Jean, gros Jean, marie sa fille,
Grosse et grasse et bien habile,
A un marchand de sabots,
Radinguette et radingot
CHORUS:
A un marchand de sabots
Radinguette et radingot.
Pour dîner ils eurent des peis
Entre quatre ils n’eurent que treis
Ah! dévinez si c’est trop
Radinguette et radingot.
Chorus.--A un, etc.
Pour souper ils eurent des prunes
Entre quatre ils n’en eurent qu’une
Et la quervaie d’un escargot
Radinguette et radingot.
Chorus.--A un, etc.
Ils firent faire une couachette
De deux secs buts de bûchette
Et l’oreiller d’un fagot
Radinguette et radingot
Chorus.--A un, etc.
Ils firent faire des courtines
Creyant que c’était mousseline
Mais c’était Calaminco
Radinguette et radingot.
Chorus.--A un, etc.[337]
I have concluded this chapter of Guernsey songs with this one, though
it is of an entirely different style and class to any of the others,
but the tune to which it is set, is said to be the national air of
Guernsey.
When the Duke of Gloucester landed here on the 18th of September, 1817,
this song, as the Guernsey National Air was struck up by the band which
came to meet him; the militiamen, knowing the song, all burst out
laughing, much to the astonishment of the Duke and his suite!
[Illustration: Jean, gros Jean, ma-rie sa fille, Grosse et grasse et
bien ha-bile, À un marchand de sa-bots,
Radinguette et ra-din-got; À un marchand de sa-bots, Ra-dinguette et
ra-din-got.]
[337] From Mrs. Kinnersly, to whom I am also indebted for the music.
The Clameur de Haro.
It has been suggested that the Clameur de Haro should be
included among the civic customs peculiar to the Channel
Islands. (See p.p. 59-77), so, as Sir Edgar MacCulloch had not
mentioned it in his MSS. I have ventured to include a short
description of it in the Appendix.
The “Clameur de Haro,” abolished in Normandy, A.D., 1583, is, perhaps,
the most ancient and curious legal survival in the Channel Islands.
Should a Channel Islander consider his estate to be injured, or his
rights to be infringed, by the action of another, in the presence of
two witnesses he kneels on the ground and says:--
“Haro! Haro! Haro! à l’aide mon Prince! on me fait tort!” and he then
repeats the Lord’s Prayer in French.
This formula, which is tantamount to an injunction to stay proceedings,
causes all obnoxious practices to be suspended until the case has
been tried in Court, when the party who is found to be in the wrong
is condemned to a fine and a “Regard de Château,” which, in former
times, meant a night’s imprisonment. All “Clameurs,” according to an
ordonnance of October 1st, 1599, have to be registered at the Greffe
within twenty-four hours, on penalty of being “convict en sa clameur,”
and, should no proceedings be taken within a year of the clameur, it is
considered to have lapsed.
An order of Queen Elizabeth relative to Guernsey, given at Richmond,
October 9th, 1580, decides that “yt shall not be lawfull to appeale in
anie cause criminell, or of correction, nor from the execution of anie
order taken in their Courte of Chief Pleas, nor in cries of Haro.”[338]
One of the most important occasions on which this prerogative was used
happened in the year 1850, when it was in contemplation to demolish
the ancient fortifications of Castle Cornet, but the late Mr. Martin
F. Tupper, who was then on a visit to Guernsey, had recourse to this
form of appeal, and saved the oldest parts of the fortress from
demolition. An extraordinary instance of a “Clameur” took place in
the Church of Sark on the 14th of December, 1755. A great dispute had
arisen between Dame Elizabeth Etienne, widow of Mr. Daniel Le Pelley,
Seigneur of Sark, and the ecclesiastical authorities of Guernsey, as
to in whose gift was the living of the Church of Sark. She appointed
a Mr. Jean Févot to the Church, and when Mr. Pierre Levrier, who had
been appointed by the Dean of Guernsey to this post, arrived in Sark
to perform the service, he found Mr. Févot in the pulpit. He then and
there, in the words of various scandalized eye-witnesses, “interjetta
une Clameur de Haro, environ les deux heures d’après-midi, dans le tems
qu’il avoit commencé à lire le service Divin.”[339] This of course led
to many disputes, and for over a year Dame Le Pelley locked up the
Church of Sark, and allowed no one to enter it. Finally, after much
litigation, and threats of major excommunication from the Guernsey
Ecclesiastical Court, the Bishop of Winchester intervened, Pierre
Levrier was forcibly ejected from the island, and, in 1757, Mr. Cayeux
Deschamps was given the living.
Four cases of “Clameurs” were registered between the years 1880-90, and
an instance occurred as recently as 1902.
There has been much controversy as to the origin of the word “Haro.”
Terrien, (_Coutûme de Normandie_, Edition 1684, p. 104), ascribes it
to Rollo, Duke of Normandy, Ha-Ro, and says “La seule prononciation
de son nom, même après tant de siècles a cette vertu, qu’elle engage
ceux contre lesquels on s’en sert à cesser leurs entreprises et atenter
rien au-de-là.” Laurence Carey, in his essay on the Laws and Customs
of the Island, and all the other old writers say likewise, but modern
philologists, such as Le Héricher and George Métivier have disputed
this theory, and have resolved the word “Haro” into a “cri de charge,”
which has survived as such in the English “Hurrah.” Froissart employs
it frequently as the sound of combat: “Le _Haro_ commença à monter,”
and, in the description of the battle of Bouvines, won from the Germans
and English in 1214, by Guillaume Guiart, who died in 1306 we find:--
“La vois de nuls n’i est oïe
Fors des heraux qui _harou_ crient,
Et par le champ se crucefient
_Harou_, dient-ils, quel mortaille!
Quelle occision! quelle bataille!”[340]
[338] _Livres des Jugements, etc._, Vol. II., p. 16, (transcribed from
British Museum, Lansdowne MSS., No. 155, fol. 426).
[339] From Colonel Ernest Le Pelley’s MSS.
[340] See _Dictionnaire Franco-Normand_, by G. Métivier, p. 280.
APPENDIX A. Ghosts.
Referred to on page 288.
THE GHOST OF MR. BLONDEL.
At “Les Mourains” we have seen that the ghost was “laid” by the means
of the clergy of the parish, (see page 288) and it is evident by the
following stories that the laying of spirits frequently formed part of
the duties of the clergy in Guernsey in the last century.
The house Colonel Le Pelley now inhabits at St. Peter-in-the-Wood,
was formerly owned by an old Mr. Blondel, who, on his death bed,
gave instructions to Mr. Thomas Brock (then Rector of the parish and
grandfather of the present Rector, Mr. H. Walter Brock), to toll the
big bell to announce his decease.
This was not done, but Mr. Blondel’s spirit determined to show that
promises to the dying were not to be trifled with! All the parish of
St. Pierre-du-Bois were ready to affirm that the ghost was to be seen
climbing up the Church tower; and in the Rectory kitchen the china on
the dresser would make a clattering noise and finally be swept by the
unseen hands on to the floor.
Life at the Rectory became so unendurable under these circumstances
that Mr. Brock finally decided to “lay” the ghost, and confine it to
its own house. So he went to “Prospect Place,” as the house is now
called, with twelve others of the local clergy. They shut every door
and window, and blocked up every crevice, key-hole, etc., through
which the spirit might pass. They then prayed in every room, after
which having driven the spirit out of each room in succession, they
locked it up in a cupboard, with either the key of the Church door or
a specially-made silver key (Miss Le Pelley could not find out which,
some say one, and some another), but the ghost has not troubled the
Brock family since.
The old servants now living in the house firmly believe that the ghost
still inhabits the cupboard, and affirm that its groans can still be
heard.[341]
[341] From Miss E. Le Pelley.
THE OLD HOUSE AT ST. GEORGE.
Judith Ozanne, an old woman, who is servant at the Le Pelleys’, tells
the following story.
Her uncle, an old Mr. Ozanne, remembered the last Mr. Guille who
inhabited the original “St. George,” the old house which has been
replaced by the modern building which is now known as “St. George.”
This Mr. Guille left instructions that the old house was never to be
pulled down, as a spirit had been shut up in one of the cupboards; but
his son found the old house quite unsuitable for his bride to live in,
so he pulled it down, and built the present house, and the consequence
was that the poor homeless spirit was forced to wander about the
garden. Judith’s uncle saw him often on moonlight nights, wandering
among the trees around the pond.
All the family saw him too, and decided that something had to be done.
So they had a “conjuration” as they call a laying of the spirit, and
tried to induce it to enter an underground cellar, and shut it down by
means of a trap door.
But Mr. Ozanne would never say whether or no they were successful.
Judith Ozanne finishes the story by saying, “And I should like to know
what would happen to Mr. Blondel’s spirit if this house were burnt
down?”[342]
Many of the old Guernsey “haunted houses” had their ghosts locked up
in cupboards. Mrs. Le Poidevin, who in her youth had been an “ironer,”
and had gone round from house to house ironing after the weekly washing
at home had taken place, related that the famous haunted house at
the Tour Beauregard was also in possession of a ghost locked up in
a cupboard, a cupboard whose doors, in spite of many efforts, would
not open, and from which the most fearful groans and dismal wailings
were heard to arise. Mrs. Le Poidevin also used to go as ironer to
the old house at the top of Smith Street, now pulled down, belonging,
to the de Jersey family. In this house also was a ghost locked up in
a cupboard, and Mrs. de Jersey, a very strong minded old lady,--in
defiance of superstition--insisted on having this cupboard door forced
open, and the ghost escaped! After that the house was rendered almost
uninhabitable by the frightful noises that were heard all over it. No
one could get any sleep, and not a servant could be found to stay in
the house. So finally Mrs. de Jersey decided to have the clergy called
in, and one of the maids described to Mrs. Le Poidevin the ceremonies
that ensued.
She said that every outer door was locked, all the crevices between the
window sashes were wedged up, and every keyhole was plugged up. Then
the minister of St. James’ and some of the other clergy prayed in every
room, and she thought they read something about “casting out devils.”
Finally the ghost was locked up with the key of the Church door.[343]
[342] From Miss E. Le Pelley.
[343] From Mrs. Le Poidevin.
In Moncure Conway’s book on _Demonology and Devil-Lore_, Vol. I., p.
102, he says:--“The key has a holy sense in various religions.” I have
not been able to find out the exact formula used by the clergy, but in
the Sarum Office, and also in the first Prayer Book of Edward VI., an
exorcism is given to be used at the Baptism of Infants, in which the
evil spirit is addressed as follows:--“Therefore, thou accursed spirit,
remember thy sentence, remember thy judgment, remember the day to be
at hand, wherein thou shalt burn in fire everlasting, prepared for
thee and thy angels,” etc. This was founded on the ancient exorcisms,
and was only left out in the revision of 1552, in deference to the
criticisms of Bucer.
THE GHOSTS OF LA PETITE PORTE.
La Petite Porte is the sandy bay immediately underneath Jerbourg.
