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Chap, XXIV. THE MERMAID’S PROPHECY. 357
and died shortly after broken-hearted. Two daughters
were the produce of Fredericks marriage, and, in despair
at the non-arrival of an heir to the crown, he began to
regret he had yielded to the desire of his nobles.
Now, in these early Protestant days, Whitsuntide was
a great festival in Denmark, and throughout the whole
of Northern Europe; theatres there were none, but the
students of the university of Copenhagen were
accustomed to come down to the court residing at
Frederiksborg, and play before the king and queen dramas on
sacred subjects, chiefly derived from the Old Testament,
resembling the mysteries still prevalent in the remoter
villages of the primitive duchy of Brittany.
During the celebration of these festivities, in the
spring of the year 1576, there appeared at court an
aged peasant from the island of Samsø, who informed
the king that, when ploughing his field by the sea-shore,
he was accosted by a mermaid, who ordered him to
go direct to court, and announce to the king that the
queen should bear him a son within the succeeding
year, adding—“ Tell his Majesty my name is Isbrand,
and I am granddaughter of the mermaid who protected
the birth of his ancestress, Queen Margaret.”
When the king and queen heard this good news they
were greatly rejoiced, and all the court with them, and
the aged peasant returned to his home laden with
presents. And now time rolled on, the hopes of the
nation were verified, and great was the joy thereat.
It was the 12th of April, 1577, that Queen Sophia,
when walking with her ladies of honour somewhere on
the Roeskilde road, was suddenly taken ill, and, before
aid and assistance could be procured, the youthful
Pagan, later Christian, heir to the crown of Denmark,
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