The fifth type of costume begins just beyond the village
of Prudki in Litizh, Khlebtsov, Kuban, and, apparently,
extends into the Dmitrovsky District of Oryol Province.
This type of costume is significantly different from all those described above.
In the summer of 1909, commissioned by the Ethnographic Department of the Russian Museum of Emperor Alexander III to collect ethnographic collections, I surveyed the southern half of the Sevsk District of Oryol Province and the adjacent parts of the Novgorod-Seversky District of Chernigov Province, the Trubchevsky District of Oryol Province, and the Dmitrovsky District of Kursk Province.
This area is of considerable interest to ethnographers, as it is where all three main branches of the Russian people converge – Great Russians, Little Russians, and Belarusians. In ancient times, the “Lithuanian” and “Cherkassy” borders passed through here. Now in folk terminology, we also find “Lithuania,” “Khakhlachina,” and “Moscow.”
The ethnographic boundary between Great Russians, Little Russians, and Belarusians has not yet been precisely established. For example, we encountered contradictory indications in a recent article by the well-known expert on Belarusians, Professor E.F. Karsky. The distinction in costume is the second most important and significant marker, after dialectical differences, used to establish ethnographic boundaries.
That is why we hope that our notes on folk costumes at the border of Oryol and Chernigov provinces, which differ here in a colorful variety, will be of interest to researchers.
But before proceeding to describe the various types of peasant clothing, I find it appropriate to say a few words about how I acquired information about these types. The fact is that at present, the folk costume is characterized by great uniformity, both in Oryol Province and throughout the expanse of Great Russia. Everywhere you will encounter ordinary jackets, skirts, and blouses – just like those of the townspeople. The same is observed in the area I studied. Only in the village of Litizh and the neighboring villages is the old costume still common today: panovy, verkushki, zapaski. In other areas, the old costume has already disappeared; almost no one wears it, but the memory of it is still alive. Moreover, certain elements of the old costume have been preserved by some residents. I collected these remnants of antiquity for the museum. (The collection I gathered was largely presented at the ethnographic exhibition of the museum, which took place at the end of December of last year and the beginning of January of this year, 1910.)
Based on these preserved remnants, albeit more or less accidentally, but in abundance, of the former costume, and also based on inquiries with old men and women who remember well and sometimes wore the old clothing in their youth, or as they themselves call it, “the rite of the old covenant,” I recreate the picture of the geographical distribution of different types of folk clothing.
The sources I mentioned were generally so abundant that I often had the opportunity to reconstruct the history of the local population, the gradual change from the oldest costumes to newer ones. For example, forty – zlatoglavy and verkushki, shelomy – povoyniki, which in turn have already managed to disappear again.
Chapter 1.
In the area I surveyed, seven types of women’s peasant costumes can be identified.
The first of these, the most common in the described locality, is widespread in the southwestern part of the Sevsk District of Oryol Province – from the Seva River to the border with Chernigov Province and the Trubchevsky District of Oryol Province, and I noted it in the villages and settlements: Berestok, Zaulye, Shilinka, Nikolsky Khutor, Aleshkovichi, Zernovo, Orliya, Svetova, Razhkovichi, Svetnoe, Podyvotye, Saranchino, Grudskaya, Byki, Ivachevo.
Its components include the head decoration of married women – the “kokoshik,” consisting of a linen or red cloth “chela” or “nachelk,” embroidered with colored wool or garus with geometric ornamentation. This forehead piece is sewn onto an elongated red cloth cap, measuring approximately 25 by 5 centimeters, worn on a flat or slightly concave “kichka,” forming two horns. At the back, the hair is covered with a “podzatylnik,” consisting of an elongated piece of velvet or other fabric, sewn onto the cloth and embroidered with silver or tinsel thread, sometimes with inserted “steklyashki” or beads. The embroidery pattern is floral. The dimensions of the “podzatylnik” are approximately 13 by 4 centimeters. The kichka is usually tied with a factory-made scarf or a special band with “makhrami” (the same kind of band is tied by girls directly over their hair) or an embroidered towel. The pattern of the towel consists of stars or transverse stripes running the entire length of the towel, not just at its edges.
