Oleska Dovbush

One of the most famous brigands of all time.

http://members.tripod.com/warholic/Dovbush.htm
http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/pages/D/O/DovbushOleksa.htm
http://ybilak.free.fr/carpathians-dovbush-360-b.htm
http://faculty.gvsu.edu/nikitin/Dovbush.html

From: On the High Uplands
Sagas, Songs, Tales and Legends of the Carpathians
by Stanislaw Vincenz
Dobosz and St Elias
pg 76
When they roade out on to the nearest upland they heard a deep thunder in the mountains, coming from the Wallachian side. As the old rhyme says of the [...]

Dancing with Brigands

From: On the High Uplands
Sagas, Songs, Tales and Legends of the Carpathians
by Stanislaw Vincenz

The Kruhlek
pg 39
….There is a very old dance called the ‘kruhlek”, in which the dancers whirl round with raised axes. Both the ‘kruhlek” and the festive dances at Christmas-time reveal how much significance the weapon had in old time dance. The old [...]

On Fighting

On Fighting On the High Uplands
Sagas, Songs, Tales and Legends of the Carpathians
by Stanislaw Vincenz
pg 50
So far as free fights, duels, head splittings and bone breakings were concerned, we know that no one thought them particularly wicked. obduracy in a quarrel is evil, but not the quarrell itself. if the enemies [...]

Tales and traditions of Hungary, by F. and T. Pulszky 1851

The Hungarian robber is usually nothing else
than a homeless outlaw. On some unfortunate
occasion, perhaps, when a quarrel has arisen in
the tavern over a bottle of wine, he has not
precisely enough estimated the force of the blows
given by his fokos,* and has killed his comrade,
whom he intended merely to thrash. …..Amongst the ” Poor Lads,” (for [...]

The Century: A Popular Quarterly 1908

He
is a rugged fellow, rather big for a mountaineer,
muscular and alert, and scant of words. His rough, weather-beaten countenance, with two deep, parallel scars across his nose and high cheek-bones, shines with deep-set, wolfish eyes, squinting from under his mushroom-shaped hat, shiny from frequent contact with milk and butter, and commonly surmounted with an eagle’s [...]

Travels in Hungary: With a Short Account of Vienna in the Year 1793 by Robert Townson – Hungary – 1797

I reached my rock; which in
this fituation I valued no lefs than an inn, and which I now began
to confider as my home ; but my guide never made his appearance
till next morning. He had fortunately his hatchet with him, and
without this you never fee a man here ; fo much fo, that in another
part [...]

The Century: A Popular Quarterly 1906

The gorale always carries in his hand a
ciupaga, or tomahawk-like ax on a long
shaft, used as a cane, as a tool, or as a
weapon, which, with the quarrelsome disposition
of the men, often causes trouble.

Legendary ways to join a band of brigands

Mirroring the traditions of the Irish FIanna, the prospective members of a Carpathian brigand band would have to pass a series of tests to prove they were worthy. Here are a few examples from period texts.
The English Illustrated Magazine 1888:
“Yanosik had twelve bandits under him, and every man that wanted to join his band had [...]

The Living Age 1859

The spirit of Mexico abounds
amongst the boys. A distinct code of honour prevails
here. Treachery when discovered is rewarded.
Fire issuing from the windows and doors of one of the
small inns reveals the fact that the owner has been
weighed in the balances and found wanting. I was
told that the csikds drive away strange animals without
compunction, and at [...]

Another snippet from “MAGYARLAND;” BEING THE NARRATIVE 0F 0UR TRAVELS THR0UGH THE HIGHLANDS 1881

Climbing with the aid of the Tatra staff — a strong hatchet-
headed stick, with which we are each provided, and which
every one uses on this northern side of
the mountains — we catch hold of roots and
branches of trees, and ascend the precipitous
mountain that would otherwise have
been impossible to climb.