François Premier, nous dit l'histoire,
Etoit la fleur des Chevaliers,
Près d'Etampes aux champs de gloire
Il recueillit myrtes et lauriers;
Sa maîtresse toujours fidèle,
Le payant d'un tendre retour,
Lui chantant cette ritournelle;
_Vive le Roi, vive l'Amour_.
Henri, des princes le modèle,
Ton souvenir est dans nos coeurs,
Par la charmante Gabrielle
Ton front fut couronné de fleurs;
De la Ligue domptant la rage,
Tu sus triompher tour-à-tour,
Par la clémence et ton courage:
_Vive le Roi, vive l'Amour_.
Amant chéri de la Vallière,
Des ennemis noble vainqueur,
LOUIS savoit combattre et plaire,
Guidé par l'Amour et l'honneur;
A son retour de la Victoire,
Entouré 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 garçon 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 garçon 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.
Voilà 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-à-fait à 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 à Monsieur le Comte après le diné; à ce
moment il s'occupe avec le pôtage--car c'est un jour maigre. Il sera charmé
de vous recevoir. Il aime infiniment les Anglois, et il a resté long-temps
chez vous. C'est un brave homme--et même un grand antiquaire."
My pulse and colour increased sensibly as the stranger uttered these latter
words: and he concluded by telling me that he was himself the Curé of _Ste.
Trinité_ one of the two principal churches of the town--and that his name
was MOUTON. Be assured that I shall not lose sight of the Comte de la
Fresnaye, and Monsieur Mouton.
[166] [Only ONE letter has passed between us since my departure; and that
enables me to subjoin a fac-simile of its author's autograph.
[Autograph: de Larenaudiere]
[167] [It was in fact built by the famous Lord Talbot, about the year 1420.
A similar castle, but less strong and lofty, may be seen at Castor,
near Yarmouth in Norfolk--once the seat of the famous Sir JOHN
FASTOLF, (a contemporary with Talbot) of whom Anstis treats so fully
in his _Order of the Garter_, vol.i. p.142.]
[168] See p. 205 ante.