114 Bourgueville is extremely particular and even eloquent in his account of the tower, &c. He says that he had "seen towers at Paris, Rouen, Toulouse, Avignon, Narbonne, Montpelier, Lyons, Amiens, Chartres, Angiers, Bayeux, Constances, (qu. Coutances?) and those of St. Stephen at Caen, and others, in divers parts of France, which are built in a pyramidal form--but THIS TOWER OT ST. PETER exceeded all the others, as well in its height, as in its curious form of construction." Antiq. de Caen; p.36. He regrets, however, that the name of the architect has not descended to us. [It is right to correct an error, in the preceding edition, which has been committed on the authority of Ducarel. That Antiquary supposed the tower and spire to have been built by the generosity of one NICHOLAS, an ENGLISHMAN." Mons. Licquet has, I think, reclaimed the true author of such munificence, as his own countryman.--NICOLAS LANGLOIS:--whose name thus occurs in his epitaph, preserved by Bourgueville.

Le Vendredi, devant tout droict
La Saint Cler que le temps n'est froit,
Trespassa NICOLLE L'ANGLOIS,
L'an Mil Trois Cens et Dix Sept.]
&c. &c.

Reverting, to old BOURGUEVILLE, I cannot take leave of him without expressing my hearty thanks for the amusement and information which his unostentatious octavo volume--entitled Les Recherches et Antiquitez de la Ville et Université de Caen, &c. (à Caen, 1588, 8vo.) has afforded me.

The author, who tells us he was born in 1504, lived through the most critical and not unperilous period of the times in which he wrote. His plan is perfectly artless, and his style as completely simple. Nor does his fidelity appear impeachable. Such ancient volumes of topography are invaluable--as preserving the memory of things and of objects, which, but for such record, had perished without the hope or chance of recovery.

115 [Ten years have elapsed since this sentence was written, and the experience gained in those years only confirms the truth (according to the conception of the author) of the above assertion. Such a tower and spire, if found in England, must be looked for in Salisbury Cathedral; but though this latter be much loftier, it is stiff, cold, and formal, comparatively with that of which the text makes mention.]

116 [For six months in the year--that is to say, from Lady Day till Michaelmas Day--this great Bell tolls, at a quarter before ten, as a curfew.]

117 A plate of it may be found in the publication of Mr. Dawson Turner, and of Mr. Cotman.

118 Of this building Mr. Cotman has published the West front, east end, exterior and interior; great arches under the tower; crypt; east side of south transept; elevation of the North side of the choir: elevation of the window; South side exterior; view down the nave, N.W. direction.

119 Bourgueville describes the havoc which took place within this abbey at the memorable visit of the Calvinists in 1562. From plundering the church of St. Stephen (as before described p. 172,) they proceeded to commit similar ravages here:--"sans auoir respect ni reuerence à la Dame Abbesse, ni à la religion et douceur feminine des Dames Religieuses."-- "plusieurs des officiers de la maison s'y trouucrent, vsans de gracieuses persuasions, pour penser flechir le coeur de ces plus que brutaux;" p. 174.

120 Unless it be what he calls "the FORT OF THE HOLY TRINITY of Caen; in which was constantly kept a garrison, commanded by a captain, whose annual pay was 100 single crowns. This was demolished by Charles, king of Navarre, in the year 1360, during the war which he carried on against Charles the Dauphin, afterwards Charles V., &c." Anglo-Norman Antiquities, p. 67. This castle, or the building once flanked by the walls above described, was twice taken by the English; once in 1346, when they made an immense booty, and loaded their ships with the gold and silver vessels found therein; and the second time in 1417, when they established themselves as masters of the place for 33 years. Annuaire du Calvados; 1803-4; p. 63.

121 Mémoires de l'Academie des Belles Lettres de Caen. Chez Jacques Manoury, 1757, 4 vols. crown 8vo. Rapport générale sur les travaux de l'Academie des Sciences, Arts, et Belles Lettres de la ville de Caen, jusqu'au premier Janvier, 1811. Par P.F.T. Delariviere, Secrétaire. A Caen, chez Chalopin. An. 1811-15. 2 vols. on different paper, with different types, and provokingly of a larger form than its precursor.

122 [On consulting the Addenda of the preceding edition, it will be seen that this work appeared in the year 1820, under the title of Essais Historiques sur la Ville de Caen et son Arondissement, in 2 small octavo volumes. With the exception of two or three indifferent plates of relics of sculpture, and of titles with armorial bearings, this work is entirely divested of ornament. There are some useful historical details in it, taken from the examination of records and the public archives; but a HISTORY of CAEN is yet a desideratum.]

