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TATRA AREA RESEARCH GROUP
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© TARG All rights reserved.
Newsletter for February & March 2007
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Ahojte (welcome) to all our TARG members!
The article about the Tatra Highlanders for
the Spring issue of "Nase rodina," the CGSI's quarterly
publication, was finished and I am told the printer is done and
those issues will be mailing out this next week. I have not seen
the final version with all of its edits nor know which photographs
will be included. I do know they were planning on using the map
I created of the Tatra Highlanders' range. A color version of
this map is now on the homepage of the TARG website at www.e-TARG.org.
Go have a look!
-- Paul K. Bingham
TARG Founder
WEBSITES____________
1. TARG's official website: http://www.e-TARG.org!
2. Helene B. Cincebeaux's new 2007 Treasure Tours Schedule is
out! Go to her
website at: www.Our-Slovakia.com
3. Genealogical Publishing Company's page on "Polish Roots"
at: http://www.genealogical.com/products/Polish%20Roots/983.html
YOUR LETTERS___________
---Hi Paul, I hope all is well.
It isn't like you not to publish a newsletter in so long. Since
I had not received one and your web page hadn't been updated,
I became concerned about your well being. Take care, God bless,
and best of health and happiness for the coming holiday season
and New Year.... Barb B.
***Hi Barb, A new TARG Newsletter was posted in November. Check
it out on the TARG website at: http://www.e-TARG.org/Resources/index.html.
Since a number of people complained about the length of the e-mails
when the e-newsletter is attached - and also the number of bounced
e-mails I get when I send them to everyone - I've gone to just
posting them on the website. You will see we are now up-to-date
again! Thanks! - Paul
---Hi Paul, Glad I visited the TARG site. What is the source
for the map on the TARG site? You don't list it. I also like
the new posting page format. Easy to scroll down and check for
names. Congrats in advance on the article. - Karen from PA
***Hi Karen, Thanks for the kudos...the article will be out "sometime
in March" they say. I have no idea how it will be edited
and turn out in the end. I know a lot of photos and a couple
of tables I wanted to use were rejected. Nearly any mention of
Poland was, too. (It all had to be Czech or Slovak oriented.)
So we'll see. I'm sure if you joined and asked to have your subscription
start at the issue with the Tatra Highlander article they would
know which one you meant. The Front cover will be one of the
photos I submitted and it is the lead article. I created the
map. As sources I used eight different maps I have from various
out-of-print documents, books and articles I have accumulated
over the years. The map is a work-in-progress, though. I'm sure
it will change as new info comes to light, but it is a good starting
point I believe. - Paul
---Hi Paul, I am currently researching the FURCA family (from
Galicia circa 1880-1920). I have identified the Furca's in the
USA that are part of my family (almost all are from the same
family) and would like to find records in Poland of our ancestors.
Can you help or put me in touch with someone who can? The three
village names that pop up in their records are Ochodnica, Mizerna,
and Nowy Targ. Thanks. - Dr. Jane from NC
***Hi Jane, In the most recent Polish phonebook I have there
are three Furca families listed in Ochotnica Gorna (none in neighboring
O. Dolna, though) and four in Nowy Targ. There were none listed
in Mizerna or neighboring Czorsztyn. I would be happy to send
these people's contact information to you. - Paul
SLOVAK SURNAME MEANINGS (Part 2)_________
Continuing what we started last issue, here
are more Tatra family surnames and their meanings. As mentioned
before, surnames are derived from a physical characteristic of
the early ancestor, their profession, their place of origin or
perhaps something from their natural surroundings. Here are more
Tatra Highlander surnames and their Slovak meanings. Once again,
some of them are pretty colorful!
