The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1889-01-17
Is William Tell . Myth:
[Sarah Lo,ing Bailey, in January Wide
Awake.

| fSaran LOLluR Di'lcS IL y az ue|A } " Jaw
Awake.
was Gu iou3 to see on what ground
The guide books based their statement,
and to learn why we should class the
tale of Tell with such tales as that OF
| lEneas OF Troy, King Arthur and the
Round Table, or Robin Hood in the
green woods of England. The facts l
obtained were scattered through varl-
Gus volumes, and I can only give briefly
few of the principal points, mostly
taken from a German book, Tell ana
Gessler in Legend and History, by
Rochholz:
Chronicles most nearly contemporary
with the time of the supposed life OF
Tell do not refer to him.
The earliest chroniclers OF the legend
lived nearly two hundred years later.
In many ages and countries are 1ouno
legends of famous marksmen shooting
at various small objects placed on sne
heads Of persons:
A Persian poet in IT'S wrote legend
of king who put an apple on the
head of favorite slave, shot at 1t, and
split the apple. The slave was mace
i'll by the fright.
Among European legends, one is
found in Westphalia; father named
Egel, was compelled by a prince to
shoot an apple f;om his sons head.
He took three arrows out of his qu1ver,
afterward confessing that, if he had
injured his son, he meant to Kill the
prince.
In Denmark, a writer in the year
1900 relates that in 9l2, man named
Toxic was compelled by King Harold,
the Blue-Tooshed, to shoot an apple
from his sons head: and that he also,
had he harmed his child, meant to
shoot the king.
A King Of Norway, Olaf the Pious,
obtained a promise rom heather
marssman that he would be baptized
into the Christian faitu, if the king
would contend with him in shooting
and win the match. The king, shot at
a chess-fgure or tablet on the head OF
8 bov and hit between the table, and
the head, but grazed the head. On the
entreaties of the boys mother and
sister, the marksman forebore to shoot
again, and confessed himself conquered.
Another Harold commanded q man to
shoot at nut on his brothers head.
Years after, the king was pointed out
in battle by this man to another marks
man who shot him dead.
! All these weie before the time Of the
Swiss Tell.
| Later, the legend appears in Hol-
| stein. Tie leader Of an insurtection
against Christian l. in l472 fled and
concealed himself in swamp. The
barking OF his dog betrayed his hiding
place. He was taken prisoner, but
promised his freedom on the condition
that he shoot an apple from the head OF
his son. He put one arrow on the bow
string aud took another between his
| teeth, confess:ng afterwa d that If he
failed in his first shot he intended tc
shoot the king. An old picture shows
the marksma1 W tn the bow ready tc
shoot and the arrow between his teeth
the boy standing and the dog between
the father and the boy.
The legend and name OF Tell seem tt
have originated in Sweden or the
| islands the eabouts, and to have come
jnto Sw:tzecla I'd with The earliest set
tiers OF that county, who were wan
derers out Of Sweden. To'lus or Tellu:
(TelD was a giaot who lived on al
island, Osel, belonging to Sweden. He
used to amuse himself with throwing
stones about. When he died, he told
his people to bu'v him in his ga'der
and if war came he would rise and helI
them. One dar, some children who
had heard this tale stood on his grave
a I'd fought and then called: "Tollus
ariseI War is on thy g:aven Tcllus
put his head out but was SO angry al
seeing only children that he never ap
peared again. A similar legend is tolc
Of William Tell: that he was once dis
tu:bed in bis sleep under the AXen
berg by herdsmaa who was seeking
for a lost COW, aid that he was iadjg
nant at the disturbance. In the iegenc
of the Swedish Tollus there is no men
ton of shooting at an apple, but this
part of the legend is current among
their Finish neighbors.