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in having enjoyed it from the death of the great Queen Thamar, since which event it is averred that no monarch has subdued them. Their lai^uage is 3 dialect not in the least degree understood by Georgians, Mingrelians, Abhases, or Ossets; they have no religion, do not reci^nise monarchy and titles of nobility, for they consider that all men are equal, and they unceasingly show their contempt for authority, because they do not acknowledge any laws; they are a people be it said, sans foi, sans rot, sans lot.
3. The Swanny inhabiting the valley of the Ingour, from the commune of Betcho, which adjoins that of Lataly, to the frontier of Sougdydy, were conquered by a once powerful family of Kabardah, the Dadyshkylyany, by whose name they have since been distinguished. They assimilate the Independent Swanny in many respects, such as language and customs, but they are less troublesome, perhaps because of the defenceless condition of their towers, which the princes took every opportunity to destroy after becoming masters of the territory. The Swanny Dadyshkylyany are certainly not Christians, but they are less superstitious than their neighbours the Independents.
In 1833 the Swanny of the Ingour made their formal submis* sion to the Russians, who have only of late years turned their attention to this refractory people. Since the ordination of a priesthood, in 1859, the Swanny have been required to keep to the observances of the Russian Church in marriages and baptisms, and they suffer a priest to attend their burials; the clergy were appointed to replace the native ministers who assumed their office by inheritance, for the son succeeded his father — a custom, say the Swanny, that dates from the death of Thamar, after whose reign no priests were ever sent to them. The ministers performed all rites, including that of marriage, which was thus described to us by VOL. IL I
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m several men whohad gone through the curt ceremony. The couple -to be united were conducted into a room where the minister "awaited them; their garments being attached to each other at the hip, a few words were spoken, to what purpose I never could learn, and they thenceforth became man and wife. These minister continue to hold office, and still officiate, apart from the priests of the Russian Church; their persons are inviolate, those pointed out to us being the only men we ever saw unarmed.
There is a curious admixture of religions among these Swanny, Tor they fast on Wednesdays and Saturdays, upon which days they refuse to do any manner of work, and observe Lent, without being able to give any reason for so doing. It is also the custom among them, for a youth in each habitation to turn out at dawn on the third day preceding Lent, and walk three times around his cottage in a state of nudity, repeating loudly: 'As I am naked, and have nothing about me of which I can be robbed, so is there nothing to steal in the house in 'which I live."' In Swannety Dadyshkylyany, the youth is merely required to sit alone in the corner of a room throughout the day not daring to stir, and observes a strict fast unless some person may choose to take food to him.
It is not clear when Christianity was first introduced into Swannety, but there is an implication in Procopius that they were Christians in his time,' and we read in the annals of Georgia that, in 619-639, the whole of the country that reached to the frontiers of the Tcherkezy (Circassians), was included within the Jurisdiction of the Catholics of Mtzkhctha; at any rate, Christianity flourished in
' Procop. Lk Ml. Goth. iv. 16, i. St. Simon the apostle, a Galilean, sufieral martyrdom [n '.SuMies.' Vie da Sainti, A. Baillet, Paris, 1739, vii. p. 406. His IxjHj was taken into Al>hase and buried near the rivet Anacopi (Nicopsis?). He « '*"■' October iS.
by Google
Sw-annety from the tenth to the thirteenth century, and there is evidence that priests were sent from Geoi^ia at the latter period.
Among the superstitions of the Swanny is that of sticking the skulls of animals about the fences and walls of their habitations, to ward off evil influences — there was a time when the skulls of their enemies were thus exposed — and yet a tall slcnderstaff, surmounted by a small cross, is frequently to be seen about pastures as a notice that the land must not be trespassed upon.
The Lord's Prayer, in the dialect of Swannety:'
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