Jean Jacques Rousseau is 33 years old, Voltaire is 51, Carl Linnaeus 38 and Benjamin Franklin 39.  The author of Gulliver’s travels, Jonathan Swift died.  In England king George II ruled. Bonnie Prince Charley came to Scotland to claim the English throne, but was defeated at Culloden the year after. In France king Louis XV sat on the throne, in Austria empress Maria Theresia and in Germany the philosopher-king Fredrick II.  In the United Dutch Republics the people called for a prince of Orange-Nassau, who was invited to become the ‘stadtholder’ under the name of Willem IV in 1747.

The village of Meeden (about 800 inhabitants in that year) in the province of Groningen, is thrilled or appalled, depending on the attitude of the observers, by the continuing feud between the wife of the schoolteacher Margaretha Tiliking and her husband Pieter Clasens Hagenus with the church council and especially its chairman (‘kerkvoogd’) Tonko Ayolts.  Most of the time it concerns ‘disturbance of the peace’, public drunkenness of the schoolteacher and his wife and insults.  Not a good example for the youth of Meeden!  Their punishment is usually exclusion from the Lord’s Supper in the church.  A physical fight between Pieter Hagenus and Tonko Ayolts on the public road through the village is a temporary low.  Hagenus also comes in conflict with the pastor, because he refuses to start the school at 8.00 ‘o clock.

Tonko Ayolts officially accuses Pieter Hagenus in the church council of negligence in not closing the church door with as a result that candles have been stolen from the church, of buying a hook for retrieving coal from the ashes for his own use on the account of the church and for charging an exorbitant interest from the shoemaker Pieter Jans. For the loan of 15 guilders he asked for an interest of a pair of shoes, a pair of slippers and one day work in the service of the teacher.  Witnesses are called and the carpenter declares that he repaired the church door a year ago, the blacksmith confirms the making of the hook for the teacher and sending the bill to the church and the shoemaker says that he indeed provided the shoes and slippers and worked for one day bringing in the hay of the teacher. Now Pieter Hagenus can come in and speak in his defense.  He can prove that the carpenter indeed repaired the church door, but not immediately, so that the church could not be locked for some days.  The case with the hook dates from ten years ago and has been settled by the previous church council.  The shoemaker had suggested the described interest himself and never complained about it afterwards.  Pieter Hagenus is acquitted of all the accusations, to the chagrin of Tonko.

But things become worse!

Tonko Ayolts not only accused Pieter Hagenus, but also his wife Margaretha Tiliking.  She is said to have insulted Tonko in the school in the presence of other people and he demands satisfaction.  What happened?

The son of Tonko Ayolts had some time ago hung a block of peat on Margaretha’s door, which was an accusation of her having an extramarital affair.  Now (in 1745) she had told Tonko during a meeting of the farmers in the school building, where she had crashed in: “Your son hung a block of peat on my door, indicating that I was a whore, but now that has happened to you yourself.  I have hung on your door two blocks of peat for a double satisfaction!”

Tonko is furious.  He brings three witnesses in front of the church council who declare that they were there and that Margaretha indeed had accused Tonko of immorality.  The wife of the schoolteacher is reprimanded but not asked to withdraw her words and not punished.  This is strange.  Was there some truth in Margaretha’s words?

Tonko Ayolts was not satisfied with the decision.  He demands that Margaretha admits to lying and that it will be noted in the minutes of the meeting.  The council does not agree.  Two months later the case is opened again and Margaretha brings three witnesses in her favour, but again the case is not solved.  In the minutes of 6 March 1750 it can be read that ‘the case between the churchwarden Tonko Ayolts and the wife of the schoolteacher is closed due to the death of the latter.’  In the same year the schoolteacher Pieter Hagenus himself also died.

It is clear that Margaretha was accused of an extramarital affair.  She rejects the accusation and instead blames the son of Tonko of immoral behavior.  Twice even: ‘two blocks of peat for a double satisfaction’.  Which son of Tonko was involved?  Tonko had 8 sons of whom only Ayolt and Eenje Tonkes can be considered since the other ones are too young or died young.  Ayolt was 31 years old in 1745 and Eenje 28 years.  Both were unmarried.

