RURAL DENMARK 



AND ITS LESSONS 



AN OLD DANISH TOWN 



After an encounter with the North Sea in one of 

 its ugly moods, emphasised by the fact that the 

 steamers from Harwich to Esbjerg bring little cargo 

 and therefore roll proportionately, the visitor to 

 Denmark may do worse than spend a day of con- 

 valescence in visiting the old town of Ribe. It lies 

 about fifteen miles to the south of Esbjerg, not far 

 from the German frontier, and is best reached by rail, 

 though perhaps a motor-cab would do the journey in 

 less time. Some Danish trains progress but slowly. 



Thither I went upon a beautiful Sunday in Sep- 

 tember 1 910. The first thing that I noticed was 

 the enormous number of Danes who seem to travel 

 on the Sabbath, apparently for holiday reasons. The 

 fine station of the rising port of Esbjerg was full of 

 them, as was every other at which we stopped, and 

 in the train itself there were no seats to spare. 



As for the travellers, these much resembled a 

 collection of ordinary English folk in their best 

 clothes ; indeed at a distance and out of earshot it 

 would be difficult to discover any difference, perhaps 

 because the blood is so largely identical. In manners, 

 however, there is a difference, since the average Dane 



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