Over the long shirt, which usually has embroidered sleeves and sometimes the hem, instead of a skirt, a handwoven “panova” is worn, consisting of two long pieces of cloth sewn together in the middle. The sewn part covers the back of the body, and the two free parts are wrapped to the front and laid one over the other. Then, the back sewn part is lifted and tucked in at one end on the right side at the waist, forming what is called a “kulyok” at the back, which in some places is slightly smoothed to the figure, while in others (mainly in the western villages, for example, Setnoe), it stands upright, known as “pipkoy.” The panovy has a red, less often yellow pattern on a black field, with various patterns featuring geometric ornamentation, but rarely in a checkered design. The names of the patterns include “krestami,” “stolbami,” etc. The dyeing of the threads in red is mostly done with purchased dye – shalon with alum, in green with reed (Fragmites communis) or hemp, in blue with buckthorn (Rhamnus frangula), in yellow with bidens (Bidens tripartitus), and in brown-yellow with apple leaves. A strip of red cloth, embroidered with garus, sometimes with sequins and “brozument” (pazument) with tassels, “kosnikami” (tassels made of small ribbons), and makhrami is sometimes sewn onto the front hem of the panova. Such a panova is considered festive and is called “dobraya panova.”
This semi-wild attire, leaving the shirt only half-covered, is belted with a striped handwoven yellow or red, or braided scarlet belt – “kushakom.” In front, the shirt is slightly pulled out and hangs down over the belt like a bag.
On the feet, there are onuchi and lapti – sometimes “pisanye,” i.e., finely woven. Around the neck, there is a net, and on the chest, “moisty” with a cross, icon, or palm, “snizanyye” from multi-colored beads.
In winter, a fur coat is worn over the costume, and in summer, a “kufayka,” made from dark brown woolen fabric.
Kokoshiki and panovy have now almost universally fallen out of use, except in the most remote villages (Setnoe, Razhkovichi, Grudskaya, Svetova), where panovy are still worn occasionally. In the other aforementioned settlements, they have been replaced by ordinary urban skirts made of purchased fabric. Kokoshiki have been replaced by “sborniki,” i.e., caps made of red fabric adorned with small glass beads. On top, the sbornik is covered with a factory-made scarf in urban style. Old women, however, tie their hair in the old way, as the kichka was once tied.
Men used to wear a “holosheika” shirt, without a standing collar, with a simple neck cut. The hem of such a shirt was sometimes embroidered (for example, in Setnoe, the pattern of this embroidery stylizes roosters. This same stylization is found here on women’s shirts). Now they wear an ordinary shirt: the chest is widely embroidered with a modern pattern, and the cut is still on the side. The trousers are made of canvas, white or blue (dyeing establishments are located in Sevsk itself); on the feet, there are onuchi, lapti, or boots. On the head, there is a “kolpak” (a felt hat), made from dark brown wool, a homemade straw hat, or a purchased cap, a cartouche. Over this, a naked tulup, fur coat, zipun, or armyak made of dark brown wool is worn. They are belted with a purchased belt.
In other areas among the Great Russians, this men’s costume does not represent significant changes. However, “holosheiki” I encountered only here and specifically only in the village of Setnoe.
Adjacent to the described type of women’s costume from the east is the second type, found in the villages of Knyaginino and Chemlyzh. The main decoration here is the “chepets” – a round cap on a semicircular kichka with a brocade top, velvet in front; it is tied with a factory-made scarf or a girl’s band of the same type as in the first area. In front, “ushki” – woolen balls and “podbrovnik” – a narrow velvet strip under the eyebrows, at the bottom of the forehead of the chepets. This strip is adorned with sequins. The hair is covered at the back with the usual podzatylnik, which is sometimes embroidered with beads.
However, the chepets here was preceded by the ancient kokoshnik, a wide and high rectangular (25 by 10 centimeters) forehead piece, curved on the semicircular kichka, embroidered with silver threads, with large “steklyashki” inserted. The embroidery pattern is floral. The work is monastic (mostly purchased “in Korennaya” desert of Kursk Province). This is a festive headpiece. On weekdays, they wore the kokoshnik also on a semicircular kichka (without horns), but embroidered with wool in a geometric pattern. The panovy here is of the first area’s type, but there are also black colors with barely noticeable red stripes in a large check.
