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fish, and strong tea or coffee. At noon the cattle are unharnessed
and put to feed, and then comes the dinner of cabbage-soup, a
large boiled ham or “pâlette,” a breast-piece of pork, and perhaps a
round of beef. At two o’clock work is resumed, with a stoppage at
four for a “mi-relevée” of tea and currant cake, and occasional
intervals for “une petite goutte;” for it is well known that “i’faut
prendre une petite goutte pour arrousaï, ou bien j’n’airons pâs
d’pânais,”—“one must take a sip to moisten the field, or there will be
no parsnips.” The day closes with a substantial supper, more beef,
more ham, enormous plum-puddings, baked, not boiled, in the old
ovens, (“grosses houichepotes”) with plenty of cider.
To this feast it is customary to invite the members of the
respective families who have not taken part in the labours of the
day, and the richer farmers send presents of pudding to their poorer
neighbours who are not invited to share in the work. Friends and
relations who reside at a distance, or in town, also join the
gathering, and the best part of the night is spent in singing, dancing,
story-telling, blind man’s buff, or the ancient roundelay of “mon beau
laurier.”[16]

[16] Editor’s Note.—One curious custom at the supper or

“défrique” was that the men had their meal first, and not till they
had finished did the women sit down to have theirs.

Shrove Tuesday.

Shrove Tuesday is observed in the usual way, by a general frying

and eating of pancakes, and the custom must be old, and one of the
superstitious practices which the zeal of the Presbyterian clergy
failed in eradicating; for, had it been re-introduced from England, it
is not likely that it would have become so universal, or have taken so
strong a hold on the minds of the people.

The First Sunday in Lent.

 In the neighbouring island of Alderney, the first Sunday in Lent is
known as “Le Dimanche des Brandons”—a name by which it is
designated in old calendars, and which it still bears in some parts of
France.[17] According to the late Mr. John Ozanne (de la Salerie), a
native of Alderney, it was also known as “le jour des vitres,” this last
word having, as he said, in the dialect of Alderney, the meaning of
masks. This gives rise to the supposition that in days gone by
masking formed part of the entertainment. On this day the young
people made bonfires and danced round them, especially at “La
Pointe de Clanque.” This dance was supposed to have had a
bacchanalian origin, but was practised up to fifty years ago; they
revolved round these bonfires, and leapt over them, and then,
lighting wisps of straw, returned to the town by the fields, throwing
about these torches, to the great danger of the thatched roofs.

[17] Editor’s Notes.—That these customs were also kept up in

Guernsey is evident from the following extract from the
manuscript note book of Monsieur Elie Brevint, who died in the
island of Sark in 1674, aged 87. He says:—“Le premier Dimanche
de Caresme s’appelle le jour des Brandons; à St. Martin de
Guernezé les jeunes hommes par esbat portent au soir du dit jour
brandons de glie, etc.”
In Les Archives de Normandie, 1824, p. 164, there is the
following notice of “Le Jour des Brandons,” which shows that this
custom also prevailed in various parts of France. “À Saint Vaast et
à Reville, la veille de l’Epiphanie, des centaines d’enfants et même
d’hommes, parcourrent les campagnes munis de brandons
allumés. Ils crient, ‘Taupes et mulots, sortez de mon clos, ou je
vous mets le feu sur le dos.’ Ou dans quelques autres parties de
la Normandie on chante ces vers-ci:
 Bon jour les rois
Jusqu’a douze mois
Douz’ mois passés
Rois, revenez!
Charge, pommier!
A chaq’ petite branchette
Tout plein ma grand’ pochette,
Taupes, mulots,
Sortez du clos,
Ou j’ vous brul’rai la barbe et l’s os!

Le lendemain au soir on allume un nouveau feu qu’on appèle

une Bourgulée, et l’on renouvelle le même chant, qui commence
encore par ‘Adieu les Rois,’ etc. Dans la Commune de Créance,
une grande partie de la population passe presque toute la nuit du
premier Dimanche de Carême à faire la même sommation aux
taupes et aux mulots.… Le Dimanche des Brandons est une date
commune et naturelle des actes du moyen age.”
The “Dimanche des Brandons” was also kept up in the centre of
France with very much the same ceremonies. See Croyances et
Légendes du centre de la France, Laisnel de la Salle. Tome 1er.
Page 35.
“At Dijon, in Burgundy, it is the custom upon the first Sunday in
Lent to make large fires in the streets, whence it is called
“Firebrand Sunday.” This practice originated in the processions
formerly made on that day by the peasants with lighted torches
of straw, to drive away, as they called it, the bad air from the
earth.”—From Nori Bourguinons, p. 148. Quoted in Brand’s
Observations on Popular Antiquities, p. 57.

Good Friday.

On the morning of Good Friday it is the custom of the young

people who live near the sea shore to make parties to go down to
the beach to collect limpets. When a sufficient quantity of these shell
fish has been taken, a flat stone or rock of sufficient size is selected,
and, after being carefully swept and divested of all extraneous
matter, the limpets are arranged on it with their shells uppermost. A
head of dry furze or other brushwood is then placed over them and
set on fire, and the limpets are left covered with the hot embers
until they are supposed to be sufficiently cooked. Bread-cakes, fresh
baked—if hot from the oven so much the better—with an ample
supply of the rich butter for which the island is so famous, and a few
bottles of cider or beer, have been provided beforehand by the
members composing the pic-nic, and the limpets, now done to a
turn, are eaten as a relish to the simple meal, with a better appetite,
and more real pleasure than probably a far more elaborate feast
would afford.[18]
Hot cross buns on Good Friday were unknown in Guernsey at the
commencement of the present century.

[18] Editor’s Note.—“In Sark, on Good Friday it is the custom

for boys to go and sail small boats on the ponds or pools by the
sea-shore; and these boats are made a good while beforehand,
or treasured up of long standing; this custom they never fail to
keep up. Numbers of these same boys also go in the afternoon to
the Eperquerie drill-ground, to play a game which they call
rounders. It is played with a ball and a stick, and somewhat
resembles cricket.”—From A Descriptive Sketch of the Island of
Sark, by the Rev. J. L. V. Cachemaille (for many years Vicar of the
island), published in Clarke’s Guernsey Magazine, October, 1875.