KROK = footstep
KURCAK - a 'kurca' is a chicken
LABUT = swan
LAPSANSKY - likely coming from the village
named 'Lapsanka'
LATKA = cloth or fabric
LAJAK = downpour
LIS = a press
LOJEK - 'loj' means tallow
LOPATA = shovel
LOS = elk
LUKA = a meadow
MAKOVSKY - 'makovy' are poppies
MALINA = a raspberry
MASTALSKY - a 'mastal' is a stable
MLAKA = a puddle or pool
MODLA = idol
MRAVCAK - a 'mravec" is an ant
MRAZ = frost
MUDRAK - 'mudry' means wise or clever
NALEPKA = a label or a tag
NEMEC = a German
OBROKTA - 'obrok' means fodder
OCHOTNICKY = amateurish
ODROBIN - an 'odrobinka' is a crumb
OLEJAN - 'olej' is the word for oil
ORAVEC - Orava is the region just west of the
Tatras
OSTROVSKY - an 'ostrov' is an island
PACH = a smell
PALICA = a stick or club
PARA = steam
PASTRNAK = a parsnip
PISARCIK - a 'pisar' is a scribe
PLEVA = a husk
POMPA = splendor
POTOK = a brook
RAK = a crayfish
RYS = a lynx, also a drawing or sometimes a
feature
TATRA MOUNTAINS BOOK - PART 11__________
Chapter 5 "Folk Dances":
"The bagpipe called a 'kozba', used to
be a popular instrument and the Tatra robbers were accompanied
on their expeditions by bagpipers as well as fiddlers who played
for them their favorite tunes. But nowadays it is scarce and
most bagpipe players are old men. The name 'kozba' or 'koza'
means 'she-goat'; it comes from the small wooden head of a mountain
goat with which Goral bagpipes are adorned at the top.
"Goral music differs considerably, in
spirit and form, from the Polish lowland melodies. Though all
Goral dances are also songs, the reverse is not true, and there
are quite a few tunes unconnected with dancing. Local melodies
are usually subdivided, apart from the already mentioned dances,
into marches (which are not danced), wedding tunes and the so-called
'Highland' ('wierchowa') and 'slow' (ozwodna') times which serve
to open the dance and give the party an opportunity to warm up
to the coming quick movements by the slower-timed 'Goral Dance',
forming the choregraphic equivalent of these 'times'. All these
tunes may be either traditional - 'old-worldly', as they are
called - or 'new', the genuine Robbers songs and dances and the
compostitions of the older local musicians, such as Sabala or
Obrochta*, being classed in the first category.
"The musical phrase and period show some
interesting features. Thus, in the 'slow' tunes we meet almost
exclusively with five-bar phrases, subdivided into two parts
of three and two bars respectfully. To this is added a five-bar
sequel, which gives a ten-bar period, a form extremely rare in
folk music. In the 'hewn' and 'small-step' dances the period
of two four-bar phrases is the prevailing pattern. In many melodies
the whole is extended to several five- or four-bar periods through
the addition of variants. The harmonization is hard; the style
of the melodies is stern and primitive, but natural and spontaneous
in expression. Among intervals we find in the upper parts the
very characteristic augmented fourths; and perfect fifths and
thirds in the middle register; while perfect octaves, fourths
and fifths are the rule in the bass. Syncopation, both symmetrical
and asymmetrical, is an outstanding rhythmical characteristic,
and the accentuation of certain beats gives special prominence
to the rythm of the Goral tunes. Appoggiaturas are frequent in
the upper parts, but there are no trills. The sound of Goral
music, based as it is on especial tonality, is not always pleasant
to an unaccostomed ear, used to the normal tonal system. But
its originality and spontaneity will appeal to anyone with wider
musical interests.
*Note: Obrochta used to play to the last Tatra
robber chief, Wojtek Mateja, who took a fancy to him, and on
several occasions he accompanied his band on its southern forays."
(Chapter 5 "Folk Dances" concludes
in our next issue.)
GOOD READING__________
This is the
"column" in which I share printed sources of information
about subjects of interest to those researching their roots in
and around the Tatras. This month I will tell you of one of the
standards researchers use when looking for Polish roots. This
is a book published by Genealogical Publishing Company of Baltimore,
MD in 1993 entitled "Polish Roots." The author is Rosemary
A. Chorzempa and in these 240 pages she instructs us through
her 25 years of experience as a genealogist in this region where
to find records and how to read them. The book is an excellent
resource with many examples and an extensive glossary of terms.
While there is no index, the table of contents at the front of
the book is extensive. This paperback book should be available
through any of the bigger used booksellers online for less than
$20.
CONTACTING TARG_____________________
To contact the TARG Editor, the new e-mail
address is: TatraAreaResearchGroup
gmail
. Our "snail"
mailing address is still TARG, P.O. Box 3533, Escondido, CA 92033.
use it for sending in orders or photos and anything else you
want to share with the group. (If for some reason you are unable
to contact us at the new address above, go ahead and use the
old address targ_nethotmail by clicking here.)
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