The inquiries I made in Vol. iii., p. 324., respecting the Bellman and
his Songs, have been answered by most interesting information (pp. 377.
451. 485.); and the references made by the Editor to V. Bourne's
translation was most acceptable. The interest of this subject is
increased by finding that the Custos Nocturnus exists at the present day
in other countries, resembling very much in duties, costume, and chants
the Westminster Bellman. I venture to send you extracts from W. Hurton's
_Voyage from Leith to Lapland_, and Dr. Forbes's _Physician's Holiday_.
"During the past year of 1849 it has been my lot to reside at four
of the most remarkable capitals of Europe, and successively to
experience what spring is in London, what summer is in Paris, what
autumn is in Edinburgh, and what winter is in Copenhagen. Vividly,
indeed, can I dwell on the marvellous contrast of the night aspect
of each: but one of the most interesting peculiarities I have
noticed in any of them, is that presented by the watchmen of the
last-named. When I first looked on these guardians of the night, I
involuntarily thought of Shakspeare's Dogberry and Verges. The
sturdy watchers are muffled in uniform great coats, and also wear
fur caps. In their hand they carry a staff of office, on which
they screw, when occasion requires, that fearful weapon the
'morning star.' They also sometimes may be seen with a lanthorn at
their belt: the candle contained in the lanthorn they place at the
top of their staff, to relight any street-lamps which require
trimming. In case of fire, the watchmen give signals from the
church towers, by striking a number of strokes, varying with the
quarter of the city in which the fire occurs; and they also put
from the tower flags and lights pointed in the direction where the
destructive element is raging. From eight o'clock in the evening,
until four (Query, until five) o'clock in the morning, all the
year round, they chant a fresh verse at the expiration of each
hour, as they go their rounds. The cadence is generally deep and
guttural, but with a peculiar emphasis and tone; and from a
distance it floats on the still night air with a pleasing and
impressive effect, especially to the ear of a stranger. The verses
in question are of great antiquity, and were written, I am told,
by one of the Danish bishops. They are printed on a large sheet of
paper, with an emblematical border, rudely engraved in the old
style; and in the centre is a large engraving exactly representing
one of the ancient watchmen, in the now obsolete costume, with his
staff and 'morning star' in hand, a lanthorn at his belt, and his
dog at his feet.
"A copy of the broadside has been procured me, and my friend Mr.
Charles Beckwith has expressly made for me a verbatim translation
of the verses; and his version I will now give at length. I am
induced to do this, because, not only are the chants most
interesting in themselves, as a fine old relic of Scandinavian
customs, but there seems to me a powerful poetical spirit
pervading them. At the top of the sheet are the lines which in the
translation are--
'Watch and pray,
For time goes;
Think and directly,
You know not when.'
"In large letters over the engraving of the watchman are the words
(translated):
'Praised be God! our Lord, to whom
Be love, praise, and honour.'
"I will now give the literal version, printed exactly in the same
arrangement of lines, letters, and punctuation, as the original:
'_Copenhagen Watchman's Song._
Eight o'clock,
When darkness blinds the earth
And the day declines,
That time then us reminds
Of death's dark grave;
Shine on us, Jesus sweet,
At every step
To the grave-place,
And grant a blissful death.'
"Every hour between eight and five o'clock inclusive has its own
chant. The last is--
'Five o'clock.
O Jesu! morning star!
Our King unto thy care
We so willingly commend,
Be Thou his sun and shield!
Our clock it has struck five
Come mild Sun,
From mercy's pale,
Light up our house and home.'"
_Voyage from Leith to Lapland in 1850_,
by W. Hurton, vol. i. p. 104.
Dr. Forbes writes:
"We had very indifferent rest in our inn, owing to the over-zeal
of the Chur watchmen, whose practice it is to perambulate the town
through the whole night, twelve in number, and who on the present
occasion displayed a most energetic state of vigilance. They not
only called, but sung out, every hour, in the most sonorous
strains, and even chanted a long string of verses on the striking
of some.... I suppose the good people of Chur think nothing of
these chantings, or from habit hear them not; but a tired
traveller would rather run the risk of being robbed in
tranquillity, than be thus sung from his propriety during all the
watches of the night."--_A Physician's Holiday_, pp. 80, 81.
Dr. Forbes gives a copy of a "Watch Chant at Chur," with a translation,
pp. 81, 82. At p. 116. he says:
"In our hotel at Altorf we were again saluted, during the vigils
of the night, but in a very mitigated degree, with some of the
same patriotic and pious strains which had so disturbed us at
Chur. As chanted here, however, they were far from unwelcome. The
only other place, I think, where we heard these Wächterrufe was
Neufchatel. These calls are very interesting relics of the old
times, and must be considered indicative as well of the simple
habits of the old time, as of the pious feelings of the people of
old."
He then gives the Evening and Morning Chants in the town of Glarus, and
the chant in use in some places in the canton of Zurich; but in Zurich
itself the chant is no longer heard.
Dr. Forbes concludes the twelfth chapter with the following observation:
"The same antiquity, and also the inveteracy of old customs to
persist, is strikingly shown by the fact that in some parts of the
canton of Tessino, where the common language of the people is
Italian, the night watch-call is still in old German."
The apparent universality of the Bellman throughout Europe gives rise to
questions that would, I apprehend, extend beyond the object of "NOTES
AND QUERIES;" such as, Is pure religion benefited by the engrafting of
it upon stocks so familiar as the bellman or watchman? What are the
causes that the old ecclesiastic bellman is no longer heard in some
countries, whilst in others he continues with little or no variation?
Has religion lost or gained by the change?
Dr. Forbes's notice of the Tessino watchman calls up the public crier in
England, another class of bellmen, asking for a hearing, with his "O
yes! O yes!" Little does he think that he is speaking French.