Béarn and the Pyrenees - A Legendary Tour to the Country of Henri Quatre

Louisa Stuart Costello

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• Publié par: thoev
• Publié le: 08 décembre 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 19
• Langue: English

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Béarn and the Pyrenees, by Louisa
Stuart Costello
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Title: Béarn and the Pyrenees
A Legendary Tour to the Country of Henri Quatre
Author: Louisa Stuart Costello
Release Date: December 16, 2006 [eBook #20124]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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BÉARN
AND
THE PYRENEES:
A LEGENDARY TOUR
TO THE
COUNTRY OF HENRI QUATRE.

BY
LOUISA STUART COSTELLO,
AUTHOR OF
"the bocages and the vines," "a pilgrimage to auvergne," etc.

With numerous Illustrations.
IN TWO VOLUMES.



LONDON:
RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET,
Publisher in Ordinary to Her Majesty.
1844.
PRINTED BY R. CLAY, BREAD STREET HILL.
TO
MISS BURDETT COUTTS,
THESE VOLUMESARE DEDICATED WITH MUCH RESPECT AND AFFECTION
BY
HER SINCERELY OBLIGED
HUMBLE SERVANT,
LOUISA STUART COSTELLO.
London,
March 16, 1844.
INTRODUCTION.
When I first indulged the inclination, which I had long entertained, of
visiting the famous castle of Chinon, and the equally interesting abbey of
Fontevraud—the palace and tomb of our English kings—and paused on my
way in "the lovely vales of Vire," and gathered in romantic Brittany some of
her pathetic legends, I thought I should have satisfied my longing to explore
France; but I found that every step I look in that teeming region opened to
me new stores of interest; and, encouraged by the pleasure my descriptions
had given, I set out again, following another route, to the regal city of
Rheims, visiting the vine-covered plains of Champagne and Burgundy, and
all their curious historical towns, till I reached the dominion of Charles the
Seventh at Bourges, to become acquainted with whose gorgeous cathedral
and antique palaces is worth any fatigue. From thence I wandered on to the
beautiful Monts Dores, and the basaltic regions of unexplored Le Vellay;
and, after infinite gratification, I once more turned my steps homeward; but,
like Sindbad, I felt that there was much more yet to be explored; and I had
visions of the romantic and delightful realms, which extend where once the
haughty heiress of Aquitaine held her poetical courts of Love and Chivalry.
The battle-fields of our Black Prince were yet to be traced; the sites of all
the legends and adventures of the most entertaining of chroniclers, Froissart,
were yet to be discovered; and the land of mountains and torrents, where the
Great Béarnais passed his hardy childhood, was yet unknown to me.
I therefore again assumed my "cockle hat and staff," and, re-entering the
Norman territory, commenced exploring, from the stone bed of the
Conqueror, at Falaise, to the tortoise-shell cradle of Henry of Navarre, atPau.
Not inferior to my two former pilgrimages, in interest, did this my third
ramble prove. How many "old romantic towns" I passed through; how much
of varied lore I heard and found amongst the still original and, even now,
unsophisticated peasantry; how numerous were the recollections which
places and things recalled, and how pleasant were the scenes I met, I have
endeavoured to tell the lovers of easy adventure—for any traveller, with the
slightest enterprise, could accomplish what I have done without fatigue, and
with the certainty of being repaid for the exertion of seeking for amusement.
In succession, I paused at Le Mans, the scene of the great Vendéean
struggle, where the majestic cathedral challenges the admiration of all
travellers of taste; at Poitiers, full of antique wonders; in the region of the
