Who are barge haulers on the Volga. Truth and fiction in "Barge haulers on the Volga": what was the real work of barge haulers

Many modern schoolchildren, studying works of Russian art, cannot always answer the question of who barge haulers are. Meanwhile, these people once evoked different feelings in their contemporaries: from pity to complete rejection. Let's try to consider this issue in more detail.

What does this profession mean?

Barge haulers in Russia were called hired workers, as a rule, people from the poorest segments of the population, who pulled ships sailing against the current with long ropes. It was heavy physical work which was seasonal. The period of burlachka lasted from spring to autumn. In order to support each other, these people united in artels. Usually, barge work did not command much respect and was considered forced way earnings.

The pay was quite low, so this work became the lot of the homeless beggars and often the homeless. Often, former convicts and people with a dubious reputation became barge haulers.

Today, the question of what the barge haulers were pulling is relevant. Mostly they had to pull large ships, which were deprived of steamship traction. These ships were used to transport various cargoes.

Bourgeoisie as a way of life

For some of the vagrants, their unprofitable profession has become a real way of life. Burlak is a person, as a rule, deprived of a family and serious obligations. A kind of tumbleweed, a person free from many social obligations and deprived of many of the benefits of life.

Most of the artels were located on the Volga. Their capital was the city of Rybinsk.

Thus, answering the question of who barge haulers are and what they did on the Volga, one can answer this way: this is a certain social class Russian Empire sample of the beginning of the century before last, consisting of people with certain value orientations, often representing people from the social bottom.

Image in Russian art

The image of a barge hauler was expressed most strongly in Russian art, which has always sought universal way images of a man from the people. Such people, like no other, fit this ideal: strong, powerful, courageous and free, who personified the recalcitrant

N. A. Nekrasov wrote about barge haulers and their hard lot in the poem “On the Volga” (1860), which aroused great interest among his contemporaries.

This theme was reflected in their works by many other writers and poets. But perhaps the most famous work there is still a painting by I. E. Repin called “Barge haulers on the Volga”. This monumental canvas aroused great interest among fans of the artist's work. As always, Repin portrayed different people, who perceive their share of the barge in different ways: from those who are desperate to those who are ready to fight for their happiness.

By the way, this painting was bought by one of the Grand Dukes from the Romanov dynasty and often showed it to his guests.

Who are barge haulers: history in Russia

This topic was actively covered in the documentary literature of the century before last. The famous Muscovite and journalist V. Gilyarovsky wrote a lot about barge haulers. Together with them, as a wanderer, Gilyarovsky traveled many roads and knew well both their life and their way of life.

To the question of who barge haulers are, Gilyarovsky briefly answered as follows: they are people, different people, often just caught in a difficult situation. life situation but not without human image and the human soul.

Interest in barge haulers also aroused interest in their folklore. famous singer F. Chaliapin successfully performed one of their songs "Oh, cudgel, let's go!".

Bargaining as a social class began to disappear from the middle of the century before last, when steamboats appeared, no longer needing people to pull them from the shore.

However, this topic continued to gain popularity, so even the liberal intelligentsia knew who barge haulers were. As a rule, the image of these people among the revolutionary-minded youth was identified with the oppression that the Russian people are experiencing.

Officially, barge work was banned only in the USSR. However, it was also forced to be used during the Great Patriotic War.

Today, this theme is known to our contemporaries, rather, by works of art. Therefore, there are new songs and new artistic canvases that tell about who barge haulers are.

Barge haulers were hired workers who, with the help of tow lines, pulled river boats against the current. The work was hard, but it made it possible for a huge number of people to earn money during the season. The city of Rybinsk was called the capital of burlachistvo. It is not surprising that it was here in 1977 that the first monument to a barge hauler was erected in our country. For a long time he was also the only one. In 2014 appeared in Samara sculptural composition"Barge Haulers on the Volga".

most experienced and strong man in the artel barge haulers were called "bump". It was he who kept order, set the pace of movement. Hence the expression "big shot" - that is, a noble, respected person.

