2 From the Heimskringla, or Chronicle of the Kings of Norway, translated from the Icelandic of “Snorro Sturleson,” by Samuel Laing.

3 The king ascends the throne as King of “Sweden, the Goths and Vandals, and Norway;” but in all Acts specially relating to Norway, that country is entitled to be named first, and this work being entirely one of Norwegian travel, we have for that reason given Norway precedence in our Dedication.

4 Laing defines a Viking and a Sea-king thus:—a sea-king, one connected with a royal race—either of the small kings of the country or of the Haarfager family, and who by right received the title of king as soon as he took command of men, although only a ship’s crew, without having any land or kingdom. The Viking is a term not connected with the word kÓngr, or king: the vikings were merely pirates—alternately peasants and pirates—deriving the name Viking from viks, wicks or inlets on the coast, where they harboured their long ships or rowing-galleys. Laing says every sea-king was a viking, but every viking was not a sea-king.

5 An interesting article, by Mr. Whymper, with frontispiece, showing a “Fragment of the Jakobshaven Ice Stream,” appeared in the “Alpine Journal” of May, 1870. Another article, the result of recent exploration, entitled “Some Notes on Greenland and the Greenlanders,” with a frontispiece, from Mr. Whymper’s pen, appeared in the “Alpine Journal” of this month.

6 Although we prefer our gipsy tent for convenience and comfort, it cannot be compared to Mr. Whymper’s Alpine tent for security of shelter when pitched on a camp ground of sterile rocks amongst high mountain peaks, exposed to strong gales of wind.

7 The pannikins hold about a pint and a half, and each weighs 6 oz. They have a small loop handle on each side, which folds down, and is covered with leather, so that the pannikin can be carried when filled with hot tea. This kind of pannikin, first suggested to us by Mr. Whymper, whose plan it is, we prefer to any other we have seen for weight, size, and convenience.

8 We have recently purchased a new and ingeniously contrived “cooking canteen,” designed by Lieutenant Lecky, H.M.S. Asia. This canteen may be inspected, and is for sale at 79, Mark Lane, City. It weighs 22 lbs., and its cost is two guineas. We however think it more adapted for a military encampment than for an expedition like our own. One large light fish-kettle, frying pan, and tin boiling kettle, were amply sufficient for all requirements; and after the wear and tear of our wanderings in Norway, they are still serviceable and fit for another expedition.

9 “The ass is an excellent and sober little beast, far too much despised by us. He is not only the most enduring, but one of the quickest walkers among cattle, being usually promoted to the leadership of a caravan. He is nearly equal to the camel in enduring thirst, and thrives on the poorest pasture, suffers from few diseases, and is unscathed by African distemper. The long desert roads and pilgrim tracts of North Africa are largely travelled over by means of asses.”—The Art of Travel, by Francis Galton, F.R.G.S., p. 195.

10 Monsieur Bataillard, in his interesting work “Nouvelles Recherches sur l’Apparition et la Dispersion des BohÉmiens en Europe,” says that the earliest mention of Taters in Norway is found in a law of 1589. His opinion is that they did not enter Norway by way of Denmark and South Sweden, but through North Sweden and the Duchy of Finland, that is to say by the north of Russia. This opinion appears to have been supported by Presten Eilert Sundt. M. Bataillard, therefore, considers that the Norwegian gipsies were not part of the numerous hordes who entered the south of Europe subsequently to the year 1417. M. Bataillard is the author of a work entitled “De l’Apparition et de la dispersion des BohÉmiens en Europe,” published in 1844, and now out of print. The same author has recently published another interesting and valuable contribution, entitled “Les Derniers travaux relatifs aux BohÉmiens dans l’Europe Orientale,” published 1872. In this work Monsieur Bataillard gives a most able review of the works of various authors who have written upon the gipsy people wandering in Eastern Europe.

11 Jean Batiste SchwilguÉ was born at Strasbourg, 18th Dec., 1776, and completed the celebrated clock in the Strasbourg Cathedral.

12 It may be that the noble descendant of the Penningtons owed his almost miraculous escape, to his possession of the curiously-wrought enamelled glass cup, given by King Henry the VIth after the battle of Hexham, 1463, to his ancestor, Sir John de Pennington, knt., with a prayer that the family should ever prosper, and never want a male heir, as long as the cup remained unbroken. The cup is called the “Luck of Muncaster,” and Muncaster Castle, and its long broad winding terrace, commanding magnificent views over the valley of Eskdale, is one of those enchanted spots which we meet with in the picturesque county of Cumberland. It is singular that another family in Cumberland also possess a similar talisman, to which is attached a rare value, “The Luck of Edenhall,” belonging to the ancient family of Musgrave. It is an old enamelled drinking glass, said to have been seized in olden time by a Butler of Eden Hall from some fairies he surprised dancing near St. Cuthbert’s well in the Park. The glass had been left by the fairies near the brink of the well, and the fairies, failing to recover it, vanished with the words—

An interesting account is given of the “Luck of Edenhall” in Roby’s interesting “Tales and Traditions of Lancashire.”

13 Puru Rawnee—old lady.

14 Puro Rye—old gentleman. In Turkish Romany, phuro—old.

15 Tarno Rye—young gentleman.

16 Although the account, singular as it is, receives very general credence, and the place of sepulture, on the roof of the mansion near Hyde Park, is even pointed out, we must say, that a literary friend, who devoted some time to the inquiry, discredits the truth. In a letter written by a near relative of the titled possessor, which we have seen, it is stated, that the account is correct, and it is also stated, that the property, for that reason, was purchased for a lower price. The matter therefore remains involved in some mystery. We have since been informed by a clergyman, that he well remembers being told, of the sepulture of a body, on a house near Clapham Junction, on the London and South-Western Railway. Another instance has also been mentioned to us, as occurring in one of the midland counties. At the last moment, but in time to find a record in this note, a friend has kindly sent us the following facts, illustrative of our page heading, “Strange Wills.” At Stevenage, in Hertfordshire, a pleasantly situated place on the High North Road, about eleven miles from Hertford, a resident, Henry Trigg, having peculiar ideas about the resurrection, left his property to his heirs, upon condition, and in trust, that they put him in an oak coffin, and placed his body on the rafters of his barn, attached to the Old Castle Public House, in the parish of Stevenage. There he was placed in 1724, and there he now remains. In the time when coaches stopped at the Old Castle Public House, there were many travellers on the Great Northern Road. The old oak coffin was then a lion of the place, and brought grist to the landlord of the inn. Even now it is occasionally visited by the curious.

17 Sometimes spelt Telemarken.

18 CÆsar Moreau, Chevalier de la LÉgion d’Honneur, was the author of “PrÉcis sur la Franc-MaÇonnerie; son Origine, son Histoire, ses Doctrines, &c.” Also the founder of the SociÉtÉ de Statistique Universelle, et de l’AcadÉmie de l’Industrie FranÇaise; also Member of the Royal Society, and many other learned societies in Europe.