In 1745 is Anje Jans 23 years old.  She comes from a poor family and has to earn an income as a maid in the large household of Tonko Ayolts, the richest and most powerful farmer in the district. She becomes pregnant by the son of Tonko, Eenje Tonkes.  She does not know what to do and confides in her mother and in the wife of the schoolteacher Margaretha Tiliking.  Her pregnancy will show soon and in the close-knit society of the village a scandal is unavoidable.  But Eenje Tonkes does not take his responsibility and a marriage is, of course, out of the question; the difference in social level is too great!  Margaretha cannot keep silent about it and when Eenje is stupid enough to accuse her of adultery, she strikes back at him.  Anje Jans gives birth to a twin, a boy and a girl.  A ‘double satisfaction’ to Margaretha.  Tonko Ayolts uses all his influence to cover up the role of his son.  He manages to prevent the registration of the births and their baptism in the church books and keeps the name of his son out of the quarrel he has with Margaretha.  The Tonkes family ignores Anje and does not support her financially either.  She must have had a very difficult time.  Usually, the poor of the village are supported by the church, but in this case the influence of Tonko Ayolts was big enough to prevent all but the most basic support.  Anje Jans received one bread per week from the church!

There was very little she could do against the powerful Tonkes family, but she does what a married woman would do: she names the children, not after her own parents, but after their father’s parents.  The girl receives the name Eetje Eenjes and the boy Tonko Eenjes.  Officially these names only appear in the books in 1772 (when Eetje Eenjes marries Folkert Hindriks) and in 1799 (when a son of Eetje and Folkert marries).  Tonko Eenjes pursues this even further when he takes the family name of Tonkes in 1811.  His descendents still exist under this name.  Eetje Eenjes marries Folkert Hindriks and they take the family name of Doddema.

When Anje Jans is 30 years old (her children are then 7), she marries a widower of 40 years with 4 children, Geert Claesens.  Together they have 5 sons.  They rent a house from the church and live there together from 1760 to 1771, when Geert dies.  Four of the sons take the family name Dodde or Doddema, the fifth son dies before 1811.  In 1774 Anje’s son Tonko buys the house so that his mother can stay there until she becomes too old to live alone.  Anje Jans dies in 1808, 88 years old.

Henk Doddema

With thanks to Henk Stuut, who investigated this history like a true genealogical detective!

Our last meal was the morning of the 1st when we ate breakfast on board the SS Sibajak (the boat we arrived on). Mom, with a lot of foresight, grabbed a few apples and bananas that she hid in her purse. We were not allowed to take food off of the ship. The ship had docked in Hoboken, NJ. The men on the ship helped the ship’s crew unload some of the crates with belongings as there was a dock strike. I remember seeing several crates floating in the harbor. Lucklily, ours were not among them. We had 2 crates that were a little larger than the foot lockers that were used in the service. As a matter of fact one of the crates was a foot locker that my grandfather and dad both used in the Dutch military. I still have that footlocker.

We were processed off of the ship by customs agents and Immigration. Once off of the ship, there were folks from the Ditch Immigrant Society that assisted us to make sure that we got on the proper bus to take us to Grand Central station in New York City.  Once at the station we had to wait until it was time to get on our train. What a mess. Luckily, the Dutch Immigrant Society was there again to assist. We got on the train and departed New York City at 6 pm.  We traveled coach of course.  All the tickets werre purchased ahead of time as when we got to the U.S. Dad had a dollar in his pocket.  We shared some of the fruit that mom had stashed and tried to sleep as we would not get to Kalamazoo, Michigan for quite a few hours. It would take until 10 am the next morning.

My mother’s sister, Grace (Grietje) and her husband Bill (Willem) met us at the train station in Kalamazoo.  We were promptly initiated to a hamburger and soda pop before we made the 30 mile trip by car in Uncle Bill’s 1948 Kaiser to Decatur where Uncle Bill and Aunt Grace had a farm.

Hello Bernard,

Sinterklaas was: 1 week before the big day we were allowed to put a shoe next to the stove, just before we went to bed. In the shoe, we put something for the (grey) horse of Sinterklaas, for example an apple, or a carrot, or a head of curly kail. And ofcourse the horse got some water in a bowl. Then you had to sing a nice Sinterklaas-song and go to bed, without the usual complaining or dawdling.

Sinterklaas was riding on his horse over the rooftops, and Zwarte Piet climbed down the chimney to put something in your shoe, and take the food for the horse. The next morning you found something in your shoe, a little chocolate animal, or a small present. And you had to be on your best behaviour all the time, because Zwarte Piet was listening through the chimney wther you were a nice boy or girl. Worst case scenario (according to the grown ups) was: if you behaved badly, Zwarte Piet would put you in his bag, and take you away from your parents, onto the steamship to Spain.

