A Bibliographical, Antiquarian and Picturesque Tour in France and Germany Volume I Part 17

QUI songe en vin ou vigne, Est ung presaige heureux, Don don.

Le vin a qui rechigne Rent le coeur tout joyeux, Don don.

Trincque, Seigneur, le vin est bon: _Hoc acuit ingenium_.

&c.

The poetry of Ba.s.selin is almost wholly devoted to the celebration of the physical effects of wine upon the body and animal spirits; and the gentler emotions of the TENDER Pa.s.sION are rarely described in his numbers. In consequence, he has not invoked the G.o.ddess of Beauty to a.s.sociate with the G.o.d of Wine: to

"Drop from her myrtle one leaf in his bowl;"

or, when he does venture to introduce the society of a female, it is done after the following fashion--which discovers however an extreme facility and melody of rhythm. The burden of the song seems wonderfully accordant with a Baccha.n.a.lian note.

_VAUDEVIRE XIX_.

En ung jardin d'ombraige tout couvert, Au chaud du jour, ay treuve Madalaine, Qui pres le pie d'ung sicomorre vert Dormoit au bort d'une claire fontaine; Son lit estoit de thin et marjolaine.

Son tetin frais n'estoit pas bien cache: D'amour touche, Pour contempler sa beaute souveraine Incontinent je m'en suys approche.

Sus, sus, qu'on se resveille, Voicy vin excellent Qui faict lever l'oreille; Il faict mol qui n'en prent.

Je n'eus pouvoir, si belle la voyant, De m'abstenir de baizotter sa bouche; Si bien qu'enfin la belle s'esveillant, Me regardant avec ung oeil farouche, Me dit ces mots: Biberon, ne me touche.

Belle fillette a son aize ne couche Avecq celuy qui ne faict qu'yvrongner, &c. &c.

The preceding extracts will suffice. This is a volume in every respect interesting--both to the literary antiquary and to the Book-Collector.

A NEW EDITION of this work has appeared under the editorial care of M.

Louis Dubois, published at Caen in 1821, 8vo. obtainable at a very moderate price.

[B] The host, at these public and private festivals, usually called upon some one to recite or sing a song, chiefly of an amatory or chivalrous character; and this custom prevailed more particularly in Normandy than in other parts of France:

Usaige est en Normandie, Que qui hebergiez est qu'il die Fable ou Chanson a son oste.

See the authorities cited at page XV, of this Discours preliminaire.

[163] Some account of this printer, together with a fac-simile of his device, may be seen in the _Bibliographical Decameron_, vol. ii.

p. 33-6.

[164] The first publication is ent.i.tled "_Essai sur l'Histoire de l'Industrie du Bocage en General et de la Ville de Vire sa capitale en particulier, &c._" Par M. RICHARD SEGUIN. _A Vire, chez Adam, Imprimeur, an_ 1810, 12mo. It is not improbable that I may have been the only importer of this useful and crowdedly-paged duodecimo volume; which presents us with so varied and animated a picture of the manners, customs, trades, and occupations of the Bocains and the Virois.

[165] I subjoin an extract which relates to the

DRESS AND CHARACTER OF THE WOMEN.

"Quant au COSTUME DES FEMMES d'aujourd'hui, comme il faudrait un volume entier pour le decrire, je n'ai pas le courage de m'engager dans ce labyrinte de ridicules et de frivolites. Ce que j'en dirai seulement en general, c'est qu'autant les femmes du temps pa.s.se, etaient decentes et chastes, et se faisaient gloire d'etre graves et modestes, autant celles de notre siecle mettent tout en oeuvre pour paraitre cyniques et voluptueuses. Nous ne sommes plus au temps ou les plus grandes dames se faisaient honneur de porter la cordeliere.[C] Leurs habillemens etaient aussi larges et fermes, que celui des femmes de nos jours sont ouverts et legers, et d'une finesse que les formes du corps, au moindre mouvement, se dessinent, de maniere a ne laisser rien ignorer. A peine se couvrent-elles le sein d'un voile transparent tres-leger ou de je ne sais quelle palatine qu'elles nomment point-a-jour, qui, en couvrant tout, ne cache rien; en sorte que si elles n'etalent pas tous leurs charmes a decouvert, c'est que les hommes les moins scrupuleux, qui se contentent de les persifler, en seraient revoltes tout-a-fait. D'ailleurs, c'est que ce n'est pas encore la mode; plusieurs poussent meme l'impudence jusqu'a venir dans nos temples sans coiffure, les cheveux herisses comme des furies; d'autres, par une bizarrerie qu'on ne peut expliquer se depouillent, autant qu'il est en leur pouvoir, des marques de leur propre s.e.xe, sembleut rougir d'etre femmes, et deviennent ridicules en voulant paraitre demi-hommes.

