Chapter D: D D, E E. The surrounding country

the city as their Sultán. How Mohammed had the good fortune to escape is thus set forth by his Wizír:

“At the time these events were taking place, the Sultán Mohammed was absent from the Alhambra, having gone, together with a son of his, to reside at a delightful country seat close to Granada, called _Jennatu-l-’arif_, a spot well known for the luxuriance of its trees, which never admit the rays of the sun,

as well as for the healthfulness of the air, which is continually refreshed by running streams of limpid water. This garden is only separated from the royal residence by a high and strong wall, defended by a deep moat. In this place the Sultán was suddenly awakened by the clatter of arms, the cries of the assailants, and the beating of drums in the distance. Not knowing what caused the tumult, Mohammed went out in the direction of the Alhambra; but, finding that the conspirators occupied all the avenues, he retraced his steps, and Allah was pleased to provide for his salvation; for, having mounted a fleet horse, which was always kept saddled and prepared for him, he galloped off to Guadix, where he arrived safely the same morning, and presented himself to the governor of the castle, who was very far from suspecting what had happened. Mohammed was immediately waited upon by the chief inhabitants of the place who all swore to protect him, so that he not only reigned undisturbed over Guadix and its immediate neighbourhood, but soon found himself at the head of devoted followers who hastened to him from all parts.”

Meanwhile, his brother, the usurper, despatched an embassy to the King of Castile, offering to renew the treaty of peace then existing between the two countries. The Castilian King (Pedro I.), happening then to be at war with the people of Barcelona, readily assented to the proposal, and ratified the usurper’s occupation of Granada. Isma’il, however, did not long enjoy the power he had seized. He was besieged in the Alhambra by Abú ’Abdillah, afterwards Mohammed VI., taken prisoner, and put to death, together with his brother, Kayes, in 1360.

The history of the dethroned king, Mohammed V., is particularly interesting for the reason that he it was who put the finishing touches to the decoration of the Alhambra, after the work was interrupted by the assassination of his father, Yúsuf I.

Immediately upon the death of Isma’il, Mohammed VI. was proclaimed king, and reigned for about two years, at the end of which period, seeing himself pressed on the one side by the rightful sovereign who burned to revenge the outrage done to him and recover the throne of his ancestors; and harassed, on the other hand, by Pedro, King of Castile; he formed the strange

resolution of throwing himself upon the protection of the latter, and repairing to his Court. “He might just as well,” says the Wizír, “have thrown himself into the jaws of a hungry tiger thirsting for blood, for no sooner had the infidel dog cast his eyes on the countless treasures which Mohammed and his chiefs had brought with them, than he conceived the wicked design of murdering them and appropriating their riches; on the second day of Rejeb, 763 (April 27, A.D. 1362) he was put to death with all his followers, at a place called Tablada, close to Seville.”

But to return to the dethroned Sultán, Mohammed V., whose history is highly romantic.

The people of Guadix continued their allegiance, protected his person, and swore to devote their lives to his cause. Pedro was but lukewarm in his behalf; and Mohammed, obtaining only vague promises from the Christian King, crossed over to Fez at the invitation of the Sultán of Western Africa (_Ibnu-l-Khattíb_, in his life of Mohammed V., gives the details of

this journey), and made a public entrance into Fez, where he was received with every mark of distinction.

After a long sojourn with the Sultán, Mohammed returned to Andalus in great state with a large number of followers, his adherents greatly increasing on his arrival at Guadix. All ranks flocked to his standard, the presence of the long-absent and popular sovereign infusing new vigour amongst the troops. The whole of the _Gharbia_, or Western districts, submitted to him. He was then enabled to take Malaga and to march upon Granada, which surrendered without opposition, and he thus saw himself once again in possession of his dominions. His triumphant entry into Granada took place April 6th, A.D. 1362, immediately before the death of the usurper, Mohammed VI., at the hands of King Pedro.

Mohammed V. reigned until the year 1391, when he was succeeded by his son, Yúsuf II.

* * * * *

To reach the summer resort of the Moorish Kings from the Alhambra, the better way is to leave the Palace by the _Torre del Picos_--Tower of the Peaks, or minarets--and thus approach the tall white towers and long arcades of the Generalife. To wander amidst its gardens and groves in the most sultry season is to enjoy a still more breezy region than that of the Alhambra.

The Generalife is a confluence of waters: the canal of the Darro empties its full virgin stream, and at times boils under evergreen arches through the Acequia Court.[14] In contemplation of its beauty, the present is forgotten in the past; old-world echoes still reverberate through the bemyrtled Courts, where the many flowers which enamel its terraces and aqueducts tranquilly attest that once a garden smiled:

“Cypress and ivy, weed and wall-flower grown
Matted and mass’d together, hillocks heap’d
On what were chambers, arch crush’d, column strown
In fragments, chok’d up vaults, and frescos steep’d
In subterranean damps, where the owl peep’d,
Deeming it midnight: Temples, baths, or halls?
Pronounce who can; for all that Learning reap’d
From her research hath been, that these are walls--”
_Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage_, Canto IV.

What is pointed out as “the trysting place of the Sultána,” is a grove of cypress trees, enormous in their proportions, and old as the Moors themselves. The beautiful Zoraya, surnamed “The Morning Star,” to whom reference has been already made, is said to have been discovered under their spreading branches with her lover, the Abencerrage, but this is a calumny of the _Romanceros_, and they are false witnesses. The tradition is, but with little to substantiate it, that the Sultána was condemned to be burnt alive, if,

within thirty days, she did not produce four knights to defend her cause against her four accusers. The fatal day arrived; no knights appeared, when, just at the supreme moment, there came upon the scene Don Juan de Chacon, Lord of Carthagena (whom she had implored to become her champion) accompanied by three other Christian knights, all in Saracenic armour. They fought and conquered, and the last of the conspirators, with his dying breath, confessed his invention of the false charge against the Abencerrage and the innocent Sultána.

The reader who is desirous of perusing the circumstantial narrative of this supposed transaction may be referred to the late Mr. Henry Swinburne’s account in his _Travels in Spain_, while Mr. Peyron, in his _Essays on Spain_, has given a translation of an Arabian document purporting to be an official report concerning it.

Upon the naked summit of the height above the Generalife are some shapeless ruins, known as the _Silla del Moro_--the seat of the Moor--said to have been a point of observation of Boabdil, the Unlucky, while an insurrection was raging in the city below. An apocryphal portrait of Boabdil, _El Rey Chico_, hangs in the picture gallery of the Generalife. The face is mild, handsome, and somewhat melancholy, with a fair complexion and yellow hair. Other indifferent paintings are to be seen in the gallery, including those of Ferdinand and Isabella. The genealogical tree of the Marquis of Campotejar of the Grimalda Gentili family, better known as Pallavicini, of Genoa, is exhibited in the picture gallery. The villa now belongs to the Marquis, who, being an absentee, has placed the palace under the care of an _administrador_. The founder of the Grimaldi family was one Cidi Aya, a Moorish prince, who was of service to Ferdinand on the expulsion of the Moors, at which time he became a Christian knight under the name of Don Pedro. His son, Don Aixa, is represented in the pedigree hanging in the picture gallery, trampling, like a renegade, on the ensigns of his ancestors. An enormous weapon, traditionally known as “The Sword of Boabdil,” having a beautifully enamelled sheath enriched with gold and silver work, is preserved in the office of the Italian Consulate at Granada.

The decorations of the Generalife are in no respect inferior to those of the Alhambra; the wood-work is of _nogal_, or Spanish chestnut, and, where it has not been wantonly injured, is in its original condition. It is thought that the Moors preserved their wood-work by coating it with a substance called

ENTRANCE TO THE GALLERY OF RETRATOS (PORTRAIT GALLERY).]

GALLERY IN THE ACEQUIA COURT.]

_colle_ and _almaqu_, _i.e._, size mixed with a reddish earth, and rendered obnoxious to insects. The black lines which ornament the wood-work are believed to have been traced with a hot iron.

Nothing can exceed the symmetry of the Portico of the Generalife. The columns are of white marble, surmounted by arches and arabesques. The inscription, many times repeated, and running along the whole front of the Portico, is that which occurs so frequently in the Alhambra, “There is no conqueror but God.” The dado has a very rich effect, the colours being black, blue, gold, scarlet, and green.

