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Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey
The word is "pelokan", which you identified as the equivalent of the Malay "sampir".
My understanding of a pelok is that it is a seed---I think its a mango seed. I cannot recall ever having heard it used as a synonym for the atasan of a warangka. I asked a few people whom I know in Solo, who are keris people, and they were as mystified as I was by this usage.
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Dear Alan,
Forgive me, for being late to response your post. (When you were in Solo last month, I was in Yogyakarta and Solo too. I know you were there from Mr Pauzan and also from your close friend, a Solonese keris maker Yantono of Palur). About the word "pelokan" I used in my post, of course that was not my own word. Pelokan is a colloquial word for upper part of Yogyanese "gayaman" type of warangka.
It is an informal word for Yogyanese upper part of gayaman warangka, that resembles a form of "mango seed" -- like you said. (The word "gayaman" also derived from the word "gayam", a kind of (soil?) plant or in Latin word,
Inocarpus fagiferus...)
I think, the usage of the word "pelokan" is similar to the colloquial word among us -- keris people in Java -- every time we used the word "hendel" for mentioning keris-hilt, (in formal Javanese language, we call it "jejeran" or "dederan"). Maybe it derived from foreign word, "handle"...
Without any serious purpose, I opened the keris book (Keris Jawa) of Mr Haryono Haryoguritno. I found that the word "pelokan" also known, among the keris people in
Surakarta too. You may see on page 316 of the book, mentioning about "Warangka Gayaman".
According to Mr Guritno, among people in
Surakarta area known some standard forms or types of "gayaman" warangka. (I quote the complete forms he mentioned in his book): gayaman Gabel, gayaman Gandhon, gayaman Kagok Gabel, gayaman Kagok Gandhon, gayaman Bancihan, gayaman Bancihan Wayang, gayaman Ladrang, gayaman Kagok Bancih, gayaman
Pelokan and gayaman Palawijan...
But if you used the word "sampir" (Malay term) for the upper part of the warangka, than keris people in Java will misunderstand to other word. "Sampir", in Javanese keris term -- means a specific motif in "timoho wood", like the picture below... (Sorry, not clear enough). That is "pelet sampir", we call it.
Is it what you want me to clarify? Anyway, thank you Alan for your kind attention...
GANJAWULUNG