Recordings from the Estonian Folklore Archives 3

Maria Koert

Maria Koert in 1958. Photo by H. Tampere. ERA, Foto 3406.

Maria Koert’s (1880–1970) home, Mustjala Parish in the western part of Saaremaa was among the last areas where regilaul was still found. When she got married she went with her husband to the tiny farm of Silla in the village of Ninase. On a collecting expedition in 1958 Herbert and Erna Tampere interviewed Maria Koert quite extensively. They described her as a nimble, very warmhearted and outspoken individual. Her songs were being recorded as late as 1961 during the Saaremaa expedition of the folklore archives. Altogether 22 regilaul have been preserved from Maria. However, she especially loved the rhymed songs she had learned from her parents as a child, which at the time of the collecting expeditions were already disappearing from traditional use.