Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1873-06-26
AUSTIN COUNTY, THURSDAY JUNE &C. 1873

ing home, he told tho story to his grand
father, ho xas somewhat mortified to per.
ccivs tl:at iho had osusod no sensation.
"Ah," said the good man, "nVt doul,
you have met :he Wild lIuntsman; that.
just his way" Familiarity had bred con
tempt.
sShepherds.. it has been observed. hay,
sharper eyes for speotres than. any othe]
! class Of tho community. On the eve o
Lone Advent Sunday, in the vicinity If tn,
4: Vogelsborg, an old shepherd perceived :
man with IN enormous dog walking u,
land own tho skirts Of tho forest,
"Whenco do you come ?" he asked.
"From up yonder, WAS the reply
"-Where does this lead p
"To the Wetterhaus." So,
; The convefsa,ion;wonld probably have
proceeded further had not tho shepherd.
dog srept betweon his masters legs, anu
uttered dismal howl. Knowing tha,
Where ghosts are c0ebsh1d iIi9sss, are
l. ld,a sharper syen than sbepksrd3 tho oM nau
70: sptefSd his hut, and closed tEe door.
But ho still heard the call, Shepherd,
Ishepherd" till it faded away in the dis.
tance. ;;,,-t! 49,. -
Near Merlau,, .. town at the Western
foot of the Vogeisberg, is forest called
the Linnes, in which the manifestations OF
the Wild Huntsman's visitatioas arc ex.
ceptionally conspicuous. There, on the
morning after one Of his usual rides, the
hares that he had taken were found hang
ing from the sunmits of tue trees, On
one particular pathway through the fores,
u more profitable discovery might be
made on the same day. From a partioula,
tree hung huge pair of trunk hose, and
some Of the passers-by heard voice
crying, Brush me down! brush me
downw He who obeyed this command
and, when his task was done, put biz
hand into hi spocket, was sure to find a
silver dollar OF uncommon weight, neithe,
more or less. No awkward compact was
implied in tho acceptance Of the coin, no,
did it bring the owner into disrepute with
his lneighbors,the dollars beino consider ed
fair payment for q job honestly done
| AS~y9 V'sAy sPVkCOu0 VOkN w u xuOAY UatN
wereable to perform the !equired service
Less fortunate wights, who heard the
call, were compelled to remain staring a,
the hose, and could not pursue their Jour.
ney till these had vanished.
To girl of Michelbaeh, place in tho
same district the Wild Huntsman oonde.
scended to show himself in remarkable
manner, not at night but at noon. She
! was on her way to the field, where, by
her tather's order, she was to cut the corn
and suddenly heard the usual sound ol
whips and horses, but, whereas the dark
ness was always exchanged for light
during the nocturnal chases, light was on
this occasion turned into darkness. The
whole hunt then became visible. A flock
of ravens, notoriously tho birds Of Odin
led the way, then followed the twelve
white hounds, and among :hem was the
veritable Wild Huntsman, clad in green
mounted on tall horse, and--withOut q
head.
Sometimes the Wild Huntsman wal
fond of playing practical jokes on the
simple Hessians. He was in the habit o
passing certain house and had become
go familiar that on one oocasion the poor
children who resided there, and had moth
ing but dry bread to eat, asked him on hi.
passage to fling to them piece of cheese
An enormous lump Of the desired article
ffell down before them, but it appealed sc
forcibly to their noses that it never found
it's way to their mouths. Another trick,
much more malicious than droll, was play
ed on . girl who was tending cattle near a
: wood. A tall huntsman suddenly stood
before her, and asked her ii sho had seer
:. his white goose. On hearing her answer
in the negative, he snatched up calf Al
F readily as if it had weighed only couple
Of ounces, sprang into the forest, and
after 4 short interval, returned with tn,
calf entirely stripped of ito hair. "Thert
is white goose for you" he said, anl
Immediately vanished.
tits curious fact that the Wild Hunts
man is associated in the minds of the Has
! sian peasants with the Assyrian monarch
Nimrod. This "mighty hunter" whom ",
have always been tau ught to regard as 9
miracle Of impiety and presumption, was
according to the Hessian legend, lying up
on his death bed, wheo he was accosted
by the Deity, who asked him if he woult
90 to heaven or continue his favOrite pur
suit of hunting. Without hesitation b,
chose the latter alternative, and he and
his companions were doomed to o perpet
ual hunt without repose.
i White Ladies, Off kind vory diderentl,
from the one associated with the roya
house Of Hohenzollern, likewise abound il
.he regions of the Vogelsberg. On the
Grunberg, u mountain at the western
extremity Of the chain, stands an ancien
convent, which has been converted into 6
castle, and become the habitual residence
of local magistrates The unmarried sister
Of one Of these had sat up till nearly mid
! night about the time Of Advent, when tbt
door Of her room slowly opened and twelv,
beautiful mnidens entered, who, forming 4
circle, sang the lovelisst chorus ever heart
by human ears. The young woman
scarcely knew whether to be pleased OF
terrified. AT last she exclaimed, This il
q visit indeedw At these words tn,
strangers vanished, but the sound Of theil
voices without was audible for few mo
mepts afterwards. The notion that White
Ladies' are not happy, is illustrated by .
legend connected with an old ,casele, VI
| "nAo" ssO s'SsNo ssS PA0oVuS A0IuNsuo. kAAscl
midnight, however, it reappears in all it
prixtlhe msgnifcence, and with its win
dows brightly illuminated, Us though fol
the celebration of a. feast. On such oc
casions the Young lady Of the Cas-
{ tie is sometimes visible. She is YER,
, beautiful, and wears u snow.white dress
but she never speaks, and always seems t,
8 be iamenting her past glory and prayin,
tor future salvation. & ~,
] The belief that a salvation, only to B.
t acquired under the most exceptional cir
cumstances, is the cause alike Of hope an,
1 sorrow in White Lady, u moro develop
, ed in tradition respecting IN old ehep
herd OF Liederbacht who was encountere,
one fthese strange beings. She implore,
him to work out her salvation, and on hi
inquiring bow this was to effected, sh
desired him to bring his little boy to tn
!. same spot, ut the same hour, on the fol
! lowing morning. II she gave the chill
three kisses, sho said the curse that lai
), heavily upon her would be removed, an
= that she would reward the shepherd wit
3 tho keys Of tho Nuremberg, mohht,,i
y near the town Of Leusel, thus making hi,
Q master of Ill tho treasures which in tb
. olden time had been buried BY the Gre
+ Friars. = -
j. The offer was too tempting, and On tn
following morning the shepherd. WI
. accompanied by his little boy. At abou
! eleven o'clock the lady made her appca,