Peeps at Many Lands: Belgium | Page 3

potatoes, and salted pork or fish. There are lots of boys
and girls who eat nothing all the year round but black bread and
potatoes, and who look on pork or fish as quite a treat. Sometimes they
spread lard on their slices of bread, and there are many who have never
tasted butter in their lives. Yet they appear to be very strong and happy.
They drink black coffee, or beer if their parents can afford it. The food
of the older people is much the same.
Most of the people in the country districts of Flanders--men, women,
boys, and girls--work in the fields. In summer they rise at four or five
in the morning, and after eating a slice of bread go out into the fields.
At half-past eleven or twelve they dine on bread and potatoes, with
perhaps a slice of pork, and take a rest. Then they work again till about
four in the afternoon, when they rest again, and after that they work on
till it is dark. In the short days of winter they toil from sunrise till
sunset. By this means they earn enough to live on. A boy or girl may
get from 5d. to 7d. a day, a woman a little more, while a married man
generally receives 1s. 8d. or 2s. Some farmers pay an unmarried
labourer 10d. and his food.
This seems a dull and hard life, but the Flemings do not find it so. Like
all Belgians, they are fond of amusement, and there is a great deal of
dancing and singing, especially on holidays. Sunday is the chief
holiday. They all go to church in the morning, and the rest of the day is
given up to play. Unfortunately many of the older people drink too
much. There are far too many public-houses. Any person who likes can
open one on payment of a small sum of money to the Government. The
result is that in many quite small villages, where very few people live,
there are ten or twelve public-houses, where a large glass of beer is sold
for less than a penny, and a glass of coarse spirits for about the same
price. Most of the drinking is done on Sunday, and on Monday morning
it is often difficult to get men to work. There are many, especially in
the towns, who never work on Mondays. This is quite understood in
Belgium, and people who know the country are pleased, and rather
surprised, if an artisan who has promised to come and do something on
a Monday morning keeps his word. Of course there are many sober

work-people, and it is a rare thing to see a tipsy woman, much rarer
than in England; but there is a great deal of drunkenness in Belgium.
There is one thing to which all the boys and girls look forward, and that
is what is called the Kermesse. This is a kind of fair, which takes place
at every village in summer, and lasts for two or three days. They talk
about it for weeks before, and for weeks after. They save up every
penny they can lay their hands on, and when the time comes they leave
their work or the school as soon as possible in the afternoon, put on
their best clothes, and enjoy themselves.
The village street is full of stalls covered with cheap toys, sweetmeats,
and all sorts of tempting little articles, and you may be sure the pennies
melt away very quickly. Flags of black, red, and yellow stripes--the
Belgian national colours--fly on the houses. A band of music plays.
Travelling showmen are there with merry-go-rounds, and the children
are never tired of riding round and round on the gaily painted wooden
horses. Then there is dancing in the public-houses, in which all the
villagers, except the very old people, take part. Boys and girls hop
round, and if there are not enough boys the girls take each other for
partners, while the grown-up lads and young women dance together.
[Illustration: A SHRIMPER ON HORSEBACK, COXYDE.]
The rooms in these public-houses are pretty large, but they get
dreadfully hot and stuffy. The constant laughing and talking, the music,
and the scraping of feet on the sanded floor make an awful din. Then
there are sometimes disputes, and the Flemings have a nasty habit of
using knives when they are angry, so the dancing, which often goes on
till two or three in the morning, is the least pleasant thing about these
gatherings.
This is a very old Belgian custom, but of late years the Kermesses in
the big towns have changed in character, and are just ordinary fairs,
with menageries and things of that sort, which you can find in England
or anywhere