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diff --git a/old/52196-0.txt b/old/52196-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 1c831a9..0000000 --- a/old/52196-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,7199 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Oxonian in Thelemarken, volume 2 (of 2), by -Frederick Metcalfe - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - -Title: The Oxonian in Thelemarken, volume 2 (of 2) - or, Notes of travel in south-western Norway in the summers - of 1856 and 1857. With glances at the legendary lore of - that district. - -Author: Frederick Metcalfe - -Release Date: May 30, 2016 [EBook #52196] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE OXONIAN IN THELEMARKEN *** - - - - -Produced by Charlene Taylor, Bryan Ness and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - - - - -[Illustration: FRAIL BRIDGE ON THE ROAD TO THE VÖRING FOSS.] - - - - - THE OXONIAN - IN - THELEMARKEN; - - OR, - - NOTES OF TRAVEL IN SOUTH-WESTERN NORWAY - IN THE SUMMERS OF 1856 AND 1857. - - WITH GLANCES AT THE LEGENDARY LORE - OF THAT DISTRICT. - - BY - THE REV. FREDERICK METCALFE, M.A., - FELLOW OF LINCOLN COLLEGE, OXFORD, - AUTHOR OF - “THE OXONIAN IN NORWAY.” - - “Auf den Bergen ist Freiheit; der Hauch der Grüfte, - Steigt nicht hinauf in die schönen Lüfte, - Die Welt is volkommen überall, - Wo der Mensch nicht hinein kömmt mit seiner Qual.” - - “Tu nidum servas: ego laudo ruris amœni - Rivos, et musco circumlita saxa, nemusque.” - - IN TWO VOLUMES. - VOL. II. - - LONDON: - HURST AND BLACKETT, PUBLISHERS, - SUCCESSORS TO HENRY COLBURN, - 13, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET. - 1858. - - [_The right of Translation is reserved._] - - LONDON: - SAVILL AND EDWARDS, PRINTERS, - CHANDOS STREET. - - - - -CONTENTS TO VOL. II. - - - CHAPTER I. - - Danish custom-house officials--Home sickness--The ladies of - Denmark--Ethnological--Sweden and its forests--Influence - of climate on Peoples--The French court--Norwegian and - Danish pronunciation--The Swiss of the North--An instance of - Norwegian slowness--Ingemann, the Walter Scott of Denmark--Hans - Christian Andersen--Genius in rags--The level plains of - Zealand--Danish cattle--He who moveth his neighbour’s - landmark--Beech groves--The tomb of the great Valdemar--The two - queens--The Probst of Ringstedt--Wicked King Abel--Mormonism - in Jutland--Roeskilde--Its cathedral--The Semiramis of the - North--Frederick IV.--Unfortunate Matilda pp. 1-17 - - CHAPTER II. - - Copenhagen--Children of Amak--Brisk bargaining--Specimens - of horn fish--Unlucky dogs--Thorwaldsen’s museum--The Royal - Assistenz House--Going, gone--The Ethnographic Museum--An - inexorable professor--Lionizes a big-wig--The stone - period in Denmark--England’s want of an ethnographical - collection--A light struck from the flint in the stag’s - head--The gold period--A Scandinavian idol’s cestus--How - dead chieftains cheated fashion--Antiquities in gold--Wooden - almanacks--Bridal crowns--Scandinavian antiquities peculiarly - interesting to Englishmen--Four thousand a year in return - for soft sawder--Street scenes in Copenhagen--Thorwaldsen’s - colossal statues--Blushes for Oxford and Cambridge--A Danish - comedy--Where the warriors rest pp. 18-38 - - CHAPTER III. - - The celebrated Three Crowns Battery--Hamlet’s grave--The Sound - and its dues--To Fredericksborg--Iceland ponies--Denmark - an equine paradise--From Copenhagen to Kiel--Tidemann, the - Norwegian painter--Pictures at Düsseldorf--The boiling - of the porridge--Düsseldorf theatricals--Memorial of - Dutch courage--Young heroes--An attempt to describe the - Dutch language--The Amsterdam canals--Half-and-half in - Holland--Want of elbow-room--A new Jerusalem--A sketch for - Juvenal--The museum of Dutch paintings--Magna Charta of Dutch - independence--Jan Steen’s picture of the _fête_ of Saint - Nicholas--Dutch art in the 17th century--To Zaandam--Traces - of Peter the Great--Easy travelling--What the reeds seemed to - whisper pp. 39-55 - - CHAPTER IV. - - Broek--A Dutchman’s idea of Paradise--A toy house for real - people--Cannon-ball cheeses--An artist’s flirtation--John Bull - abroad--All the fun of the fair--A popular refreshment--Morals - in Amsterdam--The Zoological Gardens--Bed and Breakfast--Paul - Potter’s bull--Rotterdam pp. 56-64 - - CHAPTER V. - - Oxford in the long vacation--The rats make such a - strife--A case for Lesbia--Interview between a hermit and - a novice--The ruling passion--Blighted hopes--Norwegian - windows--Tortoise-shell soup--After dinner--Christiansand - again--Ferry on the Torrisdal river--Plain records of - English travellers--Salmonia--The bridal crown--A bridal - procession--Hymen, O Hymenæe!--A ripe Ogress--The head cook at - a Norwegian marriage--God-fearing people--To Sætersdal--Neck or - nothing--Lilies and lilies--The Dutch myrtle pp. 65-81 - - CHAPTER VI. - - A dreary station--Strange bed-fellows--Broadsides--Comfortable - proverb--Skarp England--Interesting particulars--A hospitable - Norwegian Foged--Foster-children--The great bear-hunter--A - terrible Bruin--Forty winks--The great Vennefoss--A temperance - lamentation--More bear talk--Grey legs--Monosyllabic - conversation--Trout fished from the briny deep--A warning to - the beaux of St. James’s-street--Thieves’ cave--A novelette for - the Adelphi pp. 82-100 - - CHAPTER VII. - - A wolf-trap--The heather--Game and game-preserves--An - optical delusion--Sumptuous entertainment--Visit to a - Norwegian store-room--Petticoats--Curious picture of - the Crucifixion--Fjord scenery--How the priest Brun was - lost--A Sætersdal manse--Frightfully hospitable--Eider-down - quilts--Costume of a Norwegian waiting-maid--The tartan in - Norway--An ethnological inquiry--Personal characteristics--The - sect of the Haugians--Nomad life in the far Norwegian - valleys--Trug--Memorials of the Vikings--Female Bruin in a - rage--How bears dispose of intruders--Mercantile marine of - Norway--The Bad-hus--How to cook brigands--Winter clothing pp. 101-124 - - CHAPTER VIII. - - Peculiar livery--Bleke--A hint to Lord Breadalbane--Enormous - trout--Trap for timber logs--Exciting scene--Melancholy - Jacques in Norway--The new church of Sannes--A clergyman’s - midsummer-day dream--Things in general at Froisnaes--Pleasing - intelligence--Luxurious magpies--A church without a - congregation--The valley of the shadow of death--Mouse - Grange--A tradition of Findal--Fable and feeling--A Highland - costume in Norway--Ancestral pride--Grand old names prevalent - in Sætersdal--Ropes made of the bark of the lime-tree--Carraway - shrub--Government schools of agriculture--A case for a London - magistrate--Trout fishing in the Högvand--Cribbed, cabined, - and confined--A disappointment--The original outrigger--The - cat-lynx--A wealthy Norwegian farmer--Bear-talk--The - consequence of taking a drop too much--Story of a Thuss--Cattle - conscious of the presence of the hill people--Fairy music pp. 125-148 - - CHAPTER IX. - - Langeid--Up the mountain--Vanity of vanity--Forest - perfumes--The glad thrill of adventure--An ancient - beacon--Rough fellows--Daring pine-trees--Quaint old - powder-horn--Curiosities for sale--Sketch of a group of - giants--Information for _Le Follet_--Rather cool--Rural - dainties and delights--The great miracle--An odd name--The - wedding garment--Ivar Aasen--The study of words--Philological - lucubrations--A slagsmal--Nice subject for a spasmodic - poet--Smoking rooms--The lady of the house--A Simon Svipu--A - professional story-teller--Always about Yule-tide--The - supernatural turns out to be very natural--What happened to an - old woman--Killing the whirlwind--Hearing is believing--Mr. - Parsonage corroborates Mr. Salomon--The grey horse at - Roysland--There can be no doubt about it--Theological argument - between a fairy and a clergyman--Adam’s first wife, Lileth pp. 149-178 - - CHAPTER X. - - Scandinavian origin of old English and Border ballads--Nursery - rhymes--A sensible reason for saying “No”--Parish - books--Osmund’s new boots--A St. Dunstan story--The - short and simple annals of a Norwegian pastor--Peasant - talk--Riddles--Traditional melodies--A story for William - Allingham’s muse--The Tuss people receive notice to quit--The - copper horse--Heirlooms--Stories in wood-carving--Morals and - match-making pp. 179-199 - - CHAPTER XI. - - Off again--Shakspeare and Scandinavian literature--A - fat peasant’s better half--A story about Michaelmas - geese--Explanation of an old Norwegian almanack--A quest after - the Fremmad man--A glimpse of death--Gunvar’s snuff-box--More - nursery rhymes--A riddle of a silver ring--New discoveries - of old parsimony--The Spirit of the Woods--Falcons at - home--The etiquette of tobacco-chewing--Lullabies--A frank - invitation--The outlaw pretty near the mark--Bjaräen--A - valuable hint to travellers--Domestic etcetera--Early - morning--Social magpies--An augury--An eagle’s eyrie--Meg - Merrilies--Wanted an hydraulic press--A grumble at - paving commissioners--A disappointment--An unpropitious - station-master--Author keeps house in the wilderness--Practical - theology--Story of a fox and a bear--Bridal-stones--The - Vatnedal lake--Waiting for the ferry--An unmistakeable hint--A - dilemma--New illustration of the wooden nutmeg truth--“Polly - put the kettle on”--A friendly remark to Mr. Caxton--The real - fountain of youth--Insectivora--The maiden’s lament pp. 200-237 - - CHAPTER XII. - - Ketil--A few sheep in the wilderness--Brown Ryper--The - Norwegian peasants bad naturalists--More bridal-stones--The - effect of glacial action on rocks--“Catch hold of her - tail”--Author makes himself at home in a deserted châlet--A - dangerous playfellow--Suledal lake--Character of the - inhabitants of Sætersdal--The landlord’s daughter--Wooden - spoons--Mountain paths--A mournful cavalcade--Simple - remedies--Landscape painting--The post-road from Gugaard to - Bustetun--The clergyman of Roldal parish--Poor little Knut at - home--A set of bores--The pencil as a weapon of defence--Still, - still they come--A short cut, with the usual result--Author - falls into a cavern--The vast white Folgefond--Mountain - characteristics--Author arrives at Seligenstad--A milkmaid’s - lullaby--Sweethearts--The author sees visions--The Hardanger - Fjord--Something like scenery pp. 238-259 - - CHAPTER XIII. - - Author visits a glacier--Meets with two compatriots--A good - year for bears--The judgment of snow--Effects of parsley fern - on horses--The advantage of having a shadow--Old friends of - the hill tribe--Skeggedals foss--Fairy strings--The ugliest - dale in Norway--A photograph of omnipotence--The great Bondehus - glacier--Record of the mysterious ice period--Guide stories--A - rock on its travels pp. 260-272 - - CHAPTER XIV. - - Three generations--Dangers of the Folgo--Murray at - fault--Author takes boat for the entrance of the Bondehus - Valley--The king of the waterfall--More glacier paths--An - extensive ice-house--These glorious palaces--How is the - harvest?--Laxe-stie--Struggle-stone--To Vikör--Östudfoss, - the most picturesque waterfall in Norway--An eternal crystal - palace--How to earn a pot of gold--Information for the - _Morning Post_--A parsonage on the Hardanger--Steamers for - the Fjords--Why living is becoming dearer in Norway--A - rebuke for the travelling English--Sunday morning--Peasants - at church--Female head-dresses--A Norwegian church - service--Christening--Its adumbration in heathen Norway--A - sketch for Washington Irving pp. 273-292 - - CHAPTER XV. - - Up Steindalen--Thorsten Thormundson--Very near--Author’s - guide gives him a piece of agreeable information--Crooked - paths--Raune bottom--A great ant-hill--Author turns rainbow - manufacturer--No one at home--The mill goblin helps author out - of a dilemma--A tiny Husman--The dangers attending confirmation - in Norway--The leper hospital at Bergen--A melancholy - walk--Different forms of leprosy--The disease found to be - hereditary--Terrible instances of its effects--Ethnological - particulars respecting--The Bergen Museum--Delicate little - monsters--Fairy pots--The best bookseller in Bergen--Character - of the Danish language--Instance of Norwegian good-nature--New - flames and old fiddles pp. 293-315 - - CHAPTER XVI. - - The safest day in the year for travelling--A - collision--Lighthouses on the Norwegian coast--Olaf the Holy - and the necromancers--The cathedral at Stavanger--A Norwegian - M.P.--Broad sheets--The great man unbends--Jaederen’s Rev--Old - friends at Christiansand--Too fast--The Lammer’s schism--Its - beneficial effects--Roman Catholic Propagandism--A thievish - archbishop--Historical memoranda at Frederickshal--The Falls - of the Glommen--A Department of Woods and Forests established - in Norway--Conflagrations--A problem, and how it was - solved--Author sees a mirage--Homewards pp. 316-327 - - - - -THE OXONIAN IN THELEMARKEN. - - - - -CHAPTER I. - - Danish custom-house officials--Home sickness--The ladies of - Denmark--Ethnological--Sweden and its forests--Influence - of climate on Peoples--The French court--Norwegian and - Danish pronunciation--The Swiss of the North--An instance of - Norwegian slowness--Ingemann, the Walter Scott of Denmark--Hans - Christian Andersen--Genius in rags--The level plains of - Zealand--Danish cattle--He who moveth his neighbour’s - landmark--Beech groves--The tomb of the great Valdemar--The two - queens--The Probst of Ringstedt--Wicked King Abel--Mormonism - in Jutland--Roeskilde--Its cathedral--The Semiramis of the - North--Frederick IV.--Unfortunate Matilda. - - -Being desirous of proceeding to Copenhagen, I landed at Nyeborg; -together with the Dane and his lady. - -The steamer across to Korsör will start at four A.M., and so, it -being now midnight, we must sleep as fast as we can till then. The -politeness of the Danish custom-house officials surpassed everything of -the kind I ever encountered from that class. We put up at Schalburg’s -hotel. Mine host cozened us. I recommend no traveller to stop at his -house of entertainment. - -“Morgen-stund giv Guld i Mund,” said the fair Dane to me, quoting a -national proverb, as I pointed out to her the distant coast of Zealand, -which a few minutes before was indistinctly visible in the grey dawn, -now gilded with the sun. - -She was quite in ecstasies at the thoughts of setting foot on her dear -Zealand, and seeing its level plains of yellow corn and beechen groves, -after the granite and gneiss deserts of Lapland and Finmark. Sooth to -say, the Danish ladies are not infected with that deadly liveliness -which characterizes many of the Norwegians; while, on the other hand, -they are devoid of that bland facility and Frenchified superficiality -which mark many of the Swedes. How is it that there is such a wide -distinction between the Swede and the Norskman? Contrast the frank -bluffness of the one; strong, sterling, and earnest, without artifice -and grace: and the supple and insinuating manner of the other. The very -peasant-girl of Sweden steps like a duchess, and curtsies as if she -had been an _habitué_ of Almack’s. Pass over the Borders, as I have -done, from Trondjem Fjord through Jemte-land, and at the first Swedish -change-house almost, you are among quite a different population, -profuse of compliments and civilities which they evidently look upon -as all in the day’s work, and very much disposed withal to have a deal -with you--to sell you, for instance, one of their grey dog-skin cloaks -for one hundred rix dollars. One is reminded, on the one hand, of -the sturdy, blundering Halbert Glendinning; and on the other, of the -lithesome, adroit Euphuist, Sir Piercie Shaftón. And yet, if we are to -believe the antiquarians and ethnologists, both people are of pretty -much the same stock: coming from the countries about the Black Sea, -two centuries after Christ, when these were overrun by the Romans, and -supervening upon the old Gothic or second migration. It may be said -that the Norsk character caught some parts of its colouring from the -stern, rugged nurse in the embrace of whose mountains their lot has -been cast; with the great backbone of primæval rock (Kiölen) splitting -Norway in two, and rendering intercourse difficult. So that now you -will hear a Norskman talk of Nordenfjelds (north of the mountains), and -Söndenfjelds (south of the mountains), as if they were two distinct -countries. But then, if the Swedes did live on a flatter country, and -one apparently more adapted for the production of the necessaries of -life, and so more favourable to the growth of civilization; yet it, -too, presented obstacles almost equally insurmountable to the spread of -refining arts and tastes. - -They also used to talk, not like the Norwegians, of their north of the -mountain and south of the mountain, but of their north of the forest -(nordenskovs) and south of the forest (söndenskovs), in allusion to -the impenetrable forests of Kolmorden and Tiveden, which divided the -district about the Mälar Lake from the south and south-west of Sweden. -And is it much better now? True, you have the canal that has pierced -the country and opened it out to culture and civilization; but even at -the present day the climate of Sweden is less mild than that of Norway, -and four-sevenths of the whole surface of the country are still covered -by forests. In travelling from the Trondjem Fjord to the Gulf of -Bothnia, I found myself driving for four consecutive days through one -dense forest, with now and then a clearing of some extent; and as for -the marshes, they are very extensive and treacherous. One day I saw two -cranes not far from the road along which I was driving, and immediately -stepped, gun in hand, off the causeway, to try and stalk them. But I -was nigh becoming the victim; for at the first step on what looked like -a grassy meadow, I plunged deep into a floating morass. A Swede who -was my companion luckily seized me before I had played out the part of -Curtius without any corresponding results. - -The nation which has to fight with a cold climate and such physical -geography as this, is not much better situated than the one which in -a milder climate has to wring a subsistence from rocks, and which, to -advance a mile direct, has to go up and down twain. Like those heroes -and pioneers of civilization in the backwoods, they both of them have -to clench the teeth, and knit the brow, and stiffen the sinews, if they -want to hold their own in the stern fight with nature. And this sort of -permanent, self-reliant obduracy which by degrees gets into the blood, -is by no means prone to foster those softer graces that bud forth under -the warmth of a southern sky and in the lap of a richer soil, where -none of the asperities generated by compulsion are requisite, but Dame -Nature, with the least coaxing possible, listens to and rewards her -suitors. - -Why is it, then, that the manners of these two people are so different? -People tell me it did not use to be so. The first and great reason, -then, appears to be the different governments of the two countries; the -absence of liberty and the excessive powers and number of the nobility -in the one, and the abundance of liberty and absence of nobles in the -other. The influence of rule upon the inhabitants of a country is, in -the long run, as mighty as that of breed and blood. - -Improbable as it may appear to some, I am inclined to lay great stress -on the influence of a French Court. Bernadotte, it is true, was the -son of a plebeian, a notary of Pau; but he was a Frenchman, and every -Frenchman is versatile, and gifted with external polish, at all events; -and his Court was French, and Court influence did its work, penetrating -to the very roots of society; so that by degrees the graces of the -capital became engrafted on the obsequious spirit already engendered -by long servitude among the Swedish population. At Christiania, on the -contrary, there is no Court; the nobility are not, and the country -is all but a republic. This is, I believe, a part solution of the -problem--a “guess at truth.” While on this subject, I may as well refer -to the difference between the pronunciation of Danish and Norwegian, -though they are at present the same language. The vapid sweetness -which your Dane affects in his articulation, is most distasteful after -the rough and strenuous tongue of Norway. It is a case of lollipop to -wholesome gritty rye-bread. The Dane, especially the Copenhagener, -rolls out his words in a most lackadaisical manner, as if he were -talking to a child. Mammas and papas will talk thus, we know, to their -babies, the language of endearment not being according to the rules -of the Queen’s English. At times I thought great big men were going to -blubber, and were commiserating their own fate or that of the person -addressed, when perhaps they were only asking what time the train -started to Copenhagen, or whether the potato sickness had reappeared. - -Going to the fore part of the steamer to get some English money turned -into Danish, I find two of those Swiss of the North, Dalecarlian -girls, on board. They are from Mora, and one is very pretty. The most -noticeable feature in their costume is their short petticoats and red -stockings. That most sprightly girl, Miss Diana Redshank, will at -once perceive whence it is that we borrow the fashion now prevailing -in England. As a matter of course, they were artists in hair, and -they immediately produced their stock-in-trade--viz., specimens of -bracelets, necklaces, and watch-chains, very well worked and very -cheap. They have been from home all the summer, and are now working -their way back. In winter they weave cloth and attend to the household -duties. I bought a hair bracelet for three shillings. - -As an instance of Norwegian slowness, I may mention that although the -railway is opened from Korsör to Copenhagen, distant three hours, the -Norwegian steamer still continues to stop at Nyeborg, on the further -side of the Belt, thereby necessitating this trip across, and much -additional delay, trouble, and expense. - -The novels of Ingemann have made all these places classic ground. The -Danes look on him as the Walter Scott of their country. He is now past -seventy, and living in repose at the Academy of Sorö. Denmark sets a -good example in the reward of literary merit. - -Well do I remember, years ago, meeting a goggle-eyed young man, with -lanky, dark hair, ungainly figure, and wild countenance, and nails just -like filberts, at a table-d’hôte in Germany. All the dinner he rolled -about his large eyes in meditation. This was Hans Christian Andersen, -now enjoying a European reputation, and holding, with a good stipend, -the sinecure of Honorary Professor at the University of Copenhagen. -Hitherto he had been candle-snuffer at the metropolitan theatre, but -his hidden talents had been perceived, and he was being sent to Italy -to improve his taste and get ideas at the public expense. - -If we contrast the fate in England and in Denmark of genius in rags, -we may be reminded of the märchen, told, if I remember, by Andersen -himself, how that once on a time a little dirty duck was ignored by the -sleek fat ducks around, when it meets with two swans, who recognised -the seemingly dirty little duck, and protected it. Whereupon the -astonished youngster happens to see himself in a puddle, and finds that -he is a genuine swan. - -What a contrast between these flat plains of Zealand, with the -whitewashed cottages and farm-houses--the ridge of the thatched roof -pinned down with straddles of wood--and the rocky wilds of Norway, its -log-houses, red or yellow, with grass-covered roofs, nestling under a -vast impending mountain. In Denmark, the highest land is only a few -hundred feet above the sea. How immensely large, too, the cows and -horses look after the lilliputian breeds of Norway. There being hardly -any fences, the poor creatures are generally tethered: yonder peasant -girl with the great wooden mallet is in the act of driving in the iron -tethering-pin. - -No wonder that in a country so open, superstition has had recourse -to terrify the movers of their neighbour’s landmarks. Thus the -Jack-o’-Lanterns in the isle of Falster are nothing but the souls of -dishonest land-measurers running about with flaming measuring-rods, -and crying, “Here is the right boundary, from here to here!” Again, -near Ebeltoft, there used to live a rich peasant, seemingly a paragon -of propriety, a regular church-goer, a most attentive sermon-hearer, -one who paid tithes of all he possessed; but somehow, nobody believed -in him. And sure enough when he was dead and buried, his voice was -often heard at night crying in woful accents, “Boundary here, boundary -there!” The people knew the reason why. - -Instead of those dark and sombre pine-forests so thoroughly in keeping -with the grim, Dantesque grandeur of the Norwegian landscape, or the -ghostlike white stems of the birch-trees, the only trees visible are -the glossy-foliaged, wide-spreading groves of beech, with now and then -an oak. - -I descend at Ringstedt to see the tombs of the great Valdemar (King -of Denmark), and his two wives, Dagmar of Bohemia, and Berengaria of -Portugal. The train, I perceive, is partly freighted with food for the -capital, in the shape of sacks full of chickens (only fancy chickens -in sacks!) and numbers of live pigs, which a man was watering with a -watering-can, as if they had been roses, and would wither with the heat. - -Having a vivid recollection of Ingermann’s best historical tale, -_Valdemar Seier_, it was with no little interest that I entered the -church, and stood beside the flag-stones in the choir which marked -the place of the King’s sepulture. On the Regal tomb was incised, -“Valdemarus Secundus Legislator Danorum.” On either side were stones, -with the inscriptions, “Regina Dagmar, prima uxor Valdemari Secundi,” -and “Regina Berengaria, secunda uxor Valdemari Secundi.” The real -name of Valdemar’s first wife was Margaret, but she is only known to -the Dane as little Dagmar, which means “dawning,” or “morning-red.” -Her memory is as dear to the people as that of Queen Tyra Dannebod. -She was as good as she was beautiful. The name of “Proud Bengard,” on -the contrary, is loaded with curses, as one who brought ruin upon the -throne and country. - -At this moment a gentleman approached me with a courteous bow; he was -dressed in ribbed grey and black pantaloons, and a low-crowned hat. -I found afterwards that he was a native of Bornholm, and no less a -personage than the Probst of Ringstedt; he was very polite and affable, -and informed me that these graves were opened not long ago in the -presence of his present Majesty of Denmark. Valdemar was three ells -long; his countenance was imperfect. Bengard’s face and teeth were in -good preservation. Dagmar’s body had apparently been disturbed before. - -In the aisle near, he pointed out the monument to Eric Plugpenning, the -son of Valdemar. He had the nickname of Plugpenning (Plough-penny), for -setting a tax on the plough. He was murdered on a fishing excursion by -his brother. The fratricide’s name was not Cain but Abel. There was -no luck afterwards about the house; the curse of Atreus and Thyestes -rested upon it. Of course, after such an atrocity King Abel “walks,” -or more strictly speaking he “rides.” Slain in a morass near the Eyder -in 1252, his body was buried in the cathedral of Sleswig. But his -spirit found no rest; by night he haunted the church and disturbed -the slumbers of the canons; his corpse was consequently exhumed, and -buried in a bog near Gottorp, with a stake right through it to keep it -down; the peasants will still point out the place. But it was all to -no purpose; a huntsman’s horn is often heard at night in the vicinity, -and Abel, dark of aspect, is seen scouring away on a small black horse, -with a leash of dogs, burning like fire. - -Here, then, in Denmark, we see the grand Asgaardsreia of Norway -localized, and transferred from the nameless powers of the invisible -world to malefactors of earth; while in Germany it assumes the shape of -“The Wild Huntsman.” - -Returning to the inn, I amused myself till the next train arrived -by looking at the Copenhagen paper, from which I learn that twenty -pairs were copulerede--married--last week, and that there has been -a great meeting of Mormons in the capital. Such has been the effect -of the mission of the elders in Jutland, that that portion of Denmark -is becoming quite depopulated from emigration to the city of the Salt -Lake. There is also a list of gold, silver, and bronze articles lately -discovered in the country, and sent to the museum of Copenhagen, with -the amount of payments received by each. In the precious metals these -are according to weight. One lucky finder gets 72 rix dollars. - -By the next train I advance to Roeskilde, which takes its name from the -clear perennial spring of St. Roe, which ejects many gallons a minute. -Baths and public rooms are established in connexion with it. But it -was the Cathedral that drew me to Roeskilde. A brick building, in the -plain Gothic of Denmark, it has not much interest in an architectural -point of view; but there are monuments here which I felt bound to see. -Old Saxo Grammaticus, the chronicler of early Denmark, the interior of -whose study is so graphically described by Ingermann in the beginning -of _Valdemar Seier_--he rests under that humble stone. Here, too, is -buried in one of the pillars of the choir, Svend Tveskjaeg, the father -of Canute the Great, who died at the assize at Gainsborough, in 1014. - -Queen Margaret (the Northern Semiramis), who wore the triple crown -of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, sleeps behind the altar, under a -full-length monument in white marble more than four centuries old. It -were well if the Scandinavian idea, now absorbing the minds of thinking -men in the North, were to find a more happy realization than in her -case--the union, instead of allaying the hostility with which each -nation regarded the other, only serving to perpetuate embroilments. -Some good kings and great repose here; also some wicked and mean. -Among the former, it will suffice to mention Frederick IV., whom the -Danes look upon as their greatest monarch. A bronze statue of him -by Thorwaldsen is to be found in one of the chapels. In the latter -category we unhesitatingly place Christian VII., to whom, in an evil -hour, was married our Caroline Matilda, sister of George III., who died -at the early age of twenty-three. - -“And what do the Danes think now of Matilda?” inquired I of a person of -intelligence. - -“Oh, they say ‘Stakkels Matilda!’” (unfortunate Matilda), was the -touching but decisive reply. So that by the common voice of the people -her memory is relieved from the stain cast upon it by those who were -bound to protect her, the vile Queen-mother and the good-for-nothing -King. - - - - -CHAPTER II. - - Copenhagen--Children of Amak--Brisk bargaining--Specimens - of horn fish--Unlucky dogs--Thorwaldsen’s museum--The Royal - Assistenz House--Going, gone--The Ethnographic Museum--An - inexorable professor--Lionizes a big-wig--The stone - period in Denmark--England’s want of an ethnographical - collection--A light struck from the flint in the stag’s - head--The gold period--A Scandinavian idol’s cestus--How - dead chieftains cheated fashion--Antiquities in gold--Wooden - almanacks--Bridal crowns--Scandinavian antiquities peculiarly - interesting to Englishmen--Four thousand a year in return - for soft sawder--Street scenes in Copenhagen--Thorwaldsen’s - colossal statues--Blushes for Oxford and Cambridge--A Danish - comedy--Where the warriors rest. - - -It was late in the evening when the third train of the day whisked us -into Copenhagen, where I took up my abode at a quiet hotel near the -ramparts. - -What a strange place this is. Works of art, and museums superior to -anything in Europe, and streets, for the most part very paltry, and -infamously paved. Traveller, be on your guard. The trottoirs of -granite slab, worn slippery by the perambulating hobnails of those -children of Amak, are very treacherous, and if you are supplanted, you -will slide into a gutter nearly a foot deep, full of black sludge. - -These people are a Dutch colony planted by King Christian II. in the -neighbouring island of Amak. - -The original female costume, which they still retain, consists of -little black coalscuttle Quaker bonnets, very large dark-blue or white -aprons, which almost hide their sober-coloured stuff gowns with their -red and yellow edgings. Their ruddy faces, at the bottom of the said -scuttles, look like hot cinders got there by mistake. Altogether they -are a most neat, dapper, and cleanly-looking set of bodies. The men -have also their peculiar costume. These people are the purveyors of -vegetables for Copenhagen. Yon lady, standing in a little one-horse -shay, full of flower-pots and bouquets, is another specimen of the -clan, but seemingly one of the upper-crust section. Locomotive shops -appear to be the fashion. Near the Church of our Lady are a lot of -butchers’ carts drawn up, with meat for sale. They come from the -environs of the city. Much life is concentred round the bridge near the -palace. In the canal are several little stumpy sailing boats at anchor, -crammed full of pots and crockery. These are from Bornholm and Jutland. -Near them are some vessels with awnings: these are depôts of cheeses -and butter from Sleswig and Holstein. - -Look at yon row of women with that amphibious white head-dress -spotted brown. In front it looks like a bonnet; behind, it terminates -in a kerchief. You are reminded by the mixture of another mongrel, -but picturesque article of dress, worn by the Welsh peasant-women, -the pais a gwn bach. How they are gabbling to those ladies and -housekeeper-looking women, and sparring linguistically about something -in the basket. Greek contending with Trojan for the dead body of -Achilles. - -Their whole stock in trade consists of specimens of “hornfish,” an -animal like a sand eel, with long spiky snout, and of a silvery -whiteness. They are about two feet long, and twenty skillings the pair. -These women are from Helsingör, which is the whereabouts of the said -fish. They come from thence every day, if the wind serves; and if it -does not, I fancy they manage to come all the same. - -Look at these men, too, in the street, sawing and splitting away for -dear life, a lot of beech logs at that door. Fuel, I find, is very -dear, from seventeen to twenty dollars the fathom. - -Alas! for the poor dogs, victims of that terrible fear of hydrophobia -which seems to infect continental nations more than England; they -are running about with capacious wire muzzles, projecting some -inches beyond the smeller, which renders them, it is true, incapable -of biting, but also of exchanging those amiable blandishments and -courtesies with their kind, so becoming and so natural to them, and -forming one of the great solaces of canine existence. - -Yonder is Thorwaldsen’s museum, with its yellow ochre walls, and -frescoes outside representing the conveyance of his works from Italy -hither. But that is shut up to-day, and besides, everybody has read -an account of this museum of sculpture. An Englishman is surprised -to learn that the sculptor’s body rests, at his own request, under -some ivy-covered mould in the quad inside. But the ground, if not -consecrated episcopally, is so by the atmosphere of genius around. - -Let us just pop into this large building opposite. There is something -to be seen here, perhaps, that will give us an insight into Copenhagen -life. - -“What is this place, sir?” - -“This, sir, is the Royal Assistenz Huus.” - -“What may that be?” - -“It is a place where needy people can have money lent on clothes. It -enjoys a monopoly to the exclusion of all private establishments of -the kind. If the goods are not redeemed within a twelvemonth, they are -sold.” - -A sale of this kind, I found, was now going on. Seated at a table, -placed upon a sort of dais, were two functionaries, dressed in -brown-holland coats, who performed the part of auctioneers. One drawled -out the several bids, and another booked the name and offer of the -highest bidder, and very hot work it seemed to be; the one and the -other kept mopping their foreheads, and presently a Jewish-looking -youth, who had been performing the part of jackal, handing up the -articles of clothing, and exhibiting them to the buyers, brought -the two brown-holland gents a foaming tankard of beer, which being -swallowed, the scribe began scribbling, and the other Robins drawling -again. A very nice pair of black trousers were now put up: “Better -than new; show them round, Ignatius.” A person of clerical appearance -seized them, and examined them thoroughly; then a peasant woman got -hold of them; she had very dark eyes and a very red pippin-coloured -face. A broad scarlet riband, passing under her chin, fastened her -lace-bordered cap, while on her crown was a piece of gold cloth. One -would have thought that the way in which her countenance was swaddled -would have impeded her utterance; but she led off the bidding, and -was quickly followed by the motley crowd round the platform. But the -clerical-looking customer who had been lying by, now took up the -running, and had it easy. He marched off in triumph with his prize, and -I feel no doubt that he would preach in them the next Sunday. - -Leaving these daws to scramble for the plumes, I passed into another -large room, where I saw some nice-looking, respectable persons behind -a large counter, examining different articles brought by unfortunates -who were hard up. There was none of that mixture of cunning, hardness, -and brutality about their demeanour which stamps the officials of the -private establishments of the sort in England. - -Hence we go to an old clothes establishment of another sort--I mean -the Ethnographic Museum. Here you find yourself, as you proceed from -chamber to chamber, now _tête-à-tête_ with a Greenland family in their -quaint abode; anon you are lower down Europe among the Laplanders, and -among other little amusements you behold the get-up of a Lap wizard and -his divining drum (quobdas). Hence you proceed eastward, and are now -promenading with a Japanese beau in his handsome dress of black silk, -now shuddering at the hideous grimaces of a Chinese deity. All this -has been recently arranged with extraordinary care, and on scientific -principles, by the learned Professor Thomsen. - -“Herr Professor,” exclaimed a bearded German, “can’t we see the Museum -of Northern Antiquities to-day? I have come all the way from Vienna to -see it, and must leave this to-morrow.” - -“Unmöglich, mein Herr,” replied the Professor. “To-morrow is the day. -If you saw it to-day you would not see the flowers of the collection; -and we will not show it without the flowers. The most costly and -interesting specimens are locked up, and can’t be opened unless all the -attendants are present.” - -“Mais, Mons. Professeur,” put in a French savan. - -“C’est impossible,” replied the Professor, shrugging up his shoulders. - -“Could not we just have a little peep at it, sir?” here asked some of -my fair countrywomen, in wheedling accents. - -“I am very sorry, ladies, but this is not the day, you know. I shall be -most happy to explain all to-morrow, at four o’clock,” was the reply of -the polyglot Professor. - -It would be well if the curators of museums in England would have the -example of Professor Thomsen before their eyes. There is no end to -his civility to the public, and to his labours in the departments of -science committed to his care. Speaking most of the European languages, -he may be seen, his Jove-like, grizzled head towering above the rest, -listening to the questions of the curious crowd, and explaining to each -in their own tongue in which they were born the meaning of the divers -objects of art and science stored up in this palace. Next day, I found -him engaged in lionizing a big-wig; at least, so I concluded, when I -perceived that, on either breast, he wore a silver star of the bigness -of a dahlia flower of the first magnitude; while his coat, studded -with gold buttons, was further illustrated by a green velvet collar. -Subsequently I learned, what I, indeed, guessed, that he was a Russian -grandee on his travels. He is the owner of one of the best antiquarian -collections in Europe. Professor Thomsen, not to be outdone, likewise -exhibited four orders. While the Muscovite examined the various -curiosities of the stone,[1] the bronze, and the iron period, I heard -him talking with the air of a man whose mind was thoroughly made up -about the three several migrations from the Caucasus of the Celts, -Goths, and Sclavonians. - -An Englishman, when he sees this wonderful collection, cannot but be -struck with astonishment, on the one hand, at the industry and tact of -Professor Thomsen, who has been the main instrument in its formation; -and with shame and regret, on the other, that Great Britain has no -collection of strictly national antiquities at all to be compared with -it; and, what is more, it is daily being increased. The sub-curator, -Mr. C. Steinhauer, informed me, that already, this year, he had -received and added to the museum one hundred and twenty different -batches of national antiquities, some believed to date as far back as -before the Christian era. And then, the specimens are so admirably -arranged, that you may really learn something from them as to the -state of civilization prevailing in Scandinavia at very remote periods: -the collection being a connected running commentary or history, such as -you will meet with nowhere else. Observe this oak coffin, pronounced to -be not less than two thousand years old; and those pieces of woollen -cloth of the same date. Look at that skeleton of a stag’s head, -discovered in the peat. - -“There is nothing in that,” says an Hibernian, fresh from Dublin. “Did -you ever see the great fossil elk in Trinity College Museum?” - -Ay! but there is something more interesting about this stag’s head, -nevertheless. Examine it closely. Imbedded in the bone of the jaw, -see, there is a flint arrow-head; the bow that sped that arrow must -have been pulled by a nervous arm. This “stag that from the hunter’s -aim had taken some hurt,” perhaps retreated into a sequestered bog to -languish, and sunk, by his weight, into the bituminous peat, and was -thus embalmed by nature as a monument of a very early and rude period. - -Presently we get among the gold ornaments. There the Irishman is -completely “shut up.” “The Museum of Trinity College,” and “Museum of -the Royal Irish Academy,” are beaten hollow. Nay, to leave no room for -boasting, facsimiles of the gold head and neck ornaments in Dublin are -actually placed here side by side with those discovered in Denmark. -The weight of some of the armlets and necklets is astonishing. Here is -a great gold ring, big enough for the waist; but it has no division, -like the armlets, to enable the wearer to expand it, and fit it to the -body; moreover, the inner side presents a sharp edge, such as would -inconvenience a human wearer. - -“That,” said Professor Thomsen, seeing our difficulty, “must have -been the waistband of an idol; which, as there was no necessity for -taking it off, must have been soldered fast together, after it had once -encircled the form of the image.