The Breitmann Ballads

by Charles Godfrey Leland

THE MAGIC SHOES.

IT was stiller, dimmer twilight - amber toornin' into gold,
Like young maidens' hairs get yellow und more dark as dey crow old;
Und dere shtood a high ruine vhere de Donau rooshed along,
All lofely, yet neclected - like an oldt und silent song.

Out shpoke der Ritter Breitmann, "Ven I hafe not forgot,
Ich kenn an anciendt shtory of dis inderesdin shpot,
Of the Deutscher Middleolter vot de Minnesingers sung,
Ven dot olt ruine oben vas a-bloomin, fair, und yung.

"Vonce dere lifed a noble fraulein - fery peautiful vas she,
More ash twendy dimes goot lookin - it is in de historie;
Und mit more ash forty quarters on her woppenshield,[90] dot men
Might beholdt mitout a discount she vas of de upper ten.

"But dough lofely as an angel, mit eyes of turkos plue,
She vas cruel ash a teufel, und de vorst man efer knew.
Vonce ven a nople young one kneeled down to her mit lofe,
She kicket him mit her slipper und oopset him on de shtove.

"Und said, 'I do refuse you, as you may plainly see;
Und from dis day henseforvart mine refuse you shall pe,
Und when I do run afder you like dogs run afder men,
Den I vill pe your vife, yung man - boot keep avay dill denn!'

"He lishten to her crimly, and no single vort he said,
Boot de bitter dings she spoken poot der teufel in his head;
For she hafe not learned de visdom, vich is alvays safe and sound,
'Don't go to pourin' water on a mouse ven id ist trowned.'

"Vonce, at de end of autoom, ven de vind vos bitter cold,
Dis maiden out a-ridin' met a voman poor and old;
Her feets vere bare and pleedin', and she said, 'Ah! ton't refuse
To gife me, nople lady, yoosht de vorst of your oldt shoes!'

"De lady boorst out laughin', 'Fool here, or fool me dere,
You give to me a couple, I gives to you a pair.'
Denn she rode avay a-laughin'; de old voman says 'I wete,
I'll give you shoes, my lady, dot vill fit your soul and feet!'

"Dis voman vas a vitche, an bitter one dere to,
All dot vot she had shpoken she light enough could do;
De Ritter did not know it, but he told her of his love,
And how dot shkornful lady hat oopset him mit de shtove.

"Out spoke de grimme witche, 'She shall pay dee well to boot,
If yo pring to me de measure of dat lady's liddle foot.'
He got it from her shoemaker, and gafe id to de vitch,
Denn she gafe it to de damsel pooty soon as hot as pitch.

"Von morn de lofely lady, on openin' her toor,
Found de nicest pair of gaiter boots she efer saw pefore;
Dey vitted her exoctly - mitouten any doubt-
Boot, mein Gott! how she vas shrocken ven dey 'gun to valk apout!

"Und ash de poots go valkin', like de buds go mit de stem,
It vollowed dot de lady had to valk apout in dem.
Dey took her out into de street - dey run her on de road,
Bym-by she saw a man ahead vot led her vhere she goed.

"Vhen he vent valkin' longsome denn longsome vas her pace,
Vhen he roon like a greyhound she skompered in a race;
He led her o'er de moundains und cross de lonely plain,
Until de evenin' shadows, ven he took her home again.

"Denn she dink mit hate and fury of dis man she used to skoff,
Und den go at de gaiters - boot she couldn't pull dem off,
She vork mit all de servants, boot 'tvasent any use,
Und so she hafe to go to bett - a-shleepin' in her shoes.

"Next mornin' off dey shtarted, apout de broke of day,
Den he led her to a castle in de woods and far away,
And shpeak to her, 'My lady - I dink at last you see
Dat de dime has come in earnesdt vhen you've cot to vollow me!'

"Oh vat ish female nature? Oh vat ish mortal pride?
How all dot shtands de firmest most quickly shlips aside
De cloudts dot o'er de moundains look shkornful at de plain,
Ere long mit shtormy wetter come toomble down in rain.

"So de storm-cloud of Superbia vhich shweep her soul above,
Vas meltet mit his shternness and be-turned into love,
As his words like donner wetter croshed ven de lightnin' flies,
So downward coom de torrents of dear trops from her eyes.

"Und she gry, 'Mit shame I own it, to say de fery least,
I gonfess dat in dis matter I hafe acted like a peast;
Ven I made of you my refuse, I dinked it no account,
But now de pack is on my back it seems a big amount.

"'But if you vish to ved me, I vill do vat you require.
He answered, 'Now you're talkin' - dot is yoost vot I tesire,
For I am very willin', and you do not refuse,
Boot remember vot you bromised - send de vitch a pair of shoes!'

"She answered, 'I vill follow verever you may go,
All ofer hills and falleys, in sunshine, rain, or schnow,
All over in der Welt, dear, I'll vander on vith thee,
I do not care how rough de road or dark de path may be!

"'Or in de bloomin' meadows, vhere de grass is soft and sweet,
Or in de rocky passes, vhere de stones are under veet,
Or if I vear de shoes, love, vitch you hafe given me,
Or if I moost go barefoot, is all de same to me.'

"He drew away de gaiters. She said, 'As I'm rich
I vill fill dem both mit money, and take dem to de vitch.'
Ja wohl, she saw die Hexe, and takin' her aside,
She danked her for de lesson vot hat dook avay her pride.

"On de vay vhen dey vere married, how vere dey all erstaun
To see a lofely lady come in mit golden crown,
All in a rosy-silken dress vot shined as pright as glass,
Said, 'My dears, I am de vitch dot fetch dis ding to pass.

"'You know I look so ogly vonce, und now am peautiful,
Dot ist de vay dot all dings vork ven folks pe dutiful.
Ash de lily toorns to vhitey vot once vas dirty green,
So all ist fair ven virdue ist runnin' de machine.'"

Dis is de vondrous shtory vot de Ritter Breitmann told
Besides the rooshin' Danube of de schloss so grey und old,
Vhile a shmokin' of his meerschaum; und till all time pe gone
The rustlin' of de vasser tells de tale for ever on.

Dat is an alt legende, und yet 'tis efer new,
Und to efery von dot hears it it fits yoost like a shoe.
Und dis de shinin' moral dot in de oyster lies-
Some day you may roon after de dings you vonce despise!

Vienna, 1888.

Glossary

THIS Glossary was prepared entirely by Mr. NICHOLAS TRUBNER. I am not aware that he had any assistance in writing it. I mention this because I have never met with any person who was so equally familiar with obscure and obsolete old German facetious literature (as the text indicates), and at the same time with Americanisms. I should say that in all of the later ballads, or at least in fully one half of all in the book, the author was indebted to him for ideas, suggestions, and emendations, and that the work would never have been what it is - sit verbo venia - but for him. Mr. Trubner was a poet, even in English, as his translation from Scheffel's poems indicates. A very few words have been added to explain the poems in the ballads which appear for the first time in this edition.

