visit that part of the Austrian empire known as the Land beyond the Forest. The two years spent in Transylvania were among the most agree- able of sixteen years' acquaintance with Austrian military life; and I shall always look back to this time as to something quaint and excep- tional, totally difEerent from all previous and subsequent experiences. Much interested in the wild beauty of the country, the strange admixture oi races by which it is peopled, and their curious and varied folk-lore, I recorded some of my impressions in short, independent papers, of which "three were published in BlackwoocVs Magazine, one in the Nineteenth Century, and one in the Contemj>orary Review. It was only after I had left the country that, being desirous of preserving these sketches in more convenient form, I began rearranging the mat- ter for publication ; but the task of retracing my Transylvanian expe- riences was so pleasant that it led me on far beyond my original inten- tion. One reminiscence awoke another, one chapter gave rise to a second ; and so, instead of a small volume, as had been at first contem- plated, my manusci'ipt almost unconsciously developed to its present dimensions. When the work was completed, the idea of illustrating it occurred to me : but this was a far more difficult matter ; for, though offering a perfect treasiire-mine to artists, Transylvania has not as yet received vi Preface. from them the attention it deserves; and had it not been for obliging assistance from several quarters, I shonld have been debarred the satis- faction of elucidating some of my descriptions by appropriate sketches. In this matter my thanks are greatly due to Herr Emil Sigerus, who was good enough to place at my disposal the blocks of engravings designed by himself, and belonging to the Transylvania Carpathian Society, of which he is the secretary. Likewise to Madame Kamilla Asboth, for permission to copy her life-like and characteristic photo- graphs of Saxons, Konmanians, and gypsies. I would also at this place acknowledge the extreme courtesy with which every question of mine regarding Transylvania people and cus- toms has been responded to by various kind acquaintances, and if some parts of my work do not meet with their entire approval, let them here take the assurance that my remarks were prompted by no unfriendly spirit, and that in each and every case I have endeavored to judge im- partially according to my lights. Emily de Laszowska-Geeaed, CONTENTS. CHAPTER PAGE I. Introductory 1 II. Historical 6 III. Political 11 IV. Arrival in Transylvania—First Impressions 14 v. Saxon Historical Feast—Legend 25 — VI. The Saxons : Character—Education Religion 31 VII. Saxon Villages 39 VIII. Saxon Interiors—Character 50 IX. Saxon Churches and Sieges 62 X. The Saxon Village Pastor 71 XI. The Saxon Brotherhoods—Neighborhoods and Village Hann 79 XII. The Saxons : Dress—Spinning and Dancing 85 XIII. The Saxons : Betrothal 94 XIV. The Saxons: Marriage 101 XV. The Saxons : Birth and iNFAifCY Ill XVI. The Saxons : Death and Burial 117 XVII. The Roumanians : their Origin 122 XVIII. The Roumanians : their Religion, Popas, and Churches 125 XIX. The Roumanians : their Character 132 XX. Roumanian Life 139 XXI. Roumanian Marriage and Morality 146 XXIL The. Roumanians: Dancing, Songs, Music, Stories, and Proverbs 151 XXIII. Roumanian Poetry : 158 XXIV. The Roumanians : Nationality and Atrocities 173 XXV. The Roumanians: Death and Burial—Vampires and Were-wolves 180 XXVI. Roumanian Superstition : Days and Hours 1 88 XXVII. Roumanian Superstition—continued : Animals, Weather, Mixed Supersti- tions, Spirits, Shadows, etc 196 XXVIII. Saxon Superstition: Remedies, Witches, Weather- makers 207 XXIX. Saxon Superstition—continued : Animals, Plants, Days 212 XXX. Saxon Customs and Dramas 218 XXXI. Buried Treasures , 229 viii Contents. CnAPTER l>A(iTi! XXXII. The Tziganes : Liszt and Lenau 236 XXXIII. The Tziganes : tiieie Life and Occupations 242 XXXIV. The Tziganes : Hcmor, Peoterbs, Religion, and Mokajoitt 263 XXXV". The Gypsy Fortune-teller , : 260 XXXVL The Tzigane Musician 265 XXXVII. Gypsy Poetry 273 XXXVIII. The Szeklers and Armenians 279 XXXIX. Frontier Regiments 288 XL. Wolves, Bears, and Other Animals 292 XLI. A RooMANiAN Village 299 XLn. A Gypsy Camp 306 XLIII. The Bruckenthals 309 XLIV. Still-life at Heemanstadt—a Tkansyltanian Ckanpord 317 XLV. Fire and Blood—the Heemanstadt Mdedee 326 XLVI. The Klausenboer Carniyal 331 XLVII. Journey feom Heemanstadt to Kronstadt 339 XLVIII. Kronstadt .348 XLIX. SiNAiA 357 L. Up the Mountains _. 