The first idea of this Romance was suggested by the story of the Santon
Barsisa, related in The Guardian.—The Bleeding Nun is a tradition still
credited in many parts of Germany; and I have been told that the ruins of
the Castle of Lauenstein, which She is supposed to haunt, may yet be seen
upon the borders of Thuringia.—The Water-King, from the third to the
twelfth stanza, is the fragment of an original Danish Ballad—And Belerma
and Durandarte is translated from some stanzas to be found in a collection
of old Spanish poetry, which contains also the popular song of Gayferos and
Melesindra, mentioned in Don Quixote.—I have now made a full avowal of
all the plagiarisms of which I am aware myself; but I doubt not, many more
may be found, of which I am at present totally unconscious