On the evening of the 5th you had to sing all the Sinterklaas-songs you knew and hope for a really big present. That evening we became hot chocolate with “speculaaskoekjes”, or a “speculaaspop”, or gingerbread or ginger-nuts. The week before Sinterklaas, we ate ofcourse hotchpotch of curly kail, or “hete bliksem” which is a hotchpotch of potatoes, carrots and onions. Pure coincidence that you did that in your shoe the day before!

(You will have to ask your father what speculaaskoekjes are, I could not find that in my dictionary).

I hope this is the sort of story you were looking for.

Met vriendelijke groeten,

Geesjen Doddema, Harkstede

Thanks Geesjen for sharing. I look forward to any other submissions. My family and I love to hear how Doddema’s around the world celebrate their favorite holidays.

]]> http://doddemagen.com/2006/12/sinterklaas-memories-from-eltje-and-geesjen-doddema.html/feed 0 http://doddemagen.com/2006/12/sinterklaas-memories-dievertje-doddema.html http://doddemagen.com/2006/12/sinterklaas-memories-dievertje-doddema.html#comments Wed, 06 Dec 2006 01:15:46 +0000 Dievertje http://doddemagen.com/2006/12/sinterklaas-memories-dievertje-doddema.html 2079

Like the children in America believe in Santa Claus, I believed in Sinterklaas, also known as Sint Nicolaas or De Goedheiligman. Every year on the second or third Saturday of November Sinterklaas comes with his steamship (the stoomboot) from Spain in the Netherlands. Now I know that steamship never came from Spain, but when I was little, I believed so. A week later he came in our village, every year it was a great celebration.My brother is five years older, so he had to play for years he also believed in Sinterklaas.

Some nights my mother told me to put a shoe in front of the stove, because the servants of Sinterklaas (called: zwarte pieten) would come through the chimney at night and put a present in my shoe. Just like Santa does to put it in a stocking. I always wondered how zwarte piet could manage that, because he had to screw the whole front of the stove of there to get into our living room. One day I asked my mother about that and she opened a small window just in case zwarte piet did not use the chimney. I remember that one night I’ve put my shoe in front of the stove I lied awake, a bit scared, because every minute zwarte piet could come into our living room. My room was next to the living room, so when I wanted to use the bathroom, I had to go through the living room. I was too scared to do that. Somehow I fell asleep and the next morning, very early, I watched if zwarte piet and Sinterklaas had brought something. And yes, there was a big present next to my shoe! When I went to my grandparents (the parents of my mother), my grandmother told me that Sinterklaas had left a present for us. The presents at my grandparents always came with a poem (a ‘Sinterklaasgedicht’) about how we behaved that year. Mostly we got new pajamas and we were always very happy with them.

And then, on the 5th of december, that was the day! Sinterklaas came at our school in the morning and we did sing when Sinterklaas walked into the school. The zwarte pieten always had bags with short bread (pepernoten) and other candy to scatter. And also we got a little present at the school. When I went home in the afternoon I was always very excited about the coming evening, when Sinterklaas would bring a lot of presents. At night, when it became dark, my other grandparents (the parents of my father) came and we waited together, while we were eating a piece of ‘banketletter’ (a typical Sinterklaas-related delicacy) till Sinterklaas and his zwarte pieten would arrive with the presents. Suddenly my father jumped up from the chair and said: I think I heard something! I was too scared to watch at the door. My father first watched and then he called us to tell Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet had left the presents at our back door! And there they were, a basket full of presents. We opened them impatient while our parents and grandparents enjoyed our happy faces. The next day we could play with our new presents, but I always was a bit disappointed that Sinterklaas went home (back to Spain) already, now I had to wait a whole year again for Sinterklaas to arrive again.

I hope you enjoy the story, It was also fun for me to write, it brings back a lot of memories.

Please also read the information with this link, because it also says something about racialization in relation with the ‘zwarte pieten’. It is a misunderstanding that ‘zwarte pieten’ have something to do with racism, it is just a tradition, I hope you understand that:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinterklaas

]]> http://doddemagen.com/2006/12/sinterklaas-memories-dievertje-doddema.html/feed 0 http://doddemagen.com/2006/12/sinterklaas-memories-from-my-dad.html http://doddemagen.com/2006/12/sinterklaas-memories-from-my-dad.html#comments Mon, 04 Dec 2006 06:39:28 +0000 Bernard http://doddemagen.com/2006/12/sinterklaas-memories-from-my-dad.html Since I’ve been married, I’ve tried to incorporate different holiday traditions into our lives to teach my children about their heritage. One I’ve enjoyed is Sinterklaas day. I recently asked my dad and others if they would be willing to share some of their memories and this is what my father shared.