The transverse section of the Royal Villa, shown in the plate at p. 411, gives an idea of the beauty of the interior decorations. The ceiling of the chief apartment is a _chef-d’œuvre_ of Arabian workmanship; the exquisite delicacy and consummate taste displayed by the artist must be seen before a full appreciation can be acquired. The ceiling is delineated at p. 425.

The Acequia Court reminds the observer of the Court of the Fishpond; or of Myrtles, in the Alhambra. Although of no such great dimensions, similar arcades, galleries, and fountains, are here seen in profusion. The slender pillars and gossamer-perforated fabrics are, as in the case of the greater Palace, like nothing so much as our conception of fairy-work, rather a dream of beauty than the production of human hands.

LA CASA DEL CARBON--THE CHARCOAL HOUSE.

Halfway down the Zacatin, which was, in Moorish times, the bazaar, or market, of Granada--then alive with busy silversmiths, and with silk merchants, who offered the most wondrous productions of the loom--stands whatever remains of the elegant palace known as the Charcoal House, from having been appropriated to the sale of that commonplace article. The edifice, until recent times, bore the name by which it had been known for centuries, viz.: _La Casa del Gallo de Viento_--The Weather-cock House.

There is a tradition that the palace was built by Bàdìs Ibn Hàbus, the third Sultàn of Granada of the Zeyrite dynasty, about 1070 A.D., by whose direction a vane was made in the

shape of a warrior mounted on a steed, with a shield and levelled spear in his hands. _Al-makkarì_ tells us that he read in the manuscript of a learned Moorish historian the following anecdote concerning it: “I was told by the _Faquih Sìdì Hasan_ ... that he was present at the taking down of the talisman, known as the weather-cock, which once stood on the top of the old _Kassabah_--fortified enclosure--at Granada, and was removed on account of the improvements and repairs about to be made in that building. I saw it with my own eyes; it was of heptagonal shape, and bore the following Arabic inscription in verse:

“The palace at fair Granada presents to the eye of the observer a talisman turning round with the succession of time.

“The horseman on its weather-cock, although a solid body, turns with every wind.

“This to the wise man, reveals many a mystery.

“Indeed, after subsisting a short time, a calamity shall come which shall ruin both the palace and its owner.

“Thus shall Andalus vanish one day!”

The archway-entrance to the _Casa del Carbon_ is very richly decorated, as may be seen by the illustration at p. 443, but the interior has been greatly interfered with and disfigured. Below, is a subterranean passage, said to communicate with the Alhambra; but the Duke d’Abrantes, who owned the _Casa_, regarded such means of communication as “uncanny,” and blocked up the passage. An inspection of the Arabic title-deeds to this interesting property, which are still extant, would amply repay the pains of conveyancing amateurs.

LA CASA SANCHEZ--THE HOUSE OF SANCHEZ.

La Casa Sanchez, so-called from having been the dwelling of an honest muleteer of that name, was once one of the most picturesque and most Moorish of dwellings. But, alas! in the year 1837, the whole front was “restored” and “beautified,” and an ancient fish-pond, similar to that of the Court of Myrtles, was filled up and converted into a garden by one of the resident officers of the Palace. The ruthless _empleado_, who caused the Moorish doors of the Hall of the Abencerrages to be sawn asunder, permitted also this outrage by a man of equal

taste with himself, who ruined the little architectural gem. The ruin yet offers a specimen of minute and beautiful _tarkish_--stucco-work--that even the lovely examples of the Alhambra itself cannot surpass. An illustration at p. 445, from a drawing of about the year 1830, ’ere the spoiler came, will give an idea of the departed beauty of the jewelled building.

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[BLANKPAGE] APPENDIX.

Moresco-Spanish Ballads.

Selected from the Translations of John Gibson Lockhart.

Lockhart’s intention was to furnish the English reader with some notion of that old Spanish minstrelsy preserved in the different _Cancioneros_ and _Romanceros_ of the Sixteenth Century; he owns, however, than only a Spaniard can achieve for his native _chansons_ what Percy, Ellis, or Ritson has done for English ballads. Until such a Spanish editor arises, it seems impossible to determine to what period the composition of the oldest Spanish ballads now extant ought to be referred.

The first collection of romantic Spanish ballads, that of Ferdinand de Castillo, was published so early as 1510; and, as the title of the book declares that the volume contains the ancient and modern songs of the Troubadours of Spain, it is clear that a certain number of the pieces were then considered ancient. There are not wanting circumstances which would seem to establish for many of the Spanish ballads a claim to antiquity much higher than is to be inferred from this date; for, in the _General Chronicle of Spain_, which was compiled in the fourteenth century at the instance of Alfonso the Wise, allusions are constantly made to the popular songs of the minstrels, or _Joglares_. One thing is certain, that the Spaniards are in possession of the oldest, as well as the largest, collection of _popular_ ballad poetry, properly so called, than is to be found in the literature of any other European nation; and Lockhart very pertinently puts the enquiry, “Had there been published at London, in the reign of our eighth Henry, a vast collection of English ballads about the wars of the Plantagenets, what illustration and annotation would not that collection have received ere now?”

It is fair, perhaps, to conclude that a great and remarkable influence was exerted over Spanish thought and feeling--and, therefore, over Spanish language and poetry--by the influx of those Oriental tribes who occupied, for long centuries, the fairest provinces of Spain; particularly when it is remembered that the Christian youth studied freely and honourably at the feet of Jewish and Mohammedan philosophers.

Throughout the oldest Spanish ballads there breathes a spirit of charity towards their Moorish enemies, for, in spite of adverse faith, in spite of adverse interests, they had much in common. Loves, and sports--nay, sometimes their haughtiest recollections--were in common; and even their heroes were the same: Bernardo del Carpio, Fernan Gonzalez, the Cid himself, had, at some period of their lives, fought beneath the standard of the Crescent, and the minstrels of either nation had equal pride in the celebration of their prowess. Even in the ballads most exclusively devoted to the records of feats of Spanish heroism, it is quite common to find some handsome compliment paid to the Moors. And when, at a later period, the conquest of Granada had mingled the Spaniards with the persons and manners of the Moors, the Spanish ballad-mongers still celebrated the achievements of their Saracen rivals; and the compliment towards “the Knights of Granada, gentlemen, albeit Moors,”

_Caballeros Granadinos_
_Aunque Moros hijos d’algo_,

must have been extremely gratifying to the defeated.

The ballads of Moorish origin are rather of the romantic than the historical class. They were sung in the villages of Andalusia in either language, but to the same tunes, and listened to with equal pleasure by Mussulman and Christian. In these strains, says Lockhart, whatever merits or demerits they may possess, they present a lively picture of the life of the Arabian Spaniard. We see him as he was in reality, “like steel among weapons--like wax among women.”

There came, indeed, a time when the fondness of the Spaniards for their Moorish ballads was made a matter of reproach; but this was not till long after the period when Spanish bravery had recovered the last fragments of the Peninsula from the Moslem.

The greater part of the Moorish ballads refer to the period immediately preceding, and at the time of the downfall of the throne of Granada. The amours of that splendid court; the bull fights, and other spectacular displays in which its lords and ladies delighted no less than those of the Christian courts of Spain; the feuds of the two great families of the Zegris and the Abencerrages, which contributed so largely to the ruin of the Moorish cause; and the incidents of the last war, in which the power of the Moslem was entirely overthrown by the arms of Ferdinand and Isabella.

The ballad, composed on the departure from Granada of the Moors, is a specimen of romantic minstrelsy which has never depended on historic truth. The allusion in the third stanza to the old white beard of the Moorish king seems to favour the conjecture that “Muley Hasen,” and not his son Boabdil, surrendered the keys of the fortress.

“THE FLIGHT FROM GRANADA.”

There was crying in Granada when the sun was going down--
Some calling on the Trinity--some calling on Mahoun!
Here passed away the Korán--there in the Cross was borne--
And here was heard the Christian bell, and there the Moorish horn;

_Te Deum Laudamus!_ was up the Alcala sung:
Down from th’ Alhambra’s minarets were all the crescents flung;
The arms thereon of Aragon they with Castile’s display;
One king comes in in triumph--one weeping goes away!

Thus cried the weeper, while his hands his old white beard did tear,
“Farewell, farewell, Granada! thou city without peer!
Woe, woe thou pride of heathendom! seven hundred years and more
Have gone since first the faithful thy royal sceptre bore!

