What were the bast shoes made of? The very first mention of this shoe?

1. At the beginning of the 20th century, Russia was still often called a country of bastards, putting into this concept a shade of primitiveness and backwardness. Bast shoes, which have become a kind of symbol that has become part of many proverbs and sayings, have traditionally been considered the shoes of the poorest part of the population. And it is no coincidence. The entire Russian village, with the exception of Siberia and the Cossack regions, all year round walked in sandals. It would seem that the theme of the history of bast shoes carries a complex theme? Meanwhile, even the exact time of the appearance of bast shoes in the life of our distant ancestors is unknown to this day.

   It is generally accepted that bast shoes are one of the most ancient types of shoes. In any case, archaeologists find bone kochedyk hooks for weaving bast shoes even at Neolithic sites. Doesn't this give grounds to assume that already in the Stone Age, people may have been weaving shoes from plant fibers?

   The wide distribution of wicker shoes has given rise to an incredible variety of its varieties and styles, depending primarily on the raw materials used in the work. And they wove bast shoes from the bark and underbark of many deciduous trees: linden, birch, elm, oak, willow, etc. Depending on the material, wicker shoes were called differently: birch bark, elm trees, oak trees, brooms. The most durable and soft in this In a row, bast bast shoes made from linden bast were considered, and willow tricks and bast shoes, which were made from bast, were considered the worst.

   Often, bast shoes were named according to the number of bast strips used in weaving: five, six, seven. In seven basts, winter bast shoes were usually woven, although there were instances where the number of basts reached twelve. For strength, warmth and beauty, bast shoes were woven a second time, for which, as a rule, hemp ropes were used. For the same purpose, a leather outsole (podkovyrka) was sometimes sewn on. For holiday exit painted elm bast shoes made of thin bast with black woolen (and not hemp) frills (that is, a braid that fastens bast shoes on the legs) or elm reddish sevens were intended. For autumn and spring work in the yard, high wicker feet, which did not have a fur, were considered more convenient.

   Shoes were woven not only from tree bark, thin roots were also used, and therefore the bast shoes woven from them were called roots. Models made from strips of fabric and cloth edges were called braids. Bast shoes were also made from hemp rope kurpy, or krutsa, and even horsehair hairmen. Such shoes were more often worn at home or walked in it in hot weather.

   The technique of weaving bast shoes was also very diverse. For example, Great Russian bast shoes, unlike Belarusian and Ukrainian ones, had an oblique weaving of an oblique lattice, while in the western regions there was a more conservative type of direct weaving, or a straight lattice. If in Ukraine and Belarus bast shoes began to weave from the toe, then the Russian peasants made the braid from the back. So the place of appearance of a particular wicker shoe can be judged by the shape and material from which it is made. For example, Moscow models woven from bast are characterized by high sides and rounded heads (that is, socks). The northern, or Novgorod, type was more often made of birch bark with triangular toes and relatively low sides. Mordovian bast shoes, common in the Nizhny Novgorod and Penza provinces, were woven from elm bast. The heads of these models were usually trapezoidal in shape.

   Few people in the peasant environment did not know how to weave bast shoes. A description of this craft has been preserved in the Simbirsk province, where lycoders went to the forest in whole artels. For a tithe of linden forest, rented from the landowner, they paid up to a hundred rubles. They removed the bast with a special wooden prick, leaving a completely bare trunk. The best was considered to be the bast, obtained in the spring, when the first leaves began to bloom on the linden, so most often such an operation ruined the tree (hence, apparently, the well-known expression peel off like sticky).

