SONGS ABOUT THE LISBON EARTHQUAKE, OR THE SLOVENIAN RESPONSE TO STORIES ABOUT SOMEONE ELSE'S MISFORTUNE
MARIJA KLOBCAR
This article focuses on the Slovenian songs about the devastating 1755 Lisbon earthquake and on the context revealed by these songs. It is based on two songs about this earthquake that were published in the first collection of Slovenian folk songs from the mid-nineteenth century. The songs draw attention to the impact of this event in the media and the reception of these types of songs among the Slovenians. Studying the genesis of both songs, it reveals the role of organists and also the mindset that comes to the fore in the song narrations. The traces lead to a song leaflet that brings Slovenian songs closer to the general European tradition, with certain basic differences: the Slovenian song published on the leaflet contains a prayer for the victims of the Lisbon earthquake, which means that it provides special spiritual assistance. The article also reveals the reasons why the songs about the Lisbon earthquake were excluded from the subsequent standard collections of Slovenian folk songs, although the memory of both the songs and the Lisbon earthquake was still attested at the end of the n ineteenth century. The Slovenian songs about the Lisbon earthquake therefore not only show the Slovenian response to the misfortune of the unknown people of Lisbon, but also question the social role of folklore studies.
Keywords: Lisbon earthquake, Slovenian folk songs, song leaflets, folklore studies
Prispevek se osredotoča na slovenske pesmi o uničujočem liz-bonskem potresu leta 1755 in na kontekst, ki ga razkrivajo. Izhaja iz objav dveh pesmi o tem potresu v prvi zbirki slovenskih ljudskih pesmi iz sredine 19. stoletja, ki opozarjata na odmevnost tega dogodka in sprejetost pesmi med Slovenci. Išče genezo obeh pesmi, pri čemer razkriva vlogo organistov, hkrati pa predstavlja tudi miselni svet, ki se razkriva skozi pesemske pripovedi. Sledi vodijo do pesemskega letaka, kar slovenske pesmi zbližuje s splošno evropsko tradicijo, ob tem pa se kažejo temeljne razlike: slovenska pesem, objavljena na letaku, namreč z molitvijo za žrtve lizbonskega potresa pomeni posebno duhovno pomoč. Prispevek razkriva tudi razloge, zakaj so bile pesmi o lizbonskem potresu izločene iz nadaljnjih normativnih zbirk slovenskih ljudskih pesmi, čeprav je spomin tako na pesmi kot na lizbonski potres izpričan še ob koncu 19. stoletja. S tem slovenske pesmi o lizbonskem potresu ne kažejo le slovenskega odziva na nesrečo neznanih prebivalcev Lizbone, temveč se sprašujejo tudi o družbeni vlogi folkloristike. Ključne besede: lizbonski potres, slovenske ljudske pesmi, pesemski letaki, folkloristika
SONGS ABOUT THE LISBON EARTHQUAKE IN THE FIRST SLOVENIAN FOLKSONG COLLECTION
While reviewing older publications of Slovenian folksong heritage a few years ago, a song about the Lisbon earthquake captured my attention. I was surprised by the testimony of this recounting of that fatal event and by the fact that its impact also extended to Slovenia, where it was preserved for a long time. Alongside my general interest in songs with a novella-like character, I thought these songs deserved special treatment in addition to consideration of the issue of their inclusion in or exclusion from the folk-representative canon of Slovenian song creativity.
DOI: 10.3986/Traditio2015440303
TRADITIONES, 44/3, 2015, 53-72
SONGS ABOUT THE LISBON EARTHQUAKE, OR THE SLOVENIAN RESPONSE TO STORIES ABOUT ...
Despite relatively new findings on the oldest transcriptions of the Slovenian heroic song "Pegam and Lambergar" (Torkar 1993: 13), Slovenian folksong collection begins with the 1776 transcriptions (Vodusek 1970: vii) and expressly obtained the function of promoting ethnic identity in the nineteenth century. In the period when Slovenian intellectuals had very vibrant contacts with the collection efforts of other Slavic nations, the efforts of cultural nationalism that influenced folksong collection (Leerssen 2008) had special features: forming connections with these nations increased their overall power and steered them away from narrow nationalistic views. For Slovenians this was especially true at a time when the Pole Emil Korytko was in Ljubljana in political exile.
During his political confinement in Ljubljana, Korytko published the first collection of Slovenian folk songs, called Slovenskepesmi krajnskiga naróda (Slovenian Songs of the Carniolan People) in five volumes with the help of the Slovenian intellectuals known as the Ljubljana Circle, a member of which was also the greatest Slovenian poet, France Preseren. Emil Korytko, who was in political exile in Ljubljana between 1837 and 1839, did not live to see the publication of Slovenske pesmi krajnskiga naróda, which also included the song "Lisbona potopljena" (Lisbon Sunken): in fact, he died just before he received the decree on his political amnesty.
In 1844 two songs about the Lisbon earthquake entitled "Lisbona potopljena" (Lisbon Sunken) were published in the fifth volume of Korytko's collection.1 Due to their foreign subject matter, the inclusion of these songs in the Slovenian national folksong collection seems a little surprising. It shows that due to Korytko's plans the conception of folk songs was more open: the two songs were included in the collection in accordance with the broad concept of the editor, who planned to publish all Slovenian ethnological material. As the final goal, he planned to issue a monumental encyclopedia about the Slavs or the culture of the Slavic peoples, titled Stowiañscizna (Smith 1986: 141—173). Korytko's ethnological and folklore concept was very broad because it was marked by the study of philosophy in Lviv, or by the Polish ethnographic school.
The collection was therefore designed only as the beginning of a presentation of Slovenian culture and was limited only to the lyrics of folk songs; therefore the songs on the Lisbon earthquake had no accompanying explanation for which earthquake they referred to. However, from subsequent testimonies relating to these songs, it is quite clear that they refer to the devastating earthquake that took place on 1 November 1755 and claimed 60,000 (Halter 1995) to 100,000 lives and almost completely destroyed Lisbon (Vidrih 2006: 24—25). The two songs about the Lisbon earthquake were apparently created as part of the exceptional media impact of this event, which is reflected in them in various ways.
In the first song published in Korytko's collection, the moral lesson is more pronounced than the description of the great disaster that struck Lisbon:
1 The first song was published with an obvious mistake in the title, which read "Lisbona potopljena" instead of "potopljena" (Lisbon Flooded; Korytko 1844: 26).
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MARIJA KLOBČAR
1.	Kakfhin ftrah zelfvetprehaja, kadar Bogfe rasferdi.
Svoje fhtrafenge vun daje, S' nami rajtengo dershi. Sa pregrehe naf fhtrafuje, Kar pa zhlovek ne fpozna, Naf k' pokori napeljuje, Tudi nam odlog fhe da.
