Partridge and mirror

Two mosaics done by the same craftsman, or a proof of the existence of a Roman "fashionable mosaics copy book"? I will leave this to others to ponder...

This one is from Empuries, Spain. 

This one is from Pompeii, Italy.

The bird, red legged partridge, is depicted picking a mirror from jewellery basket...Why? Let's talk about partridges...

Partridge is known for its mad passionate mating. It starts at the beginning of spring, in February with loud love songs. It culminates in March with mad fighting for females. The shagging continues into April. So it basically spans the whole of spring...

This is what made partridge the symbol of spring...And one of the calendar markers meaning spring. Like on this Levantine water vessel which depicts the rain season: winter  (Nov-Jan, Ibex mating season), spring (Feb-Apr, Partridge mating season)

I talked about this vessel in my post "Goats and partridges"...

The result of partridge's spring sex madness is the biggest clutch of eggs that any bird in Europe lays...This all made partridge and its eggs a symbol of fertility...Here are partridges with their eggs (painted!!!) on Minoan frescoes from Knossos...

I talked about this in my post "Painted eggs from Knossos"...

The above depictions are of one of three very similar types of partridges: "Rock partridge", "Chukar partridge", "Red legged partridge"...

Now, in Serbian the name for partridge is "jarebica", a word without official etymology, but which most likely comes from "jar" (spring, youth) + "jebica" (fucker 🙂)...Fitting, right? This is the kind of partridge most common in Serbia and the rest of Balkans including Greece, grey partridge...

I talked about this in my post "Partridge"...

That this etymology is most likely right, can be seen from the fact that Serbian name for chukar partridge is "kamenjarka" (stone bird, due to it living in the coastal rocky areas)...This is also an euphemism for a whore...Fitting again I think...

There is someone else who goes through the same passionate courtship at the same time as partridges. Young spring earth. She is born at the beginning of February, the first day of spring. She gets more and more beautiful as the spring progresses...

She is courted by the young sun, who is born on winter solstice "in the land of the dead" (winter). He arrives from the land of the dead with the returning migratory birds...

He is welcomed by a beautiful young spring earth...Their courtship during the spring is nothing else but "jarjeb" meaning "spring fucking", the "union" of the young sun and young earth. It is this union that produces all life and all the bounty of summer and autumn...

This is why in South Slavic folklore, partridge is found in wedding rituals...There is a Croatian ceremonial wedding "play" called "traženje jarebice" (looking for partridge) which was first recorded in 17th century...

The ritual was performed like this: 

When groom's retinue arrived at the bride's house to take her away, bride's father would ask them who they were and what they came for. The leader of the groom's party would answer that they were looking for a partridge...

The bride's father would then say that he hasn't seen any partridge. The groom's party would then insist on checking for themselves that the bride's father was telling the truth. The bride's father then lets the groom's party in...

The bride's father then brings out the oldest woman in the house who is holding a flour sieve on her head and asks the groom's party if that is the partridge they were looking for?

When the groom's party say that it wasn't, the bride is brought out and the groom's party exclaim that it is her they were looking for...The groom's party then takes the bride to the church to get married...

You can see that this ritual directly links partridge to female fertility. The groom is looking for a fertile young wife, and this is what partridge represents....

But the partridge is also a symbol for a fertile young earth. The fact that the old woman, which was brought out first, holds a flour sieve on her head, shows that women in this play also represent the Mother Earth, the mother of grain...

The bride is the spring earth, young and fertile, bearing young grain and ready to give birth to it...

The old woman is the winter earth, the old hag, the earth who has already bore her fruit and is about to die and be reborn...Into spring earth, the bride...

Which is what the Snow-white fairytale talks about: 

In the original story about the Snow-White, it is the mother and not the step mother who is jealous of the girl and who, disguised as an old woman, kills her with a poisoned apple...That is very interesting...

Every year, a beautiful mother, disguised as an old woman, kills her even more beautiful daughter with an apple. The dead daughter then lies dead in a "crystal coffin" until a young prince comes by and revives her. Two of them then get married. Except this is not a happy end...

The beautiful daughter becomes a beautiful woman and has even more beautiful daughter, who she kills out of jealousy, with an apple, disguised as an old woman...And so on and so forth...Endlessly, year after year...