CHARLES G. LELAND. GLOSSARY ———————

Abenddammerung,(Ger.) - Evening dim light; twilight.
Abendgold,(Ger.) - Evening gold.
Abendroth,(Ger.) - Evening red.
Abendsonnenschein,(Ger.) - Evening sunshine.
Abbordez-moi vodre mere,(German-French) - Bring me your mayor.
Ach weh,(Ger.) - Oh, woe.
Allatag,(Ger. dial.) - Every day.
Alla weil - All the while; always.
Allegader - All together.
Alles wird ewig zu eins,(Ger.) - And all for ever becomes one.
Alter Schwed',(old Swede) - A familiar phrase like "old fellow."
Anamile,(Amer.) - Animal.
Annerthalb Yar, Anderthalb Jahr,(Ger.) - Year and a half.
Anti Word: Antwort - Answer.
Antworded,(Ger.) - Answered.
Apple-tod,(Amer.) - Apple toddy. Spirit distilled from cider.
Arbeiterhalle - Working-man's hall.
Arminius,(Herman.) - The Duke of the Cheruskans, and destroyer of
the Roman legions under Varus, in the Teutoburg Forest.
Armlos - Unarmed.
Aroom, Herum - Around.
Arriere pensee,(Fr.) - A reserved thought or intention.
Aufgespannt,(Ger.) - Stretched, bent.
Augen,(Ger.) - Eyes.
Augenblick,(Ger.) - Twinkling of an eye.
Aus,(Ger.) - Out.

Bach,(Ger.) - Book.
Baender-box - Band-box.
Baldface corn,(Amer.) - Plain maize whisky.
Barell-hell pars - Parallel-bars; a part of the gymnastic
apparatus.
Barrick,(Pennsylvania Ger. for Berg) - Mountain.
Bauern,(Ger.) - Peasants.
Be-ghostet,(Ger. Begeistert) - Inspired.
Begifted, - Beschenkt - Gifted.
Begreifen,(Ger.) - Understand.
Beheaded, Behauptet,(Ger.) - Asserted.
Bei Leib und Leben,(Ger.) - By my body and soul.
Bekannt, Beknown - Known.
Bellin,(Ger. Bellen) - To bark.
Bemarket,(Ger.-Eng.) - Remarked.
Be-mark,(Ger. Bemarken) - Observe.
Bemarks,(Ger. Bemerkungen) - Remarks.
Bemerkbar,(Ger.) - Observable. Should be noticed.
Bemoost,(Ger.) - Mossgrown, in student's language, ein bemoostes
Haupt, an old student.
Bender,(Amer.) - A spree; a frolic. To "go on a bender" -
to go on a spree.
Be-raised - Raised, with the augment, literal for Ger. erhoben.
Berauscht,(Ger.) - Intoxicated.
Besoffen,(Ger.) - Drunk.
Bestimmung des Menschen - Vocation of Man, title of one
of Fichte's works.
Betaubend,(Ger.) - Enchanting.
Bewises,(Ger. Beweist, from Beweisen) - Proves.
Bibliothek - Library.
Bienenkorb,(Ger.) - Beehive.
Birra gazzosa,(Italian) - Aerated, gaseous beer.
Bischof,(Ger.) - Bishop.
Bix Buchse,(box) - Rifle. Bess in Brown Bess is the equivalent
of the German Buchse, (Brown being merely an alliterative
epithet;) French, buse tube; Flemish, buis. (Still
found in blunderbuss, arquebuss.) See Blackley's "Word Gossip."
Blaetter,(Ger.) - Leaves.
Blei - Lead.
Blitz,(Ger.) - Lightning.
Blitzen,(Ger.) - Lightning.
Blokes,(English) - Men.
Bock - A strong kind of German beer.
Boemisch - Bohemian.
Boerenvolk,(Flem.) - Peasants.
Bole Jack road - Near Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
Bool - Bull.
Bornirtheit - Limitedness of capacity.
Bouleverse - Boulevard.
Bountiee,(Amer.) - Bounty-money paid during the war as a premium
to soldiers. To jump the bounty, was to secure the premium and
then run away.
"This is the song of Billy Jones,
Who jumped the boun-ti-ee."
- American Ballad of 1846.
Bowery - A street at New York, inhabited principally by Germans.
Branntewein,(Ger.) - Spirits.
Brandy smash,(Amer.) - A plain half-glass mint julep of only
sugar,ice, spirits, and mint. A regular julep is larger, and
contains more ingredients.
Brav,(Ger.) - Good.
Breit,(Ger.) - Broad.
Bring it down to dots - Reduce it to figures.
Brisner - Prisoner.
Broosh-pinder - Brushbinder,(Ger. Buerstenbinder.) -
Brushmaker. The brushmakers are supposed, probably on account
of their throat-parching business, to be always thirsty.
Brummed - growled - (Ger. Brummen).
Brucke,(Ger.) - Bridge.
Bugs - In America all insects, especially Coleoptera.
Bummer,(Amer.) - A fellow haunting low taverns; applied during
the late civil war in the United States to hangers-on of the
army. Probably a corruption of the German bummler(loafer).
Bumming - From Bummer.
Bushwhackers - Guerillas.
Bust his shell - Broke his head.
Butterbrod,(Ger.) - Buttered bread.
By-Nearly; Beinahe - Almost, nearly.

Came - Game. Camine - Chimney-piece. Canyon,(Span. Canon) - A narrow passage between high and precipitous banks, formed by mountains or tablelands, often with a river running beneath. These occur in the great Western prairies, New Mexico, and California. Carmagnole - A wild street dance. Carmosine,(Ger.) - Crimson. French, cramoisoi. Carnadine - Incarnadine. Change their lodge - Shift from one "society" to another. Chroc, Chrocus, Crocus - An Alemannic leader, who overran Gaul, according to Gregory of Tours. Chunk - A short thick piece of wood, or of anything else; a chump. The word is provincial in England, and colloquial in the United States. Cinder - Suende; sin. Clam - The popular name of a bivalvular shell-fish, the Venus. Clavier,(Ger.) - Piano. Colle belle,(Ital.) - With the beauties. Comedy - Committee. Conradin - The last of the imperial house of the Hohenstaufen - beheaded at Naples in 1268. Coot - (To cut) a dash, (to come out a "swell,") to dress extravagantly. Corned,(Amer.) - Made drunk. Coster - The inventor of the art of printing, according to the Dutch. Crate - Great. Crecian pend - When Breitmann says "Dat pend of the bow ish the Crecian pend," it is a rather eqivocal compliment. "Grecian bend" has lately become a common newspaper expression. Smuggling done by women is called a "Case of Grecian bend." The present style of skirt, full at the back, is favourable to it. Crislies - Grisly,(bear.)

Da ist er! Schau! - There he is! look!
Damit,(Ger.) - Therewith.
Dampfschiff - Steamboat.
Deck - A pack of cards, piled one upon another.
Demperanceler, Temperenzler - Temperance man.
Dessauerinn - A woman from Dessau.
Deutschland - Germany.
Die Hexe - The witch.
Die wile as mohte leben - During all its life.
Daz wolde er immer dienen
Die wile es mohte leben.
- Kutrun. XV. Aventiure, 756th verse.
Dink - he, they think; my dinks - my thoughts.
Dinked - he, they thought.
Dishtriputet - Instead of attributed.
Dissembulatin' - Dissembling.
Dissolfed - Instead of resolved.
D'lusion - Instead of allusion.
Donnered,(Ger.) - Thundered.
Donnerwetter,(Ger.) - Thunder and lightning.
Dooks - Ducks.
Doon - Tune.
Doonderblix - Thunder and lightning.
Dorn - A thorn. Dorn lieder - Thorn-songs.
Drawed he in - (literal rendering of the German Zog er ein,)
Dreimal,(Ger.) - Three times.
Drocks - Drakes, dragons; (Ger. Drachen.)
Druckerei - Printing-office.
Dummehrlichkeit,(Ger.) - Honest simplicity.
Dunkelheit - Darkness.
Dursty,(Ger. Durstig) - Thirsty.

