Letts,

Letts, a branch of the Lithuanian race, who in manners, customs, and mode of living do not differ much from the Lithuanians proper. They live in south Livonia, in Courland, and Vitebsk, and in the north of Kovno in Russia, and number about 1,200,000 persons. Early converted to Christianity by the Teutonic Knights, they are now mostly Lutherans, though some 50,000 have been won over to the Greek Church. All are peasant agriculturists; since the abolition of serfdom they have made remarkable progress, both socially and intellectually. Their language is not so archaic as Lithuanian; but they possess valuable treasures of popular poetry, proverbs, riddles, &c. See Ulmann, Lettische Volkslieder (1874), and Bielenstein, Ein Tausend Lettische Rätsel (1881); also Von Dorneth, Die Letten unter den Deutschen (2d ed. 1887), and C. F. Watson, Ueber den lettischen Volksstamm (1822).