When lo! before he had proceeded far, his old walking staff put forth green sprouts and leaves from the bark, and burst forth into flower, fresh and roseate as the apple-blossom. Then the prelate knew how this was a sign from Heaven to preach the blessed doctrine of salvation in a more kindly spirit. Hastening back to the wailing river-sprite, he showed him the blossoming staff, and said, "Look now, my staff has become green and blossoming as a sprig in a flower-garden; thus shall hope blossom in the hearts of all creatures; 'for the Redeemer liveth.'" Then the sprite took up his golden lyre again, and, during the long cold night, joyous tones resounded along the shores of the river.

"So you see, sir," added the old man, "mermaids and sprites are not looked upon as 'unholy' in Skåne." *

He then hurried me off to the churchyard, to see the spot where Harald Hein† lay, a rounded stone sculptured with a simple cross, the oldest monument in the province. "A good and pious king," he remarked, "far better than Knud the Holy, about whom people make such a fuss, and the elder brother too." The rustic was proud of his king, buried in his own parish, and rightly preferred him to all others.

But the kammerjunker had made faces to some purpose -he had gained an idea; bounding from a grave-top, he shakes his stick at an urchin loitering by, whispers something in his ear, then roaring out, "Spring, spring!" off the child goes, and disappears.

I was lingering in the little crypt below, a gem of its

This legend, and many daily related by the peasants, are published in Afzelius and other Swedish collections.

↑ Harald Hein, eldest son of Svend Estridson, obiit 1080.

day, with small stone well, and columns, some plain, some sculptured, others again clustered, and resting on the backs of fabulous monsters undescribed by Cuvier, when suddenly from the loft above burst forth the solemn strains of the organ-a relic of the kloster's better days-touched by a skilful hand. The performer went on for an hour or more, passing from one chant to another-old, forgotten church music, such as one hears played by the monks in some convent choir of Italy. Looking up from the crypt below, there stood the kammerjunker calm and subdued; the nerves of the madman, like those of Saul, were solaced by the charms of music. And there I sat dreaming on by the side of that stone fountain, peopling the old crypt of Dalby with figures of days gone by-monks telling their beads at the altar's foot-pious pilgrims quaffing the healing water of the well; and was just in the act of bricking up a nun with a loaf of bread and a pitcher of water—and that to my intense satisfaction, for I felt she deserved it-when the organ ceased, and I found myself once more restored to dull reality.

CHAPTER VI.

Löberod-Macadam in Sweden - Snapphanarna the guerillas of Skåne - Origin of the De la Gardies-Love tale of Ebba Brahe and the great Gustavus Magnus, the gunstling of Queen Christina Charles XII.'s rocking-horse — Genealogy of Erik XIV.

LÖBERÖD.

WE had an invitation to Löberöd, the residence of Count de la Gardie, but really despaired of ever getting there, for every citizen of Lund is a small farmer on his own account-a two days' rain had set all agriculture in commotion, every horse was engaged. After two days' search a carriage was procured, and we started on our expedition.

When the late king Oscar announced to M. Troïll his nomination as governor of Malmöhus-län, he made use of the following words: "Je vous envoie, monsieur, à la plus belle perle de ma couronne." The king was right. It was when travelling through Skåne, towards the close of the last century, that Macadam first conceived his new ideas of road-making. One hundred and fifty years since a governor of the province constructed from Malmö to Ystad so excellent a chaussée, that it lasted for fifty years without once requiring repair. The road was formed of the small stones such as you see scattered about over the fields. Macadam, on his return to England, published a pamphlet on the subject, and afterwards invented the stone-crushing process, which in

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Sweden was unnecessary. Before arriving at Löberöd we quitted the carriage to visit a ravine, with purling stream and hanging woods; an accidental crack in the plateau, once a stronghold of the Snapphanarna,* who dwelt here, says tradition, in a cave under ground. Snapphanarna is a name almost forgotten save by the peasantry of Skåne, who still hand down, from father to son, romantic stories of their daring.

It was during the 17th century, when Charles XI. first assumed the reins in Skåne, and war broke out again with Denmark, that the peasants, to whom the memory of Danish rule was grateful, formed themselves into guerilla bands under this name of Snapphanarna, to aid in shaking off the Swedish yoke. Hiding in caves and forests-admirable marksmen-they picked off the Swedish soldiers with skill worthy of Tyrolean sharpshooters, and laid waste the country in all directions; indeed, they found the occupation so pleasant and exciting, they continued their depredations long after the war was over. No force could put them down; they flitted about as phantoms, appearing to bear charmed lives. Like the brigands of Calabria, they carried off not only ladies, but pastors in the very performance of their duties, compelling the parishioners to pay their ransoms. But they have had their day, and are now well-nigh forgotten.

Löberöd stands on a plain, richly wooded; through the park runs a winding lake, dug by Baron Ramel in the last century. Possessed of vast estates in Skåne

* Snapphanar, derived from the German word Schnappen (to snatch away), and origin of the French word Chenopin. They first made their appearance in Skåne about 1644.

(Löberöd among the number), the baron summoned his peasants together on a given day, pickaxe and shovel in hand: the fiat went forth, and before the following night the lake was completed. We are now in a horsebreeding country; each noble possesses his own "haras;” and in the stables of Löberöd are brood-mares, colts, fillies, and yearlings; many well-bred, by English sires, showing far more blood than is usually met with in the north of Europe.

The house boasts of no architectural pretensions; but the library, archives, and objects of historic interest, are inferior to none in Sweden. The name of De la Gardie is known to all who have studied the history of the great Gustavus.

Pontus de la Gardie, a cadet de famille (Gascon or Provençal, judging from his portrait-swarthy complexion, and pointed face-vrai type du Midi), was originally intended for the priesthood. Quitting his convent, he joined the forces sent by Henry II. of France to quell the riots in Scotland during the regency of Queen Margaret. Having entered the service of Frederik of Denmark, he was taken prisoner (1565) by the Swedes, and finally served under Erik XIV. He espoused the natural daughter of John III., Sophia Gyllenhjelm-no beauty; but she was a king's daughter-the connection was good; and from that moment the family, taking deep root, forms part and parcel of Swedish history.*

Gyllenhjelm (golden helmet) was the name assumed by the bâtards du sang of the Wasa dynasty. There exists a letter from King John (date 1577) in which he grants to his illegitimate children a patent of arms-"parlantes "-after the manner of the day; for John was of an heraldic turn, and looked to such matters. John had three