[1] During this reign, after the battle of Hafsfjord, the great viking
“Rolf Ganger,” son of Earl Rognvald, having offended King Harald, was
banished from Norway, and, in company with many other Northmen, sailed
with a fleet of vessels to the Hebrides, and from thence to Normandy,
where the Northmen, about the year 896, obtained possession of Rouen,
and Rolf Ganger, afterwards embracing Christianity, became Duke of
Normandy.--_Histoire de la Conquête de l’Angleterre par les Normans_,
par Augustin Thierry, vol. i. p. 114.
[2] From the Heimskringla, or Chronicle of the Kings of Norway,
translated from the Icelandic of “Snorro Sturleson,” by Samuel Laing.
[3] The king ascends the throne as King of “Sweden, the Goths and
Vandals, and Norway;” but in all Acts specially relating to Norway, that
country is entitled to be named first, and this work being entirely one
of Norwegian travel, we have for that reason given Norway precedence in
our Dedication.
[4] Laing defines a Viking and a Sea-king thus:--a sea-king, one
connected with a royal race--either of the small kings of the country or
of the Haarfager family, and who by right received the title of king as
soon as he took command of men, although only a ship’s crew, without
having any land or kingdom. The Viking is a term not connected with the
word kóngr, or king: the vikings were merely pirates--alternately
peasants and pirates--deriving the name Viking from viks, wicks or
inlets on the coast, where they harboured their long ships or
rowing-galleys. Laing says every sea-king was a viking, but every viking
was not a sea-king.
[5] An interesting article, by Mr. Whymper, with frontispiece, showing a
“Fragment of the Jakobshaven Ice Stream,” appeared in the “Alpine
Journal” of May, 1870. Another article, the result of recent
exploration, entitled “Some Notes on Greenland and the Greenlanders,”
with a frontispiece, from Mr. Whymper’s pen, appeared in the “Alpine
Journal” of this month.
[6] Although we prefer our gipsy tent for convenience and comfort, it
cannot be compared to Mr. Whymper’s Alpine tent for security of shelter
when pitched on a camp ground of sterile rocks amongst high mountain
peaks, exposed to strong gales of wind.
[7] The pannikins hold about a pint and a half, and each weighs 6 oz.
They have a small loop handle on each side, which folds down, and is
covered with leather, so that the pannikin can be carried when filled
with hot tea. This kind of pannikin, first suggested to us by Mr.
Whymper, whose plan it is, we prefer to any other we have seen for
weight, size, and convenience.
[8] We have recently purchased a new and ingeniously contrived “cooking
canteen,” designed by Lieutenant Lecky, H.M.S. _Asia_. This canteen may
be inspected, and is for sale at 79, Mark Lane, City. It weighs 22 lbs.,
and its cost is two guineas. We however think it more adapted for a
military encampment than for an expedition like our own. One large light
fish-kettle, frying pan, and tin boiling kettle, were amply sufficient
for all requirements; and after the wear and tear of our wanderings in
Norway, they are still serviceable and fit for another expedition.
[9] “The ass is an excellent and sober little beast, far too much
despised by us. He is not only the most enduring, but one of the
quickest walkers among cattle, being usually promoted to the leadership
of a caravan. He is nearly equal to the camel in enduring thirst, and
thrives on the poorest pasture, suffers from few diseases, and is
unscathed by African distemper. The long desert roads and pilgrim tracts
of North Africa are largely travelled over by means of asses.”--_The Art
of Travel_, by Francis Galton, F.R.G.S., p. 195.
[10] Monsieur Bataillard, in his interesting work “Nouvelles Recherches
sur l’Apparition et la Dispersion des Bohémiens en Europe,” says that
the earliest mention of Taters in Norway is found in a law of 1589. His
opinion is that they did not enter Norway by way of Denmark and South
Sweden, but through North Sweden and the Duchy of Finland, that is to
say by the north of Russia. This opinion appears to have been supported
by Presten Eilert SUNDT. M. Bataillard, therefore, considers that the
Norwegian gipsies were not part of the numerous hordes who entered the
south of Europe subsequently to the year 1417. M. Bataillard is the
author of a work entitled “De l’Apparition et de la dispersion des
Bohémiens en Europe,” published in 1844, and now out of print. The same
author has recently published another interesting and valuable
contribution, entitled “Les Derniers travaux relatifs aux Bohémiens dans
l’Europe Orientale,” published 1872. In this work Monsieur Bataillard
gives a most able review of the works of various authors who have
written upon the gipsy people wandering in Eastern Europe.
[11] Jean Batiste Schwilgué was born at Strasbourg, 18th Dec., 1776, and
completed the celebrated clock in the Strasbourg Cathedral.
[12] It may be that the noble descendant of the Penningtons owed his
almost miraculous escape, to his possession of the curiously-wrought
enamelled glass cup, given by King Henry the VIth after the battle of
Hexham, 1463, to his ancestor, Sir John de Pennington, knt., with a
prayer that the family should ever prosper, and never want a male heir,
as long as the cup remained unbroken. The cup is called the “Luck of
Muncaster,” and Muncaster Castle, and its long broad winding terrace,
commanding magnificent views over the valley of Eskdale, is one of those
enchanted spots which we meet with in the picturesque county of
Cumberland. It is singular that another family in Cumberland also
possess a similar talisman, to which is attached a rare value, “The Luck
of Edenhall,” belonging to the ancient family of Musgrave. It is an old
enamelled drinking glass, said to have been seized in olden time by a
Butler of Eden Hall from some fairies he surprised dancing near St.
Cuthbert’s well in the Park. The glass had been left by the fairies near
the brink of the well, and the fairies, failing to recover it, vanished
with the words--
“If that glass either break or fall,
Farewell the Luck of Edenhall.”
An interesting account is given of the “Luck of Edenhall” in Roby’s
interesting “Tales and Traditions of Lancashire.”
[13] Puru Rawnee--old lady.
[14] Puro Rye--old gentleman. In Turkish Romany, phuro--old.
[15] Tarno Rye--young gentleman.
[16] Although the account, singular as it is, receives very general
credence, and the place of sepulture, on the roof of the mansion near
Hyde Park, is even pointed out, we must say, that a literary friend, who
devoted some time to the inquiry, discredits the truth. In a letter
written by a near relative of the titled possessor, which we have seen,
it is stated, that the account is correct, and it is also stated, that
the property, for that reason, was purchased for a lower price. The
matter therefore remains involved in some mystery. We have since been
informed by a clergyman, that he well remembers being told, of the
sepulture of a body, on a house near Clapham Junction, on the London and
South-Western Railway. Another instance has also been mentioned to us,
as occurring in one of the midland counties. At the last moment, but in
time to find a record in this note, a friend has kindly sent us the
following facts, illustrative of our page heading, “Strange Wills.” At
Stevenage, in Hertfordshire, a pleasantly situated place on the High
North Road, about eleven miles from Hertford, a resident, Henry Trigg,
having peculiar ideas about the resurrection, left his property to his
heirs, upon condition, and in trust, that they put him in an oak coffin,
and placed his body on the rafters of his barn, attached to the Old
Castle Public House, in the parish of Stevenage. There he was placed in
1724, and there he now remains. In the time when coaches stopped at the
Old Castle Public House, there were many travellers on the Great
Northern Road. The old oak coffin was then a lion of the place, and
brought grist to the landlord of the inn. Even now it is occasionally
visited by the curious.
