Today, it's St.Martin's Day and the evening Dutch children celebrate his life by going house to house after dark , carrying home-made lanterns and singing songs in the hope of being rewarded with sweets . So it was a surprise to open the door this afternoon , shortly after lunch , to a tiny , very perky "ghost" and friend who promptly burst into song , a lively rendition of "Saint Martin , Saint Martin , the cows have tails ...." ( it sounds better in the original ) ... ending in a grand Al Jolson flourish and extra Tah-Dah !! Irrepressible as ever , the little girl from a few doors down was delighted to be given some cake by YD , who was tickled by their chutzpah .
Fast forward to 7.30 .... and a puzzled mum trying to haul carefully polished daughter out from behind her , "Oh come on , don't be shy , poppet They'd love to hear you sing , wouldn't you? "
" Oh yes , don't be shy . I'd love to hear a St Martin's song . Do you know any ? "
So we all sang along , while lantern waggled and saucer eyes peered round mum's legs , begging not to be given away .
And I didn't . I just popped a chocolate bar in her goodie bag and wished YD hadn't missed the encore .
9 comments:
Entrepreneurs in waiting:)
Quite delightful! And so much nicer than Hallowe'en, which I have come to loathe as it becomes ever more Americanised.
That sounds like so much fun! I hadn't heard of that tradition from Gerrit or his kids - I love that they sing. Our neighborhood kids just say, "Trick or treat" to get sweets on Hallowe'en. Where my sister lives, in Iowa, the custom is for the kids to tell a joke to get a treat.
He he, she'll go far!
It’s never St. Martin’s Day today? And I completely missed it.
No kids round here know it but I can always watch a Martin’s procession on German TV.
Drat! I love these reminders of my childhood.
ohhh like in germany here in spain they don´t celebrate it.
Sounds so much nicer than what Halloween has become here! I'd like to see them sing or something! Instead they just pound on the door, and shove a ridiculously large "bag" in your face while intoning [tonelessly] "Trick or Treat!" But there never is a trick.....Obviously I've turned grumpy in my declining years, but it never was even close to my favourite holiday. So, tell us more about St. Martin's Day?
I love hearing about other cultural holidays! How cool! I think our commercialized version of Samhain, commonly known as Hallowe'en, would be so much more fun if the adults accompanying the kids were forced to sing silly songs!
What a lovely tradition. AS someone said, much nicer than halloween.
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