Britanny and Its Byways.

[pg 001]Britanny and Its Byways.A fair wind conveyed us in six hours from Poole to Cherbourg. It was dusk when we entered the harbour, and so we had no opportunity of seeing its beauty until the following morning, when we ascended a height behind the town, called the Mont du Roule. It is reached either on foot or by carriage, the Emperor having ordered a road to be made up to the fort which crowns the heights, on the occasion of the visit to Cherbourg, in 1858, of her Majesty Queen Victoria. Some 1500 men were immediately set to work, and, in a few days, an easy carriage-road was finished, up which the Emperor drove the Queen at his usual rapid pace. The view from the fort is lovely, commanding the whole line of the northern point of the Cotentin, from the low promontory of Cape de la Hogue to Barfleur. The water of the harbour, owing to its great depth, is of the most intense blue, which we quite agreed with the guardian of the fort in likening to that of the Bay of Naples. Across its entrance stretches, for two miles, the long line of the breakwater, and within were anchored the fleet of our yacht squadron, which the day before had[pg 002]run a race between Poole and Cherbourg. We took a boat to visit the breakwater. It is commanded at each end by a fort, with another in the centre, where the provisions are kept. In stormy weather the sea washes over the breakwater, and sometimes for days prevents all communication between the forts, and the supplies consequently are stopped. Boys offered us for sale the silvery shells of the Venus' ear, which inhabits the rocks of the breakwater. We afterwards saw them in the fish-market exposed for sale, and, on expressing some curiosity as to how they were eaten, the landlord had a dish prepared for us. These fish resemble the scallop in taste, but are very tough, and require a great deal of beating with a wooden mallet to make them tender enough to eat. They are called "ormer," or "gofish." The table d'hôte was very plentifully supplied with fish, and here, as throughout Normandy and Brittany, cider, the customary beverage of the country, was always placed upon the table. It varies very much in quality in different districts; that of Bayeux is most esteemed.The next morning we set out for the dockyard. To obtain admission, it first requires a letter from the English Consul, who lives in a charming spot overlooking the sea, at the foot of the Montagne du Roule. Furnished with this, we repaired to the Préfet Maritime, who gave us an order to be presented[pg 003]at the dockyard gate, where it was countersigned, and a guide appointed to show us over the establishment. We made the tour round all the basins and workshops, and saw the canot impérial used by the Emperor on the visit of our Queen,—a most elegant boat, beautifully carved with marine subjects. The model of a Roman trireme, or galley, is in one of the basins, and in the little museum, or Salle des Modèles, are the two flagstones that covered the grave of Napoleon, and were deposited here by the Prince de Joinville, when he returned with the Emperor's remains from St. Helena. The dockyard partly stands on a spot called Chantereyne. The Empress Matilda, fleeing from Stephen, was overtaken by a tempest when making for Cherbourg, and vowed, if her life were spared, to build a church. The ship was in jeopardy, but the pilot cheered her spirits, and, when gaining the port, exclaimed, "Chantes Reine! we are safe in harbour." The place where she landed has always retained the name; and here the Empress, in fulfilment of her vow, founded an abbey, which was destroyed in the Revolution. The habitations of the nuns is the present provisional Hôpital de la Marine; a new one, containing above a thousand beds, being in course of construction, and a modern church, called Eglise du Vœu, has been erected in another part of the town in place of that of the Empress Matilda.[pg 004]Henry II. held his court in the castle with his empress-mother in great splendour; it had formerly been tenanted by Duke William of Normandy before his invasion of England, and, within its enclosure, he built a church also, in consequence of a vow made during a serious illness. There are few objects of interest in the town of Cherbourg. The women all wear the large Normandy cap. In the Place d'Armes is a bronze equestrian statue of the Emperor Napoleon I., and on the pedestal is inscribed "J'avois résolu de renouveler à Cherbourg les merveilles de l'Egypte." In the Library is a curiously sculptured chimney-piece of the fifteenth century, coloured and gilt, removed from a room of the abbey. The principal church, La Trinité, is a strange jumble of architecture. There is some beautiful tracery in the windows, and a fine boss (clef pendante) in the south porch, now restored. On a board in the church is an inscription, setting forth it was built in consequence of a "vœu solennel des habitans de Cherbourg en 1450 de la délivrance de la domination étrangère"—that is, from the English, whose defeat the same year at Formigny, by the Constable de Richemont, expelled them for ever from Normandy.There is much to see in the environs of Cherbourg, which makes it a good central point for excursions. We drove by the fort of Octeville, where a magnificent panoramic view is obtained,[pg 005]equalling in extent that from the Mont du Roule. A fisherman, who was standing by, told us the names of the numerous forts that bristle in every direction, and related to us the legend of the monk of Saire, who, having received the rent due to his father for some land, appropriated the money to his own use, and, on the tenant declaring he had paid the sum, adjured the evil one to carry him off, if he had ever received the money. The words were no sooner uttered than there came a flash of lightning, and the monk vanished: but he still appears in the roads of Cherbourg floating on the sea; when he sees a sailor, he cries "Save me, save me! I am about to sink!" but the hapless being who approaches to assist him is immediately dragged into the water, a peal of infernal laughter is heard, and the luckless mariner disappears for ever. We asked our guide if he believed in the phantom monk, but he was silent.1. Querqueville Church.From Octeville we proceeded to Querqueville, where, in the same churchyard as the parochial church, stands a little church, named after St. Germain, the first apostle of the Cotentin, who, in the fifth century, landed from England on the coast of La Hogue, and preached Christianity in this district and the valley traversed by the river Saire, which falls into the sea near St. Vaast-la-Hogue. This tiny church, for it measures only 34 feet by 24, and is 11 feet high, is by some supposed to have been a[pg 006]temple of the Gauls converted into a Christian place of worship; the nave and tower having been added to the old temple, which consists of a triple apse forming a regular trefoil, each of which has a domed top. We drove on to Nacqueville, the château of Comte Hippolyte de Tocqueville. The park is prettily laid out, a stream of water runs in front of the house, and a row of blue hydrangeas blazed forth in great beauty, with the relief of a background of dark firs. Time prevented us from pursuing our excursion further west, to see the famed cliffs of Jobourg.2. Plan ofQuerqueville Church.[pg 007]To the east of Cherbourg a high road leads to Barfleur and the lighthouse of Gatteville, between which and the Isle of Wight is the narrowest point of the English Channel, passing by Saint-Pierre-Eglise, near which is the château of the late Alexis de Tocqueville, author of 'Democracy in America;' but we did not get further on the road than Tourlaville, the ancient château of the Ravalet family, upon whom tradition has heaped every crime imaginable. One seigneur entered the church with his hounds and stabbed the priest at the altar, because he refused to administer to him the consecrated element; another hanged some of his vassals, because they did not grind their corn at the seignorial mill, for "haute or basse justice" was then among the nobles' rights. Marguerite, a daughter of this ancient house, expiated, with her brother, their offences upon the scaffold at Paris. Every effort was made to spare their lives; but the King, or rather Queen Margot, was inexorable. The château of Tourlaville is beautifully situated; it is in the style of the Renaissance, with an angular tower, whichrecallsthat of Heidelberg Castle. The ground-floor consists of two large unfurnished rooms, and a staircase, with iron railing, leads to the story above. In one room hangs the portrait of a lady châteleine, in the costume of the period of Louis XIII., with the château of Tourlaville in the distance. On her left are eight Cupids[pg 008]with bandages over their eyes, one in advance of the others is not blinded. From the lady's mouth is a label, with the inscription "Un (seul) me suffit." This is said to be the portrait of the Lady Marguerite, but the costume is of a later date. In one of the rooms is a chimney-piece covered with a variety of amatory devices and mottoes:—a Cupid blinded, holding a lighted torch, motto "Ce qui me donne la vie me cause la mort." Again, another Cupid with eyes bandaged, pouring water out of a vase to cool a flaming heart he holds in his hand, motto "Sa froideur me glace les veines et son ardeur brûle mon cœur." Six winged hearts flying at the approach of Cupid, but which are reached by his darts, "Même en fuyant l'on est pris." Further is a sentiment in verse:—“Plusieurs sont atteints de ce feu,Mais il ne s'en guérit que fort peu.”Again,—“Ces deux n'en font qu'un.”3. Château of Tourlaville.A river in the foreground, in the distance a setting sun, motto "Ainsi puissai-je mourir." This assemblage of devices and mottoes is not applicable to any particular individual, but may be supposed to be merely an expression of the taste of the time. They are of the seventeenth century, when the Ravalet had been succeeded by the Franquetot family, who have since taken the name of Coigny.[pg 009][pg 010][pg 011]Their arms, with several others, are in the little boudoir in one of the towers, called the Blue Chamber. Its walls are distempered blue, and the coverlet and hangings of the bed, with all the decorations of the room, are of the same colour. Having admired the lovely view from the "Tour des quatre vents," we descended to the kitchen of the farmer who rents the house, which now belongs to the Tocqueville family. His wife was busily employed in making "crêpes," a favourite kind of cake in Normandy and Brittany. It is made generally of the flour of the sarrasin or buckwheat, mixed with milk or water, and spread into a kind of pancake, which is fried on an iron pan, resembling the Scotch griddle-cakes. Another variety, called "galette," is made of the same ingredients, but differs from the crêpe in its being made three or four times the thickness, and is therefore not so light. Though generally made of buckwheat, wheat or oat-flour is sometimes used; and in the towns, sugar and cinnamon and vanilla are added, and the simple character of the crêpe entirely changed under the hands of the confectioner. The little village of Tourlaville was famous for its glassworks, until supplanted by those of Gobain.On our return to Cherbourg we visited the lace school of the Sœurs de la Providence, where about two hundred girls are employed in making black[pg 012]lace like that of Bayeux, which has now completely superseded the Chantilly; the manner of making both laces is similar. The old Chantilly has completely died out, and the modern manufacture extends the whole length of Normandy from Cherbourg to Bayeux. How the children can keep the bobbins from entangling is a marvel; there were as many as five hundred on one pillow. The lace-makers were chiefly employed in flounces, shawls, and other large works. These are all made in separate pieces, and united by the stitch called fine joining or "raboutissage." A half-shawl or "pointe" was divided into thirty segments. We passed the evening at the Etablissement, and next morning left Cherbourg.The railway traverses the picturesque and rocky valley of Quincampoix to Martinvast, whose little Romanesque church stands close to the station, and at a short distance is the château of Martinvast, where its late proprietor, M. du Moncel, established a model farm. A monument has been erected to his memory in the church by the commune of Martinvast.4. Castle of Bricquebec.At Sottevast we took the omnibus for Bricquebec, which lies nearly five miles from the station. Its ruined castle, dating from the end of the fourteenth century, with its lofty octagonal donjon, nearly a hundred feet high, standing on a high "motte" or[pg 013]artificial mound, has a most imposing appearance. Bricquebec, the most considerable demesne of the Cotentins, was taken by King Henry V. from the Sire d'Estouteville, who had so gallantly defended Mont St. Michel against him. Henry gave Bricquebec to William de la Pole, Earl of Suffolk, the ill-fated favourite of Queen Margaret of Anjou, and he, on being taken prisoner by the French, sold it,[pg 014]to raise the money for his ransom, to Sir Bertie Entwistle, who fought at Agincourt, and who held it till the battle of Formigny expelled the English from Normandy, and Sir Bertie fell at St. Albans in the Lancastrian cause. The inn, "Hôtel du Vieux Château," is within the enclosure of the ruins—a most dilapidated old place; our dirty ill-furnished room next to a hayloft, the horses passing through the house to the stable, and every kind of litter and rubbish accumulated under the windows. Yet in the room we occupied had once slept our gracious Sovereign Queen Victoria. On a placard is inscribed, "Chambre de la famille royale d'Angleterre, 18 Août 1857;" and below stairs is another, setting forth, "S. M. la Reine d'Angleterre, le Prince Albert, les Princesses Royale et Alice, le Prince Alfred, sont descendus à l'hôtel du Vieux Château le 10 Août 1857." About a mile from Bricquebec is a Trappist convent; but we were not allowed admission beyond the parlour, where is sold a quantity of cutlery, not made—as we were given to understand when offered for sale—by the monks.Regaining the railroad, we went on to Valognes, which has been styled the St. Germain of Normandy; a dull town, with worn-out houses, occupied by worn-out aristocratic families. The grass grows in the streets.Here we left the rail and proceeded to Saint[pg 015]Sauveur-le-Vicomte. On entering the town, the castle is on the right of the road, the Abbey church on the left. The large demesne of Saint Sauveur-le-Vicomte passed by marriage into the Harcourt family, and belonged, in the time of Edward III., to Geoffrey d'Harcourt, whose fortress was one of the most formidable in Normandy. Banished from France, he went over to England and persuaded Edward III. to make a descent upon Normandy instead of Gascony, assuring him he would find rich towns and fair castles without any means of defence, and that his people would gain wealth enough to suffice them for twenty years to come. The King landed at La Hogue, or Saint Vaast-la-Hogue, as it is now called, where he knighted the Prince of Wales and made Warwick and Harcourt marshals of his army. They advanced in three divisions—the King and the Prince in the centre, the two marshals on the right and left—ravaging all before them, and not stopping in their victorious course till the great victory at Crecy. Harcourt subsequently met a traitor's fate. A force was sent against him, his army was routed, and, preferring death to being taken, he fought most valiantly until he was struck to the ground by French lances, when some men-at-arms dispatched him with their swords. He had sold the reversion of his castle to King Edward III., to whom it was confirmed by the treaty of Bretigny. Edward[pg 016]bestowed the barony upon that pride of English chivalry, Sir John Chandos, in recompense for his great services in the wars. The square donjon and inner gate were built by Chandos. The castle is well preserved, and is now used as a hospice for orphans and aged women. The rooms are kept beautifully clean, and on a tablet in one of the corridors is written up "Dortoirs restaurés par la munificence de M. le Comte Georges d'Harcourt en mémoire de ses illustres ayeux, anciens Seigneurs de ce château, en 1838."The Benedictine convent also belonged to the Harcourts until the revolt of Geoffrey. It is now the property of the Sœurs de la Miséricorde, who have rebuilt the fine Abbey church according to its former model. Originally built in the eleventh century, it was partly burnt in the fourteenth, and reconstructed in the fifteenth. The columns and arches of the nave are of the first period; the form of the church is a Latin cross, having an apse ornamented with a double row of lancet windows, richly sculptured. The sculptures are all executed by an untaught workman of the place, who died before he had completed the pulpit. To collect the funds necessary for the undertaking, the foundress travelled throughout Europe. Her tomb is in the church. "Julie Françoise Catherine Postel, née à Barfleur, 1756. Sœur Marie Madelaine, Fondatrice et première Superieure[pg 017]Générale de l'Institut des Ecoles Chrétiennes de la Miséricorde, morte en odeur de Sainteté 16 Juillet 1846, à l'Abbaye de St. Sauveur-le-Vicomte." The badge of the sisterhood is a cross inscribed with their motto "L'obéissance jusqu'à la mort." Some of the party made an attempt at fishing in the little river Douve, but without success, though rewarded for their walk by a pretty view of the apse of the Abbey church, with its delicately-sculptured lancet windows, from the opposite side of the river.5. L'OBÉISSANCEJUSQU'À LA MORT.We hired a private carriage (voiture à volonté) to Périers. After passing over a hilly road we crossed a marsh which extends from Carentan to the sea, and reached a town called La Haye-du-Puits—a singular name derived from the custom in the middle ages of surrounding the "motte" or enclosure upon which the donjon was built, with a wooden palisade, or sometimes with a thick hedge formed of thorns and branches of trees interlaced: hence La Haye-du-Puits, La Haye-Pesnel, and others. Here is a Norman church restored: all the capitals of the columns are of the same pattern.The Abbey church at Lessay, where next we[pg 018]stopped, is of the twelfth century, and considered, with Coutances and Périers, to be the finest examples of Romanesque in the Cotentin. The arches are round, and all the architecture of the church, which has been restored, is of the same period. The Abbey of Lessay had transmarine jurisdiction and the right of presentation to the Priory of Boxgrove and other endowments in the diocese of Chichester. The Abbey house, now inhabited, is a fine modernised habitation. At Lessay we saw the manner of washing linen practised in many places throughout Normandy and Brittany. Being first roughly washed in the river, the clothes are placed in layers in a large cask, with a bunghole at the bottom, alternately with wood-ashes, and on the top is laid a piece of coarse sacking. Boiling water is poured over the top, which, as it passes through the linen, absorbs the soda of the ashes, escaping at the bottom and carrying away with it all impurities. This process is repeated several times till the clothes are perfectly white.Throughout this part of the country the mistletoe hangs as the sign of a cabaret; and if cider is sold, some apples are fastened to the bush. On the road to Périers we crossed a "lande" or common, where we met numerous carts carrying sea sand, here used to mix with the heavy soil as manure.At Périers we slept at the little inn "La Croix[pg 019]Blanche," kept by Madame Casimir, the widow of a Polish officer, well known for her eccentricity and good cuisine. The entrance to the apartments in the inns is generally through the kitchen; in many the box bedstead (lit clos) stands in the corner near the fire, Breton