[17] Sometimes spelt Telemarken.
[18] Cæsar Moreau, Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur, was the author of
“Précis sur la Franc-Maçonnerie; son Origine, son Histoire, ses
Doctrines, &c.” Also the founder of the Société de Statistique
Universelle, et de l’Académie de l’Industrie Française; also Member of
the Royal Society, and many other learned societies in Europe.
[19] His Majesty, the noble-hearted Carl XV., patron of literature and
art, himself an author, was born 3rd May, 1826, and died, after a severe
illness, in the noontide of his life, at Malmoe, in Sweden, on the 18th
September, 1872, mourned and sincerely regretted by his attached
subjects. The King was the eldest son of Oscar I., and grandson of the
celebrated French General Bernadotte, Prince of Ponte Corvo, who
ascended the throne in 1818 as Carl XIV. His Majesty Carl XV. was buried
on the 9th October, 1872, in Ritterholm Church, and is succeeded by his
brother, the Duke of Ostergötland, under the title of Oscar II.
[20] Höyland, the Robin Hood of Norway, after three years’ patient
perseverance, effected a clever escape, from the Agershuus. Being again
retaken afterwards, he ultimately died, within the walls of this castle.
It is said that some of his treasure is still buried in the fjelds of
Norway, where he had deposited, his spoils for safety.
[21] Two intrepid French travellers afterwards landed from their
balloon, “La Ville d’Orléans.” Captain Rolier and Emile Cartailhac,
during the siege of Paris, ascended from that city, on the night of the
24th November, 1870, and after a perilous voyage of adventure, across
the sea, they ultimately descended in Norway, on the snows of the
Lidfjeld, in the Thelemarken. The two aëronauts received shelter, and
assistance from the two mountaineers, Clas and Harold Strand; and with
the welcome and hospitality of an ever-generous people, they were
enabled to leave Christiania, and reach in safety their native land.
[22] Colonel Harriot, whose collection of Romany words is, we believe,
principally obtained from the gipsies of the New Forest of Hampshire,
gives one, “yek;” two, “due;” three, “trin;” four, “star;” five, “panj;”
six, “shov;” and says, “Beyond these numbers I never could proceed with
any success.”
Dr. Bath C. Smart, in his collection of gipsy words to complete his
gipsy numerals to ten, takes seven, “afta;” eight, “oitoo;” and nine,
“enneah,” from Bryant’s collection, saying he never met with any English
gipsy acquainted with them.
Hoyland obtained from the English gipsies one, “yake;” two, “duee;”
three, “trin;” four, “stor;” five, “pan;” ten, “dyche;” but the
remainder of his numbers he appears to have taken from Grellman. Hoyland
says it is not a little singular that the gipsy terms for the numerals
seven, eight, and nine are purely Greek.
[23] Vocabulaire de la Langue des Bohémiens habitant les Pays Basques
Français.
[24] Author of “Le Pays Basque, sa Population, sa Langue, ses Mœurs, sa
Littérature, et sa Musique.”
[25] Presten Sundt gives the following numerals in Norwegian
gipsy:--“Jikk,” one; “dy,” two; “trin,” three; “schtar,” four; “pansch,”
five; “sink,” six; “schuh,” oftener “sytt,” seven; “okto,” eight;
“engja,” oftener “nin,” nine; “tin,” ten.
[26] Sometimes spelt Bairisk öl, the meaning being Bavarian beer.
[27] The carriole, called in Norwegian “Karjol,” is a light Norwegian
carriage, with long springy shafts, admirably adapted for travelling in
a mountainous country. A carriole will only accommodate one traveller,
whose legs can be stretched out at full length, in a horizontal
position, and a long leather apron protects them from rain. A small flat
board leaves just sufficient space for a portmanteau or trunk, which
should not exceed thirty-four inches in length, fifteen inches in
breadth, and eleven inches high, with standing-room for the “skydskarl”
(boy), who accompanies the pony during the posting-stage. Carrioles may
be hired or purchased from the Christiania Carriole Company, 17, Store
Strandgade, and, being very light, are easily taken on steamers, across
lakes and fiords, to the next posting-station, from whence the traveller
continues his land route with another pony. Carrioles are now often used
by ladies, and are more easy and convenient than the stolkjœrre, a light
cart, which, being less expensive to hire, is occasionally used by
travellers as a means of conveyance.
[28] A large hotel has since been built at Eidsvold railway station.
[29] In a mansion at Eidsvold, formerly the residence of the Anker
family, the Constitution of Norway was drawn up and signed, and the
independence and free institutions of the Norwegian people guaranteed
upon the unity of their country with Sweden, in 1814.
[30] George Parkes Bidder was born about the year 1800. So wonderful
were his mental powers for giving ready solution to the most difficult
questions in arithmetic, without the aid of pen or pencil, that he was
known in early life as the “Calculating Boy.” Among the many instances
of his ready ability, he once answered in a very short time the
following question:--“Supposing the sun be 95,000,000 of miles from the
earth, and that it were possible for an insect, whose pace should be
seven and a-half inches per minute, to travel that space, how long would
it take him to reach the sun?” Bidder became a civil engineer, and was
at one time President of the Institution of Civil Engineers.
[31] A similar instance is mentioned in Laing’s “Tour in Sweden.”
[32] By an Act of Parliament, 35th and 36th Victoria, chapter 78, dated
10th August, 1872, protection is now given to a large number of wild
birds in England between the 15th March and 1st August in each year.
[33] After the foregoing pages had passed through the press, we
succeeded in obtaining from a parish in Gloucestershire the certificate
of baptism of “Zacharia;” we shall therefore in future give the name
exactly as it is spelt in the certificate of baptism.
[34] “Journal of a Residence in Norway during the years 1834, 1835,
1836.” By Samuel Laing, Esq. Published by Longman, Orme, Browne, & Co.,
in 1837.
[35] Sometimes spelt Guldbransdalen, meaning the “Golden Valley.”
[36] Norwegian gipsy mattjo, sometimes in English gipsy pronounced
matcho.
[37] Old Norway.
[38] The original document is written in the Norwegian language.
[39] To the left of our route, near Svatsum, a young English naval
gentleman, travelling in Norway in 1853, was so pleased with the scenery
of the country, that he purchased a small farm, and resided there for
five years, fishing in the Rœv Vand (Fox Lake) and other lakes, and
exploring the fjeldes with his tent and gun. To this incident the
neighbourhood of Svatsum has become associated with the author of a
small but interesting book, published in 1863, entitled, “Recollections
of a Five Years’ Residence in Norway.”
