Basque ethnography at a glance
Iride Agirre. Labayru Fundazioa Photographic Archive.
As far as the Basque territory is concerned, it should be firstly noted that the so-called couvade —from French couver ‘incubate, hatch, rear’— refers to certain allegedly customary, curious, old and controversial practices.
The term covada appears in the Dictionary of the Spanish language to designate ritual behaviour undertaken after parturition, still occurring in parts of Asia and America and formerly observed in some places of northern Spain: namely, the biological father takes to his bed, relatives and friends providing him with essential needs, whereas the mother returns to her usual routine. The Encyclopedia Britannica, in a recent edition, described it as a once common custom in regions of the Amazon basin and the Basque areas of France. (more…)
Building the clamp. Llanofresno-El Suceso (Carranza, Bizkaia), 2004. Marcial Canales.
Formerly, in the mountains surrounding the Valley of Carranza (Bizkaia), charcoal burning would be among the main uses of wood.
The burning season would usually start in March and last until November. The wood (chestnut, oak, beech or oak) to be charred would have been harvested in the winter and properly seasoned for several months. Two-men saws, axes, mallets and wedges were used for felling and preparing the timber. (more…)
Detail of the cemetery of Garruze (Nafarroa Beherea). Emilio Xabier Dueñas.
Despite it not being a priority area in my investigations, I am nonetheless passionate about all matters concerning the broad research field within which the subject of death and dying falls. We refer, in this particular case, to the worship of the dead through different forms of expression: this life is followed by a supposed afterlife.
As a native of Bizkaia, few cemeteries have I seen attached to churches or hermitages in my territory. I therefore remember with emotion the first time I visited a burial ground in Lapurdi (with similar features to those of Nafarroa Beherea and Zuberoa), for I was surprised by the cleanliness and care of the surroundings, the ornamentation, the souvenirs or the stelae.
José Arrue. Digitized postcard. Labayru Fundazioa Photographic Archive.
The Memorial literario, instructivo y curioso de la Corte de Madrid [Instructive and curious literary memorial of the Court of Madrid] was a magazine (fortnightly at first and monthly later) published from January 1784 to December 1790, when the government suppressed it, same as almost all other main Spanish press publications, in order to prevent the flourishing French Revolution from spreading to the south of the Pyrenees.
The chronicle “Una fiesta de toros [A Bullfight]” which appeared in the October 1785 issue, and which reported on bullfights taking place “on the 3rd, 7th, 17th and 24th of the month in the Ring located outside the Door of Alcalá” (Madrid’s main bullring since 1749 until its demolition in 1874) includes this passage, concerning the 24 October fight:
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