232 EUSSIA IN EUROPE. 



The Elistes are kinsmen of the Finns dwelling on the northern side of the 

 Gulf of Finland. The name occurs in nvimbers of old records, from Tacitus and 

 Ptolemy to Jordanes and the Scandinavian sagas, under the various forms of 

 Ostiones, Aesthieri, Istes, Aistones. The Letts call them Igaunas, or "Expelled," 

 hut the national name is Tallopoëg, or " Earth-horn," or else Marahvas, 

 " Landsmen." Their domain extends far beyond Esthonia itself, comprising 

 most of North Livonia, besides numerous tracts beyond Lake Peipus in the govern- 

 ments of St. Petersburg, Pskov, and Vitebsk. In 1870 they numbered altogether 

 nearly 800,000, including several isolated communities, such as those south of the 

 "Devil's Mountain," grouped in villages or scattered in solitary farmsteads. 

 The speech of these southern Ehstes differs considerably from that of their 

 northern brethren, having been largely modified by Lett influences. 



Apart from local differences, the Ehstes, on the whole, closely resemble the 

 Tavastian Finns, and it is generally admitted that they belong to the same 

 branch of the great Finnish family. Many have flat features, oblique eyelids, 

 a somewhat Mongolian cast of countenance, blue eyes, light blonde and often 

 yellowish hair. Those of the interior, long subject to great hardships and oppres- 

 sion, are described as of smaller stature and feebler frames than those of the coast. 

 In their incessant struggles with the Danes and Germans they displayed great 

 endurance and courage. But, in return for the loss of freedom, they at least 

 received from their conquerors the germs of a higher culture. When first brought 

 into contact with the Teutons they seem to have been still little better than 

 savages, with no knowledge of the horse or dog, and no grain except barley. 

 Their dwellings were tents of skins, like those of the Samoyeds, but after the 

 eleventh century they began to build wooden forts and houses, and became 

 formidable pirates on the high seas. Even still they retain several of their 

 primitive customs, especially those associated with marriage. The bride still 

 hides on the arrival of the wedding procession, and must be carried off with 

 seeming violence. On entering her new home she is saluted by the brother- 

 in-law with a slap in the face, as a token of what awaits her in her wedded 

 life. 



Until recently, when raised by superior intelligence or fortune to the rank of 

 citizens or nobles, the Ehstes became i2)so facto Germans, changing their 

 nationality with the change in their social position, so generally accepted was the 

 idea that all Ehstes, as such, were doomed to serfdom. There was a time when 

 Deiitsch was synonymous with lord or freeman, and when the serfs of whatever 

 race were called U)i-Deuf.sche. But this has ceased to be the case since Esthonian has 

 become a literary language, and may be spoken without a sense of shame. 

 Notwithstanding their physical resemblance to the Tavastians, the Ehstes differ 

 remarkably from them in their love of poetry, extempore rhyming, and constant 

 flow of song even while at work. Their musical speech, rich in harmonious 

 vocalisation, but poor in consonants, is well suited for poetic composition, and in 

 many remote hamlets the heroic songs in praise of their forefathers are still 

 heard. Kreutzwald was thus enabled to collect the fragments of which he 