123 [By the favour of our common friend Mr. Douce, I have obtained permission to enrich these pages with the PORTRAIT of this distinguished Archaeologist, from an original Drawing in the possession of the same friend. See the OPPOSITE PLATE.]

124 He has recently (1816) published an octavo volume entitled "Histoire des Polypiers, Coralligènes Flexibles, vulgairement nommés Zoophytes. Par J.V.F. Lamouroux. From one of his Epistles, I subjoin a fac-simile of his autograph.

125 The medallic project here alluded to is one which does both the projector, and the arts of France, infinite honour; and I sincerely wish that some second SIMON may rise up among ourselves to emulate, and if possible to surpass, the performances of GATTEAUX and AUDRIEU. The former is the artist to whom we are indebted for the medal of Malherbe, and the latter for the series of the Bonaparte medals. [Has my friend Mr. Hawkins, of the Museum, abandoned all thoughts of his magnificent project connected with such a NATIONAL WORK?]

126 See post--under the running title Bayeux.

127 See page 172 ante.

128 It is described in the 2d vol. of the ÆDES ALTHORPIANÆ; forming the Supplement to the BIBLIOTHECA SPENCERIANA: see page 94.

129 Goube, in his Histoire du Duché de Normandie, 1815, 8vo. has devoted upwards of thirty pages to an enumeration of these worthies; vol. iii. p. 295. But in Huet's Origines de la Ville de Caen; p. 491-652, there will be found much more copious and satisfactory details.

130 I am furnished with the above particulars from a Notice Historique of Moysant.

131 [A copy of this Roman Edition of 1542, of equal purity and amplitude, is in the library of the Rev. Mr Hawtrey of Eton College: obtained of Messrs. Payne and Foss.]

132 When I was at Paris in the year 1819, I strove hard to obtain from Messrs. Debure the copy of this work, UPON VELLUM, which they had purchased at the sale of the Macarthy Library. But it was destined for the Royal Library, and is described in the Cat. des Livres Imp. sur Vélin, vol. i. p. 263.

133 [Twenty-eight years have passed away since I kept my terms at Lincoln's Inn with a view of being called to THE BAR; and at this moment I have a perfect recollection of the countenances and manner of Messrs. Bearcroft, Erskine, and Mingay,--the pitted champions of the King's Bench-- whom I was in the repeated habit of attending within that bustling and ever agitated arena. Their wit, their repartee--the broad humour of Mingay, and the lightning-like quickness of Erskine, with the more caustic and authoritative dicta of Bearcroft--delighted and instructed me by turns. In the year 1797 I published, in one large chart, an Analysis of the first volume of Blackstone's Commentaries--called THE RIGHTS OF PERSONS. It was dedicated to Mr. (afterwards Lord) Erskine; and published, as will be easily conceived, with more zeal than discretion. I got out of the scrape by selling the copper plate for 50 shillings, after having given 40 guineas for the engraving of the Analysis. Some fifty copies of the work were sold, and 250 were struck off. Where the surplus have lain, and rotted, I cannot pretend to conjecture: but I know it to be a VERY RARE production!]

134 [So in the preceding Edition. He who writes notes on his own performances after a lapse of ten years, will generally have something to add, and something to correct. Of the above names, the FIRST was afterwards attached to the Master of the Rolls, and to a Peerage: with the intervening honour of having been Chief Justice of the Common Pleas. My admiration of this rapid elevation in an honourable profession will not be called singular; for, after an acquaintance of twenty years with Lord Gifford, I can honestly say, that, while his reputation as a Lawyer, and his advancement in his profession, were only what his friends predicted, his character as a MAN continued the same:-- kind hearted, unaffected, gentle, and generous. He died, 'ere he had attained his 48th year, in 1826.]

135 [Mons. Licquet supposes the crypt and the arcades of the nave to be of the latter end of the eleventh century,--built by Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, and Brother of William the Conqueror; and that the other portions were of the twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth centuries. I have very great doubts indeed of any portion being of a date even so early as 1170.]

136 [Another demonstration of the fickleness and changeableness of all mundane affairs. Mr. Stothard, after a successful execution of his great task, has ceased to be among us. His widow published his life, with an account of his labours, in a quarto volume in 1823. Mr. Stothard's Monumental Effigies, now on the eve of completion, is a work which will carry his name down to the latest posterity, as one of the most interesting, tasteful, and accurate of antiquarian productions. See a subsequent note.]

