DIEPPE. FISHERIES. STREETS. CHURCHES OF ST. JAQUES AND ST. REMY. DIVINE
WORSHIP. MILITARY MASS.
The town of Dieppe contains a population of about twenty-thousand
souls.[22] Of these, by much the greater _stationary_ part are females;
arising from one third at least of the males being constantly engaged in
the FISHERIES. As these fisheries are the main support of the inhabitants,
it is right that you should know something about them. The _herring_
fishery takes place twice a year: in August and October. The August fishery
is carried on along the shores of England and the North. From sixty to
eighty vessels, of from twenty-five to thirty tons burthen each, with about
fifteen men in each vessel, are usually employed. They are freighted with
salt and empty barrels, for seasoning and stowing the fish, and they return
about the end of October. The herrings caught in August are considerably
preferable to those caught in October. The October fishery is carried on
with smaller vessels, along the coast of France from Boulogne to Havre.
From one hundred and twenty, to one hundred and thirty vessels, are engaged
in this latter navigation; and the fish, which is smaller, and of inferior
flavour to that caught upon the English coasts, is sent almost entirely to
the provinces and to Paris, where it is eaten fresh. So much for the
herring.[23]
The _Mackarel_ fishery usually commences towards the month of July, along
the coast of Picardy; because, being a sort of fish of passage, it gets
into the channel in the month of April. It then moves towards the straits
of Dover, as summer approaches. For this fishery they make use of large
decked-vessels, from twenty to fifty tons burthen, manned with from twelve
to twenty men. There are however Dieppe boats employed in this fishery
which go as far as the Scilly Islands and Ushant, towards the middle of
April. They carry with them the salt requisite to season the fish, which
are afterwards sent to Paris, and to the provinces in the interior of
France. The _cod fishery_ is divided into the fresh and dried fish. The
former continues from the beginning of February to the end of April--and
the vessels employed, which go as far as Newfoundland, are two deckers, and
from one hundred to one hundred and fifty tons burthen--although, in fact,
they rarely carry more than fifteen tons for fear of spoiling the fish. The
dried-cod fishery is carried on in vessels of all sizes; but it is
essential that they be of a certain depth, because the fish is more
cumbersome than weighty. The vessels however usually set sail about the
month of March or April, in order that they may have the advantage of the
summer season, to dry the fish. There are vessels which go to Newfoundland
laden with brandy, flour, beans, treacle, linen and woollen cloths, which
they dispose of to the inhabitants of the French colonies in exchange for
dried cod. This latter species of commerce may be carried on in the summer
months--as late as July.
In the common markets for retail trade, they are not very nice in the
quality or condition of their fish; and enormous conger eels, which would
be instantly rejected by the middling, or even lower classes in England,
are, at Dieppe, bought with avidity and relished with glee. A few francs
will procure a dish of fish large enough for a dozen people. The quays are
constantly crowded, but there seems to be more of bustle than of business.
The town is certainly picturesque, notwithstanding the houses are very
little more than a century old, and the streets are formal and
comparatively wide. Indeed it should seem that the houses were built
expressly for Noblemen and Gentlemen, although they are inhabited by
tradesmen, mechanics, and artizans, in apparently very indifferent
circumstances. I scarcely saw six private houses which could be called
elegant, and not a gentleman's carriage has been yet noticed in the
streets. But if the _Dieppois_ are not rich, they seem happy, and are in a
constant state of occupation. A woman sells her wares in an open shop, or
in an insulated booth, and sits without her bonnet (as indeed do all the
tradesmen's wives), and works or sings as humour sways her. A man sells
gingerbread in an open shed, and in the intervals of his customer's coming,
reads some popular history or romance. Most of the upper windows are wholly
destitute of glass; but are smothered with clothes, rags, and wall flowers.