[40] The lake fishing in the fields beyond Svatsum is said to be very
good. Öret (Nor., trout) sometimes weigh 10 lbs. The Rœv Vand is
associated with a fishing adventure, an account of which we have never
met with but in “Recollections of a Five Years’ Residence in Norway,” by
Henry T. Newton Chesshyre, who gives the narrative _in extenso_. The
circumstances are, briefly, as follows:--On the 16th of August, 1715,
two brothers, who were students, on a fishing excursion, landed from
their boat upon an island of barren rock, fifteen yards wide by twenty
yards long, in the Rœv Vand. Whilst there, a strong gust of wind,
suddenly drifted the boat, to the shore of the lake. Neither of the
brothers could swim. Lightly clad, they remained nine days, in sight of
their fishing boat, and faithful dog, who had continued watching their
things, and occasionally appeared on the gunwale of the boat, and whined
piteously. They had put up a rude hovel of loose stones, which afforded
them little shelter in an exposed situation on a lake 3,000 feet above
the level of the sea. After the ninth day, they could not see their dog,
and supposed he had died of grief and starvation. The dog, it appeared
afterwards, had left, and, finding his way home, by constant howling and
importunity, gave the idea that some misfortune had happened. On the
night of the twelfth day, the two brothers embraced each other for the
last time, as they believed, and awaited death. Their only sustenance
had been about an ounce of wild sorrel each day. Suddenly, they heard
the tramp of horses and the sound of voices on the edge of the lake. One
brother had just strength enough to make himself heard, and they were
rescued. The two students, after some weeks’ illness, recovered; but
their faithful dog, Sikkert, died from the effects of his long fasting,
and found a resting-place in the students’ garden.
[41] The Australian bushman, when the water boils, takes the can off the
fire, and, lifting the lid, puts in the tea on the boiling water. The
lid is then replaced, the can is left to stand for a few minutes by the
fire, and the tea is ready for use. The tea made in this way is very
good, and a teapot is dispensed with.
[42] Three excellent sermons referring to marriage, entitled “A Good
Wife God’s Gift,” “A Wife Indeed,” and “Marriage Duties,” were published
in the “Spiritual Watch” in 1622, by the eminent theologian, Thomas
Gataker, B.D. He was the author of many learned works, and his
annotations on “Marcus Antoninus” are well known to scholars. Thomas
Gataker was born in 1574, of a very old and ancient family, still
retaining their ancestral heritage of Gatacre, in Shropshire. The former
Hall of Gatacre was built of stone, three sides of the exterior of the
mansion being entirely covered with a glaze of greenish glass. It has
puzzled many to account for the method by which the walls received their
vitreous coating, effectually preserving the stone from the action of
the weather. The foundation of a building on the estate, where the glass
is supposed to have been made, still retains the name of the “Glass
House.” We have in our possession some of the stone, with its covering
of glass, given to us by one of the family. The roof of the mansion is
said to have been supported by an enormous oak tree, turned upside down.
This interesting relic of former ages was pulled down during the last
century, and replaced by the present large and spacious brick-built Hall
of the Gatacres of Gatacre.
[43] On the left of our road, by Brandvold and Söthorp, are the Espedal
Nikel Works, on the Espedal Vand, which belonged in 1853 to an English
company, who were said to employ as many as 500 hands, under the
management of Mr. Forbes, by whose energy the nikel mines were first
developed. The mines had many years previously been worked for copper.
The nikel ore falling in value, the Espedal Works were sold to a
Norwegian company. The scenery of the Espedal is wild and beautiful, and
the lake is well stocked with trout.
[44] To the gentlemen with three donkeys.
[45] Patron, Sundt’s Norwegian gipsy, signifying a leaf, a signal;
Patrin, Paspati’s Turkish gipsy, a leaf; Patrin, in the “Italien Lingua
Zingaresca” of Francesco Predari; Patrin, in Hoyland’s “English Gipsy;”
Patrin in Bischoff’s “Deutsch-Zigeunerisches;” Patrin, in the “German
Gipsy Vocabulary” of Dr. Liebich. Patrin is also given as German gipsy
by Grellmann. The word is used by gipsies, signifying a signal or sign
on the gipsy trail to indicate to other gipsies, who understand this
silent language, the route they have taken. The word is pronounced
occasionally with some slight variation, as patteran, patrin. Borrow, in
his admirable work, “The Zincali; or An Account of the Gipsies in
Spain,” vol. i., p. 37, uses “Patteran.” We have spelt the word as
nearly as possible as pronounced by the gipsies of our party. Patrins of
chor (gip. grass) are commonly put by gipsies. Some gipsies we have met
with used to put patrins for their favourite blind dog, “Spot,” when he
had strayed or lingered far behind. A few blades of grass or leaves
crushed in the gipsy female’s hand, and cast on the road, were scented
out by the blind animal, who ultimately reached the encampment. Spot
would occasionally remain all day in charge of the tents, and would
never steal a morsel of the hobben (food), though he were famishing;
“but,” said the gipsy female, “dogs brought up in the tents are like
nobody else’s dogs, and they know our language as well as we do
ourselves.” Poor Spot strayed one day, and, losing the trail, they never
saw him again.
[46] The gipsy word “chor,” signifying grass, is sometimes pronounced by
English gipsies like “chaw,” without the “r” being sounded. The
Norwegian gipsies use “Tjar”; the German gipsies, “Tschar.” Borrow gives
“chur’” as the Spanish gipsy for grass. The Italian gipsies use “char”
and “Tschar.”
[47] Gorgio--any person not a gipsy.
[48] Here was buried George Sinclair, the leader of the Scotch, after
having fallen at Kringelen, on the 26th August, 1812.
[49] A general shop.
[50] A work was published by Baxter, entitled, “The Certainty of the
Worlds of Spirits, fully evinced by Unquestionable Histories of
Apparitions and Witchcraft, Operations, Voices, etc. Written for the
conviction of Sadducees and Infidels, by Richard Baxter. London: Printed
for T. Parkhurst, at the ‘Bible and Three Crowns,’ Cheapside; and by J.
Sainsbury, at the ‘Rising Sun,’ over against the Royal Exchange. 1691.”
An ancient timbered house, the early residence of Richard Baxter, may
still be seen at Eaton Constantine, in Shropshire. Richard Baxter was
born at Rowton, in the parish of High Ercall, in the county of
Shropshire, 12th November, 1615, and received part of his education at
Donnington Grammar School, in the same county, where several
distinguished scholars, including the staunch Royalist, Dr. Allestree,
afterwards Provost of Eaton, were also educated. Baxter ministered
successively at Bridgnorth, Kidderminster, and other places. His mental
activity for literary production was extraordinary. Twenty thousand
copies of his “Call to the Unconverted” were sold in one year. Baxter
died 8th December, 1691, and was buried in Christ Church. “Baxter’s
House” (and about 100 acres of land) was purchased some years since by
William Hancocks, Esq., of Blake’s Hall, near Kidderminster, a
magistrate for the county of Salop.
[51] Bayard Taylor, in his work called “Northern Travel,” published in
1858, says: “Beyond Laurgaard, Gudbrandsdal contracts to a narrow gorge,
down which the Logan roars in perpetual foam. This pass is called
Rusten; and the road here is excessively steep and difficult.”
[52] Captain Campbell, in his useful work, “How to See Norway,” mentions
that a society is now formed at Christiania for the prevention of
cruelty to animals, called “Foreningen til Dyrenes Beskyttelse.”
[53] Gip. housekeeper.
[54] The expression “Gamle Norge” (Old Norway) is used in the same sense
as the saying “Old England.”
[55] Séñor Juan de Vega is the name assumed by a young English gentleman
of noble family, who wandered through England, Wales, Ireland, and
Scotland with his guitar, in the character of a Spanish minstrel, and
who not only entirely supported himself during his wanderings, by his
minstrelsy, but realised a surplus of £58, which he charitably presented
to the committee of Spanish officers, for the relief of the refugees,
then lately arrived from Portugal. His work, entitled the “Spanish
Minstrel’s Sketch Book,” in two volumes, containing a record of his
minstrel wanderings, was published for the author by Simkins and
Marshall, 1832.