“Like Christmas, Sinterklaas is about love and family. I remember the family gathered in the living room around the hearth, yes we had a coal space heater to heat the house when we lived in Nederland. We would sing Sinterklaas songs and we would leave cookies, milk and a carrot for Schimmel, Sinterklaas’s horse. We would leave our shoes by the hearth.

Some folks left their shoes in the hall by the front door. The next morning we would wake up to a large orange, maybe a gingerbread cookie, large in shape of a doll. You have to remember that this was after the war and the country was in a rebuilding mode so I would get clothes or something like that as well.

Remember that Sinterklaas spends most of the year in Spain, is dresses like a catholic Bishop, Which he originally was, comes to Amsterdam by ship,a with his horse Schimmel, of course. There is a huge crowd at the harbor to see him land. Of course black Pete is always with him. Pete always has a supply of coal on hand for the naughty children.

Since you guys left home we now put the Christmas tree up on the 5th.”

I look forward to hearing from others about their memories of this day.

]]> http://doddemagen.com/2006/12/sinterklaas-memories-from-my-dad.html/feed 0 http://doddemagen.com/2006/11/lithuanian-christmas-eve-tradition.html http://doddemagen.com/2006/11/lithuanian-christmas-eve-tradition.html#comments Sun, 19 Nov 2006 01:52:05 +0000 Bernard http://doddemagen.com/blog/2006/11/lithuanian-christmas-eve-tradition.html >Western New York –]]> I found this post on the Yahoo group: LithuanianGenealogy and thought it might be interesting for those with Lithuanian ancestry.

While the following is quite detailed and not practiced today to this extent in many cases, throughout the Lithuanian World, generally, many of our traditions are definitely portrayed in great detail.Liuda >>Western New York – USA<<.

Christmas Eve

Preparations for Christmas Eve take all day. The house is cleaned, food prepared not only for the special supper (Kucios) but also for the first day of Christmas. People fast and abstain from meat. Lithuanians still adhere to this custom though the Church has abolished abstinence: food may be eaten as often as desired, even meat. It used to be said that only a handful of boiled peas and water may be taken on Christmas Eve. Only small children, the infirm or very old persons were allowed to eat a bit more.

Although official fasting no longer exists, we should refrain from meat on Christmas Eve so as to preserve Lithuanian tradition. It is vitally important that the Christmas Eve dinner (or supper) include no meat dishes because it could then no longer be called Kucios but an ordinary meal prepared for any other evening.

On Christmas Eve the house must be thoroughly cleaned, all the bed linens changed and all family members must bathe and don clean clothes before the evening meal. For the Christmas Eve dinner, the table is prepared as follows: a handful of fine hay is spread evenly on the table. This is a reminder that Jesus was born in a stable and laid in a manger on hay. The table is then covered with a pure white tablecloth, set with plates and decorated with candles and fir boughs. Live flowers are inappropriate for the table, in particular red or white poinsettias which are so popular in some countries at Christmas time. A small plate with as many Christmas wafers as there are persons present is placed in the center of the table. In some Lithuanian regions these wafers were called God's cakes (Dievo pyragai) for they were obtained from the parish and were imprinted with Biblical scenes of Jesus' birth. Although plotkele was the popular and better known term, the word is borrowed from the Slavic. It is better to say paplotelis, plokstainelis or even Dievo pyragas.

All family members make an effort to come home for the Christmas Eve supper, even from a distance. Perhaps not so much for the meal as for the sacred family ritual which draws the family members closer, banding everyone and strengthening warm family ties. If a family member has died that year or cannot attend the meal (only for very serious reasons) an empty place is left at the table.

A plate is still placed on the table and a chair is drawn up, but no spoons, knives or forks are set. A small candle is placed on the plate and lit during the meal. It is believed that the spirit of the deceased family member participates in the Kucios along with everyone.

Long ago, the principal dish was a mixture of various cooked grains: wheat, barley, oats, peas and beans. This mixture was called kucia. It was eaten with honey diluted with warm boiled water. The word kucia itself comes from the Belorussian and means a porridge of dried grain.

