Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 28, 1917.djvu/74

 42 Serbian Habits and Cnstoiiis.

condition from the economical and social point of view, and, unlike the other Serbs in Turkey, they did not return to the primitive habits of the past. This caused the disappearance of many economical and social customs among them. But, in adopting the Mahometan religion, they had to accept many of the purely Turkish religious customs (nuptial and funeral customs and circumcision). In spite of all this, the Mahometan Serbs preserved many of the original purely Serbian customs, more particularly those which were not at variance with the Turkish religion (the brotherhood, the Christmas log, the fires of St. Jean, etc.).

Even so, the traditions and customs of the emigrant Serbs in Austria- Hungary weakened. There, in a well organised State, the Serbian social habits completely lost their significance. In the advanced economic circum- stances the primitive habits were forgotten, and where the religious level was at its height the old religious traditions were banished. But, even so, the Serbian cultivated class, philosophers, poets and other writers, raised their voice against the popular customs, particularly against those that were useless and prejudicial, and, finally, the representa- tives of the Austrian Government did all that was in their power to abolish these primitive traditions.

Although in Turkey and in Dalmatia conditions were very favourable for the preservation of the primitive Serbian customs, some of them completely disappeared, the cause of their existence having ceased to exist. We must attribute the principal cause of their disappearance to the change of the daily occupation of the people and also to the new methods of work. In some provinces agriculture took the place of breeding, consequently customs relating to the care of cattle lost their raison ifctre. In other provinces more modern methods of agriculture succeeded the primi- tive methods and therefore caused the disappearance of the primitive customs which related to the latter.