Dog hunting in Rus'. Nikolay Nekrasov - Hound Hunting: Poem What to wear on a hunt

Sergei DUKHANIN

In the middle of the 18th century, during the reign of Peter III, the nobility was freed from service to the royal court. It was from this time that the real history of hound hunting in Russia began. But it cannot be said that before that time there was no horse hunting with packs of hounds in Rus'. The imperial court invited specialists to manage packs of hounds from England, France and Germany at the very beginning of the 18th century, and in general, horse hunting with hounds and greyhounds goes back to the 15th century and earlier. The massive spread of dog hunting was facilitated by the huge landowners' lands with an abundance of animals on them, a lot of free time for the nobility exempted from service and noble goals - the destruction of the wolf, the main pest of the landowner and peasant economy, and Russian national traits - daring, courage, gambling, bordering on recklessness, which are fully manifested on this hunt. All this led to the fact that in all the central provinces, on every noble estate, they had hound hunting, even if not very large.

Unfortunately, in our country the entire culture of real hound hunting has been completely lost, but this is a historical phenomenon unique to Russia. The experts passed away - hunters, chasers, wranglers, stirrups and other participants in this fascinating action; there was no one for them to pass on the experience of coming and driving packs of hounds, breeding greyhounds, and the traditions of hound hunting. Only in the ancient books of P.M. Machevarianov, P.M. Gubin, N.P. Kishensky can today be found information on the organization, preparation and conduct of hound and gun hunts with packs of hounds. But these authors wrote their works, considering hunting from the height of their position - owners of hunting dogs. The details, subtleties, secrets of coordinating, arriving and driving packs of hounds and organizing hound hunts are lost, many forever. This information is collected bit by bit through the efforts of true lovers of horses, hunting with hounds and greyhounds.

Who can create hound hunting in our time? Firstly, these should be people who are very passionate about this idea - real enthusiasts, secondly, they should at least theoretically understand this complex issue, thirdly, these should be people with enormous patience to take one small step every day forward, eventually getting an independent complete canine hunt. And the last condition, today one of the most important, is that they must be fairly wealthy people, because maintaining a hound hunt is an expensive undertaking, but a very prestigious one, which speaks of the high culture of the owner of the hunt, his desire to revive and preserve Russian national culture.

Dog hunting is a lot of work, a kind of art, science and, like every science, it has its own laws and its own terms, its own special colorful, figurative, accurate language of canine hunters of past centuries.

In the history of Russian national hunting with greyhounds and hounds, the names of complete hound hunts and packs of hounds are known. No one specifically assigned these names; they arose from the stories of participants in these hunts, from one or another publication in magazines or newspapers of those times. Names were usually associated with the location of the hunt - Pershinskaya and Gatchina hunts - or with the name of the owner. Now any efficient hunter knows the names of the Tula landowners F.A. Svechin, S.V. Ozerov, the Nizhny Novgorod landowner P.M. Machevarianov, the hunting dynasties of the Glebovs and Ermolovs, who maintained hound hunting for almost two centuries. The hound hunts of these people thundered throughout Russia. The hunt of the Oryol landowner N.V. Kireevsky, a friend of L.N. Tolstoy and I.S. Turgenev, is depicted in all colors in the novel “War and Peace” in the Rostov hunting scenes. N.V. Kireevsky held up to 200 bows of Anglo-Russian hounds! These were the hunts. Russian complete hunting cannot be compared with Western parfors hound hunting. The famous Russian hunts, in whose kennels hundreds of hounds and greyhounds were kept, would simply be crowded in the lands of Western Europe.

History has put everything in its place. Private stables have appeared in Russia again, there are kennel yards, which means there will be hound hunting. What is a complete canine hunt?

A set of independent hound hunting should consist of a pack of hounds from 9 to 20 bows (a bow is two hounds connected by special collars) and from 5 to 12 packs of greyhounds (3-4 dogs per pack). All canine hunters must be mounted. Hunters with greyhounds are called greyhound hunters, and hunters with hounds are called vzhlyatniks. The senior Greyhound breeder is a visiting dog, and the senior Vyzhlyat breeder is a driving dog breeder. The head of the entire complete canine hunt is the hunter; in small canine hunts, this role was played by the hunter.

In addition, the hound hunting kit included snares with snares - special nets with which strong participants fenced off islands through which the animal could “get off” unnoticed by greyhounds. Gun hunters were also allowed to hunt with dogs; they usually positioned themselves along the edges of established nets and shot animals walking along the nets. At the invitation of the owner, other hunters with their greyhounds and horses were also allowed to join the hound hunt. Hunters who could not afford a full set of hound hunting and who kept 1-2 packs of greyhounds were called small-grass hunters. In Russian literature there is a work by E. Dryansky, which is called “Notes of a Small Grass”. They say that the great Leo Tolstoy, a great lover and expert in hound hunting, wanted to write about it, but after reading “Notes...”, he abandoned this idea, considering that it was impossible to write better.

In hound hunting there was a uniform consisting of a caftan, trousers, a short sheepskin coat, boots, a cloth cloak and a cap with a visor. The caftans of the Vizhlyatniks could be bright colors, but the caftans of the Greyhounds could only be dark in color, so as not to frighten the animal that crawled out of the island. In cold weather, a short sheepskin coat was worn under the caftan. Each hunter had a hunting knife for receiving the wolf from the dogs and an arapnik, the Greyhounds had belt packs and small horns for giving signals, the Greyhounds had bows and calling horns.

A hunting horse is a separate matter. Mainly geldings and mares were used in hound hunts; they are calmer than stallions. The animal will never go out into the hole where the horse behaves restlessly. In catalogs of hunting exhibitions of the 19th century, horses of mainly domestic breeds were indicated for hunting. The horse must stand calmly, not be afraid of a suddenly jumping out animal, including a wolf, not be afraid of a shot, ford or swim across bodies of water, walk through narrow places, and must also be calm and humble so that the hunted animal can be tied to it.

Hunters say: “Riding on horseback is an art, hunting on horseback is fearlessness.” A good horse is indispensable for hound hunting. It should be strong and strong, easy to move. Such a horse is a very great helper in mating greyhounds, in bringing and driving up a pack of hounds.

Ancient canine hunters believed that the most comfortable hunting saddle should be designed like a Cossack saddle, and the bridle must have a chumbur.

Special one-horse field carts and various carriages were also used in hound hunting. The main requirements for them are durability and softness when driving over rough terrain.

The passion for hound hunting among hunters is ineradicable; canine hunters did not get out of the saddle for weeks, chasing hounds, poisoning animals with greyhounds. It is a known fact that the famous hunter, Tambov retired general A.V. Zhikharev, who kept the famous Zhikharevo mountain greyhounds, hunted wolves on horseback three days before his death. And there would be nothing unusual in this fact if you did not know that he was 91 years old at that time.

