Note 2, page 56.—Behold, at last,

Each tall and tapering mast

Is swung into its place.

I wish to anticipate a criticism on this passage by stating, that sometimes, though not usually, vessels are launched fully rigged and sparred. I have availed myself of the exception, as better suited to my purposes than the general rule; but the reader will see that it is neither a blunder nor a poetic license. On this subject a friend in Portland, Maine, writes me thus:

"In this State, and also, I am told, in New York, ships are sometimes rigged upon the stocks, in order to save time, or to make a show. There was a fine large ship launched last summer at Ellsworth, fully rigged and sparred. Some years ago a ship was launched here, with her rigging, spars, sails, and cargo aboard. She sailed the next day, and-was never heard of again! I hope this will not be the fate of your poem!"

Note 3, page 62.—Sir Humphrey Gilbert sailed.

"When the wind abated and the vessels were near enough, the admiral was seen constantly sitting in the stern, with a book in his hand. On the 9th of September he was seen for the last time, and was heard by the people of the Hind to say, 'We are as near heaven by sea as by land.' In the following night the lights of the ship suddenly disappeared. The people in the other vessel kept a good look-out for him during the remainder of the voyage. On the 22d of September they arrived, through much tempest and peril, at Falmouth. But nothing more was seen or heard of the admiral."-BELKNAP's American Biography, i. 203.

Note 4, page 88.-Vogelweide the Minnesinger.

Walter von der Vogelweide, or Bird-Meadow, was one of the principal Minnesingers of the thirteenth century. He triumphed over Heinrich von Ofterdingen in that poetic contest at Wartburg Castle, known in literary history as the War of Wartburg.

Note 4, page 94.-Like imperial Charlemagne.

Charlemagne may be called by pre-eminence the monarch of farmers. According to the German tradition, in seasons of great abundance, his spirit crosses the Rhine on a golden bridge at Bingen, and blesses the cornfields and the vineyards. During his lifetime he did not disdain, says Montesquieu, "to sell the eggs from the farmyards of his domains, and the superfluous vegetables of his gardens; while he distributed among his people the wealth of the Lombards and the immense treasures of the Huns."

Note 5, page 99.-Skoal! to the Northland! Skoal!

In Scandinavia this is the customary salutation when drinking a health. I have slightly changed the orthography of the word, in order to preserve the correct pronunciation.

Note 6, page 120.-All the Foresters of Flanders.

The title of Foresters was given to the early governors of Flanders, appointed by the kings of France. Lyderick du Bucq, in the days of Clotaire the Second, was the first of them; and Beaudoin Bras-de-Fer, who stole away the fair Judith, daughter of Charles the Bald, from the French court, and married her in Bruges, was the last. After him the title of Forester was changed to that of Count. Philippe d'Alsace, Guy de Dampierre, and Louis de Crécy, coming later in the order of time, were therefore rather Counts than Foresters. Philippe went twice to the Holy Land as a Crusader, and died of the plague at St. Jean-d'Acre, shortly after the capture of the city by the Christians. Guy de Dampierre died in the prison of Compiègne. Louis de Crécy

was son and successor of Robert de Béthune, who strangled his wife, Yolande de Bourgogne, with the bridle of his horse, for having poisoned, at the age of eleven years, Charles, his son by his first wife, Blanche d'Anjou.

Note 7, page 120.-Stately dames, like queens attended.

When Philippe-le-Bel, king of France, visited Flanders with his queen, she was so astonished at the magnificence of the dames of Bruges, that she exclaimed, "Je croyais être seule reine ici, mais il paraît que ceux de Flandre qui se trouvent dans nos prisons sont tous des princes, car leurs femmes sont habillées comme des princesses et des reines."

When the Burgomasters of Ghent, Bruges, and Ypres went to Paris to pay homage to King John, in 1351, they were received with great pomp and distinction; but being invited to a festival, they observed that their seats at table were not furnished with cushions; whereupon, to make known their displeasure at this want of regard to their dignity, they folded their richly-embroidered cloaks and seated themselves upon them. On rising from the table they left their cloaks behind them; and, being informed of their apparent forgetfulness, Simon van Eertrycke, burgomaster of Bruges, replied, "We Flemings are not in the habit of carrying away our cushions after dinner."

Note 8, page 120.-Knights who bore the Fleece of Gold.

Philippe de Bourgogne, surnamed Le Bon, espoused Isabella of Portugal, on the 10th January, 1430; and on the same day instituted the famous order of the Fleece of Gold.

Note 9, page 120.—I beheld the gentle Mary.

