Alba

“ Mit dem Ausruf: „O, Mutter! Mutter! Was hast Du mir gethan?“ fiel Alba tot neben Eis und Schnee hin. Baba Coaja stieß einen so furchtbaren Fluch aus, daß der Berg wankte, ihre Burg zusammenstürzte und sie samt ihrem Golde unter ihren Trümmern begrub. —
An der Stelle aber, wo die schöne Alba ihr Leben ausgehaucht hatte, keimte eine weiße Blume in weißem Samtkleide auf, die man seitdem „Alba Regina,“3 zu deutsch „Edelweiß,“4 genannt hat. Sie blüht nur dicht beim ewigen Schnee, der den Geliebten bedeckt, so weiß und rein, wie sie selber war. ”

“ Yes, perhaps it did, Virginie thought, as she bent a wistful smile on the young dreamer’s face. Alba’s face was full of dreams—beautiful and passionate, changeful as the sunbeams, tender and strong, pleading and imperious by turns. How would the dreams evolve themselves from out that yearning, untamed spirit that shone with a dangerous light through the dark eyes? Would they prove a mirage, luring her on to some delusive goal, and leaving her to perish amidst the golden waste of sands, or would they be a loadstar beckoning faithfully to a safe and happy destiny? ”

“ And then remember, Alba, how happy he could make you. You often long to have beautiful things—pearls and jewels and splendid dresses—and you sigh to go away in the ships that we see setting sail for distant lands, and to see fair cities, and the great mountains, and the countries where it is always summer and the flowers never die. Marcel would give you all these wishes; and then he would let you be so good and generous to the poor! ”

“ Nothing could have been finer or more pleasing than when this blonde, blooming Venetian figure, in the fullness of its ripe beauty, advanced to meet this slim, foreign-looking, dazzling gypsy, and the hands of the two charming creatures met, and their eyes beamed upon one another. On the other hand, it was one of the funniest and most picturesque sights imaginable when gaunt Alba bore down with his stiff, spidery walk upon the holy martyr, while the Capuchin paid homage to the Suabian maiden in all kinds of cringing and fawning attitudes. ”

“ Manius Curius Dentatus, a Second Time Consul, Triumphed Over King
Pyrrhus and the Tarentines, in the Year of the City CCCCLXXIX.
I
Now slain is King Amulius,
Of the great Sylvian line,
Who reigned in Alba Longa,
On the throne of Aventine.
Slain is the Ponfiff Camers,
Who spake the words of doom:
"The children to the Tiber,
The mother to the tomb."
II
In Alba's lake no fisher
His net to-day is flinging;
On the dark rind of Alba's oaks
To-day no axe is ringing;
The yoke hangs o'er the manger;
The scythe lies in the hay:
Through all the Alban villages
No work is done to-day. ”

“ And, moreover, the foot no longer goes on alone: others have come by tens, even by hundreds, to join it; and Alba begins to understand what the dwarf meant by thousands. Thus the feet travel on, running some to this side, some to that; here digging through a bed of clay, and there burying themselves in a soft sand-hill, taking a mouthful of carbon here, and of nitrogen there. ”

“ Thus, according to Virgil's own showing, the sow was found on the banks of the Tiber; how then could the shores of the Alban Lake be the site of Alba Longa? Ought we not rather to look for that site on the banks of the Tiber below Rome, where the sow was found, according to the voices of the oracle and the river-god, and the record handed down by Virgil? On the other hand, we are told Alba Longa was "built by Ascanius, the son of Æneas, thirty years after the building of Lavinium. Alba stood between a mountain and a lake: the mountain is extremely strong and high, and the lake deep and large. ”

“ But Alba, as if instinct warned her of the coming visit, hastened out of the house, and fled across the moor until she was safe in the shelter of the park, and then she flung herself down on the moss-grown trunk that had a memory of its own, and buried her face in the primroses and cried her heart out in pity for Hermann.
After this it was impossible to mention Marcel Caboff’s name in her presence. “I loathe the very thought of him, mother! I would rather die than marry him!” she said; and Virginie felt that Providence was against her, and surrendered. ”

“ Unfortunately, the spirit of religiosity, which is to religion what sentimentality is to sentiment, has taken possession of her burial place. If you do go to Alba, however, make it a day's excursion from Salamanca. The evening was over before we reached the town, and we drove in darkness from the station, bumping over the ruts of an awful road. Railway and villages seem often at enmity in Spain; though we had passed directly by the gleaming lights of Alba, we ran on some miles further before stopping in its station, hence the necessity of a drive of several kilometers back to the town. ”

