The Minneapolis journal., 1901-09-07
THE NATIVE COSTUME OF NORWAY
It Not Seen Frequently in Former DaysHayns Done by
Women-The Persistent "Myg''-Hot Weather

the dead. The pastor removed his hat,
benediction
The farmhouses in Norway are all neat
~ kept. There Is always a mating of pine
Dougns spread before the door to wipe
your feet on, The barns and the cattle
are scrupulously clean. The Norwegians
90 not take 50 much pains with them,
however ,as is done in Holland, where the
people curry the COWS and rub them down
every morning and evening like the
horses. and often, particularly near the
towns, hang lace curtains In the stable
windows.
Tnere seems to be a close relation be-
tween the human kind and their animals.
me men and women talk to the horses
and cattle as II they were understood.
We had "skydsgut," or driver, the other
DAY, who held continuous conversation
MIL he would walk beside them and talk
to them all the way up in a gentle. caress-
ing sort OF way, like a child talking to
COLL, and once, when he stopped for water
ana the near horse wanted to drink more
than the driver thought was good for him,
ne scolded like an old woman. The horse
shook his head and ratified his harness
impatently, as much as to say, "You get
back onto your box and attend to your
Like the Japanese, the Norwegians are
very superstitious, and, as In Japan, the
forests, the mountains and the gorges are
peopled with fairies. Nissen Is the good
fairy Of the farmers. He looks after the
cattle particularly and II he Is we'll
treated they are healthy and the cows
give lots Of milk. To propitiate him It
is necessary to put dish OF porridge on
the Threshold OF the cow stable on
Chrtstmas morning. Whenever the family
moves this invisible being goes along
with them and sits on the top Of the
loads. In haying time he always rides
on the load Of hay, and the "bedstemoder"
or grandmother in every farmhouse can
tell the children dozens Of interesting
stories about the mischief or the kindness
of Nissen.
He is invariably represented in pictures
OF farm life: he appears on the illustrated
advertisements Of farm machinery; his
figure, carved in wood, Is sold at all the
curiosity stores, and he appears as a
prominent charater in most Of the fairy
stories that deal with farm life. He is
represented as short, fat, bow-legged
man, with big whiskers and long white
hair, wearing red hat like those worn by
clowns in circuses. He usually appears
in their shirt sleeves, with an open collar,
blue vest and knickerbockers upon his
legs, which are as slim as those those Of
brownie. His circumference is greater
than his height and his head Is almost as
large as his body
Mock Is the fairy of the waterfalls and
is sort OF norman. You never seee more
than half his body. He is very, very old,
his hair and beard are long and white
and his face is always pale and pensive.
He carries a harp and plays to amuse the
spirits in the waterfall. A statue of Ole
Bull has recently been erected in his ma
tive city Of Bergen. He stands upon
pedestal which rises from fountain, and
the water flows over the head and should
ers Of a Mock at the base.
Some of the waterfalls along the road
side are utilized for saw and grist mills.
but the most of them are useless for prac-
tical purposes because they come tumbling
over the precipitous sides of mountains
from 1000 to 5000 feet in height, drain
ing the surface of the plateau at the top.
Sometimes the water dissolves into mist
before 1t reaches the bottom and hangs
in the air like bridal veil, while 1t
catches the rays Of the sun and turns them
into rainbows. Every now and then We
pass little MILL not bigger than an or
binary woodshed, with an oldfashioned
turbine wheel which turns the upper
milestone in the old-fashioned way. The
lower stone is stationary. In these lit
tie mills the people grind their oat meal
and their rye and barley -four. Some
times several families club together and
erect a small modern mill upon the CO.
operative plan, but the most of them use
the same stones and the same water power
that served their ancestors several cen
turies ago.