Tradition derives its name “the little door” from an incident which
is said to have occurred in 1338. In those days the French had made
one of their periodical inroads on the island, and were in possession
of its principal fortresses. Eighty-seven men of St. Martin’s parish,
headed by l’honorable “Capitaine Jean de la Marche,”[344] attempted
to dislodge them, but were defeated at Mare-Madoc, in the Hubits, and
fled down to La Petite Porte, where they embarked for Jersey, and
founded a colony at St. Ouen’s. An old Jersey manuscript goes on to
say that Charles II., during his sojourn in Jersey, was so touched by
the recital of the bravery and fidelity of these men, that he granted
to the “South” Regiment of Militia, the old “Regiment Bleu,” a special
“aiguillette d’argent.” Later authorities disprove this, on the grounds
that there were not, at this epoch, either regiments or uniforms, and
that the “royal blue facings and silver lace” quoted as “being borne at
present by the South Regiment of Militia” did not exist two centuries
ago!
But among the old country people, to the present day, the bay known
as “Moulin Huet” is invariably called “Vier Port” (old harbour), and
if one mentions “Moulin Huet _Bay_” they will tell you that the name
“Moulin Huet” only applies to the old mill, (now destroyed, and the
site turned into a picnic house), and that it was “Les Anglais” who
transferred the name of the mill to the bay just below, so that “La
Petite Porte,” being just the other side of the bay, might easily have
been originally “Petit Port”--(Little Harbour.)
Bounded by the “Tas de Pois,” the most magnificent rocks in the Channel
Islands, it is noted for its beauty, and, from its long expanse of
sand, is the best place for sand-eeling. But about the beginning of
last century no sand-eelers dared approach this spot by night. Screams,
shrieks, and groans were heard there, night after night, and finally
it was shunned after dark by the whole island. There was no difficulty
in the people’s minds in accounting for these sounds. Two such awful
tragedies were connected with this bay and its environs that it was an
“embarras de richesse” to decide which of the ghosts of the two men who
had been murdered in this vicinity it could be!
The first of these stories has already been published in a little
book, now out of print, called _Anglo-Norman Legends_ or _Tales of the
Channel Islands_, N.D., under the title of “John Andrew Gordier,” and
has also been taken as the foundation of “Rachel Mauger, a Guernsey
Tragedy,” published some years ago in Clarke’s _Guernsey Magazine_,
where also, in the number for May, 1883, the same story is given in a
condensed form, as taken from a newspaper cutting, and is preceded by
the following note, signed “J. Y.
“The following striking narrative, relating to the origin of a drama
celebrated in its day (the tragedy of “Julia”), became known to the
writer through an old newspaper cutting preserved in a family scrap
book. The newspaper of which we speak must be at least fifty years old
(in 1883), and it related events which were then long past.”
A book called _The Locket_, by Mrs. Alfred Marks is based on the same
tradition.
Though these events must have happened nearly two hundred years ago,
there are still some recollections of them lingering in the minds of
the very old people, who preface them by saying “_J’ai ouï dire à ma
gran’mère!_”
The story runs thus:--About the end of the seventeenth century there
was an extremely beautiful girl, living at the Varclin, in St. Martin’s
parish, called Rachel Mauger. The Maugers were of a good old Guernsey
family, and were, in those days, extremely well-to-do. She was
engaged to John Andrew Gordier, a native of Jersey, though of French
extraction. One day he sent her word that he was going to sail over
from Jersey to see her, and intended landing at La Petite Porte, which
was the nearest place to her house. She started to go to meet him.
But he never appeared, and she had to return home, fearing that some
accident had happened to him. What really had happened was this: There
was a wealthy merchant, in St. Peter Port, named Gaillard, who had
long wished to marry Rachel; he had formerly been her father’s clerk,
so they had been much thrown together, but she did not reciprocate his
affection.
The day Mr. Gordier sailed over to Guernsey, Gaillard was down in the
bay of La Petite Porte, having previously been refused admission to
the Mauger’s house, on the ground that Mr. Gordier was expected, and
they were all busy preparing for his reception. Brooding over his
wrongs, he looked up, and saw his rival just on the point of landing.
Mad with jealousy he waited behind the rocks till he saw him preparing
to ascend the winding path which leads to the top of the cliff, then he
rushed out, and stabbed him twice in the back with the knife he always
carried, and, doubling him up, thrust the body into a cave close by
with a particularly small entrance. The cave is still pointed out, and
is on the western side of the bay, just below the path, leading from La
Petite Porte to Moulin Huet. Before leaving the body, Gaillard searched
it, and abstracted a peculiarly-shaped locket from one of the pockets,
which Gordier was bringing as a present to his _fiancée_.
Of course the disappearance of Gordier led to a search, and his body
being finally discovered in this cave by some boys, his murder was
made manifest. His mother finally resolved to come over and visit
her intended daughter-in-law, whom she found in a most depressed and
excitable condition, and evidently dying of a broken heart. United to
the shock of her lover’s death, she had been exposed to the incessant
persecution of her relations, who were determined that she should marry
Gaillard, and had insisted that she should accept the locket that he
had stolen from Gordier’s corpse, and, with a refinement of malice, had
pressed on her. So unstrung was the unfortunate Rachel that she did
nothing but sink into one fainting fit after another on seeing Mrs.
Gordier, and when the latter, struck with horror on seeing this jewel
on her watch-chain, asked her how she had come into possession of a
locket which had, she knew, been made specially for her in Jersey by
her son’s orders, the unhappy girl turned deadly pale, and, murmuring
the word “clerc,” fell in a dead faint to the ground. The final shock,
and sudden conviction that they had been harbouring her lover’s
murderer, being too much for her in her enfeebled condition, she died
in a few moments.
Mrs. Gordier misinterpreted the poor girl’s grief, and, thinking it
proceeded from a guilty conscience, intimated that it evidently shewed
that Rachel was an accomplice in the murder. Naturally the Maugers
were most indignant at such an unworthy aspersion on their daughter,
and, after a violent scene, asked her to prove her statements. She
replied that the jewel their daughter was then wearing was one which
was purchased by her son before leaving Jersey, and she proved the
fact by touching a secret spring and shewing his portrait concealed in
the locket. The Maugers, knowing that Gaillard had been the donor of
this jewel, and connecting “clerc,” the last word Rachel’s lips had
uttered, with him, as being her father’s clerk, immediately sent for
him. On being confronted with the jewel, and asked to explain how it
came into his possession, he replied that he had purchased it from a
Jew, named Levi, who had for years paid periodical visits to the island
as a pedlar. So Levi was then considered to be undoubtedly guilty, and
was taken into custody, but then, remorse, the fear of public shame,
and also the conviction that, Rachel being dead nothing made life worth
living, so wrought on the miserable Gaillard, that the morning of the
day on which Levi was to be brought before the Royal Court, he was
found dead, stabbed by his own hand.
A letter was found on the table in his room confessing his guilt and
reading thus: “None but those who have experienced the furious impulse
of ungovernable love will pardon the crime which I have committed,
in order to obtain the incomparable object by whom my passions were
inflamed. But, Thou, O Father of Mercies! who implanted in my soul
these strong desires, wilt forgive one rash attempt to accomplish my
determined purpose, in opposition, as it should seem, to thy Almighty
Providence.”[345]
[344] “L’honorable Jean de la Marche, du bas, Commandant-en-Chef de
la paroisse de St. Martin, voyant l’isle de Guernesey révoltée contre
son Roi, et servant de préférence sous les drapeaux Français; ce
vaillant homme, dis-je, ému par un esprit vraiment loyal, et secondé
par l’honorable Messire Pierre de Sausmarez, James Guille, Jean de
Blanchelande, Pierre Bonamy, Thomas Vauriouf, et Thomas Etibaut, qui
allèrent partout chercher des secours, et tâchant de détruire tous
les factieux, et animés d’un désir d’assister à leur bienfaiteur
pour reprendre le Château Cornet, assistés par les braves habitants
de la petite Césarée; la paroisse de St. Martin leva et envoya
quatre-vingt-sept hommes, qui se joignirent aux dites honorables
personnes, sous le commandement du dit noble Jean de la Marche, du bas;
ce nombre était autant que la paroisse de St. Martin pût en fournir
dans ce temps là. Ayant été attaqués au Mont Madau (dit les Hubits) ils
firent retraite et s’embarquèrent à la petite Porte (qui porte ce nom
à cause de cette aventure) sur de frèles barques, parmi les rochers,
et arrivèrent enfin à Jersey, et se joignirent sous le commandement de
Messire Renaud de Carteret, Grand Gouverneur des Iles, et se battirent
vailleusement sous les drapeaux de sa Majesté, après avoir échappé à
la fureur d’une mer orageuse. St. Martin était la seule paroisse de
cette isle de Guernesey, qui se garda sous l’obéissance du Roi, pour
lesquels bons services, il plut à sa Majesté Charles II., leur accorder
à leur requête le galon d’argent comme le plus noble. C’est alors que
plusieurs habitants de St. Martin donnèrent leurs services pour leurs
vies au susdit Renaud de Carteret, Gouverneur-en-Chef, et conçurent un
tel mépris pour leurs pays qu’ils habitèrent Jersey. Lisez pour cela le
discours que Charles II. donna au Parlement à son retour, et l’estime
et l’éloge qu’il fait de ces héros.”--_From an old document entitled
“Touchant La Preséance d’Honneur chalengée, par Guernesé.”_
[345] From Mrs. Le Patourel, Mr. Tourtel, and from my father, who had
heard it from his father, and collated with the printed versions of the
story.
LE SEIGNEUR DE DAMÈQUE.
This second story is not at all well known, except among some of the
very old people at St. Martin’s. I will not mention the names of the
murderers, as descendants of the family still survive, and are among
the most respected of the country people.
At the end of the eighteenth century many French noblemen fled over
here, to escape the terrors of the French revolution. Among them was
a Seigneur de Damèque. (I have no idea whether or not whether this is
the correct spelling of his name, but it represents the pronunciation
of the people). He came out to St. Martin’s parish, and took a house at
Le Hurel, just above Le Vallon. He was very proud and reserved, made no
friends, and was always seen going for long solitary walks, or pacing
down “Les Olivettes,” (the old name for what is now known as “the water
lane”) or underneath “Les Rochers,” the cliffs on which the Manor House
of Blanchelande now stands, and resting by the “douït” where the pond
at Le Vallon now is, but which, in those days, was public property.
He was always very richly dressed, and was supposed to have hidden
hoards of wealth, as well as to carry large sums of money on his
person. There were two or three brothers who lived together in a house
near Le Varclin, who, tempted by his supposed riches, and thinking
that his isolation would prevent his disappearance being noticed or
enquiries being made, decided on following him on one of his solitary
rambles and on murdering him. These brothers had always borne a bad
reputation; they gambled and drank, and were the “vauriens” of an
otherwise respectable family.
So, one evening, they followed him, as, passing above La Petite Porte,
he entered into the narrow lane, overgrown with trees and thorn bushes,
which leads to Jerbourg Point. There they closed upon him, and, being
two or three to one, murdered him, and, after having robbed the body of
his watch, rings, etc., buried the corpse under some of the heaps of
stones which lie on the waste lands at the top of the cliff.
Some wonder was caused at Le Hurel when he failed to appear, but the
rumour was started that he had been seen sailing away in a little
fishing boat he used to hire for the season, from Bec du Nez, and which
the murderers had had the forethought to scuttle and sink. The country
people thought he had returned to his native land, and all interest in
the matter dropped.
[Illustration: Haunted Lane near Jerbourg.]
But there was one man to whom M. de Damèque’s disappearance meant
much. In Paris he had left a dear friend, a Dr. Le Harrier. These two
men wrote to each other regularly, and when M. de Damèque’s letters
suddenly ceased, letters came to Le Hurel from this doctor, asking for
explanations--letters which were never answered. Among M. de Damèque’s
jewellery was a beautiful and most uncommon watch, with either his
coronet and monogram or his coronet and arms displayed on the case.
