MANNERS AND CUSTOMS
The Danes being a polite and well-mannered race, the children are early
taught to tender thanks for little pleasures, and this they do in a
pretty way by thrusting out their tiny hands and saying, "Tak" (Thank
you). It is the Danish custom to greet everybody, including the
servants, with "Good-morning," and always on entering a shop you give
greeting, and say farewell on leaving. In the market-place it is the
same; also the children, when leaving school, raise their caps to the
teacher and call out, "Farvel! farvel!" In the majority of houses when
the people rise from the table they say, "Tak for Mad"[1] to the host,
who replies, "Velbekomme."[2] The children kiss their parents and say
the same, while the parents often kiss each other and say, "Velbekomme."
The Danes are rather too eager to wipe out old customs, and in
Copenhagen the fashionable people ignore this pretty ceremony. The
majority, however, feel uncomfortable if not allowed to thank their host
or hostess for their food.
[Illustration: CHILDREN'S DAY.]
A Danish lady, about to visit England for the first time, was told
that here it was customary to say "Grace" after meals. The surprise of
the English host may be imagined when his Danish guest, on rising from
the table, solemnly put out her hand and murmured the word "Grace!"
After a day or two, when this ceremony had been most dutifully performed
after every meal, the Englishman thought he had better ask for an
explanation. This was given, and the young Dane joined heartily in the
laugh against herself!
The Danes begin their day with a light breakfast of coffee, fresh rolls,
and butter, but the children generally have porridge, or "öllebröd,"
before starting for school. This distinctly Danish dish is made of
rye-bread, beer, milk, cream, and sometimes with the addition of a
beaten-up egg. This "Ske-Mad"[3] is very sustaining, but I fear would
prove a little too much for those unaccustomed to it. Øllebröd also is
the favourite Saturday supper-dish of the working-classes, with the
addition of salt herrings and slices of raw onion, which doubtless
renders it more piquant.
At noon "Mid-dag"[4] is served. Another peculiar delicacy common both to
this meal and supper is "Smörrebröd," a "variety" sandwich consisting of
a slice of bread and butter covered with sausage, ham, fish, meat,
cheese, etc. making a tempting display, not hidden as in our sandwich by
a top layer of bread. The Danes are very hospitable, and often invite
poor students to dine with them regularly once a week. Dinner consists
of excellent soup (in summer made of fruit or preserves), meat, pudding
or fruit, and cream, and even the poorest have coffee after this meal.
Prunes, stewed plums or apples, and sometimes cranberry jam, are always
served with the meat or game course, together with excellent but rather
rich sauce. The Danish housewife prides herself on the latter, as her
cooking abilities are often judged by the quality of her sauces. It is
quite usual for the Danish ladies to spend some months in learning
cooking and housekeeping in a large establishment to complete their
education.
"Vær saa god"[5] says the maid or waiter when handing you anything, and
this formula is repeated by everyone when they wish you to enter a room,
or, in fact, to do anything.
Birthdays and other anniversaries are much thought of in Denmark. The
"Födelsdagsbarn"[6] is generally given pretty bouquets or pots of
flowers, as well as presents. Flowers are used on every joyous occasion.
Students, both men and women, may be seen almost covered with bright
nosegays, given by their friends to celebrate any examination
successfully passed.
Christmas Eve, and not Christmas Day, is the festive occasion in
Denmark. Everybody, including the poorest, must have a Christmas-tree,
and roast goose, apple-cake, rice porridge with an almond in it, form
the banquet. The lucky person who finds the almond receives an extra
present, and much mirth is occasioned by the search. The tree is lighted
at dusk, and the children dance round it and sing. This performance
opens the festivities; then the presents are given, dinner served, and
afterwards the young people dance.
Christmas Day is kept quietly, but the day after (St. Stephen's Day) is
one of merriment and gaiety, when the people go from house to house to
greet their friends and "skaal" with them.
New Year's Eve brings a masque ball for the young folk, a supper,
fireworks, and at midnight a clinking of glasses, when healths are drunk
in hot punch.
On Midsummer's Night fires are lighted all over the country, and people
gather together to watch the burning of the tar-barrels. Near a lake or
on the seashore the reflections glinting on the water make a strangely
brilliant sight. On some of the fjords a water carnival makes a pretty
addition to these fires, which the children are told have been lighted
to scare the witches!
