The quotes below are from the bestselling book of the 18th century ‘Travels in Russia’ written by a British traveler Edward Daniel Clarke (1769-1822). The observations were made in the area of Donetsk region of Ukraine and the Rostov region which is currently in the Russian Federation.
“Approaching the southern part of the empire, the strong characteristics of the Russian people are less frequently observed. Happily for the traveller, in proportion as his distance is increased from that which has been mistakenly considered the civilised part of the country, he has less to complain of theft, of fraud, and of dissimulation.
In the more northern provinces, he is cautioned to beware of the inhabitants of the Ukraine, and the Cossacks. The chambers of our inn were immediately over the town jail, and it is quite unnecessary to add of what nation its tenants were composed.
The Russian finds it dangerous to travel in the Ukraine, and along the Don, because he is conscious that the inhabitants of these countries know too well with whom they have to deal…
Concerning the inhabitants of the country called Malo-Russia [Eastern Ukraine], a French gentleman, who had long resided among them, assured me he used neither locks to his doors nor his coffers; and among the Cossacks, as in Sweden, a trunk may be sent open, for a distance of 800 miles, without risking the loss of any of its contents. Mr. Rowan, banker of Moscow, was compelled, by the breaking down of his carriage, to abandon it in the midst of the territory of the Don Cossacks, and it was afterwards brought safe to him at Taganrog, with all its appurtenances and contents, by the unsolicited and disinterested labour of that people. Who would venture to leave a carriage, or even a trunk, although encased, doubly locked, and directed among the Russians?
[Village of] Usmani is entirely inhabited by Russians; and whenever that is the case, towards the south of the empire, a village resembles nothing more than a number of sacks of straw or dried weeds.
From Celo Usmani we travelled over similar fine plains to Podulok Moscovsky, where we passed the night in a wretched village, whose miserable inhabitants were not even able to strike a light. Nothing could be more revolting than the sight of the hovels in which they lived, open to all the inclemencies of the weather, and destitute of every comfort and common convenience of life. They were said to be settlers from Tver…
We began to perceive that the farther we advanced from the common hordes of the Russians, the more politeness and hospitality we should experience; exactly the reverse of that which we had been taught to expect by the inhabitants of Moscow.
The first regular establishment of Malo-Russians which we saw, occurred after leaving Jestakovo. It was called Locova Sloboda. The houses were all whitewashed, like many of the cottages in Wales; and this operation is performed annually, with great care. Such distinguishing cleanliness appeared to them, that a traveller might fancy himself transported, in the course of a few miles, from Russia to Holland. Their apartments, even in the ceilings and the beams in the roof, are regularly washed. Their tables and benches shine with washing and rubbing, and reminded us of the interior of cottages in Norway. Their courtyard, stables, and out-houses, with every thing belonging to them, bespoke industry and neatness. In their little kitchens, instead of the darkness and smoky hue of the Russians, even the mouths of their stoves were white. Their utensils and domestic vessels all bright and well polished. They kept poultry, and had plenty of cattle. Their little gardens were filled with fruit trees, which gave an English character to their house—the third nation with those dwellings I have compared the cottages of Malo Russia; that is to say, having a Welsh exterior, a Norwegian interior, and the gardens and out houses of the English peasantry. They had neat floors; and although the roof was thatched, its interior was wainscoted. There was nowhere any appearance of dirt and vermin…
Their language is pleasing and full of diminutives. But the resemblance which these people bear, in certain circumstances of dress and manners, to the Scottish Highlanders, is very remarkable…
We proceeded from Paulovoskoy to Kazinskoy khutor, a village inhabited by Malo-Russians and Russians mingled together. The distinction between the two people might be made without the smallest inquiry, from the striking contrast between filth and cleanliness. In the stable of the post house we found about twenty horses, kept with a degree of neatness which would have done credit to any nobleman’s stud in Britain. The house of the superintendant villager was equally admirable; every thing appeared clean and decent, there was no litter nor was any thing out of its place. It was quite a new thing to us, to hesitate whether we should clean our boots before walking into an apartment, on the floor of which I would rather have dined, than on the table of any Russian prince.”
150 years later, already famous American writer John Steinbeck visited a Ukrainian village not far from Kyiv. It was the year 1946 and everything around was in ruin including Kyiv. And one of the features that struck the future Noble-prize winner was the same neatness of the people around him. Even villagers:
“The walls are white, and there are shutters on the windows to be closed against the winter cold. Opening off this room are one or two bedrooms, depending on the size of the family. And since these people lost everything, the bedding is whatever they can get now. Pieces of rug, and sheepskin, anything to keep them warm. The Ukrainians are a clean people, and their houses are immaculate“.
The current war Russia wages against Ukraine has already been named as the war between Civilization and Barbarians, between the Washed and the Unwashed. More on the subject in the “Gardariki, Ukraine” ebook.
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