But there w^ere li\-elier festivals than those incident to the taking-off of honest and considerate burghers. Many an odd custom marked the keei)ing of such holidays as Kecstijd (Christmas), Nicmvjaarsdag, Paaschdag (Easter), and Pinxtcrfccst. Christmas, to be sure, was not held in great esteem, for New Year's day was the occasion upon which St. Nicholas and his A'rouw, Molly Grietje, visited the faithful. About the fireplaces of the old All^an}- houses, on New^ Year's eve, the children stood a-row and sang the time-honoured verses :

Santa Klaus, goedt heilig man! Knopyebest van Amsterdam, Van Amsterdam aan Spanje, Van Spanje aan Orange, En brang deze kindjes eenige graps.

The old custom of making New Year's calls has continued down to our own day, dying hard after more than two centuries of use.

Pinxter was the negroes' festival, and celebrated by the slaves under the leadership of the " Pinxter King' with W'ildest mummeries. They paraded in grotesque costumes through the streets, varying their mareh with tmeouth dances and accompanying them with their own songs. The last of these parades took place in 1822.

534 The Hudson River

It is hard to get away from the thread of homely yet dehghtful Hfe that winds in and out between the landmarks of Albany's history and the biographies of her many eminent men. We listen to the eloquence of Jay or Livingston, but with an ear open to catch the crooning of a cradle-song, somewhere within a gableended dwelling, over whose sanded floor some Schuyler, or Beekman, or Van Dyke has taken his first tottering steps in infancy. How many a small morsel of Dutch humanity, nestling his flaxen poll on his mother's arm, has closed his blue eyes to the music of Trip a trop a troontjes, De varkens in de boontjes, De koetjes in de klaver, De paarden in de haver, De eenjes in de waterplas, De kalf in de lang gras, So groot mijn kleine poppet je was.