Bóbrka is a village in which Kolberg spent most of the time during his stay in the Sanok region. It was a property of an old friend of the ethnographer, Józef Bliziński. Bliziński, a playwright, and former owner of the estates in Choceń and Bodzanówek in Kujawy, bought it in 1876. Kolberg resided in the village and made small trips to the Bieszczady. Thanks to very advantageous working conditions, Kolberg collected in this place a plenty of material. He related in the letter to Bliziński after the first stay in the village, in 1883: “The stay with you enriched my archive to the incomparable level. Your tireless wife enormously contributed to that. Her help and hospitality allowed me to feel at home. This is why I will always fondly remember the stay with you. Moreover, my health improved during the visit”.
Among the collected material there are descriptions of people, beliefs, rites, traditions, as well as many songs. Kolberg draws attention to the confidence the Górals [highlanders] had in him: “They trust others so much that they only hasp the doors, instead of locking them. Anyone can open them. A highlander was asked why he did not close the door and what would happen if someone entered his house, and answered ’He would rest and go his way. He never contemplated the idea that someone could rob him”. It seems that the Górals lived peaceful lives, and kept distance from the outer world, because, as Kolberg wrote, even at work they “often burn fires to light their small wooden pipes with iron fittings. They smoke it almost all the time; and when they do not, they leave it behind the collar, i.e. in a space between the collar and the neck”.
According to Kolberg’s descriptions, local people believed in witchcraft: “On the days of the Feast of the Transfiguration, Feast of the Ascension, or the Feast of Corpus Christi, a witch comes to her neighbour to borrow some light, matches, salt, or anything else. The neighbour must not lend anything, otherwise the witch will bewitch the neighbour’s milk”. In addition, it is known that once “a girl argued with her mother, and the mother changed her into a stone. The stone was growing so much that it covered half of the mountain; and it would continue, but the priests blessed it and put a cross on it. In the very place the cross was stacked the rock split and remained like this”.
In Kolberg’s material from this area there are descriptions of interesting superstitions related to elements: “When it is freezing, one has to count to oneself nine bold men, then the frost will let up”. “If there is a fire, a naked man has to run around the burning house to put it out”; moreover, “if there is a religious and happy person, usually it is the last child; he or she can climb a pear tree or any other fruit tree to see who the arsonist was”.
For sicknesses they use traditional methods, such as the following for a fever:
“They pick some small frogs, dry them, and grind them to powder. Later, they give some of the powder in a shot of vodka to the unaware sick person”.