“Thou wert the happy mother of a high renownéd race;
Within thee dwelt a haughty line that now go from their place;
Within thee fearless knights did dwell, who fought with mickle glee
The enemies of proud Castile--the bane of Christientie!

“The mother of fair dames wert thou, of truth and beauty rare,
Into whose arms did courteous knights for solace sweet repair;
For whose dear sakes the gallants of Afric made display
Of might in joust and battle on many a bloody day!

“Here gallants held it little thing for ladies’ sake to die,
Or for the Prophet’s honour, and pride of Soldanry:
For here did valour flourish, and deeds of warlike might
Ennobled lordly palaces, in which was our delight.

“The gardens of thy Vega, its fields and blooming bowers--
Woe, woe! I see their beauty gone, and scatter’d all their flowers
No reverence can he claim, the king that such a land hath lost
On charger never can he ride, nor be heard among the host;
But in some dark and dismal place, where none his face may see,
There, weeping and lamenting, alone that king should be!”

Thus spake Granada’s king as he was riding to the sea,
About to cross Gibraltar’s Strait away to Barbary:
Thus he in heaviness of soul unto his queen did cry.--
(He had stopp’d and ta’en her in his arms, for together they did fly).

“Unhappy king! whose craven soul can brook”--(she ’gan reply)
“To leave behind Granada--who hast not heart to die--
Now for the love I bore thy youth, thee gladly could I slay!
For what is life to leave when such a crown is cast away?”

THE DEATH OF DON ALONZO OF AGUILAR.

The Catholic zeal of Ferdinand and Isabella was gratified by the external conversion at least of great part of the Moors of Granada; but the inhabitants of the Sierra of Alpujarra, to which the remnant of the Moors had retired, resisted every effort of the priests who were sent among them, so that the order for baptism was at length enforced by arms. These Moorish mountaineers resisted strenuously, but were at length subdued, and, in great part, extirpated. Amongst many severe losses sustained by the Spanish forces in this guerilla warfare, was that recorded in the following ballad. The tragic story has been made familiar to English readers by the Bishop of Dromore’s exquisite version of “Rio Verde! Rio Verde!”

Fernando, king of Aragon, before Granada lies,
With dukes and barons many a one, and champions of emprise;
With all the captains of Castile that serve his lady’s crown,
He drives Boabdil from his gates, and plucks the Crescent down.

The Cross is rear’d upon the towers, for our Redeemer’s sake!
The king assembles all his powers, his triumph to partake;
Yet at the royal banquet, there’s trouble in his eye--
“Now speak thy wish, it shall be done, great king!” the lordings cry.

Then spake Fernando: “Hear, grandees! which of ye all will go,
And give my banner in the breeze of Alpujar to blow?
Those heights along, the Moors are strong; now who, by dawn of day,
Will plant the Cross their cliffs among, and drive the dogs away?”

Then champion on champion high, and count on count doth look;
And falt’ring is the tongue of lord, and pale the cheek of duke;
Till starts up brave Alonzo, the knight of Aguilar,
The lowmost at the royal board, but foremost still in war.

And thus he speaks: “I pray, my lord, that none but I may go:
For I made promise to the queen, your consort, long ago,
That ere the war should have an end, I, for her royal charms,
And for my duty to her grace, would show some feat of arms!”

Much joy’d the king these words to hear--he bids Alonzo speed;
And long before the revel’s o’er the knight is on his steed;
Alonzo’s on his milk-white steed, with horsemen in his train,
A thousand horse, a chosen band, ere dawn the hills to gain.

They ride along the darkling ways, they gallop thro’ the night;
They reach Nevada ere the cock hath harbinger’d the light;
But ere they’ve climb’d that steep ravine, the east is glowing red,
And the Moors their lances bright have seen, and Christian banners spread.

Beyond the sands, between the rocks, where the old cork-trees grow,
The path is rough, and mounted men must singly march and slow;
There, o’er the path, the heathen range their ambuscado’s line,
High up they wait for Aguilar, as the day begins to shine.

There, nought avails the eagle-eye, the guardian of Castile,
The eye of wisdom, nor the heart that fear might never feel,
The arm of strength, that wielded well the strong mace in the fray,
Nor the broad plate, from whence the edge of faulchion glanced away.

Not knightly valour there avails, nor skill of horse and spear;
For rock on rock comes rumbling down from cliff and cavern drear;
Down--down like driving hail they come, and horse and horsemen die;
Like cattle whose despair is dumb when the fierce lightnings fly.

Alonzo, with a handful more, escapes into the field,
There, like a lion, stands at bay, in vain besought to yield;
A thousand foes around are seen, but none draw near to fight;
Afar, with bolt and javelin, they pierce the steadfast knight.

A hundred and a hundred darts are hissing round his head;
Had Aguilar a thousand hearts, their blood had all been shed;
Faint, and more faint, he staggers upon the slippery sod,
At last his back is to the earth, he gives his soul to God!

With that the Moors plucked up their hearts to gaze upon his face,
And caitiffs mangled where he lay the scourge of Afric’s race;
To woody Oxijera then the gallant corpse they drew,
And there, upon the village green, they laid him out to view.

Upon the village-green he lay, as the moon was shining clear,
And all the village damsels to look on him drew near;
They stood around him all a-gaze, beside a big oak-tree,
And much his beauty they did praise, tho’ mangled sore was he.
Now, so it fell, a Christian dame, that knew Alonzo well,
Not far from Oxijera did as a captive dwell,
And hearing all the marvels, across the woods came she,
To look upon this Christian corpse, and wash it decently.

She look’d upon him, and she knew the face of Aguilar,
Although his beauty was defac’d with many a ghastly scar,
She knew him, and she cursed the dogs that pierced him from afar,
And mangled him when he was slain--the Moors of Alpujar.

The Moorish maidens, while she spake, around her silence kept,
But her master dragged the dame away--then loud and long they wept;
They washed the blood, with many a tear, from dint of dart and arrow,
And buried him near the waters clear of the brook of Alpujarra.

THE BULL-FIGHT OF GAZUL.

Gazul is the name of one of the Moorish heroes who figure in the “_Historia de las Guerras Civiles de Granada_.” The following is one of many ballads in which the dexterity of Moorish cavaliers in the Bull-fight is described. The reader will observe that the shape, activity, and resolution of the animal destined to furnish the amusement of the spectators, are enlarged upon, just as the qualities of a modern racehorse might be amongst ourselves--nor is the bull without his name. The day of the Baptist is a festival of the Mussulmans, as well as amongst Christians:

King Almanzor of Granada, he hath bid the trumpet sound,
He hath summon’d all the Moorish lords, from the hills and plains around;
From Vega and Sierra, from Betis and Xenil,
They have come with helm and cuirass of gold and twisted steel.

’Tis the holy Baptist’s feast they hold in royalty and state,
And they have closed the spacious lists, beside the Alhambra’s gate;
In gowns of black with silver laced, within the tented ring,
Eight Moors to fight the bull are placed, in presence of the King.

Eight Moorish lords of valour tried, with stalwart arm and true,
The onset of the beasts abide, as they come rushing through;
The deeds they’ve done, the spoils they’ve won,
fill all with hope and trust
Yet, ’ere high in heaven appears the sun, they all have bit the dust!

Then sounds the trumpet clearly, then clangs the loud tambour,
Make room, make room for Gazul!--throw wide, throw wide the door!
Blow, blow the trumpet clearer still! more loudly strike the drum!
The Alcaydé of Algava to fight the bull doth come.

And first before the King he passed, with reverence stooping low,
And next he bowed him to the Queen and th’ Infantas all a-rowe;
Then to his lady’s grace he turned, and she to him did throw
A scarf from out her balcony was whiter than the snow.

With the life-blood of the slaughtered lords all slippery is the sand,
Yet proudly in the centre hath Gazul ta’en his stand;
And ladies look with heaving breast, and lords with anxious eye,
But firmly he extends his arm--his look is calm and high.

Three bulls against the knight are loosed, and two come roaring on,
He rises high in stirrup, forth stretching his rejón;
Each furious beast upon the breast he deals him such a blow,
He blindly totters and gives back across the sand to go.

“Turn, Gazul, turn!” the people cry: the third comes up behind,
Low to the sand his head holds he, his nostrils snuff the wind;
The mountaineers that lead the steers without stand whispering low,
“Now thinks this proud Alcaydé to stun _Harpado_ so?”

