PEASANTS—THEIR MANNERS AND MODE OF
LIVING.—EMIGRATIONS.—AGRICULTURE.—GENERAL ASPECT OF THE COUNTRY.—AN
ACCOUNT OF THE GYPSIES.
There does not perhaps exist a people labouring under a greater degree
of oppression from the effect of despotic power, and more heavily
burthened with impositions and taxes, than the peasantry of Wallachia
and Moldavia; nor any who would bear half their weight with the same
patience and seeming resignation. Accustomed, however, to that state of
servitude which to others might appear intolerable, they are unable to
form hopes for a better condition; the habitual depression of their
minds has become a sort of natural stupor and apathy, which render them
equally indifferent to the enjoyments of life, and insensible to
happiness, as to the pangs of anguish and affliction.
Hence it is in a great measure inferred that they are a quiet and
harmless people. Their mode of living is, indeed, with regard to the
intercourse among themselves, an uninterrupted calm. Although the male
part are given to drinking, quarrels and fighting are almost unknown
among them; and they are so much used to blows and all kinds of ill
treatment from their superiors, that they approach with the greatest
respect and submission any who bear upon themselves the least external
mark of superiority.
Their religious notions, grounded upon the most ridiculous superstition,
are extremely singular. They firmly believe in all sorts of witchcraft,
in apparitions of the dead, in ghosts, and in all kinds of miracles
performed by the images of saints, and by the virtues of the holy water.
In illness, they place an image near them, and when they recover, though
it were through the assistance of the ablest physician, they attribute
their return to health to the good offices of the image alone. Their
observance of Lent days is so strict, that the threats of instant death
would hardly prevail upon any one to taste of the aliments specified in
the endless catalogue of forbidden food. Their other Christian duties,
although similar to those of the superior classes of their countrymen,
are carried to greater excess. Invoking the Holy Virgin or any saint, is
always substituted to regular prayer. Divine Providence is never
directly addressed.
The villages throughout the country are principally composed of
peasants’ huts, all built in the same style and of the same size. The
walls are of clay, and the roofs thatched with straw, neither of which
are calculated to protect the lodgers from the inclemency of the bad
seasons. The groundfloors are, however, occupied as long as the weather
will permit, and in winter they retire to cells under ground, easily
kept warm by means of a little fire made of dried dung and some branches
of trees; which, at the same time, serves for cooking their scanty food.
Each family, however numerous, sleeps in one of these subterraneous
habitations, men, women, and children, all heaped up together; and their
respective beds consist of one piece of coarse woollen cloth, which
serves in the double capacity of matrass and covering.
Their ordinary food is composed of a kind of dough to which they give
the name of _mammalinga_, made of the flour of Indian wheat, sometimes
mixed with milk. The first two or three days after a long Lent, they
sparingly indulge themselves in meat; but the greater part cannot afford
even so great a treat, and content themselves with eggs fried in butter,
and the milk to their mammalinga.
They continue the whole day out of doors at work, and they bear with
indifference all the extremes of the weather. Their industry, however,
is not of a very active kind, and they take frequent rest.
Notwithstanding this mode of life, and the supposed influence of an
ungenial climate, the generality of the peasants are a fine race of
people. They have no peculiar turn of features which may be called
characteristic; from long intercourse with foreign nations, their blood
seems to have become a mixture of many. The Eastern black eye and dark
hair, the Russian blue eye and light hair, the Greek and Roman nose, and
those features which distinguish the Tartars, are equally common amongst
all the orders of these two nations.
Both sexes are in the habit of marrying very young. They are not given
by inclination to sensual pleasures; but as religion does not teach the
women the propriety of virtue, excessive poverty induces them to grant
their favours for any pecuniary consideration, frequently with the
knowledge and consent of their husbands, or parents.
In the holidays, they spend most of their time in the village
wine-houses, where they eat and drink, and sometimes dance. At other
times they enjoy the spectacle of bear-dancing, a very common amusement
throughout the country, conducted by wandering gypsies, who teach the
art to those animals while very young, and gain a living by exhibiting
them afterwards.
The dress of the male peasants bears some resemblance to that of the
Dacians, as represented in the figures of Trajan’s pillar at Rome. Their
feet are covered with sandals made of goat-skin. They wear a kind of
loose pantaloon which is fastened to the waist by a tight leather belt,
and closes from the knee downwards. The upper part of the garment is
composed of a tight waistcoat, and a short jacket over it, of coarse
cotton stuff, and in winter is added a white sheep-skin, which is hung
over the shoulders in the manner of an hussar’s pelisse. The head is not
deprived of any part of its hair, which is twisted round behind, and a
cap is used to cover it, also made of sheep-skin, but which in summer is
exchanged for a large round hat. The beard is shaved, and the whiskers
alone are left to their natural growth.
