beginning by a specific designation of the _islands_ dependent on
the province of Sleswigh, such as they are at present, belonging
to the three classes already defined. To commence from the north;
Fanoe, Rom, Sylt, and Amrom, were originally _islands_ of the
same nature as the neighbouring continent, but have been since
extended by _marsches_[380]. The soil of these islands, with its
gravel and blocks of primordial stones, was at first barren, as
the _geest_ is naturally every where; but is become fertile by
manure, of which there has been no deficiency, since those grounds
have been surrounded with _marsch_, where the cattle are kept in
stables during the winter. In the island of Sylt, there are spaces
consisting of _moor_, but its head of land, which extends on the
south as far as Mornum, is composed entirely of _marsch_, and is
bordered with _dunes_ towards the open sea, because, the sediments
of the rivers not reaching any farther, the _sea-sand_ impelled
against it by the waves remains pure, and is thus raised by the
winds in hillocks on the shore. The shallow bottom of the sea,
between this island and that of Fora, is of _geest_: at low water,
it may be passed over on foot; and there are found on it gravel
and blocks of _granite_. But on the same side of Fora there is a
great extent of _marsch_, beginning from St Laurencius. Among the
islands consisting entirely of _marsch_ and surrounded with dikes,
the most considerable are Pellworm and Nord Strand; and among the
Halligs, or those inhabited without dikes, the chief are Olant,
Nord-marsh, Langne, Groode, and Hooge.
Such are the islands on this coast, in their present state, now
rendered permanent by the degree of perfection at which the
art of dike-making is arrived. But, in former times, though
the _original_ land was never attacked by the _sea_, which, by
adding to it _new lands_, soon formed a barrier against its own
encroachments, the latter, and the _islands_ composed of the same
materials, were subject to great and sudden changes, very fatal
to those who were engaged to settle on them by the richness of
their soil, comparatively with the continental. The inhabitants,
who continued to multiply on them during several generations, were
taught, indeed, by experience, that they might at last be invaded
by the element which was incessantly threatening them; but having
as yet no knowledge of natural causes, they blindly considered
those that endangered them as supernatural, and for a long time
used no precautions for their own security. They were ignorant of
the dreadful effects of a certain association of circumstances,
rare indeed, but, when occurring, absolutely destructive of these
_marsches_. This association consists of an extraordinary elevation
of the level of the North Sea, from the long continuance of certain
winds in the Atlantic, with a violent storm occurring during the
tides of the new or full moon; for then the sea rises above the
level of all the _marsches_; and before they were secured against
such attacks, the waves rolling over them, and tearing away the
grass which had bound their surface, they were reduced to the state
of mere banks of sand and mud, whence they had been drawn, by the
long course of ordinary causes. Such were the dreadful accidents
to which the first settlers on these lands were exposed; but no
sooner were they over, than ordinary causes began again to act; the
sand-banks rose; their surface was covered with grass; the coast
was thus extended, and new islands were formed; time effaced the
impression of past misfortunes; and those among the inhabitants of
these dangerous soils, who had been able to save themselves on the
coast, ventured to return to settle on them again, and had time to
multiply, before the recurrence of the same catastrophes.
This has been the general course of events on all the coasts of the
North Sea, and particularly on those of the countries of Sleswigh
and Holstein. It is thus that the origin and progress of the _art
of dikes_ will supply us with a very interesting _chronometer_ in
the history of the continent and of man, particularly exemplified
in this part of the globe. A Lutheran clergyman, settled in the
island of Nord Strand, having collected all the particulars of
this history which the documents of the country could afford,
published it in 1668, in a German work, entitled _The North Frisian
Chronicle_. It was chiefly from this work, and from the _Chronicle
of Dankwerth_, that M. Hartz extracted the information which he
gave to me, accompanied by two maps, copied for me, by one of his
sons, from those of Johannes Mayerus, a mathematician; they bear
the title of _Frisia Cimbrica_; one of them respecting the state of
the _islands_ and of the _coast_, in 1240, as it may be traced in
the chronicles, and the other, as it was in 1651.
