When in fury glow her eyes,
He keeps silent ... isn't he wise?
When not hen-pecking her husband this powerful lady was rearing wild
animals or corresponding with the Princess Caroline.
At Boxum, was fought, on 17th January, 1586, hard by the church,
the battle of Boxum, between the Spaniards and the Frisians. The
Frisians were defeated, and many of them massacred in the church;
but their effort was very brave, and "He also has been to Boxum"
is to this day a phrase applied to lads of courage. Another saying,
given to loud speakers, is "He has the voice of the Vicar of Boxum,"
whose tones in the pulpit were so dulcet as to frighten the birds
from the roof, and, I hope, sinners to repentance.
At Jelsum is buried Balthazar Becker, the antagonist of superstition
and author of _The Enchanted World_. Near by was Martena Castle,
where Alderman Sjuck van Burmania once kept a crowd of assailants
at bay by standing over a barrel of gunpowder with a lighted brand
while he offered them the choice of the explosion or a feast. Hence
the excellent proverb, "You must either fight or drink, said Sjuck".
At Berlikum was the castle of Bauck Poppema, a Frisian lady cast in
an iron mould, who during her husband's absence in 1496 defended the
stronghold against assailants from Groningen.
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