Stories Page 3 – Picinisco
From home and abroad
The Family Name
The lettering on the embossing stamp below reads ‘Dimarco’s Electric Studio’ and as it is in English It must have been made for use in his Dover studio before my grandfather transferred the studio to his new house in Via San Martino, Picinisco. The family called themselves Dimarco when they first arrived in Scotland and when at first they came to the south coast of England the continued with this spelling, however official documents in Italy in 1915 clearly show the family name as De Marco.
I believe that a mistake must have been made when the family was first registered on arrival in Glasgow and the reason the family continued using it for so long (as some still do) was that it would have been awkward to alter the name of their buisnesses once they were well established. My grandfather, Agostino De Marco was able to do so as he moved his buisness to Brighton in the early 1930’s, first opening a cafe in St James St called ‘The Continental Cafe’ and later reforming the buisness and opening two cafes, one in George St. Hove and the other in Kensington Gardens Brighton, both called ‘De Marco Bros’
The Relic
Photo – Photographers embossing stamp
During my visit in 1969 Agostino’s house was empty except for some basic furniture, bedlinen etc, and a large cupboard with some papers and a number of ancient bars of Cadburys milk chocolate. Underneath a dusty wooden worktop in the back room opposite the kitchen, I found this embossing stamp shown here, It is the only surviving relic of the pre-war days when the room had been used as his darkroom,
The lettering on the stamp reads ‘Dimarcos Electric Studio’ and as it is in English, I expect it was originally made for use in his Dover studio where he traded during the first world war. After the war it was taken to Picinisco with the rest of his photographic equipment into the newly constructed family house in Via San Marino.
A Family Contract
In 1915, in Villa Latina my great grandfather Francesco De Marco having retired from farming in Picinisco decided to divide his land and assets amongst his children.The first part of the 16 page contract effecting his wishes is set out below, copied from the original document in my possesion, The following notes refer to parts of the document that I find particularily interesting.
1. The Date and Location
The formal execution of the contract took place in November 1915, six months after Italy had entered WW1 on the side of the western allies. which might explain why some of Francesco’s children were absent. At that time, Villa Latina and Picinisco were just two small towns in the vast region of the Terra Di Lavoro whose capital was Caserta. In 1927 the territory was absorbed into it’s ajoining regions and Picinisco became a part of the newly created Provincia di Frosinone.
2. The Declaration
The Document uses the antique spelling ‘Notario’ for a Notaio so I shall do the same here…
The presiding Regio Notario, Vincenzo Tutinelli introduces himself and announces the purpose of the contract thus: “Having personally investigated the will of the parties, we come to the execution of this contract by proclaiming it in person to the the individuals concerned. It is hereby declared and written that DE FELICE Carolina and DE MARCO Francesco are, due to their age, unable to continue the cultivation of their land, and also wanting to avoid quarrels between their children after their death, now intend from this moment to distribute and assign their own assets to their children. They are therefore for this purpose become upon the stipulation of this deed, governed by the following articles”….
3. Marital Authorization – l’autorizzazione Maritale
The Civil Code of 1865, Article 134, stated that ‘the wife may not donate, dispose of immovable property, mortgage it, take out loans, transfer or collect capital, constitute security, or settle or be sued in relation to such acts, without the husband’s authorization’ The Article was repealed in 1919, but this meeting is in 1915 so the husband had to be present to authorise his wife. This action is required several times for the reading of the contract.
4. The Parties
On the one hand –
Carolina and Francesco De Marco were present as signatories to their part of the contract, Francesco also had to give marital authorisation to his wife for her to sign.
On the other hand –
Mariassunta Iaconelli (De Marco) – Beneficiary
Giuseppi De Marco – Beneficiary
Gerado Iaconelli – Representing Anna De Marco and her husband also for providing Marital Authorisation for Mariassunta, his wife
Beniamino Crolla – Representing Agostino De Marco
Sabatino Crolla – Representing Eugineo De Marco
5. The Bequests – An Example
At the foot of the page is part of the first of the many bequests set out in the 16 pages of the document.