According to these documents, the first inhabitants of the
_marsches_ were _Frisii_ or _Frisians_, designated also under
the names of _Cimbri_ and _Sicambri_: the latter name, M.
Hartz conjectures, might come from the ancient German words
_Seekampfers_, i. e. _Sea-warriors_; the _Frisians_ being very
warlike. These people appear to have had the same origin with
those, who, at a rather earlier period, took possession of the
_marsches_ of Ost-Frise (East-Friesland), and of that Friesland
which forms one of the United Provinces; but this common origin
is very obscure. Even at the present day, the inhabitants of the
_marsches_, from near Husum to Tondern, or Tunder to the North,
though themselves unacquainted with it, speak a language which
the other inhabitants of the country do not understand, and which
is supposed to be Frisian. It is the same at a village in the
peninsula of Bremen, by which I have had occasion to pass.
The _Sicambri_ or _North Frisians_, are traced back to some
centuries before the Christian era. At the commencement of that
era, they were attacked by Frotho, King of Denmark, and lost
a battle, under their king Vicho, near the river Hever. Four
centuries afterwards they joined the troops of Hengist and Horsa.
In the year 692, their king Radebot resided in the island of
Heiligeland. Charles Martel subdued them in 732; and some time
afterwards they joined Charlemagne against Gottric, King of
Denmark. These are some of the circumstances of the history of this
Frisian colony, recorded in the chronicles of which I have spoken;
but the history here interesting to us is that of the lands whereon
they settled.
It appears that these people did not arrive here in one body,
but successively, in the course of many years: they spread
themselves over various parts of the coasts of the North Sea, and
even a considerable way up the borders of the Weser and the Elbe;
according to documents which I have mentioned in my _Lettres sur
l’Histoire de la Terre et de l’Homme_. These new settlers found
large _marsches_, formed, as well in the wide mouths of those
rivers as along the coasts, and around the original islands of
_geest_; especially that of Heiligeland, the most distant from the
coast, and opposite the mouth of the Eyder. Of this island, which
is steep towards the south, the original mass consists of strata
of _sandstone_; and at that time its _marsch_ extended almost to
Eyderstede: there were _marsches_ likewise around all the other
original islands; besides very large islands of pure _marsch_ in
the intervals of the former.
All these lands were desert at the arrival of the Frisians; and
the parts on which they established their first habitations, to
take care of their breeds of horses and cattle feeding on the
_marsches_, were the original eminences of the islands; on that of
Heiligeland they built a temple to their great goddess Phoseta, or
Fosta. When they became too numerous to confine themselves to the
heights, their herds being also greatly multiplied, they ventured
to begin inhabiting the _marsches_; but afterwards, some great
inundations having shewn them the dangers of that situation, they
adopted the practice followed by those who had settled on the
_marsches_ of the province of Groningen, and still continued on the
Halligs; that of raising artificial mounts called _werfs_, on which
they built their houses, and whither they could, upon occasion,
withdraw their herds; and it likewise appears, that, in the
winter, they assembled in greater numbers on the spots originally
the highest, in the islands, as well as on some parts of the coasts.
Things continued in this state for several centuries; during which
period, it is probable that the inhabitants of these lands were
often, by various catastrophes, disturbed in the enjoyment of them,
though not discouraged. But in 516, by which time these people were
become very numerous, more than 600 of them perished by one of the
concurrences of fatal circumstances already defined. It was then
that they undertook the astonishing enterprise of enclosing these
lands. They dug ditches around all the _marsches_, heaping up on
their exterior edge the earth which was taken out; and thus they
opposed to the sea, dikes of eight feet in height. After this,
comprehending that nothing could contribute more to the safety of
their dwellings, than to remove the sea to a greater distance,
they undertook, with that view, to exclude it from the intervals
between the islands, by uniting, as far as should be possible,
those islands with each other. I will describe the process by which
they effected this, after I shall have recalled to attention some
circumstances leading to it.
