Page 34 and Page 35

Page 34:

because we were using wagons for hauling. So he would add a third horse which I was supposed to lead up and out of the hole. However, since the path out of the hole was very narrow and there was the constant danger of me stumbling and falling. There was a constant chance of me getting crushed by either the horses or by the wagon. Therefore I had to ride on the lead horse. Riding him up and out of the pit and then back down to hitch him in front of the next load. At that time I was about 11 years old! Then, during the following winter, he constructed some marl boxes that sat on two wheels and were drawn by a single horse. So the following summer, when we once again where digging for marl we went ahead and used the new boxes. I got to be the driver of one of those carts, but on the very first load that I hauled, the entire operation went south. I chose to put the tailgate down first after which I pulled a pin in the front of the cart. As soon as I had pulled said pin the entire load started dropping out of the back of the cart. Once the load started moving it immediately pulled back the horse and the trace. Due to my lack of familiarity with the equipment I found myself standing too close and pinning my left leg in between the wheel and the trace making it impossible for me to move. I had to call for help and it wasn't long before some of them came to my aid. They motioned for the horse to take a step forward which was enough to release my leg. However, it was quite a while

Page 35:

Danske Bogstaver

before my knee got better because of how badly it had gotten crushed. There wasn't much to say about my schooling since there was never really enough time to go to school and I was just as happy being able to stay home. As long as I was in what we referred to as the "Small class" we'd go to school every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The older children who were in the "Big class" went on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. In the "Small class we had to learn how to write the lower case letters as follows:

 and in  the "Big class" we had to write the upper case letters the following way

These are what we back then called the upper and lower case letters. However, during the final years of my schooling we were also required to learn how to write the Latin letters that we use now. We also had to practice writing words as well as entire sentences, and even letters and the like. Back then it was the norm that all announcements, posters and notices, that were posted on street corners and on the side of houses were collected and brought to the schools for the children 

Page 32 and Page 33

Page 32:

On the very same day when we had finished harvesting the hay, there was a party at Peer Jensen at Tranegaard, who was a homesteader who had recently relocated from Vallebo. These people kept bees and brewed mead. My mother gave me four schilling for pocket money and I was supposed to use that to buy a pint of mead. This would go nicely with the slice of bread that mother cut for me and wrapped in a red handkerchief for me.

I remember the first time when we ploughed our own property and as I recall it was a rather short lived affair. Hans Jørgen and I went out into the field to plough, and the larger one of the two of us would handle the plow while the other one would guide the lead horse. We had four horses hitched to the plow and I was now old enough to lead them. However, when we reached the far end of the acre and had to turn around, we ran into a bit of trouble. He spoke to me in a very rough tone and I of course gave it right back to him. He then told me that I was under his command and that I'd better keep quiet while he was speaking. Upon finishing that sentence he slapped me on the side of the head. I of course thought that this was extremely disrespectful! So I threw the reigns to the ground and ran home to tell mother how rude

Page 33:

he had been to strike me. How he had managed to get the four horses unhitched and brought back home was no concern of mine. My mother could see that this wasn't working out at all. So she made inquiries about hiring a farmhand whose name was Jørgen Petersen and who was the brother to my uncle Christian's wife on my mother's side. He had served in the army and was by all accounts a very capable guy. As I grew older and gained a better understanding of things, I always felt that the reason that my siblings and I received as much of an inheritance as we did, following the passing of our parents, was largely thanks to Jørgen's sense of loyalty to our family. However, he was also a very strict leader and he utterly refused to ask us to do something more than once. He had acquired a bit of money which he lent to my mother for the purchase of better horses that in turn would allow him to plough deeper. He also spent much time fixing and maintaining the farm equipment in order to better work the ground. The harvest that we took in the following year already showed great improvements due to his hard work and ingenuity. He would spread marl to a different parcel of land each year, and during this time all my brothers and sisters were required to lend a hand. Some of us were in the marl pits loading the carts while others were in the field distributing it. As we dug deeper and deeper into the ground we'd get to a point where two horses no longer were able to pull the load out of the hole   

Wienerbrød

Most people think that Danishes originate from Denmark. I won't argue, they make amazing pastries there, but the pastries are called wienerbrød in Denmark which means bread from Vienna. 

Please click on the video for pronunciation. 

