(Vol. vii., pp. 128. 200. 328.)
In a little brochure entitled Christmas, its History and Antiquity, published by Slater, London, 1850, the writer says that—
"In Berkshire it is confidently asserted, that if any one watches on Christmas Eve he will hear subterranean bells; and in the mining districts the workmen declare that at this sacred season high mass is performed with the greatest solemnity on that evening in the mine which contains the most valuable lobe of ore, which is supernaturally lighted up with candles in the most brilliant manner, and the service changed by unseen choristers."—P. 46.
The poet Uhland has a beautiful poem entitled Die Verlorne Kirche. Lord Lindsay says:
"I subjoin, in illustration of the symbolism, and the peculiar emotions born of Gothic architecture, The Lost Church of the poet Uhland, founded, I apprehend, on an ancient tradition of the Sinaitic peninsula."—Sketches of Christian Art.
I give the first stanza of his translation:
"Oft in the forest far one hears
A passing sound of distant bells;
Nor legends old, nor human wit,
Can tell us whence the music swells.