From all that I have already said of the _fore-lands_, and of the
manner in which they are increased, it may be understood, that
the common effects of the _waves_ and of the _tides_ is to bring
materials from the bottom of the sea towards the coasts; and
that the process continues in every state of the sea. The land
winds produce no _waves_ on the coasts, which can carry back to
the bottom of the sea what has been brought thence by the winds
blowing against the shore; and as for the _tides_, it may have
been already comprehended (and shall soon be proved), that the
_ebb_ carries back but very little of what has been brought by the
_flood_. So that, but for some extraordinary circumstances, the
materials continually impelled towards the shore, which first form
islands, would at last unite against the coast in a continuous
soil. The rare events, productive of great catastrophes, do not
carry back these materials towards the bottom of the sea; they
only, as it has been said before, ravage the surface, diminishing
the heights, and destroying the effect of vegetation. These, then,
were the effects against which it was necessary to guard.
I now come to the plan of uniting the _islands_, formed by these
early inhabitants. They availed themselves for that purpose of
all such parts of the sand-banks as lay in the intervals between
the large islands, and were beginning to produce grass. These,
when surrounded with dikes, are what are called _Hoogs_; and
their effects are to break the waves, thus diminishing their
action against the dikes of the large islands, and, at the same
time, to determine the accumulation of the mud in the intervals
between those islands. In this manner a large _marsch_ island,
named Everschop, was already, in 987, united to Eyderstede by the
point on which Poppenbull is situated; and in 995, the union of
the same _marsches_ was effected by another point, namely, that
of Tetenbull. Lastly, in the year 1000, Eyderstede received a
new increase by the course of the Hever, prolonged between the
sand banks, being fixed by a dike; but the whole still remained
an _island_. This is an example of the manner in which the
_marsch_ islands were united by the _hoogs_; and the chronicle of
the country says, that, by these labours, the islands were so
considerably enlarged in size, and the intervals between them so
much raised, that, at low water, it was possible to pass on foot
from one to the other. The extent of these _marsches_ was so great
on the coast of Sleswigh alone, that they were divided into three
provinces, two of which comprehended the islands, and the third
comprised the _marsches_ contiguous to the coast; and the same
works were carried on upon the _marsches_ of the coast of Holstein.
But the grounds thus gained from the sand-banks were very
insecure; these people, though they had inhabited them more than
ten centuries, had not yet understood the possibility of that
combination of fatal circumstances above described, against which
their dikes formed but a very feeble rampart; the North Sea, by the
extraordinary elevations of its level, being much more formidable
in this respect than the ocean, where the changes of absolute level
are much less considerable. I shall give an abridged account of the
particulars extracted by M. Hartz from the chronicle of Dankwerth,
relative to the great catastrophes which these _marsches_
successively underwent, previously to the time when experience led
to the means necessary for their security.
In 1075, the island of Nord Strand, then contiguous to the coast,
particularly experienced the effect of that unusual combination
of destructive causes; the sea passing over its dike, and forming
within it large excavations like lakes. In 1114 and 1158,
considerable parts of Eyderstede were carried away; and in 1204,
the part called Sudhever in the _marsch_ of Uthholm was destroyed.
All these catastrophes were fatal to many of the _marsch_ settlers;
but in 1216, the sea having risen so high that its waves passed
over Nord Strand, Eyderstede, and Ditmarsch, near 10,000 of their
inhabitants perished. Again, in 1300, seven parishes in Nord Strand
and Pellworm were destroyed; and in 1338, Ditmarsch experienced a
new catastrophe, which swept away a great part of it on the side
next Eyderstede: the dike of the course of the Eyder between the
sand-banks was demolished, and the tides have ever since preserved
their course throughout that wide space. Lastly, in the year 1362,
the isles of Fora and Sylt, then forming but one, were divided, and
Nord Strand, then a _marsch_ united to the coast, was separated
from it.