[2]” - -“What can be the meaning of these pigmy ornaments and arms?” said I. - -“Why, that is very curious. You know the ancient Scandinavian chieftain -was buried with his sword and his trinkets. This was found to be -expensive, but still the tyrant fashion was inflexible on the subject; -so, to comply with her rules, and let the chief have his properties -with him in the grave, miniature swords, &c., were made, and buried -with him; just in the same way as some of your ladies of fashion, -though they have killed their goose, will still keep it; in other -words, though their diamonds are in the hands of the Jews, still love -to glitter about in paste.” - -“Cunning people those old Vikings,” thought I. - -“Yes,” continued our obliging informant, “and look at these,” pointing -to what looked like balls of gold. “They are weights gilt all over. -The reason why they were gilt was the more easily to detect any -loss of weight, which a dishonest merchant, had discovery not been -certain, might otherwise have contrived to inflict on them.” Those -mighty wind-instruments, six feet long, are the war-horns (Luren) of -the bronze period; under these coats of mail throbbed the bosoms of -some valorous freebooters handed down to fame by Snorro. “Look here,” -continued he, “these pieces of thick gold and silver wire were used -for money in the same way as later the links of a chain were used for -that purpose. Here is a curious gold medal of Constantine, most likely -used as a military decoration. The reverse has no impress on it.” This -reminded me of the buttons and other ornaments in Thelemarken, which -are exact copies of fashions in use hundreds of years ago. Here again -are some Bezants, coins minted at Byzantium, which were either brought -over by the ships of the Vikings, or were carried up the Volga to -Novgorod, a place founded by the Northmen, and so on to Scandinavia, -by the merchants and mercenary soldiers who in early times flocked -to the East. Gotland used to be a gathering-place for those who thus -passed to and fro, and to this Wisby owes its former greatness. Many of -these articles of value were probably buried by the owner on setting -out upon some fresh expedition from which he never returned, and their -discovery has been due to the plough or the spade, while others have -been unearthed from the barrows and cromlechs. Here, again, are some -primstavs, or old Scandinavian wooden calendars. You see they are of -two sorts--one straight, like the one I picked up in Thelemarken, -while another is in the shape of an elongated ellipse. If you compare -them, you will now find how much they differed, not only in shape, but -also in the signs made to betoken the different days in the calendar. -“You have heard of our Queen Dagmar. Here is a beautiful enamelled -cross of Byzantine workmanship which she once wore around her neck. -You have travelled in Norway? Wait a moment,” continued the voluble -Professor, as he directed an attendant to open a massive escritoir. -“You are aware, sir, that it is the custom in Norway and Sweden for -brides to wear a crown. I thought that, before the old custom died, I -would secure a memento of it. I had very great difficulty, the peasants -were so loth to part with them, but at last I succeeded, and behold the -result, sir. That crown is from Iceland, that from Sweden, and that -from Norway. It is three hundred years old. That fact I have on the -best authority. It used to be lent out far and near for a fixed sum, -and, computing the weddings it attended at one hundred per annum, which -is very moderate, it must have encircled the heads of thirty thousand -brides on their wedding-day. Very curious, Excellence!” he continued, -giving the Russian grandee a sly poke in the ribs. - -The idea seemed to amuse the old gentleman of the stars and green -velvet collar wonderfully. - -“Sapperlot! Potztannsend noch ein mal!” he ejaculated, with great -animation, while the antiquarian dust seemed to roll from his eyes, -and they gleamed up uncommonly. - -In the same case I observed more than one hundred Danish, Swedish, and -Norwegian spoons of quaint shape, though they were nearly all of what -we call the Apostle type. - -But we must take leave of the museum with the remark that, to see -it thoroughly, would require a great many visits. To an Englishman, -whose country was so long intimately connected with Scandinavia,--and -which has most likely undergone pretty nearly the same vicissitudes of -civilization and occupancy as Scandinavia itself--this collection must -be intensely interesting, especially when examined by the light thrown -upon it by Worsaae and others. - -Indeed, if England wishes to know the facts of her Scandinavian period, -it is to these people that she must look for information. - -“Ten per cent. for my money!” That, alas! is too often an Englishman’s -motto now-a-days; “and I can’t get that by troubling my head about King -Olaf or Canute.” - -While I write this I am reminded of an agreeable, good-looking young -Briton whom I met here; he is a physician making four thousand a-year -by administering doses of soft sawder. Thrown by circumstances early -on the world, he has not had the opportunity of acquiring ideas or -knowledge out of the treadmill of his profession. He is just fresh from -Norway, through which he has shot like a rocket, being pressed for time. - -“How beautiful the rivers are there,” he observed; “so rapid. -By-the-bye, though, your river at Oxford must be something like them. -The poet says, ‘Isis rolling rapidly!’” - -Leaving the museum, I dined at the great restaurant’s of Copenhagen, -Jomfru Henkel’s, in the Ostergade; it was too crowded for comfort. -Dinner is _à la carte_. - -Some convicts were mending the roadway in one of the streets; their -jackets were half black, half yellow, trousers ditto, only that where -the jacket was black, the inexpressibles were yellow on the same side, -and _vice versâ_. Their legs were heavily chained. Many carriages -were assembled round the church of the Holy Ghost; I found it was a -wedding. All European nations, I believe, but the English, choose the -afternoon for the ceremony. - -Thorwaldsen’s colossal statues in white marble of our Saviour and -his Apostles which adorn the Frue Kirke, are too well known to need -description. - -At the Christianborg, or Palace of King Christian, the lions that -caught my attention first were the three literal ones in massive -silver, which always figure at the enthronization of the Danish -monarchs. Next to them I observed the metaphorical lions, viz., the -sword of Gustavus Adolphus, the cup in which Peter the Great used to -take his matutinal dram, the portrait of the unhappy Matilda, and of -the wretched Christian VII. - -Blush Oxford and Cambridge, when you know that on the walls of this -palace, side by side with the freedom of the City of London and the -Goldsmiths’ Company (but the London citizens are of course not very -particular in these matters), hang your diplomas of D.C.L., engrossed -on white satin, conferred upon this precious specimen of a husband and -king. - -That evening I went to see a comedy of Holberg’s at the theatre, _Jacob -von Tybö_ by name. It seemed to create immense fun, which was not to be -wondered at, for the piece contained a rap at the German customs, and -braggadocio style of that people in vogue here some hundred years ago. -The taste for that sort of thing, as may readily be imagined, no longer -exists here. Roars of laughter accompanied every hit at Tuskland. -The two Roskilds and Madame Pfister acquitted themselves well. The -temperature of the building was as nearly as possible that of the Black -Hole of Calcutta, as far as I was able to judge by my own feelings -compared with the historical account of that delectable place. A lady -next me told me that they had long talked of an improved building. - -Next day I visited the Seamen’s Burial Ground, where, clustering about -an elevated mound, are the graves of the Danish sailors who fell in -1807. I observed an inscription in marble overgrown with ivy:-- - - Kranz som Fadrelandet gav, - Den visner ei paa falden Krieger’s Grav. - - The chaplet which their fatherland once gave - Shall never fade on fallen warrior’s grave. - -True to the motto, the monuments are decked every Saturday with -fresh flowers. Fuchsias were also growing in great numbers about. -The different spaces of ground are let for a hundred years; if the -lease is not renewed then, I presume the Company will enter upon the -premises. There were traces about, I observed, of English whittlers. -Our countrymen seem to remember the command of the augur to Tarquinius, -“cut boldly,” and the King cut through. - - - - -CHAPTER III. - - The celebrated Three Crowns Battery--Hamlet’s grave--The Sound - and its dues--To Fredericksborg--Iceland ponies--Denmark - an equine paradise--From Copenhagen to Kiel--Tidemann, the - Norwegian painter--Pictures at Düsseldorf--The boiling - of the porridge--Düsseldorf theatricals--Memorial of - Dutch courage--Young heroes--An attempt to describe the - Dutch language--The Amsterdam canals--Half-and-half in - Holland--Want of elbow-room--A New Jerusalem--A sketch for - Juvenal--The museum of Dutch paintings--Magna Charta of Dutch - independence--Jan Steen’s picture of the _fête_ of Saint - Nicholas--Dutch art in the 17th century--To Zaandam--Traces - of Peter the Great--Easy travelling--What the reeds seemed to - whisper. - - -The name of the steamer which took me past the celebrated Three -Crowns Battery, and along to the pretty low shores of Zealand to -Elsineur (Helsingör), was the _Ophelia_, fare three marks. In the -Marielyst Gardens, which overhang the famed Castle of Kronborg, is -a Mordan’s-pencil-case-shaped pillar of dirty granite, miscalled -“Hamlet’s grave.” Yankees often resort here, and pluck leaves from the -lime-trees overhanging the mausoleum, for the purpose of conveyance to -their own country. - -But this is not the only point of interest for Brother Jonathan. Look -at the Sound yonder, refulgent in the light of the evening sun, with -the numberless vessels brought up for the night, having been warned by -the bristling cannon to stop, and pay toll. I don’t wonder that those -scheming, go-ahead people, object to the institution altogether--albeit -the proceeds are a vital question for Denmark. On the steamer, I fell -into conversation with a Danish pilot about this matter. I found that -he, like others of his countrymen, was very slow to acknowledge that -ships are forced to stop opposite the castle. He said that only ships -bound to Russia do so, because the Czar insists on their having their -papers _viséd_ by the Danish authorities before they are permitted to -enter his ports.[3] - -Finding there was no public conveyance to Fredericksborg, which I -purposed visiting, I must fain hire a one-horse vehicle at the Post. -It was a sort of mail phaeton, of the most cumbrous and unwieldy -description--I don’t know how much dearer than in Norway--so slow, -too. On the road we pass the romantic lake of Gurre, the scene of King -Valdemar’s nightly hunt. Some storks remind the traveller of Holland. -Right glad I was when we at length jogged over divers drawbridges -spanning very green moats, and through sundry gates, and emerged upon a -large square, facing the main entrance to the castle. - -The private apartments, I found, were, by a recent regulation, -invisible, as his Majesty has taken to living a good deal here. But I -was shown the chapel, in which all the monarchs of Denmark are crowned, -gorgeous with silver, ebony, and ivory; and the Riddersaal over it, -one hundred and sixty feet long, with its elaborate ceiling, and many -portraits: and, marvellous to relate, the custodian would have nothing -for his trouble but thanks. In the stable were several little Iceland -ponies, which looked like a cross between the Norsk and Shetland -races. They were fat and sleek, and, no doubt, have an easy time of -it; indeed, Denmark is a sort of equine paradise. What well-to-do -fellows those four strapping brown horses were that somnambulized with -the diligence that conveyed us to Copenhagen. That their slumbrous -equanimity might not be disturbed, the very traces were padded, and, -instead of collars, they wore broad soft chest-straps. The driver told -me they cost three hundred and fifty dollars each. That flat road, -passing through numerous beech-woods was four and a-half Danish miles -long, equal to twenty English, and took us more than four hours to -accomplish. - -Bidding adieu to Copenhagen, I returned by rail to Korsör, and embarked -in the night-boat _Skirner_, from thence to Kiel. As the name of the -vessel, like almost every one in Scandinavia, is drawn from the old -Northern mythology, I shall borrow from the same source for an emblem -of the stifling state of the atmosphere in the cabin. “A regular -Muspelheim!” said I to a Dane, as I pantingly look round before turning -in, and saw every vent closed. A fog retarded our progress, and it -was not till late the next afternoon that I found myself in Hamburg. -Some few hours later I was under the roof of mine host of the “Three -Crowns,” at Düsseldorf, where I purposed paying a visit to Tidemann, -the Norwegian painter. Unfortunately, he was not returned from his -summer travels, so that I could not deliver to him the greeting I had -brought him from his friends in the Far North. His most recent work, -which I had heard much of, the “Wounded Bear-hunter returning Home, -having bagged his prey,” was also away, having been purchased by the -King of Sweden. At the Institute, however, I saw several sketches and -paintings by this master. - -Anna Gulsvig is evidently the original of the “Grandmother telling -Stories.” - -Bagge’s “Landscape in Valders,” and Nordenberg’s “Dalecarlian Scenes,” -brought back for a moment the land I had quitted to my mind and vision. -“The Mother teaching her Children,” and “The Boiling of the Porridge,” -also by Tidemann, proclaim him to be the Teniers of Norway. Though -while he catches the national traits, he manages to represent them -without vulgarity. But perhaps this lies in the nature of the thing. -The heavy-built Dutchman anchored on his square flat island of mud -can’t possibly have any of that rugged elevation of mind, or romance of -sentiment, that would belong to the child of the mountain and lake. - -The school of Düsseldorf--if such it can be called--has turned out some -great artists, _e.g._, Kaulbach and Cornelius; but the place has never -been itself since it lost its magnificent collection of pictures, which -now grace the Pinacothek at Munich. - -As I sipped a cup of coffee in the evening, I read a most grandiloquent -account of the prospects of the Düsseldorf Theatre for the ensuing -winter. The first lover was perfection, while the tragedy queen was -“unübertrefflich” (not to be surpassed). The part of tender mother -and matron was also about to be taken by a lady of no mean theatrical -pretensions. This self-complacency of the inhabitants of the smaller -cities is quite delightful. - -On board the steamer to Emmerich was a family of French Jews, busily -engaged, not in looking about them, but in calculating their expenses, -though dressed in the pink of fashion. - -Here I am at Amsterdam. In the Grand Place is a monument in memory of -Dutch bravery and obstinacy evinced in the fight with Belgium. This -has only just been erected, with great fêtes and rejoicings. Well, to -be sure! this reminds me of the Munich obelisk, in memory of those -luckless thirty thousand Bavarians who swelled Napoleon’s expedition -to Russia, and died in the cause of his insatiable ambition. “Auch sie -starben für das Vaterland” is the motto. - -V. Ruyter and V. Speke are both monumented in the adjoining church. -The former, who died at Syracuse from a wound, is described in the -inscription as “Immensi tremor Oceani,” and owing all to God, “et -virtuti suæ.” - -The warlike spirit of Young Amsterdam seems to be effectually excited -just now. As I passed through the Exchange at a quarter to five P.M., -the merchants were gone, and in their room was an obstreperous crowd -of _gamins_, armed “with sword and pistol,” like Billy Taylor’s true -love (only they were sham), and thumping their drums, and the drums -thumping the roof, and the roof and the drum together reverberating -against the drum of my ear till I was fairly stunned. “Where are the -police?” thought I, escaping from the hubbub with feelings akin to what -must have been those of Hogarth’s enraged musician, or of a modern -London householder, fond of quiet, with the Italian organ-grinders -rending the air of his street. Dutch is German in the Somersetshire -dialect; so I managed to comprehend, without much difficulty, the short -instructions of the passers-by as to my route to various objects of -interest. By-the-bye, here is the house of Admiral de Ruyter, next to -the Norwegian Consulate. Over the door I see there is his bust in stone. - -As I pass along the canals, it puzzles me to think how the Dutchman -can live by, nay, revel in the proximity of these seething tanks of -beastliness and corruption. That notion about the pernicious effects of -inhaling sewage effluvia must be a myth, after all, and the sanitary -commission a regular job. Indeed, I always thought so, after a -conversation I once had with a fellow in London, the very picture of -rude health, who told me he got his living by mudlarking and catching -rats in the sewers, for which there was always a brisk demand at -Oxford and Cambridge, in term time. Look at these jolly Amsterdamers. -I verily believe it would be the death of them if you separated them -from their stinking canals, or transported them to some airy situation, -with a turbulent river hurrying past. Custom is second nature, and -that has doubtless much to do with it: but the nature of the liquids -poured down the inner man perhaps fortifies Mynheer against the evil -effects of the semi-solid liquid of the canals. Just after breakfast -I went into the shop of the celebrated Wijnand Fockink, the Justerini -and Brooks of Amsterdam, to purchase a case of liqueurs, when I heard -a squabby-shaped Dutchman ask for a glass of half-and-half. It is -astonishing, I thought with myself, how English tastes and habits are -gaining ground everywhere. Of course he means porter and ale mixed. The -attendant supplied him with the article he wanted, and it was bolted at -a gulp. - -Dutch half-and-half, reader, is a dram of raw gin and curaçoa, in equal -portions. - -What a crowd of people, to be sure. “Holland is over-peopled,” said a -tradesman to me. “Why, sir, you can have a good clerk for 20_l._ per -annum. The land is ready to stifle with the close packing.” - -“Yes,” said I, “so it appears. That operation going on under the bridge -is a fit emblem of the tightness of your population.” - -As I spoke, I pointed to a man, or rather several men, engaged in a -national occupation: packing herrings in barrels. How closely they were -fitted, rammed and crammed, and then a top was put on the receptacle, -and so on, _ad infinitum_. - -We are now in the Jewish quarter. “Our people,” as the Israelites are -wont to call themselves, formerly looked on Amsterdam as a kind of New -Jerusalem. Indeed, they are a very important and numerous part of the -population. The usual amount of dirt and finery, young lustrous eyes, -and old dingy clothes, black beards and red beards, small infants and -big hook noses, are jumbled about the shop-doors and in the crowded -thoroughfares. Here are some fair peasant girls, Frieslanders, I -should think, or from beyond the Y, judging by their helmet-shaped -head-dresses of gold and silver plates, with the little fringe of lace -drawn across the forehead, just over the eyebrows, the very same that -Gerard Dow and Teniers have placed before us. If they were not Dutch -women, and belonged to a very wide-awake race, I should tremble for -them, as they go staring and sauntering about in rustic simplicity, -for fear of that lynx-eyed Fagan with the Satyr nose and leering eye -fastened upon them, who is clearly just the man to help to despoil them -of their gold and silver, or something more precious still, in the way -of his trade. - -As we walk through the streets, the chimes, that ever and anon ring -out from the old belfries, remind us that we are in the Low Countries; -and if that were not sufficient, the showers of water on this bright -sunny day descending from the house-sides, after being syringed against -them by some industrious abigail, make the fact disagreeably apparent -to the passer-by. This will prepare me for my visit to Broek; not that -there is so much to be seen there--and Albert Smith has brought the -place bodily before us--but if one left it out, all one’s friends that -had been there would aver, with the greatest possible emphasis and -solemnity, that I had omitted seeing _the_ wonder of Holland. So I -shall _do_ it, if all be well. - -Here is the Trippenhuus, or Museum of Dutch paintings, situated, of -course, on a canal. Van der Helst’s picture of the “Burgher Guard -met to celebrate the Treaty of Münster”--the Magna Charta of Dutch -independence, pronounced by Sir Joshua to be the finest of its kind -in the world--of course claims my first attention. The three fingers -held up, emblematic of the Trinity, is the continental equivalent to -the English taking Testament in hand upon swearing an oath. But as -everybody that has visited Amsterdam knows all about this picture, and -those two of Rembrandt’s, the “Night-watch,” and that other of the -“Guild of Cloth Merchants,” this mention of them will suffice. - -That picture is Jan Steen’s “Fête of St. Nicholas,” a national festival -in Holland. The saint is supposed to come down the chimney, and shower -bonbons on the good children, while he does not forget to bring a rod -for the naughty child’s back. - -De Ruyter is also here, with his flashing eye, contracted brow, and -dark hair. While, of course, the collection is not devoid of some of -Vandervelde’s pictures of Holland’s naval victories when Holland was a -great nation. - -There must have been great genius and great wealth in this country -wherewith to reward it, in the seventeenth century. In this very town -were born Van Dyk, Van Huysum, and Du Jardin; in Leyden, G. Douw, -Metzu, W. Mieris, Rembrandt, and J. Steen. Utrecht had its Bol and -Hondekoeter; while Haarlem, which was never more than a provincial town -with 48,000 inhabitants, produced a Berghem, a Hugtenberg, a Ruysdael, -a Van der Helst, and a Wouvermans. - -In proof of the _sharpness_ of the Amsterdamers, I may mention that -most of the diamonds of Europe are cut here. - -Next day, I took the steamer to Zaandam, metamorphosed by us into -Saardam, pretty much on the same principle, I suppose, that an -English beefsteak becomes in the mouths of the French a “biftek.” The -tumble-down board-house, with red tile roof, built by the semi-savage -Peter, in 1632, will last all the longer for having been put in a -brick-case by one of the imperial Russian family. I always look on -Peter’s shipwright adventures, under the name of Master Baas, as a -great exaggeration. He perhaps wanted to make his subjects take up the -art, but he never had any serious thoughts of carpentering himself. He -only was here three days, and, as the veracious old lady who showed the -place told me, he built this house himself, so what time had he for the -dockyards? When some of your great folks go to the Foundling Hospital, -and eat the plum-pudding on Christmas-day, or visit Woolwich and taste -the dietary, and seem to like it very much, that is just such another -make-believe. - -“Nothing is too little for a great man,” was the inscription on the -marble slab over the chimney-piece, placed there by the very hand -of Alexander I. of Russia. In the room are two cupboards, in one of -which Peter kept his victuals, while the other was his dormitory. -If Peter slept in that cupboard, and if he shut the door of it, all -I have to say is, the ventilation must have been very deficient, and -how he ever survived it is a wonder. The whole hut is comprised in two -rooms. In the other room are two pictures of the Czar. In the one, -presented in ’56 by Prince Demidoff, the Czar, while at work, axe in -hand, is supposed to have received unwelcome intelligence from Muscovy, -and is dictating a dispatch to his secretary. The finely chiselled -features, pale complexion, and air of refinement, here fathered on -this ruffian, never belonged to him. The other picture, presented by -the munificent and patriotic M. Van der Hoof, is infinitely more to -the purpose, and shows you the man as he really was, and in short, as -he appears in a contemporary portrait at the Rosenborg Slot. Thick, -sensual lips--the very lips to give an unchaste kiss, or suck up -strong waters--contracted brow, bushy eyebrows, coarse, dark hair and -moustache--that is the real man. He wears broad loose breeches reaching -to the knee, and on the table is a glass of grog to refresh him at his -work. - -Ten minutes sufficed for me to take the whole thing in, and to get -back in time for the returning steamer, otherwise I should have been -stranded on this mud island for some hours, and there is nought else -to see but a picture in the church of the terrible inundation; the -ship-building days of Zaandam having long since gone by, and passed to -other places. - -By this economy of time I shall be enabled to take the afternoon -treckshuit to Broek. A ferry-boat carries us over the Y from -Amsterdam, a distance of two or three hundred yards, to Buiksloot, the -starting-place of the treckshuit, when, to my surprise, each passenger -gives an extra gratuity to the boatman. This shows to what lengths the -fee-system may go. And yet Englishmen persist in introducing it into -Norway, where hitherto it has been unknown. Entering into the little -den called cabin, I settled down and looked around me. On the table -were the Lares, to wit, a brass candlestick, beyond it a brass stand -about a foot high, with a pair of snuffers on it, and then two brasiers -containing charcoal, the whole shining wonderfully bright. Opposite -me, sitting on the puffy cushions, was a substantial-looking peasant, -immensely stout and broad sterned, dressed in a dark jacket and very -wide velveteen trousers. He wore a large gold seal, about the size and -shape of a half-pound packet of moist sugar, and a double gold brooch, -connected by a chain. As the boat seemed a long time in starting, I -emerged again from this odd little shop to ascertain the cause of the -delay, when I found to my surprise that we were already under way. So -noiselessly was the operation effected, that I was not aware of it. -Dragged by a horse, on which sat a sleepy lad, singing a sleepy song, -the boat glided mutely along. The only sound beside the drone of the -boy was the rustling of the reeds, which seemed to whisper, “What an -ass you are for coming along this route. You, who have just come from -the land of the mountain and the flood, to paddle about among these -frogs.” Really, the whole affair is desperately slow, and there is -nothing in the world to see but numerous windmills, with their thatched -roof and sides, whose labour it is to drain the large green meadows -lying some feet below us, on which numerous herds of cows are feeding. - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - - Broek--A Dutchman’s idea of Paradise--A toy-house for real - people--Cannon-ball cheeses--An artist’s flirtation--John Bull - abroad--All the fun of the fair--A popular refreshment--Morals - in Amsterdam--The Zoological Gardens--Bed and Breakfast--Paul - Potter’s bull--Rotterdam. - - -I was not sorry when the captain, who of course received a fee for -himself besides the fare, called out “Broek!” The stagnation of water, -and sound, and life in general, on a Dutch canal, is positively -oppressive to the feelings; it would have been quite a relief to have -had a little shindy among the passengers and the crew, such as gave a -variety to the canal voyage of Horace to Brundusium. - -To enliven matters, supposing we tell you a tale about Broek, which -I of course ferreted out of a drowsy Dutch chronicle, but which the -ill-natured Smelfungus says has been already told by Washington Irvine. -In former times, the people of the place were sadly negligent of their -spiritual duties, and turned a very deaf ear to the exhortations of -the clergyman. A new parson at last arrived, who beholding all the -people given to idolatry in the shape of washing, washing, washing -all the day long, and apparently thinking of nothing else, hit upon -a new scheme for reforming them. He bid them be righteous and fear -God, and then they should get to Paradise, and he described what joys -should be theirs in that abode of bliss. This was the old tale, and the -congregation were on the point of subsiding into their usual sleep. - -“The abode of bliss,” continued the preacher, “and cleanliness, and -everlasting washing.” The Dutchmen opened their eyes. “Yes,” proceeded -the preacher; “the joys of earth shall to the good be continued in -heaven. You will be occupied in washing, and scrubbing, and cleaning, -and in cleaning, and washing, and scrubbing, for ever and ever, amen.” - -He had hit the right chord; the parson became popular, the church -filled, and a great reformation was wrought in Broek. - -Sauntering along the Grand Canal, from which, as from a backbone, -ribbed out divers lesser canals, I entered, at the bidding of an old -lady, one of the houses of the place, with the date of 1612 over it. -Of course its floor was swept and garnished, and the little pan of -lighted turf was burning in the fireplace; and there was the usual -amount of china vases, and knickknacks of all descriptions scattered -about to make up a show. And then she showed me the bed like a -berth, which smelt very fusty, and the door, which is never opened -except at a burial or bridal. After this, I walked into a little -warehouse adjoining, all painted and prim, and saw eight thousand -cannon-ball-shaped cheeses in a row, value one dollar a piece, each -with a red skin, like a very young infant’s. This colour is obtained, I -understand, by immersing them in a decoction of Bordeaux grape husks, -which are imported from France for the purpose. I next went to the -bridge over the canal, and tried to sketch the avenue of dwarf-like -trees and the row of toy-houses, and the old man brushing away two or -three leaves that had fallen on the sward. At this moment came by a -buxom girl in the genuine costume of the place, who exclaimed, “Lauk, -he’s sketching!” (in Dutch) and stood immovable before me, and so of -course I proceeded incontinently to sketch her in the foreground, she -keeping quite still, and then coming and peeping over my shoulder, to -see how she looked on paper. - -Finding it was late, I hurried back to catch the return boat, faster, -I should think, than anybody ever ventured before to go in Broek; at -least, I judged so from the looks of sleepy astonishment and almost -displeasure which seemed to gather on the Lotos-eater-like countenances -of the citizens I met. As it was, I just saved the boat, and am now -again gliding smoothly back to Amsterdam. - -As I look through the windows of the cabin, I perceive a few golden -plover and stints basking listlessly among the reeds, undisturbed by -our transit. This time, however, there was more bustle on board. There -were two foreigners who were very full of talk, and who, though they -were speaking to a Dutchman in French, I knew at once to be English. -As I finished up my sketch, I heard one of these gentlemen say, “Ah! -I am an Englishman; you would not have thought it, but so it is. Few -English speak French with a correct accent, but I, maw (moi?); jabbeta -seese ann ong France, solemong pour parlay lar lang, ay maw jay parl -parfaitmong biong.” I differed from him. It has seldom been my lot to -hear French spoken worse. John Bull abroad is certainly a curiosity. - -That evening I sallied out to see the Kirmess, or great annual fair. -Its chief scene was round the statue of Rembrandt, in the heart of -the city. Hogarth’s “Southwark Fair” would give but a faint idea of -the state of things. There was the usual amount of wild beasts and -giants; there was a pumpkin of a woman and her own brother, as thin -as if he were training to get up the inside of a gas-pipe, to be seen -inside one show, and their faithful portraits outside on a canvas, -painted after the school of Sir Peter Paul Rubens. A mechanical theatre -from Bamberg was apparently doing an immense trade under the auspices -of an unmistakable Jewish family, who appeared from time to time on -the platform. Close by was a picture of Sebastopol, which professed -to have arrived from London. But the undiscerning public seemed to -care very little about it; it was in vain that they were summoned to -advance to the ticket-office by the sound of fife and drum--one could -almost imagine, that the person of rueful and despairing aspect who -was waiting for the people to ascend the parapet, had been spending -some weeks in the trenches before the devoted city. The crowds, that -surged about in serried masses, had their wants well seen to in the -refreshment way. One favourite esculent was brown smoked eels, weighing -perhaps half a pound each, and placed in large heaps on neat-looking -stalls, kept by neat-looking people. The eels were stretched out full -length as stiff as pokers, and I saw several respectable looking -sight-seers solacing themselves with a fish of the sort. - -But the most popular refreshment remains to be mentioned. Ranged along -the street, in a compact row, were a number of gaudily painted temples; -in front of each sat the priestess. Mostly, she was young and pretty, -but here and there, blowsy and obese. By her side was a large bright -copper caldron, steaming with a white hasty-pudding-looking substance. -In front of her was a fire, over which was a broad square plate of -iron, studded with small holes like a bagatelle-board. The female held -in her hand a wand, or rather a long iron spoon, which she dabbed -into the caldron, and then delivered a portion of the contents into -the little holes above-mentioned. This required great adroitness; but -custom appeared to have brought her to the pinnacle of her art, and -she hardly ever missed her mark. In a second or two, the hasty-pudding -became transformed into a sort of small pancake, and was whipped out -of its _locus in quo_ by a light-fingered acolyte of the male sex. I -observed that behind the priestess were sundry little alcoves, shaded -by bright-coloured curtains; in these might be seen loving pairs, -feasting on the handiworks of the lady of the spoon. The repast was -simple, and was soon dispatched, for a constant succession of votaries -kept entering and issuing from the alcoves. If I was correctly -informed, it would have been possible to have got as high as the top -button of your waistcoat for the small sum of a few stivers. - -I was sorry to hear that this national festival--a sort of Dutch -carnival, which is visited by all classes--is ruinous to what is left -of morals in Amsterdam. - -Before leaving the city, I must not omit to mention the Zoological -Gardens. If you wish to find them, you must ask for the “Artis;” that -is the name it is known by to every gamin and fisherman in Amsterdam. -The Dutch are very classical, and the inscription over the entrance is, -“Naturæ artis magistra.” Half-a-dozen other public places go by Latin -names. Thus, the Royal Institution of Literature and Art is called -“Felix Meritis,” from the first words of a legend on the front of the -building. - -Next day, I take leave of my room in the hotel, with its odd -French-shaped beds, closed in by heavy green stuff curtains, and great -projecting chimney-piece. In my bill, the charge for bed tacitly -includes that for breakfast; these two items being, seemingly, -considered by the Dutch all one thing. Cheese appears to be invariably -eaten by the natives with their morning coffee, which is kept hot by a -little spirit-lamp under the coffee-pot. - -After this, I stopped at Shravenhagen (the Hague), to see Paul Potter’s -Bull. On the Sunday, attended a Calvinistic place of worship, where -I was horrified to behold the irreverent way in which the male part -of the congregation, who looked not unlike your unpleasant political -dissenter at a church-rate meeting, gossiped with their hats on their -heads until the entrance of the clergyman. - -Next day, I found myself at Rotterdam. The steamer for London managed, -near Helvoetsluys, to break the floats of her paddle-wheel; the engine -could not be worked; and as there was a heavy sea and strong wind -blowing on-shore, we should soon have been there, had not another -steamer come to our assistance, and towed us back into a place of -safety. After repairing damages, we proceeded on our voyage, and -eventually arrived unharmed in London. - - - - -CHAPTER V. - - Oxford in the Long Vacation--The rats make such a - strife--A case for Lesbia--Interview between a hermit and - a novice--The ruling passion--Blighted hopes--Norwegian - windows--Tortoise-shell soup--After dinner--Christiansand - again--Ferry on the Torrisdal river--Plain records of - English travellers--Salmonia--The bridal crown--A bridal - procession--Hymen, O Hymenæe!--A ripe Ogress--The head cook at - a Norwegian marriage--God-fearing people--To Sætersdal--Neck or - nothing--Lilies and lilies--The Dutch myrtle. - - -I was sitting in my rooms, about the end of the month of July, 1857, -having been dragged perforce, by various necessary avocations, into the -solitude of the Oxford Long Vacation; not a soul in this college, or, -in short, in any college. “A decided case of ‘Last Rose of Summer,’” -mused I. “Those rats or mice, too, in the cupboard, what a clattering -and squeaking they keep up, lamenting, probably, the death of one of -their companions in the trap this morning; but, nevertheless, they are -not a bit intimidated, for it is hunger that makes them valiant.” -The proverb, “Hungry as a church mouse,” fits a college mouse in Long -Vacation exactly. The supplies are entirely stopped with the departure -of the men: no remnants of cold chicken, or bread-and-butter, no -candles. It is not surprising, then, they have all found me out. - -I positively go to bed in fear and trembling, lest they should make a -nocturnal attack. - - Each hole and cranny they explore, - Each crook and corner of the chamber; - They hurry-skurry round the floor, - And o’er the books and sermons clamber. - -The fate of that worthy Bishop Hatto stares me in the face. If they did -not spare so exalted a personage, what will become of me? And as for -keeping a cat, no, that may not be. I am not a Whittington. They are a -treacherous race, and purr, and fawn, and play the villain--quadrupedal -Nena Sahibs. I always hated them, and still more so since an incident I -witnessed one year in Norway. - -On the newly-mown grass before the cottage where I was staying, a lot -of little redpoles--the sparrows of those high latitudes--were very -busily engaged picking up their honest livelihood, and making cheerful -remarks to one another on the brightness of the weather and the flavour -of the hay-seeds. Intently examining their motions through my glass, I -had paid no heed to a cat which seemed rolling about carelessly on the -lawn. Suddenly, I perceived that it had imperceptibly edged nearer and -nearer to the pretty little birds, and was gliding, snake-like, towards -them. I tapped at the window lustily, and screamed out in hopes of -alarming my friends; but it was too late; they flew up, the cat sprung -up aloft likewise, caught a poor little fellow in mid-air, and was away -with it and out of sight in a moment. - - At vobis male sit, _catis dolorum_ - _Plenis_, qui omnia bella devoratis! - Tam bellum mihi passerem abstulistis! - O factum malé! o miselle passer! - -Norway! and why am I not there? It is too late this year to think of -it. I must write to that friend, and say I can’t keep my promise, and -join him thither. No, I must be content with a little trout-fishing -in Wales or Scotland. At this moment a tap is heard at the door. An -ingenuous youth, undergraduate of St. Sapientia College, and resident -in the neighbourhood, had brought a letter of introduction from a -common friend, begging me, as one deep in the mysteries of Norwegian -travelling, to give the bearer some information respecting that -country, as he thought of taking a month’s trip thither. - -As I pulled out Munck’s map, chalked out a route for the youth, and -gave him a little practical advice on the subject, a regular spasm came -across me. Iö was never plagued by that malicious gadfly, or “tsetse,” -so much as I was for the rest of the day by an irresistible desire to -be off to the old country. The steamer was to start in three days. -On the third day I stood on board of her, in the highest possible -spirits. The ingenuous youth was also there; but high hope was not -the expression on his countenance. Most wofully he approached me. To -make assurance doubly sure, and secure a good berth, he had left home -the day before. On arriving at the terminus, his box was not to be -found--the box with all his traps, and the 50_l._ in it. He had sent -telegrams, or telegraphemes, to the four ends of Great Britain for the -missing box; but it was not forthcoming. In a few hours we weighed -anchor. The expectant visitor was left behind, and as there was no -vessel to Norway for the next fortnight, the chances were that his trip -thither would not take place. The above facts will serve as a warning -to young travellers. - -As daylight peered through the small porthole in the morning, I found -that we had no less than eight people in our cabin, and that the -porthole was shut, although it was smooth water. - -“What an atmosphere,” said an Englishman, in an adjoining berth. “I -have opened that porthole two or three times in the night; but that -fat, drum-bellied Norwegian there, who seems as fond of hot, stifling -air as a melon, has shut it again.” - -“What can you expect of the people of a country,” replied I, “where the -windows are often not made to open?” - -A tall, gentlemanly-looking man, who stood before the looking-glass, -and had just brushed his glossy wig into a peak like Mr. Pecksniff, -here turned round and said, in Norwegian-English-- - -“I do assure you, sir, that the Norwegian windows will open.” - -“Yes, in the towns; but frequently in the country not. I have been -there a good deal, and I speak from experience.” - -I find that our friend, who is very communicative, was in London in -the days of the Prince Regent--yes, and he once dined with him at the -London Tavern, at a dinner given in aid of foreigners in distress: -the ticket cost 10_l._ He remembers perfectly well how, on another -occasion, a tortoise-shell, all alive, was carried round London in a -cart, with a notice that it would be made into _tortoise-shell_ soup on -a certain day. He dined, and the soup was super-excellent. - -Consul ----, for I found that he had attained that distinction--was -well acquainted with all the resorts of London. Worxall pleased him -much. He had even learned to box. He had also something to say about -the war with the Swedes, led on by Karl Johann, in which he took part. - -After dinner we divert ourselves by observing the sleeping countenance -of the obese Norwegian who was so fond of carbonic acid gas, assume all -sorts of colours,--livid, red, yellow,--not from repletion, though this -might well have been the case, but from the light of the painted glass -overhead, which transferred its chameleon hues to his physiognomy. - -Here I am, once more plunging into the heart of Norway in the national -vehicle, the carriole; up hills, down hills, across stony morasses, -through sandy pine forests. We landed this afternoon at Christiansand, -and I am now seven miles north of it, and standing by the side of the -magnificent Torrisdal river, waiting for the great unwieldy ferry-boat -to come over. The stream is strong and broad, and there is only one man -working the craft; but, by taking advantage of a back stream on the -other side, and one on this, he has actually accomplished the passage -with little trouble, and hit the landing-place to an inch. - -On the other side, three or four carrioles, some of them double ones, -are just descending the steep hill, and I have to wait till they get -down to the waterside, in consequence of the narrowness of the road. -One of the strangers, with a broad gold band round his cap, turns out -to be the British consul. He is returning with a party of ladies and -gentlemen from a pic-nic at the Vigelandsfoss, about three miles from -this, where the river makes a fine fall. - -That evening we stop at the Verwalter’s (Bailiff’s), close by the -falls. I have no salmon-rod, but Mr. C----, an Englishman, who has come -up with me to sketch the foss, and try for a salmon, obtains leave, -as a great favour, to fish in the pools for one dollar a day, and a -dollar to each of the boatmen. The solitary grilse that he succeeded in -catching during the next day cost him therefore some fifteen shillings. -The charges are an infallible sign that Englishmen have been here. - -As in the Tweed, the take of salmon in these southern rivers has fallen -off terribly. In Mandal river, a little to the westward, the fishing in -the last twenty years has become one-tenth of what it was. Here, where -1600 fish used to be taken yearly, 200 only are caught. But at Boen, in -the Topdal river, which, like this, enters the sea at Christiansand, -no decrease is observable. For the last ten years the average yield -of the salmon fishery there has been 2733 fish per annum. In this -state of things, the services of Mr. Hetting, the person deputed by -the Norwegian Government to travel about the country and teach the -inhabitants the method of artificially breeding salmon and other -fish, have been had recourse to. Near this, breeding-places have been -constructed under his auspices. - -Extensive saw-mills are erected all about this place; and it is -probable that the dust, which is known to bother the salmon by clogging -their gills, may have diminished their productiveness, or driven them -elsewhere. The vast volume of