|
The families who live in the Colma,
some of them since the beginning of the 1800, are: the Amesanos,
the Angelino, the Ariotti, the Campagnola, the Caprioglio
(originally Capriolo, as the historical municipal Archive
testifies), the Francia, the Morbelli, the Ramezzana, the
Ricossa, the Rosso, the Piccinini, the Valeggia, the Spadaccia;
the Caprioglio family is the most numerous, and it is made
up by at least ten family members, almost all more or less
related one to the others.
"Balavu tla curt" (dance at
the farmyard)
During the following years, between the two World Wars,
there was a strong emigration from the inhabitants of the
village, especially towards Australia and America, who were
looking for a better life.
Many people coming from the Colma held the office of Major
of Rosignano at the beginning of the last century, among
the others: Damaso Caprioglio and Eligio Caprioglio and,
more recently Ernani Caprioglio and Luigi Patrucco.
the Saint’s Patron Day
At the beginning of the ‘900 the main occasions of
diversion were few, the Saint’s Patron Day represented
the most important event and also the most eagerly awaited.
Men had the task to make the ballroom platform (rigorously
in wood), whereas the women made the lunch of the “di’
d’la festa” (the Saint’s Patron Day).
On this occasion, relatives came from all over the county:
some spent there all the three days’ period of the
feast, some others stayed just for the Sunday’s lunch.
In the forthcoming week, the ice man seller passed by and
supplied with the blocks of ice all the villagers (the so
called “paracar ad giasa”, literally, “ice
wayside stop”). The big piece of ice was put into
a wooden wash tub and covered with straw. On the top of
it leaned the meat and the vegetables to be preserved.
The menu was the one typical of the village: sliced sausages
(house made and kept hanged to threads, stuck on the ceiling,
in the most fresh rooms), “fritto misto” (“the
friccia”) made up by liver, lungs, haunches, calf’s
brains, loaves of meat (“lacet”), semolina,
amaretti, potatoes and carrots; all these hors d’oeuvre
were followed by agnolotti filled with rabbit meat and “cotechino”
(kind of spiced Italian sausage served warm) with savoy
vegetables, mixed of boiled meat, endive salad and finally
trifles with chocolate.
the ballroom platform
We have also to stress on the fact that for the inhabitants
of the Colma this Saint Patron’s Day was so important
that some ancient inhabitants still remember that in recent
times (in the second half of the XX century) it was also
engaged the Orchestra Angelini (very famous in Piedmont)
to feast the event. On the other hand, during the rest of
the year, to enjoy themselves the inhabitants of the Colma
say that it is just enough to have an accordion in the courtyard
to make feast.
|
"La butega" (the store) |
The trade core of the village was for many years the “butega”
the store (beforehand there was only a cooperative store).
In the second half of the XX century it was situated within
the house of Ceci Caprioglio (“an s’la Curma”,
“on the top of the Colma”) and was managed by
the couple Luparia, who was followed then by the Angelino
couple. Some years later, the butega moved to the beginning
of the village and there stayed until the moment of its
definitive closing up. |
The butega, as well as having the
main features of a drugstore (you could find everything:
food, animal feed, tobacco, the “giabot” the
sabots, and even the “sciufetta da buta al previ”,
that is the warming pan) it was a truly aggregation and
meeting centre for those women who went making their household
expenses; for men it was the place where, in the evenings
they met and played cards. To sum up, it was the ideal place
where to have a chat and update on the latest events of
the community.
"Al boci" (the game of bowls)
Once or twice in a year came the “Matè”.
He was a pedlar with a chart dragged by a mule who sold
cloth, bottoms, yarn and goods such as soap or perfumes:
women, curious and attracted by the goods, formed a knot
of people around that chart.
Every Thursday came “Teresa dal pe ad cunin”.
Teresa pushed her bicycle up and down the slope and yelled
“strasi e pe ad cunin!” that means “rags
and rabbit leather”; on the rack of his bicycle, hanged
by the hook of the rack itself, she had rabbit leathers
safeguarded in the straw and, though turned, these leathers
showed the original colour of the skins of the poor rabbits:
grey, white, or striped white and black; memento of the
animals which ended their life on the tables of their owners.
