When this result has been compassed by the inexorable progress of education and knowledge, the gradual disappearance of the canal population, the class of hereditary bargees as we have known it, and as it still exists, may be expected to follow at no remote date, for it was based on the enforcement of the family principle, and on the devotion of a whole community, from its youngest to its eldest member, to its maintenance. As it is the tow-barge is something of an anachronism, but the withdrawal of the youthful recruits, whose up-bringing alone rendered it possible, will entail its inevitable extinction. The decay and break-up of the guild of tjalk owners will be hastened by the introduction of steam and electricity as means of locomotion. The canals will lose the bright-coloured barges which are to-day their most striking feature, and the population that has so long floated over their surface. Life will be duller and more monotonous. The canal population, so long distinct, will be merged in the rest of the community. The tug will displace the tow-rope. The pullers will be housed on land, mastering the three R's instead of learning to strain at the girth.

But there is still a brief period left during which the canal population may be seen in its original primitive existence, devoted to the barge, which is the only home known to six or seven thousand families, and traversing the water roads of their country in unceasing and endless progression. There is nothing like it in any other country of Europe. Venice has its water routes, but the gondola is not a domicile. There was a canal population in England, but, like much else in our modern life, it has lost whatever picturesqueness it might once have claimed. For a true canal population, bright and happy, living the same life from father to son and generation to generation, we must go to Holland. There these inland navigators ply their vocation with only one ambition, and that to become the owner of a tjalk, and to rear thereon a family of towers. It is said that the life is one that requires the consumption of unlimited quantitics of 'schnapps,' and the humidity of the atmosphere is undoubted. But even free libations do not diminish the prosperity of the bargees. They are a thriving race, and it must also be noted to their credit that they are well behaved, and not given to quarrels. Collisions on the thickly-covered canals are rare; malicious collisions are unknown. The barges pass and repass without hindrance, the tow-ropes never get entangled, there is mutual forbearance, and the skill derived from long experience in slipping the ropes uncler the barges does the rest. The conditions under which the canal population exists and thrives are a survival of an older order of things. When they disappear another of the few picturesque heritages of mediaeval life will have been removecl from the hurly-burly and fierce competition of modern existence.



Chapter VII

A Dutch Village



Villages in Holland are towns in miniature, for the simple reason that when you have a marsh to live in you drain a part of it and build on that part, and so build in streets, and do not form a village as in England, by houses dotted here and there round a green or down leafy lanes. The village green in Holland is the village street or square in front of the church or 'Raadhuis.' Here the children play, for you cannot play in a swamp, and that is what polder land is seven months out of the year, and so we find that a Dutch village in most parts of the country is a town in miniature.



Thirty years ago the 'Raadhuis' would have been the village inn, barber's shop, and the principal hotel all rolled into one, and the innkeeper, as a natural consequence, the wealthiest man in the neighbourhood. The farmers would have sat at the 'Raad,' i.e. the Village Council, with their caps over their eyes, long Gouda pipes in their mouths, and a 'Glaasje Klare' ('Schiedam') under their chairs which they would have steadily sipped at intervals, puffing at their pipes during the whole sitting. Their wooden shoes ('Klompen'), scrubbed for the occasion to a brilliant white with the help of a good layer of whitening, might have been seen in a row standing on the door-mat, for no well-educated farmer would ever have dreamed of entering a room with shoes on his feet, and he would have taken his 'pruim,' or quid of tobacco, which every farmer chews even when smoking, out of his mouth and laid it on the window-sill, the usual receptacle for such things, and there it would lie in its own little circle of brown fluid, to be replaced either in his own or his neighbour's mouth after the meeting was over. Nowadays a farmer goes to the 'Raad' dressed in a suit of black clothes and with his feet encased in leather boots. He never wears 'Klompen' save when at work in the field or on the farm. He also talks of his 'Gemeente,' for all Holland is portioned off into 'Gemeenten,' and a village is such in as good a sense as large towns like The Hague and Amsterdam, and better if anything, for the taxes there are not so high. Each 'Gemeente' is separately governed by a Burgomaster and 'Leden van den Raad', which is nothing more nor less than a County Council, presided over by a prominent man nominated by the sovereign, and not elected by the members, of which some are called 'Wethouders,' and are, like the other members, elected by the residents of the district. These Wethouders, with the Burgomaster, form the 'Dagelyksch Bestuur.' All ordinary matters concerning the 'Gemeente,' such as giving information to the Minister of War about the men who have signed for the militia, or about any person living in their 'Gemeenten,' are regulated by the 'Dagelyksch Bestuur,' though matters of import are brought before the 'Raad.' Next in importance to the Burgomaster come the 'Gemeenteontvanger,' who receives all the taxes, and the 'Notary, who is the busiest man in the village, although the doctor and clergyman or priest have a large share in the work of contributing to the welfare of the villagers.



A village clergyman is an important person, for he is held in high honour by his parishioners, and his larder is always well stocked free of cost. His income also is relatively larger than that of a town pastor, for besides his fixed salary he reaps a nice little revenue from the pastures belonging to the 'Pastorie,' which he lets out to farmers. The schoolmaster, on the contrary, is treated with but little consideration, and he often feels decidedly like a fish out of water, for though belonging by birth to the labouring class, he is too well educated to associate with his former companions and yet not sufficiently refined to move in the village 'society,' besides which he would not be able to return hospitality, as his salary only amounts to from L40 to L60 a year, and nowhere is the principle of reciprocity more observed than in Dutch hospitality in certain classes. In very small villages many offices are combined in one person, and so we find a prominent inhabitant blacksmith, painter, and carpenter, while the baker's shop is a kind of universal provider for the villagers' simple wants. The butcher is the only person who is the man of one occupation, though he, too, goes round to the neighbouring farms to help in the slaughtering of the cattle, and sometimes lends a hand in the salting and storing of the meat.

The farmers live just outside the village, and only come there when they go to the 'Raad' or on Saturday evenings when the week's work is done. They then visit the barber before meeting at the cafe for their weekly game of billiards. Every resident of the village also betakes himself to his 'club' or 'Societeit' on Saturday night, and just as the 'Mindere man,' i.e. farmers and labourers, have their games and discuss their farms, their cattle, and the price of hay or corn, so, too, the 'Notabelen' discuss every subject under the sun, not forgetting their dear neighbours.

On Sunday mornings the whole 'Gemeente' goes to church, from the Burgomaster to the poorest farm-labourer, and all are dressed in their best. The men of the village have put aside their working-clothes, and are attired in blue or black cloth suits with white shirt fronts and coloured ties. The women have donned black dresses, caps and shawls, and carry their scent-bottles, peppermints, and 'Gezangboek' (hymn-book) with large golden clasps. The 'Stovenzetster,' a woman who acts as verger, shows the good people to their seats and provides the women, if the weather is cold, with 'warme stoven' (hot stoves), to keep their feet comfortable. These little 'stoves' contain little three-cornered green or brown pots ('testen'), in which pieces of glowing peat are put, and sometimes when the peat is not quite red-hot it smokes terribly, and gives a most unpleasant odour to the building. The women survive it, however, by resorting to their eau de Cologne, which they sprinkle upon their handkerchiefs, and keep passing to their neighbours during the whole service.

The village schoolmaster has a special office to perform in the Sunday service. It is he who reads a 'chapter' to them before the entrance of the clergyman, who only comes when service has begun. Then the sermon, which is the chief part of the service in Dutch churches, begins. This sermon is very long, and the congregation sleep through the first part very peacefully, but the rest is not for long, for when the domine has spoken for about three-quarters of an hour he calls upon his congregation to sing a verse of some particular psalm. The schoolmaster starts the singing, which goes very slowly, each note lasting at least four beats, so that the tune is completely lost. However, as a rule, every one sings a different tune, and nobody knows which is the right one. Two collections are taken during the service, one for the poor and one for the church, the schoolmaster and the elders ('Ouderlingen') of the church going round with little bags tied to very long sticks, which they pass ail along a row in which to receive the 'gifts.' Generally one cent is given by each of the congregation.



After church is over the Sunday lunch takes the next place in the day's routine. The table is always more carefully set out on Sundays than on other days, and to the usual fare of bread, butter, and cheese are added smoked beef and cake, while the coffee-pot stands on the 'Komfoortje' (a square porcelain stand with a little light inside to keep the pot hot), and the sugar-pot contains white sugar as a Sunday treat, for sugar is very dear in Holland, and cannot form an article of daily consumption. Servants always make an agreement about sugar; hence on week-days a supply of 'brokken' (sweets something like toffee, and costing about a penny for three English ounces) is kept in the sugar-pot, and when the people drink coffee they put a 'brok' in their mouths and suck it. Should their cup be emptied before the 'brok' is finished, they replace it on their saucers till a second cup is poured out for them, and if they do not take a second cup, then their 'brok' is put back into the sugar-pot again.

