The term Fancy Dutch or Gay Dutch refers to the Pennsylvania Germans who do not belong to the Anabaptist churches. They, unlike the Amish, Dunkards and the Mennonites, who were considered sectarians, did not wear plain clothing, nor did they refuse to fight in wars. Many popularly-associated characteristics of Pennsylvania Dutch culture, including speilwerk, hex signs, and other aspects of Pennsylvania Dutch art, music, and folklore, are derived from the Fancy Dutch. The tourism industry and mainstream media often erroneously attribute such contributions to the more conservative Plain Dutch, though they would reject these aspects of their more worldly Fancy counterparts.
The Fancy Dutch far outnumbered the sectarians among the Pennsylvania Dutch. Today however, most Pennsylvania German speakers are members of the plainer sects, the Fancy Dutch having been mostly assimilated into the larger culture of the United States. While the Plain Dutch regions centered around Holmes County, Ohio and Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, the Fancy Dutch lived in the countryside around Reading, Allentown, York and Lebanon.
Famous quotes containing the words fancy and/or dutch:
“For poetry, he’s past his prime,
He takes an hour to find a rhyme;
His fire is out, his wit decayed,
His fancy sunk, his muse a jade.
I’d have him throw away his pen,
But there’s no talking to some men.”
—Jonathan Swift (1667–1745)
“The French courage proceeds from vanity—the German from phlegm—the Turkish from fanaticism & opium—the Spanish from pride—the English from coolness—the Dutch from obstinacy—the Russian from insensibility—but the Italian from anger.”
—George Gordon Noel Byron (1788–1824)