[56] In French gipsy pronounced “Mutramangri.”
[57] Nor., play.
[58] Sometimes spelt Hoset and Holseth.
[59] We believe this is the same mountain called in the Guide Book
“Storhœtten.”
[60] Sometimes pronounced “Rinkenno.”
[61] 17th July.
[62] This large isolated mass of rock or stone, pitched on end, near the
roadway and river, a few yards from our camp, was sometimes called by us
the “Hanging Rock,” sometimes the “Hanging Stone,” and very often the
“Leaning Stone.” In future mention in these pages we shall call it the
“Leaning Stone.” This large stone was so overhanging on the side towards
Ormein, that it formed an excellent shelter for the traveller to rest
and light his bivouac fire. Occasionally the “Leaning Stone” brought to
mind the “Druids’ Stone” we once sketched, at Stanton, near Monmouth;
sometimes it reminds us of the famous “Boulder, or Bowder Stone,” in the
romantic gorge of Borrowdale, near “Castle Crag” and Derwent Water, in
Cumberland; but the “Bowder Stone” has this difference, that it
overhangs on both sides, and has a narrow aperture underneath, through
which two persons or lovers, joining hands, it is said, will have their
secret wish. Perhaps the Leaning Stone of the beautiful valley of the
Sjiriaglns has some such mystic power--who knows? We leave it to some
other wanderer over fjeld and fjord to discover.
[63] Alnus glutinosa.--This tree is often met with on the banks of the
rivers of England and Wales, as in Norway. Occasionally we have met, in
a secluded valley in Wales, a party of “cloggers,” who have bought a
quantity of this wood, and are converting it on the spot into clogs.
They are cloggers out for the summer. The alder wood is being worked up
under a light awning, or half-tent sort of abri, from the rain and sun.
The cloggers generally sleep at some house until the stock of wood is
converted into men’s, women’s, and children’s clogs, which are consigned
from time to time, by the nearest railway, to Lancashire. The alder wood
is valuable for piles for bridges, as it lasts long under water. The
Rialto at Venice is built on alder piles. The bark and leaves are useful
for dyeing and tanning leather, and in staining sabots in France, which
are also made of this wood. Alder wood is light in weight, and easily
worked. The dark bark and foliage of the spreading branches of the tree,
which overhangs the river’s edge, gives picturesque effect to many a
Norwegian river scene.
[64] What is meant by a czardas, or csárdás, as it is usually spelt in
the Hungarian language? It is a celebrated Hungarian dance. The Magyar
peasant seldom dances anything else. The csárdás is a national dance of
Hungary, as much as the sailors’ hornpipe is of England. We give the
following description of the csárdás, from the interesting work of
Arthur J. Patterson, “The Magyars; their Country and Institutions,” vol.
i., p. 194, published by Messrs. Smith, Elder & Co. in 1859:--“Its name
is the adjective form from “csárdá,” which designates a solitary public
house; an institution which plays a considerable part in all romantic
poems or romantic novels whose scene is laid in Hungary, as a fitting
haunt for brigands, horse-thieves, gipsies, Jews, political refugees,
strolling players, vagabond poets, and other melodramatic personages.
The music of the csárdás is at first slow, solemn, and, I may say,
melancholy. After a few bars, it becomes livelier, which character it
then keeps up, occasionally becoming very fast indeed, and at last ends
in a delirious whirl of confusion. The movements, of course, correspond.
The dance opens with a stately promenade; then, as the music quickens,
each couple take a twirl or two, and breaking away brusquely from one
another, continue a series of pantomimic movements, now approaching
coquettishly like parted lovers desiring reconciliation; then, as if the
lady thought she had given sufficient encouragement, she retreats with
rapid but measured steps, while her partner pursues, and, gradually
gaining on her, again seizes her waist; they whirl swiftly round two or
three times, and then, breaking away, continue the pantomime as before.
What makes the csárdás unrivalled is its variety. One seldom sees the
couples perform exactly the same figure at the same time.”
[65] The splendid vestiges of the Roman baths, called “thermæ,”
“banios,” or hot baths, at Rome, attest their former extent and
magnificence. The Romans began their bathing with hot water, and ended
with cold--the hot, “caldarium;” the tepid, “tepidarium;” the cold,
“frigidarium.” Vast numbers of magnificent baths were erected by the
Roman emperors. They had spacious porticos, rooms for athletic
exercises, halls for the declamation of poets and the lectures of
philosophers. Perhaps the most interesting remains of Roman baths in
England are those discovered in the buried city of Uriconium, or
Wroxeter, on the banks of the river Severn, about six miles from
Shrewsbury, in Shropshire. For an admirable account of this city,
supposed to have been taken by force, with much carnage, plundered, and
burnt, between about the year 420 and the middle of the fifth century,
we refer our readers to a work of great antiquarian research, published
in 1872, entitled, “Uriconium: A Historical Account of the Ancient Roman
City,” by Thomas Wright, M.A., F.S.A., &c., and also to the concise and
useful work, “The Roman City of Uriconium,” by J. Corbet Anderson. We
believe that the private subscriptions, although considerable, which
have been collected for excavation, are now all exhausted; and, unless
Government aid is given, it is improbable that the excavations, however
interesting, can be resumed. The number of relics of the buried city, a
very small portion of which has been explored, show the antiquarian, we
may say, historical importance of further research. Randall, in his
interesting and beautifully illustrated work, the “Severn Valley,”
published (1862) by Virtue, says--“As excavations proceed, the plan of
the city unfolds itself.... The forum, the baths, the market-place, and
the sites of public and private buildings become clear;” and again the
author says, “but with ruins, three miles in circumference, much remains
to be explored.
“All desolate lies Uriconium now,
The dust of ages piled upon his brow.”
[66] There is a favourite Hungarian melody, called by the Magyars the
“Rákótzy,” of which Paget, in his comprehensive work, in 2 vols.,
“Hungary and Transylvania,” published in 1855, says--“I am now more than
ever convinced that none but a gipsy band can do it full justice. The
effect of the melancholy, plaintive sounds with which it begins,
increased by the final discords which the gipsies introduce, and of the
wild burst of passion which closes it, must depend as much on the manner
of its execution as on the mere composition.”
[67] Fjord is pronounced Fee-or.
[68] Beautiful examples of the sidilia and piscina may be seen in
Dorchester Abbey Church, Oxfordshire. The small openings or windows at
the back of the niches are remarkable. Another interesting example of
the sedilia and piscina may be seen at Grafton Underwood,
Northamptonshire, where the niches have ogee heads, cinque-foiled.
[69] The largest number of chained Bibles we have seen are in the old
library of Wimborne Minster, in Dorsetshire. The library is also
interesting as associated with Matthew Prior, the poet.
[70] An eider-down quilt in London costs sometimes as much as five to
seven guineas.
[71] “A Summer and Winter in Norway,” by Lady Di Beauclerk, published by
Murray, 1868.
[72] A fifth edition of “The Gipsies: Their Origin, Continuation, and
Destination; or, the Sealed Book Opened,” by Samuel Roberts, was
published by Messrs. Longman, 1842.
[73] A comparison of many words of the Norwegian and English gipsy
languages, showing their similarity, is given in the appendix to this
book.
[74] Published Londres et Edinbourg: Williams and Norgate. 1857.
