Thomas Frognall Dibdin - A Bibliographical, Antiquarian and Picturesque Tour in France and Germany, Volume One

T >> Thomas Frognall Dibdin >> A Bibliographical, Antiquarian and Picturesque Tour in France and Germany, Volume One

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[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 entitled "_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 passe,
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 sexe, sembleut rougir d'etre femmes, et deviennent
ridicules en voulant paraitre demi-hommes.

"Apres avoir deshonore l'habit des femmes, elles ont encore voulu
prostituer 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 passages, 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 passage 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
passes dans la guerre de l'independance des Etats-Unis d'Amerique
ou beaucoup de Bocains ont eu part; mais mon principal 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 nobles
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 rassemblait 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 surpasserent 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 noblesse 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 titrees 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
God, 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
participation. 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-Petit
would-be always happy to renew his assurances 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 impassable 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 noble 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
passing 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 impassable 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 masses 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 crape--and habited in a deep black--passed 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 passed 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 impassable; 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 harassing 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.

It will be difficult for me to forget--after such a long, wearisome, and in
part desperate journey--our approach to Falaise:--and more especially the
appearance of the castle just mentioned. The stone seemed as fresh, and as
perfectly cemented, as if it had been the work of the preceding year.
Moreover, the contiguous parts were so fine and so thoroughly
picturesque--and the superadded tradition of its being, according to some,
the birth place--and according to others, the usual residence--of WILLIAM
THE CONQUEROR ... altogether threw a charm about the first glimpse of this
venerable pile, which cannot be easily described. I had received
instructions to put up at the "_Grand Turc_"--as the only hotel worthy an
Englishman's notice. At the door of the Grand Turk, therefore, we were
safely deposited: after having got rid of our incumbrances of two
postilions, and two hundred weight of refined sugar. Our reception was
gracious in the extreme. The inn appeared "tout-a-fait a la mode
Anglaise"--and no marvel ... for Madame the hostess was an Englishwoman.
Her husband's name was _David_.

Bespeaking a late cup of tea, I strolled through the principal
streets,--delighted with the remarkably clear current of the water, which
ran on each side from the numerous overcharged fountains. Day-light had
wholly declined; when, sitting down to my souchong, I saw, with
astonishment--a _pair of sugar-tongs_ and a _salt-spoon_--the first of the
kind I had beheld since I left England! Madame David enjoyed my surprise;
adding, in a very droll phraseology, that she had "not forgotten good
English customs." Our beds and bed rooms were perfectly comfortable, and
even elegant.

The moat which encircles, not only the castle, but the town--and which must
have been once formidable from its depth and breadth, when filled with
water--is now most pleasingly metamorphosed. Pasture lands, kitchen
gardens, and orchards, occupy it entirely. Here the cattle quietly stray,
and luxuriously feed. But the metamorphosis of the _castle_ has been, in an
equal degree, unfortunate. The cannon balls, during the wars of the
League--and the fury of the populace, with the cupidity or caprice of
some individuals, during the late revolution--helped to produce this
change. After breakfast, I felt a strong desire to survey carefully the
scite and structure of the castle. It was a lovely day; and in five
minutes I obtained admission at a temporary outer gate. The first near
view within the ramparts perfectly enchanted me. The situation is at
once bold, commanding, and picturesque. But as the opposite, and
immediately contiguous ground, is perhaps yet a little higher, it should
follow that a force, placed upon such eminence--as indeed was that of
Henry the Fourth, during the wars of the League--would in the end subdue
the garrison, or demolish the castle. I walked here and there amidst
briars and brushwood, diversified with lilacs and laburnums; and by the
aid of the guide soon got within an old room--of which the outer walls
only remained--and which is distinguished by being called the
_birth-place_ of WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR.

Between ourselves, the castle appears to be at least a century later than
the time of William the Conqueror; and certainly the fine round tower, of
which such frequent mention has been made, is rather of the fourteenth, if
not of the beginning of the fifteenth century;[167] but it is a noble piece
of masonry. The stone is of a close grain and beautiful colour, and the
component parts are put together with a hard cement, and with the smallest
possible interstices. At the top of it, on the left side, facing the high
road from Vire,--and constructed within the very walls themselves, is a
_well_--which goes from the top apparently to the very bottom of the
foundation, quite to the bed of the moat. It is about three feet in
diameter, measuring with the eye; perhaps four: but it is doubtless a very
curious piece of workmanship. We viewed with an inquisitive eye what
remained of the _Donjon_: sighed, as we surveyed the ruins of the
_chapel_--a very interesting little piece of ecclesiastical antiquity:
and shuddered as we contemplated the enormous and ponderous
portcullis--which had a _drop of_ full twenty feet ... to keep out the
invading foe. I was in truth delighted with this first reconnoissance of
FALAISE--beneath one of the brightest and bluest skies of Normandy!
and--within walls, which were justly considered to be among the most
perfect as well as the most ancient of those in Normandy.

Leaving my companion to take a view of the upper part of this venerable
building, I retreated towards the town--resolved to leave no church and no
street unexplored. On descending, and quitting the gate by which I had
entered, a fine, robust, and respectable figure, habited as an
Ecclesiastic, met and accosted me. I was most prompt to return the
salutation. "We are proud, Sir, of our castle, and I observe you have been
visiting it. The English ought to take an interest in it, since it was the
birth-place of William the Conqueror." I readily admitted it was well worth
a minute examination: but as readily turned the conversation to the subject
of LIBRARIES. The amiable stranger (for he was gaining upon me fast, by his
unaffected manners and sensible remarks) answered, that "their _own_ public
library existed no longer--having been made subservient to the
inquisitorial visit of M. Moysant of Caen[168]: that he had himself
procured for the Bishop of Bayeux the _Mentz Bible_ of 1462--and that the
Chapter-Library of Bayeux, before the Revolution, could not have contained
fewer than 40,000 volumes. "But you are doubtless acquainted, Sir, with the
COMTE DE LA FRESNAYE, who resides in yonder large mansion?"--pointing to a
house upon an elevated spot on the other side of the town. I replied that I
had not that honour; and was indeed an utter stranger to every inhabitant
of Falaise. I then stated, in as few and precise words as possible, the
particular object of my visit to the Continent. "Cela suffit"--resumed the
unknown--"nous irons faire visite a Monsieur le Comte apres le dine; a ce
moment il s'occupe avec le potage--car c'est un jour maigre. Il sera charme
de vous recevoir. Il aime infiniment les Anglois, et il a reste long-temps
chez vous. C'est un brave homme--et meme un grand antiquaire."

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