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II.
THE RACES AND
THEIR CUSTOMS
The people of Istria and Dalmatia
are a very mixed race, as might be expected from the history of the countries.
On these shores and islands were Greek colonies and Roman municipia,
which have left their trace in the names of places and families. Greek colonies
were at Issa (Lissa), Pharia (Lesina), Epetium (Stobrec), Tragurium (Traù),
Melita (Meleda), Corcyra (Curzola), Buta (Budua), and Ambrachia (Brazza), to
name some of those which have survived as towns to the present day. Roman family
names occur especially round Spalato, such as Lutia (Lucio), Cæpia (Cippico),
Valeria (Valeri), Junia (Giunio), Coceia (Coceich), Marcia (Marce), Cassia
(Cassio), Delia (Celio), and Statilia (Statileo). Byzantine names testify to the
rule of Byzantium, such as Paleologo, Lascaris, Andronico, Grisogono,
Catacumano.
In Istria there is a considerable
admixture of German blood; on the rocks of Zara the Crusaders abandoned sick
Frenchmen; whilst thither and to Spalato also came Ghibellines in exile. Franks,
Croats, Bosniaks, Hungarians, Genoese, Neapolitans, and above all, Venetians
have held sway over portions of the coast at different times. Families of
Hungarian and Bosnian gentlemen established the free commune of Poglizza; exiles
from Spain, Jews, for the most part driven out in 1492, established themselves
at Spalato and Ragusa; Lombards descended upon the coasts and islands; [7]
and Venetians commenced to establish themselves in Dalmatia in the eleventh
century, Istria coming even earlier more or less under their influence. In 1552,
in the Council of Zara, out of seventeen noble families more than two-thirds
were of Italian descent; and at Lesina the proportion was even greater. At Zara
the Italians still preponderate, but the Slav element is in the majority in the
greater part of Dalmatia, and even in the country parts of Istria. There are
also many French, Hungarians, Bosniaks, Herzegovinians, Germans, Swiss, and
gypsies, the Slav majority increasing towards the south.
In Istria the present inhabitants
may be divided into Italians,
Roumanians,
and Slavs: to the last division belong the Morlacchi, the
Tschitsches
[1], Slovens, and Croats. The Italians are the
most intelligent portion of the population, and are craftsmen, large occupiers
of land, merchants, and sailors. They are the descendants of those who were
subjects of Venice from the fourteenth century till the fall of the Republic.
The Slovens were in Istria as early as the eighth century, and Paulus Diaconus
mentions them as being near Cividale. Records exist of Croats raids in the tenth
century, whilst further south there were two great immigrations — the first, in
the seventh century, by the "Belocroats," called by Porphyrogenitus, Croats,
from the banks of the Elbe, descendants of whom may to-day be found in the
islands; and the second, in the fourteenth century, by the people of Rascia, who
now inhabit much of the interior and are known as " Morlacchi," a name derived
from the Slav "Mauro vlach," the black Wallachs.
According to Lucio, who refers to
William of Tyre, all Dalmatians used the Roman language until 1200. After the
Croats came down, the name of "Dalmatian," strictly speaking, belonged only to
the cities of Zara, Traù, Spalato, and Ragusa, to the western islands of
[8] Dalmatia, and to Lissa and Lagosta — Eastern Dalmatia was a Servian
province; Western, a Croatian. It is known that Slavs came in 1463 to
Salvore, in
1526 to the district of
Rovigno, in 1549 to the district of
Cittanova,
Montona,
Parenzo, and
Pola, in 1595 to Fontane, in 1624 and 1634 (the plague years) to Fillipano,
1647 to near Pola,
and 1650 to
Peroi, near Fasano.
Those now there came from the Bocche and Montenegro, settled in 1658-1659 by
Doge Giovanni Pesaro, after the great
plague. The
women still wear the ancient costume. The Slavs are most numerous between
Dragogna and
Trieste.
Procopius gives an interesting description of them worth quoting: " The two
nations of the Autars and the Slavs know no monarchical government; but from
ancient times live freely in common fashion. They take all questions of great
importance or difficulty to a common national council. The customs of the two
nations are alike in everything else. These barbarians believe, by an article of
faith transmitted from their ancestors, that, among many, there is one sole
master of all things, whom they look upon as the author of the thunder; and to
him they sacrifice bulls and other victims. They do not know what the goddess
Fortune may be, nor believe that she has any influence on human affairs. When
they feel themselves threatened by death, either by illness or wounds given in
battle, they are told to promise a sacrifice to God if they escape the danger.