137 See page 12, ante.

138 ["That was true, when M. Dibdin wrote his account; now, the number must be reduced one half." LICQUET, vol. ii. p. 121.]

139 Cette église ... étoit sans contredit une des plus riches de France en vases d'or, d'argent, et de pierreries; en reliques et en ornemens. Le procès-verbal qui avoit été dressé de toutes ses richesses, en 1476, contient un détail qui va presque à l'infini." Bezières, Hist. Sommaire, p. 51.

140 [But ONE letter has passed between us since this separation. That letter, however, only served to cement the friendliness of our feelings towards each other. M. Pierre Aimé Lair had heard of the manner in which his name had been introduced into these pages, and wished a copy of the work to be deposited in the public library at Caen. Whether it be so deposited, I have never learnt. In 1827, this amiable man visited England; and I saw him only during the time of an ordinary morning visit. His stay was necessarily short, and his residence was remote. I returned his visit-- but he was away. There are few things in life more gratifying than the conviction of living in the grateful remembrance of the wise and the good; and THAT gratification it is doubtless my happiness to enjoy--as far as relates to Mons. PIERRE AIMÉ LAIR!]

141 [Mr. Cotman has an excellent engraving of it.]

142 He has since established himself at Paris, near the Luxembourg palace, as a bookseller; and it is scarcely three months since I received a letter from him, in which he told me that he could no longer resist the more powerful impulses of his heart--and that the phials of physic were at length abandoned for the volumes of Verard and of Gourmont. My friend, Mr. Dawson Turner, who knew him at Bayeux, has purchased books of him at Paris. [The preceding in 1820.]

143 Mr. Stothard, Jun. See page 221 ante. Mr. S's own account of the tapestry may be seen in the XIXth volume of the Archæologia. It is brief, perspicuous, and satisfactory. His fac-simile is one half the size of the original; executed with great neatness and fidelity; but probably the touches are a little too artist-like or masterly.

144 [The facsimile of that portion of the tapestry which is supposed to be a portrait of Harold, and which Mr. Lewis, who travelled with me, executed, is perhaps of its kind, one of the most perfect things extant. In saying this, I only deliver the opinions of very many competent judges. It must however be noticed, that the Society of Antiquaries published the whole series of this exceedingly curious and ancient Representation of the Conquest of our Country by William I. Of this publication, the figures measure about four inches in height: but there is also a complete, and exceedingly successful fac-simile of the first two figures of this series-- of the size of the originals (William I. and the Messenger coming to announce to him the landing of Harold in England) also published from the same quarter. The whole of these Drawings were from the pencil of the late ingenious and justly lamented THOS. STOTHARD, Esq. Draftsman to the Society of Antiquaries.]

145 A complete copy is of rarity in our own country, but not so abroad. It is yet, however, an imperfect work.

146 There have been bibliographers, and there are yet knowing book- collectors, who covet this edition in preference to the Leipsic impression of Sir T. More's Works of 1698; in folio. But this must proceed from sheer obstinacy; or rather, perhaps, from ignorance that the latter edition contains the Utopia--whereas in the former it is unaccountably omitted to be reprinted--which it might have been, from various previous editions.

147 This figure is introduced with pursuivants and dogs: but great liberties, as a nice eye will readily discern, have been taken by Montfaucon, when compared with the original--of which the fac-simile, in the previous edition of this work, may be pronounced to be PERFECT.

148 Something similar may be seen round the border of the baptismal vase of St. Louis, in Millin's Antiquités Nationales. A part of the border in the Tapestry is a representation of subjects from Aesop's Fables.

149 Of a monument, which has been pronounced by one of our ablest antiquaries to be "THE NOBLEST IN THE WORLD RELATING TO OUR OLD ENGLISH HISTORY," (See Stukely's Palæog. Britan. Number XI. 1746, 4to. p. 2- 3) it may be expected that some archæological discussion should be here subjoined. Yet I am free to confess that, after the essays of Messrs. Gurney, Stothard, and Amyot, (and more especially that of the latter gentleman) the matter--as to the period of its execution--may be considered as well nigh, if not wholly, at rest. These essays appear in the XVIIIth and XIXth volumes of the Archæologia. The Abbé de la Rue contended that this Tapestry was worked in the time of the second Matilda, or the Empress Maud, which would bring it to the earlier part of the XIIth century. The antiquaries above mentioned contend, with greater probability, that it is a performance of the period which it professes to commemorate; namely, of the defeat of Harold at the battle of Hastings, and consequently of the acquiring of the Crown of England, by conquest, on the part of William. This latter therefore brings it to the period of about 1066, to 1088--so that, after all, the difference of opinion is only whether this Tapestry be fifty years older or younger, than the respective advocates contend.

