is situated on a very bold and lofty rock, broken into fantastic and
singular masses, and covered with luxuriant vegetation. The keep which
towers above it is of excellent masonry: the stones are accurately
squared, and put together with great neatness, and the joints are small;
and the arches are turned clearly and distinctly, with the key-stone or
wedge accurately placed in all of them. Some parts of the wall, towards
the interior ballium, are not built of squared free-stone; but of the
dark stone of the country, disposed in a zigzag, or as it is more
commonly called, in a herring-bone direction, with a great deal of
mortar in the interstices: the buttresses, or rather piers, are of small
projection, but great width. The upper story, destroyed about forty
years since, was of a different style of architecture. According to an
old print, it terminated with a large battlement, and bartizan towers at
the angles. This dungeon was formerly divided into several apartments;
in one of the lower of which was found, about half a century ago, a very
ancient tomb, of good workmanship, ornamented with a sphynx at each end,
but bearing no inscription whatever. Common report ascribed the coffin
to Talbot, who was for many years governor of the castle; and at length
an individual engraved upon it an epitaph to his honor; but the fraud
was discovered, and the sarcophagus put aside, as of no account. The
second, or principal, story of the keep, now forms a single square room,
about fifty feet wide, lighted by circular-headed windows, each divided
into two by a short and massy central pillar, whose capital is
altogether Norman. On one of the capitals is sculptured a child leading
a lamb, a representation, as it is foolishly said, of the Conqueror,
whom tradition alleges to have been born in the apartment to which this
window belonged: another pillar has an elegant capital, composed of
interlaced bands.
Connected with the dungeon by a stone staircase is a small apartment,
very much dilapidated, but still retaining a portion of its original
facing of Caen stone. It was from the window of this apartment, as the
story commonly goes, that Duke Robert first saw the beautiful Arlette,
drawing water from the streamlet below, and was enamoured of her charms,
and took her to his bed.--According to another version of the tale, the
earliest interview between the prince and his fair mistress, took place
as Robert was returning from the chace, with his mind full of anger
against the inhabitants of Falaise, for having presumed to kill the deer
which he had commanded should be preserved for his royal pastime. In
this offence the curriers of the town had borne the principal share, and
they were therefore principally marked out for punishment. But,
fortunately for them, Arlette, the daughter of one Verpray, the most
culpable of the number, met the offended Duke while riding through the
street, and with her beauty so fascinated him, that she not only
obtained the pardon of her father and his associates, but became his
mistress, and continued so as long as he lived. From her, if we may give
credence to the old chroniclers, is derived our English word, _harlot_.
The fruit of their union was William the Conqueror, whose illegitimate
birth, and the low extraction of his mother, served on more than one
occasion as a pretext for conspiracies against his throne, and were
frequently the subject of personal mortification to himself.--The walls
in this part of the castle are from eight to nine feet thick. A portion
of them has been hollowed out, so as to form a couple of small rooms.
The old door-way of the keep is at the angle; the returns are reeded,
ending in a square impost; the arch above is destroyed.
Talbot's tower, thus called for having been built by that general, in
1430 and the two subsequent years, is connected with the keep by means,
of a long passage with lancet windows, that widen greatly inwards. It is
more than one hundred feet high, and is a beautiful piece of masonry,
as perfect, apparently, as on the day when it was erected, and as firm
as the rock on which it stands. This tower is ascended by a staircase
concealed within the substance of the walls, whose thickness is full
fifteen feet towards the base, and does not decrease more than three
feet near the summit. Another aperture in them serves for a well, which
thus communicates with every apartment in the tower. Most of the arches
in this tower have circular heads: the windows are square.--The walls
and towers which encircle the keep are of much later date; the principal
gate-way is pointed. Immediately on entering, is seen the very ancient
chapel, dedicated to St. Priscus or, as he is called in French, St.