One day, some years after his disappearance, Dr. Le Harrier, walking
through the streets of Paris, saw this unmistakable watch hanging in
a jeweller’s shop. He went in and asked the man how it had got into
his possession, and the man told him it had been brought by some men
from Guernsey, who had been trying to sell it in England, Holland, and
Belgium, and finally had left it with him to dispose of. Dr. Le Harrier
bought the watch, and, taking the men’s address, started at once for
Guernsey. When he arrived he made enquiries, and, finding that these
men bore a bad reputation, took some constables with him and went to
the house. There they found them sodden with drink, and, haunted by
fear and remorse when they saw the watch, they sank down on their knees
and confessed everything, and were led off then and there to prison.
The next thing to be done was to disinter the bones of the murdered
man and give them Christian burial. Heavily handcuffed the brothers
were taken to the spot, accompanied by various members of the clergy, a
doctor, who had to certify that every bone was there, (this is a point
much dwelt upon by every teller of the story), Dr. Le Harrier, and all
the people of St. Martin’s. Then the bones, being found, were placed in
a coffin, and reverently buried in St. Martin’s churchyard.
After the last spadeful of earth had been put in the grave, and while
handcuffed prisoners and all the bystanders were still present, an old
St. Martin’s man, named Pierre Jehan, got up and made the following
speech, which I have written down word for word as the people still
tell it.
_“Autrefois quand on enterrait des dépouilles mortelles on y envoyait
des rameaux et des bouquets de fleurs. Aujourd’hui on ne voit rien de
tout ça.”_
_“Autrefois on aurait donné un quartier de froment en fonds d’héritage
pour porter le nom de ----. Aujourd’hui on en donnera quatre pour ne le
pas porter.”_
(“Formerly when burying a corpse one sent branches of trees and
bouquets of flowers. To-day there is nothing of that.”
“Formerly one would have given a quarter of wheat rent to bear the name
of ----. To-day one would give four not to bear it.”)
The shock and the shame were such that the brothers were seized by what
the people call “a stroke,” and to the relief of their relations died
in prison before being brought for trial.
That the ghosts of these two murdered men should revisit the scenes
of the crime was only to be expected, but finally, when La Petite
Porte was shut to sand-eelers by reason of “_ces cris terribles_,”
some of the neighbours and fishermen began to wonder whether nothing
could be done to lay these unquiet spirits and free the bay from its
supernatural visitants.
There was a man called Pierre Thoume, who lived at Les Blanches,
most popular in the parish, being ready to go everywhere and join in
everything, though he was emphatically a “bon Chrétien.” He was a
distant relative of the murderers of M. de Damèque, and, having heard
these noises at various times, it was borne in upon him that perhaps if
he could find out what the ghost wanted, he could fulfil its wishes,
and so let it rest in peace. He even prayed for guidance, and more
and more he felt it to be his duty to go and meet the ghost face to
face. At first some other men said they would join him, but when the
appointed night came their spirits failed them, and no one arrived at
the rendezvous. Undaunted, and armed only with his Bible, Mr. Thoume
sallied forth alone at midnight. I think it is difficult to realise
what moral and physical courage it must have involved to go forth
alone to encounter the supernatural, fully persuaded of its unearthly
character.
Early in the morning he returned to his home, looking very white, and
with a curiously set expression on his face. His wife and daughters,
who had waited up for him, rushed at him to know what had happened, but
he said, “You must never ask me what has happened, what I have seen,
what I have done. I have sworn to keep it a secret, and as a secret
it will die with me, but this I can tell you, you may go to La Petite
Porte at any hour of the day or night, and never again shall any ghost
haunt it, or noise or scream be heard.” And to this day the noises have
utterly ceased.
Pierre Thoume kept his vow, though his family, friends, and neighbours,
implored him time after time, even on his death bed, to tell them what
he had seen. His invariable reply was, “I have given my word, and I
will not break it.”[346]
[346] From Mrs. Rowswell, Mr. Thoume’s daughter, Mrs. Le Patourel,
Mrs. Charles Marquand, Margaret Mauger, Mr. Tourtel, and many others,
inhabitants of St. Martin’s parish.
LES CÂCHES.
There are two houses called Les Câches in St. Martin’s parish,
situated one behind the other in the district so called, between the
blacksmith’s forge at St. Martin’s and the Forest Road. Tradition says
that they all formed part of one property, which extended as far as
St. Martin’s Church, and was a nunnery, the nuns having a private lane
of their own by which they could go to the church without the fear of
meeting any men _en route_. There is a pond situated to the left of a
long avenue which now leads to the front door of one of the houses,
and for years it was believed that on a certain night of the year,
a woman’s figure, dressed in grey, is seen walking up and down the
avenue, weeping and wringing her hands, and then rushing to the pond.
The story the people tell to account for this appearance is, that one
of the nuns was discovered at the dead of night trying to drown her
child and herself in the pond. They were rescued, but only for a worse
fate, for the unfortunate woman and child were bricked up in a cupboard
which is now situated in one of the outhouses, but is supposed to have
been the old refectory. The people also tell in confirmation of this
story that the night the ghost is seen this cupboard door flies open of
itself though it is quite impossible to force it open at any other time.
It is possible that if this was an ecclesiastical establishment, it was
one of those alien priories of which Sir Edgar MacCulloch says:--
“After the loss of Normandy the inconvenience of having so many
valuable possessions in the hands of the enemy, led to the suppression
of these priories, and in these islands, whenever there was war between
England and France, alien ecclesiastics were compelled to leave.”
So probably the old conventual buildings, if there were any, were
allowed to fall into ruins, and the land passed into the hands of the
Patrys, and thence, through the marriage of Marguerite Patrys and
Pierre Bonamy, into the possession of the Bonamys, who owned it for
many centuries. There is an old document which tells the story of how
the Bonamys first came to Guernsey.
“On their return from the Holy Land, whither they had accompanied the
King of France, two brothers were driven by a violent storm, and thrown
into a little bay, where their bark went to pieces. In gratitude for
their preservation they made a vow to remain where Providence had
placed them. One, a priest, founded a church, and the other married and
founded the Bonamy family.” In 1495, John Bonamy, son of Pierre and
Marguerite Patrys, was “Procureur du Roi” in Guernsey, and his old MS.
memorandum book still survives, in which he describes a pilgrimage to
Rome he made in 1504, through France and Italy.
The following extracts relative to building Les Câches have been
deciphered from the old crabbed manuscript by Colonel J. H. Carteret
Carey:--
_1468.--M^{o} des gans quy mont aydy a caryer la pere … et des grant
roquez … de le Cluse Luet--premez Gylome robert j jo^{r} &c._
_1498.--M^{o} que je marchande de Colas Fyquet po^{r} ma meson, le
but deverz le nort … par la some de viij escus.… Il comencest le
xviij^{eme} jo^{r} du moys de Maye--le Mardyt._
_1504.--M^{o} que Gylome le Corvar et Colin Savage comancer acovyr ma
grange landeman du jo_{r} Saint Appolyne. Acevest le jo^{r} Saint Aubin
lan vc quatre,_ which may be translated:--
(1468.--Memo of the people who helped me to quarry the stone … and
the big rocks … of “l’Ecluse Luet” [the Ecluse was the mill-dam in
connection with the old watermill which gave its name to Moulin Huet
Bay. It was situated in the hollow at the bottom of the water-lane of
“Les Olivettes,” just above the old Mill House] first William Robert,
one day, &c.)
(1498.--Memo. That I bargain with Colas Fyquet about my house, the end
(to be) towards the north … for the sum of eight escus. They began the
18th of May--on Tuesday.)
(1504.--Memo. That William Le Corvar (&) Colin Savage, began to cover
my barn the day following the day of Saint Appolyne [Feb. 9,] finished
the day of St. Aubin [March 1,] 1504.)
In the parish of St. Martin’s they still tell a story of the old days
when the Bonamys yet occupied Les Câches.
Years and years ago, there was an old Helier Bonamy,[347] who lived
at the Câches. He was one of the richest men in Guernsey, and kept,
as well as cows and horses, a large flock of sheep, there being much
demand for wool in those days on account of the quantity of jerseys,
stockings, &c., knitted over here. One night he and his daughter went
to a ball in the town. Tradition even goes so far as to say that Miss
Bonamy was dressed in white brocade. Before starting, Helier Bonamy
summoned his herdsmen, and told them to keep a sharp look out after
his sheep, for that there were many lawless men about. Helier and his
daughter[348] walked home that night earlier than was expected.
As they turned into the avenue, between high hedges and forest trees,
they heard the bleatings of sheep in pain. “_Écoute donc, ce sont
mes berbis_” (Listen, those are my sheep), said Helier, and drew his
daughter under the hedge to listen. Peeping through the bushes they saw
his herdsman and farm labourers calling each other by name, drinking,
talking and laughing, and, while cutting the throats of the defenceless
sheep, chanting in chorus:--
_“Rasons! rasons! les berbis_
_Du grand Bonamy,_
_S’il était ichin d’vànt,_
_Nou l’i en feraït autant!”_
(Shear! shear! the sheep,
Of the great Bonamy,
Were he here before us,
We would do as much to him).
They crept up the avenue unobserved to the house, for Helier was afraid
to confront all these men who had evidently been drinking heavily,
alone and unarmed. The next day his herdsman came to him with a long
face, and said that robbers had broken into the sheepfold in the night
and killed all the sheep, and brought up the other men as witnesses.
Mr. Bonamy said nothing, except that he would like all these men to
accompany him down to the Court to there testify to the robbery. This
they did, and when they got there and told their story, Mr. Bonamy and
his daughter then turned round and denounced them. They were taken into
custody, and hanged shortly afterwards at St. Andrew’s.[349]
There are several stories illustrating the re-appearance of people
whose dying wishes had been disregarded by their survivors, and also of
people wishing to tell their heirs where their treasure had been hid.
At the King’s Mills, a Mrs. Marquand died, and left instructions with
her husband that her clothes were to be given to her sister Judith.
After her death the widower did not do it, so every night her ghost
came and knocked at her husband’s door. One night she rapped so loudly
that all the neighbours opened their windows, and heard her say:--
“_Jean, combien de temps que tu me feras donc souffrir, donne donc mes
hardes à ma sœur Judi_.”
(John, how much longer wilt thou make me suffer, give then my clothes
to my sister Judy).
He gave the clothes the next day, and the spirit returned no more.[350]
Almost the same story is told of a Mrs. Guille, who gave orders that
after her death a certain amount of clothes were to be bought and
yearly distributed amongst the poor. This her husband neglected to
comply with, so Mrs. Guille visited him one night, and told him that
she would do so every night until the clothes were given. Mr. Guille
hurriedly bought and distributed the clothes, and continued to do so
yearly until he died.[351]
Miss Le Pelley also contributes the following ghost stories which are
told at St. Pierre-du-Bois:--
“About the beginning of the century a man went to Gaspé (which the
narrator said was Newfoundland, but is really on the mainland). While
there, his father died suddenly, and the son came back to Guernsey to
work the farm. One night his father appeared to him and told him that
he would find “_une petite houlette_” (a little mug) on the barn wall,
with something of value in it. Next morning the son went to look, and
found a mug full of five franc pieces.”
