The present paper examines a novel aspect of folk literacy within the ethnographical research, in particular to a separate genre of oral folk art, which is an organic component of modern Ukrainian and Hungarian cultures. The focus of the study is written sources from the village of Shalanky (Berehove District, Transcarpathia), as well as from some other areas of the former Hungarian historical region of Ugocsa. The collection entitled The Book for Funeral Ceremonies (Halottas alkalmakra készített és írott könyv) is presented in four copies, each containing songs for a funeral ceremony. The main occasions for recitative singing are, on the one hand, church events, divine services, and, on the other, funerals and commemorations. For the latter, there were prepared, in the Reformed communities, separate handwritten songbooks titled The Book-Collection of Funeral Songs, or The Book, Prepared and Written to Honour the dead. Currently, more than ten manuscripts have been collected in the studied region. Information about their use and purpose, the role in the life of a community can be obtained from narrations of informants. The oldest collection was compiled in the 1880s. The books contain only the texts that provide a decent burial of the dead. For burial, a cantor (singer) selects suitable songs by age, sex, ecclesiastical order of the deceased, etc. Most manuscripts have a similar structure; we can also find much in common in the subjects of song texts. In general, as already noted, the content of each manuscript is divided into ten sections, the songs are mainly grouped by age. Until recently, in the communities surveyed, there was a custom of so-called song dictation (recitative). Community members have different views on its decline. The older generation prefers recitative, while young people prefer rhythmic singing and new songs. However, the fact is that the song dictation was a characteristic sign of both the Reformed divine services and the Hungarian identity. It also had a moral content in relations between members of a community. Our duty is to show and preserve this custom!