Earnsthaft, ernsthaft - Serious.
Eber,(Ger.) - Wild boar.
Eberschwein,(Ger.) - Wild boar.
Eckhartshausen - A German supernaturalist.
Eher,(Ger.) - Sooner. In the dialect it has the meaning
of "before."
Einander to sprechen mit,(Ger.) - To speak together.
Eins, zwei, drei - One, two, three.
Einsichen, to take up one's abode with.
Eldern,(Ger. Eltern) - Parents.
Elfenbein,(Ger.) - Ivory.
Emerich - King Emerich, hero of a German legend.
Emsig Gruebler,(Ger.) - Assiduous inquirer.
Engel,(Ger.) - Angel.
Englandrinn,(Ger.) - English woman.
Entlang,(Ger.) - Along.
Erfinder,(Ger.) - Inventor.
Erfounden,(Ger. Erfunden) - Invented.
Ergeben,(Ger.) - Resigned.
Error-dom, Irrthum - Error.
Erstaun, Erstaunished, erstaunt - Astonished.
Erstarrt,(Ger.) - Aghast.
Erwaitin',(Ger. Erwartend) - Awaiting, expecting.
Euchre, Eucre - Sort of game played with cards, very much in vogue
in the West.
Euchred - From Euchre, the game of cards.

Fackeltantz,(Ger.) - Torch dance.
Fancy craps or crabs - Fast horses.
Fanes, Wetterfahnen - Weathercocks.
Fass,(Ger.) - Barrel.
Fat - Printer's term.
Feldwebel,(Ger.) - A sergeant.
Feinslieb,(Ger.) - Fair or fine love.
Fenster - A window.
Fichte - A German philosopher.
Finster,(Ger.) - Dark, dismal.
Foal - Full.
Foll - To fall.
Foon - Fun.
Foors - First.
Fore-by - Literal translation of the German Vorbei.
Fore-lying - Literal translation of Vorliegend.
Foreschlag,(Ger. Vorschlag) - Proposal.
Foresetzen - To set, put (lay) before an audience.
Foxen,(Ger. Fuchsen) - Foxes.
Frank-tiroir - Franc-tireur.
Francois Villon - An old French humorous poet, whom Boileau
speaks of as the first who began to write truly modern French.
Frau,(Ger.) - Woman.
Freie,(Ger.) - Free.
Freischarlinger,(Ger. Freischaerler) - A member of a Free Corps;
especially applied to those who belonged to the Free Corps
formed in Southern Germany during the Revolution in 1848.
Freischuetz,(Ger.) - Free shot, one who shoots with charmed
bullets, the name of Karl Maria Von Weber's celebrated opera.
Friederich Rothbart - Frederic Barbarossa, the great Emperor of
Germany and one of the German legendary heroes. He is supposed
to sleep in the Kyffhauser in Thuringia, and to awaken one day,
when he will bring great glory over Germany.
Frolic - Frohlich, merry.
Froze to de ready - Held fast to the money.
Fullenden - Vollenden - To complete, perfect.
Fuss,(Ger.) - Foot.
Fust or Faust - The partner of Gutemberg, the inventor of the
art of printing.

Gambrinus - A mythical King of Brabant, supposed to have been
the inventor of beer.
Gandertate - Candidate.
Ganz,(Ger.) - Ganz.
Gans egal - Quite the same.
Ganz und gar,(Ger.) - Altogether, all over.
Garce,(French) - Wench.
Gass und Strass,(Ger.) - Lane and street.
Gast,(Ger.) - Guest.
Gasbalgs - Bladder of gas.
Gauer - Valleys.
Gaul darn - G— —-n.
Gaul dern - A Yankee oath.
Gauner-sprache,(Ger.) - Thieves' language.
Ge-bildet - Built, with the German augment.
Ge-birt',(Ger. Geburt) - Birth.
Geborn - Born, with the augment.
Ge-brudert,(formed like ge-schwister,) - Brothers.
Geh hin mein Puch,(German of the 16th century).
Gehst nit mit rechten Dingen zu - Dost not do it by any natural
means; there is witchcraft in it.
Gekommene - Arrived(newly arrived).
Gekommen so,(Ger.) - Come thus.
Ge-kostet - Cost, with the German augment.)
Gesangverein,(Ger.) - Singing-society.
Ge-screech, Geschrei - Bawling, clamour.
Gesembled - Assembled, with the augment of the German preterite.
Geshmasht - Smashed, with German augment.
Gespickt,(Ger.) - Larded.
Gestohlen - Stolen.
Gestohlen und bekannt,(Ger.) - Stolen, and known.
Gesundheit,(Ger.) - Health.
Gewehr,(Ger.) - Musket.
Gewiss - Certainly.
Gift,(Ger.) - Poison.
Gilt - In the ordinary sense, and also in the same verse, "gilt,"
implying the meaning of the German verb "gelten," to be worth
something, and also guilt.
Glamour - Ocular deception by magic.
Glee-wine, Glueh-wein - Hot-spiced wine.
Glucky,(Ger. Gluecklich) - Lucky.
Glueck,(Ger.) - Luck.
Goblum - For goblin.
Gool - Cool.
Gottallmachty, (Ger. Gottallmachtig) - God Almighty.
Gottashe - Cottage.
Gotteshaus,(Ger.) - House of God.
Gott-full, gottvoll - Glorious, divine.
Gottsdonnerkreuzschockschwerenoth,(Ger.) - Another variety of big
swearing.
Gott's-doonder,(Ger. Gott's donner) - God's thunder. See also
Gott's tausend, a thundering sort of oath, but never preceded
by lightning, for it is only used as a kind of expletive to
express great surprise, or to give great emphasis to words
which, without it, would seem to be capable of none.
Gottstausend,(Ger.) - An abbreviation of Gott's tausend
donnerwetter (God's thousand thunders), and therefore the
comparative of Gott's doonder; with most of those who use it a
meaningless phrase.
Gott weiss,(Ger.) - God knows!
Go von - Go one, bet on him.
Grillers - Guerillas.
Grod, gerad - Straight.
Gros,(Ger.) - Great.
Guestfriendlich, gastfreundlich - Hospitable.
Gummi lasticum - India rubber.
Gutemberg - The inventor of the art of printing.
Guve - Southern slang for give. Guv, for give, is also
English slang as well as American.
Gyrotwistive - Snaky.

Hab' und Guter,(Ger.) - Property.
Hagel! Blitz! Kreuz Sakrament!(Ger.) - Another variety of swearing.
Halberthier, for Halberdier - Halberthier means half an animal.
Hand-shoe,(Ger. Handschuh) - Glove.
Hans Michel - A popular but not complimentary name for Germany.
Hans Wurst - Merry Andrew; Zani; Jack Pudding - the latter word
being a literal translation of the German Hans Wurst; the
pudding in either case referring to the sausages, or the
pretended sausage, which the Merry Andrew always appeared to
be swallowing by the yard or fathom. See Blackley's "Word
Gossip."
Harmlos,(Ger.) - Harmless.
Haul de pot - Take the stakes.
Hause - House.
Hegel - Name of the German philosopher.
Heine, Heinrich - German poet.
Heini von Steier - Heinrich von Ofterdingen.
Heldenbuch - Is the title of a collection of epic poems, belonging
to the cycle of the German Saga.
Heller Glorie schein - Bright gloriole.
Hereauf, hierauf - Thereupon.
Herout,(Ger. Heraus) - Out.
Herr Je,(Ger.) - An abbreviation of Herr Jesus (O
Lord!); generally only used by those who are fond of
meaningless exclamations.
Her-re-liche, herrliche - Superb, grand, noble.
Hertsen - Herzen; hearts.
Hertzhog, Herzog,(Ger.) - Duke.
Herzlich,(Ger.) - Hearty.
Herzbruder,(Ger.) - Heart's brother.
Hexerei - Witchery, sorcery.
Himmel,(Ger.) - Heaven.
Himmels-Potz-Pumpen-Herrgott - A mild sort of a German imprecation,
untranslatable.
Himmlisch' hoellisch' qual,(Ger.) - Heavenly-hellish pain.
Hip Herje! - A common interjection.
Hobbiness - Happiness.
Hoellisch,(Ger.) - Hellish.
Honey fooglin', Honeyfuggle - Is believed to be English
slang. In America it means blarneying, deceiving.
Hoockle perry, persimmoned - "A huckle-berry over my
persimmon." Surpassed, out-done.
Hoof-irons,(Huf-eisen in Ger.) - Horse-shoe.
Hoofstad,(Flem.) - Capita.
Hop-sosa,(Ger.)int. - Hop; heyday!
Hunde - Dog.
Hundsfott,(Ger. Vulg.) - Mean scoundrel, hound.
Hunk,(Amer.) - Stout, solid, profitable. "To be all hunk" means to
come out of a speculation with advantage. To be well off.
Hut,(Ger.) - Hat.