2.	Li poglej kdo gofpoduje, Vftani, kdorfi len u ferz' Ker fe semlja vsdviguje, Vsemi fhalostfi u perf' Sklen fhivljenje porovnati, Dokler je fhe ura, zhaf. Bog, poglej, fe sna mafhvati, Vezhno pokonzhati naf.
3.	Gledaj mefto Lisabono, Mesto de mu para ni, Oziran s kraljevo krono Sdajpodfuto v blat' leshi. Bogatinzam blago, slati Ni na pomozh moglo prit', Vfe shivljenje mora dati V fvoji kervi kopan biti.
4.	Dete materi na perfih, Mati s detetam vred, Kakfhin ftrah obzhutjo v ferzih, Kmorjo fkupaj grosno vmret'. Veter, ogenj in nefrezha Tamkej videti je blo,
Vfa Lisbona je gorezha, Po vfih krajih gre v semljo.
5.	Gofpa vidi fvoje dete Tam po kervi plavati, Gospod vidi fvojo deklo Tam v ogni jamrati, Vfoki turni noj gradovi So fe tam pofipali,
Na kraljevim plaz sidovi So fe s grobjam glihali.
What fear is afoot throughout the world
When God becomes enraged,
Dealing out his sentences,
Demanding payment.
He is punishing us for the sins
Which a man does not realize
Leads us to repentance,
Giving us a reprieve.
Just look at who rules,
Whoever is lazy in his heart, get up,
As the Earth rises,
Take the sadness in your chest.
Decide to reform your life,
While there is still time,
see, god can take revenge,
And destroy us forever.
Look at the city of Lisbon,
The city beyond compare,
Decorated with the royal crown
Now lying buried in mud.
The rich people's goods and gold
Could not help them,
everybody had to forfeit their lives
and bathe in their blood.
The baby on the mother's breast,
Mother together with baby,
What fear they feel in their hearts,
When they must die together terribly.
Wind, fire, and horror
Over there it could be seen,
Au Lisbon is burning,
everywhere going into the ground.
The lady sees her baby
swimming there through the blood,
The gentleman sees his maid
Moaning there in the fire,
High towers and castles
Collapsed there,
On the royal market the walls
Were leveled with heap of stones.
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SONGS ABOUT THE LISBON EARTHQUAKE, OR THE SLOVENIAN RESPONSE TO STORIES ABOUT ...
6. ZheJo bli lih turni mozhni, S tem Jo prah perglihani, Zhe Jo bli ljudje mogozhni, Vfi Jo v nizh ponishani. Ti ferditi kralj nebefhki, Mi fposnamo tvojo mozh, Vsemi k'feb dufhe zhlovefhske, In dodel nam vezhno luzh (Korytko 1844: 26-28).
The song does talk about the earthquake in Lisbon, but it seems that its main message is that God became enraged by human sins and therefore punished people. The Lisbon earthquake was used as an example that demonstrated the validity of the Christian doctrine: the great disaster that struck the people of Lisbon was used to call for a return to the true faith and repentance. This warning is all the more effective because, according to the song, Lisbon was an extremely rich city, a royal capital, but in the devastating earthquake it sank to the ground in blood and fire with all its riches: just as the magnificent towers turned into dust, the most powerful people were also ruined.
In the second song published in Korytko's collection, the devastating Lisbon earthquake is depicted with greater narrative attention to the developments, and also with much more empathy for the suffering of the people affected by this earthquake:
Although the towers were strong, They were like powder Although the people were powerful, They were humiliated to nothing. You angry king of heaven, We know your strength, Take to yourself the human souls, And grant us the eternal light.
1.	Kakfhin strah mi je imelo Le to mefto Lisabon?
Vse se treflo, vkup letelo, Kraljev dvor in slati tron, V meft ljudje shalvat zazhnejo, Ne vedo, kam beshat, tezh. Komej fkozi vrata grejo, Jelso eden drugmu rezh:
2.	Ljubi Jezuf, kaj bo s nami, Sagotov bo fodni dan, Vderlo fe bo vfepod nami, Oh joj, kaj sazhet je nam? Prinz Navare je na polji, S svojim poljkam on ftoji,
S vfimpoljkam kakor v boji. Malo kter jeftran prifhal.
3.	Vofmih urahfo hoteli Skufit te ferzhni ljudje,
What fear had This city of Lisbon?
Everything was scattering, flying together, The royal palace and golden throne. In the city, people begin to mourn They do not know where to flee, to run Just as they go through the door They begin to say to each other Sweet Jesus, what will happen to us, It is the judgment day for sure, Everything will collapse below us, Oh dear, what should we do? The Prince of Navarre is on the field, With his regiments he stands, With all the regiments as in battle Only a few of them escaped. After eight hours they wanted to Try, these courageous people,
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MARIJA KLOBČAR
5.
So fhli v meft' deb kaj vseli, Aube kaj fe jim sgodi! Oh vender Bogu fe fmili! Komaj notri pridejo, Nov potrefi fe ftorili, Vfi fe v semljo vderejo. Tak ljudi je dvanajst tavshent Se v semljo vderlo blo In duhovnov devet taushent Vfe kmal k vezhnost je fhlo. Vfe kamele, konji, voli.
V	magazinih kar je blo
V	en minuti vfe je doli Prifhlo kmalo pod zemljo. O Maria mati boshja,
Ti naf vari pred peklam, Sprof'per Bogu mozh oroshja Soperftatfovrashnikam. Ti naf vari pred potrefam, Verni2 boshjefhibeprezh, Ti naf vodi prot nebefam, Daj nam frezhno jih dofezh (Korytko 1849: 29-31)
They went into town to get something,
Alas, what happens to them!
Oh, but God have mercy!
Just when they enter in there,
New tremors appear,
And they all sink into the ground.
Thus, twelve thousand people
Sank into the earth
And nine thousand priests
Soon went into eternity.
All the camels, horses, oxen.
Everything that was in the warehouses,
In one minute everything down here
Soon sank under the ground.
Oh, Mary, Mother of God,
Protect us from hell,
Ask God for strength of arms
To defend ourselves from the enemy.
Protect us from the earthquake,
Spare believers from the scourge of God,
Lead us to heaven,
Let us reach it safe and sound.
The second song about the Lisbon earthquake is therefore not an example of a preaching device that uses the disaster in Portugal as a powerful call to repentance: it offers a more realistic depiction of the earthquake with an extremely naturalistic description of the disaster, trying to comprehend the experience of the fatal events. The song concludes with an intercession to Mary to protect people from hell and fatal disasters, such as earthquakes.
