keepsake or charm,
which he long wore, suspended by a ribbon, round his neck, and it was
not till he threw it aside that he became unfortunate and unhappy. We
cannot vouch for the truth of this story; but if Byron did not hold
intercourse with unearthly beings, he has, by his writings and speech,
left room for simple-minded people who have read his works and
history, to suppose that he did. His belief in presentiment was very
strong, as also visionary warnings of imminent danger or impending
calamities.

A school-fellow of Byron had a small pony, and one day they went to
the Don to bathe. When they came to the bridge of Balgownie, the young
poet remembered the old prophecy:

"Brig o' Balgownie! wight is thy wa',
Wi' a wife's ae son, an' a mare's ae foal,
Down shalt thou fa'."

He immediately stopped his companion, who was then riding, and asked
him if he recollected the prophecy, saying, that as they were both
only sons, and as the pony might be "a mare's ae foal," he would
rather ride over first, because he had only a mother to lament him
should the bridge fall, whereas he, his companion, had both a father
and mother to grieve for him if he perished. Byron, however, was not
the only one who put faith in such prophecies. Leslie says, "Persons
have been known to dismount when they came to the brig o' Balgownie,
and send their horses over before them."

Byron had a belief in unlucky days. He once refused to be introduced
to a lady because the day was Friday; and on this day of the week he
would not visit his friends. "Something," he said, "whispered to me at
my wedding that I was signing my death warrant. I am a great believer
in presentiments. Socrates's demon was no fiction; Monk Lewis had his
monitor, and Napoleon many warnings. At the last moment I would have
retreated if I could have done so."

The poet had a high opinion of Monk Lewis. Here are two stories told
by Byron:

"Whilst Lewis was residing at Mannheim, every night at the same hour,
he heard, or thought he heard, in his room, when he was lying in bed,
a crackling noise like that produced by parchment or thick paper. This
circumstance caused inquiry, when it was told him that the sounds were
attributable to the following cause:--The house in which he lived had
belonged to a widow who had an only son. In order to prevent him
marrying a poor but amiable girl to whom he was attached, he was sent
to sea. Years passed, and the mother heard