The third type of women’s costume was encountered by me to the southeast of Sevsk; from here it deepens into the Dmitrovsky District of Kursk Province. This area includes the villages: Dobrovody, Gaponovo, Sennoye, Pogreby, and in Kursk Province: Korobkino, Demenino, Selino, Starshye. This costume has also now fallen out of use; how far it was spread further in Kursk Province has not been clarified by me, but many told me that already beyond the Svaipa River, the head decoration of another type, resembling a high truncated cone, slightly tilted forward, with a convex top – like a truncated sugar head (Compare P.I. Yakoby. Vyatichi of Oryol Province. p. 151). I was informed that such a head decoration has been preserved to this day in Vyshe and Nizhny Sokovinki of the Dmitrovsky District of Kursk Province. Unfortunately, I could not verify this personally.
The costume of the indicated third area consisted – on weekdays – of a headpiece – “kokoshnik” on a flat, short kichka, embroidered on red cloth or red fabric with silk, not wool, as in the first area; very finely and elegantly made with a geometric ornament. The patterns have various names: “arepey,” “prudy,” “chornye vilki,” “pustotsvet,” “belye zernyshki,” “bely vyvod,” “Demeninskaya lesenka,” “Selinskaya lesenka” (obviously named after the settlements of the Dmitrovsky District of Kursk Province, from where these patterns were borrowed). The festive kokoshnik was embroidered with silver threads on velvet. The hair was covered at the back with the usual podzatylnik, as in the first area. In addition to the usual white shirt, in Dobrovody, I encountered what is called here a “grudinka” – a women’s upper shirt only to the waist, with embroidered sleeves, worn over the ordinary long one.
In Dobrovody, “dushegreiki” existed as an outer dress, but now only a memory of them remains. The panova is identical in shape and method of wearing to the first two areas, but the quality of the material is thinner and gray with barely noticeable pink, green, and yellow stripes in a large check. Such panovy were found by me in Gaponovo. In general, the remnants of this costume have only been preserved in the Sevsk District, while in the Dmitrovsky District – in the part I surveyed – they are only remembered.
In the area of the described third type, the ancient border of Russia with Little Russia passed – the so-called “Cherkassy border.” Perhaps this border approximately coincides with the northern limit of the area I described, adjacent to the type of the fourth area, to which I will now turn. However, no traces of Little Russian influence are noticeable here. Both the costumes and the dialect are undoubtedly Great Russian.
The ancient “Cherkassy border” passed approximately around the settlements: Gaponovo, Dobrovody, Probuzhye Pole, Kurganka, and Kalinovka. (See: Svyatsky, Historical Outline of the Cities of Sevsk, Dmitrovsk, and Komaritskaya Volost, p. 98; Kholmogorov, Sevsk tenement residential data of the church, p. 106, 109, and 122)
The fourth type of costume is widespread to the north of the just described area, i.e., to the northeast of Sevsk, in the settlements: Lukinki, Prudki, Prichizh, Pochinok-Aleshkov, Yevdokimovka. In the village of Reytarovka, to the south of Sevsk, traces of this, as well as the preceding type of costumes, are also found, but we will speak about the village of Reytarovka in more detail below.
The everyday headpiece of the described area was called “verkushka” and consisted of a round cap worn on a semicircular kichka. The top of the cap, and sometimes the forehead, is embroidered with silk. At the back, the hair is covered with the usual, already mentioned, podzatylnik; in front, there is a browband, called here “tarachok,” consisting of a narrow, long red cloth strip, embroidered with silk and adorned with sequins. The ornament of the “verkushka” and “tarachok” is geometric; on the verkushki, the favorite pattern is diamond shapes. The headpiece is tied with an ordinary scarf. The sleeves of the shirts are sometimes embroidered, covered with a checkered pattern of red squares. Such a shirt was found by me in the village of Prudki.
The festive headpiece is called “zlatoglavy” and consists of the so-called “korobka.” It has the appearance of a round box, glued from strips of cloth, somewhat resembling a horned kichka and the chepets of the second area. The top of the “zlatoglavy” is embroidered with silver or gold thread or consists of a piece of church brocade; the ornament of the embroidered “zlatoglavy” is floral; sometimes the pattern is scattered with colored glass beads in metal settings, which altogether strongly resembles a church vestment. “Zlatoglavy” were made in monasteries and purchased by women at fairs, for example, in the Korennaya desert near Kursk. The “zlatoglavy” is tied with a scarf; at the back, there is a podzatylnik, and in front, a “tarachok.” This same head decoration served as a wedding “povilo” (headpiece worn by the bride during the wedding ceremony after the wedding).
