Practiced throughout Romania and the Republic of Moldova, the Christmas carolling ritual is assimilated with a Christian message, announcing the winter holidays. The custom of carolling is not only a spectacular performance and a prestigious ritual but, above all, it is a form of preserving social identity, cohesion, harmony, solidarity between communities, including between multi-ethnic communities.
Apuseni Mountains young men’s carolling (“corindatul junilor”)
Young men’s carolling (“Corindatul Junilor”) is a special custom for the Christmas Eve in the villages of the Apuseni Mountains, such as Negreni, Mărișel, Măguri-Răcătău, Poieni, Bucea, etc. Thanks to it, Christmas evening was the most beautiful celebration of the whole year.
Young bachelors, the “juni” carol the whole village on foot or in horse-drawn sleighs, announcing the news of Christ’s birth by singing. The village is large and carollers are divided into two or more groups to go in one night through the all the many houses in the settlement, including those in the neighbouring hamlets.
Each group has a leader, called “staroste” or “cizeș“. According to custom, before marriage, every young man must lead the “juni group” at least once. A more mature man, i.e. a little past the age of marriage, had the role of “horse”, being the one who carried the products collected during the carolling: cakes, brandy, sausages.
The carolling starts from the churchyard, going, first, to the priest’s house, singing carols with different themes, from pastoral, hunting and agrarian ones, to those with biblical themes. The carolling is done unconditionally at all the houses, the group entering all the courtyards with the gates left open. After singing a carol or “corinda” in the yard or on the steps, the young people go inside, where they sing carols specific to the place, the host’s carol, “corinda gazdei” or the young girl carol, “corinda fetei“. Then, they will be served with muffins, wine and palinka from the specially prepared table with goodies. The musicians will play a short song for the young ladies and the host of the house to be danced. The departure of the group takes place with the door carol, “corinda uşii“, the carollers leaving for other households.
The young men’s attires were prepared from time immemorial by the women of each family. The Romanian winter costumed was composed of woolen pants and jacket, hemp shirt, boots with large leather uppers, which replace the ancient leather footwear called opinci. On the head they wear astrakhan fur caps, decorated with fir branches specific to the area.
Gathered at the church, on the first day of Christmas, after the mess, the “juni” carol the “verş”, a carol specific to the moment. Then the groups go out in front of the church, where, accompanied by musicians, all the girls of the village are invited to dance. Here, the juni are given an unofficial ranking based on how they carolled and how they danced the girls.
On the second and third days of Christmas, a dance will be organized, previously in the household of a villager, now at the culture home. All the villagers and their guests take part, and great honour is granted to those who returned to the village from the city, or even from abroad, natives who come especially on holidays to enjoy, together with their fellow villagers, the beauty of tradition.
In the village of Mărișel, the dance at the holidays is still called manor or “conac”. The name, very old in fact, comes from the fact that the Christmas dance was organised at the house of wealthier householders, in the village, because, in the past, there was no culture home. The space that was needed was not found anywhere, but only at the house of a villager who had a large house, something similar to a manor house. Nowadays, however, they most often gather at the culture home.
