The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1911-10-30


amusing incidents.
In listening to Miss Taylor, one got
a very clear impression, Of those
twenty-one islands. with their rock
bound coast, where the sea at all
times beats against the cliffs, some
of them of very high altitude Here
the sea birds in countless numbers
circle about necessarily and 1t Is the
birds that are one great source OF
food for the peasants. Miss Taylor
told of the danger to which the men
are exposed in catching these birds,
because 1t means that they must go
far out over the cliffs, where false
step leads to death The absence of
cats and rats on the Islands has
been a means of preserving the fowl
and today there are thousands OF
them. There are no wharves where
ship may dock in all the islands,
which accounts for the freedom from
rats.
She spoke of the little villages or
hamlets. close to the sea and the
marshy peat land and the hills far
inland There are few vegetables,
but barley is a staple product and
sheep raising the chief occupation.
Then too, the peasants are engaged
in cod fishing and during the months
of July and August, great schools OF
whale are killed. Whale meat is a
favorite dish of the peasant and
Miss Taylor gave a thrilling descrip-
ton of the way in which they are
killed
The islands are subject to the
Crown Of Denmark and Danish Is the
official language, although old Morse
is spoken to some extent. Miss Tay-
lor told of the ballad dances, where
the peasants dance to the singing OF
the old ballads and sagas at we'd
dings and funerals and on other i'm
portant occasions.
Travel on the islands is very diff
cult, as there are no roads, no wag-
ons and only occasionally a boat,
which goes from one island to an
other The boats are built like the
old Viking boats and are manned by
four, six and eight men as the wealth
er demands In eight man weather,
as IL is called, one takes his life in
his hands IL he ventures out to sea.
even with eight sturdy, hardened
men to row 1t is only In the direst
necessity that the men will go In
such weather.
Many old customs and supersti-
lions still exist among the peasants
and because of the dangers to which
they are exposed from the sea and
the elements, they still cling to
these traditions which have been
handed down from the old Vikings
and Norsemen. They are sensitive
about these beliefs and afraid of rid
icule, so seldom admit to stranger
that evil spirits are lurking outside
their windows or that during the
dark cold winter, the mountain wit.
ches are screaming among the hills
They are not without religious in
struction however, as there are In
the islands forty-one churches and
seven pastors, who go about among
the hamlets and are under the Blsh
op of Denmark.
Miss Taylor spoke OF peasant al
whose home she had visited and who
was numbered among the aristoc
racy, which means that his ancestors
many years ago had received land
from the Danish Crown and this LAND
had been handed down from father
to son for seven hundred years. This
fact is significant, as the son inner
its the land only on the condition
that he is worthy, otherwise he II
disinherited. On this particular
farm, the owner has carefully cult
waited garden which is rather OF 9
curiosity. as there are no gardens
outside the capital. Vegetation
everywhere is very sparse and Their,
are no trees, except those which ar,
brought from Denmark and trans
planted. In his garden. this peasant
laoors during the bright summer