After lunch the men now find their way to the 'Societeit,' or in summer to the village street, where they walk about in their shirt-sleeves and smoke. The children go to their Sunday schools, or, if they are Roman Catholics, to their 'Leering,' which is a Bible-class held for them in church, and in villages where there is no Sunday school they, too, leisurely perambulate the village dressed in their best clothes, even if it is a wet day. The women first clear away the lunch utensils, and then have a little undisturbed chat with their neighbours on the doorstep, or go to see their friends in town. At four o'clock the whole family assembles again in the parlour for their 'Borreltje,' either consisting of 'Boerenjongens' (brandied raisins) or 'Brandewyn met suiker' (brandy with sugar), which they drink out of their best glasses. There is no church in the evening, so the villagers retire early to bed, so as to be in good trim for the week's hard work again.

From this sketch it will be judged that life in a village is very dull. There is nothing to break the monotony of the days, and one season passes by in precisely the same way as another. Days and seasons, in fact, make no difference whatever in the villager's existence. There is no pack of hounds to fire the sporting instinct; no excitement of elections; no distraction of any kind. All is quiet, regular, and uneventful, and when their days are over they sleep with their fathers naturally enough, for only too often have they been half asleep all their lives.



Chapter VIII

The Peasant at Home



To describe an 'average' Dutch peasant would be to say very little of him. There is far too much difference in this class of people all over the Netherlands to allow of any generalization. In Zeeland we meet two distinct types; one very much akin to the Spanish race, having a Spaniard's dark hair, dark eyes, and sallow complexion, and often very good-looking. The other type is entirely different, fair-haired, light-eyed, and of no particular beauty. In Limburg, the most southern province of the Netherlands, one finds a mixture of the German, Flemish, and Dutch types, and the language there is a dialect formed from all those three tongues, while in the most northern province, Groningen, the people speak a dialect resembling that spoken in Overyssel and Gelderland, and the Frisians, their neighbours, would feel themselves quite strangers in the last named provinces, and would not even be able to make themselves understood when speaking in their usual language. In the Betuwe the dialect spoken differs from that in the Veluwe, but no distinct line can be drawn to determine where one dialect begins and the other ends.

In their mode of dressing, too, there is a great difference between the people of one province and of another, and in Zeeland every island has its own special costume. Just as they differ in dress, so they also differ in appearance and education, wealth, and civilization.

A North Holland farmer is well-to-do and independent. For centuries he has battled and disputed every inch of his land with the sea, and it has been pointed out by observant people that the effects of the strife are still marked in his harsh and rugged features and independent ways. It is well known that his cattle are the best in all the country, for the pastures, by reason of the damp polder ground, are very rich, and yield year out year in an abundant crop of grass and hay, the cows he keeps for milking purposes giving from 20 to 30 litres, or from 45 to 70 pints, of milk a day, which is a very high yield.



The 'Vrye Fries'—for the Frisian congratulates himself on never having been conquered, but always having in days of war and tribal feud made his own terms more or less with an adversary—stands higher in culture and intellect, and is also more enterprising, than the great majority of the Dutch peasants. He welcomes many inventions, and is willing to risk something in trying them, and so one can see many kinds of machinery in use on the Frisian farms. He also works with the most modern and approved artificial manures.



The Groningen and Overyssel boer[Footnote: Peasant and farmer as a rule are convertible terms. A farmer is a peasant, although a peasant is not always the owner of a farm. In point of education the farmer himself does not differ from the average labourer on his farm, and both alike are classed as 'boeren.'] follows his example unless the farms are so small as to make large machinery impracticable, when he goes along the path marked out by his great-grandfather, and finds safety, if not novelty, in so doing. All over the north of Holland the cows are good, and there is milk, butter, and cheese in abundance at the markets, especially the two last-named articles, as nearly all the milk is sent to the 'Zuivelfabrieken,' as butter and cheese factories are called.

Travelling from north to south, and so reaching the Wilhelminapolder in Zeeland, we come across the steam-plough, but that is the only place in the Netherlands where it is in use. The further south one goes—Zeeland excepted—the lower becomes the standard of life, and the peasants seem to care for little else than their fields and cattle, while the people of Noord Brabant are the poorest and dirtiest of them all. The produce of the soil varies according to the ground cultivated. In Utrecht and Brabant many thousand acres are devoted to tobacco, while Overyssel and Gelderland, as a rule, grow rye, oats, buckwheat, and flax. In Drenthe the greater part of the province yields peat, and North and South Holland are famous all over the world for their rich pastures. Cabbages and cauliflowers are also extensively cultivated for exportation, and in Friesland they have begun to cultivate them also. From Wateringen to the Hoek van Holland one sees smiling orchards, while from Leyden to Haarlem blossom the world-famed bulb fields, too well known to need special description.

The farm-work is done in the spring and summer. The women invariably help with the lighter work of weeding in the fields, while in harvest-time they work as hard as the men, and very picturesque they look in their broad black hats and white linen skirts. But when the harvest is gathered in, and the pigs have been converted into hams and sausages, the man's chief labour is over, although the manuring of the land and the threshing of the corn have to be attended to. Still, he has his evenings wherein to sit by the fireside and smoke, presumably gathering energies the while for the coming spring. A woman's work, however, is never ended, for while the man smokes she spins the flax grown on her own ground and the wool from the sheep of the farm. In some parts of Overyssel it is still the custom for the women to meet together at some neighbouring friend's house to spin, and during these sociable evenings they partake of the 'spinning-meal,' which consists of currant bread and coffee, and in turn sing and tell stories.

A weaver always visits every house once a year with his own loom to assist at these gatherings, and when the linen is woven it is rolled up and tied with coloured ribbons, decorated with artificial flowers, and kept in the linen-press—the pride of every Dutch housewife—and when a daughter of the house marries several rolls of this linen are added to her trousseau. The wealth of a farm is, in fact, calculated by the number of rolls. These are handed down for generations, and often contain linen more than a hundred years old. The wool, when woven, is made up into thick petticoats, of which every well-dressed peasant woman wears six or seven.

The education of the farmer is not very liberal. A child generally goes to school until he is twelve years of age, and during that time he has learnt reading, writing, and arithmetic. As a rule, however, he does not attend regularly, as his help is so often wanted at home, especially at harvest-time, and although the new education law—the 'Leerplichtwet' of July 7th, 1901—has made school attendance compulsory, yet a child is allowed to remain at home when wanted if he has attended school regularly during the six previous months. The interest of the parent and the inclination of the child are thus combined to the retarding of the intellectual progress of the boer. And yet, although they are so badly taught, the peasantry have a very good opinion about things in general, and if you assist them in their work and show them that you can use your hands as well as they can they have great respect for you, and will listen to anything you like to tell them about or read to them. The women especially have very pronounced views of their own, a trait not confined to Netherland womenfolk. To go about among them is at present the best way of educating them, and when you have once won their regard they will go through fire and water for you; but they despise any one who 'does nothing,' for, like most manual workers, they do not understand that brain-work is as hard as manual labour.



The farmhouses in most parts of the country are neat and more or less of a pattern, although they differ in minor details. Outside their appearance is very quaint and picturesque, and the roofs are either thatched or tiled. In Groningen they now hardly resemble farms. They are, indeed, little country seats, and the interior is decidedly modern. Some of the very poorest-looking houses are to be found in Overyssel and Drenthe. These are built of clay, and stand halfway in the ground. The roofs are covered with sods taken from the 'Drentsche Veengronden.' Some of these 'Plaggewoningen,' as they are called, are not more than twelve feet square and eight feet high. The ceiling of the room inside the dwelling is only four or five feet high, and above this the stores of hay and corn are kept. A hole in the roof serves as chimney, and in the floor—which is nothing but hard clay—a hole is dug to serve as fireplace. On the larger farms in Overyssel the main building is generally divided into two parts. The back part is for the cattle, which stand in rows on either side, with a large open space in the centre, called the 'deel,' where the carts are kept. A large arched double door leads into it, while the thatched roof comes down low on either side. Leading from the 'deel,' or stable, into the living-room is a small door, with a window to enable the inhabitants to see what is going on among their friends of the fields. Against the wall which forms the partition between the stable and living-room is the fireplace. You will sometimes find an open fire on the floor, though in the more modern houses stoves are used. The chimney-piece is in the shape of a large overhanging hood with a flounce of light print 'Schoorsteenval' round it, and a row of plates on a shelf above serves for ornament. The much-prized linen-press, which has already been mentioned, is usually placed at right-angles to the outer door, so as to form a kind of passage.