What we have here is the story of Earth going through seasons: Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter, Spring...

Beautiful young Spring Earth becomes bountiful Summer and Autumn Earth. Still beautiful, but in no way as beautiful as the Young Spring Earth...

Because of the cyclical nature of the solar year, Autumn Earth is the mother of Spring Earth of the next solar year. As Autumn ends, and the crab apples are the last fruit left on the trees, Autumn Earth turn into Old Hag Winter Earth, who "kills" her own younger self...

Dead Earth lies in her icy coffin until Young Spring Sun arrives. He sees beautiful Spring Earth under the ice, falls in love with her and revives her. Spring Earth, marries Spring Sun...

But seasons pass, Spring Earth turns into Summer Earth and then into Autumn Earth and then into Winter Earth...And the story repeats itself...Luckily, every spring, Young Sun arrives to save the day 🙂...

I talked about this in my post "Snow White"...

This same thing is also found in Scottish folklore:

In Gaelic, the word Cailleach means both an old woman and the last sheaf of wheat and the corn dolly made from it. Corn dolly (maiden) which represents Mother Earth, the life (grain) giving mother...

I talked about this in my post "Old woman of the mill dust"

And the same theme is found in Slovenian folk play in which and old woman is transformed through milling into a young maiden...

I talked about this in my post "Babji mlin"...

Remember the flour sieve from the Croatian wedding ritual?

My favorite example of the link between female and earth (grain) fertility comes from Russia. In the past, after the last sheaf of grain was cut, women harvesters would lie down on the ground and roll around the field "to return the strength to the earth". 

Fallowed by this ritual from Ireland which symbolically links the land (grain sheaves) and female fertility (bride). These are Strawboys who used to call at the home of the bride on her wedding day. Co Sligo. Ireland. Early 1900s. (National Museums of Northern Ireland).

I talked about this in my posts "Walking sheafs of wheat"... 

The link between female and earth fertility and partridges can be seen in these two "funny" (actually ritual) songs from Croatia and Macedonia:

This is the beginning of a wedding song, recorded in Poljci in Croatia, which describes the wedding feast:

I brought my bride home and gave her dinner.

First evening she ate a partridge

Second evening she ate two pigeons and a quail

Third evening she ate three doves, two pigeons and a quail

Fourth evening she ate four ducks, three doves, two pigeons and a quail...

This is obviously a ritual song performed during a ritual feast. The marriage was supposed to result in many children. Which is why a partridge, symbol of sex and fertility, is the first thing given to the bride to eat...

Basically through this act, the fertility of partridge is supposed to be passed onto the bride. The fact that the bride then keeps eating all the animals that a fertile land might give birth to shows that this is about earth fertility too...

This is a beginning of a song from Macedonia: 

A grandmother sat down to eat.

She first ate a partridge but was still hungry. 

Then she ate a partridge and two pigeons, but was still hungry. 

Then a partridge, two pigeons and three fried chicken - still not full....

You can find the full songs in my post "Partridge"...

The word for grandmother in South Slavic languages is "Baba". This word means mother, grandmother, midwife...but also Mother Goddess, Mother Earth...I talked about this in my post "Baba's day"...

In South Slavic folklore, the young earth is represented by the goddess Vesna. Her name means Spring. She is the goddess of youth and female fertility. And the twin sister and lover of Jarilo, the young sun, whose name means Spring too (among other things)...

I believe that partridge was once in the Balkans associated with Vesna, the lover and bride of Jarilo. 

Finally...These are tетёрки (pronounced tetyorki), large ceremonial cookies baked for spring equinox in the northern part of Russia. They were given to children who were supposed to look through them at the spring sun...

In Arkhangelsk region, where "тетёрка" cookies are made, the word "тетёрка" means partridge...Partridge, the symbol of spring, spring earth, fertility...Both earth and female fertility...

This is one of the reasons why "тетёрка" cookies were also made as part of wedding rituals. They were made by the bride's mother and were given to groom's family as presents. 

Fitting right?

I talked about this in my post "Tetyorki"...

