The globe-independent. (Hagerstown, Md.) 1943-19??, 1949-08-25
HORSE AND
BUGGY DAYS
by
Ida 10 Martin

kittle or you won't be married for
seven years" So have often heard
it said when the water beins to
boil. And it seems that this odd
bit of philosophy comes from that
group of people told about in last
weeks column, the Pennsylvania
Dutch. AS we have had good per-
centage of these folks in our County
since its beginning, the things l tell
about them concerns us all.
It was interesting to me to read
one statement, the truth of which l
have long known, but never saw in
print before. That is the fact that
Pennsylvania Dutch" includes many
different kinds of people; we so
often tend to think only of the so
called plain" people as the Penn
sylvania Dutch, but there are many
others in this classification too.
Many of them are not connected
with any particular religious group
and this had been true from the
very start of these people in this
country.
From them come many strange
savings, such as the one opening
this column. OF course today these
maxims are remembered and re-
peated more as a memory of the past
than anything else, but I wonder if
they are really believed in by some.
Anyway, if you are not married, you
can use some other excuse for not
letting the water boil.
One thing that has always been
outstanding to most observers of
the customs of these people is the
designs that are used in everything
they do. To the traveller from other
sections, these are first seen on the
barns. Those of us who live among
them, are familiar with the designs
in many places; in rugs, quilts, dec
orations inlaid in furniture, and
many, many other uses. We have
come to take them for granted, as
natural part of these peoples
lives. But some have gone to great
trouble to try to find explanations
for the designs; what they mean,
why they are used, why so many
forms, and yet some of the designs
used so widely. Most of these ques-
lions remain unanswered, and prob
ably will remain so. AS one writer
said, 'to us the most important fact
is that they are indeed decorative,
and strikingly beautiful"
One of the basic forms for these
designs is an intriguing combination
of circles, one that has provided
amusement for many youngsters
with their early school sets of pen
ellis etc To draw this one, use an
ordinary compass for drawing cir
cles. First draw a circle with the
compass. Then, without changing
the set of the compass, place the
steel point of the compass, the leg
that was at the center of the circle,
at any place on the circumference of
the circle drawn. Now draw just
that part of new circle from this
point, the part that falls within the
original circle Move the steel point
to the crossing of the first circle and
the one just drawn, and from this
point draw the part of new circle
that falls within the original circle.
Move to the last crossing, and con-
tinue this till you arrive at the
first point used on the original cir
cumference. You now have cir
Gle, with six evenly spaced seq
ments of circles within. This is one
of the basic forms used in the
strange designs described above. In
teresting variations of this can be
had by drawing only half of each
section of circle within the original.
Just for fun, get out compass and
try it.
Also of interest is the form of the
compass used by the farmers and
carpenters today A strip of board,
the length a little more than the
desired radius, is used, with a nail
through one end as the center, and
either a nail or pencil held against
the other end as a marker. Another
variation is a nail driven lightly
as center, and a piece of string
used in place of the strip of board.
There is little doubt that many
of the designs were drawn free
hand. In those days, fiourishing
handwriting was a very practical
art. l have seen some of these de-
signs reproduced on rug and quilt
materials just from memory and
with no guide or pattern, such as
the curves craftsmen use today.
Besides the form of design that |
mentioned, there has been great
FTN