It begins “From Carolina De Marco to Agostino De Marco –
a) A piece of agricultural land called Sambuco in Picinisco, sutable for seeded crops, about Are13.50 in size, ajacent to the lands given herein to Eugenio and Giuseppi De Marco, and also ajacent to the land presently owned by Giuseppe De Marco.”
All the pieces of land included in the document are identified by their names and their use, (seeded, forested, grazing etc) and size in Are (1Hectare = 100Are).
Footnote
All of the bequests in this documents had already been agreed between the parties at a pre-contract meeting with the Notario acting equally for both sides. The Notario also acts for the State to ensure that everything is in accordance with the law and the appropriate and are paid. This meeting is the formal execution of the contract as required by law. Once the meeting has concluded the contract is executed and takes immediatly effect.
Below is a readable copy of the introductory page presented in a similar manner to the original.
Copia- N. 2556 del Repertorio 2177 Raccolta
ASSEGNI FRA VIVI E COMPRAVENDITI
L’anno millenovecentoquindici addi sei Novembre in Villalatina, nello studio del Notaro Gramegna alla contrada La Forma.
Innanzi a Noi Vincenzo Tutinelli fu Raffaele, Regio Notaro residente in Atina, Distretto Notarile di Cassino presso il cui Collegio siamo iscritto, ed alia presenza dei testimoni nati, idonei all’uopo richiesti Persichini Andrea fu Benedetto, e Gargaro Marco di Angelantonio, amendue possidenti nati e domiciliati in Villalatina, si sono personalmente costituiti:
Da una parte; i coniugi DE FELICE Carolina fu Francesco e DE MARCO Francesco fu Diamante, costui in nome proprio e per l’autorizzazione maritale.
Dall’altra parte: ’.
I) DE MARCO Giuseppe di Francesco
2) CROLLA Beniamino fu Carlo, costui nella quailta di procuratore speciale di De Marco Agostino di Francesco, giusta procura per Noi Notaro del 25 Novembre 1912, che rimane allegata come inserto all’atto presente segandosi colla iniziale A maiuscola.
3) CR0LLA Sabatino di Beniamino, costui nella qualità di procuratore speciale di De Marco Eugenio di Francesco, giusta procura di sopra alligata.
4) I coniugi DE MARCO Mariassunta di Francesco e Iaconelli Gerardo fu Giovanni, costui per l’autorizzazione maritale, ed anche nella qualità di procura speciale del coniugi De Marco Anna di Francesco e Iaconelli Domenico fu Giovanni, giusta due procure del Console d’Italia in Glasgow in data l’una
dell’11 novembre 1913, e l’altra del 11 marzo 1915 che debitamente bollata e legalizzate rimangono alligate come inserti all’atto presente segnandosi rispettivamente colle iniziali B e C. Maiuscole. Essi costituiti e lore rispettivi rappresentati sono di condizione possidenti, nati e domiciliati in Picinisco, maggiori di età, con piena capacità giuridica, e della loro identità personale siamo personalmente certo Noi Notaio assieme ai testimoni.
Avendo Noi Notaio indagata personalmente la volontà delle costituite parti, addiveniamo alla stipula di questo atto dirigendone noi stesso di persona la compilazione integrale.
Si dichiara e premette che i coniugi De Felice Carolina e De Marco Francesco si trovano inoltrati negli anni, e percid impossibilitati a continuare la coltivazione della loro proprietà rustica e volendo altresì evitare litigi dopo la loro morte tra i loro figliuoli, intendono fin da ora di ripartire ed assegnare i propri beni ai figli stessi.
Essi quindi a tale scopo a divengono alla stipula di questo atto, regolato dai seguenti articoli
I) La premessa narrativa forma parte integrale di questo atto.
II) La costituita De Felice Carolina, debitamente autorizzata da suo marito De Marco Francesco e costui anche in nome proprio, in virtù di questo atto, ai sensi dell’art. 1044 del Codice Civile, a titolo di donazione e per anticipata successione sulla quota legittima, ed il dappiù sulla disponibile, irrevocabilmente tra vivi assegnano come appresso.
