Normandy | Page 5

you will find more than one many-storied house
with shutters brightly painted, and dormers on its ancient roof. The
church of Notre Dame in the Rue de Paris has a tower that was in
earlier times a beacon, and it was here that three brothers named
Raoulin who had been murdered by the governor Villars in 1599, are
buried.
On the opposite side of the estuary of the Seine, lies Honfleur with its
extraordinary church tower that stands in the market-place quite
detached from the church of St Catherine to which it belongs. It is
entirely constructed of timber and has great struts supporting the angles
of its walls. The houses along the quay have a most paintable
appearance, their overhanging floors and innumerable windows
forming a picturesque background to the fishing-boats.

Harfleur, on the same side of the river as Havre, is on the road to
Tancarville. We pass through it on our way to Caudebec. The great
spire of the church, dating from the fifteenth century, rears itself above
this ancient port where the black-sailed ships of the Northmen often
appeared in the early days before Rollo had forced Charles the Simple
(he should have been called "The Straightforward") to grant him the
great tract of French territory that we are now about to explore.
The Seine, winding beneath bold cliffs on one side and along the edge
of flat, rich meadowlands on the other, comes near the magnificent ruin
of Tancarville Castle whose walls enclose an eighteenth century
chateau. The situation on an isolated chalk cliff one hundred feet high
was more formidable a century ago than it is to-day, for then the Seine
ran close beneath the forbidding walls, while now it has changed its
course somewhat. The entrance to the castle is approached under the
shadow of the great circular corner tower that stands out so boldly at
one extremity of the buildings, and the gate house has on either side
semi-circular towers fifty-two feet in height. Above the archway there
are three floors sparingly lighted by very small windows, one to each
storey. They point out the first floor as containing the torture chamber,
and in the towers adjoining are the hopelessly strong prisons. The iron
bars are still in the windows and in one instance the positions of the
rings to which the prisoners were chained are still visible.
There are still floors in the Eagle's tower that forms the boldest portion
of the castle, and it is a curious feature that the building is angular
inside although perfectly cylindrical on the exterior. Near the chateau
you may see the ruined chapel and the remains of the Salle des
Chevaliers with its big fireplace. Then higher than the entrance towers
is the Tour Coquesart built in the fifteenth century and having four
storeys with a fireplace in each. The keep is near this, but outside the
present castle and separated from it by a moat. The earliest parts of the
castle all belong to the eleventh century, but so much destruction was
wrought by Henry V. in 1417 that the greater part of the ruins belong to
a few years after that date. The name of Tancarville had found a place
among the great families of England before the last of the members of
this distinguished French name lost his life at the battle of Agincourt.

The heiress of the family married one of the Harcourts and eventually
the possessions came into the hands of Dunois the Bastard of Orleans.
From Tancarville there is a road that brings you down to that which
runs from Quilleboeuf, and by it one is soon brought to the
picturesquely situated little town of Lillebonne, famous for its Roman
theatre. It was the capital of the Caletes and was known as Juliabona,
being mentioned in the iters of Antoninus. The theatre is so well known
that no one has difficulty in finding it, and compared to most of the
Roman remains in England, it is well worth seeing. The place held no
fewer than three thousand people upon the semi-circular tiers of seats
that are now covered with turf. Years ago, there was much stone-work
to be seen, but this has largely disappeared, and it is only in the upper
portions that many traces of mason's work are visible. A passage runs
round the upper part of the theatre and the walls are composed of
narrow stones that are not much larger than bricks.
The great castle was built by William the Norman, and it was here that
he gathered together his barons to mature and work out his project
which made him afterwards William the Conqueror. It will be natural
to associate the fine round tower of the castle with this historic
conference, but unfortunately, it was only