In some farmhouses there is no partition at all between the stable and living-room, but the cattle are kept at the back, and the people live at the other end, near the window. This is called a 'loshuis,' or open house, and very picturesque it is to look at. The smell of the cows is considered to be extremely healthy, and consumptive patients have been completely cured (so it is popularly believed) by sleeping in the cowsheds. Besides being healthy, this primitive system is also cheap, for the cows give out so much warmth that it is almost unnecessary to have fires except for cooking purposes. Some of these open houses have no chimneys, the smoke finding its way out between the tiles of the roof or through the door. There is a hayloft above the part occupied by the cattle, while over the heads of the family hams, bacon, and sausages of every description hang from the rafters. Smoke is very useful in curing these stores, and this may account for the absence of a chimney.

In Brabant, however, where there are chimneys, the farmer hangs his stores in them, so that when looking up through the wide opening to the sky beyond numerous tiers of dangling sausages meet one's admiring gaze. The living-room is a living-room in every sense of the word, for the family work, eat, and sleep there. Sometimes a larger farm has a wing attached to it containing bedrooms, but this is not general, and even so most of the family sleep in the living-room. The beds are placed round the room. They are, in fact, cupboards, and by day are fixed in the wall. Green curtains are hung before the beds, and are always drawn at night, completely concealing the beds from view. Some have doors like ordinary cupboards, but this is more general in North Holland. In Hindeloopen (Friesland) one or two beds in the living-room are kept as 'pronk-bedden' (show beds). They are decked out with the finest linen the farmers' wives possess, the sheets gorgeous with long laces, and the pillow-slips beautifully embroidered. These beds are never slept in, and the curtains are kept open all day long, so that any one who enters the room can at once admire their beauty. Some of the more wealthy have a 'best bedroom,' which they keep carefully locked. They dust it every day, and clean it out once a week, but never use it. In South Holland it is more customary to have a 'pronk-kamer' ('show-room'), which is not a bedroom, but a kind of parlour. This room is never entered by the inhabitants of the house except at a birth or a death, and in the latter case they put the corpse there. In Hindeloopen the dead are put in the church to await burial, and there they rest on biers specially made for the occasion. A different bier is used to represent the trade or profession or sex of the dead person. These biers are always most elaborately painted (as, indeed, are all things in Hindeloopen), with scenes out of the life of a doctor, a clergyman, a tradesman, or a peasant.



The costume worn by the peasantry is always quaint, and this is especially so in Hindeloopen. The waistband of a peasant woman takes alone an hour and a half to arrange. It consists of a very long, thin, black band, which is wound round and round the waist till it forms one broad sash. The dress itself includes a black skirt and a check bodice, a white apron, and a dark necktie; from the waistband hangs at the right-hand side a long silver chain, to which are attached a silver pincushion, a pair of scissors, and a needle-case; then on the left-hand side hangs a reticule with silver clasps; and a long mantle, falling loose from the shoulders to the hem of the skirt, is worn over all out-of-doors. This latter is of some light-coloured material, with a pattern of red flowers and green leaves. On the head three caps are worn, one over the other, and for outdoor wear a large, tall bonnet is donned by way of completing the costume.



All the Frisian costumes are beautiful. Many ladies of that province still wear the national dress, and a very becoming one it is.

In Overyssel the women all over the province dress alike and in the same way their ancestors did. In the house the dress is an ordinary full petticoat of some cotton stuff, generally blue, and a tight-fitting and perfectly plain bodice with short sleeves, a red handkerchief folded across the chest, and a close-fitting white cap, with a little flounce round the neck. When they go to market with their milk and eggs they are very smart.[Footnote: Butter used to be one of the wares they took to market, but now so many butter-factories have arisen, and also so much is imported from Australia, that it is hardly worth their while to make it.]

They then wear a fine black merino skirt, made very full, and the inevitable petticoats, which make the skirt stand out like a crinoline. On Sundays they wear the same costume as on market-days, and in winter they are to be seen with large Indian shawls worn in a point down the back in the old-fashioned way. When they go to communion, as they do four times a year, the shawls are of black silk with long black fringes. The hair is completely hidden by a close-fitting black cap, and some women cut off their hair so as to give the head a perfectly round shape. Over the black cap is worn a white one of real lace, called a 'knipmuts,' the pattern of which shows to advantage over the black ground. A deep flounce of gauffred real lace goes round the neck, while round the face there is a ruche or frill, also very finely gauffred. A broad white brocaded ribbon is laid twice round the cap, and fastened under the chin. Long gold earrings are fastened to the cap on either side of the face, and the ears themselves are hidden. The style of gauffering is still the same as is seen in the muslin caps of so many Dutch pictures of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, especially in those of Frans Hals. When in mourning, the women wear a plain linen cap without any lace, and the men a black bow in their caps. It is quite a work of art to make up a peasant woman's head-dress, and several cap-makers are kept busy at it all day long.

The clothes the men wear are not so elaborate. They used to be short knickerbockers with silver clasps, but these have entirely gone out of fashion, and they have been replaced by ordinary clothes of cloth or corduroy. Both sexes wear wooden shoes, which the men often make themselves. In the far-famed little island of Marken, the men are very clever at this work, and they carve them beautifully. In some lonely hamlets the unmarried women wear black caps with a thick ruche of ostrich feathers or black fur round the face. The jewellery consists of garnet necklaces closed round the neck and fastened by golden clasps. The garnets are always very large, and this fashion is general ail over the Netherlands. In Stompwyk, a little village between The Hague and Leyden, a peasant family possesses garnets as large as a swallow's egg.

If the dress of the boers is solid, quaint, and national, the daily food of the class is in keeping with their conservative temper and traditional gastronomic ability. It is of the plainest character, but often consists of the strangest mixtures. When a pig is killed, and the different parts for hams, sides of bacon, etc., have been stored, and the sausages made—especially after they have boiled the black-puddings, or 'Bloedworst,' which is made of the blood of the pigs—a thick fatty substance remains in the pot. This they thicken with buckwheat meal till it forms a porridge, and then they eat it with treacle. The name of this dish is 'Balkenbry.' A portion of this, together with some of the 'slacht,' i.e. the flesh of the pig, is sent as a present to the clergyman of the village, and it is to be hoped he enjoys it.

Another favourite dish, especially in Overyssel and Gelderland, is 'Kruidmoes.' This is a mixture of buttermilk boiled with buckwheat meal, vegetables, celery, and sweet herbs, such as thyme, parsley, and chervil, and, to crown all, a huge piece of smoked bacon, and it is served steaming hot. The poor there eat a great deal of rice and flour boiled with buttermilk, which, besides being very nutritious, is 'matchless for the complexion,' like many of the advertised soaps. The very poor have what is called a 'Vetpot.' This they keep in the cellar, and in it they put every particle of fat that remains over from their meals. Small scraps of bacon are melted down and added to it, for this fat must last them the whole winter through as an addition to their potatoes. Indeed, the 'Vetpot' plays as great a part in a poor man's house as the 'stock-pot' does in an English kitchen.



The meals are cooked in a large iron pot, which hangs from a hook over the open hearth. The fuel consists of huge logs of wood and heather sods, which are also used for covering the roofs of the 'Plaggewoning.' Black or rye bread takes the place of white, and is generally home-made. In Brabant the women bake what is called 'Boeren mik.' This is a delicious long brown loaf, and there are always a few raisins mixed with the dough to keep it from getting stale. Those who have no ovens of their own put the dough in a large long baking-tin and send it to the baker. One of the children, on his way back from school, fetches it and carries it home under his arm. You may often see farmers' children walking about in their wooden shoes with two or more loaves under their arms. Both wooden shoes and loaves are used in a dispute between comrades, and the loaf-carrier generally gains the day. The crusts are very hard and difficult to cut, but, inside, the bread is soft and palatable.

In Brabant the peasants—small of stature, black-haired, brown-eyed, more of the Flemish than the Dutch type—are as a rule Roman Catholics, and on Shrove Tuesday evening 'Vastenavond,' 'Fast evening' (the night before Lent), they bake and eat 'Worstebrood.' On the outside this bread looks like an ordinary white loaf, but on cutting it open you find it to contain a spicy sausage-meat mixture. All the people in this part of the country observe the Carnival, with its accustomed licence.

Times for farming are bad in the Netherlands as elsewhere. The rents are high and wages low, and the consequence is that many peasants sell their farms, which have for a long time been in their families, and rent them again from the purchasers. The relations between landlord and tenants are in some respects still feudalistic, and hence very old-fashioned. On some estates the landlord has still the right of exacting personal service from his tenants, and can call upon them to come and plough his field with their horses, or help with the harvesting, for which service they are paid one 'gulden,' or 1s. 8d. a day, which, of course, is not the full value of their labour. The tenants likewise ask their landlord's consent to their marriages, and it is refused if the man or woman is not considered suitable or respectable.