"Apres avoir deshonore l'habit des femmes, elles ont encore voulu prost.i.tuer CELUI DES HOMMES. On les a vues adopter successivement les chapeaux, les redingotes, les vestes, les gilets, les bottes et jusqu'aux boutons. Enfin si, au lieu de jupons, elles avaient pu s'accommoder de l'usage de la culotte, la metamorphose etait complette; mais elles ont prefere les robes trainantes; c'est dommage que la nature ne leur ait donne une troisieme main, qui leur serait necessaire pour tenir cette longue queue, qui souvent patrouille la boue ou balaye la poussiere. Plut a Dieu que les anciennes lois fussent encore en vigueur, ou ceux et celles qui portaient des habits indecent etaient obliges d'aller a Rome pour en obtenir l'absolution, qui ne pouvait leur etre accordee que par le souverain pontife, &c.

"Les femmes du Bocage, et sur-tout les Viroises, joignent a un esprit vif et enjoue les qualites du corps les plus estimables.

Blondes et brunes pour le plus grand nombre, elles sont de la moyenne taille, mais bien formees: elles ont le teint frais et fleuri, l'oeil vif, le visage vermeil, la demarche leste, un air etoffe et tres elegantes dans tout leur maintien. Si on dit avec raison que les Bayeusines sont belles, les filles du Bocage, qui sont leurs voisines, ne leur cedent en aucune maniere, car en general le sang est tres-beau en ce pays. Quant aux talens spirituels, elles les possedent a un degre eminent. Elles parlent avec aisance, ont le repartie prompte, et outre les soins du menage, ou elles excellent de telle sorte qu'il n'y a point de contrees ou il y ait plus de linge, elles entendent a merveille, et font avec succes tout le detail du commerce." p. 238.

These pa.s.sages, notwithstanding the amende honorable of the concluding paragraph, raised a storm of indignation against the unsuspecting author! Nor can we be surprised at it.

This publication is really filled with a great variety of curious historical detail--throughout which is interspersed much that relates to "romaunt lore" and romantic adventures. The civil wars between MONTGOMERY and MATIGNON form alone a very important and interesting portion of the volume; and it is evident that the author has exerted himself with equal energy and anxiety to do justice to both parties--except that occasionally he betrays his antipathies against the Hugonots.[D] I will quote the concluding pa.s.sage of this work.

There may be at least half a score readers who may think it something more than merely historically curious:

"Je finirai donc ici mon Histoire. Je n'ai point parle d'un grand nombre des faits d'armes et d'actions glorieuses, qui se sont pa.s.ses dans la guerre de l'independance des Etats-Unis d'Amerique ou beaucoup de Bocains ont eu part; mais mon princ.i.p.al dessein a ete de traiter des guerres qui ont eu lieu dans le Bocage; ainsi je crois avoir atteint mon but, qui etait d'ecrire l'Histoire Militaire des Bocains par des faits et non par des phrases, je ne peux cependant omettre une circonstance glorieuse pour le Bocage; c'est la visite que le bon et infortune Louis XVI. fit aux Bocains en 1786. Ce grand Monarque dont les vues etaient aussi sages que profondes, avait resolu de faire construire le beau Port de Cherbourg, ouvrage vraiment Royal, qui est une des plus n.o.bles entreprises qui aient ete faites depuis l'origine de la Monarchie.

