I E) R_A FLY 
 OF THE 
 U N I VLR.S ITY 
 or ILLINOIS 
 
 823 
 C2791 
 
GLIMPSE 
 
 OF 
 
 FAIRY LAND. 
 
 BY 
 
 ONE OF THE SUNDAY-BORN. 
 
 LOIS^DON: 
 
 PRINTED BY HARRISON & SONS, ST. MARTIN'S LANE, 
 ^printers in ©rbhntrjr to ^cr Ht'ajjestj). 
 
THIS LrrTLE BOOK 
 
 IS DEDICATED TO 
 HIS VERY GOOD FRIE>" I) 
 AND FELLOW-STUDENT IN FAIKY LORE, 
 
 E. M. E., 
 
 AS A TOKEN THAT HER HE WILL NOT CEASE 
 TO REMEMBER, / 
 AND WITH THE HOPE THAT SHE W11>L \E\ ER 
 FORGET 
 HER GOOD FRIEND, 
 HER CHOSEN COMPANION, 
 
 THE AUTHOE. 
 
 1861. 
 
To E. M. E. 
 
 When, rising on my charmed sight, 
 Fair Innocency pure and bright ; — 
 Fair Innocence, the brightest gem 
 That shines in Childhood's diadem, 
 A priceless jewel, set in truth, 
 Illumined by the light of youth, — 
 Gleams forth in its own radiance pure, 
 How can it but my heart allure ? 
 Since Maidenhood that knows no guile 
 Turns on me its resistless smile, 
 Beams from the eyes that look on me. 
 Speaks from the lips that speak to me. 
 My heart admires, my lays applaud, 
 I love it, and I call it Maude } 
 
THE QUEEN OF THE FAIRIES. 
 
 Who is the Queen of the Fairies ? What is her 
 name ? I wiU teU you. I ought to know, since I have 
 seen her, and she has spoken to me, ay, and told me her 
 name herself. I will tell you the story. 
 
 I was one evening sitting alone in my chamber, 
 penning some verses, or at least trying to do so, and 
 now and then biting my pen in perplexity, because the 
 pretty thought I wanted would not come. In my 
 despair, scarcely knowing the words I uttered, I thus 
 exclaimed : — 
 
 *^ Would that some kindly little sprite. 
 
 Of all I've known, of all I've seen, 
 
 Would leave her Fairy haunt to-night 
 
 To help me in this present plight, 
 
 And, gracious, teach me what to write : 
 
 Listen, listen. Fairy Queen ! " 
 
 Scarcely had these words been uttered, when a gentle 
 tap at the door fell upon my ear. As I rose to open it, 
 a fairy in human guise stood before me. Astonished, 
 I bowed low, and the little wonder of beauty smiled 
 graciously, and said, — 
 
 You wanted me just now, did you not ? You see I 
 
8 
 
 THE QUEEN OF THE FAIRIES. 
 
 luive come. I might have sent some one else, but I 
 hfWe preferred to come myself." 
 
 " You do me far too much honour/' said I. 
 Not at all/' said she, I think you deserve it — in 
 fact, I rather approve of you. Now I am ready to help 
 you. What is your difficulty ? " 
 
 Said I, " I was just now at a loss for a certain pretty 
 thought, a thought that will not come to me." 
 
 Tlien she came forward and whispered the prettiest 
 of fancies in my ear, and bade me write it quickly, that 
 it might not fly away again. 
 
 " Thanks — a thousand thanks, my gracious visitant," 
 said 1, as I wrote ; then fell on my knee to express my 
 gratitude. Then she touched my hand, and said : — 
 
 ** Henceforward, what this hand may write, 
 Let it ever give delight^ 
 Be it nonsense, be it sense, 
 Let it have its excellence ; 
 To better sense or nonsense soar 
 Than e*er was heard or read before.'* 
 
 Could anytliing be more gracious ? 
 
 To Avhom," said I, " among all the Pearls of Fairy 
 Land, am I indebted for so muich kindness ? " 
 
 My name is Eva-Maude — I am the Queen of tlie 
 Fairies !" 
 
 Thus saying, she vanislied from my sight. 
 
A FAIRY FUNERAL. 
 
 The writer of this was, lie rejoices to say it, born on 
 a Sunday. " Well, and what of that ? " you may ash. 
 Simply this : since it has been his happy lot to enter 
 the world on that day of the week, it is in his power 
 to see the Fairies. Ay, every Sunday-born wight who 
 'Cares to see the Fairies may, on going through the fit 
 ceremony and repeating the Spell of the Eye-lids, see 
 many a pretty sight, many an enchanting scene, in the 
 hidden world of Faerie. There are many races of the 
 dwellers in Fairy-land : the Pixies, the Twlwyth Teg, 
 the Brownies, the Cluricaunes, tlie Nysses, the Trolls, 
 and many other " little good people," of whom much 
 has been told and written by the Sunday-born. Some 
 of these never die. Others, though they sometimes 
 live much longer than we, die as we do. But they are 
 not buried as we are ; oh, no ! a Fairy Funeral is a much 
 prettier show. 
 
 I was once at a Fairy Funeral. I do not mean to say 
 I was invited thereto, but I was there notwithstanding. 
 They went on with the ceremony just as if I were not 
 there. It did not seem to occur to them that I might 
 be one of the Sunday-born. Thus it happened :— 
 
10 
 
 A FAIRY FUNERAL. 
 
 As I lay down on a sliady bank in summer, under a 
 large oak tree, it seemed to me that I heard a very low 
 sound of Fairy music. Thereupon I went through the 
 proper ceremony, and the sound became distinct ; there 
 was no mistake about it ; it came from behind a hillock 
 near, which prevented them from noticing what I had 
 done. This was lucky, for if they had, no doubt the 
 whole thing would have disappeared in an instant — the 
 procession, banners, horses, plumes and all, with the 
 elfin corpse and all its attendants, would have vanished 
 in a twinkling, the music would have been hushed, and 
 I should not now have been able to describe to you the 
 scene I saw within a bow-shot of Castle Damouray. 
 
 First came a troop of elfin horsemen, slowly riding 
 along the sward ; then a varied procession on foot, then 
 several troops of damsels clad in white, sashed with 
 green, and all wearing the little bright red cap ; in fact,, 
 every Fairy I ever saw wore this red cap, and so say all 
 the Sunday-born Fairy-seers of all the lands where 
 Fairies dwell — England, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, 
 Germany — all say so. They bore in their hands the 
 flowers which were at that time in bloom, all of each 
 troop bearing every one the same flower. One band 
 slowly paced along under the pale lilac blossoms of the 
 crane's-bill which waved in their right hands, another 
 under the deep blue of forget-me-nots, next came a 
 moving forest of clustering bugles. I marked also the 
 crimson star of the erodium, the shaking purple tips of 
 
A FAIRY FUNERAL. 
 
 II 
 
 the fumitory, the pale green flowerets of lady's-mantle, 
 and the bright yellow wreaths of the melilot. There 
 were also other flowery bands to the number of sixteen, 
 for sixteen summers only had been seen by the sweet 
 Fay now lying extended upon a bier in the midst 
 of them. 
 
 Then ranging themselves around the grave prepared 
 to receive her, thus they chanted the deeds and graces 
 of the little departed : — 
 
 " No more amid our circling round 
 Shall Githa's glancing foot be found; » 
 Long, long shall sorrow be its guest. 
 Ere peace return to Olaf 's breast. 
 Olaf loved ; he loved, he won ; 
 Now sore he mourns for Githa gone. 
 The youth is plunged in anguish deep. 
 He pines w^ith grief, but cannot weep. 
 Tears that give the bosom ease 
 Will not aid him, Olaf sees 
 All he loves for aye asleep ; 
 Olaf sees^ and cannot v^reep." 
 