fashion. On a barber's shop we saw painted up "Içi l'on rajeunit." The church has a tall spire, and is one of the finest religious edifices in this part of Normandy—painted windows, the capitals of the columns of varied foliage, and fine groined clustered arches.We had a most perilous drive to Coutances, the coachman, "en ribote," drove us at a fearful pace, and we were thankful when we arrived in safety. The Norman cathedral is beautiful—so simple, so pure, and elegant; its tall towers terminating in spires; and the chapels being separated by open mullioned arches, great lightness is given to the interior. The Bishop of Coutances was officiating at the consecration of some stones for a new pavement; each flag was rubbed over and anointed with oil.6. Coutances Cathedral.The church of St. Pierre has a handsome square tower, pierced gallery, and apse with a double row of columns. In the church of St. Nicholas we particularly noticed the fine bosses of the groined arches in the chancel. The fonts hereabouts have the serpent with the apple, and the cross carved upon the[pg 020]cover. The church was filled with pots of flowers they were employed in removing, for the day before had been the Fête of St. Fiacre, the patron of gardeners. St. Fiacre, or Fiaker, was an Irish monk of the seventh century, who, according to tradition,[pg 021]obtained from the Bishop of Meaux a grant of as much ground out of the forest as he could dig a trench round in one day's labour, for the purpose of making a garden and cultivating vegetables for travellers. Long time after, the peasants would show the ditch ten times longer than was expected, and relate how, when the Irishman took his stick to trace a line upon the soil, the earth dug itself under the point of the stick, while the forest trees fell right and left to save him the trouble of cutting them down. Outside the town are the remains of an aqueduct, with ivy-covered arches, said to be the work of the middle ages. It is a good point of view for sketching the cathedral, and the public gardens also command a fine prospect.The approach to Granville is by a sharp descent. The town is built at the foot of a rocky promontory, the streets rising in terraces cut in the rock, on the top of which are the citadel and the church on the culminating point. It has been styled a Gibraltar in miniature. A fort was built here by Lord Scales, who commanded the English forces in the Cotentin in the time of Henry VI., and it was taken by surprise by Estouteville, the hero of Saint Michel. The church is cruciform in plan, the arms of the cross being equal. The axis of the nave is inclined to the left, as we afterwards observed that of theCreizkerat St. Pol de Léon. It has been lately[pg 022]restored, and the painted windows are offerings of the different families of the town. The view from the top of the "Roc" is very extensive, including the Chausey islands and Jersey. A steamer runs twice a week to St. Helier. A deep cutting in the rocks opens on the beach, where the bathing-machines are stationed—curious little canvas huts carried upon poles, like sedan chairs. The tide here rises 45 feet. It was to Granville the Vendean army, commanded by La Rochejacquelin, appointed generalissimo at twenty-two, marched after their fatal step of crossing the Loire, expecting to make a junction with the English; but Granville was vigorously defended, contrary winds retarded the arrival of the English fleet, and the retreat from the coast, where it might have been supported by the English, was the ruin of the Royalist army. Of the 80,000 who crossed the Loire sixty days before, only 8000 remained to make their last heroic resistance at Savenay, which ended the great Vendean war. A few months after, the hero of this noble army, the chivalrous Henri de la Rochejacquelin, fell from the bullet of a soldier whose life he had spared1:—“Lorsqu'en des jours trop malheureuxPâlissait l'astre de la France;Quand les cœurs les plus valeureuxSemblaient perdre toute espérance,[pg 023]L'antique honneur, la sainte foi,Brillèrent dans cette contrée;Mourir pour son Dieu, pour son roi,Fut le serment de la Vendée.”The costume of the Granville women is singular. They wear long black cloaks or mantles, edged with a frill of the same material, and on their heads a kind of bandeau or under-cap, turned up at the ears, surmounted by a white handkerchief, folded square and placed horizontally upon the head, like the plinth of a Grecian capital.We drove to St. Pair, a small watering-place about two miles from Granville, nicely situated in a little sandy bay. In the middle of the church is the monumental tomb of St. Pair and another saint (St. Gault); their effigies, with mitre and crozier, side by side.Next day we had a beautiful drive to Avranches. A winding road leads up to the town, which is situated on an elevated plateau, commanding a view of Brittany on one side and of Normandy on the other—a broad expanse of land and sea, the former extending over the valley of the Sée, with its network of small streams interlacing each other; Mont St. Michel appears in the distance. The finest view is from the Botanic gardens. The cathedral of Avranches fell at the end of the last century, but a model of it is preserved in the museum. One stone[pg 024]remains, carefully surrounded by massive chains, with an inscription recording that it was the spot where Henry II. received absolution for the murder of Thomas à Becket:—"Sur cette pierre, içi à la porte de la cathédrale d'Avranches, après le meurtre de Thomas Becket, Archévêque de Cantorbéry, Henri II., roi d'Angleterre, duc de Normandie, reçut à genoux, des légats du pape, l'absolution apostolique, le dimanche xxii Mai, 1172." The cemetery is at the foot of the hill; the tombs are of granite, with the letters in relief: among them we read many well-known English names.At Pontorson we could find no remains of the castle of Du Guesclin, which was nearly surprised by the English under a captain named Felton, during the absence of Du Guesclin, with the connivance of the "chambrières" of the Lady Typhaine, his wife. Already their scaling-ladders were against the wall, when Juliana, Du Guesclin's sister, agitated by a troublous dream, awoke suddenly, seized a sword, rushed to the window, and upset three English who were coming up the ladder, and they were killed by the fall. The enemy retired. Next morning Du Guesclin, on his return to Pontorson, met Felton and his party, attacked them, and took them prisoners. When Typhaine saw Felton, she tauntingly exclaimed, "Comment, brave Felton, vous voilà encore! C'est trop pour un homme de cœur comme[pg 025]vous d'être battu, dans une intervalle de douze heures, une fois par la sœur, une autre par le frère." Du Guesclin caused the faithless "chambrières" to be sewed up in sacks and flung into the river.John IV. Duke ofBrittanyconferred upon Du Guesclin the government of Pontorson, of which territory he was personally lord, by right of his mother. It was here he often resided, and here he celebrated being made Constable of France by King Charles V., and fraternised with Olivier de Clisson, agreeing to afford each other mutual help—"contre tous ceux qui peuvent vivre et mourir." The granite church was founded by Duke Robert, father of the Conqueror.Pontorson is the most convenient place for visiting Mont St. Michel. Our drive thither was by the banks of the river Couësnon, along a sandy road, bordered on each side by hedges of tamarisks, which leads to the "Grève," or sands, which have to be crossed to reach the Mount, a distance of rather more than a mile. We met numbers of bare-legged half-clad women and children, bringing in the produce of their fishing, shrimps and cockles tied up in nets, and peasants with carts carrying in sea sand for dressing the land. The appearance of Mont St. Michel is very imposing, a cone of granite encircled by the sea. Above rises the fortress, surmounted by the church, a height of 400 feet from the top to the[pg 026]water. Below, at the foot of the Mount, picturesquely situated on an insulated rock, is the little chapel of St. Aubert, Bishop of Avranches, the founder of St. Michel. The Mount has been the residence of many of our English princes. Matilda, queen of the Conqueror, visited St. Michel. It was here her son Henry I., then only Count of the Cotentin, was blockaded by his brothers William and Robert, and obliged to surrender. Here Henry II. held his court, and, when Henry V. overran Normandy, St. Michel was the only fortress that held out against him, under its gallant defender Louis d'Estouteville of Bricquebec. Two cannons, now at the entrance of the castle, are said to have been taken from the English at the siege. Normandy was always the scene of the quarrels between the English Norman princes, of the disputes between the sons of the Conqueror, between Stephen of Blois and Henry of Anjou, and again of those between Henry II. and his sons, and of Richard and his brother John, to the latter of whom the Normans were attached.Seven French kings have made pilgrimages to St. Michel; and here Louis XI. instituted the order of knighthood, called in honour of the archangel St. Michael, but afterwards styled the order of the Coquille, from the cockleshells that formed the collar of the knights, and the golden cockle-shells that bordered their mantles. The motto of the order was[pg 027]the old motto of the Mount, "Immensi tremor Oceani" (the trembling of the immeasurable ocean), being an allusion to the popular belief that when the English approached St. Michel, the guardian archangel of the Mount raised a tempest to drive the enemy's vessels upon the rocks. This belief may be traced back to the time when the island was occupied by the Druid priestesses, who were supposed to have the power of raising storms and stilling them by their magic arrows of gold.We ascended by the flight of steps to the "Merveille," as the convent building is called, and well it deserves its name, from its elegance, its boldness, and its position, with a wall of above one hundred feet high, and of immense length, rising from the rock and supported by fifteen buttresses, and divided into three stories. In every point of view it is one of the most remarkable edifices of the thirteenth century. The salle des chevaliers, where the chapters of the knights were held, is a fine hall, with three rows of columns, and above it are the beautiful Gothic cloisters. The "préau" or court is surrounded by a double row of pointed arches, interlacing each other, and filled in with flowered spandrils and cornices, carved with the greatest delicacy and endless variety. The church which crowns the building is supported by a circle of enormous columns in the crypt beneath, called the Souterrain des Gros Piliers: it has been[pg 028]entirely restored, and the carvings are the work of the prisoners who were confined here. From one of the doors we went out to the platform or terrace called Beauregard, from the beauty of its prospect, or sometimes Sault Gautier, from a prisoner of that name, who three times threw himself off the platform to commit suicide. The view from hence is most extensive, the whole circuit of the bay extending to the west as far as Cancale. In 1203 St. Michel became a royal demesne, and the buildings were entirely reconstructed by the Abbot Jourdan, assisted by Philip Augustus; and the works were continued by his successors to 1260.Beneath and adjacent to the Mount, is the little island of La Tombeleine or tombeau d'-Helène, so called from a young lady of that name, who unable to accompany her lover knight when he left for England with the Conqueror, as soon as the vessel which carried him away disappeared from her sight, laid down on the shore and died. Every year, on the anniversary of her death, the fishermen will tell you they see a dove seated upon the Tombeleine rock, and remain there till morning's dawn.The guide pointed out to us the window of St. Michel, from which Barbès tried to escape by means of a cord made of his sheets cut into strips and tied together; but the line was too short, and he fell upon the rock and was taken up much hurt. The[pg 029]provisions for the fortress are brought in up an inclined plane, and raised by means of a tread-wheel, formerly worked by the prisoners. We were conducted to the spot where stood, with bars only three inches apart, the iron cage in which so many celebrities were immured. Dubourg, the Dutch journalist, who wrote against Louis XIV., died within its bars, devoured, it is said, by the rats. In 1777, the Comte d'Artois (afterwards Charles X.) desired it should be destroyed, but his wishes were disregarded. His cousin, the Duc de Chartres (afterwards Louis Philippe), with his brother and sister, and Madame de Genlis, subsequently visited the Mount. All exclaimed against the iron cage, and when they heard that the Comte d'Artois had ordered its destruction, they sent for hatchets, and the Duc de Chartres gave the first blow towards its demolition; but the fine old fortress is no longer desecrated as a prison. The Emperor has restored it to its original position, and it is now placed under the control of the Bishop of Coutances, and is used as an asylum for orphans under the care of a few Sisters.Next morning we crossed the boundary between Normandy and Brittany, the river Couësnon, which has often changed its course, once, it is said, running beyond St. Michel—hence the popular saying—“Le Couësnon par sa folieA mis le Mont en Normandie.”[pg 030]We had a beautiful drive to Dol or Dol-de-Bretagne, as it is styled, to distinguish it from the fortress of the same name in the Jura, upon the taking of which Madame de Sevigné writes in her letters with so much enthusiasm. We were now fairly in Brittany, which though geographically part of France still remains very distinct, owing to the Celtic origin of its inhabitants. Brittany consists of five departments; but it is in Lower Brittany alone, comprised in the departments of Finistère, Morbihan, and the Côtes-du-Nord, that the true Celtic race, its language, names, features, costumes, and superstitions are to be found.This is the true Brittany, the Bretagne Bretonnante of Froissart, who calls the eastern part of the province, La Bretagne Douce, because the French language is spoken there. Dol was the great bulwark of Brittany against Normandy; the wall and moat surrounding the town, with some of the towers, still remain. Many of the houses are built, as the French term it, "en colombage" that is, with the upper story projecting some fifteen feet over the ground-floor, forming a gallery or porch supported by oak posts or columns with sculptured capitals of the thirteenth century. The inn we occupied had one of these porches: Madame Barbot, our landlady, and her maid, were both dressed in Breton costume, with lace-trimmed embroidered[pg 031]caps and aprons of fine muslin, clear-starched and ironed with a perfection which the most accomplished "blanchisseuse du fin" of Paris would find it difficult to surpass. The people here have the Breton physiognomy, sharp black eyes, short roundi faces and brown freckled complexions, a contrast to the blue eyes, long oval faces, and bright tints of their Norman neighbours.7. Pilaster and Cornice from theTomb of Bishop James, Cathedral,Dol.The principal building at Dol is the Cathedral, built of grey granite, in the style of many of our English churches. On the south is the "porte episcopale," a large projecting porch with mullioned sides, and, near it, a smaller porch with a central column semée of hearts, the "armes parlantes" of Bishop Cœuret who built it. The clustered columns of the nave, consist of a central pillar surrounded by four others running up to the roof, so slender and delicate that they are united to the centre by small bars of iron. Over the high altar is an enormous wooden crozier, carved and gilt, from which the Host is suspended.[pg 032]A beautiful Renaissance tomb on the north side of the cathedral was raised in 1507 to the memory of Bishop James, who died three years before. The sculpture is much mutilated, but the arabesques are most delicately and elegantly chiselled. It is supposed to be the work of Jean Just of Tours, sculptor of the magnificent tomb of Louis XII. and Anne of Brittany, erected at St. Denis by order of Francis I.8. Front of the Tomb of Bishop James,Cathedral, Dol.The chapel of St. Samson, patron saint of the cathedral, has been restored. Mad people were brought here for cure, and placed in a recess which still remains; the opening was covered over by an iron grating. Dol was formerly the ecclesiastical metropolis of Brittany; the see was founded by Samson, one of those British monks, who, with a whole population of men and women, emigrated from England to escape the Saxon slavery. They crossed the Channel in barks made of skins sewn together, singing, as they went, the Lamentations of[pg 033]the Psalmist. This emigration lasted more than a century (from 450 to 550), and poured a Christian population into a Celtic country where paganism was longest preserved. St. Samson and his six suffragans—all monks, missionaries, and bishops, like himself—were called the "Seven Saints of Brittany;" St. Samson was what was termed an "evêque portatif," meaning a bishop without a diocese, until he founded that of Dol. Telio, also a British monk, with the assistance of St. Samson, planted near Dol an orchard three miles in length, and to him is attributed the first introduction of the apple-tree into Brittany. Wherever the monks went, they cultivated the soil; all had in their mouths the words of the Apostle, "If any would not work, neither should he eat." The people admired the industry of the new comers, and, from admiration they passed to imitation; the peasants joined the monks in tilling the ground, and even the brigands became agriculturists. "The Cross and the plough, labour and prayer," was the motto of these early missionaries.“Sûr que le Ciel maudit l'arbre stérile,Le sage passe en opérant le bien:Vivre et mourir à l'univers utile,C'est la devise et l'esprit du chrétien.”Chants de Piété,Malo de Garaby.The monks of Dol were great bee-farmers, as we learn from an anecdote told by Count Montalembert[pg 034]in his 'Moines de l'Occident.' One day when St. Samson of Dol and St. Germain, Bishop of Paris, were conversing on the respective merits of their monasteries, St. Samson said that his monks were such good and careful preservers of their bees that, besides the honey which they yielded in abundance, they furnished more wax than was used in the churches during the year, but that, their climate not being fit for the growth of vines, they had great scarcity of wine. Upon hearing this, St. Germain replied, "We, on the contrary, produce more wine than we can consume, but we have to buy wax; so, if you will furnish us with wax, we will give you a tenth of our wine." Samson accepted the offer, and the mutual arrangement was continued during the lives of the two saints.The marshy country round Dol has been formerly inundated by the sea; it is now reclaimed and protected by a dyke twenty-two miles long, extending from Pontorson to Chateauneuf. The whole tract is full of buried wood, a submerged forest, which the people dig up, and use for furniture. It is black, like the Irish bog-oak. They call it "couëron." In the midst of this plain rises a mamelon or insulated granite rock, resembling in form Mont St. Michel, called the Mont Dol. On the top is the little chapel of Notre Dame de l'Espérance, upon which was formerly a telegraph, and near it is a[pg 035]column surmounted by a colossal statue of Our Lady. Mont Dol was a consecrated place of the Druids. The guides showed us a spring which never dries, and also a rock upon which they point out the print of the foot of the demon, left by him when wrestling with St. Michael. We met the curé, who gave us a medal of the church, and told us the principal points in the view before us, extending over the whole Bay of Cancale.[pg 036]

