We detach the following scene from one of Mr. Horace Smith's _Tales of
the_ _Early Ages_. The date is the fifth century, about twenty years
after the final withdrawing of the Romans from Britain. The actors are
Hengist, the Saxon chief, Guinessa, his daughter, betrothed to Oscar, a
young prince, and Gryffhod, a Briton of some distinction, and proprietor
of Caer-Broc, a villa on the Kentish coast, where the parties are
sojourning. The incident embodies the _superstition of sitting in the
Druid's Chair_, similar in its portentous moment to sitting in St.
Michael's Chair, in Cornwall. It is told with considerable force and
picturesque beauty.
"In the morning, Hengist informed his daughter, to her no small dismay,
that he meant to take her to Canterbury for the purpose of introducing
her to her uncle Horsa, desiring her to make preparations for her
immediate departure. 'But before I leave Caer-Broc,' said the Saxon, 'I
would fain mount that lofty cliff up which I climbed fifteen years ago,
in order that I might discover, if possible, upon what coast the storm
had cast me. It commands, as I recollect, an extensive inland view, and
I would show my fellow-soldiers the beauty of the country into which I
have led them.'
"'It must have been the Druid's Chair, for that is the loftiest headland
upon our coast.'
"'The higher the better, my child, for so shall we gain the wider
prospect. The morning is at present, clear, and I would climb the cliff
before those clouds which I see gathering in the west, shall be blown
hither to intercept our prospect.' So saying, he invited his comrades,
as well as Oscar, to accompany him; while Gryffhod, on learning his
purpose, joined his party with Leoline and others of his men, in order
that they might render assistance, should any such be required, in
climbing the broken and somewhat perilous ascent to the dizzy summit of
the cliff. Ropes were provided in case of accident, as persons had more
than once slipped from the narrow ledge, and fallen upon lower fragments
of the cliff, whence they could be only extricated by hauling them up.
"Battered and undermined by the storms of ages, the Druid's Chair has
long since been shivered into fragments and wasted away; but at the
period of which we are writing it formed the outermost of a chain of
crags which were connected together by a tongue of rock and cliff
sufficiently continuous to allow a passage, but broken into sharp
acclivities and descents which rendered the undertaking toilsome to all,
and not without peril for those who were liable to be giddy, or who did
not possess a good portion of activity. 'Surely,' said Hengist, as he
followed Gryffhod, 'this ridge was much more even when I traversed it
fifteen years ago.'
"'You are right,' replied the Briton; 'but rains and frosts have since
broken away its surface. This is our steepest ascent, but it is the
last. We will help Guinessa to surmount it, and when we gain the summit,
she shall be the first to sit in the Druid's Chair.'
"With some little mutual assistance, the whole party gained the pinnacle
of the cliff, which was a small and nearly circular platform, with a
central crag that bore a rude resemblance to a chair. 'You shall have
the honour that was promised you,' said the Saxon chief to his daughter;
'but we must first clear away the samphire and weeds which have taken
previous possession of your seat.' So saying, he cut them away with his
sword, and lead his panting daughter to the throne, upon which she was
by no means sorry to rest herself. Hengist then walked repeatedly round
the lofty level, pointing out with his weapon the distant objects that
engaged his attention, and demanding frequent explanations from
Gryffhod, more particularly as to the direction and distance of
Canterbury. While he was thus occupied, the heavy western clouds, whose
threatenings he had been so anxious to anticipate, were swept rapidly
towards them by a sudden storm gust, which lashed up the waves into
fury, and instantly surrounded the foot of the crag whirlpools of foam.
The extensive prospect upon which they had so lately been gazing was now
shrouded in a dense gloom, presently pierced and irradiated by a vivid
flash of lightning, followed by a crash of thunder that made the lofty
crag tremble beneath their feet. To a martial soul like that of Hengist,
this warring of the elements presented a more spirit-stirring and
congenial spectacle, than all the tranquil beauties of the previous
prospect, and he pointed out to the admiration of his comrades the
fiercer features of the scene, shouting with delight as a huge mass of
the next projecting cliff, undermined by the raving waters, fell
thundering into the depths below.
"While he was thus occupied, either his extended sword was touched, or
his arm was unnerved by the electric fluid, for the weapon fell from his
hand and instantly disappeared in the whirlpool beneath. 'My sword! my
enchanted sword!' exclaimed Hengist with a loud cry of consternation:
'it is lost, it is gone! a hundred pieces of gold to him who recovers my
precious weapon! I would plunge after it myself, but that I am
prohibited by the magician who fashioned it. My sword! my sword! a
hundred horses, besides the gold, to him who finds it. What! my brave
comrades,' he continued, casting a reproachful look at his
fellow-countrymen, 'will you see your leader ruined, and all his hopes
blasted, rather than attempt to get me back my sword?'
"'We came hither to fight the Picts and Scots, not to drown ourselves in
such a hopeless enterprise,' muttered the Saxons.
"'Oscar, my intended son-in-law! you are young and vigorous. Show
yourself worthy of Guinessa by plunging into the waters in search of my
lost talisman.'
