Autumn
morning,
I'm sitting in
the kitchen and
sipping
coffee.
Suddenly
I hear
gentle
buzzing,
with
time
the
sound becomes
clearer.
I
look out the
window
and see
a
flock
of
sheep
moving
along the
road
towards
the
nearby meadows.
Small
bells
tinkle
hung on the neck
of some
sheeps.
Ah,
the owner is leading
his
herd
to
the pasture.
Grazing season, which traditionally runs from April 23 (St. Wojciech
day) to September 29 (St. Michael the Archangel day) is already
completed - the sheep descended from the Tatra mountain pastures.
Now
they are driven only on the foothill meadows.
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Pastoral
customs,
traditions,
techniques and equipment
came
to
the
Polish mountains
from
the south.
They were strongly
influenced
by
Vlachs
-
nomadic
people
coming
from
the
Balkan
area,
who
in the
early
Middle
Ages
began
centuries
long
pilgrimage
to the north.
Nomads
assimilated
with
the inhabitants of
the
Carpathian range
and
taught
them
new
skills.
Pastoral
way of
life
came
upon a breeding ground
-
difficult
natural
conditions
(harsh
climate and
poor
soil)
favoured
more animal
husbandry
than
cereal
farming.
Shepherding
started to develop in the Tatra
and
other
Polish
mountains.
What
did the
traditional
pastoral
season look like?
Each
owner
wanted to
send
his
sheep
to the
mountain
pasture
for
summer.
It
would entail
leaving
the
household
for
several
months,
what
was
impossible. Therefore
the function
of
baca
(the
main shepherd)
was
established
–
a man
to whom
farmers
entrusted
their
flocks
for
summer time grazing.
Baca
was
choosing some
helpers
– younger shepherds
and
set
off to the
mountain
pastures
owned
by the
village. Walking
to the
pastures
called
redyk
could
last
even several
days,
depending
on how
far from the mountains
the village
was
located.
On a
pasturage
shepherds
lived
in a
wooden
hut
called
bacówka.
Apart
from
grazing
they
were protecting
sheep from
predators
or
getting lost
and manufacturing
products
from
sheep's
milk.
The
best known are
three
types of
cheese
-
oscypek,
bundz
and
bryndza.
Grazing
was
terminated
with autumn
redyk
-
sheep
descent
from
the mountains.
It was
a very
solemn
event,
accompanied
by
singing
and
music.
Then
the
main shepherd
settled
up with sheep owners
and
returned
them
their
flocks.
Children
welcoming
redyk
were
receiving
little
pieces of
cheese
in
the
shapes of animals.
Many
traditions
and superstitions
associated
with the pastoral season
come
from a
borderline
between
religion
and
pagan
beliefs.
They
are
subject
of a
number
of
ethnographic research nowadays.
What
about
shepherding
in
the Polish mountains today?
History
of
individual
pastoral
areas
and
its influence on
contemporary
sheep
grazing
caused
diversification of
shepherding
in
different regions of Poland.
Idyllic
view
with
sheep in the
mountain
pastures
is not
as
common
as it
was in the past. Nevertheless
we can
still
meet
shepherds
or
even
visit
their
huts while
hiking
on the
mountain trails
in
Gorce,
Beskids
or
Pieniny.
In
some areas
(eg
in the
Bieszczady Mountains)
the aim
is to
renew
the
tradition of
pastoralism.
In
the Tatra Mountains,
where shepherding
had
been
completely
liquidated
due to
the
nature
conservation
in the
70's,
it was
decided to
restore
grazing.
Decisive
influence
had
cultural
issues
-
perennial
relationship
between the
highlanders
and
the
Tatras
and
richness of
traditions
and customs as its effect.
In
1981,
shepherding
returned
in a
form of
so-called
Cultural
grazing
of
sheep
and
cattle
in
the Tatra Mountains.
What
does
it mean?
Under
agreements with
the
Tatra National Park
highlanders
can
graze
sheep
on
some
of the clearings.
They
must,
however, obey
several
rules
including
speaking
in a
dialect,
wearing the
original highlander outfit,
whether
be
assisted by
traditional
herding
dogs –
the Polish
Tatra
sheepdogs.
The
are many more requirements,
but
thanks to
them
we can
learn
more about
old
customs
and
try
products
prepared
according
to original
recipes.
Extremely
interesting
event
is the
Carpathian
Sheep Transhumance
organized
for
the first time
in
2013.
It is
an international
project
aimed at
meeting
people
involved in
shepherding
across
the whole
Carpathian
range
linked
together
with
an exchange of
experiences.
This
is the traditional
wander
of shepherds
and flocks through
the mountain area
of the
Carpathian
countries
-
Romania,
Ukraine,
Poland,
Slovakia and
Czech Republic.
The
trail
is
about
1,200
kilometers
long (10-15
kilometers
a day)
and
takes
place between May
and
September.
The
wander is
accompanied
by various
events.
Dusk,
the day is
slowly coming to
the end.
I
hear
the
tinkling sound again
...
The
sheep
are
coming back to the pen for the night.
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