So next time you sing "partridge in a pear tree" just remember that partridge (symbol of female fertility in Slavic folklore) is sitting on a pear tree (a female tree in Slavic folklore)...

Interestingly, in all the above songs, partridge (the sacred bird of Artemis, the twin sister of Apollo) is followed by dove/pigeon (the sacred bird of Aphrodite, the lover of Ares)...

This is why I think this is very interesting. Check this out:

Native Balkan dove

Native Balkan partridge

See how they can be very easily confused?

Now remember: 

Vesna, the young earth, was twin sister of Jarilo, the young sun. Just like Artemis was the twin sister of Apollo...whose sacred bird was partridge...BTW, I find it funny that they gave partridge, the uber sex bird, as a sacred bird to the goddess of chastity...

Vesna was also the lover of Jarilo...

Jarilo whose name as I said comes from the root "jar" which means spring, green...But also, brightly burning...and raging...Jarilo was also war god...Just like Ares, the raging Greek war god whose lover was Aphrodite...whose sacred bird was dove...

Slavic Vesna = Artemis + Aphrodite = partridge + dove

Slavic Jarilo = Apollo + Ares

Which brings me back to the original partridge mosaics. Why are partridges picking mirrors out of the boxes? Is it because mirrors were sacred to Aphrodite???

And so, finally, a question: How old are "Ancient Greek" myths? And are they "Greek" in origin? Like the myth about Hephaestus, the lame Smith God and his unfaithful wife, the goddess of love and beauty, Aphrodite? Why do I ask? Cause of this: "Vučedol dove/partridge" figurine found in a blacksmith workshop of lame smith from Bronze Age Balkan Vučedol culture...

From my post "Hephaestus and partridge"...

That's it. To read more about ancient animal and plant calendar markers, start here…Then check my twitter threads I still didn't convert to blog post...I am way way behind...

Painted eggs from Knossos

This is a fresco from a Minoan palace at Knossos, Crete dated to ca. 1700-1525/1500 B.C. It depicts two Chukar partridges during their mating ritual. On the ground around them are painted partridge eggs...

Chukar partridges are the the most common type of partridge in the Eastern Mediterranean. This is a beautiful picture of a mating pair from an amazing "Feathered Photography" blog by Ron Dudley 

Chukars mating season starts in February (beginning of spring) and lasts until May (end of spring). So in Bronze and Iron Age Eastern Mediterranean they were most likely seen as a symbol of spring. 

Female chukar partridges lay clutches of up to 15 eggs. 

Which is why chukar partridges were in Bronze and Iron Age Eastern Mediterranean probably also seen as s symbol of fertility...

That this symbolism of partridges could have existed in Bronze and Iron Age Eastern Mediterranean, can be seen from the fact that we have this symbolic link preserved in Serbian folklore until today. I talked about the link between partridges, spring and fertility in Serbian folklore in my post "Partridge". 

So did Minoans paint chukar eggs? In spring? As a fertility symbol?

Тетёрки

Тетёрки (pronounced tetyorki), singular Тетёрка (pronounced tetyorka) are large ceremonial cookies baked for spring equinox in the northern part of Russia. 

They were given to children who were supposed to look through them at the spring sun. 

In Russia, spring equinox signals the imminent arrival of migratory birds. And it is these birds that bring Jarilo, young Sun god, from Irij, the land of the dead, where sun god spends winter. 

I talked about this in my post "Leto".

Yarilo, the Slavic Young Sun god, painting by Russian artist Andrey Shishkin. The word "Yar" means young, green, spring, so Yarilo literally means "Young one" and "Green one". He is the original "Green man", the bringer of Spring...

Jarilo's arival is, according to Russian legend, announced by the mad mating song and dance of the "sun bird" black grouse. 

Proto-Slavic name for black grouse is "tetervь". According to the Russian sources, this is where the name for Spring Equinox cookies "Tetjorki" comes from. Тетёрка (pronounced tetjorka) literally means female grouse. 

The equivalent in South Slavic tradition is partridge, whose mad mating song and dance announces the immanent arrival of Jarilo. 

As a matter of fact, Serbian name for partridge "jarebica" literally means spring fucker :) from jar = spring and jebica = fucker, feminine.  I wrote about this in my post "Partridge".