Easter.

There do not appear to be any particular customs connected with

Easter, but some old people can still remember that in their youth
the children in some parts of the country used to go about from door
to door begging for eggs.[19] This was called “demander la
mouissole,” and was evidently derived from the practice, so common
in all parts of Europe, of giving presents of eggs at this season.
Mouissole is derived from the old Norman word mouisson, which
means “a bird.”
 [19] Editor’s Note.—In the country the dinner on Easter Sunday
used always to consist of fried eggs and bacon. As an old woman
said, “it was the only day we ever tasted an egg.” If they could
not get fowls’ eggs, they even got wild birds’ eggs, and fried and
ate them!
“In the North of England boys beg on Easter Eve eggs to play
with, and beggars ask for them to eat.”—De Ludis Orientalibus,
by Hyde, 1694. p. 237.
“The custom of eating a gammon of bacon at Easter, which is
kept up in many parts of England, was founded on this, viz., to
shew their abhorrence to Judaism at that solemn commemoration
of our Lord’s Resurrection.”—From Aubrey, 1679.

The First of April.

The first of April is not forgotten by children, who amuse

themselves on this day by attaching long shreds of paper or bits of
rag by means of crooked pins to the clothes of passers-by,[20] and
then crying out as loud as they can bawl, “La Coûe! La Coûe!” or “La
Folle Agnès.” No one knows the reason of the latter exclamation.

[20] Editor’s Note.—In Lancashire Folk-Lore p. 225, it says, “On

Mid-Lent or ‘Bragot’ Sunday it is a custom for boys to hook a
piece of coloured cloth to the women’s gowns, and a similar
custom prevails in Portugal at carnival times.”

Sundays in May.

On the first Sunday in May the young men and women of the
lower orders arise at daybreak and sally forth into the country in
groups, returning home with large nosegays generally pilfered from
the open gardens that adorn the neat cottages of the peasantry.[21]
There is reason to believe that this custom was introduced from
England, but in Alderney it appears to have been a very ancient
practice to keep the first of May as a holiday. Garlands of flowers
were suspended across the street, under which the young people
danced, and the day was generally wound-up by a sort of pic-nic
supper or tea-drinking, to which each family contributed its quota.
The introduction of late years of a large stranger population into that
island, in consequence of the extensive fortifications and harbour
works undertaken by Government, has completely changed the
primitive character of the place, and has put an end to this
picturesque custom.

[21] Editor’s Note.—“Bourne (‘Antiquit. Vulg.’ chap, xxv.) tells

us that in his time, in the villages in the North of England, the
juvenile part of both sexes were wont to rise a little after
midnight on the first of May, and walk to some neighbouring
wood, accompanied with music and the blowing of horns, where
they broke down branches from the trees and adorned them with
nosegays and crowns of flowers. This done, they returned
homewards with their booty about the time of sunrise, and made
their doors and windows triumph in the flowery spoil.” (Quoted in
Brand’s Popular Antiquities, p. 121).

Whitsuntide.

“And let us do it with no show of fear;

No, with no more than if we heard that England
Were busied with a Whitsun morris-dance.”
—Shakspeare.

Whit Monday, Midsummer Day, and the day on which Her

Majesty’s birth is celebrated, are all kept as holidays, and have long
been appropriated to the mustering and exercising of the Militia.
This institution differs in many respects from what goes by the
same name in England, and is more in the nature of the “Garde
Nationale” of France. It is of great antiquity, for we find among the
Patent Rolls of Edward III., one dated May, 1337, appointing Thomas
de Ferrers Governor of the Islands, and giving him directions to
enrol all the able-bodied inhabitants, to supply them with fitting
arms, and to place proper officers over them, in order that they
might be able to resist the invasions of the allies of the Scotch, with
whom England was then at war, and who had recently made some
descents on Sark, and on the coasts of the larger islands. The
service is gratuitous and compulsory, for, by the common law, all
male inhabitants, from the ages of sixteen to sixty, are liable to be
called out, unless prevented by illness, or able to claim exemption on
some other legal ground. Nevertheless, with the generality of the
people, especially with those of the rural parishes, the service is
decidedly popular. An afternoon of ball-practice, or a general review
by the Lieutenant-Governor, is looked forward to with pleasure, and
the latter occasion is one which affords a treat to all classes of the
community. At an early hour the roads are crowded with merry
groups, dressed in their best, hastening to the spot where the
review is to take place. The country damsels are proud of seeing
their lovers set off by their military attire, and when the men are
dismissed it is amusing to see the careful wife or the attentive
sweetheart produce from the depth of her pocket, or from a hand-
basket, a light cap, or wide-awake, to replace the heavy shako, while
the young sons and brothers, not yet old enough to be enrolled,
dispute who shall have the honour of bearing the weighty musket.
The review is generally over by noon, and those who are industrious
may return to their work. Most of the men, however, particularly the
unmarried ones, prefer making a thorough holiday of it, and for the
rest of the afternoon the streets of the town are filled with groups of
merry-makers; the public houses ply a brisk trade, and the evening
is often far advanced before the joyous groups think of returning to
their own homes.

Midsummer.

“At eve last Midsummer no sleep I sought.”