[75] Heinrich Moritz Gottlieb Grellman is the author of a standard work,
written in German, entitled, “A Dissertation on Gipsies.” A translation,
by Matthew Roper, Esq., F.R.S. and A.S., was published in 1787.
[76] Captain Campbell, author of the excellent and useful work on
Norway, published soon afterwards, entitled “How to See Norway.”
[77] The engraving of the valley of the Sjiriaglns Fjeld represents our
camp, near the “Leaning Stone.”
[78] So spelt in the Kristians Amt map; occasionally spelt Ormen.
[79] Piro is used in the Norwegian, German, French, Italian, Spanish,
and Turkish gipsy language to signify foot. In the Turkish gipsy, pinro,
pirno, and pindo are also used.
[80] Sœter is pronounced “saiter,” and, like the châlet in Switzerland,
affords rough accommodation on the cattle run, in the mountains, often
at a long distance from the valley farm to which it belongs. The cattle
are driven up from the valley, at the beginning of the summer, for
pasture, and the butter and cheese are made at the sœter. At the end of
the summer, the cattle are driven back to the valley farms, and housed
for the winter.
[81] We were more fortunate than Williams, who, during his knapsack
tour, lost his way when crossing over the Kjölen Fjeldene to Skeaker,
and was alone, without food or rest, for nearly twenty-four hours--page
202 of “Through Norway with a Knapsack.”
[82] Grona elv, green river.
[83] Reindeer pits, formed in the fjelds, for taking reindeer.
[84] New sœter.
[85] Of the Norwegian winged game, the “capercailzie,” or, as the male
bird is called in Norsk, “tiur,” is, perhaps the finest, varying from
nine to sixteen pounds in weight. They feed much on the cranberry, red
whortleberry, bilberry or bleaberry, wild strawberry, raspberry, and on
juniper berries, insects, and also on leaves of the Scotch fir and
spruce pine. Then there are the ptarmigan of two kinds--the “fjeld
rype,” mountain ptarmigan, and the “skov rype,” or wood ptarmigan; also
the “hjerpe,” hazle hen, hazle grouse--the handsomest of the grouse
species--the “aarfugl,” black cock or black grouse; also “raphöne,”
partridges; “vagtel,” quail; and “rugde,” woodcock. Partridges and
quails are not numerous. We refer those who wish to know more about the
game birds of Norway to a most complete and beautifully illustrated
work, “Game Birds and Wild Fowl of Sweden and Norway,” by L. Lloyd,
author of “Field Sports of Northern Europe,” published by Day & Son,
1867. Many of the beautiful illustrations of this work are by the
celebrated Swedish artist, the late M. Körner. Several excellent
woodcuts are by Wolf.
[86] “Rankny rackly,” pretty girl; sometimes pronounced “rinkenno” and
“rankno,” pretty. In the Italian gipsy, it is pronounced “rincano,”
bello.
[87] The following description is given of Lom Church in “Wild Life in
the Fjelds of Norway,” by Francis M. Wyndham, published by Longmans,
1861:--“The church is a very picturesque building, made entirely of
wood, even to the roof, which is composed of small pieces of wood,
shaped and laid on like tiles. A beautiful tapering spire rises from the
centre of the building, and forms no insignificant object in the view of
Lom.”
[88] In a recent guide book we notice that Prœsten Hallen is now
entitled Provsten Hallen.
[89] Beaver stream.
[90] Our guide, Ole, was commonly called “Ole Rödsheim,” from the name
of his farm and station; but his right name is Ole Halvorsen. Ole is
spoken of in Mr. Bennett’s Guide Book as a thoroughly honest,
trustworthy man. The author of “How to See Norway” says--“Ole Rödsheim
of Rödsheim is a justly celebrated guide.” The author of “Wild Life in
the Fjelds of Norway,” speaking of the station of Rödsheim,
says:--“Fortunately, however, in compensation for the delay, the station
was very clean and comfortable, and a _bonâ fide_ bed was not
unwelcome.”
[91] The mountain is said to be named after a farm at its base.--“How to
See Norway,” p. 48.
[92] This mountain was ascended for the first time on the 27th August,
1870, by Messrs. Browne and Saunders. An interesting account is given by
T. L. Murray Browne, in the “Alpine Club Journal” for February, 1871.
[93] An additional reason quite accounts for the rapid flight of the
night visitors. Esmeralda, who was with her brother, suddenly shouted
when she saw them, “Halloo! What are you doing there?” and preceded her
brother in the pursuit, which must have had a still more startling
effect on the exaggerated fancies of the fugitives.
[94] The “myse ost” is a cheese, shaped like a brick, yellowish brown in
colour, and very hard, with a peculiar flavour much relished. Small,
thin shavings are sliced off the cheese on to fladbröd and butter, and
so it is generally eaten. Occasionally the thin shavings of cheese are
eaten with gröd.
[95] Kop is the Norwegian for cup. Milk is often sold in Norway by the
kop.
[96] This immense glacier is also called “Smörstabben.”
[97] “Scenes from the Snow Fields, or the Upper Ice World of Mont
Blanc,” by Edmund T. Coleman, was published, at the cost of three
guineas each copy, by Messrs. Longman, in 1859. Mr. Coleman, who is
still a member of the English Alpine Club, has since extended his
travels to British Columbia and California. In 1868, in company with
Messrs. Ogilvy, Stratton, and Tennent, he finally succeeded in making
the first ascent of Mount Baker, and planting the American flag on its
highest peak, which he named “Grant’s Peak,” in honour of the President
of the United States. Mount Baker is 10,613 feet above the level of the
sea, and is the most northerly of the great cones of the Cascade range,
being only fourteen miles from the boundary line dividing America from
English possessions. Like another “snowy Olympus,” it towers above the
rest, as the sentinel of a solitary land. The justly celebrated and
successful American serial, “Harper’s New Monthly Magazine,” of
November, 1869, page 793, contains a most interesting article, entitled
“Mountaineering on the Pacific,” by Mr. Coleman, with numerous
engravings from Mr. Coleman’s drawings, descriptive of his successful
ascent. Illustrations and a paragraph referring to the ascent also
appeared 29th June, 1872, in a number of the _Illustrated London News_.
[98] So singular was the appearance of the ice cliff, rising on the
glacier and towering above us in the waning light of a Norwegian
summer’s eve, that after describing it to an Alpine traveller of much
experience, we wrote to our guide, and the following extract from Ole’s
letter, dated 12th April, 1872, may be interesting:--“I am apt to think
that the _Ice Cliff_, which I perfectly well remember, consists of rock
on the side we did not see. I can hardly believe it to be entirely of
ice. It certainly seemed so to us from the view we had at it; but there
must be rock on the other side, I should think.”
[99] Exposed to the heavy snows of winter and the storms of each
changing season, some of the frail bridges which span the mountain
torrent of many a deep and narrow gorge are very insecure. Many
districts are remote, and the bridges seldom used. This danger to
travellers has not escaped the attention of the Norske Turistforening. A
melancholy accident occurred, just before we left Norway, to a young
gentleman named Wright, travelling with his party in the north-west of
Norway. All had safely passed across a wooden bridge but his sister. She
was afraid to venture. Her brother was testing the stability of the
bridge to remove her fears, when a portion gave way. The tourist fell
with it into the torrent below, and lost his life. We were told he was
afterwards buried at Bergen.
[100] The Norwegian word “Elv” signifies a river; and “Aa” means a
rivulet.
[101] The “Alpine Club Journal,” February, 1871.
