UC SOUTHERN ||0|Lg §000 083 439 m WsnwififiM mi ■'■■''•■'■ wm i MfiwinBiiiiiF' BUI US If iff iHiwa M Pilffl »■■■ ■"■ !: - '••■■ THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES TALES AND LEGENDS TYEOL. COLLECTED AND ARRANGED MADAME LA COMTESSE A. VON GUNTHER. LONDON: CHAPMAN AND HALL, 193, PICCADILLY. 1874. PBIMED KY TAYLOB AND CO., LITTLE QUEEN STBEKT, LINCOLN'S INN FIELDS DEDICATION. To those who dare the unfrequented mountain paths and passes of the Tyrol, in search of all that is wonderful and grand, this work is re- spectfully dedicated by THE AUTHORESS. 533885 * i>nn mv PREFACE The Tyrol, the land of glory and tradition, the wonder-garden of the world, so often visited but so little known, forms the theme of the following volume ; and in dedicating it to the public the authoress feels certain of a fair share of their approval, perhaps, even, of their thanks ; for many are the dangers which have been incurred in its production, and many are the clays of weary walks and severe trials that it has cost. vi Preface. There are no railroads in the mountains, and even cart-tracks are "few and far between," and those who wish to see the almost hidden beauty, must, in passing through this en- chanted land, undergo all the authoress has undergone, and share with her the pleasure as well as the pain. All that is grand and beautiful, all that is gorgeous and sublime, all that is shocking and terrible, is to be met with at every step in the Tyrol ; and the following legends are but a poor illustration of the old proverb, " There are finer fish in the sea than ever came out of it." The strange dialect of the inhabitants of this curious country, renders it almost impos- sible for any foreigner unacquainted with their language to understand what they would so willingly recount; and, in consequence, thou- Preface. vii sands and thousands of sight- seers yearly pass through, perfectly at a loss how to gratify their curiosity, except in the natural grandeur and beauty of the mountain world. The authoress has often noticed large parties of English and foreign visitors wandering aim- lessly through a valley, round a ruin, or on the borders of a lake, whose history they have vainly tried to discover ; for however willing the poor honest peasants are to explain all their visitors would wish to know, yet their kindly efforts are of course unavailing, and these foreigners go away back to their own countries, having passed over, and perhaps seen all, without knowing anything. This little work, then, WTitten first for the pleasure of its authoress, she now places in the hands of the public, trusting that it may not only be a useful guide, but a pleasant com- viii Preface. panion in the mountains in which it took its origin. How lovely the land of those beauties unseen, Which touch on the borders of Nature's fail' soul ! How bright are those landscapes, so soft and serene, Which kiss the sweet homesteads of my own dear Tyrol ! Mary Countess A. von Gunther. INDEX The Giant Jordan The Fisherman of the Graun-See . The Giants Heimo and Thtirse The Dragon of Zirl The Wandering Stone A Tyrolian Forester's Legend The Perjurer .... The Burning Hand The Three Fairies of the Ungarkopf The Green Huntsman The Tyrolian Giants of Albach The Witch's Yengeance The Pious Herdsman The Adasbub Index. The White Snake TAGE . 52 y The Schaehtgeist 54 The Three Brothers 58 - The Fiery Body 60 The Yenediger-Manndl upon the Sonnenwendjoch . 62 Hahnenkikerle ...... 65 The Sorcerer of Sistrans .... 67 . The Giant Series . 70 Legends of the Oreo ..... 73 Biener's "Wife ...... 80 The Lengmoo8 Witches .... 84 u- Binder-Hansl ...... 87 The Gold-Worm of the Alpbach Valley 89 The Glunkezer Giant .... 90 The Weaver of Vomperberg 93 The Fiery Sennin ..... 95 The Spirit of the Zirl Usurer 97 The Alpine Horse-Phantom 99 The Witches of G'Stoag .... 101 TheHexeler 104 ' The Cat-Hags of Gries .... 106 ' The Locksmith of the Fliegeralm 109 The Salve-Toad 111 The Unholdenhof 113 The Fiery Boar of Kohlerstadl 117 The Butcher of Imst ..... 119 Matz-Lauter. the Sorcerer of Brixen 121 The Mountain Ghost of the Yivanna . 124 Index. XI The Oberleitner of Terenten PAGE 126 The Tailor of the Zirockalm . 128^ The Three Sisters of Frastanz 131 The Kose Garden of King Laurin 133 i^ The Petrified Lovers of Krarnsach 136 The Gold-Seeker of the Tendres Farm 137 The Fairy of the Sonnenwendjoch 140 The Fireman Pigerpiitz .... 144 The Piller-See 146 The Burning Pines ..... 148 The Jaufen-Fairy ..... 149 The Wetter-See 152 The Courageous Servant- Girl of the Zotta Farm 154 ^ The Klausenmann on the Kummer-See 158 The Tillage on the Boden-Alp 160 1^" The Gold-Measurers of Lofer 163 The Antholzer-See ..... 165 The Mailed Ghost of Brixen Castle 166 The Treasure of the Sigmundsburg 168 The Fratricide upon the Hochalp 169 The Two Haystacks ..... 172 The Sunken Forests ..... 174 Tannen-Eli' 176 The Devil's Bridge .... @j Lago Santo ...... 181 TheAlber . 184 The Old Town of Flies .... 186 The Senderser Putz 188 Xll Index. The Dace Fish of the Gerlos-See The Vedretta Marrnolata The Teufelsplatte near Galthih* Frau Hiitt The Treasure of Maultasch The Nine-pin Gaine of Margaretha Maultasch The Devil's Hole on the Kuntersweg The Sunken Castle in the Biburg-See The Witches' Walk on the Ereuzjoch The Treasures ..... Wolkenstein ..... The Ghosts of the Castle of Vollenberg The Fraulein yon Maretsch PAGE 191 192 194 197 199 201 203 206 uS 208 tr 210 - 213 215 217 TALES AND LEGENDS OF THE TYROL. THE GIANT JORDAN. . To the east of the Ungarkopf, and high above 4lre— cavern called Eggerskeller, there stands, close to a dizzy chasm in the rocks, the -Kohlhiitte (coal hut), which is surrounded by steep grey mountain walls. Not long since there resided in this hut a wild man, with his wife Fangga. Jordan, for this was the name of the giant, employed himself in stealing children and beasts which he devoured, and he occupied his time also in hunting the poor fairies, whom he caught and killed, or shut up in under- ground prisons. One day he brought home a fairy, most probably B 2 Tales and Legends of the Tyrol. one of those which resided in the Eggerskeller, and who was already more dead than alive. He threw her down at the feet of his wife,, and was on the point of killing her, but Fangga said, "Let the thing live ; it will be of use to me/' " So," growled the monster ; " what can you do with her?" ' c I should like to have her in the hut to make her work," answered his gigantic wife. " Take then the thing," shouted the giant ; ' c the white cat to the black one ! " for the giant couple had in their hut a huge black cat which the giant had made a present to his wife in a similar manner after having caught it in the mountains. The poor fairy now bore the yoke of servitude, under the giant couple, who called her Hitte Hatte. She was obliged to wear servant's clothes and do servant's drudgery, which she did so cleverly and quickly that Fangga was contented with her, and treated her as kindly as it was in her brutal nature to do. Hitte Hatte was kind to the cat, fed her regularly, let her sleep in her own bed, and got altogether fond of her. Although she had now taken entirely the nature of a human being, she The Giant Jordan. 3 constantly longed to be free of the giants, and one day she took the occasion while Jordan was ont and Fangga sleeping, to slip down into the valley and to seek her fortune amongs^ mankind. The cat, as though she knew the intention of her friend, followed her every step of the way, and so it happened that one evening a pretty girl, followed by a huge black cat, entered &e farm ^of Seehaus, which is close to the village of Strad, in the Gurgl valley,") and offered her services. The farm people, whose name was Krapf, a very good and worthy couple, were not very well off just then, as they had suffered some heavy losses, and therefore at that time did not keep many servants. So they engaged the pretty girl for very small wages, without even ask- ing her who she was or from whence she came. She did her work joyfully and well, (and with her blessings entered Seehaus Ait was a pleasure to see how beautifully Hitte Hatte, for this name she had kept up, managed and arranged everything. The cleverest old peasant woman would never have been able to do so well as she did. She went about her work quietly, spoke little, and never anything without purpose ; was always modest and b 2 4 Tales and Legends of the Tyrol. reserved; and the people of the farm left her to go on in her quiet way just as she liked. Her greatest pet was and remained the cat, which was also very useful in keeping the house and buildings clear of rats and mice. Hitte Hatte only knew one fear, and that was the giant, who on account of her flight had made a most fearful noise, and beaten his wife without mercy ; but in the valley he could not touch her, for the village boundaries were every year blessed by the priest, and there were all round about little crosses and chapels, of which the gigan- tic race of pagans had the greatest terror. While Hitte Hatte was still in Seehaus Farm, two boys of Strad had climbed up the Ungarkopf to gather strawberries, and approached by accident the giant's abode. As the evening shadows began to fall the boys got tired aud hungry, and were about to return home, when they saw blue smoke arising quite close to them, which ascended out of Jordan's Kohlhutte, and one of the boys shouted to the other, " Look at the smoke ! there, I am sure they are making cakes ; let us go and see if we can't get some." They soon arrived at the door of the hut, which The Giant Jordan, 5 was carefully closed, so one of them scrambled up on the roof, removed one of the wooden tiles and peeped down below. Fangga, who was busy at her kitchen, heard him in a moment, and called out, u Who is up there on my roof? " The boy answered, " It is I with my good com- panion. We are hungry, and pray you kindly to give us something to eat." Fangga opened the door and called out, " Come in, my boys, and you shall have something, but be quick and creep into this hole (she pointed out the stove), and keep very quiet there, for the c wild man ' is coming very soon, and if he catches sight of you he will eat you bones and all." On hearing this the boys were terrified out of their wits, and crept into the stove, and directly afterwards the giant entered the hut, and sniffing round with hideous rolling eyes, he shouted to his wife, " I smell, I smell human meat ! " But Fangga, who had not been educated in an y Innsbruck-- school, answered him very sharply, " You smell, you smell the devil ! " Then the giant gave such a tremendous snort that the whole hut trembled as though it had been 6 Tales and Legends of the Tyrol. shaken by the wind, and the boys terrified lest the stove should fall and kill them, jumped out of it*. As Jordan caught sight of them his rage grew still more horrible ; he overloaded Fangga with impre- cations and abuse, shut the boys up in a cupboard and took the keys with him while he ran off to catch a lost goat of whose bell he just caught the sound. The poor boys now began to scream and implore, and at last Fangga, cruel and hard as she was, was touched with pity, and consented to release them. But as she had not the key of the [cupboard, she kicked at the door till it flew open, let the boys out, and told them the best means of making their escape, and away they went as fast as ever their legs would carry them. They had not gone long when the wild man re- turned home, but without his goat, which had also es- caped him, so he vowed now to kill the boys ; but as the cupboard was empty and he could nowhere find them, he thundered new imprecations at Fangga, who however took no notice of them. The savage monster then seized his boarskin mantle, and set off in pursuit of them. He arrived at last on the edge of a wild roaring mountain-torrent, on the other The Giant Jordan. 