Austria / containing a Description of the Manners, Customs, Character and Costumes of the People of that Empire

by Frederic Shoberl

UNMARRIED FEMALE PEASANT OF BOCSKO, IN THE COUNTY OF MARMAROS.

The unmarried female appears in all her finery. Her head is encircled with a metal hoop adorned with beads and flowers. Round her neck she wears several necklaces of coral, and a black and red silk handkerchief covers her bosom. Over this she sometimes throws another of larger dimensions, which, from the variety of its colours and forms, resembles a piece of patchwork. The red boots are worn only on extraordinary occasions, and the owners generally carry them in their hands to church, to protect them from the wet which would stain them indelibly. It is well known that the same practice prevails among the females in the Highlands of Scotland.