THE BLACK FOREST.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 9913, 30 July 1910, Page 1

THE BLACK FOREST.

A. Fascinating Account.

Some of Its Legends.

The Black Forest is one of the most famous districts in Europe, and yet few people know anything of its topography. What remains of it now occupies a rough triangle, with one corner at Constance, another at Basle, and the third at Karlsruhe. From Karlsruhe, following the Rhine to Basle, is about 130 miles; from Basle to Constance is 110 miles, again following the Rlune; and from Constance. bacis to Karlsruhe is 140 miles. It is a rough mountainous area, full of rather wild scenery, dotted over with unexpected towns, interesting historically and romantically, and noted in these days' tor the quality of its mineral waters. Actually the Black Forest is only the remnant of a vast lorest winch, in Caesar's day, stretched so tar that no one knew its lull extent. It was believed that a man, travelling ' light,_ might cross it at its narrowest part in nine days, but no one in Western Germany knew how far it stretched | to the east, and even those who had I journeyed straight on for sixty days i had not reached its confines.

But in these days of free secondary education, every schoolboy knows, or ought to know, the description of the Hercyniau Forest in the sixth book of Cajsar's " Commentaries." For the modern reader, no better account of the country, its towns, its peoples and its legends v. ill be found "than the book that has lately been written, and illustrated, by Mr C. E. Hugnes.* The impression one gathers from the work is concerned more, perhaps, with tho legends of the Black Forest than with its scenic beauties or its people, but that may be a purely personal attitude, for the descriptive passages are full of a quiet charm, and the accounts of towns and people are obviously written by a man who knows and loves them well.

It is a remarkable list of towns that appears in Mr liu<-lies's pages. Strasburg, across the Rhine, is out of the picture, properly speaking, but, Mr Hughes drags it in by the ears', or rather by the Cathedral, in order that his readers may have a comprehensive view of the mountainous district to commence with. It is at Offenburg that the entry to tho Black Forest is actually made, Offenburg, founded, so tradition savs,_ in the year 600 by Offo, an English king, and greeting •an' Englishman to-dav" with its statue of Sir Francis Drake, erected to commemorate the sailor's services to Europe in the matter of tho introduction <ri the p-otato. From Offenburg an avenue of fruit trees leads to Gegenbach and Ortenberg, with its castle frowning above, .and further up tile Jxinzig* Valley is Ohlsbachj and keeping to .the- lino one comes to Hasla'ch. Every little village on the way has its memories, for -most of them f'till have ruins dating back to the. Middle' Ages., Indeed, this is one of the great charms of tho Black Forest, perhaps its greatest.. Railways are creeping in and wut among the hills,'.but old customs linger with the ruins, and old legends entertain the inquirer at every turn. Incidentally the stranger_ will already have learnt that two striking features of the country are .the spaciousness of tho churches and the tremendous dignity of the post offices. In this Ivinzig Valley' the tourist is already in the midst of strange legend and tradition. Wo-Ifach, for instance, i has a ghost of its own. Years ago Duke Ernest of ■ Swabia'.and the Emperor wore claimants for the dukedom of _ Burgundy. The Duke gave a certain priest protection, and, in return the priest led tlio forces of the Empc.ror by a secret path to the Duke's castlo. For his treachery the priest | was -condemned after death to take I long rambles about the scene of his inI famy. Th:s is the simple type of Black vForest legend. A story of another type | attaches to Schiltach, a Lttlo beyond Wo'fach in the same valley. The town used t-o bo ono of the devil's favourite dwelling places. He took a special fancy tj a certain inn, and behaved himsself well for a while. But in evil t rue, he must needs show the cloven hoof. The inn had all the symptoms of a lirst-ckss haunting, and everyone imagined that a ghost was in possession. However, t the devil let it be known that he was responsible, and he explained; further, that he was in love, .life was fascinated i by a serving-maid at the inn, lind his i curious conduct had been partly by way I of serenade and partly ah effort to convince the townsfolk that they would be wise to give him bis way. lie put his case bluntly to the lady, only to be repulsed. The .landlord packed her off to h.r home, hoping thus to be rid of tho devil. But the Old Gentleman was too wily to bo so easily beaten. He stuck to t!.e mn, which naturally became unpopular. Then the landlord brought the girl baclt and left the two to light it .mt. As she showed no disposition to surrender, the devil set lire to the place, and tho flames destroyed ti:e lUithaus ami threatened the rest of tho town. It now became necessary for the Town Clerk to intervene, and he resolutely hurled the girl into the fire. Uns heroic measure met the devil's requirements, and the conflagration subsided. It will be objected that this is an improbable story, but a new Rathaus was e. ected on the site of the eld one in the, year 1533, and there is an inscription in Latin on the building to explain tho circumstances of its erection. The devil figures often in Black Forest legends. Baden-Baden was another lavounte town of his, and above it is a pulpit that he once occupied. The story g-f.-es t hat he was distressed by the progress that .Baden-Baden was making in Christianity, and so he took to preaching sermons. Every week-day he addressed meetings, and on Sunday he was particularly eloquent. Wavorers camo over to lis side by the score, and ho was beginning to think that he had maie an easy conquest. But there came a day when, just as he was in the midst of his perorat.on, a clear, beautiful voice rang out from a neighbouring rock.'- Hp looked and saw an angel, and tho thread of his discourse was lost. Af:er that t e angel had a tr umph, and the Devil's Pulpit and the Angel's l'ulp.t are shown to this cay in witness to the'truth of the tale. Moreover, the de il in distrust, jumped over the Murg —the Devil's Leap commemorates the jump—and sot about founding the Devil's Mi l and tho D.vl's Chambers, and when he was, weary of his fruitless labours he rested on the Devii's Bed, and at length dragged his limbs to the Devil's Grave.

Mr Hughes's book is full of these entrancing stories. But it tells many a

tale in different mood; also, tales of tlie strenuous days long past, and every ruined castls in tho much fortified region .is given its due. And lie will pass rapidly to the every-dny life of the people, taking tho tourist among the clockmakers. or the woodcutters or the tillers of the soil. Or lie will show one where Schiller's famous bell is to be or wliere Dr Faustus lived and had his strange conversations with Mephistopheles. Or he will explain where' the healing waters of the region are to bo found. Every village in the Black Forest has its interesting history, and Mr Hughes lias searched it out, so that oven if one is not a tourist one may enjoy all the fascination of this famed corner of old Europe in his pages.