Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 16, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 January 1919 — OLD CUSTOMS IN UKRAINE [ARTICLE]

OLD CUSTOMS IN UKRAINE

Wedding Celebration# of Country pe. . cutiar; Horse Thieves Summarily Dealt With. The T;ff)le Russian costume ggESjMJ fashionable for womep In the Dkrainb 1 nJ i or 111 e f 11t-nn» t i<>n <if the repul die; EwM skirt, i- uroi-dery-of -;the- to -he 4-f : pretty apron; .i.'i' ket without sleeves, i Around th<‘ neck large beads of mfln.vcolored glass, always in great numI hers. The married xvomen weat'r<>n t heir" heads a kiifl of fc-liii arranged ’ :i < a diatlem, the 'tiiimairied girls a L .-I ui-ple—Ukrainian—l^uuflxuiU—..llm—hfc [. troHied, flowers. . + They have an ainipiiis <u<tbm: fl if- • ter the luarriage celebration the f-pnwessioftjgoes !<i dtlve, ailorm'd with ! broad refl ritflfrins ; oveirlhe Tiorses are Mbtmdajjtly provided xrfth them. That ; is a sign iff the bride's virtue. It the contrary is the case, she has neitiier ribbons nor music, not even a white veil, because the pope refuses to bless 1 (he marriage. The I.iitie l!t;<sians are very super- ' stitioiis. At midsummer they light a ; large fireflf ferns. f jump oyer the tire. Those who succeed in not touching it will marry within the yeas. It anyboiix- puts it out. it is a sign of death. Kyorybody tells fortunes with cards, predicts what will ' happen in fife future. On the eve xrf Saint Andrew somebody places mys■’teriously uiidPr the bed a pond ttnd a bridge (a saucer tilled with water and pft few pieces es wnod). Vs itbotif khow-1-jfig it one sleeps "im t hefltridge.”- Then i one.may be sure tlm-t lhe dream of the , night will come true. If one wanted-to j act accordiiig to the rules one ought to spend file mgin Qfi a bridge above a j real pond and look at Hie water; there : you would be able to rett+l your whole ' future life. In the country some of the old barbtirian customs are iti force; the konokratles. or horse fliieves, are ebhdemned to be quartered, or to be attached by a rope to a horse’s tail and dragged until death follows.