GalleryTemperate, thrifty, and hard-working, are fitting epithets for the Lett. His energy is not apparent on the surface; he has the cold, even temperament of the northerner, and his phlegmatic nature is seldom ruffled. He is not of an exacting disposition; what he has to do he does seriously, conscientiously, never indulging in superfluous words.
Lack of Leisure and Luxury
This was the material that the Baltic landowners requisitioned for their vast properties, and they taxed it to the utmost. In the early part of the twentieth century there was an attempt on the part of some German proprietors to attract labourers of other nationalities to their estates. The attempt was a failure; the new landsmen demanded new regulations, better food, longer leisure; finally, they were dismissed and Lettish workmen reinstalled.
Although brick houses with tiled roofs are seen in increasing numbers in the country districts, many o' the peasants' houses are built of wood, some on a stone foundation, and most of them are thatched. In these poor homesteads the articles of furniture are few and far between, but here and there may be observed remarkable examples of native ingenuity, in quaintly carved wooden chairs, benches, tables, coffers, bowls, dishes, jugs, and mugs; each one of these hand-made, home-made articles testifying to the superior inventive faculties of the Lett, and displaying his natural tendency towards artistic skill.
Joyless Life of the Young Children
The old-time costumes of the people have almost disappeared, but in some districts, remote from the influence of the towns, the women may still be seen in the picturesque attire of their great-grandmothers.
In the past the life of Lettish children was never care-free or even touched with gladness. A sullen, heavy climate, and an indescribable poverty seemed to drain from their nature every drop of that joy which is the birthright of childhood. Summer and winter they wore practically the same clothes; their only footgear was in the shape of pastalas, or hide sandals; even the black bread was often scarce on the family table. Only those endowed with a sturdy constitution could endure a life of such privation. Their play period, poor and empty as it was—as may be inferred from the present insignificant number of national games and the remarkable absence of childish toys—lasted for but a brief space; and it was held that when the seventh birthday struck the child should be entrusted with various duties in the fields, chiefly those of guarding the livestock of the simple village neighbours. In Courland alone, according to statistics of a few years past, the number of working children between the age of seven and ten reached nearly 30,000.
Lessons Learned from "The Old Nurse"
In the wide pasture meadows, however, they learnt to sing the folksongs of their people, and through the oft-repeated words drank in, slowly but surely, the stoicism and rugged philosophy of their ancestors. Here, face to face with nature, began their " schooling." And here, in this primitive way, there poured in upon them old-world melodies, inspiring legends, poems, proverbs, riddles, and all the manifold treasures from the storehouse of their national folklore.
It thus came to pass, not infrequently, that a passion for music and poetry was instilled into their hearts, affecting and influencing their moral life as no discipline under the baronial superiors of Latvia could ever have done. By fifteen years of age they were supposed to be "grown-up" and were obliged to attend to all manner of manual work at home and in the fields. In recent years
