Freeze, please.
Owls on skates, an old Dutch print. Almost nothing pleases me as much as ice skating.
It’s finally time to sharpen up my blades—I’ve been waiting for over eleven months now. The oldest known ice-skates, 4000 year-old strap-on horse bone blades, were dug up near a Finnish lake by archeologists in 2007. But while ice-skates have been used as transportation for millennia, the Dutch, who call skates ‘schaats,’ turned skating fun in the 16th century, opening up icy pleasure parks envied by their European neighbors. England’s King Charles II, while in exile in Holland during the mid-1600s, picked up the sport, which he imported home on his return.
They skated on the frozen Thames with ox bones tied to their boots, and then, eventually, iron blades. The gentlefolk went for poise, the rest went for speed, women and men, young and old alike.
Charles also brought back a yacht, or jacht, as the Dutch say, a sixty-six foot pleasure cruiser given to the King by the Dutch East India Company, launching the British fashion for boat racing. (See my post from this summer.)
Schaats in the winter, jachts in the summer—not a bad life.
Oh my goodness, Jessica! I am so happy I found your blog. I received your *DELIGHTFUL* book as a Christmas gift after hearing about it several weeks ago and I must say, it became an instant favorite. I could be bias (see my blog name and premise) but truly, I can’t stop gushing. Looking forward to catching up on your blog. Thank you for researching & writing such a gem. It’s always fun to stumble upon a kindred spirit 🙂
Exquisite banana?! That’s fantastic! I’m so glad that you wrote, Kayla. I’m really happy that you like the book and I’m going to go check out your blog right this instant. Here’s hats off to an exquisite new year.
All best wishes,
Jessica
Almost nothing pleases me as much as owls! Very interesting tidbit on King Charles II. And to think the most remarkable thing about him up until I read this post was his affinity for spaniels (i.e. the King Charles Spaniel). Now I know he was a fan of ice skating and brought it back to England! Fantastic blog, by the way. Oh, and happy new year!
Dear Joanna,
Spaniels are rather nice, but they can not compare to ice skating! I hope that there’s ice for you wherever you are in 2011 and owls in the trees, too.
Thanks for writing!
All best wishes for the new year,
Jessica
I’ve always loved those old Dutch landscapes of everyone from solid burghers to ragamuffins skating on the canals. And wondered when was the last time the Dutch canals froze solid enough for people to risk skating on them. Is this global warming? (Not to throw cold water on your enthusiasm, heh heh.) My friend Emily’s grandmother used to tell us about how, when she was pregnant with Emily’s mother (which I’m guessing would be around 1915 or 1920), she walked on the ice from Islesboro to Lincolnville–which would be unimaginable now and almost unimaginable for then too.