Vermelde inwoners Rijsoord: Noorlander, klompenmaker, klapperman (nachtwaker).
OLD DUTCH VILLAGE.
SIMPLE LIFE IN THE LAND OF THE WINDMILL.
Dykes and Ducks in Profusion - Fondness for Scrubbing is One of the Marked
Characteristics of the Portly Housewives.
(Special Correspondence)
This is one of the Dutchiest of Dutch villages, is not upon the map at all,
and when asking railroad authorities for its exact location, was even denied
an existence. But one may trust the word of artists, who find these hidden
corners, and report of them to kindred colorist; so, when this word came, we
ventured boldly forth to find it also. It was not upon a railroad, of
course, but reached by devious ways and turnings.
It is fifteen miles from Rotterdam whose dim outlines one can
see across the perfect level which only Holland has. Its nearest neighbor is
Dordrecht, that place beloved by Hopkinson Smith next to Venice. Hither
came, one summer, seventeen women artists and students, and one forlorn man
painter; all were domiciled with one big "Vrouw", under her two roofs, that
of her house proper, and also of the barn, the upper part of which was
partitioned off into very clean and comfortable sleeping rooms.
Vrouw N---- [=Noorlander], our hostess, had a girth of waist, like - I was
going to say - a big California tree. She mourned the recent loss of
seventyfive pounds of flesh, but still survived with the fragile avoirdupois
of 200. With short, voluminious skirts, a snowy cap, with ample cape, which
framed her Edam cheeslike face, and wearing clumpers of wood, she was a true
type of Holland's rustic dames. There were no springs to our beds.
We sank into oceans of feathers, only to strike 'bed rock' beneath. Some of
us were put into bunks in the sides of the walls; laid away upon shelves, as
it were.
Ladder-Like Staircases.
We came downstairs backward, owing to their ladder-like construction. The
doorbell served also as a dinner and tea bell. Canals and
'sloats' surrounded us, and a river flowed before our door, bearing boats
which might have sailed almost over our roofs, so low were we beneath its
level. It was fortunately held tightly in its bed, by a powerful dyke.
In every direction windmills made weird silhouettes against the sky. They
were bug and little, and fantastic inshape, with their huge sails flapping
and gyrating dizzily. Many have sails of brilliant red, or green, or yellow,
and there are little dwelling houses beneath them, with quaint thatched
roofs. "There are 100,000 of them in Netherland, and they saw wood, grind
grain, pump water, load and unload boats, and holst and lower burdens".
It is interesting to know that they came originally from the Orient, after
the great Crusades. The level field are divided by 'sloats', or ditched or
water too wide to jump across; and so concealed are they from ordinary sight
by grass or grain, that each and every one of us, walking through these
levely meadows, and gazing afar, with rapt artistic vision, took a tumble
into them - a sudden wetting and a change of view concerning some of
Holland's attractions.
Every newcomer was thus initiated. When the afternoon bell called a
summons - for a brief rest and refreshment - into the Vrouw's shady
old garden, a troop of her fat ducks always recognized the call and came
waddling around in stately procession to share the crumbs of honey cake.
Dogs instead of Horses.
Very small dogs are trained to draw carts containing milk, vegetables,
tinware, and even meat; and all seem to feel a personal responsibility for
the safety of their loads, growling maliciously if any one approaches during
a momentary absence of venders. They are patient little brutes, and much too
willing te draw very heavy loads.
One hears continuously the "clang of the wooden shoes" over the cobbled
streets. "lumpers", they are called, and a visit to the old clumpermaker's
shop, finds him scooping them out of soft, white wood and fashioning them to
fit any peculiarity of shape whicha Dutch foot may posses. The proverbial
cleanliness of these people receives a momentary shock upon seeing a clumper
drawn quickly off, used as a
drinkingcup, from river or canal, and instantly replaced upon its foot. As
all the village washing is done in the river, one questions also its
possible taste; though a certain 'lack of taste' might be expected in the
dirsty one.
When one wishes to be awakened at some very early morning hour, one engages
the night before the 'Tapper', or 'Morgen wekker' - an owlish old man whose
business it is to come and tap upon a window, however high, with a long
pole, receiving for it a fraction of a gulden tossed out. He was generally
succesful in waking every occupant of the house, and those of the barns
besides.
Scrubbing Habit General.
Dutch cows are generally spotted black and white and frequently wear
blankets while in the meadows. The result of the scrubbing propensity of a
Dutch housewife must be seen to be appreciated. This habit is a mania and
stops of nothing which can stand soap and water. It is said that the reason
of so much cleaning is the fact of so much water being near, and being easy
to get, they cannot resist using it. And so even the windows of their barns
are brilliant, and the cobbles in the streets shine with a soapy luster.
Who can describe a Dutch kitchen ? Its old brass is burnished like gold. Its
pewter is quaint, its Delft is rare, And the old tiled chimney places, where
the apple-cheeked children, with their little towheads, gather in
picturesque groups, are seen in every home.
One sees also in these interiors of the humble Holland folk, all the odd
originals of the great Dutch masters.
"Instead of painting winged angels, monks, madonnas, nuns and popes, they
transfigured upon canvas, the baby in the cradle, merry making,
lovely meadows, sunsets and splendors of light and shade." Rembrandt, Franz
Hals, Gerard Dow, Jan Steen and Israel 'keep alive their glorious traditions
and home Charms.'