“A widow in Little Sark had sold her sheep advantageously and hidden
the money in the “_poûtre_” (the large central rafter which runs along
the ceiling of the kitchen). Quite suddenly she died. Whenever her son
walked about in Little Sark he met his mother, which made him feel very
frightened, so one day he made his brother come with him, and together
they met her, and plucked up courage enough to say:--‘In the name of
the Great God what ails you,’ so then, having been spoken to first, she
could tell them where her hoard of treasure was, and then disappeared,
and was never seen again.”
The whole country-side is full of shreds of ghost stories and beliefs;
many of these were probably due to, and encouraged by, the smugglers of
olden days.
For instance a funeral procession was supposed to issue from an old
lane south of Le Hurel--now blocked up--and no St. Martin’s man or
woman would dare pass the place at night. But smugglers, creeping
along between the overhanging hedges, with kegs and bundles on their
shoulders, would have had just the same effect, especially to people
who would have been far too frightened at an unexpected nocturnal
appearance to stop and investigate the matter.
At the corner between Les Maindonneaux and the Hermitage, a tall figure
was said to appear, and hover round the spot. When the road was widened
and the wall round the Hermitage was built, a stone coffin was found
full of very large bones. These bones were taken to the churchyard, and
the burial service read over them, and since then no ghost has been
seen.
Then, a little further on, around the pond of Sausmarez Manor, was seen
an old man, dressed in a long grey coat, and a grey felt plumed hat.
This is supposed by the people to be old Mr. Matthew de Sausmarez--“Le
Grand Matthieu” as he is called,--but why he is supposed to return is
unknown.
Even now-a-days, in quite modern most unghostly-looking houses, you
hear tales of little old women, former inhabitants, being seen. In
another house, where a suicide is known to have occurred, soft finger
knocks are heard against the walls of one of the rooms, as of some
one shut up in the room and seeking release; the door is opened, and
nothing is to be seen. And in St. Martin’s the ghost of a woman, who
only died a few years ago, is said to haunt the garden of the house
in which she lived. Her daughter saw the appearance and was picked up
in a dead faint from fright, but then the woman was supposed by all
the neighbours to have been a witch, and, of course, as they say, the
spirit of “une sorcière” could not rest quiet in consecrated ground.
I will close this chapter on ghosts with a story which is firmly
believed and told by many of the country people. For obvious reasons I
suppress all names.
At the beginning of the nineteenth century, a very rich widower had a
house in Smith Street. His first wife had left many small children,
to whom in her lifetime she had been devoted, and spent many hours of
her day in the nursery. The widower, after a short interval, married
again, a young, pretty, and frivolous girl, who utterly neglected
her step-children. Then the spirit of his first wife came back for a
short time every morning, and washed and dressed them, the curtains of
their beds were found pushed back in the mornings, and her silk dress
was heard rustling up the stairs, and the children used to say “Mamma
dressed us.”[352]
A man residing on the north-west coast had a brother who was drowned
whilst out fishing. This man, wishing to do his best for his brother’s
family, was sore perplexed some years afterwards, as the family ran
great risk of losing their property, owing to the absence of a title
deed which he knew to have existed, but which unfortunately had not
been registered.
One day, when out fishing, he was greatly surprised to see his
brother’s boat coming full sail close to him and just rounding to, with
his brother at the tiller, and exclaimed:--“La! te v’lo et ta femme
qu’est r’mariaïe!” (Lo! there you are and your wife married again!)
The answer he received was:--“Le papier que tu trache est dans un taï
endret sus la poutre,” (the paper you are looking for is in such a
room, on the beam). Immediately everything disappeared.
Arrived ashore, he searched in the place indicated and found the
missing document.[353]
[347] On referring to the Bonamy pedigree, the only Helier Bonamy who
appears to have owned Les Câches, is a “Hellier, fils Pierre.” Peter
Bonamy being a Jurat in 1548. Helier does not seem to have borne the
best of reputations, for Nicholas Bermis writes of him to Bishop Horn:
“Guernsey, December 13, 1575. He is a disorderly character, notorious
for impiety and obstinacy.… Finally publicly excommunicated from the
commune of the Church of God and of His Saints and given over to Satan
until he should repent.”--_Zurich Letters_, Vol. II., p. 224.
[348] Even into the nineteenth century the old ladies would tell
you how they walked home, lit by a three-candled lantern from “the
Assemblys” and how the last dance was always given to the favourite
partner, so that he might have the privilege of accompanying them.
[349] From Miss C. Tardif, who was told the story by her grandmother.
[350] Collected by Miss E. Le Pelley.
[351] Collected by Miss E. Le Pelley.
[352] From Mrs. Le Patourel, and also told to Miss Le Pelley by an old
woman at St. Pierre-du-Bois.
[353] From John de Garis, Esq., of the Rouvêts, whose father was told
the story by the man himself.
APPENDIX B. Witchcraft.
Referred to on page 386.
MARIE PIPET.
There are many stories still told and firmly believed by the country
people, of Marie Pipet, who was a noted “sorcière“ of the early part of
the nineteenth century. She came of a race of witches and wizards, thus
described in Redstone’s _Guernsey and Jersey Guide_, by Louisa Lane
Clarke, (Second Edition, 1844), p. 86.
“On the road past St. Andrew’s Church, one of the lanes to the right
leads to the village called “Le Hurel,”[354] a collection of mere
huts; rude, dirty looking cottages, but remarkable from the people who
tenant it. They are a kind of half gipsy, half beggar race, bearing
the name of Pipet; and kept totally distinct from every other family,
because no person would intermarry with them upon any consideration.
Their appearance and features are quite unlike the rest of the Guernsey
peasantry, who are extremely good-looking, clean, and active; whereas
those Pipets may be found basking in the sun, with anything but a
prepossessing exterior. The country people consider them as wizards and
witches, and, at certain times of the year, about Christmas, when they
are privileged to go round and beg for their _Noël_, or “_irvières_”
(New Year’s gifts), no one likes to send them away empty handed
for fear of the consequences to themselves, their cattle, or their
children.” Even to this day the country people have a great dread of
“Les Pipiaux.”[355]
My father’s old nurse, Margaret Mauger, told me that the cook at old
Mr. Fred Mansell’s, of the Vauxbelets, (about the year 1850), was a
great friend of hers, and told her that one day Marie Pipet came into
the Vauxbelets kitchen, and demanded some favour which was refused.
“_Tu t’en repentiras_,” she said, and went out of the door and sat on
the adjoining hedge to await developments. Meanwhile the sirloin which
was being cooked for Mr. Mansell’s dinner refused to be cooked! For
hours she turned it round and round on the jack in front of the fire.
The heat had apparently no effect on it, and it was as raw as when she
first put it there. Finally, in despair, the cook went to her master,
and told him what had happened. So he sent for Marie Pipet, and told
her if she did not disenchant his dinner she would spend the night in
gaol, (he was a Jurat of the Royal Court). With a curtsey she replied
that if he would go into his kitchen he would find his sirloin ready
for eating, and, at that moment, the cook declared, it suddenly turned
brown!
There are many stories told of Marie Pipet in St. Pierre-du-Bois. One
old woman, Judith Ozanne, told Miss Le Pelley that Marie Pipet, “la
sorcière,” once asked her grandmother, old Mrs. Ozanne, for some milk.
This was refused her, so she prevented the cows from eating, and they
were all pining away. So then her grandfather took his pitchfork, and,
going straight to the witch, compelled her, under the fear of corporal
punishment, to undo the spell.
Judith Ozanne also tells the following story of Marie Pipet, which she
affirms is true. One day Marie took her corn to the Grands Moulins (the
King’s Mills) to be ground. The two young men who were in charge of
the mill said “Oh dear no, they were not going to grind her corn,” and
so she returned home, but the mill-stones turned round and round and
round so quickly that no corn would grind, and nothing would stop them,
so they had to call back Marie Pipet and promise to grind her corn for
her, and, as soon as her corn was put in, the millstones worked as
usual.
Mr. Métivier gives a story of Marie Pipet which was current in his day,
in his _Souvenirs Historiques de Guernesey_.
“The incomparable Marie, so dreaded by the millers of the King’s Mills,
because she often amused herself by unhinging our mills, rests in peace
on the good side (au bon côté) of the Castel churchyard.[356] It is
firmly believed, and frequently told, how she, and other members of
her family, could metamorphose themselves as “cahouettes”--red-legged
choughs. One day, in the form of one of these birds, she was discovered
in a cow stable, and run through the thigh by the proprietor of the
stable, with his pitchfork. The bird managed to escape, but the woman
Marie Pipet was obliged to keep her bed for six months with a terrible
and mysterious wound in her leg, by which of course the metamorphosis
was proved.”[357]
Possibly a bird of such evil omen, having red legs, accounts for the
fact that to this day our country people tell you that all witches who
go to dance at the Catioroc wear red stockings.[358]
All witches are supposed to be endowed with the faculty of keeping the
person they have bewitched walking--walking, for hours perhaps, in a
circle, to which they cannot find a clue.
Marie Pipet, one day being offended with a man, made him walk backwards
and forwards one whole night between the Vauxbelets and St. Andrew’s
Church.[359]
[354] _Hure_, _Hurel_, and _Huret_, all frequently met with
as place-names in Guernsey, mean “rocky ground.”--Métivier’s
_Dictionnaire_.
[355] The Guernsey people have a way of making plurals of many words
ending in “et” or “ert” or “el,” by substituting “iaux,” as:--Pipets =
Pipiaux, Robert (a very common surname) Robiaux, Coquerel = Coqueriaux,
bouvet, bouviaux, touffet, touffiaux.
[356] In Guernsey the south side of our churchyard was “le bon côté.”
The north side, (according to the old Norse mythology, where hell and
its attendant demons were situated in the _north_) was reserved for
criminals, suicides, etc.
[357] The “Cahouettes” or red-legged choughs, have always, according
to Mr. Métivier (see his _Dictionnaire_, art. “Cahouettes”), played a
prominent rôle in the Néo-Latin mythology. According to the Council
of Nismes, 1281, witches and wizards metamorphosed themselves into
“Cahouets” and “Cahouettes.” Raphaël, Archbishop of Nicosia, capital of
the island, excommunicated all _cahouets_ and _cahouettes_, as well as
all who maintained and encourage games of chance.
[358] From Margaret Mauger, who also said that in her youth if one met
an old woman in the town wearing red stockings, it was always said
“_V’là une des sorcières du Catioroc!_” In Holbein’s _Crucifixion_,
1477, now at Augsberg, a devil which carries off the soul of the
impenitent thief has the head of an ape, bat-wings, and _flaming red
legs_.
[359] From Margaret Mauger.
THE WIZARD OF SARK.
About the end of the eighteenth century there lived in Sark a very
notorious wizard called Pierre de Carteret. An old Sark woman called
Betsy Hamon, now Mrs. de Garis, has given Miss Le Pelley, whose servant
she is, the following particulars concerning him:--
Pierre de Carteret, called “le vieux diable,” lived in Sark. He always
worked at night, and when the fishermen passed by his house at night
they heard him talking to the little devils who worked for him. They
could not understand, for it was the devil’s language they talked. He
built a boat in a barn in one morning, and the Sark people were amazed
to see it launched in the Creux harbour. This was Black Art, for the
boat was too large to go out of the door, and also his house was not
quite close to the sea.