 Then others sang in response : — 
 
 *'Well may Olaf groan and sigh 
 To see his gentle Githa die ; 
 But 'tis not his to mourn alone. 
 The human race shall make their moan ; 
 And since the gentle life has fled. 
 Nature's self shall mourn her dead. 
 The many-coloured flow'rets now. 
 Shall miss her cares thus laid below ; 
 Their fragrance die, their hues shall pale, 
 The music of the grove shall fail ; 
 
12 
 
 A FAIRY FUNERAL, 
 
 Their teacher lost the birds deplore. 
 And trill their melodies no more. 
 No more, no more in poet's bower, 
 Mounting on the nodding flower. 
 Shall Githa in the poet's ear 
 Whisper thoughts he loves to hear." 
 
 Mucli more than this I might have heard had it not 
 been for a bhindering humble bee, who persisted in 
 buzzing round a tuft of purple orchis that grew near, 
 and with his loud hum quite drowned the exquisite 
 harmonies to which I was intently listening. He rather 
 disturbed the ceremony too, for I observed a mounted 
 elf ride angrily up to him, and drawing his sword, make 
 a furious cut at liim ; but as the buzzing disturber dodged 
 the blow, it unfortunately missed him, and the sweet 
 dirges had come to an end before he at last made off. 
 
 Then all, casting upon the grave the flowers they had 
 brought with them, returned in sadness, weeping as 
 they went. 
 
 Suddenly a nightingale, that I had before noticed 
 silently perched in the tree above me, struck up his 
 saddest note ; and I perceived that he, too, had been 
 attentively observing the scene. Thus he sang : — 
 
 '^The dew of the morning. 
 
 Gemming the grass. 
 The glow of the dawning. 
 
 Vanishing, pass. 
 The glory of sunlight 
 
 Passing doth yield 
 To dim twilight enfolding 
 
 The sky and the field. 
 
A FAIRY FUNERAL, 
 
 " Through the dark hours and silent 
 
 Stars jewel the skies ; 
 The morning looks on them. 
 
 They fade from our eyes. 
 The bow many-coloured 
 
 That spans earth and skies, 
 Fading, fast fading. 
 
 Vanishing, dies. 
 
 Our star of the morning. 
 
 The sun of our day. 
 The rainbow of gladness, 
 
 Has now passed away ; 
 Her spring and her summer 
 
 Of youth scarcely gone : 
 In the winter of sorrow. 
 
 Lamenting, we moan. 
 
 'Tis Nature's doom. 
 
 All Nature's cry : 
 To bud, to bloom, 
 
 To fade, to die ! '' 
 
 Thus sang he, and ceased. 
 
 The place of the little grave I noticed next Springs 
 and there grew a tuft of primroses I I have since quite 
 satisfied myself that wherever grows a primrose, there 
 some little sprite has been laid by its fellows. You 
 have seen a meadow in Spring-time dotted over with 
 primroses ? That is a Fairy cemetery. They are more 
 in number by far than we are ; no onder their graves^ 
 are so many. You have often, no doubt, plucked 
 launches and bunches of primroses. ISTever mind ; you 
 offend no Fairy by doing so. The root grows stronger, 
 and the flowers grow all the more plentifully Avhen 
 
14 
 
 A FAIRY FUNERAL, 
 
 some have been plucked, and the buried Fay that sleeps 
 beneath is thus kept the longer in thQ remembrance of 
 its kindred. 
 
 Where'ei- a primrose greets the eye. 
 There a Fairy corpse doth lie ; 
 The yellow blossom guards its sleep. 
 And bids its Fairy kindred weep. 
 
A TALE OY TWO QUEENS WHO EACH LOST 
 A TREASURE. 
 
 It happened, once upon a time, as the evening came 
 on, that the Queen of the Fairies, with all her retinue, 
 had just returned from hunting, and she, seated on a 
 bank of clouds in the rosy west, was dispatching one 
 messenger after another on various commissions. Sud- 
 denly among a group of these messengers a dispute 
 arose as to which of them was the swiftest in per- 
 forming the commands of the Queen — which of them 
 was the swiftest courier of Fairy Land. Scud-the-wave, 
 who sped over sea and land in a sledge of shell, and 
 Shooting-star, who is often to be seen flashing across 
 the sky of night, each claimed the superiority. 
 
 Now the Queen wore on her finger a ring which had 
 been handed down from one Fairy Queen to another for 
 more than four thousand years. Oberon, the Fairy 
 King, had, four thousand years ago, given it to his 
 Queen Titania on her marriage, and all her successors 
 had worn it, until at last it glittered resplendent on the 
 finger of Queen Eva-Maude. Of this ring it was said, 
 in the Elfin Chronicles : — 
 
16 
 
 A TALE OF TWO QUEEA^S 
 
 " The wearer of this ring, I trow. 
 Whatever she may wish to know, 
 "Whatever she may wish to be. 
 Whatever she may wish to see. 
 Wherever she may wish to go. 
 Shall have her wish, it shall be so.'' 
 
 This precious jewel, then, in order to decide the 
 dispute between the two contending fays, she drew 
 from her finger, and flinging it from her, said : — 
 
 "Speed on round the earth, my ring, with the 
 swiftness of a lightning flash for a full day, and let us 
 see which of these boasters is indeed the fleetest, and 
 will first overtake it and restore it to me. Meanwhile 
 I will pass the night here." 
 
 Thus saying, she dismissed her attendants, and, re- 
 cumbent on a roseate cloud, betook herself to rest. 
 Mortals, looking upward and beholding the splendour 
 of the hangings of her chamber, wreathed about with 
 rose-colour and purple, and edged with bright gold, 
 exclaimed, " See, the sun is setting ; how beautiful ! " 
 
 Meanwhile the two competitors, after a moment's 
 pause from sheer despair at the trial of speed required 
 of them, dashed after the ring in pursuit. On and on 
 they flashed forward untiringly until sun-rise, but they 
 saw not the ring. On and on, until the sun liad set 
 again, but still they had not overtaken it. But the 
 ring, at the end of the twenty-four hours, having no 
 orders to proceed an inch further, fell to the earth, 
 liaving left the pursuing Fairies far behind. There 
 
WHO EACH LOST A TREASURE. 
 
 17 
 
 it lay glittering on the grass. But the Fairies at 
 length, speeding along, passed over the spot where the 
 ring had dropped. Despairing of ever coming up with 
 it, for now the sun had twice set since they started, 
 they returned sad and wearied to their Queen, and gave 
 a faithful account of their luckless race, and its vexa- 
 tious result. She, you may well .suppose, felt both 
 grieved and angry, for until that ring might be re- 
 covered, much of her power was gone. But her anger 
 did not last long, since she considered that at all events 
 Scud-the-wave and Shooting-star had done their best. 
 Therefore she quickly pardoned them, being both gra- 
 cious and merciful, as a Queen of the Fairies should be. 
 Nevertheless, she sent her messengers over the wide 
 world to seek for it, and bade the birds in their songs 
 proclaim the loss in every land to which they came ; 
 and in the beginning and end of their songs thus they 
 sang : — 
 
 **Smg, sing, little birds sing, 
 The Fairy Queen has lost her ring. 
 Whoe'er restores this ring, please say. 
 Shall bear a rich reward away.'' 
 
 But though the news was trilled forth in every forest 
 and grove in the four quarters of the world, nought was 
 heard of the Lost Treasure. 
 
 Now Eva-Maude was on very intimate terms with 
 Eva, the Queen of King Eyence. They were often in 
 each other's company, and used to bathe and arrange 
 tlieir hair together, using the grove for their tiring- 
 
 c 
 
18 
 
 A TALE OF TWO QUEENS 
 
 room, and the clear stream for a mirror. Often did 
 they amuse themselves together, hunting and hawking, 
 when Eva used to ride at Eva-Maude's right hand ; in 
 fact, they were very good friends ; they had no secrets 
 from each other. So the Fairy Queen told Eva of her 
 unfortunate loss, and they grieved over it together. 
 