water which here descends, is cut into -two distinct falls; but a third fall, a few hundred yards above, excels -them in height and grandeur. - -While eating my breakfast, an old dame comes in with a large basket -and mysterious looks. Her mission is one of great importance--viz., -to hire the bridal crown belonging to the mistress of the house, -for a wedding, which will take place at the neighbouring church this -afternoon. She gets the article, and pays one dollar for the use of it. -Hearing that the bridal _cortège_ will sweep by at five o’clock, P.M., -on its way from the church, I determined to defer my journey northwards -till it had passed. - -At that hour, the cry of “They come! they come!” saluted my ears. -Pencil or pen of Teniers or Fielding, would that you were mine, so that -I might do justice to what I saw. Down the steep hill leading to the -house there came, at a slow pace, first a carriole, with that important -functionary, the Kiögemester, standing on the board behind, and, like a -Hansom cabman, holding the reins over the head of the bridesmaid, a fat -old lady, with a voluminous pile of white upon her head, supposed to be -a cap. Next came a cart, containing two spruce young maidens, who wore -caps of dark check with broad strings of red satin riband, in shape -a cross between those worn by the buy-a-broom girls and the present -fashionable bonnet, which does _not_ cover the head of English ladies. -Their jackets were of dark blue cloth, and skirt of the same material -and colour, with a narrow scarlet edging, similar to that worn by -peasant women in parts of Wales. Over the jacket was a coloured shawl, -the ends crossed at the waist, and pinned tight. Add to this a large -pink apron, and in their hands a white kerchief, after the manner of -Scotch girls, on their way to kirk. After these came a carriole, with -four little boys and girls clustered upon it. - -But the climax is now reached. The next vehicle, a cart, contains the -chief actors in the show, the bride and bridegroom, who are people -of slender means. He is evidently somewhat the worse, or better, for -liquor, and is dressed in the short blue seaman’s jacket and trousers, -which have become common in Norway wherever the old national costume -has disappeared. The bride--oh! all ye little loves, lave the point of -my pen in _couleur de rose_, that I may describe meetly this mature -votary of Venus. There she sat like an image of the goddess Cybele; -on her head a turret of pasteboard, covered with red cloth, with -flamboyant mouldings of spangles, beads, and gold lace; miserable -counterfeit of the fine old Norwegian bridal crown of silver gilt! -Nodding over the turret was a plume of manifold feathers--ostrich, -peacock, chicken, mixed with artificial flowers; from behind it -streamed a cataract of ribands of some fifteen different tints and -patterns. Her plain yellow physiognomy was unrelieved by a single lock -of hair. - -“It is not the fashion,” explained a female bystander, “for the bride -to disclose any hair. It must on this occasion be all tucked in out of -sight.” - -This ripe ogress of half a century was further dressed in a red skirt -with gold belt, a jacket of black brocade, over which was a cuirass -of scarlet cloth shining resplendently in front with the national -ornament, the Sölje, a circular silver-gilt brooch, three inches -in diameter, with some twenty gilded spoon-baits (fishermen will -understand me) hung on to its rim. Frippery of divers sorts hung about -her person. On each shoulder was an epaulet or bunch of white gauze -bows, while the other ends of her arms were adorned by ruffles and -white gloves. - -As this wonderful procession halted in front of the door, the gallant -Kiögemester advanced and lifted the bride in his arms out of her -vehicle. As she mounted the door-steps, a decanter of brandy in hand, -all wreathed in smiles and streamers, flowers and feathers, I bowed -with great reverence, which evidently gratified her vanity. - -“I’ll tell you what she reminds me of,” said my English companion, -who had left his profitless fishing to see the sight, “a Tyrolese cow -coming home garlanded from the châlet. No doubt this procession would -look rather ridiculous in Hyde Park, but here, in this wild outlandish -country, do you know, with the sombre pine-trees and the grey rocks, -and wild rushing river, it does not strike me as so contemptible. She -is tricked out in all the finery she can lay her hands on, and in that -she is only doing the same as her sex the world over, from the belle -savage of Central Africa to Queen Victoria herself.” - -The Kiögemester (head cook)--not that he attends to the cooking -department, whatever he might have done in former days--is a -very ancient institution on this occasion. He is the soul of the -whole festival. Without him everything would be in disorder or at -a stand-still. Bowing to the procession, he is also bowed down by -the weight of his responsibility. In his single self he is supposed -to combine, at first-rate weddings, the offices of master of the -ceremonies, chief butler, speechifier, jester, precentor, and, above -all, of peace-maker. His activity as chief butler often calls forth a -corresponding degree of activity as an assuager of broils. The baton -which he frequently wields is shaped like the ancient fool’s bauble. If -he is a proficient in his art he will, like Mr. Robson, shine in the -comic as well as the serious department, alternating original jests -with solemn apophthegms. But the race is dying out. The majority are -mere second-hand performers. The real adepts in the science give an -_éclat_ to the whole proceedings, and are consequently much in request, -being sent for from long distances. - -By-the-bye, I must not omit to mention that on the left arm of the -bride hung a red shawl, just like that on the arm of the Spanish -bull-fighter, whose province it is to give the _coup de grace_ to the -devoted bull. From the manner in which she displayed it, I fancy it -must have been an essential item in her toilette. Hearing no pipe and -tabor, or, more strictly speaking, no fiddle, the almost invariable -accompaniment of these pageants, I inquired the reason. - -“They are gudfrygtig folk (God-fearing people); they will have nothing -to do with such vanities,” was the answer. - -There seemed to me, however, to be some contradiction between this -“God-fearing” scrupulosity and the size of the bride’s person. It -struck me, as I saw the stalwart master of the ceremonies exerting all -his strength to lift her into the cart again, that it was high time she -was married. - -At this moment up drives a gentleman dressed in black, with dark -rat-taily hair shading his sallow complexion, and a very large nose -bridged by a huge pair of silver spectacles, the centre arch of which -was wrapped with black riband, that it might not press too much on the -keystone. This is the parson who has tied the fatal noose, and is now -wending his way homewards to his secluded manse. - -Bidding adieu to my companion, who purposed driving round the coast, I -now set off to the station, Mosby, to join the main route to Sætersdal, -one of the wildest, poorest, and most primitive valleys of Norway, -which I’m bent on exploring. On the road I once or twice narrowly -escape coming into collision with the carriole of a young peasant -who has been at the wedding. Mad with brandy, he keeps passing and -repassing me at full gallop. The sagacious horse--I won’t call him -brute, a term much more applicable to his master--makes up by his -circumspection for his driver’s want of it. He seems to be perfectly -aware of the state of things, and, while goaded into a break-neck pace, -dexterously avoids the dangers. - -Oak--a rare sight to me in this country--aspen (asp), sycamore (lön), -hazel, juniper, bracken, fringe the sides of the road northward. Now -and then a group of white “wand-like” lilies (Tjorn-blom) rises from -some silent tarn (in Old Norsk, Tjorn), looking very small indeed -after those huge fellows I have left reposing in the arms of the Isis -at Oxford. Their moonlight-coloured chalice is well-known to be a -favourite haunt of the tiny water-elves, so I suppose the Scandinavian -ones are tinier than their sisters of Great Britain. - -Nor must I omit to mention the quantities of Dutch myrtle, or sweet -gale (pors), with which the swampy grounds abound. It possesses strong -narcotic qualities, and is put in some districts into the beer, -while, elsewhere, a decoction of it is sprinkled about the houses to -intimidate the fleas, who have a great horror of it. Lyng (lüng), -some of it white, and that of a peculiar kind, which I have never -seen before, also clings to the sides of the high grounds, while -strawberries and raspberries of excellent taste are not wanting. - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - - A dreary station--Strange bed-fellows--Broadsides--Comfortable - proverb--Skarp England--Interesting particulars--A hospitable - Norwegian Foged--Foster-children--The great bear-hunter--A - terrible Bruin--Forty winks--The great Vennefoss--A temperance - lamentation--More bear talk--Grey legs--Monosyllabic - conversation--Trout fished from the briny deep--A warning to - the beaux of St. James’s-street--Thieves’ cave--A novelette for - the Adelphi. - - -I stop for the night at the dreary station of Homsmoen. By a singular -economy in household furniture, the cornice of the uncurtained -state-bed is made to serve as a shelf, and all the crockery, together -with the other household gods or goods of the establishment, are -perched thereon, threatening to fall upon me if I made the slightest -movement, so that my feelings, and those of Damocles, must have been -not unlike; and when I did get to sleep, my slumbers were suddenly -disturbed by the creeping of a mouse or rat, not “behind the arras,” -for the wooden walls were bare, but under my pillow. Gracious -goodness! is it my destiny then to fall a prey to these wretches? -Notwithstanding, I soon dozed off to sleep again, muttering to myself -something about “Coctilibus muris,” and “dead for a ducat.” - -In the morning, when the peasant-wife brings me coffee, I tell her of -the muscipular disturbances of the past night. She replies, with much -_sang froid_, “O ja, de pleie at holde sig da” (Oh yes, they are in the -habit of being there), _i.e._, in the loose bed-straw. - -While sipping my coffee, I read a printed address hung upon the -wall, wherein “a simple Norwegian, of humble estate,” urges his -countrymen not to drink brandy. A second notice is an explanation of -infant baptism. This is evidently to counteract the doctrines of the -clergyman Lammers, who, as I have mentioned elsewhere, has founded an -antipædobaptist sect. Indeed, I see in the papers advertisements of -half-a-dozen works that have lately appeared on the subject. Another -specimen of this wall-literature was a collection of Norwegian -proverbs, one of which might perhaps serve to reconcile an explorer in -this country to indifferent accommodation. “The poor man’s house is his -palace.” Another proverb rebuked pride, in the following manner:--“Dust -is still dust, although it rise to heaven.” - -Next day we pass a solitary farmstead, which my attendant informs me is -called Skarp England (_i.e._, scanty, not deep-soiled, meadow-land). -Were it not for those Angles, the generally reputed godfathers of -England, one would almost be inclined to derive the name of our country -from that green, meadow (eng) like appearance which must have caught -the attention of the immigrant Jutes and Saxons. At least, such is the -surmise of Professor Radix. - -“And what road is that?” I asked, pointing to a very unmacadamized -byway through the forest. - -“It is called Prest-vei (the Priest’s-way), because that is the road -the clergyman has to take to get to one of his distant churches.” - -“Gee up!” said I to the horse, a young one, and unused to his work, -adding a slight flip with the whip (Svöbe), a compliment which the -colt returned by lashing out with his heels. - -“Hilloa, Erik! this won’t do; it’s quite dangerous.” - -“Oh no, he has no back shoes; he won’t hurt you--except,” he afterwards -added, “out of fun he should happen to strike a little higher.” - -The ill-omened shriek of a couple of jays which crossed the road -diverted my attention, and I asked their Norwegian name, which I found -to be “skov-shur” (wood-magpie) in these parts. - -As we skirt the western bank of the Kile Fjord, a fresh-water lake, -a dozen miles long, and abounding in fish (meget fiskerig), the man -points to me a spot on the further shore where the Torrisdal River, -after flowing through the lake, debouches by a succession of falls in -its course to Vigeland and the sea at Christiansand. - -At every station the question is, “Are you going up to the copper -works?” These are at Valle, a long way up the valley. They have -been discontinued some years, but, it is said, are now likely to be -re-opened. - -At Ketilsaa I am recommended to call on the Foged of the district, -a fine, hearty sexagenarian, who gave me much valuable information -respecting this singular valley and its inhabitants; besides which, -what I especially valued under the circumstances, he set before me -capital home-brewed beer, port wine, Trondjem’s aquavit, not to -mention speil aeg (poached eggs) and bear ham. Bear flesh is the best -_travel_ of all, say the Greenlanders, so I did not spare the last. The -superstitions and tales about Huldra and fairies (here called jügere) -are, the Foged tells me, dying out hereabout, though not higher up the -valley. - -His foster-son,[4] a jolly-looking gentleman, sends off a messenger -to see if his own horse is near at hand, in order that I may not be -detained by waiting for one at the neighbouring station, Fahret. But -the pony is somewhere in the forest, so that his benevolent designs -cannot be realized. Altogether, I have never visited any house in -Norway where intelligence, manliness, and good-nature seemed so -thoroughly at home as at the Foged’s. - -The station-master, Ole Gundarson Fahret, manages to get me a relay in -one hour; in the interval we have a palaver. - -“There was once an Englishman here,” said he, “who went out -bear-hunting with the greatest bear-shooter of these parts, Nils Olsen -Breistöl; but they did not happen on one. Breistöl has shot fifteen -bears.” - -“How does he manage to find them in the trackless forest?” - -“Why he is continually about, and he knows of a great many bears’ -winter-lairs (Björn-hi); and when the bear is asleep, he goes and pokes -him out.” - -“But is it not dangerous?” - -“Sometimes. There was a great bear who was well known for fifty miles -round, for he was as grey as a wolf, and lame of one leg, having -been injured, it was thought, in a fight with a stallion. He killed -a number of horses; and great rewards were offered to the killer of -him. The people in Mandal, to the west, offered thirty dollars; he had -been very destructive down there. Well, Breistöl found out where he -lay one winter, and went up with another man. Out he comes, and tries -to make off. They are always ræd (frightened) at first, when they are -surprised in their lair. But Breistöl sent a ball into him (this Norsk -Mudjekeewis, by-the-bye, makes his own rifles), and the bear stopped -short, and rushed at him. Just at this moment, however, he got another -bullet from the other man, which stopped him. After waiting for a -moment, he turned round, and charged at the new aggressor, who dodged -behind a tree; meanwhile, Breistöl had loaded, and gave him another -ball; and so they kept firing and dodging; and it actually took fifteen -balls to kill him, he was so big and strong. The last time they fired, -they came close to him, and shot two bullets into his head, only making -one hole; then he died. The usual reward from the Government is five -dollars, but Breistöl got fifteen. The Mandal people, when they heard -the great grey bear was dead, gave him nothing. Fand (fiend)! but he -was immensely big (uhyr stor), so fat and fleshy.” - -“And how long does the bear sleep in winter?” I inquired. - -“He goes in about Sanct Michael’s-tid, and comes out at the beginning -of April.” - -“And how many bears are there in one hole?” - -“Only one; unless the female has young late in the autumn. A man in -these parts once found an old he-bear (Manden), with a she-bear, and -three young cubs, all in one hole. I think there are as many bears -as ever there were in the country. There was a lad up in the forest, -five years ago; a bear struck at him, but missed him, only getting -his cap, which stuck on the end of his claws. This seemed to frighten -the brute, and he made off. The little boy didn’t know what a danger -he had escaped; he began to cry for the loss of his cap, and wanted -to go after it. Now that did not happen by chance. V Herre Gud har -Hannd i slig (God our master has a hand in such like things). We have a -proverb, that the bear has ten men’s strength, and the wit of twelve; -but that’s neither here nor there. Björnen kan vaere meget staerk, men -han faa ikke Magt at draebe mennesker, Mnaar Han ikke tillade det. (The -bear may be very strong, but he has not the power to kill men unless He -permits it.”) - -In which proper sentiment I of course acquiesced, and took leave of the -intelligent Schusskaffer. - -My attendant on the next stage, Ole Michelsen Vennefoss, derived his -last name from the great cataract on the Otterelv, near which he lives. -It is now choked up with timber. But all this, he tells me, will move -in the autumn, when the water rises; although, in the north of the -country, the rivers at that time get smaller and smaller, and, in -winter time, with the ice that covers them, occupy but a small part of -the accustomed bed. - -A few years ago, a friend of his had a narrow escape at these falls: -the boat he was in turned over just above the descent, and he -disappeared from view; down hurried the boat, and providentially was -not smashed to pieces. At the bottom of the fall it caught against a -rock, and righted again, and up bobbed the drowned man, having been -under the boat all the time. His friends managed to save him. - -On the road we overtake a man driving, who offers me schnaps in an -excited manner. - -“Ah,” said Ole, mournfully, “he has been to the By, and bought some -brantviin; they never can resist the temptation. When he gets home, -there will be a Selskab (party). People for miles round know where he -has been, and they will come and hear the news, and drink themselves -drunk.” - -Ole is one of the so-called Lesere, or Norwegian Methodists, disciples -of Hauge, whose son is the clergyman of a parish near here. They may -often be detected by their drawling way of speaking. - -“Well, Ole,” said I, “did you ever see any of these bears they talk so -much about?” - -“Yes, that I have. I saw the old lame bear that Breistöl shot. I was -up at the stöl (châlet) four years ago come next week, with my two -sisters. We were sitting outside the building, just about this time of -the evening, when it was getting dusk; all of a sudden, the horse came -galloping to us as hard as ever he could tear. I knew at once it was a -bear; and, sure enough, close behind him, came the beast rushing out of -the wood. We all raised a great noise and shouting, on which the bear -stopped, and ran away. Poor blacky had a narrow escape; he bears the -marks of the bear’s claws on his hind quarters. I could put my four -fingers in them.” - -Quite so, hummed I-- - - The sable score of fingers four - Remain on that _horse_ impressed. - -“But what do the bears eat, when they can’t get cattle?” - -“Grass, and berries, and ants (myren).” - -“But don’t the ants sting him?” - -“Oh! no; no such thing. A friend of mine saw a bear come to one of -those great ant-hills you have passed in the woods. He put out his -tongue, and laid it on the ant-hill till it was covered with ants, and -then slipped it back into his mouth. They can’t hurt him, his tongue -is too thick-skinned for that.” - -“Does the bear eat anything in winter?” - -“Nothing, I believe. I have seen one or two that were killed then; -their stomach was as empty as empty--wanted no cleaning at all. I think -that’s the reason they are such cowards then. I have always more pluck -when my stomach is full. Hav’n’t you?” - -It struck me that there are many others besides the artless Norwegian -who, if they chose, must confess to a similar weakness. - -“But the wolves (ulven) don’t go to sleep in winter; what do they eat?” - -“Ulven?--what’s that?” - -“I mean Graa-been (grey-legs).” - -“Ah! you mean Skrüb.[5] In winter they steal what they can, and, when -hard pressed, they devour a particular sort of clay. That’s well -known; it’s plain to see from their skarn (dung.)” - -Ole further tells me that a pair of eagles build in a tall tree about a -mile from his house. The young ones have just flown; he had not time -to take them, although there is a reward of half-a-dollar a-head. Fancy -a native of the British Isles suffering an eagle to hatch, and fly off -with its brood in quiet. - -“Hvor skal de ligge inat?” (where shall you lie to-night?) he inquired, -as we proceeded. - -“I don’t think I shall go further than Guldsmedoen, to-night,” I -replied. - -“There is no accommodation at all at the station,” he said; “but at -Senum, close by, you can get a night’s lodging.” - -It was dark when we arrived at Senum, which lay down a break-neck -side-path, where the man had to lead the horse. On our tapping at the -door, a female popped her head out of a window, but said nothing. After -a pause, my man says “Quells,” literally, whiling, or resting-time. -This was an abbreviation for “godt quell” (good evening). “Quells” was -the monosyllabic reply of the still small voice at the porthole. - -“Tak for senast” (thanks for the last), was my guide’s next observation. - -“Tak for senast,” the other responded from above. - -The ice being now somewhat broken, the treble of “the two voices” -inquired-- - -“What man is that with you?” - -“A foreigner, who wants a night’s lodging.” - -Before long, the farmer and his wife were busy upstairs preparing a -couch for me, with the greatest possible goodwill; nor would they -hear of Ole returning home that night, so he, too, obtained sleeping -quarters somewhere in the establishment. - -I find, what the darkness had prevented me from seeing, that this house -is situated at the southern end of the Aarfjord, a lake of nearly forty -miles in length. Mine host has this evening caught a lot of fine trout -in the lake with the nets. They are already in salt--everything is -salted in this country--but I order two or three fat fellows out of the -brine, and into some fresh water against the morning, when they prove -excellent. So red and fat! The people here say they are better than -salmon. - -Rain being the order of the next day, I post up my journal. In the -afternoon I resume my journey by the road on the further side of the -lake. Until very lately a carriage road was unknown here. The Fogderi, -or Bailewick, in which we now are, is called Robygd: a reminiscence, -it is said, of the days not long since over, when the sole means of -locomotion up the valley (bygd) was to row (roe). The vehicle being a -common cart, with no seat, a bag is stuffed with heather for me to sit -on; and this acts as a buffer to break the force of the bumps which the -new-made road and the springless cart kept giving each other, while, -in reality, it was I that came in for the brunt of the pommelling. The -Norwegian driver sat on the hard edge of the cart, regardless of the -shocks, and as tough apparently as the birch-wood of which the latter -was composed. It won’t do for a person who is at all _made-up_ to risk -a journey in Sætersdal: he would infallibly go to pieces, and the -false teeth be strewed about the path after the manner of those of the -serpent or dragon sown by Jason on the Champ de Mars. Armed men rose -from the earth on that occasion, and something of the kind took place -now. Don’t start, reader, it was only in story. - -“Look at that hole,” said my attendant, pointing to an opening half-way -up the limestone cliff, surrounded by trees and bushes. “That is -the----” - -“Cave of the Dragon?” interrupted I, abstractedly. - -“The Tyve Helle (thieves’ cave), which goes in one hundred feet deep. -For a long time they were the terror of all Sætersdal. The only way -to the platform in front of the cave was by a ladder. One of their -band, who pretended to be a Tulling (idiot), used to go begging at the -farm-houses, and spying how the ground lay. - -“On one occasion they carried off along with some cattle the girl who -tended them. Poor soul! she could not escape, they kept such a sharp -watch on her. The captain of the band meanwhile wanted to marry her; -she pretended to like the idea, and the day before that fixed for -the wedding asked leave just to go down to the farm where she used -to live and steal the silver Brudestads (bridal ornaments), which -were kept there. The thieves gave her leave;--they could dispense -with the parson, but not with this. But first they made her swear she -would not speak to a soul at the house. At midnight, Asjer, as she was -called, arrived at her former home, to the astonishment of the good -folks. She at once proceeded to take a piece of white linen, a scrap -of red home-spun cloth, and a pair of shears. This done, she went to -the chimney-corner and told the pinewood-beam, ‘I have been stolen by -robbers; they live in a cave in the forest, I will cut little bits -of red cloth on the road to it; to-morrow the captain marries me. -To-night, when they are all drunk and asleep, I will hang out the piece -of white cloth.’ Without exchanging a word with the inmates, she then -set off back. The master of the house and a few friends collected, and -followed her track. At night-fall they saw the flag waved from the -mouth of the cave. In they rushed upon the thieves, who, unable to -escape, threw themselves over the precipice. The captain, suspecting -her to be the author of the surprise, seized her by the apron as he -dashed over the ledge, determined that she should die with him. But -the leader of the bonders, a ready-witted fellow, cut her apron-strings -with his knife, just in the nick of time, so that she was saved; and -the robber, in his fall, took nothing with him but her apron.” - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - - A wolf trap--The heather--Game and game-preserves--An - optical delusion--Sumptuous entertainment--Visit to a - Norwegian store-room--Petticoats--Curious picture of - the Crucifixion--Fjord scenery--How the priest Brun was - lost--A Sætersdal manse--Frightfully hospitable--Eider-down - quilts--Costume of a Norwegian waiting-maid--The tartan in - Norway--An ethnological inquiry--Personal characteristics--The - sect of the Haugians--Nomad life in the far Norwegian - valleys--Trug--Memorials of the Vikings--Female Bruin in a - rage--How bears dispose of intruders--Mercantile marine of - Norway--The Bad-hus--How to cook brigands--Winter clothing. - - -Close by Langerack we pass a wolf-trap (baas), formed on the principle -of our box-trap, for catching rats, only that the material is thick -pine-boles fastened side by side. More than one wolf and lynx have been -caged here. - -The heather still continues plentiful; I particularly note this, as in -the more northerly parts of the country, _e.g._, about Jerkin, this -beautiful vestiture of the rocks and moors is seldom seen, except in -very little bits. What a pity that none of our British grouse proper -(_Tetrao Scoticus_) return the visit of the Norwegian ptarmigan to -Scotland, and found a colony in these parts; they would escape at -all events those systematic traffickers in ornithological blood, by -whom these unfortunates are bought and sold as per advertisement. -Blackcock and capercailzie, as usual, are to be found in the lower -woods, and ptarmigan higher up. About here there are no trees of large -size remaining; the best have long since been cut down and floated -to the sea. It would do a nurseryman’s heart good to see the groups -of hardy little firs, self-sown, sprouting up in every crevice with -an exuberance of health and strength, and asserting their right to a -hearing among the soughing branches of their taller neighbours, who -rise patronizingly above them. The seed falling upon stony ground -does not fail to come up, notwithstanding, and bring forth fruit a -hundred-fold and more. - -The valley here, which has been opening ever since I left Vennefoss, -continues to improve in looks; it is now almost filled by the Fjord, -and appears to come to an end some distance higher up, by the -intervention of a block of mountains; but if there be any truth in -the map, this is an optical delusion, the valley running up direct -northward, nearly one hundred and fifty miles from Christiansand, and -reaching a height at Bykle of nearly two thousand feet above the sea. - -At the clean and comfortable station of Langerack I light upon a -treasure in the shape of a dozen or two of hens’ eggs; very small -indeed, it is true, as they were not quite so big as a bantam’s. Six -of these I immediately take, and an old lady, with exceedingly short -petticoats, commences frying them, while I grind the coffee which she -has just roasted. - -After a goodly entertainment, for part of which I was indebted to my -own wallet, I go with her to the Stabur, or store-room, where, with -evident pride and pleasure, she shows me all her valuables; conspicuous -among these was a full set of bridal costume, minus the crown, which -was let out. The bridal belt was of yellow leather, and covered with -silver-gilt ornaments, all of the same pattern, to each of which is -suspended a small bracteate of the same metal, which jingles with every -step of the bride. What particularly attracted my attention were the -three woollen petticoats worn by the bride one over the other. The -first is of a dingy white colour, and is, in fact, the same as the -every-day dress of the females. The second is of blue cloth, with red -and green stripes round the bottom. The third, which is worn outermost, -is of scarlet, with gold and green edging. Of course if these were all -of the same length the under-ones would not be visible; and thus the -object of wearing such a heap of clothes--love of display--would be -defeated; so, while the undermost is long, the next is less so, and -the next shorter still. Each one is very heavy, so the weight of the -three together must be great indeed. The whole reminds one of harlequin -at a country fair. But, while he comes on unwieldily and shabbily -dressed, and as he takes off one coat and waistcoat after another grows -smarter and smarter, and at last fines down into a gay harlequin, the -Norwegian bride, by a contrary process, grows smarter and smarter with -each article of clothing that she assumes. - -The most remarkable thing about these bridal petticoats is the skirt -behind, which is divided by plaits like the flutings of a Doric column; -while these, towards the bottom or base bulge out into two or three -rounded folds, which stick out considerably from the person. Hear this, -ye Miss Weazels, who condemn crinoline as a new-fangled institution, -whereas in fact the idea is evidently taken from the primæval customs -of Sætersdal. The support of this dead weight of clothing are not, -as might be expected, the hips, for the whole system of integuments -comes right up over the bosom, and is upheld by a couple of very short -braces or shoulder-straps. A jacket under these circumstances is almost -superfluous. It is of blue cloth with gold edging, and only reaches -down to the arm-holes. - -These vestments are no doubt of very ancient cut. In the district of -Lom another sort of dress was once the fashion. The coat was of white -wadmel, with dark coloured embroidery, and silver buttons as big as -a dollar. The collar stood up. The waistcoat was scarlet, and also -embroidered. White knee-breeches of wash-leather, garters of coloured -thread, and shoes adorned with large silver buckles, set off the lower -man. This dress went out at the beginning of the century. In Romerike, -and elsewhere, there was on the back of the coat a quaint piece of -embroidery pointing up like the spire of a church, and green, red, or -blue, according to the parish of the wearer. At the public masquerades -in Christiania, these dresses may still be seen. - -But I had forgotten the old lady in the contemplation of the wardrobe. -She appears to think she shall make me understand her jargon better -by shouting in my ears--a common mistake--and while she does so, she -skips about the chamber with all the agility of the old she-goat before -the door. The proverb says, “Need makes the old wife run,” but she ran -without any apparent cause. Finally, in her enthusiasm, she goes the -length of putting one of these petticoats on--don’t be alarmed, fair -reader--_over_ her own, to show me how it looks. Besides the above -state apparel, mutton and pork-hams, with other comestibles, find a -secure place in the store-room. - -In the sitting-room of the house is a remarkable picture of our Saviour -on the cross, with various quaint devices round it. It is known to -be more than three hundred years old, and no doubt dates from the -Roman Catholic times. Like most of the peasants, who are exceedingly -tenacious of these “Old-sager” (old-world articles), the master of the -house won’t part with the picture for any consideration. - -As a boat is procurable, I determine to vary the mode of travelling by -going by water to the station ----, and the more so as this will enable -me to try for a trout while I am resting my shaken limbs. There being -no wind to ruffle the water, I only took one or two trout. A man on the -lake, who was trailing a rough-looking fly, was not a little astonished -at my artificial minnow. The Fjord is very fine. Pretty bays, nestling -under the bare lofty mountains, and here and there a beach of yellow -sand, fringing a grassy slope, while behind these, Scotch fir, birch, -and aspen throw their shadows over the water. - -“You see that odde (point),” says my old waterman; “that is Lobdal -point. It was just there that Priest Brun had the misfortune to be -lost, twenty years ago come Yule. He had been preaching down below, at -one of his four churches, and was sleighing home again on the ice. The -Glocker (precentor) was driving behind him, when he saw him suddenly -disappear, horse and all. It was a weak place in the ice, and, there -being snee-dicke (snow-thickness) at the time, the priest had not seen -any symptoms of danger. Poor man, I knew him well; he was a very good -person. He never received Christian burial, for his body was never -found.” Such are the incidents that checquer the life of a Norwegian -parson. - -It was so nearly dark when we arrived at ----, that we had a difficulty -in finding the landing-place, to which, however, we were guided by -something that looked like a house in the gloaming. - -“And where am I to lodge?” asked I of the boatman. “Is the station far -off?” - -“Yes, a good distance. You had best lie at Priest ----’s, there.” - -“But I have not the pleasure of his acquaintance.” - -“That does not matter the least. He is forfaerdelig gjestfri -(frightfully hospitable) og meget snil (and very good).” - -So I make bold to grope my way to the house, and, finding the door, -tap at it. It is opened by a short, good-humoured looking person, the -clergyman himself, who quiets the big dog that I had kept at bay with -my fishing-rod, asks me who I am, and bids me come in and be welcome, -as if he had known me all the days of my life. Few minutes elapse -before I am eating cold meat and drinking ale; during the repast -chatting with my host on all sorts of matters. Supper ended, he shows -me to the best chamber, or stranger’s room, where I am soon reposing -luxuriously under an eider-down coverlet. This I kicked off in my -slumbers, it being evidently too hot for an Englishman in summer time, -even in Norway. What delightful things these eider-downs must be in the -cold of a northern winter. - -A young female servant, Helvig by name, brings my boots in the morning. -She was clad in the working-day dress of the country maidens. To begin -with the beginning, or her head. It is covered with a coloured cotton -couvrechef. Her masculine chemise is fastened at the throat by two -enormous studs of silver filigree, bullet shaped, and is, below this, -further confined by a silver brooch (Norwegicè “ring”), shaped like a -heart. Her petticoat, which covers very little of her black worsted -stockings, makes up for its shortcomings in that direction, by reaching -right up above her bosom. It is of a dingy white wool, and is edged -with three broad stripes of black. On Sunday her petticoat is black, -with red or blue edging. - -She brings me her tartan of red wool with white stripes for my -inspection. It is called “kjell,” a word which occurs in the old ballad -of “The Gay Goss Hawk.” - - Then up and got her seven sisters, - And sewed to her a kell. - -There it means pall, but the Norwegian word is also used of any -coverlet. The maidens wear it just like a Parisian lady would her -shawl, _i.e._, below the shoulders, and tight over the elbows. The -married women, however, carry it like the Scotch plaid, over one -shoulder and under the other arm, with their baby in the kolpos, or -sinus, in front. - -This article of dress, which is sometimes white, striped with red--the -stripes being most frequent at the ends--and also the above manner of -wearing it, are thought to corroborate the tradition that these people -are a Scotch colony. The language, too, contains many words not known -elsewhere in Norway, but used in England. Instead of “skee,” they say -“spon,” which is nothing but the Icelandic “spónn,” and our “spoon.” -In the words kniv (knife), and knap (button), the k is silent before -n; whereas, elsewhere in Norway, it is pronounced. L, too, is silent -before d, as with us; “skulde” (should) being pronounced “skud,” or -“shud.” The common word for a river in Norway is “elv;” here it is -“aas,” pronounced “ose,” which is nothing but the frequent “ooze” of -England, meaning, in fact, “a stream generally.” - -“What sort of people are the peasants about here?” I asked of the -priest. - -“They have many peculiarities. Formerly, they were looked upon by -the rest of Norway as a kind of Abderites, stupid fellows; but they -are not so much stupid, far from it, as quaint and comical. Indeed, -their dress makes them look odd and simple. You must know that ten -years ago the only road up the valley was by water, and about the only -travellers the priest and a merchant or two. These Westland people -are very different from the Eastlanders; for, whereas the latter are -more ‘alvorlig’ (serious), and ‘modig’ (plucky), these are more ‘blid’ -(gentle), more ‘dorsk’ and ‘doven’ (lazy and indolent), and fond of -sleeping three times a day. Formerly they were inveterate fatalists, so -much so that for a long time they would not hear of going to a doctor, -if they were ill, or an accident happened. They used also to believe in -Trolls (fairies), but that is fast exploding hereabouts. Yet they are -still impressed with a belief in ‘giengângere’ (wraiths), and that the -powers of evil are supernaturally at work around us. This makes them so -fearful of going out after dark. Of late years a great change has been -wrought among many of them, since the sect of the Lesere, or Haugians, -began to prevail. They have forsworn Snorro Sturleson’s Chronicle and -the historical Sagas of the country, which the Norwegian bonder used -to be fond of reading, and in their cottages you will find nothing but -the Bible and books of devotion. To read anything else they consider -sinful, as being liable to turn away their minds from spiritual -objects.” - -“And do you think that, practically, they are better Christians?” - -“Undoubtedly some of them are God-fearing persons, while others only -adopt this tone from motives of self-interest.” - -“How comes it that there are so few people about?” - -“Ah! I must tell you. There is one remarkable custom in the -valley--indeed, it is not impossible that it derives its name, -Sætersdal (Valley of Sæters), from it.[6] During the summer the sæter -is not inhabited by a single girl with her cows, as elsewhere in -Norway, but by the whole of the farmer’s family. At such times I have -no parishioners. They are all off. For the last three Sundays I have -had no service. Each farmer possesses two or three of these sæters or -stöls, and when they have cut the grass, and the cattle has eaten up -the alpine shrubs at one spot, they move to another. It is a regular -nomadic life as long as it lasts, which is the best part of the summer. - -“In the winter, the hay made in the summer is brought down from the -mountain on sledges. The snow being very deep, the ponies would -sink in but for a contrivance called ‘trug,’ which is peculiar to -these parts of Norway. Here is one,” said he, as Helvig, with great -alacrity, brought in the apparatus in question. It was a strong hoop -of birch-wood, about a foot in diameter. From its sides ran four iron -chains, of two or three links each, to a ring in the centre. Attached -to the hoop was some wicker-work. Into this basket the pony’s foot is -inserted, and the wicker secured to the fetlock, while the shoe rests -on the iron ring and chains. Armed with this anti-sinking machine, the -horse keeps on the surface, and can travel with tolerable expedition. -Men wear a similar contrivance, but smaller. - -“Are there any bauta-stones, or such-like reminiscences of olden times -in this part of the valley?” - -“Very few. From its secluded position it never was of any great -historical note. It is near the sea that the Vikings were most at home, -and left behind them memorials. Here is an old cross-bow and an axe, -such as the bonders used to carry.” - -These axes were called “hand-axes,” from the fact that, when not -otherwise used, the wearer took the iron in his hand, and used the -weapon as a walking-stick. Sometimes they were even taken to church -(see _Oxonian in Norway_, 2nd edition, p. 336). This one had the date -1651 inscribed upon it, and, together with the handle, was adorned with -figuring. In the passage I also saw a halbert and a spear, and a round -spoon, on which was inscribed the date 1614, and the legend, “Mit haab -til Gud” (My hope in God). - -“Have you a good breed of cattle here?” - -“Not particularly. We get all ours from Fyrrisdal, four Norsk miles to -the east of this. The best ‘qvaeg-răcĕ’ in all Norway is to be found -there.” - -“I see all your horses are stallions. They must be very troublesome. I -drove two or three marked with severe bites.” - -“That may be; but the bonders here, most of whom have only one horse, -find them answer their purpose best. The stallion is never off his -feed, even after the hardest work, and will eat anything. Besides -which, he is much more enduring, and can manage to drive off a wolf, -provided he is not hobbled.” - -“Are there many bears about this summer?” - -“Yes, indeed. A man called Herjus, of Hyllestad, which you will pass, -has been some weeks in our doctor’s hands from wounds received from -a bear. He and another were in the forest, when they fell in with a -young bear, which immediately climbed up a tree. The other man went to -cut a stick, while Herjus threw stones at the cub. Suddenly he hears -a terrific growl, and at the same moment receives a tremendous blow -on the head. It was the female bear, who, like all female bears in a -passion, had walked up to him, biped fashion, and, with a ‘take that -for meddling with my bairn,’ felled him to the ground. Over him,” -continued the parson, “fell the bear, so blinded with rage, that she -struck two or three blows beyond him. His companion had made a clean -pair of heels of it. The bear next seized the unfortunate wight in -her arms, and dragged him to a precipice for the purpose of hurling -him over. Herjus at once feigned to be dead, that he might not become -so. The bear perceiving this, and thinking it no use to give herself -any more trouble about a dead man, left him. Fearful lest she should -return, he scrambled down the steep, and got over a stream below. It -is said that the bears, like witches, don’t like to cross a running -stream; that was the reason of his movement. It was lucky he did so, -for no sooner was he over than the bear came back to see that all was -right, and perceived that she had been hoaxed, but did not attempt to -follow.” - -“But do the bears really drag people over precipices?”