Why Cossack songs are more than music: Their meaning for Ukraine's history
Where cossack songs come from and what they meant (photo: Getty Images)
Cossack songs were more than just art, but a chronicle of history. They brought battles, losses, victories, and homesickness to life. Most well-known dumas and ballads were born amid military campaigns, the defense of Ukrainian lands from invaders, and dramatic personal events.
Cossack songs as a chronicle of an era
Folklore from the Cossack period served as a kind of people's chronicle. These songs and dumas recorded events from the 16th to 18th centuries, from heroic campaigns of the Zaporozhian Cossacks to tragic defeats. They weren't just entertainment; they preserved memories of historical events.
Military campaigns and naval battles
Many songs emerged after fights with the Turks and Tatars. The dumas about Samiilo Kishka or Ivan Pidkova celebrate naval expeditions in the Black Sea.
These works echoed real events, when the Zaporozhians undertook long and dangerous expeditions against the Ottoman Empire.
Examples:
- "About Samiylo Kishka" tells of the hetman who spent 25 years in Turkish captivity but led a slave uprising and returned to Ukraine.
- "About Ivan Pidkova" is a ballad about a Cossack leader who organized campaigns against the Turks and was executed in Iași.
Defense against raids
Another key theme was the constant raids by the Crimean Tatars on Ukrainian lands. Songs about captivity and liberation capture the tragedies of people taken into yasyr (enslavement).
Examples:
- "Marusia Bohuslavka" is the story of a female captive who rescued Cossacks from a Turkish prison but never returned home.
- "About the Poor Cossack" is a duma that reflects the tragedy of someone who lost freedom through captivity.
Heroes
Many songs focus on hetmans and leaders. Historic figures such as Nalyvaiko, Khmelnytsky, and Baida-Vyshnevetsky are celebrated in these texts, which appeared as reactions to real battles or the deaths of heroes, forming their cult in folk memory.
Examples:
- "About Baida" celebrates Dmytro Vyshnevetsky (Baida), one of the first Cossack organizers, executed in Istanbul.
- "Khmelnytskyi and Barabash" is a duma about Bohdan Khmelnytsky's struggle for power and conflicts among the Cossack elite.
Personal tragedies and homesickness
Not all Cossack songs were about war. Many reflected longing for home, farewells to mothers or girlfriends before campaigns, revealing the emotional side of Cossack life when men left their families for years.
Examples:
- "Oh, From the Rocky Hill" is a Cossack saying goodbye to his family before a campaign.
- "The Cossack Rode Beyond the Danube" is a song about a Cossack leaving for foreign lands, leaving his beloved in tears.
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Sources: Encyclopedia of Ukrainian History, Ukrainian Center of Folk Culture "Ivan Honchar Museum," Authentic Ukraine, Rid I Vira
