[CHAPTER XII]
[THE PEOPLE OF THE ISLES]
One of the most storm-swept and barren of Denmark's many islands is the island of Fanö. Lying, as it does, exposed to the full force of the North Sea gales, it yet serves to protect the harbour of Esbjerg from these storms. It is eight miles long, and three miles at its broadest part. A trim little steamer will carry you across from Esbjerg to Nordby—the fishing town on the east coast of Fanö—in twenty minutes. Nordby is both quaint and picturesque. The low thatched houses, with rough-cast, whitewashed walls, nestle close to each other for shelter from the winds.
The Fanö women have a practical but peculiar costume; the thickly-pleated skirt has a bright-coloured border, while the close-fitting bodice is adorned with embroidery, and pretty antique buttons. A folded cotton kerchief and accordion-pleated apron give a daintiness to the whole dress. The head-dress, however, gives the most singular finish to the costume. A dark, checked-bordered handkerchief tied over a stiff, cambric frame, entirely envelops the head. The four ends of this handkerchief are tied in an odd way, two being left upstanding like rabbits' ears! This striking head-dress gives the Fanö wife a fantastic appearance. When the good-natured, smiling faces of these women are hidden behind a mask, the combination of dress and mask makes them awesome-looking folk. The men of the island are nearly all fishermen; the women are the farmers, and it is to protect their faces from the blinding sand-storms, while working on the land, that these masks are worn. This mask obliterates all comeliness, for only the eyes peep out from the weird face-protector.
This island of heath, dune, and quicksand is wild and romantic. The cultivated fields are protected by sand-hills, and belts of stunted, wind-swept trees that afford some slight protection to the crops. The island belongs to the people, who cultivate it assiduously. The courage and perseverance of these women agriculturalists is rewarded by fair crops, notwithstanding an adverse climate.
At the south end of the island, far away from any dwelling, is the interesting "Fugleköjerne,"[9] where three or four hundred wild-duck are taken in a day during the season. Decoy-ducks are used for this purpose.
The west side of the island is the most fashionable watering-place in Denmark. Large hotels and pretty villas line the shore, and here the well-to-do Danes inhale bracing sea-breezes.
On a windy day this western shore is not amusing. Clouds of blinding sand whirl high in the air, while the booming surf rolls and plunges on the beach with deafening roar, and makes rank and fashion fly to shelter in hotel or villa till the storm is over. Visitors in summer and storms in winter have it all their own way on this west coast—the people of Fanö trouble it not.
Bornholm, situated in the middle of the Baltic, is both beautiful and fertile. Its products are very valuable to Denmark. From here comes the clay of which the exquisite Copenhagen porcelain is made. Here, too, the granite for building the country's defences and docks is quarried. I fancy if you were to ask a young Dane what Bornholm is most famed for he would say, "Turkeys," for the island supplies the Copenhagen market with these birds.