The women are clothed from the neck to the ancles with a long gown of
thick cotton stuff of a light colour, made tight at the waist in such a
manner as to render the whole shape visible. They generally go
barefooted, and they cover their heads with a common handkerchief,
merely meant to keep up the hair. On holidays they add to their common
shift a coloured gown of a better sort: they button it up from the waist
to the neck, round which they wear as ornament, one or more strings of
beads, or _paras_, pierced through for the purpose.
Since their emancipation, the peasants have not been fixed to particular
parts of the country, and they are at full liberty to change their
habitations at the end of their engagements with the landholders. But
those of a more respectable kind seldom quit the spots where chance has
once placed them, unless they are driven by imperious circumstances.
Notwithstanding the unfortunate position of this people, by no means
enviable to their neighbours, the miseries of famine in Transylvania
sometimes cause considerable emigrations of peasants from that vast
province into Wallachia and Moldavia. All the best lands in Transylvania
being in the hands of Hungarians, Szecklers, and Saxons, the others who
form the bulk of the population are driven into hilly and barren
situations, where at all times they subsist with difficulty; and of late
years the more than ordinary scarcity that prevailed has driven about
twenty thousand peasants, subjects of the emperor, into the dominions of
the Hospodars, where the great disproportion between the number of
agricultural hands and the extent of arable land, renders such
emigrations extremely useful. They are placed on the same footing as the
native peasants with regard to tribute.
The changes of residence that sometimes take place among the peasantry
are not detrimental to the collection of the imposts, as it is the
business of the Ispravniks of each district to ascertain, every six
months, the number and means of the individuals living within the limits
of their Ispravnicates, and amenable to taxation. The deficiency of any
particular district being made up by the increase in another, no loss
accrues to the treasury.
There is no regular system exercised with respect to the arrangements of
the landholders and peasants. In general, however, the latter are
allowed a share of the produce in kind, with an understanding that the
burthen of the taxes and impositions falls upon them; not that the
former would be averse to taking upon themselves the payment of their
tenants’ contributions, but because government is decidedly against the
introduction of a similar regulation, the amount and nature of the
imposts being nominally fixed, but always exceeding the regular rates.
As the Boyars proprietors of land in Wallachia never cultivate the
estates for their own account, but merely rent them to those who can
make the greatest offer of ready money, the less valuable are sometimes
given to the whole body of peasants, residing in them when the advances
are made by them. The richest estates give an income of fifty or sixty
thousand piasters: but they are divided and subdivided for
marriage-portions for the proprietors’ daughters; and if the custom
continue for a few generations longer, a system, something similar to
the agrarian law, must be the future consequence.
The manner of tilling the ground does not materially differ from that of
other countries in Europe; oxen are employed instead of horses.
The wheat is sown during the Autumn; the barley and Indian corn in
Spring. The harvest of the two first generally takes place in the month
of July; that of the latter at the beginning of September; and as this
article is required for the nourishment of so great a portion of the
population as the peasantry, the quantity of it sown and reaped every
year is equal to that of wheat. Barley being only made use of for
feeding cattle and poultry, it is sown in a much smaller proportion.
The vine is always planted on the sloping of hills, and in situations
where it can receive some protection against any sudden severities of
the weather; the grape is seldom gathered before the end of September;
and as it does not come to a perfect state of maturity, it makes but
indifferent wine, of a light and sourish taste. All other kinds of
fruit, common to Europe, come here in great abundance at their usual
seasons.
The great waste of land left in both principalities in a state of
nature, and the universal custom of not cultivating the immediate
vicinity of the high roads, give to the country, in many parts, an
appearance of desolation; and a traveller, who only judges by the
scenery within his view, is apt sometimes to think himself in a
wilderness; he meets with few habitations on his way, except those
attached to the post-houses, and hardly perceives any other population.
But of all the sensations of delight produced by the beauties of nature,
none can surpass that which is raised by the aspect of the more interior
parts of this country. Romantic hills and dales, rivulets and streams,
fields adorned with verdure and flowers, present themselves in a
successive variety of beauty during the fine season, particularly within
twenty or thirty miles of the Carpathians, from the Pruth to the Danube
at Orsova. The inner parts of those mountains themselves offer the most
magnificent scenery; and their summits, the most beautiful and extensive
views. Those who have seen the romantic parts of the Alps, cannot help
recalling them here to their remembrance; the impressions of the moment
are such that they feel at a loss to decide which deserve the
preference. Whilst the impatient courier, going over the rough roads
through the Carpathians, bestows curses on the dangers that slacken his
pace, and impede his progress, the voluntary traveller and lover of
nature stands lost in admiration, and finally quits with reluctance and
regret scenes which nature has formed in her most romantic mood.