A fair wind conveyed us in six hours from Poole to Cherbourg. It was dusk when we entered the harbour, and so we had no opportunity of seeing its beauty until the following morning, when we ascended a height behind the town, called the Mont du Roule. It is reached either on foot or by carriage, the Emperor having ordered a road to be made up to the fort which crowns the heights, on the occasion of the visit to Cherbourg, in 1858, of her Majesty Queen Victoria. Some 1500 men were immediately set to work, and, in a few days, an easy carriage-road was finished, up which the Emperor drove the Queen at his usual rapid pace. The view from the fort is lovely, commanding the whole line of the northern point of the Cotentin, from the low promontory of Cape de la Hogue to Barfleur. The water of the harbour, owing to its great depth, is of the most intense blue, which we quite agreed with the guardian of the fort in likening to that of the Bay of Naples. Across its entrance stretches, for two miles, the long line of the breakwater, and within were anchored the fleet of our yacht squadron, which the day before had[pg 002]run a race between Poole and Cherbourg. We took a boat to visit the breakwater. It is commanded at each end by a fort, with another in the centre, where the provisions are kept. In stormy weather the sea washes over the breakwater, and sometimes for days prevents all communication between the forts, and the supplies consequently are stopped. Boys offered us for sale the silvery shells of the Venus' ear, which inhabits the rocks of the breakwater. We afterwards saw them in the fish-market exposed for sale, and, on expressing some curiosity as to how they were eaten, the landlord had a dish prepared for us. These fish resemble the scallop in taste, but are very tough, and require a great deal of beating with a wooden mallet to make them tender enough to eat. They are called "ormer," or "gofish." The table d'hôte was very plentifully supplied with fish, and here, as throughout Normandy and Brittany, cider, the customary beverage of the country, was always placed upon the table. It varies very much in quality in different districts; that of Bayeux is most esteemed.