Les Bocains sentirent l'avantage d'un si grand bienfait. Le Roi venant visiter les travaux, fut accueilli avec un enthousiasme presqu'impossible a decrire, ainsi que les Princes qui l'accompagnaient. Sa marche ra.s.semblait a un triomphe. Les peuples accouraient en foule du fond des campagnes, et bordaient la route, faisant retentir les airs de chants d'alegresse et des cris millions de fois repetes de Vive le Roi! Musique, Processions, Arcs de triomphe, Chemins jonches de fleurs; tout fut prodigue.

Les villes de Caen, de Bayeux, de Saint-Lo, de Carentan, de Valognes, se surpa.s.serent dans cette occasion, pour prouver a S.M.

leur amour et leur reconnaissance; mais rien ne fut plus brillant que l'entree de ce grand Roi a Cherbourg. Un peuple immense, le clerge, toute la n.o.blesse du pays, le son des cloches, le bruit du canon, les acclamations universelles prouverent au Monarque mieux encore que la pompe toute Royale et les fetes magnifiques que la ville ne cessa de lui donner tous les jours, que les coeurs de tous les Bocains etaient a lui." p. 428.

[C] "Ceinture alors regardee comme le symbole de la continence. La reine de France en decorait les femmes t.i.trees dont la conduite etait irreprochable." _Hist. de la reun. de Bretagne a la France par l'abbe Irail_.

[D] "Les soldats Huguenots commirent dans cette occasion, toutes sortes de cruautes, d'infamies et de sacrileges, jusqu'a meler les Saintes Hosties avec l'avoine qu'ils donnaient a leurs chevaux: mais Dieu permit qu'ils n'en voulurent pas manger." p. 369.

LETTER XIX.

DEPARTURE FROM VIRE. CONDe. PONT OUILLY. ARRIVAL AT FALAISE. HOTEL OF THE GRAND TURC. THE CASTLE OF FALAISE. BIBLIOMANIACAL INTERVIEW.

_Falaise_.

Here I am--or rather, here I have been--my most excellent friend, for the last four days--and from hence you will receive probably the last despatch from NORMANDY--- from the "land (as I told you in my first epistle) of "castles, churches, and ancient chivalry." An old, well-situated, respectably-inhabited, and even flourishing, town--the birth-place too of our renowned FIRST WILLIAM:--weather, the most serene and inviting--and hospitality, thoroughly hearty, and after the English fashion:--these have all conspired to put me in tolerably good spirits. My health, too, thank G.o.d, has been of late a little improved. You wish me to continue the thread of my narrative unbroken; and I take it up therefore from the preparation for my departure from Vire.

I breakfasted, as I told you I was about to do, with my friend and guide Mons. de Larenaudiere; who had prepared quite a sumptuous repast for our partic.i.p.ation. Coffee, eggs, sweetmeats, cakes, and all the comfortable paraphernalia of an inviting breakfast-table, convinced us that we were in well-furnished and respectable quarters. Madame did the honours of the meal in perfectly good taste; and one of the loveliest children I ever saw--a lad, of about five or six years of age--with a profusion of hair of the most delicate quality and colour, gave a sort of joyous character to our last meal at Vire. The worthy host told me to forget him, when I reached my own country;[166] and that, if ever business or pleasure brought me again into Normandy, to remember that the Maire de Tallevende-le-Pet.i.t would-be always happy to renew his a.s.surances of hospitality. At the same time, he entreated me to pay attention to a list of English books which he put into my hands; and of which he stood considerably in need. We bade farewell in the true English fashion, by a hearty shake of the hands; and, mounting our voiture, gave the signal for departure. "Au plaisir de vous revoir!"--'till a turning of the carriage deprived us of the sight of each other. It is not easy--and I trust it is not natural--for me to forget the last forty-eight hours spent in the interesting town of VIRE!

