Often, a naughty child who refuses to go somewhere with his parents, for example, to a polyclinic, his mother says: “Well, do not drag you! Go alone!" And what is a drag? Is it a way to carry weights when dragged, or something else?
What dictionaries say
Ushakov’s dictionary explains what “dragging” is. This is the place where rooks or cargo are dragged from one river to another. Usually the shortest route overland was chosen for the drag.
Ozhegov’s dictionary adds that this is a section of the ship’s path that it travels overland to continue on another river. This word has a few more meanings:
- In the Volga region, the boundaries were indicated by the trail that the drag-trap leaves — a special harrow. This trace was called a drag.
- Dragged the earth. One drag was about 20 acres (a little less than 22 hectares).
- So called forest tracts, for example, Iletsky dug.
- A wilderness called impassable forest due to the fact that it was impossible to drive in a cart. Felled trees were dragged by hand. In this case, used hand winches, which were also called drags.
- In Siberia and in the Russian North, dragging is a toboggan run on the ice of a frozen reservoir.
The concept of “drag” itself means the process of dragging gravity by drag. For this, logs were used, along which rooks were rolled. Later, wooden log cabins were transported in winter snow like this - they were put on logs and dragged on horses.
From Varangians to Greeks
The Norwegians have long mastered the movement of light boats. The famous path from the Varangians to the Greeks implied several drags along its length. For this, the road was laid out from logs cut down right there. There is even a device technology for drawing. The most problematic area is the land on which the Krivichi tribe lived. The small rivers that flow into the Western Dvina and the tributaries of the Dnieper were helped by the indigenous people living along the waterways, who received protection fees from robbers. Archaeologists find many traces of the presence of the Scandinavians in the 10th century.
Over time, in Russia they adopt this method of movement along rivers, and the expansion of the state’s borders begins, trade with distant regions and organized tax collection. We can say that the value of the draggers was very great. Trading contacts arose at the points where the ships were transferred; businessmen of antiquity usually arranged a meeting here.
Vologda
The entire Vologda Oblast is located at the intersection of the Baltic, Caspian and White Sea routes. Volokov here was apparently invisible. When the Novgorodians mastered new lands, movement for lack of roads was carried out only along the rivers. Rooks in summer and tobogganing in winter - this is the only way to cover long distances. In the region of the Sukhona and Northern Dvina rivers, the rooks moved by drag. The very name of the city of Vologda is explained by V. Gilyarovsky in the book “My Wanderings”: “How to explain this place to the Novgorodians? Draw and drag, and housing. ”
Volokolamsk, Vyshny Volochok and Perevoloki - have the same story. These cities are derived from the word "drag." The word “dragging” has a synonym - “transport”. So are also called Russian cities and towns. There were always boaters at the crossing points; they lived by this craft. Horses served as pulling force. Land transportation from one river to another often had passes. It is interesting that now there is no Lower Volochek, he remained on the map near Borovichi.
Samara onion and drag
What are robbers, no need to explain. The most dangerous place was near the village of Perevoloki on the Volga. Although state sentinels vigilantly served on the top of the Karaul hillock, dashing people attacked the barrels loaded with goods from the ambush on the Usa River. When screaming: "Saryn, at the end!" - the barge haulers lay down on the ground, and the ladies, or commoners, fled to the broom (the bow of the ship) and also lay down. The robbery was carried out by the pirates who soundlessly arrived in light boats.
The length of the waterway along the Samara bow is one and a half hundred kilometers. While the heavy barge, paying tribute to the robbers, continued on their way, they dug through the pass separating Usa and the Volga, went down the Usa (this is about thirty kilometers) and attacked the poor merchant again. It is not surprising that many considered them to be werewolves.
Water tourism
In some dictionaries, by the beginning of the 20th century, the word “dragging” was considered obsolete. But it has regained relevance with the advent of water tourism. River rafting in kayaks or catamarans involves in some cases moving a light vessel by drag. Even rules have been developed for the dragging, there are sports, where tourists show their skill and coherence, enclosing a rocky section of the river.
There are many unplanned things in the life of a water tourist. For example, the detachment went to the river according to the plan, started on time, and already in the middle of the campaign it turned out that this summer there was little rain, and the river not only completely dried up, but definitely ceased to be navigable. Even for kayaking. There is no greater torment than dragging a loaded canoe through the rapids.
And what is a drag, these tourists will remember for a lifetime.