19 His Majesty, the noble-hearted Carl XV., patron of literature and art, himself an author, was born 3rd May, 1826, and died, after a severe illness, in the noontide of his life, at Malmoe, in Sweden, on the 18th September, 1872, mourned and sincerely regretted by his attached subjects. The King was the eldest son of Oscar I., and grandson of the celebrated French General Bernadotte, Prince of Ponte Corvo, who ascended the throne in 1818 as Carl XIV. His Majesty Carl XV. was buried on the 9th October, 1872, in Ritterholm Church, and is succeeded by his brother, the Duke of OstergÖtland, under the title of Oscar II.

20 HÖyland, the Robin Hood of Norway, after three years’ patient perseverance, effected a clever escape, from the Agershuus. Being again retaken afterwards, he ultimately died, within the walls of this castle. It is said that some of his treasure is still buried in the fjelds of Norway, where he had deposited, his spoils for safety.

21 Two intrepid French travellers afterwards landed from their balloon, “La Ville d’OrlÉans.” Captain Rolier and Emile Cartailhac, during the siege of Paris, ascended from that city, on the night of the 24th November, 1870, and after a perilous voyage of adventure, across the sea, they ultimately descended in Norway, on the snows of the Lidfjeld, in the Thelemarken. The two aËronauts received shelter, and assistance from the two mountaineers, Clas and Harold Strand; and with the welcome and hospitality of an ever-generous people, they were enabled to leave Christiania, and reach in safety their native land.

22 Colonel Harriot, whose collection of Romany words is, we believe, principally obtained from the gipsies of the New Forest of Hampshire, gives one, “yek;” two, “due;” three, “trin;” four, “star;” five, “panj;” six, “shov;” and says, “Beyond these numbers I never could proceed with any success.”

Dr. Bath C. Smart, in his collection of gipsy words to complete his gipsy numerals to ten, takes seven, “afta;” eight, “oitoo;” and nine, “enneah,” from Bryant’s collection, saying he never met with any English gipsy acquainted with them.

Hoyland obtained from the English gipsies one, “yake;” two, “duee;” three, “trin;” four, “stor;” five, “pan;” ten, “dyche;” but the remainder of his numbers he appears to have taken from Grellman. Hoyland says it is not a little singular that the gipsy terms for the numerals seven, eight, and nine are purely Greek.

23 Vocabulaire de la Langue des BohÉmiens habitant les Pays Basques FranÇais.

24 Author of “Le Pays Basque, sa Population, sa Langue, ses Moeurs, sa LittÉrature, et sa Musique.”

25 Presten Sundt gives the following numerals in Norwegian gipsy:—“Jikk,” one; “dy,” two; “trin,” three; “schtar,” four; “pansch,” five; “sink,” six; “schuh,” oftener “sytt,” seven; “okto,” eight; “engja,” oftener “nin,” nine; “tin,” ten.

26 Sometimes spelt Bairisk Öl, the meaning being Bavarian beer.

27 The carriole, called in Norwegian “Karjol,” is a light Norwegian carriage, with long springy shafts, admirably adapted for travelling in a mountainous country. A carriole will only accommodate one traveller, whose legs can be stretched out at full length, in a horizontal position, and a long leather apron protects them from rain. A small flat board leaves just sufficient space for a portmanteau or trunk, which should not exceed thirty-four inches in length, fifteen inches in breadth, and eleven inches high, with standing-room for the “skydskarl” (boy), who accompanies the pony during the posting-stage. Carrioles may be hired or purchased from the Christiania Carriole Company, 17, Store Strandgade, and, being very light, are easily taken on steamers, across lakes and fiords, to the next posting-station, from whence the traveller continues his land route with another pony. Carrioles are now often used by ladies, and are more easy and convenient than the stolkjoerre, a light cart, which, being less expensive to hire, is occasionally used by travellers as a means of conveyance.

28 A large hotel has since been built at Eidsvold railway station.

29 In a mansion at Eidsvold, formerly the residence of the Anker family, the Constitution of Norway was drawn up and signed, and the independence and free institutions of the Norwegian people guaranteed upon the unity of their country with Sweden, in 1814.

30 George Parkes Bidder was born about the year 1800. So wonderful were his mental powers for giving ready solution to the most difficult questions in arithmetic, without the aid of pen or pencil, that he was known in early life as the “Calculating Boy.” Among the many instances of his ready ability, he once answered in a very short time the following question:—“Supposing the sun be 95,000,000 of miles from the earth, and that it were possible for an insect, whose pace should be seven and a-half inches per minute, to travel that space, how long would it take him to reach the sun?” Bidder became a civil engineer, and was at one time President of the Institution of Civil Engineers.

31 A similar instance is mentioned in Laing’s “Tour in Sweden.”

32 By an Act of Parliament, 35th and 36th Victoria, chapter 78, dated 10th August, 1872, protection is now given to a large number of wild birds in England between the 15th March and 1st August in each year.

33 After the foregoing pages had passed through the press, we succeeded in obtaining from a parish in Gloucestershire the certificate of baptism of “Zacharia;” we shall therefore in future give the name exactly as it is spelt in the certificate of baptism.

34 “Journal of a Residence in Norway during the years 1834, 1835, 1836.” By Samuel Laing, Esq. Published by Longman, Orme, Browne, & Co., in 1837.

35 Sometimes spelt Guldbransdalen, meaning the “Golden Valley.”

36 Norwegian gipsy mattjo, sometimes in English gipsy pronounced matcho.

37 Old Norway.

38 The original document is written in the Norwegian language.

39 To the left of our route, near Svatsum, a young English naval gentleman, travelling in Norway in 1853, was so pleased with the scenery of the country, that he purchased a small farm, and resided there for five years, fishing in the Roev Vand (Fox Lake) and other lakes, and exploring the fjeldes with his tent and gun. To this incident the neighbourhood of Svatsum has become associated with the author of a small but interesting book, published in 1863, entitled, “Recollections of a Five Years’ Residence in Norway.”

40 The lake fishing in the fields beyond Svatsum is said to be very good. Öret (Nor., trout) sometimes weigh 10 lbs. The Roev Vand is associated with a fishing adventure, an account of which we have never met with but in “Recollections of a Five Years’ Residence in Norway,” by Henry T. Newton Chesshyre, who gives the narrative in extenso. The circumstances are, briefly, as follows:—On the 16th of August, 1715, two brothers, who were students, on a fishing excursion, landed from their boat upon an island of barren rock, fifteen yards wide by twenty yards long, in the Roev Vand. Whilst there, a strong gust of wind, suddenly drifted the boat, to the shore of the lake. Neither of the brothers could swim. Lightly clad, they remained nine days, in sight of their fishing boat, and faithful dog, who had continued watching their things, and occasionally appeared on the gunwale of the boat, and whined piteously. They had put up a rude hovel of loose stones, which afforded them little shelter in an exposed situation on a lake 3,000 feet above the level of the sea. After the ninth day, they could not see their dog, and supposed he had died of grief and starvation. The dog, it appeared afterwards, had left, and, finding his way home, by constant howling and importunity, gave the idea that some misfortune had happened. On the night of the twelfth day, the two brothers embraced each other for the last time, as they believed, and awaited death. Their only sustenance had been about an ounce of wild sorrel each day. Suddenly, they heard the tramp of horses and the sound of voices on the edge of the lake. One brother had just strength enough to make himself heard, and they were rescued. The two students, after some weeks’ illness, recovered; but their faithful dog, Sikkert, died from the effects of his long fasting, and found a resting-place in the students’ garden.