From Guadiana comes he not, he comes not from Xenil,
From Gaudalarif of the plain, or Barves of the hill;
But where from out the forest burst Xarama’s waters clear,
Beneath the oak-trees was he nursed, this proud and stately steer.

Dark is his hide on either side, but the blood within doth boil,
And the dun hide glows, as if on fire, as he paws to the turmoil.
His eyes are jet, and they are set in crystal rings of snow;
But now they stare with one red glare of brass upon the foe.

Upon the forehead of the bull the horns stand close and near,
From out the broad and wrinkled skull like daggers they appear;
His neck is massy, like the trunk of some old knotted tree,
Whereon the monster’s shaggy mane, like billows curled, ye see,

His legs are short, his hams are thick, his hoofs are black as night,
Like a strong flail he holds his tail in fierceness of his might;
Like something molten out of iron, or hewn from forth the rock,
_Harpado_ of Xarama stands, to bide the Alcaydé’s shock.

Now stops the drum; close, close they come; thrice meet,
and thrice give back;
The white foam of _Harpado_ lies on the charger’s breast of black;
The white foam of the charger on _Harpado’s_ front of dun;
Once more advance upon his lance--once more, thou fearless one!

Once more, once more! in dust and gore to ruin must thou reel!
In vain, in vain thou tearest the sand with furious heel!
In vain, in vain, thou noble beast! I see, I see thee stagger,
Now keen and cold thy neck must hold the stern Alcaydé’s dagger!

They have slipped a noose around his feet, six horses are brought in,
And away they drag _Harpado_ with a loud and joyful din;
Now stoop thee, lady, from thy stand, and the ring of price bestow,
Upon Gazul of Algava, that hath laid _Harpado_ low.

THE BRIDAL OF ANDALLA.

The following exquisitely tender ballad has been often imitated by modern poets:

“Rise up, rise up, Xarifa! lay the golden cushion down;
Rise up, come to the window, and gaze with all the town!
From gay guitar and violin the silver notes are flowing,
And the dulcet lute doth speak between the trumpet’s lordly blowing;
And banners bright from lattice light are waving everywhere,
And the tall, tall plume of our cousin’s bridegroom floats
proudly in the air;
Rise up, rise up, Xarifa! lay the golden cushion down:
Rise up, come to the window, and gaze with all the town!

“Arise, arise Xarifa! I see Andalla’s face--
He bends him to the people with a calm and princely grace;
Through all the land of Xeres and banks of Guadalquivir,
Rode forth bridegroom so brave as he, so brave and lovely never,

Yon tall plume waving o’er his brow, of purple mixed with white,
I guess ’twas wreathed by Zara, whom he will wed to-night:--
Rise up, rise up, Xarifa! lay the golden cushion down:
Rise up, come to the window, and gaze with all the town!

“What aileth thee, Xarifa? what makes thine eyes look down?
Why stay ye from the window far, nor gaze with all the town?
I’ve heard you say on many a day, and sure you said the truth,
Andalla rides without a peer, ’mong all Granada’s youth;
Without a peer he rideth, and yon milk-white horse doth go
Beneath his stately master, with a stately step and slow:--
Then rise, oh! rise, Xarifa! lay the golden cushion down;
Unseen here through the lattice, you may gaze with all the town!”

The Zegri lady rose not, nor laid her cushion down,
Nor came she to the window to gaze with all the town;
But though her eyes dwelt on her knee, in vain her fingers strove,
And though her needle press’d the silk, no flower Xarifa wove;
One bonny rosebud she had traced, before the noise drew nigh;
That bonny bud a tear effaced, slow drooping from her eye.
“No, no!” she sighs; “bid me not rise, nor lay my cushion down,
To gaze upon Andalla with all the gazing town!”

“Why rise ye not, Xarifa? nor lay your cushion down?
Why gaze ye not, Xarifa, with all the gazing town?
Hear, hear the trumpet, how it swells, and how the people cry!
He steps at Zara’s palace-gate--why sit ye still?--oh, why?”

“At Zara’s gate stops Zara’s mate; in him shall I discover
The dark-eyed youth pledged me his truth with tears, and was my lover?
I will not rise, with weary eyes, nor lay my cushion down,
To gaze on false Andalla with all the gazing town!”

ZARA’S EAR-RINGS.

“My ear-rings! my ear-rings! they’ve dropped into the well,
And what to say to Músa, I cannot, cannot tell;”
’Twas thus, Granada’s fountain by, spoke Albuharez’ daughter--
“The well is deep--far down they lie, beneath the cold blue water;
To me did Músa give them, when he spake his sad farewell,
And what to say when he comes back, alas! I cannot tell.

“My ear-rings! my ear-rings!--they were pearls, in silver set,
That, when my Moor was far away, I ne’er should him forget;
That I ne’er to another tongue should list, nor smile on other’s tale,
But remember he my lips had kissed, pure as those ear-rings pale,
When he comes back, and hears that I have dropped them in the well,
Oh! what will Músa think of me!--I cannot, cannot tell!

“My ear-rings! my ear-rings!--he’ll say they should have been,
Not of pearl and of silver, but of gold and glittering sheen,
Of jasper and of onyx, and of diamond shining clear,
Changing to the changing light, with radiance insincere;
That changeful mind unchanging gems are not befitting well;
Thus will he think--and what to say, alas! I cannot tell.

“He’ll think, when I to market went, I loitered by the way;
He’ll think a willing ear I lent to all the lads might say;
He’ll think some other lover’s hand among my tresses noosed,
From the ears where he had placed them my rings of pearl unloosed;
He’ll think, when I was sporting so beside this marble well,
My pearls fell in--and what to say, alas! I cannot tell.

“He’ll say, I am a woman, and we are all the same;
He’ll say, I loved, when he was here, to whisper of his flame,
But, when he went to Tunis, my virgin troth had broken,
And thought no more of Músa, and cared not for his token.
My ear-rings! my ear-rings! oh, luckless, luckless well!
For what to say to Músa, alas! I cannot tell.

“I’ll tell the truth to Músa--and I hope he will believe,
That I thought of him at morning, and thought of him at eve:
That, musing on my lover, when down the sun was gone,
His ear-rings in my hand I held, by the fountain all alone;
And that my mind was o’er the sea, when from my hand they fell,
And that deep his love lies near my heart, as they lie in the well!”

THE LAMENTATION FOR CELIN.

At the gate of old Granada, when all its bolts are barred,
At twilight, at the Vega-gate, there is a trampling heard;
There is a trampling heard, as of horses treading slow,
And a weeping voice of women, and a heavy sound of woe!
“What tower is fallen, what star is set, what chief comes here bewailing?”
“A tower is fallen, a star is set!--Alas! alas for Celin!”
Three times they knock, three times they cry, and wide the
doors they throw;
Dejectedly they enter, and mournfully they go;
In gloomy lines they mustering stand, beneath the hollow porch,
Each horseman grasping in his hand a black and flaming torch;
Wet is each eye as they go by, and all around is wailing,
For all have heard the misery.--Alas! alas for Celin!

Him, yesterday, a Moor did slay, of Ben-cerraji’s blood--
’Twas at the solemn jousting--around the nobles stood;
The nobles of the land were by, and ladies bright and fair
Looked from their latticed windows, the haughty sight to share;
But now the nobles all lament--the ladies are bewailing--
He was Granada’s darling knight.--Alas! alas for Celin!

Before him ride his vassals, in order two by two,
With ashes on their turbans spread, most pitiful to view;
Behind him his four sisters, each wrapped in sable veil,
Between the tambour’s dismal strokes take up their doleful tale;
When stops the muffled drum, ye hear their brotherless bewailing,
And all the people, far and near, cry--“Alas! alas for Celin!”

Oh! lovely lies he on the bier, above the purple pall,
The flower of all Granada’s youth, the loveliest of them all:
His dark, dark eyes are closed, his rosy lip is pale,
The crust of blood lies black and dim upon his burnished mail;
And evermore the hoarse tambour breaks in upon their wailing,
Its sound is like no earthly sound--Alas! alas for Celin!

The Moorish maid at the lattice stands, the Moor stands at his door;
One maid is wringing of her hands, and one is weeping sore;
Down to the dust men bow their heads, and ashes black they strew
Upon their broidered garments, of crimson, green, and blue;
Before each gate the bier stands still, then bursts the loud bewailing,
From door and lattice high and low--“Alas! alas for Celin!”

