Categories: Liga Seikste-Deksne

Weddings still happen, thank God, people still get married. In our area, as it has been adopted, people register their marriage at the registry office or in church, then the ushers lead them through different trials; of course, there is the wedding feast, the celebration, dances, depending on how much means one can afford to spend. I’d even say – not exactly in Litene, since Litene is, to some extent, a border place. That is more characteristic of Alūksne area – i.e. the regions of Alūksne, Ape, as well as Gulbene, Lejasiems. Well, the geography is like that. In this respect, I believe that it is no wedding if mummers (known as Gypsies) have not come. They actually are the same [Christmas] mummers; they arrive before tuckering (mičošana) – that is right before the midnight. Their goal it to do all the tricks and turns, wish happiness and receive some presents for their doings.

However, one of the most traditional scenarios in this area is what mummers wear and how they behave. Unfortunately, with the time, it has got established that women are more eager to participate in various doings, and thus the mummers’ company hardly ever contains a man. Therefore, those some men, who do belong to the mummers, play the roles of a musician or a driver, but the real mummers are women – they arrive wearing wedding-dresses as the young man’s abandoned brides. Each of them tells her own story about what their relations have been. And the mummers’ company, while the young couple is being congratulated, give presents and dance, they try to kidnap the bridegroom, the usher or even the musicians. Then they organize the ransom and everything is put in order.

Researcher: Dr. philol. Valentīns Lukaševičs, Daugavpils Universitāte