, and their bells audible, below
the waves. One of these islands was called _Buesen_, or _Old Buesum_, and is
supposed to have been situated opposite the village now called Buesen, on
the west coast of Dithmarschen. Strange to say, the inhabitants of that
island, in spite of their tragic fate, are represented rather in a comical
light, as the Boeotians of Holstein.

WAT SIK DAT VOLK VERTELLT.

_Ol Buesum._

Ol Buesen hggt int wille Haff,
De Floth de keem un woehl en Graff.
De Floth de keem un spoel un spoel,
Bet se de Insel uenner woehl.
Dar blev keen Steen, dar blev keen Pahl,
Dat Water schael dat all hendal.
Dar weer keen Beest, dar weer keen Hund,
De ligt nu all in depen Grund.
Un Allens, wat der lev un lach,
Dat deck de See mit depe Nach.
Mituenner in de holle Ebb
So sueht man vunne Hues' de Koepp.
Denn dukt de Thorn herut ut Sand,
As weert en Finger vun en Hand.
Denn hoert man sach de Klocken klingn,
Denn hoert man sach de Kanter singn;
Denn geit dat lisen daer de Luft:
"Begrabt den Leib in seine Gruft."

WHAT THE PEOPLE TELL.

_Old Buesum._

Old Buesen sank into the waves;
The sea has made full many graves;
The flood came near and washed around,
Until the rock to dust was ground.
No stone remained, no belfry steep;
All sank into the waters deep.
There was no beast, there was no hound;
They all were carried to the ground.
And all that lived and laughed around
The sea now holds in gloom profound.
At times, when low the water falls,
The sailor sees the broken walls;
The church tower peeps from out the sand,
Like to the finger of a hand.
Then hears one low the church bells ringing
Then hears one low the sexton singing;
A chant is carried by the gust:
"Give earth to earth, and dust to dust."

In the Baltic, too, similar traditions are current of sunken islands and
towns buried in the sea, which are believed to be visible at certain
times. The most famous tradition is that of the ancient town of
Vineta,--once, it is said, the greatest emporium in the north of
Europe,--several times destroyed and built up again, till, in 1183, it was
upheaved by an earthquake and swallowed by a flood. The ruins of Vineta
are believed to be visible between the coast of Pomerania and the island
of Ruegen. This tradition has suggested one of Wilhelm Mueller's--my
father's--lyrical songs, published in his "Stones and Shells from the
Island of Ruegen," 1825, of which I am able to give a translation by Mr. J.
A. Froud