108 The Story of The Bronx 



of colonial life ; a few words will suffice for the lighter side, the 

 frolics, the amusements, the weddings, and the funerals. 



The Dutch were great for frolics, as they were termed, and 

 the English readily took up the customs of their neighbors. 

 The negro is an inborn musician and he always served as the 

 fiddler upon these occasions, which generally took place in the 

 winter time, when the snow upon the ground made travel 

 quick and pleasant. Gathering at the home of some farmer 

 or at a convenient tavern, the frolickers indulged in dancing, 

 card playing, and drinking until daylight made its appearance. 

 Wrestling was also a favorite amusement with the English, as 

 well as horse-racing and hunting, the latter in the winter time 

 when their Dutch neighbors were skating on the frozen ponds 

 or coasting down the snow-covered hills. The Maypole was 

 erected on May-day, and everybody celebrated it as a holiday 

 in the manner of Merry England. The bands of children who 

 throng the New York parks during the month of May keep 

 alive this particular abomination of the Puritan. The Fifth 

 of November was also celebrated with bonfires and the burn- 

 ing of effigies, in memory of Guy Fawkes and the failure of the 

 Gunpowder Plot; this, too, is strangely kept alive to-day in 

 New York by the bonfires which illumine the city streets on 

 Election night, which usually comes within a day or so of 

 November fifth, or Guy Fawkes Day. 



New Year's Day was the greatest holiday of all with the 

 Dutch, when the burgher or the boer put aside his work, decked 

 himself in his best clothes, and went around to the houses of 

 his friends to wish them happiness during the coming year, to 

 the accompaniment of numerous pipes and glasses of schnapps. 

 The good old Dutch custom prevailed with us until the 

 drunkenness and debauchery which the abuse of the custom 

 produced, led to its stoppage a few years back. Pfingster, or 



