THE 
AmericanScandinavian 
Review 
Volume X 
June, 1922 
Number 6 
Liselund: A Danish Idyl 
By Louis Bobe 
Near the chalk cliffs of Moen, where the bold precipice lifts its 
towers and spires aloft, an apparition of whiteness rising from a lux¬ 
uriant wealth of color and form, played upon by light and shadow, 
ever changing as the hours and years glide past, there kindly nature 
has assembled all the varied beauty that our country possesses. There 
are glimpses of the sea with ships sailing by, verdant shores and dark 
forests, distant islands, and in the horizon the outlines of Sjadland, 
Sweden, and in clear weather Riigen. There pleasant woodland paths 
beckon, while from the depths of dark clefts and fissures is wafted the 
mysterious perfume from the myriads of plants that flourish in the 
chalky and marlaceous soil of Moen more prodigally than in any other 
spot in Denmark. 
Many are the tales told from bygone days of the enchanted castle 
ruled by the king of the cliff, many the songs and stories of its wondrous 
treasure chamber. At the northern end of the ridge, where later Lise¬ 
lund was built, there lay in olden times an ancient castle, perhaps the 
stronghold of bold vikings, which was later seized by the sea. Its dark 
and impenetrable thickets, its man}^ tales of shipwrecks and castaways, 
of spectres and goblins, had taken hold of the imagination of the good 
folk at Moen, and for many generations the haunted fastnesses of the 
cliff were shunned by all. 
It was left for a foreigner, a man of many travels, a fastidious 
worshiper of beauty, and a true child of the period when every one 
was a nature enthusiast, to break the spell resting over the wild and 
solitary beauty of this cliff which was so remote from the tiny island 
capital and still more remote from the capital of the country. This 
man was Antoine Bose de la Calmette, the scion of an ancient noble 
family of Normandy, but born at Lisbon, where his father was resi¬ 
dent minister of the States-General, later becoming minister to Den- 