Page 30 and Page 31

Page 30:

However, it was an unwritten rule that; "You better hurry home and help bring water to the animals around lunch!" In the afternoon it was always; "Remember to come straight home and move the sheep before mid-evening!" One time, early in my schooling, I ended up being absent from school for a very long time. Then one day I was sent on an errand to see the blacksmith and this trip brought me right past the school. As I passed by, the principal, whose name was Mads Bi Aagesen, came out to see me and to inquire as to why I wasn't in school. I replied that I was unable to attend because I didn't have any pants. He then looked me up and down and became very quiet.

As the family grew (I think that by this time I was seventh in line) we were too many to fit into the two beds and the aforementioned bench (slaugh bænk). We boys were moved to the room that housed the hired farm hands. This room had been built in the barn where the cows were kept. The thinking was that the farm hands should be within the immediate vicinity of the animals in case they got loose

Page 31:

and sometimes the cattle would be standing there licking my head while I was sleeping. The door to the room lead directly to the courtyard and there was a hook on the inside so that we could lock it when we went to sleep. However, for those who came in late, we had cut a hole in the door allowing them to stick their arm through it and unlatch the door. The door was often allowed to remain open, especially during the summer, when it wasn't uncommon for the chickens to come in and lay eggs in our beds. Not to mention the pigs, the sow would sometimes come in and take a nap, but they lay on the floor and not in our beds.

On August 1st 1845 my father passed away and at this point my family wasn't completely free of our villeinage responsibilities. Once, when we had to plow for our landlord I tagged along. Wearing my clogs, I walked alongside the lead horse because this particular time we had hitched four horses to the plow, and sometimes I might even be allowed to ride on the horse on the left. Another time I was helping gathering buschels of wheat and another time we were spreading cut grass in a meadow that bore the name; "Saltemad." A few days later we raked it all together and that same day we drove it to the Count's estate where it was to be used as animal feed during the winter months.

Page 28 and Page 29

\

Page 28:

some of it out every day. We never thought to look for a bit of wood or a board to roll the wheelbarrow on, even though it would have helped a lot. Then it was time for "davre" and one of the girls would stick their head outside and yell for us to come get our "davre." This "davre" was what most people nowadays refer to as lunch or "Brackfast" if you want to be real English. This Davre-meal consisted of a set menu of salted herring and rye bread. Before the women called us in they had cut a round miller's loaf of bread into slices and placed a slice by each seat at the table. The salted herring had been skinned and cut into four pieces, so a 1/4 piece of herring for each person. Each of the adult men were also given a shot of brandy to accompany the herring and bread. Afterwards the bottle was placed back in the aforementioned corner cabinet. The herring was always served on wooden plates. Some of them were round while others merely consisted of a square piece of wood. It could also be served on "sildeskagler" which were boards that were four feet in length and 3-4 inches in width. On such a "sildeskagle" you'd be able to serve a large number of quarter cut herrings. The bread was always dry because we couldn't

Page 29:

afford to eat fresh bread. In regards to time it never really made sense since all of the household's baking only took place once every other month, leaving us with little access to fresh baked bread. As a part of lunch we were traditionally served a porridge made from barley left over from the night before. This porridge, that had been left in a big bowl overnight, had solidified and was cut, with a knife into pieces of 2,3 and 4 inches in size. They were then put into the "Davre"-pot and set over the fire. A measure of sour milk was added and it wasn't uncommon for this milk to separate into curds and whey, but we ate it nonetheless.  

Then it was time to go to school and we were handed bread with lard on it in one hand, our books in the other and of to school we went. Once there, we placed our bread on the windowsill for snacktime. We seldom had a chance to wash up, because our mothers weren't there to remind us to wash up. Furthermore, I'm pretty sure that there wasn't actually a law saying we had to wash at all.  

Page 26 and Page 27

Page 26:

The villeinage that all peasants had to adhere to prevented them from spending enough time working their own land. This caused widespread poverty until the year 1844 which is when they abolished the laws pertaining to villeinage. However, even after these laws were repealed somehow the peasantry still somehow managed to committing themselves to hauling limestone for the landowners. This limestone had to journey from the Faxe limestone quarry to Faxe Ladeplads. A distance of approximately 3/4 of a Danish mile. Through this work they still managed to fulfill their responsibilities that came with them renting their land. Every peasant back then was a tenant farmer, which meant that they had rented the land that they lived on for the lifetime of the couple. To be precise, the contract was for the duration of the man's life. However, if he died and his widow remarried then the new husband was required to be the new tenant. This was legalized by having all paperwork signed over into his name. Before the widow could wed her new husband she was required to "renegotiate" with her children. The widow, or rather her prospective husband was then required to go with the children down to the probate court, where the courts would determine satisfactory compensation for the children. This money was to be their inheritance from their biological father. Later on, the children would also be able to claim an inheritance from their mother. If she didn't get remarried she'd be granted full guardianship over her children's affairs.  

