The legend of Jean le Bûcheron (Johnny the Woodcutter)

    This story takes place at a time when the town of Steinfort was not reknow and life there was a bit dull. The nobility had gone to war while the peasants and craftsmen used to work hard at their trades.

    There lived the family of Jan from Steinfort. The latter had three skills, he was a shoemaker, a weaver and a woodcutter and was a very gifted worker.

     He was very tall and very strong. He could carry a barrel of beer under each arm easily.

    His huge skills as a shoemaker brought the emperor Charlemagne to call on his one day to order a pair of new shoes. Those shoes were of so high quality that the emperor kept them 4 years (which was a feat as he had big feet and found it difficult to find shoes that fitted !).

    As a reward to Jan, Charlemagne sent his nephew Roland to Steinford to offer him a few presents: a sword, a coat of mail and a helmet. Jan was really pleased and very proud of the presents which he hung on his mantel piece.

    A few years later, when Charlemagne died, barbarous northmen came to the area, killing and destroying everything and everyone standing on their way. The people of Steinfort, knowing they would be assaukted soon were frightened. they prayed to god for their souls and waited for a certain death.

    Yet, Jan was not a coward and would not have wanted anyone to call him so. He took his helmet, his coat of mail and the axe he used daily to chop the wood and, together with his two sons, Gille and Jacobus, he fought the invaders. He would swirl his axe around and the Northmen fell dead like flies. The few survivors ended up running for their lives...

    When Jan died, 50 years later, the local people erected a giant in his likeness and would parade around the town during Lent.

   It is this tradition that was taken over by the Friends of Fromulus in 1913.