He was very rich, partly owing to his having no expenses, as he had no
workmen to pay, everything being done for him by these little devils,
and partly from his first wife, whom he courted in France. Pierre went
over to France alone, in a small open boat. The girl he married, who
was herself a lady, thought he was of gentle blood. After he married
her he was most cruel, and spoilt all her furniture. For instance, her
parlour was mirrored from ceiling to floor, and he brought her horses
up into the room, and the poor things became excited when they saw
other horses, and kicked the looking-glasses and broke all the other
furniture. This wife died of a broken heart, and for his second wife
Pierre married a Sark girl, little more than a child.
If Pierre wanted his hedges repaired he simply gave the order to
his little helpers, and the next morning they were done. Pierre’s
daughter--“la petite Betsy”--used to feed the cow at night in the
churchyard, and she was seen returning home at daybreak with the cow,
looking thoroughly well fed. Consequently nobody would buy butter or
milk from him.
When Pierre had nothing else to give his workers to do they used to
forge money, and their hammers could be heard by the passers by.[360]
Old Mrs. Le Messurier, in Sark, also confirmed a great many of these
details in 1896. She said he, Pierre de Carteret, was well known to
be a famous sorcerer. He had pictures of the Devil on his walls, and
little images of Satan were found in his house after his death, and
promptly burnt by the incomers. He could build a boat, alter a loft, or
build a wall in a single night, because he had “des esprits malins” to
help him. He was an excessively bad man and used to smuggle ball and
ammunition to France, to help the French against the English in the
war. The English found him out and came over with bayonets to take him,
but he hid down his well, and could not be found.
Out at St. Pierre-du-Bois they still tell the tale of a Frenchman, who
was a “sorcier,” and in league with the Devil.
One day he entered a farm kitchen, where he found all the young people
playing a game, in which they used a number of doubles, placed in a jam
pot, for counters.
He said “I can turn all those doubles into mice.”
They did not believe him, so he took the pot, shook it, and turned it
upside down on the table. Then he turned to one of the girls standing
by and said “Now, take up that pot.” She did so, and numbers of mice
ran out of it, all over the table, with their tails cocked up!
Of the same man another story is told. One morning he wanted some of
his neighbours to play cards with him, but they said they could not
spare the time, for they must weed their parsnips.
He replied--“If you will come, your parsnips shall be weeded by dinner
time.”
So they played, but one man looked up, and saw through the window
numbers and numbers of little demons weeding very quickly, and by
mid-day the work was done.[361]
Mr. J. Linwood Pitts has also collected two stories bearing on the
subject of the transformation of witches, both of which were related to
him in perfect good faith by reliable witnesses.
Many years ago a Guernsey gentleman went over to Sark. While sitting
on the cliffs above the Havre Gosselin he noticed a flock of birds,
principally wild duck, circling round and round. He fired off his
musket, but did not succeed in hitting any of them, or even, much to
his astonishment, in frightening them away.
He thought there must be something mysterious about them, as wild duck
are generally such shy birds, so he consulted a noted wizard, who told
him that if he loaded his musket with a piece of silver having a cross
on it it would take effect on any transformed witch. So he went over
to Sark again with this silver bullet, and on returning to the Havre
Gosselin again saw the birds. He picked out one, which seemed the
finest of the flock, and apparently their leader. On firing at it he
succeeded in winging it, though it disappeared, and he thought it had
escaped.
That evening, on the return boat to Guernsey, a girl on board, who
used to pay almost daily visits to Sark, and about whom there were
many mysterious reports, appeared with a bad wound in her hand, about
which she would vouchsafe no explanation, but looking very white and
frightened. The man identified her in his own mind as the mysterious
bird, but did not speak about the affair till long after.
[360] From Miss Le Pelley, who wrote it down word for word as it was
said.
[361] Collected by Miss Le Pelley.
THE WITCH OF ALDERNEY.
A very respectable Alderney man used to tell old Mr. Barbenson,
Wesleyan minister, about a noted Alderney witch.
He declared that one night, passing by her cottage, he looked in, and
saw a blue flame blazing up, and the witch dancing in the middle of it,
surrounded by little devils, also dancing.
“But how do you know that they were devils?” Mr. Barbenson
asked:--“Because they were just like the pictures of Apollyon in my old
_Pilgrim’s Progress_” was the reply. Another day, he said that, coming
home from milking, he saw two large black birds revolving over his
head. They both sank, almost at his feet, behind a small furze bush.
Suddenly this woman rose up from behind the same bush, and ran away.
He said the bush was made too small to hide the woman, and that it was
quite impossible that she could have been concealed there. The man
vouched for the truth of these stories.
Mr. Pitts has also kindly allowed me to include the following extract
from an old MS. which was communicated to him by Mr. E. P. Le Feuvre, a
gentleman of Jersey extraction, residing in London, and connected with
some of our Guernsey families.
He also gave me the details of a remarkable local witch story, which
he had found in a curious old MS. in the library of Dr. Witham, of
Gordon Square, London. This MS., which is in two volumes folio, is
entitled ‘_Icones Sacræ Gallicanæ et Anglicanæ_,’ and contains seventy
biographies of ministers and clergymen. Among them is a sketch of the
life of the Rev. Daniel Fautrat, of Guernsey, who was minister of the
Câtel parish; then of Torteval; and who afterwards, in 1633 (in the
reign of Charles I.), succeeded Mr. de la Marche, at St. Peter-Port.
This MS. is by a John Quick (born 1636--died 1706). There were two
Fautrats, Helier and Daniel, father and son, and the biographer
somewhat confuses them.[362] This story of the witch--who was burnt
alive in the Bordage during Daniel Fautrat’s ministry at the Town
Church--is a very curious one, and is a decided acquisition to the
witch-lore of the island. It is as follows:--
THE WITCH AND THE RAVEN.
“After Monsieur [Daniel] Ffautrat had spent some years at Torteval and
St. Andrew’s [Guernsey] he was, upon the death of Monsr. de la Marche,
called to succeed him in ye Pastorall charge of St. Peters Port, [in
1634, in the reign of Charles I.] which is ye Towne of this Island, a
fair Markett Towne and priviledged with ye Sessions of ye whole Island,
where all caisses Civill and Criminall are finally tryed and determined
in ye Playderoye,[363] by ye Bayliffe and Jurates.
“During his ministry in this Towne, and about ye year 1640 [Charles
I.] there happened a most remarkable event. Divines do say that it is
a very rare thing for witches under Gospell Light to repent; and some
have given this reason of their assertion--because they have committed
that unpardonable sin against ye Holy Ghost. I cannot tell, but that
this following story seems to confirm it.
“There was a certain woman of this Island, above four-score years
of age, who had been imprisoned, indicted and found guilty upon
full evidence, of that abominable sin of witchcraft, and for it was
condemned to death. She gave out confidently that she should not dye.
However, she is carried from prison to ye appointed place of Execution
to be burnt alive.
“All the way, as she was going thither, a great Black Raven was seen
hovering, and heard croaking after a dolefull manner over her head,
till she came to ye stake. And now, while they be fastening ye chain,
she begs of one of the Bystanders to give her a clew of thread, which
having received, she fastens one end of it to her girdle, and taking
ye other end, she flings it with her hand up into ye aire. The Raven,
stooping down, catcheth at it with his Beak, and, mounting, carrys with
him ye old witch from ye bottom of ye vale up into ye air. A young man
of that Island, seeing her flying, being on ye top of ye hill, flings
his Halbard so exactly betwixt her and ye raven, that it cuts ye thread
asunder, and ye old witch is taken by him, but with many fearfull
imprecations upon him, she vomityng out whole cartloads of curses
against him.
“However, she is once again carryed down to ye stake, and there
accordingly executed, being burnt to ashes. But this poor officious
wardour, whose name was Gosslin--ye holy wise providence of God so
permitting it--felt a short time after, ye bitter consequences of her
rage and dying curses; for he grew sick of an incurable disease, lying
under most exquisite torments, of which he could never be relieved by
any means or medicines, till having languished some years he was at
last released from his sufferings by death.”
“A girl was very ill, and the doctor did not know what was the matter
with her, and, though he tried many remedies, none succeeded. One day a
friend from the Vale, their native parish, called, and told the girl’s
mother privately that the girl was bewitched, and that it was Mrs. ----
who had done it, but that he could, with certain herbs, boiled in a
particular manner, cause the witch to die, and then the girl would be
well. The herbs were boiled, and a few days afterwards the witch died.
During the funeral the girl jumped joyfully out of bed, quite well.
This occurred within the last twenty years.”
“One day, two boys, well on in their teens were chaffing an old witch,
when suddenly she got very angry, threw dust in the air, and gabbled
some words very quickly. The boys went home and found they were covered
with vermin. They were near neighbours. One of the boys was so angry
that he took his gun and went to the old witch and said, “Now, take
away the vermin, or I shoot you,” and he levelled his gun at her.
They parleyed a little, but the boy was so determined that the witch
suddenly took fright, threw dust in the air, repeated some words, and
the vermin disappeared. The other boy was covered for three days.”[364]
The following story illustrating the widespread belief in these special
powers of witches and wizards was told me by Mrs. Le Patourel, of St.
Martin’s, who was told the story by the heroine, and who vouched for
its authenticity.
Mrs. Le Patourel’s mother-in-law was a Miss Mauger, of Saints, very
handsome and very well-to-do. In fact, she and her sister went to
school in England, which was considered very grand in those days. On
her return from school she, her sister, and a friend, all went together
to one of the country dances then frequently held in the various
parishes. They all “held their heads very high,” dressed very well, and
would only dance with those whom they considered the “best” partners.
They were dressed on this occasion in silk dresses with large white
lace collars and ruffles. At the beginning of the dance, as they were
all sitting in a row together, some man came up and asked each of them
in turn to dance, but they all considered him unworthy of the honour,
and each refused to dance with him. As the last refused he turned on
his heel muttering that they would repent their rudeness. A minute or
two later one of the girls leaned forward and cried to her sister, “Oh,
Marie, what have you got there?” and pointed to an insect crawling
on her lace. Covered with confusion the girl killed it, only to see
swarms more crawling after it. The other two girls then discovered to
their horror that they were likewise covered with swarms of vermin, and
covered with shame and confusion they all had hurriedly to leave the
dance. For three days they all remained in this condition, and then the
vermin disappeared as suddenly as they came.
“The shame of it I can never forget,” Mrs. Le Patourel says was the way
her informant always ended the story. “But,” said Mrs. Le Patourel,
“that is nothing to what people can do who use the bad books.”[365]
She thinks it is the French people who have brought these evil arts to
Guernsey, and in proof of her theory told me this story which happened
to one of her own friends, “who has told it to me many a time.”
A Guernsey farmer living in St. Saviour’s parish had a French
manservant, who slept on the premises. Suspicion being aroused by his
haggard looks he was watched, and seen to leave the house every night
and not come back till the morning. When asked where he had been and
what he had been doing he returned evasive answers. So one night his
master determined to follow him. He tracked him across some fields till
he reached the Catioroc, and there he saw him lie down in the middle of
a field, and then, in a few moments, a clear, bluish flame, like the
flame of a candle, was seen issuing out of his mouth, and wandering
off like a will-o’-the-wisp across the fields. When the astonished
farmer went up to the body he found it lying rigid and lifeless, and
no amount of shaking or calling could make any impression on it. After
some time the flame was seen returning, and settled on the man’s mouth,
and there disappeared, and shortly after the man sat up, looking dazed
and tired, and absolutely declined to answer any of the questions with
which his master greeted him.
