What's Ponkiesburg???

History's First Brooklyn Picker

Willem van der Ponkies was a large landholder in Brooklyn when it was still a small Dutch town. He was also known as a fiddler and song collector who may have brought "The Staten Eylandt Hornpipe" to America. He had a fierce reputation, and is said to have horsewhipped a picker who played "Engel van Montgomery" for fifteen minutes straight.