 But to return to that precious circlet, the ring. It 
 had not long lain upon the earth before a magpie spied 
 it glittering amid the grass. She swooped down, and 
 bore it off to her nest. There she placed it with one 
 egg she had just laid, and was very proud of both her 
 treasures, though one of them was, properly, none of 
 hers ; but she was a great thief. There the ring might 
 have remained until the Fairies had ransacked every 
 nook and cranny of the earth for it a thousand times 
 over, had it not been for this incident : — 
 
 Two nurses were roaming the greenwood, each with a 
 little child in her bosom, the one a girl and the other a 
 l)oy, the twin children of King Eyence, who lived hard 
 by at Castle Damouray. Presently one of the girls, 
 ])ee2:>ing over the hedge, exclaimed with delight to the 
 other, " Look at that bank yonder, covered with beauti- 
 ful yellow daffodils, nodding so prettily at their shadows 
 in tlie brook below! Let us go into that field and 
 gather some." So they did, clambering over the fence, 
 liut they could not tliink -of dragging the babes with 
 them through the thorny bushes, for it would have 
 torn tlicir embroidered long clotlies, to say nothing of 
 
WHO BACH LOST A TREASURE. 
 
 19 
 
 scratching their plump little cheeks ; so they left them 
 at the foot of a tree to take care of themselves, while 
 they gathered the daffodils. 
 
 At the same time a boy, who came along whistling, 
 with his hands in his pockets, peering into the bushes 
 :and staring up into the trees, had marked the mag- 
 pie's nest, and instantly determined on plundering it. 
 Climbing the tree, he came up to the nest, and found 
 the one egg and the ring. " Hollo ! " said he, " what a 
 remarkable find.'' He tried the ring on his fingers. 
 ''No, it will not go even on my little finger, but it is 
 the jolliest little ring I ever saw. I suppose I shall 
 find some use for if 
 
 So saying, he pocketed the ring, and, like a true bird- 
 nester, placed the egg in his mouth, and scrambled 
 down again. Presently he came to the place where the 
 little babes were placidly amusing themselves at the 
 foot of another tree at a little distance. Hollo ! " 
 again said the lad, "wonders never cease; here's another 
 remarkable find. Who'd ever have thought of finding 
 a couple of unprotected innocents here ! What a pretty 
 child this is," said he, as he looked in the face of baby 
 Alice. '"A capital idea — so I will," said the good- 
 natured boy, dragging out of his pocket a top, some 
 Avhip-cord, a shoe-lace, a few marbles, an old glove, an 
 apple, some buttons, and a toy-boat, &c., from among 
 which, with some difficulty, he picked out the fairy 
 ring. " I'll give the ring to this little one," said he, and 
 
 c 2 
 
20 
 
 A TALE OF TWO QUEENS 
 
 ]ie placed it "upon her finger. ''Now I'm a married 
 man," he said, with a merry laugh, " but I must not 
 leave my little wife here alone until I see whether there 
 is anybody to take care of her." So he looked about 
 to see. Presently he spied the two nurse-maids, and 
 calling to them, he [satisfied himself that all was right,^^ 
 and trotted contentedly away. 
 
 Now little Alice was a much-enduring child. Some- 
 times they gave her her food too often, and too much of 
 it, and sometimes it was in too hot a state, and when 
 she could not swallow it fast enough, they used to pat 
 her on the back, which only made matters worse.. 
 Sometimes the nurse very awkwardly stuck in the pins 
 which held on her garments, and when she cried be- 
 cause she felt them sticking into her little person, then 
 they dandled her violently, and also patted her on the 
 back, which, of course, hammered in the pins nicely. 
 Thus she became discontented in her little soul, and 
 had often wished that she might be anything else than 
 what she was, and nothing particular had come of it. 
 This time, however, it was different. 
 
 Seeing a butterfly playing about near her, she thought,. 
 "What a pretty creature that is; I wish I could fly 
 about just so I" The ring instantly performed her wish : 
 she became a butterfly, and, flitting gaily away, rejoiced 
 in the change. 
 
 What were the feelings of the nurse-maids, do you 
 think, when, returning with the daffodils, they found 
 
21 
 
 that from the place where they had left the two chil- 
 dren one had disappeared ? Throwing aside the daffo- 
 dils, they ran about distractedly, searching everywhere ; 
 but it was of no avail. They were obliged to return to 
 Castle Damouray, and tell what had happened. Then 
 all the castle turned out on the search — knights, squires, 
 pages, grooms, stable-boys, and all, horsemen and foot- 
 men, going eastward and northward, and southward and 
 westward ; but nowhere did they find the lost Alice, 
 and the mother w^ept at the thought that she might 
 never see her child again. Inconsolably she gazed 
 upon the empty cot in which baby Alice had so often 
 «lept, while she gazed upon the dear little features 
 smiling in dreams. For long hours at a time that little 
 <3ot was her only companion, bereft as it was of its 
 beloved inmate, now her Lost Treasure. 
 
 At the first opportunity she told the Fairy Queen 
 of her loss, and now they were indeed companions in 
 sorrow. , " Your loss," said Eva-Maude, makes mine a 
 thousand times more grievous than it seemed before, 
 •since now my ring is gone I cannot help you so readily 
 as I would. I cannot immediately ascertain all tliat 
 you and I wish to know, as I once did, or I would 
 speedily find whither your child is gone. However, I 
 will do the best I can." She then commanded her 
 servants to seek over the wide world for the child Alice. 
 She also bade all the birds proclaim the loss whitherso- 
 -ever they went. This they did, singing repeatedly : — 
 
22 
 
 A TALE OF TWO QUEENS 
 
 Listen ! Ryence' Queen is weeping ; 
 Her child is lost; from nurse's keeping, 
 Some foul hag, some wicked fay. 
 Has stolen Ryence' child away/' 
 
 Little thought Eva and Eva-Maude that their losses 
 were so nearly connected, and that, in fact, the one loss 
 was the cause of the other. But so it was. A long 
 time passed, and nothing came to light either of the 
 ring or of the child Alice. The one loser had lost half 
 her power, the other had well nigh lost all heart witli 
 sorrow. 
 
 Meanwhile the butterfly Alice, winging her way 
 delightedly from flower to flower, sipped the sweetest 
 juices from each gem of the meadow, the garden, and 
 the grove. Now and then, when she met any one of 
 the busy honey-making race, she took a sip from his 
 hqney-bag, a treat which every industrious little bee 
 was only too proud to give to so pretty a creature.. 
 Thus merrily and without care she lived, ever on the 
 wing, following along the track of the sunshine, and at 
 sunset taking shelter for the night in the clumps of ivy 
 and the hollows of the trees. But, nevertheless, she 
 often thought of her dear parents, how they would 
 grieve when they sought her, but found her not. On 
 this account how gladly would she have regained her 
 home ; but unfortunately it did not occur to her infant 
 mind expressly to wish for this, therefore to her home 
 she could not return. 
 
WHO EACH LOST A TREASURE. 
 
 In process of time the year began to wear on towards 
 winter, the prettiest flowers were fading, the winds 
 blew cold, and butterfly Alice could endure it no longer. 
 Slie learnt from the butterflies that at this time of the 
 year they usually found themselves crevices in old 
 walls, and chinks in the bark of trees, in which to 
 shelter themselves, and to pass the winter in a half- 
 frozen state. But they said that few indeed of them 
 lived until next spring. A prospect like this was 
 dreadful. 
 
 Seeing one day a lamb very contentedly grazing as 
 if he did not mind the cold in the least, she thought : 
 If I were such a one as he, covered with a warm 
 fleece, I should have no need to fear the winter ; I wish 
 I were as he is ! " Instantly, to her astonishment, she 
 became a lamb. However, she found it very comfort- 
 able to have warm clothes without the trouble of 
 taking or having them taken off and on, and better, too, 
 than those she had worn in her butterfly days, since 
 they would not spoil with the rain. 
 
 She was not long left to herself, but was taken with 
 many other sheep and lambs on board a ship which was 
 bound for India. All this live mutton was taken ol 
 board in order that the passengers might have fresh 
 meat on the voyage as long as possible, until they 
 should be obliged to eat what had been salted and 
 stored up for the long voyage. They were placed in 
 very crowded and uncomfortable pens, and you may be 
 
24 
 
 A TALE OF TWO QUEENS 
 
 sure that lambkin Alice did not like these arrangements 
 at all. But it was no use bleating, though bleat she 
 did, and that piteously. It was still more distressing 
 when at least two of them were butchered every day in 
 order to be eaten, and none of them knew when it 
 might be their own turn next. Many weeks had 
 passed, and now only two lambs were left, of which 
 Alice was one. Had she not happened soon to make 
 another wish, she must next day have died under tlie 
 knife of the butcher, and here the story would have 
 ended. 
 