They hunted with complete hound hunting along both the black trail and the white trail; the hunt differed only in the object - a hare, a fox or a wolf. They hunted near the house or in outlying fields.

Preparations for the hunt were made in advance, especially if it was necessary to hunt in outlying fields, when day after day, moving from island to island along certain hunting routes, a flock would rush into the island and poison the driven out animal. Sometimes the hunting routes of departing fields were laid along rivers, taking forest islands on both banks, and hound hunting was transported by ships. Hunting in the outgoing fields lasted up to several months. They were conducted strictly according to certain rules, mandatory for all participants; any violation of these rules could lead to the disruption of the entire hunt, even a very well prepared one.

The hounds were always thrown against the wind, so that those arriving and catching them could hear them. At the end of the work, it is easier for the traveler to collect the hounds remaining on the island, since now the hounds will clearly hear the horn in the wind.

The hounds were released into the island at the signal of a horn after the greyhounds had occupied the laz. Greyhounds, if the animal's hole passed, for example, along a ravine, took places on the side, without blocking it, they always stood under the cover of some bush. And if there was no shelter, then away from the island into some depression or, conversely, into the island itself, but facing the field. During the hunt, until the hounds left the island, the greyhounds were not allowed to leave the occupied hole. The greyhound on the manhole, when the beast appeared from the island, was obliged to freeze, even fall to the pommel of the saddle, holding the beast and allowing it in moderation, taking into account both the distance and the terrain, after which, quietly charging, show it to the greyhounds. They chased the dogs and the beast in silence, at an accelerated gallop until the beast was captured or until it became clear that the beast had left.

Greyhounds for hound hunting must be well bred, the horse must be trained, the pack of hounds must be brought in and driven. All this requires enormous work from amateurs and professionals involved in hound hunting.

Hunting is interesting only when the islands are small and there is a sufficient number of animals on them, especially foxes and brown hare. If the island is too large and the pack of hounds is small, then even from under the dirty hounds the animal rarely leaves the island, and it is hardly possible to drive the white hare out of the island at all. Therefore, hunting routes, that is, departing fields, must be prepared in advance; it is advisable to conduct pack training in these islands and hunt more often, then all the holes of the animal become known.

We can talk a lot about hound hunting, but in conclusion I will repeat the words of N.P. Kishensky, one of the most famous specialists in hunting with packs of hounds: “It is much better to learn this in the field with a good pack of hounds, where a young and smart hunter quickly acquires that hunting skill.” flair and dexterity that surprise people who are little familiar with this type of hunting.”

Yekaterinburg city

For a long time, my friends invited me to visit - Alexey and Galina Adaev, with whom we have known each other for many years thanks to our cop dogs. But in recent years they have also become avid canine hunters, and I always wanted to see how this happens. But in the fall, something didn’t work out, the winter flew by in worries, and suddenly it turned out that the next weekend was the last of the season! Must go! And, as luck would have it, the flu begins to break me down... I chew some pills all day, drink hot wine, and by the evening I already feel quite tolerable. I'll go in the morning.

Two hours of travel - and I’m there. In addition to the owners, four greyhounds and three setters come out of the house to greet me! What a team! Until I hugged everyone, they didn’t let me pass.

We drink tea and get ready to go to the field. Galya is also sick and stays at home. Alexey and I and four dogs (bandyuki, as they are affectionately called in the family) are loaded into an old cornfield. And then the dogs started singing!

What's this! - says Alexey. Now, if they see a dog on the road... or a cat...

So we met a dog... I can’t imagine how my eardrums remained intact.

Soon we drive into a field and fall out of the car. This is where the dogs surprised me for the first time. Any self-respecting setter in such conditions would take a few laps around the field to relieve tension and just warm up. Greyhounds don't run anywhere. Although they howled in anticipation! No, they stand there, calmly waiting for us to put on our skis and move forward. Done, let's go! And the dogs don't run again. They walk next to the owner. This is also surprising to me! After all, the pointer, working at a gallop, will non-stop comb the area in front of the hunter, sometimes all day long (if she is in good shape).

What if it’s a hare and I’m tired? - Alexey explains to me. - the greyhound gives so much effort while racing after the animal that in the heat it can even die. They save energy.

Meanwhile, we are wandering around on hunting skis, sticking to the already spring snow, I am pouring out a flu-like sweat, and the camera is straining my neck - Oleg Anatolych apparently gave him the healthiest lens on purpose... iron, heavy... and if you hang it over your shoulder, you will definitely miss all the most interesting things!

From time to time Alexey stops, examining the area with binoculars, and tells how he competed in this place with a fox, who still deceived him and the dogs and left, leaving everyone with their noses.

After some time, Karai broke away from the company - he is the most mature and independent. He walks a hundred meters away from us, thinking about something of his own. He sits on the mane and looks out for the beast while we crawl through the lowlands. Then he slowly moves on to the next mane and again sits in meditation.

Finally, we come across a hare trail, not too fresh. And then the dogs surprise me for the third time. They're on the trail! That's something I've never heard of! Of course, this is not a hound that will keep the scent by scent and gallop. They work “in the heel”, plunging their anteater noses into all the holes, and slowly moving forward. Nevertheless, says Alexey, they often untangle the fat themselves and lift the hare from its bed. And now the whole company moved to comb the stake - but, alas, to no avail.

About two hours later we sit down to rest and drink tea. The dogs are showing impatience - why are we sitting, we need to go!

But we are already turning towards home, because the day is short and it will soon begin to get dark. And although we walked in a circle, the dogs immediately realized that the hunt was ending. And now Azarna also broke away from the company and went into the bushes, hoping to finally scare off something.

If it were sunny, explains Lyosha, the foxes would come out into the field, their rut is beginning. And so - grey, gloomy, windy, they are holed up somewhere.

And suddenly one of the dogs galloped, the rest followed him, and the whole pack rushed away in the blink of an eye. What, who, where???

Behind the crows,” Alexey laughs. - since there is no game, at least this way to warm up.

Alas, our campaign was not crowned with success.

But I felt better, the illness went away with sweat, and I returned to the car quite cheerfully.

Initially, one day of hunting was planned, but after the bathhouse and evening gatherings we decided to try again, go to a new place suggested by the huntsman.

So, new morning, new sunset! We drive further away, find an exit into a field - the path has been very successfully cleared by a bulldozer. We start to slide down and Alexey slows down, because a flock of partridges slowly runs out from under the wheels and runs along the path in front of us. I don’t know what I looked like then (Lyosha says my eyes almost popped out of my head)), but my first thought was - where is my dog, where is my gun?!

So shoot! - oh right, I have a camera on my lap! But by the time I opened it and turned it on, it was too late, they took off.

Well, not a bad start to the day!

We go around the fields again, and again there is no sun, but the light has already changed - it is completely spring, watercolor, with March blue.