An old, old woman cometh forth, when she hears the people cry--
Her hair is white as silver, like horn her glazing eye:
’Twas she that nursed him at her breast--that nursed him long ago;
She knows not whom they all lament, but soon she well shall know!
With one deep shriek, she thro’ doth break, when her ears
receive their wailing,
“Let me kiss my Celin ere I die.--Alas! alas for Celin!”

Index.

Frontispiece

Dedication

Preface, v., vii.

Preface To Second Edition

Introduction, xxv.-liv.

Abencerrages, 10, 103-112, 149, 150

Abou Hud, 22

Abu-l-hasen, King of Granada (father of Boabdil), 10, 14, 17, 18

Abu’ Abdillah (Boabdil), 10, 17, 18, 107, 108, 422

Acequia Court, 414.

Alcarraza, xxxvi.

Alcazába, xxxv.

Alfonso XIII., King of Spain, xxxi., 21

Alfonso the Wise, 449

Algibes, xxxv.

Alhama, 108

Alhambra:--Album, ix.;
Begun, 26;
Completed, 32;
Diagrams of Principle of Ornament, xlv.;
Exterior, 4;
Fire in the Hall of the Barque, viii.;
Frets, xli., xlii.;
Courts, Halls, and Towers of, 35;
Inscriptions, Mosaics, and Panels, xxxv., xxxvi.;
Miscellaneous Ornament, xlvii.;
Museum in the, 352-356; Ornament, xli.;
Pavements, xxxix., xl.;
Vases, 77, 95, 99;
Views of, 3, 5, 7.
_See_ also “List of Illustrations” in front of volume

Al-makkarí, xxx., xxxi., 439

Alonzo X., 26

Alonzo de Valiza, 401

Alonzo XI., 30, 31

Ambassadors, Hall of, 28, 244-304

“Andalus,” Etymology of, xxxi.

Andalusians, Superiority of, xxx.

_Antigüedades Arabes de España_, 20

Appendix, 449

Ayeshah, 10

Azulejo Tiles, xxxix.

Bacon, Lord, 13

Bádís Ibn Hábus, 430

Ballads:--Moresco-Spanish, 449;
The Flight from Granada, 451, 452;
The Death of Don Alonzo de Aguilar, 453, 455;
The Bull-Fight of Gazul, 455, 457;
The Bridal of Andalla, 457, 458;
Zara’s Ear-rings, 458, 459;
The Lamentation for Celin, 459, 460

Barnardo del Carpio, 450

Barque, Hall of the, 244

Bas-relief, 355

Baths, The, 28, 31, 324-327

Boabdil, _see_ Abu’ Abdillah

Cabra, Count of, 17

Campotejar, Marquis of, 422

Casa del Carbon, 430, 439

Casa del Gallo de Viento, 430

Casa Sanchez, 439

Casa Real, the Spanish name for the Alhambra, xxxii.

Cathedral of Granada, 13

Charcoal, House of, 430, 439

Charles V., xxxv., 19, 356, 364

Charles Martel, 2

Cid, The, “el Campeador,” 450

Cisterns, Place of the, xxxv., 356

Colours employed by the Moors, liii.

Columbus, 13

Contreras, Don Mariano, viii., xxxii.

Contreras, Don Raphaël, viii., ix., xxxii.

Conveyancing, Curious practice of, 401

Coppeé, Henry, xl.

Córdova, 4, 17

Cuarto Real, _see_ Generalife

D’Abrantes, Duke, 439

Darro, 10, 414

De Solis, Isabel, 8, 9

Dolgorouki, Prince, vii.

Dozy, Professor, ix., xxx., xl.

Elizabeth of Parma, 19, 335

English Elms at Granada, 35

Ez-zaghal, 10, 18

Ferdinand, the Saint, 23, 24, 26

Ferdinand VII., 35

Ferdinand and Isabella, 10, 13, 17, 18, 19, 422

Fernando of Talavera, Archbishop of Granada, 14

Fish-pond, Court of the, xxxv., 28, 32, 150, 191, 192, 195

Ford, Richard, ix., 13, 35, 401

Gayángos, Don Pascual de, ix., xxx., xxxi., xl., 323

Geb-al-Tárik, 1, 5

Generalife, The, 401, 402, 414, 422, 429, 430, 439

Gibraltar, 1

Gold Coin of Mohammed I., 20, 21

Gonzalez, Fernan, of Castile, 450

Goury, Jules, xlv., lv., 48

Granada, xxix., 2, 4, 6, 9, 15, 414

Guadix, 408, 413

Homage Tower, 352

Ibnu Battútah, xxviii.

Ibnu-l-khattib, xxviii., xxix., 402, 413

Illustrations, List of, xi.-xix.

Illustrations, List of coloured, xxii.-xxv.

Irving, Washington, ix., xl., 7, 19, 37, 331, 335, 364

Isabella and Ferdinand, 10, 13, 17, 18, 19

Isabel de Solis, “The Captive,” 8, 9, 11

Isma’il-Ibn-Faraj, 402

Jaen, 23

James the Conqueror, 23

Jennatu-l-’arif, _see_ Generalife

Jones, Owen, viii., xliv., lv.

Justice, Gate of, xxxv., 28, 29, 36, 37, 38

Justice, Hall of, 38, 41, 42, 47, 48, 65

Katherine of Aragon, 13, 38

Ladies’ Tower, 352

Lane-Poole, Stanley, ix.

Lerma, Duke of, 6

Lewis, John F., viii.

“Lindaraja,” 67, 71, 328, 329

Lions, Court of the, 195-244

Lockhart, J. G., 449-460

Lucena, 10, 17

Macafreto, 401

Machuca, Pedro, 364

Malaga, 18, 29, 414

Martos, 10

Mint within the Alhambra, 20

Mohammed I., xxvii., 20, 21, 22, 24, 25, 27, 51

Mohammed V., xxvii., 402, 407, 408, 413

Mohammed VI., 408, 413, 414

Mohammed XII. (Ez-zaghal), 10, 18

Moorish Ornament, xli.-liii.

Moors, Final Expulsion of the, 5

“Morning Star,” 10

Mosque, The, 49, 304-324

Motto of Mohammed I. and his successors, 25, 51

Muhammed Hayat Khan, xli.

Muley Hasen, _see_ Abu-l-hasen, King of Granada

Murphy, J. C., viii., lv.

Musa, 5, and foot-note

Museum of the Alhambra, 352, 356;
Bas-relief, 355;
Vase, 77, 95

Pedro I., 408, 413, 414

Peninsular War, 19

Peyron, Mr., 422

Philip of Castile, 27

Philip III., 6

Philip V., 19, 335

Queen’s Dressing-room, 331

Saint Ferdinand, Academy of, 20

Sanchez, House of, 439

Salado, Battle of, 29

Seville, 4, 24, 26

Silla del Moro, 422

Swinburne, Henry, 422

Tablada, 413

“Tanto Monta,” lv.

Tarif, 1

Tárik, 1, 5

Tendilla, Count of, 14, 17

Tours, 1

Tower of “The Captive,” 351, 352

Tower of Comares, 336, _see_ Hall of Ambassadors

Tower of the Infantas, 351, 352

Tower of the Peaks, 336, 414

Tower of the Seven Stages, 335

Two Sisters, Hall of the, 28, 30, 65-103;
Verses in the, 70-75

Vega, or Plain of Granada, 9

Votive Altar (Roman), Embedded in the Masonry of the Alhambra, 352

Watt, H. E., xli.

Weather-cock, House of the, 430, 439

Welíd (Sultán), 5

Wellington, Duke of, 35

“Wine Gate,” xxxv., 28, 29, 356

Ximenez, 13

Yonge, Charlotte M., xli.

Yúsuf, I. (Abu-el-Hejaj), xxvii., xxix., 28-34, 402

Yúsuf II., 414

Zacatin, 430

Záwí, xxvii.

