Béarn and the Pyrenees | Page 7

not be sullied by such a crime. Arthur was therefore
removed to Rouen, and there less conscientious men were found to
execute the tyrant's will, if tradition, so varied on the point, speak true.
Stephen maintained himself in the castle of Falaise against the father of
Henry II., and these walls have probably echoed to the lays of minstrels,
whose harps were tuned in praise of the beautiful and haughty heiress
of Aquitaine. The fair wife of Coeur de Lion had this castle for her
dower, and, for some time, is said to have lived here. Philip Augustus
accorded some singular privileges to Falaise, two of which deserve to
be recorded.
If a woman were convicted of being fond of scandal, and known to
backbite her neighbours, they had the right of placing cords under her
arms and ducking her three times in the water: after this, if a man took
the liberty of reproaching her with the circumstance, he was compelled
to pay a fine of ten sous, or else he was plunged into the stream in a
similar manner.
If a man were so ungallant as to call a woman ugly, he was obliged to
pay a fine. This offence was indeed worthy of condign punishment, if
the women of Falaise were as pretty formerly as they are now: with
their neat petticoats, smart feet in sabots, high butterfly or mushroom
caps, as white as snow, scarlet handkerchiefs and bright-coloured
aprons, with their round healthy cheeks, lively eyes, and
good-humoured expression of countenance, the Falaisiennes are as
agreeable a looking race as one would wish to see, and more likely to
elicit compliment than insult.

Many curious customs prevailed in the middle ages in this old town;
and one was formerly portrayed on the walls of a chapel in the church
of the Holy Trinity. It was the representation of an execution: the
delinquent had injured a child, by disfiguring its face and arms, and
suffered in consequence. The culprit was no other than a sow; and
when the crime committed was brought home to her, the learned judges
assembled on the occasion pronounced her as guilty of malice prepense;
and in order to hold her up as an example to all sows in time to come,
her face and fore legs were mutilated in a similar manner to those of
her victim. The spectacle of her punishment took place in a public
square, amidst a great concourse of spectators, the father of the child
being brought as a witness, and condemned to stand by during the
infliction, as a due reward for not having sufficiently watched his infant.
The "viscount-judge" of Falaise appeared on the solemn occasion "on
horseback, with a plume of feathers on his head, and his hand on his
side." The sow was dragged forth dressed in the costume of a citizen, in
a vest and breeches, and "with gloves on, wearing a mask representing
the face of a man."
What effect this wise judgment had is not related; probably it produced
as salutary a result as most of those exhibitions designed for the
amusement or instruction of an enlightened multitude.
The chain of the rocks of Noron, on part of which the castle is situated,
is singularly picturesque; and from those opposite, rising from the side
of Arlette's fountain, the fine ruins have a most majestic effect; and the
prospect for leagues round is extremely beautiful. A soft turf, covered
with wild thyme, heath, and fern, makes the meandering walks amongst
the huge blocks of moss-mantled stone, tempting and delightful, in
spite of their steepness; and the delicious perfume of the fragrant herbs,
growing in great luxuriance everywhere, is refreshing in the extreme.
The snowy tower of strength, rising from its bed of piled up rock--the
broad high walls, and their firm buttresses and circular windows,
through which the blue sky gleams--the nodding foliage and garlands
of ivy which adorn the huge towers--and, far beyond, a rich and
glowing country, altogether present a scene of beauty, difficult to be
equalled in any part of Normandy, rich as that charming province is in

animated landscape.
We spent many hours of a brilliant summer's day, climbing amongst the
rocks, and making sketches of the castle in its different phases, all of
which offer studies to an artist: here the majestic donjon forms a fine
object; there the ruined arsenal; and farther off the battered walls,
separated and hurled down by the cannon of Henri IV. when through
this breach his white plume was seen triumphantly waving as he
cheered his warriors on to the attack, changing the six months proposed
by Brissac into six days, during which he took the fortress and the
town.
An anecdote is related of a heroine of Falaise, whose exploits are
recorded