What is very interesting is that "тетёрка" cookies come from Kargopol (Russian: Ка́ргополь), a town in Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. 

And according to "Symbolism of animals in Slavic folk tradition" by Aleksandar Gura, in Arkhangelsk region, where "тетёрка" cookies are made, the word "тетёрка" doesn't mean grouse but partridge....

Both female partridge and female grouse are symbol of fertility in Slavic tradition. They represent girl, bride and in mythological sense, Spring Earth, Spring Goddess Vesna. 

This is one of the reasons why tetjorka cookies were also made as part of wedding rituals. They were made by the bride's mother and were given to groom's family as presents.

Recipe:

Ingredients: 

2 cups rye flour (or rye flour in half with wheat),
1 tbsp honey
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 cup of warm water,
1 pinch of salt

Make dough from rye flour, water, salt, honey 

Kneed it until firm and hard

Form long thin dough thread

Wind the dough rightward, as the sun goes across the sky, starting from the centre outward. The cookie symbolises the sun and its effect on nature. 

Brush the dough with oil and bake for 15-20 minutes at a temperature of 180 ° C. Turn to the other side and bake for another 5 minutes.

Let the cookies cool. 

Tetjorki can be stored for about a year. 

This video shows making of Tetjorki.

Partridge

"On the First day of Christmas my true love sent to me
a Partridge in a Pear Tree.

On the Second day of Christmas my true love sent to me
Two Turtle Doves
and a Partridge in a Pear Tree.

On the Third day of Christmas my true love sent to me
Three French Hens,
Two Turtle Doves
and a Partridge in a Pear Tree.

..."

This is the beginning of the well known English Christmas carol "The Twelve Days of Christmas". 

It enumerates in the manner of a cumulative song a series of increasingly grand gifts given on each of the twelve days of Christmas, starting with a partridge which was given on the first day. The song, published in England in 1780 without music as a chant or rhyme, is thought to be French in origin, but really no one knows where the song comes from. 

There are those who believe that the song has a hidden Christian meaning. 

According to Ann Ball in her book, HANDBOOK OF CATHOLIC SACRAMENTALS:

"The "True Love" is Jesus Christ, because truly Love was born on Christmas Day. 

The partridge in the pear tree also represents Him because that bird is willing to sacrifice its life if necessary to protect its young by feigning injury to draw away predators.
The two turtle doves were the Old and New Testaments
The three French hens stood for faith, hope, and love.
The four calling birds were the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
The five golden rings rerepresented the first five books of the Old Testament, which describe man's fall into sin and the great love of God in sending a Savior.
The six geese a-laying stood for the six days of creation.
Seven swans a-swimming represented the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit-----Prophesy, Serving, Teaching, Exhortation, Contribution, Leadership, and Mercy.
The eight maids a-milking were the eight beatitudes.
Nine ladies dancing were the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit-----Charity, Joy, Peace, Patience [Forbearance], Goodness [Kindness], Mildness, Fidelity, Modesty, Continency [Chastity].
The ten lords a-leaping were the Ten Commandments.
The eleven pipers piping stood for the eleven faithful Apostles.
The twelve drummers drumming symbolized the twelve points of belief in The Apostles' Creed."

Neat...

But, there is another possible origin and meaning of this song. The song could originate in an ancient Pre-Christian system of beliefs and could be linked to fertility rituals related to both female and earth fertility. 

And the key for understanding this other possible (and I believe true) meaning of this song lies in the first verse:

"On the First day of Christmas my true love sent to me a Partridge in a Pear Tree"

Here it goes:

The grey partridge is a native, non migratory bird of Eurasian shrub lands, grass lands and cultivated areas. The adult is a plump bird. The upper parts are chestnut-brown and grey, but the color is very variable. The hind neck is grey-brown. The wings are mottled brown and darker brown.

