Dalecarlian Peasants.

The dress of the Dalecarlians is peculiar; the male costume is nearly what it was in the days of Gustavus Wasa, resembling that worn by English quakers. It is made wholly of woollen cloth, of a black or white colour, which creates a distinction recognised by the inhabitants themselves, and giving them the appearance of being sprung from a separate stock. The coat is wide in the sleeves, without collar or buttons, reaching to the knee, and fastened down the breast with hooks and eyes. A low broad-brimmed hat, a belt or cord tied round the waist, coarse grey stockings with red garters, huge clumsy shoes, having thick wooden soles and a leathern flap falling over the instep, complete the suit of this primitive race. The women coif themselves in a little white cap, close to the head and face. The rest of their attire consists of a short woollen jacket, petticoats of brown or blue flannel, an apron rudely embroidered, a

pair of bright scarlet stockings, and wooden shoes with high heels coming almost under the centre of the foot.

Among the higher ranks and the inhabitants of large towns, the state of manners, as in all other countries, differs considerably from that of the lower classes; and in the Danish and Swedish capitals there is an affectation (perhaps in consequence of political connexion) of imitating the French style. Drunkenness seems to be the epidemic vice of the Scandinavian people. Brandy is resorted to on all occasions; it qualifies the breakfast, acts as a whet to the appetite before dinner, and is not more indispensable at marriages and merry-makings than on Sundays after sermon. This unfortunate habit is the parent of many evils both physical and moral. Forsell remarks, that nothing has produced, not even their wars, so much mischief to the Swedish people as their addiction to drink. To it he ascribes more than threefourths of all the crime, want, and misery, that prevail in the country. "Of late years (he adds) the conscriptions showed that, in various districts, nearly onethird of the youth were unfitted for taking any share in the defence of the kingdom." From the protocol of the diet in 1787, it appears the yearly consumption of brandy was 5,400,000 kanns (3,736,800 English gallons) when Finland was united to Sweden; but forty-two years later (1829), when that province was annexed to Russia, it amounted to at least 22,000,000 kanns.

Notwithstanding this stigma on their national character, the Swedes possess many excellent and amiable qualities. They are polite, kind, and hospitable to strangers; their honesty is proverbial, and contrasts strongly with the pilfering habits of the Russians. Highway robbery, as different travellers have asserted, is almost unknown. These virtues of course belong only to the rural population. In the metropolis and other large towns, vice and corruption prevail; but these have been introduced by an admixture of foreigners, and where the inhabitants are not, strictly speaking, Swedes. Of the nobility and aristocracy, a few are said to possess considerable fortunes in property, which

may be valued at from £300,000 to £400,000; but the greater number have not the tenth or twelfth part of that amount. In 1831, there were reckoned in the whole kingdom about 2500 noble families, containing nearly 13,500 individuals, of whom 1500 resided in Stockholm, 3147 in the other cities, and the remainder upon their estates.

The Norwegians, in the general traits of their physical and moral character, resemble the portrait already given of the two neighbouring nations. They are a smaller race of men, but possess much spirit and fire in their manner. They are lively, frank, bold, and undaunted, but not insolent; never fawning to their superiors, yet paying them due respect. The tallest and stoutest peasants are from Guldbransdal; but they are less athletic and shorter in stature than the Swedes; while from the Danes they differ in having hair of a deeper yellow or brown, copious eyebrows, countenances full of expression, and the ruddiness of health upon their cheeks. They excel in dancing, and are fond of that amusement.