Neither the first nor the second song provides any clues about who its author was and how it came to Slovenia. In addition, the transcriptions do not provide any information on what impact these songs had among the people. A transcription by Davorin Petelin testifies to this very aspect—that is, the popularity of the songs about the Lisbon earthquake in Slovenia: as a student in the 1875/76 school year, Petelin sent a transcription of a song very similar to the first song about the Lisbon earthquake published in Korytko's collection to Karel Strekelj (the later editor of the collection Slovenske narodnepesmi [Slovenian Folksongs]). Petelin's song was even more complete and more extensive than the song in Korytko's publication because it comprised eight stanzas. The song was titled "Pesem od
Probably a mistake: instead of verni it should have been vernim.
4
2
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SONGS ABOUT THE LISBON EARTHQUAKE, OR THE SLOVENIAN RESPONSE TO STORIES ABOUT ...
Figure 1: The end of the first and the beginning of the second song about the Lisbon earthquake published in 1844 in the fifth volume of Korytko's collection of Slovenian folk songs.
C'ntilcna dc. S. Stephane M.
Adagio
"XFTFTTH											
rt —.											
jf ^ ■ 0 m r											
											
Figure 2: Like many other songs, a song about St. Stephen was sung "to the tune of Lisbon". In this way the tune of the song about Lisbon earthquake was preserved (Kramar 1926: 74).
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MARIJA KLOBČAR
Lizabone" (The Song about Lisbon) with the note "an old Carniolan3 song." In 1875 or 1876, the student Davorin Petelin therefore still found this song in central Slovenia; it was known as an old song typical of Carniola. Compared to the similar song published in Korytko's collection, this song differs not only by its length: its language is updated, reflecting the song's acceptance and vitality among the people, and the message of the song is less tied to a preaching model (Petelin 1875/1876).
The student Davorin petelin therefore talks about "an old Carniolan song," or a widely accepted and frequently sung song in the central Slovenian area. The song was transcribed even as late as the twentieth century in the far western part of Slovenian ethnic territory, the Littoral region, as a copy of one of the songs in Maver's collection; the copy was made by the collector Ivan Kokosar. The song was still preserved even with nine stanzas, but the language was again somewhat more archaic (Kokosar s. a.: 9—10).4 In addition to these transcriptions, there may be others that have not yet been discovered: in 1932, a third folk song about the Lisbon earthquake was mentioned alongside these two types of songs (Debeljak: 1932: 688), but so far it has not yet been found.
Just like the printed transcriptions, the manuscript copies of the songs do not contain any information on what earthquake they refer to nor do they provide any information on how the songs came to Slovenian territory. The answer to this is provided by older transcriptions, which also raise entirely new questions.
THE SONGS ABOUT THE LISBON EARTHQUAKE IN ORGANISTS'
TRANSCRIPTIONS
Older transcriptions, which can be traced while studying the origin of the songs about the Lisbon earthquake, lead us to the area south of Ljubljana, to Inner and Lower Carniola and the activity of two organists. The song's acceptance can be traced in the songbook of the organist Filip Jakob Repež from Stari Trg pri Ložu because the song is already performing a new role: in the songbook published in 1770 and reprinted five years later, Repež published a song intended for the procession for rain, in which he used the melody of one of the songs about the Lisbon earthquake. In the note added to the song, it is said that the song should be sung "to the tune of the well-known song about Lisbon"5 (Repež 1775: 60).
The second organist, Jožef Ambrožič, a schoolmaster in Dobrepolje in Lower Carniola, wrote his first manuscript songbook almost at the same time as the first organist: in 1771 (Kramar 1922: 96). Among other songs in it, a song about the Archangel Michael appeared, with a note to be sung "na vižo Lizabone" ('to the tune of Lisbon'; Kramar 1923: 11). The
3	Carniola is one of the historical Slovenian regions.
4	I would like to thank my colleague Marjeta Pisk for providing the information on the Littoral.
5	na vižo koker ta vsim dobru znano Peisem odLizabone.
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SONGS ABOUT THE LISBON EARTHQUAKE, OR THE SLOVENIAN RESPONSE TO STORIES ABOUT ...
songbook also contains a poem about St. Anthony of Padua, with a similar note: viža od Lizabone ('the tune of Lisbon'; Kramar 1923: 13), as well as a song about St. Stephen ("C'ntilena de S. Stephane"), next to which the tune was also published in addition to a note that it should be sung "to the tune of Lisbon" (Kramar 1926: 74).
Jožef Ambrozič also wrote the song "Od vse sorte Nadluh" (All Sorts of Troubles), where he added the note "Aria od Lizabone" (Aria about Lisbon; Kramar 1925: 82). In the fourth songbook written by the same author in 1775 (Kramar 1924: 31), the song was published, of which only the melody was used in previous cases. The folksong transcriber Franc Kramar, who reported on this song almost a century and a half later, also pointed to the event itself, the 1755 Lisbon earthquake. Upon the publication, he wrote: "This song was then in general called 'About Lisbon,' and almost the majority of Ambrožič and Repež's hymns were sung to its tune. Let now this interesting song follow, so that it is saved from oblivion:"6
Od Lifsa Bonskiga Meista (About the City of Lisbon) Vifsha od Lifsabone (The tune of Lisbon)
1.	Pofshlusaite vi greifsniki, zhaitfe ia spokorit vam, Gredo zhudeshi veliki, ne bo delezh sodni dan! tipotreshi, veitrij, vode, fo se sternile toku,
od take Nafsrezhe, skode, nei fse Nigdar shlishat blu!
2.	O Kai je sen strah imeilu Letu Meistu Lifsabon, kse ie treshlu, vkup leteilu kralevi hoffi nu tron,
Nu kar je drusih hifs billu, tu je vfsemlo vderlu se, Morje se je Restegnilu, na verh potopillu vfse.
3.	Ludie szhagaina ne vejo od strahu kam beifsat, tezh, vender ven zhes vrata grejo, sazhno Eden h drugmu rez:
Listen, you sinners, It is time to repent, Great miracles are coming, Judgment day is not far! These earthquakes, wind, water, Have joined together, such that An accident, damage like this, We have never heard of! Oh what fear had This city of Lisbon,
When everything shook and fell together,
Royal court and the throne,
And all other houses there
Collapsed to the ground,
The sea stretched
And flooded everything on top.