—Gay’s Pastorals.
 The custom of making bonfires on the hilltops at Midsummer was
formerly so general among all the Celtic nations that it is highly
probable that it must have existed also in these islands, the
aboriginal inhabitants of which belonged undoubtedly to the Celtic
race. In Scotland and in Ireland these fires are called Beltein, or
Baltein; they are lighted also on May Day, and are supposed to be a
relic of the worship formerly paid to the sun, under the name of Bel,
or Baal. Throughout Brittany, and in some of the neighbouring parts
of Normandy, “les feux de la St. Jean” are still lighted on all the hills.
In some parts of Wales and Cornwall the custom is still kept up. That
some observances connected with this season still existed in this
island in the early part of the 17th Century is certain, from the fact
of the Royal Court having promulgated an ordinance in 1622
prohibiting begging on St. John’s Eve, “as tending to keep alive
superstition,” but what these observances were, is now entirely
forgotten. It has been asserted that in days gone by “la Rocque
Balan,” a remarkable and picturesque mass of granite on the plain of
L’Ancresse, used to be resorted to at Midsummer, and that the
youths and maidens danced together on its summit, where bonfires
used to be lit. The burden of an old song—

“J’irons tous à la Saint Jean

Dansaïr sus la Rocque Balan,”

is quoted as confirmatory of this assertion. Some suppose that

“Balan” has the same derivation as “Beltein;” others say that there
was once a logan, or rocking stone, “une pierre qui balançait,” on
the apex of the rock; but there is also a tradition that the former
Priors of St. Michel du Valle caused the merchandise of their tenants
and vassals to be weighed, and that the rock derived its appellation
from the “balances” used for this purpose.
The most probable and matter of fact solution of the difficulty is
that, like many other localities, it took its designation from the
person to whom it once belonged, the name “Balan” being that of a
family, now extinct, which at one time inhabited this parish.
 Every cottage and farmhouse in the island is furnished with what
is called a “lit de fouâille” or “jonquière”—now called the “green
bed”—a sort of rustic divan generally placed in a recess between the
hearth and a window. This, raised about eighteen inches from the
ground, is thickly strewn with dried fern, or pea-haulm, and forms
the usual seat of the females of the family, when engaged in knitting
or sewing, and a very comfortable couch on which the men can
repose after the labours of the day. But at Midsummer, after the
fresh fern has been cut, the taverns and cottages vie with each
other in decorating these seats. A canopy is raised over them, and
the whole, floor and all, is thickly carpeted with fresh cut fern, and
ornamented with the most brilliant and showy flowers that can be
procured, not scattered at hap-hazard, but arranged in formal, and
often far from inelegant patterns.[22] The love of flowers is almost a
passion with every class of the inhabitants, and displays itself in the
variety to be found at all seasons in every garden, and the taste with
which they are employed in decorations.
It is difficult to say what gave rise to this custom of adorning the
“jonquière,” but it is doubtless one of great antiquity.[23] Old people
say that in former days it was customary to elect a girl from among
the inhabitants of the district, and seat her in state beneath the
floral canopy, where under the name[24] of “La Môme” she received
in silence the homage of the assembled guests.[25] Perhaps the
whole is a remnant of the old May games transferred to this season
—perhaps it is an observance connected with the ceremonies with
which in many countries, and especially among the Celtic nations,
the sun was greeted on his arrival at the summer solstice, and in
which branches of trees and bunches of flowers were used to
decorate the houses.

[22] Editor’s Note.—An old country woman described to me a

“Lit de Fouaille” she had seen as a child. She described it as being
a four-post bed, both mattress and ceiling being one mass of
flowers most ingeniously twined together. Each post was
garlanded with flowers, and flower curtains hung from the top,
woven together, she could not tell how. In the middle sat the girl
—silent.
[23] See Folk-Lore Journal, Vol. I, Pp. 297 and 301.
[24] Mr. Métivier writes under the heading of “Lit de
Fouaille.”—“Que de gens instruits, peu versés dans l’étude de
notre Calendrier Champêtre, se sont imaginés que le lit de feuilles
et de fleurs du solstice d’été—fête aussi ancienne que l’homme
lui-même, n’était qu’un lit vert—une jonquière! L’apothéose de la
beauté sur un trone de roses et de lys se retrouvait autrefois dans
tous les climats, où le soleil favorisait la culture de ces trésors de
Flore. Presque de nos jours, chaque canton de l’île élisait une
tante ou cousine. Vouée au silence—‘La Môme;’ et cette bonne
parente recevait de toute la compagnie l’hommage d’un baiser—
c’est une allusion au silence de l’astre du jour et à la naissance
d’Harpocrate, le doigt sur la bouche, au milieu d’un carreau de
vives fleurs.”
[25] Editor’s Notes.
By the courtesy of Mr. J. Linwood Pitts I am able to insert the
following note, showing the gradual decadence of the old custom.
“Some sixty or seventy years ago, a Mr. and Mrs. Le Maître kept
a public-house at Le Cognon, near St. Sampson’s. At the summer
vraicking time, they used to deck the green bed with elaborate
floral decorations—a veritable “Lleit de feuilles.” A plate was
placed in the centre of the bed to receive contributions. The
young people used to go there and dance in the evenings after
vraicking, Mr. Le Maître playing the fiddle for the dancers. Mrs.
Robin (now seventy-three years old) danced there as a girl.”
Stow in his “Survey” tells us “that on the vigil of St. John
Baptist every man’s door being shadowed with green birch, long
fennel, St. John’s wort, orpin, white lilies, and such like, garnished
upon with garlands of beautiful flowers, had also lamps of
glass.…”
In Brand’s Popular Antiquities of Great Britain, Vol. I. p. 190, it
is said:—“Hutchinson mentions another custom used on this day;
it is to dress out stools with a cushion of flowers. A layer of clay is
placed on the stool, and therein is stuck with great regularity, an
arrangement of all kinds of flowers, so close as to form a
beautiful cushion. These are exhibited at the doors of houses in
the villages, and at the ends of streets and cross lanes of larger
towns, where the attendants beg money from passengers to
 enable them to have an evening feast and dancing.” He adds
“This custom is evidently derived from the Ludi Compitalii of the
Romans; this appellation is taken from the Compita or Cross
Lanes, where they were instituted and celebrated by the
multitude assembled before the building of Rome. It was the
Feast of Lares, or Household Gods, who presided as well over
houses as streets. This mode of adorning the seat or couch of the
Lares was beautiful, and the idea of reposing them on aromatic
flowers, and beds of roses, was excellent.”

Midsummer Day in Sark.