Twelve different dishes are served on the table because Jesus had twelve apostles. All the dishes are strictly meatless: fish, herring, slizikai with poppyseed milk, kisielius (cranberry pudding), a dried fruit soup or compote, a salad of winter and dried vegetables, mushrooms, boiled or baked potatoes, sauerkraut (cooked, of course, without meat) and bread. In keeping with Lithuanian Christmas tradition, only the dishes as they were prepared in Lithuania for this meal should be eaten and fresh fruit, fresh vegetables, exotic seafood should be left for another meal. It must not be forgotten that Lithuania is a northern European country where cucumbers, tomatoes, grapes, etc., do not grow in
winter. The people whose lifestyle produced the Kucios traditions made do with foodstuffs prepared in the summer and fall: dried, pickled and otherwise preserved for the winter.

Children whining that they do not like and are unaccustomed to such food should also be ignored. An explanation of the meal's significance and a calm statement that everyone will eat only what is served on the table should forestall or at least lessen this problem.

In certain Lithuanian regions apples were placed on the table because December 24th is the feast day of Adam and Eve. The apples recalled our first parents through whose sin mankind fell and that the world was saved through the submissiveness of the New Eve— Mary, the Mother of God—to God's will.

Everyone gathers at the dinner table as soon as the first star appears in the sky. If the night is cloudy, the meal begins when the father or grandfather announces it is time to eat. When everyone is assembled at the table, a prayer is said. The father then takes a wafer and offers it to the mother wishing her a Happy Christmas. "God grant that we are all together again next year," the mother responds and breaks off a piece of wafer. She offers the father her wafer in return. The father then offers his wafer to every family member or
guest at the table. The mother does likewise. After them, all the diners exchange greetings and morsels of wafer. Care is taken not to skip anyone for that means terrible misfortune or even death the following year. In breaking a piece of wafer, each tries to get a piece larger than that remaining in the other's hand for it means his year will be better. The person holding the wafer tries to prevent a large piece being taken for this will "break his luck."

If apples are placed on the table, the mother takes an apple after the wafers have been shared, cuts it into as many pieces as there are diners and gives the father the first piece. This symbolized the fall of the first parents when Eve gave Adam the apple which he took and ate. Then, the apple pieces are distributed to those at table.

The order of eating the other dishes is not established, everyone eats what he wishes, but it is essential to at least taste every food. Whoever skips a Kucios dish will not survive until the next Christmas Eve.

The meal is eaten solemnly, there is little conversation or joking and alcoholic beverages are not served. If anyone needs to drink, water, homemade cider or fruit juice is served. After the meal is consumed, no one hurries to leave the table: the first to rise while another is still eating will die first. The family remains seated, the mood lightens, predictions and forecasts are done about next year, health, happiness, love and etc. Christmas Eve is rich in prognostications.

Here is but a small sampling of prophecies and divinations:

· While seated at the table, look at the walls where the candlelight casts the shadows of those dining. If your shadow is large, wide and of the whole person, the year will be good, there will be no illness, everything will go well. If the shadow lacks a head a terrible calamity will occur; if it is skinny, unclear and wavering, the year will be difficult.

· A stem of hay is pulled from under the tablecloth. It cannot be picked, the first one the fingers encounter must be drawn. If a long slender stalk is withdrawn the girl can expect a tall slender husband (or at least beau), while a short, fat, bent stalk means a short, fat crooked husband. If this happens to a man, his future wife will be slender and tall or fat and short like the straw drawn. Married persons can also guess next year's happiness from the kind of stalk pulled. A thin stem indicates a flat, empty wallet, a "lean" year, while a fat one means a prosperous year, a full wallet. If a married woman pulls a straw thicker in the middle, she will have a baby that year.

· Other predictions may be made while still at table. Three plates are used, a key is placed under one, a ring under the second and a coin under the third. The plates are mixed and one is chosen. The ring signifies love, marriage; the key means owning an apartment or house; while the coin indicates a prosperous year. A piece of paper is crumpled, placed on a plate or cutting board and its shadow examined. The first impression is decisive. If a form of
transportation is seen, the person will travel a great deal next year; if a house or building, a move will be made to a new place; if a flower or other plant, a wedding will be held; if a cradle, a new family member will arrive; if a coffin or burning candle, death. Similar prognostications are performed by pouring melted wax into cold water and examining its shadow.

After everyone leaves the table, the food is left to stand overnight. The spirits of deceased relatives or loved ones will visit the home during the night and eat. It was believed that the baby Jesus allows the souls of all the departed to return to earth to visit their families. It would be disgraceful to have the visiting spirits return without taking refreshment.

