It’s heartening to see that there has recently been a resurgence of interest in the history of their hometown among Kharkiv residents. The names of outstanding historians, such as Dmitry Bagaley or Nikolai Sumtsov, are well known to many. Their “canonical” works are especially popular: when it comes to Dmitry Bagaley, people immediately think of his massive two-volume work, *The History of the City of Kharkiv Over the 250 Years of Its Existence*.
Well, if we’re talking about Nikolai Sumtsov, then it’s only *Slobozhans*. These works are, without a doubt, necessary and important, although there are other studies that are just as serious.
For example, two enormous volumes *The History of Kharkiv University (Based on Unpublished Materials)* and Dmitro Bahalii’s splendid collection of documents, *Materials for the History of Colonization and Daily Life in the Kharkiv, and Partly the Kursk and Voronezh, Provinces*. However, in today’s article, I’d like to tell you about a little-known and not particularly canonical work by the outstanding ethnographer Nikolai Sumtsov titled “Cultural Experiences.” There’s no point in looking for this work on bookstore shelves—a book with that title was never actually published. Which is a real shame. The answer to the question “why?” is extremely simple. The fact is that from 1889 to 1890, in virtually every issue of the journal *Kyivska Starina*, Nikolai Sumtsov published 200 thematic articles under precisely this title (“Cultural Experiences”). In the introduction to his first articles, the author himself writes the following:
Our entire life is permeated by cultural experiences, remnants of an ancient worldview and ancient morality. There are many such elements in the concepts of manners, language, and daily life of modern intellectual society, and even more so in the customs and concepts of the common people… In the articles presented here, I will not force cultural experiences into familiar categories—such as mythological, historical-literary, or comparative-ethnographic—nor will I group them based on superficial formal similarities in ritual or meaning. Each cultural experience is given its own place and is the subject of a separate study. This approach benefits both the researcher and the reader. The researcher is not constrained by the material; he examines what he finds most interesting and familiar, and can always pause at any point in their work; the reader, in this case, has before them a series of articles with varied content—as complete as possible—and can choose from them according to their personal scholarly inclinations and habits.
Sumtsov goes on to clarify that, given the specific nature of *Kyivskaya Starina*, he will prioritize ethnographic material related to the Ukrainian people.
The author’s “cultural experiences” truly span a vast geographical scope. They encompass not only the Ukrainian lands that were then part of the Russian Empire, but also the western regions. As a result, texts devoted to the same topic—such as “Beliefs About Bees” or “The Origin of Ghouls”—feature stories from both western and eastern Ukrainians. At the same time, when describing various topics, the author draws parallels with other peoples, comparing Ukrainian customs or superstitions with those of the French, Germans, Italians, or even the indigenous peoples of Latin America, thereby going beyond the scope of a regional study. The sheer scope of *Cultural Experiences* is captivating in and of itself. In the section on divination, Sumtsov describes a total of 17 types (meteorological, based on dreams, physiological, based on a word spoken by chance, written, by lots, animals, birds, eggs, water, wax and tin, by fire, ashes, bread, a sieve, stone, and logs). In the article “The Origin of the Cuckoo,” he presents six interesting Ukrainian legends. Particularly beautiful is the long legend that the cuckoo is a shape-shifter—a young princess who fell in love with a certain gentleman and was cursed by her father for it.
Nikolai Sumtsov also devotes attention to the study of word origins—etymology. Just consider his entry: “Flendra, flerka, findyurka—used in various parts of Little Russia to refer to a promiscuous woman.” These days, literally everything related to “Ukrainian folklore” sparks a surge of interest among the public. But what do we know about a topic like massage? Yet Nikolai Sumtsov wrote an article titled “Ukrainian Folk Massage: Scratching the Heels, ‘S’kany’ on the Head, Bear Massage, and Nettle Rubbing” when this wasn’t yet, so to speak, “trendy.” It turns out that our ancestors’ folk massage techniques were extremely diverse—rubbing, stroking, tapping, and patting. For a toothache, they would gently press their fingers against the cheeks and jaw. For a neck swelling, they would rub the swollen area with their fingers. Moreover, the greatest success in this practice was attributed to women who had killed a mole by grabbing it by the throat with their fingers. For stomachaches, the abdomen was rubbed with the palms, sometimes coated with wood oil. Given that the church and remnants of paganism played a significant role in the lives of Ukrainians, various incantations and prayers were often used to relieve pain. However, Sumtsov clarifies that these were almost always accompanied by massage. Among the Ukrainian people, “scratching the heels” (meaning foot massage) and “skany” on the head were practiced as forms of relaxation massage. This mysterious practice involved the following: “gradually moving the end of a comb from one spot on the head to another, occasionally pressing it against the skin, even if there was nothing beneath the comb.”