2. bast shoes weaved from saloma
3. La # 769; pti (sing. h. la # 769; sweat) low shoes, common in Rus' in the old days, but, nevertheless, were widely used in countryside until the 1930s, gossip from wood bast (linden, elm and others) or birch bark. Bast shoes were tied to the leg with laces twisted from the same bast from which the bast shoes themselves were made.
   One of the first mentions of bast shoes is found in the Tale of Bygone Years (XII century). Bast shoes were also common among Belarusians, Karelians, Finns, Mordovians, Chuvashs, Tatars, and Ukrainians.
4. Since ancient times, wicker shoes have been widespread in our country. They made bast shoes from deciduous plants: linden, oak, elm, birch, willow and others. Accordingly, the products were called: duboviks, elms, birch bark, brooms. Bast bast shoes, which were woven from linden bast, were considered the most durable and softest, and willow twigs and bast shoes were considered the worst, they were made from bast. Winter bast shoes were woven from seven bast strips and woven with hemp ropes. Sometimes they even sewed a leather sole. For a milder season, they made bast shoes made of wood in 5-6 bast strips. For a festive exit, painted elm products were made, on which only the thinnest bast with a black woolen braid fastened on the legs went. For chores high braided feet were used without any decorations. Not only tree bark, but also thin roots went into the bast material. Such bast shoes were called rooters. They were also made from strips of fabric (braids), from hemp rope (twists), from horsehair (hairs). Such shoes were usually worn in hot weather or walked in it at home.
5. from the bark of a birch or another tree, but I don’t know for sure.
6. From linden bark.
7. Bast shoes are made and made from bast.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Russia was still often called a "bast-bast" country, putting into this concept a shade of primitiveness and backwardness. Bast shoes, which have become a kind of symbol that has become part of many proverbs and sayings, have traditionally been considered the shoes of the poorest part of the population. And it is no coincidence. The entire Russian village, with the exception of Siberia and the Cossack regions, wore bast shoes all year round. It would seem that the theme of the history of bast shoes carries a complex theme? Meanwhile, even the exact time of the appearance of bast shoes in the life of our distant ancestors is unknown to this day.

Bast shoes (";" ";" ") - the most common footwear in Rus', woven from the bark of a tree. The first mention of bast shoes is found in documents dating back to the 10th century, although the kochedyk itself (“pile”; “shvaiko”), a tool used to weave bast shoes, is found in ancient sites dating back to the early Iron Age (I millennium BC). .e.).

At all times, our ancestors willingly put on shoes in bast shoes, and, despite the name, they were often woven not only from bast, but also from birch bark and even from leather straps. It was also practiced to “tuck” (sew) bast shoes with leather.

In Russia, only villagers, that is, peasants, put on shoes in bast shoes. Well, the peasants made up the vast majority of the population of Rus'. Bast shoes - low shoes, common in Rus' in the old days, but, nevertheless, were widely used in the countryside until the 1930s, woven from wood bast (linden, elm and others) or birch bark. Bast shoes were tied to the leg with laces twisted from the same bast from which the bast shoes themselves were made.

Depending on the material, it was called differently: birch bark, elm trees, oak trees, brooms ... Bast bast shoes made from linden bast were considered the strongest and softest in this series, and willow twigs and bast shoes, which were made from bast, were considered the worst.

Often, bast shoes were named according to the number of bast strips used in weaving: five, six, seven. In seven basts, winter bast shoes were usually woven, although there were instances where the number of basts reached twelve. For strength, warmth and beauty, bast shoes were woven a second time, for which, as a rule, hemp ropes were used. For the same purpose, a leather outsole (podkovyrka) was sometimes sewn on.

For a festive exit, hand-written from a thin bast with black woolen (and not hemp) frills (that is, a braid that fastens bast shoes on the legs) or elm reddish sevens were intended. For autumn and spring work in the yard, high wicker feet, which did not have a fur, were considered more convenient.

Shoes were woven not only from tree bark, thin roots were also used, and therefore the bast shoes woven from them were called roots. Models made from strips of fabric and cloth edges were called braids. Bast shoes were also made from hemp rope - kurpy, or krutsy, and even from horse hair - hairmen. Such shoes were more often worn at home or walked in it in hot weather.

