This symphonic poem is based on an old legend from Vineta, a town inshore the Baltic Sea. According to this legend, the village of Urmond has been flooded as a punishment for the immorality of its inhabitants with a lot of victims as a result. Still according to this legend, you can hear the bells of Vineta ringing from deep down under the sea.
Philip Sparke change Vineta into Urmond, a town in the south of the Netherlands, because there the piece was premiered.