Our route to this place was equally grand and experimental; grand, as to the width of the road, and beauty of the surrounding country--but experimental, inasmuch as a part of the _route royale_ had been broken up, and rendered wholly impa.s.sable for carriages of any weight. Our own, of its kind, was sufficiently light; with a covering of close wicker-work, painted after the fashion of some of our bettermost tilted carts. One Norman horse, in full condition of flesh, with an equal portion of bone and muscle, was to convey us to this place, which cannot be less than twenty-two good long English miles from Vire. The carriage had no springs; and our seat was merely suspended by pieces of leather fastened at each end. At _Conde_, about one-third of the distance, we baited, to let both man and horse breathe over their dinners; while, strolling about that prettily situated little town, we mingled with the inhabitants, and contemplated the various faces (it being market-day) with no ordinary degree of gratification.

Amidst the bustle and variety of the scene, our ears were greeted by the air of an itinerant ballad-singer: nor will you be displeased if I send you a copy of it:--since it is gratifying to find any thing like a return to the good old times of the sixteenth century.

VIVE LE ROI, VIVE L'AMOUR.

Francois Premier, nous dit l'histoire, Etoit la fleur des Chevaliers, Pres d'Etampes aux champs de gloire Il recueillit myrtes et lauriers; Sa maitresse toujours fidele, Le payant d'un tendre retour, Lui chantant cette ritournelle; _Vive le Roi, vive l'Amour_.

Henri, des princes le modele, Ton souvenir est dans nos coeurs, Par la charmante Gabrielle Ton front fut couronne de fleurs; De la Ligue domptant la rage, Tu sus triompher tour-a-tour, Par la clemence et ton courage: _Vive le Roi, vive l'Amour_.

Amant cheri de la Valliere, Des ennemis n.o.ble vainqueur, LOUIS savoit combattre et plaire, Guide par l'Amour et l'honneur; A son retour de la Victoire, Entoure d'une aimable cour, Il entendoit ce cri de gloire: _Vive le Roi, vive l'Amour_.

&c.

There was a freshness of tint, and a comeliness of appearance, among the bourgeoises and common people, which were not to be eclipsed even by the belles of Coutances. Our garcon de poste and his able-bodied quadruped having each properly recruited themselves, we set forward--by preference--to walk up the very long and somewhat steep hill which rises on the other side of Conde towards _Pont Ouilly_--in the route hither. Perhaps this was the most considerable ascent we had mounted on foot, since we had left Rouen. The view from the summit richly repaid the toil of using our legs. It was extensive, fruitful, and variegated; but neither rock nor mountain scenery; nor castles, nor country seats; nor cattle, nor the pa.s.sing traveller--served to mark or to animate it. It was still, pure nature, upon a vast and rich scale: and as the day was fine, and my spirits good, I was resolved to view and to admire.

_Pont Ouilly_ lies in a hollow; with a pretty winding river, which seems to run through its centre. The surrounding hills are gently undulating; and as we descended to the Inn, we observed, over the opposite side of the town, upon the summit of one of the hills, a long procession of men and women--headed by an ecclesiastic, elevating a cross--who were about to celebrate, at some little distance, one of their annual festivals. The effect--as the procession came in contact with a bright blue sky, softened by distance--was uncommonly picturesque ... but the day was getting on fast, and there was yet a considerable distance to perform,--while, in addition, we had to encounter the most impa.s.sable part of the road.

Besides, I had not yet eaten a morsel since I had left Vire. Upon holding a consultation, therefore, it was resolved to make for the inn, and to dine there. A more sheltered, rural, spot cannot be conceived. It resembled very many of the snug scenes in South Wales. Indeed the whole country was of a character similar to many parts of Monmouthshire; although with a miserable draw-back in respect to the important feature of _wood_. Through the whole of Normandy, you miss those grand and overshadowing ma.s.ses of oak, which give to Monmouthshire, and its neighbouring county of Glocester, that rich and majestic appearance which so decidedly marks the character of those counties. However, we are now at the inn at Pont Ouilly. A dish of river fish, gudgeons, dace, and perch, was speedily put in requisition. Good wine, "than which France could boast no better!" and a roast fowl, which the daughter of the hostess "knew how to dress to admiration" ... was all that this humble abode could afford us." "But we were welcome:"--that is, upon condition that we paid our reckoning....