A farmer who keeps two or three cows pays a rent of L8 a year for his farm, which only yields enough to keep him and his family, not in a high standard of living either. The rent is generally calculated at the rate of three per cent. of the value. He pays his farm-labourers 80 cents, or 1s. 4d., for a day's work. In former days, however, money was never given, and the wages of a farm-servant then were a suit of clothes, a pair of boots, and some linen, while the women received an apron, some linen, and a few petticoats once a year. Now they get in addition to this L12 a year. In Gramsbergen (Overyssel) a whole family, consisting of a mother, her daughter, and her two grown-up sons, earned no more than four or five guilders (8s. or 10s.) between them, but then they lived rent free. It is not wonderful, therefore, that farm-labourers are scarce, and that many a young man, unable to earn enough to keep body and soul together decently, seeks work in the factories here or in Belgium,[Footnote: According to a recent return, 56,506 Netherlands workmen are employed in Belgium.] while those who do not wish to give up agricultural pursuits migrate to Germany, where the demand for 'hands' is greater and the wages consequently higher. In former days strangers came to this country to earn money. Now the tables are turned, and the fact that Holland is situated between two countries whose thriving industries demand a greater number of workers every year will yet bring serious trouble and loss to Dutch agriculture. [Footnote: Just now great results are expected from the 'allotment system,' of which a trial has been made in Friesland on the extensive possessions of Mr. Jansen, of Amsterdam.]



Chapter IX

Rural Customs



The Hollander is a very conservative individual, and therefore some curious customs still prevail among the peasant and working classes in the Netherlands, especially in the Eastern provinces, for there the people are most primitive, and there it is that we find many queer old rhymes, apparently without any sense in them, but which must have had their origin in forgotten national or domestic events. A remnant of an old pagan custom of welcoming the summer is still to be seen in many country places. On the Saturday before Whitsunday, very early in the morning, a party of children may be seen setting out towards the woods to gather green boughs. After dipping these in water they return home in triumph and place them before the doors of those who were not 'up with the lark' in such a manner that, when these long sleepers open them, the wet green boughs will come tumbling down upon their heads. Very often, too, the children pursue the late risers, and beat them with the branches, jeering at them the while, and singing about the laziness of the sluggard. These old songs have undergone very many variations, and nowadays one cannot say which is the correct and original form. They have, in fact, been hopelessly mixed up with other songs, and in no two provinces do we find exactly the same versions. The 'Luilak feest,'[Footnote: This day is called Luilak (sluggard) in some parts of the country and the feast is called Luilakfeest.'] of which I have just spoken, goes by the name of 'Dauwtrappen' ('treading the dew') in some parts of the country, but the observance of it is the same wherever the custom obtains.



'Eiertikken' at Easter must also not be overlooked. For a whole week before Easter the peasant children go round from house to house begging for eggs, and carrying a wreath of green leaves stuck on a long stick. This stick and wreath they call their 'Palm Paschen,' which really means Palm-Sunday, and may have been so called because they make the wreath on that day.

Down the village streets they go, singing all the while and waving the wreath above their heads:—

Palm, Palm Paschen, Hei koekerei. Weldra is het Paschen Dan hebben wy een ei. Een ei—twee ei, Het derde is het Paschei.

Palm, Palm Sunday, Hei koekerei. Soon it will be Easter And we shall have an egg. One egg—two eggs, The third egg is the Easter egg.

They knock at every farmhouse, and are very seldom sent away empty-handed. When they have collected enough eggs to suit their purpose—generally three or four apiece—they boil them hard and stain them with two different colours, either brown with coffee or red with beetroot juice, and then on Easter Day they all repair to the meadows carrying their eggs with them, and the 'eiertikken' begins. The children sit down on the grass, and each child knocks one of his eggs against that of another in such a way that only one of the shells breaks. The child whose egg does not break wins, and becomes the possessor of the broken egg.

The strangest of all these begging-customs, however, is the one in vogue between Christmas and Twelfth Night. Then the children go out in couples, each boy carrying an earthenware pot, over which a bladder is stretched, with a piece of stick tied in the middle. When this stick is twirled about, a not very melodious grumbling sound proceeds from the contrivance, which is known by the name of 'Rommelpot.' By going about in this manner the children are able to collect some few pence to buy bread—or gin—for their fathers. When they stop before any one's house, they drawl out, 'Give me a cent, and I will pass on, for I have no money to buy bread.' The origin both of the custom and song is shrouded in mystery.[Footnote: A Society of Research into old folklore and folk-song has recently been founded by some of the leading Dutch literary authorities, who also propose to publish a little periodical in which all these customs will be collected and noted.]

Besides the customs in vogue at such festive seasons as Whitsuntide, Easter, and Christmas, there are yet others of more everyday occurrence which are well worth the knowing. In Overyssel, for instance, we find a very sensible one indeed. It is usual there when a family remove to another part of the village, or when they settle elsewhere, for the people living in the neighbourhood to bring them presents to help furnish their new house. Sometimes these presents include poultry or even a pig, which, though they do not so much furnish the house as the table, prove nevertheless very acceptable. As soon as all the moving is over and they are comfortably installed in their new home, the next thing to do is to invite all the neighbours to a party.

This is a very important social duty and ought on no account to be omitted, as it entitles host and hostess to the help of all their guests in the event of illness or adversity taking place in their family. If, however, they do not conform to this social obligation, their neighbours and friends stand aloof, and do not so much as move a finger to help them. Should one of the family fall ill, the four nearest male neighbours are called in. These men fetch the doctor, and do all the nursing. They will even watch by the invalid at night, and so long as the illness lasts they undertake all the farm-work. Sometimes they will go on working the farm for years, and when a widow is left with young children in straitened circumstances, these 'Noodburen' ('neighbours in need') will help her in all possible ways, and take all the business and worry off her hands.



In case of a marriage, too, the neighbours do the greater part of the preparations. They invite the relations and friends to come to the wedding, and make ready the feast. The invitations are always given by word of mouth, and two young men[Footnote: In Gelderland we find this same custom and also in Friesland, but in this last-named province the invitation is given by two young girls.] nearly related to the bride and bridegroom are appointed to go round from house to house to bid the people come. They are dressed for this purpose in their best Sunday clothes, and wear artificial flowers and six peacock's feathers in their caps. The invitation is made in poetry, in which the assurance is conveyed that there will be plenty to eat and plenty of gin and beer to drink, and that whatever they may have omitted to say will be told by the bride and bridegroom at the feast. This verse in the native patois is very curious—

'GOEN DAG!

'Daor stao'k op minen staf En weet niet wat ik zeggen mag, Nou hek me weer bedach En weet ik wat ik zeggen mag Hier sturt ons Gut yan Vente als brugom En Mientje Elschot as de brud, Ende' noget uwder ut Margen vrog on tien ur Op en tonne bier tiene twalevenne, Op en anker win, vif, zesse En en wanne vol rozimen. De zult by Venterboer verschinen Met de husgezeten En nums vergeten, Vrog kommen en late bliven Anders kun wy t nie 't op krigen Lustig ezongen, vrolik esprongen, Springen met de beide beene, En wat ik nog hebbe vergeten Zult ow de Brogom ende Brud verbeten. Hej my elk nuw wal verstaan Dan laot de fles um de taofel gaon

'GOOD DAY!

'I rest here on my stick, I don't know what to say, Now I have thought of it And know what I may say: Here sent us Gart van Vente, the bridegroom, And Mientje Elschot, the bride, To invite you To-morrow morning at ten o'clock To empty ten or twelve barrels of beer, Five or six hogsheads of wine, And a basket full of dried grapes. You will come to the house of Venterboer With all your inmates And forget nobody. Come early and remain late, Else we can't swallow it all down. Then sing cheerfully, leap joyfully, Leap with both your legs. And, what I have yet forgotten, Think of the bridegroom and bride. If you have understood me well Let pass the bottle round the table.'

The day before the wedding is to take place the bridegroom and some of his friends arrive at the bride's house in a cart, drawn by four horses, to bring away the bride and her belongings. These latter are a motley collection, for they consist not only of her clothes, bed and bed-curtains, but her spinning-wheel, linen-press full of linen, and also a cow. After everything has been loaded upon the cart, and the young men have refreshed themselves with 'rystebry' (rice boiled with sweet milk), they drive away in state, singing as they go. The following day the bride is married from the house of her parents-in-law, and as it often happens that the young couple live with the bridegroom's people, it is only natural that they like to have the house in proper order before the arrival of the wedding-guests, who begin to appear as soon as eight o'clock in the morning. When all the invited guests are assembled and have partaken of hot gin mixed with currants, handed round in two-handled pewter cups, kept especially for these occasions, the whole party goes, about eleven o'clock, to the 'Stadhuis,' or Town Hall, where the couple are married before the Burgomaster, and afterwards to the church, where the blessing is given upon their union. On returning home the mid-day meal is ready, and, on this festive occasion, consists of ham, potatoes, and salt fish, and the clergyman is also honoured with an invitation to the gathering. The rest of the day is spent in rejoicings, in which eating and drinking take the chief part. The bride changes her outer apparel about four times during the day, always in public, standing before her linen-press. The day is wound up with a dance, for which the village fiddler provides the music, the bride opening the ball with one of the young men who invited the guests, and she then presents him with a fine linen handkerchief as a reward for his invaluable services on the occasion.