The next morning we set out for the dockyard. To obtain admission, it first requires a letter from the English Consul, who lives in a charming spot overlooking the sea, at the foot of the Montagne du Roule. Furnished with this, we repaired to the Préfet Maritime, who gave us an order to be presented[pg 003]at the dockyard gate, where it was countersigned, and a guide appointed to show us over the establishment. We made the tour round all the basins and workshops, and saw the canot impérial used by the Emperor on the visit of our Queen,—a most elegant boat, beautifully carved with marine subjects. The model of a Roman trireme, or galley, is in one of the basins, and in the little museum, or Salle des Modèles, are the two flagstones that covered the grave of Napoleon, and were deposited here by the Prince de Joinville, when he returned with the Emperor's remains from St. Helena. The dockyard partly stands on a spot called Chantereyne. The Empress Matilda, fleeing from Stephen, was overtaken by a tempest when making for Cherbourg, and vowed, if her life were spared, to build a church. The ship was in jeopardy, but the pilot cheered her spirits, and, when gaining the port, exclaimed, "Chantes Reine! we are safe in harbour." The place where she landed has always retained the name; and here the Empress, in fulfilment of her vow, founded an abbey, which was destroyed in the Revolution. The habitations of the nuns is the present provisional Hôpital de la Marine; a new one, containing above a thousand beds, being in course of construction, and a modern church, called Eglise du Vœu, has been erected in another part of the town in place of that of the Empress Matilda.