 Then while thinking on her present misery and 
 danger, it occurred to her to wish herself one of the 
 birds she had often heard singing so sweetly, as she lay 
 on the grass, before they carried her away to sea. " Oh, 
 that I could be the one that sings most sweetly of all ! 
 she thought. She became a nightingale. 
 
 Instantly she darted out of the wretched pen, and, 
 perching upon the bowsprit, began the sweetest song 
 that ever nightingale sang. This at once called the 
 attention of the passengers and crew. They were all 
 struck with astonishment to see, when they were more 
 than a thousand miles from land, a little feathered 
 songster make its appearance among them. One or 
 two of the passengers, who were naturalists, pulled out 
 their note-books ; another sent, by the first ship they 
 met returning to England, a wonderful account of it in 
 a letter to the Times." Some said it was a good omen 
 
WRO EACH LOST A TREASURE. 
 
 25 
 
 for the voyage, and some rather preferred to take it as a 
 sign that they were doomed to end their voyage at the 
 bottom of the sea. Opinions were divided. But when 
 the butcher and the ship's cook discovered that one of 
 the lambs had disappeared, they were struck with 
 amazement. Every hole and corner in the ship was 
 ransacked, but to no purpose. To this day it is a joke 
 among the crew which of them, in so wonderfully short 
 a time, could have eaten that lamb. 
 
 Arrived in India, Alice, the nightingale, flew away at 
 her own sweet will, and was filled with gladness at the 
 sight of the delightful land, gorgeous with flowers, 
 luxuriant foliage, mighty trees, and pathless jungles. 
 Now and then she heard the roar of the lion, and the 
 crashing of the elephants amid the thickets. She saw 
 the tigers rushing upon their prey, but she felt no fear, 
 because her wdngs would preserve her from cruel wild 
 beasts, and all the human race loved her for her song. 
 When she began to sing, the chattering monkeys, the 
 screeching macaws, and noisy cockatoos, ceased their 
 clamours, and the voices of the forest were hushed ; the 
 very leaves of the trees were stilled to attention. She 
 sang to them the story of all her short, changeful, and 
 innocent life. Though they understood not the mean- 
 ing of the song, all wondered at its melody. She 
 lamented her lost home, bewailed her separation from 
 all who loved her. Her song remembered her father 
 and mother, her twin brother, her kind elder brothers 
 
26 
 
 A TALE OF TWO QUEENS 
 
 and her sweet sisters. All the land was before her, 
 boundless, luxuriant, exquisite in beauty. Surely here 
 was everything to make her happy ; but she was alone 
 among the millions of living creatures, a little lonely 
 bird whom no one understood. Who was there to love 
 Alice ? Echo answered not, but only repeated the ques- 
 tion. Who was there to take care for Alice ? Not one. 
 
 One day, as she hopped about in search of food, 
 pecking at this, and tasting of that, and choosing of the 
 nicest, she spied tlie most tempting of food lying upon 
 the ground. Perching on a twig to eat it, she found 
 herself stuck fast by the feet, and, poor little thing, she 
 could not escape. The twig had been smeared with 
 bird-lime, and the bait placed near it by a little Hindoo- 
 bird-catcher. Soon making his appearance from his 
 concealment in the wood, he quickly seized his prize, 
 and ran home delighted to shew it to his mother.. 
 
 See, a nightingale this time, in full song, too, mother 
 I heard it singing beautifully just before it was caught. 
 See, it has such a pretty little ring upon one of its 
 claws ; it must be a wonderful bird ! " The boy's 
 mother was a poor v^idow, who supported herself and 
 her son as well as so poor a woman could ; and he, on 
 his part, now and then turned a few pence by entrap- 
 ping and selling birds. " I will search out some great 
 lord,'' said he, " wlio will buy the bird of me." " Do so, 
 my son," said the widow, " and may you have good 
 luck in the sale." 
 
WJIO EACH LOST A TREASURE. 
 
 27 
 
 So the boy put Alice the nightingale into a cage. 
 Then she began to sing, telling all her story, and 
 entreating their pity, begged for liberty. But they 
 understood her not, though the sadness and beauty of 
 her song drew tears from their eyes. Poor as they were 
 they felt loath to part with their new treasure. How- 
 ever, the boy trudged off with his prize to a great city 
 a few miles off, to Delhi, the city of the Moguls. As 
 he drew near the palace of the Great Mogul, he came 
 upon a magnificent procession of elephants, bearing 
 some great personages, with guards around them, pro- 
 ceeding to the palace. He enquired from some by- 
 standers whither all this train was going. They told 
 him that this was an embassy from the King of Persia 
 to the great Mogul, whose palace they were just now 
 about to enter. I, too, will go to the Great Mogul,'^ 
 said the boy, " and ask him if he will buy my bird.'' 
 The bystanders laughed at him. But the boy, follow- 
 ing close behind the procession, entered the palace. 
 There, when he declared that he had a petition to ask 
 of the Great Mogul, the officers dared not thrust him 
 away, as the Mogul was in the habit of severely punish- 
 ing those who prevented petitioners coming to him. 
 But after keeping him waiting a long time, till the 
 audience of the Ambassadors was ended, they conducted 
 the boy into the Mogul's presence. 
 
 The boy began the interview as he had been in- 
 structed by the officers of the Court, by making his 
 
28 
 
 A TALE OF TWO QUEENS 
 
 best salaam, knocking his forehead on the floor, and 
 then wishing that he, the Mogul, " the Brother of the 
 Sun and Moon, and First Cousin to all the Stars, might 
 live to illumine the earth with his presence for ages 
 after all his relatives had faded from the sky ! Then 
 he showed his nightingale with the wonderful ring, and 
 begged his Majesty to " buy a treasure of a bird from a 
 poor boy, who, with his poor widowed mother, would be 
 for ever grateful." 
 
 Then the bird began to sing as before, so that all who 
 were in the presence began to shed tears, except Crafti- 
 foxo, the Grand Vizier, and Bloodseeko, the Minister of 
 War. They did not weep, because their cruel thoughts 
 were at that moment fixed upon something else. This 
 was nothing less than a plot they had just secretly 
 concluded with Thirstrule, the Cousin of the King of 
 Persia, who had come with the Embassy for that very 
 purpose. The plot was to surround the palace with 
 soldiers on a certain day agreed upon, to seize the 
 Mogul, and, having put him to death, to place Thirst- 
 rale on the throne in his stead. Craftifoxo was filled 
 with glee at the thought of the immense heap of gold 
 pieces which Thirstrule had promised him for his share 
 in the business ; and Bloodseeko, standing near a win- 
 dow, was thinking in his cruel soul how delightful it 
 would be to see the Mogul thrown out there upon the 
 spears of the soldiers. No wonder, then, that an inno- 
 cent song of sadness could not move them to tears. 
 
WHO EACH LOST A TREASURE. 
 
 29 
 
 It happened that the Great Mogul was very fond 
 of birds, of which he had a great many of every sort 
 and of every song singing, in gilt cages, throughout his 
 palace. But he particularly admired a bird which sang 
 so exquisitely as this. So he said to the boy, " What 
 price, my good lad, will content you for your bird ? " 
 The boy replied, " May it please your Majesty, perhaps 
 you will be so good as give ine one gold piece." Give 
 him a hundred," said the Mogul. So his treasurer 
 counted out a hundred gold mohurs, and a clerk of the 
 treasury tied them up in a silken bag, on which was 
 embroidered the crest of the Moguls, a flame-breathing 
 tiger. This the Mogul gave to the boy. How could 
 he express his gratitude ? With a burst of tears he 
 fell at his feet, and "hoped that for his kindness to 
 the poor widow and her son God would watch over 
 him and protect him to the end of his days." This, 
 coming from his heart, was a much better wish than 
 the flattering one he had been taught by the Court 
 officers, and much more likely to be of use, as we shall 
 see presently. 
 
