Bradford opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1874-1881, 1876-02-05
OLD TIME CUSTOMS.
The Pennsylvania Dutch and their Habits
%" sparkling" aad A1atrimsntal PEGS.
llartties.

OLD TIME CUSTOMS.
! The Pennsylvania Dutch and their Habit
.." sparkling aad nlatrimsnial Pecu
. liarities.
A correspondent, writing OF the larg
class Of Pennsylvania farmers descende'
from the Germans, and known as Penn
sylvania Dutch, says: On their farms
plodding activity is noticeable. Male
and females work early and late, ant
when evening comes they retire almos
with the chickens, unless there is som,
husking or similar gathering, as in TIN
winter months. at which gathering worl
forms the principal enjoyment, inter
spersed with rude plays and eating ant
drinking.
During the winter months frolic OF
dance is now and then indulged in, al
which the ld-fashioned cabin music and
dances are reproduced. When the frolit
is over, which is generally toward morn
ing, the lads and lasses move in pairs
toward the homes of the latter, and
then short but earnest courtship
or "sparking" begins, and lasts till
daybreak, when the "dad" calls to
work, which is continued, with few in
termissions, until darkness again breaks
upon the fields.
Courtship among these people, or
"sparking," as they call it, is conducted
upon singular principle. During these
sweet pastimes Of the young people, no
sitting up is permitted later than nine
O'Clock; but as this is deemed too early
an hour for loving pair to separate, the
courtship is continued under circum-
stances described by Diedrich Knicker-
booker, and known to our Yankee ances-
tors as "bundling." The custom has
survived to the present day among the
Pennsylvania Dutch. It is practiced
with perfect innocence and respectable
ty, so far rs their own sense of social
propriety is concerned.
The custom may have had its origin
in the fact that the "old folks are al
ways on the alert to get as much work
out of their children, female IS well as
male, as possible, before they are of an
age that gives them liberty to work for
themselves, and their belief is that the
regular amount of work cannot possibly
be done without due amount of rest.
A favorite resort of these young peo-
pie is the Sunday evening church.
When service is over, rows of boys or
young men may invariably be seen
drawn up outside. The girls are thus
made to walk the gauntlet, and here and
there one is picked out and gallanted to
her home. Not unfrequently young
men from towns visit these churches
with view to the enjoyment of al
evenings adventure among the country
girls. This sometimes creates jealousy
among the country lads, who combine
and send the town boys home with a
pounding. 1t may indeed be safely as
sumed that by far the larger number of
matrimonial matches made among these
people may be traced to these Sunday
evening meetings.
While the "old folks are most anx-
iorls to see their sons and daughters well
off in financial point of view when
marriage takes place, they nevertheless
attach the utmost importance to the
other main qualities which go to make
good husband or wife, and divorce is
thing almost unknown among them.
When they start out in married life,
they are given by the parents something
to start housekeeping with, called
"hausteuer," and, in the case of the
wealthy, farm to begin life with, after
which the young people must shift for
themselves.
Special importance is attached to hav-
ing good, substantial barns. They are
content to live in huts, but the barns
must be not only solid, but also nice
looking structures. To have dilapi-
dated barn or fence they consider a
downright disgrace, while as to the con-
dition Of the dwelling they may be per-
fectly Indifferent. Otherwise, their
mode of cultivating the soil is yet of a
somewhat ancient and rude order.
Their favorite fertilizer is lime, which
they used upon high lands and low
lands alike. Instead Of keeping their
cattle housed for manuring purposes,
they drive them out into the woods to
Craze, milking the COWS in the morning
before they go out, and again in the
evening upon their return.
The same conservatism that distin
guishes their every day life and lends
popularity to it pervades their political
relations. They seldom break off the
party connections once formed. Party
fealty they look upon almost as an in
heritance that descends from father to
son through generations, even like unto
the farms or other property. This gives
rise to the popular saying in Pennayl-
vania that the German farmers "are not
yet done voting for jackson. Should
they move into town or city, however,
and live there for some time, they feel
more at liberty to think for themselves,
and to vote accordingly. In the coun-
try, however, they can always be de-
pended upon, and for that reason they |
received special attention at the hands
of the politicians, because the party |
that once gains the ascendancy among |
them will retain it for long time.
A personal visit from candidate is
esteemed an honor by most of them, and
his success or failure to gain their sup
port frequently depends upon his apti-
tude to initiate their manner and his |
ability to talk "Dutch."
They seem to have strong prejudice
against the Irish. 80 common is this
antipathy among these people that a
traveller or peddler will find little COM
fort or encouragement among them, un-
less he can master sufficient Pennsyl
Vanla 'DuGCQ I'd make ulLuS0u uuuol.
stood in that dialect. If he cannot do
this he is at once set down for an Irish
man.
It is no uncommon thing to find the
farmers children running for dear life
if accosted by an English-speaking
stranger, and calling out: " Mammie,
mach die Dehr zu, do kummt un Irish
-" Mother, shut the door, there
comes an Irishman."
Their hatred of the English has been
to them from their forefath-
ers down, owing to q conviction enter
tanned among them that they were badly
used by the British government. This
feeling is gradually wearing away, how
ever, and there is room to hope that at
no distant day it will be entirely obliter-
ated by intermarriage, though there is
yet disposition to prevent by all possi-
BILE means their ons and daughters from
taking wives or husbands that are not of
their own nationality.
Thus they have for generations pre-
served an exclusiveness almost without