Eastern Europe

EASTERN EUROPE

 

Up the hill I went, and gazed round.
Hoping golden maids to see;
Trooping lovely maidens came, who
Round the hill danced merrily.

All the sweetest ditties singing,
Sweetest ditties that might be;
Bearing fragrant apple-blossoms,
These fair maidens came to me.
Lettish Song.

Europe is inhabited on the east and north-east, from the Frozen Ocean to the Adriatic, by two extensive races named the Finns and the Slaves. The former dwell round the northern edge of Scandinavia by the Icy Ocean, and on the east and south-east of the Baltic. The Majjars, or the dominant portion of the people of Hungary, are also of Finnish origin. The Slaves who are akin to the Gotho-German race are also widely spread. This stem numbers among its branches the Russians, Poles, Bohemians, Servians, and the nations dwelling north-east of the Adriatic. Our knowledge of the popular mythology of both races is very limited.