Perhaps there is no people among whom versification is so common,
and among whom really high-class poetry is so rare, as among the
Basques. The faculty of rhyming and of improvisation in verse is
constantly to be met with. Not unusually a traveller in one of the
country diligences, especially on a market-day, will be annoyed by
the persistent crooning of one of the company, like Horace of old,
more or less under the inspiration of Bacchus; and if he enquire what
the man is about, he will be told that he is reciting a narrative
in verse of all the events of the past day, mingled probably with
more or less sarcastic reflections on the present company, and with
especial emphasis on the stranger. At the yearly village fêtes,
when the great match of Jeu de Paume au Rebot has been lost or won,
prizes are sometimes given for improvisation on themes suggested
at the moment, and the rapidity of the leading improvisatori [184]
is something marvellous. Moreover, there are two species of native
Drama. One, the Pastorale, the more regular and important, is now
confined to the Vallée of La Saison and the Souletin district. The
other, the Charivari, or Mascarade, more unfettered and impromptu,
giving free rein to the invention of the actors, is occasionally,
but rarely, acted in all districts of the Pays Basque.
The Pastorale, or Tragedy, is certainly a representative and survival
of the Mediæval Mystery, or Miracle Play; and in the remoter districts
is acted almost as seriously as is the Ammergau Passion Play. It is
an open-air performance, which unites in interminable length, and in
the same piece, tragedy and comedy, music, dancing, and opera. Though
undoubtedly the oldest form in which Basque poetry of any kind is
preserved, it can have no claim to be an indigenous product. The
subjects of the older Pastorales are drawn from three sources--from the
Bible; from the lives of the Saints, or Hagiology; from the Chansons
de Geste and Romances of Chivalry. None of the extant Pastorales,
even in their earliest form, would, we think, be anterior to the
thirteenth century. The anachronisms, the prejudices, the colouring,
the state of education evinced, are all those of the date when the
Chansons de Geste and the Legenda Aurea were the favourite literature
of high and low; the epoch at the close of which flourished the
brilliant petty courts of Gaston de Foix at Orthez, and of the Black
Prince at Bordeaux. The anachronisms make Charlemagne a contemporary
of the Crusaders; Mahomet is an idol, and in the shape of a wooden
puppet sits on a cross-bar over one of the stage-entrances, where
he is worshipped by all his followers as they pass in and out. The
make-up of the characters and the dresses are conventional. But though
we cannot assign any higher antiquity even to the original form of
any of the extant Pastorales--we say original form, because they
have been edited and re-edited generation after generation by almost
every prompter at each successive representation--yet several of the
accessories and part of the stage-business point to possibly older
traditions. The stage, at least in the more inaccessible villages,
where alone the Pastorales are now to be seen in anything like their
genuine form, may still be described as "modicis pulpita tignis."
It is generally constructed against a house in the "Place" of the
village, and is composed of boards resting on inverted barrels; one
or more sheets, suspended from cross-bars, hide the house walls, and
form the background; to this drapery bunches of flowers and flags are
affixed, and thus is formed the whole "scenery"; the rest is open
air and sky. Usually behind the sheet, though sometimes in front on
a chair, sits the prompter, or stage-director; at the corners and
sides of the stage are the stage-keepers, armed with muskets, which
are fired off at certain effective moments, and always at the end of
a fight. But there are four points in which a Pastorale recalls more
ancient traditions: (1) The sexes are never mingled; the Pastorale
being played either entirely by men, or entirely by women. [185]
(2) The speech is always a kind of recitative or chant, varying in
time according to the step of the actors. (3) There is a true chorus.
(4) The feet and metre of the verse correspond to the step and march
of the actors, and to the dancing of the chorus.
Now, as to (1), the effect is not unpleasing; the boy-lady or the
boy-angel is often one of the most successful actors, and makes an
excellent substitute for the real lady. There is no coarseness in
his acting; on the contrary, there is a certain reserve of movement
caused by the unwonted dress, which looks like a pleasing modesty,
and makes the boy appear really lady-like. His get-up is generally
unexceptionable.
We have once only had an opportunity of seeing a girl's Pastorale,
"Ste. Helène," at Garindein, in April of the present year,
1879. Unfortunately it was interrupted, almost as soon as commenced,
by violent rain. The costumes were very modest and pretty. The heroines
of the piece wore blue or scarlet-jackets, with long white skirts;
the lady-heroes had shorter skirts and white unmentionables. The
Pastorale of "Ste. Helène" has nothing to do with the mother of
Constantine the Great, or with the Invention of the Cross. It is an
olla podrida of old legends. The opening scene is taken from "The King
who wished to marry his own daughter" (see above, p. 165.) A King
Antoina wishes to marry his daughter Helène, and for that purpose
procures a dispensation from the Pope, who appears on the scene,
attended by an angel. Helène, however, still refuses, and escapes; she
embarks for England, but the captain of the vessel falls outrageously
in love with her (cf. "Juan Dekos," p. 148). A shipwreck saves her
from his persecutions; she lands alone in England, is seen by Henry,
King of England, who falls in love with her and forthwith marries
her, in spite of his mother's objections. He is forced to go to the
wars; Helène gives birth to twin boys, but the queen-mother changes
the letter, and sends word to the King that she is confined of two
puppies (cf. "The singing tree, the bird which tells the truth, and
the water that makes young," p. 177). Ste. Helène is condemned to
death; Clarice, her maid, offers to die in her stead, but both escape;
the boys, who were supposed to have been murdered, at last reappear,
and all ends happily as in the legends. The part of the "Satans" was
taken by three middle-aged men, in buff breeches and white stockings,
who danced very well. The preliminary procession on horseback, and
the opening scene on the stage, were exceedingly pretty.
