Castle Tower of IJsselstein - IJsselstein

Where now only a castle tower remains as a museum, the castle of the mayor of IJsselstein used to stand. He was close friends with the Lord of Rijpikerwaard and regularly visited the castle. His horse was then hired by Kees, the mayor's servant. Kees the servant was very popular, especially with the inhabitants of IJsselstein.

The mayor then passed the cage in which the lord of the castle kept a monkey, who also happened to be called Kees. This never caused confusion, because when someone said Kees wanted to bite the postman, no one looked at the servant, and when another said he had heard Kees whistling merrily, no one thought of the monkey. The mayor thought the monkey was a nice animal and always brought him some goodies.

One day, Kees had not been in IJsselstein for several days because he had to do various jobs for his lordship. Just then, the monkey fell ill and despite all his good care, he died. 'Ah, how sad the mayor will be. He liked Kees so much,' said the mayor. He sent another servant to IJsselstein. 'My master makes you say that Kees is dead, Mr mayor,' spoke the servant.

The mayor, assuming it was Kees the servant, thereupon had the mourning bell rung in honour of a good servant of a good friend. The lord of Rijpikerwaard heard the bell and thereupon sent Kees to IJsselstein to find out who had died. On seeing Kees in the town gate, the women screamed and the men struck a cross.

When the misunderstanding was resolved, many women had to be reassured and comforted. Kees probably gladly helped with that. Since then, the inhabitants of IJsselstein have been called monkey watchers