9. The author does not know who wrote the first part of "Die
Schone Wittwe." It appeared about 1856, and "went the round
of the papers," accumulating as it went several additions
or rejoinders, one of which was that by Hans Breitmann.
10. I had not seen for many days
The handsome widow's face;
I saw her last night standing
By her counter, full of grace.
With cheeks as pure as milk and blood,
With eyes so bright and blue,
I kissed her full well six times,
Indeed, and that is true.
11. This ballad is a parody of Das Hildebrandslied. Consult
Wackernagel's Lesebuch and Das klein Heldenbuch.
"Ich vill zum Land ausreiten,
Sprach sich Maister Hilteprand."
12. The Republicans in America were for a long time ridiculed by their
opponents as if professing to be guided by Moral Ideas, i.e.
Emancipation, Progress, Harmony of Interests, &c.
13. Gling, glang, gloria, was a common refrain in the 16th
century, in German drinking songs. "Gling, glang, glorian, Die
Sau hat ein Panzer an." - Tractatus de Ebrietate Vitanda.
14. The boot was a favourite drinking cup during the Middle Ages.
The writer has seen a boot-shaped mug, bearing the inscription,
"Wer . sein . Stiefel . nit . trinken . kan .
Der . ist . furwahr . kein . Teutscher . man."
There is an allusion to this boot-cup in Longfellow's "Golden
Legend," where mention is made of a jolly companion
----"who could pull
At once a postilion's jack-boot full,
And ask with a laugh, when that was done,
If they could not give him the other one."
15. The German equivalent for a native of Little Pedlington. It is
a Suabian joke, commemorated in a popular song, to inquire in
foreign and remote regions, "Is there any good fellow from
Boblingen here?"
16. "Sonst etwas auf dem Rohr habem" - something else on the pipe
or tube - meaning a plan or idea, kept to one's self, is a German
proverbial expression, which occurs in one of Langbein's humorous
lyrics.
17. "Nom de garce," as an anagram of nom de grace,
occurs in Rabelais. G
18. An expression only used in reference to seeing again some
jolly old friend after long absence - "Uns kommt der alte
Schwed."
19. Wurst, literally sausage, is used by German students
to signify indiffer ence. When a sausage is on the table, and
one is asked with mock courtesy which part he prefers, he
naturally replies - "Why, it is all sausage to me." I have heard
an elderly man in New England reply to the query whether he would
have "black meat or breast" - "Any part, thank'ee - I guess it's
all turkey." There are, of course, divers ancient and
quaint puns in Pennsylvania, on such a word as wurst. Thus
it is said that a northern pedlar, in being served with some
sausage of an inferior quality, was asked again if he would have
some of the wurst. Not understanding the word, and
construing it as a slight, he replied to his hostess - "No, thank
you, marm, this is quite bad enough." The literal meaning of
this line, which is borrowed from Scheffel's poem of Perkeo, is
"indifferent, and equal, to me."
20. It was, I believe, Ragnar Lodbrog who, in his Death Song,
spoke, about as intelligently and clearly as Herr Breitmann, of a
mass of weapons.