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THE PHAROS, Alexandria, Egypt.
The Pharos was considered one of the seven wonders of the. world. The lantern and upper stories fell, about 700 A.D. Some restorations were made in 880, and again in 980, but an earthquake, in 1100, partly destroyed the octagonal second story, and another earthquake, in the fifteenth century, entirely destroyed the tower.
It is not known whether the mirror on top of the Pharos was fine glass, or was a polished steel reflector for the sun's rays by day, and for the beacon fire at night, or was a telescope, invented at the great school of Alexandria. Whatever the mysterious mirror really was, it represented the highest scientific achievement of that time.
The mythical account of the founding of Alexandria and the story of Lady Marina may be found in The Egyptian History Treating of the Pyramids, The Inundation of the Nile, and other Prodigies of Egypt, According to the Opinions and Traditions of the Arabians. Written Originally in the Arabian Tongue by Murtadi the Son of Gaphiphus. Rendered into French by Monsieur Vattier, Arabic Professor to the King of France. And thence faithfully done into English by J. Davies of Kidwelly. (London. Printed by R. B. for Thomas Basset at the Gregory near Cliffords-Inn in Fleet Street. 1672.)
Other books that have been consulted for the story of the Pharos, are these:
Budge, E. A. T. W., History of Egypt, Vol. 8. (London, K. Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co., 1902.)
Rostovtzeff, Mikhail I., History of the Ancient World. (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1926.)
Thiersch, H., Pharos Antike, Islam und Occident. (Leipzig & Berlin, Teubner, 1901.)
THE TOWER OF THE WINDS, Athens, Greece.
Little is known of Andronicus, the builder of the Tower of the Winds. He was born about 100 B.C. in Cyrrhus, Syria, and after his sojourn in Greece, came to be called Andronicus Kyrrhestes (Andronicus of Cyrrhus), the astronomer. The tower, or horologium, is of Pentelic marble, and is forty-two feet high, and twenty-six feet in its greatest diameter.
The familiar tales of Aeolus and of Odysseus are taken, chiefly, from G. H. Palmer's translation of The Odyssey (Boston, Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1891, and 1929.)
Other books consulted:
Delves-Broughton, Mrs. V., Handbook to the Antiquities of Athens. (Athens, S. C. Vlastos; and London, Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Co., 1896.)
Frazer, Sir James G., Studies in Greek Scenery, Legend and History. (London and New York, The Macmillan Co., 1919.)
Gardner, Ernest A., Ancient Athens. (London and New York, The Macmillan Co., 1902.)
Gardner, Percy and Jevons, F.B., Manual of Greek Antiquities. (London, Charles Griffen & Co., 1898.)
Weller, Charles H., Athens and its Monuments. (New York, The Macmillan Co., 1924.)
THE PORCELAIN PAGODA, Nanking, China.
The pagodas of China are regarded by the Chinese as temples or shrines. The Porcelain Pagoda was destroyed in the T’ai’ping rebellion, in 1853. Early historians have given vivid descriptions of this pagoda, and have called it the most beautiful building in China.
A detailed version of the story of the moon-cakes is given in Forgotten Tales of Ancient China by Verne Dyson. This old legend, and the stories of the jade hare, the moon toad, the phoenix and the rainbow bridge are found in various Chinese writings. Frances Jenkins Olcott in Wonder Tales from China Seas gives delightful renderings of them.
Other books consulted:
Fletcher, Sir Banister, A History of Architecture. (New York, Scribner, 1921.)
Longfellow, H. W., Keramos and Other Poems. (Boston, Houghton, Osgood & Co., 1878.)
Kendall, Elizabeth K., A Wayfarer in China. (Boston, Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1913.)
Murray, Hugh and others, An Historical and Descriptive Account of China. (Edinburgh, Oliver & Boyd, 1836.)
Williams, Samuel Wells, The Middle Kingdom. (New York, Scribner, 1904.)
KUTB MINAR, OR KUTUB MINAR, Northern India.
The tower of Kutb Minar stands a few miles southwest of Delhi, Northern India, in a corner of the outer court of the
mosque erected by Kutb-ud-din. This Kutb-ud-din was the favorite general of the Mussulman, Muhammed Ghori, and the tower was built, in 1193, to mark the capture of Delhi, which gave the Mussulmans rule over the Punjab. The design of the tower is Mohammedan, except for the Hindu ornamentation of the western façade. The height of the tower is two hundred and thirty-eight feet.