Zegris, 10

Zoraya, the “Morning Star,” 10

* * * * *

THE ALHAMBRA

BY ALBERT F. CALVERT

_UNIFORM WITH “MOORISH REMAINS IN SPAIN”_

_SOME PRESS OPINIONS_

“A remarkable representation of the chief features of a building that has been, for six centuries, one of the wonders of the world.”--_Times._

“The standard work upon a splendid subject.”--_Daily Telegraph._

“Affords an inviting opportunity of studying this beautiful example of Moorish art.”--_Morning Post._

“A treasure to the student of decorative art.”--_Morning Advertiser._

“Seems to have been a labour of love.”--_Sporting Life._

“Superb pictorial guide.”--_Sportsman._

“It is a book apart.”--_Manchester Courier._

“The final book on the Alhambra.”--_Sussex Daily News._

“Takes high rank among the lavish books.”--_Financial News._

“Among the most important art books which have been published.”--_Globe._

“For any adequate idea of its beauty one must go to the book itself.”--_Echo._

“Altogether an attractive volume.”--_Sunday Special._

“Exercises on the reader something of the fascination which inspired its production.”--_Observer._

“Will contribute as much as anything to bringing home to men’s minds the greatness of the Moors.”--_Reynolds._

“Helps one to realise the wonder and the glory of the Alhambra in a way that few other books can do.”--_Lloyds._

“As a history it is conciseness itself.”--_Outlook._

“The coloured plates ... alone are worth the price of the volume.”--_Academy._

“A monumental work.”--_Bristol Mercury._

“A notable work of art.”--_Lowestoft Standard._

“It is the last word on the subject.”--_Nottingham Express._

“One of the most sumptuous of modern tomes.”--_Newcastle Chronicle._

“The most adequate illustrated souvenir.”--_Scotsman._

“A remarkable masterpiece of book production.”--_Eastern Daily Press._

“A magnificent work.”--_Melbourne Age._

“Few writers would be better qualified to describe the Alhambra.”--_Bookseller._

“The most complete record ... which has ever been contemplated, much less attempted.”--_British Architect._

“One of the most magnificent books ever issued from the English Press.”--_Building World._

“In every way well produced.”--_Building News._

“Instructive and attractive.”--_Field._

“We have seldom had a more pleasurable task than that of reviewing it.”--_Commercial Intelligence._

“A fitting memorial of one of the greatest of human achievements.”--_Review of Reviews._

“We shall be surprised if collectors of valuable books on art do not rush to become possessed of it.”--_Public Opinion._

“Artistically excellent.”--_Guardian._

“Quite the most beautiful book upon the Alhambra issued in England.”--_Sphere._

“One of the most artistic productions of the year.”--_Publishers’ Circular._

“One of the most detailed and sumptuous works on the Alhambra that has come under our notice.”--_Yachtsman._

“It may be doubted if Irving or any other visitor would perceive as much of the beauty of the Alhambra.”--_Liverpool Courier._

“A monumental work ... perfect in description and equally perfect in artistic illustration.”--_Sheffield Telegraph._

“At once an instruction and a delight.”--_Lancashire Post._

“Will afford ... exquisite delight.”--_Western Daily Press._

“An ineffable delight to every lover of the beautiful.”--_Dundee Advertiser._

“Very exceptional interest and attractiveness.”--_Glasgow Herald._

“A perfect treasure of beauty and delight.”--_Keighley News._

“One of the most beautiful books of modern times.”--_Ely Gazette._

“No traveller could desire a more sumptuous remembrancer.”--_To-day._

“A very handsome art-work.”--_Melbourne Argus._

MOORISH REMAINS IN SPAIN

BY ALBERT F. CALVERT

_UNIFORM WITH “THE ALHAMBRA”_

_SOME PRESS NOTICES_

“This book is certainly a store-house of Moorish ornament; of plates and illustrations there are literally hundreds, numbers of them printed in colours and gold, drawn out geometrically.... The wealth of illustration cannot be gainsaid; and with it Mr. CALVERT has made a genuine and very successful attempt to grapple with the problem of the working out of the bases of the Moorish geometrical designs, so amazing in their ultimate intricacy. In a series of diagrams, nearly two hundred in number, the astonishing complexity of the designs based on the triangle, rectangle, pentagon, and hexagon is unravelled with a completeness that surpasses anything of the sort with which we are acquainted. It is an excellent piece of work, which gives Mr. CALVERT’S book a real value of its own.”--_Times._

“Mr. ALBERT F. CALVERT has in this sumptuous volume produced an artistic _chef d’œuvre_ as well as a deeply interesting historical treatise on one of the most picturesque periods of European history. Here we have in a series of graphic word-pictures the marvellous exploits of the Moors in the Peninsula, the foundation of an empire which lasted for several centuries, and has left marks of its eminence in arts and in learning, in a record of brilliant scholars and in architectural remains which are still the wonder of travellers. The influence of Moorish art is still felt among nations to whom the word Saracen is but a name, and Mr. CALVERT has performed a useful work in bringing together for the benefit of artists and students the masterpieces which the ravages of time, neglect, and hatred have still spared in Spain.... Mr. CALVERT deals in these pages with Cordova, Seville, and Toledo, and gives us drawings of the most famous Moorish buildings therein, with complete details of the wonderful decorative art lavished upon them by now forgotten architects and artists. These are faithfully reproduced in the illustrations, which form a veritable treasure-house of suggestion for moderns. The author has, indeed, brought Spain to the doors of Englishmen who are unable to visit that country, and placed its treasures fully before them. It only remains to add that the volume is produced in a style worthy of the object.”--_Daily Telegraph._

“A volume which is not only rich in elaborate reproductions of Moorish designs in outline and colour, but is animated by a warm admiration for the great race which has left us so many tributes to beauty. Modestly as Mr. CALVERT states his claims, the reader should not neglect his eloquent introduction, in which he reminds us that it was to the Moslem Spain first owed some permanent national organisation.... The present condition of the monuments which remain is briefly described in subsequent chapters dealing with Cordova, Seville, and Toledo. Mr. CALVERT’S thorough study of Arabian work enables him to give the student valuable aid in distinguishing what are the monuments which belong to the golden age of Islamic achievement. He shows how little there is of this time in Seville, though Spanish taste endeavoured to maintain the tradition for four centuries after the Moorish spirit had given way before the conquering Christian.”--_Morning Post._

“The book gives a vivid idea of the present state and former magnificence of Moorish buildings in the three Spanish cities which its author now describes; while the illustrations, which include upwards of eighty coloured plates, and an immense number of photographic halftones, are exceptionally good.”--_Standard._

“An examination of the book reveals at once the fact that it is very well illustrated; while the author brings to his work an unmistakable freshness and vigour, brought about by prolonged visits to the places described, and gives evidence of the possession of the observing eye and a facility for expressive description.”--_Evening Standard._

“It is really impossible to do justice, in a journal of this kind, to the sumptuous volume (its price is two guineas and the book is worth it) before us. To do that--to give the reader any adequate notion of the beauty of the illustrations with which it is enriched--we should have to summon all the resources of the colour printer’s art to our assistance, in order to reproduce them in a special _edition de luxe_ of the “P.M.G.” Inasmuch as that is not to be done, we must ask the reader to take it on trust from us that the illustrations of Moorish decorative art are something quite out of the common.... The making of this book must, surely, have been a labour of love; and love’s labour has certainly not been lost.”--_Pall Mall Gazette._

“_Qui multum peregrinatur, raro sanctificatur_ runs the old monkish saw; but we find its living contradiction in Mr. CALVERT. This modern Jason set out to Western Australia in quest of gold. Adventuring into deserts, he found what he sought and returned home content, only to set forth again on further pilgrimages; which, if the evidence of our eyes is to be trusted, have resulted in the discovery of still more gold. Verily there is a profusion of it in this book; but its liberal use has paid the fee of sanctification. We cheerfully admit Mr. CALVERT into the ranks of those whom posterity will applaud for delightful yet unprofitable work.”--_Outlook._

“This valuable and profusely-illustrated volume is designed to be the companion and complementary volume to the same author’s work on the Alhambra.... Mr. CALVERT’S frequent and protracted visits to Spain caused him to realise that the Moors were not a one-city nation, and that there were splendid remains of earlier Mohammedan architecture and decoration in Cordova, Seville, and Toledo. Moorish work of these three cities forms the theme of the present volume, in which, as in the book on the Alhambra, the letterpress is made subservient to the illustrations. The supply of pictures is at once lavish and excellent.... The colouring and the elaboration of the designs of various schemes of Moorish ornamentation, apart from general architectural effects, are often marvellous, and almost bewildering, both in the boldness of their conception and in the intricacy of their pattern.”--_Guardian._