Essa De Felice Carolina: A De Marco Agostino, rappresentato dal Crolla Beniamino:
a) Un appezzamento di terreno in Picinisco denominato Sambuco, seminatorio, esteso circa are 13,50 a confine con gli eredi di De Marco Giovanni, con la quota da attribuirsi e De Marco Eugenio e con quella di De Marco Giuseppe a due lati.
1.
Called to Arms
In 1926 my father Giacinto De Marco went back to Italy for a three month’s stay and ended up doing military service. Giacinto did not see active service.
He told me that his regiment did spend two days in full kit guarding the British embassy after the Duce was shot on April 7, 1926 by Violet Gibson, an Irish woman and sister of Baron Ashbourne. Mussolini was “slightly wounded in the nose” by the attack (how could she miss the duce’s most prominent feature). The fascists whipped up an anti-British frenzy and the troops were called in.
Spending an uncomfortable two days camped on the pavement, my father was severly admonished by an officer for smoking some Players cigarettes his father had sent him from England. The officer said “these men are paid a few pence a day, how dare you flaunt your luxuries in front of them”.
The Fall of Mussolini
Victor Emmanuel III, king of Italy, dismissed and arrested Mussolini on July 25 1943. and appointed Marshal Pietro Badoglio as Prime Minister, Following this an armastice was negotiated and signed with the western allies on September 8th 1943. As a result, Italy became a co-belligerant with the allied forces. The German Army in Italy had suspected that this might happen moved quickly to disarm the Italian army and occupy their positions with great brutality, commiting a number of massacres in the process. Subsiquently, on the 8th of October 1943, a unit of the German army entered Picinisco headed by Major Englhart.
Via San Martino
Agostino De Marco’s house in the Via San Martino was large and in it’s own grounds. The second floor terrace, which faced south towards the rear of the German ‘Gustaf Line’, occupied the whole width of the house and half it’s depth and the property was empty., an ideal place for the Major to use as his headquarters. Was he aware that his new headquarters had been a place of internment for several foriegn Jewish families and an English couple, They had been warned to leave the house by the Mayor and hide in some caves in the mountains above the village. This story is told in a book written by Mary Gill who also recounts her time in Rome studing opera singing with her husband Louis and their friend Sigbert, a Romanian Jew.
The Mayor of Picinisco in an account after the war listed the internees as follows:-
Walter Berent and his wife from Berlin
Leone Nass and his wife from Dobromil with their son Issac
Abraham Salzstin and wife from Berlin
Cigbert Stanfeld (correct name Sigbert Steinfield)
Louie Ingram Leslie (correct name Lewis Leslie) and his wife Mary Gill from Evesham
Maria Corelli
Mary Gill (using the stage Maria Corelli) and Sigbert Steinfield had sucessful careers as opera singers after the war. They had fallen in love during their time in Picinisco and after the war Mary divorced her husband to be with Sigbert. You can read their story in her book entitled – In Love and War: A Letter to my Parents. I enjoyed reading this incredible story and was very surprised to turn a page and see a photgraph of my grandfather’s house where all this took place.
Liberation
ITALIANS TAKE TOWN
Troops of the Italian Corps of Liberation, (Corpo Italiano di Liberazione) clearing the wild mountain region at the western end of the Abrnzzi National Park, have captured the 7,000 ft-high town of Picinisco, on the headwaters of the Melfa river, six miles north-east of Belmonte, Reuter says. The Italian units taking part in this drive include Alpini, Bersaglieri and parachutists specially trained and equipped for mountain fighting. Before pushing forward from the Mount Marrone line, which it held in recent weeks, the Italian Corps was engaged in patrolling and took a number of prisoners.
Published in the Birmingham Daily Post – Wednesday 31 May 1944
The Families Return
Photo – Via San Martino, home at last.
