1. |
|
|||
|
Beautiful Yana was harvesting alone
On two roads, on three highways
A camel herder was coming up the road,
Leading a caravan, playing a flute.
The camel herder said to Yana:
Why are you harvesting on your own, Yana,
Harvesting and tying up the sheaves?
Don’t you have dear brothers?
Beautiful Yana answered:
Yana has dear brothers,
Yana doesn't have a first beloved”.
|
||||
2. |
|
|||
|
Nikola shouted out from the top of the Balkan Mountain
From the Iglikina glade:
“Hey, Gana, bring out the cattle, both ours and yours,
I will take them to the market to sell,
So that I could buy your heart…”
Yana replied to Nikola: “My beloved Nikola,
I would not sell my heart for gold but will swap my heart for yours”.
|
||||
3. |
|
|||
|
Dimo was sitting outside the shop,
Outside on the window sills
A young madcap passed by,
A young madcap, unmarried.
He spoke to Dimo:
“Hey Dimo, deli Dimo,
how come you possess such beauty and poise?”
And Deli Dimo replied:
“Hey you, young madcap,
you are wondering at me –
if you could only see my sister
Angelina-Katherina
She shines like the sun in the day
Like the morning star – in the night!”
|
||||
4. |
|
|||
|
Pigeons are cooing in the village,
In the village, over Milkana’s house
Milkana is sweeping the yard
Looking up to the sky:
“Pigeons’ you grey pigeons,
Have you seen my mother and my dear father?
Tell my mother – I will be visiting soon
Let them not miss me
Let them not lament my absence”
|
||||
5. |
|
|||
|
Am oriole is singing in the garden
Under the white and red rose bush
Under the white blossomed apple tree
It wasn’t an oriole,
it was late Velika
Speaking to her brother-in-law
My dearest brother-in-law,
Has your brother remarried?
Has he brought you a new sister- in-law?
Does she walk the way I walked?
Does she sing the songs I sang?
Does she look after the children well?
|
||||
6. |
|
|||
7. |
|
|||
8. |
|
|||
|
A mosquito is leading a fly
Tied by the front two teeth,
with tied up wings
The stubborn fly won’t walk
So the mosquito grew angry
Pulled his yataghan* out
And sliced the fly in two
Then he shouted out:
“Hey, village people,
gather together
bring your cauldrons
let’s split the fly!
The old women will get the body,
The men – the legs, the women- the hands,
and the children – the intestines to play with!”
|
||||
9. |
|
|||
|
А Тurk was leading female slaves – fair Bulgarians
Todorka was leading the way, Todorka the fair Thracian
Carrying her small child in her arms.
The Turk walked behind her, saying, “Hey, throw your child away!”
So they walked and walked, and reached a green forest.
Todorka chose a tree, untied her silk belt and made a cradle on the tree,
Put the child in the cradle, rocked it and wept:
“Hush a bye, baby Damian, hush a bye,
the wind will blow to rock your cradle,
the rain will wash you clean,
a passing doe will feed you milk,
grow up, my son, grow strong”.
|
||||
10. |
|
|||
|
Krali Marko fought with the Turkish janissaries for three months, and he freed nine areas with seventy white monasteries and eighty churches. He then went home and decided to go to Sofia on a pilgrimage to pray for freedom from the Ottomans. He asked his wife to pack his bags with church books and pilgrim’s clothing but not to put his Damask sabre. His wife Katherina followed his wishes but then thought that it is a very long way to Sofia and he may encounter bad people on the way, so she hid his sabre in the bags. Krali Marko set off at dawn and rode through forests and fields. When he reached the Sofia plain he heard the voices of enslaved people, captured by a man called Emza Beg. Marko rode to them and saw Emza Beg with two of his accomplices – they had enslaved three towns, killing the old and throwing away the children, enslaving all the young people. They led three chains of slaves – the first one young brides, the second one young men, and the third young maidens. All were crying, walking barefoot, thirsty and starving.
Marko knew he was without a sabre but went to Emza Beg and asked him to release the slaves. Emza Beg swore at him and called him fat pig. Marko went into a forest thinking of ways to free the slaves. Then his horse spoke with a human voice: “Your beloved wife is wise, she put your sabre in the bags”. Marko’s heart was happy, he took the sabre out, rushed towards the Turks and slaughtered them outright. Then he released all slaves and gave them two of the three big chests full of gold that the Turks were carrying – to buy themselves food and clothing on the way to their homeland.
He went on to Sofia and reached the church but the service had just ended so he was mocked by the town elders that he had been drinking too much wine making him late for church. Marko said nothing and went inside in search of Abbot Slaveh to make his confession. Among his other sins he told him about the episode with the slaves, and left the third chest of gold to the church. Abbot Slaveh praised him for his deed and said that any sins would be forgiven and absolved because of the good Marko has done.
When they heard, the town elders bowed to Marko, kissed his hand and praised him greatly for his past deeds, for freeing the slaves and then coming to church even after the liturgy has ended.
|
||||
11. |
Golden Mara (Strandzha)*
03:36
|
|
||
|
Hey you, Mara, golden Mara,
Get up and open the gates for us,
For we have come to betroth you!”
So Mara opened the buxus gates
And the betrothal party went in
But they weren’t good guests –
They caught golden Mara
And shackled her hands in chains.
__________
*This song reflects the times when Ottomans would enslave beautiful young men and women to be sold at the slave markets in Asia Minor.
|
||||
12. |
|
|||
|
The Turkish pasha shouted out from the top of the mountain:
“Who will undertake to catch Bogdan*, the fierce hayduk, chief of the hayduks?”
So Bigdan’s kumitsa** decided to do it, and off to the forest she went and cried out:
“Where are you, my dear kum***, to come and baptize my child?”
__________
*Bogdan – the name means “God’s gift” in Bulgarian.
**kumitsa – the bride/goddaughter at whose wedding the kum stood as sponsor
***kum – a wedding godfather/spomsor
“Kumstvo” is a spiritual kinship where the bond created in the eyes of God is as strong as a blood bond. The family of the kum and kuma was supposed to provide spiritual and practical guidance to the newlyweds – they became the spiritual parents of the young couple.
|
||||
Best Foot Music UK
Established in 2009. We collaborate with musicians & communities from refugee and migrant
backgrounds.
Best Foot Music is an intercultural music and art organisation.
Encouraging social inclusion & cultural diversity by supporting, promoting & documenting musicians who have moved to the UK
Many releases are not for sale, & do not appear in the Bandcamp App - please use your browser. Thanks.
... more
Best Foot Music recommends:
A Day in the Jungle: Live from Calais
by Calais Artists
Its a good cause
go to album
Day & Night Ep
by Jamal & Alaa (Sussex Syrian Community Musicians)
Cool music in aid of Syrian refugees
go to albumIf you like Eugenia Georgieva: Bulgarian Song Storytelling, you may also like:
featured on Bandcamp Radio Jul 25, 2023
go to album
Owusu's self-described “lo-fi highlife” sound is heavily influenced by the likes of Ebo Taylor and Khruangbin.
go to album
Sally's Song
by Anant Pradhan & Larry McDonald
featured on Bandcamp Radio Nov 22, 2022
go to album
featured on Bandcamp Radio Feb 22, 2022
go to album