“Mr. CALVERT has produced a beautiful book.... It is illustrated with so lavish a richness of colour that to turn its pages gives one at first almost the same impression of splendour as one receives in wandering from hall to hall of the Alcazar of Seville: and this is probably the highest compliment we could pay to the book or its author.”--_Academy._

“This is one of the books to which a simply literary review cannot pretend to do justice. Mr. CALVERT gives a brief record of the Moorish conquest of Spain, but the main purpose of his book is to bring before the English reader the art, architectural and decorative, of the people.... In this volume he deals with and presents, with great wealth of illustration, the relics of their achievement in Cordova, Seville, and Toledo.... The book seems worthy of the subject, and we would gladly give a more effective description of its many beauties.”--_Spectator._

“As a production it is, without doubt, one of the most beautiful we have seen, the illustrations and colour printing, being exquisite. The author evidently knows his subject well, as the description in detail of Cordova, Seville, and Toledo range far and above any other publication. It is certainly one of the most interesting books of the year.”--_Crown._

“A truly sumptuous volume.”--_Speaker._

“This sumptuous volume.”--_Westminster Gazette._

“Scholarly and richly illustrated volume.... Although he himself deprecates the value of the essays accompanying the illustrations of his book, declaring his purpose to have been rather to present a picture than to chronicle the romances of Spanish-Morisco art, Mr. CALVERT has given a very complete and deeply-interesting account of the evolution of that art, which he has skilfully combined with a condensed history of the people who produced it.”--_Connoisseur._

“Just when the new Spanish marriage is attracting attention to a country of departed greatness, Mr. CALVERT’S volume appears with the courtliest of dedications to His Majesty Alfonso XIII. In many respects this handsome volume is a timely wedding present for his Spanish Majesty, as it is a gorgeous literary tribute to the beauty of the jewels in the Spanish Crown--Cordova, Seville, and Toledo. Mr. CALVERT is an enthusiast and an antiquary.... The author himself allows us to regard his volume in the main as a picture book, and we can imagine that many a designer who eschews the noble simplicity of fresh forms and the Christian aspiration of Gothic art will turn with profit to the wealth of plates here bestowed. The coloured plates are gorgeous rather than delicate; for that we must thank the Moors, and marvel at the inventiveness of their artist geometricians.”--_Antiquary._

“Already in his _Alhambra_ Mr. CALVERT has shown his keen appreciation of the beauties of Spanish-Moresco architecture combined with an insight into its special characteristics and a recognition of the manner in which those characteristics reflect the idiosyncracies of its builders. The present volume deals chiefly with the Cathedral Mosque of Cordova, the Alcazar of Seville, and the less important relics of Moorish art at Toledo, bringing vividly before the imagination the almost bewildering richness of design, with the infinite variety, yet intrinsic simplicity, of decorative motives, that set the art of the Moors apart from that of any other people, the creators of the marvellous palaces and tombs of India not excepted.... Though Mr. CALVERT relies mainly on the copious illustrations of his book to impress upon the spectator the beauty of the survivals of Moorish art in Spain, he supplements his descriptions of them with a history of the Moors during the eight centuries of the domination in Spain. To the actual story of the three typical towns selected Mr. CALVERT has added a very interesting and richly-illustrated chapter on the general principles of Arab ornament.”--_Studio._

“An interesting, well-written, and illuminative work, sumptuously illustrated and tasteful alike in method and detail. Mr. CALVERT is to be heartily congratulated. His admirable work on the Alhambra, to which the present volume is designed to be complementary, showed him to be not merely a careful and appreciative student of Moorish art, but a connoisseur possessed of remarkable powers of discrimination. Of the new book before us we can at once say that it is in every way worthy of its fascinating subject, and a fitting companion to its predecessor.... The exquisiteness of the Mosque Cathedral of Cordova, and the superb tracery and decoration of the Alcazar of Seville, are here adequately revealed, perhaps for the first time. Indeed, to the traveller familiar with these wonders of Moorish delicacy, the present volume will reveal new beauties. Mr. CALVERT, as in his previous work, has made his letterpress subservient to his illustrations, and the illustrations are given with a minuteness and faithfulness of detail and colour, which will be particularly appreciated and acknowledged by those who are most acquainted with the subjects themselves.”--_Liverpool Post._

“For his history and description of the mark which the Moor has left on Toledo, Cordova, and Seville, Mr. CALVERT has consulted many authorities, and has produced a useful and well-written letterpress which is in style touched by the colour and romance of the subject.... Certainly the marvellous loveliness and richness and intricacy of detail, as well as the vastness of extent of boldness of conception of the relics of Moorish art in the three cities named, could not be more fully and vividly brought before the eyes than in this series of illustrations.... The great feature of the book is the series of eighty full-page coloured plates, in which the colour as well as form of the wonderful arabesque and diapering which distinguish the typical buildings of the best age of Moorish architecture in Spain, are shown with remarkable vividness and fidelity.”--_Scotsman._

“It is only fitting that this important volume has been dedicated to the King of Spain, for it would be difficult to imagine a more sumptuous work illustrating the beautiful buildings which the Moors left behind them in the Peninsula to bear everlasting record to their taste and culture.... The illustrations are such a prominent feature of this volume that they claim our first attention. At the risk of being suspected of exaggeration we can only say that it is impossible to praise too highly the care with which they have been prepared. There are some hundreds of them, of which between eighty and ninety are exact reproductions in colour and gold of various portions of the marvellously beautiful decorations so beloved of the Moors and so characteristic of their work. The other illustrations are so numerous and well chosen as to give a perfect series of pictures of every portion of these Moorish buildings. Details of tracery, capitals of pillars, sections of friezes, decorations and roofs are pictured with absolute faithfulness, and as a treasure-house of Moorish art this book and its predecessor are, and will probably remain, unique. But by modestly remarking in his preface that he has made the letterpress subservient to the illustrations, the author has done himself a great injustice. Not only is the book carefully thought out and well arranged, but it is written in a most sympathetic spirit, and abounds in passages of real eloquence.”--_Birmingham Daily Post._

“This handsome volume is the complement of Mr. CALVERT’S work on the Alhambra, and, like its predecessor, is lavishly illustrated.... The illustrations have been chosen with excellent taste, and executed with considerable skill.... It would be difficult to find anything more representative in their respective ways.”--_Manchester Guardian._

IMPRESSIONS OF SPAIN

BY ALBERT F. CALVERT

_8vo. 10s. 6d. NET_

_SOME PRESS OPINIONS_

“Covers a great deal of ground, and treats a great many subjects.”--_Times._

“Is full of that true knowledge which comes of sympathy, and is both more trustworthy and more agreeable than many more pretentious volumes.”--_Morning Post._

“Mr. CALVERT lends to his theme freshness of colour, detail, and good judgment.”--_Daily Mail._

“No work of recent times so adequately depicts Spain and its people with so sympathetic an appreciation of its greatness and charm.”--_Daily News._

“Its charm consists in the author’s whole-hearted enthusiasm for his subject.... Must infect the most hostile reader.”--_Pall Mall Gazette._

“A most acceptable addition to the literature of travel.”--_Morning Advertiser._

“We can heartily recommend this book.”--_Field._

“Can be honestly recommended to anyone desirous of acquiring a knowledge of Spain.”--_Court Circular._

“The author may be congratulated on a work that is by far the best he has produced.”--_Mining Journal._

“Ought to be in the hands of everyone who would know something of the most maligned, and possibly, the most delectable country in Europe.”--_Bookseller._

“Wholly charming.”--_Commercial Intelligence._

“Cannot fail to stimulate interest in so fascinating a country.”--_Shipping Gazette._

“Rarely have we seen a book that afforded us greater interest and pleasure.”--_Chamber of Commerce Journal._

“Mr. CALVERT’S first aim has been to supply reliable information ... there can be no two opinions that he has succeeded.”--_Aberdeen Evening Express._

“A magnificent volume ... the best which has been published abroad concerning Spain.”--_El Vanguardi_ (Barcelona).

“An exquisitely tasteful volume.”--_El Diaro_ (Barcelona).