The country people believed that Christmas Eve night was miraculous: various omens and rituals could not only be used to predict the future but all of nature felt the significance of the night. At exactly midnight all animals were able to speak like humans. But to listen to their conversation was extremely dangerous because you could learn the day of your death. At precisely midnight all water turns into wine, you must simply hit the correct moment which is of very short duration. If the sky is clear on Christmas Eve night and full of
stars, the year will be good. That night you must also pray before retiring else nightmares will trouble you all year.

· After dinner a girl sweeps the floor, pours the sweepings into her apron, takes them to a crossroads and tosses them out. Then she stands and listens from which side dogs are barking, from there she will get a husband.

· Sitting with her back to the door, a girl throws a shoe over her head: if the shoe lands with the toe toward the door she will leave home that year (marry, go to a distant school; a man will leave for the army, a faraway job, etc.). If the shoe heel faces the door, he or she will remain at home.

· All the shoes in the house are gathered together and placed in a pile, they are then lined up one behind the other to the door. The person whose shoe touches the door will be the first to leave home (some say, the first to die).

· To see the future, go into an empty room after the Christmas Eve supper, prop a mirror against the door, bend down and look at the mirror through your legs: you will see your future husband or wife.

· Take a full glass of water, a gold wedding band, a mirror and two candles. Place all the items on a white tablecloth. The wedding band is dropped into the glass, the candles are lit and placed on either side of the mirror. Sit in front of the mirror, take the ring out of the glass with your fingers and then drop it back in. Do this three times. The third time you remove the ring from the water, look through it into the mirror: you will see your future or the man you will marry.

· Drip several drops of wax from a blessed candle into a cold glass of water. Place the glass by your bed. That night you will dream about your future spouse.

· Take a bowlful of water and twelve pieces of paper written with men's names. Fold the papers over the bowl's rim so that one half hangs over the water. Place a piece of candle into a sliver of potato or turnip, light it and float it on the water. Stir the water with a finger to cause the candle to float around. The paper at which it stops or which it sets on fire indicates your husband's name. Questions about the coming year can also be written on the pieces of paper, but the answer can only be "yes" or "no". The paper which the candle lights or at which it stops means that those things will come true.

· The simplest form of fortunetelling is to count in twos. Dry slizikai, matches, peas, firewood by the hearth, candy or anything else can be counted. If it comes out in pairs, a wedding will take place next year. After finishing the augury, the family gathers around the Christmas tree. A beautiful tradition is singing Christmas carols in unison (some Christmas carols are provided in this book) and reading Bible excerpts about Christ's birth. The reading is usually done by the oldest family member. If you still have grandparents (or parents) who were born and lived in Lithuania, ask them to relate how they celebrated Christmas when they were little. It would be good to tape the entire family program, later include the date and put it away. It will become very precious when the children are grown and the grandparents no longer living.

Christmas presents and Santa Claus (Kaledu senelis) were relatively new things in Lithuania during the period of independence. Earlier, people celebrated Christmas not for the presents but because it was the birthday of God's Son. The Kucios meal, prayers said in unison and an opportunity to spend time with loved ones were quite sufficient to create a festive atmosphere. In more recent times, however, things we are accustomed to see in other, non-Christian countries were added: Christmas trees, gifts, tinsel, Santa Claus.

Even when Christmas trees were decorated and gifts expected in Lithuania, the children had to "earn" those gifts. When he arrived, Santa Claus required the children to perform. Every child did what he could: some recited poems, others sang, danced or played an instrument. If Santa Claus did not come in person, the children still had to perform, because Santa "sees all" and will see them also. After presents were exchanged, the children usually went to bed while the adults went to Midnight Mass (which is still called Berneliu—Shepherds' Mass).

It should be mentioned here that at Christmastime Lithuania is already in the grip of winter. The fields are covered with sparkling snow, streams, rivers and lakes are under ice. Country roads were also snowcovered and the people usually travelled in sleighs. On Christmas Eve night bells were attached to the horses' harnesses: sometimes one or two or an entire string of bells. Sometimes small, high-pitched handballs or a good-sized bell. From all sides on Christmas Eve night resounded with the chiming and tinkling of bells: near and far, soft and loud. . . The mysterious, quiet night air of Christ's Birth resonated with endless ringing, the murmur of sliding sleighs and Christmas joy.

From LAC's web site. It's an excerpt from a book by Danute Bindokiene, who's considered one of the authorities on Lithuanian traditions.

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