She could no more, - the blind girl, weak and weary! "What wouldst thou do, my daughter?" — and she started; Her steps towards the open door; And when, beneath her feet, the unhappy maid Suspended from the low-arched portal,‘ At length the bell, Sends forth, resounding round, Its hymeneal peal o'er rock and down the dell In sooth, deceit maketh no mortal gay, Thinks only of the beldame's words of warning. And Angela thinks of her cross, I wis; To be a bride is all! The pretty lisper Feels her heart swell to hear all round her whisper "How beautiful! how beautiful she is!" But she must calm that giddy head, At the holy table stands the priest; The wedding ring is blessed; Baptiste receives it; He must pronounce one word at least! 'Tis spoken; and sudden at the groomsman's side And while the wedding guests all hold their breath, And calmly in the air a knife suspended! At eve, instead of bridal verse, Nowhere was a smile that day, No, ah no! for each one seemed to say: "The roads should mourn and be veiled in gloom, Should mourn and should weep, ah, well-away! A CHRISTMAS CAROL. FROM THE NOEI BOURGUIGNON DE GUI BARÔZAI. I HEAR along our street On their hautboys, Christmas songs! NOTES. Page 225. 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 day 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. Page 225. 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 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." Page 225. Knights who bore the Fleece of Gold. Philippe de Bourgogne, surnamed Le Bon, espoused Isabella of Portugal, on the 10th of January, 1430; and on the same day instituted the famous order of the Fleece of Gold. |