XXXIV. 'Oh would I were home in Caucaland, To hear my harpers play, And to drink my last of the nut-brown ale, XXXV. 'Oh would I were home in Caucaland, To hear the Gothmen's horn, And watch the waggons, and brown brood mares, And the tents where I was born. XXXVI, 'But now I must die between four stone walls In Byzant beside the sea: And as thou shalt deal with my little Baltung, XXXVII. The Kaiser he purged himself with oaths, And he set on his barrow an idol of gold, XXXVIII. And now the Goths are the Kaiser's men, And guard him with lance and sword, And the little Baltung is his sworn son-at-arms, And eats at the Kaiser's board. XXXIX. And the Kaiser's two sons are two false white lads That a clerk may beat with cane. The clerk that should beat that little Baltung XL. ⚫ Oh the gates of Rome they are steel without, But they shall fly wide to the little Baltung XLI. Oh the fairest flower in the Kaiser's garden Is Rome and Italian land, But it all shall fall to the little Baltung XLII. And when he is parting the plunder of Rome, Neither maiden nor land, neither jewel nor gold, C. KINGSLEY. XXV. 'And who art thou, thou pretty bold boy, XXVI. 'As good as me, thou pretty bold boy, With down upon thy chin?' 'Oh a spae-wife laid a doom on me, The best of thy realm to win.' XXVII. 'If thou be so fierce, thou little wolf cub, Then I must guard my two young sons XXVIII. 'Oh, it's I will guard your two lither lads And it's I will prove true man to them XXIX. 'But it's you must warn your two lither lads, And warn them bitterly, That if I shall find them two false Kaisers, High hanged they both shall be.' XXX. Now they are gone into the Kaiser's palace And they are gone into the Kaiser's palace To drink the good Greek wine. XXXI. The Kaiser alone, and the old old Balt, They sat at the cedar board; And round them served on the bended knee Full many a Roman lord. XXXII. 'What ails thee, what ails thee, friend Athanarich, What makes thee look so pale?' 'I fear I am poisoned, thou cunning Kaiser, For I feel my heart-strings fail. XXXIII. 'Oh would I had kept that great great oath I swore by the horse's head, I would never set foot on Roman ground VILLAGE LIFE IN OUDH. II.-BIRTHS, MARRIAGES, DEATHS, AND WOLF-BOYS.' The their daughters in marriage seems I. It will be seen from the following sketch of the ceremonies attending the birth of the infantmale or female-that even amongst the poor villagers the principal expenses of the birth are expected to be defrayed by the family of the mother; whilst the honour and glory of the event appertains entirely to that of the father. At the time of birth alone does the distinction of castes vanish. It is a matter of life and death, they say; and the wise woman of an inferior caste, who would not be admitted to touch even a garment of the superior grade at another time, is sent for and welcomed when her services are likely to be required in ushering the new-comer safely into the world. These distinctions of caste, it must be remembered, are as rigidly preserved in the poverty of village life as amidst the grandeur of a palace. I have myself heard the well-to-do shop-keeper of a country town, who could lend his 5000 or 6000 rupees at a day's notice, on a sufficient mortgage, without inconvenience to himself, address the Brahman working on the roads for threepence a day as Great King' (Maharaj) every time he spoke to him; and it is not an uncommon form of worship tendered to the same caste from the inferior, wealthy or poor, to pour a cup of water over the great king's' feet, and then drink the water afterwards! No sooner is the birth of the child announced amongst the village community, than the female members of the husband's family-his mother, sisters, &c.-hasten to do honour to him by visiting the mother and child for the purpose of congratulation. Each is expected too to make a small present to the midwife-say of a pice or two-two pice being equal in value to three farthings. The usual fee of the midwife from the husband for her services on the occasion, varies from a shilling to three or four shillings according to the wealth of the parties. In the meantime, the father is not permitted to see his child, except at a distance, until the sixth day, and even then not to embrace it or touch it, until all the ceremonial observances usual on the occasion have been fulfilled. Nor are the female relatives of the mother permitted to enter the room until the sixth day. The household from which the mother came, however, is not kept in ignorance of the great event. A present of sweetmeats, of trifling value, is sent by the recent mother to her