7 side of which, he caught sight of them, and he called out in the sweetest and softest voice he could com- mand, " Tell me, dear boys, how you got over the river ! " " Ho ! wild ruan," shouted the boys, " go up the river, and further on you will find the plank over which we crossed." Jordan now tore along the banks of the river for miles and miles, about as far as from Nassereit to Siegmundsberg, where he found a weak bending board upon which he stepped, and plump down went the monster into the wild foaming water, in which he had to struggle for a long time ere he succeeded in reaching the opposite bank. Mean- while the boys had got far in advance; but the giant ran as fast as he could, and sood caught sight of them again on the other side of a large lake which he did not know how to get over, as he had no idea of swimming, and wade through he dared not, as he did not know how deep it might be, and there was no boat either large enough to carry him over. Therefore he shouted again to the boys in a flattering tone, "Dear boys, tell me how you got over the lake ! » 8 Tales and Legends of the Tyrol. " The boys answered, " We have tied large stones round our necks, upon which we have swum across." So he took a heavy rock and tied it firmly round his neck, jumped into the water, and was imme- diately drowned. So the boys escaped, and people say Fangga did not die of grief over the loss of her savage husband. A few days afterwards Lorenz Mayrhofer, a friend of the farmer of Seehaus, returning from the market of Imst where he had sold a team of oxen, and carrying the yokes on his shoulders, stopped at Krapf s house on his way home, and over a glass of Tyrolian wine with which Hitte Hatte had herself served him, he said to his friend, " One sees most wonderful things in these times. After leaving the Dollinger Hof on my way here, a voice called out to me from the heights of the mountain, ' Carrier of the yokes, tell Hitte Hatte that she can now go home, for Jordan is dead.' " The farmer and his wife looked at one another and then at Hitte Hatte, who, hearing the news, set down the ladle which she was holding, and said, " If Jordan is dead, then I am happy again. Take The Fisherman of the Graun-See. 9 great care of the hairy house-worni. I thank you much for your kindness to me, and wish you all luck with your farm. If you had asked me more I should have told you more/' and in saying so she passed out of the door, and has never again been seen. The farmer, his wife, and friend were struck dumb with astonishment, and could not divine the girl's meaning. Under the " hairy house-worm," she had meant the cat. "What a pity it is," still now say the peasants of Strad, "that the [Seehaus farmer never asked more of the fairy, for if he had done so we should know more." THE FISHERMAN OF THE GRAUN-SEE. In following the valley of Etsch, and after leaving the village of Haid, the traveller arrives first at the lake called Haider- See, and then in about an hour's walking on the borders of the Graun-See, above which on the side of the mountain, lies, in a most picturesque situation, the little hamlet of Graun. io Tales and Legends of the Tyrol. There every garrulous old woman or little village child can tell hiui how often when evening sets in the fairies have been seen floating like flickering candles round the lofty peak above, or heard singing* sweetly on calm moonlight nights before the en- trance to their caves. This spot on the mountain bears to the present day the name of Zur Salig (to the holy ones). On a beautiful autumn evening some forty years ago, a fisherman in his little barque was setting his nets in the See. The night was mild and beautiful, and the air so clear and pure that he could distinctly hear the sheep-bells on the surrounding mountains, and the Angelus as it rang from the hamlets of Reschen, Graun, Haid, even as far as the distant village of Burgeis ; and the sound of the bells of the monastery of Sancta Maria, which lies above it, came wafting solemnly and softly over the water. The moon rose slowly in silent majesty above the surrounding mountains, lighting up every distant peak, and turning the lake into a bed of liquid silver, and as the distant song of the Holy Fraulein struck the ear of the poor fisherman, he abandoned his nets and listened entranced. The Giants Hcimo and Thiirse. II The moonlight faded slowly away, and the dark- ness of night set in, yet still he remained motionless in his boat, dreaming of the angel's song he had heard from Heaven. Morning broke, and still he sat there with his hand on the rudder, and his eyes- riveted on the abode of the Holy Ones. His com- rades came and called him, but he did not answer ; they went to him and found him dead. He lies buried in the little churchyard of Graun, and eyery villager can point out his grave. THE GIANTS HEIMO AND THUR SB. Out of the Neustadter-Thor of Innsbruck leads the- Brenner-Strasse, close by the beautiful and rich Abbey of the Premontaries Wilten, called also Wiltau. On each side of the principal facade of the magnificent church of this ancient cloister are still to be seen the enormous stone statues of two giants who bear the names of Heimo and Thiirse. Both giants belong to that age in which their huge race 1 2 Tales and Legends of the Tyrol. first began to conform their rough nature to the ideas of civilization, when Christianity entered into the then impenetrable valleys of the Tyrol. One of these enormous mountain giants of the country was called Heime or Heimo, who was so tall that he was obliged to raise the roof of his house so that he could stand upright in it, and of the most cruel and savage nature. The inhabitants of the surrounding country dreaded him beyond measure, and begged him to spare their farms and home- steads, offering- to cede to him as much of their ground as he liked to decide upon, and then, should he ask it all, they would retreat and cultivate other parts of the country. In answer to this proposition, Heimo yelled, while pointing out an enormous rock, dragged him straight off to hell, leaving behind him as he rnshed through the air a dreadful smell of sulphur and a train of fire. With his prey he beat an enormous hole through the Weisse Wand, a huge mountain close to the Kumraersee, which hole is still to be seen up to the present day as a warn- ing. From thence he flew over the Christl Alp down to the village of St. Martin, where he rested himself upon a stone, and then dragged the body through the mud of the village streets, and as he passed, the devil is said to have grunted, " For there is nothing so weighty as a perjurer's body." THE BURNING HAND. In the village of Thaur, near Salzburg, there lived about two centuries ago a good priest, who occupied his time in doing charitable works to all around. In the ruins of the once huge and superb castle of Thaur a hermit had founded his humble little cell, and both priest and hermit were the most intimate of friends, and had vowed to each other that he who 28 Tales and Legends of the Tyrol. should die the first, should appear to the other after death. The poor hermit was very clever in making arti- ficial flowers for the altar, and one night when busy with his work a knock came to his little window, and he saw the spirit of his friend who had died a few days before. At first he was greatly terri- fied, but pricking up his courage, he addressed the poor soul of the priest, who replied to him and said, " You see I am dead in the body, but I have still to do penance, although I have faithfully fulfilled the commands of God and the Holy Church, have given alms according to my means, have instituted a per- petual mass in the church of Thaur, and another in the chapel of St. Romedius, and founded an ever- lasting fund for the poor. For three sins have I this penance to perform, one of omission and two of vanity; out of absence of mind I forgot to say a mass for which I had been paid, and I have been too vain of my fine white hands and beautiful flow- ing beard, and for this reason am I now compelled to suffer these torments. I pray you therefore to say in my stead the neglected mass," and the un- The Burning Hand. 29 happy spirit of the priest recounted to the hermit the names of all those people for whom the mass was to be said, "Then, if out of charity to me you will fast, pray, and flagellate yourself, and help me in that way to do my penance, the time of my redemption will arrive much sooner, as if I had completed , them all myself. It will also be a work of conciliation for me, if you will tell all I have just told you to my parishioners, so that they and my successors may take a warning from me, and think of me in their prayers." The hermit answered, " I will most willingly ful- fil all you ask of me and take upon myself every penance you desire ; but if I tell all these things to your parishioners they will never believe me, and will jeer at me and say like the brothers of Joseph, f Here comes the dreamer.' " " Well, then, I will give you a sign of proof which will back up your words," answered the poor spirit e priest ; " Give me something out." The hermit then handed out the cover of a flower- box, upon which the shadow laid his hand, and returned it instantly to him; and lo ! to his astonish- ment he found, deeply branded upon it, the imprint 30 Tales and Legends of the Tyrol. of the hand of the priest as though it had been done by a red-hot iron. After this the hermit zealously commenced the charitable work of redeeming the soul of his faithful friend, and continued it many a month in saying- masses,, repeating prayers, and subjecting himself to the most severe flagellations, whilst from time to time the troubled spirit of the poor priest appeared to him in bodily form, but always lighter and more brilliant than before. The pious hermit almost succumbed under the dreadful effects of his severe penances, which he still carried on for more than a year, when the night of All Saints arrived, and again the poor soul of his friend appeared before him, now no longer poor, but in the splendour of transfiguration, and said, " I thank you, good friend. I am now redeemed ; you too shall soon be released from your earthly bondage, and will return to God penanceless. I shall attend you there where there are no more sufferings," and in saying so he dis- appeared in the midst of a halo of glory. Seven days afterwards the hermit died ; and now in the charming little pilgrims' chapel of the holy Bomedius, near Thaur, is to be seen, framed The TJiree Fairies of the Ungarkopf, 3 1 beneath a glass case, the wooden board bearing the brand of the burning hand, and with the duly attested inscription dated from 1679; also the bust of the priest with the beautiful hands and flowing beard. The imprint of the Burning Hand took place on the 27th October, 1659, at midnight. THE THREE FAIRIES OF THE UNGARKOPF. Between the village of Imst and the railway station of Nassereit lies the Gurgl Thai (Gurgl valley), through which runs the little stream of the Pilger- bach. On the way from Imst to Nassereit stands the little hamlet of Strad, and on making the ascent from this hamlet up the Ungar mountain, or Ungarkopf, one arrives after an hour's walk at a vaulted grotto, which is the entrance to a vast cellular cavern noted in former times as the abode of three fairies, called by the villagers f 4ie- Heiligen' (the Holy Ones) . These fairies appeared from time to time at the entrance to their grotto, bleaching 32 Tales and Legends of the Tyrol, linen and hanging out snow-white clothes in the sun ; they are said to have even come down as low as Strad, and helped the village girls to spin, but people were generally afraid of them, and they who saw the clothes hanging out in the wind ran off in terror. In this grotto, which is generally called the Eggerskeller, there is a small hole just large enough for a child to creep through. One day the cowherd of Strad went up the moun- tain to cut birch for brooms, and as the lovely green before the grotto was just convenient for his work, he sat down there, and stripping the leaves from the branches, set about making his brooms. On the following day when he returned to the same spot on the same business, he found to his great astonishment that every little leaf had been swept away, and not a vestige of one of them left. He sat down on a rock and began his work, when all at once he heard from the interior of the mountain the voices of three girls, which sounded so charmingly to his ears that he was quite entranced. He lis- tened and held his breath until the song finished, and then he descended the mountain to the village in a state of enchantment. The Three Fairies of the Ungarkopf. 33 The cow- herd was soon afterwards on his favour- ite place,, while his herd, guarded by his faithful dogs, browsed around him ; and again he found the leaves he had left on the preceding day swept away ; and as he looked up he saw three white robes floating in the wind, but as he could not see the cord upon which they ought to have been suspended, he was seized with an unutterable terror, and hurried away from the spot. " Had he only taken one of these dresses/' still now say the superstitious people of Strad, ""one of the Heiligen would have been bound to his service for ever." Although the dresses had frightened the youth so much, an irresistible longing compelled him a few days afterwards to climb once more the Ungarkopf, where all at once one of the fairies appeared to him with love and joy beaming on her countenance, but she did not approach him, and it seemed rather as though she wished him to follow her, for she looked smilingly behind, entered into the mountain and disappeared from his gaze. He dared not follow her. Henceforth he listened only to their enchant- ing songs, which resounded from the interior of the mountain, and consumed himself in silent longing. ^3 34 Tales and Legends of the Tyro I. About fifteen years ago there lived in the village of Strad a peasant of the name of Anton Tangl, who is now dead. One day this peasant went up the mountain in the neighbourhood of the grotto, to dig up young fir-trees, which he intended to place round his Alpine hut. While digging up these trees, one of them was more firmly fixed in the ground than the others, and he was obliged to go very deep to get the tree up. When he lifted it out of the ground he discovered a deep hole, and looking down he saw far below a green meadow, through which trickled a milk-white rippling stream. At this the man was greatly astonished, but still more so when upon the green meadow far beneath him he saw on the grass, like little tiny dolls, the three fairies. They were sitting close to one an- other, interlaced