NOTES. 441 



Though young be the oak, yet 



At one glance you see 

 'Twill be something more than 



A poor willow-tree. 



And a brook finds its way on 



Without much ado ; 

 And a lad finds his lassie, 



If his love's really true. 



Fidelity's often 



Like a Schnadahiifi — 

 Before you can look round 



'Tis done or gone by. 



And often Fidelity's 



Like a stag's horn — ■ 

 Lost quickly, nor soon found 



When once it is lorn. 



In some parts these " Schnadahiipfln " are sung during the 

 dance. One of the dancers — he generally who leads off the figure 

 — advances then to the music, sings his verse, returns to his 

 place, and the dance is continued as before. 



Such then is one of the favourite pastimes of the Bavarian 

 mountaineer. ]STo description however can give an adequate idea 

 of the merry scene, when on a holiday such a party has met 

 together. The youths, with their picturesque dresses, and hats 

 proudly decorated with the feathers of the blackcock, and a tuft 

 of long hair from the back of some sturdy chamois or throat of 

 the noble hart, with a gay posy peeping from among these tro- 

 phies of the chase, — the village maidens, with their boddices 

 of brightest colours, bordered with gold and laced with chains of 

 silver, to which hang medals of the same metal, — their high green 

 hats trimmed with bright flowers, and edelweis, and tasselled cord 

 of gold and green, — their light brown hair in ample braids, show- 

 ing itself beneath the broad rim of the hat,— the shrill cry which 

 from time to time is sent forth in moments of wild hilarity, — the 

 snapping of fingers, with which, castanet-like, they keep time 

 during the dance, — and, heard above all the noise, the cithern's 

 tones, like those of an vEolian harp, — all together tends to form 

 a scene of rural festivity, to which, for picturesqueness of appear- 

 ance, or for good hearty fellowship, it would not be easy to find 

 a parallel. 



