Małyjurek, Jura [Jiří]

Born and lived in Jaworzynka [SW of Istebna], he was the son of gajdziorz [piper] / builder Andrzej. Like the other inhabitants of his village and the nearby mountain villages, he occupied himself with shepherding, worked in a "szałas" [a pastoral wooden mountain shed/shelter; ws], and was a farmer; In winter, he was employed as a lumberjack, cutting trees and bringing wood from the forest; He started playing the Gajdy in his childhood, and played all his life at weddings and all major social events; Even though he had several competitors from neighbouring villages, he was a well-known and respected piper in the entire region; Because it was, at that time, impossible to earn a living for a family by playing music at weddings, he sometimes went together with his wife, who was an excellent cook, so he sang and played, and his wife cooked the wedding dishes; As the region was not densely populated, one played mainly for acquaintances, doing them a friendly favour; Vladislav (Vladek) Zogata (*1931) remembers that "alcohol was very expensive at the time, so they borrowed [sic; in Polish: "pożyczali"; ws] an "achtlik" [i.e. a 2,906 litre vessel; ws] of alcohol, and sat, sang and played all day"; Vladek is the eldest son of Pavel Zogata "Gajdek" (CZ), who was the great-grandson of Jura, whose name is spelt Jiří Maľyjurek on an official (and therefore reliable) internet page of Český Těšín; NB: ➺ Jan Małyjurek "Klimasek", and Jura Zogata.