together by their arms, and singing a sweet song whose air he could distinctly hear, without being able to catch the words. Tangl listened until nightfall, when he could no longer see into the interior of the mountain. Then he de- scended to the village, and recounted what an extra- ordinary thing had befallen him. But of course no one would believe, and therefore on the following The Green Huntsman, 35 day several of his friends went with him up the Ungarkopf. Tangl went on bravely before the others, and searched for the spot, but in vain ; and he was now compelled to suffer the ridicule of his companions, who called him a fool, a liar, and a dreamer. " If I had only held my tongue," Tangl used to say when he recounted this story, " and had entered into the mountains instead of telling others what I had seen, I should have been able to bring many precious things out of them, and should have been rich and happy all my life ; but man after all is but a stupid animal." THE GREEN HUNTSMAN. In the village of St. Johann, in the lower part of the valley of the Inn in the Tyrol, the following incident took place some fifty years ago. A girl who had been jilted by her lover refused to go to a wedding to which she had been invited by her neighbours, and where there was to be d2 36 Tales and Legends of the Tyrol. music and dancing. In her grief and despair she raged and noised about at home, until the evil one in the form of a green huntsman appeared before her, and invited her to the dance. Without re- flecting any longer she went with him to the wedding-feast, glad that her unfaithful suitor should no longer enjoy his triumph. The huntsman danced so fast and so well that all the guests admired him, for he sang and was the most spirited among them all. But in spite of this, every one shuddered when they looked at him, for his mien was like that of a snake, sly and venomous. The girl', however, did not care at all about it, and enjoyed herself all the evening. On their way home the huntsman asked the girl if she would allow him to serenade her on the fol- lowing evening, to which she gave a most joyful assent. On the following night, just as the church clock was striking twelve, some one knocked at the girl's bedroom window. She opened the lattice to greet the huntsman, who now appeared before her in the devil's most hideous form. He seized upon her and dragged her fiercely through the narrow iron bars which guarded it, so that pieces of skin The Tyrolian Giants of Albach. 37 and flesh remained hanging on them, and the warm blood ran in streams down the wall. He then flew off with the screaming girl through the air. Up to the present day it has been impossible to wash or rub those blood stains away, and any one who passes through the little village of St. Johann, can see them for himself. THE TYROLIAN GIANTS OF ALBACH. In a wild mountain valley in which only savage animals and reptiles were to be found, and in which vast expanses of moss covered the swamps so treacherously that even bears and wolves had been engulfed in them, a huge giant arrived one day, looked at the surrounding country, and chose it for his abode. He dug himself a cave, built drains through which he sent off the superfluous water into the lower valleys; and as, after having chopped down enormous expanses of forest, he found that it had become quite to his taste, he set off in search of 38 Tales a?id Legends of the Tyrol, a wife. He neither wished for a fairy nor a moon- light maid, and for that reason he went upon the peaks of the mountains, from which he soon returned with a giantess who was as strong and savage as himself, and who assisted him dauntlessly in all his abominable works. In three years they were obliged to considerably enlarge their habitation, as their three young giant sons began to grow up ; and when these became strong enough, they helped their father to build a new house. The old giant felled the trees on the Alp Mareit, which stands about six miles from his former abode, and his sons dragged the trunks to the building-spot. They were not then very strong, and could only drag one tree each at a time, which, however, was no less than eight feet in diameter. Only the youngest of the giant's sons, whose name was Bartl, sometimes dragged two at once, at which his father smiled with contentment. To make his new residence like that of a civilized family, the giant caught a few " flies/'' as he called them, which were men and clever carpenters, who were compelled to hew and shape the wood, in which work the giant's sons helped in turning the trees,. The Tyrolian Gia?its of Albach. 39 as it would have been impossible for the carpenters to do it themselves. People call the swamp which the giant has drained the Rossmoos, and to the giants they gave the name of the Rossmooser Riesen (Rossmoos giants) , while the new house received that of the Rossmooser Hof (Rossmoos farm), which still stands upon the peak of Albach opposite Stolzenberg. After the building had been finished a few years, the old giant father felt the approach of age in the gradual loss of his strength ; therefore he began to think of making over his property to one of his sons. But he did not know to which of them to give it, as all three were equally dear to him, and at that time the laws of birthright were not yet introduced into the giant-race, no more than the institution which exists in other places, and according to which the youngest son receives the house, and pays to his other brothers their share in ready money. There- fore in his perplexity he talked it over with his wife, who advised him thus, " Give it to the strongest of them, and then you have done." This idea pleased the giant very much, and that day at dinner he said to his sons, " Boys, I am old, 4o Tales and Legends of the Ty- ro. and one of you shall have the house ; but each of you is as dear to me as the other, and so I think you must decide it by throwing a stone, and the one who proves himself the strongest shall have the house." This proposition was very acceptable to the giant's sons; and after the dinner was finished, the old fellow took a stone of 650 pounds into which was fastened an iron ring weighing 50 jDOunds, and car- ried it fifteen paces from the Hof, which fifteen paces made just one mile, as the giant with one step covered as much ground as would take a human being five minutes to walk. Now they proceeded to the trial according to the ancient rules of throw- ing stones, as it was invented centuries ago by the giants themselves. He who had to throw stood with the left leg firmly planted on the ground, while with the right foot, which was passed through the iron ring of the stone, he swung it against the mark, which in this case was the giant's Hof, and the stone was to alight on the other side of the house. The eldest son commenced ; he took up the stone and flung it, but it didn't even reach the mark, and The Tyrolian Giants of Albach. 41 fell far short into a fence, which it smashed to pieces. The second son then fetched the stone and tried his chance with more success, for he touched the house and knocked in the front wall. " You stupid asses ! " shouted the old mam "is that the best you can do ? " Now came the turn of the youngest, who did even better ; for he threw the stone so vigorously and high that it fell on the top of the roof, through which it crashed like a bomb-shell and destroyed everything in the house. u Oh, my Bartl ! " sneered the angry old giant, t( you are a clever fellow. You have gained the house, but now you will be obliged to repair it." And then he began to rave, " You sacrischen Sau- schwanz, that you are. Now look at me, poor weak old thing, how I will beat you. Run, dear wife, and bring me back the stone." His wife ran and brought him the stone on the little finger of her left hand, which just passed through the ring, and the old giant set himself in attitude according to the rules of the game. He hurled the stone with such tremendous force that it fell far on the other side of the Rossmooser Hof ; 42 Tales and Lege?ids of the Tyrol. and seeing this the three young giants slunk off quite ashamed of themselves. The old giant sighed as he said, " There is really no strength left among the young folk. At one time one had no cause to be ashamed of himself. I remember still how I carried a stone weighing a hundred centner (10,000 pounds) from the Kolbenthalmelch place to the Kolbenthal saw-mill, where it is still lying; you can go and look at it there, you Fratz'n." At the same time as these giants were living at the Kossmooser Hof, there resided a couple of other giants upon the Dornerberg in the Zillerthal, who always cast angry looks at young Bartl, and chal- lenged him very often to fight. Bartl avoided them as much as he could, and showed no inclination to measure his strength with them, for he had not a quarrelsome nature. One day the giants of Dorner- berg met the Rossmooser Eiesen with Bartl, at whom they sneered, and mockingly challenged him again to fight with them, but as Bartl was unde- cided and would not answer, the old giant became angry with his son and said, ei You are then no bub (boy) at all, that you suffer all this." " Should I fight them ? " asked Bartl, and as his The Tyrolian Giants of Attach. 43 father nodded his head he added, " But, father, it's not worth my while to fight one alone, so I shall fight them both at once." The fight then began, and Bartl instantly seized upon the two Dornerberg giants by the collar, held them up, beating the air with their hands and feet, until their eyes streamed with water ; he then dashed them on the ground where they lay stunned, and it was only with the greatest trouble that they were restored to life. When they came to their senses, they stole away from the scene of the fight quite ashamed of themselves, and made up their minds never again to have anything to do with Bartl, whose fame, " after this tremendous victory, spread far and near through the country ; for the Dornerberg giants were in no way weak, since each of them carried seven to eight centners (600 to 700 pounds) from Zell, in the Zillerthal, up the Dorner- berg, where they lived in a deep cavern. With this huge weight they sprang lightly from stone to stone in the river which runs through the valley, and even stooped down and caught the trout in their hands as they passed over. 44 THE WITCH'S VENGEANCE, At Sterz, about an hour's walk from Brixen, on the line from Innsbruck to Verona, close beneath the mountain called Rodeneck, there lived some fifty years ago in a fine farm-house a well-to-do young couple with one child. In all the villages round about an old beggar woman was much dreaded as a witch, and this woman came very often to the farm begging. The good people of the farm used to give her directly all she desired, just to rid themselves of her importunities. But one day the farm-labourers made up their minds to discover whether the old hag was really a witch or not, and after she had entered the room, they set a broom on end before the door. It was on a Saturday evening. When a broom is put upside down before a door — such is the super- stition of the people-^ — the witch cannot get out again. When the hag therefore tried to get out, she saw the trick, and remained in the room until late at night. At last she said angrily to the peasant's The Witch's Vengeance. 45 wife, " Sweep out the room ; it is Saturday evening, and how comes it that you leave the room so long unswept ? " This she repeated many times, but always to no purpose, for the peasant's wife knew about the trick ; but when she saw that the hag was becoming tre- mendously angry and fierce, she was dreadfully frightened, and ordered the servant to take the broom and sweep out the room. Directly the ser- vant took up the broom and removed it from the door, the hag darted out full of venom, hatred, and spite, and the most revengeful determinations. And what a vengeance this was ! She dried the cows, brought down storms and destroyed the crops, made their child hopelessly ill so that it died ; the poor farmer went into a decline through grief, and his wife was misled over the Eodeneck by the diabolical creature, and broke both her arms and legs. So cruel is the vengeance of a witch. 4 6 THE PIOUS HERDSMAN. About three miles above Uderns, in the valley of the Ziller, lies the Asten or Voralp, also called the Stuben, upon which a poor spirit used to wander, seeking its redemption. The proprietor of the Asten was unable to find any one who would undertake to guard his cattle on the mountain, for every one was afraid of the ghost. At last, a poor brave boy offered himself for this purpose, and was of course gladly accepted. One day as he was driving his cows upon the mountain, he saw a tall dark figure wandering about a few steps from the door of his little hut, which is called in the Tyrolian dialect the schlamm. The boy instantly spoke to the apparition, and asked whether he could not do anything to release him from his pain, to which the ghost answered, yes, he could, if during a whole year, without omitting one single day, he would devoutly repeat a rosary, and promise during that time never to swear or do a bad action, and always to say the rosary at the same hour every day. The Pious Herdsman. 