Beggars in Russia have always been a separate class. Walking across Russia was not a shameful thing, but a special practice. Beggars gathered in artels, living by their own laws, and even changed society.
Kaliki
Of all the beggar communities, Kaliki is perhaps the most famous. We learn them from childhood, from the epics about Ilya Muromets. It was the Kaliki-pedestrians who were able to awaken Ilya of Muromets and instruct him on the path of deeds. There are two versions of the origin of the name "kaliki". The first is from the name of the “Kalig” garter sandals, in which the pilgrims went to the Holy Land. The second version - from the word "cripple", since among the Russian begging there were entire communities that attracted into their ranks and even ransomed disabled children from peasants who were not suitable for peasant labor, but were useful for attracting alms and taxes.
Kaliki-pedestrians, pilgrims who returned from the Holy Land, enjoyed legitimate respect in Russian society. Many of them no longer returned to a sedentary lifestyle and lived by charity alone. They were allowed into all courtyards and generously presented. It was believed that the Kaliki prayer has special power. Kaliki-pedestrians also acted as disseminators of moral and spiritual attitudes, they composed and recited spiritual verses. Because the Kaliks were not sedentary, they were often the only source of news.
Praying mantises and gravediggers
Praying mantises and gravediggers are two varieties of beggar Christians. You can meet these beggars today. Praying mantises live by charity, which they collect from churches during Christian holidays, gravediggers - by charity, which they collect during funeral processions. Each beggarly artel carefully protects its territory from outsiders entering it. Among the praying mantises, not only the place of collecting alms is distributed, but also the time. A person who begs for alms during Mass must give up his seat during the All-Night Vigil. Violation of the internal order is severely punished.
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The artels of praying mantises and gravediggers consisted of professional beggars, they did not go to shelter houses and, as a rule, rented apartments. Many of them earned serious sums and even began to engage in usury, leaving behind a substantial inheritance.
Kaluny
Beggars in Russia are not always people without a home and shelter. Peasant begging was also widespread in Russia, when peasants, for various reasons deprived of the opportunity to live by their labor and craft, went to collect taxes. Such peasants were called kaluns. The Kalones traveled very far. Some went to the rich Samara and Saratov provinces and even to Siberia, others to the Ukraine and Bessarabia. Some headed west, where they could be found in both capitals. When collecting donations, they took everything that was given to them, but their requests were correlated with the peculiarities of the area: in the Volga provinces, rich in bread, they asked for rye and wheat, and in the Urals and Perm - canvas. Departures took place at certain periods.
The first one began after harvesting the bread. The women and children were the first to leave, and the men were late, since the work at their large oil mills was finished only by winter. The first trip ended in late autumn; the second departure of Kaluns was undertaken at the beginning of winter and ended by the second week of Great Lent, and the third departure lasted from the third week of Great Lent until Trinity. It should be noted that the Kalun villages differed from the neighboring ones in wealth and prosperity. Each peasant had an allotment of black soil, good livestock and a strong hut. Kaluny, together with the beggars, set out on a journey in special carts, which they specially gave a poor look. The kalun had a set of costumes for playing various beggarly roles: a soldier's greatcoat, a full-length caftan and a monk's cassock. In the evening, the beggars gave the kalun the proceeds in the specified amount. The ability to "heat up" was passed from generation to generation, thanks to which the growing "shift" cultivated the qualities necessary for this "profession".
Jerusalemites
The Jerusalemites were also called humpbacks. These were pilgrims who always wore black clothes and asked for alms "for the Holy cause." Their difference from praying mantises was that they did not take small sums, preferring to deal with merchants and wealthy people. The Jerusalemites were also distinguished by the motivation of alms, they could ask for a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, for a candle for the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, they could sell a handful of "Jordanian land" for a large sum.
The Jerusalemites were guests of honor in many homes. They were distinguished by their high education and good knowledge of many issues, they proved to be good storytellers from whom one could learn the latest news.
Fire victims
Fires were a real scourge of wooden Rus, therefore, such a category of beggars as fire victims could not but arise. Many peasants went around the world due to the fact that their houses and farms were eaten up by fire, but not all of them went “into fires”. Many of the so-called "fire victims" weren't, it was just a very profitable begging strategy.
Whole families asked for fire victims, but these were not always real families. A man could hire a woman with children for a fee, and he himself portrayed a grief-stricken owner. It often happened that the headman of the beggars, having found out about a fire in the nearest village, gathered the beggars, corrected false documents and a whole band of beggars walked through the yards, pretending to be victims of the fire.
Tramps
Tramps were originally called dock handlers. The origin of the name is due to the fact that during rest or sleep, they put a price on their heels with chalk for their work. If she was satisfied with the client, then he would wake up the loader. Tramps were also given the nickname "bumpers", so they really did not like it when the client who woke them up began to bargain. Tramps are free people, there are many ports, a greedy customer could get it on the forehead. Tramps, as a rule, were conditionally assigned to their port and jealously guarded their place. This was often a temporary source of income. So, Ivan Poddubny, went to work, getting a job as a port loader in order to charm his girlfriend. The rate of hired movers was higher than that of tramps.
Golden company
Zolotorottsy - so called in the XIX and early XX century people, declassed elements of society. At first, this name was given to prison companies, but later the meaning expanded. The "Golden Company" was also called the top of the underworld.
In a general sense, the “goldfathers” are people living on unearned income, the lower strata of the population. In Gorky's play At the Bottom, there is the following dialogue:
Ashes. People live …
Tick. These? What kind of people are they? Rag, golden company …
The attitude towards the "golden company" was rather contemptuous. The old begging, respected and revered, disintegrated, became a thing of the past.
