Dutch Life in Town and Country Part 4

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-fas.h.i.+oned. 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 8 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 ap.r.o.n, some linen, and a few petticoats once a year. Now they get in addition to this 12 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 cla.s.ses 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 Sat.u.r.day 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Palm Paschen--Begging for Eggs.]

'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 gra.s.s, and each child knocks one of his eggs against that of another in such a way that only one of the sh.e.l.ls 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 pa.s.s 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 ent.i.tles 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 circ.u.mstances, these 'Noodburen' ('neighbours in need') will help her in all possible ways, and take all the business and worry off her hands.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Rommel Pot.]

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 peac.o.c.k's feathers in their caps. The invitation is made in poetry, in which the a.s.surance 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 l.u.s.tig ezongen, vrolik esp.r.o.ngen, 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 n.o.body.

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 pa.s.s 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 a.s.sembled 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 pa.s.s 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: A Hindeloopen Lady in National Costume.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Rural Costume--Cap with Ruche of Fur.]

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 c.o.c.k-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 gla.s.s 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 b.u.t.ter, flat b.u.t.tered 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 p.r.i.c.kly 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 cla.s.ses, the servants are treated to biscuits and 'mice' on that day; while in the very old-fas.h.i.+oned 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 hea.r.s.e 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 hea.r.s.e itself is generally embellished by the images of grinning skulls, though the carriages following the hea.r.s.e 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 hea.r.s.es remains the same.

[Ill.u.s.tration: An Overyssel Peasant Woman.]

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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Zeeland Children in State.]