The dinner would be ready in a "short half hour." Mr. Lewis, went to the bridge, to look around, for the purpose of exercising his pencil: while I sauntered more immediately about the house. Within five minutes a well-looking, and even handsome, young woman--of an extremely fair complexion--her hair cut close behind--her face almost smothered in a white cap which seemed of c.r.a.pe--and habited in a deep black--pa.s.sed quickly by me, and ascended a flight of steps, leading to the door of a very humble mansion. She smiled graciously at the _aubergiste_ as she pa.s.sed her, and quickly disappeared. On enquiry, I was told that she was a nun, who, since the suppression of the convent to which she had belonged, earned her livelihood by teaching some of the more respectable children in the village. She had just completed her twentieth year. I was now addressed by a tall, bluff, shabby-looking man--who soon led me to understand that he was master of the inn where my "suite" was putting up;--that I had been egregiously deceived about the nature of the road--for that it was totally impossible for _one_ horse:--even the very best in Normandy--(and where will you find better? added he, parenthetically--as I here give it to you) to perform the journey with such a voiture and such a weight of luggage behind." I was struck equally with amazement and woe at this intelligence.

The unpitying landlord saw my consternation. "Hark you, sir... (rejoined he) if you _must_ reach Falaise this evening, there is only one method of doing it. You must have _another horse_." "Willingly," I replied. "Yes, sir--but you can have it only upon _one_ condition." "What is that?" "I have some little business at Falaise myself. Allow me to strap about one hundred weight of loaf-sugar at the back of your conveyance, and I myself will be your garcon de poste thither." I own I thought him about the most impudent fellow I had yet seen in Normandy: but there was no time for resistance. Necessity compelled acquiescence. Accordingly, the dinner being dispatched--which, though good, was charged at six francs a-head--we prepared for our departure.

But judge of my surprise and increased consternation, when the fellow ordered forth a little runt of a quadruped--in the shape of a horse--which was hardly higher than the lower part of the chest of the animal which brought us from Vire! I remonstrated. The landlord expostulated. I resisted--but the fellow said it was a bargain; and proceeded quietly to deposit at least _two_ hundred weight of his refined sugar at the back of the carriage. This Lilliputian horse was made the leader. The landlord mounted on the front seat, with our Vire post-boy by the side of him; and sounding his whip, with a most ear-piercing whoop and hollow, we sprung forward for Falaise--which we were told we should reach before sunset. You can hardly conceive the miseries of this cross-road journey. The route royale was, in fact, completely impa.s.sable; because they were repairing it.

Alarmed at the ruggedness of the cross-road, where one wheel was in a rut of upwards of a foot deep, and the other elevated in proportion--we got out, and resolved to push on a-foot. We walked for nearly two leagues, before our conveyance overtook us--so hara.s.sing and so apparently insurmountable seemed to be the road. But the cunning aubergiste had now got rid of his leader. He said that it was only necessary to use it for the first two or three leagues--which was the most difficult part of the route--and that, for the remainder, about five English miles, our "fine Norman horse" was perfectly sufficient. This fine Norman horse was treated most unmercifully by him. He flogged, he hallooed, he swore ...

the animal tript, stumbled, and fell upon his knees--more than once--from sheer fatigue. The charioteer hallooed and flogged again: and I thought we must have taken up our night quarters in the high-way;--when suddenly, to the left, I saw the fine warm glow of the sun, which had set about twenty minutes, lighting up one of the most perfect round towers, of an old castle, that I had yet seen in Normandy.

Voila FALAISE!--exclaimed the ruthless charioteer; ... and in a quarter of an hour we trotted hard down a hill (after the horse had been twice again upon his knees) which terminated in this most interesting place.