41 The Australian bushman, when the water boils, takes the can off the fire, and, lifting the lid, puts in the tea on the boiling water. The lid is then replaced, the can is left to stand for a few minutes by the fire, and the tea is ready for use. The tea made in this way is very good, and a teapot is dispensed with.

42 Three excellent sermons referring to marriage, entitled “A Good Wife God’s Gift,” “A Wife Indeed,” and “Marriage Duties,” were published in the “Spiritual Watch” in 1622, by the eminent theologian, Thomas Gataker, B.D. He was the author of many learned works, and his annotations on “Marcus Antoninus” are well known to scholars. Thomas Gataker was born in 1574, of a very old and ancient family, still retaining their ancestral heritage of Gatacre, in Shropshire. The former Hall of Gatacre was built of stone, three sides of the exterior of the mansion being entirely covered with a glaze of greenish glass. It has puzzled many to account for the method by which the walls received their vitreous coating, effectually preserving the stone from the action of the weather. The foundation of a building on the estate, where the glass is supposed to have been made, still retains the name of the “Glass House.” We have in our possession some of the stone, with its covering of glass, given to us by one of the family. The roof of the mansion is said to have been supported by an enormous oak tree, turned upside down. This interesting relic of former ages was pulled down during the last century, and replaced by the present large and spacious brick-built Hall of the Gatacres of Gatacre.

43 On the left of our road, by Brandvold and SÖthorp, are the Espedal Nikel Works, on the Espedal Vand, which belonged in 1853 to an English company, who were said to employ as many as 500 hands, under the management of Mr. Forbes, by whose energy the nikel mines were first developed. The mines had many years previously been worked for copper. The nikel ore falling in value, the Espedal Works were sold to a Norwegian company. The scenery of the Espedal is wild and beautiful, and the lake is well stocked with trout.

44 To the gentlemen with three donkeys.

45 Patron, Sundt’s Norwegian gipsy, signifying a leaf, a signal; Patrin, Paspati’s Turkish gipsy, a leaf; Patrin, in the “Italien Lingua Zingaresca” of Francesco Predari; Patrin, in Hoyland’s “English Gipsy;” Patrin in Bischoff’s “Deutsch-Zigeunerisches;” Patrin, in the “German Gipsy Vocabulary” of Dr. Liebich. Patrin is also given as German gipsy by Grellmann. The word is used by gipsies, signifying a signal or sign on the gipsy trail to indicate to other gipsies, who understand this silent language, the route they have taken. The word is pronounced occasionally with some slight variation, as patteran, patrin. Borrow, in his admirable work, “The Zincali; or An Account of the Gipsies in Spain,” vol. i., p. 37, uses “Patteran.” We have spelt the word as nearly as possible as pronounced by the gipsies of our party. Patrins of chor (gip. grass) are commonly put by gipsies. Some gipsies we have met with used to put patrins for their favourite blind dog, “Spot,” when he had strayed or lingered far behind. A few blades of grass or leaves crushed in the gipsy female’s hand, and cast on the road, were scented out by the blind animal, who ultimately reached the encampment. Spot would occasionally remain all day in charge of the tents, and would never steal a morsel of the hobben (food), though he were famishing; “but,” said the gipsy female, “dogs brought up in the tents are like nobody else’s dogs, and they know our language as well as we do ourselves.” Poor Spot strayed one day, and, losing the trail, they never saw him again.

46 The gipsy word “chor,” signifying grass, is sometimes pronounced by English gipsies like “chaw,” without the “r” being sounded. The Norwegian gipsies use “Tjar”; the German gipsies, “Tschar.” Borrow gives “chur’” as the Spanish gipsy for grass. The Italian gipsies use “char” and “Tschar.”

47 Gorgio—any person not a gipsy.

48 Here was buried George Sinclair, the leader of the Scotch, after having fallen at Kringelen, on the 26th August, 1812.

49 A general shop.

50 A work was published by Baxter, entitled, “The Certainty of the Worlds of Spirits, fully evinced by Unquestionable Histories of Apparitions and Witchcraft, Operations, Voices, etc. Written for the conviction of Sadducees and Infidels, by Richard Baxter. London: Printed for T. Parkhurst, at the ‘Bible and Three Crowns,’ Cheapside; and by J. Sainsbury, at the ‘Rising Sun,’ over against the Royal Exchange. 1691.” An ancient timbered house, the early residence of Richard Baxter, may still be seen at Eaton Constantine, in Shropshire. Richard Baxter was born at Rowton, in the parish of High Ercall, in the county of Shropshire, 12th November, 1615, and received part of his education at Donnington Grammar School, in the same county, where several distinguished scholars, including the staunch Royalist, Dr. Allestree, afterwards Provost of Eaton, were also educated. Baxter ministered successively at Bridgnorth, Kidderminster, and other places. His mental activity for literary production was extraordinary. Twenty thousand copies of his “Call to the Unconverted” were sold in one year. Baxter died 8th December, 1691, and was buried in Christ Church. “Baxter’s House” (and about 100 acres of land) was purchased some years since by William Hancocks, Esq., of Blake’s Hall, near Kidderminster, a magistrate for the county of Salop.

51 Bayard Taylor, in his work called “Northern Travel,” published in 1858, says: “Beyond Laurgaard, Gudbrandsdal contracts to a narrow gorge, down which the Logan roars in perpetual foam. This pass is called Rusten; and the road here is excessively steep and difficult.”

52 Captain Campbell, in his useful work, “How to See Norway,” mentions that a society is now formed at Christiania for the prevention of cruelty to animals, called “Foreningen til Dyrenes Beskyttelse.”

53 Gip. housekeeper.

54 The expression “Gamle Norge” (Old Norway) is used in the same sense as the saying “Old England.”

55 SÉÑor Juan de Vega is the name assumed by a young English gentleman of noble family, who wandered through England, Wales, Ireland, and Scotland with his guitar, in the character of a Spanish minstrel, and who not only entirely supported himself during his wanderings, by his minstrelsy, but realised a surplus of £58, which he charitably presented to the committee of Spanish officers, for the relief of the refugees, then lately arrived from Portugal. His work, entitled the “Spanish Minstrel’s Sketch Book,” in two volumes, containing a record of his minstrel wanderings, was published for the author by Simkins and Marshall, 1832.

