Henri de Crignelle - Le Morvan, [A District of France,] Its Wild Sports, Vineyards and Forests; with Legends, Antiquities, Rural and Local Sketches

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Transcribers Note

The punctuation and spelling from the original text have been faithfully preserved. Only obvious typographical errors have been corrected.

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Frontispiece

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LE MORVAN,

[A DISTRICT OF FRANCE,]
ITS
WILD SPORTS, VINEYARDS AND FORESTS;
WITH

Legends, Antiquities, Rural and Local Sketches.

BY
HENRI DE CRIGNELLE,
ANCIEN OFFICIER DE DRAGONS.
TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT IN FRENCH,
BY
CAPTAIN JESSE,
AUTHOR OF "NOTES OF A HALFPAY;" "LIFE OF BRUMMELL;"
"MURRAY'S HAND-BOOK FOR RUSSIA," ETC., ETC.
SAUNDERS AND OTLEY, CONDUIT-STREET.
1851.

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LONDON:
PRINTED BY WILLIAM TYLER,
BOLT-COURT.

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PREFACE.

Born in one of the most beautiful provinces of France, in a country of noble forests and extensive vineyards; brought up in the open air amidst the blue hills, and ever wandering over the fields and mountains with a gun on my armall the hours of my youth, if I may so say, were spent in search of partridges and hares in the dewy stubbles, and in the pursuit of the wild cat and the boar in the shady depths of the woods.

When relating the adventures of these different shooting rambles to a friend, talking over with him our mode of sporting so different from that of England, and when in imagination I carried him along with me into the dells and dark ravines, and described to him the chase and death-struggle of the ferocious wolf, or the odd characters and antediluvian customs of the primitive people amongst whom I passed the days of my happy boyhood, astonished, he could hardly believe that such sports and such singular personages existed within so short a distance of his own country.

"Why not scribble all this?" he would say, "your sketches would make capital light reading."

"But to write is not easy; and, besides, what a poor figure I and my dogs and wolves, woodcocks and vineyards, would cut after the terrible Mr. Gordon Cumming. How could any description of mine interest the public in comparison with those of that famous shot and his three coffee-coloured Hottentots, with his bands of panthers and giraffes, his troops of yellow lions dancing sarabands round the fountains, and his jungles and swamps swarming with elephants and hippopotami?"

"But we might be able to go to Le Morvan," said my friend, "whereas few indeed, if they wished it, can go to the South of Africa to shoot elephants through the small ribs; neither is it probable that many of us would like to pass several years of their valuable lives shut up in a loose, rolling, sea-bathing-machine-like wagon, with their own beloved shadow alone for all Christian company. Let us have a narrative of your exploits?"

"You do not consider what you ask," I replied; "my gossip may have amused you, but the effusions of my pen would to a certainty make you yawn like graves."

"Nonsense," whispered the flatterer, "you will open to us a new country, you will confer a real service upon hundreds of restless Englishmen, who when summer comes know not for the life of them where to go, or where not to go;write your work, and advise them to turn their steps to Le Morvan at the time of the vintage."

But now another, a huge difficulty, sprung up. Printers do not lend their types for nothing any more than they give gratis their time and paper. To publish a book is always an expensive affair; misfortune, which had touched me with its wing, which has been the sad guest of my house, deprived me of the power of undertaking it myself: and where to find a person so generous as to take upon himself the responsibility of the undertaking? Happily I was in England, in the land of kind hearts and warm sympathies. A noble lady, the mother of a distinguished English nobleman, who passes her life in doing good, took an interest in my forlorn history, and was pleased to honour me with her patronage. With this mantle of protection thrown around me, and my generous friend having undertaken to bear the responsibilities of publishing, the difficulties were soon swept away, and Le Morvan was written.

I had hoped that I should in this Preface be permitted to mention her name, which would have been less a compliment to her than an honour to me; but her modesty has refused this public acknowledgment of my unbounded gratitude,a veil of respectful reserve shall therefore remain suspended over her name. As for me and mine, we shall treasure it in our thankful heartsevery day shall we pray that the Great Giver of all good may confer upon her His most precious and gracious blessings.

HENRI DE CRIGNELLE.

London , August, 1851.

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CONTENTS.

English propensity to rambleWhere and howLe MorvanVezelayDescription of the townHistorical associations connected with itCharles IX.Persecutions of the ProtestantsView from VezelayScenery and wild sportsThe AuthorObject of the Work	p. 1
Le MorvanForestsClimatePatriarchs and DamoselsPeasants of the plain and the mountainsJovial CursTheir love of BurgundyThe Doctor and the Cur	14
GeologyFossil shellsAntediluvian salmonThe DruidsChindonax, the High PriestRoman antiquitiesJulius Csar's hunting-boxLugubrious villageCarr-les-TombesThe Inquisitive Andalusian	26
Le Morvan during the Middle AgesLegendary horrorsForest of La GoulotteLa Croix ChavannesLa Croix MordienneHtel de ChantyChteau de LomervoA French BluebeardCitadel of Lingou	35
Castle of BazocheMarchal de VaubanRelics of the old MarshalMemorials of PhilipsburgHtel de BazarneMadame de Pompadour's matre d'htelProof of the curs' griefFarm of St. HibautYouthful recollectionsMonsieur de CheribaldeNavarre the Four-PounderHis culverin	43
.
Bird's-eye view of the forestsThe student's visit to his uncle in the countrySallies forth in the early morningMeets a cuckooFollows himThe cuckoo too much for himGives up the pursuitFinds he has lost his wayAgreeable vespersNight in the forestWolvesUp a beech treeA friend in needThe student bids adieu to Le Morvan	55
Charms of a forest life to the sportsmanThe PoachersLe Pre SguinHis knowledge of the woods and of the riversThe first buckA bad shot	65
Le Pre Sguin's collationThe young sportsman and the hareThe quarrelThe apologyThe reconciliationThe cemeteryBait for barbelLe Pre Sguin's deceased friendsThe return home	75
Passage of the woodcock in NovemberLaziness of that birdNight travellingMode of snaring them at nightNumbers taken in this wayThis sport adapted rather for the poacherThe braconnier of Le MorvanHis mode of lifeThe poacher's dogThe double poacher	88
The woodcockIts habits in the forests of Le MorvanAversion of dogs to this birdTimidity of the woodcockIts cunningShooting in NovemberThe Woodcock matesThe Woodcock fly	100
Fine namesGustavus Adolphus and the cabbagesGustavus Adolphus no hero!The Parisian SportsmanPartridge shooting despicableWild boar-huntingRousing the grisly monsterHis approachThe post of honourGood nervesThe deathThe trophy and congratulations	117
The MaresManner in which they are formed in the depths of the forestMare No. 1.Description of itThe appearance of the spotMode of constructing the hunting-lodgeApproach of the birdsAnimals that frequent the

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