Barge haulers were also called "bastards", moreover, there was nothing offensive in this. The word "bastard" comes from "drag". Suffice it to recall that in Russia there are ancient cities - Vyshny Volochek and Volok-on-Lame (Volokolamsk). During the summer shallow water, ships could not pass through the local rivers, the goods had to be transported several miles by "drag". For this, artels of barge haulers were hired.

But this word could become offensive due to the fact that people who did not own any other craft were hired to "drag". But they were famous for their huge physical force and often staged pogroms in drinking establishments. Therefore, the attitude of the local population was appropriate.

The strength of some barge haulers was legendary throughout Russia. Nikitushka Lomov, a native of the Penza province, was especially famous. Once on the Volga, he saw a gang of men who were trying to pull a 25-pound anchor out of the coastal sand. They were hired by a local merchant who promised 3 rubles for the work. What the whole company could not do was easily done by Nikitushka - he shook the anchor and twisted it out of the sand. But, the merchant said that he did not hire Lomov, and paid only a ruble for the work. The strong man decided to teach the miser a lesson: he took the anchor to the merchant's house and hung it on the gate. To return the anchor to the pier, the merchant again hired an artel. Just had to pay a lot more.

One of the most popular songs among the barge haulers there was a famous one: “Oh, bludgeon, let’s go.” Moreover, barge haulers sang it not for entertainment, it helped the artel to maintain the pace of movement.

Over your famous painting"Barge haulers on the Volga" Ilya Repin worked for three years - from 1870 to 1873. Moreover, for the first time Repin saw barge haulers not on the Volga, but on the Neva.

Having become interested in this topic, the artist went to the village of Shiryaevo on the Volga, where he met barge haulers personally. True, the picture did not delight all admirers of Repin's talent. For example, the Minister of Railways Zelenoi reproached the painter for depicting an antediluvian method of transporting ships, which had almost completely disappeared.

But the famous Russian writer and journalist Vladimir Gilyarovsky had a chance to personally pull the barge strap. In his youth, with one of the artels, he went from Kostroma to Rybinsk. He was a physically very strong man, but once an embarrassment occurred to him: Gilyarovsky visited his elderly father, and, deciding to show off his strength, he bent an iron poker in an arc. The father, who was already over 70 years old, scolded his son for spoiling things in the house and straightened the poker back.

In 1929, the People's Commissariat of Railways of the USSR officially banned barge work. But, by that time, there were practically no barge haulers left; with the advent of steamboats, this profession was a thing of the past.

The work of a barge hauler was extremely difficult and monotonous. The speed of movement depended on the strength of the tail or head wind. With a fair wind on the ship (bark), the sail was raised, which significantly accelerated the movement. Songs helped barge haulers maintain the pace of movement. One of the well-known burlak songs is “Oh, club, let's go”, which was usually sung to coordinate the forces of the artel in one of the most difficult moments: pulling the bark out of place after lifting the anchor.

Burlatsky labor completely disappeared with the spread of steamboats. For some time, instead of moving the vessel, barge haulers also used such a method of movement as bringing anchors upstream and pulling the vessel to them on a winch with horse or steam traction (see capstan).

In the Russian Empire, the "capital of barge haulers" with early XIX century called the city of Rybinsk. During the summer navigation through Rybinsk, a quarter of all Russian burlachstvo passed.

Dedicated to barge haulers famous picture"Barge Haulers on the Volga" by Ilya Repin.

In the USSR, burlak traction was banned in 1929 by a decree of the People's Commissariat for Commissariat of Railways, which until 1931 was subordinate to river transport. However, during the Great Patriotic War, on a number of small rivers, due to the lack of tugboats, burlak traction was of limited use.

In other countries

In Western Europe (at least in Belgium, the Netherlands and France), the movement of river vessels with the help of manpower and draft animals continued until the thirties of the 20th century.

In Germany, the use of manpower ceased in the second half of the 20th century. [ non-authoritative source?]

