Last of the swagmen
Bernet Krumin, born in Latvia in 1878 and better known in New Zealand as Russian Jack, was one of this country’s last true swaggers, walking North Island roads for 53 years.
Bernet Krumin was known mainly as Barnett Crumen (or Krumen) and most articles written about him use this name. It was thought by some that he chose the name Crumen because he was a former crewman on a ship.
However, the Whanganui Museum has a photograph of a piece of wood signed by Bernet Krumin in 1964. This was how he spelt his name, so this spelling is used for this article.
Research into Latvian surnames has identified that Krūmin¸sˇ is the seventh most popular surname in Latvia. The ‘‘s’’ is silent, so it would have been pronounced Krumin, just as he signed his name.
Around the mid-1800s, serfdomwas abolished in Latvia. Until then peasants only had first names, but from then onwards they were allowed to choose their own surnames.
They were not allowed to choose names of German nobility, so the majority chose names related to animals, plants and trees, particularly the diminutive form – Bērzs (birch), Bērzin¸sˇ (small birch), and in this case Krūms (bush), Krūmin¸sˇ (small bush).
Bernet’s main nicknames were Russian Jack, Barney the Russian and Barney the Swagger.
He probably got the nickname ‘‘Russian Jack’’ as Latvia was ruled by Russia when he was living there, and he no doubt had a strong Eastern European accent. However, there were also other swagmenwho were called Russian Jack.
Bernetwas born in Latvia on March 26, 1878. Around the age of 24, he went to sea and spent the next 10 years or so as a sailor on various merchant ships.
He arrived in New Zealand in 1912 on board the Star of Canada, a British refrigerated steamship with a carrying capacity of 130,000 carcases of mutton. On the night of June 23, during a strong southerly gale, his ship ran aground on rocks off Kaiti Beach, Gisborne. None of the 60 crew members died. However, Bernet apparently had a lucky escape when he tried to free the ship’s anchor and nearly got swept away.
He remained in New Zealand and worked on coastal ships before turning to the land. For several years he worked as a scrub cutter and shed hand at Awhea Station near Martinborough.
He was a very strong man who worked hard and had a huge appetite.
When he left Awhea Station he took up the life of a swagman, walking the roads for the next 53 years, mostly those of Manawatū, Wairarapa and Rangitīkei.
When he could not find a farm or an outbuilding of some kind, Bernet slept the night in one of a number of bivouacs he had constructed along the roads he travelled.
These shelterswere built using old branches and any covering he could find. He would also camp down for the night under a bridge or in a culvert.
The life of a swagman was hard. His boots, which are held at the Whanganui Museum, illustrate the wear and tear they underwent as a result ofwalking on road surfaces.
Jack Harre, a farmer, recalled how Russian Jackwould visit his family farm near Hunterville two or three times a year.
He walked with the help of a strong walking stick and carried a kerosene tin billy to boil water in as well as a huge swag, whichwas weighed on one occasion at 76 pounds (34.5kg).
Bernet’s most treasured possession was his pipe. He would briefly puff on the pipe and then put it out by jamming a cork in the bowl.
Jack Harre always kept a spare packet of tobacco especially for him.
Bernet regularly visited Palmerston North and when he arrived via the Fitzherbert Bridge, he would often call into the Leyland house in College St.
Peter Leyland, the author of a book of ‘‘quirky reminiscences and anecdotes about Palmerston North’’, remembered Bernet well. ‘‘Oh, yes. My old Aunt Florrie, she’d have a kind word and a feed for him. Florrie wasn’t bothered by him, didn’t turn a hair, so he was a regular in the Leyland house in College St.
‘‘Aunt Florrie not only knew Jack and gave him a feed on his way through, she was actually quite proud of it because Jack had become a bit of a celebrity.
‘‘But many of those old swaggies were born cadgers, and in one sense they were all cadgers, but Russian Jack always pulled his weight.’’
Bev Young rememberswhen she was a child in the 1950s, Russian Jack stayed at her parents’ house in a settlement on the east coast of Wairarapa.
‘‘He seemed a happy guy and not at all scary, tho’ my sister said he smelled bad. I never noticed that.
‘‘He did odd jobs for my dad, who in turn mended his boots, which were very worn and holed.
‘‘And he had a curious layer of newspaper on his head and chest, which he said kept out the cold, and wads of newspaper stuffed in his ears. To keep out the bugs, he told my horrified mother. He was very deaf, so we all had to shout, but it could just have been the wads.
‘‘When he went off on his travels, my parents would fill his two billy cans, one with milk and the other with eggs, and off he’d go with his billies dangling off his pack.’’
Bernet gave up his wandering lifestyle in the 1960s because of poor health and increasing traffic on the roads. Hewas admitted to Greytown Hospital with frost-bitten feet and died three years later, aged 90.
He was buried in Greytown Cemetery. A statue of him can be found in the Library Square, Masterton.
While he was in Greytown Hospital he was interviewed by Jim Henderson, awell-known author, broadcaster and historian. When asked why he left the sea to travel the roads of the North Island, he said: ‘‘Man oh man I vos [sic] free! Free to have a beer, have a smoke, happy what you can call all the time, you know. Theywas [sic] free days.’’
Significant for a former serf and hardworking seaman.
‘‘Man oh man I vos [sic] free! Free to have a beer, have a smoke, happy what you can call all the time, you know. They was free days.’’