People in despair not knowing
Where to flee and run in fear
But go out through the door,
Start saying to each other:
6 Ta pesem seje takrat sploh imenovala 'od Lizabone', in na napev te pesmi seje takratnih Ambrožičevih in Repeževih cerkv. pesmi skoraj največ pelo. Naj sledi vsa ta zanimiva pesem, da se tu otmepozabljenosti:
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MARIJA KLOBČAR
o Moii Jesus, kai bo fnami, zsdei bo guifnu sodni dan! vfse fe bo vderlu pod nami, oh, joh! kai ie shazhet nam!?
4.	Sunei Meista tam na strani vstrahu od delezh stoje,
nu v velizhim klaguvainu kir sa nimi gre Morje; v vofmih urah fo otelli vagatprefserzhni ludie, shli fo v meistu, deb kei vfseli, v tem kai fe sgodillu je!,
5.	Oh fallost, bogu fe vfsmili, kumei v meistu pridejo, Novipotreshi so se strilli, de fe vfsi vkup vderejo! Devet deset taufsent notri ludi fe je vderlu Reis,
vshe stazhune, zherque, klostij, dua Hriba sta padla ches.
6.	Vfse je Moglu hkonzhu priti v Leipem Meisti Lifsabon, oben nei Mogu oditi, Pomagat je blu fabston! Closhterskeh nun je dua tausent Toku pokonzhanih blu,
Teh Duhounu Devet taufsent Je tudi kuezhnosti shlu.
7.	Ta potres fhe vfelei vezhi Pride zlu v vaffrico zhes, fo bli fhe vezhi nasrezhi, koker Lifsabona reif! prinzh Meraco tam na puli ifsoijm folkam stoij,
vezh tausent vfatorah tudi tamkei foldatu leshi.
8.	Kar potres ih kmallu poshre trij Defet taufsent ludi! Stuke, purfel, vse orishije, Mallu de bi proz odshlij;
Oh my Jesus, what will happen to us,
Now it will surely be the judgment day!
Everything will collapse under our feet,
Oh, oh, what should we do?
Outside the city there by the side
They were standing in fear far away,
And in great lamenting,
Because the sea was following them;
After eight hours they wanted to
venture, these courageous people,
They went into the city to take something
Look what happened!
Oh sorrow, God have mercy,
Just when they came to town,
new earthquakes struck,
so that they all sank into the ground!
In there ninety thousand
people sank, it's true,
All the shops, churches, monasteries,
Two hills fell over.
Everything had to come to an end
In the beautiful city of Lisbon,
No one could leave,
The help was in vain!
Two thousand convent nuns,
Were killed in this way,
And nine thousand priests
Also passed into eternity.
This earthquake is still getting bigger
It even spread across to africa,
Where the disaster was even greater
Than in Lisbon, indeed!
The prince of Morocco there on the field
stands with his regiments,
and in tents several thousand
soldiers lie.
The earthquake soon swallows them up Thirty thousand people! Guns, gunpowder, all weapons Only a few that can avoid it.
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SONGS ABOUT THE LISBON EARTHQUAKE, OR THE SLOVENIAN RESPONSE TO STORIES ABOUT ...
te komeille, koine, volli,	Those camels, horses, oxen,
Magafsijn, vfse kar ie blu,	Warehouse, everything that was there
vtei Minuti je vfse dolli	In one minute everything collapsed,
noter podfemlo pershlu.	To the ground.
9. Vafsi, Hifshe, goisdij tudi,	Villages, houses, and forests,
Hribie fo vkup padali,	Hills collapsed,
fmihshlite, christiani lubi,	Think, dear Christians,
kok so ludie jamrali!	How the people lamented!
Fezh nu Meqvem obduei Meisti,	Fes and Meknes, both cities,
fo se pogrosnile tam,	were leveled there,
kso imeili kmishi feisti,	When people were about to sit at the table,
kiri ie blu glich opudan.	Because it was just noon then.
10. Dua nu fhest deseti taufent	Sixty-two thousand
tam potres poshre ludi,	People were swallowed by the earthquake,
toku fna buh ta sueitprasnit,	This is how God knows how to empty
	this world,
kneifso berfs hpokuri shli!	Because people did not repent quickly!
o Maria, Mati Bofshia,	Oh Mary, Mother of God,
stuj nam greifsnikam na stran,	stand beside us, sinners,
ti nam sprosi gnado boshio,	Obtain for us the grace of God
Nu nas varij pretpeklam!	And protect us from hell!
Nu nas fermeipretpotrefsam,	Defend us also from the earthquake,
Prosi se nas stuarnika,	Ask our Creator on our behalf,
Nedai vezh shlisat ufefam,	Let our ears no longer hear
Kar je blu in Affrica! Amen.	What happened in Africa! Amen.
(Kramar 1924: 75-76)	
In the song, the Lower Carniolan dialect is clearly noticeable and orthographic inconsistency indicates that the writer was poorly educated. At the same time, the song is a remarkable document. It gives a poor description of the earthquake that struck Lisbon on 1 November 1755, but nonetheless provides essential information: the earthquake, tsunami, the horror of the people, who were convinced that the judgment day was coming, their escape from the city, and the moving sea, "which was following them." When the people, who withdrew from the city, thought that the earthquake was over, they returned to the city to retrieve their property, but they were struck by a new seismic wave, which buried them. According to the song, ninety thousand people were killed, and with them also all the shops, churches, and monasteries were destroyed, because—as the song goes—two hills fell across the city. The earthquake also killed two thousand nuns in convents, as well as nine thousand priests.
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MARIJA KLOBČAR
The song continues with a description of the catastrophe in Africa: the disaster there was supposed to be even greater. The Moroccan prince was on the field with his people and the soldiers, who stayed in tents. In the earthquake, which occurred within a single minute, everything was destroyed, along with weapons and livestock. Thirty thousand people were believed to have died. The cities of Fes and Meknes were leveled in the earthquake just when people were about to sit down and have lunch. The information provided in the song obviously also refers to aftershocks, or a new earthquake that occurred on 18 November, which was even worse than the first one and completely destroyed the towns described (Meyers 1981: 1268).
The song is therefore also about the earthquake in Africa, which is not mentioned in the songs published in Korytko's collection of 1844. a closer look nevertheless finds parallels between this song and the second song about the Lisbon earthquake from this collection. In the song, which Korytko published as a folk song, some documentary data were lost or changed. Just a modest description of the catastrophe with the presentation of people's horror remained; however, the described arrival of people in the city, which took place after eight hours, does not mention whether these were people that escaped the city and returned to retrieve their possessions, or people from the surrounding area that came to steal the victims' possessions.
