Kršonski pir - Kršan wedding
A ‘Kršan wedding’, is the folklore name for the local tradition of marrying which is characteristic of Kršan and the surrounding area. It follows in nine scenes the traditional courtship; engagement and wedding of groom Morko and bride Tonina and finishes with the christening of their child.
In order to win the heart of his chosen one, the young man in the company of his friends sings, in both a high and low pitch, the folk song Priša san ti pod barkon kantati (I came to sing to you beneath the balcony) to Tonina beneath her window in order to show his love for her. During the second scene, which is also the most important, entitled ‘First Dance’ the enamoured young man Morko, despite the fact that the ‘chief of the dance’ had not selected him to dance the balon with his love and therefore he was unable to talk to her, according to folk tradition he has the right after the second dance to approach the person with whom his intended is dancing and request him to yield ‘one hand of the balon’ so that the young man could dance and talk to, that is propose to, his heart’s desire, which he does. Dancing and speaking with him, the maiden promised herself to the young man.
The remaining scenes of the ‘Kršan wedding’ describe through song and dance the course of the wedding procession and the customs which accompany the wedding itself – from the arrival to take the bride through the departure to church and the meals at the houses of the bride, best man and maid of honour to the final wedding celebrations at the house of the groom during which the happy couple break the cake thus symbolically establishing which of them will live the longer.
It is interesting that in the giving of gifts, whether to the bride or the groom or to the best man, maid of honour and parents, a cake is always mentioned as a gift which obviously for Istrians had a symbolic meaning of confirmation of love and respect.
The wedding ends with a scene which follows the procession which is part of the christening of Mikula, the child of Morko and Tonina – the symbol of love between the two married people.