I Gili romaneskro - This song is written in the German gipsy
dialect. Eh! in third line of second verse, is the
German word ehe, "ere," or before. Kuribente
("in war,") is in the Slavonic and gipsy local case,
or as Pott calls it (Die Zigeuner in Europa und Asien)
the Second Dative.
Ik leven,(Flem.) - I live.
Il diavolo in carnato,(Ital.) - The devil incarnate or in
carnation.
Immer - Ever.
In geburst - Burst.
In Sang und Klang dein Leben lang,(Ger.) - In music and song all
thy life long.
Ita dixit,(Latin) - So said.

Jeff - A game played by throwing up types, generally for
"refreshments."
Joss-stick - A name given to small reeds, covered with the dust of
odiferous woods, which the Chinese burn before their idols.
Jungfernkranz,(Ger.) - Bridal garland.

Kaiser Karl - Charlemagne.
Kalt,(Ger.) - Cold.
Kanaster,(Ger.) - Canaster tobacco.
Kan ik. Ik kan,(Flem.) - I can.
Karfunkelstein,(Ger.) - Carbuncle.
Kartoffel,(Ger.) - Potato.
Kauder-Waelsch,(Ger.) - Gibberish.
Kellner,(Ger.) - Waiter.
Kermes - Annual Fair.
Kinder,(Ger.) - Children.
Kitin, a kitin - Flying or running rapidly.
Klein und gross - Small and great.
Kloster,(Ger.) - Cloister.
Knasterbart,(Ger.) - Literally, tobacco-beard; perhaps denoting a
good old fellow, fond of his pipe.
Kneiperei,(Ger.) - Revel.
Knock dem out de shpots - Knock the spots out of them; astonish
them.
Koenig Etzel - King Attila.
Komm maidelein! Rothe waengelein,(Ger.) - Come maiden, red cheeks.
Kong,(Ger. Konig) - Old Norse for king.
Kooken - Cake.
Kop,(Ger. Kopf) - Head.
Kreutzer - Frederick Creutzer, distinguished professor in the
University of Heidelberg, author of a great work on "Symbolik."
Krumm,(Ger.) - Crooked.
Kummel,(Ger.) - Cumin brandy.
Kummel, kimmel,(Ger.) - Schnapps, dram. Hans, in his tipsy
enthusiasm, ejaculates, "Oh, mein Gott in Kimmel!" instead of
"im Himmel" (heaven), becoming guilty of an unconscious
alliteration, and confessing, according to the proverb in
vino veritas, where his God really abides; "whose God is
their belly."
Kunster,(Ger.) - Sacristan.

Lanze,(Ger.) - Lance.
Lager, Lagerbeer, (Ger. Lagerbier, i.e., Stockbeer) - Sometimes in
these poems abbreviated into Lager. A kind of beer introduced
into the American cities by the Germans, and now much in vogue
among all classes.
Lager Wirthschaft,(Ger.) - Beerhouse.
Laibgartner,(Ger.) - Liebgard; bodyguard. The Swiss in blundering
makes it "body-gardener."
Lam - To drub, beat soundly.
Larmen - The French word larmes, tears, made into a German verb.
Lateinisch - Latin.
Laughen, lachen - Laughing.
Lavergne - A place between Nashville and Murfreesboro', in the
state of Tennessee.
Lebe hoch! - Hurrah!
Leben - Life; living.
Lebenlang,(Ger.) - Life-long.
Lev'st du nock? - Liv'st thou yet?
Libby - The notorious Confederate prison at Richmond, Va.
Liddle Pills - Little bills, Legislative enactments.
Lieblich,(Ger.) - Charming.
Liedeken,(Flem.) - Song.
Lieder, Lieds,(Ger.) - Songs.
Liederkranz,(Ger.) - Glee-union.
Liederlich,(Ger.) - Loose, reckless, dissolute.
Lighthood,(Ger. Lichtheit) - Light.
Like spiders down their webs - Breitmann's soldiers are supposed to
have been expert turners or gymnasts.)
Loafer,(Amer.) - A term which, considered as the German
pronunciation of lover, is a close translation of
rom, since this latter means both a gipsy and a
husband.
Los, los gehen,(Ger.) - To go at a thing, at somebody.
Loosty,(Ger. Lustig) - Jolly, merry.
Loudet,(Lauten in Ger.) - To make sound.
L'Ubbriacone,(Ital.) - Drunkard.
Luftballon,(Ger.) - Air-balloon.
Lump,(Ger.) - Ragamuffin.
Lumpenglocke - An abusive term applied to bells, especially to
those which are rung to give notice that the beer-houses must
close.

Madel,(Ger.) - Girl.
Maedchen,(Ger.) - Girl, maiden.
Markgraefler - A pleasant light wine grown in the Grand Duchy
of Baden.
Marmorbild - Marble statue.
Maskenzug,(Ger.) - Procession of masked persons.
Massenversammlung,(Ger.) - Mass meeting.
Mein Freund - My friend.
Mein Sohn - My son.
Meine Seel',(Ger.) - By my soul.
Meisjes,(Flem.) - Girls.
Middleolter(Mittelaelter) - The Middle Ages.
Mijn lief gesellen,(Flem.) - My dear comrades.
Mineted - Minded.
Minnesinger - Poet of love. A name given to German lyric poets,
who flourished from the twelfth to the fourteenth centuries.
Mist-hauf,(Ger.) - Dung-hill.
Mit hoontin knife, &c.:-
"With her white hands so lovely,
She dug the Count his grave.
From her dark eyes sad weeping,
The holy water she gave."
- Old German Ballad.
Mitout - Without.
Mitternight, Mitternacht - Midnight.
Mitternocht, Mitternacht - Midnight.
Mohr, ein schwarzer,(Ger.) - A blackamoor.
Moleschott - Author of a celebrated work on physiology.
Mondenlight - Moonlight.
Mondenschein,(Ger.) - Moonlight.
Morgan - John Morgan, a notorious Confederate guerilla during the
late war in America.
Morgen-het-ache - Morning headache.
Moskopolite,(Amer.) - Cosmopolite. Mossyhead is the German student
phrase for an old student.
Mud-sill - The longitudinal timber laid upon the ground to form the
foundation for a railway. Hence figuratively applied by the
labour-despising Southern gentry to the labouring classes as
the substratum of society.
Murmulte - Murmured.
Mutter,(Ger.) - Mother.