In colloquial Latvian, the word burlak (Latvian burlaks) means not only “burlak”, but also “ robber". In colloquial Lithuanian, the word (lit. burliokas) was used to refer to local Russian Old Believers. In colloquial Romanian, a barge hauler (rum. burlac) is called a bachelor.
Burlak - a person who goes to work: chop houses, lay furnaces, alloy, etc. Burlak is not necessarily dragging barges. The word "burble" can still be heard in the Kirillovsky district Vologda region. “Again, Vaska went to burble,” some one might say. old woman about your cat. Burlach - here: to hunt.
In modern regulations Russian Federation there is no ban on barge hauling (the decree of 1929 has become invalid), but there are no facts of its use in modern times either. Obviously, this is due to its economic inefficiency.
One of the projects of river pusher tugs was named "Burlak".

Barge haulers and barge hauling in art

Fyodor Mikhailovich Reshetnikov, story-essay "Podlipovtsy" (1864)
Ilya Repin, painting "Barge haulers on the Volga" (1873)
Lev Moiseevich Pisarevsky, sculpture "Burlak" (Rybinsk, 1977)
Boris Grebenshchikov, song "Burlak" ("Russian Album", 1992)

Images

Literature

Gilyarovsky V. A. My wanderings, Vagrius Publishing House, Moscow, 2001 ISBN 5-264-00620-2
R. Martens, F. R. Loomeijer. Binnevaartschepen. Publishing house de Alk (Netherlands).

Notes

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010 .

Synonyms:

See what "Burlak" is in other dictionaries:

See commoner... Synonym dictionary

BURLAK, barge hauler (burlak region), husband. A worker who in an artel pulls ships up the river on a tow line. "Barge haulers in the hut woke up." I. Nikitin. "That barge haulers go towed." Nekrasov. Dictionary Ushakov. D.N. Ushakov. 1935 1940 ... Explanatory Dictionary of Ushakov

BURLAK, a, husband. In the old days: a worker in an artel, to paradise along the shore against the current, pulls ships with a tow line. | adj. Burlatsky, oh, oh. Burlatskaya artel. Explanatory dictionary of Ozhegov. S.I. Ozhegov, N.Yu. Shvedova. 1949 1992 ... Explanatory dictionary of Ozhegov

burlak- burlak, genus. burlaka, pl. barge haulers and obsolete barge haulers, barge haulers. For example, N. Nekrasov: “Come out to the Volga: whose groan is heard Above the great Russian river? We call this groan a song That the barge haulers are towing ”(Thinking at the front door) ... Dictionary of pronunciation and stress difficulties in modern Russian

Svetlana Anatolyevna Burlak (b. June 12, 1969) Russian linguist, Indo-Europeanist and author general works on comparative studies and the origin of human language. Wife of I. B. Itkin. Candidate philological sciences since 1995, senior Researcher… … Wikipedia

Svetlana Anatolyevna Burlak (b. June 12, 1969) is a Russian linguist, Indo-Europeanist and author of general works on comparative studies and the origin of human language. Wife of I. B. Itkin. Candidate of Philological Sciences since 1995, senior researcher ... ... Wikipedia

BURLAK- Vaska Burlak, Cossack Pentecostal (in Siberia). 1662. Add. IV, 279. Ivashko Burlak, Yakut Cossack Pentecostal. 1679. A. K. II, 614 ... Biographical Dictionary

Worker on river vessels; a peasant going to work; healthy guy; bachelor; tramp; Ukrainian barge hauler, day laborer, homeless, vagabond, Polish. burɫak old believer, vagabond, big guy (from Ukrainian). The interpretation of the word appears ... ... Etymological dictionary Russian language by Max Fasmer

burlak- Formed from the noun burlo - a screamer, a noisy person; originally meant a device for reproducing some kind of noise, screaming. Probably, the development of meanings went as follows: a screamer, a rowdy, a bachelor, a leading wild image ... ... Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language by Krylov

The economist, professor at Kyiv and Moscow universities Ivan Vasilievich Vernadsky (1821-1884) wrote that "the suffering and hardships of the working class on the Volga are not as great as is usually believed."

