Sept. 20. 1851.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



207 



great coats, and also wear fur caps. In their hand they 

 carry a staff of office, on whith they screw, when occa- 

 sion requires, that fearful weapon the ' morning star.' 

 They also sometimes may he seen witli a lanthorn at 

 their belt : the candle contained in the lanthorn they 

 place at the top of their staff, to relight any street- 

 lamps which require trimming. In case of fire, the 

 watchmen give signals from the church towers, by 

 striking a number of strokes, varying with the quarter 

 of the city in which the fire occurs; and they also put 

 from the tower flags and lights pointed in the direction 

 where the destructive element is raging. From eight 

 o'clock in the evening, until four (Query, until five) 

 o'clock in the morning, all the year round, they cliant 

 a fresh verse at the expiration of each hour, as they go 

 their rounds. The cadence is generally deep and gut- 

 tural, but with a peculiar empliasis and tone ; and from 

 a distance it floats on the still night air with a pleasing 

 and impressive effect, especially to the ear of a stranger. 

 The verses in question are of great antiquity, and were 

 written, I am told, by one of the Danish bishops. They 

 are printed on a large sheet of paper, with an emblem- 

 atical border, rudely engraved in the old style; and in 

 the centre is a large engraving exactly representing one 

 of the ancient watchmen, in the now obsolete costume, 

 with his staff and ' morning star' in hand, a lanthorn 

 at his belt, and his dog at his feet. 



" A copy of the broadside has been procured me. and 

 my friend Mr. Charles Beckwith has expressly made 

 for me a verbatim translation of the verses ; and his 

 version I will now give at length. I am induced to do 

 this, because, not only are the chants most interesting 

 in themselves, as a fine old relic of Scandinavian cus- 

 toms, but there seems to me a powerful poetical spirit 

 pervading them. At the top of the sheet are the lines 

 which in the translation are — 



' Watch and pray. 



For time goes ; 



Think and directly, 



You know not when.' 



" In large letters over the engraving of the watch- 

 man are the words (translated) ; 



' Praised be God ! our Lord, to whom 

 Be love, praise, and honour.' 



" I will now give the literal version, printed exactly 

 in the same arran.(ement of lines, letters, and punctu- 

 ation, as the original : 



' C<ipi:nhageii Watchmans Song, 



Eight o'clock, 



When darkness blinds the earth 



And the day declines. 



That time then us reminds 



Of deaih's dark grave; 



Shine on us, Jesus sweet. 



At every step 

 To tlie grave-place. 

 And grant a blissful death.' 



•• Every hour between eight and five o'clock inclu- 

 give has its own chant. Tlie l.Lst is — 

 ' Five o'clock. 

 O Jesu I morning star ! 

 Our King unto thy care 



We so willingly commend. 



Be Thou his sun and shield I 

 Our clock it has struck five 

 Come mild Sun, 

 From mercy's pale. 

 Light up our house and home.' " 



Voyage from Leith to Lapland in 1850, 

 by W. Hurton, vol. i. p. 104. 



Dr. Forbes writes : 



" We had very indifferent rest in our inn, owing to 

 the over-zeal of the Chur watchmen, whose practice it 

 is to perambulate the town through the whole night, 

 twelve in number, and who on the present occasion dis- 

 played a most energetic state of vigilance. They not 

 only called, but sung out, every hour, in the most 

 sonorous strains, and even chanted a long string of 



verses on the striking of some I suppose the 



good people of Chur think nothing of these chantings, 

 or from habit hear them not ; but a tired traveller 

 would rather run the risk of being robbed in tranquil- 

 lity, than be thus sung from his propriety during all 

 the watches of the night." — A Physician's Holiday, 

 pp. 80,81. 



Dr. Forbes gives a copy of a "Watch Chant at 

 Chur," with a translation, pp. 81, 82. At p. 116. 



he siiys : 



" In our hotel at Altorf we were again saluted, during 

 the vigils of the night, but in a very mitigated degree, 

 with Slime of the same patriotic and pious strains which 

 had so disturbed us at Chur. As chanted here, how- 

 ever, they were far from unwelcome. The only other 

 place, I think, where we heard these Wacliterrufe 

 was Ncufchatel. These calls are very interesting relics 

 of the old times, and inust be considered indicative as 

 well of the simple habits of the old time, as of the pious 

 feelings of the people of old." 



He then gives the Evening and Morning Chants 

 in the town of Glarus, and the chant in use in 

 some phices in the canton of Zurich ; but in Zurich 

 itself the chant is no longer heard. 



Dr. Forbes concludes the twelfth chapter with 

 the following observation : 



" The same .antiquity, and also the inveteracy of old 

 customs to persist, is strikingly shown by the fact that 

 in some parts of the canton of Tessino, where thp 

 common language of the people is Italian, the night 

 watch-call is still in old German." 



The apparent universality of the Bellman 

 throtighout Pairope gives rise to que.'itions that 

 would, I apprehend, extend beyond the object of 

 " Notes and Queries ;" such as, Is piu'e religion 

 benefited by the engrafting of it upon stocks so 

 familiar as the bellman or watchman ? What are 

 the causes that the old ecclesiastic bellman is no 

 longer heard in sonic countries, whilst in others he 

 continues with little or no variation? llns religion 

 io.st or gained by the change ? 



Dr. i'\>rb(?s's notice of the Tessino watchman 

 calls up the public crier in England, another class 

 of bellmen, asking for a hearing, with his " O yes! 