The story of Mother Star, and her sons and daughter, is based upon a legend well known in India. Interesting versions of the legend are given in Donald A. MacKenzie's Indian Fairy Stories (London and Glasgow, Blackie & Sons, 1915), and in Joseph Jacob's Indian Fairy Tales (London, David Nutt, 1892).
Other books consulted:
Fanshawe, H. C., Delhi Past and Present. (London, J. Murray, 1902.)
MacKenzie, Donald A., Indian Myth and Legend. (London, The Gresham Publishing Co., 1913.)
Sister Nivedita (Noble, M. E.) and Coomaraswamy, A. K., Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists. (New York, H. Holt & Co., 1914.)
THE CARILLON TOWER OF GHENT, Belgium.
In the early Middle Ages, there grew up the trading town of Gent (Ghent), on the island formed by the junction of the Lys and Schelde rivers. The town hall and the belfry were the chief buildings in this old town. The belfry, or bell tower, was erected in the first part of the fourteenth century. The bells of the carillon, today, number fifty-two, the diameter of the largest bell being six and five-sixth feet, and that of the smallest about eight inches. The bell, Roland, is named in honor of the famous paladin, Roland, who fought under Charlemagne, and whose horn could be heard twenty miles.
[paragraph continues] The gilded figure of the dragon, on top of the tower, was brought, some writers say, from Bruges, in 1382. According to other writers, it was made in Ghent. All agree that the figure is Oriental in design.
Legends about the dragon himself, Buccoleon, differ widely. In a generally accepted account, the dragon, at first, comes with the crusaders to Constantinople, and, later, is brought from Constantinople to Ghent by Philip Van Artevelde. The more lively rendering, by William E. Griffis in his Belgian Fairy Tales (New York, Thomas Crowell Co., 1919), has furnished the basis of the story given here.
Other books consulted:
Rice, William G., Carillon Music and Singing Towers of the Old World and the New (New York, Dodd, Mead & Co., 1925); and Carillons of Belgium and Holland.
(London, John Lane, 1914.)
Robida, A., Les Vieilles Villes des Flandres. (Paris, Librairie Dorbon-Ainè.)
THE CATHEDRAL OF LAON, Laon, France.
Laon Cathedral was commenced in the first part of the twelfth century and had its final dedication in the first quarter of the thirteenth century. Seven towers were planned and begun. Five towers were completed--the west towers, the towers of the north and south transepts, and the central lantern. Spires were originally on the two towers of the west façade. The figures of the oxen are on the west towers.
One legend, connected with the building of the cathedral, asserts that many of the oxen attached themselves, of their own will, to the heavy stones at the foot of the steep hill and drew them up, undirected, to the church. The story of the
tired ox is told very briefly in Les Légendes Historiques du Département de L’Aisne, by M. A. Poquet (Laon, H. Jacob et Cie., 1879.) It was first told by Guibert de Nogent in the history of his life written in Latin in the early part of the twelfth century (published with an introduction in French by Georges Bourbon, Paris, Libraire Alphonse Picard et Fils, 1907.)
Other books consulted:
Pennell, Elizabeth Robins, French Cathedrals (illustrated by Joseph Pennell). (New York, The Century Co., 1909.)
Porter, Arthur Kingsley, Mediaeval Architecture: its Origin and Development. (Boston, The Baker & Taylor Co., 1909.)
Simpson, F. M., History of Architectural Development, Vol. II. (London, Longmans, Green & Co., 1913.)
THE GIRALDA, Seville, Spain.
The Giralda, the bell tower, stands at the northeast corner of the Seville Cathedral, and is about two hundred and ninety-five feet high. The tower was begun in the twelfth century. The belfry and upper section were destroyed by an earthquake in 1395, and were rebuilt in 1568. The tower is mainly of Moorish design.
A very early version of the story of the monk is given briefly in Cantigas de Santa Maria, by Don Alfonso el Sabia (King Alfonso X, The Wise), edited by L. A. de Cuoto, Madrid, 1889. The legend is told in Cantiga 103, Vol. II.
Longfellow, in The Golden Legend, has given his poetic version of the story.
Other books consulted:
Irving, Washington, The Alhambra. (New York, Putnam, 1891.)
Villiers-Wardwell, Mrs., Spain of the Spanish. (New York, Scribner, 1909.)
THE CAMPANILE OF GIOTTO, Florence, Italy.
The Campanile of Giotto, or The Shepherd's Tower, as Ruskin called it, was begun, in 1334, by Giotto di Bondone. After his death it was continued by Andrea Pisano and by Francesco Talenti. The lower series of bas-reliefs is the work of Giotto, Andrea Pisano, and Luca della Robbia.
