You have undoubtedly heard Harry Chapin’s 1974 hit song “Cat’s in the Cradle” but never understood the meaning of the title. According to legend, the Saint Elizabeth’s Flood of 1421 ravished the land around Kinderdijk and drowned up to 10,000 people. The following day, an infant girl was found drifting in a crib. The baby had remained afloat by the tireless efforts of a cat jumping back and forth to keep the cradle balanced. The story became a popular Dutch fairytale. And the village was named Kinderdijk meaning children’s dike.
