164 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES
hung
about a person's neck, he would sleep uninterruptedly for three days
and nights, and, when awakened on the fourth day, he would still be
almost overcome by sleep. The other stone, of a greenish hue, had the
opposite quality and induced prolonged wakefulness; so long as it was
worn, sleep was banished. Our author gravely states that "some men who
must watch at night suffer greatly from lack of sleep.'' If, however,
they wore the "waking-stone," they suffered no inconvenience from their
enforced vigils.35 Evidently this stone would be a precious
possession for night-watchmen, and a more satisfactory guarantee for
their employers than "time-clocks" or other tests of wakefulness.
In
his commentary on Marbodus, Alardus of Amsterdam relates the history
of a wonderful luminous stone, a "chrysolampis," which, with many other
precious stones, was set in a marvellous golden tablet dedicated to St.
Adelbert, apostle of the Frisians and patron of the town of Egmund (d.
720-730), by Hildegard, wife of Theodoric, Count of Holland. The gift
was made to the Abbey of Egmund, where the saint's body reposed.
Alardus tells us that the "chrysolampis" shone so brightly that when
the monks were called to the chapel in the night-time, they could read
the Hours without any other light. This wonderful stone was stolen by
one of the monks, whom Alardus terms "the most rapacious creature who
ever went on two legs"; but, fearing to keep so valuable a gem with
him, he cast it into the sea and it was never recovered.36
35 Rose, " Aristoteles de lapidibus und Arnoldus Saxo," Zeitschr. f iir D. Alt., New Series, vol. vi, 1875, pp. 375, 376.
30
The abbey to which Hildesrard gave the tablet was probably that built
by Theodoric II and destroyed by the Reformers in 1572. The first
building was of wood and was erected by Theodoric I in 923 or 924; this
was ravaged by the Frisians not many years later.
