280 GERMANY. 



and the sterile regions of the Geest. Gipsies camped until recently on the downs of 

 the Hiimmling, to the east of the Ems. In addition to them there were errant 

 bands of outcasts, supposed to be the descendants of refugees driven out of their 

 homes during the Thirty Years' "War, and known as " Scissors Grinders." These 

 two " accursed " peoples mutually detested each other, and never lost an opportunity 

 of inflicting injury upon one another. In the end they were made to settle down 

 in homesteads, and all traces of them have disappeared. The dark-complexioned 

 inhabitants in the neighbourhood of Meppen are supposed to be descended from 

 them. 



The Frisians on the seaboard are distinguished amongst all Germans by 

 strength of character and high-mindedness. In some respects they resemble 

 Englishmen, and the language they speak has many analogies with old 

 English. The Frisians have some right to feel proud and confident, for have 

 they not conquered from the sea the land they inhabit, and converted insalubrious 

 swamps into fertile fields ? Their perseverance is hereditary, and the liberty 

 they enjoyed through the protection afforded by their islands and the heaths of 

 the Geest has enabled them to develop their powers to the full. Some of their 

 tribes withstood entire armies for generations. The Stedingers, who lived on the 

 right bank of the Hunte, in what is now Oldenburg, resisted for thirty years all 

 Christendom, desirous of avenging upon them the death of a missionary. Forty 

 thousand crusaders were sent against this handful of Frisians, who, rather than 

 yield, allowed themselves to be killed to the last man. Elsewhere, too, the 

 Frisians struggled long before they surrendered their independence. The ancient 

 spirit of liberty still lives amongst them : Liewer dued us Slav (Rather dead than a 

 slave) is the motto on their coat of arms, and their greeting is still the venerable 

 Edciyfnja Fresena ! (Hail, free Frisian !) 



Accustomed to judge all things from a utilitarian point of view, the Fries- 

 lander is not likely to trouble himself about others ; and the time when he prayed 

 God to " bless the strand " — that is, to cover it with wrecks — does not lie very far 

 behind us. He has no love for art. Fn'sia non cantat is an old proverb. He is 

 a man of strong common sense and of few words. The dweller in the " marsh 

 lands " differs in many respects from the inhabitant of the Geest. The former, 

 enjoying a regular revenue from his productive toil, is somewhat haughty. *' He is 

 a fat ox," say his neighbours. The inhabitant of the sand tracts, on the other 

 hand, is obliged to scheme and to work hard in order to make a living. He 

 is less wealthy than the owners of the "marshes," but more spirited and gay. 

 He is, too, a greater traveller, for necessity often compels him to go to other countries 

 in search of work. Thousands of Oldenburgers annually migrate to Eastern Fries- 

 land, where they work during the summer as mowers or turf-cutters. These 

 migrants are known as " Hollanders." Like birds of passage, they regularly leave 

 in spring and return in the autumn. 



The Westphalian peasants towards the head- streams of the Ems, between 

 Delbriick and Miinster, rival the Frieslanders in their fidelity to ancient customs 

 These descendants of the old Saxons are the most conservative element in Germany, 