Gray partridges begin the slow process of courtship in late winter, as soon as the snow starts to melt. Both sexes perform numerous dramatic displays, including circling, neck-stretching and running with head lowered. In March, the males in a covey begin crowing with their “rusty gate” call, to advertise their presence, especially in the morning and evening. Crowing then leads to ritualized fighting between the males, which fly and peck at each other. Eventually, one male leaves the area, and the victorious bird remains to try and attract a female. The actual mating happens in late April. The female then builds the nest while the male stands guard nearby. The nest is usually located in grasses in open country or along roadsides, fences, hedgerows, ditches and banks. Shortly after the nest is complete, at the beginning of May, the female starts laying eggs. She continues laying one egg per day until her clutch of 9-20 olive-colored eggs is complete. This is one of the largest known clutches produced by any bird.

The partridge mating habits didn't stay unnoticed by our ancestors. At least in the Balkans. The word for partridge in South Slavic languages is "jarebica" pronounced yarebitsa. The word has no known etymology. I would like to propose one:

In South Slavic languages we have these two interesting words: 

The word "jar" means "green, spring, youth, fire, heat, rage". 
The word "jeb" means "to fuck".

jarbica = jar + jebica = spring, fiery, hot, passionate + fuck :) 

In South Slavic languages nouns have genders. The word "jarebica" is a feminine noun meaning that Slavs attributed feminine characteristics to partridge. So the meaning of the word "jarebica" is actually "young, hot (female) you fuck".

I think that this is quite a fitting name for a bird whose loud passionate mating covers the whole of spring. 

There is someone else who goes through the same passionate courtship ritual at the same time as partridge. Young earth Vesna. She is born on the 4th of February, the first day of spring. She gets more and more beautiful as the spring progresses. During this time she is courted by the young sun Jarilo, her twin brother. Their courtship during the spring is nothing else but "jarjeb" meaning "youthful fucking", the "union" of the young sky (the father) and young earth (the mother). It is this union that produces all life and all the bounty of summer and autumn. 

Jarilo, the young sun, marries Vesna the young earth on 6th of May, the day of Jarilo. The day of Jarilo, the 6th of May, is the day which in old Celtic and Serbian calendar marked the beginning of Summer. This is old Beltane, the festival of fire. The fire of the sun. And this is exactly the time when partridge starts laying its eggs. Eggs which are the result of its mating season, of "jarjeb". Eggs which are symbol of rebirth. The "rebirth" of nature after winter "death". The rebirth which is the result of the "jarjeb" between Vesna and Jarilo.

Slavic god Jarilo is the young sun, the youthful face of Djed (Grandfather), Triglav (Three headed) Sky God. His name means the young one, the fiery one, the blazing one, the raging one. In his positive aspect, Jarilo was the symbol of youthful male sexual energy, male reproductive fire. In his negative aspect, Jarilo was the symbol of youthful male rage and senseless male destructive fire. This is why he was the Slavic god of spring, vegetation, fertility and war. 

Christianity replaced Jarilo with St George, and the day of Jarilo is still today celebrated as the St Georges day (Djurdjevdan or Jurjevo in the Balkans). 

South Slavic goddess Vesna is the young earth, the youthful face of Baba (Grandmother), Troglava (Three headed) Earth Goddess. Her name literally means Spring. She is the goddess of youth and female fertility and only has a positive aspect.

I believe that Partridge was in the Balkans associated with Jarilo's bride, Vesna and was possibly even her holy bird. Here is why I believe that this is the case. 

This wedding song recorded in Poljci in Croatia describes the wedding feast. Here is just the beginning:

"Ja dovedo nevisticu pa joj dado večericu.
Prvu večer' večerala Sitnu ticu jarebicu.
Drugu večer' večerala:
Dva goluba, sitnu ticu prepelicu.
Treću večer' večerala:
Tri grlice, dva goluba, sitnu ticu prepelicu.
Četvrtu večer večerala:
Četri patke, tri grlice, dva goluba, sitnu ticu prepelicu.
Petu večer večerala:
Pet gusaka, četri patke, tri grlice, dva goluba, sitnu ticuprepelicu. Šestu večer večerala:
Šest ovaca, pet gusaka, četri patke, tri grlice, dva goluba, sitnu ticu prepelicu..."