[102] Sometimes spelt “Uradal.”
[103] A description of this fall, with engraving, is also given in
Captain Campbell’s concise and useful work, “How to see Norway,”
published by Messrs. Longman and Co.
[104] When we visited the Rjukan fos some years since we were certainly
under the impression that the name applied to a rock on the face of the
precipice above the fall, where the lover slipped at the first meeting
after a long absence, and was lost in the abyss below. The name may
probably be derived from the footpath, which at that time was very
similar to a ladder, and Williams, in his work “Through Norway with a
Knapsack,” calls it “Marie Stige,” saying in a note, “stige” is the
Dansk and Norsk for ladder; and placing the article “en” at the end of
the word, as is usual, it becomes stigen, the ladder, hence the local
name, “Marie Stigen,” the Mary’s Ladder, which most English writers have
misunderstood or Germanized into “Marie Stein,” or Mary’s Rock; others
spell it “Marie Stegen,” which, translated, signifies Mary’s fry, Mary’s
roast meat. In Murray it is called Mari Stien. The legend has associated
a romantic interest with the Rjukan fos.
[105] It may be well to note that the Utladal Elv and the Aardal Elv are
the same river; and the Mörkfos is sometimes called the Vetje fos.
[106] Vand is the Norwegian for water in its general signification,
though it is often used as a term for lake, in the same way that the
English word “Water” is often used in Cumberland and Westmoreland
instead of Lake. Thus we have Wastwater, Ulleswater, Derwentwater,
Lowwater, Brotherswater, Devokewater, Crummockwater, Elterwater,
Leverswater, Smallwater, and Rydalwater. The Norwegian word for lake is
“söe” and “indsöe;” but “vand” (water) is most commonly used instead of
lake, as Losna Vand, Lejevœrks Vand, Otta Vand, Leir Vand, Melkedals
Vand, Tyen Vand, Rus Vand, Heimdals Vand, Vinster Vand, Espedals Vand,
Rœv Vand, and many other instances too numerous to enumerate.
[107] The Melkedals Brœen.
[108] The poet’s pantebrev, or mortgage, with a translation, is given in
the appendix.
[109] Before we left the Bygdin Lake, a rumour reached us, that the poet
Vinje was dead. His spirit had departed to some far-distant world. It
was quite true: Aasmund Olafsen Vinje died 30th July, 1870, at Sjo, in
the parish of Gran, Hadeland. He was born of poor parents, in the parish
of Vinje, in Thelemarken, about 1818. The exact year of his birth
appears to be doubtful. A soft and melancholy stillness seemed to
pervade the air, as if the departed spirit of the poet lingered near his
once favourite haunt. It glided silently over the Sletmarkhö, and was
for ever gone.
[110] This extensive mountain region, with its wild wilderness of peaks,
rising in fantastic form and sharp outline, especially the
Koldedalstind, Stölsnaastinder, Dryhaugtinden, Skagastölstinden, and
Styggedalstinder of Horungerne and Fleskenaastind, and Melkedalstind,
and others too numerous to mention, present a wide field of interest,
and at present are little known and seldom explored by the Norwegian
tourist.
[111] Don’t buy the fiddle, sir, if he does not take three dollars.
[112] Meaning in Romany a large fish. “Borrieck” is evidently derived
from “boro,” great. It is spelt “baro” in the Turkish gipsy. The word
“borrieck,” as used by our gipsies, meaning great, we have never met
with before.
[113] This author, by many ranked second to Shakspeare, was born 1574,
and rising by his own perseverance, and energy of mind, became, in 1619,
Poet Laureate. Many of the dramatic pieces of Jonson were masques
performed before the King and Court. Jonson, when he was appointed Poet
Laureate, made a journey on foot from London to Scotland. When met, it
is said, by Drummond of Hawthornden (to whom, amongst other friends, he
paid a visit), Drummond said, “Welcome, welcome, royal Ben!” to which
Jonson aptly replied, “Thank you! thank you, Hawthornden!” “The Masque
of Metamorphosed Gypsies” was presented to King James at “Burleigh,”
“Belvoir,” and Windsor. A printed copy we have is dated 1621. Jonson
wrote to the last; but, after some years of great literary success, and
prosperity, he died, 1637, in needy circumstances, and was buried in
Westminster Abbey, the only inscription on the poet’s tomb being “O rare
Ben Jonson!”
[114] Not unlike coarse rye bread, we have eaten in Germany, called
“Pumpernickel,” but whence the derivation of the name, we could never
ascertain.
[115] Bernadotte ascended the throne of Norway in 1818, as Carl John
XIV.; died 8th of March, 1844; was succeeded by his son, Oscar I., who
died 1859. His son ascended the throne as King Carl XV., who died 18th
September, 1872, and was succeeded by his brother, Oscar II., the
present king of Norway.
[116] Little Bang.
[117] Some gipsies have an idea that if they have their likenesses
taken, it does them an injury. We have known one gipsy who would not be
taken. On one occasion, when a gipsy had allowed his photograph to be
taken to oblige us, he said, “Well, sir, don’t you lose something from
you, and are never so well afterwards?”
[118] We were informed that the Remington rifle was generally used in
Norway.
[119] Shelley, the poet, during his tour in 1814, being at Paris,
purchased a donkey to carry his baggage, and, by turns, his two
_companions de voyage_, Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, and her relation, a
lady friend. They all proceeded towards Charenton, when Shelley, who
had, probably, made an indifferent purchase, discarded the donkey, and
bought a mule for ten napoleons. With many adventures, the party at
length reached Troyes, and Shelley, having sprained his ancle, the party
accomplished the rest of the journey in an open carriage.--“Shelley and
his Writings,” by Middleton. 1858. Shelley was born 1792, and was
drowned, 8th July, 1823.
[120] Spelt Bœgna Elv in the Kristians ampt map. Much difficulty occurs
with regard to the orthography of Norwegian names, which are very often
spelt differently, according to the map or guide-book in which they
appear.
[121] The tea-pot and kettle are both called by our gipsies “piri;” and
it is interesting to note that the Norwegian gipsies, according to
Prœsten Sundt, use piri to mean pot, and the Turkish gipsies also use
the same word piri, with the same signification.
[122] “Let us go to bed.” The French gipsies use “Wuddress,” bed.
[123] Good-night. “Cooshko,” “Cooshto” “Kosko” also used by the English
gipsies. “Cushty” is not used by the gipsies of some countries to
signify good; for instance, the French gipsies use “ladscho” and
“mischdo.” The Turkish gipsies use “latcho,” good, and the Norwegian
gipsies “lattjo,” good. Borrow, in his work, “The Zincali; or, an
Account of the Gypsies of Spain,” gives “kosko” as the English gipsy for
“good.” Colonel Harriot has given “kashto” and “kashko”; and for
“good-night,” “kashko rati,” as used by the gipsies of North Hampshire.
[124] The Norwegian gipsies use nearly the same word for soup, namely
“summin.”
[125] Vernon is a tall, powerful gipsy, in the prime of life, six feet
two inches high, who travels England and Wales with his tent. His name
was generally pronounced “Varnon” by our gipsy, Noah.
[126] In 1873, tall Noah had never heard of the name of Disraeli, the
author and the statesman. Noah thought he had heard of the name of
Gladstone, but did not know who he was. He had heard of Dickens; for he
kept a post-office in a country village, near which they sometimes
camped. We did not pursue our interrogatories any further!!