Henry II. held his court in the castle with his empress-mother in great splendour; it had formerly been tenanted by Duke William of Normandy before his invasion of England, and, within its enclosure, he built a church also, in consequence of a vow made during a serious illness. There are few objects of interest in the town of Cherbourg. The women all wear the large Normandy cap. In the Place d'Armes is a bronze equestrian statue of the Emperor Napoleon I., and on the pedestal is inscribed "J'avois résolu de renouveler à Cherbourg les merveilles de l'Egypte." In the Library is a curiously sculptured chimney-piece of the fifteenth century, coloured and gilt, removed from a room of the abbey. The principal church, La Trinité, is a strange jumble of architecture. There is some beautiful tracery in the windows, and a fine boss (clef pendante) in the south porch, now restored. On a board in the church is an inscription, setting forth it was built in consequence of a "vœu solennel des habitans de Cherbourg en 1450 de la délivrance de la domination étrangère"—that is, from the English, whose defeat the same year at Formigny, by the Constable de Richemont, expelled them for ever from Normandy.

There is much to see in the environs of Cherbourg, which makes it a good central point for excursions. We drove by the fort of Octeville, where a magnificent panoramic view is obtained,[pg 005]equalling in extent that from the Mont du Roule. A fisherman, who was standing by, told us the names of the numerous forts that bristle in every direction, and related to us the legend of the monk of Saire, who, having received the rent due to his father for some land, appropriated the money to his own use, and, on the tenant declaring he had paid the sum, adjured the evil one to carry him off, if he had ever received the money. The words were no sooner uttered than there came a flash of lightning, and the monk vanished: but he still appears in the roads of Cherbourg floating on the sea; when he sees a sailor, he cries "Save me, save me! I am about to sink!" but the hapless being who approaches to assist him is immediately dragged into the water, a peal of infernal laughter is heard, and the luckless mariner disappears for ever. We asked our guide if he believed in the phantom monk, but he was silent.

1. Querqueville Church.

From Octeville we proceeded to Querqueville, where, in the same churchyard as the parochial church, stands a little church, named after St. Germain, the first apostle of the Cotentin, who, in the fifth century, landed from England on the coast of La Hogue, and preached Christianity in this district and the valley traversed by the river Saire, which falls into the sea near St. Vaast-la-Hogue. This tiny church, for it measures only 34 feet by 24, and is 11 feet high, is by some supposed to have been a[pg 006]temple of the Gauls converted into a Christian place of worship; the nave and tower having been added to the old temple, which consists of a triple apse forming a regular trefoil, each of which has a domed top. We drove on to Nacqueville, the château of Comte Hippolyte de Tocqueville. The park is prettily laid out, a stream of water runs in front of the house, and a row of blue hydrangeas blazed forth in great beauty, with the relief of a background of dark firs. Time prevented us from pursuing our excursion further west, to see the famed cliffs of Jobourg.

2. Plan ofQuerqueville Church.

To the east of Cherbourg a high road leads to Barfleur and the lighthouse of Gatteville, between which and the Isle of Wight is the narrowest point of the English Channel, passing by Saint-Pierre-Eglise, near which is the château of the late Alexis de Tocqueville, author of 'Democracy in America;' but we did not get further on the road than Tourlaville, the ancient château of the Ravalet family, upon whom tradition has heaped every crime imaginable. One seigneur entered the church with his hounds and stabbed the priest at the altar, because he refused to administer to him the consecrated element; another hanged some of his vassals, because they did not grind their corn at the seignorial mill, for "haute or basse justice" was then among the nobles' rights. Marguerite, a daughter of this ancient house, expiated, with her brother, their offences upon the scaffold at Paris. Every effort was made to spare their lives; but the King, or rather Queen Margot, was inexorable. The château of Tourlaville is beautifully situated; it is in the style of the Renaissance, with an angular tower, whichrecallsthat of Heidelberg Castle. The ground-floor consists of two large unfurnished rooms, and a staircase, with iron railing, leads to the story above. In one room hangs the portrait of a lady châteleine, in the costume of the period of Louis XIII., with the château of Tourlaville in the distance. On her left are eight Cupids[pg 008]with bandages over their eyes, one in advance of the others is not blinded. From the lady's mouth is a label, with the inscription "Un (seul) me suffit." This is said to be the portrait of the Lady Marguerite, but the costume is of a later date. In one of the rooms is a chimney-piece covered with a variety of amatory devices and mottoes:—a Cupid blinded, holding a lighted torch, motto "Ce qui me donne la vie me cause la mort." Again, another Cupid with eyes bandaged, pouring water out of a vase to cool a flaming heart he holds in his hand, motto "Sa froideur me glace les veines et son ardeur brûle mon cœur." Six winged hearts flying at the approach of Cupid, but which are reached by his darts, "Même en fuyant l'on est pris." Further is a sentiment in verse:—

“Plusieurs sont atteints de ce feu,Mais il ne s'en guérit que fort peu.”

“Plusieurs sont atteints de ce feu,

Mais il ne s'en guérit que fort peu.”

Again,—

“Ces deux n'en font qu'un.”

3. Château of Tourlaville.

A river in the foreground, in the distance a setting sun, motto "Ainsi puissai-je mourir." This assemblage of devices and mottoes is not applicable to any particular individual, but may be supposed to be merely an expression of the taste of the time. They are of the seventeenth century, when the Ravalet had been succeeded by the Franquetot family, who have since taken the name of Coigny.[pg 009][pg 010][pg 011]Their arms, with several others, are in the little boudoir in one of the towers, called the Blue Chamber. Its walls are distempered blue, and the coverlet and hangings of the bed, with all the decorations of the room, are of the same colour. Having admired the lovely view from the "Tour des quatre vents," we descended to the kitchen of the farmer who rents the house, which now belongs to the Tocqueville family. His wife was busily employed in making "crêpes," a favourite kind of cake in Normandy and Brittany. It is made generally of the flour of the sarrasin or buckwheat, mixed with milk or water, and spread into a kind of pancake, which is fried on an iron pan, resembling the Scotch griddle-cakes. Another variety, called "galette," is made of the same ingredients, but differs from the crêpe in its being made three or four times the thickness, and is therefore not so light. Though generally made of buckwheat, wheat or oat-flour is sometimes used; and in the towns, sugar and cinnamon and vanilla are added, and the simple character of the crêpe entirely changed under the hands of the confectioner. The little village of Tourlaville was famous for its glassworks, until supplanted by those of Gobain.

