Soon was their vision disturbed by the noise and stir of departure, Friends coming forth from the house, and impatient of longer delaying, Each with his plan for the day, and the work that was left uncompleted. Then from a stall near at hand, amid exclamations of wonder, Alden the thoughtful, the careful, so happy, so proud of Priscilla, Brought out his snow-white bull, obeying the hand of its master, Led by a cord that was tied to an iron ring in its nostrils, Covered with crimson cloth, and a cushion placed for a saddle. She should not walk, he said, through the dust and heat of the noonday; Nay, she should ride like a queen, not plod along like a peasant. Somewhat alarmed at first, but reassured by the others, Placing her hand on the cushion, her foot in the hand of her husband, Gayly, with joyous laugh, Priscilla mounted her palfrey. 66 Nothing is wanting now," he said with a smile, “but the distaff; Then you would be in truth my queen, my beautiful Bertha ! Line 6. Brought out his snow-white steer, obeying the hand of its master, Onward the bridal procession now moved to their new habitation, Happy husband and wife, and friends conversing together. Pleasantly murmured the brook, as they crossed the ford in the forest, Pleased with the image that passed, like a dream of love through its bosom, Tremulous, floating in air, o'er the depths of the azure abysses. Down through the golden leaves the sun was pouring his splendors, Gleaming on purple grapes, that, from branches above them suspended, Mingled their odorous breath with the balm of the pine and the fir-tree, Wild and sweet as the clusters that grew in the valley of Eschol. Like a picture it seemed of the primitive, pastoral ages, Fresh with the youth of the world, and recalling Rebecca and Isaac, Old and yet ever new, and simple and beautiful always, Love immortal and young in the endless succession of lovers. So through the Plymouth woods passed onward the bridal procession. NOTES I. EVANGELINE. Page 20. List to a Tale of Love in Acadie, home of the happy. [In the earliest records Acadie is called Cadie; afterwards it was called Arcadia, Accadia, or L'Acadie. The name is probably a French adaptation of a word common among the Micmac Indians, signifying place or region, and used as an affix to other words to indicate the place where various things, such as cranberries, eels, seals, were found in abundance. The French turned this Indian term into Cadie or Acadie; the English into Quoddy, in which form it remains when applied to the Quoddy Indians, to Quoddy Head, the last point of the United States next to Acadia, and in the compound Passamaquoddy, or Pollock-Ground.] Page 27. Lucky was he who found that stone in the nest of the swallow. "If the eyes of one of the young of a swallow be put out, the mother bird will bring from the sea-shore a little stone, which will immediately restore its sight; fortunate is the person who finds this little stone in the nest, for it is a miraculous remedy." Pluquet, Contes Populaires, quoted by Wright, Literature and Superstitions of England in the Middle Ages, I. 128. Page 28. "Sunshine of Saint Eulalie" was she called. Si le soleil rit le jour Sainte-Eulalie PLUQUET in WRIGHT, I. 131. Page 29. Flashed like a plane-tree the Persian adorned with mantles and jewels. See Evelyn's Silva, II. 53. [The story runs back to Herodotus, VII. 31, the "Persian" being Xerxes.] Page 36. For he told them tales. [The stories of the Loup-garou, or were-wolf, and the Létiche, and the miraculous properties of spiders, clover, and horseshoes, may be found in Pluquet, Contes Populaires, who conjectures that the white, fleet ermine fox gave rise to the story of the Létiche.] Page 37. Well I remember a story. [This is an old Florentine story; in an altered form it is the theme of Rossini's opera of La Gazza Ladra.] Page 44. de Dunkerque. Tous les Bourgeois de Chartres and Le Carillon [In Mr. Longfellow's diary under date of April 29, 1846: "Looked over the Receuil de Cantiques à l'usage des Messions, etc. Quebec, 1833. A curious book, in which the most ardent spiritual canticles are sung to common airs and dancing tunes. For instance, - La Mort du Juste: sur l'air, On dit que vos parents sont autant de centaures.' Pieux sentiments envers Jesus Christ: sur l'air, Des Folies d'Espagne. Other airs are Le Carillon de Dunquerque ; Charmante Gabrielle; Tous les Bourgeois de Chartres." This last was a song written by Ducauroi, maitre de chapelle of Henri IV., the words of which are: Vous connaissez Cybèle, Qui sut fixer le Temps; On la disait fort belle, Même dans ses vieux ans. CHORUS. Cette divinité, quoique dejà grand 'mère, Avait les yeux doux, le teint frais Avait même certains attraits Fermes comme la Terre. Le Carillon de Dunquerque was a popular song sung to a tune played on the Dunkirk chimes. The words are Imprudent, téméraire A l'instant, je l'espère Avance donc, poltron! Tu trembles? non, non, non -J'étouffe de colère ! -Je ris de la colère. The music to which the old man sang these songs may be found in La Clé du Caveau, by Pierre Capelle, Nos. 564 and 739. Paris: A. Cotelle.] Page 63. ine's tresses. Thou art too fair to be left to braid St. Cather There is a Norman saying of a maid who does not marry ·Elle restera pour coiffer Sainte Katherine. Page 66. Opelousas. On the Acadian coast, and the prairies of fair [Between the 1st of January and the 13th of May, 1765, about six hundred and fifty Acadians had arrived at New Orleans. The existence of a French population there attracted the exiles, and they were sent by the authorities to form settlements in Attakapas and Opelousas. They afterward established themselves on both sides of the Mississippi from the German Coast to Baton Rouge and even as high as Pointe Coupée. Hence the name of Acadian Coast, which a portion of the banks of the river still bears. See Gayarré's History of Louisiana, the French Dominion, vol. II.] Page 100. Presaged by wondrous signs, and mostly by flocks of wild pigeons. ["Among the country people, large quantities of wild pigeons in the spring are regarded as certain indications of an unhealthy summer. Whether or not this prognostication has ever been verified, I cannot tell. But it is very certain that during the last spring the number of those birds brought to market was immense. Never, perhaps, were there so many before.' A Memoir of the Yellow Fever in Philadelphia in 1793. By Matthew Carey. Philadelphia, 1793.] II. THE SONG OF HIAWATHA. may THE SONG OF HIAWATHA. This Indian Edda if I so call it is founded on a tradition, prevalent among the North American Indians, of a personage of miraculous birth, who was sent among them to clear their rivers, forests, and |