THE CAMBRIDGE TRANSLATION, OR BOTHER- GILES SCROGGINS courted Molly Brown, Ri fol de riddle lol de ree, The fairest wench in all our town, Fol de rol de riddle lol de rido. But scissors cuts as well as knives, Poor Molly laid her down to weep, The ghost then said all solemnly, “ Oh, Molly, you must go with I, All in the grave your love to cool." Says she, "Why I'm not dead yet, you fool," The family name was evidently Σκρωγινς, and Agidius the proper name, not merely denoting an Agidiote, or dweller in the Επτα Οδοι. If, however, the parentage of Sanctus Ægidius, whom we vulgarly call St. Giles, can in any way be traced to this worthy, the Oxford tractists, and others curious in the more obscure parts of hagiology, will probably take up the question. Can you tell horrible MARVELL. Saw! What? Don't roll your eyes in that Can you tell horrible way. What did you see? HUMPHREY. I thought I saw, exactly behind Marvell's chair, looking awfully cadaverous, as much as to imply, "What infernal orgies are these? Is it out of such heated brains, reeking with the fumes of scalded nutmegs and hissing cardinals, the First Number of the Story-Teller is to be produced? and Publication Day already tinging the sky?"-they seemed to say What? Who? sunny MARVELL. HUMPHREY. Messrs. Cunningham and Mortimer! The twinkle was gone clean out of Mr. Cunningham's eyes, and the small bright smile that plays so pleasantly about the dimples of his mouth, was vanished, and a strange darkness seemed to sit upon his face, which was all the more remarkable because it was so unlike the quiet merriment of its ordinary expression. Then Mr. Mortimer seemed fairly stricken with a wondrous fear. His thoughtful, carnest, and benevolent features, so genial and kindly, and withal, so ready to break out into a swirl of gleesomeness, had a carked and ram-feezl'd look which paralyzed me; and then I thought, all of a sudden, after gazing down upon us in a most glassy and dismal manner, that they turned round slowly, till they came face to face to each other, and then raising their arms over their heads, they gradually melted away into smoke. Hech! but I trembled at that, and my skin dreeped with showers of perspiration, and I felt as if I was whipped up out of our boozing, and dropped in a Scotch mist by the ruins of Alloway-kirk; and I could think of nothing but the brownies with their iron flails thrashing me in the dead of the night, and the bogles glintin' at me through the ragged thorns in the dreary darkness, and the shricking kelpies roaring down upon me in a thunderstorm; and and-there they are again!-avaunt!--I sce them-I see them-I see them again— The drowsy night grows thick and fast upon Our fellow Tale-Bearers are already coiled up in muzzy sleep upon their chairs. us. HUMPHREY. Hoolie! hoolie !—the sonorous music of their dream is broken by the tramp of the patrol. One bumper more to the Story-Tellers-and thenand then (The Breguet tumbles with a tinkling crash out of the bronze tower; the oxydator goes out like a flash in the heavens on a starless night; the company is plunged into profound darkness: and the First Festival is over.) THE CHATELAIN OF WINDECK. FOR this free, spirited, and graceful version of a German ballad, we are indebted to a skilful hand, that will often, we hope, confer its brightness on these pages. Of all the good wishes and encouraging words, freighted with prophecies of triumph, that have reached us from every point of the compass, hardly any circumstance has so agreeably confirmed the confidence with which we enter upon our pleasant labours, as the correspondence of the contributor, who furnishes this avant courier of many communications. We have much to say about the taste, genius, and rare acquirements of the writer; but all this must be reserved for a more fitting moment. In the mean while the prosperous gale fills our canvass, and with a thousand cordial acknowledgments "to all friends round the wrekin," we launch our bark upon the waters. Bas Murgfraulein von Windeck. THE CHATELAIN OF WINDECK. FROM L. CHAMISSO. "Beware-beware, Sir Eberhart! To Windeck flies, with windlike speed." 'Twas lone, and silent as the dead, Fierce burn'd the sun in noontide glowWith deep-drawn breath of secret dread, He dried the damp drop from his brow. "Here," he cried, " in this shatter'd hold, "Where echo'd once harp, laugh, and song, "Would I could find the wine-flask old, "And festal cup unused so long." The light word o'er his lip hath flown- Within the turret gray and lone, He hears a gentle footstep sound. A noble maiden-wondrous fair- Her snowy hand the wine-cup bright. He gazed upon her clear deep eyes, And hair in golden tresses strayingHe clasp'd his hands, with vows and sighs For love, to meet his passion, praying. She looked upon him-still and mute And ever since that fatal day, Old Windeck's roofless halls he haunted,In hopeless longing pined away And aye, for joy all vainly panted. He linger'd on, of all forlorn Save mem'ry of that waking dream, When weary month and years were gone, Wallgank. THE STROLL BY THE MOAT. TRANSLATED FOR THE STORY-TELLER BY WALTER K. KELLY. [The original of the following ballad will be found in Firmenich's Germaniens Völkerstimmen: it belongs to Jeverland, an appendage to the duchy of Oldenburg. The language is a sub-dialect of Nether Saxon.] ROUND Sparenboerg hall the moat is wide, And heavy it is with the heart of each Now stillness falls on the twilight world, On tiptoe the eve is coming, Steal whispers low through the gloaming. 