Bast shoes were weaved, as a rule, by men and teenage boys, this was considered an exclusively male occupation; women were trusted only to "pick" the soles. The ability of a woman to weave a good bast shoe aroused the distrust of the peasants and the special respect of the women of the village. They started teaching boys how to weave bast shoes early, at 7-8 years old, and they could watch this process from the cradle, since all the men in the family prepared bast shoes for the whole family for the whole year in winter, pairs of 5-6 each. Already by the age of ten or twelve, a teenager could weave a bast shoe no worse than an adult, although not so dexterously, i.e. fast.

The methods of weaving bast shoes - for example, in a straight cage or in an oblique, from the heel or from the toe - were different for each tribe and up to the beginning of our century varied by region. So, the ancient Vyatichi preferred bast shoes of oblique weaving, Novgorod Slovenes - too, but mostly from birch bark and with lower sides. But the glades, Drevlyans, Dregovichi, Radimichi, apparently, wore bast shoes in a straight cage. Weaving bast shoes was considered an easy job, which men literally did “in between times”. It is not in vain that they say about a heavily drunk person that he, they say, “does not knit a bast”, that is, he is not capable of elementary actions. But, “tying the bast”, the man provided the whole family with shoes - there were no special workshops for a very long time. They made kochedyks from bones (from animal ribs) or from metal.

It requires seven basts, two meters long each. The width of one bast is approximately equal to the width of the thumb on the hand of a man who himself prepared the bast and, subsequently, he wove bast shoes. For weaving, a bast was required from a flat part of the linden trunk, so that it would not have defects along the entire length. That is, mature, even, high lindens were chosen for harvesting bast. Often, after the total loss of bark suitable for weaving, the tree did not survive and stood with a bare “peeled” trunk. This is reflected in the Russian language in the form of a figurative expression “to peel like sticky” in the meaning of “to take away all the useful resources and thereby create a threat to the life and existence of someone or something.

The technique of weaving bast shoes was also very diverse. For example, Great Russian bast shoes, unlike Belarusian and Ukrainian ones, had oblique weaving - "oblique lattice", while in the western regions there was a more conservative type - direct weaving, or "straight lattice". If in Ukraine and Belarus bast shoes began to weave from the toe, then the Russian peasants made the braid from the back. So the place of appearance of a particular wicker shoe can be judged by the shape and material from which it is made. For example, Moscow models, woven from bast, are characterized by high sides and rounded heads (that is, socks). The northern, or Novgorod, type was more often made of birch bark with triangular toes and relatively low sides. Mordovian bast shoes, common in the Nizhny Novgorod and Penza provinces, were woven from elm bast. The heads of these models were usually trapezoidal in shape.

Few people in the peasant environment did not know how to weave bast shoes. A description of this craft has been preserved in the Simbirsk province, where lycoders went to the forest in whole artels. For a tithe of linden forest, rented from the landowner, they paid up to a hundred rubles.

Carefully removed basts were then tied in bundles in hundreds and stored in the hallway or in the attic. Before weaving bast shoes, the bast was soaked in warm water for a day. The bark was then scraped off, leaving the bast. From 40 to 60 bundles of 50 tubules each, approximately 300 pairs of bast shoes were obtained from the cart. Various sources say differently about the speed of weaving bast shoes: from two to ten pairs a day.

For weaving bast shoes, a wooden block was needed and, as already mentioned, a bone or iron hook - a kochedyk. A special skill was required to weave the back, where all the basts were reduced. They tried to tie the loops so that after holding the turn, they did not twist the bast shoes and did not work their legs on one side. There is a legend that Peter I himself learned to weave bast shoes and that the sample he woven was kept among his belongings in the Hermitage at the beginning of the last (XX) century.

Bast shoes were not woven in all regions of Russia, that is, they were a commodity or an object of barter. As a rule, bast shoes were not woven in villages, where the population was mostly engaged not in agriculture, but in crafts, for example, pottery or blacksmithing. The Old Believers - "Kerzhaks", who lived in the Urals in the 19th century, did not wear bast shoes. But the dead were buried exclusively in bast shoes. Bast shoes were common not only among the Eastern and Western Slavs, but also among some non-Slavic peoples of the forest belt - the Finno-Ugric peoples and the Balts, among the Germans.