In Friesland a curious old custom still exists, called the 'Joen-piezl,' which furnishes the clue to an odd incident in Mrs. Schreiner's 'Story of an African Farm.' When a man and girl are about to be married, they must first sit up for a whole night in the kitchen with a burning candle on the table between them. By the time the candle is burnt low in its socket they must have found out whether they really are fond of each other.

The marriage customs in North and South Holland are very different to the former. As soon as a couple are 'aangeteekend,' i.e. when the banns are published for the first time (which does not happen in church, but takes the form of a notice put up at the Town Hall), and have returned from the 'Stadhuis,' they drive about and take a bag of sweets ('bruidsuikers') to all their friends. On the wedding-day, after the ceremony is over, the bride and bridegroom again drive out together in a 'chaise'—a high carriage on very big wheels, with room for but two persons. The horse's head, the whip, and the reins are all decorated with flowers and coloured ribbons. The wedding-guests drive in couples behind the bride and bridegroom's 'chaise,' and the progress is called 'Speuleryden.' Sometimes they drive for miles across country, stopping at every cafe to drink brandy and sugar, and when they pass children on the road these call out to them, 'Bruid, bruid, strooi je suikers uit' ('Bride, bride, strew your sugars about.') Handfuls of sweets will thereupon be seen flying through the air and rolling about the ground, while the children tumble over each other in their eager haste to collect as many of these sweets as they can. Sometimes as much as twenty-five pounds of sweets are thus scattered upon the roadside for the village children. Such a wedding is quite an event in the lives of these little ones, and they will talk for weeks to come about the amount of sweets they were able to procure.



At Ryswyk, a little village near The Hague, and in most villages in Westland, South Holland, the bride and bridegroom present to the Burgomaster and Wethouders, and also to the 'Ambtenaar van den Burgerlyken Stand' who marries them at the 'Stadhuis,' a bag of these sweets, while one bearing the inscription, 'Compliments of bride and bridegroom,' is given to the officiating clergyman immediately after the ceremony in church. On their way home all along the road they strew 'suikers' out of the carriage windows for the gaping crowds. Some of the less well-to-do farmers, and those who live near large towns, give their wedding-parties at a cafe or 'uitspanning.' This word means literally a place where the horse is taken out of the shafts, but it is also a restaurant with a garden attached to it, in which there are swings and seesaws, upon which the guests disport themselves during the afternoon, while in the evening a large hall in the building is arranged for the ball, for that is the conclusion of every 'Boeren bruiloft.' Very often the ball lasts till the cock-crowing, and then, if the 'Bruiloft houers' are Roman Catholics, it is no uncommon practice first to go to church and 'count their beads' before they disperse on their separate ways to begin the duties of a new day.

A birth is naturally an occasion that calls for very festive celebration. When the child is about a week old, its parents send round to all their friends to come and rejoice with them. The men are invited 'op een lange pyp en een bitterje,' the women for the afternoon 'op suikerdebol.' At twelve o'clock the men begin to arrive, and are immediately provided with a long Gouda pipe, a pouch of tobacco, and a cut glass bottle containing gin mixed with aromatic bitters. While they smoke, they talk in voices loud enough to make any one who is not acquainted with a farmer's mode of speech think that a great deal of quarrelling is going on in the house. This entertainment lasts till seven o'clock, when all the men leave and the room is cleared, though not ventilated, and the table is rearranged for the evening's rejoicings.

Dishes of bread and butter, flat buttered rusks liberally spread with 'muisjes' (sugared aniseed—the literal translation is 'mice'), together with tarts and sweets of all descriptions, are put out in endless profusion on all the best china the good wife possesses. For each of the guests two of these round flat rusks are provided, two being the correct number to take, for more than two would be considered greedy, and to eat only one would be sure to offend the hostess. Eating and drinking, for 'Advocatenborrel' (brandy and eggs) is also served, go on for the greater part of the afternoon. The mid-day meal is altogether dispensed with on such a day, and, judging by appearances, one cannot say that the guests look as if they had missed it!

It is quite the national custom to eat rusks with 'muisjes' on on these occasions, and these little sweets are manufactured of two kinds. The sugar coating is smooth when the child is a girl, and rough and prickly like a chestnut burr when the child is a boy; and when one goes to buy 'muisjes' at a confectioner's he is always asked whether boys' or girls' 'muisjes' are required. Hundreds-and-thousands, the well-known decoration on buns and cakes in an English pastry-cook's shop, bear the closest resemblance to these Dutch 'muisjes.'

When a little child is born into a family of the better classes, the servants are treated to biscuits and 'mice' on that day; while in the very old-fashioned Dutch families there is still another custom, that of offermg 'Kandeel,' a preparation of eggs and Rhine wine or hock, on the first day the young mother receives visitors, and it is specially made for these occasions by the 'Baker' nurse.

Funeral processions are a very mournful sight on all occasions, but a Dutch funeral depresses one for about a month after. The hearse is all hung with black draperies, while on the box sits the coachman wearing a large black hat called 'Huilebalk.' From the rim overlapping the face hangs a piece of black cord. This he holds in his mouth to prevent the hat from falling off his head. The hearse itself is generally embellished by the images of grinning skulls, though the carriages following the hearse have no distinctive mark. If such a funeral procession happens to come along the road you yourself are going, you may be sure of enjoying its company the whole way, for the horses are only allowed to walk, never trot, and it takes hours to get to the cemetery. In former days the horses were specially shod for this occasion in such a way that they went lame on one leg. This end was achieved by driving the nail of the shoe into the animal's foot, for people thought this added to the doleful aspect of the coretge as it advanced slowly along the road. Happily this cruelty is now dispensed with, and indeed is entirely forbidden by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animais, but the ugly aspect of the hearses remains the same.



At a death, the relatives of the deceased have large cards printed, announcing the family loss. These cards are taken round to every house in the neighbourhood by a man specially hired for the purpose. This man, called an 'Aanspreker,' carries a list of the names and addresses of the people on whom he has to leave the cards; if the people sending out the cards have friends in any other street of the town, a card is left at every house in that street.



If the deceased was an officer, the cards, beside being sent round in the neighbourhood, are left at every officer's house throughout the town. To whichever profession the deceased belonged, to the people of that profession the cards are sent. A Minister of State or any other person occupying a very high position sends cards to every house in the town and suburbs.

In a village or country place a funeral is rather a popular event, and the preparations for it somewhat resemble the preparations for a feast. This, for instance, is the case in Overyssel. When one of a family dies, the nearest relatives immediately call in the neighbouring women, and these take upon themselves all the necessary arrangements. They send round messages announcing the death and day of interment; they buy coffee, sugar-candy, and a bottle of gin, wherewith to refresh themselves while making the shroud and dressing the dead body; and the next morning they take care that the church bells are duly rung, and, in the afternoon, when the relations and friends come to offer their condolences, they serve them, as they sit round the bier, with black bread and coffee. When the plates and cups are empty the visitors leave again without having spoken a word.

On the day of the funeral, the guests assemble at two o'clock in the afternoon. They first sit round the tables and eat and drink in silence, and when the first batch have satisfied their appetites they move away and make room for others. After this meal all walk round the coffin, and repeat, one after another, 'Twas een goed mensch,' ('He or she was a good man or woman,' as the case may be). Then the lid of the coffin is fastened down with twelve wooden pegs, which the most honoured guest is allowed to hammer in, and the coffin is forthwith placed on an ordinary farm-cart. The nearest relations get in, too, and sit on the coffin, and the other women on the cart facing the coffin. This custom is adhered to, notwithstanding the prohibition by law to sit on any conveyance carrying a coffin. The women are in mourning from tip to toe, and closely enveloped in black merino shawls, which they wear over their heads. The men follow on foot, and it is a picturesque though melancholy sight to watch these funeral processions, always at close of day, solemnly wending their way along the road, the dark figures of the women silhouetted against a sky all aglow with those glorious sunsets for which Overyssel is famous.