The aspect of the Carpathians is very different in winter: all the
heights are covered with snow, and the narrow roads with mud and large
stones, rolled in the midst of them by the torrents, so as to render
them almost impassable; mostly situated on the brinks of dreadful
precipices, at the bottom of which rivers or torrents have formed their
passage, one false step of the passenger is immediate death.
The Hospodars purposely neglect to repair these roads; the fear of
creating suspicions at the Porte that they wish to facilitate the
passage of foreign troops into the principalities, induces them to
abstain from an undertaking, which in other respects has become so
imperiously necessary: they do not even venture the slightest
representation to the Porte on the subject.
Few peasants inhabit this part of the country; during the summer they
cut down wood, and supply with it the inhabitants of the plains, who
burn nothing else. The most stationary are attached to the post-houses,
situated here and there for the purpose of assisting the necessary
communications between the Austrian and Ottoman states. Their long
residence in this neighbourhood is generally marked by the glandular
accretion, common to the inhabitants of the Alps. It grows sometimes to
an immense size; its appearance is then most disgusting, and it absorbs
almost all the faculties, moral and physical, of the unfortunate beings
afflicted with it. The natives believe the cause of this evil to proceed
from the qualities of the snow-water always drunk by those who inhabit
the mountains.
Every village throughout the country has a small church or chapel
belonging to it, and one or more priests who act as curates. The
ecclesiastics of this order are chosen amongst the ordinary peasants,
from whom they are only distinguished in appearance by a long beard.
They lead the same life, and follow the same avocations when not engaged
in the exercise of their clerical functions; but they are exempted from
the public imposts, and pay nothing more than their annual tribute of
fifteen piasters to the metropolitan. The generality of them can neither
read nor write; they learn the formule of the service by heart; and if a
book is seen in their chapels, it is very seldom for use. The priests of
this order are, in each district, dependent on the _Archimandrites_, or
Vicars, of the parishes nearest to their abode.
* * * * *
That class of the human species comprehended under the general
appellation of gypsies, seems to be, like the Jews, spread in most parts
of Europe, and in many other parts of the world; like them having no
admissible claims to any country as exclusively their own, and
distinguished from the other races of men by physical and moral
qualities peculiar to themselves. The different gradations of climate,
and the state of civilisation of the countries in which they are born
and brought up, do not seem to affect them in the same manner as the
other classes of human nature, and in many respects they appear little
superior to the brute creation.
Wallachia and Moldavia contain about one hundred and fifty thousand
gypsies, and make a more profitable use of them than other countries do,
by keeping them in a state of regular slavery. The period of their first
coming there is not exactly ascertained; but there is every reason to
believe it dates with the irruption of the gypsies from Germany in the
fifteenth century; and they are mentioned in some manuscripts, possessed
by Wallachian and Moldavian convents, evidently written towards that
period.
They are remarkable, as every where else, for their brown complexion;
their bodily constitution is strong, and they are so hardened from
constant exposure to all the rigours of the weather, that they appear
fit for any labour and fatigue; but their natural aversion to a life of
industry is in general so great, that they prefer all the miseries of
indigence, to the enjoyment of comforts that are to be reaped by
persevering exertion. The propensity to stealing seems inherent in them,
but they do not become thieves with the view of enriching themselves;
their thefts never extend beyond trifles.
The women have the same complexion, with fine and regular features. They
are very well shaped before they become mothers; but soon after they
begin to have children, and they are generally very fruitful, their
beauty gives way to a disgusting ugliness.
Both sexes are slovenly and dirty: the filth and vermin with which their
bodies are infected, seem to form a necessary part of their existence,
as no consideration can induce them to be cleanly. Most of them are
clothed with a few rags, and their children go naked at almost all
seasons.
They acknowledge no particular religion as their own; neither do they
think of following the precepts of any, unless, acting as domestic
slaves, they are ordered so to do by their masters. Among themselves
they dispense with the religious ceremony of marriage, and although many
live together as husbands and wives, they are only bound by the ties of
nature.
The women are of the most depraved character: none of them follow the
regular line of public prostitutes, but at the same time none refuse
their favours when the slightest offer of money is made.
In both principalities the gypsies are divided into two distinct classes
of slaves; the one is composed of those who are the property of
government, and the other, of those who belong to private individuals.