There are many more tracks in this area, and I ask Saint Tryphon, the patron saint of hunters, so that we can at least see the beast again.

We imperceptibly descend into the lowland, where there is much more snow than on the windy slopes, we go around several pegs trampled by hares and marked by foxes. At some point,

filled with grace, I break away from reality, merge with the sky and space... And then Alexei’s exclamation brings me back to life - just about there, just about there!!!

And then the dogs rushed, and I saw a fox that rose from the peg in front of us, about thirty meters away. Wow and tail! And he seems to be running leisurely... I throw up my camera, click-click-click, - and the race is already a hundred meters away. Alexey observes through binoculars and comments on what I can no longer see clearly: Paramon has caught up!!! That's it, it's the end of the fox, they'll take it now!!! He turned it around!!!

Indeed, the fastest one, Paramon, caught up with the fox and forced him to turn back, but... Azarna and Mertsay, who were literally a couple of meters behind, did not have time to catch it, and, elegantly waving its tail, the animal literally leaves from under two pairs of dog noses.

Oh you! The dogs are falling through the snow, but the fox is walking on the crust!! He will leave!

Indeed, the distance between them increases, the cunning beast walked along the indentations, along the snowy ridges, where the dogs drown up to their chests. Soon they all disappear from sight; the bandits cannot give up the pursuit.

Alexey, red and excited, takes a drag on his cigarette:

I was sure they would take it!!! How he left! And he let us get very close and stood up in front of us!

Let's go look for a bed and find

almost on the edge of the grove, on the leeward side, but on level ground - not under a bush, not under a tree. We move further along the tracks and read the race - here Paramon overtook the fox, turned around, yeah, failed... and the fox's tracks ran along the ridge itself, like soft cat paws, without stopping anywhere.

About ten minutes later, Alexey takes the horn off his shoulder and begins to call the dogs - “that’s it, they’ll be firewood now...”

The dogs do not return immediately and reluctantly. They grab the snow, plunge their long muzzles into the snowdrift right up to their ears - and they really give it their all.

Twinkle stops a hundred meters from us, and suddenly begins to whine and lay down on the snow.

“My muscles cramped,” says Alexey, “he’s already old.”

We go to the suffering dog, we feel sorry for him, Lyosha rubs his paws.

For some reason Karai is not coming back...

The horn plays again, but the dog is not visible. Alexey looks around the area with binoculars. And suddenly the barely alive dogs take off again and again disappear over the horizon.

Punish the beast there!!! - and we rush after.

But by the time they ran around the stake, on wide skis, it was all over. The dogs began to chase the beast from very far away, and of course he left. There is no point in continuing the hunt, the dogs are exhausted, and I have to go in the evening.

This time Alexey and I made the way back completely alone - the dogs trailed far behind, hid in the bushes, and did not even respond to the horn. It was difficult to assemble into the car:

They know they didn't catch it! They are worried. They want to work. Get lost!

After this walk, I can hardly climb the steps, but I think that I will definitely not miss the next invitation to a hound hunt.

Russian estate hunting, which means not the hunting of animals for food and not military training, such as Genghis Khan organized, for example, for his warriors, but a kind of theatrical performance for the upper class, is not only inseparable from the Russian estate, but is one of the most striking components of the estate life.

It lasted only a century and a half, but during this time it managed to develop a certain code of honor, its own rules, and its own vocabulary. No other, not even the English parfors hunt, could compare with the extravaganza of Russian estate hunting, although that is also very spectacular. Its essence is this: following a pack of hounds (foxhounds or other breeds), hunters on horseback in the obligatory red suits, overcoming natural obstacles (usually numerous hedges in England), strive to be the first of all other participants in the race to snatch the fox's tail from a pack of hounds. The one who succeeds is recognized as the winner. For a modest English scale it was a spectacle, but the Russian open spaces, which did not exist in Europe, required a different scale...


Russian estate hunting can be divided into two subtypes: regular or complete and gun hunting. But we will tell you about each in turn.

A. Kivshenko. Hunted down

1. Hunting as such existed in Rus' for a long time; there is a mention of fishing in the Teachings of Vladimir Monomakh. Fragments with hunting scenes have also been preserved on the frescoes of the St. Sophia Novgorod Cathedral. But this is mainly hunting with birds. Back in the middle of the 17th century, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, a great lover and expert in hunting, wrote his “Uryadnik or New Code and Organization of the Order of Falconers’ Ways.”

It was then that the saying arose: “Falconry is royal, hound hunting is boyar, gun hunting is hound hunting.” And although the Riga German Christian von Lessin wrote at the same time his “Hunter’s Regulations on Hound and Own Hunting,” the nobility did little hunting with guns and dogs. There were few dogs, mostly exported English ones, they were also handled by foreigners, and in the hunt for red animals (wolves, foxes) they always preferred white ones - spears and knives - to black firearms.

However, from the same 17th century, falconry began to gradually lose ground and by the beginning of the 18th century it almost disappeared, gradually being replaced by canine hunting. Oddly enough, real dog hunting originates in Russia in the Kostroma and Yaroslavl regions.

N. Kuznetsov. On vacation

After Ivan the Terrible took Kazan and conquered the Tatar Khanate, he settled the conquered Tatar aristocracy in the northeastern regions, and there they bring their eastern and hounds. But it was difficult for the heat-loving southern dogs not only to hunt among forests and small clearings, but even to survive. And therefore, new breeds of hunting dogs began to appear naturally, which later made up all the beauty of estate hunting. This applied to both greyhounds and hounds.

The latter have, of course, undergone much less changes; maybe they dressed a little richer and got used to the rough terrain. And back in the 17th century, the Russian aristocracy rode out with hounds not to catch the beast, but to listen to the amazing choirs of hounds, selected by their voices.

This is how Nekrasov described it later, when there were no such choirs anymore:

The boiling flock cooks,
The landowner listens, melting enthusiastically,
The spirit is busy in the powerful chest,
The ears are basked in marvelous harmony!
Littermates musical barking
The soul is carried away to that ideal world,
Wherever there are no payments to the Board of Trustees,
There are no restless police officers!
The choir is so melodious, melodic and even,
What is your Rossini! What is your Beethoven!

N. Sverchkov. Hunting with greyhounds

Assembling a pack based on voices was considered a real art, and huge sums of money were paid for the right dog. The classification of votes has not changed to this day. The hounds' voices are divided into bashur - low bass, languid with nasality - similar to a mournful cry, figured - with grace and with a bay, when the dog barks at several voices in turn. Two hundred years later, in 1892, A. Safonov even wrote a scientific work, “The Flock as a Subject of Musical Study.”

In it, he writes, in particular: “There are voices that are thick, velvety, juicy, soft; there are voices that are liquid, sharp, piercing, extremely unpleasant for the ear; there are, finally, deaf, dull, hoarse with a guttural or nasal tinge, and their strength is also very different... Judging by hearing, I think that the extreme notes of dog voices are: down - F under the first line of the bass clef and up - F above the eighth of the treble clef...