[7] - -“It is said so. Near Stavanger a poor fellow was attacked by a bear, -who skinned his face from scalp to chin, and then dragged him through -the trees to a precipice. At this horrible instant the poor wretch -clutched a tree, and hung to it with such desperation, that the bear, -who heard help coming, left him, and retreated. The king has given him -a pension of thirty-five dollars a-year.” - -“And the wolves?” asked I. - -“There are plenty of them. I caught one not long ago with strychnine. -The doctor, who has lately left, caught a great many one winter. -Brun, my predecessor, who was drowned, took seven wolves in one night -with poison, close by the parsonage. They are also taken in the baas -(_i.e._, such a trap as I described above). Some winters there are very -few, while at other times they abound. A fjeld-frass (glutton) was -not long ago taken in a trap. We have also lynxes of two sorts--the -katte-gaupe (cat-lynx), which is yellow, with dark spots; and the -skrübb-gaupe (wolf-lynx), which is wolf-coloured.” - -The church, like all modern Norwegian churches, is neat, but nothing -more. Its very ancient predecessor, which was pulled down a short time -ago, abounded, like most of those built in Roman Catholic times, with -beautiful wood-carving. Near the church is a fine sycamore, two hundred -years old, and three picturesque weeping birches. Oaks, I find, ceased -at Guldsmedoen. - -“Ah!” said the priest, in the course of conversation, “this is a -marvellous country, when you consider its peculiar nature--more barren -rock by far than anything else. And yet our opkomst (progress) is -wonderful since we became a free nation. With a population of less than -a million and a half, we have a mercantile marine second only to that -of England. We have as much freedom as is consistent with safety; the -taxes are light, and the overplus, after paying the expenses of the -Government, is devoted to internal improvements. None of it goes to -Sweden, as it did formerly to Denmark; it is all spent on the country. -Yes, sir, everything thrives better in a free country; the air is -healthier, the very trees grow better.” - -Sentiments like these, which are breathed by every Norskman, of course -found a cordial response from an Englishman. I only hope that Norway -will be suffered to go on progressing uninterruptedly. - -Never having seen the interior of what is called the Bad-hus -(bath-house), I go with my host to see this regular appendage to all -country-houses. The traveller in Norway has no doubt often seen at some -distance from the main house a log-hut, round the door of which the -logs are blackened by smoke. This is the bad-hus. The millstones in -this country are so indifferent, that it is found necessary to bake the -corn previous to grinding it. It is thus performed. In the centre of -the log-house, which is nearly air-proof, is a huge stone oven heaped -over with large stones. Near the roof within are shelves on which the -grain is placed; a wood fire is then lit in the oven, the door of the -but is closed, and the temperature inside soon becomes nearly equal to -that of the oven itself, and the corn speedily dries. - -It is said that this name, “bad-hus,” is derived from a custom which -formerly prevailed among the people of using this receptacle in -winter time as a kind of hot-air bath. The peasant, also, put it to -another use. Not being the cleanliest people in the world, their -bed-clothes become at times densely inhabited. When the colony becomes -overstocked, the clothes are brought hither, and a short spell of the -infernal temperature proves too much for the small animals, as they -are not blessed with the heat-enduring capabilities of the cricket or -salamander. In fact, the clothes become literally too hot to hold them, -and they share the fate of Higginbottom. - -This reminds me of an old tale concerning one Staale, of Aasheim, not -very far from here. This man had murdered his brother about two hundred -and fifty years ago. His life was spared on condition that he would -rid the country of seven outlaws who harried the country and defied -every attempt to take them. Staale, who was a daredevil villain, having -discovered their retreat, went thither in rags, and showing them that -he was a bird of similar plumage, proposed forgathering with them. The -robbers were charmed at the idea of such an accession to their number. -Meanwhile, Staale complained that his rags were full of parasites, and -at his request a huge kettle was hung over the fire for the purpose of -boiling the creatures out. As soon as the water boiled Staale dashed -the fluid into the faces of the robbers who lay asleep on the floor, -not expecting so warm a reception. Thus reduced, for the moment at -least, to a condition like that of that precious brigand, Polyphemus, -they fell an easy prey to Staale, who dashed their brains out with a -crow-bar. He was, however, near being overmastered by an old woman who -ministered to the wants of the robbers, like the delicate Leonarda in -_Gil Blas_, and had escaped the baptism that had been administered to -the rest. After a hard struggle, however, he overcame the virago, and -thus obtained his life and freedom, which had been forfeited for his -misdeeds. - -In the bad-hus were also suspended the winter cloak of his Reverence, -composed of six beautiful wolf-skins; the sledge-apron, made of a -huge black bear-skin, with the fur leggings and gloves, also used to -keep out the cold in driving. These articles are generally hung up in -another part of the premises, the ammoniacal vapours of which are much -disliked and avoided by moths and other fur-destroyers. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - - Peculiar livery--Bleke--A hint to Lord Breadalbane--Enormous - trout--Trap for timber logs--Exciting scene--Melancholy - Jacques in Norway--The new church of Sannes--A clergyman’s - Midsummer-day dream--Things in general at Froisnaes--Pleasing - intelligence--Luxurious magpies--A church without a - congregation--The valley of the shadow of death--Mouse - Grange--A tradition of Findal--Fable and feeling--A Highland - costume in Norway--Ancestral pride--Grand old names prevalent - in Sætersdal--Ropes made of the bark of the lime-tree--Carraway - shrub--Government schools of agriculture--A case for a London - magistrate--Trout fishing in the Högvand--Cribbed, cabined, - and confined--A disappointment--The original outrigger--The - cat-lynx--A wealthy Norwegian farmer--Bear-talk--The - consequence of taking a drop too much--Story of a Thuss--Cattle - conscious of the presence of the hill people--Fairy music. - - -Taking leave with many thanks of my worthy host and the young lady who -is presiding in the absence of his wife, both of whom had shown me no -small kindness, I start by boat up the lake. The priest has no less -than fourteen Huusmaend (see _Oxonian in Norway_, p. 8), and one of -them, Knut, undertakes to row me up to Froisnaes. His dress is that of -the country. Trousers up to the neck-hole of grey wadmel, striped at -the sides with a streak of black, and fastened with four buttons at the -ankles--the button-holes worked with green worsted ending in red. - -As usual, I killed two birds with one stone--advancing northward, -and catching trout at the same time. I had flies as well as a minnow -trailing behind, and took fish with both, the biggest about a pound -weight. - -“That’s not a trout; that’s a Bleke,” exclaimed Knut, as I hauled in a -fish of about the same weight, but which pulled with a strength beyond -his size. They are much fatter and of finer flavour than the trout. -By subsequent experience I found Knut to be right. Such a fish at the -_Trois Frères_ would fetch its weight in silver. The flesh was paler -than that of the trout. Externally, it was of a beautiful dark green -on the back, while the sides were whitish, but shaded with a light -green. The spots were more purple than those of the trout, while the -head and extremity of the body before the tail tapered beautifully. It -somewhat resembled a herring in shape: Knut compared it to a mackerel. -They never, he said, exceed a pound in weight, but are stronger than a -trout of equal size. Here, then, was a species of fish totally unknown -to Great Britain. Indeed, there are many fish in Scandinavia which it -would be worth while to try and naturalize among us. The cross, for -instance, between a Jack and a Perch to be found in the Swedish lakes, -and better than either; why does not Lord Breadalbane, the second -introducer of capercailzie into Scotland, or some other patriot, apply -his mind and resources to this subject? - -The trout in this lake run to an enormous size. They have been seen -two or three ells long. These large fish are seldom visible, generally -frequenting the deeps. In all these waters the saying is, “we catch -most fish in the autumn” (til Hösten, Scoticè, ha’st): _i.e._, when the -fish approach the shallows to spawn. - -The waters of the lake, which were in some places from one to two miles -broad, and studded with wooded islands, now contract, and separate -into two narrow channels. Advantage is taken of the situation to set -up a log-trap below--_i.e._, a circle of logs fastened end to end with -birchen ropes rove through eye-holes. In this pound are caught the -timbers that have been floated down from above. Hundreds of prisoners -are thus caged without any further fastening; but escape is impossible, -unless they leap over the barrier, or dive beneath it, both which are -forbidden by the laws of gravity. If they were not thus formed into -gangs they would get playing the truant, and lounging in the various -bays, or become fixed fast on shore. When the circle is full, advantage -is taken of the north wind which prevails, and off the whole convoy is -started down south without any human attendants. - -Before long we reach a very striking spot. The lake, which had again -widened, now narrows suddenly, and the vast body of limpid water rushes -with tremendous rapidity through a deep groove, about thirty feet -wide, cut by Nature through smooth sloping rocks. Ever and anon a log, -which has been floating lazily from above, and has, all on a sudden, -found itself in this hurly-burly, comes shooting through in a state of -the utmost agitation, occasionally charging, like a battering-ram, at -a projecting angle of the wall; while others, with no less impetuous -eagerness, race through the passage a dozen abreast; the outsiders, -however, get caught in the eternal backstream below, and go bumping, -shoving, and jostling each other for hours before they can again escape -from the magic eddy. - -The stream being too strong to admit of our getting the parson’s -boat up this defile--let alone the perfect certainty of a smash if -we attempt to run the gauntlet through this band of Malays running -amuck--the boatman starts off with some of my luggage on his shoulders -to engage a boat at the ferryman’s, lying through the pine grove. - -While he is gone, I amuse myself with watching the logs; and had I been -gifted with the moralizing powers of the melancholy Jacques, I might -easily have set down in the journal some apt comparisons about the -people of this world racing each other in the battle of life, pushing, -scrambling, dashing other people out of their road. “If a man gets in -your way, stamp on him,” says one of Thackeray’s people; and some of -them suddenly brought up all of a heap in the dark inexorable round of -one of life’s backstreams. The Storthing has, I hear, at length decided -that there shall be a bridge thrown across this gully; the only wonder -is that it has not been done long ago, as it might be built at a very -trifling expense, and the foundations are all ready to hand. - -Above the lone hut of the ferryman, who is a famous wood-carver, lies -the new church of Sannes, rising on some flat meadow land. What a -contrast that pure white image of it, reflected athwart the waters, -presents to the huge, dreary, threatening shadows projected by yonder -dark, weather-stained masses of everlasting mountains. And yet, when -the rocks and mountains shall fall in universal ruin from their lofty -estate, that humble spire,--although, perhaps, originally suggested by -the towering Igdrasil of Scandinavian Pagan mythology,--shall rise -still higher and higher, and pierce the clouds, and the small, and -seemingly perishable fane, expand into the vast imperishable temple of -the God above. - -From its various associations, such a sight as that is very pleasing -to the traveller in a lone country like this, where Nature’s brow is -almost always contracted, frowning in gloomy, uncompromising grandeur. -No larks carolling blithely up aloft; but instead, the scream of some -bird of prey, the grating croak of the raven, the demon screech of the -lom, or the hoarse murmur of the angry waterfall. - -At Froisnaes I spend the night, intending next day to cross the lake, -and walk over the mountains opposite to another lake, called the -Högvand, the trout of which are renowned throughout the valley. After -undergoing the usual artillery of questions and staring, I fall to -discussing my frugal meal of trout and potatoes, while the good woman -fills the bedstead with fresh straw. In this she is assisted by one of -her sons, whose trousers rise up to his gullet, and are actually kept -up by the silver studs of his shirt collar. These, with a brooch, are -the lad’s own handiwork, he having learned the art of the silversmith -from a travelling descendant of Tubal Cain. He is very anxious to buy -a gold coin from me, and brings half an old gold piece, and asks the -value of it. By poising it in the balance against half a sovereign, I -am enabled to guide him respecting its true worth. - -“Now then,” said the landlady, “the bed is quite clear of fleas, though -I won’t say there are not some on the floor.” - -Having no cream, she brings me her only egg, which, after a sound -drubbing, I force to do duty as cream to my coffee. She laments that -she has no more eggs. All the family has been away at the Stöl, and -have only just returned, and the thieving magpies took the opportunity, -in lieu, I suppose of the good luck which they bring to the household, -to suck the eggs as fast as the hen laid them. Guardian angels of this -description come expensive. - -The gude-man of the house, whose hair is cut as short as Oliver -Twist’s--probably for similar reasons--with the exception of a scalping -lock on his forehead, now comes up the steep, unbanistered stair to -have a chat. The trout, he says, bite best a week after St. Johann’s -tid (June 21), that being, no doubt, the time when the first flies -appear. - -Among other things, he tells me that about four miles to the west of -this, in a mountain valley called Skomedal, there are the remains of -an ancient church, at a spot named Morstöl, _i.e._, the chalêt on the -moors. Underneath it is a sort of crypt. The graves, too, are plain to -see. According to the country side tradition, which is no doubt true -(for there never was such a country as this for preserving traditions, -as well as customs, unimpaired), all the church-goers were exterminated -by the black death in the middle of the fourteenth century. The people -have not dared, says the man, to build any fixed habitation there -since, and the place is only used as a summer pasture. More courage has -been shown elsewhere, as the following story will show; but perhaps the -real reason is, that in this valley it would not pay to build a gaard, -the site being very elevated and cold. - -Where the great Gaard (Garth) of Mustad now stands, there used, once -on a time, to be a farmstead called Framstad, the finest property in -all Vardal. But when “the great manqueller” visited these parts, all -the inhabitants of the valley, those of Framstad among the number, -were swept away, and a century later it was only known in tradition -that the westernmost part of the valley had ever been inhabited. One -day a hunter lost himself in the interminable forest which covered -the district. In vain he looked for any symptom of human dwellings. -After wandering about for a length of time in a state of hopeless -bewilderment, he suddenly descried what looked like a house through the -trees, which were of immense age. All around was so dreary and deserted -that it was not without a secret shudder he ventured into the building. -A strange sight met his eyes as he entered. On the hearth was a kettle, -half consumed by rust, and some pieces of charcoal. On one of the -heavy benches which surrounded the fireplace lay a distaff, and some -balls of rotten thread, with other traces of female industry. Against -the wall hung a cross-bow, and some other weapons; but everything was -covered with the dust of centuries. Surely there must be some more -vestiges of the former occupants, thought he, as he clambered up into -the loft by the steep ladder. And sure enough there were two great -bedsteads, the solid timbers of which were let into the end walls of -the room. In each of these were the mouldering skeletons of two or more -human beings. - -Over these a number of mice were running, who, frightened at his -approach, hurried off in all directions. - -He now remembered the tradition of the black death. This must have -been the dwelling of some of the victims, left just in the state it -was when the hand of the Destroyer was suddenly laid upon them. Being -a shrewd fellow, he at once perceived the value of his discovery, and -with his axe marked his name and the day of the month on the wall of -the building. As the day was far spent, he kept watch and ward in the -weird abode, and next day started eastward, where he knew his home -must lie, taking care to blaze the trees on his road, as a clue to -the spot. He managed to get home safely, and before long returning to -the place with others, he soon cleared the forest, and brought the -old enclosures into cultivation. In memory of his discovery he called -his new abode Mustad (Mouse Grange), the very name by which it still -goes; nay, his descendants are said to be its present occupiers. In the -eastern and western walls of the garret the mortice holes of the old -bed-timbers are still visible. The date is also distinguishable on one -of the outside fir-timbers, which are so intensely hard as almost to -defy the stroke of an axe. - -A little higher up the main valley along which I am travelling, and a -little to the east of it, there is another, called Findal, which is -the scene of the following curious legend. The plague only spared two -persons in this sequestered spot, a man and his wife, Knut and Thore -by name. They were frightfully lonely, but still years rolled on, and -they never thought of quitting their ancient habitation. The only thing -that plagued them was, how to count time, and at last they lost their -reckoning, and did not feel certain when the great winter festival of -Yule came round. It was agreed, therefore, when the winter was at hand, -and the days rapidly shortening, that the old lady should start off on -foot, and go straight forward until she found people to tell her the -day of the month. She went some distance, but the snow was so deep that -her knees got quite tired, and she sat down on the Fond (snow-field), -when suddenly, to her astonishment, she heard the following words sung -in a clear quaint tone, by a voice under the snow. - - Deka deka Thole, - Bake du brouv te Jole: - Note ei, - Aa Dagana tvaei, - So laenge ae de ti Jole. - - You there, my good Thole, - Bake you bread for Jule: - Nights one, - And days two, - So long it is to Jule. - -The old lady hurried back at once to her John Anderson, and they kept -the festival on the day signified, which they felt sure was the right -one, as it afterwards turned out to be. - -Bishop Ullathorne and the other miracle-mongers will, no doubt, fasten -upon this legend as one to be embodied in their next catalogue of -supernatural interventions in support of the Romish faith, alongside -of “Our Lady of Sallette,” and other pretty stories. One might as well -religiously believe in those charming inventions of Ovid, to which -the imagination clings with such fondness, so thoroughly are they -intertwined with human sympathies. - -But let us get nearer our own time. Four years ago, I hear, the people -of the valley were terrified by the apparition of a Scotchman, who -had taken it into his head to walk through Norway in full Highland -costume, armed with a hanger and a pair of pistols. A man who saw -him close to this took him for the foul fiend, and made off into the -wood. Others, who were less alarmed, considered him to be mad (gal). -After a good deal of difficulty he brought the folks to a parley, and -not knowing a word of Norsk, but being thirsty, he asked for grog. -The sailors on board the _Reine Hortense_ might have understood these -four letters, when signalled in Arctic waters by the aristocratic -owner of _The Foam_. Not so the Sætersdal people. They thought he said -“gröd,” and brought him a lump of porridge. He then asked for “water,” -when they brought him a pair of large worsted gloves (vanter), here -pronounced vorter. This reminds me of a friend of mine who arrived at -a station-house in a great state of hunger. He could speak enough of -the language to inquire for provisions. “Porridge,” was the reply. -“Anything else?” “Beeren?” “Yes, by all means,” exclaimed he, revelling -in imagination on bear-collops. The dame presently entered with a dish -of beeren, which consisted of--wild strawberries!--a nice dessert, but -not fitted for a _pièce de résistance_. - -Perhaps the reader will not object to be introduced to some of the -folks here nominally. Many of the grand old names current in Sætersdal -don’t exist elsewhere in Norway, but are to be found in the Sagas; -and this is another proof of the tenacity with which this part of the -country adheres to everything belonging to its forefathers. Instead -of such names as Jacob or Peder, we have Bjorgulv, Torgrim, Torkil, -Tallak, Gunstein, Herjus, Tjöstolf, Tarjei, Osuf, Aamund, Aanund, -Grunde; while the women answer to such Christian names as Durdei, -Gjellaug, Svalaug, Aslaug (feminine of Aslack), Asbjorg (feminine of -Asbjörn), Sigrid (feminine of Sigur), and Gunvor. The dog, even, who -comes up into the loft, and seems anxious to make my acquaintance, is -called Storm. - -As the next morning is rainy, I look about the premises for anything -noteworthy. In one corner is a bundle of thin strips of bark. These are -taken from the branches of the linden-tree, and steeped in water from -spring to autumn. They are then separated into shreds, and woven by -the peasants into ropes, which are not so durable, however, as those -of hemp. A bunch of carraway shrub is hanging up to dry. It grows all -about here. The seeds are mixed with all kinds of food. - -“Friske smag har det,” remarks the old lady. “It has a fresh taste with -it.” - -Outside the house there are two or three lysters, and some split -pine-roots for “burning the water.” In the dark, still nights of -autumn, the trout and bleke which approach the shore are speared by -the men. - -In the passage is suspended a notice to the effect that instruction -in agriculture is offered by the Government gratis, at a school down -the valley, to all young men who bring a certificate of baptism, -vaccination, and also a testimonial of good moral conduct from the -clergyman. - -While I am reading this notice, a desolate-looking young female, with -dishevelled black hair, comes staring at me through the open door, with -a most wobegone aspect. Her husband, I find, is a drinker of brantviin. -On one occasion he went down to Christiansand, drank tremendously, and -returned quite rabid. For some time he was chained leg to leg. He is -better now, but beats the unfortunate creature, his wife, who does not -complain. I recommended the people, the next time he did it, to chain -him again, and pay the bully back in some of his own coin--hard knocks. - -Hearing so much of the trouts of the Högvand, _i.e._, High-water (the -people here call it Högvatn, reminding me of the Crummack-_waters_, -and Derwent-waters, of the North of England), I take Tallak, one of the -sons, across the lake. On the further shore stood a man, with his young -wife and child. They had a small boat, but it could not have lived -in the swell now on the loch; so they borrowed ours for the transit. -Threading our way through some birch scrub, we emerge upon the old -smelting-house, where the copper-ore brought from the Valle copper-mine -used to be prepared. But it is now at a stand-still, and the beck close -by rushes down with useless and unemployed energy. This stream comes -down from the lake to which we are going. - -On the way we pass a small shanty, of about eight feet square. I peep -in through the open door. On the floor sits a young woman, with her -three children. Their sleeping berths are just overhead, let into -the wall. After a stiff ascent, we reach the High-water. Launched -on the lake, I expected great things, as the rain, which still -poured when we started, had ceased, and a fine ripple curled the -waters, which glistened smilingly as they caught sight of the sun’s -cheerful countenance emerging from behind the heavy clouds. But my -hopes were doomed to disappointment. Tallak said it was torden-veir -(thunder-weather), and unpropitious. Nevertheless, a banging fish took -one of my flies, but carried the whole tackle away. - -I then tried the triangles, and a four-pounder, at least, golden and -plump, dashed at me, but by a clever plunge out of his own element, he -managed to get clear again. After this I had not another chance; but -I have no doubt, that if I had given a day to the lake, instead of an -hour or two, I should have succeeded in developing its capabilities. -The boat, or pram as it is called in these parts, is flat-bottomed and -oblong. The rowing appliances are very peculiar. Two narrow boards, -about three feet apart, were placed about midships, at right angles -to the boat’s length, and extending over the gunwale about a foot; -two more similar pieces of wood were laid parallel to each other over -the ends of the first two pieces, to which they were tied by birchen -thongs, so as to form a square framework lying on the boat’s gunwale. -Two thole-pins were stuck into each of the side pieces. Here, then, in -the mountains of Thelemarken, we find the original outrigger, centuries -old, the predecessor of the Claspers’ invention, now so commonly used -in England. On one of the cross-boards I sat, on the other the rower, -thus keeping the frame firm by our own weight, it being secured to the -body of the boat by birch-ties only. There was not a particle of iron -about the whole affair; it was the simplest contrivance for crossing -water I ever saw. - -On our walk homeward Tallak tells me that he has seen the cat-lynx -down in the valley, but that they generally keep up among the broken -rocks (Urden). The wind was now so high that the passage of the Fjord -was somewhat difficult. At times, I hear, it is so lashed by sudden -tempests from the storm-engendering mountains, that the water leaves -its bed, and fills the air with spray and foam. - -Old Mr. Skomedal, who schusses me up this evening to Langeid, is a -rich man in his way, owning three farms, not to mention a quantity of -“arvegods” (heirlooms) on his wife’s side, in the shape of halberds, -helmets, swords, apostle-spoons, and “oldtids aeld-gammle sager” -(ancient curiosities). - -He asked if I knew a cure for his gicht (rheumatism). Many years ago -he was at a bryllup (wedding), when he got fuul (Scoticè fou = drunk); -indeed everybody was fuul. But unfortunately he got wet outside as -well as in, and fell asleep in his wet clothes, since when he has been -troubled with aching pains. - -The bears have killed two of his horses. The one he is driving he -bought out of a drove from the Hardanger. It is only two years old, -and shies alarmingly in the dusk[8] at some huge stones which have -been placed by the roadside at intervals, battlement fashion, to keep -travellers from going over the precipice, though the embrasures are -like an act of parliament, and would admit of a coach and four being -driven between them. “I thought it was a bear,” said Skomedal, as he -made out the stones. - -Becoming quite conversational and familiar, he offers me a pinch of -snuff (snuus), whence the Scotch, “sneeshing.” It was excellent “high -dried,” and, to my astonishment, of home manufacture, he buying the -tobacco-leaf and the necessary flavouring fluid at the town. The rain -having been very heavy, the valley is alive with falling waters. We -pass a splendid fall close by the road, the white rage of which gleamed -distinctly through the darkness, rendering that part of the road -lighter than the rest. Imagine the way being lighted with cascades. Who -would care for a row of gas-lamps under such circumstances? - -This fall, Skomedal tells me, was once drawn by a Frenchman; but I -doubt much one of that nation ever venturing into these parts. “Well, -Skomedal, can’t you tell me some tales about the trolls?” said I, -thinking the hour and the scene were admirably adapted for that sort of -amusement. - -“Let me see, ah! yes. There was a woman up at my stöl in -Skomedal--that’s where the tomt (site) of the old church is to be -seen. She was all alone one Thorsdags qveld (Thursday evening), her -companion having come down to the gaard for mad (food). Looking out -she sees what she supposes is Sigrid coming back up the mountain with -a great box of provisions. But when the figure gets alongside of an -abrupt rock just below, it suddenly disappears. Gunvor knew then that -it was a Thus.” - -“Nonsense,” replied I. - -“Oh! it’s all very well to say nonsense, but why do the cattle always -get shy and urolig (unruly), when they pass that spot. We never could -make out before why this was, but it was plain now, they could tell by -their instinct there was something uncanny close by.” - -“Very good; do you know another tale?” said I, our pace well admitting -of this diversion, as it was very slow in the dark wood, into which our -road had now entered. - -“Yes, that same woman, Gunvor’s husband, was the best fiddler in the -valley. One day, when she was all alone, she heard near her a beautiful -tune (vaene slot) played on a violin. She could see nobody, though -she looked all over. That must have been a Troll underground. She -remembered the tune, and taught it her husband. It was called (the name -has slipped my recollection.) Nothing so beautiful as that slot was -ever heard in the valley. - -“But he is dead now, and there is nobody who can play as he did.”[9] - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - - Langeid--Up the mountain--Vanity of vanity--Forest - perfumes--The glad thrill of adventure--An ancient - beacon--Rough fellows--Daring pine-trees--Quaint old - powder-horn--Curiosities for sale--Sketch of a group of - giants--Information for _Le Follet_--Rather cool--Rural - dainties and delights--The great miracle--An odd name--The - wedding garment--Ivar Aasen--The Study of Words--Philological - lucubrations--A slagsmal--Nice subject for a spasmodic - poet--Smoking rooms--The lady of the house--A Simon Svipu--A - professional story-teller--Always about Yule-tide--The - supernatural turns out to be very natural--What happened to an - old woman--Killing the whirlwind--Hearing is believing--Mr. - Parsonage corroborates Mr. Salomon--The grey horse at - Roysland--There can be no doubt about it--Theological argument - between a fairy and a clergyman--Adam’s first wife, Lileth. - - -At Langeid station, where we arrived late at night, there was great -difficulty in finding anybody at home. At last we ferreted out an old -man in one of the multifarious buildings, which, as usual, formed the -establishment. All the rest of the family are paa hoien (up on the -mountain). That Langeid was a horrid place. As there was no wash-basin -to be found, I laid hands upon a quaint brass mortar, which the old man -informed me was “manifold hundred years old.” In the travellers’ book -I see a German has been informing the people that he is a Ph.D. But -then I have seen elsewhere, in this country, an Englishman’s name in -the book with M.P. attached to it. But he went down, poor man, with the -steamer _Ercolano_, so we must leave him alone. - -What a lovely morning after the rain. The spines of the fir-trees, and -the hairy lichen (_alectoria jubata_) festooning the branches, frosted -over with the moisture which still adheres to them, and is not yet -sucked up by the sun that is just rising over the high mountains. What -refreshing odours they shed abroad, seconded by the lowlier “pors,” -with its delicious aromatic perfume. - -What an intense pleasure it is thus to travel through an unknown -country, not knowing where one is to be at the day’s end, and looking -at the map to find out where in the world one is. Give me this rather -than a journey in Switzerland, and all the first-rate hotels in the -world. - -“Up yonder,” said my attendant, “a bear used to harbour. The man in the -gaard above shot him not long ago. He was very large. That’s a ‘Vitr’ -(warning) yonder, on the top of that mountain to the east. There are a -great many dozen of pine-logs piled up there from the olden times.” - -I discovered that this was a beacon-hill, formerly used to give notice -of the approach of foes on the coast. The next beacon was at Lobdal, -a great many miles down the valley. The establishment of beacons from -Naes to Helgeland, is attributed, by Snorro, to Hacon the Good. A -slower way of conveying intelligence of the descent of an enemy on the -coast, was the split arrow (haeror), equivalent to the fiery cross of -Scotland. - -“Are not you frightened to travel all alone?” said the little fellow, -looking curiously into my face. “You might be injured.” - -“Not I,” replied I. - -“Oh! yes, we Norwegians are good people, except in Hallingdal--they -are rare rough fellows there, terrible fighters.” - -To the left of the road, high on the hill, is the abode of Herjus, -the bear-victim mentioned above, who is gradually recovering from his -wounds. - -The scenery becomes grander as we advance. What would you think of -trees growing on the side of a precipice, apparently as steep as -Flamboro’ Head, and ten times as high? They seem determined to get into -places where the axe cannot reach them. But they are not safe for all -that. Now and then the mountain side will crack, and some of it comes -down. Look at that vast stone, which would throw all your Borrowdale -boulder stones into the shade; it has come down in this manner. -Advantage has been taken of its overhanging top to stow away under it a -lot of agricultural instruments, among which I see a primitive harrow -of wood. - -At Ryssestad station I find a quaint old powder-horn, more than two -hundred years old, on which Daniel in the lion’s den, Roland, Adam and -Eve, Samson and Delilah, figure in marvellous guise. I note this, as -I afterwards saw almost the facsimile of it in the Bergen Museum. The -owners declined to part with it. - -There was also a wolf’s skin, price five dollars. The station-master -shot him from one of the windows last winter, while prowling about the -premises. One Sigur Sannes offers for sale a curious old “hand-axe,” -date 1622, but I did not wish to add to my luggage. - -What a set of giants surrounded me while I was drinking coffee! and -such names--Bjug, Salvi, Jermund, Gundar! Imagine all these long-legged -fellows standing in trousers reaching to their very shoulders and neck, -and supported by shoulder-straps decked in brass ornaments, while below -they are secured by nine buttons above the ankle. What may be seen of -their shirts is confined by two immense silver bullet studs, and then -a silver brooch an inch and a half wide. The hats, of felt, are made -in the valley. The brim is very small, and the crown narrows half way -up, and then swells out again. A silver chain is passed round it two or -three times, and confined in front by a broad silver clasp, to which -is suspended a cross. A figured velvet band likewise goes twice round -it. - -The dress of the women is the black or white skirt, already -mentioned, swelling into enormous folds behind, and so short as to -permit the garters with silver clasps to be seen. The stockings -bulge out immensely at the calf--indeed, are much fuller than is -necessary--giving the legs a most plethoric appearance, and, as in -the Tyrol, they often only reach to the ankle. Occasionally, when the -women wish to look very smart, a pair of white socks are drawn over the -foot, which oddly contrasts with the black stocking. The shoes, which -are home-made, are pointed, and fit remarkably well. On the bosom is a -saucer-sized brooch of silver, besides bullet-studs at the collar and -wristband. I see also women carrying their babies in the kjell or plaid. - -Beyond the station, we have to diverge from the regular road, and -take an improvised one, the bridge having been carried away by a -flom (freshet). At a ferry above, where the river opens into a lake, -the ferrywoman, after presenting to me her mull of home-made snuff, -inquires if I am married. This provokes a similar query from me. - -“No,” is the reply; “but I have a grown-up son.” - -The custom of Nattefrieri, to which I have alluded elsewhere, will -account for things of this kind. - -Beyond the ferry there has been a recent fall of rocks from the cliffs -above. In the cool recesses of the rocks grow numbers of strawberries -and raspberries, which my man obligingly gathers and presents to me. -A black and white woodpecker, with red head and rump, perches on a -pine-tree close by. - -A little above is the finest fall on the river, except that near -Vigeland. All around the smooth scarped cliffs converge down to the -water at a considerable angle, the cleavage being parallel to their -surface. - -At one spot my chatty little post-boy, who, boy as he was, rejoiced in -a wife and child, stops to talk with a mighty tall fellow, one Björn -Tvester, who offers to take me up some high mountain near to see a fine -view. A woman close by, who is unfortunately absent on the hills, -possesses an ancient silver cross, of great size and fine workmanship. -This used, in former times, to be used by the bridegroom at a wedding. - -A smiling plain now opens before us, in the centre of which stands the -parish church. While I stop to enjoy the prospect, a crowd of men and -women collect around me. One of the fair sex, who rejoiced in the name -of Mari Björnsdatter, I endeavour to sketch, to her great delight. - -“Stor mirakel!” (great miracle) shouted the peasants, looking over my -shoulder. “Aldrig seet maken[10] (never saw the like)”! - -“And what’s your name?” I asked of a red-headed urchin, of miserable -appearance. The answer, “Thor,” made me smile, and produced a roar -from the masculines, Folke, Orm, Od (a very odd name, indeed), Dreng, -Sigbjörn, and a titter from the feminines ditto, all of whom saw the -joke at once. - -Putting up at the station-master’s at Rige, I sally out and meet with -an intelligent fellow, Arne Bjugson by name, formerly a schoolmaster, -now a pedlar. He tells me there is an ancient bridal dress at one of -the houses, and he it was who put this on, and sat to Tidemann for his -sketch of the Sætersdal Bridegroom. - -We forthwith go to inspect it. The bridegroom’s jacket is of blue, over -which came another of red. His knee-breeches are black, and crimped or -plaited; his blue stockings were wound round with ribands; his hat was -swathed in a white cloth, round which a silver chain was twisted. In -his hand he held a naked sword; around his waist was a brass belt, and -on his neck a silver chain with medals. The bride’s dress consisted of -two black woollen petticoats, plaited or folded; above these a blue -one, and over all a red one. Then came a black apron, and above that a -white linen one, and round her waist three silver belts. Her jacket was -black, with a small red collar, ornamented with a profusion of buckles, -hooks, fibulas, and chains. On her head was a silver-gilt crown, and -around her neck a pearl necklace, to which a medal, called “Agnus Dei,” -was suspended. - -Arne has read _Snorro’s Chronicle_, which he borrowed from the parson. -Ivar Aasen, the author of several works on the old Norsk language, -has been more than once up here examining into the dialect. Those -interested in the sources of the English language, and in ascertaining -how much of it is due to the old Norsk, have ample room for amusement -and instruction here. Many English words, unknown in the modern -Norwegian, are to be found in use in these secluded parts, though -driven from the rest of the country, just in the same way as the Norsk -language was talked at Bayeux a long time after it had become obsolete -at Rouen and other parts of Normandy. Our “noon” reappears in “noni;” -“game,” in “gama,” a word not known away from this. “To prate,” is -“prata;” “to die,” is “doi;” “two,” is “twi,” not “to,” as elsewhere; -indeed, all the numerals differ from those used elsewhere. The people -pronounce “way,” “plough,” and “net,” just like an Englishman. To -“neigh,” is “neja,” not “vrinska.” A stocking is “sock,” not “strömpe;” -eg = edge; skafe = safe or cupboard; “kvik” corresponds in all its -meanings to our word “quick.” The old Icelandic “gildr” is used as an -eulogistic epithet, = excellent. Their word for “wheel” sounds like our -English, and is not “eule,” as elsewhere; “stubbe” is our “stub,” or -little bit; “I” is “oi,” not “Ieg;” “fir” is pronounced “fir;” “spon” -has been already mentioned: “snow,” “mile,” “cross,” re-occur here, -whereas elsewhere they differ from the English. - -While we are engaged in these philological lucubrations a man comes -up, a piece of whose lower-lip has gone, interfering with his speech. -This occurred at a wedding. He and another had a trial of strength, in -which he proved the strongest. The vanquished man, assisted by his two -brothers, then set upon him, and bit him like a dog. As aforesaid, the -people of the valley are ordinarily good-natured and peaceable enough; -but let them only get at the ale or brandy, and they become horribly -brutal and ferocious, and a slagsmal (fight) is sure to ensue. One -method of attack on these occasions is by gouging the eye out, spone i -ovgo (literally to spoon out the eye). Sometimes the combatants place -some hard substance in the hand, as a stone or piece of wood. This -they call “a hand-devil,” the “knuckle-duster” of English ruffians. At -Omlid, several miles over the mountains to the east of this, the people -even when sober are said to be anything but snil (good). So disastrous -was the effect of drink at a bridal (_i.e._, bride-ale or wedding -festival),[11] that the bride, it is said, frequently used to bring -with her a funeral shirt for fear that she might have to carry home her -husband dead. In any case she was provided with bandages wherewith to -dress his wounds. - -I picked up another very intelligent Cicerone in Mr. Sunsdal, the -Lehnsman of the district. - -“You would, perhaps, like to see one of the old original dwellings of -our forefathers,” said he; “there are still many of them in this part -of Norway. The name is Rogstue, _i.e._, smoke-room.” - -We accordingly entered one of these pristine abodes, such as were the -fashion among the highest of the land many hundred years ago. The house -was built of great logs, and its chief and almost only sitting-room had -no windows, the light being admitted from above by an orifice (ljaaren) -in the centre of the roof, over which fitted a lid fastened to a pole. -Through this the smoke escaped from the great square fireplace (aaren) -in the middle of the floor, enclosed by hewn stones. Round this ran -heavy benches, the backs of which were carved with various devices. -A huge wooden crane, rudely carved into the figure of a head, and -blackened with smoke, projected from a side wall to a point half-way -between the hearth and chimney-hole. From this the great porridge-pot -(Gryd-hodden) was suspended. Kettle is “hodden” in old English. - -On this smoke-blackened crane I discerned two or three deep scars, -indicative of a custom now obsolete. On the occasion of a wedding, the -bridegroom used to strike his axe into this as he entered, which was as -much as to say that peace should be the order of the day; an omen, be -it said, which seldom came true in practice. - -One side of this pristine apartment was taken up by the two beds -(kvillunne) fixed against the wall, according to the custom of the -country, and in shape resembling the berths on board ship. Between -them was the safe or cupboard (skape). On the opposite side of the -wall was a wooden dresser of massive workmanship, while round the room -were shelves with cheeses upon them. They were placed just within the -smoke line, as I shall call it. The smoke, in fact, not having draught -enough, descends about half-way down the walls, rendering that portion -of them which came within the lowest smoke-mark of the sooty vapour as -black as the fifty wives of the King of the Cannibal Islands; while the -great beams below this preserved their original wood colour. - -The lady of the house, Sigrid Halvorsdatter, took a particular pride -in showing the interior of her abode. Good-nature was written on her -physiognomy, and the writing was not counterfeit. When we arrived, -she was just on the point of going up the mountain with a light -wooden-frame (meiss) on her shoulders, on which was bound a heavy -milk-pail; but she immediately deposited her burden on a great stone -at the door, took a piece of wood from under the eaves and unfastened -the door. Subsequently, I find that this is the identical dame, and -Rogstue, painted by Tidemann, and published among his illustrations of -Norwegian customs. - -Taking leave of her with many thanks, we proceeded to another house, -where the woman said we should see a “Simon Svipu.” - -“A Simon Svipu!” ejaculates the reader, “what on earth is that?” -Thereby hangs a tale, or a tail, if you will. The nightmare plagued -these people before she visited England. - -The people of this valley call her “Muro,” and they have the following -effectual remedy against her. They first take a knife, wrap it up in a -kerchief, and pass it three times round the body; a pair of scissors -are also called into requisition, and, lastly, a “Simon Svipu,” which -is the clump or excrescence found on the branches of the birch-tree, -and out of which grow a number of small twigs. This last is hung up in -the stable over the horses’ heads, or fixed in one of the rafters, and -also over their own bed. - -This exorcism is then pronounced-- - - Muro, Muro, cursed jade, - If you’re in, then you must out; - Here are Simon Svipu, scissors, blade, - Will put you to the right about. - -The birchen charm may remind one of the slips of yew “shivered in the -moon’s eclipse,” in _Macbeth_. - -The term “svipu” is used in parts of the country for whip, instead of -the real word “svöbe.” And I have no doubt this is the signification of -it here--viz., a means of driving away the mare.