No regular traffic of them is carried on in the country, neither is it
customary to expose to public inspection any who are to be disposed of.
Both sales and purchases are conducted in private, and the usual price
for one of either sex, is from five to six hundred piasters.
The number of gypsies belonging to the two governments, altogether
amounts to eighty thousand, including women and children. They are
suffered to stroll about the country, provided they bind themselves
never to leave it, and to pay an annual tribute of the value of forty
piasters each man, above the age of fifteen. We have mentioned on the
subject of the gold and silver mines, how those of Wallachia pay their
share of it.
They are dispersed in different parts of the principalities, living in
separate companies of ten or fifteen families, under tents; they
frequently change the place of their abode, keeping always in the
neighbourhood of towns and villages, or near the high roads. A passenger
coming in sight of their tents is always assailed for charity by a
quantity of naked children belonging to them, and does not easily get
rid of their importunities without throwing a few paras to them.
The chief occupation, both of the men and women, leading this vagrant
life, consists in making common iron tools, baskets, and other wood-work
of the kind for sale. But their industry and gain are confined to what
is absolutely necessary for procuring them the means of subsistence.
They possess a natural facility and quickness in acquiring the knowledge
of arts; but a small number, however, devote themselves to any, and
musical performance seems to be that to which they give the preference:
those who profess it attend the wine-houses every day, for a trifling
remuneration, and from thence they are frequently called to the houses
of the first Boyars, on occasions when a band of music is requisite.
Some few become masons, and receive one piaster for a whole day’s work.
They are always employed, with a number of their less experienced
companions, in public buildings, and they are then allowed no other
reward but their daily food, and a proportionable deduction from their
tribute.
The other class of gypsies is divided into families belonging to Boyars
and others, who select from among them the greater part of their
household servants. The remainder are either employed at the vineyards
of their masters, suffered to follow common trades, or allowed to wander
about the country, upon the same conditions as those of the government.
The practice of employing gypsy slaves in various departments of the
household, particularly in the kitchen, is universal in both
principalities; but although the expense saved by it is considerable in
houses where a great number of servants must be kept, the inconvenience
is much greater, though not felt. The kitchens of the Boyars are, from
the filthy habits of the cooks, and the inattention of the masters, not
less disgusting than the common receptacles of swine. The incurable
propensity to vice, and the laziness of these servants, occasion
incessant trouble and vexation. Almost at every house punishments are
instituted for them, the most severe of which is the bastinado applied
to the naked soles of the feet: it is performed by another gypsy, under
the inspection of the superintendent, and frequently under that of the
master or mistress. The ladies of quality, however young and beautiful,
do not show much delicate reluctance in similar instances of authority.
The secondary punishment consists in passing the culprit’s head through
a kind of iron helmet, with two immense horns of the same metal, and
locking it under the chin in such a manner as to render it extremely
troublesome to the bearer, and to prevent him from eating or drinking,
as long as he keeps it on.
It is, however, certain, that the gypsy servants can neither be kept in
proper order without punishment, nor be made to go through any long work
without the stimulus of stripes. The private owners have not the power
of death over them; but it has happened sometimes, that some unfortunate
wretch has been beaten to death, and neither the government nor the
public took notice of the circumstance.
It is under the care of these depraved servants, that the children of
Boyars are brought up. The women of the higher ranks not being in the
habit of nursing their infants, place them in the hands of gypsy
wet-nurses, whose mode of life exposes them incessantly to diseases
which must prove most prejudicial to the quality of their milk, and
whose bad nourishment and dirty habits, must otherwise affect the
constitution of the children.
Notwithstanding that the gypsies form here so necessary a part of the
community, they are held in the greatest contempt by the other
inhabitants, who, indeed, treat them little better than brutes; and the
insulting epithet of ‘thief,’ or any equivalent, would sooner be put up
with than that of ‘gypsy.’
The public executioners for any kind of punishment are chosen from that
class alone; but as their office is merely momentary, the unfortunate
beings condemned always suffer considerably more from their inexperience
and incapacity.
The Wallachian and Moldavian gypsies speak the language of the country;
but those who lead a wandering life use, amongst themselves, a peculiar
jargon composed of a corruption of Bulgarian, Servian, and Hungarian
words, mixed with some Turkish. Its pronunciation, however, sounds so
much like that of the Hungarian tongue, that a person accustomed to hear
both without understanding either, is apt to mistake the one for the
other.
Their quality of slaves is acknowledged by the surrounding nations; and
those who abscond to them are restored when claimed as private property.
Desertions, however, are not frequent; and when they do take place, the
fugitives take such precautions as to prevent the place of their
concealment being discovered.