Barge haulers, barge hauling is a purely Russian phenomenon, Volga. They appeared in the 14-15 centuries. At the beginning of the 19th century there were at least six hundred thousand of them. With the development of industry and some mechanization of labor - horse-driving ships, capstans, steamboats - the number of barge haulers was reduced to three hundred thousand.

The inhabitants of the Volga region were mainly engaged in this trade: for the most part, Russian people, quite often Tatars, Mordovians, Chuvashs, Maris, that is, representatives of all nationalities who settled along the banks of the great Russian river.

Burlatsky artels were distinguished by a clear organization: the headman, the cook, the advanced bump, who headed the artel. Everyone had equal rights, without advantages, except for the best one as the most physically strong and dexterous. As a rule, he was a "singer", a leader. We cannot imagine barge haulers without songs. The song set the working rhythm, replaced the conversation, amused the soul. She was simply loved by barge haulers.

The bump followed the uniformity of the course - in time with the song. Behind him were the podshishelnye, then the "lazy" and the so-called enslaved. These are those who, through their own fault, squandered their earnings, and therefore put on a strap only for grub. Naturally, these men were distinguished from others by disinterest in work. The strong and conscientious were again put in the tail, for a hand-me-down and looking after the bonded and lazy.

Barge haulers also ate artelno. According to former concepts, especially according to modern ones, it is very plentiful. According to Academician Gustav Stanislavovich Strumilin (1877-1974), an ordinary "ship worker" ( we are talking about the second half of the 17th century) ate three pounds of bread (48 kg); 20 pounds of meat (8 kg); the same amount of fish; 20 pounds of cereals and peas (8 kg); a hundred eggs, not counting vegetables. Barge haulers worked only two hundred days a year. By the end of navigation, they were earning up to 10 rubles net. A pood of beef, for example, in those days cost 45 kopecks.

The prices of that time

So, at the beginning of the 19th century, the work of a barge hauler brought him 8-10 rubles. for navigation. At the end of the same century, the working peasants were paid 20-25 rubles a year for loading grain. The salary of a zemstvo doctor reached 800 rubles. per year, that is, 66 rubles. per month. The annual income of a carpenter was 15-35 rubles. In the production of agricultural machinery, the annual income of handicraftsmen reached 100 rubles. A simple worker at the mills received 8-13 rubles. It was a significant income. At the same time, a pood of wheat (this is 16.38 kg) cost almost 54 kopecks, and meat - about 2 rubles. It turns out that the doctor monthly salary could buy 2 tons of wheat or 550 kg of meat, and a carpenter with a salary of 2.5 rubles. per month - 75.7 kg of grain or 20.8 kg of meat. Barge haulers did not spend a penny on food.

Reading the classics, you can also get enough information about the prices of that time. Dostoevsky: Raskolnikov's mother had a pension of 120 rubles. At the same time, student Rodya in the 1870s could buy a glass of vodka and a pie with filling for 30 kopecks in a tavern. In Chekhov's story "Three Years", written in 1880-1890, a provincial pharmacist sent his son, eternal student, 40 rub. per month, and another 10 rubles. secretly sent by my mother. "This money was enough for him to live and for such luxuries as an overcoat with a Polish beaver, gloves, perfume and photographs." A teacher in "Anna on the Neck" at the beginning of the 20th century earned 40 rubles. A loaf of black bread then cost an average of 3 kopecks. That is, the teacher could buy 1333 loaves of bread for pay. Akaky Akakievich in Gogol's "Overcoat" received 400 rubles. per year, that is, 33 rubles. per month. At the same time, he spent only 12 rubles on lunches. per year is only 3% of earnings. That overcoat cost the little official 70 rubles.

Prices in 1913 in terms of rubles in 2011 - http://www.ivpoisk.ru/viewtopic.php?f=54&t=661
Average wages in Russia and the USSR from 1853 to 2010 - http://www.opoccuu.com/wages.htm (and also an interesting guide)

Was it hard for the barge haulers?