In Sark, Midsummer Day is the great holiday of the year, when

every youth who is fortunate enough to be the possessor of a horse,
or who can borrow one for the occasion, makes use of it. Bedecking
both himself and his steed with bunches of flowers, he goes to seek
his favourite damsel, who generally sports a new bonnet in honour
of the festival, and they often ride about in couples on the horses’
backs. They then amuse themselves in racing up and down the
roads, and even venture sometimes to cross at a gallop the
dangerous pass of the Coupée—a narrow ledge of rock with a
precipice on either side,—which connects the peninsula of Little Sark
with the main island. In the evening they assemble to drink tea, eat
currant cake, and dance. This custom is known by the name of “Les
Chevauchées.”[26]

[26] Editor’s Note.—Many charms and spells were also resorted

to on the eve and on the day of “La Saint Jean,” which will be
inserted under their proper heading. Another habit of the young
men and girls on Midsummer Day was to go out to the Grand
Pont at St. Sampson’s, and there have a supper composed of
fried ham and eggs and pancakes, and craûbackaûs or crayfish,
the latter placed on the table in the pan, and everyone helping
themselves with their own fork. The custom was for the girls to
be dressed entirely in white, while the men wore white duck or
jean trousers, swallow-tailed coats, fancy waistcoats, and shoes
 adorned with large white bows. The proceedings finished with
songs and dances.

Midsummer Day in Jersey.

In Jersey, the fishermen who inhabit the parish of St. John have a
custom of circumnavigating at Midsummer a certain rock, called “Le
Cheval Guillaume,” that lies off their coast, and in the same parish,
as well as in some other parts of the island, a very singular practice
has long prevailed. It is thus described in Plees’ Account of the
Island of Jersey. “At Midsummer Eve, a number of persons meet
together, and procure a large brass boiler; this is partly filled with
water, and sometimes metallic utensils of different kinds are thrown
in. The rim is then encircled with a strong species of rush, to which
strings of the same substance are attached. When these strings are
sufficiently moistened, the persons assembled take hold of them,
and, drawing them quickly through their hands, a tremendous
vibration is excited in the boiler, and a most barbarous, uncouth, and
melancholy sound produced. To render this grating concert still more
dissonant, others blow with cows’ horns and conches. This singular
species of amusement continues for several hours: it is termed ‘faire
braire les poëles.’” The same custom prevailed in Normandy, from
whence it doubtless made its way into Jersey. In the former province
it is now on the decline. Being observed on St. John’s Eve, it would
appear to have a reference to some Christian festival in honour of
that saint; or it may relate to Midsummer Day. Large numbers of the
middling and lower classes in Jersey are in the habit of coming to
Guernsey for the Midsummer holidays, and the natives of the latter
island often choose this season for visiting their friends and relations
in Jersey. In the Athenæum, September 20th, 1890, it says: “It may
not be generally known that in the island of Jersey on St. John’s Eve
the older inhabitants used to light fires under large iron pots full of
water, in which they placed silver articles—as spoons, mugs, etc.,—
and then knocked the silver against the iron, with the idea of scaring
away all evil spirits. There are now railroads in Jersey, and these old-
world practices have probably disappeared.”
The day after Midsummer used always to be the day of the fair,
held in the Fair-field at the Câtel. It was crowded from the early
morning by the entire population of the island, and the hedges
round the field, and even the sides of the roads in the vicinity, were
filled with French women, selling strawberries, and eggs dyed red
with cochineal, and who drove a roaring trade.

August.

On the Sundays in August it was customary, a few years ago, for

large crowds from all parts of the island to assemble in the
afternoon on the causeway at St. Sampson’s called “Le Grand Pont.”
The favourite mode of proceeding thither was on horseback, but the
only object that the visitors seemed to have in view was that of
seeing and being seen. It is difficult to ascertain exactly what gave
rise to this custom, or indeed whether it is of ancient date. It is
certain, however, that the improvement of the roads at the
commencement of the present century, and the works carried on at
the same time for the recovery of a large portion of land from the
sea, in this neighbourhood, concurred in attracting a considerable
number of persons to the spot. If the custom existed previously it
must have been one of old standing, and may perhaps be traced to
a church wake or feast held in honour of St. Sampson, who is said to
have been among the first who preached the gospel in the island,
and whose name the neighbouring church bears. The calendar
commemorates this saint on the 28th of July, and the practice of
meeting together on the Sunday following the anniversary of a saint,
in the vicinity of the church or chapel dedicated to him, is universal
throughout Brittany, where these assemblies are known by the name
of “pardons.” In some parts of Normandy, too, the custom is
observed, and the meetings are known as “Assemblées.” If not held
on, or near, the actual anniversary of the saint, they are often fixed
for some Sunday in August, when, the harvest being over, the
peasants have more leisure time for amusements.
Editor’s Note.—“In the southern parts of this nation,” says Bourne, “most
country villages are wont to observe some Sunday in a more particular manner
than the rest, i.e., the Sunday after the day of dedication, or day of the saint to
whom their church was dedicated.” Antiq. Vulg., chap. xxx.

Maison du Neuf Chemin.

September.
 On the Sundays in September it was the custom, at any rate in
the early part of this century, to ride out to the “Maison du Neuf
Chemin,” at St. Saviour’s, which was kept by a man called Alexandre.
There they would eat pancakes, apples and pears, and not come
home till dusk. This is the “Mess Alissandre” to whom Métivier
alludes in “La Chanson des Alexandriens,” “Rimes Guernesiaises,”
1831, p. 52.

“Vouloüs passair dans l’pu bel endret d’l’île

Une a’ r’levaie sans paine et sans chagrin!
Tournai mé l’dos ès sales pavais d’la ville,
Et galoppai sie l’vieil houme du Neuf-Ch’min, etc.”

[Translation].
“Do you wish to go to the most beautiful neighbourhood of the
island
One afternoon without difficulty or trouble?
Turn your back on the dirty pavements of the town,
And gallop out to the old man of the New Path.”
 CHAPTER II.
Local Customs—Civic, Aquatic, Ceremonial.
“Ordain them laws, part such as appertain
To civil justice, part religious rites.”
—Milton.

La Chevanchée de St. Michel.