Then, if they soon get about again, they fulfil the vow, firmly persuaded that
by it they have recovered their health. They offer worship to woods, to nymphs,
and other genii, immolating victims to them, and prophesying in the act. They
live in rough huts far away from each other, and often change the situation. The
greater part of them fight on foot, armed with shield and with darts, but
without corslet. Some of them do not wear [9] their ordinary
clothes in battle, but draperies which scarcely reach to the thigh, and so they
present themselves to the enemy. They all speak the same barbarous tongue, nor
differ much in appearance, but are all tall and powerful. The colour of the
flesh and the hair is neither vermilion nor brown, but reddish. They live a
somewhat fatiguing life, somewhat neglected and uncultivated,like the
Massagetae, and, like them,on sordid food. They are not cunning, nor evildoers,
but follow the customs of the
Huns
in sacking and rapine. They possess vast lands and occupy the greater part of
the further bank of the Danube." They have retained many characteristics of an
earlier age, though not of the period of Procopius.
The men are tall and muscular, with
strongly marked features. Their eyes are generally either grey or blue, the
forehead broad and prominent, the teeth white and strong, the hair sometimes
blonde, but ranging through all shades to black, and the countenance intelligent
and expressive. The boys herd the flocks barefoot and half naked, so that their
skin is always bronzed, and the men generally have bare breasts. Their sight and
hearing are remarkably keen, and in Dalmatia they can make themselves heard from
one hill to another, a feat which is partly owing to the quality of the air.
Their excellent health enables them to support all kinds of hardships; they
sleep out of doors (covering the head), except in winter, at which season they
stay a good deal by the fire, though they may be seen in the city with icicles
on their hairy chests. They have neither stoves, chimneys, nor glass in the
windows. A case of a monk has been recorded, who, at the age of 105, made
watches and read with the naked eye, ate and drank, walked and "wept" like a boy
of twenty. The costume is distinctive and, with slight variations, is worn
throughout Dalmatia. In [10] Istria there are considerable
differences both in colour and form. "The Morlacco in full dress has on his head
the kapa, a cap of scarlet cloth, with black embroidery on the border and
hanging fringe on one side; in some districts bordering on Bosnia a rich band of
silk or coloured wools is twisted round it. Over the skirt of rough linen (the
kosulja), open to show the breast, is the krozet, a waistcoat
crossed on the breast with flat buttons of silver, or tin, and embroidery; it is
bound to the sides with a girdle {pas) made of red strings. The trousers
(benevrechi) are of a coarse blue cloth fitting to the legs and
very tight at the calf, below which they are split up and fastened by sponje,
copper or silver hooks. The stockings (nazubei) are of wool of various
patterns. The shoes (opanci) have a sole of ox-leather and uppers of
strips of dried sheeps' skin (opute): a longer oputa passes
several times round the ankle and holds the shoe firm ; it turns up at the toe
and looks quite Oriental. Instead of the
krozet, or over it, some wear the jacerma, a sleeveless red cloth
jacket, covered in front with little discs of tin (siliki), or
large balls of silver (toke), or by rows of coins. And over the pas
they have the
pasnjaca, a band of red leather covering part of the abdomen, with various
divisions, in which they used to carry their rich arms, pistols, knives, &c, now
filled with the pipe, pipe-cleaner, britva, a very small scimitar with a
bone handle, and a small knife in a sheath. Finally, there is the koporan,
a jacket with sleeves of blue cloth, with embroidery on the elbows and back;
but few Morlacchi wear it.