In their voices one can observe, firstly, an endless variety of timbres, registers, ranges and strengths, then tonality and, finally, an abundance of forms...” As a striking example, he gives a description of a survivor named Budilo: “His wonderful velvety bassocontante had a range from B flat to the second octave, which gave the impression of an entire aria... With measured recitatives, Budilo reasoned with himself, tested his thoughts... his voice took on an increasingly passionate character, drawn-out exclamations captured an increasing number of tones... finally, he screamed piercingly and burst into hysterical sobbing in the highest register..." What? There is another interesting work on this topic - the book of the musician Artynov "Dog Choir". It was the Kostroma hounds that were especially famous for their voices.

But we have moved somewhat away from the topic. So, by the end of the 17th century, two breeds of Russian hound hunting had developed: Russian hounds. However, the real beginning of estate hunting dates back to the era of Peter III, when, with his Manifesto on the freedom of the nobility of 1762, service people were exempted from compulsory public service. It was from this time that the real history of estates with their specific life began - and of estate hunting as a phenomenon of this culture. The origin of this phenomenon is based, in general, on just three successfully combined conditions. Firstly, the nobility had free time, which could be spent on improving and decorating their lives. Secondly, the massive spread of dog hunting was facilitated by the huge landowners' lands with an abundance of animals on them and noble goals - the destruction of the wolf, the main pest of landowners and peasants.

And thirdly, Russian national traits also played an important role - daring, courage, gambling, bordering on recklessness, which are fully manifested in this hunt. Apparently, somehow dog hunting met the deep needs of Russian people. And it’s not for nothing that Nekrasov wrote already in 1846, at the last peak of Russian hound hunting:

There is no prohibition for us in the open field
To please the steppe and violent will.
Good for the one who surrenders to power
Military fun: he knows passion,
And gray-haired young impulses
It will remain beautiful and alive,
The dark thought will not come to him,
In idle peace the soul will not fall asleep.
Who doesn't like dog hunting?
He will fall asleep within himself and destroy him.

P. Sokolov. Hunting fees. At the porch

All this led to the fact that dog hunting, even if not very large, was carried out on every noble estate in all central and Volga provinces. Moreover, landowners appeared who literally devoted their entire lives to improving hunting and its techniques, breeding dogs and developing a code of its unwritten rules. There were enthusiasts who hunted from the age of 14-15 until old age and died during the hunt (or immediately after it). And even now, every smart person (that is, a real hunter) remembers the names of Machavarianov, Ermolov, Zhikharev, Baryatinsky.

It is to them that Russian hunting owes, for example, the rule not to take nesting wolves, but only pereyarkov (one-year-olds) - this was a correct and subtle environmental policy that made it possible to maintain balance in the surrounding nature. It was they who also introduced the tradition of naming dogs by breed. Even today, hounds are often named by their voices: Flute, Sobbed, Bassoon, and greyhounds - by their signature tactics: Grab, Boa, Fly, Torment. And they quietly aestheticized hunting, turning it from crude entertainment into a noble spectacle. Russian hunting has always been a highly moral phenomenon, surprisingly combining strict science and free art.

Hunting is inextricably linked with the estate - and just as the golden age of estates occurred in the first half of the 19th century, so estate hunting also experienced its zenith at that time. During these years, even a unique dictionary was created - at least 500 words, which almost all the inhabitants of the estate knew then, but now not even three-quarters of the hunters know. As an example, let us give at least the names of the tails of different animals: in a hound it was called a rut, in a greyhound it was called a rule, y was a log, y was a rod or feather, a fox was a trumpet, a hare was a flower or a puff. We refer those interested to the excellent book by I.P. Myatlev "Words and expressions used during hound hunting." It can be read as a fascinating novel even now. Just look at the expression “by the splashes,” when a dog is hunting while all the snow in the spring has melted away, in some places it has completely melted, and splashes fly from under the dogs on large bald patches.

R. Frenz. Boyar hunting from the time of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich

Everyone remembers the description of hound hunting in “War and Peace”, in the poems of the same Nekrasov... There is also a wonderful and undeservedly forgotten Russian writer who gave his soul and pen to hunting - I’m talking about Driyansky and his amazing in psychology “Notes of a Small Herb” ". Poor landowners may not have had the royal scope, but no less nobility was always present.

It must be said that the maintenance of the hunt (until 1917 this term did not mean the process itself, but a pack of hounds, a pack of greyhounds, their service and maintenance) was indeed very expensive. For a real complete hunt, it was necessary to keep at least 20 packs (2 dogs each) of hounds and 10 packs (3-4 dogs each) of greyhounds. This was already a lot. In addition, dogs needed kennels. True, greyhounds, as a rule, lived in the house, ate and slept with their owners, but they are still individual favorites; the main part was kept separately.

And hounds were kept entirely in kennels - as one hunter-writer said, “the most unfortunate of the Russian breeds,” since it is the hounds that find the beast and drive it tirelessly, and when there is only a little bit left before the prey, they are taken to the bow and triumph goes to released greyhounds. And the kennels were huge, arranged according to the latest veterinary technology. In addition, after the abolition of serfdom, it was necessary to maintain huntsmen, the composition of which was approximately as follows: with the hounds - the hounds, headed by the driver; with greyhounds - the greyhounds, led by the racer, and also the main catcher. And the uniform, and the dog training! Young hounds first had to be trained, greyhounds had to be welded, that is, walked on a pack. In addition to trained dogs, specially trained horses and supplies were needed, since the hunt could last from several days to a month in favorable weather.

Now, perhaps, it’s time to tell how the hunt itself took place.

R. Frenz. Huntsman with three greyhounds

It began with reconnaissance, that is, observation of the surrounding broods and howling, when a specialist imitating a wolf howl thus determined the number and age of the animals. Then came the departure. Here is how a contemporary writes about its solemnity: “The picture was breathtakingly beautiful when, in turn, in front of the spectators lined up first a flock of scarlet hounds with hounds and hounds, having on both sides mounted greyhounds with dark-colored greyhounds in the pack, and then a flock of piebald hounds and greyhounds with 18 packs of piebald and light-colored greyhounds; like an echo of distant better times, the call of ringing horns sounded in the quiet air; people and horses stood rooted to the spot, amateurishly selected packs of breeds sat around each one in different poses. The whole picture was illuminated by the rays of the setting sun against the backdrop of the village landscape. , breathed some kind of extraordinary power and charm, understandable to only one hunter.

We stood silent, and our imagination was carried away into the autumn fields and forests, where this flock would roar, and dashing packs would rush like a whirlwind. One of the oldest canine hunters quietly approached us. “This, gentlemen, can’t be seen anywhere else now,” he told us. “And has there ever been anything like this,” one of us answered.”

