The Bon Homme County independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1904-1913, 1908-09-10
PEASANTS INITIATE
KINGS AND QUEENS
Low Germans Hold Festivals
Each Year-They Imi-
tate Royalty.

DSAA ODSNAoAs IVY hNJ "a
is not confined TO a few crowned heads
1t is also to be seen In the humblest
subjects. In the coarse clad, coarse
fed, ignorant, downtrodden peasant
there smolders a spark of h imperial
fire, which at times bursts forth into
flame. Yet these u~pheavals of his ma
ture are not revolutionary. He does not
then take up arms against the govern
ment. His insurrection Is entirely
peaceful. He simply dons a suit OF
fine clothes and struts about like some
peacock just let out of a coop. And
so throughout Europe there have been
peasant festivals from time immemorial
when for one day in the year the labor
err believes himself a king.
An illustration of this regal side OF
the European peasant, and one hat has
recently become especially magnificent,
Is the Trachtenfest of the Plattdeutsch,
or low Germans. Each year IL is held
tives OF h country round congregate
as If 1t were the u room of some
potentate. They come dressed in the
gala apparel which Is peculiar to their
W. communities, and some OF them
are attired in ever greater splendor
than may be seen at the palaces of GER
tain all the year monarchs. Nearly
all of the costumes are. family heir
looms, which have been handed down
from parent to child, and for the rea-
son that they are enriched each year
by a little more velvet or gold lace they
represent the wealth Of long genera
lions. Some are worth more than the
houses in which there 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 great peasant pageant hall from
times remote. ~.
Like Medieval Times.
Scheessel is half way between Ham
burg and Bremen, n the American
traveller who lands al either port can
thus pass from modern to medieval
times by only an hours railroad ride.
Should he arrive early on the morning
of the fete day he would first see the
triumphal procession! Al the soun of
a trumpet these one day kings" with
their queens and ''princesses," parade
the main street in a long procession,
each community characterized by a diff
ferent costume, and each believing that
its. W 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
personal glory. They believe that
their costumes are the chief attraction
and SO 1t matters not that they ride in
cumbrous farm wagons, used on other
days for hay or cabbages, and touched
ny Ava az NCIS 4 " AiNNAO IAiA
or some hoops Of bunting. The dignity
OF the ~paraders. however, suffers not
a 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 cluch n Q m
other to save themselves from falling.
Almost every wagon brings to view
q different variety of dress. The wom-
en- of Scheessel, for instance, are at
tired in great white aprons, the servile
aspect Of which contrasts rather ludic-
rously with their headdress Of artificial
flowers and fruits, built up in the shape
of a tiara.
Girls 6aiIy Deeked Out.
Around their waists are tied gorgeous
ribbons of variegated colors. In an
other wagon girls from Vierland wear
hats which look much like those their
American sisters don when they are
graduated at college. They are not
quite SO fiat, however, as mortar
boards, and are more nearly like in
verified soup plates. Their outlandish
two huge bows which protrude on
either side from their back hair, and
which appear at a little distance like
two fans of a windmill. In other
wagons ride 'maedchen" from Elsdorf
and Eelfngen, Leer, Gottrum and
ApSU5SeI anu I1OSI SOTBSOuS VI all THO
,Bueckerburger lasses. Some OF the
young women Of Bueckerburg deck
themselves out in dresses estimated to
cost $3.50 apiece. So fantastic Is the
medley of colors to be seen in a sin
edges of their aprons are elaborate
of laces, braids, iuffs, fringes, flowers
and Jewels, that 1T looks more like the
sacred robe Of some Oriental priest
than the bridal dress of a simple peas
ant girl, for 1t happens that a great
many Plattdeutsche maidens postpone
their weddings until just after the
T~rachtenfest, so that they may appear
then in the costumes they are to be
married in. Next year the dress will
he worn by some other bride, m SO
on down the years.
A costume peculiarly grotesque Is
worn by the Stadthagen women, their
h~eadgear much resembling that worn
by the Great Tormentor" at the in
citation of a certain American secret
society. On their breasts they wear a
shield the size of a saucer, and the
gle costume, so extravagant is the use
with neerdlework. over which hundreds
of hands have toiled. Yet not all, OF
the paraders are gay. Some of. the
Scheessel women wear the simple garb
OF communicates, with white yokes and
white caps, and from Sitten comes a
delegation which walks behind a wagon
with heads bowed and in weeds Of
mourning.
So Men Appear Very Plain.
In comparison with the women the
men appear extremely plain. Their
~ostentation is limited chiefly to buttons,
with which some of them fairly v
themselves, and" which vary. In size
from q pea to a butter dish. All the
kings appear peculiarly stiff and
awkward in their fine clothes, and ever
those who are wont to wear their cos
tunes now and then on a Sunday, in
stead of slowing them away for the
rest Of the year, seem to feel uncom
Portable restraint. The music heard
when the procession has ended n the
various couples are ~"treading the
mazes of the dance would make one
think that these people are akin to the
Scotch Highlanders. One dance is es-
pecially like the Highland fling; and.
as a matter Of fact, 1t Is called the
'Klapper Scottish" The celebration
generally ends with tableaus showing
the peasants in the dairy, the harvest
field or among the bee hives.
OF recent years the Trachtenfest has