 Thrusting the bag of gold into his bosom, the boy ran 
 all the way back to his mother, who was filled with joy 
 and gratitude at his good fortune. With the money 
 they bought a cottage, with some land round it, and 
 were thus placed above the want they had hitherto felt. 
 The widow carefully preserved the bag as a memorial, 
 that they might never forget to pray for their bene- 
 
30 
 
 A TALE OF TWO QUEENS 
 
 factor, and to bless Him who had moved their sovereign 
 to be so generous. 
 
 The nightingale Alice became the daily delight of 
 the Mogul, who in the evening, when all his affairs for 
 the day had been transacted, loved to retire to his 
 chamber, to the society of his books and bird Alice, who 
 was there installed in a cage of silver wires, adorned 
 with gold and brilliants. 
 
 But one day, wliile the Mogul was absent, she over- 
 heard Craftifoxo eagerly talking to another outside, 
 giving all the details of the plot. Wishing she might 
 understand what was passing, she gathered that an 
 army had been collected at some distance in readiness 
 for the undertaking, the people in the place where they 
 were encamped being led to suppose that they were 
 some troops which tlie Mogid himself had caused to be 
 raised. She perceived, too, that he pointed out to the 
 other that very room in which she was as the place in 
 which, when they had attacked and surprised the 
 palace, they would find the Mogul himself. They 
 intended to throw him out of that window among the 
 soldiers, that his murder might not be laid to the charge 
 of any one of themselves in particular. This plot was 
 to be put into execution in three days from that time. 
 
 Hearing all this, she was filled with terror for him 
 whom she knew to be so good-hearted, so generous, and 
 who had treated herself so kindly. Hence she deter- 
 mined that as soon as lie sliould come again to that 
 
WHO EACH LOST A TREASURE. 
 
 31 
 
 room to warn liim of tlie plot against his crown and his 
 life. She fervently wished he might understand her 
 song of terror, and her wish, of course, was gratified by 
 virtue of the ring. 
 
 As soon as he came in that evening she began her 
 story. At first he was surprised to find her song so 
 different from the sad and gentle strain it was wont to 
 be, and then to find himself listening to the story of the 
 danger which was so imminent. She advised him to 
 prepare himself against the evil designs of his enemies 
 without losing a moment. 
 
 After many expressions of gratitude to his feathered 
 counsellor, he betook liimself to making preparations 
 for frustrating the plot. He sent by trusty messengers 
 secret commands to his Generals, and many of his faith- 
 ful nobles, near and far, on all sides of the city. They 
 were each to collect their followers, and march their 
 forces straight towards the city, in such a manner as to 
 arrive at the same hour in two days from that time, and 
 to surround the army of the conspirators on all sides. 
 Tliis being arranged, he caused Craftifoxo and Blood- 
 seeko, and tlie other conspirators who were in tlie palace 
 at the time, to be arrested and put in dungeons under 
 the palace. All in the end fell out as fortunately as he 
 had intended. The army of Thirstrule, just as it was 
 ])reparing to march against the city, confident of success, 
 was struck with amazement and horror. They saw 
 troops advancing from all sides, almost at the same 
 
32 
 
 A TALE OF TWO QUEENS 
 
 moment, displaying each on tlieir banners the flame- 
 breathing tiger of the Moguls. Under this crest, they 
 well knew, was written the motto terrible to them: 
 " Good to my friends, evil to my enemies." 
 
 Now Bird Alice, in her anxiety for the Mogul's 
 safety, had eagerly wished she might know all that was 
 passing, and therefore so she did. As the crisis came on,. 
 she beat herself against the bars of her cage, twittering 
 piteously, " Would I were there ! would I were there ! " 
 
 Just as the Mogul, who had in the meantime joined 
 his friends, was raising his sword as a signal for the 
 onslaught, in which no doubt well-nigh all his mis- 
 guided enemies would have been cut to pieces, both 
 armies paused as they heard what seemed to them 
 anR'elic notes trilled forth from the throat of a little bird 
 that fluttered above them. As the sun shone over them, 
 tlie ring on her foot glittered in its light, while they all 
 paused to listen. This was the song of Bird Alice : — 
 
 " Ob King, my King, this is not good ; 
 Stain not your royal hands with blood, 
 Show mercy as the mighty should. 
 If the mighty will not show it. 
 If a monarch will not know it. 
 Where shall he find mercy when 
 God judges all the sons of men ? 
 From the standard 
 
 Of your race. 
 That evil word, 
 
 O King, erase; 
 Forget revenge ; 
 Revenge is base. 
 
WHO EACH LOST A TREASURE. 
 
 33 
 
 Blot it out, a thiog abhorred, 
 
 * Evil * 'tis an awful word ! 
 A King should rather render less 
 The sum of human wretchedness. 
 
 Than add to it the fire and sword. 
 
 Mercy, mercy. 
 
 Bright renown, 
 Brighter, purer. 
 
 Nobler, surer, 
 Gives a monarch 
 
 Than his crown. 
 
 On blood, on blood, no throne is built, 
 But ends in ruin, shame, and guilt ; 
 Below the sky, the sky above. 
 The surest Throne is built on Love.'' 
 
 Then she flew away, and the Mogul saw her no more. 
 As the song ceased, the sword fell from his hand, and 
 all the host of Thirstrule immediately laid down their 
 arms, and submitted themselves to his clemency. He 
 used his bloodless victory with moderation, however, 
 and contented himself with punishing [^a few of the 
 ring-leaders, but their lives he spared. 
 
 And it was told throughout all India how a nightin- 
 gale, wearing on her foot a jewelled ring, had preserved 
 a great king, his throne, and his life, and had saved an 
 army of men from death. This news was brought by 
 the birds to the ears of Queen Eva-Maude. She, as the 
 readiest way of recovering the ring, immediately dis- 
 patched a swift hawk in quest of the bird that had 
 become so famous. 
 
 D 
 
34 
 
 A TALE OF TWO QUEENS 
 
 Long- wing, the hawk, after chasing many a nightin- 
 gale to no purpose, at last found the very little bird of 
 which he was in search flitting about on the banks of 
 the J umna. He immediately gave chase, and poor night- 
 ingale Alice sped away before the fierce bird of prey 
 with all the speed that terror could give. Soon she 
 heard the loud clapping of his wings close behind her, 
 and began to give up herself for lost. They were now 
 passing over a lovely spot covered with roses; these, 
 lifting up their heads to her, covered as they were with 
 the dew, seemed to weep for the unhappy fate of night- 
 ingale Alice. Envying their serene and calm life there 
 in the wilderness, she thought, Would I were one of 
 them 1 " She became a ro>se in the midst of them. 
 
 The hawk found himself baffled, since the object of 
 his pursuit, just as he was extending his talons to grasp 
 it, seemed suddenly to disappear among the roses. It 
 would have saved Bird Alice a sad fright had she 
 known that Long- wing had been ordered to do her no 
 injury, but only to bring her before the Fairy Queen. 
 
 Eose Alice had scarcely sufficient time to admire 
 herself and her new comrades, before a richly-attired 
 young man came to the place. According to the Elfin 
 Chronicles, already quoted, and to which I am mainly 
 indebted for the materials of this narrative, his name 
 was L'Amour-helas, and he is stated to have been the 
 youngest son of the Eajah of Eewah. He seemed to be 
 in deep thought, and looking carefully among the roses,. 
 
WHO EACH LOST A TREASURE. 
 
 35 
 
 his eyes fixed upon the one he thought the most 
 beautiful. This was Eose Alice. 
 