But the most copious, particular, and in my humble judgment the most satisfactory, disquisition upon the date of this singular historical monument, is entitled, "A Defence of the early Antiquity of the Bayeux Tapestry," by Thomas Amyot, Esq. immediately following Mr. Stothard's communication, in the work just referred to. It is at direct issue with all the hypotheses of the Abbé de la Rue, and in my opinion the results are triumphantly established. Whether the Normans or the English worked it, is perfectly a secondary consideration. The chief objections, taken by the Abbé, against its being a production of the XIth century, consist in, first, its not being mentioned among the treasures possessed by the Conqueror at his decease:--secondly, that, if the Tapestry were deposited in the church, it must have suffered, if not have been annihilated, at the storming of Bayeux and the destruction of the Cathedral by fire in the reign of Henry I., A.D. 1106:--thirdly, the silence of Wace upon the subject,--who wrote his metrical histories nearly a century after the Tapestry is supposed to have been executed." The latter is chiefly insisted upon by the learned Abbé; who, which ever champion come off victorious in this archæological warfare, must at any rate receive the best thanks of the antiquary for the methodical and erudite manner in which he has conducted his attacks.

At the first blush it cannot fail to strike us that the Abbé de la Rue's positions are all of a negative character; and that, according to the strict rules of logic, it must not be admitted, that because such and such writers have not noticed a circumstance, therefore that circumstance or event cannot have taken place. The first two grounds of objection have, I think, been fairly set aside by Mr. Amyot. As to the third objection, Mr. A. remarks--"But it seems that Wace has not only not quoted the tapestry, but has varied from it in a manner which proves that he had never seen it. The instances given of this variation are, however, a little unfortunate. The first of them is very unimportant, for the difference merely consists in placing a figure at the stern instead of the prow of a ship, and in giving him a bow instead of a trumpet. From an authority quoted by the Abbé himself, it appears that, with regard to this latter fact, the Tapestry was right, and Wace was wrong; and thus an argument is unintentionally furnished in favour of the superior antiquity of the Tapestry. The second instance of variation, namely, that relating to Taillefer's sword, may be easily dismissed; since, after all, it now appears, from Mr. Stothard's examination, that neither Taillefer nor his sword is to be found in the Tapestry," &c. But it is chiefly from the names of ÆLFGYVA and WADARD, inscribed over some of the figures, that I apprehend the conclusion in favour of the Tapestry's being nearly a contemporaneous production, may be safely drawn.

It is quite clear that these names belong to persons living when the work was in progress, or within the recollection of the workers, and that they were attached to persons of some particular note or celebrity, or rather perhaps of local importance. An eyewitness, or a contemporary only would have introduced them. They would not have lived in the memory of a person, whether mechanic or historian, who lived a century after the event. No antiquary has yet fairly appropriated these names, and more especially the second. It follows therefore that they would not have been introduced had they not been in existence at the time; and in confirmation of that of WADARD, it seems that Mr. Henry Ellis (Secretary of the Society of Antiquaries) "confirmed Mr. Amyot's conjecture on that subject, by the references with which he furnished him to Domesday Book, where his name occurs in no less than six counties, as holding lands of large extent under Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, the tenant in capite of those properties from the crown. That he was not a guard or centinel, as the Abbé de la Rue supposes, but that he held an office of rank in the household of either William or Odo, seems now decided beyond a doubt." Mr. Amyot thus spiritedly concludes:--alluding to the successful completion of Mr. Stothard's copy of the entire original roll.--"Yet if the BAYEUX TAPESTRY be not history of the first class, it is perhaps something better. It exhibits general traits, elsewhere sought in vain, of the costume and manners of that age, which, of all others, if we except the period of the Reformation, ought to be the most interesting to us;--that age, which gave us a new race of monarchs, bringing with them new landholders, new laws, and almost a new language."

Mr. Amyot has subjoined a specimen of his own poetical powers in describing "the Minstrel TAILLEFER'S achievements," in the battle of Hastings, from the old Norman lays of GAIMAR and WACE. I can only find room for the first few verses. The poem is entitled,

THE ONSET OF TAILLEFER.

