
The people of the Huizen

The people of the Huizen

The people of the Huizen

The Radiant Milkmaid
Huizen was just a poor small village when a rich farmer arrived one day and decided to stay. He bought the biggest farm there was and moved in with his horse and three cows−a level of wealth that was beyond most of the villagers’ wildest dreams.
When the newcomer put a sign on his fence offering Fresh Milk For Sale, Huizeners flocked to the farm. But the outsider set the price so high that no one could afford even a small jug. Instead of lowering the price, the farmer preferred to throw his milk into the well; litres of nutritious milk went to waste while hungry Huizeners looked on enviously.

This routine continued until, one sunny summer day, the sky suddenly turned grey, and pitch-black clouds gathered over the house of the greedy dairy farmer. Lightning and ear-piercing thunderclaps followed, sending the farmer into a blind panic as he fled his fields. When the lightning cracked open the well, a young woman rose up out of the bubbling fountain of milk, surrounded by a golden halo. She glowered at the farmer, and he froze, terrified. His true punishment was yet to come: a second flash of lightning struck him right in the middle of his petty-minded little heart. He reeled for a moment until he collapsed and dropped down dead into the well.


The young woman took over the farm and carried her yoke and milk pails past her poor neighbours’ houses every day, delivering a daily serving of dairy. After a few months, every- one in the village had regained their strength−and the young woman disappeared as suddenly as she had arrived.
The Milkmaid lives on in Huizen’s crest. In its heyday, the town switched from farming to fishing. Villagers caught small flounder, and the Huizeners were known as ‘flounder farmers’. The catch was loaded onto wheelbarrows in the harbour, and children pushed them through the Gooi region to sell the fish.


Once a year, the fishermen pulled out all the stops when the anchovy spawned in the Wadden Sea. With a good catch, a fisherman could pay off his ship in one go, or even build himself a new house. Enterprising Huizeners even sent their grown-up sons to Lisbon to learn how to preserve the anchovies, because salted fish could be kept longer and exported.
Tonnes of herring were also caught in the Zuiderzee. When the fleet returned with a full hold at five in the morning, the women would be waiting on the silvery, scale-covered quays. The herring had to be processed quickly to prevent it from spoiling; thousands of herring were strung up and smoked over a fire burning oak chippings. On calm days, the blue smoke hung heavy in the streets like a thick fog. Sometimes the catch was so plentiful it was impossible to smoke all the fish, so the leftovers were sprinkled over the fields as fertiliser which only made the stench worse!


Huizen was ultimately the victim of its own success. Overfishing meant the nets became emptier and emptier. After years of abundance, the villagers were soon starving again. And that’s when Huizen’s Milkmaid reappeared: young widows and poor families regularly found a little jug of milk on their doorstep in the mornings.
The mysterious benefactor was never seen, but many villagers spotted a golden halo lingering in the street after each generous delivery.


The Poor Man’s Horse
Huizen’s Melkweg−or Milk Road−got its name from the path farmers took twice a day for centuries. With a jug under their arms, they walked to the shared meadow where their cattle were waiting to be milked. Back thenmilk wasn’t pasteurised and could only be kept for a short time, so the farmers would knock on doors as soon as they had filled their churns, carrying their wares on a cart pulled by a dog.
Dogs were often used as beasts of burden, especially by people who couldn’t afford to buy a horse.
Cheesemongers had dog carts too. The founder of one of Huizen’s best-known cheesemakers, West- lands, used to cover great distances with his cart. One day, however, his dog was startled so suddenly that it bolted, ending up in the Ijsselmeer with not only the cart and everything on it, but his master too!
Westlands’ descendants built up the business into an empire with a vast network of warehouses. His neighbours followed suit, and Huizen became renowned for cheesemaking across Europe. Now- adays, cheese is safely transported in lorries, the dog carts long since banned in 1963. What was once the poor man’s horse is now back to being man’s best friend.

The people of the Huizen

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