“ Without seeking for more than a chance likeness between the names—a name that ranges from the Euxine to the Hudson—without seeking in any sort to identify the Ἀλβανοί of Dionysios and the Ἀλβανοί of imperial Anna, it is still with a curious feeling of coincidence that the eyes which not many 223 days before were looking up to the mount of Alba, now look across the sea to the wilder mountains of Albania. ”

“ Through contact with men of rank, he had acquired not only assurance but a certain air of haughtiness verging upon insolence. Being drawn into the circles of the Duchess of Alba and [Pg 63] Duchess of Ossuna, who at that time, like rival queens, were disputing the sceptre of fashion and pleasure, he witnessed and shared in many a boudoir intrigue, taking sides in these women’s quarrels, at one time supporting the one side, then again going over to the other, and at last coming out openly in favour of the Duchess of Alba, who at that time was waging a silent warfare with Maria-Luisa. ”

“ Alba, Albina, or Bellaria, appear in several Tuscan traditions. They are forms of the Etruscan Alpan, the fairy of the Dawn, a sub-form of Venus, the spirit of Light and Flowers, described in my work on “Etruscan Roman Traditions.” It may be remarked as an ingenious touch in the tale, that she always appears at the first dawn, or at three o’clock, and vanishes with broad day. This distinguishes her from the witches and evil spirits, who always come at midnight and vanish at three o’clock.
The readiness with which the young men consented to assume the forms of demons is easily explained. ”

“ Das Stück Goldfaden, das Alba gesponnen, sucht man noch immer, und jede Braut hofft, sie habe es erhascht; darum fürchtet sich keine vor den Goldfäden,5 die so gefährlich sind, sondern jede glaubt, ihr sei das Glück beschert. ”

“ Of this genus there are as yet but few species discovered; the Alba grows to a shrub of the height of four or five feet, woody and tough; both stem and leaves are covered with a thick flannelly substance, particularly the under side of the leaves, which gives the whole plant a whitish appearance. It continues to flower through the months of April, May, and June; may be propagated easily by cuttings, should be kept as a hardy greenhouse plant, and thrives best in peat earth. [Pg 78]
PLATE 18
[Pg 81] [Pg 80] [Pg 79]
PLATE XIX.
GLADIOLUS VERSICOLOR.
Changeable Gladiolus. ”

“ Sick and disgusted, she left Burgos at the end of July 1582, with Anne of S. Bartholomew and Theresa of Jesus, her niece, and went to Palencia, Medina del Campo, and Alba, which latter place she visited at the request of Maria Henriquez, Duchess of Alba, who was anxious to meet with her. There she died. ”

“ ALBANO (al-bä′nō) , a town of Italy, 18 miles S. S. E. of Rome, on the declivity of the lava-walls which encompass Lake Albano, and opposite the site of Alba Longa. There are numerous remains of ancient buildings, including an aqueduct. A valuable wine is made here. Pop. about 10,000. ”

“ Alba (white) , Alporti (crimson) , aurea (golden leaved) , tenuis (red) , pygmæa, and hypnoides (both dwarf) .
Dabœcia polifolia (St. Dabeoc's Heath) is a lovely little shrub, a close relative of the Heaths, and found wild in the west of Ireland. It grows a little over 1 foot high, and bears bell-shaped flowers rather [Pg 239] abundantly on erect terminal spikes. They are purple or white, and sometimes have both colours in one flower, and the plants continue to produce them from July or August till the frosts come. It is quite as plentiful as the dwarf Heaths. Alba is a white variety. ”

“ Austin A. Breed THE PATIO IN THE HOUSE OF THE DUKE OF ALBA, SEVILLE, SPAIN A fitting companion of the beautiful Alcazar, Seville's rival of Granada's splendid Alhambra in beauty and in historical renown, is the magnificent palace of the Dukes of Alba. Dating from the fifteenth century, this palace, in its architecture, combines the soft lines of Moorish ideals and the sharp ones of Gothic conceptions, and is a fine example of the blending of the two. ”

“ Even in the time of Pliny, Albion, as the name of the island, had fallen out of use with Latin authors; but not so with the Greeks, or with the Celts themselves, at any rate those of the Goidelic branch; for they are probably right who suppose that we have but the same word in the Irish and Scotch Gælic Alba, genitive Alban, the kingdom of Alban or Scotland beyond the Forth. Albion would be a form of the name according to the Brythonic pronunciation of it. ... ”

