Sliding on the Snow Stone (31 page)

Notes

In order of appearance

‘
Holodomor’
– Death by Hunger; ‘holod’ meaning hunger, ‘mor’ meaning death.

‘
Hetman’
– Head of Ukrainian Cossack state. The meaning is thought to be head man.

‘
Kozak’
– ‘Cossack’, Ukrainian style, both spoken and written.

‘
Kobzar’
– Wandering Ukrainian minstrel.

‘
Paska’
– Easter bread. Sweet egg bread, baked.

‘
Horilka’
– Vodka; strong alcoholic spirit.

‘
Achtung’
– A German word meaning ‘attention’.

‘
Ostarbeiters’
– A German term meaning ‘Eastern Workers’. Forced slave labour gathered from Eastern Europe to work in Germany to support the war effort.

‘
Samohonka’
– Home brewed spirit. Very powerful.

‘
Borsch’
– Beetroot soup. Traditional in Ukraine and other parts of Eastern Europe.

‘
Kobasa’
– Sausage, delicatessen-style, usually home-made, smoked or with garlic.

‘
Sharivari’
– Baggy trousers worn by Ukrainian Cossacks, usually tucked into boots.

‘
Hohol’
– The haircut of the Ukrainian Cossack: the head shaved, with a lock of hair flowing from the crown.

‘
Tryzub’
– The national trident emblem of Ukraine. An ancient symbol of freedom – the meaning is three-teeth; thought to represent the Ukrainian word for freedom:
volya
.

Translations

In order of appearance:

‘
choboti’
– boots

‘
doshka’
– wooden board

‘
paska’
  - Sweet egg bread, baked.

‘
Nazdorovya’
– For your health. Cheers.

‘
Scotska horilka’
– Scotch whisky.

‘
korovai’
– Traditional, baked, plaited wedding cake – sweet, egg bread.

‘
britva’
– cut throat razor.

‘
Ukrayinska Dumka’
– A newspaper for the Ukrainian Community in Great Britain, the title of which translates as Ukrainian Thought.

‘
dryshba’
– Best man (at a wedding).

‘
hopak’
– Acrobatic Cossack style Ukrainian dance.

‘
kolomyjka’
– Traditional Ukrainian folk dance.

‘
zabava’
– A dance, an evening function where young folk would meet up to dance and get to know each other, accompanied by traditional music played by a live band.

Acknowledgements

Cover design by Isabel Szpuk and Simon Klymyszyn.

Many thanks to Paulo Brandão (www.paulobrandao.com) for his kind permission to use his wonderful photograph
frozen light in a snow weekend
as the basis for the book cover.

Thanks to Dr Michael M Naydan for his kind permission for the use of his translation of
The Days Pass, The Nights Pass
by Taras Shevchenko.

Thanks also to Lorna Clark for allowing the use of her father John Weir’s translation of a section of
Haidamaki
by Taras Shevchenko.

Many thanks also to Ann Swinfen, author of
The Testament of Marian
(www.annswinfen.com), for her excellent guidance and keen interest.

Thanks also to Claire Whatley, short story writer and children’s author (
Ingrid Wildsmith and the Curse of Zeus
) for editorial assistance, technical advice on writing and more encouragement than I could ever have expected or hoped for.

I’d also like to thank Eponymous Rox for keeping the faith and believing (http://eponymous.weebly.com/).

There are many others who encouraged me and gave me constructive criticism – thanks to all. Finally, I’d like to thank my wife, Isabel - for everything.