Cologne, the chosen of Guda's heart, as of the German people. "Weep no more, ladye-weep no more, he continued; "your lover is here!-look up!behold him!" He advanced towards her he took her hand. ""Tis he! 'tis he!-my own, my lost one!" She fell on his neck, and fainted away with delight. That was the joyfullest day that ever shone upon Caub. In a week they were wedded; and Guda was Empress of Germany. From thenceforth, in memory of this event, the name of the castle was changed from Caub, Cub, or Chub, to Gutenfels the Rock of Guda. Caub, which lies at the foot of the castle of Gutenfels, is believed to have been a Roman station in the earlier periods of the empire. The subsequent history of this town is the same as that of the castle of Gutenfels, the fate of which it uniformly shared. It was besieged by the Landgraf William of Hesse, with a division of the imperial army under his command, in the Bavarian war (A.D. 1504); but although he lay entrenched before the place for more than five weeks, he was eventually obliged to raise the siege and decamp with his forces. A rude rhyme engraven on a large stone, still standing in the town, commemorates this event.* In the thirty It runs thus: "Im jahr von Christi Geburt man zahlt years' war, Caub and Gutenfels were taken by the Swedes, under Gustavus Adolphus (A.D. 1633); and that hero abode there six days, for the purpose of superintending the passage of his army at that point of the Rhine. The passage of the river, at the same place, by the Russians and Prussians, under Blucher (A.D. 1814), has been already adverted to in the preceding article. Like every other town on the Rhine in the middle ages, Caub was noted for the factiousness of its burghers, and the intestine commotions caused by them in their litte community. But the history of one place is the history of almost all; and, having detailed those of Cologne and Coblenz, Boppart and Bonn, further reference to particulars, in this respect, is deemed unne cessary. Am Sonntag Mariä Himmelfahrt Ward Kaub sechs halb wochen belagart, Als ihr die Gröss ihr wohl beschauen Als es seit der zeit von nawen Von Pfalzgraf Ludwig ware befest, Noch dennoch musten die frembde Gest Kaub bei der pfalz lassen bleiben, Dies behellt all Vaterland. " BACHARACH.-STAHLECK. Nearly mid-way in the Rhine, just opposite the town of Bacharach, is a small green island, containing about thirty acres of pasturage; and almost central between this island and the right bank of the river is a curious piece of rock, which is visible only when the water is very low. This rock is termed Ara Bacchi (Bachus's Altar): and is supposed to be a monument consecrated to the wine-god in this, one of his most favoured districts. There are, however, many doubts as to the truth of this conjecture-for conjecture it is, and nothing more: and, notwithstanding the weight of authority in its favour, those who oppose it produce authority less suspicious on the whole. The chief ground on which its supporters rest their case is an unpublished manuscript, of an ancient date no doubt, but of a most apocryphal character also ;* and the work of a local topographer and historian,** who seems to have taken more on trust than a writer on such subjects should receive. The former states, in reference to the question at issue, that, "in the year of the world 2060, Bacchus, king of Morae (quære, Morea?) was expelled by his rebellious subjects; and that, having acquired by fraud a portion of land on the Gallic bank of the Rhine, from the Allemanni, he there founded a small state, which he named Aram Bacchi. Subsequently to the birth of Christ, ages afterwards, this name, still retained by that spot, was corrupted into Bacharach, by Pharamund, king of the Franks, who built Antiquitates imperii primi and Rhenum." afresh the village which gave origin to the present town." The latter asserts, that "the town is designated Ara Bacchi, in the oldest official records of the Germanic empire at present in existence." But it is easy to perceive that the one is no authority; and as the other does not state this fact of his own knowledge, he is entitled to no greater credit. Some antiquarians believe the rock in the river was a portion of the island, on which a monument in honour of Bacchus had been erected by the Romans during their occupation of the Rhine: but these seem equally at fault with those who give it a Grecian origin. The most trustworthy writers who have treated the subject, state that the first mention made of the place is under the name of "the village of Bachrecha,' in records of the earlier part of the twelfth century (A.D. 1119); and that it became a town of note in the middle ages, in consequence of its vicinity to the castle of Stahleck, then the residence of the pfalzgrafs, or princes palatine of the Middle Rhine. Vogt,* a high authority, is inclined to think that the cultivation of the rich and costly muscatel grape, for which this spot has long been celebrated, gave rise to the idea of allegorically naming the rocks on which they grew the Altar of Bacchus. It is more probable, however, that the name Bacharach is of Germano-Celtish origin, like Andernach, Hirzenach, and many others of a similar etymological construction. What adds greater weight to this probability is the fact that five brooks (GermanBach, singular; Baeche, plural), taking rise on the hills, have their confluence with the Rhine at this point. There is one circumstance, however, which should not be forgotten, in favour of the opposite opinion; and that is, that it was usual with the Romans to dedicate rocks in rivers and even in the sea, to certain deities; and that no place was so likely to be selected by them, for the purpose of honouring the god of the grape, as this where his choicest productions take birth and abound. In the middle ages, Bacharach was the winemarket of the Rhine-Gau; and the greatest part of the produce of that famous spot was deposited in the merchants' cellars of the town. Hence, perhaps, the high reputation of the wine sold here; hence also, it may be, the passion of the Emperor Wenceslaus for it; hence the penchant of Eneas Sylvius, afterwards Pope Pius the Second, who had four butts of it annually sent to him to Rome; and hence too, in all likelihood, the origin of the well-known rhymes, "Zu Hochheim am Main, Zu Würzburg am Stein, Da wachsen die drei besten Wein. " ** |
