Sacrifices
The Parish of Helme gets its name from the Helme Castle. The name comes from either the Helme stream, which flows from north of the castle into the Keisre river1, or from the Helme spring, which was on the side of the valley at the border of Arstla farm, down from the Helme manor.
This spring was believed to be able to cure illnesses of the eyes. It is also told that in ancient times, virgin maidens used to throw their pearls into the spring to protect their purity, hence the name Helme spring, from the word 'helmes', an irregular pearl.
Nowadays this spring, for some reason, has dried up completely, and people don’t even know where it used to be. I remember when I was a young lad attending parish school, then I drank from there (K. Ruut).
In the olden days the river east from the castle was also called Helme river – it is now called Keisre river, but I don’t know why, although it could be for the same reason that two farms in Koorküla are called 'Keisre talu' (Est. Emperor's farm).2
Empress Catherine II once visited Liivimaa in 1764, and at the same time she also visited Koorküla, because the Marshall of Livonia, M. von Gersdorf was the head of the manor there. She also wanted to see the life of the farmstead people, so she visited those two Keisre farmsteads and had a meal there. For this purpose food, cutlery and even clothes were provided for the peasantry from the manor house. For this great generosity and love, the peasants were told to beg the empress to name the farmsteads ‘Keisretalu’. Maybe the Keisre river also got its name this way. Towards the mouth of the river to the east, on the lands of the Lõve Parish, there are beautiful valleys with fine moraines, where nowadays a beautiful forest grows. Who knows, maybe the empress also went to see those nice places.
1 Helme river today
2 keiser – Est. Emperor
Helme kihelkond on oma nime saanud Helme lossist. Nimi on nähtavasti võetud kas Helme oja nimest, mis põhja poolt lossi alt mööda voolab Keisrejõkke1, või Helme hallika nimest, mis Helme mõisa all oru perve sees, vastu Arstla talu oli. Seda hallikat usti silmahaiguse vastu abirohuks. Muiste olevat sinna hallikasse neitsid oma puhtuse hoideks helmeid ohverdanud, sellep kutsutud seda hallikat helme hallikaks.
Nüüd on see hallikas ei tea mis põhjusel täitsa ära kuivanud, nii et ta asetki enam ei tunta. Mina poisikesena, kui kihelkonna koolis käisin, olen sealt hallikast vett joonud (K. Ruut). Vanasti on ka lossist idapoolt mööda voolavat Keisrijõge Helme jõeks kutsutud. Mil põhjusel teda nüüd Keisrejõeks kutsutakse ei ole minul teada.
Vast sammal põhjusel miks Koorkülas kahte talu Keisretaludeks nimetatakse. Kui keisrinna Katariina II 1764. aastal Liivimaal reisis, on ta ka Koorkülas käinud, kuna sel ajal Koorküla herra M. v[on] Gersdorff Liivimaa marsall oli. Keisrinna tahtnud ka talurahva elu näha. Selleks käinud ta kahes Keisre talus, kus teda talurahva poolt lastud einestada, milleks road, riistad ja taluinimestele riided enne mõisast valmis olevat toodud.
Selle suure armu ja helduse mälestuseks lastud talupoegasid keisrinnat paluda, noid talusid Keisre taludeks nimetada. Vast sarnasel teel sai ka Helme jõgi omale Keisre jõe nime. Keisrejõe lõpul idapool Lõve valla jao sees on suured ilusad orud ja toredad moräänid1, kus praegu suur metsa kasvab mida praegugi veel Keisrepaluks kutsutakse. Vast käis Keisrinna ka noid toredaid kohte vaatamas.
1 Helme jõgi
2 moreenid, lainjad kõrgendikud