'Tis the fresh cool breeze of the autumn eve On the broad moat's margin bending. And the oaks, the water, the willows and all, 'Oh, cold, how cold is it with the world, And the rippling wavelets, the yellow oak-leaves 'Swifter than we time hies away,' And the cold earth buries all gladness!' The youth and the maid have the voices heard, THE THREE KNOCKS. and an earnest look, over dying embers in an THE THREE KNOCKS: A BERKSHIRE LEGEND. Heart the unwilling protection of her aunt. READER, the following is a veritable GhostStory. We are far from desiring to disturb any man's faith, or want of faith, in supernatural matters; but we wish it to be understood that this direct statement of a very strange occurrence comes to us with such a weight of authority as to place the main fact beyond all doubt. At the beginning of the last, or close of the preThe tradition, which now for the first time finds ceding century, a very skilful and eminent apoits way into print, has been preserved carefully thecary and surgeon resided in the outskirts of in the locality where the circumstances took Newbury, as much beloved for his social qualities as place; and, perhaps, the most remarkable inci- he was valued for his knowledge of his profession. dent connected with it is, that, unlike most derly maiden lady of slender fortune, and of a sour Amongst his patients and acquaintance, was an elsimilar traditions, it has retained its original and avaricious temper; these qualities were insimplicity unimpaired. It is here related ex- creased by a burden thrown upon her, which, actly as it happened, affording presumptive proof sordid as was her nature, she could not avoid. An of the sincerity of the belief in which it is held. improvident brother died insolvent, and a beautiful It seems to have been kept sacred from the ex-girl of sixteen, his only child, was left entirely to aggerating influences of superstition, with a reverent sense of the distinction to be observed between an idle legend, and a well-attested narrative of an actual, though startling, event. If we were at liberty to grace our pages with the name of the accomplished lady from whom we have derived this story, it would at once stamp the credibility of the tradition, and greatly enhance the interest of its perusal. We may observe, however, in proof of its authenticity, that the maternal family of the lady communicating the tale resided in or near Newbury since the time of the civil wars; when Lord Falkland was entertained at the house of its representative, a principal burgess of the town, on the eve of the first battle of Newbury, in 1643. Under the presentiment of his death, Lord Falkland requested that the sacrament might be administered to him before retiring to rest, and that his host and the whole household might participate in the rite. For details the reader may be referred to a work recently published by Messrs. Hall and March, of Newbury, on the antiquities of the town. Nothing could have been easier than to have wrought a vivid dramatic tale out of this legend; but the process would have utterly spoiled its reality. The reader will thank us for presenting it to him in the very words in which it has been related to us. If the purpose be to make the reader look back over his shoulder, and pause to say, "there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in our philosophy!" it is best in its present round unvarnished state. It bears internal evidence of a deep and serious conviction in the mind of the narrator, of circumstances heard in childhood from undoubted authority: in fact one fancies it pronounced in confidence with a low voice should have my dear, what really ails you, your aunt's treatOne day, when alone with her, he said—“ I see, ment is killing you by inches,-I can do nothing for you, unless you will accept such a home as I can give you: if you can overlook the great disproportion in age, I think I could make it a happy home; comfort in my power to afford you, and at least it will be a happier life than that you lead at present." The young woman gratefully accepted the offer;-they were married, and for two years no persons could have been apparently better suited to each other, though the difference in age was more than thirty years. you every At that period the surgeon received a letter from an intimate friend, an eminent physician in London, boarder for a few weeks, a young gentleman in requesting as a favour that he would receive as a whom he felt a particular interest: he described him as one highly talented and informed, who had by great industry and application attained considerable eminence at the bar, but whose health had sunk under the intense labour he had undergone through the winter; that consumptive symptoms had appeared, and nothing was likely to save his life but total rest from business, a change to good air, and the regular superintendence of a skilful medical man; and, knowing the skill and kindness of his friend, the airy situation of his house, and its capability to ac commodate an inmate, he ventured to solicit an ad- as it was interesting; the invalid was attractive in person, and in every way formed to win the affections; he found his young companion (who by her husband's continual absence during his professional employment was continually alone with him) full of natural talent, but wholly