"The women have a large handkerchief (jaćmak)
on their heads, embroidered on the borders; instead of the kosulja, or
above it, they have the oplece — that is, the coverer of the shoulders;
it is closed at the neck, embroidered on the breast, and on the ample sleeves
also. Round the neck is the gerdan, several strings of glass [11]
beads of different colours; it is bound at the stomach by the litar,
a long band of leather a couple of inches wide covered with little tin discs and
very heavy. From the litar hang the britva and a lot of keys, by
chains, which are sometimes costly. The gown (vustan) is of blue cloth,
but in summer of linen, reaching to the middle of the calf. The apron
(prejaca, or, in Venetian, travesa) is always a chef-d'
æuvre
of workmanship, which the Morlacca thinks a deal of. The footwear is composed of
three parts: bicve, of blue cloth reaching up to the knee, tightly laced
up with little hooks, and finishing at the ankle in a ring; over them the true
stockings (nazubei) of rough wool, with patterns in vivid colours and
opanci, or filare, like the men's. The girl does not have the
litar;
on her head is no jaćmak, but a red
cloth cap, sparkling with antique or modern coins of silver, and occasionally of
gold. In some places the girl has on her bosom the gendar, several rows
of coins which hang from the neck, sometimes below the stomach, tinkling at
every step; this is her dowry, and sometimes worth as much as £50. When she is
married she puts off the
gendar and sparkling kapa. The men used to have a pigtail, of
which they were very proud. The wife used to comb it twice a month, anoint it
with butter, and tie up the end with ribbons and amulets. It was the only time
when a Morlacco addressed his wife affectionately. In barracks and in prison the
hair is cut, so the pigtail is rarely seen now. To complete the toilet the
torba and
torbak must be mentioned: the first of red wool, with embroidery, worn by
both men and women on the back, laced round the shoulders; the second generally
of skin, worn only by the men, and hanging crosswise by a broad band of leather
on the left hip."
I have given this detailed description of the
costume (quoted from Signor Modrich's "Dalmazia"), thinking it would be of
interest; but descriptions of the costumes [12] as they appear to
the ordinary traveller will be found in the sections dealing with the various
places on the coast.
The Dalmatians are very fond of music and are
constantly singing. They have a proverb: "He who sings thinks not of evil."
Tomaseo thought their folksongs richer than those of any other nation, ranging
as they do over all manner of subjects. They are generally heroical or amorous
in character, divided into short verses and sung in two parts; the bass delivers
a kind of recitative, and the baritone joins in, the long final note with which
each finishes dying away in a full chord. It is extraordinary how serious the
men are over it, even when singing over their wine, in which they sometimes
exceed. At Traù one Sunday afternoon we saw a party of eight or ten sitting
round a table in a cafè as serious as if at a funeral, with wine before them,
and enjoying their melancholy music. On this occasion the alto part was flat,
and the effect was not as good as it is out of doors. Later we came across more
than one group of four, standing where two streets met, and singing without
looking at each other. In the narrow ancient streets the notes sounded quite in
character with the surroundings and with the quaint dresses of the singers.
Modrich says that they use the svirala, a kind of bagpipe with two canes,
one with four and the other with three holes, and suggests that the long-drawn
terminating notes of the songs are in imitation of its sound; but we neither saw
nor heard this instrument, all the singing being unaccompanied. The principal
occupations of the people are agriculture, cattle-raising, and fishing, or
sea-faring. They are exceedingly religious, devoted to church and priest, and
observe the great festivals with feasting and rejoicing, and with ceremonies
many of which are evidently survivals of heathen observances. The greatest
festival is Christmas.
[13] In preparation all clothes are washed and mended, house and
yard cleaned, and better and richer food than they usually have is provided. On
the Eve they work hard; before sunrise house and yard are decked with bay or
olive branches or some other evergreen, which they think protects from
lightning. On this day the sun, which the ancient Slavs worshipped, woke from
sleep, as one may say, and the days began to lengthen perceptibly.
The father of the sun was Perun [2],
the thunder-god. To this god the oak was dedicated. In the folk-songs he is
replaced by S. Elias, and to this day a great log of oak is placed on the fire
on Christmas Eve, and kindled for the preparation of the evening meal. It burns
all night and the whole of the following day, and in many places is kept
smouldering for eight days. The customs observed are as follows. The head of the
family bares his head and says: "Blessed be thou, O log; God preserve thee!" and
sprinkles wine upon it crosswise. Then corn is thrown over it, and he invokes
every blessing from heaven for the health of those belonging to the house,
present or absent, for the success of domestic undertakings, and for the
harvest, to which the others present reply "Amen," fire off guns in sign of joy,
and say: "Welcome to the evening of the log." Then they sit down to table in the
kitchen, even if other rooms are available, which suggests a survival of the
practice of eating by the ancient family altar, the hearth. In the centre of the
table are three candles twisted together in honour of the Trinity, lighted, and
stuck into a great loaf ornamented with ivy. This loaf is afterwards broken up
and given to the
sheep
and cows when
bringing forth, or when sick. A little of every kind of food is thrown on to the
burning log. If there are three logs (as in some places), the right-hand one
must be the biggest — the Father, the Son to the left [14] and the
Spirit in the middle, the aspersion being made in this order.
