When the glaciers send down their torrents and flood the Rhone,
it is the immemorial belief that the Devil may be sometimes seen
swimming in it, with a sword in one hand and a golden globe in the
other. Since it is contrary to all orthodox folklore that the Devil
should be so friendly with water, the name must be regarded as a
modern substitute for the earlier Rhone demon. We probably get closer
to the original form of the superstition in the Swiss Oberland, which
interprets the noises of the Furka Glacier, which feeds the Rhone,
as the groans of wicked souls condemned for ever to labour there
in directing the river's course; their mistress being a demoness
who sometimes appears just before the floods, floating on a raft,
and ordering the river to rise.
There is a tidal demonolatry also. The author of 'Rambles in
Northumberland' gives a tradition concerning the river Wansbeck:
'This river discharges itself into the sea at a place called Cambois,
about nine miles to the eastward, and the tide flows to within five
miles of Morpeth. Tradition reports that Michael Scott, whose fame as a
wizard is not confined to Scotland, would have brought the tide to the
town had not the courage of the person failed upon whom the execution
of this project depended. This agent of Michael, after his principal
had performed certain spells, was to run from the neighbourhood of
Cambois to Morpeth without looking behind, and the tide would follow
him. After having advanced a certain distance he became alarmed at
the roaring of the waters behind him, and forgetting the injunction,
gave a glance over his shoulder to see if the danger was imminent,
when the advancing tide immediately stopped, and the burgesses of
Morpeth thus lost the chance of having the Wansbeck navigable between
their town and the sea. It is also said that Michael intended to
confer a similar favour on the inhabitants of Durham, by making the
Wear navigable to their city; but his good intentions, which were to
be carried into effect in the same manner, were also frustrated by
the cowardice of the person who had to guide the tide.'
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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