 Plucking her from the stem, he presently took her to 
 the neighbouring city, where his ladye-love resided. 
 Coming before the window at which she was sitting, he 
 threw up to her the flower. To the stem he had affixed 
 this inscription, Go, beautiful rose, loveliest of flowers, 
 and tell my love how much she resembles you." Leila, 
 for tliat was her name, rewarding him with a smile, 
 took up the rose, and read the inscription. It is not 
 recorded what she said or thought of it ; no doubt she 
 thought the sentiment a very pretty one, and not in the 
 least too complimentary. She placed Eose Alice in a 
 vase, and delighted herself with the sight. 
 
 From the vase in which she was placed Eose Alice 
 looked around her, and observed Leila fondling a pet 
 dove which was feeding from a silver vessel. " What a 
 sweet creature that is," she thought. " How fond her 
 mistress is of her, and how kindly she is treated." She 
 watched the dove as she was now pecking millet-seeds 
 from the lips of Leila, then perching on her shoulder as 
 she sang to the music of her lute, cooing delightedly. 
 Leila loved her feathered pet, and called her Minna, 
 and Minna loved the sweet daughter of the Khan of 
 Kotah with all the love of an innocent bird's heart. As 
 lier mistress ceased her song, and closed her eyes in 
 (h'eamy happiness, Minna snugly placed her head under 
 lier wing, and addressed herself to rest also. 
 
 D 2 
 
36 
 
 A TALE OF TWO QUEENS 
 
 As Alice was beholding, her leaves were fading ; she 
 felt her life ebbing away with the perfume she gave to 
 the air around her. She had no one to love her, no one 
 to cherish her. The dove was happy, she was dying. 
 " Oh ! " said she, " that I could, like that sweet bird, 
 nestle under her warm cheek and be happy ! " 
 
 Then Leila was startled on awaking to find another 
 besides her own pet thus seeking to win her love. 
 
 Pretty creature ! whence come you ? " said she, fond- 
 ling her kindly. Both doves vied with each other in 
 loving attentions, but both were too innocent to feel 
 anything like jealousy. Leila clapped her hands with 
 delight ; but presently observing the ring on the foot of 
 Dove Alice, she concluded at once that she was a stray 
 pet belonging to some one like herself, who would sadly 
 grieve at her loss. Though sorry to part with a bird 
 who had so captivatingly sought her affection, she, 
 nevertheless, thought it right to call her attendant, and 
 bid her take the bird away some distance, and then to 
 release it, that so it might find its way back to its 
 owner. So it was done, and poor Alice was again alone 
 and friendless. 
 
 As she was perched, sorrowful and dejected, amid the 
 thick foliage of a banyan tree, she heard the noisy 
 twittering of an army of larks. Listening to it, she 
 understood that they had now assembled in order to 
 return to the land which they hnd left six months 
 before, as the winter came on there, in order to take 
 
WHO EACH LOST A TREASURE. 
 
 37 
 
 refuge from the cold in this warmer climate. At the 
 time of their arrival in India, they had numbered fifty- 
 five thousand five hundred and fifty-five, but since that 
 time, from different causes, they had now dwindled 
 down to fifty thousand five hundred and five. Some 
 had been shot, some had been caught in traps, some in 
 nets ; some had been sold in the markets, cooked and 
 eaten ; some had fallen a prey to tame and wild cats, to 
 hawks and other fierce devouring birds ; while some few 
 had died of old age, and more from eating too freely of 
 the good things of India. She heard them say that 
 when Chirrevit, their king, heard the result of the 
 census, he wept, for he was a good king, and loved his 
 people. Now it was time to return to the land whence 
 they came, lying between the German Ocean and the 
 Irish Sea, which they called " the White Island." 
 
 Then, thought Alice, she should like to join them. 
 Perchance, going with them, she might come to the 
 land from which her fate had severed her — the land of 
 her home and her parents. ''At least, since no one 
 cares for me, I should like to find friends among them. 
 Would I were one of them ! " 
 
 . She became so, and was delighted. Then King 
 Chirrevit commanded, " Call the roll." And they called 
 over the roll. When the fifty thousand five hundred 
 and five had all answered to their names, Alice timidly 
 presented herself. As soon as they saw her, she was 
 greeted with a deafening and universal trill : — 
 
38 
 
 A TALE OF TWO QUEENS 
 
 Rejoice., oh larks, rejoice and sing; 
 Bring her, bring her to the King — 
 That little lark that wears the Ring I 
 Sing, sing, 
 
 The Ring I The Ring ! 
 A little lark lady is wearing the Ring ! 
 
 And they brought her before the king, to whom she 
 told all her story, as far as she could remember it, which 
 was not very distinctly. It seemed to her very like a 
 long dream, of which she could only remember the last 
 part. How she came by the ring, she could not tell ; 
 she had worn it ever since she could remember. 
 
 Then Eunyouthrou, who held the office of executioner 
 among the larks, worked himself into a fury when he 
 heard it. " She is a vile thief," he said, " she has stolen 
 the ring." And he was about to run his sharp and 
 cruel bill through Bird Alice's body, before a trial had 
 been begun or sentence had been pronounced, had not 
 those near him dragged him back, and so prevented his 
 ruthless purpose. " She has committed treason against 
 the Fairy Queen, by holding the ring in her possession," 
 said his councillors. The king then said, mildly, " If 
 treason has been committed against the Fairy Queen, 
 she alone must decree the punishment." He was a lark 
 of gentlemanly feeling, as a king of the larks should be, 
 and would suffer no insult or severity to be shown to 
 her. Of her whose manners were so gentle, whose 
 innocence was so evident, one like himself could think 
 no ill. 
 
WHO EACH LOST A TREASURE, 
 
 39 
 
 " We will conduct you, Bird Alice, if you permit us, 
 to the court of Queen Eva-Maude. There all the truth 
 will be discovered. Meanwhile, I offer you my pro- 
 tection. Will you go with us ? " She answered, 
 " Willingly ; I accept your goodness ; I will go." 
 
 Then King Chirrevit ordered a palm-leaf to be 
 plucked, upon which the larks in turn might bear her 
 on the long, long way. He also appointed her a guard 
 of honour of fifty of the trustiest of his subjects, and 
 caused to be chosen twelve lark-maidens to be her 
 attendants ; and thus they proceeded on their voyage 
 through the seas of air to the White Island. 
 
 When they had proceeded a whole day, and the sun 
 was now setting, the king commanded a halt. " Call 
 the roll," said he. And they called the roll. Then it 
 was found that a hundred and one of their number had 
 perished, and now there remained fifty thousand four 
 hundred and four ; the rest had died of fatigue. " Poor 
 creatures ! " said Chirrevit, " they were too weak for the 
 journey — they could not have survived it." But he was 
 sorry for them. Then he sent this message : " How 
 fares Bird Alice — she that wears the ring ? " And she 
 sent an answer: "All well. She bids us thank you, 
 gentle king." When he heard this. King Chirrevit 
 erected his crest, for he was well pleased with the 
 welfare of Bird Alice and the answer she had sent 
 Mm. 
 
 Then all the larks took food and rested until day- 
 
40 
 
 A TALE OF TWO QUEENS 
 
 break, when they again set forward. On and on they 
 sped until^the sun set again. " Call the roll/' said the 
 king. And they called the roll. This time only fifty 
 thousand two hundred and two answered to their 
 names; the rest, to the number of two hundred and 
 two, had died of fatigue. Then the king wept and was 
 very sad, for he grieved for his subjects. Again he sent 
 the message: "How fares Bird Alice, bearer of the 
 ring ? " and was answered : " AH well. She bids us 
 thank you, gentle king." Then the king's spirit revived 
 again, for he was pleased with the welfare of Bird Alice 
 and the answer she had sent him. 
 
 And they all took food again and rested until day- 
 dawn. Then they set forward again, and at about mid- 
 day came in sight of white cliffs. This was the coast of 
 the White Island. Still they flew onward, slow and 
 wearied, until Chirrevit again commanded the roll to be 
 called. Now only forty-nine thousand eight hundred 
 and eight answered to their names, for three hundred 
 and ninety-four of their number had perished. He wept 
 bitterly at the loss of his subjects. Then he thought of 
 Bird Alice, and composed himself. He went to her in 
 person this time, and asked her how she had fared on 
 the journey. She answered that she had, thanks to 
 his majesty's kindness, found the journey delightful.*' 
 King Chirrevit said, that " to hear that alone from her 
 he felt to be more than a sufficient reward for the- 
 kindness of which she spoke." 
 
