When hither as he drew the tripping Rear
(Dreadful to think and difficult to swear!)
The gaping Mountain yawned from side to side,
A hideous Cavern, darksome, deep, and wide;
In skipt th' exulting Demon, piping loud,
With passive joy succeeded by the Crowd.
* * * * *
There firm and instant closed the greedy Womb,
Where wide-born Thousands met a common Tomb.
_Remarks._--Mr. Baring-Gould, in his _Curious Myths of the Middle Ages_,
has explained the Pied Piper as a wind myth. Mrs. Gutch is inclined to
think there may be a substratum of fact at the root of the legend,
basing her conclusions on a pamphlet of Dr. Meinardus, _Der historische
Kern_, which I have not seen. She does not, however, give any
well-authenticated historical event at Hameln in the thirteenth century
which could have plausibly given rise to the legend, nor can I find any
in the _Urkundenbuch_ of Hameln (Luneberg, 1883). The chief question of
interest attaching to the English form of the legend as given in 1839 by
Elder, is whether it is independent of the German myth.
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