As The Netherlands is getting ready to celebrate St Nicholas, on the5th December I thought as we can not go walking rather explain thisfeast day and open a page to some holiday, traditional customs, andfeasts, that are celebrated in The Netherlands.
Holidays - Traditional customs and feasts:
St Martin : 11th November .
In The Netherlands, (In the north where I live), Friesland, the children go from door to door with lighted lanterns, and little bags (where you put their treats in), and they sing their songs to you and hope in return that you will give them a treat, a sweet, chocolate or in some cases people will give mandarins.
I remember when I first arrived in 1994 in The Netherlands, I saw all these little children with their lanterns (I was out walking with my husband), and we were walking along the canal by our house and I said to him "oh, isn't that cute and sweet, they are singing and they have their lanterns lit so they can go night fishing", well I phoned my mother from a call box by the shops in our area and she laughed when she heard this and said to me "you had better hurry and buy sweets, as it isSt Martins and they will come to your door and sing and expect a treat".
Luckily I got to the shops in time and bought sweets and hurried home, to tell my children what was happening, (as they had not started school yet) so that is how we did not know what was going on.Oh! how embarresing, to this day I still think of this and laugh at how naive I was, but it was a nice thought anyway.But this is actually the true story of St Martin .
The Story of St Martin, is that one stormy night St Martin came across a beggar and St Martin gave him half of his cloak and half of his loaf of bread, and offered hospitality in his home.
To this day St Martin is known for his kindness to the beggar and this is why we celebrate St Martin.
St Martin is a bit like the trick and treat that is celebrated in the United.States and England on halloween. 31st October.
One of the songs the children sing, when they come to your door.
Dutch.
Sint Maarten, Sint Maarten,
De koeien hebben staarten,
De meisjes hebben rokjes aan,
De jongers hebben sokken aan,
Daar komt Sint Maartinus aan.
English. (Translated, something like this).
Saint Martin, Saint Martin,
The cows have tails,
The girls have dresses on,
The boys have socks on,
There comes Saint Martin.
St Nicholas : 5th December .
Widely celebrated in Europe, St. Nicholas' feast day, December 6th, kept alive the stories of his goodness and generosity.
In the Netherlands and Belgium, St. Nicholas arrived on a steamship from Spain to ride a white horse on his gift-giving rounds.
December 6th is still the main day for gift giving and merry making in much of Europe.
For example, in the Netherlands St. Nicholas' Day is celebrated with the sharing of sweets (thrown in the door), chocolate initial letters, small gifts, and riddles.
Dutch children leave carrots and hay in their shoes for the horse, hoping St. Nicholas will exchange them for small gifts.
Simple gift-giving in early Advent helps preserve a Christmas Day focus on the Christ Child.
They also sing songs, the song that was taught to me in Rhodesia by my mother was as follows:
SinterKlaas Kapuntje,
gooi wat in mij schoentje,
gooi wat in mij larsje,
dankje santeklaasje.
Translated in english, something like this.
Santa Claus Kapuntje, (what Kapuntje, stand for I do not know).
throw what in my shoes,
throw what in my boots,
thank you, Santa Claus.
Here is a picture of the steam boat St Nicholaas came on in Leeuwarden. In the background is the 'Oldehove" (our leaning tower).
Here is a picture of St Nicholaas arriving in Leeuwarden 1995. The Prinsentuin.
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