Foremost in the bands of France,
Arm'd with hauberk and with lance,
And helmet glittering in the air,
As if a warrior knight he were,
Rush'd forth the MINSTREL TAILLEFER
Borne on his courser swift and strong,
He gaily bounded o'er the plain,
And raised the heart-inspiring song
(Loud echoed by the warlike throng)
Of Roland and of Charlemagne,
Of Oliver, brave peer of old,
Untaught to fly, unknown to yield,
And many a Knight and Vassal bold,
Whose hallowed blood, in crimson flood,
Dyed Roncevalle's field.

150 M. Denon told me, in one of my visits to him at Paris, that by the commands of Bonaparte, he was charged with the custody of this Tapestry for three months; that it was displayed in due form and ceremony in the Museum; and that after having taken a hasty sketch of it, (which he admitted could not be considered as very faithful) he returned it to Bayeux--as it was considered to be the peculiar property of that place.

151 See p. 109 ante.

152 See page 13 ante.

153 Mr. Cotman has a view of this church, in his work on Normandy.

154 I suspect that the "peaceful" waters of this stream were frequently died with the blood of Hugonots and Roman Catholics during the fierce contests between MONTGOMERY and MATIGNON, towards the latter half of the sixteenth century. At that period St. Lo was one of the strongest towns in the Bocage; and the very pass above described, was the avenue by which the soldiers of the captains, just mentioned, alternately advanced and retreated in their respective attacks upon St. Lo: which at length surrendered to the victorious army of the latter; the leader of the Catholics. SEGUIN: Histoire Militaire des Bocains; p. 340- 384; 1816, 12 mo.

155 The reader will be doubtless gratified by the artist-like view of this cathedral, by Mr. Cotman, in his Architectural Antiquities of Normandy.

156 It cannot fail to be noticed that the following sentences are in fact rhyming verse, though printed prose-wise.

157 The reader will find the fullest particulars relating to this once-distinguished family, in Halstead's Genealogical Memoirs of Noble Families, &c.: a book it is true, of extreme scarcity. In lieu of it let him consult Collin's Noble Families.

158 [Mons. Licquet tells us, that in 1439, a Seigneur of Gratot, ceded the rock of Granville to an English Nobleman, on the day of St. John the Baptist, on receiving the homage of a hat of red roses. The Nobleman intended to build a town there; but Henry VI. dispossessed him of it, and built fortifications in 1440. Charles VII. in turn, dispossessed Henry; but the additional fortifications which he built were demolished by order of Louis XIV. &c.]

159 An epitomised account of these civil commotions will be found in the Histoire Militaire des Bocains, par M. RICHARD SEGUIN; a Vire, 1816; 12mo. of which work, and of its author, some notice will be taken in the following pages.

160 "Les Distiques de Muret, traduits en vers Français, par Aug. A. Se vend à Vire, chez Adam imprimeur-lib. An. 1809. The reader may not be displeased to have a specimen of the manner of rendering these distichs into French verse:

1.
Dum tener es, MURETE, avidis hæc auribus hauri:
Nec memori modò conde animo, sed et exprime factis.

2.
Imprimis venerare Deum; venerare parentes:
Et quos ipsa loco tibi dat natura parentum.
&c.

1.
Jeune encore, ô mon fils! pour être homme de bien,
Ecoute, et dans ton coeur grave cet entretien.

2.
Sers, honors le Dieu qui créa tous les êtres;
Sois fils respectueux, sois docile à tes maîtres.
&c.

161 [Smartly and felicitously rendered by my translator Mons. Licquet; "Jamais bouche Normande ne m'avait paru plus éloquente que celle de M. Adam." vol. ii. p. 220.]

162 The present seems to be the proper place to give the reader some account of this once famous Bacchanalian poet. It is not often that France rests her pretensions to poetical celebrity upon such claims. Love, romantic adventures, gaiety of heart and of disposition, form the chief materials of her minor poems; but we have here before us, in the person and productions of OLIVIER BASSELIN, a rival to ANACREON of old; to our own RICHARD BRAITHWAIT, VINCENT BOURNE, and THOMAS MOORE. As this volume may not be of general notoriety, the reader may be prepared to receive an account of its contents with the greater readiness and satisfaction. First, then, of the life and occupations of Olivier Basselin; which, as Goujet has entirely passed over all notice of him, we can gather only from the editors of the present edition of his works. Basselin appears to have been a Virois; in other words, an inhabitant of the town of Vire. But he had a strange propensity to rusticating, and preferred the immediate vicinity of Vire--its quiet little valleys, running streams, and rocky recesses--to a more open and more distant residence. In such places, therefore, he carried with him his flasks of cider and his flagons of wine. Thither he resorted with his "boon and merry companions," and there he poured forth his ardent and unpremeditated strains. These "strains" all savoured of the jovial propensities of their author; it being very rarely that tenderness of sentiment, whether connected with friendship or love, is admitted into his compositions. He was the thorough-bred Anacreon of France at the close of the fifteenth century.

