Ljep net fierder as dyn pols lang is translates literally as "Do not jump further than you jumping pole is long"; or, comparably, "Cut your coat according to your cloth." This well-known Frisian proverb expresses a wisdom, that the Frisians, living in the northernmost Netherlands province of Friesland, completely endorse. However, when it comes to the art of pole jumping over the ditches, they literally ignore the age-old and proven folk wisdom of the Dutch. They call it by its Frisian name fierljeppen, and although difficult to pronounce, it is by this term that the folk sport of pole jumping is becoming known the world over. With their jumping poles, which are 33 to 36 feet long, trained athletes easily reach distances of about 50 feet. The Frisian record is just less than 61 feet.
A country partly below sea level, the Netherlands is general and Friesland is particular, is a land of many ditches, canals, and lakes, which are characteristic elements of the Frisian landscape. In earlier times, specially engineered roads were rare in the swamp, reed fen, and mound area. To reach other groups of people, one had to use the jumping pole. It is no surprise that conquering ditches and canals has become ingrained in the Frisian character. The jumping pole was and remains an indispensable part of life.
In the course of history, a large assortment of games developed in which the jumping pole was the central element. Still every spring, when the days grow longer and the sun seems to linger on forever, young people, with poles on their shoulders, move out into the meadows en masse. Nienke van Hichtum, a famous writer of Frisian descent, mentioned this in her best-known novel Afke's Tiental, which was published in 1924 and appeared on the American market in 1936 as Afke's Ten (Lippincott).
Towards the end of March, many older Frisians follow the example of the youth. Parking their cars on the side of the road, they take the jumping poles off the car roofs to join the most important Frisian folk activity: the search for the speckled eggs of the lapwing (also known as pewit, crested Old World plover, or Vanellus vanellus). Despite, or perhaps thanks to the intensive hunt for these eggs, Friesland has remained the main brooding area of this elegant bird, more than once graced with the title of "Queen of the Frisian meadows."
Small ditches are not much of a challenge; you do not need the pole. But it comes in handy when crossing over the wider ditches. A just-for-the-fun-of-it contest is quickly arranged. Who can leap over the biggest ditch without getting wet? Who jumps the farthest? One can safely assume that as long as the jumping pole has been used, these contests have been waged during the warmer months.
A document of 1542 allowed only private farmers to collect the eggs of the lapwing, already called "the queen," and other birds on their land. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, if you did not own your farm, you were obliged to include a certain number of lapwing eggs with your annual payments.
A law of 1591 forbids the gathering of lapwing eggs after April 1. However, scholarly research has indicated that this date is actually the same as today's April 12, the modern cutoff date for egg gathering. Friesland did not accept the new calendar until 1701; perhaps an indication of the independence of their people (at
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