In principle, the departure retained many of the features of the gathering of the princely squad in Rus'. This is evidenced by the archaic nature of the ritual itself and the actions that precede it. Thus, before a hunt, a hunter had to take care of the purity of his soul and body, and more than once an unsuccessful hunt was attributed to some hot young man who could not resist spending the night with a woman. The celebration of trophies, accompanied by horns and glasses accompanied by the singing of “Let’s drink, brothers, on blood,” refers to the ancient Slavic funeral feast.

But then the hunt began. The initial alignment of the forces of the hunters and the attack of the hounds are made under the cries of the one arriving, “Hoo!” Then follows the exit “to the manholes” and “the sight of the greyhounds”, after the discovery of the hounds, that is, the recall of the dogs with the command “Open!”, the issuance of the command to the greyhounds “Atu!”, chasing them after the beast and, finally, the reception (killing) or coaxing ( tying up) a wolf and taking a fox or hare. And this whole process was accompanied by emotions of such strength that they were comparable only to the heat of a real battle or the heat of passion.

V. Serov. Peter I on a hound hunt

But by the middle of the 19th century, hound hunting began to give way more and more to rifle hunting. Already in 1860, Khomyakov wrote in “Moskvityanin”: “We also had hunting in the old days, perhaps not as improved as in England, but very diverse and intricate, perhaps showing an even greater excess of courage and people’s strength. But it was... but it’s overgrown with its past, and now it’s almost a shame to talk about it.”

And 1861 generally dealt a crushing blow to estate dog hunting. The total number of package hunts fell by more than three-quarters. The overwhelming majority of landowners, having lost their source of income, sought to get rid of hunting. It is a sad fact that in the sixties the production of kid leather increased greatly... I don’t think there is any need to explain where it came from.

Only after 1872, after the creation of the Imperial Society for Proper Hunting, it began to be revived, but not on a massive scale, but mainly among nobles and grand dukes. This is how the Gatchina imperial hunt in Marienburg was famous. An entire Jaeger settlement was built there: houses for the rangers, a two-story house of the chief huntsman, office buildings, bakeries, shops, and a school. By the way, hurry up, the remains of the settlement can still be seen. The dogs were already trained beyond Gatchina, near Verolanitsy. "In front is a gray-haired senior huntsman on a horse with a large copper horn. Behind him, forming a square, are the rest of the huntsmen, also with horns and arapniks. In the center of the square are hounds, some in packs of five. When everyone lined up, the elder took off his hat, crossed himself and said: “With God!” - this is how an eyewitness describes the training.

The Pershinskaya hunt near Tula of Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich Jr., consisting of 100-200 dogs, became not only a large breeding center (its area occupied more than 400 acres), the dogs of which still remain the standard, but also the swan song of complete canine hunting. After the revolution, both hunts were sold to the West, the remaining dogs were exterminated by the peasantry, and a brilliant part of Russian culture ceased to exist forever, like the estates that gave birth to it.

Manor hunting ceased to exist forever.

Now many attempts are being made to revive it, just as they are trying to revive estates. But, alas, estate hunting, like the estate, is not a single event, in a separate place and at a separate time - it, like any cultural phenomenon, for its development required an environment that now does not exist and cannot exist...

And yet, I really want Russian estate hunting to remain, at least in memory, as the festive, beautiful and noble event that it was and captivated souls - because this is our history, our language and our literature.

Maria Barykova

“Hunting... brings us closer to nature, teaches us patience, and sometimes cold-bloodedness in the face of danger...” I. V. Turgenev

We have all repeatedly reviewed the film “Peculiarities of the National Hunt”, which has become popular, where the harsh Russian reality is intertwined with dreams. Horses, greyhounds, dogs, women in riding habits and side saddles, the French language and stirrup glasses...

Horse hunting with greyhounds is an original Russian pastime, perfectly reflecting the scope of the Russian soul. And therefore, it is especially pleasant to note that in recent years this type of leisure has been revived and is gaining momentum in modern Russia.

More and more equestrian clubs are starting to organize real hound hunts for hare and fox, allowing participants to immerse themselves in the past for at least one day, enjoying the spirit of royal times. And although animals are rarely caught on such hunts, active mental pastime completely replaces the pleasure of catching prey.

So on January 24-25, in Mozhaisk near Moscow, a reconstruction of the horse hunt took place, organized by the Outpost equestrian base under the leadership of Evgeny Matuzov, a man with inexhaustible energy and incredible organizational skills.

It is worth noting that at the same time as the horse hunt, a master class was held by the wonderful photographer Svetlana Petrova.

Milestones of history

For many years, horseback hunting with greyhounds was a favorite pastime of the upper classes of Russia. Already from the middle of the 18th century, many landowners began to acquire their own kennels, where they kept up to a thousand greyhounds and hounds.

Gradually, hunting with dogs began to replace the previously common hunting with birds of prey. Riders (by the way, there were both men and women among them) began to participate in horse hunts with greyhounds, which gained popularity year after year. Such hunts were also important from a political point of view. Foreign ambassadors and diplomats were often invited to participate - this is how important state affairs were decided during the hunt.

In 1887, Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich Romanov acquired the Pershino estate in the Aleksinsky district of the Tula province, which served as the beginning of the creation of the famous Pershino Grand Duke's Hunt (Pershinskaya Dog Hunt of His Imperial Highness Grand Duke N.N. Romanov). This hunt became the largest hound hunt in Russia, bringing together more than 300 greyhounds (mostly Russian) and hounds. The best hunters, the best greyhounds and the best horsemen took part in the Pershin hunt. Especially for this purpose, more than 80 heads of horses were kept in the estate’s stables.

This hunt was famous not only in our country, but also abroad. People came from Switzerland, France, England, Belgium and even from the USA to participate in it or purchase the best Pershin type puppies. All hunting trips were well organized and were particularly pompous. The Pershin hunting staff even had its own brass band. All participants dressed in specially tailored suits. And the main manager of the hunt was the Grand Duke himself.

The time of popularity of Russian greyhounds began to be called the “golden age” of domestic hound hunting. But after the abolition of serfdom in Russia, kennels with greyhounds began to gradually disappear, and they stopped maintaining the characteristics of the breed. After the 1917 revolution, many greyhounds became the property of rural hunters who knew nothing about dog breeding.

Our days

It’s the 21st century, and horse hunting with greyhounds in Russia has begun to be revived in its traditional form. People who in everyday life are far from nature, living in the fast world of new technologies, suddenly began to feel the need to break free, catch the wind in an endless field, feel the excitement of the chase and, putting on a beautiful historical costume, plunge into the past for a day or two.

In the photo - Alla Mikheeva, who made a “sharp report” for Vecherny Urgant.