56 In French gipsy pronounced “Mutramangri.”

57 Nor., play.

58 Sometimes spelt Hoset and Holseth.

59 We believe this is the same mountain called in the Guide Book “Storhoetten.”

60 Sometimes pronounced “Rinkenno.”

61 17th July.

62 This large isolated mass of rock or stone, pitched on end, near the roadway and river, a few yards from our camp, was sometimes called by us the “Hanging Rock,” sometimes the “Hanging Stone,” and very often the “Leaning Stone.” In future mention in these pages we shall call it the “Leaning Stone.” This large stone was so overhanging on the side towards Ormein, that it formed an excellent shelter for the traveller to rest and light his bivouac fire. Occasionally the “Leaning Stone” brought to mind the “Druids’ Stone” we once sketched, at Stanton, near Monmouth; sometimes it reminds us of the famous “Boulder, or Bowder Stone,” in the romantic gorge of Borrowdale, near “Castle Crag” and Derwent Water, in Cumberland; but the “Bowder Stone” has this difference, that it overhangs on both sides, and has a narrow aperture underneath, through which two persons or lovers, joining hands, it is said, will have their secret wish. Perhaps the Leaning Stone of the beautiful valley of the Sjiriaglns has some such mystic power—who knows? We leave it to some other wanderer over fjeld and fjord to discover.

63 Alnus glutinosa.—This tree is often met with on the banks of the rivers of England and Wales, as in Norway. Occasionally we have met, in a secluded valley in Wales, a party of “cloggers,” who have bought a quantity of this wood, and are converting it on the spot into clogs. They are cloggers out for the summer. The alder wood is being worked up under a light awning, or half-tent sort of abri, from the rain and sun. The cloggers generally sleep at some house until the stock of wood is converted into men’s, women’s, and children’s clogs, which are consigned from time to time, by the nearest railway, to Lancashire. The alder wood is valuable for piles for bridges, as it lasts long under water. The Rialto at Venice is built on alder piles. The bark and leaves are useful for dyeing and tanning leather, and in staining sabots in France, which are also made of this wood. Alder wood is light in weight, and easily worked. The dark bark and foliage of the spreading branches of the tree, which overhangs the river’s edge, gives picturesque effect to many a Norwegian river scene.

64 What is meant by a czardas, or csÁrdÁs, as it is usually spelt in the Hungarian language? It is a celebrated Hungarian dance. The Magyar peasant seldom dances anything else. The csÁrdÁs is a national dance of Hungary, as much as the sailors’ hornpipe is of England. We give the following description of the csÁrdÁs, from the interesting work of Arthur J. Patterson, “The Magyars; their Country and Institutions,” vol. i., p. 194, published by Messrs. Smith, Elder & Co. in 1859:—“Its name is the adjective form from “csÁrdÁ,” which designates a solitary public house; an institution which plays a considerable part in all romantic poems or romantic novels whose scene is laid in Hungary, as a fitting haunt for brigands, horse-thieves, gipsies, Jews, political refugees, strolling players, vagabond poets, and other melodramatic personages. The music of the csÁrdÁs is at first slow, solemn, and, I may say, melancholy. After a few bars, it becomes livelier, which character it then keeps up, occasionally becoming very fast indeed, and at last ends in a delirious whirl of confusion. The movements, of course, correspond. The dance opens with a stately promenade; then, as the music quickens, each couple take a twirl or two, and breaking away brusquely from one another, continue a series of pantomimic movements, now approaching coquettishly like parted lovers desiring reconciliation; then, as if the lady thought she had given sufficient encouragement, she retreats with rapid but measured steps, while her partner pursues, and, gradually gaining on her, again seizes her waist; they whirl swiftly round two or three times, and then, breaking away, continue the pantomime as before. What makes the csÁrdÁs unrivalled is its variety. One seldom sees the couples perform exactly the same figure at the same time.”

65 The splendid vestiges of the Roman baths, called “thermÆ,” “banios,” or hot baths, at Rome, attest their former extent and magnificence. The Romans began their bathing with hot water, and ended with cold—the hot, “caldarium;” the tepid, “tepidarium;” the cold, “frigidarium.” Vast numbers of magnificent baths were erected by the Roman emperors. They had spacious porticos, rooms for athletic exercises, halls for the declamation of poets and the lectures of philosophers. Perhaps the most interesting remains of Roman baths in England are those discovered in the buried city of Uriconium, or Wroxeter, on the banks of the river Severn, about six miles from Shrewsbury, in Shropshire. For an admirable account of this city, supposed to have been taken by force, with much carnage, plundered, and burnt, between about the year 420 and the middle of the fifth century, we refer our readers to a work of great antiquarian research, published in 1872, entitled, “Uriconium: A Historical Account of the Ancient Roman City,” by Thomas Wright, M.A., F.S.A., &c., and also to the concise and useful work, “The Roman City of Uriconium,” by J. Corbet Anderson. We believe that the private subscriptions, although considerable, which have been collected for excavation, are now all exhausted; and, unless Government aid is given, it is improbable that the excavations, however interesting, can be resumed. The number of relics of the buried city, a very small portion of which has been explored, show the antiquarian, we may say, historical importance of further research. Randall, in his interesting and beautifully illustrated work, the “Severn Valley,” published (1862) by Virtue, says—“As excavations proceed, the plan of the city unfolds itself.... The forum, the baths, the market-place, and the sites of public and private buildings become clear;” and again the author says, “but with ruins, three miles in circumference, much remains to be explored.

66 There is a favourite Hungarian melody, called by the Magyars the “RÁkÓtzy,” of which Paget, in his comprehensive work, in 2 vols., “Hungary and Transylvania,” published in 1855, says—“I am now more than ever convinced that none but a gipsy band can do it full justice. The effect of the melancholy, plaintive sounds with which it begins, increased by the final discords which the gipsies introduce, and of the wild burst of passion which closes it, must depend as much on the manner of its execution as on the mere composition.”

67 Fjord is pronounced Fee-or.

68 Beautiful examples of the sidilia and piscina may be seen in Dorchester Abbey Church, Oxfordshire. The small openings or windows at the back of the niches are remarkable. Another interesting example of the sedilia and piscina may be seen at Grafton Underwood, Northamptonshire, where the niches have ogee heads, cinque-foiled.

69 The largest number of chained Bibles we have seen are in the old library of Wimborne Minster, in Dorsetshire. The library is also interesting as associated with Matthew Prior, the poet.

70 An eider-down quilt in London costs sometimes as much as five to seven guineas.

71 “A Summer and Winter in Norway,” by Lady Di Beauclerk, published by Murray, 1868.

72 A fifth edition of “The Gipsies: Their Origin, Continuation, and Destination; or, the Sealed Book Opened,” by Samuel Roberts, was published by Messrs. Longman, 1842.

