Letters and Journals of Lord Byron
Journal Entry: 25 September 1816
“September 25th.
“The whole town of Brientz were apparently gathered together
in the rooms below; pretty music and excellent waltzing; none but peasants; the dancing
much better than in England; the English can’t waltz, never could, never will. One
man with his pipe in his mouth, but danced as
* “O’er the savage sea, The glassy ocean of the mountain ice, We skim its rugged breakers, which put on The aspect of a tumbling tempest’s foam, |
![]() † “Like these blasted pines,
Wrecks of a single winter, barkless, branchless.IBID. |
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| A. D. 1816. | LIFE OF LORD BYRON. | 21 |
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well as the others; some other dances in pairs and in
fours, and very good. I went to bed, but the revelry continued below late and early.
Brientz but a village. Rose early. Embarked on the lake of Brientz; rowed by the women
in a long boat; presently we put to shore and another woman jumped in. It seems it is
the custom here for the boats to be manned by women: for of five men and three women in our bark, all the women took an oar,
and but one man.
“Got to Interlachen in three hours; pretty lake; not so
large as that of Thoun. Dined at Interlachen. Girl gave me some flowers, and made me a
speech in German, of which I know nothing; I do not know whether the speech was pretty,
but as the woman was, I hope so. Reembarked on the lake of Thoun; fell asleep part of
the way; sent our horses round; found people on the shore, blowing up a rock with
gunpowder; they blew it up near our boat, only telling us a minute before;—mere
stupidity, but they might have broken our noddles. Got to Thoun in the evening; the
weather has been tolerable the whole day. But as the wild part of our tour is finished,
it don’t matter to us; in all the desirable part, we have been most lucky in
warmth and clearness of atmosphere.