own parents, which they are expected to return by sending a suit of fine clothes to every member of the household of their daughter's husband, and, in addition to this, the silver ornaments for the arms and legs of the newly-born infant. If poverty compels them to forego the usual present of the suits of clothing on such occasions, it is imperative that the first ornaments worn by the infant should come from them; and it is rare indeed that they do not send something in the way of clothing for the child's father and mother, to avoid the sneers of their relatives for ever after, if they cannot send such to all the household. We all know the tyranny of custom in such cases. The poor widow in England, who is uncertain of any future provision for herself or her children, will yet, in nine cases out of ten, order and pay for the customary mourning, rather than have the finger of scorn pointed at her. And if custom rules in Europe, it literally tyrannizes in the East. Not only are the gifts of clothing and ornaments demanded by custom on such occasions, from the father and mother of the young wife, but they must be mean indeed, in village eyes, if they do not send as well a good store of rice, and sugar, and milk, for the support of their daughter till the great ceremony of the sixth day releases the husband from his exclusion, and restores the family to its wonted course. And here it must be remembered that suits of clothes amongst the Hindus-such at least as are worn in the village communities-consist simply of sheets and loose shirts, that will fit any one and every one. No nice and elaborate measurements to prepare them, are necessary beforehand. The village pedlar brings them in his pack ready for all wearers. In all parts of the world the female communities are busy, anxious, bustling, and fussy, on the occasions of births. The poor husband, neglected and tyrannized over, wanders about disconsolate in his own house, as if he had suddenly discovered that he had no business to be there at all. He is one too many. Every female in the household is oppressed by a weight of business, and puffed up by a sense of importance that puts the poor husband down in the most supercilious manner. He has nothing to do but to reflect upon his own inability to be of the slightest use, and to let things take their course. Births, in fact, all the world over, are a period of female saturnalia, in which period the less the man appears the better. And amid this bustling, anxious group, who so important, who so bustling, who so authoritative-and rightly so of course-as the fair sufferer's mother? The mother-in-law blows out, on such an occasion, into the very life and soul, the axle and pivot, the centre and guiding principle of the whole turmoil. However gentle and kind at other times, however regardful of the comfort and happiness of her son-in-lawlet but the little stranger be about to make, or have made, his entrance into society, and the mother-in-law is the animating spirit of the household-the husband in his own house is worse than useless, he is in the way. Now if this be so-and who doubts it?-in the West, where all the expense falls upon the luckless husband, who is thus unceremoniously thrust into holes and corners, and feels obliged and thankful if he is not bullied and snubbed by his own servants-how much more is it the case in the East, in Oudh? where the mother-in-law is conscious-proudly conscious that, not only is her spiriting necessary that all matters may be done safely, decently, and in order, but also that by far the greater share of the expense comes from her own stores, or those of her husband? The mother-in-law in the civilized life of the Western world is the ruler of the household, but not necessarily anything more, on such occasions; but the mother-in-law of the village cottage in Oudh is not only ruler of the household and all it contains, but of the luckless son-inlaw as well, for the time being. And now the sixth day has dawned-the great day that is to put an end to the state of pupilage and restraint in which the husband has been hitherto kept. But, why the sixth day particularly, and not the eighth or tenth the fifth, seventh, ninth, or fifteenth? Tyrant custom has so ruled it. My own private opinion being that, after numerous experiments, they found, in the good olden time, six days of such absolute tyranny and exclusion was as much as mankind could stand. There might be husbands who would go on to seven or even eight, but they were the exception, not the rule. It is a curiou's fact that during these six days they consider it imperative the mother |