A wise priest once said, and then some other wise priest - now sadly deceased - quoted him and even wrote a wise book about it: “If you're lost, don't philosophise, don't beat yourself up... Instead, do two things: keep bleating and ringing your bell.” So that the shepherd can find you. Well, and such an alarm bell for a lost sheep, or a cow, is called zbyrcok. That is what it’s called when it's big. And when it's small, it's ZBYRCOCEK, which is exactly the same that the newly-established folk ensemble in Juszczyn was named in 2009.
And perhaps now, in this short tale about ZBYRCOCEK, it won’t be out of place to go to the end of their performance. There, under the Old Witches’ Mountain, some children - as they are having a good time, or probably even the time of their lives - receive news that the cows have escaped from the pasture. Surely, zbyrcoks will prove helpful in finding them.
But before that, there will be songs about this special mountain, which is the second-highest after the Tatras; and dances (obyrtka, podhybywano, siustany), and games (blind man's buff, little fox, bear). There will also be a musical band as well as a button accordion player. The children will be picking whortleberries, making flower garlands, and playing with dolls. Just like that, as it happens “While Grazing Cows.”
ZBYRCOCEK, whose leader is Mr Roman Guzik, is taking part in the FESTIVAL OF THE CHILDREN OF MOUNTAINS (just like - by a stroke of luck - all the Polish ensembles this year) for the third time. So far, in the last week of July, Nowy Sącz was graced with their performances in 2011 and 2019. As for other cultural events, they have also attended “Babiogórskie Podłazy” and “Żywieckie Gody,” and they boast the 2014 Grand Prix of “Pastuszkowe Kolędowanie.”
After all, what is the best place in which to think of reaching peaks, if not in the shadow of the Old Witches’ Mountain?
But before that, there will be songs about this special mountain, which is the second-highest after the Tatras; and dances (obyrtka, podhybywano, siustany), and games (blind man's buff, little fox, bear). There will also be a musical band as well as a button accordion player. The children will be picking whortleberries, making flower garlands, and playing with dolls. Just like that, as it happens “While Grazing Cows.”
ZBYRCOCEK, whose leader is Mr Roman Guzik, is taking part in the FESTIVAL OF THE CHILDREN OF MOUNTAINS (just like - by a stroke of luck - all the Polish ensembles this year) for the third time. So far, in the last week of July, Nowy Sącz was graced with their performances in 2011 and 2019. As for other cultural events, they have also attended “Babiogórskie Podłazy” and “Żywieckie Gody,” and they boast the 2014 Grand Prix of “Pastuszkowe Kolędowanie.”
After all, what is the best place in which to think of reaching peaks, if not in the shadow of the Old Witches’ Mountain?