The Christmas Kalends of Provence

Christmas Kalends of Provence,
by Thomas A. Janvier

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Title: The Christmas Kalends of Provence And Some Other Provençal
Festivals
Author: Thomas A. Janvier
Release Date: October 19, 2006 [EBook #19587]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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[Illustration: "'TO THE HEALTH OF THE COUNT!'"
See p. 32]

The Christmas Kalends of Provence
AND SOME OTHER PROVENÇAL FESTIVALS
* * * * *
BY
THOMAS A. JANVIER
SÒCI DÒU FELIBRIGE
AUTHOR OF "IN OLD NEW YORK" "THE PASSING OF
THOMAS" "IN GREAT WATERS" ETC.
ILLUSTRATED
* * * * *
HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS
NEW YORK AND LONDON
1902
Copyright, 1902, by HARPER & BROTHERS.
All rights reserved.
Published November, 1902.
TO
C. A. J.

Contents

PAGE
THE CHRISTMAS KALENDS OF PROVENCE 1
A FEAST-DAY ON THE RHÔNE 133
THE COMÉDIE FRANÇAISE AT ORANGE 209

Illustrations
"'TO THE HEALTH OF THE COUNT!'" Frontispiece
AT THE WELL Facing p. 6
PLANTING SAINT BARBARA'S GRAIN " 14
ELIZO'S OLD FATHER " 74
MAGALI " 100
THE PASSING OF THE KINGS " 112
"THE BLIND GIRL"--NOËL " 118
THE LANDING-PLACE AT TOURNON " 166
THE DEFILE OF DONZÈRE " 190
THE ROUMANILLE MONUMENT " 198
AVIGNON " 204
GENERAL VIEW OF THE THEATRE " 210
"IT LOOKED TREASONS, CONSPIRACIES AND MUTINOUS "
236 OUTBURSTS"
THE GREAT FAÇADE " 238

SCENE FROM THE FIRST ACT OF "OEDIPUS" " 248
SCENE FROM THE SECOND ACT OF "ANTIGONE" " 256

The Christmas Kalends of Provence
I
Fancy you've journeyed down the Rhône, Fancy you've passed Vienne,
Valence, Fancy you've skirted Avignon-- And so are come en pleine
Provence.
Fancy a mistral cutting keen Across the sunlit wintry fields, Fancy
brown vines, and olives green, And blustered, swaying, cypress shields.
Fancy a widely opened door, Fancy an eager outstretched hand,
Fancy--nor need you ask for more-- A heart-sped welcome to our land.
Fancy the peal of Christmas chimes, Fancy that some long-buried year
Is born again of ancient times-- And in Provence take Christmas cheer!
In my own case, this journey and this welcome were not fancies but
realities. I had come to keep Christmas with my old friend Monsieur de
Vièlmur according to the traditional Provençal rites and ceremonies in
his own entirely Provençal home: an ancient dwelling which stands
high up on the westward slope of the Alpilles, overlooking Arles and
Tarascon and within sight of Avignon, near the Rhône margin of
Provence.
The Vidame--such is Monsieur de Vièlmur's ancient title: dating from
the vigorous days when every proper bishop, himself not averse to
taking a breather with sword and battle-axe should fighting matters
become serious, had his vice dominus to lead his forces in the field--is
an old-school country gentleman who is amiably at odds with modern
times. While tolerant of those who have yielded to the new order, he
himself is a great stickler for the preservation of antique forms and
ceremonies: sometimes, indeed, pushing his fancies to lengths that

fairly would lay him open to the charge of whimsicality, were not even
the most extravagant of his crotchets touched and mellowed by his
natural goodness of heart. In the earlier stages of our acquaintance I
was disposed to regard him as an eccentric; but a wider knowledge of
Provençal matters has convinced me that he is a type. Under his genial
guidance it has been my privilege to see much of the inner life of the
Provençaux, and his explanations have enabled me to understand what I
have seen: the Vidame being of an antiquarian and bookish temper, and
never better pleased than when I set him to rummaging in his memory
or his library for the information which I require to make clear to me
some curious phase of Provençal manners or ways.
The Château de Vièlmur has remained so intimately a part of the
Middle Ages that the subtle essence of that romantic period still
pervades it, and gives to all that goes on there a quaintly archaic tone.
The donjon, a prodigiously strong square tower dating from the twelfth
century, partly is surrounded by a dwelling in the florid style of two
hundred years back--the architectural flippancies of which have been so
tousled by time and weather as to give it the look of an old beau caught
unawares by age and grizzled in the midst of