Barge haulers worked most actively on the section from Rybinsk to Astrakhan, 2645 km long. Repin shows a gang of barge haulers (11 people) walking along a sandbar on a windless sunny day. The course of the "scourge" usually began above the mouth of the Kama. Scourge was a strong rope 3 inches thick (~ 7.5 cm) and about 100 fathoms (~ 214 m) long. The length of the scourge was chosen so that it was possible to navigate the vessel in a sufficiently deep place. At the same time, the angle a mountains(Fig. 1) should not lead to large losses of work performed.

I.E. Repin accurately indicated the place of fastening of the scourge (the upper part of the mast) and its sagging. It would seem that the whip must be stretched, and it must be fastened so that the angle a vert (Fig. 2) is as close as possible to 90 °. Everything would be so if the bicheva was weightless. In fact, the weight of such a rope was at least 2500-3000 N, and by attaching the rope to the top of the mast ~ 30 m high, barge haulers “hung” the bulk of the weight on the mast. It is no coincidence that barge haulers did not like it when Bicheva began to "trumpet", i.e. when you had to walk along a high bank, and the place of fastening of the scourge turned out to be below the barge path - the "scourge". However, this rarely happened, because. the dimensions of the vessel, its carrying capacity and the height of the mast were chosen empirically, taking into account the height of the banks and the depth of the Volga channel.

It is not difficult to determine the type of vessel in the picture - this is the famous Volga bark. The length of the most common linework with a carrying capacity of 20,000 pounds was L "25m, width B" 7.5m, draft T "1.8m, mast height H" 30m, the length of the line (attached to the mast of the crossbar) necessary for the movement of the vessel under sail, also equaled ~ 30 m.

The distance from Astrakhan to Nizhny Novgorod (2172 km) was covered by loaded barks in 2.5-3 months, trying mainly to move under sail. On calm days in the lower reaches of the Volga, with fast flood waters, the ships moved in feed (Fig. 3). In this case, anchors were brought in front of the vessel, and the bark was pulled up to them with the help of a rope pulled by barge haulers walking along the deck. At the same time, a rope was taken 4-5 times longer and 1.5 times thicker than a tow rope, but its weight did not complicate the work too much. During the feed, there are practically no losses in the work performed due to a different geometry of the application of forces. Nevertheless, it is well known that barge haulers preferred the scourging move. Obviously, the additional work associated with the delivery of anchors was very burdensome.

Let's try to give a quantitative assessment of the severity of barge work. Omitting the performed calculations, we get that the traction force of barge haulers (in accordance with Fig. 1 and 2) is calculated by the formula:

F thrust = F resist /(cos a hor H sin a vert).

It is impossible to establish the exact value of these angles from the picture of I.E. Repin, but approximately, knowing the length of the bicheva, the distance from the barge path to the navigable channel (~ 100 m) and the height of the mast, we can consider the product cos a hor H sin a vert = 0.7-0.8. Consequently, the traction force of barge haulers is equal to 3500-4000 N. With a gang of 10-11 people, the load on each barge hauler is 320-380 N.

Anyone who wants to feel "in the shoes" of a burlak should make a burlak strap - a leather belt 3 arshins long (213.36 cm) and 4 inches wide (17.78 cm) with ends sewn together, throw it over a block, rigidly fixed on a support at chest level, and fasten a load of 40 kg (weight 400 N) at the other end. If you throw the rope over the block, put the strap on your chest and start moving in such a way as to lift the load, you will feel about the same load that the hauler experienced. Taking into account the fact that the working day of barge haulers lasted from dawn to dusk (with a short break), it turns out that it was really difficult to work as a barge hauler! Note that the main contribution to the resistance is made by the flow of the river, so a decrease in the current speed by 25% reduces the load by 44%, and an increase by the same amount leads to an increase in the load by 56%.

Ancient measures of length and weight

1 sazhen \u003d 3 arshins \u003d 12 quarters \u003d 7 feet \u003d 2.1336 m;
1 arshin \u003d 4 quarters \u003d 16 inches \u003d 0.7112 m;
1 verst = 500 fathoms = 1066.8 m;
1 m = 2.38 ft;
1 kg of weight = 2.4419 Russian pounds;
1 pound = 16 kg of weight.

