The fate of Kees
In the kitchen, there’s a wall chart displaying a kind of painted comic strip. It illustrates the song De Lotgevallen van Kees (The Fate of Kees). The lyrics are placed alongside it, following the images on the chart.
The song
The song tells the tale of Kees, a widower who married multiple times. This Kees was a real person who lived on Texel. His full name was Cornelis Dirkz. de Ridder. In 1871, at the age of 59, he married Naantje Jacobs Abbenes. By then, he had already outlived four wives: Maria Wage, Antje Jacobs Duinker, Kaatje Hendriks Kalf, and Helena Knol.
After Naantje’s passing, this five-time widower married the much younger Aaltje Schaap. Their marriage ended in bitter poverty and misery. And so the song closes with a warning to all unmarried young women: “Girls, take heed, never marry a widower!
