Page:The nomads of the Balkans, an account of life and customs among the Vlachs of Northern Pindus (1914).djvu/12

Rh form of Wallach occurs in many languages and is perhaps in origin connected with the name Welsh. In Greek it is now and has been for some time past often applied to all wandering shepherds without denoting any particular race, so that its meaning is not always clear. We have nevertheless used it throughout, but always with a racial meaning as it is the most familiar name in Western Europe. The origin of the name Kutsovlach, which invariably has a racial significance, has been disputed. According to one theory the first part of the word comes from the Turkish kuchuk little, and in this case the Kutsovlachs would be the little Vlachs of the Balkans as opposed to their more numerous kinsmen north of the Danube. A second theory which finds more favour with philologists derives it from the Greek a word originally meaning 'lame' or 'halting' which occurs in many compounds often with a depreciatory sense. Thus 'a poor sort of potato' we have heard applied to the bulb of the Cyclamen; and similarly means  'an ignorant schoolmaster.' In other cases the original meaning of 'lame' is more clearly preserved; February for example is called  or 'halting February.' On this theory the Kutsovlachs would be the halting or lame Vlachs again in contrast with those further north; the allusion being to the same peculiarity of speech that has won them the name of Tsintsar among the Slavs.

The position of the Vlach villages high up in the hills of Macedonia, in districts rarely visited, the departure of the Vlachs from the plains in early spring before the time when travelling is most common, their use of a second language in all intercourse with the outer world and lastly the double meaning of the name Vlach in Modern Greek have all helped to restrict and confuse outside knowledge of their life and conditions.

Our own acquaintance with the Vlachs began quite by chance. In the winter of 1909–10 we were travelling in Southern Thessaly in the district between Almiros and Mt. Othrys in search of inscriptions and other antiquities. In Almiros itself and in one or two of the villages to the west are a