Personal Appearance of the Servians.--Their Moral
Character.--Peculiarities of Manners.--Christmas
Festivities.--Easter.--The Dodola.
The Servians are a remarkably tall and robust race of men; in form and
feature they bespeak strength of body and energy of mind: but one
seldom sees that thorough-bred look, which, so frequently found in the
poorest peasants of Italy and Greece, shows that the descendants of
the most polite of the ancients, although disinherited of dominion,
have not lost the corporeal attributes of nobility. But the women of
Servia I think very pretty. In body they are not so well shaped as the
Greek women; but their complexions are fine, the hair generally black
and glossy, and their head-dress particularly graceful. Not being
addicted to the bath, like other eastern women, they prolong their
beauty beyond the average climacteric; and their houses, with rooms
opening on a court-yard and small garden, are favourable to health and
beauty. They are not exposed to the elements as the men; nor are they
cooped up within four walls, like many eastern women, without a
sufficient circulation of air.
Through all the interior of Servia, the female is reckoned an inferior
being, and fit only to be the plaything of youth and the nurse of old
age. This peculiarity of manners has not sprung from the four
centuries of Turkish occupation, but appears to have been inherent in
old Slaavic manners, and such as we read of in Russia, a very few
generations ago; but as the European standard is now rapidly adopted
at Belgrade, there can be little doubt that it will thence, in the
course of time, spread over all Servia.
The character of the Servian closely resembles that of the Scottish
Highlander. He is brave in battle, highly hospitable; delights in
simple and plaintive music and poetry, his favourite instruments
being the bagpipe and fiddle: but unlike the Greek be shows little
aptitude for trade; and unlike the Bulgarian, he is very lazy in
agricultural operations. All this corresponds with the Scottish Celtic
character; and without absolute dishonesty, a certain low cunning in
the prosecution of his material interests completes the parallel.
The old customs of Servia are rapidly disappearing under the pressure
of laws and European institutions. Many of these could not have
existed except in a society in which might made right. One of these
was the vow of eternal brotherhood and friendship between two
individuals; a treaty offensive and defensive, to assist each other in
the difficult passages of life. This bond is considered sacred and
indissoluble. Frequently remarkable instances of it are found in the
wars of Kara Georg. But now that regular guarantees for the security
of life and property exist, the custom appears to have fallen into
desuetude. These confederacies in the dual state, as in Servia, or
multiple, as in the clan system of Scotland and Albania, are always
strongest in turbulent times and regions.[20]
Another of the old customs of Servia was sufficiently characteristic
of its lawless state. Abduction of females was common. Sometimes a
young man would collect a party of his companions, break into a
village, and carry off a maiden. To prevent re-capture they generally
went into the woods, where the nuptial knot was tied by a priest
_nolens volens_. Then commenced the negotiation for a reconciliation
with the parents, which was generally successful; as in many instances
the female had been the secret lover of the young man, and the other
villagers used to add their persuasion, in order to bring about a
pacific solution. But if the relations of the girl mode a legal affair
of it, the young woman was asked if it was by her own will that she
was taken away; and if she made the admission then a reconciliation
took place: if not, those concerned in the abduction were fined, Kara
Georg put a stop to this by proclamation, punishing the author of an
abduction with death, the priest with dismissal, and the assistants
with the bastinado.
The Haiducks, or outlawed robbers, who during the first quarter of the
present century infested the woods of Servia, resembled the Caterans
of the Highlands of Scotland, being as much rebels as robbers, and
imagined that in setting authority at defiance they were not acting
dishonourably, but combating for a principle of independence. They
robbed only the rich Moslems, and were often generous to the poor.
Thus robbery and rebellion being confounded, the term Haiduck is not
considered opprobrious; and several old Servians have confessed to me
that they had been Haiducks in their youth, I am sure that the
adventures of a Servian Rob Roy might form the materials of a stirring
Romance. There are many Haiducks still in Bosnia, Herzegovina, and on
the western Balkan; but the race in Servia is extinct, and plunder is
the only object of the few robbers who now infest the woods in the
west of Servia.
Such are the customs that have just disappeared; but many national
peculiarities still remain. At Christmas, for instance, every peasant
goes to the woods, and cuts down a young oak; as soon as he returns
home, which is in the twilight; he says to the assembled family, "A
happy Christmas eve to the house;" on which a male of the family
scatters a little grain on the ground and answers, "God be gracious to
you, our happy and honoured father." The housewife then lays the young
oak on the fire, to which are thrown a few nuts and a little straw,
and the evening ends in merriment.
Next day, after divine service, the family assemble around the dinner
table, each bearing a lighted candle; and they say aloud, "Christ is
born: let us honour Christ and his birth." The usual Christmas drink
is hot wine mixed with honey. They have also the custom of First Foot.
This personage is selected beforehand, under the idea that he will
bring luck with him for the ensuing year. On entering the First Foot
says, "Christ is born!" and receives for answer, "Yes, he is born!"
while the First Foot scatters a few grains of corn on the floor. He
then advances and stirs up the wood on the fire, so that it crackles
and emits sparks; on which the First Foot says, "As many sparks so
many cattle, so many horses, so many goats, so many sheep, so many
boars, so many bee hives, and so much luck and prosperity.'" He then
throws a little money into the ashes, or hangs some hemp on the door;
and Christmas ends with presents and festivities.
At Easter, they amuse themselves with the game of breaking hard-boiled
eggs, having first examined those of an opponent to see that they are
not filled with wax. From this time until Ascension day the common
formula of greeting is "Christ has arisen!" to which answer is made,
"Yes; he has truly arisen or ascended!" And on the second Monday after
Easter the graves of dead relations are visited.
One of the most extraordinary customs of Servia is that of the Dodola.
When a long drought has taken place, a handsome young woman is
stripped, and so dressed up with grass, flowers, cabbage and other
leaves, that her face is scarcely visible; she then, in company with
several girls of twelve or fifteen years of age, goes from house to
house singing a song, the burden of which is a wish for rain. It is
then the custom of the mistress of the house at which the Dodola is
stopped to throw a little water on her. This custom used also to be
kept up in the Servian districts of Hungary; but has been forbidden by
the priests.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 20: The most perfect confederacy of this description is that
of the Druses, which has stood the test of eight centuries, and in its
secret organization is complete beyond any thing attained by
freemasonry.]