The transfer of songs into oral tradition and its transfer in oral tradition caused significant changes in both individual details and the basic data, such as the number of victims: ninety thousand victims turned into twelve thousand, only the number of dead nuns and priests stayed the same. However, the biggest difference between the song written in Ambrozic's collection and the song published in Korytko's collection is that the memory of the earthquake in Africa was lost: only the description of camels killed by the earthquake remained. The Prince of Morocco was replaced by the Prince of Navarre, a region in Spain that was under French rule at that time. The mention of the prince of Navarre may refer to the aid that the nearby state offered in this grand-scale catastrophe.
The Lisbon earthquake caused a turning point in several aspects. Among other things, it marked the beginning of global solidarity and mutual assistance (Halter 2005), which may be indicated by the mention of the Prince of Navarre in the second folksong published in Korytko's collection. The awareness of the need for examining the causes and consequences of the earthquake triggered the development of new scientific disciplines such as seismography, geology, and sociology (Vidrih 2006: 25; Halter 2005). Nonetheless, this earthquake also introduced doubt about God's justice into the European mental space, which was also expressed in Voltaire and Goethe's writings (Gspan 1978: 171; Halter 2005). The slovenian versions of the song about the Lisbon earthquake do not report anything about this doubt. The answer to this question—whether this is due to the changes caused by the oral transmission of the songs, or the fact that slovenian songs about the Lisbon earthquake were simply different—is indicated by the oldest publication of this song in slovenian territory.
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SONGS ABOUT THE LISBON EARTHQUAKE, OR THE SLOVENIAN RESPONSE TO STORIES ABOUT .
THE LISBON EARTHQUAKE AND THE MESSAGE OF THE SONG LEAFLET: A SONG AS AN EXPRESSION OF SPIRITUAL ASSISTANCE
In 1932, the Slovenian public got to know the original song about the Lisbon earthquake, which was printed on a leaflet. The leaflet has been preserved in the private library of the family of the Slovenian writer Ivan Tavčar, at Visoko Mansion near Škofja Loka (Gspan 1978: 171).
The song of the horror of the earthquake and flood that happened in the year 1765,7 on the first of November in Portugal in this prestigious city of Lisbon.8
1.	Kaifen ftrah zeu fveitprehaje,	What fear fills the world
	Kader fe Bog refserdi,	When God becomes enraged,
	Svoje shtrafinge vendaje,	Giving out his sentences,
	S' nami rajtengo derfhi,	Demanding payment.
	Nafho pregreho fhrafuje,	He is punishing us for our sins,
	Ta zhlovek pak nefpofna,	Which a man does not realize,
	K' pokuri nafs napeluje,	Leads us to repentance,
	Tudi enem odlog da.	Gives us some reprieve.
2.	V sdigni fe jeklenu ferze,	Stand up, you steely heart,
	Kir fe femla vsdiguje,	Because the earth is rising,
	Spufti shaloft v' tvojeperfse,	Let sorrow enter your breast,
	Spofnai, kdu gofpoduje.	Recognize who rules.
	Priedfi vfemi pobulfhanie,	Decide to reform,
	dokler je ura nu zhas,	While there is still time
	Vidifh boshje mafhuanie,	You see God's revenge
	Koku Bogfna vkonzhat nafs.	How God can destroy us.
3.	Pogledaite Lifabona,	Look at Lisbon,
	Meiftu kir mu gliha ni,	The city to which nothing can be
		compared,
	Szieranu s' Kralovo Krono,	Decorated with the royal crown,
	Sedeipak potfutu lefhi.	Now lying destroyed.
	Taku fna Bug obyfkati,	Thus, God can visit
	Kdurpredgreham ne befhi,	Anyone who does not flee from sin,
	Kdur nozhe nega fpofnati,	Anyone who refuses to recognize him,
	Vfelei pregrefhnu fhivi.	And always lives in sin.
The mistake in the title is evident.
Pei fem od grofe tega potrefsa inu potopa, kateru se je sgodilu v' tem Lejtu 1765, tega perviga Novembra v' Portugali v tem jmenitnem Meiftu LISABONA.
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4.	Gradi, hifhe nu fidovi	Castles, houses, and walls
	fo fe tam potfipali,	Collapsed there,
	Turni nupoloft Kralovi	Towers and the royal palace
	so fe grublam sglihali.	Turned into ruins.
	Kai fen ftrah nu trepetanje	What fear and trembling
	Je tamkei videt billu:	Was seen there:
	Kai fen jok nu klaguanje	What weeping and lament
	Seje tamkajflifhalu.	Was heard over there.
5.	Kar ta semla nipofherla,	What was not swallowed by the earth,
	Se je s' ognam fzeralu,	Was decorated with fire,
	Ktera hifha fe ni poderla,	Houses that did not collapse,
	Je s' vetram ferderbanu.	Were destroyed in the wind.
	Tudi morje grofovitnu,	Even the terrible sea,
	Od vetraperfilenu,	Forced by the wind
	Je potopilu ferditu	Wrathfully flooded
	Velku hifh nevfmilenu.	Many houses mercilessly.
6.	Vefsele perfhone sdrave,	Happy and healthy persons
	So potfute s' to semlo,	Are buried in this earth,
	Gofpudi, nufhlahtne frave	Lords and noble ladies
	Pod kamenjam konz jemlo,	Are dying under the rocks,
	Tem bogatemo blagu flati,	The rich ones' golden goods
	Ni moglu pomagati.	Could not help them.
	Vfak je mogou leben dati,	Everyone had to give his life,
	V'fvoji kervi kopati.	And bathe in his own blood.
7.	Otrak na materneh perfeh,	The baby on the mother's breast,
	Je mati s' otrakam vred,	Mother together with her baby,
	So obzhutli martro vferzeh,	They felt pain in their hearts,
	Mogli grofnu v' kupei vmret.	When they had to die together terribly.
	Ogen, veter, nu nefrezhe,	Fire, wind, and disaster,
	Strah nu fhaloft v' vfih kotih.	Fear and sadness in all corners.
	To Lifabona refmezhe,	Tear Lisbon apart,
	Po vfih ftraneh nu platih.	On all sides and parts.
8.	Tukai ozha fvoje deite,	Here the father sees his baby
	Vidi v' karvi plavati,	Swimming in the blood,
	Tamkai gofpa fvoje dekle,	A lady over there hears her maid
	Slifhi v' ogni jamrati.	Moaning in the fire.
	Karvavo pezheni ludie	People burned and bleeding,
	Tamkai na kupeh lefhe,	Are lying over there in piles,
	Kterpred oignam vjeti ozhjo,	Those who want to escape the fire,
	Ti lepak v' morju vtope.	Are just drowned in the sea.