The fragrance emitted from these flowers affords no unpleasing antidote to
odors of a very different description; and here we begin to have a too
convincing proof of the general character of the country in regard to the
want of cleanliness. A little good sense, or rather a better-regulated
police, would speedily get rid of such nuisances. The want of public sewers
is another great and grievous cause of smells of every description. At
Dieppe there are fountains in abundance; and if some of the limpid streams,
which issue from them, were directed to cleansing the streets, (which are
excellently well paved) the effect would be both more salubrious and
pleasant--especially to the sensitive organs of Englishmen.
We had hardly concluded our breakfasts, when a loud and clattering sound
was heard; and down came, in a heavy trot, with sundry ear-piercing
crackings of the whip, the thundering _Diligence_: large, lofty, and of
most unwieldy dimensions: of a structure, too, strong enough to carry a
half score of elephants. The postilion is an animal perfectly _sui
generis_: gay, alert, and living upon the best possible terms with himself.
He wears the royal livery, red and blue; with a plate of the fleur de lis
upon his left arm. His hair is tied behind, in a thick, short, tightly
fastened queue: with powder and pomatum enough to weather a whole winter's
storm and tempest.[24] As he never rises in his stirrups,[25] I leave you
to judge of the merciless effects of this ever-beating club upon the
texture of his jacket. He is however fond of his horses: is well known by
them; and there is all flourish and noise, and no sort of cruelty, in his
treatment of them. His spurs are of tremendous dimensions; such as we see
sticking to the heels of knights in illuminated Mss. of the XVth century.
He has nothing to do with the ponderous machine behind him. He sits upon
the near of the two wheel horses, with three horses before him. His
turnings are all adroitly and correctly made; and, upon the whole, he is a
clever fellow in the exercise of his office.
You ought to know, that, formerly, this town was greatly celebrated for its
manufactures in _Ivory_; but the present aspect of the ivory-market affords
only a faint notion of what it might have been in the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries. I purchased a few subordinate articles (chiefly of a
religious character) and which I shall preserve rather as a matter of
evidence than of admiration. There is yet however a considerable
manufacture of _thread lace_; and between three and four thousand females
are supposed to earn a comfortable livelihood by it.[26]
My love of ecclesiastical architecture quickly induced me to visit the
CHURCHES; and I set out with two English gentlemen to pay our respects to
the principal church, St. JAQUES. As we entered it, a general gloom
prevailed, and a sort of premature evening came on; while the clatter of
the sabots was sufficiently audible along the aisles. In making the circuit
of the side chapels, an unusual light proceeded from a sort of grated door
way. We approached, and witnessed a sight which could not fail to rivet our
attention. In what seemed to be an excavated interior, were several
figures, cut in stone, and coloured after life, (of which they were the
size) representing the _Three Maries, St. John, and Joseph of Arimathea_..
in the act of entombing Christ: the figure of our Saviour being half sunk
into the tomb. The whole was partially illuminated by some two dozen of
shabby and nearly consumed tallow candles; affording a striking contrast to
the increasing darkness of the nave and the side aisles. We retired, more
and more struck with the novelty of every object around us, to our supper
and beds, which were excellent; and a good night's rest made me forget the
miseries of the preceding evening.
The next morning, being Sunday, we betook ourselves in good time to the
service of ST. JAQUES:[27] but on our way thither, we saw a waxen figure of
Christ (usually called an "Ecce Homo") enclosed within a box, of which the
doors were opened. The figure and box are the property of the man who plays
on a violin, close to the box; and who is selling little mass books,
supposed to be rendered more sacred by having been passed across the feet
and hands of the waxen Christ. Such a mongrel occupation, and such a motley
group, must strike you with astonishment--as a Sunday morning's recreation.
