Who are the hay girls and what tasks did they perform in the estates of serf Russia
In the estates of landowners under serfdom, servants of various profiles lived and worked. It was believed that the more servants a master could afford, the higher his status in society. The richest could afford several dozen people of all kinds of servants, and this is not counting the peasants. Hay girls were considered a special caste on the estate. What did they do and why were they called so unusually?
The servants serving the nobleman had their own, often narrow specialization. Among these people were coachmen responsible for carriage rides, huntsmen organizing hunting, governesses raising children. And there were cooks, grooms, maids and even barbers (hairdressers).
Some of these people lived permanently on the estate, and some traveled with the master or his family. When the landowner moved to a city apartment for the winter, he was accompanied by some servants. A good example in this regard is the great Russian poet A.S. Pushkin. Although the classic was constantly in debt, from 15 to 18 servants constantly worked in his dwelling on the Moika embankment.
Among them were a polisher, a laundress, a cook, four maids and two nannies. This is quite modest, because, for example, the rich landowner Vsevolod Vsevolzhsky had up to 400 servants working in the estate alone! They say that the Stroganov industrialists could afford even more servants, and 600 serfs and hired workers fulfilled their whims.
Servants — it was always very important. Ruined aristocrats hired so-called step girls, that is, "servants for an hour." Usually it was a maid or a footman who came for an hour or two and pretended to be busy. This was necessary in order to show the neighbors that the master could afford servants and "save face". But it's time to move on to the topic of our conversation and talk about this kind of servants as hay girls.
Now the word "girl" sounds rude and even insulting. But in tsarist Russia there was no negative meaning in it. Girls were called girls from the people who had already left childhood, but had not yet married. At the same time, their peers of noble origin were called girls.
Historian Yuri Fedosyuk gives a more precise definition of the word "girl". According to him, this was the name of unmarried serfs who worked in the house. This concept was not pejorative and was used in everyday life. A hay wench is a special category of maidservants. They did not work in the fields, but were constantly at the landowner's house.
The vestibule in Russia was called the room at the entrance to the house. Something like a modern veranda. The canopy could be "cold" or heated, and sometimes consisted of two parts. An important purpose of this room was to keep the heat in the house. The air heated by the stoves did not come out of the doors into the street, but lingered in the hall. The origin of this word comes from the Old Slavonic "canopy", that is, shelter, canopy, canopy.
The hay girls were the denizens of the vestibule. It was a broad-profile servant, which the owners of the house tried to keep to themselves. Such maids had to be ready to serve the lady, the master or their guests day or night. They slept in the hall on benches or even just on the floor, laying hay.
Often the hay girls were even closer to the landlords. They could live right in the master's chambers or at their doors. Some landowners demanded that the girl sleep right on the floor by their bed. So the maids could react faster to orders, and the lady or the master did not need to call them from the hall. At the same time, the traditional name hay girls for this type of servant was preserved.
The range of duties of hay girls was very extensive. Everything depended on the whims of the landowner. They did the cleaning, cleaned clothes, helped to dress and comb, brought water for washing and bathing. Hay girls and countless errands were carried out in the spirit of "bring-give". Many nobles were spoiled and lazy, so they preferred not to get up from the sofa or armchair once again.
They also attracted hay girls to work in the kitchen. When there were guests in the house and there was a lot of work, the haymakers were used as waitresses at the table, helping the kitchen servants. So that the servants would not disgrace their masters, she was often taught good manners. In some cases, the girls even knew French! Such servants often turned out to be among the most intimate. Even the chaperones of the ladies, to whom they trusted the most intimate things, turned out to be haymakers.
But, despite the high degree of trust, such maids still remained forced serfs. Landlords could sell a hay wench, give her away or exchange her for hunting dogs. They were often forcibly married and, of course, often harassed. At the whim of the owners, the girl could remain lonely all her life and not start a family.
For disobedience, the serf maid was threatened with corporal punishment and even torture. Once in the hands of sadists and sadists, the girls could even die. The authorities treated such murders quite tolerantly and punished only especially "distinguished" nobles who killed serfs by the dozens.
If a hay girl got married, she was moved to the servants' quarters. It was a separate building or an annex to the manor house, like a dormitory for servants. At the same time, even a married girl often retained "intimate duties". They warmed the master's bed and even gave birth to children from him. If the landowner was decent, then such illegitimate offspring received education and even became free people.
Among the serfs, hay girls were considered a kind of elite. They were often disliked because they were close to the landowner's family. During peasant riots, hay girls could "get into a hot hand" and they were dealt with together with slave owners.
But I must say that it was often the most unhappy and disenfranchised category of people. They were constantly in plain sight, received slaps, pokes and insults. For any actions, the girl had to ask permission from the owners. Often, servants especially close to the masters became unwitting participants in family conflicts. The girl could not drain either the master or the lady. Because of this, violence could lie in wait from any side.
In relation to the hay girls, the old wisdom is more relevant than ever. It says that it is better to be away from the authorities and closer to the kitchen. Serfs working in the fields or workshops felt more free than well-fed and well-dressed servants living in the hall and in the bedchambers.