uninformed; he took great delight in improving her mind, read and conversed with her, and every day increased their mutual interest in each other. Unhappily the young lawyer had imbibed many dangerous and sceptical opinions, -these he imparted to his pupil, and amongst others the total unbelief of a future state was impressed on her mind by the strong conviction he professed to entertain on the subject. He remained through the summer months, and having much recovered his health, returned to town to resume his profession, leaving his unhappy victim a prey to melancholy, and unable to attend to the duties she had before so cheerfully fulfilled. The husband was grieved at the change, but wholly unsuspicious of the cause. A few weeks of active employment brought on a return of consumption, and again the surgeon was applied to, and again received the destroyer of his peace, and bestowed every attention on a case which he was soon aware was hopeless. The unhappy young man had also a similar persuasion, and his mind appeared to suffer still more than his frame: doubts and terror arose, and he continually held conversations with the wife, in which he stated these new impressions, and told her his greatest misery arose from the idea that he had perverted her religious principles, and that he should have to answer for the destruction of her soul as well as his own. But he frequently repeated, "If there be a future state, and a final judgment, and if it be possible for a departed spirit to return to earth, you shall have some warning when I am dead, which may decide your opinion." A few weeks of great bodily and mental suffering terminated in his death; his unwearied nurse received his last breath, and with it a renewal of the solemn pledge he had before given. Worn down by grief and fatigue, she was unable to follow to the grave, but the good and unsuspecting husband, willing to show every regard to the dead, made the whole of his small establishment attend the burial. She was left alone in her agony. During the latter part of the invalid's life, when he was seated in the chair by the fireside, a cane was placed across the arm, with which he used to summon his watchful friend, when her domestic business took her away for a short time. At that period bells were not in common use; three distinct strokes on the floor gave the signal of her being wanted in the sick room, and it was promptly obeyed. A short time had elapsed after the funeral procession had disappeared, when she was roused from her stupor of grief by hearing in the room above the three strokes of the cane loudly and deliberately given. She started up, looked to the apartment, and on approaching the fireplace saw the cane which she had that very day placed in the corner of the room, leaning against the arm of the chair in the same position it had so long occupied in the life of her lover. When her husband returned from the church she was found cold and insensible, and stretched on the hearth, on which she had fallen after her conviction that the pledge had been redeemed, the promised warning given. When she recovered her senses, she requested to be left alone with her husband, and falling on her knees confessed every thing which had passed, and supplicated his forgiveness: it was granted by the kind-hearted old man, and with expressions of blame to himself for having exposed so young a creature to such a danger. She then requested to see the clergyman, who was a venerable and excellent man; to him also she made a full confession, and expressed the entire change of opinion which had been effected by the warning she had received. Whether her long attendance on a person in confirmed consumption had infected her with the disease, or whether grief and remorse acted fatally on a constitution naturally delicate, cannot now be known, but in little more than three months she sunk into an early grave. There is a tradition in the Waterford family not unlike this, sustained by evidence as clear, connected and conclusive, as, perhaps, it is posThe curious sible to procure in such cases. reader will find it in Hibbert's book, and other works relating to apparitions, visions, and dreams. We could relate another story, quite as strange, resting upon living testimony-but we reserve it, for many reasons, for a future time. We are also in possession of full and minute details of a still more extraordinary series of unexplained noises, continued for many months, until they became as familiar as voices, and could not be accounted for by any deception of heard by a whole household; so that they the imagination. This singular train of circumstances was made the subject of a judicial investigation, the most remarkable of its kind upon record. All the individuals concerned are, we believe, still living-except one, after whose death the noises entirely ceased. The high character of the persons upon whose attestations these facts were established, the unanimity of their depositions, and the impossibility of any thing like confederacy or collusion in the production of sounds which baffled every attempt at discovery, or even imitation, invest the whole case with a peculiarly solemn and painful interest. We may hereafter place the particulars of this almost incredible history before the readers of the STORY-TELLER; but not until we have procured the sanction of individuals whose feelings might, otherwise, be distressed by the disclosure. |