Legendary Christmas For Dutch Children

Press, Volume CVII, Issue 31543, 4 December 1967, Page 2

Legendary Christmas For Dutch Children

Major and minor differences between the customs of New Zealand and the Netherlands reach their climax in December and this is the (me month in the year which can give the Dutchman living in New Zealand a bout of nostalgia, according to Mr J. G. P. Andre, editor of the monthly newsletter of the Christchurch Netherlands Society.

Sinterklaas (St Nicholas) and his white horse, and Zwarte Piet (Black Peter) still “win hands down” over Santa and his reindeer in manyDutch households in Christchurch, said Mr Andre. Dutch children in Holland receive their parcels on December 5, or the morning of December 6, which is St Nicholas's birthday. St Nicholas knows all about ■ the children’s behaviour and he carries a little book with all their names. In November he arrives from Spain by steamer and for weeks he rides the rooftops on his white horse and listens through the chimneys to find out whether the children are good. The children drop sugar animals in their clogs and shoes and put them in front of the fireplace before they go to bed.

St Nicholas has several Black Peters (this is a Moorish Influence) helping him with the presents.

Most of these Peters are nice to children, but if naughty boys play the fool with them . . . watch out They have their rods ready to beat them and if they are very naughty they put them in sacks and carry them back to Spain for bard work in the toy factories. To keep their children acquainted with the centuriesold Dutch custom of St Nicholas, the Netherlands Society has arranged a traditional St Nicholas afternoon in Christchurch on Saturday.

St Nicholas and his Black Peter will arrive at Hagley High School in Hagley Avenue at 2 p.m. on Saturday, December 9, and a typical Dutch Christmas programme will follow.

Scandinavians living in Christchurch will also bold a traditional Christmas party for the children on Saturday. Santa Lucia, wearing long white robes with a red sash and a crown of lighted candles in her hair will lead the procession in the Friendship Hall in Cashel Street at 2.30 p.m.

The legend of Santa Lucia dates from Lucia, one of the early Christian martyrs who lived in Syracuse in Sicily. Her martyrdom resulted in her blindness and she is the patron saint for the blind. In Sweden the Santa Lucia Festival was originally observed as a church feast, but after the reformation it was continued as a family rite. Early in the morning of December 13, before dawn, a “Lucia-brud” visits the various members of the family, dressed in a long white robe, and wearing lighted candles set in a crown decorated with greenery. She brings a tray of coffee and specially baked buns which she serves to the family. These buns are Ludakatter, made to resemble a cat

This custom has now spread throughout the Scandinavian countries.

Since 1927 the Swedish newspapers have made much Of the celebrating of Lucia, and each year a competition is held to select the prettiest Lucia among Swedish girls in Stockholm. The lucky one is then crowned and drives through the city and lends her presence to various charitable causes. In the evening when a dinner is given in honour of the Nobel Prize winners, Lucia is invited as one of the guests.

The night before Lucia is said to be the longest night in the year, and her appearance on December 13, as the Queen of Light, carries with it a promise that longer days will return, and symbolically that Light will triumph over Darkness, in her own Why she brings a message of the joy and goodwill that will come with the celebration of Christmas.