47 The honest son of the Alps conscientiously fulfilled his duty for a very long time, until one day in the sum- mer a pretty little village girl came up the mountain and begged the cowherd to stand godfather to her sister's child, for they were very poor, and knew no one who would be likely to accept the office but him. The good herd promised directly that he would ; and when the day of the baptism arrived, he well fed his cows and then set off down the mountain to Uderns. After the ceremony was over, he had intended to return immediately up the Asten, as it is the custom in the Tyrol to feed the cattle four times a day. But the mother of the child implored him to remain a little longer with them, and so one thing and another prevented him from starting so soon as he had wished. It happened therefore that he re- mained in the village until evening had set in, for they insisted on serving him with good liqueurs, which to the poor cowherd were a great treat, as it is very seldom one of his position has the chance of tasting such a thing. At last he set off on his re- turn, and as he climbed the mountain he remem- bered that he had forgotten the hour of his prayers, and was so grieved at this omission, that he cried 48 Tales and Legends of the Tyrol. bitterly, and repeated aloud the neglected rosary as he went along. Then the idea struck him that he would also offer up his baptismal work for the bene- fit of the poor spirit. When he arrived at his hut he proceeded imme- diately to the stables, thinking to himself, "how hungry the poor cattle must he," but great was his astonishment when he saw that the best food had been placed before them, and that everything was in the most perfect order ; but far greater was his surprise when after he had retired to rest, the poor spirit appeared before him, clad in snow-white gar- ments, and told him that he was now redeemed, and that which had been principally instrumental in his redemption, was the offering which the good cow- herd had made of the baptism of the child. After this the spirit disappeared, and has never been seen again. Since this fact became known, it has been, and still is the custom in all parts of the Tyrol for godfathers and godmothers to make an offering of the baptismal rite on behalf of the poor souls in purgatory. 49 THE ADASBUB. About sixty years ago there lived at Lengenfeld, in the valley of the Oetz, a man of enormous height, called generally " the Adasbub," who was a perfect monster, besides being a thief, glutton, sot, and fighter. He had been among the soldiery, and fought in many wars, from which he had returned still more savage and wild than ever; he had brought home large sums of money from foreign countries, which he had stolen and extorted from people, and now he bought a farm of his own, which he began to manage, though more like a ] pagan than a Christian. He never went to church, but was always to be seen in the village inn, where he boasted the first in Lengenfeld about his velvet jacket decorated with buttons made out of old pieces of silver money. The young fellows of the village soon became ashamed of their clothes, and wished to imitate the vain ideas of their paragon.* * In the Tyrol it is the custom for the peasants to have their jackets and waistcoats decorated with rows of silver E 50 Tales and Legends of the Tyrol. The Adasbub was besides of enormous bodily strength, and had already at once defeated fifty men, who had attacked him ; and he who offended him had to fear lest this dreaded man might go, as if by accident, and turn a mountain torrent upon his farm, or roll down huge snowballs, with most likely rocks hidden in them, upon his roof. His whole pleasure and only occupation was to swear, drink, bluster, and injure his neighbours ; he surrounded himself with a gang of fellows who suited his tastes, and was their leader in carrying out the most fearful outrages. They tore the doors of the peaceful inhabitants from their hinges, and carried them away into the forests; hoisted the farmers' carts upon the roofs of their houses ; stole the wine from the sacristies, which they drank to the perdition of the priests ; shut up goats in the little field chapels, and pulled down the crosses in the cemetery, which they stuck upside down in the ground over the graves, and boasted in their buttons, which are sewn on in such a manner that they over- lap each other. These buttons, of which they are very proud, are all made of old silver money, and each row contains from fifteen to twenty of them. The Adasbub. 51 wickedness that they were making Christendom stand upon its head. A newly-concocted villany was to be carried out in a farm, which stands upon the Burgstein, above Lengenfeld, and it had reference to the farmer's daughter; but the farmer came to hear of it, and determined to defend his home against the outrages of these cowardly villains. So he sharpened his axe, and as the Adasbub entered the house, he brought it down with tremendous fury upon the head of the monster of iniquity, who fell dead at his feet with a split skull. On seeing their leader re- ceive this unlooked-for welcome, his companions took refuge in flight, and there was an instant alarm throughout the country. People from all parts swarmed up the Burgstein, and thanked the farmer for having delivered the country from such a wretch. They cut off the head of the Adasbub, and dragged the body to the edge of a precipice, from which they pitched it down on to the road, which passes by a now much frequented sulphur bath, called the Eumunschlung. The head was thrown into the charnel-house of the cemetery of Lengen- e 2 52 Tales and Legends of the Tyrol. feld, where it still lies, a terror and warning to all wicked men. The skull is nearly cloven in two, and from time to time, at certain midnights, it gets red hot all over, and is then horrible to look at. Many people say that when it is burning, it rolls from the charnel-house into the chapel, in which it turns round and round in a circle, and then jumps again back to its place, where it slowly cools, and next day it looks again just like any other skull. THE WHITE SNAKE. Close to Mitterwald, on the little river Eisach, rises on the right-hand side of the village the enor- mous mountain called the Mitterwalder Alp, upon which, on account of the great number of veno- mous snakes which were there, no cattle could be pastured. The majority of these were huge white reptiles, of which the people were particularly fearful. About fifty years ago there arrived in the country one of those students, or as they called them, " Fahrende Schuler " (wandering collegians), The White Snake, 53 to whom people used to attribute supernatural power, and the peasants asked him to rid them of the plague of snakes. The student promptly assented to their request, and went up the mountain, where he made a circle upon the Alp-meadow, and ordered the peasants to plant a tree in the middle of the ring; then he climbed the tree, and by his incantations he charmed all the snakes into the large fire which he had lighted around it. But all at once a huge snake hissed loudly and fiercely, and on hearing this the student cried out, " I am lost ; " and at the same moment a white snake darted with the swift- ness of an arrow through his body, and he fell dead from the tree, and was consumed in the fire. Those who recounted this tale added, " It was a hazel-worm, for only those snakes have the power to dart through the air like an arrow and pierce through people's bodies." On the spot where this accident took place, and where the student made the fiery circle, there has never since an atom of grass grown again. It is asserted the blindworms had once the same power, until it was taken away from them by the 54 Tales and Legends of the Tyrol, Blessed Virgin, who has caused them ever after- wards to remain sightless. THE SCHACHTGEIST About an hour's walk from Reit, on the left-hand side of the entrance to the valley of the Alpbach, is situated a farm which bears the name of Larcha, and close to this farm is a deep mine in the side of the mountain, which at the time of this legend was being worked, and it was called the Silber Stollen (silver mine) of the Illn. Nine miners were em- ployed in working the mine, and in it resided a Schachtgeist (mine ghost), who showed to the poor honest miners the richest lodes of silver. Their luck was extraordinary, and huge bars of the pre- cious ore were carried every day out of the mine ; and as the men worked on their own account, they soon became enormously rich, and for this reason they became also very dissolute and profligate. They were no longer content with their simple miners' attire, but bought fine clothes ; they would The Schachtgeist. 55 no longer wear their grey blouses, but they would have velvet and rich cloth, and their wives went about dressed up in the most gorgeous colours. The proverbially simple Alpbocker Tracht (cos- tume of the Alpbock) was entirely set on one side by them, and a new fashion introduced ; besides that, all sorts of iniquities were practised by them, which it would be impossible to describe. This made the benevolent Schachtgeist intensely angry; he became fierce and savage, and when he appeared at the entrance of the mine his mien fore- boded anything but good. Meanwhile the miners went on more badly than ever, and got so extrava- gant in their notions, that they even cleaned their tables and chairs with bread-crumbs. One day the farmer of Larcha was standing taking the fresh air at his door; the clouds foreboded a thunderstorm, and the air was dark and heavy. He had been working with bis men down in the cellar, from which they could distinctly hear the noise of the miners' hammers, as they shouted and sung over their work. All at once the Schachtgeist passed by the door of the farm, and called out to the farmer in a terrible voice, " Shut your doors, and misfor- 56 Tales and Legends of the Tyrol, tune shall escape you; I am away to the Illn to silence the miners." The terror-stricken farmer crossed himself, and on his knees implored Divine protection, while the ghost tore up the mountain, and then he shut his doors and returned to his work. Not long after, the farmer and his men heard fearful shrieks, which were immediately fol- lowed by a crash like thunder, which shook the earth, and made the cellar in which they were working tremble. They rushed up into the farmer's room, and began to repeat the rosary, and as the noise abated they went to bed. On the following morning the news of a terrible calamity spread far oyer mountain and valley. The miners had been buried in the mine by an earthquake, and their shrieking wives rushed wildly about, rolling in the dust, and, in their agony and despair, they nearly tore off the feet of the crucifix which stands just above the farm on a cross-road. But still more horrible was it when it was disco- vered that the buried miners were alive in their prison, and screaming for help in the depths of the mountain. For ten long days the terrible scene lasted ; when at last, after having worked night and The Schachtgeist. 57 day, the villagers succeeded in entering the pas- sage in which the miners were entombed ; but there a horrible spectacle presented itself to their eyes. Over the dead bodies of the nine miners was sit- ting the Schachtgeist, covered with blood, and terrible to look at, with the visage of the devil, and glowering at the victims of his just wrath and judg- ment. The miners had been starved to death, and were holding the leather of their shoes in their teeth, after having gnawed their fingers to the bones. Every one who wanders over the mountain, and passes by the farm of Larcha, can hear this dread- fully true legend, up to the present day, from the farmer, who is the son of the man who was witness of the fact. And if after the evening Angelus has rung, by any chance a door in the farm remains open, the housewife directly calls out, " Shut the door, so that misfortune may escape us." 58 THE THREE BROTHERS. At Reut, a village between Unken and Lofer, lived a peasant who had three sons. The two eldest of these were hardy gazelle hunters, and feared God as little as the}" did the dangers of the mountains; but the youngest was better, and different from his brothers ; he took interest in the farm, though now and then he was induced by them to accompany them to the chase. So it happened once that he went with them to the high mountains, and on a Sunday they were already standing high on the peaks when the day dawned, and at that moment they heard the Angelus ringing from the village of Unken. The younger huntsman implored his brothers to return, so that they might be in time for church ; but as they would not go, he did not go either. As they mounted higher and higher they heard the mass bells ringing at Unken; the youngest brother said, " Let us go back." But the others jeered at him and said, " The whistle of a gazelle is The Thrie Brothers. 