On pp. 305 to 351 (ante) are given various trials for witchcraft, which
took place in Guernsey during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries,
but Sir Edgar MacCulloch has not included the following, which I have
found cited in an old MS. book compiled by Eleazar Le Marchant and
Pierre Careye between the years 1728 and 1743.
“Le 26me Juillet 1594, pardevant Louis de Vick, baillif, et Messrs.
Nicholas Martin, sen., Guillaume de Beauvoir, André Henry, Jean Andros,
Jean de Sausmarez, Pierre de Beauvoir, Pierre Careye, William le
Marchant, Nicholas Martin, jun., and François Allez, jurez.
“Marie Martin, alias Salmon, fille Osmond, deubment atteinte et
convaincue d’avoir usé d’Art de Sorcelerie, dont elle a empoisonné,
tourmenté et fait mourir jouxte sa propre et volontaire confession,
Anne Careye[366], fem͠e de John de Vick, la fem͠e de Pierre Vodin,
l’enfant de son oncle, Thomas Breton, l’enfant de John Briart, et deux
enfants à Collas Nouell, et plusieurs bestes et autres maux, par elle
commis par le dit art de Sorcelerie, comme apparoist par les procédures
et enquestes sur ce passées. Est ajugée d’être aujourd’huy brulée
tant que son corps soit reduit en cendres, et ses biens, meubles, et
héritages confisquées à la Majesté de la Royne, et est com͠andé aux
officiers de sa Majesté de voir la ditte execution être faitte, ainsi
qu’ils en voudront répondre: et est après avoir en sur ceu l’advis et
opinion de Henri de Beauvoir et John Effart, jurez.”
There are many other instances, which, did space permit, I could
mention, of belief in witches and wizards, extending even down to
the present day. Animals dying from no visible cause, bread turned
sour and uneatable, wounds mysteriously inflicted and incurable by
physicians, but at once healed by crossing running water, a woman sent
mad by smelling a harmless-looking bouquet of flowers, and so on. Many
involving the names of persons still living. For underneath the veneer
of civilisation and education found in the island are the same old
beliefs and superstitions, as deeply cherished and ingrained as they
were in the days of Queen Elizabeth--“Plus ça change, plus c’est la
même chose.”
In conclusion, I will give a few extracts respecting witchcraft from
Elie Brevint’s note book. Elie Brevint was born in 1586, became
minister of Sark in 1612, and died in 1674.
“Quelques uns tesmoignent avoir veu une nuée se lever d’Erm, et de là
s’en aller sur le dongeon du Chasteau Cornet, où un certain Maugier
depuis bruslé pour sortiléges estoit lors prisonnier, et ladite nuée
s’estre dissipée et esvanouie sur le dit Chasteau, et que les bateaux
pescheurs sur lesquels elle avoit passé avoyent cuide renversés.…”
“Histoire d’un juge, qui ne croyoit point qu’il y eust de sorciers; il
advint qu’il luy mourut soudain plusieurs vaches et brebis. Pourtant
depuis cette perte, laquelle il imputoit à belles personnes, il fist
rigoureuse justice de sorciers.…”
“On dit que quelqu’un va à la graine de Feugère[367] quand par un
livre de magie, ou par quelque autre voye il a communication avec le
Diable, qui luy baille des poudres pour attenter et commettre diverses
meschancetés, comme ouvrir serrures, violer femme et fille, &c., et
faut bailler à ce m͠re pour ces drogues une beste vive, comme chien ou
chat, autrement il poursuit N. pour le faire mourir.”
[362] The following is an abbreviated pedigree of the Fautrat family,
showing what close connections there were between the leading families
in Guernsey and Jersey before the wars of the Commonwealth, when--the
islands taking different sides--was established a feud which has never
properly been healed.
PIERRE FAUTRAT = … LE VAVASSEUR
Took the oath of |
allegiance to the |
King of England |
in Jersey the 19th|
of October, 1545. |
+------------------+
|
Cardin Fautrat = Jenette Coquerel
Settled in | Daughter and heiress
Guernsey. | of Thomas Coquerel of
| Guernsey and Jersey, and of
| Jeanne de Vic, daughter
| of Laurence de Vic
| of Guernsey.
+--------------+--------+--+--+--+-----------+
| | | | | |
Jean = Bertranne Estur Other Children. Hellier =(1) Marthe
Jurat and | Daughter of Rector of | Baudouin
Lieut.-Bailiff| Nicholas Estur St. Martin’s | Daughter
of the Royal | widow of Jersey. | and heiress
Court of | André Monamy. Married first | of the Rev.
Guernsey. | May 6th, 1576, | Nicolas
Married in | secondly | Baudouin
April, 1592. | October 23rd, | first
Buried Feb. | 1623. Died in | Protestant
7th, 1644. | 1652. | Rector of
+------------+-------+--------------------------+--+--+ | St. Peter
| | | | | | Port, and
Jean =(1) Marie de Cardin = Elizabeth Careye Other | of Marie
| Beauvoir. Settled| Daughter of Children | daughter
Ʌ in | Nicholas, | and heiress
|(2) Elizabeth London.| Seigneur of | of the Rev.
| Fondan | Blanchelande | Guillaume
| daughter and | and Marthe | Maurice,
| heiress of | De Soulemont. | Seigneur
| Matthew | | de la
| Fondan, Elizabeth Fautrat | Ripaudière
| Seigneur de = | and first
| Handois, Thomas Simon | Protestant
| Jersey, and of the celebrated | Rector of
| Elizabeth engraver and | St.
| Le Marchant. medallist temp. | Helier’s,
+---+------------+ Charles I. & II. | Jersey.
| | |(2) Susanne
Anne Elizabeth | Romeril,
= = | widow of
William Guillaume | the Rev.
Le Marchant De Beauvoir, | Jean Pinel.
de l’Hyvreuse. du Hommet. +---------------------------+----+--+--+
| | | | |
Issue. O. S. P. Daniel =(1) Elizabeth Martin Other
Rector of | Daughter and heiress Children.
Torteval in | of Nicholas Martin of
1613, and St. | the Bosq and Marie
Peter Port in | Hamelin.
1634. Married |(2) Marie Germain
first, 2nd October, | widow of Pierre Careye.
1612, secondly in |
1636. Died in 1652. |
+--+--+--+
| | | |
Issue.
[363] The Court House used to be situated in the Plaiderie before the
present Court House was built.
“About two centuries ago, public justice was administered in a
building, which, like those still used in many country towns in
England, was both Corn Market and Court House, which by a special
ordinance was to be cleared by noon that the Market might commence; and
after that a Court House was erected near Pollet Street, near a place
called from the circumstance “La Plaiderie.” This, however, was soon
found too small and inconvenient, and the present building was erected
in 1799, at the expense of about £7000, paid by the States, and further
improved in 1822.”--Redstone’s _Guernsey and Jersey Guide_, 2nd Edition
1844, p. 13.
[364] Collected by Miss E. Le Pelley in 1896.
[365] “I have heard of too many instances of this power of giving
vermin being exercised to admit of doubt. The surprising part is the
removal. I have not heard of a case for more than thirty years.”--_Note
by John de Garis, Esq., of Les Rouvêts._
[366] John de Vick, King’s Procureur, son of Richard, married first,
the 15th of March, 1579, Anne Careye, daughter of Nicholas Careye,
Seigneur of Blanchelande, and Collette de la Marche. I do not know
the date of her death, but he married, secondly, December 15th, 1594,
Elizabeth Pageot, and their son, Sir Henry de Vic, Knight, Baronet,
and Chancellor of the Garter, was one of the most distinguished
Guernseymen in our history. He was buried in Westminster Abbey the 24th
of November, 1672.
[367] Graine de Feugère (fougère) = Fern seed.
APPENDIX C. Charms and Spells.
Referred to on page 421.
A very old lady remembers, when a child, seeing some small bits of
stick, shaped like slate-pencils, which old women wore sewn up in their
stays as charms against witchcraft, on the homœopathic principle, for
they called them “_Des Bouais de Helier Mouton_,” Helier Mouton being
himself a noted sorcerer.
When I mentioned this to Sir Edgar he told me that a hundred years ago
a man named Colin Haussin was put in the stocks for witchcraft and
using “_des petits bouais_.”
The following charms, etc., were collected for me in 1896-7, as still
current in the parish of St. Pierre-du-Bois, by Miss E. Le Pelley.
ST. THOMAS’ DAY.
If a girl wishes to know whom she will marry, on the eve of St. Thomas’
Day she puts her shoes in the form of a T under her bed, and says, in
getting in:--
_“Saint Thomas, Saint Thomas,_
_Le plus court, le plus bas,_
_Fais moi voir en m’endormant_
_Celui qui sera mon amant,_
_Et le pays, et la contrée._
_Où il fait sa demeurée,_
_Et le métier qu’il sait faire._
_Devant moi qu’il vienne faire._
_Qu’il soit beau ou qu’il soit laid_
_Tel qu’il sera je l’aimerai._
_Saint Thomas, fait moi la grâce_
_Que je le voie, que je l’embrasse.”_
_“Ainsi soit il.”_
MIDSUMMER EVE.
A girl makes a dumb cake and puts it on a gridiron over the fire, and
watches it in silence between twelve and one o’clock at night, during
which time the girl’s future husband arrives and turns the cake. The
narrator tried this, and when the cake was cooked on one side she heard
someone walking clumsily upstairs. She was so frightened that she threw
the cake away and got into her mother’s bed and held tight on to her!
Years afterwards she married and often recognised her husband’s step
as the one she heard that Midsummer Eve. She very much repented having
done it, for she said it gives the poor man so much suffering being
under the charm.
Another charm for Midsummer Eve is this:--If a girl wishes to know the
profession of her future husband she must melt some lead in an iron
spoon between twelve and one o’clock at night, and pour it in a tumbler
of cold water, and then watch the shapes it takes, such as a sword
would denote that he would be a soldier, an anchor a sailor, etc., etc.
Should she wish to know whether she is to be married or not, she must
kill two pigeons, take out their hearts and roast them on skewers, also
between twelve and one o’clock. If she is to be married she will see
her intended, if she is not to be, some men will bring in a coffin.
There must be perfect silence the whole time. It once happened that, as
a girl was doing it, a coffin appeared. She screamed aloud, and the men
came up to her and began to put her in the coffin. But fortunately for
her she fainted, and was quiet, and the men with the coffin could go
away as they came.
Another charm against witchcraft is “_vif argent_” or quicksilver, but
camphor, white salt, or heather, are all good. The charm must be put
in a small cotton or linen bag, two inches long by one and a half inch
wide, and attached by a ribbon round the neck, so that the charm rests
above the heart. Red salt is used by witches in their incantations.
The following written charm was lent me to copy by Mr. Guille, one
of the founders of the Guille-Allès Library. It is in the form of a
letter, and he told me, when he was a boy, a copy existed in almost all
the old Guernsey farm houses.[368] I have transcribed it verbatim, with
all its faults of spelling, punctuation, etc.
L’ETTRE MIRACULEUSE.
“Trouvé depuis peut par un Etudians au pied d’un Crusifix Miraculeux de
la Ville d’Arrase Ecritte en Lettres d’Or de la propre main de notre
Sauveur et Redempteur Jesus Christ.
JESUS--MARIE.
