whom he had behaved shamefully. Many damsels would willingly believe in the "dark side of nature" if spirits from another world would induce men to come to the point, and pop the question. Leaving Widtsköfle, after crossing a world of moor, bedotted over with circles of stones like mushrooms on a fairy ring, we drove into a bright beech wood, carpeted with "myosotis," up a causeway wide and long, raised twenty or thirty feet above the marshy ground, guarded on either side by a stone wall-a work worthy of the Romans. Hans Ramel here, as at Löberöd, summoned together his serfs; with authority like that of the centurion of old, he gave the command, "Do this,"-it was done; and the road completed in a space of time almost incredible. Then we passed through the courtyard gate of Maltesholm, residence of Count de la Gardie, surrounded by a moat of pure limpid water-water on every side; the gardens in the old French style, when viewed from the terrace above, are most exquisite; the gay parterres backed by a forest of golden beech, and a wide park, such as one sees in England. In no country can be found a place more favoured by nature than Maltesholm. Turning a deaf ear to the legend of two early kings, Swedish and Danish, who fought in a meadow hard bythey lie buried under a "hög "—we reach Nöbbelöf, and there wait two hours for horses-an awful "wastime," as old Fuller has it, a good word grown obsolete-maybe worn out from overuse. A squadron of hussars encamped here were in full exercise on the adjoining heath; so *Once the scene of a battle in which the warrior Rolf was slain by Gärdstrang, said the driver-an unkind piece of news, causing me to plunge into that slough of Scandinavian despond, Suhm's History. we watched their evolutions. As the clock struck seven the duties of the day concluded; they marched into the courtyard of the inn, formed in line two deep, and, a corporal giving out the first verse, they sang in chorus an evening psalm, in true, deep-toned melody. Evensong ended, a short prayer was read; each soldier standing the while under military salute, in attitude devout and attentive. The service concluding by a deep resounding "Amen," they scampered off to their own devices, the day's work thus well ended. This custom of matin and evensong comes from an ordinance of Charles XI., and is on no occasion neglected. It is said that, during the wild and reckless campaigns of Charles XII., whether in victory or retreat, he never once failed to begin and conclude his day by prayer, fatigued and harassed though he might be. Rest assured the soldiers did not sleep the worse for it. The same observance prevails here among the two hundred Swedish workmen engaged in draining the Helgesjön, creating intense disgust among their brethren the English "navvies," who burst in émeute and struck for more wages, vowing they would not be prayed for in a foreign lingo:-unfortunately no Miss Marsh is there to tame their wild and reckless character. We had still an hour to wait. A young officer had out his charger, a beautiful black beast, and lunged him round the ring, directing his paces by word of mouth. The animal, docile as a circus pony, obeyed his commands, trotted when told to trot, cantered and galloped ; and, when his task was over, running up to his master, struck out his fore legs, made an obeisance, and received his reward—a lump of sugar. This habit of Rarey-fying the horses in the Swedish cavalry is very general, and has been so from the time of Charles XII. (Brandklipparen followed him like a dog). With all this docility, the Swedish horses are invariably ridden with the curb, the snaffle left hanging on their necks. At last the postilion arrived. It was pitch dark before we reached Christianstad. CHAPTER VIII. -- Wa, or the Convent of Sorrow - Hällristningar, or picture-writing, at Kivik — Söfdeborg - Portraits of Philip and Aurora Königsmark The Swedish army - Little Mats the Snappharne - Banketröja, the peasants' Dustcoat Öfveds-Kloster - Christmas fishing Herd of white deer - Ystad - Roger M'Lean - Vision of Count Brahe Marsvinsholm - Wedding superstitions - Queen Sophia and the Kettle-mender. CHRISTIANSTAD TO SÜFDEBORG. May 27th.-WE had great difficulty in leaving Christianstad; the hotel-keeper, who was postmaster, proprietor, and everything else besides, did all he could to detain us-refused us a carriage-talked of impassable roads-threatened us with everything short of wolves -making himself as odious as possible; at last we got under way, retracing our road of yesterday. Our driver rattled on; he had a story for each farm, each gård; pointed to a distance where lay a "gamlagrotta "--would we not stop and see it? There once lived the Snapphanarna, little people who crawled on four legs like cats, seldom seen now!! How on an oaken table within was chained a silver can, which no man dared to touch; for, should he, the village of Wram would be burnt to the ground for a certainty. When we came to the village of Wä he showed us an old gabled wall-ruin of King Christian's palace; related a legend about the church, a giant, and a boulder which now lies under the pulpit; then stopped the horses, and literally turned us out to visit it, whether we would or no. No one had mentioned Wä to us before; but the peasant boor was right: it was once a convent of great repute, within whose walls lies interred Gertrude of Saxony,* queen of Knud VI. A noble lady had an only son, a ne'er-do-well who passed his time in hunting -never attending mass, but roistering with his comrades. One Sunday morn he set out to hunt the stag: in vain his mother prayed him to go to church; he galloped off, fell from his horse, broke his neck, and died instanter. When the news reached his mother's ears she cried out, in despair, "What were his last words? tell me."-"Noble lady," replied the squire, "he cried We, we!' (alas!), and never spoke again." That mother, pierced to the heart's core, gave all her great possessions to found a monastery for the weal of her son's soul, and, in memory of his last dying cry, she named it We!t or, the Convent of Sorrow. choir and apse, of the Rundbågs style, are entered through a round arch richly sculptured; the nave, built by Christian IV., is bi-vaulted, supported in the centre by two lofty granite pillars, one round, the other octagonal. No one built like King Christian, simply for this reason: he never adopted the design of one architect exclusively - Balfour, Jones, Steenwinkel, John of Fribourg, and others, all sent in their plans, The * Little is known of Gertrude of Saxony, daughter of Henry the Lion, save that as a child she was affianced to Knud, in the hopes of bringing about more amicable relations between her father and King Waldemar. + Corrupted by time into Wä. |