“My parks, my walks, my manors that I had,

Ev’n now forsake me; and of all my lands
Is nothing left me.”
—Shakspeare, Henry VI.

efore giving an account of this curious old custom, now

abolished, but which seems to have been instituted
originally with a view to keeping the highways
throughout the island in a due state of repair, it may be
as well to say something of the feudal system, as it
existed, and indeed, greatly modified of course, still exists in
Guernsey. Though, from the loss in the course of many centuries of
the original charters, we are left in the dark on many points, and can
only guess at the origin of some of the many small manors—or as
they are locally termed, “fiefs”—into which the island is divided.
It is known that previous to the Conquest of England by Duke
William,[27] Néel de St. Sauveur, Vicomte of Le Cotentin, was patron
of six of the ten parish churches in Guernsey—those of St. Samson,
St. Pierre Port, St. Martin de la Bellouse, La Trinité de la Forêt, Notre
Dame de Torteval, and St. André; and it is probable that he was lord
paramount of all the land contained in these parishes. He was one of
those barons who conspired against William, and having been
defeated by him in the Battle of Val des Dunes, all his possessions
were confiscated. On his submission he was again received into
favour, and his continental possessions restored, but such does not
seem to have been the case with what he held in Guernsey; for the
patronage of the churches mentioned above was given by William, a
year before the Conquest of England, to the great Abbey of
Marmoutier near Tours; and from that time we hear nothing more of
the Viscounts of St. Sauveur in Guernsey.
The other four parishes, St. Michel du Valle, Notre Dame du
Castel, St. Sauveur, and St. Pierre du Bois, were in the patronage of
the Abbey of Mont St. Michel, and the lands in the greater part of
these parishes were held in nearly equal proportions between that
famous Monastery and the Earls of Chester—those held by the
Abbey being known as “Le Fief St. Michel,” and those belonging to
the Earl being called “Le Fief le Comte.” A local tradition says that it
was Duke Robert, the father of William the Conqueror, who first
bestowed these lands on the Abbey, and on the ancestors of the
Earls, but of this there may be some doubt.
These lands were held direct from the Sovereign, to whom these
lords were bound to do homage, but in process of time they came to
be sub-fieffed by their possessors—that is, divided into smaller
manors, which, instead of owing direct allegiance to the Crown,
depended on their own lords, to whom they had certain services to
render, and dues to pay, and in whose Courts they were bound to
make an appearance thrice in the year. These Courts had jurisdiction
in civil matters, in causes arising between the tenants on their
respective fiefs, and had their seals, by which all written documents
emanating from them were authenticated, the seals of the Court of
the Priory of St. Michel representing the Archangel trampling Satan
under foot, and that of the Fief le Comte, St. George, near whose
ruined chapel the Court still holds its sittings. As there was always an
appeal from the decision of these Courts to the supreme tribunal of
the island, the Royal Court, they gradually ceased to be held, except
for the purpose of collecting the seignorial dues, and, by an Order of
Her Majesty in Council, the Court of the Fief St. Michel was
abolished, the life interest of the seneschal, vavassors, prevôts,
bordiers, and other officers of the Court being preserved.
 One of the duties of the Court of St. Michel was to see that the
King’s highway (le chemin du Roi), and certain embankments against
the encroachments of the sea were kept in proper order and in due
reparation; and in order to insure this they were bound to make an
inspection once in three years.
We will now go back and consider the origin of the Fief St. Michel.
Among the many fiefs in Guernsey, held in chief from the Crown,
one of the most ancient and important is certainly that of St. Michel-
du-Valle, extending over the greater part of the northern and
western shores of the island. According to a tradition generally
accepted by the historians of the island, and which is in part
corroborated by documentary evidence, preserved in the
“cartulaires” of the famous Abbey of Mont St. Michel in Normandy,
and in the Record Office in England, certain monks who had been
expelled from that monastery for their irregularities, or had left
voluntarily in consequence of reforms in the community which they
disapproved of, came over to Guernsey about the year 966 and
established themselves in a part of the island called Le Clos du Valle,
which at that period, and until the beginning of the present century,
was cut off from the mainland by an arm of the sea, and could only
be reached by a way across the sands when the tide had receded.
The monks are said to have brought the whole of the western part
of the island into cultivation, and to have led such a pious life, and
effected such a reform in the manners of the inhabitants, that
Guernsey acquired the appellation of “l’île sainte.”[28][29]
It is also said that Robert I., Duke of Normandy, father of William
the Conqueror, called by some Le Magnifique and by others Le
Diable, having been driven by stress of weather to take refuge in
Guernsey, when on his way to England with a fleet to assist the
Saxon Princes Alfred and Edward in their resistance to the Danish
invader Canute, was received and hospitably entertained by the
monks, and in return confirmed them in the possession of the lands
they had been the means of reclaiming, at the same time
constituting the community a priory in dependance on the great
monastery from which they had originally come; a connexion, which
although frequently interrupted during the long wars between
England and France for the possession of Normandy, existed until
the suppression of alien priories in England by Henry V.
Like all other fiefs the priory had its own Feudal Court, by means
of which it collected its rents and dues, and which had jurisdiction in
civil matters between all its tenants, subject, however, to an appeal
to the higher authority of the Royal Court of the island.
The Court of St. Michel-du-Valle consisted of a seneschal and
eleven vavassors, who, in virtue of their office and in consideration
of their services, held certain lands on the fief. The officers of the
Court were a greffier or registrar, four prevôts, who had duties
analogous to those of a sheriff, six bordiers, who had certain
services to perform in collecting dues and attending the meetings of
the Court, and, though last, not least, an officer styled porte-lance—
of whom more hereafter. The principal duties of the Court seem to
have consisted in legalizing sales of real property, in which tenants
on the fief were interested, and settling disputes concerning the
same arising among them. But there appear to have been attempts
made from time to time to encroach on the prerogatives of the Royal
Court, and various ordinances of the latter are in existence
restraining the seneschal and vavassors from doing certain acts, and
even fining them for having gone beyond their powers. There was
one function, however, of the Court of St. Michael which it seems to
have exercised without dispute from time immemorial, but which it is
impossible to account for—the inspection and keeping in order of the
King’s highway throughout the island, and of certain of the works for
preventing the encroachments of the sea. Possibly it may have
originated in marking out the bounds of the Fief St. Michel and its
dependencies only, and with this keeping in order the sea defences.
[30] Once in three years, the seneschal and vavassors of the Court
were bound to perform this duty, which, judging from their later
records, they appear to have considered rather onerous, as we find