The cheapness, availability, lightness and hygiene of such shoes does not require proof. Another thing, as practice shows, bast shoes had a very short service life. In winter, they were worn in ten days, after a thaw - in four, in summer, in a bad time - and even in three. Going on a long journey, they took with them more than one pair of spare bast shoes. “Go on the road - weave five bast shoes” - the proverb said. And our neighbors, the Swedes, even had the term "bast mile" - the distance that can be covered in one pair of bast shoes. How much birch bark and bast was required to shoe a whole nation for centuries? Simple calculations show that if our ancestors diligently cut trees for the sake of bark (as, alas, it was done in later times), birch forests and linden forests would have disappeared even in the prehistoric era. It is difficult, however, to imagine that the pagans, who treated trees with reverence, acted so murderously. Most likely, they owned various ways to take part of the bark without destroying the tree.

To strengthen and insulate their bast shoes, the peasants “tucked” their soles with a hemp rope. Feet in such bast shoes did not freeze and did not get wet.

Going to the mowing, they put on shoes in bast shoes of rare weaving that do not hold water - crustaceans.
Feet were comfortable for housework - a kind of galoshes, only wicker.

Rope bast shoes were called chuni, they were worn at home or for work in the field in hot, dry weather. In some villages, they managed to weave bast shoes from horsehair - hairs.

The most seedy bast shoes in Rus' were reputed to be willow and, or tricks, - from willow bark; even weaving them was considered shameful. From the bark of the tala weaved sheluzhniki, and from the oak bark - oak trees.

In the Chernihiv region, bast shoes made from the bark of young oaks were called oak chars. Hemp tows and dilapidated ropes were also used; bast shoes from them - chuni - were worn mainly at home or in hot, dry weather. They must be of Finnish origin: the Finns in Russia were called "chuhna".
Such bast shoes also had other names: kurpy, krutsy and even whisperers. In areas where there was no bast, and it was expensive to buy it, dodgy peasants wove roots from thin roots; from horse hair - hairs. In the Kursk province, they learned how to make straw bast shoes.

Village young dandies appeared in public in hand-painted elm bast shoes made of thin bast with black woolen (not hemp) frills and onuchs.
Elm bast shoes (from elm bast) were considered the most beautiful. They were kept in hot water - then they turned pink and became hard.

On holidays, if it was not possible to wear leather shoes, painted bast shoes were woven: the bast stripes of such bast shoes were narrow, and craftsmen wove beautiful patterns from them. Sometimes a braid was woven together with a bast or individual strips of bast were dyed (for example, an elm bast was kept in hot water, which made it pink). Such bast shoes were worn with black or red frills, which immediately stood out on snow-white festive shoes.

The life of peasant lapotniks is described by many Russian classics. In the story "Khor and Kalinich", I. S. Turgenev contrasts the Oryol peasant with the Kaluga quitrent peasant: "The Oryol peasant is small in stature, round-shouldered, gloomy, looks frowningly, lives in trashy aspen huts, goes to corvee, does not engage in trade, eats badly, wears bast shoes; the Kaluga quitrent peasant lives in spacious pine huts, is tall, looks bold and cheerful, sells oil and tar, and walks in boots on holidays.

As you can see, even for a wealthy peasant, boots remained a luxury, they were worn only on holidays. Another of our writers, D. N. Mamin-Sibiryak, also emphasizes the peculiar symbolic meaning of leather shoes for a peasant: "Boots for a peasant are the most seductive item ... No other part of a peasant costume enjoys such sympathy as the boot." Meanwhile, leather shoes were not cheap. In 1838, at the Nizhny Novgorod fair, a pair of good bast bast shoes could be bought for three kopecks, while the roughest peasant boots at that time cost at least five or six rubles. For a peasant farmer, this is a lot of money; in order to collect them, it was necessary to sell a quarter of rye, and in other places even more (one quarter was equal to almost 210 liters of bulk solids).