(2) The recitative is always accompanied by music; generally a violin
or two, a flute, the chirola, and the so-called Basque tambourine,
a species of six-stringed guitar, beaten by a short stick, or
plectrum. The tune is almost a monotone, but differs in time, being
faster or slower according to the action of the piece; with the
exception of those parts in which the chorus alone has possession
of the stage, when the Saut Basque or other lively dancing airs are
played. The strong, clear chant of the actor accompanying this music,
which is never overpowering in its loudness, is heard much better and
to a greater distance in the open air than any mere speaking would
be; and, moreover, it prevents rant, without altogether effacing
vivacity. For (3) there is a singular idea running through all
these Basque Pastorales, according to which sanctity and nobility
of character are associated with calmness of demeanour and tone, and
villany and devilry of all kinds with restlessness and excitement. The
angels and saints, the archbishops and bishops, move with folded
hands and softly gliding steps; the heroes walk majestically slow;
the common soldiers are somewhat more animated and careless in their
gestures; the Saracens, the enemies, the villains, rush wildly about;
but the chorus, or "Satans," are ever in restless, aimless, agitated
movement, except when engaged in actual dancing. It is on these last,
the chorus--of whom there should be three, or two at least--that
the great fatigue and burden of the acting weighs. None but the most
active and well-knit lads can play the part, and even them it tries
severely. This chorus is invariably called "Satans;" their dress is
always rigidly the same, and a pretty one it is--red beret or cap, red
open jacket, white trousers with red stripes, red sashes, spartingues
(hempen sandals) bound with red ribands; and they carry a little
wand ornamented with red ribands and terminating in a three-forked
hooked prong. [186] Blue is the colour consecrated to the good and
virtuous; red to the enemy and the vicious, to the English, Saracens,
and "Satans." The task of the "Satans" is not only to take part among
the actors, but the difficulty of their utterance is much heightened
by the compelled rapidity of their movements, while at intervals, when
the stage is empty of other actors, they occupy the front corners
of it, and dance the wild Saut Basque, singing at the same time some
reflections on, or anticipations of, the action of the piece played,
much like the chorus of a Greek tragedy; but, in addition to this,
there is generally a comic interlude, more or less impromptu, and
very slightly, if at all, connected with the main piece, wherein the
"Satans" take the principal rôle, together with the best comedian of
the other actors. This is done to relieve the tedium of the heavy
tragedy, and, oddly enough, is often spoken partly in Gascon or in
French, while only Basque is used in the Pastorale proper. (4) As will
be judged from the above remarks, there is, perhaps, no spectacle in
Europe from which the original relations of feet, line, pause, metre,
verse, strophe, antistrophe, and rhythm in music, dance, and poetry
can be better studied than at a Basque Pastorale. It will be seen
there at a glance how far these terms are from being mere metaphors.
Now, when we add that many of the actors in these Pastorales
cannot--scarcely any could before the present generation--read or
write; that the Pastorales extend from three to seven thousand lines,
distributed in ballad verses of four lines each, the second and fourth
rhyming; and that the representations last from six to eight hours,
our readers may imagine the amount of serious preparation required
where every sentence has to be learned by heart from repetition of
a reader or reciter. Consequently, to get up a Pastorale, a whole
winter is not too long. The task is generally performed at home in
the actor's family, or in a house where two or three meet together
for the study, if neighbours. We have seen some pleasing instances of
the pride the whole family take in the success of the actor. Asking
once a pretty boy where he could have learnt to play his part of
lady in so very ladylike a manner, he answered, "From my father
and my mother in the winter." At another time we had as companion
in a long day's walk a man upwards of sixty, who had been a "Satan"
in his youth. He explained how very trying it is both to dance well
and to sing at the same time so as to be clearly heard. His father
had been a "Satan" before him, and had trained him for the occasion,
and had made him eat two raw eggs before commencing. He spoke of the
joy of the whole family when his performance was successful, though he
lost his voice for several days afterwards. To show what his former
agility must have been, he cleared every fence and obstacle in our
path gallantly, despite his sixty years. These Pastorales are seldom,
if ever, acted as a money speculation, but during the acting of them
one or two young men, accompanied by a pretty girl, make the round
of the spectators, offering a glass of wine, in quasi-payment for
which you are expected to place a coin in the plate which the maiden
carries. The amount collected is seldom much beyond what is required
for the necessary expenses; more often it is below, but if anything
remains it is spent on a grand feast to all the actors. The number
of Pastorales in existence is variously stated at from seventy to
two hundred. The former number we believe to be the nearer to the
fact. The names of those best known are as follows:--
From the Bible and Hagiology.
Abraham, avec Sara and Agar S. Claudieus et Ste. Marsimissa
Josué de Moïse Ste. Engrace
Nabuchodonosor Ste. Helène, or Elaine
S. Pierre Ste. Geneviève
S. Jacques Les Trois Martyrs
S. Jean Baptiste Ste. Agnes
S. Louis Ste. Catherine
S. Alexis Ste. Marguerite
S. Roch La Destruction de Jerusalem
Classical.