Serpent lady, Melusine; at Protestant La Rochelle, with all its battlements
and turrets, and the most beautiful bathing-establishment in Europe. At
mysterious Saintes, and all its pagan temples and arches; at Bordeaux, the
magnificent; on the Garonne, and by its robbers'-castles; at Agen, with its
barber troubadour; in the haunts of Gaston de Foix and Jeanne d'Albret and
her son; in the gloomy valleys of the proscribed Cagot; and where the
mellifluous accents of the Basquaise enchant the ear. All the impressions
made by these scenes I have endeavoured to convey to my readers, as I did
before, inviting them to follow my footsteps, and judge if I have told them
true.
CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME.
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER I.
Honfleur—Dejazet—The Sailor Prince—Le Mari—Lisieux—La Croix
Blanche—Arrival at Falaise—Guibray—Castle of Falaise—The little Recess
—Arlette—The Father—The Infant Hero—The Uncle—Arlette's Tears—
Her Reception.
CHAPTER II.
Prince Arthur—Want of Gallantry Punished—The Recreant Sow—The
Rocks of Noron—La Grande Eperonnière—Le Camp-ferme—Antiquities of
Falaise—Alençon—Norman Caps—Geese—Le Mans—Tomb of Bérangère
—Cathedral—Ancient Remains—Streets—The Veiled Figure.
CHAPTER III.Tomb of Bérangère—Wives of Cœur de Lion—Tombs—Abbey Churches
—Château of Le Mans—De Craon—The Spectre of Le Mans—The
Vendéeans—Madame de la Roche-Jaquelin—A Woman's Perils—Disasters
of the Vendéeans—Henri—Chouans.
CHAPTER IV.
The Museum of Le Mans—Venus—Mummy—Geoffrey-le-Bel—His
Costume—Matilda—Scarron—Hélie de la Flèche—Rufus—The White
Knight.
CHAPTER V.
Lude—Saumur Revisited—The Garden—La Petite Voisine—The Retired
Militaire—Les Pierres Couvertes—Les Petites Pierres—Loudun—Urbain
Grandier—Richelieu—The Nuns—The Victim—The Fly—The Malle Poste
—The Dislodged Serpents.
CHAPTER VI.
Poitiers—Battles—The Armies—King John of France—The Young
Warrior—Hôtel des Vreux—Amphitheatre—Blossac—The Great Stone—
The Scholars—Museum—The Demon's Stone—Grande Gueule.
CHAPTER VII.
Notre Dame—The Keys—The Miracle—Procession—St. Radegonde—
Tomb of the Saint—Foot-print—Little Loubette—The Count Outwitted—
The Cordelier—Late Justice—The Templars.
CHAPTER VIII.
Château de la Fée—King René—The Miniatures—The Post-Office
Functionary—Originality—The English Bank-note—St. Porchaire—The
Dead Child—Montierneuf—Guillaume Guy Geoffroy—Thomas à Becket—
Choir of Angels—Relics—The Armed Hermit—A Saint—The Repudiated
Queen—Elionore—The Bold Priest—Lay.
CHAPTER IX.
Melusine—Lusignan—Trou de la Fée—The Legend—Male Curiosity—
The Discovery—The Fairy's Shrieks—The Chronicler—Geoffrey of the
Great Tooth—Jaques Cœur—Royal Gratitude—Enemies—Jean du Village
—Wedding—The Bride—The Tragedy of Mauprier—The Garden—The
Shepherdess—The Walnut-Gatherers—La Gâtine—St. Maixant—Niort—
Madame de Maintenon—Enormous Caps—Chamois Leather—Duguesclin
—The Dame de Plainmartin—The Sea.CHAPTER X.
La Rochelle—Les Trois Chandeliers—Oysters—Bathing Establishment—
Gaiety—Military Discipline—Curious Arcades—Story of Auffrédy.
CHAPTER XI.
Towers—Religion—Maria Belandelle—Storm—Protestant Retreat—
Solemn Dinners—"Half-and-half"—Go to sleep!—The Brewery—Gas
Establishment—Château of La Font—The Mystery explained—Triumph of
Scenery over Appetite—Slave Trade—Charles le Bien Servi—Liberality of
Louis-Philippe—Guiton—House of Le Maire Guiton—The Fleets—The
Fight—The Mayor and the Governor.
CHAPTER XII.
Rochefort—The Curious Bonne—Americanisms—Convicts—The
Charente—"Tulipes"—Taillebourg—Henry the Third—St. Louis—False
Security—Romegoux—Puytaillé
CHAPTER XIII.
Saintes—Roman Arch of Triumph—Gothic Bridge—The Cours—Ruined
City—Cathedral—Coligny—Ruined Palace—St. Eutrope—Amphitheatre—
Legend of Ste. Eustelle—The Prince of Babylon—Fête—The Côteau—Ste.
Marie
CHAPTER XIV.
Frère Chrétien—Utility of Custom-house Searc