ur
and line of costume, manner of living, point of view, folk song and
dance. It is all still vividly clear to our mind's eye. We saw the first
Magyar costumes in a village not far from Buda Pest. To make the few
miles quickly, we had taken an electric trolley, vastly superior to
anything in New York at the time of which we speak; and were let off in
the centre of a group of small, low thatched cottages, white-washed,
and having a broad band of one, two or three colours, extending from
the ground to about three feet above it, and completely encircling the
house. The favourite combination seemed to be blue and red, in parallel
stripes. Near one of these houses we saw a very old woman with a long
lashed whip in her hand, guarding two or three dark, curly, long-legged
Hungarian pigs. She wore high boots, many short skirts, a shawl and a
head-kerchief. Presently two other figures caught our eye: a man in a
long cape to the tops of his boots, made of sheepskin, the wool inside,
the outside decorated with bright-coloured wools, outlining crude
designs. The black fur collar was the skin of a small black lamb, legs
and tail showing, as when stripped off the little animal. The man wore a
cone-shaped hat of black lamb and his hair reached to his shoulders. He
smoked a very long-stemmed pipe with a china bowl, as he strolled along.
Behind him a woman walked, bowed by the weight of an immense sack. She
wore boots to the knees, many full short skirts, and a yellow and red
silk head-kerchief. By her head-covering we knew her to be a married
woman. They were a farmer and his wife! Among the Magyars the man is
very decidedly the peacock; the woman is the pack-horse. On market days
he lounges in the sunshine, wrapped in his long sheepskin cape, and
smokes, while she plies the trade. In the farmers' homes of southern
Hungary where we passed some time, we, as Americans, sat at table with
the men of the house, while wife and daughter served. There was one
large dish of food in the centre, into which every one dipped! The women
of the peasant class never sit at table with their men; they serve them
and eat afterwards, and they always address them in the second person
as, "Will your graciousness have a cup of coffee?" Also they always walk
behind the men. At country dances we have seen young girls in bright,
very full skirts, with many ribbons braided into the hair, cluster shyly
at a short distance from the dancing platform in the fair ground