Boccaccio, in the "Genealogy of the Gods," refers to a similar custom in his
day in Florence, evidently the survival, or transmutation, of some heathen rite.
After supper the hymn "Es wurde geboren der Himmels König von der unbefleckten
Jungfrau Maria" is sung, and then the young people usually play Christmas games.
Little houses are made of flour or bran, with a piece of money in one, which
belongs to the person who selects that house. On Christmas Day thev visit
neighbours and relations, married daughters come with husband and children to
the midday meal, bringing two loaves — one of finer quality for the mother, one
of the usual kind as big as possible for the father. During the octave groups of
young people (and sometimes of men also) go singing carols from house to house,
and are rewarded with money and wine in return for wishing the donors a rich
wine, olive, and fruit crop. On New Year's Day the three tapers of Christmas Eve
are relighted. Before drinking at the meal the head of the house uses the
following formula: "I wish you a good New Year; may you enjoy it in health and
happiness, neither offend God, nor lose your soul, but have every tender joy and
celestial glory." Then he drinks in undiluted wine three times, and blesses
those present in the name of the Father, Son, and Spirit, and pours the
remainder of the wine on the candles to extinguish them. If by chance one
remains alight it is considered an augury of long life to the person in front of
whom it stands. The holy water of the Vigil of the Epiphany, called "water of
the Three Kings," and used by the priests to bless every dwelling, is preserved
to sprinkle the fields and the sick also, and is thought to be specific against
the temptations of the devil at the hour of death. It is said to remain
uncorrupted for as long as twenty-five years. Children go about on New Year's
[15] Day with a branch of rosemary stuck in an apple in which are
kreuzer or ten-kreuzer pieces, wishing good fortune and collecting gifts. In
Trieste and some of the Istrian towns, girls and boys go about throughout the
octave of Epiphany with little lanterns, kneel on the steps of the houses, sing
a song in honour of the three Holy Kings, and then, knocking, ask for money. The
song tells how Christ was born poor, lived poor, and died on the Cross, and then
goes on to wish friendly donors as many angels to take them to heaven as a sieve
has holes; for the hard-hearted as many devils to take them as nails stuck in
the door! In some neighbourhoods children are taken into the vineyards on
Innocents' Day, when they strike the vines with switches and sing: "Bear, bear
fruit, pretty vine, else will I cut thy head off."
Great preparations are made for Easter, when
young lambs and turkeys are slain, which the folk-songs tell us used to be
offered to the sun-god. Roasted lamb, cooked eggs, cheese, and bread and salt
are carried early to the church to be blessed by the priest. When the bearers
return, the table is blessed by the head of the family, and God thanked for the
well-completed Lenten fast, after which they sit cheerfully down to their meal,
burning all fragments left, since the food has been blessed, and taking care not
to let anything fall to the ground. In Lent, and during other fasts, they eat
neither flesh nor eggs, nor any kind of milk food. They have a saying that it is
less culpable to kill a person in vendetta than to eat rich food in Lent.
S. John the
Baptist's Day is one of their principal feasts. On the Eve the shepherds
light fires on all the hills. On the morning they swim for the first time in the
year, or wash from head to foot, and also wash all their animals. The girls and
boys make garlands of flowers and broom, set them on their heads, and dance
"with devotional joy." This [16] is no doubt part of the ancient
heathen festival of midsummer. Another festival which has nothing to do with the
Church is the "Fasching" or "Pust,"
on Monday during
Carnival. Groups of masked male dancers go through the villages with horns
on their heads, or with bells at their girdles weighing several pounds, in one
hand a strong stick, in the other a bag of ashes. They dance, jest, fight with
other bands, and throw ashes over the women and children who run away. One of
them generally carries a clothed figure like a man — the " Pust" — which next
day, or on Ash Wednesday, is burnt or buried. This is a relic of the heathen
custom of destroying Morana or
Mora,
the goddess of night, of darkness, winter, and death, who, the country-folk say,
sits on men at night and drinks their blood, and of Mrak (twilight), her helper,
who brings little children to her by twilight. The priest, who used to be an
