The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1899-01-19


ed, the thresholds guard" Inscriptions
(often descriptive of the character of the
house ITSELF are found over some door
ways at Pompeii and when Dante de-
scribed the awful gateway OF the IN
fernO" as bearing a motto CAN hope
abandon, We who enter here") he was
probably recalling the contemporary Gus
tom Of placing appropriate inscriptions
over doors and gateways The old houses
at Spa formerly preserved mementoes
of the various celebrities who had once
occupied them (Marguerite Of Navarro,
Peter the Great, Charles the Second, AL
exander of Parma, all once visited this
bright little health resort in the shape
of the armorial bearings of the former
illustrious visitors carved above the house
door. The Canongate of Edinburg had
formerly many specimens of similarly an
Gent house inscriptions. Herrick has
sung of the superstitious rites practiced
at a wedding in connection with the house
doorway:
Eye that be her Cbride's) nearest kin
Ger the threshold force her in,
But to avert the worst
Let her her fillets first
Knit to the posts, this point
membering-to anolnt
The sides for it's a charm
Strong against future harm"
Witches were credited with burying nox-
ious ingredients under a house threshold
and these rites at the door were sup
posed to avert an evil spell, if such had
been attempted. There are many legends
OF enchanted doorways. Lady Fanshawe
writing in the seventeenth century from
the court of Madrid Ito which her hus-
band was then ambassador. gives a long
account of such door at Granada. There
is, at this place, an iron CRATE, fixed into
the side of the HILL which is a rock
laid my head to the keyhole. and hear
sounds like the clashing of arms but
could not distinguish other shrill sounds
1 heard with that Tradition says that
this door could never be opened since the
Moors left; several persons have tried
TO wrench it open, but persisted in the
attempt. Regarding the truth Of this.
L can only say that there is such door,
and that have seen it." Probably this
tradition" was a legendary accretion TO
the true narrative of how the defeated
moorish KING Boabdil. in resigning his
capital to the Spanish conquerors, had
made 1t his last request that the door by
which he quilted the city might be wall
ed up and never used again, a request
complied with by Ferdinand and Isabella.
Lady Fanshawe has another story regard
ing doorway, at Granada relating that
one OF the gates Of the Alhambra was
adorned among other carved ornaments.
with the representation of "a bunch of
Keys, cut IN stone. with this motto. that
until hand should those KEYS the
Christians Should never possess this AL
hambra' This prophecy served to
greatly animate the Moors," as Lady
Fanshawe records; but adds: "See how
true it is that there is a time for all
things. 1t happened that. when the Moors
were besieged in this place by Den Fer
dinand and Queen Isabella, that the King
with an arrow shot out of a bow. cut
that part Of the stone which held the
keys (Which was in the fashion of a
chalnD and so the keys fell upon the
carving OF hand beneath. This strange
occurrence happened but a day or two
before the conquest of Granada" MANY
are the legends regarding enchanted doors
IN hlil-sides which opened once. or on a
lew occasions, and then could never be
found again. There is story Of the COM
plasant fairies who, upon a certain jnyo-
cation being made were wont to unclose
a hitherto concealed gateway. and pass
out all manner Of useful household uten-
Sis, only exacting that these should be
GUY returned at the promised dates. But
one DAY careless borrower failed to
bring back an -srticle lent, and the in
censed fairies opened their doors no
more adopting the tactics of the French
lnn-keeper. who wrote below his sign. ION
lie ioge pas lei a credit. car I. est mort.
les mauvais payeurs Tone tue"
scott On "Marmion'D has written Of the
grlsly door," narrow. deep. and tall"
into which those who enter shall ne'er
Ween, ind exit more"-alluding to those
Naulted recesses in walls in which victims
were buried alive. Though the fact has
been disputed. it appears tolerably Ger
tain that this was sometimes the doom
awarded TO religious votaries, who. like
constance in the poem, proved false
10 their monastic vows; but a similar
fate has befallen others than recresn+
monks and nuns. Some years ago. one
OF the magazines published an interesting
article upon Kirk Grimes" the supposed
ghosts of victims who had been immured
alive within the walls Of a church 10 in
sure Their haunting apparently with some
IDEA OF defence or protection the sacred
edlilce- The Kirk Grim was often an ami
mai usually a lamb. but there are le-
gends Of human victims being sometimes
selected; in one case the wife. IN an
other the little daughter, Of the chief ma
son or architect These traditions are
olTecL survival OF the old pagan super
sJition that the sacrifice OF a human life
insured The stability OF building. Wis
icors 10 Algeria stiIl can see. in one OF tn.
local museums. a block OF concrete which
once formed part OF the Moorish city wall
into which q Christian captive had been
cast alive While the concrete was in
liquid coudiu0n-the hollow left By the
corpse of the victim has been filed with
plaster. and a cast thus obtained o. the
sufferers form. that o. a youth Many
West country rustics stu firmly believe
IN the existence OF Kirk G-Ims. and
there are legends thai these spirits can
be seen, 81 times. fitting about old
churches OF churchyards: but the siEat
IS not one n be desired, as & presages
the beholder's death within year One
man who saw Iae local Kirk Grimm
this case spectral lam0-disportin T.
self in Devonian chu-chyard s said 10
have only survived the sight OF a few
months. How many similarly fantastic
legends and superstitions stul lie hidden.
Ike lees IN wine as Lord Bacon phrases
il. IL the hearts Of our English TUxtics. De-
spite all modern educational efforts
There Is stiI. among many % our VI
layers. something % the spirit - TIE
sussex ploughboy. wao. gazing one eve
Ming a. the setting zHn. remarked n ?
-c-Qanisu- Bill YOU knows rh=- tsrr