Cyprus, as I Saw It in 1879Baker, Samuel White, Sir
History
Cyprus, as I Saw It in 1879
Baker, Samuel White, Sir
Cyprus -- Description and travel
During my sojourn at Trooditissa no arrivals of despairing wives
occurred, but in the exhausted conditions of the finance throughout the
island, it would have been the height of folly to have desired an
increase of family, and thereby multiply expenses; possibly the
uncertainty respecting the permanence of the English occupation may
deter the ladies, who may postpone their pilgrimage to the monastery
until their offspring should be born with the rights of British
subjects.
I have described the origin of the ecclesiastical retreat at Trooditissa
as nearly as possible according to the viva-voce history related by the
monks. It is impossible to gauge the opinions of the world, as
individuals differ as much in nervous structure and in theological
creeds as they do in personal appearance; some may accept the monks'
belief implicitly, while others may suggest that the original occupant
of the cave was some unknown hermit secluded from the world, whose
solitary lamp burning before the Virgin had attracted the attention of
the shepherds from the mountain opposite. The old man may have fallen
down a precipice and died, leaving his lamp still alight; but it would
be unfair to interfere with the original legend, which must remain with
the usual clouds and uncertainties that obscure the tales of centuries.
About 250 feet above the monastery the ridge of a spur afforded a level
space beneath some tall pines which threw a welcome shade, and would
have been a convenient camping-ground. This spot was occupied by the
roughest of log-huts, which had been erected by a shepherd as his summer
residence when the goats should be driven from the low ground to the
mountain pasture. This man was originally a Turk, and formed one of a
peculiar sect known in Cyprus as Linobambaki (linen and cotton). These
people are said to be converts to Christianity, but in reality they have
never been troubled with any religious scruples, and accordingly never
accommodate their principles to the society of their neighbourhood. In a
Turkish village the Linobambaki would call himself by a Turkish name, as
Mahomet, or Hassan, &c., while in a Christian community he would pass as
Michael or Georgy, or by other Greek appellations. The name "linen and
cotton" applied to them is expressive of their lukewarmness and
time-serving, their religious professions fluctuating according to the
dictates not of conscience, but personal interest. It is supposed that
about 1500 of these people exist in various parts of Cyprus; they are
baptised in the Greek Church, and can thus escape conscription for
military service according to Turkish law. The goatherd upon our
mountain had been a Turkish servant (shepherd) in a Greek family, and
had succeeded in gaining the heart of his master's daughter, whom he was
permitted to marry after many difficulties. This woman must have been
very beautiful when young, as, in spite of hard work and exposure, she
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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