On the pier

Until the mid-1930s, during the days of navigation, many loaders came to work on the pier. The Volga loaders got the nickname hookers, as they used a sharp metal hook, with the help of which a sack of grain was lifted and held on a saddle, which is a support for the carried load fixed on canvas straps.

What kind of work it was, today you can imagine, remembering that the weight of the sack was 75-190 kg (an average of 9 pounds (147 kg)). Usually, in a day, with good weather and quickness, 200-400 sacks were carried by each hooker. Therefore, only young, physically strong people worked as hookers. Imagine a man carrying such a weight on his shoulders along the rickety footbridge thrown over the embankment from a barge. What kind of dexterity did you have to have in order to resist and not fall into the water?

From the 16th century to the era of steam engines, the movement of river vessels up the river was carried out with the help of barge haulers. The Volga was the main transport artery of Russia. Tens of thousands of barge haulers pulled thousands of ships up the river.

In the North, barge haulers were also called yarygs. Or ribs. This word is formed from two: “yarilo” - “sun”, and “ga” - “movement”, “road”.
Every spring, immediately after the ice drift, through the villages standing on the banks of large rivers, in their lower reaches, wave after wave, artels of barge haulers, going to contract for work, passed.

Burlaks had their own traditions. In certain places on the Volga, barge haulers initiated newcomers into the profession. These places - high steep banks - were called "Fried Mounds". There were about a dozen Roasted Hillocks all over the Volga from Yaroslavl to Astrakhan.

“Most often desperate people went to barge haulers, having lost their economy, interest in life, lovers of travel and free air ...”

When the ship passed the "Roasted Hillock" near Yuryevets-Povolzhsky, the Burlatsky artel arranged a berth. The newcomers lined up at the foot of the mound. Behind them stood the pilot with a strap in his hand. On command and to the cries of experienced barge haulers: "Fry him!" - the beginner ran along the slope to the top, and the pilot beat him on the back with a strap. Whoever runs up to the top faster will receive fewer blows. Having reached the top, a novice barge hauler could consider himself baptized and on equal rights entered the artel.

Hierarchy

The barge haulers were led by a senior, authoritative barge hauler, who is also a water dispenser, who is responsible for contracts and contracts, and also takes responsibility for the safety of goods. He also had to monitor the technical condition of the vessel, eliminate leaks in time so as not to flood the barge and spoil the goods.

The next in the artel hierarchy behind the waterway was the pilot, he is also “uncle”, he is also “bulatnik”. His task was not to run the barge aground, to carry the goods without incident through all dangerous places.

The advanced barge hauler, pulling the strap, was called a "bump", he was responsible for the well-coordinated work of draft haulers. The procession was closed by two barge haulers, called "inert". If necessary, they climbed onto the ship's masts, controlled its sailing equipment, and surveyed the road from a height.

There were indigenous barge haulers who were hired for the whole season, there were additional ones taken to help when needed. Horses often pulled the strap.

"Deadly" work

The work of a barge hauler was extremely difficult and monotonous. Only a fair wind facilitated the work (the sail was raised) and increased the speed of movement. Songs helped barge haulers maintain the pace of movement. Perhaps the most famous of them is "Oh, club, let's go." Usually it was sung to coordinate the forces of the artel in the most difficult moments.

At short stops, barge haulers darned worn shirts and changed into new bast shoes.

Having hired an artel of barge haulers, the owner of the ship took away their residence permit. Burlak became a forced laborer until the end of the route. Under the contract, he is obliged:

"To be with the owner in every obedience ... He must go day and night with all kinds of haste, without the slightest delay ... To work - a little light. Do not smoke tobacco on the ship. Do not know thieves. without sparing life."

Not only men went to barge haulers. "Necessity drove to the Volga-nurse and women, broken by the hopeless female share."

With the spread of steamships, barge work disappeared completely.