[12] - -But to return to the real Simon Pure--I mean Svipu. Unfortunately, -I could not get a sight of it. The good folks either could not, or -would not, find the wonderful instrument. I believe, though still in -their heart clinging to the ancient superstition, they were averse to -confessing it to others. - -“But here comes a man,” said the Lehnsman, “who will tell us some -curious anecdotes; his name is Solomon Larsen Haugebirke. He is a -silversmith and blacksmith by trade, and having been servant to -half-a-dozen priests here, he has become waked up, and having a -tenacious memory, he can throw a good deal of light on the ancient -customs of the valley. Gesegnet arbeid (blessed labour) to you, -Solomon.” - -“Good day, Mr. Lehnsman. You have got a stranger with you, I see. Is he -a Tüsker (German)?” - -The old gentleman was soon down on the grass, under the shadow of -an outbuilding, the sun being intensely hot, and whiffing his pipe, -stopped with my tobacco, while he folded his hands in deep thought. - -“Well, really, Lehnsman, I can’t mind anything just on the moment. -Landstad and Bugge[13] were both here, and got all my stories and -songs.” - -“But can’t you remember something about Aasgardsreia?” - -After pausing for a minute or two, Solomon said-- - -“Well, sir, you know it was always about Yule-tide, when we were just -laid down in bed, that they came by. They never halted till they came -to a house where something was going to happen. They used to stop at -the door, and dash their saddles against the wall or roof, making the -whole house shake, and the great iron pot rattle again.” - -“But do you really believe in it, Solomon?” said I, putting some more -tobacco in his pipe. - -“When I was a lad I did, but now I don’t think I do. Still there was -something very strange about it, wasn’t there, sir? The horses in the -stable used to be all of a sweat, as if they heard the noise, and were -frightened. _They_ could not have fancied it, whatever _we_ did.” - -“But are you certain they did sweat?” - -“I believe you; I’ve gone into the stable, and found them as wet as if -they had been dragged through the river.”[14] - -“Ah! but I can easily explain that,” said the Lehnsman. “When I first -came here, some years ago, the young men were a very lawless lot; they -thought nothing of taking the neighbours’ horses at night, and riding -them about the country, visiting the jenter (girls); and it is my firm -belief that they took advantage of the old superstition about the -Aasgaardsreia coming by, and making the horses sweat, to carry on their -own frolic with impunity. It was they that made the horses sweat, by -bringing them back all of a heat, and not these sprites that you talk -of.” - -I felt inclined to take the Lehnsman’s view of the case; but the old -man shook his head doubtingly. - -“Ride, sir! why, at the time I speak of, you could not possibly ride, -the snow was so deep that the roads were impassable. But now we are -talking about it, it strikes me there may have been another cause. The -horses used to get so much extra food just then, in honour of Yule, and -the stalls are so small and close, that perhaps it made them break out -in a sweat. Be that as it may, we used all to be terribly frightened -when we heard the Aasgaardsreia.” - -“It was merely the rush of the night wind,” said I, “beating against -the house sides.” - -“Would the night wind carry people clean away?” rejoined Solomon, -returning to the charge. “Once, when they came riding by, there was -a woman living at that gaard yonder, who fell into a besvömmelse -(swoon); and in that state she was carried along with them right away -to Toftelien, five old miles to the eastward.[15] And more by token, -though she had never been there before, she gave a most accurate -description of the place. I was by, and heard her. What do you think -of that, Herr Lehnsman?” concluded Solomon, who was evidently halting -between two antagonistic feelings, his superior enlightenment and his -old deep-rooted boyish superstitions. - -“I don’t believe it at all,” was the incredulous functionary’s reply; -“it was, no doubt, the power of imagination, and the woman had heard -from somebody, though she might have forgotten it, what Toftelien -looked like.” - -“You talked about the night-wind,” continued Solomon, turning to me. “I -remember well when I was a lad, if there was a virvel-vind (whirlwind), -I used to throw my toll-knife right into it. We all believed that it -was the sprites that caused it, and that we should break the charm in -that way.” - -“Of course you believed in the underground people generally?” - -“Well, yes, we did. I know a man up yonder, at Bykle, who, whenever he -went up to the Stöl, used, directly he got there, and had opened the -door, to kneel down, and pray them not to disturb him for four weeks; -and afterwards they might come to the place, and welcome, till the next -summer.” - -“But did you ever see any of these people?” said I, resolved on probing -Solomon with a home question. - -“No, I’ve never _seen_ them, but I have heard them, as sure as I sit on -this stone.” - -“Indeed, and how was that?” - -“Well, you must know, I was up in the Fjeld to the eastward at a -fiskevatn (lake with fish in). Suddenly I heard a noise close by me, -just behind some rocks, and I thought it was other folks come up to -fish. They were talking very loudly and merrily; so I called out to let -them know I was there, as I wished to have selskab (company). Directly -I called, it was all still. This puzzled me; so I went round the rocks, -but not a creature could I see, so I returned to my fishing. Presently -the noise began again, and I distinctly heard folks talking.” - -“And what sort of talk was it?” - -“Oh! baade fiint o gruft (both fine and coarse, _i.e._, good and -bad words), accuratè som paa en bryllup (just like at a wedding). I -called out again, on which the noise suddenly stopped. Presently they -began afresh, and I could make out it was folks dancing. Then I felt -convinced that it must be a thuss[16]-bryllup (elf-wedding).” - -“Had you slept well the night before?” - -“Never better.” - -“You had been drinking, then?” - -“Langt ifra (far from it); I was as ædru (sober) and clear-headed as a -man could be who had taken nothing but coffee and milk for weeks.” - -“And how long did this noise continue?” - -“Two hours at least. Every time I cried out they stopped, and after a -space began again. I examined all around very carefully, as I was not -a bit afraid; but I could see no hole or anything, nothing but bare -rocks. Now what could it be?” asked the old man, solemnly. - -There are more things in heaven and earth, thought I, than we dream of. - -“Besides,” continued Solomon, “there was another man I afterwards found -fishing at another part of the water, who heard the same noise.” - -“Who was that?” said the Lehnsman. - -“Olsen Prestergaard,” (_i.e._, Olsen Parsonage, so called because he -was born on the parsonage farm). - -“But he is as deaf as a post,” retorted the other. - -“He is _now_, but he was not then. He has been deaf only since he got -that cold five years ago; and this that I am talking of happened six, -come Martinsmass.” - -It may be as well to state that we met Mr. Parsonage subsequently -making hay, and, after a vast deal of hammering, he was made to -understand us, when, with a most earnest expression of countenance he -confirmed Solomon’s account exactly. - -“Can’t you tell us some more of your tales?” said the Lehnsman; “one of -those will do you told to Landstad and Moe, or to Bugge last summer.” - -“How long does the stranger stop?” asked Solomon; “I will endeavour to -recollect one or two.” - -“Oh! I shall be off to-morrow,” said I. - -“Why so early? Well, let me see. There was the grey fole (horse) at -Roysland. I’ll tell you about that. You must know, then, sir, we used -many years ago to have a horse-race (skei) on the flat, just beyond -the church yonder, at the end of August-month each year. There was a -man living up at Roysland, an old mile from here, up on the north -side of the Elv. He was a strange sort of a fellow, nobody could make -him out; Laiv Roysland, they called him. One August, on the morning -of the race, a grey horse came down to his gaard and neighed. He went -and put the halter on him, and seeing he was a likely sort of a nag, -thought he would take him down and run him, without asking anybody any -questions. And sure enough he came. The horse--he was a stallion--beat -all the rest easily. Laiv carried off all the prizes and returned home. -When he got there he let the horse loose, and it immediately took up -to the hills, and was not heard of or seen for twelve months. When the -race-day came round, a neigh was heard (han nejade), Laiv went out of -the door, and found the same horse. He put the halter on his head, and -brought him down to the races just as before. He won everything. There -never was the likes of him whether in biting or running (bitast eller -springast). He was always the best. At last people began to talk, and -said it must be the fand sjel (the fiend himself). The third year the -horse ran it lost. What a rage Laiv was in. When he got home he hit -the horse a tremendous thwack with his whip, and cursed a loud oath. -It struck out, and killed him on the spot. Next year a neigh was heard -as usual outside the house, early on the morning of the race-day, but -nobody dared go out. They were not such dare-devils as Laiv. It neighed -a second time, but the people would not venture, and from that time to -this it has never been heard of or seen.” - -“A strange wild tale,” said I; “ what do you really think it was?” - -“Well, I suppose it was _He_. I never told that story,” continued -Solomon, “to any one before.” - -“Yes, there can be no doubt about it,” said Solomon, after a long -pause; “so many people have seen these underground people that there -must be some truth in it. Besides which, is not there something about -it in Holy Writ: ‘Every knee shall bow, both of things that are in -heaven, and in earth, and under the earth,’ and who can be under the -earth but the underground people?” - -“Well, Solomon, have you no more tales?” - -“Not of the valley here, but I can tell you one of the country up -north.” - -“Oh, yes, that will do.” - -“Well, you must know, there was a man at a gaard up there--let me see, -I can’t rightly mind the name of it. He was good friends with a Tuss; -used, in fact, to worship him (dyrkes). The priest got to hear of -this, and warned him that it was wrong. The man made no secret of the -fact, but persisted that there was no harm in it. Indeed, he derived a -mint of good from the acquaintance. His crops were a vast deal finer, -and he really could not give up his friend on any consideration.[17] -The man spoke with such apparent earnestness and conviction, that the -priest was seized with a desire to see the Tuss. ‘That you shall, and -welcome,’ said the man; ‘I don’t anticipate any difficulty. I’ve lent -him two rolls of chew-tobacco, and he will be sure to return them -before long. No Christian can be more punctual than he is in matters of -business.’ The little gentleman put in an appearance soon after, and -honestly repaid the tobacco, with thanks for the loan of it (tak for -laane). ‘Bide a bit, my friend,’ said the farmer, ‘our parson wants to -have a snak (chat) with you.’ ‘Impossible,’ he replied; ‘I’ve no time; -but I’ve a brother that’s a parson. He’s just the man; besides, he has -more time than me. I’ll send him.’ The tuss-priest accordingly came, -and had a long dispute with the priest of this world about various -passages in the Bible. The latter was but a poor scholar, so he was -easily out-argued. - -“At last they began to dispute about vor Frelser (our Redeemer). - -“‘Frelser!’ exclaimed the goblin-priest, ‘I want no Frelser.’ - -“‘How so?’ - -“‘I’m descended from Adam’s first wife. When she brought forth the -child from which our people trace their descent, Adam had not sinned.’ - -“‘First wife?’ repeated the University man; ‘where do you find -anything about first wife in the five books of Moses? If you have found -any such like thing there, you have not read it right,’ said he. - -“‘Don’t you remember,’ said the tuss, ‘the Bible has it, “This is _now_ -bone of my bone, and flesh of my flesh.” So he must have been married -before to somebody of a different nature.’ - -“The other, who was not so well read in the Bible as he ought to be--so -much of his time was taken up in farming and such like unaandelig -(un-spiritual) occupations--was not able to confute this argument. -Indeed, the tuss-priest beat the Lutheran priest hollow in every -argument, till at last they parted, and the latter was never known -again to express a wish to have any further controversy with so subtle -an antagonist.” - - - - -CHAPTER X. - - Scandinavian origin of Old English and Border ballads--Nursery - rhymes--A sensible reason for saying “No”--Parish - books--Osmund’s new boots--A St. Dunstan story--The - short and simple annals of a Norwegian pastor--Peasant - talk--Riddles--Traditional melodies--A story for William - Allingham’s muse--The Tuss people receive notice to quit--The - copper horse--Heirlooms--Stories in wood-carving--Morals and - match-making. - - -It is well known that some of the old English and Border ballads, -_e.g._, “King Henrie,” “Kempion,” “the Douglas Tragedy,” the “Dæmon -Lover,” are, more or less Scandinavian in their origin. In the same -way, “Jack the Giant Killer,” and “Thomas Thumb,” derive many of their -features from the Northern Pantheon. - -Mr. Halliwell, in his _Nursery Rhymes of England_, and _Popular -Rhymes_, quotes some Swedish facsimiles of our rhymes of this class, -and states, further, on the authority of Mr. Stephens, that the -English infants of the nineteenth century “have not deserted the -rhymes chanted so many ages since by their mothers in the North.”[18] -It struck me, therefore, that in this store-house of antiquities, -Sætersdal, I might be able to pick up some information corroborative -of the above hypothesis. It was some time, however, before I could -make Solomon understand what I meant by nursery rhymes. At last he hit -upon my meaning, and I discovered that the word here for a lullaby or -jingle, is “börne-süd.” Elsewhere, it is called Tull, or Lull-börn, -whence our Lullaby. - -“What’s the use of such things?” said Solomon; “they are pure nonsense.” - -But, on my entreaty, he and others recited a few, in a sort of simple -chant. The reader acquainted with that species of literature in England -will be able to trace some resemblance between it and the following -specimens, which have been in vogue in this out-of-the-way valley -several hundred years. The oldest people in it have inherited the same -from their forefathers, and they are in the old dialect, which is, in -a great measure, the old Norse. While what is very remarkable, like as -is the case with us and our nursery rhymes, the people in many cases -recited to me what appeared sheer nonsense, the meaning of which they -were themselves unable to explain. - - Börn lig i brondo, - Brondo sig i haando; - Kasler i krogje, - Kiernet i kove, - Hesten mi i heller fast, - Jeita te mi i scaare fast, - Saa mi spil langst noro Heio. - - Bairn it lies a burning, - Burning itself in the hands; - Kettle is on the crook, - The churn is in a splutter, - My horse is fast on the rocks, - My goat is fast on the screes, - My sheep play along the northern heights. - -Here is another, which would remind us of a passage in “The Midsummer -Night’s Dream,” only that the squirrel is now reaper instead of -coach-maker:-- - - Ekorne staa paa vaadden o’ slo - Höre dei kaar dei snöre; - Skjere laeste, kraaken dro, - O, roisekattan han kjore. - - The squirrels they stand on the meadow and mow, - Hear how they bustle the vermin; - The magpie it loads, and who draws but the crow, - And the waggoner, it is the ermine. - -A similar one:-- - - Reven sitte i lien, - Hore börne grin, - Kom börne mine, o gaer heim mi ma, - Saa skal wi gama sja. - Han traeske, hun maale, - Kiessling knudde, kjette bake, - Muse rödde mi rumpe si paa leiven. - - The fox, the fox, she sits on the lea, - Hears her bairns a-crying: - Come, bairns mine, and go home with me, - What games you shall then be seeing. - The fox he thrashed, the vixen she ground; - The kitten kneads, the cat she bakes, - The mouse with his tail he sprinkles the cakes.[19] - -Another:-- - - So ro ti krabbe skjar, - Kaar mange fiske har du der? - En o’ ei fiörde, - Laxen den store; - En ti far, en ti mor, - En ti den som fisker dror. - - Sow row to the crab-skerrys,[20] - How many fishes have you there? - One, two, three, four, - The salmon, the stour. - One for father, for mother one; - One for him the net who drew. - -Now and then a different course of treatment is proposed for the -fractious baby, as in the following:-- - - Bis, Bis, Beijo, - Börn will ikke teio, - Tak laeggen, - Slo mod vaeggen, - So vil börne teio. - - Bis, Bis, Beijo, - Baby won’t be still, O, - By the leg take it, - ’Gainst the wall whack it, - So will baby hush, O. - -This reminds me of another:-- - - Klappe, Klappe, söde, - Büxerne skulle vi böte, - Böte de med kjetteskind, - Saa alle klorene vend te ind, - I rumpen paa min söde. - - Clappa, Clappa, darlin’, - Breeches they want patchin’, - Patch them with a nice cat-skin, - All the claws turned outside in, - To tickle my little darlin’. - -It being now noon (noni), or Solomon’s meal-time, he left me, promising -to give me a call in the evening. - -“Yes, and you must take a glass of finkel with me; it will refresh your -mind as well as body.” - -“Not a drop, thank you. If I begin, I can’t stop.” - -“That’s the way with these bonders,” observed the Lehnsman to me, when -we were alone; “even the most intelligent of them, if they once get -hold of the liquor, go on drinking till they are furiously drunk.” - -This then is pre-eminently the country for Father Mathews! - -“By-the-bye,” said the Lehnsman, “our parson has left us, and his -successor is not yet arrived; but I think I can get the keys from -the clerk, and we will go to the vicarage, and look at the kald-bog -(call-book), a sort of record of all the notable things that have ever -happened at the kald (living).” - -Presently we found ourselves seated in the priest’s chamber, with the -said book before us. - -The following curious reminiscence of the second priest after the -Reformation is interesting:-- - -“One Sunday, when the priest was just going up into the pulpit -(praeke-stol), in strode the Lehnsman Wund (or ond = bad, violent), -Osmund Berge. He had on a pair of new boots, which creaked a good -deal, much to the scandal of the congregation, who looked upon this -sort of foot-covering as an abomination; shoes being the only wear of -the valley. The priest, who had a private feud with Osmund, foolishly -determined to take the opportunity of telling him a little bit of his -mind, and spoke out strongly on the impropriety of his coming in so -late, and with creaking boots, forsooth. Bad Osmund sat down, gulping -in his wrath, but when the sermon was ended, he waited at the door -till the priest came out of church, and in revenge struck him with his -knife, _after the custom of those days_. The priest fell dead, and the -congregation, in great wrath at the death of their pastor, set upon -the murderer, stoned him to death a few steps from the church, and -buried him where he fell. Until a few years ago, a cairn of stones, the -very implements, perhaps, of his lapidation, marked the spot of his -interment. After this tragical occurrence, the parish was without a -clergyman for three years; till at last another pastor was introduced -by a rich man of those parts, on the promise of the parishioners that -he should be protected from harm.” - -I found, in the same book, a curious notice of one Erik Leganger, -another clergyman. When he came to the parish, not a person in it could -read or write. By his unremitting endeavours he wrought a great change -in this respect, and the people progressed in wisdom and knowledge. -This drew upon him the animosity of the Father of Evil himself. On one -occasion, when the priest was sledging to his other church, the foul -fiend met him in the way; a dire contest ensued, which ended in the -man of God overpowering his adversary, whom he treated like the witch -Sycorax did Ariel, confining him “into a cloven pine.” - -A later annotator on this notable entry says, the only way of -explaining this affair is by the fact that the priest, although a good -man, had a screw loose in his head (skrue los i Hovedet). But this -Judæus Apella ought to have remembered the case of Doctor Luther, not -to mention Saint Dunstan. - -The good Lehnsman, who entered with great enthusiasm into my desire for -information on all subjects, now commenced reading an entry made by a -former priest, with whom he had been acquainted, of his daily going -out and coming in during the period it had pleased God to set him over -that parish, with notices of his previous history. His father had been -drowned while he was a child, and his widowed mother was left with -three children, whom she brought up with great difficulty, owing to -her narrow means. Being put to school, he attracted the notice of the -master, who encouraged him to persevere in his studies. Finally, by the -assistance of friends, he got to the University, earning money for the -purpose by acting as tutor in private families during the vacations. -At last he passed his theological examination, but only as “baud -illaudabilis;” the reason for which meagre commendation he attributes -to his time being so taken up with private tuition. At the practical -examination he came out “laudabilis,” so that he had retrieved his -position. He then mentions how that he was married to the betrothed -of his boyhood and became a curate; till at length he was promoted to -this place, which he had now left for better preferment, expressing the -hope, in his own hand-writing, “that he had worked among his people not -without profit. Amen.” - -At this moment, the good Lehnsman--whether it was that the heat or his -fatigue in my behalf was too much for him, or whether it was that he -was overcome by the simple and feeling record of his former pastor’s -early struggles--turned pale, and became deadly sick. Eventually he -recovered, and, in his politeness, sat down to dinner with me in his -own house. - -In the evening I took my fly-rod, and went down to the river with a -retinue of forty rustics at my heels. The flies, however, having caught -hold of one boy’s cap, nearly breaking my rod, the crowd were alarmed -for their eyes, and kept a respectful distance, while I pulled out a -few trout; an exploit which drew from them many expressions of by no -means mute wonder. - -After this I sat down on a stone, and had a chat with these fellows. -They had evidently got over the feeling so common among the peasantry -of being afraid at being laughed at by the stranger and by each other. -Many of them blurted out something. Riddles (Gaator or Gaade, allied to -our word “guess,”) were all the go. These are a very ancient national -pastime. They were, however, of no great merit. Here are specimens:-- - - Rund som en egg, - Länger end kirke-vægg. - - Round as an egg, - Longer than a church-wall. - -_Answer._ A roll of thread. - - Rund som solen, svart som jorde. - - Round as the sun, swart as the earth. - -[_i.e._, the large round iron on which girdle-cake is baked.] - - Hvad er det som go rund o giore eg? - - What is that which goes round o’ gars eggs? - -_Answer._ A grindstone. A _double entendre_ is contained in the word -egg; which means either “edge,” or “egg.” - - I know a wonderful tree, - The roots stand up and the top is below, - It grows in winter and lessens in summer. - -_Answer._ A glacier. - - Four gang, four hang, - Two show the way, two point to the sky, - And one it dangles after. - -_Answer._ Cow with her legs, teats, eyes, horns, and tail. - - What is that as high as the highest tree, - But the sun never shines on it? - -_Answer._ The pith. - - What goes from the fell to the shore - And does not move? - -_Answer._ A fence. - -These country-people are not deficient in proverbs--_e.g._, - - Another man’s steed - Has always speed. - -Much of what they said was spoken in an outlandish dialect, and what -made it worse, when I asked for an explanation, they all cried out -together, like the boys in a Government school in India. Indeed, when -they were once fairly afloat it was difficult to curb the general -excitement. - -Moe, a Norwegian writer, who has penetrated into many of the -out-of-the-way valleys of this part of the country and Thelemarken, -states that the peasants are provided with a large budget of -traditional melodies; but more than this, these genuine and -only representatives of the ancient “smoothers and polishers of -language” (scalds), not only use the very strophe of those ancient -improvisatores, but have also a knack of improvising songs on the spur -of the moment, or, at all events, of grafting bits of local colouring -into old catches. - -The peasants around tipped me one or two of these staves. When the -company are all assembled, one sings a verse, and challenging another -to contend with him in song, another answers, and, after a few -alternate verses, the two voices chime in together. What I heard was -not extempore, but traditional in the valley. - -One young fellow commenced a stave which seemed to be a great -favourite, for directly he began it, the others said, “To be sure, we -all know that; sing it, Thorkil.” - -In the evening, true to his promise, old Solomon appeared. He had -called to mind a tale that would perhaps please me. - -“There was once on a time a shooter looking for fowl on the heights -(heio) above Sætersdal. Well, on he went, doing nothing but looking -up into the tree-tops for the fowl, when, all of a sudden, he found -himself in a house he had never seen before. There were large chambers -all round, and long corridors, and so many doors he could not number -them. He went seeking about all over till he was tired. Folk he could -see none, nor could he find his way out. At last he came to one chamber -where he thought he could hear people, so he opened the door and looked -in; and there sat a lassie alone (eisemo); so he spoke to her, and -asked who lived there. So she answered they were Tuss folk, and that -the house was so placed that nobody could see it till they got into -it, and then one could not get out again. ‘That’s the way it went -with me,’ said she, mournfully; ‘I have been here a long time now, but -don’t think I shall ever get out again.’ The shooter on this got very -frightened, and asked her if she could not tell him some way of escape. -‘Well,’ answered the girl, ‘I’ll tell you how you can do it, but you -must first promise me to come back to the gaard and take me away.’ This -he promised at once to do without fail. ‘Now, then, follow me, and -open the door I point out. They are sitting at the board and eating -(aa eta), and he who sits at the top is the king, and he’s bigger and -brawer than all the others, so that you’ll know him directly. You must -take your rifle, and aim at the king--only aim, you mustn’t shoot. -They’ll be in such a fright they’ll drive you out directly you heave -up the gun; so you’ll be all safe, and then you must think of me. You -must come here next Thursday evening[21] as ever is, and the next, and -the third; and then I’ll follow you home--of that you may be certain.’ -So she went and showed him the door, and he opened it and went in, and -saw them all eating and drinking, and he up with his gun and pointed -it at the one at the top of the table. Up they all jumped in alarm; he -sprung out, they after him, and so he got clean out and safe home. On -the first Thursday evening away he went to the Fell, and the second, -and talked each time with the girl; but the third Thursday, on which -all depended, he didn’t come. I don’t know why it was he did not keep -his promise. Perhaps he thought if he took her home he should have to -marry her. Anyhow it was base ingratitude. Some three or four years -after the shooter was on the heights again, when he heard a girl’s -voice greet (gret), and lament that she was so dowie (dauv) and lonely, -and could not get away to her home. He knew the voice at once--it was -the girl he had deserted. He looked round and round, and about on all -sides, but could see nothing but rocks and trees, and so nothing could -be done for the poor lassie.” - -“Now I think of it,” continued Solomon, “there is a tuss story I’ve -heard about this Rigegaard where you are stopping.” - -“Delightful!” thought I; “I never did yet sleep in a haunted house--it -will be a capital adventure for the journal.” - -“It’s a long time ago since, though. The ‘hill-folks’ used to come -and take up their quarters here at Yule. It was every Yule the same; -they never missed. They did keep it up, I believe you, in grand style, -eating, and drinking, and clattering till they made the old house ring -again. At last, Arne--he lived here in those days--gave the underground -people notice to quit; he would not put up with it any longer. So off -they went. In the hurry of departure they left some of their chattels, -and, among others, a little copper horse, which Arne put out of sight, -though he had no idea what it was used for. Next day, a Troll came down -from the hill above yonder, into which the whole pack had retired for -the present, and claimed the property. Arne, however, had taken a fancy -to the horse, and would not give it up. They might have that little -drinking-beaker of strange workmanship, but the copper horse he was -determined to keep. ‘Well,’ said the Troll, ‘keep it then; but, mind -this, never you part with it. If ever you do, this house will never be -free from poverty and bad luck to the end of the present race.’[22] -‘Good!’ replied Arne, ‘I’ll take care of that, and my son will keep the -horse after me, and hand it down as an heir-loom.’ - -“After this, the house went on prosperously, and no more was heard of -the Trolls. Many years after, when Arne and his son were dead, the -grandson parted with the horse. He had heard of the story, but he did -not care; he did not want such trash--not he. After this, nothing went -well with him. Poverty overtook him, and the family fell into the -utmost distress.” - -“But,” interposed I, “the people seem very well-to-do. I see no -symptoms of poverty. The woman is a filthy creature, and that towel is -disgusting [all travellers in Norway, mind and take a towel with you], -and the food she gives me is uneatable; but I hear they are rich.” - -“Yes,” said Solomon, “but this is quite another branch of the family. -The other one died quite out, and then the destiny altered. The present -people have risen again in the world.” - -Talking of heirlooms, there is no copper horse now, of course, but -there are several quaint things about the gaard, mementos of ancient -days. Among the rest were two curious old hand-axes, used, as -above-mentioned, by the Norwegians as walking sticks, when not applied -to more desperate service, the iron being then used as a handle. The -door-jambs of an out-house, moreover, are of singularly beautiful -carving. These are a couple of feet in width, and formerly adorned -the entrance to the old church of Hyllenstad, and give an idea of the -great taste displayed by these people in ecclesiastical ornament in the -Roman Catholic days. A tale is told here in wood, which I could not -make out. It is most likely connected with the building of the church. -Sundry figures appear with bellows and hammers, and the implements -of the carpenter. But these are afterwards exchanged for weapons of a -more deadly nature. A man with a sword drives it right through another, -while on the corresponding jamb a gentleman is seen in hot contest with -a dragon, whose tail is artfully mingled with the arabesques around. -All these figures are carved in bold relief. The work was no doubt by -Norwegian artists, for the interlacing foliage is in that peculiarly -graceful and broad style (mentioned by Mallet and Pontoppidan), which -always seems to have been at home in this country. These beautiful -panels, together with the slender pillars joined to them, sold at the -auction of the old materials for one dollar! - -So little has this valley been modernized, that I find in almost every -house specimens of the Primstav, or old Runic calendar, handed down -from father to son for centuries. “It is the same with those tales you -have heard,” said the Lehnsman; “the oldest people in the valley got -them from the oldest people before them, though not in writing, but by -oral tradition.” - -“And what is the state of morals up here?” - -“The Nattefrieri is very much in vogue, but the evil consequences are -not so great as may be imagined.” - -I must own that the revelations of the Lehnsman stripped those -people, in my eyes, of a good deal of the romance with which their -literary tastes had invested them. Nor was my idea of the artless and -unsophisticated simplicity of these rustic Mirandas enhanced, when I -was told that match-making was not uncommon among the seniors, and the -juniors consented to be thus bought and sold. Hear this, ye manœuvring -mammas! - - “With a little hoard of maxims preaching down a daughter’s heart.” - -Yes! marriage here, as among the grand folks elsewhere, turns upon a -question of lots of money--a handsome establishment. Perhaps, too, -the jilts of refined and polished society will rejoice, to hear that -they are kept in countenance by the doings in Sætersdal. It sometimes, -though rarely, happens that a girl is engaged to a young fellow, who -means truly by her, the wedding guests are bidden, and she--bolts with -another man. - - - - -CHAPTER XI. - - Off again--Shakspeare and Scandinavian literature--A - fat peasant’s better half--A story about Michaelmas - geese--Explanation of an old Norwegian almanack--A quest after - the Fremmad man--A glimpse of death--Gunvar’s snuff-box--More - nursery rhymes--A riddle of a silver ring--New discoveries - of old parsimony--The Spirit of the Woods--Falcons at - home--The etiquette of tobacco-chewing--Lullabies--A frank - invitation--The outlaw pretty near the mark--Bjaräen--A - valuable hint to travellers--Domestic etcetera--Early - morning--Social magpies--An augury--An eagle’s eyrie--Meg - Merrilies--Wanted an hydraulic press--A grumble at - paving commissioners--A disappointment--An unpropitious - station-master--Author keeps house in the wilderness--Practical - theology--Story of a fox and a bear--Bridal stones--The - Vatnedal lake--Waiting for the ferry--An unmistakable hint--A - dilemma--New illustration of the wooden nutmeg truth--“Polly - put the kettle on”--A friendly remark to Mr. Caxton--The real - fountain of youth--Insectivora--The maiden’s lament. - - -Bidding adieu to the kind and hospitable Lehnsman and his spouse, whose -courtesy and hospitality made up for the forbidding ways of Madame -Rige, I turned my face up the valley. The carriage-road having now -ceased, my luggage is transposed to the back of a stout horse, which, -like the ancient Scottish wild cattle, was milk-white, with black -muzzle. The straddle, or wooden saddle, which crosses his back, is -called klöv-sal. Curiously enough, the Connemara peasants give the name -of “cleve” to the receptacles slung on either side the ponies for the -purpose of carrying peat, and through which the animal’s back _cleaves_ -like a wedge. A very fat man came puffing and panting up to my loft to -fetch my gear. - -“What!” said I, “are _you_ going to march with me all that distance?” -with an audible _aside_ about his “larding the lean earth as he walks -along.” The allusion to Falstaff he of course did not understand. His -literature is older than Shakspeare; indeed the bard of Avon often -borrowed from it. Whence comes his “Man in the moon with his dog and -bush,” but from the fiction in the Northern mythology of Mâni (the -moon), and the two children, Bil and Hiuki, whom she stole from earth. -Scott’s Wayland Smith, too, he is nothing but Völund, the son of the -Fin-king, who married a Valkyr by mistake, and used to practise the -art of a goldsmith in Wolf-dale, and was hamstrung by the avaricious -King Nidud, and forced to make trinkets for him on the desert isle of -Saeverstad. Though it is only fair to say that the legend belonged also -to the Anglo-Saxons, and indeed to most of the branches of the Gothic -race. But we are forgetting our post-master. He was the first fat -peasant I ever saw in this country. - -“Nei, cors” (No, by the Rood). “I’m not equal to that. It’s nearly four -old miles. My wife, a very snil kone (discreet woman), will schuss you.” - -His better half accordingly appeared, clad in the dingy white woollen -frock already described, reaching from the knee to the arm-holes, where -is the waist. On this occasion, however, she had, for the purpose -of expedition, put an extra girdle above her hips, making the brief -gown briefer still, and herself less like a woman about to dance in a -sack. Sending her on before, I sauntered along, stopping a second or -two to examine the huge unhewn slab before the church door, with a -cross and cypher on it, and the date 1639; to which stone some curious -legend attaches, which I have forgotten. Passing Solomon’s house, and -finding he had gone to the mountains, I left for him some flies, and a -_douceur_, to the bewilderment of his son. At a house further up the -valley I found a primstav two hundred years old, the owner of which -perfectly understood the Runic symbols. - -“That goose,” said he, “refers to Martinsmass, (Nov. 11). That’s the -time when the geese are ready to kill.” - -So that our derivation of Michaelmas goose-eating from the old story -of Queen Elizabeth happening to have been eating that dish on the day -of the news of the defeat of the Spanish Armada, is a myth. We got -the custom from Norway, but the bird being fit to eat on the 29th -September, Englishmen were too greedy to wait, and transferred to the -feast of the archangel the dish appertaining to the Bishop of Tours. - -That’s a lyster for Saint Lucia (13th Dec.); it means that they used -to catch much fish against Yule. That knife means that it is time to -slaughter the pigs for Yule. That horn is Yule-horn [the vehicle for -conveying ale to the throats of the ancient Norskmen]. That’s Saint -Knut (Jan. 7th). That’s his bell, to ring winter out. The sun comes -back then in Thelemarken. Old folks used to put their hands behind -their backs, take a wooden ale-bowl in their teeth, and throw it over -their back; if it fell bottom upwards, the person would die in that -year. That’s St. Brettiva, (Jan. 11), when all the leavings of Yule are -eat up. You see the sign is a horse. I’ll tell you how that is. Once on -a time a bonder in Thelemarken was driving out that day. The neighbour -(nabo) asked him if he knew it was Saint Brettiva’s day. He answered-- - - Brett me here, brett me there, - I’ll brett (bring) home a load of hay, I swear. - -The horse stumbled, and broke its foot; that’s the reason why the day -is marked with a horse in Thelemarken. - -“That’s St. Blasius (Feb. 3), marked with a ship. If it blows (bläse) -on that day, it will blow all the year through. That’s a very -particular day. We must not use any implement that goes round on it, -such as a mill, or a spindle, else the cattle would get a swimming in -the head (Sviva). - -“That’s St. Peter’s key (Feb. 22). Ship-folks begin to get their boats -ready then. As the weather is that day it will be forty days after. - -“That,” continued this learned decipherer of Runes, “is St. Matthias -(24th Feb.) If it’s cold that day, it will get milder, and _vice -versâ_; and therefore the saying is, St. Matthias bursts the ice; if -there is no ice, he makes ice. The fox darn’t go on the ice that day -for fear it should break. - -“That’s a mattock (hakke) for St. Magnus (16th April). We begin then to -turn up the soil. - -“That’s St. Marcus (25th April). That’s Stor Gangdag (great -procession-day). The other gang-days are Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday -before Ascension.” - -“And why are they called Gang-days?” - -“Because a procession used to go round the fields, and the priest, at -their head, held mass, to drive away all evil spirits.” - -Here, then, we see the origin of our beating the bounds. Although, -perhaps, the custom may be traced to some ceremonial in honour of Odin -akin to the Ambarvalia at Rome in honour of Ceres. According to an old -tradition, however, it originated thus. There was, many years ago, -a great drought in Norway about this period of the year. A general -procession-day was ordered in consequence, together with a fast, which -was kept so strictly, that the cattle were muzzled, and the babe in -the cradle kept from the breast. Just before the folks went to church -it was as dry as ever, but when they came out, it was raining hard. We -Christians ring the “passing bell” on the death of anybody, but are -perhaps not aware that it began in northern superstition. Sprites, as -we have mentioned elsewhere, can’t bear bells--one of them was once -heard lamenting in Denmark that he could stay no longer in the country -on account of the din of the church bells. So, to scare away the evil -spirits, and let the departing soul have a quiet passage, the sexton -tolls the bell. - -“That’s Gowk’s-mass (May 1); you see the gowk (cuckoo) in the tree. -That’s a great bird that. They used to say-- - - North, corpse-gowk, south, sow-gowk, - West, will-gowk, east, woogowk.” - -“What’s the meaning of that?” - -“Why, if you heard the cuckoo first in the north, the same year you -would be a corpse; if in the south, you would have luck in sowing; if -in the west, your will would be accomplished; if in the east, you would -have luck in wooing. - -“That’s Bjornevaak (bear’s waking day) May 22. You see it’s a bear. -They say the bear leaves his ‘hi’ that day. On midwinter (Jan. 12) he -gave himself a turn round.