oracle to his flock, was asked first to every festivity, and consulted in every
difficulty. " The priest says so "put an end to all questioning. With their
religious feeling, superstition goes hand in hand. They believe in
vampires,
nightmares,
witches,
and "Vilen." The
vampire
is an evil spirit which appears by night to frighten men, in the guise of a
lately dead man or woman "who had not lived piously." It is a human skin filled
with blood, covered with a shroud, and shows itself at crossways and on bridges,
in caves and graveyards, but also rattles window-shutters and throws down tiles
from the roof. It is not safe to call to it; if it reaches out to any one three
times that is taken as a sign that it is a good spirit from purgatory asking for
help. For protection a thorn-stick is carried, with which the
vampire
is thrust through. The "Alp" (the nightmare) is an evil old maid who sits on the
back or breast of sleepers, holds their hands and feet, and stops their mouth so
that they cannot cry for help";
[17] therefore they never sleep on the back, but on the right side,
and keep near the bed an open bottle-gourd, of which the "Alp" or "Mora"
is afraid. It generally wears a white dress and black bodice, with a white veil
over loose hair. Witches only appear in bad weather, and hold their assemblies
under walnut-trees or on certain hills. Excessive hail is supposed to be their
work. They can be killed by firing with three grains of corn and the Paschal
wax-candle at the lightning before the thunder sounds. If this can be done, the
witch dies. "Vilen" are maidens with horses' hoofs. They are found in caves and
collect in woods, at the sources of streams or springs. The name comes from the
Slav "bijela," the white; they are not regarded as evil spirits. In the
neighbourhood of Spalato they think that new-born children, if strong and
handsome, are likely to be taken away by "Vilen," and therefore watch the
infants most carefully till they are baptized. These maidens busy themselves
with rope-making, spinning, and gold and silver embroidery, and have the power
of changing stones and coal to gold and silver. In summer, when hail falls on
the vineyards, peasants may still be seen to turn to the black clouds and throw
up salt and shredded garlic. It is said that the devil can be seen if one stand
at the church door in such weather with a priest, treading with the right foot
upon the priest's right. He is like a great dragon spreading his claws and
reaching to the upper clouds from the earth; but the priests never allow the
trial, for fear the man should die of fright at the sight. This reminds one of
the Chinese and Japanese storm-dragon.
The peasants practise astrology to find lucky
times to commence undertakings. Falling stars are considered to be the opening
of heaven, and anything asked for at that moment will be granted. Thunders are
the rumbling which S. Elias makes with his car. Amulets [18]
considered lucky to spill wine on oneself. To meet a snake, a viper in the
house, or a centipede crawling over the walls is also lucky. On the other hand,
misfortune attends crackling wood, the birth of black lambs, the entering a
house left foot first, sitting at table seven or thirteen in number, giving
drink with the left hand, spilling oil or salt, and leaving two rods or knife
and spoon crosswise. A crowing hen means domestic misfortune — she must be
killed to avoid it; and the baying of a dog or hooting of an owl at night
imports the death of a neighbour. Their customs are patriarchal. The father has
full authority over his sons, and their wives are merely fresh daughters of the
house. Every boy is held to be worth more than the women, from the age of eight,
and girls and women who meet a man are expected to salute him. In some places,
in the middle of the last century, this salutation was accompanied with a kiss.
The oldest man in the house (stareshina) was the only one who could leave
anything by will. He said prayers morning and evening, blessed the table,
welcomed the guests, sat with them at table, and hurried the service of his
family. He arranged the work of each member of the household, carried on all
commercial transactions, and disposed of the results as he pleased. If he found
the duties too heavy for him he transferred the responsibility to some other
male member. The stopanjica (the mistress) was the directress of the
house, and the other women worked under her orders. These people are exceedingly
honest, and in some of the villages no locks are to be found either on door or
chest.
They have a ceremony by which two persons swear
friendship before the altar, and are then called half-brothers or half-sisters.