364 LL The Bulea See 372 LII. The Wieneuwald—A Digression 377 LIII. A Week in the Pine Region 380 LIV. La Dus and Bistea S8S LV. A Night in the Stina 394 TVI. Farewell to Transylvania—the Enchanted Garden 399 ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE Old Town Gate at Heririanstadt (Elisa- Roumanian Women 143 beth Tlioi') Fronti Saxon Girl in Full Dress 221 Saxon Burglier in Olden Times 9 Gypsy Type : 237 TlieTliorda Spalt 19 A Gypsy Tinker 245 Old Fortress-tower on tlie Ramparts at Basket-maker 247 Horraanstadt 23 Bear-driver 249 Mounted Peasants, from the Historical Gypsy Girl 258 Procession 28 Gypsy Mother and Child 261 Saxon Peasant House 40 Gypsy Musicians 269 Old Town Gate at Hermanstadt (on the Szekler Peasant 279 Heltau side) 43 The Rothenthurm Pass 291 Michelsberg. 4*7 The Bruckenthal Palace 310 Saxon Peasant at Ploiiie 51 Baron Samuel Bruckenthal 315 Saxon Embroidery 53 Street at Hermanstadt 319 Saxon Embroidery and Pottery 65 Schassburg 341 Fortified Saxon Church 63 Castle oe Torzburg 347 Ruined Abbey of Kerz 70 King Matthias Corviniis 355 Saxon Pastor in Full Dress 73 Castle Pelesch at SinaVa 359 Saxon Peasant going to Work 84 ThcNegoi 365 Dressing for the Dance 93 The Pine Valley 381 Saxon Betrothed Couple 97 The Cavern £)onvent, Skit la Jalomitza . 399 Archbishop Schaguna 131 Castle Vajda Hunyad before its restora- Roumanian Costumes 141 tion 401 Map op Transylvania At end ; THE LAND BEYOND THE FOEEST. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTOET. Leaving Transylvania after a two years' residence, I felt some- what like Robinson Crusoe unexpectedly restored to the world from his desert island. Despite the evidence of my own senses, and in fiat contradiction to the atlas, I cannot wholly divest myself of the idea that it is in truth an island I have left behind me—an island peopled with strange and incongruous companions, from whom I part with a mixture of regret and relief difficult to explain even to myself. Just as Robinson Crusoe, getting attached to his parrots and his palm-trees, his gourds and his goats, continued to yearn for them after his return to Europe, so I found myself gradually succumbing to the indolent charm and the drowsy poetry of this secluded land. A very few years more of unbroken residence here would no doubt suffice to efface all memory of the world we had left behind and the century in which we live. I remember reading in some fairy tale, long ago, of a youthful princess who, stolen by the gnomes and carried off into gnomeland, was restored to her parents after a lapse of years. Their joy was great at recovering their child, but it turned to grief when they dis- covered that she had grown estranged from them, and had lost all interest in the actual world. The sun was too bright, she said, it hurt her eyes, and the voices of men wei-e too loud, they scorched her ears and she could never feel at home again amid the restless glitter of her surroundings. I do not recollect how the story concludes—whether the young lady became in time reconciled to her father's brilliant court, or 1 2 The Land Beyond the Forest. whether she ran away and married a gnome ; bnt this tale somehow reminded me of my own experiences, and I caught myself wondering whether a few years hence, perhaps, the summons to return to the world might not have come too late. Parrots and palm-trees are all very well, no doubt, to fill up the life of a stranded mariner, but it is questionable whether it be wise to let such things absorb the mind to the extent of destroying all taste for wider interests. Life in an island is apt to consist too en- tirely of foreground—the breadth of a panorama and the comprehen- siveness of a bird's-eye view, only gained by constant friction with the bustling, pushing outer world, being mostly here wanting. Luckily, or unluckily, as one may choose to view it, tlie spirit of the nineteenth century is a ghost very difficult to be laid.