73 A comparison of many words of the Norwegian and English gipsy languages, showing their similarity, is given in the appendix to this book.

74 Published Londres et Edinbourg: Williams and Norgate. 1857.

75 Heinrich Moritz Gottlieb Grellman is the author of a standard work, written in German, entitled, “A Dissertation on Gipsies.” A translation, by Matthew Roper, Esq., F.R.S. and A.S., was published in 1787.

76 Captain Campbell, author of the excellent and useful work on Norway, published soon afterwards, entitled “How to See Norway.”

77 The engraving of the valley of the Sjiriaglns Fjeld represents our camp, near the “Leaning Stone.”

78 So spelt in the Kristians Amt map; occasionally spelt Ormen.

79 Piro is used in the Norwegian, German, French, Italian, Spanish, and Turkish gipsy language to signify foot. In the Turkish gipsy, pinro, pirno, and pindo are also used.

80 Soeter is pronounced “saiter,” and, like the chÂlet in Switzerland, affords rough accommodation on the cattle run, in the mountains, often at a long distance from the valley farm to which it belongs. The cattle are driven up from the valley, at the beginning of the summer, for pasture, and the butter and cheese are made at the soeter. At the end of the summer, the cattle are driven back to the valley farms, and housed for the winter.

81 We were more fortunate than Williams, who, during his knapsack tour, lost his way when crossing over the KjÖlen Fjeldene to Skeaker, and was alone, without food or rest, for nearly twenty-four hours—page 202 of “Through Norway with a Knapsack.”

82 Grona elv, green river.

83 Reindeer pits, formed in the fjelds, for taking reindeer.

84 New soeter.

85 Of the Norwegian winged game, the “capercailzie,” or, as the male bird is called in Norsk, “tiur,” is, perhaps the finest, varying from nine to sixteen pounds in weight. They feed much on the cranberry, red whortleberry, bilberry or bleaberry, wild strawberry, raspberry, and on juniper berries, insects, and also on leaves of the Scotch fir and spruce pine. Then there are the ptarmigan of two kinds—the “fjeld rype,” mountain ptarmigan, and the “skov rype,” or wood ptarmigan; also the “hjerpe,” hazle hen, hazle grouse—the handsomest of the grouse species—the “aarfugl,” black cock or black grouse; also “raphÖne,” partridges; “vagtel,” quail; and “rugde,” woodcock. Partridges and quails are not numerous. We refer those who wish to know more about the game birds of Norway to a most complete and beautifully illustrated work, “Game Birds and Wild Fowl of Sweden and Norway,” by L. Lloyd, author of “Field Sports of Northern Europe,” published by Day & Son, 1867. Many of the beautiful illustrations of this work are by the celebrated Swedish artist, the late M. KÖrner. Several excellent woodcuts are by Wolf.

86 “Rankny rackly,” pretty girl; sometimes pronounced “rinkenno” and “rankno,” pretty. In the Italian gipsy, it is pronounced “rincano,” bello.

87 The following description is given of Lom Church in “Wild Life in the Fjelds of Norway,” by Francis M. Wyndham, published by Longmans, 1861:—“The church is a very picturesque building, made entirely of wood, even to the roof, which is composed of small pieces of wood, shaped and laid on like tiles. A beautiful tapering spire rises from the centre of the building, and forms no insignificant object in the view of Lom.”

88 In a recent guide book we notice that Proesten Hallen is now entitled Provsten Hallen.

89 Beaver stream.

90 Our guide, Ole, was commonly called “Ole RÖdsheim,” from the name of his farm and station; but his right name is Ole Halvorsen. Ole is spoken of in Mr. Bennett’s Guide Book as a thoroughly honest, trustworthy man. The author of “How to See Norway” says—“Ole RÖdsheim of RÖdsheim is a justly celebrated guide.” The author of “Wild Life in the Fjelds of Norway,” speaking of the station of RÖdsheim, says:—“Fortunately, however, in compensation for the delay, the station was very clean and comfortable, and a bon fide bed was not unwelcome.”

91 The mountain is said to be named after a farm at its base.—“How to See Norway,” p. 48.

92 This mountain was ascended for the first time on the 27th August, 1870, by Messrs. Browne and Saunders. An interesting account is given by T. L. Murray Browne, in the “Alpine Club Journal” for February, 1871.

93 An additional reason quite accounts for the rapid flight of the night visitors. Esmeralda, who was with her brother, suddenly shouted when she saw them, “Halloo! What are you doing there?” and preceded her brother in the pursuit, which must have had a still more startling effect on the exaggerated fancies of the fugitives.

94 The “myse ost” is a cheese, shaped like a brick, yellowish brown in colour, and very hard, with a peculiar flavour much relished. Small, thin shavings are sliced off the cheese on to fladbrÖd and butter, and so it is generally eaten. Occasionally the thin shavings of cheese are eaten with grÖd.

95 Kop is the Norwegian for cup. Milk is often sold in Norway by the kop.

96 This immense glacier is also called “SmÖrstabben.”

97 “Scenes from the Snow Fields, or the Upper Ice World of Mont Blanc,” by Edmund T. Coleman, was published, at the cost of three guineas each copy, by Messrs. Longman, in 1859. Mr. Coleman, who is still a member of the English Alpine Club, has since extended his travels to British Columbia and California. In 1868, in company with Messrs. Ogilvy, Stratton, and Tennent, he finally succeeded in making the first ascent of Mount Baker, and planting the American flag on its highest peak, which he named “Grant’s Peak,” in honour of the President of the United States. Mount Baker is 10,613 feet above the level of the sea, and is the most northerly of the great cones of the Cascade range, being only fourteen miles from the boundary line dividing America from English possessions. Like another “snowy Olympus,” it towers above the rest, as the sentinel of a solitary land. The justly celebrated and successful American serial, “Harper’s New Monthly Magazine,” of November, 1869, page 793, contains a most interesting article, entitled “Mountaineering on the Pacific,” by Mr. Coleman, with numerous engravings from Mr. Coleman’s drawings, descriptive of his successful ascent. Illustrations and a paragraph referring to the ascent also appeared 29th June, 1872, in a number of the Illustrated London News.

98 So singular was the appearance of the ice cliff, rising on the glacier and towering above us in the waning light of a Norwegian summer’s eve, that after describing it to an Alpine traveller of much experience, we wrote to our guide, and the following extract from Ole’s letter, dated 12th April, 1872, may be interesting:—“I am apt to think that the Ice Cliff, which I perfectly well remember, consists of rock on the side we did not see. I can hardly believe it to be entirely of ice. It certainly seemed so to us from the view we had at it; but there must be rock on the other side, I should think.”