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9. Gleite koku Bug mogozhni Velke gore ponifha, Nu defo lih turni mozhni, K' temu prahu pergliha. O ferditi Kral Nebefhki: Mifpofnamo tvojo muzh, Sanefsi dufhi zlovefhki, Podai nie to vezhno Luzh. KONZ.
See how almighty God
Levels great mountains,
And even though the towers are strong,
He turns them into dust.
Oh, the angry Heavenly King,
We know your strength,
Spare the human soul,
Grant it the perpetual light.
THE END.
Ovfmileni Gofpud JESU Chrifte!
O merciful Lord Jesus Christ! We ask you humbly: Through your bitter suffering And your bitter death, Have mercy on all those Who have died in this disaster. Amen.
mi tepohleunu profsimo: fkus tvojo prebritko terpleinie,
inu fmertno britkuft,
vfmili fe zhes vfe lete,
kateri fo v' ti nefhrezhi fmertfturili.
Amen.
(cited in Debeljak 1932: 688-689)
In the leaflet, which has been preserved at Visoko Mansion, a poem was printed that was apparently the basis for creating the first song about the Lisbon earthquake in Korytko's collection. Linguistic awkwardness and spelling inconsistency of the song again indicate the poor education of the author. However, the prayer added to the song is worth special attention. In this case, it was not a prayer against unexpected death, as previously thought (Gspan 1978: 171), but a prayer for all victims of the earthquake, which completely changes the view of the role of this Slovenian song.
The Lisbon earthquake introduced doubt in God's justice to the European mental space, whereas the Slovenian song leaflet provided a prayer for all the victims. This is actually the feature that most distinguishes Slovenian variants of the songs about the Lisbon earthquake from the reactions of European intellectuals. At a time when, due to a major disaster, Europe called into question God's justice, both Slovenian songs about the Lisbon earthquake called for repentance and also asked God to protect people from disaster. The prayer added to the song on the leaflet had another important message: it provided spiritual help to all those that perished in the Lisbon earthquake.
The leaflet found at Visoko clearly shows how the news of the devastating earthquake spread, especially because the deadliest earthquake in recent European history was also the first global media event (Halter 2005). In this respect, a comparison with three songs (or song leaflets) that have been preserved in Central Europe is very informative. These are song responses to the tragic event, which differ both from the Slovenian song about
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the earthquake and among themselves. They include a very documentary German record that largely focuses on the difficulties of victims finding a solution to free themselves (Richter 1972: 5—6);9 a record from Tyrol, in which the author is a young Anna Catrina Schuechterin from Tschagguns (Montafon);10 and record from Switzerland, which in addition to human casualties—it mentions more than one hundred thousand, just like the Tyrolean record—estimates the value of lost gold and silver.11 All three records preserved have a distinct novella-like character: in the introduction they invite the audience to listen to the song about the devastating earthquake, and then they each go on to describe the disaster that struck Lisbon in their own way. What all three songs have in common is that they consider the Lisbon earthquake a divine punishment, and therefore invite listeners to reform and ask God for mercy.
Despite these conclusions that bring these songs closer to the preaching models, the foreign examples differ significantly from the Slovenian ones not only in the presentation of the content, but especially in the function of the song messages. These examples have a notable novella-like emphasis, which shows that the songs were presented as songs about terrifying events—that is, as broadside ballads. In contrast, for the Slovenian songs organists played an important role in spreading and preserving, or perhaps even producing, these songs. This is shown by both the preservation of these songs by organists Repez and Ambrozic and by the use of this song's tune as the basis for new creativity. Moreover, this finding also raises the question of the role of organists in the Slovenian production of songs with a novella character.
Alongside the preserved Slovenian song leaflet and the prayer accompanying the song, the role of Slovenian organists raises another important question: was the attitude expressed in this prayer a Slovenian special feature, or was it just one of the responses to the disaster in Portugal, which was not linked to nationality, but has been preserved only in Slovenia? The search for this answer reveals not only the consequences of the Lisbon earthquake, but also the attitude to the world at large or its changing.
9	The copy is kept by the German Folksong Archive (Deutsches Volksliedarchiv, in the following text used as abbreviation: DVA) in Freiburg, B 18652. I would like to thank the librarian at the archive, Barbara Boock, for providing the archival copies.
10	DVA, Bla 552, copy of Paul Beck's quotation in Zeitschrift des Vereins für Volkskunde in Berlin 1906, Nr. 4, p. 55 (Forschung u. Mitteilungen zur Geschichte Tirols. u. Vorarlbergs).
11	DVA, A 62063; originally in the Swiss Archive for Folklore Studies (SVA), 14 361, p. 24.
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SONGS ABOUT THE LISBON EARTHQUAKE, OR THE SLOVENIAN RESPONSE TO STORIES ABOUT ...
"THE SONG ABOUT LISBON" AND SLOVENIAN FOLKLORE STUDIES, OR THE SLOVENIAN RECEPTION OF THE LISBON EARTHQUAKE AT THE END OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
The overview of Slovenian songs about the Lisbon earthquake, compared to the responses of European intellectuals, thus indicates important changes in the attitude towards the world. It is exactly these songs and their subsequent fate that offer important conclusions at another level: the ideological changes that affected Europe (Gspan 1978: 171; Halter 2005) were followed by changes in the attitudes towards the songs that were related to foreign people and other nations.
After the death of Emil Korytko, the editor of the first collection of Slovenian folksongs, the songs about Lisbon were no longer found in standard folksong collections, although they were still largely preserved in transcriptions (Petelin 1875; Kokosar [no year]). Namely, in the second half of the nineteenth century the Slovenian concept of assessing and editing folksongs became stricter: because of the interconnections between the Slovenian and German cultures, which was primarily facilitated by the incorporation of Slovenian ethnic territory into the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, the opposition to foreign influences was one of the fundamental requirements of efforts in folklore studies. In the second half of the nineteenth century, this requirement was further enhanced due to ethnic tensions. The comprehensive collection of Slovenian folksongs, Slovenske narodnepesmi, whose first part edited by the Slavic studies professor Karel Strekelj was published in 1895 in Graz (Strekelj 1895), was very consistent in eliminating songs with a clear foreign influence. The song "Lisbon Flooded" thus cannot be found in Strekelj's collection.12
On 14 April of the same year (1895), Ljubljana was struck by an earthquake, which mostly caused property damage (Vidrih 2006: 22—24). However, although this earthquake could not be compared with the impact of the Lisbon earthquake, it evoked memories of it: in the newspaper Slovenski narod (Slovenian Nation), the Slovenian poet and writer Josip Stritar published the poem "Slovenska Lizbona" (The Slovenian Lisbon), which he also translated into German and published it the Viennese newspaper Neue Freie Presse a day earlier—that is, on 24 April. The poem brought considerable financial support to Ljubljana, which was also the purpose of these publications. It was also published in Croatian and Czech translation (Nepodpisano 1895: 385—387). However, Stritar's poem also shows that the Lisbon earthquake was still present in the consciousness of the Slovenians.