[Illustration]
By half past ten the congregation had assembled within the Church; and
every side-chapel (I think about twelve in number) began to be filled by
the penitent flocks: each bringing, or hiring, a rush-bottomed chair--with
which the churches are pretty liberally furnished, and of which the _Tarif_
(or terms of hire) is pasted upon the walls. There were, I am quite sure,
full eighteen women to one man: which may in part be accounted for, by the
almost uniform absence of a third of the male population occupied in the
fisheries. I think there could not have been fewer than two thousand souls
present. But what struck me as the most ludicrously solemn thing I had ever
beheld, was a huge tall figure, dressed like a drum-major, with a large
cocked hat and three white plumes, (the only covered male figure in the
congregation,) a broad white sash upon a complete suit of red, including
red stockings;--representing what in our country is called a _Beadle_. He
was a sturdy, grim-looking fellow; bearing an halberd in his right hand,
which he wielded with a sort of pompous swing, infusing terror into the
young, and commanding the admiration of the old. I must not, however, omit
to inform you, that half the service was scarcely performed when the
preacher mounted a pulpit, with a black cap on, and read a short sermon
from a printed book. I shall long have a distinct recollection of the
figure and attitude of the _Verger_ who attended the preacher. He followed
him to the pulpit, fastened the door, became stationary, and rested his
left arm over the railings of the stairs. Anon, he took out his snuff-box
with his right hand, and regaled himself with a pinch of snuff in the most
joyous and comfortably-abstracted manner imaginable. There he remained till
the conclusion of the discourse; not one word of which seemed to afford him
half the satisfaction as did the contents of his snuff-box.
_Military Mass_ was performed about an hour after, at the church of ST.
REMY, whither I strolled quietly, to witness the devotion of the
congregation previous to the entry of the soldiers; and I will not
dissemble being much struck and gratified by what I saw. There was more
simplicity: a smaller congregation: softer music: a lower-toned organ; less
rush of people; and in very many of the flock the most intense and
unfeigned expression of piety. At the elevation of the host, from the end
of the choir, (near which was suspended a white flag with the portrait of
the present King[28] upon it) a bell was rung from the tower of the church;
the sound, below, was soft and silver-toned--accompanied by rather a quick
movement on the organ, upon the diapason stop; which, united with the
silence and prostration of the congregation, might have commanded the
reverence of the most profane.
There is nothing, my dear friend, more gratifying, in a foreign land, than
the general appearance of earnestness of devotion on a sabbath day;
especially within the HOUSE OF GOD. However, I quickly heard the clangor of
the trumpet, the beat of drums, the measured tramp of human feet, and up
marched two or three troops of the national guard to perform military mass.
I retired precipitately to the Inn, being well pleased to have escaped this
strange and distracting sight: so little in harmony with the rites and
ceremonies of our own church, and in truth so little accordant with the
service which I had just beheld.
[22] [Mons. Licquet says that there were about 17,000 souls in 1824; so
that the above number may be that of the amount of its _present_
population. "Several changes (says my French translator) have taken
place at Dieppe since I saw it: among the rest, there is a magnificent
establishment of BATHS, where a crowd of people, of the first
distinction, every year resort. Her Royal Highness, the Duchesse de
Berri, may be numbered among these Visitors.]
[23] [The common people to this day call a _herring_, a _child of
Dieppe._ LICQUET.]
[24] ["Sterne reproaches the French for their hyperbolical language: the
air of the country had probably some influence on M. Dibdin when he
adopted this phrase." LICQUET.]
[25] ["Signifying, that the French postilions do not ride like the
English." LICQUET.]
[26] ["Dieppe for a long time was the rival of Argentan and Caen in the
lace-manufactory: at the present day, this branch of commerce is
almost annihilated there."--LICQUET.]
[27] [In a note attached to the previous edition--I have said, "Here also,
as well as at Rouen; they will have it that the ENGLISH built the
Churches." Upon which M. Licquet remarks thus: "M. Dibdin's expression
conveys too general an idea. It is true that _popular_ opinion
attributes the erection of our gothic edifices to the ENGLISH: but
there exists _another_ opinion, which is not deceptive upon this
subject." What is meant to be here conveyed? Either the popular
opinion is true or false; and it is a matter of perfect indifference
to the author whether it be one or the other. For Mons. Licquet's
comfort, I will freely avow that I believe it to be _false_.]
[28] [Louis XVIII.]