Page 27:

My schooling:

Time kept marching on and I was about eight years of age, a time when I was suppose to start school. It was one of the worst experiences ever! I never had enough time to read, not to mention the fact that I also didn't have anything to read in. My parents didn't have money to spend on books and could really only spare four Schilling which were to go towards my catechism. I also never had enough time for my homework because I was supposed to herd the pigs, the sheep and the geese. As well as help bring water to the cows twice a day during both summer and winter. During the summer months they were always tied down and had to be moved five time a day. In the winter my brothers and I had to clean out the stables, which was hard work because we had a wheelbarrow that didn't always have a wheel attached to it. Furthermore, since the harvest often was scarce we didn't have much straw to put down. This left the manure very soft which in turn meant that we couldn't move much of it at a time. We therefore came up with the idea of tying a rope to the front of the wheelbarrow and while two of us were pulling the third would steer. That's how we managed to get  

Hej!

An informal greeting of greeting of hello in Denmark can be said as hej or davs. You could also say hej to say good-bye! 

Please click on the video for pronunciation. 

Page 24 and Page 25

Page 24:

Plough

The reason that the ground always was so wet and hard to work with was because it didn't get plowed during the fall like they tend to do nowadays. There simply wasn't enough time to plow during the fall, where the primary concern was to harvest as much as possible and get the threshing done in order to get the crop to market for sale. The motivation was to get enough money to be able to pay the hired help their wages, which were due by November 1st. As well as paying the local merchants for everything that you had bought on credit during the summer months. Plowing during the Spring was always a terrible undertaking, partially because the permafrost was barely gone and partially because water kept pooling everywhere. As the plow cut through the ground water would fill the furrows, forcing people to wear long boots when they were plowing. The plow itself wasn't heavy at all since it was primarily fabricated out of wood, with the exception of the blade which consisted of a small triangular shaped piece of iron. This in turn was attached to the wooden frame in a most ingenious manner via the help of several wooden wedges. The plow was made up of a long pole with the animals attached to the one end and lead to an axel at the other end, the kind you might find on a wagon. The axel had two wheels attached to it, with the left wheel at about 16 inches in height and the right wheel at about 22-24 inches in height.

Page 25:

Harrow

The right wheel went down into the furrow which made the plough level. On this axel is where the front of this axel rested and it was secured there by an iron bracket. It should be understood that when the plough had to come out of the ground, the worker was required to lift the entire contraption up as well as putting it back when the plow needed to reenter the soil. Either one of these two actions were very cumbersome and took quite a while to accomplish. The harrows were constructed much the same way as the ones the old farmers used to use, but they aren't in use much anymore. They consisted of two half harrows with three points on each one, or six points with four teeth on each. Those teeth were made of wood and couldn't penetrate the ground well, especially when there were a lot of root for them to snag on. Until the years between 1840-1845 such a plough and harrow was the only tool that a peasant had access to when working their soil. It is of course possible that other had access to better equipment, however the abovementioned tools was all I ever knew. I always thought that the reason for my parents' poverty was that my father was a veterinarian and spent so much time away from home

Page 22 and Page 23

Page 22:

The aforementioned goose bench was separated into seven or eight compartments where geese would sit on their eggs hatching their goslings. Once every day they were let out in order to give them food and water which they received on the floor of the living room. As each goose finished its business they were lead back into their respective compartment and the next one was allowed to come out. In the corner behind the table there was a corner cabinet where father kept his money, important papers, the moonshine, tobacco etc. He used to put his red cap on top of the grandfather clock, and between the bed and the clock is where he used to keep his whip and his walking stick, while the shoehorn always could be found under the table.

