To do my sentence-task aright; My honor scarce is free from stain, And called the sylphs who hovered there, And bade them fly and bring him straight Of clouds condensed a sable car. With charm and spell she blessed it there, XXXV. Borne afar on the wings of the blast, The streaming of the rocket-light. XXXVI. The star is yet in the vault of heaven, And now 'tis fitful and uneven, And now 'tis deadly pale; And now 'tis wrapped in sulphur-smoke, As swift as the glance of the arrowy lance As swift as the wind in its trail behind The fiends of the clouds are bellowing loud, He gallops unhurt in the shower of fire, But he drove his steed to the lightning's speed, Then wheeled around to the fairy ground. Ouphe and Goblin! Imp and Sprite ! Twine ye in a jocund ring, Sing and trip it merrily, Hand to hand, and wing to wing, Round the wild witch-hazel tree. Hail the wanderer again With dance and song, and lute and lyre, Pure his wing and strong his chain, And doubly bright his fairy fire. Twine ye in an airy round, The beetle guards our holy ground, He hums in his ears and flaps his face; But, hark! from tower on tree-top high, Shapes of moonlight! flit and fade! BRITISH FOLK-LORE. THE ancient Britons and the Celts of the Continent were governed and taught by the DRUIDS, a powerful order of bards, vates (seers), and priests. The Druids possessed neither temples nor books. They worshiped generally in sacred groves, and held in special reverence the oak and the mistletoe. They set up huge stones in great circles. The most famous of these remaining is Stonehenge, on Salisbury plain. The Druids were possessed of considerable learning, all of which was transmitted orally. Human sacrifices were offered upon their altars to appease offended deities. Their order was abolished by the Romans. The English festivals of May Day, Midsummer Eve, and Harvest-home are supposed to have had their origin in Druidical observances. NORMA, in Bellini's opera of that name, is a Druid priestess of the god IRMINSUL, in Gaul (France). The mythical history of England commences many centuries before the time of Christ, when the island was ruled by the giant ALBION, a son of Neptune (see Grecian mythology). BRUTUS, or Brute, a great-grandson of Æneas (the hero of Vergil's Æneid), is the fabled founder of London (Trojanova, or Troynovant), and with his followers of Trojan descent is said to have exterminated the few remaining giants in the island.1 1 Our Jack the Giant-Killer is clearly the last modern transmutation of the old British legend, told in Geoffrey of Monmouth, of Corinëus the Trojan, the companion of the Trojan Brutus when he first settles in Britain; which Corinëus, being a very strong man, and particularly good-humored, is satisfied with For noble Britons sprong from Trojans bold, And Troynovant was built of old Troy's ashes cold. Of the many legendary kings of England, but few are worthy of extended notice. LEIR, the King Lear of Shakespeare, is one of these. LUD, buried near one of the portals of his capital, gave his name to Ludgate, and from the same name some derive that of the British capital itself. CASSIBELLAUNUS and CYMBELINE' are semi-historical personages. COEL, or COLE, is famous in nursery legend. It has been held by some historians that the Empress Helena (St. Helena, mother of Constantine, the first Christian emperor) was his daughter. BUNDUCA, or Bonduca, is the historic Queen Boadicea. 2 ARTHUR is by far the most celebrated of the legendary kings. In his praises all succeeding ages have united. Arthur is a real personage. His history, however, has been so covered over with romance and poetry, with distorted and exaggerated legend and pure fable, that he is most important as a character in fiction. He was a ruler of the Britons at being King of Cornwall, and killing out the aboriginal giants there, leaving to Brutus all the rest of the island, and only stipulating that, whenever there is a peculiarly difficult giant in any part of Brutus's dominions, he shall be sent for to finish the fellow.-David Masson. 1 The resemblance between the names Cymbeline and Campbell may not be accidental. James Parton says: "The family from which the Marquis of Lorne descends is one of the most ancient in Europe. It may be the most ancient; for there is some reason to think that while the Romans possessed Britain, one of his ancestors was already chief of a Scottish clan, afterward known as the clan Campbell." 2 It was in the struggle against Cerdic that the British King Arthur acquired his fame. At Camelot (in Somersetshire) he gathered around him the bravest of his followers, who were known as the Knights of the Round Table; and for twenty-four years he fought bravely for his kingdom, and conquered the Saxons in twelve battles. He is said to have been mortally wounded in a war with his rebellious nephew, Modred, and buried at Glastonbury, a. D. 542, -David Morris. |