Spiers: Memoranda of an autumn tour in 1836

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CONT. AUG. 26. FRI.

have been in days of power. - On the gates being unbarred the commandant with his garrison of 40 men received us with honor - & we were conducted over the castle. Unfortunately, so many excrescences have sprung up in various parts, as in our tower of London, that we were disappointed with the interior's appearance. It may resemble the stronghold of a robber, but not of one of the nobility. The view from the central tower was partially obscured by mist which had risen from the water, but before we left, it was drawn away like a curtain & gave us a fine picture of all beneath. - The chambers in which the rack & other instruments of torture still exist, the vaults which served as dungeons & other parts are interesting. Through the old & narrow streets of Braubach we passed & crossing the Rhine again passed the castle of Liebeneck & on through orchards & vineyards & the large Roman town of Boppart which seems to have many manufactories. Its principal one for cotton, occupies the same convent of Marienburg to which retired the heroine of the legend of the 2 brothers told so devotedly by Planche & Bulari. - A mile or two farther on

"And still upon the mountain fair
Are seen two castles gray,
That like their lords, together there
Sink slowly to decay.
The gust that shakes the tottering stone,
On one burg's battlement,
Upon the other's rampart lone,
Hath equal fury spent.
And where through Sternfels shattered wall
The misty moon beams shine,
Upon the crumbling towers they fall
of dreary Liebenstein."

By the water's side, opposite these remains & illustrations of so many interesting versions of the old legends sat we down & read them, from the little volumes which we were well content to carry on our back for the pleasure of perusing them

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