Naturalizationisds - The officers, &c., who give the rights of
native citizens to foreigners.
Nibelungen Lied - The lay of the Nibelungen; the great German
national epos.
Nieuw Jarsie - New Jersey, in America, famous inter alia for its
sandy beaches and high surf.
Nig - Nigger.
Nirwana - The Brahminical absorption into God.
Nix,(Ger. Nichts) - Nothing.
Nix cum raus - That I had not come out.
No sardine - Not a narrow-minded, small-hearted fellow.
Norate - To speak in an oration.
Noth,(Ger.) - Need, dire extremity. Das war des Breitmann's Noth,
-That was Breitmann's sore trial. Imitated from the last line
of the Nibelungen Lied.
Nun - Now.
Nun endlich,(Ger.) - Now at last.

O'Brady - An Irish giant.
Ochsen,(Ger.) - Oxen; stupid fellows. As a verb it also is used
familiarly to mean hard study.
Odenwald - A thickly-wooded district in South Germany.
Oder - Other. See Preface.
Oltra tramontane; ultra tramontane - Applied to the non-Italian
Catholic party.
On-belongs - Literal translation of Zugehort.
On de snap - All at once.
On-did to on-do - Literal translation of the German
anthun; to donn, to put on.
Onfang,(Ger. Anfang) - Beginning.
Oonendly - Unendlich.
Oonshpeakbarly,(Ger. unaussprechbarlich) - Inexpressibly.
Oop-gecleared,(Ger. Aufgeklaert) - Enlightened.
Ooprighty,(Ger. Aufrichtig) - Upright.
Oopright-hood,(Ger. Aufrichtigkeit) - Uprightness.
Oop-sproong - For aufsprung.
Opple-yack - Apple-jack. Spirit distilled from cider.
Orgel-ton,(Ger.) - Organ sound.
Orkester - Orchestra.
Out-ge-poke-te - Out-poked.
Out-signed,(Ger. ausgezeichnete) - Distinguished, signal.
Out-sprach - Outspoke.
Over again - Uebrigen.

Paardeken,(Flemish) - Palfrey. Pabst, Der Pabst lebt, &c. - "The Pope he leads a happy life," &c., beginning of a popular German song. Palact,(Ger. Pallast) - Palace. Peke - Belgian rye whisky. Peeps - People. "Hard on the American peeps" - a phrase for anything exacting or severely pressing. Pelznickel, Nick, Nickel - St. Nicolas, muffled in fur, is one of the few riders in the army of the saints, but, unlike St. George and St. Martin, he oftener rides a donkey than a horse, more especially in that part of the German land which can boast of having given birth to the illustrious Hans. St. Nicolas is supposed, on the night preceding his name-day, the sixth of December, to pass over the house-tops on his long-eared steed, and having baskets suspended on either side filled with sweets and playthings, and to drop down through the chimneys presents for those children who have been good during the year, but birch-rods for those who have been naughty, would not go to bed early, or objected to being washed, &c. In the expectation of his coming, the children put, on the eve of St. Nicolas' day, either a shoe, or a stocking, or a little basket, into the chimney-piece of their parents' bedroom. We may remark, by the way, that St. Nicolas is the Christian successor of the heathen Nikudr, of ancient German mythology. Pesser, besser,(Ger.) - Better. Pestain - Stain, with the augment. Pfaelzer - A man from the Rhenish Palatinate. Pfeil,(Ger.) - Arrow. Philosopede - Velocipede. Pickel-haube,(Ger.) - The spiked helmet worn by Prussian soldiers. Pie the forms - Break and scatter the forms of types - the greatest disaster conceivable to a true typo. Pig-sticker - Bowie-knife. Pile-out,(Amer.) - Hurry out. Pimeby - By and by. "Plain" - Water plain, i.e., unmixed. Plue goats - Blue coats, soldiers. Plug-muss - Fight for a fire-plug. American fireman's language. Pokal, (Poculum) - Goblet. Poker - A favourite game of cards among Western gamblers. Poonkin - Pumpkin. Pop-slets - Bob-sleds. A very rough kind of sledge. Potzblitz,(Ger.) - int., The deuce. Potztausend! Was ist das? - Zounds! What is that? Poulderie - Poultry. Poussiren - To court. Pretzel,(Ger.) - A kind of fancy bread, twist or the like. Prezackly - Pre(cisely), exactly. Protocollirt, protocolliren - To register, record. Pully, i.e., Bully - An Americanism, adjective. Fine, capital. A slang word, used in the same manner as the English used the word crack; as, "a bully horse," "a bully picture." Pumpernickel - A heavy, hard sort of rye-bread, made in Westphalia. Put der Konig troo - To put through, (Amer.), to qualify, to imitate. Pye - To buy.

Rapp(Rappe) - A black horse.
Raushlin', rauschend - Rustling.
Reb - An abbreviation of rebel.
Redakteur - Editor.
Red cock - Or make de red cock crow. Einem den rothen
Hahn aufs Dach setzen. A German proverb signifying to set
fire to a house.
Rede,(Ger.) - Speech.
Red-Waelsch, Roth-Waelsch,(Ger.) - Thieves' language.
Reiten gaen,(Flemish) - Go riding.
Reiter,(Ger.) - Rider.
Reiver - Robber.
Reue,(Ger.) - Repentance.
Rheingraf,(Ger.) - Count of the Rhine districts.
Rheinweinbechers Klang - The Rhine wine goblet's sound.
Richter,(Jean Paul Fr.) - A distinguished German author.
Ridersmann,(Reitersmann in Ger.) - Rider.
Ring - A political clique or cabal.
Ringe,(Ger.) - Rings.
Ritter,(Ger.) - Knight.
Roland - One of the paladins of Charlemagne.
Rolette - Roulette.
Rollin' locks - Rolling logs, mutually aiding (used only in
politics.)
Rosen,(Ger.) - Roses.
Rouse,(Ger. Heraus) - Out; come out.