[23] - -“That’s Saint Sunniva, Bergen’s Saint[24] (July 8). - -“That’s Olsok (St. Olaf’s day), July 29, marked with an axe. The bonder -must not mow that day, or there will come vermin on the cattle. - -“That’s Laurentius’ day, marked with a gridiron. - -“That’s Kverne Knurran, marked with a millstone, Sept. 1. If it’s dry -that day the millers will come to want water. - -“That’s vet-naet (winter-night), Oct. 14, when the year began. That’s a -glove,[25] to show cold weather is coming. There’s an old Runic rhyme -about that, where Winter says:-- - - On winter-night for me look out, - On Fyribod (Oct. 28) I come, without doubt; - If I delay till Hallow e’en, - Then I bow down the fir-tree green.” - -The “Tale of the Calendar”[26] was, however, now interrupted by a tap -at the window, and a man screams out-- - -“Where is the Fremmad man? where is the Fremmad man?” - -“The stranger is here in the house,” was the reply. - -And in came a man, who had evidently just dressed in his best, with -something very like death written in his sunken cheeks, starting eyes, -and sharpened features. - -“Can you tell me what is good for so and so?” he asked. “Oh! what pain -I endure.” - -The poor fellow was clearly suffering from the stone, and there was no -doctor within a great many days’ journey. His doom was evidently sealed. - -Further up the valley, a fierce thunder-storm coming on, I entered -one of the smoke-houses above described, where an old lady, Gunvor -Thorsdatter, bid me welcome. She offered me her mull of home-dried -sneeshing--it was rather a curious affair, being shaped like a -swan’s-egg pear, and sprigged all over with silver. A very small -aperture, stopped by a cork, was the only way of getting at the -precious dust. Gunvor was above eighty, but in full possession of her -faculties, and I judged her therefore not an unlikely person to have -some old stories. - -“What do you sing to the babies when you want to make them sleep?” - -“I don’t know. All sorts of things.” - -“Well, will you repeat me one?” - -She looked hard at me for a moment, and suddenly all the deep furrows -across her countenance puckered up and became contorted, just like a -ploughed field when the harrow has passed over it. A stifled giggle -next escaped her through her _erkos odontôn_, which was still white, -and without gaps. A slight suspicion that I was making fun of her I at -once removed from her mind; then, looking carefully round, and seeing -that there was nobody else by, she croaked out, in a sort of monotonous -melody, the following, which I give literally in English:-- - - Row, row to Engeland, - To buy my babe a pearlen-band, - New breeches and new shoes, - So to its mother baby goes. - -This sounds like our-- - - “To market, to market, to buy a plum-bun.” - -Another, the first lines of which remind one of our-- - - Rockabye, babye, thy cradle is green, - Father’s a nobleman, mother’s a queen. - - Tippi, Tippi, Tua (evidently our “Dibity, Dibity, Do”), - Mother was a frua (lady), - Father was of gentle blood, - Brother was a minstrel good; - His bow so quick he drew, - The strings snapt in two. - Longer do not play - On your strings, I pray: - Strings they cost money, - Money in the purse, - Purse in the kist, - Kist in the safe, - Safe is in the boat, - Boat on board the ship, - Ship it lies in Amsterdam, - What’s the skipper’s name? - His name is called Helje; - Have you aught to sell me? - Apples and onions, onions and apples, - Pretty maidens come and buy. - -This species of accumulated jingle is called “Reglar,” and reminds us -of “The House that Jack built.” - -Another, sung by a woman with a child on her knee:-- - - Ride along, ride a cock-horse, - So, with the legs across; - Horse his name is apple-grey[27] (abel-graa), - Little boy rides away. - Where shall little boy ride to? - To the king’s court to woo; - At the king’s court, - They’re all gone out, - All but little dogs twain, - Fastened with a chain: - Their chains they do gnaw, - And say “Wau, wau, wau.” - -“Very good,” said I. “Many thanks. Have you any gaade (riddles)?” - -Upon which, the old lady immediately repeated this:-- - - Sister sent to sister her’n, - Southwards over the sea, - With its bottom out, a silver churn, - Guess now what that can be. - -_Answer._ A silver ring. - -Before parting with her, I begged the old lady to accept a small -coin in return for her rhymes, which she said she had heard from her -grandmother; but this she indignantly refused to accept, begging me at -the same time, as she saw a man approaching, not to say a word about -what she had been telling me. The fact is, as has been observed by -the Norwegians themselves, that the peasants fancy that nobody would -inquire about these matters unless for the sake of ridiculing them, -of which they have a great horror. Although they retain these rhymes -themselves, they imagine that other people must look upon them as -useless nonsense. - -The man who approached the cottage brought with him a tiny axe, a -couple of inches long, which he had dug up in the neighbourhood. -Its use I could not conceive, unless, perhaps, it was the miniature -representation of some old warrior’s axe, which the survivors were too -knowing and parsimonious to bury with the corpse, and so they put in -this sham. That the ancient Scandinavians were addicted to this thrift -is well known. In Copenhagen, as we have already seen, facsimiles, on -a very small scale, of bracelets, &c. which have been found in barrows, -are still preserved. This peasant had likewise a bear-skin for sale. -The bear he shot last spring, and the meat was bought by the priest. - -The storm being over, I walked on through the forest alone, my female -guide being by this time, no doubt, many miles in advance. All houses -had ceased, but, fortunately, there was but one path, so that I could -not lose my way. How still the wood was! There was not a breath of -wind after the rain, so that I could distinctly hear the sullen -booming of the river, now some distance off. As I stopped to pick some -cloud-berries, which grew in profusion, I heard a distant scream. It -was some falcons at a vast height on the cliff above, which I at first -thought were only motes in my eyes. With my glass I could detect two or -three pairs. They had young ones in the rock, which they were teaching -to fly, and were alternately chiding them and coaxing them. No wonder -the young ones are afraid to make a start of it. If I were in their -places I should feel considerable reluctance about making a first -flight. - -At length I spied a cottage to the right in the opening of a lateral -valley. Hereabout, I had heard, were some old bauta stones; but an -intelligent girl who came up, told me a peasant had carried them off -to make a wall. This girl, who wore two silver brooches on her bosom, -besides large globular collar-studs and gilt studs to her wristbands, -asked me if I would not come and have a mjelk drikke (drink of milk). - -Jorand Tarjeisdatter was all the time busily engaged in chewing harpix -(the resinous exudation of the fir-tree); presently, on another older -woman coming in, she pulled out the quid, and gave it to the new-comer, -who forthwith put it into her own mouth. But after all this is no worse -than Dr. Livingstone drinking water which had been sucked up from the -ground by Bechuana nymphs, and spit out by them into a vessel for the -purpose. - -Jorand was nice-looking, and had a sweet voice, and without the least -hesitation she immediately sang me one or two lullabies, _e.g._-- - - Upon the lea there stands a little cup - Full of ale and wine, - So dance my lady up. - Upon the lea there stands a little can - Full of ale and wine, - So dance my lady down. - -She then chanted the following:-- - - Hasten, hasten, then my goats - Along the northern heights, - Homewards over rocky fell, - Tange,[28] Teine, Bear-the-bell, - Dros also Duri, - Silver also Fruri, - Ole also Snaddi, - Now we’ve got the goats all, - Come hither buck and come hither dun, - Come hither speckled one, - Young goats and brown goats come along, - That’s the end of my good song, - Fal lal lal la. - -Another. - - Baby, rest thee in thy bed, - Mother she’s spinning blue thread, - Brother’s blowing on a buck’s horn, - Sister thine is grinding corn, - And father is beating a drum. - -She then started off with a stave full of satirical allusions to the -swains of the neighbourhood, showing how Od was braw, and Ola a stour -prater (stor Pratar), Torgrim a fop, and Tarjei a Gasconader-- - - But Björn from all he bore the bell, - So merry he, and could “stave” so well. - -The whole reminded me of the catalogue in the glee of “Dame Durden.” - -“But how long will you stop with us? If you’ll wait till Sunday, -we’ll have a selskab (party). Some of the men will come home from the -mountains, and then you shall hear us stave properly.” - -She seemed much disappointed when I told her I must be off there and -then, my luggage was already miles ahead. - -Leaving her with thanks, I made a detour of a couple of miles into the -side valley, to see a very ancient gaard, to which a story attaches. -Roynestad, as it was called, was built of immense logs, some as much -as three feet thick;[29] on one of which several bullet marks were -visible. Here once dwelt a fellow bearing the same names as the -murderer of the priest at Valle, viz., Wund Osmund. He had served -in the wars, and seen much of foreign lands. For some reason he -incurred the displeasure of the authorities, and fled for refuge to -his mountain home. A party of officials came to seize him. When he saw -them approaching, he took aim with his cross-bow at a maalestock (pole -for land-measuring), which he had placed in the meadow in front of his -house, and sent three or four shafts into it. - - Cloudesley with a bearing arrow - Clave the wand in two. - -The Dogberries were alarmed, and, after discharging a few bullets, -turned tail. - -There were in the loft some curious reminiscences of this daring -fellow, _e.g._, an ancient sword, and some old tapestry, or rather -canvas painted over with some historical subject, which I could -not make out. In ancient times the interior of the houses was often -decorated with hangings of this kind (upstad, aaklæd). But what I -chiefly wanted to see was a genuine old Pagan idol, which had been -preserved on the spot many hundred years. But “Faxe,” I found, was not -long ago split up for fuel. The real meaning of “faxe” is horse with -uncut mane, so that it was most likely connected with the worship of -Odin. - -Regaining my old road, by a short cut, which fortunately did not turn -out a longer way, I plodded on to Bjaräen, a lonely house in the -forest. Here I found my excellent conductress, who, alarmed at my -non-appearance, had halted, and it being now dusk, further advance -to-night was not to be thought of. - -Those horrible cupboards, or berths, fixed against the wall, how I -dreaded getting into one of them! A stout, red-cheeked lass, the -daughter of the house, was fortunately at home, and posted up the hill -for some distance, returning with a regular hay-cock on her back, which -improved matters. But before I bestowed myself thereon, I took care to -place under the coverlet a branch of Pors, which I had cut in the bog. -It did for me what the aureus ramus did, if I remember rightly, for -Æneas, gained me access to the realms of sleep. The fleas, it is true, -mustered strong, and moved vigorously to the attack, but the scent of -the shrub seemed to take away their appetite for blood, and I remained -unmolested. - -The stout lass brought me a slop-basin to wash in next morning, and -instead of a towel, an article apparently not known in these parts, a -clean chemise of her own. The house could not, by-the-bye, boast of any -knives and forks. No sugar was to be had, and the milk, which was about -three months old, was so sharp that it seemed to get into my head, -certainly into my nose. - -Next morning, after some miles walk through uninterrupted solitudes, I -found myself on the shores of a placid lake, from which the mist was -just lifting up its heavy white wings. As I stood for a moment to look, -a large fly descended on the smooth water, and was immediately gobbled -up by a trout. Over head, half hidden in the mist, were perpendicular -white precipices, stained with streaks of black, which returned my -halloo with prompt defiance. Between their base and the lake vast -stone blocks were strewed around, and yet close by I now discovered a -farm-house exposed to a similar fall. - - On fair Loch Ranza shone the early day, - Soft wreaths of cottage smoke are upward curled - From the lone hamlet, which her inland bay - And circling mountains sever from the world. - -That’s a very proper quotation, no doubt, but the smoke must be left -out. The farm was deserted; not a soul at home, the family having gone -up to the mountain pasture. We must, however, except a couple of sad -and solitary magpies, which, as we drew near, uttered some violent -interjections, and jumped down from the house-top, where they had been -pruning themselves in the morning sun. They must be much in want of -company, for they followed our steps for some distance, and then left -us with a peculiar cry. Would that I had been an ancient augur to have -known what that last observation of theirs was! - -The path now wound up the noted Bykle Sti, or ladder of Bykle, which -is partly blasted out of the rocks, and partly laid on galleries of -fir logs. Formerly, this place was very dangerous to the traveller. -Here the river, which has been flowing at no great distance from us -all the way, comes out of a lake. From a considerable height I gaze -down below, and see it gurgling and then circling with oily smoothness -through a series of black pits scooped out in the foundation rocks of -this fine defile. Opposite me is a huge precipice, whence the screams -that are borne ever and anon upon my ear, proclaim the vicinity of an -eagle’s eyrie. Below, the river widens again, and I see a number of -logs slumbering heads and tails on its shores. We are now more than two -thousand feet above the sea, but shall have to descend again to the -lake, and cross it, as the road soon terminates entirely. - -The ferry-boat was large and flat-bottomed, but all the efforts of my -attendant and myself failed to launch it. At this moment a sort of Meg -Merrilies, clad in grey frieze, with hair to match, streaming over her -shoulders, made her appearance. - -“Come and help us!” - -“It’s no use. The boat’s fast; the water has fallen from the dry -weather, and old Erik himself can’t move it.” - -“Well, let us try. You take one oar, and Thora the other, and I’ll go -and haul in front.” - -The two women used their oars like levers, when suddenly, Oh, -horror!--snap went one of them. Tearing up a plank, which was nailed -over the gunwale as a seat, I placed it as a launching way for the -leviathan. This helped us wonderfully, and at last the unwieldly -machine floated. The Danish Count would have flung “Trahuntque siccas -machinæ carinas” in our faces, but he would have had to alter the -epithet, as the boat was thoroughly water-logged. So much so, that when -the horse and effects and we three were on board, it leaked very fast. -The women took the oars, the broken one being mended by the garters of -Meg Merrilies. The water rose in the boat much quicker than I liked, -and I could not help envying a couple of great Northern divers, which -my glass showed me floating corkily on the smooth water--fortunately it -was so--if the truth were known they doubtless looked upon us with a -mixture of commiseration and contempt. - -When we arrived safely on the other side, which was distant about -half-a-mile, I gave our help-in-need sixpence. She was perfectly amazed -at my liberality. - -“Du er a snil karro du.” (You’re a good fellow, you are.) - -She was, she told me, the mother of fourteen children. Her pluck and -sagacity were considerable. Now, will it be believed, that this awkward -passage might altogether be avoided if the precipice were blasted for -two or three score yards, so as to allow of the path winding round it. -As it is, a traveller might arrive here, and if the boat were on the -other side, might wait for a whole day or more, as nobody could hear or -see him, and no human habitation is near. - -As we rose the hill to Bykle, I saw two or three species of mushrooms, -one of which, of a bright Seville-orange colour, with white -imposthumes, I found to be edible. Visions of a comfortable place to -put my head into smiled upon me, as I saw a church-spire rising up the -mountain, and a gaard, the station-house, not far from it. But alas! I -was doomed to be disappointed--all the family were at the Stöl, and the -doors and windows fastened. A man fortunately appeared presently, whom -I persuaded for a consideration to go and fetch the landlord. My guide -meantime departed, as she was anxious to get half home before night. -Meantime I lay on some timbers, and went to sleep. Out of this I was -awakened by a sharp sort of chuckle close to my ear, and on raising -myself I found that two magpies had bitten a hole into the sack, and -were getting at my biscuits and cheese. It was with some difficulty -that I drove off these impudent Gazza-ladras: and as soon as I went to -sleep again, they recommenced operations. In three hours the messenger -returned with the intelligence that the station-master would not come; -the road stopped here, and he was not bound to schuss people Nordover -(to the North). - -There was nothing for it but to go up the mountain, and wade through -the morasses to see the fellow. Fortunately I found an adjoining stöl, -where dwelt another peasant, Tarald (Anglicè Thorold) Mostue, whom I -persuaded to come down and open his house for the shelter of myself -and luggage. He brought down with him some fresh milk, the first I had -tasted since leaving Christiansand. After lighting for me a fire, and -making up a bed, he returned to his châlet, promising to return by six -A.M. with a horse, and schuss me to Vatnedal. Here, then, I was all -alone, but I managed to make myself comfortable, and slept well under -the shadow of my own fig-tree--I mean the branch of Pors--secure from -the fleas and bugs! Tarald appeared in the morning, and off we started. -He was, I found, one of the Lesere or Norwegian methodists. - -“Do they bann (banne = the Scotch ‘ban’) much in the country you come -from?” inquired he, as we jumped over the dark peat-hags, planting our -feet on the white stones, which afforded a precarious help through them. - -“I fear some of them do.” - -“But I’ve not heard you curse.” - -“No; I don’t think it right.” - -“Where does the Pope (Pave) live?” - -“At Rome.” - -“They call it the great ---- of Babylon, don’t they? Is Babylon far -from Rome?” - -“It does not exist now. It was destroyed for the wickedness of its -inhabitants, and according to the prophecy it has become something like -this spot here, a possession for the cormorant and the bittern, and -pools of water.” - -“Ah! I had forgotten about that; I know the New Testament very well, -but not the Old.” - -Tarald had also something to say about Luther’s Postils; but like most -of these Lesere, he had no relish for a good story or legend. He had -a cock-and-a-bull story--excuse the confusion of ideas--of a bear and -a fox, but it was so rigmarole and pointless, that it reminded me of -Albert Smith’s engineer’s story. The real tale is as follows. I picked -it up elsewhere:--Once on a time, when the beasts could talk, a fox and -a bear agreed to live together and have all things in common. So they -got a bit of ground, and arranged, so that one year the bear should -get the tops and the fox the bottoms of the crop, and another year -the bear the bottoms and the fox the tops. The first year they sowed -turnips, and, according to agreement, the bear got the tops and the fox -the bottoms. The bear did not much like this, but the fox showed him -clearly that there was no injustice done, as it was just as they had -agreed. Next year, too, said he, the bear would have the advantage, for -he would get the bottoms and the fox the tops. In the spring the fox -said he was tired of turnips. “What said the bear to some other crop?” -“Well and good,” answered the bear. So they planted rye. At harvest -the fox got all the grain, and the bear the roots, which put him in a -dreadful rage, for, being thick-witted, he had not foreseen the hoax. -At last he was pacified, and they now agreed to buy a keg of butter -for the winter. The fox, as usual, was up to his tricks, and used to -steal the butter at night, while Bruin slept. The bear observed that -the butter was diminishing daily, and taxed the fox. The fox replied -boldly--“We can easily find out the thief; for directly we wake in the -morning we’ll examine each other, and see whether either of us has -any butter smeared about him.” In the morning the bear was all over -butter; it regularly dropped off him. How fierce he got! the fox was so -afraid, that he ran off into the wood, the bear after him. The fox hid -under a birch-tree root, but bruin was not to be done, and scratched -and scratched till he got hold of the fox’s foot. “Don’t take hold of -the birch-root, take hold of the fox’s foot,” said Reynard, tauntingly. -So the bear thought it was only a root he had hold of, and let the foot -go, and began scratching again. “Oh! now do spare me,” whispered the -fox; “I’ll show you a bees’-nest, which I saw in an old birch. I know -you like honey.” This softened the bear, for he was desperately fond -of honey. So they went both of them together into the wood, and the -fox showed the bear a great tree-bole, split down the middle, with the -wedge still sticking in it. “It’s in there,” said the fox. “Just you -squeeze into the crack, and press as hard as you can, and I’ll strike -the wedge, and then the log will split.” The trustful bear squeezed -himself in accordingly, and pushed as hard as ever he could. Reynard -knocked out the block, the tree closed, and poor Bruin was fast. -Presently the man came back who had been hewing the tree, and directly -he spied the bear, he took his axe and split open his skull; and--so -there is no more to tell. - -On the bare, rocky pass which separates Sætersdal from Vatnedal were -several stones, placed in a line, a yard or two apart from each other. - -“Those are the Bridal Stones,” observed Tarald. “A great many years ago -there was no priest on the Bykle side (I suppose this was after the -murder by Wund Osmond, the Lehnsman), and a couple that wanted to wed -came all the way over here to be married. Those stones they set up in -memory of the event. On this stone sat the bridegroom, and on that the -bride.” - -The mountain pink (Lycnis viscaria) occurs on most of these stony -plateaus. I also met with a mighty gentian, with purplish brown flower, -emitting a rich aromatic odour, the root of which is of an excessively -bitter taste, and is gathered for medicinal purposes. - -A mile or two beyond this we stood in a rocky gorge, from which we had -a glorious view of the Vatnedal lake, and another beyond it several -hundred feet below us. After a very precipitous descent, on the edge -of which stood several blocks, placed as near as they could be without -rolling over, we skirted the lake through birch-grove and bog till we -got opposite a house visible on the further shore. At this a boat was -kept, but it was very uncertain whether anybody was at home. Leaving -Tarald to make signals, I was speedily enticing some trout at a spot -where a snow-stream rushed into the lake. At last Tarald cried out-- - -“All right, there are folk; I see a woman.” And sure enough, after a -space, I could discern a boat approaching. A brisk and lively woman -was the propelling power. We were soon on the bosom of the deep--the -two men, the woman, and the horse, all, in spite of my protestations, -consigned to a flat-bottomed leaky punt, though the wind was blowing -high. The horse became uneasy, and swayed about, and, being larger -than usual, he gave promise of turning the boat upside-down before -very long. I immediately unlaced my boots, and pulled off my coat. The -Norwegians seemed at this to awake to a sense of danger, and rowed -back to the shore; the horse was landed and hobbled when he forthwith -began cropping the herbage. We then made a safe passage. Unfortunately, -Helge’s husband, whom I had counted on to help me on my journey, -had started with his horse the day before to buy corn at Suledal, -thirty-five miles off. - -In this dilemma, I begged Tarald to take pity on me, or I might be -hopelessly stopped for some days. The “Leser” was like “a certain -Levite.” He had been complaining all day of fatigue. He felt so ill, he -said, he could hardly get along. I had even given him some medicine. -In spite, however, of his praiseworthy antipathy to swearing, and the -nasal twang with which he poured out some of his moral reflections, I -had felt some misgivings about the sincerity of his professions; for -he had begged me to write to the Foged, and complain of the absence of -the station-master at Bykle, that he might be turned out, and he get -his place. And, sure enough, I found him to be a wooden nutmeg with -none of the real spice of what he professed to be about him. No sooner -did he finger the dollars, than his fatigue and indisposition suddenly -left him, and he started off home with great alacrity, reminding me of -those cripples in Victor Hugo’s _Hunchback of Notre Dame_, who, from -being hardly able to crawl, suddenly became all life and motion. - -“Truly,” mused I, “these Lesere are all moonshine. They profess to be -a peculiar people, but are by no means zealous of good works. But this -lies in the nature of things. Which is the best article, the cloth -stiffened and puffed up with starch and ‘Devil’s dust,’ or the rough -Tweed, which makes no pretence to show whatever, but, nevertheless, -does duty admirably well against wind and weather?” But enough of the -thin-lipped, Pharisaical Tarald. - -There was a beaminess about the hard-favoured countenance of Helge -Tarjeisdatter Vatnedal, together with a _brusque_ out-and-out -readiness of word and deed, that jumped with my humour. The fair Tori -too, her daughter, with her good-tempered blue eyes and mouth, and -comfortable-looking figure, swept up the floor, and split some pine -stumps with an axe, and lit the fire, and acted “Polly put the kettle -on” with such an evident resolve to make me at home, that the prospect -of being delayed in such quarters looked much less formidable. The two -women had netted some gorgeous trout that afternoon, and I was soon -discussing them. - -“We must go now,” said Helge. - -“Where to?” - -“To the stöl. We are all up there now. It was only by chance we came -down here to-day. Will you go with us, or will you stop here? You will -be all alone.” - -“Never mind; I’ll stop here.” - -“Very good. We know of a man living a long way off on the other lake. -We’ll send a messenger to him by sunrise, and see if he can schuss you. -In the morning we’ll come back and let you know.” - -My supper finished, by the fast waning light I began reading a bit of -Bulwer’s _Caxtons_. The passage I came upon was Augustine’s recipe -for satiety or _ennui_--viz., a course of reading of legendary -out-of-the-way travel. But I can give Mr. Caxton a better nostrum -still--To do the thing yourself instead of reading of it being done. In -the Museum at Berlin there is a picture called the Fountain of Youth. -On the left-hand side you see old and infirm people approaching, -or being brought to the water. Before they have got well through -the stream, their aspect changes; and arrived on the other bank, -they are all rejuvenescence and frolic. To my mind this is not a bad -emblem of the change that comes over the traveller who passes out of -a world of intense over-civilization into a country like this. How -delightful to be able to dress, and eat, and do as one likes, to have -escaped for a season, at least, from the tittle-tattle, the uneasy -study of appearances, the “what will Mr. So-and-so think?” the fuss -and botheration of crowded cities, with I don’t know how many of the -population thinking of nothing but getting 10 per cent. for their -money. Sitting alone in the gloaming, under the shadow of the great -mountains, with the darkling lake in front, now once more tranquil, -and lulled again like a babe that has cried itself to sleep--the sound -of the distant waterfalls booming on the ear--a star or two twinkling -faintly in the sky--I might have set my fancy going to a considerable -extent. - -But bed, with its realities, recalled my wandering thoughts. That was -the hour of trial! A person, who ought to know something about these -matters, apostrophized sleep as being fond of smoky cribs, and uneasy -pallets, and delighting in the hushing buzz of night flies. I had all -these to perfection, the flies especially, quite a plague of them. -But nature’s soft nurse would not visit me. The fact was, I had lost -my branch, and the “insectivora” of all descriptions, as a learned -farmer of my acquaintance phrased it, roved about like free companions, -ravaging at will. Knocked up was I completely the next morning, when at -six o’clock the women returned with the welcome intelligence that one -Ketil of the Bog was bound for that Goshen, Suledal, to buy corn, and -would be my guide. - -“I am so weary,” said I; “I have not slept a wink.” - -With looks full of compassion, the women observed--“We thought you -wouldn’t. We knew you would be afraid. That kept you awake, no doubt.” - -Whether they meant fear of the fairies or of freebooters, they did not -say. My assurance to the contrary availed but little to convince them. -No solitary traveller in Norway at the present day need fear robbery or -violence. The women soon shouldered my effects, not permitting me to -carry anything, and we started through morass, and brake, and rocks, -for the shieling of Ketil of the Bog. - -At one spot where we rested, the fair Tori chanted me the following -strain, which is based on a national legend, the great antiquity of -which is testified by the alliterative metre of the original. It refers -to a girl who had been carried off by robbers. - - Tirreli, Tirreli Tove, - Twelve men met in the grove; - Twelve men mustered they, - Twelve brands bore they. - The goatherd they did bang, - The little dog they did hang, - The stour steer they did slay, - And hung the bell upon a spray, - And now they will murder me, - Far away on the wooded lea. - - - - -CHAPTER XII. - - Ketil--A few sheep in the wilderness--Brown Ryper--The - Norwegian peasants bad naturalists--More bridal stones--The - effect of glacial action on rocks--“Catch hold of her - tail”--Author makes himself at home in a deserted châlet--A - dangerous playfellow--Suledal lake--Character of the - inhabitants of Sætersdal--The landlord’s daughter--Wooden - spoons--Mountain paths--A mournful cavalcade--Simple - remedies--Landscape painting--The post-road from Gugaard to - Bustetun--The clergyman of Roldal parish--Poor little Knut at - home--A set of bores--The pencil as a weapon of defence--Still, - still they come--A short cut, with the usual result--Author - falls into a cavern--The vast white Folgefond--Mountain - characteristics--Author arrives at Seligenstad--A milkmaid’s - lullaby--Sweethearts--The author sees visions--The Hardanger - Fjord--Something like scenery. - - -I was quite at Ketil’s mercy in a pecuniary point of view. But he -was not one of the Lesere, and was moderate in his demands. After a -scramble through his native bog, which would, I think, have put a very -moss-trooper on his mettle, we debouched on the end of a lake. Here we -took boat, and there being a spanking breeze, we soon shot over the six -miles of water. With a stern-wind, fishing was not to be thought of; I -never found it answer. At the other end of the lake was a stone cabin, -where I took shelter from the blast, while Ketil went in search of his -horse. - -While I was engaged caulking the seams in my appetite, a fine young -fellow in sailor’s costume, who had rowed from the opposite shore, -looked in. Talleif, as he was yclept, was from Tjelmodal, with a -flock of fourteen thousand sheep and twenty milking goats. He and his -comrade, Lars, sleep in an old bear-hole in the Urden (loose rocks). -They get nine skillings (threepence) a-head for tending the sheep for -ten weeks. Besides this, they pay twelve dollars to Ketil and two other -peasants, who are the possessors of these wilds. Their chief food is -the milk of the goats. In winter they get their living by fishing. - -“Have you any ryper here,” said I to Ketil, as we passed through some -very likely-looking birch thickets. - -“Yes.” - -“What colour?” - -“Grey.” - -“Are there no brown ones?” - -“No; they are grey, and in winter snow-white.” - -At this instant I heard the well-known cackle of the cock of the brown -species, and a large covey of these birds rose out of the covert. - -“Well, they are brown,” said he; “now, I never laid mark to (remarked) -that before.” - -So much for the observation of these people. Never rely upon them -for any information respecting birds, beasts, fishes, or plants. All -colours are the same to a blind man, and they are such. I take the -man’s word, however, for the fact of there being abundance of otters -about and reindeer higher up. - -Terribly desolate was that Norwegian Fjeld that now lay before us. But -setting our faces resolutely to the ascent, we topped it in two and a -half hours, the way now and then threading mossy lanes, so to say, sunk -between sloping planes of rock. Screeching out in the unharmonious -jargon of Vatnedal, which the Sætersdal people, proud of their own -musical lungs, call “an alarm,” Ketil pointed to a row of stones upon -the ridge similar to those I had seen the day before, also called the -Bridal stones, and with a similar legend attached to them. What poverty -of invention. Why not call them Funeral stones by way of ringing the -changes? But no; the people of this country will escort a bride much -further than a bier. The honours of sepulture are done with a niggard -grace. - -As we now began to descend past beds of unmelted snow, I had a good -opportunity of seeing the manifest effect of glacial action upon the -rocks, the strata of which had been heaved up perpendicularly. Rounded -by the ice in one direction, and quartered by their own cleavage -in another, the rocks looked for all the world like a vast dish of -sweetbreads; just the sort of tid-bit for that colossal Jotul yonder -behind us, with the portentously groggy nose, who stands out in sharp -relief against the sky. What Gorgon’s head did that? thought I; as the -picture in the National Gallery of Phineus and Co. turned to stone at -the banquet occurred to my mind. But my reverie was disturbed by a cry -from Ketil of the Bog. - -“Catch hold of her tail!” - -Which exclamation I not apprehending at the moment, the mare slipped -down a smooth sweetbread, and nearly came to grief. - -Lower down we passed some ice-cold tarns, where I longed to bathe and -take some of the limpid element into my thirsting pores, but prudently -abstained. After a long descent we came upon a deserted châlet, the -door of which we unfastened, and plundered it of some sour milk. We -shall pay the owner down below. After this refreshment we plunged into -a deep gorge, skirting an elv just fresh from its cradle, and which was -struggling to get away most lustily for so young an infant. - -“Ah! it’s only small now,” said Ketil; “but you should see it in a flom -(flood). It’s up in a moment. Two years ago a young fellow crossed -there with a horse, and spent the day in cutting grass on the heights. -It rained a good deal. He waited too long, and when he tried to get -over, horse and man were drowned. They were found below cut to pieces.” - -I must take care what I’m about, thought I, as I nearly slipped down -the precipice, which was become slippery from a storm of rain which now -overtook us. - -Below this the scenery becomes more varied, in one place a smiling -little amphitheatre of verdure contrasting with the bold mountains -which towered to an immense height above. - -At length we descend to Suledal lake drenched to the skin. A ready, -off-hand sort of fellow, Thorsten Brathweit, at once answers my -challenge to row me over the water to Naes. The scenery of the lake is -truly superb. The elv, which we had been following, here finds its way -to the lake by a mere crack through the rocks of great depth. In one -place a big stone that had been hurled from above had become tightly -fixed in the cleft, and formed a bridge. Thorsten had plenty to say. - -Two reindeer, he told me, were shot last week on the Fjeld I had just -crossed. Large salmon get up into the lake. The trout in it run to ten -pounds in weight; what I took were only small. - -The landlord at Naes, where I spent the night, was astonished that I -should have ventured through Sætersdal. - -“They are such a Ro-bygd folk there,” observed he, punningly, _i.e._, -barbarous sort of people. - -The race I now encounter are, in fact, of quite a different costume -and appearance. The married daughter of the house possessed a good -complexioned oval face, with a close-fitting black cloth cap, edged -with green, in shape just like those worn by the Dutch vrows, in -Netscher’s and Mieris’ pictures. Her light brown hair was cut short -behind like a boy’s; such is the fashion among the married women -hereabouts. - -“Long hair is an ornament to the woman,” observed I to her. - -“She didn’t know; that was the custom there.” - -The only spoon in the house was a large wooden one, but as by long -practice I have arrived at such a pitch of dexterity that I might -almost venture on teaching my grandmother to suck eggs, this -occasioned me little inconvenience in transferring to my mouth the -parboiled mementoes left by a hen now, alas! no more. - -There is a mountain-pass across the Fjeld from hence to Roldal, and, as -I mounted it next morning by the side of one of the feeders of the lake -cascading grandly down, I had a fine view of this noble piece of water. -After a stiff walk of three hours and a half we arrive at the summit -of the _col_, and passing the rnan, or cairn, which marks the highest -point, looked down upon the pretty Roldal water sunk deep among the -mountains, with the snowfields of the Storfond gleaming in the distance. - -Here we met a mournful cavalcade. First came a sickly-looking man -riding, and another horse following loaded with luggage, while a spruce -old dame and a handsome lad walked in the rear. This is a rich bonder -from Botne below, who is troubled with a spinal complaint, and after -enduring frightful tortures, is on his travels in search of a doctor. -Horror of horrors! I felt it running cold down my back as I heard -of it. Imagine a man with a diseased spine riding down a Norwegian -mountain. Heaven help him! The lad hails me, and asks if I know where -a doctor is to be found. I recommend Stavanger, sixty miles off--much -of which distance, however, may be travelled by water--in preference to -Lillesand, a small place nearer. - -It was a great relief, after walking in the intense heat, to boat -across Roldal lake, under the shade of the mountains, the air -deliciously cooled by the glacier water, which, though milky in colour, -did not prevent me catching some trout. The poor fellow, my boatman, -has a swollen hand and wrist of some weeks’ standing; I recommend -porridge poultice as hot as possible, and a douche of icy water -afterwards. Formerly, instead of this simple remedy, it would have been -necessary to do “some great thing.” Abana and Pharpar alone would have -sufficed. I allude to the miraculous image which used to be kept in the -old church at Roldal, now pulled down. On the Eve of St. John it used -to sweat, and people came from far and near to apply the exudation to -their bodily ailments. Like Dr. Steer’s opodeldoc, it never failed to -effect a cure. - -As we approach the other end of the lake, a little modern church rises -on the shore, while an amphitheatre of cultivated ground, dotted here -and there by log-houses, slopes gently upwards towards the grey rocky -mountains behind, which afford pasturage for herds of tame reindeer. -In the distance may be discerned at intervals a winding path. This -path, which at present is only practicable for horses, crosses the -summit level of the Hardanger mountains. At Gugaard it becomes a -carriage-road, and thence passes on through Vinje to the part of -Thelemarken visited by me last year. The Storthing have long been -talking of completing the post-road from Gugaard to Busteten, on the -Sör Fjord, a branch of the Hardanger; but hitherto it is confined to -talk, although, at present, the only way of getting from the Hardanger -district to Kongsberg and the capital, is either to go the long route -by the sea round the Naze, or up to Leirdalsören, where the high road -commences. Formerly Roldal parish was annexed to Suledal, thirty miles -off, but it has lately been separated, and has the advantage of a -resident clergyman, and service every Sunday. - -Sending my effects to the Lehnsman’s, where I purposed stopping the -night, I went up the hill to call upon his reverence. He was out, so -the girl went to fetch him, taking care to lock the house-door and put -the key in her pocket. Presently a vinegar-faced, Yankee-looking young -man, with white neckcloth, light coat, and pea-green waistcoat, with -enormous flowers embroidered on it, and sucking a cigar the colour -of pig-tail, approached. There was a Barmecide look about him, which -was not promising, and his line of action tallied exactly with his -physiognomy. He stood before the house-door, but made no effort to open -it, and there was a repelling uncommunicative way about him, which -determined me to retire the moment I had obtained the information I -stood in need of. - -As I had landed from the boat, a ragged square-built little fellow, -with gipsy countenance, had offered to carry my luggage, seventy pounds -in weight, over the mountain to Odde, thirty miles distance. Showing -me a miserable little hut, he told me he was very poor, and had five -children with no bread to eat, while his wife, a tidy-looking woman -carrying a bundle of sticks, chimed in with his entreaties, and thanked -me warmly for the gift of the few fish I had caught. I was quite -willing to hire him, and had come to the priest, to whom he referred -me, for some account of his trustworthiness and capabilities. - -“Yes,” said his reverence, “he is able to carry that weight; he carried -for me more than double as much when I came hither from Odde, and -that’s much more uphill (imod).” - -“Yes,” said I; “but I travel quick, and I don’t wish to use a man as a -beast of burden.” - -“He lives by carrying burdens. And what do you want, Knut, for the job?” - -“A dollar.” - -“That’s too much.” - -I did not think so, and the bargain was struck, and I took leave of the -vinegar-cruet, who was said to be a chosen vial of pulpit declamation. - -What a set of bores or burrs my host the Lehnsman and his family -were. They would not let me alone in the loft, which was frightfully -hot, and with no openable window. Up tramped first the old man, with -half-a-dozen loutish sons, then followed a hobbling old beldam, leaning -on a stick, and attended by Brida, a young peasant lass, the only -redeeming feature in the group. Fancy arriving at a place dog-tired, -and a dozen people surrounding you in the foreground, and asking a -hundred questions, with a perspective of white heads bobbing about, and -appearing and disappearing through the doorway in the middle distance. - -My only chance was my pencil; that is the weapon to repel such -intruders. Not that I used it aggressively, as those hopeful students -did their styles (see Fox’s _Martyrs_), digging the sharp points into -their Dominie’s body. Taking out my sketch-book, I deliberately singled -out one of the phalanx, and commenced transferring his proportions -to the paper. This manœuvre at once routed the assailants, and they -retired. Before long, however, the old gent stole in, and prowled -stealthily around the fortress before he summoned it to surrender. -I parried all his questions, and he departed. His place was then -supplied by his eldest son, who was equally unsuccessful, but whom I -made useful in boiling some water for tea. The only thing approaching -to a tea-pot was a shallow kettle, a foot in diameter. The butter of -Roldal is celebrated, and compared to the Herregaard butter of Denmark, -but the pile of it brought in by the landlord’s son, on a lordly -dish, was stale and nauseous. As nothing was to be got out of me, he, -too, disappeared, and I was left in peace and quietness. Another yet! -Horrible sight! the old Hecate herself again rises into the loft--not -one of “the soft and milky rabble” of womankind, spoken of by the -poet, but a charred and wrinkled piece of humanity--all shrivelled and -toothless, came and stood over me as I sat at meat. - -“Who are you? You _shall_ tell me. Whence do you come from?” - -“Christiansand.” - -“But are you Baarneföd (born) there?” - -At the same time she hobbled to a great red box, with various names -painted on it, and as a kind of bait, I suppose, produced a quaint -silver spoon for my use, which she poised suspiciously in her hand -like a female Euclio, as if she was fearful I should swallow it. - -But I was much too tired to respond; and at last, seeing nothing was -to be got out of me, she crawled away, and I