On the first of Janurary 1948, the Italian government implemented a new democratic constitution which had been previously approved by popular vote.
In the same year the British goverment relaxed most of the onerous post war travel restrictions which had prevented all but the most necessary travel abroad. Many of my family and their relations scattered along the south cost of England had been acustomed to travel to Picinisco each autumn when trade slackened off to spend time with their extended families in that beautiful place. So with some excitement they planned their return.
But how to get there? By car of course, I don’t know how many, you can see at least three parked outside my grandfather’s house in the photo opposite but there might have been more. The roads were poor then, the mountain passes more difficult and the cars, loaded with luggage, must have made their way slowly along the 1.300 mile route. It is not surprising that I have an album containing several dozen photos taken by my uncle Geraldo De Marco of the many stops they made on their journey.
A film taken by my father on the trip shows that the road from Isola di Liri to Ponte Melfa was no more than a dirt track. Then, after stopping to film the torrent passing under the bridge at Ponte Melfa which had almost reached the top of the arches, the convoy crawled up the rough twisting limestone road to Picinisco to stop outside my grandfather’s house in Via San Martino, Seperated from their families by the years of war, I cannot imagine what a welcome they recieved. I expect there were tears and laughter too.
The journey from Rome
Photo – Picinisco old town.
In 1959 the morning bus from Rome central bus station to Sora was packed full. Literally, because after the inevitable sellers of panini and soft drinks had alighted, another crowd of passengers boarded and took their place on small fold down seats in the aisle filling the internal space completely.
I (Agostino (Frank) De Marco) was visiting my grandparents, Agostino & MariaCivita De Marco in Picinisco where they were now living after retiring from their Ice Cream buisness in Hove. I was in my 4th year of study at the Brighton College of Art and Crafts, I spoke no Italian and this was my first trip abroad which explains the bus trip as arriving in Rome 10 hours late, my grandfather, who was to meet me the previous day, had gone home.
Some hours and two bus journeys later, the last in a bus covered in white dust, which bounced it’s way up a steep, narrow, twisting road made of crushed limestone, at each corner the rear end of the bus projecting alarmingly over the precipitous edge, stones squirting loudly from under it’s wheels and tumbling into the valley below, I finally arrived in Picinisco.
A somewhat restrained welcome
Walking from the bus down towards my grandparents’ house, I saw no one. The air was shimmering in the afternoon heat, all windows were shuttered, and doors bolted as was my grandfather’s imposing front door. Knocking hard – twice, brought my somewhat disheveled/disgruntled grandfather to a balcony window from which he flung the keys down and ordered me to enter. First mistake don’t wake your Italian grandfather in the middle of his afternoon sleep.
Daily Life
Agostino and MariaCivita De Marco had returned to live in the house they had built in 1920. They now lived a simple life – so much so that the house remained practically unmodernised during their time there. Grandfather would rise early – at sunrise to water his garden and tend his crops and chickens before the heat of the day became intolerable. The lower slopes of his terraced garden were sheltered by the grapevines which grew over wires suspended from steel frames. The grapevines were blue with copper sulphate spray, when ripe, they would be fermented and pressed with the help of his cousins Antonio and Domonic the bottles stored in the large cave behind the house.
Their diet was simple, much of it from their own garden. The house was cold at night and in the kitchen, there was a large open fireplace lit every morning. A great cast- iron pot was suspended over the fire, the fire kept alive by a giant pair of bellows, pasta was cooked here almost every day, usually eaten with the simplest of sauces, sliced onion with rich red tomatoes cooked in the local dark cloudy olive oil. Everything was done by hand, a garden well with a washboard attached served as a washing machine. There was no refrigerator, food was eaten fresh or preserved.