Sachsen - Saxonia, Saxony.
Sacrin - Consecrating.
Sagen Cyclus - Cycle of legends.
Sass, Sassy, Sassin' - Sauce, saucy, &c.
Sauerkraut,(Ger.) - Pickled cabbage.
Saw it - Understood it.
Scatterin, Scotterin - Scattering.
Schatz - Sweetheart.
Schauer,(Ger.) - Awe.
Schenk aus,(Ger.) - Pour out.
Schenket ein,(Ger.) - Pour in (fill the glasses).
Schimmel,(Ger.) - Grey horse.
Schimpft und flucht gar laesterlich,(Ger.) - Swears and blasphemes
abominably.
Schinken,(Ger.) - Ham.
Schlaeger,(Ger.) - A kind of sword or broadsword; a rapier used by
students for duelling or fighting matches.
Schlesierwein,(Ger.) - Wine grown in Silesia, proverbially sour.
Schlimmer,(Ger.) - Worse.
Schlog him ober de kop - Knocked him on the head.
Schloss,(Ger.) - Castle.
Schmutz,(Ger.) - Dirt.
Schnapps,(Ger.) - Dram.
Schnitz - Pennsylvania German word for cut and dried fruit.
Schnitz, schnitzen,(Ger.) - To chop, chip, snip.
Schonheitsideal,(Ger.) - The ideal of beauty.
Schopenhauer - A celebrated German "philosophical physiologist."
Schoppen,(Ger.) - A liquid measure, chopin, pint.
Schrocken(Erschrocken) - Frightened.
Schwaben - Suabia.
Schwan,(Ger.) - Swan.
Schweinblatt - (Swine) Dirty paper.
Schweitzer kase,(Ger.) - Swiss cheese.
Schwer,(Ger.) - Heavy.
Schwig, Swig, verb. - To drink by large draughts.
Schwigs, Swig, n. - A large draught.
Schweinpig,(Ger.) - Swinepig.
Scoop - Take in, get.
Scorched - Escorted. A negro malapropism.
Scrouged,(Amer.) - Pressed, jammed.
Seelen-Ideal - Soul's ideal.
Sefen-lefen - Seven or eleven(minutes).
Seins,(Ger.) - The Being.
Selbstanschauungsvermogen,(Ger.) - Capacity for self-inspection.
Selfe,(Ger. Selbe) - Same.
Serenity - A transparency.
Shanty - A board cabin. Slang, for house.
Shapel - Chapel is an old word for a printing-office.
Sharman, Sherman - German.
Shings - Jingo; by jingo.
Shpicket - Spigot; a pin or peg to stop a small hole in a cask of
liquor.
Shipsy - Gipsy.
Shlide - Slide. "Let it slide," vulgar for "let it go."
Shlide,(Amer.) - Depart.
Shlished, geschlitzt - Slit.
Shlop over - Go too far and upset or spill. Applied to men who
venture too far in a success.
Shlopped - Slopped.
Shmysed,(Ger. Schmissen, from Schmeissen) -
Threw him out of doors.
Shnow-wice,(Ger. Schnee-weis) - Snow-white.
Shoopider - Jupiter.
Shooting-stick - A shooting-stick is used for closing up the form
of types.
Show-spiel, Schauspiel - Play, piece.
Shpoons - Spoons, plunder.
Shtuhl,(Ger. Stuhl) - Stool, chair.
Silbern,(Ger.) - Silver.
Sinn,(Ger.) - Meaning.
Six mals - Six times.
Skeeted - Went fast, skated(?)
Skool - Skull.
Skyugle,(Amer.) - "Skyugle" is a word which had a short run during
1864. It meant many things, but chiefly to disappear or to
make disappear. Thus, a deserter "skyugled," and sometimes he
"skyugled" a coat or watch.
Slanganderin' - Foolishly slandering.
Slasher gaffs - Spurs for cocks, with cutting edges.
Slibovitz - A Bohemian schnapps.
Slumgoozlin' - Slum or sham guzzling, humbug.
Slumgullion - A Mississippi term for a legislator.
So mit,(Ger.) - Thus with.
Solidaten,(Ger. Soldaten) - Soldiers.
Sonntag,(Ger.) - Sunday.
Soplin - A sapling, young tree.
Sottelet,(Ger. Gesattelt) - Saddled.
Sound upon the goose - Bartlett, in his Dictionary of
Americanisms, states that this phrase originated in the
Kansas troubles, and signified true to the cause
of slavery. But this is erroneous, as the phrase
was common during the native American campaign,
and originated at Harrisburg, as described by Mr. Leland.
Souse und Brouse,(Ger. Saus und Braus) - Revelry and rioting.
Speck,(Ger.) - Bacon.
Spiel,(Ger.) - Play.
Spielman,(Ger.) - Musician.
Splodderin' - Splattering.
Spook,(Ger. Spuk) - A ghost.
Sporn,(Ger.) - Spur.
Sports - Sporting men.
Squander,(Amer.) - Wander. Used in this sense in "The Big Bear of
Arkansas."
Staub,(Ger.) - Dust.
Stein,(Ger.) - Stone.
Stille,(Ger.) - Stillness.
Stim,(Ger. Stimme) - Voice.
Stohr - Store.
Stone fence,(Amer.) - Rye whisky.
"I went in and got a horn
Of old stone fence."
- Jim Crow, 1832.
Straaten,(Flem.) - Streets.
Stracks - Straight ahead, or onwards.
Straight flush - In poker, all the cards of one suit.
Strassen,(Ger.) - Streets.
Strauss - Name of the celebrated Viennese valse player and
composer.
Strumpf,(Ger.) - Stocking.
Stunden,(Ger.) - Leagues. About four and a half English miles.
Sturm und Drang,(Ger.) - Literally Storm and Violence. Sturm und
Drang periode, signifying a particular period of German
literature.
Sweynheim and Pannartz - The first printers at Rome.

Takes - Allotments of copy to each printer.
Tantz,(Ger.) - Dance.
Tantzen,(Ger.) - To dance.
Tarnal - Eternal.
Taub, Taube,(Ger.) - Dove.
Taugenix, Taugenichts - Good-for-nothing fellow.
Teufelsjagersmann - Devil's huntsman.
Theil,(Ger.) - Part.
Thoom - Thumb.
Thrip,(Southern Amer.) - Threepence.
Thusnelda - The wife of Arminius,(Hermann,) the Duke of the
Cheruskans and conqueror of Varus.
Tie a dog loose. Losbinden
Tiger - An American term for a gambling table.
Tixey - "I wish I was in Dixie." The origin of this song
is rather curious. Although now thoroughly adopted as a
Southern song, and "Dixie's Land" understood to mean the
Southern States of America, it was, about a century ago,
the estate of one Dixie, on Manhattan Island, who treated
his slaves well; and it was their lament, on being deported
south, that is now known as "I wish I was in Dixie."
Todt,(Ger.) - Dead.
Todtengrips, Todtengerippe - Skeleton.
Tofe - Dove.
To House,(Ger. zu Hause) - At home.
Tortled - To tortle, to move off. From turtle.
Touch the dirt - Touch the road.
Treppe - Stairs.
Treu,(Ger.) - Faithful, true.
Throw him with ecks - Pelt him with eggs.
Turchin - Colonel Turchin's men ravaged the town of Huntsville
(Ala.) during the civil war.
Turkas - Turquoise.
Turner,(Ger.) - Gymnast.
Turner Verein,(Ger. Turnverein) - Gymnastic Society.
Tyfel, Teufel - Devil.
Tyfeled, Verteufelt - Devilish.
Tyfelfest - From Teufel, here in the sense of "best" or "worst."
Tyfel-shnake, Teufelsschnaken - Devilries.
Tyfel-strikes, Teufels-streiche - Devil-strokes.
Tyfelwards - Devilwards.

Uber Stein and Schwein,(Ger.) - Over stone and swine.
Ueberschwengliche,(Ger.) - Transcendental, elevated.
Uhr,(Ger.) - Clock, watch, hour, time. Used for "hour" in the
ballad.
Uhu,(Ger.) - Owl.
Uliverus - Oliver, another of the twelve Paladins of Charlemagne,
who fell at Roncesvalles (a Roland for an Oliver).
Und lauter guter Ding,(Ger.) - And of thoroughly good cheer.
Un-windoong,(Ger. Entwicklung?) - Unravelling.
Unvolkommene technik - Unfinished style or method.
Urbummeleid,(Ger. vulg.) - Arch-loafer's song.
Urlied,(Ger.) - The song of yore.

Van't klein komt men tot't groote,(Dutch) - Great things have small
beginnings. (Concordia res parvae crescunt - Legend on the
Dutch ducats; or "Magna molimur parvi.")
Varus - The Roman commander in Germany, conquered by Arminius.
Veilchen,(Ger.) - Violets.
Vercieren,(Flem.) - Adorn; exalt.
Verdammt,(Ger.) - D—-d.
Verfluchter,(Ger.) - Accursed.
Verloren,(Ger.) - Forlorn.
Verstay, Verstehen - Understand.
Versteh, Verstehen,(Ger.) - To understand.
Vertyfeln, Verteufeln - To botch.
Villiam - William Street at New York, inhabited by many Germans.
Vivat! - The same as vive! in French. Hurrah!
Vlaemsche - Flemish.
Von - One. See Preface.
Voonderly,(Ger. Wunderlich) - Wondrous, curious.
Voruber,(Ger.) - Past.