Back in time civil war(1918-1920) most of the Red Army wore bast shoes. Their procurement was carried out by an emergency commission (CHEKVALAP), which supplied the soldiers with felted shoes and bast shoes.

Many different beliefs were associated with bast shoes in the Russian village. It was generally accepted that an old bast shoe, hung in a chicken coop, would protect chickens from diseases, and would contribute to the egg laying of birds. It was believed that a cow fumigated after calving from bast shoes would be healthy and give a lot of milk. A bast shoe with a grass-louse laid in it, thrown into the river during a severe drought, will cause rain, etc. The bast shoe played a certain role in family rituals. So, for example, according to custom, after the matchmaker, who went to make a match, they threw a bast shoe so that the matchmaking was successful. When meeting young people returning from church, the children set fire to bast shoes stuffed with straw in order to provide them with a rich and happy life to protect them from misfortune.

In the self-perception of Russians, bast shoes are one of the most important symbols of traditional national life.
Hence a number of stable expressions in Russian:
"bast shoe" as a trope means a simpleton, an uneducated person;
derivative adjective "bast shoes" in the same meaning;
“(Tea,) we don’t sip bast shoes” means “we are scientists, we don’t need to explain and indicate”;
the playful expression "plus or minus bast shoes" in science means "plus or minus an unknown value."

To marry is not to put on a bast shoe.
Bast shoes are not worth picking.
It's like weaving a bast shoe.
You can’t weave without a shell and bast shoes.
Not learning (not knowing how) and you can’t weave bast shoes.
Only the bast shoes are woven on both legs, and the mittens are discord.
Bast shoes know bast shoes, and the boot of the boot!
Though in bast shoes, but the same military, militia.
And we do not put shoes on our hands.
Do not undertake to weave bast shoes without tearing the bast.
Go on the road, weave five bast shoes.
You weave bast shoes, but you don’t know how to bury the ends.
He weaves bast shoes, confuses.
He confuses, as if he is putting shoes on porridge in bast shoes.
Change shoes or change one of the boots into bast shoes.
And in a good lawsuit, you won’t have to wear bast shoes.
You will begin to weave bast shoes, as if there is nothing to eat.
Weave bast shoes, eat one a day, you won’t work out anymore.
One foot in a bast shoe, the other in a boot.
Not a servant in bast shoes: buy boots!
Do not judge in bast shoes, boots in a sleigh, the guest says jokingly.
Call the bast shoes, be idle.
They lost their bast shoes, searched the yards: there were five, and there were six!
This is not a bast weave, you can’t suddenly do it.

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For some reason sandals are considered a purely Russian type of casual footwear. But this is far from true. Of course, in different countries they were woven in different ways and not only from bast. But the very principle of weaving shoes was used by Karelians, Finns, Mordvins, Tatars, Chuvashs. A similar type of footwear was also worn by the Japanese (Waraji), the Indians of North America and even the Australian Aborigines.

By the name of bast shoes - these light and cheap shoes - the participants in the medieval peasant war in Norway got their nickname. They wore bast shoes made of birch bark, for which they were dubbed Birkebeiners (“birch-footed” or “bast shoes”).

Cheap and cheerful

Why did bast shoes become so widespread in Rus'? First of all, they were cheaper than good leather shoes. Bast shoes were woven most often from lime bast, which could be harvested in large quantities in the forest.

Of course, bast shoes were less durable shoes than boots. No wonder the Russian proverb said: "Go on the road, weave five bast shoes." In winter, one bast shoes were worn for no more than 10 days, and in the summer, during the very suffering, the peasant trampled on one bast shoes in four days. On average, one villager wore out about 50-60 pairs of bast shoes per year.

The technique of weaving bast shoes in each of the regions of Russia had its own. For example, Great Russian bast shoes, unlike Belarusian and Ukrainian ones, had oblique weaving - “oblique lattice”, while in the western regions they preferred direct weaving, or “straight lattice”.