On our return to Cherbourg we visited the lace school of the Sœurs de la Providence, where about two hundred girls are employed in making black[pg 012]lace like that of Bayeux, which has now completely superseded the Chantilly; the manner of making both laces is similar. The old Chantilly has completely died out, and the modern manufacture extends the whole length of Normandy from Cherbourg to Bayeux. How the children can keep the bobbins from entangling is a marvel; there were as many as five hundred on one pillow. The lace-makers were chiefly employed in flounces, shawls, and other large works. These are all made in separate pieces, and united by the stitch called fine joining or "raboutissage." A half-shawl or "pointe" was divided into thirty segments. We passed the evening at the Etablissement, and next morning left Cherbourg.

The railway traverses the picturesque and rocky valley of Quincampoix to Martinvast, whose little Romanesque church stands close to the station, and at a short distance is the château of Martinvast, where its late proprietor, M. du Moncel, established a model farm. A monument has been erected to his memory in the church by the commune of Martinvast.

4. Castle of Bricquebec.

At Sottevast we took the omnibus for Bricquebec, which lies nearly five miles from the station. Its ruined castle, dating from the end of the fourteenth century, with its lofty octagonal donjon, nearly a hundred feet high, standing on a high "motte" or[pg 013]artificial mound, has a most imposing appearance. Bricquebec, the most considerable demesne of the Cotentins, was taken by King Henry V. from the Sire d'Estouteville, who had so gallantly defended Mont St. Michel against him. Henry gave Bricquebec to William de la Pole, Earl of Suffolk, the ill-fated favourite of Queen Margaret of Anjou, and he, on being taken prisoner by the French, sold it,[pg 014]to raise the money for his ransom, to Sir Bertie Entwistle, who fought at Agincourt, and who held it till the battle of Formigny expelled the English from Normandy, and Sir Bertie fell at St. Albans in the Lancastrian cause. The inn, "Hôtel du Vieux Château," is within the enclosure of the ruins—a most dilapidated old place; our dirty ill-furnished room next to a hayloft, the horses passing through the house to the stable, and every kind of litter and rubbish accumulated under the windows. Yet in the room we occupied had once slept our gracious Sovereign Queen Victoria. On a placard is inscribed, "Chambre de la famille royale d'Angleterre, 18 Août 1857;" and below stairs is another, setting forth, "S. M. la Reine d'Angleterre, le Prince Albert, les Princesses Royale et Alice, le Prince Alfred, sont descendus à l'hôtel du Vieux Château le 10 Août 1857." About a mile from Bricquebec is a Trappist convent; but we were not allowed admission beyond the parlour, where is sold a quantity of cutlery, not made—as we were given to understand when offered for sale—by the monks.

Regaining the railroad, we went on to Valognes, which has been styled the St. Germain of Normandy; a dull town, with worn-out houses, occupied by worn-out aristocratic families. The grass grows in the streets.

Here we left the rail and proceeded to Saint[pg 015]Sauveur-le-Vicomte. On entering the town, the castle is on the right of the road, the Abbey church on the left. The large demesne of Saint Sauveur-le-Vicomte passed by marriage into the Harcourt family, and belonged, in the time of Edward III., to Geoffrey d'Harcourt, whose fortress was one of the most formidable in Normandy. Banished from France, he went over to England and persuaded Edward III. to make a descent upon Normandy instead of Gascony, assuring him he would find rich towns and fair castles without any means of defence, and that his people would gain wealth enough to suffice them for twenty years to come. The King landed at La Hogue, or Saint Vaast-la-Hogue, as it is now called, where he knighted the Prince of Wales and made Warwick and Harcourt marshals of his army. They advanced in three divisions—the King and the Prince in the centre, the two marshals on the right and left—ravaging all before them, and not stopping in their victorious course till the great victory at Crecy. Harcourt subsequently met a traitor's fate. A force was sent against him, his army was routed, and, preferring death to being taken, he fought most valiantly until he was struck to the ground by French lances, when some men-at-arms dispatched him with their swords. He had sold the reversion of his castle to King Edward III., to whom it was confirmed by the treaty of Bretigny. Edward[pg 016]bestowed the barony upon that pride of English chivalry, Sir John Chandos, in recompense for his great services in the wars. The square donjon and inner gate were built by Chandos. The castle is well preserved, and is now used as a hospice for orphans and aged women. The rooms are kept beautifully clean, and on a tablet in one of the corridors is written up "Dortoirs restaurés par la munificence de M. le Comte Georges d'Harcourt en mémoire de ses illustres ayeux, anciens Seigneurs de ce château, en 1838."

The Benedictine convent also belonged to the Harcourts until the revolt of Geoffrey. It is now the property of the Sœurs de la Miséricorde, who have rebuilt the fine Abbey church according to its former model. Originally built in the eleventh century, it was partly burnt in the fourteenth, and reconstructed in the fifteenth. The columns and arches of the nave are of the first period; the form of the church is a Latin cross, having an apse ornamented with a double row of lancet windows, richly sculptured. The sculptures are all executed by an untaught workman of the place, who died before he had completed the pulpit. To collect the funds necessary for the undertaking, the foundress travelled throughout Europe. Her tomb is in the church. "Julie Françoise Catherine Postel, née à Barfleur, 1756. Sœur Marie Madelaine, Fondatrice et première Superieure[pg 017]Générale de l'Institut des Ecoles Chrétiennes de la Miséricorde, morte en odeur de Sainteté 16 Juillet 1846, à l'Abbaye de St. Sauveur-le-Vicomte." The badge of the sisterhood is a cross inscribed with their motto "L'obéissance jusqu'à la mort." Some of the party made an attempt at fishing in the little river Douve, but without success, though rewarded for their walk by a pretty view of the apse of the Abbey church, with its delicately-sculptured lancet windows, from the opposite side of the river.

5. L'OBÉISSANCEJUSQU'À LA MORT.

We hired a private carriage (voiture à volonté) to Périers. After passing over a hilly road we crossed a marsh which extends from Carentan to the sea, and reached a town called La Haye-du-Puits—a singular name derived from the custom in the middle ages of surrounding the "motte" or enclosure upon which the donjon was built, with a wooden palisade, or sometimes with a thick hedge formed of thorns and branches of trees interlaced: hence La Haye-du-Puits, La Haye-Pesnel, and others. Here is a Norman church restored: all the capitals of the columns are of the same pattern.

The Abbey church at Lessay, where next we[pg 018]stopped, is of the twelfth century, and considered, with Coutances and Périers, to be the finest examples of Romanesque in the Cotentin. The arches are round, and all the architecture of the church, which has been restored, is of the same period. The Abbey of Lessay had transmarine jurisdiction and the right of presentation to the Priory of Boxgrove and other endowments in the diocese of Chichester. The Abbey house, now inhabited, is a fine modernised habitation. At Lessay we saw the manner of washing linen practised in many places throughout Normandy and Brittany. Being first roughly washed in the river, the clothes are placed in layers in a large cask, with a bunghole at the bottom, alternately with wood-ashes, and on the top is laid a piece of coarse sacking. Boiling water is poured over the top, which, as it passes through the linen, absorbs the soda of the ashes, escaping at the bottom and carrying away with it all impurities. This process is repeated several times till the clothes are perfectly white.

Throughout this part of the country the mistletoe hangs as the sign of a cabaret; and if cider is sold, some apples are fastened to the bush. On the road to Périers we crossed a "lande" or common, where we met numerous carts carrying sea sand, here used to mix with the heavy soil as manure.

At Périers we slept at the little inn "La Croix[pg 019]Blanche," kept by Madame Casimir, the widow of a Polish officer, well known for her eccentricity and good cuisine. The entrance to the apartments in the inns is generally through the kitchen; in many the box bedstead (lit clos) stands in the corner near the fire, Breton fashion. On a barber's shop we saw painted up "Içi l'on rajeunit." The church has a tall spire, and is one of the finest religious edifices in this part of Normandy—painted windows, the capitals of the columns of varied foliage, and fine groined clustered arches.

We had a most perilous drive to Coutances, the coachman, "en ribote," drove us at a fearful pace, and we were thankful when we arrived in safety. The Norman cathedral is beautiful—so simple, so pure, and elegant; its tall towers terminating in spires; and the chapels being separated by open mullioned arches, great lightness is given to the interior. The Bishop of Coutances was officiating at the consecration of some stones for a new pavement; each flag was rubbed over and anointed with oil.