Teresa gave 1 lira for each leather and people remind that
children always tried to steal the leathers, hanged on the
strings of the washing out, to bring them to Teresa and
gain their own lira.
bridal procession
An s' la Curma
(on the top of the Colma)
The large square situated on the top of the hill, where
the street started descending, is called “An s’la
Curma” (on the top of the Colma); for its position
and shape, it gave hospitality to the main part of the collective
events: in that area it was lightened the “Carvà”
(the carnival bonfire); on the same place it was organised
the wooden platform ball for the Saint Patron’s Day
(Saint Bartholomew, August 24th) and, on the same place,
they played the game of bowls on Sundays; finally “an
s’la Curma” stopped the rare cars which were
waiting for the end of the wedding cerimonies: a little
bride procession accompanied the bride to the Rosignano
parish church.
breaking the earthenware
pots (“rompi al pignati”)
The call up feast
Every year, the people of the same conscription feasted
the “call up” day: they passed by with flags
and caps from house to house and the celebration culminated
in songs and dances. On that occasion, they played also
games such as the one which consisted of breaking the earthenware
pots (“rompi al pignati”).
1919 and 1920 call up day
Winter entertainments
|
the snow |
In winter nature rests and, in a way, the same do peasants.
The activities diminished and the main commitment was looking
after the cattle and to “rmunda i sals” (“to
clean the willows”). “Rmunda i sals” was
an afternoon activity and was done inside the cowsheds.
The peasants prepared the willows which would have served
in spring to tie the grapevines; further to their cleaning
up, the willows were divided into different measures (“salset”,
“sals”, “torci”), according to their
final destination.
Then, the snow arrived. The snowplough did not surely exist
in the modern sense of the term: it was simply a blade with
a “V” form (“la luva”), dragged
by a couple of horses, which had to clean all the streets
of the village, that’s why the men, equipped with
shovels and besoms, in a sort of game, gave their great
contribution in the cleaning up. |
The snow exalted also the artistic vein of Alfredo Morbelli
(the son of the painter), who succeeded in modelling a gigantic
Giuseppe Garibaldi with his pipe!
"Garibaldi" of snow by
Alfredo Morbelli
More recently, the villagers
created ski runs and Mr. Ceci, with his tractor, acted as
a skilift all day long from the Terruggia valley to the
Colma village.
ski runs
The school
In the Colma village never existed a place where to host
a school. At the turn of the century, and for a long time,
children went to school to Terruggia. Afterwards, a new
school in Garriano was built, another little village depending
from Rosignano 2 km far from the Colma. Since ’40s
till the ‘70s (when the school closed for lack of
pupils) that was the school of the little pupils coming
from the Colma village.
They left the village in groups, and descending towards
the little chapel, they passed from house to house to call
the others, and little by little the group increased. The
joyful company always found the way to waste time along
the wide road on their way to school. In spring they looked
for violets and primula flowers (“pan dal Signur”),
in autumn they stole apples from the trees, in winter they
sorted out from the troughs (they contained the water used
during the summer to give the copper sulphate to the grapes,
and during this season they were frozen) wheels of ice and
let them roll down the road. If it snowed during the night,
the following morning one or more dads would have leaded
the group of children with a shovel and paved the way to
the little party till to Garriano. As it had snowed, children
could eat lunch at school and it was a great event!
the first day of school
Every day, people went along this main street at least
four times a day, and coming back, people passed in the
Lucchina Region, where during the ’50s the Eternit
industry was opened because there were some mines from which
they extracted cement rock. The blowing up of the mines
was announced by the sound of a horn and from time to time
children had to stop, coming back from school, and wait
the blowing up of the mines which caused the land to tremble
under their feet. When they heard the sound of the horn
they could go on their way home. During the ‘70s,
in that mine area, by the time abandoned (it is still visible
the deep wound on the southern side of the hill, just below
the castle), a lake formed. Being its bottom white, due
to the white colour of the tuff, it conferred to the water
an emerald green colour. For a long time, people could:
steer along the lake, swim and rear fishes, then, spontaneously
as it came out, the lake disappeared.
the lake in the quarry
<<
back
|
