They knock at every farmhouse, and are very seldom sent away empty-handed. When they have collected enough eggs to suit their purpose--generally three or four apiece--they boil them hard and stain them with two different colours, either brown with coffee or red with beetroot juice, and then on Easter Day they all repair to the meadows carrying their eggs with them, and the 'eiertikken' begins. The children sit down on the grass, and each child knocks one of his eggs against that of another in such a way that only one of the shells breaks. The child whose egg does not break wins, and becomes the possessor of the broken egg. The strangest of all these begging-customs, however, is the one in vogue between Christmas and Twelfth Night. Then the children go out in couples, each boy carrying an earthenware pot, over which a bladder is stretched, with a piece of stick tied in the middle. When this stick is twirled about, a not very melodious grumbling sound proceeds from the contrivance, which is known by the name of 'Rommelpot.' By going about in this manner the children are able to collect some few pence to buy bread--or gin--for their fathers. When they stop before any one's house, they drawl out, 'Give me a cent, and I will pass on, for I have no money to buy bread.' The origin both of the custom and song is shrouded in mystery.[Footnote: A Society of Research into old folklore and folk-song has recently been founded by some of the leading Dutch literary authorities, who also propose to publish a little periodical in which all these customs will be collected and noted.] Besides the customs in vogue at such festive seasons as Whitsuntide, Easter, and Christmas, there are yet others of more everyday occurrence which are well worth the knowing. In Overyssel, for instance, we find a very sensible one indeed. It is usual there when a family remove to another part of the village, or when they settle elsewhere, for the people living in the neighbourhood to bring them presents to help furnish their new house. Sometimes these presents include poultry or even a pig, which, though they do not so much furnish the house as the table, prove nevertheless very acceptable. As soon as all the moving is over and they are comfortably installed in their new home, the next thing to do is to invite all the neighbours to a party.