59 more to our taste than the mass bells and sermon." When the enthusiastic huntsmen had arrived on the very top of the mountain, the bells raug again, and the youngest brother said, ' i Listen, there is the elevation, we ought to have been there." But his brothers sneered at him, and replied, " A fat gemsbock here is much more to our mind than the body of the Lord in the village church below." These words were scarcely out of their mouths, when clouds as black as ink enveloped the moun- tains, and everything became dark as night; then came on a thunderstorm, as though the world was at its end. After the storm was over the three brothers were found on the peak of the mountain, turned into stones in the form of gigantic rocks, and there they still stand, known to every little Tyrolian child under the name of "the Three Brothers." 6o THE FIERY BODY. Eoidj^d about the village of St. Martin, in the Pas- seierthal, the parish comprises a great many single- lying farmsteads, which are dispersed about to the north in every direction for seven or eight miles towards the parish of Piatt. In one of these farms a man was lying very ill, because on a Sunday, in- stead of going to church, he had hunted in the neighbouring forest, and had slightly wounded his foot with the iron heel of his other boot. It seemed as though the wound was poisoned, for it grew continually worse and worse, and at last threw the man into a deadly fever. The neighbours implored him to give up his evil ways, for he was a wicked fellow, and took delight in mocking at religion, and always, above every other, chose a Sunday or fete day for his hunting excursions. But, wishing to appear an esprit fort, he an- swered that he preferred to arrange his own affairs with the Creator without their interference. In spite of all this, a good priest tried to persuade The Fiery Body. 61 him out of his evil ways ; but the wicked man re- plied to his exhortations by throwing a plate at him, out of which he had just been eating his milk soup. He remained obstinate and hardened, " de- termined/' as he called it, to the last. One day, when he was dying, the people of the house ran down to the priest, and implored him to come and save the unhappy sinner if it was still possible. The good priest, accompanied by his sacristan, hastened directly up the mountain, carry- ing the Holy Sacrament with them. As they arrived close to the farm, they were met by a fiery red body rushing through the air, spitting flames as it flew. It aimed directly at the priest, and was the body of the unbelieving Sabbath-breaker, who had died without repentance. The sacristan fell to the earth terror-stricken ; but the priest said, " Fear not, Christ is with us," and as he spoke these words the fiery body rushed by, leaving them unhurt, and hurled itself down the fearful precipice of the Matatz valley. 62 THE VENEDIGER-MANNDL UPON THE SONNWENDJOCH Not many years ago a little man of Venice, Vene- diger-Manndl, as lie was called, clad in dark clothes, arrived in the Tyrol to gather gold bars, gold sand, and gold dust, out of the streams of the mountains; he was always seen in the small valleys, and especially on the Sonnwendjoch ; he arrived in the spring, and went away again in the autumn. He was a good-hearted quiet little fellow, and on his way home he always passed the night in the hut of the herd who lived upon the adjacent Kothalp, near the Sonnwendjoch, which belongs now to Praxmarer, the innkeeper of Keit. Now it hap- pened that the honest old herd of the Kothalp died, and his hut was taken by a wicked old man. The Yenediger-Manndl entered as usual into the hut to pass the night, but the new herd, pushed on by the devil of avarice, made up his mind to kill him in the night, and to appropriate all his wealth. But the little herd-boy warned the gold-finder in time to The Venediger-ManndL 63 enable him to save himself. Since then he has never been seen again. The little herd-boy grew up, and became later on a servant at Isarwinkl, in Bavaria, where he after- wards became a soldier, and marched with the army into Italy. His regiment was stationed at Venice, and a few days after his arrival in the city he walked, full of curiosity, slowly along the beautiful palaces which stand on the canal, when all at once he heard his own name called from a window on the first story of one of them, and a person beckoned him to come up. He ran quickly up the wide marble stairs, and was received on the top by a noble Venetian, richly dressed in black velvet, who con- ducted him into a splendid apartment, and told him to take a place upon a sofa ; then sitting down at his side, he said, " Years ago you saved the life of a Venetian upon the Kothalp, and now you are going to be rewarded ; so let me know your wish, and all you want you shall have." " Let that be, kind sir," answered the soldier ; " I did bat my duty, Heaven will recompense me if I have deserved it." This answer seemed to please the Venetian, who 64 Tales and Legends of the Tyrol, took the young man by the hand while saying, " That shows me that you are a real Tyrolian." Then he entered into a little side-room, and soon afterwards returned in the dress in which he had appeared as Yenecliger-Manndl on the Kothalp. The soldier instantly recognized him, and was re- joiced at meeting him. Now the Venetian repeated his offer of gold and riches, but the soldier once more declined, and answered, " Health and content- ment are my riches, and that God will grant me as long as he sees it fit to do so ; though I have one wish, after all, which is to be free of my service in the army, so that I could go back to Isarwinkl, where I have my love, a girl like milk and blood." The Venetian had scarcely heard this wish, when he took directly a large white cloth, in which a mantle was wrapped ; he took out the mantle, put it over the shoulders of the soldier, and then co- vered it with the white cloth. All at once the soldier felt himself rising in the air. " Greet your love from me " were the only words he could catch from the Venetian ; for like an arrow he was borne away through the high and grated bow-windows which are used at Venice, the white cloth envelop- Hahnenkikerle. 65 ing him like a soft cloud, carried him along swiftly and gently, and set him down before the house of his love. In the pocket of the mantle he found a rich bridal gift. Happiness never deserted the young fellow ; he became very soon a happy husband, and bought himself out of the army, and since then he has often recounted this adventure. HAHNENKIKERLE. In the hotel of the ' Golden Star/ at Innsbruck, there once arrived a very rich foreign Princess, who was suffering from a terrible disorder, which had baffled the efforts of every doctor to cure. Dr. Theophrast, of whom the Princess had heard, and whom she had come to Innsbruck to consult, de- clared that it was a malady over which he had no control, although he was a "Wonder Doctor." This was a great loss to the Doctor, and a terrible shock to the Princess, who had travelled so far in hopes •of a cure. F 66 Tales and Legends of the Tyrol. One day when she was lying inconsolable in her bed, a little tiny man came into the room, who offered his services and gave her a potion, which he told her would restore her to health. But the little fellow added that on that day year he should re- turn, and if she had forgotten his name, which was u Hahnenkikerle/'' she must promise to marry him, and to live with him under the Hottinger Klamm. The Princess gladly accepted this proposition, and she awoke on the following morning as fresh and healthy as a May rose. She remained in Innsbruck, where she gave feast after feast, and in this way the year soon passed by. All at once she remembered her promise to the little dwarf, whose name had escaped her, and every effort to recall it was in vain. She asked many people, but no one could tell her ; she con- fided her anxiety to her friends, but, of course, they could neither help her nor give her any advice. Only a poor servant girl, who came to hear of it, determined to try and help the good Princess. So she went into the Klamm, hoping to hear some- thing certain there; she listened, and crept about all over, and at last she heard in the depth of The Sorcerer of Sisirans. 67 the Klamm a joyous shouting, and down below she saw the dwarf jumping and singing, " Hurrah ! the Princess in the l Star ' doesn't know that my name is Hahnenkikerle." The girl hurried home as fast as she could, and told the Princess all she had heard. Now the Princess remembered the name, and when the day came and the dwarf appeared, she called out to him, " Hahnenkikerle ;" at hearing this the dwarf rushed away raging into the mountain. The girl was rewarded by the Princess ; and when she married an honest burgher of Innsbruck, she received a princely dower. THE SORCERER OF SISTRANS. In Sistrans, a village close to Innsbruck, there lived, some sixty years ago, a man who was noted in all the surrounding districts for his evil and quarrelsome disposition. He attended every Ker- messe and village meeting at which it was the custom of the blackguards of the surrounding 68 Tales and Legends of the Tyrol. country to go and fight, but lie never found one who could master him. This superhuman strength was not his only dis- tinguishing quality, for he was well up in other more doubtful arts, and was able to do rather more than "boil pears without wetting the stalk." Should a fine fox or a fat hare be running in the forest close by, he set his traps just behind his stove, and in the morning the game was sure to be caught. Should anything have been stolen, people came to him, for he had means of compelling the stolen goods to be restored. For this purpose, he merely took a little book bound in pigskin out of his box, and began to read ; and wherever the thief might be, he was forced by some irresistible power to take the stolen goods upon his back and bring them before the sorcerer, by whom the proprietor must always be present. This little book had such, a power that, at each word read by the sorcerer from it, the thief was obliged to make a step; and three times woe to him who had stolen something which was heavy, or was obliged to bring his bur- den from a long distance, or over steep mountains, while the man was reading; from far off his pant- The Sorcerer of Sistrans. 69 ings could be heard, and he was drenched in perspi- ration when he arrived at the spot. One day the sorcerer made himself a footstool of nine different sorts of wood, upon which he knelt down close to the organ in the church, and looked down upon the people, and there saw all the old hags and witches as they stood at the lower end of the church. After the service was over, these old hags set upon him in herds, and would have torn him to pieces had not the priest come in time to his rescue, for the hags now discovered that he had fouud them out. This man had once on Christmas Eve stolen the consecrated Host, while the priest held it up after the consecration, and carried it with him, wrapped in a little piece of cloth always hidden on his left arm. From this proceeded all his unsurpassable tricks and indomitable strength. But at last came the " Scythesman Death," who cast him down upon the bed of sickness, and, in spite of all his strength and cleverness, he was bound to die ; but that was a very hard thing for him. Three long days and nights the quarreller lay in the last agony without being able to die. Several times the priest came 70 Tales and Legends of the Tyrol. to hini, and at last, after long exhortations and prayers, the dying man made a confession. The Host, which had already grown into the arm, was cut out, and all the books and writings belonging to the art of sorcery which could be found were burnt ; and as they were thrown into the flames it roared and thundered dreadfully, aud there was such a terrific heat that the lead in the win- dow-frames melted and ran down in streams, and during this hellish noise the sorcerer died. THE GIANT SERLES. On the Brennerstrasse, which leads out of Inns- bruck, three huge scarped mountains raise their lofty rjeaks above the road, and these peaks are also plainly visible from the Inn valley, through which the railway to Innsbruck now runs. There once lived in the neighbouring valley of the Sin a " Wilder/' or wild man of enormous stature, who was a dreaded King of the Mountains. He was of a most extraordinarily savage nature, his The Giant Series. 