Modern hunting requires a number of requirements for participants, the most basic of which is excellent horsemanship. The rider must not only sit firmly in the saddle at any gait, but also confidently control the horse, maintain the overall pace and follow commands. The hunting action most often takes place in the fields, where both horses and greyhounds can suddenly change the trajectory of their movement during the chase. The rider's job is to be ready for any maneuver at any time. Each potential hunting participant must objectively assess his or her physical capabilities and experience.

Another important requirement is historical costume. To completely recreate the hunt of past centuries, you need to try to comply with the spirit of that time in everything. Therefore, a hunting suit, as an important attribute of hound hunting on horseback, must be thought out to the smallest detail.

And the third requirement is the desire to hunt. Participants must understand that they are going to participate in a hunt, and not in aimless jumps over rough terrain.

In addition, the rules have many more important sub-clauses that each participant must take into account.

Here are some of them:
Consumption of alcoholic beverages before and during hunting is prohibited. The exception is stirrups (a glass of vodka, 25 grams. It is offered to each participant in the horse hunt and is one of the traditional rituals of such events).

During the hunt, you must strictly follow the commands of the hunt distributor and not engage in free riding. A successful hunt is only possible with coordinated teamwork. Free jumping can scare away the beast.

You should not approach greyhounds or animals closer than 30 meters. The pack and prey behave unpredictably, and due to the carelessness of the rider, they can fall under the hooves of horses.

How is everything going?

During the hunt, riders and greyhounds line up in one line and walk evenly across the field to raise the animal hiding in the grass. As soon as he appears, the greyhounds release the dogs, and the horsemen begin the chase. The role of the mounted hunter is very important for several reasons. First, a trained greyhound can jump on a horse on command and continue moving along with the rider.

This is true if there is thick grass on the field and the dog cannot see the prey from his height.

Secondly, some of the riders always move along the edge of the field in order to prevent the animal from escaping the chase into the forest, where the greyhound loses its advantage - speed. And thirdly, the mounted hunter can recall the dogs in time if the prey is caught. Otherwise, inexperienced greyhounds can simply tear the animal to pieces, leaving the hunter without a trophy.

What to wear when hunting?

Expert – Elena Potapova, master of historical costume:

Historical costume is beautiful and unusual. Properly selected clothing allows participants to be transported back in time and feel like a hero of that time. When we put on a dress or uniform, we notice how our posture and manners involuntarily change.

Almost all hunts have the same dress code - these are historical costumes of the 18th-19th centuries. At the discretion of the organizers, one specific period can be chosen, for example, the beginning of the 19th century. This puts the participants in a rather strict framework, but the fact that everyone is dressed in the same style leaves an unforgettable impression.

The hunter's main clothing is trousers, a short sheepskin coat, boots and sometimes a raincoat.

Very often, men prefer to wear hussar uniforms, consisting of chakchirs, dolman and mentik, put on one on top of the other.
Depending on the season, short jackets (spensers) and short fur coats are used as outerwear. Hats are also varied. In the Empire era, hats with small brims and berets were popular. The romantic period is characterized by top hats. In the middle of the 18th century, hats were added to the top hats, and a little later - cocked hats. By the end of the 19th century, bowler hats had already appeared.

As for women, preference is mainly given to amazons - dresses and wide skirts that fit beautifully on the horse’s croup and do not hinder the rider’s movements. Amazons are different, depending on the period to which they belong. For example, in 1812-1817, Amazon dresses in the Empire style were in fashion, and already in 1830-1835 Amazon dresses in the romantic style became popular.

They are all distinguished by their cut: different waist heights and different sleeves. Amazons have always been dark, non-marking tones: blue, green, black, brown, red. Until the mid-19th century, dyes were mostly natural, and fabrics had “natural” colors. There were also fashionistas who wore light-colored suits that required thorough cleaning after each hunt.

Women pay special attention to hair styling. The hairstyle for costume hunting should not interfere with the ride. “It is advisable to remove the hair and pin it up carefully, otherwise when jumping it can get into the eyes, and it gets very tangled. The simplest hairstyle is a bun, you can twist the temple part and pin the ends, this will allow the hairstyle not to fray and last until the end of the event. It is not recommended to have hanging curls on the sides, as they will simply develop during the hunt,” Elena Potapova shares her experience.

Ideal look for a lady

A calm outfit made from natural materials (wool or cloth) in soft colors. Hair is neatly pulled back or styled. On the head is a hat, top hat or any other suitable headdress. Shoes are elegant and as close to historical as possible; classic riding boots are allowed. A nice touch would be gloves made of light leather or matching the color of the suit. Abuse of cosmetics is not encouraged.

Tired together - horses, people...

At the bivouac, horse hunting participants are offered not only “stirrup”, but also all kinds of traditional treats!

Hunting in the snow is harder for horses than for people...

Today, many equestrian farms in Russia are interested in the development and promotion of horse hunting with greyhounds. This process allows you not only to plunge into the past, but also to experience all the delights of entertainment that has been so popular for several centuries. For some, such a hunt is an adrenaline rush. Some people enjoy active horseback riding in open areas. Others see horse hunting as a fashion trend and want to try themselves as hussars, counts and noble ladies, dressing in historical outfits and adopting the refined manners of the past. In parallel with this, there is an active revival of the Russian greyhound, which is an integral companion in almost any such hunt.

Photos - Zanoska Valeria.
Organizer - Horse Base "Avanpost" Mozhaisk
Master class by Svetlana Petrova, 2015.

The extraordinary adventures of the Austrians in Russia, or what Herberstein saw

It seems that a lot of books and articles have been written on the history of hound hunting and on the origin of Russian greyhounds. The number and volume of sources could be the envy of any other breed of hunting dog. However, in order to get a more or less clear picture of events, you need not only to read, but also, by comparing, analyze what you read.

With amazing ease, some authors talk about greyhounds in the dowry of the Kyiv princess Anna Yaroslavna (11th century) and at the same time argue that the Russian greyhound owes its birth to the Mongol-Tatar conquerors.

The same breeders with the same fervor promote the strictest selection for the first signs of blood, while at the same time extolling Ermolov’s “Description” (1888), full of compromises regarding mixed greyhounds.
Why is this happening? Where do myths come from and why are they so enduring? It seems interesting to me to analyze, step by step, the mistakes and misconceptions of a number of popular authors, which often lead the reader to an erroneous, or even completely absurd, interpretation of the history of hound hunting and the Russian greyhound breed.

I am going to talk about this and much more in my future monograph. In the meantime, I invite readers of the magazine “Hunting and Fishing XXI Century” to get acquainted with one of its chapters dedicated to “Notes on Muscovy” by Sigismund Herberstein. Many authors, ancient and modern, turned to this source, widely known in Russia and the West. But the conclusions they made were so strange and inexplicable that one can only doubt whether they read these very “Notes” on which they rely in their conclusions?!