Chapter X

Kermis and St. Nicholas



Of all the festivals and occasions of popular rejoicing and merriment in Holland none can compare with the Kermis and the Festival of St. Nicholas, which are in many ways peculiarly characteristic of Dutch life and Dutch love for primitive usage. The Kermis is particularly popular, because of the manifold amusements which are associated with it, and because it unites all classes of the population in the common pursuit of unsophisticated pleasure. As its name implies, the Kermis ('Kerk-mis') has a religious origin, being named after the chief part of the Church service, the mass. Just as the Feast of St. Baro received the name 'Bamisse,' so that of the consecration of the church was called the 'Church-mass,' or 'Kerk-mis.' In ancient times, if a church was consecrated on the name-day of a certain saint the church was also dedicated to that saint. Such a festival was a chief festival, or 'Hoof feest,' for a church, and it was not only celebrated with great pomp and solemnity, but amusements of all kinds were added to give the celebration a more festive character. In large towns there were Kermissen at different times of the year in different parishes, for each church was dedicated to a different saint, so that there were as many dedicatory feasts in a town as there were churches in it.

At a very early period in the nation's history the Church-masses began to wear a more worldly character, for the merchants made them an occasion for introducing their wares and trading with the people, just as they did at the ordinary 'year-markets.' These year-markets always fell on the same day as the Kermissen, but they had a different origin. They were held by permission of the Sovereign, and were first instituted to encourage trade; but gradually the Kermis and the year-market went hand-in-hand, for the people could no longer imagine a year-market without the Kermis amusements, or a Kermis without booths and stalls, so if there was not sufficient room for the latter to be built on the streets or squares, the priest allowed them to be put up in the churchyard or sometimes even in the church. Moreover, if it was not possible to have the year-market in the same week as the Kermis, then the Kermis was put off to suit the year-market, and these latter were of great aid to the religious festivals, for they attracted a greater number of people, and as dispensations were given for attending the masses both the churches and the markets benefited. The mass lasted eight days, and the year-market as long as the Church festival. The Church protected the year-markets, and rang them in. With the first stroke of the Kermis clock the year-market was opened and the first dance commenced, followed by a grand procession, in which all the principal people of the town took part, and when the last stroke died away white crosses were nailed upon all the bridges, and on the gates of the town. These served both as a passport and also as a token of the 'markt vrede' (market peace), so that any one seeing the cross knew that he might enter the town and buy and sell ad libitum, also that his peace and safety were guaranteed, and that any one who disturbed the 'markt vrede' would be banished from the place, and not be allowed to come back another year. In some places this yearly market was named, after the crosses, 'Cruyce-markt.'

Very festive is the appearance of a town in the Kermis week. On the opening day, at twelve o'clock, the bells of the cathedral or chief church are set ringing, and this is the sign for the booths to be opened and the 'Kermispret' to begin. Everywhere tempting stores are displayed to view, and although a scent of oil and burning fat pervades the air, nobody seems to mind that, for it only increases the delight the Kermis has in store for them. The stalls are generally set out in two rows. The most primitive of these is the stall of hard-boiled eggs and pickled gherkins, whose owner is probably a Jew, and pleasant sounds his hoarse voice while praising his wares high above all others. If he does prevail upon you to come and try one of his eggs and gherkins it only adds more relish to your meal when he tells you of the man who only paid one cent for a large gherkin which really cost two, and although he already had put it in his mouth he made him put the other part back. Or when you go to eat 'poffertjes,' which look so tempting, and with the first bite find a quid of tobacco in the inoffensive-looking little morsel, do not let this trifling incident disturb your equanimity, but try another booth. It is quite worth your while to stand in front of a 'poffertjeskraam' and see how they are made. The batter is simply buckwheat-meal mixed with water, and some yeast to make it light. Over a bright fire of logs is placed a large, square, iron baking-sheet with deep impressions for the reception of the batter. On one side sits a woman on a high stool, with a bowl of the mixture by her side and a large wooden ladle in her hand. This she dips into the batter, bringing it out full, then with a quick sweep of the arm she empties its contents into the hollows of the baking-sheet. A man standing by turns them dexterously one by one with a steel fork, and a moment later he pricks them six at a time on to the fork; this he docs four times to get a plateful, and then he hands it over to another man inside the booth, who adds a pat of butter and a liberal sprinkling of sugar. The 'wafelkramen' are not so largely patronized, as the price of these delicacies is rather too high for the slender purses of the average 'Kermis houwer,' but 'oliebollen'—round ball-shaped cakes swimming in oil—are within the reach of all, as they cost but a cent apiece. Servants and their lovers, after satisfying their appetites with these 'oliebollen,' go and have a few turns in the roundabouts by way of a change, and then hurry to the fish stall, where they eat a raw salted herring to counteract the effects of the earlier dissipation. The more respectable servant, however, turns up her nose at the herrings, and goes in for smoked eel. These fish-stalls are very quaint in appearance, for they are hung with garlands of dried 'scharretje' (a white, thin, leathery-looking fish), which dangle in front, and form a most original decoration. In the towns a separate day and evening are set apart for the servant classes to go to the fair, and there is also a day for the elite.

At the commencement of the reign of King William III. the whole Court, including the King and Queen, used to meet at The Hague Kermis on the Lange Voorhout on Thursday afternoons, between two and four o'clock, and walk up and down between the double row of stalls; and in the evening of that day they all visited either the most renowned circus of the season or went to see the 'Kermis stuk,' or special play acted in fan-time.

The servants' evening, as it is held in Rotterdam, is the most characteristic. It is an evening shunned by the more respectable people, for the 'Kermisgangers are a very rowdy lot. They amuse themselves chiefly by running along the streets in long rows, arm-in-arm, singing 'Hossen—hossen-hossen!' They also treat each other to 'Nieuw rood met suiker'—black currants preserved in gin with sugar—until they are all quite tipsy, and woe to any quiet pedestrian who has the misfortune to pass their way, for with loud 'Hi-has' they encircle him and make him 'hos' with them. The evening is commonly called the 'Aalbessen (black-currant) hos.'



An equally curious but not so bad a custom is the Groninger 'Koek eten.' All Groningers are fond of cake, and the 'Groninger kauke' is a widespread and very tasty production; but for this special purpose is used the 'ellekoek,' a very long thin cake, which, as its name implies, is sold by the yard. It is very tough, and just thin enough to hold in a large mouth, and when a man chooses a girl to keep Kermis with him they must first see whether they will suit one another as 'Vryer and Vryster' by eating 'ellekoek.' This is done in the following manner. They stand opposite one another, and each begins at an end and eats towards the other. They may not touch the cake with their hands, but must hold it between their teeth all the while they are eating, and if they are unable to accomplish this feat and kiss when they get to the middle it is a sure sign that they are not suited to one another, and so the partnership is not concluded. In some parts of Friesland and in Voorburg, one of the many villages near The Hague, there is another cake custom, the 'Koekslaen,' which is a sort of cake lottery. The cakes are all put out on large blocks, which are higher at the sides than in the middle, and, for twopence, any one who likes may try his luck and see if he can break the cake in two by striking it with a stout stick provided by the stall-keeper for the purpose. It is necessary to do this in one blow, for a second try involves the payment of another fee. He who succeeds carries off the broken cake, and receives a second one as a prize. Some men are very clever at this, and manage to carry off a good many prizes.

Just as the Kermis is rung in by the bells, so also it is tolled out again. This, however, is not an official proceeding, but a custom among the schoolboys of the Gymnasium and Higher Burgher Schools. At The Hague, on the last day of the fair, all the 'schooljeugd' assembled in the Lange Voorhout, dressed in black, just as they would dress for a funeral, while four of them carried a bier, hung with wreaths and black draperies. On this bier was supposed to rest all that remained of the Kermis. In front of the bier walked a boy ringing a large bell, and proclaiming, 'De Kermis is dood, de Kermis wordt begraven' ('The Kermis is dead, and is going to be buried'). Behind the bier came all the other boys with the most mournful expression upon their faces they could muster for the occasion, and thus they carried the 'dead fair' through the principal streets of the town, and at last buried it in the 'Scheveningsche Boschjes.' But this custom is now a thing of the past, for the Kermis at The Hague has been abolished, even as it has been abolished in most of the other towns throughout the kingdom, for all authorities were agreed that fair-time promoted vice and drunkenness, and the old-fashioned Kermis is now only to be found in Rotterdam, Leyden, Delft, and some of the smaller provincial towns and villages.

The 6th of December is the day dedicated to St. Nicholas, and its vigil is one of the most characteristic of Dutch festivals. It is an evening for family reunions, and is filled with old recollections for the elders and new delights for the younger people and children. Just as English people give presents at Christmas time, so do the Dutch at St. Nicholas, only in a different way, for St. Nicholas presents must be hidden and disguised as much as possible, and be accompanied by rhymes explaining what the gift is and for whom St. Nicholas intends it. Sometimes a parcel addressed to one person will finally turn out to be for quite a different member of the family than the one who first received it, for the address on each wrapper in the various stages of unpacking makes it necessary for the parcel to change hands as many times as there are papers to undo. The tiniest things are sent in immense packing-cases, and sometimes the gifts are baked in a loaf of bread or hidden in a turf, and the longer it takes before the present is found the more successful is the 'surprise.'

