Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 25, 1914.djvu/104

 92 Collectanea.

a few miles of Lebiodka, near the town of Wasiliszki. They are probably representative of the songs sung in a much wider district ; indeed, with the exception of a few variations, representative of those sung by the whole White Rutlienian people. Unfortunately they are fast being replaced by modern Russian and Polish songs, which the peasants who serve their time in the Russian army bring back with them to their native villages.

White Ruthenia covers approximately the south and east of Lithuania, which was originally inhabited by peoples of the Sarmatian stock, who were divided into two branches, Lithuanian and Slavonian. The former included the Lithuanians proper, Letts, Old Prussians, and Yatzwings (now extinct) ; the latter the Bohemians, Ukranians, Pojes, White Ruthenians, and many others.

The White Ruthenians ^ of the present day contain, no doubt, some Polish and Lithuanian blood, .as well as blood from other surrounding races. The landowners are more Polish than the peasants, and profess the Catholic religion, as do most of the peasants in the north, though those in the south, formerly Uniates,^ have been compelled by the Russians to Join the Orthodox Greek Church (1839). The White Ruthenians occupy the present governments of Vitepsk, West Polock, Minsk, Mohylev, Grodno, and Vilno (except for a few districts in the north), where they are energetically carrying out a nationalist revival, in order to differentiate themselves from Poles and Lithuanians on the one hand, and from Russians on the other, — a policy which no doubt the Russian government has encouraged. There exist nationalist societies, the first of which was called Hromada. Another, whose name when translated means " The sun will look, and into our window," 2 deals more with literary than political matters. The language is Slavonic and totally unlike Lithuanian, (which is more closely allied to Sanscrit than any other European language), and, though unlike Polish, resembles it more than it does Russian.

^ Sometimes called Bj'elorusses or White Russians, but incorrectly, since no White Ruthenian would ever allow himself to be called by a name which would imply that he w'as Russian.

2 /.£•., those who conform to the Greek ritual, but acknowledge the jurisdic- tion of the Pope.

^ In White Ruthenian Zahlanie sonce i u nase akonce.