12 On this basis, the two songs about Lisbon were also excluded from the contemporary basic collection of Slovenian folksongs, as part of which five volumes of narrative songs have been published so far (SLP I—V, 1970-2007). This collection has complemented Strekelj's previous collection of Slovenian folksongs, but the songs about the Lisbon earthquake were not included in it, although they were known to the editors (Kumer 1976: 124). Exclusion of these songs demonstrates the durability of established folklore viewpoints, which considered the validation of national identity to be the goal of folklore studies.
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Stritar's poem "The Slovenian Lisbon" highlighted another aspect: the earthquake itself and its parallels with the Lisbon earthquake were intended to make Ljubljana famous. Stritar expressed this very directly in the fifth verse:
Ljubljana, prejpo svetu malo znana, Ljubljana, little known in the world in the past,
Thanks to Josip Stritar, this poem was also printed on a leaflet (Dolenc 1982: 115), in which he relied on the tradition of publishing these types of songs on leaflets. The poetic response to the Ljubljana earthquake thus symbolically concluded the story of the devastating 1775 Lisbon earthquake and the special Slovenian response to it. This is a story that, despite the geographic distance, left deep traces among Slovenians and in its own way provided a perspective not only on the completely unknown inhabitants of large and wealthy Lisbon, but also on the views of Slovenian folklore studies and in its assessment of the songs about the fate of distant nations.
Debeljak, Anton. 1932. Najstarejši slovenski letak. Življenje in svet 6 (26): 688-689. URN:NBN:SI:DOC-PVG5S6B5 from http://www.dlib.si
Dolenc, Janez. 1982. Pregled potresne motivike v slovenski književnosti. Jezik in slovstvo 27 (4): 113-118.
Gspan, Alfonz. 1978. Cvetnik slovenskega umetnega pesništvo do srede XIX. stoletja, I. knjiga. Ljubljana: Slovenska matica.
Halter, Martin. 2005. Kommt und schauet mit Erstaunen. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 26. 10., Copy in DVA, Folder Gr. I.
Klobčar, Marija. 2002. Štajerska slovesa - odsev družbene razslojenosti ali enakosti med ljudmi - Styrian farewell songs - a reflection of social stratification, or of equality amognst people. Traditiones 31
Kokošar, Ivan. s. a. Razne pesmi (narodne in znarodele) sebrane, Zvezek X. Zapuščina I. Kokošarja II, Pahorjev prepis zbirke, II. Mavrova zbirka. Arhiv GNI ZRC SAZU.
Korytko, Emil. 1839-1844. Slovenske pesmi krajnskiga naroda 1-5. Ljubljana: Jožef Blaznik.
Kramar, Franc. 1922-1926. Kako in kje sem nabiral slovenske narodne pesmi. Cerkveni glasbenik.
Kumer, Zmaga, et al. (ed.). 1970-2007. Slovenske ljudske pesmi (SLP) I-V. Ljubljana: Slovenska matica, Založba ZRC, ZRC SAZU.
Kumer, Zmaga. 1976. Zur Frage der Flugblatlieder in Slowenien..Jahbuchfür Volksliedforschung21: 114-125.
Imenovana redko med narodi! Zdaj, opustošena in razdejana, Zaslula boš povsod po ti nezgodi. Lizbono bodo te slovensko zvali, Rodovi pozni še te milovali
Rarely spoken of among nations!
Now, devastated and destroyed,
You'll become famous everywhere for this disaster.
You'll be called the Slovenian Lisbon,
And pitied by future generations. (Stritar 1895: 22)
REFERENCES
(2): 7-22.
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Leerssen, Joep. 2008. National Thought in Europe. Amsterdam: Japes. Nepodpisano. 1895. Ljubljanski potres. Ljubljanski zvon 11 (6): 382-387.
Meyers, Alan R. 1981. Famine Relief and Imperial Policy in Early Modern Marocco: the Political Functions of Public Health. American Journal of Public Health 71 (11): 1266-1273.
Novak, Vilko. 1986. Raziskovalci slovenskega življenja. Ljubljana: Cankarjeva založba.
Repež, Filip Jakob. 1775 [1770]. Romarsku drugu blagu. Videm: Murero.
Richter, Lukas (ed.). 1972. Die schreckliche Pulver-Explosion zu Harburg und andere Echte und Wahrhafte Moritaten. Berlin: Eulenspiegel Verlag, 5-7.
Stritar, Josip. 1895. Slovenska Lizbona. Ljubljanski zvon 15 (6): 329-330.
Štrekelj, Karel (ed). 1895. Slovenske narodne pesmi I. Ljubljana: Slovenska matica.
Torkar, Silvo. 1993. Najstarejša slovenska varianta Pegama in Lambergarja. Delo 35 (45): 13.
Turk, Alojz. 1933. »Pejem od Lisabone«. Življenje in svet 7 (2): 39. URN:NBN:SI:DOC-IUYHX6KZ from http://www.dlib.si
Vidrih, Renato. 2006. Obletnice katastrofalnih potresov. Življenje in tehnika 57 (6), 20-30.
Vodušek, Valens. 1970. Predgovor. V: Kumer, Zmaga et al. (ed.), Slovenske ljudske pesmi I: Pripovedne pesmi. Ljubljana: Slovenska matica v Ljubljani: VII-XXIII.
PESMI O LIZBONSKEM POTRESU ALI SLOVENSKI ODZIV NA ZGODBO O
NESREČI DRUGEGA
Zbiranje slovenskih ljudskih pesmi je dobilo v 19. stoletju izrazito nacionalnopromocijski značaj in je bilo namenjeno predstavitvi tistega izročila, v katerem so zapisovalci in uredniki prepoznavali nacionalno izvirnost. V prvi zbirki slovenskih ljudskih pesmi, Slovenske pesmi krajnskiga naroda, ki jo je s pomočjo slovenskih sodelavcev pripravil poljski emigrant Emil Korytko, pa sta bili leta 1844 objavljeni dve pesmi z naslovom Lisbona potopljena. Uvrstitev teh pesmi v nacionalno zbirko, ki je za Slovence zaradi tuje pesemske snovi presenetljiva, kaže na širši koncept urednika in na pomen te pesmi v slovenskem izročilu.
