The Sanctuary of Consolation was the origin of the town of San Juan, where Rafel Ginard and Bauçà was born. We remember some of the songs collected in the popular Cançoner de Mallorca that refer to the place.
Every time I look
Towards Consolació
And I don't see you, good love,
I start to cry.
Collected in Sant Joan
I would eat figs
even if they were cucarellas.
I would lie down with all the girls
of Sant Joan, but to dare is too big.
Collected in Montuïri
Pere is a smart man
that can go anywhere
When helies down, doesn't undress
When he gets up, he's ready
Collected in Selva
In Sant Joan, there is nobody,
No, who makes me happy,
Except for the Virgin Mary
Who is in Consolació.
Collected in Sant Joan
I've got a suitor
Who says in Spanish I love you,
And one day up to no good
Towards Consolació.
Collected in Sant Joan
Cançoner popular de Mallorca, Rafel Ginard
Translated by Richard Mansell. Performed by Col·lectiu Teranyines.
These rhymes form part of the more than 20.000 rhymes collected by Father Rafel Ginard Bauçà (1899-1976) throughout his life, and published in his most important work, the Cançoner Popular de Mallorca (Majorcan traditional songbook). Ginard’s task lasted for forty years of his life and took him to all of the towns and villages of Majorca, with the help of a significant number of contributors and accomplices, and it is preserved in his archive in the form of his pamphlets and manuscripts. He carefully collected different versions he came across, always noting where each rhyme came from. There is evidence that the same rhyme is often found in different towns, and there are even different versions that respond to the different context of each place. Until Ginard’s work, most rhymes were memorised by heart and transmitted orally, which explains the process of “natural selection” of the popular creations: whilst some live on, others are forgotten shortly after being invented. This is a selection of rhymes collected in or referring to Sant Joan, Rafel Ginard’s home town and where the rural atmosphere awoke his interest in folklore and popular culture from an early age. Not for nothing does he describe his home town like this: “It is the triumph of humility. It is not a pretentious or magnificent land. Other places are gardens; my town is a granary”.
The sanctuary at Consolació is the origin of the town of Sant Joan. This is where a small chapel was built to offer religious services to a disperse population after the Catalan conquest in the 13th century and in 1298 it became the parish of Sant Baptista, becoming separate from Sineu. The relationship between the people of Sant Joan and this sanctuary, later dedicated to the Our Lady of Consolation, is still strong. For two centuries there was a school there and it was the place where the Via Crucis was performed on Good Friday. Currently, this privileged viewpoint over Majorca's plain still hosts the ancient festival of the Loaves and the Fish on the fourth Sunday of Lent.