The greatest delight to the giver of the parcel is to remain unknown as long as possible, and even if the present is sent from one member of the family to another living in the same house the door-bell is always rung by the servant before she brings the parcel in, to make believe that it has come from some outsider; and if a parcel has to be taken to a friend's house it is very often entrusted to a passer-by, with the request to leave it at the door and ring the bell. In houses where there are many children, some of the elders dress up as the good Bishop St. Nicholas and his black servant. The children are always very much impressed by the knowledge St. Nicholas shows of all their shortcomings, for he usually reminds them of their little failings, and gives them each an appropriate lecture. Sometimes he makes them repeat a verse to him or asks them about their lessons, all of which tends to make the moment of his arrival looked forward to with much excitement and some trembling, for St. Nicholas generally announces at what time he is to be expected, so that all may be in readiness for his reception.

On the eventful evening a large white sheet is laid out upon the floor in the middle of the room, and round it stand all the children with sparkling eyes and flushed faces, eagerly scrutinizing the hand of the clock. As soon as it points to five minutes before the expected time of the Saint's arrivai they begin to sing songs to welcome him to their midst, and ask him to give as liberally as was his wont, meanwhile praising his goodness and greatness in the most eloquent terms. The first intimation the children get of the Saint's arrival is a shower of sweets bursting in upon them. Then, amid the general scramble which ensues, St, Nicholas suddenly makes his appearance in full episcopal vestments, laden with presents, while in the rear stands his black servant with an open sack in one hand in which to put all the naughty boys and girls, and a rod in the other which he shakes vigorously from time to time. When the presents have all been distributed, and St. Nicholas has made his adieus, promising to come back the following year, and the children are packed to bed to dream of all the fun they have had, the older people begin to enjoy themselves. First they sit round the table which stands in the middle of the room under the lamp, and partake of tea and 'speculaas,' until their own 'surprises' begin to arrive. At ten O'clock the room is cleared, the dust-sheet which was laid down for the children's scramble is taken up, and all the papers and shavings, boxes and baskets that contained presents are removed from the floor; the table is spread with a white table-cloth; 'letterbanket' with hot punch or milk chocolate is provided for the guests; and, when all have taken their seats, a dish of boiled chestnuts, steaming hot, is brought in and eaten with butter and salt.

Cigars, the usual resource of Dutchmen when they do not know what to do with themselves, do not form a feature of this memorable evening (memorable for this fact also), not so much out of deference to the ladies who are in their midst as for the reason that they are too fully occupied with other and even pleasanter employments.



The personality of St. Nicholas, as now known by Dutch children, is of mixed origin, for not merely the Bishop of Lycie, but Woden, the Frisian god of the elements and of the harvest, figures largely in the legends attached to his name. Woden possessed a magic robe which enabled him when arrayed in it to go to any place in the world he wished in the twinkling of an eye. This same power is attached to the 'Beste tabbaard' of St. Nicholas, as may be seen from the verse addressed to him:—

'Sint Niklaas, goed, heilig man Trek je beste tabberd an Ryd er mee naar Amsterdam Van Amsterdam naar Spanje.'

[St. Nicholas, good, holy man Put on your best gown Ride with it to Amsterdam, From Amsterdam to Spain.]

The horse Sleipnir, on whose back Woden took his autumn ride through the world, has been converted into the horse of St. Nicholas, on which the Saint rides about over the roofs of the houses to find out where the good and where the naughty children live. In pagan days a sheaf of corn was always left out on the field in harvest time for Woden's horse, and the children of the present day still carry out the same idea by putting a wisp of hay in their shoes for the four-footed friend of the good Saint. The black servant who now always accompanies St. Nicholas is an importation from America, for the Pilgrim Fathers carried their St. Nicholas festival with them to the New Country, and some of their descendants who came to live in Holland brought 'Knecht Ruprecht' with them, and so added another feature to the St. Nicholas festivity.

What the Dutch originally knew of the life and works of 'Dominus Sanctus Nicolaus' was told them by the Spaniards at the time of their influence in Holland, and so it is believed that the Saint was born at Myra, in Lycie, and lived in the commencement of the fourth century, in the reign of Constantine the Great. From his earliest youth he showed signs of great piety and self-denial, refusing, it is said, even when quite a tiny child, to take food more than once a day on fast days! His whole life was devoted to doing good, and even after his death he is credited with performing many miracles. Maidens and children chiefly claim him as their patron saint, but he also guards sailors, and legend asserts that many a ship on the point of being wrecked or stranded has been saved by his timely influence. During his lifetime the circumstance took place for which he was ever afterwards recognized as the maidens' guardian. A certain man had lost all his money, and to rid himself from his miserable situation he determined to sell his three beautiful daughters for a large sum. St. Nicholas heard of his intention, and went to the man's house in the night, taking with him some of the money left him by his parents, and dropped it through a broken window-pane. The following night St. Nicholas again took a purse of gold to the poor man's house, and managed to drop it through the chimney, but when he reached the man's door on the third night it was suddenly opened from the inside, and the poor man rushed out, caught St. Nicholas by his robe, and, falling down on his knees before him, exclaimed, 'O Nicholas, servant of the Lord, wherefore dost thou hide thy good deeds?' and from that time forth every one knew it was St. Nicholas who brought presents during the night. In pictures one often sees St. Nicholas represented with the threefold gift in his hand, in the form of three golden apples, fruits of the tree of life. Another very well known Dutch picture is St. Nicholas standing by a tub, from which are emerging three bags. About fifty years ago such a picture was to be seen in Amsterdam on the corner house between the Dam and the Damrak, with the inscription, 'Sinterklaes.' The story runs that three boys once lost their way in a dark wood, and begged a night's lodging with a farmer and his wife. While the children were asleep the wicked couple murdered them, hoping to rob them of all they had with them, but they soon discovered that the lads had no treasure at all, and so, to guard against detection, they salted the dead bodies, and put them in the tub with the pigs' flesh. That same afternoon, while the farmer was at the market, St. Nicholas appeared to him in his episcopal robes, and asked him whether he had any pork to sell. The man replied in the negative, when St. Nicholas rejoined, 'What of the three young pigs in your tub? 'This so frightened the farmer that he confessed his wicked deed, and implored forgiveness. St. Nicholas thereupon accompanied him to his house, and waved his staff over the meat-tub, and immediately the three boys stepped forth well and hearty, and thanked St. Nicholas for restoring them to life.

The birch rod, which naughty Dutch children have still to fear, has also a legendary origin, and is not merely an imaginary addition to the attributes of the Saint. A certain abbot would not allow the responses of St. Nicholas to be sung in his church, notwithstanding the repeated requests of the monks of his order, and he dismissed them at last with the words, 'I consider this music worldly and profane, and shall never give permission for it to be used in my church.' These words so enraged St. Nicholas that he came down from the heavens at night when the abbot was asleep, and, dragging him out of bed by the hair of his head, beat him with a birch rod he carried in his hand till he was more dead than alive. The lesson proved salutary, and from that day forth the responses of St. Nicholas formed a part of the service.

The St. Nicholas festival has always been kept with the greatest splendour at Amsterdam. It was there that the festival was first instituted, and the first church built which was dedicated to his name; for when Gysbrecht III., Heer van Amstel, had the Amstel dammed, many people came to live there, and houses arose up on all sides, and naturally, when the want of a church was felt, and it was built, the good Nicholas was chosen the patron Saint of the town. On his name-day masses were held in the church, and the usual Kermis observed, Booths and stalls were set out in two rows all along the Damrak, where the people of Amsterdam could buy sweets and toys for their children. Special cakes were baked in the form of a bishop, and named, after St. Nicholas, 'Klaasjes.' They were looked upon as an offering dedicated to the Saint according to the old custom of their forefathers, which can be again traced to the service of Woden.

Not only Amsterdammers, however, but people from all the neighbouring towns flocked to the St. Nicholas market, and followed the Amsterdammers' example of filling their children's shoes with cakes and toys, always telling them the old legend that St. Nicholas himself brought these presents through the chimney and put them in their shoes. During and after the Reformation this now popular festival had to bear a great deal of opposition, for authors and preachers alike agreed that it was a foolish feast, and led to superstition and idolatry. Hence the decree was issued, in the year 1622, that no cakes might be baked and no Kermis held, and even the children were forbidden to put out their shoes as they were accustomed to do. But for once in a way people were sensible enough to understand that giving their children a pleasant evening had nothing to do either with superstition or idolatry, and so the festival lived on with Protestants as well as Roman Catholics, although one point was gained by the Reformers, in that St. Nicholas was no longer looked upon as holy and worshipped, but was only honoured as the patron Saint and guardian of their children.