WHO EACH LOST A TREASURE. 
 
 41 
 
 Then he asked that she should now hold herself in 
 readiness to appear before the Queen and Court of 
 Faerie. ''And it will be no small honour to me, and 
 give me no small pleasure, to present you, sweet Alice, 
 to the Queen whom Chirrevit and all the Larks obey." 
 
 So it was done, and King Chirrevit presented Bird 
 Alice to Queen Eva-Maude, and said : " May it please 
 the Queen whom Chirrevit and all the Larks obey, we 
 have the honour of conducting to your presence one who 
 wears the precious ring for which you bade us, three 
 summers ago, to seek. She having come by it inno- 
 cently (I will pledge my kingly word), now willingly 
 restores it to its rightful owner. Chirrevit has spoken." 
 
 Then Bird Alice coming forward, held up her little 
 foot to the Queen. As the Queen took off the ring, the 
 whole assemblage, instead of Bird Alice, beheld a sweet- 
 little girl standing among them ! So great and engross- 
 ing was the astonishment of most of them, that few 
 observed how moved with grief, how smitten with 
 sorrow, King Chirrevit appeared. He had hoped to 
 make Bird Alice Queen of the Larks ; but now he found 
 his fond hope had vanished : he felt it was impossible. 
 Alas for Chirrevit ! 
 
 The Queen putting the ring on her own finger, at 
 once knew all that had befallen Alice while wearing 
 it. She at once understood whose child she was, 
 and was filled with joy to think how Eva and herself 
 might now rejoice over their Treasures — lost on the 
 
42 
 
 A TALE OF TWO QUEENS 
 
 same day, and found on the same day. After she had 
 kissed Alice fondly, and thanked her with many thanks, 
 ■she recalled all her past adventures to her memory. 
 Then the Queen bade her consider what gift she should 
 bestow upon her, for whatever was in her power to give, 
 that she was ready to bestow. 
 
 But she replied : " I seek nothing — I want nothing 
 else ; only restore me to my parents, to my home." 
 
 Eva-Maude smiled sweetly upon her, waved lier 
 hand, and said, " Have then your wish, sweet Alice. 
 Adieu ! " And she disappeared. But that was not the 
 only kindness that Eva-Maude intended to show tQ 
 sweet little Alice, the restorer oi the ring. 
 
 Then she turned to King Chirrevit, and said, " Tell 
 me, Chirrevit, King of Larks, what boon shall the Queen 
 of the Fairies grant to him who has done herself so 
 great a service, and shown so much kindness to unpro- 
 tected innocence ? " 
 
 Then answered Chirrevit sorrowfully : " Thanks, my 
 Queen, for the good you wish me, for the good you 
 intend ; but Chirrevit has seen an end of hopes and 
 wishes. He feels the pang of love disappointed — here 
 he feels it and he struck his royal breast, and said, in 
 the words of the poet : — - 
 
 *^This bosom is bursting with sorrow : 
 The world it is empty, the heart will die, 
 There's nothing to live for beneath the sky. 
 Fve lived, I've loved, and that was to-day, 
 
 Make ready my grave-clothes to-morrow." 
 
WHO EACH LOST A TREASURE, 
 
 43 
 
 With these words, he reeled, he fell — alas for Chdr- 
 revit! — and expired. All the court was filled with 
 sorrow, for all honoured the right royal and gentle king. 
 The Queen herself stepped from the throne, and closed 
 his eyes, saying, " Farewell, gentle king, farewell ! " 
 Then he was borne forth, with a dead march, laid upon 
 the very same palm-leaf upon which Alice had been 
 borne from India. 
 
 Thus died Chirrevit IX, the last king of the larks. 
 He was the five-hundredth in descent from Eain-shower 
 the Great, who, with thirteen of his subjects, was 
 received' by Noah into the Ark. He was a noble- 
 hearted monarch, the gentlest of his race. Out of 
 respect to his memory, the larks had no king after him, 
 but have ever since lived under a republican form of 
 government. 
 
 While the nation of the larks stood before the Queen, 
 and when Alice had disappeared from their sight, then 
 Eva, the Queen of King Eyence, was sitting in her 
 bower at Castle Damouray, sadly musing over her 
 unhappy loss, thinking of her lost child, Alice. She 
 closed her eyes in weary sorrow; she opened them 
 again, and there before her lay the well-known cot, and 
 in it was sleeping the long-lost, long-lamented Treasure, 
 sweet Alice, now grown sweeter and fairer still. 
 
 Who shall describe the joy of Eva, as she snatched her 
 child from the cradle, and fondly embraced her. How 
 can I tell you how glad, how happy, was the child Alice. 
 
44 
 
 A TALE OF TWO QUEENS. 
 
 And the Fairy Queen held a council. This was the 
 question she proposed to her councillors : " What shall 
 we give to the sweet little Alice, who desired no other 
 boon but to be restored to those who loved her ? " 
 
 And it was at length agreed that every change she 
 had undergone while she wore the fairy ring should 
 confer upon her a corresponding grace. 
 
 So it was, and there was no one but loved her, for it 
 was said of the child Alice ever afterwards : " That she 
 was as gentle as the lamb, as gay as the lark ; that she 
 had the grace of the butterfly, the voice of the night- 
 ingale, the beauty of the rose, and the innocence of the^ 
 dove." 
 
A SHELL UPON THE SHORE. 
 
 I SAW a shell upon the shore, 
 
 Upon the shore it lay ; 
 I marked it well, that curious shell. 
 
 The ocean's castaway. 
 
 Eeclining on the yellow sand, 
 
 I listened to the roar 
 Of Ocean, with its ceaseless motion, 
 
 Ever, evermore. 
 
 Oh, what has fate in store for thee. 
 Thou waif of wind and tide ? 
 
 Shall thee the deep, returning, sweep 
 And in its bosom hide 
 
 Again, or shall some human hand 
 Take up and treasure thee, 
 
 Snatched from the foam to inland home, 
 A relic of the sea ? 
 
46 
 
 A SHELL UPON THE SHORE. 
 
 As Jonah did, in time of old, 
 
 Before proud Mneveh, 
 N"ow here I'll wait and watch thy fate, 
 
 What will become of thee. 
 
 ■5^ ^ ^ ^ 
 
 Thus while old Ocean filled my ears, 
 
 That shell thus fixed mine eyes, 
 
 A little maiden, sea-shell laden, 
 Seized it for her prize. - 
 
 She held it to her listening ear, 
 
 She hearkened to its moan ; 
 
 I gazed and smiled upon the child, 
 As she stood there alone. 
 
 'Twas sweet to mark those eyes so bright,. 
 
 The turn of that sweet head ; 
 She read my face, with artless grace, 
 
 Tript up to me, and said, 
 
 As to my ear she held the shell, 
 
 What does this murmur say ? " 
 Thought I, " Ma belle, besides your shell,. 
 YouVe picked me up to-day." 
 
A SHULL UPON THE SHORE. 
 
 47 
 
 Said I, " Its song is like the sea, 
 Its deep-resounding home ; 
 
 Beginning, no ; nor end, I trow. 
 Will to its story come. 
 
 Ah ! now it warns us : look and see, 
 Eound yonder rock it flows ; 
 
 The rising tide is settling wide 
 
 Your passage hence to close. 
 
 You must not, must not linger here ; 
 
 Pass forward while you may. 
 Ere Ocean rise, before your eyes. 
 
 To sweep you both away." 
 
 I raised her quickly in my arms, 
 A burden light as feather. 
 
 " Fear not, for through those billows blue 
 We'll go, my bird, together.'' 
 
 Her voice I heard amid the splash 
 Of waters round my feet ; 
 
 Nor lost her trusting paternoster, 
 Murmur low and sweet. 
 
 " Now hold it to my ear again. 
 That whisper of the sea, 
 
 And I will tell what says the shell,, 
 My bird, to you and me." 
 