So, the diplomat of the Holy Roman Empire, Baron Sigismund Herberstein (1486-1566), visited Moscow twice on an embassy mission: in 1517 and 1526. He left detailed travel notes “Notes on Muscovy”, which became a real bestseller and went through a dozen editions during the author’s lifetime. The notes contain a detailed description of Russian hound hunting at the court of Ivan the Terrible's father, Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily Ioannovich III.

Two original editions of the “Notes on Muscovy” have survived to this day - the Latin one of 1556 and the German one of 1557. In addition, the “Autobiography” of Herberstein himself has been preserved, which in many ways complements both editions of the “Notes”. Using the publication of “Notes on Muscovy”, published in 1988 by the Moscow State University Publishing House and containing both (Latin and German) author’s editions of the book and the autobiography of its creator, I will try to introduce the reader to the most complete description of the Moscow Grand Duke’s hunt.

A few words about Herberstein himself. Brilliantly educated, fluent in the main European languages ​​and having been on diplomatic missions to almost all European courts and even meeting with the Turkish Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, Sigismund Herberstein, during his two trips to “Muscovy”, managed, by his own admission, to learn spoken Russian , which allowed him “in the description of Russia to consciously use Russian words to designate objects, places and rivers.” It can be assumed that this was greatly facilitated by the knowledge of the diplomat, a native of Styria (Steiermark), of the Slovenian language, which was native to a significant part of the population of this Austrian duchy.

Herberstein arrived in Moscow from Vienna to mediate in Russian-Polish affairs, as an envoy of Emperor Maximilian I. In the Moscow state, he encountered well-established, but unknown to the ambassador, canine hunting and local breeds of hunting dogs, which he did not fail to introduce to the European reader.
A little background. Vasily Ioannovich III (1479-1533) began hunting from early youth and spent the autumn months in the outlying fields near Mozhaisk, Volok Lamsky or in the villages near Moscow - Ostrov, Vorobyovo and Vorontsovo. The tradition of opening a hound hunt on the day of St. Simeon the Stylite, or Semyonov Day, resulted in the 19th century. in “the holiday of hunters, the first departing field”, is rooted in those distant times: in 1519 Vasily III hunted “in Volok from September 14 to October 26.”

In 1496, the Grand Duke organized a special court institution - the Stable Prikaz, under whose jurisdiction not only the Grand Duke's riding and draft horses and carriages were transferred, but also birds of prey, “amusing” hunting dogs, hunting tools and various hunting utensils. The decree on the creation of the Stable Order speaks in detail about the rules and terms of hunting, its rituals. The new Order could be headed by “the first boyar of rank and honor”, ​​who received the position of Sovereign Equestrian Boyar. And in 1509 another Order appeared - the Hunter.

Accordingly, the rank of Sovereign Trapper Boyar was established. The first Hunter was the boyar Mikhail Ivanovich Nagoy, who served from 1509 to 1525.

In the year of Baron Herberstein’s first visit to Moscow (1517), having concluded a trade agreement with the Danes, Vasily Ioannovich sent several Russian greyhounds from the kennel of the Trapper Order as a gift to the King of Denmark Christian II, which Christian, in turn, presented to the French King Francis I.

Let us note that all these events refer to a time when, from the point of view of Kishensky (and Sabaneev), Russian hound hunting did not yet exist and could not exist! After all, there were still decades left before the capture of Kazan by Ivan the Terrible in 1552, and it was after this event, accompanied by the “settlement of the Tatars” across Russian lands and the crossbreeding of their greyhounds with local dogs, that, as the authors saw it, the history of the formation of the Russian greyhound began.

What did the foreign diplomat, invited by Vasily III to the “sovereign amusement”, see in the vicinity of Moscow in 1517?

“Near Moscow [half a mile or a mile from it] (hereinafter in square brackets the text is from the German edition of the Notes - A.O.) there is a place overgrown with bushes and very convenient for hares; in it, as if in a hare nursery, there are a great many hares, which no one dares to catch or cut down bushes there for fear of the most severe punishment. The sovereign also breeds a huge number of hares in animal pens and other places... He has many hunters, each of whom leads two dogs... In front they keep fast dogs, which they call “kurts” (kurtzen).”

“...Arriving at the hunting site, the sovereign turned to us, saying that they have a custom, whenever he is hunting and having fun, he and other good people themselves lead the hunting dogs; he advised us to do the same. Then he assigned two people to each of us, each of whom led a dog, so that we could use them for our amusement. To this we replied that we gratefully accepted his true mercy and that the same custom exists among us. [So noble gentlemen lead their dogs themselves when hunting.] He resorted to this clause because they consider a dog to be an unclean animal and touching it with your bare hand [for an honest person] is shameful. Meanwhile, almost a hundred people [on foot] lined up in a long row; half of them were dressed in black, half in yellow. The horsemen stopped not far from them, blocking the way for the hares to escape. At first, no one was allowed to release the hunting dogs except Shikh-Ali and us.”

“The Emperor was the first to shout to the hunter, ordering him to begin; he immediately rushes at a full gallop towards the other hunters, the number of which was large. Following this, they all begin to shout with one voice and release the dogs, Molossi and bloodhounds. It was a great pleasure to hear the varied barking of such a great pack. And the sovereign has a great variety of dogs, and excellent ones at that. Some, called “kurts” (kurtzi), are used only for baiting hares, they are very beautiful, with shaggy ears and tails, as a rule, brave, but not suitable for chasing and running over long distances. When a hare appears, they release three, four, five, or even more dogs, which attack him from everywhere... When the hunt began, I took one dog by the reins... I began to poison the hare that I got only then when he had run far enough. However, I caught few of them. Dogs can’t stand a long chase.”

“When the dogs catch up, the hunters all shout: “Oh-ho!” Ho! Ho!” - as if they had hunted a big deer. A lot of hares were caught, and when they were piled up, they asked me: “How many of them are there?” I answered: “More than a thousand,” which they were very pleased with, although there were not even three hundred.” (According to Herberstein, the more Vasily III catches them, “... with the more, in his opinion, the day will end with joy and honor.”)

“Equally, one could see how the sovereign himself applauded the ambassador (i.e. Herberstein - A.O.), whose dog caught many hares."

Let's now see how much the description left by Herberstein corresponds to the stories about dog hunts in Russia at the end of the 19th century - beginning of the 19th century. XX centuries other authors.

As we know, traditionally participants in hound hunts were divided into two groups: greyhound hunters - hunters with greyhounds, and hound hunters, or hounds - with hound dogs. The greyhounds, having taken places along the perimeter of the forest, bush, swamp or ravine into which the hounds were released, poisoned the animals that had been put out of the island into the open space, while the vzhlyatniks had to strive with all their might to help their hounds to encourage and force as many as possible to leave the island. number of the beast.