Prix. The east end with three circular-headed windows retains its
original lines: the masonry is firm and good. Fantastic corbels surround
the summit of the lateral walls. Within, a semi-circular arch resting
upon short pillars with sculptured capitals, divides the choir from the
nave. In other respects the building has been much altered.--Henry Vth
repaired it in 1418, and it has been since dilapidated and restored.--A
pile of buildings beyond, wholly modern in the exterior, is now
inhabited as a seminary or college. There are some circular arches
within, which shew that these buildings belonged to the original
structure.
Altogether the castle is a noble ruin. Though the keep is destitute of
the enrichments of Norwich or Castle Rising, it possesses an impressive
character of strength, which is much increased by the extraordinary
freshness of the masonry. The fosses of the castle; are planted with
lofty trees, which shade and intermingle with the towers and ramparts,
and on every side they groupe themselves with picturesque beauty. It is
said that the municipality intend to _restore_ Talbot's tower and the
keep, by replacing the demolished battlements; but I should hope that no
other repairs may take place, except such as may be necessary for the
preservation of the edifice; and I do not think it needs any, except the
insertion of clamps in the central columns of two of the windows which
are much shattered[94].
From the summit we enjoyed a delightful prospect: at our feet lay the
town of Falaise, so full of trees, that it seemed almost to deserve the
character, given by old Fuller to Norwich, of _rus in urbe_: the distant
country presented an undulating outline, agreeably diversified with
woods and corn-fields, and spotted with gentlemen's seats; while within
a very short distance to the west, rose another ridgy mass of bare brown
rock, known by the name of Mont Mirat, and still retaining a portion of
the intrenchments, raised by our countrymen when they besieged Falaise,
in 1417.--By this eminence the castle is completely commanded, and it is
not easy to understand how the fortress could be a tenable position; as
the garrison who manned the battlements of the dungeon and Talbot's
tower, must have been exposed to the missiles discharged from the
catapults and balistas planted on Mont Mirat.
The history of the castle is inseparably connected with that of the
town: its origin may safely be referred to remote antiquity, the time,
most probably, of the earliest Norman Dukes. If, however, we could agree
with the fanciful author just quoted, it would claim a much earlier
date. The very fact of its having a dungeon-tower, he maintains to be a
proof of its having been erected by Julius Cæsar inasmuch as the word,
_dungeon_, or, as it is written in French, _donjon_, is nothing but a
corruption of _Domus Julii_! More than once in the course of this
correspondence, I have called your attention to the fancies, or, to
speak in plain terms, the absurdities, of theoretical antiquaries. The
worthy priest, to whom we are indebted for the _Recherches Historiques
sur Falaise_, "out-herods Herod." Writers of this description are
curious and amusing, let their theories but rest upon the basis of fair
probability. Even when we reject their reasonings, we are pleased with
their ingenuity; and they serve, to borrow an expression from Horace,
"the purpose of a whetstone." But M. Langevin has nothing farther to
offer, than gratuitous assertion or vague conjecture; and yet, upon the
faith of these, he insists upon our believing, that the foundation of
Falaise took place very shortly after the deluge; that its name is
derived from _Felé_, the cat of Diana, or from the less pure source of
_Phaloi-Isis_; that the present site of the castle was that of a temple,
dedicated to Belenus and Abraxas; and that every stone of remarkable
form in the neighborhood, was either so shapened by the Druids,
(notwithstanding it is the character of rocks, like those at Falaise, to
assume fantastic figures,) or was at least appropriated by the Celtic
priesthood to typify the sun, or moon, or stars.