[127] Besides the Norwegian cheese, called “Myse Ost,” before described,
they have a very old, decayed kind of cheese, called “Gammel Ost,” which
is much esteemed in Norway.
[128] Where do you travel from?
[129] King’s View.
[130] Queen’s View.
[131] In a work, entitled “The Black Death in the Fourteenth Century,”
translated by Dr. Babbington from the German of Dr. Hecker, published in
1833 by A. Schloss, 109, Strand, London, it is stated that the contagion
was carried from England to Bergen, where the plague broke out in the
most frightful form, and throughout the country, not more than a third
of the inhabitants being spared. The sailors found no refuge in their
ships, and vessels were often seen, driven about, on the ocean, and
drifting on shore, whose crews had perished to the last man. This
reminds us of the skeleton crew of the “Glenalvon,” bound from
Charleston to Sydney, met with by Captain Martin, of the “Lancaster,” an
account of which appeared in the newspapers of last October. Such tales
of the sea, dreadful in their reality, are closely associated with the
Phantom ship said to sail the stormy seas near the Cape of Good Hope,
which has often furnished an interesting subject for the sailors’
night-watch yarns of spectral fancy.
[132] Mandy--me, myself.
[133] “Through Spain to the Sahara,” by Matilda Betham Edwards (the
authoress of “A Winter with the Swallows”), published 1868.
[134] Lieutenant Breton, R.N., in his “Scandinavian Sketches; or, A Tour
in Norway,” published, 1835, by J. Bohn, King William Street, Strand,
says, at page 50, with reference to Christiania, “Fifty-six English
visited the city last year.” The annual number of tourists since that
period have wonderfully increased.
[135] Pronounced “Teena,” a small wooden box, often used in Norway to
carry provisions.
[136] We have since been informed that, with the joint assistance of
some of the passengers, he was actually lifted upon one of the donkeys,
and left to enjoy a solitary steeplechase in the darkness of the smoking
saloon. It is also told that on this occasion John Smith, for once in
his life, lost his temper; but this seems so impossible, the statement
must be received with considerable doubt.
[137] Some interest may be felt in the fate of our gallant and beautiful
Puru Rawnee. She has since died in one of the green lanes of England.
She was in foal. Our gipsies did all they could to save her. A
neighbouring farmer permitted the gipsies to bury her in a quiet corner
of a field on his farm. She is now no more.
[138] Horungerne.--In the Norwegian language “er,” placed at the end of
of a word, makes the plural, and the further addition of “ne” gives the
article “the.” We have used the article “the” before Horungerne, though
not necessary, because, to English readers, the sound is better.
[139] Monsieur Bataillard, at the conclusion of his clever work,
“Nouvelles Recherches sur l’Apparition et la Dispersion des Bohémiens en
Europe,” inclines to the belief, that, for the complete solution of the
question of the origin of the gipsies, it is necessary to extend
investigations to Africa.
[140] Nearly 2,000 miles.
[141] “Yog,” the English gipsy word for fire; the Norwegian gipsy being
“jag.”
[142] “An account of the Gipsies of Norway,” both editions, of 1850 and
1852, are exactly the same in title, number of pages, and contents. We
had not seen the first edition of 1850 until after page 13 of this work
was printed.
[143] We have been told that the Norwegian gipsy is sometimes called an
“earth-digger.” Possibly at times, in winter, they may shelter
themselves in holes as some of the gipsies do in Transylvania. We have
only been able to ascertain one instance of “gipsy earth dwellings” in
England. Our informant, now advanced in life, remembers, when shooting
in the winter, about the year 1818, on Finchley common, near London, to
have seen excavations in the common used as dwellings by gipsies. One
kind of earth-dwelling, he remembers, was formed by sinking a deep hole,
from the bottom of which an excavation made at right angles served the
gipsies for sleeping purposes. Another kind of earth-dwelling he then
remembers was an oblong excavation, at no very great depth, below the
surface of the soil, having an arched covering above ground formed with
branches cut from the pollard oaks near, and covered with turf. In a
paper read before the Anthropological Society of London, by Dr. R. S.
Charnock, F.S.A., F.R.G.S., on the 4th May, 1866, entitled “The peoples
of Transylvania,” an interesting account is given of the gipsies
inhabiting that country. Dr. Charnock says that the gipsies of
Transylvania ordinarily dwell in tents in the summer, and their winter
habitation are holes in the earth which they excavate for the purpose.
The holes are usually from eight to twelve feet deep. Dr. Charnock also
says that many of the gipsies have fixed habitations in Transylvania,
and keep wine shops and public-houses. The dwellings are usually situate
on the outskirts of a town or village. Some dwell in the suburb of the
capital of Vásárhely. A little hill outside the town of Klausenberg is
covered with gipsy dwellings. The located gipsies are generally honest,
and their females virtuous. Many of the located gipsies are skilled in
music. Dr. Charnock states that the number of gipsies in Transylvania is
variously estimated at 78,923 and 60,000.
[144] Our enquiries incline us to believe that in England gipsies
usually seek the baptismal rite for their children, and that their dead
are generally buried in consecrated ground. On some occasions the
attendance at a funeral has been large, and a tomb or grave-stone
erected to the memory of the gipsy who sometimes was said to be a gipsy
king, as, for instance, James Boswell, buried at Rossington, near
Doncaster, 1708-9; also the instance of a gipsy said to be a gipsy king
mentioned in “Notes and Queries” as having been buried at West Winch,
Norfolk. In the “Gentleman’s Magazine” mention is made of Henry Boswell,
said to be a gipsy king, who died in affluent circumstances, and was
buried in 1687, at the parish of Wittering. We are also informed that a
grave-stone marks the grave of a gipsy in the churchyard of Winchcombe,
Gloucestershire. In the churchyard of Calne, Wiltshire, a handsome tomb
was erected to the memory of Inverto Boswell, said to have been the son
of a gipsy king, who was buried there, 1774. In “Notes and Queries,”
series 4, vol. 4, page 206, it is stated that a grave-stone erected on
the grave of a gipsy buried in the churchyard of Coggeshall, Essex, has
the following inscription:--
“In
Memory of
CASSELLO CHILCOTT,
Who died in this Parish,
Sept. 29, 1842,
Aged 28 Years.
Cassello Chilcott truly was my name,
I never brought my friends to grief or shame;
Yet I have left them to lament. But why
Lament for death? ’Tis gain in Christ to die!”
We could cite many other instances, if space permitted; and we believe
that the non-burial of their dead in consecrated ground in England has
occurred only under very exceptional circumstances.
[145] Gipsies have occasionally attained to a very advanced period of
life. Margaret Finch, who, during the greater part of her life, wandered
over England, at length settled at Norwood, and died at the age of 109.
Her fame as a fortune-teller brought many visitors to her camp to
consult her, and she had the title of queen of the gipsies. She was
buried at the parish of Beckenham, in Kent, on the 24 Oct., 1740. Her
funeral was said to be attended by two mourning coaches, a funeral
sermon was preached on the occasion, and a great concourse of people
attended her funeral. It is stated in “Dugdale’s England and Wales,”
that, from the habit of sitting on the ground with her chin resting on
her knees, her sinews at length became so contracted, she could not rise
from that posture, and after her death they were obliged to enclose her
body in a deep square box. At an inn called the “Gipsy House,” at
Norwood, her picture adorned the sign-post. Another instance is that of
“Liddy the Gipsy,” who not many years since wandered through Radnorshire
and the adjoining counties. She is said to have danced at a wedding at
the age of 100. Towards the close of her life, she travelled with a
knife-grinder, sleeping at the towns on her route. She was of active,
restless, blithesome temperament, and was lost in a snow drift whilst
crossing through Radnor Forest, at the age, it was said, of 104. We
afterwards questioned one of her people, and he said she was only 102.
