The vine here has been long celebrated for its excellence; the Emperor Venceslas preferred four fuder of this wine (a fuder is equal to three hundred and sixty gallons) to ten thousand florins offered to him by the inhabitants of Nuremberg, to redeem their sequestered privileges; and even Pope Pius the Second imported for his table a fuder of this wine annually. These are illustrious authorities in favour of the Bacharach wine, but the best is its flavour. My laquais, a merry, good humoured fellow, and having no bad ear for music withal, announced our being opposite to Lorch, the first town where, in ascending the Rhine, the Rhingau commences, in which district the finest wines are produced, by singing a national song in honour of this vine-covered region, in which every person on board joined most cordially. It was a very long one, but the following stanzas will serve as a specimen of it. Bekräntzt mit laub den liebe vollen becher, Und trinkt ihn frölich leer; In Ganz Europa ihr herren zecher, Ist solch, ein wein micht mehr. Ihn bringt das vaterland aus seiner fulle, Wie wär er sonst so gut? Wie wär er sonst so edel, stille, Und doch voll kraft und muth? Am Rhein, am Rhein, da wachsen unsre reben: Gesegnet sey der Rhein! Da wachsen sie am ufer hin, und geben Uns diesen labe wein. So trinkt ihn dann, und lasst uns alle wege Uns freun, und frölich seyn; Und wüsten wir, wo jemand traurig läge, Wir gäben ihm den wein. With vine-leaves crown the jovial cup, For, search all Europe round, You’ll say, as pleas’d you drink it up, Such wine was never found. Such wine, &c. Our _Father’s land_ this vine supplies, What soil can e’er produce But this, though warmed with genial skies, Such mild, such generous juice? Such mild, &c. Then shall the Rhine our smiles receive, For on its banks alone, Can e’er be found a wine to give The soul its proper tone. The soul, &c. Come put the jovial cup around, Our joys it will enhance, If any one is mournful found, One sip shall make him dance. One sip, &c. Every child in this part of Germany knows this song by heart.