11.   Bells Of Bastabales     (Campanas de Bastabales)

Spelling Note

Another acceptable way of spelling "Bastabales" is "Bastavales"; the name derives from the Latin, "vasta vallis," meaning "vast valley."

Typographical Error In the Original

Original line 1.5.1 reads, "Non me roubaron, traidores," which makes stanzas 1.5-1.6 say, "Treacherous loves sweetly mad alas! / Sweetly mad loves alas! / Did not abduct me. / For love has fled / And loneliness arrived... / Consuming me with grief." The statement is incongruous and begs the question, "Then who abducted the protagonist?" Changing one crucial vowel in line 1.5.1. clears up the confusion. What Rosalía de Castro wrote in fact was: "Non me roubaran, traidores," and the typesetter mistook the highlighted "a" for an "o" and the error is understandable because De Castro's caligraphy sometimes produced a's that look like o's when joined to a consonant (see the fifth entry of the section "YouTube Videos" below).

Historical Background

De Castro was the daughter of Father José Martínez Viojo and María Teresa da Cruz de Castro e Abadía. Father Viojo was born in 1798 in the hamlet of Ortoño and he died at the age of seventy-three in the small parish of Iria Flavia on the outskirts of the town of Padrón which is 10 km away from Ortoño. María Teresa was born in 1804 in Iria Flavia and she died at the age of fifty-seven in the city of Santiago de Compostela, 20 km away.¹ This family background explains why De Castro spent some time in Ortoño, Padrón and Santiago de Compostela.

The bells of Bastavales are audible in Ortoño which is 3 km away, but they are not audible in Padrón or in Santiago de Compostela. Hence De Castro must have lived in Ortoño long enough to retain a conscious remembrance of the bells. It is certain that she was cared for there until the age of four. Then she was sent to live with her mother and go to school in the town of Padrón. This poem certifies that she returned to Ortoño during the summer holidays and her frequent allusion to the river Sar testifies that the child had a wonderful time playing on its banks. Moreover the Viojo family hailed from Bastavales, guaranteeing that she went there to visit her relatives. Indeed the conviction persists among some neighbours that De Castro eventually took up residence in Soigrexa a place downslope from the church (xensboy, uploader of a Youtube video entitled, "The ringing bells of Bastavales in the summer of 2010," since removed).

Father Viojo and María Teresa kept seeing each other after the birth of their illegitimate daughter. He was chaplain of the Collegiate Church of Iria Flavia, 2 km from Padrón where María Teresa lived. The following excerpt of a letter written in 1923 demonstrates that De Castro knew her father. The writer cites Father Viojo's niece,

When she [the writer's aunt] was 19 years old in the spring of 1859, my aunt returned from school at noon and went as usual into the house where she lived with her uncle, and she bumped into Rosalía chatting with her father in the living room. She retired prudently, it was the first time that she had seen her cousin. She told me that her first impression [of De Castro] was that of a good-enough girl, neither very pretty nor homely, tall and charming.²

To plot the trip taken by the protagonist of "Campanas de Bastabales" the reader must accept the premise that "yonder" (1.4.2-3) is Ortoño or more generally the valley known as Val da Mahía which encompasses both Ortoño and Bastavales. The protagonist no longer dwells there and she must cross hillocks to reach the valley (2.1.2). Where does she dwell now? Section V provides the important clue that the clouds rush toward her house (5.1.2-3). The usual direction of strong winds accompanied by cloudy weather in Val da Mahía is southwesterly or westerly. Therefore her home must lie east of Bastavales, be within walking distance and beyond a range of hills. The city of Santiago de Compostela is the only one of De Castro's known addresses that fits. Thus the poem depicts a journey from the city of Santiago de Compostela to the hamlet of Bastavales.

"Campanas de Bastabales" has the following background script. Section I voices De Castro's regret at having left Bastavales lured by her "treacherous, sweetly mad love" (for Manuel Murguía). The couple married in Madrid in 1858 and settled down in Santiago de Compostela the following year.³ Section II starts her real or imagined walk from the city to her beloved hamlet. In sections III and IV the protagonist exults as she strolls toward Bastavales. Surprisingly she does not reach her destination. Nightfall finds her seated on a small boulder by the trail, a cue that the trip is partly fictitious. Section V reflects De Castro's anguish at having been left alone in her new home. The neighbours are uncaring ("without a friend") her husband is away ("for whom I live pining") and her mother dead ("everyone has departed").⁴ Under this script the Ave María of the last two stanzas is rung by the bells of St. James' Cathedral in Santiago de Compostela. In addition the peculiar dashed line found on this section may indicate the excision of lines that are too revealing.

Affectionate Diminutives

• airiños. Dim. of "aires" (breezes, winds) translated "kind breezes" to personify the comfort they bring to the protagonist. Other options: caring breezes, light winds.
• camiño (path, route, trail, way). Not a diminutive.
• campaniñas. Dim. and pl. of "campana" (bell) translated "dear bells." Other options: beloved bells, cherished bells, darling bells, precious bells, wonderful bells.
• casiñas. Dim. and pl. of "casa" (house) translated "small houses." The affectionate option, "little houses," is not appropriate because the neighbours are uncaring, she is left "without company or friend" (5.2.3).
• fontiñas. Dim. and pl. of "fonte" (fountain) translated "dear fountains." Other options: good fountains, little fountains, popular springs, refreshing fountains. A typical "fountain" of the Galician countryside consisted of a pipe incrusted in rock to serve as a spout for human consumption and a sink underneath to serve as a watering hole for the cattle.
• lixeiriña. Dim. of "lixeira" (brisk, fast, nimble) translated "fleet-footed" to anticipate the comparison to a she-goat made on the next line of the poem.
• mañanciña (early morning hours). Not an affectionate diminutive.
• paseniño (leisurely). Not an affectionate diminutive.
• paxariños. Dim. and pl. of "paxaro" (bird) translated "little...birds." The phrase connotes size and affection.
• pedriña. Dim. of "pedra" (boulder, rock, stone) translated "small boulder." Ambiguous. It could also refer to a capstone on a stonewall marking out the boundaries of a small plot of land; these stonewalls were ubiquitous in the Galician countryside.
• tiña (past tense of "ter," to have). Not a diminutive.
• toliños. Dim. and pl. of "tolo" (crazy, disturbed, mad) translated "sweetly mad." Other options: blissfully naive, delightfully droll, innocently foolish, laughably ludicrous, pitiably insane.

Explanation of some words, terms or expressions

Soidades (refrain, line 3). The best translation may be "to have the blues." Soidá, saudade is dejection triggered by solitude, separation or frustration. At the beginning of the poem "soidades" bespeaks her longing to see Bastavales, at the close her loneliness.

as laradas das casiñas (5.3.2). It was customary to kindle a small blaze (larada) by the gate of a house to protect the hearth from evil spirits or natural dangers.¹

The call of the Ave María (5.3.6). That is the Angelus which was rung three times a day: 6:00 AM, noon and 6:00 PM.

YouTube Videos

Troubadour and songwriter Amancio Prada arranged sections I and III of the poem (first two entries); the audio of the first entry is from the 1997 album Rosas a Rosalía; the audio of the second entry is from the 1991 album Trovadores, Místicos y Románticos.

Uxía arranged section III of the poem with her own melody (third entry).

Soprano María Orán and the Extremadura Symphony Orchestra offer an operatic interpretation of section I (fourth entry).