Wachsen,(Ger.) - Waxen.
Wachsen,(Ger.) - To grow.
"Komm'ich in's galante Sachsen
Wo die schone Maedchen wachsen."
- Old German Song.
Waechter,(Ger.) - Watchman.
Waelder,(Ger.) - Woods.
Wahlverwandtschaft,(Ger.) - Elective affinity, sympathy of souls.
Wahrsagt,(Ger. Wahrsagen) - To foretell, soothsay.
Waidmannsheil,(Ger.) - Huntsman's weal.
Wald,(Ger.) - Wood.
Wallowin - Walloon.
Walschen,(Ger.) - Of the Latin race.
Wappenshield(Waffenschild) - Coat of arms.
Ward all zu Steine,(Ger.) - Became all stone.
Ward zu Wind,(Ger.) - Became a wind.
Wechselbalg,(Ger.) - (formerly a popular superstitious belief), a
changeling, brat, urchin.
Weihnachtsbaum,(Ger.) - Christmas tree.
Weihnachtslied,(Ger.) - Christmas song.
Weingarts, weingarten,(Ger.) - Vineyards.
Weingeist,(Ger.) - Vinous, ardent spirit.
Wein-handle,(Ger. Weinhandel or Weinhandlung) -
Wine-trade, wine-shop.
Weinnachtstraum - Lit. Winenight's dream, for "Weihnacht,"
Christmas dream.
Wellen und Wogen,(Ger.) - Waves and billows.
Welshhen - Turkey hen.
Werda?(Ger.) - Who's there?
Werden, das Werden - The becoming to be.
Wete(Wette) - Bet.
We'uns, you'ns - We and you. A common vulgarism
through the Southern States.
"'Tis sad that we'uns from you'ns parts
When you'ns hev stolen we'uns' hearts.
Wie gehts,(Ger.) - How goes it? How are you?
Wie Milch und Blut - Like milk and blood.
Wild und Weh,(Ger.) - Wild and woebegone.
Wilde Jagd - Wild hunt.
Willkomm,(Ger.) - Welcome.
Windsbraut,(Ger. poet) - Storm, hurricane, gust of wind.
Wird,(Ger.) - Becomes.
Wise-hood,(Ger. Weisheit) - Wisdom.
Wised,(Ger. Wusste, from wissen) - Knew.
Witz,(Ger.) - A sally.
Wo bist du?(Ger.) - Where art?
Woe-moody,(Ger. Wehmuthig) - Moanful, doleful.
Wohl,(Ger.) - Well!
Wohlauf,(Ger.) - Well, come on, cheer up.
Wolfsschlucht,(Ger.) - Wolf's glen.
Wonnevol,(Ger. Wonnevoll) - Blissful.
Woon,(Ger. Wunde) - Wound.
Word-blay - Word-play, pun, quibble.
Wunderscheen(Wunderschoen) - Very beautiful.
Wurst - A German student word for indifference.
Wurst,(Ger.) - Sausage.

Yaeger,(Ger.) - Huntsman.
Yaegersmann, Jaegersmann - Huntsman.
Yager,(Jager, Ger.) - Hunter.
Yar,(Ger. Jahr) - Year.
Yartausend, Jahrtausend - A thousand years.
Yellow pine - Mulatto.
Yonge maegden,(Flem.) - Young girls.
"I lost a maiden in that hour." - Byron.
Yoompers - Jumpers. Rude sledges.
Yungling, Jungling,(Ger.) - Youth.

Zapfet aus,(Ger.) - Tap the barrel.
Zigeuner - Gipsy.
Zimmer,(Ger.) - Room.
Zukunftig,(Ger.) - In future.

1. Liederchor is the word which serves as a basis for this
designation.

2. Studio auf einer Reis',
Lebet halt auf auf eig'ner Weis'
Hungrig hier und hungrig dort,
Ist des Burschens Logungswort.

This, with the other verses, may be found in the German Student's
"Commersbucher."

3. Bachtallo dschaven is the prose form. Vide Pott's
Zigeuner.

4. Stinging. An amusing instance of "Breitmannism" was shown in the fact that an American German editor, in his ignorance of English, actually believed that the word stinging, as here given, meant stinking, and was accordingly indignant. It is needless to say that no such idea was intended to be conveyed.

5. Then only you will be ready in German.

6. In Music and Song all thy life long.

7. Thy feet are white as chalk, my love,
Thy arms are ivory bone,
Thy body is all satin soft,
Thy breast of marble stone
@ @ @ @ @ @
Smooth, tender, pure, and fair.
—Liederbuch Pauls von der Helst, 1602

8. Slibovitz.

9. The author does not know who wrote the first part of "Die Schone Wittwe." It appeared about 1856, and "went the round of the papers," accumulating as it went several additions or rejoinders, one of which was that by Hans Breitmann.

10. I had not seen for many days
The handsome widow's face;
I saw her last night standing
By her counter, full of grace.
With cheeks as pure as milk and blood,
With eyes so bright and blue,
I kissed her full well six times,
Indeed, and that is true.

11. This ballad is a parody of Das Hildebrandslied. Consult
Wackernagel's Lesebuch and Das klein Heldenbuch.
"Ich vill zum Land ausreiten,
Sprach sich Maister Hilteprand."

12. The Republicans in America were for a long time ridiculed by their
opponents as if professing to be guided by Moral Ideas, i.e.
Emancipation, Progress, Harmony of Interests, &c.

13. Gling, glang, gloria, was a common refrain in the 16th
century, in German drinking songs. "Gling, glang, glorian, Die
Sau hat ein Panzer an." - Tractatus de Ebrietate Vitanda.

14. The boot was a favourite drinking cup during the Middle Ages.
The writer has seen a boot-shaped mug, bearing the inscription,
"Wer . sein . Stiefel . nit . trinken . kan .
Der . ist . furwahr . kein . Teutscher . man."

There is an allusion to this boot-cup in Longfellow's "Golden
Legend," where mention is made of a jolly companion

——"who could pull
At once a postilion's jack-boot full,
And ask with a laugh, when that was done,
If they could not give him the other one."

15. The German equivalent for a native of Little Pedlington. It is
a Suabian joke, commemorated in a popular song, to inquire in
foreign and remote regions, "Is there any good fellow from
Boblingen here?"

16. "Sonst etwas auf dem Rohr habem" - something else on the pipe
or tube - meaning a plan or idea, kept to one's self, is a German
proverbial expression, which occurs in one of Langbein's humorous
lyrics.

17. "Nom de garce," as an anagram of nom de grace, occurs in Rabelais. G

18. An expression only used in reference to seeing again some jolly old friend after long absence - "Uns kommt der alte Schwed."

19. Wurst, literally sausage, is used by German students to signify indiffer ence. When a sausage is on the table, and one is asked with mock courtesy which part he prefers, he naturally replies - "Why, it is all sausage to me." I have heard an elderly man in New England reply to the query whether he would have "black meat or breast" - "Any part, thank'ee - I guess it's all turkey." There are, of course, divers ancient and quaint puns in Pennsylvania, on such a word as wurst. Thus it is said that a northern pedlar, in being served with some sausage of an inferior quality, was asked again if he would have some of the wurst. Not understanding the word, and construing it as a slight, he replied to his hostess - "No, thank you, marm, this is quite bad enough." The literal meaning of this line, which is borrowed from Scheffel's poem of Perkeo, is "indifferent, and equal, to me."

20. It was, I believe, Ragnar Lodbrog who, in his Death Song, spoke, about as intelligently and clearly as Herr Breitmann, of a mass of weapons.

21. Is true art-enjoyment.

22. Where art thou Breitmann? - Believe it.

23. In the green wood.

24. Students in the streets.

25. Oh Fatherland! - how thou art far! Oh Time! - how art thou long!

26. Full details of this excursion were published in a pamphlet, entitled "Three Thousand Miles in a Railroad Car," and also in letters written by Mr. J. G. Hazzard for the New York Tribune.

