Wanderings by southern waters, eastern Aquitaine | Page 8

on the rock that overhangs
the little town of Gourdon in the Quercy. The fortress was taken, and
Richard in his fury caused the stern old man who defended it and two
of his sons to be put to death. But there was a third son, Bertrand de
Gourdon, who, seeking an opportunity of avenging his father and
brothers, joined the garrison of the castle of Châlus in the Limousin,
which Richard soon afterwards besieged. He aimed the bolt or the
arrow which brought Richard's stormy life to a close. Although
forgiven by the dying Coeur-de-Lion, Bertrand was flayed alive by the
Brabançons who were in the English army. He left no descendants, but
his collaterals long afterwards bore the name of Richard in memory of
Bertrand's vengeance.
A member of a learned society at Cahors has sought to prove that
Gourdon in the Quercy is the place where the family of General
Gordon of Khartoum fame had its origin. It is true that the name of this
town in all old charts is spelt Gordon; but, inasmuch as it is a
compound of two Celtic words meaning raven's rock, it might as
feasibly have been handed down by the Gaelic Scotch as by the
Cadurcians.
The Plantagenets came to be termed 'the devil's race' by the people of
Guyenne. This may have originated in a saying attributed to Richard
himself in Aquitaine: 'It is customary in our family for the sons to hate
their father. We come from the devil, and we shall return to the devil.'
In 1368 the English, having again to reduce the Quercy, laid siege to
Roc-Amadour. The burghers held out only for a short time, and the
place being surrendered, Perducas d'Albret was left as governor with a
garrison of Gascons. Froissart quaintly describes this brief siege.
Shortly before the army showed itself in the narrow valley of the Alzou,

the towns of Fons and Gavache had capitulated, the inhabitants having
sworn that they would remain English ever afterwards. 'But they lied,'
observes Froissart. Arriving under the walls of Roc-Amadour, which
were raised upon the lower rocks, the English advanced at once to the
assault. 'Là eut je vous dy moult grant assaust et dur.' It lasted a whole
day, with loss on both sides; but when the evening came the English
entrenched themselves in the valley with the intention of renewing the
assault on the morrow. That night, however, the consuls and burghers
of Roc-Amadour took council of one another, and it was unanimously
agreed that the English had shown great 'force and virtue' during the
day. Then the wisest among them urged that the place could not hold
out long against such an enemy, and that if it was taken by force they,
the burghers, would be all hanged, and the town burnt without mercy. It
was, therefore, decided to surrender the town the next day. This was
accordingly done, and the burghers solemnly swore that they would be
'good English' ever afterwards. For their penance they undertook to
send fifty mules laden with provisions to accompany the English army
on its march for fifteen days. The fact that the burghers owned fifty
mules in the fourteenth century shows how much richer they were then,
for now they can scarcely boast half as many donkeys, although these
beasts do most of the carrying, and even the ploughing.
It is difficult now to find a trace of the wall which defended the burg on
the side of the valley; but here, not far above the bed of the Alzou, are
some ruins of the castle where Henry II. stayed, and which the
inhabitants still associate with his name. It is improbable that he built it;
it is more reasonable to suppose that it existed before his marriage with
Eleanor in 1152. His son, 'Short Mantle,' also used it when he came to
Roc-Amadour, and behaved, as an old writer expresses it, 'like a
ferocious beast.' Some ruined Gothic archways may still be seen from
the valley, the upper stones yellow with rampant wallflowers in the
early spring. The older inhabitants speak of the high walls, the
finely-sculptured details, etc., which they remember; and, indeed, it is
not very long ago that the ancient castle was sold for a paltry sum, to be
used as building material. The only part of the interior preserved is
what was once the chapel. It is vaulted and groined, and the old vats
and casks heaped up in it show that it was long used for wine-making,
before the phylloxera destroyed the vineyards that once covered the

sides of the stony hills. A little below this castle is a well, with an
extraordinary circumference, said to have been sunk by the English,
and always called by the people 'Le puit