The fairs which once belonged to the festival of St. Nicholas are no longer held in the street, at any rate in the larger towns, but the exchange of presents is as universal as ever, and the shops look as festive as shops in England do at Christmas-time. In many other ways, indeed, St. Nicholas corresponds to Christmas in other countries, and Protestants and Catholics alike observe it, although there is no religions significance in the festival. The season, too, has its special cakes and sweets. There are the flat hard cakes, made in the shapes of birds, beasts, and fishes—the so-called 'Klaasjes'—for they are no longer baked only in the form of a bishop, as they used to be. Then there is 'Letterbanket,' made, as the name implies, in the form of letters, so that any one who likes can order his name in cake, and the 'Marsepein' (marzipan) is now made in all possible shapes, though formerly only in heart-shaped sweets, ornamented with little turtle-doves made of pink sugar, or a flaming heart on a little altar. These sweets, it is said, were invented by St. Nicholas himself, when he was a bishop, for the benefit and use of lovers; for St. Nicholas held the office of 'Hylik-maker,' and many a couple were united by him. That is why the confectioners bake 'Vryers and Vrysters' of cake at St. Nicholas time. If a young man wanted to find out whether a girl cared for him, he used to send her a heart of 'Marsepein' and a 'Vryer' of cake. Should she accept this present he knew he had nothing to fear, but if she declined to accept it he knew there was no hope for him in that quarter. These large dolls of cake were usually decorated with strips of gold paper pasted over them, but this fashion has gone out of use, and has caused the death of another old custom; for it used to be a great treat for children and young people to go and help the confectioners (who wrote all their customers an invitation for that evening) on the 4th of December to prepare their goods for the 'etalage.' Any cake that broke while in their hands they were allowed to eat, and no doubt many did break.

It is not likely that this celebration of St. Nicholas will ever be abolished, and the shopkeepers do their best to perpetuate it by offering new attractions for the little folk every year. Figures of St. Nicholas, life-size, are placed before their windows; and some even have a man dressed like the good Saint, who goes about the streets, mounted on a white steed, while behind him follows a cart laden with parcels, which have been ordered and are left in this way at the different houses. Crowds of children, singing, shouting, and clapping their hands, follow in the rear, adding to the noise and bustle of the already crowded streets, but people are too good-natured at St. Nicholas time to expostulate. Smiling faces, mirth, and jollity abound everywhere, and good feeling unites all men as brethren on this most popular of all the Dutch festivals.



Chapter XI

National Amusements



Holland, like other countries, is indebted to primitive and classic times for most of its national amusements and children's games, which have been handed down from generation to generation. Many of the same games have been played under many differing Governments and opposing creeds. Hollander and Spaniard, Protestant and Catholic alike have found common ground in those games and sports which afford so welcome a break in daily work.

'Hinkelbaan,' for example, found its way into the Netherlands from far Phoenicia, whose people invented it. The game of cockal, 'Bikkelen,' still played by Dutch village children on the blue doorsteps of old-fashioned houses, together with 'Kaatsen,' was introduced into Holland by Nero Claudius Druses, and it is stated that he laid out the first 'Kaatsbaan.' The Frisian peasant is very fond of this game; and also of 'Kolven,' the older form of golf; and often on a Sunday morning after church he may be seen dressed in his velvet suit and low-buckled shoes, engaged in these outdoor sports. About a century ago a game called 'Malien' was universally played in South Holland and Utrecht. For this it was necessary to have a large piece of ground, at one end of which poles were erected, joined together by a porch. The bail was driven by a 'Mahen kolf,' a long stick with an iron head and a leather grip, and it had to touch both poles and roll through the porch. The 'Maheveld' at The Hague and the 'Mahebaan' at Utrecht remind one of the places in which this game was played.

In Friesland the Sunday game for youths is 'Het slingeren met Dimterkoek'—throwing Deventer cake. Four persons are required to play this game. The players divide themselves into opposite parties, and play against each other. First they toss up to see which of the parties and which of the boys shall begin. He on whom the lot falls is allowed to give his turn to his opponent, which he often does if, on feeling the cake, he notices that it is soft and liable to break easily. If, on the contrary, it is hard, he keeps the first throw for himself. Holding the cake firmly in his right hand, he takes a little run, bends backward, and with a sudden swing throws the cake forward (as one throws a stone) so that it flies away a good distance, breaking off just at the grip. This piece, called 'hanslik,' or handpiece, he must keep in his hand, for if he drops it he must let his turn pass by once, and his throw is not counted. The distance of the throw is now measured and noted down, whereupon one of the opposing party takes the piece of cake and throws it, and so it goes on alternately till each has had a turn. The distances of the throws of every two boys are counted together, and the side which has the most points wins.

There are also games played only at certain seasons of the year, as the 'Eiergaren' at Easter-time. This was very popular even in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. On Easter Monday all the village people betake themselves to the principal street of the 'dorp' to watch the 'eiergaarder.' At about two o'clock in the afternoon the innkeeper who provides the eggs appears upon the scene with a basket containing twenty-five. These he places on the road at equal distances of twelve feet from each other. In the middle of the road is then placed a tub of water, on which floats a very large apple, the largest he has been able to procure. Two men are chosen from the ranks of the villagers. The one is led to the tub, his hands are tied behind his back, and he is told to eat the floating apple; the other has to take the basket in his hand and pick up while running all the eggs and arrange them in the basket before the apple is eaten. He who finishes his task first is the winner, and carries off the basket of eggs as a prize. It provokes great fun to see the man trying to get hold of the floating-apple, which escapes so easily from the grasp of his teeth, but some men are wise enough to push the apple against the side of the tub, and of course as soon as they have taken one bite the rest is easily eaten. When the game is over, the greater number of the villagers go and drink to the good health of the winner at the public-house, and so the innkeeper makes a good thing out of this custom also, and for a game like this it is certainly wise to refresh one's self after the event. Skittles and billiards are very popular with the peasant and working classes on Sunday afternoons, the only free time a labourer has for recreation. Games of chance, also, in which skill is at a minimum, are as numerous in Holland as in any other country.

Children's games naturally occupy a large share in young Netherlands life, especially outdoor romping games. Of indoor games there are very few, a fact which may, perhaps, be accounted for by the custom of allowing children to play in the streets. In former days children of all classes played together in outdoor sports and games, and developed both their muscles and their republican character. Even Prince Frederik Hendrik (who was brother to and succeeded Prince Maurits in 1625), when at school at Leyden, mixed freely with his more humble companions, and was often mistaken for an ordinary schoolboy, and an old woman once sharply rebuked him for daring to use her boat-hook to fish his ball out of the water into which it had fallen. Nor did she notice to whom she was speaking until a passer-by called her attention to the fact that it was the Prince, whereupon the poor old soul became so frightened that she durst not venture out of her house for weeks from imaginary fear of falling into the clutches of the law, and ending her days in prison.

Games may be divided into two classes, those played with toys and those for which no toys are needed; but whatever the games may be they all have their special seasons. Once a man wrote an almanack on children's games, and noted down ail the different sports and their seasons, but, as the poet Huggens truly said,

'De kindren weten tyd van knickeren en kooten, En zonder almanack en ist hen nooit ontschoten,'

which, freely translated, means that children know which games are in season by intuition, and do not need an almanack, so he might have saved himself the trouble. 'The children know the time to play marbles and "Kooten," and without an almanack have not forgotten.'

In the eighteenth century driving a hoop was as popular an amusement with children as it is now, only then it was also a sport, and prizes were given to the most skilful. In fact, hoop-races were held, and boys and girls alike joined in them. They had to drive their hoops a certain distance, and the one who first reached the goal received a silver coin for a prize. This coin was fastened to the hoop as a trophy, and the more noise a hoop made while rolling over the streets the greater the honour for the owner of it, for it showed that a great many prizes had been gained. In Drenthe the popular game for boys is 'Man ik sta op je blokhuis,' similar to 'I am the King of the Castle,' but there is also the 'Windspel.' For the latter a piece of wood and a ball are necessary. The wood is placed upon a pole and the ball laid on one side of it, then with a stick the child strikes as hard as possible the other side of the piece of wood, at the same time calling 'W-i-n-d,' and the ball flies up into the air, and may be almost lost to sight.

'Boer lap den Buis,' an exciting game from a boy's point of view, is a general favourite in Gelderland and Overyssel. For this the boys build a sort of castle with large stones, and after tossing up to see who is to be 'Boer,' the boy on whom the lot has fallen stands in the stone fortress, and the others throw stones at it from a distance, to see whether they can knock bits off it. As soon as one succeeds in doing so he runs to get back his stone, at the same time calling out 'Boer, lap den buis,' signifying that the 'Boer' must mend the castle. If the 'Boer' accomplishes this, and touches the bag before he has picked up his stone, they change places, and the game begins anew.