If in Ukraine and Belarus bast shoes began to weave from the toe, then the Russian peasants made the braid from the back, so knowledgeable person could immediately determine from which edges the master. Moreover, each locality had its own material, from which bast shoes were woven, and a “style”.

For example, for Moscow and the provinces adjacent to the Mother See, bast shoes were characteristic, woven from bast, with high sides and rounded heads (socks). The northern, or Novgorod, type of bast shoes was most often woven from birch bark, with triangular toes and relatively low sides. Mordovian bast shoes, common in the Nizhny Novgorod province, were woven from elm bast. The heads of these models were usually trapezoidal in shape.

Often bast shoes were named after the number of bast strips used in weaving: five, six, seven. Winter bast shoes were usually woven into seven basts, although sometimes for especially chilly people the number of basts reached 12. For strength, warmth and beauty, bast shoes were woven a second time, for which hemp ropes were used. For the same purpose, a leather outsole (podkovyrka) was sometimes sewn on.

For holidays - “to go out” - painted elm bast shoes made of thin bast with black woolen (not hemp) frills (that is, a braid that fastens bast shoes on the legs) or elm reddish sevens were intended. For autumn and spring work in the yard, the peasants considered high wicker feet, which did not have a fur, to be more convenient.

Bast shoes were worn with footcloths, or, as they were also called, onuchs. From the bast shoes up and around the shin, in the manner of the ancient Greek sandal, there was a bast lace, which was fastened at the bottom and kept the footcloth from unwinding. Nevertheless, when walking for a long time, I periodically had to change shoes and rewind stray footcloths.

Bast industry

Most often, the peasants themselves made bast shoes for themselves. Rarely, in a rural environment, did not know how to weave such shoes. But there were villages where bast shoes were made not only for their own needs, but also for sale.

A description of this craft has been preserved in the Simbirsk province. Lycoders went to the forest in whole artels.

They removed the bast with a special wooden prick, leaving a completely bare trunk. The best was considered bast, obtained in the spring, when the first leaves began to bloom on the linden. Therefore, most often such an operation ruined a tree (hence the well-known folk expression “peel like sticky”).

Before weaving bast shoes, the bast was soaked in warm water for a day. The bark was then scraped off, leaving the bast. From the cart - from 40 to 60 bundles of 50 tubes each - approximately 300 pairs of bast shoes were obtained. Thus, a peasant could weave from two to a dozen pairs a day.

Sometimes the manufacture of bast shoes was put, so to speak, on "industrial rails". Yes, in late XIX century in the village of Smirnov, Ardatovsky district, Nizhny Novgorod province, up to 300 people were engaged in this business, and each of them prepared about 400 pairs of bast shoes in the winter. In the village of Semyonovsky, not far from Kineshma, they produced bast shoes worth 100,000 rubles. And from the village of Myt, Shuisky district, Vladimir province, up to half a million pairs of bast shoes were sent to Moscow.

Now bast shoes are worn only by members of folklore ensembles, but some artels continue to make them - for sale as souvenirs.

Victor TSVETKOV

Bast shoes - shoes made of bast, which for many centuries were worn by the Slavic population of Eastern Europe. In Russia, only villagers, that is, peasants, put on shoes in bast shoes. Well, the peasants made up the vast majority of the population of Rus'. Lapot and peasant were almost synonymous. That's where the saying "bast-bast Russia" came from.

And indeed, even at the beginning of the 20th century, Russia was still often called a country of "bast shoes", putting into this concept a shade of primitiveness and backwardness. Bast shoes have become, as it were, a kind of symbol that has become part of many proverbs and sayings; they were traditionally considered the shoes of the poorest part of the population. And it is no coincidence. The entire Russian village, with the exception of Siberia and the Cossack regions, wore bast shoes all year round. When did bast shoes first appear in Rus'? To this seemingly simple question, there is still no exact answer.

It is generally accepted that bast shoes are one of the most ancient types of shoes. One way or another, archaeologists find bone kochedyks - hooks for weaving bast shoes - even at Neolithic sites. Did people still weave shoes using plant fibers back in the Stone Age?

