In the parish of Köpinge, on the northern bank of a stream which, a
short distance below Lake Helga, flows into the river Helga, lies an
old mansion, Ugerup or Ugarp, known in early days as the seat of the
Ugerup family, famous in the history of Denmark.
In the middle of the Sixteenth Century the estate was owned by Senator
Axel Ugerup. On the Näs estate, a few miles distant, dwelt the wealthy
Tage Thott, at that time one of the richest men in Skåne.
Herr Arild, Alex Ugerup’s son, and Thale, Tage Thott’s fair daughter,
had, it may be said, grown up together, and even in childhood, had
conceived a strong love for each other.
When Arild was yet a young man he was made embassador to Sweden by the
Danish Government, in which capacity he took part in the coronation of
Erik XIV. Upon his return to Ugerup he renewed his attentions to his
boyhood’s love, and without difficulty obtained her consent and that of
her parents to a union.
Not long thereafter war broke out between Sweden and Denmark. With
anxiety and distress the lovers heard the call to arms. The flower of
Danish knighthood hastened to place themselves under the ensign of
their country, where even for Arild Ugerup a place was prepared. At
leave taking the lovers promised each other eternal fidelity, and Arild
was soon in Copenhagen, where he was given a position in the navy.
In the beginning the Danes met with some success, but soon the tables
were turned. At Öland Klas Kristenson Horn defeated the united Danish
and Leibich flotillas, capturing three ships, with their crews and
belongings. Among the captured was Arild Ugerup, who was carried, a
prisoner, to Stockholm, where three short years before he was an
honored visitor and won his knightly spurs.
The friends of Arild entertained little hope that they would ever see
him again, and his rivals for the hand of Thale persistently renewed
their suits. Tage Thott, who saw his daughter decline the attentions of
one lover after another, decided, finally, that this conduct must not
continue, and made known to his daughter that she must choose a husband
from among the many available and desirable young men seeking her hand.
Thale took this announcement very much to heart, but her prayers and
tears were without avail. Spring succeeded winter and no Arild came.
Meanwhile, the unrelenting father had made a choice and fixed upon a
day when the union should take place.
During this time Arild, languishing in his prison, busied his brain in
the effort to find some means of escape, but plan after plan was
rejected as impracticable, until it occurred to him to make use of his
rank and acquaintance with the King. So, not long thereafter, he sent
to King Erik a petition, asking permission to go home on parole, for
the purpose of solemnizing his wedding, also to be permitted to remain
long enough in Ugerup to sow and gather his crops. The King readily
granted his petition, since Arild promised, on his knightly honor, to
return to his confinement as soon as his harvest was ripe.
He at once hastened to Skåne where he was not long in learning what had
transpired during his absence, and that Thale, at her father’s bidding,
was about to be wedded to another. Continuing his journey to Näs, where
his arrival caused both rejoicing and consternation, he presented
himself to Tage and demanded Thale to wife, as had been promised him.
Knight Tage, however, would not listen to such a thing as a change from
his plans, and declared firmly that his daughter should belong to him
whom he had selected for her, but Arild made a speedy end to the
trouble. By strategy, he carried his bride away in secret to Denmark,
where they were shortly afterward married. Tage, outwitted, made the
best of the matter and accepted the situation, whereupon Arild and his
wife returned to Ugerup.
Arild now had time to think about his promise to the King, and how he
might, at the same time, keep it and not be separated from his wife. It
would now profit to sow seeds that would not mature soon, so the fields
that had heretofore been devoted to corn were planted with the seeds of
the pine tree.
When the autumn had passed, and the King thought the harvest must, by
this time, have been gathered, he sent Arild a request to come to
Stockholm. But Arild convinced the messenger that his seeds had not yet
sprouted, much less ripened.
When King Erik was made acquainted with the state of affairs, he could
do no less than approve the ingenious method adopted by Arild to obtain
his freedom without breaking his word, and allowed the matter to rest.
The product of Arild’s pine seeds is now shown in a magnificent forest
at Ugerup.
Many other stories are told in Skåne about Arild Ugerup and his wife.
Among others, it is related of the former that he was endowed with
marvelous strength, and that in the arch of the gateway opening into
the estate was a pair of iron hooks, which, when coming home from
Helsingborg, Arild was wont to catch hold of, and lift himself and
horse together some distance off the ground, after which little
exercise he would ride on.
His wife, Thale, was, like her husband, very strong, very good and
benevolent, likewise very generous toward her dependents. A story is
told of her, that one mid-summer evening, when the servants of the
estate were gathered on the green for a dance, she requested her
husband to give the people as much food and drink as she could carry at
one load, and her request being, of course, granted, she piled up two
great heaps of beef, pork and bread, which, with two barrels of ale,
one under each arm, she carried out onto the green, with ease.