The “verkushka” and “zlatoglavy,” which have now fallen out of use, were preceded in time by the “soroka.” The memory of it is still vividly preserved in the village of Prudki. The “soroka” is mentioned, among other things, in a fairy tale told to me in this village. Finally, in the village of Lukinki, I found three such “soroki.” One of them is a quadrangular cap with a tail appendage at the back, over which, instead of a podzatylnik, a “borona” was worn, i.e., a long podzatylnik made of beads, similar to the neck “net” of the first area. Probably, the podzatylnik of the second area, embroidered with beads instead of wool, serves as an intermediate transition from the podzatylnik in general to the borona. I have seen many such “borony” in the ethnographic department of the Oryol Archive Commission Museum from the Dmitrovsky District of Oryol Province – adjacent to Sevsk, but the “soroka” there is of a completely different appearance. A similar “soroka” to mine is found in Voronezh Province (in the Zemlyansky District, the village of Nizhny Veduga (Voronezh Collection, vol. II, p. 274, fig. 11). The other two specimens of the soroka I found are small caps with a protruding end in the shape of a horn towards the front. They are embroidered with silk and tinsel. Such “soroki” and parts of “zlatoglavy” I have seen in the Oryol Archive Commission Museum, where it, unfortunately, has an indefinite inscription: “peasant decorations of Oryol Province.”
The fifth type of costume begins just beyond the village of Prudki in Litizh, Khlebtsov, Kuban, and, apparently, extends into the Dmitrovsky District of Oryol Province. This type of costume is significantly different from all those described above. See Map (231 Kb).
Its head decorations, also called “verkushka,” consist of a cap worn on the kichka of oval-elongated shape, the top of which, edged with velvet, is embroidered with silver or tinsel thread – sometimes with a floral, but more often – geometric ornament; the favorite pattern is four-pointed crosses measuring 3 centimeters, with the ends of the crosses having a rhomboid shape. The “verkushka” is tied with a scarf. At the back, there is a podzatylnik, and in front, a “podchelok” (tarachok or browband), measuring 35 by 3 centimeters, of black velvet with sequins and two tassels hanging down. The wedding “verkushka” (“first povilo”) is made of velvet and is called “mohovik.”
The shirt has embroidered sleeves or “zakladannye,” i.e., woven on a frame.
The panova here, which the peasants of the village of Prudki disdainfully call “podguznik,” is sewn from three short pieces of cloth resembling a skirt, on a drawstring. Wrapping it around the waist from back to front, the woman ties the drawstring in front, and the front parts that spread apart are tucked at the waist, so that the entire lower front part of the shirt is displayed outside. Moreover, in front, over the panova, a “zapaska” (apron) made of purchased fabric is worn, sometimes with a “zakladannym” hem. The color of the panova is uniform, blue-gray with rare red stripes in a large check. Over the panova, buttons, “brozument,” and large quadrilaterals are sewn, one from red cloth, the other from white kolinkor – in a checkerboard pattern; each quadrilateral is not solid, but has the shape of a quadrilateral spiral (pattern – “with circles”); or, finally, the ends of each side of the square are cut into teeth from the center to the outside (pattern – “with paws”); or, lastly, in the form of lying verbs (the last pattern – “with hooks” – on the everyday panova).
The panova with the “circles” pattern I also saw in the Oryol Archive Commission Museum from the village of Leski in the Dmitrovsky District of Oryol Province, but only on the last one, the pattern of the quadrilateral spiral was thinner and more elegant. In general, all panovy in the mentioned museum from Oryol, Dmitrovsky, Kromsky, and other districts of Oryol Province have the form of the area I am currently examining, and there is not a single panova of the first four types I described above.
Girls abound with decorations made of beads, such as monists and necklaces. There are handmade earrings. Their hair bands are made from factory-made scarves, mostly pink with green. The scarf is folded in the form of a band and sewn once and for all, and its ends are cut and sewn diagonally, so that when tied, it forms a fluffy headdress. A long “kosnik” is tied to the braid, made from a long narrow piece of fabric, often pink, in the form of a ribbon, decorated with sequins and appliqués.
The described costume is still widely used in the village of Litizh in the Sevsk District. This village and the neighboring ones are the only area in the region I surveyed where I found the old costume still alive as a contemporary phenomenon.