was speedily between the -woollen coverlets--sheets there were none. By five A.M. the gipsy -Knut was in attendance, with a small son to help him; and on a most -inspiriting morning we skirted along the lake, and began to mount the -heights. The haze that still hung about the water, and filled the -shadowy nooks between the mountains, lent an ineffable grandeur to -them, which the mid-day atmosphere, when the sun is high in heaven, -fails to communicate. - -Leaving my coolies to advance up the track, I thought I would take a -short cut to the summit of the pass, when I came unexpectedly upon a -lake, which stretched right and left, and compelled me to retrace my -steps for some distance. As I scrambled along fallen rocks, my leg -slipped through a small opening into a perfect cavern. Thank God, the -limb was not broken, as the guide could not have heard my cries, and I -might have ceased to be, and become a tissue of dry bones (_de mortuo -nil nisi bonum_), long before I could have been discovered. That old -raven overhead there, who gave that exulting croak as I fell, you’re -reckoning this time without your host. See, I have got my leg out of -the trap; and off we hurry from the ill-omened spot. Those ravens are -said to be the ghosts of murdered persons who have been hidden away on -the moors by their murderers, and have not received Christian burial. - -What a delicious breeze refreshed me as I stood, piping hot, on the top -of the pass. Half-an-hour of this let loose upon London would be better -than flushing the sewers. It was genuine North Sea, iced with passing -over the vast white Folgefond. There it lies full in front of us, like -a huge winding-sheet, enwrapping the slumbering Jotuns, those Titanic -embodiments of nature in her sternest and most rugged mood, with which -the imagination of the sons of Odin delighted to people the fastnesses -of their adopted home. - -As we had ascended, the trees had become, both in number and size, -small by degrees and beautifully less, until they ceased altogether, -and the landscape turned into nothing but craggy, sterile rockscape. -This order of things as we now descended was inverted, and I was not -sorry to get once more into the region of verdure. - -At length we arrive at Seligenstad, where, to avoid the crowd of -questioners, I sit down on a box, in the passage, to the great -astonishment of the good folks. The German who has preceded me has -been more communicative: “He is from Hanover; is second master in a -Gymnasium; is thirty years old; has so many dollars a year; is married; -and expects a letter from his wife at Bergen.” - -When the buzz had subsided, and nobody is looking, one girl, dressed -in the Hardanger costume, viz., a red bodice and dark petticoat, with -masculine chemise, but with the addition of a white linen cap, shaped -like a nimbus by means of a concealed wooden-frame, comes and sits on a -milk-pail beside me. At my request she sings a lullaby or two. One of -them ran thus:-- - - Heigho and heigho! - My small one, how are you? - Indeed but you’re brave and well: - The rain it pours, - And the hurricane roars, - But my bairn it sleeps on the fell. - -I vow that the touching address of the daughter of Acrisius to her -nursling, in the Greek Anthology, never sounded so sweetly to me in my -school-boy days, as did the lullaby I had just heard. I’m sure the girl -will make a good mamma. Perhaps she’s thinking of the time when that -will happen. - -Another-- - - My roundelay, it runs as nimble - As the nag o’er the ice without a stumble; - My roundelay can turn with a twirl, - As quick as the lads on snow-shoes whirl. - -A strapping peasant lad, joining our _tête-à-tête_, I bantered him on -the subject of sweethearts. - -“You’ve got one. Now, tell me what you sing to her.” - -With a look of _nonchalance_, which thinly covered over an abundance of -sheepishness, the rustic swain pooh-poohed the idea, and, in defiance, -sang the following-- - - To wed in a hurry, of that oh! beware; - You had far better drag on alone; - What, tho’ she be fair, a wife brings much care, - With marriage all merriment’s flown. - - Well, suppose you have land, and flocks and herds too, - But at Yule, when they’re all in the byre, - It perhaps happen can, that you’ve scarce a handfu’ - Of fodder the cattle to cheer. - -“That’s very fine, no doubt,” interrupted the girl; “but he’s got a -kjærste (sweetheart) for all that, and I’ll tell you what he sings to -her:-- - - Oh! hear me, my pretty maid, - What I will say to thee, - I’ve long thought, but was afraid; - I would woo thee, - Wilt thou have me? - - Meadows I have so fair, - And cattle and corn good store, - Of dollars two or three pair, - Then don’t say me nay, I implore.” - -The girl had completely turned the tables on the said flippant young -fellow, who, by his looks, abundantly owned the soft impeachment. - -Taking leave of these good folks, I pursued my downward course along -the river, which was, however, hidden by trees and rocks. Suddenly, -however, we got a sight of the torrent in an unexpected manner. The -earth at our feet had sunk into a deep, well-like hole, leaving, -however, between it and the stream, a great arch of living rock, -crowned with trees like the Prebischthor in the Saxon Switzerland, -only smaller. Soon after this, we pass a picturesque bridge (Horbro), -where the river roars through a deep and very narrow chasm, terrible -to look down into; and, after some hours’ walking, get the first peep -into the placid lake of Hildal, with two great waterfalls descending -the opposite mountain, as if determined to give _éclat_ to the river’s -entrance therein. Visions of Bavarian beer, fresh meat, clean sheets, -&c., crowd upon my imagination, as, after catching some trout in -crossing the lake, we land on the little isthmus which separates the -sheet of fresh water from the beautiful salt-water Sörfjord; and with -light foot I hasten down to Mr. M----’s, the merchant of Odde. The -situation is one of the grandest in Norway. The mighty Hardanger -Fjord, after running westward out of the Northern Ocean for about -eighty miles, suddenly takes a bend south, and forms the Sör (South) -Fjord, which is nearly thirty miles long. At the very extreme end of -this glorious water defile I now stood. To my left shoot down the -sloping abutments of the mountain plateau, on which lies the vast -snow-field called the Folgefond; they, with their flounce-like bands -of trees, first fir, then birch, and above this mere scrub, are now -immersed in shadow, blending in the distance with the indigo waters -of the Fjord. But further out to seaward, as we glance over the dark -shoulder of one of these natural buttresses, rises a swelling mound of -white, like the heaving bosom of some queenly beauty robed in black -velvet. That is a bit of “Folgo” yet glowing with the radiance of the -setting sun. As I stood gazing at this wonderful scene--the snow part -of it reminding me of the unsullied Jungfrau, as seen from Interlacken, -only that there the water, which gives such effect to this scene, is -absent--I saw a man rise from behind a stranded boat in front of me. -He was a German painter, and had been transferring to his canvas the -very sight I had been looking on. - -“Eine wunderschöne Aussicht, Mein Herr,” remarked I. - -“Unvergleichbar! We’ve nothing like it even in Switzerland,” said he. - -With this observation I think I can safely leave the scenery in the -reader’s hands. - -“That church, there,” said the German, pointing to a little ancient -edifice of stone, with mere slits of windows, “is said to have been -built by your countrymen, as well as those of Kinservik and Ullensvang, -further down the fjord. They had a great timber trade, according to -tradition, with this part of the country. But, to judge from that -breastwork and foss yonder, the good people of the valley were favoured -at times with other visits besides those of timber merchants.” - - - - -CHAPTER XIII. - - Author visits a glacier--Meets with two compatriots--A good - year for bears--The judgment of snow--Effects of parsley fern - on horses--The advantage of having shadow--Old friends of the - hill tribe--Skeggedals foss--Fairy strings--The ugliest dale - in Norway--A photograph of omnipotence--The great Bondehus - glacier--Record of the mysterious ice period--Guide stories--A - rock on its travels. - - -Next day I went across the Hildal Lake to visit a glacier of which I -had got a glimpse the evening before. It then seemed a couple of miles -off; but I never was more taken in in judging of distance before--such -is the uncommon clearness of the atmosphere and the gigantic scale of -objects in this country. After a sweltering walk, however, of nearly -three hours, I at last stood at the spot, where a torrent of water, -the exact colour of that perennial sewer that comes to the light of -day, and diffuses its fragrance just below London Bridge, rushed out -of an archway of the purest azure, setting me a moralizing about -deceitful appearances, and so forth. My boy-guide halted the while at -a respectful distance from the convulsed mass of ice. - -“Do let me go back,” he had apostrophized me; “I am so frightened, I -am. It is sure to fall on us.” - -And it was only by yielding to his cowardly entreaties that I prevented -him from imitating the trickling ice, and being dissolved in tears. - -Close to the ice grew white and red clover, yellow trefoil, two kinds -of sorrel, and buttercups. This fertility on the edge of a howling -desert had been taken advantage of, for, as I moved my eye to the -opposite cliff from taking a look at the sun, who had just hidden his -scorching glare behind the tips of the glacier, I descried several men -and women busily engaged, at an enormous height, making hay on a slope -of great steepness. As we descended, a noise, as of a salute of cannon, -greeted my ears. The above sewer, which descends with most prodigious -force, had set agoing some stones apparently of great size, which -thundered high even above the roar of the waters, making the rocks and -nodding groves rebellow again. - -Next day I had determined to cross “Folgo” to the Mauranger Fjord, but -the clouds hanging over him forbid the attempt. - -That evening it cleared up, and two compatriots from the Emerald Isle -arriving by water, we agreed to join forces the next day. - -On the 20th of August, at an early hour, we started with two guides, -one Ole Olsen Bustetun, and Jörgen Olsen Præstergaard. The latter was -a very grave-looking personage, with a blue face and red-tipped nose, -which, however, told untrue tales. - -“Well, Jörgen,” said I, “how are you off for bears this year?” - -“Hereabouts, not so bad; but yonder at Ulsvig they are very -troublesome. It was only the other day that Ulsvig’s priest was going -to one of his churches, when a bear attacked him. By good luck he had -his hound with him--a very big one it is--and it attacked the bear -behind, and bothered him, and so the priest managed to escape.” - -“Aren’t there some old sagas about the Folgefond?” asked I. - -“To be sure. I know one, but it is not true.” - -“True or not true, let me hear it.” - -“Well, then, it is said among the bonders that once on a time under -all this mountain of ice and snow there was a valley, called Folgedal, -with no less than seven parishes in it. But the dalesmen were a proud -and ungodly crew, and God determined to destroy them as He did Sodom -and Gomorrah--not by fire, however, but by snow. So He caused it to -snow in the valley for ten weeks running. As you may suppose, the -valley got filled up. The church spires were covered, and not a living -soul survived. And from that day to this the ice and snow has gone on -increasing. They also say that in olden days there used to be a strange -sight of birds of all colours, white, and black, and green, and red, -and yellow, fluskering about over the snow, and people would have it -that these were nothing but the spirits of the inhabitants lingering -about the place of their former abodes.” - -“That’s a strange story, no doubt,” said I. - -“And, now I think of it,” continued Jörgen, “I’ve heard old men say -that this tale of the snowing-up must be true, for, now and then, when -there has been a flom (flood), pieces of hewn timber, as if they had -belonged to a house, and household implements, such as copper kettles, -have been brought down by the stream that comes out of Overhus Glacier. - -“Now and then, too, the traveller over Folgo is said to hear strange -noises, as of church bells ringing and dogs barking. But the fact is, -there’s something so lonely and grewsome about the Fond, and the ice -is so apt to split and the snow to fall, that no wonder people get -such-like fancies into their heads.” - -As we ascend I see tufts of a dark green herb growing in the crevices -of the grey rocks. - -“Ah! that’s spraengehesten (horse burster),” said Jörgen. “If a horse -eats of this a stoppage of the bowels immediately takes place. A horse -at Berge, below there, was burst in this way not long ago.” - -[The reader may remember that a similar account was given me last year -on the Sogne-fjeld].[30] - -We had now emerged from the thickets, and, after crossing a _mauvais -pas_ of slippery rock, touched the snow after four hours’ hard walking. -The glare of the sun on the snow was rather trying to the eyes, I -congratulated myself that I was not shadowless, like Peter Schlemil, -as it was a great relief to me to cast my vision on my own lateral -shadow as we proceeded. It was first-rate weather, and the air being -northerly, the snow was not very slushy. The German painter ought to be -here. He told me his _forte_ is winter landscape. - -“Now,” said the grave-faced Jörgen, who was at bottom a very good sort -of intelligent fellow, “look due east, sir, over where the Sör fjord -lies. Yonder is the Foss (waterfall) of Skeggedal, or Tussedal, as some -folks call it.” - -As I cast my eyes eastward, I saw the highest top of the Hardanger -Fjeld, which I traversed last year; my old friend Harteigen very -conspicuous with his quaint square head rising to the height of 5400 -feet, while his grey sides contrasted with the Storfond to the south -and the dazzling white Tresfond and Jöklen to the north. - -Straight in a line between myself and Harteigen I now discerned a -perpendicular strip of gleaming white chalked upon a stupendous wall -of dark rock. That is Skeggedals foss. It falls several hundred feet -perpendicularly, but no wonder it looks a mere thread from here, for it -is more than fourteen miles off as the crow flies. - -“There are three falls at the head of the valley,” continued Jörgen. -“Two of them cross each other at an angle quite wonderful to see. They -are called Tusse-straenge (Fairy strings).” - -Wonderful music, thought I, must be given forth by those fairy strings, -mayhap akin to - - “The unmeasured notes - Of that strange lyre whose strings - The genii of the breezes sweep.” - -“Tussedal is a terribly stügt (ugly) dale,” went on Jörgen, “so narrow, -and dark, and deep. A little below those three waterfalls the river -enters into the ground, and disappears for some distance, and than -comes out again. We call that the Swelge (swallow). Just below that -there is a great stone that has fallen across the chasm. It’s just like -a bridge: I’ve stood on that stone and looked down many, many ells -deep into the water boiling below. Ay! that’s an ugly dale--a very -ugly dale. It’s not to be matched in Norway. You ought to have gone to -see it; but now I think of it, it’s difficult to get to the falls, for -there is a lake to cross, and I think the old boat is stove in now.” - -After passing one or two crevasses (spraekker), which become dangerous -when the fresh snow comes and covers them over, we at length arrive -at the first skiaer (skerry), a sort of Grand Mulets of bare jagged -crag, on which the snow did not seem to rest. After lunching here, -and drinking a mixture of brandy and ice, we descend a slope of snow -by the side of a deep turquoise-coloured gutter, of most serpentine -shape, brimful of dashing water. Just beyond this a sight met our eyes -never to be effaced from my memory. Far to the westward the ocean -is distinctly visible through a film of haze rising from the snow, -just thick enough, like the crape on those veiled Italian statues, to -enhance its beauty. Between us and the sea, purple ranges of mountains -intersect each other, the furthermost melting into the waves. At right -angles to these ranges is the Mauranger Fjord, to which we have to -descend. There it lies like a mere trough of ink, opening gradually -into the main channel of the branching Hardanger, with the island of -Varald lying in the centre of it. Over this to the north-west lies -Bergen. To the southward, skirting the Mauranger, is a cleft rock, like -the Brèche de Roland in the Pyrenées, while between it and us may be -seen the commencement of the great Bondehus glacier. - -Look! the smooth, sloping, snow-covered ice has suddenly got on the -_qui vive_. It’s already on the incline, no drag will stop it; see how -it begins to rise into billows and fall into troughs, like the breakers -approaching the sea-shore; and yonder it disappears from view between -the adamantine buttresses that encroach upon its sweep. To our right -is another pseudo glacier hanging from a higher ascent like a blue -ball-cloak from the shoulder of a muslin-frocked damsel. - -The _rochers montonnées_ on which we stand tell tales of that -mysterious ice-period when the glacier ground everything down with its -powerful emery, while by a curious natural convulsion, a crevasse as -broad and nearly as deep as the Box cutting--not of ice but of rock, -as if the very rocks had caught the infection, and tried to split in -glacial fashion--strikes down to a small black lake dotted with white -ice floes. - -It was indeed a wondrous scene. As we looked at it, one of my -companions observed, one could almost imagine this was the exceeding -high mountain whence Satan shewed our Saviour all the kingdoms of the -world and the glory of them. As if to make the thing stranger still, on -one of the bleached rocks are carved what one might easily suppose were -cabalistic letters, the records of an era obscured in the grey mists of -time, but which it is beyond our power to decipher. Above us the sky -was cloudless, but wore that dark tinge which as clearly indicates snow -beneath as the distant ice-blink of the Arctic regions tells tales to -the voyager of a frozen ocean ahead. - -“Now were off the Fond,” said Jörgen. “You laughed at me when I asked -you if you had a compass. We’ve made short work of it to-day, but -you don’t know what it is when there is a skodda (scud) over Folgo. -Twenty-five years ago five Englishmen, who tried to come over with five -horses, lost their way in the mist, and had hard work to get back. Why -it’s only fourteen days since that I started with three other guides -and four Englishmen, but we were forced to return. At this end of the -passage there is one outlet, and if you miss that it is impossible to -get down into the Mauranger.” - -I found he was right; for, after worming our way for a space through a -hotch-potch of snow and rocks, we suddenly turned a sharp corner, and -stood in a gateway invisible a moment before, from whence a ladder of -stone reached down to the hamlet of Ovrehus, at the head of the Fjord, -four thousand feet below us. - -“Four years ago,” said Jörgen, “I guided a German state-councilor -across the Fond. How he did drink brandviin! I think it was to give -him courage. He had a bottle full when he started, and he kept pouring -the spirits on to lumps of sugar, and sucking them till the bottle got -quite empty and he quite drunk. We could not get him a step further -than this, and night was coming on. I had to go down to Ovrehus, and -get four men with lanterns, and at last we got him down at two o’clock -in the morning.” - -Jörgen thought the traveller was a German, but I suspect if the real -truth were known, it must have been our friend the Danish Count, whose -propensity for drink and other peculiarities have been recorded in the -_Oxonian in Norway_. The descent was uncommonly steep, even in the -opinion of one of my companions, who had ascended the Col du Géant, and -the stiffest passes in the Tyrol. - -After descending in safety, we entered a belt of alder copse-wood. In -one part of this the ground had been ploughed up, and the trees torn -away and smashed right and left, as if some huge animal had rushed -through it, or rather, as if two or three Great Western locomotives -had run off the line and bolted across country. What could it be! The -gash, I found, reached to a torrent of fierce snow-water, in the centre -of which a rock of a great many tons weight had come to an anchor. -This was the _corpus delicti_. Looking at the cliffs, I could discern -several hundred feet above me the mark of a recent dislocation, whence -the monster had started. The rupture had occurred only two or three -days before. What a grand sight it must have been. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV. - - Three generations--Dangers of the Folgo--Murray at - fault--Author takes boat for the entrance of the Bondehus - Valley--The king of the waterfall--More glacier paths--An - extensive ice-house--These glorious palaces--How is the - harvest?--Laxe-stie--Struggle-stone--To Vikör--Östudfoss, - the most picturesque waterfall in Norway--An eternal crystal - palace--How to earn a pot of gold--Information for the - _Morning Post_--A parsonage on the Hardanger--Steamers for - the Fjords--Why living is becoming dearer in Norway--A - rebuke for the travelling English--Sunday morning--Peasants - at church--Female head-dresses--A Norwegian church - service--Christening--Its adumbration in heathen Norway--A - sketch for Washington Irving. - - -After a very sharp walk of eleven hours in all, we entered a small -farm-house. No less than eighteen persons, from the sucking infant to -the old woman of eighty-four, surrounded us, as we dipped our wooden -spoons into a round tub of sour milk, the only refreshment the place -afforded. Red stockings, and blue caps, with an inner one of white, -and red bodices, were the chief objects that caught my eye. The -ventilation soon became so defective from the crowd, that I got up -and succeeded in pushing open a wooden trap-door in the centre of the -roof by a pole attached to it. The apartment, in fact, was one of the -old “smoke rooms,” described elsewhere, and the orifice, the ancient -chimney and window in one, which had been superseded by a modern window -and chimney in two. “That’s an awkward place to cross, is that Folgo,” -said a big fellow to me. “My grandfather, who lived in Sörfjord, where -you come from, was to marry a lass at Ovrehus here. On the day before -the wedding he started, with thirteen others, to cross Folgo. Night -came, but the party did not arrive. But no harm was done, you see, sir; -for I’m his grandson, and if he had been lost I should not have seen -the light. [This pleasantry seemed to tickle the crowd.] They did, -however, stop all night on the snow, and it was not till next day that -they got down.” - -From these people I find that there is no foundation for the statement -in “Murray,” that a band of peasants lost their lives in crossing the -snow. The nearest approach to an accident is that detailed above. - -Next morning we take boat for the entrance of the Bondehus valley, -which debouches on the Fjord half a mile from this, and opposite to -which, across the Fjord, is a place called Fladebo, from which Forbes -ascended the Folgefond by a much easier path than that we had taken. -Indeed, as we loll easily in the boat, and look back at the descent -of yesterday, it seems astonishing how we ever could get down at all. -Landing at Bondehus, after an hour’s walk up the valley, which was -occupied for some distance by meadows, in which peasants were at work -making hay, we reached a lake, across which we row. By the stream, -which here shot into the further side of the lake, there were a couple -of water ouzels, bobbing about. - -“Ay, that’s an Elv-Konge (river king), or, as some call him, Foss-Konge -(king of the waterfall),” said our guide. - -In spite of the apparent proximity of the glacier, it still took us -several minutes’ climb before we reached its foot. - -Truth to tell, the bad fare exhibited by Margareta Larsdatter Ovrehus, -was bad travelling on, and made me rather exact in distances to-day. -Passing through a birch-grove, full of blue-berries and cloud-berries -of delicious taste, we found the glacier only about thirty yards in -front of us. The shingly space which intervened was traversed by four -or five breastworks of loose sand and stones, about ten feet in height. -These are the moraines left by the retreating glacier, so that at one -time the ice and the birch-copse must have touched. Indeed, on either -side of the glacier the trees may be seen holding their ground close by -the ice, loth, apparently, to be separated from their opposite brethren -by the intervention of such an unceremonious intruder. - -We scrambled over the loose ramparts, and going close under the -glacier where a muddy stream came forth, we discovered a huge cave, -cut out of a blue wall of ice, some sixty feet in height. Some of the -superincumbent mass had evidently just fallen in, causing, perhaps, -the roar which we had heard as we ascended the valley. It was rather -dangerous work entering the cavern, as another fall might take place, -and I had no ambition to be preserved after the manner of the Irish -salmon for the London market. But it was not every day that one is -privileged to enter such a magnificent hall, so in I went alone. It -was lit, too, by a lantern in the roof, in other words, by a perfectly -circular hole, drilled through the crown of the arch, through which I -saw the sky overhead. Nothing could exceed the intense depth of blue in -this cool recess. - -But let us come and look a little more at the stupendous scene above. -Far up skyward, at a distance of perhaps six English miles, though -it looks about one, is the pure cold level snow of the Folgefond, -glistening between two mighty horns of shivered rock, that soar still -higher heavenward. - -These two portals contract the passage through which pours the great -ice ocean; so that the monstrous billows are upheaved on the backs of -one another in their struggle onward, and tower up into various forms. - -“By Jove,” said one of my companions, “it looks just like a city on a -hill side, Lyons, for instance. Look yonder, there are regular church -towers and domes, and pinnacles and spires, and castellated buildings, -only somehow etherialized. Why, there’s the arch of a bridge, you can -see right under it at the buildings beyond.” - -“If Macaulay’s New Zealander were there,” remarked I, “he would behold -a grander sight than ever he will on London Bridge when the metropolis -of the world is in ruin.” - -“Ruin!” rejoined the poetical son of Erin, “that’s already at work -here. Look at this hall of ice which has come down to-day. Ah! -it’s quite melancholy to think how all this splendid vision, these -cloud-capped towers, these glorious palaces of silver and aquamarine, -are moving on insensibly, day by day, to their destruction, and will -melt away, not into air, but into dirty water, by the time they reach -the spot where we’re standing.” - -We had some hours of boating before night-fall, so that we were forced -to tear ourselves from the scene, not forgetting to have a good look -first at a feature in it not yet mentioned--a magnificent waterfall, -which descended from the cliffs on the left. So now adieu to the -mountains. I shall climb no more this year. Positively I feel as -downcast as the hot-brained youth of Macedon when no more worlds were -left for him to conquer. - -We were soon at the farm-house near the sea, where Ragnhild Bondehus, -with her red stockings, blue polka-jacket and red boddice, looking -quite captivating, albeit threescore-and-ten, put before us porridge -and goat’s milk, which we devoured with keen glacial appetite. - -“How is the harvest looking where you came from?” asked she, with -anxious looks. This was a question that had been frequently asked me -this summer. - -“Very good all over Europe.” - -“To God be praise and thanks!” she ejaculated. “We shan’t have corn -then too dear to buy. We did hear that there was no grain sown in -Denmark this year; that’s not true, is it?” - -The old lady derived no small comfort from my assurance that this must -be a fabrication of some interested person. - -Our boatmen landing with their great provision boxes to dine at the -rocky point where we reach the main Hardanger, we land and examine one -of those singular “fixings” for catching salmon, called a laxe-stie, -or salmon ladder. It consists of a high stage, projecting on a light -scaffolding into the water. In front of this, under the water, is an -oblong square of planks, painted white, from twenty to thirty feet long -and six broad. This is kept at the bottom by great stones. Beyond this, -and parallel with the shore, several yards out, is a fixed wall-net, -to guide the fish into a drag-net, one end of which is fastened to the -shore, the other sloped out to seaward. The dark-backed salmon, which -in certain places are fond of hugging the shore, as they make for the -rivers to spawn, swim over the white board, and are at once seen by the -watcher perched on the stage above, and he speedily drags in the net -set at right angles to the shore, with the fish secure in the bag. In -some places the rock close by is also painted white[31] to attract the -fish, who take it for a waterfall. The man lodges in a little den close -by, his only escape from hence being most likely his boat, drawn into a -crevice of the sheer rocks around him. Sometimes from twelve to twenty -fish are taken in this manner in a day. St. Johann’s-tid (Midsummer) is -the best time for taking them. The season is now over, and the solitary -sentinel off to some other occupation. - -According to the boatmen’s account, who, however, are very lazy -fellows, the stream is hard against us; indeed, it always sets out in -the Hardanger from the quantity of river water that comes into it. - -“Ah!” said Ole, “that’s called Streit-Steen (Struggle-Stone). Satan -once undertook to tow a Jagt from Bergen up the Hardanger. He had tough -work of it, but he got on till he reached that stone; then he was -dead beat, and banned and cursed dreadfully. It was he who called it -Streit-Steen.” - -The less said about the poisonous beer and bad food at Jondal, where we -slept that night, the better. - -We cross over, early next morning, to Vikör. The elder boatman, -seventy-nine years old, was a strange little, dried-up creature, -dressed in a suit of dark-green, the ancient costume of Jondal. One of -the party told him if he were to see him in the gloaming he should take -him for a Tuss. Anyhow he had a great aversion to the priest, against -whose profits he declaimed loudly. - -“Only to think,” said he, “the parson got tithe of butter and -calf-skins--yes, actually got a hundred and fifteen calf-skins every -year, worth half-a-crown each, from Jondal alone!” - -How beautiful the placid Fjord looked as we pulled up the smiling -little estuary to Vikör, and gradually opened behind us the end of the -great Folgefond peninsula! - -Near Vikör is the famed Östudfoss, said to be the most picturesque -waterfall in Norway. At all events, it is a very eccentric one. The -stream, which at times is of immense volume, shooting from the well -shrubbed cliff above, which projects considerably, makes a clear jump -over a plot of green turf, on which a dozen people or more could stand -without being wetted; in fact, right inside the fall. While I stood -within this crystal palace, one of my Hibernian friends, who had -approached the spot by another route, clambering up the rocks, mounted -on to the platform,-- - -“Faith, and I’ve earned the pot of gold!” exclaimed he, breathless with -exertion. - -“How so?” - -“Why, did ye never hear the proverb--‘If you catch hold of the rainbow -you will get a pot of gold?’ Ye never saw such a thing; just below -there, where the stream makes a shoot, I put me hand right into a -rainbow--yes, clean into it.” - -On our return we overtook a number of women, dressed in their best. The -inventory is as follows: A lily-white, curiously-plaited head-dress, -the “getting-up” of which must take an infinity of time and trouble; -red or parti-coloured bodice, black gown, and stockings of the same -colour, cut off at the ankle, while on the foot were white socks with -red edging, and shoes with high leather insteps, such as were worn in -the days of the Cavaliers. By their side were a lot of children, also -in their best attire. - -“Where are you all going to this fine day?” - -“It’s vaccination (bole, an Icelandic word) day, and we are all going -to meet the doctor, who will be here from Strandebarm by two o’clock. -We must all of us get a bolen-attest (certificate of vaccination). -That’s the King’s order.” - -The merchant’s establishment supplied us with some tolerable Madeira -wherewith to drink to our next merry meeting, and my Irish friends, who -were pressed for time, took boat that afternoon for Graven. - -That evening and the next day (Sunday) I spent under the hospitable -roof of the parson of the district. His house is beautifully situate on -a nook of the Hardanger, with a distant view of the Folgefond. - -“Ah!” said he, “it won’t be so difficult to explore the beauties of our -Fjords for the future. Our Storthing, I see, by the last Christiania -papers, has voted several thousand dollars for setting up steamers on -this and the Romsdal Fjord, which are to stop at the chief places. -The abrogation of Cromwell’s Navigation Act has done great things for -Norge’s commerce, and brought much money into the country.” - -“Norway is getting richer,” said I, “no doubt, if one is to judge from -the increase in the price of living.” - -“That may be caused in some measure by the increase of capital, but the -chief cause is another, though it, too, lies at England’s door. We used -to get a great deal of butter, cheese, meal, and meat from Jutland, but -now, since the English steamers run regularly thither, and carry off -all the surplus provisions, that source of supply is stopped, and the -articles of food are dearer.” - -“That would not affect us much up here,” put in the Frua (priest’s -lady); “No, no; it is the travelling English that do the mischief. -Last year, sir, when I and my husband went up to see the Vöring foss, -everything was so dreadfully dear, we said we must never venture out on -another summer trip. And then, only think, there was an English lord -there with his yacht, who saw a pig running on the shore, and said he -would have the pig for dinner cost what it might. It was quite a small -one, and they charged him six dollars. Yes, it positively makes us -tremble, for you know we parson’s wives have not a great deal of money, -though we have good farms.” - -“At all events, I can’t be charged with this sort of folly,” said I; -“for I resisted the extortions of the merchant at Jondal.” - -“What, he! he is one of the Lesere, and is considered a very -respectable man.” - -“But will play the rogue when he thinks it won’t be talked of,” rejoined -I. “Shams and realities are wonderfully alike. Do you know, even that -black-coated biped, the ostrich, can make a roar just like a lion’s?” - -As I crossed over from my bed-room next morning to the main building, -I found the grass-plot in front of the house thronged by peasants who -had come to church, while in the centre of them was the priest in his -Lutheran cloak and elaborate frill. The washing and starching of one of -these ruffs costs a shilling. The widow of a clergyman in Bergen is a -great adept in getting them up, and it is no uncommon thing for them to -come to her by steamer from a distance of one hundred and forty English -miles. - -The congregation were in church when I entered with the ladies. We -sat altogether in a square pew on a level with the chancel dais. This -mingling of the sexes, however, was not permitted, of course, among -the primitive bonders: the men being on one side of the interior, -the women on the other, reminding me of the evening parties in a -famous University town. The former wore most of them short seamen’s -jackets, though a few old peasants adhered to the antique green coat of -singular cut, while their grey locks, which were parted in the centre -of the forehead, streamed patriarchally over their shoulders, shading -their strongly-marked countenances. The female side was really very -picturesque. The head-dress is a white kerchief, elaborately crimped -or plaited, but by some ingenious contrivance shaped in front somewhat -like the ladies’ small bonnets of the present day, with one corner -falling gracefully down behind, like the topping of the Carolina ducks -on the water in St. James’s Park. Another part of this complicated -piece of linen, which is not plaited, covers the forehead like a -frontlet, almost close down to the eyebrows, so that at a distance they -looked just like so many nuns. Nevertheless, they were the married -women of the audience. The spinsters’ head-dress was more simple. They -wore no cap at all. The back hair, which is braided in two bands or -tails with an intermixture of red tape, is brought forward on either -side of the head and round the temples just on a level with the front -hair. For my part, I much admired the clean and classic cut which some -of their heads exhibited in consequence. Most of the females wore -tight-fitting scarlet bodices edged with green. - -On either side of their bosom were six silver hooks, to hold a cross -chain of the same metal. The snow-white sleeves of the chemise formed -a conspicuous feature in the sparkling parterre. One woman wore a -different cap from the rest: its upper part was shaped just like a -glory, or nimbus; this is done by inserting within a light piece of -wood of that shape. Her ornaments, too, were not plain silver, but -gilt. She was from Strandebarm, which I passed yesterday on the Fjord, -the scene of a celebrated national song--“Bonde i Bryllups Gaarden.” - -Much psalm-singing prevailed out of Bishop Kingo, of Funen’s, -psalm-book. The priest then read the Collect, Epistle, and Gospel, with -the traditional, I suppose, but what sounded to me very frightful, -intonation. The sermon was not extempore. - -“He is a tolerable preacher,” said a peasant, with quite the “Habitans -in sicco” tone of criticism, “but it is out of a book, and not out of -his hoved (head), like priest So-and-so, on the other side of the -Fjord.” - -Very small and very red babies, not many hours old,[32] I -believe--such is the almost superstitious eagerness with which these -good folk rush to have that sacred rite administered--were now brought -to be christened. No font was visible; there was, however, an angel -suspended by a cord from the roof, with deep, flesh-coloured legs and -arms, and a gilt robe. In its right hand was a bowl, in its left a -book. The glocker, or clerk, a little man in a blue sailor’s jacket, -here dispatched a girl for some water, which was brought, and poured -into the bowl, and the ceremony proceeded; which being concluded, the -angel was pulled up again midway to the ceiling.