99 Exposed to the heavy snows of winter and the storms of each changing season, some of the frail bridges which span the mountain torrent of many a deep and narrow gorge are very insecure. Many districts are remote, and the bridges seldom used. This danger to travellers has not escaped the attention of the Norske Turistforening. A melancholy accident occurred, just before we left Norway, to a young gentleman named Wright, travelling with his party in the north-west of Norway. All had safely passed across a wooden bridge but his sister. She was afraid to venture. Her brother was testing the stability of the bridge to remove her fears, when a portion gave way. The tourist fell with it into the torrent below, and lost his life. We were told he was afterwards buried at Bergen.

100 The Norwegian word “Elv” signifies a river; and “Aa” means a rivulet.

101 The “Alpine Club Journal,” February, 1871.

102 Sometimes spelt “Uradal.”

103 A description of this fall, with engraving, is also given in Captain Campbell’s concise and useful work, “How to see Norway,” published by Messrs. Longman and Co.

104 When we visited the Rjukan fos some years since we were certainly under the impression that the name applied to a rock on the face of the precipice above the fall, where the lover slipped at the first meeting after a long absence, and was lost in the abyss below. The name may probably be derived from the footpath, which at that time was very similar to a ladder, and Williams, in his work “Through Norway with a Knapsack,” calls it “Marie Stige,” saying in a note, “stige” is the Dansk and Norsk for ladder; and placing the article “en” at the end of the word, as is usual, it becomes stigen, the ladder, hence the local name, “Marie Stigen,” the Mary’s Ladder, which most English writers have misunderstood or Germanized into “Marie Stein,” or Mary’s Rock; others spell it “Marie Stegen,” which, translated, signifies Mary’s fry, Mary’s roast meat. In Murray it is called Mari Stien. The legend has associated a romantic interest with the Rjukan fos.

105 It may be well to note that the Utladal Elv and the Aardal Elv are the same river; and the MÖrkfos is sometimes called the Vetje fos.

106 Vand is the Norwegian for water in its general signification, though it is often used as a term for lake, in the same way that the English word “Water” is often used in Cumberland and Westmoreland instead of Lake. Thus we have Wastwater, Ulleswater, Derwentwater, Lowwater, Brotherswater, Devokewater, Crummockwater, Elterwater, Leverswater, Smallwater, and Rydalwater. The Norwegian word for lake is “sÖe” and “indsÖe;” but “vand” (water) is most commonly used instead of lake, as Losna Vand, Lejevoerks Vand, Otta Vand, Leir Vand, Melkedals Vand, Tyen Vand, Rus Vand, Heimdals Vand, Vinster Vand, Espedals Vand, Roev Vand, and many other instances too numerous to enumerate.

107 The Melkedals Broeen.

108 The poet’s pantebrev, or mortgage, with a translation, is given in the appendix.

109 Before we left the Bygdin Lake, a rumour reached us, that the poet Vinje was dead. His spirit had departed to some far-distant world. It was quite true: Aasmund Olafsen Vinje died 30th July, 1870, at Sjo, in the parish of Gran, Hadeland. He was born of poor parents, in the parish of Vinje, in Thelemarken, about 1818. The exact year of his birth appears to be doubtful. A soft and melancholy stillness seemed to pervade the air, as if the departed spirit of the poet lingered near his once favourite haunt. It glided silently over the SletmarkhÖ, and was for ever gone.

110 This extensive mountain region, with its wild wilderness of peaks, rising in fantastic form and sharp outline, especially the Koldedalstind, StÖlsnaastinder, Dryhaugtinden, SkagastÖlstinden, and Styggedalstinder of Horungerne and Fleskenaastind, and Melkedalstind, and others too numerous to mention, present a wide field of interest, and at present are little known and seldom explored by the Norwegian tourist.

111 Don’t buy the fiddle, sir, if he does not take three dollars.

112 Meaning in Romany a large fish. “Borrieck” is evidently derived from “boro,” great. It is spelt “baro” in the Turkish gipsy. The word “borrieck,” as used by our gipsies, meaning great, we have never met with before.

113 This author, by many ranked second to Shakspeare, was born 1574, and rising by his own perseverance, and energy of mind, became, in 1619, Poet Laureate. Many of the dramatic pieces of Jonson were masques performed before the King and Court. Jonson, when he was appointed Poet Laureate, made a journey on foot from London to Scotland. When met, it is said, by Drummond of Hawthornden (to whom, amongst other friends, he paid a visit), Drummond said, “Welcome, welcome, royal Ben!” to which Jonson aptly replied, “Thank you! thank you, Hawthornden!” “The Masque of Metamorphosed Gypsies” was presented to King James at “Burleigh,” “Belvoir,” and Windsor. A printed copy we have is dated 1621. Jonson wrote to the last; but, after some years of great literary success, and prosperity, he died, 1637, in needy circumstances, and was buried in Westminster Abbey, the only inscription on the poet’s tomb being “O rare Ben Jonson!”

114 Not unlike coarse rye bread, we have eaten in Germany, called “Pumpernickel,” but whence the derivation of the name, we could never ascertain.

115 Bernadotte ascended the throne of Norway in 1818, as Carl John XIV.; died 8th of March, 1844; was succeeded by his son, Oscar I., who died 1859. His son ascended the throne as King Carl XV., who died 18th September, 1872, and was succeeded by his brother, Oscar II., the present king of Norway.

116 Little Bang.

117 Some gipsies have an idea that if they have their likenesses taken, it does them an injury. We have known one gipsy who would not be taken. On one occasion, when a gipsy had allowed his photograph to be taken to oblige us, he said, “Well, sir, don’t you lose something from you, and are never so well afterwards?”

118 We were informed that the Remington rifle was generally used in Norway.

119 Shelley, the poet, during his tour in 1814, being at Paris, purchased a donkey to carry his baggage, and, by turns, his two companions de voyage, Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, and her relation, a lady friend. They all proceeded towards Charenton, when Shelley, who had, probably, made an indifferent purchase, discarded the donkey, and bought a mule for ten napoleons. With many adventures, the party at length reached Troyes, and Shelley, having sprained his ancle, the party accomplished the rest of the journey in an open carriage.—“Shelley and his Writings,” by Middleton. 1858. Shelley was born 1792, and was drowned, 8th July, 1823.

120 Spelt Boegna Elv in the Kristians ampt map. Much difficulty occurs with regard to the orthography of Norwegian names, which are very often spelt differently, according to the map or guide-book in which they appear.

121 The tea-pot and kettle are both called by our gipsies “piri;” and it is interesting to note that the Norwegian gipsies, according to Proesten Sundt, use piri to mean pot, and the Turkish gipsies also use the same word piri, with the same signification.

122 “Let us go to bed.” The French gipsies use “Wuddress,” bed.

123 Good-night. “Cooshko,” “Cooshto” “Kosko” also used by the English gipsies. “Cushty” is not used by the gipsies of some countries to signify good; for instance, the French gipsies use “ladscho” and “mischdo.” The Turkish gipsies use “latcho,” good, and the Norwegian gipsies “lattjo,” good. Borrow, in his work, “The Zincali; or, an Account of the Gypsies of Spain,” gives “kosko” as the English gipsy for “good.” Colonel Harriot has given “kashto” and “kashko”; and for “good-night,” “kashko rati,” as used by the gipsies of North Hampshire.

