Colonial days in old New York

								

and bullying over them. In New Orange, in 1673, “if any children be
caught on the street playing, racing, and shouting previous to the
termination of the last preaching, the officers of justice may take
their hat or upper garment, which shall not be restored to the parents
until they have paid a fine of two guilders,” which, we may be sure,
would insure the miserable infants summary punishment on arriving home.
Matters were no better in New Amsterdam. One amusing complaint was
brought up against “y^e wretched boys” of that settlement, and by one
high in authority, Schout De Sille. One of his duties was to patrol
the town of New Amsterdam at night to see that all was peaceful as
befitted a town which was the daughter of the Dutch government. But the
poor schout did not find his evening stroll altogether a happy one.
He complained that the dogs set upon him, and that tantalizing boys
shouted out “The Indians!” at him from behind trees and fences,--which
must have startled him sorely, and have been most unpleasantly
suggestive in those days of Indian horrors; and his chief complaint was
that there was “much cutting of hoekies” by the boys,--which means, I
fancy, playing of tricks, of jokes, of hoaxes, such as were played on
Hock-day in England, or perhaps “playing hookey,” as American boys of
to-day have been known to do.
As years passed on, I fear some of these young Dutch-Americans were sad
rogues. They sore roused the wrath of Albany legislators, as is hereby
proven:--


“Whereas y^e children of y^e s^d city do very unorderly to y^e shame
and scandall of their parents ryde down y^e hills in y^e streets of
the s^d city with small and great slees on the lord day and in the
week by which many accidents may come, now for pventing y^e same it
is hereby publishd and declard y^t it shall and may be lawful for any
Constable in this City or any other person or persons to take any slee
or slees from all and every such boys and girls rydeing or offering to
ryde down any hill within y^e s^d city and breake any slee or slees in
pieces. Given under our hands and seals in Albany y^e 22th of December
in 12th year of Her Maj’s reign Anno Domini 1713.”
In 1728 Albany boys and girls still were hectored, still were fined by
the bullying Albany constable for sliding down the alluringly steep
Albany streets on “sleds, small boards, or otherwise.”
Mrs. Grant, writing of about the year 1765, speaks of the custom of
coasting, but not of the legislation against it, and gives a really
delightful picture of coasting-joys, which apparently were then
partaken of only by boys. The schepens and their successors the
constables, joy-destroying Sivas, had evidently succeeded in wresting
this pleasure from the girls.


“In town all the boys were extravagantly fond of a diversion that
to us would appear a very odd and childish one. The great street of
the town sloped down from the hill on which the fort stood, towards