Nikolai Fedorovich also mentions an ancient folk remedy for back and lower back pain. A person suffering from such an ailment would lie down on the ground, after which a bear would be led right over him. However, the author does not specify whether such a treatment was actually practiced in his time. Instead, as an analogue to the Russian banya with a birch broom, he cites a Ukrainian folk remedy—a nettle whip.
However, despite the global scope of his work, Nikolai Sumtsov does not forget his native Sloboda Ukraine in his “Cultural Experiences.” For example, in the article “The Taming of Snakes,” he notes the interesting fact that “in the Kup’yans’k District of the Kharkiv Governorate, there are shepherds who can, at will, gather snakes by summoning them with a flute, and even command them to attack people on command.” In the article “Folk Customs of Punishing a Husband for His Wife’s Labor Pains,” Sumtsov gives an example of how the father of a newborn is made to eat something unpleasant at the christening—for example, a spoonful of porridge with horseradish and vinegar… The author notes that, unlike in other regions inhabited by Ukrainians, in Sloboda Ukraine, a red beetle with black spots is called not a “ladybug” but a “sunshine.”
I’m sure many of us have witnessed and remember mass brawls between different neighborhoods or schools. Do you think this is a new phenomenon? Here’s an interesting story on this topic from *Cultural Experiences*:
In Kharkiv, the Kholodnogorskites fought with the Osnovyans or the Moskalovites… The fistfights spread from the adults to the children. About twenty years ago, fistfights among gymnasium students in Kharkiv took place in the spring or fall in the ravine of Karpovsky Garden. The three Kharkiv gymnasiums were distinguished at that time by the students’ uniform caps—specifically by the trim—while all had a red brim. Students at the First Gymnasium had red trim and were called “dyers”; the students of the second gymnasium, the “chekaturs,” had a white band, and the students of the third gymnasium, the “blue meat,” had a blue band. There were few of the latter, and they rarely showed up for fistfights; but the “dyers” and “cheekers” fought eagerly on warm spring evenings, far from the watchful eye of the authorities. Nowadays, fistfights are found only among street urchins.
Nowadays, it is very common to see crosses standing at the entrances to towns and villages in the Kharkiv region. However, according to Sumtsov, things used to be different: “In the Kharkiv Governorate, crosses are erected only over wells.” A number of accounts on the history of our region, despite their immense value, are extremely difficult to find in Nikolai Sumtsov’s other works. Just take his description of the Sloboda Ukraine zemlyanka, for example!
For example, in the Kharkiv Governorate, the dugouts of forest rangers already represent a transition to a hut: a pit is dug in a dry spot; the walls and ceiling are made of brushwood, plastered with clay, and whitewashed; inside there is a stove; on top is a thatched roof with a brushwood chimney, also coated with clay. Inside the hut are benches, and sometimes a table, made of earth and coated with clay. The forester and his family live in such a dugout hut for many years.
The most recent articles were published by Nikolai Sumtsov in Issue No. 10 of *Kyivska Starina* for the year 1890. Concluding them and summarizing the content, the author writes:
Originally conceived on a very modest scale, *Cultural Experiences* gradually, as it went to press, grew into a rather substantial study. I included not only articles that I considered new in terms of content or conclusions and sufficiently thorough in their treatment, but also brief ethnographic notes on little-studied subjects to supplement the existing ethnographic material. The only material I did not include was historical and literary material, which will be included in other studies currently being prepared for publication.
Indeed, after *Cultural Experiences*, this outstanding ethnographer went on to produce many more wonderful works. Unfortunately, the materials published in *Kyivska Starina* were never compiled into a book. Nevertheless, they remain of immense value to anyone interested in Ukrainian and Sloboda Ukraine ethnography and history to this day.
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