“ The isolated Alban range, that natural stronghold of Latium, which offered to settlers the most wholesome air, the freshest springs, and the most secure position, would doubtless be first occupied by the new comers. Here accordingly, along the narrow plateau above Palazzuola, between the Alban lake (Lago di Castello) and the Alban mount (Monte Cavo) extended the town of Alba, which was universally regarded as the primitive seat of the Latin stock, and the mother-city of Rome, as well as of all the other Old Latin communities. ”

“ C. alba-plèna, common double white, is admired by the most casual observer, and is generally considered a very superior flower, from the purity of its whiteness, and the abundance of its large flowers, which are thickly and regularly set with round petals. The foliage is large, and the plant grows freely; we have seen one shoot grow two feet in one summer. It was imported into Europe from China, amongst the first of the varieties, about eighty years ago. ”

“ Why, I myself have heard tales from Norwegian walrus-hunters, the most daring fellows that ever sailed the seas, that prove to my facile satisfaction that there is an open ocean near the North Pole, that there are islands in it—the Isle of Alba if you like—and that these islands are inhabited. You may tell me it is too cold for human beings to live there ”

“ For rowing were threescore men. When Colum Cille founded Hii, he went on his circuit of instruction among the men of Alba, and the Britons and Saxons, until he brought them to faith and religion, after he had wrought many miracles, and had awakened the dead from death. ”

“ Few, if any, fortunes in Europe equal that which he enjoys, and of which he has expectations; being heir to the house of Alba, seventy thousand a-year at least, and in possession of the Veragua and Liria estates. ”

“ DETAIL FROM THE PATIO OF THE CASA ALBA. TURNING from a consideration of the grand scale upon which the houses of the old Spanish nobility have been usually constructed, and the elaboration with which, as in the present sketch, the profuse ornamental detail has been combined with heraldic insignia to set forth the splendour and dignity of the family and its alliances, to the ruin and dilapidation which seem to have fallen alike upon the architecture and the families, one naturally wonders at the causes of the almost total wreck. ”

“ A′lava (97) , the southernmost of the three Basque provinces of Spain, largest, but least populous; rich in minerals, and fertile in soil.
Alava, Ricardo de, a Spanish general, born in Vittoria, joined the national party, and was aide-de-camp to the Duke of Wellington, and became eventually ambassador to London and Paris (1771-1843) .
Alba Longa, a city of Latium older than Rome.
Albacete (229) , a province in Spain, with a capital (30) of same name, 173 m. SE. of Madrid.
Alban Lake, near Alban Mount, 6 m. in circuit, occupying the basin of an extinct volcano, its surface 961 ft. ”

“ Not only is the Man in the Moon or the Wandering Jew peculiarly identified with St. Albans in Britain, but he reappears at the Arabian city of Elvan. This name is cognate with elephant in the same way as alpha is correlate to alpa or alba: Ayliffe and Alvey are common English surnames. In Kensington the memory of Kenna, a fairy princess who was beloved by Albion a fairy prince, lingered until recently, and this tradition is seemingly commemorated in the neighbourhood at Albion Gate, St. Alban’s Road, and elsewhere. ”

“ Das Gras ist glatt, und die Abgründe sind tief, und ein Fehltritt, so liegt man zerschmettert da unten!“
Alba dachte lange darüber2 nach, warum es für die Pferde gefährlich sei, da doch die Schafe so sicher gingen; sie bekam aber auch hierauf keine Antwort, da sie nicht zu fragen wagte. Die Bergmännlein kamen ihr nun noch viel häßlicher vor, als früher, und das Gold war ihr so zuwider, sie konnte es gar nicht mehr sehen. Sie dachte nur an das schöne, schöne Pferd und an den Jüngling, dem es den Hals kosten sollte, wenn er sich wieder sehen ließe.3 Warum wollte ihm die Mutter den Hals brechen? ”

“ In the northern provinces the Spanish power was only a shadow, but in the southern ones also hatred of the Spaniards was already bursting into flames, and Requesens was too weak to extinguish them.
The King and Barbara’s political friends perceived that Alba’s pitiless, murderous severity had injured the cause of the crown and the Church far more than it had benefited them. Personally, he had treated her on the whole kindly, but he had inflicted two offences which were hard to conquer. In the first place, he urged her to leave Brussels and settle in Mons ”