Home › Customs and Incidents › Customs and Incidents: Anneli
Customs and Incidents: Anneli
In the popular German ballad of 'Anneli,' or the 'Anneli Lied,' translated by Mr. J. H. Dixon ('Notes and Queries,' 3rd series, vol. ix.), the maiden, whose lover is drowned in the lake while swimming, is in a boat with a fisherman who recovers the body, which she places on her lap :- And she kiss'd his mouth, and he seem'd to smile, 'Oh, no, I will not repine, For God in heaven hath granted him A happier home than mine.' And she chaf'd in hers his clammy hands-- Ah! what does the maiden see?
There was a bridal-ring for one Was never a bride to be.
She drew from his finger that posied ring, 'Fisherman-lo! thy fee!' And clasping him round and round she plunged, And scream'd with a maniac glee- 'No other young man in Argovie Shall drown for the love of me!' Mr. R. S. Ralston, M.A., in his 'Songs of the Russians,' mentions an interesting custom in connection with rings : 'Among the games is that called the "Burial of the Gold." A number of girls form a circle, and pass from hand to hand a gold ring, which a girl who stands inside the circle tries to detect. Meanwhile they sing in chorus the following verses :- See here, gold I bury, I bury; Silver pure I bury, bury; In the rooms, the rooms of my father, Rooms so high, so high, of my mother.
Guess, O maiden, find out, pretty one, Whose hand is holding The wings of the serpent.
The girl in the middle replies :- Gladly would I have guessed, Had I but known, or had seen, Crossing over the plain, Plaiting the ruddy brown hair, Weaving with silk in and out Interlacing with gold.
O, my friends, dear companions, Tell the truth, do not conceal it, Give, oh give me back my gold !
My mother will beat me For three days, for four; With three rods of gold, With a fourth rod of pearl.
The chorus breaks in, singing :- The ring has fallen, has fallen Among the guelders and raspberries, Among the black currants.
Disappeared has our gold, Hidden amid the mere dust, Grown all over with moss.' In Warner's 'History of Ireland' (vol. i. book 10) is the following ring anecdote: 'The people were inspired with such a spirit of honour, virtue, and religion, by the great example of Brien, and by his excellent administration, that, as a proof of it, we are informed that a young lady of great beauty, adorned with jewels and a costly dress, undertook to journey alone from one end of the kingdom to the other, with a wand only in her hand, on the top of which was a ring of exceeding great value; and such an impression had the laws and government of this monarch made on the minds of all the people that no attempt was made on her honour, nor was she robbed of her clothes or jewels.' This forms the subject of one of the sweetest melodies of Moore :- Rich and rare were the gems she wore, And a bright gold ring on her wand she bore; But oh! her beauty was far beyond Her sparkling gems and snow-white wand.
Janus Nicius Crytræus relates that a certain pope had a tame raven, which secreted the pope's ring, or annulus Piscatoris. The pope, thinking that some one had committed the robbery, issued a bull of excommunication against the robber. The raven grew very thin, and lost all his plumage. On the ring being found, and the excommunication taken off, the raven recovered his flesh and his plumage. Upon this story was founded the admirable Ingoldsby legend of the 'Jackdaw of Rheims.' During the great war of liberation in Germany, the ladies deposited in the public treasury their jewels and ornaments to be sold for the national cause, and they each received in turn an iron ring inscribed 'Ich gab Gold am Eisen' (I gave gold for iron). Russell, who mentions this in his 'Tour in Germany,' 1813, adds : - ' A Prussian dame is as proud, and justly proud, of this coarse decoration as her husband and her son is of his iron cross.' ، A singular mode of securing a ring on the finger is mentioned by a correspondent to Notes and Queries' (4th Series, vol. vi. p. 323): 'In the possession of a lady relative of mine is an old painting in oils, representing Sir William Segar, Principal King-at-Arms to James I. (1604), and his wife. They stand side by side, and are threequarter portraits of life size. On the fourth finger of Lady Segar's right hand is a jewelled ring, to which are attached several black strings, curiously joined at the back of the hand, and fastened round the wrist.' A curious and tragical incident in connection with a ring is related in the 'Lives of the Lindsays.' The young Colin, Earl of Balcarres, was obtaining for his bride a young Dutch lady, Mauritia de Nassau, daughter of a natural son of Maurice, Prince of Orange. The day arrived for the wedding, the noble party were assembled in the church, and the bride was at the altar; but, to the dismay of the company, no bridegroom appeared. The volatile Colin had forgotten the day of his marriage, and was discovered in his night-gown and slippers, quietly eating his breakfast. He hurried to the church, but in his haste left the ring in his writing-case; a friend in the company gave him one; the ceremony went on, and, without looking at GG it, he placed it on the finger of the bride. It was a mourning ring, with the death's-head and cross-bones. On perceiving it at the close of the ceremony she fainted away, and the evil omen had made such an impression on her mind that, on recovering, she declared she should die within the year, and her presentiment was too truly fulfilled. Louis de Berquem, of Bruges, to whom is ascribed the art of cutting and polishing the diamond, made his first attempts in 1475, upon three rough and large diamonds, confided to him for that purpose by Charles the Rash, Duke of Burgundy. One of these was cut in a triangular shape, and mounted on a ring, on which were figured two hands, as a symbol of alliance and good faith, and was presented to Louis XI., King of France.