The town of Vire, as the reader may have already had intimation, is the chief town of that department of Normandy called the BOCAGE; and in this department few places have been, of old, more celebrated than the Vaux de Vire; on account of the number of manufactories which have existed there from time immemorial. It derives its name from two principal valleys, in the form of a T, of which the base (if it may be so called--"jambage") rests upon the Place du Chateau de Vire. It is sufficiently contiguous to the town to be considered among the fauxbourgs. The rivers Vire and Viréne, which unite at the bridge of Vaux, run somewhat rapidly through the valleys. These rivers are flanked by manufactories of paper and cloth, which, from the XVth century, have been distinguished for their prosperous condition. Indeed, BASSELIN himself was a sort of cloth manufacturer. In this valley he passed his life in fulling his cloths, and "in composing those gay and delightful songs which are contained in the volume under consideration." Discours Préliminaire, p. 17, &c. Olivier Basselin is the parent of the title Vaudevire-- which has since been corrupted into Vaudeville. From the observation of his critics, Basselin appears to have been the FATHER of BACCHANALIAN POETRY in France. He frequented public festivals, and was a welcome guest at the tables of the rich; where the Vaudevire was in such request, that it is supposed to have superseded the "Conte, or Fabliau, or the Chanson d'Amour."B p. xviij:

Sur ce point-là, soyez tranquille:
Nos neveux, j'én suis bien certain,
Se souviendront de BASSELIN,
Pere joyeux du Vaudeville: p. xxiij.

I proceed to submit a few specimens of the muse of this ancient ANACREON of France; and must necessarily begin with a few of those that are chiefly of a bacchanalian quality.

VAUDEVIRE II.

AYANT le doz au feu et le ventre à la table,
Estant parmi les pots pleins de vin délectable,
Ainsi comme ung poulet
Je ne me laisseray morir de la pepie,
Quant en debvroye avoir la face cramoisie
Et le nez violet;

QUANT mon nez devendra de couleur rouge ou perse,
Porteray les couleurs que chérit ma maitresse.
Le vin rent le teint beau.
Vault-il pas mieulx avoir la couleur rouge et vive,
Riche de beaulx rubis, que si pasle et chétive
Ainsi qu'ung beuveur d'eau.

VAUDEVIRE XI.

CERTES hoc vinum est bonus:
Du maulvais latin ne nous chaille,
Se bien congru n'estoit ce jus,
Le tout ne vauldroit rien que vaille.
Escolier j'appris que bon vin
Aide bien au maulvais latin.

CESTE sentence praticquant,
De latin je n'en appris guère;
Y pensant estre assez sçavant,
Puisque bon vin aimoye à boire.
Lorsque maulvais vin on a beu,
Latin n'est bon, fust-il congru.
Fy du latin, parlons françois,
Je m'y recongnois davantaige.
Je vueil boire une bonne fois,
Car voicy ung maistre breuvaige;
Certes se j'en beuvoye soubvent,
Je deviendroye fort éloquent.

VAUDEVIRE XXII.

HE! qu'avons-nous affaire
Du Turc ny du Sophy,
Don don.
Pourveu que j'aye à boire,
Des grandeurs je dis fy.
Don don.
Trincque, Seigneur, le vin est bon:
Hoc acuit ingenium.

QUI songe en vin ou vigne,
Est ung présaige heureux,
Don don.
Le vin à qui réchigne
Rent le coeur tout joyeux,
Don don.
Trincque, Seigneur, le vin est bon:
Hoc acuit ingenium.
&c.

The poetry of Basselin is almost wholly devoted to the celebration of the physical effects of wine upon the body and animal spirits; and the gentler emotions of the TENDER PASSION are rarely described in his numbers. In consequence, he has not invoked the Goddess of Beauty to associate with the God of Wine: to

"Drop from her myrtle one leaf in his bowl;"

or, when he does venture to introduce the society of a female, it is done after the following fashion--which discovers however an extreme facility and melody of rhythm. The burden of the song seems wonderfully accordant with a Bacchanalian note.