6. Coutances Cathedral.

The church of St. Pierre has a handsome square tower, pierced gallery, and apse with a double row of columns. In the church of St. Nicholas we particularly noticed the fine bosses of the groined arches in the chancel. The fonts hereabouts have the serpent with the apple, and the cross carved upon the[pg 020]cover. The church was filled with pots of flowers they were employed in removing, for the day before had been the Fête of St. Fiacre, the patron of gardeners. St. Fiacre, or Fiaker, was an Irish monk of the seventh century, who, according to tradition,[pg 021]obtained from the Bishop of Meaux a grant of as much ground out of the forest as he could dig a trench round in one day's labour, for the purpose of making a garden and cultivating vegetables for travellers. Long time after, the peasants would show the ditch ten times longer than was expected, and relate how, when the Irishman took his stick to trace a line upon the soil, the earth dug itself under the point of the stick, while the forest trees fell right and left to save him the trouble of cutting them down. Outside the town are the remains of an aqueduct, with ivy-covered arches, said to be the work of the middle ages. It is a good point of view for sketching the cathedral, and the public gardens also command a fine prospect.

The approach to Granville is by a sharp descent. The town is built at the foot of a rocky promontory, the streets rising in terraces cut in the rock, on the top of which are the citadel and the church on the culminating point. It has been styled a Gibraltar in miniature. A fort was built here by Lord Scales, who commanded the English forces in the Cotentin in the time of Henry VI., and it was taken by surprise by Estouteville, the hero of Saint Michel. The church is cruciform in plan, the arms of the cross being equal. The axis of the nave is inclined to the left, as we afterwards observed that of theCreizkerat St. Pol de Léon. It has been lately[pg 022]restored, and the painted windows are offerings of the different families of the town. The view from the top of the "Roc" is very extensive, including the Chausey islands and Jersey. A steamer runs twice a week to St. Helier. A deep cutting in the rocks opens on the beach, where the bathing-machines are stationed—curious little canvas huts carried upon poles, like sedan chairs. The tide here rises 45 feet. It was to Granville the Vendean army, commanded by La Rochejacquelin, appointed generalissimo at twenty-two, marched after their fatal step of crossing the Loire, expecting to make a junction with the English; but Granville was vigorously defended, contrary winds retarded the arrival of the English fleet, and the retreat from the coast, where it might have been supported by the English, was the ruin of the Royalist army. Of the 80,000 who crossed the Loire sixty days before, only 8000 remained to make their last heroic resistance at Savenay, which ended the great Vendean war. A few months after, the hero of this noble army, the chivalrous Henri de la Rochejacquelin, fell from the bullet of a soldier whose life he had spared1:—

“Lorsqu'en des jours trop malheureuxPâlissait l'astre de la France;Quand les cœurs les plus valeureuxSemblaient perdre toute espérance,[pg 023]L'antique honneur, la sainte foi,Brillèrent dans cette contrée;Mourir pour son Dieu, pour son roi,Fut le serment de la Vendée.”

“Lorsqu'en des jours trop malheureuxPâlissait l'astre de la France;Quand les cœurs les plus valeureuxSemblaient perdre toute espérance,

“Lorsqu'en des jours trop malheureux

Pâlissait l'astre de la France;

Quand les cœurs les plus valeureux

Semblaient perdre toute espérance,

L'antique honneur, la sainte foi,Brillèrent dans cette contrée;Mourir pour son Dieu, pour son roi,Fut le serment de la Vendée.”

L'antique honneur, la sainte foi,

Brillèrent dans cette contrée;

Mourir pour son Dieu, pour son roi,

Fut le serment de la Vendée.”

The costume of the Granville women is singular. They wear long black cloaks or mantles, edged with a frill of the same material, and on their heads a kind of bandeau or under-cap, turned up at the ears, surmounted by a white handkerchief, folded square and placed horizontally upon the head, like the plinth of a Grecian capital.

We drove to St. Pair, a small watering-place about two miles from Granville, nicely situated in a little sandy bay. In the middle of the church is the monumental tomb of St. Pair and another saint (St. Gault); their effigies, with mitre and crozier, side by side.

Next day we had a beautiful drive to Avranches. A winding road leads up to the town, which is situated on an elevated plateau, commanding a view of Brittany on one side and of Normandy on the other—a broad expanse of land and sea, the former extending over the valley of the Sée, with its network of small streams interlacing each other; Mont St. Michel appears in the distance. The finest view is from the Botanic gardens. The cathedral of Avranches fell at the end of the last century, but a model of it is preserved in the museum. One stone[pg 024]remains, carefully surrounded by massive chains, with an inscription recording that it was the spot where Henry II. received absolution for the murder of Thomas à Becket:—"Sur cette pierre, içi à la porte de la cathédrale d'Avranches, après le meurtre de Thomas Becket, Archévêque de Cantorbéry, Henri II., roi d'Angleterre, duc de Normandie, reçut à genoux, des légats du pape, l'absolution apostolique, le dimanche xxii Mai, 1172." The cemetery is at the foot of the hill; the tombs are of granite, with the letters in relief: among them we read many well-known English names.

At Pontorson we could find no remains of the castle of Du Guesclin, which was nearly surprised by the English under a captain named Felton, during the absence of Du Guesclin, with the connivance of the "chambrières" of the Lady Typhaine, his wife. Already their scaling-ladders were against the wall, when Juliana, Du Guesclin's sister, agitated by a troublous dream, awoke suddenly, seized a sword, rushed to the window, and upset three English who were coming up the ladder, and they were killed by the fall. The enemy retired. Next morning Du Guesclin, on his return to Pontorson, met Felton and his party, attacked them, and took them prisoners. When Typhaine saw Felton, she tauntingly exclaimed, "Comment, brave Felton, vous voilà encore! C'est trop pour un homme de cœur comme[pg 025]vous d'être battu, dans une intervalle de douze heures, une fois par la sœur, une autre par le frère." Du Guesclin caused the faithless "chambrières" to be sewed up in sacks and flung into the river.

John IV. Duke ofBrittanyconferred upon Du Guesclin the government of Pontorson, of which territory he was personally lord, by right of his mother. It was here he often resided, and here he celebrated being made Constable of France by King Charles V., and fraternised with Olivier de Clisson, agreeing to afford each other mutual help—"contre tous ceux qui peuvent vivre et mourir." The granite church was founded by Duke Robert, father of the Conqueror.

Pontorson is the most convenient place for visiting Mont St. Michel. Our drive thither was by the banks of the river Couësnon, along a sandy road, bordered on each side by hedges of tamarisks, which leads to the "Grève," or sands, which have to be crossed to reach the Mount, a distance of rather more than a mile. We met numbers of bare-legged half-clad women and children, bringing in the produce of their fishing, shrimps and cockles tied up in nets, and peasants with carts carrying in sea sand for dressing the land. The appearance of Mont St. Michel is very imposing, a cone of granite encircled by the sea. Above rises the fortress, surmounted by the church, a height of 400 feet from the top to the[pg 026]water. Below, at the foot of the Mount, picturesquely situated on an insulated rock, is the little chapel of St. Aubert, Bishop of Avranches, the founder of St. Michel. The Mount has been the residence of many of our English princes. Matilda, queen of the Conqueror, visited St. Michel. It was here her son Henry I., then only Count of the Cotentin, was blockaded by his brothers William and Robert, and obliged to surrender. Here Henry II. held his court, and, when Henry V. overran Normandy, St. Michel was the only fortress that held out against him, under its gallant defender Louis d'Estouteville of Bricquebec. Two cannons, now at the entrance of the castle, are said to have been taken from the English at the siege. Normandy was always the scene of the quarrels between the English Norman princes, of the disputes between the sons of the Conqueror, between Stephen of Blois and Henry of Anjou, and again of those between Henry II. and his sons, and of Richard and his brother John, to the latter of whom the Normans were attached.

Seven French kings have made pilgrimages to St. Michel; and here Louis XI. instituted the order of knighthood, called in honour of the archangel St. Michael, but afterwards styled the order of the Coquille, from the cockleshells that formed the collar of the knights, and the golden cockle-shells that bordered their mantles. The motto of the order was[pg 027]the old motto of the Mount, "Immensi tremor Oceani" (the trembling of the immeasurable ocean), being an allusion to the popular belief that when the English approached St. Michel, the guardian archangel of the Mount raised a tempest to drive the enemy's vessels upon the rocks. This belief may be traced back to the time when the island was occupied by the Druid priestesses, who were supposed to have the power of raising storms and stilling them by their magic arrows of gold.