Les Dimanches vous ne ferez aucune œuvre n’y travail sur peine d’être
maudits de Moy. Vous yrez à l’Eglise et priez Dieu qu’il vous fasse
Misericorde et qu’il vous pardonne vos pêchés. Je vous ai donné six
jours de la semaine pour travaille, et au septième me servir et vous
Reposer ayant entendu le Service divin. Vous ferez la charité et vous
donnerez de vos biens aux pauvres et vos champs seront fertille et
vous serez remplis de Benediction. Au contraire si vous ne croyez à
la presente l’Ettre Malediction viendra sur vous et sur vos Enfants,
et vos Bestiaux seront maudits, je vous envoierez Guerre, Peste, et
Famine et Douleur, et l’Angoisse de Cœur, et pour Marque de ma juste
colère et dure Vengeance vous voirez signes prodigieux dans les Astres
et Elements avec grands tremblements de Terre. Vous jeunerez cinq
Vendredis en l’honneur des Cinq Plaies qui iai souffert pour vous
sauver sur l’Arbre de la Croix. Vous donnerez cette l’Ettre sans aucun
interêt que celuy de ma Gloire. Ceux qui murmuront sur cette L’Ettre
seront aussy maudits et confis; qui la tiendra dans la maison sans la
publier sera aussy maudits au Jour Terrible Epouvantable du Jugement.
Mais s’y vous gardez mes comandements et pareillement ceux de ma Sainte
Eglise faisant une veritable penitence vous aurez la Vie Eternelle.
Celuy qui la lira ou publiera ycelle est écrite de Ma Sacré Main et
dictes de Ma Sacrée Bouche. S’il a com͠is autant de Pêchés qu’il y a de
Jours en l’an ils luy seront Pardonnés étant veritablement constrit,
se confaisant, et satisfaisant au prochain. Sy on luy a fait tort. Sy
vous ne croyez Pieusement en Ycelle Lettre je vous envoirez des Bestes
Monstreuses qui dèvoreront vous et votres Enfants. Bienheureux sera
celuy qui prendra une copie de cette L’Ettre, qui la portera sur Soi,
qui la lira, ou fera lire ou la gardera en sa Maison. Jamais aucun Feu
Malin, on autre feu ni foudre ne la touchera. Et toutes Feme enceinte
qui sur Elle qui la lira ou fera lire en Bonne intention etant en
Travail d’Enfans sera incontinent heureusement délivré. Gardez mes
comandements et ceux de Ma Sainte Église Catolique, et vous serez bien
heureux.
Avec Aprobation et Permission de Superieur de la Ville d’Arrase.
Nous Vicaire Generale certifions avoir lut la presente Copie et nous
n’avons rien vus qu’il ne soit Utile et Capable de faire réussir le
Pêcheur dans la Voie du Salut.”
“À NICHOLAS GUILLE.”
I will conclude by giving an instance of “Folk Medicine” which was sent
me the other day by one of the most prominent of our local physicians.
“As you are interested in Guernsey Folk-Lore I send you the following:--
A patient of mine at St. Pierre-du-Bois suffered from an affection of
the brain which has led to total loss of sight. It was supposed by the
wise people around her that she was suffering from “Mal Volant,” so a
black fowl was waved three times round her head on three successive
days, to the accompaniment of a prayer (? incantation). On the ninth
day the fowl ought to have died and the woman recovered.--As this did
not happen they concluded that their diagnosis was wrong!
E. LAURIE ROBINSON
Melrose, Guernsey, December 11th, 1902.”
[368] In reading this proof Mr. de Garis notes that in his young days
he had sometimes heard of a “Lettre d’Or” but had never seen the
contents.
Index.
The sign (_a_) signifies that the reference may be found in the
Editor’s Appendix; (_n_) that it refers to an Editor’s Footnote.
Adams Chapel, 270
Aerial Journey, 336
Agricultural Sayings, 535
Air, National, of Guernsey (_a_), 575
A la Claire Fontaine (_a_), 565
Alarm of Pulias, 473
Albert, Grand et Petit (_n_), 341-345
Alderney, How the Men Sowed and what came of it, 428;
Witch of (_n_), 601
Alien Priories, 165
Andriou, 143
Ane, Chevaucherie d’ (_n_), 102
Animal Transformation, 361
Anne, Ste., 187
Appendix (_a_), 547
Apolline, Ste., 178, 181
April, First of, 47
Aquatic Customs, 59
Archbishop Mauger, 444
Armée d’Espagne (_a_), 558
August, 55
Autel de Dehus, 120;
des Vardes, 112
Bakers, Fairy, 214
Baguette Divinatoire, 416
Ballad of Ivon de Galles, 450, 551 (_a_)
Baptism and Birth, 97
Barboue, 233
Barking, to prevent a Dog, 397
Bees put in mourning, 420
Belengier, Faeu, 226
Belfroi, 176
Belle Lizabeau (_n_), 147;
Rose au Rosier Blanc (_a_), 563
Beilleuse, Fontaine de la (_n_), 192
Bête, Rue de la, 235;
de la Tour, 235;
de la Pendue, 248
Betrothals and Weddings, 99
Biche, Coin de la (_n_), 255
Birth and Baptism, 97
Bimerlue, Grand (_n_), 202
Biting, to prevent a Dog, 397
Bladebone, 380
Blanchelande, 187
Bleeding, to stop, 395
Bôdet, Chasse à, 237
Bœuf, Pied de, 153
Books, Magic, 340-350
Bonamy Family (_n_), 155, (_a_) 590
Bonhomme Andrelot, 143
Breton, Jean, 477
Brian and Cadwalla, 441
Brioc, St., 151, 166
Briser la Hanse, 77
Broken Kettle, 210
Building of the Castel Church, 220
Burial of the Drowned, 283
Burn, to cure a, 395
Caches, Les (_n_), 589
Cadwalla and Brian, 441
Careye, Mons. Nicholas, 526, 528
Casquet, 381
Castel Church, Building of, 220;
Old Figure at, 129
Cat, Pel de, 201
Cat and the Fox, 437
Catel, Cotillon de Raché, 437
Catherine, Ste., 176
Catte, Mahy de la, 367
Catillon, 151
Catiorioc, (Trepied), 121
Caûbo, Witch of, 350
Celts, 403
Ceremonial Customs, 59
Chaire de St. Bonit, 148
Changeling, 219, 225
Chapel or Chapelle.
Adams, 270;
Ste. Apolline, 178;
Dom Hue, 182;
Epine, 183;
Frères, 175;
Lorette, 177;
On the site of St. Martin’s Parish School (_n_), 197;
Lihou, 151, 166, 171, 173, 343;
Pulias, 181;
St. Clair, 186;
St. Germain, 187;
St. Jean de la Houguette, 187;
St. Malière or St. Magloire, 185;
Sepulcre, 176;
Ydolle de St. Jacques, 177
Charms, Spells, and Incantations, 387
Chasse à Bôdet, 237
Chevaucherie d’Ane (_n_), 102
Chevauchée de St. Michel, 59
Chien, Creux du, 225;
Bôdu, 237
Children’s Games, 484
Chimquière, Gran’mère du (_n_), 134
Christmas and New Year, 33
Cimetières des Frères et des Sœurs, 175
Civic Customs, 59
Clair, St., 186
Clameur de Haro (_a_), 576
Claw, Devil’s, 157
Coin de la Biche (_n_), 255
Colin, Grand et Petit, 214
Colliche, Pont, 160
Consequences of a Love Spell, 412
Convent of Cordeliers, 174
Cotillon de Raché Catel, 437
Coq Chante, Roque où le, 149
Counter Charm for Witchcraft, 403
“Counting Out” Rhymes, 485
Countrywoman and the Witch, 338
Cradle Songs, 494
Creux, du chien, 225;
des Fâïes, 123;
des Fées, 137;
Mahié, 138
Cromlechs, 110
Cromlech at L’Ancresse (_n_), 134
Customs, Aquatic, 58;
Civic, 59, 89;
Ceremonial, 89-106;
Festival, 19-58
Cuckoo Rhymes, 504
Cure of Burns, 395;
Erysipelas, 402;
Vives or Gripes in a Horse, 396;
Warts and Wens, 400
Dame au Voile, 372
Dame, Notre, de Lihou, 171;
de Marais, 166;
de la Perrelle, 179
Damèque, Seigneur de (_a_), 585
Dancing Rhymes, 496
Deaths and Funerals, 103
De Garis Pedigree (_n_), 522
Déhus, Autel de, 120
Délaissance, 432
De la Rue, Collas, 312
Demons and Goblins, 226
Demon and Duke Richard, 443
Désorceleur, Désorcelleresse, 300
Devil, The, 148, 154, 157, 159, 257;
Recent Appearance of, 269;
and the Tailor, 266
Devil’s Claw, 157
Diable, Pont du, 158
Divining Rod, 414
Dix Paroisses, Filles des (_n_), 508
Dog, to prevent from Barking or Biting, 397
Dole of Loaves at Le Laurier, 249
Dom Hue, 182
Drowned, Burial of the, 283
Duck and the Miller, 365
Duke Richard and the Demon, 443
Easter, 46
Echelle, 245
Editor’s Appendix (_a_), 546
Eeling, Sand, 85
Enchanted Horse, 252
Enchantments, to avert, 394
Epine, Chapelle de l’, 183
Erysipelas, Cure of, 402
Espagne, Armée d’ (_a_), 558
Family, Bonamy (_n_), 155, (_a_) 590;
de Garis (_n_), 522;
Fautrart (_n_), 602;
Henry (_n_), 179
Faeu Belengier, 226
Fâïes, Palette ès, 124;
Creux des, 137;
Tombé du Rouai des, 200
Fairy Bakers, 214;
Neighbours, 211
Fairies, 123-129, 198-225;
and the Midwife, 209;
and the Nurse, 207;
Invasion of Guernsey by the, 204
Falla, Jean, and the Witches, 376
Farm Servant and the Weeds, 438
Fautrart Family (_n_), 602
Festival Customs, 19
Filles des Dix Paroisses (_n_), 508
Figures, Old, at St. Martin’s and the Castel, 129
Fingers, Names of, 488
Fire, to stop a, 395
First of April, 47;
Sunday in Lent, 44
Fishbone in the Throat, to Remove, 397
Flleur de Jaon, 286
Flouncing, 99
Folk Medicine and Leech Craft, 422
Fontaine de la Beilleuse (_n_), 192;
A la Claire (_a_), 565;
des Corbins, 191;
Fleurie, 191;
Gounebec, 191;
Lesset, 191;
Mal de la, 190;
des Navets (_n_), 192;
St. George, 190, 193, 197;
St. Germain, 187;
St. Martin, 191;
Vaulaurent, 191
Footprints on Stone, 151
Fortune Telling, 385
Fouaille, Lit de, 51
Fox and the Cat, 437
Frères, Cimetière and Chapelle des, 175;
Pies, 355
Friday, Good, 45
Friquet du Gibet, 245