48 
 
 A SHELL UPON THE SHORE. 
 
 It says, though dark the clouds above, 
 You're still beneath the eye 
 
 Of One can save you from the wave. 
 Though it run mountain high. 
 
 It was so. A rejoicing home 
 
 Gave thanks to Him, that He 
 
 Its light that day had snatched away 
 From peril of the sea. 
 
 Oft when I hear the moaning breeze. 
 In thought I seem to bear 
 
 A burden pressed against my breast, 
 A murmur in my ear 
 
 Still sounds — ah, me ! can I forget. 
 When rising tempests roar. 
 
 That little child that sweetly smiled. 
 That Shell upon the Shore. 
 
THE ROMAUNT OF ENID AND GERAINT. 
 
 Eh, Seinte Mary, benedicitey 
 What aileth this love at me 
 
 To binde me so sore ? 
 Me dremed all this night, parde. 
 An elf-quene shal my ladye be 
 
 My nurse in wounds and gore. 
 
 " A.n elf-quene wol I love ywis 
 For in this world no woman is 
 
 Worthy to be my make in toun ; 
 All other women I forsake, 
 And to an elf-quene I me take 
 
 By dale and eke by doun." 
 
 The Rime of Sire Thopan. 
 
 Knighted at King Arthur's hand, 
 Geraint has belted on hi.s brand 
 
 So bright, for brighter fame ; 
 As flashes spark from burning gleed 
 Away the stainless knight doth speed ; 
 
 And, like the lightning flame. 
 His gleaming crest it cleaves the air, 
 A mailed hand and arm that bare 
 
 A pole-axe argent bright; 
 A lion orules blazed on his shield, 
 Passant in an" argent field ; 
 A chief three argent axes filled. 
 
 Emblazoned all aright. 
 
 E 
 
50 THE ROM AUNT OF ENID AND OERAINT, 
 
 O'er mountain path, o'er beaten road, 
 Through pastures green and meadows broad. 
 
 His charger bears him on ; 
 Through plains extended far away, 
 Through forests wide for many a day, 
 
 Thus rode he all alone. 
 
 When nightly he laid down to rest. 
 His helm the pillow was he prest. 
 
 The green sward was his bed ; 
 As knight to high emprise addrest, 
 He drank of brooklet waters blest, 
 
 On wilding salads fed. 
 
 He still rode on, the scene he scanned, 
 " Good sooth, this is a lovely land. 
 
 An Eden without end ! 
 Through thousand thousand leagues I go, 
 No living wight I n^ieet, I trow, 
 
 A foeman or a friend." 
 
 Just then, as struck by sudden fear, 
 His horse now plunges, now doth rear. 
 
 His fright a shudder tells ; 
 The knight, amid his mad careers, 
 The sweetest stmnd of laughter hears, 
 
 Like seven silver bells. 
 
THE ROM AUNT OF ENID AND GERAINT 51 
 
 He shades the sun light from his eyes, 
 He looks around him and espies 
 
 A gieesome sight indeed : 
 A merry rout of grinning elves 
 Making sport to please themselves, 
 
 And tripping up his steed. 
 
 Where'er he looks two lovely eyes, 
 Deep and blue as summer skies, 
 
 Eeturn a witching glance ; 
 He hears a voice of flute-like tone, 
 Which says, " Geraint, ride on, ride on ! " 
 
 He rides as in a trance. 
 
 Still riding onward through the glade, 
 A little child, a lovely maid. 
 
 Then came within his view ; 
 She sat amid the greenw^ood shade. 
 And, heedless, with a ribbon played. 
 
 Of white and scarlet hue. 
 
 Now around her neck she placed, 
 And now she drew it round her waist, 
 
 Her cherished silken joy. 
 Anon three armed men ride past, 
 The maiden banter, and, rude jest, 
 
 They snatch away the toy. 
 
 E 2 
 
 UNIVEHSITY OF HUHOll 
 LIBRARY 
 
52 THE ROMAUNT OF ENID AND GERAINT. 
 
 " Gramercy, little maid, I wis, 
 Without the ransom of a kiss, 
 
 You have it not again." 
 " No, no ! pray leave me here alone 
 Give me my ribbon, and begone. 
 
 You churlish, bearded men." 
 
 Then to Geraint she raised her eyes : 
 
 " Sir Knight, befriend me now," she cries. 
 
 Geraint, upon the word, 
 Tied fast his charger to a tree. 
 And, looking on the churlish three, 
 
 Drew forth his beaming sword. 
 
 Now by my spurs, and by this blade, 
 And by the sacred oath I said 
 
 Wlien I was belted knight, 
 Weak innocence will I befriend. 
 As I am pledged, to death defend 
 
 A maiden in her right." 
 
 Tlien on him rushed the churlish three : 
 Saint Mary, 'twas a grief to see 
 
 The fury of the fray ! 
 Three ruthless blades encounter one, 
 And ere tlie fight was fouglit and done 
 
 'Twas twilight ol* tlie day. 
 
THE ROM AUNT OF ENID AND GERAINT 53 
 
 Ere one was toil-spent, one lay dead, 
 And one liad to the greenwood fled, 
 
 Geraint was wounded thrice. 
 The maiden w^ept, the deep wounds bled. 
 He swooned away, he lay as dead, 
 
 And never more to rise. 
 
 Like pearls, her tears, in falling showers 
 Of precious seeds, shot up in flowers 
 
 Around him as he lay ; 
 She tends him on his flowery bed. 
 She stanched the wwmds that ran so red, 
 
 And w^ashed the gore away. 
 
 Slie blew upon her hunting-horn. 
 
 O'er hill and plain the blast was borne ; 
 
 Then, on the instant, see 
 Unnumbered fairies round her stand. 
 All waiting on their Queen's command, 
 
 The Queen of Faerie. 
 
 The knight was healed, but ere liis eyes 
 Have opened, round his w^rist she ties 
 
 The red-white ribbon broad. 
 Anon she whispered, " Sleep no more, 
 Geraint, of chivalry the flower, 
 
 Wear this for Eva-Maude." 
 
54 TEE ROM AUNT OF ENID AND GERAINT, 
 
 He rose. She said, Sir Knight, you stand 
 My welcome guest in Fairy Land ; 
 
 ISTow ask a boon of me/' 
 Geraint would ask, if ask he might. 
 To be the Elf-Queen's own true knight, 
 
 Her own true knight to be." 
 
 Bright, brighter grew the Elf-Queen's eyes, 
 Her voice of melody replies ; 
 
 Again that witching glance — 
 Again that sound of laughter swells, 
 A sound like peal of silver bells ; 
 
 It makes his heart to dance. 
 
 Yes, you shall be my own true knight. 
 And I will be your ladye bright " — 
 
 She gave her lily hand. 
 He swung her to the saddle then, 
 Geraint the happiest of men ; 
 
 They came to Artliur's land. 
 
 They came to Camelot renowned ; 
 A ladye of the Table Kound 
 
 Became the Elf-Queen then ; 
 Gracing Arthur's hall and board, 
 In Fairy Land called Eva-Maude, 
 
 And Enid among men. 
 
L'ENVOI. 
 
 The Elf-Queen's love his soul possessed, 
 'Twas by her hand the pen was blessed, 
 
 The book was writ by fairy aid ; 
 A conclave sat of bright-eyed fays. 
 They gave their Chronicler much praise^ 
 
 And imprimatur Hwas they said. 
 
 Who was the bard of Damouray 
 An ellin ukase to gainsay. 
 
 And favour lose of Faerie ? 
 What Sunday»born, or near or far. 
 But knows how kind these Fairies are, 
 
 And how imperious can be ? 
 
 He would not loose the silken band 
 That holds him at his Queen's command : 
 
 He serves, but he would not be freed. 
 He would not lose your love, fair dames. 
 And yours, sweet youths and maids, who aims 
 
 To be more loved whenas you read. 
 
 Thus, reader dear, come to thy hand 
 These episodes of Fairy Land. 
 
 1875. 
 
■A. 1