124 The Norwegian gipsies use nearly the same word for soup, namely “summin.”

125 Vernon is a tall, powerful gipsy, in the prime of life, six feet two inches high, who travels England and Wales with his tent. His name was generally pronounced “Varnon” by our gipsy, Noah.

126 In 1873, tall Noah had never heard of the name of Disraeli, the author and the statesman. Noah thought he had heard of the name of Gladstone, but did not know who he was. He had heard of Dickens; for he kept a post-office in a country village, near which they sometimes camped. We did not pursue our interrogatories any further!!

127 Besides the Norwegian cheese, called “Myse Ost,” before described, they have a very old, decayed kind of cheese, called “Gammel Ost,” which is much esteemed in Norway.

128 Where do you travel from?

129 King’s View.

130 Queen’s View.

131 In a work, entitled “The Black Death in the Fourteenth Century,” translated by Dr. Babbington from the German of Dr. Hecker, published in 1833 by A. Schloss, 109, Strand, London, it is stated that the contagion was carried from England to Bergen, where the plague broke out in the most frightful form, and throughout the country, not more than a third of the inhabitants being spared. The sailors found no refuge in their ships, and vessels were often seen, driven about, on the ocean, and drifting on shore, whose crews had perished to the last man. This reminds us of the skeleton crew of the “Glenalvon,” bound from Charleston to Sydney, met with by Captain Martin, of the “Lancaster,” an account of which appeared in the newspapers of last October. Such tales of the sea, dreadful in their reality, are closely associated with the Phantom ship said to sail the stormy seas near the Cape of Good Hope, which has often furnished an interesting subject for the sailors’ night-watch yarns of spectral fancy.

132 Mandy—me, myself.

133 “Through Spain to the Sahara,” by Matilda Betham Edwards (the authoress of “A Winter with the Swallows”), published 1868.

134 Lieutenant Breton, R.N., in his “Scandinavian Sketches; or, A Tour in Norway,” published, 1835, by J. Bohn, King William Street, Strand, says, at page 50, with reference to Christiania, “Fifty-six English visited the city last year.” The annual number of tourists since that period have wonderfully increased.

135 Pronounced “Teena,” a small wooden box, often used in Norway to carry provisions.

136 We have since been informed that, with the joint assistance of some of the passengers, he was actually lifted upon one of the donkeys, and left to enjoy a solitary steeplechase in the darkness of the smoking saloon. It is also told that on this occasion John Smith, for once in his life, lost his temper; but this seems so impossible, the statement must be received with considerable doubt.

137 Some interest may be felt in the fate of our gallant and beautiful Puru Rawnee. She has since died in one of the green lanes of England. She was in foal. Our gipsies did all they could to save her. A neighbouring farmer permitted the gipsies to bury her in a quiet corner of a field on his farm. She is now no more.

138 Horungerne.—In the Norwegian language “er,” placed at the end of of a word, makes the plural, and the further addition of “ne” gives the article “the.” We have used the article “the” before Horungerne, though not necessary, because, to English readers, the sound is better.

139 Monsieur Bataillard, at the conclusion of his clever work, “Nouvelles Recherches sur l’Apparition et la Dispersion des BohÉmiens en Europe,” inclines to the belief, that, for the complete solution of the question of the origin of the gipsies, it is necessary to extend investigations to Africa.

140 Nearly 2,000 miles.

141 “Yog,” the English gipsy word for fire; the Norwegian gipsy being “jag.”

142 “An account of the Gipsies of Norway,” both editions, of 1850 and 1852, are exactly the same in title, number of pages, and contents. We had not seen the first edition of 1850 until after page 13 of this work was printed.

143 We have been told that the Norwegian gipsy is sometimes called an “earth-digger.” Possibly at times, in winter, they may shelter themselves in holes as some of the gipsies do in Transylvania. We have only been able to ascertain one instance of “gipsy earth dwellings” in England. Our informant, now advanced in life, remembers, when shooting in the winter, about the year 1818, on Finchley common, near London, to have seen excavations in the common used as dwellings by gipsies. One kind of earth-dwelling, he remembers, was formed by sinking a deep hole, from the bottom of which an excavation made at right angles served the gipsies for sleeping purposes. Another kind of earth-dwelling he then remembers was an oblong excavation, at no very great depth, below the surface of the soil, having an arched covering above ground formed with branches cut from the pollard oaks near, and covered with turf. In a paper read before the Anthropological Society of London, by Dr. R. S. Charnock, F.S.A., F.R.G.S., on the 4th May, 1866, entitled “The peoples of Transylvania,” an interesting account is given of the gipsies inhabiting that country. Dr. Charnock says that the gipsies of Transylvania ordinarily dwell in tents in the summer, and their winter habitation are holes in the earth which they excavate for the purpose. The holes are usually from eight to twelve feet deep. Dr. Charnock also says that many of the gipsies have fixed habitations in Transylvania, and keep wine shops and public-houses. The dwellings are usually situate on the outskirts of a town or village. Some dwell in the suburb of the capital of VÁsÁrhely. A little hill outside the town of Klausenberg is covered with gipsy dwellings. The located gipsies are generally honest, and their females virtuous. Many of the located gipsies are skilled in music. Dr. Charnock states that the number of gipsies in Transylvania is variously estimated at 78,923 and 60,000.

144 Our enquiries incline us to believe that in England gipsies usually seek the baptismal rite for their children, and that their dead are generally buried in consecrated ground. On some occasions the attendance at a funeral has been large, and a tomb or grave-stone erected to the memory of the gipsy who sometimes was said to be a gipsy king, as, for instance, James Boswell, buried at Rossington, near Doncaster, 1708-9; also the instance of a gipsy said to be a gipsy king mentioned in “Notes and Queries” as having been buried at West Winch, Norfolk. In the “Gentleman’s Magazine” mention is made of Henry Boswell, said to be a gipsy king, who died in affluent circumstances, and was buried in 1687, at the parish of Wittering. We are also informed that a grave-stone marks the grave of a gipsy in the churchyard of Winchcombe, Gloucestershire. In the churchyard of Calne, Wiltshire, a handsome tomb was erected to the memory of Inverto Boswell, said to have been the son of a gipsy king, who was buried there, 1774. In “Notes and Queries,” series 4, vol. 4, page 206, it is stated that a grave-stone erected on the grave of a gipsy buried in the churchyard of Coggeshall, Essex, has the following inscription:—

We could cite many other instances, if space permitted; and we believe that the non-burial of their dead in consecrated ground in England has occurred only under very exceptional circumstances.