The kitchen was the same size as the previously mentioned living room, but here you'd find the chimney which was 6X6 feet and had a door which could be opened. There was also an open fireplace, as it was called, which was where the pots and kettles stood when they weren't hanging over the fire and being used. On the other side there was a door which lead to the brewing kettle. This kettle could hold about twenty buckets of water and in the oven you could bake one and a half barrels of flour at one time, which was equal to about 336 lbs. of flour

Page 23:

 This would correspond to about 30 loafs of bread that in turn weighed 16 lbs. each. Next there was the staircase which lead to the attic, as well as a table which was 10-12 feet in overall length. Then came a sink, a window and finally a door which opened out to the garden. Beyond said door there was a well which supplied water to the people who lived there, while the well in the courtyard was used to give water to the animals. It should be mentioned that everything was in bad shape and that the signs of poverty were visible all over the place. The field was practically littered with marsh pits and otherwise covered in thick heather. Arable land was a scarcity not that it really mattered since the six horses that we had didn't possess the combined strength to pull the plough anyway. Even when it was placed at only a depth of a mere three inches below the surface. It was very seldom that the plough actually went that deep since there were a lot of large rocks in the ground that made the plough jump out of the soil and drag on the ground for a ways before going back in. Even when the going was smooth it still took a considerable amount of time for the driver to grab the reins and go; "Prrr."Furthermore, there was no way to move the horses backwards because the ground was always wet and soft. Trying to do so would have knocked all of the horses over and then you'd need to gather all of the townsfolk in order to rectify the situation.   

Page 20 and Page 21

Page 20:

As you can see, the farm consisted of four connected buildings that create a completely enclosed square courtyard between them. There was only one entrance which was through the eastern building and it had a great big door in it which we locked each night before we went to bed. 

All of the buildings were set low and narrow, reaching no more than 16-18 feet in width. The building to the East was the main house while the stables were housed in the building to the North. The two other buildings to the South and West were used as barns and for threshing.

In the living room and in the sitting room we had clay floors, where as in the entryway, the kitchen, the pantry and in the maids room, the floor was comprised of small rounded stones. The sitting room which also was used as a guestroom contained a bed, a cabinet and a pair of chairs (sfv) but no curtains. In the living room there were two beds and under the window on the eastern wall there was a storage bench. During the day it looked like a chest of drawers but during the night it was used as a bed for one to four children.

Page 21:

The living room clock was wound once every eighth day and its mechanism was housed in a case that went from the floor all the way to the ceiling. It was encased so that no one could touch the two large iron weights that hung by ropes and which ran the mechanism. Then there was a table that was made from black oak and which was ten feet long and three feet wide. The table legs were 6x6 inches in width and the table top itself was also out of oak and two inches thick. On one side of the table there was a drawer which contained the breadknife, which was the only knife in the house. It also held the women's spoons as well as the bread that was left over after each meal. At one end of the table, the one facing the kitchen door, you could always find two pairs of his boots hanging, when he wasn't wearing them. At the opposite end of the table you'd find a storage bench which was where father and mother sat when they ate. This bench was divided into two compartments. In the first compartment mother kept her linens such as shirts, sheets, table clothes and spare clothes. In the other compartment she kept pants and woolen socks. At the one end of the table, the one that faced towards the entryway and the western yard, there was a goose bench which is where the farm hands and the boys sat and ate. The girls always stood in front of the table and ate.

Jeg Elsker Dig!

Please click on the video for pronunciation

Page 18 and Page 19

Page 18:

Five thousand seven hundred and eighty five years following the creation of the world, in the year 1836 to be precise, is when I was born. It was the 3rd of June in the town of Vallebo which was in Faxe Parish, Præstø County, Faxe Township. We were under the jurisdiction of the police station in Storehedding which was in Stevns Township and situated on the Rosendal tract which was land in the possession of Count Holk Winterfeldt. He was also bestowed the title of chamberlain and when he was all decked out in his regalia he would wear a coat that bore the insignia of two large gilded keys about 9-10 inches in length and which signified that he was the keeper of the keys to the treasury. My parents were farmers but they didn't own the farm on which they lived, they were as a matter of fact in a life long rental agreement. The property, consisting of buildings and the land also included four horses that were to be returned upon the death of the renter. However, traditionally one of the renter's children would inherit the farm as well as the rental agreement of their parents, with a higher interest rate of course. My father had made a deal with the local lord to deliver

Page 19:

My parent' farm in Vallebo.