Basque ethnography at a glance

Festival of Saint Lucia in Zumarraga (13/12/2014). Author: E. X. Dueñas.

How often do we resort to expressions, sayings, refrains or proverbs known in our environment to seek the intentionality of their meaning?

These words have a certain weight of truth, but also a certain degree of error. That is Oral Literature. It is a collection of expressions, rules, oaths, that is, sayings, romances, songs, stories or tales that cannot be ignored and that are the fruit of popular wisdom.

Autumn, like the other seasons of the year, offers us an inexhaustible source of this type of literature, for example, one of the few sung stories of our tradition, coming from Lower Navarre:

(From early spring, until autumn the laborious ant works to eat during the winter.
At the edge of the field she plows, a bird has approached to make fun of her.
Poor, puny ant, leave that work. God will provide you with all the food and drink you need.)

The behavior of birds or the climate of this era also form part of the proverbs: ‘Udazkenean uso pasea izateko, aurrenak txoriak pasa behar’ (in autumn, for pigeons to come, first birds must pass through); ‘Udazkeneko loreak fruta gutxi’ (autumn flower gives few fruits); ‘San Simon eta Juda, negua heldu da’ , ‘Judas y Simón pasado, el invierno es llegado’  (Simon and Jude Thaddeus passed, winter begins).

The first day of November… ‘Al llegar Todos los Santos, sacan la capa los mozos y el día de san Andrés se embozan hasta los ojos’ (When All Saints’ Day arrives, young men take out their cloaks and on Saint Andrew’s they cover their face with it). From death to death, according to one of the most famous Spanish sayings: ‘a cada cerdo le llega su San Martín’ (literally translated, it would mean ‘Every pig gets to the day of Saint Martin’, meaning what goes around comes around). It is used for different purposes and in more than one occasion, it is ridiculous. However, the slaughter of the pig, at least since the last century and in these latitudes, takes place at the end of November, because it is the most effective period, regardless of the lunar phase that corresponds to the ritual, since the middle of December. Likewise, on November 11 we use the expression ‘El veranillo de San Martín’ (‘El veranillo de san Martín, dura tres días y fin’/’Saint Martin’s summer lasts three days’) to define the days when the temperature rises more than usual. This reminds me of the ‘veranillo de san Miguel’ that has become so fashionable in the news lately.

“A cada cerdo le llega su san Martín” (1999). Author: E. X. Dueñas.

(Blessed Saint Barbara, written in heaven with paper and holy water)

The 4th of December is celebrated in Santa Bárbara: ‘Nadie se acuerda de santa Bárbara hasta que truena’ (Nobody remembers Saint Barbara, until thunder comes). It has a double and/or triple meaning; no one will deny that.

The postulations and the chants will be held two days later to celebrate Saint Nichols (Samikolas):

(Saint Nicholas crowned, was a very honourable bishop. Here are four of us, two of us will sing./A little alms for the love of God.
Whether you give us or not, do not detain us here,for we are choirboys of the glorious Saint Nicholas.
With the master’s permission, we have come out to beg, imitating Jesus Christ, Whom we must follow.)

Saint Nichols in Agurain (06/12/2001). Author: E. X. Dueñas.

Another important date in the calendar is December 13, the festival of photographers and… ‘Que Santa Lucia te conserve la vista!’ (may Saint Lucia keep your sight) Without a doubt, it is a phrase full of irony, to which the phrase ‘A partir de santa Lucía (se acorta la noche y) se alarga el día’ (from Saint Lucia onwards, the nights are shorter and the day last longer) is added. Although the winter solstice occurs approximately between the 21st and the 23rd of that month, adding the 10 days that were eliminated when the Julian calendar switched to the Gregorian (current) in the 16th century might give us the original meaning of this old phrase.

It is likely that climatic and technological changes will allow us to expand our literature. ‘La esperanza nunca se pierde’ (hope is never lost).

Emilio Xabier Dueñas — Folklorist and ethnographer