Various tombs, stone-hatchets, &c., have been dug up at Tassilly, a
village within six miles of Falaise, and fragments of mosaic pavements
have been discovered in the immediate vicinity of the castle[95]; but
history and tradition are alike silent as to the origin of these
remains.--The first historical mention of Falaise is in the year 1027;
during the reign of the fifth Norman Duke, Richard IIIrd, at which
period this town was one of the strong holds of the duchy, and afforded
shelter to Robert, the father of the Conqueror, when he rebelled against
his elder brother. Falaise on that occasion sustained the first of the
nine sieges, by which it has procured celebrity in history.--Fourteen
years only elapsed before it was exposed to a second, through the
perfidy of Toustain de Goz, Count of Hiesmes, who had been intrusted
with the charge of the castle, and who, upon finding that his own
district was ravaged by the forces of the King of France, voluntarily
offered to surrender to that monarch the fortress under his command, on
condition that his territory, the Hiesmois, should be spared. But Duke
William succeeded in retaking the place of his birth before the traitor
had an opportunity of introducing the troops of his new ally.--In the
years 1106 and 1139, Falaise opposed a successful resistance to the
armies of Henry Ist, and of Geoffrey Plantagenet. Upon the first of
these occasions, the Count of Maine, the general of the English forces,
retired with shame from before the walls; and Henry was foiled in all his
attempts to gain possession of the castle, till the battle of Tinchbray
had invested him with the ducal mantle, and had induced Robert himself
to deliver up the fortress in person to his more fortunate brother. On
the second occasion, Robert Marmion, lord of the neighboring barony of
Marmion le Fontenay, a name equally illustrious in Norman and in English
story, held Falaise for Eustace of Boulogne, son to Stephen, and twice
repelled the attacks of the husband of the Empress Maud.--The fourth
siege was conducted with different success, by Philip Augustus: for
seven days the citizens quietly witnessed the preparations of the French
monarch; and then, either alarmed by the impending conflict, or
disgusted by the conduct of their own sovereign, who had utterly
deserted them, they opened their gates to the enemy.--In 1417 the case
was far otherwise, though the result was the same. Henry Vth attacked
Falaise upon the fourth of November, and continued to cannonade it till
the middle of the following February; and, even then, the surrender was
attributed principally to famine. Great injuries were sustained by the
town in the course of this long siege; but, to the credit of our
countrymen, the efforts made towards the reparation of them were at
least proportionate. The fortifications were carefully restored; the
chapel was rebuilt and endowed afresh; Talbot's tower was added to the
keep; and a suite of apartments, also named after that great captain,
was erected in the castle.--The resistance made by the English garrison
of Falaise in 1450, at the time when we were finally expelled from the
duchy, was far from equal to that which the French, had previously
shewn. Vigour was indeed displayed in repeated sallies, but six days
sufficed to put the French general in possession of the place.
Disheartened troops, cooped up in a fortress without hope of succour,
offer but faint opposition; and Falaise was then the last place which
held out in Normandy, excepting, only Domfront and Cherbourg, both which
were taken almost immediately afterwards.--Falaise, from this time
forwards, suffered no more from foreign enemies: the future miseries of
the town were inflicted by the hands of its own countrymen. In common
with many other places in France, it was doomed to learn from hard
experience, that "alta sedent civilis vulnera dextræ."--Instigated by
the Count de Brissac, governor of the town, and one of the most able
generals of the league, the inhabitants were immoveable in their
determination to resist the introduction of tenets which they regarded
as a fatal variance from the Catholic faith. The troops of Henry IIIrd,
in alliance with those of his more illustrious successor, were vainly
brought against Falaise in 1589, by the Duc de Montpensier; a party of
enthusiastic peasants, called _Gautiers_, from the name of a neighboring
village, where their association originated, harassed the assailants
unremittingly, and rendered such effectual assistance to the garrison,
that the siege was obliged to be raised.--But it was only raised to be
renewed at the conclusion of the same year, by Henry of Bourbon, in
person, whom the tragical end of his late ally had placed upon the
throne of France. Brissac had now a different enemy to deal with: he
answered the king's summons to surrender, by pleading his oath taken
upon the holy sacrament to the contrary; and he added that, if it should
ultimately prove necessary for him to enter into any negotiation, he
would at least delay it for six months to come. "Then, by heavens!"
