rocking-horse of Charles XII. stands in the gallery; and tabourets wrought in flowers by the fair fingers of Aurora Königsmark seem fresh as yesterday. Against a portal hung the celebrated genealogy painted by Erik XIV.-with the arms and alliances of his ancestry -proving him to be no mean artist. There was the cup of ivory, richly sculptured and mounted, presented to De la Gardie by the town of Prague, with cabinets, and trophies of that eventful period-historic miniatures, far too numerous to mention. * The album of Henrik Ramel, tutor to Denmark's fourth Christian, in which King James I. inscribed his favourite adage "Est nobilis ira leonis,"— as well as the autographs of his spouse Queen Anne and all the Danish royalties-was not forthcoming; it has disappeared, and nobody knows where to look for it. After gazing upon the treasures contained in the cabinets, brought out, one by one, by the amiable countess, to each of which was attached a history, we took our leave, regaining Lund before nightfall. * See 'Jutland,' vol. i. p. 307. CHAPTER VII. Baroness de Christianstad Black stork, the bishop-Helge-Sjön Staël-Legend of the horn and pipe of Trolle-Ljungby — The fat abbot Charles XI. in the chimney - Widtsköfle - Henrik Brahe and the enchanted wheel - Barnekow's Moss-Soldiers at evensong - Riotous navvies. CHRISTIANSTAD. THE railway carried us from Lund to Sösdala, by the Ring-Sjön lake; on we flitted through forests of feathery birch, their young leaves dancing in the wind; the ground bristled with prickly juniper, while boulders lay tossed about here, there, and everywhere.* The bogs shine bright with the golden petals of the marsh marigold; † patches of white anemones, wood sorrel, and dog violet, cluster around each old treestump; while on high, safe out of wet's way, lie on *In the forest round Sösdala the black stork builds her nest, and hatches every year a brood of young ones, though what becomes of them none can tell there is one nest, has always been one, but the number never increases. In days of yore, when time was young, the black stork, say the peasants, officiated as bishop; hence its solitary habits, for of course a bishop can't be expected to associate with his white brethren, the common working clergy. On the arrival of a common stork this last spring, a peasant observed something protruding from under its wing; he caught it, and found an arrowhead and part of the shaft embedded in the flesh. The arrow, on being extracted, was found to resemble those used by the natives of North Africa. † Caltha palustris. When this flower unfolds its leaves, the cuckoo arrives and the roach spawn. every sunny bank long strips of white linen set out to bleach, fresh from the peasant's loom. On we flit, and arrive at Sösdala. Nothing could be prettier than our road, so wooded, so diversified; few villages, if any, but detached houses and gardens. We drive over hill and dale, by fields now under the plough, well strewn with boulders; then, when the eye is satiated with white and yellow, the road-side bright with the fluffy blue anemone, we pass a swampy ground, one wide-extending sea of lilac primula. Then came the first krog, where we stop to rest our horses. The floor of the house is strewn with young shoots of juniper; a fine carved oak cabinet forms the meuble d'honneur-its panels the four Evangelists. The road is excellent and lately made; there is no excuse for bad roads in this stone-scattered district of Sweden,-the rocks lie close at hand, of all shapes and sizes; a wall may be built across the swamps and valleys with little trouble or expense; the very construction of the causeway clears the barren waste and prepares it for cultivation. The sun shines hot, the dust rises, till we cross the bridge over the Helge Sjön, and drive into Christianstad. Two hundred and fifty years ago Christian IV., requiring a garrison near the Swedish frontiers, built this city. When Skåne was ceded to the Swedish crown, the fortress was no longer wanted. It has lately been pulled down, and the site laid out in gardens not yet completed. A regiment is still quartered at Christianstad. * Anemone pulsatilla-Pasque-flower-so called because used for the staining of Easter eggs. † Primula farinosa. The church is the most perfect specimen of the Renaissance now extant in the north of Europe, untouched, all save its spire-of course blown down. The organ, fittings, and pulpit are of rich workmanship, the vaulted roof supported by ten lofty granite columns. The cipher and arms of Christian appear sculptured on all sides -you will find them again upon the Rådhus, with the motto, "Pax vobis," a strange one for him; and if you walk out by night you may see € still upon the watchmen's buttons. On the whole, Christianstad, with its half-destroyed ramparts, its gardens, and its Tivoli, is a pleasant place enough. Before three months have rolled by, the town will present a very different appearance. English engineers and English gold are at work, pumping out the waters of the pale blue lake, which some say cause miasma, rendering the town unhealthy;-others look to the thirty thousand acres to be reclaimed. When the lake is drained, a canal, one hundred feet in width, will connect the city with the small seaport of Åhus, large ships will then come up to Christianstad, and a branch railroad be opened to the Malmö line. The citizens already look on themselves as prosperous. The Helge Sjön, like many other northern lakes, was gradually drying up from the rise and decomposition of the weeds, which in summer-time wave like a cornfield above the surface. The engineers have come to upwards of sixty feet of mud, boulders innumerable to be blasted, a layer of clay of the most exquisite turquoise blue, which, when analyzed, proved to be something or other of iron, acting on, I am sure I forget what. We were to have visited Araslöf, the seat of Count * Hamilton, but he was absent. Here dwelt in the last century the granddaughter of Eleanor Ulfeld, a maiden beautiful as she was rich, whose hand was sought by the noblest of the land. Baron Staël von Holstein, FieldMarshal, governor of Malmö, and a great deal more, proved the successful suitor. While a prisoner in Russia, he had espoused Countess Ingeborg Horn, but was now a widower. The marriage was fixed, the guests assembled, when, to the general consternation, arrived the first wife, whose bones were supposed to be quietly resting in a Russian grave. Countess Ingeborg felt for her youthful rival. “We will never part," said she; "and when I die, and a sad invalid I am,-you shall be my successor." So they made a happy family. There was only one fault to be found with good Countess Ingeborg. She remained an angel upon earth, instead of departing to be—as Sophia and the baron devoutly prayed-an angel in heaven.-Ever a-dying, on she lived through forty long years; and when the marriage did at length take place, the bridegroom had attained his eightieth,-the bride her sixtieth year. No one forbad the banns;† the ceremony was performed with the greatest pomp, and the new-made husband danced the "Brud polka whirling his newly-made spouse into the nuptial cham *Her three daughters espoused nobles of this province-Bonde, Skytte, and Ridderschantz; this last alone left any offspring. Christina Bonde bequeathed to her niece Sophia Elisabeth the manor of Araslöf. The ceremony of "publishing the banns" is still in many parts of Sweden called "falling from the pulpit," and it was the custom on this occasion to present the bridegroom with a crutch and a stick. Charles XI. writes to Field-Marshal Ascheberg, "Your son fell from the pulpit last Sunday. I think Count Gustaf will right himself without either draught or bolus, for the Frue Beata Torstensson is the best plaster he can obtain "-a vulgar joke of Charles XI. |