Marie de Valois, duchess of Burgundy, was left by the death of her father, Charlesle-Téméraire, at the age of twenty, the richest heiress of Europe. She came to Bruges, as Countess of Flanders, in 1477, and in the same year was married by proxy to the Archduke Maximilian. According to the custom of the time the Duke of Bavaria, Maximilian's substitute, slept with the princess. They were both in complete dress, separated by a naked sword, and attended by four armed guards. Marie was adored by her subjects for her gentleness and her many other virtues.

Maximilian was son of the Emperor Frederick the Third, and is the same person mentioned afterwards in the poem of Nuremberg as the Kaiser Maximilian, and the hero of Pfinzing's poem of Teuerdank. Having been imprisoned by the revolted burghers of Bruges, they refused to release him till he consented to kneel in the public square, and to swear on the holy Evangelists and the body of Saint Donatus, that he would not take vengeance upon them for their rebellion.

Note 10, page 120.-The bloody battle of the Spurs of Gold.

This battle, the most memorable in Flemish history, was fought under the walls of Courtray, on the 11th of July 1302, between the French and the Flemings, the former commanded by Robert Comte d'Artois, and the latter by Guiilaume de Juliers and Jean Comte de Namur. The French army was completely routed, with a loss of twenty thousand infantry and seven thousand cavalry; among whom were sixtythree princes, dukes, and counts, seven hundred lords-banneret, and eleven hundred noblemen. The flower of the French nobility perished on that day; to which history has given the name of the Journée des Eperons d'Or, from the great number of golden spurs found on the field of battle. Seven hundred of them were hung up as a trophy in the church of Notre Dame de Courtray; and as the cavaliers of that day wore but a single spur each, these vouched to God for the violent and bloody death of seven hundred of his creatures.

Note 11, page 120.-Saw the fight at Minnewater.

When the inhabitants of Bruges were digging a canal at Minnewater, to bring the

waters of the Lys from Deynze to their city, they were attacked and routed by the citizens of Ghent, whose commerce would have been much injured by the canal. They were led by Jean Lyons, captain of a military company at Ghent, called the Chaperons Blancs. He had great sway over the turbulent populace, who, in those prosperous times of the city, gained an easy livelihood by labouring two or three days in the week, and had the remaining four or five to devote to public affairs. The fight at Minnewater was followed by open rebellion against Louis de Maele, the Count of Flanders and protector of Bruges. His superb château of Wondelghem was pillaged and burnt; and the insurgents forced the gates of Bruges, and entered in triumph, with Lyons mounted at their head. A few days afterwards he died suddenly, perhaps by poison.

Meanwhile the insurgents received a check at the village of Nevèle; and two hundred of them perished in the church, which was burned by the count's orders. One of the chiefs, Jean de Lannoy, took refuge in the belfry. From the summit of the tower he held forth his purse filled with gold, and begged for deliverance. It was in vain. His enemies cried to him from below to save himself as best he might; and, half suffocated with smoke and flame, he threw himself from the tower and perished at their feet. Peace was soon afterwards established, and the count retired to faithful Bruges.

Note 12, page 120.-Scale the Golden Dragon's nest.

The Golden Dragon, taken from the church of St. Sophia, at Constantinople, in one of the Crusades, and placed on the belfry of Bruges, was afterwards transported to Ghent by Philip van Artevelde, and still adorns the belfry of that city.

The inscription on the alarm-bell at Ghent is "Mynen naem is Roland; als ik klep is er brand, and als ik luy is er victorie in het land." My name, is Roland: when I toll, there is fire; and when I ring, there is victory in the land.

Note 13, page 123.-That their great imperial city stretched its hand through every clime. An old popular proverb of the town runs thus:

"Nurnberg's Hand

Geht durch alle Land."

Nuremberg's hand
Goes through every land.

Note 14, page 123.-Sat the poet Melchior singing Kaiser Maximilian's praise..

Melchior Pfinzing was one of the most celebrated German poets of the sixteenth century. The hero of his Teuerdank was the reigning emperor, Maximilian; and the poem was to the Germans of that day what the Orlando Furioso was to the Italians. Maximilian is mentioned before in the Belfry of Bruges.-See Note 9.

Note 15, page 124.—In the church of sainted Sebald sleeps enshrined his holy dust. The tomb of Saint Sebald, in the church which bears his name, is one of the richest works of art in Nuremberg. It is of bronze, and was cast by Peter Vischer and his sons, who laboured upon it thirteen years. It is adorned with nearly one hundred figures, among whom those of the twelve Apostles are conspicuous for size and beauty.

Note 16, page 124.-In the church of sainted Lawrence stands a pix of sculpture rare. This pix, or tabernacle for the vessels of the sacrament, is by the hand of Adam Krafft. It is an exquisite piece of sculpture in white stone, and rises to the height of sixty-four feet. It stands in the choir, whose richly-painted windows cover it with varied colours.