The Monday before Lent is a holiday in all the schools. Early in the
morning the children, provided with decorated sticks, "fastelavns Ris,"
rouse their parents and others from slumber. All who are found asleep
after a certain time must pay a forfeit of Lenten buns. Later in the day
the children dress themselves up in comical costume and parade the
streets, asking money from the passer-by as our children do on Guy
Fawkes' Day.
A holy-day peculiar to Denmark is called "Store-Bededag" (Great Day of
Prayer), on the eve of which (Danes keep eves of festivals only) the
church bells ring and the people promenade in their best clothes.
"Store-Bededag" is the fourth Friday after Easter, and all business is
at a standstill, so that the people can attend church. On Whit-Sunday
some of the young folks rise early to see the sun dance on the water and
wash their faces in the dew. This is in preparation for the greatest
holiday in the year, Whit-Monday, when all give themselves up to outdoor
pleasure.
"Grundlovsdag," which is kept in commemoration of the granting of a free
Constitution to the nation by Frederik VII., gives the town bands and
trade-unions an opportunity to parade the streets and display their
capability in playing national music. "Children's Day" is a school
holiday, and the children dress in the old picturesque Danish costumes;
they then go about the town and market-places begging alms for the
sanatoriums in their collecting-boxes. In this way a large sum is
collected for these charities.
"Knocking-the-cat-out-of-the-barrel" is an old custom of the peasantry
which takes place the Monday before Lent. The young men dress themselves
gaily, and, armed with wooden clubs, hie them to the village green. Here
a barrel is suspended with a cat inside it. Each man knocks the barrel
with his club as he runs underneath it, and he who knocks a hole big
enough to liberate poor puss is the victor. The grotesque costumes, the
difficulty of stooping and running under the barrel in them, when all
your energies and attention are required for the blow, result in many a
comical catastrophe, which the bystanders enjoy heartily. Puss is
frightened, but not hurt, and I think it would be just as amusing
without the cat, but the Danish peasants think otherwise. Another
pastime which takes place on the same day is called "ring-riding." The
men, wearing paper hats and gay ribbons, gallop round the course, trying
to snatch a suspended ring in passing. The man who takes the ring three
times in succession is called "King," he who takes it twice "Prince."
When the sport is over, King and Prince, with their train of
unsuccessful competitors, ride round to the farms and demand refreshment
for their gay cavalcade, of which "Æleskiver," a peasant delicacy,
washed down by a glass of aqua-vitæ, forms a part.
On the eve of "Valborg's Dag" (May-Day) bonfires are lighted, and the
young Danes have a dinner and dance given to them. Each dance is so long
that it is customary for the young men to change their partners two or
three times during the waltz.
A beautiful custom is still preserved among the older peasantry: when
they cross the threshold of their neighbour's house they say, "God's
peace be in this house."
All domestic servants, students, and other people who reside away from
home for a time, take about with them a chest of drawers as well as a
trunk. I suppose they find this necessary, because in Denmark a chest of
drawers is seldom provided in a bedroom.
When the first snowdrops appear, the boys and girls gather some and
enclose them in a piece of paper, on which is written a poem. This
"Vintergække-Brev," which they post to their friends, is signed by
ink-spots, as numerous as the letters in their name. The friend must
guess the name of the sender within a week, or the latter demands a
gift.
Confirmation means coming-out in Denmark. As this is the greatest
festival of youth, the young folk are loaded with presents; then girls
put up their hair and boys begin to smoke.
The marriage of a daughter is an expensive affair for parents in
Denmark, as they are supposed to find all the home for the bride, as
well as the trousseau. The wedding-ring is worn by both while engaged,
as well as after the marriage ceremony.
The Epiphany is celebrated in many homes by the burning of three
candles, and the children are given a holiday on this, the festival of
the Three Kings. No doubt you know this is a commemoration of the three
wise men of the East presenting their offerings of gold, frankincense,
and myrrh to our Lord.
Storks are considered the sacred birds of Denmark. These harbingers of
good-luck the children take great interest in, and more especially in
the growth of the stork family on the roof-tree.