145 Gipsies have occasionally attained to a very advanced period of life. Margaret Finch, who, during the greater part of her life, wandered over England, at length settled at Norwood, and died at the age of 109. Her fame as a fortune-teller brought many visitors to her camp to consult her, and she had the title of queen of the gipsies. She was buried at the parish of Beckenham, in Kent, on the 24 Oct., 1740. Her funeral was said to be attended by two mourning coaches, a funeral sermon was preached on the occasion, and a great concourse of people attended her funeral. It is stated in “Dugdale’s England and Wales,” that, from the habit of sitting on the ground with her chin resting on her knees, her sinews at length became so contracted, she could not rise from that posture, and after her death they were obliged to enclose her body in a deep square box. At an inn called the “Gipsy House,” at Norwood, her picture adorned the sign-post. Another instance is that of “Liddy the Gipsy,” who not many years since wandered through Radnorshire and the adjoining counties. She is said to have danced at a wedding at the age of 100. Towards the close of her life, she travelled with a knife-grinder, sleeping at the towns on her route. She was of active, restless, blithesome temperament, and was lost in a snow drift whilst crossing through Radnor Forest, at the age, it was said, of 104. We afterwards questioned one of her people, and he said she was only 102.

146 A dot over the n denotes a nasal, as in French, mon, bon.

147 This government proclamation is noticed by the Rev. Frederick Medcalfe in “The Oxonian in Thelemarken,” vol. 1, page 160, who says—“I make a point in all these spots of examining any printed notice that I may come across as being likely to throw light on the country and its institutions. Here, for instance, is a government ordinance of 1855 about the Fantefolk, otherwise Tatare or gipsies. From this I learn that some fifteen hundred of these Bedouins are moving about the kingdom, with children, who, like themselves, have never had Christian baptism or Christian instruction. They are herewith invited to settle down, and the government promises to afford them help for this purpose; otherwise, they will still be called ‘gipsies,’ and be persecuted in various ways.”

148 A dot over the n denotes a nasal, as in French, mon, bon.

149 The poet’s right name is Aasmund Olafsen Vinge. The poet has signed “Olsen” instead of “Olafsen,” probably because the name would not scan otherwise in the last line. The poet is said to have been born, 6 April, 1818, in a poor cottage (huusmands plads) in the parish of Vinge Thelemarken.

In his early youth his library consisted of his Bible, some of Holberg’s works, and a few religious books. Most of his early days were spent in tending goats and cattle in the woods, where he received those strong impressions of the wonders of nature and the beauties of mountain scenery which formed the poet of after-years. When he was grown up, he received sufficient instruction to become a teacher at Mandal, where he studied navigation and commerce.

At a comparatively late period of life, in 1850, when he was 32 years of age, he entered as a student of the university of Christiania, and, taking his degree in law, commenced practice as a solicitor.

The poet, as might be expected, was little suited to the practical requirements of the profession, and his peculiar views placed him in antagonism with the state of literature, religion, and politics of the time. The Danish book-language spoken by the educated classes, and now used as the language of literature, did not please him; and he strenuously advocated a return to the old Norsk or Icelandic language. Through the interest of friends, Vinge had obtained an appointment in a government office, which gave him the absolute necessities of life; but this he lost in consequence of his persistent attacks upon the unity of Norway and Sweden under one king, forgetting that the union of the two countries gives them an additional element of power in the north.

In 1858 Vinge published a weekly periodical, the “Dolen,” which, with occasional interruptions, he continued for eight years, contributing articles on various subjects, almost entirely written in the ancient Norsk. In this periodical most of his poetry was first published.

As a poet, he is said to excel more particularly in idylls; and as a prose author, by his genial humour. During a residence in Scotland and England in 1862 and 1863, he wrote in English “A Norseman’s View of Britain and the British,” published 1863. With much originality of thought, it is encumbered with false conclusions and extreme views. The work consists of a series of sixteen letters, and is most interesting as an analysis of the poet’s mind, who might have cast his fate on more peaceful waters. They are in striking contrast with “De l’Avenir politique de l’Angleterre (England’s political future) par le Comte de Montalembert,” published 1856. Yet, withal, there is a freshness in the northern poet’s views. They are the real emanations of real and earnest thought, and so command respect, attention, and consideration. Of the society of England, we are sorry to say, Vinge took a desponding view, forgetting, as the lofty mind of Milton speaks—

In his letters on England, Vinge, in order to give a melancholy illustration of the state of society, alludes to the true but romantic marriage of the Lord Burghley, who, staying at a country village in Shropshire as a landscape painter, under the assumed name of Jones, married, in 1791, being then about the age of 37, a country maiden named Sarah Hoggins. After their marriage, Lord Burghley becomes Marquess of Exeter in 1793, and takes his wife, to her surprise, to his magnificent mansion of Burghley House, near Stamford Town, where she afterwards dies in 1797. The incident is described in one of the most beautiful poems Tennyson has ever written. Vinge, whilst he admires the poem, sees much to deplore in the fact that such a state of society should exist, in which a village maid, when she married a nobleman, should feel oppressed, to use the words of Tennyson, “With the burthen of an honour
Unto which she was not born.”
Vinge forgets that the village maiden may have done worse in her own position of life. It was quite within the range of possibility for her to have a husband, who, when occasionally inebriated, might sometimes give her a good beating, or indulge in language not suited to the poetry of Vinge. The poet also overlooks the fact that Lord Burghley gave an honourable love to the village maid. He did not deceive her, but, as Tennyson beautifully describes—

Nor did the Lord Burghley forget the maiden’s relatives and friends; but made a most ample provision for them. One feels some pride that in England a respectable village girl, whose countenance is said to have expressed sensibility, purity, and happiness, should have had that respect due to her change of rank, and be received at court, where her quiet, unassuming manners are said to have been much admired by her Majesty Queen Charlotte. “But,” says Vinge, “she was not born to honour. There is the deep cause of all the mischief, and it is no burlesque; on the contrary, it is very pathetic.”

Still we do not see any reason for the poet’s complaint; and though the Lady of Burghley died early, the Marquess did not long survive her, for he died in 1804, and society could not have had anything to do with his death. The present Marquess and Earl of Exeter is their grandson. In allusion to the death of the Lady of Burghley, the poet laureate concludes:—

Vinge has also published a collection of poems, sketches of travels, scraps of poetry and prose, and a long epic poem called “Store Gut” (the big boy). Lastly he published “Vaar Politik” and “Om Professor Schweigaard.” The last named work he had just published when he died, 30 July, 1870. Vinge was one of those visionary poets who would take society up by the roots and plant it branches downwards, expecting it to thrive and flourish. It seldom answers in nature; but then poets cannot be judged by the standard of ordinary men. Shelley and Vinge were of such. His life was an unbroken struggle. He was a highly intellectual and most interesting man. In Gran churchyard, Hadeland, rest the remains of Aasmund Olafsen Vinge.

150 Home of the giants.

151 “Livet i Felten. Uddrag af en Loeges Dagbog i Sommern 1848.” Published at Copenhagen. 1849.

152 Probably misprint for Marschen.