New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1905-09-17
PEASANTS PLAY ROYALTY.
In Gala attire for One Day the Lo70
Germans DispOrt Themselves.

crowned heads. 1t is also to be seen IN the
humblest of subjects. In the coarse clad. coarse
fed ignorant, dOwntrodden peasant there
shoulders a spark of the imperial fire, which
at times bursts forth into flame. Yet these
upheavaIs of his nature are not revolutionary
He does not then take up arms against the
government His instruction is entirely peace
full. He simply dons suit of fine clothes and
struts about like some peacock just let out of
a coop. And throughout Europe there have
been peasant festivals from time immemorial
when for one day in the year the Iaborer be-
Heves himself a king.
An illustration of this regal side of the Eu-
ropean peasant, and one that has recently be
come especially magnificent, is the Trachtentest
of the Plattdeutsch, or low Germans Each
year it is held at Scheessel Prussia, and there
the natives of the country round congregate as
If it were the court of some potentate. They
come dressed in the gala apparel which is pc
cular to their own communities, and some OF
them are attired in even greater splendor than
NAV be seen at the palaces of certain alI-the-
year monarchs. Nearly all of the costumes are
family heirlooms, which have been handed down
from parent to child and for the reason that
they are enriched each year by a little more
velvet or gold lace they represent the wealth
of long generations. Some worth more
than the houses in which their owners live.
Just as their hats and coats have descended
from ancestral sources, so the songs and dances
and all the other features of this peasant pa
geant hail from times remote. Scheessel is
half way between Hamburg and Bremen, and
the American traveller who lands at either port
can thus pass from modern to medieval times
nv only an hours railroad ride. Should he ar
rive early on the morning of the fete day he
would first see the triumphal procession. At
Of
with their queens and "princesses,' parade
the main street in a long procession, each COM
munity characterized by a different costume,
and each believing that its own is the most
beautiful
There is little attempt to adorn the carriages
of state" for their occupants feel that nothing
else should detract from their own personal
glory They believe that their costumes are
the chief attraction, and so it matters not that
thew ride in cumbrous farm wagons, used on
other days for hay cabbages, and touched
ND for the occasion with little paint or some
loops of bunting. The dignity of the paraders'
however, suffers not little from the simplicity
of their equipages. for, as the wagons have no
springs, the kings" queens and "princesses'
frequently receive such jolts that they have to
clutch one another to save themselves from
falling.
Almost every wagon brings to view a different
variety of dress. The women of Scheessel for
instance are attired in great white aprons the
servile aspect of which contrasts rather ludl-
crously with their headdress of artificial flowers
and fruits built up in the shape of a tiara
Around their waists are tied gorgeous ribbons OF
variegated colors In another wagon girls from
Vierland wear hats which look much like those
their American sisters don when they are grad
uated at college. They not quite so fiat.
however as mortarboards and are more nearly
like inverted soup plates. Their outandlsh ap-
pearance is still further increased by two huge
bows which protrude either side from their
back hair and which appear at a little distance
like two fans of a windmill In other wagons
ride madchen from Elsdorf and Selfngen, Leer,
Gottrum and Apensee, and, most gorgeous OF ALL
The Btickerburger lasses.
Some of the young women Of Buckerburg deck
themselves out in dresses estimated to cost $3.50
apiece So fantastic is the medley of colors to
be seen in a single costume so extravagant is
The use of laces, braids tufts, fringes, flowers
and Jewels that it looks like the sacred
robe of some Oriental priest than the bridal
dress Of a simple peasant girl, for 1t happens
that a great many Plattdeutsch maidens post
pone their weddings until just after the TracE-
tenfest, SD that they may appear then in the
costumes they are 20 be married in Next year
the dress will be worn by some other bride and
down the years.
A costume peculiarly grotesque is worn by