71 wife as bad as he was, and his secret counsellor still worse than both. The King was passionately fond of hunting; and when on the track of a flying stag, he cared so little about anything but his own pleasure that he would dash, accompanied by all his followers and hounds, through the flocks and herds pastured on the mountains, carrying death and ruin wheresoever he went. Should the poor hunted animal by chance seek refuge among a herd, the demoniacal monster would take delight in urging on his bloodthirsty hounds to tear every- thing to pieces ; and did the unfortunate herdsmen only try to make any remonstrance, they instantly shared the fate of their unfortunate animals, and were dragged to pieces on the spot by the savage dogs. On these occasions the giant, whose name was Series, used to shout with joy, "Lustig gejaid" (bravely on), and neither man nor beast were able to defend themselves for a single moment against his fury. His wife and counsellor always accom- panied him upon these excursions, and urged him on by their taunts to further excesses. One day when they were out on one of their favourite expeditions, and the dogs had not only 72 Tales and Legends of the Tyrol. torn to pieces a poor stag, which had taken refuge among a herd of cows, but had also furiously at- tacked the herd itself, the herdsmen tried to drive them off, and one of them unslinging his cross-bow, in his anger, shot a dog dead upon the spot. At this the infuriated giant, excited beyond measure by his wicked wife and villanous counsellor, set the whole pack of hounds upon the unhappy herdsmen, and laughed with savage delight as he saw them torn limb from limb by the dogs. But in the midst of this terrible crime, Heaven' s wrath fell heavily upon them. A terrific thunderstorm burst over their heads, and when it had passed away no more was to be seen of King Series, his wife, or his counsellor, but, in their stead, three huge glaciers rose into the clouds on the spot on which their iniquity had taken place. The one in the middle is- the wicked monster Series, and to his right and left stand his cruel wife and inhuman counsellor. Teamsters who pass along the Brennerstrasse on stormy nights even now often hear the howling of unearthly dogs, and, during storms, thunderbolts are constantly seen striking the " Rock Giants. - " 73 LEGENDS OF THE ORCO. The Tyrolians believe in the existence of the Orco r who is accounted to be a huge and powerful moun- tain ghost, who never ages ; he is said to reside generally in the clefts and chasms of the precipices between Enneberg Abbey and Buchenstein and the surrounding mountains. He adopts every form, and exercises his enormous strength only in destroying. Everything he does is for the terror and annoyance of mankind ; he very seldom takes the human form, and when he does it is of gigantic stature, with the most malevolent, wild, and cruel expression ; he is then dressed in the manner of the giants, or quite naked, but covered thickly with hair, like the coat of a bear. The following legends, collected on the spot, give a few instances of when and where he has been seen : — The Innkeeper, Anton Trebo, in Enneberg, who died in the year 1853, was a firm-minded man and 74 Tales and Legends of the Tyrol. noted as a great quarreller ; he was sharp and en- terprising in his business, and laughed to scorn all his guests when they ventured to recount anything about the Oreo, who was held in most terrible dread by all the inhabitants of the surrounding country. Anton Trebo used to say that he believed in no apparition from either heaven or hell. It was in the year 1825 that he returned from the market of St. Lorenz in his cart, with his son Franz. As he arrived at the rock called "Delles Grades" (Rock of Grace), where in the hollow niches of the rock still stand many carved wooden statues of Christ and His saints, and just as he passed by, there all at once appeared a huge mon- strous black dog, which ran round his cart and horses, and looked so diabolically that even the otherwise courageous bully was almost terrified. He held the reins tightly, and said to his son, " What is the dog doing there ? Drive him away." Franz tried to frighten the brute off with stones and blows, but the dog- would not move, and Trebo, becoming more and more frightened, made the sign of the cross, and all at once the dog disappeared before their eyes. Legends of the Oreo. 75 Since this adventure, the innkeeper of Enneberg, believed firmly that it had really been the Oreo, and has always defended his conviction of the existence of this fearful mountain ghost. Franz has taken the place of his father, and is now innkeeper of Enneberg, where one of his brothers lives with him. In 1816 a brave peasant woman of Brenta, in the valley of Buchenstein, whose name was Maria Vinazzer, went with her son, who was nine years old, to meet her herd of cows which were returning from the Crontrin Alp. It was a beautiful autumn day, and they advanced the more gaily, as they were accompanied by the worthy parish singer, Lazar. As they arrived on the mountain side, all at once a wild horse trotted before them so sud- denly that it appeared as though he had sprung from the ground, and wherever he trod fire played round about his heels. Lazar, who was a courageous mountaineer, threw stones at the brute, but they rebounded from his sides, as though he had thrown them at a rock. 76 Tales and Legends of the Tyrol. The horse would not be driven away, and always galloped before thein. On seeing this extraordi- nary apparition, Maria said, ' ' This is certainly the Oreo, and if he meets the herd he will surely dis- perse it, as he has often done, and the cows will run in all directions over the precipices and chasms."' They all three crossed themselves and repeated a prayer. At that moment they arrived at the cross-way, called Livine, where stands a crucifix, and as the Oreo approached near to it, he disappeared as sud- denly as he had appeared ; he neither sank into the earth, nor flew away through the air, but like a soap-bubble he vanished in an instant. All three stood and prayed a little time before the cross, where the herd soon after gaily arrived, and the pious mother said joyfully to her son, " Look, dear child, he who is with God is every- where safe, and no Oreo or other evil spirit can harm him.^ From the village of St. Kassian a young fellow went one evening to a distant farm to visit his Legends of the Oreo. 77 sweetheart, and it was getting already dark. The youth heard several times the Oreo calling out from a distance, but he paid no attention to it, and continued quietly his way. All at once he saw a little empty cart, dragged by four cats, run across the road; at this sight he was rather frightened, bnt still continued his way, not being able to make out what it all meant, when, on a sudden, there arrived a big black dog, with fiery lynx eyes, which grew bigger and bigger the nearer he came. " That is the Oreo," thought the boy; so he crossed himself, and ran home as fast as his legs could carry him. The dog bounded constantly after him for about a distance of three miles, and his fiery tongue hung for more than half a yard out of his jaws. The saliva which dropped from his mouth was like blue flaming fire, and burned like sulphur, filling the air around with a suffocating smell. The boy reached home, unharmed by the dog; but he had run so hard that his lungs became diseased, and he was always suffering, till death released him a few months afterwards. "The cats which dragged the cart over the road/' J 8 Tales and Legends of the Tyrol. said the people who recounted this legend,, " were hags, of whom there were thousands about at that time." One day two young men of Ornella, in the Buchen- stein valley, started on a brilliant night to pay a visit in a neighbouring village to their loves. They had scarcely left home when they noticed that they were followed by the gigantic Oreo, in the form of a wild bull, who first walked quietly behind them, and then, as they began to run, changed himself into a huge ball, which rolled after them, bounding over high rocks, and alighting again on the ground close to them, with so much force and such a terrible noise that they were afraid of being crushed to death. In their anxiety, they took the way over the meadows to the village of Valazzo, and jumping over the fence, which they had no time to open or break down, fell into the yard, at the foot of a large crucifix, which stands there, and embraced the cross, in a dying condition, with their arms. The Oreo appeared at the fence, though now in human Legends of the Oreo. 79 form ; but the poor youths were so terrified that they dare no longer regard him, and therefore were unable to describe his appearance. He beat with his hands upon the fence-bars so furiously, that the marks of his blows remained for years afterwards, as though they had been branded in by red-hot irons, until the wood decayed and a new fencing had to be put up ; but the saving cross still stands upon the same spot. A peasant boy of Enneberg, walking through the deep and vast forest of Plaiswald, heard from afar the voices of men shouting, and took them for wood- cutters, so, according to the usage of the country, he answered them, and shouted several times just in the same tones as the voices he had heard. But then the horrible idea rushed into his mind that it might have been the Oreo, and, at the same instant, he heard it quite close, for if one imitates the Oreo, the monster arrives as fast as lightning. The youth tried to run away, but he felt as though petrified ; all around him became darkness, and he fell sense- less to the ground. So Tales and Legends of the Tyrol. On the following day, when he came to himself, he discovered that he was in the forests of Well- schellen, on the highest peak of the mountain, and it became clear to him that the Oreo had carried him there, although the forests of Wellschellen were on the other side of terrifically deep chasms and precipices, into which the Oreo would most certainly have thrown him, had the peasant boy been a godless fellow. He returned home, covered with bruises and scratches, for Oreo had torn him in such a terrible manner that to the end of his days he never attempted again to imitate the voice of any one in the forests. The way over which the Oreo dragged the peasant is a good seven miles. BIENER'S WIFE. In the ancient castle of Biichsenhausen, which stands just above Innsbruck, still wanders about the apparition of one of its former possessors. The legend does not say to whom the castle origi- nally belonged, but old chronicles relate that it B lenerh Wife, 81 passed, in the sixteenth century, into the hands of the celebrated iron-founder, Gregor Loffler, who gave it the name of " Biichsenhausen " (home of guns), because he had established there a gun- foundry. Later on it fell into the power of the reigning family of Austria, and the Archduchess Claudia presented it to her favourite Chancellor, Wilhelm von Biener, a liberal-minded nobleman, gifted with the doubtful talent of writing the most cutting satires, whose venomous point he turned against the nobility and church, and, for this reason, he brought upon himself the hatred of all those against whose opinion he wrote ; but the favour of the Archduchess protected the talented statesman, who was most faithfully devoted to her interests. On the 2nd of August, 1G48, the Archduchess died, and then the enemies of Herr von Biener set to work so energetically that, after a short time, they succeeded in turning him out of his position, and imprisoned him on the 28th of August, 1650. A royal commission of noblemen, consisting of Biener's greatest enemies, hastened down to Biich- senhausen, and claimed from his wife all his papers and documents, amongst which they discovered G 82 Tales and Legends of the Tyrol. satires, which, were most useful to their purpose. He was accused of high-treason, and, as his enemies were both his accusers and judges, he was con- demned to death. His wife visited him while he was in prison, and he, who knew himself to be guiltless of any crime, always consoled her with these words : — " There can be no God in Heaven if they are allowed to murder an innocent man." On the 17th of July, 1651, Herr von Biener was executed in public. The sword which was used on the occasion is still to be seen in the castle of Biichsenhausen. His wife had sent a messenger to the Emperor to pray for a reprieve, which he had granted ; but one of Biener's most deadly enemies, President Schmaus, of the Austrian Court, stopped the messenger, and of course the execution ensued. A few days afterwards, the rascal who had stopped the merciful errand of the Emperor was found dead through the judgment of God. Frau von Biener went raving mad; through the whole house she tore from room to room, crying, " There is no God ; there is no God." At last she climbed up the peak behind the Martinswand, and threw herself over a precipice into a deep chasm, out of Biener's Wife. 83 which she was carried a corpse to Hottingen, where she was buried on the left-hand side of the altar, under a plain tombstone bearing no inscription, and with only a cross cut upon it. Since her death she has appeared very often as a wandering ghost to a great number of persons, and the inhabitants of the surrounding country have given her the name of the "Bienerweibele" (Biener's Wife). Clad in long black robes, slowly and solemnly she walks along through all the rooms in the castle, passes through firmly locked doors, stops with a woeful look at the bedside of peacefully sleeping people, appears to each proprietor and his wife before their death with wonderful consolation, always foretelling the immediate approach of the " Dreaded Spirit," and never harms those who have never done her any injury. But in the year 1720, it happened that a descendant of one who had been instrumental in her husband's death, who was sleep- ing in the castle, was found dead in his bed on the following morning, with a most fearfully contorted neck. The ghost appears in a black velvet mantle, and bears on her head a little bonnet, called in the dialect of the country, " Hierinnen," embroidered g2 84 Tales and Legends of the Tyrol. with black lace, and on the back of her head a beau- tiful little golden crown, which is fastened on her hair by the means of a silver pin. People say that in former times the apparition was quite black, but at present it is more grey, and every day she is becoming more light, until at last her unhappy spirit will be redeemed. THE LENGMOOS WITCHES. A rich peasant of Lengstein had a son who had travelled a great deal, and, on returning home, he laughed at the repeating of the rosary, which all the good peasants are in the habit of saying every evening. His mother was very anxious about the profane ideas and behaviour of her son, for he mocked just as much at every other usage of the holy church, which he was pleased to designate as "jokes of the priests." One day several of his companions were sitting with him at the inn called ( Zu dem Bitter/ and there some one of them recounted that on every The Lengmoos Witches. 