replied Henry, "I will change his months into days, and grant him
absolution;" and; so saying, he commenced a furious cannonade, which
soon caused a breach, and, in seven days, he carried the town by
assault. Brissac, who, on the capture of the fortress, had retired into
the keep, found himself shortly afterwards obliged to capitulate; and I
am sorry to add, that the terms which he proposed and obtained, were not
of a nature to be honorable to his character. The security of his own
life and of that of seven of his party, was the principal stipulation in
the articles. The rest of the garrison were abandoned to the mercy of
the conqueror, who contented himself with hanging seven of them in
memorial of the seven days of the siege; but, if we may believe the
French historians, always zealous for the honor of their monarchs, and
especially of this monarch, Henry selected the sufferers from among
those, who, for their crimes, had, subjected themselves to the pain of
death.
From these various attacks, but principally from those of 1417 and 1589,
the fortifications of Falaise have suffered materially; and since the
last no care has been taken to repair them. The injuries sustained at
that period, and the more fatal, though less obvious ones, wrought by
the silent operation of two centuries of neglect, have brought the walls
and towers to their present state of dilapidation.
The people of Falaise are commonly supposed to be Normans καÏ,, εξοÏ?ην
[English. Not in Original: pre-eminently, especially, above all]; and
when a Norman is introduced upon the French stage, he calls himself a
Falesian, just as any Irishman, in an English farce, is presumed to come
from Tipperary. The town in the French royal calendar is stated to
contain about fourteen thousand inhabitants; but we are assured that the
real number does not exceed nine thousand. Its staple trade is the
manufacture of stockings, coarse caps, and lace. The streets are wide;
and the public fountains, which are continually playing, impart a
freshness, which, at the present burning season, is particularly
agreeable.--The town now retains only four churches, two within its
precincts, and two in the suburbs. The revolution has deprived it of
eight others. Of those which are now standing, the most ancient is that
situated near the castle, and dedicated to the Holy Trinity. Langevin
assures us that it was built upon the ruins of the temple of Felé, Isis,
Belenus, and the heavenly host of constellations, and that in the fifth
century it changed its heathen for its Christian patrons. The oldest
part (a very small one it is) of the present structure, appertains to a
building which was consecrated in 1126, by the Archbishop of Rouen, in
the presence of Henry Ist, but which was almost entirely destroyed by
the cannonade in the fifteenth century. An inscription in gothic
letters, near the entrance, relates, that after this desolation, a
beginning was made towards the re-building of the church, "in 1438, a
year of war, and death, and plague, and famine;" but it is certain that
not much of the part now standing can be referred even to that period.
The choir was not completed till the middle of the sixteenth century,
nor the Lady-Chapel till the beginning of the following one.
Architecturally considered, therefore, the church is a medley of various
styles and ages.
The larger church, that of St. Gervais and St. Protais, is said to have
been originally the ducal chapel, and to stand in the immediate vicinity
of the site of the Conqueror's palace, now utterly destroyed. According
to an ancient manuscript, this church was consecrated at the same time
as that of the Trinity. The intersecting circular-headed arches of its
tower are curious. The Norman corbel-table and clerestory windows still
remain; and the exterior of the whole edifice promises a gratification
to a lover of architectural antiquity, which the inside is little
calculated to realize.--An invading army ruined the church of the
Trinity; civil discord did the same for that of St. Gervais. The
Huguenots, not content with plundering the treasure, actually set fire
to the building, and well nigh consumed it: hence, the choir is the work
of the year 1580, and the southern wall of the nave is a more recent
construction.