The female costume is simple; the common dress being a petticoat, and short jacket of home-spun stuff, bound with a sash round the waist, a coloured handkerchief on the head, with the ends flying out behind each ear. The men's apparel differs from the Swedish, and is often extremely grotesque; the hat is frequently superseded by a jockey cap, or a red and blue woollen cowl, which might pass for Kilmarnock manufacture. The shoestrings are replaced by enormous brass buckles, covering almost the whole upper part of the foot. The fashion varies considerably; almost every district having its distinguishing costume. The natives of Tellemark use short breeches and knee-buckles, with girdles round their middle; those of Guldbransdal are habited much as they were in the Middle Ages, with coats of ample dimensions and very primitive construction. The apparel of the ladies is equally antique, and gives them the appearance of grandmothers in the reign of Adolphus. Winter causes a change of raiment as a necessary defence against the excessive cold. The peasants then

wear close fur caps, flannel waistcoats, sheepskin or buckskin cloaks with the wool towards the body, thick yarn stockings, with boots doubly lined, and made of strong leather or rein-deer hide.

The national character is marked by distinct gradations. The Norwegian of the hills retains many traces of his ancestors, but in towns and villages he is quite a different being from what he was in the days of St Olaf, or Snorre Sturleson. In the virtues of hospitality, benevolence, and incorruptible integrity, he is unrivalled. All classes are remarkable for their politeness, and a strict observance of those homely courtesies and forms of salutation that generally distinguish a patriarchal state of society. In loyalty and patriotism they are surpassed by no nation in the world. The constant theme of their most popular songs and favourite airs is their native land. The hardy mountaineer would not exchange his bleak rocks and dark woods for the spicy valleys of the south. He loves every thing belonging to it, and almost worships its very name. To his ears the

words Gamle Norge (Old Norway) have an indescribable charm, a spell which is resistless. If they are pronounced in a company, or given as a toast, every voice repeats them; glasses are filled, raised, and drained; the party start to their feet; and a burst of enthusiasm follows, which no circumstances have power to restrain. The Swiss "Ranz des Vaches" does not produce a more wonderful effect on the Alpine shepherd, than does this simple national allusion on the mind of a Norwegian.

In the tidiness of their persons and their domestic arrangements, the Norwegian peasantry excel the Swedish. The cottages and farm-houses display all the comforts and sometimes the elegances enjoyed by the same class in Great Britain. The walls are often garnished with bright pewter dishes, burnished kettles and saucepans, or fashionable articles of English earthenware. Among the rural and labouring population extreme poverty is little known; and they fare better than their equals in Sweden. In some districts, the natives are not a little vain of being thought descended from the old kings

and nobles of the country; and in consequence of their high pedigree, they will not allow their children to marry into other provinces, or with families whose blood and birth are not equal to their own. If nobility consisted in antiquity of lineal descent, the Norwegians could produce many claimants, even among the humbler classes, to that illustrious distinction. In the remoter glens, where lands seldom change possessors, either by purchase or lease, there are said to be dwellers who can trace their lineage from the days of Harald Haarfager. Gerhard Schoening, an antiquary of great learning, mentions documents which he had seen, proving that an estate in Guldbrandsdal had been in possession of the same family since 1336; and that in the parish of Loom there was an individual who had preserved, among other ancestral relics, a writing of King Hakon VI., who had lodged in the house in the year 1364. A number of the old hereditary families of rank are recorded by Pontoppidan; but the law of 1824 abolished their high pretensions, and left no nobility or privileged class to boast of titles founded on ancient parchments and pedigrees.

Intoxication among the peasantry (though it is not confined to that class) is equally common in Norway, perhaps, as in the sister kingdoms. They all drink freely of corn or potato brandy, which is the indispensable beverage of young and old. Every landholder is entitled to distil the produce of his own farm; and pays a trifling duty for license if he buy and manufacture as a trader. The Norwegians are not disinclined to quarrel among themselves; but this is said to be the effect of natural courage, rather than of any artificial stimulant. Pontoppidan mentions with regret this infirmity of his countrymen, and states, that when heated over their cups, the combatants would hook themselves together by the belt, draw their knives, and fight it out to the last, until one or other was mortally wounded. So prevalent was this savage custom before the middle of the seventeenth century, that when families were invited to weddings, the wife generally took her husband's shroud with her, because battles were sure to happen, and seldom ended