85 Thursday night hags had been seen dancing, and carrying on their diabolical practices on the Birch- boden, which was close by ; they were seen arriving on the mountain from all parts, riding on black bricks, and holding there their unholy Sabbath. On hearing this, the rich peasant's son laughed loudly, and said, "Wait, there I will dance with them ; " for it was just Thursday evening. His friends advised him not to do so, but, in spite of their warnings, he set off, and they accompanied him up to the Mittelberg, where stands the Kebel- schmiede, and where the wild stream of the Finster- bach rushes through a fearful gully. From thence, the young fellow ran singing gaily through the forest to where there is an open spot, called the Birchboden, and where numberless pyramids of porphyry rise to the height of twenty and thirty feet above the ground. There he saw the frantic witches dancing and jumping together, and performing all sorts of tricks. This pleased the mad young man, and he ran to take part in their unholy dance ; but when the huge clock of the magnificent monastery of Lengmoos struck one, the Finsterbach foamed wildly up, and 86 Tales and Legends of the Tyrol. the pyramids of porphyry tottered to their very base. This the friends of the peasant, who were waiting for him, saw perfectly well, and a wild storm of wind and hail came suddenly on, so that they were obliged to take refuge in the hut of the Kebel- schmid (Kebelsmith) . There they waited until the morning Angelus had rung, at which moment they knew that the hags' power would come to an end, and then they went to the witches' ground. But how terrified were they when they found their wicked com- rade transformed into a stone, and fixed firmly into the earth, so that only three-quarters of him could be seen. His stone form still remains on this dreadful spot, and no green — not even an atom of moss — will grow over the head, body, hands, or feet of the " Witch-dancer." After nightfall no one dares to approach the scene of this terrible retribution, where stands so fearful a warning to all mockers and despisers of religion. 37 BINDER-HANSL . In the hamlet of Walschmofen, about ten miles from the village of Vols, lived a certain Binder- Hansl. He was a broom-binder, and, as his name was Hans (or John), they called him the " Binder- Hansl." He died in the year 1824, and was regretted all over the country, for he was a noted peasant doctor, or " Wonder Doctor," as they called him. Besides curing all sorts of maladies of man and beast, he had a charm against sorcery and witchcraft, and where any suspicious circumstance took place in house or stable, Hans was called, and never failed to help. One day, in the time of war, the Binder-Hansl went to the village of Botzen, and on the route, near the lane called Kuntersweg, he met the smith of the village of Kartaun, who had been forced by the French troops to carry their big drum, which was very heavy, and when the smith complained very bitterly about it to his friend, Hans said 88 Tales and Legends of the Tyrol. laughingly, " I should send the drum to the devil, and then I should be rid of it." At this the French punished him for his boldness, by forcing him to march with them, carrying at his turn the drum on his back. So he was obliged to carry it up to the Feigenbrucke, near Blumenau; but when he had arrived there, he set the drum on the ground, and said, " By this way I have come, and by this way I will return ; " while a Frenchman, who spoke German perfectly well, said, " Churl, take up the drum, or — " and he lunged at him with his naked sword. But the Binder-Hansl laughed at him, and replied, " We shall see;" and at the same moment he stretched out his hand over the French- men, and they became all as motionless as stones. There he left them standing, and went laughing from the Feigenbrucke, over the steep mountain lane, which is called the " Katzenleiter " (Cat's Ladder). After he had climbed to the summit of the mountain, he shouted, " Be off, fools, now you have seen my power," and making again a sign with his hand, they all came to life, and taking up their drum they ran off, as only Frenchmen can. 8 9 THE GOLD-WORM OF THE ALPBACH VALLEY. Near the ' ' Reichen-Felder " (ricli fields) , behind the valley of Alpbach, is often to be seen, especially on the eve of holy-days, a gold-worm of wonderful brilliancy, which lies there motionless, and wrinkled in such a manner that it looks like a golden chain. Sometimes this gold-worm has also been seen down in the valley far beneath the Reichen-Felder, even once so far as the banks of the Alpbach, on a spot which is called G'reit. Several times daring people approached the worm, but when they had come near to him they were struck with an uncon- trollable terror ; and on running to fetch others as witnesses, on their return the worm was no longer to be seen. The peasants round about say, " Those people had not the grace of putting something sacred upon the worm, and for that reason it disappeared." After all, it is not stated what the worm is, whether go Tales and Legends of the Tyrol, it is a treasure-bloorn, or a treasure- guardian, of which there are numbers in this rich gold country. THE GLUNKEZER GIANT. In the Voider valley, out of which rises the Glun- kezer, and where now stands the sheep Alp, called Tulfein, is a very picturesque mountain meadow, in the middle of which, some centuries ago, a peaceful King had built his palace, in which he lived with his four daughters, of whom each was more beauti- ful than the other. Round about the palace was a magnificent garden, full of Wonder-Flowers, and large expanses of meadow-lands, upon which tame Alpine animals browsed in large herds, and of these the four daughters of the King were very fond. They went also very often down into the huts of poor herds-people, to whom they did all sorts of charity, and all around they were honoured and re- verenced as protecting genii. This quiet happiness was troubled, and at last destroyed, by the arrival of a wild giant in this The Glunkezer Giant, gi Alpine paradise, who built himself a cavern on the top of the Glunkezer, from whence, during the night, he roared so dreadfully that the mountains trembled, and huge masses of rock rolled down into the valleys. After he had caught sight of the four daughters of the King, he determined to try and gain one of them for his wife ; so he decorated his bearskin mantle with enormous new buttons, tore up a fine tree for a walking-stick, passed his long finger-nails a few times through his shaggy beard and hair, and set off down to the Tulfein to pay his addresses. The King's heart trembled with fright as he saw this pretender to the hand of one of his daughters, and replied that his daughters were perfectly free to choose their own husbands, there- fore, if one of them would accept him, he should have no opposition to make. Upon this the giant made himself as small as possible, but that was not very much, and did not bring him in much either, for one after the other of the girls refused him. This enraged the giant out of bounds, and he determined upon the most ter- rible vengeance, which he did not tarry in execut- ing as quickly as possible. In the following night, 92 Tales and Legends of the Tyrol. rocks as large as a house rolled down upon the Tulfein, hurled against the palace, which they carried along with its inhabitants into the Wild- See, into whose depth it disappeared, and which was almost completely filled up with the tumbling rocks. The little of its dark waters which is still left, now bears the name of the u Schwarzenbrunn" (black spring), and round about it is a " death val- ley," for nothing will grow there. After the vengeance of the giant was satiated, repentance came over him, and he mourned for the murdered innocent father and daughters $ he sat for whole nights on the borders of the Wild- See, into which he gazed, and howled and cried so incessantly, that even the stones had pity on him, for they became quite soft, and his cavern trembled and fell to ruin. At last he bewitched himself and became a mountain dwarf, while the King's daughters were transformed into fairies or mermaids, and appear often on moonlight nights, floating over the water. There then sits the small grey dwarf, stretching longingly his hands towards their light forms, which however dissolve in mist ; the dwarf then plunges again into the See", with a noise so The Weaver of Vomperberg. 93 great that it seems as though a large rock had fallen into it, and cools m a cold bath the agony of his remorse. THE WEAVER OF VOMPERBERG. The practice of the medical art is even now in the higher parts of the Tyrol rather in a primitive state. Those who are ill send a common messenger down to the doctor, to whom he has to explain all the illnesses of those who have sent him, and, therefore, he has to consult sometimes for twenty or thirty illnesses at a time. The doctor listens to his expla- nations, and gives to one patient a potion, to another a tisane, to another an unguent, etc., and hands the whole lot to the messenger. Happy it is if, in the confusion of his ideas, the messenger does not change the medicines, but gives to each patient his own. In this manner used the peasant Vogele to cure, who died in 1855, in the hamlet of Matrai, in the Under Wippthal. From early morning till late in the afternoon his farm was overrun with the sick, or their messengers. 94 Tales and Legends of the Tyrol. But the arts which the weaver of Vomperberg, near the village of Vomp, in the Inn valley, prac- tised were unknown to human doctor, for they were supernatural. It was generally reported that he was in league with the evil one, and eye-witnesses have even certified that the devil once caught him, but that the clever magician managed to slip through his fingers. This weaver, who died in 1845, once sold a herd of pigs to a peasant on the opposite side of the river Inn. The purchaser was driving his pigs over the bridge called Nothholzer- briicke, and, as they arrived in the middle, lo ! they all disappeared. All those to whom he re- counted this called out, " The weaver is a cunning fellow, he has got the money, and no doubt he has bewitched the pigs back again to his sheds." In his anger the peasant, after drinking a few bottles of wine, and when his head was rather hot, returned to the hut of the weaver, who was lying on a long plank, warming his feet against the stove. The indignant and half- drunken peasant threw him- self upon the man, and, in his anger, tried to drag him out of the hut by his feet, but oh, Heaven ! he had scarcely touched the feet, when fchey both came The Fiery Sennin. 95 off in his hands. Trembling with terror and fright, he dropped the feet on the floor and ran off, and has never dared again to say one word about the loss of the pigs. THE FIERY SENNIN. Over the high valley of Alperschon stands a moun- tain called Gerichtsalp, belonging to the canton of Landeck, of which the judge, for centuries past, has had the right of letting the meadows to all the different parishes of the district; and from time im- memorial it has been the privilege of the flock-herds to pasture there also their own animals, together with those of their masters, and then to sell them in the autumn on their own account. There was at that time upon the Alp a young il Sennin" (or herd- woman), who had among the herd some of her own pigs, of which she took rather too much care, for she cheated the parish to feed them, and gave them goat-milk and the milk from the butter, so that they soon became very fat 96 Tales and Legends of the Tyrol. and round ; while the parish pigs she made live upon the thin cheese whey, upon which, of course, they did not thrive. The Sennin was always gay and joking, and sang the nicest songs, and there- fore every one liked her for her good temper, and nobody dreamed that she was an aim thief. A couple of root seekers of the village of Schnaun, the girl's native village, often climbed the Alp, and one day, when busy over their work, they remained there longer than usual, after the Sennin had driven the herd home. They were in the habit of using the empty enclosure in which the pigs were driven to rest in the middle of the day, as a drying-place for their roots, and when they re- turned home again, late at night, to Schnaun, they heard to their great astonishment that " the pretty young Sennin " had suddenly died, and they stayed a few days in the village to attend her funeral with the rest of the villagers. Some few days afterwards, they went up again on the mountain to resume their usual business, and it was almost quite dark as they arrived on their favourite spot. As they approached the en- closure, they heard the voice of some one calling The Spirit of the Zirl Usurer. 