Note 19 — ANTS

During these works at the Spuller lake they unearthed, last year, the skull and horns of an elk; the relic was unfortunately bought by a Swiss who carried it off to his own country; it ought to have gone into the newly founded Bludenz Museum. The Spuller lake is the locality of a strange devil-legend and also of a ghost-story which have been preserved by Dr. F. J. Vonbun in his “Sagen Vorarlbergs” (Innsbruck, 1858). I will transcribe a line or two of the former, omitting his accents and pronounciation marks, in order to give a sample of our Alemannic dialect: “Es set ama wienicht-obed amol en ma zum en andera: ‘los nochber, i wetta mi zitgae, du traust di net, mer min schmalzkübelzolfa hinet vo Spullers z holla.’ Der nochber set ‘woll frile, d wett gilt’ und nümt en füfspoeriga hund, stahel, fürste und schwamm und got Spullers zue. Wia-n er an stofel kunnt, bringt em der butz vo Spullers de zolfa a guets stuck scho etgega, aber der nochber set zuenem, los gueta fründ,” etc.