What is a coachman? The meaning of the word and examples of use

Do you know what a coachman is? This is an old word, the meaning of which and examples of use in the literature are given in the article.

The meaning and origin of the word

The word "coachman" has turistic roots. The Old Russian sounded like a "yamshchik". The word is formed from the root of "yam" - so in ancient times postal stations were called in Russia, on which tired horses were replaced on fresh ones. What is a coachman? This is a worker, whose duties included the maintenance of the station, horses, transportation of mail and passengers.

The word coachman has many synonyms. For example: a postman, a driver, a driver, a burp, a cabman, a coachman on postal horses, and so on.

A little about the life of coachmen

As usual, the boxes were simple peasants,who were engaged in cartage shipments between the postal stations and were in the civil service, and also transported officials, state parcels and urgent news. They also engaged in the transportation of ordinary people.

What is a coachman? This is an ordinary driver. The coachmen lived in villages with small houses of 16-30 houses near the postal roads with their families in the so-called Yamsk huts, had land shares and meadows allocated by the state. Their duty was to keep the horses, so that at the first request it could be immediately put on the road. For their work they received a salary from the state. However, later the king decided not to pay them a salary, because he believed that they were already living well, harvesting their own plowland. After that, the drivers of all the provinces began to scatter.

There was a tax, the so-called "Yamskaya Duty" for the villagers and townspeople. The coachmen got rid of the tax.

Importance for Power

What is a coachman for a country in the 16th and 17th centuries? Then these chariots were of great importance for Russia: the boyars were brought from one province to another for state business, the common people to trade places, and also transported a multitude of goods. With the help of coachmen, a connection was maintained between Moscow and the outlying areas of the country. The drivers were very important for the Rus' economy, up to the widespread development of rail transport.

Examples of use in the literature

The image of coachman also had an impact on the culture and literature of Russia, as it was described in many literary works, poems and songs:

• "Well, gentleman," shouted the coachman, "trouble: a snowstorm!". (A. Pushkin, "The Captain's Daughter").
• "Steppe and steppe around, nthe distance is far away, in that steppe the deaf froze coachman. "(Russian folk song).
• "The yellow sun froze the coachman ... "(V. Vysotsky).

Now you know the meaning of the word "coachman".

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