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Chap. L.
CAPTIVITY OF ELEANOR ULFELD.
305
bribe of a large sum of money from the Danish queen,
she was kidnapped by order- of King Charles, placed on
board a Danish vessel, and brought over to Copenhagen.
From the moment of King Christian’s death Eleanor’s
star began to fade : her privileges were taken away from
her ; she was no longer allowed to drive into the palace
yard or dine at the royal table ; in 1657 her title of
Countess was taken away. When she arrived at
Copenhagen, Queen Sophia Amelia herself, with the aid
of the maid, undressed her, and, having deprived her
of all her pearls and jewels, caused her to be clad in
the coarsest clothing. Eleanor and her maid were
brought to trial; a phial of poison alone was found
concealed in her hair, which she had purchased at Dover to
use in case of “ necessity.”
In the Blue Tower she remained, amusing herself
with modelling beakers in clay with a piece of bone,
for she was allowed no knife, and working other
“ artful things.” Eleanor was the most accomplished of
Christian’s daughters: she spoke German, French, Italian,
Latin, and Spanish; played on harp and flute ; was
a good artist, had a great turn for poetry, and, says
a writer of the day, “ could sing one Psalm and
compose another, and know what was passing in the room
at the same time.” Most of her poems are addressed
to her dog, named “ Cavalier,” a poor mangy beast,
who had been bitten by a ferret, presented to her by
the queen, as a “ marked insult,” when in prison. She
was allowed no window to her room, merely a hole in
the roof, and no pipe to her stove. One day King
Christian V., inquiring what she was doing, was told
“ making beakersso he asked to see one. On
examining it—a sort of tankard, standing on three balls,
VOL. II. X
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