s 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 "AEleskiver," a peasant delicacy,
washed down by a glass of aqua-vitae, 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 th