"'It is inevitable death; and besides you have promised her to me
already,' replied the young Prince, recoiling with a shudder from the
edge of the precipice.
"'Craven! recreant! I recall my consent,' shouted Hengist, hoarse with
rage, 'and here in the face of Heaven I promise her to him, and him
only, who shall redeem my sword from the waters.'
"'Do you swear to that vow?' asked Leoline, starting forward.
"'Ay, I swear by the sword itself, an oath that I dare not violate, even
if I would.'
"'Enough?' said Leoline; and springing instantly from the rock, he
precipitated himself down the fearful abyss, and plunged into the
foaming whirlpool below. Bewildered and aghast at this sudden act of
desperation, Guinessa, uttering a scream of agonized terror, would have
thrown herself after him, had she not been restrained by Gryffhod; but
she still bent over the precipice, her long golden hair, as it streamed
upon the wind, together with her white robes and arms, and her fair
features, all shown in strong relief against the dark thunder-cloud,
imparting to her the appearance of an aerial spirit, just alighted upon
this craggy pinnacle to watch the conflict of the elements. Every eye
was rivetted upon the spot where Leoline had cleft the eddying waves;
not a syllable was uttered; every heart thrilled painfully in
expectation of his reappearance, but he rose not again to the surface,
and the fears of the gazers responded to those of Guinessa, as she at
length ejaculated, in a deep and hollow voice, 'He is lost--he is lost!'
Another brief but dreadful pause ensued, when Guinessa, clasping her
hands sharply together, exclaimed, with an ecstatic shout, 'He rises--he
rises--he has found the sword!' and she sank upon her knees, trembling
all over with a vehement and irrepressible agitation.
"The object of her deep emotion was now visible to all, holding the
recovered sword in his mouth, while with both hands he fought against
the buffetting billows, which hurled him against the foot of the cliff,
and as often by their recoil swept him back again; for the wave-worn
crag offered no holdfast either for the foot or hand. 'He will perish
still; he will be dashed to pieces against the rock,' cried Hengist,
almost wild with apprehension.
"'He swims like a fish,' exclaimed Gryffhod, 'but he cannot strike out
of that boiling whirlpool; it is too strong for him. The ropes! the
ropes! where are they? let us lower them instantly, and we may perhaps
succeed in hauling him up.'
"A rope, secured at top to the Druid's Chair, was instantly thrown over,
but the lower extremity being blown about by the wind, it was not till
after repeated efforts that Leoline could succeed in catching hold of
it, when he raised himself out of the water, and began to climb upwards
by supporting his feet against the cliff. More than once they slipped
away from the wet chalk, and he swung in mid-air; but his teeth still
firmly grasped the sword; he soon obtained a drier foothold, and thus
climbed to the summit: which he had no sooner reached in safety than
Guinessa, overcome by the revulsion of her feelings, sank panting and
fainting into her father's arms. Eagerly snatching the redeemed weapon,
its owner ran his eye over the blade, when finding that it had received
no injury, nor suffered any obliteration of the talismanic characters,
he repeatedly kissed it, replaced it in its scabbard, and then cordially
embracing its recoverer exclaimed, 'Thanks, brave Leoline; ay, and
something more substantial than empty thanks. Guinessa was right, after
all; she knows where to find a valiant and a worthy man; and, by Heaven!
I am glad that she preferred you to your rival. Right nobly have you won
her, and honourably shall you wear the prize. There she is; speak to
her; I warrant your voice will revive her more quickly than that of
Gryffhod; her consent you need not ask, for that you have obtained
already, so take her for your wife when you will, and God give you joy
of your choice, as for my part, I thank Heaven for bestowing on me so
dauntless a son-in-law!'
"Cordial were the congratulations from all parties except Oscar, who,
filled with mortification and jealous hatred, slunk away before the
others; and during the march to Canterbury, which was commenced
immediately after their descent from the Druid's Chair, kept himself
aloof, equally incensed against Gryffhod, Hengist, and Guinessa, and
meditating dark schemes of vengeance."
Oscar attempts to assassinate his successful rival at Canterbury; he
escapes, but in crossing the sea for Gaul, is taken by the piratical
Picts, carried to Scotland, and condemned to a rigorous and lifelong
slavery. Leoline and Guinessa are married, and Hengist becoming
paramount in Kent, assigns to them a castle with ample domains in the
Isle of Thanet; and in sailing along the coast they often pointed to
"the dizzy summit of the Druid's Chair," which Leoline often proudly
declared to be far more precious to him than any other object in
existence, since it had given him that which alone made existence
valuable--his Guinessa!
In one of the Tales--of the Council of Nice, in the fourth century, Mr.
Smith indulges his usual felicitous vein of humour, in a burlesque which
he puts into the mouth of a slave of the Bishop of Ethiopia,--"a little,
corpulent, bald-headed, merry-eyed man of fifty, whose name was Mark;
whose duty it was to take charge of the oil, trim the lamps, and perform
other menial offices in the church of Alexandria." The profane wight
deserved, for his wit, a better place.
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