Despite continuing emigration, the old walled village was still crowded and noisy. Trains of overloaded and complaining donkeys carrying wood or crops spread their dropping in the narrow streets and their smell and flies were everywhere. There were only a couple of shops, the villagers did most of their shopping in the local markets or the small Sunday morning market in the village square. There was still a blacksmith and a carpenter in the road leading up to the village square. There the water fountain was still in daily use most houses did not have running water, women carried large tins or pots on their head back to their houses. The focal point of the village is the main square with its baroque buildings. On the western side there is an arched entrance to the old village and an ancient tree, its foliage pollarded to form a giant sunshade. On the north and east sides the town hall, the church and one or two shops with apartments above. Outside these ancient dwellings there was then usually a group of grannies in black dresses, white aprons and blouses and white head-dress deep in conversation (probably discussing their neighbours). Right in the corner there was a ‘cantina’ a simple bar where Agostino liked to play cards.
At noon each day a canon boomed out across the valley to tell field workers it was lunch time, the whole village disappeared indoors for the siesta, not emerging till late in the afternoon. Then, after the evening meal, the village bar, usually half-empty would suddenly fill to capacity with whole families carrying chairs, they had come to watch the television in the back room.
Later at dusk la passeggiata began, the whole village – family groups and friends would walk from the village square down the via San Martino to where the road curved, then back again, stopping periodically to chat with their neighbours. Agostino and his wife moved a small table under their colonnade and sat their with a flask of wine ready to greet and gossip with the passers-by.
On Sunday morning, the square came alive. A few market stalls appeared mainly selling brightly coloured local vegetables. An old woman dressed in black bought green beans, the stall holder placing the required amount in his scales suspended from the roof of the stall. Before they came to rest, the woman, shouting angrily, adds another handful, the smallholder doing the opposite. After several handfuls had been added then removed with much shouting on either side, the transaction was agreed. Everything was seasonal, so, when the season for watermelon commenced, mountains of striped melons appeared in the square. The seller threw his wares high up into the air catching them on the point of a knife, splitting them open and showing the bright red interior to any one who came near. Serious shopping had to be done in nearby Atina which had a large market – you could hire the village taxi, a vast ancient brown Fiat salon and share it with half the village.
The whole south side of the square was open to the view across the valley, it was built so that this side projected over the steep slope which fell away to the valley below. The valley, framed by mountains, was densely populated with farmhouses and smallholdings, invisible by day, at night their lights made it appear as if there was a great town spread below. Under the projection was the communal washouse, still in use, women twisting the washing into flails which they struck with great force on the stone slabs which ran with ice- cold water. Next to the wash house and visible from the square above were courts for playing bocce.
In mid September the weather changed. Almost every day, storm clouds rolled down from the mountains behind Picinisco which, because of it’s southern aspect, remained sunny until suddenly the clouds would pass overhead releasing a torrent of rain accompanied by flashes of lightning and great claps of thunder the sound bouncing off the mountains circling the valley. Then the clouds would briefly envelope the village in a damp mist before the sun broke free, shining down on the whole valley,, which, for a moment was completely obscured by cloud.
The Ciociaria
Photo – Gallinaro 1933
In 1889 an American traveller and artist wrote of the Ciociaria.
“Agriculture in this upland country is in its most primitive state. The soil is thin, and in many places exists only in patches, by huge rocks. That which is tillable is planted in grapes and olive orchards, the intervening spaces being cultivated with various products, among which wheat predominates. Everything is done by hand, even to the threshing and winnowing of the grain. It is afterward spread upon sheets to dry, and children are placed as sentinels for its protection from hungry fowls. The final process is that of picking out the hard grains. This portion of the labour is performed by girls, who sit in the doorways or upon the broken steps of narrow and inclined streets for hours at a time, each one holding on her lap a large wooden tray, to facilitate the search. The living of the Ciociari is at best but a meagre fare. The principal articles of food are not available are a rough cake made from corn meal, called polenta, beans and an occasional roll of wheaten bread, not too white in colour, accompanied with a bottle of wine.”
