The Breitmann Ballads Part 39

48. "O maiden fair in Heaven!"

49. Nancy, the "light of love" of Lorraine. - London Times, Dec. 6, 1870.

50. "I require you to surrender: I have thirty thousand men Not far from here, parbleu!

But give me first champagne: I've a wondrous thirst, you know- About a dozen cart-loads; And then I'll let you go."

51. "O Lord, Lord, Lord!

We are ruined!"

52. "We will take the ready gelt."

53. "Yes, give a hundred thousand francs 'Tis all to me, you know."

54. "Ah, that will make you trouble, Which I would not gladly see; So follow all my counsels, And take advice from me.

I have two thousand bottles, The best"-

55. "From the wrath of the Northmen, deliver us, Lord!"

56. There is a German student's song which begins with this couplet.

57. La Redoute - the gambling-room at Spa.

58. Spa is famous for painted ornamental wooden ware, such as fans and boxes.

59. "And to him who sung this song, G.o.d give a happy year!"

60. "If wine is better than loving, Or if love doth much more than wine."

61. "Yes, when the flower is plucked, And taken from the stem."

62. "What is sweeter than this drinking?

Yes - naught can better be Naught is sweeter, though, than loving; It tastes better than wine to me.

There's nothing like the maidens, There's nothing like good beer, And he who does not love them both Can be no cavalier."

63. "The colours are not unknown to me."

64. "Ils etaient deux alors; ils sont mille aujourd'hui.

Sur ces temps primitifs le doux progres a lui, Et chacque jour le Rhin vers Cologne charrie De nombreux Farinas, tous 'seul, 'tous 'Jean Marie.'"

- Le Maout,"Le Parfumeur," cited by Eugene Rimmel in Le Livre des Parfums, Paris, 1870.

65. Bierstadt - Herr Schwackenhammer had evidently here in view, not only the American artist BIERSTADT, but also the great city of Munich, specially famous for its manufacture of beer.

66. Rattenkonig, or Rat-king, is a term applied in German to a droll mixture of incidents or details. It is derived from an extraordinary story of twelve rats, with one (their king) in the centre, which were found in a nest with their tails grown together, firmly as the ligament which connects the Siamese Twins.

67. "Lucifers." The first name applied in America to friction matches, and one still used by many people.

68. Scalawag - an American word, of very doubtful origin, signifying a low, worthless fellow.

69. "If we can in our monastery collect our rents, we do not care a red cent for infallibility."

70. This verse is parodied from the lines of a ribald old Latin song, "Viginti Jesuiti nuper convenere."

71. "If I could throw myself outside of, or around, a gla.s.s of Rhenish wine." "If I could see a gla.s.s of whisky," said an American, "I'd throw myself outside of it mighty quick." Since writing the above, I have seen the expression thus given in a copy of La Belle Sauvage. - Bill of the Play, London, June 27, 1870.

"Nay these natives - simple creatures- Had resolved that for the future Each his own canoe would paddle, Each his own hoe-cake would gobble, And get outside his own whisky."

72. "Deus se fecit olim h.o.m.o,"&c. A very curious epigram to this effect was placed upon "Pasquin" while the writer was in Rome, during a past winter. It was as follows:- "Perche Eva mangio il pomo Iddio per riscattarci si fece uomo, Ed ora il Nono Pio Per mantenerci schiavi, si fa Dio."

73. M'Closky. An Irish adventurer, admirably depicted by Mr.

Charles Lever.

74. "Do you not see that if you are infallible, and wish to give it out."

75. "During its life."

76. "Thou art a very puppy."

77. This was the late Charles Astor Bristed of New York, to whom many of these ballads were addressed in letters.

78. Lines from Gudrun, each of which is freely translated by the lines following it.

79. "Go forth, my book, through all the world, Bear what thy fate may be!

They may bite thee, they may tear thee, So they do no harm to me!"

80. "Pull on your boots so rough and tough, And whet your sword beside, We have been lazy long enough, The road is worth the ride."

81. Schicksal, Destiny.

82. Menschheitsideal, Human Ideal.

83. A little stream in Cincinnati, beyond which lies the German quarter, is known as the Rhine.

84. That was a dark young gypsy.

85. Ah, Rosalie, my lovely one!

86. Blood-coloured is the lovely rose.

87. Who roses picks his finger p.r.i.c.ks No matter what befall; In winter-time he finds them gone And gets no rose at all.

Our petting and caressing here, Our joy or misery It all shall rest sub rosa, love, And our own secret be!

88. "Thou'rt right, my darling son."

89. "Good-bye, my friend, my Frederick!"

90. Woppenshield, coat of arms.