several Acts of the Court dispensing with the ceremony, the reason
given being generally the interruption it caused in agricultural
labours, and the loss occasioned thereby, at a time when farmers
were far from being in the prosperous condition in which they are at
present.
Another very substantial reason was the expense, which had to be
defrayed out of the Crown revenue. According to some of our
historians, who, however, give no evidence in support of their
assertion, this inspection of the roads, commonly known as “La
Chevauchée” from the fact of the principal performers being
mounted on horseback, was originally annual, and was instituted
with a view to having the roads put in order preparatory to the
grand religious procession of the Host on Corpus Christi Day, but this
origin of the ceremony seems hardly probable, as it is well known
that the procession in question is strictly limited in Roman Catholic
countries to parishes, and is conducted by the parochial clergy. It is
difficult to understand how it came to pass that a subaltern Court,
such as was that of the Fief St. Michel, came to be allowed to
exercise a quasi jurisdiction over lands which had never been subject
to it, but as it was impossible for the Court to proceed to every part
of their domain without occasionally trespassing over other manors,
what was originally allowed by courtesy came to be looked upon at
last as a right. A somewhat similar means of assuring the keeping in
due repair of the high roads existed, and probably in a modified
form still exists, in the sister island of Jersey, where it is conducted
by the vicomte, assisted by two or more jurats of the Royal Court,
and the officer, called the “porte-lance,” who exercises the same
functions as the official bearing the same designation in the “Cour
St. Michel.” It is known in Jersey as “La Harelle.”
But it is time to come to a description of how this ancient
ceremony was conducted in Guernsey. As has been said before, it
ought to have taken place every third year, at which time the Court
of St. Michael used to meet in the spring to settle preliminaries in
fixing the day on which the ceremony was to take place, regulating
the costume to be worn by the “pions” or footmen in attendance on
the Court, and other matters. The month of June was usually
chosen, and on the day appointed the Court assembled, with all the
officers who were to take part in the procession, at the small Court
House adjoining the remains of the ancient monastic buildings still
dignified with the name of “L’Abbaye,” although the establishment
had been for centuries no more than a priory dependent on the
famous monastery of Mont St. Michel in Normandy.
The following are translations of a few of the Acts and Regulations
of the Court of St. Michael:—[31]
31 March, 1768. Seneschal nominated by the Governor.
24 May, 1768. The Chevauchée being due to take place on the
following 8th of June, the Court has ruled the dress of the pions. A
black cap (calotte) with a red ribbon at the back. A ruffled shirt, with
black ribbon wristbands, and a black ribbon round the neck. Black
breeches with red ribbons tied round the knee. White stockings; and
red rosettes on their wands. N.B.—This Act does not seem to have
been put in force.
27th April, 1813.—The Chevauchée of His Majesty is appointed to
take place on Wednesday, the 9th of the following June, for the
reparation of the quays and roads of the King, and it is ordered that
it shall be published throughout the parishes of this island, and cried
in the Market Place, so that no one can plead ignorance.
The 27th of May, 1813.—Before Thomas Falla, Esq., Seneschal of
the Court and Jurisdiction of the Fief St. Michel, present, Messieurs
James Ozanne, Nicholas Le Patourel, James Falla, Pierre Falla, Jean
Mahy, Richard Ozanne, Nicholas Moullin, Daniel Moullin, and Jean Le
Pettevin (called Le Roux), vavassors of the said Court. The Court
being to-day assembled to regulate the order to be pursued on
Wednesday, the 9th of June proximo,—the day appointed by the
Court for the Chevauchée of His Majesty to pass—has ordered that
all the pions be dressed uniformly as follows, to wit: Black caps with
a red ribbon behind. White shirts, with white cravats or neckerchiefs.
Circular white waistcoats, with a red ribbon border. Long white
breeches, tied with red ribbon round the knee. White stockings, and
red rosettes on their wands.
And Messieurs les prevôts of the Court are ordered to warn all
those who are obliged to assist at the said Chevauchée to find
themselves with their swords, their pions, and their horses, the
aforesaid 9th of June at seven o’clock in the morning at the Court of
St. Michael, according to ancient custom, in default of appearance to
be subject to such penalties as it shall please the Court to award
him. And also shall Monsieur Le Gouverneur be duly warned, and
Thomas Falla, Esq., seneschal, and Messrs. Jean Mahy and Nicholas
Moullin, vavassors, are nominated by the Court to form a committee
so as to take the necessary measures to regulate the conformity of
the said act concerning the dress of the pions.
(Signed) Jean Ozanne, Greffier.
On the above day, conformably to the said Act, all the pions,
dressed in the afore-mentioned costume, met at seven o’clock in the
morning at the Court of St. Michael, and there also were found the
King’s officers, vavassors, who had to serve there as esquires. The
King’s officers and the seneschal each had two pions on either side
of his bridle rein, the vavassors were only entitled to one.
They began with a short inspection and a good breakfast on the
emplacement east of the Yale Church. After breakfast, the members
of the cortège, with their swords at their sides, got on their horses
opposite the said Court of St. Michael, where the greffier of the said
Court said the customary prayer, and the seneschal read the
proclamation, and then they started in the following order:—
The Sheriff of the Vale and his pion.
The Sheriff of the King and his two pions.
The Sheriff of the Grand Moûtier and his pion.
The Sheriff of the Petit Moûtier and his pion.
The Sheriff of Rozel and his pion.
 The King’s Sergeant and his two pions.
The King’s Greffier and his two pions.
The King’s Comptroller and his two pions.
The King’s Procureur and his two pions.
The King’s Receiver and his two pions.
The Lance-Bearer and his two pions.
The Greffier of the Court St. Michel and his two pions.
The Seneschal of the Court St. Michel and his two pions.
The eleven vavassors of the Court St. Michel, and one pion each.
Whilst they are on their march, the five sheriffs carry by turns a
white wand in the following order:—
The Sheriff of the Vale, from the Vale Church to the end of Grand
Pont.
The King’s Sheriff, from the end of Grand Pont, as far as the
Forest.
The Sheriff of Grand Moûtier, from the Forest to the King’s Mills.
The Sheriff of Petit Moûtier, from the King’s Mills to the Douit des
Landes in the Market Place, and the Sheriff of Rozel from the last
mentioned place to the Vale.
During the procession the lance bearer carried a wand of eleven
and a quarter feet long, and any obstacle this wand encountered,
stones of walls, branches of trees, etc., had to be cleared away, and
the proprietor of the obstacle was fined thirty sous, which went
towards the expenses of the dinner. From time immemorial the
privilege of the pions,—who were chosen for their good looks—was
that of kissing every woman they met, whether gentle or simple,
their only restriction being that only one pion was allowed to kiss the
same lady, she had not to run the gauntlet of the gang. This
privilege of course was invariably exercised!
 At the entry of the Braye du Valle the seneschal freed the pions
from their attendance on the bridle reins, and gave them authority
to embrace any woman they might encounter, recommending good
behaviour and the rejoining of their cavaliers at the Hougue-à-la-
Perre.
 Parish Church of St. Peter Port.