VAUDEVIRE XIX.

En ung jardin d'ombraige tout couvert,
Au chaud du jour, ay treuvé Madalaine,
Qui près le pié d'ung sicomorre vert
Dormoit au bort d'une claire fontaine;
Son lit estoit de thin et marjolaine.
Son tetin frais n'estoit pas bien caché:
D'amour touché,
Pour contempler sa beauté souveraine
Incontinent je m'en suys approché.
Sus, sus, qu'on se resveille,
Voicy vin excellent
Qui faict lever l'oreille;
Il faict mol qui n'en prent.

Je n'eus pouvoir, si belle la voyant,
De m'abstenir de baizotter sa bouche;
Si bien qu'enfin la belle s'esveillant,
Me regardant avec ung oeil farouche,
Me dit ces mots: Biberon, ne me touche.
Belle fillette à son aize ne couche
Avecq celuy qui ne faict qu'yvrongner,
&c. &c.

The preceding extracts will suffice. This is a volume in every respect interesting--both to the literary antiquary and to the Book-Collector. A NEW EDITION of this work has appeared under the editorial care of M. Louis Dubois, published at Caen in 1821, 8vo. obtainable at a very moderate price.

B The host, at these public and private festivals, usually called upon some one to recite or sing a song, chiefly of an amatory or chivalrous character; and this custom prevailed more particularly in Normandy than in other parts of France:

Usaige est en Normandie,
Que qui hebergiez est qu'il die
Fable ou Chanson à son oste.

See the authorities cited at page XV, of this Discours préliminaire.

163 Some account of this printer, together with a fac-simile of his device, may be seen in the Bibliographical Decameron, vol. ii. p. 33-6.

164 The first publication is entitled "Essai sur l'Histoire de l'Industrie du Bocage en Général et de la Ville de Vire sa capitale en particulier, &c." Par M. RICHARD SEGUIN. A Vire, chez Adam, Imprimeur, an 1810, 12mo. It is not improbable that I may have been the only importer of this useful and crowdedly-paged duodecimo volume; which presents us with so varied and animated a picture of the manners, customs, trades, and occupations of the Bocains and the Virois.

165 I subjoin an extract which relates to the

DRESS AND CHARACTER OF THE WOMEN.

"Quant au COSTUME DES FEMMES d'aujourd'hui, comme il faudrait un volume entier pour le décrire, je n'ai pas le courage de m'engager dans ce labyrinte de ridicules et de frivolités. Ce que j'en dirai seulement en général, c'est qu'autant les femmes du temps passé, etaient décentes et chastes, et se faisaient gloire d'être graves et modestes, autant celles de notre siècle mettent tout en oeuvre pour paraître cyniques et voluptueuses. Nous ne sommes plus au temps où les plus grandes dames se faisaient honneur de porter la cordélière.C Leurs habillemens étaient aussi larges et fermés, que celui des femmes de nos jours sont ouverts et légers, et d'une finesse que les formes du corps, au moindre mouvement, se dessinent, de manière à ne laisser rien ignorer. A peine se couvrent-elles le sein d'un voile transparent très-léger ou de je ne sais quelle palatine qu'elles nomment point-à-jour, qui, en couvrant tout, ne cache rien; en sorte que si elles n'étalent pas tous leurs charmes à découvert, c'est que les hommes les moins scrupuleux, qui se contentent de les persifler, en seraient révoltés tout-à-fait. D'ailleurs, c'est que ce n'est pas encore la mode; plusieurs poussent même l'impudence jusqu'à venir dans nos temples sans coiffure, les cheveux hérissés comme des furies; d'autres, par une bizarrerie qu'on ne peut expliquer se dépouillent, autant qu'il est en leur pouvoir, des marques de leur propre sexe, sembleut rougir d'être femmes, et deviennent ridicules en voulant paraitre demi-hommes.

"Après avoir deshonoré l'habit des femmes, elles ont encore voulu prostituer CELUI DES HOMMES. On les a vues adopter successivement les chapeaux, les redingotes, les vestes, les gilets, les bottes et jusqu'aux boutons. Enfin si, au lieu de jupons, elles avaient pu s'accommoder de l'usage de la culotte, la métamorphose était complette; mais elles ont préféré les robes traînantes; c'est dommage que la nature ne leur ait donné une troisième main, qui leur serait nécessaire pour tenir cette longue queue, qui souvent patrouille la boue ou balaye la poussière. Plût à Dieu que les anciennes lois fussent encore en vigueur, ou ceux et celles qui portaient des habits indécent étaient obligés d'aller à Rome pour en obtenir l'absolution, qui ne pouvait leur être accordée que par le souverain pontife, &c.

