ST. GREGORY DAY (DEN SV. ŘEHOŘE)
On March 12, the day of St. Gregory (sv. Řehoře), boys in the village performed a play in honor of this saint. One of them played a prince, another the standard bearer, and the other was a medicine man (felčar). The boys were presented gifts for their performances. Behind the boys, walked a girl with a hamper; collecting gifts for their teacher’s kitchen (pro učitelovu kuchyni). Much later, children brought their teacher a loaf of bread, flour, barley and eggs; but the children of poor parents brought snuff tobacco (šnupavý tabák), for the palm of her hand. On St. Gregory’s Day, the symbols are: a stork flying across the ocean, a frog opens his mouth, ice floats in the sea and a lazy farmer who doesn’t want to plow.
From “Czech Folklore” Vladmir Kucera 1983