The residents of the village of Litizh generally differ greatly from their neighboring peasants of the village of Prudki and others located to the south of it in the Sevsk District. They are gloomy, sullen, unfriendly, uncommunicative, and extremely ignorant. In the village of Prudki, everything is just the opposite, and the Prudkians strongly dislike the Litizhans, laughing at their “podguzniki,” in general over their adherence to the old costume, and consider it shameful to wear their verkushki, zlatoglavy, and panovy (of the first type), which have been preserved by some of the old women. The Litizhans, however, despite the existence of a factory in their village, seem to be completely untouched by culture and strictly preserve the traditions of antiquity. (In 1718, by order from the Kiev provincial office, the deserted village of Litizh was populated. SK)
Chapter 2.
All five types of peasant decorations examined by me in the area of the Sevsk District of Oryol Province and a small part of the Dmitrovsky District of Kursk Province are undoubtedly Great Russian, as is the population of this area itself. The current peasants of this part of the Sevsk District are undoubtedly Great Russians. Historical data do not indicate that they came from Little Russia or Belarus. The colonization of the ancient Sevsk Ukraine, which included the Sevsk District – the ancient Komaritskaya volost – occurred from the central, Moscow regions of Russia; therefore, the colonists were Great Russians. The only exception is the city of Sevsk itself and its surrounding settlements – slobodas: Streletskaya, Pushkarnaya, Kazachya, Krestovskaya Pushkarnaya (now the village of Karostovka), Reytarovka. Regarding these settlements, we know that they were originally settled by Cossacks from Novgorod-Seversky by the Moscow government in 1623, after the Time of Troubles, when everything here was in desolation. Among these settlers, there are directly Little Russian surnames: Shapoval, Noga, Chebotar, Khoi, Kvasnik, Bushuy, Shvets, Shibai, Shcherbak, Bokhay, Kharkov, etc. (see Collection. Oryol. Church. – Archaeological Society, Vol. 2, p. 28) But the aforementioned settlements, except for Reytarovka, due to their proximity to the city, have lost all the old traditions, both in clothing and customs.
There is, however, another historical indication that in 176 “Belarusians were fed in the Komaritskaya volost working.” But it is also known that in the late 40s of this century, frightened by news of an impending Tatar attack on the Komaritskaya volost, “those people all went beyond their border” (Ibid., p. 34). Therefore, “Belarusians” could not leave any lasting traces of their presence here.
The aforementioned village of Reytarovka, among the settlements with military settlers, is of more recent origin. It is located right on the border of the first four types of peasant costumes I described. All four types of head decorations are found here. The “verkushki” of the fourth type prevail, there are “kokoshiki” of the first and second types, and finally, there are “chepets” – of the second type and unique local “chepets,” the tops of which are embroidered on red velvet with silver or tinsel thread with a large floral ornament. A similar type of chepets, but with a tail appendage at the back, I found in the village of Gaponovo, where they called it “zlatoglavyka.”
The variety of women’s headpieces in the village of Reytarovka, I believe, is explained by the fact that its residents are a migratory element, namely Bryansk “reiters” settled here during the reign of Peter the Great in 1701 (Svyatsky, Historical Outlines of the Cities of Sevsk …, p. 47). As a migratory element, not following any specific traditions, the Reytarovka residents likely adopted decorations from neighboring areas, whatever they liked best.
Chapter 3.
Crossing the border of the Sevsk District towards the city of Trubchevsk in Oryol Province, we immediately encounter a change in headgear. This will be the sixth type of costume. Still in Nikolsky Khutor of the Sevsk District, women wore a horned kichka with a kokoshnik of the first area, but in the village of Suzemki in the Trubchevsky District, directly adjacent to the Khutor (now near the Suzemki station of the M.-K.-V. railway), they wore a “povoynik” – a round flat cap worn on a hoop, made of scarlet fabric, quilted with a simple geometric pattern; the povoynik is tied with a factory-made scarf. The festive “povoynik,” embroidered with large, raspberry-colored patterns, resembling fluffy flowers, as well as yellow and silver threads, was sometimes worn directly over the everyday “povoynik”; the sewing of “povoyniks” was done in the locality of Seredina-Buda in the Novgorod-Seversky District, bordering the Trubchevsky and Sevsk Districts. “Povoyniks” are also found, the tops of which are embroidered with multi-colored wool, with a large floral ornament; such “povoyniks” were brought here by pilgrims from Kyiv. Now the “povoynik” has been replaced by the modern “sbornik” of the first area, with slight variations.