[33] - -The priest then examined some young men and women, who stood on either -side of the aisle, he walking up and down in the intervals of the -questions. - -As we left the church a characteristic sight presented itself. The -churchyard was just the spot in which one would like to be buried--a -beautiful freshly-mown sward, sloping down to the sea, and intersected -by a couple of brooks brawling down from the hills, extended upwards -to the copse of hazel, aspen, ash, and rowan trees that fringed the -heights. Under some of these trees sat two or three maidens, looking -as stiff as Norwegian peasant girls only can, when busked in their -best, and before a crowd of people. Nor was a view of the placid fjord -wanting. Look, some of the church-goers are already in their boats, the -red bodices and white sleeves conspicuous from afar, while the dripping -oars flash in the sun. - -Before I took leave of my host and his agreeable family, I presented -one of them, who was studying English, with a volume of Bulwer’s. -The parting glass, of course, past round--a sacred institution, the -Afskedsöl of the Sagas. - - - - -CHAPTER XV. - - Up Steindalen--Thorsten Thormundson--Very near--Author’s - guide gives him a piece of agreeable information--Crooked - paths--Raune bottom--A great ant-hill--Author turns rainbow - manufacturer--No one at home--The mill goblin helps author out - of a dilemma--A tiny Husman--The dangers attending confirmation - in Norway--The leper hospital at Bergen--A melancholy - walk--Different forms of leprosy--The disease found to be - hereditary--Terrible instances of its effects--Ethnological - particulars respecting--The Bergen Museum--Delicate little - monsters--Fairy pots--The best bookseller in Bergen--Character - of the Danish language--Instance of Norwegian good-nature--New - flames and old fiddles. - - -Passing the Östudfoss, I struck straight up Steindalen, purposing to -pass a place called Teigen, and thence over to the Samnanger Fjord, on -my road to Bergen. My hulking guide, Thorsten Thormundson, who, from -his height, had been chosen as the front man of his regiment, was but -a poor fellow notwithstanding. Having started later than we ought, we -did not reach our destination before dark; and as there was not the -smallest vestige of a path through the morasses, we had nearly walked -over a cliff into a lake before I was aware of our danger. Luckily, we -at last found a cot, and a boy conducted us to our destination. - -After an uncomfortable night in a miserable hole of a cottage, I -received the agreeable intelligence from my attendant, that he did not -know the way any further, and wished to leave me. I informed him that -he was quite welcome to do so, but if he did, he must go minus all -pay. Upon this, the giant put on a very martial air, but seeing that I -was not to be bullied, he prepared for the journey, employing a little -maiden to show the way. - -It was lucky for us that he did so, for the road was intricate beyond -description. The old St. Giles’s rookery may serve as a comparison, for -want of a better one. Being ahead, I was marching straight forward, -when I was recalled by the shrill voice of the bare-footed lassie. - -“On there,” she said, “was a precipice, over which Brat-foss poured. -There was not foot-hold for a goat that way. We must try and get -through the bog to the left, and so round by Raune bottom.” - -It was a bottom indeed--cliffs all round, with a treacherous swamp and -streams flowing all manner of ways; and then came another descent, the -girl leading the pony, and the man pulling hard at its tail by way of -drag. - -The progress was so slow that I sat down, from time to time, to look -about me. In one place I found I was close upon a great ant-hill, -a yard high, from whence I perceived a regular line was formed to -a neighbouring pine-tree. Up the bole of this a number of these -industrious insects were ascending and descending with most exemplary -perseverance; though I could not see that, either going or returning, -they went otherwise than empty away. I tapped the tree with my stick, -when in the twinkling of an eye the ascending and descending squadrons -put themselves in a posture of defence; that is to say, each of them -threw itself on its back, with its head reared up, and its tail -protruded. In a moment or two, when all was quiet, they, as if by -signal, unfixed their bayonets, and recommenced their march. - -In another part of our round-about walk I sat down by a stream side, -and began making rainbows--yes, rainbows. The sun shone straight up -the valley, and the wind was blowing in the same direction. I threw a -stone into the clear torrent right among some watching trout, and from -the spot where it struck an iris immediately threw out its tricoloured -arch athwart the stream, slowly disappearing as the spray, upheld for a -second or two by the wind, again subsided on the water. - -If my friend the Irishman was to find a pot of gold for getting hold of -the rainbow, what luck was in store for me who had actually made one? -But the augury was a treacherous one, as we shall see. - -Following the stream, which abounded in most captivating looking holes, -to my piscatorial eye, we at length reach the farm of Tyssen, whence a -beautiful view is obtained across the head of the Samnanger Fjord, with -the church of Samnanger lying under the mountains at the further side. -As bad luck would have it, not a soul was at home. The only biped I saw -was a statuesque heron standing on a stone by the boat-house. What was -to be done? It was my object to obtain a boat here and sail down the -Fjord to Hatvigen, where I should be on the great coast road, and not -many miles from Bergen. - -In this dilemma I descried a little man emerge from the quern, or -corn-mill, which stood at the bottom of the stream, near some salmon -traps. Perhaps he was only the mill-goblin, but at any rate I would -hail him. He took no notice. It must be the Quern knurre. But perhaps -the noise of the stream rushing over the rocks into the Fjord drowned -my voice, and prevented it being heard; so I and the loutish Thorsten -clubbed lungs, when the figure looked round, and immediately walked -away. Mr. Thorsten Thormundson wished to be off and leave me to my -fate; but I positively forbid him to move until we had discovered some -means of conveyance. Presently the small figure reappeared, accompanied -by a female figure. We hailed again, and this time the mannikin -walked to a boat and came across to us. He was a poor peasant from the -mountains, who had been buying a sack of corn for four dollars three -marks, which would serve him and three mouths till “Michelsmass,” and -he and his wife had come hither to grind it. The grinding must be -finished, and the meal carried up to his distant home before night. -Nevertheless he would row me, he said, half a Norwegian mile, where he -thought I might get another boatman. - -When we had rowed some distance we descry some people making hay on the -lea. - -“Would they row me?” - -“Had no time. But they had a husman in a cottage hard by, who perhaps -could do it.” - -My man landed, and went in search of the said husman. A tiny little man -in rags, much smaller than the mill-goblin, with a very tiny voice, -and a still more tiny boy, appear and undertake the job, provided I -give him time to have some mad (meat) first. Although the boat was very -leaky, and though at one place we encountered a good deal of swell -from the effects of a gale out at sea, we manage by night-fall to reach -Hatvigen. - -On the road we meet a boat full of boys and girls, who have been -several miles to be examined by the clergyman for confirmation. We -little know the hardships to which these people are subject. Only a few -days ago, a boat similarly laden, and on a similar errand, was upset by -a sudden squall, and about a dozen unfortunate young people drowned. - -Nothing particular caught my eye next day, as I drove along the coast -to Bergen, beyond the new telegraphic line which is just completing to -Bergen. Some of the posts are the growing pine-trees, which happen to -stand ready fixed for the purpose. Another telegraphic cable is making -for a part of the coast to advertize people of the approach of the -herrings. This will be the future sea-serpent of the country. - -I was not sorry to sleep that night under the roof of Madame Sontum at -Bergen. Next day, under the auspices of a German physician, I visit -the Leper Hospital on the hill above the town. It is a magnificent -building of wood, lately constructed by the State, at an expense of -sixty thousand dollars, and kept up from the same source, private -donations being unusual. Three years ago the old hospital was burned -down at dead of night, and eight unfortunates were consumed. The -present spacious building can accommodate two hundred and eighty -patients; at present there are only one hundred and eighty inmates. -In the Jörgen Spital there are one hundred and thirty, and a few in -another hospital in the town. This disease is generally supposed to be -incurable. About twenty-five per cent. die in the course of the year. -The chaplain, a burley, good-looking man, was in his canonicals, and -about to bury a recently deceased patient on our arrival; he descanted -on the horrors of the place. - -With these I became personally acquainted on the arrival of Dr. L----, -the physician of the establishment. - -“Now, gentlemen, if you please,” said that functionary, putting on a -blouse of black serge; “but I warn you it is a terrible sight.” - -Well, thought I to myself, I will go notwithstanding. The best antidote -to the imaginary ills of this life, is to become acquainted with the -real ones. - -Walking along the spacious corridors, we first entered a room devoted -to male cases. Here, as in all the other rooms, there were six beds. -I conversed with one man. This case was not yet at a bad stage. He -had suffered much hardship in his youth as a seaman, was often wet, -and badly fed withal. By dint of industry, he became owner of a jagt, -and he said he hoped to get out again and be well enough to take the -command of it. - -Another man in a bed close by was affected with the smooth leprosy. He -attributed it to his having slept in the same bed with a man affected -with the disease. He was worn to the bone, and his face and body were -blotched and copper-coloured. But before pursuing our melancholy walk, -I will just glance at a small tract which has been published by the -Government in respect to this foul and mysterious disease, which, -after having been driven out of the other countries of Europe, still -holds its ground on the sea-coast of Norway, especially from Stavanger -northwards. - -There are two sorts of leprosy, which are so very dissimilar in their -outward symptoms, that one would hardly imagine that they are the same -disease; the one is called the knotted leprosy, the other the smooth -leprosy. The first indications of the poison being in the system are -lassitude and stiffness in the limbs. The body feels unusually heavy -and disinclined to exertion. Sharp pains rack the frame, especially -when it is warm, or on the eve of a change of weather. Cold shudderings -also supervene, succeeded presently by fever; together with pains in -the head, thirst and loss of appetite. All this is accompanied by -general listlessness and depression of spirits. Another symptom is a -strong inclination to sleep, though sleep brings no refreshment to the -limbs. - -In knotted leprosy, red spots and sores break out upon the body, -especially on the face, which becomes much swollen. These are not -accompanied with pain, and often disappear again; but with a new attack -of fever they re-appear, and at last become permanent. They now -grow larger and larger--some of the knots attain the size of a hazel -nut--and are generally of a yellow-brown colour, with occasionally a -tint of blue. They are most frequent on the arms, hands, and face, but -most of all about the eyebrows, which fall off in consequence. After a -period of time--which is shorter or longer as the case may be--pain is -felt in these knots, and they then either turn into regular sores, or -become covered with a brown crust. The eyes, mouth, and throat are next -attacked, and the eye-sight, breathing and swallowing are affected. - -In smooth leprosy, the symptoms are large blisters and white spots, -together with great pain and tenderness in various parts of the body. -These vesicles are from the bigness of a hazel-nut to that of a hen’s -egg, and are filled with a watery fluid. They are situated about -the elbows and knees, occasionally under the sole of the foot, and -elsewhere, and soon burst. The spots, which in the smooth leprosy occur -on the body, are not brown, as in the knotted leprosy, but white, and -of a larger size, sometimes being as big as a man’s hand; they are -covered with white scales. The pain and tenderness which occur in this -kind of leprosy gradually disappear, and are followed by utter absence -of feeling. At this stage fire or the knife can be applied to the parts -diseased without the patient feeling it in the least. A large portion -of the body can be thus affected. The patient now begins to get thin, -his skin is dry, and his countenance distorted. He can’t shut his eyes, -and he is not able to bring his lips together, so as to cover the -teeth; besides this, the toes and fingers become contracted and rot off. - -Curiously enough symptoms of both these horrible phases of a most -loathsome disorder occur in one and the same person; in that case the -knotted leprosy occurs first, and the knots gradually vanishing, the -smooth leprosy supervenes. - -This frightful malady has been ascertained to be hereditary, that is -to say, it can be transmitted by either parent to their offspring. At -first the children seem to be quite healthy, but they conceal within -their system the hidden germs of the complaint, which may at any -time break out. Sometimes such children never do betray the presence -of the poison, certain defective sanitary conditions being necessary -for its development. But, notwithstanding, the disease may come out -in the third generation. The most favourable circumstances for its -development are an irregular way of life, defective clothing, bad -lodging or diet, want of personal cleanliness, and mental anxiety. -Under such circumstances, persons who have no hereditary tinge may take -the complaint. It is not contagious in the strict sense of the word, -but experience seems to show that persons who live in intercourse with -leprous persons are very prone to become so themselves. A remarkable -illustration of this occurred in Nord-Fjord. The owners of a gaard took -the leprosy, and died. The farm was inherited by another family, who -became infected with the disease, and died of it. A third family, who -succeeded to the dwelling, also perished of the malady. On this, the -owner of the house burnt it down. - -The Government authorities finally recommend, as a means of getting -rid of this dreadful disease, personal and household cleanliness, -proper apparel and lodging, wholesome diet (especially abstinence -from half-rotten fish), moderation, particularly in the consumption -of spirituous liquors; and, above all, they deprecate intermarriage -among those so affected. The present number of lepers in Norway is two -thousand and fifty odd, or about one in every seven thousand. - -But to proceed with our walk through the hospital. In another ward set -apart for males, I addressed a lump of what did not look like humanity, -and asked how old he was. The answer was sixteen. He looked sixty. His -voice--oh heavens! to think that the human voice divine could have -become degraded to that hoarse grating, snuffling sound, the dry husk -of what it ought to be! - -Close by this case was a man whose face was swollen immensely, and over -the brows huge knots and folds of a dark tint congregated together. -His face looked more like a knotted clump in the bole of a tree than -a human countenance. Sitting on a bed in another room was a boy whose -face was literally eaten through and through, and honeycombed as if -by malignant cancer. Nobody can witness all this without realizing to -himself more completely the power of Him who could cure it with a mere -touch. - -Crossing the passage, I saw a nice, pretty little girl playing about. - -“She is all right at present,” said the doctor, “but both her sisters -showed it at her age, and her parents died of it. She is here to be -taken care of.” - -On the women’s side, one of the first cases that caught my attention -was an old woman with the septum of the nose gone, and groaning -with intense agony. Near her was a woman whose toes and fingers had -disappeared, and for the present the complaint was quiescent. Indeed, -one of the not least frightful symptoms of the disease is, that after a -toe or finger is gone the sore heals up, but suddenly breaks out afresh -higher up the limb. Unlike a person in an adjoining bed, who shrieked -out for fear she should be touched--so sensitive was her flesh--this -poor thing had lost all sense of feeling. When I touched her, at the -doctor’s request, she could feel nothing. - -One blue-eyed girl, with a fair skin and well combed hair, looked well -in the face, but the doctor said her body was in a terrible state. - -As I walked round the room, I observed another young woman, stretched -on a bed in the corner, with dark luxuriant hair--very un-Norwegian in -tint--and with peculiarly bright flashing eyes, with which she gazed at -me steadfastly. - -“Come hither,” said the doctor to me; “shut your eyes, Bergita.” - -The poor thing gave a faint smile, and slightly moved her lids; but -this was all. She will never shut those eyes again, perhaps, not even -in death. - -In another bed was a woman with her teeth uncovered and lips apart. - -“Now, mother, try and shut your lips.” - -A tremulous movement of the lower jaw followed, but the muscles would -not work; the disease had destroyed the hinges, and there she lay, -mouth open, a spectacle of horror. - -In some cases--indeed, very many--when the disease has seriously set -in, it throws a white film over the iris of the eye, the pupil becomes -contracted, the ball loses its colour, becomes a whitish mass, and -gradually rots out of the socket. Each patient had a religious book by -his side, and some sat on the bed or by it reading. They all seemed -unrepining at their lot. One poor woman wept tears of gladness when I -addressed a word or two of consolation to her. Indeed, the amount of -pain felt by these poor sufferers is very small in comparison with what -might have been expected from the marks of the fell talons imprinted on -their frames. The doctor said they were chiefly carried off at last by -hectic fever. Scurvy ointment is used in many cases, frequent cupping -in others. One poor woman, with a leg like an elephant’s, so deformed -and shapeless was it, declined amputation. And there she will go on, -the excessive sensitiveness to pain succeeded by an utter anæsthetic -state, and one extremity rotting off after another, till she is left a -mere blotched trunk, unless a merciful death relieve her before. - -One poor woman had been afflicted for no less than fifty years; her -parents, if I remember rightly, were free from the malady, but her -grandfather and grandmother had suffered from it. But we have seen -enough of this melancholy place. It is a satisfaction to know that, -at all events, although the disease cannot be cured by medicine or -any other remedy, yet as much is done as possible to alleviate its -miseries. The surgeon and chaplain are daily in attendance; abundance -of active young women--not old gin-drinking harridans--discharge the -office of nurses. The diet is much better than these people would -obtain at home. I examined the spacious kitchens, and learned that -meat is served thrice a-week to the patients, not to mention soups, -puddings, &c. It has been asserted that the disease has lately been -on the increase in Norway, but this statement is based most likely on -insufficient data. - -In the rest of Europe, Scotland especially, to judge from all accounts, -it was at one time as bad as it is now in this country. Neither was it -confined to the lower classes. Robert Bruce died of it. But as it is -now almost, if not altogether, exterminated in Scotland, there seems -no reason why, if the advice of the Government above-mentioned is -followed, it should not also die out in Scandinavia. In other respects, -the population is healthy and strong, and not affected by goître or any -of the usual mountain complaints. - -We now took leave of the doctor; my friend, the German physician, -who was specially interested in the effect produced on the sight by -the disease, appointed the next day for a microscopic examination of -some of the patients’ eyes in early stages of the disorder. It may -be as well to state that Professor Danielson has published a work -illustrating by plates the progress of the disorder. Inoculation is -also about to be tried as a method of cure, it having been used with -success in this country in another disease, many symptoms of which, to -a non-professional observer at least, are identical in appearance with -those above described. - -“Farewell!” said the doctor; “I have shown you a sad spectacle. I am -sorry I can’t converse with you in your own language. But the next -generation will all speak English. It has just been proposed in the -Storthing that, in the middle schools, less Latin shall be taught, and -English made a necessary branch of education.” - -Before leaving Bergen I visited the museum, under the auspices of the -very obliging curator, Dr. Korn. - -Here is a specimen of a new kind of starfish (Beryx Borealis), -discovered by Asbjörnsen. The only habitat yet known of this animal is -the Sörfjord. The Glesner Regalicus was also here. It is found in very -deep water, and so rarely that, in three hundred years, only two or -three specimens had been met with. - -Some embryo whales of different degrees of maturity were also preserved -in spirits; specimens of these delicate little monsters are not, I -believe, to be found in any other museum of Europe. The Strix Funerea, -or Hawk Owl, such as I shot in the Malanger, with its beautiful black -and white plumage, was also to be seen. Especially beautiful was the -Anas Stellaris from beyond the North Cape. - -The usual assortment of old Runic calendars and other mementoes of -ancient days were not wanting: not to mention one of those enigmatical -Jette gryde (fairy pots) with which the vulgar have connected all sorts -of stories. It is composed of two parts, a mortar-shaped cavity in -stone, and in this a loose, round cannon-ball sort, also of stone. Here -were evidently cause and effect. A loose stone happening to be brought -by the stream into a depression in the rocky bed of the torrent, by the -action of water becomes itself round, after the manner of a marble, and -makes its resting-place round too. The countenances of people who live -continually together are often observed to become like. In the same way -the perforated and rounded stones which are formed by trituration in -the channels of the brooks on the Scottish borders are still termed, -says Scott, by the vulgar, fairy cups and dishes. - -Before leaving Bergen, I must not omit to record an incident which -really speaks much for the good-nature of these people. - -“Will you tell me, sir,” said I, accosting a jolly, bearded gentleman, -in the street, “which is the best bookseller in Bergen?” - -“Certainly, sir; come this way, I will show you.” - -We entered the shop of the bookseller, whose snuffling, sobbing -method of talk convinced me at once that he was a Dane. The language -is a nerveless, flabby sing-song, gasped out with bated breath. -The Norwegian speaks out like a man, and with a pith and marrow in -his pronunciation worthy of the rugged power with which one always -associates in idea the name of Norway. - -The pale bibliopole, after carefully shutting the door, which I had -purposely left open--so close and oppressive was the atmosphere of the -unventilated shop--fumbled about for a little time, and then discovered -that the book I wanted was out of print. - -“Oh! never mind,” said the stranger, “I have got a copy, which is very -much at your service.” - -And in spite of my protestations, this amiable gentleman, whom I -afterwards discovered to be Professor C----, an author of some repute, -conducted me to his house, placed refreshments before me, and -compelled me to take the book, the cost of which was considerable. -Indeed, all books in Norway are very dear, which may account for the -fewness of readers. - -Two matters of considerable importance stirred Bergen to its innermost -core while I was there. What do you think they were, reader? Gas has -been introduced, and to-night is the first night of lighting it. What -a number of people are moving about to see it, as we go on board the -steamer _Jupiter_, bound for Hamburg. The other incident was productive -of no less ferment. Ole Bull, the prince of fiddlers, the Amphion of -the American wilds, sick apparently of combining the office of leader -of a colony, and musician-in-chief to the new community, has just -returned to this, his native place, and is about to give a concert, to -inaugurate his assumption of his new office of director of the Bergen -Theatre. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI. - - The safest day in the year for travelling--A - collision--Lighthouses on the Norwegian coast--Olaf the Holy - and the necromancers--The cathedral at Stavanger--A Norwegian - M.P.--Broad sheets--The great man unbends--Jaederen’s Rev--Old - friends at Christiansand--Too fast--The Lammer’s schism--Its - beneficial effects--Roman Catholic Propagandism--A thievish - archbishop--Historical memoranda at Frederickshal--The Falls - of the Glommen--A department of woods and forests established - in Norway--Conflagrations--A problem, and how it was - solved--Author sees a mirage--Homewards. - - -In the old coaching days it used to be said the safest day in the year -to travel by the Tantivy was the day after an upset. The same will -hold good, thought I, of steamers, as I heard an animated conversation -on board, how that last voyage it was all but a case of _Norge_ v. -_Bergen_ (alluding to a collision between those two steamers, when the -former went down), and how the _Viken_, Government steamer, would have -been utterly cut down, and sunk, had it not been for the presence of -mind of the _Jupiter_ captain; how, moreover, a fierce newspaper war -was going on in consequence, and the Government had ordered an inquiry. - -Sooth to say, the navigation of this coast by night is very dangerous. -Lord Dufferin, I think, says there are no lighthouses. He is wrong; -there are more than twenty. But what are these among so many shoals, -islands, narrow channels, ins and outs, as this coast exhibits? - -“Yonder,” said a Norwegian gentleman on board, “is the Skratteskjaer -(skerry of shrieks).” This spot takes its name from a tragic event of -which it was the scene many hundred years ago. Olaf the Holy, being -resolved to get rid of the Seidemaend (magicians and necromancers), who -then abounded in Norway, made a quantity of them drunk, and, in that -condition, set fire to the house where they were assembled, and made a -holocaust of them. Eywind, however, a noted warlock, escaped through -the chimney-hole; but afterwards he, with three hundred others, were -caught, and chained down on that skerry, which is covered at high -water. As the tide rose, the shrieks of the victims pierced the air; -but the royal executioner was inexorable. - -Crossing the mouth of the Buknfjord, we stopped for half-an-hour at -Stavanger, where I had an opportunity of examining the cathedral, which -really exhibits some fine pieces of early Gothic. The nave was built -in 1115. The verger was profoundly ignorant of all architecture, and -so were some Norwegian gentlemen who accompanied me. What they chiefly -attended to was a plaster model of Christ, after Thorwaldsen, and some -tasteless modern woodwork. The pulpit is two hundred years old. - -We here shipped a deputy, on his way to the Storthing now sitting at -Christiania. He was a very staid person, who evidently considered -that he was called upon to set the passengers an edifying example of -superior intelligence and unmoved gravity. I heard that he had formerly -been a simple bonder, but was now a thriving merchant. Perhaps I shall -best describe him by saying that his parchment visage reminded me of a -Palimpsest, whence a secular composition had been erased to make room -for a sanctimonious homily; but, at the corners of the parchment, some -of the old secular characters still peeped out unerased. Next me, after -dinner, sat a sharp young Bergenser. To while away the time, I asked -him if he could recite me any popular songs or rhymes. He responded -to the call at once, and produced a couple of broad sheets from his -pocket-book, containing two favourite old Norsk ballads; one of which -was the famed “Bonde i Brylups Garen;” the other was, “The Courtship of -Ole and Father Mikkel’s Daughter.” - -The deputy’s attention I observed to be caught by our conversation, and -he smiled gravely. Only think of a Storthingsman, clad in a sober suit -of brown, whose mind was supposed to be full of the important business -of the country, listening to such trifles. Gude preserve ye! Mr. ----, -what childish stuff. Nevertheless, he had once been a child, and a -peasant-child, too; and there was a time when he sat on the maternal -knee, and heard the lullabies of his country. Nay, he went so far as -to recite a country jingle himself. It was what we call in England a -Game rhyme. Seven children are dancing round in a ring; suddenly the -ring is broken, and each one endeavours to seize a partner. - - Shear shearing oats, - The sheaves who shall bind? - My true love he shall do it, - Where is he to find? - - I saw him yestere’en - In the clear light of the moon, - You take yours, I take mine, - One is left standing alone. - -He uttered this in a low tone of voice, as if he was heartily ashamed -of the infantine reminiscence. Human nature shrunk again into itself; -the deputy remembered that his countrymen’s eyes were upon him, and -he must be careful of betraying any further weakness of the sort. One -or two Norwegians who had overheard the conversation, looked with -no little astonishment at their representative, and with a somewhat -indignant expression of countenance at me, doubtful, apparently, -whether I had not of _malice prepense_ been taking a rise out of a -Norwegian Storthingsman. - -As we passed Jaederen’s Rev (reef), a long, low flat shore of some -miles in extent, we had the usual storm, which stirred up the -bilgewater to an offensive degree, and in consequence thereof, the -wrath of a doctor on board, who wore yellow kids and much jewellery, -but who was not half a bad fellow in spite of his foppery. - -As I sat by the open window of the hotel, at Christiansand, two burly -fellows in the singular Sætersdal costume, greeted me. In them I at -once recognised two peasants with whom I had had speech at Valle. They -had come down to meet the new parson and his family, whom they would -drive up on the morrow on the way to his expectant parishioners. The -good fellows were mightily pleased when I handed them some Bayersk -Öl out of the window. A Norwegian student who was with me heard them -deliberating whether they should not treat the strange Carl to a glass -of something; but they apparently thought it would be taking too -great a liberty, and presently made their bow, carrying all sorts of -greetings to my friends in their distant home. - -Next day I started to Moss, in the Christiania Fjord, by the steamer -of that name. She was built in Scotland, and goes sixteen miles an -hour, more than double the pace of the Government steamers, which are -proverbially slow. Many of the Norwegians are frightened of her, and -say she will break her back. - -There was an intelligent young Norwegian on board who is resident -in America. He tells me that the Lammers’ schism has done no little -good, in a religious point of view, by awaking the State clergy from -the torpor into which they had sunk; and there is every symptom of -a new spiritual life being infused into the community. Things, he -says, have hitherto been at a low ebb in this respect throughout the -country. Among the better classes there is no such thing as family -prayers, they seldom look at their Bibles. At Arendal and Christiania -private meetings have been set on foot for prayer and reading of the -Scriptures. A Moravian clergyman, who was the first to establish -gatherings of this kind, and who has laboured diligently in this line -for some years, has lately received a subvention from the Government -without his solicitation. - -In Sweden, the proposal to abolish the law by which Dissenters may not -reside in that country, has lately been thrown out in the Chambers, -Count P---- having described in pathetic language the danger likely to -ensue upon such a change, and being backed in his opposition by 280 -clergy. - -In Norway, on the contrary, as in England, all religions, provided they -do not trangress the laws of morality and social order, are tolerated. -The Roman Catholics take advantage of this, and are busy in a quiet way -making proselytes. The widow of the late King Bernadotte is understood -to give her countenance to their exertions. Contributions are also -received from Belgium and France, and two French ladies conduct a -school on Romish principles at Christiania. One of the two Romish -priests there is a born Norwegian. - -My travelling companion also informs me of a curious discovery made -lately by Lange, the author of a _History of Norwegian Monasteries_. - -It has always been supposed that the precious treasures which adorned -the tomb of St. Olaf, in the Cathedral of Trondjem, were stolen by King -Christian the Second, and that the ship conveying the ill-gotten booty -sank near Christiansand. - -At Amsterdam, however, from whence Lange has just returned, he found -incontestable documentary evidence that the Archbishop of Trondjem was -himself the thief. He fled to Amsterdam, got into debt, and the jewels -were sold and dispersed. - -Landing at Moss, I passed through a wretchedly ugly country to -Frederickshal. There is nothing in the place worth seeing, except the -fortress and the statue to the patriotic burgher, Peder Colbjörnsen. -Some of the houses are far beyond the average of many of the Norwegian -towns; to which detracting people might be inclined to apply the old -description of Granville:-- - - Granville, grand vilain, - Une église, et un moulin, - On voit Granville tout à plein. - -A small enclosure outside the fortress marks the spot where the Swedish -madman was sacrificed by one of his own soldiers while occupied in the -siege. The monument, however, has utterly disappeared. A new one is -talked of. - -Thence I posted to Sarpsborg, to see the mighty falls of the Glommen, -with the beautiful suspension-bridge swung over them. Above it the huge -river winds away its vast coils into the distant mountains, bringing -down the timbers which once grew upon their sides. But the wastefulness -of the people in timber is now beginning to tell. Norway is at length -about to start a Forstwesen similar to that of Germany, and Asbjörnsen -is now employed by the Government in travelling through Bavaria, for -the purpose of investigating the admirable regulations there in force -in the Department of Woods and Forests. - -As usual, there has been a fire in Sarpsborg. Half the town is -destroyed, and presents a terrible scene of desolation.[34] A new -church, just completed, was saved by a miracle. At Drammen, on the -other side of the Fjord, one or two fires have also been sweeping -away a vast quantity of buildings. The conflagration was visible at -Uddevalla, near Gottenburg, about one hundred and fifty miles off. - -My slumbers that night, at the waterside inn, whence the steamer was -to start next morning, were interrupted by an odd sort of visitation. -Two bulky Norwegian gentlemen were ushered into the bed-room, puffing -away at cigars, and forthwith prepared to occupy the other bed. By -what Procrustean process it could possibly be made to contain two such -ponderosities was a problem now to be solved. However, one of them -got in first, and retreated as far as he could into its recesses. The -other followed, and managed to squeeze himself into the space left by -the side of his companion. Many jocular remarks were let fall between -them, and one remark especially seemed to tickle the risibilities of -the larger and fatter man to such an extent that he shook again, and -the bed also. Suddenly I heard a loud smash, and looking up, found that -the bottom of the bed, though equal to their dead weight in a quiescent -state, was unable to bear the momentum of their laughter-shaken frames, -and had given way, both gentlemen falling through on to the floor. - -For some time they had great difficulty in escaping from their awkward -predicament. This, however, was at length effected, and for the rest of -the night the floor was their couch--the floor which they had used as -a spittoon; but this did not seem in the least to interfere with their -comfort. - -Having nothing to call me to the capital, I determined to catch the -Kiel steamer that afternoon in the Christiania Fjord, where I saw for -the first time one of those remarkable mirages so common in the seas -of Scandinavia, which are supposed to have given rise to the legends -of phantom-ships, which prevail along the coast. The next day we were -steaming over a smooth sea, along the low coast of our forefathers, the -Jutes, and the day after shot by train through the heathy flats whence -issued England’s sponsors, the Angles. - -THE END. - -[Illustration: SKETCH MAP OF NORWAY. - -_J. Netherclift lith._ - -_London. Pubd. by Hurst & Blackett Gt. Marlboro’ St. 1858_] - - - - -FOOTNOTES - - -[1] According to Worsaae, the “stone” period in Denmark preceded the -Celts, who possessed settled abodes in Europe 2000 years ago, by about -a thousand years. The “bronze” period must have prevailed in the early -part of the Christian era, when the Goths were inhabitants of the -country. The “iron” period can first be traced in Norway and Sweden -with any certainty in the fourth and fifth centuries. In Denmark the -use of iron superseded the use of bronze altogether about 700 A.D. But -it is hardly necessary to observe, that there is still much controversy -among antiquarians on this difficult subject. - -[2] There must have been an air of barbaric grandeur about these -heathen temples. On the door of that at Lade, near Trondjem, was a -massive gold ring. Olaf Trygveson, when wooing Sigrid the Haughty, made -her a present of it. Having an eye to the main chance, she put it in -the hands of the Swedish goldsmiths to be tested (Becky Sharp would -not have done worse). They grinned knowingly. The weight was due in a -great measure to a copper lining. No wonder after this that she flatly -refused to be baptized, the condition Olaf had laid down for wedding -her. Upon this he called her a heathen ----, and struck her on the -cheek with his glove. “One day this shall be thy death,” she exclaimed. -She kept her word. Through her influence Sweyne was induced to war with -Olaf, who lost his life in the memorable battle of the Baltic. - -[3] These tolls, as is well known, have since been redeemed. - -[4] Foster-children are as common in Norway at the present day as they -used to be in Ireland, where it was proverbially a stronger alliance -than that of blood. The old sign of adoption mentioned in the Sagas was -knaesetning, placing the child on the knee. - -[5] In this part of Norway the wolf is known by no other name. Like -graa-been (grey-legs) elsewhere in Norway, so here skrüb is a euphemism -for wolf. The word is evidently derived from skrübba, to scrub, and -alludes to the rough dressing or scrubbing to be expected at the claws -of that beast. This disinclination to use the real name “ulv,” is no -doubt due to the ancient superstition of the “varulf” (wer-wolf). - - Oh! was it wer-wolf in the wood, - Or was it mermaid in the sea, - Or was it man or vile woman, - My own true love, that misshaped thee? - - A heavier weird shall light on her - Than ever fell on vile woman, - Her hair shall grow rough and her teeth grow lang, - And on her fore feet shall she gang. - -See Grimm. _Deutsche Mythologie_, 1047. In the war of 1808 it was -commonly believed in Sweden that those of their countrymen who were -made prisoners by the Russians were changed by them into wer or -were-wolves, and sent home to plague their country. The classical -reader will remember the Scythian people mentioned by Herodotus, who -all and several used to turn wolves for a few days in every year. The -Swedes go still further in their reluctance to call certain animals -by their real names. Not only do they call the bear _the old one_, or -_grandfather_, and the wolf _grey-foot_, but the fox is _blue-foot_, or -_he that goes in the forest_; the seal is _brother Lars_, while such -small deer as rats and mice are known respectively as the _long-bodied_ -and the _small-grey_. - -[6] Still the mountain châlet is now no longer known here by the name -of “sæter,” but by that of “stöl.” “Sæter” is most probably derived -from the word “sitte,” to sit = to dwell; the technical phrase for a -person being at the mountain dairy being “sitte paa stölen.” - -[7] I asked this same question of the intelligent and obliging curator -of the Bergen Museum. He replied that it was generally believed to be -the case, though bear-stories, unless well authenticated, must be taken -_cum grano_. - -The following statistics of the amount of wild animals destroyed in -Norway in three years may be interesting-- - - +----+------+-------+-------+---------+-------+-----+------+ - | |Bears.|Wolves.|Lynxes.|Gluttons.|Eagles.|Owls.|Hawks.| - +----+------+-------+-------+---------+-------+-----+------+ - |1848| 264 | 247 | 144 | 57 | 2498 | 369 | 527 | - | | | | | | | | | - |1849| 325 | 197 | 110 | 76 | 2142 | 343 | 485 | - | | | | | | | | | - |1850| 246 | 191 | 118 | 39 | 2426 | 268 | 407 | - +----+------+-------+-------+---------+-------+-----+------+ - -[8] Dusk, in Norsk, “Tus-mörk:” that being the hour when the Tus, or -Thus (sprite), loves to be abroad. - -[9] Like the Daoineshi of the Scotch Highlands, the Neck of Scandinavia -shines in a talent for music. Poor creatures! the peasantry may well -fancy they are fallen angels, who hope some day for forgiveness; for -was not one heard, near Hornbogabro, in West Gotland, singing, to a -sweet melody, “I know, and I know, and I know that my Redeemer liveth?” -And did not a Neck, when some boys once said to him “What good is -it for you to be sitting here and playing, for you will never enjoy -eternal happiness,” begin to weep bitterly? - -[10] In Border-ballad language, “maik.” - -[11] So, in old English, “Church-ale” was the festival on the -anniversary of the consecration of a church: while “grave-ale” was the -“wake” at an interment. - -[12] I must not quit the subject without mentioning the Danish remedy. -In Holberg’s facetious poem, _Peder Paars_, we read:-- - - For the nightmare a charm I had, - From the parson of our town-- - Set your shoes with the heels to the bed, - Each night when you lie down. - -[13] Landstad is a Norwegian clergyman, who has lately edited a -collection of Norsk minstrelsy, gathered from the mouths of the people. -Bugge is a student, who is travelling about the remote valleys, at -the expense of the Government, to collect all the metrical tales and -traditions that still linger there. It is very unfortunate that this -was not done earlier. The last few years have made great inroads on -these reminiscences of days gone by. - -[14] A Manx gentleman assured Waldren that he had lost three or four -hunters by these nocturnal excursions, as the fairies would not -condescend to ride Manx ponies. In Norway, however, they have no choice. - -[15] “Upon a time, when he (Lord Duffus) was walking abroad in the -fields, near his own house, he was suddenly carried away, and found -next day at Paris, in the French king’s cellar, with a silver cup in -his hand. Being brought into the king’s presence, and questioned who he -was, and how he came thither, he told his name, country, and place of -residence; and that, on such a day of the month (which proved to be the -day immediately preceding), being in the fields, he heard a noise of a -whirlwind, and of voices crying, ‘Horse and Hattock!’ (this is the word -the fairies are said to use when they remove from any place); whereupon -he cried, ‘Horse and Hattock’ also, and was immediately caught up, -and transported through the air by the fairies to that place; where, -after he had drank heartily, he fell asleep; and, before he awakened, -the rest of the company were gone.”--_Letter from Scotland to Aubrey, -quoted by W. Scott._ I could not learn what the _mot_ of the fairy -pack is in Sætersdal, or that there was any at all. Still the Norsk -superstition is clearly the parent of the Scotch one. - -[16] The word is written with or without h. - -[17] “Some of the Highland seers, even in our day, have boasted -of their intimacy with elves as an innocent and advantageous -connexion.”--Walter Scott, _Border Minstrelsy_. - -[18] Mr. Bellenden Kerr’s theory of a political and much less ancient -origin for these rhymes is surely more ingenious than correct. - -[19] This alludes to the custom of sprinkling the girdle-cake with a -brush during the baking. - -[20] Like our “Rompty idity, row, row, row.” - -[21] The day on which Thor is on his rounds; and when, therefore, the -little people are forced to sing small. - -[22] - - “If this glass do break or fall, - Farewell the luck of Edenhall.” - -That goblet was said to have been seized by a Musgrave at an -elf-banquet.--See Longfellow. - -[23] So the old French proverb:-- - - “Quatorze Janvier, - L’ours sort de tanière, - Fait trois tours, - Et rentre pour quarante jours.” - -[24] Sunniva was an Irish king’s daughter. In order to escape -compulsory marriage with a heathen, she took ship, and was driven by -tempests on the Isle of Selia, near Stad, in Norway, and, with her -attendants, found shelter in a cave. The heathens on the mainland, on -the look-out for windfalls, observed that there were people on the -desert island, and immediately put off to it. At this juncture, through -the prayers of Sunniva and her friends, the rocks split, the cave -became blocked up, and the savages drew the island blank. In 1014, when -Olaf Trygveson landed here from Northumberland, breathing slaughter -against the pagans, he discovered the bones of Sunniva, and she was at -once canonized. - -[25] The similarity between vetr, the old word for winter, and vöttr, -the old word for vante (glove), most likely suggested the use of this -symbol. - -[26] Much of the above explanations of the Runes has been thrown -together by Professor T. A. Munck, in the _Norsk Folke Kalender_ for -1848. - -[27] Hence evidently comes our “dapple,” _i.e._, mottled like an apple. - -[28] Names of goats. - -[29] In the district of Lom, where the climate is said to be the -driest in Norway, there are the remains of a house in which Saint Olaf -is said to have lodged. There was, not long ago, a house at Naes, in -Hallingdal, where the timbers were so huge that two sufficed to reach -to the top of the doorway from the ground. This old wood often gets so -hard that it will turn the edge of the axe. - -[30] It is singular that two peasants in different parts of the country -should have made this statement, which seems after all to be based on -error: for the plant was nothing but our Rock-brake, or parsley fern -(Allosurus crispus), which is not generally supposed to possess any -noxious qualities. - -[31] The Chinese have a somewhat similar device. “A strip of white -canvas is stretched slanting in the water, which allures or alarms -the fish, and has the strange effect (but they were Chinese fish) -of inducing them to leap over the boat. But a net placed over the -boat from stem to stern intersects their progress, and they are -caught.”--Fortune’s _Travels in China_. - -[32] Ström, in his description of Söndmör, relates that in the hard -winter of 1755, of thirty children born in the parish of Volden not one -lived, solely because they were brought to church directly they were -born. But even in the present day in the register books (kirke-bog) -notices may be found, such as “Died from being brought too early to -church.” - -[33] What a curious custom that was of the heathen Norwegian -gentle-folk to select a friend to sprinkle their child with water, and -give it a name. Thus Sigurd Jarl baptized the infant of Thora, the wife -of Harald Harfager, and called it Hacon, although this had nothing -to do with Christianity, for this child was afterwards baptized by -Athelstan, king of England. The heathen Vikings often pretended to take -up Christianity, to renounce it again on the first opportunity. Some of -them allowed themselves to be baptized over and over again, merely for -the sake of the white garments. Others, who visited Christian lands for -the sake of traffic or as mercenary soldiers, used to let themselves be -primsegnet (marked with the sign of the cross) without being baptized. -Thus they were on a good footing with the foreign Christians, and also -with their heathen brethren at home. Many of those who were baptized -in all sincerity quite misunderstood the meaning of the rite, thinking -that it would release them from evil spirits and gramary. - -[34] According to the newspapers, a great part of the capital itself -has just met with a like fate. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Oxonian in Thelemarken, volume 2 -(of 2), by Frederick Metcalfe - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE OXONIAN IN THELEMARKEN *** - -***** This file should be named 52196-0.txt or 52196-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/2/1/9/52196/ - -Produced by Charlene Taylor, Bryan Ness and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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