During a long time, the inhabitants who survived these
catastrophes, and their successors, were so much discouraged,
that they attempted nothing more than to surround with _dikes_
like the former such spaces of their meadow-land as appeared the
least exposed to these ravages, leaving the rest to its fate. But
the common course of causes continually tending to extend and to
raise the grassy parts of the sand-banks, and no extraordinary
combination of circumstances having interrupted these natural
operations, later generations, farther advanced in the arts,
undertook to secure to themselves the possession of those new
grounds. In 1525, they turned their attention to the indentations
made, during the preceding catastrophes, in the borders of the
_marsches_; the waves, confined in these narrow spaces, sometimes
threatening to cut their way into the interior part. In the front
of all the creeks of this kind they planted stakes, which they
interlaced with osiers, leaving a certain space between the lines.
The waves, thus broken, could no longer do injury to the _marsch_;
and their sediments being deposited on both sides of this open
fence, very solid _fore-lands_ were there formed. In 1550, they
raised the _dikes_ considerably higher, employing wheelbarrows, the
use of which was only then introduced. For this purpose, they much
enlarged and deepened the interior canals, in order to obtain more
earth, not merely to add to the height of the dikes, but to extend
their base on the outer side. At last they began to cover these
dikes with straw-ropes; but this great preservative of dikes was at
first ill managed; and the use of it was so slowly spread, that it
was not adopted in North Strand and in Eyderstede, till about the
years 1610 and 1612.
Before that time, however, the safety of the extensive soil of
the latter _marsch_ had been provided for in a different manner.
I have said above, that, when the isles of Everschop and Utholm
had been united to it, the whole together still formed but one
large _island_; now, in this state, it was in as great danger
on the side towards the continent, as on that open to the sea;
because two small rivers, the Trene and the Nord Eyder, discharging
themselves into the interval between it and the land, and by
preserving their course to the sea, this interval was thus kept
open to tempest, sometimes from the side of the Hever, sometimes
from that of the Eyder; and the waves, beating against the _geest_,
were thence repelled upon the _marsch_. The inhabitants, seeing
that the expence of remedying these evils would be greater than
they could afford, while at the same time it was indispensable to
their safety, addressed themselves to their bishop and to their
prefect, of whom they requested pecuniary assistance; and having
obtained it they first undertook the great enterprise of carrying
the Trene and the Nord Eyder higher up into the Eyder; keeping
their waters, however, still separate for a certain space, by a
_dam_ with a _sluice_, in order to form there a reservoir of fresh
water; the tides ascending up the Eyder above Frederickstadt.
They were thus enabled to carry on the extremities of the _dike_
on both sides to join the _geest_; and the interval between the
latter and the _marsch_ was then soon filled up, there being only
left at their junction the canal above described which receives
the water of the _geest_, and, at low water, discharges them from
both its extremities by sluices. At the same time, the islands of
Pellworm and Nord Strand were united with each other by means of
eight _hoogs_; and the _sandy marsches_ of which I have spoken,
contiguous to the _geest_, on the north of that of Husum, were
inclosed with dikes.
After the dikes had been thus elevated, and their surface
rendered firm by the straw ropes, though the latter were not yet
properly fixed, the inhabitants of the _marsches_ for some time
enjoyed repose; but on the 11th October 1634, the sea, rising
to an excessive height, carried away, during a great tempest,
the _hoogs_ which had produced the junction between Pellworm and
Nord Strand, these having ever since continued distinct islands;
it also violently attacked Ditmarsch; and its ravages extended
over the whole coast, as far as the very extensive new lands of
Jutland. Princes then came forward zealously to the relief of
their subjects. In particular, Frederick III., Duke of Sleswigh,
seeing that the inhabitants of Nord Strand were deficient both
in the talents and in the means necessary for the reparation and
future security of that large island, and knowing that the art
of dikes had made greater progress in Holland, because of the
opulence of the country, addressed himself to the States-General,
requesting them to send him an engineer of dikes, with workmen
accustomed to repair them; and this was granted. The dikes of Nord
Strand were then repaired in the most solid manner; and the Dutch
engineer, seeing the fertility of its soil, advised his sons upon
his death-bed, to purchase lands and settle there, if the Duke
would grant them the free exercise of their religion; they being
Jansenist catholics, and the inhabitants of the island Lutherans.