Here is the translation:

"I brought my bride home and gave her dinner
First evening she ate partridge
Second evening she ate two pigeons and a quail
Third evening she ate three doves, two pigeons and a quail
Fouth evening she ate four ducks, three doves, two pigeons and a quail
Fifth evening she ate five gees, four ducks, three doves, two pigeons and a quail
Sixth evening she ate six sheep, five gees, four ducks, three doves, two pigeons and a quail..."

This is obviously a ritual song performed during a ritual feast. The marriage was supposed to result in many children as the wealth of the family was judged by the number of children and number of cattle they possessed. So this song ritually associates the fertility of Mother Earth with the fertility of the new bride. The fact that the bride eats partridge, the most fertile bird, first, is the sign that this song is part of a fertility ritual. Basically through this act, the fertility of partridge is supposed to be passed onto the bride. The fact that the bride then continues to eat all the children produced by the young Mother Earth shows the desire to pass the fertility of the young Mother Earth to the bride too. This is not surprising because woman's fertility and the Mother Earth's fertility is very strongly linked in Balkan Slavic belief system.

Another thing that shows that partridge was regarded as a symbol of fertility by the Balkan Slavs is the Croatian ceremonial wedding game called "traženje jarebice" (looking for partridge) which was first recorded in 17th century. The ritual was performed like this: 

When groom's retinue arrived at the bride's house to take her away, bride's father would ask them who they were and what they came for. The leader of the groom's party would answer that they were looking for a partridge. The bride's father would then say that he hasn't seen any partridge. The groom's party would then insist on checking for themselves that the bride's father was telling the truth. The bride's father then let's the groom's party in. He then brings out the oldest woman in the house who is holding a sieve on her head and asks the groom's party if that is the partridge they were looking for? When the groom's party say that it wasn't the bride is brought out and the groom's party exclaim that it is her they were looking for...The groom's party then takes the bride to the church to get married. 

You can see that this ritual is directly linked to fertility. The groom is looking for a fertile young wife, and this is what partridge represents. The fact that the old woman which was brought out firs hold a sieve on her head shows that she is Baba, the Mother Earth, the mother of grain...Again we see linking of woman's fertility and the Mother Earth's fertility.

The same custom is found in other parts of Croatia and Bosnia except that partridge is replaced with dove or a lamb, but the ritual is the same...

Sources: 

"Akcija za sakupljanje gradje o folklornoj drami u XIX. stoljeću" by Nikola Bonifačić Rožin
"Usmena narodna dramaturgija - vazna komponenta u Hrvatskoj dramskoj knjizevnosti" by Tvrtko Čubelić

Then in "Годишњи обичаји у Пироту и околини" (Anual customs and rituals in Pirot and surrounding area), by Sofija Kostic, we find a Serbian ritual song which describes the ritual feast held during the celebration of St Mitar (Martin) (Mitrovdan), and which used to last for 7 days: 

"Једну вечер вечерали: Једну тицу јаребицу, Мало вурду у паницу. Планино, зла рано! 
...
Седму вечер вечера’мо: седам вола бивола, шес овна јалова, четри гусће пердушће, два голуба пролетња, једну тицу јаребицу, мало вурду у паницу, планино, зла рано!"

Here is the translation:

"First evening we ate one partridge, cheese and bred. O mountain you evil mother (literally food giver)!

...

Seventh evening we ate seven bulls, six rams, four gees, two pigeons, one partridge, cheese and bred. O mountain you evil mother!

"

Again the first thing eaten on the first day of the feast is roasted Partridge. Mitrovdan was the day, which in the old Celtic and Serbian calendar marked the end of Summer and the beginning of winter. This is old Samhain. You can read more about this old calendar in my post "Two crosses". If the mating season of partridge marks the beginning of hot part of the year, summer and autumn, the bountiful part of the year, it is symbolically fitting that the end of this period is marked by the death of partridge. He is roasted (death by fire and death of fire of the sun) and ritually eaten to represent the end of the harvest. 

What is also interesting is that the song then proceeds to cumulatively add the same birds and animals listed in the Croatian wedding song. This shows that both ritual songs come from the same belief system and are directly linked to fertility of the Mother Earth...

Finally, we have "Grandma Has Sat Down to Dine", a well known humorous and somewhat bizarre song from Macedonia in a quick 7/8 meter. Its lyrics belong to a form in which every stanza has one more line than the previous. Through this additive process the tension, mystery or excitement build until the final "punch line".

