The article presents the results of the social-anthropological field research realized in the town of Tachov and several adjacent villages (especially Lesná, Mýto). It focuses on the mapping of the so called small history, identified through the biographical method, that is, stories related to the lives of the interviewed persons. It analyzes the situation during and after the return migration and final settlement of the region, as it is presented in the memories of the participants of the provesses of settlement, as well as their descendants. The article is structured into several blocks according to the priorities of the narratives, ascertained during the field research. These priorities are: memories of the industry of the pre-war era, the theme of return migrants and settlers, their integration and mutual relations with other ethnic groups. At the same time, it was possible to create an image of the spontaneous tale-telling repertoire. The main purpose of the research was to follow-up with the researches of the region realized in the 1970s and 1980s and to supplement them with new data.
The oral tradition preserved several dozens of folk songs that arose out of the broadside ballads. In these cases the broadside ballad was shortened, the strophes that included verses and formulations not reflecting the popular experience were omitted and the vulgar words replaced by formulations typical for folk song. The tolkative character of the broadside ballad was substituted by the concise way of folk song. The texts were supplemented by folk melodies. These statements can be proved by the case of the song Such a sorrow I have, cloth trousers… that arose out of the broadside ballad. This folk song existed in many textual and melodic variants and under various incipits on the whole territory of Bohemia and parts of Moravia and Slovakia. Some formulations in the broadside ballad indicate its origin in the period of 1811–1816, while the folk song appeared for the first time in the collection of K. J. Erben from the year 1864. In published and manuscript collections were ascertained in the whole 23 textual and 18 melodic variants. The tunes come out of the traditional melodies and usually imitated some concrete folk song. The songs are mostly dance songs, in triple time, mostly in the rhythm of „sousedská“, ländler or round-and-round („kolečko“). The instrumental recordings of closing parts of some songs as well as the notes of the collectors prove that these songs accompanied the dance at dance evenings or weddings. Their humorous text and dance rhythm probably contributed to their popularity and wide spreading, especially on occasions of high-spirited wedding celebrations. The song had been preserved in oral tradition, in numerous variants, for almost 200 years, and this constitutes one of the main attributes of a folk song.
The case study presents the analysis of Slávo markrabství (Oh, Glory of Margraviate), a folk spiritual song celebrating St. Cyril and Methodius, the patron saints of Moravia. The song was recorded in 1906 according to oral interpretation on the village of Vnorovy in Moravia. The author investigates the relationship between function, history, and music in the document.