Songs of Ukraina, with Ruthenian poems

by Florence Randal Livesay

[45]. Unplaiting the hair: custom of a bride-to-be.

[46]. Tchumaki: road merchants, traders in other lands.

[47]. Shinkarka: wife of the landlord.

[48]. Zhupan: overcoat.

[49]. Zloty: 7½ cents.

[50]. Mohyla: grave-hill.

[51]. Moldavia: Roumania.

[52]. Povna rozha: the mallow. On the Day of Kupalo, the old Pagan god of the Ukraine, maidens thread the mallow flowers together and make a wreath which they throw on the water. If it floats the damsel will be married; if it stops, she will not be wed that year; if swept under by the current, she will herself die.

[53]. Dunai: river. The age of the song can be determined, as in many other cases, by the use of this word.

[54]. It is the custom of Ukraina to cover its dead soldiers with a red silk kerchief.