27. In American-German festivals, cards are sometimes sold by the quantity, which are "good" for refreshments. This is done to avoid trouble in making change.

28. Breitmann and bride-man, breit and krumm (bride and groom), or broad and crooked, &c.

29. This refers to the passage of bills in the Legislature of a state by means of bribery. In Pennsylvania, as in many other states, bills which have "nothing in them" - i.e. no money - are rarely allowed to pass.

30. "Die Welt gleicht einer Bierbouteille."

31. Harrisburg is the capital of the state of Pennsylvania.

32. In a certain edition of the Breitmann Ballads, this phrase is said to have originated in 1845. In 1835, I heard it said that General Jackson in a letter spelt all correct "oll korrekt," and this I believe to be the real origin of the expression. - C.G.L.

33. This incident, and the one narrated in the preceding verse, are literally true.

34. "No more interlect than a half-grown shad," is a phrase which occurs, if the author remembers aright, in the Charcoal Sketches, by J. C. Neal. The Western people have carried this idea a step further, and applied it to sardines, as "small fishes," all of an average size, packed closely together in tin cans and excluded from the light of day. A man who has never travelled, and has during all his life been packed tightly among those who were his equals in ignorance and inexperience, is therefore a "sardine."

35. The incident narrated in this part, is told in Pennsylvania as having occurred to a well-known politician, who bore the sobriquet of "With all due deference," from his habit of beginning all his speeches with these words.

36. "Dese outpressions ish not to pe angeseen py anypodies ash schvearin, boot ash inderesdin Norse or Sherman idioms. Goot many refiewers vot refiewsed to admire soosh derms in de earlier editions ish politelich requestet to braise dem in future nodices from a transcendental philological standpoint." - FRITZ SCHWACKENHAMMER

37. Requisish. An abbreviation of the word requisition, which Breitmann had heard during the War of Emancipation. I once heard this cant term used in a droll manner, about the end of the war, by a little girl, six years old, the daughter of a quarter-master. She had "confiscated," or "foraged," or "skirmished," as it was indifferently called, a toy whip belonging to her little brother of four years, who was clamorously demanding its return. "I cannot let you have the whip," said she gravely, "as I need it for military purposes; but I can give you a requisish for it on my papa, who will give you an order on the United States Government." - C. G. L.

38. Bismarck.

39. Disraeli.

40. Uhu. An owl - the bird of kn-owl-edge.

41. Allons. Uhlan slang for go or went, as
in America, they use the Spanish word vamos to express
every person in every sense of the verb to go. Pronounced
allon'd.

42. "O no, those are no angels
Which sail so smoothly on,
O no - they're cursed Frenchmen,
All in an air-balloon."

43. "And when she came adown
Unto the earth's firm surface,
She was Mrs. Robinson."

44. Those are thrashed Frenchmen.

45. "Der Uhlan was not shenerally wear pickelhaube, but dis tay der Herr Breitmann gehappenet to hafe von on." - FRITZ SCHWACKENHAMMER

46. "And art thou truly living?"

47. "All my property."

48. "O maiden fair in Heaven!"

49. Nancy, the "light of love" of Lorraine. - London
Times, Dec. 6, 1870.

50. "I require you to surrender:
I have thirty thousand men
Not far from here, parbleu!
But give me first champagne:
I've a wondrous thirst, you know-
About a dozen cart-loads;
And then I'll let you go."

51. "O Lord, Lord, Lord!
We are ruined!"

52. "We will take the ready gelt."

53. "Yes, give a hundred thousand francs
'Tis all to me, you know."

54. "Ah, that will make you trouble,
Which I would not gladly see;
So follow all my counsels,
And take advice from me.
I have two thousand bottles,
The best"-

55. "From the wrath of the Northmen, deliver us, Lord!"

56. There is a German student's song which begins with this couplet.

57. La Redoute - the gambling-room at Spa.

58. Spa is famous for painted ornamental wooden ware, such as
fans and boxes.

59. "And to him who sung this song,
God give a happy year!"

60. "If wine is better than loving,
Or if love doth much more than wine."

61. "Yes, when the flower is plucked,
And taken from the stem."

62. "What is sweeter than this drinking?
Yes - naught can better be
Naught is sweeter, though, than loving;
It tastes better than wine to me.
There's nothing like the maidens,
There's nothing like good beer,
And he who does not love them both
Can be no cavalier."

63. "The colours are not unknown to me."

64. "Ils etaient deux alors; ils sont mille aujourd'hui.
Sur ces temps primitifs le doux progres a lui,
Et chacque jour le Rhin vers Cologne charrie
De nombreux Farinas, tous 'seul, 'tous 'Jean Marie.'"
- Le Maout,"Le Parfumeur," cited by Eugene Rimmel
in Le Livre des Parfums, Paris, 1870.

65. Bierstadt - Herr Schwackenhammer had evidently here in view, not only the American artist BIERSTADT, but also the great city of Munich, specially famous for its manufacture of beer.

66. Rattenkonig, or Rat-king, is a term applied in German to a droll mixture of incidents or details. It is derived from an extraordinary story of twelve rats, with one (their king) in the centre, which were found in a nest with their tails grown together, firmly as the ligament which connects the Siamese Twins.

67. "Lucifers." The first name applied in America to friction
matches, and one still used by many people.

68. Scalawag - an American word, of very doubtful origin,
signifying a low, worthless fellow.

69. "If we can in our monastery collect our rents, we do not care
a red cent for infallibility."

70. This verse is parodied from the lines of a ribald old Latin
song, "Viginti Jesuiti nuper convenere."

71. "If I could throw myself outside of, or around, a glass of Rhenish wine." "If I could see a glass of whisky," said an American, "I'd throw myself outside of it mighty quick." Since writing the above, I have seen the expression thus given in a copy of La Belle Sauvage. - Bill of the Play, London, June 27, 1870.

"Nay these natives - simple creatures-
Had resolved that for the future
Each his own canoe would paddle,
Each his own hoe-cake would gobble,
And get outside his own whisky."

72. "Deus se fecit olim homo,"&c. A very curious epigram to this effect was placed upon "Pasquin" while the writer was in Rome, during a past winter. It was as follows:- "Perche Eva mangio il pomo Iddio per riscattarci si fece uomo, Ed ora il Nono Pio Per mantenerci schiavi, si fa Dio."

73. M'Closky. An Irish adventurer, admirably depicted by Mr.
Charles Lever.

74. "Do you not see that if you are infallible, and wish to give
it out."

75. "During its life."

76. "Thou art a very puppy."

77. This was the late Charles Astor Bristed of New York, to whom
many of these ballads were addressed in letters.

78. Lines from Gudrun, each of which is freely translated by the
lines following it.

79. "Go forth, my book, through all the world,
Bear what thy fate may be!
They may bite thee, they may tear thee,
So they do no harm to me!"

80. "Pull on your boots so rough and tough,
And whet your sword beside,
We have been lazy long enough,
The road is worth the ride."

81. Schicksal, Destiny.

82. Menschheitsideal, Human Ideal.

83. A little stream in Cincinnati, beyond which lies the German quarter, is known as the Rhine.

84. That was a dark young gypsy.

85. Ah, Rosalie, my lovely one!

86. Blood-coloured is the lovely rose.

87. Who roses picks his finger pricks
No matter what befall;
In winter-time he finds them gone
And gets no rose at all.
Our petting and caressing here,
Our joy or misery
It all shall rest sub rosa, love,
And our own secret be!

88. "Thou'rt right, my darling son."

89. "Good-bye, my friend, my Frederick!"

90. Woppenshield, coat of arms.

Here ends the Project Gutenberg edition of
Charles G. Leland's "The Breitmann Ballads"