Here is the text in Macedonian:

SEDNA BABA DA VEČERA

Sedna baba da večera, edna erebica
Pak baba ne jala, pak baba ne pila,
Baba bila zlojasna, pak se ne najala, pak se ne napila.

Vtora večer, verčera, dva mi letna galaba, edna erebica
Pak baba ne jala, pak baba ne pila,
Baba bila zlojasna, pak se ne najala, pak se ne napila.

Treta večer večera, tri kokoški prženi, dva mi letna galaba, edna erebica
Pak baba ne jala, pak baba ne pila,
Baba bila zlojasna, pak se ne najala, pak se ne napila.

Četvrta večer večera, četri ovna kaleši, tri kokoški prženi,dva mi letna galaba, edna erebica
Pak baba ne jala, pak baba ne pila,
Baba bila zlojasna, pak se ne najala, pak se ne napila.

Peta večer večera, pet mi kravi jalovi, četri ovna kaleši, tri kokoški prženi, dva mi letna galaba , edna erebica
Pak baba ne jala, pak baba ne pila,
Baba bila zlojasna, pak se ne najala, pak se ne napila.

Šesta večer večera, šest kamili grbavi, pet mi kravi jalovi, čet'ri ovna kaleši, tri kokočki prženi, dva mi letna galaba, edna erebica
Pak baba ne jala, pak baba ne pila,
Baba bila zlojasna, pak se ne najala, pak se ne napila.

Sedma večer ispila, sedum bočvi so vino, šest kamili grbavi, pet mi kravi jalovi, čet'ri ovna kaleši, tri kokoški prženi, dva mi letna galaba, edna erebica
Pak baba ne jala, pak baba ne pila,
Baba bila zlojasna, pak se ne najala, pak se ne napila.
Ednam se natreskala!!!!!!

In this song talks about a grandmother with an insatiable appetite. 

She sits down to eat and first eats a partridge but is still hungry. 
Then she has a partridge and two pigeons, but is still hungry. 
Then a partridge, two pigeons and three fried chicken - still not full. 
On she goes to eat one partridge, two pigeons, three chicken and four rams, but to no avail. 
Then she tries one partridge, two pigeons, three chicken, four rams and five cows but still remains hungry. 
Next are one partridge, two pigeons, three chicken, four rams, five cows and six one-humped camels but no success. 
Finally she eats one partridge, two pigeons, three chicken, four rams, five cows, six one-humped camels and drinks seven barrels of wine. 
Her hunger is still there but the thirst is gone, as she is completely drunk!

The word for grandmother is "Baba" in South Slavic languages. This word means mother, grandmother, midwife...but also Mother Goddess, Mother Earth...

Here you can hear the rendition of this song by Brothers Teofilovic.

I believe that these customs show that Partridge was once regarded by South Slavs as the symbol of fertility. 

O and here is another proof: 

This is rock partridge (Alectoris graeca). 

This bird, native in southwestern Asia and southeastern Europe, including Balkans, is in South Slavic languages known as "kamenjarka" (stone, rock bird). Kamenjarka, which is also a feminine noun, is also a archaic slang word for a whore, "young, hot (female) you fuck"...

I have seen somewhere long time ago that in Celtic parts of Iberia, loose women are called partridge, but unfortunately I can't remember where I saw this. If anyone has any info about this please let me know. Also if you know of any other folk belief system where partridge has the meaning linked to female promiscuity and fertility and with fertility of Mother Earth please let me know so that I can update my article. 

So there you have it. The true love the song originally talked about was far from spiritual love. It was physical, fruitful love, the love that produces offspring. And the symbol of that fruitful love was partridge. 

Also in Celtic and Serbian calendar, Samhain feast (held in the past by Baltic Serbs at the beginning of November) was the thanksgiving feast which people celebrated to thank their god for providing for them during the previous vegetative season. Listing all the animals people want to multiply, starting with partridge, the symbol of fertility, could be a kind of a magic spell, a way to symbolically ensure accumulation of riches...

But how old could this link between partridge and female fertility be? I believe very very old. I will talk about this in my next post.