The priest was waiting in the church, the bridegroom arrived, but the bride did not come. Where had she gone? She had stepped on board a barque with the dark steel-clad lord, and the ship passed silently over the waters until it vanished among the shadows of night. Then the lady turned to her husband.
“What gloomy waters are these through which we sail, my lord?” she asked.
“This is the Lake of Anguish,” he replied in hollow tones. “We sail to the Place of Skulls, at the mouth of Hell.”
At this the wretched bride wept bitterly. “Take back your wedding-ring!” she cried. “Take back your dowry and your bridal gifts!”
But he answered not. Down they descended into horrid darkness, and as the unhappy maiden fell there rang in her ears the cries of the damned.
THE BRIDE OF SATAN
This tale is common to many countries. The fickle maiden is everywhere regarded among primitive peoples with dislike and distrust. But perhaps the folk-ballad which most nearly resembles that just related is the Scottish ballad of The Demon Lover, which inspired 145 the late Hamish MacCunn, the gifted Scottish composer, in the composition of his weird and striking orchestral piece, The Ship o’ the Fiend.