“Written in a spirit of impartiality and justice worthy of all eulogy.”--_Diario de Barcelona._

“To follow Mr. CALVERT ... is to be stirred with the keen desire to see something in person of this ancient and always remarkable country.”--_Leeds Mercury._

“Mr. CALVERT’S interest is fresh and warm, and he is frankly enthusiastic about his subject.”--_Western Mail._

“A very interesting series of pen pictures.”--_Birmingham Daily Mail._

“Gives evidence of keen observation and power of deduction.”--_Western Daily Press._

“Those who have read Mr. CALVERT’S books on Australia will be eager to welcome this new book from the same pen ... the same happy and skilful picturing power.”--_Western Morning News._

“Makes surprisingly pleasant reading.”--_Hull Daily Mail._

“Has many claims to favourable notice.”--_Ilford Guardian._

“A vivid presentation of the country.”--_Bristol Mercury._

“Very sympathetic and very well informed.”--_Midland Counties Herald._

“One feels a strong desire to go to Spain, if only to share some of the pleasure which the author has experienced.”--_Preston Guardian._

“A remarkable, beautiful and useful addition to the literature of Spanish travel.”--_East Anglian Times._

“Contrives, without becoming prosy or dull in the slightest degree, to convey an immense amount of information.”--_Scotsman._

“Full of colour and variety.”--_Glasgow Herald._

“Fascinating because of its simplicity and realism.”--_Dundee Advertiser._

“The work of a great traveller.... One of the most readable books of its kind we have come across.”--_Irish Times._

“The whole of Spain will assuredly be grateful to the author for the publication of this volume.”--_La Publicidad_ (Madrid).

“The author has rendered our country service by the publication of this work.”--_El Graduador_ (Alicante).

“There is much of truth and justice in this study.”--_El Nervion_ (Bilbao).

LIFE OF CERVANTES

BY ALBERT F. CALVERT

_CROWN OCTAVO. 3s. 6d. NET_

_SOME PRESS OPINIONS_

“A popular and accessible account of the career of Cervantes.”--_Daily Chronicle._

“An admirable, condensed biography.”--_Daily News._

“Will appeal to a large number of readers.”--_Morning Post._

“Mr. CALVERT is to be congratulated.”--_Standard._

“A very readable and pleasant account of one of the greatest writers of all time.”--_Morning Leader._

“We recommend the book to all those to whom Cervantes is more than a mere name.”--_Westminster Gazette._

“A timely production ... written in a straightforward, unaffected style ... supplies sufficient data to form a useful and readable narrative.”--_Globe._

“The illustrations include ... a fascinating collection of title-pages and illustrations from the various editions of _Don Quixote_.”--_Star._

“Nothing could be more useful than this careful and authoritative book.”--_Vanity Fair._

“Is made trebly interesting by the very complete set of Cervantes’ portraits it contains.”--_Black and White._

“Nothing better could be desired.”--_Literary World._

“It is very well written ... a really capital and most interesting little book.”--_Queen._

“Thoroughly interesting and readable ... contains a wealth of information which should be greatly appreciated by all lovers of the chivalrous knight.”--_Dublin Express._

“A most interesting resumé of all the facts up to the present time known.”--_El Nervion_ (Bilbao).

“A complete and conscientious study.... The most notable work dedicated to the immortal author of _Don Quixote_ that has been published in England.”--_El Graduador_ (Alicante).

“An excellent little volume.”--_Graphic._

“A well-written book ... specially valuable for the collection of the proverbs of Cervantes.”--_Christian Leader._

“Terse and brief.... The work of an enthusiast who does not surrender his critical position, a careful historian, whose living interest in life is not stifled by his absorption in detail.”--_Christian World._

“Those who have been interested in Cervantes ... could not do better than get it.”--_Society Pictorial._

“A very timely little volume ... full of information and of convenient compass.”--_Onlooker._

“A handy, compendious life.”--_Rapid Review._

“Mr. CALVERT, who is an appreciative writer, has condensed his subject-matter, and given it an accurate, concise, and readable form.”--_Hampstead Express._

“Not the least interesting part of the volume consists of the illustrations.”--_Glasgow Herald._

“There is room at the present moment for this very readable account.”--_Dundee Advertiser._

“Can be heartily recommended to all who want to know something of the life of Cervantes.”--_Nottingham Express._

“Mr. CALVERT is entitled to the gratitude of book lovers for his industrious devotion at one of the greatest literary shrines.”--_Birmingham Post._

“More than a biographical account ... the figure of Cervantes receives such a setting as only a man of letters and a scholar could give it.”--_Bristol Mercury._

“Most excellent and attractive ... written with fulness of knowledge and refined appreciation of the merits of Spain’s greatest romancer.”--_Yorkshire Daily Post._

“No Spaniard could have written it with more conscientiousness and enthusiasm.... All the plates are exquisite, and, as the historical narrative leaves nothing to be desired, the book constitutes a most opportune literary jewel.”--_El Defensor_ (Granada).

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Formerly _Illiberis_, the Roman town at the foot of the Sierra Nevada, about six miles from Granada.

[2] _Kilaat Al-hamra_, the red castle.

[3] _Sheníl_ is the _Singilis_ of the Romans. The name of another “considerable stream” of Granada--the Darro--is derived from _Hadároh_ in Arabic, probably from _Hadár_, which means the rapidity with which a swollen river comes down from the mountains; a description well defining the character of the river Darro, which rushes down the hill-side and comes boiling along its channel at the foot.

[4] The Moors were not finally expelled from Spain until 1610.

[5] It is a little singular that not only the Arab Governor of North Africa, Viceroy of the Caliph Welid, who despatched from Ceuta the invading forces under Tarif and Geb-al-Tarik, bore this name; but, eight centuries afterwards, the gallant hero who alone was able to rouse the lethargic Boabdil from his stupor to make a last stand for Islam, bore it also. The name of Musa of Granada must always be honoured as that of a fearless knight who, disdaining to surrender, at the last rode through a score of Christian knights, killing many of them; and, when too weak to continue the struggle, threw himself, encumbered with armour, into the river Xenil, thus meeting his end.

[6] The Conde de Tendilla, the first Alcayde of the Alhambra, raised the tomb to be seen in the Cathedral of Granada, where lies Fernando “the Good,” of Talavera, first Archbishop of Granada, who died 14th May, 1507. The Count inscribed it “_Amicus Amico_.”

[7] “Boabdil” is a corruption of Abu’ Abdillah, or Boabdila, as the Spaniards pronounced the name. He was, in addition to his sobriquet of “the Unlucky,” also called As-sagher, or “the lesser” (el rey chico), to distinguish him from his uncle and successor, Abu’ Abdillah (Mohammed XII.)

[8] In the Hall of the Ambassadors, or Golden Saloon, is an inscription referring to this:--“The best praise be given to Allah! I will remove all the effects of an Evil Eye upon our master Yúsuf.”

[9] Edited by Pablo Lozano. The antiquities and history of the Moorish domination in Spain remained unheeded until representations were made that research and accurate delineation would alone make their monuments intelligible. The Royal Academy of St. Ferdinand was commissioned to make drawings of the Palace of the Alhambra and of the Mosque of Córdova. The result of their labours were published at Madrid, in 1780, in a folio volume entitled as above, with sixteen plates of Arabic designs, accompanied by a few pages of letterpress. It is an exceedingly rare volume.

[10] Madrid, 1780 (already referred to).

[11] The Moorish fortress of Alhama was rightly regarded as one of the two “Keys” of Granada, Loja--the Lôsha of the Moors--ranking as the other. Loja was besieged by Ferdinand and Isabella, and captured, in 1488, after thirty-four days’ investment; chiefly, it is said, by the aid of English archers under Earl Rivers, son of Anthony Wydeville, brother to Elizabeth, Queen of our Edward IV. Alhama had fallen 28th February, 1482, and its loss is the subject of the ballad referred to.

[12] Such, at least, are the reasons given for the abandonment of the gigantic blocks of stone which were heaped up by Charles to rival the unsurpassable. It is said, however, that repeated shocks of earthquake frightened him out of the enterprise.

[13] _Al-’arif_, in Spanish, _Alarife_, means “an inspector of public works”; and, according to Ibnu-l-Khattíb, the Grand Wizír of Yúsuf I., and of his son, Mohammed V., the site of the Generalife belonged to a person of that profession before it passed into the hands of the Sultán _Isma’il-Ibn-Faraj_, who, in A.D. 1320, bought the land for a large sum, and built the palace as a delightful retreat from the cares of State.

[14] Acequia Court. The Arab word is _Sákiyyah_, whence the Spanish _Acequia_ is derived. The word means an artificial or diverted running stream in a garden; or, a canal for the purpose of irrigation.