Pesmi se nanašata na siloviti potres 1. novembra leta 1755, ki je skoraj v celoti porušil Lizbono. Nastali sta kot del izjemne medijske odmevnosti tega dogodka, kar pa se v njiju kaže na različne načine. V prvi pesmi potres v Lizboni pesniku služi kot zgled, eksempel, na podlagi katerega dokazuje veljavnost krščanskega nauka in kliče k spreobrnjenju in pokori. Druga pesem je pozor-nejša do samega dogajanja; dogodek predstavlja z večjo empatijo za trpljenje ljudi in ga sklene s priprošnjo Mariji. Iz zapisov ni mogoče razbrati geneze pesmi, njuno odmevnost pa dokazujejo zapisi posameznih variant s konca 19. in celo z začetka 20. stoletja. Ne objave ne rokopisi teh pesmi pa ne vsebujejo podatkov o tem, za kateri potres v Lizboni gre in kako sta pesmi prišli na Slovensko.
Odgovore na to ponujajo starejši zapisi. V pesmarici Filipa Jakoba Repeža, ki je prvič izšla leta 1770, je v pesmi, namenjeni prošnji procesiji za dež, uporabljena melodija pesmi o lizbonskem
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potresu. Repežev sodobnik Jožef Ambrožič, organist v Dobrepolju na Dolenjskem, pa je v svojih zapisih pri štirih pesmih navedel, da se pojejo »na vižo Lizabone«. Zapisovalec ljudskih pesmi Franc Kramar, kije na začetku dvajsetega stoletja poročal o Ambrožičevem delu, je opozoril tudi na kontekst izvirne pesmi, torej na potres v Lizboni leta 1755. Objavil je tudi izvirno pesem in podatke o sami katastrofi.
Za razumevanje slovenskih pesmi o lizbonskem potresu je pomemben tudi širši evropski kontekst. Pregled dogajanja tem prostoru namreč kaže, da je siloviti potres v Lizboni prinesel prelom v več pogledih: pomenil je začetek globalne solidarnosti in medsebojne pomoči, zavedanje potrebe po preučevanju vzrokov in posledic potresa pa je sprožilo razvoj novih znanstvenih disciplin, kot so seizmografija, geologija, sociologija in drugih. Hkrati je v evropski miselni prostor vnesel dvom o božji pravičnosti, ki sta ga v svojih zapisih izrazila tudi Voltaire in Goethe. Znane slovenske variante pesmi o lizbonskem potresu o tem dvomu ne sporočajo ničesar. Razloge za to razkriva najdba slovenske predloge oziroma izvirnika, letaka, objavljenega leta 1932, ki se je ohranil na dvorcu Visoko pri Škofi Loki. Primerjava kaže, da je bila na letaku natisnjena pesem, ki je bila osnova za nastanek prve pesmi o lizbonskem potresu v Korytkovi zbirki. Pesmi je dodana molitev za vse žrtve potresa.
Medtem ko je torej lizbonski potres v evropski miselni prostor vnesel dvom o božji pravičnosti, je slovenski pesemski letak prinesel molitev za vse žrtve. Ta značilnost slovenske variante pesmi o potresu v Lizboni najbolj ločuje od odziva evropskih razumnikov: v času, ko je Evropa zaradi velike nesreče podvomila o božji pravičnosti, sta obe slovenski pesmi o lizbonskem potresu klicali k spreobrnitvi. Molitev je pomenila tudi duhovno pomoč vsem tistim, ki so umrli nenadne smrti. Vtem se slovenski letak ločuje tudi od vsebine te pesmi na drugih pesemskih letakov, najdenih v srednjeevropskem prostoru, zasnovanih kot poulične ali sejmarske pesmi.
Primerjava s tujimi primeri kaže, da so imeli pri širjenju in ohranjanju ali morda tudi pri ustvarjanju slovenskih pesmi o tem dogodku pomembno vlogo organisti. Vloga organistov pa ob ohranjenem slovenskem pesemskem letaku oziroma ob molitvi, ki je pesmi dodana, odpira še eno pomembno vprašanje: ali je šlo v tem primeru za slovensko posebnost ali pa je šlo morda za enega od odzivov na veliko nesrečo na Portugalskem, povsem nasprotnega od dvoma, ki je tedaj zaznamoval evropske razumnike. Iskanje tega odgovora pa ne razkriva le posledic potresa v Lizboni, temveč odnos do sveta nasploh oziroma njegovo spreminjanje.
Spreminjal pa se ni le odnos do sveta, temveč tudi odnos do pesmi, ki so se nanašale na ustvarjalnost, povezano z drugimi narodi. Po smrti Emila Korytka, urednika prve zbirke slovenskih ljudskih pesmi, pesmi o Lizboni na Slovenskem ni več zaslediti v tiskani obliki, temveč le še v prepisih. V drugi polovici 19. stoletja se je na Slovenskem namreč koncept presojanja oziroma urejanja ljudskih pesmi zaostril: zaradi prepletenosti slovenske kulture z nemško je bilo nasprotovanje tujim vplivom ena od temeljnih zahtev folklorističnih prizadevanj. Ta zahteva se je v drugi polovici 19. stoletja zaradi nacionalnih nasprotovanj stopnjevala. Velika zbirka slovenskih ljudskih pesmi, Slovenske narodne pesmi, ki jo je leta 1895 začel izdajati Karel Štrekelj, je bila pri izločanju pesmi s prepoznavnim tujim vplivom zelo dosledna. V Štrekljevi zbirki tako pesem Lizbona potopljena zaman iščemo. Na lizbonski potres in na spomin nanj pa je prav v
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letu izida prvega zvezka Štrekljeve zbirke opozoril slovenski pesnik in pisatelj Josip Stritar, ki je v časopisu slovenski narod objavil pesem »Slovenska Lizbona«, predstavljenem tudi v tujini. Primerjava ljubljanskega potresa z lizbonskim je v Stritarjevi pesmi Ljubljani prinesla precejšnjo finančno pomoč. Pesem hkrati dokazuje, da je bil lizbonski potres v tem času v zavesti Slovencev še vedno navzoč. Stritar je poskrbel tudi za natis te pesmi na letaku, s čimer se je naslonil na tradicijo objavljanja pesmi te vrste na letakih. Pesemski odziv na ljubljanski potres je tako simbolično sklenil zgodbo o potresu, ki ga je leta 1775 sprožila velika katastrofa v Lizboni, in zgodbo o slovenskem odzivu nanj.
Assist. prof. Marija Klobčar, zRC sAzu, Institute of Ethnomusicology Novi trg 2, sI-1000 Ljubljana, marija.klobcar@zrc-sazu.si
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