The legend of the "folletto" is given in brief by Charles G. Leland in Legends of Florence. (New York, The Macmillan Co., 1895.)
Other books consulted:
Cole, Timothy, Old Italian Masters. (New York, The Century Co., 1892.) (In this book, the chapter on Giotto gives a tradition of Cimabue and the boy Giotto that differs from the one made use of in "The Goblin of Giotto's Tower.")
De Selincourt, Basil, Giotto. (London, Buckworth & Co., 1911.)
Perkins, F. Mason, Giotto. (London, George Bell & Sons, 1902.)
Quilter, Harry, Giotto. (London, Sampson Low, Marston, Searle & Rivington, 1880.)
ARDMORE TOWER, Ireland.
Ardmore Tower, one of the most beautiful of the old round towers, stands on high land in the parish of Ardmore, on the southern coast of Ireland. It is ninety-five feet high, with a
conical roof. The doorway is about eight feet above the level of the floor inside. Saint Declan, in the sixth century, founded a church and monastery at Ardmore, but the belfry or round tower is the only part left. The early name of the place was Ard-na-gcaorach.
In the story of The Leprechaun of Ardmore Tower, several Irish legends are woven together. The leprechaun is pleasantly described by P. W. Joyce in his Social History of Ancient Ireland (London and New York, Longmans, Green & Co., 1903). The legend of the Firbolgs and of the Danaans may be found in T. W. Rolleston's Myths and Legends of the Celtic Race (London, G. G. Harrap & Co., 1911). In this book, by Rolleston, is also the translation of Amergin's lay, by de Jubainville and Rolleston. A vivid account of Oisin in the Land of Youth is given by Rolleston in The High Deeds of Finn and Other Bardic Romances of Ancient Ireland (London, G. G. Harrap & Co., 1910).
Other books consulted:
THE SINGING TOWER, Florida, United States.
The Singing Tower, or Carillon Tower, stands on the highest elevation in Florida, in Mountain Lake Sanctuary at Lake Wales. Frederick Law Olmsted, the landscape-architect, laid out Mountain Lake Park, of which Mountain Lake Sanctuary is a fourteen-and-a-half-acre part. The sanctuary and tower, both the gift of Edward W. Bok, are designed "to increase the love of beauty and the spirit of restfulness." The tower, planned by Milton B. Medary and dedicated in 1929, is two hundred and five feet high, octagonal at the top. It was decorated by Lee Lawrie, the sculptor, with carvings of birds and flowers characteristic of Florida. The main door, wrought by Samuel Yellen, the iron-worker, represents, in its
design, all forms of life. The outer covering of the tower is a layer of pink Georgia marble and Florida coquina rock of tan color. The carillon consists of seventy-one bells, the largest weighing eleven tons, the smallest, seventeen pounds.
In regard to the nightingales in the sanctuary, Mr. Bok, in an article published in May, 1929, makes the following statement: "A dozen nightingales were imported from Eng-land, and every day in the season can their golden notes be heard. . .. Though the mocking bird can borrow the nightingale's song it cannot borrow the nightingale's throat."
The story of The Tower That Sings embodies various American Indian legends and primitive ideas. The description of the "first people" is given in J. Curtin's Creation Myths of Primitive America (Boston, Little, Brown & Co., 1898). The Navajo Mountain Song is the version given by Natalie Curtis, page 352 in The Indians' Book, (New York, Harper Brothers, 1907). A complete account of the naming of the stars is given by George A. Dorsey in Traditions of the Skidi Pawnee (Journal of American Folk Lore. 1904).
Other books consulted:
Bok, Edward W., America's Taj Mahal (Scribner's Magazine, Feb., 1929); and The Most Beautiful Spot in America (The Ladies Home Journal, May, 1929).
Brinton, Daniel G., The American Race (New York, N. D. C. Hodges, 1891); and Myths of the New World (New York, Leypoldt & Holt, 1868); and American Hero-Myths (Philadelphia, H. C. Watts, 1882).
Coues, Elliott, Key to North American Birds. (Boston, The Page Co., 1903.)
Fletcher, Alice G., The Hako Ceremony (U. S. Bureau of Ethnology, 22nd Report); and Indian Story and Song from North America (Boston, Small, Maynard & Co., 1909).
Ingersoll, Ernest, Birds in Legend, Fable and Folk-lore. (New York, Longmans, Green, 1923.)