Презентация к уроку (региональный компонент) "Traditions, customs and festivals of the Don"

Traditions, customs and festivals of the Don Cossacks

Guests of the Don Land are always astonished by the richness of these densely populated land, by the open-hearted, generous and beautiful people.

Peculiar conditions of life influenced the formation of the Don Cossacks' character. They were brave warriors and skillful hunters, courageous defenders of southern Russian frontiers. This gave birth to their unique mode of life, clothes, customs and traditions which are based on the following pillars: Christianity, military service, land ownership and self-government.

The Don cossacks were always skilful fighters. That is why they tried to bring up their sons as brave, adroit and skilful fighters. When a boy was born in a family, all relatives and friends made gifts of arrows, bullets, cartridges, guns, bows. All these gifts they hung on the wall above the new-born child. In two weeks the family had the first ceremony of christening. Fa­ther brought some water from the Don and washed the son’s hands and feet saying again and again “Grow, grow, my little son! Grow, grow a little cossack”.

Mother and grandmother were praying for the child at that moment. The second ceremony of christening they had when the boy was only 40-50 days old. The son was conferred into cossacks. The father took the son, put a sa­bre on him and with his child he rode around the yard. After that he cut his son’s hair and gave the child back to his wife congratulating her on a cossack.

The cossacks liked horse-races greatly. They were usually held during Shrovetide. These horseraces were always a great occasion for young and not so young cossacks where they could make a brilliant display of their boldness and adroitness while riding. Cossacks fired neatly their guns, lifted necklaces and kerchiefs from the ground. These cossack military games helped to train young cossacks and prepare them for future military service.

Seeing-off to the army or to war was very sol­emn. All members of the family were busy with preparations. Grandfather and father cleaned the rifles, his mother prepared rusks, the wife sewed the clothes and an old cossack prepared the horse of a future soldier. After a farewell dinner all people went to a church service. The future sol­dier always took a locket with the native soil.

When a cossack came back home, he bowed to his parents three times and kissed them. Then his wife bowed low to him and to his horse. After that the cossack bowed low to the Don and drank some Don water. The Don cossacks worshipped the Don though they knew that the Don water was very bad as it contained many harmful for kidneys and liver salts. The Don cossacks settled the Don water in the pumpkins which they brought from Turkey.

During the fights cossacks tried to take care of the young cossack who was the last man in the family. He could have a large white earring - it was a signal that he was the last cossack in the family .

During their raids cossacks tried to take as many goods as they could. Especially they tried to capture noble and rich people because they could ransom Russian captives or get much gold for them. The Don cossacks willingly captured women - the Tatars, the Turks and very charm­ing Circassian women. Many cossacks married their lovely captives.

The ceremony of marriage was very simple. Before going to a church for a wedding ceremony, the young pair had to go to the cossack meeting (Cossack Circle), which was ’ usually held in the central square. After praying they bowed to four parts of the world and the bride­groom addressed his future wife with the words: “Nastya, be my wife.” The bride bowed to him too and answered: “Ivan, be my husband.” After this they kissed each other. Their relatives and friends congratulated them on their marriage.

The Cossack Circle was a unique form of self- government. The questions of vital importance were considered there. For example, the Cos­sack Circle discussed the questions of punish­ment. For betrayal and other serious crimes they were sentenced to death. A guilty person was put into a river in a sack filled with stones or they took him to a frontier and cut a guilty cossack into two parts. One part they left there while the other one they usually threw to the enemy’s lands.

The national peculiarities of the Don cossacks are reflected in their folk songs, dances and legends. Singing was very popular among the Don cossacks. Most of all they liked drawling songs about wars, about the cossacks homesickness and love to their sacred lands.

Here is an extract from an old cossack song:

Ой ты, батюшка, наш славный Тихий Дон!

Ты кормилец наш, Дон Иванович!

Про тебя лежит слава добрая,

Слава добрая, речь хорошая.

The Don cossacks liked to play different musical instruments. The Don lyre is the oldest musical instrument. The Don cossacks were also fond of playing Russian accordion, tambourine, balalaika and even clarinet and violin. And now in every corner of our region you can hear wonderful old cossack songs about boldness and cordiality of the Don people, about their love to Motherland, to the Don, which calmly flows across beautiful southern steppes.

Come to our region and you will be charmed with its boundless wheat fields, verdant orchards and vineyards and of course with our inimitable in its beauty Don.

Literature:

И.В. Румянцева, Т.Н. Заварская, Г.Ю. Близнюк «Люблю тебя, мой край родной!» учебное пособие.-Ростов н/Д: «Ростиздат», 2005

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