Nice to hear from someone who takes an interest in these racially-based idioms. I hadn't thought about this for a long time, but it has been said that one branch of my family was descended from the Pennsylvania Dutch--some still live in southern Ontario; one came to Manitoba. I grew up in Brandon, Manitoba. My mother still refers to a child who plays a mischievous trick as 'a little Dutchman'. Have we totally confused the original writer?