However, the “povoynik” was preceded here by a more ancient headpiece, the so-called “shelomok,” consisting of a cap with a crimson satin top, folded like a pie, resembling an ordinary men’s hat a la Pushkin, but worn not along the head, but across. It was tied with a special embroidered band with makhrami. This headpiece, encountered by me in Suzemki and Gorozhanka, was reportedly also widespread further towards Trubchevsk, and earlier, apparently, penetrated into the Novgorod-Seversky District; at least there, the “povoynik” was sometimes called “shelomok,” for example, in the village of Shalimovka (Shemilovka on the General Staff map).
I believe that the “povoynik” came here from the south, from Little Russia, and is essentially the Little Russian “ochipok,” while the “shelomok” is an ancient local headpiece, perhaps dating back to deep antiquity. The Slavic name of the headdress is interesting, from “shelom” – “helmet.”
Incidentally, I note that the residents of the Trubchevsky District, especially in its more central part, still call themselves “Lithuania.” It is known that between the Sevsk and Trubchevsky Districts in the 17th century, the “Lithuanian border” passed, and Trubchevsk along with Novgorod-Seversky was under the control of Lithuania (Svyatsky, Historical Outlines of the Cities of Sevsk …, p. 42). According to the research of Professor E.F. Karsky, Belarusians inhabit the western part of Bryansk and Trubchevsky Districts, and the very border with Belarus runs here approximately along the Desna River (E.F. Karsky. On the Issue of the Delimitation of Russian Dialects, p. 4; Report on the Trip to Belarus in “Izv. I.R.G.O.”, vol. XLI, no. IV, p. 725).
The seventh type of costume is discovered immediately as soon as we cross the border separating the Sevsk District from Chernigov Province. There is no transitional area here, and a sharp difference in costume is directly observed. Still in Setnoe, Razhkovichi of the Sevsk District, they wear panovy, kokoshiki (of the first type), while in Porokhna, Kamyanka, Shalimovka, 2-5 versts from the mentioned villages of the Sevsk District, I encountered something completely different. The panova is replaced and called “plakhta,” and on the head – “ochipok.” But both are quickly falling out of use, being replaced by suburban costumes. This reflects, mainly, the influence of such a cultural center as the Mikhailovsky-Khutor station of the M.-K.-V. railway with the sugar factory of Tereshchenko. In the neighboring villages of the factory – Yurasovka and Zhuravka, only a memory of plakhtas remains. But in Chuykovka, of the Glukhovsky District of Chernigov Province, plakhtas are still encountered.
The plakhta is, in essence, the same panova in shape, but its pattern is different – checkered, and most importantly – it was worn differently, namely: the sewn part covered the back of the body, and two free strips fell down behind, over the sewn part, spreading apart and thus creating a gap at the back through which the lower whole part is visible. In front, a woolen “zapaska” – a kind of red apron, was tied around the entire costume. Over it, in winter, a white “svitka” is worn, and in summer, a “yubka,” also a kind of short svitka made of white wool.
The headpiece, “ochipok” – is the same as the “povoynik” of the sixth area, only I did not encounter here ochipoks brought from Kyiv.
The sharp transition at the border of Oryol and Chernigov provinces is noted not only in costume. In the Novgorod-Seversky District, even in such a cultural locality as Seredina-Buda (near the Zernovo M.-K.-V. railway station), the Little Russian speech is audible. Already in the border village of Setnoe of the Sevsk District, I noted borrowed, apparently from here, Little Russian words: “mabut,” “zaraz,” “panich,” “horilka,” “korbovanets,” “rushnyk.” These same words are also found in Zernovo. In Kamyanka, the cleanliness in the houses stands out (although they are still not plastered), while, for example, in Setnoe, dirty huts are everywhere impossible to find. Even such a detail: climatic conditions for the growth of the pyramidal poplar (Populus pyramidalis) are the same in both Sevsk and Novgorod-Seversky Districts. However, in the villages of the first district, it is found only as an exception, while in the villages of the second, it is a rule, a beloved, so to speak, national tree, around churches, factories, estates.
The residents of the Novgorod-Seversky District call the Sevsk residents “moskali.” In the village of Shalimovka, one peasant woman, pointing to the village of Setnoe in the Sevsk District, which is only three versts away, called it “Moscow.” In turn, Setnoe generally calls all of Novgorod-Seversky and Glukhovsky Districts of Chernigov Province, adjacent to Sevsk, “Khakhlachina.”
