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Musjo of the Waters. 349 |
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. Come away, come away— By billows tost From coast to coast, Like deserted boat His corse shall float, Around the bay, around the bay."
That their coiffure is a matter of great—we might almost say, paramount—importance to these water-fairies one cannot doubt; the faithful chronicler of their doings would as soon think of representing a soldier without his sword, or a fish without a tail, as a mermaid minus her comb and glass. Amongst the English sailors' songs, I have mentioned one known as " The Mermaid;" it is a very humorous description of the direful fate of a young sailor who fell in with one, and who was doomed to pass the rest of his days with this green-haired beauty "at the bottom of the deep blue sea."'
NECKS.
The necks or water-spirits are renowned for their love and talent for music. There exist, people say, various kinds of these interesting creatures. The Swedes relate wonderful stories respecting the marvellous harp-playing of a neck called Stromkarl, who generally prefers the vicinity of water-mills and cascades for his abode.
The neck or nicker has become quite a stranger in England. Some Englishmen, however, take care to preserve his name, applying it to a spirit of another element than water, and everyone knows at once whom they mean when they speak of Old Nick. Like the sirens and the mermaids, the female neck enchants youths with sweet music, and draws them down into the water. In the Greek mythology, Hylas, a king's son, is commemorated as having been drawn into the water by nymphs enamoured of the beautiful youth.
The Scandinavian god, Odin, the originator of magic |
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