Showing houses demolished to make room for

present New Market.
The Chevauchée then went to Sohier, les Landes, la rue du Marais,
la Grande Rue, la Mare Sansonnet, les Bordages, la Ronde
Cheminée, and les Morets. Arriving at the Hougue-à-la-Perre the
pions regained their respective stations on the side of their officers,
leading the horses, and there, at ten o’clock, they were met by His
Excellency Sir John Doyle, the Lieutenant-Governor and his staff, the
horses of which were all decorated with blue ribbons, except those
of the said Governor and of his family, who, out of compliment,
carried red ribbons, matching those of the Chevauchée. The Bailiff,
with his party and John Guille, Esq., also joined them at this spot,
uniformly dressed in blue jackets, white trousers, and leghorn hats.
The whole cavalcade then moved on, the Governor and suite at
the rear, preceded by the band of the town regiment, dressed as
rustics, in long white jackets and large hats with their brims turned
down, and followed by six dragoons to bring up the rear. Having
passed between eleven and twelve o’clock through Glatney, Pollet,
Carrefour, and High-street, they came to the Town Church, where
they made the tour around a large round table which had been
placed near the westerly door of the said church, which table was
covered with a white cloth and supplied with biscuits, cheese, and
wine, which had been provided by one of the “sous-prevôts,” and
the Sheriff and the King’s Sergeant, on foot, offered each cavalier
who passed the door food and drink.
During this interval the band played serenades and marches.
At noon they proceeded through Berthelot-street to the College
fields, and, passing through the Grange, they reached the Gravée;
here His Excellency took his leave. The cavalcade passed on by St.
Martin’s road to the ancient manor of Ville-au-Roi, one of the oldest
habitations in the island. The entrance was tastefully decorated with
arches of flowers and a crown in the centre, with flags flying, and,
on one of the arches, “Vive la Chevauchée.” Here, according to old
manorial custom, the party was gratuitously regaled with milk. The
procession then moved on by Les Câches to Jerbourg, with the
exception of the pions, who proceeded to the village of the Forest,
and there waited the return of the Court. Here they danced and
amused themselves as before, and being rejoined by the cavalcade
at the Bourg they moved on by Les Brulliots, and passing Torteval
Church arrived at a house called the Château des Pezeries at
Pleinmont, where a marquee was erected, and cold meats and wine
were prepared for the gentlemen. The pions were seated on the
grass in a circle which had been hollowed for them, in the shape of a
round table,[32] and they also had their repast. Here the procession
halted till four o’clock, and by this time were joined by many
carriages, filled with ladies and gentlemen, who, with a numerous
party of all ranks, moved on by Rocquaine, Roque Poisson, below
the Rouvets, Perelle, where a particular stone lies, which they are
obliged to go round according to an old custom, from there by the
Saint Saviour’s Road to the Grands Moulins or King’s Mills. On their
arrival there they were rejoined by the pions, the mill was put in
motion, and the miller came out with a plate in each hand, one
containing flour of wheat, and the other of barley, which had been
ground that instant by the mill. The miller then placed himself on a
large stone, and the procession moved round him; this custom has
prevailed from time immemorial. The procession then continued by
St. George, La Haye du Puits, Saumarez, Le Camp du Roy, Les
Salines, to the Clos du Valle, to the aforesaid Court of St. Michael,
where they arrived about seven o’clock, and where they were again
joined by the Lieutenant-Governor, the Bailiff, and some of the
principal residents. The Court having been dismissed they all partook
of a sumptuous dinner, at which Mr. Seneschal Falla presided. The
pions were also handsomely entertained.
The last Chevauchée took place in Guernsey on the 31st of May,
1837, but the description of the procession we have given refers to
the one in 1825, and is taken from Jacob’s Annals, and the
Chronique des Isles, by Syvret.
The oldest known Act of the Court of St. Michael is the following,
dated the 14th of October, 1204:—
“Les Chefs Plaids Capitaux de la Saint Michel tenus à Sainte Anne
en la Paroisse du Sarazin,[33] par Nicolle de Beauvoir Bailly, à ce
présens Jean Le Feyvre, Jean Philippes, Martin de Garris, Jean
Maingy, Jean Le Gros, Jemmes le Marchand, Pierre de la Lande,
Robert de la Salle, Colin Henry, Jurez de la Cour de nostre Souverain
Seigneur le Roy d’Angleterre en l’Isle de Guernereye. Le quatorzième
jour du moys d’Octobre, l’an MCCIV. Sur la Remonstrance qui nous a
esté faicte de la part des Frères Jean Agenor, Prieur, en la Paroisse
de l’Archange de Saint Michel du Valle et ses aliez Pierre de Beauvoir,
Pierre Martin, Jean Effart, Jean Jehan, Pierre Nicolle, Pierre du Prey,
Jean Agenor, Michel le Pelley, Jean Cappelle et autres Marchands et
Manans, tant en la Paroisse du Valle que de Saint Sampson, qu’ils
éstoyent grandement empeschez et endomagez concernant le
desbordement de la mer, laquelle auroit coupé le Douvre et passage
commode entre les dittes Paroisses, entendu qu’il estoit impossible
non seulement de faire Procession, mais aussi d’aller traficquer les
uns avec les autres aux Landes du Sarazin, s’il ne nous pleust leur
permettre et accorder de faire maintenir un certain Pont passant du
Valle à Saint Sampson, estant propre et passable de toutes Marées,
de Charues, et Charettes, de pied et de Cheval, et à qui il
appartiendra de la maintenir en temps advenir. Parquoy ne voulant
refuser la Raisonnable remonstrance des avants dits, et pour le bien
public, nous leur avons appointé Veue sur les Limites les plus
célèbres des dittes Paroisses, dans le jour Saint Barthelemi prochain,
et advertiront le commun de s’y trouver, pour ouir ce que par nous
sera ordonné touchant la ditte edification.”
Another copy, which differs from the preceding in the names of
the Jurats, finishes by these words, “donné par copie des roles,
signé par Colin de la Lande, clerq.” According to this copy the names
of the Jurats are “Jean Le Gros, James Le Marchant, Pierre de la
Lande, Robert de la Salle, Colin Henry, Raoul Emery, Gaultier
Blondel, Guillet Le Febvre.” It is noticeable that the first four names
of the copy first cited are not among these, and that the last three
on this list are not in the Act which we have transcribed.[34] At the
end of the second copy we find the following notice: “N.B.—Mr.
Thomas Le Maître, Prevost de St. Sauveur à Jersey en a l’original.”
Originally the vavassors[35] of the Court of St. Michael were twelve
in number, similar to the Jurats of the Royal Court, but if you ask
why the number for the last two hundred years has been reduced to
eleven, the answer is—“that the devil carried away Vivien.” All that is
known about Jean Vivien is that he was a vavassor of this Court, and
that, in a fit of despair, he drowned himself, early in the seventeenth
century. Up to about the middle of the present century three letters
“I. V. V.” cut by himself on the broken fragment of rock from which
he leapt into the gulf, still existed at the end of a footpath, not far
from the “Fosse au Courlis”—Curlew’s ditch or grave—a spot
haunted by witches.
Since then no Christian has dared to replace the suicide Jean
Vivien, and, when making the calculation of the symbolic vavassorial
stones, his pebble is always omitted. There are but eleven instead of
twelve.