Picinisco Home Cooking
In Agostino’s house in Italy, there was no fridge. Everything was eaten fresh or preserved. A large room opposite the kitchen, the coolest in the house, was used as a store and smelt strongly of preserved meat. There was a shelf of large jars containing sausages preserved in oil, some salamis hung from the ceiling. All this was reserved for special occasions. Their daily diet was simple, pasta or polenta, eggs from their chickens, chickpeas and fruit from their garden and tomatoes for sauce (and no sign of sun-dried tomatoes and balsamic vinegar!). The local wholemeal bread was a large round flavoursome disk with huge holes in the dough. The bread lasted several days gradually becoming chewier as it aged. A slice with an egg was a feast. The local oil was dark green and unfiltered you could hardly see through the bottle and the wine was, to be polite, unsophisticated.
There was no fresh cow’s milk at all, bottles of sterilised milk were sold in the shop, but I never saw one bought. Once a week, a lady came round the house selling tiny amounts of goat’s milk. Agostino had the habit of having afternoon tea in England and supplies of tea and biscuits were regularly sent to him. Chickens could be bought fresh in Atina, they were sold still live often hanging up tied by their legs.
One day the kitchen was filled with women carrying large baskets of bright red tomatoes. The cauldron hanging by its chain over the fire, used for cooking pasta, was, In autumn, busy all day reducing the tomatoes to pulp, they were bottled in large jars for the winter.
Feast Days
In the autumn, Picinisco and several nearby villages had their feast day. You could always tell, as the place in question would let off powerful thunder flashes at regular intervals during the day, the noise reverberating around the valley of the Melfa and the puffs of smoke floating high in the sky clearly indicating their location. I also witnessed (without, at the time, knowing what I was seeing) the annual pilgrimage to the Basilica della Madonna di Canneto. Watching from the balcony of my grandfather’s house one afternoon, I noticed groups of people, some large, some small, some led by a priest and singing hymns. Many of the women were carrying suitcases or large round wicker baskets on their head. That evening the village square was crowded, there were stalls selling religious articles, entertainers and the same beggars who attended all the local feasts. Every half-hour the village band played patriotic songs with the inevitable excerpts from Verdi. The next day, there was a pilgrimage to the shrine of Canneto in the maintains, and on the third day the feast ended with a magnificent display of fireworks.
Days Out
I visited Rome during my stay and, even in the heat of the day, I climbed to the top of every monument that that had a flight of stairs, ascendind through the tunnel in St. Peters dome from the roof, reminded me of ‘La Dolce Vita’. Hungry afterwords, I spotted a trattoria nearby saw a priest with some schoolboys inside and reasoning that a priest would like a good meal cheaply on a day out, (the place had sawdust on the floor and bare wooden tables) I enjoyed one of the finest plates of pasta I can remember,
During the last week of my stay, my father arrived to visit his parents. He hired the village taxi for a day, out, a large brown Fiat saloon, and first we visited the Abbazia di Montecassino and admired the enormous amount of reconstruction that had taken place. There was still much to do though, A completely new Cassino had been built on flatter land than the old town and I wondered how many of the original inhabitants were able to return their. After we drove to Napoli to the old port with a castle on the mola opposite. In those days it was the tourist centre and we had a fine meal by the water’s edge serenaded by the inevitable mandolinista looking for a tip and boys selling all sorts of contraband and fake goods. A fine day all told.
Back Home
After his parents’ retirement to Picinisco, Giacinto De Marco and his brother would send or take food and clothing to their parents and relatives in Picinisco and occasionally, in return would receive a parcel back. A round large wicker basket complete with handle would arrive, it’s contents of local pecorino and preserved meat kept in place by sewing a piece of rough linen with cord to the rim of the basket and securing it with a generous application of black sealing wax and the address roughly written on the fabric with black ink. I can’t imagine what customs thought of these strange parcels. Inside, apart from the Casale Pecorino, there would be a slab of Prosciutto, darker and heavier than the shop kind and two sorts of sausage, a semi-dried pork sausage, dark and spicy and a hard gnarled black sausage made with (to be honest I am not sure what it contained). All had an intensely strong flavour, characteristic of the food from Picinisco. When I first tried one of the sausages I said to my father, you could eat a whole loaf of bread with just one of these.
