Traditions and folklore in Birgu

Abstract

The growing interest in Malta's cultural heritage is motivated not only by public awareness of the need for the conservation of the natural environment and of historic buildings and monuments, but also by a concern to discover more about traditional customs, beliefs and behaviour which are felt to be characteristic of the people as a whole. This process of discovery normally implies a search for the traditional ways which are often accepted or taken for granted and unconsciously transmitted from one generation to another.' Continuity is vital for the preservation of tradition. Destruction or demolition of buildings may affect this continuity even if they are eventually replaced by new edifices. So also does prolonged interruption due to movement or temporary dispersal of the inhabitants of an area, especially if it is small in size. In our approach to the subject before us, we find that these two elements exist in the case of Birgu and that over a period of more than four decades they have greatly weakened and eroded the tentacles of tradition. One has to remember that tradition as a living expression of folklife, beliefs and customs in this maritime city received a serious setback during the Second World War (1940-45). Situated as it is next to the Dockyard, Birgu was severely damaged by frequent air bombardment; its inhabitants had to leave their home-town hurriedly to seek refuge in less exposed towns and villages, and by the time many of them returned, following years of reconstruction of ruined houses, tradition had been interrupted and several customs and practices all but forgotten. By and large, the generation that came to live in post-War Birgu was not made up of real bearers of tradition, and among them there were outsiders who had no ties whatever with the locality and who had only found their way there to solve their housing problem. In the circumstances, one can easily understand how certain traditional practices that were formerly observed during the year were not revived or resumed. In some respects, the material presented here depicts the folklore scene of an age that is gone. All the same, the exercise serves a useful purpose, piecing together for record purposes the various facets of traditional life in Birgu in the past. In stressing the historical dimension, our approach may also foster a sense of identity which Birgu shares with its neighbouring cities as part of a wider and common tradition bridging both time and space.