Uncle Loeks' Peer

The Peerd van Ome Loeks can be seen as one of the symbols of the Dutch city of Groningen. The statue derives its existence from a Groningen folk song of the same title.

There is a song about the Peerd van Ome Loeks with the text below. The melody is the same as that of the Sinterklaas song "Daar wordt aan de deur geklopt." The song dates from around 1900 and is a translation of a German student song.

Peerd van Ome Loeks is dead, Loeks is dead, Loeks is dead,
Peerd van Ome Loeks is dead, absolutely dead.
Yesterday it was still healthy, swishing its tail around
Peerd van Ome Loeks is dead, absolutely dead.
Peerd van Ome Loeks is dead, Loeks is dead, Loeks is dead,
Peerd van Ome Loeks is dead, absolutely dead.
If I only had fed it, it would have stayed alive.
Peerd van Ome Loeks is dead, absolutely dead.
The line "absolutely dead" is sometimes sung as "completely dead."

Over the years, several men have been identified as the one and only Ome Loeks. The most famous candidate is Lukas "Loeks" van Hemmen (1876-1955); he was a harness racer and owner of the café and livery stable De Slingerij on Aweg in Groningen. At the end of July 1910, his famous racehorse Appelon was quite restless and kicked at the stable boy Barelt Visser. Van Hemmen drove the horse back with a pitchfork. The horse sustained an injury to its nostrils and became ill. It died a few days later from colic. When the horse butcher came to take the carcass away, a few boys were singing: "The horse of Uncle Loeks is dead." And thus the song was born.

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