Regional Varieties of Breeds

CONTENTS

Flocks

The Organization of the Herdsmen

Herdsmen looked after the various animals that grazed in flocks and they themselves were differentiated according to the kind of animal of which they were in charge. In most areas the cattleherd (gulyás) was regarded as the most important since at one time he kept a certain number of his own cattle among those of the owner. On the Great Plain, cattle herds rode on horses, and the ornamental long whip and the stick which they carried were at the same time their tools, weapons, and ornaments. The horseherd (csikós), the guard of the horses, was next in order of importance, standing in fact on a similar level to that of the cattle herds but differentiated from them by his clothing, which varied from region to region (cf. Plate IX). He never used a club, his most important tool being the long whip. Shepherds came next in rank, even though they were generally amongst the wealthiest herdsmen (cf. Plate VIII). The shepherd not only was able to keep sheep himself, but increased his income with certain emoluments paid for double births, milk, and wool. The swineherds (kondás) were the least esteemed and at the same time came from the poorest social layer, a fact reflected in their wages. The men who looked after extensive or half-extensive flocks passed on {249.} their herdsman’s knowledge, both rational and irrational, mostly within the family. Thus the history of certain herdsman families can be followed through several generations.

The situation is different with those herdsmen who drove the stock out daily; they were differentiated even in name from the above. Thus cattle were driven by the csordás, the pigs by the csürhés, both of whom are lower in social rank than their equivalents who tended the extensive or half-extensive flocks. This was usually the occupation of the poor, indigent peasants, and they gladly left it as soon as something better turned up. In the last decades, gypsy herdsmen have been hired in more and more places to tend the village flock because no one else will take on this job.

The leader or gazda of the herdsmen who tend one flock is called the számadó. The owner entrusts the stock to him, and he is financially responsible for the animals. This is why he is usually a man owning livestock himself, who grazes his stock along with that of the owner. This is the guarantee that possible losses can be replaced from his own. In the organization, the elsőbojtár or számadó bojtár is substitute of the {251.} számadó and his right hand man. The elsőbojtár is also allowed to own a definite number of animals. In many places he keeps track of all the animals and inspects their numbers from time to time. The other bojtárs come after him according to age and the amount of time served, there being as many of them as are absolutely necessary to tend the flock. There were even kisbojtárs (tanyás, lakos) on the farmsteads of the Great Plain herdsmen, who did not tend the stock during the daytime but were busy preparing cooked food for the return of the számadó and the bojtárs. At night they were not allowed to sleep because they had to keep an eye on the stock. They went to town for the week’s food, on foot or in a cart, which is why they were also called carters.

Herdsmen were engaged and employed at different times according to the period or region. In the Kiskunság the contract was from the day of Demetrius until the day of Demetrius–that is, for a year. When it came to an end, the számadó handed over the stock he was entrusted with to its owner. Employment of the herdsmen in half-extensive husbandry lasted from the driving-out until closing–that is to say, during the grazing season. The herdsman driving out daily is actually like a yearly {252.} farm hand. He was usually hired during Christmas week. At this time they took time to wet the bargain and the new herdsmen drank a glass with the local farmers, who selected them.

In certain stock-keeping areas, they called the spring animal fair the herdsmen’s market, because that is where herdsmen were hired. Cattleherds as well as horseherds, shepherds, and swineherds came to the fair if they wanted to exchange their old place for a new one, and settled the matter of payment with their master.

In recent times the accounting of the village stock took place on the Sunday before the day of St. George (April 24). The herdsman at such time went from house to house and wrote down who wanted to have him drive out how many animals. At the same time he collected from the farmers part of his year’s wages, a process which was followed in the evening by the wetting of the bargain in the tavern.

Regional Varieties of Breeds

CONTENTS

Flocks