Since ancient times, wicker shoes have been widespread in Rus'. Bast shoes were woven from the bark of many deciduous trees: linden, birch, elm, oak, willow, etc. Depending on the material, wicker shoes were called differently: birch bark, elm, oak, broom. Bast bast shoes made from lime bast were considered the strongest and softest in this series, and willow twigs and bast shoes, which were made from bast, were considered the worst.

Often, bast shoes were named according to the number of bast strips used in weaving: five, six, seven. At seven bast, winter bast shoes were usually woven. For strength, warmth and beauty, bast shoes were woven a second time, for which hemp ropes were used. For the same purpose, a leather sole was sometimes sewn on.

For a festive exit, painted elm bast shoes made of thin bast with black woolen braid, which was fixed on the legs, were intended. For autumn-spring chores in the yard, simple high wicker feet without any braid were considered more convenient.

Shoes were woven not only from tree bark, thin roots were also used, and therefore the bast shoes woven from them were called roots. Models of bast shoes made from strips of fabric were called braids. They also made bast shoes from a hemp rope - twists, and even from horse hair - hair. Such shoes were more often worn at home or walked in it in hot weather.

The technique of weaving bast shoes was also very diverse. For example, Great Russian bast shoes, unlike Belarusian and Ukrainian ones, had oblique weaving, while in the western regions they used straight weaving, or "straight lattice". If in Ukraine and Belarus bast shoes began to weave from the toe, then the Russian peasants did the work from the back. So the place of appearance of a particular wicker shoe can be judged by the shape and material from which it is made. Moscow models, woven from bast, are characterized by high sides and rounded toes. In the North, in particular, in Novgorod, they often made bast shoes from birch bark with triangular toes and relatively low sides. Mordovian bast shoes, common in the Nizhny Novgorod and Penza provinces, were woven from elm bast.

The methods of weaving bast shoes - for example, in a straight cage or in an oblique, from the heel or from the toe - were different for each tribe and up to the beginning of our century varied by region. So, the ancient Vyatichi preferred bast shoes of oblique weaving, Novgorod Slovenes - too, but mostly from birch bark and with lower sides. But the meadow, the Drevlyans, the Dregovichi, the Radimichi wore bast shoes in a straight cage.

Weaving bast shoes was considered a simple job, but requiring skill and skill. It is not for nothing that they still say about a heavily drunk person that he, they say, "does not knit a bast", that is, he is not capable of elementary actions! But, "tying the bast", the man provided the whole family with shoes - then there were no special workshops for a very long time. The main tools for weaving bast shoes - kochedyks were made from animal bones or metal. As already mentioned, the first kochedyks belong to the Stone Age. In Russian written sources, the word "bast shoe", or rather, its derivative - "bast shoe" is first found in the "Tale of Bygone Years".

Few people in the peasant environment did not know how to weave bast shoes. There were whole artels of weavers, who, according to surviving descriptions, went to the forest in whole batches. For a tithe of linden forest, they paid up to a hundred rubles. They removed the bast with a special wooden prick, leaving a completely bare trunk. The best was considered bast, obtained in the spring, when the first leaves began to bloom on the linden, so most often such an operation ruined the tree. This is where the expression "to tear like sticky" came from.

Carefully removed basts were then tied into bundles and stored in the hallway or in the attic. Before weaving bast shoes, the bast was soaked in warm water for a day. The bark was then scraped off, leaving the bast. Approximately 300 pairs of bast shoes were obtained from the cart. Bast shoes were woven from two to ten pairs a day, depending on experience and skill.

For weaving bast shoes, a wooden block and a bone or iron hook - a kochedyk - were needed. A special skill was required to weave the back, where all the basts were reduced. They say that Peter I himself learned to weave bast shoes and that the pattern he woven was kept among his belongings in the Hermitage at the beginning of the last century.

