THE CHARACTERISTIC MARK OF COBERN.
The battle was won, the enemy defeated and flying, when the Commander of the army collected his forces and caused proclamation to be made that the young warrior of Cobern, who had saved his life at the risk of his own, should stand forth. For a long time no one came forward, the modest soldier not wishing to make too great a service of what he had done.
At length a young man advanced and said he was the man, whereon all hastened to praise him, and the Commander offered his thanks and bade him kneel down to be knighted. Then out stepped the true man of Cobern, and addressed the young man thus: “Of Cobern thou sayest thou art, O Goliath! then tell to this gallant assembly, what is the sacred and characteristic mark of that place?”
The impostor not being of Cobern, was unable to answer the question; he stuttered and turned pale, whereon the Commander ordered him to be placed in fetters.
Then the true Coberner said, the secret mark, only known to our townspeople, is this: “Beneath the high altar in the Church of Cobern is a spring; this spring bubbles and murmurs while the priest prays.”
The brave man, whose modesty was highly extolled, was knighted in place of the young man who had tried to assume a credit not due to him; and the Knight so made was the first lord of the Castle of Cobern, and for centuries his family flourished there.
Among his descendants were three sisters, so renowned for their beauty that they were called “The beautiful Trefoil of Cobern.”
Cobern was the country of the poet Reiff, whose sonnets, of a triste character, were much prized. The ruins which cover the country are said to have much influenced, and given this sombre character to, his writings.
The earliest traditions of this town record that a certain Lubentius, who was a contemporary of St. Castor of Carden, converted the ancient inhabitants and performed many miracles; and on one occasion a dispute having arisen between the canon, Peter of Carden, and the chaplain, William of Cobern, as to the respective merits of their two patrons, they fought it out with their fists. William of Cobern being the biggest and strongest, his cause was the best; so Saint Castor must rank after Lubentius.
On the fête of Lubentius fires were lighted on the surrounding hills, in emblem of the light of the Gospel, which dispersed the darkness of Paganism.
This fête took place at the time of the vintage, and the assisters thereat frequently imitated their champion, William the Chaplain, and strove to uphold their patron’s authority by the same arguments, the new wine giving life to old quarrels.
The ancient documents relating to Cobern are filled with histories of the quarrels of the inhabitants one with another, or with those of the neighbouring places.
The last Knight of Cobern was Johann Lutter, who, being taken prisoner by the citizens of Coblence, was by them beheaded as a disturber of the public peace.
St. Matthias Capelle.