By all the indicated signs, the ethnographic boundary between Great Russians and Little Russians coincides here with the graphic boundary separating Oryol Province from Chernigov. But this conclusion does not agree with the indication of E.F. Karsky; according to him, the eastern half of the Novgorod-Seversky District (obviously adjacent to the Sevsk District) is populated by Great Russians (E. Karsky. On the Issue of the Delimitation of Russian Dialects, p. 6). I did not penetrate deep into the Novgorod-Seversky District, but even on its very eastern periphery, I encountered, as we have seen, clear traces of Little Russia.
P.N. Tikhonov quotes in his “Bryansk Dialect” a report by M. Levchenko, relating to 1861: “It is interesting to observe the change along with the hats and the folk dialect… Near Novgorod-Seversky (on the road from Krolevets to Starodub), you will notice that the top of the hat is white, and there you will also hear the Belarusian accent. Crossing the Desna, you will see only white hats, but where you meet them with at least a small stripe of dark color, there the Little Russian speech is still heard” (P. Tikhonov. Bryansk Dialect, p. 125-126 // Collection II Department. I. Ak. Sciences, vol. 76). This last, emphasized by us, indication agrees with our observations. In Kamyanka, Porokhna, Romashkovo, and Chernatsky of the Novgorod-Seversky District, men wear locally made felt hats, with a white top and dark brown brim. I have encountered such hats in the village of Setnoe in the Sevsk District as well.
The trace of Little Russian influence is also visible in the name of towels – a common decoration among peasants – “rushnyky” in the western part of the Sevsk District, adjacent to Chernigov Province, while to the east of Sevsk, they are called “utyrky,” and once, when I asked: “Do you have rushnyky?” here they answered with the same question: “Is this handmade?” – obviously not understanding the meaning of the word “rushnyk.”
Chapter 4.
“Rushnyk” and “utyrka” rarely play the role of actual towels among peasants, but serve as decorations for icons, for tying headgear, for hanging on walls inside the hut on Easter (a custom I noted in the village of Starshye in the Dmitrovsky District of Kursk Province). They were also given to soldiers going to war; finally, they were used instead of handkerchiefs (like Little Russian “khustoks”) and taken with them as such to church, where they were held under the armpit so that the embroidered ends were visible. In the village of Byki in the Sevsk District, the local priest informed me about the custom of so-called “obydennykh” towels. During an epidemic among cattle, the women of the entire village spun, wove, embroidered, and brought to church an “obydenny rushnyk” made collectively.
Modern towels are “zakladannye,” i.e., their ends are woven on frames. The ornament on them is geometric and bears various names: “rozha,” “tambas” (borrowed, according to the peasants themselves, from Tambov Province), “moskva,” and others.
Old towels are preserved only as a memory of the past, all “vyshyvany” without “kavny” (canvas) and at the same time on both sides, “through three threads” of fabric, sometimes with smooth stitching (Litizh), sometimes with “nastilyu” (Pogreby).
The most curious and original patterns on towels I found to the south of Sevsk, at the transition from the Sevsk District to Kursk Province, then in the villages of Byki, Ivachevo, as well as in the village of Prudki. Conversely, to the west of Sevsk, the further towards Chernigov Province, the poorer their patterns become.
Among the original patterns on towels, my attention was drawn, among other things, to a rushnyk from the village of Ivachevo; it was given to a soldier going to the Caucasus for war in 1858. At each end of this rushnyk, a two-headed eagle is embroidered with lowered wings, like on Catherine’s three-kopeck coins; in the corners, there are horsemen: one in a cartouche, the other in a helmet. In the middle, something resembling a table or, rather, a barrier for horse racing. One horseman sits on the horse like an Amazon, i.e., both legs hang down on one side, while the other, conversely, has one leg thrown over the horse. On the sides of the eagle, there are George crosses, and below is embroidered: 1858 (the eve of the year of conquest of the Caucasus). Other towels, which, according to the peasants, are at least 100 years old, are also interesting. Their pattern names include: “full sleep,” “half sleep,” “rak” (rather – eagle) – from the village of Dobrovody; “samovar” (rather – spider), “pavochki,” “golovastiki,” “churches,” “wolves,” “prudy,” and “vypis’ s bolonok,” i.e., a pattern taken from a frozen window – all from the village of Starshye in the Dmitrovsky District of Kursk Province.