"Les femmes du Bocage, et sur-tout les Viroises, joignent à un esprit vif et enjoué les qualités du corps les plus estimables. Blondes et brunes pour le plus grand nombre, elles sont de la moyenne taille, mais bien formées: elles ont le teint frais et fleuri, l'oeil vif, le visage vermeil, la démarche leste, un air étoffé et très élégantes dans tout leur maintien. Si on dit avec raison que les Bayeusines sont belles, les filles du Bocage, qui sont leurs voisines, ne leur cèdent en aucune manière, car en général le sang est très-beau en ce pays. Quant aux talens spirituels, elles les possèdent à un dégré éminent. Elles parlent avec aisance, ont le repartie prompte, et outre les soins du ménage, ou elles excellent de telle sorte qu'il n'y a point de contrées ou il y ait plus de linge, elles entendent à merveille, et font avec succès tout le détail du commerce." p. 238.

These passages, notwithstanding the amende honorable of the concluding paragraph, raised a storm of indignation against the unsuspecting author! Nor can we be surprised at it.

This publication is really filled with a great variety of curious historical detail--throughout which is interspersed much that relates to "romaunt lore" and romantic adventures. The civil wars between MONTGOMERY and MATIGNON form alone a very important and interesting portion of the volume; and it is evident that the author has exerted himself with equal energy and anxiety to do justice to both parties--except that occasionally he betrays his antipathies against the Hugonots.D I will quote the concluding passage of this work. There may be at least half a score readers who may think it something more than merely historically curious:

"Je finirai donc ici mon Histoire. Je n'ai point parlé d'un grand nombre des faits d'armes et d'actions glorieuses, qui se sont passés dans la guerre de l'indépendance des Etats-Unis d'Amérique où beaucoup de Bocains ont eu part; mais mon principal dessein a été de traiter des guerres qui ont eu lieu dans le Bocage; ainsi je crois avoir atteint mon but, qui était d'écrire l'Histoire Militaire des Bocains par des faits et non par des phrases, je ne peux cependant omettre une circonstance glorieuse pour le Bocage; c'est la visite que le bon et infortuné Louis XVI. fit aux Bocains en 1786. Ce grand Monarque dont les vues étaient aussi sages que profondes, avait résolu de faire construire le beau Port de Cherbourg, ouvrage vraiment Royal, qui est une des plus nobles entreprises qui aient été faites depuis l'origine de la Monarchie. Les Bocains sentirent l'avantage d'un si grand bienfait. Le Roi venant visiter les travaux, fut accueilli avec un enthousiasme presqu'impossible à décrire, ainsi que les Princes qui l'accompagnaient. Sa marche rassemblait à un triomphe. Les peuples accouraient en foule du fond des campagnes, et bordaient la route, faisant retentir les airs de chants d'alégresse et des cris millions de fois répétés de Vive le Roi! Musique, Processions, Arcs de triomphe, Chemins jonchés de fleurs; tout fut prodigué. Les villes de Caen, de Bayeux, de Saint-Lo, de Carentan, de Valognes, se surpassérent dans cette occasion, pour prouver à S.M. leur amour et leur reconnaissance; mais rien ne fut plus brillant que l'entrée de ce grand Roi à Cherbourg. Un peuple immense, le clergé, toute la noblesse du pays, le son des cloches, le bruit du canon, les acclamations universelles prouvérent au Monarque mieux encore que la pompe toute Royale et les fêtes magnifiques que la ville ne cessa de lui donner tous les jours, que les coeurs de tous les Bocains étaient à lui." p. 428.

C "Ceinture alors regardée comme le symbole de la continence. La reine de France en décorait les femmes titrées dont la conduite était irréprochable." Hist. de la réun. de Bretagne a la France par l'abbé Irail.

D "Les soldats Huguenots commirent dans cette occasion, toutes sortes de cruautés, d'infamies et de sacrilèges, jusqu'à mêler les Saintes Hosties avec l'avoine qu'ils donnaient à leurs chevaux: mais Dieu permit qu'ils n'en voulurent pas manger." p. 369.

166 [Only ONE letter has passed between us since my departure; and that enables me to subjoin a fac-simile of its author's autograph.