Note 17, page 124.-Wisest of the Twelve Wise Masters.

The Twelve Wise Masters was the title of the original corporation of the Master

singers. Hans Sachs, the cobbler of Nuremberg, though not one of the original twelve, was the most renowned of the Mastersingers, as well as the most voluminous. He flourished in the sixteenth century; and left behind him thirty-four folio volumes of manuscript, containing two hundred and eight plays, one thousand and seven hundred comic tales, and between four and five thousand lyric poems.

Note 18, page 124.-As in Adam Puschman's Song.

Adam Puschman, in his poem on the death of Hans Sachs, describes himas he appeared in a vision:

"An old man,

Grey and white, and dove-like,
Who had, in sooth, a great beard,
And read in a fair, great book,
Beautiful with golden clasps."

Note 19, page 132.-The Occultation of Orion.

Astronomically speaking, this title is incorrect; as I apply to a constellation what can properly be applied to some of its stars only. But my observation is made from the hill of song, and not from that of science, and will, I trust, be found sufficiently accurate for the present purpose.

Note 20, page 142.-As Lope says

"La colera

de un Espanol sentado no se templa,

sino le representan en dos horas

hasta el final juicio desde el Genesis."

Lope de Vega,

Note 21, page 144.-Abernuncio Satanas.

"Digo, Senora, respondió Sancho, lo que tengo dicho, que de los azotes abernuncio. Abernuncio, habeis de decir, Sancho, y no como decis, dijo el Duque.”—-Don Quixote, part ii. ch. 35.

Note 22, page 150.-Fray Carrillo.

The allusion here is to a Spanish epigram:

"Siempre Fray Carrillo estas

cansandonos aca fuera;

quien en tu celda estuviera

para no verte jamas!"

Bohl de Faber. Floresta, No. 611.

Note 23, page 150.-Padre Francisco.

This is from an Italian popular song:

"Padre Francesco,

Padre Francesco !'

-Cosa volete del Padre Francesco

V' e una bella ragazzina

Che si vuole confessar !'

Fatte l'entrare, fatte l' entrare !

Che la voglio confessare."

Kopisch. Volksthumliche Poesien aus allen Mundarten
Italiens und seiner Inseln, p. 194.

Note 24, page 151.-Ave! cujus calcem clare.

From a monkish hymn of the twelfth century, in Sir Alexander Croke's Essay on the Origin, Progress, and Decline of Rhyming Latin Verse, p. 109.

Note 25, p. 156.-The gold of the Busné.

Busné is the name given by the Gipsies to all who are not of their race.

Note 26, p. 156.-Count of the Calés.

The Gipsies call themselves Calés. See Borrow's valuable and extremely interesting work, The Zincali; or, An Account of the Gipsies in Spain. London, 1841.

Note 27, page 159.-Asks if his money-bags would rise?

"¿Y volviéndome á un lado, ví á un Avariento, que estaba preguntando á otro (que por haber sido embalsamado, y estar léxos sus tripas no hablaba, porque no habian llegado si habian de resucitar aquel dia todos los enterrados), sí resucitarian unos bolsones suyos?"-El Sueno de las Calaveras.

Note 28, page 159.-And amen! said my Cid Campeador.

A line from the ancient Poema del Cid:

"Amen, dixo mio Cid el Campeador."-Line 3044.

Note 29, page 159.-The river of his thoughts.

The expression is from Dante :

"Si che chiaro

Per essa scenda della mente il fiume."

Byron has likewise used the expression, though I do not recollect in which of his poems.

Note 30, page 160.-Mari Franca.

A common Spanish proverb, used to turn aside a question one does not wish to

answer.

"Porque caso Mari Franca

quatro leguas de Salamanca."

Note 31, page 161.-Ay, soft, emerald eyes.

The Spaniards, with good reason, consider this colour of the eye as beautiful, and celebrate it in song; as, for example, in the well-known Villancico:

"Ay ojuelos verdes,

ay los mis ojuelos,

ay hagan los cielos

que de mi te acuerdes!

Tengo confianza

de mis verdes ojos."

Bohl de Faber. Floresta, No. 255.

Dante speaks of Beatrice's eyes as emeralds. Purgatorio, xxxi. 116. Lami says, in his Annotazioni, "Erano i suoi occhi d' un turchino verdiccio, simile a quel del mare."

Note 32, page 161.-The Avenging Child.

See the ancient ballads of El Infante Vengador and Calaynos.

Note 33, page 162.-All are sleeping.

From the Spanish. Böhl's Floresta, No. 282.