We ascended by the flight of steps to the "Merveille," as the convent building is called, and well it deserves its name, from its elegance, its boldness, and its position, with a wall of above one hundred feet high, and of immense length, rising from the rock and supported by fifteen buttresses, and divided into three stories. In every point of view it is one of the most remarkable edifices of the thirteenth century. The salle des chevaliers, where the chapters of the knights were held, is a fine hall, with three rows of columns, and above it are the beautiful Gothic cloisters. The "préau" or court is surrounded by a double row of pointed arches, interlacing each other, and filled in with flowered spandrils and cornices, carved with the greatest delicacy and endless variety. The church which crowns the building is supported by a circle of enormous columns in the crypt beneath, called the Souterrain des Gros Piliers: it has been[pg 028]entirely restored, and the carvings are the work of the prisoners who were confined here. From one of the doors we went out to the platform or terrace called Beauregard, from the beauty of its prospect, or sometimes Sault Gautier, from a prisoner of that name, who three times threw himself off the platform to commit suicide. The view from hence is most extensive, the whole circuit of the bay extending to the west as far as Cancale. In 1203 St. Michel became a royal demesne, and the buildings were entirely reconstructed by the Abbot Jourdan, assisted by Philip Augustus; and the works were continued by his successors to 1260.

Beneath and adjacent to the Mount, is the little island of La Tombeleine or tombeau d'-Helène, so called from a young lady of that name, who unable to accompany her lover knight when he left for England with the Conqueror, as soon as the vessel which carried him away disappeared from her sight, laid down on the shore and died. Every year, on the anniversary of her death, the fishermen will tell you they see a dove seated upon the Tombeleine rock, and remain there till morning's dawn.

The guide pointed out to us the window of St. Michel, from which Barbès tried to escape by means of a cord made of his sheets cut into strips and tied together; but the line was too short, and he fell upon the rock and was taken up much hurt. The[pg 029]provisions for the fortress are brought in up an inclined plane, and raised by means of a tread-wheel, formerly worked by the prisoners. We were conducted to the spot where stood, with bars only three inches apart, the iron cage in which so many celebrities were immured. Dubourg, the Dutch journalist, who wrote against Louis XIV., died within its bars, devoured, it is said, by the rats. In 1777, the Comte d'Artois (afterwards Charles X.) desired it should be destroyed, but his wishes were disregarded. His cousin, the Duc de Chartres (afterwards Louis Philippe), with his brother and sister, and Madame de Genlis, subsequently visited the Mount. All exclaimed against the iron cage, and when they heard that the Comte d'Artois had ordered its destruction, they sent for hatchets, and the Duc de Chartres gave the first blow towards its demolition; but the fine old fortress is no longer desecrated as a prison. The Emperor has restored it to its original position, and it is now placed under the control of the Bishop of Coutances, and is used as an asylum for orphans under the care of a few Sisters.

Next morning we crossed the boundary between Normandy and Brittany, the river Couësnon, which has often changed its course, once, it is said, running beyond St. Michel—hence the popular saying—

“Le Couësnon par sa folieA mis le Mont en Normandie.”

“Le Couësnon par sa folie

A mis le Mont en Normandie.”

We had a beautiful drive to Dol or Dol-de-Bretagne, as it is styled, to distinguish it from the fortress of the same name in the Jura, upon the taking of which Madame de Sevigné writes in her letters with so much enthusiasm. We were now fairly in Brittany, which though geographically part of France still remains very distinct, owing to the Celtic origin of its inhabitants. Brittany consists of five departments; but it is in Lower Brittany alone, comprised in the departments of Finistère, Morbihan, and the Côtes-du-Nord, that the true Celtic race, its language, names, features, costumes, and superstitions are to be found.

This is the true Brittany, the Bretagne Bretonnante of Froissart, who calls the eastern part of the province, La Bretagne Douce, because the French language is spoken there. Dol was the great bulwark of Brittany against Normandy; the wall and moat surrounding the town, with some of the towers, still remain. Many of the houses are built, as the French term it, "en colombage" that is, with the upper story projecting some fifteen feet over the ground-floor, forming a gallery or porch supported by oak posts or columns with sculptured capitals of the thirteenth century. The inn we occupied had one of these porches: Madame Barbot, our landlady, and her maid, were both dressed in Breton costume, with lace-trimmed embroidered[pg 031]caps and aprons of fine muslin, clear-starched and ironed with a perfection which the most accomplished "blanchisseuse du fin" of Paris would find it difficult to surpass. The people here have the Breton physiognomy, sharp black eyes, short roundi faces and brown freckled complexions, a contrast to the blue eyes, long oval faces, and bright tints of their Norman neighbours.

7. Pilaster and Cornice from theTomb of Bishop James, Cathedral,Dol.

The principal building at Dol is the Cathedral, built of grey granite, in the style of many of our English churches. On the south is the "porte episcopale," a large projecting porch with mullioned sides, and, near it, a smaller porch with a central column semée of hearts, the "armes parlantes" of Bishop Cœuret who built it. The clustered columns of the nave, consist of a central pillar surrounded by four others running up to the roof, so slender and delicate that they are united to the centre by small bars of iron. Over the high altar is an enormous wooden crozier, carved and gilt, from which the Host is suspended.[pg 032]A beautiful Renaissance tomb on the north side of the cathedral was raised in 1507 to the memory of Bishop James, who died three years before. The sculpture is much mutilated, but the arabesques are most delicately and elegantly chiselled. It is supposed to be the work of Jean Just of Tours, sculptor of the magnificent tomb of Louis XII. and Anne of Brittany, erected at St. Denis by order of Francis I.

8. Front of the Tomb of Bishop James,Cathedral, Dol.

The chapel of St. Samson, patron saint of the cathedral, has been restored. Mad people were brought here for cure, and placed in a recess which still remains; the opening was covered over by an iron grating. Dol was formerly the ecclesiastical metropolis of Brittany; the see was founded by Samson, one of those British monks, who, with a whole population of men and women, emigrated from England to escape the Saxon slavery. They crossed the Channel in barks made of skins sewn together, singing, as they went, the Lamentations of[pg 033]the Psalmist. This emigration lasted more than a century (from 450 to 550), and poured a Christian population into a Celtic country where paganism was longest preserved. St. Samson and his six suffragans—all monks, missionaries, and bishops, like himself—were called the "Seven Saints of Brittany;" St. Samson was what was termed an "evêque portatif," meaning a bishop without a diocese, until he founded that of Dol. Telio, also a British monk, with the assistance of St. Samson, planted near Dol an orchard three miles in length, and to him is attributed the first introduction of the apple-tree into Brittany. Wherever the monks went, they cultivated the soil; all had in their mouths the words of the Apostle, "If any would not work, neither should he eat." The people admired the industry of the new comers, and, from admiration they passed to imitation; the peasants joined the monks in tilling the ground, and even the brigands became agriculturists. "The Cross and the plough, labour and prayer," was the motto of these early missionaries.

“Sûr que le Ciel maudit l'arbre stérile,Le sage passe en opérant le bien:Vivre et mourir à l'univers utile,C'est la devise et l'esprit du chrétien.”Chants de Piété,Malo de Garaby.

“Sûr que le Ciel maudit l'arbre stérile,

Le sage passe en opérant le bien:

Vivre et mourir à l'univers utile,

C'est la devise et l'esprit du chrétien.”

Chants de Piété,Malo de Garaby.

The monks of Dol were great bee-farmers, as we learn from an anecdote told by Count Montalembert[pg 034]in his 'Moines de l'Occident.' One day when St. Samson of Dol and St. Germain, Bishop of Paris, were conversing on the respective merits of their monasteries, St. Samson said that his monks were such good and careful preservers of their bees that, besides the honey which they yielded in abundance, they furnished more wax than was used in the churches during the year, but that, their climate not being fit for the growth of vines, they had great scarcity of wine. Upon hearing this, St. Germain replied, "We, on the contrary, produce more wine than we can consume, but we have to buy wax; so, if you will furnish us with wax, we will give you a tenth of our wine." Samson accepted the offer, and the mutual arrangement was continued during the lives of the two saints.

The marshy country round Dol has been formerly inundated by the sea; it is now reclaimed and protected by a dyke twenty-two miles long, extending from Pontorson to Chateauneuf. The whole tract is full of buried wood, a submerged forest, which the people dig up, and use for furniture. It is black, like the Irish bog-oak. They call it "couëron." In the midst of this plain rises a mamelon or insulated granite rock, resembling in form Mont St. Michel, called the Mont Dol. On the top is the little chapel of Notre Dame de l'Espérance, upon which was formerly a telegraph, and near it is a[pg 035]column surmounted by a colossal statue of Our Lady. Mont Dol was a consecrated place of the Druids. The guides showed us a spring which never dries, and also a rock upon which they point out the print of the foot of the demon, left by him when wrestling with St. Michael. We met the curé, who gave us a medal of the church, and told us the principal points in the view before us, extending over the whole Bay of Cancale.

Back to Index Next