The Duke agreed to this, on condition that they and their posterity
should continue to superintend the works carried on upon the
dikes; to which they engaged themselves. From that time the art of
dikes, and particularly that part of it which consists in covering
them solidly with straw, has become common to all the _marsches_;
and the Dutch families, which have contributed to this fortunate
change, continue to inhabit the same island, and to enjoy the free
exercise of their religion.”
NOTE G, p. 28.
ON THE SAND-FLOOD.
In different parts of Scotland, as in Aberdeenshire, Hebrides, and
Shetland Islands, there are examples of the natural chronometer
mentioned in the text. In Morayshire there is a striking example of
the sand-flood, concerning which the following details have been
furnished by my young friend the Rev. Mr Ritchie.
_Sand-Flood in Morayshire._
“Westward from the mouth of the river Findhorn in Morayshire, a
district, consisting of upwards of ten square miles of land, which,
owing to its extreme fertility, was once termed the Granary of
Moray, has been depopulated and rendered utterly unproductive by
the sand-flood. This barren waste may be characterised as hilly;
the accumulations of sand composing these hills frequently varying
in their height, and changing their situation.
There is historical evidence, that, in the year 1097, the Moray
Firth overflowed the low country on its southern shore, and threw
out sand. But the destruction of the barony of Coubine (which
includes the greater part of the desert mentioned above) was long
subsequent to this, as might be proved from the inscription on a
tombstone in the church yard of Dyke. From historical notices,
also, in regard to the Kinnairds of Coubine, preparing for
publication, it appears that the eruption of sand commenced about
the year 1677; that its progress was gradual; that, in 1697, not a
vestige was to be seen of the manor-place, orchards, and offices
of Coubine; that two-thirds of the barony were already ruined, and
that the sand was daily gaining ground.
This sand, which overwhelmed Coubine, came from Mavieston,
situated on the shore, about seven miles west from the mouth of
the Findhorn, where, from time immemorial, there have been large
accumulations of sand. The sands at Mavieston had formerly been
covered with vegetation. In an act of the Scottish Parliament,
dated 16th July 1695, for the preservation of lands adjacent to
sand-hills, it is stated, that the destruction of Coubine “was
occasioned by the bad practice of pulling bent and juniper.” Having
been thus set at liberty, the sand moved towards the north-east, as
appears from the desolation which marks its progress. The moving
cause is the wind. I have had opportunities of witnessing the
effect of the wind on the loose sand. When the breeze is moderate
it carries along with it successive waves of sand, each wave (if I
may be allowed the expression) being of a small size, and moving
with greater or less velocity, in proportion to the strength of the
breeze, and presenting a very beautiful appearance. When the wind
is high the heavier particles are drifted forwards, the more minute
are raised to a considerable height in the atmosphere, occasioning
no small inconvenience to the spectator, who finds his ears and
nostrils filled with sand. The movements of the sand are still
towards the north-east. In the winter of 1816 a large portion of
Binsness, the only remaining farm on the west side of the Findhorn,
situated in the line of the sand’s progress, was overwhelmed.
Since that period large accumulations of sand have disappeared
altogether, and rich soil, marked with the plough, has been left
bare, after having been buried for upwards of a century.
The very minute particles, which, as has been stated, the wind
raises to a considerable height, are occasionally carried across
the Bay of Findhorn. In the statistical account of Dyke, the parish
in which Coubine is situated, it is said, “that, at the town of
Findern, in a blowing day, one may feel the sand sharply striking
on his face, from the west side.” This sand, of extreme fineness,
is to be seen in and around the town of Findhorn, and along the
coast much rich land is said to have been covered by sand brought
from the west.