lding houses in Holland the
windows were built conveniently for this custom. "In 1666-1667 every
house on the island of Texel had an opening under the window where the
lover could enter so as to sit on the bed and spend the night making
love to the daughter of the house." The custom was called _queesten_.
Parents encouraged it. A girl who had no _queester_ was not esteemed.
Rarely did any harm occur. If so, the man was mobbed and wounded or
killed. The custom can be traced in North Holland down to the eighteenth
century.[1861] This was the customary mode of wooing in the low
countries and Scandinavia. In spite of the disapproval of both civil and
ecclesiastical authorities, the custom continued just as round dances
continue now, in spite of the disapproval of many parents, because a
girl who should refuse to conform to current usage would be left out of
the social movement. The lover was always one who would be accepted as a
husband. If he exceeded the limits set by custom he was very hardly
dealt with by the people of the village.[1862] The custom is reported
from the Schwarzwald as late as 1780. It was there the regular method of
wooing for classes who had to work all day. The lover was required to
enter by the dormer window. Even still the custom is said to exist
amongst the peasants of Germany, but it is restricted to one night in
the month or in the year.[1863] Krasinski[1864] describes kissing games
customary amongst the Unitarians of the Ukrain. He says that they are a
Greek custom and he connects them with bundling.

+579. Poverty and wooing.+ Amongst peasants there was little opportunity
for the young people to become acquainted. When the cold season came
they could not woo out of doors. The young women could not be protected
by careful rules which would prevent wooing. They had to take risks and
to take care of themselves. Poverty was the explanation of this custom
in all civilized countries, although there was always in it an element
of frolic and fun.

+580. Night wooing in North American colonies.+ All the emigrants to
North America were familiar with the custom. In the seventeenth century,
in the colonies, the houses were small, poorly warmed, and inconvenient,
allowing little privacy. No doubt this is the reason why the custom took
new life in the colonies. Burnaby[1865] says that it was the custom
amongst the lower classes of Massachusetts that a pair who contemplated
marriage spent the night together i