And the fourth time with his sword-belt bound her;
And he bore her to his own white dwelling.
[1] Skadar or Skadra, derived from the Italian appellation Scodra, otherwise Scutari, the present capital of Albania. Scutari has belonged from time immemorial to the Serbians.
[2] Kraly means King.
[3] Boyana is the name of the river washing the wall of Skadar.
[4] Neimar means ‘architect.’
[5] Sir John Bowring, writing in 1827, states that a small stream of liquid carbonate of lime is shown on the walls of Scutari as evidence of the truth of this story. Vouk St. Karadjitch, says that the Serbian people even to-day believe that no great building can be successfully erected without the immuring of some human being. Therefore they avoid the neighbourhood of such buildings while they are being erected, for it is said that even the spirit of such an unfortunate being can be immured, whereby a speedy death would ensue. Srpske Narodne Pyesme, Vienna, 1875, vol. ii. p. 124, footnote 20.
[6] A ruined fortress on the banks of the River Morava. The same name is borne by a city in Central Serbia, situated not far from the castle of Theodore.