We see Falaise to a great advantage: every inn is crowded; every shop is
decked out; and the streets are full of life and activity; all in
preparation for the fair, which commences in three days, on the
fifteenth of this month, the anniversary of the Assumption of the Holy
Virgin. This fair, which is considered second to no other in France,
excepting that of Beaucaire, is held in the suburbs of Guibray, and
takes its name from the place where it is held. For the institution,
Falaise is indebted to William the Conqueror; and from it the place
derives the greatest share of its prosperity and importance. During the
fourteen days that the fair continues, the town is filled with the
neighboring gentry, as well as with merchants and tradesmen of every
description, not only from the cities of Normandy, but from Paris and
the distant provinces, and even from foreign countries. The revolution
itself respected the immunities granted to the fair of Guibray, without,
at the same time, having the slightest regard, either to its royal
founder, or its religious origin.--An image of the Virgin, discovered
under-ground by the scratching and bleating of a lamb, first gave the
stamp of sanctity to Guibray. Miraculous means had been employed for the
discovery of this statue; miraculous powers were sure to be seated in
the image. Pilgrims crowded from all places to witness and to adore; and
hawkers, and pedlars, and, as I have seen inscribed upon a hand-bill at
Paris, "the makers of he-saints and of she-saints," found Guibray a
place of lucrative resort. Their numbers annually increased, and thus
the fair originated.--We are compelled to hasten, or we would have
stopped to have witnessed the ceremonies, and joined the festivities on
the occasion. Already more than one field is covered with temporary
buildings, each distinguished by a flag, bearing the name and trade of
the occupant; already, too, the mountebanks and showmen have taken their
stand for the amusement of the company, and the relaxation of the
traders; and, what is a necessary consequence of such assemblages, you
cannot stir without being pestered with crowds of boys, proffering their
services to transport your wares.
The church of Guibray, like the others of Falaise, offers specimens of
Norman architecture, strangely altered and half concealed by modern
innovations. In the first syllable of the name of the place, you will
observe the French word for misletoe, and may thence infer, and probably
not without reason, the antiquity of the station; the latter syllable,
albeit in England sheep are not wont to _bray_, is supposed by the pious
to have reference to the bleating of the lamb, which led to the
discovery of the miraculous image.--Etymology is a wide district in a
pleasant country, strangely intersected by many and deceitful paths. He
that ventures upon the exploring of it, requires the utmost caution, and
the constant control of sober reason: woe will be sure to betide the
unfortunate wight, who, in such a situation, gives the reins to fancy,
and suffers imagination to usurp the place of judgment, without
reflecting, as has been observed by the poet on a somewhat similar
occasion, that
"Tis more to curb than urge the generous steed,
Restrain his fury, than provoke his speed."
* * * * *
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 94: The outline of the castle is egg-shaped; and the following
are its dimensions, in French measure, according to M.
Langevin.--Length, 720 feet; mean width, 420; quantity of ground
contained within the walls, two acres and a perch.]
[Footnote 95: _Recherches Historiques sur Falaise_, p. XIX. and XXIX.]
LETTER XXX. ROCK AND CHAPEL OF ST. ADRIEN--PONT-DE-L'ARCHE--PRIORY OF
THE TWO LOVERS--ABBEY OF BONPORT--LOUVIERS--GAILLON--VERNON.
(_Mantes, August_, 1818)
The last letter which I wrote to you, was dated from Falaise. Look in
the map and you will see that you now receive one from a point
completely opposite. In four days we have passed from one of the most
western towns of the province, to a place situated beyond its eastern
frontier; and in four more, we may almost hope to be with you again. In
this hasty journey we travelled through a district which has not yet
become the subject of description to you; and though we travelled with
less comfort of mind, than in the early part of our tour, I am yet
enabled to send you a few details respecting it.
From Falaise we went in a direct line to Croissanville: the road, which
we intended to take by St. Pierre sur Dive to Lisieux, was utterly
impracticable for carriages. From Croissanville to Rouen we almost
retraced our former steps: we did not indeed again make a _détour_ by
Bernay; but the straight road from Lisieux to Brionne is altogether
without interest.