[146] A dot over the n denotes a nasal, as in French, mon, bon.
[147] This government proclamation is noticed by the Rev. Frederick
Medcalfe in “The Oxonian in Thelemarken,” vol. 1, page 160, who says--“I
make a point in all these spots of examining any printed notice that I
may come across as being likely to throw light on the country and its
institutions. Here, for instance, is a government ordinance of 1855
about the Fantefolk, otherwise Tatare or gipsies. From this I learn that
some fifteen hundred of these Bedouins are moving about the kingdom,
with children, who, like themselves, have never had Christian baptism or
Christian instruction. They are herewith invited to settle down, and the
government promises to afford them help for this purpose; otherwise,
they will still be called ‘gipsies,’ and be persecuted in various ways.”
[148] A dot over the _n_ denotes a nasal, as in French, _mon_, _bon_.
[149] The poet’s right name is Aasmund Olafsen Vinge. The poet has
signed “Olsen” instead of “Olafsen,” probably because the name would not
scan otherwise in the last line. The poet is said to have been born, 6
April, 1818, in a poor cottage (huusmands plads) in the parish of Vinge
Thelemarken.
In his early youth his library consisted of his Bible, some of Holberg’s
works, and a few religious books. Most of his early days were spent in
tending goats and cattle in the woods, where he received those strong
impressions of the wonders of nature and the beauties of mountain
scenery which formed the poet of after-years. When he was grown up, he
received sufficient instruction to become a teacher at Mandal, where he
studied navigation and commerce.
At a comparatively late period of life, in 1850, when he was 32 years of
age, he entered as a student of the university of Christiania, and,
taking his degree in law, commenced practice as a solicitor.
The poet, as might be expected, was little suited to the practical
requirements of the profession, and his peculiar views placed him in
antagonism with the state of literature, religion, and politics of the
time. The Danish book-language spoken by the educated classes, and now
used as the language of literature, did not please him; and he
strenuously advocated a return to the old Norsk or Icelandic language.
Through the interest of friends, Vinge had obtained an appointment in a
government office, which gave him the absolute necessities of life; but
this he lost in consequence of his persistent attacks upon the unity of
Norway and Sweden under one king, forgetting that the union of the two
countries gives them an additional element of power in the north.
In 1858 Vinge published a weekly periodical, the “Dolen,” which, with
occasional interruptions, he continued for eight years, contributing
articles on various subjects, almost entirely written in the ancient
Norsk. In this periodical most of his poetry was first published.
As a poet, he is said to excel more particularly in idylls; and as a
prose author, by his genial humour. During a residence in Scotland and
England in 1862 and 1863, he wrote in English “A Norseman’s View of
Britain and the British,” published 1863. With much originality of
thought, it is encumbered with false conclusions and extreme views. The
work consists of a series of sixteen letters, and is most interesting as
an analysis of the poet’s mind, who might have cast his fate on more
peaceful waters. They are in striking contrast with “De l’Avenir
politique de l’Angleterre (England’s political future) par le Comte de
Montalembert,” published 1856. Yet, withal, there is a freshness in the
northern poet’s views. They are the real emanations of real and earnest
thought, and so command respect, attention, and consideration. Of the
society of England, we are sorry to say, Vinge took a desponding view,
forgetting, as the lofty mind of Milton speaks--
“Orders and degrees jar not with liberty,
But well consist.”--
In his letters on England, Vinge, in order to give a melancholy
illustration of the state of society, alludes to the true but romantic
marriage of the Lord Burghley, who, staying at a country village in
Shropshire as a landscape painter, under the assumed name of Jones,
married, in 1791, being then about the age of 37, a country maiden named
Sarah Hoggins. After their marriage, Lord Burghley becomes Marquess of
Exeter in 1793, and takes his wife, to her surprise, to his magnificent
mansion of Burghley House, near Stamford Town, where she afterwards dies
in 1797. The incident is described in one of the most beautiful poems
Tennyson has ever written. Vinge, whilst he admires the poem, sees much
to deplore in the fact that such a state of society should exist, in
which a village maid, when she married a nobleman, should feel
oppressed, to use the words of Tennyson,
“With the burthen of an honour
Unto which she was not born.”
Vinge forgets that the village maiden may have done worse in her own
position of life. It was quite within the range of possibility for her
to have a husband, who, when occasionally inebriated, might sometimes
give her a good beating, or indulge in language not suited to the poetry
of Vinge. The poet also overlooks the fact that Lord Burghley gave an
honourable love to the village maid. He did not deceive her, but, as
Tennyson beautifully describes--
“An’ a gentle consort made he;
And her gentle mind was such,
That she grew a noble lady,
And the people loved her much.”
Nor did the Lord Burghley forget the maiden’s relatives and friends; but
made a most ample provision for them. One feels some pride that in
England a respectable village girl, whose countenance is said to have
expressed sensibility, purity, and happiness, should have had that
respect due to her change of rank, and be received at court, where her
quiet, unassuming manners are said to have been much admired by her
Majesty Queen Charlotte. “But,” says Vinge, “she was not born to honour.
There is the deep cause of all the mischief, and it is no burlesque; on
the contrary, it is very pathetic.”
Still we do not see any reason for the poet’s complaint; and though the
Lady of Burghley died early, the Marquess did not long survive her, for
he died in 1804, and society could not have had anything to do with his
death. The present Marquess and Earl of Exeter is their grandson. In
allusion to the death of the Lady of Burghley, the poet laureate
concludes:--
“So she droop’d and droop’d before him,
Fading slowly by his side;
Three fair children first she bore him,
Then before her time she died.
Weeping, weeping late and early,
Walking up and pacing down,
Deeply mourned the Lord of Burghley,
Burghley House by Stamford Town.
And he came to look upon her,
And he looked at her and said--
‘Bring the dress, and put it on her,
That she wore when she was wed.’
Then the people, softly treading,
Bore to earth her body, drest
In the dress that she was wed in,
That her spirit might have rest.”
Vinge has also published a collection of poems, sketches of travels,
scraps of poetry and prose, and a long epic poem called “Store Gut” (the
big boy). Lastly he published “Vaar Politik” and “Om Professor
Schweigaard.” The last named work he had just published when he died, 30
July, 1870. Vinge was one of those visionary poets who would take
society up by the roots and plant it branches downwards, expecting it to
thrive and flourish. It seldom answers in nature; but then poets cannot
be judged by the standard of ordinary men. Shelley and Vinge were of
such. His life was an unbroken struggle. He was a highly intellectual
and most interesting man. In Gran churchyard, Hadeland, rest the remains
of Aasmund Olafsen Vinge.
[150] Home of the giants.
[151] “Livet i Felten. Uddrag af en Loeges Dagbog i Sommern 1848.”
Published at Copenhagen. 1849.
[152] Probably misprint for Marschen.
[Transcriber’s Note:
Obvious printer errors corrected silently.
Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation are as in the original.]