Leather shoes were not cheap. In the 19th century, a pair of good bast bast shoes could be bought for three kopecks, while the roughest peasant boots cost five or six rubles. For a peasant farmer, this is a lot of money; in order to collect them, it was necessary to sell a quarter of rye (one quarter equaled almost 210 liters of bulk solids). Boots, which differed from bast shoes in convenience, beauty and durability, were not available to most serfs. Even for a wealthy peasant, boots remained a luxury, they were worn only on holidays. Here they managed with bast shoes. The fragility of wicker shoes is evidenced by the saying: "Go on the road, weave five bast shoes." In winter, the peasant wore only bast shoes for no more than ten days, and in the summer during working hours he trampled them down in four days.

Even during the Civil War (1918-1920), most of the Red Army wore bast shoes. A special commission was engaged in their procurement, supplying the soldiers with felted shoes and bast shoes.

An interesting question arises. How much birch bark and bast was required to shoe a whole nation for centuries? Simple calculations show that if our ancestors diligently cut down trees for the sake of bark, birch forests and linden forests would have disappeared in the prehistoric era. However, this did not happen. Why?

The fact is that our distant pagan ancestors treated nature, trees, waters, lakes with great reverence. The surrounding nature was deified and considered sacred. The pagan gods guarded and guarded the fields, rivers, lakes and trees. Therefore, it is unlikely that the ancient Slavs acted murderously with trees. Most likely, the Russians knew various ways to take part of the bark without destroying the tree, and managed to remove the bark from the same birch every few years. Or maybe they owned some other secrets unknown to us in obtaining material for bast shoes?

Bast shoes have existed for more than one century, and now they are a symbol of the Russian village and a good monument to our glorious ancestors.

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Before the beginning of the 20th century peasant Russia was "bastard". In every house they knew how to weave bast shoes. However, this does not mean at all that this does not require Russian ingenuity.

"Lika does not knit"

Bast weaving was considered easy work. No wonder there is a saying about a drunk person that he “does not knit a bast”. This means that a person has drunk so much that he cannot do an elementary thing.

winter work

In Rus', men were engaged in weaving bast shoes in the winter, when they were not busy at other jobs. It was necessary to weave a lot of bast shoes during the winter. “A good man in bad times wore out at least two pairs of bast shoes in one week” (ethnographer S. Maksimov).

men's craft

A man in every house provided the whole family with bast shoes, and a lot had to be woven for sale.

Going on the road, the peasants took with them additional pairs of bast shoes:

"Go on the road - weave five bast shoes."

"Range"

Bast shoes were woven not only from bast, but also from birch bark and leather straps. Bast shoes made from elm bast were considered the most beautiful, and those made from willow bark were considered the most shameful (they deteriorated very quickly). From the bark of the tala weaved sheluzhniki, and from the oak bark - oaks or oak woods. Bast shoes made of hemp tows and shabby ropes were called chuni (kurpy, kruts) and were worn in hot, dry weather. In the Kursk province, they made bast shoes from straw, which were stronger, did not get wet and did not freeze.

Models

Bast shoes were woven differently in different regions. Russian bast shoes were distinguished by a rounded toe, very low sides and a high back, in the upper part of which a hole was made for frills. The sole was “picked” in two or three layers, which gave the bast shoes strength. The ancient Vyatichi and Novgorod Slovenes preferred bast shoes of oblique weaving made of birch bark and with lower sides.

Some wove bast shoes in four basts (fours), five strips of bast (pyateriks), others in six (sixes) or seven (sevens).

Production

The Great Russian bast shoe was distinguished by the oblique weaving of the bast; Belarusian and Ukrainian - direct. They wove bast shoes on a block, using a kochedyk (piling or shvaiko). Kochedyk is an iron or bone hook. When weaving, be sure to use a block. Bast shoes were woven one at a time, but with a difference between right and left, for which the block was simply turned over.

How to wear?

Bast shoes must not only be woven - but also put on correctly! Here's what you need to do for this:

1. Wrap your feet in canvas footcloths

2. Put on sandals

3. Fasten bast shoes with leather "turns" or rope "turns".