[27] “There were two Nigels (Neel or Niel), Viscounts of

Cotentin, and proprietors of St. Sauveur le Vicomte. I have
reference to those two charters, the perusal of which exalts
conjectures into genuine facts. It is highly gratifying to possess,
at last, extracts from the authentic charters of Robert I. and
William II. granted to St. Michel and St. Martin of Tours.”—Extract
from MS. letter from George Métivier to Sir Edgar MacCulloch,
Nov. 1846.
[28] According to Mr. Métivier Guernsey was called “Holy
Island” in the days of a learned Greek called “Sylla,” the friend of
Plutarch’s grandfather, and he says that it was the custom for
persons to go from the “ogygian” (Gallic or Breton) Islands, to
Delos every century, which means every thirty years. The
voyagers also visited the temple of Dodona; and on their return
from Delos “the sacred navigators were conducted by the winds
to the Isle of Saturn or Sacred Island (Guernsey), which was
peopled entirely by themselves and their predecessors; for
although they were by their laws permitted to return after having
served Saturn thirty years, which was the century of the Druids,
yet they frequently preferred remaining in the tranquil retirement
of this island to returning to their birth-places.” Demetrius, also,
says: “Among the islands which lie adjacent to Britain, some are
desert, known by the name of the Isles of Heroes.… I embarked
in the suite of the Emperor, who was about to visit the nearest of
them. We found thereon but few inhabitants, and these were
accounted sacred and inviolable.” Mr. Métivier goes on to say later
“Onomacritus, an author who flourished five hundred years B.C.,
in one of his poems speaks of a vessel that conveyed the ashes of
the dead between England and Spain, and a celebrated Greek
author of undoubted veracity, Procopius, who wrote about 547
A.D., states that the “Breton fishermen of an island subject to the
French, were exempt from all tribute, because they conveyed the
dead into a neighbouring island.” The Breton French fishermen
came from Jersey, “La Porte Sainte,” and terminated their funeral
voyage at Guernsey, “l’Ile Bienheureuse.” The ashes of the dead
were deposited in our croutes and sacred enclosures, within the
tombs composed of five horizontal stones, which number
indicated the resting places of knightly heroes, or noble Gauls.”—
Métivier in the Monthly Selection, 1825, pp. 327 and 452.
[29] Editor’s Note.—M. de Gerville denies the truth of this
tradition. See Documents Inédits du Moyen Age, relatifs aux Iles
du Cotentin, p. 16.
[30] See Gentleman’s Magazine Library, Social Manners and
Customs. P. 51, Beating of Bounds at Grimsby.
[31] Editor’s Note.—On the 27th April, 1533. The Court of St.
Michel du Valle ordered that the King’s Serjeant should “cry in the
Market Place for three Saturdays that the Chevauchée would take
place in the following month of May.”—Fief Le Comte MSS. copied
by Colonel J. H. C. Carey.
[32] As being of the same race and language as Wace, Walter
Map and Chrestien de Troyes, who were the first to collect and
write of the Arthurian legends,—or, as they are generally spoken
of by French writers “Les Epopées de la Table Ronde,”—it might
reasonably be expected that some traces of these old “romans”
that must have so influenced our forefathers should linger among
us. This “round table” so carefully hollowed out for the pions may
be a relic of “La Table Ronde,” of which Wace writes—

“Fist Artus la Roonde Table

Dont Bretons dient mainte fable.”

He goes on to say that Arthur instituted this Round Table in times

of peace, for his feudal retainers, so that none might consider
himself superior to his fellow knights and squires, for at such a
table all must be equal.
[33] Now called the Câtel, and the Church of the said Parish is
traditionally built on the Castle formerly inhabited by “Le Grand
Sarazin,” and it was there or thereabouts that the Royal Court
used to sit.