At one time the usage was also practised between persons of different sex. They
are [19] also tenacious in prosecuting a vendetta, and,
till about seventy years ago, there was but one way in which a blood feud could
be extinguished. It was called the Karvarina, or price of blood, and its
acceptance was preceded by several very curious ceremonies. The relations dipped
the murdered man's shirt in his blood, and kept it till he was avenged, or the
price of blood was arranged. The family of the murderer asked for a truce of
several weeks, and sent a solemn embassy of twelve young women with their
babies. Arrived at the house, the babies were put down, and the women wept,
asking for peace and pity in the name of S. John the Baptist, and the putting
away of anger for pity of the little ones. After a time the people of the house
picked up the children and promised to bring to the font twelve of their
children yet unborn to be attendants at the marriage of as many girls, and gave
the mothers a piece of silver, a veil, and a cloth in sign of peace. Then the
relations of the slain chose twenty-four judges, who were entreated by the other
side to serve, and could not refuse, nor might they receive payment. To the
preliminaries of the judgment on the appointed day the "dance of blood"
succeeded. The criminal, with joined hands, and with the fatal sword at his
neck, extricated himself from the slow, melancholy dance, and cried three times:
"Pardon!" The nearest relation ordered the principal judge to drive him
ignominiously away. The judge obeyed, and struck him to the earth with his foot,
but as soon as his forehead touched the ground he turned and cried again: "In
the Name of God, pardon me!" The dancing stopped, and the dancers burst into
tears. The embittered relative of the murdered man went to him, raised him,
embraced him, and kissed him on the forehead, and, turning to the rest, cried
out: "This man has been my enemy hitherto, but shall be my friend — my brother —
henceforward, to me and to you all also, and [20] to any who were
blood-relations of our dear friend who was killed," and then broke a silver coin
in two, giving him one half. Then the oldest of the judges read the sentence
imposing the price of blood, from 50 to 140 zecchins of gold. Part of the money
went to the Church, a third to the expenses of the judgment, and the rest to the
family, who generally applied it to some pious use. Marriage customs vary
slightly. About
Pola and
Parenzo the country
people make a great display, and go through ceremonies pointing to the capture
or purchase of the bride [example].
The cortege is headed by a standard-bearer, an unmarried relation, carrying a
linen flag of different colours, and on it a wheel-shaped loaf with a great
apple on the point of a long pole. The guests knock loudly at the door: after a
time a voice asks who they are and what they want. The oldest man answers: "A
rose out of the garden," or "A hind out of the thicket." After some debate,
first an old woman is brought out, then a younger, then the bridesmaids. They
take them all, but want another — "A barefoot girl is still there." At last the
bride appears. "That is the right one; we will take her away,'' all cry, and the
bride-leader asks for her stockings and fine shoes, which generally contain a
silver coin. These she herself puts on. The bridegroom gives shoes or some other
gift to the mother and all the home people. Then one of the guests fires at an
apple on a stick fixed to the roof, or on a tree-top, and it is considered a
disgrace to all if he misses. Now the bride comes down, garlanded and with one
or two apples in her hand, which she throws at the bridegroom, who tries to
cover her with the flag. Whether struck or not, he picks the apples up, to eat
with his bride after the ceremony. Then they go off to church. Other customs
accompany the journey home.
The Morlacchi are very hospitable; if any one
approaches one of their houses they ask him in, and [21] will not
let him go without his tasting bread and wine. They are exceedingly loyal and
devoted to their native land. They are very fond of proverbs, of which I quote a
few: "The empty sack does not stand upright"; "Penitence does not make the
madman well again"; "If you will not be a thief I will not watch"; "You can't
shut out the sun with the palm of your hand"; "Be married by your ears and not
your eyes"; "There is most milk in other people's cows"; "He who cries most
loudly works the least"; "Promises console the foolish"; "He who has been bitten
by a viper fears the lizard"; "The wolf changes his skin, but not his habits";
"As the mother spins, so the daughter weaves"; "Horses by their pace, maidens by
their stock."
They are a powerful and a proud race, as the
following story from
Fortis
shows, and will without doubt leave their mark on European history when their
culture equals their physical powers; but the present race-animosity between
Croat and Italian is deplorable. The Croats, being in the majority, are using
their power to oppress the Italian-speaking portion of the population. The
schools are now all Croat, and the Italians have no means of instruction for
their children in their own language except at Zara. At Spalato the race-feeling
is especially bitter; it is the only city in Dalmatia in which the anniversary
of the Italian defeat at Lissa is feted with display of flags and music by the
municipio. The Italian theatre was burnt down some years ago, and the Croat
majority on the council voted a large sum of money (stated to have been £60,000)
to build a new Croat theatre to replace it; and this they refused to let to
Italian companies. But there are no Croat companies ready to bear the expense of
coming to Spalato, so the theatre remains closed!
The story told by
Fortis
is as follows: "Venice was
[22] exchanging prisoners-of-war with the Turks, and gave several
Turkish soldiers for each Dalmatian. A deputy of the Porte observed that this
was scarcely fair, to whom a Morlacco of Sinj replied fiercely: 'Know that our
prince willingly gives many asses for a horse.' "
Editor's Notes:
- Jackson errs here. The
Morlacchi and Tschiches (Italian Cici) are not part of the Slav group but
are the
Roumanians.
- See:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perun
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