The colors of the hunting dress of greyhounds and vzhlyatniks also served this purpose. The dark clothes of the greyhounds helped them to remain unnoticed by the animal and allow it to approach the “measured” distance necessary for successful baiting, and the bright costumes of the greyhounds scared away the hares who were trying to hide and hide. The yellow and black colors of clothing noted by the ambassador remained quite traditional for canine hunters three centuries later.

By the way, Herberstein’s “Notes on Muscovy” offers the modern reader one more additional touch, indicating the continuity of the traditions of hound hunting - at the beginning of the 16th century, as many years later, moving to the hunting site, greyhounds go ahead of all other hunters (among Herberstein - “fast dogs are kept in front”).

In order to prevent the animal from leaving the island without persecution, greyhound guards were placed along the entire perimeter, and in the intervals between them - the remaining part of the foot or horse-drawn guards, forming virtually a continuous chain. This rule was observed regardless of the size of the island or weaning. The hunting described by Herberstein on an area limited by foot and horse hunters from one to four thousand square meters gives us a classic example of island riding.

Hound hunting is not the modern field testing of greyhounds or hounds. Its main goal is, according to Gubin, “the destruction of any beast, i.e. wolf, fox and hare, and in every place accessible to hunting with greyhounds." Setting this goal for themselves, the ancient canine hunters tried their best not to leave a single animal on the island and not let it go without baiting. And constantly, when driving in difficult places with limited visibility (and dense bushes are just such a place), the driver, along with the helpers, in a deployed front, along with the hounds, combed the island on foot, loudly squealing (that is, encouraging exclamations) encouraging the dogs to search in the crawl space. Hence the hunters on foot and the loud screams in Herberstein’s description.

It is easy to notice that there were no particular differences in the organization and conduct of hound hunting in the 16th and 19th centuries. we couldn't find it. It remains to answer the last question: what kind of dogs took part in the grand ducal hunt and what were the mysterious “kurts”?

It is clear from the text that the ambassador divided the dogs Vasily Ioannovich saw while hunting into two groups. To the first he included molossi et odoriferi (it would be more correct to write: canes odorisequus), i.e. Molossians - baiting and “sniffing” or “spirit” dogs, and to the second - “fast” dogs, “named “kurtzi” (kurtzi).” From this alone it becomes clear that Herberstein did not see hounds and greyhounds in Rus' in the Western understanding of these breeds. An inexperienced person today is unlikely to recognize the relationship between, say, a Russian hound and a bloodhound. At first glance, there is no more similarity between the Greyhound and the Russian dog. These dogs also differ fundamentally in the manner of their work.

Therefore, being completely correct, the ambassador of the Holy Roman Emperor gave the dogs he saw names that fully corresponded to their functions. In other words, speaking about “baiting and spirit” dogs, Herberstein perfectly described the work of hounds during island driving. As we know, in the old days hounds not only chased the beast, driving it out of the island into the open, using their instinct - the “spirit”, but also often independently caught (“poisoned”) the beast on the island.

The ambassador described the second group of dogs - “kurtzi” - in much more detail. Since, as we know, European monarchs maintained close ties with Turkey, Persia, and the countries of the Middle East, and the ambassador visited all European courts, we can confidently say that Russian dogs had no analogues in the countries of Europe and the Middle East . The ambassador notes not only that these dogs are very beautiful, but also repeatedly emphasizes their main feature - their inability to gallop for a long time. Thus, we see that we are talking about an aboriginal breed of greyhounds, adapted to hunting in wooded areas. These dogs differed from their eastern and western neighbors by working short and attracted attention with their beauty. And although the author’s mention of “shaggy ears and tails” may suggest eastern greyhounds such as the Saluki, the author’s description of the dogs as playful, but absolutely not hardy, strongly refutes this assumption.

The fact that Herberstein speaks specifically about greyhounds follows from his own words: “fast dogs are kept in front.” This phrase is an exact translation of the Old Slavonic word “brzy”. Having learned from the grand ducal hunters that they were leading greyhounds, the author could not translate this word other than “fast”.

When the diplomat began to ask more about these dogs, he heard the word “kurtzi” in response. But neither in Russian, nor in Polish, nor in any other modern language there is such a word. The question arises: did the translators and publishers of “Notes on Muscovy” correctly transliterate it into Russian as “kurtz”?

Comparing “kurtzi” in the original source with other Russian words, for transliteration of which into Latin Herberstein resorted to the same letter construction - “tz”, as suggested by O. Egorov, we will see that in most cases the author used it to convey the sound “ch” ”, and not “ts” at all. For example: “UgliTZ” - “UgliCH”; "tissuTZe" - "thousand"; “kreTZet” - “kreChet”; "japenTZe" - "epanCha", etc. This means that it would be quite fair to read “kurtzi” not “kurtsy” or “kurtsy”, but “kurchi”. The word “kurchi” has long existed in the West Slavic language and, being derived from the well-known “hort”, meant a greyhound dog.

In the so-called Lithuanian Status of 1529 - the first written code of feudal law of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, written in the West Slavic language, in article 12 “The price of dogs”, dedicated to the “imposition”, i.e. compensation for the theft or killing of a dog, in the section “On robberies and impositions” we can read: “... and for a kurcha ten kopecks groschen...”.

It is worth mentioning here that in the language of the peoples inhabiting the borders of Kyiv, Novgorod, and later Moscow Rus', the word “greyhounds” in its modern meaning did not yet exist. The adjective "greyhound" was used until the 16th century. only to indicate the speed of the horses. But along with this we come across the ancient word “khort” or “khr’t”, meaning a greyhound dog, a hunting dog.

Similar words existed, in addition to Old Church Slavonic, in the languages ​​of other related peoples: chrt and chrtice (feminine) (Czech), chart (Polish), hart or hert (Bosn.), hrt or rt (Serb.), chrt (words) .), khirt (Ukrainian), kurch (white), etc. In all cases, they specifically refer to greyhounds. In addition, consonant words are also found in the languages ​​of the neighboring Baltic peoples: hurtta (Finnish), hurt (Estonian), kurtas (lit.) - hunting dog.

All of them, as Professor A. Ahlquist believed, were borrowed from Russian or Lithuanian. According to linguists, the word “hort” is close in origin to the German Windhund, which literally means: a dog as fast as the wind. It is likely that four centuries ago all these words were much closer in pronunciation than they are today.

In order not to go far for an example, we note that the imperial envoy himself is called “Zhigimont” in Russian official correspondence and chronicles of that time.

Another thought-provoking characteristic of dogs is that they are “usually brave.” It is clear that the hare’s “fun” did not provide the slightest opportunity to be convinced of the dogs’ courage, and this very characteristic seems inappropriate in the context of the story. So isn’t the word “brave” an accurate translation of another well-known characteristic of greyhounds, for example, “dashing”? In this case, Herberstein’s phrase - “usually dashing, but not suitable for pursuit and long-distance running” takes on a completely different semantic meaning.

From the editorial archive