97 the pigs to their feeding-troughs, which they imme- diately recognized as that of the dead young Sennin, and, as they approached nearer, they saw her in bodily form, carrying a bucket of whey in her hand, and walking about in the enclosure, but red as a fiery furnace. The men stood thunder- struck and gasped with terror, and the spirit called to them, "Yes, sigh for me ; here I must burn until my dishonesty is wiped away, even to the last pfennig ; " and in saying this she disappeared from their sight, while making a terrific noise, and enve- loped in a cloud of sulphurous smoke. THE SPIRIT OF THE ZIRE USURER. Beneath the Solstein, which stands over 9000 feet high, and upon whose summit on certain Thursdays the witches are said to dance, is situated a dreadful chasm, which takes its name from the charming- village of Zirl, which lies at the foot of the moun- tain, and has more the aspect of a little town than H 98 Tales and Legends of the Tyrol. an Alpine village. There once lived a wealthy miller, a noted usurer, who amassed no end of unjustly gained money, and, as after his death none of his wealth was restored to those whom he had defrauded, his spirit was condemned to the depths of the chasm, where he suffered indescribable tor- ments, and often during the night his screams have been heard crying, " Help, help me ! " About twenty years ago, two merry gazelle hunters were walking in the night from the village of Soln, over the Schutzensteig, on their way to Hotting, and, as it became very dark, they resolved to pass the night above the Zirl chasm, for fear of falling, in the darkness, over some precipice, or meeting with any other accident. They lighted a large fire, and during the night they heard some- body call out, ""Help, help me. ;; The two men immediately thought some one had fallen down the precipice, and one of them shouted, "Have patience, for the night is too dark for us to venture down the gully, but to-morrow we will help you out." In the early dawn they set off to hunt for a track by which to descend the precipice to the rescue of the unfortunate traveller. The Alpine Horse- Phantom. 99 On their way they met the shepherd of Soln, and told him of their night's adventure, and, as they recounted it to him, he said, " There you may look in vain, for this call comes not from a lost traveller, but from the wicked miller ; " and he then told them all he knew about the wretched money usurer. Many people of Zirl have also heard these frightful screams for help, first in one place and then in another, for the chasm is dreadfully deep and long. In the very depth of it, and at the foot of the Solstein, lies the Graupenloch, where a roaring torrent forms a high cascade, and fills the chasm with the roar of thunder, and even to this day nobody has ever dared to descend to this spot. There sits the spirit of the miserable usurer, howling, with chattering teeth, in his freezing torment. THE ALPINE HORSE-PHANTOM. On the high Alp, called Els, in the Hinderdux, resides a mountain spirit, which the inhabitants of h2 ioo Tales and Legends of the Tyrol. the surrounding country are unable to paint hor- ribly enough. It is described as a terrible horse- phantom, which nobody dare approach, and which snorts fever and death wheresoever it goes. Many mountaineers and gazelle-hunters have met with their death by this spirit, and only he is safe who has gun, sword, and dogs with him. One day a courageous Alpine hunter resolved to go and fight the mountain ghost, so he loaded his rifle with a crossed bullet, and climbed up the mountain. Not far from the hut, which stands on the Els Alp, is a cross, at which he knelt and repeated a prayer, and he had scarcely left the spot, when a little grey mountain dwarf drew near to him, and begged for a little bread and brandy. The huntsman shared with the dwarf his bread and smoked-gazelle meat ; after which the little grey man told him to go back, and bring his gun, sword, and dogs, or else he would be powerless against the mountain ghost, who otherwise wonld smash him into pieces. The gazelle-hunter followed this advice, and soon returned to execute his courageous purpose. But it happened far otherwise than he had The Witches of G* Stoag. 101 expected. The mountain ghost, in the form of a horrible horse, appeared, and galloped upon him with tremendous fury, snorting fire and sulphurous smoke, stamping, and roaring, and neighing so loud, that the very mountain shook with the sound ; then he shouted to the huntsman with a voice of thunder, " You rascal, if you had not gun, sword, and dogs with you, I should smash you to pieces." At this reception, the huntsman stood like one petrified; his teeth chattered, and all desire to fight with a ghost passed away for ever from his mind. The horse-phantom then turned his heels and gal- loped back again to the Gletscherwand, from whence he had come. THE WITCHES OE GSTOAG. Not many years ago a very rough mountain lane led from Tarenz to Imst, which was called the G'stoag; the post-road now runs over this spot, and still bears the same name. The tailor, Anton Gurschler, of Strad, once re- 102 Tales and Legends of the Tyrol. turned home from Grieseck, near Tarenz, where he had been to visit his sweetheart. It was getting on for the ghost hour, and as he arrived near the smith's shop, called Hoada-Schnriede, near G'stoag, he ran up against a little chapel, which is conse- crated to the holy Vitus, and, having hurt himself in the violence of the shock, he was very angry, and began to swear, for he wanted to know who had pushed him so savagely. At that moment a carriage with lights drove up, and in it were sitting some women, whom the tailor immediately recog- nized perfectly well. They stopped the carriage, alighted, and offered to dance with him, and turned him round and round, without his being able to resist them. Then, as they released him, one of them whispered in his ear, " If you say one word about this, you had better look out for yourself j " and then they drove off like a flash of lightning. The tailor was stupefied with amazement, and, in his anger, he recounted to his friends at home all that had befallen him, in which, however, he did very wrong, for he grew thin and ill, and went out at last like the spark of a candle. To another man, a shoemaker of Tarenz, whose The Witches of G* Stoag. 103 name was Jennewein Lambach, happened the fol- lowing circumstance : — He was on his way to the castle of Starkenberg, close by his village, and on passing by the church, he neither stopped a moment, nor crossed himself, as it is the custom in the country to do. It was yet dark, for the shoemaker had got up earlier than he was aware of j all at once he heard the sounds of magnificent music, to which he listened for a long time with delighted ears, and then, to his astonishment, he heard the church clock strike midnight. He shuddered with fright, for he knew that something must be wrong, and hurried on as fast as his legs would carry him to Starkenberg, where he was engaged to work ; but as there he could find no peace of mind, on account of his strange accident, he returned home again in the afternoon. While he was sitting drinking a glass of wine with the innkeeper Marrand, of Tarenz, a woman of the village entered the room, and said to him mockingly, " The music last night must have pleased you very much, for you listened like a stupid." The shoemaker was struck dumb and could not reply, for it came to his mind that what he had heard in the preceding night had been 104 Tales and Legends of the Tyrol. hags' music, and that that very same woman had. been amongst the number of the witches. From that time he shunned the creature as much as possible, but never told any one what had happened to him on that eventful evening. He then bought himself an alarm clock, which he set up close to his bed, so that he never went again too early to his work, and thus by his silence he no doubt escaped the dreadful fate of the poor tailor. THE HEXELER. In the village of Hall, in the valley of the Inn, close to Innsbruck, lived a man who was a peasant doctor, cattle doctor, and fisherman, in one person ; he was also a noted witch-finder, and, as such, held in terrible dread by all those who had " red eyes." His name was Kolb, but he was generally called the " Hexeler " (hag hunter), or " Hexenkolb." One day Kolb was engaged fishing in the lake, called Achen thaler- See, when suddenly thunder- clouds as black as ink collected over his head, and The Hexeler. 105 on a sign which he made with his hand, a weather hag fell down into the water. The hag seized the side of KolVs little boat, who, however, beat the rudder down upon her bands, with the intention of drowning her, but she implored him to save her, promising that she would renounce her witchcraft. " As to me," said Kolb, " I will save you if you will give up your wicked trade; but you must hand over to me your sorcery book, so that I shall know all your hellish artifices, and be able to discover their antidotes." After a long dispute, during which the hag was nearly drowned, she gave him a book, in which her most secret charms were written down. After that incident, Kolb became one of the first -Wonder Doctors" in the Tyrol. When he was asked to cure somebody, the sufferer was compelled to come to him during the night, and it was only on special occasions that he consented to visit the house of the sick. When he was called to the assistance of a bewitched person, he made exactly at midnight the smoke of five different sorts of herbs, and, while they were burning, the bewitched was gently beaten with a martyr-thorn birch, which 106 Tales and Legends of the Tyrol. had also to be cut during the same night, and through which means, at each stripe that was given, the hag who had bewitched the person received the most terrible blow, so that the blood flowed at each stroke. Kolb went on beating in this way, until the hag appeared and took off the charm. But, during the operation, no one was allowed to speak, and the necromancer alone treated with the witch. If any one had spoken but one word, the Hexeler's power would have gone for that night, and all his work would have been useless. THE CAT HAGS OF GRIES. Cats generally take a large share in anything ap- pertaining to witchcraft, and as single apparitions, out of the company of some hag, they are scarcely, if ever, to be seen ; though Peter, one of the ser- vants at the farm of Sim el, near the village of Gries, once had the misfortune to meet them. The farmer was an excellent manager, and never allowed any of his servants to be out in the evening The Cat-Hags of Grtes. 107 after the Angelus had sounded. But Peter had been a volunteer, during the revolution of 1848, and, as such, he considered himself entitled to take more liberty than the others, and to go after hours and pay a visit to his love. One evening, just as he had arranged to carry out this plan, the farmer, who was a member of the parish administration, said, after supper, to his servants, "Now you all go to bed ; at two o'clock to-morrow morning I shall call you, for it has been decided by the Council that we must go oftener on patrol round about, to keep on the look out for the Welsh republicans, which are expected in the country, and to shoot them down wherever they appear, for the sake of preserving order and peace." This command anything but pleased Peter, who, however, apparently obeyed, and went to bed ; but soon afterwards he got up very quietly, and thought to himself, " Long before the clock strikes two I shall be back ; " and then he crept silently through the stables, and hurried towards the Berghof farm, on the mountain where his sweetheart lived, to bid her good-bye for ever, should it be necessary, in case he fell in the war against the Welsh rebels. 1 08 Tales and Legends of the Tyrol. He remained till one o'clock at the Berghof, and then he set off home, running as fast as ever he could, and he had arrived already within a distance of two or three hundred feet of the Simel farm, when, just over his head, he caught the sound of suppressed whispering. He looked about, and lo ! all about him, the air and ground was full of cats, -of all colours and shapes, black, white and tri- coloured, which sprang upon him from every direc- tion. Frightened out of his wits, poor Peter began to pray and cross himself, when all at once the tribe of cats disappeared ; but this release did not last long, for when he had reached the farm, he found the cats sitting in a swarm round the entrance- door, and they stopped him from getting in, and against this no praying, no cross-making could avail, for the cats set up such a terrific noise, that the poor bewildered fellow lost his senses of hearing and seeing. He made up his mind, however, to get into the farm at any risk, and, springing through the cats, he gained the little door by which he had gone out ; but the door was closed, so he was forced to knock at the great entrance, where he was received by the farmer himself, who, after The Locksmith of the Fliegeralm. 109 giving him a good scolding, concluded his sermon in these words : —