The people of Mechelen are sometime nicknamed Maneblussers (Moon Extinguishers):
On the night of January 27th/28th 1687 St Rumbold’s Tower was shrouded in mist. A none too sober tippler emerged from an inn on the Grote Markt. He suddenly saw that the tower was on fire and immediately raised the alarm.
The whole city was thrown into confusion, the alarm bell was sounded and the city council led by the burgomaster lost no time in organizing the fire-fighting operation. Buckets of water went from hand to hand in a chain up the tower stairway, but even before they reached the top, the moon slipped through the haze and the glow disappeared…
Little had the brave citizens realized that the reddish misty glow they were trying to extinguish was the moon!
Of course the people of Mechelen tried to keep the incident quiet, but the news soon spread abroad, earning the people of Mechelen the nickname Maneblussers (Moon Extinguishers) – a nickname they bear to this day.
That’s fascinating[but also rather stupid].
It was the 1680s
I see, so that’s what it’s all about the blue banner.
They pushed the tippler off the tower! Ha ha
The story about the figure on the flag is a different one to the Moon Extinguishers. That tale is ready to post this evening
Did they ever get to actually extinguish the moon?
As I see the moon most nights, I think not!
Very interesting story. I, too, am glad they didn’t succeed!
I can just imagine the scene
Daft (I said daft… long enough now?)
Maybe daft because you know how to cheat the one word rule on Wordpress… The rule that allows your comment through regardless
Wordpress’s comment software is daft too, and so seemingly pointlessly so.
The idea behind it is that a one word comment might be spam. Wordpress fails to notice that random lots of incoherent nonsense as spam and allows the comment.
A bit of refinement is needed me thinks…