Funerals and Deaths, 103
Galles, Yvon de, 450, 551 (_a_)
Game, to prevent a Sportsman killing, 396
Galères, 245
Gallows, Jersey, 430
Games, Children’s, 484
Garce, Grand’, 284
Gaultier de la Salle (_a_), 237-247
George, St., 166, 192, 194, 197
Germain, St., 187
Ghosts, 275, 281;
of La Petite Porte (_a_), 581
Ghost of Mr. Blondel (_a_), 578
Gibet, des Fâïes, 128, (_n_), 222;
Friquet du, 245
Glaneur (_a_), 570
Goblins and Demons, 226
Good Friday, 45
Grand Albert (_n_), 341-345;
Bimerlue (_n_), 202;
Colin, 214;
Sarrazin, 119
Grand’ Garce, 284;
Querrue, 40
Gran’mère du Chimquière (_n_), 134
Grentmaisons, Spectre of, 247
Gripes in a Horse, to cure, 396
Guernseyman Three Centuries Ago, 23
Guernsey National Air (_a_), 575;
Songs and Ballads (_a_), 549;
Lily, 221
Hanse, Briser la, 77
Haro, Clameur de (_a_), 576
Hélène, Ste., 187
Henry Pedigree (_n_), 179
Herodias, 232
Hidden Treasures, 228
Historical Reminiscences, 441
Hoc, 332
Holy Chapels, 165;
Island, 62;
Wells, 188
Horse, Enchanted, 252;
with vives or gripes, to cure, 396
How the Jerseymen attempted to carry off Guernsey, 429
How the men of Alderney sowed, and what came of it, 428
Incantations, 387
Inscribed Stone, 151
Invasion of Guernsey by the Fairies (_n_), 204
Jacques, St., 176
Jaon, Flleur de, 286
Jean Breton, 477
Jean Falla and the Witches, 376
Jean, Gros Jean (_a_), 574
Jean, St., 187
Jersey Gallows, 430
Jerseymen’s Attempt to carry off Guernsey, 429
Jonquière, 51
Journey, Aerial, 336
Julien, St., 169
Kettle, Broken, 210
King’s Evil, 425
La Moye Estate, Stone on (_n_), 121
L’Ancresse, Cromlech at (_n_), 134
Laurier, Dole of Loaves at Le, 249;
Mon Beau, 496
Legend of St. George’s Well, 194;
of the Ville au Roi, 237
Leech Craft, 422
Le Marchant Family (_n_), 522
Le Tocq, Jean, 459, 525, 552
Lent, First Sunday in, 44
L’Ettre Miraculeuse (_a_), 610
Lihou, Chapel of, 146, 166;
Notre Dame de, 171-173;
Priory at, 342;
Lady of, 151
Lily, Guernsey, 221
Lit de Fouâille, 51
Lizabeau, Belle (_n_), 147
Loaves, Dole of, at Le Laurier, 249
Local Customs, Aquatic, Civic, 59-89;
Ceremonial, 89-106;
Festival, 19-58
Local Nick-Names, 506-7
Longue Roque, 124;
Veille, 30
Lorette, Chapelle de la, 177
Lorreur, Le (_a_), 553
Lovers’ Leap, 161
Love Spells, 406;
Consequences of, 412
Love, to cause a Person to, 395
Madeleine, La, 187
Magic Books, 340-350
Magloire, St., 185
Mahié, Creux, 138
Mahy de la Catte, 367
Martin, St., 129
Maidens at St. George’s Well, 195
Mangi, Roque, 147
Man in the Moon (_n_), 506;
who was Bewitched, 373
Marguerite s’est assise (_a_), 568
Marais, Notre Dame des, 166
Mares, Our Lady, 166
Marie Pipet (_a_), 596
Marie, Ste., 179
Maritime Sayings, 538
Mauger, Archbishop, 444
Medicine, Folk, 422
Mermaids, 223
Meunière (_a_), 569
Michel, St., 59, 160
Midsummer, 50;
in Jersey, 54;
in Sark, 53;
Eve (_a_), 609
Midwife and the Fairies, 209
Miller and the Duck, 365
Miraculeuse, L’Ettre (_a_), 610
Mon Beau Laurier, 496
Moon, Man in the (_n_), 506
Moulin de l’Echelle, 245
Mourains, 288
Mourioche (_n_), 252
Moye Estate, Stone on La (_n_), 129
Names of the Fingers, 488
National Air of Guernsey (_a_), 575
Natural Objects and their Superstitions, 137
Neighbours, Fairy, 211
New Year and Christmas, 93
Nick-Names, 506-7
Navets, Fontaine des (_n_), 192
Notre Dame de Lihou, 171;
des Marais, 166;
de la Perrelle, 179;
de la Roche (_n_), 147
Nursery Rhymes and Children’s Games, 484
Nurse and the Fairies, 207
Old Figures in the Churchyards of St. Martin’s and the Castel, 129
Old House at St. George (_a_), 580
Ormering, 84
Our Lady Mares, 166
Palette ès Fâïes, 124
Parish Nick-Names, 507
Paroisses, Filles des Dix (_n_), 508
Patris Family (_n_), 155, 590
Peace, to make, 395
Pedigrees, De Garis (_n_), 522;
Fautrat (_n_), 602;
Henry (_n_), 179
Pel de Cat, 201
Pendue, Bête de la, 248
Perrelle, Notre Dame de la, 179
Petit Albert (_n_), 341, 315;
Bonhomme Andrelot, 143;
Colin, 213
Pied de Bœuf, 153
Pies, Frères, 355
Pipet, Marie (_a_), 596
Piscatory and Maritime Sayings, 538
Play, to win at, 395
Poems, Secular (_n_), 563
Pont Colliche, 160;
du Diable, 158;
St. Michel, 160
Poor Box, Robber of the, 282
Popular Notions about Fairies, 198;
Sayings, 521
Poulain de St. George, 192
Pouquelaie, 110
Prehistoric Monuments and their Superstitions, 109
Preservative against Spells, 394
Prior, Priory, alien, 165;
of Lihou, 341, 343;
of St. Michel du Valle, 171
Prophetic Warnings and Ghosts, 275
Proverbial stories, 432;
Sayings, 529
Proverbs, Weather Sayings, etc., 509
Pulias, 181;
Alarm of, 473
Querrue, Grand’, 40
Quick-Silver a Protection against Witchcraft, 397
Qui Veut Ouïr (_a_), 566
Raché Catel, Cotillon de, 437
Raté, Le, 436
Raven and the Witch (_a_) 602
Recapture of Sark, 466
Recent Appearance of the Devil, 269
Reminiscences, Historical, 441
Rhymes, “Counting Out,” 485;
Nursery, 484;
Dancing, 496;
Cuckoo, 504
Richard, Duke, and the Demon, 443
Robber of the Poor Box, 282
Roche, Notre Dame de la (_n_), 147
Rocks and Stones, 143
Rod, Divining, 414
Roland, Mons., 526
Roque, Balan, 113;
Longue, 124;
des Fâïes, 127;
où le Coq Chante, 149, 214;
qui Sonne, 114;
Màngi, 147;
Rouai des Fâïes, Tombeau du, 200
Roussé, Collas, 361
Rue de la Bête (_n_), 235
Sabbath (Witches’), 295
Salle, Gaultier de la (_n_), 246
Sanbule, 249
Sand Eeling, 85
Saint, or Sainte.--Anne, 187;
Appolline, 179;
Bonit, Chaire de, 148;
Brioc, Chapel of, 166;
Lady of, 151;
Catherine, 176;
Clair, 186;
George, Chapel of, 166;
Well of, 194;
Poulain de, 192;
Germain, 187;
Hélène, 187;
Jacques, Chapel of, 176;
Julien, Hospice and Chapel of, 169;
Jean de la Houguette, 187;
Marie de la Perrelle, 179;
Michel, Chevauchée de, 59;
Pont, 160;
Malière or Magloire, 185;
Martin’s Churchyard, Old Figure of, 129;
Thomas’ Day (_n_), 608
Sark, Recapture of, 466;
Fisherman and the Devil (_n_), 274;
Games, 500;
Wizard of (_a_), 598
Sarrazin, Tombeau du Grand, 119;
Château du Grand, 118
Satan, Outwitted, 258;
and the Schoolmaster, 260-263.
Sayings, Agricultural, 535;
Piscatory and Maritime, 538;
Popular, 521;
Proverbial, 529;
Various, 539;
Weather, 509
Secular Poems (_n_), 563
Seigneur de Damèque (_n_), 585;
of St. George and the Désorcelleur, 405
September, 56
Sepulcre, Chapelle du, 176
Shrove Tuesday, 43
Sick Princess and the Wizard, 357
Si j’avais le Chapeau (_a_), 571
Sœurs, Cimetière des, 175
Songs, Cradle, 494, and Ballads (_a_), 549
Sorcerers, 287-393
Spectre of Les Grentmaisons, 247
Spectral Appearances, 234;
Cortège, 252
Spells, 387, 390, 394, 406, 412
Stone on La Moye Estate (_n_), 129;
Footprints on, 151;
Inscribed, 150
Stones and Rocks, 143
Story Telling, 427
Sundays, in Lent, 44;
in May, 47
Superstitions, Natural Objects, 137;
Prehistoric Monuments, 109;
Generally, 501
Superstitious Belief and Practice, 107
Tambours, Trois (_a_), 570
Tchi-co, la Bête de la Tour, 235
Throat, to remove a Fishbone from, 397
Thomas, St. (_n_), 409
Tombeau du Grand Sarrazin, 119
Tombé du Rouai des Fâïes, 200
Torteval Church, 197
Torture, 325
Tour, Bête de la, 235
To Cure a Burn, 395;
Stop Bleeding, 395;
Make Peace, 395;
Stop a Fire, 395;
Cause a Person to Love You, 395;
Cause a Sorcerer to show himself, 393;
Win at Play, 395;
Avert Spells and Enchantments, 394;
Remove a Spell, 390;
Prevent a Dog from Barking or Biting, 397;
Remove a Fish Bone from the Throat, 397;
Cure a Horse that has Vives or Gripes, 396;
Prevent a Sportsman from killing Game, 396
Transformation of Animals, 361
Transformed Wizard, 370
Treasures, Hidden, 228
Trepied, or the Catioroc, 121
Trials for Witchcraft, and Confessions of Witches, 306, 606 (_a_)
Trois Tambours (_a_), 570
Tuesday, Shrove, 43
Two Witches and two Cats (_a_), 370
Various Sayings, 539
Varou, 231
Veille, Longue, 30
Venez, Peuple Fidèle (_a_), 573
Ville au Roi, 237;
ès Pies, 355
Vives in a Horse, to cure, 396
Voile, Dame au, 372
Vraicing, 78
Warnings and Ghosts, 275
Warts, Cure of, 400
Weather Proverbs (_n_), 545;
Sayings, 509
Weddings and Betrothals, 99
Weeds and the Farm Servant, 438
Wells, Holy, and Chapels, 165
Wens, Cure of, 400
Witch and the Raven (_n_), 602;
of Alderney (_n_), 601;
in Disguise, 360;
of the Ville-ès-Pies, 355;
of Caûbo, 350;
Foresight, 382;
and the White Thorn, 413;
Sabbath, 295;
and two Cats (_a_), 370
Witchcraft, 289;
Counter charm for, 403;
Quicksilver, a Protection against, 397;
Sabbath, 295, (_a_) 596
When it Snows, 492
White Witch, 300
Whitsuntide, 48
Win at Play, to, 395
Wizards and Witches, 331;
Death, 347;
on the West Coast, 346;
Transformed, 370;
and the Sick Princess, 357;
of Sark (_a_), 598
Yvon de Galles, 450, 551 (_a_)
Ydolle de St. Jacques, 177
PRINTED IN GUERNSEY, BY FREDERICK CLARKE, STATES ARCADE.